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THE 


HOLY  BIBLE, 

CONTAINING  THE 

OLD  AND  NEW  TESTAMENTS. 

THE  TEXT 

CAREFULLY  PRINTED  FROM  THE  MOST  CORRECT  COPIES  OF  THE  PRESENT 

*  % 

AUTHORIZED  TRANSLATION, 


INCLUDING  THE 

MARGINAL  READINGS  AND  PARALLEL  TEXTS: 

WITH 

A  COMMENTARY  AND  CRITICAL  NOTES; 

DESIGNED  AS  A  HELP  TO  A  BETTER  UNDERSTANDING  OF  THE  SACRED  WRITINGS : 

BY  ADAM  CLARKE,  LL.D.,  F.S.A.,  &c. 


A  NEW  EDITION,  WITH  THE  AUTHOR’S  FINAL  CORRECTIONS. 


FOR  WHATSOEVER  THINGS  WERE  WRITTEN  AFORETIME  WERE  WRITTEN  FOR  OUR  LEARNING  ;  THAT  WE,  THROUGH 
PATIENCE  AND  COMFORT  OF  THE  SCRIPTURES,  MIGHT  HAVE  HOPE.— Rom.  xv.  4. 


THE  OLD  TESTAMENT. 


VOLUME  1. - GENESIS  TO  DEUTERONOMY. 


Jfaro-ljork : 

PUBLISHED  BY  LANE  &  SCOTT, 

FOR  THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH:  200  MULBERRY-STREET. 

JOSEPH  LONGK1NG,  PRINTER. 

1850. 


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PREFACE. 


2.2.0, 52. 

T5A7 

I  it  so 

v- 1 


GENERAL 


^PHE  different  nations  of  the  earth,  which  have  received  the  Old  and  New  Testaments  as  a  Divine 
revelation,  have  not  only  had  them  carefully  translated  into  their  respective  languages,  but  have 
also  agreed  in  the  propriety  and  necessity  of  illustrating  them  by  comments.  At  first,  the  insertion 
of  a  word  or  sentence  in  the  margin,  explaining  some  particular  word  in  the  text,  appears  to  have 
constituted  the  whole  of  the  comment.  Afterwards,  these  were  mingled  with  the  text,  but  with 
such  marks  as  served  to  distinguish  them  from  the  words  they  were  intended  to  illustrate ;  some¬ 
times  the  comment  was  interlined  with  the  text,  and  at  other  times  it  occupied  a  space  at  the  bot¬ 
tom  of  the  page. 

Ancient  comments  written  in  all  these  various  ways  I  have  often  seen ;  and  a  Bible  now  lies  before 
me,  written,  probably,  before  the  time  of  Wiclif,  where  the  glosses  are  all  incorporated  with  the 
text,  and  only  distinguished  from  it  by  a  line  underneath ;  the  line  evidently  added  by  a  later  hand. 
As  a  matter  of  curiosity  I  shall  introduce  a  few  specimens. 

Stiiti  scftre,  HUab*  or  toelc,  3r  am  baufftr.  saboe  t lie  fur.  Isa.  xliv.  16. 

ccte  fjawc  as  an  ope,  antr  tnitl)  fcctoe  of  lichen  Ins  botq>  boas  mformttJ  or  trefoulitr,  till  $ts  licrfs  toepf&ui>  rnto 
licncsse  of  ejjlfs,  an*  ins  najjlts  as  narlfs  or  clees  of  lirftJtns.  Dan.  iv.  33. 

tfiat  Is  licst  tit  ijem  is  as  a  jialgure,  tljat  ts  a  scfrarp  Imscfre,  or  a  tijlstel  or  ffrse.  Micah  vii.  4. 

3^e  sciial  bajtftse  or  cljrfsten'a  jjou,  totb  tfie  iioob  jjoost  auk  fifr,  inljos  bbafiitouifle  clothe  or  fan  fn  l)ts  liontr. 
Matt.  iii.  11,  12. 

®2!bo  efcer  acfjal  leebe  fits  bmf,  sebe  lie  to  fier  a  libel,  bat  fs,  a  Igtil  book  of  forsakutfle.  Matt.  v.  31. 

3$l£nDe  men  seen,  crokftr  men  toantrren,  mesels  ben  maati  clene,  beef  men  ijeeren,  tjeeti  men  rnsen  a^efn,  pore 
men  ben  taken  to  prcc!)#^  of  tfic  flospel,  or  been  maatr  kcpers  of  tfie  gospel.  Matt.  xi.  5. 

5  scfjal  bolkc  out,  or  telle  out  tjfunufs  fiftr  fro  making  of  be  toorltr.  Matt.  xiii.  35. 

serpeutts  fru^tis  of  burrotonunuls  of  etflms  bat  sleen  ber  mobris,  bob)  scbuln  jee  flee  fro  be  trorne  of 
belle.  Matt,  xxiii.  33. 

J^eroutie  tetraarcija,  bat  fs,  prtnce  of  be  fourb  parte.  Luke  iii.  1. 

^abgnflc  nour  conbersactoun  or  Ifff  goot>  amoitflc  belben  men.  1  Pet.  ii.  12. 

(See  scbulu  rcscegbe  be  untoeletoakle  crobm  of  fllorie,  or  bat  scljal  neber  faabe.  1  Pet.  v.  4. 

^nogut  bfn  eegen  luttfi  colurgo,  bat  fs,  metncmal  for  eegen  maab  of  bfberse  crbfs,  tfiat  tjftm  see.  Rev.  iii.  18. 


Comments  written  in  this  way  have  given  birth  to  multitudes  of  the  various  readings  afforded 
by  ancient  manuscripts ;  for  the  notes  of  distinction  being  omitted  or  neglected,  the  gloss  was  often 
considered  as  an  integral  part  of  the  text,  and  entered  accordingly  by  succeeding  copyists. 

This  is  particularly  remarkable  in  the  Vulgate ,  which  abounds  with  explanatory  words  and 
phrases,  similar  to  those  in  the  preceding  quotations.  In  the  Septuagint  also,  traces  of  this  cus¬ 
tom  are  easily  discernible,  and  to  this  circumstance  many  of  its  various  readings  may  be  attributed. 

In  proportion  to  the  distance  of  time  from  the  period  in  which  the  sacred  oracles  were  delivered, 
the  necessity  of  comments  became  more  apparent ;  for  the  political  state  of  the  people  to  whom 
the  Scriptures  were  originally  given,  as  well  as  that  of  the  surrounding  nations,  being  in  the  lapse 
of  time  essentially  changed,  hence  was  found  the  necessity  of  historical  and  chronological  notes , 
to  illustrate  the  facts  related  in  the  sacred  books. 

Did  the  nature  of  this  preface  permit,  it  might  be  useful  to  enter  into  a  detailed  history  of  com¬ 
mentators  and  their  works,  and  show  by  what  gradations  they  proceeded  from  simple  verbal  glosses 
to  those  colossal  accumulations  in  which  the  words  of  God  lie  buried  in  the  sayings  of  men.  But 
this  at  present  is  impracticable  ;  a  short  sketch  must  therefore  suffice. 

Perhaps  the  most  ancient  comments  containing  merely  verbal  glosses  were  the  Chaldee  Para¬ 
phrases ,  or  Tar  gums,  particularly  those  of  Onkelos  on  the  Law,  and  Jonathan  on  the  Prophets ; 
the  former  written  a  short  time  before  the  Christian  era,  the  latter  about  fifty  years  after  the  incar¬ 
nation.  These  comments  are  rather  glosses  on  words,  than  an  exposition  of  things  ;  and  the  former 
is  little  more  than  a  verbal  translation  of  the  Hebrew  text  into  pure  Chaldee . 

The  Targum  Yerushlemey  is  written  in  the  manner  of  the  two  former,  and  contains  a  para¬ 
phrase,  in  very  corrupt  Chaldee,  on  select  parts  of  the  five  books  of  Moses. 


585570 


i 


GENERAL  PREFACE. 

The  Tar  gum  ascribed  to  Jonathan  ben  Uzziel  embraces  the  whole  of  the  Pentateuch,  but  is  dis¬ 
graced  with  the  most  ridiculous  and  incredible  fables. 

Among  the  Jews,  several  eminent  commentators  appeared  at  different  times,  besides  the  Tar  gum- 
ists  already  mentioned,  who  endeavoured  to  illustrate  different  parts  of  the  Law  and  the  Prophets — 
Philo  Judaeus  may  be  reckoned  among  these  ;  his  works  contain  several  curious  treatises  in 
explication  of  different  parts  of  the  Hebrew  Scriptures.  He  flourished  about  A.  D.  40. 

Josephus  maybe  fairly  ranked  among  commentators;  the  first  twelve  books  of  his  Jewish  Anti¬ 
quities  are  a  regular  paraphrase  and  comment  on  the  political  and  ecclesiastical  history  of  the  Jews 
as  given  in  the  Bible,  from  the  foundation  of  the  world  to  the  time  of  the  Asmoneans  or  Maccabees. 
He  flourished  about  A.  D.  80.  / 

It  is  well  known  that  the  Mishnah,  or  oral  law  of  the  Jews,  is  a  pretended  comment  on  the  five 
books  of  Moses.  This  was  compiled  from  innumerable  traditions  by  Rabbi  Judah  Hakkadosh,  pro¬ 
bably  about  the  year  of  our  Lord  150. 

The  Talmuds,  both  of  Jerusalem  and  Babylon ,  are  a  comment  on  the  Mishnah.  The  former  was 
compiled  about  A.  D.  300,  the  latter  about  200  years  after. 

Chaldee  Targums,  or  Paraphrases,  have  been  written  on  all  the  books  of  the  Old  Testament ;  some 
parts  of  the  book  of  Ezra,  and  the  book  of  Daniel,  excepted  ;  which,  being  originally  written  in 
Chaldee,  did  not  require  for  the  purpose  of  being  read  during  the  captivity  any  farther  explanation. 
When  the  London  Polyglot  was  put  to  press  no  Targum  was  found  on  the  twro  books  of  Chronicles  ; 
but  after  that  work  was  printed,  a  Targum  on  these  two  books  was  discovered  in  the  university  of 
Cambridge,  and  printed  at  Amsterdam,  with  a  Latin  translation,  4to,  1715,  by  Mr.  D.  Wilkins . 
It  is  attributed  to  Rabbi  Joseph  the  Blind,  who  flourished  about  A.  D.  400. 

The  Masorets  were  the  most  extensive  Jewish  commentators  which  that  nation  could  ever 
boast.  The  system  of  punctuation,  probably  invented  by  them,  is  a  continual  gloss  on  the  Law 
and  Prophets  ;  their  vowel  points,  and  prosaic  and  metrical  accents,  &c.,  give  every  word  to 
which  they  are  affixed  a  peculiar  kind  of  meaning,  which  in  their  simple  state  multitudes  of  them 
can  by  no  means  bear.  The  vowel  points  alone  add  whole  conjugations  to  the  language.  This 
system  is  one  of  the  most  artificial,  particular,  and  extensive  comments  ever  written  on  the  word  of 
God  ;  for  there  is  not  one  word  in  the  Bible  that  is  not  the  subject  of  a  particular  gloss  through  its 
influence.  This  school  is  supposed  to  have  commenced  about  450  years  before  our  Lord,  and  to 
have  extended  down  to  A.  D.  1030.  Some  think  it  did  not  commence  before  the  fifth  century. 

Rabbi  Saadias  Gaon,  about  A.  D.  930,  wrote  a  commentary  upon  Daniel,  and  some  other 
parts  of  Scripture  ;  and  translated  in  a  literal  and  very  faithful  manner  the  whole  of  the  Old 
Testament  into  the  Arabic  language.  The  Pentateuch  of  this  translation  has  been  printed  by 
Erpenius,  Lugd.  Bat.  1622,  4to.  A  MS.  copy  of  Saadias’s  translation  of  the  Pentateuch,  proba¬ 
bly  as  old  as  the  author,  is  now  in  my  own  library. 

Rabbi  Solomon  Jarchi  or  Isaaki,  who  flourished  in  A.  D.  1140,  wrote  a  commentary  on  the 
whole  Bible,  so  completely  obscure  in  many  places,  as  to  require  a  very  large  comment  to  make  it 
intelligible. 

In  1160  Aben  Ezra,  a  justly  celebrated  Spanish  rabbin,  flourished  ;  his  commentaries  on  the 
Bible  are  deservedly  esteemed  both  by  Jews  and  Gentiles. 

Rabbi  Moses  ben  Maimon,  commonly  called  Maimonides,  also  ranks  high  among  the  Jewish 
commentatocs  ;  his  work  entitled  Moreh  Nebochim,  or  Teacher  of  the  Perplexed,  is  a  very  excel¬ 
lent  illustration  of  some  of  the  most  difficult  words  and  things  in  the  sacred  writings.  He 
flourished  about  A.  D.  1160. 

Rabbi  David  Kimchi,  a  Spanish  Jew,  wrote  a  very  useful  comment  on  most  books  of  the  Old 
Testament :  his  comment  on  the  Prophet  Isaiah  is  peculiarly  excellent.  He  flourished  about 
A.  D.  1220. 

Rabbi  Jacob  Baal  Hatturim  flourished  A.  D.  1300,  and  wrote  short  notes  or  observations  on 
the  Pentateuch,  principally  cabalistical. 

Rabbi  Levi  ben  Gershom,  a  Spanish  Jew  and  physician,  died  A.  D.  1370.  He  was  a  very 
voluminous  author,  and  wrote  some  esteemed  comments  on  different  parts  of  Scripture,  especially 
the  five  books  of  Moses. 

Rabbi  Isaac  Abarbanel  or  Abravanel,  a  Portuguese  Jew,  who  was  born  A.  D.  1437,  and 
died  A.  D.  1508,  also  wrote  extensive  commentaries  on  the  Scriptures,  which  are  highly  esteemed 
by  the  Jews. 

Rabbinoo  Isaiah  wrote  select  notes  or  observations  on  the  books  of  Samuel. 

Rabbi  Moses  Mendelssohn,  a  German  Jew,  born  at  Dissau,  in  1729,  was  one  of  the  most  learned 
Jews  that  has  flourished  since  the  days  of  the  prophets ;  a  man  to  whose  vast  mental  powers 
was  added  a  very  amiable  disposition,  and  truly  philanthropic  heart.  He  wrote  Nesibut 
Hashshalom,  i.  e.,  the  Path  of  Peace;  the  five  books  of  Moses,  with  a  commentary,  and  German 
translation  ;  Ritual  laws  of  the  Jews  ;  the  Psalms  of  David  in  verse  ;  also,  on  the  being  of  a  God ; 
the  Immortality  of  the  Soul,  and  several  philosophical  works.  He  died  at  Berlin  in  1786.  See 
a  well-written  life  of  this  great  man  by  M.  Samuels ;  8vo.  Lond,  1825, 
a  2 


GENERAL  PREFACE. 


For  farther  information  on  the  subject  of  Jewish  and  rabbinical  writers,  I  must  refer  my  readers 
to  the  Bibliotheca  Magna  Rabbinica  of  Bartolocci,  begun  in  1675,  and  finished  in  1693,  four 
vols.  folio.  In  this  work  the  reader  will  find  an  ample  and  satisfactory  account  of  all  Jewish 
writers  and  their  works  from  the  giving  of  the  law,  A.  M.  2513,  B.  C.  1491,  continued  down  to 
A.  D.  1681.  This  work  is  digested  in  alphabetical  order,  and  contains  an  account  of  upwards  of 
1,300  Jewish  authors  and  their  works,  with  a  confutation  of  their  principal  objections  and  blasphe¬ 
mies  against  the  Christian  religion;  together  with  frequent  demonstrations  that  Jesus  Christ  is  the 
promised  Messiah,  drawn,  not  only  from  the  sacred  writings,  but  from  those  also  of  the  earlier  and 
most  respectable  rabbins  themselves  :  each  of  the  volumes  is  enriched  with  a  great  variety  of  dis¬ 
sertations  on  many  important  subjects  in  Biblical  literature.  This  work,  left  unfinished  by  its 
author,  was  completed  by  Imhonati,  his  disciple,  who  added  a  fifth  volume,  entitled  Bibliotheca 
Latino-Hebraica,  containing  an  ample  alphabetical  account  of  all  the  Latin  authors  who  have  writ¬ 
ten  either  against  the  Jews  or  on  Jewish  affairs.  Romae,  1694.  These  two  works  are  very  useful, 
and  the  authors  may  be  deservedly  ranked  among  Biblical  critics  and  commentators.  Bartolocci 
was  born  at  Naples  in  1613,  and  died  at  Rome,  where  he  was  Hebrew  professor,  in  1687. 

Most  of  the  Jewish  comments  being  WTitten  in  the  corrupt  Chaldee  dialect,  and  in  general  printed 
in  th o  rabbinical  character ,  which  few,  even  among  scholars,  care  to  read,  hence  they  are  compara¬ 
tively  but  little  known.  It  must  be  however  allowed  that  they  are  of  great  service  in  illustrating 
the  rites  and  ceremonies  of  the  Mosaic  law ;  and  of  great  use  to  the  Christians  in  their  contro¬ 
versies  with  the  Jews. 

As  some  of  my  readers  may  wish  to  know  where  the  chief  of  these  comments  may  be  most  easily 
found,  it  will  give  them  pleasure  to  be  informed  that  the  Tar  gums  or  Chaldee  paraphrases  of  Onke- 
los  and  Jonathan;  the  Tar  gum  Yerushlemey;  the  Masorah;  the  comments  of  Radar,  i.  e. 
Rabbi  David  Kimchi;  Rashi,  i.  e.  Rabbi  Solomon  Jar  chi;  Ralbag,  i.  e.  Rabbi  Levi  ben  Ger  shorn: 
Rambam,  i.  e.  Rabbi  Moses  ben  Maimon ,  or  Maimonides ;  Rashag,  i.  e.  Rabbi  Saadias  Gaon;  Aben 
Ezra,  with  the  scanty  observations  of  Rabbi  Jacob  Baal  Hatturim,  on  the  five  books  of  Moses ; 
and  those  of  Rabbi  Isaiah  on  the  two  books  of  Samuel,  are  all  printed  in  the  second  edition  of 
Bomberg’s  Great  Bible:  Venice,  1547,  &c.,  2  vols.  folio;  the  most  useful,  the  most  correct,  and 
the  most  valuable  Hebrew  Bible  ever  published.  It  may  be  just  necessary  to  say,  that  Radak , 
Rashi,  Ralbag,  See.,  are  technical  names  given  to  these  rabbins  from  the  initials  of  their  proper 
names,  with  some  interposed  vowels,  as  RnDnK,  stands  for  Rabbi  D avid  'Kimchi ;  RnS/iI,  for 
Rabbi  Solomon  Jar  chi ;  R&LBaG,  for  Rabbi  Levi  Ren  G  er  shorn;  and  so  of  the  rest.  The  Tar- 
gums  of  Onkelos  and.  Jonathan  are  printed  also  in  the  three  first  volumes  of  the  London  Polyglot, 
with  a  generally  correct  literal  Latin  version.  The  Tar  gum  ascribed  to  Jonathan  ben  Uzziel,  and 
the  Tar  gum  Yerushlemey  on  the  Pentateuch,  are  printed  with  a  literal  Latin  version,  in  the  fourth 
volume  of  the  above  work.  The  Mishnah  has  been  printed  in  a  most  elegant  manner  by  Suren- 
Iiusius :  Amsterdam,  1698,  6  vols.  folio,  with  a  Latin  translation,  and  an  abundance  of  notes. 

Christian  commentators,  both  ancient  and  modern,  are  vastly  more  numerous,  more  excellent, 
and  better  known,  than  those  among  the  Jews.  On  this  latter  account  I  maybe  well  excused  for 
passing  by  many  which  have  all  their  respective  excellences,  and  mentioning  only  a  few  out  of  the 
vast  multitude,  which  are  either  more  eminent,  more  easy  of  access,  or  better  known  to  myself. 

These  comments  may  be  divided  into  four  distinct  classes  :  1.  Those  of  the  Primitive  Fathers 
and  Doctors  of  the  Church;  2.  Those  written  by  Roman  Catholics ;  3.  Those  written  by  Pro¬ 
testants,  and,  4.  Compilations  from  both,  and  collections  of  Biblical  critics. 

Class  I. — Primitive  Fathers  and  Doctors. 

Tatian,  who  flourished  about  A.  D.  150,  wrote  a  Harmony  of  the  four  Gospels,  perhaps  the 
first  thing  of  the  kind  ever  composed  :  the  genuine  work  is  probably  lost,  as  that  extant  under  his 
name  is  justly  suspected  by  the  learned. 

In  this  class  Origen  occupies  a  distinguished  place:  he  was  born  A.  D.  185,  and  wrote  much 
on  the  Scriptures:  his  principal  works  are  unfortunately  lost :  many  of  his  Homilies  still  remain, 
but  they  are  so  replete  with  metaphorical  and  fanciful  interpretations  of  the  sacred  text,  that  there 
is  much  reason  to  believe  they  have  been  corrupted  since  his  time.  Specimens  of  his  mode  of 
interpreting  the  Scriptures  may  be  seen  in  the  ensuing  comment.  See  on  Exod.  ii. 

Hyppolitus  wrote  many  things  on  the  Scriptures,  most  of  which  are  lost :  he  flourished  about 
A.  D.  230. 

Chrysostom  is  well  known  and  justly  celebrated  for  his  learning,  skill,  and  eloquence,  in  his 
Homilies  on  the  sacred  writings,  particularly  the  Psalms.  He  flourished  A.  D.  344. 

Jerome  is  also  well  known:  he  is  author  of  what  is  called  the  Vulgate,  a  Latin  version  from 
the  Hebrew  and  Greek  of  the  whole  Old  and  New  Testaments,  as  also  of  a  very  valuable  comment 
on  all  the  Bible.  He  flourished  A.  D.  360. 

Ephraim  Syrus,  who  might  be  rather  said  to  have  mourned  than  to  have  flourished  about  A.  D. 
360,  has  written  some  very  valuable  expositions  of  particular  parts  of  Scripture.  They  may  be 
found  in  his  works,  Syr.  and  Gr.,  published  by  Asseman,  Romae,  1737,  See.,  6  vols.  folio. 

Vol.  1.  (  2  )  3 


GENERAL  PREFACE. 


To  Augustine,  a  laborious  and  voluminous  writer,  we  are  indebted  for  much  valuable  information 
on  the  sacred  writings.  His  expositions  of  Scripture,  however,  have  been  the  subjects  of  many 
acrimonious  controversies  in  the  Christian  Church.  He  has  written  upon  a  number  of  abstruse  and 
difficult  points,  and  in  several  cases  not  in  a  very  lucid  manner ;  and  hence  it  is  not  to  be  wondered 
at  if  many  of  his  commentators  have  mistaken  his  meaning.  Some  strange  things  drawn  from  his 
writings,  and  several  things  in  his  creed,  may  be  attributed  to  the  tincture  his  mind  received  from 
his  Manichean  sentiments  ;  for  it  is  well  known  that  he  had  embraced,  previously  to  his  conversion 
to  Christianity,  the  doctrine  of  the  two  principles,  one  wholly  evil,  and  the  other  wholly  good;  to 
whose  energy  and  operation  all  the  good  and  evil  in  the  world  were  attributed.  These  two  oppo¬ 
site  and  conflicting  beings  he  seems,  in  some  cases,  unwarily  to  unite  in  one  God  ;  and  hence  he 
and  many  of  his  followers  appear  to  have  made  the  ever-blessed  God,  the  fountain  of  all  justice  and 
holiness,  the  author,  not  only  of  all  the  good  that  is  in  the  world,  (for  in  this  there  can  be  but  one 
opinion,)  but  of  all  the  evil  likewise  ;  having  reduced  it  to  a  necessity  of  existence  by  a  predeter¬ 
mining,  unchangeable,  and  eternal  decree,  by  which  all  the  actions  of  angels  and  men  are  appointed 
and  irrevocably  established.  St.  Augustine  died  A.  D.  430. 

Gregory  the  Great,  who  flourished  about  A.  D.  600,  has  written  commentaries  which  are 
greatly  esteemed,  especially  among  the  Catholics. 

Theophylact  has  written  a  valuable  comment  on  the  Gospels,  Acts,  and  St.  Paul’s  Epistles. 
He  flourished  A.  D.  700. 

Venerable  Bede  flourished  A.  A.  780,  and  wrote  comments  (or  rather  collected  those  of  others) 
on  the  principal  books  of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments,  which  are  still  extant. 

Rabanus  Maurus,  who  flourished  A.  D.  800,  was  one  of  the  most  voluminous  commentators 
since  the  days  of  Origen.  Besides  his  numerous  comments  published  in  his  works,  there  is  a  glos¬ 
sary  of  his  on  the  whole  Bible  in  MS.,  in  the  imperial  library  at  Vienna. 

Walafridus  Strabus  composed  a  work  on  the  Old  and  New  Testaments,  entitled  Biblia  Sacra 
cum  Glossa  Ordinaria,  which  is  properly  a  Catena  or  collection  of  all  comments  of  the  Greek  and 
Latin  Fathers  prior  to  his  time.  Strabus  constantly  endeavours  to  show  the  literal,  historical,  and 
moral  sense  of  the  inspired  writers.  The  best  edition  of  this  valuable  work  was  printed  at  Antwerp 
in  1684,  6  vols.  folio.  The  author  died  in  his  forty-third  year,  A.  D.  846. 

It  would  be  very  easy  to  augment  this  list  of  Fathers  and  Doctors  by  the  addition  of  many 
respectable  names,  but  my  limits  prevent  me  from  entering  into  any  detail.  A  few  scanty  addi¬ 
tional  notices  of  authors  and  their  works  must  suffice. 

Salonius,  bishop  of  Vienna,  who  flourished  in  440,  wrote  a  very  curious  piece,  entitled  a  Mys¬ 
tical  Explanation  of  the  Proverbs  of  Solomon,  in  a  dialogue  between  himself  and  his  brother  Ve- 
ranius  :  the  latter  asks  questions  on  every  important  subject  contained  in  the  book,  and  the  former 
answers  and  professes  to  solve  all  difficulties.  He  wrote  also  an  Exposition  of  Ecclesiastes . 

Philo,  bishop  of  the  Carpathians,  wrote  on  Solomon’s  Song. 

Justus,  bishop  of  Orgelitanum,  or  TJr gel,  wrote  a  mystical  explanation  of  the  same  book.  He 
died  A.  D.  540. 

And  to  Aponius,  a  writer  of  the  seventh  century,  a  pretty  extensive  and  mystical  exposition  of 
this  book  is  attributed.  It  is  a  continued  allegory  of  the  marriage  between  Christ  and  his  Church. 

To  Aponius  and  the  preceding  writers  most  modern  expositors  of  Solomon’s  Song  stand  con¬ 
siderably  indebted,  for  those  who  have  never  seen  these  ancient  authors  have  generally  borrowed 
from  others  who  have  closely  copied  their  mode  of  interpretation. 

Among  the  opuscula  of  Theopiiilus,  bishop  of  Antioch,  is  found  an  allegorical  exposition  of 
the  four  Gospels.  Theophilus  flourished  about  the  middle  of  the  second  century. 

Victor,  presbyter  of  Antioch,  wrote  a  very  extensive  comment  on  St.  Mark’s  Gospel,  in  which 
many  very  judicious  observations  may  be  found. 

Theodulus,  a  presbyter  of  Ccelesyria,  about  A.  D.  450  wrote  a  comment  on  the  Epistle  to  the 
Romans. 

Remigius,  bishop  of  Auxerre,  who  flourished  about  the  end  of  the  ninth  century,  wrote  a  com¬ 
ment  on  the  twelve  Minor  Prophets. 

Sedulius  Hybernicus  wrote  a  Collectanea  on  all  the  Epistles  of  St.  Paul,  in  which  there  are 
many  useful  things.  When  he  flourished  is  uncertain. 

Primasius,  bishop  of  Utica,  in  Africa,  and  disciple  of  St.  Augustine,  wrote  also  a  comment  on 
all  St.  Paul’s  Epistles,  and  one  on  the  book  of  Revelation.  He  flourished  A.  D.  550. 

And  to  Andreas,  archbishop  of  Caesarea,  in  Cappadocia,  we  are  indebted  for  a  very  extensive 
comment  on  the  Apocalypse,  which  is  highly  extolled  by  Catholic  writers,  and  which  contains  a 
sufficient  quantum  of  mystical  interpretations. 

All  these  writers,  with  others  of  minor  note,  may  be  found  in  the  Bibliotheca  Veterum  Patrum, 
&c.,  by  De  la  Bigne,  folio,  par.  1624,  vol.  i.  Any  person  who  is  fond  of  ecclesiastical  antiquity 
will  find  himself  gratified  even  by  a  superficial  reading  of  the  preceding  authors ;  for  they  not 
only  give  their  own  sentiments  on  the  subjects  they  handle,  but  also  those  of  accredited  writers 
who  have  flourished  long  before  their  times. 

4 


(  2*  ) 


GENERAL  PREFACE. 


Class  II. — Catholic  Commentators. 

Among  the  Catholic  writers  many  valuable  commentators  are  to  be  found;  the  chief  of  whom 
are  the  following: — Hugo  dc  Sancto  Clara,  or  Hugh  de  St.  Cler,  flourished  in  1200.  He  was 
a  Dominican  monk  and  cardinal,  and  wrote  a  commentary  on  the  whole  Bible,  and  composed  a 
Concordance ,  probably  the  first  regular  work  of  the  kind,  in  which  he  is  said  to  have  employed 
not  less  than  500  of  his  brethren  to  write  for  him. 

Nicholaus  de  Lyra  or  Lyranus ,  Anglice,  Nicholas  Harper ,  wrote  short  comments  on  the  whole 
Bible,  which  are  allowed  to  be  very  judicious,  and  in  which  he  reprehends  many  reigning  abuses. 
It  is  supposed  that  from  these  Martin  Luther  borrowed  much  of  that  light  which  brought  about 
the  Reformation.  Hence  it  has  been  said, 

Si  Lyra  non  lyr asset, 

Lutherus  non  saltasset , 

“  If  Lyra  had  not  harped  on  profanation, 

Luther  had  never  planned  the  reformation.” 

Lyra  flourished  in  1300,  and  was  the  first  of  the  Christian  commentators,  since  St.  Jerome,  who 
brought  rabbinical  learning  to  illustrate  the  sacred  writings.  His  postils  may  be  found  in  the 
Glossa  Ordinaria  of  Walafrid  Strabus,  already  mentioned. 

John  Menochius,  who  flourished  in  the  sixteenth  century,  has  published  short  notes  on  all  the 
Scriptures  ;  they  are  generally  esteemed  very  judicious  and  satisfactory. 

Isidore  Clarius,  bishop  of  Fuligni  in  Umbria,  in  1550,  wrote  some  learned  notes  on  the  Old 
and  New  Testaments  :  he  is  celebrated  for  an  eloquent  speech  delivered  before  the  council  of 
Trent  in  favour  of  the  Vulgate.  His  learned  defence  of  it  contributed  no  doubt  to  the  canoni¬ 
zation  of  that  Version. 

John  Maldonat  wrote  notes  on  particular  parts  of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments,  at  present 
little  read. 

Cornelius  a  Lapide  is  one  of  the  most  laborious  and  voluminous  commentators  since  the 
invention  of  printing.  Though  he  has  written  nothing  either  on  the  Psalms  or  Job,  yet  his 
comment  forms  no  less  than  16  vols.  folio  ;  it  was  printed  at  Venice,  1710.  He  was  a  very  learned 
man,  but  cites  as  authentic  several  spurious  writings.  He  died  in  1637. 

In  1693-4,  Father  Quesnel,  Priest  of  the  Oratory,  published  in  French,  at  Brussels,  Moral 
Reflections  on  the  New  Testament,  in  8  vols.  12mo.  The  author  was  a  man  of  deep  piety  ;  and 
were  it  not  for  the  rigid  Jansenian  predestinarianism  which  it  contains,  it  would,  as  a  spiritudl 
comment,  be  invaluable.  The  work  was  translated  into  English  by  the  Rev.  Richard  Russel,  and 
published  in  4  vols.  8vo.,  London,  1719,  &c.  In  this  work  the  reader  must  not  expect  any  eluci¬ 
dation  of  the  difficulties,  or  indeed  of  the  text,  of  the  New  Testament ;  the  design  of  Father 
Quesnel  is  to  draw  spiritual  uses  from  his  text,  and  apply  them  to  moral  purposes.  His  reflec¬ 
tions  contain  many  strong  reprehensions  of  reigning  abuses  in  the  Church,  and  especially  among 
the  clergy.  It  was  against  this  book  that  Pope  Clement  XI.  issued  his  famous  constitution 
Unigenitus,  in  which  he  condemned  one  hundred  and  one  propositions  taken  out  of  the  Moral 
Reflections,  as  dangerous  and  damnable  heresies.  In  my  notes  on  the  New  Testament  I  have 
borrowed  several  excellent  reflections  from  Father  QuesneVs  work.  The  author  died  at  Amster¬ 
dam,  December  2,  1719,  aged  86  years. 

Dom  Augustin  Calmet,  a  Benedictine,  published  what  he  terms  Commentaire  Litteral,  on  the 
whole  of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments.  It  was  first  printed  at  Paris,  in  26  vols.  4to.,  1707-1717; 
and  afterwards  in  9  vols.  folio,  Paris,  Emery,  Saugrain,  and  Martin,  1719-1726.  It  contains  the 
Latin  text  of  the  Vulgate  and  a  French  translation,  in  collateral  columns,  with  the  notes  at  the 
bottom  of  each  page.  It  has  a  vast  apparatus  of  prefaces  and  dissertations,  in  which  immense 
learning,  good  sense,  sound  judgment,  and  deep  piety,  are  invariably  displayed.  Though  the 
Vulgate  is  his  text,  yet  he  notices  all  its  variations  from  the  Hebrew  and  Greek  originals,  and 
generally  builds  his  criticisms  on  these.  He  quotes  all  the  ancient  commentators,  and  most  of 
the  modern,  whether  Catholic  or  Protestant,  and  gives  them  due  credit  and  praise.  His  illustra¬ 
tions  of  many  difficult  texts,  referring  to  idolatrous  customs,  rites,  ceremonies,  Sec.,  lrom  the 
Greek  and  Roman  classics,  are  abundant,  appropriate,  and  successful.  His  tables,  maps,  plans , 
&c.,  are  very  judiciously  constructed,  and  consequently  very  useful.  This  is  without  exception 
the  best  comment  ever  published  on  the  sacred  writings,  either  by  Catholics  or  Protestants,  and 
has  left  little  to  be  desired  for  the  completion  of  such  a  work.  It  is  true  its  scarcity,  voluminous¬ 
ness,  high  price,  and  the  language  in  which  it  is  written,  must  prevent  its  ever  coming  into 
common  use  in  our  country  ;  but  it  will  ever  form  one  of  the  roost  valuable  parts  of  the  private 
library  of  every  Biblical  student  and  divine.  From  this  judicious  and  pious  commentator  I  have 
often  borrowed  ;  and  his  contributions  form  some  of  the  best  parts  of  my  work.  It  is  to  be 
lamented  that  he  trusted  so  much  to  his  'printers,  in  consequence  of  which  his  work  abounds  with 
typographical  errors,  and  especially  in  his  learned  quotations.  In  almost  every  case  I  have  been 
obliged  to  refer  to  the  originals  themselves.  When  once  written  he  never  revised  his  sheets,  but 

5 


GENERAL  PREFACE. 


put  them  at  once  into  the  hands  of  his  printer.  This  was  a  source  of  many  mistakes  ;  but  for 
the  following  I  cannot  account.  In  his  notes  on  Numb.  xii.  2,  he  adds  the  following  clause : 
Dominus  iratus  est,  Le  Seigneur  se  suit  en  colere,  on  which  he  makes  the  following  strange 
observation :  Cela  n’est  dans  l’Hebreu,  ni  dans  les  Septante,  ni  dans  le  Chaldeen.  On  which 
Houbigant  remarks :  Potuit  addere  nec  in  Samaritano  codice,  nec  in  ejus  interprete,  nec  in 
ipso  Vulgato,  nec  in  utroque  Arabe.  Ut  difficile  sit  divinare  unde  hcec  verba  Aug.  Calmet 
deprompserit :  nec  miror  talia  multa  excidisse  in  scriptore  qui  chartas  suas,  prim, a  manu 
scriptas,  non  prius  retractabat,  quam  eas  jam  mississet  ad  typographos.  The  fact  is,  the 
words  are  not  in  the  Bible  nor  in  any  of  its  versions. 

In  1753,  Father  Houbigant,  a  Priest  of  the  Oratory,  published  a  Hebrew  Bible,  in  4  vols. 
folio,  with  a  Latin  Version,  and  several  critical  notes  at  the  end  of  each  chapter.  He  was  a 
consummate  Hebraician  and  accurate  critic  ;  even  his  conjectural  emendations  of  the  text  cast 
much  light  on  many  obscure  passages,  and  not  a  few  of  them  have  been  confirmed  by  the  MS. 
collections  of  Kennicott  and  De  Rossi.  The  work  is  as  invaluable  in  its  matter  as  it  is  high 
in  price  and  difficult  to  be  obtained.  To  this  edition  the  following  notes  are  often  under  con¬ 
siderable  obligation. 

Class  III. — Protestant  Commentators. 

Sebastian  Munster,  first  a  Cordelier,  but  afterwards  a  Protestant,  published  a  Hebrew  Bible, 
with  a  Latin  translation,  and  short  critical  notes  at  the  end  of  each  chapter.  His  Bible  has  been 
long  neglected,  but  his  notes  have  been  often  republished  in  large  collections.  He  died  in  1552. 

The  Bible  in  Latin,  printed  at  Zurich,  in  1543,  and  often  afterwards  in  folio,  has  a  vast  many 
scholia  or  marginal  notes,  which  have  been  much  esteemed  (as  also  the  Latin  version)  by  many 
divines  and  critics.  The  compilers  of  the  notes  were  Leo  de  Juda,  Theodore  Bibliander,  Peter 
Cholin,  Ralph  Guatier,  and  Conrad  Pelicanus. 

Tremellius,  a  converted  Jew,  with  Junius  or  du  Jon,  published  a  very  literal  Latin  version 
of  the  Hebrew  Bible  with  short  critical  notes,  folio,  1575.  It  has  often  been  reprinted,  and  was 
formerly  in  high  esteem.  Father  Simon  accuses  him  unjustly  of  putting  in  pronouns  where 
none  exist  in  the  Hebrew :  had  he  examined  more  carefully  he  would  have  found  that  Tremel¬ 
lius  translates  the  emphatic  article  by  the  pronoun  in  Latin,  and  it  is  well  known  that  it  has  this 
power  in  the  Hebrew  language.  Father  Simon’’ s  censure  is  therefore  not  well  founded. 

John  Piscator  published  a  laborious  and  learned  comment  on  the  Old  and  New  Testaments, 
in  24  vols.  8vo.,  Herborn,  1601-1616.  Not  highly  esteemed. 

John  Drusius  was  an  able  commentator ;  he  penetrated  the  literal  sense  of  Scripture,  and  in 
his  Animadversions,  Hebrew  Questions,  Explanations  of  Proverbs,  Observations  on  the  Rites 
and  Customs  of  the  Jews,  he  has  cast  much  light  on  many  parts  of  the  sacred  writings.  He 
died  at  Franeker,  in  1616,  in  the  66th  year  of  his  age. 

Hugo  Grotius,  or  Hugh  le  Groot,  has  written  notes  on  the  whole  of  the  Old  and  New  Testa¬ 
ments.  His  learning  was  very  extensive,  his  erudition  profound,  and  his  moderation  on  subjects 
of  controversy  highly  praiseworthy.  No  man  possessed  a  more  extensive  and  accurate  know¬ 
ledge  of  the  Greek  and  Latin  writers,  and  no  man  has  more  successfully  applied  them  to  the 
illustration  of  the  sacred  writings.  To  give  the  literal  and  genuine  sense  of  the  sacred  writings 
is  always  the  laudable  study  of  this  great  man  ;  and  he  has  not  only  illustrated  them  amply,  but 
he  has  defended  them  strenuously,  especially  in  his  treatise  On  the  Truth  of  the  Christian 
Religion,  a  truly  classical  performance  that  has  never  been  answered,  and  never  can  be 
refuted.  He  has  also  written  a  piece,  which  has  been  highly  esteemed  by  many,  On  the  Satis¬ 
faction  of  Christ.  He  died  in  1645,  aged  62  years. 

Louis  de  Dieu  wrote  animadversions  on  the  Old  and  New  Testaments,  in  which  are  many 
valuable  things.  He  was  a  profound  scholar  in  Greek,  Hebrew,  Chaldee,  Persian,  and  Syriac, 
as  his  works  sufficiently  testify.  He  died  at  Leyden,  in  1642. 

Desiderius  Erasmus  is  well  known,  not  only  as  an  able  editor  of  the  Greek  Testament,  but 
also  as  an  excellent  commentator  upon  it.  The  first  edition  of  this  sacred  Book  was  published 
by  him  in  Greek  and  Latin,  folio,  1516 ;  for  though  the  Complutensian  edition  was  printed  in 
1514,  it  was  not  published  till  1522.  For  many  years  the  notes  of  Erasmus  served  for  the  foun¬ 
dation  of  all  the  comments  that  were  written  on  the  New  Testament,  and  his  Latin  version 
itself  was  deemed  an  excellent  comment  on  the  text,  because  of  its  faithfulness  and  simplicity. 
Erasmus  was  one  of  the  most  correct  Latin  scholars  since  the  Augustan  age.  He  died  in  1536. 
1  need  not  state  that  in  some  cases  he  appeared  so  indecisive  in  his  religious  creed,  that  he  has 
been  both  claimed  and  disavowed  by  Protestants  and  Catholics. 

John  Calvin  wrote  a  commentary  on  all  the  Prophets  and  the  Evangelists,  which  has  been 
in  high  esteem  among  Protestants,  and  is  allowed  to  be  a  very  learned  and  judicious  work.  The 
decided  and  active  part  which  he  took  in  the  Reformation  is  well  known.  To  the  doctrine  of 
human  merit,  indulgences,  &c  ,  he,  with  Luther,  opposed  the  doctrine  of  justification  by  grace 


GENERAL  PREFACE. 


through  faith,  for  which  they  were  strenuous  and  successful  advocates.  The  peculiar  doctrines 
which  go  under  the  name  of  Mr.  Calvin,  from  the  manner  in  which  they  have  been  defended 
by  some  and  opposed  by  others,  have  been  the  cause  of  much  dissension  among  Protestants,  of 
which  the  enemies  of  true  religion  have  often  availed  themselves.  Mr.  Calvin  is  allowed  by 
good  judges  to  have  written  with  great  purity  both  in  Latin  and  French.  He  died  in  1564. 

Mr.  David  Martin,  of  Utrecht,  not  only  translated  the  whole  of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments 
into  French,  but  also  wrote  short  notes  on  both,  which  contain  much  good  sense,  learning,  and 
piety.  Amsterdam,  1707,  2  vols.  folio. 

Dr.  Henry  Hammond  is  celebrated  over  Europe  as  a  very  learned  and  judicious  divine.  He 
wrote  an  extensive  comment  on  the  Psalms,  first  published  in  1659,  and  on  the  whole  of  the 
New  Testament,  in  1653.  In  this  latter  work  he  imagines  he  sees  the  Gnostics  every  where 
pointed  at,  and  he  uses  them  as  a  universal  menstruum  to  dissolve  all  the  difficulties  in  the  text. 
He  was  a  man  of  great  learning  and  critical  sagacity,  and  as  a  divine  ranks  high  in  the  Church 
of  England.  He  died  in  1660. 

Theodore  Beza  not  only  published  the  Greek  Testament,  but  wrote  many  excellent  notes  on 
it.  The  best  edition  of  this  work  is  that  printed  at  Cambridge,  folio,  1642. 

Dr.  Edward  Wells  published  a  very  useful  Testament  in  Greek  and  English,  in  several 
parcels,  with  notes,  from  1709  to  1719,  in  which,  1.  The  Greek  text  is  amended  according  to 
the  best  and  most  ancient  readings.  2.  The  common  English  translation  rendered  more  agree¬ 
able  to  the  original.  3.  A  paraphrase,  explaining  the  difficult  expressions,  design  of  the  sacred 
writers,  &c.  4.  Short  Annotations.  This  is  a  judicious,  useful  work. 

Of  merely  critical  comments  on  the  Greek  Testament,  the  most  valuable  is  that  of  .7.  James 
Wetstein,  2  vols.  folio,  Amsterdam,  1751-2.  Almost  every  peculiar  form  of  speech  in  the 
sacred  text  he  has  illustrated  by  quotations  from  the  Jewish,  Greek,  and  Roman  writers.  But 
the  indistinctness  of  his  quotations  causes  much  confusion  in  his  notes. 

Mr.  Hardy  published  a  Greek  Testament  with  a  great  variety  of  useful  notes,  chiefly  extracted 
from  Poole’s  Synopsis.  The  work  is  in  2  vols.  8vo.,  London,  1768,  and  is  a  very  useful  com¬ 
panion  to  every  Biblical  student.  It  has  gone  through  two  editions,  the  first  of  which  is  the 
best ;  but  it  must  be  acknowledged  that  the  Greek  text  in  both  is  inexcusably  incorrect.  The 
Rev.  Mr.  Valpy  has  given  a  new  edition  of  this  work,  with  additional  scholia,  and  a  correct 
Greek  text. 

Mr.  Henry  Ainsworth,  one  of  that  class  of  the  ancient  Puritans  called  Brownists,  made  a 
new  translation  of  the  Pentateuch,  Psalms,  and  Canticles,  which  he  illustrated  with  notes,  folio, 
1639  He  was  an  excellent  Hebrew  scholar,  and  made  a  very  judicious  use  of  his  rabbinical 
learning  in  his  comment,  especially  on  the  five  books  of  Moses.  To  his  notes  on  the  Pentateuch 
1  am  often  under  obligation. 

The  notes  of  the  Assembly  of  Divines,  in  2  vols.  folio,  1654,  have  been  long  in  considerable 
estimation.  They  contain  many  valuable  elucidations  of  the  sacred  text. 

Mr.  J.  Caryl’s  exposition  of  the  book  of  Job,  in  two  immense  vols.  folio,  1676,  another  by 
Albert  Schultens ,  and  a  third  by  Chapelowe ,  on  the  same  book,  contain  a  vast  deal  of  important 
matter,  delivered  in  general  by  the  two  latter  in  the  dullest  and  most  uninteresting  form. 

Mr.  Matthew  Poole,  a  non-conformist  divine,  has  published  a  commentary  on  the  Scrip¬ 
tures,  in  2  vols.  folio.  The  notes,  which  are  mingled  with  the  text,  are  short,  but  abound  with 
good  sense  and  sound  judgment.  He  died  in  Holland,  in  1679. 

Dr.  John  Lightfoot  was  a  profound  scholar,  a  sound  divine,  and  a  pious  man.  He  brought 
all  his  immense  learning  to  bear  on  the  sacred  volumes,  and  diffused  light  wherever  he  went. 
His  historical,  chronological,  and  topographical  remarks  on  the  Old  Testament,  and  his  Tal- 
mudical  Exercitations  on  the  New,  are  invaluable.  His  works  were  published  in  two  large 
vols.  folio,  1684.  He  died  in  1675.  A  new  edition  of  these  invaluable  works,  with  many 
additions  and  corrections ,  has  been  published  by  the  Rev.  J.  R.  Pitman,  A.  M.,  in  13  vols.  8vo., 
London,  1825. 

On  the  plan  of  Dr.  Lightfoot’s  Hor,e  Hebraic^e,  or  Talmudical  Exercitations,  a  work  was 
undertaken  by  Christian  Sclioett genius  with  the  title  Hora  Hebraica  et  Talmudica  in  universum 
Novum  Testamenturn,  quibus  Flora  Jo.  Lightfooti  in  Libris  liistoricis  supplentur,  Epistola 
et  Apocalypsis  eodem  modo  illustr antur ,  Spc.  Dresdae,  1733,  2  vols.  4to.  This  is  a  learned  and 
useful  work,  and  supplies  and  completes  the  work  of  Dr.  Lightfoot.  The  Horse  Hebraicae  of 
Lightfoot  extend  no  farther  than  the  first  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians  ;  the  work  of  Schoettgen 
passes  over  the  same  ground  as  a  Supplement,  without  touching  the  things  already  produced  in 
the  English  work  ;  and  then  continues  the  work  on  the  same  plan  to  the  end  of  the  New  Testa¬ 
ment.  It  is  both  scarce  and  dear. 

Mr.  Richard  Baxter  published  the  New  Testament  with  notes,  8vo.,  1695.  The  notes  are 
interspersed  with  the  text,  and  are  very  short,  but  they  contain  much  sound  sense  and  piety.  A 
good  edition  of  this  work  was  published  in  the  same  form  by  Mr.  R.  Edwards,  London,  1810. 

Dr.  Simon  Patrick,  bishop  of  Ely,  began  a  comment  on  the  Old  Testament,  which  was 


GENERAL  PREFACE. 


finished  by  Dr.  Lowth ;  to  which  the  New  Testament,  by  Dr.  Whitby ,  is  generally  added  to 
complete  the  work.  Dr.  Whitby’s  work  was  first  published  in  1703,  and  often  since,  with 
many  emendations.  This  is  a  valuable  collection,  and  is  comprised  in  six  vols.  folio.  Patrick 
and  Lowth  are  always  judicious  and  solid,  and  Whitby  is  learned,  argumentative,  and  thoroughly 
orthodox. 

The  best  comment  on  the  New  Testament,  taken  in  all  points  of  view,  is  certainly  that  of 
Whitby.  He  is  said  to  have  embraced  Socinianism  previously  to  his  death,  which  took  place 
in  1726. 

Mr.  Anthony  Purver,  one  of  the  people  called  Quakers,  translated  the  whole  Bible  into 
English,  illustrated  with  critical  notes,  which  was  published  at  the  expense  of  Dr.  J.  Fothergill, 
in  1764,  two  vols.  folio.  This  work  has  never  been  highly  valued  ;  and  is  much  less  literal 
and  simple  than  the  habits  of  the  man,  and  those  of  the  religious  community  to  which  he 
belonged,  might  authorize  one  to  expect. 

The  Rev.  William  Burkitt,  rector  of  Dedham,  in  Essex,  has  written  a  very  useful  com¬ 
mentary  on  the  New  Testament,  which  has  often  been  republished.  It  is  both  pious  and 
practical,  but  not  distinguished  either  by  depth  of  learning  or  judgment.  The  pious  author 
died  in  1703. 

The  Rev.  Matthew  Henry,  a  very  eminent  dissenting  minister,  is  author  of  a  very  exten¬ 
sive  commentary  on  the  Old  and  New  Testaments,  five  vols.  folio,  and  one  of  the  most  popular 
works  of  the  kind  ever  published.  It  is  always  orthodox,  generally  judicious,  and  truly  pious 
and  practical,  and  has  contributed  much  to  diffuse  the  knowledge  of  the  Scriptures  among  the 
common  people,  for  whose  sakes  it  was  chiefly  written.  A  new  edition  of  this  work,  by  the 
Rev.  J.  Hughes ,  of  Battersea,  and  the  Rev.  G.  Burder,  of  London,  corrected  from  innumerable 
errors  which  have  been  accumulating  with  every  edition,  has  been  lately  published. 

As  I  apply  the  term  orthodox  to  persons  who  differ  considerably  in  their  religious  creed 
on  certain  points,  I  judge  it  necessary  once  for  all  to  explain  my  meaning.  He  who  holds  the 
doctrine  of  the  fall  of  man,  and  through  it  the  universal  corruption  of  human  nature  ;  the  God¬ 
head  of  our  blessed  Redeemer  ;  the  atonement  made  by  his  obedience  unto  death  ;  justification 
through  faith  alone  in  his  blood ;  the  inspiration  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  regenerating  and  renewing 
the  heart,  is  generally  reputed  orthodox ,  whether  in  other  parts  of  his  creed  he  be  Arminian  or 
Calvinist.  Whitby  and  Henry  held  and  defended  all  these  doctrines  in  their  respective  com¬ 
ments,  therefore  I  scruple  not  to  say  that  both  were  orthodox.  With  their  opinions  in  any  of 
their  other  works  I  have  no  concern. 

Dr.  John  Gill,  an  eminent  divine  of  the  Baptist  persuasion,  is  author  of  a  very  diffuse  com¬ 
mentary  on  the  Old  and  New  Testaments,  in  nine  vols.  folio.  He  was  a  very  learned  and  good 
man,  but  has  often  lost  sight  of  his  better  judgment  in  spiritualizing  his  text. 

Dr.  Philip  Doddridge’s  Family  Expositor,  4to.,  1745,  often  republished,  is  (with  the  exception 
of  his  paraphrase )  a  very  judicious  work.  It  has  been  long  highly  esteemed,  and  is  worthy 
of  all  the  credit  it  has  among  religious  people. 

Paraphrases ,  which  mix  up  men’s  words  with  those  of  God,  his  Christ,  his  Holy  Spirit,  and 
his  apostles,  are  in  my  opinion  dangerous  works.  Through  such,  many  of  the  common  people 
are  led  into  a  loose  method  of  quoting  the  sacred  text.  I  consider  the  practice,  except  in  very 
select  cases,  as  highly  unbecoming.  The  republic  of  letters  would  suffer  no  loss  if  every  work 
of  this  kind  on  the  Holy  Scriptures  were  abolished.  Dr.  Whitby,  by  the  insertion  of  mere 
words  in  brackets  and  in  another  character,  has  done  all  that  should  be  done,  and  vastly  outdone 
the  work  of  Dr.  Doddridge. 

To  Dr.  Z.  Pearce,  bishop  of  Rochester,  we  are  indebted  for  an  invaluable  commentary  and 
notes  on  the  Four  Gospels,  the  Acts,  and  the  First  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians,  two  vols.  4to.,  1777. 
The  deep  learning  and  judgment  displayed  in  these  notes  are  really  beyond  all  praise. 

Dr.  Campbell’s  work  on  the  Evangelists  is  well  known,  and  universally  prized.  So  is  also 
Dr.  Macknight’s  translation  of  the  Epistles,  with  notes.  Both  these  works,  especially  the 
former,  abound  in  sound  judgment,  deep  erudition,  and  a  strong  vein  of  correct  critical  acumen. 

Mr.  Locke  and  Dr.  Benson  are  well  known  in  the  republic  of  letters ;  their  respective  works 
on  different  parts  of  the  New  Testament  abound  with  judgment  and  learning. 

The  Rev.  J.  Wesley  published  a  selection  of  notes  on  the  Old  and  New  Testaments,  in 
four  vols.  4to.,  Bristol,  1765.  The  notes  on  the  Old  Testament  are  allowed,  on  all  hands,  to 
be  meagre  and  unsatisfactory  ;  this  is  owing  to  a  circumstance  with  which  few  are  acquainted. 
Mr.  Pine,  the  printer,  having  set  up  and  printed  off  several  sheets  in  a  type  much  larger 
than  was  intended,  it  was  found  impossible  to  get  the  work  within  the  prescribed  limits  of 
four  volumes,  without  retrenching  the  notes,  or  cancelling  what  was  already  printed.  The 
former  measure  was  unfortunately  adopted,  and  the  work  fell  far  short  of  the  expectation  of 
the  public.  This  account  I  had  from  the  excellent  author  himself.  The  notes  on  the  New 
Testament,  which  have  gone  through  several  editions,  are  of  a  widely  different  description; 
though  short,  they  are  always  judicious,  accurate,  spiritual,  terse,  and  impressive ;  and  possess 


GENERAL  PREFACE. 


the  happy  and  rare  property  of  leading  the  reader  immediately  to  God  and  his  own  heart. 
A  new  edition  of  this  work,  with  considerable  additions,  has  been  lately  published  by  the  Rev. 
Joseph  Benson ,  from  whose  learning,  piety,  and  theological  knowledge,  much  has  been  reasonably 
expected.  The  work  has  been  very  useful,  and  has  been  widely  dispersed. 

The  late  unfortunate  Dr.  William  Dodd  published  a  commentary  on  the  Old  and  New  Testa¬ 
ments,  in  three  vols.  folio,  London,  1770.  Much  of  if  is  taken  from  the  comment  of  Father 
Calmct ,  already  described;  but  he  has  enriched  his  work  by  many  valuable  notes  which  he 
extracted  from  the  inedited  papers  of  Lord  Clarendon,  Dr.  Waterland,  and  Mr.  Locke.  He 
has  also  borrowed  many  important  notes  from  Father  Houbigant.  This  work,  as  giving  in 
general  the  true  sense  of  the  Scriptures,  is  by  far  the  best  comment  that  has  yet  appeared  in  the 
English  language.  The  late  lamented  Dr.  Gosset,  of  famous  bibliographical  memory,  told  me 
that  he  “had  furnished  Dr.  Dodd  with  the  MS.  collections  of  Dr.  Waterland  and  others;  that 
Dr.  Dodd  was  employed  by  the  London  booksellers  to  edit  this  work  ;  and  it  was  by  far  the 
best  of  these  works  which  might  be  said  to  be  published  by  the  yard.” 

A  work,  entitled  An  Illustration  of  the  Sacred  Writings,  was  published  by  Mr.  Goadby,  at 
Sherbourne  :  it  contains  many  judicious  notes,  has  gone  through  several  editions,  and,  while  it 
seems  to  be  orthodox,  is  written  entirely  on  the  Arian  hypothesis. 

The  Rev.  Thomas  Coke,  LL.D.  has  lately  published  a  commentary  on  the  Old  and  New 
Testaments,  in  six  vols.  4to.  This  is,  in  the  main,  a  reprint  of  the  work  of  Dr.  Dodd,  with 
several  retrenchments,  and  some  additional  reflections.  Though  the  major  part  of  the  notes , 
and  even  the  dissertations  of  Dr.  Dodd  are  here  republished  ;  yet  all  the  marginal  readings 
and  parallel  texts  are  entirely  omitted.  The  absence  of  these  would  be  inexcusable  in  any 
Bible  beyond  the  size  of  a  duodecimo.  Of  their  importance  see  pp.  19  and  20  of  this  preface. 
Dr.  Coke’s  edition  is  in  general  well  printed,  has  some  good  maps,  and  has  had  a  very  extensive 
sale.  The  original  work  of  Dodd  was  both  scarce  and  dear,  and  therefore  a  new  edition  became 
necessary;  and  had  the  whole  of  the  original  work,  with  the  marginal  readings,  parallel  texts, 
&lc.,  been  preserved,  Dr.  Coke’s  publication  would  have  been  much  more  useful.  Dr.  Coke 
should  have  acknowledged  whence  he  collected  his  materials,  but  on  this  point  he  is  totally 
silent. 

The  Rev.  T.  Scott,  rector  of  Aston  Sandford,  has  published  a  commentary  on  the  Old 
and  New  Testaments,  in  five  vols.  4to.  The  author’s  aim  seems  to  be,  to  speak  plain  truth 
to  plain  men ;  and  for  this  purpose  he  has  interspersed  a  multitude  of  practical  observations 
all  through  the  text,  which  cannot  fail,  irom  the  spirit  of  sound  piety  which  they  breathe, 
of  being  very  useful. 

The  late  Dr.  Priestley  compiled  a  body  of  notes  on  the  Old  and  New  Testaments,  in  3 
vols.  8vo.,  published  at  Northumberland' in  America,  1804.  Though  the  doctor  keeps  his  own 
creed  (Unitarianism)  continually  in  view,  especially  when  considering  those  texts  which  other 
religious  people  adduce  in  favour  of  theirs,  yet  his  work  contains  many  valuable  notes  and 
observations,  especially  on  the  philosophy,  natural  history,  geography,  and  chronology  of  the 
Scriptures  ;  and  to  these  subjects  few  men  in  Europe  were  better  qualified  to  do  justice. 

A  new  translation  of  Job,  and  one  of  the  books  of  Canticles,  has  been  published  by  Dr. 
Mason  Good,  both  replete  with  learned  notes  of  no  ordinary  merit. 

In  closing  this  part  of  the  list,  it  would  be  unpardonable  to  omit  a  class  of  eminently  learned 
men,  who,  by  their  labours  on  select  parts  of  the  Scriptures,  have  rendered  the  highest  services 
both  to  religion  and  literature. 

Samuel  Bochart,  pastor  of  the  Protestant  Church  at  Caen  in  Normandy,  wrote  a  very  learned 
and  accurate  work  on  the  geography  of  the  sacred  writings,  entitled  Phaleg  and  Canaan,  and 
another  on  the  Natural  History  of  the  Bible,  entitled  Hierozoicon,  by  both  of  which,  as  well  as 
by  several  valuable  dissertations  in  his  works,  much  light  is  thrown  on  many  obscure  places  in 
the  sacred  writings.  The  best  collection  of  his  works  is  supposed  to  be  that  by  Leusden  and 
Villemandy ,  three  vols.  folio.  L.  Bat.  1712. 

Dr.  I.  James  Scheuchzer,  professor  of  medicine  and  the  mathematics  in  the  university  of 
Zurich,  is  author  of  a  very  elaborate  work  on  the  Natural  History  of  the  Bible,  entitled  I}hysica. 
Sacra,  which  has  been  printed  in  Latin,  German,  and  French,  and  forms  a  regular  comment,  on 
all  the  books  of  the  Bible  where  any  subject  of  natural  history  occurs. 

The  very  learned  author  has  availed  himself  of  all  the  researches  of  his  predecessors  on  the 
same  subject,  and  has  illustrated  his  work  with  750  engravings  of  the  different  subjects  in  the 
animal,  vegetable,  and  mineral  kingdoms,  to  which  there  is  any  reference  in  the  Scriptures. 
The  German  edition  was  published  in  1731,  in  15  vols.  folio,  the  Latin  edition  in  1731,  and  the 
French  in  1732,  8  vols.  folio,  often  bound  in  4.  The  work  is  as  rare  as  it  is  useful  and  elegant. 

The  late  Rev.  Mr.  Thomas  Harmer  published  a  very  useful  work,  entitled  “  Observations  on 
various  Passages  of  Scripture,”  in  which  he  has  cast  much  light  on  many  difficult  texts  that 
relate  to  the  customs  and  manners,  religious  and  civil,  of  the  Asiatic  nations,  by  quotations  from 
the  works  of  ancient  and  modern  travellers  into  different  parts  of  the  East,  who  have  described 

9 


GENERAL  PREFACE. 


those  customs,  &c.,  as  still  subsisting.  The  best  edition  of  this  work  was  published  in  four  vols. 
8vo.,  1808,  with  many  additions  and  corrections  by  the  author  of  the  present  commentary. 

Campegius  Vitringa  wrote  a  learned  and  most  excellent  comment  on  the  book  of  the  Prophet 
Isaiah,  in  2  vols.  folio  ;  the  best  edition  of  which  was  printed  in  1724.  He  died  in  1722. 

Dr.  R.  Lowth,  bishop  of  London,  is.  the  author  of  an  excellent  work,  entitled,  Isaiah  :  A 
New  Translation ,  with  a  preliminary  Dissertation ,  and  Notes  critical ,  philological ,  and  expla¬ 
natory.  4to.,  Lond.  1779,  first  edition.  The  preliminary  dissertation  contains  a  fund  of  rare 
and  judicious  criticism.  The  translation,  formed  by  the  assistance  of  the  ancient  versions 
collated  with  the  best  MSS.  of  the  Hebrew  text,  is  clear,  simple,  and  yet  dignified.  The  con¬ 
cluding  notes,  which  show  a  profound  knowledge  of  Hebrew  criticism,  are  always  judicious, 
and  generally  useful. 

The  late  Archbishop  of  Armagh,  Dr.  Newcome,  has  published  a  translation  of  the  minor 
prophets,  with  learned  notes  :  it  is  a  good  work,  but  creeps  slowly  after  its  great  predecessor. 
He  has  also  published  a  translation  of  the  New  Testament,  with  notes,  not  much  esteemed. 

On  the  same  plan  the  Rev.  Dr.  Blayney  translated  and  published  the  Prophet  Jeremiah,  with 
notes,  1784. 

John  Albert  Bengel  is  author  of  an  edition  of  the  New  Testament,  with  various  readings , 
and  such  a  judicious  division  of  it  into  paragraphs  as  has  never  been  equalled,  and  perhaps 
never  can  be  excelled.  He  wrote  a  very  learned  comment  on  the  Apocalypse,  and  short  notes 
on  the  New  Testament,  which  he  entitled  Gnomon  Novi  Testamenti,  in  quo  ex  nativa  verhorum 
vi,  simplicitas  profunditas,  concinnitas,  salubritas  sensuum  Codestium  indicatur.  In  him 
were  united  two  rare  qualifications — the  deepest  piety  and  the  most  extensive  learning. 

A  commentary  on  the  same  plan,  and  with  precisely  the  same  title ,  was  published  by  Phil. 
David  Burkins,  on  the  twelve  minor  prophets,  4to.,  Heilbronnse,  1753,  which  was  followed  by 
his  Gnomon  Psalmorum,  2  vols.  4to.,  Stutgardioe,  1760.  These  are  in  many  respects  valuable 
works,  written  in  a  pure  strain  of  piety,  but  rather  too  much  in  a  technical  form.  They  are 
seldom  to  be  met  with  in  this  country,  and.  are  generally  high  priced. 

The  late  pious  bishop  of  Norwich,  Dr.  Horne,  published  the  book  of  Psalms  with  notes, 
which  breathe  a  spirit  of  the  purest  and  most  exalted  piety. 

Herman  Venema  is  known  only  to  me  by  a  comment  on  Malachi,  some  dissertations  on 
sacred  subjects,  an  ecclesiastical  history,  correct  editions  of  some  of  Vitringa’s  Theological 
Tracts,  and  a  most  excellent  and  extensive  Commentary  on  the  Psalms,  in  6  vols.  4to.,  printed 
Leovardiae,  1762-7.  Through  its  great  scarcity  the  work  is  little  known  in  Great  Britain. 
What  was  said  by  David  of  Goliah’s  sword  has  been  said  of  Yenema’s  commentary  on  the  Book 
of  Psalms,  “  There  is  none  like  it.” 

Em,  Frid.  Car.  Rosenmulleri,  Ling.  Arab,  in  Acad.  Lips.  Professoris,  &c.,  Scholia  in 
VETUS  Testamentum.  Edit,  secunda  emendatior,  Lips.  1795-1812,  11  vols.  8vo.  Scholia  in 
Novum  Testamentum.  Edit,  quinta  auctior  et  emendatior,  1801-1808,  5  vols.  8vo.,  Nuremberg. 
This  is  a  very  learned  and  useful  work,  but  rather  too  diffuse  for  Scholia.  In  the  Scholia  on 
the  Old  Testament  Rosenmiiller  has  not  meddled  with  the  historical  books. 

Class  IV. — Compilations  and  Collections. 

On  the  fourth  Class,  containing  compilations  and  critical  collections,  a  few  words  must 
suffice.  Among  the  compilations  may  be  ranked  what  are  termed  Catena  of  the  Greek  and 
Latin  Fathers  ;  these  consist  of  a  connected  series  of  different  writers  on  the  same  text.  The 
work  of  Galafridus,  or  Walafridus  Strabus,  already  described,  is  of  this  kind ;  it  contains  a 
Catena  or  connected  series  of  the  expositions  of  all  the  Fathers  and  Doctors  prior  to  his 
time.  A  very  valuable  Catena  on  the  Octateuch,  containing  the  comments  of  about  fifty  Greek 
Fathers,  has  been  published  at  Leipsig,  1792,  in  2  vols.  folio  ;  it  is  all  in  Greek,  and  therefore 
of  no  use  to  common  readers.  The  work  of  Venerable  Bede,  already  noticed,  is  professedly 
of  the  same  kind. 

Father  De  la  ITaye,  in  what  was  called  the  Biblia  Magna,  1643,  5  vols.  folio,  and  afterwards 
Biblia  Maxima,  1660,  19  vols.  folio,  besides  a  vast  number  of  critical  Dissertations,  Prefaces, 
&c.,  inserted  the  whole  notes  of  Nicholas  de  Lyra,  Menochius,  Gagneus ,  Estius ,  and  the 
Jesuit  Tirin. 

Several  minor  compilations  of  this  nature  have  been  made  by  needy  writers,  who,  wishing  to 
get  a  little  money,  have  without  scruple  or  ceremony  borrowed  from  those  whose  reputation  was 
well  established  with  the  public;  and  by  taking  a  little  from  one,  and  a  little  from  another, 
pretended  to  give  the  marrow  of  all.  These  pretensions  have  been  rarely  justified:  it  often 
requires  the  genius  of  a  voluminous  original  writer  to  make  a  faithful  abridgment  of  his  work  ; 
but  in  most  of  these  compilations  the  love  of  money  is  much  more  evident  than  the  capacity 
to  do  justice  to  the  original  author,  or  the  ability  to  instruct  and  profit  mankind.  To  what  a 
vast  number  of  these  minor  compilations  has  the  excellent  work  of  Mr.  Matthew  Henry  givea 


GENERAL  PREFACE. 


birth  !  every  one  of  which,  while  professing  to  lop  off  his  redundancies ,  and  supply  his  defi¬ 
ciencies,  falls,  by  a  semi-diameter  of  the  immense  orb  of  literature  and  religion,  short  of  the 
eminence  of  the  author  himself. 

The  most  important  collection  of  Biblical  critics  ever  made  was  that  formed  under  the  direc¬ 
tion  of  Bishop  Pearson ,  John  Pearson ,  Anthony  Scatter  good ,  and  Francis  Gouldman ,  printed 
by  Cornelius  Bee,  London,  1660,  in  9  vols.  folio,  under  the  title  of  Critici  Sacri,  intended  as 
a  companion  for  the  Polyglot  Bible,  published  by  Bishop  Walton,  in  1657.  This  great  work 
was  republished  at  Amsterdam,  with  additions,  in  12  vols.  folio,  in  1698.  Two  volumes  called 
Thesaurus  Dissertationum  Elegantiorum ,  Spc.,  were  printed  as  a  supplement  to  this  work,  at 
Amsterdam,  in  1701-2.  Of  this  supplement  it  may  be  said,  it  is  of  less  consequence  and  utility 
than  is  generally  supposed,  as  the  substance  of  several  treatises  in  it  is  to  be  found  in  the  pre¬ 
ceding  volumes.  The  work  contains  a  vast  variety  of  valuable  materials  for  critics,  chro- 
nologists,  &c. 

The  principal  critics  on  the  Old  Testament,  contained  in  the  foreign  edition  of  this  great 
collection,  which  is  by  far  the  most  complete,  are  the  following  :  Sebastian  Munster,  Paul  Fagius, 
Francis  Vatablus,  Claudius  Badwellus,  Sebastian  Castalio,  Isidore  Clarius,  Lucas  Brugensis, 
Andrew  Masius,  John  Drusius,  Sextinus  Amama,  Simeon  de  Muis,  Philip  Codurcus,  Rodolph 
Baynus,  Francis  Forrerius,  Edward  Lively,  David  Hoeschelius,  Hugo  Grotius,  Christopher  Cart¬ 
wright,  Cornelius  a  Lapide,  and  John  Pricaeus. 

Besides  the  above,  who  are  regular  commentators  on  the  Old  Testament,  there  are  various 
important  Dissertations  and  Tracts,  on  the  principal  subjects  in  the  law  and  prophets,  by  the 
following  critics  :  Joseph  Scaliger,  Lewis  Capellus,  Martin  Helvicus,  Alberic  Gentilis,  Moses 
bar  Cepha,  Christopher  Helvicus,  John  Buteo,  Matthew  Hostus,  Francis  Moncaeius,  Peter 
Pithoeus,  George  Rittershusius,  Michael  Rothardus,  Leo  Allatius,  Gaspar  Yarrerius,  William 
Schickardus,  Augustin  Justinianus,  Bened.  Arias  Montanus,  Bon.  Corn.  Bertramus,  Peter  Cunaeus, 
Caspar  Waser,  and  Edward  Brerewood. 

On  the  New  Testament  the  following  commentators  are  included  :  Sebastian  Munster,  Lauren- 
tius  Valla,  Janies  Revius,  Desiderius  Erasmus,  Francis  Vatablus,  Sebastian  Castalio,  Isidore 
Clarius,  Andrew  Masius,  Nicolas  Zegerus ,  Lucas  Brugensis,  Henry  Stephens,  John  Drusius, 
Joseph  Scaliger,  Isaac  Casaubon,  John  Camero,  James  Capellus,  Lewis  Capellus,  Otho  Gualt- 
perius,  Abraham  Schultetus,  Hugo  Grotius,  and  John  Pricaeus. 

Dissertations  on  the  most  important  subjects  in  the  New  Testament  inserted  here  were  written 
by  Lewis  Capellus,  Nicolas  Faber,  William  Klebitius,  Marquard  Freherus,  Archbishop  Usher , 
Matthew  Hostus,  I.  A.  Van-der -Linden,  Claudius  Salmasius  under  the  feigned  name  of  Johannes 
Simplicius,  James  Gothofridus,  Philip  Codurcus,  Abraham  Schultetus,  William  Ader,  John 
Drusius,  Jac.  Lopez  Stunica,  Desider.  Erasmus,  Angelas  Caninius ,  Peter  Pithoeus,  Nicephorus , 
patriarch  of  Constantinople,  Adriani  Isagoge  cum  notis  Dav.  Hceschelii,  B.  C.  Bertram,  Anton. 
Nebrissensis,  Nicholas  Fuller,  Samuel  Petit,  John  Gregory,  Christ.  Cartwright,  John  Cloppen- 
burg,  and  Pet.  Dan.  Huet.  Those  marked  in  italics  are  not  included  in  the  critics  on  the  Old 
Testament.  The  Thesaurus  Dissertationum  Exegeticarum,  published  as  a  supplement  to  this 
work  by  Theod.  Hasceus  and  Conrad  Ikenius,  in  2  vols.  folio,  contains  upwards  of  one  hundred 
and  fifty  additional  writers.  Such  a  constellation  of  learned  men  can  scarcely  be  equalled  in  any 
age  or  country. 

Mr.  Matthew  Poole,  whose  English  comment  has  been  already  noticed,  conceiving  that  the 
Critici  Sacri  might  be  made  more  useful  by  being  methodized,  with  immense  labour  formed 
thq  work  well  known  among  divines  by  the  title  of  Synopsis  Criticorum,  a  general  view  of  the 
critics,  viz.,  those  in  the  nine  volumes  of  the  Critici  Sacri  mentioned  above.  The  printing  of 
this  work  began  in  1669,  and  was  finished  in  1674,  5  vols.  folio.  Here  the  critics  no  longer 
occupy  distinct  places  as  they  do  in  the  Critici  Sacri,  but  are  all  consolidated,  one  general  com¬ 
ment  being  made  out  of  the  whole,  the  names  of  the  writers  being  referred  to  by  their  initials 
in  the  margin.  To  the  critics  above  named  Mr.  Poole  has  added  several  others  of  equal  note, 
and  he  refers  also  to  the  most  important  versions,  both  ancient  and  modern.  The  learned  author 
spent  ten  years  in  compiling  this  work.  In  point  of  size,  the  work  of  Mr.  Poole  has  many 
advantages  over  the  Critici  Sacri ;  but  no  man  who  is  acquainted  with  both  works  will  ever 
prefer  the  synopsis  to  the  original. 

Perhaps  no  city  in  the  world  can  boast  of  having  produced,  in  so  short  a  period,  so  many 
important  works  on  the  sacred  writings  as  the  city  of  London  ;  works  which,  for  difficulty, 
utility,  critical  and  typographical  correctness,  and  expense,  have  never  been  excelled.  These 
are,  1.  The  Polyglot,  6  vols.  folio  ;  begun  in  1653,  and  finished  in  1657.  2.  The  Critici  Sacri, 
in  9  vols.  folio,  1660.  3.  CastelVs  Heptaglot  Lexicon,  compiled  for  the  Polyglot  Bible,  2  vols 

folio,  1669.  4.  The  Synopsis  Criticorum,  5  vols.  folio  ;  begun  in  1669,  and  finished  in  1674. 

These  works,  printed  in  Hebrew,  Chaldee,  Samaritan,  Syriac,  Arabic,  JEthiopic ,  Persian ,  Greek , 
and  Latin,  forming  22  vast  vols.  folio,  were  begun  and  finished  in  this  city  by  the  industry  and 
at  the  expense  of  a  few  English  divines  and  noblemen,  in  the  comparatively  short  compass  of 

11 


GENERAL  PREFACE, 


about  twenty  years !  To  complete  its  eminence  in  Biblical  literature ,  and  to  place  itself  at  the 
head  of  all  the  cities  in  the  universe,  London  has  only  to  add  a  new  and  improved  edition  of  its 
own  Polyglot,  with  the  additional  versions  which  have  come  to  light  since  the  publication  of 
the  original  work. 

To  the  above  list  might  be  added  those  who  have  illustrated  the  sacred  writings  by  passages 
drawn  from  Josephus  and  the  Greek  and  Roman  classics,  among  which  the  following  are  worthy 
of  particular  regard  :  Jo.  Tobice  Krebsii  Observations  in  Nov.  Testam.  £  Flav.  Josepho,  8vo., 
Lips.  1754.  Geo.  Bav.  Kypke  Observationes  in  Novi  Fcederis  Libros,  ex  auctoribus ,  potissi- 
mum  Greeds,  &c.,  2  vols.  8vo.,  Yratislaviae,  1755.  Georgii  Raphelii  Annotationes  in  Sacram 
Scriptur  am,  c fc.,  Lugd.  1747,  2  vols.  8vo.  Krebs  throws  much  light  on  different  facts  and  forms 
of  speech  in  the  New  Testament  by  his  quotations  from  Josephus.  Kypke  does  the  same  by  an 
appeal  to  the  Greek  writers  in  general.  And  Raphelius  gives  historical  elucidations  of  the  Old, 
and  philological  observations  on  the  New  Testament,  drawn  particularly  from  Xenophon ,  Poly¬ 
bius,  Arrian,  and  Herodotus. 

To  these  might  be  added  several  excellent  names  who  have  rendered  considerable  services  to 
sacred  literature  and  criticism  by  their  learned  labours  :  Sir  Norton  KnatchbulV s  Observations, 
Hallett's  Critical  Notes,  Bowyer's  Conjectures,  Leigh' s  Annotations,  &c.,  &c.  ;  to  whom  may 
be  added  those  who  have  illustrated  innumerable  passages,  obscure  and  difficult,  in  lexicons  and 
dictionaries  for  the  Hebrew  Bible  and  Greek  Testament:  Buxtorf,  Cocceius ,  Mintert ,  Pasor, 
Schoett genius,  Stockius,  Krebs,  Calmet,  Leusden,  Robinson,  Michaelis,  Edward  Leign,  Schulz , 
Dr.  Taylor,  Schleusner,  and  Parkhurst,  a  particular  account  of  whom  would  far  exceed  the 
limits  of  this  preface  ;  but  Schleusner,  as  a  lexicographer  for  the  New  Testament,  is  far  beyond 
my  praise. 

I  have  already  apprized  the  reader  that  I  did  not  design  to  give  a  history  of  commentators,  but 
only  a  short  sketch ;  this  I  have  done,  and  am  fully  aware  that  different  readers  will  form  different 
opinions  of  its  execution  ;  some  will  think  that  writers  of  comparatively  little  eminence  are 
inserted,  while  several  of  acknowledged  worth  are  omitted.  This  may  be  very  true  ;  but  the 
judicious  reader  will  recollect  that  it  is  a  sketch  and  not  a  complete  history  that  is  here  presented 
to  his  view,  and  that  the  important  and  non-important  are  terms  wrhich  different  persons  will 
apply  in  opposite  senses,  as  they  may  be  prejudiced  in  favour  of  different  writers.  I  have 
given  my  opinion,  as  every  honest  man  should,  with  perfect  deference  to  the  judgment  of  others, 
and  shall  be  offended  with  no  man  for  differing  from  me  in  any  of  the  opinions  I  have  expressed 
on  any  of  the  preceding  authors  or  their  works.  I  could  easily  swell  this  list  with  many  foreign 
critics,  but  as  far  as  I  know  them  I  do  not  in  general  like  them  ;  besides,  they  are  not  within  the 
reach  of  common  readers,  though  many  of  them  stand,  no  doubt,  deservedly  high  in  the  judgment 
of  learned  men. 

Having  said  thus  much  on  commentaries  in  general,  it  may  be  necessary  to  give  some  account 
of  that  now  offered  to  the  public,  the  grounds  on  which  it  has  been  undertaken,  and  the  manner 
in  which  it  has  been  compiled. 

At  an  early  age  I  took  for  my  motto  Prov.  xviii.  1 :  Through  desire  a  man,  having  separated 
himself,  seeketh  and  intermeddleth  with  all  wisdom.  Being  convinced  that  the  Bible  was  the 
source  whence  all  the  principles  of  true  wisdom ,  wherever  found  in  the  world,  had  been  derived, 
my  desire  to  comprehend  adequately  its  great  design,  and  to  penetrate  the  meaning  of  all  its 
parts,  led  me  to  separate  myself  from  every  pursuit  that  did  not  lead,  at  least  indirectly,  to  the 
accomplishment  of  this  end  ;  and  while  seeking  and  intermeddling  with  different  branches  of 
human  knowledge,  as  my  limited  means  would  permit,  I  put  each  study  under  contribution,  to 
the  object  of  my  pursuit,  endeavouring  to  make  every  thing  subservient  to  the  information  of 
my  own  mind,  that,  as  far  as  Divine  Providence  might  think  proper  to  employ  me,  I  might  be 
the  better  qualified  to  instruct  others.  At  first  I  read  and  studied,  scarcely  committing  any  thing 
to  paper,  having  my  own  edification  alone  in  view,  as  I  could  not  then  hope  that  any  thing  I 
wrote  could  be  of  sufficient  importance  to  engage  the  attention  or  promote  the  welfare  of  the 
public.  But  as  I  proceeded  I  thought  it  best  to  note  down  the  result  of  my  studies,  especially 
as  far  as  they  related  to  the  Septuagint,  which  about  the  year  1785  I  began  to  read  regularly,  in 
order  to  acquaint  myself  more  fully  with  the  phraseology  of  the  New  Testament,  as  I  found  that 
this  truly  venerable  version  was  that  to  which  the  evangelists  and  apostles  appear  to  have 
had  constant  recourse,  and  from  which  in  general  they  make  their  quotations.  The  study  of  this 
version  served  more  to  illuminate  and  expand  my  mind  than  all  the  theological  works  I  had  ever 
consulted.  I  had  proceeded  but  a  short  way  in  it  before  I  was  convinced  that  the  prejudices 
against  it  were  utterly  unfounded,  and  that  it  was  of  incalculable  advantage  toward  a  proper 
understanding  of  the  literal  sense  of  Scripture,  and  am  astonished  that  the  study  of  it  should  be 
so  generally  neglected.  About  nine  years  after  this,  my  health  having  been  greatly  impaired  by 
the  severity  of  my  labours,  and  fearing  that  I  should  soon  be  obliged  to  relinquish  my  public 
employment,  I  formed  the  purpose  of  writing  short  notes  on  the  New  Testament,  collating  the 
common  printed  text  with  all  the  versions  and  collections  from  MSS.  to  which  I  could  have 
12 


GENERAL  PREFACE. 


access.  Scarcely  had  I  projected  this  work  when  I  was  convinced  that  another  was  previously 
necessary,  viz.,  a  careful  perusal  of  the  original  text .  I  began  this  work,  and  soon  found  that  it 
was  perfectly  possible  to  read  and  not  understand.  Under  this  conviction  I  sat  down  determin¬ 
ing  to  translate  the  whole  before  I  attempted  any  comment,  that  I  might  have  the  sacred  text 
the  more  deeply  impressed  on  my  memory. 

I  accordingly  began  my  translation,  collating  the  original  text  with  all  the  ancient  and  with 
several  of  the  modern  versions,  carefully  weighing  the  value  of  the  most  important  various 
readings  found  in  those  versions,  as  Avell  as  those  which  I  was  able  to  collect  from  the  most 
authentic  copies  of  the  Greek,  text.  A  worse  state  of  health  ensuing,  I  was  obliged  to  remit 
almost  all  application  to  study,  and  the  work  was  thrown  aside  for  nearly  two  years.  Having 
returned  to  it  when  a  state  of  comparative  convalescence  took  place,  I  found  I  had  not  gone 
through  the  whole  of  my  preliminary  work.  The  New  Testament  I  plainly  saw  was  a  comment 
on  the  Old  ;  and  to  understand  such  a  comment,  I  knew  it  was  absolutely  necessary  to  be  well 
acquainted  with  the  original  text.  I  then  formed  the  plan  of  reading  consecutively  a  portion  of 
the  Hebrew  Bible  daily.  Accordingly  I  began  to  read  the  Old  Testament,  noting  down  on  the 
different  books,  chapters,  and  verses,  such  things  as  appeared  to  me  of  most  importance,  intend¬ 
ing  the  work  as  an  outline  for  one  on  a  more  extensive  scale,  should  it  please  God  to  spare  my 
life  and  give  me  health  and  leisure  to  complete  it.  In  this  preliminary  work  I  spent  a  little 
more  than  one  year  and  two  months,  in  which  time  I  translated  every  sentence,  Hebrew  and 
Chaldee,  in  the  Old  Testament.  In  such  a  work  it  would  be  absurd  to  pretend  that  I  had  not 
met  with  many  difficulties.  I  was  attempting  to  illustrate  the  most  ancient  and  most  learned 
book  in  the  universe,  replete  with  allusions  to  arts  that  are  lost,  to  nations  that  are  extinct,  to 
customs  that  are  no  longer  observed,  and  abounding  in  modes  of  speech  and  turns  of  phraseology 
which  can  only  be  traced  out  through  the  medium  of  the  cognate  Asiatic  languages.  On  these 
accounts  I  was  often  much  perplexed,  but  I  could  not  proceed  till  I  had  done  the  utmost  in  my 
power  to  make  every  thing  plain.  The  frequent  occurrence  of  such  difficulties  led  me  closely  to 
examine  and  compare  all  the  original  texts,  versions,  and  translations,  as  they  stand  in  the  London 
Polyglot,  with  some  others  not  inserted  in  that  work  ;  and  from  these,  especially  the  Samaritan, 
Chaldee  Targums,  Septuagint,  and  Vulgate,  I  derived  the  most  assistance,  though  all  the  rest 
contributed  their  quota  in  cases  of  difficulty. 

Almost  as  soon  as  this  work  was  finished  I  began  my  comment  on  the  four  gospels,  and  not¬ 
withstanding  the  preparations  already  made,  and  my  indefatigable  application  early  and  late  to 
the  work,  I  did  not  reach  the  end  of  the  fourth  Evangelist  till  eighteen  months  after  its  com¬ 
mencement.  Previously  to  this  I  had  purposed  to  commit  what  I  had  already  done  to  the  press ; 
but  when  I  had  all  my  arrangements  made,  a  specimen  actually  set  up  and  printed,  and  adver¬ 
tisements  circulated,  a  sudden  rise  in  the  price  of  paper,  which  I  fondly  hoped  would  not  be  of 
long  continuance,  prevented  my  proceeding.  When  this  hope  vanished,  another  work  on  the 
Scriptures  by  a  friend  was  extensively  announced.  As  I  could  not  bear  the  thought  of  even  the 
most  distant  appearance  of  opposition  to  any  man,  I  gave  place,  being  determined  not  to  attempt 
to  divide  the  attention  of  the  public  mind,  nor  hinder  the  general  spread  of  a  work  which  for 
aught  I  knew  might  supersede  the  necessity  of  mine.  That  work  has  been  for  some  time  com¬ 
pleted,  and  the  numerous  subscribers  supplied  with  their  copies.  My  plan  however  is  untouched  ; 
and  still  finding  from  the  call  of  many  judicious  friends,  and  especially  of  my  brethren  in  the 
ministry,  who  have  long  been  acquainted  with  my  undertaking  and  its  progress,  that  the  religious 
public  would  gladly  receive  a  work  on  the  plan  which  I  had  previously  announced,  I  have,  after 
much  hesitation,  made  up  my  mind  ;  and,  in  the  name  of  God,  with  a  simple  desire  to  add  my 
mite  to  the  treasur}q  having  recommenced  the  revisal  and  improvement  of  my  papers,  I  now 
present  them  to  the  public.  I  am  glad  that  Divine  Providence  has  so  ordered  it  that  the  publi¬ 
cation  has  been  hitherto  delayed,  as  the  years  which  have  elapsed  since  my  first  intention  of 
printing  have  afforded  me  a  more  ample  opportunity  to  reconsider  and  correct  what  I  had  before 
done,  and  to  make  many  improvements. 

Should  I  be  questioned  as  to  my  specific  object  in  bringing  this  work  before  the  religious  world 
at  a  time  when  works  of  a  similar  nature  abound,  I  would  simply  answer,  I  wish  to  do  a  little 
good  also,  and  contribute  my  quota  to  enable  men  the  better  to  understand  the  records  of  their 
salvation.  That  I  am  in  hostility  to  no  work  of  this  kind,  the  preceding  pages  will  prove  ;  and 
I  have  deferred  my  own  as  long  as  in  prudence  I  can.  My  tide  is  turned  ;  life  is  fast  ebbing 
out ;  and  what  I  do  in  this  way  I  must  do  now,  or  relinquish  the  design  for  ever.  This  I  would 
most  gladly  do,  but  I  have  been  too  long  and  too  deeply  pledged  to  the  public  to  permit  me  to 
indulge  my  own  feelings  in  this  respect.  Others  are  doing  much  to  elucidate  the  Scriptures  ;  I 
wish  them  all  God’s  speed.  I  also  will  show  my  opinion  of  these  Divine  records,  and  do  a  little 
in  the  same  way.  I  wish  to  assist  my  fellow  labourers  in  the  vineyard  to  lead  men  to  Him  who  is 
the  fountain  of  all  excellence,  goodness,  truth,  and  happiness  ;  to  magnify  his  law  and  make  it 
honourable  ;  to  show  the  wonderful  provision  made  in  his  Gospel  for  the  recovery  and  salvation 
of  a  sinful  world  ;  to  prove  that  God’s  great  design  is  to  make  his  creatures  happy :  and  that 


GENERAL  PREFACE. 

such  a  salvation  as  it  becomes  God  to  give,  and  such  as  man  needs  to  receive,  is  within  the 
grasp  of  every  human  soul. 

He  who  carefully  and  conscientiously  receives  the  truths  of  Divine  revelation,  not  merely  as 
a  creed ,  but  in  reference  to  his  practice ,  cannot  fail  of  being  an  ornament  to  civil  and  religious 
society.  It  is  my  endeavour  therefore  to  set  these  truths  fairly  and  fully  before  the  eyes  of 
those  who  may  be  inclined  to  consult  my  work.  I  do  not  say  that  the  principles  contained  in 
my  creed ,  and  which  I  certainly  have  not  studied  to  conceal,  are  all  essentially  necessary  to 
every  man’s  salvation  ;  and  I  should  be  sorry  to  unchristianize  any  person  who  may  think  he 
has  Scriptural  evidence  for  a  faith  in  several  respects  different  from  mine.  I  am  sure  that  all 
sincere  Christians  are  agreed  on  what  are  called  the  essential  truths  of  Divine  revelation  ;  and  I 
feel  no  reluctance  to  acknowledge  that  men  eminent  for  wisdom,  learning,  piety,  and  usefulness, 
have  differed  among  themselves  and  from  me  in  many  points  which  I  deem  of  great  importance. 
While  God  bears  with  and  does  us  good,  we  may  readily  bear  with  each  other.  The  hostility 
of  others  I  pass  by.  The  angry  and  malevolent  are  their  own  tormentors.  I  remember  the  old 
adage  :  “Let  envy  alone,  and  it  will  punish  itself.” 

Of  the  copy  of  the  sacred  text  used  for  this  work  it  may  be  necessary  to  say  a  few  words. 
It  is  stated  in  the  title  that  the  text  “  is  taken  from  the  most  correct  copies  of  the  present 
authorized  version.”  As  several  use  this  term  who  do  not  know  its  meaning,  for  their  sakes 
I  shall  explain  it.  A  resolution  was  formed,  in  consequence  of  a  request  made  by  Dr.  Reynolds, 
head  of  the  nonconformist  party,  to  King  James  I.,  in  the  conference  held  at  Ham.pton  Court , 
1003,  that  a  new  translation,  or  rather  a  revision  of  what  was  called  the  Bishops’’  Bible , 
printed  in  1568,  should  be  made.  Fifty-four  translators,  divided  into  six  classes,  were 
appointed  for  the  accomplishment  of  this  important  work.  Seven  of  these  appear  to  have 
died  before  the  work  commenced,  as  only  forty-seven  are  found  in  Fuller’s  list.  The  names 
of  the  persons,  the  places  where  employed,  and  the  proportion  of  work  allotted  to  each  class, 
and  the  rules  laid  down  by  King  James  for  their  direction,  I  give  chiefly  from  Mr.  Fuller’s 
Church  History,  Book  x.,  p.  44,  &,c. 

Before  I  insert  this  account,  it  may  be  necessary  to  state  Dr.  Reynolds’s  request  in  the 
Hampton  Court  conference,  and  King  James’s  answer. 

Dr.  Reynolds.  “May  your  Majesty  be  pleased  that  the  Bible  be  new  translated,  such  as  are 
extant  not  answering  the  original  ?”  [Here  he  gave  a  few  examples .] 

Bishop  of  London.  “  If  every  man’s  humour  might  be  followed,  there  would  be  no  end  of 
translating.” 

The  King.  “  I  profess  I  could  never  yet  see  a  Bible  well  translated  in  English  ;  but  I  think 
that  of  all,  that  of  Geneva  is  the  worst.  I  wish  some  special  pains  were  taken  for  a  uniform 
translation,  which  should  be  done  by  the  best  learned  in  both  universities,  then  reviewed  by  the 
bishops,  presented  to  the  privy  council,  lastly  ratified  by  royal  authority,  to  be  read  in  the  whole 
Church,  and  no  other.” 

The  bishop  of  London  in  this,  as  in  every  other  case,  opposed  Dr.  Reynolds,  till  he  saw 
that  the  project  pleased  the  king,  and  that  he  appeared  determined  to  have  it  executed.  In 
consequence  of  this  resolution,  the  following  learned  and  judicious  men  were  chosen  for  the 
execution  of  the  work. 

WESTMINSTER.— 10. 

The  Pentateuch:  the  Story  from  Joshua  to  the  first  Book  of  the  Chronicles 

EXCLUSIVELY. 

Dr.  Andrews,  Fellow  and  Master  of  Pembroke  Hall  in  Cambridge  ;  then  Dean  of  Westminster, 
afterwards  Bishop  of  Winchester. 

Dr.  Overall,  Fellow  of  Trinity  Coll.,  Master  of  Kath.  Hall,  in  Cambridge  ;  then  Dean  of  St. 

Paul’s,  afterwards  Bishop  of  Norwich. 

Dr.  Saravia. 

Dr.  Clarke,  Fellow  of  Christ  Coll,  in  Cambridge,  Preacher  in  Canterbury. 

Dr.  Laifield,  Fellow  of  Trin.  in  Cambridge,  Parson  of  St.  Clement  Danes.  Being  skilled  in 
architecture,  his  judgment  was  much  relied  on  for  the  fabric  of  the  Tabernacle  and  Temple. 
Dr.  Leigh,  Archdeacon  of  Middlesex,  Parson  of  All-hallows,  Barking. 

Master  Burgley. 

Mr.  King. 

Mr.  Thompson. 

Mr.  Bedwell,  of  Cambridge,  and  (I  think)  of  St.  John’s,  Vicar  of  Tottenham,  near  London. 


GENERAL  PREFACE, 


CAMBRIDGE.-— 8. 

From  the  First  of  the  Chronicles,  with  the  rest  of  the  Story,  and  the  IIagiographa, 

viz.,  Job,  Psalms,  Proverbs,  Canticles,  Ecclesiastes. 

Master  Edward  Lively. 

Mr.  Richardson,  Fellow  of  Emman.,  afterwards  D.  D.,  Master,  first  of  Peter-house,  then  of 
Trin.  College. 

Mr.  Ciiaderton,  afterwards  D.  D.,  Fellow  first  of  Christ  Coll.,  then  Master  of  Emmanuel. 

Mr.  Dillingham,  Fellow  of  Christ  Coll.,  beneficed  at - in  Bedfordshire,  where  he  died 

a  single  and  a  wealthy  man. 

Mr.  Andrews,  afterwards  D.  D.,  brother  to  the  Bishop  of  Winchester,  and  Master  of  Jesus  Coll. 
Mr.  Harrison,  the  Rev.  Vice-master  of  Trinity  Coll. 

Mr.  Spalding,  Fellow  of  St.  John’s  in  Cambridge,  and  Hebrew  Professor  therein. 

Mr.  Bing,  Fellow  of  Peter-house,  in  Cambridge,  and  Hebrew  Professor  therein. 

OXFORD.— 7. 

The  four  greater  Prophets,  with  the  Lamentations,  and  the  twelve  lesser  Prophets. 

Dr.  Harding,  President  of  Magdalen  Coll. 

Dr.  Reynolds,  President  of  Corpus  Christi  Coll. 

Dr.  Holland,  Rector  of  Exeter  Coll,  and  King’s  Professor. 

Dr.  Kilby,  Rector  of  Lincoln  Coll,  and  Regius  Professor. 

Master  Smith,  afterwards  D.  D.,  and  Bishop  of  Gloucester.  He  made  the  learned  and  religious 
Preface  to  the  Translation. 

Mr.  Brett,  of  a  worshipful  family,  beneficed  at  Quainton,  in  Buckinghamshire. 

Mr.  Fairclowe. 


CAMBRIDGE.— 7. 

The  Prayer  of  Manasseii,  and  the  rest  of  the  Apocrypha. 

Dr.  Duport,  Prebend  of  Ely,  and  Master  of  Jesus  Coll. 

Dr.  Brainthwait,  first  Fellow  of  Emmanuel,  then  Master  of  Gonvil  and  Caius  Coll. 

Dr.  Radclyffe,  one  of  the  Senior  Fellows  of  Trin.  Coll. 

Master  Ward,  Emman.,  afterwards  D.  D.,  Master  of  Sidney  Coll,  and  Margaret  Professor. 

Mr.  Downs,  Fellow  of  St.  John’s  Coll,  and  Greek  Professor. 

Mr.  Boyce,  Fellow  of  St.  John’s  Coll.,  Prebend  of  Ely,  Parson  ofBoxworth  in  Cambridgeshire, 
Mr.  Ward,  Regal,  afterwards  D.  D.,  Prebend  of  Chichester,  Rector  of  Bishop-Waltham,  in 
Hampshire.  • 

OXFORD.— 8. 

The  Four  Gospels,  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  Apocalypse. 

Dr.  Ravis,  Dean  of  Christ  Church,  afterwards  Bishop  of  London. 

Dr.  Abbott,  Master  of  University  Coll.,  afterwards  Archbishop  of  Canterbury. 

Dr.  Eedes. 

Mr.  Thomson. 

Mr.  Savill. 

Dr.  Peryn.  4- 

Dr.  Ravens. 

Mr.  Harmer. 


WESTMINSTER. — 7. 

The  Epistles  of  St.  Paul,  and  the  Canonical  Epistles. 

Dr.  Barlowe,  of  Trinity  Hall,  in  Cambridge,  Dean  of  Chester,  afterwards  Bishop  oi  Lincoln, 
Dr.  Hutchenson. 

Dr.  Spencer. 

Mr.  Fenton. 

Mr.  Rabbet. 

Mr.  Sanderson. 

Mr.  Dakins. 


16 


GENERAL  PREFACE. 


“Now,  for  the  better  ordering  of  their  proceedings,  his  Majesty  recommended  the  following 
rules,  by  them  to  be  most  carefully  observed. 

1.  The  ordinary  Bible  read  in  the  Church,  commonly  called  the  Bishops'  Bible ,  to  be  followed 

and  as  little  altered  as  the  original  will  permit. 

2.  The  names  of  the  prophets,  and  the  holy  writers,  with  their  other  names  in  the  text,  to  be 

retained,  as  near  as  may  be,  according  as  they  are  vulgarly  used. 

3.  The  old  ecclesiastical  words  to  be  kept,  viz.,  the  word  Church  not  to  be  translated  Congre¬ 

gation,  < f’C. 

4.  When  any  word  hath  divers  significations,  that  to  be  kept  which  hath  been  most  commonly 

used  by  the  most  eminent  fathers,  being  agreeable  to  the  propriety  of  the  place,  and  the 
analogy  of  faith. 

5.  The  division  of  the  chapters  to  be  altered  either  not  at  all,  or  as  little  as  may  be,  if  necessity 

so  require. 

6.  No  marginal  notes  at  all  to  be  affixed,  but  only  for  the  explanation  of  the  Hebrew  or  Greek 

words,  which  cannot,  without  some  circumlocution,  so  briefly  and  fitly  be  expressed  in 
the  text. 

7.  Such  quotations  of  places  to  be  marginally  set  down,  as  shall  serve  for  the  fit  reference  of 

one  scripture  to  another. 

8.  Every  particular  man  of  each  company  to  take  the  same  chapter,  or  chapters  ;  and  having 

translated  or  amended  them  severally  by  himself,  where  he  thinks  good,  all  to  meet  to¬ 
gether,  confer  what  they  have  done,  and  agree  for  their  part  what  shall  stand. 

9.  As  any  one  company  hath  despatched  any  one  book  in  this  manner,  they  shall  send  it  to 

the  rest,  to  be  considered  of  seriously  and  judiciously ;  for  his  Majesty  is  very  careful  in 
this  point. 

10.  If  any  company,  upon  the  review  of  the  book  so  sent,  shall  doubt  or  differ  upon  any  places, 

to  send  them  word  thereof,  note  the  places,  and  therewithal  send  their  reasons  ;  to  which, 
if  they  consent  not,  the  difference  to  be  compounded  at  the  general  meeting,  which  is  to 
be  of  the  chief  persons  of  each  company,  at  the  end  of  the  work. 

11.  When  any  place  of  special  obscurity  is  doubted  of,  letters  to  be  directed  by  authority,  to 

send  to  any  learned  in  the  land,  for  his  judgment  in  such  a  place. 

12.  Letters  to  be  sent  from  every  bishop  to  the  rest  of  his  clergy,  admonishing  them  of  this 

translation  in  hand ;  and  to  move  and  charge  as  many  as,  being  skilful  in  the  tongues, 
have  taken  pains  in  that  kind,  to  send  his  particular  observations  to  the  company,  either 
at  Westminster ,  Cambridge ,  or  Oxford . 

13.  The  directors  in  each  company  to  be  the  Deans  of  Westminster  and  Chester  for  that  place ; 

and  the  King’s  Professors  in  Hebrew  and  Greek  in  each  university. 


14.  These  translations  to  be  used,  when  they  agree  better 
with  the  text  than  the  Bishops’  Bible,  viz., 


Tindal’s, 

Matthews’, 

Coverdale’s, 

Whitchurch, 

Geneva. 


“  Besides  the  said  directions  before-mentioned,  three  or  four  of  the  most  ancient  and  grave 
divines  in  either  of  the  universities,  not  employed  in  translating,  to  be  assigned  by  the  vice- 
chancellor,  upon  conference  with  the  rest  of  the  heads,  to  be  overseers  of  the  translations,  as 
well  Hebrew  as  Greek,  for  the  better  observation  of  the  fourth  rule  above  specified. 

“And  now  after  long  expectation  and  great  desire,”  says  Mr.  Fuller,  “came  forth  the  new 
translation  of  the  Bible  (most  beautifully  printed)  by  a  select  and  competent  number  of  divines 
appointed  for  that  purpose  ;  not  being  too  many,  lest  one  should  trouble  another  ;  and  yet  many, 
lest  many  things  might  haply  escape  them.  Who  neither  coveting  praise  for  expedition,  nor 
fearing  reproach  for  slackness,  (seeing  in  a  business  of  moment  none  deserve  blame  for  con¬ 
venient  slowness,)  had  expended  almost  three  years  in  the  work,  not  only  examining  the  channels 
by  the  fountain ,  translations  with  the  original ,  which  was  absolutely  necessary,  but  also  com¬ 
paring  channels  with  channels ,  which  was  abundantly  useful  in  the  Spanish,  Italian,  French,  and 
Dutch  (German)  languages.  These,  with  Jacob ,  rolled  away  the  stone  from  the  mouth  of  the  well 
of  life ;  so  that  now,  even  Rachel's  weak  women  may  freely  come  both  to  drink  themselves  and 
ivater  the  flocks  of  their  families  at  the  same. 

“  Leave  we  then  those  worthy  men  now  all  gathered  to  their  fathers  and  gone  to  God,  how¬ 
ever  they  were  requited  on  earth,  well  rewarded  in  heaven  for  their  worthy  work.  Of  whom, 
as  also  of  that  gracious  king  that  employed  them,  we  may  say,  Wheresoever  the  Bible  shall  be 
preached  or  read  in  the  whole  world,  there  shall  also  this  that  they  have  done  be  told  in  memorial 
of  them."  Ibid.  p.  57,  &c. 

The  character  of  James  I.  as  a  scholar  has  been  greatly  underrated.  In  the  Hampton  Court 
conference  he  certainly  showed  a  clear  and  ready  comprehension  of  every  subject  brought  before 

16 


GENERAL  PREFACE. 


him,  together  with  extensive  reading  and  a  remarkably  sound  judgment.  For  the  best  transla¬ 
tion  into  any  language  we  are  indebted  under  God  to  King  James,  who  was  called  a  hypocrite 
by  those  who  had  no  religion ,  and  a  pedant  by  persons  who  had  not  half  his  learning.  Both 
piety  and  justice  require  that,  while  we  are  thankful  to  God  for  the  gift  of  his  word,  we  should 
revere  the  memory  of  the  man  who  was  the  instrument  of  conveying  the  water  of  life  through  a 
channel  by  which  its  purity  has  been  so  wonderfully  preserved.  As  to  politics,  he  was,  like  the 
rest  of  the  Stuart  family,  a  tyrant. 

Those  who  have  compared  most  of  the  European  translations  with  the  original,  have  not 
scrupled  to  say  that  the  English  translation  of  the  Bible ,  made  under  the  direction  of  King 
James  /.,  is  the  most  accurate  and  faithful  of  the  whole.  Nor  is  this  its  only  praise  ;  the  trans¬ 
lators  have  seized  the  very  spirit  and  soul  of  the  original,  and  expressed  this  almost  everywhere 
with  pathos  and  energy.  Besides,  our  translators  have  not  only  made  a  standard  translation , 
but  they  have  made  their  translation  the  standard  of  our  language  ;  the  English  tongue  in  their 
day  was  not  equal  to  such  a  work,  “  but  God  enabled  them  to  stand  as  upon  Mount  Sinai,”  to 
use  the  expression  of  a  learned  friend,  “  and  crane  up  their  country’s  language  to  the  dignity  of 
the  originals,  so  that  after  the  lapse  of  200  years  the  English  Bible  is,  with  very  few  exceptions, 
the  standard  of  the  purity  and  excellence  of  the  English  tongue.  The  original  from  which  it 
was  taken  is,  alone,  superior  to  the  Bible  translated  by  the  authority  of  King  James.”*  This  is 
an  opinion  in  which  my  heart,  my  judgment,  and  my  conscience,  coincide. f 


*  These  are  the  words  of  the  late  Miss  Freeman  Shepherd,  a  very  learned  and  extraordinary  woman,  and  a 
rigid  papist. 

t  It  is  not  unknown  that,  at  the  Hampton  Court  conference,  several  alterations  were  proposed  by  Dr.  Reynolds 
and  his  associates  to  be  made  in  the  Liturgy  then  in  common  use,  as  well  as  in  the  Bible.  These  however  were  in 
general  objected  to  by  the  king,  and  only  a  few  changes  made,  which  shall  be  mentioned  below.  While  on  this 
part  of  the  subject  it  may  not  be  unacceptable  to  the  reader  to  hear  how  the  present  Liturgy  was  compiled,  and  who 
the  persons  were  to  whom  this  work  was  assigned  ;  a  work  almost  universally  esteemed  by  the  devout  and  pious 
of  every  denomination,  and  the  greatest  effort  of  the  Reformation ,  next  to  the  translation  of  the  Scriptures  into  the 
English  language.  The  word  Liturgy  is  derived,  according  to  some,  from  1  try,  prayer,  and  epyov,  work,  and  sig¬ 
nifies  literally  the  work  or  labour  of  prayer  or  supplication ;  and  he  who  labours  not  in  his  prayers  prays  not  at  all : 
or  more  properly  hetrovpyia,  from  heirog,  public  or  common ,  and  epyov,  work,  denoting  the  common  or  public  work 
of  prayer,  thanksgiving,  d*c.,  in  which  it  is  the  duty  of  every  person  to  engage  ;  and  from  ?uravevu,  to  supplicate, 
comes  Tarai,  prayers,  and  hence  A  trauma,  Litany,  supplication,  a  collection  of  prayers  in  the  Liturgy  or  public  service 
of  the  Church.  Previously  to  the  reign  of  Henry  VIII.  the  Liturgy  was  all  said  or  sung  in  Latin,  but  the  Creed,  the 
Lord’s  Prayer,  and  the  Ten  Commandments,  in  1536  were  translated  into  English,  for  the  use  of  the  common  people, 
by  the  king’s  command.  In  1545  the  Liturgy  was  also  permitted  in  English ,  as  Fuller  expresses  it,  “  and  this  was 
he  farthest  pace  the  Reformation  stept  in  the  reign  of  Henry  VIII.” 

In  the  first  year  of  Edward  VI.,  1547,  it  was  recommended  to  certain  grave  and  learned  bishops,  and  others  then 
assembled,  by  order  of  the  king,  at  Windsor  Castle,  to  draw  up  a  communion  service,  and  to  revise  and  reform  all 
other  offices  in  the  Divine  service ;  this  service  was  accordingly  printed  and  published,  and  strongly  recommended 
by  special  letters  from  Seymour,  Lord  Protector,  and  the  other  lords  of  the  council.  The  persons  who  compiled 
this  work  were  the  following : — 


1.  Thomas  Cranmer,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury. 

2.  George  Day ,  Bishop  of  Chichester. 

3.  Thom, as  Goodrich,  Bishop  of  Ely. 

4.  John  Skip,  Bishop  of  Hereford. 

5.  Henry  Holbeach ,  Bishop  of  Lincoln. 

6.  Nicholas  Ridley,  Bishop  of  Rochester. 

7.  Thomas  Thirlby,  Bishop  of  Westminster. 

8.  Doctor  May ,  Dean  of  St.  Paul’s. 


9.  John  Taylor,  then  Dean,  afterwards  Bishop,  of 
Lincoln. 

10.  Doctor  Haines,  Dean  of  Exeter. 

11.  Doctor  Robinson,  afterwards  Dean  of  Durham. 

12.  Doctor  John  Redman,  Master  of  Trinity  College, 

Cambridge. 

13.  Doctor  Richard  Cox,  then  Almoner  to  the  King, 

and  afterwards  Bishop  of  Ely. 


It  is  worthy  of  remark  that  as  the  first  translators  of  the  Scriptures  into  the  English  language  were  several  of 
them  persecuted  unto  death  by  the  papists,  so  some  of  the  chief  of  those  who  translated  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer, 
(Archbishop  Cranmer  and  Bishop  Ridley )  were  burnt  alive  by  the  same  cruel  faction. 

This  was  what  Mr.  Fuller  calls  the  first  edition  of  the  Common  Prayer,  published  in  1548.  Some  objections  hav¬ 
ing  been  made  to  this  work  by  Mr.  John  Calvin  abroad,  and  some  learned  men  at  home,  particularly  in  reference 
to  the  Commemoration  of  the  Dead,  the  use  of  Chrism,  and  Extreme  Unction,  it  was  ordered  by  a  statute  in  parliament 
(5  and  6  of  Edward  VI.)  that  it  should  be  faithfully  and  godly  perused,  explained,  and  mad,e  fully  perfect.  The  chief 
alterations  made  in  consequence  of  this  order  were  these:  the  General  Confession  and  Absolution  were  added,  and 
the  Communion  Service  was  made  to  begin  with  the  Ten  Commandments,  the  use  of  oil  in  Confirmation  and  Extreme 
Unction  was  left  out,  also  Prayers  for  the  Dead,  and  certain  expressions  that  had  a  tendency  to  countenance  the  doc¬ 
trine  of  trans'iibstantiation. 

The  same  persons  to  whom  the  compiling  of  the  Communion  Service  was  intrusted  were  employed  in  this  revision, 
which  was  completed  and  published  in  1553.  On  the  accession  of  Clueen  Mary  this  Liturgy  was  abolished,  and 
the  Prayer  Book,  as  it  stood  in  the  last  year  of  Henry  VIII.,  commanded  to  be  used  in  its  place.  In  the  first  year 
of  the  reign  of  Clueen  Elizabeth,  1559,  the  former  Liturgy  was  restored,  but  it  was  subjected  to  a  farther  revision, 
by  which  some  few  passages  were  altered,  and  the  petition  in  the  Litany  for  being  delivered  from  the  tyranny  and 
all  the  detestable  enormities  of  the  bishop  of  Rome  left  out,  in  order  that  conscientious  Catholics  might  not  be  pre¬ 
vented  from  joining  in  the  common  service.  This  being  done,  it  was  presented  to  parliament,  and  by  them  received 
and  established;  and  the  Act  for  Uniformity,  which  is  usually  printed  with  the  Liturgy,  published  by  the  queen’s 
authority,  and  sent  throughout  the  nation.  The  persons  employed  in  this  revision  were  the  following: — 


1.  Master  Whitehead,  once  Chaplain  to  Clueen  Anna 

Bullein. 

2.  Matthew  Parker,  afterwards  Archbishop  of  Can¬ 

terbury. 

3.  Edmund  Grindall,  afterwards  Bishop  of  London. 


4.  Richard  Cox,  afterwards  Bishop  of  Ely. 

5.  James  Pilkington,  afterwards  Bishop  of  Durham. 

6.  Doctor  May,  Dean  of  St.  Paul’s  and  Master  of 

Trinity  'College,  Cambridge. 

7.  Sir  Thomas  Smith,  Principal  Secretary  of  State. 

17 


GENERAL  PREFACE. 


This  Bible  was  begun  in  1607,  but  was  not  ^completed  and  published  till  1611 ;  and  there  are 
copies  of  it  which  in  their  titlepages  have  the  dates  1612  and  1613.  This  translation  was  cor¬ 
rected,  and  many  parallel  texts  added,  by  Dr.  Scattergood,  in  1683  ;  by  Dr;  Lloyd,  bishop  of 
London,  in  1701  ;  and  afterwards  by  Dr.  Paris,  at  Cambridge  ;  but  the  most  complete  revision 
was  made  by  Dr.  Blayney  in  the  year  1769,  under  the  direction  of  the  vice-chancellor  and  dele¬ 
gates  of  the  University  of  Oxford,  in  which,  1.  The  punctuation  was  thoroughly  revised; 

2.  The  words  printed  in  italics  examined  and  corrected  by  the  Hebrew  and  Greek  originals  ; 

3.  The  proper  names ,  to  the  etymology  of  which  allusions  are  made  in  the  text,  translated,  and 
entered  in  the  margin  ;  4.  The  heads  and  running  titles  corrected  ;  5.  Some  material  errors  in 
the  chronology  rectified  ;  and  6.  The  marginal  references  re-examined,  corrected,  and  their 
number  greatly  increased.  Copies  of  this  revision  are  those  which  are  termed  above  the  most 
correct  copies  of  the  present  authorized  version  ;  and  it  is  this  revision  re-collated ,  re-examined , 
and  corrected  from  typographical  inaccuracies  in  a  great  variety  of  places,  that  has  been  followed 
for  the  text  prefixed  to  these  notes .  But,  besides  these  corrections,  I  have  found  it  necessary  to 
re-examine  all  the  italics ;  by  those  I  mean  the  words  interspersed  through  the  text,  avowedly 
not  in  the  original,  but  thought  necessary  by  our  translators  to  complete  the  sense,  and  accom¬ 
modate  the  idioms  of  the  Hebrew  and  Greek  to  that  of  the  English  language.  See  the  sixth 
rule,  p.  16.  In  these  I  found  gross  corruptions,  particularly  where  they  have  been  changed  for 
Roman  characters,  whereby  words  have  been  attributed  to  God  which  he  never  spoke. 

The  Punctuation,  which  is  a  matter  of  no  small  importance  to  a  proper  understanding  of  the 
sacred  text,  I  have  examined  with  the  greatest  care  to  me  possible  :  by  the  insertion  of  commas 
where  there  were  none  before;  putting  semicolons  for  commas,  the  better*  to  distinguish  the 
members  of  the  sentences  ;  changing  colons  for  semicolons,  and  vice  versa ;  and  full  points  for 
colons,  I  have  been  in  many  instances  enabled  the  better  to  preserve  and  distinguish  the  sense, 
and  carry  on  a  narration  to  its  close,  without  interrupting  the  reader’s  attention  by  the  interven¬ 
tion  of  improper  stops. 

The  References  I  have  in  many  places  considerably  augmented,  though  I  have  taken  care  to 
reprint  all  that  Dr.  Blayney  has  inserted  in  his  edition,  of  which  I  scruple  not  to  say,  that  as 
far  as  they  go,  they  are  the  best  collection  ever  edited,  and  I  hope  their  worth  will  suffer  nothing 
by  the  additions  I  have  made. 

After  long  and  diligently  weighing  the  different  systems  of  Chronology ,  and  hesitating  which 
to  adopt,  I  ultimately  fixed  on  the  system  commonly  received  ;  as  it  appeared  to  me  on  the 
whole,  though  encumbered  with  many  difficulties,  to  be  the  least  objectionable.  In  fixing  the 
dates  of  particular  transactions  I  have  found  much  difficulty ;  that  this  was  never  done  in  any 
edition  of  the  Bible  hitherto  offered  to  the  public,  with  any  tolerable  correctness,  every  person 
acquainted  with  the  subject  must  acknowledge.  I  have  endeavoured  carefully  to  fix  the  date  of 
each  transaction  where  it  occurs,  and  where  it  could  be  ascertained,  showing  throughout  the 
whole  of  the  Old  Testament  the  year  of  the  world,  and  the  year  before  Christ,  in  which  it  hap¬ 
pened.  From  the  beginning  of  Joshua  I  have  introduced  the  years  before  the  building  of  Rome 

Of  these  Drs.  Cox  and  May  were  employed  on  the  first  edition  of  this  work,  as  appears  by  the  preceding  list. 

In  the  first  year  of  King  James,  1604,  another  revision  took  place,  and  a  few  alterations  were  made,  which  con¬ 
sisted  principally  in  the  addition  of  some  prayers  and  thanksgivings ,  some  alteration  in  the  Rubrics  relative  to  the 
Absolution ,  to  the  Confirmation ,  and  to  the  office  of  Private  Baptism ,  with  the  addition  of  that  part  of  the  Catechism 
which  contains  the  Doctrine  of  the  Sacraments.  The  other  additions  were,  A  Thanksgiving  for  diners  Benefits ,  A 
Thanksgiving  for  Fair  Weather ,  A  Thanksgiving  fof  Plenty ,  A  Thanksgiving  for  Peace  and  Victory,  and  A 
Thanksgiving  for  Deliverance  from  the  Plague.  See  the  Instrument  in  Rymer ,  vol.  xvi.  p.  565,  &c.  When  the 
work  was  thus  completed,  a  royal  proclamation  was  issued,  hearing  date  March  1,  1604,  in  which  the  king  gave 
an  account  of  the  Hampton  Court  conference,  the  alterations  that  had  been  made  by  himself  and  his  clergy  in  the 
Book  of  Common  Prayer,  commanding  it,  and  none  other,  to  be  used  throughout  the  kingdom.  See  the  Instru¬ 
ment,  Rymer ,  vol.  xvi.,  p.  575. 

In  this  state  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer  continued  till  the  reign  of  Charles  II.,  who,  the  25th  of  October,  1660, 
“  granted  his  commission,  under  the  great  seal  of  England,  to  several  bishops  and  divines  to  review  the  Book  of 
Common  Prayer,  and  to  prepare  such  alterations  and  additions  as  they  thought  fit  to  offer.”  In  the  following  year 
the  king  assembled  the  convocations  of  both  the  provinces  of  Canterbury  and  York ,  and  “  authorized  the  presidents 
of  those  convocations,  and  other  the  bishops  and  clergy  of  the  same,  to  review  the  said  Book  of  Common  Prayer,” 
&c.,  requiring  them,  “  after  mature  consideration,  to  make  such  alterations  and  additions  as  to  them  should  seem 
meet  and  convenient.”  This  was  accordingly  done,  several  prayers  and  some  whole  services  added,  and  the  whole 
published,  with  the  Act  of  Uniformity ,  in  the  14th  of  Charles  II.,  1661 ;  since  which  time  it  has  undergone  no  far¬ 
ther  revision.  These  several  additions  have  made  the  public  service  too  long,  and  this  is  the  principal  cause  why 
this  part  of  Divine  worship  is  not  better  attended.  This  excellent  service  is  now  burdensome  through  its  extreme 
length ;  and  the  clergy  shorten  their  sermons,  making  them  superficial,  to  prevent  too  much  weariness  in  their  con¬ 
gregations.  After  being  an  hour  and  a  half  at  prayers,  they  dismiss  their  audience  with  fifteen  or  twenty  minutes' 
preaching ;  thus  the  people  are  not  sufficiently  instructed.  This  is  a  short  history  of  a  work  which  all  who  are 
acquainted  with  if  deem  superior  to  every  thing  of  the  kind  produced  either  by  ancient  or  modern  times. 

It  would  be  disingenuous  not  to  acknowledge  that  the  chief  of  those  prayers  were  in  use  in  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church  from  which  the  Church  of  England  is  reformed ;  and  it  would  betray  a  want  of  acquaintance  with  eccle¬ 
siastical  antiquity  to  suppose  that  those  prayers  and  services  originated  in  that  Church,  as  several  of  them  were  in 
use  from  the  first  ages  of  Christianity,  and  many  of  the  best  of  them  before  the  name  of  pope  or  popery  was  known 
in  the  earth. 


18 


GENERAL  PREFACE. 


till  the  seven  hundred  and  fifty-third  year  before  Christ,  when  the  foundation  of  that  city  was 
laid,  and  also  introduced  the  Olympiads  from  the  time  of  their  commencement,  as  both  these 
eras  are  of  the  utmost  use  to  all  who  read  the  sacred  writings,  connected  with  the  histories  of 
the  times  and  nations  to  which  they  frequently  refer.  And  who  that  reads  his  Bible  will  not  be 
glad  to  find  at  what  time  of  the  sacred  history  those  great  events  fell  out,  of  which  he  has 
been  accustomed  to  read  in  the  Greek  and  Roman  historians?  This  is  a  gratification  which  the 
present  work  will  afford  from  a  simple  inspection  of  the  margin,  at  least  as  far  as  those  facts  and 
dates  have  been  ascertained  by  the  best  chronologists. 

In  the  Pentateuch  I  have  not  introduced  either  the  years  of  Rome  or  the  Olympiads,  because 
the  transactions  related  in  the  Mosaic  writings  are  in  general  too  remote  from  these  eras  to  be 
at  all  affected  by  them;  and  I  judged  it  early  enough  to  commence  with  them  at  the  time  when 
Israel  was  governed  by  the  Judges.  But  as  the  exodus  from  Egypt  forms  a  very  remarkable 
era  in  the  Jewish  history,  and  is  frequently  referred  to  in  the  historical  books,  I  have  entered  this 
also,  beginning  at  the  12th  of  Exodus,  A.  M.  2513,  and  have  carried  it  down  to  the  building  of 
Solomon’s  temple.  This,  I  conceive,  will  be  of  considerable  use  to  the  reader- 

As  to  Marginal  Readings,  I  could  with  very  little  trouble  have  added  many  hundreds,  if  not 
thousands  ;  but  as  I  made  it  a  point  of  conscience  strictly  to  adhere  to  the  present  authorized 
torsion  in  the  text,  I  felt  obliged  by  the  same  principle  scrupulously  to  follow  the  Marginal 
Readings,  without  adding  or  omitting  any.  Had  I  inserted  some  of  my  own,  as  some  others 
have  done,  then  my  text  would  be  no  longer  the  text  of  the  authorized  version,  but  an  altered 
translation ;  for  the  Marginal  Readings  constitute  an  integral  part,  properly  speaking,  of  the 
authorized  version ;  and  to  add  any  thing  would  be  to  alter  this  version,  and  to  omit  any  thing 
would  be  to  render  it  imperfect.  When  Dr.  Blayney  revised  the  present  version  in  1769,  and 
proposed  the  insertion  of  the  translations  of  some  proper  names,  to  the  etymology  of  which 
reference  is  made  in  the  text,  so  scrupulous  was  he  of  making  any  change  in  this  respect  that 
he  submitted  all  his  proposed  alterations  to  a  select  Committee  of  the  University  of  Oxford,  the 
Vice-chancellor,  and  the  Principal  of  Hertford  College,  and  Mr.  Professor  Wheeler ;  nor  was 
even  the  slightest  change  made  but  by  their  authority.  All  this  part,  as  well  as  the  entire  text, 
I  must,  therefore,  to  be  consistent  with  my  proposals,  leave  conscientiously  as  I  found  them, 
typographical  errors  and  false  italics  excepted.  Whatever  emendations  I  have  proposed,  either 
from  myself  or  others,  I  have  included  among  the  Notes. 

That  the  Marginal  Readings,  in  our  authorized  translation,  are  essential  to  the  integrity  of 
the  version  itself,  I  scruple  not  to  assert ;  and  they  are  of  so  much  importance  as  to  be  in  several 
instances  preferable  to  the  Textual  Readings  themselves.  Our  conscientious  translators,  not 
being  able  in  several  cases  to  determine  which  of  two  meanings  borne  by  a  word,  or  which  of 
two  words  found  in  different  copies,  should  be  admitted  into  the  text,  adopted  the  measure  of 
receiving  both,  placing  one  in  the  margin  and  the  other  in  the  text,  thus  leaving  the  reader  at 
liberty  to  adopt  either,  both  of  which  in  their  apprehension  stood  nearly  on  the  same  authority. 
On  this  very  account  the  marginal  readings  are  essential  to  our  version,  and  I  have  found,  on 
collating  many  of  them  with  the  originals,  that  those  in  the  'margin  are  to  be  preferred  to  those 
in  the  text  in  the  proportion  of  at  least  eight  to  ten. 

To  the  Geography  of  the  sacred  writings  I  have  also  paid  the  utmost  attention  in  my  power. 
I  wished  in  every  case  to  be  able  to  ascertain  the  ancient  and  modern  names  of  places,  their 
situation,  distances,  & c.,  &c.  ;  but  in  several  instances  I  have  not  been  able  to  satisfy  ipyself. 
I  have  given  those  opinions  which  appeared  to  me  to  be  best  founded,  taking  frequently  the 
liberty  to  express  my  own  doubts  or  dissatisfaction.  I  must  therefore  bespeak  the  reader’s  indul¬ 
gence,  not  only  in  reference  to  the  work  in  general,  but  in  respect  to  several  points  both  in  the 
Scripture  geography  and  chronology  in  particular,  which  may  appear  to  him  not  satisfactorily 
ascertained ;  and  have  only  to  say  that  I  have  spared  no  pains  to  make  every  thing  as  correct 
and  accurate  as  possible,  and  hope  I  may,  without  vanity,  apply  to  myself  on  these  subjects, 
with  a  slight  change  of  expression,  what  was  said  by  a  great  man  of  a  great  work  :  “For  negli¬ 
gence  or  deficience,  I  have  perhaps  not  need  of  more  apology  than  the  nature  of  the  work  will 
furnish  ;  I  have  left  that  inaccurate  which  can  never  be  made  exact,  and  that  imperfect  which 
can  never  be  completed.” — Johnson.  For  particulars  under  these  hea’ds  I  must  refer  to  Dr. 
Hales ’  elaborate  and  useful  work,  entitled,  Anew  Analysis  of  Chronology,  2  vols.  4to.,  1809-10. 

The  Summaries  to  each  chapter  are  entirely  written  for  the  purpose,  and  formed  from  a 
careful  examination  of  the  chapter,  verse  by  verse,  so  as  to  make  them  a  faithful  Table  ol 
Contents,  constantly  referring  to  the  verses  themselves.  By  this  means  all  the  subjects  of  each 
chapter  may  be  immediately  seen,  so  as  in  many  cases  to  preclude  the  necessity  of  consulting  a 
Concordance. 

In  the  Heads  or  head  lines  to  each  page  I  have  endeavoured  to  introduce  as  far  as  the  room 
would  admit,  the  chief  subject  of  the  columns  underneath,  so  as  immediately  to  catch  the  eye 
of  the  reader. 

Quotations  from  the  original  texts  I  have  made  as  sparingly  as 
Vol.  I.  (  3  ) 


possible  ;  those  which  are  intro- 
17* 


GENERAL  PREFACE. 


duced  I  have  endeavoured  to  make  plain  by  a  literal  translation,  and  by  putting  them  in  European 
characters.  The  reader  will  observe  that  though  the  Hebrew  is  here  produced  without  the  points , 
yet  the  reading  given  in  European  characters  is  according  to  the  points ,  with  very  few  excep¬ 
tions.  I  have  chosen  this  middle  way  to  please,  as  far  as  possible,  the  opposers  and  friends  of 
the  Masoretic  system. 

The  controversies  among  religious  people  I  have  scarcely  ever  mentioned,  having  very  seldom 
referred  to  the  creed  of  any  sect  or  party  of  Christians  ;  nor  have  I  produced  any  opinion  merely 
to  confute  or  establish  it.  I  simply  propose  what  I  believe  to  be  the  meaning  of  a  passage ,  and 
maintain  what  I  believe  to  be  the  truth ,  but  scarcely  ever  in  a  controversial  way.  I  think  it  quite 
possible  to  give  my  own  views  of  the  doctrines  of  the  Bible,  without  introducing  a  single  sentence 
at  which  any  Christian  might  reasonably  take  offence  ;  and  I  hope  that  no  provocation  which  I 
may  receive  shall  induce  me  to  depart  from  this  line  of  conduct. 

It  may  be  expected  by  some  that  I  should  enter  at  large  into  the  proofs  of  the  authenticity  of 
Divine  Revelation.  This  has  been  done  amply  by  others  ;  and  their  works  have  been  published 
in  every  form,  and,  with  a  very  laudable  zeal,  spread  widely  through  the  public  ;  on  this  account 
I  think  it  unnecessary  to  enter  professedly  into  the  subject,  any  farther  than  I  have  done  in  the 
“  Introduction  to  the  four  Gospels  and  Acts  of  the  Apostles,”  to  which  I  must  beg  to  refer  the 
reader.  The  different  portions  of  the  sacred  writings  against  which  the  shafts  of  infidelity  have 
been  levelled,  I  have  carefully  considered,  and  I  hope  sufficiently  defended,  in  the  places  where 
they  respectively  occur. 

For  a  considerable  time  I  hesitated  whether  I  should  attach  to  each  chapter  what  are  com¬ 
monly  called  reflections ,  as  these  do  not  properly  belong  to  the  province  of  the  commentator. 
It  is  the  business  of  the  preacher ,  who  has  the  literal  and  obvious  sense  before  him,  to  make 
reflections  on  select  passages,  providential  occurrences,  and  particular  histories  ;  and  to  apply 
the  doctrines  contained  in  them  to  the  hearts  .and  practices  of  his  hearers.  The  chief  business 
of  the  commentator  is  critically  to  examine  his  text,  to  give  the  true  meaning  of  every  passage 
in  reference  to  the  context,  to  explain  words  that  are  difficult  or  of  dubious  import,  illustrate  local 
and  provincial  customs,  manners,  idioms,  laws,  &c.,  and  from  the  whole  to  collect  the  great 
design  of  the  inspired  writer. 

Many  are  of  opinion  that  it  is  an  easy  thing  to  write  reflections  on  the  Scriptures  ;  my  opinion 
is  the  reverse  ;  common-place  observations,  which  may  arise  on  the  surface  of  the  latter,  may  be 
easily  made  by  any  person  possessing  a  little  common  sense  and  a  measure  of  piety ;  but  reflec¬ 
tions,  such  as  become  the  oracles  of  God ,  are  properly  inductive  reasonings  on  the  facts  stated 
or  the  doctrines  delivered,  and  require,  not  only  a  clear  head  and  a  sound  heart,  but  such  a  com¬ 
pass  and  habit  of  philosophic  thought,  such  a  power  to  discern  the  end  from  the  beginning,  the 
cause  from  its  effect ,  (and  where  several  causes  are  at  work  to  ascertain  their  respective  results, 
so  that  every  effect  may  be  attributed  to  its  true  cause,)  as  falls  to  the  lot  of  but  few  men. 
Through  the  flimsy,  futile,  and  false  dealing  of  the  immense  herd  of  spiritualizers,  metaphor- 
men,  and  allegorists,  pure  religion  has  been  often  disgraced.  Let  a  man  put  his  reason  in  ward, 
turn  conscience  out  of  its  province,  and  throw  the  reins  on  the  neck  of  his  fancy,  and  he  may 
write — reflections  without  end.  The  former  description  of  reflections  I  rarely  attempt  for  want 
of  adequate  powers  ;  the  latter,  my  reason  and  conscience  prohibit ;  let  this  be  my  excuse  with 
the  intelligent  and  pious  reader.  L  have,  however,  in  this  way,  done  what  I  could.  I  have 
generally,  at  the  close  of  each  chapter,  summed  up  in  a  few  particulars  the  facts  or  doctrines 
contained  in  it ;  and  have  endeavoured  to  point  out  to  the  reader  the  spiritual  and  practical  use 
he  should  make  of  them.  To  these  inferences ,  improvements ,  or  whatever  else  they  may  be 
called,  I  have  given  no  specific  name  ;  and  of  them  can  only  say,  that  he  who  reads  them,  though 
he  may  be  sometimes  disappointed,  will  not  always  lose  his  labour.  At  the  same  time  I  beg 
leave  to  inform  him  that  I  have  not  deferred  spiritual  uses  of  important  texts  to  the  end  of  the 
chapter  ;  where  they  should  be  noticed  in  the  occurring  verse  I  have  rarely  passed  them  by. 

Before  I  conclude,  it  may  be  necessary  to  give  some  account  of  the  original  versions  of  the 
sacred  writings,  which  have  been  often  consulted,  and  to  which  occasional  references  are  made 
in  the  ensuing  work.  These  are  the  Samaritan ,  Chaldaic,  AEthiopic,  Septuagint ,  with  those 
of  Aquila ,  Siymmachus,  and  Theodotion ;  the  Syriac ,  Vulgate ,  Arabic ,  Coptic ,  Persian ,  and 
Anglo-Saxon. 

The  Samaritan  text  must  not  be  reckoned  among  the  versions.  It  is  precisely  the  same 
with  the  Hebrew,  only  fuller ;  having  preserved  many  letters,  words,  and  even  Avhole  sentences, 
sometimes  several  verses,  which  are  not  extant  in  any  Hebrew  copy  with  which  we  are  ac¬ 
quainted.  In  all  other  respects  it  is  the  same  as  the  Hebrew,  only  written  in  what  is  called  the 
Samaritan  character,  which  was  probably  the  ancient  Hebrew,  as  that  now  called  the  Hebrew 
character  was  probably  borrowed  from  the  Chaldeans. 

1.  The  Samaritan  version  differs  widely  from  the  Samaritan  text ;  the  latter  is  pure  Hebrew, 
the  former  is  a  literal  version  of  the  Hebreo-Samaritan  text,  into  the  Chaldaico-Samaritan  dia¬ 
lect.  When  this  was  done  it  is  impossible  to  say,  but  it  is  allowed  to  be  very  ancient,  consider- 
18*  (  3  ) 


GENERAL  PREFACE. 


ably  prior  to  the  Christian  era.  The  language  of  this  version  is  composed  of  pure  Hebrew, 
Syro-Chaldaic,  and  Cuthite  terms.  It  is  almost  needless  to  observe  that  the  Samaritan  text  and 
Samaritan  version  extend  no  farther  than  the  five  books  of  Moses  ;  as  the  Samaritans  received 
no  other  parts  of  the  sacred  writings. 

2.  The  Chaldaic  version  or  Targums  have  already  been  described  among  the  commentators. 
Under  this  head  are  included  the  Targum  of  Onkelos  upon  the  whole  law  ;  the  Jerusalem  Tar- 
gum  on  select  parts  of  the  five  books  of  Moses  ;  the  Targum  of  Jonathan  ben  Uzziel  also  upon 
the  Pentateuch  ;  the  Targum  of  Jonathan  upon  the  prophets  ;  and  the  Targum  of  Rabbi  Joseph 
on  the  books  of  Chronicles  ;  but  of  all  these  the  Targums  of  Onkelos  on  the  law,  and  Jonathan 
on  the  prophets,  are  the  most  ancient,  the  most  literal,  and  the  most  valuable.  See  page  1  and  2 
of  this  preface. 

3.  The  Septijagint  translation  of  all  the.versions  of  the  sacred  writings  has  ever  been  deemed 
of  the  greatest  importance  by  competent  judges.  I  do  not,  however,  design  to  enter  into  the  con¬ 
troversy  concerning  this  venerable  version  ;  the  history  of  it  by  Aristaeus  I  consider  in  the 
main  to  be  a  mere  fable,  worthy  to  be  classed  with  the  tale  of  Bel  and  the  Dragon,  and  the 
stupid  story  of  Tobit  and  his  Dog.  Nor  do  I  believe,  with  many  of  the  fathers,  that  “  seventy 
or  seventy-two  elders,  six  out  of  each  of  the  twelve  tribes,  were  employed  in  the  work  ;  that 
each  of  these  translated  the  whole  of  the  sacred  books  from  Hebrew  into  Greek  while  confined 
in  separate  cells  in  the  island  of  Pharos  or  that  they  were  so  particularly  inspired  by  God  that 
every  species  of  error  was  prevented,  and  that  the  seventy-two  copies,  when  compared  together, 
were  found  to  be  precisely  the  same,  verbatim  et  literatim.  My  own  opinion,  on  the  contro¬ 
versial  part  of  the  subject,  may  be  given  in  a  few  words  :  I  believe  that  the  five  books  of  Moses, 
the  most  correct  and  accurate  part  of  the  whole  work,  were  translated  from  the  Hebrew  into 
Greek  in  the  time  of  Ptolemy  Philadelphus ,  king  of  Egypt,  about  285  years  before  the  Christian 
era  ;  that  this  was  done,  not  by  seventy-two,  but  probably  by  jive  learned  and  judicious  men, 
and  that  when  completed  it  was  examined,  approved,  and  allowed  as  a  faithful  version,  by  the 
seventy  or  seventy-two  elders  who  constituted  the  Alexandrian  Sanhedrim ;  and  that  the  other 
books  of  the  Old  Testament  were  done  at  different  times  by  different  hands,  as  the  necessity  of 
the  case  demanded,  or  the  providence  of  God  appointed.  It  is  pretty  certain,  from  the  quotations 
of  the  evangelists,  the  apostles,  and  the  primitive  fathers,  that  a  complete  version  into  Greek 
of  the  whole  Old  Testament,  probably  called  by  the  name  of  the  Septuagint,  was  made  and  in 
use  before  the  Christian  era  ;  but  it  is  likely  that  some  of  the  books  of  that  ancient  version  are 
now  lost,  and  that  some  others,  which  now  go  under  the  name  of  the  Septuagint,  were  the  pro¬ 
duction  of  times  posterior  to  the  incarnation. 

4.  The  Greek  versions  of  Aquila,  Symmachus,  and  Theodotion,  are  frequently  referred  to. 
Aquila  was  first  a  heathen,  then  a  Christian,  and  lastly  a  Jew.  He  made  a  translation  of  the  Old 
Testament  into  Greek  so  very  literal,  that  St.  Jerome  said  it  was  a  good  dictionary  to  give  the 
genuine  meaning  of  the  Hebrew  words.  He  finished  and  published  this  work  in  the  twelfth  year 
of  the  reign  of  the  Emperor  Adrian,  A.  D.  128. 

5.  Theodotion  was  a  Christian  of  the  Ebionite  sect,  and  is  reported  to  have  begun  his  transla¬ 
tion  of  the  Hebrew  Scriptures  into  Greek  merely  to  serve  his  own  party  ;  but  from  what  remains 
of  his  version  it  appears  to  have  been  very  literal,  at  least  as  far  as  the  idioms  of  the  two  lan¬ 
guages  would  bear.  His  translation  was  made  about  the  year  of  our  Lord  180.  All  this  work 
is  lost,  except  his  version  of  the  book  of  the  Prophet  Daniel,  and  some  fragments. 

6.  • Symmachus  was  originally  a  Samaritan ,  but  became  a  convert  to  Christianity  as  professed 
by  the  Ebionites.  In  forming  his  translation  he  appears  to  have  aimed  at  giving  th e  sense  rather 
than  a  literal  version  of  the  sacred  text.  His  work  was  probably  completed  about  A.  D.  200. 

These  three  versions  were  published  by  Origen  in  his  famous  work  entitled,  IJexapla,  of 
which  they  formed  the  third,  fourth,  and  sixth  columns.  All  the  remaining  fragments  have 
been  carefully  collected  by  Father  Montfaucon,  and  published  in  a  work  entitled,  IJexapla  Ori- 
genis  quaz  supersunt,  <$pc.  Paris,  1713.  2  vols.  folio.  Republished  by  C.  F.  Bahrdt,  Leips. 

1769,  2  vols.  8vo. 

7.  The  zEthiopic  version  comprehends  only  the  New  Testament,  the  Psalms,  some  of  the 
minor  Prophets,  and  a  few  fragments  of  other  books.  It  was  probably  made  in  the  fourth 
century. 

8.  The  Coptic  version  includes  only  the  five  books  of  Moses,  and  the  New  Testament.  It  is 
supposed  to  have  been  made  in  the  fifth  century. 

9.  The  Syriac  version  is  very  valuable  and  of  great  authority.  It  was  probably  made  as  early 
as  the  second  century;  and  some  think  that  a  Syriac  version  of  the  Old  Testament  was  in 
existence  long  before  the  Christian  era. 

10.  A  Latin  version,  known  by  the  name  of  the  Itala,  Italic  or  Antehieronymian,  is  well 
known  among  learned  men  ;  it  exists  in  the  Latin  part  of  the  Codex  Bczce  at  Cambridge,  and  in 
several  other  MSS.  The  text  of  the  four  gospels  in  this  version,  taken  from  four  MSS.  more 
than  a  thousand  years  old,  was  published  by  Blanchini,  at  Rome  1749,  4  vols.  folio  ,  and  a  larger 


GENERAL  PREFACE. 

collection  by  Stihathier ,  Rheims,  1743,  3  vols.  folio.  This  ancient  version  is  allowed  to  be  of 
great  use  in  Biblical  criticism. 

11.  The  Vulgate ,  or  Latin  version,  was  formed  by  Saint  Jerome,  at  the  command  of  Pope 
Damasus,  A.  D.  384.  Previously  to  this  there  were  a  great  number  of  Latin  versions  made  by 
different  hands,  some  of  which  Jerome  complains  of  as  being  extremely  corrupt  and  self-contra¬ 
dictory.  These  versions,  at  present,  go  under  the  general  name  of  the  old  Itala  or  Antehiero - 
nymian,  already  noticed.  Jerome  appears  to  have  formed  his  text  in  general  out  of  these, 
collating  the  whole  with  the  Hebrew  and  Greek,  from  which  he  professes  to  have  translated 
several  books  entire.  The  New  Testament  he  is  supposed  to  have  taken  wholly  from  the 
original  Greek;  yet  there  are  sufficient  evidences  that  he  often  regulated  even  this  text  by  the 
ancient  Latin  versions. 

12.  The  Anglo-Saxon  version  of  the  four  Gospels  is  supposed  to  have  been  taken  from  the 
ancient  Itala  some  time  in  the  eighth  century ;  and  that  of  the  Pentateuch,  Joshua,  Judges,  and 
Job,  from  the  Vulgate,  by  a  monk  called  iElfric,  in  the  ninth  century.  The  former  was  printed 
at  Dort,  in  conjunction  with  the  Gothic  version,  by  F.  Junius,  1665,  4to. ;  the  latter,  by  Edward 
Thwaites,  Oxford ,  1698,  8vo. ;  but  in  this  version  many  verses,  and  even  whole  chapters,  are 
left  out ;  and  the  Book  of  Job  is  only  a  sort  of  abstract,  consisting  of  about  five  pages. 

13.  The  Arabic  is  not  a  very  ancient  version,  but  is  of  great  use  in  ascertaining  the  significa¬ 
tion  of  several  Hebrew  words  and  forms  of  speech. 

14.  The  Persian  includes  only  the  five  Books  of  Moses  and  the  four  Gospels.  The  former 
was  made  from  the  Hebrew  text  by  a  Jew  named  Yacoub  Toosee ;  the  latter,  by  a  Christian 
of  the  Catholic  persuasion,  Simon  lbn  Yusuf  Ibn  Ibraheem  al  Tubreezee,  about  the  year  of 
our  Lord  1341. 

These  are  the  principal  versions  which  are  deemed  of  authority  in  settling  controversies 
relative  to  the  text  of  the  original.  There  are  some  others,  but  of  less  importance ;  such  as  the 
Slavonic,  Gothic,  Sahidic,  and  Armenian  ;  for  detailed  accounts  of  which,  as  also  of  the  prece¬ 
ding,  as  far  as  the  New  Testament  is  concerned,  I  beg  leave  to  refer  the  reader  to  Michaelis’s 
Lectures,  in  the  translation,  with  the  notes  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Herbert  Marsh,  and  to  the  General 
Preface  to  the  Gospels  and  Acts ;  and  for  farther  information  concerning  Jewish  and  Christian 
commentators,  he  is  requested  to  consult  Bartoloccius's  Bibliotheca  Rabbinica,  and  the  Biblio¬ 
theca  Theologica  of  Father  Calmet. 

In  the  preceding  list  of  commentators  I  find  I  have  omitted  to  insert  in  its  proper  place  a  work 
with  which  I  have  been  long  acquainted,  and  which  for  its  piety  and  erudition  I  have  invariably 
admired,  viz. :  “  A  plaine  discovery  of  the  whole  Revelation  of  Saint  John ;  set  downe  in  two 
Treatises :  The  one  searching  and  proving  the  true  interpretation  thereof ;  The  other  applying 
the  same  paraphrastically  and  historically  to  the  text.  Set  foorth  by  John  Napeir  L.  of  Marches- 
toun,  younger.  Whereunto  are  annexed  certaine  Oracles  of  Sibylla,  agreeing  with  the  Reve¬ 
lation  and  other  places  of  Scripture.  Edinburgh,  printed  by  Robert  Waldegrave,  printer  to  the 
King’s  Majestie,  1593.  Cum  privilegio  Regali,  8vo. 

When  the  reader  learns  that  the  author  of  this  little  work  was  the  famous  Baron  of  Marches- 
toun,  the  inventor  of  the  logarithms,  a  discovery  which  has  been  of  incalculable  use  in  the 
sciences  of  astronomy,  practical  geometry,  and  navigation,  he  will  be  prepared  to  receive  with 
respect  what  so  great  a  genius  has  written  upon  a  book  that,  above  all  others  in  the  sacred  code, 
seems  to  require  the  head  and  hand  of  the  soundest  divine  and  mathematician.  The  work  is 
dedicated  44  to  the  right  excellent,  high  and  mighty  Prince  James  VI.,  King  of  Scottes,”  after¬ 
wards  James  I.,  King  of  England ;  and  in  the  Epistle  Dedicatorie,  the  author  strongly  urges 
him  to  complete  the  reformation  begun  in  his  own  empire,  that  he  might  be  a  ready  instrument 
in  the  hand  of  God  in  executing  judgment  on  the  papal  throne,  which  he  then  supposed  to  be 
near  the  time  of  its  final  overthrow.  The  first  treatise  is  laid  down  in  thirty-six  propositions 
relating  to  the  seals,  trumpets,  vials,  and  thunders. 

In  the  third,  fifth,  and  sixth  propositions,  he  endeavours  to  prove  that  each  trumpet  or  vial 
contains  245  years  ;  that  the  first  began  A.  D.  71.  The  second  A.  D.  316.  The  third  A.  D. 
561.  The  fourth  A.  D.  806.  The  fifth  A.  D.  1051.  The  sixth  A.  D.  1296.  The  seventh  A.  D. 
1541.  See  Propos.  vi.  And  in  Propos.  x.  he  shows  that,  as  the  last  trumpet  or  vial  began 
in  1541,  consequently,  as  it  contains  245  years,  it  should  extend  to  A.  D.  1786.  44  Not  that  I 

mean,”  says  the  noble  writer,  44  that  that  age  or  yet  the  world  shall  continew  so  long,  because  it 
is  said,  that  for  the  elect’s  sake  the  time  shall  be  shortened ;  but  I  mean  that  if  the  world  were 
to  indure,  that  seventh  age  should  continew  untill  the  yeare  of  Christ,  1786.”  Taking  up  this 
subject  again,  in  Propos.  xiv.,  he  endeavours  to  prove,  by  a  great  variety  of  calculations  formed 
on  the  1335  days  mentioned  by  Daniel,  chap.  xii.  11,  and  the  period  of  the  three  thundering 
angels,  Rev.  viii.  and  ix.,  that  by  the  former  it  appears  the  day  or  judgment  will  take  place  in 
A.  D.  1700,  and  by  the  latter,  in  1688,  whence  it  maybe  confidently  expected  that  this  awful  day 
shall  take  place  between  these  two  periods  ! 

We,  who  have  lived  to  A.  D.  1830,  see  the  fallacy  of  these  predictive  calculations ;  and  with 
20 


GENERAL  PREFACE. 


such  an  example  before  us  of  the  miscarriage  of  the  first  mathematician  in  Europe,  in  his 
endeavours  to  solve  the  prophetical  periods  marked  in  this  most  obscure  book,  we  should  pro¬ 
ceed  in  such  researches  with  humility  and  caution,  nor  presume  to  ascertain  the  times  and  the 
seasons  which  the  Father  has  reserved  in  his  own  power.  I  may  venture  to  affirm,  so  very 
plausible  were  the  reasonings  and  calculations  of  Lord  Napeir,  that  there  was  scarcely  a  Pro 
testant  in  Europe,  who  read  his  work,  that  was  not  of  the  same  opinion.  And  how  deplorably 
has  the  event  falsified  the  predictions  of  this  eminent  and  pious  man  !  And  yet,  unawed  by  his 
miscarriage,  calculators  and  ready-reckoners ,  in  every  succeeding  age,  on  less  specious  pre¬ 
tences,  with  minor  qualifications,  and  a  less  vigorous  opinion,  have  endeavoured  to  soar  where 
Napeir  sunk  !  Their  labours,  however  well  .intended,  only  serve  to  increase  the  records  of 
the  weakness  and  folly  of  mankind.  Secret  things  belong  to  God  ;  those  that  are  revealed ,  to 
us  and  to  our  children.  Writers  who  have  endeavoured  to  illustrate  different  prophecies  in 
the  Apocalypse  by  past  events,  and  those  that  are  now  occurring,  are  not  included  in  this  cen¬ 
sure.  Some  respectable  names  in  the  present  day  have  rendered  considerable  service  to  the 
cause  of  Divine  revelation,  by  the  careful  and  pious  attention  they  have  paid  to  this  part  of 
the  subject ;  but  when  persons  attempt  to  speak  of  what  is  yet  to  come,  they  begin  to  prophesy , 
and  are  soon  lost. 

ADAM  CLARKE. 


P.  S.  On  Gen.  ii.  4,  I  have  hinted  that  our  Saxon  ancestors  have  translated  the  Dominus  of  the  Vulgate  by 
Wapojib,  Lovejib,  or  Lojib.  This  is  not  to  be  understood  of  the  fragments  of  the  translations  of  the  Old  and  New 
Testament  which  have  reached  our  times,  for  in  them  Dominus  when  connected  with  Deus  is  often  omitted ,  and 
the  word  Irob  substituted  for  both;  at  other  times  they  use  the  Dano-Saxon  Djuhten,  both  for  niTT  Jehovah ,  and 
Adonai;  and  in  the  New  Testament,  Djuhten  is  generally  used  for  K vpiog,  Lord,  at  oiher  times,  Dlapojib.  It 

seems  to  have  been  applied  as  a  title  of  respect  to  men:  see  Matt.  xii.  8;  xiii.  27;  xvii.  25,  26,  27,  31,  32,  34;  xxi. 
30.  Afterwards  it  was  applied  to  the  Supreme  Being  also;  and  the  title  Lord  continues  to  be  given  to  both  indif¬ 
ferently  to  the  present  day,  and  sometimes  both  indifferently  even  in  the  same  discourse.  Thus  in  the  Saxon  homily 
in  Dom.  1.,  Quadr.  Bedse  Hist.  Eccles.,  lib.  iv.,  C.  9:  CIDan  rceal  hine  gehibban  to  lnp  Djuhtne  him  anum  peopian  :  J)i 
ana  ip  pop  Wapojib  anb  pop  Dob.  “  Man  shall  pray  to  his  Lord  (Djuhtne)  and  him  alone  serve :  He  only  is  true  Lord 
(Mapojib)  and  true  God.”  Mapojib  belongs  more  especially  to  the  Anglo-Saxon  Djuhtne,  to  the  Dano-Saxon.  In 
Danish  Djiotteji  is  generally  used  for  Lord. 


21 


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PREFACE  TO  THE 


BOOK 


OF 

GENESIS. 


J^VERY  believer  in  Divine  revelation  finds  himself  amply  justified  in  taking  for  granted 
that  the  Pentateuch  is  the  work  of  Moses.  For  more  than  3000  years  this  has  been 
the  invariable  opinion  of  those  who  were  best  qualified  to  form  a  correct  judgment  on  this 
subject.  The  Jewish  Church,  from  its  most  remote  antiquity,  has  ascribed  the  work  to  no 
other  hand ;  and  the  Christian  Church,  from  its  foundation,  has  attributed  it  to  the  Jewish 
lawgiver  alone.  The  most  respectable  heathens  have  concurred  in  this  testimony,  and  Jesus 
Christ  and  his  apostles  have  completed  the  evidence,  and  have  put  the  question  beyond  the 
possibility  of  being  doubted  by  those  who  profess  to  believe  the  Divine  authenticity  of  the 
New  Testament.  As  to  those  who,  in  opposition  to  all  these  proofs,  obstinately  persist  in 
their  unbelief,  they  are  worthy  of  little  regard,  as  argument  is  lost  on  their  unprincipled 
prejudices,  and  demonstration  on  their  minds,  because  ever  wilfully  closed  against  the  light. 
When  they  have  proved  that  Moses  is  not  the  author  of  this  work,  the  advocates  of  Divine 
revelation  will  reconsider  the  grounds  of  their  faith. 

That  there  are  a  few  things  in  the  Pentateuch  which  seem  to  have  been  added  by  a  later 
hand  there  can  be  little  doubt ;  among  these  some  have  reckoned,  perhaps  without  reason, 
the  following  passage,  Gen.  xii.  6  :  “  And  the  Canaanite  was  then  in  the  land but  see 
the  note  on  this  place.  Num.  xxi.  14,  “  In  the  book  of  the  wars  of  the  Lord,”  was  probably 
a  marginal  note,  which  in  process  of  time  got  into  the  text ;  see  the  note  on  this  passage 
also.  To  these  may  be  added  the  five  first  verses  of  Deuteronomy,  chap,  i ;  the  twelfth  of 
chap,  ii ;  and  the  eight  concluding  verses  of  the  last  chapter,  in  which  we  have  an  account 
of  the  death  of  Moses.  These  last  words  could  not  have  been  added  by  Moses  himself,  but 
are  very  probably  the  work  of  Ezra,  by  whom,  according  to  uninterrupted  tradition  among 
the  Jews,  the  various  books  which  constitute  the  canon  of  the  Old  Testament  were  collected 
and  arranged,  and  such  expository  notes  added  as  were  essential  to  connect  the  different 
parts  ;  but  as  he  acted  under  Divine  inspiration,  the  additions  may  be  considered  of  equal 
authority  with  the  text.  A  few  other  places  might  be  added,  but  they  are  of  little  importance? 
and  are  mentioned  in  the  notes. 

The  book  of  GENESIS,  Yeveoig,  has  its  name  from  the  title  it  bears  in  the  Septuagint t 
B i(31og  r eveoeuc,  (chap.  ii.  ver.  4,)  which  signifies  the  book  of  the  Generation ;  but  it  is  called 
in  Hebrew  rr^KTi  Bereshith ,  “  In  the  beginning ,”  from  its  initial  word.  It  is  the  most 
ancient  history  in  the  world  ;  and,  from  the  great  variety  of  its  singular  details  and  most 
interesting  accounts,  is  as  far  superior  in  its  value  and  importance  to  all  others,  as  it  is  in  its 
antiquity.  This  book  contains  an  account  of  the  creation  of  the  world,  and  its  first  inhabit¬ 
ants  ;  the  original  innocence  and  fall  of  man ;  the  rise  of  religion  ;  the  invention  of  arts ; 
the  general  corruption  and  degeneracy  of  mankind  ;  the  universal  deluge  ;  the  repeopling  and 

a  23 


PREFACE  TO  GENESIS. 


division  of  the  earth ;  the  origin  of  nations  and  kingdoms ;  and  a  particular  history  of  the 
'patriarchs  from  Adam  down  to  the  death  of  Joseph  ;  including  a  space,  at  the  lowest  com¬ 
putation,  of  2369  years. 

It  may  be  asked  how  a  detail  so  circumstantial  and  minute  could  have  been  preserved 
when  there  was  no  writing  of  any  kind,  and  when  the  earth,  whose  history  is  here  given, 
had  already  existed  more  than  2000  years.  To  this  inquiry  a  very  satisfactory  answer  may 
be  given.  There  are  only  three  ways  in  which  these  important  records  could  have  been 
preserved  and  brought  down  to  the  time  of  Moses  :  viz.,  writing ,  tradition ,  and  Divine  reve¬ 
lation.  In  the  antediluvian  world,  when  the  life  of  man  was  so  protracted,  there  was  com¬ 
paratively  little  need  for  ivriting  of  any  kind,  and  perhaps  no  alphabetical  writing  then  existed. 
Tradition  answered  every  purpose  to  which  writing  in  any  kind  of  characters  could  be  sub¬ 
servient;  and  the  necessity  of  erecting  monuments  to  perpetuate  public  events  could  scarcely 
have  suggested  itself,  as  during  those  times  there  could  be  little  danger  apprehended  of  any 
important  fact  becoming  obsolete,  as  its  history  had  to  pass  through  very  few  hands,  and  all 
these  friends  and  relatives  in  the  most  proper  sense  of  the  terms ;  for  they  lived  in  an  insu¬ 
lated  state  under  a  patriarchal  government. 

Thus  it  was  easy  for  Moses  to  be  satisfied  of  the  truth  of  all  he  relates  in  the  book  of 
Genesis ,  as  the  accounts  came  to  him  through  the  medium  of  very  few  persons.  From  Adam 
to  Noah  there  was  but  one  man  necessary  to  the  correct  transmission  of  "the  history  of  this 
period  of  1656  years.  Now  this  history  was,  without  doubt,  perfectly  known  to  Methuselah, 
who  lived  to  see  them  both.  In  like  manner  Shem  connected  Noah  and  Abraham ,  having 
lived  to  converse  with  both  ;  as  Isaac  did  with  Abraham  and  Joseph ,  from  whom  these  things 
might  be  easily  conveyed  to  Moses  by  Amram,  who  was  contemporary  with  Joseph.  See 
the  plate ,  chap.  xi.  Supposing,  then,  all  the  curious  facts  recorded  in  the  book  of  Genesis 
had  no  other  authority  than  the  tradition  already  referred  to,  they  would  stand  upon  a  founda¬ 
tion  of  credibility  superior  to  any  that  the  most  reputable  of  the  ancient  Greek  and  Latin 
historians  can  boast.  Yet  to  preclude  all  possibility  of  mistake,  the  unerring  Spirit  of  God 
directed  Moses  in  the  selection  of  his  facts  and  the  ascertaining  of  his  dates.  Indeed,  the 
narrative  is  so  simple,  so  much  like  truth,  so  consistent  everywhere  with  itself,  so  correct  in 
its  dates,  so  impartial  in  its  biography,  so  accurate  in  its  philosophical  details,  so  pure  in  its 
morality,  and  so  benevolent  in  its  design,  as  amply  to  demonstrate  that  it  never  could  have 
had  an  earthly  origin.  In  this  case,  also,  Moses  constructed  every  thing  according  to  the 
pattern  which  God  showed  him  in  the  mount. 

24  a 


THE  FIRST  BOOK  OF  MOSES, 

CALLED 


GENESIS. 


Year  before  the  common  era  of  Christ,  4004. — Julian  Period,  710. — Cycle  of  the  Sun,  10. — Dominical 
Letter,  B. — Cycle  of  the  Moon,  7. — Indiction,  5. — Creation  from  Tisri  or  September,  1. 


CHAPTER  I. 

First  day’s  work — Creation  of  the  heavens  and  the  earth ,  1,2.  Of  the  light  and  its  separation  from  the 
darkness ,  3—5.  Second  day’s  work — The  creation  of  the  firmament ,  and  the  separation  of  the  waters 
above  the  firmament  from  those  below  it ,  6—8.  Third  day’s  work — The  waters  are  separated  from  the 
earth  and  formed  into  seas,  dfC.,  9,  10.  The  earth  rendered  fruitful,  and  clothed  with  trees ,  herbs, 
grass ,  dfc.,  11—13.  Fourth  day’s  work — Creation  of  the  celestial  luminaries  intended  for  the  measure¬ 
ment  of  time ,  the  distinction  of  periods ,  seasons ,  <5fC.,  14  ;  and  to  illuminate  the  earth,  15.  Distinct 
account  of  the  formation  of  the  sun, moon,  and  stars,  16—19.  Fifth  day’s  work — The  creation  of  fish,  fowls, 
and  reptiles  in  general,  20.  Of  great  aquatic  animals ,  21.  They  are  blessed  so  as  to  make  them  very 
prolific,  22,  23.  Sixth  day’s  work — Wild  and  tame  cattle  created,  and  all  kinds  of  animals  which  derive 
their  nourishment  from  the  earth,  24,  25.  The  creation  of  man  in  the  image  and  likeness  of  God,  with 
the  dominion  given  him  over  the  earth  and  all  inferior  animals,  26.  Man  or  Adam,  a  general  name  for 
human  beings ,  including  both  male  and  female,  27.  Their  peculiar  blessing,  28.  Vegetables  appointed  as 
the  food  of  man  and  all  other  animals,  29,  30.  The  judgment  which  God  passed  on  his  ivorks  at  the 
conclusion  of  his  creative  acts,  3 1 . 


„A- M- x-  TN  the  a  beginning  b  God  created 

B.  C.  4004.  X  T  i  i 

-  the  heaven  and  the  earth. 

2  c  And  the  earth  was  without  form  and 


void ;  and  darkness  was  upon  the  bAqM401( 

face  of  the  deep.  d  And  the  Spirit  - 

of  God  moved  upon  the  face  of  the  waters. 


a  Prov.  viii.  22,  23,  24  ;  Mark  xiii.  19  ;  John  i.  1,  2 ;  Heb.  i. 

10. - b  1  Chron.  xvi.  26 ;  Neh.  ix.  6 ;  Psa.  viii.  3  ;  xxxiii.  6 ; 

Ixxxix.  11,  12;  cxvi.  5;  cii.  25 ;  civ.  24 ;  cxv.  15  ;  cxxi.  2; 
cxxiv.  8  ;  cxxxiv.  3  ;  cxxxvi.  5  ;  cxlvi.  6 ;  Prov.  iii.  19  ;  viii.  26, 27, 
&c. ;  Eccles.  xii.  1;  Isa.  xxxvii.  16;  xlii.  5;  xliv.  24;  li.  16; 


NOTES  ON  CHAP.  I. 

Yerse  i.  pan  nxi  own  nx  D’nbx  xnn  rrtyx-n 
Bereshith  bara  Elohim  eth  hashshamayim  veeth  haarets ; 
GOD  in  the  beginning  created  the  heavens  and  the  earth. 

Many  attempts  have  been  made  to  define  the  term 
GOD  :  as  to  the  word  itself,  it  is  pure  Anglo-Saxon, 
and  among  our  ancestors  signified,  not  only  the  Divine 
Being,  now  commonly  designated  by  the  word,  but  also 
good ;  as  in  their  apprehensions  it  appeared  that  God 
and  good  were  correlative  terms ;  and  when  they  thought 
or  spoke  of  him,  they  were  doubtless  led  from  the  word 
itself  to  consider  him  as  the  Good  Being,  a  fountain 
of  infinite  benevolence  and  beneficence  towards  his 
creatures. 

A  general  definition  of  this  great  First  Cause,  as  far 
as  human  words  dare  attempt  one,  may  be  thus  given  : 
The  eternal,  independent,  and  self-existent  Being  :  the 
Being  whose  purposes  and  actions  spring  from  him- 


lxv.  17  ;  Jer.  x.  12  ;  xxxii.  17  ;  li.  15  ;  Zech.  xii.  1  ;  Acts  iv. 
24;  xiv.  15;  xvii.  24;  Rom.  i.  20;  Eph.  iii.  9  ;  Col.  i.  16,  17; 
Heb.  i.  2  ;  xi.  3 ;  2  Pet.  iii.  5;  Rev.  i.  8 ;  iii.  14  ;  iv.  11 ;  x.  6  ; 

xiv.  7  ;  xxi.  6 ;  xxii.  13. - c  Isa.  xlv.  18  ;  Jer.  iv.  23. - d  Psa. 

civ.  30 ;  Isa.  xl.  13,  14. 

self,  without  foreign  motive  or  influence  :  he  who  is 
absolute  in  dominion  ;  the  most  pure,  the  most  simple, 
and  most  spiritual  of  all  essences  ;  infinitely  benevolent, 
beneficent,  true,  and  holy  :  the  cause  of  all  being,  the 
upholder  of  all  things ;  infinitely  happy,  because  infi¬ 
nitely  perfect ;  and  eternally  self-sufficient,  needing 
nothing  that  he  has  made  :  illimitable  in  his  immensity, 
inconceivable  in  his  mode  of  existence,  and  indescriba¬ 
ble  in  his  essence  ;  known  fully  only  to  himself,  because 
an  infinite  mind  can  be  fully  apprehended  only  by  itself. 
In  a  wrord,  a  Being  who,  from  his  infinite  wisdom,  can¬ 
not  err  or  be  deceived  ;  and  who,  from  his  infinite  good¬ 
ness,  can  do  nothing  but  what  is  eternally  just,  right, 
and  kind.  Reader,  such  is  the  God  of  the  Bible  ;  but 
how  widely  different  from  the  God  of  most  human 
creeds  and  apprehensions ! 

The  original  word  D'rtSx  Elohim,  God,  is  certainly 
the  plural  form  of  bx  El,  or  nbx  Eloah,  and  has  long 

25 


Creation  of  the  light ,  and  its  GENESIS.  separation  from  the  darkness. 


A  M  1.  3  e  And  Qoc[  sa|j  f  Let  there  be 

3.  C.  4004. 

-  light :  and  there  was  light. 

o  o 

4  And  God  saw  the  light  that  it  was  good : 


and  God  .  s  divided  h  the  light  BAcM4(J>4 

from  the  darkness.  - 

5  And  God  called  the  light  1  Day,  and  the 


e  Psa.  xxxiii.  6,  9;  cxlviii.  5. - f  Job  xxxvi.  30;  xxxviii.  19; 

Psa.  xcvii.  11  ;  civ.  2  ;  cxviii.  27  ;  Isa.  xlv.  7  ;  lx.  19  ;  John  i. 
5,  9;  iii.  19  ;  2  Cor.  iv.  6  ;  Eph.  v.  8  ;  1  Tim.  vi.  16;  1  John  i. 


5;  ii.  8. - s  2  Cor.  vi.  14. - h  Heb.  between  the  light  and  between 

the  darkness. - ’  Chap.  viii.  22  ;  Psa.  xix.  2 ;  lxxiv.  16  ;  civ.  20; 

Jer.  xxxiii.  20  ;  1  Cor.  iii.  13  ;  Eph.  v.  13  ;  1  Thess.  v.  5. 


been  supposed,  by  the  most  eminently  learned  and  pious 
men,  to  imply  a  plurality  of  Persons  in  the  Divine 
nature.  As  this  plurality  appears  in  so  many  parts  of 
the  sacred  writings  to  be  confined  to  three  Persons, 
hence  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity,  which  has  formed 
a  part  of  the  creed  of  all  those  who  have  been  deemed 
sound  in  the  faith,  from  the  earliest  ages  of  Chris¬ 
tianity.  Nor  are  the  Christians  singular  in  receiving 
this  doctrine,  and  in  deriving  it  from  the  first  words  of 
Divine  revelation.  An  eminent  Jewish  rabbin,  Simeon 
ben  Joachi,  in  his  comment  on  the  sixth  section  of 
Leviticus,  has  these  remarkable  words  :  “  Come  and 
see  the  mystery  of  the  word  Elohim  ;  there  are  three 
degrees ,  and  each  degree  by  itself  alone ,  and  yet  not¬ 
withstanding  they  are  all  one ,  and  joined  together  in 
one ,  and  are  not  divided  from  each  other.”  See  Ains¬ 
worth.  Pie  must  be  strangely  prejudiced  indeed  who 
cannot  see  that  the  doctrine  of  a  Trinity,  and  of  a  Trinity 
in  unity,  is  expressed  in  the  above  words.  The  verb 
503  bara ,  he  created,  being  joined  in  the  singular  num¬ 
ber  with  this  plural  noun,  has  been  considered  as  point¬ 
ing  out,  and  not  obscurely,  the  unity  of  the  Divine 
Persons  in  this  work  of  creation.  In  the  ever-blessed 
Trinity,  from  the  infinite  and  indivisible  unity  of  the 
persons,  there  can  be  but  one  will,  one  purpose,  and 
one  infinite  and  uncontrollable  energy. 

“  Let  those  who  have  any  doubt  whether  D 
Elohim ,  when  meaning  the  true  God,  Jehovah,  be 
plural  or  not,  consult  the  following  passages,  where 
they  will  find  it  joined  with  adjectives,  verbs,  and 
pronouns  plural. 

“  Gen.  i.  26  ;  iii.  22  ;  xi.  7  ;  xx.  13  ;  xxxi.  7,  53  ; 
xxxv.  7. 

“  Deut.  iv.  7  ;  v.  23  ;  Josh.  xxiv.  19 ;  1  Sam.  iv.  8  ; 
2  Sam.  vii.  23;  Psa.  lviii.  12  ;  Isa.  vi.  8  ;  Jer.  x.  10  ; 
xxiii.  36. 

“  See  also  Prov.  ix.  10;  xxx.  3;  Psa.  cxlix.  2;  Eccl. 
v.  7  ;  xii.  1  ;  Job  v.  1  ;  Isa.  vi.  3  ;  liv.  5  ;  lxii.  5  ; 
Hos.  xi.  12,  or  xii.  1  ;  Mai.  i.  6  ;  Dan.  v.  18,  20  ; 
vii.  18,  22.” — Parkhurst. 

As  the  word  Elohim  is  the  term  by  which  the 
Divine  Being  is  most  generally  expressed  in  the  Old 
Testament,  it  may  be  necessary  to  consider  it  here 
more  at  large.  It  is  a  maxim  that  admits  of  no  con¬ 
troversy,  that  every  noun  in  the  Hebrew  language  is 
derived  from  a  verb ,  which  is  usually  termed  the  radix 
or  root,  from  which,  not  only  the  noun,  but  all  the  dif¬ 
ferent  flections  of  the  verb,  spring.  This  radix  is  the 
third  person  singular  of  the  preterite  or  past  tense. 
The  ideal  meaning  of  this  root  expresses  some  essential 
property  of  the  thing  which  it  designates,  or  of  which 
it  is  an  appellative.  The  root  in  Hebrew ,  and  in  its 
sister  language,  the  Arabic,  generally  consists  of  three 
letters,  and  every  word  must  be  traced  to  its  root  in 
order  to  ascertain  its  genuine  meaning,  for  there  alone 
is  this  meaning  to  be  found.  In  Hebrew  and  Arabic 

26 


this  is  essentially  necessary,  and  no  man  can  safely 
criticise  on  any  word  in  either  of  these  languages  who 
does  not  carefully  attend  to  this  point. 

I  mention  the  Arabic  with  the  Hebrew  for  two 
reasons.  1.  Because  the  two  languages  evidently 
spring  from  the  same  source,  and  have  very  nearly  the 
same  mode  of  construction.  2.  Because  the  deficient 
roots  in  the  Hebrew  Bible  are  to  be  sought  for  in  the 
Arabic  language.  The  reason  of  this  must  be  obvious, 
when  it  is  considered  that  the  whole  of  the  Hebrew 
language  is  lost  except  what  is  in  the  Bible,  and  even 
a  part  of  this  book  is  written  in  Chaldee.  Now,  as 
the  English  Bible  does  not  contain  the  whole  of  the 
English  language,  so  the  Hebrew  Bible  does  not 
contain  the  whole  of  the  Hebrew.  If  a  man  meet 
with  an  English  word  which  he  cannot  find  in  an 
ample  concordance  or  dictionary  to  the  Bible,  he  must 
of  course  seek  for  that  word  in  a  general  English  dic¬ 
tionary.  In  like  manner,  if  a  particular  form  of  a  He¬ 
brew  word  occur  that  cannot  be  traced  to  a  root  in  the 
Hebrew  Bible,  because  the  word  does  not  occur  in  the 
third  person  singular  of  the  past  tense  in  the  Bible, 
it  is  expedient,  it  is  perfectly  lawful,  and  often  indis¬ 
pensably  necessary,  to  seek  the  deficient  root  in  the 
Arabic.  For  as  the  Arabic  is  still  a  living  language, 
and  perhaps  the  most  copious  in  the  universe,  it  may 
well  be  expected  to  furnish  those  terms  which  are  de¬ 
ficient  in  the  Hebrew  Bible.  And  the  reasonableness 
of  this  is  founded  on  another  maxim,  viz.,  that  either 
the  Arabic  was  derived  from  the  Hebrew,  or  the 
Hebrew  from  the  Arabic.  I  shall  not  enter  into  this 
controversy  ;  there  are  great  names  on  both  sides,  and 
the  decision  of  the  question  in  either  way  will  have 
the  same  effect  on  my  argument.  For  if  the  Arabic 
were  derived  from  the  Hebrew,  it  must  have  been  when 
the  Hebrew  was  a  living  and  complete  language,  be¬ 
cause  such  is  the  Arabic  now ;  and  therefore  all  its 
essential  roots  we  may  reasonably  expect  to  find  there ; 
but  if,  as  Sir  William  Jones  supposed,  the  Hebrew 
were  derived  from  the  Arabic,  the  same  expectation  is 
justified,  the  deficient  roots  in  Hebrew  may  be  sought 
for  in  the  mother  tongue.  If,  for  example,  we  meet 
with  a  term  in  our  ancient  English  language  the  mean¬ 
ing  of  which  we  find  difficult  to  ascertain,  common 
sense  teaches  us  that  we  should  seek  for  it  in  the 
Anglo-Saxon,  from  which  our  language  springs ;  and, 
if  necessary,  go  up  to  the  Teutonic,  from  which  the 
Anglo-Saxon  was  derived.  No  person  disputes  the 
legitimacy  of  this  measure,  and  we  find  it  in  constant 
practice.  I  make  these  observations  at  the  very 
threshold  of  my  work,  because  the  necessity  of  acting 
on  this  principle  (seeking  deficient  Hebrew  roots  in 
the  Arabic)  may  often  occur,  and  I  wish  to  speak  once 
for  all  on  the  subject. 

The  first  sentence  in  the  Scripture  shows  the  pro¬ 
priety  of  having  recourse  to  this  principle.  We  have 

a 


The  creation 


CHAP.  I. 


of  the  firmament . 


A.  M.  l.  darkness  lie  called  Night.  k  And 

-  the  evening  and  the  morning  were 

the  first  day. 


k  Heb.  and  the  evening  was  and  the  morning  was. 


seen  that  the  word  DTlhx  Elohim  is  plural ;  we  have 
traced  our  term  God  to  its  source,  and  have  seen  its 
signification;  and  also  a  general  definition  of  the  thing 
or  being  included  under  this  term,  has  been  tremblingly 
attempted.  We  should  now  trace  the  original  to  its 
root ,  but  this  root  does  not  appear  in  the  Hebrew  Bible. 
Were  the  Hebrew  a  complete  language,  a  pious  reason 
might  be  given  for  this  omission,  viz.,  “  As  God  is 
without  beginning  and  without  cause,  as  his  being  is 
infinite  and  underived ,  the  Hebrew  language  consults 
strict  propriety  in  giving  no  root  whence  his  name  can 
be  deduced .”  Mr.  Parkhurst,  to  whose  pious  and 
learned  labours  in  Hebrew  literature  most  Biblical 
students  are  indebted,  thinks  he  has  found  the  root  in 
nSx  alah ,  he  swore ,  hound  himself  hy  oath ;  and  hence 
he  calls  the  ever-blessed  Trinity  DTI1?**  Elohim ,  as 
being  bound  by  a  conditional  oath  to  redeem  man ,  c fc., 
6fC.  Most  pious  minds  will  revolt  from  such  a  defini¬ 
tion,  and  will  be  glad  with  me  to  find  both  the  noun 
and  the  root  preserved  in  Arabic.  Allah  is  the 
common  name  for  God  in  the  Arabic  tongue,  and  often 

the  emphatic  i vu/  is  used.  Now  both  these  words 
are  derived  from  the  root  alaha ,  he  worshipped ,  adored , 
was  struck  with  astonishment ,  fear ,  or  terror ;  and 
hence,  he  adored  with  sacred  horror  and  veneration , 
cum  sacro  horrore  ac  veneratione  coluit,  adoravit. — 
Wilmet.  Hence  ilahon ,  fear,  veneration,  and  also 
the  object  of  religious  fear ,  the  Deity,  the  supreme 
God,  the  tremendous  Being.  This  is  not  a  new  idea; 
God  was  considered  in  the  same  light  among  the 
ancient  Hebrews;  and  hence  Jacob  swears  by  the  fear 
of  his  father  Isaac,  Gen.  xxxi.  53.  To  complete  the 
definition,  Golius  renders  alaha,  juvit,  liberavit,  et 
tutatus  fuit,  “  he  succoured,  liberated,  kept  in  safety, 
or  defended.”  Thus  from  the  ideal  meaning  of  this 
most  expressive  root,  wre  acquire  the  most  correct  no¬ 
tion  of  the  Divine  nature ;  for  we  learn  that  God  is  the 
sole  object  of  adoration ;  that  the  perfections  of  his 
nature  are  such  as  must  astonish  all  those  who  piously 
contemplate  them,  and  fill  with  horror  all  who  would 
dare  to  give  his  glory  to  another,  or  break  his  com¬ 
mandments;  that  consequently  he  should  be  worshipped 
with  reverence  and  religious  fear ;  and  that  every  sin¬ 
cere  worshipper  may  expect  from  him  help  in  all  his 
weaknesses,  trials,  difficulties,  temptations,  &c.  ;  free¬ 
dom  from  the  power,  guilt,  nature,  and  consequences 
of  sin  ;  and  to  be  supported,  defended,  and  saved  to 
the  uttermost,  and  to  the  end. 

Here  then  is  one  proof,  among  multitudes  which 
shali  be  adduced  in  the  course  of  this  work,  of  the 
importance,  utility,  and  necessity  of  tracing  up  these 
sacred  words  to  their  sources ;  and  a  proof  also,  that 
subjects  which  are  supposed  to  be  out  of  the  reach 
of  the  common  people  may,  with  a  little  difficulty,  be 
brought  on  a  level  with  the  most  ordinary  capacity. 

In  the  beginning']  Before  the  creative  acts  men- 

a 


6  And  God  said,  1  Let  there  be  a  J^'1* 

r>.  O.  4UU4* 

m  firmament  in  the  midst  of  the  wa-  - 

ters,  and  let  it  divide  the  waters  from  the  waters. 

•Job  xxvi.  7;  xxxvii.  18;  Psa.  xix.  1  ;  civ.  2;  cxxxvi.  G; 
cl.  1 ;  Jer.  x.  12  ;  li.  15. - m  Heb.  expansion. 


tioned  in  this  chapter  all  was  ETERNITY.  Time 
signifies  duration  measured  by  the  revolutions  of  the 
heavenly  bodies  :  but  prior  to  the  creation  of  these 
bodies  there  could  be  no  measurement  of  duration,  and 
consequently  no  time;  therefore  in  the  beginning  must 
necessarily  mean  the  commencement  of  time  which  fol¬ 
lowed,  or  rather  was  produced  by,  God’s  creative  acts, 
as  an  effect  follows  or  is  produced  by  a  cause. 

Created]  Caused  existence  where  previously  to  this 
moment  there  was  no  being.  The  rabbins,  who  are 
legitimate  judges  in  a  case  of  verbal  criticism  on  their 
own  language,  are  unanimous  in  asserting  that  the  word 
503  bara  expresses  the  commencement  of  the  existence 
of  a  thing,  or  egression  from  nonentity  to  entity.  It 
does  not  in  its  primary  meaning  denote  the  preserving 
or  new  forming  things  that  had  previously  existed, 
as  some  imagine,  but  creation  in  the  proper  sense  of 
the  term,  though  it  has  some  other  acceptations  in  other 
places.  The  supposition  that  God  formed  all  things 
out  of  a  pre-existing,  eternal  nature,  is  certainly  absurd, 
for  if  there  had  been  an  eternal  nature  besides  an  eter¬ 
nal  God,  there  must  have  been  two  self-existing,  inde¬ 
pendent,  and  eternal  beings,  which  is  a  most  palpable 
contradiction. 

□’fttyn  eth  hashshamayim.  The  word  H54  elh, 
which  is  generally  considered  as  a  particle,  simply  de¬ 
noting  that  the  word  following  is  in  the  accusative  or 
oblique  case,  is  often  understood  by  the  rabbins  in  a 
much  more  extensive  sense.  “  The  particle  HX,”  says 
Aben  Ezra,  “  signifies  the  substance  of  the  thing.” 
The  like  definition  is  given  by  Kimchi  in  his  Book  of 
Roots.  “  This  particle,”  says  Mr.  Ainsworth,  “  having 
the^ms^  and  last  letters  of  the  Hebrew  alphabet  in  it, 
is  supposed  to  comprise  the  sum  and  substance  of  all 
things .”  “The  particle  HK  eth  (says  Buxtorf,  Tal¬ 
mudic  Lexicon,  sub  voce)  with  the  cabalists  is  often 
mystically  put  for  the  beginning  and  the  end,  as  A 
alpha  and  12  omega  are  in  the  Apocalypse.”  On  this 
ground  these  words  should  be  translated,  “  God  in  the 
beginning  created  the  substance  of  the  heavens  and  the 
substance  of  the  earth,”  i.  e.  the  prima  materia ,  or 
first  elements,  out  of  which  the  heavens  and  the  earth 
were  successively  formed.  The  Syriac  translator 
understood  the  word  in  this  sense,  and  to  express  this 
meaning  has  used  the  word  A*  yoth,  which  has  this 

signification,  and  is  very  properly  translated  in  Walton’s 
Polyglot,  esse,  cedi  et  esse  terra,  “  the  being  or  sub¬ 
stance  of  the  heaven,  and  the  being  or  substance  of  the 
earth.”  St.  Ephraim  Syrus,  in  his  comment  on  this 
place,  uses  the  same  Syriac  word,  and  appears  to  un¬ 
derstand  it  precisely  in  the  same  way.  Though  the 
Hebrew  words  are  certainly  no  more  than  the  notation 
of  a  case  in  most  places,  yet  understood  here  in  the 
sense  above,  they  argue  a  wonderful  philosophic  accu¬ 
racy  in  the  statement  of  Moses,  which  brings  before  us, 
not  a  finished  heaven  and  earth,  as  every  other  trans- 

27 


The  separation  of  the  waters  below  GENESIS,  from  the  waters  above  the  firmament . 


r,A- M;A 5;,  7  And  God  made  the  firma- 

Jt>.  U.  4UU4:.  # 

- - -  ment,  n  and  divided  the  waters 

which  were  under  the  firmament  from  the 

n  Prov.  viii.  28. 


lation  appears  to  do,  though  afterwards  the  process 
of  their  formation  is  given  in  detail,  but  merely  the 
■materials  out  of  which  God  built  the  whole  system  in 
the  six  following  days. 

The  heaven  and  the  earth.']  As  the  word  D’D&y 
shamayim  is  plural,  we  may  rest  assured  that  it  means 
more  than  the  atmosphere ,  to  express  which  some  have 
endeavoured  to  restrict  its  meaning.  Nor  does  it  ap¬ 
pear  that  the  atmosphere  is  particularly  intended  here, 
as  this  is  spoken  of,  ver.  6,  under  the  term  firmament. 
The  word  heavens  must  therefore  comprehend  the 
whole  solar  system ,  as  it  is  very  likely  the  whole  of 
this  was  created  in  these  six  days  ;  for  unless  the  earth 
had  been  the  centre  of  a  system,  the  reverse  of  which 
is  sufficiently  demonstrated,  it  would  be  unphilosophic 
to  suppose  it  was  created  independently  of  the  other 
parts  of  the  system,  as  on  this  supposition  we  must 


waters  which  were  0  above  the  fir¬ 
mament  :  and  it  was  so. 


0  Psa.  cxlviii.  4. 

have  recourse  to  the  almighty  power  of  God  to  sus¬ 
pend  the  influence  of  the  earth’s  gravitating  power  till 
the  fourth  day,  when  the  sun  was  placed  in  the  centre, 
round  which  the  earth  began  then  to  revolve.  But  as 
the  design  of  the  inspired  penman  was  to  relate  what 
especially  belonged  to  our  world  and  its  inhabitants, 
therefore  he  passes  by  the  rest  of  the  planetary  system, 
leaving  it  simply  included  in  the  plural  word  heavens. 
In  the  word  earth  every  thing  relative  to  the  terraque- 
aerial  globe  is  included,  that  is,  all  that  belongs  to  the 
solid  and  fluid  parts  of  our  world  with  its  surrounding 
atmosphere.  As  therefore  I  suppose  the  whole  solar 
system  was  created  at  this  time,  I  think  it  perfectly  in 
place  to  give  here  a  general  view  of  all  the  planets, 
with  every  thing  curious  and  important  hitherto 
known  relative  to  their  revolutions  and  principal 
affections. 


A  GENERAL  VIEW  OF  THE  WHOLE  SOLAR  SYSTEM. 

TABLE  I.— THE  REVOLUTIONS,  DISTANCES,  &c.,  &c.,  OF  ALL  THE  PRIMARY  PLANETS 


Names. 

Periodical 

Revolution. 

Siderial 

Revolution. 

Mean  distance 
from  the  Sun  in 
English  miles. 

Least  distance 
from  the  Earth  in 
English  miles. 

Greatest  distance 
from  the  Earth  in 
English  miles. 

Diameter 
in  English 
miles. 

Sun 

Yrs.  d.  h.  m.  s. 

Yrs.  d.  h.  m.  s. 

•  •  • 

93,908,984 

97,118,538 

886,473 

Msrcury 

0  87  23  14  33 

0  87  23  15  40 

36,973,282 

58,540,512 

132,487,077 

3,191 

Venus 

0  224  16  41  27 

0  224  16  49  11 

69,088,240 

26,425,554 

164,602,034 

7,630 

Earth 

1  0  5  48  48 

1  0  6  9  12 

95,513,794 

•  •  • 

•  •  • 

7,954 

Moon 

0  27  7  43  5 

0  27  7  43  12 

95,513,794 

222,920 

254,084 

2,172 

Mars 

1  321  22  18  27 

1  321  23  30  36 

145,533,667 

50,019,873 

241,047,462 

4,135 

Jupiter 

11  315  14  39  2 

11  317  14  27  11 

496,765,289 

401,251,495 

592,279,083 

86,396 

Saturn 

29  161  19  16  15 

29  174  1  51  11 

911,141,442 

815,627,647 

1,006,655,236 

79,405 

Sat.  Ring 

29  161  19  16  15 

29  174  1  51  11 

911,141,442 

815,525,205 

1,006,757,678 

185,280 

Herschel 

83  52  4  0  0 

83  150  18  0  0 

1,822,575,228 

1,727,061,434 

1,918,089,022 

34,457 

Names. 

Proportionate 
bulk,  the  Earth 
being  1. 

Time  of  rotation 
upon  their  axis. 

Inclination  of 
the  axis  to  the 
equator. 

Attractive  power 
or  density,  the 
Earth  being  1. 

Hourly  motion 
in  their  orbit,  in 
English  miles. 

Sun 

1,384,462 

25d.  14h.  8m.  0s. 

•  •  • 

351,886 

•  •  •  • 

Mercury 

ihth 

unknown 

unknown 

24Ahs 

111,256 

Venus 

fths 

0 

23 

21  0 

uncertain 

Tooths 

81,398 

Earth 

1 

0 

23 

56  4 

23°  28'  0" 

1 

75,222 

Moon 

Artfi 

27 

7 

43  5 

1  43  0 

1  0  0  0  UK> 

2,335 

Mars 

yth 

1 

0 

39  22 

28  42  0 

1th 

56,212 

Jupiter 

1281  greater 

0 

9 

55  33 

3  22  0 

330f 

30,358 

Saturn 

995  greater 

0 

10 

16  1 

30  0  0 

103tV 

22,351 

Sat.  Ring 

•  •  • 

0 

10 

32  15 

30  0  0 

•  •  •  • 

22,351 

Herschel 

80^-  greater 

unknown 

unknown 

17f 

15,846 

The  following  Celestial  Bodies,  commonly  called  Planets,  revolving  between  Jupiter  and  Mars,  have  been  recently  discovered:  all  that 

is  known  of  their  Magnitude,  Surface,  Diameter,  and  Distance,  I  here  subjoin. 


Names. 

Mean  distance 
from  the  Sun. 

Least  distance 
from  Earth. 

Greatest  dist. 
from  Earth. 

Diameter. 

Proportional 

bulk. 

Proportional 

surface. 

Ceres 

Pallas 

Juno 

Vesta 

250,000,000 

270,000,000 

285,000,000 

unknown 

155,000,000 

175,000,000 

190,000,000 

unknown 

345,000,000 

365,000,000 

385,000,000 

unknown 

160 

110 

119 

unknown 

1  th 

A230A0111 

irvoFoo^fi 

unknown 

Woofi1 

unknown 

a 


28 


A  general  vieiu  of  the 


CHAP.  I 


whole  solar  system . 


TABLE  II.— SATELLITES  OF  JUPITER. 


Satellite 

Periodic 

Revolution. 

Synodic 

Revolution. 

Distance  from 
Jupiter  in 
semi-diameters 
of  Jupiter. 

Dist.  from  Jupiter  in 
parts  of  the  ecliptic, 
at  Jupiter’s  mean 
dist.  from  Earth. 

Diameter, 
the  Earth 
being  1. 

Magnitude, 
the  Earth 
being  1. 

Distance  from 
Jupiter  in 
English  miles. 

I. 

II. 

III. 

1  IV. 

i 

d.  h.  m.  s. 

1  18  27  33TyA 

3  13  13  41T»//y 

7  3  42  32tVA 
16  16  32  8TVtfc 

d.  h.  m.  s. 

1  18  28  35T9A?¥ 

3  13  17  53^VA 

7  3  59  35tVsV5 
16  18  51  7 TUh 

5-41 

9 

14i&9 

✓  /✓ 

1  51 

2  57 

4  42 

8  16 

I-2 

032 

V2  7 

U1  0  0 

H3 

O-6 

ul  (T 

1  3 

i27 

n33 

u?o- 

245,000 

389,000 

621,000 

1,093,000 

Satellite 

Greatest  semi¬ 
duration  of 
eclipse. 

Greatest  semi-diameter 
of  Jupiter’s  shadow  that 
the  satellite  passes 
through. 

Least  distance 
from  the  Earth 
in  English 
miles. 

Mean  distance 
from  the  Earth 
in  English 
miles. 

Greatest  distance 
from  the  Earth 
in  English 
miles. 

I. 

h.  m.  s. 

1  7  55 

0  /  // 

9  35  37 

401,006,562 

496,765,289 

592,524,016 

II. 

1  25  40 

6  1  33 

400,862,713 

496,765,289 

592,667,865 

III. 

1  47  0 

3  43  58 

400,630,308 

496,765,289 

592,900,270 

IV. 

2  23  0 

2  8  2 

400,158,586 

496,765,289 

593,371,992 

TABLE  III.— SATELLITES  OF  SATURN. 


YII. 

VI. 

I. 

II. 

III. 

IV. 

V. 


Periodic 

Revolution. 


d.  h.  m. 
0  22  37 
8  53 

21 


1 
1 

2 
4 

15  22  41 
7 


18 

17  44 
12  25 


79 


53 


s. 

23 

9 

51-17’L 
0,1  iCoo 

HtV 

iq_52_ 
x ° 1 000 
40389 


Synodic 

Revolution. 


d.  h. 
0  22 


m.  s. 
37  30 


8 

21 


2  17 
4  12 
15  23 
79  22 


53 

18 

45 

27 

15 

3 


24 

^4309 

51-13- 
1  oTTo 

FjK  2  3  9 

°°  1  o¥(T 

20-1-7-5- 
000 
in  883 


Dist.  from 
Sat.in  semi¬ 
diameters 
of  Saturn. 

Dist.  from  Sa¬ 
turn  in  semi-di¬ 
ameters  of  the 
ring  of  Saturn. 

Distance  from  Saturn 
in  parts  of  the  ecliptic 
at  Saturn’s  mean  dis¬ 
tance  from  the  Earth. 

Distance 
from  Saturn 
in  English 
miles. 

Nearest 
approach  to 
the  Earth  in 
English  miles. 

3  2 "5 

0  47  6 
^ToTT 

A  893 
^1  o  o  0 

fi134 
D^ob- 
03  7  7 

9  A  2  9  5 
*U1000 
5Q  77 

1  3 

1 1  0 

1  69 

X  1  0  0 

9  97 
"‘M  000 

93  4  3 
^00 

Q  94 

039  9 

aJoW 

95i7  4 

JTiTo 

/  // 

0  281 

-G  37^ 

0  43t? 

0  56 

1  18 

3  0 

8  42i 

112,000 

140,000 

172,000 

217,000 

315,000 

709,000 

2,126,000 

815.515.647 

815.487.647 

815.455.647 

815.410.647 

815.312.647 

814.918.647 

813.501.647 

TABLE  IV.— SATELLITES  OF  HERSCHEL,  OR  THE  GEORGIUM  SIDUS. 


Least  distance 
from  Earth 
in  English  miles. 

Greatest  distance 
from  Earth 
in  English  miles. 

1,726,834,984 
1,726,768,381 
1,726,718,650 
1,726,668,920 
1,726,276,40 6 
1,725,491,377 

1,918,315,472 

1,918,382,075 

1,918,431,806 

1,918,481,536 

1,918,874,050 

1,919,659,079 

w 

fo 


I. 

II. 

III. 

IV. 

V. 

VI. 


Feriodic 

Revolution. 


8 

10 

13 

38 

107 


d.  h.  m.  s. 
5  21  23  22 
16  57  43 
22  58  20 
10  56  29 
0  39  4 
7  35  10 


Synodic 

Revolution. 


d.  h.  m.  s. 
5  21  25  0 

8  17  1  19 

10  23  4  0 
13  11  5  1 

38  1  49  0 

107  16  40  0 


Dist.  from 
Herschel  in 
semi¬ 
diameters 
ofHerschel. 


1  ‘t-L4  43 
1J10  (ToT) 

1 7_l 0  3 
1  ‘  ]  0  (TO 
1  Q  89  09 
1 0000 
90  73  35 
'*‘*1  0  0  0  0 
4  5  567 
^J1000 

Q  l-L34- 
u  x  1  o  o  o 


Dist.  from  Her¬ 
schel  in  parts  of 
the  ecliptic,  at  the 
mean  dist.  of  Her¬ 
schel  from  Earth. 


/  // 

0  251 

0  33" 
0  38§ 

0  42 } 

1  28f 

2  56| 


Distance 

from 

Herschel  in 
English 
miles. 


226,450 

293,053 

342,784 

392,514 

785,028 

1,570,057 


OBSERVATIONS  ON  THE  PRECEDING  TABLES. 


In  Table  I.  the  quantity  of  the  periodic  and  sidereal 
revolutions  of  the  planets  is  expressed  in  common  years, 
each  containing  365  days  ;  as,  e.  g.,  the  tropical  revo¬ 
lution  of  Jupiter  is,  by  the  table,  11  years,  315  days, 
14  hours,  39  minutes,  2  seconds  ;  i.  e.,  the  exact  num¬ 
ber  of  days  is  equal  to  11  years  multiplied  by  365,  and 
the  extra  315  days  added  to  the  product,  which  make 
in  all  4330  days.  The  sidereal  and  periodic  times  are 
also  set  down  to  the  nearest  second  of  time,  from  num¬ 
bers  used  in  the  construction  of  the  tables  in  the  third 

a 


edition  of  M.  de  la  Lande’s  Astronomy.  The  columns 
containing  the  mean  distance  of  the  planets  from  the 
sun  in  English  miles,  and  their  greatest  and  least  dis¬ 
tance  from  the  earth,  are  such  as  result  from  the  best 
observations  of  the  two  last  transits  of  Venus,  which 
gave  the  solar  parallax  to  be  equal  to  8  three-fifth 
seconds  of  a  degree ;  and  consequently  the  earth’s 
diameter,  as  seen  from  the  sun,  must  be  the  double  of 
8  three-fifth  seconds,  or  17  one-fifth  seconds.  From 
this  last  quantity,  compared  with  the  apparent  diame- 

29 


GENESIS. 


The  waters  separated 
„A- M- ]-  8  And  God  called  the  firmament 

B.  C.  4004. 

-  Heaven.  And  the  evening  and 

the  morning  were  the  second  day. 

9  And  God  said,  p  Let  the  waters  under  the 

P  Job  xxvi.  10  ;  xxxviii.  8  ;  Psalm  xxiv.  2  ;  xxxiii.  7  ;  xcv. 
5 ;  civ.  9 ;  cxxxvi.  5,  6 ;  Proverbs  viii.  29 ;  Ecclesiastes 

ters  of  the  planets,  as  seen  at  a  distance  equal  to  that 
of  the  earth  at  her  main  distance  from  the  sun,  the 
diameters  of  the  planets  in  English  miles ,  as  contained 
in  the  seventh  column,  have  been  carefully  computed. 
In  the  column  entitled  “  Proportion  of  bulk,  the  earth 
being  1,”  the  whole  numbers  express  the  number  of 
times  the  other  planet  contains  more  cubic  miles,  &c., 
than  the  earth ;  and  if  the  number  of  cubic  miles  in 
the  earth  be  given,  the  number  of  cubic  miles  in 
any  planet  may  be  readily  found  by  multiplying  the 
cubic  miles  contained  in  the  earth  by  the  number 
in  the  column,  and  the  product  will  be  the  quantity 
required. 

This  is  a  small  but  accurate  sketch  of  the  vast  solar 
system ;  to  describe  it  fully,  even  in  all  its  known  re¬ 
volutions  and  connections,  in  all  its  astonishing  energy 
and  influence,  in  its  wonderful  plan,  structure,  opera¬ 
tions,  and  results,  would  require  more  volumes  than 
can  be  devoted  to  the  commentary  itself. 

As  so  little  can  be  said  here  on  a  subject  so  vast, 
it  may  appear  to  some  improper  to  introduce  it  at  all ; 
but  to  any  observation  of  this  kind  I  must  be  permitted 
to  reply,  that  I  should  deem  it  unpardonable  not  to  give 
a  general  view  of  the  solar  system  in  the  very  place 
where  its  creation  is  first  introduced.  If  these  works 
oe  stupendous  and  magnificent,  what  must  He  be  who 
formed,  guides,  and  supports  them  all  by  the  word  of 
his  power !  Reader,  stand  in  awe  of  this  God,  and  sin 
not.  Make  him  thy  friend  through  the  Son  of  his  love ; 
and,  when  these  heavens  and  this  earth  are  no  more, 
thy  soul  shall  exist  in  consummate  and  unutterable 
felicity. 

See  the  remarks  on  the  sun ,  moon ,  and  stars,  after 
verse  16. 

Verse  2.  The  earth  was  without  form  and  void ] 
The  original  term  inn  tohu  and  irD  bohu,  which  we 
translate  without  form  and  void ,  are  of  uncertain  ety¬ 
mology  ;  but  in  this  place,  and  wherever  else  they  are 
used,  they  convey  the  idea  of  confusion  and  disorder. 
From  these  terms  it  is  probable  that  the  ancient  Syri¬ 
ans  and  Egyptians  borrowed  their  gods,  Theuth  and 
Bau,  and  the  Greeks  their  Chaos.  God  seems  at  first 
to  have  created  the  elementary  principles  of  all  things; 
and  this  formed  the  grand  mass  of  matter,  which  in 
this  state  must  be  without  arrangement ,  or  any  dis¬ 
tinction  of  parts  :  a  vast  collection  of  indescribably  con¬ 
fused  materials,  of  nameless  entities  strangely  mixed; 
and  wonderfully  well  expressed  by  an  ancient  heathen 
poet : — • 

Ante  mare  et  terras ,  et,  quod  tegit  omnia ,  coelum , 
Unus  erat  toto  natures  vultus  in  orbe , 

Quern  dixere  Chaos  ;  rudis  indigestaque  moles , 

Nec  quicquam  nisi  pondus  iners ;  congestaque  eodem 
Non  bene  junctarum  discordia  semina  rerum.  Ovid. 

do 


from  the  earth . 

heaven  be  gathered  together  unto  bAqM40o4 

one  place,  and  let  the  dry  land  - 

appear  :  and  it  was  so. 

10  And  God  called  the  q  dry  land  Earth  5 

i,  7 ;  Jonah  i.  9 ;  2  Peter  iii.  5. - q  2  Peter  iii.  5. 


Before  the  seas  and  this  terrestrial  ball, 

And  heaven’s  high  canopy  that  covers  all, 

One  was  the  face  of  nature,  if  a  face  ; 

Rather,  a  rude  and  indigested  mass ; 

A  lifeless  lump,  unfashion’d  and  unframed, 

Of  jarring  seeds,  and  justly  Chaos  named. 

Dryden. 

The  most  ancient  of  the  Greeks  have  spoken  nearly 
in  the  same  way  of  this  crude,  indigested  state  of  the 
primitive  chaotic  mass. 

When  this  congeries  of  elementary  principles  was 
brought  together,  God  was  pleased  to  spend  six  days 
in  assimilating,  assorting,  and  arranging  the  materials, 
out  of  which  he  built  up,  not  only  the  earth,  but  the 
whole  of  the  solar  system. 

The  Spirit  of  God ]  This  has  been  variously  and 
strangely  understood.  Some  think  a  violent  wind  is 
meant,  because  nn  ruach  often  signifies  wind ,  as  well 
as  spirit ,  as  7r vevpa  does  in  Greek ;  and  the  term  God 
is  connected  with  it  merely,  as  they  think,  to  express 
the  superlative  degree.  Others  understand  by  it  an 
elementary  fire.  Others,  the  sun ,  penetrating  and 
drying  up  the  earth  with  his  rays.  Others,  the  angels , 
who  were  supposed  to  have  been  employed  as  agents 
in  creation.  Others,  a  certain  occult  principle,  termed 
the  anima  mundi  or  soul  of  the  ivorld.  Others,  a 
magnetic  attraction,  by  which  all  things  were  caused 
to  gravitate  to  a  common  centre.  But  it  is  sufficiently 
evident  from  the  use  of  the  word  in  other  places,  that 
the  Holy  Spirit  of  God  is  intended  ;  which  our  blessed 
Lord  represents  under  the  notion  of  wind ,  John  iii.  8  ; 
and  which,  as  a  mighty  rushing  wind  on  the  day  of 
pentecost,  filled  the  house  where  the  disciples  were 
sitting,  Acts  ii.  2,  which  wTas  immediately  followed  by 
their  speaking  with  other  tongues,  because  they  were 
filled  with  the  Holy  Ghost ,  ver.  4.  These  scriptures 
sufficiently  ascertain  the  sense  in  which  the  word  is 
used  by  Moses. 

Moved ]  nsmn  merachepheth,  was  brooding  over ; 
for  the  word  expresses  that  tremulous  motion  made  by 
the  hen  while  either  hatching  her  eggs  or  fostering 
her  young.  It  here  probably  signifies  the  communi¬ 
cating  a  vital  or  prolific  principle  to  the  waters.  As 
the  idea  of  incubation,  or  hatching  an  egg,  is  implied 
in  the  original  word,  hence  probably  the  notion,  which 
prevailed  among  the  ancients,  that  the  world  wras  gene¬ 
rated  from  an  egg. 

Verse  3.  And  God  said ,  Let  there  be  light ]  VT 
TX  Vn  “YIX  yehi  or,  vaihi  or.  Nothing  can  be  con¬ 
ceived  more  dignified  than  this  form  of  expression.  It 
argues  at  once  uncontrollable  authority,  and  omnific 
powrer ;  and  in  human  language  it  is  scarcely  possible 
to  conceive  that  God  can  speak  more  like  himself. 
This  passage,  in  the  Greek  translation  of  the  Septua- 
gint,  fell  in  the  wray  of  Dionysius  Longinus,  one  of  the 


CHAP.  I. 


clothed  with  trees ,  herbs ,  grass,  <$  c. 


The  earth  rendered  prolific,  and 

b^cmoo4  an^  ^ie  gatherinS  together  of  the 
-  waters  called  he  Seas :  and  God 

saw  that  it  was  good. 


r  Heb.  vi.  7. 


most  judicious  Greek  critics  that  ever  lived,  and  who 
is  highly  celebrated  over  the  civilized  world  for  a 
treatise  he  wrote,  entitled  TLepi  'T rpovg,  Concerning  the 
Sublime,  both  in  prose  and  poetry ;  of  this  passage, 
though  a  heathen,  he  speaks  in  the  following  terms  : — 
Tavrr/  teat  6  tuv  lovdatov  deapodeTjjg  (ov%  6  tv%o)v 
avrjp,)  enetSt]  ttjv  tov  deiov  dvvajuv  Kara  ttjv  aljiav 
EXopijoe,  Kat;£(j)j]V£V"  evdvg  ev  ttj  Ei<rf3o?.y  ypaipag  tov 
vofi(ov,  EIIIEN  'O  0EO2,  n,  n  ;  rENE20Q  4>£22- 
real  EyEVETo.  TENE20S2  TH*  kcu  eysvETo.  “  So 
likewise  the  Jewish  lawgiver  (who  was  no  ordinary 
man)  having  conceived  a  just  idea  of  the  Divine 
power,  he  expressed  it  in  a  dignified  manner ;  for  at 
the  beginning  of  his  laws  he  thus  speaks :  GOD 
SAID — What  ?  LET  THERE  BE  LIGHT! 
and  there  was  light.  LET  THERE  BE  EARTH! 
and  there  was  earth” — Longinus,  sect.  ix.  edit. 
Pearce. 

Many  have  asked,  “  How  could  light  be  produced 
on  the  first  day,  and  the  sun,  the  fountain  of  it,  not 
created  till  the  fourth  day  V  With  the  various  and 
often  unphilosophical  answers  which  have  been  given 
to  this  question  I  will  not  meddle,  but  shall  observe 
that  the  original  word  TIN  signifies  not  only  light  but 
fire,  see  Isa.  xxxi.  9;  Ezek.  v.  2.  It  is  used  for 
the  sun,  Job  xxxi.  26.  And  for  the  electric  fluid  or 
lightning,  Job  xxxvii.  3.  And  it  is  worthy  of  remark 
that  it  is  used  in  Isa.  xliv.  16,  for  the  heat,  derived 
from  BW  esh,  the  fire.  He  burneth  part  thereof  in  the 
fire  (BW  17DD  bemo  esh:)  yea,  he  warmeth  himself,  and 
saith,  Aha  !  I  have  seen  the  fire,  TN  TUN")  raithi  ur, 
which  a  modern  philosopher  who  understood  the  lan¬ 
guage  would  not  scruple  to  translate,  I  have  received 
caloric,  or  an  additional  portion  of  the  matter  of 
heat.  I  therefore  conclude,  that  as  God  has  dif¬ 
fused  the  matter  of  caloric  or  latent  heat  through 
every  part  of  nature,  without  which  there  could  be 
neither  vegetation  nor  animal  life,  that  it  is  caloric  or 
latent  heat  which  is  principally  intended  by  the  origi¬ 
nal  word. 

That  there  is  latent  light,  which  is  probably  the 
same  with  latent  heat ,  may  be  easily  demonstrated  : 
take  two  pieces  of  smooth  rock  crystal,  agate,  corne¬ 
lian  or  flint,  and  rub  them  together  briskly  in  the  dark, 
and  the  latent  light  or  matter  of  caloric  will  be  imme¬ 
diately  produced  and  become  visible.  The  light  or 
caloric  thus  disengaged  does  not  operate  in  the  same 
powerful  manner  as  the  heat  or  fire  which  is  produced 
by  striking  with  flint  and  steel,  or  that  produced  by 
electric  friction.  The  existence  of  this  caloric — latent 
or  primitive  light ,  may  be  ascertained  in  various  other 
bodies ;  it  can  be  produced  by  the  flint  and  steel,  by 
rubbing  two  hard  sticks  together,  by  hammering  cold 
iron,  which  in  a  short  time  becomes  red  hot,  and  by 
the  strong  and  sudden  compression  of  atmospheric  air 
in  a  tube.  Friction  in  general  produces  both  fire  and 
light.  God  therefore  created  this  universal  agent  on 


11  And  God  said,  Let  the  earth 

’  U.  4UU4. 

r  bring  forth  s  grass,  the  herb  yield-  - 

ing  seed,  and  the  fruit-tree  yielding  t  fruit 


8  Heb.  tender  grass. - 1  Luke  vi.  44. 


the  first  day,  because  without  it  no  operation  of  nature 
could  be  carried  on  or  perfected. 

Light  is  one  of  the  most  astonishing  productions  of 
the  creative  skill  and  power  of  God.  It  is  the  grand 
medium  by  which  all  his  other  works  are  discovered, 
examined,  and  understood,  so  far  as  they  can  be  known. 
Its  immense  diffusion  and  extreme  velocity  are  alone 
sufficient  to  demonstrate  the  being  and  wisdom  of  God. 
Light  has  been  prove J  W  many  experiments  to  travel 
at  the  astonishing  ralL  of  194,188  miles  in  one  second 
of  time!  and  comes  from  the  sun  to  the  earth  in  eight 
minutes  11 -ft  second,  a  distance  of  95,513,794  Eng¬ 
lish  miles. 

Verse  4.  God  divided  the  light  from  the  darkness .] 
This  does  not  imply  that  light  and  darkness  are  two 
distinct  substances,  seeing  darkness  is  only  the  priva¬ 
tion  of  light ;  but  the  words  simply  refer  us  by  antici¬ 
pation  to  the  rotation  of  the  earth  round  its  own  axis 
once  in  twenty-three  hours,  fifty -six  minutes,  and  four 
seconds,  which  is  the  cause  of  the  distinction  between 
day  and  night,  by  bringing  the  different  parts  of  the 
surface  of  the  earth  successively  into  and  from  under 
the  solar  rays ;  and  it  was  probably  at  this  moment 
that  God  gave  this  rotation  to  the  earth,  to  produce 
this  merciful  provision  of  day  and  night.  For  the 
manner  in  which  light  is  supposed  to  be  produced,  see 
ver.  16,  under  the  word  sun. 

Verse  6.  And  God  said,  Let  there  be  a  firmament ] 
Our  translators,  by  following  the  firmamentum  of  the 
Vulgate,  which  is  a  translation  of  the  (rrepeuya  of  the 
Septuagint,  have  deprived  this  passage  of  all  sense  and 
meaning.  The  Hebrew  word  jrpl  rakia,  from  yp") 
raka,  to  spread  out  as  the  curtains  of  a  tent  or  pavilion, 
simply  signifies  an  expanse  or  space,  and  consequently 
that  circumambient  space  or  expansion  separating  the 
clouds,  which  are  in  the  higher  regions  of  it,  from  the 
seas,  &c.,  which  are  below  it.  This  we  call  the  at¬ 
mosphere,  the  orb  of  atoms  or  inconceivably  small 
particles ;  but  the  word  appears  to  have  been  used  by 
Moses  in  a  more  extensive  sense,  and  to  include  the  . 
whole  of  the  planetary  vortex,  or  the  space  which  is 
occupied  by  the  whole  solar  system. 

Verse  10.  And  God  called  the  dry  land  Earth  ;  and 
the  gathering  together  of  the  waters  called  he  Seas] 
These  two  constitute  what  is  called  the  terraqueous 
globe,  in  which  the  earth  and  the  water  exist  in  a  most 
judicious  proportion  to  each  other.  Dr.  Long  took  the 
papers  which  cover  the  surface  of  a  seventeen  inch 
terrestrial  globe,  and  having  carefully  separated  the 
land  from  the  sea,  he  weighed  the  two  collections  of 
papers  accurately,  and  found  that  the  sea  papers  weigh¬ 
ed  three  hundred  and  forty-nine  grains,  and  the  land 
papers  only  one  hundred  and  twenty-four  ;  by  which 
experiment  it  appears  that  nearly  three-fourths  of  the 
surface  of  our  globe,  from  the  arctic  to  the  antarctic 
polar  circles,  are  covered  with  water.  The  doctor  did 
not  weigh  the  parts  whhin  the  polar  circles,  because 

31 


GENESIS. 


The  earth  brings  forth 


trees ,  herbs ,  grass , 


0A- M;  i-  after  his  kind,  whose  seed  is  in 

13.  C.  4004.  it* 

-  itself,  upon  the  earth :  and  it 

was  so. 

12  And  the  earth  brought  forth  grass,  and 


herb  yielding  seed  after  his  kind,  ^0*4004 

u  and  the  tree  yielding  fruit,  whose  - 

seed  was  in  itself,  after  his  kind  :  and  God 
saw  that  it  was  good. 


u  Luke, 


chap.  vi.  44. 


there  is  no  certain  measurement  of  the  proportion  of 
land  and  water  which  they  contain.  This  proportion 
of  three-fourths  water  may  be  considered  as  too  great, 
if  not  useless  ;  but  Mr.  Ray,  by  most  accurate  experi¬ 
ments  made  on  evaporation,  has  proved  that  it  requires 
so  much  aqueous  surface  to  yield  a  sufficiency  of  va¬ 
pours  for  the  purpose  of  cooling  the  atmosphere,  and 
watering  the  earth.  See  Ray’s  Physico-theological 
Discourses. 

An  eminent  chemist  and  philosopher,  Dr.  Priestley , 
has  very  properly  observed  that  it  seems  plain  that 
Moses  considered  the  whole  terraqueous  globe  as  being 
created  in  a  fluid  state,  the  earthy  and  other  particles 
of  matter  being  mingled  with  the  water.  The  present 
form  of  the  earth  demonstrates  the  truth  of  the  Mosaic 
account ;  for  it  is  well  known  that  if  a  soft  or  elastic 
globular  body  be  rapidly  whirled  round  on  its  axis,  the 
parts  at  the  poles  will  be  flattened,  and  the  parts  on 
the  equator,  midway  between  the  north  and  south  poles, 
will  be  raised  up.  This  is  precisely  the  shape  of  our 
earth  ;  it  has  the  figure  of  an  oblate  spheroid,  a  figure 
pretty  much  resembling  the  shape  of  an  orange.  It 
has  been  demonstrated  by  admeasurement  that  the 
earth  is  flatted  at  the  poles  and  raised  at  the  equator. 
This  was  first  conjectured  by  Sir  Isaac  Newton,  and 
afterwards  confirmed  by  M.  Cassini  and  others,  who 
measured  several  degrees  of  latitude  at  the  equator 
and  near  the  north  pole,  and  found  that  the  difference 
perfectly  justified  Sir  Isaac  Newton’s  conjecture,  and 
consequently  confirmed  the  Mosaic  account.  The 
result  of  the  experiments  instituted  to  determine  this 
point,  proved  that  the  diameter  of  the  earth  at  the 
equator  is  greater  by  more  than  twenty-three  and  a  half 
miles  than  it  is  at  the  poles,  allowing  the  polar  diame¬ 
ter  to  be  354th  part  shorter  than  the  equatorial ,  accord¬ 
ing  to  the  recent  admeasurements  of  several  degrees 
of  latitude  made  by  Messrs.  Mechain  and  Delambre. — 
L 1’  Histoire  des  Mathem.  par  M.  de  la  Lande,  tom.  iv., 
part  v.,  liv.  6. 

And  God  saw  that  it  was  good .]  This  is  the  judg¬ 
ment  which  God  pronounced  on  his  Own  works.  They 
were  beautiful  and  perfect  in  their  kind,  for  such  is  the 
import  of  the  word  DIED  tob.  They  were  in  weight 
and  measure  perfect  and  entire,  lacking  nothing.  But 
the  reader  will  think  it  strange  that  this  approbation 
should  be  expressed  once  on  the  first ,  fourth ,  fifth , 
and  sixth  days  ;  twice  on  the  third ,  and  not  at  all  on 
the  second  !  I  suppose  that  the  words,  And  God  saw 
that  it  was  good ,  have  been  either  lost  from  the  con¬ 
clusion  of  the  eighth  verse,  or  that  the  clause  in  the 
tenth  verse  originally  belonged  to  the  eighth.  It  ap¬ 
pears,  from  the  Septuagint  translation,  that  the  words 
in  question  existed  originally  at  the  close  of  the  eighth 
verse,  in  the  copies  which  they  used ;  for  in  that  ver¬ 
sion  we  still  find,  K at  el6ev  6  0eof  on  nohow  And  God 
saio  that  it  teas  good...  This  reading,  however,  is  not 

32 


acknowledged  by  any  of  Kennicott’.s  or  De  Rossi’s 
MSS.,  nor  by  any  of  the  other  versions.  If  the  ac¬ 
count  of  the  second  day  stood  originally  as  it  does  now, 
no  satisfactory  reason  can  be  given  for  the  omission  of 
this  expression  of  the  Divine  approbation  of  the  -work 
wrought  by  his  wisdom  and  power  on  that  day. 

Verse  11.  Let  the  earth  bring  forth  grass — herb — 
fruit-tree ,  c^c.]  In  these  general  expressions  all  kinds 
of  vegetable  productions  are  included.  Fruit-tree  is 
not  to  be  understood  here  in  the  restricted  sense  in 
which  the  term  is  used  among  us  ;  it  signifies  all  trees, 
not  only  those  which  bear  fruit,  which  ma^  be  applied 
to  the  use  of  men  and  cattle,  but  also  those  which  had 
the  power  of  propagating  themselves  by  seeds,  &c. 
Now  as  God  delights  to  manifest  himself  in  the  little 
as  well  as  in  the  great ,  he  has  shown  his  consummate 
wisdom  in  every  part  of  the  vegetable  creation.  Who 
can  account  for,  or  comprehend,  the  structure  of  a  sin¬ 
gle  tree  or  plant!  The  roots,  the  stem,  the  woody 
fibres,  .the  bark,  the  rind,  the  air-vessels,  the  sap-ves¬ 
sels,  the  leaves,  the  flowers,  and  the  fruits,  are  so  many 
mysteries.  AW  the  skill,  wisdom,  and  power  of  men 
and  angels  could  not  produce  a  single  grain  of  wheat ! 
A  serious  and  reflecting  mind  can  see  the  grandeur  of 
God,  not  only  in  the  immense  cedars  on  Lebanon,  but 
also  in  the  endlessly  varied  forests  that  appear  through 
the  microscope  in  the  mould  of  cheese,  stale  paste, 
&c.,  &c. 

Verse  12.  Whose  seed  ivas  in  itself  ]  Which  has 
the  power  of  multiplying  itself  by  seeds,  slips,  roots, 
&c.,  ad  infinitum ;  which  contains  in  itself  all  the 
rudiments  of  the  future  plant  through  its  endless  gene¬ 
rations.  This  doctrine  has  been  abundantly  confirmed 
by  the  most  accurate  observations  of  the  best  modem 
philosophers.  The  astonishing  power  with  which  God 
has  endued  the  vegetable  creation  to  multiply  its  dif¬ 
ferent  species,  maybe  instanced  in  the  seed  of  the  elm. 
This  tree  produces  one  thousand  five  hundred  and 
eighty  four  millions  of  seeds  ;  and  each  of  these  seeds 
has  the  power  of  producing  the  same  number.  How 
astonishing  is  this  produce  !  At  first  one  seed  is  depo¬ 
sited  in  the  earth  ;  from  this  one  a  tree  springs,  which 
in  the  course  of  its  vegetative  life  produces  one  thou¬ 
sand  five  hundred  and  eighty  four  millions  of  seeds. 
This  is  the  first  generation.  The  second  generation 
will  amount  to  two  trillions,  five  hundred  and  nine  thou¬ 
sand  and  fifty -six  billions.  The  third  generation  will 
amount  to  three  thousand  nine  hundred  and  seventy- 
four  quadrillions ,  three  hundred  and  forty  four  thou¬ 
sand  seven  hundred  and  four  trillions  !  And  the  fourth 
generation  from  these  would  amount  to  six  sextillions, 
two  hundred  and  ninety-five  thousand  three  hundred 
and  sixty-two  quintillions ,  eleven  thousand  one  hun¬ 
dred  and  thirty-six  quadrillions  !  Sums  too  immense 
for  the  human  mind  to  conceive;  and,  when  we, allow 
the  most  confined  space  in  which  a  tree  can  grow,  it 

a 


CHAP.  I. 


Creation  and  design 


A.  M.  1. 
B.  C.  4004. 


13  And  the  evening  and  the 
*  morning  were  the  third  day. 

1 4  And  God  said,  Let  there  be  v  lights  in 
the  firmament  of  the  heaven,  to  divide  w  the 
day  from  the  night ;  and  let  them  be  for 
signs,  and  1  for  seasons,  and  for  days,  and 
years. 

vDeut.  >v.  19;  Psa.  lxxiv.  16;  cxxxvi.  7. - w  Heb.  between 

the  day  and  between  the  night. - x  Psa.  lxxiv.  17 ;  civ.  19. 


of  the  celestial  luminaries . 
15  And  let  them  be  for  lights  in  BAcM40o4 


the  firmament  of  the  heaven,  to 
give  light  upon  the  earth  :  and  it  was  so. 

1 6  And  God  y  made  two  great  lights  ;  the 
greater  light  z  to  rule  the  day,  and  6  the 
lesser  light  to  rule  the  night  :  he  made  b  the 
stars  also. 

y  Psa.  cxxxvi.  7,  8,  9  ;  cxlviii.  3,  5. - z  Heb.  for  the  rule  of 

the  day. - aPsa.  viii.  3. - 0  Job  xxxviii.  7. 


appears  that  the  seeds  of  the  third  generation  from  one 
elm  would  be  many  myriads  of  times  more  than  suffi¬ 
cient  to  stock  the  whole  superfices  of  all  the  planets 
in  the  solar  system !  But  plants  multiply  themselves 
by  slips  as  well  as  by  seeds.  Sir  Kenelm  Digby  saw 
in  1660  a  plant  of  barley,  in  the  possession  of  the 
fathers  of  the  Christian  doctrine  at  Paris,  which  con¬ 
tained  249  stalks  springing  from  one  root  or  grain,  and 
in  which  he  counted  upwards  of  18,000  grains.  See 
my  experiments  on  Tilling  in  the  Methodist  Magazine. 

Verse  14.  And  God  said ,  Let  there  be  lights ,  <5fC .] 
One  principal  office  of  these  was  to  divide  between 
day  and  night.  When  night  is  considered  a  state  of 
comparative  darkness ,  how  can  lights  divide  or  distin¬ 
guish  it  1  The  answer  is  easy  :  The  sun  is  the  monarch 
of  the  day,  which  is  the  state  of  light  ;  the  moon,  of 
the  night,  the  state  of  darkness.  The  rays  of  the  sun, 
falling  on  the  atmosphere,  are  refracted  and  diffused 
over  the  whole  of  that  hemisphere  of  the  earth  imme¬ 
diately  under  his  orb  ;  while  those  rays  of  that  vast 
luminary  which,  because  of  the  earth’s  smallness  in 
comparison  of  the  sun,  are  diffused  on  all  sides  beyond 
the  earth,  falling  on  the  opaque  disc  of  the  moon,  are 
reflected  back  upon  what  may  be  called  the  lower 
hemisphere,  or  that  part  of  the  earth  which  is  opposite 
to  the  part  which  is  illuminated  by  the  sun  :  and  as  the 
earth  completes  a  revolution  on  its  own  axis  in  about 
twenty-four  hours,  consequently  each  hemisphere  has 
alternate  day  and  night.  But  as  the  solar  light  reflected 
from  the  face  of  the  moon  is  computed  to  be  50,000 
times  less  in  intensity  and  effect  than  the  light  of  the 
sun  as  it  comes  directly  from  himself  to  our  earth, 
(for  light  decreases  in  its  intensity  as  the  distance  it 
travels  from  the  sun  increases ,)  therefore  a  sufficient 
distinction  is  made  between  day  and  night,  or  light 
and  darkness,  notwithstanding  each  is  ruled  and  deter¬ 
mined  by  one  of  these  two  great  lights  ;  the  moon  ruling 
the  night,  i.  e.,  reflecting  from  her  own  surface  back 
on  the  earth  the  rays  of  light  which  she  receives  from 
the  sun.  Thus  both  hemispheres  are  to  a  certain 
degree  illuminated  :  the  one,  on  which  the  sun  shines, 
completely  so  ;  this  is  day :  the  other,  on  which  the 
sun’s  light  is  reflected  by  the  moon,  partially ;  this  is 
night.  It  is  true  that  both  the  planets  and  fixed  stars 
afford  a  considerable  portion  of  light  during  the  night, 
yet  they  cannot  be  said  to  rule  or  to  predominate  by 
their  light,  because  their  rays  are  quite  lost  in  the 
superior  splendour  of  the  moon’s  light. 

And  let  them  be  for  signs ]  PiDoh  leothoth.  Let 
them  ever  be  considered  as  continual  tokens  of  God’s 
tender  care  for  man,  and  as  standing  proofs  of  his 
continual  miraculous  interference  ;  for  so  the  word 
Vol  I.  (  4  ) 


HK  oth  is  often  used.  And  is  it  not  the  almighty 
energy  of  God  that  upholds  them  in  being  1  The 
sun  and  moon  also  serve  as  signs  of  the  different 
changes  which  take  place  in  the  atmosphere,  and 
which  are  so  essential  for  all  purposes  of  agricul¬ 
ture,  commerce,  &c. 

For  seasons ]  D’TfflD  moadim ;  For  the  determina¬ 
tion  of  the  times  on  which  the  sacred  festivals  should 
be  held.  In  this  sense  the  word  frequently  occurs; 
and  it  was  right  that  at  the  very  opening  of  his  reve¬ 
lation  God  should  inform  man  that  there  were  certain 
festivals  which  should  be  annually  celebrated  to  his 
glory.  Some  think  we  should  understand  the  original 
word  as  signifying  months ,  for  which  purpose  we  know 
the  moon  essentially  serves  through  all  the  revolutions 
of  time. 

For  days ]  Both  the  hours  of  the  day  and  night,  as 
well  as  the  different  lengths  of  the  days  and  nights,  are 
distinguished  by  the  longer  and  shorter  spaces  of  time 
the  sun  is  above  or  below  the  horizon. 

And  years.\  That  is,  those  grand  divisions  of  time 
by  which  all  succession  in  the  vast  lapse  of  duration 
is  distinguished.  This  refers  principally  to  a  com-  ' 
plete  revolution  of  the  earth  round  the  sun,  which  is 
accomplished  in  365  days,  5  hours,  48  minutes,  and  48 
seconds  ;  for  though  the  revolution  is  that  of  the  earth, 
yet  it  cannot  be  determined  but  by  the  heavenly  bodies. 

Verse  16.  And  God  made  two  great  lights ]  Moses 
speaks  of  the  sun  and  moon  here,  not  according  to 
their  bulk  or  solid  contents ,  but  according  to  the  pro¬ 
portion  of  light  they  shed  on  the  earth.  The  expres¬ 
sion  has  been  cavilled  at  by  some  who  are  as  devoid 
of  mental  capacity  as  of  candour.  “  The  moon,”  say 
they,  “  is  not  a  great  body  ;  on  the  contrary,  it  is  the 
very  smallest  in  our  system.”  Well,  and  has  Moses 
said  the  contrary  1  He  has  said  it  is  a  great  LIGHT  ; 
had  he  said  otherwise  he  had  not  spoken  the  truth. 

It  is,  in  reference  to  the  earth,  next  to  the  sun  him¬ 
self,  the  greatest  light  in  the  solar  system;  and  so 
true  is  it  that  the  moon  is  a  great  light ,  that  it  affords 
more  light  to  the  earth  than  all  the  planets  in  the  solar 
system,  and  all  the  innumerable  stars  in  the  vault  of 
heaven,  put  together.  It  is  worthy  of  remark  that  on 
the  fourth  day  of  the  creation  the  sun  was  formed,  and 
then  “  first  tried  his  beams  athwart  the  gloom  pro¬ 
found  and  that  at  the  conclusion  of  the  fourth  mille¬ 
nary  from  the  creation,  according  to  the  Hebrew,  the 
Sun  of  righteousness  shone  upon  the  world,  as  deepl)* 
sunk  in  that  mental  darkness  produced  by  sin  as  the 
ancient  world  was,  while  teeming  darkness  held  the 
dominion,  till  the  sun  was  created  as  the  dispenser  of 
light.  What  would  the  natural  world  be  without  the 

33  *  a 


The  celestial  luminaries 


GENESIS. 


are  set  in  the  firmament. 


bAcM4004  17  And  God  set  them  m  the 
— — ! -  firmament  of  the  heaven,  to  give 

light  upon  the  earth, 

1 8  And  to  c  rule  over  the  day,  and  over  the 
night ;  and  to  divide  the  light  from  the 

c  Jeremiah, 


darkness  :  and  God  saw  that  it  was  BAcM4oo4 
good.  - 

19  And  the  evening  and  the  morning  were 
the  fourth  day. 

20  And  God  said,  Let  the  waters  bring 

chap.  xxxi.  35. 


sun  1  A  howling  waste,  in  which  neither  animal  nor 
vegetable  life  could  possibly  be  sustained.  And  what 
would  the  moral  world  be  without  Jesus  Christ,  and 
the  light  of  his  word  and  Spirit  ?  Just  what  those  parts 
of  it  now  are  where  his  light  has  not  yet  shone  :  “  dark 
places  of  the  earth,  filled  with  the  habitations  of  cru¬ 
elty,”  where  error  prevails  without  end,  and  supersti¬ 
tion,  engendering  false  hopes  and  false  fears,  degrades 
and  debases  the  mind  of  man. 

Many  have  supposed  that  the  days  of  the  creation 
answer  to  so  many  thousands  of  years ;  and  that  as 
God  created  all  in  six  days,  and  rested  the  seventh ,  so 
the  world  shall  last  six  thousand  years,  and  the  seventh 
shall  be  the  eternal  rest  that  remains  for  the  people  of 
God.  To  this  conclusion  they  have  been  led  by  these 
words  of  the  apostle,  2  Pet.  iii.  8  :  One  day  is  with 
the  Lord  as  a  thousand  years ;  and  a  thousand  years 
as  one  day.  Secret  things  belong  to  God  ;  those  that 
are  revealed  to  us  and  our  children. 

He  made  the  stars  also.~\  Or  rather,  He  made  the 
lesser  light ,  with  the  stars ,  to  rule  the  night.  See 
Claudian  de  Raptu  Proser..  lib.  ii.,  v.  44. 

Hie  Hyperionis  solem  de  semine  nasci 
Fecerat,  et  pariter  lunam,  sed  dispare  forma, 
Aurorae  noctisque  duces. 

From  famed  Hyperion  did  he  cause  to  rise 
The  sun,  and  placed  the  moon  amid  the  skies, 

With  splendour  robed,  but  far  unequal  light, 

The  radiant  leaders  of  the  day  and  night. 

OF  THE  SUN. 

On  the  nature  of  the  sun  there  have  been  various 
conjectures.  It  was  long  thought  that  he  was  a  vast 
globe  of  fire  1,384,462  times  larger  than  the  earth,  and 
that  he  was  continually  emitting  from  his  body  innu¬ 
merable  millions  of  fiery  particles,  which,  being  ex¬ 
tremely  divided,  answered  for  the  purpose  of  light 
and  heat  without  occasioning  any  ignition  or  burning , 
except  when  collected  in  the  focus  of  a  convex  lens 
or  burning  glass.  Against  this  opinion,  however, 
many  serious  and  weighty  objections  have  been 
made ;  and  it  has  been  so  pressed  with  difficulties 
that  philosophers  have  been  obliged  to  look  for  a 
theory  less  repugnant  to  nature  and  probability.  Dr. 
Herschel’s  discoveries  by  means  of  his  immensely 
magnifying  telescopes,  have,  by  the  general  consent 
of  philosophers,  added  a  new  habitable  world  to  our 
system,  which  is  the  sun.  Without  stopping  to 
enter  into  detail ,  which  would  be  improper  here,  it  is 
sufficient  to  say  that  these  discoveries  tend  to  prove 
that  what  we  call  the  sun  is  only  the  atmosphere  of 
that  luminary ;  “  that  this  atmosphere  consists  of 
various  elastic  fluids  that  are  more  or  less  lucid  and 
transparent ;  that  as  the  clouds  belonging  to  our 
a  34 


earth  are  probably  decompositions  of  some  of  the 
elastic  fluids  belonging  to  the  atmosphere  itself,  so 
we  may  suppose  that  in  the  vast  atmosphere  of  the 
sun,  similar  decompositions  may  take  place,  but  with 
this  difference,  that  the  decompositions  of  the  elastic 
fluids  of  the  sun  are  of  a  phosphoric  nature,  and  are 
attended  by  lucid  appearances,  by  giving  out  light.” 
The  body  of  the  sun  he  considers  as  hidden  generally 
from  us  by  means  of  this  luminous  atmosphere,  but 
what  are  called  the  maculae  or  spots  on  the  sun  are 
real  openings  in  this  atmosphere,  through  which  the 
opaque  body  of  the  sun  becomes  visible  ;  that  this  at¬ 
mosphere  itself  is  not  fiery  nor  hot ,  but  is  the  instru¬ 
ment  which  God  designed  to  act  on  the  caloric  or  la¬ 
tent  heat  ;  and  that  heat  is  only  produced  by  the  solar 
light  acting  upon  and  combining  with  the  caloric  or 
matter  of  fire  contained  in  the  air,  and  other  sub¬ 
stances  which  are  heated  by  it.  This  ingenious  theory 
is  supported  by  many  plausible  reasons  and  illustra¬ 
tions,  which  may  be  seen  in  the  paper  he  read  before 
the  Roval  Society.  On  this  subject  see  the  note  on 
ver.  3. 

OF  THE  MOON. 

There  is  scarcely  any  doubt  nowT  remaining  in  the 
philosophical  world  that  the  moon  is  a  habitable  globe. 
The  most  accurate  observations  that  have  been  made 
with  the  most  powerful  telescopes  have  confirmed  the 
opinion.  The  moon  seems,  in  almost  every  respect, 
to  be  a  body  similar  to  our  earth  ;  to  have  its  surface 
diversified  by  hill  and  dale,  mountains  and  valleys, 
rivers,  lakes,  and  seas.  And  there  is  the  fullest  evi¬ 
dence  that  our  earth  serves  as  a  moon  to  the  moon 
herself,  differing  only  in  this,  that  as  the  earth’s  sur¬ 
face  is  thirteen  times  larger  than  the  moon’s,  so  the 
moon  receives  from  the  earth  a  light  thirteen  times 
greater  in  splendour  than  that  which  she  imparts  to 
us ;  and  by  a  very  correct  analogy  we  are  led  to  infer 
that  all  the  planets  and  their  satellites ,  or  attendant 
moons,  are  inhabited ,  for  matter  seems  only  to  exist 
for  the  sake  of  intelligent  beings. 

OF  THE  STARS. 

The  stars  in  general  are  considered  to  be  suns, 
similar  to  that  in  our  system,  each  having  an  appro¬ 
priate  number  of  planets  moving  round  it ;  and,  as 
these  stars  are  innumerable,  consequently  there  are 
innumerable  worlds,  all  dependent  on  the  power,  pro¬ 
tection,  and  providence  of  God.  Where  the  stars  are 
in  great  abundance,  Dr.  Herschel  supposes  they  form 
primaries  and  secondaries ,  i.  e.,  suns  revolving  about 
suns ,  as  planets  revolve  about  the  sun  in  our  system. 
He  considers  that  this  must  be  the  case  in  what  is 
called  the  milky  way ,  the  stars  being  there  m  prodi¬ 
gious  quantity.  Of  this  he  gives  the  following  proof ; 

(  4*  ) 


CHAP.  I. 


The  creation  of  fsh, 

B-M-4  forth  abundantly  the  d  moving  crea- 

-  ture  that  hath  6  life,  and  f  fowl  that 

may  fly  above  the  earth  in  the  *  open  firma¬ 
ment  of  heaven. 

2 1  And  h  God  created  great  whales, 
and  every  living  creature  that  moveth, 
which  the  waters  brought  forth  abundantly, 
after  their  kind,  and  every  winged  fowl 
after  his  kind :  and  God  saw  that  it  was 
good. 

d  Or,  creeping. - e  Heb.  soul. - f  Heb.  let  fowl  Jly. - s  Heb. 

face  of  the  firmament  of  heaven. 


On  August  22,  1792,  he  found  that  in  forty-one 
minutes  of  time  not  less  than  258,000  stars  had  passed 
through  the  field  of  view  in  his  telescope.  What  must 
God  be,  who  has  made,  governs,  and  supports  so  many 
worlds!  For  the  magnitudes ,  distances ,  revolutions, 
Jfc.,  of  the  sun,  moon,  planets ,  and  their  satellites,  see 
the  preceding  tables. 

Yerse  20.  Let  the  waters  bring  forth  abundantly ] 
There  is  a  meaning  in  these  words  which  is  seldom 
noticed.  Innumerable  millions  of  animalcula  are  found 
in  water.  Eminent  naturalists  have  discovered  not 
less  than  30,000  in  a  single  drop  !  How  inconceiva¬ 
bly  small  must  each  be,  and  yet  each  a  perfect  animal, 
furnished  with  the  whole  apparatus  of  bones,  muscles, 
nerves,  heart,  arteries,  veins,  lungs,  viscera  in  general, 
animal  spirits,  &c.,  &c.  What  a  proof  is  this  of  the 
manifold  wisdom  of  God!  But  th  e  fecundity  of  fishes 
is  another  point  intended  in  the  text ;  no  creatures  are 
so  prolific  as  these.  A  tench  lay  1,000  eggs,  a  carp 
20,000,  and  Leuwenhoek  counted  in  a  middling  sized 
cod  9,384,000  !  Thus,  according  to  the  purpose  of 
God,  the  waters  bring  forth  abundantly .  And  what 
a  merciful  provision  is  this  for  the  necessities  of  man  ! 
Many  hundreds  of  thousands  of  the  earth’s  inhabitants 
live  for  a  great  part  of  the  year  on  fish  only.  Fish 
afford,  not  only  a  wholesome,  but  a  very  nutritive  diet ; 
they  are  liable  to  few  diseases,  and  generally  come  in 
vast  quantities  to  our  shores  when  in  their  greatest 
perfection.  In  this  also  we  may  see  that  the  kind 
providence  of  God  goes  hand  in  hand  with  his  creating 
energy.  While  he  manifests  his  wisdom  and  his  power, 
he  is  making  a  permanent  provision  for  the  sustenance 
of  man  through  all  his  generations. 

Yerse  21.  And  God  created  great  whales ]  DJ^nn 
D'Vun  hattanninim  haggedolim.  Though  this  is 
generally  understood  by  the  different  versions  as  sig¬ 
nifying  whales,  yet  the  original  must  be  understood 
rather  as  a  general  than  a  particular  term,  comprising 
all  the  great  aquatic  animals,  such  as  the  various  spe¬ 
cies  of  whales,  the  porpoise,  the  dolphin,  the  monoceros 
or  narwal,  and  the  shark.  God  delights  to  show  him- 
seff  in  little  as  well  as  in  great  things  :  hence  he  forms 
animals  so  minute  that  30,000  can  be  contained  in 
one  drop  of  water  ;  and  others  so  great  that  they  seem 
to  require  almost  a  whole  sea  to  float  in. 

Verse  22.  Let  fowl  multiply  in  the  earth.]  It  is 
truly  astonishing  with  what  care,  wisdom,  and  minute 
skill  God  has  formed  the  different  genera  and  species 


fowls,  and  reptiles • 

22  And  God  blessed  them,  saying,  BA^Mj0Q4 

1  Be  frutiful,  and  multiply,  and  fill  - 

the  waters  in  the  seas  ;  and  let  fowl  multiply  in 
the  earth. 

23  And  the  evening  and  the  morning  were 
the  fifth  day. 

24  And  God  said,  Let  the  earth  bring  forth 
the  living  creature  after  his  kind,  cattle,  and 
creeping  thing,  and  beast  of  the  earth  after 
his  kind  :  and  it  was  so. 

h  Chapter  vi.  20  ;  vii.  14 ;  viii.  19  ;  Psalm  civ.  26. - >  Chapter 

viii.  17. 


of  birds,  whether  intended  to  live  chiefly  on  land  or 
in  water.  The  structure  of  a  single  feather  affords  a 
world  of  wonders ;  and  as  God  made  the  fowls  that 
they  might  fly  in  the  firmament  of  heaven,  ver.  20,  so 
he  has  adapted  the  form  of  their  bodies,  and  the  struc¬ 
ture  and  disposition  of  their  plumage,  for  that  very 
purpose.  The  head  and  neck  in  flying  are  drawn 
principally  within  the  breastbone^  so  that  the  whole 
under  part  exhibits  the  appearance  of  a  ship’s  hull. 
The  wings  are  made  use  of  as  sails,  or  rather  oars, 
and  the  tail  as  a  helm  or  rudder.  By  means  of  these 
the  creature  is  not  only  able  to  preserve  the  centre  of 
gravity,  but  also  to  go  with  vast  speed  through  the  air, 
either  straight  forward,  circularly,  or  in  any  kind  of 
angle,  upwards  or  downwards.  In  these  also  God  has 
shown  his  skill  and  his  power  in  the  great  and  in  the 
little — in  the  vast  ostrich  and  cassowary ,  and  in  the 
beautiful  humming-bird,  which  in  plumage  excels  the 
splendour  of  the  peacock,  and  in  size  is  almost  on  a 
level  with  the  bee. 

Yerse  24.  Let  the  earth  bring  forth  the  living  crea¬ 
ture,  <fc.]  rrn  nephesh  chaiyah  ;  a  general  term 
to  express  all  creatures  endued  with  animal  life,  in  any 
of  its  infinitely  varied  gradations,  from  the  half-rea¬ 
soning  elephant  down  to  the  stupid  potto,  or  lower  still, 
to  the  polype,  which  seems  equally  to  share  the  vege¬ 
table  and  animal  life.  The  word  1JVT1  chaitho,  in  the 
latter  part  of  the  verse,  seems  to  signify  all  ivild  ani¬ 
mals,  as  lions,  tigers,  &c.,  and  especially  such  as  are 
carnivorous,  or  live  on  flesh,  in  contradistinction  from 
domestic  animals,  such  as  are  graminivorous ,  or  live 
on  grass  and  other  vegetables,  and  are  capable  of  be¬ 
ing  tamed,  and  applied  to  domestic  purposes.  See  on 
ver.  29.  These  latter  are  probably  meant  by  n^PD 
behemah  in  the  text,  which  we  translate  cattle ,  such  as 
horses ,  /cine,  sheep ,  dogs,  <fc.  Creeping  thing, 
remes,  all  the  different  genera  of  serpents,  worms,  and 
such  animals  as  have  no  feet.  In  beasts  also  God 
has  shown  his  wondrous  skill  and  power  ;  in  the  vast 
elephant,  or  still  more  colossal  mammoth  or  mastodon , 
the  whole  race  of  which  appears  to  be  extinct,  a  few 
skeletons  only  remaining.  This  animal,  an  astonish¬ 
ing  effect  of  God’s  power,  he  seems  to  have  produced 
merely  to  show  what  he  could  do,  and  after  suffering 
a  few  of  them  to  propagate,  he  extinguished  the  race 
by  a  merciful  providence,  that  they  might  not  destroy 
both  man  and  beast.  The  mammoth  appears  to  have 
been  a  carnivorous  animal,  as  the  structure  of  the 

35 


a 


GENESIS. 


The  creation  of  man 
A-M.  J-  25  And  God  made  the  beast  of 

13.  C.  4004. 

-  the  earth  alter  his  kind,  and  cattle 

after  their  kind,  and  every  thing  that  creepeth 
upon  the  earth  after  his  kind :  and  God  saw 
that  it  was  good. 

2  6  And  God  said,  k  Let  us  make  man  in  our 
image,  after  our  likeness  :  and  1  let  them  have 

kChap.  v.  1 ;  ix.  6;  Psa.  c.  3;  Eccles.  vii.  29;  Acts  xvii.  26, 
28,  29;  1  Cor.  xi.  7 ;  Eph.  iv.  24;  Col.  iii.  10;  James  iii.  9. 

teeth  proves,  and  of  an  immense  size ;  from  a  consi¬ 
derable  part  of  a  skeleton  which  I  have  seen,  it  is 
computed  that  the  animal  to  which  it  belonged  must 
have  been  nearly  twenty-five  feet  high,  and  sixty  in 
length  !  The  bones  of  one  toe  are  entire  ;  the  toe 
upwards  of  three  feet  in  length.  But  this  skeleton 
might  have  belonged  to  the  megalonyx,  a  kind  of  sloth, 
or  bradypus,  hitherto  unknown.  Few  elephants  have 
ever  been  found  to  exceed  eleven  feet  in  height.  How 
wondrous  are  the  works  of  God !  But  his  skill  and 
power  are  not  less  seen  in  the  beautiful  chevrotin,  or 
tragulus,  a  creature  of  the  antelope  kind,  the  smallest 
of  all  bifid  or  cloven-footed  animals,  whose  delicate 
limbs  are  scarcely  so  large  as  an  ordinary  goose  quill ; 
and  also  in  the  shrew  mouse ,  perhaps  the  smallest  of 
the  many -toed  quadrupeds.  In  the  reptile  kind  we  see 
also  the  same  skill  and  power,  not  only  in  the  immense 
snake  called  boa  constrictor ,  the  mortal  foe  and  con¬ 
queror  of  the  royal  tiger,  but  also  in  the  cobra  de 
manille,  a  venomous  serpent,  only  a  little  larger  than 
a  common  sewing  needle. 

Verse  25.  And  God  made  the  beast  of  the  earth 
after  his  hind ,  <5fc.~\  Every  thing  both  in  the  animal 
and  vegetable  wrnrld  was  made  so  according  to  its 
kind,  both  in  genus  and  species ,  as  to  produce  its  own 
kind  through  endless  generations.  Thus  the  several 
races  of  animals  and  plants  have  been  kept  distinct 
from  the  foundation  of  the  world  to  the  present  day. 
This  is  a  proof  that  all  future  generations  of  plants  and 
animals  have  been  seminally  included  in  those  which 
God  formed  in  the  beginning. 

Verse  26.  And  God  said,  Let  us  make  man ]  It 
is  evident  that  God  intends  to  impress  the  mind  of 
man  with  a  sense  of  something  extraordinary  in  the 
formation  of  his  body  and  soul,  when  he  introduces  the 
account  of  his  creation  thus  ;  Let  US  make  man. 
The  word  DTK  Adam,  which  we  translate  man,  is  in¬ 
tended  to  designate  the  species  of  animal,  as  livn 
chaitho,  marks  the  wild  beasts  that  live  in  general  a 
solitary  life  ;  nDiTJ  behemah,  domestic  or  gregarious 
animals ;  and  remes,  all  kinds  of  reptiles,  from 
the  largest  snake  to  the  microscopic  eel.  Though  the 
same  kind  of  organization  may  be  found  in  man  as 
appears  in  the  lower  animals,  yet  there  is  a  variety 
and  complication  in  the  parts,  a  delicacy  of  structure, 
a  nice  arrangement,  a  judicious  adaptation  of  the  dif¬ 
ferent  members  to  their  great  offices  and  functions,  a 
dignity  of  mien,  and  a  perfection  of  the  whole,  which 
are  sought  for  in  vain  in  all  other  creatures.  See 
chap.  iii.  22. 

In  our  image,  after  our  likeness ]  What  is  said 
above  refers  only  to  the  body  of  man,  what  is  here  said 

36 


in  the  image  of  God. 
dominion  over  the  fish  of  the  sea,  A- M;,A- 

r>.  A/.  4UU4, 

and  over  the  fowl  of  the  air,  and  over  - 

the  cattle,  and  over  all  the  earth,  and  over  every 
creeping  thing  that  creepeth  upon  the  earth. 

27  So  God  created  man  in  his  own  image, 
m  in  the  image  of  God  created  he  him  ;  nmale 
and  female  created  he  them. 

1  Chap.  ix.  2;  Psa.  viii.  6. - m  1  Cor.  xi.  7. - n  Chap,  v  2; 

Mai.  ii.  15;  Matt.  xix.  4;  Mark  x.  6. 

refers  to  his  soul.  This  was  made  in  the  image  and 
likeness  of  God.  Now,  as  the  Divine  Being  is  infi¬ 
nite,  he  is  neither  limited  by  parts,  nor  definable  by 
passions ;  therefore  he  can  have  no  corporeal  image 
after  which  he  made  the  body  of  man.  The  image 
and  likeness  must  necessarily  be  intellectual ;  his  mind, 
his  soul,  must  have  been  formed  after  the  nature  and 
perfections  of  his  God.  The  human  mind  is  still  en¬ 
dowed  with  most  extraordinary  capacities  ;  it  was  more 
so  when  issuing  out  of  the  hands  of  its  Creator.  God 
was  now  producing  a  spirit,  and  a  spirit,  too,  formed 
after  the  perfections  of  his  owm  nature.  God  is  the 
fountain  whence  this  spirit  issued,  hence  the  stream 
must  resemble  the  spring  which  produced  it.  God  is 
holy,  just,  wise,  good,  and  perfect ;  so  must  the  soul 
be  that  sprang  from  him  :  there  could  be  in  it  nothing 
impure,  unjust,  ignorant,  evil,  low,  base,  mean,  or  vile. 
It  was  created  after  the  image  of  God  ;  and  that  image, 
St.  Paul  tells  us,  consisted  in  righteousness,  true  holi¬ 
ness,  and  knowledge,  Eph.  iv.  24  ;  Col.  iii.  10.  Hence 
man  was  ivise  in  his  mind,  holy  in  his  heart,  and 
righteous  in  his  actions.  Were  even  the  word  of  Gcd 
silent  on  this  subject,  we  could  not  infer  less  from  the 
lights  held  out  to  us  by  reason  and  common  sense. 
The  text  tells  us  he  w'as  the  work  of  Elohim,  the  Di¬ 
vine  Plurality,  marked  here  more  distinctly  by  the  plu¬ 
ral  pronouns  US  and  OUR;  and  to  show  that  he  was 
the  masterpiece  of  God’s  creation,  all  the  persons  in 
the  Godhead  are  represented  as  united  in  counsel  and 
effort  to  produce  this  astonishing  creature. 

Gregory  Nyssen  has  very  properly  observed  that 
the  superiority  of  man  to  all  other  parts  of  creation  is 
seen  in  this,  that  all  other  creatures  are  represented 
as  the  effect  of  God’s  word,  but  man  is  represented  as 
the  work  of  God,  according  to  plan  and  consideration  : 
Let  us  make  man  in  our  image,  after  our  likeness. 
See  his  Works,  vol.  i.,  p.  52,  c.  3. 

And  let  them  have  dominion ]  Hence  we  see  that 
the  dominion  was  not  the  image.  God  created  man 
capable  of  governing  the  world,  and  when  fitted  for 
the  office,  he  fixed  him  in  it.  We  see  God’s  tender 
care  and  parental  solicitude  for  the  comfort  and  well¬ 
being  of  this  masterpiece  of  his  workmanship,  in 
creating  the  world  previously  to  the  creation  of  man. 
He  prepared  every  thing  for  his  subsistence,  conve¬ 
nience,  and  pleasure,  before  he  brought  him  into  being  ; 
so  that,  comparing  little  with  great  things,  the  hcuse 
was  built,  furnished,  and  amply  stored,  by  the  time  the 
destined  tenant  was  ready  to  occupy  it. 

It  has  been  supposed  by  some  that  God  speaks  here 
to  the  angels,  when  he  says,  Let  us  make  man ;  but 
to  make  this  a  likely  interpretation  these  persons  must 


CHAP.  I. 


God's  approval 

A.  M.  l.  28  And  God  blessed  them,  and 

-  God  said  unto  them,  0  Joe  irmtlul, 

and  multiply,  and  replenish  the  earth,  and 
subdue  it ;  and  have  dominion  over  the  fish 
of  the  sea,  and  over  the  fowl  of  the  air,  and 
over  every  living  thing  that  p  moveth  upon  the 
earth. 

29  And  God  said,  Behold,  I  have  given 
you  every  herb  q  bearing  seed,  which  is  upon 
the  face  of  all  the  earth,  and  every  tree,  in  the 

0  Chap.  ix.  1,  7  ;  Lev.  xxvi.  9 ;  Psa.  cxxvii.  3 ;  cxxviii.  3,  4. 

P  Heb.  creepeth. - 3  Heb.  seeding  seed. - r  Chap.  ix.  3  ;  Job 

xxxvi.  31;  Psa.  civ.  14,  15;  cxxxvi.  25;  cxlvi.  7;  Acts 


prove,  1.  That  angels  were  then  created.  2.  That 
angels  could  assist  in  a  work  of  creation.  3.  That 
angels  were  themselves  made  in  the  image  and  like¬ 
ness  of  God.  If  they  were  not,  it  could  not  be  said, 
in  our  image ,  and  it  does  not  appear  from  any  part  in 
the  sacred  writings  that  any  creature  but  man  was 
made  in  the  image  of  God.  See  the  note  on  Psalm 
viii.  5. 

Verse  28.  And  God  blessed  them ]  Marked  them 
as  being  under  his  especial  protection,  and  gave  them 
power  to  propagate  and  multiply  their  own  kind  on  the 
earth.  A  large  volume  would  be  insufficient  to  con¬ 
tain  what  we  know  of  the  excellence  and  perfection  of 
man,  even  in  his  present  degraded  fallen  state.  Both 
his  body  and  soul  are  adapted  with  astonishing  wisdom 
to  their  residence  and  occupations ;  and  also  the  place 
of  their  residence,  as  well  as  the  surrounding  objects, 
in  their  diversity,  colour,  and  mutual  relations,  to  the 
mind  and  body  of  this  lord  of  the  creation.  The  con¬ 
trivance,  arrangement,  action,  and  re-action  of  the  dif¬ 
ferent  parts  of  the  body,  show  the  admirable  skill  of 
the  wondrous  Creator  ;  while  the  various  powers  and 
faculties  of  the  mind,  acting  on  and  by  the  different 
organs  of  this  body,  proclaim  the  soul's  Divine  origin, 
and  demonstrate  that  he  who  was  made  in  the  image 
and  likeness  of  God,  was  a  transcript  of  his  own  ex¬ 
cellency,  destined  to  know,  love,  and  dwell  with  his 
Maker  throughout  eternity. 

Verse  29.  I  have  given  you  every  herb — -for  meat.] 
It  seems  from  this,  says  an  eminent  philosopher,  that 
man  was  originally  intended  to  live  upon  vegetables 
only  ;  and  as  no  change  was  made  in  the  structure  of 
men’s  bodies  after  the  flood,  it  is  not  probable  that  any 
change  was  made  in  the  articles  of  their  food.  It  may 
also  be  inferred  from  this  passage  that  no  animal  what¬ 
ever  was  originally  designed  to  prey  on  others ;  for 
nothing  is  here  said  to  be  given  to  any  beast  of  the 
earth  besides  green  herbs. — Dr.  Priestley.  Before  sin 
entered  into  the  world,  there  could  be,  at  least,  no  vio¬ 
lent  deaths ,  if  any  death  at  all.  But  by  the  particular 
structure  of  the  teeth  of  animals  God  prepared  them 
for  that  kind  of  aliment  which  they  were  to  subsist  on 
after  the  fall. 

Verse  31.  And ,  behold ,  it  was  very  good.]  “tHD  31ft 
iob  meod ,  Superlatively, i,  or  only  good  ;  as  good  as  they 
could  be.  The  plan  wise,  the  work  well  executed,  the 
different  parts  properly  arranged,  their  nature,  limits, 


of  what  he  had  made. 

which  is  the  fruit  of  a  tree  yielding  nA- M- !• 
seed ;  r  to  you  it  shall  be  for  meat.  - 

30  And  to  8  every  beast  of  the  earth,  and  to 
every  t  fowl  of  the  air,  and  to  every  thing  that 
creepeth  upon  the  earth,  wherein  there  is  u  life, 
I  have  given  every  green  herb  for  meat :  and 
it  was  so. 

3 1  And  v  God  saw  every  thing  that  he  had 
made,  and,  behold,  it  was  very  good.  And  the 
evening  and  the  morning  were  the  sixth  day. 

xiv.  17. - s  Psa.  cxlv.  15,  16  ;  cxlvii.  9. - ‘Job  xxxviii. 

41. - u  Heb.  a  living  soul. - v  Psa.  civ.  24;  Lam.  iii.  38; 

1  Tim.  iv.  4. 


mode  of  existence,  manner  of  propagation,  habits,  mode 
of  sustenance,  &c.,  &c.,  properly  and  permanently 
established  and  secured  ;  for  every  thing  was  formed 
to  the  utmost  perfection  of  its  nature,  so  that  nothing 
could  be  added  or  diminished  without  encumbering  the 
operations  of  matter  and  spirit  on  the  one  hand,  or  ren¬ 
dering  them  inefficient  to  the  end  proposed  on  the 
other  ;  and  God  has  so  done  all  these  marvellous  works 
as  to  be  glorified  in  all,  by  all,  and  through  all. 

And  the  evening  and  the  morning  were  the  sixth 
day.]  The  word  3“iy  ereb,  which  we  translate  evening , 
comes  from  the  root  arab ,  to  mingle  ;  and  properly 

signifies  that  state  in  which  neither  absolute  darkness 
nor  full  light  prevails.  It  has  nearly  the  same  gram¬ 
matical  signification  with  our  twilight ,  the  time  that 
elapses  from  the  setting  of  the  sun  till  he  is  eighteen 
degrees  below  the  horizon,  and  the  last  eighteen  de¬ 
grees  before  he  arises.  Thus  we  have  the  morning 
and  evening  twilight,  or  mixture  of  light  and  darkness, 
in  which  neither  prevails,  because,  while  the  sun  is 
within  eighteen  degrees  of  the  horizon,  either  after  his 
setting  or  before  his  rising,  the  atmosphere  has  power 
to  refract  the  rays  of  light,  and  send  them  back  oh  the 
earth.  The  Hebrews  extended  the  meaning  of  this 
term  to  the  whole  duration  of  night,  because  it  was 
ever  a  mingled  state,  the  moon,  the  planets,  or  the 
stars,  tempering  the  darkness  with  some  rays  of  light. 
From  the  ereb  of  Moses  came  the  Epe/?of,  Erebus , 
of  Hesiod,  Aristophanes,  and  other  heathens,  which 
they  deified  and  made,  with  Nox  or  night,  the  parent 
of  all  things. 

The  morning — boker ;  From  3p3  bakar ,  he 
looked  out ;  a  beautiful  figure  which  represents  the 
morning  as  looking  out  at  the  east,  and  illuminating 
the  whole  of  the  upper  hemisphere. 

The  evening  and  the  morning  were  the  sixth  day. — 
It  is  somewhat  remarkable  that  through  the  whole  of 
this  chapter,  whenever  the  division  of  days  is  made, 
the  evening  always  precedes  the  morning.  The  reason 
of  this  may  perhaps  be,  that  darkness  was  pre-existent 
to  light,  (verse  2,  And  darkness  was  upon  the  face  of 
the  deep,)  and  therefore  time  is  reckoned  from  the  first 
act  of  God  towards  the  creation  of  the  world,  which 
took  place  before  light  was  called  forth  into  existence. 
It  is  very  likely,  for  this  same  reason,  that  the  Jews 
began  their  day  at  six  o’clock  in  the  evening  in  imita¬ 
tion  of  Moses’s  division  of  time  in  this  chapter.  Cwsar 

n 


Conclusion  of 

in  his  Commentaries  makes  mention  of  the  same  pe¬ 
culiarity  existing  among  the  Gauls  :  Galli  se  omnes  ab 
Dite  patre  prognatos  prcedicant :  idque  ab  Druidibus 
proditum  dicunt :  ob  earn  causam  spatia  omnis  tempo- 
ris,  non  numero  dierum ,  sed  noctium,  finiunt ;  et  dies 
natales,  et  mensium  et  annorum  initia  sic  observant ,  ut 
noctern  dies  subsequatur  ;  De  Bell.  Gall.  lib.  vi.  Ta¬ 
citus  likewise  records  the  same  of  the  Germans  :  Nec 
dierum  numerum ,  ut  nos ,  sed  noctium  computant :  sic 
constituant ,  sic  condicunt,  nox  ducere  diem  videtur ; 
De  Mor.  Germ.  sec.  ii.  And  there  are  to  this  day 
some  remains  of  the  same  custom  in  England,  as  for 
instance  in  the  word  se'nnight  and  fortnight.  See 
also  iEschyl.  Agamem.  ver.  273,  287. 

Thus  ends  a  chapter  containing  the  most  extensive, 
most  profound,  and  most  sublime  truths  that  can  possi¬ 
bly  come  within  the  reach  of  the  human  intellect. 
How  unspeakably  are  we  indebted  to  God  for  giving 
us  a  revelation  of  his  will  and  of  his  works  !  Is  it 
possible  to  know  the  mind  of  God  but  from  himself  1 
It  is  impossible.  Can  those  things  and  services  which 
are  worthy  of  and  pleasing  to  an  infinitely  pure,  per¬ 
fect,  and  holy  Spirit,  be  ever  found  out  by  reasoning 
and  conjecture  ?  Never  !  for  the  Spirit  of  God  alone 
can  know  the  mind  of  God  ;  and  by  this  Spirit  he  has 
revealed  himself  to  man  ;  and  in  this  revelation  has 
taught  him,  not  only  to  know  the  glories  and  perfec¬ 
tions  of  the  Creator,  but  also  his  own  origin,  duty,  and 
interest.  Thus  far  it  was  essentially  necessary  that 
God  should  reveal  his  will  ;  but  if  he  had  not  given 
a  revelation  of  his  works,  the  origin,  constitution,  and 
nature  of  the  universe  could  never  have  been  ade¬ 
quately  known.  The  world  by  wisdom  knew  not  God ; 
this  is  demonstrated  by  the  writings  of  the  most  learn¬ 
ed  and  intelligent  heathens.  They  had  no  just,  no 
rational  notion  of  the  origin  and  design  of  the  universe. 
Moses  alone,  of  all  ancient  writers,  gives  a  consistent 
and  rational  account  of  the  creation  ;  an  account  which 
has  been  confirmed  by  the  investigation  of  the  most 
accurate  philosophers.  But  ivhere  did  he  learn  this  1 
“  In  Egypt.”  That  is  impossible  ;  for  the  Egyptians 
themselves  were  destitute  of  this  knowledge.  The 
remains  we  have  of  their  old  historians,  all  posterior 
to  the  time  of  Moses,  are  egregious  for  their  contra¬ 
dictions  and  absurdity  ;  and  the  most  learned  of  the 
Greeks  who  borrowed  from  them  have  not  been 
able  to  make  out,  from  their  conjoint  stock,  any 
consistent  and  credible  account.  Moses  has  revealed 
the  mystery  that  lay  hid  from  all  preceding  ages, 
because  he  was  taught  it  by  the  inspiration  of  the 
Almighty. 


the  work  of  creation. 

Reader,  thou  hast  now  before  thee  the  most  ancient 
and  most  authentic  history  in  the  world  ;  a  history  that 
contains  the  first  written  discovery  that  God  has  made 
of  himself  to  mankind  ;  a  discovery  of  his  own  being , 
in  his  wisdom ,  power ,  and  goodness ,  in  which  thou  and 
the  whole  human  race  are  so  intimately  concerned. 
How  much  thou  art  indebted  to  him  for  this  discovery 
he  alone  can  teach  thee,  and  cause  thy  heart  to  feel  its 
obligations  to  his  wisdom  and  mercy.  Read  so  as  to 
understand,  for  these  things  were  written  for  thy  learn¬ 
ing  ;  therefore  mark  what  thou  readest,  and  inwardly 
digest — deeply  and  seriously  meditate  on,  what  thou 
hast  marked,  and  pray  to  the  Father  of  lights  that  he 
may  open  thy  understanding,  that  thou  mayest  know 
these  holy  Scriptures,  which  are  able  to  make  thee 
wise  unto  salvation. 

God  made  thee  and  the-  universe,  and  governs  all 
things  according  to  the  counsel  of  his  will ;  that  will 
is  infinite  goodness,  that  counsel  is  unerring  wisdom. 
While  under  the  direction  of  this  counsel,  thou  canst 
not  err  ;  while  under  the  influence  of  this  will,  thou 
canst  not  be  wretched.  Give  thyself  up  to  his  teach¬ 
ing,  and  submit  to  his  authority  ;  and,  after  guiding 
thee  here  by  his  counsel,  he  will  at  last  bring  thee  to 
his  glory.  Every  object  that  meets  thy  eye  should 
teach  thee  reverence,  submission,  and  gratitude.  The 
earth  and  its  productions  were  made  for  thee  ;  and  the 
providence  of  thy  heavenly  Father,  infinitely  diversi¬ 
fied  in  its  operations,  watches  over  and  provides  for 
thee.  Behold  the  firmament  of  his  power,  the  sun 
moon,  planets,  and  stars,  which  he  has  formed,  not  for 
himself,  for  he  needs  none  of  these  things,  but  for  his 
intelligent  offspring.  What  endless  gratification  has 
he  designed  thee  in  placing  within  thy  reach  these 
astonishing  effects  of  his  wisdom  and  power,  and  in 
rendering  thee  capable  of  searching  out  their  wonder¬ 
ful  relations  and  connections,  and  of  knowing  himself, 
the  source  of  all  perfection,  by  having  made  thee  in 
his  own  image,  and  in  his  own  likeness  !  It  is  true 
thou  art  fallen  ;  but  he  has  found  out  a  ransom.  God 
so  loved  thee  in  conjunction  with  the  world  that  he 
gave  his  only-begotten  Son,  that  whosoever  believeth. 
on  him  should  not  perish,  but  have  everlasting  life. 
Believe  on  him  ;  through  him  alone  cometh  salvation; 
and  the  fair  and  holy  image  of  God  in  which  thou  wasfc 
created  shall  be  again  restored  ;  he  will  build  thee  up 
as  at  the  first,  restore  thy  judges  and  counsellors  as  at 
the  beginning,  and  in  thy  second  creation,  as  in  thy 
first,  will  pronounce  thee  to  be  very  good ,  and  thou 
shalt  show  forth  the  virtues  of  him  by  whom  thou  art 
created  anew  in  Christ  Jesus.  Amen. 


GENESIS. 


CHAPTER  II. 

The  seventh  day  is  consecrated  for  a  Sabbath ,  and  the  reasons  assigned ,  1—3.  A  recapitulation  of  the  six 
days'  work  of  creation ,  4—7.  The  garden  of  Eden  planted,  8.  Its  trees,  9.  Its  rivers ,  and  the  countries 
watered  by  them,  10—14.  Adam  placed  in  the  garden,  and  the  command  given  not  to  eat  of  the  tree  of 
knowledge  on  pain  of  death,  15—17.  God  purposes  to  form  a  companion  for  the  man,  18.  The  different 
animals  brought  to  Adam  that  he  might  assign  them  their  names,  19,  20.  The  creation  of  the  woman 3 
21,  22.  The  institution  of  marriage,  23,  24.  The  purity  and  innocence  of  cur  first  parents,  25. 

38  *  "  *  a 


The  appointment  and 


CHAP.  II.  sanctification  of  the  Sabbath 


A.  M.  1. 
B.  C.  4004. 


^HUS  the  heavens  and  the  earth 
were  finished,  and  a  all  the 


host  of  them. 

2  b  And  on  the  seventh  day  God  ended  his  work 
which  he  had  made  ;  and  he  rested  on  the  se¬ 
venth  day  from  all  his  work  which  he  had  made. 

3  And  God  c  blessed  the  seventh  day,  and 


sanctified  it ;  because  that  in  it  he  „A- 

.  id.  L/.  4004. 

had  rested  from  all  his  work  which  - 

God  d  created  and  made. 

4  e  These  are  the  generations  of  the  hea¬ 
vens  and  of  the  earth  when  they  were  created, 
in  the  day  that  the  Lord  God  made  the  earth 
and  the  heavens, 


*  Psa.  xxxiii.  6. - b  Exod.  xx.  11 ;  xxxi.  17  ;  Deut.  v.  14  ;  Heb. 

iv.  4. 


NOTES  ON  CHAP.  II. 

Yerse  1.  And  all  the  host  of  them.]  The  word 
host  signifies  literally  an  army ,  composed  of  a  number 
of  companies  of  soldiers  under  their  respective  lead¬ 
ers  ;  and  seems  here  elegantly  applied  to  the  various 
celestial  bodies  in  our  system,  placed  by  the  Divine  wis¬ 
dom  under  the  influence  of  the  sun.  From  the  original 
word  iOi'  tsaba,  a  host,  some  suppose  the  Sabeans  had 
their  name,  because  of  their  paying  Divine  honours  to 
the  heavenly  bodies.  From  the  Septuagint  version  of 
this  place,  nag  6  icocrpog  avruv,  all  their  ornaments ,  we 
learn  the  true  meaning  of  the  word  icoapog ,  commonly 
translated  world ,  which  signifies  a  decorated  or  adorned 
whole  or  system.  And  this  refers  to  the  beautiful  or¬ 
der,  harmony,  and  regularity  which  subsist  among  the 
various  parts  of  creation.  This  translation  must  im¬ 
press  the  reader  with  a  very  favourable  opinion  of  these 
ancient  Greek  translators  ;  had  they  not  examined  the 
works  of  God  with  a  philosophic  eye,  they  never  could 
have  given  this  turn  to  the  original. 

Yerse  2.  On  the  seventh  day  God  ended ,  Sfc.]  It 
is  the  general  voice  of  Scripture  that  God  finished  the 
whole  of  the  creation  in  six  days,  and  rested  the 
seventh  !  giving  us  an  example  that  we  might  labour 
s-ix  days,  and  rest  the  seventh  from  all  manual  exer¬ 
cises.  It  is  worthy  of  notice  that  the  Septuagint,  the 
Syriac,  and  the  Samaritan,  read  the  sixth  day  instead 
of  the  seventh  ;  and  this  should  be  considered  the  genu¬ 
ine  reading,  which  appears  from  these  versions  to 
have  been  originally  that  of  the  Hebrew  text.  How 
the  word  sixth  became  changed  into  seventh  may  be 
easily  conceived  from  this  circumstance.  It  is  very 
likely  that  in  ancient  times  all  the  numerals  were  sig¬ 
nified  by  letters ,  and  not  by  words  at  full  length.  This 
is  the  case  in  the  most  ancient  Greek  and  Latin  MSS., 
and  in  almost  all  the  rabbinical  writings.  When  these 
numeral  letters  became  changed  for  words  at  full  length, 
two  letters  nearly  similar  might  be  mistaken  for  each 
other ;  1  vau  stands  for  six ,  T  zain  for  seven ;  how 
easy  to  mistake  these  letters  for  each  other  when 
writing  the  words  at  full  length,  and  so  give  birth  to 
the  reading  in  question. 

Yerse  3.  And  God  blessed  the  seventh  day]  The 
original  word  “pn  barach ,  which  is  generally  rendered 
to  bless ,  has  a  very  extensive  meaning.  It  is  frequently 
used  in  Scripture  in  the  sense  of  speaking  good  of  or 
to  a  person  ;  and  hence  literally  and  properly  rendered 
by  the  Septuagint  tv'koyqaev,  from  ev,  good  or  well,  and 
Aeyo,  I  speak.  So  God  has  spoken  well  of  the  Sab¬ 
bath,  and  good  to  them  who  conscientiously  observe  it. 
Blessing  is  applied  both  to  God  and  man :  when  God 
is  s aid  to  bless,  we  generally  understand  by  the  expres- 

a 


c  Neh.  ix.  14;  Isa.  lviii.  13. - d  Heb.  created  tomake. - e  Chap. 

i.  1  ;  Psa.  xc.  1,  2. 

sion  that  he  communicates  some  good  ;  but  when  man 
is  said  to  bless  God,  we  surely  cannot  imagine  that  he 
bestows  any  gifts  or  confers  any  benefit  on  his  Maker. 
When  God  is  said  to  bless ,  either  in  the  Old  or  New 
Testament,  it  signifies  his  speaking  good  to  man ;  and 
this  comprises  the  whole  of  his  exceeding  great  and 
precious  promises.  And  when  man  is  said  to  bless 
God,  it  ever  implies  that  he  speaks  good  of  him,  for 
the  giving  and  fulfilment  of  his  promises.  This  obser¬ 
vation  will  be  of  general  use  in  considering  the  various 
places  where  the  word  occurs  in  the  sacred  writings. 
Reader,  God  blesses  thee  when  by  his  promises  he 
speaks  good  to  thee ;  and  thou  dost  bless  him  when, 
from  a  consciousness  of  his  kindness  to  thy  body  and 
soul,  thou  art  thankful  to  him,  and  speakest  good  of 
his  name. 

Because  that  in  it  he  had  rested]  shabath,  he 

rested ;  hence  Sabbath,  the  name  of  the  seventh  day, 
signifying  a  day  of  rest — rest  to  the  body  from  labour 
and  toil,  and  rest  to  the  soul  from  all  worldly  care  and 
anxietifes.  He  who  labours  with  his  mind  by  worldly 
schemes  and  plans  on  the  Sabbath  day  is  as  culpable 
as  he  who  labours  with  his  hands  in  his  accustomed 
calling.  It  is  by  the  authority  of  God  that  the  Sabbath 
is  set  apart  for  rest  and  religious  purposes,  as  the  six 
days  of  the  week  are  appointed  for  labour.  How  wise 
is  this  provision  !  It  is  essentially  necessary,  not  only 
to  the  body  of  man,  but  to  all  the  animals  employed  in 
his  service  :  take  this  away  and  the  labour  is  too  great, 
both  man  and  beast  would  fail  under  it.  Without  this 
consecrated  day  religion  itself  would  fail,  and  the  human 
mind,  becoming  sensualized,  would  soon  forget  its  origin 
and  end.  Even  as  a  political  regulation,  it  is  one  of 
the  wisest  and  most  beneficent  in  its  effects  of  any 
ever  instituted.  Those  who  habitually  disregard  its 
moral  obligation  are,  to  a  man,  not  only  good  for 
nothing,  but  are  wretched  in  themselves,  a  curse  to 
society,  and  often  end  their  lives  miserably.  See  the 
notes  on  Exod.  xx.  8  ;  xxiii.  12  ;  xxiv.  16  ;  and  xxxi. 
13  ;  to  which  the  reader  is  particularly  desired  to  refer. 

As  God  formed  both  the  mind  and  body  of  man  on 
principles  of  activity ,  so  he  assigned  him  proper  em¬ 
ployment  ;  and  it  is  his  decree  that  the  mind  shall 
improve  by  exercise,  and  the  body  find  increase  of 
vigour  and  health  in  honest  labour.  He  who  idles 
away  his  time  in  the  six  days  is  equally  culpable  in  the 
sight  of  God  as  he  who  works  on  the  seventh.  The 
idle  person  is  ordinarily  clothed  with  rags,  and  the 
Sabbath-breakers  frequently  come  to  an  ignominious 
death.  Reader,  beware. 

Yerse  4.  In  the  day  that  the  Lord  God  made ,  <5pc.\ 
The  word  miY  Yehovah  is  for  the  first  time  mentioned 

39 


Formation  of  man. 


GENESIS. 


Garden  of  Eden 


A* M- 5  And  every  f  plant  of  the  field 

B.  C.  4004.  .  J  r 

-  before  it  was  m  the  earth,  and 

every  herb  of  the  field  before  it  grew  :  for  the 

Lord  God  had  not  b  caused  it  to  rain  upon  the 

earth,  and  there  ivas  not  a  man  h  to  till  the 

ground. 

6  But  *  there  went  up  a  mist  from  the  earth, 


and  watered  the  whole  face  of  the  •■nA^M;A- 

B.  U.  4004. 

ground.  - 

7  And  the  Lord  God  formed  man  k  of  the 
1  dust  of  the  ground,  and  ra  breathed  into  his 
n  nostrils  the  breath  of  life  ;  and  0  man  became 
a  living  soul. 

8  And  the  Lord  God  planted  p  a  garden 


1  Chap.  i.  12 ;  Psa.  civ.  14. - £  Job  xxxviii.  26,  27,  28. 

b  Chap.  iii.  23. - 'Or,  a  mist  which  went  up  from,  &c. - k  Heb. 

dust  of  the  ground. - 1  Chap.  iii.  19,  23  ;  Psa.  ciii.  14  ;  Eccles. 


xii.  7  ;  Isa.  lxiv.  8  ;  1  Cor.  xv.  47. - m  Job  xxxiii.  4 ;  Acts  xvii. 

25. - n  Chap.  vii.  22  ;  Isa.  ii.  22. - 0  1  Cor.  xv.  45. - p  Chap. 

xiii.  10;  Isa.  li.  3  ;  Ezek.  xxviii.  13  ;  Joel  ii.  3. 


here.  What  it  signifies  see  on  Exod.  xxxiv.  5,  6. 
Wherever  this  word  occurs  in  the  sacred  writings  we 
translate  it  Lord,  which  word  is,  through  respect  and 
reverence,  always  printed  in  capitals.  Though  our 
English  term  Lord  does  not  give  the  particular  meaning 
of  the  original  word,  yet  it  conveys  a  strong  and  noble 
sense.  Lord  is  a  contraction  of  the  Anglo-Saxon 
hlapopb,  Hlaford ,  afterwards  written  Lovepb,  Loverd, 
and  lastly  Lord ,  from  Map,  bread  ;  hence  our  word  loaf, 
and  popb,  ford ,  to  supply,  to  give  out.  The  word, 
therefore,  implies  the  giver  of  bread,  i.  e.,  he  who  deals 
out  all  the  necessaries  of  life.  Our  ancient  English 
noblemen  were  accustomed  to  keep  a  continual  open 
house,  where  all  their  vassals,  and  all  strangers,  had 
full  liberty  to  enter  and  eat  as  much  as  they  would ; 
and  hence  those  noblemen  had  the  honourable  name  of 
lords,  i.  e.,  the  dispensers  of  bread.  There  are  about 
three  of  the  ancient  nobility  who  still  keep  up  this 
honourable  custom,  from  which  the  very  name  of  their 
nobility  is  derived.  We  have  already  seen,  chap.  i.  1, 
with  what  judgment  our  Saxon  ancestors  expressed 
Dens ,  the  Supreme  Being,  by  the  term  God ;  and  we 
see  the  same  judgment  consulted  by  their  use  of  the 
term  Lord  to  express  the  word  Dominus ,  by  which 
terms  the  Yulgate  version,  which  they  used,  expresses 
Elohim  and  Jehovah,  which  we  translate  Lord  God. 
God  is  the  good  Being,  and  Lord  is  the  dispenser  of 
bread,  the  giver  of  every  good  and  perfect  gift,  who 
liberally  affords  the  bread  that  perisheth  to  every  man, 
and  has  amply  provided  the  bread  that  endures  unto 
eternal  life  for  every  human  soul.  With  what  pro¬ 
priety  then  does  this  word  apply  to  the  Lord  Jesus, 
who  is  emphatically  called  the  bread  of  life ;  the  bread 
of  God  ivhich  cometh  down  from  heaven,  and  which  is 
given  for  the  life  of  the  world  !  John  vi.  33,  48,  51. 
What  a  pity  that  this  most  impressive  and  instructive 
meaning  of  a  word  in  such  general  use  were  not  more 
extensively  known,  and  more  particularly  regarded  ! 
See  the  postscript  to  the  general  preface.  I  know  that 
Mr.  H.  Tooke  has  endeavoured  to  render  this  deriva¬ 
tion  contemptible  ;  but  this  has  little  weight  with  me. 
I  have  traced  it  through  the  most  accredited  writers  in 
Saxony  and  on  Saxon  affairs,  and  I  am  satisfied  that 
this  and  this  only,  is  its  proper  etymology  and  derivation. 

Yerse  5.  Every  plant  of  the  field  before  it  was  in 
the  earth ]  It  appears  that  God  created  every  thing, 
not  only  perfect  as  it  respects  its  nature,  but  also  in  a 
state  of  maturity,  so  that  every  vegetable  production 
appeared  at  once  in  full  growth ;  and  this  was  neces¬ 
sary  that  man,  when  he  came  into  being,  might  find 
every  thing  ready  for  his  use. 

40 


Yerse  6.  There  went  up  a  mist ]  This  passage  ap¬ 
pears  to  have  greatly  embarrassed  many  commentators. 
The  plain  meaning  seems  to  be  this,  that  the  aqueous 
vapours,  ascending  from  the  earth,  and  becoming  con¬ 
densed  in  the  colder  regions  of  the  atmosphere,  fell 
back  upon  the  earth  in  the  form  of  dews,  and  by  this 
means  an  equal  portion  of  moisture  was  distributed  to 
the  roots  of  plants,  &c.  As  Moses  had  said,  ver  5, 
that  the  Lord  had  not  caused  it  to  rain  upon  the  earth , 
he  probably  designed  to  teach  us,  in  verse  6,  how  rain 
is  produced,  viz.,  by  the  condensation  of  the  aqueous 
vapours,  which  are  generally  through  the  heat  of  the 
sun  and  other  causes  raised  to  a  considerable  height 
in  the  atmosphere,  where,  meeting  with  cold  air,  the 
watery  particles  which  were  before  so  small  and  light 
that  they  could  float  in  the  air,  becoming  condensed , 
i.  e.,  many  drops  being  driven  into  one,  become  too 
heavy  to  be  any  longer  suspended,  and  then,  through 
their  own  gravity,  fall  down  in  the  form  which  we 
term  rain. 

Yerse  7.  God  formed  man  of  the  dust ]  In  the 
most  distinct  manner  God  shows  us  that  man  is  a  com¬ 
pound  being,  having  a  body  and  soul  distinctly,  and 
separately  created  ;  the  body  out  of  the  dust  of  the 
earth,  the  soul  immediately  breathed  from  God  him¬ 
self.  Does  not  this  strongly  mark  that  the  soul  and 
body  are  not  the  same  thing  J  The  body  derives  its 
origin  from  the  earth ,  or  as  aphar  implies,  the 
dust ;  hence  because  it  is  earthly  it  is  decomposable 
and  perishable.  Of  the  soul  it  is  said,  God  breathed 
into  his  nostrils  the  breath  of  life  ;  D’TI  nishmath 

chaiyim,  the  breath  of  lives,  i.  e.,  animal  and  intel¬ 
lectual.  While  this  breath  of  God  expanded  the  lungs 
and  set  them  in  play,  his  inspiration  gave  both  spirit 
and  understanding. 

Yerse  8.  A  garden  eastward  in  Eden ]  Though 
the  word  pj?  Eden  signifies  pleasure  or  delight,  it  is 
certainly  the  name  of  a  place.  See  chap.  iv.  16  ;  2 
Kings  xix.  12  ;  Isa.  xxxvii.  IS  ;  Ezek.  xxvii.  23  ; 
Amos  i.  5.  And  such  places  probably  received  their 
name  from  their  fertility,  pleasant  situation,  fyc.  In 
this  light  the  Septuagint  have  viewed  it,  as  they  render 
the  passage  thus :  E (pvrevaev  b  Qsog  Trapadsicrov  sv  Edey, 
God  planted  a  paradise  in  Eden ,  Hence  the  word 
paradise  has  been  introduced  into  the  New  Testament, 
and  is  generally  used  to  signify  a  place  of  exquisite 
pleasure  and  delight,  From  this  the  ancient  heathens 
borrowed  their  ideas  of  the  gardens  of  the  ffesperides , 
where  the  trees  bore  golden  fruit ;  the  gardens  of  Ado* 
nis,  a  word  which  is  evidently  derived  from  the  He¬ 
brew  Eden ;  and  hence  the  origin  of  sacred  garrkm 

a 


CHAP.  II. 


The  tree  of  life ,  and 
nA- M- )•  eastward  in  r  Eden  ;  and  there 

15.  U.  4004. 

-  s  he  put  the  man  whom  he  had 

formed. 

9  And  out  of  the  ground  made  the  Lord 
God  to  grow  4  every  tree  that  is  pleasant  to 
the  sight,  and  good  for  food  ;  u  the  tree  of  life 

Chap.  iii.  24. - r  Chap.  iv.  16 ;  2  Kings  xix.  12  ;  Ezek. 

xxvii.  23. - s  Ver.  15. - 1  Ezek.  xxxi.  8. 

or  enclosures  dedicated  to  purposes  of  devotion,  some 
comparatively  innocent,  others  impure.  The  word 
paradise  is  not  Greek ;  in  Arabic  and  Persian  it  sig¬ 
nifies  a  garden,  a  vineyard,  and  also  the  place  of  the 
blessed.  The  Mohammedans  say  that  God  created  the 

Jennet  al  Ferdoos ,  the  garden  of 
paradise,  from  light,  and  the  prophets  and  wise  men 
ascend  thither.  Wilmet  places  it  after  the  root 
farada,  to  separate ,  especially  a  person  or  place,  for  the 
purposes  of  devotion,  but  supposes  it  to  be  originally  a 
Persian  word,  vox  originis  Persicce  quam  in  sua  lingua 
conservarunt  Armeni.  As  it  is  a  word  of  doubtful 
origin ,  its  etymology  is  uncertain. 

Verse  9.  Every  tree  that  is  pleasant  to  the  sight , 
4-c.]  If  we  take  up  these  expressions  literally,  they 
may  bear  the  following  interpretation  :  the  tree  pleasant 
to  the  sight  may  meaft  every  beautiful  tree  or  plant 
which  for  shape ,  colour ,  or  fragrance ,  delights  the 
senses,  such  as  flowering  shrubs,  &c. 

And  good  for  food ]  All  fruit-bearing  trees,  whether 
of  the  pulpy  fruits,  as  apples,  &c.,  or  of  the  kernel  or 
nut  kind,  such  as  dates,  and  nuts  of  different  sorts, 
together  with  all  esculent  vegetables. 

The  tree  of  life ]  D"n  chaiyim ;  of  lives,  or  life- 
giving  tree,  every  medicinal  tree,  herb,  and  plant, 
whose  healing  virtues  are  of  great  consequence  to  man 
in  his  present  state,  when  through  sin  diseases  of  va¬ 
rious  kinds  have  seized  on  the  human  frame,  and  have 
commenced  that  process  of  dissolution  which  is  to 
reduce  the  body  to  its  primitive  dust.  Yet  by  the  use 
of  these  trees  of  life — those  different  vegetable  medi¬ 
cines,  the  health  of  the  body  may  be  preserved  for  a 
time,  and  death  kept  at  a  distance.  Though  the  ex¬ 
position  given  here  may  be  a  general  meaning  for  these 
general  terms,  yet  it  is  likely  that  this  tree  of  life 
which  was  placed  in  the  midst  of  the  garden  was  in¬ 
tended  as  an  emblem  of  that  life  which  man  should 
ever  live,  provided  he  continued  in  obedience  to  his 
Maker.  And  probably  the  use  of  this  tree  was  in¬ 
tended  as  the  means  of  preserving  the  body  of  man 
in  a  state  of  continual  vital  energy,  and  an  antidote 
against  death.  This  seems  strongly  indicated  from 
chap.  iii.  22. 

And  the  tree  of  knowledge  of  good  and  evil.']  Con¬ 
sidering  this  also  in  a  merely  literal  point  of  view,  it 
may  mean  any  tree  or  plant  which  possessed  the  pro¬ 
perty  of  increasing  the  knowledge  of  what  was  in  na¬ 
ture.  as  the  esculent  vegetables  had  of  increasing  bodily 
vigour ;  and  that  there  are  some  aliments  which  from 
their  physical  influence  have  a  tendency  to  strengthen 
the  understanding  and  invigorate  the  rational  faculty 
more  than  others,  has  been  supposed  by  the  wisest  and 
best  of  men  ;  yet  here  much  more  seems  intended,  but 

a 


the  tree  of  knowledge 
also  in  the  midst  of  the  garden,  X}A- M- 

°  d.  \j.  4UU4. 

v  and  the  tree  of  knowledge  of  good  - * 

and  evil. 

10  And  a  river  went  out  of  Eden  to  water 
the  garden  ;  and  from  thence  it  was  parted, 
and  became  into  four  heads. 

u  Chap.  iii.  22;  Prov.  iii.  18  ;  xi.  30  ;  Rev.  ii.  7  ;  xxii.  2,  14. 

v  Ver.  17. 

what  is  very  difficult  to  be  ascertained.  Some  very 
eminent  men  have  contended  that  the  passage  should 
be  understood  allegorically !  and  that  the  tree  of  the 
knowledge  of  good  and  evil  means  simply  that  pru¬ 
dence,  which  is  a  mixture  of  knowledge,  care,  caution, 
and  judgment,  which  was  prescribed  to  regulate  the 
whole  of  man’s  conduct.  And  it  is  certain  that  to 
know  good  and  evil ,  in  different  parts  of  Scripture, 
means  such  knowledge  and  discretion  as  leads  a  man 
to  understand  what  is  fit  and  unfit,  what  is  not  proper 
to  be  done  and  what  should  be  performed.  But  how 
could  the  acquisition  of  such  a  faculty  be  a  sin  I  Or 
can  we  suppose  that  such  a  faculty  could  be  wanting 
when  man  was  in  a  state  of  perfection  ?  To  this  it 
may  be  answered  :  The  prohibition  was  intended  to 
exercise  this  faculty  in  man  that  it  should  constantly 
teach  him  this  moral  lesson,  that  there  were  some 
things  fit  and  others  unfit  to  be  done,  and  that  in  refer¬ 
ence  to  this  point  the  tree  itself  should  be  both  a 
constant  teacher  and  monitor.  The  eating  of  its  fruit 
would  not  have  increased  this  moral  faculty,  but  the 
prohibition  was  intended  to  exercise  the  faculty  he 
already  possessed.  There  is  certainly  nothing  unrea¬ 
sonable  in  this  explanation,  and  viewed  in  this  light 
the  passage  loses  much  of  its  obscurity.  Vitringa,  in 
his  dissertation  De  arbor e  prudentice  in  Paradiso,  ejus- 
que  mysterio ,  strongly  contends  for  this  interpretation. 
See  more  on  chap.  iii.  6. 

Verse  10.  A  river  went  out  of  Eden,  <fc.]  It  would 
astonish  an  ordinary  reader,  who  should  be  obliged  to 
consult  different  commentators  and  critics  on  the  situa¬ 
tion  of  the  terrestrial  Paradise,  to  see  the  vast  variety 
of  opinions  by  which  they  are  divided.  Some  place 
it  in  the  third  heaven,  others  in  the  fourth  ;  some  within 
the  orbit  of  the  moon,  others  in  the  moon  itself ;  some 
in  the  middle  regions  of  the  air,  or  beyond  the  earth’s 
attraction  ;  some  on  the  earth,  others  under  the  earth, 
and  others  within  the  earth ;  some  have  fixed  it  at  the 
north  pole,  others  at  the  south  ;  some  in  Tartary,  some 
in  China ;  some  on  the  borders  of  the  Ganges,  some 
in  the  island  of  Ceylon  ;  some'  in  Armenia,  others  in 
Africa,  under  the  equator  ;  some  in  Mesopotamia,  others 
in  Syria,  Persia,  Arabia,  Babylon,  Assyria,  and  in  Pa¬ 
lestine  ;  some  have  condescended  to  place  it  in  Europe , 
and  others  have  contended  it  either  exists  not,  or  is 
invisible,  or  is  merely  of  a  spiritual  nature,  and  that 
the  whole  account  is  to  be  spiritually  understood  !  That 
there  was  such  a  place  once  there  is  no  reason  to 
doubt ;  the  description  given  by  Moses  is  too  particular 
and  circumstantial  to  be  capable  of  being  understood 
in  any  spiritual  or  allegorical  way.  As  well  might 
we  contend  that  the  persons  of  Adam  and  Eve  were 
allegorical,  as  that  the  place  of  their  residence  was  such. 

41 


The  rivers  of  Paradise. 

1 1  The  name  of  the  first  is 

1j.  L*.  4004.  i  •  •  i  •  i  i 

-  Pison :  that  is  it  which  compasseth 

w  the  whole  land  of  Havilah,  where  there  is 

gold ; 

1 2  And  the  gold  of  that  land  is  good ;  x  there 
is  bdellium  and  the  onyx  stone. 

13  And  the  name  of  the  second  river  is 
Gihon :  the  same  is  it  that  compasseth  the 
whole  land  of  y  Ethiopia. 

14  And  the  name  of  the  third  river  is  z  Hid¬ 
dekel  :  that  is  it  which  goeth  a  toward  the 
east  of  Assyria.  And  the  fourth  river  is 
b  Euphrates. 

w  Chap.  xxv.  18;  1  Sam.  xv.  17. - xNum.  xi.  7 ;  Exod.  xvi.31. 

7  Heb.  Cush. - z  Dan.  x.  4. - a  Or,  eastward  to  Assyria  ;  chap. 

x.  22. - b  Deut.  i.  7  ;  xi.  24 ;  Rev.  ix.  14. - c  Or,  Adam. 

d  Ver.  8. - e  Heb.  eating  thou  shalt  eat. - f  Ver.  9. 

The  most  probable  account  of  its  situation  is  that 
given  by  Hadrian  Reland.  He  supposes  it  to  have 
been  in  Armenia,  near  the  sources  of  the  great  rivers 
Euphrates ,  Tigris ,  Phasis,  and  Araxes.  He  thinks 
Pison  was  the  Phasis ,  a  river  of  Colchis,  emptying 
itself 'into  the  Euxine  Sea,  where  there  is  a  city  called 
Chabala,  the  pronunciation  of  which  is  nearly  the  same 
with  that  of  Havilah,  or  nVin  Chavilah,  according  to 
the  Hebrew,  the  vau  )  being  changed  in  Greek  to  beta 
j3 .  This  country  was  famous  for  gold,  whence  the 
fable  of  the  Golden  Fleece,  attempted  to  be  carried 
away  from  that  country  by  the  heroes  of  Greece.  The 
Gihon  he  thinks  to  be  the  Araxes,  which  runs  into  the 
Caspian  Sea,  both  the  words  having  the  same  signifi¬ 
cation,  viz.,  a  rapid  motion.  The  land  of  Cush,  washed 
by  the  river,  he  supposes  to  be  the  country  of  the 
Ousscei  of  the  ancients.  The  Hiddekel  all  agree  to 
be  the  Tigris ,  and  the  other  river  Phrat,  or  m3  Pe- 
rath,  to  be  the  Euphrates.  All  these  rivers  rise  in 
the  same  tract  of  mountainous  country,  though  they  do 
not  arise  from  one  head. 

Verse  12.  There  is  bdellium  (nb“!3  bedolach)  and 
the  onyx  stone,  pX  eben  hashshoham .]  Bochart 

thinks  that  the  bedolach  or  bdellium  means  the  pearl- 
oyster  ;  and  shoham  is  generally  understood  to  mean 
the  onyx,  or  species  of  agate,  a  precious  stone  which 
has  its  name  from  owt;,  a  man's  nail,  to  the  colour  of 
which  it  nearly  approaches.  It  is  impossible  to  say 
what  is  the  precise  meaning  of  the  original  words  ; 
and  at  this  distance  of  time  and  place  it  is  of  little 
consequence. 

Verse  15.  Put  him  into  the  garden — to  dress  it, 
and  to  keep  iti]  Horticulture,  or  gardening,  is  the 
first  kind  of  employment  on  record,  and  that  in  which 
man  was  engaged  while  in  a  state  of  perfection  and 
innocence.  Though  the  garden  may  be  supposed  to 
produce  all  things  spontaneously,  as  the  whole  vege¬ 
table  surface  of  the  earth  certainly  did  at  the  creation, 
yet  dressing  and  tilling  were  afterwards  necessary  to 
maintain  the  different  kinds  of  plants  and  vegetables 
in  their  perfection,  and  to  repress  luxuriance.  Even 
m  a  state  of  innocence  we  cannot  conceive  it  possible 
that  man  could  have  been  happy  if  inactive.  God 

42 


The  command  given  fo  Adam. 

1 5  And  the  Lord  God  took  c  the  bAqM40o4 

man,  and  d  put  him  into  the  garden - 

of  Eden  to  dress  it,  and  to  keep  it. 

1 6  And  the  Lord  God  commanded  the  man, 
saying,  Of  every  tree  of  the  garden  e  thou 
mayest  freely  eat ; 

17  fBut  of  the  tree  of  the  knowledge  of 
good  and  evil,  e  thou  shalt  not  eat  of  it :  for 
in  the  day  that  thou  eate£t  thereof  h  thou  shalt 
surely  1  die. 

18  And  the  Lord  God  said,  It  is  not  good 
that  the  man  should  be  alone  ;  k  I  will  make 
him  a  help  1  meet  for  Kim. 

s  Chap.  iii.  1,  3,  11,  17. - h  Chap.  iii.  3,  19  ;  Rom.  vi.  23  ; 

1  Cor.  xv.  56;  James  i.  15;  1  John  v.  16. - 'Heb.  dying  thou 

shalt  die. - k  Ch.  iii.  12  ;  1  Cor.  xi.  9  ;  1  Tim.  ii.  13. - 1  Heb. 

as  before  him. 

gave  him  work  to  do,  and  his  employment  contributed 
to  his  happiness  ;  for  the  structure  of  his  body,  as  well 
as  of  his  mind,  plainly  proves  that  he  was  never  in¬ 
tended  for  a  merely  contemplative  life. 

Verse  17.  Of  the  tree  of  the  knowledge — thou  shalt 
not  eat ]  This  is  the  first  positive  precept  God  gave 
to  man  ;  and  it  was  given  as  a  test  of  obedience,  and 
a  proof  of  his  being  in  a  dependent ,  probationary  state. 
It  was  necessary  that,  while  constituted  lord  of  this 
lower  world,  he  should  know  that  he  was  only  God’s 
vicegerent,  and  must  be  accountable  to  him  for  the  use 
of  his  mental  and  corporeal  powers,  and  for  the  use 
he  made  of  the  different  creatures  put  under  his  care. 
The  man  from  whose  mind  the  strong  impression  of 
this  dependence  and  responsibility  is  erased,  necessa¬ 
rily  loses  sight  of  his  origin  and  end,  and  is  capable 
of  any  species  of  wickedness.  As  God  is  sovereign, 
he  has  a  right  to  give  to  his  creatures  what  commands 
he  thinks  proper.  An  intelligent  creature,  without  a 
law  to  regulate  his  conduct,  is  an  absurdity  ;  this  would 
destroy  at  once  the  idea  of  his  dependency  and  account¬ 
ableness.  Man  must  ever  feel  God  as  his  sovereign, 
and  act  under  his  authority,  which  he  cannot  do  unless 
he  have  a  rule  of  conduct.  This  rule  God  gives ; 
and  it  is  no  matter  of  what  kind  it  is,  as  long  as  obe¬ 
dience  to  it  is  not  beyond  the  powers  of  the  creature 
who  is  to  obey.  God  says  :  There  is  a  certain  fruit- 
bearing  tree  ;  thou  shalt  not  eat  of  its  fruit ;  but  of 
all  the  other  fruits,  and  they  are  all  that  are  necessary, 
for  thee,  thou  mayest  freely,  liberally  eat.  Had  he 
not  an  absolute  right  to  say  so  ?  And  was  not  man 
bound  to  obey  1 

Thou  shalt  surely  die.~\  DIDD  DID  moth  tamuth  ; 
Literally,  a  death  thou  shalt  die  ;  or,  dying  thou  shalt 
die.  Thou  shalt  not  only  die  spiritually,  by  losing  the 
life  of  God,  but  from  that  moment  thou  shalt  become 
mortal,  and  shalt  continue  in  a  dying  state  till  thou  die. 
This  we  find  literally  accomplished  ;  every  moment  of 
man’s  life  may  be  considered  as  an  act  of  dying ,  till 
soul  and  body  are  separated.  Other  meanings  have 
been  given  of  this  passage,  but  they  are  in  general 
either  fanciful  or  incorrect. 

Verse  18.  It  is  not  good  that  the  man  should  be 

a 


GENESIS. 


CHAP.  II. 


Adam  gives  names  to  the  cattle. 

bVU  19  mAnd  out  of  the  ground  the 

-  Lord  God  formed  every  beast  of 

the  field  and  every  fowl  of  the  air;  and 
E  brought  them  unto  0  Adam  to  see  what  he 
would  call  them  :  and  whatsoever  Adam 
called  every  living  creature,  that  was  the 
name  thereof. 

20  And  Adam  p  gave  names  to  all  cattle, 
and  to  the  fowl  of  the  air,  and  to  every  beast 
of  the  field ;  but  for  Adam  there  was  not 
found  a  help  meet  for  him. 

m  Chap.  i.  20,  24. - n  Psa.  viii.  6  ;  see  chap.  vi.  20. - 0  Or, 

the  man. - Heb.  called. - <1  Chap.  xv.  12  ;  1  Sam.  xxvi.  12. 

r  Heb.  builded. 


alone ]  1*12*7  lebaddo ;  only  himself.  I  will  make  him 
a  help  meet  for  him  ;  17113  7iy  ezer  kenegdo ,  a  help, 
a  counterpart  of  himself,  one  formed  from  him,  and  a 
perfect  resemblance  of  his  person.  If  the  word  be 
rendered  scrupulously  literally,  it  signifies  one  like ,  or 
as  himself ’,  standing  opposite  to  or  before  him.  And 
this  implies  that  the  woman  was  to  be  a  perfect  resem¬ 
blance  of  the  man,  possessing  neither  inferiority  nor 
superiority,  but  being  in  all  things  like  and  equal  to 
himself.  As  man  was  made  a  social  creature,  it  was 
not  proper  that  he  should  be  alone  ;  for  to  be  alone, 
i.  e.  without  a  matrimonial  companion,  was  not  good. 
Hence  we  find  that  celibacy  in  general  is  a  thing  that 
is  not  good,  whether  it  be  on  the  side  of  the  man  or 
of  the  woman.  Men  may,  in  opposition  to  the  decla¬ 
ration  of  God,  call  this  a  state  of  excellence  and  a 
state  of  perfection  ;  but  let  them  remember  that  the 
word  of  God  says  the  reverse. 

Verse  19.  Out  of  the  ground ,  $c.]  Concerning 
the  formation  of  the  different  kinds  of  animals,  see  the 
preceding  chapter. 

Verse  20.  And  Adam  gave  names  to  all  cattle ]  Two 
things  God  appears  to  have  had  in  view  by  causing 
man  to  name  all  the  cattle,  &c.  1.  To  show  him  with 
what  comprehensive  powers  of  mind  his  Maker  had 
endued  him;  and  2.  To  show  him  that  no  creature  yet 
formed  could  make  him  a  suitable  companion.  And 
that  this  twofold  purpose  was  answered  we  shall  shortly 
see  ;  for, 

1 .  Adam  gave  names  ;  but  how  1  From  an  inti¬ 
mate  knowledge  of  the  nature  and  properties  of  each 
creature.  Here  we  see  the  perfection  of  his  know¬ 
ledge  ;  for  it  is  well  known  that  the  names  affixed  to 
the  different  animals  in  Scripture  always  express  some 
prominent,  feature  and  essential  characteristic  of  the 
creatures  to  which  they  are  applied.  Had  he  not  pos¬ 
sessed  an  intuitive  knowledge  of  the  grand  and  distin¬ 
guishing  properties  of  those  animals,  he  never  could 
have  given  them  such  names.  This  one  circumstance 
is  a  strong  proof  of  the  original  perfection  and  excel¬ 
lence  of  man,  while  in  a  state  of  innocence  ;  nor  need 
we  wonder  at  the  account.  Adam  was  the  work  of 
an  infinitely  wise  and  perfect  Being,  and  the  effect 
must  resemble  the  cause  that  produced  it. 

2.  Adam  was  convinced  that  none  of  these  creatures 
could  be  a  suitable  companion  for  him ,  and  that  there¬ 


The  institution  of  marriage 

21  H  And  the  Lord  God  caused  J.* 

d.  (J.  4004, 

a  *  deep  sleep  to  fall  upon  Adam,  - 

and  he  slept :  and  he  took  one  of  his  ribs, 
and  closed  up  the  flesh  instead  thereof :  . 

22  And  the  rib,  which  the  Lord  God  had 
taken  from  man,  rmade  he  a  woman,  and 
s  brought  her  unto  the  man. 

23  And  Adam  said,  This  is  now  t  bone  of 
my  bones,  and  flesh  of  my  flesh  :  she  shall 
be  called  u  Woman,  because  she  was  v  taken 
out  of  w  Man. 


sProv.  xviii.  22  ;  Heb.  xiii.  4. - 4  Chap.  xxix.  14  ;  Judg.  ix 

2  ;  2  Sam.  v.  1  ;  xix.  13 ;  Eph.  v.  30. - u  Heb.  Isha. - v  1  Cor 

xi.  8. - wHeb.  Ish. 


fore  he  must  continue  in  the  state  that  was  not  good , 
or  be  a  farther  debtor  to  the  bounty  of  his  Maker ; 
for  among  all  the  animals  which  he  had  named  there 
ivas  not  found  a  help  meet  for  him.  Hence  we  read, 

Verse  21.  The  Lord  God  caused  a  deep  sleep  to  fall 
upon  Adam,  dfc.]  This  was  neither  swoon  nor  ecstasy , 
but  what  our  translation  very  properly  terms  a  deep 
sleep. 

And  he  took  one  of  his  ribs ]  It  is  immaterial 
whether  we  render  tsela  a  rib,  or  a  part  of  his 
side,  for  it  may  mean  either some  part  of  man  was 
to  be  used  on  the  occasion,  whether  bone  or  flesh  it 
matters  not  ;  though  it  is  likely,  from  verse  23,  that  a 
part  of  both  was  taken ;  for  Adam,  knowing  how  the 
woman  was  formed,  said,  This  is  flesh  of  m y  flesh,  and 
bone  of  my  bone.  God  could  have  formed  the  woman 
out  of  the  dust  of  the  earth,  as  he  had  formed  the  man  ; 
but  had  he  done  so,  she  must  have  appeared  in  his  eyes 
as  a  distinct  being,  to  whom  he  had  no  natural  relation. 
But  as  God  formed  her  out  of  a  part  of  the  man  him¬ 
self,  he  saw  she  was  of  the  same  nature,  the  same 
identical  flesh  and  blood,  and  of  the  same  constitution 
in  all  respects,  and  consequently  having  equal  powers, 
faculties,  and  rights.  This  at  once  ensured  his  affec¬ 
tion,  and  excited  his  esteem. 

Verse  23.  Adam  said,  This  is  now  bone  of  my  bones , 
c fc.\  There  is  a  very  delicate  and  expressive  mean¬ 
ing  in  the  original  which  does  not  appear  in  our  ver¬ 
sion.  When  the  different  genera  of  creatures  were 
brought  to  Adam,  that  he  might  assign  them  their 
proper  names,  it  is  probable  that  they  passed  in  pairs 
before  him,  and  as  they  passed  received  their  names. 
To  this  circumstance  the  words  in  this  place  seem  to 
refer.  Instead  of  this  now  is  0^317  fix?  zoih  hap- 
paam,  we  should  render  more  literally  this  turn ,  this 
creature,  which  now  passes  or  appears  before  me,  is 
flesh  of  my  flesh,  &c.  The  creatures  that  had  passed 
already  before  him  were  not  suitable  to  him,  and  there¬ 
fore  it  was  said,  For  Adam  there  was  not  a  help  meet 
found,  ver.  20  ;  but  when  the  woman  came,  formed 
out  of  himself,  he  felt  all  that  attraction  which  con¬ 
sanguinity  could  produce,  and  at  the  same  time  saw 
that  she  was  in  her  person  and  in  her  mind  every  way 
suitable  to  be  his  companion.  See  Parkhurst,  sub 
voce. 

She  shall  be  called  Woman ]  A  literal  version  of 

43 


Closeness  of  the  marriage  union.  GENESIS.  Happy  state  of  our  first  parents. 


bAcM4004  24  X  Therefore  shall  a  man  leave 

•  -  his  father  and  his  mother,  and  shall 

cleave  unto  his  wife ;  and  they  shall  be  one  flesh. 

*  Chap.  xxxi.  15  ;  Psa.  lxv.  10 ;  Matt.  xix.  5 ;  Markx.  7  ;  1  Cor. 

vi.  16  ;  Eph.  v.  31. 

the  Hebrew  would  appear  strange,  and  yet  a  literal 
version  is  the  only  proper  one.  ish  signifies  man , 

and  the  word  used  to  express  what  we  term  woman  is 
the  same  with  a  feminine  termination,  niyx  ishshah, 
and  literally  means  she-man.  Most  of  the  ancient 
versions  have  felt  the  force  of  the  term,  and  have  en¬ 
deavoured  to  express  it  as  literally  as  possible.  The 
intelligent  reader  wrill  not  regret  to  see  some  of  them 
here.  The  Vulgate  Latin  renders  the  Hebrew  virago , 
which  is  a  feminine  form  of  vir ,  a  man.  Symmachus 
uses  avbptp,  andris,  a  female  form  of  avrjp,  aner ,  a 
man.  Our  own  term  is  equally  proper  when  under¬ 
stood.  Woman  has  been  defined  by  many  as  com¬ 
pounded  of  wo  and  man ,  as  if  called  man’s  wo  be¬ 
cause  she  tempted  him  to  eat  the  forbidden  fruit ;  but 
this  is  no  meaning  of  the  original  word,  nor  could  it 
be  intended,  as  the  transgression  was  not  then  com¬ 
mitted.  The  truth  is,  our  term  is  a  proper  and  literal 
translation  of  the  original,  and  we  may  thank  the  dis¬ 
cernment  of  our  Anglo-Saxon  ancestors  for  giving  it. 
pombman,  of  which  woman  is  a  contraction,  means  the 
man  with  the  womb.  A  very  appropriate  version  of 
the  Hebrew  ishshah ,  rendered  by  terms  wdiich 

signify  she-man ,  in  the  versions  already  specified. 
Hence  we  see  the  propriety  of  Adam’s  observation  : 
This  creature  is  flesh  of  my  flesh ,  and  bone  of  my 
bones ;  therefore  shall  she  be  called  wombman,  or  female 
man,  because  she  was  taken  out  of  man.  See  Verste- 
gan.  Others  derive  it  from  pipman  or  piipman,  man’s 
wife  or  she-man.  Either  may  be  proper,  the  first  seems 
the  most  likely. 

Verse  24.  Therefore  shall  a  man  leave  his  father 
and  his  mother ]  There  shall  be,  by  the  order  of  God, 
a  more  intimate  connection  formed  between  the  man 
and  woman,  than  can  subsist  even  between  parents  and 
children. 

And  they  shall  be  one  flesh.]  These  words  may  be 
understood  in  a  twofold  sense.  1.  These  two  shall  be 
one  flesh ,  shall  be  considered  as  one  body,  having  no 
separate  or  independent  rights,  privileges,  cares,  con¬ 
cerns,  &e.,  each  being  equally  interested  in  all  things 
that  concern  the  marriage  state.  2.  These  two  shall 
be  for  the  production  of  one  flesh  ;  from  their  union  a 
posterity  shall  spring,  as  exactly  resembling  themselves 
as  they  do  each  other.  Our  Lord  quotes  these  words, 
Matt.  xix.  5,  with  some  variation  from  this  text :  They 
twain  shall  be  one  flesh.  So  in  Mark  x.  8.  St.  Paul 
quotes  in  the  same  way,  1  Cor.  vi.  16,  and  in  Eph. 
v.  31.  The  Vulgate  Latin,  the  Septuagint,  the  Syriac, 
the  Arabic,  and  the  Samaritan,  all  read  the  word  two. 
That  this  is  the  genuine  reading  I  have  no  doubt. 
The  word  OrTJty  sheneyhem,  they  two  or  both  of 
them ,  was,  I  suppose,  omitted  at  first  from  the  Hebrew 
text,  by  mistake,  because  it  occurs  three  words  after 
in  the  following  verse,  or  more  probably  it  originally 
occurred  in  the  24th  verse,  and  not  in  the  25th ;  and 
a  copyist  having  found  that  he  had  written  it  twice,  in 

44 


25  yAnd  they  were  both  naked,  bAqM40o'4 

the  man  and  his  wife,  and  were  - 

not  z  ashamed. 

y  Chapter  iii.  7,  10,  11. - z  Exodus  xxxii.  25;  Isaiah 

xlvii.  3. 


correcting  his  copy,  struck  out  the  word  in  the  24th 
verse  instead  of  the  25th.  But  of  what  consequence 
is  it  1  In  the  controversy  concerning  polygamy,  it 
has  been  made  of  very  great  consequence.  Without 
the  word,  some  have  contended  a  man  may  have  as 
many  wives  as  he  chooses ,  as  the  terms  are  indefinite, 
they  shall  be,  6pc.,  but  with  the  word,  marriage  is  re¬ 
stricted.  A  man  can  have  in  legal  wedlock  but  one 

wife  at  the  same  time. 

J  ...  * 

We  have  here  the  first  institution  of  marriage,  and 

we  see  in  it  several  particulars  worthy  of  our  most 
serious  regard.  1.  God  pronounces  the  state  of  celi¬ 
bacy  to  be  a  bad  state,  or,  if  the  reader  please,  not  a 
good  one  ;  and  the  Lord  God  said,  It  is  not  good  for 
man  to  be  alone.  This  is  God’s  judgment.  Councils, 
and  fathers,  and  doctors,  and  synods,  have  given  a 
different  judgment  ;  but  on  such  a  subject  they  are 
worthy  of  no  attention.  The  word  of  God  abideth 
for  ever.  2.  God  made  the  woman  for  the  man,  and 
thus  he  has  shown  us  that  every  son  of  Adam  should 
be  united  to  a  daughter  of  Eve  to  the  end  of  the  world. 
See  on  1  Cor.  vii.  3.  God  made  the  woman  out  of 
the  man,  to  intimate  that  the  closest  union,  and  the 
most  affectionate  attachment,  should  subsist  in  the 
matrimonial  connection,  so  that  the  man  should  ever 
consider  and  treat  the  woman  as  a  part  of  himself: 
and  as  no  one  ever  hated  his  own  flesh,  but  nourishes 
and  supports  it,  so  should  a  man  deal  with  his  wife ; 
and  on  the  other  hand  the  woman  should  consider  that 
the  man  was  not  made  for  her,  but  that  she  was  made 
for  the  man,  and  derived,  under  God,  her  being  from 
him ;  therefore  the  wife  should  see  that  she  reverence 
her  husband,  Eph.  v.  33.  The  23d  and  24th  verses 
contain  the  very  words  of  the  marriage  ceremony  : 
This  is  flesh  of  my  flesh,  and  bone  of  my  bone,  there¬ 
fore  shall  a  man  leave  his  father  and  his  mother,  and 
shall  cleave  unto  his  wife,  and  they  two  shall  be  one 
flesh.  How  happy  must  such  a  state  be  where  God’s 
institution  is  properly  regarded,  where  the  parties  are 
married,  as  the  apostle  expresses  it,  in  the  Lord ;  where 
each,  by  acts  of  the  tenderest  kindness,  lives  only  to 
prevent  the  wishes  and  contribute  in  every  possible 
way  to  the  comfort  and  happiness  of  the  other  !  Mar¬ 
riage  might  still  be  what  it  ivas  in  its  original  institu¬ 
tion,  pure  and  suitable  ;  and  in  its  first  exercise,  affec¬ 
tionate  and  happy  :  but  how  few  such  marriages  are 
there  to  be  found  !  Passion,  turbulent  and  irregular, 
not  religion ;  custom ,  founded  by  these  irregularities, 
not  reason  ;  worldly  prospects,  originating  and  ending 
in  selfishness  and  earthly  affections,  not  in  spiritual 
ends,  are  the  grand  producing  causes  of  the  great  ma¬ 
jority  of  matrimonial  alliances.  How  then  can  such 
turbid  and  bitter  fountains  send  forth  pure  and  sweet 
waters  1  See  the  ancient  allegory  of  Cupid  and 
Psyche ,  by  which  marriage  is  so  happily  illustrated, 
explained  in  the  notes  on  Matt.  xix.  4-6. 

Verse  25.  They  were  both  naked,  <%c.]  The  weather 


CHAP.  III. 


Of  the  serpent. 

was  perfectly  temperate,  and  therefore  they  had  no 
need  of  clothing,  the  circumambient  air  being  of  the 
same  temperature  with  their  bodies.  And  as  sin  had 
not  yet  entered  into  the  world,  and  no  part  of  the 
human  body  had  been  put  to  any  improper  use,  there¬ 
fore  there  was  no  shame ,  for  shame  can  only  arise  from 
a  consciousness  of  sinful  or  irregular  conduct. 

Even  in  a  state  of  innocence ,  when  all  was  perfec¬ 
tion  and  excellence,  when  God  was  clearly  discovered 
in  all  his  works,  every  place  being  his  temple ,  every 
moment  a  time  of  worship ,  and  every  object  an  incite¬ 
ment  to  religious  reverence  and  adoration — even  then , 
God  chose  to  consecrate  a  seventh  part  of  time  to  his 
more  especial  worship,  and  to  hallow  it  unto  his  own 
service  by  a  perpetual  decree.  Who  then  shall  dare 
to  reverse  this  order  of  God  1  Had  the  religious  ob¬ 
servance  of  the  Sabbath  been  never  proclaimed  till  the 
proclamation  of  the  law  on  Mount  Sinai,  then  it  might 
have  been  conjectured  that  this,  like  several  other 
ordinances,  was  a  shadow  which  must  pass  away  with 
that  dispensation  ;  neither  extending  to  future  ages, 
nor  binding  on  any  other  people.  But  this  was  not 
so.  God  gave  the  Sabbath,  his  first  ordinance ,  to 
man,  (see  the  first  precept ,  ver.  17,)  while  all  the 
nations  of  the  world  were  seminally  included  in  him, 
and  while  he  stood  the  father  and  representative  of  the 
whole  human  race  ;  therefore  the  Sabbath  is  not  for 
one  nation,  for  one  time,  or  for  one  place.  It  is  the 
fair  type  of  heaven’s  eternal  day— of  the  state  of  end¬ 
less  blessedness  and  glory,  where  human  souls,  having 
fully  regained  the  Divine  image,  and  become  united  to 


The  woman  tempted 

the  Centre  and  Source  of  all  perfection  and  excellence, 
shall  rest  in  God,  unutterably  happy  through  the  im¬ 
measurable  progress  of  duration !  Of  this  consum¬ 
mation  every  returning  Sabbath  should  at  once  be  a 
type,  a  remembrancer,  and  a  foretaste,  to  every  pious 
mind  ;  and  these  it  must  be  to  all  who  are  taught  of 
God. 

Of  this  rest,  the  garden  of  Eden ,  that  paradise  of 
God  formed  for  man,  appears  also  to  have  been  a  type 
and  pledge  ;  and  the  institution  of  marriage,  the  cause, 
bond,  and  cement  of  the  social  state,  was  probably 
designed  to  prefigure  that  harmony,  order,  and  blessed¬ 
ness  which  must  reign  in  the  kingdom  of  God,  of 
which  the  condition  of  our  first  parents  in  the  garden 
of  paradise  is  justly  supposed  to  have  been  an  expres¬ 
sive  emblem.  What  a  pity  that  this  heavenly  insti¬ 
tution  should  have  ever  been  perverted !  that,  instead 
of  becoming  a  sovereign  help  to  all,  it  is  now,  through 
its  prostitution  to  animal  and  secular  purposes,  become 
the  destroyer  of  millions  !  Reader,  every  connection 
thou  formest  in  life  will  have  a  strong  and  sovereign 
influence  on  thy  future  destiny.  Beware !  an  unholy 
cause,  which  from  its  peculiar  nature  must  be  cease¬ 
lessly  active  in  every  muscle,  nerve,  and  passion, 
cannot  fail  to  produce  incessant  effects  of  sin,  miserv, 
death,  and  perdition.  Remember  that  thy  earthly 
connections,  no  matter  of  what  kind,  are  not  formed 
merely  for  time ,  whatsoever  thou  mayest  intend,  but 
also  for  eternity.  With  what  caution  therefore  should st 
thou  take  every  step  in  the  path  of  life  !  On  this 
ground,  the  observations  made  in  the  preceding  notes 
are  seriously  recommended  to  thy  consideration. 


CHAPTER  III. 

Satan ,  by  means  of  a  creature  here  called  the  serpent,  deceives  Eve ,  1—5.  Both  she  and  Adam  transgress 
the  Divine  command ,  and  fall  into  sin  and  misery ,  6,  7.  They  are  summoned  before  God ,  and  judged , 
8—13.  The  creature  called  the  serpent  is  degraded  and  punished ,  14.  The  promise  of  redemption  by  the 
incarnation  of  Christ,  15.  Eve  sentenced ,  16.  Adam  sentenced ,  17.  The  ground  cursed ,  and  death 
threatened,  18,  19.  Why  the  woman  was  called  Eve,  20.  Adam  and  Eve  clothed  with  shins,  21.  The 
wretched  state  of  our  first  parents  after  their  fall,  and  their  expulsion  from  the  garden  of  Paradise ,  22—24. 


BACM4004.  N0W  a  the  serpent  was  b  more 
- -  subtle  than  any  beast  of  the 

a  Rev.  xii.  9  ;  xx.  2. - b  Matt.  x.  16 ;  2  Cor.  xi.  3. 

NOTES  ON  CHAP.  III. 

Verse  1.  Now  the  serpent  was  more  subtle ]  We 
have  here  one  of  the  most  difficult  as  well  as  the  most 
important  narratives  in  the  whole  book  of  God.  The 
last  chapter  ended  with  a  short  but  striking  account 
of  the  perfection  and  felicity  of  the  first  human  beings, 
and  this  opens  with  an  account  of  their  transgression, 
degradation,  and  ruin.  That  man  is  in  a  fallen  state, 
the  history  of  the  world,  with  that  of  the  life  and 
miseries  of  every  human  being,  establishes  beyond 
successful  contradiction.  But  how,  and  by  what 
agency,  was  this  brought  about  ?  Here  is  a  great 
mystery  ;  and  I  may  appeal  to  all  persons  who  have 
read  the  various  comments  that  have  been  written  on 
the  Mosaic  account,  whether  they  have  ever  yet  been 


field  which  the  Lord  God  had  made.  „Au,M- ; l- 

D.  U.  4004. 

And  he  said  unto  the  woman,  c  Yea,  - 

c  Heb.  Yea,  because,  &c, 

satisfied  on  this  part  of  the  subject,  though  convinced 
of  the  fact  itself.  Who  was  the  serpent  ?  of  what 
kind  ?  In  what  way  did  he  seduce  the  first  happy 
pair  1  These  are  questions  which  remain  yet  to  be 
answered.  The  whole  account  is  either  a  simple  nar¬ 
rative  of  facts,  or  it  is  an  allegory.  If  it  be  a  his¬ 
torical  relation,  its  literal  meaning  should  be  sought 
out ;  if  it  be  an  allegory,  no  attempt  should  be  made 
to  explain  it,  as  it  would  require  a  direct  revelation  to 
ascertain  the  sense  in  which  it  should  be  understood, 
for  fanciful  illustrations  are  endless.  Believing  it  to 
be  a  simple  relation  of  facts  capable  of  a  satisfactory 
explanation,  I  shall  take  it  up  on  this  ground ;  and,  by 
a  careful  examination  of  the  original  text,  endeavour 
to  fix  the  meaning,  and  show  the  propriety  and  con- 

45 


The  woman  discourses 


GENESIS.  with  the  serpent . 


A.M.L  Jiat}-,  Goc[  Ye  shall  n0|-  eat  of 

B.  G.  4004. 

-  every  tree  of  the  garden  ? 

2  And  the  woman  said  unto  the  serpent, 

d  Genesis, 


sistency  of  the  Mosaic  account  of  the  fall  of  man. 
The  chief  difficulty  in  the  account  is  found  in  the 
question,  Who  was  the  agent  employed  in  the  seduc- 
lion  of  our  first  parents  1 

The  word  in  the  text  which  we,  following  the  Sep- 
tuagint,  translate  serpent ,  is  tJTU  nachash ;  and,  ac¬ 
cording  to  Buxtorf  and  others,  has  three  meanings  in 
Scripture.  1.  It  signifies  to  view  or  observe  attentively , 
to  divine  or  use  enchantments ,  because  in  them  the  au¬ 
gurs  viexved  attentively  the  flight  of  birds,  the  entrails 
of  beasts,  the  course  of  the  clouds,  &c.  ;  and  under  this 
head  it  signifies  to  acquire  Jmoivledge  by  experience. 
2.  It  signifies  brass,  brazen,  and  is  translated  in  our 
Bible,  not  only  brass,  but  chains,  fetters,  fetters  of 
brass,  and  in  several  places  steel ;  see  2  Sam.  xxii. 
35  ;  Job  xx.  24 ;  Psa.  xviii.  34  ;  and  in  one  place,  at 
least ,  filthiness  ox  fornication,  Ezek.  xvi.  36.  3.  It 

signifies  a  serpent,  but  of  what  kind  is  not  determined. 
In  Job  xxvi.  13,  it  seems  to  mean  the  whale  or  hippo¬ 
potamus  :  By  his  spirit  he  hath  garnished  the  heavens, 
his  hand  hath  formed  the  crooked  serpent,  rH2 
nachash  bariach  :  as  barach  signifies  to  pass  on  or 
pass  through ,  and  JT*G5  beriach  is  used  for  a  bar  of  a 
gate  or  door  that  passed  through  rings,  &c.,  the  idea 
of  straightness  rather  than  crookedness  should  be 
attached  to  it  here  ;  and  it  is  likely  that  the  hippo¬ 
potamus  or  sea-horse  is  intended  by  it. 

In  Eccles.  x.  11,  the  creature  called  nachash,  of 
whatever  sort,  is  compared  to  the  babbler :  Surely  the 
serpent  nachash)  will  bite  without  enchantment ; 

and  a  babbler  is  no  belter. 

In  Isa.  xxvii.  1,  the  crocodile  or  alligator  seems 
particularly  meant  by  the  original  :  In  that  day  the 
Lord — shall  punish  leviathan  the  piercing  serpent ,  &c. 
And  in  Isa.  Ixv.  25,  the  same  creature  is  meant  as  in 
Gen.  iii.  1,  for  in  the  words,  And  dust  shall  be  the 
serpent's  meat,  there  is  an  evident  allusion  to  the  text 
of  Moses.  In  Amos  ix.  3,  the  crocodile  is  evidently 
intended  :  Though  they  be  hid  in  the  bottom  of  the  sea, 
thence  will  I  command  the  serpent,  (ttTUn  hannachash,) 
and  he  shall  bite  them.  No  person  can  suppose  that 
any  of  the  snake  or  serpent  kind  can  be  intended  here ; 
and  we  see  from  the  various  acceptations  of  the  word, 
and  the  different  senses  which  it  bears  in  various  places 
in  the  sacred  writings,  that  it  appears  to  be  a  sort  of 
general  term  confined  to  no  one  sense.  Hence  it  will 
be  necessary  to  examine  the  root  accurately,  to  see  if 
its  ideal  meaning  will  enable  us  to  ascertain  the  animal 
intended  in  the  text.  We  have  already  seen  that  UTU 
nachash  signifies  to  view  attentively ,  to  acquire  knoxv- 
ledge  or  experience  by  attentive  observation  ;  so 
nichashti,  Gen.  xxx.  27  :  I  have  learned  by  experience ; 
and  this  seems  to  be  its  most  general  meaning  in  the 
Bible.  The  original  word  is  by  the  Septuagint  trans¬ 
lated  o<pcg,  a  serpent,  not  because  this  was  its  fixed 
determinate  meaning  in  the  sacred  writings,  but  because 
it  was  the  best  that  occurred  to  the  translators  :  and 

46 


We  may  eat  of  the  fruit  of  the  bAqM4‘0q4 

trees  of  the  garden  :  - 

3  d  But  of  the  fruit  of  the  tree  which  is  in 


chap.  ii.  17. 


they  do  not  seem  to  have  given  themselves  much 
trouble  to  understand  the  meaning  of  the  original,  for 
they  have  rendered  the  word  as  variously  as  our  trans¬ 
lators  have  done,  or  rather  our  translators  have  followed 
them,  as  they  give  nearly  the  same  significations  found 
in  the  Septuagint :  hence  we  find  that  o$tg  is  as  fre¬ 
quently  used  by  them  as  serpent,  its  supposed  literal 
meaning,  is  used  in  our  version.  And  the  New  Tes¬ 
tament  writers,  who  seldom  quote  the  Old  Testament 
but  from  the  Septuagint  translation,  and  often  do  not 
change  even  a  word  in  their  quotations,  copy  this  ver¬ 
sion  in  the  use  of  this  word.  From  the  Septuagint 
therefore  we  can  expect  no  light,  nor  indeed  from  any 
other  of  the  ancient  versions,  which  are  all  subsequent 
to  the  Septuagint,  and  some  of  them  actually  made 
from  it.  In  all  this  uncertainty  it  is  natural  for  a 
serious  inquirer  after  truth  to  look  everywhere  for 
information.  And  in  such  an  inquiry  the  Arabic  may 
be  expected  to  afford  some  help,  from  its  great  simi¬ 
larity  to  the  Hebrew.  A  root  in  this  language,  very 
nearly  similar  to  that  in  the  text,  seems  to  cast  consi¬ 
derable  light  on  the  subject.  chanas  or  klianasa 

signifies  he  departed,  drew  off,  lay  hid,  seduced,  slunk 
away ;  from  this  root  come  (jwAAf  akhnas, 
khanasa ,  and  khanoos,  which  all  signify  an 

ape,  or  satyrus,  or  any  creature  of  the  simia  or  ape 
genus.  It  is  very  remarkable  also  that  from  the  same 
root  comes  tj» khanas,  the  devil,  which  appella¬ 
tive  he  bears  from  that  meaning  of  khanasa , 

he  drexc  off,  seduced,  <fc.,  because  he  draxos  men  off 
from  righteousness,  seduces  them  from  their  obedience 
to  God,  &c.,  &c.  See  Golius,  sub  voce.  Is  it  not 
strange  that  the  devil  and  the  ape  should  have  the  same 
name,  derived  from  the  same  root,  and  that  root  so 
very  similar  to  the  word  in  the  text  1  But  let  us  re¬ 
turn  and  consider  what  is  said  of  the  creature  in  ques¬ 
tion.  Now  the  nachash  xvas  more  subtle,  DVTJt  arum, 
more  wise,  cunning,  or  prudent,  than  any  beast  of  the 
field  which  the  Lord  God  had  made.  In  this  account 
wTe  find,  1.  That  whatever  this  nachash  was,  he  stood 
at  the  head  of  all  inferior  animals  for  wisdom  and  un¬ 
derstanding.  2.  That  he  xvalked  erect ,  for  this  is 
necessarily  implied  in  his  punishment — on  thy  belly 
(i.  e.,  on  all  fours)  shalt  thou  go.  3.  That  he  was 
endued  with  the  gift  of  speech,  for  a  conversation  is 
here  related  between  him  and  the  woman.  4.  That 
he  was  also  endued  with  the  gift  of  reason,  for  we  find 
him  reasoning  and  disputing  with  Eve.  5.  That  these 
things  were. common  to  this  creature,  the  woman  no 
doubt  having  often  seen  him  walk  erect,  talk,  and 
reason,  and  therefore  she  testifies  no  kind  of  surprise 
when  he  accosts  her  in  the  language  related  in  the 
text ;  and  indeed  from  the  manner  in  which  this  is 
introduced  it  appears  to  be  only  a  part  of  a  conversa¬ 
tion  that  had  passed  between  them  on  the  occasion  : 
Yea,  hath  God  said,  <fc. 

Had  this  creature  never  been  known  to  speak  before 

a 


The  serpent  promises 


CHAP.  III. 


exemption  from  death 


„A- M- the  midst  of  the  garden,  God  hath 

d.  O.  4004.  . 

-  said,  Ye  shall  not  eat  of  it,  neither 

shall  ye  touch  it,  lest  ye  die. 

8  Ver.  13  ;  2  Cor.  xi.  3  ; 

his  addressing  the  woman  at  this  time  and  on  this  sub¬ 
ject,  it  could  not  have  failed  to  excite  her  surprise ,  and 
to  have  filled  her  with  caution,  though  from  the  purity 
and  innocence  of  her  nature  she  might  have  been  in¬ 
capable  of  being  affected  with  fear.  Now  I  apprehend 
that  none  of  these  things  can  be  spoken  of  a  serpent  of 
any  species.  1 .  None  of  them  ever  did  or  ever  can  walk 
erect.  The  tales  we  have  had  of  tw'o-footed  and  four- 
footed  serpents  are  justly  exploded  by  every  judicious 
naturalist,  and  are  utterly  unworthy  of  credit.  The  very 
name  serpent  comes  from  serpo,  to  creep,  and  therefore 
to  such  it  could  be  neither  curse  nor  punishment  to  go 
on  their  bellies,  i.  e.,  to  creep  on,  as  they  had  done  from 
their  creation,  and  must  do  while  their  race  endures. 
2.  They  have  no  organs  for  speech,  or  any  kind  of 
articulate  sound ;  they  can  only  hiss.  It  is  true  that 
an  ass  by  miraculous  influence  may  speak ;  but  it  is 
not  to  be  supposed  that  there  was  any  miraculous  in¬ 
terference  here.  God  did  not  qualify  this  creature 
with  speech  for  the  occasion,  and  it  is  not  intimated 
that  there  was  any  other  agent  that  did  it ;  on  the  con¬ 
trary,  the  text  intimates  that  speech  and  reason  were 
natural  to  the  nachash :  and  is  it  not  in  reference  to 
this  the  inspired  penman  says,  The  nachash  was  more 
subtle  or  intelligent  than  all  the  beasts  of  the  field  that 
the  Lord  God  had  made  l  Nor  can  I  find  that  the 
serpentine  ge?ius  are  remarkable  for  intelligence.  It 
is  true  the  wisdom  of  the  serpent  has  passed  into  a  pro¬ 
verb,  but  I  cannot  see  on  what  it  is  founded,  except  in 
reference  to  the  passage  in  question,  where  the  nachash, 
which  we  translate  serpent,  following  the  Septuagint, 
shows  so  much  intelligence  and  cunning  :  and  it  is  very 
probable  that  our  Lord  alludes  to  this  very  place  when 
he  exhorts  his  disciples  to  be  wise — prudent  or  intel¬ 
ligent,  as  serpents,  (ppoviyoi  tig  oi  o(j>ecg'  and  it  is  worthy 
of  remark  that  he  uses  the  same  term  employed  by 
the  Septuagint  in  the  text  in  question  :  O  fig  r\v  <ppovt- 
puora-og,  the  serpent  was  more  prudent  or  intelligent 
than  all  the  beasts,  &c.  All  these  things  considered, 
we  are  obliged  to  seek  for  some  other  word  to  designate 
the  nachash  in  the  text,  than  the  word  serpent,  which 
on  every  view  of  the  subject  appears  to  me  inefficient 
and  inapplicable.  We  have  seen  above  that  khanas, 
akhnas,  and  khanoos,  signify  a  creature  of  the  ape  or 
satyrus  kind.  We  have  seen  that  the  meaning  of  the 
root  is,  he  lay  hid,  seduced,  slunk  away,  c fc. ;  and  that 
khanas  means  the  devil,  as  the  inspirer  of  evil,  and 
seducer  from  God  and  truth.  See  Golius  and  Wilmet. 
It  therefore  appears  to  me  that  a  creature  of  the  ape 
or  ouran  outang  kind  is  here  intended  ;  and  that  Satan 
made  use  of  this  creature  as  the  most  proper  instru¬ 
ment  for  the  accomplishment  of  his  murderous  purposes 
against  the  life  and  soul  of  man.  Under  this  creature 
he  lay  hid,  and  by  this  creature  he  seduced  our  first 
parents,  and  drew  off  or  slunk  away  from  every  eye 
but  the  eye  of  God.  Such  a  creature  answers  to  every 
part  of  the  description  in  the  text :  it  is  evident  from 
the  structure  of  its  limbs  and  their  muscles  that  it 


4  e  And  the  serpent  said  unto  BAcM40o4 

the  woman,  Ye  shall  not  surely  - - 

die  : 

1  Tim.  ii.  14. 

might  have  been  originally  designed  to  walk  erect ,  and 
that  nothing  less  than  a  sovereign  controlling  power 
could  induce  them  to  put  down  hands  in  every  respect 
formed  like  those  of  man,  and  walk  like  those  creatures 
whose  claw-armed  paws  prove  them  to  have  been  de¬ 
signed  to  walk  on  all  fours.  Dr.  Tyson  has  observed, 
in  his  anatomy  of  an  ouran  outang,  that  the  seminal 
vessels  passed  between  the  two  coats  of  the  peritoneum 
to  the  scrotum,  as  in  man ;  hence  he  argues  that  this 
creature  was  designed  to  walk  erect,  as  it  is  otherwise 
in  all  quadrupeds.  Philos.  Trans.,  vol.  xxi.,  p.  340. 
The  subtlety,  cunning,  endlessly  varied  pranks  and 
tricks  of  these  creatures,  show  them,  even  now,  to  be 
more  subtle  and  more  intelligent  than  any  other  crea¬ 
ture,  man  alone  excepted.  Being  obliged  now  to  walk 
on  all  fours,  and  gather  their  food  from  the  ground, 
they  are  literally  obliged  to  eat  the  dust ;  and  though 
exceedingly  cunning,  and  careful  in  a  variety  of  in¬ 
stances  to  separate  that  part  which  is  wholesome  and 
proper  for  food  from  that  which  is  not  so,  in  the  article 
of  cleanliness  they  are  lost  to  all  sense  of  propriety ; 
and  though  they  have  every  means  in  their  power  of 
cleansing  the  aliments  they  gather  off  the  ground,  and 
from  among  the  dust,  yet  they  never  in  their  savage 
state  make  use  of  any,  except  a  slight  rub  against  their 
side,  or  with  one  of  their  hands,  more  to  see  what  the 
article  is  than  to  cleanse  it.  Add  to  this,  their  utter 
aversion  to'  walk  upright ;  it  requires  the  utmost  disci¬ 
pline  to  bring  them  to  it,  and  scarcely  any  thing  irritates 
them  more  than  to  be  obliged  to  do  it.  Long  obser¬ 
vation  on  some  of  these  animals  enables  me  to  state 
these  facts. 

Should  any  person  who  may  read  this  note  object 
against  my  conclusions,  because  apparently  derived 
from  an  Arabic  word  which  is  not  exactly  similar  to 
the  Hebrew,  though  to  those  who  understand  both  lan¬ 
guages  the  similarity  will  be  striking ;  yet,  as  I  do  not 
insist  on  the  identity  of  the  terms,  though  important 
consequences  have  been  derived  from  less  likely  ety¬ 
mologies,  he  is  welcome  to  throw  the  whole  of  this 
out  of  the  account.  He  may  then  take  up  the  Hebrew 
root  only,  which  signifies  to  gaze ,  to  view  attentively , 
pry  into,  inquire  narrowly,  6pc.,  and  consider  the  pas¬ 
sage  that  appears  to  compare  the  nachash  to  the  bab¬ 
bler,  Eccles.  x.  11,  and  he  will  soon  find,  if  he  have 
any  acquaintance  with  creatures  of  this  genus,  that  for 
earnest,  attentive  watching,  looking,  dfc.,  and  for  chat¬ 
tering  or  babbling,  they  have  no  fellows  in  the  animal 
world.  Indeed,  the  ability  and  propensity  to  chatter 
is  all  they  have  left,  according  to  the  above  hypothesis, 
of  their  original  gift  of  speech,  of  which  I  suppose 
them  to  have  been  deprived  at  the  fall  as  a  part  of 
their  punishment. 

I  have  spent  the  longer  time  on  this  subject,  1.  Be¬ 
cause  it  is  exceedingly  obscure;  2.  Because  no  inter¬ 
pretation  hitherto  given  of  it  has  afforded  me  the 
smallest  satisfaction ;  3.  Because  I  think  the  above 
mode  of  accounting  for  every  part  of  the  whole  trans- 

47 


a 


GENESIS. 


to  disobedience 


The  serpent  prompts  Eve 


A.  M.  1.  5  ]?5r  God  doth  know  that  in  the 

B.  G.  4004.  • 

- —  day  ye  eat  thereof,  then  f  your 

eyes  shall  be  opened ;  and  ye  shall  be  as 
gods,  knowing  good  and  evil. 

f  Yer.  7 ;  Acts  xxvi.  18. 


action  is  consistent  and  satisfactory,  and  in  my  opinion 
removes  many  embarrassments,  and  solves  the  chief 
difficulties.  I  think  it  can  be  no  solid  objection  to  the 
above  mode  of  solution  that  Satan,  in  different  parts 
of  the  New  Testament,  is  called  the  serpent ,  the  ser¬ 
pent  that  deceived  Eve  by  his  subtlety ,  the  old  serpent , 
dfc.,  for  we  have  already  seen  that  the  New  Testament 
writers  have  borrowed  the  word  from  the  Sepluagint, 
and  the  Septuagint  themselves  use  it  in  a  vast  variety 
and  latitude  of  meaning  ;  and  surely  the  ouran  outang 
is  as  likely  to  be  the  animal  in  question  as  nachash 
and  o<$>Lg  ophis  are  likely  to  mean  at  once  a  snake ,  a 
crocodile ,  a  hippopotamus ,  fornication,  a  chain ,  a  pair 
of  fetters,  a  piece  of  brass,  a  piece  of  steel,  and  a  con¬ 
jurer  ;  for  we  have  seen  above  that  all  these  are  ac¬ 
ceptations  of  the  original  word.  Besides,  the  New 
Testament  writers  seem  to  lose  sight  of  the  animal  or 
instrument  used  on  the  occasion,  and  speak  only  of 
Satan  himself  as  the  cause  of  the  transgression,  and 
the  instrument  of  all  evil.  If,  however,  any  person 
should  choose  to  differ  from  the  opinion  stated  above, 
he  is  at  perfect  liberty  so  to  do ;  I  make  it  no  article 
of  faith,  nor  of  Christian  communion  ;  I  crave  the 
same  liberty  to  judge  for  myself  that  I  give  to  others, 
to  which  every  man  has  an  indisputable  right ;  and  I 
hope  n®  man  will  call  me  a  heretic  for  departing  in 
this  respect  from  the  common  opinion,  which  appears 
to  me  to  be  so  embarrassed  as  to  be  altogether  unin¬ 
telligible.  See  farther  on  ver.  7-14,  &c. 

Yea,  hath  God  said ]  This  seems  to  be  the  con¬ 
tinuation  of  a  discourse  of  which  the  preceding  part 
is  not  given,  and  a  proof  that  the  creature  in  question 
was  endued  with  the  gift  of  reason  and  speech,  for  no 
surprise  is  testified  on  the  part  of  Eve. 

Yerse  3.  Neither  shall  ye  touch  it]  Did  not  the 
woman  add  this  to  what  God  had  before  spoken  1 
Some  of  the  Jewish  writers,  who  are  only  serious  on 
comparative  trifles,  state  that  as  soon  as  the  woman 
had  asserted  this,  the  serpent  pushed  her  against  the 
tree  and  said,  “  See,  thou  hast  touched  it,  and  art  still 
alive ;  thou  mayest  therefore  safely  eat  of  the  fruit, 
for  surely  thou  shalt  not  die.” 

Yerse  4.  Ye  shall  not  surely  die]  Here  the  father 
of  lies  at  once  appears  ;  and  appears  too  in  flatly  con¬ 
tradicting  the  assertion  of  God.  The  tempter,  through 
the  nachash,  insinuates  the  impossibility  of  her  dying, 
as  if  he  had  said,  God  has  created  thee  immortal,  thy 
death  therefore  is  impossible  ;  and  God  knows  this,  for 
as  thou  livest  by  the  tree  of  life,  so  shalt  thou  get 
increase  of  wisdom  by  the  tree  of  knowledge. 

Yerse  5.  Your  eyes  shall  be  opened]  Your  under¬ 
standing  shall  be  greatly  enlightened  and  improved ; 
and  ye  shall  be  as  gods,  DTlbiO  kelohim,  like  God,  so 
the  word  should  be  translated  ;  for  what  idea  could  our 
first  parents  have  of  gods  before  idolatry  could  have 
had  any  being,  because  sin  had  not  yet  entered  into 

48 


6  And  when  the  woman  saw  that  ba‘cm40q4 

the  tree  was  good  for  food,  and  that  - 

it  was  *  pleasant  to  the  eyes,  and  a  tree  to  be 
desired  to  make  one  wise,  she  took  of  the 

£  Heb.  a  desire. 


the  world  1  The  Syriac  has  the  word  in  the  singular 
number,  and  is  the  only  one  of  all  the  versions  which 
has  hit  on  the  true  meaning.  As  the  original  word  is 
the  same  which  is  used  to  point  out  the  Supreme  Be¬ 
ing,  chap.  i.  1,  so  it  has  here  the  same  signification; 
and  the  object  of  the  tempter  appears  to  have  been 
this  :  to  persuade  our  first  parents  that  they  should,  by 
eating  of  this  fruit,  become  wise  and  powerful  as  God, 
(for  knowledge  is  power,)  and  be  able  to  exist  for  ever, 
independently  of  him. 

Yerse  6.  The  tree  was  good  for  food]  1.  The  fruit 
appeared  to  be  wholesome  and  nutritive.  And  that  it 
was  pleasant  to  the  eyes.  2.  The  beauty  of  the  fruit 
tended  to  whet  and  increase  appetite.  And  a  tree  to 
be  desired  to  make  one  wise,  which  was,  3.  An  addi¬ 
tional  motive  to  please  the  palate.  From  these  three 
sources  all  natural  and  moral  evil  sprang  :  they  are 
exactly  what  the  apostle  calls  the  desire  of  the  flesh  ; 
the  tree  was  good  for  food  :  the  desire  of  the  eye  ;  it 
was  pleasant  to  the  sight :  and  the  pride  of  life ;  it 
was  a  tree  to  be  desired  to  make  one  wise.  God  had 
undoubtedly  created  our  first  parents  not  only  very 
wise  and  intelligent,  but  also  with  a  great  capacity  and 
suitable  propensity  to  increase  in  knowledge.  Those 
who  think  that  Adam  wTas  created  so  perfect  as  to  pre¬ 
clude  the  possibility  of  his  increase  in  knowledge,  have 
taken  a  very  false  view  of  the  subject.  We  shall 
certainly  be  convinced  that  our  first  parents  were  in  a 
state  of  sufficient  perfection  when  we  consider,  1. 
That  they  were  endued  with  a  vast  capacity  to  obtain 
knowledge.  2.  That  all  the  means  of  information 
were  within  their  reach.  3.  That  there  was  no  hin- 
derance  to  the  most  direct  conception  of  occurring 
truth.  4.  That  all  the  objects  of  knowledge,  whether 
natural  or  moral,  were  ever  at  hand.  5.  That  they 
had  the  strongest  propensity  to  know ;  and,  6.  The 
greatest  pleasure  in  knowing.  To  have  God  and  na¬ 
ture -continually  open  to  the  view  of  the  soul;  and  to 
have  a  soul  capable  of  viewing  both,  and  fathoming 
endlessly  their  unbounded  glories  and  excellences,  with¬ 
out  hinderance  or  difficulty  ;  what  a  state  of  perfection ! 
what  a  consummation  of  bliss !  This  was  undoubtedly 
the  state  and  condition  of  our  first  parents  ;  even  the 
present  ruins  of  the  state  are  incontestable  evidences 
of  its  primitive  excellence.  We  see  at  once  how 
transgression  came ;  it  was  natural  for  them  to  desire 
to  be  increasingly  wise.  God  had  implanted  this  de¬ 
sire  in  their  minds ;  but  he  showed  them  that  this 
desire  should  be  gratified  in  a  certain  way ;  that  pru¬ 
dence  and  judgment  should  always  regulate  it ;  that 
they  should  carefully  examine  what  God  had  opened 
to  their  view  ;  and  should  not  pry  into  what  he  chose 
to  conceal.  He  alone  who  knows  all  things  knows 
how  much  knowledge  the  soul  needs  to  its  perfection 
and  increasing  happiness,  in  what  subjects  this  may  be 
legitimately  sought,  and  where  the  mind  may  make 

a 


Adam  and  Eve  eat 


CHAP.  III. 


nA- M- n,  fruit  thereof,  h  and  did  eat ;  and 

15.  A/.  4UU4. 

-  gave  also  unto  her  husband  with 

her,  1  and  he  did  eat. 

7  And  k  the  eyes  of  them  both  were  open- 

Ecclus  xxv.  24;  1  Tim.  ii.  14  ;  1  John  ii.  16. - 1  Ver.  12, 17 ; 

Hos.  vi.  7 ;  Rom.  v.  12-19. 

excursions  and  discoveries  to  its  prejudice  and  ruin. 
There  are  doubtless  many  subjects  which  angels  are 
capable  of  knowing,  and  which  God  chooses  to  con¬ 
ceal  even  from  them,  because  that  knowledge  would 
tend  neither  to  their  perfection  nor  happiness.  Of 
every  attainment  and  object  of  pursuit  it  may  be  said, 
in  the  words  of  an  ancient  poet,  who  conceived  cor¬ 
rectly  on  the  subject,  and  expressed  his  thoughts  with 
perspicuity  and  energy  : — 

Est  modus  in  rebus  :  sunt  certi  denique  fines , 
Quos  ultra  citraque  nequit  consistere  rectum. 

Hor.  Sat.,  lib.  i.,  Sat.  1.,  ver.  106. 

“  There  is  a  rule  for  all  things  ;  there  are  in  fine 
fixed  and  stated  limits,  on  either  side  of  which  righte¬ 
ousness  cannot  be  found. ”  On  the  line  of  duty  alone 
we  must  walk. 

Such  limits  God  certainly  assigned  from  the  begin¬ 
ning  :  Thou  shalt  come  up  to  this  ;  thou  shalt  not  pass 
it.  And  as  he  assigned  the  limits ,  so  he  assigned  the 
means.  It  is  lawful  for  thee  to  acquire  knowledge  in 
this  way ;  it  is  unlawful  to  seek  it  in  that.  And  had 
lie  not  a  right  to  do  so  1  And  would  his  creation  have 
been  perfect  without  it  1 

Verse  7.  The  eyes  of  them  both  were  opened]  The}'' 
now  had  a  sufficient  discovery  of  their  sin  and  folly 
in  disobeying  the  command  of  God  ;  they  could  discern 
between  good  and  evil ;  and  what  was  the  consequence  1 
Confusion  and  shame  were  engendered,  because  inno¬ 
cence  was  lost  and  guilt  contracted 

Let  us  review  the  whole  of  this  melancholy  busi¬ 
ness,  the  fall  and  its  effects. 

1.  From  the  New  Testament  we  learn  that  Satan 
associated  himself  with  the  creature  which  we  term 
the  serpent ,  and  the  original  the  nachash,  in  order  to 
seduce  and  ruin  mankind  ;  2  Cor.  xi.  3  ;  Rev.  xii.  9  ; 
xx.  2.  2.  That  this  creature  was  the  most  suitable 

to  his  purpose,  as  being  the  most  subtle,  the  most  in¬ 
telligent  and  cunning  of  all  beasts  of  the  field,  en¬ 
dued  with  the  gift  of  speech  and  reason,  and  conse¬ 
quently  one  in  which  he  could  best  conceal  himself. 
3.  As  he  knew  that  while  they  depended  on  God  they 
could  not  be  ruined,  he  therefore  endeavoured  to  seduce 
them  from  this  dependence.  4.  He  does  this  by  work¬ 
ing  on  that  propensity  of  the  mind  to  desire  an  increase 
of  knowledge,  with  which  God,  for  the  most  gracious 
purposes,  had  endued  it.  5.  In  order  to  succeed,  he 
insinuates  that  God,  through  motives  of  envy,  had  given 
the  prohibition — God  doth  know  that  in  the  day  ye  eat 
of  it ,  ye  shall  be  like  himself ,  &c.  6.  As  their  pre¬ 

sent  state  of  blessedness  must  be  inexpressibly  dear  to 
them,  he  endeavours  to  persuade  them  that  they  could 
not  fall  from  this  state  :  Ye  shall  not  surely  die — ye 
shall  not  only  retain  your  present  blessedness,  but  it 
shall  be  greatly  increased ;  a  temptation  by  which  he 
has  ever  since  fatallv  succeeded  in  the  ruin  of  multi- 
Vol.  I.  (  5  ) 


the  forbidden  fruit. 

ed,  1  and  they  knew  that  they  bAqM40o4 

were  naked ;  and  they  sewed - 

fig-leaves  together,  and  made  themselves 
01  aprons. 

k  Verse  5. - 'Chapter  ii.  25. - m  Or,  things  to  gird 

about. 

tudes  of  souls,  whom  he  persuaded  that  being  once 
right  they  could  never  finally  go  wrong.  7.  As  he 
kept  the  unlawfulness  of  the  means  proposed  out  of 
sight,  persuaded  them  that  they  could  not  fall  from 
their  steadfastness,  assured  them  that  they  should  re¬ 
semble  God  himself,  and  consequently  be  self-sufficient, 
and  totally  independent  of  him  ;  they  listened,  and 
fixing  their  eye  only  on  the  promised  good,  neglecting 
the  positive  command,  and  determining  to  become  wise 
and  independent  at  all  events,  they  took  of  the  fruit 
and  did  eat. 

Let  us  now  examine  the  effects. 

1 .  Their  eyes  were  opened ,  and  they  saw  they  were 
naked.  They  saw  what  they  never  saw  before,  that 
they  were  stripped  of  their  excellence  ;  that  they  had 
lost  their  innocence  ;  and  that  they  had  fallen  into  a 
state  of  indigence  and  danger.  2.  Though  their  eyes 
were  opened  to  see  their  nakedness,  yet  their  mind 
was  clouded,  and  their  judgment  confused.  They 
seem  to  have  lost  all  just  notions  of  honour  and  dis¬ 
honour,  of  what  was  shameful  and  what  was  praise¬ 
worthy.  It  was  dishonourable  and  shameful  to  break 
the  commandment  of  God  ;  but  it  was  neither  to  go 
naked ,  when  clothing  was  not  necessary.  3.  They 
seem  in  a  moment,  not  only  to  have  lost  sound  judg¬ 
ment,  but  also  reflection :  a  short  time  before  Adam 
was  so  wise  that  he  could  name  all  the  creatures  brought 
before  him,  according  to  their  respective  natures  and 
qualities  ;  now  he  does  not  know  the  first  principle 
concerning  the  Divine  nature,  that  it  knows  all  things , 
and  that  it  is  omnipresent,  therefore  he  endeavours  to 
hide  himself  among  the  trees  from  the  eye  of  the  all- 
seeing  God  !  How  astonishing  is  this !  When  the 
creatures  were  brought  to  him  he  could  name  them, 
because  he  could  discern  their  respective  natures  and 
properties ;  when  Eve  was  brought  to  him  he  could 
immediately  tell  what  she  was,  who  she  was,  and  for 
what  end  made,  though  he  was  in  a  deep  sleep  when 
God  formed  her  ;  and  this  seems  to  be  particularly 
noted,  merely  to  show  the  depth  of  his  wisdom,  and 
the  perfection  of  his  discernment.  But  alas  !  how  are 
the  mighty  fallen  !  Compare  his  present  with  his  past 
state,  his  state  before  the  transgression  with  his  state 
after  it ;  and  say.  is  this  the  same  creature  ?  the  crea¬ 
ture  of  whom  God  said,  as  he  said  of  all  his  works, 
He  is  very  good — just  what  he  should  be,  a  living 
image  of  the  living  God  ;  but  now  lower  than  the 
beasts  of  the  field  I  4.  This  account  could  never  have 
been  credited  had  not  the  indisputable  proofs  and  evi¬ 
dences  of  it  been  continued  by  uninterrupted  succes¬ 
sion  to  the  present  time.  All  the  descendants  of  this 
first  guilty  pair  resemble  their  degenerate  ancestors, 
and  copy  their  conduct.  The  original  mode  of  trans¬ 
gression  is  still  continued,  and  the  original  sin  in  con¬ 
sequence.  Here  are  the  proofs.  1.  Every  human 
being  is  endeavouring  to  obtain  knowledge  by  unlawful 

49  a  . 


Adam  and  Eve  hide  themselves. 


GENESIS. 


Adam  and  Eve’s  accusations. 


BAc\l0i  8  And  they  heard  n  the  voice  of 
- the  Lord  God  walking  in  the  gar¬ 
den  in  the  0  cool  of  the  day  :  and  Adam  and 
his  wife  p  hid  themselves  from  the  presence  of 
the  Lord  God  amongst  the  trees  of  the  garden. 

9  And  the  Lord  God  called  unto  Adam,  and 
said  unto  him,  Where  art  thou  ? 

10  And  he  said,  I  heard  thy  voice  in  the 
garden,  *  and  I  was  afraid,  because  I  was 
naked ;  and  I  hid  myself. 

1 1  And  he  said,  Who  told  thee  that  thou 
wast  naked?  Hast  thou,  eaten  of  the  tree, 
whereof  I  commanded  thee  that  thou  shouldest 
not  eat  ? 

nJob  xxxviii.  1. - 0  Heb.  wind ;  Job  xxxiv.  21,  22;  Psa. 

cxxxix.  1-12. - P  Job  xxxi.  33 ;  Prov.  v.  3 ;  Jer.  xxiii.  24 ; 

Amos  ix.  3  ;  Jonah  i.  3, 10  ;  Heb.  iv.  13 ;  chap.  iv.  9  ;  Josh.  vii. 
17-19 ;  Rev.  xx.  12,  13. - Chap.  ii.  25  ;  Exod.  iii.  6 ;  Psa. 

means,  even  while  the  lawful  means  and  every  avail¬ 
able  help  are  at  hand.  2.  They  are  endeavouring  to 
be  independent ,  and  to  live  without  God  in  the  world  ; 
hence  prayer ,  the  language  of  dependence  on  God’s 
providence  and  grace,  is  neglected,  I  might  say  detested, 
by  the  great  majority  of  men.  Had  I  no  other  proof 
than  this  that  man  is  a  fallen  creature ,  my  soul  would 
bow  to  this  evidence.  3.  Being  destitute  of  the  true 
knowledge  of  God  they  seek  privacy  for  their  crimes, 
not  considering  that  the  eye  of  God  is  upon  them,  being 
only  solicitous  to  hide  them  from  the  eye  of  man. 
These  are  all  proofs  in  point :  but  we  shall  soon  meet 
with  additional  ones.  See  on  ver.  10  and  12. 

Verse  8.  The  voice  of  the  Lord]  The  voice  is  pro¬ 
perly  used  here,  for  as  God  is  an  infinite  Spirit,  and 
cannot  be  confined  to  any  form ,  so  he  can  have  no 
personal  appearance.  It  is  very  likely  that  God  used 
to  converse  with  them  in  the  garden,  aud  that  the 
usual  time  was  the  decline  of  the  day,  Dm  rVnS 
leruach  haiyom ,  in  the  evening  breeze ;  and  probably 
this  was  the  time  that  our  first  parents  employed  in  the 
more  solemn  acts  of  their  religious  worship,  at  which 
God  was  ever  present.  The  time  for  this  solemn 
worship  is  again  come,  and  God  is  in  his  place  ;  but 
Adam  and  Eve  have  sinned,  and  therefore,  instead  of 
being  found  in  the  place  of  worship,  are  hidden  among 
the  trees  !  Reader,  how  often  has  this  been  thy  case  ! 

Verse  10.  I  was  afraid ,  because  I  was  nahed]  See 
the  immediate  consequences  of  s.in.  1.  Shame,  be¬ 
cause  of  the  ingratitude  marked  in  the  rebellion,  and 
because  that  in  aiming  to  be  like  God  they  were  now 
sunk  into  a  state  of  the  greatest  wretchedness.  2. 
Fear,  because  they  saw  they  had  been  deceived  by 
Satan,  and  were  exposed  to  that  death  and  punishment 
from  which  he  had  promised  them  an  exemption.  How 
worthy  is  it  of  remark  that  this  cause  continues  to 
produce  the  very  same  effects!  Shame  and  fear  were 
•the  first  fruits  of  sin,  an.d  fruits  which  it  has  invariably 
produced,  from  the  first  transgression  to  the  present 
time. 

Verse  12.  And  the  man  said ,  c^c.]  We  have  here 
some  farther  proofs  of  the  fallen  state  of  man,  and 

•  a  50 


1 2  And  the  naan  said,  r  The  r>A^M;A ■ l- 

1  45.  (J.  4004. 

woman  whom  thou  gavest  to  he  - - 

with  me,  she  gave  me  of  the  tree,  and  I 

did  eat. 

1 3  And  the  Lord  God  said  unto  the  woman, 
What  is  this  that  thou  hast  done  ?  And  the 
woman  said,  s  The  serpent  beguiled  me,  and 
I  did  eat. 

14  And  the  Lord  God  said  t  unto  the 
serpent,  Because  thou  hast  done  this,  thou  art 
cursed  above  all  cattle,  and  above  every 
beast  of  the  field ;  upon  thy  belly  shalt  thou 
go,  and  u  dust  shalt  thou  eat  all  the  days  of 
thy  life  : 

cxix.  120;  Isa.  xxxiii.  14;  lvii.  11  ;  1  John  iii.  20. - rChap. 

ii.  18,  20;  Job  xxxi.  33 ;  Prov.  xxviii.  13  ;  Luke  x.  29  ;  James 

i.  13,  15. - sVer.  4;  2  Cor.  xi.  3 ;  1  Tim.  ii.  14. - 4  Exod. 

xxi.  29,  32. - u  Isa.  lxv.  25  ;  Mic.  vii.  17. 

that  the  consequences  of  that  state  extend  to  his  re¬ 
motest  posterity.  1.  On  the  question,  Hast  thou  eaten 
of  the  tree  ?  Adam  is  obliged  to  acknowledge  his  trans¬ 
gression  ;  but  he  does  this  in  such  a  way  as  to  shift 
off  the  blame  from  himself,  and  lay  it  upon  God  and 
upon  the  woman !  This  woman  whom  thou  didst 
give  to  be  with  me,  immadi,  to  be  my  companion, 
(for  so  the  word  is  repeatedly  used,)  she  gave  me,  and 
I  did  eat.  I  have  no  farther  blame  in  this  transgres¬ 
sion  ;  I  did  not  pluck  the  fruit ;  she  took  it  and  gave 
it  to  me. 

2.  When  the  woman  is  questioned  she  lays  the 
blame  upon  God  and  the  serpent,  ( nachash ,)  The  ser¬ 
pent  beguiled  me ,  and  I  did  eat.  Thou  didst  make 
him  much  wiser  than  thou  didst  make  me,  and  there¬ 
fore  my  simplicity  and  ignorance  were  overcome  by 
his  superior  wisdom  and  subtlety ;  I  can  have  no  fault 
here,  the  fault  is  his,  and  his  who  made  him  so  wise 
and  me  so  ignorant.  Thus  we  find  that,  while  the 
eyes  of  their  body  were  opened  to  see  their  degraded 
state,  the  eyes  of  their  understanding  were  closed,  so 
that  they  could  not  see  the  sinfulness  of  sin  ;  and  at 
the  same  time  their  hearts  were  hardened  through  its 
deceitfulness.  In  this  also  their  posterity  copy  their 
example.  How  few  ingenuously  confess  their  own 
sin  !  They  see  not  their  guilt.  They  are  continually 
making  excuses  for  their  crimes ;  the  strength  and 
subtlety  of  the  tempter,  the  natural  weakness  of  their 
own  minds,  the  unfavourable  circumstances  in  which 
they  were  placed,  &c.,  &c.,  are  all  pleaded  as  excuses 
for  their  sins,  and  thus  the  possibility  of  repentance  is 
precluded  ;  for  till  a  man  take  his  sin  to  himself ,  till 
he  acknowledge  that  he  alone  is  guilty,  he  cannot  be 
humbled,  and  consequently  cannot  be  saved.  Reader, 
till  thou  accuse  thyself,  and  thyself  only ,  and  feel  that 
thou  alone  art  responsible  for  all  thy  iniquities,  there 
is  no  hope  of  thy  salvation. 

Verse  14.  And  the  Lord  God  said  unto  the  ser¬ 
pent]  The  tempter  is  not  asked  why  he  deceived  the 
woman  ;  he  cannot  roll  the  blame  on  any  other ;  self- 
tempted  he  fell,  and  it  is  natural  for  him,  such  is  his 
enmity,  to  deceive  and  destroy  all  he  can.  His  fault 

(  5*  ) 


CHAP.  Ill. 


receive  their  sentence 


The  serpent  and  the  woman 


bA’cM4004  15  And  I  will  put  enmity  between 

■ -  thee  and  the  woman,  and  between 

T  thy  seed  and  w  her  seed ;  x  it  shall  bruise  thy 
head,  and  thou  shalt  bruise  his  heel. 

16  Unto  the  woman  he  said,  I  will  greatly 
multiply  thy  sorrow  and  thy  conception  ;  y  in 


vMatt.  iii.  7 ;  xiii.  38 ;  xxiii.  33  ;  Johnviii.  44;  Acts  xiii.  10; 

1  John  iii.  8. - 'v  Psa.  cxxxii.  i  1 ;  Isa.  vii.  14;  Mic.  v.  3; 

Matt.  i.  23,  25;  Luke  i.  31,  34,  35  ;  Gal.  iv.  4. - x  Rom.  xvi. 

20 ;  Col.  ii.  15 ;  Heb.  ii.  14  ;  1  John  v.  5  ;  Rev.  xii.  7,  17. 


admits  of  no  excuse,  and  therefore  God  begins  to  pro¬ 
nounce  sentence  on  him  first.  And  here  we  must 
consider  a  twofold  sentence,  one  on  Satan  and  the 
other  on  the  agent  he  employed.  The  nachash ,  whom 
I  suppose  to  have  been  at  the  head  of  all  the  inferior 
animals,  and  in  a  sort  of  society  and  intimacy  with 
man,  is  to  be  greatly  degraded,  entirely  banished  from 
human  society,  and  deprived  of  the  gift  of  speech. 
Cursed  art  thou  above  all  cattle,  and  above  every  beast 
of  the  field — thou  shalt  be  considered  the  most  con¬ 
temptible  of  animals  ;  upon  thy  belly  shalt  thou  go — - 
thou  shalt  no  longer  walk  erect,  but  mark  the  ground 
equally  with  thy  hands  and  feet ;  and  dust  shalt  thou 
eat — though  formerly  possessed  of  the  faculty  to  dis¬ 
tinguish,  choose,  and  cleanse  thy  food,  thou  shalt  feed 
henceforth  like  the  most  stupid  and  abject  quadruped, 
all  the  days  of  thy  life — through  all  the  innumerable 
generations  of  thy  species.  God  saw  meet  to  mani¬ 
fest  his  displeasure  against  the  agent  employed  in  this 
melancholy  business ;  and  perhaps  this  is  founded  on 
the  part  which  the  intelligent  and  subtle  nachash  took 
in  the  seduction  of  our  first  parents.  We  see  that  he 
was  capable  of  it,  and  have  some  reason  to  believe  that 
he  became  a  willing  instrument. 

Yerse  15.  I  will  put  enmity  between  thee  and  the 
woman]  This  has  been  generally  supposed  to  apply 
to  a  certain  enmity  subsisting  between  men  and  ser¬ 
pents  ;  but  this  is  rather  a  fancy  than  a  reality.  It  is 
yet  to  be  discovered  that  the  serpentine  race  have  any 
peculiar  enmity  against  mankind,  nor  is  there  any  proof 
that  men  hate  serpents  more  than  they  do  other  noxious 
animals.  Men  have  much  more  enmity  to  the  common 
rat  and  magpie  than  they  have  to  all  the  serpents  in 
the  land,  because  the  former  destroy  the  grain,  &c., 
and  serpents  in  general,  far  from  seeking  to  do  men 
mischief,  flee  his  approach,  and  generally  avoid  his 
dwelling.  If,  however,  we  take  the  word  nachash  to 
mean  any  of  the  simia  or  ape  species,  we  find  a  more 
consistent  meaning,  as  there  is  scarcely  an  animal  in 
the  universe  so  detested  by  most  women  as  these  are  ; 
and  indeed  men  look  on  them  as  continual  caricatures 
of  themselves.  But  we  are  not  to  look  for  merely 
literal  meanings  here  :  it  is  evident  that  Satan,  who 
actuated  this  creature,  is  alone  intended  in  this  part  of 
the  prophetic  declaration.  God  in  his  endless  mercy 
has  put  enmity  between  men  and  him  ;  so  that,  though 
all  mankind  love  his  service ,  yet  all  invariably  hate 
himself.  Were  it  otherwise,  who  could  be  saved  1  A 
great  point  gained  towards  the  conversion  of  a  sinner 
is  to  convince  him  that  it  is  Satan  he  has  been  serving, 
that  it  is  to  him  he  has  been  giving  up  his  soul,  body, 
goods,  &c. ;  he  starts  with  horror  when  this  conviction 

d 


sorrow  thou  shalt  bring  forth  chil-  BA^0o4 

dren  ;  z  and  thy  desire  shall  he  a  to  - - 

thy  husband,  and  he  shall  b  rule  over  thee. 

17  And  unto  Adam  he  said,  c  Because  thou 
hast  hearkened  unto  the  voice  of  thy  wife, 
dand  hast  eaten  of  the  tree  e  of  which  I  com- 


y  Psa.  xlviii.  6  ;  Isa.  xiii.  8;  xxi.  3  ;  John  xvi.  21;  1  Tim.  ii.  15 

z  Chap.  iv.  7. - a  Or,  subject  to  thy  husband. - b  1  Cor.  xi.  3  ; 

xiv.  34  ;  Eph.  v.  22,  23,  24 ;  1  Tim.  ii.  11,  12  ;  Tit.  ii.  5 ;  1  Pet. 
iii.  1,  5,  6. - c  1  Sam.  xv.  23. - d  Ver.  6. - e  Chap.  ii.  17. 

fastens  on  his  mind,  and  shudders  at  the  thought  of 
being  in  league  with  the  old  murderer.  But  there  is 
a  deeper  meaning  in  the  text  than  even  this,  especially 
in  these  words,  it  shall  bruise  thy  head ,  or  rather,  Nin 
hu,  he  ;  who  1  the  seed  of  the  woman ;  the  person  is 
to  come  by  the  woman ,  and  by  her  alone ,  without  the 
concurrence  of  man.  Therefore  the  address  is  not  to 
Adam  and  Eve,  but  to  Eve  alone ;  and  it  was  in  con¬ 
sequence  of  this  purpose  of  God  that  Jesus  Christ  was 
born  of  a  virgin ;  this,  and  this  alone,  is  what  is  im¬ 
plied  in  the  promise  of  the  seed  of  the  woman  bruising 
the  head  of  the  serpent.  Jesus  Christ  died  to  put 
away  sin  by  the  sacrifice  of  himself,  and  to  destroy 
him  who  had  the  power  of  death,  that  is,  the  devil. 
Thus  he  bruises  his  head — destroys  his  power  and 
lordship  over  mankind,  turning  them  from  the  power 
of  Satan  unto  God;  Acts  xxvi.  18.  And  Satan 
bruises  his  heel — God  so  ordered  it,  that  the  salvation 
of  man  could  only  be  brought  about  by  the  death  of 
Christ ;  and  even  the  spiritual  seed  of  out  blessed 
Lord  have  the  heel  often  bruised,  as  they  suffer  perse¬ 
cution,  temptation,  &c.,  which  may  be  all  that  is  in¬ 
tended  by  this  part  of  the  prophecy. 

Yerse  16.  Unto  the  woman  he  said]  She  being 
second  in  the  transgression  is  brought  up  the  second  to 
receive  her  condemnation,  and  to  hear  her  punishment : 
I  will  greatly  multiply,  or  multiplying  I  will  multiply  ; 
i.  e.,  I  will  multiply  thy  sorrows,  and  multiply  those 
sorrows  by  other  sorrows,  and  this  during  conception 
and  pregnancy,  and  particularly  so  in  parturition  or 
child-bearing.  And  this  curse  has  fallen  in  a  heavier 
degree  on  the  woman  than  on  any  other  female.  No¬ 
thing  is  better  attested  than  this,  and  yet  there  is  cer¬ 
tainly  no  natural  reason  why  it  should  be  so  ;  it  is  a 
part  of  her  punishment,  and  a  part  from  which  even 
God’s  mercy  will  not  exempt  her.  It  is  added  farther, 
Thy  desire  shall  be  to  thy  husband—  thou  shalt  not  be 
able  to  shun  the  great  pain  and  peril  of  child-bearing, 
for  thy  desire,  thy  appetite ,  shall  be  to  thy  husband  ; 
and  he  shall  ride  over  thee ,  though  at  their  creation 
both  were  formed  with  equal  rights,  and  the  woman 
had  probably  as  much  right  to  rule  as  the  man  ;  but 
subjection  to  the  will  of  her  husband  is  one  part  of 
her  curse  ;  and  so  very  capricious  is  this  will  often, 
that  a  sorer  punishment  no  human  being  can  well  have, 
to  be  at  all  in  a  state  of  liberty,  and  under  the  protec¬ 
tion  of  wise  and  equal  laws. 

Yerse  17.  Unto  Adam  he  said]  The  man  being 
the  last  in  the  transgression  is  brought  up  last  to  re¬ 
ceive  his  sentence  :  Because  thou  hast  hearkened  unto 
the  voice  of  thy  wife — “  thou  wast  not  deceived ,  she 
only  gave  and  counselled  thee  to  eat ;  this  thou  shouldst 

51 


Adam  sentenced. 


GENESIS 


b^cmooi  manded  thee,  saying,  Thou  shalt 

-  not  eat  of  it ;  f  cursed  is  the  ground 

for  thy  sake  :  g  in  sorrow  shalt  thou  eat  of  it 
all  the  days  of  thy  life  ; 

f  Eccles.  i.  2,  3  ;  Isa.  xxiv.  5,  6  ;  Rom.  viii.  20. - s  Job  v.  7  ; 

Eccles.  ii.  23. - h  Job  xxxi.  40. 

have  resisted  and  that  he  did  not  is  the  reason  of 
his  condemnation.  Cursed  is  the  ground  for  thy  salce — 
from  henceforth  its  fertility  shall  be  greatly  impaired  ; 
in  sorroiv  shalt  thou  eat  of  it — be  in  continual  per¬ 
plexity  concerning  the  seed  time  and  the  harvest,  the 
cold  and  the  heat,  the  wet  and  the  dry.  How  often 
are  all  the  fruits  of  man’s  toil  destroyed  by  blasting, 
by  mildew,  by  insects,  wet  weather,  land  floods,  &c.  ! 
Anxiety  and  carefulness  are  the  labouring  man’s  portion. 

Verse  18.  Thorns  also  and  thistles ,  <fc.\  Instead 
of  producing  nourishing  grain  and  useful  vegetables, 
noxious  weeds  shall  be  peculiarly  prolific,  injure  the 
ground,  choke  the  good  seed,  and  mock  the  hopes  of 
the  husbandman  ;  and  thou  shalt  eat  the  herb  of  the 
field — thou  shalt  no  longer  have  the  privilege  of  this 
garden  of  delights,  but  must  go  to  the  common  cham¬ 
paign  country,  and  feed  on  such  herbs  as  thou  canst 
find,  till  by  labour  and  industry  thou  hast  raised  others 
more  suitable  to  thee  and  more  comfortable. 

In  the  curse  pronounced  on  the  ground  there  is  much 
more  implied  than  generally  appears.  The  amazing 
fertility  of  some  of  the  most  common  thistles  and 
thorns  renders  them  the  most  proper  instruments  for 
the  fulfilment  of  this  sentence  against  man.  Thistles 
multiply  enormously ;  a  species  called  the  Carolina 
sylvestris  bears  ordinarily  from  20  to  40  heads,  each 
containing  from  100  to  150  seeds. 

Another  species,  called  the  Acanthum  mil g are ,  pro¬ 
duces  above  100  heads,  each  containing  from  3  to  400 
seeds.  Suppose  we  say  that  these  thistles  produce 
at  a  medium  only  80  heads,  and  that  each  contains 
only  300  seeds  ;  the  first  crop  from  these  would  amount 
to  24,000.  Let  these  be  sown,  and  their  crop  will 
amount  to  576  millions .  Sow  these,  and  their  produce 
will  be  13,824,000,000,000,  ox  thirteen  billions,  eight 
hundred  and  twenty-four  thousand  millions  ;  and  a 
single  crop  from  these,  which  is  only  the  third  year’s 
growth,  would  amount  to  331,776,000.000,000,000, 
ox  three  hundred  and  thirty-one  thousand  seven  hundred 
and  seventy-six  billions  ;  and  the  fourth  year’s  growth 
will  amount  to  7,962,624,000,000,000,000,000,  or 
seven  thousand  nine  hundred  and  sixty-two  trillions , 
six  hundred  and  twenty-four  thousand  billions.  A 
progeny  more  than  sufficient  to  stock  not  only  the  sur¬ 
face  of  the  whole  world,  but  of  all  the  planets  of  the 
solar  system,  so  that  no  other  plant  or  vegetable  could 
possibly  grow,  allowing  but  the  space  of  one  square 
foot  for  each  plant. 

The  Carduus  vulgatissimus  viarum,  or  common 
hedge  thistle,  besides  the  almost  infinite  swarms  of 
winged  seeds  it  sends  forth,  spreads  its  roots  around 
many  yards,  and  throws  up  suckers  everywhere,  which 
not  only  produce  seeds  in  their  turn,  but  extend  their 
roots,  propagate  like  the  parent,  plant,  and  stifle  and 
destroy  all  vegetation  but  their  own. 

As  to  thorns,  the  bramble,  which  occurs  so  com- 


The  ground  cursed. 

1 8  h  Thorns  also  and  thistles  shall 

it  1  bring  forth  to  thee  ;  and  k  thou  - - 

shalt  eat  the  herb  of  the  field : 

19  1  In  the  sweat  of  thy  face  shalt  thou  eat 

1  Heb.  cause  to  bud. - k  Psa.  civ.  14  ;  Job  i.  21 ;  Psa.  xc.  3  * 

civ.  2. - !  Eccles.  i.  13 ;  2  The3s.  iii.  10. 

monly,  and  is  so  mischievous,  is  a  sufficient  proof  how 
well  the  means  are  calculated  to  secure  the  end.  The 
genista ,  or  spinosa  vulgaris ,  called  by  some  furze,  by 
others  ivhins,  is  allowed  to  be  one  of  the  most  mis¬ 
chievous  shrubs  on  the  face  of  the  earth.  Scarcely 
any  thing  can  grow  near  it,  and  it  is  so  thick  set  with 
prickles  that  it  is  almost  impossible  to  touch  it  without 
being  wounded.  It  is  very  prolific  ;  almost  half  the 
year  it  is  covered  with  flowers  which  produce  pods 
filled  with  seeds.  Besides,  it  shoots  out  roots  far  and 
wide,  from  which  suckers  and  young  plants  are  con¬ 
tinually  springing  up,  which  produce  others  in  their 
turn.  Where  it  is  permitted  to  grow  it  soon  over¬ 
spreads  whole  tracts  of  ground,  and  it  is  extremely 
difficult  to  clear  the  ground  of  its  roots  where  once 
it  has  got  proper  footing.  Such  provision  has  the  just 
God  made  to  fulfil  the  curse  which  he  has  pronounced 
on  the  earth,  because  of  the  crimes  of  its  inhabitants. 
See  Ilale's  Vegetable  Statics. 

Verse  19.  In  the  sweat  of  thy  face]  Though  the 
whole  body  may  be  thrown  into  a  profuse  sweat,  if 
hard  labour  be  long  continued,  yetthe/ace  or  forehead 
is  the  first  part  whence  this  sweat  begins  to  issue  ;  this 
is  occasioned  by  the  blood  being  strongly  propelled  to 
the  brain,  partly  through  stooping,  but  principally  by  the 
strong  action  of  the  muscles  ;  in  consequence  of  this 
the  blood  vessels  about  the  head  become  turgid  through 
the  great  flux  of  blood,  the  fibres  are  relaxed,  the  pores 
enlarged,  and  the  sweat  or  serum  poured  out.  Thus 
then  the  very  commencement  of  every  man’s  labour 
may  put  him  in  mind  of  his  sin  and  its  consequences. 

Dust  thou  art,  and  unto  dust  shalt  thou  return .] 
God  had  said  that  in  the  day  they  ate  of  the  forbidden 
fruit,  dying  they  should  die — they  should  then  become 
mortal,  and  continue  under  the  influence  of  a  great 
variety  of  unfriendly  agencies  in  the  atmosphere  and 
in  themselves,  from  heats,  colds,  drought,  and  damps 
in  the  one,  and  morbid  increased  and  decreased  action 
in  the  solids  and  fluids  of  the  other,  till  the  spirit,  find¬ 
ing  its  earthly  house  no  longer  tenable,  should  return 
to  God  who  gave  it  ;  and  the  body,  being  decomposed, 
should  be  reduced  to  its  primitive  dust.  It  is  evident 
from  this  that  man  would  have  been  immortal  had  he 
never  transgressed,  and  that  this  state  of  continual  life 
and  health  depended  on  his  obedience  to  his  Maker. 
The  tree  of  life,  as  we  have  already  seen,  was  intended 
to  be  the  means  of  continual  preservation.  For  as  no 
being  but  God  can  exist  independently  of  any  support¬ 
ing  agency,  so  man  could  not  have  continued  to  live 
without  a  particular  supporting  agent ;  and  this  sup¬ 
porting  agent  under  God  appears  to  have  been  the  tree 
of  life. 

0?uyj]  de  Knaopeatia 

Kovie,  ogteuv  IvdevTuv.  Anae.  Od.  4.,  v.  9. 

“  We  shall  lie  down  as  a  small  portion  of  dust  cur 
bones  being  dissolved  ” 


Adam  and  Eve  are 


CHAP.  III. 


clothed  with  skins. 


r.A^M/nL  bread,  till  thou  return  unto  the 

■ -  ground ;  for  out  of  it  wast  thou 

taken  :  for  m  dust  thou  art ,  and  n  unto  dust 
shalt  thou  return. 

20  And  Adam  called  his  wife’s  name  0  Eve ; 
p  because  she  was  the  mother  of  all  living. 

21  Unto  Adam  also  and  to  his  wife  did  the 


coats  of  skins, 


A.  M.  1. 
B.  C.  4004. 


Lord  God  make 
and  clothed  them. 

22  And  the  Lord  God  said,  q  Behold,  the 
man  is  become  as  one  of  us,  to  know  good 
and  evil :  and  now,  lest  he  put  forth  his  hand, 
r  and  take  also  of  the  tree  of  life,  and  eat,  and 
live  for  ever ; 


m  Chap.  ii.  7  ;  Dan.  xii.  2. - n  Job  xxi.  26  ;  xxxiv.  15  ;  Psa. 

civ.  29  ;  Eccles.  iii.  20 ;  xii.  7 ;  Dan.  xii.  2 ;  Rom.  v.  12 ; 
Heb.  ix.  27. 


Verse  20.  And  Adam  called  his  ivife's  name  Eve; 
because  she  ivas  the  mother  of  all  living.]  A  man  who 
does  not  understand  the  original  cannot  possibly  com¬ 
prehend  the  reason  of  what  is  said  here.  What  has 
the  wrord  Eve  to  do  with  being  the  mother  of  all  liv¬ 
ing  ?  Our  translators  often  follow  the  Septuagint ;  it 
is  a  pity  they  had  not  done  so  here,  as  the  Septuagint 
transation  is  literal  and  correct:  Kat  enaleaev  Adap 
ro  ovopa  Trig  yvvaacog  avrov  TiCjtj,  otl  pr]Tr]p  tt avrwv 
Tuv  £ovtwv  “  And  Adam  called  his  wife’s  name  Life , 
because  she  was  the  mother  of  all  the  living .”  This 
is  a  proper  and  faithful  representation  of  the  Hebrew 
text,  for  the  mn  Chavvah  of  the  original,  which  we 
haye  corrupted  into  Eve ,  a  word  destitute  of  all  mean¬ 
ing,  answers  exactly  to  the  Z urj  of  the  Septuagint, 
both  signifying  life  ;  as  does  also  the  Hebrew  Tl  chai 
to  the  Greek  favrov,  both  of  which  signify  the  living. 
It  is  probable  that  God  designed  by  this  name  to  teach 
our  first  parents  these  two  important  truths  :  1.  That 
though  they  had  merited  immediate  death,  yet  they 
should  be  respited,  and  the  accomplishment  of  the  sen¬ 
tence  be  long  delayed  ;  they  should  be  spared  to  pro¬ 
pagate  a  numerous  progeny  on  the  earth.  2.  That 
though  much  misery  would  be  entailed  on  his  posterity, 
and  death  should  have  a  long  and  universal  empire, 
yet  one  should  in  the  fulness  of  time  spring  from  the 
woman,  who  should  destroy  death ,  and  bring  life  and 
immortality  to  light,  2  Tim.  i.  10.  Therefore  Adam 
called  his  wife’s  name  Life ,  because  she  was  to  be  the 
mother  of  all  human  beings,  and  because  she  was  to 
be  the  mother  of  HIM  who  was  to  give  life  to  a  world 
dead  in  trespasses,  and  dead  in  sins,  Eph.  ii.  1,  &c. 

Verse  21.  God  made  coats  of  skins]  It  is  very 
likely  that  the  skins  out  of  which  their  clothing  was 
made  were  taken  off  animals  whose  blood  had  been 
poured  out  as  a  sin-offering  to  God  ;  for  as  we  find 
Cain  and  Abel  offering  sacrifices  to  God,  we  may  fairly 
presume  that  God  had  given  them  instructions  on  this 
head ;  nor  is  it  likely  that  the  notion  of  a  sacrifice 
could  have  ever  occurred  to  the  mind  of  man  without 
an  express  revelation  from  God.  Hence  we  may 
safely  infer,  1.  That  as  Adam  and  Eve  needed  this 
clothing  as  soon  as  they  fell,  and  death  had  not  as  yet 
made  any  ravages  in  the  animal  world,  it  is  most  likely 
that  the  skins  were  taken  off  victims  offered  under  the 
direction  of  God  himself,  and  in  faith  of  HIM  who, 
in  the  fulness  of  time,  was  to  make  an  atonement  by 
his  death.  And  it  seems  reasonable  also  that  this 
matter  should  be  brought  about  in  such  a  way  that 
Satan  and  death  should  have  no  triumph,  when  the 
very  first  death  that  took  place  in  the  world  was  an 

a 


0  Heb.  Chavah ;  that  is,  living. - p  Acts  xvii.  26. - n  Ver. 

5;  like  Isa.  xix.  12;  xlvii.  12,  13;  Jer.  xxii.  23. - r  Chap. 

ii.  9. 


emblem  and  type  of  that  death  which  should  conquer 
Satan,  destroy  his  empire,  reconcile  God  to  man,  con¬ 
vert  man  to  God,  sanctify  human  nature,  and  prepare 
it  for  heaven. 

Verse  22.  Behold ,  the  man  is  become  as  one  of  ws] 
On  all  hands  this  text  is  allowed  to  be  difficult,  and  the 
difficulty  is  increased  by  our  translation,  which  is  op¬ 
posed  to  the  original  Hebrew  and  the  most  authentic 
versions.  The  Hebrew  has  ITH  hayah,  which  is  the 
third  person  preterite  tense,  and  signifies  was,  not  is. 
The  Samaritan  text ,  the  Samaritan  version,  the  Sy¬ 
riac,  and  the  Septuagint,  have  the  same  tense.  These 
lead  us  to  a  very  different  sense,  and  indicate  that  there 
is  an  ellipsis  of  some  words  which  must  be  supplied  in 
order  to  make  the  sense  complete.  A  very  learned 
man  has  ventured  the  following  paraphrase,  which 
should  not  be  lightly  regarded  :  “  And  the  Lord  God 
said ,  The  man  who  was  like  one  of  us  in  purity  and 
wisdom,  is  now  fallen  and  robbed  of  his  excellence  ; 
he  has  added  DJH1?  ladaath,  to  the  knowledge  of  the 
good,  by  his  transgression  the  knowledge  of  the  evil ; 
and  now ,  lest  he  put  forth  his  hand,  and  take  also  of 
the  tree  of  life,  and  eat  and  live  for  ever  in  this  mise¬ 
rable  state,  I  will  remove  him,  and  guard  the  place  lest 
he  should  re-enter.  Therefore  the  Lord  God  sent  him 
forth  from  the  garden  of  Edenf  Syc.  This  seems  to 
be  the  most  natural  sense  of  the  place.  Some  sup¬ 
pose  that  his  removal  from  the  tree  of  life  was  in 
mercy,  to  prevent  a  second  temptation.  He  before 
imagined  that  he  could  gain  an  increase  of  wisdom  by 
eating  of  the  tree  of  knowledge,  and  Satan  would  be 
disposed  to  tempt  him  to  endeavour  to  elude  the  sen¬ 
tence  of  death ,  by  eating  of  the  tree  of  life.  Others 
imagine  that  the  words  are  spoken  ironically ,  and  that 
the  Most  High  intended  by  a  cutting  taunt,  to  upbraid 
the  poor  culprit  for  his  offence,  because  he  broke  the 
Divine  command  in  the  expectation  of  being  like  God 
to  know  good  from  evil ;  and  now  that  he  had  lost  all 
the  good  that  God  had  designed  for  him,  and  got  nothing 
but  evil  in  its  place,  therefore  God  taunts  him  for  the 
total  miscarriage  of  his  project.  But  God  is  ever  con¬ 
sistent  with  himself ;  and  surely  his  infinite  pity  pro¬ 
hibited  the  use  of  either  sarcasm  or  irony,  in  speaking 
of  so  dreadful  a  catastrophe,  that  wras  in  the  end  to 
occasion  the  agony  and  bloody  sweat,  the  cross  and 
passion,  the  death  and  burial,  of  Him  in  whom  dwelt 
all  the  fulness  of  the  Godhead  bodily,  Col.  ii.  9. 

In  chap.  i.  26,  27,  we  have  seen  man  in  the  per¬ 
fection  of  his  nature,  the  dignity  of  his  office,  and  the 
plenitude  of  his  happiness.  Here  we  find  the  same 
creature,  but  stripped  of  his  glories  and  happiness,  so 

53 


GENESIS. 


Adam  and  Eve  expelled 

ba^oo4  23  Therefore  the  Lord  God  sent 

- -  him  forth  from  the  garden  of  Eden, 

8  to  till  the  ground  from  whence  he  was  taken. 
24  So  he  drove  out  the  man;  and  he 

8  Chapter  ii.  5  ;  iv.  2 ;  ix.  20  ;  Ecclesiastes  v.  9. - 1  Chapter 

ii.  8. 


that  the  word  man  no  longer  conveys  the  same  ideas 
it  did  before.  Man  and  intellectual  excellence  were 
before  so  intimately  connected  as  to  appear  insepara¬ 
ble  ;  man  and  misery  are  now  equally  so.  In  our  ner¬ 
vous  mother  tongue,  the  Anglo-Saxon,  we  have  found 
the  word  Irob  God  signifying,  not  only  the  Supreme 
Being,  but  also  good  or  goodness  ;  and  it  is  worthy  of 
especial  note  that  the  word  man  man,  in  the  same  lan¬ 
guage,  is  used  to  express,  not  only  the  human  being  so 
called,  both  male  and  female,  but  also  mischief,  wick¬ 
edness,  fraud ,  deceit,  and  villany.  Thus  a  simple 
monosyllable,  still  in  use  among  us  in  its  first  sense, 
conveyed  at  once  to  the  minds  of  our  ancestors  the 
two  following  particulars  :  1 .  The  human  being  in  his 
excellence,  capable  of  knowing,  loving,  and  glorifying 
his  Maker.  2.  The  human  being  in  his  fallen  state, 
capable  of  and  committing  all  kinds  of  wickedness. 
“  Obiter  hie  notandum,”  says  old  Mr.  Somner  in  his 
Saxon  Dictionary,  “  venit,  Irob  Saxonibus  et  Deum 
significasse  et  bonum  :  uti  man  et  hominem  et  nequi- 
tiam.  Here  it  is  to  be  noted,  that  among  the  Saxons 
the  term  God  signified  both  the  Divine  Being  and 
goodness,  as  the  word  man  signified  both  the  human 
being  and  wickedness .”  This  is  an  additional  proof 
that  our  Saxon  ancestors  both  thought  and  spoke  at  the 
same  time,  which,  strange  as  it  may  appear,  is  not  a 
common  case  :  their  words  in  general  are  not  arbitrary 
signs;  but  as  far  as  sounds  can  convey  the  ideal  mean¬ 
ing  of  things,  their  words  do  it ;  and  they  are  so  formed 
and  used  as  necessarily  to  bring  to  view  the  nature 
and  properties  of  those  things  of  which  they  are  the 
signs.  In  this  sense  the  Anglo-Saxon  is  inferior  only 
to  the  Hebrew. 

Verse  24.  So  he  drove  out  the  man]  Three  things 
are  noted  here:  1.  God’s  displeasure  against  sinful 
man,  evidenced  by  his  expelling  him  from  this  place 
of  blessedness  ;  2.  Man’s  unfitness  for  the  place,  of 
which  he  had  rendered  himself  unworthy  by  his  in¬ 
gratitude  and  transgression;  and,  3.  His  reluctance  to 
leave  this  place  of  happiness.  Pie  was,  as  we  may 
naturally  conclude,  unwilling  to  depart,  and  God  drove 
him  out. 

He  placed  at  the  east]  CDIpD  mikkedem,  or  before 
the  garden  of  Eden,  before  what  maybe  conceived  its 
gate  or  entrance ;  Cherubims,  tZD’injn  hakkerubim, 
the  cherubim.  Hebrew  plurals  in  the  masculine  end 
in  general  in  im :  to  add  an  s  to  this  when  we  intro¬ 
duce  such  words  into  English,  is  very  improper;  there¬ 
fore  the  word  should  be  written  cherubim,  not  cheru¬ 
bims.  But  what  were  these  1  They  are  utterly  un¬ 
known.  Conjectures  and  guesses  relative  to  their 
nature  and  properties  are  endless.  Several  think  them 
to  have  been  emblematical  representations  of  the  sacred 
Trinity,  and  bring  reasons  and  scriptures  in  support 
of  their  opinion ;  but  as  I  am  not  satisfied  that  this 
opinion  is  correct,  I  will  not  trouble  the  reader  with  it. 

54 


from  the  garden. 

placed  t  at  the  east  of  the  garden  bAc^'0J4 

of  Eden  u  Cherubims,  and  a  flaming  - - 

sword  which  turned  every  way,  to  keep  the 
way  of  the  tree  of  life. 

u  Exod.  xxv.  2,  20  ;  1  Kings  vi.  25-28 ;  Josh.  v.  13  ;  Psa.  civ.  4 ; 

Heb.  i.  7. 

From  the  description  in  Exod.  xxvi.  1,  31  ;  1  Kings 
vi.  29,  32  ;  2  Chron.  iii.  14,  it  appears  that  the  cherubs 
were  sometimes  represented  with  two  faces,  namely, 
those  of  a  lion  and  of  a  man ;  but  from  Ezek.  i.  5, 
&c.  ;  x.  20,  21,  we  find  that  they  had  four  faces  and 
four  wings ;  the  faces  were  those  of  a  man,  a  lion , 
an  ox,  and  an  eagle ;  but  it  seems  there  was  but  one 
body  to  these  heads.  The  two-faced  cherubs  were 
such  as  were  represented  on  the  curtains  and  veil  of 
the  tabernacle,  and  on  the  wall,  doors,  and  veil  of  the 
temple  ;  those  with  four  faces  appeared  only  in  the 
holy  of  holies. 

The  word  3“Q  or  31“0  kerub  never  appears  as  a  verb 
in  the  Hebrew  Bible,  and  therefore  is  justly  supposed 
to  be  a  word  compounded  of  2  ke  a  particle  of  resem¬ 
blance,  like  to,  like  as,  and  3*1  rab,  he  was  great,  pow¬ 
erful,  dfc.  Hence  it  is  very  likely  that  the  cherubs, 
to  whatever  order  of  beings  they  belonged,  were  em¬ 
blems  of  the  all-mighty,  and  were  those  creatures  by 
whom  he  produced  the  great  effects  of  his  power. 
The  word  22  rab  is  a  character  of  the  Most  High, 
Prov.  xxvi.  10  :  The  great  God  who  formed  all;  and 
again  in  Psa.  xlviii.  2,  where  he  is  called  the  Great 
King,  3*1  ■jbT)  melech  rab.  But  though  this  is  rarely 
applied  as  a  character  of  the  Supreme  Being  in  the 
Hebrew  Bible,  yet  it  is  a  common  appellative  of 
the  Deity  in  the  Arabic  language.  rab,  and 

>—D  rabhilalameen  Lord  of  both  worlds,  or, 
Lord  of  the  universe,  are  expressions  repeatedly  used 
to  point  out  the  almighty  energy  and  supremacy  of 
God.  On  this  ground,  I  suppose,  the  cherubim  were 
emblematical  representations  of  the  eternal  power  and 
Godhead  of  the  Almighty.  These  angelic  beings 
were  for  a  time  employed  in  guarding  the  entrance  to 
Paradise,  and  keeping  the  way  of  or  road  to  the  tree 
of  life.  This,  I  say,  for  a  time ;  for  it  is  very  pro¬ 
bable  that  God  soon  removed  the  tree  of  life,  and 
abolished  the  garden,  so  that  its  situation  could  never 
after  be  positively  ascertained. 

By  the  flaming  sivord  turning  every  way,  or  flame 
folding  back  upon  itself,  we  may  understand  the  for¬ 
midable  appearances  which  these  cherubim  assumed, 
in  order  to  render  the  passage  to  the  tree  of  life  inac¬ 
cessible. 

Thus  terminates  this  most  awful  tragedy  ;  a  tragedy 
in  which  all  the  actors  are  slain,  in  which  the  most 
awful  murders  are  committed,  and  the  whole  universe 
ruined !  The  serpent,  so  called,  is  degraded ;  the 
woman  cursed  with  pains,  miseries,  and  a  subjection  to 
the  will  of  her  husband,  which  was  never  omginally 
designed ;  the  man,  the  lord  of  this  lower  world, 
doomed  to  incessant  labour  and  toil ;  and  the  earth 
itself  cursed  with  comparative  barrenness  !  To  com¬ 
plete  all,  the  garden  of  pleasure  is  interdicted,  and 
this  man,  who  was  made  after  the  image  of  God,  and 
who  would  be  like  him,  shamefully  expelled  from  a 

a 


General  observations 


CHAP.  IV. 


place  where  pure  spirits  alone  could  dwell.  Yet  in 
the  midst  of  wrath  God  remembers  mercy,  and  a  pro¬ 
mise  of  redemption  from  this  degraded  and  cursed  state 
is  made  to  them  through  HIM  who,  in  the  fulness  of 
time,  is  to  be  made  flesh,  and  who,  by  dying  for  the 
sin  of  the  world,  shall  destroy  the  power  of  Satan, 
and  deliver  all  who  trust  in  the  merit  of  his  sacrifice 
from  the  power,  guilt,  and  nature  of  sin,  and  thus 
prepare  them  for  the  celestial  Paradise  at  the  right 
hand  of  God.  Reader,  hast  thou  repented  of  thy  sinl 
for  often  hast  thou  sinned  after  the  similitude  of  thy 
ancestor’s  transgression.  Hast  thou  sought  and  found 
redemption  in  the  blood  of  the  Lamb  1  Art  thou  saved 
from  a  disposition  which  led  thy  first  parents  to  trans¬ 
gress  1  Art  thou  living  a  life  of  dependence  on  thy 
Creator,  and  of  faith  and  loving  obedience  to  him  who 
died  for  thee  \  Wilt  thou  live  under  the  curse,  and 
die  eternally  1  God  forbid  !  Return  to  him  with  all 
thy  soul,  and  receive  this  exhortation  as  a  call  from 
his  mercy. 

To  what  has  already  been  said  on  the  awful  con¬ 
tents  of  this  chapter,  I  can  add  little  that  can  either 
set  it  in  a  clearer  light,  or  make  its  solemn  subject 
more  impressive.  We  see  here  that  by  the  subtlety 
and  envy  of  the  devil  sin  entered  into  the  world,  and 
death  by  sin  ;  and  we  find  that  death  reigned,  not  only 
from  Adam  to  Moses,  but  from  Moses  to  the  present 
day.  How  abominable  must  sin  be  in  the  sight  of 
God,  when  it  has  not  only  defaced  his  own  image  from 
the  soul  of  man,  but  has  also  become  a  source  of  natu¬ 
ral  and  moral  evil  throughout  every  part  of  the  globe! 
Disruption  and  violence  appear  in  every  part  of  na¬ 
ture  ;  vice,  profligacy,  and  misery,  through  all  the 
tribes  of  men  and  orders  of  society.  It  is  true  that 
where  sin  hath  abounded,  there  grace  doth  much  more 
abound;  but  men  shut  their  eyes  against  the  light,  and 
harden  their  hearts  against  the  truth.  Sin,  which  be¬ 
comes  propagated  into  the  world  by  natural  generation, 
growing  with  the  growth  and  strengthening  with  the 
strength  of  man,  would  be  as  endless  in  its  duration, 
as  unlimited  in  its  influence,  did,  not  God  check  and 
restrain  it  by  his  grace,  and  cut  off  its  extending  influ¬ 
ence  in  the  incorrigibly  wicked  by  means  of  death. 
How  wonderful  is  the  economy  of  God  !  That  which 
entered  into  the  world  as  one  of  the  prime  fruits  and 
effects  of  sin,  is  now  an  instrument  in  his  hands  to 


on  the  preceding  chapter . 

prevent  the  extension  of  its  contagion.  If  men,  now 
so  greatly  multiplied  on  the  earth,  and  fertile  in  mis¬ 
chievous  inventions,  were  permitted  to  live  nearly  a 
thousand  years,  as  in  the  ancient  world,  to  mature  and 
perfect  their  infectious  and  destructive  counsels,  what 
a  sum  of  iniquity  and  ruin  would  the  face  of  the  earth 
present!  Even  while  they  are  laying  plans  to  extend 
the  empire  of  death,  God,  by  the  very  means  of  death 
itself,  prevents  the  completion  of  their  pernicious  and 
diabolic  designs.  Thus  what  man,  by  his  wilful  obsti¬ 
nacy  does  not  permit  grace  to  correct  and  restrain, 
God,  by  his  sovereign  power,  brings  in  death  to  con¬ 
trol.  It  is  on  this  ground  that  wicked  and  blood-thirsty 
men  live  not  out  half  their  days  ;  and  what  a  mercy 
to  the  world  that  it  is  so  !  They  who  will  not  submit 
to  the  sceptre  of  mercy  shall  be  broken  in  pieces  by 
the  rod  of  iron.  Reader,  provoke  not  the  Lord  to 
displeasure  ;  thou  art  not  stronger  than  he.  Grieve 
not  his  Spirit,  provoke  him  not  to  destroy  thee  ;  why 
shouldst  thou  die  before  thy  time  ?  Thou  hast  sinned 
much,  and  needest  every  moment  of  thy  short  life  to 
make  thy  calling  and  election  sure.  Shouldst  thou 
provoke  God,  by  thy  perseverance  in  iniquity,  to  cut 
thee  off  by  death  before  this  great  work  is  done,  better 
for  thee  thou  hadst  never  been  born  ! 

How  vain  are  all  attempts  to  attain  immortality 
here  !  For  some  thousands  of  years  men  have  been 
labouring  to  find  out  means  to  prevent  death  ;  and  some 
have  even  boasted  that  they  had  found  out  a  medicine 
capable  of  preserving  life  for  ever,  by  resisting  all  the 
attacks  of  disease,  and  incessantly  repairing  all  the 
wastes  of  the  human  machine.  That  is,  the  alchy- 
mistic  philosophers  would  have  the  world  to  believe 
that  they  had  found  out  a  private  passage  to  the  tree 
of  immortality  ;  but  their  own  deaths,  in  the  common 
order  of  nature,  as  well  as  the  deaths  of  the  millions 
which  make  no  such  pretensions,  are  not  only  a  suffi¬ 
cient  confutation  of  their  baseless  systems,  but  also  a 
continual  proof  that  the  cherubim ,  with  their  flaming 
swords,  are  turning  every  ivay  to  keep  the  passage  of 
the  tree  of  life.  Life  and  immortality  are,  however, 
brought  to  light  by  the  Gospel ;  and  he  only  who  keep- 
eth  the  sayings  of  the  Son  of  God  shall  live  for  ever. 
Though  the  body  is  dead — consigned  to  death,  because 
of  sin,  yet  the  spirit  is  life  because  of  righteousness ; 
and  on  those  who  are  influenced  by  this  Spirit  of 
I  righteousness,  the  second  death  shall  have  no  power. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

The  birth,  trade ,  and  religion  of  Cain  and  Abel,  1—7.  Cain  murders  his  brother  Abel,  8.  God  calls  him 
into  judgment  for  it,  9,  10.  He  is  cursed,  11,  12.  He  despairs ,  13,  14.  A  promise  given  him  of  pre¬ 
servation,  and  a  mark  set  on  him  to  prevent  his  being  killed,  15.  He  departs  from  God's  presence,  16. 
Has  a  son  whom  he  calls  Enoch;  and  builds  a  city,  which  he  calls  after  his  name ,  17.  Cain  has  several 
children,  among  whom  are  Lamech,  the  first  bigamist ,  18,  19.  Jabal,  who  taught  the  use  of  tents  and 
feeding  cattle,  20.  Jubal ,  the  inventor  of  musical  instruments,  21.  Tubal-cain,  the  inventor  of  smith- 
work,  22.  Strange  speech  of  Lamech  to  his  wives ,  23,  24.  Seth  born  to  Adam  and  Eve  in  the  place  of 
Abel ,  25.  Enoch  born,  and  the  worship  of  God  restored ,  26. 

a  55 


Cain  and  Abel  born. 


GENESIS. 


They  present  offerings. 


B^c^4003  A  ND  Adam  knew  Eve  his  wife  ; 

- -  and  she  conceived,  and  hare 

a  Cain,  and  said,  I  have  gotten  a  man  from 
the  Lord. 

2  And  she  again  bare  his  brother  b  Abel. 
And  Abel  was  c  a  keeper  of  sheep,  but  Cain 
was  d  a  tiller  of  the  ground. 


3  And  e  in  process  of  time  it  came  ^ 

to  pass,  that  Cain  brought  f  of  the - 5 - • 

fruit  of  the  ground  an  offering  unto  the  Lord 

4  And  Abel,  he  also  brought  of  s  the  first¬ 
lings  of  his  11  flock,  and  of  the  fat  thereof/ 
And  the  Lord  had  1  respect  unto  Abel  and  to 
his  offering ; 


That  is,  gotten  or  acquired. - b  Heb.  Hebei. - cHeb.  a 

feeder ,  ver.  25,  29  ;  1  John  iii.  10,  12,  15 ;  Psa.  cxxvii.  3  ; 
John  viii.  44. 


d  Chap.  iii.  23  ;  ix.  20. - e  Heb.  at  the  end  of  days. - fNum. 

xviii.  12. - s  Num.  xviii.  17 ;  Prov.  iii.  9. - h  Heb.  sheep  or 

goats. - 1  Heb.  xi.  4. 


NOTES  ON  CHAP.  IV. 

Verse  1.  I  have  gotten  a  man  from  the  Lord.] 
Cain,  |'p,  signifies  acquisition;  hence  Eve  says  TUp 
kanithi,  I  have  gotten  or  acquired  a  man,  HUT  JIN 
eth  Yehovah,  the  Lord.  It  is  extremely  difficult  to 
ascertain  the  sense  in  which  Eve  used  these  words, 
which  have  been  as  variously  translated  as  understood. 
Most  expositors  think  that  Eve  imagined  Cain  to  be 
the  promised  seed  that  should  bruise  the  head  of  the 
serpent.  This  exposition  really  seems  too  refined  for 
that  period.  It  is  very  likely  that  she  meant  no  more 
than  to  acknowledge  that  it  was  through  God’s  pecu¬ 
liar  blessing  that  she  was  enabled  to  conceive  and  bring 
forth  a  son,  and  that  she  had  now  a  well-grounded  hope 
that  the  race  of  man  should  be  continued  on  the  earth. 
Unless  she  had  been  under  Divine  inspiration  she  could 
not  have  called  her  son  (even  supposing  him  to  be  the 
promised  seed)  Jehovah ;  and  that  she  was  not  under 
such  an  influence  her  mistake  sufficiently  proves,  for 
Cain ,  so  far  from  being  the  Messiah,  was  of  the  wicked 
one  ;  I  John  iii.  12.  We  may  therefore  suppose  that 
mrr  nx  eth  Yehovah ,  the  Lord,  is  an  elliptical  form 
of  expression  for  ni!T  fiiO  meeth  Yehovah ,  from  the 
Lord,  or  through  the  Divine  blessing . 

Verse  2.  And  she  again  hare  his  brother  Abel.] 
Literally,  She  added  to  bear  (mb1?  vattoseph 

laledeth)  his  brother.  From  the  very  face  of  this  ac¬ 
count  it  appears  evident  that  Cain  and  Abel  were  twins. 
In  most  cases  where  a  subject  of  this  kind  is  intro¬ 
duced  in  the  Holy  Scriptures,  and  the  successive  births 
of  children  of  the  same  parents  are  noted,  the  acts  of 
conceiving  and  bringing  forth  are  mentioned  in  refer¬ 
ence  to  each  child ;  here  it  is  not  said  that  she  con¬ 
ceived  and  brought  forth  Abel,  but  simply  she  added  to 
bring  forth  Abel  his  brother ;  that  is,  as  I  understand 
it,  Cain  was  the  first-born,  Abel,  his  twin  brother,  came 
next. 

Abel  ivas  a  keeper  of  sheep]  Adam  was  originally 
a  gardener ,  Abel  a  shepherd ,  and  Cain  an  agriculturist 
ox  farmer.  These  were  the  three  primitive  employ¬ 
ments,  and,  I  may  add,  the  most  rational,  and  conse¬ 
quently  the  best  calculated  to  prevent  strife  and  an 
immoderate  love  of  the  world. 

Verse  3.  In  process  of  time]  D',D'1  VpD  mikkets 
yamim,  at  the  end  of  days.  Some  think  tne  anniver¬ 
sary  of  the  creation  to  be  here  intended  ;  it  is  more 
probable  that  it  means  the  Sabbath ,  on  which  Adam 
and  his  family  undoubtedly  offered  oblations  to  God, 
as  the  Divine  worship  was  certainly  instituted,  and  no 
doubt  the  Sabbath  properly  observed  in  that  family. 
This  worship  was,  in  its  original  institution,  very  sim- 

56 


pie.  It  appears  to  have  consisted  of  two  parts  :  1. 
Thanksgiving  to  God  as  the  author  and  dispenser  of 
all  the  bounties  of  nature,  and  oblations  indicative  of 
that  gratitude.  2.  Piacular  sacrifices  to  his  justice 
and  holiness,  implying  a  conviction  of  their  own  sin¬ 
fulness,  confession  of  transgression,  and  faith  in  the 
promised  Deliverer.  If  we  collate  the  passage  here 
with  the  apostle’s  allusion  to  it,  Heb.  xi.  4,  we  shall 
see  cause  to  form  this  conclusion. 

Cain  brought  of  the  fruit  of  the  ground  an  offer¬ 
ing]  npLD  minchah,  unto  the  Lord.  The  word  min- 
chah  is  explained,  Lev.  ii.  1,  &c.,  to  be  an  offering  of 
fine  flour ,  ivith  oil  and  frankincense .*  It  was  in  gene¬ 
ral  a  eucharistic  or  gratitude  offering,  and  is  simply 
what  is  implied  in  the  fruits  of  the  ground  brought  by 
Cain  to  the  Lord,  by  which  he  testified  his  belief  in 
him  as  the  Lord  of  the  universe,  and  the  dispenser  of 
secular  blessings. 

Verse  4.  Abel ,  he  also  brought  of  the  firstlings  of 
his  flock]  Dr.  Kennicott  contends  that  the  words  he 
also  brought,  KID  DJ  hebi  gam  hu,  should  be 

translated,  Abel  brought  it  also,  i.  e.  a  minchah  ox 
gratitude  offering ;  and  beside  this  he  brought  of  the 
first-born  (nV"D2rD  mibbechorolh )  of  his  flock,  and  it  was 
by  this  alone  that  he  acknowledged  himself  a  sinner, 
and  professed  faith  in  the  promised  Messiah.  To  this 
circumstance  the  apostle  seems  evidently  to  allude, 
Heb.  xi.  4  :  By  faith  Abel  offered  nleiova  dvcnav,  a 
more  or  greater  sacrifice ;  not  a  more  excellent,  (for 
this  is  no  meaning  of  the  word  irh euov,)  which  leads 
us  to  infer,  according  to  Dr.  Kennicott,  that  Abel,  be¬ 
sides  his  minchah  or  gratitude  offering,  brought  also 
Ovma,  a  victim,  to  be  slain  for  his  sins ;  and  this  he 
chose  out  of  the  first-born  of  his  flock,  which,  in  the 
order  of  God,  was  a  representation  of  the  Lamb  of 
God  that  was  to  take  away  the  sin  of  the  world ;  and 
what  confirms  this  exposition  more  is  the  observation 
of  the  apostle  :  God  testifying  roig  dopocp,  of  his  gifts, 
which  certainly  shows  he  brought  more  than  one.  Ac¬ 
cording  to  this  interpretation,  Cain,  the  father  of  Deism, 
not  acknowledging  the  necessity  of  a  vicarious  sacri¬ 
fice,  nor  feeling  his  need  of  an  atonement,  according 
to  the  dictates  of  his  natural  religion,  brought  a  min¬ 
chah  or  eucharistic  offering  to  the  God  of  the  universe. 
Abel,  not  less  grateful  for  the  produce  of  his  fields  and 
the  increase  of  his  flocks,  brought  a  similar  offering, 
and  by  adding  a  sacrifice  to  it  paid  a  proper  regard  to 
the  will  of  God  as  far  as  it  had  then  been  revealed, 
acknowledged  himself  a  sinner ,  and  thus,  deprecating 
the  Divine  displeasure,  showed  forth  the  death  of  Christ 
till  he  came,  Thus  his  offerings  were  accepted,  whils) 

a 


CHAP.  IV/ 


God  reasons  with  him . 


Cain's  offering  is  rejected. 

A.  M.  cir.129.  5  J3ut  unto  Cain  and  to  his  offer- 

B.  C.  cir.  3875. 

-  ing  he  had  not  respect.  And  Cain 

was  very  wroth,  k  and  his  countenance  fell. 

6  And  the  Lord  said  unto  Cain,  Why  art 
thou  wroth  ?  and  why  is  thy  countenance 
fallen  ? 


kChap.  xxxi.  2;  Num.  xvi.  15;  Isa.  iii.  10,  11;  Psalm 

xx.  3. 


those  of  Cain  were  rejected ;  for  this,  as  the  apostle 
says,  was  done  by  faith,  and  therefore  he  obtained 
witness  that  he  was  righteous,  or  a  justified  person, 
God  testifying  with  his  gifts,  the  thank-offering  and 
the  sin-offering ,  by  accepting  them,  that  faith  in  the 
promised  seed  was  the  only  way  in  which  he  could 
accept  the  services  and  offerings  of  mankind.  Dr. 
Magee,  in  his  Discourses  on  the  Atonement,  criticises 
the  opinion  of  Dr.  Kennicott,  and  contends  that  there 
is  no  ground  for  the  distinction  made  by  the  latter  on 
the  words  he  also  brought ;  and  shows  that  though  the 
minchah  in  general  signifies  an  unbloody  offering,  yet 
it  is  also  used  to  express  both  kinds,  and  that  the  min¬ 
chah  in  question  is  to  be  understood  of  the  sacrifice 
then  offered  by  Abel.  I  do  not  see  that  we  gain  much 
by  this  counter-criticism.  See  ver.'7. 

Verse  5.  Unto  Cain ]  As  being  unconscious  of  his 
sinfulness,  and  consequently  unhumbled,  and  to  his  of¬ 
fering ,  as  not  being  accompanied,  as  Abel’s  was,  with 
faith  and  a  sacrifice  for  sin,  he  had  not  respect — He 
could  not,  consistently  with  his  holiness  and  justice, 
approve  of  the  one  or  receive  the  other.  Of  the  man¬ 
ner  in  which  God  testified  his  approbation  we  are  not 
informed  ;  it  was  probably,  as  in  the  case  of  Elijah,  by 
sending  down  fire  from  heaven,  and  consuming  the 
sacrifice. 

Cain  was  very  wroth ]  That  displeasure  which 
should  have  been  turned  against  his  own  unhumbled 
heart  was  turned  against  his  innocent  brother,  who, 
though  not  more  highly  privileged  than  he,  made  a 
much  better  use  of  the  advantages  which  he  shared  in 
common  with  his  ungodly  and  unnatural  brother. 

Verse  6.  Why  art  thou  wroth  ?]  This  was  de¬ 
signed  as  a  gracious  warning,  and  a  preventive  of  the 
meditated  crime. 

Verse  7.  If  thou  doest  well\  That  which  is  right 
in  the  sight  of  God,  shalt  thou  not  be  accepted  ?  Does 
God  reject  any  man  who  serves  him  in  simplicity  and 
godly  sincerity  1  But  if  thou  doest  not  well ,  can  wrath 
and  indignation  against  thy  righteous  brother  save  thee 
from  the  displeasure  under  which  thou  art  fallen  1  On 
the  contrary,  have  recourse  to  thy  Maker  for  mercy  ; 
yin  UNDP!  nnsS  lappethach  chattath  robots ,  a  sin-of¬ 
fering  lieth  at  thy  door  ;  an  animal  proper  to  be  offered 
as  an  atonement  for  sin  is  now  couching  at  the  door 
of  thy  fold. 

The  words  ilXDH  chattath ,  and  HXDn  chattaah,  fre¬ 
quently  signify  sin ;  but  1  have  observed  more  than  a 
hundred  places  in  the  Old  Testament  where  they  are 
used  for  sin-offering ,  and  translated  ayapria  by  the 
Septuagint,  which  is  the  term  the  apostle  uses,  2  Cor. 
v.  21  :  He  hath  made  him  to  be  sin  (upaprtav,  a  sin- 
offering)  for  us,  who  knew  no  sin.  Cain’s  fault  now 

a 


7  If  thou  doest  well,  shalt  thou  Jf.  ?i..  129. 

1  not  be  accepted  ?  and  if  thou  - 

doest  not  well,  sin  lieth  at  the  door.  And 
m  unto  thee  shall  he  his  desire,  and  thou  shalt 
rule  over  him. 

8  And  Cain  talked  with  Abel  his  brother  : 


1  Or,  have  the  excellency ;  Heb.  xi.  4 ;  Prov.  xxi.  27  ;  Job  xxix.  4. 
m  Or,  subject  unto  thee;  chap.  iii.  16. 


was  his  not  bringing  a  sin-offering  when  his  brother 
brought  one,  and  his  neglect  and  contempt  caused  his 
other  offering  to  be  rejected.  However,  God  now 
graciously  informs  him  that,  though  he  had  miscarried, 
his  case  was  not  yet  desperate,  as  the  means  of  faith, 
from  the  promise,  &c.,  were  in  his  power,  and  a  vic¬ 
tim  proper  for  a  sin-offering  was  lying  (pm  robets,  a 
word  used  to  express  the  lying  down  of  a  quadruped) 
at  the  door  of  his  fold.  How  many  sinners  perish, 
not  because  there  is  not  a  Saviour  able  and  willing  to 
save  them,  but  because  they  will  not  use  that  which 
is  within  their  power  !  Of  such  how  true  is  that  word 
of  our  Lord,  Ye  will  not  come  unto  me  that  ye  might 
have  life ! 

Unto  thee  shall  be  his  desire,  c fc.]  That  is,  Thou 
shalt  ever  have  the  right  of  primogeniture,  and  in  all 
things  shall  thy  brother  be  subject  unto  thee.  These 
words  are  not  spoken  of  sin,  as  many  have  understood 
them,  but  of  AbeVs  submission  to  Cain  as  his  superior, 
and  the  words  are  spoken  to  remove  Cain’s  envy. 

Verse  8.  Cain  talked  ivith  Abel  his  brother ] 
pp  "1DNU  vaiyomer  Kayin,  and  Cain  said,  <fc.  ;  not 
talked,  for  this  construction  the  word  cannot  bear  without 
great  violence  to  analogy  and  grammatical  accuracy. 
But  why  should  it  be  thus  translated  ?  Because  our 
translators  could  not  find  that  any  thing  was  spoken 
on  the  occasion ;  and  therefore  they  ventured  to  inti¬ 
mate  that  there  was  a  conversation,  indefinitely.  In 
the  most  correct  editions  of  the  Hebrew  Bible  there 
is  a  small  space  left  here  in  the  text,  and  a  circular 
mark  which  refers  to  a  note  in  the  margin,  intimating 
that  there  is  a  hiatus  or  deficiency  in  the  verse.  Now 
this  deficiency  is  supplied  in  the  principal  ancient  ver¬ 
sions,  and  in  the  Samaritan  text.  In  this  the  supplied 
words  are,  Let  us  walk  out  into  the  field.  The 
Syriac  has,  Let  us  go  to  the  desert.  The  Vulgate 
Egrediamur  foras,  Let  us  walk  out.  The  Septuagint, 
AieTidoysv  etc  to  tteSlov,  Let  us  go  out  into  the  field. 
The  two  Chaldee  Targums  have  the  same  reading ; 
so  has  the  Coptic  version.  This  addition  is  com¬ 
pletely  lost  from  every  MS.  of  the  Pentateuch  now 
known ;  and  yet  it  is  sufficiently  evident  from  the  Sa¬ 
maritan  text,  the  Samaritan  version,  the  Syriac,  Sep¬ 
tuagint,  and  Vulgate,  that  it  was  in  the  most  authentic 
copies  of  the  Hebrew  before  and  some  time  since  the 
Christian  era.  The  words  may  therefore  be  safely 
considered  as  a  part  of  the  sacred  text,  and  with  them 
the  whole  passage  reads  clear  and  consistently  ;  “And 
Cain  said  unto  Abel  his  brother,  Let  us  go  out  into 
the  field  :  and  it  came  to  pass,  when  they  were  in  the 
field,  that  Cain  rose  up,”  &c.  The  Jerusalem  Tar- 
gum,  and  the  Targum  of  Jonathan  ben  Uzziel,  pretend 
to  give  us  the  subject  of  their  conversation ;  as  the 

57 


Cain  slays  his  brother. 

b  c1  di-r  3875  anc^  ^  came  to  Pass5  when  they 
-  were  in  the  field,  that  Cain  rose 

up  against  Abel  his  brother,  and  n  slew  him. 

9  And  the  Lord  said  unto  Cain,  0  Where 
is  Abel  thy  brother  ?  And  he  said,  p  I  know 
not :  Am  I  my  brother’s  keeper  ? 

10  And  he  said,  What  hast  thou  done  ?  the 
voice  of  thy  brother’s  blood  r  crieth  unto  me 
from  the  ground. 

1 1  And  now  art  thou  cursed  from  the  earth, 

n  Job  xi.  15  ;  Psa.  xxiv.  3-6  ;  lv.  21 ;  cxxxix.  19  ;  Wisd.  x.  3  ; 

Matt,  xxiii.  35  ;  1  John  iii.  12 ;  Jude  11. - 0  Chap.  iii.  9,  11  ; 

Psa.  ix.  12. - p  Job  xxii.  13,  14  ;  Psa.  x.  13, 14;  John  via.  44. 

9  Heb.  bloods. 

piece  is  curious,  I  shall  insert  the  substance  of  it,  for  the 
sake  of  those  who  may  not  have  access  to  the  originals. 

“  And  Cain  said  unto  Hebei  his  brother,  Let  us  go 
out  into  the  field  ;  and  it  came  to  pass  that,  when  they 
were  in  the  field,  Cain  answered  and  said  to  Hebei  his 
brother,  I  thought  that  the  world  was  created  in  mer¬ 
cy,  but  it  is  not  governed  according  to  the  merit  of 
good  works,  nor  is  there  any  judgment,  nor  a  Judge, 
nor  shall  there  be  any  future  state  in  which  good  re¬ 
wards  shall  be  given  to  the  righteous,  or  punishment 
executed  on  the  wicked  ;  and  now  there  is  respect  of 
persons  in  judgment.  On  what  account  is  it  that  thy 
sacrifice  has  been  accepted,  and  mine  not  received  with 
complacency  1  And  Hebei  answered  and  said,  The 
world  was  created  in  mercy,  and  it  is  governed  accord¬ 
ing  to  the  fruit  of  good  works  ;  there  is  a  Judge,  a 
future  world,  and  a  coming  judgment,  where  good  re¬ 
wards  shall  be  given  to  the  righteous,  and  the  impious 
punished  ;  and  there  is  no  respect  of  persons  in  judg¬ 
ment  ;  but  because  my  works  were  better  and  more 
precious  than  thine,  my  oblation  was  received  with 
complacency.  And  because  of  these  things  they  con¬ 
tended  on  the  face  of  the  field,  and  Cain  rose  up 
against  Ilebel  his  brother,  and  struck  a  stone  into  his 
forehead,  and  killed  him.” 

It  is  here  supposed  that  the  first  murder  committed 
in  the  world  was  the  consequence  of  a  religious  dis¬ 
pute  ;  however  this  may  have  been,  millions  since 
have  been  sacrificed  to  prejudice,  bigotry,  and  intole¬ 
rance.  Here,  certainly,  originated  the  many-headed 
monster,  religious  'persecution ;  the  spirit  of  the  wicked 
one  in  his  followers  impels  them  to  afflict  and  destroy 
all  those  who  are  partakers  of  the  Spirit  of  God. 
Every  persecutor  is  a  legitimate  son  of  the  old  mur¬ 
derer.  This  is  the  first  triumph  of  Satan  ;  it  is  not 
merely  a  death  that  he  has  introduced,  but  a  violent 
one,  as  the  first-fruits  of  sin.  It  is  not  the  death  of 
an  ordinary  person,  but  of  the  most  holy  man  then  in 
being ;  it  is  not  brought  about  by  the  providence  of 
God,  or  by  a  gradual  failure  and  destruction  of  the 
earthly  fabric,  but  by  a  violent  separation  of  body  and 
soul ;  it  is  not  done  by  a  common  enemy ,  from  whom 
nothing  better  could  be  expected,  but  by  the  hand  of  a 
brother ,  and  for  no  other  reason  but  because  the  object 
of  his  envy  was  more  righteous  than  himself.  Alas  ! 
how  exceeding  sinful  does  sin  appear  in  its  first  mani¬ 
festation  ! 


His  'punishment. 

which  hath  opened  her  mouth  to  Jf- 

receive  thy  brother’s  blood  from  - - 

thy  hand  ; 

12  When  thou  tillest  the  ground,  it  shall  not 
henceforth  yield  unto  thee  her  strength  ;  a  fugi¬ 
tive  and  a  vagabond  shalt  thou  be  m  the  earth. 

13  And  Cain  said  unto  the  Lord,  s  My 
punishment  is  greater  than  I  can  bear. 

14  t  Behold,  thou  hast  driven  me  out  this  day 
from  the  face  of  the  earth  ;  and  u  from  thy 

r  Acts  v.  3,  9 ;  Heb.  xii.  24 ;  James  v.  4 ;  Rev.  vi.  10. - s  Or, 

Mine  iniquity  is  greater  than  that  it  may  be  forgiven  ;  Rev.  xvi.  9. 

1  Job  xv.  20-24 ;  Prov.  xiv.  32 ;  xxviii.  1  ;  Psa.  cxliii.  7 ; 

2  Thess.  i.  9. - u  Psa.  li.  11. 


Verse  10.  The  voice  of  thy  brother's  blood ]  It  is 
probable  that  Cain,  having  killed  his  brother,  dug  a 
hole  and  buried  him  in  the  earth,  hoping  thereby  to 
prevent  the  murder  from  being  known  ;  and  that  this 
is  what  is  designed  in  the  words,  Thy  brother’s  blood 
crieth  unto  me  from  the  ground — which  hath  opened 
her  mouth  to  receive  it  from  thy  hand.  Some  think 
that  by  the  voice  of  thy  brother’s  blood  the  cries  of 
Abel’s  widow  and  children  are  to  be  understood,  as  it 
is  very  probable  that  he  was  father  of  a  family  ;  in¬ 
deed  his  occupation  and  sacrifices  seem  to  render  this 
probable,  and  probability  is  all  we  can  expect  on  such 
a  subject.  God  represents  these  as  calling  aloud  for 
the  punishment  of  the  murderer ;  and  it  is  evident  that 
Cain  expected  to  fall  by  the  hands  of  some  person 
who,  from  his  consanguinity ,  had  the  right  of  the  aven¬ 
ger  of  blood  ;  for  now  that  the  murder  is  found  out, 
he  expects  to  suffer  death  for  it.  See  ver.  14. 

Verse  12.  A  fugitive  and  a  vagabond  shalt  thou  be j 
Thou  shalt  be  expelled  from  the  presence  of  God,  and 
from  thy  family  connections,  and  shalt  have  no  fixed 
secure  residence  in  any  place.  The  Septuagint  ren¬ 
der  this  otcvcov  nai  rpeycov  coy,  thou  shalt  be  groaning 
and  trembling  upon  the  earth — the  horror  of  thy  crime 
shall  ever  haunt  thee,  and  thou  shaft  never  have  any 
well-grounded  hope  that  God  will  remit  the  punish¬ 
ment  thou  deservest.  No  state  out  of  endless  perdi¬ 
tion  can  be  considered  more  awful  than  this. 

Verse  13.  My  punishment  is  greater  than  I  can 
bear.}  The  margin  reads,  Mine  iniquity  is  greater  than 
that  it  may  be  forgiven.  The  original  words,  'Jiy  bnj 
KUMD  gadol  avoni  minneso,  may  be  translated,  Is  my 
crime  too  great  to  be  forgiven  1  words  which  we  may 
presume  he  uttered  on  the  verge  of  black  despair.  It 
is  most  probable  that  jiy  avon  signifies  rather  the  crime 
than  the  punishment ;  in  this  sense  it  is  used  Lev. 
xxvi.  41,  43  ;  1  Sam.  xxviii.  10  ;  2  Kings  vii.  9  ;  and 
tftyj  nasa  signifies  to  remit  or  forgive.  The  marginal 
reading  is,  therefore,  to  be  preferred  to  that  in  the 
text. 

Verse  14.  Behold,  thou  hast  driven  me  out ]  In 
verses  11,  12,  God  states  two  parts  of  Cain’s  punish¬ 
ment  :  1.  The  ground  was  cursed,  so  that  it  was  not 

to  yield  any  adequate  recompense  for  his  most  careful 
tillage.  2.  He  was  to  be  a  fugitive  and  a  vagabond, 
having  no  place  in  which  he  could  dwell  with  com¬ 
fort  or  security.  To  these  Cain  himself  adds  others. 


GENESIS. 


58 


CHAP.  IV. 


The  despair  of  Cain. 

A.  M.  cir.  129.  face  shall  I  be  hid  ;  and  I  shall 

-  be  a  fugitive  and  a  vagabond  in 

the  earth :  and  it  shall  come  to  pass,  v  that 
every  one  that  findeth  me  shall  slay  me. 

15  And  the  Lord  said  unto  him,  There¬ 
fore  whosoever  slayeth  Cain,  vengeance  shall 

v  Chap.  ix.  6;  Num.  xxxv.  19,  21,  27.' - w  Psa.  lxxix.  12. 

1 .  His  being  hidden  from  the  face  of  God  ;  which  ap¬ 
pears  to  signify  his  being  expelled  from  that  particular 
place  where  God  had  manifested  his  presence,  in  or 
contiguous  to  Paradise,  whither  our  first  parents  re¬ 
sorted  as  to  an  oracle,  and  where  they  offered  their 
daily  adorations.  So  in  verse  16,  it  is  said,  Cain  went 
out  from  the  presence  of  the  Lord ,  and  was  not  per¬ 
mitted  any  more  to  associate  with  the  family  in  acts 
of  religious  worship.  2.  The  continual  apprehension 
of  being  slain,  as  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  earth  were 
at  that  time  of  the  same  family ,  the  parents  themselves 
still  alive,  and  each  having  a  right  to  kill  this  mur¬ 
derer  of  his  relative.  Add  to  all  this,  3.  The  terrors 
of  a  guilty  conscience ;  his  awful  apprehension  of 
God’s  judgments,  and  of  being  everlastingly  banished 
from  the  beatific  vision.  To  this  part  of  the  punish¬ 
ment  of  Cain  St.  Paul  probably  alludes,  2  Thess.  i.  9 : 
Who  shall  he  punished  with  everlasting  destruction 
from  the  presence  of  the  Lord,  and  from  the  glory  of 
his  power.  The  words  are  so  similar  that  we  can 
scarcely  doubt  of  the  allusion. 

Verse  15.  The  Lord  set  a  mark  upon  Cain ]  What 
this  mark  was,  has  given  rise  to  a  number  of  frivo¬ 
lously  curious  conjectures.  Dr.  Shuckford  collects 
the  most  remarkable.  Some  say  he  was  paralytic ; 
this  seems  to  have  arisen  from  the  version  of  the  Sep- 
tuagint,  Zrcvuv  nai  rpsyov  earj,  Groaning  and  trem¬ 
bling  shall  thou  he.  The  Targum  of  Jonathan  ben 
Uzziel  says  the  sign  was  from  the  great  and  precious 
name,  probably  one  of  the  letters  of  the  word 

Yehovah.  The  author  of  an  Arabic  Catena  in  the 

Bodleian  Library  says,  “  A  sword  could  not  pierce 
him  ;  fire  could  not  burn  him  ;  water  could  not  drown 
him  ;  the  air  could  not  blast  him  ;  nor  could  thun¬ 
der  or  lightning  strike  him.”  The  author  of  Bereshith 
Rabba,  a  comment  on  Genesis,  says  the  mark  was  a 
circle  of  the  sun  rising  upon  him.  Abravanel  says 
the  sign  was  Abel’s  dog,  which  constantly  accompa¬ 
nied  him.  Some  of  the  doctors  in  the  Talmud  say 
that  it  was  the  letter  n  tau  marked  on  his  forehead, 
which  signified  his  contrition,  as  it  is  the  first  letter  in 
the  word  teshuhah,  repentance.  Rabbi  Joseph, 

wiser  than  all  the  rest,  says  it  was  a  long  horn  grow¬ 
ing  out  of  his  forehead  ! 

Dr.  Shuckford  farther  observes  that  the  Hebrew 
word  rox  oth,  which  we  translate  a  mark,  signifies  a 
sign  or  token.  Thus,  Gen.  ix.  13,  the  bow  was  to  be 
leoth,  for  a  sign  or  token  that  the  world  should 
not  be  destroyed ;  therefore  the  words,  And  the  Lord 
set  a  mark  upon  Cain,  should  be  translated,  And  the 
Lord  appointed  to  Cain  a  token  or  sign,  to  convince 
him  that  no  person  should  be  permitted  to  slay  him. 
To  have  marked  him  would  have  been  the  most  likely 
way  to  have  brought  all  the  evils  he  dreaded  upon  him ; 

a 


God  sets  a  mark  upon  him. 

be  taken  on  him  w  seven-fold.  A.  M.  cm  129 

B.  C.  cir.  38/5. 

And  the  Lord  x  set  a  mark  upon  - - 

Cain,  lest  any  finding  him  should  kill  him. 

1 6  And  Cain  y  went  out  from  the  presence 
of  the  Lord,  and  dwelt  in  the  land  of  Nod, 
on  the  east  of  Eden. 

x  Ezek.  ix.  4, 6.  - — y  2  Kings  xiii.  23 ;  xxiv.  20 ;  Jcr.  xxiii.  39 ;  lii.  3. 

therefore  the  Lord  gave  him  some  miraculous  sign  or 
token  that  he  should  not  be  slain,  to  the  end  that  he 
should  not  despair,  but,  having  time  to  repent,  might 
return  to  a  gracious  God  and  find  mercy.  Notwith¬ 
standing  the  allusion  which  I  suppose  St.  Paul  to  have 
made  to  the  punishment  of  Cain,  some  think  that  he 
did  repent  and  find  mercy.  I  can  only  say  this  was 
possible.  Most  people  who  read  this  account  wonder 
why  Cain  should  dread  being  killed,  when  it  does  not 
appear  to  them  that  there  were  any  inhabitants  on  the 
earth  at  that  time  besides  himself  and  his  parents. 
To  correct  this  mistake,  let  it  be  observed  that  the 
death  of  Abel  took  place  in  the  one  hundred  and  twen¬ 
ty-eighth  or  one  hundred  and  twenty-ninth  year  of  the 
v1 * * * * * 7orld.  Now,  “  supposing  Adam  and  Eve  to  have  had 
no  other  sons  than  Cain  and  Abel  in  the  year  of  the 
wTorld  one  hundred  and  twenty-eight,  yet  as  they  had 
daughters  married  to  these  sons,  their  descendants 
would  make  a  considerable  figure  on  the  earth.  Sup¬ 
posing  them  to  have  been  married  in  the  nineteenth 
year  of  the  world,  they  might  easily  have  had  each 
eight  children,  some  males  and  some  females,  in  the 
twenty-fifth  year.  In  the  fiftieth  year  there  might  pro¬ 
ceed  from  them  in  a  direct  line  sixty-four  persons ;  in 
the  seventy-fourth  year  there  would  be  five  hundred 
and  twelve  ;  in  the  ninety-eighth  year,  four  thousand 
and  ninety-six  ;  in  the  one  hundred  and  twenty -second 
they  would  amount  to  thirty-two  thousand  seven  hun¬ 
dred  and  sixty-eight :  if  to  these  w7e  add  the  other 
chddren  descended  from  Cain  and  Abel,  their  children, 
and  their  children’s  children,  we  shall  have,  in  the 
ai'oresaid  one  hundred  and  twenty-eight  years  four 
hundred  and  twenty-one  thousand  one  hundred  and 
sixty-four  men  capable  of  generation,  without  reckon¬ 
ing  the  women  either  old  or  young,  or  such  as  are 
under  the  age  of  seventeen.”  See  Dodd. 

But  this  calculation  may  be  disputed,  because  there 
is  no  evidence  that  the  antediluvian  patriarchs  began 
to  have  children  before  they  were  sixty -five  years  of 
age.  Nowr,  supposing  that  Adam  at  one  hundred  and 
thirty  years  of  age  had  one  hundred  and  thirty  children, 
which  is  quite  possible,  and  each  of  these  a  child  at 
sixty-five  years  of  age,  and  one  in  each  successive 
year,  the  whole,  in  the  one  hundred  and  thirtieth  year 
of  the  world,  would  amount  to  one  thousand  two  hun¬ 
dred  and  nineteen  persons ;  a  number  sufficient  to  found 
several  villages,  and  to  excite  the  apprehensions  under 
which  Cain  appeared  at  this  time  to  labour. 

Verse  16.  The  land  of  Nod]  As  nil  nod  signifies 
the  same  as  “U  nad,  a  vagabond,  some  think  this  verse 
should  be  rendered,  And  Cain  went  out  from  the  pre¬ 
sence  of  the  Lord,  from  the  east  of  Eden,  and  dwelt 
a  vagabond  on  the  earth ;  thus  the  curse  pronounced 
on  him,  verse  12,  was  accomplished. 

59 


Lamech  the  first  bigamist. 


GENESIS.  Invention  of  musical  instruments. 


cir,J?9,  17  And  Cain  knew  his  wife;  and 

- -  she  conceived,  and  bare  z  Enoch  : 

and  he  budded  a  city,  a  and  called  the  name 

of  the  city,  after  the  name  of  his  son,  Enoch. 

a.  M.  cir.  194.  1 8  And  unto  Enoch  was  born 

B.  C.  cir.  3810. 

and  Mehujael  begat  Methusael :  and  Methusael 
begat  b  Lamech. 

19  And  Lamech  took  unto  him  two  wives: 
the  name  of  the  one  was  Adah,  and  the  name 
of  the  other  Zillah. 


and  Irad  begat  Mehujael : 


20  And  Adah  bare  Jabal :  he 

Jt>.  cir.  ooiu» 

was  the  father  of  such  as  c  dwell  - * 

in  tents,  and  of  such  as  have  cattle. 

2 1  And  his  brother’s  name  ivas  A.  M.  cir.  500. 

Jubal :  he  was  the  father  of  all  — - - — - 

such  as  handle  the  harp  and  organ. 

22  And  Zillah,  she  also  bare  Tubal-cain, 
an  d  instructer  of  every  artificer  in  brass  and 
iron :  and  the  sister  of  Tubal-cain  was  Naamah.. 

23  And  Lamech  said  unto  his  wives,  Adah 
and  Zillah,  hear  my  voice  ;  ye  wives  of 


*  Heb.  Chanoch  ;  chap.  v.  18,22. - aPsa.  xlix.  11  ;  2  Sam.  xviii. 

18. - b  Heb.  Lemech  ;  chap.  v.  21  ;  xxxvi.  2;  li.  18,  24. 

Verse  17.  She — tare  Enoch ]  As  lUH  Chanoch 
signifies  instructed ,  dedicated ,  or  initiated ,  and  espe¬ 
cially  in  sacred  things,  it  may  be  considered  some 
proof  of  Cain’s  repentance,  that  he  appears  to  have 
dedicated  this  son  to  God,  who,  in  his  father’s  stead, 
might  minister  in  the  sacerdotal  office,  from  which 
Cain,  by  his  crime,  was  for  ever  excluded. 

Verse  19.  Lamech  took — two  wives ]  He  was  the 
first  who  dared  to  reverse  the  order  of  God  by  intro¬ 
ducing  polygamy ;  and  from  him  it  has  been  retained , 
practised,  and  defended  to  the  present  day. 

Verse  20.  Jabal — was  the  father]  The  inventor  or 
teacher ,  for  so  the  word  is  understood,  1  Sam.  x.  12. 
He  was  the  first  who  invented  tent-making,  and 
the  breeding  and  managing  of  cattle  ;  or  he  was,  in 
these  respects,  the  most  eminent  in  that  time.  Though 
Abel  was  a  shepherd,  it  is  not  likely  he  was  such  on 
an  extensive  scale. 

Verse  21.  Jubal — the  father]  i.  e.  The  inventor  of 
musical  instruments,  such  as  the  VJj  kinnor ,  which  we 
translate  harp,  and  the  nflp  ugab ,  which  we  render 
organ  ;  it  is  very  likely  that  both  words  are  generic , 
the  former  including  under  it  all  stringed  instruments, 
and  the  latter,  all  wind  instruments. 

Verse  22.  Tubal-cain]  The  first  smith  on  record, 
who  taught  how  to  make  warlike  instruments  and  do¬ 
mestic  utensils  out  of  brass  and  iron.  Agricultural 
instruments  must  have  been  in  use  long  before,  for 
Cain  was  a  tiller  of  the  ground,  and  so  was  Adam, 
and  they  could  not  have  cultivated  the  ground  without 
spades,  hooks,  &c.  Some  of  these  arts  were  useless 
to  man  while  innocent  and  upright,  but  after  his  fall 
they  became  necessary.  Thus  is  the  saying  verified  : 
God  made  man  upright,  but  they  have  sought  out  many 
inventions.  As  the  power  to  get  wealth  is  from  God, 
so  also  is  the  invention  of  useful  arts. 

M.  He  Lavaur,  in  his  Conference  de  la  Fable  avec 
VHistoire  Sainte,  supposes  that  the  Greeks  and  Romans 
took  their  smith-god  Vulcan  from  Tubal-cain,  the  son 
of  Lamech.  The  probability  of  this  will  appear,  1. 
From  the  name,  which,  by  the  omission  of  the  Tu  and 
turning  the  b  into  v,  a  change  frequently  made  among 
the  Hebrews,  Greeks,  and  Romans,  makes  Vulcain  or 
Vulcan.  2.  From  his  occupation  he  was  an  artificer, 
a  master  smith  in  brass  and  iron.  3.  He  thinks  this 
farther  probable  from  the  names  and  sounds  in  this 
verse.  The  melting  metals  in  the  fire,  and  hammering 

60 


cJer.  xxxv.  9,  10;  Heb.  xi.  9;  Rom.  iv.  11,  12. - d  Heb 

ivhetter  ;  Exod.  xxv.  3  ;  2  Chron.  ii.  17. 

them,  bears  a  near  resemblance  to  the  hissing  sound 
of  nbtf  tsillah,  the  mother  of  Tubal-cain;  and  bbx 
tsalal  signifies  to  tinkle  or  make  a  sound  like  a  bell, 
1  Sam.  iii.  11  ;  2  Kings  xxi.  12.  4.  Vulcan  is  said 

to  have  been  lame  ;  M.  He  Lavaur  thinks  that  this 
notion  was  taken  from  the  noun  tsela,  which  sig¬ 
nifies  a  halting  or  lameness.  5.  Vulcan  had  to  wife 
Venus,  the  goddess  of  beauty ;  Naamah ,  the  sister  of 
Tubal-cain,  he  thinks,  may  have  given  rise  to  this  part 
of  the  fable,  as  her  name  in  Hebrew  signifies  beautiful 
or  gracious.  6.  Vulcan  is  reported  to  have  been  jealous 
of  his  wife,  and  to  have  forged  nets  in  which  he  took 
Mars  and  her,  and  exposed  them  to  the  view  of  the 
whole  celestial  court :  this  idea  he  thinks  was  derived 
from  the  literal  import  of  the  name  Tubal-cain ; 
tebel  signifies  an  incestuous  mixture  of  relatives,  Lev. 
xx.  12  ;  and  kana,  to  burn  with  jealousy;  from 
these  and  concomitant  circumstances  the  case  of  the 
detected  adultery  of  Mars  and  Venus  might  be  easily 
deduced.  He  is  of  opinion  that  a  tradition  of  this 
kind  might  have  readily  found  its  way  from  the  Egyp¬ 
tians  to  the  Greeks,  as  the  former  had  frequent  inter¬ 
course  with  the  Hebrews. 

Of  Naamah  nothing  more  is  spoken  in  the  Scrip¬ 
tures ;  but  the  Targum  of  Jonathan  ben  Uzziel  makes 
her  the  inventress  of  funeral  songs  and  lamentations. 
R.  S.  Jarchi  says  she  was  the  wife  of  Noah,  and  quotes 
Bereshith  Rabba  in  support  of  the  opinion*.  Some  of  the 
Jewish  doctors  say  her  name  is  recorded  in  Scripture  be¬ 
cause  she  was  an  upright  and  chaste  woman  ;  but  others 
affirm  that  the  whole  world  wandered  after  her,  and  that 
of  her  evil  spirits  were  born  into  the  world.  This  latter 
opinion  gives  some  countenance  to  that  of  M.  He  Lavaur. 

Verse  23.  And  Lamech  said  unto  his  ivives]  The 
speech  of  Lamech  to  his  wives  is  in  hemistichs  in  the 
original,  and  consequently,  as  nothing  of  this  kind  oc¬ 
curs  before  this  time,  it  is  very  probably  the  oldest 
piece  of  poetry  in  the  world. 

The  following  is,  as  nearly  as  possible,  a  literal 
translation  : 

“  And  Lamech  said  unto  his  wives, 

Adah  and  Tsillah,  hear  ye  my  voice ; 

Wives  of  Lamech,  hearken  to  my  speech ; 

For  I  have  slain  a  man  for  wounding  me, 

And  a  young  man  for  having  bruised  me. 

If  Cain  shall  be  avenged  seven-fold. 

Also  Lamech  seventy  and  seven.” 


CHAP.  IV. 


Lameclis  speech  to  his  wives. 


The  hirth  of  Seth  and  Enos. 


a  M.  eir.  500.  Lamech,  hearken  unto  my 

-  speech  :  for  e  I  have  slam  a  man 

to  my  wounding,  and  a  young  man  fto  my  hurt. 

24  g  If  Cain  shall  be  avenged  seven-fold, 
truly  Lamech  seventy  and  seven-fold. 

25  And  Adam  knew  Jiis  wife  again  ;  and 
she  bare  a  son,  and  h  called  his  name  1  Seth  k  : 

e  Or,  I  would  slay  a  man  in  my  wound ,  &c.  ;  chap.  xlix. 

G. - f  Or,  inmy  hurt. - s  Ver.  15. - hChap.  v.  3. - 'Heb. 

Sheth. - k  That  is,  appointed  or  put. - 1  Chap.  v.  6. - m  Heb. 

Enosh. 

It  is  supposed  that  Lamech  had  slain  a  man  in  his 
own  defence,  and  that  his  wives  being  alarmed  lest  the 
kindred  of  the  deceased  should  seek  his  life  in  return, 
to  quiet  their  fears  he  makes  this  speech,  in  which  he 
endeavours  to  prove  that  there  was  no  room  for  fear 
on  this  account ;  for  if  the  slayer  of  the  wilful  mur¬ 
derer,  Cain,  should  suffer  a  seven-fold  punishment, 
surely  he,  who  should  kill  Lamech  for  having  slain  a- 
man  in  self-defence,  might  expect  a  seventy  seven-fold 
punishment. 

This  speech  is  very  dark,  and  has  given  rise  to  a 
great  variety  of  very  strange  conjectures.  Dr.  Shuck- 
ford  supposes  there  is  an  ellipsis  of  some  preceding 
speech  or  circumstance  which,  if  known,  would  cast  a 
light  on  the  subject.  In  the  antediluvian  times,  the 
nearest  of  kin  to  a  murdered  person  had  a  right  to  re¬ 
venge  his  death  by  taking  away  the  life  of  the  mur¬ 
derer.  This,  as  we  have  already  seen,  appears  to  have 
contributed  not  a  little  to  Cain’s  horror,  verse  14. 
Now  we  may  suppose  that  the  descendants  of  Cain 
were  in  continual  alarms,  lest  some  of  the  other  family 
should  attempt  to  avenge  the  death  of  Abel  on  them , 
as  they  were  not  permitted  to  do  it  on  Cain  ;  and  that 
in  order  to  dismiss  those  fears,  Lamech,  the  seventh 
descendant  from  Adam,  spoke  to  this  effect  to  his 
wives  :  “  Why  should  you  render  yourselves  miserable 
by  such  ill-founded  fears  1  We  have  slain  no  person  ; 
we  have  not  done  the  least  wrong  to  our  brethren  of 
the  other  family ;  surely  then  reason  should  dictate  to 
you  that  they  have  no  right  to  injure  us.  It  is  true 
that  Cain,  one  of  our  ancestors,  killed  his  brother  Abel ; 
but  God,  willing  to  pardon  his  sin,  and  give  him  space 
to  repent,  threatened  to  punish  those  with  a  seven-fold 
punishment  who  should  dare  to  kill  him.  If  this  be 
so,  then  those  who  should  have  the  boldness  to  kill  any 
of  us  who  are  innocent,  may  expect  a  punishment  still 
more  rigorous.  For  if  Cain  should  be  avenged  seven¬ 
fold  on  the  person  who  should  slay  him,  surely  Lamech 
or  any  of  his  innocent  family  should  be  avenged  seven¬ 
ty-seven-fold  on  those  who  should  injure  them.”  The 
Targums  give  nearly  the  same  meaning,  and  it  makes 
a  good  sense  ;  but  who  can  say  it  is  the  true  sense  1 
If  the  words  be  read  interrogatively,  as  they  certainly 
may,  the  sense  will  be  much  clearer,  and  some  of  the 
difficulties  will  be  removed  : 

“  Have  I  slain  a  man,  that  I  should  be  wounded  1 
Or  a  young  man,  that  I  should  be  bruised  I” 

But  even  this  still  supposes  some  previous  reason  or 
conversation.  I  shall  not  trouble  my  readers  with  a 
ridiculous  Jewish  fable,  followed  by  St.  Jerome,  of 

a 


For  God,  said  she,  hath  appointed  cSJti 

me  another  seed  instead  of  Abel, - * 

whom  Cain  slew. 

26  And  to  Seth,  1  to  him  also  there  ^^3709 

was  born  a  son  ;  and  he  called  his  - 

name  m  Enos  :  then  began  men  n  to  call  upon 
the  name  of  the  0  Lord. 

n  Or,  to  call  themselves  by  the  name  of  the  LORD. - 0  1  Kings 

xviii.  24  ;  Psa.  cxvi.  17  ;  Isa.  xliv.  5  ;  xlviii.  1 ;  lxiii.  19  ;  Joel  ii. 
32  ;  Zeph.  iii.  9  ;  Acts  xi.  26 ;  Rom.  x.  13  ;  1  Cor.  i.  2  ;  Eph. 
iii.  14,  15. 

Lamech  having  killed  Cain  by  accident,  &c.  ;  and  after 
what  I  have  already  said,  I  must  leave  the  passage,  I 
fear,  among  those  which  are  inscrutable. 

Verse  25.  God — hath  appointed  me  another  seed 
instead  of  Abel\  Eve  must  have  received  on  this 
occasion  some  Divine  communication,  else  how  could 
she  have  known  that  this  son  was  appointed  in  the 
place  of  Abel,  to  continue  that  holy  line  by  which  the 
Messiah  was  to  come  l  From  this  we  see  that  the 
line  of  the  Messiah  wras  determined  from  the  beginning, 
and  that  it  was  not  first  fixed  in  the  days  of  Abraham  ; 
for  the  promise  was  then  only  renewed ,  and  that  branch 
of  his  family  designated  by  which  the  sacred  line  was 
to  be  continued.  And  it  is  wrorthy  of  remark,  that 
Seth’s  posterity  alone  continued  after  the  flood,  when 
all  the  other  families  of  the  earth  were  destroyed, 
Noah  being  the  tenth  descendant  from.  Adam  through 
Seth. 

Though  all  these  persons  are  mentioned  in  the  fol¬ 
lowing  chapter,  I  shall  produce  them  here  in  the  order 
of  their  succession  :  1.  Adam  ;  2.  Seth  ;  3.  Enos  ;  4. 
Cainan  ;  5.  Mahalaleel  ;  6.  Jared  ;  7.  Enoch  ;  8.  Me¬ 
thuselah  ;  9.  Lamech,  (the  second  ;)  10.  Noah.  In 
order  to  keep  this  line  distinct,  we  find  particular  care 
was  taken  that,  where  there  were  two  or  more  sons  in 
a  family,  the  one  through  whom  God  particularly  de¬ 
signed  to  bring  his  Son  into  the  world  was,  by  some 
especial  providence,  pointed  out.  Thus  in  the  family 
of  Adam,  Seth  was  chosen  ;  in  the  family  of  Noah, 
Shem  ;  in  the  family  of  Abraham,  Isaac  ;  and  in  that 
of  David,  Solomon  and  Nathan.  All  these  things  God 
watched  over  by  an  especial  providence  from  the  be¬ 
ginning,  that  when  Jesus  Christ  should  come  it  might 
be  clearly  seen  that  he  came  by  the  promise,  through 
grace,  and  not  by  nature. 

Verse  26.  Then  began  men  to  call  upon  the  name 
of  the  Lord.]  The  marginal  reading  is,  Then  began 
men  to  call  themselves  by  the  name  of  the  Lord ;  which 
words  are  supposed  to  signify  that  in  the  time  of  Enos 
the  true  followers  of  God  began  to  distinguish  them¬ 
selves,  and  to  be  distinguished  by  others,  by  the  appel¬ 
lation  of  sons  of  God ;  those  of  the  other  branch  of 
Adam’s  family,  among  whom  the  Divine  worship  was 
not  observed,  being  distinguished  by  the  name,  children 
of  men.  It  must  not  be  dissembled  that  many  emi¬ 
nent  men  have  contended  that  hmn  huchal ,  which  we 
translate  began ,  should  be  rendered  began  profanely, 
or  then  profanation  began ,  and  from  this  time  they  date 
the  origin  of  idolatry.  Most  of  the  Jewish  doctors 
were  of  this  opinion,  and  Maimonides  has  discussed  it 

61 


Farther  account  of 

at  some  length  in  his  Treatise  on  Idolatry  ;  as  this 
piece  is  curious,  and  gives  the  most  probable  account 
of  the  origin  and  progress  of  idolatry,  I  shall  insert  it 
here. 

“  In  the  days  of  Enos  the  sons  of  Adam  erred  with 
great  error,  and  the  counsel  of  the  wise  men  of  that 
age  became  brutish,  and  Enos  himself  was  (one)  of 
them  that  erred  ;  and  their  error  was  this  :  they  said, 
Forasmuch  as  God  hath  created  these  stars  and  spheres 
to  govern  the  world,  and  set  them  on  high,  and  im¬ 
parted  honour  unto  them,  and  they  are  ministers  that 
minister  before  him  ;  it  is  meet  that  men  should  laud, 
and  glorify,  and  give  them  honour.  For  this  is  the  will 
of  God,  that  we  magnify  and  honour  whomsoever  he 
magnifieth  and  honoureth  ;  even  as  a  king  would  have 
them  honoured  that  stand  before  him,  and  this  is  the 
honour  of  the  king  himself.  When  this  thing  was 
come  up  into  their  hearts  they  began  to  build  temples 
unto  the  stars,  and  to  offer  sacrifice  unto  them,  and  to 
laud  and  glorify  them  with  words,  and  to  worship  be¬ 
fore  them,  that  they  might  in  their  evil  opinion  obtain 
favour  of  the  Creator  ;  and  this  was  the  root  of  idola¬ 
try,  &c.  And  in  process  of  time  there  stood  up  false 
prophets  among  the  sons  of  Adam,  which  said  that 
God  had  commanded  and  said  unto  them,  Worship  such 
a  star,  or  all  the  stars,  and  do  sacrifice  unto  them  thus 
and  thus  ;  and  build  a  temple  for  it,  and  make  an  image 
of  it,  that  all  the  people,  women,  and  children  may 
worship  it.  And  the  false  prophet  showed  them  the 
image  which  he  had  feigned  out  of  his  own  heart,  and 
said  it  was  the  image  of  such  a  star,  which  was  made 
known  unto  him  by  prophecy.  And  they  began  after 
this  manner  to  make  images  in  temples,  and  under 
trees,  and  on  tops  of  mountains  and  hills,  and  assem¬ 
bled  together  and  worshipped  them,  &c.  And  this 
thing  was  spread  through  all  the  world,  to  serve  images 
with  services  different  one  from  another,  and  to  sacri¬ 
fice  unto  and  worship  them.  So,  in  process  of  time, 
the  glorious  and  fearful  name  (of  God)  was  forgotten 
out  of  the  mouth  of  all  living,  and  out  of  their  know¬ 
ledge,  and  they  acknowledged  him  not.  And  there 
was  found  no  people  on  the  earth  that  knew  aught,  save 
images  of  wood  and  stone,  and  temples  of  stone,  which 
they  had  been  trained  up  from  their  childhood  to  wor¬ 
ship  and  serve,  and  to  swear  by  their  names.  And 
the  wise  men  that  were  among  them,  as  the  priests 
and  such  like,  thought  there  was  no  God  save  the  stars 


the  creation  of  Adam . 

and  spheres,  for  whose  sake  and  in  whose  likeness  they 
had  made  these  images ;  but  as  for  the  Rock  ever¬ 
lasting,  there  was  no  man  that  acknowledged  him  or 
knew  him  save  a  few  persons  in  the  world,  as  Enoch, 
Methuselah,  Noah,  Shem,  and  Heber.  And  in  this 
way  did  the  world  walk  and  converse  till  that  pillar  of 
the  world,  Abraham  our  father,  was  born.”  Maim,  in 
Mishn.  and  Ainsworth  in  loco. 

1.  We  see  here  the  vast  importance  of  worshipping 
God  according  to  his  own  mind  ;  no  sincerity,  no  up¬ 
rightness  of  intention,  can  atone  for  the  neglect  of 
positive  commands  delivered  in  Divine  revelation,  when 
this  revelation  is  known.  He  who  will  bring  a  eucha- 
ristic  offering  instead  of  a  sacrifice,  while  a  sin-offer¬ 
ing  lieth  at  the  door,  as  he  copies  Cain’s  conduct,  may 
expect  to  be  treated  in  the  same  manner.  Reader, 
remember  that  thou  hast  an  entrance  unto  the  holiest 
through  the  veil,  that  is  to  say  his  flesh ;  and  those 
who  come  in  this  way,  God  will  in  nowise  cast  out. 

•  2.  We  see  the  horrible  nature  of  envy  :  its  eye  is 
evil  merely  because  God  is  good  ;  it  easily  begets  ha¬ 
tred  ;  hatred,  deep-settled  malice  ;  and  malice,  murder  ! 
Watch  against  the  first  appearance  of  this  most  de¬ 
structive  passion,  the  prime  characteristic  of  which  is 
to  seek  the  destruction  of  the  object  of  its  malevolence, 
and  finally  to  ruin  its  possessor. 

3.  Be  thankful  to  God  that,  as  weakness  increased 
and  wants  became  multiplied,  God  enabled  man  to  find 
out  useful  inventions,  so  as  to  lessen  excessive  labour, 
and  provide  every  thing  indispensably  necessary  for 
the  support  of  life.  He  who  carefully  attends  to  the 
dictates  of  honest,  sober  industry,  is  never  likely  to 
perish  for  lack  of  the  necessaries  of  life. 

4.  As  the  followers  of  God  at  this  early  period 
found  it  indispensably  necessary  to  separate  themselves 
from  all  those  who  were  irreligious  and  profane,  and 
to  make  a  public  profession  of  their  attachment  to  the 
truth,  so  it  should  be  now.  There  are  still  men  of 
profane  minds,  whose  spirit  and  conduct  are  destruc¬ 
tive  to  godliness  ;  and  in  reference  to  such  the  perma¬ 
nent  order  of  God  is,  Come  out  from  among  them, 
touch  not  the  unclean  thing ,  and  I  will  receive  you. 
He  who  is  not  determined  to  be  a  Christian  at  all 
events,  is  not  far  from  being  an  infidel.  Those  only 
who  confess  Christ  among  men  shall  be  acknowledged 
before  his  Father  and  the  angels  of  God. 


GENESIS. 


CHAPTER  Y 

A  recapitulation  of  the  account  of  the  creation  of  man,  1,  2  ;  and  of  the  birth  of  Seth,  3.  Genealogy  of  the 
ten  antediluvian  patriarchs,  3—31.  Enoch's  extraordinary  piety,  22  ;  his  translation  to  heaven  without 
seeing  death,  24.  The  birth  of  Noah,  and  the  reason  of  his  name,  29  ;  his  age  at  the  birth  of  Japheth ,  32. 


BACM4004  THIS  is  the  abook  of  the  gene- 
- -  rations  of  Adam.  In  the  day 

a  1  Chron.  i.  1  ;  Matt.  i.  1 ;  Luke  iii.  36,  38. 

NOTES  ON  CHAP.  V. 

Verse  1.  The  booh  of  the  generations']  *130  sepher, 
in  Hebrew,  which  we  generally  translate  booh,  signifies 
a  register ,  an  account,  any  kind  of  writing,  even  a 

62 


that  God  created  man,  in  b  the  DA^M- Y 

iii*  d.  L>.  4004. 

likeness  of  God  made  he  him  ; - 

b  Chap.  i.  26  ;  Wisd.  ii.  23  ;  Eph.  iv.  24  ;  Col.  iii.  10. 

letter,  such  as  the  bill  of  divorce.  Here  it  means  the 
account  or  register  of  the  generations  of  Adam  or  his 
descendants  to  the  five  hundredth  year  of  the  life  of 
Noah. 


a 


Genealogy  of  the 


CHAP.  V. 


antediluvian  patriarchs 


A.  M.  l.  2  c  Male  and  lemale  created  lie 
— 1 1  them  ;  and  blessed  them,  and  called 
their  name  Adam,  in  the  day  when  they  were 
created. 

a.  M.  130.  3  And  Adam  lived  a  hundred  and 

-  thirty  years,  and  begat  a  son  m  his 

own  likeness,  after  his  image ;  and  d  called 
his  name  Seth  : 

4  e  And  the  days  of  Adam  after  he  had  be¬ 
gotten  Seth  were  eight  hundred  years  ;  f  and 
he  begat  sons  and  daughters  : 

A.  M.  930.  5  And  all  the  days  that  Adam  lived 

B.  C.  3074.  .  .  .  ■;  ,  ,  . 

- -  were  nine  hundred  and  thirty  years  : 

s  and  he  died. 

A.  M.  235.  6  And  Seth  lived  a  hundred  and 

B.  C.  3769.  ..  1  11-r^ 

. - -  five  years,  and  11  begat  Enos  : 


7  And  Seth  lived  after  he  begat 
Enos  eight  hundred  and  seven  years, 
and  begat  sons  and  daughters  : 

8  And  all  the  days  of  Seth  were 
nine  hundred  and  twelve  years : 
and  he  died. 

9  And  Enos  lived  ninety  years, 
and  begat  1  Cain  an  : 


A.  M.  235. 

B.  C.  3769. 


A.  M.  1042. 

B.  C.  2962. 


A.  M.  325. 

B.  C.  3679. 


10  And  Enos  lived  after  he  begat  Cainan 
eight  hundred  and  fifteen  years,  and  begat 
sons  and  daughters  : 

11  And  all  the  days  of  Enos  A.  M.  1140. 

,  -i  ,  pr.  B.  C.  2864. 

were  nine  hundred  and  hve  years  : - 

and  he  died. 

12  And  Cainan  lived  seventy  A.  M.  395. 

!  1  V  TIT  T  T  1  1  B.  C.  3609. 

years,  and  begat  *  IVLahalaleel  :  - - - 


c  Chap.  i.  27. - d  Chap.  iv.  25. - e  1  Chron.  i.  1,  &c. 

f  Chap.  i.  28. 

In  the  likeness  of  God  made  he  him ]  This  account 
is  again  introduced  to  keep  man  in  remembrance  of  the 
heights  of  glory  whence  he  had  fallen ;  and  to  prove 
to  him  that  the  miseries  and  death  consequent  on  his 
present  state  were  produced  by  his  transgression,  and 
did  not  flow  from  his  original  state.  For,  as  he  was 
created  in  the  image  of  God,  he  was  created  free  from 
natural  and  moral  evil.  As  the  deaths  of  the  patri¬ 
archs  are  now  to  be  mentioned,  it  was  necessary  to  in¬ 
troduce  them  by  this  observation,  in  order  to  justify  the 
ways  of  God  to  man. 


s  Chap.  iii.  19 ;  Heb.  ix.  27. - h  Chap.  iv.  26. - 1  Heb.  Kenan. 

k  Gr.  Maleleel. 

Verse  3.  And  Adam  lived  a  hundred  and  thirty 
years ,  <fc.\  The  Scripture  chronology,  especially  in 
the  ages  of  some  of  the  antediluvian  and  postdiluvian 
patriarchs,  has  exceedingly  puzzled  chronologists, 
critics,  and  divines.  The  printed  Hebrew  text,  the 
Samaritan,  the  Septuagint,  and  Josephus,  are  all  dif¬ 
ferent,  and  have  their  respective  vouchers  and  de¬ 
fenders.  The  following  tables  of  the  genealogies  of 
the  patriarchs  before  and  after  the  flood,  according  to 
the  Hebrew,  Samaritan,  and  Septuagint,  will  at  once 
exhibit  the  discordances. 


ANTEDILUVIAN  PATRIARCHS  LIVED  BEFORE  THEIR 
SONS’  BIRTH. 


Heb. 

Samar. 

Sept. 

Adam, 

Gen.  v.  3. 

130 

130 

230 

Seth, 

6. 

105 

105 

205 

Enos, 

-  9. 

90 

90 

190 

Cainan, 

12. 

70 

70 

170 

Mahalaleel, 

15. 

65 

65 

165 

Jared, 

18. 

162 

62 

162 

Enoch, 

21. 

65 

65 

165 

Methuselah, 

25. 

187 

67 

167 

Lamech, 

-  28. 

182 

53 

188 

Noah,  at  the  ^ 
flood,  $ 

Gen.  vii.  6. 

600 

600 

600 

Total  before  the  flood, 

1656 

1307 

2242* 

In  this  fhst  period  the  sum  in  Josephus  is  2256, 
which  is  also  adopted  by  Hr.  Hales  in  his  Nero 
Analysis  of  Chronology. 


POSTDILUVIAN  PATRIARCHS  LIVED  BEFORE  THEIR 
SONS’  BIRTH. 


Heb. 

Samar. 

Sept. 

Shem  begot  Arphaxad  } 

after  the  flood,  Gen.  > 

2 

2 

2 

xi.  10.  ) 

Arphaxad,  Gen.  xi.  12. 

35 

135 

135 

Cainan  (2d)  mentioned  1 

only  by  the  LXX.  and  > 

0 

0 

130 

Luke  iii.  36.  ) 

Salah,  Gen.  xi.  14. 

30 

130 

130 

Eber,  -  16. 

34 

134 

134 

Peleg,  -  18. 

30 

130 

130 

Reu,  -  20. 

32 

132 

132 

Serug,  -  22. 

30 

130 

130 

Nahor,  -  24. 

29 

79 

179 

Terah,  -  26. 

70 

70 

70 

Total  to  the  70th  year  ) 

— 

of  Terah,  5 

292 

942 

1172* 

In  this  second  period  the  sum  in  Josephus  is 

1002. 

T  The  Septuagint  account  of  the  ages  of  the  antediluvian  and  postdiluvian  patriarchs  in  the  above  tables,  is  taken  from  the  Vatican  copy  ; 
but  if  we  follow  the  Alexandrian  MS.,  we  shall  have  in  the  first  period  the  whole  sum  of  2262  instead  of  2242  ;  and  in  the  second  period, 
1072  instead  of  1172.  On  this  subject  the  different  MSS.  of  the  Septuagint  abound  with  various  readings. 


For  much  satisfactory  information  on  this  subject  I 
must  refer  to  A  New  Analysis  of  Chronology ,  by  the 
Rev.  William  Hales ,  D.  D.,  3  vols.  4to.,  London,  1809. 

a 


And  begat  a  son  in  his  oiun  likeness ,  after  his  image ] 
Words  nearly  the  same  with  those  chap.  i.  26  :  Let 
us  make  man  in  our  image ,  after  our  likeness.  What 

63 


GENESIS. 


Enoch  walks  with  God. 


Genealogy  of  the  patriarchs. 


A.  M.  1235. 

B.  C.  2769. 


b’ 0*3609  And  Cainan  lived  after  he 

-  begat  Mahalaleel  eight  hundred  and 

forty  years,  and  begat  sons  and  daughters  : 

14  And  all  the  days  of  Cainan 
were  nine  hundred  and  ten  years  : 
and  he  died. 

B  M  3544*  15  And  Mahalaleel  lived  sixty 

-d — ' - 1  and  five  years,  and  begat  1 * * 3 4 5 6  Jared  : 

1 6  And  Mahalaleel  lived  after  he  begat 
Jared  eight  hundred  and  thirty  years,  and 
begat  sons  and  daughters  : 

A.  M.  1290.  17  And  all  the  days  of  Mahala- 

B.  C.  2714.  .  .  •  i  1  it-  t 

leel  were  eight  hundred  ninety  and 


five  years  :  and  he  died. 


1  Hebrew,  Jered. - m  Jude  14,  15. - n  Gr.  Mathu- 

sala. 


this  image  and  likeness  of  God  were,  vve  have  already 
seen,  and  we  may  rest  assured  that  the  same  image 
and  likeness  are  not  meant  here.  The  body  of  Adam 
was  created  provisionally  immortal,  i.  e.  while  he  con¬ 
tinued  obedient  he  could  not  die  ;  but  his  obedience 
was  voluntary,  and  his  state  a  probationary  one.  The 
soul  of  Adam  was  created  in  the  moral  image  of  God, 
in  knowledge ,  righteousness,  and  true  holiness.  He 
had  now  sinned,  and  consequently  had  lost  this  moral 
resemblance  to  his  Maker  ;  he  had  also  become  mortal 
through  his  breach  of  the  law.  His  image  and  like¬ 
ness  were  therefore  widely  different  at  this  time  from 
what  they  were  before  ;  and  his  begetting  children  in 
this  image  and  likeness  plainly  implies  that  they  were 
imperfect  like  himself,  mortal  like  himself,  sinful  and 
corrupt  like  himself.  For  it  is  impossible  that  he, 
being  impure,  fallen  from  the  Divine  image,  could  be¬ 
get  a  pure  and  holy  offspring,  unless  we  could  suppose 
it  possible  that  a  bitter  fountain  could  send  forth  sweet 
waters,  or  that  a  cause  could  produce  effects  totally 
dissimilar  from  itself.  What  is  said  here  of  Seth 
might  have  been  said  of  all  the  other  children  of  Adam, 
as  they  were  all  begotten  after  his  fall ;  but  the  sacred 
writer  has  thought  proper  to  mark  it  only  in  this  instance. 

Verse  22.  And  Enochvoalked  with  God — three  hun¬ 
dred  years ]  There  are  several  things  worthy  of  our 
most  particular  notice  in  this  account  : 

1.  The  name  of  this  patriarch;  Enoch,  from  *pn 
chanack,  which  signifies  to  instruct ,  to  initiate,  to  dedi¬ 
cate.  From  his  subsequent  conduct  we  are  authorized 
to  believe  he  was  early  instructed  in  the  things  of  God, 
initiated  into  the  worship  of  his  Maker,  and  dedicated 
to  his  service.  By  these  means,  under  the  influence 
of  the  Divine  Spirit,  which  will  ever  attend  pious  pa¬ 
rental  instructions,  his  mind  got  that  sacred  bias  which 
led  him  to  act  a  part  so  distinguished  through  the 
course  of  a  long  life. 

2.  His  religious  conduct.  He  walked  with  God ; 
*]bnrr  yithhallech,  he  set  himself  to  walk,  he  was  fixedly 
purposed  and  determined  to  live  to  God.  Those  who 
are  acquainted  with  the  original  will  at  once  see  that 
it  has  this  force.  A  verb  in  the  conjugation  called  hith- 
pael  signifies  a  reciprocal  act,  that  which  a  man  does 

64 


18  And  Jared  lived  a  hundred 

sixty  and  two  years,  and  he  begat  — - - 

m  Enoch : 

19  And  Jared  lived  after  he  begat  Enoch 
eight  hundred  years,  and  begat  sons  and 
daughters  : 

20  And  all  the  days  of  Jared 
were  nine  hundred  sixty  and  two 
years  :  and  he  died. 

21  And  Enoch  lived  sixty  and 
five  years,  and  begat  n  Methuselah  : 

22  And  Enoch  0  walked  with  God  after  he 
begat  Methuselah  three  hundred  years,  and 
begat  sons  and  daughters  : 


A.  M.  1422. 

B.  C.  2582. 


A.  M.  687 

B.  C.  3317 


0  Chap.  vi.  9  ;  xvii.  1  ;  xxiv.  40  ;  2  Kings  xx.  3  ;  Psa.  xvi.  8  ; 
cxvi.  9  ;  cxxviii.  I ;  Mic.  vi.  8  ;  Mai.  ii.  6. 


upon  himself  :  here  we  may  consider  Enoch  receiving 
a  pious  education,  and  the  Divine  influence  through  it ; 

in  consequence  of  which  he  determines  to  be  a  worker 
with  God,  and  therefore  takes  up  the  resolution  to  walk 
with  his  Maker,  that  he  might  not  receive  the  grace 
of  God  in  vain. 

3.  The  circumstances  in  which  he  was  placed.  He 
was  a  patriarch ;  the  king,  the  priest,  and  the  prophet 
of  a  numerous  family,  to  whom  he  was  to  administer 
justice,  among  whom  he  was  to  perform  all  the  rites 
and  ceremonies  of  religion,  and  teach,  both  by  precept 
and  example,  the  way  of  truth  and  righteousness.  Add 
to  this,  he  was  a  married  man,  he  had  a  numerous 
family  of  his  own,  independently  of  the  collateral 
branches  over  which  he  was  obliged,  as  patriarch,  to 
preside  ;  he  walked  three  hundred  years  ivith  God,  and 
begat  sons  and  daughters ;  therefore  marriage  is  no 
hinderance  even  to  the  perfection  of  piety  ;  much  less 
inconsistent  with  it,  as  some  have  injudiciously  taught. 

4.  The  astonishing  height  of  piety  to  which  he  had 
arrived  ;  being  cleansed  from  all  filthiness  of  the  flesh 
and  of  the  spirit,  and  having  perfected  holiness  in  the 
fear  of  God,  we  find  not  only  his  soul  but  his  body 
purified,  so  that,  without  being  obliged  to  visit  the  em¬ 
pire  of  death,  he  was  capable  of  immediate  translation 
to  the  paradise  of  God.  There  are  few  cases  of  this 
kind  on  record  ;  but  probably  there  might  be  more, 
many  more,  were  the  followers  of  God  more  faithful  to 
the  grace  they  receive. 

5.  Enoch  attained  this  state  of  religious  and  spiri¬ 
tual  excellence  in  a  time  when,  comparatively  speak¬ 
ing,  there  were  few  helps,  and  no  written  revelation. 
Here  then  we  cannot  but  see  and  admire  how  mighty 
the  grace  of  God  is,  and  what  wonders  it  works  in  the 
behalf  of  those  who  are  faithful,  who  set  themselves  to 
walk  with  God.  It  is  not  the  want  of  grace  nor  of 
the  means  of  grace  that  is  the  cause  of  the  decay  of 
this  primitive  piety,  but  the  want  of  faithfulness  in 
those  who  have  the  light,  and  yet  will  not  walk  as 
children  of  the  light. 

6.  If  the  grace  of  God  could  work  such  a  mighty 
change  in  those  primitive  times,  when  life  and  immor¬ 
tality  were  not  brought  to  light  by  the  Gospel,  what 

a 


Enoch  translated. 


CHAP.  V. 


Noah  and  his  sons 


23  And  all  the  days  of  Enoch 

D*  v->»  oUl  /•  _  _  # 

-  were  three  hundred  sixty  and  five 


years  : 

24  And  p  Enoch  walked  with  God :  and  he 
was  not ;  for  God  took  him. 

A.  m.  874.  25  And  Methuselah  lived  a 

B.  C.  3130.  ,  ,  ,  , 

-  hundred  eighty  and  seven  years, 

and  begat  q  Lamech  : 

26  And  Methuselah  lived  after  he  begat 


Lamech  seven  hundred  eighty  and  two  years, 
and  begat  sons  and  daughters  : 

A.  M.  1656.  27  And  all  the  days  of  Methu- 

B.  C.  2348.  .  .  .  .  /  .  .  , 

-  selah  were  nine  hundred  sixty  and 

nine  years  :  and  he  died. 

28  And  Lamech  lived  a  hundred  eighty 


and  two  years,  and  begat  a 

son :  - 

29  And  he  called  his  name  rNoah,  s  saying, 
This  same  shall  comfort  us  concerning  our 
work  and  toil  of  our  hands,  because  of  the 
ground  t  which  the  Lord  hath  cursed. 

30  And  Lamech  lived  after  he  begat  Noah 
five  hundred  ninety  and  five  years,  and  begat 
sons  and  daughters  : 

31  And  all  the  days  of  Lamech  A.  M.  1651. 

J  B  C  2353 

were  seven  hundred  seventy  and  - - 1 

seven  years  :  and  he  died. 

32  And  Noah  was  five  hundred  A.  M.  1556. 

years  old  :  and  Noah  begat *  11  Shem,  _ — 1 - 1 

Ham,  v  and  Japheth. 


P2  Kings  ii.  11;  Ecclus.  xliv.  16;  xlix.  14;  Heb.  xi.  5; 
'1  Heb.  Lemech. - r  Gr.  Noe  ;  Luke  iii.  36 ;  Heb.  xi.  7 ;  1  Pet. 


iii.  20. - s  That  is,  rest  or  comfort. - 'Chap.  iii.  17;  iv.  11 

11  Chap.  vi.  10. - v  Chap.  x.  21. 


may  we  not  expect  in  these  times,  in  which  the  Son 
of  God  tabernacles  among  men,  in  which  God  gives 
the  Holy  Spirit  to  them  who  ask  him,  in  which  all 
things  are  possible  to  him  who  believes  1  No  man  can 
prove  that  Enoch  had  greater  spiritual  advantages 
than  any  of  the  other  patriarchs,  though  it  seems 
pretty  evident  that  he  made  a  better  use  of  those  that 
were  common  to  all  than  any  of  the  rest  did  ;  and  it 
would  be  absurd  to  say  that  he  had  greater  spiritual 
helps  and  advantages  than  Christians  can  now  expect, 
for  he  lived  under  a  dispensation  much  less  perfect 
than  that  of  the  law,  and  yet  the  law  itself  was  only 
the  shadow  of  the  glorious  substance  of  Gospel  bless¬ 
ings  and  Gospel  privileges. 

7.  It  is  said  that  Enoch  not  only  walked  with  God , 
setting  him  always  before  his  eyes,  beginning,  conti¬ 
nuing,  and  ending  every  work  to  his  glory,  but  also 
that  he  pleased  God ,  and  had  the  testimony  that  he  did 
please  God ,  Heb.  xi.  5.  Hence  we  learn  that  it  was 
then  possible  to  live  so  as  not  to  offend  God,  conse¬ 
quently  so  as  not  to  commit  sin  against  him  ;  and  to 
have  the  continual  evidence  or  testimony  that  all  that 
a  man  did  and  purposed  was  pleasing  in  the  sight  of 
Him  who  searches  the  heart,  and  by  whom  devices 
are  weighed  :  and  if  it  was  possible  then ,  it  is  surely, 
through  the  same  grace,  possible  now ;  for  God,  and 
Christ,  and  faith,  are  still  the  same. 

Yerse  27.  The  days  of  Methuselah  were  nine  hun¬ 
dred  sixty  and  nine  years ]  This  is  the  longest  life 
mentioned  in  Scripture,  and  probably  the  longest  ever 
lived  ;  but  we  have  not  authority  to  say  positively  that 
it  was  the  longest.  Before  the  flood,  and  before  arti¬ 
ficial  refinements  were  much  known  and  cultivated,  the 
life  of  man  was  greatly  protracted,  and  yet  of  him  who 
lived  within  thirty-one  years  cf  a  thousand  it  is  said 
he  died;  and  the  longest  life  is  but  as  a  moment  when 
it  is  past.  Though  life  is  uncertain,  precarious,  and 
full  of  natural  evils,  yet  it  is  a  blessing  in  all  its  periods 
if  devoted  to  the  glory  of  God  and  the  interest  of  the 
soul ;  for  while  it  lasts  we  may  more  and  more  acquaint 
ourselves  with  God  and  be  at  peace,  and  thereby  good 
shall  come  unto  us;  Job  xxii.  21.  I 

Vol.  I.  (  6  ) 


Yerse  29.  This  sam q  shall  comfort  us]  This  is  an 
allusion,  as  some  think,  to  the  name  of  Noah,  which 
they  derive  from  DHJ  nacham,  to  comfort  ;  but  it  is 
much  more  likely  that  it  comes  from  HJ  nach  or  HU 
nuach,  to  rest,  to  settle,  &c.  And  what  is  more  com¬ 
fortable  than  rest  after  toil  and  labour  ?  These  words 
seem  to  have  been  spoken  prophetically  concerning 
Noah,  who  built  the  ark  for  the  preservation  of  the 
human  race,  and  who  seems  to  have  been  a  typical 
person  ;  for  when  he  offered  his  sacrifice  after  the  dry¬ 
ing  up  of  the  waters,  it  is  said  that  God  smelled  a 
savour  of  rest,  and  said  he  would  not  curse  the  ground 
any  more  for  man’s  sake,  chap.  viii.  21  ;  and  from 
that  time  the  earth  seems  to  have  had  upon  an  average 
the  same  degree  of  fertility  ;  and  the  life  of  man,  in  a 
few  generations  after,  was  settled  in  the  mean  at  three¬ 
score  years  and  ten.  See  chap.  ix.  3. 

Yerse  32.  Noah  begat  Shem ,  Ham ,  and  Japheth.] 
From  chap.  x.  21  ;  1  Chron.  i.  5,  &c.,  we  learn  that 
Japheth  was  the  eldest  son  of  Noah,  but  Shem  is  men¬ 
tioned  first,  because  it  was  from  him,  in  a  direct  line, 
that  the  Messiah  came.  Ham  was  certainly  the 
youngest  of  Noah’s  sons,  and  from  what  we  read,  chap, 
ix.  22,  the  worst  of  them  ;  and  how  he  comes  to  be 
mentioned  out  of  his  natural  order  is  not  easy  to  be 
accounted  for.  When  the  Scriptures  design  to  mark 
precedency ,  though  the  subject  be  a  younger  son  or 
brother,  he  is  always  mentioned  first;  so  Jacob  is 
named  before  Esau ,  his  elder  brother,  and  Ephraim 
before  Manasses.  See  chap,  xxviii.  5;  xlviii.  20 

Among  many  important  things  presented  to  our  view 
in  this  chapter,  several  of  which  have  been  already 
noticed,  we  may  observe  that,  of  all  the  antediluvian 
patriarchs,  Enoch,  who  was  probably  the  best  man,  was 
the  shortest  time  upon  earth;  his  years  were  exactly 
as  the  days  in  a  solar  revolution,  viz.,  three  hundred 
and  sixty  five ;  and  like  the  sun  he  fulfilled  a  glorious 
course,  shining  more  and  more  unto  tne  perfect  day 
and  was  taken,  when  in  his  meridian  splendour,  to 
shine  like  the  sun  in  the  kingdom  of  his  Father  for  ever. 

From  computation  it  appears,  1.  That  Adam  lived 

6  j  a 


The  multiplication  and 


GENESIS. 


to  see  Lamech,  the  ninth  generation,  in  the  fifty-sixth 
year  of  whose  life  he  died  ;  and  as  he  was  the  first 
who  lived,  and  the  first  that  sinned,  so  he  was  the  first 
who  tasted  death  in  a  natural  way.  Abel’s  was  not 
a  natural  but  a  violent  death.  2.  That  Enoch  was 
taken  away  next  after  Adam,  seven  patriarchs  remain¬ 
ing  witness  of  his  translation.  3.  That  all  the  nine 
first  patriarchs  were  taken  away  before  the  flood  came, 
which  happened  in  the  sixth  hundredth  year  of  Noah’s 


toickedness  of  man. 

life.  4.  That  Methuselah  lived  till  the  very  year  in 
which  the  flood  came,  of  which  his  name  is  supposed 
to  have  been  prophetical ;  IflQ  methu,  “  he  dieth,”  and 
nSiJ?  shalach,  “  he  sendeth  out;”  as  if  God  had  de¬ 
signed  to  teach  men  that  as  soon  as  Methuselah  died 
the  flood  should  be  sent  forth  to  drown  an  ungodly 
world.  If  this  were  then  so  understood,  even  the 
name  of  this  patriarch  contained  in  it  a  gracious  warn¬ 
ing .  See  the  genealogical  plate  after  chap.  xi. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

The  children  of  God ,  among  whom  the  true  religion  was  at  first  preserved ,  corrupt  it  by  forming  matrimonial 
connections  with  irreligious  women,  1,2.  God,  displeased  with  these  connections  and  their  consequences, 
limits  the  continuance  of  the  old  world  to  one  hundred  and  twenty  years,  3.  The  issue  of  those  improper 
connections  termed  giants,  4.  An  affecting  description  of  the  depravity  of  the  world,  5,  6.  God  threatens 
the  destruction  of  every  living  creature,  7.  Noah  and  his  family  find  grace  in  his  sight,  8.  The  character 
and  family  of  Noah,  9,  10.  And  a  farther  description  of  the  corruption  of  man,  11,  12.  Noah  is  fore¬ 
warned  of  the  approaching  destruction  of  the  human  race,  1 3  ;  and  is  ordered  to  build  an  ark  for  the  safely 
of  himself  and  household,  the  form  and  dimensions  of  which  are  particularly  described,  14-16.  The  deluge 
threatened ,  17.  The  covenant  of  God's  mercy  is  to  be  established  between  him  and  the  family  of  Noah,  18. 

A  male  and  female  of  all  kinds  of  animals  that  could  not  live  in  the  waters  to  be  brought  into  the  ark , 
19,  20.  Noah  is  commanded  to  provide  food  for  their  sustenance,  21  ;  and  punctually  follows  all  these 
directions ,  22. 


tf.S:  AND-il,  came  to  pass,  a  when 

- men  began  to  multiply  on  the 

face  of  the  earth,  and  daughters  were  born 
unto  them, 

2  That  the  sons  of  God  saw  the  daughters 
of  men  that  they  were  fair  ;  and  they  b  took 
them  wives  of  all  which  they  chose. 

3  And  the  Lord  said,  c  My  Spirit  shall  not 

a  Chap.  i.  28  ;  2  Esdr.  iii.  7. - b  Deut.  vii.  3,  4. 

NOTES  ON  CHAP.  VI. 

Verse  1.  When  men  began  to  multiply ]  It  was  not 
at  this  time  that  men  began  to  multiply,  but  the  inspired 
penman  speaks  now  of  a  fact  which  had  taken  place 
long  before.  As  there  is  a  distinction  made  here  be¬ 
tween  men  and  those  called  the  sons  of  God,  it  is 
generally  supposed  that  the  immediate  posterity  of 
Cain  and  that  of  Seth  are  intended.  The  first  were 
mere  men ,  such  as  fallen  nature  may  produce,  degene¬ 
rate  sons  of  a  degenerate  father,  governed  by  the  de¬ 
sire  of  the  flesh,  the  desire  of  the  eye,  and  the  pride 
of  life.  The  others  were  sons  of  God,  not  angels,  as 
some  have  dreamed,  but  such  as  were,  according  to 
our  Lord’s  doctrine,  horn  again,  born  from  above,  John 
iii.  3,  5,  6,  &c.,  and  made  children  of  God  by  the  in¬ 
fluence  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  Gal.  v.  6.  The  former 
were  apostates  from  the  true  religion,  the  latter  were 
those  among  whom  it  was  preserved  and  cultivated. 

Hr.  Wall  supposes  the  first  verses  of  this  chapter 
should  be  paraphrased  thus  :  “  When  men  began  to 
multiply  on  the  earth,  the  chief  men  took  wives  of  all 
the  handsome  poor  women  they  chose.  There  were 
tyrants  in  the  earth  in  those  days ;  and  also  after  the 
antediluvian  days  powerful  men  had  unlawful  con- 
a  66 


always  strive  with  man,  d  for  that  *^36. 

he  also  is  flesh  :  yet  his  days  shall  - - 

be  a  hundred  and  twenty  years. 

4  There  were  giants  in  the  earth  in  those 
days  ;  and  also  after  that,  when  the  sons  of 
God  came  in  unto  the  daughters  of  men,  and 
they  bare  children  to  them,  the  same  became 
mighty  men  which  were  of  old,  men  of  renown. 

c  Gal.  v.  16,  17  ;  1  Pet.  iii.  19,  20. - dPsa.  lxxviii.  39. 

nections  with  the  inferior  women,  and  the  children 
which  sprang  from  this  illicit  commerce  were  the 
renowned  heroes  of  antiquity,  of  whom  the  heathens 
made  their  gods.” 

Verse  3.  My  spirit  shall  not  always  strive ]  It  is 
only  by  the  influence  of  the  Spirit  of  God  that  the 
carnal  mind  can  be  subdued  and  destroyed  ;  but  those 
who  wilfully  resist  and  grieve  that  Spirit  must  be  ulti¬ 
mately  left  to  the  hardness  and  blindness  of  their  own 
hearts,  if  they  do  not  repent  and  turn  to  God.  God 
delights  in  mercy,  and  therefore  a  gracious  warning  is 
given.  Even  at  this  time  the  earth  was  ripe  for  de¬ 
struction  ;  but  God  promised  them  one  hundred  and 
twenty  years’  respite  :  if  they  repented  in  that  interim, 
well ;  if  not,  they  should  be  destroyed  by  a  flood. 
See  on  ver.  5. 

Verse  4.  There  were  giants  in  the  earth ] 
nephilim,  from  bsi  naphal,  “  he  fell.”  Those  who  had 
apostatized  ox  fallen  from  the  true  religion.  The  Sep 
tuagint  translate  the  original  word  by  yiyavreg,  which 
literally  signifies  earth-born,  and  which  we,  following 
them,  term  giants,  without  having  any  reference  to  the 
meaning  of  the  word,  which  we  generally  conceive  to 
signify  persons  of  enormous  stature.  But  the  word 

(  6*  ) 


CHAP.  VI. 


God  purposes  to  . 


destroy  the  earth 


4*  JJ'  iJjS*  5  And  God  saw  that  the  wicked- 

— ; -  ness  of  man  was  great  in  the  earth, 

and  that  e  every  f  imagination  of  the  thoughts 
of  his  heart  was  only  evil  e  continually. 

6  And  it  lv  repented  the  Lord  that  he  had 
made  man  on  the  earth,  and  it  *  grieved  him 
at  his  heart. 

7  And  the  Lord  said,  I  will  destroy  man 
whom  I  have  created  from  the  face  of  the 
earth ;  k  both  man  and  beast,  and  the  creep¬ 
ing  thing,  and  the  fowls  of  the  air  ;  for  it  re- 


penteth  me  that  I  have  made  4  ^  So 
them.  - 

8  But  Noah  1  found  grace  in  the  eyes  of  the 

Lord. 

9  These  are  the  generations  of  Noah : 
m  Noah  was  a  just  man,  and  n  perfect  in  his 
generations,  and  Noah  0  walked  with  God  : 

10  And  Noah  begat  three  Sons,  A.  M.  cir.  1556 

°  B.  C.  cir.  2448. 

1 1  The  earth  also  was  corrupt  q  before 
God,  and  the  earth  was  r  filled  with  violence. 


p  Shem,  Ham,  and  Japheth 


e  Or,  the  whole  imagination.  The  Hebrew  word  signifieth,  not 

only  the  imagination,  but  also  the  purposes  and  desires. - f  Chap. 

viii.  21  ;  Deut.  xxix.  19 ;  Prov.  vi.  18  ;  2  Esdr.  iii.  8  ;  Matt.  xv. 

19. - sHeb.  every  day. - h  See  Num.  xxiii.  19;  1  Sam.  xv. 

11,  29  ;  2  Sam.  xxiv.  16;  Mai.  iii.  6  ;  James  i.  17. - !  Isa.  lxiii. 

10;  Eph.  iv.  30. - k  Heb  .from  man  unto  beast. - 1  Chap.  xix. 


19;  Exod.  xxxiii.  12,13,  16,  17;  Luke  i.  30 ;  Acts  vii.  46. 
m  Chap.  vii.  1  ;  Ezek.  xiv.  14,  20  ;  Ecclus.  xliv.  17  ;  Rom.  i.  17  , 

Heb.  xi.  7  ;  2  Pet.  ii.  5. - n  Or,  upright. - 0  Chap.  v.  22. 

P  Chap.  v.  32. - 1  Chap.  vii.  1  ;  x.  9  ;  xiii.  13  ;  2  Chron.  xxxiv 

27  ;  Luke  i.  6  ;  Rom.  ii.  13  ;  iii.  19. - r  Ezek.  viii.  17 ;  xxviii 

16  ;  Hab.  ii.  8, 17. 


when  properly  understood  makes  a  very  just  distinction 
between  the  sons  of  men  and  the  sons  of  God  ;  those 
were  the  nephilim,  th e  fallen  earth-born  men,  with  the 
animal  and  devilish  mind.  These  were  the  sons  of 
God ,  who  were  born  from  above  ;  children  of  the  king¬ 
dom,  because  children  of  God.  Hence  we  may  sup¬ 
pose  originated  the  different  appellatives  given  to  sin¬ 
ners  and  saints ;  the  former  were  termed  yiyavrec, 
earth-born,  and  the  latter,  aytoc ,  i.  e.  saints,  persons  not 
of  the  earth ,  or  separated  from  the  earth. 

The  same  became  mighty  men — men  of  renown .] 
D’lDJ  gibhorim ,  which  we  render  mighty  men ,  signifies 
properly  conquerors ,  heroes ,  from  “OJ  gabar,  “  he  pre¬ 
vailed,  was  victorious,”  and  Diyn  ’tyjH  anshey  hashshem , 
“men  of  the  name,”  avOporrot  ovoyaarot ,  Septuagint ; 
the  same  as  we  render  men  of  renown,  renominati, 
twice  named ,  as  the  word  implies,  having  one  name 
which  they  derived  from  their  fathers,  and  another  which 
they  acquired  by  their  daring  exploits  and  enterprises. 

It  may  be  necessary  to  remark  here  that  our  trans¬ 
lators  have  rendered  seven  different  Hebrew  words  by 
the  one  term  giants,  viz.,  nephilim ,  gibborim,  enachim, 
rephaim,  emim,  and  zamzummim ;  by  which  appella¬ 
tives  are  probably  meant  in  general  persons  of  great 
knowledge,  piety,  courage,  wickedness,  &c.,  and  not 
men  of  enormous  stature,  as  is  generally  conjectured. 

Yerse  5.  The  wickedness  of  man  was  great ]  What 
an  awful  character  does  God  give  of  the  inhabitants 
of  the  antediluvian  world  !  1.  They  wer  e  flesh,  (ver.  3,) 
wholly  sensual,  the  desires  of  the  mind  overwhelmed 
and  lost  in  the  desires  of  the  flesh,  their  souls  no  longer 
discerning  their  high  destiny,  but  ever  minding  earthly 
things,  so  that  they  were  sensualized,  brutalized,  and 
become  flesh ;  incarnated  so  as  not  to  retain  God  in 
their  knowledge,  and  they  lived,  seeking  their  portion 
in  this  life.  2.  They  were  in  a  state  of  wickedness. 
All  was  corrupt  within,  and  all  unrighteous  without; 
neither  the  science  nor  practice  of  religion  existed. 
Piety  was  gone,  and  every  form  of  sound  words  had 
disappeared.  3.  This  wickedness  was  great 
rabbali,  “  was  multiplied  ;”  it  was  continually  increas¬ 
ing,  and  multiplying  increase  by  increase,  so  that  the 
whole  earth  was  corrupt  before  God,  and  was  filled 
with  violence,  (ver.  11;)  profligacy  among  the  lower, 


and  cruelty  and  oppression  among  the  higher  classes, 
being  only  predominant.  4.  All  the  imaginations  of 
their  thoughts  were  evil — the  very  first  embryo  of 
every  idea,  the  figment  of  every  thought,  the  very 
materials  out  of  which  perception,  conception,  and 
ideas  were  formed,  were  all  evil ;  the  fountain  which 
produced  them,  with  every  thought,  purpose,  wish, 
desire,  and  motive,  was  incurably  poisoned.  5.  All 
these  were  evil  without  any  mixture  of  good — the 
Spirit  of  God  which  strove  with  them  was  continually 
resisted,  so  that  evil  had  its  sovereign  sway.  6.  They 
were  evil  continually — there  was  no  interval  of  good, 
no  moment  allowed  for  serious  reflection,  no  holy  pur¬ 
pose,  no  righteous  act.  What  a  finished  picture  of 
a  fallen  soul  !  Such  a  picture  as  God  alone,  who 
searches  the  heart  and  tries  the  spirit,  could  possibly 
give.  7.  To  complete  the  whole,  God  represents 
himself  as  repenting  because  he  had  made  them,  and 
as  grieved  at  the  heart  because  of  their  iniquities  ! 
liad  not  these  been  voluntary  transgressions,  crimes 
which  they  might  have  avoided,  had  they  not  grieved 
and  quenched  the  Spirit  of  God,  could  he  speak  of 
them  in  the  manner  he  does  here  1  8.  So  incensed 

is  the  most  holy  and  the  most  merciful  God,  that  he  is 
determined  to  destroy  the  work  of  his  hands  :  And  the 
Lord  said,  I  will  destroy  man  ivhom  I  have  created  ; 
ver.  7.  How  great  must  the  evil  have  been,  and  how 
provoking  the  transgressions,  which  obliged  the  most 
compassionate  God,  for  the  vindication  of  his  own 
glory,  to  form  this  awful  purpose  !  Fools  make  a  mock 
at  sin,  but  none  except  fools. 

Yerse  8.  Noah  found  grace  in  the  eyes  of  the  Lord.\ 
Why  1  Because  he  was,  1.  A  just  man,  pH2f  It/' a  is h 
tsaddik ,  a  man  who  gave  to  all  their  due ;  for  this  is 
the  ideal  meaning  of  the  original  word.  2.  He  was 
perfect  in  his  generation — he  was  in  all  things  a  con¬ 
sistent  character,  never  departing  from  the  truth  in 
principle  or  practice.  3.  He  walked  with  God — he 
was  not  only  righteous  in  his  conduct,  but  he  was 
■pious,  and  had  continual  communion  with  God.  The 
same  word  is  used  here  as  before  in  the  case  of  Enoch. 
See  chap.  v.  22. 

.  Yerse  11.  The  earth  also  ivas  corrupt ]  See  on 

verse  5. 


67 


God  instructs  Noah 


GENESIS. 


how  to  make  the  ark 


A.  M.  cir.  1556.  12  And  God  s  looked  upon 

— -  the  earth,  and,  behold,  it  was 

corrupt ;  for  all  flesh  had  corrupted  his  way 
upon  the  earth. 

13  And  God  said  unto  Noah, *  1  The  end  of 
all  flesh  is  come  before  me ;  for  the  earth  is 
filled  with  violence  through  them  :  u  and,  be¬ 
hold,  I  will  destroy  them  v  with  the  earth. 

*Chap.  xviii.  21 ;  Psa.  xiv.  2;  xxxiii.  13,  14  ;  liii.  2,  3. - 4  Jer. 

li.  13  ;  Ezek.  vii.  2,  3,  6;  Amos  viii.  2  ;  1  Pet.  iv.  7. 

Yerse  13.  I  will  destroy  them  with  the  earth.~\  Not 
only  the  human  rtice  was  to  be  destroyed,  but  all  ter¬ 
restrial  animals,  i.  e.  those  which  could  not  live  in  the 
waters.  These  must  necessarily  be  destroyed  when 
the  whole  surface  of  the  earth  was  drowned.  But  de¬ 
stroying  the  earth  may  probably  mean  the  alteration 
of  its  constitution.  Dr.  Woodward,  in  his  natural  his¬ 
tory  of  the  earth,  has  rendered  it  exceedingly  probable 
that  the  whole  terrestrial  substance  was  amalgamated 
with  the  waters,  after  which  the  different  materials  of 
its  composition  settled  in  beds  or  strata  according  to 
their  respective  gravities.  This  theory,  however,  is 
disputed  by  others. 

Yerse  14.  Make  thee  an  arP\  rDfl  tebalh ,  a  word 
which  is  used  only  to  express  this  vessel ,  and  that  in 
which  Moses  was  preserved,  Exod.  ii.  3,  5.  It  sig¬ 
nifies  no  more  than  our  word  vessel  in  its  common 
acceptation — a  hollow  place  capable  of  containing  per¬ 
sons,  goods,  &c.,  without  any  particular  reference  to 
shape  ox  form. 

Gopher  wood\  Some  think  the  cedar  is  meant ; 
others,  the  cypress.  Bochart  renders  this  probable, 
1.  From  the  appellation,  supposing  the  Greek  word 
KVKapiaaog,  cypress ,  was  formed  from  the  Hebrew  *12 } 
gopher ;  for  take  away  the  termination  ujcrog,  and  then 
gopher  and  nvixap  will  have  a  near  resemblance.  2. 
Because  the  cypress  is  not  liable  to  rot,  nor  to  be  in¬ 
jured  by  worms.  3.  The  cypress  was  anciently  used 
for  ship-building.  4.  This  wood  abounded  in  Assyria, 
where  it  is  probable  Noah  built  the  ark.  After  all, 
the  word  is  of  doubtful  signification,  and  occurs  no¬ 
where  else  in  the  Scriptures.  The  Septuagint  render 
the  place,  en  Zviiov  Terpayovuv,  “  of  square  timber 
and  the  Yulgate,  de  lignis  Iwvigatis,  “  of  planed  tim¬ 
ber  so  it  is  evident  that  these  translators  knew  not 
what  kind  of  wood  was  intended  by  the  original.  The 
Syriac  and  Arabic  trifle  with  the  passage,  rendering 
it  wicker  work,  as  if  the  ark  had  been  a  great  basket ! 
Both  the  Targums  render  it  cedar ;  and  the  Persian, 
pine  or  fir. 

Yerse  15.  Thou  shall  make — the  length  of  the  ark 
— three  hundred  cubits ,  the  breadth  of  it  fifty  cubits , 
and  the  height  of  it  thirty  cubits ]  Allowing  the  cubit, 
which  is  the  length  from  the  elbow  to  the  tip  of  the 
middle  finger,  to  be  eighteen  inches,  the  ark  must  have 
been  four  hundred  and  fifty  feet  in  length,  seventy-five 
in  breadth,  and  forty-five  in  height.  But  that  the  an¬ 
cient  cubit  was  more  than  eighteen  inches  has  been 
demonstrated  by  Mr.  Greaves,  who  travelled  in  Greece, 
Palestine,  and  Egypt,  in  order  to  be  able  to  ascertain 
the  weights ,  moneys ,  and  measures  of  antiquity.  He 

68 


14  Make  thee  an  ark  of  gopher  g‘  c’2468 

wood  ;  w  rooms  shall  thou  make  in  - 

the  ark,  and  shalt  pitch  it  x  within  and  with¬ 
out  with  pitch. 

1 5  And  this  is  the  fashion  which  thou  shalt 
make  it  of :  The  length  of  the  ark  shall  he 
three  hundred  cubits,  y  the  breadth  of  it  fifty 
cubits,  and  the  height  of  it  thirty  cubits. 

u  Ver.  17. - v  Or,  from  the  earth. - wHeb.  nests. - xExod. 

ii.  3. - y  Chap.  vii.  20  ;  Deut.  iii.  11. 

measured  the  pyramids  in  Egypt,  and  comparing  the 
accounts  which  Herodotus,  Strabo,  and  others,  give  of 
their  size,  he  found  the  length  of  a  cubit  to  be  twenty- 
one  inches  and  eight  hundred  and  eighty-eight  decimal 
parts  out  of  a  thousand,  or  nearly  twenty-two  inches. 
Hence  the  cube  of  a  cubit  is  evidently  ten  thousand 
four  hundred  and  eighty-six  inches.  And  from  this 
it  will  appear  that  the  three  hundred  cubits  of  the  ark’s 
length  make  five  hundred  and  forty-seven  feet ;  the 
fifty  for  its  breadth,  ninety-one  feet  two  inches ;  and 
the  thirty  for  its  height,  fifty -four  feet  eight  inches. 
When  these  dimensions  are  examined,  the  ark  will  be 
found  to  be  a  vessel  whose  capacity  was  more  than 
sufficient  to  contain  all  persons  and  animals  said  to 
have  been  in  it,  with  sufficient  food  for  each  for  more 
than  twelve  months.  This  vessel  Dr.  Arbuthnot  com¬ 
putes  to  have  been  eighty-one  thousand  and  sixty-two 
tons  in  burden. 

As  many  have  supposed  the  capacity  of  the  ark  to 
have  been  much  too  small  for  the  things  which  were 
contained  in  it,  it  will  be  necessary  to  examine  this 
subject  thoroughly,  that  every  difficulty  may  be  re¬ 
moved.  The  things  contained  in  the  ark,  besides  the 
eight  persons  of  Noah’s  family,  were  one  pair  of  all 
unclean  animals,  and  seven  pairs  of  all  clean  animals, 
with  provisions  for  all  sufficient  for  twelve  months. 

At  the  first  view  the  number  of  animals  may  appear 
so  immense  that  no  space  but  the  forest  could  be 
thought  sufficient  to  contain  them.  If,  however,  we 
come  to  a  calculation,  the  number  of  the  different 
genera  or  kinds  of  animals  will  be  found  much  less 
than  is  generally  imagined.  It  is  a  question  whether 
in  this  account  any  but  the  different  genera  of  animals 
necessary  to  be  brought  into  the  ark  should  be  in¬ 
cluded.  Naturalists  have  divided  the  whole  system  of 
zoology  into  classes  and  orders,  containing  genera 
and  species.  There  are  six  classes  thus  denominated : 

1.  Mammalia ;  2.  Aves ;  3.  Amphibia;  4.  Pisces; 
5.  Insectce  ;  and  6.  Vermes.  With  the  three  last  of 
these,  viz.,  fishes ,  insects ,  and  worms ,  the  question  can 
have  little  to  do. 

The  first  class,  Mammalia ,  or  animals  with  teatsr 
contains  seven  orders,  and  only  forty-three  genera  if 
we  except  the  seventh  order,  cete ,  i.  e.  all  the  whale 
kind,  which  certainly  need  not  come  into  this  account. 
The  different  species  in  this  class  amount,  the  cete  ex¬ 
cluded,  to  five  hundred  and  forty -three. 

The  second  class,  Aves ,  birds,  contains  six  orders, 
and  only  seventy-four  genera,  if  we  exclude  the  third 
order,  anseres ,  or  web-footed  fowls,  all  of  which  could 
very  well  live  in  the  water.  The  different  species  in 

a 


CHAP.  VI. 


The  flood  threatened. 

4  iJ'  1 6  A  window  z  shalt  thou  make 

-  to  the  ark,  and  in  a  cubit  shalt  thou 

.  finish  it  above  ;  and  the  door  a  of  the  ark  shalt 
thou  set  in  the  side  thereof ;  with  lower, 
second,  and  third  stories  shalt  thou  make  it. 

17  b  And  behold,  I,  even  I,  do  bring  a  flood 
of  waters  upon  the  earth,  to  destroy  all  flesh, 

z  Chap.  viii.  6. - a  Chap.  vii.  16;  Luke  xiii.  25. - b  Yer. 

13  ;  chap.  vii.  4,  21,  22,  23  ;  2  Pet.  ii.  5  ;  Psa.  xxix.  10;  xeiii. 

this  class,  the  anseres  excepted,  amount  to  two  thou¬ 
sand  three  hundred  and  seventy-two. 

The  third  class,  Amphibia,  contains  only  two  orders, 
reptiles  and  serpents ;  these  comprehend  ten  genera , 
and  three  hundred  and  sixty-six  species,  but  of  the  rep¬ 
tiles  many  could  live  in  the  water,  such  as  the  tortoise , 
frog ,  <5fC.  Of  the  former  there  are  thirty-three  spe¬ 
cies,  of  the  latter  seventeen ,  which  excluded  reduce 
the  number  to  three  hundred  and  sixteen.  The  whole 
of  these  would  occupy  but  little  room  in  the  ark,  for 
a  small  portion  of  earth ,  dye.,  in  the  hold  would  be 
sufficient  for  their  accommodation. 

Bishop  Wilkins,  who  has  written  largely  and  with 
his  usual  accuracy  on  this  subject,  supposes  that  quad¬ 
rupeds  do  not  amount  to  one  hundred  different  kinds, 
nor  birds  which  could  not  live  in  the  water  to  two  hun¬ 
dred.  Of  quadrupeds  he  shows  that  only  seventy-two 
species  needed  a  place  in  the  ark,  and  the  birds  he 
divides  into  nine  classes,  including  in  the  whole  one 
hundred  and  ninety-five  kinds,  from  which  all  the  web¬ 
footed  should  be  deducted,  as  these  could  live  in  the 
water. 

He  computes  all  the  carnivorous  animals  equivalent, 
as  to  the  bulk  of  their  bodies  and  food,  to  twenty-seven 
wolves ;  and  all  the  rest  to  one  hundred  and  eighty 
oxen.  For  the  former  he  allows  one  thousand  eight 
hundred  and  twenty-five  sheep  for  their  annual  con¬ 
sumption  ;  and  for  the  latter,  one  hundred  and  nine 
thousand  five  hundred  cubits  of  hay  :  these  animals 
and  their  food  will  be  easily  contained  in  the  two  first 
stories ,  and  much  room  to  spare  ;  as  to  the  third  story , 
no  person  can  doubt  its  being  sufficient  for  the  fowls, 
with  Noah  and  his  family. 

One  sheep  each  day  he  judges  will  be  sufficient  for 
six  wolves  ;  and  a  square  cubit  of  hay,  which  contains 
forty-one  pounds,  as  ordinarily  pressed  in  our  ricks, 
will  be  amply  sufficient  for  one  ox  in  the  day.  When 
the  quantum  of  room  which  these  animals  and  their 
provender  required  for  one  year,  is  compared  with  the 
capacity  of  the  ark,  we  shall  be  lead  to  conclude,  with 
9  the  learned  bishop,  “  that  of  the  two  it  is  more  diffi¬ 
cult  to  assign  a  number  and  bulk  of  necessary  things 
to  answer  to  the  capacity  of  the  ark,  than  to  find 
sufficient  room  for  the  several  species  of  animals  and 
their  food  already  known  to  have  been  there.”  This 
he  attributes  to  the  imperfection  of  our  lists  of  animals, 
especially  those  of  the  unknown  parts  of  the  earth ; 
and  adds,  “  that  the  most  expert  mathematicians  at  this 
day,”  and  he  was  one  of  the  first  in  Europe,  “  could 
not  assign  the  proportion  of  a  vessel  better  accommo¬ 
dated  to  the  purpose  than  is  here  done  ;”  and  concludes 
thus  :  “  The  capacity  of  the  ark,  which  has  been  made 


The  covenant  with  Noah. 
wherein  is  the  breath  of  life,  c  from  4  ISS' 

D.  U.  24oo. 

under  heaven ;  and  every  thing  - 

that  is  in  the  earth  shall  die. 

1 8  But  with  thee  will  I  d  establish  my  cove¬ 
nant  ;  and  e  thou  shalt  come  into  the  ark, 
thou,  and  thy  sons,  and  thy  wife,  and  thy 
sons’  wives  with  thee. 

3,4;  Amos  ix.  6. - c  Chap.  ii.  7;  chap.  vii.  15. - d  Chap. 

ix.  9. - e  Chap.  vii.  1,  7,  13  ;  1  Pet.  iii.  20  ;  2  Pet.  ii.  5. 

an  objection  against  Scripture,  ought  to  be  esteemed 
a  confirmation  of  its  Divine  authority  ;  since,  in  those 
ruder  ages  men,  being  less  versed  in  arts  and  philoso¬ 
phy,  were  more  obnoxious  to  vulgar  prejudices  than 
now,  so  that  had  it  been  a  human  invention  it  would 
have  been  contrived,  according  to  those  wild  appre¬ 
hensions  which  arise  from  a  confused  and  general  view 
of  things,  as  much  too  big  as  it  has  been  represented 
too  little .”  See  Bishop  Wilkins’s  Essay  towards  a 
Philosophical  Character  and  Language. 

Yerse  16.  A  window  shall  thou  make]  What  this 
was  cannot  be  absolutely  ascertained.  The  original 
word  tsohar  signifies  clear  or  bright ;  the  Septua- 
gint  translate  it  by  ETuavvayuv,  “  collecting ,  thou  shalt 
make  the  ark,”  which  plainly  shows  they  did  not  un¬ 
derstand  the  word  as  signifying  any  kind  of  window 
or  light.  Symmachus  translates  it  bia^avep,  a  trans¬ 
parency  ;  and  Aquila,  pearyi^pivov,  the  noon.  Jona¬ 
than  ben  Uzziel  supposes  that  it  was  a  precious  lumi¬ 
nous  stone  which  Noah,  by  Divine  command,  brought 
from  the  river  Pison.  It  is  probably  a  word  which 
should  be  taken  in  a  collective  sense,  signifying  aper¬ 
tures  for  air  and  light. 

In  a  cubit  shalt  thou  finish  it  above]  Probably 
meaning  that  the  root  should  be  left  a  cubit  broad  at 
the  apex  or  top,  and  that  it  should  not  terminate  in  a 
sharp  ridge.  But  this  place  is  variously  understood. 

Verse  17.  I — do  bring  a  food]  ,*  mabbul ;  a 

word  used  only  to  designate  the  general  deluge,  being 
never  applied  to  signify  any  other  kind  of  inundation  ; 
and  does  not  the  Holy  Spirit  intend  to  show  by  this 
that  no  other  flood  was  ever  like  this,  and  that  it  should 
continue  to  be  the  sole  one  of  the  kind  1  There 
have  been  many  partial  inundations  in  various  coun¬ 
tries,  but  never  more  than  one  general  deluge  ;  and 
we  have  God’s  promise,  chap.  ix.  15,  that  there  shall 
never  be  another. 

Yerse  18.  With  thee  will  I  establish  my  covenant] 
The  word  m3  berith ,  from  33  bar,  to  purify  or  cleanse, 
signifies  properly  a  purification  or  purifier,  (see  on  chap, 
xv.,)  because  in  all  covenants  made  between  God  and 
man,  sin  and  sinfulness  were  ever  supposed  to  be  on 
man’s  side,  and  that  God  could  not  enter  into  any 
covenant  or  engagement  with  him  without  a  purifier  ; 
hence,  in  all  covenants,  a  sacrifice  was  offered  for  the 
removal  of  offences,  and  the  reconciliation  of  God  to 
the  sinner  ;  and  hence  the  word  m3  berith  signifies 
not  only  a  covenant,  but  also  the  sacrifice  offered  on 
the  occasion,  Exod.  xxiv.  8  ;  Psalm  1.  5  ;  and  Jesus 
Christ,  the  great  atonement  and  purifier,  has  the  same 
word  for  his  title,  Isa.  xlii.  6  ;  xlix.  8  ;  and  Zech. 
ix.  11. 


69 


GENESIS. 


a  pair  of  every  kind  of  animals . 


Noah  is  ordered  to  preserve 

b'  c’ 2468*  |9  And  of  every  living  thing  of 

- -  all  flesh,  f  two  of  every  sort  shalt 

thou  bring  into  the  ark,  to  keep  them  alive 
with  thee  ;  they  shall  be  male  and  female. 

20  Of  fowls  after  their  kind,  and  of  cattle 
after  their  kind,  of  every  creeping  thing  of  the 
earth  after  his  kind,  two  of  every  sort  e  shall 

f  Chap.  vii.  8,  9,  15,  16. - s  Chap.  vii.  9, 15  ;  see  chap.  ii.  19. 

Almost  all  nations,  in  forming  alliances,  &c.,  made 
their  covenants  or  contracts  in  the  same  way.  A 
sacrifice  was  provided,  its  throat  was  cut,  and  its  blood 
poured  out  before  God  ;  then  the  whole  carcass  was 
divided  through  the  spinal  marrow  from  the  head  to  the 
rump,  so  as  to  make  exactly  two  equal  parts ;  these 
were  placed  opposite  to  each  other,  and  the  contracting 
parties  passed  between  them,  or  entering  at  opposite 
’ends  met  in  the  centre,  and  there  took  the  covenant 
oath.  This  is  particularly  referred  to  by  Jeremiah, 
chap,  xxxiv.  18,  19,  20  :  “I  will  give  the  men  (into 
the  hands  of  their  enemies,  ver.  20)  that  have  trans¬ 
gressed  my  covenant,  which  have  not  performed  the 
words  of  the  covenant  which  they  made  before 
me,  when  they  cut  the  calf  in  twain ,  and  'passed 
between  the  parts  thereof ,”  cf \c.  See  also  Deut. 
xxix.  12. 

A  covenant,  says  Mr.  Ainsworth,  is  a  disposition  of 
good  things  faithfully  declared,  which  God  here  calls 
his,  as  arising  from  his  grace  towards  Noah  (ver.  8) 
and  all  men  ;  but  implying  also  conditions  on  man's 
part,  and  therefore  is  called  bur  covenant,  Zech.  ix. 

1 1 .  The  apostles  call  it  diadrjKr),  a  testament  or  dis¬ 
position  ;  and  it  is  mixed  of  the  properties  both  of 
covenant  and  testament,  as  the  apostle  shows,  Heb.  ix. 
16,  &c.,  and  of  both  may  be  named  a  testamental 
covenant,  whereby  the  disposing  of  God’s  favours  and 
good  things  to  us  is  declared.  The  covenant  made 
with  Noah  signified,  on  God's  part,  that  he  should  save 
Noah  and  his  family  from  death  by  the  ark.  On  Noah’s 
part,  that  he  should  in  faith  and  obedience  make  and 
enter  into  the  ark — Thou  shalt  come  into  the  ark,  dfc., 
so  committing  himself  to  God’s  preservation,  Heb.  xi. 
7.  And  under  this  the  covenant  or  testament  of  eter¬ 
nal  salvation  by  Christ  was  also  implied,  the  apostle 
testifying,  1  Pet.  iii.  21,  that  the  antitype,  baptism, 
doth  also  now  save  us  ;  for  baptism  is  a  seal  of  our 


come  unto  thee,  Ho  keep  them  ^ 
alive.  - - 

21  And  take  thou  unto  thee  of  all  food  that' 
is  eaten,  and  thou  shalt  gather  it  to  thee ;  and 
it  shall  be  for  food  for  thee,  and  for  them. 

22  11  Thus  did  Noah  ;  1  according  to  all-  that 
God  commanded  him,  so  did  he. 

h  Heb.  xi.  7  ;  see  Exod.  xl.  16. - 1  Chap.  vii.  5,  9,  16. 

salvation,  Mark  xvi.  16.  To  provide  a  Saviour,  and 
the  means  of  salvation,  is  GOD’S  part :  to  accept  this 
Saviour,  laying  hold  on  the  hope  set  before  us,  is  ours. 
Those  who  refuse  the  way  and  means  of  salvation 
must  perish ;  those  who  accept  of  the  great  Covenant 
Sacrifice  cannot  perish,  but  shall  have  eternal  life. 
See  on  chap.  xv.  10,  &c.  ; 

Terse  19.  To  keep  them  alive']  God  might  have 
destroyed  all  the  animal  creation,  and  created  others 
to  occupy  the  new  world,  but  he  chose  rather  to  pre¬ 
serve  those  already  created.  The  Creator  and  Pre- 
server  of  the  universe  does  nothing  but  what  is  essen¬ 
tially  necessary  to  be  done.  Nothing  should  be 
wantonly  wasted ;  nor  should  power  or  skill  be  lavished 
where  no  necessity  exists ;  and  yet  it  required  more 
means  and  economy  to  preserve  the  old  than  to  have 
created  new  ones.  Such  respect  has  God  to  the  work 
of  his  hands,  that  nothing  but  what  is  essential  to  the 
credit  of  his  justice  and  holiness  shall  ever  induce 
him  to  destroy  any  thing  he  has  made. 

Verse  21.  Of  all  food  that  is  eaten]  That  is,  of 
the  food  proper  for  every  species  of  animals. 

Verse  22.  Thus  did  Noah]  He  prepared  the  ark; 
and  during  one  hundred  and  twenty  years  preached 
righteousness  to  that  sinful  generation,  2  Pet.  ii.  5. 
And  this  we  are  informed,  1  Pet.  iii.  18,  19,  &c.,  he 
did  by  tbe  Spirit  of  Christ ;  for  it  was  only  through 
him  that  the  doctrine  of  repentance  could  ever  be 
successfully  preached.  The  people  in  Noah’s  time 
are  represented  as  shut  up  in  prison — arrested  and 
condemned  by  God’s  justice,  but  graciously  allowed  the 
space  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  years  to  repent  in. 
This  respite  was  an  act  of  great  mercy  ;  and  no  doubt 
thousands  who  died  in  the  interim  availed  themselves 
of  it,  and  believed  to  the  saving  of  their  souls.  But 
the  great  majority  of  the  people  did  not,  else  the  flood 
had  never  come. 


CHAPTER  VIE 

God  informs  Noah  that  within  seven  days  he  shall  send  a  rain  upon  the  earth,  that  shall  continue  for  forty 
days  and  nights  ;  and  therefore  commands  him  to  take  his  family,  with  the  different  clean  and  unclean  animals, 
and  enter  the  ark,  1—4.  This  command  punctually  obeyed,  5—9.  In  the  seventeenth  day  of  the  second 
month,  in  the  six  hundredth  year  of  Noah's  life,  the  waters,  from  the  opened  windows  of  heaven ,  and  the 
broken  up  fountains  of  the  great  deep ,  were  poured  out  upon  the  earth ,  10—12.  The  different  quadrupeds , 
fowls,  and  reptiles  come  unto  Noah,  and  the  Lord  shuts  him  and  them  in,  13—16.  The  ivaters  increase , 
and  the  ark  floats,  17.  The  whole  earth  is  covered  with  water  fifteen  cubits  above  the  highest  mountains , 
18—20.  All  terrestrial  animals  die,  21-23.  And  the  ivaters  prevail  one  hundred  and  fifty  days ,  24, 

70  a 


CHAP.  VII. 


The  flood  comes  m  the  six 

U2£  AND„  the  Lor  said  unto  Noah, 

• -  a  Come  thou  and  all  thy  house 

into  the  ark  :  for  b  thee  have  I  seen  righteous 
before  me  in  this  generation. 

2  Of  every  c  clean  beast  thou  shalt  take  to 
tliee  by  d  sevens,  the  male  and  his  female  ; 
e  and  of  beasts  that  are  not  clean  by  two,  the 
male  and  his  female 

3  Of  fowls  also  of  the  air  by  sevens,  the 
male  and  the  female  ;  to  keep  seed  alive  upon 
the  face  of  all  the  earth. 

4  For  yet  seven  days,  and  I  will  cause  it  to 
rain  upon  the  earth  f  forty  days  and  forty 
nights ;  and  every  living  substance  that  I 
have  made  will  I  s  destroy  from  off  the  face 
of  the  earth. 

5  h  And  Noah  did  according  unto  all  that 
the  Lord  commanded  him. 

6  And  Noah  was  six  hundred  years  old 

a  Ver.  7,  13  ;  Matt.  xxiv.  38  ;  Luke  xvii.  26  ;  Heb.  xi.  7  ; 

1  Pet.  iii.  20  ;  2  Pet.  ii.  5. - b  Chap.  vi.  9 ;  Psa.  xxxiii.  18, 19  ; 

Prov.  x.  9  ;  2  Pet.  ii.  9. - c  Ver.  8  ;  Lev.  xi. - d  Heb.  seven 

seven. - e  Lev.  x.  10 ;  Ezek.  xliv.  23. 

NOTES  ON  CHAP.  VII. 

Verse  1.  Thee  have  I  seen  righteous ]  See  on  chap. 

vi.  9. 

Verse  2.  Of  every  clean  beast ]  So  we  find  the 
distinction  between  clean  and  unclean  animals  existed 
long  before  the  Mosaic  law.  This  distinction  seems 
to  have  been  originally  designed  to  mark  those  animals 
which  were  proper  for  sacrifice  and  food,  from  those 
that  were  not.  See  Lev.  xi. 

Verse  4.  For  yet  seven  days ]  God  spoke  these 
words  probably  on  the  seventh  or  Sabbath  day,  and  the 
days  of  the  ensiling  week  were  employed  in  entering 
the  ark,  in  embarking  the  mighty  troop,  for  whose 
reception  ample  provision  had  been  already  made. 

Forty  days\  This  period  became  afterwards  sacred, 
and  was  considered  a  proper  space  for  humiliation. 
Moses  fasted  forty  days,  Deut.  ix.  9,  11  ;  so  did 
Elijah ,  1  Kings  xix.  8  ;  so  did  our  Lord ,  Matt.  iv.  2. 
Forty  days’  respite  were  given  to  the  Ninevites  that 
they  might  repent,  Jonah  iii.  4  ;  and  thrice  forty  (one 
hundred  and  twenty)  years  were  given  to  the  old  world 
for  the  same  gracious  purpose,  Gen.  vi.  3.  The  forty 
days  of  Lent,  in  commemoration  of  our  Lord’s  fasting, 
have  a  reference  to  the  same  thing ;  as  each  of  these 
seems  to  be  deduced  from  this  primitive  judgment. 

Verse  11.  In  the  six  hundredth  year ,  <fc.\  This 
must  have  been  in  the  beginning  of  the  six  hundredth 
year  of  his  life ;  for  he  was  a  year  in  the  ark,  chap, 
viii.  13  ;  and  lived  three  hundred  and  fifty  years  after 
the  flood,  and  died  nine  hundred  and  fifty  years  old, 
chap.  ix.  29  ;  so  it  is  evident  that,  when  the  flood  com¬ 
menced,  he  had  just  entered  on  his  six  hundredth  year. 

Second  month]  The  first  month  was  Tisri,  which 
answers  to  the  latter  half  of  September ,  and  first  half 
of  October ;  and  the  second  was  Maixheshvan,  which 
answers  to  part  of  October  and  part  of  November, 

3 


hundredth  year  of  Noah's  life . 

when  the  flood  of  waters  was  upon 

the  earth.  - 

7  1  And  Noah  went  in,  and  his  sons,  and 
his  wife,  and  his  sons’  wives  with  him,  into 
the  ark,  because  of  the  waters  of  the  flood. 

8  Of  clean  beasts,  and  of  beasts  that  are 
not  clean,  and  of  fowls,  and'  of  every  thing 
that  creepeth  upon  the  earth, 

9  There  went  in  two  and  two  unto  Noah 
into  the  ark,  the  male  and  the  female,  as  God 
had  commanded  Noah. 

1 0  And  it  came  to  pass,  k  after  seven  days, 
that  the  waters  of  the  flood  were  upon  the 
earth. 

1 1  In  the  six  hundredth  year  of  Noah’s  life, 
in  the  second  month,  the  seventeenth  day  of 
the  month,  the  same  day  were  all  1  the  foun¬ 
tains  of  the  great  deep  broken  up,  and  the 
“windows  of  heaven  were  n  opened. 

f  Ver.  12,  17. - s  Heb.  blot  out. - h  Chap.  vi.  22. - *  Ver. 

1. - k  Or,  on  the  seventh  day. - 'Chap.  viii.  2  ;  Prov.  viii.  28; 

Ezek.  xxvi.  19. - m  Or,  flood-gates. - n  Chap.  i.  7  ;  viii.  2  ; 

Psa.  lxxviii.  23. 

After  the  deliverance  from  Egypt,  the  beginning  of 
the  year  was  changed  from  Marcheshvan  to  Nisan , 
which  answers  to  a  part  of  our  March  and  April.  But 
it  is  not  likely  that  this  reckoning  obtained  before  the 
flood.  Dr.  Lightfoot  very  probably  conjectures  that 
Methuselah  was  alive  in  the  first  month  of  this  year. 
And  it  appears,  says  he,  how  clearly  the  Spirit  of  pro¬ 
phecy  foretold  of  things  to  come,  when  it  directed  his 
father  Enoch  almost  a  thousand  years  before  to  name 
him  Methuselah ,  which  signifies  they  die  by  a  dart ; 
or,  he  dieth ,  and  then  is  the  dart ;  or,  he  dieth,  and 
then  it  is  sent.  And  thus  Adam  and  Methuselah  had 
measured  the  whole  time  between  the  creation  and  the 
flood ,  and  lived  above  two  hundred  and  forty  years 
together.  See  chap.  v.  at  the  end. 

Were  all  the  fountains  of  the  great  deep  broken  up , 
and  the  windows  of  heaven  were  opened.]  It  appears 
that  an  immense  quantity  of  waters  occupied  the  centre 
of  the  antediluvian  earth ;  and  as  these  burst  forth,  by 
the  order  of  God,  the  circumambient  strata  must  sink, 
in  order  to  fill  up  the  vacuum  occasioned  by  the  ele¬ 
vated  waters.  This  is  probably  what  is  meant  by 
breaking  up  the  fountains  of  the  great  deep.  These 
waters,  with  the  seas  on  the  earth’s  surface,  might  be 
deemed  sufficient  to  drown  the  •  whole  globe,  as  the 
waters  now  on  its  surface  are  nearly  three-fourths  of 
the  whole,  as  has  been  accurately  ascertained  by  Dr. 
Long.  See  note  on  chap.  i.  ver.  10. 

By  the  opening  of  the  windoivs  of  heaven  is  probably 
meant  the  precipitating  all  the  aqueous  vapours  which 
were  suspended  in  the  whole  atmosphere,  so  that,  as 
Moses  expresses  it,  chap.  i.  7,  the  waters  that  were 
above  the  firmament  were  again  united  to  the  waters 
which  were  below  the  firmament ,  from  which  on  the 
second  day  of  creation  they  had  been  separated.  A 
multitude  of  facts  have  proved  that  water  itself  is  com- 

71 


4 


The  rain  prevails  GENESIS.  on  the  earth  forty  days 


A.  M.  1656.  1 2  0  And  the  ram  was  upon  the 

B.  C.  2348.  A  { 

■ -  earth  forty  days  and  forty  nights. 

13  In  the  self-same  day  p  entered  Noah,  and 
Shem,  and  Ham,  and  Japheth,  the  sons  of 
Noah,  and  Noah’s  wife,  and  the  three  wives 
of  his  sons  with  them,  into  the  ark  ; 

14  q  They,  and  every  beast  after  his  kind, 
and  all  the  cattle  after  their  kind,  and  every 
creeping  thing  that  creepeth  upon  the  earth 
after  his  kind,  and  every  fowl  after  his  kind, 
every  bird  of  every  r  sort. 

15  And  they  swent  in  unto  Noah  into  the 

r-  Ver.  4,  17. - p  Ver.  1,  7  ;  chap.  vi.  18  ;  Heb.  xi.  7 ;  1  Pet. 

iii.  20  ;  2  Pet.  ii.  5. - <1  Ver.  2,  3,  8,  9. 

posed  of  two  airs,  oxygen  and  hydrogen;  and  that  85 
parts  of  the  first  and  15  of  the  last,  making  100  in 
the  whole,  will  produce  exactly  100  parts  of  water. 
And  thus  it  is  found  that  these  two  airs  form  the  con¬ 
stituent  parts  of  water  in  the  above  proportions.  The 
electric  spark,  which  is  the  same  as  lightning,  passing 
through  these  airs,  decomposes  them  and  converts  them 
to  water.  And  to  this  cause  we  may  probably  attribi^e 
the  rain  which  immediately  follows  the  flash  of  light¬ 
ning  and  peal  of  thunder.  God  therefore,  by  the  means 
of  lightning,  might  have  converted  the  whole  atmo¬ 
sphere  into  water,  for  the  purpose  of  drowning  the 
globe,  had  there  not  been  a  sufficiency  of  merely  aqueous 
vapours  suspended  in  the  atmosphere  on  the  second  day 
of  creation.  And  if  the  electric  fluid  were  used  on 
this  occasion  for  the  production  of  wTater,  the  incessant 
glare  of  lightning,  and  the  continual  peals  of  thunder, 
must  have  added  indescribable  horrors  to  the  scene. 
See  the  note  on  chap.  viii.  1 .  These  two  causes  con¬ 
curring  were  amply  sufficient,  not  only  to  overflow  the 
earth,  but  probably  to  dissolve  the  whole  terrene  fabric, 
as  some  judicious  naturalists  have  supposed :  indeed, 
this  seems  determined  by  the  wrnrd  blDD  mahbul ,  trans¬ 
lated  flood,  which  is  derived  from  8  3  hal  or  8*73  balal, 
to  mix ,  mingle,  confound,  confuse,  because  the  aqueous 
and  terrene  parts  of  the  globe  were  then  mixed  and 
confounded  together  ;  and  when  the  supernatural  cause 
that  produced  this  mighty  change  suspended  its  opera¬ 
tions,  the  different  particles  of  matter  would  settle  ac¬ 
cording  to  their  specific  gravities,  and  thus  form  the 
various  strata  or  beds  of  which  the  earth  appears  to 
be  internally  constructed.  Some  naturalists  have  con¬ 
troverted  this  sentiment,  because  in  some  cases  the 
internal  structure  of  the  earth  does  not  appear  to  jus¬ 
tify  the  opinion  that  the  various  portions  of  matter  had 
settled  according  to  their  specific  gravities  ;  but  these 
anomalies  may  easily  be  accounted  for,  from  the  great 
changes  that  have  taken  place  in  different  parts  of  the 
earth  since  due  flood,  hy  volcanic  eruptions,  earthquakes, 
&c.  Some  very  eminent  philosophers  are  of  the 
opinion  “  that,  by  the  breaking  up  of  the  fountains  of 
the  great  deep,  we  are  to  understand  an  eruption  of 
waters  from  the  Southern  Ocean  ”  Mr.  Kir  wan  sup¬ 
poses  “  that  this  is  pretty  evident  from  such  animals  as 
the  elephant  and  rhinoceros  being  found  in  great  masses 
in  Siberia,  mixed  with  different  marine  substances  j 

72 


ark,  two  and  two  of  all  flesh,  J*. 
wherein  is  the  breath  of  life.  - - 

1 6  And  they  that  went  in,  went  in  male  and 
female  of  all  flesh,  t  as  God  had  commanded 
him  :  and  the  Lord  shut  him  in. 

17  u  And  the  flood  was  forty  days  upon  the 
earth ;  and  the  waters  increased,  and  bare 
up  the  ark,  and  it  was  lift  up  above  the 
earth. 

18  And  the  waters  prevailed,  and  were  in¬ 
creased  greatly  upon  the  earth  ;  v  and  the  ark 
went  upon  the  face  of  the  waters. 

r  Heb.  wing. - s  Chap.  vi.  20. - 4  Ver.  2,  3. - uVer.  4,  12 

v  Psa.  civ.  26. 

whereas  no  animals  or  other  substances  belonging  to 
the  northern  regions  have  been  ever  found  in  southern 
climates.  Had  these  animals  died  natural  deaths  in 
their  proper  climate,  their  bodies  would  not  have  been 
found  in  such  masses.  But  that  they  were  carried  no 
farther  northward  than  Siberia,  is  evident  from  there 
being  no  remains  of  any  animals  besides  those  of 
whales  found  in  the  mountains  of  Greenland.  That 
this  great  rush  of  waters  was  from  the  south  or  south¬ 
east  is  farther  evident,  he  thinks,  from  the  south  and 
south-east  sides  of  almost  all  great  mountains  being 
much  steeper  than  their  north  or  north-west  sides,  as 
they  necessarily  would  be  if  the  force  of  a  great  body 
of  water  fell  upon  them  in  that  direction.”  On  a  sub¬ 
ject  like  this  men  may  innocently  differ.  Many  think 
the  first  opinion  accords  best  with  the  Hebrew  text  and 
with  the  phenomena  of  nature,  for  mountains  do  not 
always  present  the  above  appearance. 

Yerse  12.  The  rain  was  upon  the  earth ]  Dr.  Light- 
foot  supposes  that  the  rain  began  on  the  18th  day  of 
the  second  month,  or  Marcheshvan,  and  that  it  ceased 
on  the  28th  of  the  third  month,  Cisleu. 

Yerse  15.  And  they  went  in,  <$-c.]  It  was  physi¬ 
cally  impossible  for  Noah  to  have  collected  such  a  vast 
number  of  tame  and  ferocious  animals,  nor  could  they 
have  been  retained  in  their  wards  by  mere  natural 
means.  How  then  were  they  brought  from  various 
distances  to  the  ark  and  preserved  there  l  Only  by 
the  power  of  God.  He  who  first  miraculously  brought 
them  to  Adam  that  he  might  give  them  their  names, 
now  brings  them  to  Noah  that  he  may  preserve  their 
lives.  And  now  we  may  reasonably  suppose  that  their 
natural  enmity  was  so  far  removed  or  suspended  that 
the  lion  might  dwell  with  the  lamb,  and  the  wolf  lie 
down  with  the  kid,  though  each  might  still  require  his 
peculiar  aliment.  This  can  be  no  difficulty  to  the 
power  of  God,  without  the  immediate  interposition  of 
which  neither  the  deluge  nor  the  concomitant  circum¬ 
stances  could  have  taken  place. 

Yerse  18,  The  Lord  shut  him  mi\  This  seems  to  im¬ 
ply  that  God  took  him  under  his  especial  protection, 
and  as  he  shut  him  in,  so  he  shut  the  others  out , 
God  had  waited  one  hundred  and  twenty  years  upon 
that  generation ;  they  did  not  repent ;  they  filled  up 
the  measure  of  their  iniquities,  and  then  wrath 
upon  them  to  the  uttermost, 

a 


The  waters  subside  after 


CHAP.  VIII. 


A.  M.  1656. 

B.  C.  2348. 


1 9  And  the  waters  prevailed 

-  exceedingly  upon  the  earth ;  w  and 

all  the  high  hills,  that  were  under  the  whole 
heaven,  were  covered. 

20  Fifteen  cubits  upward  did  the  waters  pre¬ 
vail  ;  and  the  mountains  were  covered. 

21  x  And  all  flesh  died  that  moved  upon  the 
earth,  both  of  fowl,  and  of  cattle,  and  of  beast, 
and  of  every  creeping  thing  that  creepeth  upon 
the  earth,  and  every  man : 

22  All  in  y  whose  nostrils  was  z  the  breath 

w  Psa.  civ.  6  ;  Jer.  iii.  23. - x  Chap.  vi.  13,  17  ;  ver.  4  ;  Job 

xxii.  16 ;  2  Esdr.  iii.  9,  10;  Wisd.  x.  4;  Matt.  xxiv.  39 ;  Luke 
xvii.  27 ;  2  Pet.  iii.  6. - y  Chap.  ii.  7. - z  Heb.  the  breath  of 

Verse  20.  Fifteen  cubits  upward j  Should  any  per¬ 
son  object  to  the  universality  of  the  deluge  because  he 
may  imagine  there  is  not  water  sufficient  to  drown  the 
whole  globe  in  the  manner  here  related,  he  may  find 
a  most  satisfactory  answer  to  all  the  objections  he  can 
raise  on  this  ground  in  Mr.  Ray’s  Phy  sico-theological 
Discourses ,  2d  edit.,  8vo.,  1693. 

Verse  22.  Of  all  that  was  in  the  dry  land]  From 
this  we  may  conclude  that  such  animals  only  as 
could  not  .live  in  the  water  were  preserved  in 
the  ark. 

Verse  24.  And  the  waters  prevailed  upon  the  earth 


one  hundred  and  fifty  days. 

of  life,  ol  all  that  was  in  the  dry  A 1656* 

,  ,  , .  ,  J  B.  C.  2348. 

land ,  died.  - - - 

23  And  every  living  substance  was  destroy¬ 
ed  which  was  upon  the  face  of  the  ground, 
both  man,  and  cattle,  and  the  creeping  things, 
and  the  fowl  of  the  heaven  ;  and  they  were 
destroyed  from  the  earth  :  and  a  Noah  only 
remained  alive ,  and  they  that  were  with  him 
in  the  ark. 

24  b  And  the  waters  prevailed  upon  the 
earth  a  hundred  and  fifty  days. 

the  spirit  of  life  ;  chap.  ii.  7 ;  vii.  17. - a  Ezra  xiv.  14,  20 ; 

Mai.  iii.  18;  Wisd.  x.  4;  1  Pet.  iii.  20;  2  Pet.  ii.  5;  iii.  6. 
b  Chap.  viii.  3,  4,  compared  with  ver.  11  of  this  chapter. 

a  hundred  and  fifty  days .]  The  breaking  up  of  the 
fountains  of  the  great  deep,  and  the  raining  forty  days 
and  nights,  had  raised  the  waters  fifteen  cubits  above 
the  highest  mountains ;  after  which  forty  days  it  ap 
pears  to  have  continued  at  this  height  for  one  hundred 
and  fifty  days  more.  “  So,”  says  Dr.  Lightfoot,  “these 
two  sums  are  to  be  reckoned  distinct,  and  not  the  forty 
days  included  in  the  one  hundred  and  fifty  ;  so  that 
when  the  one  hundred  and  fifty  days  were  ended,  there 
were  six  months  and  ten  days  of  the  flood  past.”  For 
an  improvement  of  this  awful  judgment,  see  the  con¬ 
clusion  of  the  following  chapter. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

At  the  end  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  days  the  waters  begin  to  subside,  1—3.  The  ark  rests  on  Mount  Ararat,  4 „ 
On  the  first  of  the  tenth  month  the  tops  of  the  hills  appear ,  5.  The  ivindow  opened  and  the  raven  sent 
out ,  6,  7.  The  dove  sent  forth ,  and  returns,  8,  9.  The  dove  sent  forth  a  second  time,  and  returns  with 
an  olive  leaf,  10,  11.  The  dove  sent  out  the  third  time,  and  returns  no  more,  12.  On  the  twentieth  day 
of  the  second  month  the  earth  is  completely  dried,  13,  14.  God  orders  Noah,  his  family,  and  all  the 
creatures  to' come  out  of  the  ark,  15-19.  Noah  builds  an  altar,  and  offers  sacrifices  to  the  Lord,  20. 


They  are  accepted ;  and  God  promises  that  the  ea 
the  iniquity  of  man,  21,  22. 

A-M.J656. 

God  a  remembered  Noah, 

-  and  every  living  thing,  and  all 

the  cattle  that  was  with  him  in  the  ark :  b  and 
God  made  a  wind  to  pass  over  the  earth,  and 
the  waters  assuaged  ; 

2  c  The  fountains  also  of  the  deep  and  the 

a  Chap.  xix.  29  ;  Exod.  ii.  24 ;  1  Sam.  i.  19. - b  Exod.  xiv. 

21. - c  Chap.  xi.  7  ;  Prov.  viii.  28. 

NOTES  ON  CHAP.  VIII. 

Verse  1.  And  God  made  a  wind  to  pass  over  the 
earth]  Such  a  wind  as  produced  a  strong  and  sudden 
evaporation.  The  effects  of  these  winds,  which  are 
frequent  in  the  east,  are  truly  astonishing.  A  friend 
of  mine,  who  had  been  bathing  in  the  Tigris,  not  far 
from  the  ancient  city  of  Ctesiphon,  and  within  five 
days’  journey  of  Bagdad,  having  on  a  pair  of  Turkish 
drawers,  one  of  these  hot  winds,  called  by  the  natives 

a 


th  shall  not  be  cursed  thus  any  more,  notwitstanding 

windows  of  heaven  were  stopped,  ^  c  Jms" 

and  d  the  rain  from  heaven  was  - - 

restrained  ; 

3  And  the  waters  returned  from  off  the  earth 
e  continually  :  and  after  the  end  f  of  the  hun¬ 
dred  and  fifty  days,  the  waters  were  abated. 

d  Job  xxxviii.  37. - e  Heb.  in  going  and  returning. - f  Chap. 

vii.  24. 


samiel,  passing  rapidly  across  the  river  just  as  he  had 
got  out  of  the  water,  so  effectually  dried  him  in  a  mo¬ 
ment,  that  not  one  particle  of  moisture  was  left  either 
on  his  body  or  in  his  bathing  dress !  With  such  an 
electrified  wind  as  this,  how  soon  could  God  dry  the 
whole  of  the  earth’s  surface  !  An  operation  some¬ 
thing  similar  to  the  conversion  of  water  into  its  two 
constituent  airs,  oxygen  and  hydrogen,  by  means  of 
the  o-alvanic  fluid,  as  these  airs  themselves  may  be 

73 


GENESIS. 


The  ark  rests  upon  Mount  Ararat. 

b"  c  2348  ^  And  t-ie  ai’k  rested  in  the  seventh 

-  month,  on  the  seventeenth  day  of 

the  month,  upon  the  mountains  of  Ararat. 

5  And  the  waters  %  decreased  continually 
until  the  tenth  month  :  in  the  tenth  month,  on 
the  first  day  of  the  month,  were  the  tops  of 
the  mountains  seen. 

6  And  it  came  to  pass,  at  the  end  of  forty 
days,  that  Noah  opened  hthe  window  of  the 
ark  which  he  had  made  : 

7  And  he  sent  forth  a  raven,  which  went 
forth  1  to  and  fro,  until  the  waters  were  dried 
up  from  off  the  earth. 

8  Also  he  sent  forth  a  dove  from  him,  to 
see  if  the  waters  were  abated  from  off  the  face 
of  the  ground  ; 

9  But  the  dove  found  no  rest  for  the  sole  of 
her  foot,  and  she  returned  unto  him  into  the 
ark,  for  the  waters  were  on  the  face  of  the 

S  Heb.  were  in  going  and  decreasing. - 11  Chap.  vi.  16. - 1  Heb. 

in  going  forth  and  returning. 

reconverted  into  water  by  means  of  the  electric  spark. 
See  the  note  on  chap.  vii.  11.  And  probably  this 
was  the  agent  that  restored  to  the  atmosphere  the 
quantity  of  water  which  it  had  contributed  to  this  vast 
inundation.  The  other  portion  of  waters,  which  had 
proceeded  from  the  breaking  up  of  the  fountains  of  the 
great  deep,  would  of  course  subside  more  slowly,  as 
openings  were  made  for  them  to  run  off  from  the 
higher  lands,  and  form  seas.  By  the  first  cause,  the 
hot  wind,  the  waters  were  assuaged ,  and  the  atmo¬ 
sphere  having  its  due  proportion  of  vapours  restored, 
the  quantity  below  must  be  greatly  lessened.  By  the 
second,  the  earth  was  gradually  dried,  the  waters,  as 
they  found  passage,  lessening  by  degrees  till  the  seas 
and  gulfs  were  formed,  and  the  earth  completely 
drained.  This  appears  to  be  what  is  intended  in  the 
third  and  fifth  verses  by  the  waters  decreasing  continu¬ 
ally ,  or,  according  to  the  margin,  they  were  in  going 
and  decreasing ,  ver.  5. 

Yerse  4.  The  mountains  of  Ararat.']  That  Ararat 
was  a  mountain  of  Armenia  is  almost  universally 
agreed.  What  is  commonly  thought  to  be  the  Ararat 
of  the  Scriptures,  has  been  visited  by  many  travellers, 
and  on  it  there  are  several  monasteries.  For  a  long 
time  the  world  has  been  amused  with  reports  that  the 
remains  of  the  ark  were  still  visible  there  ;  but  Mr. 
Tournefort,  a  famous  French  naturalist,  who  was  on 
the  spot,  assures  us  that  nothing  of  the  kind  is  there 
to  be  seen.  As  there  is  a  great  chain  of  mountains 
which  are  called  by  this  name,  it  is  impossible  to  de¬ 
termine  on  what  part  of  them  the  ark  rested ;  but  the 
highest  part,  called  by  some  the  finger  mountain ,  has 
been  fixed  on  as  the  most  likely  place.  These  things 
we  must  leave,  and  they  are  certainly  of  very  little 
consequence. 

From  the  circumstance  of  the  resting  of  the  ark  on 
the  17th  of  the  seventh  month,  Dr.  Lightfoot  draws 

74 


The  raven  a,nd  dove  sent  forth. 

whole  earth ;  then  he  put  forth  his  ^ 

hand,  and  took  her,  and  k  pulled - 

her  in  unto  him  into  the  ark. 

1 0  And  he  stayed  yet  other  seven  days  ;  and 
again  he  sent  forth  the  dove  out  of  the  ark  ; 

1 1  And  the  dove  came  in  to  him  in  the 
evening  ;  and,  lo,  in  her  mouth  was  an  olive 
leaf  pluckt  off.  So  Noah  knew  that  the 
waters  were  abated  from  off  the  earth. 

1 2  And  he  stayed  yet  other  seven  days,  and 
sent  forth  the  dove ;  which  returned  not  again 
unto  him  any  more. 

1 3  And  it  came  to  pass  in  the  ^ 

six  hundredth  !and  first  year,  in  - 

the  first  month ,  the  first  day  of  the  month,  the 
waters  were  dried  up  from  off  the  earth  :  and 
Noah  removed  the  covering  of  the  ark,  and 
looked,  and,  behold,  the  face  of  the  ground 
was  dry. 

kHeb.  caused  her  to  come. - 1  Chap.  vii.  11. 

this  curious  conclusion :  That  the  ark  drew  exactly 
eleven  cubits  of  water.  On  the  first  day  of  the  month 
Ab  the  mountain  tops  were  first  seen,  and  then  the 
waters  had  fallen  fifteen  cubits ;  for  so  high  had  they 
prevailed  above  the  tops  of  the  mountains.  This  de¬ 
crease  in  the  waters  took  up  sixty  days,  namely,  from 
the  first  of  Sivan ;  so  that  they  appear  to  have  abated 
in  the  proportion  of  one  cubit  in  four  days.  On  the 
16th  of  Sivan  they  had  abated  but  four  cubits  ;  and 
yet  on  the  next  day  the  ark  rested  on  one  of  the  hills, 
when  the  waters  must  have  been  as  yet  eleven  cubits 
above  it.  Thus  it  appears  that  the  ark  drew  eleven 
cubits  of  water. 

Yerse  7.  He  sent  forth  a  raven ,  which  went  forth  to 
and  fro]  It  is  generally  supposed  that  the  raven  flew 
off,  and  was  seen  no  more,  but  this  meaning  the  He¬ 
brew  text  will  not  bear ;  man  Kltf1  NXU  vaiyetse  yatso 
vashob ,  and  it  went  forth,  going  forth  and  returning. 
From  which  it  is  evident  that  she  did  return ,  but  ivas 
not  taken  into  the  ark.  She  made  frequent  excur¬ 
sions,  and  continued  on  the  wing  as  long  as  she  could, 
having  picked  up  such  aliment  as  she  found  floating 
on  the  waters ;  and  then,  to  rest  herself,  regained  the 
ark,  where  she  might  perch,  though  she  was  not  ad¬ 
mitted.  Indeed  this  must  be  allowed,  as  it  is  impos¬ 
sible  she  could  have  continued  twenty-one  days  upon 
the  wing,  which  she  must  have  done  had  she  not  re¬ 
turned.  But  the  text  itself  is  sufficiently  determinate. 

Yerse  8.  He  sent  forth  a  dove]  The  dove  was  sent 
forth  thrice;  the  first  time  she  speedily  returned,  having, 
in  all  probability,  gone  but  a  little  way  from  the  ark, 
as  she  must  naturally  be  terrified  at  the  appearance  of 
the  waters.  After  seven  days,  being  sent  out  a  second 
time ,  she  returned  with  an  olive  leaf  pluckt  off ',  ver. 
11,  an  emblem  of  the  restoration  of  peace  between 
God  and  the  earth;  and  from  this  circumstance  the 
olive  has  been  the  emblem  of  peace  among  all  oiviliied 
*  a 


CHAP  VIII. 


Noah's  family  leave  the  ark. 

o'  14  And  in  the  second  month,  on 

-  the  seven  and  twentieth  day  of  the 

month,  was  the  earth  dried. 

15  And  God  spake  unto  Noah,  saying, 

16  Go  forth  of  the  ark,  m  thou,  and  thy  wife, 
and  thy  sons,  and  thy  sons’  wives  with  thee. 

17  Bring  forth  with  thee  n  every  living  thing 
that  is  with  thee,  of  all  flesh,  both  of  fowrl, 
and  of  cattle,  and  of  every  creeping  thing  that 
creepeth  upon  the  earth  ;  that  they  may  breed 
abundantly  in  the  earth,  and  0  be  fruitful,  and 
multiply  upon  the  earth. 

18  And  Noah  went  forth,  and  his  sons,  and 
his  wife,  and  his  sons’  wives  with  him : 

m  Chap.  vii.  13. - n  Chap.  vii.  15. - 0  Chap.  i.  22. - P  Heb. 

families. - iLev.  xi. - r  Lev.  i.  9  ;  Ezek.  xx.  41 ;  2  Cor.  ii. 

15  ;  Eph.  v.  2. - s  Heb.  a  savour  of  rest. - lChap.  iii.  17 ;  vi. 

nations.  At  the  end  of  the  other  seven  days  the  dove, 
being  sent  out  the  third  time,  returned  no  more,  from 
which  Noah  conjectured  that  the  earth  was  now  suffi¬ 
ciently  drained,  and  therefore  removed  the  covering  of 
the  ark,  which  probably  gave  liberty  to  many  of  the 
fowls  to  fly  off*,  which  circumstance  would  afford  him 
the  greater  facility  in  making  arrangements  for  disem¬ 
barking  the  beasts  and  reptiles,  and  heavy-bodied  do¬ 
mestic  fowls,  which  might  yet  remain.  See  verse  17. 

Verse  14.  And  in  the  second  month ,  on  the  seven 
and  twentieth  day ]  From  this  it  appears  that  Noah 
was  in  the  ark  a  complete ^solar  year,  or  three  hundred 
and  sixty-jive  days;  for  he  entered  the  ark  the  17th 
day  of  the  second  month,  in  the  six  hundredth  year  of 
his  life,  chap.  vii.  11,  13,  and  continued  in  it  till  the 
27th  day  of  the  second  month,  in  the  six  hundredth 
and  jirst  year  of  his  life,  as  we  see  above.  The  months 
of  the  ancient  Hebrews  wrere  lunar  ;  the  first  six  con¬ 
sisted  of  thirty  days  each,  the  latter  six  of  twenty- 
nine  ;  the  whole  twelve  months  making  three  hundred 
and  fifty-four  days :  add  to  this  eleven  days,  (for  though 
he  entered  the  ark  the  preceding  year  on  the  seven¬ 
teenth  day  of  the  second  month,  he  did  not  come  out 
till  the  twenty -seventh  of  the  same  month  in  the  fol¬ 
lowing  year,)  which  make  exactly  three  hundred  and 
sixty-five  days,  the  period  of  a  complete  solar  revolu¬ 
tion  ;  the  odd  hours  and  minutes,  as  being  fractions  of 
time,  noncomputed,  though  very  likely  all  included  in 
the  account.  This  year,  according  to  the  Hebrew 
computation,  was  the  one  thousand  six  hundred  and 
fifty-seventh  year  from  the  creation ;  but  according  to 
the  reckoning  of  the  Septuagint  it  was  the  two  thou¬ 
sand  two  hundred  and  forty-second,  and  according  to 
Hr.  Hales,  the  two  thousand  two  hundred  and  fifty- 
sixth.  See  on  chap.  xi.  12. 

Verse  20.  Noah  builded  an  altar ]  As  we  have 
already  seen  that  Adam,  Cain,  and  Abel,  offered  sacri¬ 
fices,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  they  had  altars  on 
which  they  offered  them  ;  but  this,  builded  by  Noah, 
is  certainly  the  first  on  record.  It  is  worthy  of  re¬ 
mark  that,  as  the  old  world  began  with  sacrifice,  so 
also  did  the  new.  Religion,  or  the  proper  mode  of 

a 


He  offers  a  sacrifice  to  God. 

19  Every  beast,  every  creeping  1657. 

thing,  and  every  fowl,  and  what-  - - 

soever  creepeth  upon  the  earth,  after  their 
p  kinds,  went  forth  out  of  the  ark. 

20  And  Noah  builded  an  altar  unto  the 
Lord  ;  and  took  of  q  every  clean  beast,  and  of 
every  clean  fowl,  and  offered  burnt-offerings 
on  the  altar. 

2 1  And  the  Lord  smelled  r  a  s  sweet  savour  : 
and  the  Lord  said  in  his  heart,  I  will  not  again 
t  curse  the  ground  any  more  for  man’s  sake  ; 
u  for  the  v  imagination  of  man’s  heart  is  evil 
from  his  youth  ;  w  neither  will  I  again  smite 
any  more  every  thing  living,  as  I  have  done. 

17. - u  Or,  though. - v  Chap.  vi.  5  ;  Job  xiv.  4  ;  xv.  14 ;  Psa. 

li.  5;  Jer.  xvii.  9;  Matt.  xv.  19;  Rom.  i.  21;  iii.  23. - wChap, 

ix.  11,  15. 


worshipping  the  Divine  Being,  is  the  invention  or  in¬ 
stitution  of  God  himself ;  and  sacrifice,  in  the  act  and 
design,  is  the  essence  of  religion.  Without  sacrifice, 
actually  offered  or  implied,  there  never  was,  there 
never  can  be,  any  religion.  Even  in  the  heavens ,  a 
lamb  is  represented  before  the  throne  of  God  as  newly 
slain,  Rev.  v.  6,  12,  13.  The  design  of  sacrificing  is 
two-fold  :  the  slaying  and  burning  of  the  victim  point 
out,  1st,  that  the  life  of  the  sinner  is  forfeited  to  Di¬ 
vine  justice ;  2dly,  that  his  soul  deserves  the  fire  of 
perdition. 

The  Jews  have  a  tradition  that  the  place  where 
Noah  built  his  altar  was  the  same  in  which  the  altar 
stood  which  was  built  by  Adam,  and  used  by  Cain  and 
Abel,  and  the  same  spot  on  which  Abraham  afterwards 
offered  up  his  son  Isaac. 

The  word  T13TD  mizbach,  which  we  render  altar , 
signifies  properly  a,  place  for  sacrifice,  as  the  root  n3» 
zabach  signifies  simply  to  slay.  Altar  comes  from  the 
Latin  altus,  high  or  elevated,  because  places  for  sacri¬ 
fice  were  generally  either  raised  very  high  or  built  on 
the  tops  of  hills  and  mountains  ;  hence  they  are  called 
high  places  in  the  Scriptures ;  but  such  were  chiefly 
used  for  idolatrous  purposes. 

Burnt-offerings ]  See  the  meaning  of  every  kind 
of  offering  and  sacrifice  largely  explained  on  Lev.  vii. 

Yerse  21.  The  Lord  smelled  a  sweet  savour]  That 
is,  he  was  well  pleased  with  this  religious  act,  per¬ 
formed  in  obedience  to  his  own  appointment,  and  in 
faith  of  the  promised  Saviour.  That  this  sacrifice  pre¬ 
figured  that  which  was  offered  by  our  blessed  Redeemer 
in  behalf  of  the  world,  is  sufficiently  evident  from  the 
words  of  St.  Paul,  Eph.  v.  2  :  Christ  hath  loved  us, 
and  given  himself  for  us  an  offering  and  a  sacrifice 
to  God  for  a  sweet-smelling  savour  ;  where  the 
words  ocyriv  evudtag  of  the  apostle  are  the  very  words 
used  by  the  Septuagint  in  this  place. 

I  will  not  again  curse  the  ground]  nS  lo  osiph, 
I  will  not  add  to  curse  the  ground — there  shall  not  be 
another  deluge  to  destroy  the  whole  earth  ;  for  the 
imagination  of  man’s  heart,  ’3  hi,  although  the  ima¬ 
gination  of  man’s  heart  should  be  evil ,  i.  e.  should  they 

75 


GENESIS. 


The  promise  respecting  the 

I3  c  9347’  22  x  While  the  earth  y  remaineth, 

- -  seed-time  and  harvest,  and  cold  and 

xIsa.  li v.  8. - y  Heb.  as  yet  all  the  days  of  the  earth. 

become  afterwards  as  evil  as  they  have  been  before,  I 
will  not  destroy  the  earth  by  a  flood.  God  has  other 
means  of  destruction ;  and  the  next  time  he  visits  by 
a  general  judgment,  fire  is  to  be  the  agent.  2  Pet. 
iii.  7. 

Verse  22.  While  the  earth  remaineth ,  seed-time  and 
harvest ,  cj-c.]  There  is  something  very  expressive  in 
the  original,  yiKH  'D'  bj  1)1  od  col  yemey  haarets ,  until 
all  the  days  of  the  earth  ;  for  God  does  not  reckon  its 
duration  by  centuries ,  and  the  words  themselves  afford 
a  strong  presumption  that  the  earth  shall  not  have  an 
endless  duration. 

Seed-time  and  harvest. — It  is  very  probable  that  the 
seasons,  which  were  distinctly  marked  immediately 
after  the  deluge,  are  mentioned  in  this  place  ;  but  it  is 
difficult  to  ascertain  them.  Most  European  nations 
divide  the  year  into  four  distinct  parts,  called  quarters 
or  seasons ;  but  there  are  six  divisions  in  the  text,  and 
probably  all  intended  to  describe  the  seasons  in  one  of 
these  postdiluvian  years,  particularly  in  that  part  of  the 
globe,  Armenia,  where  Noah  was  when  God  gave  him, 
and  mankind  through  him,  this  gracious  promise.  From 
the  Tar  gum  of  Jonathan  on  this  verse  we  learn  that 
in  Palestine  their  seed-time  was  in  September,  at  the 
autumnal  equinox ;  their  harvest  in  March,  at  the  ver¬ 
nal  equinox  ;  that  their  winter  began  in  December,  at 
the  solstice ;  and  their  summer  at  the  solstice  in  June. 

The  Copts  begin  their  autumn  on  the  15th  of  Sep¬ 
tember,  and  extend  it  to  the  15th  of  December.  Their 
winter  on  the  1 5th  of  December,  and  extend  it  to  the 
15th  of  March.  Their  spring  on  the  15th  of  March, 
and  extend  it  to  the  15th  of  June.  Their  summer  on 
the  1 5th  of  June,  and  extend  it  to  the  15th  of  Septem¬ 
ber,  assigning  to  each  season  three  complete  months. 
Calmet. 

There  are  certainly  regions  of  the  earth  to  which 
neither  this  nor  our  own  mode  of  division  can  apply  : 
there  are  some  where  summer  and  winter  appear  to 
divide  the  whole  year,  and  others  where,  besides  sum¬ 
mer,  winter,  autumn,  and  spring,  there  are  distinct 
seasons  that  may  be  denominated  the  hot  season,  the 
cold  season,  the  rainy  season,  &c.,  &c. 

This  is  a  very  merciful  promise  to  the  inhabitants 
of  the  earth.  There  may  be  a  variety  in  the  seasons, 
but  no  season  essentially  necessary  to  vegetation  shall 
utterly  fail.  The  times  which  are  of  greatest  conse¬ 
quence  to  the  preservation  of  man  are  distinctly  noted  ; 
there  shall  be  both  seed-time  and  harvest — a  proper 
time  to  deposit  the  different  grain  in  the  earth,  and  a 
proper  time  to  reap  the  produce'  of  this  seed. 

Thus  ends  the  account  of  the  general  deluge,  its 
cause,  circumstances,  and  consequences.  An  account 
that  seems  to  say  to  us,  Behold  the  goodness  and 
seventy  of  God  !  Both  his  justice  and  long-suffering 
are  particularly  marked  in  this  astonishing  event. 
His  justice,  in  the  punishment  of  the  incorrigibly 
wicked  ,  and  his  mercy ,  in  giving  them  so  fair  and  full 
a  warning,  and  in  waiting  so  long  to  extend  his  grace 
to  all  who  might  seek  him.  Such  a  convincing  proof 

76 


regulation  of  the  seasons 

heat,  and  summer  and  winter,  and  ^57. 
z  day  and  night,  shall  not  cease.  - - 

2  Jer.  xxxiii.  20,  25. 

has  the  destruction  of  the  world  by  water  given  of  the 
Divine  justice,  such  convincing  testimony  of  the  truth 
of  the  sacred  writings,  that  not  only  every  part  of  the 
earth  gives  testimony  of  this  extraordinary  revolution, 
but  also  every  nation  of  the  universe  has  preserved 
records  or  traditions  of  this  awful  display  of  the  jus¬ 
tice  of  God. 

A  multitude  of  testimonies,  collected  from  the  most 
authentic  sources  in  the  heathen  world,  I  had  intended 
for  insertion  in  this  place,  but  want  of  room  obliges  me 
to  lay  them  aside.  But  the  state  of  the  earth  itself 
is  a  sufficient  proof.  Every  part  of  it  bears  unequivo¬ 
cal  evidence  of  disruption  and  violence.  From  the 
hand  of  the  God  of  order  it  never  could  have  proceeded 
in  its  present  state.  In  every  part  we  see  marks  of 
the  crimes  of  men,  and  of  the  justice  of  God.  And 
shall  not  the  living  lay  this  to  heart  1  Surely  God  is 
not  mocked ;  that  which  a  man  soweth  he  shall  reap. 
He  who  soweth  to  the  flesh  shall  of  it  reap  destruc¬ 
tion  ;  and  though  the  plague  of  water  shall  no  more 
destroy  the  earth,  yet  an  equal  if  not  sorer  punishment 
awaits  the  world  of  the  ungodly,  in  the  threatened  de¬ 
struction  by  fire. 

In  ancient  times  almost  every  thing  was  typical, 
and  no  doubt  the  ark  among  the  rest ;  but  of  what  and 
in  what  way  farther  than  revelation  guides,  it  is  both 
difficult  and  unsafe  to  say.  It  has  been  considered  a 
type  of  our  blessed  Lord  ;  and  hence  it  has  been  ob¬ 
served,  that  “  as  all  those  .who  were  out  of  the  ark 
perished  by  the  flood,  so  those  who  take  not  refuge  in 
the  meritorious  atonement  of  Christ  Jesus  must  perish 
everlastingly.”  Of  all  those  who,  having  the  oppor¬ 
tunity  of  hearing  the  Gospel,  refuse  to  accept  of  the 
sacrifice  it  offers  them,  this  saying  is  true ;  but  the 
parallel  is  not  good.  Myriads  of  those  who  perished 
during  the  flood  probably  repented,  implored  mercy, 
and  found  forgiveness ;  for  God  ever  delights  to  save, 
and  Jesus  was  the  Lamb  slain  from  the  foundation  of 
the  world.  And  though,  generally,  the  people  con¬ 
tinued  in  carnal  security  and  sensual  gratifications  till 
the  flood  came,  there  is  much  reason  to  believe  that 
those  who  during  the  forty  days ’  rain  would  naturally 
flee  to  the  high  lands  and  tops  of  the  highest  moun¬ 
tains,  would  earnestly  implore  that  mercy  which  has 
never  been  denied,  even  to  the  most  profligate,  when 
under  deep  humiliation  of  heart  they  have  returned  to 
God.  And  who  can  say  that  this  was  not  done  by 
multitudes  while  they  beheld  the  increasing  flood ;  or 
that  God,  in  this  last  extremity,  had  rendered  it  im¬ 
possible  1 

St.  Peter,  1st  Epist.  iii.  21,  makes  the  ark  a  figure 
of  baptism,  and  intimates  that  we  are  saved  by  this,  as 
the  eight  souls  were  saved  by  the  ark.  But  let  us  not 
mistake  the  apostle  by  supposing  that  the  mere  cere¬ 
mony  itself  saves  any  person  ;  he  tells  us  that  the  sal¬ 
vation  conveyed  through  this  sacred  rite  is  not  the 
putting  away  the  filth  of  the  flesh,  but  the  answer  of  a 
good  conscience  toward  God ;  i.  e.  remission  of  sins 
and  regeneration  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  which  are  signi- 


God  blesses  Noah  and  his  sons.  CHAP.  IX. 


Eating  of  blood  forbidden. 


fied  by  this  baptism  A  good  conscience  never  ex¬ 
isted  where  remission  of  sins  had  not  taken  place  ;  and 
every  person  knows  that  it  is  God’s  prerogative  to  for¬ 


give  sins,  and  that  no  ordinance  can  confer  it,  though 
ordinances  may  be  the  means  to  convey  it  when  piously 
and  believingly  used. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

God  blesses  Noah  and  his  sons ,  1.  The  brute  creation  to  be  subject  to  them  through  fear,  2.  The  first  grant 
of  animal  food ,  3.  Eating  of  blood  forbidden ,  4.  Cruelty  to  animals  forbidden ,  5.  A  man-slayer  to 
forfeit  his  life ,  6.  The  covenant  of  God  established  between  him  and  Noah  and  the  whole  brute  creation , 
8—11.  The  rainbow  given  as  the  sign  and  pledge  of  this  covenant ,  12-17.  The  three  sons  of  Noah 
people  the  whole  earth ,  18, 19.  Noah  plants  a  vineyard,  drinks  of  the  wine,  is  intoxicated ,  and  lies  exposed 
in  his  tent,  20,  21.  The  reprehensible  conduct  of  Ham,  22.  The  laudable  carriage  of  Shemand  Japheth, 
23.  Noah  prophetically  declares  the  servitude  of  the  posterity  of  Ham,  24,  25  ;  and  the  dignity  and 
increase  of  Shem  and  Japheth,  26,  27.  The  age  and  death  of  Noah ,  28,  29. 


B  c  2347  God  blessed  Noah  and  his 

-  sons,  and  said  unto  them,  a  Be 

fruitful,  and  multiply,  and  replenish  the  earth. 

2  b  And  the  fear  of  you  and  the  dread  of 
you  shall  be  upon  every  beast  of  the  earth, 
and  upon  every  fowl  of  the  air,  upon  all  that 
moveth  upon  the  earth,  and  upon  all  the  fishes 

a  Chap.  i.  28  ;  ver.  7,  19  ;  chap.  x.  32. - b  Chap.  i.  28  ; 

Hos.  ii.  18. - c  Deut.  xii.  15;  xiv.  3,  9,  11;  Acts  x.  12,  13. 

d  Chap.  i.  29. 

NOTES  ON  CHAP.  IX. 

Verse  1 .  God  blessed  Noah ]  Even  the  increase  of 
families,  which  appears  to  depend  on  merely  natural 
means,  and  sometimes  fortuitous  circumstances,  is  all 
of  God.  It  is  by  his  power  and  wisdom  that  the  hu¬ 
man  being  is  formed,  and  it  is  by  his  providence  alone 
that  man  is  supported  and  preserved. 

Verse  2.  The  fear  of  you  and  the  dread,  djc.]  Prior 
to  the  fall,  man  ruled  the  inferior  animals  by  love  and 
kindness,  for  then  gentleness  and  docility  were  their 
principal  characteristics.  After  the  fall,  untractable- 
ness,  with  savage  ferocity,  prevailed  among  almost  all 
orders  of  the  brute  creation  ;  enmity  to  man  seems 
particularly  to  prevail ;  and  had  not  God  in  his  mercy 
impressed  their  minds  with  the  fear  and  terror  of  man, 
so  that  some  submit  to  his  will  while  others  fiee  from 
his  residence,  the  human  race  would  long  ere  this  have 
been  totally  destroyed  by  the  beasts  of  the  field.  Did 
the  horse  know  his  own  strength,  and  the  weakness 
of  the  miserable  wretch  who  unmercifully  rides,  drives , 
whips,  goads,  and  oppresses  him,  would  he  not  with 
one  stroke  of  his  hoof  destroy  his  tyrant  possessor  l 
But  while  God  hides  these  things  from  him  he  im¬ 
presses  his  mind  with  the  fear  of  his  owner,  so  that 
either  by  cheerful  or  sullen  submission  he  is  trained 
up  for,  and  employed  in,  the  most  useful  and  impor¬ 
tant  purposes ;  and  even  willingly  submits,  when  tortured 
for  the  sport  and  amusement  of  his  more  bruitish  op¬ 
pressor.  Tigers,  wolves,  lions,  and  hyaenas,  the  de¬ 
terminate  foes  of  man,  incapable  of  being  tamed  or  do¬ 
mesticated,  flee,  through  the  principle  of  terror,  from 
the  dwelling  of  man,  and  thus  he  is  providentially  safe. 
Hence,  by  fear  and  by  dread  man  rules  every  beast 
of  the  earth,  every  fowl  of  the  air,  and  every  fish  of 


of  the  sea  ;  into  your  hand  are  they  ^  *^7. 
delivered.  - - - 

3  c  Every  moving  thing  that  liveth  shall  be 
meat  for  you ;  even  as  the  d  green  herb  have 
I  given  you  e  all  things  : 

4  f  But  flesh  with  the  life  thereof,  which  is 
the  blood  thereof,  shall  ye  not  eat. 

eRom.  xiv.  14,  20  ;  1  Cor.  x.  23,  26;  Col.  ii.  16;  1  Tim.  iv. 

3,  4. - fLev.  xvii.  10,  11,  14  ;  xix.  26;  Deut.  xii.  23  ;  1  Sam. 

xiv*  34 ;  Acts  xv.  20,  29. 

the  sea.  How  wise  and  gracious  is  this  order  of  the 
Divine  providence  !  and  with  what  thankfulness  should 
it  be  considered  by  every  human  being  ! 

Verse  3.  Every  moving  thing — shall  be  meat ]  There 
is  no  positive  evidence  that  animal  food  was  ever  used 
before  the  flood.  Noah  had  the  first  grant  of  this  kind, 
and  it  has  been  continued  to  all  his  posterity  ever  since. 
It  is  not  likely  that  this  grant  would  have  been  now- 
made  if  some  extraordinary  alteration  had  not  taken 
place  in  the  vegetable  world,  so  as  to  render  its  pro¬ 
ductions  less  nutritive  than  they  w-ere  before ;  and 
probably  such  a  change  in  the  constitution  of  man  a3 
to  render  a  grosser  and  higher  diet  necessary.  We 
may  therefore  safely  infer  that  the  earth  was  less  pro¬ 
ductive  after  the  flood  than  it  was  bdfore,  and  that  the 
human  constitution  was  greatly  impaired  by  the  altera¬ 
tions  which  had  taken  place  through  the  whole  econo¬ 
my  of  nature.  Morbid  debility,  induced  by  an  often 
unfriendly  state  of  the  atmosphere,  with  sore  and  long- 
continued  labour,  would  necessarily  require  a  higher 
nutriment  than  vegetables  could  supply.  That  this 
was  the  case  appears  sufficiently  clear  from  the  grant 
of  animal  food,  which,  had  it  not  been  indispensably 
necessary,  had  not  been  made.  That  the  constitution 
of  man  was  then  much  altered  appears  in  the  greatly 
contracted  lives  of  the  postdiluvians ;  yet  from  the 
deluge  to  the  days  of  Abraham  the  lives  of  several  of 
the  patriarchs  amounted  to  some  hundreds  of  years  ; 
but  this  was  the  effect  of  a  peculiar  providence,  that  the 
new  world  might  be  the  more  speedily  repeopled. 

Verse  4.  But  flesh  ivith  the  life  thereof,  which  is 
the  blood ]  Though  animal  food  was  granted,  yet  the 
blood  was  most  solemnly  forbidden,  because  it  was  the 
life  of  the  beast,  and  this  life  was  to  be  offered  to  God 

77 


God's  covenant  with  Noah 


Punishment  for  murder.  GENESIS. 


A.  M.  1657.  5  And  surely  your  blood  of  your 

— — 1 - -  lives  will  I  require  ;  s  at  the  hand 

of  every  beast  will  I  require  it,  and  h  at  the 
hand  of  man ;  at  the  hand  of  every  1  man’s 
brother  will  I  require  the  life  of  man 

6  k  Whoso  sheddeth  man’s  blood,  by  man 
shah  his  blood  be  shed ;  1  for  in  the  image  of 
God  made  he  man. 

7  And  you,  m  be  ye  fruitful,  and  multiply : 
bring  forth  abundantly  in  the  earth,  and  mul¬ 
tiply  therein. 

8  And  God  spake  unto  Noah,  and  to  his 
sons  with  him,  saying, 

s  Exod.  xxi.  28. - h  Chap.  iv.  9,  10 ;  Psa.  ix.  12. - 1  Acts 

xvii.  26. - k  Exod.  xxi.  12,  14;  Lev.  xxiv.  17  ;  Matt.  xxvi.  52; 

as  an  atonement  for  sin.  Hence  the  blood  was  ever 
held  sacred,  because  it  was  the  grand  instrument  of 
expiation,  and  because  it  was  typical  of  that  blood  by 
•which  we  enter  into  the  holiest.  1 .  Before  the  deluge 
it  was  not  eaten,  because  animal  food  was  not  in  use. 
2  After  the  deluge  it  was  prohibited,  as  we  find 
above  ;  and,  being  one  of  the  seven  Noahic  precepts,  it 
was  not  eaten  previously  to  the  publication  of  the  Mo¬ 
saic  law.  3.  At  the  giving  of  the  law,  and  at  several 
times  during  the  ministry  of  Moses,  the  prohibition  was 
most  solemnly,  and  with  awful  penalties  renewed. 
Hence  we  may  rest  assured  that  no  blood  was  eaten 
previously  to  the  Christian  era,  nor  indeed  ever  since 
by  the  Jewish  people.  4.  That  the  prohibition  has 
been  renewed  under  the  Christian  dispensation,  can 
admit  of  little  doubt  by  any  man  who  dispassionately 
reads  Acts  xv.  20,  29  ;  xxi.  25,  where  even  the  Gen¬ 
tile  converts  are  charged  to  abstain  from  it  on  the  au¬ 
thority,  not  only  of  the  apostles ,  but  of  the  Holy  Ghost , 
who  gave  them  there  and  then  especial  direction  con¬ 
cerning  this  point ;  see  Acts  xv.  28  ;  not  for  fear  of 
stumbling  the  converted  Jews,  the  gloss  of  theolo¬ 
gians,  but  because  it  was  one  tuv  Eiravayneg  tovtov , 
of  those  necessary  points,  from  the  burden  (fSapoc)  of 
obedience  to  which  they  could  not  be  excused.  5.  This 
command  is  still ‘scrupulously  obeyed  by  the  oriental 
Christians,  and  by  the  whole  Greek  Church ;  and  why  1 
because  the  reasons  still  subsist.  No  blood  was  eaten 
under  the  law,  because  it  pointed  out  the  blood  that 
was  to  be  shed  for  the  sin  of  the  world  ;  and  under  the 
Gospel  it  should  not  be  eaten,  because  it  should  ever  be 
considered  as  representing  the  blood  whichhas  been  shed 
for  the  remission  of  sins.  If  the  eaters  of  blood  in  gene¬ 
ral  knew  that  it  affords  a  very  crude,  almost  indigestible, 
and  unwholesome  aliment,  they  certainly  would  not  on 
these  physical  reasons,  leaving  moral  considerations  out 
of  the  question,  be  so  much  attached  to  the  consumption 
.  of  that  from  which  they  could  expect  no  wholesome  nu¬ 
triment,  and  which,  to  render  it  even  pleasing  to  the  palate, 
requires  all  the  skill  of  the  cook.  See  Lev.  xvii.  2. 

Verse  5.  Surely  your  blood — will  I  require  ;  at  the 
hand  of  every  beast ]  This  is  very  obscure,  but  if  taken 
literally  it  seems  to  be  an  awful  warning  against  cru¬ 
elty  to  the  brute  creation  ;  and  from  it  we  may  con¬ 
clude  that  horse-racers,  hare-hunters,  bull-baiters,  and 

78 


9  And  I,  n  behold,  I  establish  0  nay  g'  q'  2347' 

covenant  with  you,  and  with  your  - - 

seed  after  you ; 

10  p  And  with  every  living  creature  that  is 
with  you,  of  the  fowl,  of  the  cattle,  and  of 
every  beast  of  the  earth  with  you ;  from  all 
that  go  out  of  the  ark,  to  every  beast  of  the 
earth. 

1 1  And  ^  I  will  establish  my  covenant  with 
you :  neither  shall  all  flesh  be  cut  off  any 
more  by  the  waters  of  a  flood ;  neither  shall 
there  any  more  be  a  flood  to  destroy  the 
earth. 

Rev.  xiii.  10. - 1  Chap.  i.  27. - ra  Ver.  1,  19;  chap.  i.  28 

u  Chap.  vi.  18. - 0  Isa.  liv.  9. - P  Psa.  cxlv.  9. - a  Isa.  liv.  9 

cock-fghters  shall  be  obliged  to  give  an  account  to  God 
for  every  creature  they  have  wantonly  destroyed.  In¬ 
stead  of  HT!  chaiyah,  “  beast,”  the  Samaritan  reads 
m f  chai,  “  living,”  any  “  living  creature  or  per¬ 
son  ;”  this  makes  a  very  good  sense,  and  equally  forbids 
cruelty  either  to  men  or  brutes. 

Verse  6.  Whoso  sheddeth  man's  blood,  by  man  shall 
his  blood ]  Hence  it  appears  that  whoever  kills  a  man, 
unless  unwittingly,  as  the  Scripture  expresses  it,  shall 
forfeit  his  own  life. 

A  man  is  accused  of  the  crime  of  murder ;  of  this 
crime  he  is  guilty  or  he  is  not :  if  he  be  guilty  of 
murder  he  should  die if  not,  let  him  be  punished  ac¬ 
cording  to  the  demerit  of  his  crime  ;  but  for  no  offence 
but  murder  should  he  lose  his  life.  Taking  away  the 
life  of  another  is  the  highest  offence  that  can  be  com¬ 
mitted  against  the  individual,  and  against  society  ;  and 
the  highest  punishment  that  a  man  can  suffer  for  such 
a  crime  is  the  loss  of  his  own  life.  As  punishment 
should  be  ever  proportioned  to  crimes,  so  the  highest 
punishment  due  to  the  highest  crime  should  not  be  in¬ 
flicted  for  a  minor  offence.  The  law  of  God  and  the 
eternal  dictates  of  reason  say,  that  if  a  man  kill 
another,  the  loss  of  his  own  life  is  at  once  the  highest 
penalty  he  can  pny,  and  an  equivalent  for  his  offence 
as  far  as  civil  society  is  concerned.  If  the  death  of 
the  murderer  be  the  highest  penalty  he  can  pay  for  the 
murder  he  has  committed,  then  the  infliction  of  this 
punishment  for  any  minor  offence  is  injustice  and 
cruelty ;  and  serves  only  to  confound  the  claims  of 
justice,  the  different  degrees  of  moral  turpitude  and 
vice,  and  to  render  the  profligate  desperate  :  hence  the 
adage  so  frequent  among  almost  every  order  of  delin¬ 
quents,  “  It  is  as  good  to  be  hanged  for  a  sheep  as  a 
lamb  ,*”  which  at  once  marks  their  desperation,  and  the 
injustice  of  those  penal  laws  which  inflict  the  highest 
punishment  for  almost  every  species  of  crime.  When 
shall  a  wise  and  judicious  legislature  see  the  absurdity 
and  injustice  of  inflicting  the  punishment  of  death  for 
stealing  a  sheep  or  a  horse ,  forging  a  twenty  shillings' 
note,  and  murdering  a  man  ;  when  the  latter,  in  its 
moral  turpitude  and  ruinous  consequences,  infinitely 
exceeds  the  others  1* 

*  On  this  head  the  doctor’s  pious  wish  has  been  realized  since 
this  paragraph  was  written. — Publishers. 

a 


CHAP.  IX. 


The  rainbow  is  given  as  a  sign 

12  And  God  said,  r  This  is  the 

-D.  yy.  2J47.  i  •  i  T 

—  token  of  the  covenant  which  I  make 
between  me  and  you  and  every  living  creature 
that  is  with  you,  for  perpetual  generations  : 

13  I  do  set  s  my  bow  in  the  cloud,  and  it 
shall  be  for  a  token  of  a  covenant  between 
me  and  the  earth. 

14  4  And  it  shall  come  to  pass,  when  I  bring 
a  cloud  over  the  earth,  that  the  bow  shall  be 
seen  in  the  cloud  : 

15  And  u  I  will  remember  my  covenant  which 
is  between  me  and  you  and  every  living  crea- 

r  Chapter  xvii.  11. - s  Revelation  iv.  3. - 1  Ecclus.  xliii. 

11,  12. 


Yerse  13.  I  do  set  my  bow  in  the  cloud ]  On  the 
origin  and  nature  of  the  rainbow  there  had  been  a 
great  variety  of  conjectures,  till  Anthony  de  Dominis, 
bishop  of  Spalatro,  in  a  treatise  of  his  published  by 
Bartholus  in  1611,  partly  suggested  the  true  cause  of 
this  phenomenon,  which  wras  afterwards  fully  explained 
and  demonstrated  by  Sir  Isaac  Newton.  To  enter  into 
this  subject  here  in  detail  would  be  improper  ;  and 
therefore  the  less  informed  reader  must  have  recourse 
to  treatises  on  Optics  for  its  full  explanation.  To 
readers  in  general  it  may  be  sufficient  to  say  that  the 
rainbow  is  a  mere  natural  effect  of  a  natural  cause  : 
1.  It  is  never  seen  but  in  showery  weather.  2.  Nor 
then  unless  the  sun  shines.  3.  It  never  appears  in  any 
part  of  the  heavens  but  in  that  opposite  to  the  sun.  4. 
It  never  appears  greater  than  a  semicircle,  but  often 
much  less.  5.  It  is  always  double ,  there  being  what 
is  called  the  superior  and  inferior ,  or  primary  and 
secondary  rainbow.  6.  These  bows  exhibit  the  seven 
prismatic  colours,  red ,  orange,  yellow,  green ,  blue,  in¬ 
digo,  and  violet.  7.  The  whole  of  this  phenomenon 
depends  on  the  rays  of  the  sun  falling  on  spherical 
drops  of  water,  and  being  in  their  passage  through 
them,  refracted  and  reflected. 

The  formation  of  the  primary  and  secondary  rain¬ 
bow  depends  on  the  two  following  propositions;  1. 
When  the  sun  shines  on  the  drops  of  rain  as  they  are 
falling,  the  rays  that  come  from  those  drops  to  the  eye 
of  the  spectator,  after  one  reflection  and  two  refrac¬ 
tions,  produce  the  primary  rainbow.  2.  When  the  sun 
shines  on  the  drops  of  rain  as  they  are  falling,  the  rays 
that  come  from  those  drops  to  the  eye  of  the  specta¬ 
tor,  after  two  reflections  and  two  refractions,  produce 
the  secondary  rainbow.  The  illustration  of  these  pro¬ 
positions  must  be  sought  in  treatises  on  Optics,  assisted 
by  plates. 

From  the  well-known  cause  of  this  phenomenon  it 
cannot  be  rationally  supposed  that  there  was  no  rain¬ 
bow  in  the  heavens  before  the  time  mentioned  in  the 
text,  for  as  the  rainbow  is  the  natural  effect  of  the 
sun’s  rays  falling  on  drops  of  water,  and  of  their  being 
refracted  and  reflected  by  them,  it  must  have  appeared 
at  different  times  from  the  creation  of  the  sun  and  the 
atmosphere.  Nor  does  the  text  intimate  that  the  bow 
was  now  created  for  a  sign  to  Noah  and  his  posterity  ; 


of  God's  covenant  with  Noah. 

ture  of  all  flesh ;  and  the  waters 

shall  no  more  become  a  flood  to  - * 

destroy  all  flesh. 

1 6  And  the  bow  shall  be  in  the  cloud ;  and 
I  will  look  upon  it,  that  I  may  remember  v  the 
everlasting  covenant  between  God  and  every 
living  creature  of  all  flesh  that  is  upon  the 
earth. 

17  And  God  said  unto  Noah,  This  is  the 
token  of  the  covenant  which  I  have  established 
between  me  and  all  flesh  that  is  upon  the 
earth. 


uExod.  xxviii.  12 ;  Lev.  xxvi.  42, 45  ;  Ezek.  xvi.  60. - T  Chap. 

xvii.  13,  19. 


but  that  what  was  formerly  created,  or  rather  that 
which  was  the  necessary  effect,  in  certain  cases,  of  the 
creation  of  the  sun  and  atmosphere,  should  now  be 
considered  by  them  as  an  unfailing  token  of  their  con¬ 
tinual  preservation  from  the  waters  of  a  deluge  ;  there¬ 
fore  the  text  speaks  of  w7hat  had  already  been  done , 
and  not  of  what  was  now  done,  TiHJ  bn&yp  kashti  na- 
thatti ,  “  My  bow  I  have  given,  or  put  in  the  cloud 
as  if  he  said  :  As  surely  as  the  rainbow  is  a  necessary 
effect  of  sunshine  in  rain,  and  must  continue  such  as 
long  as  the  sun  and  atmosphere  endure,  so  surely  shall 
this  earth  be  preserved  from  destruction  by  water  ;  and 
its  preservation  shall  be  as  necessary  an  effect  of  my 
promise  as  the  rainbow  is  of  the  shining  of  the  sun 
during  a  shower  of  rain. 

Verse  17.  This  is  thetoken\  oth.  The  Divine 

sign  or  portent  :  The  bow  shall  be  in  the  cloud.  For 
the  reasons  above  specified  it  must  be  there,  when  the 
circumstances  already  mentioned  occur ;  if  therefore 
it  cannot  fail  because  of  the  reasons  before  assigned, 
no  more  shall  my  promise  ;  and  the  bow  shall  be  the 
proof  of  its  perpetuity. 

Both  the  Greeks  and  Latins,  as  well  as  the  Hebrews, 
have  ever  considered  the  rainbow  as  a  Divine  token  or 
portent ;  and  both  of  these  nations  have  even  deified 
it,  and  made  it  a  messenger  of  the  gods. 

Homer,  II.  xi.,  ver.  27,  speaking  of  the  figures  on 
Agamemnon’s  breastplate,  says  there  were  three 
dragons,  whose  colours  were 

- ipiGOiv  eouioreg,  ag  re  Kpovov. 

Ev  ve(j)£L  GTTjpi^s,  repag  peponuv  avdpo TTCJV. 

“like  to  the  rainbow  which  the  son  of  Saturn  has 
placed  in  the  cloud  as  a  sign  to  mankind,”  or  to  men 
of  various  languages,  for  so  the  pepcarov  avdpoxov  ot 
the  poet  has  been  understood.  Some  have  thought 
that  the  ancient  Greek  writers  give  this  epithet  to  man 
from  some  tradition  of  the  confusion  and  multiplication 
of  tongues  at  Babel  ;  hence  in  this  place  the  words 
may  be  understood  as  implying  mankind  at  large,  the 
whole  human  race  ;  God  having  given  the  rainbow  for 
a  sign  to  all  the  descendants  of  Noah,  by  wThom  the 
whole  earth  was  peopled  after  the  flood.  4  hus  the 
celestial  bow7  speaks  a  universal  language,  understood 
by  all  the  sons  and  daughters  of  Adam.  Virgil,  from 


GENESIS. 


Noah's  sons  people  the  earth . 

b' c  2347  And  sons  -^oa^ 

-  went  forth  of  the  ark,  were  Shem, 

and  .Ham,  and  Japheth :  w  and  Ham  is  the 
father  of  x  Canaan. 

19  7  These  are  the  three  sons  of  Noah: 
7  and  of  them  was  the  whole  earth  overspread. 

20  And  Noah  began  to  he  a  a  husbandman, 
and  he  planted  a  vineyard  : 

w  Chap.  x.  6.' - x  Heb.  Chenaan. - y  Chap.  v.  32. - z  Chap. 

viii.  17  ;  x.  32;  1  Chron.  i.  4,  &c. - a  Chap.  iii.  19,23  ;  iv.  2; 

some  disguised  traditionary  figure  of  the  truth,  con¬ 
siders  the  rainbow  as  a  messenger  of  the  gods.  .iEn. 
v.,  ver.  606  : — 

Irim  de  ccelo  misit  Saturnia  Juno. 

“Juno,  the  daughter  of  Saturn,  sent  down  the  rain¬ 
bow  from  heaven  and  again,  iEn.  ix.,  ver.  803  : — 

- aeriam  ccelo  nam  Jupiter  Irim 

Demisit. 

“  For  Jupiter  sent  down  the  ethereal  rainbow  from 
heaven.’’ 

It  is  worthy  of  remark  that  both  these  poets  under¬ 
stood  the  rainbow  to  be  a  sign ,  warning ,  or  portent 
from  heaven.  ' 

As  I  believe  the  rainbow  to  have  been  intended 
solely  for  the  purpose  mentioned  in  the  text,  I  forbear 
to  make  spiritual  uses  and  illustrations  of  it.  Many 
have  done  this,  and  their  observations  may  be  very 
edifying,  but  they  certainly  have  no  foundation  in  the 
text. 

Yerse  20.  Noah  began  to  be  a  husbandman ] 
rtBTNTl  ish  haadamah,  A  man  of  the  ground,  a  farmer  ; 
by  his  beginning  to  be  a  husbandman  we  are  to  under¬ 
stand  his  recommencing  his  agricultural  operations, 
which  undoubtedly  he  had  carried  on  for  six  hundred 
years  before,  but  this  had  been  interrupted  by  the  flood. 
And  the  transaction  here  mentioned  might  have  occur¬ 
red  many  years  posterior  to  the  deluge,  even  after 
Canaan  was  born  and  grown  up,  for  the  date  of  it  is 
not  fixed  in  the  text. 

The  word  husband  first  occurs  here,  and  scarcely 
appears  proper,  because  it  is  always  applied  to  man  in 
his  married  state ,  as  wife  is  to  the  woman.  The  ety¬ 
mology  of  the  term  will  at  once  show  its  propriety 
when  applied  to  the  head  of  a  family.  Husband , 
hupbanb,  is  Anglo-Saxon,  and  simply  signifies  the  bond 
of  the  house  or  family  ;  as  by  him  the  family  is  formed, 
united ,  and  bound  together,  which,  on  his  death,  is  dis¬ 
united  and  scattered.  It  is  on  this  etymology  of  the 
word  that  we  can  account  for  the  farmers  and  petty 
landholders  being  called  so  early  as  the  twelfth  cen¬ 
tury,  husbandi ,  as  appears  in  a  statute  of  David  II., 
king  of  Scotland  :  we  may  therefore  safely  derive  the 
word  from  hup,  a  house,  and  bonb,  from  binben,  to  bind 
or  tie ;  and  this  etymology  appears  plainer  in  the  or- 
hography  which  prevailed  in  the  thirteenth  and  four¬ 
teenth  centuries,  in  which  I  have  often  found  the  word 
written  house-bond ;  so  it  is  in  a  MS.  Bible  before  me, 
written  in  the  fourteenth  century.  Junius  disputes 
this  etymology,  but  I  think  on  no  just  ground. 

80 


The  intoxication  of  Noah , 

2 1  And  lie  drank  of  the  wine,  JJ-  ^7. 

b  and  was  drunken ;  and  he  was  - - 

uncovered  within  his  tent. 

22  And  Ham,  the  father  of  Canaan,  saw  the 
nakedness  of  his  father,  and  told  his  two 
brethren  without. 

23  c  And  Shem  and  Japheth  took  a  garment, 
and  laid  it  upon  both  their  shoulders,  and  went 

v.  29  ;  Prov.  x.  11  ;  xii.  11 ;  Ecclus.  v.  9. - b  Prov.  xx.  1 ; 

1  Cor.  x.  12. - c  Exod.  xx.  12;  Gal.  vi.  1. 

Yerse  21.  He  drank  of  the  wine ,  djc.]  It  is  very 
probable  that  this  was  the  first  time  the  vine  was  cul¬ 
tivated  ;  and  it  is  as  probable  that  the  strength  or  in¬ 
toxicating  power  of  the  expressed  juice  was  never 
before  known.  Noah,  therefore,  might  have  drunk  it 
at  this  time  without  the  least  blame,  as  he  knew  not 
till  this  trial  the  effects  it  would  produce.  I  once  knew 
a  case  which  I  believe  to  be  perfectly  parallel.  A 
person  who  had  scarcely  ever  heard  of  cider,  and  whose 
beverage  through  his  whole  life  had  been  only  milk  or 
water,  coming  wet  and  very  much  fatigued  to  a  far¬ 
mer’s  house  in  Somersetshire,  begged  for  a  little  water 
or  milk.  The  good  woman  of  the  house,  seeing  him 
very  much  exhausted,  kindly  said,  “  I  will  give  you  a 
little  cider,  which  will  do  you  more  good.”  The  ho¬ 
nest  man,  understanding  no  more  of  cider  than  merely 
that  it  was  the  simple  juice  of  apples,  after  some  hesi¬ 
tation  drank  about  a  half  a  pint  of  it ;  the  consequence 
was,  that  in  less  than  half  an  hour  he  was  perfectly 
intoxicated,  and  could  neither  speak  plain  nor  walk  l 
This  case  I  myself  witnessed.  A  stranger  to  the  cir¬ 
cumstances,  seeing  this  person,  would  pronounce  him 
drunk ;  and  perhaps  at  a  third  hand  he  might  be  re¬ 
presented  as  a  drunkard,  and  thus  his  character  be 
blasted  ;  while  of  the  crime  of  drunkenness  he  was  as 
innocent  as  an  infant.  This  I  presume  to  have  been 
precisely  the  case  with  Noah  ;  and  no  person  without 
an  absolute  breach  of  every  rule  of  charity  and  can¬ 
dour,  can  attach  any  blame  to  the  character  of  Noah 
on  this  ground,  unless  from  a  subsequent  account  they 
were  well  assured  that,  knowing  the  power  and  effects 
of  the  liquor,  he  had  repeated  the  act.  Some  exposi¬ 
tors  seem  to  be  glad  to  fix  on  a  fact  like  this,  which 
by  their  distortion  becomes  a  crime ;  and  then,  in  a 
strain  of  sympathetic  tenderness,  affect  to  deplore  “  the 
failings  and  imperfections  of  the  best  of  men  when, 
from  the  interpretation  that  should  be  given  of  the 
place,  neither  failing  nor  imperfection  can  possibly 
appear. 

Yerse  22—24.  And  Ham,  the  father  of  Canaan , 
dfc.~\  There  is  no  occasion  to  enter  into  any  detail 
here  ;  the  sacred  text  is  circumstantial  enough.  Ham, 
and  very  probably  his  son  Canaan,  had  treated  their 
father  on  this  occasion  with  contempt  or  reprehensible 
levity.  Had  Noah  not  been  innocent,  as  my  exposi¬ 
tion  supposes  him,  God  would  not  have  endued  him 
with  the  spirit  of  prophecy  on  this  occasion,  and  testi¬ 
fied  such  marked  disapprobation  of  their  conduct.  The 
conduct  of  Shem  and  Japheth  was  such  as  became  pious 
and  affectionate  children,  who  appear  to  have  been  in 
the  habit  of  treating  their  father  with  decency,  reve- 

a 


The  Canaamtes  are  cursed. 


CHAP.  IX. 


A.  M.  cir.  1657.  backward,  and  covered  the  naked- 

B.  C.  cir.  2347.  7 

- - ness  of  their  father ;  and  their 

faces  were  backward,  and  they  saw  not  their 
father’s  nakedness. 

24  And  Noah  awoke  from  his  wine,  and 
knew  what  his  younger  son  had  done  unto 
him. 

25  And  he  said,  d  Cursed  he  Canaan  ;  e  a  ser¬ 
vant  of  servants  shall  he  be  unto  his  brethren. 

26  And  he  said,  f  Blessed  he  the  Lord  God 

d  Deut.  xxvii.  16. - e  Josh.  ix.  23;  1  Kings  ix.  20,  21. 

1  Psa.  cxliv.  15;  Heb.  xi.  16. 


rence,  and  obedient  respect.  On  the  one  the  spirit  of 
prophecy  (not  the  incensed  father)  pronounces  a  curse  : 
on  the  others  the  same  spirit  (not  parental  tenderness) 
pronounces  a  blessing.  These  things  had  been  just  as 
they  afterwards  occurred  had  Noah  never  spoken. 
God  had  wise  and  powerful  reasons  to  induce  him  to 
sentence  the  one  to  perpetual  servitude,  and  to  allot  to 
the  others  prosperity  and  dominion.  Besides,  the 
curse  pronounced  on  Canaan  neither  fell  immediately 
upon  himself  nor  on  his  worthless  father,  but  upon  the 
Canaanites ;  and  from  the  history  we  have  of  this 
people,  in  Lev.  xviii.,  xx.  ;  and  Deut.  ix.  4  ;  xii.  31,  we 
may  ask,  Could  the  curse  of  God  fall  more  deservedly  on 
any  people  than  on  these  1  Their  profligacy  was  great, 
but  it  teas  not  the  effect  of  the  curse ;  but,  being  fore¬ 
seen  by  the  Lord,  the  curse  was  the  effect  of  their  con¬ 
duct.  But  even  this  curse  does  not  exclude  them  from 
the  possibility  of  obtaining  salvation  ;  it  extends  not  to 
the  soul  and  to  eternity,  but  merely  to  their  bodies  and 
to  time  ;  though,  if  they  continued  to  abuse  their  liberty, 
resist  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  refuse  to  be  saved  on  God’s 
terms,  then  the  wrath  of  Divine  justice  must  come  upon 
them  to  the  uttermost.  How  many,  even  of  these, 
repented,  we  cannot  tell. 

Yerse  25.  Cursed  be  Canaan ]  See  on  the  preceding 
verses.  In  the  25th,  26th,  and  27th  verses,  instead 
of  Canaan  simply,  the  Arabic  version  has  Ham  the 
father  of  Canaan ;  but  this  is  acknowledged  by  none 
of  the  other  versions,  and  seems  to  be  merely  a  gloss. 

Yerse  29.  The  days  of  Noah  were  nine  hundred 
and  fifty  years ]  The  oldest  patriarch  on  record,  Me¬ 
thuselah  only  excepted.  This,  according  to  the  com¬ 
mon  reckoning,  was  A.  M.  2006,  but  according  to  Dr. 
Hales,  3505. 

“  Ham,”  says  Dr.  Hales,  “  signifies  burnt  or  hlach , 
and  this  name  was  peculiarly  significant  of  the  regions 
allotted  to  his  family.  To  the  Cushites ,  or  children 
of  his  eldest  son  Cush ,  were  allotted  the  hot  southern 
regions  of  Asia,  along  the  coasts  of  the  Persian  Gulf, 
Susiana  or  Chusistan ,  Arabia,  dfc.  ;  to  the  sons  of 
Canaan,  Palestine  and  Syria ;  to  the  sons  of  Misraim, 
Egypt  and  Libya,  in  Africa. 

“  The  Hamites  in  general,  like  the  Canaanites  of  old, 
were  a  seafaring  race,  and  sooner  arrived  at  civiliza¬ 
tion  and  the  luxuries  of  life  than  their  simpler  pastoral 
and  agricultural  brethren  of  the  other  two  families. 
The  first  great  empires  of  Assyria  and  Egypt  were 
founded  bv  them,  and  the  republics  of  Sidon ,  Tyre,  and 
Yol.  I.  (  7  )  a 


Noah's  age  and,  death. 

of  Shem ;  and  Canaan  shall  be  4  cir'  IS5I* 
s'  his  servant.  - 

27  God  shall  h  enlarge  Japheth, *  1  and  he 
shall  dwell  in  the  tents  of  Shem  ;  and  k  Ca¬ 
naan  shall  be  his  servant. 

28  And  Noah  lived  after  the  flood  three 
hundred  and  fifty  years. 

29  And  all  the  days  of  Noah 

J  x>.  u.  lyyo. 

were  nine  hundred  and  fifty  years  : - 

and  he  died. 

S  Or,  servant  to  them. - 11  Or,  persuade. - *  Eph.  ii.  13,  14  ; 

iii.  6. - k  Ver.  25,  26. 


Carthage  were  early  distinguished  for  their  commerce, 
but  they  sooner  also  fell  to  decay ;  and  Egypt,  which 
was  one  of  the  first,  became  the  last  and  basest  of  the 
kingdoms,  Ezek.  xxix.  15,  and  has  been  successively 
in  subjection  to  the  Shemites  and  Japhethites ,  as  have 
also  the  settlements  of  the  other  branches  of  the 
Hamites. 

“  Shem  signifies  name  or  retiown ;  and  his  indeed 
was  great  in  a  temporal  and  spiritual  sense.  The 
finest  regions  of  Upper  and  Middle  Asia  were  allotted 
to  his  family,  Armenia,  Mesopotamia,  Assyria,  Media, 
Persia,  &c.,  to  the  Indus  and  Ganges,  and  perhaps  to 
China  eastward. 

“  The  chief  renown  of  Shem  was  of  a  spiritual  na¬ 
ture  :  he  was  destined  to  be  the  lineal  ancestor  of  the 
blessed  seed  of  the  woman  ;  and  to  this  glorious  privi¬ 
lege  Noah,  to  whom  it  was  probably  revealed,  might 
have  alluded  in  that  devout  ejaculation,  Blessed  be  the 
LORD,  the  GOD  of  Shem  !  The  pastoral  life  of  the 
Shemites  is  strongly  marked  in  the  prophecy  by 
the  tents  of  Shem ;  and  such  it  remains  to  the 
present  day,  throughout  their  midland  settlements  in 
Asia. 

“  Japheth  signifies  enlargement ;  and  how  wonder¬ 
fully  did  Providence  enlarge  the  boundaries  of  Japheth! 
His  posterity  diverged  eastward  and  westward  through¬ 
out  the  wrhole  extent  of  Asia,  north  of  the  great ‘range 
of  Taurus,  as  far  as  the  Eastern  Ocean,  whence  they 
probably  crossed  over  to  America  by  Behring's  Straits 
from  Kamtschatka,  and  in  the  opposite  direction 
throughout  Europe  to  the  Mediterranean  Sea  and  the 
Atlantic  Ocean ;  from  whence  also  they  might  have 
crossed  over  to  America  by  Newfoundland,  where  tracer 
of  early  settlements  remain  in  parts  now  desert.  Thus, 
did  they  gradually  enlarge  themselves  till  they  literally 
encompassed  the  earth,  within  the  precincts  of'  the 
northern  temperate  zone,  to  which  their  roving  hunter's 
life  contributed  not  a  little.  Their  progress  north¬ 
wards  was  checked  by  the  much  greater  extent  of  the 
Black  Sea  in  ancient  times,  and  the  increasing  rigour 
of  the  climates':  but  their  hardy  race,  and  enterprising, 
warlike  genius,  made  them  frequently  encroach  south¬ 
wards  on  the  settlements  of  Shem,  whose  pastoral  and 
agricultural  occupations  rendered  them  more  inactive, 
peaceable,  and  unwarlike ;  and  so  they  dwelt  in  the 
tents  of  Shem  when  the  Scythians  invaded  Media,  and 
subdued  western  Asia  southwards  as  far  as  Egypt,  in 
the  davs  of  Cyaxares ;  when  the  Greeks,  and  after- 

81 


The  generations  of 

wards  the  Romans,  overran  and  subdued  the  Assyrians, 
Medes,  and  Persians  in  the  east,  and  the  Syrians  and 
Jews  in  the  south ;  as  foretold  by  the  Syrian  prophet 
Balaam,  Num.  xxiv.  24  : — 

Ships  shall  come  from  Chittim, 

And  shall  afflict  the  Assyrians ,  and  afflict  the  Hebrews; 
But  he  (the  invader)  shall  perish  himself  at  last. 

“  And  by  Moses  :  And  the  Lord  shall  bring  thee  (the 
Jews)  into  Egypt  (or  bondage)  again  with  ships,  &c., 
T)eut.  xxviii.  68.  And  by  Daniel  :  For  the  ships  of 
Chittim  shall  come  against  him,  viz.,  Antiochus,  king 
of  Syria,  Dan.  xi.  30.  In  these  passages  Chittim  de¬ 
notes  the  southern  coasts  of  Europe,  bounding  the 
Mediterranean ,  called  the  isles  of  the  Gentiles  or  Na¬ 
tions ;  see  Gen.  x.  5.  And  the  isles  of  Chittim  are 
mentioned  Jer.  ii.  10.  And  in  after  times  the  Tar¬ 
tars  in  the  east  have  repeatedly  invaded  and  subdued 
the  Hindoos  and  the  Chinese ;  while  the  warlike  and 
enterprising  genius  of  the  greatest  of  the  isles  of  the 


the  sons  of  Noah 

Gentiles,  Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  have  spread 
their  colonies,  their  arms,  their  language,  their  arts, 
and  in  some  measure  their  religion,  from  the  rising  to 
the  setting  sun.”  See  Dr.  Hales’s  Analysis  of  Chro¬ 
nology ;  vol.  i.,  p.  352,  &c. 

Though  what  is  left  undone  should  not  cause  us  to 
lose  sight  of  what  is  done ,  yet  we  have  reason  to  la¬ 
ment  that  the  inhabitants  of  the  British  isles,  who  of 
all  nations  under  heaven  have  the  purest  light  of  Di¬ 
vine  revelation,  and  the  best  means  of  diffusing  it,  have 
been  much  more  intent  on  spreading  their  conquests 
and  extending  their  commerce,  than  in  propagating  the 
Gospel  of  the  Son  of  God.  But  the  nation,  by  getting 
the  Bible  translated  into  every  living  language ,  and 
sending  it  to  all  parts  of  the  habitable  globe,  and,  by 
its  various  missionary  societies ,  sending  men  of  God 
to  explain  and  enforce  the  doctrines  and  precepts  of 
this  sacred  book,  is  rapidly  redeeming  its  character, 
and  becoming  great  in  goodness  and  benevolence  over 
the  whole  earth ! 


GENESIS. 


CHAPTER  X. 

The  generations  of  the  sons  of  Noah,  1.  Japheth  and  his  descendants ,  2—4.  The  isles  of  the  Gentiles 9 
or  Europe,  peopled  by  the  Japhethites,  5.  Ham  and  his  posterity,  6—20.  Nimrod,  one  of  his  descendants , 
a  mighty  hunter,  8,  9,  founds  the  first  kingdom,  10.  Nineveh  and  other  cities  founded,  11,  12.  The 
Canaanites  in  their  nine  grand  branches  or  families,  15—18.  Their  territories,  19.  Shem  and  his  posterity 
21—31.  The  earth  divided  in  the  days  of  Tele g,  25.  The  territories  of  the  Shemites,  30.  The  whole 
earth  peopled  by  the  descendants  of  No  all’s  three  sons,  32. 


£  M.  1556.  NQW  these  are  the  generations 
• - of  the  sons  of  Noah  ;  Shem, 


a  Genesis, 


NOTES  ON  CHAP.  N. 

Verse  1.  Now  these  are  the  generations ]  Tt  is  ex¬ 
tremely  difficult  to  say  what  particular  nations  and 
people  sprang  from  the  three  grand  divisions  of  the 
family  of  Noah,  because  the  names  of  many  of  those 
ancient  people  have  become  changed  in  the  vast  lapse 
of  time  from  the  deluge  to  the  Christian  era ;  yet 
some  are  so  very  distinctly  marked  that  they  can  be 
easily  ascertained,  while  a  few  still  retain  their  original 
names. 

Moses  does  not  always  give  the  name  of  the  first 
settler  in  a  country,  but  rather  that  of  the  people  from 
whom  the  country  afterwards  derived  its  name.  Thus 
Mizraim  is  the  dual  of  Mezer,  and  could  never  be  the 
name  of  an  individual.  The  like  may  be  said  of 
Kittim,  Dodanim,  Ludim,  Ananim,  Lehabim,  Naphtu- 
him,  Pathrusim,  Casluhim,  Philistim,  and  Caphtorim, 
which  are  all  plurals ,  and  evidently  not  the  names  of 
individuals,  but  of  families  or  tribes.  See  verses  4, 
6,  13,  14. 

In  the  posterity  of  Canaan  we  find  whole  nations 
reckoned  in  the  genealogy,  instead  of  the  individuals 
from  whom  they  sprang ;  thus  the  Jebusite,  Amorite, 
Girgasite,  Hivite,  Arkite,  Simte,  Arvadite,  Zemaritc , 
and  Hamathite ,  ver.  16-18,  were  evidently  whole 
a  82 


Ham,  and  Japheth :  a  and  unto  g- 
them  were  sons  born  after  the  flood. - 


chap.  ix.  1,  7,  19. 


nations  or  tribes  which  inhabited  the  promised  land, 
and  were  called  Canaanites  from  Canaan ,  the  son  of 
Ham,  who  settled  there. 

Moses  also,  in  this  genealogy,  seems  to  have  intro¬ 
duced  even  the  name  of  some  places  that  were  re¬ 
markable  in  the  sacred  history,  instead  of  the  original 
settlers.  Such  as  Hazarmaveth,  ver.  26  ;  and  proba¬ 
bly  Ophir  and  Havilah,  ver.  29.  But  this  is  not  infre¬ 
quent  in  the  sacred  writings,  as  may  be  seen  1  Chron. 
ii.  51,  where  Salma  is  called  the  father  of  Bethlehem, 
which  certainly  never  was  the  name  of  a  man,  but  of 
a  place  sufficiently  celebrated  in  the  sacred  history ; 
and  in  chap.  iv.  14,  where  Joab  is  called  the  father 
of  the  valley  of  Charashim ,  which  no  person  could 
ever  suppose  was  intended  to  designate  an  individual, 
but  the  society  of  craftsmen  or  artificers  who  lived 
there. 

Eusebius  and  others  state  (from  what  authority  we 
know  not)  that  Noah  was  commanded  of  God  to  make 
a  will  and  bequeath  the  whole  of  the  earth  to  his  three 
sons  and  their  descendants  in  the  following  manner : — 
To  Shem,  all  the  East;  to  Ham.,  all  Africa;  to  Ja¬ 
pheth,  the  Continent  of  Europe  with  its  isles,  and  the 
northern  parts  of  Asia.  See  the  notes  at  the  end  of 
the  preceding  chapter. 

(  ) 


BIRTH  OF  CHRIST, 

ANNO  MUNDI  4001, 

Age  at  the 

•th  of  the  Heir  j 

Gen. 

v.  3,  4,  ADAM, 

•  • 

130 

U 

3,  SETH 

born  A.  M. 

130 

a 

6,  7,  . 

• 

105 

u 

6,  ENOS 

.  do. 

235 

a 

9,  10,  11, 

•  • 

90 

u 

9,  CAIN  AN  . 

.  do. 

325 

a 

12,  13,  14, 

•  • 

70 

u 

12,  MAHALALEEL  do. 

391 

a 

15,  16,  17, 

•  • 

65 

a 

15,  JARED 

.  do. 

46(! 

u 

18,  19,  20, 

• 

16^ 

u 

18,  ENOCH  . 

.  do. 

625 

a 

21,  22,  23, 

•  • 

it 

21,  METHUSELAH  do. 

68' 

u 

25,  26,  27, 

•  • 

it 

25,  LAMECH  . 

.  do. 

U 

u 

28,  30,  31, 

• 

ie| 

a 

29,  NOAH 

.  do. 

101 

u 

32,  and  ix.  29, 

•  • 

50 

u 

32,  SHEM 

.  do. 

15 

Gen. 

vii.  6,  and  xi.  10, 

•  • 

9 

Gen. 

xi.  10,  11, 

• 

• 

U 

11,  ARPHAXAD 

born  A. 

u 

12,  13, 

« 

0 

u 

u 

12,  SELAH 
14,  15, 

• 

.  do 

a 

14,  EBER 

• 

.  do 

a 

16,  17, 

• 

u 

16,  PELEG 

• 

.  do 

a 

18,  19, 

• 

• 

a 

18,  REU  . 

• 

.  do 

a 

20,  21, 

• 

• 

u 

20,  SERUG 

• 

<4  kIq 

u 

22,  23, 

• 

• 

u 

22,  NAHOR 

0 

.  do 

u 

24,  25, 

• 

• 

u 

24,  TERAH 

• 

.  do 

u 

32,  and  xii.  4. 

Acts  vii,  4. 

Gen. 

xii.  4,  ABRAM 

• 

.  do 

Gen. 

xxi.  5,  and  xxv.  7 

,  • 

• 

U 

5,  ISAAC 

.  do 

Gen. 

xxv.  6,  and  xxxv. 

23, 

• 

U 

6,  JACOB 

.  do 

Gen. 

xlvii.  28, 

• 

• 

L 


16 

3 


BIRTH  OF  CHRIST, 
ANNO  MUNDI  4004. 


Gen.  v.  3,  4,  ADAM, 


U 

U 


u 

u 


u 

u 


a 

Gen.  vii. 


td 

„  o 

°  H 

-D 

c-e  S3 
P*  ^ 
CD  c-f- 


M 

b 

>■ 

p 

P 

o 


p 

P 

a. 


GENEALOGY 

OB'  THE 

PATRIARCHS. 


130 


3,  SETH  horn  A.  M 

6,  7,  .... 

6,  ENOS  .  .  do. 

9,  10,  11,  ... 

9,  CAINAN  .  .  do. 

12,  13,  14,  ... 

12,  MAHALALEEL  do. 
15,  16,  17,  ... 


15,  JARED 
18,  19,  20, 

18,  ENOCH 
21,  22,  23, 


do. 


do. 


21,  METHUSELAH  do. 
25,  26,  27,  ... 

25,  LAMECH  .  .  do. 

28,  30,  31,  ... 

29,  NOAH  .  .  do. 

32,  and  ix.  29, 

32,  SHEM  .  .  do. 

6,  and  xi.  10,  . 


130 

105 


235 

90 


800 


301 


815 


325 

70 


395 

G5 


460 

162 


622 

65 


840 


830 


800 


930 


130 

912 


330 


235 

905 


325 

910 


395 

895 


460 

962 


300 


“  6,  THE  DELUGE, 

Gen.  xi.  10,  11,  .... 

“  11,  ARPIIAXAD  bom  A.  M 

“  12,  13,  .... 


12,  SELAH 
14,  15, 

14,  EBER 
16,  17, 

16,  PELEG 
18,  19, 

18,  REU  . 

20,  21, 

20,  SERUG 


do. 

do. 

do. 

do. 

do. 


687 

187 


874 

182 

1056 

502 


1558 

98 


1656 

2 


1658 

35 


1693 

30 


1723 

34 


782 


595 


448 


622 

365 


687 

969 


874 

777 


1056 

950 

1558 


1042 


1140 


ADAM 


Created 


SETH 


born 


ENOS 


bom 


CAINAN 


bom 


MAHALALEEL  born 


> 

ss 

a 

o 


Ami 


w 

ts 

o 

§ 

td 

G 

M 

> 

b 

> 

H 

o 

M 

G 

o 

w 

H 

3 

GO 

r" 

3 

t-1 

> 

td 

U 

o 

G 

M 

td 

P 

H 

C/5 

G 

*-3 

C- 

O- 

CG 

£u 

o 

o 

* 

o 

O 

130 


235 


325 


395 


JARED 


born 


142: 


987 


1656 


1651 


2006 


500 


403 


403 


1757 

30 


1787 

32 


1819 


430 


600 


1653 

438 


1693 

433 


2158 


209G 


2126 


400 


4004 


3784 


3709 


3679 


3609 


3544 


130 


235 


325 


395 


460 


105 

195 


265 


330 


90 

160 


225 


70 


135 


1723 

464 


209 


207 


1757 

239 


1787 

239 


1819 


2187 


1996 


202 G 


65 


U 

22,  23,  . 

• 

30 

200 

230 

2049 

u 

u 

22,  NAHOR 

24,  25,  .  .  . 

do. 

1849 

29 

119 

1849 

148 

1997 

u 

u 

24,  TERAH 

32,  and  xii.  4.  Acts  vii. 

do. 

4. 

1878 

130 

75 

1878 

205 

2083 

Gen.  xii. 
Gen.  xxi. 

4,  ABRAM 

5,  and  xxv.  7,  . 

do. 

2008 

100 

75 

2008 

175 

2183 

U 

Gen.  xxv. 

5,  ISAAC  .  -  . 

6,  and  xxxv.  23, 

do. 

2108 

60 

120 

2)08 

180 

2288 

“  6,  JACOB 

1  Gen.  xlvii.  28,  ... 

do. 

2163 

2168 

147 

2315 

ENOCH 

fi - — 

born 

622 

338 

2  625 

495 

38" 

29/ 

22" 

16! 

METHUSELAH  born 

687 

331 

7  087 

557  !  452 

362 

295 

22" 

65 

LAMECH 

0 - — 

born 

874 

3131 

874 

744 

639 

549 

479 

414 

255 

187 

ADAM 

died 

930 

307- 

930 

800 

695 

605 

535 

47C 

308 

243 

ENOCH  translated 

9 

987 

301" 

657 

752 

662 

592 

527 

305 

300 

SETH 

died 

1045 

2965 

912 

S07 

717 

647 

582 

355 

NOAH 

- - — 

born 

105t 

2948 

821 

731 

661 

596 

360 

ENOS 

died 

1146 

2S64 

905 

815 

745 

680 

453 

CAINAN 

6 - 

died 

1235 

2769 

910 

S40 

775 

548 

MAHALALEEL 

died 

1290 

2714 

895 

830 

003 

JARED 

1  - 

died 

1422 

2582 

962 

735 

SHEM 

born 

155S 

2446 

869 

LAMECH 

5 

died 

1651 

2353 

964 

METHUSELAH 

died 

1656 

2348 

969 

THE  DELUGE 

1656 

2348 

ARPIIAXAD 

born 

1653 

2346 

SELAH 

born 

1693 

2311 

EBER 

born 

1723 

2281 

PELEG 

bom 

1757 

2247 

REU 

born 

17S7 

2217 

SERUG 

born 

1819 

2185 

NAHOR 

born 

1849 

2155 

TERAH 

born 

1878 

2126 

PELEG 

died 

1996 

2008 

NAHOR 

died 

1997 

2007 

NOAII 

died 

2006 

1998 

ABRAM 

born 

2008 

1990 

REU 

died 

2026 

1978 

SERUG 

died 

2049 

1955 

TERAH 

died 

2083 

1921 

ARPIIAXAD 

died 

2096 

1908 

ISAAC 

born 

>108 

896 

i 

S  PL  A II 

died 

>126 

878 

SHEM 

died  C 

15S 

846 

JACOB 

born  t 

108 

830 

ABRAHAM 

died  2 

183 

821 

EBER 

died  2 

187 

S17 

ISAAC 

died  2 

•288  1 

716 

JACOB 

died  2 

315  1 

(5S!) 

56 

113 

168 

182 

266 

361 

416 

548 

082 


84 


179 


234 

360 

500 


a  sasa IB 

SHOWING  THE 

GENEALOGY  OF  THE  PATRIARCHS, 

FROI\I 

ADAM  TO  JACOB, 

(A  Period  of  2168  Years,) 

AND  ALSO, 

WHICH  of  the  patriarchs  were  contem¬ 
porary  WITH  EACH  OTHER. 


Presented  to  Dr.  Adam  Clarke,  for  Ids  Commentary , 
by  William  Blair,  Esq. 


595 


600 


600 


002 


037 


607 


701 


731 


703 


:93 


ADAM 
was  contemporary 
with 

Years 
I.AMECII  50 

METHUSELAH  243 
JARED  470 

MAHALALEEL  535 
CAINAN  605 

ENOS  695 


NOAH 

was  contemporary 
with 

Years 

LAMECH  595 

METHUSELAH  600 
JARED  366 

MAHALALEEL  234 
CAINAN  170 

ENOS  84 


SHEM 

was  contemporary 
with 

Years 

LAMECH  93 

!  METHUSELAH  98 
NOAII  448 

after  the  Flood, 
ABRAHAM  150 

ISAAC  50 


93 


98 


98 


100 


W 

U) 

G 

M 

H 

G 

C J 

G 

w 

rj 

© 

c- 

Cl 

p 

O 

o 

822 


940 


941 


950 


1  1 

1  » 

135 

35 

165 

05 

30 

199 

99 

64 

34 

229 

129 

94 

64 

30 

261 

161 

126 

96 

62 

32 

291 

191 

156 

126 

92 

62 

30 

320 

220 

185 

155 

121 

91 

59 

29 

438 

338 

303 

273 

239 

209 

177 

147 

118 

439 

33.9 

304 

274 

210 

178 

148 

119 

448 

348 

313 

283 

219 

187 

128 

450 

350 

315 

285 

221 

189 

130 

463 

363 

333 

303 

239 

207 

148 

18 

491 

391 

300 

326 

230 

171 

41 

525 

425 

390 

360 

205 

75 

538 

433 

403 

373 

S8 

550 

415 

385 

100 

568 

433 

403 

118 

18 

600 

435 

150 

50 

445 

160 

60 

4G0 

175 

75 

15 

464 

79 

19 

160 

120 

iJUXSKB 

Jill 

An  account  oj  the 


CHAP.  X. 


postdiluvian  patriarchs 


a.  m.  1556.  2  b  The  sons  of  Japhetli ;  Go- 

B.  C.  2448.  i  tit  i  • 

-  mer,  and  Magog,  and  Madai,  and 

Javan,  and  Tubal,  and  Meshech,  and  Tiras. 

a.  M.  cir.  1666.  3  And  the  sons  of  Gomer  ; 

B.  c.  nr.  2,38.  ^g]1^enaZj  an4  Riphath,  and 


Togarmah. 

4  And  the  sons  of  Javan  ;  Elishah,  and 
Tarshish,  Kittim,  and  c  Dodanim. 


5  By  these  were  d  the  isles  of  Jf.  ^7 

the  Gentiles  divided  in  their  lands ;  - 

every  one  after  his  tongue,  after  their  families, 
in  their  nations. 

6  e  And  the  sons  of  Ham  ;  4’  cir‘  152' 

Cush,  and  Mizraim,  and  Phut,  - 

and  Canaan. 

7  And  the  Sons  of  Cush  ;  Seba,  and  Ha- 


b  1  Chron.  i.  5,  &c. - c  Or,  as  some  read  it,  Rodanim. - d  Psa. 


Yerse  2.  The  sons  of  Japheth]  Japheth  is  sup¬ 
posed  to  be  the  same  with  the  Japetus  of  the  Greeks, 
from  whom,  in  an  extremely  remote  antiquity,  that 
people  were  supposed  to  have  derived  their  origin. 

Gomer ]  Supposed  by  some  to  have  peopled  Gala¬ 
tia  ;  so  Josephus,  who  says  that  the  Galatians  were 
anciently  named  Gomerites.  From  him  the  Cimme¬ 
rians  or  Cimbrians  are  supposed  to  have  derived  their 
origin.  Bochart  has  no  doubt  that  the  Phrygians 
sprang  from  this  person,  and  some  of  our  principal 
commentators  are  of  the  same  opinion. 

Magog ]  Supposed  by  many  to  be  the  father  of  the 
Scythians  and  Tartars ,  or  Tatars ,  as  the  word  should 
be  written  ;  and  in  great  Tartary  many  names  are  still 
found  which  bear  such  a  striking  resemblance  to  the 
Gog  and  Magog  of  the  Scriptures,  as  to  leave  little 
doubt  of  their  identity. 

Madai]  Generally  supposed  to  be  the  progenitor  of 
the  Medes ;  but  Joseph  Mede  makes  it  probable  that 
he  was  rather  the  founder  of  a  people  in  Macedonia 
called  Mcedi,  and  that  Macedonia  was  formerly  called 
Emalhia,  a  name  formed  from  Ei,  an  island ,  and 
Madai,  because  he  and  his  descendants  inhabited  the 
maritime  coast  on  the  borders  of  the  Ionian  Sea.  On 
this  subject  nothing  certain  can  be  advanced. 

Javan ]  It  is  almost  universally  agreed  that  from 
him  sprang  the  Ionians,  of  Asia  Minor  ;  but  this  name 
seems  to  have  been  anciently  given  to  the  Macedo¬ 
nians,  Achaians,  and  Boeotians. 

Tubal]  Some  think  he  was  the  father  of  the  Ibe¬ 
rians,  and  that  a  part  at  least  of  Spain  was  peopled 
by  him  and  his  descendants ;  and  that  Meshech,  who 
is  generally  in  Scripture  joined  with  him,  was  the 
founder  of  the  Cappadocians ,  from  whom  proceeded 
the  Muscovites. 

Tiras.]  From  this  person,  according  to  general 
consent,  the  Thracians  derived  their  origin. 

Yerse.  3.  Ashkenaz]  Probably  gave  his  name  to 
Sacagena,  a  very  excellent  province  of  Armenia. 
Pliny  mentions  a  people  called  Ascanitici,  who  dwelt 
about  the  Tanais  and  the  Palus  Mao t is ;  and  some 
suppose  that  from  Ashkenaz  the  Euxine  Sea  derived 
its  name,  but  others  suppose  that  from  him  the  Ger¬ 
mans  derived  their  origin. 

Riphath]  Or  Diphath,  the  founder  of  the  Paphla- 
gonians,  which  were  anciently  called  Riphatcei. 

Togarmah.]  The  Sauromates,  or  inhabitants  of 
Turcomania.  See  the  reasons  in  Calmet. 

Yerse  4.  Elishah]  As  Javan  peopled  a  consider¬ 
able  part  of  Greece ,  it  is  in  that  region  that  we  must 
seek  for  the  settlements  of  his  descendants  ;  Elishah 

a 


lxxii.  10 ;  Jer.  ii.  10  ;  xxv.  22 ;  Zeph.  ii.  11. - e  1  Chron.  i.  8,  &c. 


probably  was  the  first  who  settled  at  Elis,  in  Pelopon¬ 
nesus. 

Tarshish]  He  first  inhabited  Cilicia ,  whose  capital 
anciently  was  the  city  of  Tarsus,  where  the  Apostle 
Paul  was  born. 

Kittim]  We  have  already  seen  that  this  name  was 
rather  the  name  of  a  people  than  of  an  individual : 
some  think  by  Kittim  Cyprus  is  meant :  others,  the 
isle  of  Chios ;  and  others,  the  Romans ;  and  others, 
the  Macedonians . 

Dodanim.]  Or  Rodanim,  for  the  “T  and  *1  may  be 
easily  mistaken  for  each  other,  because  of  their  great 
similarity.  Some  suppose  that  this  family  settled  at 
Dodona  in  Epirus  ;  others  at  the  isle  of  Rhodes ; 
others,  at  the  Rhone  in  France,  the  ancient  name  of 
which  was  Rhodanus,  from  the  Scripture  Rodanim. 

Yerse  5.  Isles  of  the  Gentiles]  Europe,  of  which 
this  is  allowed  to  be  a  general  epithet.  Calmet  sup¬ 
poses  that  it  comprehends  all  those  countries  to  which 
the  Hebrews  were  obliged  to  go  by  sea,  such  as  Spain, 
Gaul,  Italy,  Greece,  and  Asia  Minor. 

Every  one  after  his  tongue ]  This  refers  to  the 
time  posterior  to  the  confusion  of  tongues  and  disper¬ 
sion  from  Babel. 

Yerse  6.  Cush]  Who  peopled  the  Arabic  nome 
near  the  Red  Sea  in  Lower  Egypt.  Some  think  the 
Ethiopians  descended  from  him. 

Mizraim]  This  family  certainly  peopled  Egypt ; 
and  both  in  the  East  and  in  the  West,  Egypt  is  called 
Mezr  and  Mezraim. 

Phut]  Who  first  peopled  an  Egyptian  nome  or 
district,  bordering  on  Libya. 

Canaan.]  He  who  first  peopled  the  land  so  called, 
known  also  by  the  name  of  the  Promised  Land. 

Yerse  7.  Seba]  The  founder  of  the  Sabseans.  There 
seem  to  be  three  different  people  of  this  name  men¬ 
tioned  in  this  chapter,  and  a  fourth  in  chap.  xxv.  3. 

Havilah]  Supposed  by  some  to  mean  the  inhabit¬ 
ants  of  the  country  included  within  that  branch  of  the 
river  Pison  which  ran  out  of  the  Euphrates  into  the 
bay  of  Persia,  and  bounded  Arabia  Felix  on  the  east. 

Sabtah]  Supposed  by  some  to  have  first  peopled  an 
isle  or  peninsula  called  Saphta,  in  the  Persian  Gulf. 

Raamali]  Or  Ragmah,  for  the  word  is  pronounced 
both  ways,  because  of  the  ])  ain,  which  some  make  a 
vowel,  and  some  a  consonant.  Ptolemy  mentions  a 
city  called  Regma  near  the  Persian  Gulf ;  it  probably 
received  its  name  from  the  person  in  the  text. 

Sabtechah]  From  the  river  called  Samidochus,  in 
Caramania;  Bochart  conjectures  that  the  person  in 
the  text  fixed  his  residence  in  that  part. 

83 


GENESIS. 


Nimrod ,  a  mighty  hunter. 


founds  several  cities . 


A.  M.  cir.  1676.  vilah,  and  Sabtah,  and  Raamah, 

- -  and  Sabtechah :  and  the  sons 

of  Raamah  ;  Sheba,  and  Dedan. 

a.  M.  cir.  1715.  8  And  Cush  begat  Nimrod  ; 

- —  he  began  to  be  a  mighty  one  in 

the  earth. 

9  He  was  a  mighty  f  hunter  s  before  the 
Lord  :  wherefore  it  is  said,  Even  as  Nimrod, 
the  mighty  hunter  before  the  Lord. 

10  h  And  the  beginning  of  his  kingdom  was 


1  Babel,  and  Erech,  and  Accad,  M.  cir.  1745. 

ii* * *  •  b.  v.  cir. 

and  Cameh,  in  the  land  of  Shinar.  - 

11  Out  of  that  land  k  went  Jf  c.lr- 

forth  Asshur,  and  builded  Nine-  - - 

veh,  and  1  the  city  Rehoboth,  and  Calah, 

12  And  Resen  between  Nineveh  and  Calah : 
the  same  is  a  great  city. 

1 3  And  Mizraim  begat  Ludim,  and  Anamim, 
and  Lehabim,  and  Naphtuhim, 

14  And  Pathrusim,  and  Casluhim,  (m  out  of 


fJer.  xvi.  16;  Mic.  vii.  2. - £  Chap.  vi.  11. - h  Mic.  v.  6. 

*Gr.  Babylon. 


k  Or,  he  went  out  into  Assyria. - 1  Or,  the  streets  of  the  city 

m  1  Chron.  i.  12. 


Sheba ]  Supposed  to  have  had  his  residence  be¬ 
yond  the  Euphrates,  in  the  environs  of  Charran, 
Eden,  &c. 

Dedan.']  Supposed  to  have  peopled  a  part  of  Arabia, 
on  the  confines  of  Idumea. 

Yerse  8.  Nimrod ]  Of  this  person  little  is  known, 
as  he  is  not  mentioned  except  here  and  in  1  Chron. 

i.  10,  which  is  evidently  a  copy  of  the  text  in  Genesis. 
He  is  called  a  mighty  hunter  before  the  Lord ;  and 
from  ver.  10,  we  learn  that  he  founded  a  kingdom 
which  included  the  cities  Babel ,  Erech ,  Accad,  and 
Calneh,  in  the  land  of  Shinar.  Though  the  words  are 
not  definite,  it  is  very  likely  he  was  a  very  bad  man. 
His  name  Nimrod  comes  from  “HD  marad ,  he  rebelled; 
and  the  Targum,  on  1  Chron.  i.  10,  says:  Nimrod 
began  to  be  a  mighty  man  in  sin ,  a  murderer  of  inno¬ 
cent  men ,  and  a  rebel  before  the  Lord.  The  Jerusa¬ 
lem  Targum  says  :  “  He  was  mighty  in  hunting  (or  in 
prey)  and  in  sin  before  God,  for  he  was  a  hunter  of 
the  children  of  men  in  their  languages ;  and  he  said 
unto  them,  Depart  from  the  religion  of  Shem,  and 
cleave  to  the  institutes  of  Nimrod .”  The  Targum  of 
Jonathan  ben  Uzziel  says  :  “  From  the  foundation  of 
the  world  none  was  ever  found  like  Nimrod,  powerful 
in  hunting,  and  in  rebellions  against  the  Lord.”  The 
Syriac  calls  him  a  warlike  giant.  The  word  T2f  tsayid, 
which  we  render  hunter ,  signifies  prey  ;  and  is  applied 
in  the  Scriptures  to  the  hunting  of  men  by  persecution, 
oppression,  and  tyranny.  Hence  it  is  likely  that  Nim¬ 
rod,  having  acquired  power,  used  it  in  tyranny  and 
oppression  ;  and  by  rapine  and  violence  founded  that 
domination  which  was  the  first  distinguished  by  the 
name  of  a  kingdom  on  the  face  of  the  earth.  How 
many  kingdoms  have  been  founded  in  the  same  way, 
in  various  ages  and  nations  from  that  time  to  the  pre¬ 
sent  !  From  the  Nimrods  of  the  earth,  God  deliver 
the  world  ! 

Mr.  Bryant,  in  his  Mythology,  considers  Nimrod  as 
the  principal  instrument  of  the  idolatry  that  afterwards 
prevailed  in  the  family  of  Cush,  and  treats  him  as  an 
arch  rebel  and  apostate.  Mr.  Richardson,  who  was 
the  determined  foe  of  Mr.  Bryant’s  whole  system,  asks, 
Dissertation,  p.  405,  “Where  is  the  authority  for  these 
aspersions  1  They  are  nowhere  to  be  discovered  in 
the  originals,  in  the  versions ,  nor  in  the  paraphrases 
of  the  sacred  writings.”  If  they  are  not  to  be  found 
either  in  versions  or  paraphrases  of  the  sacred 
writings,  the  above  quotations  are  all  false. 

84 


Verse  10.  The  beginning  of  his  kingdom  was  Ba¬ 
bel]  babel  signifies  confusion;  and  it  seems  to 

have  been  a  very  proper  name  for  the  commencement 
of  a  kingdom  that  appears  to  have  been  founded  in 
apostasy  from  God,  and  to  have  been  supported  by 
tyranny ,  rapine,  and  oppression. 

In  the  land  of  Shinar.]  The  same  as  mentioned 
chap.  xi.  2.  It  appears  that,  as  Babylon  was  built  on 
the  river  Euphrates,  and  the  tower  of  Babel  was  in 
the  land  of  Shinar,  consequently  Shinar  itself  must 
have  been  in  the  southern  part  of  Mesopotamia. 

Verse  11.  Out  of  that  land  went  forth  Asshur]  The 
marginal  reading  is  to  be  preferred  here.  He — Nim¬ 
rod,  went  out  into  Assyria  and  built  Nineveh ;  and 
hence  Assyria  is  called  the  land  of  Nimrod,  Mic.  v.  6. 
Thus  did  this  mighty  hunter  extend  his  dominions  in 
every  possible  way.  The  city  of  Nineveh,  the  capital 
of  Assyria,  is  supposed  to  have  had  its  name  from 
Ninus,  the  son  of  Nimrod;  but  probably  Ninus  and 
Nimrod  are  the  same  person.  This  city,  which  made 
so  conspicuous  a  figure  in  the  history  of  the  world,  is 
now  called  Mossul ;  it  is  an  inconsiderable  place,  built 
out  of  the  ruins  of  the  ancient  Nineveh. 

Rehoboth,  and  Calah,  $c.]  Nothing  certain  is  known 
concerning  the  situation  of  these  places  ;  conjecture  is 
endless,  and  it  has  been  amply  indulged  by  learned  men 
in  seeking  for  Rehoboth  in  the  Birtha  of  Ptolemy,  Calah 
in  Calachine,  Resen  in  Larissa,  Sfc.,  c fc. 

Verse  13.  Mizraim  begat  Ludim]  Supposed  to 
mean  the  inhabitants  of  the  Mareotis,  a  canton  in 
Egypt,  for  the  name  Ludim  is  evidently  the  name  of 
a  people. 

Anamim]  According  to  Bochart,  the  people  who 
inhabited  the  district  about  the  temple  of  Jupiter 
Ammon. 

Lehabim]  The  Libyans,  or  a  people  who  dwelt 
on  the  west  of  the  Thebaid,  and  were  called  Libyo- 
Egyptians. 

Naphtuhim]  Even  the  conjecturers  can  scarcely  fix 
a  place  for  these  people.  Bochart  seems  inclined  to 
place  them  in  Marmarica,  or  among  the  Troglodytse. 

Verse  14.  Pathrusim]  The  inhabitants  of  the 
Delta,  in  Egypt,  according  to  the  Chaldee  paraphrase ; 
but,  according  to  Bochart,  the  people  who  inhabited 
the  Thebaid,  called  Pathros  in  Scripture. 

Casluhim]  The  inhabitants  of  Colchis ;  for  almost 
all  authors  allow  that  Colchis  was  peopled  from  Egypt. 

Philistim]  The  people  called  Philistines,  the  con- 

a 


Territories  of  the  Canaanites. 


CHAP.  X. 


The  posterity  of  Shem. 


A.  M.  cit.  1700.  w}lom  came  Philistim,)  and 

B.  C.  cir.  2304.  . 

-  Caphtorim. 

15  And  Canaan  begat  n  Sidon  his  first-born, 
and  Heth, 

16  And  the  Jebusite,  and  the  Amorite,  and 
the  Girgasite, 

A.  M.  unknown.  17  And  the  Hivite,  and  the 

B.  C.  unknown.  ...  ,  ,  . 

-  Arkite,  and  the  binite, 

18  And  the  Arvadite,  and  the  Zemarite,  and 
the  Hamathite  :  and  afterward  were  the 
families  of  the  Canaanites  spread  abroad. 

19  0  And  the  border  of  the  Canaanites  was 
from  Sidon,  as  thou  comest  to  Gerar,  unto 
p  Gaza  ;  as  thou  goestunto  Sodom,  and  Gomor¬ 
rah,  and  Admah,  and  Zeboim,  even  unto  Lasha. 

20  These  are  the  sons  of  Ham,  after  their 
families,  after  their  tongues,  in  their  countries, 
and  in  their  nations. 


21  Unto  Shem  also,  the  father  A.  M.  unknown. 

B.  C.  unknown. 

of  all  the  children  of  Eber,  the  - 


brother  of  Japheth  the  elder,  even  to  him 
were  children  born. 

22  The  *  children  of  Shem  ;  A.  M.  cir.  loco. 
Elam,  and  Asshur,  and  r  Ai-  B-  c-  cir-.2344; 
phaxad,  and  Lud,  and  Aram. 

23  And  the  children  of  Aram ;  Uz,  aife 
Hul,  and  G ether,  and  Mash. 

24  And  Arphaxad  begat  s  Salah  t ;  and  Saiah 
begat  Eber. 

25  11  And  unto  Eber  were  born  A.  M.  1757. 

.  -  B.  C.  2247. 

two  sons :  the  name  oi  one  was - 


Y  Peleg,  for  in  his  days  was  the  earth  divided  ; 
and  his  brother’s  name  was  Joktan. 

26  And  Joktan  begat  Almodad,  and  Sheleph, 
and  Hazarmaveth,  and  Jerah, 

27  And  Hadoram,  and  Uzal,  and  Diklah, 


n  Heb.  Tzidon. - 0  Chap.  xiii.  12,  14,  15,  17 ;  xv.  18-21 ; 

Num.  xxxiv.  2-12  ;  Josh.  xii.  7,  8. - P  Heb.  Azzah. 


stant  plagues  and  frequent  oppressors  of  the  Israelites, 
whose  history  may  be  seen  at  large  in  the  books  of 
Samuel,  Kings,  &c. 

Caphtorim .]  Inhabitants  of  Cyprus  according  to 
Calmet. 

Verse  15.  Sidon ]  Who  probably  built  the  city  of 
this  name,  and  was  the  father  of  the  Sidonians. 

Heth ]  From  whom  came  the  Hittites,  so  remark¬ 
able  among  the  Canaanitish  nations. 

Verse  16.  The  Jebusite — Amorite ,  c fc.]  Are  well 
known  as  being  the  ancient  inhabitants  of  Canaan, 
expelled  by  the  children  of  Israel. 

Verse  20.  These  are  the  sons  of  Ham  after  their 
families ]  No  doubt  all  these  were  well  known  in  the 
days  of  Moses,  and  for  a  long  time  after  ;  but  at  this 
distance,  when  it  is  considered  that  the  political  state 
of  the  world  has  been  undergoing  almost  incessant 
revolutions  through  all  the  intermediate  portions  of 
time,  the  impossibility  of  fixing  their  residences  or 
marking  their  descendants  must  be  evident,  as  both  the 
names  of  the  people  and  the  places  of  their  residences 
have  been  changed  beyond  the  possibility  of  being 
recognized. 

Verse  21.  Shem  also,  the  father  of  all  the  children 
of  Eber ]  It  is  generally  supposed  that  the  Hebrews 
derived  their  name  from  Eber  or  Heber ,  son  of  Shem ; 
but  it  appears  much  more  likely  that  they  had  it  from 
the  circumstance  of  Abraham  passing  over  (for  so  the 
word  "Dj?  abar  signifies)  the  river  Euphrates  to  come 
into  the  land  of  Canaan.  See  the  history  of  Abraham, 
chap.  xiv.  13. 

Verse  22.  Elam]  From  whom  came  the  Elamites , 
near  to  the  Medes,  and  whose  chief  city  was  Elymais. 

Asshur ]  Who  gave  his  name  to  a  vast  province 
(afterwards  a  mighty  empire)  called  Assyria. 

Arphaxad]  From  whom  Arrapachiiis  in  Assyria 
was  named,  according  to  some;  or  Artaxata  in  Arme¬ 
nia,  on  the  frontiers  of  Media,  according  to  others. 


3 1  Chron.  i.  17,  &c. - r  Heb.  Arpachshad. - s  Heb.  Shelah. 

lChap.  xi.  12. - «  1  Chron.  i.  19. - vThat  is,  division. 


Lud]  The  founder  of  the  Lydians ,  in  Asia  Minor  ; 
or  of  the  Ludim ,  who  dwelt  at  the  confluence  of  the 
Euphrates  and  Tigris,  according  to  Arias  Montanus. 

Aram.]  The  father  of  the  Arameans,  afterwards 
called  Syrians. 

Verse  23.  Uz]  Who  peopled  Coelosyria ,  and  ia 
supposed  to  have  been  the  founder  of  Damascus. 

Hul]  Who  peopled  a  part  of  Armenia. 

Gether]  Supposed  by  Calmet  to  have  been  the 
founder  of  the  Itureans ,  who  dwelt  beyond  the  Jordan, 
having  Arabia  Deserta  on  the  east,  and  the  Jordan  on 
the  west. 

Mash.]  Who  inhabited  mount  Masius  in  Mesopo¬ 
tamia,  and  from  whom  the  river  Mazeca,  which  has  its 
source  in  that  mountain,  takes  its  name. 

Verse  24.  Salah]  The  founder  of  the  people  of 
Susiana. 

Eber.]  See  ver.  21.  The  Septuagint  add  Cainan 
here,  with  one  hundred  and  thirty  to  the  chronology. 

Verse  25.  Peleg]  From  jSs  palag,  to  divide,  be¬ 
cause  in  his  days ,  which  is  supposed  to  be  about  one 
hundred  years  after  the  flood,  the  earth  was  divided 
among  the  sons  of  Noah.  Though  some  are  of  opinion 
that  a  physical  division,  and  not  a  political  one,  is  what 
is  intended  here,  viz.,  a  separation  of  continents  and 
islands  from  the  main  land  ;  the  earthy  parts  having 
been  united  into  one  great  continent  previously  to  the 
days  of  Peleg.  This  opinion  appears  to  me  the  most 
likely,  for  what  is  said,  ver.  5,  is  spoken  by  w?ay  of 
anticipation. 

Verses  26—30.  Joktan]  He  had  thirteen  sons  who 
had  their  dwelling  from  Mesha  unto  Sephar,  a  mount 
of  the  east ,  which  places  Calmet  supposes  to  be  mount 
Masius ,  on  the  west  in  Mesopotamia ,  and  the  moun¬ 
tains  of  the  Saphirs  on  the  east  in  Armenia,  or  of  the 
Tapyrs  farther  on  in  Media. 

In  confirmation  that  all  men  have  been  derived  from 
one  family,  let  it  be  observed  that  there  are  many 

85 


GENESIS. 


All  the  descendants  of  Noah 

A.  M.  cir.  1797.  28  And  Obal,  and  Abimael,  and 

B.  C.  cir.  2207.  ,  ’  7 

- -  Sheba, 

29  And  Ophir,  and  Havilah,  and  Jobab  :  all 
these  were  the  sons  of  Joktan. 

30  And  their  dwelling  was  from  Mesha, 
as  thou  goest  unto  Sephar,  a  mount  of 
the  east. 

* - 

w  Yerse  1. 

customs  and  usages,  both  sacred  and  civil,  which  have 
prevailed  in  all  parts  of  the  world  ;  and  that  these 
could  owe  their  origin  to  nothing  but  a  general  institu¬ 
tion,  which  could  never  have  existed,  had  not  mankind 
been  originally  of  the  same  blood,  and  instructed  in 
the  same  common  notions  before  they  were  dispersed. 
Among  these  usages  may  be  reckoned,  1.  The  num¬ 
bering  by  tens .  2.  Their  computing  time  by  a  cycle 

of  seven  days.  3.  Their  setting  apart  the  seventh  day 
for  religious  purposes.  4.  Their  use  of  sacrifices , 
'propitiatory  and  eucharistical.  5.  The  consecration 
of  temples  and  altars.  6.  The  institution  of  sanctua¬ 
ries  or  places  of  refuge,  and  their  privileges.  7.  Their 
giving  a  tenth  part  of  the  produce  of  their  fields,  &c., 
for  the  use  of  the  altar.  8.  The  custom  of  worship¬ 
ping  the  Deity  bare-footed.  9.  Abstinence  of  the  men 
from  all  sensual  gratifications  previously  to  their  offer¬ 
ing  sacrifice.  10.  The  order  of  priesthood  and  its 
support.  11.  The  notion  of  legal  pollutions,  defile¬ 
ments,  &c.  12.  The  universal  tradition  of  a  general 


spoke  the  same  language. 

3 1  These  are  the  sons  of  Shem, 

after  their  families,  after  their  - 

tongues,  in  their  lands,  after  their  nations. 

32  w  These  are  the  families  of  the  sons  of 
Noah,  after  their  generations,  in  their  nations  , 
x  and  by  these  were  the  nations  divided  in  the 
earth,  after  the  flood. 

x  Chap.  ix.  19. 

deluge.  13.  The  universal  opinion  that  the  rainbow 
was  a  Divine  sign,  ox  portent,  &c.,  &c.  See  Dodd. 

The  wisdom  and  goodness  of  God  are  particularly 
manifested  in  repeopling  the  earth  by  means  of  three 
persons,  all  of  the  same  family,  and  who  had  witnessed 
that  awful  display  of  Divine  justice  in  the  destruction 
of  the  world  by  the  flood,  while  themselves  were  pre¬ 
served  in  the  ark.  By  this  very  -means  the  true  reli¬ 
gion  was  propagated  over  the  earth ;  for  the  sons  of 
Noah  would  certainly  teach  their  children,  not  only  the 
precepts  delivered  to  their  father  by  God  himself,  but 
also  how  in  his  justice  he  had  brought  the  flood  on  the 
world  of  the  ungodly,  and  by  his  merciful  providence 
preserved  them  from  the  general  ruin.  It  is  on  this 
ground  alone  that  we  can  account  for  the  uniformity 
and  universality  of  the  above  traditions,  and  for  the 
grand  outlines  of  religious  truth  which  are  found  in 
every  quarter  of  the  world.  God  has  so  done  hk 
marvellous  works  that  they  may  be  had  in  everlasting 
remembrance. 


CHAPTER  XI. 


All  the  inhabitants  of  the  earth,  speaking  one  language  and  dwelling  in  one  place ,  1,  2,  purpose  to  build  a 
city  and  a  tower  to  prevent  their  dispersion ,  3,  4.  God  confounds  their  language,  and  scatters  them  over 
the  ivhole  earth,  5—9.  Account  of  the  lives  and  families  of  the  postdiluvian  patriarchs.  Shem ,  10,  11. 

Arphaxad,  12,  13.  Salah,  14,  15.  Eber,  16,  17.  Deleg,  18,  19.  Ragau  or  Reu,  20,  21.  Serug, 
22,  23.  Nahor,  24,  25.  Ter  ah  and  his  three  sons,  Haran,  Nahor,  and  Abram,  26,  27.  The  death  of 
Haran,  28.  Abram  marries  Sarai,  and  Nahor  marries  Milcah,  29.  Sarai  is  barren,  30.  Terah,  Abram, 
Sarai,  and  Lot,  leave  Ur  of  the  Chaldees ,  and  go  to  Haran ,  31.  Terah  dies  in  Haran,  aged  two  hundred 
and  five  years ,  32. 


k  %  t  SS:  AND  the  whole  earth  was  of 

- -  one  a  language,  and  of  one 

b  speech. 

2  And  it  came  to  pass,  as  they  journeyed 


c  from  the  east,  that  they  found  a  c,.r-  f^7. 

’  J  B.  C.  cir.  2247. 

plain  in  the  land  of  Shinar  ;  and  - 

they  dwelt  there. 

3  And  d  they  said  one  to  another,  Go  to,  let 


Heb.  lip. — b  Heb.  words. — 0  Or,  eastward,  as  ch.  xiii.  11 ;  2  Sam. 


vi.  2,  with  1  Chron.  xiii.  6. - d  Heb.  a  man  said  to  his  neighbour . 


NOTES  ON  CHAP.  XI. 

Verse  1.  The  whole  earth  ivas  of  one  language ] 
The  whole  earth — all  mankind  was  of  one  language , 
in  all  likelihood  the  Hebrew  ;  and  of  one  speech — 
articulating  the  same  words  in  the  same  way.  It  is 
generally  supposed,  that  after  the  confusion  mentioned 
in  this  chapter,  the  Hebrew  language  remained  in  the 
family  of  Heber.  The  proper  names,  and  their  signifi¬ 
cations  given  in  the  Scripture,  seem  incontestable 
evidences  that  the  Hebrew  language  was  the  original 

86 


language  of  the  earth — the  language  in  which  God 
spake  to  man,  and  in  which  he  gave  the  revelation  of 
his  will  to  Moses  and  the  prophets.  “  It  was  used,” 
says  Mr.  Ainsworth,  “  in  all  the  world  for  one  thousand 
seven  hundred  and  fifty-seven  years,  till  Phaleg,  the 
son  of  Heber,  was  born,  and  the  tower  of  Babel  was 
in  building  one  hundred  years  after  the  flood,  Gen.  x. 
25 ;  xi.  9.  After  this,  it  was  used  among  the  Hebrews 
or  Jews,  called  therefore  the  Jeivs ’  language ,  Isa. 
xxxvi.  1 1 ,  until  they  were  oarried  captive  into  Baby- 

a 


CHAP.  XI. 


IJiey  propose  to  build 

A.  M.  cir.  1757.  us  make  brick,  and  e  burn  them 
±3.  C.  cir.  224/. 

-  throughly.  And  they  had  brick 

for  stone,  and  slime  had  they  for  mortar. 

4  And  they  said,  Go  to,  let  us  build  us  a  city, 

e  Heb.  burn  them  to  a  burning. 


Ion,  where  the  holy  tongue  ceased  from  being  com¬ 
monly  used,  and  the  mixed  Hebrew  (or  Chaldee)  came 
in  its  place.” 

It  cannot  be  reasonably  imagined  that  the  Jews  lost 
the  Hebrew  tongue  entirely  in  the  seventy  years  of 
their  captivity  in  Babylon ;  yet,  as  they  were  mixed 
with  the  Chaldeans,  their  children  would  of  course 
learn  that  dialect,  and  to  them  the  pure  Hebrew  would 
be  unintelligible ;  and  this  probably  gave  rise  to  the 
necessity  of  explaining  the  Hebreiu  Scriptures  in  the 
Chaldee  tongue,  that  the  children  might  understand  as 
well  as  their  fathers.  As  we  may  safely  presume  the 
parents  could  not  have  forgotten  the  Hebrew,  so  we 
may  conclude  the  children  in  general  could  not  have 
learned  it,  as  they  did  not  live  in  an  insulated  state,  but 
were  mixed  with  the  Babylonians.  This  conjecture 
removes  the  difficulty  with  which  many  have  been 
embarrassed  ;  one  party  supposing  that  the  knowledge 
of  the  Hebrew  language  wras  lost  during  the  Babylonish 
captivity,  and  hence  the  necessity  of  the  Chaldee  Tar- 
gums  to  explain  the  Scriptures  ;  another  party  insist¬ 
ing  that  this  was  impossible  in  so  short  a  period  as 
seventy  years.  • 

Verse  2.  As  they  journeyed  from  the  east]  Assyria, 
Mesopotamia,  and  the  country  on  the  borders  and  be¬ 
yond  the  Euphrates,  are  called  the  east  in  the  sacred 
writings.  Balaam  said  that  the  king  of  Moab  had 
brought  him  from  the  mountains  of  the  east ,  Num. 
xxiii.  7.  Now  it  appears,  from  chap.  xxii.  5,  that  Ba¬ 
laam  dwelt  at  Pethor,  on  the  river  Euphrates.  And  it 
is  very  probable  that  it  was  from  this  country  that  the 
wise  men  came  to  adore  Christ ;  for  it  is  said  they 
came  from  the  east  to  Jerusalem,  Matt.  ii.  1.  Abraham 
is  said  to  have  come  from  the  east  to  Canaan,  Isa.  xli. 
2  ;  but  it  is  well  known  that  he  came  from  Mesopotamia 
and  Chaldea.  Isaiah,  xlvi.  11,  represents  Cyrus  as 
coming  from  the  east  against  Babylon.  And  the  same 
prophet  represents  the  Syrians  as  dwelling  eastward 
of  Jerusalem,  chap.  ix.  12  :  The  Syrians  before ,  DIpD 
mikkedem,  from  the  east ,  the  same  word  which  Moses 
uses  here.  Daniel  ix.  44,  represents  Antiochus  as 
troubled  at  news  received  from  the  east;  i.  e.  of  a  re¬ 
volt  in  the  eastern  provinces,  beyond  the  Euphrates. 

Noah  and  his  family,  landing  after  the  flood  on  one 
of  the  mountains  of  Armenia,  would  doubtless  descend 
and  cultivate  the  valleys  :  as  they  increased,  they  ap¬ 
pear  to  have  passed  along  the  banks  of  the  Euphrates, 
till,  at  the  time  specified  here,  they  came  to  the  plains 
of  Shinar,  allowed  to  be  the  most  fertile  country  in  the 
east.  See  Calmet.  That  Babel  was  built  in  the  land 
of  Shinar  we  have  the  authority  of  the  sacred  text  to 
prove  ;  and  that  Babylon  was  built  in  the  same  country 
we  have  the  testimony  of  Eusebius,  Prsep.  Evang.  lib. 
ix.,  c.  15  ;  and  Josephus,  Antiq.,  lib.  i.,  c.  5. 

Verse  3.  Let  us  make  brick]  It  appears  they  were 
ob^jged  to  make  use  of  bricky  as  there  was  an  utter 

a 


a  city  and  a  lower. 

and  a  tower  f  whose  top  may  ^  Jf-  ffff 

reach  unto  heaven ;  and  let  us  - 

make  us  a  name,  lest  we  be  scattered  abroad 
upon  the  face  of  the  whole  earth. 

fDeut.  i.  28. 


scarcity  of  stones  in  that  district ;  and  on  the  same  ac¬ 
count  they  were  obliged  to  use  slime ,  that  is,  bitumen, 
( Vulg .)  actyaTirog,  ( Septuagint ,)  for  mortar:  so  it  ap¬ 
pears  they  had  neither  common  stone  nor  lime-stone ; 
hence  they  had  brick  for  stone,  and  asphaltus  or  bitu¬ 
men  instead  of  mortar. 

Verse  4.  Let  us  build  us  a  city  and  a  tower]  On 
this  subject  there  have  been  various  conjectures.  Mr. 
Hutchinson  supposed  that  the  design  of  the  builders 
wras  to  erect  a  temple  to  the  host  of  heaven — the  sun, 
moon,  planets,  &c.  ;  and,  to  support  this  interpretation, 
he  says  D’DiJO  1KWVI  verosho  bashshamayim  should  be 
translated,  not,  whose  top  may  reach  unto  heaven ,  for 
there  is  nothing  for  may  reach  in  the  Hebrew,  but  its 
head  or  summit  to  the  heavens ,  i.  e.  to  the  heavenly 
bodies  :  and,  to  make  this  interpretation  the  more  pro¬ 
bable,  he  says  that  previously  to  this  time  the  descend¬ 
ants  of  Noah  were  all  agreed  in  one  form  of  religious 
worship ,  (for  so  he  understands  Jinx  vesaphah 

achath ,  and  of  one  lip,)  i.  e.  according  to  him,  they  had 
one  litany ;  and  as  God  confounded  their  litany,  they 
began  to  disagree  in  their  religious  opinions,  and 
branched  out  into  sects  and  parties,  each  associating 
with  those  of  his  own  sentiment ;  and  thus  their  tower 
or  temple  was  left  unfinished. 

It  is  probable  that  their  being  of  one  language  and 
of  one  speech  implies,  not  only  a  sameness  of  language, 
but  also  a  unity  of  sentiment  and  design,  as  seems 
pretty  clearly  intimated  in  ver.  6.  Being  therefore 
strictly  united  in  all  things,  coming  to  the  fertile  plains 
of  Shinar  they  proposed  to  settle  themselves  there, 
instead  of  spreading  themselves  over  all  the  countries 
of  the  earth,  according  to  the  design  of  God  ;  and  in 
reference  to  this  purpose  they  encouraged  one  another 
to  build  a  city  and  a  tower,  probably  a  temple,  to  pre¬ 
vent  their  separation,  “  lest,”  say  they,  “  we  be  scat¬ 
tered  abroad  upon  the  face  of  the  whole  earth  but 
God,  miraculously  interposing,  confounded  or  frustrated 
their  rebellious  design,  which  was  inconsistent  with 
his  will ;  see  Deut.  xxxii.  8  ;  Acts  xvii.  26 ;  and,  partly 
by  confounding  their  language,  and  disturbing  their 
counsels,  they  could  no  longer  keep  in  a  united  state  ; 
so  that  agreeing  in  nothing  but  the  necessity  of  sepa¬ 
rating,  they  went  off  in  different  directions,  and  thus 
became  scattered  abroad  upon  the  face  of  the  earth. 
The  Targums,  both  of  Jonathan  ben  TJzziel  and  of  Je¬ 
rusalem,  assert  that  the  tower  was  for  idolatrous  wor¬ 
ship  ;  and  that  they  intended  to  place  an  image  on  the 
top  of  the  tower  with  a  sword  in  its  hand,  probably  to 
act  as  a  talisman  against  their  enemies.  Whatever 
their  design  might  have  been,  it  is  certain  that  this 
temple  or  tower  was  afterwards  devoted  to  idolatrous 
purposes.  Nebuchadnezzar  repaired  and  beautified 
this  tower,  and  it  was  dedicated  to  Bel,  or  the  stm. 

An  account  of  this  tower,  and  of  the  confusion  of 
tongues,  is  given  by  several  ancient  authors.  Herodo- 

87 


The  Lord  comes  down  to  see 


GENESIS. 


the  tower  which  was  built. 


A.  M.  cir.  1757.  5  g  And  the  Lord  came  down 

B.  C.  cir.  2247.  . 

- to  see  the  city  and  the  tower, 

which  the  children  of  men  builded. 

6  And  the  Lord  said,  Behold,  h  the  people 

g  Chap,  xviii.  21. - b  Chap.  ix.  19 ;  Acts  xvii.  26. 


tus  saw  the  tower  and  described  it.  A  sybil,  whose 
oracle  is  yet  extant,  spoke  both  of  it  and  of  the  confu¬ 
sion  of  tongues  ;  so  did  Eupolemus  and  Abydenus. 
See  Bochart  Geogr.  Sacr.,  lib.  i.,  c.  13,  edit.  1692. 
On  this  point  Bochart  observes  that  these  things  are 
taken  from  the  Chaldeans,  who  preserve  many  remains 
of  ancient  facts ;  and  though  they  often  add  circum¬ 
stances,  yet  they  are,  in  general,  in  some  sort  depend¬ 
ent  on  the  text.  1 .  They  say  Babel  was  built  by  the 
giants,  because  Nimrod,  one  of  the  builders,  is  called 
in  the  Hebrew  text  Tim  gibbor,  a  mighty  man ;  or,  as 
the  Septuagint,  yiyaq,  a  giant.  2.  These  giants,  they 
say,  sprang  from  the  earth,  because,  in  Gen.  x.  11,  it 
is  said,  He  went,  &nnn  min  haarets  hahiv,  out 

of  that  earth ;  but  this  is  rather  spoken  of  Asshur , 
who  was  another  of  the  Babel  builders.  3.  These 
giants  are  said  to  have  waged  war  with  the  gods,  be¬ 
cause  it  is  said  of  Nimrod,  Gen.  x.  9,  He  was  a  mighty 
hunter  before  the  Lord;  or,  as  others  have*  rendered 
it,  a. warrior  and  a  rebel  against  the  Lord.  See  Jar- 
chi  in  loco.  4.  These  giants  are  said  to  have  raised 
a  tower  up  to  heaven,  as  if  they  had  intended  to  have 
ascended  thither.  This  appears  to  have  been  founded 
on  “  whose  top  may  reach  to  heaven ,”  which  has  been 
already  explained.  5.  It  is  said  that  the  gods  sent 
strong  winds  against  them,  which  dispersed  both  them 
and  their  work.  This  appears  to  have  been  taken 
from  the  Chaldean  history,  in  which  it  is  said  their 
dispersion  was  made  to  the  four  ivinds  of  heaven,  yyyXA 
X'DBt  T!l“l  bearba  ruchey  shemaiya,  i.  e.  to  the  four 
quarters  of  the  world.  6.  And  because  the  verb  "p3 
phuts,  or  V2J  naphats,  used  by  Moses,  signifies,  not 
only  to  scatter ,  but  also  to  break  to  pieces ;  whence 
thunder,  Isa.  xxx.  30,  is  called  pDJ  nephets,  a  break¬ 
ing  to  pieces  ;  hence  they  supposed  the  whole  work 
was  broken  to  pieces  and  overturned.  It  was  probably 
from  this  disguised  representation  of  the  Hebrew  text 
that  the  Greek  and  Roman  poets  took  their  fable  of  the 
giants-  waging  war  with  the  gods,  and  piling  mountain 
upon  mountain  in  order  to  scale  heaven.  See  Bochart 
as  above. 

Yerse  5.  And  the  Lord  came  down ]  A  lesson, 
says  an  ancient  Jewish  commentator,  to  magistrates  to 
examine  every  evidence  before  they  decree  judgment 
and  execute  justice. 

Yerse  6.  The  people  is  one,  c j-c.]  From  this,  as  be¬ 
fore  observed,  we  may  infer,  that  as  the  people  had 
the  same  language,  so  they  had  a  unity  of  design  and 
sentiment.  It  is  very  likely  that  the  original  language 
was  composed  of  monosyllables,  that  each  had  a  dis¬ 
tinct  ideal  meaning,  and  only  one  meaning  ;  as  different 
acceptations  of  the  same  word  would  undoubtedly  arise, 
either  from  compounding  terms,  or,  when  there  were 
but  few  words  in  a  language,  using  them  by  a  different 
mode  of  pronunciation  to  express  a  variety  of  things. 
Where  this  simple  monosyllabic  language  prevailed 

88 


is  one,  and  they  have  all  1  one  ^ 

language  ;  and  this  they  begin  to  - 

do  :  and  now  nothing  will  be  restrained  from 
them,  which  they  have  k  imagined  to  do. 

1  Ver.  1. - kPsa.  ii.  1. 


(and  it  must  have  prevailed  in  the  first  ages  of  the 
world)  men  would  necessarily  have  simple  ideas,  and 
a  corresponding  simplicity  of  manners.  The  Chinese 
language  is  exactly  such  as  this ;  and  the  Hebrew,  if 
stripped  of  its  vowel  points,  and  its  prefixes,  suffixes, 
and  postfixes  separated  from  their  combinations,  so  that 
they  might  stand  by  themselves,  it  would  nearly  an¬ 
swer  to  this  character  even  in  its  present  state.  In 
order  therefore  to  remove  this  unity  of  sentiment  and 
design,  which  I  suppose  to  be  the  necessary  conse¬ 
quence  of  such  a  language,  God  confounded  their  lan¬ 
guage — caused  them  to  articulate  the  same  word  dif¬ 
ferently,  to  affix  different  ideas  to  the  same  term,  and 
perhaps,  by  transposing  syllables  and  interchanging  let¬ 
ters,  form  new  terms  and  compounds,  so  that  the  mind 
of  the  speaker  was  apprehended  by  tne  hearer  in  a 
contrary  sense  to  what  was  intended.  This  idea  is 
not  ill  expressed  by  an  ancient  French  poet,  Du  Bar- 
tas ;  and  not  badly,  though  rather  quaintly ,  meta¬ 
phrased  by  our  countryman,  Mr.  Sylvester. 

Some  speak  between  the  teeth,  some  in  the  nose* 
Some  in  the  throat  their  words  do  ill  dispose  — 

“  Bring  me,”  quoth  one,  “  a  trowel ,  quickly,  quick  !’* 
One  brings  him  up  a  hammer.  “  Hew  this  brick  f 
Another  bids ;  and  then  they  cleave  a  tree  ; 

“  Make  fast  this  ropefl  and  then  they  let  it  flee 
One  calls  for  planks,  another  mortar  lacks  ; 

They  bear  the  first  a  stone,  the  last  an  axe. 

One  would  have  spikes,  and  him  a  spade  they  give*, 
Another  asks  a  saw,  and  gets  a  sieve. 

Thus  crossly  crost,  they  prate  and  point  in  vain ; 
What  one  hath  made  another  mars  again. 


These  masons  then,  seeing  the  storm  arrived 
Of  God’s  just  wrath,  all  weak  and  heart-deprived. 
Forsake  their  purpose,  and,  like  frantic  fools, 
Scatter  their  stuff  and  tumble  down  their  tools. 

I)u  Bartas. — Babylon. 

I  shall  not  examine  how  the  different  languages  of 
the  earth  were  formed.  It  certainly  was  not  the  work 
of  a  moment ;  different  climates  must  have  a  con¬ 
siderable  share  in  the  formation  of  tongues,  by  their 
influence  on  the  organs  of  speech.  The  invention  of 
new  arts  and  trades  must  give  birth  to  a  variety  of 
terms  and  expressions.  Merchandise,  commerce,  and 
the  cultivation  of  the  sciences,  would  produce  their 
share ;  and  different  forms  of  government,  modes  of 
life,  and  means  of  instruction,  also  contribute  their 
quota.  The  Arabic,  Chaldee,  Syriac,  and  JEthiopie, 
still  bear  the  most  striking  resemblance  to  their  parent, 
the  Hebrew.  Many  others  might  be  reduced  to  a 
common  source,  yet  everywhere  there  is  sufficient 
evidence  of  this  confusion.  The  anomalies  even  m 
the  most  regular  languages  sufficiently  prove  tipi 

& 


CHAP.  XI. 


God  confounds  their  language. 


Of  the  postdiluvian  patriarchs 


A.  M.  cir.  1757.  7  Q0  to,  1 * *  let  us  go  dowo,  and 

B.  C.  cir.  2247.  ° 

-  there  confound  their  language, 

that  they  may  m  not  understand  one  another’s 
speech. 

8  So  n  the  Lord  scattered  them  abroad  from 
thence  0  upon  the  face  of  all  the  earth :  and 
they  left  off  to  build  the  city. 

9  Therefore  is  the  name  of  it  called  p  Babel ; 
*  because  the  Lord  did  there  confound  the 
anguage  of  all  the  earth :  and  from  thence 

did  the  Lord  scatter  them  abroad  upon  the 
face  of  all  the  earth. 

A.  M.  1658.  10  r  These  are  the  generations 

— — - -  of  Shem :  Shem  was  a  hundred 

years  old,  and  begat  Arphaxad  two  years  after 
the  flood : 


1 1  And  Shem  lived  after  he  be¬ 
gat  Arphaxad  five  hundred  years,  • 
and  begat  sons  and  daughters. 

12  And  Arphaxad  lived  five  and 
thirty  years,  s  and  begat  Salah : 

13  And  Arphaxad  lived  after  he 
begat  Salah  four  hundred  and  three 
years,  and  begat  sons  and  daughters. 

14  And  Salah  lived  thirty  years, 
and  begat  Eber  : 


A.  M.  2158. 

B.  C. 1846. 


A.  M.  1693. 

B.  C.  2311. 


A.  M. 2096 

B.  C. 1908. 


A.  M.  1723. 

B.  C.  2281. 


15  And  Salah  lived  after  he  be-  A.  M.  2126. 
gat  Eber  four  hundred  and  three  I-8,' 
years,  and  begat  sons  and  daughters. 

1 6  t  And  Eber  lived  four  and  A.  M.  1757. 

thirty  years,  and  begat  11  Peleg  :  — 1 — 1 - b 

17  And  Eber  lived  after  he  begat  Peleg  four 


1  Chap.  i.  26 ;  Psa.  ii.  4 ;  Acts  ii.  4,  5,  6. - m  Chap.  xlii.  23  ; 

Deut.  xxviii.  49;  Jer.  v.  15  ;  1  Cor.  xiv.  2,  11. - “Luke  i.  51. 

°Chap.  x.  25,  32. 


P  That  is,  confusion. - <1  Wisd.  x.  5 ;  1  Cor.  xiv.  23. - rChap- 

x.  22  ;  1  Chron.  i.  17. - s  See  Luke  iii.  36. - 4 1  Chron.  i.  19. 

“  Called,  Luke  iii.  35,  Phalec. 


Every  language  is  confounded  less  or  more  but  that 
of  eternal  truth.  This  is  ever  the  same  ;  in  all  coun¬ 
tries,  climates,  and  ages,  the  language  of  truth,  like 
that  God  from  whom  it  sprang,  is  unchangeable.  It 
speaks  in  all  tongues,  to  all  nations,  and  in  all  hearts  ; 
u  There  is  one  God,  the  fountain  of  goodness,  justice, 
and  truth.  Man,  thou  art  his  creature,  ignorant,  weak, 
and  dependent ;  but  he  is  all-sufficient — hates  nothing 
that  he  has  made — loves  thee — is  able  and  willing  to 
save  thee ;  return  to  and  depend  on  him,  take  his 
revealed  will  for  thy  law,  submit  to  his  authority, 
and  accept  eternal  life  on  the  terms  proposed  in  his 
word,  and  thou  shalt  never  perish  nor  be  wretched.” 
This  language  of  truth  all  the  ancient  and  modern 
Babel  builders  have  not  been  able  to  confound,  not¬ 
withstanding  their  repeated  attempts.  How  have  men 
toiled  to  make  this  language  clothe  their  own  ideas  ; 
and  thus  cause  God  to  speak  according  to  the  pride, 
prejudice,  and  worst  passions  of  men  !  But  through 
a  just  judgment  of  God,  the  language  of  all  those  who 
have  attempted  to  do  this  has  been,  confounded,  and 
the  word  of  the  Lord  abideth  for  ever. 

Verse  7.  Go  to ]  A  form  of  speech  which,  whatever 
it  might  have  signified  formerly,  now  means  nothing. 
The  Hebrew  71371  hahah  signifies  come,  make  pre¬ 
paration,  as  it  were  for  a  journey,  the  execution  of  a 
purpose,  &c.  Almost  all  the  versions  understand  the 
word  in  this  way  ;  the  Septuagint  have  devre,  the  Vul¬ 
gate  venite,  both  signifying  come,  or  come  ye.  This 
makes  a  very  good  sense,  Come,  let  us  go  down,  dfC. 
For  the  meaning  of  these  latter  words  see  chap.  i.  26, 
and  xviii.  21. 

Verse  9.  Therefore  is  the  name  of  it  called  Babel\ 
S3 3  babel,  from  ^3  bal,  to  mingle,  confound,  destroy ; 
hence  Babel,  from  the  mingling  together  and  confound¬ 
ing  of  the  projects  and  language  of  these  descendants 
of  Noah  ;  and  this  confounding  did  not  so  much  imply 
the  producing  new  languages,  as  giving  them  a  different 
method  of  pronouncing  the  same  words,  and  leading 
them  to  affix  different  ideas  to  them. 

a 


Besides  Mr.  Hutchinson’s  opinion,  (see  on  ver.  4,) 
there  have  been  various  conjectures  concerning  the 
purpose  for  which  this  tower  was  built.  Some  sup¬ 
pose  it  was  intended  to  prevent  the  effects  of  another 
flood,  by  affording  an  asylum  to  the  builders  and  their 
families  in  case  of  another  general  deluge.  Others 
think  that  it  was  designed  to  be  a  grand  city,  the  seat 
of  government,  in  order  to  prevent  a  general  dispersion. 
This  God  would  not  permit,  as  he  had  purposed  that 
men  should  be  dispersed  over  the  earth,  and  there¬ 
fore  caused  the  means  which  they  were  using  to  pre¬ 
vent  it  to  become  the  grand  instrument  of  its  accom¬ 
plishment.  Humanly  speaking,  the  earth  could  not 
have  been  so  speedily  peopled,  had  it  not  been  for  this 
very  circumstance  which  the  counsel  of  man  had 
devised  to  prevent  it.  Some  say  that  these  builders 
were  divided  into  seventy -two  nations,  with  seventy- 
two  different  languages  ;  but  this  is  an  idle,  unfounded 
tale. 

Verse  10.  These  are  the  generations  of  Shem]  This 
may  be  called  the  holy  family,  as  from  it  sprang  Abra¬ 
ham,  Isaac,  Jacob,  the  twelve  patriarchs,  David,  Solo¬ 
mon,  and  all  the  great  progenitors  of  the  Messiah. 

We  have  already  seen  that  the  Scripture  chrono¬ 
logy,  as  it  exists  in  the  Hebrew  text,  the  Samaritan, 
the  Septuagint,  Josephus,  and  some  of  the  fathers,  is 
greatly  embarrassed ;  and  it  is  yet  much  more  so  in 
the  various  systems  of  learned  and  unlearned  chrono- 
logists.  For  a  full  and  rational  view  of  this  subject, 
into  which  the  nature  of  these  notes  forbids  me  farther 
to  enter,  I  must  refer  my  reader  to  Dr.  Hales’s  labo¬ 
rious  work,  a  A  New  Analysis  of  Sacred  Chronology,” 
vol.  ii.,  part  1,  &c.,  in  which  he  enters  into  the  sub¬ 
ject  with  a  cautious  but  firm  step ;  and,  if  he  has  not 
been  able  to  remove  all  its  difficulties,  has  thrown  very 
considerable  light  upon  most  parts  of  it. 

Verse  12.  And  Arphaxad  lived ]  The  Septuagint 
bring  in  here  a  second  Cainan,  with  an  addition  of  one 
hundred  and  thirty  years.  St.  Luke  follows  the  Sep¬ 
tuagint,  and  brings  in  the  same  person  in  the  same  way. 

89 


Of  the  postdiluvian  patriarchs. 


GENESIS.  Terah  and  his  family  leave  Ur. 


A. 

M. 

2187. 

B. 

C. 

1817. 

A. 

M. 

1787. 

B. 

C. 

2217. 

A. 

M. 

1996. 

B. 

C. 

2008. 

years 

>,  and 

A. 

M. 

1819. 

B. 

C. 

2185. 

A. 

M. 

2026. 

B. 

C. 

1978. 

and  begat 

A. 

M. 

1849. 

B. 

C. 

2155. 

A. 

M. 

2049. 

B. 

C. 

1955. 

be 

gat  sons 

A. 

M. 

1878. 

B. 

c. 

2126. 

A. 

M. 

1997. 

B. 

c. 

2007. 

sons  and  daughters. 

18  And  Peleg  lived  thirty  years, 
and  begat  Reu : 

19  And  Peleg  lived  after  he  be¬ 
gat  Reu  two  hundred  and  nine 
begat  sons  and  daughters. 

20  And  Reu  lived  two  and  thirty 
years,  and  begat  v  Serug  : 

21  And  Reu  lived  after  he  begat 
Serug  two  hundred  and  seven  years, 
sons  and  daughters. 

22  And  Serug  lived  thnty  years, 
and  begat  Nahor : 

23  And  Serug  lived  after  he  be¬ 
gat  Nahor  two  hundred  years,  and 

and  daughters. 

24  And  Nahor  lived  nine  and 
twenty  years,  and  begat  w  Terah  : 

25  And  Nahor  lived  after  he  be¬ 
gat  Terah  a  hundred  and  nineteen 

years,  and  begat  sons  and  daughters. 

26  And  Terah  lived  seventy  years, 


and  *  begat  Abram,  IN  ahor,  and  a.  m.  1948. 
TT  6  ’  B.  C.  2056. 

Haran.  - - 

27  Now  these  are  the  generations  A.  M.  2008. 

of  Terah  :  Terah  begat  Abram,  — - - 

Nahor,  and  Haran  ;  and  Haran  begat  Lot. 

28  And  Haran  died  before  his  father  Terah  in 
the  land  of  his  nativity,  in  Ur  of  the  Chaldees. 

29  And  Abram  and  Nahor  took  them  wives  : 
the  name  of  Abram’s  wife  ivas  y  Sarai :  and 
the  name  of  Nahor’s  z  wife,  Milcah,  the 
daughter  of  Haran,  the  father  of  Milcah,  and 
the  father  of  Iscah. 

30  But  a  Sarai  was  barren  ;  she  had  no  child. 

31  And  Terah  b  took  Abram  A.  M.  cir.  2078. 

.  .  ,  T  c  B.  C.  cir.  1926. 

his  son,  and  Lot  the  son  01  - - - 

Haran  his  son’s  son,  and  Sarai  his  daughter- 

in-law,  his  son  Abram’s  wife  ;  and  they  went 

forth  with  them  from  c  Ur  of  the  Chaldees, 

to  go  into  d  the  land  of  Canaan ;  and  they 

came  unto  Haran,  and  dwelt  there.  * 

32  And  the  days  of  Terah  A.  M.  2083. 
were  two  hundred  and  five  years:  — — k — 1. 
and  Terah  died  in  Haran. 


vLuke  iii.  35,  Saruch. - wLuke  iii.  34,  Thara. -* ix.  x  Josh. 

xxiv.  2  ;  1  Chron.  i.  26. - y  Chap.  xvii.  15 ;  xx.  12. — — z  Chap. 

xxii.  20. 


But  the  Hebrew  text,  both  here  and  in  1  Chron.  i., 
is  perfectly  silent  on  this  subject,  and  the  best  chro- 
nologists  have  agreed  in  rejecting  this  as  a  spurious 
generation. 

Yerse  26.  And  Terah  lived  seventy  years ,  and  be¬ 
gat  Abram ,  Nahor ,  and  Haran.\  Haran  was  certainly 
the  eldest  son  of  Terah,  and  he  appears  to  have  been 
born  when  Terah  was  about  seventy  years  of  age,  and 
his  birth  was  followed  in  successive  periods  with  those 
of  Nahor  his  second,  and  Abram  his  youngest  son. 
Many  have  been  greatly  puzzled  with  the  account 
here,  supposing  because  Abram  is  mentioned  first , 
that  therefore  he  was  the  eldest  son  of  Terah  :  but  he 
is  only  put  first  by  way  of  dignity.  An  instance  of 
this  we  have  already  seen,  chap.  v.  32,  where  Noah 
is  represented  as  having  Shem ,  Ham ,  and  Japheth  in 
this  order  of  succession ;  whereas  it  is  evident  from 
other  scriptures  that  Shem  was  the  youngest  son,  who 
for  dignity  is  named  first ,  as  Abram  is  here ;  and  Ja¬ 
pheth  the  eldest ,  named  last,  as  Haran  is  here.  Terah 
died  two  hundred  and  five  years  old,  ver.  32  ;  then 
Abram  departed  from  Haran  when  seventy-five  years 
old,  chap.  xii.  4  ;  therefore  Abram  was  born,  not  when 
his  father  Terah  was  seventy,  but  when  he  was  one 
hundred  and  thirty. 

When  any  case  of  dignify  or  pre-eminence  is  to 
be  marked,  then  even  the  youngest  son  is  set  before 
all  the  rest,  though  contrary  to  the  usage  of  the 
Scriptures  in  other  cases.  Hence  we  find  Shem,  the 
youngest  son  of  Noah,  always  mentioned  first ;  Moses 
is  mentioned  before  his  elder  brother  Aaron ;  and 

90 


aChap.  xvi.  1,  2;  xviii.  11,  12. - b  Chap.  xii.  I. - cNeh. 

ix.  7 ;  Judith  v.  7 ;  Acts  vii.  4 ;  Heb.  xi.  8. - d  Chap.  x.  19; 

xxiv.  10  ;  xxix.  4. 


Abram  before  his  two  elder  brethren  Haran  and  Na¬ 
hor.  These  observations  are  sufficient  to  remove  all 
difficulty  from  this  place. 

Yerse  29.  Milcah,  the  daughter  of  Haran]  Many 
suppose  Sarai  and  Iscah  are  the  same  person  under 
two  different  names ;  but  this  is  improbable,  as  Iscah 
is  expressly  said  to  be  the  daughter  of  Haran,  and 
Sarai  was  the  daughter  of  Terah,  and  half  sister  of 
Abram. 

Y erse  3 1 .  They  went  forth — from  Ur  of  the  Chal¬ 
dees]  Chaldea  is  sometimes  understood  as  comprising 
the  whole  of  Babylonia ;  at  other  times,  that  province 
towards  Arabia  Deserta,  called  in  Scripture  The  land 
of  the  Chaldeans.  The  capital  of  this  place  was 
Babylon ,  called  in  Scripture  The  beauty  of  the  Chal¬ 
dees'  excellency ,  Isa.  xiii.  19. 

Ur  appears  to  have  been  a  city  of  some  consider¬ 
able  consequence  at  that  time  in  Chaldea  ;  but  vihere 
situated  is  not  well  known.  It  probably  had  its  name 
Ur  “YIN,  which  signifies  fire,  from  the  worship  practised 
there.  The  learned  are  almost  unanimously  of  opinion 
that  the  ancient  inhabitants  of  this  region  were  ignico- 
lists  or  worshippers  of  fire,  and  in  that  place  this  sort 
of  worship  probably  originated ;  and  in  honour  of  this 
element,  the  symbol  of  the  Supreme  Being,  the  whole 
country,  or  a  particular  city  in  it,  might  have  had  the 
name  Ur.  Bochart  has  observed  that  there  is  a  place 
called  Ouri,  south  of  the  Euphrates,  in  the  way  from 
Nisibis  to  the  river  Tigris.  The  Chaldees  mentioned 
here  had  not  this  name  in  the  time  of  which  Moses 
speaks,  but  they  were  called  so  in  the  time  in  which 

a 


Abram  is  called 


CHAP.  XII. 


to  leave  Haran. 


Moses  wrote.  Chesed  was  the  son  of  Nahor,  the  son 
of  Terah,  chap.  xxii.  22.  From  Chesed  descended 
the  C  has  dim,  whose  language  was  the  same  as  that  of 
the  Amontes,  Dan.  i.  4  ;  ii.  4.  These  Chasdim , 
whence  the  Xakdaiot,  Chaldeans ,  of  the  Septuagint , 
Vulgate ,  and  all  later  versions,  afterwards  settled  on 
the  south  of  the  Euphrates.  Those  who  dwelt  in  Ur 
were  either  priests  or  astronomers,  Dan.  ii.  10,  and 
also  idolaters,  Josh.  xxiv.  2,3,  14,  15.  And  because 
they  were  much  addicted  to  astronomy,  and  probably 
to  judicial  astrology,  hence  all  astrologers  were,  in  pro¬ 
cess  of  time,  called  Chaldeans ,  Dan.  ii.  2—5. 

The  building  of  Babel,  the  confusion  of  tongues, 
and  the  first  call  of  Abram,  are  three  remarkable  par¬ 
ticulars  in  this  chapter ;  and  these  led  to  the  accom¬ 
plishment  of  three  grand  and  important  designs :  1 . 
The  peopling  of  the  whole  earth  ;  2.  The  preservation 
of  the  true  religion  by  the  means  of  one  family  ;  and 
3.  The  preservation  of  the  line  uncorrupted  by  which 
the  Messiah  should  come.  When  God  makes  a  dis¬ 
covery  of  himself  by  a  particular  revelation,  it  must 
begin  in  some  particular  time,  and  be  given  to  some 
particular  person ,  and  in  some  particular  place.  Where, 


when ,  and  to  whom,  are  comparatively  matters  of  small 
importance.  It  is  God’s  gift ;  and  his  own  wisdom 
must  determine  the  time,  the  person,  and  the  place. 
But  if  this  be  the  case,  have  not  others  cause  to  com¬ 
plain  because  not  thus  favoured  1  Not  at  all,  unless 
the  favouring  of  the  one  for  a  time  should  necessarily 
cut  off  the  others  for  ever.  But  this  is  not  the  case. 
Abram  was  first  favoured  ;  that  time,  that  country,  and 
that  person  were  chosen  by  infinite  wisdom,  for  there 
and  then  God  chose  to  commence  these  mighty  opera¬ 
tions  of  Divine  goodness.  Isaac  and  Jacob  also  re¬ 
ceived  the  promises,  the  twelve  patriarchs  through  their 
father,  and  the  whole  Jewish  people  through  them. 
Afterwards  the  designs  of  God’s  endless  mercy  were 
more  particularly  unfolded ;  and  the  word,  which  seemed 
to  be  confined  for  two  thousand  years  to  the  descend¬ 
ants  of  a  single  family,  bursts  forth  on  all  hands,  sal¬ 
vation  is  preached  to  the  Gentiles,  and  thus  in  Abram’s 
seed  all  the  nations  of  the  earth  are  blessed.  Hence 
none  can  find  fault,  and  none  can  have  cause  to  com¬ 
plain  ;  as  the  salvation  which  for  a  time  appeared  to 
be  restricted  to  a  few,  is  now  on  the  authority  of  God, 
liberally  offered  to  the  whole  human  race  ! 


CHAPTER  XII. 


God  calls  Abram  to  leave  Haran  and  go  into  Canaan,  1  ;  promises  to  bless  him,  and  through  him  all  the 
families  of  the  earth,  2,  3.  Abram,  Sarai,  Lot,  and  all  their  household,  depart  for  Canaan,  4,  5  ;  pass 
through  Sichem,  6.  God  appears  to  him,  and  renews  the  promise,  7.  His  journey  described,  8,  9.  On 
account  of  a  famine  in  the  land  he  is  obliged  to  go  into  Egypt,  10.  Fearing  lest ,  on  account  of  the  beauty  of 
his  wife,  the  Egyptians  should  kill  him,  he  desires  her  not  to  acknowledge  that  she  is  his  wife,  but  only  his 
sister,  11—13.  Sarai,  because  of  her  beauty,  is  taken  into  the  palace  of  Pharaoh ,  king  of  Egypt ,  who  is 
very  liberal  to  Abram  on  her  account,  14—16.  God  afflicts  Pharaoh  and  his  household  with  grievous  plagues 
on  account  of  Sarai,  17.  Pharaoh,  on  finding  that  Sarai  was  Abram's  wife,  restores  her  honourably,  and 
dismisses  the  patriarch  with  his  family  and  their  property ,  18—20. 


B.O.'S  Now  the  a  Lord  had  said  unto 

* -  Abram,  Get  thee  out  of  thy 

country,  and  from  thy  kindred,  and  from  thy 


father’s  house,  unto  a  land  that  I  will 

show  thee  :  - 

2  b  And  I  will  make  of  thee  a  great  nation, 


a  Chap.  xv.  7 ;  Neh.  ix.  7  ;  Isa.  xli.  2  ;  Acts  vii.  3 ;  Heb.  xi.  8. 


b  Chapter  xvii.  6  ;  xviii.  18  ;  Deut.  xxvi.  5  ;  1  Kings  iii.  8. 


NOTES  ON  CHAP.  XII. 

Yerse  1.  Get  thee  ou.t  of  thy  country]  There  is 
great  dissension  between  commentators  concerning  the 
call  of  Abram ;  some  supposing  he  had  two  distinct 
calls,  others  that  he  had  but  one.  At  the  conclusion 
of  the  preceding  chapter,  ver.  31,  we  find  Terah  and 
all  his  family  leaving  Ur  of  the  Chaldees,  in  order  to 
go  to  Canaan.  This  was,  no  doubt,  in  consequence  of 
some  Divine  admonition.  While  resting  at  Haran,  on 
their  road  to  Canaan,  Terah  died,  chap.  xi.  32  ;  and 
then  God  repeats  his  call  to  Abram,  and  orders  him  to 
proceed  to  Canaan,  chap.  xii.  1. 

Dr.  Hales,  in  his  Chronology,  contends  for  two  calls  : 

“  The  first,”  says  he,  “  is  omitted  in  the  Old  Testament, 
but  is  particularly  recorded  in  the  New,  Acts  vii.  2—4  : 
The  God  of  glory  appeared  to  our  father  Abraham 
while  he  was  (at  Ur  of  the  Chaldees)  in  Mesopotamia, 
before  he  dwelt  in  Charran  ;  and  said  unio  him, 
Depart  from  thy  land,  and  from  thy  kindred,  and  come  l 


into  the  land  {yyv,  a  land)  which  I  will  shoiv  thee. 
Hence  it  is  evident  that  God  had  called  Abram  before 
he  came  to  Haran  or  Charran.”  The  second  call  is 
recorded  only  in  this  chapter  :  “  The  Lord  said  (not 
had  said)  unto  Abram,  Depart  from  thy  land,  and  from 
thy  kindred,  and  from  thy  father's  house,  unto  the 
land,  'pXH  HA -arets,  (Septuagint,  THN  yyv,)  which 
I  will  show  thee.”  “  The  difference  of  the  two  calls,” 
says  Dr.  Hales,  “  more  carefully  translated  from  the 
originals,  is  obvious  :  in  the  former  the  land  is  indefi¬ 
nite,  which  was  designed  only  for  a  temporary  resi¬ 
dence  ;  in  the  latter  it  is  definite,  intimating  his  abode. 
A  third  condition  is  also  annexed  to  the  latter,  that 
Abram  shall  now  separate  himself  from  his  father's 
house,  or  leave  his  brother  Nahor’s  family  behind  at 
Charran.  This  call  Abram  obeyed,  still  not  knowing 
whither  he  rvas  going,  but  trusting  implicitly  to  the 
Divine  guidance.” 

Thy  kindred J  Nahor  and  the  different  branches 

91 


Abram  and  his  family 


GENESIS.  journey  towards  Canaan 


A.  M.  2083. 

B.  C. 1921. 


c  and  I  will  bless  thee,  and  make 
thy  name  great ;  d  and  thou  shalt 


be  a  blessing : 


3  e  And  I  will  bless  them  that  bless  thee,  and 
curse  him  that  curseth  thee  :  f  and  in  thee 
shall  all  families  of  the  earth  be  blessed. 

4  So  Abram  departed,  as  the  Lord  had 
spoken  unto  him ;  and  Lot  went  with  him  : 
and  Abram  was  seventy  and  five  years  old 
when  he  departed  out  of  Haran. 

5  And  Abram  took  Sarai  his  wife,  and  Lot. 
his  brother’s  son,  and  all  their  substance  that 


they  had  gathered,  and  g  the  souls  A.  M.  2083 

that  they  had  gotten  h  in  Haran  ;  - 

and  they  went  forth  to  go  into  the  land  of 
Canaan ;  and  into  the  land  of  Canaan  they 
came. 

6  And  Abram  1  passed  through  the  land  unto 
the  place  of  Sichem,  k  unto  the  plain  of  Moreh. 
1  And  the  Canaanite  was  then  in  the  land. 

7  m  And  the  Lord  appeared  unto  Abram,  and 
said,  n  Unto  thy  seed  will  I  give  this  land : 
and  there  budded  he  an  0  altar  unto  the  Lord, 
who  appeared  unto  him. 


c  Chap.  xxiv.  35. - d  Chap,  xxviii.  4  ;  Gal.  iii.  14. - e  Chap. 

xxvii.  29  ;  Exod.  xxiii.  22  ;  Num.  xxiv.  9. - f  Chap,  xviii.  18 ; 

xxii.  18 ;  xxvi.  4  ;  Psa.  lxxii.  17 ;  Acts  iii.  25  ;  Gal.  iii.  8. 

of  the  family  of  Terah,  Abram  and  Lot  excepted. 
That  Nahor  went  with  Terah  and  Abram  as  far  as 
Padan-Aram,  in  Mesopotamia,  and  settled  there,  so  that 
it  was  afterwards  called  Nahor1  s  city,  is  sufficiently 
evident  from  the  ensuing  history,  see  chap.  xxv.  20  ; 
xxiv.  10,  15  ;  and  that  the  same  land  was  Haran,  see 
ehap.  xxviii.  2,  10,  and  there  were  Abram’s  kindred 
and  country  here  spoken  of,  chap.  xxiv.  4. 

Thy  father's  house ]  Terah  being  now  dead,  it  is 
very  probable  that  the  family  were  determined  to  go  no 
farther,  but  to  settle  at  Charran  ;  and  as  Abram  might 
have  felt  inclined  to  stop  with  them  in  this  place,  hence 
the  ground  and  necessity  of  the  second  call  recorded 
here,  and  which  is  introduced  in  a  very  remarkable 
manner ;  “]S  ~\h  lech  lecha,  go  for  thyself.  If  none 
of  the  family  will  accompany  thee,  yet  go  for  thyself 
unto  that  land  which  I  will  show  thee.  God  does 
not  tell  him  what  land  it  is,  that  he  may  still  cause  him 
to  walk  by  faith  and  not  by  sight.  This  seems  to  be 
particularly  alluded  to  by  Isaiah,  chap.  xli.  2  :  Who 
raised  up  the  righteous  man  (Abram)  from  the  east,  and 
called  him  to  his  foot;  that  is,  to  follow  implicitly  the 
Divine  direction.  The  apostle  assures  us  that  in  all 
this  Abram  had  spiritual  views  ;  he  looked  for  a  better 
country,  and  considered  the  land  of  promise  only  as 
typical  of  the  heavenly  inheritance. 

Verse  2.  I  will  make  of  thee  a  great  nation ]  i.  e., 
The  Jewish  people  ;  and  make  thy  name  great ,  alluding 
to  the  change  of  his  name  from  Abram,  a  high  father, 
to  Abraham,  the  father  of  a  multitude. 

Verse  3.  In  thee ]  In  thy  posterity,  in  the  Messiah, 
who  shall  spring  from  thee,  shall  all  families  of  the 
earth  be  blessed ;  for  as  he  shall  take  on  him  human  na¬ 
ture  from  the  posterity  of  Abraham,  he  shall  taste  death 
for  every  man,  his  Gospel  shall  be  preached  through¬ 
out  the  world,  and  innumerable  blessings  be  derived  on 
all  mankind  through  his  death  and  intercession. 

Verse  4.  And  Abram  was  seventy  and  five  years  old ] 
As  Abram  was  now  seventy-five  years  old,  and  his 
father  Terah  had  just  died,  at  the  age  of  two  hundred 
and  five,  consequently  Terah  must  have  been  one  hun¬ 
dred  and  thirty  when  Abram  was  born  ;  and  the  seven¬ 
tieth  year  of  his  age  mentioned  Gen.  xi.  26,  was  the 
period  at  which  Haran,  not  Abrojn,  was  born.  See 
on  the  preceding  chapter. 

92 


s  Chap.  xiv.  14. - h  Chap.  xi.  31. - 1  Heb.  xi.  9.- - k  Deut. 

xi.  30  ;  Judg.  vii.  1. - !Chap.  x.  18, 19  ;  xiii.  7. - mChap.  xvii. 

1. - n  Chap.  xiii.  1-5  ;  xvii.  8  ;  Psa.  cv.  9, 11. - 0  Chap.  xiii.  4. 

Verse  5.  The  souls  that  they  had  gotten  in  Haran ] 
This  may  apply  either  to  the  persons  who  were  em¬ 
ployed  in  the  service  of  Abram,  or  to  the  persons  he 
had  been  the  instrument  of  converting  to  the  knowledge 
of  the  true  God  ;  and  in  this  latter  sense  the  Chaldee 
paraphrasts  understood  the  passage,  translating  it,  The 
souls  of  those  whom  they  proselyted  in  Haran. 

They  went  forth  to  go  into  the  land  of  Canaan]  A 
good  land,  possessed  by  a  bad  people,  who  for  their 
iniquities  were  to  be  expelled,  see  Lev.  xviii.  25.  And 
this  land  was  made  a  type  of  the  kingdom  of  God. 
Probably  the  whole  of  this  transaction  may  have  a  far¬ 
ther  meaning  than  that  which  appears  in  the  letter. 
As  Abram  left  his  own  country,  father’s  house,  and 
kindred,  took  at  the  command  of  God  a  journey  to  this 
promised  land,  nor  ceased  till  he  arrived  in  it;  so  should 
we  cast  aside  every  weight,  come  out  from  among  the 
workers  of  iniquity,  set  out  for  the  kingdom  of  God, 
nor  ever  rest  till  we  reach  the  heavenly  country.  How 
many  set  out  for  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  make  good 
progress  for  a  time  in  their  journey,  but  halt  before  the 
race  is  finished!  Not  so  Abram  ;  he  went  forth  to  go 
into  the  land  of  Canaan,  and  into  the  land  of  Canaan 
he  came.  Reader,  go  thou  and  do  likewise. 

Verse  6.  The  plain  of  Moreh.]  pStf  elon  should 
be  translated  oak,  not  plain  ;  the  Septuagint  translate 
T7jv  dpw  tt]v  vip7]?i7]v,  the  lofty  oak ;  and  it  is  likely 
the  place  was  remarkable  for  a  grove  of  those  trees, 
or  for  one  of  a  stupendous  height  and  bulk. 

The  Canaanite  was  then  in  the  land.]  This  is 
thought  to  be  an  interpolation,  because  it  is  supposed 
that  these  words  must  have  been  written  after  the  Ca- 
naanites  were  expelled  from  the  land  by  the  Israelites 
under  Joshua  ;  but  this  by  no  means  follows.  All  that 
Moses  states  is  simply  that,  at  the  time  in  which  Abram 
passed  through  Sichem,  the  land  was  inhabited  by  the 
descendants  of  Canaan,  which  was  a  perfectly  possible 
case,  and  involves  neither  a  contradiction  nor  absurdity. 
There  is  no  rule  of  criticism  by  which  these  words 
can  be  produced  as  an  evidence  of  interpolation  or 
incorrectness  in  the  statement  of  the  sacred  historian. 
See  this  mentioned  again,  chap.  xiii.  7. 

Verse  7.  The  Lord  appeared]  In  what  way  this 
appearance  was  made  we  know  not ;  it  was  probably 
by  the  great  angel  of  the  covenant,  Jesus  the  Christ. 


CHAP.  XII. 


His  instruction  to  Sarai 


Abram  goes  to  Egypt. 


A.  M.  2083.  8  And  lie  removed  from  thence 

_  unto  a  mountain  on  the  east  oi 

Beth-el,  and  pitched  his  tent,  having  Beth-el 
on  the  west,  and  Hai  on  the  east :  and  there 
he  budded  an  altar  unto  the  Lord,  and  p  called 


upon  the  name  of  the  Lord. 

9  And  Abram  journeyed,  q  going  r  on  still 
toward  the  south. 

A.  M.  cir.  2084.  1 0  And  there  was  s  a  famine 

B.  c.  cn.  1920.  ^  jan(j .  anc[  Abram  t  went 

down  into  Egypt  to  sojourn  there,  for  the 
famine  teas  u  grievous  in  the  land. 


P  Chap.  xiii.  4. - 1  Heb.  ingoing  and  journeying. - rChap. 

xiii.  3. - 5  Chap.  xxvi.  1. -*  1  Psa.  cv.  13. 


1 1  And  it  came  to  pass,  when  a.  m.  cir.  2084. 

,  '  r  .  B.  C.  cir.  1920. 

he  was  come  near  to  enter  into  - 

Egypt,  that  he  said  unto  Sarai  his  wife,  Be¬ 
hold  now,  I  know  that  thou  art  v  a  fair  wo¬ 
man  to  look  upon  : 

12  Therefore  it  shall  come  to  pass,  when  the 
Egyptians  shall  see  thee,  that  they  shall  say, 
This  is  his  wife  :  and  they  w  will  kill  me,  but 
they  will  save  thee  alive. 

13  *  Say,  I  pray  thee,  thou  art  my  sister  : 
that  it  may  be  well  with  me  for  thy  sake  ;  and 
my  soul  shall  live  because  of  thee. 

u  Chap,  xliii.  1. - v  Ver.  14  ;  chap.  xxvi.  7. - w  Chap.  xx.  11 ; 

xxvi.  7. - x  Chap.  xx.  5,  13;  see  chap.  xxvi.  7. 


The  appearance,  whatsoever  it  was,  perfectly  satisfied 
Abram,  and  proved  itself  to  be  supernatural  and  Divine. 
It  is  worthy  of  remark  that  Abram  is  the  first  man  to 
whom  God  is  said  to  have  shown  himself  or  appeared : 

1.  In  Ur  of  the  Chaldees ,  Acts  vii.  2  ;  and  2.  At  the 
oak  of  Moreh,  as  in  this  verse.  As  PITD  Moreh  sig¬ 
nifies  a  teacher ,  probably  this  was  called  the  oak  of 
Moreh  or  the  teacher ,  because  God  manifested  himself 
here,  and  instructed  Abram  concerning  the  future 
possession  of  that  land  by  his  posterity,  and  the  dis¬ 
pensation  of  the  mercy  of  God  to  all  the  families  of 
the  earth  through  the  promised  Messiah.  See  on 
chap.  xv.  7. 

Yerse  8.  Beth-.el ]  The  place  which  was  afterwards 
called  Beth-el  by  Jacob,  for  its  first  name  was  Luz. 
See  chap,  xxviii.  19.  Sr  IT’D  beith  El  literally  signifies 
the  house  of  God. 

And  pitched  his  tent — and — builded  an  altar  unto 
the  Lord ]  Where  Abram  has  a  tent ,  there  God  must 
have  an  altar,  as  he  well  knows  there  is  no  safety 
but  under  the  Divine  protection.  How  few  who  build 
houses  ever  think  on  the  propriety  and  necessity  of 
building  an  altar  to  their  Maker  !  The  house  in  which 
the  worship  of  God  is  not  established  cannot  be  con¬ 
sidered  as  under  the  Divine  protection. 

And  called  upon  the  name  of  the  Lord.]  Dr.  Shuck- 
ford  strongly  contends  that  D$D  JOp  kara  beshem  does 
not  signify  to  call  on  the  na?ne,  but  to  invoke  in  the 
name.  So  Abram  invoked  Jehovah  in  or  by  the  name 
of  Jehovah ,  who  had  appeared  to  him.  He  was  taught 
even  in  these  early  times  to  approach  God  through  a 
Mediator  ;  and  that  Mediator,  since  manifested  in  the 
flesh,  was  known  by  the  name  Jehovah.  Does  not  our 
Lord  allude  to  such  a  discovery  as  this  when  he  says, 
Abraham  rejoiced  to  see  my  day ;  and  he  saiv  it,  and 
was  glad  ?  John  viii.  56.  Hence  it  is  evident  that 
he  was  informed  that  the  Christ  should  be  born  of  his 
seed,  that  the  nations  of  the  world  should  be  blessed 
through  him ;  and  is  it  then  to  be  wondered  at  if  he 
invoked  God  in  the  name  of  this  great  Mediator  1 

Yerse  10.  There  was  a  famine  in  the  land]  Of 
Canaan.  This  is  the  first  famine  on  record,  and  it 
prevailed  in  the  most  fertile  land  then  under  the  sun  ; 
and  why  ?  God  made  it  desolate  for  the  wickedness 
of  those  who  dwelt  in  it. 


Went  down  into  Egypt]  He  felt  himself  a  stranger 
and  a  pilgrim,  and  by  his  unsettled  state  was  kept  in 
mind  of  the  city  that  hath  foundations  that  are  perma¬ 
nent  and  stable,  whose  builder  is  the  living  God.  See 
Heb.  xi.  8,  9. 

Yerse  11.  Thou  art  a  fair  woman  to  took  upon J 
Widely  differing  in  her  complexion  from  the  swarthy 
Egyptians,  and  consequently  more  likely  to  be  coveted 
by  them.  It  appears  that  Abram  supposed  they  would 
not  scruple  to  take  away  the  life  of  the  husband  in 
order  to  have  the  undisturbed  possession  of  the  wife. 
The  age  of  Sarai  at  this  time  is  not  well  agreed  on 
by  commentators,  some  making  her  ninety ,  while  others 
make  her  only  sixty-five.  From  chap.  xvii.  17,  we 
learn  that  Sarai  was  ten  years  younger  than  Abram, 
for  she  was  but  ninety  when  he  was  one  hundred. 
And  from  ver.  4  of  chap.  xii.  we  find  that  Abram  was 
seventy-five  when  he  was  called  to  leave  Haran  and 
go  to  Canaan,  at  which  time  Sarai  could  be  only  sixty- 
five  ;  and  if  the  transactions  recorded  in  the  preceding 
verses  took  place  in  the  course  of  that  year,  which  I 
think  possible,  consequently  Sarai  was  but  sixty-five  ; 
and  as  in  those  times  people  lived  much  longer,  and 
disease  seems  to  have  had  but  a  very  contracted  influ¬ 
ence,  women  and  men  would  necessarily  arrive  more 
slowly  at  a  state  of  perfection,  and  retain  their  vigour 
and  complexion  much  longer,  than  in  later  times.  We 
may  add  to  these  considerations  that  strangers  and 
foreigners  are  more  coveted  by  the  licentious  than 
those  who  are  natives.  This  has  been  amply  illustrated 
in  the  West  Indies  and  in  America,  where  the  jetty, 
monkey-faced  African  women  are  preferred  to  the 
elegant  and  beautiful  Europeans  !  To  this  subject  a 
learned  British  traveller  elegantly  applied  those  words 
of  Yirgil,  Eel.  ii.,  ver.  18  : — 

Alba  ligustra  cadunt,  vaccinia  nigra  leguntur. 

While  lilies  lie  neglected  on  the  plain, 

While  dusky  hyacinths  for  use  remain.  Dryden. 

Yerse  13.  Say,  I  pray  thee,  thou  art  my  sister] 
Abram  did  not  wish  his  wife  to  tell  a  falsehood,  but  he 
wished  her  to  suppress  a  part  of  the  truth.  From 
chap.  xx.  12,  it  is  evident  she  was  his  step-sister,  i.  e., 
his  sister  by  his  father,  but  by  a  different  mother 
Some  suppose  Sarai  was  the  daughter  of  Haran,  and 

93 


GENESIS. 


She  is  restored  to  Abram 


Sarai  taken  by  Pharaoh, 
k.  M.  cir.  2084.  14  And  it  came  to  pass,  that, 

B.  C.  cir.  1920.  ,  k ,  r 

_ _  when  Abram  was  come  into 

Egypt,  the  Egyptians  y  beheld  the  woman 
that  she  was  very  fair. 

15  The  princes  also  of  Pharaoh  saw  her, 
and  commended  her  before  Pharaoh  ;  and  the 
woman  was  z  taken  into  Pharaoh’s  house. 

16  And  he  a  entreated  Abram  well  for  her 
sake  :  and  he  had  sheep,  and  oxen,  and  he- 
asses,  and  men-servants,  and  maid-servants, 
and  she-asses,  and  camels. 

1 7  And  the  Lord  b  plagued  Pharaoh  and 


his  house  with  great  plagues,  A.  M.  cir.  2084. 
because  of  Sarai,  Abram’s  wife.  — C’  C-L_192QI 

18  And  Pharaoh  called  Abram,  and  said, 
c  What  is  this  that  thou  hast  done  unto  me  ?  why 
didst  thou  not  tell  me  that  she  was  thy  wife  ? 

19  Why  saidst  thou,  She  is  my  sister?  so 
I  might  have  taken  her  to  me  to  wife  :  now 
therefore  behold  thy  wife,  take  her,  and  go 
thy  way. 

20  d  And  Phafaoh  commanded  his  men  con¬ 
cerning  him  :  and  they  sent  him  away,  and 
his  wife,  and  all  that  he  had. 


y  Chap,  xxxix.  7 ;  Matt.  v.  28. - z  Chap.  xx.  2. - a  Chap. 

xx.  14. 


consequently  the  grand-daughter  of  Terah :  this 
opinion  seems  to  be  founded  on  chap.  xi.  29,  where 
Iscah  is  thought  to  be  the  same  with  Sarai,  but  the 
supposition  has  not  a  sufficiency  of  probability  to  sup¬ 
port  it. 

Verse  15.  The  woman  was  taken  into  PharaoK's 
house.]  Pharaoh  appears  to  have  been  the  common 
appellative  of  the  Cuthite  shepherd  kings  of  Egypt, 
who  had  conquered  this  land,  as  is  conjectured,  about 
seventy-two  years  before  this  time.  The  word  is  sup¬ 
posed  to  signify  king  in  the  ancient  Egyptian  language. 
If  the  meaning  be  sought  in  the  Hebrew,  the  root  JH3 
para  signifies  to  he  free  or  disengaged ,  a  name  which 
such  freebooters  as  the  Cuthite  shepherds  might  natu¬ 
rally  assume.  All  the  kings  of  Egypt  bore  this  name 
till  the  commencement  of  the  Grecian  monarchy,  after 
which  they  were  called  Ptolemies. 

When  a  woman  was  brought  into  the  seraglio  or 
haram  of  the  eastern  princes,  she  underwent  for  a 
considerable  time  certain  purifications  before  she  was 
brought  into  the  king’s  presence.  It  was  in  this  inte¬ 
rim  that  God  plagued  Pharaoh  and  his  house  with 
plagues ,  so  that  Sarai  was  restored  before  she  could 
have  been  taken  to  the  bed  of  the  Egyptian  king. 

Verse  16.  He  had  sheep ,  and  oxen ,  4-c.]  As  some 
of  these  terms  are  liable  to  be  confounded,  and  as  they 
frequently  occur,  especially  in  the  Pentateuch,  it  may 
be  necessary  to  consider  and  fix  their  meaning  in  this 
place. 

Sheep  ;  tson ,  from  tsaan,  to  be  plentiful  or  abun¬ 

dant  ;  a  proper  term  for  the  eastern  sheep,  which 
almost  constantly  bring  forth  twins ,  Cant.  iv.  2,  and 
sometimes  three  and  even  four  at  a  birth.  Hence 
their  great  fruitfulness  is  often  alluded  to  in  the  Scrip¬ 
ture.  See  Psa.  lxv.  13  ;  cxliv.  13.  But  under  this 
same  term, -which  almost  invariably  means  a  flock,  both 
sheep  and  goats  are  included.  So  the  Romans  include 
sheep ,  goats,  and  small  cattle  in  general,  under  the  term 
pecus  pecoris  ;  so  likewise  they  do  larger  cattle  under 
that  of  pecus  pecudis. 

Oxen  ;  “ip7  Calcar,  from  the  root,  to  examine ,  look  out, 
because  of  the  full,  broad,  steady,  unmoved  look  of 
most  animals  of  the  beeve  kind  ;  and  hence  the  morning 
is  termed  boker,  because  of  the  light  springing  out  of 
the  east,  and  looking  out  over  the  wkole  of  the  earth’s 
surface. 


b  Chap.  xx.  18;  1  Chron. ’xvi.  21  ;  Psa.  cv.  14;  Heb.  xiii.  4. 
c  Chap.  xx.  9  ;  xxvi.  10. - dProv.  xxi.  1. 

He-asses  ;  D"lDn  chamorim,  from  “ion  chamar,  to 
be  disturbed,  muddy  ;  probably  from  the  dull,  stupid 
appearance  of  this  animal,  as  if  it  were  always  affected 
with  melancholy.  Scheuchzer  thinks  the  sandy-coloured 
domestic  Asiatic  ass  is  particularly  intended.  The  word 
is  applied  to  asses  in  general,  though  most  frequently 
restrained  to  those  of  the  male  kind. 

She-asses;  rUfiK  athonoth ,  from  j ethan,  strength, 
probably  the  strong  animal,  as  being  superior  in  mus¬ 
cular  force  to  every  other  animal  of  its  size.  Under 
this  term  both  the  male  and  female  are  sometimes  un¬ 
derstood. 

Camels  ;  O’SdJ  gemallim,  from  bill  gamal,  to  re¬ 
compense,  return,  repay  ;  so  called  from  its  resentment 
of  injuries,  and  revengeful  temper,  for  which  it  is  pro¬ 
verbial  in  the  countries  of  which  it  is  a  native.  On 
the  animals  and  natural  history  in  general,  of  the 
Scriptures,  I  must  refer  to  the  Hierozoicon  of  Bochart, 
and  the  Physica  Sacra  of  Scheuchzer.  The  former 
is  the  most  learned  and  accurate  work,  perhaps,  ever 
produced  by  one  man. 

From  this  enumeration  of  the  riches  of  Abram  we 
may  conclude  that  this  patriarch  led  a  pastoral  and 
itinerant  life  ;  that  his  meat  must  have  chiefly  consist¬ 
ed  in  the  flesh  of  clean  animals,  with  a  sufficiency  of 
pulse  for  bread  ;  that  his  chief  drink  was  their  milk ; 
his  clothing,  their  skins ;  and  his  beasts  of  burden,  asses 
and  camels ;  (for  as  yet  we  read  of  no  horses ;)  and  the 
ordinary  employment  of  his  servants,  to  take  care  of 
the  flocks,  and  to  serve  their  master.  Where  the  pa¬ 
triarchs  became  resident  for  any  considerable,  time,  they 
undoubtedly  cultivated  the  ground  to  produce  grain. 

Verse  17.  The  Lord  plagued  Pharaoh]  What  these 
plagues  were  we  know  not.  In  the  parallel  case,  chap, 
xx.  18,  all  the  females  in  the  family  of  Abimelech, 
who  had  taken  Sarah  in  nearly  the  same  way,  were 
made  barren  ;  possibly  this  might  have  been  the  case 
here  ;  yet  much  more  seems  to  be  signified  by  the  ex¬ 
pression  great  plagues.  Whatever  these  plagues  were, 
it  is  evident  they  were  understood  by  Pharaoh  as  proofs 
of  the  disapprobation  of  God  ;  and,  consequently,  even 
at  this  time  in  Egypt  there  was  some  knowledge  of  the 
primitive  and  true  religion. 

Verse  20.  Commanded  his  men  concerning  him \ 
Gave  particular  and  strict  orders  to  afford  Abram  and 
his  family  every  accommodation  for  their  journey  ;  for, 

a 


94 


CHAP  XIII. 


Abram  and  his  family 

having  received  a  great  increase  of  cattle  and  ser¬ 
vants,  it  was  necessary  that  he  should  have  the  favour 
of  the  king,  and  his  permission  to  remove  from  Egypt 
with  so  large  a  property ;  hence,  a  particular  charge 
is  given  to  the  officers  of  Pharaoh  to  treat  him  with 
respect,  and  to  assist  him  in  his  intended  departure. 

The  weighty  and  important  contents  of  this  chapter 
demand  our  most  attentive  consideration.  Abram  is  a 
second  time  called  to  leave  his  country,  kindred,  and 
father’s  house,  and  go  to  a  place  he  knew  not.  Every 
thing  was  apparently  against  him  but  the  voice  of  God. 
This  to  Abram  was  sufficient ;  he  could  trust  his  Ma¬ 
ker,  and  knew  he  could  not  do  wrong  in  following  his 
command.  He  is  therefore  proposed  to  us  in  the  Scrip¬ 
tures  as  a  pattern  of  faith,  patience,  and  loving  obedi¬ 
ence.  When  he  received  the  call  of  God,  he  spent  no 
time  in  useless  reasonings  about  the  call  itself,  his 
family  circumstances,  the  difficulties  in  the  way,  &c., 
&c.  He  was  called ,  and  he  departed ,  and  this  is  all 
we  hear  on  the  subject.  Implicit  faith  in  the  promise 
of  God,  and  prompt  obedience  to  his  commands,  be¬ 
come  us,  not  only  as  his  creatures ,  but  as  sinners 
called  to  separate  from  evil  workers  and  wicked  ways, 
and  travel,  by  that  faith  which  worketh  by  love,  in  the 
way  that  leads  to  the  paradise  of  God. 

Iiow  greatly  must  the  faith  of  this  blessed  man  have 
been  tried,  when,  coming  to  the  very  land  in  which  he 
is  promised  so  much  blessedness,  he  finds  instead  of 
plenty  a  grievous  famine  !  Who  in  his  circumstances 
would  not  have  gone  back  to  his  own  country,  and 
kindred  ?  Still  he  is  not  stumbled  ;  prudence  directs 
him  to  turn  aside  and  go  to  Egypt,  till  God  shall 
choose  to  remove  this  famine.  Is  it  to  be  wondered 
at  that,  in  this  tried  state,  he  should  have  serious  ap¬ 
prehensions  for  the  safety  of  his  life  1  Sarai,  his  af¬ 
fectionate  wife  and  faithful  companion,  he  supposes  he 
shall  lose  ;  her  beauty,  he  suspects,  will  cause  her  to 
be  desired  by  men  of  power,  whose  will  he  shall  not 


return  from  Egypt  to  Canaan. 

be  able  to  resist.  If  he  appear  to  be  her  husband ,  his 
death  he  supposes  to  be  certain ;  if  she  pass  for  his 
sister ,  he  may  be  well  used  on  her  account ;  he  will 
not  tell  a  lie ,  but  he  is  tempted  to  prevaricate  by  sup¬ 
pressing  a  part  of  the  truth.  Here  is  a  weakness 
which,  however  we  may  be  inclined  to  pity  and  excuse 
it,  we  should  never  imitate.  It  is  recorded  with  its 
own  condemnation.  He  should  have  risked  all  rather 
than  have  prevaricated.  But  how  could  he  think  of 
lightly  giving  up  such  a  wife  ?  Surely  he  who  would 
not  risk  his  life  for  the  protection  and  safety  of  a  good 
wife,  is  not  worthy  of  one.  Here  his  faith  was  defi¬ 
cient.  He  still  credited  the  general  promise ,  and  acted 
on  that  faith  in  reference  to  it ;  but  he  did  not  use  his 
faith  in  reference  to  intervening  circumstances ,  to  which 
it  was  equally  applicable.  Many  trust  God  for  their 
souls  and  eternity ,  who  do  not  trust  in  him  for  their 
bodies  and  for  time.  To  him  who  follows  God  fully 
in  simplicity  of  heart,  every  thing  must  ultimately  suc¬ 
ceed.  Had  Abram  and  Sarai  simply  passed  for  ivhat 
they  ivere,  they  had  incurred  no  danger  ;  for  God,  who 
had  obliged  them  to  go  to  Egypt,  had  prepared  the 
way  before  them.  Neither  Pharaoh  nor  his  courtiers 
would  have  noticed  the  woman,  had  she  appeared  to 
be  the  ivife  of  the  stranger  that  came  to  sojourn  in 
their  land.  The  issue  sufficiently  proves  this.  Every 
ray  of  the  light  of  truth  is  an  emanation  from  the  ho¬ 
liness  of  God,  and  awfully  sacred  in  his  eyes.  Con¬ 
sidering  the  subject  thus,  a  pious  ancient  spoke  the 
following  words,  which  refiners  in  prevarication  have 
deemed  by  much  too  strong:  “I  would  not,”  said  he, 
“  tell  a  lie  to  save  the  souls  of  the  whole  world.” 
Reader,  be  on  thy  guard  ;  thou  mayest  fall  by  com¬ 
paratively  small  matters,  while  resolutely  and  success¬ 
fully  resisting  those  which  require  a  giant’s  strength 
to  counteract  them.  In  every  concern  God  is  neces¬ 
sary  ;  seek  him  for  the  body  and  for  the  soul ;  and  do 
not  think  that  any  thing  is  too  small  or  insignificant  to 
interest  him  that  concerns  thy  present  or  eternal  peace. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 


Abram  and  his  family  return  out  of  Egypt  to  Canaan,  1,2.  He  revisits  Beth-el,  and  there  invokes  the  Lord , 
3,  4.  In  consequence  of  the  great  increase  in  the  flocks  of  Abram  and  Lot,  their  herdmen  disagree;  which 
obliges  the  patriarch  and  his  nephew  to  separate,  5—9.  Lot  being  permitted  to  make  his  choice  of  the  land, 
chooses  the  plains  of  Jordan ,  10,  11,  and  pitches  his  tent  near  to  Sodom,  ivhile  Abram  abides  in  Canaan,  12 
Bad  character  of  the  people  of  Sodom,  13.  The  Lord  renews  his  promise  to  Abram,  14—17.  Abram 
removes  to  the  plains  of  Mamre,  near  Hebron,  and  builds  an  altar  to  the  Lord,  18. 


A.  M.  «r.  2086.  A  ND  Abram  went  up  out  of 

B.  C.  cir.  1918.  -LJL  „  .  .  ,  .  ”  ,r  . 

- -  Egypt,  he,  and  his  wile,  and 

all  that  he  had,  and  Lot  with  him,  a  into  the  south. 

a  Chap.  xii.  9. 


2  b  And  Abram  was  very  A.  M.  cir.  2086. 

...  .  .  ..  .  B.  C.  cir.  1918. 

rich  m  cattle,  m  silver,  and  m  - - 

gold. 


b  Chap.  xxiv.  35  ;  Psa.  cxii.  3  ;  Prov.  x,  22. 


NOTES  ON  CHAP.  XIII. 

Verse  1.  Abram  went  up  out  of  Egypt — into  the 
south.~\  Probably  the  south  of  Canaan,  as  in  leaving 
Egypt  he  is  said  to  come  from  the  south,  ver.  3,  for 
the  southern  part  of  the  promised  land  lay  north-east 
of  Egypt. 


Verse  2.  Abram  was  very  rich]  The  property  of 
these  patriarchal  times  did  not  consist  in  flocks  only, 
but  also  in  silver  and  gold ;  and  in  all  these  respects 
Abram  was  1XD  “03  cubed  meod ,  exceeding  rich.  Jo¬ 
sephus  says  that  a  part  of  this  property  was  acquired 
by  teaching  the  Egyptians  arts  and  sciences.  Thus 

95 


Strife  between  the  herdmen.  GENESIS. 


Abram  and  Lot  separate. 


A.  M.  cir.  2086.  3  And  he  went  on  his  journeys 

R.3  clr:  c  from  the  south  even  to  Beth-el, 

unto  the  place  where  his  tent  had  been  at  the 
beginning,  between  Beth-el  and  Hai ; 

4  Unto  the  d  place  of  the  altar,  which  he 
had  made  there  at  the  first :  and  there  Abram 


9  1  Is  not  the  whole  land  before  a.  m.  dr.  2086. 

B.  C.  dr.  1918 


thee  ?  separate  thyself,  I  pray 
thee,  from  me  :  m  if  thou  wilt  take  the  left 
hand,  then  I  will  go  to  the  right ;  or  if  thou 
depart  to  the  right  hand,  then  I  will  go  to 
the  left. 


•  called  on  the  name  of  the  Lord. 

5  And  Lot  also,  which  went  with  Abram, 
had  flocks,  and  herds,  and  tents. 

6  And  f  the  land  was  not  able  to  bear  them, 
that  they  might  dwell  together  :  for  their  sub¬ 
stance  was  great,  so  that  they  could  not  dwell 
together. 

7  And  there  was  &  a  strife  between,  the  herd- 
men  of  Abram’s  cattle  and  the  herdmen  of 
Lot’s  cattle :  h  and  the  Canaanite  and  the 
Perizzite  dwelled  then  in  the  land. 

8  And  Abram  said  unto  Lot,  1  Let  there  be 
no  strife,  I  pray  thee,  between  me  and  thee, 
and  between  my  herdmen  and  thy  herdmen ; 
for  we  be  k  brethren. 


c  Chap.  xii.  8,  9. - d  Chap.  xii.  7,  8. - e  Psa.  cxvi.  17. 

f  Chap,  xxxvi.  7. - £  Chap.  xxvi.  20. - h  Chap.  xii.  6. 

*  1  Cor.  vi.  7. - kHeb.  men  brethren  •  see  chap.  xi.  27,  31  ; 

Exod.  ii.  13;  Psa.  cxxxiii.  1  ;  Acts  vii.  26. - 1  Chap.  xx.  15  ; 

xxxiv.  10. - mRom.  xii.  18  ;  Heb.  xii.  14  ;  James  iii.  17. 


1 0  And  Lot  lifted  up  his  eyes,  A.  M.  cir.  2087. 

and  beheld  all  n  the  plain  of  — — - — 1 - - 

Jordan,  that  it  was  well  watered  every  where, 
before  the  Lord  0  destroyed  Sodom  and 
Gomorrah,  p  even  as  the  garden  of  the  Lord, 
like  the  land  of  Egypt,  as  thou  comest  unto 
q  Zoar. 

1 1  Then  Lot  chose  him  all  the  plain  of 
Jordan ;  and  Lot  journeyed  east :  and  they 
separated  themselves  the  one  from  the  other. 

12  Abram  dwelled  in  the  land  of  Canaan, 
and  Lot  r  dwelled  in  the  cities  of  the  plain, 
and  s  pitched  his  tent  toward  Sodom. 

13  But  the  men  of  Sodom  1  were  wicked  and 
11  sinners  before  the  Lord  exceedingly. 

n  Chap.  xix.  17  ;  Deut.  xxxiv.  3  ;  Psa.  cvii.  34. - 0  Chapter 

xix.  24,  25. - P  Chap.  ii.  10  ;  Isa.  li.  3. - 1  Chap.  xiv.  2,  8  ; 

xix.  22. - r  Chap.  xix.  29. - s  Chap.  xiv.  12  ;  xix.  1  ;  2  Pet. 

ii.  7,  8. - 1  Chap,  xviii.  20  ;  Ezek.  xvi.  49 ;  2  Pet.  ii.  7,  8. 

u  Chap!  vi.  11. 


did  God  fulfil  his  promises  to  him,  by  protecting  and 
giving  him  a  great  profusion  of  temporal  blessings, 
which  were  to  him  signs  and  pledges  of  spiritual  things. 

Verse  3.  Beth-el]  See  chap.  8. 

Verse  6.  Their  substance  was  great]  As  their  fami¬ 
lies  increased,  it  was  necessary  their  flocks  should 
increase  also,  &s  from  those  flocks  they  derived  their 
clothing,  food,  and  drink.  Many  also  were  offered  in 
sacrifice  to  God. 

They  could  not  dwell  together]  1.  Because  their 
flocks  were  great.  2.  Because  the  Canaanites  and  the 
Perizzites  had  already  occupied  a  considerable  part 
of  the  land.  3.  Because  there  appears  to  have  been 
envy  between  the  herdmen  of  Abram  and  Lot.  To 
prevent  disputes  among  them,  that  might  have  ‘ulti¬ 
mately  disturbed  the  peace  of  the  two  families,  it  was 
necessary  that  a  separation  should  take  place. 

Verse  7.  The  Canaanite  and  the  Perizzite  dwelled 
then  in  the  land.]  That  is,  they  wTere  there  at  the  time 
Abram  and  Lot  came  to  fix  their  tents  in  the  land. 
See  on  chap.  xii.  6. 

Verse  8.  For  we  be  brethren.]  We  are  of  the  same 
family,  worship  the  same  God  in  the  same  way,  have 
the  same  promises,  and  look  for  the  same  end.  Why 
then  should  there  be  strife  1  If  it  appear  to  be  un¬ 
avoidable  from  our  present  situation,  let  that  situation 
be  instantly  changed,  for  no  secular  advantages  can 
counterbalance  the  loss  of  peace. 

Verse  9.  Is  not  the  whole  land  before  thee  ?]  As 
the  patriarch  or  head  of  the  family,  Abram,  by  pre¬ 
scriptive  right,  might  have  chosen  his  own  portion  first, 
and  appointed  Lot  his  ;  but  intent  upon  peace,  and  feel- 

96 


ing  pure  and  parental  affection  for  his  nephew,  he  per¬ 
mitted  him  to  make  his  choice  first. 

Verse  10.  Like  the  land  of  Egypt ,  as  thou  comest 
unto  Zoar.]  There  is  an  obscurity  in  this  verse  which 
Houbigant  has  removed  by  the  following  translation  : 
Ea  autem ,  priusquam  Sodomam  Gomorrhamque  Domi- 
nus  delerit ,  erat,  qua  itur  Segor ,  tota  irrigua ,  quasi 
horius  Domini ,  et  quasi  terra  JEgypti.  “  But  before 
the  Lord  had  destroyed  Sodom  and  Gomorrah,  it  was, 
as  thou  goest  to  Zoar,  well  watered,  like  the  garden 
of  the  Lord,  and  like  the  land  of  Egypt.”  As  para¬ 
dise  was  watered  by  the  four  neighbouring  streams, 
and  as  Egypt  was  watered  by  the  annual  overflowing 
of  the  Nile  ;  so  were  the  plains  of  the  Jordan,  and 
all  the  land  on  the  way  to  Zoar,  wrell  watered  and  fer¬ 
tilized  by  the  overflowing  of  the  Jordan. 

Verse  11.  Then  Lot  chose  him  all  the  plain]  A 
little  civility  or  good  breeding  is  of  great  importance 
in  the  concerns  of  life.  Lot  either  had  none,  or  did 
not  profit  by  it.  He  certainly  should  have  left  the 
choice  to  the  patriarch,  and  should  have  been  guided 
by  his  counsel ;  but  he  took  his  own  way,  trusting  to 
his  own  judgment,  and  guided  only  by  the  sight  of  his 
eyes  :  he  beheld  all  the  plain  of  Jordan ,  that  it  was 
well  watered ,  &c.  ;  so  he  chose  the  land,  without  con¬ 
sidering  the  character  of  the  inhabitants ,  or  what 
advantages  or  disadvantages  it  might  afford  him  in 
spiritual  things.  This  choice,  as  wre  shall  see  in  the 
sequel,  had  nearly  proved  the  ruin  of  his  body,  soul, 
and  family. 

Verse  13.  The  men  of  Sodom  were  ivicked]  O'JH 
raim,  from  ra,  to  break  in  pieces ,  destroy ,  and 


who  builds  an  altar  at  Mamre 


God  renews  his  promise  to  Abram ,  CHAP.  XIII. 


A.  M.  cir.  2087.  1 4  And  the  Lord  said  unto 

B.  C.  cir.  1917.  .  .  r  ,  T 

- -  Abram,  alter  that  Lot  v  was  sepa¬ 
rated  from  him,  Lift  up  now  thine  eyes,  and 
look  from  the  place  where  thou  art  w  northward, 
and  southward,  and  eastward,  and  westward  : 

15  For  all  the  land  which  thou  seest,  x  to 
thee  will  I  give  it,  and  y  to  thy  seed  for  ever. 

1 6  And  z  I  will  make  thy  seed  as  the  dust 
of  the  earth  :  so  that  if  a  man  can  number 

vVer.  11. - wChap.  xxviii.  14. - x  Chap.  xii.  7;  xv.  18; 

xvii.  8  ;  xxiv.  7  ;  xxvi.  4  ;  Num.  xxxiv.  12  ;  Deut.  xxxiv.  4  ; 

Acts  vii.  5. - y  2  Chron.  xx.  7  ;  Psa.  xxxvii.  22,  29  ;  cxii.  2. 

z  Chap.  xv.  5  ;  xxii.  17  ;  xxvi.  4  ;  xxviii.  14  ;  xxxii.  12 ;  Exod. 

afflict ;  meaning-  persons  who  broke  the  established 
order  of  things,  destroyed  and  confounded  the  distinc¬ 
tions  between  right  and  wrong,  and  who  afflicted  and 
tormented  both  themselves  and  others.  And  sinners , 
D'NttH  chattaim ,  from  Ni3n  chata ,  to  miss  the  mark,  to 
step  zorong,  to  miscarry ;  the  same  as  a papravu  in 
Greek,  from  a ,  negative,  and  papirru,  to  hit  a  mark; 
so  a  sinner  is  one  who  is  ever  aiming  at  happiness 
and  constantly  missing  his  mark ;  because,  being 
wicked — radically  evil  within,  every  affection  and  pas¬ 
sion  depraved  and  out  of  order,  he  seeks  for  happiness 
where  it  never  can  be  found,  in  worldly  honours  and 
possessions,  and  in  sensual  gratifications,  the  end  of 
which  is  disappointment,  affliction,  vexation,  and  ruin. 
Such  were  the  companions  Lot  must  have  in  th.e  fruit¬ 
ful  land  he  had  chosen.  This,  however,  amounts  to 
no  more  than  the  common  character  of  sinful  man ; 
but  the  people  of  Sodom  were  exceedingly  sinful  and 
wicked  before,  or  against,  the  Lord — they  were  sinners 
of  no  common  character  ;  they  excelled  in  unrighteous¬ 
ness,  and  soon  filled  up  the  measure  of  their  iniquities. 
See  chap.  xix. 

Yerse  14.  The  Lord  said  unto  Abram. ]  It  is  very 
likely  that  the  angel  of  the  covenant  appeared  to  Abram 
in  open  day,  when  he  could  take  a  distinct  view  of  the 
length  and  the  breadth  of  this  good  land.  The  reve¬ 
lation  made  chap.  xv.  5,  was  evidently  made  in  the 
night ;  for  then  he  was  called  to  number  the  stars, 
which  could  not  be  seen  but  in  the  night  season  : 
here  he  is  called  on  to  number  the  dust  of  the 
earth,  ver.  16,  which  could  not  be  seen  but  in  the 
day-light. 

Yerse  15.  To  thee  will  I  give  it,  and  to  thy  seed 
for  ever.]  This  land  was  given  to  Abram,  that  it 
might  lineally  and  legally  descend  to  his  posterity  ;  and 
though  Abram  himself  cannot  be  said  to  have  possessed 
it,  Acts  vii.  5,  yet  it  was  the  gift  of  God  to  him  in 
behalf  of  his  seed  ;  and  this  was  always  the  design  of 
God,  not  that  Abram  himself  should  possess  it,  but  that 
his  posterity  should,  till  the  manifestation  of  Christ  in 
the  flesh.  And  this  is  chiefly  what  is  to  be  understood 
by  the  words  for  ever,  "D-%  ad  olam,  to  the  end  of 
the  present  dispensation,  and  the  commencement  of 
the  new.  olam  means  either  eternity,  which 

implies  the  termination  of  all  time  or  duration ,  such  as 
is  measured  by  the  celestial  luminaries ;  or  a  hidden, 
unknown  period,  such  as  includes  a  completion  ox  final 
termination  of  a  particular  era,  dispensation,  &c.  ; 

Vol.  I.  (  8  ) 


the  dust  of  the  earth,  then  shall  A.  M.  cir.  2087 
thy  seed  also  be  numbered.  b.  c.  cir.  1917 

17  Arise,  walk  through  the  land  in  the 
length  of  it,  and  in  the  breadth  of  it ;  for  I 
will  give  it  unto  thee. 

18  Then  Abram  removed  his  tent,  and  came 
and  a  dwelt  in  the  b  plain  of  Mamre,  c  which  is 
in  Hebron,  and  built  there  an  altar  unto  the 
Lord. 

xxxii.  13  ;  Num.  xxiii.  10 ;  Deut.  i.  10  ;  1  Kings  iv.  20  ;  1  Chron. 
xxvii.  23  ;  Isa.  xlviii.  19 ;  Jer.  xxxiii.  22  ;  Rom.  iv.  16,  17,  18  ; 

Heb.  xi.  12. - a  Chap.  xiv.  13. - >>Heb.  plains  - c  Chapter 

xxxv.  27 ;  xxxvii.  14. 

therefore  the  first  is  its  proper  meaning,  the  latter  its 
accommodated  meaning.  See  the  note  on  chap.  xvii. 
7  ;  xxi.  33. 

Yerse  18.  Abram  removed  his  tent ]  Continued  to 
travel  and  pitch  in  different  places,  till  at  last  he  fixed 
his  tent  in  the  plain,  or  by  the  oak,  of  Mamre,  see 
chap.  xii.  6,  which  is  in  Hebron  ;  i.  e.,  the  district  in 
which  Mamre  was  situated  was  called  Hebron.  Mamre 
wras  an  Amorite  then  living,  with  whom  Abram  made 
a  league,  chap.  xiv.  13  ;  and  the  oak  probably  went 
by  his  name,  because  he  was  the  possessor  of  the 
ground.  Hebron  is  called  Kirjath-arba,  chap,  xxiii. 
2  ;  but  it  is  very  likely  that  Hebron  was  its  primitive 
name,  and  that  it  had  the  above  appellation  from  being 
the  residence  of  four  gigantic  or  powerful  Anakim, 
for  Kirjath-arba  literally  signifies  the  city  of  the  four  ; 
see  the  note  on  chap,  xxiii.  2 

Built  there  an  altar  unto  the  Lord .]  On  which  he 
offered  sacrifice,  as  the  word  n3T*3  mizbach,  from  712' 
zabach,  to  slay ,  imports. 

The  increase  of  riches  in  the  family  of  Abram  must, 
in  the  opinion  of  many,  be  a  source  of  felicity  to  them. 
If  earthly  possessions  could  produce  happiness,  it  must 
be  granted  that  they  had  now  a  considerable  share  of 
it  in  their  power.  But  happiness  must  have  its  seat 
in  the  mind,  and,  like  that,  be  of  a  spiritual  nature ; 
consequently  earthly  goods  cannot  give  it ;  so  far  are. 
they  from  either  producing  or  procuring  it,  that  they 
always  engender  care  and  anxiety,  and  often  strifes 
and  contentions.  The  peace  of  this  amiable  family 
had  nearly  been  destroyed  by  the  largeness  of  their 
possessions.  To  prevent  the  most  serious  misunder¬ 
standings,  Abram  and  his  nephew  were  obliged  to  sepa¬ 
rate.  He  who  has  much  in  general  wishes  to  have 
more,  for  the  eye  is  not  satisfied  with  seeing.  Lot, 
for  the  better  accommodation  of  his  flocks  and  family, 
chooses  the  most  fertile  district  in  that  country,  and 
even  sacrifices  reverence  and  filial  affection  at  the 
shrine  of  worldly  advantage  ;  but  the  issue  proved  that 
a  pleasant  worldly  prospect  may  not  be  the  most  ad¬ 
vantageous,  even  to  our  secular  affairs.  Abram  pros¬ 
pered  greatly  in  the  comparatively  barren  part  of  the 
land,  while  Lot  lost  all  his  possessions,  and  nearly  the 
lives  of  himself  and  family,  in  that  land  which  ap¬ 
peared  to  him  like  the  garden  of  the  Lord ,  like  a 
second  paradise.  Rich  and  fertile  countries  have 
generallv  luxurious,  effeminate,  and  profligate  inhabit- 

97 


Chedorlaomer  and  his  allies 

ants ;  so  it  was  in  this  case.  The  inhabitants  of 
Sodom  were  sinners,  and  exceedingly  wicked,  and  their 
profligacy  was  of  that  kind  which  luxury  produces  ; 
they  fed  themselves  without  fear ,  and  they  acted  with¬ 
out  shame.  Lot  however  was,  through  the  mercy  of 
God,  preserved  from  this  contagion :  he  retained  his 
religion  ;  and  this  supported  his  soul  and  saved  his 
life,  when  his  goods  and  his  wife  perished.  Let  us 
learn  from  this  to  be  jealous  over  our  own  wills  and 
wishes  ;  to  distrust  flattering  prospects,  and  seek  and 
secure  a  heavenly  inheritance.  “  Man  wants  but  little  ; 
nor  that  little  long.”  A  man’s  life — the  comfort  and 
happiness  of  it — does  not  consist  in  the  multitude  of 
the  things  he  possesses.  “  One  house,  one  day’s  food, 
and  one  suit  of  raiment,”  says  the  Arabic  proverb, 
“  are  sufficient  for  thee  ;  and  if  thou  die  before  noon, 
thou  hast  one  half  too  much.”  The  example  of  Abram, 
in  constantly  erecting  an  altar  wherever  he  settled,  is 


invade  and  pillage  the  Canaamtes. 

worthy  of  serious  regard  ;  he  knew  the  path  of  duty 
was  the  way  of  safety,  and  that,  if  he  acknowledged 
God  in  all  his  ways,  he  might  expect  him  to  direct 
all  his  steps:  he  felt  his  dependence  on  God,  he  in¬ 
voked  him  through  a  Mediator,  and  offered  sacrifices 
in  faith  of  the  coming  Saviour  ;  he  found  blessedness 
in  this  work — it  was  not  an  empty  service  ;  he  rejoiced 
to  see  the  day  of  Christ — he  saw  it,  and  was  glad. 
See  on  chap.  xii.  8.  Reader,  has  God  an  altar  in  thy 
house  ?  Dost  thou  sacrifice  to  him  1  Dost  thou  offer 
up  daily  by  faith,  in  behalf  of  thy  soul  and  the  souls 
of  thy  family,  the  Lamb  of  God  who  taketh  away  the 
sin  of  the  world  1  No  man  cometh  unto  the  Father 
but  by  me,  said  Christ  :  this  wras  true,  not  only  from 
the  incarnation,  but  from  the  foundation  of  the  world. 
And  to  this  another  truth,  not  less  comfortable,  may 
be  added  :  Whosoever  cometh  unto  me  I  will  in  nowise 
cast  out. 


GENESIS. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 


The  war  of  four  confederate  kings  against  the  five  kings  of  Canaan,  1—3.  The  confederate  kings  overrun 
and  pillage  the  whole  country ,  4—7.  Battle  between  them  and  the  kings  of  Canaan ,  8,  9.  The  latter  are 
defeated,  and  the  principal  part  of  the  armies  of  the  kings  of  Sodom  and  Gomorrah  slain,  10  ;  on  which 
these  two  cities  are  plundered,  11.  Lot,  his  goods,  and  his  family,  are  also  taken  and  carried  away,  12. 
Abram,  being  informed  of  the  disaster  of  his  nephew,  13,  arms  three  hundred  and  eighteen  of  his  servants , 
and  pursues  them,  14  ;  overtakes  and  routs  them,  and  recovers  Lot,  and  his  family ,  and  their  goods,  15,  16  ; 
is  met  on  his  return  by  the  king  of  Sodom,  and  by  Melchizedek,  king  of  Salem,  with  refreshments  for 
himself  and  men,  17,  18.  Melchizedek  blesses  Abram,  and  receives  from  him,  as  priest  of  the  most  high 
God  the  tenth  of  all  the  spoils,  19,  20.  The  king  of  Sodom  offers  to  Abram  all  the  goods  he  has  taken 
from  the  enemy,  21  ;  which  Abram  positively  refuses,  having  vowed  to  God  to  receive  no  recompense  for 
a  victory  of  which  he  knew  God  to  be  the  sole  author,  22,23;  but  desires  that  a  proportion  of  the  spoils  be 
given  to  Aner,  Eshcol,  and  Mamre,  who  had  accompanied  him  on  this  expedition ,  24. 


A.  M.  cir.  2091.  A  ND  it  came  to  pass,  m  the 

B,  C.  cir.  1913.  AL  ,  r  f  .  .  .  r 

-  days  oi  Amraphel  king  ot 

a  Shinar,  Arioch  king  of  Ellasar,  Chedorla¬ 
omer  king  of  b  Elam,  and  Tidal  king  of  na¬ 
tions  ; 

2  That  these  made  war  with  Bera  king  of 
Sodom,  and  with  Birsha  king  of  Gomorrah, 


Shmab  king  of  c  Admah,  and  A.  M.  cir.  2091, 
,  .  .  r  t-7  t  ••  ,  B.  C.  cir.  1913. 

bhemeber  king  ot  Zeboum,  and  - . 

the  king  of  Bela,  which  is  d  Zoar. 

3  All  these  were  joined  together  in  the  vale 
of  Siddim,  e  which  is  the  salt  sea. 

4  Twelve  years  f  they  served  Chedorlaomer, 
and  in  the  thirteenth  year  they  rebelled. 


a  Chap.  x.  10;  xi.  2. - b  Isa.  xi'.  11. - c  Deut.  xxix.  23. 

d  Chap.  xix.  22. 

NOTES  ON  CHAP.  XIV. 

Verse  1.  In  the  days  of  Amraphel]  Who  this  king 
was  is  not  known ;  and  yet,  from  the  manner  in  which 
he  is  spoken  of  in  the  text,  it  would  seem  that  he  was 
a  person  well  known,  even  when  Moses  wrote  this 
account.  But  the  Vulgate  gives  a  different  turn  to 
the  place,  by  rendering  the  passage  thus  :  Factum  est 
in  illo  tempore,  ut  Amraphel,  &c.  “  It  came  to  pass 

in  that  time  that  Amraphel,  &c.”  The  Chaldee  Tar- 
gum  of  Onkelos  makes  Amraphel  king  of  Babylon, 
others  make  him  king  of  Assyria ;  some  make  him 
the  same  as  Nimrod,  and  others,  one  of  his  descend¬ 
ants. 

Arioch  king  of  Ellasar]  Some  think  Syria  is 
meant ;  but  conjecture  is  endless  where  facts  cannot 
be  ascertained. 


e  Deut.  iii.  17  ;  Num.  xxxiv.  12 ;  Josh.  iii.  16  ;  Psa.  cvii.  34, 

f  Chap.  ix.  26. 

Chedorlaomer  king  of  Elam]  Dr.  Shuckford  thinks 
that  this  was  the  same  as  Ninyas,  the  son  of  Ninus 
and  %S  emir  amis  ;  and  some  think  him  to  be  the  same 
writh  Keeumras,  son  of  Doolaved,  son  of  Arphaxad, 
son  of  Shem,  son  of  Noah  ;  and  that  Elam  means 
Persia;  see  chap.  x.  22.  The  Persian  historians 
unanimously  allow  that  Keeumras,  whose  name  bears 
some  affinity  to  Chedorlaomer,  was  the  first  king  of 
the  Peeshdadian  dynasty. 

Tidal  king  of  nations]  D’U  goyim,  different  peo¬ 
ples  or  clans.  Probably  some  adventurous  person, 
whose  subjects  were  composed  of  refugees  from  dif¬ 
ferent  countries. 

Verse  2.  These  made  war  with  Bera,  dfC.]  It  ap¬ 
pears,  from  ver.  4,  that  these  five  Canaanitish  kings 
had  been  subdued  by  Chedorlaomer,  and  were  obliged 

(  8*  ) 


a 


98 


CHAP.  XIV. 


The  kings  of  Canaan  defeated . 


Lot  and  his  family  taken 


A.  M.  cir.  2091. 
B  C.  cir.  1913. 


5 


And  on  the  fourteenth  year 
came  Chedorlaomer,  and  the  kings 
that  were  with  him,  and  smote  *  the  Rephaims 
h  in  Ashteroth  Karnaim,  and *  1  the  Zuzims  in 
Ham,  k  and  the  Emims  in  1  Shaveh  Kiria- 
tliaim, 


6  m  And  the  Horites  in  their  mount  Seir, 
unto  n  El-paran,  which  is  by  the  wilderness. 

7  And  they  returned,  and  came  to  En-mish- 
pat,  which  is  Kadesh,  and  smote  all  the  coun¬ 
try  of  the  Amalekites,  and  also  the  Amorites 
that  dwelt  0  in  Hazezon-tamar. 

8  And  there  went  out  the  king  of  Sodom, 
and  the  king  of  Gomorrah,  and  the  king  of 
Admah,  and  the  king  of  Zeboiim,  and  the  king 
of  Bela,  (the  same  is  Zoar,)  and  they  joined 
battle  with  them  in  the  vale  of  Siddim; 

9  With  Chedorlaomer  the  king  of  Elam,  and 


with  Tidal  king  of  nations,  and  A.  M.  cir.  2091 

.  v  i  i  •  r  oi  •  ,  B.  C.  cir.  1913. 

Amraphei  king  oi  Smnar,  and  - 

Arioch  king  of  Ellasar ;  four  kings  with  five. 

10  And  the  vale  of  Siddim  was  full  of 
p  slime-pits ;  and  the  kings  of  Sodom  and 
Gomorrah  fled,  and  fell  there  ;  and  they  that 
remained  fled  q  to  the  mountain. 

1 1  And  they  took  r  all  the  goods  of  Sodom 
and  Gomorrah,  and  all  their  victuals,  and  went 
their  way. 

1 2  And  they  took  Lot,  Abram’s  s  brother’s 
son,  t  who  dwelt  in  Sodom,  and  his  goods,  and 
departed. 

13  And  there  came  one  that  had  escaped, 
and  told  Abram  the  Hebrew  ;  for  u  he  dwelt 
in  the  plain  of  Mamre  the  Amorite,  brother  of 
Eshcol,  and  brother  of  Aner :  v  and  these 
were  confederate  with  Abram. 


s  Chap.  xv.  20;  Deut.  iii.  11. - hJosh.  xii.  4;  xiii.  12. 

5  Deut.  ii.  20. - k  Deut.  ii.  10,  11. - 1  Or,  the 'plain  of  Kiria- 

thaim. - m  Deut.  ii.  12,  22. - “Or,  the  plain  of  Paran  ;  chap. 


to  pay  him  tribute  ;  and  that,  having-  been  enslaved  by 
him  twelve  years,  wishing-  to  recover  their  liberty,  they 
revolted  in  the  thirteenth ;  in  consequence  of  which 
Chedorlaomer,  the  following  year,  summoned  to  his 
assistance  three  of  his  vassals,  invaded  Canaan,  fought 
with  and  discomfited  the  kings  of  the  Pentapolis  or 
five  cities — Sodom,  Gomorrah,  Zeboiim,  Zoar,  and 
Admah,  which  were  situated  in  the  fruitful  plain  of 
Siddim,  having  previously  overrun  the  whole  land. 

Yerse  5.  Rephaims ]  A  people  of  Canaan  :  chap, 
xv.  20. 

Ashteroth ]  A  city  of  Basan,  where  Og  afterwards 
reigned;  Josh.  xiii.  31. 

Zuzims ]  Nowhere  else  spoken  of,  unless  they 
were  the  same  with  the  Zamzummims ,  Deut.  ii.  20, 
as  some  imagine. 

Emims ]  A  people  great  and  many  in  the  days  of 
Moses,  and  tall  as  the  Anakim.  They  dwelt  among 
the  Moabites,  by  whom  they  were  reputed  giants  ; 
Deut.  ii.  10,  11. 

Shaveh  Kiriathaim ]  Rather,  as  the  margin ,  the 
plain  of  Kiriathaim ,  which  was  a  city  afterwards  be¬ 
longing  to  Sihon  king  of  Heshbon  ;  Josh.  xiii.  19. 

Yerse  6.  The  Horites ]  A  people  that  dwelt  in 
Mount  Seir,  till  Esau  and  his  sons  drove  them  thence  ; 
Deut.  ii.  22. 

El-paran ]  The  plain  or  oak  of  Paran,  which  was 
a  city  in  the  wilderness  of  Paran  ;  chap.  xxi.  21. 

Yerse  7.  En-mishpat ]  The  well  of  judgment ;  pro¬ 
bably  so  called  from  the  judgment  pronounced  by  God 
on  Moses  and  Aaron  for  their  rebellion  at  that  place  ; 
Num.  xx.  1-10. 

Amalekites ]  So  called  afterwards ,  from  Amalek, 
son  of  Esau  ;  chap,  xxxvi.  12. 

Hazezon-tamar .]  Called,  in  the  Chaldee,  Engaddi ; 
a  city  in  the  land  of  Canaan,  which  fell  to  the  lot  of 
Judah  ;  Josh.  xv.  62.  See  also  2  Chron.  xx.  2.  It 

a 


xxi.  21  ;  Num.  xii.  16;  xiii.  3. - °2  Chron.  xx.  2. - p  Chap. 

xi.  3. - q  Chap.  xix.  17,  30. - r  Ver.  16,  21. - 3  Chap.  xii.  5. 

1  Chap.  xiii.  12. - u  Chap.  xiii.  18. - v  Ver.  24. 


appears,  from  Cant.  i.  13,  to  have  been  a  very  fruit¬ 
ful  place. 

Yerse  8.  Bela ,  the  same  is  Zoar\  That  is,  it  was 
called  Zoar  after  the  destruction  of  Sodom,  &c.,  men 
tioned  in  chap.  xix. 

Verse  10.  Slime-pits ]  Places  where  asphaltus  or 
bitumen  sprang  out  of  the  ground ;  this  substance 
abounded  in  that  country. 

Fell  there ]  It  either  signifies  they  were  defeated 
on  this  spot,  and  many  of  them  slain',  or  that  multi¬ 
tudes  of  them  had  perished  in  the  bitumen-pits  which 
abounded  there  ;  that  the  place  was  full  of  pits  we 
learn  from  the  Hebrew,  which  reads  here  miO  rniO 
beeroth  beeroth ,  pits,  pits,  i.  e.,  multitudes  of  pits.  A 
bad  place  to  maintain  a  fight  on,  or  to  be  obliged  to 
run  through  in  order  to  escape. 

Yerse  11.  They  took  all  the  goods,  dpc.]  This  was 
a  predatory  war,  such  as  the  Arabs  carry  on  to  the 
present  day ;  they  pillage  a  city,  town,  or  caravan  ; 
and  then  escape  with  the  booty  to  the  wilderness, 
where  it  would  ever  be  unsafe,  and  often  impossible, 
to  pursue  them. 

Yerse  12.  They  took  Lot ,  ^-c.]  The  people,  being 
exceedingly  wicked,  had  provoked  God  to  afflict  them 
by  means  of  those  marauding  kings  ;  and  Lot  also  suf¬ 
fered,  being  found  in  company  with  the  workers  of 
iniquity.  Every  child  remembers  the  fable  of  the 
Geese  and  Cranes ;  the  former,  being  found  feeding 
where  the  latter  were  destroying  the  grain,  were  all 
taken  in  the  same  net.  Let  him  that  readeth  under¬ 
stand. 

Yerse  13.  Abram  the  Hebrew]  See  on  chap.  x.  21. 
It  is  very  likely  that  Abram  had  this  appellation  from 
his  coming  from  beyond  the  river  Euphrates  to  enter 
Canaan ;  for  haibn ,  which  we  render  the  He¬ 

brew,  comes  from  "Djf  abar,  to  pass  over,  or  come  from 
beyond.  It  is  supposed  by  many  that  he  got  this  name 

99 


GENESIS. 


Abram  attacks  and  routs  the  four 


kings ,  and  recovers  the  captives. 


A.  M.  cir.  2091.  1 4  And  when  Abram  heard 

B.  c.  cir.  1913.  w  j^g  Mother  was  taken 

captive,  he  x  armed  his  r  trained  servants , 
z  born  in  his  own  house,  three  hundred 
and  eighteen,  and  pursued  them  a  unto 
Dan. 

15  And  he  divided  himself  against  them,  he 
and  his  servants,  by  night,  and  b  smote  them, 
and  pursued  them  unto  Hobah,  which  is  on 
the  left  hand  of  Damascus. 

1 6  And  he  brought  back  c  all  the  goods,  and 


also  brought  again  his  brother  A.  M.  cir.  2091. 
T  i  i  •  &  1  ,  ,  B,  C.  cir.  1913. 

Dot,  and  his  goods,  and  the - 

women  also,  and  the  people. 

1 7  And  the  king  of  Sodom  d  went  out  to 
meet  him  e  after  his  return  from  the  slaughter 
of  Chedorlaomer,  and  of  the  kings  that  were 
with  him,  at  the  valley  of  Sbaveh,  which  is 
the  f  king’s  dale. 


18  And  *  Melchizedek  king  of  Salem  brought 
forth  bread  and  wine  :  and  he  was  h  the  priest 
of  1  the  most  high  God. 


w  Chap.  xiii..8. - x  Or,  led  forth. - 7  Or,  instructed. - z  Ch. 

xv.  3  ;  xvii.  12,  27  ;  Eccles.  ii.  7. - aDeut.  xxxiv.  1 ;  Judg. 

xviii.  29. — ~bIsa.  xli.  2,  3. - 11  Ver.  11,  12. 


dJudg.  xi.  34;  1  Sam.  xviii.  6. - e  Heb.  vii.  1. - f2  Sam. 

xviii.  18. - s  Heb.  vii.  1. - h  Psa.  cx.  4  ;  Heb.  v.  6. - ;  Mic. 

vi.  6  ;  Acts  xvi.  17  ;  Ruth  iii.  10  ;  2  Sam.  ii.  5. 


from  Eber  or  Heber,  son  of  Salah ;  see  chap.  xi.  15. 
But  why  he  should  get  a  name  from  Heber,  rather 
than  from  his  own  father,  or  some  other  of  his  pro¬ 
genitors,  no  person  has  yet  been  able  to  discover. 
We  may,  therefore,  safely  conclude  that  he  bears  the 
appellation  of  Hebrew  or  Ibrite  from  the  above  cir¬ 
cumstance,  and  not  from  one  of  his  progenitors,  of 
whom  we  know  nothing  but  the  name,  and  who  pre¬ 
ceded  Abram  not  less  than  six  generations  ;  and  during 
the  whole  of  that  time  till  the  time  marked  here,  none 
of  his  descendants  were  ever  called  Hebrews ;  this  is 
a  demonstration  that  Abram  was  not  called  the  Hebrew 
from  Heber ;  see  chap-  xi.  15—27. 

These  were  confederate  with  Abram.]  It  seems 
that  a  kind  of  convention  was  made  between  Abram 
and  the  three  brothers,  Mamre,  Eshcol,  and  Aner, 
who  were  probably  all  chieftains  in  the  vicinity  of 
Abram’s  dwelling  :  all  petty  princes,  similar  to  the 
nine  kings  before  mentioned. 

Yerse  14.  He  armed  his  trained  servants]  These 
amounted  to  three-  hundred  and  eighteen  in  number  : 
and  how  many  were  in  the  divisions  of  Mamre,  Eshcol, 
and  Aner,  we  know  not ;  but  they  and  their  men 
certainly  accompanied  him  in  this  expedition.  See 
ver.  24. 

Yerse  15.  And  he  divided  himself  against  them\  It 
required  both  considerable  courage  and  address  in 
Abram  to  lead  him  to  attack  the  victorious  armies  of 
these  four  kings  with  so  small  a  number  of  troops,  and 
on  this  occasion  both  his  skill  and  his  courage  are 
exercised.  His  affection  for  Lot  appears  to  have  been 
his  chief  motive;  he  cheerfully  risks  his  life  for  that 
nephew  who  had  lately  chosen  the  best  part  of  the 
land,  and  left  his  uncle  to  live  as  he  might,  on  what 
he  did  not  think  worthy  his  own  acceptance.  But  it 
is  the  property  of  a  great  and  generous  mind,  not  only 
to  forgive,  but  to  forget  offences  ;  and  at  all  times  to 
repay  evil  with  good. 

Verse  16.  And  he  brought  back — the  ivomen  also ] 
This  is  brought  in  by  the  sacred  historian  with  peculiar 
interest  and  tenderness.  All  who  read  the  account 
must  be  in  pain  for  the  fate  of  wives  and  daughters 
fallen  into  the  hands  of  a  ferocious,  licentious,  and 
victorious  soldiery.  Other  spoils  the  routed  confede¬ 
rates  might  have  left  behind  ;  and  yet  on  their  swift 
asses,  camels,  and  dromedaries,  have  carried  off  the 

100 


female  captives.  However,  Abram  had  disposed  his 
attack  so  judiciously,  and  so  promptly  executed  his 
measures,  that  not  only  all  the  baggage,  but  all  the 
females  also,  were  recovered. 

Yerse  17.  The  king  of  Sodom  went  out  to  meet  him ] 
This  could  not  have  been  Bera,  mentioned  ver.  2,  for 
it  seems  pretty  evident,  from  ver.  10,  that  both  he  and 
Birsha,  king  of  Gomorrah,  were  slain  at  the  bitumen- 
pits  in  the  vale  of  Siddim  ;  but  another  person  in  the 
mean  time  might  have  succeeded  to  the  government. 

Yerse  18.  And  Melchizedek ,  king  of  Salem ]  A 
thousand  idle  stories  have  been  told  about  this  man, 
and  a  thousand  idle  conjectures  spent  on  the  subject 
of  his  short  history  given  here  and  in  Heb.  vii.  At 
present  it  is  only  necessary  to  state  that  he  appears  to 
have  been  as  real  a  personage  as  Bera ,  Birsha ,  or 
Shinab ,  though  we  have  no  more  of  his  genealogy 
than  we  have  of  theirs. 

Brought  forth  bread  and  wine ]  Certainly  to  refresh 
Abram  and  his  men,  exhausted  with  the  late  battle 
and  fatigues  of  the  journey  ;  not  in  the  way  of  sacrifices 
&c. ;  this  is  an  idle  conjecture. 

He  was  the  priest  of  the  most  high  God.]  He  had 
preserved  in  his  family  and  among  his  subjects  the 
worship  of  the  true  God,  and  the  primitive  patriarchal 
institutions  ;  by  these  the  father  of  every  family  was 
both  king  and  priest ;  so  Melchizedek,  being  a  worship¬ 
per  of  the  true  God,  was  priest  among  the  people,  as 
well  as  king  over  them. 

Melchizedek  is  called  here  king  of  Salem ,  and  the 
most  judicious  interpreters  allow  that  by  Salem  Jeru¬ 
salem  is  meant.  That  it  bore  this  name  anciently  is 
evident  from  Psa.  lxxvi.  1,2:  “In  Judah  is  God  known; 
his  name  is  great  in  Israel.  In  Salem  also  is  his  taber¬ 
nacle ,  and  his  dwelling  place  in  Zion.”  From  the  use 
made  of  this  part  of  the  sacred  history  by  David,  Psa. 
cx.  4,  and  by  St.  Paul,  Heb.  vii.  1-10,  we  learn  that 
there  was  something  very  mysterious,  and  at  the  same 
time  typical,  in  the  person ,  name ,  office ,  residence ,  and 
government  of  this  Canaanitish  prince.  1.  In  his 
person  he  was  a  representative  and  type  of  Christ ;  see 
the  scriptures  above  referred  to.  2.  His  name  oS?3 
pT^  mallei  tsedek ,  signifies  my  righteous  king,  or  king 
of  righteousness.  This  name  he  probably  had  from 
the  pure  and  righteous  administration  of  his  govern¬ 
ment  ;  and  this  is  one  of  the  characters  of  our  blessed 

a 


Melchizedek  blesses  Abram,  who 


CHAP.  XIV.  refuses  to  take  any  of  the  booty . 


A.  M.  cir.  2091. 

B.  C.  cir.  1913. 


19  And  he  blessed  him,  and 
said,  Blessed  be  Abram  of  the 
most  high  God,  k  possessor  of  heaven  and 
earth. 

20  And  1  blessed  be  the  most  high  God, 
which  hath  delivered  thine  enemies  into  thy 
hand.  And  he  gave  him  tithes  m  of  all. 

2 1  And  the  king  of  Sodom  said  unto  Abram, 
Give  me  the  n  persons,  and  take  the  goods  to 
thyself. 

22  And  Abram  said  to  the  king  of  Sodom, 

k  Ver.  22  ;  Matt.  xi.  25. - 1  Chap.  xxiv.  27. - m  Heb.  vii.  4. 

n  Heb.  souls. 


I  0  have  lift  up  mine  hand  unto  A.  M.  cir.  2091 
the  Lord,  the  most  high  God,  B‘-^‘cir*  1913- 
p  the  possessor  of  heaven  and  earth, 

23  That  q  I  will  not  take  from  a  thread  even 
to  a  shoe-latchet,  and  that  I  will  not  take  any 
thing  that  is  thine,  lest  thou  shouldest  say,  I 
have  made  Abram  rich  : 

24  Save  only  that  which  the  young  men 
have  eaten,  and  the  portion  of  the  men  r  which 
went  with  me,  Aner,  Eshcol,  and  Mamre;  let 
them  take  their  portion. 


0  Exod.  vi.  8 ;  Dan.  xii.  7 ;  Rev.  x.  5,  6.- 
xxi.  33. - q  So  Esther  ix.  15,  16.- 


-PVer.  19;  chap. 
-r  Ver.  13. 


Lord,  a  character  which  can  be  applied  to  him  only, 
as  he  alone  is  essentially  righteous ,  and  the  only  Po¬ 
tentate;  but  a  holy  man,  such  as  Melchizedek,  might 
bear  this  name  as  his  type  or  representative.  3.  Office; 
he  was  a  priest  of  the  most  high  God.  The  word 
fro  cohen ,  which  signifies  both  prince  and  priest ,  be¬ 
cause  the  patriarchs  sustained  this  double  office,  has 
both  its  root  and  proper  signification  in  the  Arabic; 
i kahana  signifies  to  approach ,  draw  near ,  have 
intimate  access  to ;  and  from  hence  to  officiate  as  priest 
bfeore  God,  and  thus  have  intimate  access  to  the  Di¬ 
vine  presence  :  and  by  means  of  the  sacrifices  which 
he  offered  he  received  counsel  and  information  relative 
to  what  was  yet  to  take  place ,  and  hence  another  ac¬ 
ceptation  of  the  word,  to  foretell,  predict  future  events, 
unfold  hidden  things  or  mysteries  ;  so  the  lips  of  the 
priests  preserved  knowledge,  and  they  were  often  the 
interpreters  of  the  will  of  God  to  the  people.  Thus 
we  find  that  Melchizedek,  being  a  priest  of  the  most 
high  God,  represented  Christ  in  his  sacerdotal  charac¬ 
ter,  the  word  priest  being  understood  as  before  ex¬ 
plained.  4.  His  residence  ;  he  was  king  of  Salem. 

shalam  signifies  to  make  whole,  complete ,  or  per¬ 
fect  ;  and  hence  it  means  peace,  which  implies  the 
making  whole  the  breaches  made  in  the  political  and 
domestic  union  of  kingdoms,  states,  families,  &c., 
making  an  end  of  discord,  and  establishing  friendship. 
Christ  is  called  the  Prince  of  peace,  because,  by  his 
incarnation,  sacrifice,  and  mediation,  he  procures  and 
establishes  peace  between  God  and  man  ;  heals  the 
breaches  and  dissensions  between  heaven  and  earth, 
reconciling  both  ;  and  produces  glory  to  God  in  the 
highest,  and  on  earth  peace  and  good  will  among  men. 
His  residence  is  peace  and  quietness  and  assurance  for 
ever,  in  every  believing  upright  heart.  He  governs 
as  the  Prince  and  Priest  of  the  most  high  God,  ruling 
in  righteousness,  mighty  to  save  ;  and  he  ever  lives  to 
make  intercession  for,  and  save  to  the  uttermost  all 
who  come  unto  the  Father  by  him.  See  the  notes  on 
Heb.  vii. 

Verse  19,  And  he  blessed  him]  This  was  a  part 
of  the  priest’s  office,  to  bless  in  the  name  of  the  Lord, 
for  ever.  See  the  form  of  this  blessing,  Num.  vi. 
23—26  ;  and  for  the  meaning  of  the  word  to  bless ,  see 
Gen.  ii.  3. 

Verse  20.  And  he  gave  him  tithes ]  A  tenth  part 

of  all  the  spoils  he  had  taken  from  the  confederate 

a 


kings.  These  Abram  gave  as  a  tribute  to  the  most 
high  God,  who,  being  the  possessor  of  heaven  and  earth, 
dispenses  all  spiritual  and  temporal  favours,  and  de¬ 
mands  the  gratitude,  and  submissive,  loving  obedience, 
of  all  his  subjects.  Almost  all  nations  of  the  earth 
have  agreed  in  giving  a  tenth  part  of  their  property 
to  be  employed  in  religious  uses.  The  tithes  were 
afterwards  granted  to  the  Levites  for  the  use  of  the 
sanctuary,  and  the  maintenance  of  themselves  and  their 
families,  as  they  had  no  other  inheritance  in  Israel. 

Verse  22.  I  have  lift  up  mine  hand ]  The  primitive 
mode  of  appealing  to  God,  and  calling  him  to  witness 
a  particular  transaction  ;  this  no  doubt  generally  ob¬ 
tained  among  the  faithful  till  circumcision,  the  sign  of 
the  covenant,  was  established.  After  this,  in  swear¬ 
ing,  the  hand  was  often  placed  on  the  circumcised 
part ;  see  chap.  xxiv.  2  and  9. 

Verse  23.  From  a  thread  even  to  a  shoe-latchet ] 
This  was  certainly  a  proverbial  mode  of  expression 
the  full  meaning  of  which  is  perhaps  not  known. 
Among  the  rabbinical  writers  Din  chut,  or  'Din  chuti , 
signifies  a  fillet  worn  by  young  women  to  tie  up  their 
hair ;  taken  in  this  sense  it  will  give  a  good  meaning 
here.  As  Abram  had  rescued  both  the  men  and  women 
carried  off  by  the  confederate  kings,  and  the  king  of 
Sodom  had  offered  him  all  the  goods,  claiming  only  the 
persons,  he  answers  by  protesting  against  the  accept¬ 
ing  any  of  their  property :  “  I  have  vowed  unto  the 
Lord,  the  proprietor  of  heaven  and  earth,  that  I  will 
not  receive  the  smallest  portion  of  the  property  either 
of  the  women  or  men ,  from  a  girl’s  fillet  to  a  man’s 
shoe-tie.” 

Verse  24.  Save  only  that  which  the  young  men  have 
eaten ]  His  own  servants  had  partaken  of  the  victuals 
which  the  confederate  kings  had  carried  away ;  see 
ver.  1 1 .  This  was  unavoidable,  and  this  is  all  he 
claims ;  but  as  he  had  no  right  to  prescribe  the  same 
liberal  conduct  to  his  assistants,  Aner,  Eshcol,  and 
Mamre,  he  left  them  to  claim  the  share  that  by  right 
of  conquest  belonged  to  them  of  the  recaptured  booty. 
Whether  they  were  as  generous  as  Abram  we  are 
not  told. 

The  great  variety  of  striking  incidents  in  this  chap¬ 
ter  the  attentive  reader  has  already  carefully  noted 
To  read  and  not  understand  is  the  property  of  the 
foolish  and  the  inconsiderate.  1.  We  have  already 

101 


God  appears  again  unto  Abram, 

seen  the  danger  to  which  Lot  exposed  himself  in  pre¬ 
ferring  a  fertile  region,  though  peopled  with  the  work¬ 
ers  of  iniquity.  His  sorrows  commence  in  the  cap¬ 
tivity  of  himself  and  family,  and  the  loss  of  all  his 
property,  though  by  the  good  providence  of  God  he 
and  they  were  rescued.  2.  Long  observation  has 
proved  that  the  company  a  man  keeps  is  not  an  indif¬ 
ferent  thing ;  it  will  either  be  the  means  of  his  salva¬ 
tion  or  destruction.  3.  A  generous  man  cannot  be 
contented  with  mere  personal  safety  while  others  are 
in  danger,  nor  with  his  own  prosperity  while  others 
are  in  distress.  Abram,  hearing  of  the  captivity  of 
his  nephew,  determines  to  attempt  his  rescue  ;  he  puts 
himself  at  the  head  of  his  own  servants,  three  hundred 
and  eighteen  in  number,  and  the'  few  assistants  with 
which  his  neighbours,  Mamre,  Aner,  and  Eshcol,  could 
furnish  him ;  and,  trusting  in  God  and  the  goodness 
of  his  cause,  marches  off  to  attack  four  confederate 
kings  !  4.  Though  it  is  not  very  likely  that  the  armies 
of  those  petty  kings  could  have  amounted  to  many 
thousands ,  yet  they  were  numerous  enough  to  subdue 
almost  the  whole  land  of  Canaan ;  and  consequently, 
humanly  speaking,  Abram  must  know  that  by  numbers 
he  could  not  prevail,  and  that  in  this  case  particularly 
the  battle  was  the  Lord's.  5.  While  depending  on  the 
Divine  blessing  and  succour  he  knew  he  must  use  the 
means  he  had  in  his  power ;  he  therefore  divided  his 
troops  skilfully  that  he  might  attack  the  enemy  at 
different  points  at  the  same  time ,  and  he  chooses  the 
night  season  to  commence  his  attack,  that  the  small¬ 
ness  of  his  force  might  not  be  discovered.  God  re¬ 
quires  a  man  to  use  all  the  faculties  he  has  given  him 
in  every  lawful  enterprise,  and  only  in  the  conscientious 
use  of  them  can  he  expect  the  Divine  blessing ;  when 
this  is  done  the  event  may  be  safely  trusted  in  the 


and  renews  his  promise 

hands  of  God.  6.  Here  is  a  war  undertaken  by  Abram 
on  motives  the  most  honourable  and  conscientious ;  it 
was  to  repel  aggression,  and  to  rescue  the  innocent 
from  the  heaviest  of  sufferings  and  the  worst  of  slavery, 
not  for  the  purpose  of  plunder  nor  the  extension  of  his 
territories ;  therefore  he  takes  no  spoils,  and  returns 
peaceably  to  his  own  possessions.  How  happy  would 
the  world  be  were  every  sovereign  actuated  by  the 
same  spirit !  7.  We  have  already  noticed  the  appear¬ 
ance,  person,  office,  &c.,  of  Melchizedek ;  and,  with¬ 
out  indulging  in  the  wild  theories  of  either  ancient  or 
modern  visionaries,  have  considered  him  as  the  Scrip-  . 
tures  do,  a  type  of  Christ.  All  that  has  been  already 
spoken  on  this  head  may  be  recapitulated  in  a  few 
words.  1.  The  Redeemer  of  the  world  is  the  King 
of  righteousness  ;  he  creates  it,  maintains  it,  and  rules 
by  it.  2.  His  empire  is  the  empire  of  peace ;  this  he 
proclaims  to  them  who  are  afar  off,  and  to  them  that 
are  nigh;  to  the  JewT  and  to  the  Gentile.  3.  He  is 
Priest  of  the  most  high  God,  and  has  laid  down  his 
life  for  the  sin  of  the  world ;  and  through  this  sacri¬ 
fice  the  blessing  of  God  is  derived  on  them  that  be¬ 
lieve.  Reader,  take  him  for  thy  King  as  well  as  thy 
Priest ;  he  saves  those  only  who  submit  to  his  au¬ 
thority,  and  take  his  Spirit  for  the  regulator  of  their 
heart,  and  his  word  for  the  director  of  their  conduct. 
How  many  do  we  find,  among  those  who  would  be 
sorry  to  be  rated  so  low  as  to  rank  only  with  nominal 
Christians,  talking  of  Christ  as  their  Prophet,  Priest , 
and  King,  who  are  not  taught  by  his  word  and  Spirit* 
who  apply  not  for  redemption  in  his  blood,  and  who 
submit  not  to  his  authority !  Reader,  learn  this  deep 
and  important  truth  :  “  Where  I  am  there  also  shall 
my  servant  be ;  and  he  that  serveth  me,  him  shall  my 
Father  honour.” 


GENESIS. 


CHAPTER  XV. 


God  appears  to  Abram  in  a  vision,  and  gives  him  great  encouragement,  1.  Abram's  request  and  complaint , 
2,  3.  God  promises  him  a  son,  4  ;  and  an  exceedingly  numerous  posterity,  5.  Abram  credits  the  promise, 

and  his  faith  is  counted  unto  him  for  righteousness,  6.  Jehovah  proclaims  himself,  and  renews  the  promise 
of  Canaan  to  his  posterity,  7.  Abram  requires  a  sign  of  its  fulfilment,  8.  Jehovah  directs  him  to  offer 
a  sacrifice  of  five  different  animals,  9  ;  which  he  accordingly  does,  10,  11.  God  reveals  to  him  the  afflic¬ 
tion  of  his  posterity  in  Egypt,  and  the  duration  of  that  affliction,  12,  13.  Promises  to  bring  them  back  to 
the  land  of  Canaan  with  great  affluence,  14—16.  Renews  the  covenant  with  Abram,  and  mentions  the  pos¬ 
sessions  which  should  be  given  to  his  posterity,  1 8—2 1 . 


A.  M.  cir.  2093.  A  FTER  these  things  the  word 

B.  C.  cir.  1911.  & 

-  oi  the  Lord  came  unto 

Abram  a  in  a  vision,  saying,  b  Fear  not,  Abram; 


I  am  thy  c  shield,  and  thy  A.  M.  cir.  2093 
t  T  ,  J  B.  C.  cir.  1911. 

exceeding  d  great  reward.  - 

2  And  Abram  said,  Lord  God,  what  wilt 


aDan.  x.  1  ;  Acts  x.  10,  11. - b  Chap.  xxvi.  24 ;  Dan.  x.  12; 

Luke  i.  13,30. 

NOTES  ON  CHAP.  XV. 

Yerse  1.  The  word  of  the  Lord  came  unto  Abram \ 
This  is  the  first  place  where  God  is  represented  as 
revealing  himself  by  his  word.  Some  learned  men 
suppose  that  the  HliT  *131  debar  Yehovah,  translated 
here  word  of  the  Lord,  means  the  same  with  the  loyog 
rov  Qeov  of  St.  John,  chap.  i.  1,  and,  by  the  Chaldee 

102 


cPsa.  iii.  3  ;  v.  12  ;  lxxxiv.  11 ;  xci.  4  ;  cxix.  114. - d  Psa.  xvi. 

5 ;  lviii.  11  ;  Prov.  xi.  18. 

paraphrases  in  the  next  clause,  called  D'D  meimeri , 
“my  word,”  and  in  other  places  ''T  fcOD'D  meimera 
daiya,  the  word  of  Yeya,  a  contraction  for  Jehovah, 
which  they  appear  always  to  consider  as  a  person  ; 
and  which  they  distinguish  from  NDJD3  pithgama, 
which  signifies  merely  a  word  spoken,  or  any  part  of 
speech.  There  have  been  various  conjectures  concern- 

a 


CHAP.  XV. 


Abram's  complaint. 


Isaac  is  promised. 


a.  M.  cir.  2093.  thou  give  me,  e  seeing  I  go  child 
—  C‘  Clr~  1J1L  less,  and  the  steward  of  my 
house  is  this  Eliezer  of  Damascus  ? 

3  And  Abram  said,  Behold,  to  me  thou  hast 
given  no  seed  :  and  lo,  f  one  born  in  my  house 
is  mine  heir. 


4  And  behold,  the  word  of  the  a.  m.  cir.  2093. 

T  ,  .  B.  C.  cir.  1911. 

Lord  came  unto  him,  saying,  - 

This  shall  not  be  thine  heir  ;  but  he  that  g  shall 
come  forth  out  of  thine  own  bowels  shall  be 
thine  heir. 

5  And  he  brought  him  forth  abroad,  and 


e  Acts  vii.  5. — — f  Chap.  xiv.  14. 

ing  the  manner  in  which  God  revealed  his  will,  not 
only  to  the  patriarchs,  but  also  to  the  prophets,  evan¬ 
gelists,  and  apostles.  It  seems  to  have  been  done  in 
different  ways.  1.  By  a  personal  appearance  of  him 
who  was  afterwards  incarnated  for  the  salvation  of 
mankind.  2.  By  an  audible  voice ,  sometimes  accom¬ 
panied  with  emblematical  appearances.  3.  By  visions 
which  took  place  either  in  the  night  in  ordinary  sleep, 
or  when  the  persons  were  cast  into  a  temporary  trance 
by  daylight,  or  when  about  their  ordinary  business, 
4.  By  the  ministry  of  angels  appearing  in  human  bo¬ 
dies,  and  performing  certain  miracles  to  accredit  their 
mission.  5.  By  the  powerful  agency  of  the  Spirit  of 
God  upon  the  mind ,  giving  it  a  strong  conception  and 
supernatural  persuasion  of  the  truth  of  the  things 
perceived  by  the  understanding.  We  shall  see  all 
these  exemplified  in  the  course  of  the  work.  It  was 
probably  in  the  third  sense  that  the  revelation  in  the 
text  was  given ;  for  it  is  said,  God  appeared  to  Abram 
in  a  vision,  run 3  machazeh,  from  nin  cliazah ,  to  see, 
or  according  to  others,  to  fix ,  fasten ,  settle ;  hence 
chozeh,  a  seer,  the  person  who  sees  Divine  things,  to 
whom  alone  they  are  revealed,  on  whose  mind  they 
are  fastened,  and  in  whose  memory  and  judgment  they 
are  fixed  and  settled.  Hence  the  vision  which  was 
mentally  perceived,  and,  by  the  evidence  to  the  soul 
of  its  Divine  origin,  fixed  and  settled  in  the  mind. 

Fear  not]  The  late  Dr.  Dodd  has  a  good  thought 
on  this  passage ;  “  I  would  read,”  says  he,  “  the  se¬ 
cond  verse  in  a  parenthesis,  thus  :  For  Abram  had 
said,  Lord  God,  what  wilt  thou  give  me,  seeing  I-go 
childless,  <5yc.  Abram  had  said  this  in  the  fear  of  his 
heart,  upon  which  the  Lord  vouchsafed  to  him  this 
prophetical  view,  and  this  strong  renovation  of  the 
covenant.  In  this  light  all  follows  very  properly. 
Abram  had  said  so  and  so  in  ver.  2,  upon  which  God 
appears  and  says,  I  am  thy  shield,  and  thy  exceeding 
great  reward.  The  patriarch  then,  ver.  3,  freely  opens 
the  anxious  apprehension  of  his  heart,  Behold,  to  me 
thou  hast  given  no  seed,  dye.,  upon  which  God  proceeds 
to  assure  him  of  posterity.” 

I  am  thy  shield,  c fc.]  Can  it  be  supposed  that  Abram 
understood  these  words  as  promising  him  temporal  ad¬ 
vantages  at  all  corresponding  to  the  magnificence  of 
these  promises  T  If  he  did  he  was  disappointed  through 
the  whole  course  of  his  life,  for  he  never  enjoyed  such 
a  state  of  worldly  prosperity  as  could  justify  the  strong 
language  in  the  text.  Shall  we  lose  sight  of  Abram, 
and  say  that  his  posterity  was  intended,  and  Abram 
understood  the  promises  as  relating  to  them,  and  not 
to  himself  or  immediately  to  his  own  family  1  Then 
the  question  recurs,  Did  the  Israelites  ever  enjoy  such 
a  state  of  temporal  affluence  as  seems  to  be  intended 
by  the  above  promise  1  To  this  every  man  acquainted 

a 


s  2  Sam.  vii.  12 ;  xvi.  11 ;  2  Chron.  xxxii.  21. 

with  their  history  will,  without  hesitation,  say,  No. 
What  then  is  intended1?  Just  what  the  words  state. 
God  was  Abram’s  portion,  and  he  is  the  portion  of 
every  righteous  soul ;  for  to  Abram,  and  the  children 
of  his  faith,  he  gives  not  a  portion  in  this  life.  No¬ 
thing,  says  Father  Calmet,  proves  more  invincibly  the 
immortality  of  the  soul,  the  truth  of  religion,  and  the 
eternity  of  another  life,  than  to  see  that  in  this  life  the 
righteous  seldom  receive  the  reward  of  their  virtue, 
and  that  in  temporal  things  they  are  often  less  happy 
than  the  workers  of  iniquity. 

I  am,  says  the  Almighty,  thy  shield — thy  constant 
covering  and  protector,  and  thy  exceeding  great  reward, 
nmn  “poty  sekarcha  harbeh  meod ,  “  that  super¬ 
latively  multiplied  reward  of  thine.”  It  is  not  the 
Canaan  I  promise,  but  the  salvation  that  is  to  come 
through  the  promised  seed.  Hence  it  was  that  Abram 
rejoiced  to  see  his  day.  And  hence  the  Chaldee 
Targum  translates  this  place,  My  Word  shall  be  thy 
strength,  <fc. 

Yerse  2.  What  will  thou  give  me,  seeing  I  go  child 
less]  The  anxiety  of  the  Asiatics  to  have  offspring  is 
intense  and  universal.  Among  the  Hindoos  the  want 
of  children  renders  all  other  blessings  of  no  esteem. 
See  Ward. 

And  the  steward  of  my  house]  Abram,  understand¬ 
ing  the  promise  as  relating  to  that  person  who  was  to 
spring  from  his  family,  in  whom  all  the  nations  of  the 
earth  should  be  blessed,  expresses  his  surprise  that 
there  should  be  such  a  promise,  and  yet  he  is  about 
to  die  childless !  How  then  can  the  promise  be  ful¬ 
filled,  when,  far  from  a  spiritual  seed,  he  has  not  even 
a  person  in  his  family  that  has  a  natural  right  to  his 
property,  and  that  a  stranger  is  likely  to  be  his  heir  ? 
This  seems  to  be  the  general  sense  of  the  passage  ; 
but  who  this  steward  of  his  house,  this  Eliezer  of  Da¬ 
mascus,  was,  commentators  are  not  agreed.  The  trans¬ 
lation  of  the  Septuagint  is  at  least  curious  :  'Ods  vio g 
M aoEit  Trig  oiKoyevovg  yov,  ovrog  A ayacncog  E kiefcp’ 
The  son  of  Masek  my  home-born  maid,  this  Eliezer 
of  Damascus,  is  my  heir ;  which  intimates  that  they 
supposed  p*k^*D  meshek,  which  we  translate  steward,  to 
have  been  the  name  of  a  female  slave,  born  in  the  fa¬ 
mily  of  Abram,  of  whom  was  born  this  Eliezer,  who  on 
account  of  the  country  either  of  his  father  or  mother, 
was  called  a  Damascene  or  one  of  Damascus.  It  is 
extremely  probable  that  our  Lord  has  this  passage  in 
view  in  his  parable  of  the  rich  man  and  Lazarus,  Luke 
xvi.  19.  From  the  name  Eliezer,  by  leaving  out  the 
first  letter,  Liezer  is  formed,  which  makes  Lazarus  in 
the  New  Testament,  the  person  who,  from  an  abject 
and  distressed  state,  was  raised  to  lie  in  the  bosom  of 
Abraham  in  paradise. 

Yerse  5.  Look  now  toward  heaven]  It  appears  that 

103 


GENESIS. 


Abram's  sacrifice ,  and 


the  manner  of  offering  it. 


A.  M.  cir.  2093.  said.  Look  now  toward  heaven, 

B. _C;_eir._i9n.  h  ten  tLe  i  starSj  if  thou  be 

able  to  number  them  :  and  he  said  unto  him, 
k  So  shall  thy  seed  be. 

6  And  he  1  believed  in  the  Lord  ;  and  he 
m  counted  it  to  him  for  righteousness. 


7  And  he  said  unto  him,  I  am  the  Lord 
that  n  brought  thee  out  of  0  Ur  of  the  Chal¬ 
dees,  p  to  give  thee  this  land  to  inherit  it. 


8  And  he  said,  Lord  God,  a.  m.  cir.  2093. 

,  ,  .  .  ,  T  B.  C.  cir.  1911. 

q  whereby  shall  1  know  that  J  - - 

shall  inherit  it  ? 

9  And  he  said  unto  him,  r  Take  me  a  heilei 
of  three  years  old,  and  a  she-goat  of  three 
years  old,  and  a  ram  of  three  years  old,  andj 
a  turtle-dove,  and  a  young  pigeon. 

10  And  he  took  unto  him  all  these,  and 
s  divided  them  in  the  midst,  and  laid  each 


h  Psa.  cxlvii.  4. - 1  Jer.  xxxiii.  22. - k  Chap.  xxii.  17  ; 

Exod.  xxxii.  13  ;  Deut.  i.  10  ;  x.  22  ;  1  Chron.  xxvii.  23  ;  Rom. 

iv.  18  ;  Heb.  xi.  12  ;  see  chap.  xiii.  16. - 1  Rom.  iv.  3,  9,  22  ; 

Gal.  iii.  6;  James  ii.  23. - Psa.  cvi.  31. - “Chap.  xii.  1. 

this  whole  transaction  took  place  in  the  evening ;  see 
on  chap  xiii.  14.  Abram  had  either  two  visions,  that 
recorded  in  ver.  1,  and  that  in  ver.  12,  &c.  ;  or  what 
is  mentioned  in  the  beginning  of  this  chapter  is  a  part 
of  the  occurrences  which  took  place  after  the  sacrifice 
mentioned  ver.  9,  &c.  :  but  it  is  more  likely  that  there 
was  a  vision  of  that  kind  already  described,  and  after¬ 
wards  a  second ,  in  which  he  received  the  revelation 
mentioned  ver.  13-16.  After  the  first  vision  he  is 
brought  forth  abroad  to  see  if  he  can  number  the  stars ; 
and  as  he  finds  this  impossible,  he  is  assured  that  as 
they  are  to  him  innumerable,  so  shall  his  posterity  be ; 
and  that  all  should  spring  from  one  who  should  pro¬ 
ceed  from  his  own  bowels — one  who  should  be  his 
own  legitimate  child. 

Verse  6.  And  he  believed  in  the  Lord;  and  he 
counted  it  to  him  for  righteousness.  ]  This  I  conceive 
to  be  one  of  the  most  important  passages  in  the  whole 
Old  Testament.  It  properly  contains  and  specifies 
that  doctrine  of  justification  by  faith  which  engrosses 
so  considerable  a  share  of  the  epistles  of  St.  Paul, 
and  at  the  foundation  of  which  is  the  atonement  made 
by  the  Son  of  God  :  And  he  (Abram)  believed  (jDKH 
heemin,  he  put  faith)  in  Jehovah ,  lb  PlT^m  vaiyach- 
shebeha  lo,  and  he  counted  it — the  faith  he  put  in  Je¬ 
hovah,  to  him  for  righteousness ,  nplk’  tsedakah,  or 
justification  ;  though  there  was  no  act  in  the  case  but 
that  of  the  mind  and  heart,  no  ivork  of  any  kind. 
Hence  the  doctrine  of  justification  by  faith ,  without 
any  merit  of  works ;  for  in  this  case  there  could  be 
none— no  works  of  Abram  which  could  merit  the  sal¬ 
vation  of  the  whole  human  race.  It  was  the  promise 
of  God  which  he  credited,  and  in  the  blessedness  of 
which  he  became  a  partaker  through  faith.  See  at 
the  close  of  the  chapter ;  see  also  on  Rom.  iv. 

Verse  7.  Ur  of  the  Chaldees ]  See  on  chap.  xi. 

Verse  8.  And  he  said,  Lord  God ]  HUT  Ado¬ 
nai  Yehovah,  my  Lord  Jehovah.  Adonai  is  the  word 
which  the  Jews  in  reading  always  substitute  for  Jeho¬ 
vah,  as  they  count  it  impious  to  pronounce  this  name. 
Adonai  signifies  my  director,  basis,  supporter,  prop,  or 
stay  ;  and  scarcely  a  more  appropriate  name  can  be 
given  to  that  God  who  is  the  framer  and  director  of 
every  righteous  word  and  action  ;  the  basis  ox  founda¬ 
tion  on  which  every  rational  hope  rests  ;  the  supporter 
of  the  souls  and  bodies  of  men,  as  well  as  of  the  uni¬ 
verse  in  general ;  the  prop  and  stay  of  the  weak  and 
fainting,  and  the  buttress  that  shores  up  the  building, 

104 


0  Chap.  xi.  28,  31. - p  Psa.  cv.  42,  44;  Rom.  iv.  13. - 1  See 

chap.  xxiv.  13,  14  ;  Judg.  vi.  17, 37 ;  1  Sam.  xiv.  9, 10  ;  2  Kings 

xx.  8  ;  Luke  i.  18. - r  Lev.  i.  3,  10,  14  ;  xii.  8  ;  xiv.  22,  30  ; 

Luke  xi.  24  ;  Isa.  xv.  5. - s  Jer.  xxxiv.  18,  19. 

which  otherwise  must  necessarily  fall.  This  word 
often  occurs  in  the  Hebrew  Bible,  and  is  rendered  in 
our  translation  Lord;  the  same  term  by  which  the 
word  Jehovah  is  expressed  :  but  to  distinguish  between 
the  two,  and  to  show  the  reader  when  the  original  is 
mrr  Yehovah,  and  when  ’’JIX  Adonai,  the  first  is 
always  put  in  capitals,  Lord,  the  latter  in  plain  Roman 
characters,  Lord.  For  the  word  Jehovah  see  on  chap, 
ii.  4,  and  on  Exod.  xxxiv.  6. 

Whereby  shall  I  know ]  By  what  sign  shall  I  be 
assured,  that  I  shall  inherit  this  land  1  It  appears  that 
he  expected  some  sign,  and  that  on  such  occasions  one 
was  ordinarily  given. 

Verse  9.  Take  me  a  heifer]  vhty  eglah,  a  she- 
calf;  a  she-goat ,  Tp  ez,  a  goat,  male  or  female,  but 
distinguished  here  by  the  feminine  adjective  ; 
meshullesheth,  a  three-yearling ;  a  ram,  S’X  ayil ;  a 
turtle-dove,  in  tor,  from  which  come  turtur  and  turtle  ; 
young  pigeon,  SiU  gozal,  a  word  signifying  the  young 
of  pigeons  and  eagles.  See  Deut.  xxxii.  11.  It  is 
worthy  of  remark,  that  every  animal  allowed  or  com¬ 
manded  to  be  sacrificed  under  the  Mosaic  law  is  to  be 
found  in  this  list.  And  is  it  not  a  proof  that  God  was 
now  giving  to  Abram  an  epitome  of  that  law  and  its 
Sacrifices  which  he  intended  more  fully  to  reveal  to 
Moses  ;  the  essence  of  which  consisted  in  its  sacrificesy 
which  typified  the  Lamb  of  God  that  takes  away  the 
sin  of  the  world  ? 

On  the  several  animals  which  God  ordered  Abram 
to  take,  Jarchi  remarks  :  “  The  idolatrous  nations  are 
compared  in  the  Scriptures  to  bulls,  rams,  and  goats  ; 
for  it  is  written,  Psa.  xxii.  1 3  :  Many  bulls  have  com¬ 
passed  me  about.  Dan.  viii.  20  :  The  ram  i&hich  thou 
hast  seen  is  the  king  of  Persia.  Ver.  21  :  Thorough 
goat  is  the  king  of  Greece.  But  the  Israelites  are 
compared  to  doves,  <fc.  ;  Cant,  ii,  14  :  O  my  dove , 
that  art  in  the  cleft  of  the  rock.  The  division  of  the 
above  carcasses  denotes  the  division  and  extermination 
of  the  idolatrous  nations ;  but  the  birds  not  being  di¬ 
vided,  shows  that  the  Israelites  are  to  abide  for  ever.” 
See  Jarchi  on  the  place. 

Verse  10.  Divided  them  in  the  midst ]  The  ancient 
method  of  making  covenants,  as  well  as  the  original 
word,  have  been  already  alluded  to,  and  in  a  general 
way  explained.  See  chap.  vi.  18.  The  word  cove¬ 
nant,  from  con,  together,  and  venio,  I  come,  signifies 
an  agreement,  association,  or  meeting  between  two 
mare  parties  j  for  it  is  impossible  that  a  eovenairt 

a 


God  reveals  to  Abram 


CHAP.  XV. 


the  bondage  of  his  posterity. 


A 

B 


.  M.  cir.  2093.  piece  one  against  another  :  but 
.  C.  cir.  1911.  :  .  .  .  ,  ,?  .  ,  ,  , 

-  t  the  birds  divided  he  not. 


1 1  And  when  the  fowls  came  down  upon 
the  carcasses,  Abram  drove  them  away. 

12  And  when  the  sun  was  going  down, 
u  a  deep  sleep  fell  upon  Abram  ;  and,  lo,  a 


horror  of  great  darkness  fell  a.  M.  cir.  2093. 

,  .  °  B.  C.  cir.  1911. 

upon  him.  - 

13  And  he  said  unto  Abram,  Know  of  a 
surety  v  that  thy  seed  shall  be  a  stranger  in  a 
land  that  is  not  theirs,  and  shall  serve  them ;  and 
w  they  shall  afflict  them  four  hundred  years  ; 


1  Lev.  i.  17. - uChap.  ii.  21 ;  Job.  iv.  13. - v  Exod.  xii.  40  ; 


Psa.  cv.  23;  Acts  vii.  6. - w  Exodus  i.  11;  Psalm  cv.  25. 


be  made  between  an  individual  and  himself,  whether 
God  or  man.  This  is  a  theological  absurdity  into 
which  many  have  run  ;  there  must  be  at  least  two  par¬ 
ties  to  contract  with  each  other.  And  often  there  was 
a  third  party  to  mediate  the  agreement,  and  to  witness 
it  when  made.  Rabbi  Solomon  Jarchi  says,  “It  was 
a  custom  with  those  who  entered  into  covenant  with 
each  other  to  take  a  heifer  and  cut  it  in  two,  and  then 
the  contracting  parties  passed  between  the  pieces.” 
See  this  and  the  scriptures  to  which  it  refers  particu¬ 
larly  explained,  chap.  vi.  18.  A  covenant  always 
supposed  one  of  these  four  things:  1.  That  the  con¬ 
tracting  parties  had  been  hitherto  unknown  to  each 
other,  and  were  brought  by  the  covenant  into  a  state 
of  acquaintance .  2.  That  they  had  been  previously 

in  a  state  of  hostility  or  enmity ,  and  were  brought  by 
the  covenant  into  a  state  of  pacification  and  f  riendship. 
3.  Or  that,  being  known  to  each  other,  they  now  agree 
to  unite  their  counsels,  strength,  property,  &c.,  for  the 
accomplishment  of  a  particular  purpose,  mutually  sub¬ 
servient  to  the  interests  of  both.  Or,  4.  It  implies  an 
agreement  to  succour  and  defend  a  third  party  in  cases 
of  oppression  and  distress.  For  whatever  purpose  a. 
covenant  was  made,  it  was  ever  ratified  by  a  sacrifice 
offered  to  God ;  and  the  passing  between  the  divided 
parts  of  the  victim  appears  to  have  signified  that  each 
agreed,  if  they  broke  their  engagements,  to  submit  to 
the  punishment  of  being  cut  asunder ;  which  we  find 
from  Matt.  xxiv.  51  ;  Luke  xii.  46,  was  an  ancient 
mode  of  punishment.  This  is  farther  confirmed  by 
Herodotus,  who  says  that  Sabacus,  king  of  Ethiopia, 
had  a  vision,  in  which  he  was  ordered  ysooug  dcarepeiv, 
to  cut  in  two,  all  the  Egyptian  priests  ;  lib.  ii.  We 
find  also  from  the  same  author,  lib.  vii.,  that  Xerxes 
ordered  one  of  the  sons  of  Pythius  pecov  diarepELv,  to 
be  cut  in  two ,  and  one  half  to  be  placed  on  each  side 
of  the  way,  that  his  army  might  pass  through  between 
them.  That  this  kind  of  punishment  was  used  among 
the  Persians  we  have  proof  from  Dan.  ii.  5  ;  iii.  29. 
Story  of  Susanna,  verses  55,  59.  See  farther,  2 
Sam.  xii.  31,  and  1  Chron.  xx.  3.  These  authorities 
maybe  sufficient  to  show  that  the  passing  betxoeen  the 
parts  of  the  divided  victims  signified  the  punishment 
to  which  those  exposed  themselves  who  broke  their 
covenant  engagements.  And  that  covenant  sacrifices 
were  thus  divided ,  even  from  the  remotest  antiquity, 
we  learn  from  Homer,  II.  A.,  v.  460. 

M rjpovg  t*  e^erapov  Kara  re  nviacnj  enaXvipav, 

Anrrvxa  noLrjaavre f,  e7t’  ccvtuv  d’  opodeTqcrav. 

“  They  cut  the  quarters,  and  cover  them  with  the 
fat ;  dividing  them  into  two,  they  place  the  raw  flesh 

upon  them,” 


But  this  place  may  be  differently  understood. 

St.  Cyril,  in  his  work  against  Julian,  shows  that 
passing  between  the  divided  parts  of  a  victim  was 
used  also  among  the  Chaldeans  and  other  people.  As 
the  sacrifice  was  required  to  make  an  atonement  to 
God,  so  the  death  of  the  animal  was  necessary  to  sig¬ 
nify  to  the  contracting  parties  the  punishment  to  which 
they  exposed  themselves,  should  they  prove  unfaithful. 

Livy  preserves  the  form  of  the  imprecation  used  on 
such  occasions,  in  the  account  he  gives  of  the  league 
made  between  the  Romans  and  Albans.  When  the 
Romans  were  about  to  enter  into  some  solemn  league 
or  covenant,  they  sacrificed  a  hog  ;  and,  on  the  above 
occasion,  the  priest,  or  pater  patratus ,  before  he  slew 
the  animal,  stood,  and  thus  invoked  Jupiter  :  Audi ,  Ju¬ 
piter  !  Si  prior  defecerit  publico  consilio  dolo  malo ,  turn 
illo  die,  Diespiter,  Populum  Romanum  sic  ferito,  ui 
ego  hunc  porcum  hie  hodie  feriam ;  tantoque  magis 
ferito,  quanto  magis  potes  pollesque  !  Lrvn  Hist.  fib. 
i.,  chap.  24.  “  Hear,  0  Jupiter  !  Should  the  Romans 

in  public  counsel,  through  any  evil  device,  first  trans¬ 
gress  these  laws,  in  that  same  day,  O  Jupiter,  thus 
smite  the  Roman  people,  as  I  shall  at  this  time  smite 
this  hog ;  and  smite  them  with  a  severity  proportioned 
to  the  greatness  of  thy  power  and  might  !” 

But  the  birds  divided  he  not.]  According  to  the 
law,  Lev.  i.  17,  fowls  were  not  to  be  divided  asunder, 
but  only  cloven  for  the  purpose  of  taking  out  the  in¬ 
testines. 

Yerse  11.  Andivhen  the  fowls]  haayit,  birds 

of  prey,  came  down  upon  the  carcasses  to  devour  them, 
Abram,  who  stood  by  his  sacrifice  waiting  for  the 
manifestation  of  God,  wrho  had  ordered  him  to  prepare 
for  the  ratification  of  the  covenant,  drove  them  away , 
that  they  might  neither  pollute  nor  devour  what  had 
been  thus  consecrated  to  God. 

Yerse  12.  A  deep  sleep]  nDYYl  iardemah ,  the 
same  word  which  is  used  to  express  the  sleep  into 
which  Adam  was  cast,  previous  to  the  formation  of 
Eve  ;  chap.  ii.  21. 

A  horror  of  great  darkness]  Which  God  designed 
to  be  expressive  of  the  affliction  and  misery  into  which 
his  posterity  should  be  brought  during  th e  four  hundred 
years  of  their  bondage  in  Egypt ;  as  the  next  verse 
particularly  states. 

Yerse  13.  Four  hundred  years]  “  Which  began,” 
says  Mr.  Ainsworth,  “  when  Ishmael,  son  of  HagaT, 
mocked  and  persecuted  Isaac,  Gen.  xxi.  9  ;  Gal.  iv. 
29  ;  which  fell  out  thirty  years  after  the  promise,  Gen. 
xii.  3  ;  which  promise  was  four  hundred  and  thirty 
years  before  the  law,  Gal.  iii.  17  ;  and  four  hundred 
and  thirty  years  after  that  promise  came  Israel  out  of 
Egypt,  Exod.  xii.  41.” 


a 


105 


Israelites ’  redemption  foretold.  GENESIS. 


Extent  of  the  promised  land . 


A.  M.  cir.  2093.  14  And  also  that  nation,  whom 

B.  C.  cir.  19U-  g]ia]|  servej  X  will  I  judge  : 

and  afterward  y  shall  they  come  out  with  great 
substance. 

]  5  And  z  thou  shalt  go  a  to  thy  fathers  in 
peace;  bthou  shalt  be  buried  in  a  good  old 

age- 

16  But  c  in  the  fourth  generation  they  shall 
come  hither  again ;  for  the  iniquity  d  of  the 
Amorites  e  is  not  yet  full. 

17  And  it  came  to  pass,  that,  when  the  sun 
went  down,  and  it  was  dark,  behold  a  smoking 


furnace,  and  f  a  burning  lamp  that  A.  M.  cir.  2093 
,  .  ,  5  .  B.  C.  cir.  1911 

B  passed  between  those  pieces.  - . 

18  In  the  same  day  the  Lord  11  made  a  co¬ 
venant  with  Abram,  saying, *  1  Unto  thy  seed 
have  I  given  this  land,  from  the  river  of  Egypt 
unto  the  great  river,  the  river  k  Euphrates  : 

1 9  The  1  Kenites,  and  the  Kenizzites,  and 
the  Kadmonites, 

20  And  the  Hittites,  and  the  Perizzites,  and 
the  m  Rephaims, 

2 1  And  the  n  Amorites,  and  the  Canaanites, 
and  the  Girgashites,  and  the  Jebusites. 


s  Exod.  vi.  6  ;  Deut.  vi.  22. - T  Exod.  xii.  36;  Psa.  cv.  37. 

2  Job  v.  26. - 1  Acts  xiii.  36. - b  Chap.  xxv.  8. - c  Exod.  xii. 

40. - d  1  Kings  xxi.  26. - e  Dan.  viii.  23  ;  Matt,  xxiii.  32  ; 

1  Thess.  ii.  16. - fHeb.  a  lamp  of  fire. - &Jer.  xxxiv.  18,  19. 

°  Chap.  xxiv.  7. - 1  Chap.  xii.  7 ;  xiii.  15  ;  xxvi.  4 ;  Exod.  xxiii. 


Yerse  14.  And  also  that  nation,  cfc.]  How  remark¬ 
ably  was  this  promise  fulfilled,  in  the  redemption  of 
Israel  from  its  bondage,  in  the  plagues  and  destruction 
of  the  Egyptians,  and  in  the  immense  wealth  which 
the  Israelites  brought  out  of  Egypt !  Not  a  more 
circumstantial  or  literally  fulfilled  promise  is  to  be  found 
in  the  sacred  writings. 

Yerse  15.  Thou  shalt  go  to  thy  fathers  in  peace] 
This  verse  strongly  implies  the  immortality  of  the  soul, 
and  a  state  of  separate  existence.  He  was  gathered 
to  his  fathers — introduced  into  the  place  where  sepa¬ 
rate  spirits  are  kept,  waiting  for  the  general  resurrec¬ 
tion.  Two  things  seem  to  be  distinctly  marked  here  : 
1 .  The  soul  of  Abram  should  be  introduced  among  the 
assembly  of  the  first-born  ;  Thou  shalt  go  to  thy  fa¬ 
thers  in  peace.  2.  His  body  should  be  buried  after  a 
long  life,  one  hundred  and  seventy-five  years,  chap, 
xxv.  7.  The  body  was  buried  ;  the  soul  went  to  the 
spiritual  world,  to  dwell  among  the  fathers — the  patri¬ 
archs,  who  had  lived  and  died  in  the  Lord.  See  the 
note  on  chap.  xxv.  8. 

Verse  16.  In  the  fourth  generation]  In  former 
times  most  people  counted  by  generations ,  to  each  of 
which  was  assigned  a  term  of  years  amounting  to  20, 
2.5,  30,  33,  100,  108,  or  110  ;  for  the  generation  was 
of  various  lengths  among  various  people,  at  different 
times.  It  is  probable  that  the  fourth  generation  here 
means  the  same  as  the  four  hundred  years  in  the  pre¬ 
ceding  verse.  Some  think  it  refers  to  the  time  when 
Eleazar ,  the  son  of  Aaron ,  the  son  of  Amram,  the 
son  of  Kohath,  came  out  of  Egypt,  and  divided  the 
land  of  Canaan  to  Israel,  Josh.  xiv.  1.  Others  think 
the  fourth  generation  of  the  Amorites  is  intended,  be¬ 
cause  it  is  immediately  added,  The  iniquity  of  the 
Amorites  is  not  yet  full ;  but  in  the  fourth  generation 
they  should  be  expelled,  and  the  descendants  of  Abram 
established  in  their  place.  From  these  words  we  learn 
that  there  is  a  certain  pitch  of  iniquity  to  which  nations 
may  arrive  before  they  are  destroyed,  and  beyond  which 
Divine  justice  does  not  permit  them  to  pass. 

A  erse  17.  Smoking  furnace  and  a  burning  lamp] 
Probably  the  smoking  furnace  might  be  designed  as 
an  emblem  of  the  sore  afflictions  of  the  Israelites  in 

106 


31  ;  Num.  xxxiv.  3  ;  Deut.  i.  7  ;  xi.  24  ;  xxxiv.  4  ;  Josh.  i.  4  ; 
1  Kings  iv.  21  ;  2  Chron.  ix.  26 ;  Neh.  ix.  8  ;  Psa.  cv.  11  ;  Isa. 

xxvii.  12. - k  Chap.  ii.  14 ;  2  Sam.  viii.  3  ;  1  Chron.  v.  9. 

1  Num.  xxiv.  21,  22. - m  Chap.  xiv.  5  ;  Isa.  xvii.  5. - n  Chap. 

x.  15-19;  Exod.  xxiii.  23-28;  xxxiii.  2;  xxxiv.  11. 


Egypt ;  but  the  burning  lamp  was  certainly  the  symbol 
of  the  Divine  presence,  which,  passing  between  the 
pieces,  ratified  the  covenant  with  Abram,  as  the  fol¬ 
lowing  verse  immediately  states. 

Yerse  18.  The  Lord  made  a  covenant]  jT"D  4H3 
carath  berith  signifies  to  cut  a  covenant ,  or  rather  the 
covenant  sacrifice  ;  for  as  no  covenant  was  made  with¬ 
out  one,  and  the  creature  was  cut  in  two  that  the  con¬ 
tracting  parties  might  pass  between  the  pieces,  hence 
cutting  the  covenant  signified  making  the  covenant. 
The  same  form  of  speech  obtained  among  the  Romans  ; 
and  because,  in  making  their  covenants  they  always 
slew  an  animal,  either  by  cutting  its  throat ,  or  knock¬ 
ing  it  down  with  a  stone  or  axe,  after  which  they 
divided  the  parts  as  we  have  already  seen,  hence 
among  the  percutere  fcedus,  to  smite  a  covenant,  and 
scindere  fcedus,  to  cleave  a  covenant,  were  terms  which 
signified  simply  to  make  or  enter  into  a  covenant. 

From  the  river  of  Egypt]  Not  the  Nile,  but  the 
river  called  Sichor,  which  was  before  or  on  the  border 
of  Egypt,  near  to  the  isthmus  of  Suez  ;  see  Josh, 
xiii.  3  ;  though  some  think  that  by  this  a  branch  of  the 
Nile  is  meant.  This  promise  was  fully  accomplished 
in  the  days  of  David  and  Solomon.  See  2  Sam.  viii. 
3,  &c.,  and  2  Chron.  ix.  26. 

Yerse  19.  The  Kenites ,  <fic.]  Here  are  ten  nations 
mentioned,  though  afterwards  reckoned  but  seven ;  see 
Deut.  vii.  1  ;  Acts  xiii.  19.  Probably  some  of  them 
which  existed  in  Abram’s  time  had  been  blended  with 
others  before  the  time  of  Moses,  so  that  seven  only  out 
of  the  ten  then  remained  ;  see  part  of  these  noticed 
Gen.  x. 

In  this  chapter  there  are  three  subjects  which  must 
be  particularly  interesting  to  the  pious  reader.  1.  The 
condescension  of  God  in  revealing  himself  to  mankind 
in  a  variety  of  ways,  so  as  to  render  it  absolutely 
evident  that  he  had  spoken,  that  he  loved  mankind,  and 
that  he  had  made  every  provision  for  their  eternal  wel¬ 
fare.  So  unequivocal  were  the  discoveries  which  God 
made  of  himself,  that  on  the  minds  of  those  to  whom 
they  were  made  not  one  doubt  was  left,  relative  either 
to  the  truth  of  the  subject,  or  that  it  was  God  himself 

a 


Sarai  gives  Hagar  CHAP.  XVI.  to  Abram  for  wife 


who  made  the  discovery.  The  subject  of  the  disco¬ 
very  also  was  such  as  sufficiently  attested  its  truth  to 
all  future  generations,  for  it  concerned  matters  yet  in 
futurity,  so  distinctly  marked,  so  positively  promised, 
and  so  highly  interesting,  as  to  make  them  objects  of 
attention ,  memory ,  and  desire,  till  they  did  come  ;  and 
of  gratitude ,  because  of  the  permanent  blessedness 
they  communicated  through  all  generations  after  the 
facts  had  taken  place. 

2.  The  way  of  salvation  by  faith  in  the  promised 
Saviour,  which  now  began  to  be  explicitly  declared. 
God  gives  the  promise  of  salvation,  and  by  means  in 
which  it  was  impossible,  humanly  speaking,  that  it 
should  take  place  ;  teaching  us,  1.  That  the  whole 
work  was  spiritual,  supernatural,  and  Divine  ;  and,  2. 
That  no  human  power  could  suffice  to  produce  it. 
This  Abram  believed  while  he  was  yet  uncircumcised, 
and  this  faith  was  accounted  to  him  for  righteousness 
or  justification ;  God  thereby  teaching  that  he  would 
pardon,  accept,  and  receive  into  favour  all  who  should 
believe  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  And  this  very  case 
has  ever  since  been  the  standard  of  justification  by 
faith ;  and  the  experience  of  millions  of  men,  built 
on  this  foundation,  has  sufficiently  attested  the  truth 
and  solidity  of  the  ground  on  which  it  was  built. 

3.  The  foundation  of  the  doctrine  itself  is  laid  in 
the  covenant  made  between  God  and  Abram  in  behalf 


of  all  the  families  of  the  earth,  and  this  covenant  is 
ratified  by  a  sacrifice.  By  this  covenant  man  is  bound 
to  God,  and  God  graciously  binds  himself  to  man.  As 
this  covenant  referred  to  the  incarnation  of  Christ ; 
and  Abram,  both  as  to  himself  and  posterity,  was  to 
partake  of  the  benefits  of  it  by  faith  ;  hence  faith, 
not  works,  is  the  only  condition  on  which  God,  through 
Christ,  forgives  sins,  and  brings  to  the  promised  spiritual 
inheritance.  This  covenant  still  stands  open  ;  all  the 
successive  generations  of  men  are  parties  on  the  one 
side,  and  Jesus  is  at  once  the  sacrifice  and  Mediator 
of  it.  As  therefore  the  coveftant  still  stands  open, 
and  Jesus  is  still  the  Lamb  slain  before  the  throne, 
every  human  soul  must  ratify  the  covenant  for  himself ; 
and  no  man  does  so  but  he  who,  conscious  of  his  guilt., 
accepts  the  sacrifice  which  God  has  provided  for  him. 
Reader,  hast  thou  done  so  l  And  with  a  heart  unto 
righteousness  dost  thou  continue  to  believe  on  the  Son 
of  God  1  How  merciful  is  God,  who  has  found  out 
such  a  way  of  salvation  by  providing  a  Saviour  every 
way  suitable  to  miserable,  fallen,  sinful  man  !  One 
who  is  holy,  harmless,  undefiled,  and  separate  from 
sinners ;  and  who,  being  higher  than  the  heavens, 
raises  up  his  faithful  followers  to  the  throne  of  his 
own  eternal  glory !  Reader,  give  God  the  praise, 
and  avail  thyself  of  the  sin-offering  which  lieth  at 
the  door. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 


Sarai ,  having  no  child,  gives  Hagar  her  maid  to  Abram  for  wife,  1—3.  She  conceives  and  despises  her  mis¬ 
tress,  4.  Sarai  is  offended  and  upbraids  Abram,  5.  Abram  vindicates  himself;  and  Hagar,  being  hardly 
used  by  her  mistress,  runs  away,  6.  She  is  met  by  an  angel,  and  counselled  to  return  to  her  mistress ,  7—9. 
God  promises  greatly  to  multiply  her  seed,  10.  Gives  the  name  of  Ishmael  to  the  child  that  should  be  bom 
of  her,  11.  Shows  his  disposition  and  character,  12.  Hagar  calls  the  name  of  the  Lord  who  spoke  to 
her,  Thou  God  seest  me,  13.  She  calls  the  name  of  the  well  at  which  the  angel  met  her,  Beer-laharoi,  14. 
Ishmael  is  born  in  the  8  6  th  year  of  Abram'* 1  s  age,  15,  16. 


A.  M.  2092.  “IVT OW  Sarai,  Abram’s  wife,  a  bare 
B~  C’ 19 l-Ti  him  no  children  :  and  she  had 

a  handmaid,  b  an  Egyptian,  whose  name  was 
c  Hagar. 

2  d  And  Sarai  said  unto  Abram,  Behold  now, 


A.  M.  2092. 

B.  C.  1912. 


the  Lord  e  hath  restrained  me  from 
oearing :  I  pray  f  thee,  go  in  unto 
ny  maid  ;  it  maybe  that  I  may  s  obtain  chil¬ 
dren  by  her.  And  Abram  h  hearkened  to  the 
roice  of  Sarai. 


a  Chap.  xv.  2,  3. - b  Chap.  xxi.  9. - c  Gal.  iv.  24. - d  Chap. 

xxx.  3. - e  Chap.  xx.  18  ;  xxx.  2 ;  1  Sam.  i.  5,  6. 


NOTES  ON  CHAP.  XVI. 

Verse  1.  She  had  a  handmaid,  an  Egyptian ]  As 
Hagar  was  an  Egyptian,  St.  Chrysostom’s  conjecture 
is  very  probable,  that  she  was  one  of  those  female 
slaves  which  Pharaoh  gave  to  Abram  when  he  so¬ 
journed  in  Egypt ;  see  chap.  xii.  16  Her  name  *Un 
hagar  signifies  a  stranger  or  sojourner,  and  it  is  likely 
she  got  this  name  in  the  family  of  Abram,  as  the  word 
is  pure  Hebrew. 

Verse  2.  Go  in  unto  my  maid.]  It  must  not  be  for¬ 
gotten  that  female  slaves  constituted  a  part  of  the 
private  patrimony  or  possessions  of  a  wife,  and  that 


f  So  chap.  xxx.  3,  9. - s  Heb.  be  builded  by  her. - h  Chap. 

iii.  17. 


she  had  a  right,  according  to  the  usages  of  those  times, 
to  dispose  of  them  as  she  pleased,  the  husband  having 
no  authority  in  the  case. 

I  may  obtain  children  by  her.]  The  slave  being  the 
absolute  property  of  the  mistress,  not  only  her  person, 
but  the  fruits  of  her  labour,  with  all  her  children,  were 
her  owner’s  property  also.  The  children,  therefore, 
which  were  born  of  the  slave,  were  considered  as  the 
children  of  the  mistress.  It  was  on  this  ground  that 
Sarai  gave  her  slave  to  Abram  ;  and  we  find,  what 
must  necessarily  be  the  consequence  in  all  cases  of 
polygamy,  that  strifes  and  contentions  took  place. 


GENESIS. 


Sarai  gives  Hagar  to  Abram. 

a.  m.  2093.  3  And  Sarai,  Abram’s  wife,  took 

— — 1 - 1  Hagar  her  maid,  the  Egyptian,  after 

Abram  1 * 3 4 5  had  dwelt  ten  years  in  the  land  of 
Canaan,  and  gave  her  to  her  husband  Abram 
to  be  bis  wife. 

4  And  he  went  in  unto  Hagar,  and  she  con¬ 
ceived  :  and  when  she  saw  that  she  had  con¬ 
ceived,  her  mistress  was  k  despised  in  her 
eyes. 

5  And  Sarai  said* unto  Abram,  My  wrong  be 
upon  thee  :  I  have  given  my  maid  into  thy 
bosom ;  and  wrhen  she  saw  that  she  had  con¬ 
ceived,  I  was  despised  in  her  eyes  :  1  the  Lord 
judge  between  me  and  thee. 

6  111  But  Abram  said  unto  Sarai,  n  Behold, 
thy  maid  is  in  thy  hand ;  do  to  her  0  as  it 
pleaseth  thee.  And  when  Sarai  p  dealt 


1  Chap.  xii.  5. - k2  Sam.  vi.  16;  Prov.  xxx.  21,  23. 

Chap.  xxxi.  53  ;  1  Sam.  xxiv.  12. - m  Prov.  xv.  1 ;  1  Pet.  iii. 

7- - E  Job  ii.  6  ;  Psa.  cvi.  41,  42 ;  Jer.  xxxviii.  5. 


Yerse  3.  And  Sarai,  Abram"1 s  wife ,  took  Hagar — 
and  gave  her  to  her  husband — to  be  his  wife.\  There 
are  instances  of  Hindoo  women,  when  barren,  con¬ 
senting  to  their  husbands  marrying  a  second  wife  for 
the  sake  of  children  ;  and  second  marriages  on  this 
account,  without  consent,  are  very  common. — Ward. 

Verse  5.  My  wrong  be  upon  thee ]  This  appears  to 
be  intended  as  a  reproof  to  Abram,  containing  an  in¬ 
sinuation  that  it  was  his  fault  that  she  herself  had  not 
been  a  mother,  and  that  now  he  carried  himself  more 
affectionately  towards  Hagar  than  he  did  to  her,  in 
consequence  of  which  conduct  the  slave  became  petu¬ 
lant.  To  remove  all  suspicion  of  this  kind,  Abram 
delivers  up  Hagar  into  her  hand,  who  was  certainly 
under  his  protection  while  his  concubine  or  secondary 
wife  ;  but  this  right  given  to  him  by  Sarai  he  restores, 
to  prevent  her  jealousy  and  uneasiness. 

Yerse  6.  Sarai  dealt  hardly  with  her]  nopfi  tean- 
neha,  she  afflicted  her ;  the  term  implying  stripes  and 
hard  usage,  to  bring  down  the  body  and  humble  the 
mind.  If  the  slave  was  to  blame  in  this  business  the 
mistress  is  not  less  liable  to  censure.  She  alone  had 
brought  her  into  those  circumstances,  in  which  it  was 
natural  for  her  to  value  herself  beyond  her  mistress. 

Yerse  7.  The  angel  of  the  Lord]  That  Jesus  Christ, 
in  a  body  suited  to  the  dignity  of  his  nature,  frequently 
appeared  to  the  patriarchs,  has  been  already  intimated. 
That  the  person  mentioned  here  was  greater  than  any 
created  being  is  sufficiently  evident  from  the  following 
particulars  : — 

1.  From  his  promising  to  perform  what  God  alone 
could  do,  and  foretelling  what  G  od  alone  could  know  ; 
“  I  will  multiply  thy  seed  exceedingly ,”  6yc.,  ver.  10  ; 
“  Thou  art  with  child,  and  shall  bear  a  son,”  tfc.,  ver. 
11  ;  “  He  ivill  be  a  wild  man,”  dfc.,  ver.  12.  All  this 
shows  a  prescience  which  is  proper  to  God  alone. 

2.  Hagar  considers  the  person  who  spoke  to  her  as 
God,  calls  him  btf  El,  and  addresses  him  in  the  way 

108 


Hagar  flees  from,  her  mistress 
hardly  with  her,  she  fled  from  A.  M.  2093. 

,  r  B.  C.  1911. 

her  face.  - - 

7  And  the  angel  of  the  Lord  found  her  by 
a  fountain  of  water  in  the  wilderness,  r  by  the 
fountain  in  the  way  to  s  Shur. 

8  And  he  said,  Hagar,  Sarai’s  maid,  whence 
earnest  thou  ?  and  whither  wilt  thou  go  ?  And 
she  said,  I  flee  from  the  face  of  my  mistress 
Sarai. 

9  And  the  angel  of  the  Lord  said  unto  her, 
Return  to  thy  mistress,  and  1  submit  thyself 
under  her  hands. 

10  And  the  angel  of  the  Lord  said  unto 
her,  u  I  will  multiply  thy  seed-  exceedingly, 
that  it  shall  not  be  numbered  for  multitude. 

1 1  And  the  angel  of  the  Lord  said  unto 
her,  Behold,  thou  art  with  child,  and  shall 


0  Heb.  that  which  is  good  in  thine  eyes. - P  Heb.  afflicted  her. 

qExod.  ii.  15. - r  Chap.  xxv.  18. - s  Exod.  xv.  22. - ‘Tit. 

ii.  9  ;  1  Pet.  ii.  18.- — u  Chap.  xvii.  20;  xxi.  18  ;  xxv.  12. 


of  worship,  which,  had  he  been  a  created  angel,  he 

would  have  refused.  See  Rev.  xix.  10  ;  xxii.  9. 

3.  Moses,  who  relates  the  transaction,  calls  this 
angel  expressly  Jehovah  ;  for,  says  he,  she  called 
mrv  shem  Yehovah,  the  name  of  the  Lord  that  spake 
to  her,  ver.  13.  Now  this  is  a  name  never  given  to 
any  created  being. 

4.  This  person,  who  is  here  called  miT  malach 
Yehovah,  the  Angel  of  the  Lord,  is  the  same  who  is 
called  bxin  “l^bnn  hammalach  haggoel,  the  redeeming 
Angel  or  the  Angel  the  Redeemer,  Gen.  xlviii.  16  ; 
PJ3  I^D  malach  panaiv,  the  Angel  of  God’s  presence, 
Isa.  lxiii.  9  ;  and  fVDPl  "JKbft  malach  habberith,  the 
Angel  of  the  Covenant,  Mai.  iii.  1  :  and  is  the  same 
person  which  the  Septuagint,  Isa.  ix.  6,  term  peyalrjz 
(3ovatic  ayyehos,  the  Angel  of  the  Great  Counsel  or 
Design,  viz.,  of  redeeming  man,  and  filling  the  earth 
with  righteousness. 

5.  These  things  cannot  be  spoken  of  any  human  or 
created  being,  for  the  knowledge,  works,  rf-c-,  attributed 
to  this  person  are  such  as  belong  to  God  ;  and  as  in 
all  these  cases  there  is  a  most  evident  personal  appear - 
ance,  Jesus  Christ  alone  can  be  meant ;  for  of  God 
the  Father  it  has  been  ever  true  that  no  man  hath  at 
any  time  seen  his  shape,  nor  has  he  ever  limited  him¬ 
self  to  any  definable  personal  appearance. 

In  the  iv ay  to  Shur.]  As  this  was  the  road  from 
Hebron  to  Egypt,  it  is  probable  she  was  now  returning 
to  her  own  country. 

Yerse  8.  Hagar,  SaraTs  maid]  This  mode  of  ad¬ 
dress  is  used  to  show  her  that  she  was  known,  and  to 
remind  her  that  she  was  the  property  of  another. 

Yerse  10.  I  will  'multiply  thy  seed  exceedingly] 
Who  says  this  ?  The  person  who  is  called  the  Angel 
of  the  Lord  ;  and  he  certainly  speaks  with  all  the 
authority  which  is  proper  to  God. 

Verse  11.  And  shalt  call  his  name  Ishmael]  fctpDBP 
Yishmael,  from  pro W  shama ,  he  heard,  and  El,  God ; 

a 


The  birth  and  character 


CHAP.  XVI. 


A.  M.  2093.  bear  a  son,  T  and  shalt  call  his 
— — 1 — _ L  name  w  Ishmael ;  because  the  Lord 
hath  heard  thy  affliction. 

1 2  x  And  he  will  be  a  wild  man ;  his  hand 
will  be  against  every  man,  and  every  man’s 
hand  against  him  ;  and  he  shall  dwell  in  the 
presence  of  all  his  brethren. 

vChap.  xvii.  19;  Matt.  i.  21;  Luke  i.  13,  31. - w  That  is, 

God  shall  hear. - x  Chap.  xxi.  20. - Y  Chap.  xxv.  18. 

for,  says  the  Angel,  the  Lord  hath  heard  thy  afflic¬ 
tion.  Thus  the  name  of  the  child  must  ever  keep  the 
mother  in  remembrance  of  God’s  merciful  interposi¬ 
tion  in  her  behalf,  and  remind  the  child  and  the  man 
that  he  was  an  object  of  God’s  gracious  and  providen¬ 
tial  goodness.  Afflictions  and  distresses  have  a  voice 
in  the  ears  of  God,  even  when  prayer  is  restrained  ; 
but  how  much  more  powerfully  do  they  speak  when 
endured  in  meekness  of  spirit,  with  confidence  in  and 
supplication  to  the  Lord  ! 

Yerse  12.  He  will  he  a  wild  man ]  D1X  N13  pere 
adam.  As  the  root  of  this  word  does  not  appear  in 
the  Hebrew  Bible,  it  is  probably  found  in  the  Arabic 
farra,  to  run  away ,  to  run  wild ;  and  hence  the 
wild  ass,  from  its  jleetness  and  its  untamable  nature. 
What  is  said  of  the  wild  ass,  Job  xxxix.  5—8,  affords 
the  very  best  description  that  can  be  given  of  the 
Ishmaelites,  ( the  Bedouins  and  wandering  Arabs,)  the 
descendants  of  Ishmael  :  “  Who  hath  sent  out  the  wild 
ass  (503  pere)  free  1  or  who  hath  loosed  the  bands 
(“iVTp  arod,  of  the  brayer  1  Whose  house  I  have  made 
the  wilderness,  and  the  barren  land  his  dwellings.  He 
scorneth  the  multitude  of  the  city,  neither  regardeth 
he  the  crying  of  the  driver.  The  range  of  the  moun¬ 
tains  is  his  pasture,  and  he  searcheth  after  every  green 
thing.”  Nothing  can  be  more  descriptive  of  th eivan- 
dering, lawless,  freebooting  life  of  the  Arabs  than  this. 

God  himself  has  sent  them  out  free — he  has  loosed 
them  from  all  political  restraint.  The  wilderness  is 
their  habitation ;  and  in  the  parched  land,  where  no 
other  human  beings  could  live,  they  have  their  dwell¬ 
ings.  They  scorn  the  city,  and  therefore  have  no 
fixed  habitations  ;  for  their  multitude,  they  are  not 
afraid  ;  for  when  they  make  depredations  on  cities  and 
towns,  they  retire  into  the  desert  with  so  much  preci¬ 
pitancy  that  all  pursuit  is  eluded.  In  this  respect  the 
crying  of  the  driver  is  disregarded.  They  may  be  said 
to  have  no  lands,  and  yet  the  range  of  the  mountains  is 
their  pasture — they  pitch  their  tents  and  feed  their  flocks 
wherever  they  please ;  and  they  search  after  every 
green  thing — are  continually  looking  after  prey,  and 
seize  on  every  kind  of  property  that  comes  in  their  way. 

It  is  farther  said,  His  hand  ivill  be  against  every 
man,  and  every  man's  hand  against  him. — Many  po¬ 
tentates  among  the  Abyssinians,  Persians,  Egyptians, 
and  Turks,  have  endeavoured  to  subjugate  the  wander¬ 
ing  or  wild  Arabs  ;  but,  though  they  have  had  tempo¬ 
rary  triumphs,  they  have  been  ultimately  unsuccessful. 
Sesostris,  Cyrus ,  Pompey ,  and  Trajan,  all  endeavoured 
to  conquer  Arabia,  but  in  vain.  From  the  beginning 
to  the  present  day  they  have  maintained  their  inde¬ 
pendency,  and  God  preserves  them  as  a  lasting  monu- 

a 


of  Ishmael  foretold 

13  And  she  called  the  name  of  ^-Jf-2093. 

the  Lord  that  spake  unto  her,  - * 

Thou  God  seest  me  :  for  she  said,  Have  1 
also  here  looked  after  him  2  that  seeth  me  1 

14  Wherefore  the  well  was  called  a  Beer- 
lahai-roi ;  b  behold,  it  is  c  between  Kadesli 
and  Bered. 

zChap.  xxxi.  42. - aChap.  xxiv.  62;  xxv.  11. - bThat  is, 

the  well  of  him  that  liveth  and  seeth  me. - c  Num.  xiii.  26. 

ment  of  his  providential  care,  and  an  incontestable  ar¬ 
gument  of  the  truth  of  Divine  Revelation.  Had  the 
Pentateuch  no  other  argument  to  evince  its  Divine 
origin,  the  account  of  Ishmael  and  the  prophecy  con¬ 
cerning  his  descendants,  collated  with  their  history  and 
manner  of  life  during  a  period  of  nearly  four  thousand 
years,  would  be  sufficient.  Indeed  the  argument  is  so 
absolutely  demonstrative,  that  the  man  who  would 
attempt  its  refutation,  in  the  sight  of  reason  and  com¬ 
mon  sense  would  stand  convicted  of  the  most  ridiculous 
presumption  and  folly. 

The  country  which  these  free  descendants  of  Ish¬ 
mael  may  be  properly  said  to  possess,  stretches  from 
Aleppo  to  the  Arabian  Sea,  and  from  Egypt  to  the  Per¬ 
sian  Gulf ;  a  tract  of  land  not  less  than  1800  miles 
in  length,  by  900  in  breadth  ;  see  chap.  xvii.  20. 

Yerse  13.  And  she  called  the  name  of  the  LorT\ 
She  invoked  (50 pm  vattikra)  the  name  of  Jehovah  who 
spake  unto  her,  thus  :  Thou  God  seest  me  !  She  found 
that  the  eye  of  a  merciful  God  had  been  upon  her  in 
all  her  wanderings  and  afflictions  ;  and  her  words  seem 
to  intimate  that  she  had  been  seeking  the  Divine  help 
and  protection,  for  she  says,  Have  I  also  (or  have  l 
not  also)  looked  after  him  that  seeth  me  ? 

This  last  clause  of  the  verse  is  very  obscure,  and  is 
rendered  differently  by  all  the  versions.  The  general 
sense  taken  out  of  it  is  this,  that  Hagar  was  now  con¬ 
vinced  that  God  himself  had  appeared  unto  her,  and 
was  surprised  to  find  that,  notwithstanding  this,  she 
was  still  permitted  to  live  ;  for  it  is  generally  supposed 
that  if  God  appeared  to  any,  they  must  be  consumed 
by  his  glories.  This  is  frequently  alluded  to  in  the 
sacred  writings.  As  the  word  ’IPIX  acharey,  which 
we  render  simply  after,  in  other  places  signifies  the 
last  days  or  after  times,  (see  on  Exod.  xxxiii.  23,)  it 
may  probably  have  a  similar  meaning  here  ;  and  indeed 
this  makes  a  consistent  sense  :  Have  I  here  also  seen 
the  latter  purposes  or  designs  of  him  who  seeth  me  ? 
An  exclamation  which  may  be  referred  to  that  dis¬ 
covery  which  God  made  in  the  preceding  verse  of  the 
future  state  of  her  descendants. 

Yerse  14.  Wherefore  the  iv ell  ivas  called  Beer-la- 
hai-roi ]  It  appears,  from  ver.  7,  that  Hagar  had  sat 
down  by  a  fountain  or  wTell  of  water  in  the  wilderness 
of  Shur,  at  which  the  Angel  of  the  Lord  found  her  ; 
and,  to  commemorate  the  wonderful  discovery  which 
God  had  made  of  himself,  she  called  the  name  of  the 
well  'an  TlS  1X3  beer-lachai-roi,  “A  well  to  the  Living 
One  who  seeth  me.”  Two  things  seem  implied  here  : 
1.  A  dedication  of  the  well  to  Him  who  had  appeared 
to  her;  and,  2.  Faith  in  the  promise  ;  for  he  who  is 
the  Living  One,  existing  in  all  generations,  must  have 

109 


Ishmael  is  born  when  Abram 


GENESIS. 


A.  M.  2094.  1 5  And  d  Hagar  bare  Abram  a 

.B'C’  son  ;  and  Abram  called  his  son’s 
name,  which  Hagar  bare,  e  Ishmael. 

d  Gal.  iv.  22. 

it  ever  in  his  power  to  accomplish  promises  which  are 
to  be  fulfilled  through  the  whole  lapse  of  time. 

Verse  15.  And  Hagar  bare  Abram  a  son,  cf-c.]  It 
appears,  therefore,  that  Hagar  returned  at  the  com¬ 
mand  of  the  angel,  believing  the  promise  that  God  had 
made  to  her. 

Called  his  son's  name — Ishmael.']  Finding  by  the 
account  of  Hagar,  that  God  had  designed  that  he 
should  be  so  called.  “  Ishmael,”  says  Ainsworth,  “  is 
the  first  man  in  the  world  whose  name  was  given  him 
of  God  before  he  was  born.” 

In  the  preceding  chapter  we  have  a  very  detailed 
account  of  the  covenant  which  God  made  with  Abram, 
which  stated  that  his  seed  should  possess  Canaan  ;  and 
this  promise,  on  the  Divine  authority,  he  steadfastly 
believed,  and  in  simplicity  of  heart  waited  for  its  ac¬ 
complishment.  Sarai  was  not  like  minded.  As  she 
had  no  child  herself,  and  was  now  getting  old,  she 
thought  it  necessary  to  secure  the  inheritance  by  such 
means  as  were  in  her  power ;  she  therefore,  as  we 
have  seen,  gave  her  slave  to  Abram,  that  she  might 
have  children  by  her.  We  do  not  find  Abram  remon¬ 
strating  on  the  subject ;  and  why  is  he  blamed  I  God 
had  not  as  yet  told  him  how  he  was  to  have  an  heir  ; 
the  promise  simply  stated,  He  that  shall  come  forth  out 
of  thine  own  bowels  shall  be  thine  heir ,  chap.  xv.  4. 
Concubinage,  under  that  dispensation,  was  perfectly 
lawful ;  therefore  he  could,  with  equal  justice  and  in¬ 
nocence,  when  it  was  lawful  in  itself,  and  now  urged 
by  the  express  desire  of  Sarai ,  take  Hagar  to  wife. 
And  it  is  very  likely  that  he  might  think  that  his  pos¬ 
terity,  whether  by  wife  or  concubine ,  as  both  were 
lawful,  might  be  that  intended  by  the  promise. 

It  is  very  difficult  to  believe  that  a  promise  which 
refers  to  some  natural  event  can  possibly  be  fulfilled 
but  through  some  natural  means.  And  yet,  what  is 
nature  but  an  instrument  in  God’s  hands  1  What  we 
call  natural  effects  are  all  performed  by  supernatural 
agency  ;  for  nature,  that  is,  the  whole  system  of  inani¬ 
mate  things,  is  as  inert  as  any  of  the  particles  of  mat¬ 
ter  of  the  aggregate  of  which  it  is  composed,  and  can 


is  eighty-six  years  of  age 


1 6  And  Abram  was  fourscore  and 
six  years  old  when  Hagar  bare 
Ishmael  to  Abram. 


A.  M.  2094. 

B.  C. 1910. 


e  Ver.  11. 

be  a  cause  to  no  effect  but  as  it  is  excited  by  a  sove¬ 
reign  power.  This  is  a  doctrine  of  sound  philosophy, 
and  should  be  carefully  considered  by  all,  that  men 
may  see  that  without  an  overruling  and  universally 
energetic  providence,  no  effect  whatever  can  be  brought 
about.  But  besides  these  general  influences  of  God 
in  nature,  which  are  all  exhibited  by  what  men  call 
general  laws ,  he  chooses  often  to  act  sup ernatur ally , 
i.  e.,  independently  of  or  against  these  general  laws, 
that  we  may  see  that  there  is  a  God  who  does  not 
confine  himself  to  one  way  of  working,  but  with  means, 
without  means,  and  even  against  natural  means,  ac¬ 
complishes  the  gracious  purposes  of  his  mercy  in  the 
behalf  of  man.  Where  God  has  promised  let  him  be 
implicitly  credited,  because  he  cannot  lie ;  and  let  not 
hasty  nature  intermeddle  with  his  work. 

The  omniscience  of  God  is  a  subject  on  which  we 
should  often  reflect,  and  we  can  never  do  it  unfruit- 
fully  while  we  connect  it,  as  we  ever  should,  writh 
infinite  goodness  and  mercy.  Every  thing,  person, 
and  circumstance,  is  under  its  notice ;  and  doth  not 
the  eye  of  God  affect  his  heart  1  The  poor  slave ,  the 
stranger ,  the  Egyptian ,  suffering  under  the  severity 
of  her  hasty,  unbelieving  mistress,  is  seen  by  the  all¬ 
wise  and  merciful  God.  He  permits  her  to  go  to  the 
desert,  provides  the  spring  to  quench  her  thirst,  and 
sends  the  Angel  of  the  covenant  to  instruct  and  com¬ 
fort  her.  How  gracious  is  God  1  He  permits  us  to 
get  into  distressing  circumstances  that  he  may  give  us 
effectual  relief ;  and  in  such  a  way,  too,  that  the  excel¬ 
lence  of  the  power  may  appear  to  be  of  him,  and  that 
we  may  learn  to  trust  in  him  in  all  our  distresses. 
God  delights  to  do  his  creatures  good. 

In  all  transactions  between  God  and  man,  mentioned 
in  the  sacred  writings,  we  see  one  uniform  agency ; 
the  great  Mediator  in  all,  and  through  all ;  God  ever 
coming  to  man  by  him,  and  man  having  access  to  God 
through  him.  This  was ,  is,  and  ever  ivill  be  the 
economy  of  grace.  “  The  Father  hath  sent  me  : — and 
no  man  cometh  unto  the  Father  but  by  me.”  God 
forbid  that  he  should  have  cause  to  complain  of  us, 
“  Ye  will  not  come  unto  me,  that  ye  might  have  life.” 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

In  the  ninety-ninth  year  of  Abram's  life  God  again  appears  to  him,  announces  his  name  as  God  Almighty, 
and  commands  him  to  walk  perfectly  before  him,  1  ;  proposes  to  renew  the  covenant,  2.  Abram's  prostra¬ 
tion,  3.  The  covenant  specified ,  4.  Abram’s  name  changed  to  Abraham,  and  the  reason  given,  5.  The 
privileges  of  the  covenant  enumerated ,  6—8.  The  conditions  of  the  covenant  to  be  observed ,  not  only  by 
Abraham  but  all  his  posterity ,  9.  Circumcision  appointed  as  a  sign  or  token  of  the  covenant ,  10,  11. 
The  age  at  which  and  the  persons  on  whom  this  was  to  be  performed,  12,  13.  The  danger  of  neglecting 
this  rite ,  14.  Sarai s  name  changed  to  Sarah,  and  a  particular  promise  made  to  her,  15,  16.  Abraham’s 
joy  at  the  prospect  of  the  performance  of  a  matter  which ,  in  the  course  of  nature,  ivas  impossible,  17. 
His  request  for  the  preservation  and  prosperity  of  Ishmael,  18.  The  birth  and  blessedness  of  Isaac  fore¬ 
told,  19.  Great  prosperity  promised  to  Ishmael,  20.  But  the  covenant  to  be  established  not  in  his ,  but 
in  Isaac’s  posterity,  21.  Abraham,  Ishmael ,  and  all  the  males  m  the  family  circumcised ,  23—27. 

110  a 


God  appears  to  Abram.  CHAP. 

A.  M.  2107.  A  ND  when  Abram  was  ninety 

_ _  years  old  and  nine,  the  Lord 

a  appeared  to  Abram,  and  said  unto  him,  b  I 
am  the  Almighty  God,  c  walk  before  me,  and 
be  thou  d  perfect.® 

2  And  I  will  make  my  covenant  between  me 
and  thee,  and  f  will  multiply  thee  exceedingly. 


aChap.  xii.  1. - bChap.  xxviii.  3  ;  xxxv.  11  ;  Exod.  vi.  3  ; 

Deut.  x.  17. - c  Chap.  v.  22  ;  xlviii.  15  ;  1  Kings  ii.  4  ;  viii.  25  ; 

2  Kings  xx.  3. - d  Or ,  upright ;  or,  sincere. - eCh.  vi.  9;  Deut. 


NOTES  ON  CHAP.  XVII. 

Verse  1.  The  Lord  appeared  to  Abram ]  See  on 

chap.  xv.  1. 

I  am  the  Amighty  God ]  HUf  Sk  "DR  ami  El  shad- 
dai ,  I  am  God  all-sufficient ;  from  TMW  shadah,  to  shed, 
to  pour  out.  I  am  that  God  who  pours  out  blessings , 
who  gives  them  richly ,  abundantly,  continually. 

Walk  before  me]  ’DSb  "jbnnn  hithhallech  lephanai, 
set  thyself  to  ivalk — be  firmly  purposed,  thoroughly 
determined  to  obey,  before  me  ;  for  my  eye  is  ever  on 
thee,  therefore  ever  consider  that  God  seeth  thee. 
Who  can  imagine  a  stronger  incitement  to  conscien¬ 
tious,  persevering  obedience  ? 

Be  thou  perfect.']  D’DD  HTH  vehyeh  thamim ,  and 
thou  shalt  be  perfections,  i.  e.,  a. together  perfect.  Be 
just  such  as  the  holy  God  would  have  thee  to  be,  as 
the  almighty  God  can  make  thee  ;  and  live  as  the  all- 
sufficient  God  shall  support  thee  ;  for  he  alone  who 
makes  the  soul  holy  can  preserve  it  in  holiness.  Our 
blessed  Lord  appears  to  have  had  these  words  point¬ 
edly  in  view,  Matt.  v.  48  :  E cecOe  vpuq  te^ecol,  ucrnsp 
6  liar??/)  vpov  6  ev  rocq  ovpavotq  teTieloc  eorr  Ye  shall 
be  perfect ,  as  your  Father  ivho  is  in  heaven  is  perfect. 
But  what  does  this  imply  ]  Why,  to  be  saved  from 
all  the  power,  the  guilt,  and  the  contamination  of  sin. 
This  is  only  the  negative  part  of  salvation,  but  it  has 
also  a  positive  part ;  to  be  made  perfect — to  be  perfect 
as  our  Father  who  is  in  heaven  is  perfect,  to  be  filled 
with  the  fulness  of  God,  to  have  Christ  dwelling  con¬ 
tinually  in  the  heart  by  faith,  and  to  be  rooted  and 
grounded  in  love.  This  is  the  state  in  which  man  was 
created,  for  he  was  made  in  the  image  and  likeness  of 
God.  This  is  the  state  from  which  man  fell,  for  he 
broke  the  command  of  God.  And  this  is  the  state 
into  which  every  human  soul  must  be  raised,  who  would 
dwell  with  God  in  glory  ;  for  Christ  was  incarnated 
and  died  to  put  away  sin  by  the  sacrifice  of  himself. 
What  a  glorious  privilege  !  And  who  can  doubt  the 
possibility  of  its  attainment,  who  believes  in  the  om¬ 
nipotent  love  of  God,  the  infinite  merit  of  the  blood 
of  atonement,  and  the  all-pervading  and  all-purifying 
energy  of  the  Holy  Ghost  1  How  many  miserable 
souls  employ  that  time  to  dispute  and  cavil  against  the 
possibility  of  being  saved  from  their  sins,  which  they 
should  devote  to  praying  and  believing  that  they  might 
be  saved  out  of  the  hands  of  their  enemies !  But 
some  may  say,  “  You  overstrain  the  meaning  of  the 
term  ;  it  signifies  only,  be  sincere  ;  for  as  perfect  obe¬ 
dience  is  impossible,  God  accepts  of  sincere  obedience.” 
If  by  sincerity  the  objection  means  good  desires ,  and 


XVII.  llis  name  changed  to  Abraham 

3  And  Abram  s  fell  on  his  face:  a.m.2107. 

and  God  talked  with  him,  saying,  — U - 

4  As  for  me,  behold,  my  covenant  is  with 
thee,  and  thou  shalt  be  h  a  father  of  1  many 
nations. 

5  Neither  shall  thy  name  any  more  be  called 
Abram,  but  k  thy  name  shall  be  1  Abraham  ; 


xviii.  13  ;  Job  i.  1 ;  Matt.  v.  48. - f  Ch.  xii.  2 ;  xiii.  16  ;  xxii.  17 

s  Ver.  17. - hRom.  iv.  11,  12, 16;  Gal.  iii.  29. - '  Heb.  multitude 

of  nations. - kNeh.  ix.  7. - 1  That  is,  father  of  a  great  multitude. 


generally  good  purposes,  with  an  impure  heart  and 
spotted  life,  then  I  assert  that  no  such  thing  is  implied 
in  the  text,  nor  in  the  original  word ;  but  if  the  word 
sincerity  be  taken  in  its  proper  and  literal  sense,  I 
have  no  objection  to  it.  Sincere  is  compounded  of 
sine  cera,  “without  wax  and,  applied  to  moral  sub¬ 
jects,  is  a  metaphor  taken  from  clarified  honey,  from 
which  every  atom  of  the  comb  or  wax  is  separated. 
Then  let  it  be  proclaimed  from  heaven,  Walk  before 
me,  and  be  sincere  !  purge  out  the  old  leaven,  that  ye 
may  be  a  new  lump  unto  God  ;  and  thus  ye  shall  be 
perfect,  as  your  Father  who  is  in  heaven  is  perfect. 
This  is  sincerity.  Reader,  remember  that  the  blood 
of  Christ  cleanseth  from  all  sin.  Ten  thousand  quib¬ 
bles  on  insulated  texts  can  never  lessen,  much  less 
destroy,  the  merit  and  efficacy  of  the  great  Atonement. 

Yerse  3.  And  Abram  fell  on  his  face]  The  eastern 
method  of  prostration  was  thus  :  the  person  first  went 
down  on  his  knees,  and  then  lowered  his  head  to  his 
knees,  and  touched  the  earth  with  his  forehead,  A 
very  painful  posture,  but  significative  of  great  humilia¬ 
tion  and  reverence. 

Verse  5.  Thy  name  shall  be  Abraham]  Ab-ram 
□DDR  literally  signifies  a  high  or  exalted  father. 
Ab-ra-ham  DmDR  differs  from  the  preceding  only  in 
one  letter  ;  it  has  n  he  before  the  last  radical.  Though 
this  may  appear  very  simple  and  easy,  yet  the  true 
etymology  and  meaning  of  the  word  are  very  difficult 
to  be  assigned.  The  reason  given  for  the  change 
made  in  the  patriarch’s  name  is  this  :  For  a  father  of 
many  nations  have  I  made  thee,  D'U  jlDH  DR  ab-hamon- 
goyim,  “  a  father  of  a  multitude  of  nations.”  This 
has  led  some  to  suppose  that  CDnDDR  Abraham,  is  a 
contraction  for  pDH  3*3  DR  ab-rab-hamon,  “the  father 
of  a  great  multitude.” 

Aben  Ezra  says  the  name  is  derived  from  pon  TDK 
abir-hamon,  “  a  powerful  multitude.” 

Rabbi  Solomon  Jarchi  defines  the  name  cabalisti- 
cally,  and  says  that  its  numeral  letters  amount  to  two 
hundred  and  forty-eight,  which,  says  he,  is  the  exact 
number  of  the  bones  in  the  human  body.  But  before 
the  n  he  was  added,  which  stands  for  five,  it  was  five 
short  of  this  perfection. 

Rabbi  Lipman  says  the  n  he  being  added  as  the 
fourth  letter,  signifies  that  the  Messiah  should  come 
in  the  fourth  millenary  of  the  world. 

Clarius  and  others  think  that  the  n  he,  which  is 
one  of  the  letters  of  the  Tetragrammaton,  (or  word  of 
four  letters,  HUT  YeHuYaH,)  was  added  for  the  sake 
of  dignity,  God  associating  the  patriarch  more  nearly 

111 


God  renews  liis  promise. 


GENESIS.  The  possession  of  Canaan  promised 


A.  M.  2107.  »  for  a  father  of  many  nations  have 

B.  C.  1897.  T  i  J 

- -  1  made  thee. 

6  And  I  will  make  thee  exceeding  fruitful, 
and  I  will  make  n  nations  of  thee,  and  0  kings 
shall  come  out  of  thee. 

7  And  I  will  p  establish  my  covenant  between 
me  and  thee,  and  thy  seed  after  thee,  in  their 
generations,  for  an  everlasting  covenant,  q  to 
be  a  God  unto  thee,  and  to  r  thy  seed  after 
thee. 

8  And  s  I  will  give  unto  thee,  and  to  thy 


seed  after  thee,  the  land  therein  A. M- 2107 

.  ’  „  ,  .  ,  B.  C.  1897. 

u  thou  art  a  stranger,  all  the  land  - 

of  Canaan,  for  an  everlasting  possession  :  and 

v  I  will  be  their  God. 

9  And  God  said  unto  Abraham,  Thou  shalt 
keep  my  covenant  therefore,  thou,  and  thy 
seed  after  thee,  in  their  generations. 

10  This  is  my  covenant,  which  ye  shall 
keep,  between  me  and  you,  and  thy  seed  after 
thee  ;  w  Every  man-child  among  you  shall  be 
circumcised. 


m  Rom.  iv.  17. - n  Chap.  xxxv.  11. - 0  Yer.  16 ;  chap.  xxxv. 

11 ;  Matt.  i.  6,  &c. - p  Gal.  iii.  17. - 1  Chap.  xxvi.  24  ;  xxviii. 

13;  Heb.  xi.  16. - rRom.  ix.  8. - s  Chap.  xii.  7;  xiii.  15; 

to  himself,  by  thus  imparting  to  him  a  portion  of  his 
own  name. 

Having  enumerated  so  many  opinions,  that  of  Wil¬ 
liam  Alabaster ,  in  his  Apparatus  to  the  Revelation , 
should  not  be  passed  by.  He  most  wisely  says  that 
ab-ram  or  ab-rom  signifies  father  of  the  Romans ,  and 
consequently  the  pope  ;  therefore  Abraham  was  pope 
the  first !  This  is  just  as  likely  as  some  of  the  pre¬ 
ceding  etymologies. 

From  all  these  learned  as  well  as  puerile  conjec¬ 
tures  we  may  see  the  extreme  difficulty  of  ascertaining 
the  true  meaning  of  the  word,  though  the  concordance 
makers ,  and  proper  name  explainers  find  no  difficulty 
at  all  in  the  case ;  and  pronounce  on  it  as  readily  and 
authoritatively  as  if  they  had  been  in  the  Divine  coun¬ 
cil  when  it  was  first  imposed. 

Hottinger,  in  his  Smegma  Orientale,  supposes  the 
word  to  be  derived  from  the  Arabic  root  rahama, 
which  signifies  to  be  very  numerous.  Hence  | 

ab  raham  would  signify  a  copious  father  ox  father  of  a 
multitude.  This  makes  a  very  good  sense,  and  agrees 
well  with  the  context.  Either  this  etymology  or  that 
which  supposes  the  inserted  n  he  to  be  an  abbreviation 
of  the  word  pDH  hamon ,  multitude,  is  the  most  likely 
to  be  the  true  one.  But  this  last  would  require  the 
word  to  be  written,  when  full,  jlDH  D")  DX  ab-ram-hamon. 

The  same  difficulty  occurs,  verse  15,  on  the  word 
Sarai  ’"W,  which  signifies  my  prince  or  princess,  and 
Sarah  rnty,  where  the  whole  change  is  made  by  the 
substitution  of  a  n  he  for  a  1  yod.  This  latter  might 
be  translated  princess  in  general ;  and  while  the  former 
seems  to  point  out  her  government  in  her  own  family 
alone,  the  latter  appears  to  indicate  her  government  over 
the  nations  of  which  her  husband  is  termed  the  father 
or  lord;  and  hence  the  promise  states  that  she  shall 
be  a  mother  of  nations,  and  that  kings  of  people  should 
spring  from  her.  See  ver.  15,  16. 

Now  as  the  only  change  in  each  name  is  made  by 
the  insertion  of  a  single  letter,  and  that  letter  the  same 
in  both  names,  I  cannot  help  concluding  that  some 
mystery  was  designed  by  its  insertion ;  and  therefore  the 
opinion  of  Clarius  and  some  others  is  not  to  be  disre¬ 
garded,  which  supposes  that  God  shows  he  had  confer¬ 
red  a  peculiar  dignity  on  both,  by  adding  to  their  names 
one  of  the  letters  of  his  own ;  a  name  by  which  his 
eternal  power  and  Godhead  are  peculiarly  pointed  out. 

112 


Psa.  cv.  9,  11. - 4  Heb.  of  thy  sojournings. - 11  Chap,  xxiii.  4 ; 

xxviii.  4. - v  Exod.  vi.  7 ;  Lev.  xxvi.  12  ;  Deut.  iv.  37  ;  xiv.  2 ; 

xxvi.  18  ;  xxix.  13. - w  Acts  vii.  8. 

From  the  difficulty  of  settling  the  etymology  of 
these  two  names,  on  which  so  much  stress  seems  to 
be  laid  in  the  text,  the  reader  will  see  with  what  cau¬ 
tion  he  should  receive  the  lists  of  explanations  of  the 
proper  names  in  the  Old  and  New  Testaments,  which 
he  so  frequently  meets  with,  and  which  I  can  pro¬ 
nounce  to  be  in  general  false  or  absurd. 

Yerse  7.  An  everlasting  covenant]  JY’^D  berith 
olam.  See  on  chap.  xiii.  15.  Here  the  word  olam 
is  taken  in  its  own  proper  meaning,  as  the  words  im¬ 
mediately  following  prove — to  be  a  God  unto  thee ,  and 
thy  seed  after  thee ;  for  as  the  soul  is  to  endure  for 
ever,  so  it  shall  eternally  stand  in  need  of  the  support¬ 
ing  power  and  energy  of  God  ;  and  as  the  reign  of  the 
Gospel  dispensation  shall  be  as  long  as  sun  and  moon 
endure,  and  its  consequences  eternal ,  so  must  the  cove¬ 
nant  be  on  which  these  are  founded. 

Yerse  8.  Everlasting  possession]  Here  nSiy  olam 
appears  to  be  used  in  its  accommodated  meaning,  and 
signifies  the  completion  of  the  Divine  counsel  in  refer¬ 
ence  to  a  particular  period  or  dispensation.  And  it  is 
literally  true  that  the  Israelites  possessed  the  land  of 
Canaan  till  the  Mosaic  dispensation  was  terminated  in 
the  complete  introduction  of  that  of  the  Gospel.  But 
as  the  spiritual  and  temporal  covenants  are  both  blended 
together,  and  the  former  was  pointed  out  and  typified 
by  the  latter,  hence  the  word  even  here  may  be  taken 
in  its  own  proper  meaning,  that  of  ever-during,  or 
eternal ;  because  the  spiritual  blessings  pointed  out  by 
the  temporal  covenant  shall  have  no  end.  And  hence 
it  is  immediately  added,  I  will  be  their  God,  not  for  a 
time,  certainly,  but  for  ever  and  ever.  See  the  notes 
on  chap.  xxi.  33. 

Yerse  10.  Every  man-child — shall  be  circumcised.] 
Those  who  wish  to  invalidate  the  evidence  of  the  Di¬ 
vine  origin  of  the  Mosaic  law,  roundly  assert  that  the 
Israelites  received  the  rite  of  circumcision  from  the 
Egyptians.  Their  apostle  in  this  business  is  Hero¬ 
dotus,  who,  lib.  ii.,  p.  116,  Edit.  Steph.  1592,  says  : 
“  The  Colchians,  Egyptians,  and  Ethiopians,  are  the 
only  nations  in  the  world  who  have  used  circumcision 
air’  apxyc,  from  the  remotest  period  ;  and  the  Phoeni¬ 
cians  and  Syrians  who  inhabit  Palestine  acknowledge 
they  received  this  from  the  Egyptians.”  Herodotus 
cannot  mean  Jews  by  Phoenicians  and  Syrians ;  if  he 
does  he  is  incorrect,  for  no  Jew  ever  did  or  ever  could 

a 


God  commands  all  the 


CHAP.  XVII. 


males  to  be  circumcised. 


A.  M.  2107.  1 1  And  ye  shall  circumcise  the 

B.  C.  1897.  n  c  J  r  .  .  ,  .  ,  .. 

-  flesh  of  your  foreskin  ;  and  it  shall 

be  x  a  token  of  the  covenant  betwixt  me  and 

you. 

12  And  7  he  that  is  eight  days  old  z  shall 
be  circumcised  among  you,  every  man-child 
in  your  generations,  he  that  is  bom  in  the 
house,  or  bought  with  money  of  any  stranger, 
which  is  not  of  thy  seed. 

1 3  He  that  is  born  in  thy  house,  and  he  that 
is  bought  with  thy  money,  must  needs  be 
circumcised :  and  my  covenant  shall  be  in 
your  flesh  for  an  everlasting  covenant. 

14  And  the  uncircumcised  man-child  whose 
flesh  of  his  foreskin  is  not  circumcised,  that 

xActs  vii.  8;  Rom.  iv.  11. - y  Heb.  a  son  of  eight  days. 

z  Lev.  xii.  3  ;  Luke  ii.  21 ;  John  vii.  22  ;  Phil.  iii.  5. - a  Exod. 

iv.  24. - b  That  is,  princess. 

acknoicledge  this,  with  the  history  of  Abraham  in  his 
hand.  If  Herodotus  had  written  'before  the  days  of 
Abraham,  or  at  least  before  the  sojourning  of  the 
children  of  Israel  in  Egypt,  and  informed  us  that  circum¬ 
cision  had  been  practised  among  them  arc’  apxve,  from, 
the  beginning ,  there  would  then  exist  a  possibility 
that  the  Israelites  while  sojourning  among  them  had 
learned  and  adopted  this  rite.  But  when  we  know 
that  Herodotus  flourished  only  484  years  before  the 
Christian  era,  and  that  Jacob  and  his  family  sojourned 
in  Egypt  more  than  1800  years  before  Christ,  and 
that  all  the  descendants  of  Abraham  most  conscien¬ 
tiously  observed  circumcision,  and  do  so  to  this  day, 
then  the  presumption  is  that  the  Egyptians  received  it 
from  the  Israelites,  but  that  it  was  impossible  the 
latter  could  have  received  it  from  the  former,  as  they 
had  practised  it  so  long  before  their  ancestors  had 
sojourned  in  Egypt. 

Yerse  11.  And  it  shall  be  a  token]  mxb  leoth ,  for 
a  sign  of  spiritual  things  ;  for  the  circumcision  made 
in  the  flesh  was  designed  to  signify  the  purification  of 
the  heart  from  all  unrighteousness,  as  God  particularly 
showed  in  the  law  itself.  See  Deut.  x.  16  ;  see  also 
Rom.  ii.  25—29  ;  Col.  ii.  11.  And  it  wras  a  seal  of 
that  righteousness  or  justification  that  comes  by  faith, 
Rom.  iv.  11.  That  some  of  the  Jews  had  a  just  no¬ 
tion  of  its  spiritual  intention,  is  plain  from  many  pas¬ 
sages  in  the  Chaldee  paraphrases  and  in  the  Jewish 
writers.  I  borrow  one  passage  from  the  book  Zohar , 
quoted  by  Ainsworth:  “At  what  time  a  man  is  sealed 
with  this  holy  seal,  (of  circumcision,)  thenceforth  he 
seeth  the  holy  blessed  God  properly,  and  the  holy  soul 
is  united  to  him.  If  he  be  not  worthy,  and  keepeth 
not  this  sign,  what  is  written  1  By  the  breath  of  God 
they  perish ,  (Job  iv.  9,)  because  this  seal  of  the  holy 
blessed  God  was  not  kept.  But  if  he  be  worthy,  and 
keep  it,  the  Holy  Ghost  is  not  separated  from  him.” 

Yerse  12.  He  that  is  eight  days  old ]  Because 
previously  to  this  they  were  considered  unclean,  Lev. 
xii.  2,  3,  and  circumcision  was  ever  understood  as  a 
consecration  of  the  person  to  God.  Neither  calf,  lamb, 

Vol.  I.  (  9  ) 


soul  ft  shall  be  cut  off  from  his  A.M.2107. 

people ;  he  hath  broken  my  cove-  —— - 1 

nant. 

15  And  God  said  unto  Abraham,  As  for 
Sarai  thy  wife,  thou  shalt  not  call  her  name 
Sarai,  but  b  Sarah  shall  her  name  be. 

1 6  And  I  will  bless  her,  c  and  give  thee  a 
son  also  of  her  :  yea,  I  will  bless  her,  and 
d  she  shall  be  a  mother  e  of  nations  ;  kings 
of  people  shall  be  of  her. 

17  Then  Abraham  fell  upon  his  face,  fand 
laughed,  and  said  in  his  heart,  Shall  a  child 
be  born  unto  him  that  is  a  hundred  years 
old  ?  and  shall  Sarah,  that  is  ninety  years 
old,  bear  ? 

c  Chap,  xviii.  10. - d  Heb.  she  shall  become  nations. - e  Ch. 

xxxv.  11;  Gal.  iv.  31;  1  Pet.  iii.  6. - f  Chap.  xviii.  12; 

xxi.  6. 


nor  kid,  was  offered  to  God  till  it  was  eight  days  old 
for  the  same  reason,  Lev.  xxii.  27. 

Yerse  13.  He  that  is  born  in  thy  house]  The  son 
of  a  servant ;  he  that  is  bought  with  thy  money — a 
slave  on  his  coming  into  the  family.  According  to 
the  Jewish  writers  the  father  was  to  circumcise  his 
son;  and  the  master,  the  servant  born  in  his  house,  or 
the  slave  bought  with  money.  If  the  father  or  mas¬ 
ter  neglected  to  do  this,  then  the  magistrates  were 
obliged  to  see  it  performed;  if  the  neglect  of  this  or¬ 
dinance  was  unknown  to  the  magistrates,  then  the  per¬ 
son  himself,  when  he  came  of  age,  was  obliged  to  do  it. 

Yerse  14.  The  uncircumcised — shall  be  cut  off 
from  his  people]  By  being  cut  off  some  have  ima¬ 
gined  that  a  sudden  temporal  death  was  implied;  but 
the  simple  meaning  seems  to  be  that  such  should  have 
no  right  to  nor  share  in  the  blessings  of  the  covenant, 
which  we  have  already  seen  were  both  of  a  temporal 
and  spiritual  kind  ;  and  if  so,  then  eternal  death  was 
implied,  for  it  was  impossible  for  a  person  who  had 
not  received  the  spiritual  purification  to  enter  into 
eternal  glory.  The  spirit  of  this  law  extends  to  all 
ages,  dispensations,  and  people  ;  he  whose  heart  is  not 
purified  from  sin  cannot  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God. 
Reader,  on  what  is  thy  hope  of  heaven  founded  ? 

Yerse  15.  Thou  shalt  not  call  her  name  Sarai ,  but 
Sarah]  See  on  ver.  5. 

Yerse  16.  I  will  bless  her ,  <fc.]  Sarah  certainly 
stands  at  the  head  of  all  the  women  of  the  Old  Tes¬ 
tament,  on  account  of  her  extraordinary  privileges. 

I  am  quite  of  Calmet’s  opinion  that  Sarah  was  a  type 
of  the  blessed  Virgin.  St.  Paul  considers  her  a  type 
of  the  New  Testament  and  heavenly  Jerusalem ;  and 
as  all  true  believers  are  considered  as  the  children  of 
Abraham ,  so  all  faithful  holy  women  are  considered 
the  daughters  of  Sarah ,  Gal.  iv.  22,  24,  26.  See 
also  1  Pet.  iii.  6. 

Yerse  17.  Then  Abraham — laughed]  I  am  asto¬ 
nished  to  find  learned  and  pious  men  considering  this 
as  a  token  of  Abraham’s  weakness  of  faith  or  unbe¬ 
lief  when  they  have  the  most  positive  assurance  from 

113 


All  the  males  circumcised . 


Prosperity  of  Ishmael  foretold.  GENESIS. 


A.  M.  2107. 

B.  C.  1897. 


18  And  Abraham  said  unto  God, 
0  that  Ishmael  might  live  before 


thee ! 

19  And  God  said,  %  Sarah  thy  wife  shall 
bear  thee  a  son  indeed  ;  and  thou  shalt  call 
his  name  Isaac  :  and  I  will  establish  my  co¬ 
venant  with  him  for  an  everlasting  covenant, 
and  with  his  seed  after  him. 

20  And  as  for  Ishmael,  I  have  heard  thee  : 
Behold,  I  have  blessed  him,  and  will  make 
him  fruitful,  and  h  will  multiply  him  exceed¬ 
ingly  ;  1  twelve  princes  shall  he  beget,  k  and  I 
will  make  him  a  great  nation. 


21  But  my  covenant  will  I  esta-  A.  M.  2107. 

blish  with  Isaac,  ]  which  Sarah  - - 

shall  bear  unto  thee  at  this  set  time  in  the 
next  year. 

22  And  he  left  off  talking  with  him,  and 
111  God  went  up  from  Abraham. 

23  And  Abraham  took  Ishmael  his  son,  and 
all  that  were  born  in  his  house,  and  all  that 
were  bought  with  his  money,  every  male 
among  the  men  of  Abraham’s  house,  and 
circumcised  the  flesh  of  their  foreskin  in 
the  11  selfsame  day,  as  God  had  said  unto 
him. 


s  Chap,  xviii.  10 ;  xxi.  2 ;  Gal.  iv.  28. - h  Chap.  xvi.  10. 

5  Chap.  xxv.  12-16. - kChap.  xxi.  18. - Chapter  xxi.  2. 

the  Spirit  of  God  himself  that  Abraham  was  not  weak 
but  strong  in  the  faith ;  that  he  staggered  not  at  the 
'promise  through  unbelief  but  gave  glory  to  God ,  Rom. 
iv.  19,  20.  It  is  true  the  same  word  is  used,  chap, 
xviii.  12,  concerning  Sarah,  in  whom  it  was  certainly 
a  sign  of  doubtfulness,  though  mixed  with  pleasure  at 
the  thought  of  the  possibility  of  her  becoming  a 
mother  ;  but  we  know  how  possible  it  is  to  express 
both  faith  and  unbelief  in  the  same  way,  and  even 
pleasure  and  disdain  have  been  expressed  by  a  smile 
or  laugh.  By  laughing  Abraham  undoubtedly  ex¬ 
pressed  his  joy  at  the  prospect  of  the  fulfilment  of  so 
glorious  a  promise  ;  and  from  this  very  circumstance 
Isaac  had  his  name.  pnX"  yitschak ,  which  we  change 
into  Isaac ,  signifies  laughter ;  and  it  is  the  same  word 
which  is  used  in  the  verse  before  us  :  Abraham  fell  on 
his  face ,  pH  XU  vaiyitschak ,  and  he  laughed  ;  and  to 
the  joy  which  he  felt  on  this  occasion  our  Lord  evi¬ 
dently  alludes,  John  viii.  56  :  Your  father  Abraham 
rejoiced  to  see  my  day  ;  and  he  saiv  it,  and  ivas  glad. 
And  to  commemorate  this  joy  he  called  his  son’s  name 
Isaac.  See  the  note  on  chap.  xxi.  6. 

Verse  18.  O  that  Ishmael  might  live  before  thee  /] 
Abraham,  finding  that  the  covenant  was  to  be  established 
in  another  branch  of  his  family,  felt  solicitous  for  his 
son  Ishmael,  whom  he  considered  as  necessarily  ex¬ 
cluded  ;  on  which  God  delivers  that  most  remarkable 
prophecy  which  follows  in  the  20th  verse,  and  which 
contains  an  answer  to  the  prayer  and  wish  of  Abra¬ 
ham  :  And  as  for  Ishmael  I  have  heard  thee  ;  so  that 
the  object  of  Abraham’s  prayer  was,  that  his  son  Ish¬ 
mael  might  be  the  head  of  a  prosperous  and  potent 
people. 

Verse  20.  Twelve  princes  shall  he  beget ,  tfc.]  See 
the  names  of  these  twelve  princes,  chap.  xxv.  12—16. 
From  Ishmael  proceeded  the  various  tribes  of  the 
Arabs,  called  also  Saracens .  by  Christian  writers. 
They  were  anciently,  and  still  continue  to  be,  a  very 
numerous  and  powerful  people,  “  It  was  somewhat 
wonderful,  and  not  to  be  foreseen  by  human  sagacity,” 
says  Bishop  Newton,  “  that  a  man’s  whole  posterity 
should  so  nearly  resemble  him,  and  retain  the  same 
inclinations,  the  same  habits,  and  the  same  customs, 
throughout  all  ages !  These  are  the  only  people  be¬ 
sides  the  Jews  who  have  subsisted  as  a  distinct  people 
a  114 


m  Chap,  xviii.  33  ;  xxxv.  13. - n  Chap,  xxxiv.  24 ;  Josh.  v.  2-9  ; 

Acts  xvi.  3  ;  Rom.  ii.  25-29 ;  iv.  9-12  ;  Gal.  v.  6 ;  vi.  15. 

from  the  beginning,  and  in  some  respects  they  very 
much  resemble  each  other.  1.  The  Arabs,  as  well  as 
the  Jews,  are  descended  from  Abraham,  and  both  boast 
of  their  descent  from  the  father  of  the  faithful.  2. 
The  Arabs,  as  well  as  the  Jews,  are  circumcised,  and 
both  profess  to  have  derived  this  ceremony  from  Abra¬ 
ham.  3.  The  Arabs,  as  well  as  the  Jews,  had  origin¬ 
ally  twelve  patriarchs,  who  were  their  princes  or 
governors.  4.  The  Arabs,  as  well  as  the  Jews,  marry 
among  themselves,  and  in  their  own  tribes.  5.  The 
Arabs,  as  well  as  the  Jews,  are  singular  in  several  of 
their  customs,  and  are  standing  monuments  to  all  ages 
of  the  exactness  of  the  Divine  predictions,  and  of  the 
veracity  of  Scripture  history.  We  may  with  more 
confidence  believe  the  particulars  related  of  Abraham 
and  Ishmael  when  we  see  them  verified  in  their  pos¬ 
terity  at  this  day.  This  is  having,  as  it  were,  ocular 
demonstration  for  our  faith.”  See  Bp.  Newton’s  Se¬ 
cond  Dissertation  on  the  Prophecies,  and  see  the  notes 
on  chap.  xvi.  12. 

Verse  21.  My  covenant  will  I  establish  with  Isaac\ 
All  temporal  good  things  are  promised  to  Ishmael  and 
his  posterity,  but  the  establishment  of  the  Lord’s  cove¬ 
nant  is  to  be  with  Isaac.  Hence  it  is  fully  evident 
that  this  covenant  referred  chiefly  to  spiritual  things — 
to  the  Messiah,  and  the  salvation  which  should  be 
brought  to  both  Jews  and  Gentiles  by  his  incarnation, 
death,  and  glorification. 

Verse  22.  God  went  up  from  Abraham.]  Ascended 
evidently  before  him,  so  that  be  had  the  fullest  proof 
that  it  wras  no  human  being,  no  earthly  angel  or  mes¬ 
senger,  that  talked  with  him  ;  and  the  promise  of  a 
son  in  the  course  of  a  single  year,  at  this  set  time  in 
the  next  year,  ver.  21,  which  had  every  human  pro¬ 
bability  against  it,  was  to  be  the  sure  token  of  the 
truth  of  all  that  had  hitherto  taken  place,  and  the  proof 
that  all  that  was  farther  promised  should  be  fulfilled  in 
its  due  time.  Was  it  not  in  nearly  the  same  way  in 
which  the  Lord  went  up  from  Abraham,  that  Jesus 
Christ  ascended  to  heaven  in  the  presence  of  his  dis¬ 
ciples  l  Luke  xxiv.  51. 

Verse  23.  And  Abraham  took  Ishmael,  tfc.]  Had 
not  Abraham,  his  son,  (wfiio  was  of  age  to  judge  for 
himself,)  and  all  the  family,  been  fully  convinced  that 
this  thing  was  of  God,  they  could  not  have  submitted 

C  9*  ) 


Abraham  and  his  household  are 


CHAP.  XVII. 


a.m.2107.  24  And  Abraham  was  ninety  years 

B.  C.  1897.  . ,  ,  .  n  ,  t  J  J  . 

-  old  and  nine,  0  when  he  was  cir¬ 
cumcised  in  the  flesh  of  his  foreskin. 

25  And  Ishmael  his  son  was  thirteen  years 
old  when  he  was  circumcised  in  the  flesh  of 
his  foreskin. 


0  See  ver.  1,  17  ;  Rom.  iv.  19. 


to  it.  A  rite  so  painful,  so  repugnant  to  every  feeling 
of  delicacy,  and  every  way  revolting  to  nature,  could 
never  have  sprung  up  in  the  imagination  of  man.  To 
this  day  the  Jews  practise  it  as  a  Divine  ordinance ; 
and  all  the  Arabians  do  the  same.  As  a  distinction 
betwmen  them  and  other  people  it  never  could  have 
been  designed,  because  it  was  a  sign  that  was  never  to 
appear.  The  individual  alone  knew  that  he  bore  in 
his  flesh  this  sign  of  the  covenant,  and  he  bore  it  by 
the  order  of  God,  and  he  knew  it  was  a  sign  and  seal 
of  spiritual  blessings,  and  not  the  blessings  themselves, 
though  a  proof  that  these  blessings  were  promised, 
and  that  he  had  a  right  to  them.  Those  who  did  not 
consider  it  in  this  spiritual  reference  are  by  the  apostle 
denominated  the  concision ,  Phil.  iii.  2,  i.  e.,  persons 
whose  flesh  was  cut,  but  whose  hearts  were  not  purified. 

The  contents  of  this  chapter  may  be  summed  up  in 
a  few  propositions  : — 

1.  God,  in  renewing  his  covenant  with  Abram, 
makes  an  important  change  in  his  and  Sarai’s  name  ; 
a  change  which  should  ever  act  as  a  help  to  their  faith, 
that  the  promises  by  which  God  had  bound  himself 
should  be  punctually  fulfilled.  However  difficult  it 
may  be  for  us  to  ascertain  the  precise  import  of  the 
change  then  made,  we  may  rest  assured  that  it  was 
perfectly  understood  by  both ;  and  that,  as  they  had 
received  this  name  from  God,  they  considered  it  as 
placing  them  in  a  new  relation  both  to  their  Maker 
and  to  their  posterity.  From  what  we  have  already 
seen,  the  change  made  in  Abram’s  name  is  inscrutable 
to  us  ;  there  is  something  like  this  in  Rev.  ii.  17:  To 
him  that  overcometh  will  I  give  a  white  stone ,  and  a 
new  name — which  no  man  knoweth ,  saving  he  that 
receivelh  it.  The  full  import  of  the  change  made  in 
a  soul  that  enters  into  covenant  with  God  through 
Christ,  is  only  known  to  itself ;  a  stranger  intermed- 
dleth  not  with  its  joy.  Hence,  even  men  of  learning 
and  the  world  at  large  have  considered  experimental 
religion  as  enthusiasm,  merely  because  they  have  not 
understood  its  nature,  and  have  permitted  themselves 
to  be  carried  away  by  prejudices  which  they  have  im¬ 
bibed  perhaps  at  first  through  the  means  of  ignorant 
or  hypocritical  pretenders  to  deep  piety  ;  but  while 
they  have  the  sacred  writings  before  them,  their 
prejudices  and  opposition  to  that  without  which  they 
cannot  be  saved  are  as  unprincipled  as  they  are 
absurd. 

2.  God  gives  Abraham  a  precept,  which  should  be 
observed,  not  only  by  himself,  but  by  all  his  posterity  ; 
for  this  was  to  be  a  permanent  sign  of  that  covenant 
which  was  to  endure  for  ever.  Though  the  sign  is 
now  changed  from  circumcision  to  baptism ,  each  of 
them  equally  significant,  yet  the  covenant  is  not  changed 

a 


circumcised  on  the  same  day. 


26  In  the  selfsame  day  was  Abra¬ 
ham  circumcised,  and  Ishmael  his 
son. 


A.  M.2107. 

B.  C.  1897. 


27  And  p  all  the  men  of  his  house,  born  in 
the  house,  and  bought  with  money  of  the 
stranger,  were  circumcised  with  him. 


P  Chap,  xviii.  19. 


in  any  part  of  its  essential  meaning.  Faith  in  God 
through  the  great  sacrifice,  remission  of  sins,  and  sanc¬ 
tification  of  the  heart,  are  required  by  the  new  cove¬ 
nant  as  well  as  by  the  old. 

3.  The  rite  of  circumcision  was  painful  and  humi¬ 
liating,  to  denote  that  repentance,  self-denial,  dfc.,  are 
absolutely  necessary  to  all  who  wish  for  redemption  in 
the  blood  of  the  covenant ;  and  the  putting  away  this 
filth  of  the  flesh  showed  the  necessity  of  a  pure  heart 
and  a  holy  life. 

4.  As  eternal  life  is  the  free  gift  of  God,  he  has  a 
right  to  give  it  in  what  way  he  pleases,  and  on  what 
terms.  He  says  to  Abraham  and  his  seed,  Ye  shall 
circumcise  the  flesh  of  your  foreskin,  and  he  that  doth 
not  so  shall  be  cut  off  from  his  people.  He  says  also 
to  sinners  in  general,  Let  the  wicked  forsake  his  way, 
and  the  unrighteous  man  his  thoughts ;  Repent,  and 
believe  the  Gospel ;  and,  Except  ye  repent,  ye  shall 
perish.  These  are  the  terms  on  which  he  will  bestow 
the  blessings  of  the  old  and  new  covenants.  And  let 
it  be  remembered  that  stretching  out  the  hand  to  re¬ 
ceive  an  alms  can  never  be  considered  as  meriting 
the  bounty  received,  neither  can  repentance  or  faith 
merit  salvation,  although  they  are  the  conditions  on 
which  it  is  bestowed. 

5.  The  precepts  given  under  both  covenants  were 
accompanied  with  a  promise  of  the  Messiah.  God 
well  knows  that  no  religious  rite  can  be  properly  ob¬ 
served,  and  no  precept  obeyed,  unless  he  impart  strength 
from  on  high  ;  and  he  teaches  us  that  that  strength 
must  ever  come  through  the  promised  seed.  Hence, 
with  the  utmost  propriety,  we  ask  every  blessing 
through  him,  in  whom  God  is  well  pleased. 

6.  The  precept ,  the  promise,  and  the  rile,  were  pre¬ 
faced  with,  “  I  am  God  all-sufficient ;  walk  before  me, 
and  be  thou  perfect.”  God,  who  is  the  sole  object  of 
religious  worship,  has  the  sole  authority  to  prescribe 
that  worship,  and  the  rites  and  ceremonies  which  shall 
be  used  in  it ;  hence  he  prescribed  circumcision  and 
sacrifices  under  the  old  law,  and  baptism  and  the  eucha- 
rist  under  the  Gospel ;  and  to  render  both  effectual  to 
the  end  of  their  institution,  faith  in  God  was  indis¬ 
pensably  necessary. 

7.  Those  who  profess  to  believe  in  him  must  not 
live  as  they  list,  but  as  he  pleases.  Though  redeemed 
from  the  curse  of  the  law,  and  from  the  rites  and  cere¬ 
monies  of  the  Jewish  Church,  they  are  under  the  law 
to  Christ,  and  must  walk  before  him — be  in  all  things 
obedient  to  that  moral  law  which  is  an  emanation  from 
the  righteousness  of  God,  and  of  eternal  obligation ; 
and  let  it  ever  be  remembered  that  Christ  is  “  the  au¬ 
thor  of  eternal  salvation  to  all  that  obey  him.”  With¬ 
out  faith  and  obedience  there  can  be  no  holiness,  and 
without  holiness  none  can  see  the  Lord.  Be  all  that 

115 


GENESIS. 


to  Abraham  in  Mamre . 


Three  angels  appear 


God  would  have  thee  to  be,  and  God  will  be  to  thee 
all  that  thou  canst  possibly  require.  He  never  gives 
a  precept  but  he  offers  sufficient  grace  to  enable  thee 


to  perform  it.  Believe  as  he  would  have  thee,  and 
act  as  he  shall  strengthen  thee,  and  thou  wilt  believe 
all  things  savingly ,  and  do  all  things  well . 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 


The  Lord  appears  unto  Abraham  in  Mamre ,  1.  Three  angels ,  in  human  appearance,  come  towards  his  tent,  2. 
He  invites  them  in  to  wash  and  refresh  themselves,  3—5  ;  prepares  a  calf,  bread,  butter,  and  milk,  for  their 
entertainment ;  and  himself  serves  them,  6—8.  They  promise  that  within  a  year  Sarah  shall  have  a  son,  9,  1 0. 
Sarah,  knowing  herself  and  husband  to  be  superannuated,  smiles  at  the  promise,  11,  12.  One  of  the  three, 
who  is  called  the  Lord  or  Jehovah,  chides  her ,  and  asserts  the  sufficiency  of  the  Divine  power  to  accomplish 
the  promise,  13,  14.  Sarah,  through  fear,  denies  that  she  had  laughed  or  showed  signs  of  unbelief,  15. 
Abraham  accompanies  these  Divine  persons  on  their  way  to  Sodom,  1 6  ;  and  that  one  who  is  called  Jehovah 
informs  him  of  his  purpose  to  destroy  Sodom  and  Gomorrah,  because  of  their  great  wickedness,  17-21. 
The  two  former  proceed  toward  Sodom,  while  the  latter  {Jehovah)  remains  with  Abraham,  22.  Abraham 
intercedes  for  the  inhabitants  of  those  cities,  entreating  the  Lord  to  spare  them  provided  fifty  righteous 
persons  should  be  found  in  them,  23-25.  The  Lord  grants  this  request,  26.  He  pleads  for  the  same 
mercy  should  only  forty-five  be  found  there ;  which  is  also  granted,  27,  28.  He  pleads  the  same  for  forty, 
which  is  also  granted,  29  ;  for  thirty,  with  the  same  success,  30  ;  for  twenty,  and  receives  the  same  gracious 
answer ,  31  ;  for  ten,  and  the  Lord  assures  him  that  should  ten  righteous  persons  be  found  there,  he  will  not 
destroy  the  place,  32.  Jehovah  then  departs,  and  Abraham  returns  to  his  tent,  33. 


A. M. 2107.  AND  the  Lord  appeared  unto 

- - -  him  m  the  a  plains  ot  Mamre  : 

and  he  sat  in  the  tent  door  in  the  heat  of  the 

day  : 

2  b  And  he  lift  up  his  eyes  and  looked,  and, 
lo,  three  men  stood  by  him  c  and  when 
he  saw  them,  he  ran  to  meet  them  from  the 
tent  door,  and  bowed  himself  toward  the 
ground, 

3  And  said,  My  Lord,  if  now  I  have  found 


favour  m  thy  sight,  pass  not  away,  A.  M.  2107. 

T  ,  i  J  B.  C.  1897. 

I  pray  thee,  trom  thy  servant :  - 

4  Let  d  a  little  water,  I  pray  you,  be  fetched, 
and  wash  your  feet,  and  rest  yourselves  under 
the  tree : 

5  And  e  I  will  fetch  a  morsel  of  bread,  and 
f  comfort  ye  your  *  hearts  ;  after  that  ye  shall 
pass  on  :  h  for  therefore *  1  are  ye  come  to  your 
servant.  And  they  said,  So  do,  as  thou  hast  said. 

6  And  Abraham  hastened  into  the  tent  unto 


a  Chap.  xiii.  18  ;  xiv.  13. - b  Heb.  xiii.  2. - c  Chap.  xix.  1 ; 

1  Pet.  iv.  9. - d  Chap.  xix.  2 :  xliii.  24. - e  Judg.  vi.  18  ;  xiii.  15. 


{ Heb.  stay. - £  Judg.  xix.  5  ;  Psa.  civ.  15. - h  Chap.  xix.  8 ; 

xxxiii.  10. - 1  Heb.  you  have  passed. 


NOTES  ON  CHAP.  XVIII. 

Verse  1.  And  the  Lord  appeared]  See  on  chap, 
xv.  1. 

Sat  in  the  tent  door]  For  the  purpose  of  enjoying 
the  refreshing  air  in  the  heat  of  the  day,  when  the  sun 
had  most  power.  A  custom  still  frequent  among  the 
Asiatics. 

Verse  2.  Three  men  stood  by  him]  vbp  nits- 

tsabim  alaiv,  were  standing  over  against  him  ;  for  if 
they  had  been  standing  by  him,  as  our  translation  says, 
he  needed  not  to  have  “  run  from  the  tent  door  to 
meet  them.”  To  Abraham  these  appeared  at  first  as 
men ;  but  he  entertained  angels  unawares ,  see  Heb. 
xiii.  2. 

Verse  3.  And  said,  My  Lord ,  <5fc. ]  The  word  is 
'MX  Adonai ,  not  HUT  Yehovah,  for  as  yet  Abraham 
did  not  know  the  quality  of  his  guests.  For  an  expla¬ 
nation  of  this  word,  see  on  chap.  xv.  8. 

Verse  4.  Let  a  little  water — be  fetched,  and  wash 
your  feet,  <fc.]  In  these  verses  we  find  a  delightful 
picture  of  primitive  hospitality.  In  those  ancient 
times  shoes  such  as  ours  were  not  in  use ;  and  the 
foot-  was  protected  only  by  sandals  or  soles,  which 
fastened  round  the  foot  with  straps.  It  was  therefore 

116 


a  great  refreshment  in  so  hot  a  country  to  get  the  feet 
washed  at  the  end  of  a  day’s  journey  ;  and  this  is  the 
first  thing  that  Abraham  proposes. 

Rest  yourselves  under  the  tree]  We  have  already 
heard  of  the  oak  grove  of  Mamre,  chap.  xii.  6,  and 
this  was  the  second  requisite  for  the  refreshment  of  a 
weary  traveller,  viz.,  rest  in  the  shade. 

Verse  5.  I  will  fetch  a  morsel  of  bread]  This  was 
the  third  requisite,  and  is  introduced  in  its  proper 
order  ;  as  eating  immediately  after  exertion  or  fatigue 
is  very  unwholesome.  The  strong  action  of  the  lungs 
and  heart  should  have  time  to  diminish  before  any  food 
is  received  into  the  stomach,  as  otherwise  concoction 
is  prevented,  and  fever  in  a  less  or  greater  degree 
produced. 

For  therefore  are  ye  come]  In  those  ancient  days 
every  traveller  conceived  he  had  a  right  to  refresh¬ 
ment,  when  he  needed  it,  at  the  first  tent  he  met  with 
on  his  journey. 

So  do  as  thou  hast  said.]  How  exceedingly  simple 
was  all  this !  On  neither  side  is  there  any  compliment 
but  such  as  a  generous  heart  and  sound  sense  dictate. 

Verse  6.  Three  measures  of  fine  meal]  The 
seah ,  which  is  here  translated  measure,  contained, 

a 


Abraham  entertains  angels.  CHAP.  XVIII.  A  son  is  promised  to  Sarah 


M.  2107.  Sarah,  and  said,  Make  k  ready 
B.  C.  1897.  .  ’  +l  rr 

-  quickly  three  measures  oi  fine 

meal ;  knead  it,  and  make  cakes  upon  the 

hearth. 

7  And  Abraham  ran  unto  the  herd,  and 
fetched  a  calf,  tender  and  good,  and  gave  it 
unto  a  young  man  ;  and  he  hasted  to  dress  it. 

8  And *  1  he  took  butter,  and  milk,  and  the 
calf  which  he  had  dressed,  and  set  it  before 
them  ;  and  he  stood  by  them  under  the  tree, 
and  they  did  eat. 

9  And  they  said  unto  him,  Where  is  Sarah 
thy  wife  ?  and  he  said,  Behold,  m  in  the 
tent. 


10  And  he  said,  I  “will  certainly  A. M. 2107. 

J  B  C  1897 

return  unto  thee  0  according  to  the  — — i - 1 

time  of  life  ;  and,  lo,  p  Sarah  thy  wife  shall 
have  a  son.  And  Sarah  heard  it  in  the  tent 
door,  which  was  behind  him. 

1 1  Now  q  Abraham  and  Sarah  were  old  and 
well  stricken  in  age  ;  and.  it  ceased  to  be  with 
Sarah  r  after  the  manner  of  women. 

12  Therefore  s  Sarah  laughed  within  herself, 
saying,  t  After  I  am  waxed  old  shall  I  have 
pleasure,  my  u  lord  being  old  also  ? 

13  And  the  Lord  said  unto  Abraham, 
Wherefore  did  Sarah  laugh,  saying,  Shall  I 
of  a  surety  bear  a  child,  which  am  old  ? 


k  Heb.  hasten. - 1 *  Chap.  xix.  3. - mCh.  xxiv.  67. - n  Ver. 

14. - 0  2  Kings  iv.  16. - p  Chap.  xvii.  19, 21 ;  xxi.  2 ;  Rom.  ix.  9. 


1  Chap.  xvii.  17 ;  Rom.  iv.  19  ;  Heb.  xi.  11,  12, 19. - r  Chap. 

xxxi.  35. - sChap.  xvii.  17. - 4  Luke  i.  18. - u  1  Pet.  iii.  6. 


according  to  Bishop  Cumberland,  about  two  gallons  and 
a  half ;  and  Mr.  Ainsworth  translates  the  word  peck. 
On  this  circumstance  the  following  observations  of  the 
judicious  and  pious  Abbe  Fleury  cannot  fail  to  be  ac¬ 
ceptable  to  the  reader.  Speaking  of  the  frugality  of 
the  patriarchs  he  says  :  “We  have  an  instance  of  a 
splendid  entertainment  in  that  which  Abraham  made 
for  the  three  angels.  He  set  a  whole  calf  before 
them,  new  bread,  but  baked  on  the  hearth,  together 
with  butter  and  milk.  Three  measures  of  meal  were 
baked  into  bread  on  this  occasion,  which  come  to  more 
than  two  of  our  bushels,  and  nearly  to  fifty-six  pounds 
of  our  weight ;  hence  we  may  conclude  that  men 
were  great  eaters  in  those  days,  used  much  exercise, 
were  probably  of  a  much  larger  stature  as  well  as 
longer  lives  than  we.  Homer  (Odyss.  lib.  xiv.,  ver. 
74,  &c.)  makes  his  heroes  great  eaters.  When 
Eumceus  entertained  Ulysses,  he  dressed  two  pigs  for 
himself  and  his  guest. 

1  So  saying,  he  girded  quick  his  tunic  close, 

And  issuing  sought  the  styes ;  thence  bringing  two, 
Of  the  imprisoned  herd,  he  slaughtered  both, 

Singed  them  and  slash’d  and  spitted  them,  and  placed 
The  whole  well  roasted,  banquets,  spits,  and  all, 
Reeking  before  Ulysses.’  Cowper. 

On  another  occasion  a  hog  of  five  years  old  was  slaugh¬ 
tered  and  served  up  for  five  persons  : — 

1 - His  wood  for  fuel  he  prepared, 

And  dragging  thither  a  well-fatted  brawn 
Of  the  fifth  year  : — 

Next  piercing  him,  and  scorching  close  his  hair, 
The  joints  they  parted,’  &c. 

Ibid.  ver.  419.  Cowper. 

Homer’s  heroes  wait  upon  themselves  and  guests  in 
the  common  occasions  of  life  ;  the  patriarchs  do  the 
same.  Abraham,  who  had  so  many  servants,  and  was 
nearly  a  hundred  years  old,  brought  the  water  himself 
to  wash  the  feet  of  his  guests,  ordered  his  wife  to 
make  the  bread  quickly,  went  himself  to  choose  the 
calf  from  the  herd,  and  came  again  to  serve  them 
Handing.  I  will  allow  that  he  was  animated  on  this 

a 


occasion  with  a  desire  of  showing  hospitality,  but  the 
lives  of  all  the  rest  of  the  patriarchs  were  similar  to 
this.” 

Make  cakes  upon  the  hearth .]  Or  under  the  ashes. 
This  mode  is  used  in  the  east  to  the  present  day. 
When  the  hearth  is  strongly  heated  with  the  fire  that 
has  been  kindled  on  it,  they  remove  the  coals,  sweep 
off  the  ashes,  lay  on  the  bread,  and  then  cover  it  with 
the  hot  cinders. 

Verse  8.  And  he  stood  by  them  under  the  tree,  and 
they  did  eat.]  Nothing  is  more  common  in  Hindostan 
than  to  see  travellers  and  guests  eating  under  the  shade 
of  trees.  Feasts  are  scarcely  ever  held  in  houses 
The  house  of  a  Hindoo  serves  for  sleeping  and  cook¬ 
ing,  and  for  shutting  up  the  women  ;  but  is  never  con¬ 
sidered  as  a  sitting  or  dining  room. — Ward. 

Verse  10.  I  will  certainly  return ]  Abraham  was 
now  ninety-nine  years  of  age,  and  this  promise  was 
fulfilled  when  he  was  a  hundred ;  so  that  the  phrase 
according  to  the  time  of  life  must  mean  either  a  com¬ 
plete  year,  or  nine  months  from  the  present  time,  the 
ordinary  time  of  pregnancy.  Taken  in  this  latter 
sense,  Abraham  was  now  in  the  ninety-ninth  year  of 
his  age,  and  Isaac  was  born  when  he  was  in  his  hun¬ 
dredth  year. 

Verse  11  .It  ceased  to  be  with  Sarah  after  the  man¬ 
ner  of  women.]  And  consequently,  naturally  speak¬ 
ing,  conception  could  not  take  place  ;  therefore  if  she 
have  a  son  it  must  be  in  a  supernatural  or  miraculous 
way. 

Verse  12.  Sarah  laughed]  Partly  through  pleasure 
at  the  bare  idea  of  the  possibility  of  the  thing,  and 
partly  from  a  conviction  that  it  was  extremely  impro¬ 
bable.  She  appears  to  have  been  in  the  same  spirit, 
and  to  have  had  the  same  feelings  of  those  who,  un¬ 
expectedly  hearing  of  something  of  great  consequence 
to  themselves,  smile  and  say,  “  The  news  is  too  good 
to  be  true see  chap.  xxi.  6.  There  is  a  case  very 
similar  to  this  mentioned  Psa.  cxxvi.  1,  2  On  Abra¬ 
ham’s  laughing,  see  the  note  on  chap.  xvii.  17. 

Verse  13.  And  the  Lord  (Jehovah)  said,  tf-c.]  So 
it  appears  that  one  of  those  three  persons  was  Jeho¬ 
vah,  and  as  this  name  is  never  given  to  any  created 

117 


God  discloses  his  purpose 


GENESIS.  respecting  Sodom  to  Abraham 


A.  M.  2107.  14  v  Is  anything  too  hard  for 

B  C  1897  J  ° 

— - k  the  Lord  ?  w  At  the  time  appointed 

I  will  return  unto  thee,  according  to  the  time 
of  life,  and  Sarah  shall  have  a  son. 

15  Then  Sarah  denied,  saying,  I  laughed 
not ;  for  she  was  afraid.  And  he  said,  Nay  ; 
but  thou  didst  laugh. 

16  And  the  men  rose  up  from  thence,  and 
looked  toward  Sodom :  and  Abraham  went 
with  them  x  to  bring  them  on  the  way. 

1 7  And  the  Lord  said,  y  Shall  I  hide  from 
Abraham  that  thing  which  I  do ; 

18  Seeing  that  Abraham  shall  surely  be¬ 
come  a  great  and  mighty  nation,  and  all  the 
nations  of  the  earth  shall  be  z  blessed  in  him  ? 

19  For  I  know  him,  a  that  he  will  command 
his  children  and  his  household  after  him,  and 
they  shall  keep  the  way  of  the  Lord,  to  do 
justice  and  judgment ;  that  the  Lord  may 

vJer.  xxxii.  17;  Zech.  viii.  6;  Matt.  iii.  9 ;  xix.  26;  Luke  i. 

37. - w  Chap.  xvii.  21  ;  ver.  10  ;  2  Kings  iv.  16. - x  Rom.  xv. 

24  ;  3  John  6. - y  Psa.  xxv.  14  ;  Amos  iii.  7 ;  John  xv.  15. 

z  Chap.  xii.  3  ;  xxii.  18  ;  Acts  iii.  25  ;  Gal.  iii.  8. - a  Deut.  iv. 

9,  10  ;  vi.  7 ;  Josh.  xxiv.  15  ;  Eph.  vi.  4. 

being,  consequently  the  ever-blessed  God  is  intended; 
and  as  he  was  never  seen  in  any  bodily  shape,  conse¬ 
quently  the  great  Angel  of  the  covenant,  Jesus  Christ, 
must  be  meant.  See  on  chap.  xvi.  7. 

Yerse  14.  Is  any  thing  too  hard  for  the  Lord?] 
“Hn  mrrn  hayippale  meihovah  dabar ,  shall  a 

word  (or  thing)  be  wonderful  from  the  Lord  1  i.  e., 
Can  any  thing  be  too  great  a  miracle  for  him  to  effect  1 
The  Septuagint  translate  the  passage,  Mr;  adwaryaEi 
'irapa  r<p  Geca  prjya ;  which  St.  Luke  adopts  almost 
literatim,  only  making  it  an  affirmative  position  instead 
of  a  question  :  Ovk  adwarr/aec  tc apa  rep  Gccj  irav  ffiya, 
which  we  translate,  “  With  God  nothing  shall  be  im¬ 
possible,”  Luke  i.  37.  Many  copies  of  the  Septuagint 
insert  the  word  tt av  before  pyya,  as  in  St.  Luke  ;  but 
it  makes  little  difference  in  the  sense.  It  was  to  cor¬ 
rect  Sarah’s  unbelief,  and  to  strengthen  her  faith,  that 
God  spoke  these  most  important  words ;  words  which 
state  that  where  human  wisdom,  prudence,  and  energy 
fail,  and  where  nature  herself  ceases  to  be  an  agent, 
through  lack  of  energy  to  act,  or  laws  to  direct  and 
regulate  energy,  there  also  God  has  full  sway ,  and  by 
his  own  omnific  power  works  all  things  after  the  coun¬ 
sel  of  his  own  will.  Is  there  an  effect  to  be  pro¬ 
duced  1  God  can  produce  it  as  well  without  as  ivith 
means.  He  produced  nature,  the  whole  system  of 
causes  and  effects,  when  in  the  whole  compass  of  his 
own  eternity  there  was  neither  means  nor  being.  He 
spake,  and  it  was  done ;  he  commanded,  and  it  stood 
fast.  How  great  and  wonderful  is  God ! 

Verse  16.  Abraham  went  with  them  to  bring  them 
on  the  way.]  This  was  another  piece  of  primitive 
hospitality — to  direct  strangers  in  the  way.  Public 
roads  did  not  then  exist,  and  guides  were  essentially 
necessary  in  countries  where  villages  were  seldom 

118 


bring  upon  Abraham  that  which  A.  M.  2107. 
he  hath  spoken  of  him.  1897'. 

20  And  the  Lord  said,  Because  b  the  cry 
of  Sodom  and  Gomorrah  is  great,  and  because 
their  sin  is  very  grievous ; 

21  c  I  will  go  down  now,  and  see  whether 
they  have  done  altogether  according  to  the 
cry  of  it,  which  is  come  unto  me ;  and  if  not, 
d  I  will  know. 

22  And  the  men  turned  their  faces  from 
thence,  e  and  went  toward  Sodom  ;  but  Abra¬ 
ham  f  stood  yet  before  the  Lord. 

23  And  Abraham  s  drew  near,  and  said, 
b  Wilt  thou  also  destroy  the  righteous  with  the 
wicked  ? 

24  1  Peradventure  there  be  fifty  righteous 
within  the  city  :  wilt  thou  also  destroy  and 
not  spare  the  place  for  the  fifty  righteous  that 
are  therein  ? 

b  Chap.  iv.  10;  xix.  13;  James  v.  4. - c  Chap.  xi.  5; 

Exodus  iii.  8. - d  Deut.  viii.  2 ;  xiii.  3;  Josh.  xxii.  22; 

Luke  xvi.  15;  2  Cor.  xi.  11. - e  Chap.  xix.  1. - fVer. 

1. - s  Heb.  x.  22. - h  Numbers  xvi.  22;  2  Sam.  xxiv.  17 

5  Jer.  v.  1. 


to  be  met  with,  and  where  solitary  dwellings  did  not 
exist. 

Yerse  17.  Shall  I  hide  from  Abraham j  That  is, 
I  will  not  hide.  A  common  mode  of  speech  in  Scrip¬ 
ture — a  question  asked  when  an  affirmative  is  designed. 
Do  men  gather  grapes  of  thorns  ?  Men  do  not  gather 
grapes  of  thorns,  &c. 

Yerse  18.  Shall  surely  become  a  great  and  mighty 
nation]  The  revelation  that  I  make  to  him  shall  be 
preserved  among  his  posterity  ;  and  the  exact  fulfil¬ 
ment  of  my  promises,  made  so  long  before,  shall  lead 
them  to  believe  in  my  name  and  trust  in  my  goodness. 

Verse  19.  And  they  shall  heep  the  way  of  the  Lord j 
The  true  religion ;  God’s  way  ;  that  in  which  God 
walks  himself,  and  in  which,  of  course,  his  followers 
walk  also  ;  to  do  justice  and  judgment ;  not  only  to 
preserve  the  truth  in  their  creed,  but  maintain  it  in 
their  practice. 

Yerse  20.  Because  the  cry  of  Sodom  and  Gomorrah ] 
See  the  notes  on  chap.  xiii.  13. 

Yerse  21.  I  will  go  down  now,  $c.]  A  lesson  to 
magistrates,  teaching  them  not  to  judge  according  to 
report,  but  accurately  to  inquire  into  the  facts  them¬ 
selves. — Jarchi. 

Yerse  22.  And  the  men  turned  their  faces]  That 
is,  the  two  angels  who  accompanied  Jehovah  were  now 
sent  towards  Sodom ;  while  the  third,  who  is  called 
the  Lord  or  Jehovah ,  remained  with  Abraham  for  the 
purpose  of  teaching  him  the  great  usefulness  and  im¬ 
portance  of  faith  and  prayer. 

Yerse  23.  Wilt  thou  also  destroy  the  righteous  with 
the  wicked?]  A  form  of  speech  similar  to  that  in 
verse  17,  an  invariable  principle  of  justice,  that  the 
righteous  shall  not  be  punished  for  the  crimes  of  the 
impious.  And  this  Abraham  lays  down  as  the  foun* 

a 


CHAP.  XVIII. 


Sodom  and  Gomorrah. 


Abraham  intercedes  for 

A.  M.  2107.  25  That  be  far  from  thee  to  do 

B.  C.  1897.  r  ,  .  -I  i  .  . 

- -  alter  tins  manner,  to  slay  the  righte¬ 
ous  with  the  wicked  :  and  k  that  the  righteous 
should  be  as  the  wicked,  that  be  far  from  thee  : 
1  Shall  not  the  Judge  of  all  the  earth  do 
right  ? 

26  And  the  Lord  said,  m  If  1  find  in  Sodom 
fifty  righteous  within  the  city,  then  I  will 
spare  all  the  place  for  their  sakes. 

27  And  Abraham  answered  and  said,  n  Be¬ 
hold  now,  I  have  taken  upon  me  to  speak 
unto  the  Lord,  which  am  0  but  dust  and 
ashes  : 

28  Peradventure  there  shall  lack  five  of  the 
fifty  righteous  :  wilt  thou  destroy  all  the  city 
for  lack  of  five  ?  And  he  said,  If  I  find 
there  forty  and  five,  I  will  not.  destroy  it. 

29  And  he  spake  unto  him  yet  again,  and 


said,  Peradventure  there  shall  be  a.  m.  2107. 
forty  found  there.  And  he  said,  I  18^L 
will  not  do  it  for  forty’s  sake. 

30  And  he  said  unto  him ,  0  let  not  the 
Lord  be  angry,  and  I  will  speak  :  Peradven¬ 
ture  there  shall  thirty  be  found  there.  And 
he  said,  I  will  not  do  it  if  I  find  thirty  there. 

3  1  And  he  said,  Behold  now,  I  have  taken 
upon  me  to  speak  unto  the  Lord  :  Peradven¬ 
ture  there  shall  be  twenty  found  there.  And 
he  said,  I  will  not  destroy  it  for  twenty’s  sake. 

32  And  he  said,  p  0  let  not  the  Lord  be 
angry,  and  I  will  speak  yet  but  this  once  : 
Peradventure  ten  shall  be  found  there.  ^  And 
he  said,  I  will  not  destroy  it  for  ten’s  sake. 

33  And  the  Lord  went  his  way,  as  soon  as 
he  had  left  communing  with  Abraham  :  and 
Abraham  returned  unto  his  place. 


k  Job  viii.  20  ;  Isa.  iii.  10,  11. -*  1  Jobviii.  3  ;  xxxiv.  17  ;  Psa.  lviii. 

11  ;  xciv.  2 ;  Rom.  iii.  6. - m  Jer.  v.  1 ;  Ezek.  xxii.  30. 


dation  of  his  supplications.  Who  can  pray  with  any 
hope  of  success  who  cannot  assign  a  reason  to  God 
and  his  conscience  for  the  petitions  he  offers  l  The 
great  sacrifice  offered  by  Christ  is  an  infinite  reason 
why  a  penitent  sinner  should  expect  to  find  the  mercy 
for  which  he  pleads. 

Verse  25.  Shall  not  the  Judge  of  all  the  earth  do 
right?]  God  alone  is  the  Judge  of  all  men.  Abra¬ 
ham,  in  thus  addressing  himself  to  the  person  in  the 
text,  considers  him  either  as  the  Supreme  Being  or  his 
representative. 

Verse  27.  Which  am  but  dust  and  ashes]  *13^1 
aphar  vaepher,  words  very  similar  in  sound,  as  they 
refer  to  matters  which  so  much  resemble  each  other. 
Dust — the  lightest  particles  of  earth.  Ashes — the 

residuum  of  consumed  substances.  By  these  expres¬ 
sions  he  shows  how  deeply  his  soul  was  humbled  in 
the  presence  of  God.  He  who  has  high  thoughts  of 
himself  must  have  low  thoughts  of  the  dignity  of  the 
Divine  nature,  of  the  majesty  of  God,  and  the  sinful¬ 
ness  of  sin. 

Verse  32.  Peradventure  ten  shall  he  found  there] 
Knowing  that  in  the  family  of  his  nephew  the  true  re¬ 
ligion  was  professed  and  practised,  he  could  not  sup¬ 
pose  there  could  be  less  than  ten  righteous  persons  in 
the  city,  he  did  not  think  it  necessary  to  urge  his  sup¬ 
plication  farther  ;  he  therefore  left  off  his  entreaties, 
and  the  Lord  departed  from  him.  It  is  highly  worthy 
of  observation,  that  while  he  continued  to  pray  the 
presence  of  God  was  continued  ;  and  when  Abraham 
ended,  “  the  glory  of  the  Lord  was  lifted  up,”  as  the 
Targum  expresses  it. 

This  chapter,  though  containing  only  the  prelimi¬ 
naries  to  the  awful  catastrophe  detailed  in  the  next, 
affords  us  several  lessons  of  useful  and  important  in¬ 
formation. 

1.  The  hospitality  and  humanity  of  Abraham  are 

a 


“Luke  xviii.  1. - 0  Chap.  iii.  19;  Job  iv.  19;  Eccles.  xii.  7  ; 

1  Cor.  xv.  47,  48 ;  2  Cor.  v.  1. - p  Judg.  vi.  39. - a  James  v.  16. 


worthy,  not  only  of  our  most  serious  regard,  but  also 
of  our  imitation.  He  sat  in  the  door  of  his  tent  in 
the  heat  of  the  day,  not  only  to  enjoy  the  current  of 
refreshing  air,  but  that  if  he  saw  any  weary  and  ex¬ 
hausted  travellers  he  might  invite  them  to  rest  and 
refresh  themselves.  Hospitality  is  ever  becoming  in 
one  human  being  towards  another  ;  for  every  destitute 
man  is  a  brother  in  distress,  and  demands  our  most 
prompt  and  affectionate  assistance,  according  to  that 
heavenly  precept,  “  What  ye  would  that  men  should 
do  unto  you,  do  even  so  unto  them.”  From  this  con¬ 
duct  of  Abraham  a  Divine  precept  is  formed  :  “  Be 
not  forgetful  to  entertain  strangers,  for  thereby  some 
have  entertained  angels  unawares.”  Heb.  xiii.  2. 

2.  Whatever  is  given  on  the  ground  of  humanity 
and  mercy  is  given  unto  God,  and  is  sure  to  meet  with 
his  approbation  and  a  suitable  reward.  While  Abra¬ 
ham  entertained  his  guests  God  discovers  himself,  and 
reveals  to  him  the  counsels  of  his  will,  and  renews  the 
promise  of  a  numerous  posterity.  Sarah,  though  natu¬ 
rally  speaking  past  child-bearing,  shall  have  a  son ; 
natural  obstacles  cannot  hinder  the  purpose  of  God; 
nature  is  his  instrument ;  and  as  it  works  not  only  by 
general  laws,  but  also  by  any  particular  will  of  God, 
so  it  may  accomplish  that  will  in  any  way  he  may 
choose  to  direct.  It  is  always  difficult  to  credit  God’s 
promises  when  they  relate  to  supernatural  things,  and 
still  more  so  wffien  they  have  for  their  object  events 
that  are  contrary  to  the  course  of  nature ;  but  as  no¬ 
thing  is  too  hard  for  God ,  so  “  all  things  are  possible 
to  him  that  believeth.”  It  is  that  faith  alone  which  is 
of  the  operation  of  God’s  Spirit,  that  is  capable  of 
crediting  supernatural  things ;  he  who  does  not  pray 
to  be  enabled  to  believe,  or,  if  he  do,  uses  not  the 
powrer  when  received,  can  never  believe  to  the  saving 
of  the  soul. 

3.  Abraham  trusts  much  in  God,  and  God  reposes 
much  confidence  in  Abraham.  He  knows  that  God  is 

119 


GENESIS. 


Lot  invites  them  into  Jus  house 


Two  angels  come  to  Sodom. 

faithful,  and  will  fulfil  his  promises  ;  and  God  knows 
that  Abraham  is  faithful,  and  will  command  his  chil¬ 
dren  and  his  household  after  him,  and  they  shall  keep 
the  way  of  the  Lord  to  do  justice  and  judgment;  ver. 
19.  No  man  lives  unto  himself;  and  God  gives  us 
neither  spiritual  nor  temporal  blessings  for  ourselves 
alone;  our  bread  we  are  to  divide  with  the  hungry, 
and  to  help  the  stranger  in  distress.  He  who  under¬ 
stands  the  way  of  God  should  carefully  instruct  his 
household  in  that  way ;  and  he  who  is  the  father  of  a 
family  should  pray  to  God  to  teach  him,  that  he  may 
teach  his  household.  His  ignorance  of  God  and  sal¬ 
vation  can  be  no  excuse  for  his  neglecting  his  family  : 
it  is  his  indispensable  duty  to  teach  them;  and  God 
will  teach  him,  if  he  earnestly  seek  it,  that  he  may  be 
able  to  discharge  this  duty  to  his  family.  Reader,  if 
thy  children  or  servants  perish  through  thy  neglect, 
God  will  judge  thee  for  it  in  the  great  day. 

4.  The  sin  of  Sodom  and  the  cities  of  the  plain 
was  great  and  grievous ;  the  measure  of  their  iniquity 
was  full,  and  God  determined  to  destroy  them.  Judg¬ 
ment  is  God’s  strange  work,  but  though  rarely  done  it 
must  be  done  sometimes,  lest  men  should  suppose  that 
right  and  wrong,  vice  and  virtue,  are  alike  in  the  eye 
of  God.  And  these  judgments  must  be  dispensed  in 
such  a  way  as  to  show  they  are  not  the  results  of  natu¬ 
ral  causes,  but  come  immediately  from  the  incensed 
justice  of  the  Most  High. 


5.  Every  man  who  loves  God  loves  his  neighbour 
also ;  and  he  who  loves  his  neighbour  will  do  all  in 
his  power  to  promote  the  well-being  both  of  his  sou. 
and  his  body.  Abraham  cannot  prevent  the  men  of 
Sodom  from  sinning  against  God  ;  but  he  can  make 
prayer  and  intercession  for  their  souls,  and  plead,  if 
not  in  arrest,  yet  in  mitigation,  of  judgment.  He 
therefore  intercedes  for  the  transgressors,  and  God 
is  well  pleased  with  his  intercessions.  These  are 
the  offspring  of  God’s  own  love  in  the  heart  of  his 
servant. 

6.  How  true  is  that  word,  The  energetic  faithful 
prayer  of  a  righteous  man  availeth  much!  Abraham 
draws  near  to  God  by  affection  and  faith,  and  in  the 
most  devout  and  humble  manner  makes  prayer  and  sup¬ 
plication  ;  and  every  petition  is  answered  on  the  spot. 
Nor  does  God  cease  to  promise  to  show  mercy  till 
Abraham  ceases  to  intercede!  What  encouragement 
does  this  hold  out  to  them  that  fear  God,  to  make 
prayer  and  intercession  for  their  sinful  neighbours  and 
ungodly  relatives!  Faith  in  the  Lord  Jesus  endues 
prayer  with  a  species  of  omnipotence;  whatsoever  a 
man  asks  of  the  Father  in  his  name,  he  will  do  it. 
Prayer  has  been  termed  the  gate  of  heaven,  but 
without  faith  that  gate  cannot  be  opened.  He  who 
prays  as  he  should ,  and  believes  as  he  ought ,  shall 
have  the  fulness  of  the  blessings  of  the  Gospel  of 
peace. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

The  two  angels  mentioned  in  the  preceding  chapter ,  come  in  the  evening  to  Sodom ,  1.  Lot,  who  was  sitting 
at  the  gate,  invites  them  to  enter  his  house ,  take  some  refreshment ,  and  tarry  all  night ;  which  they  at  first 
refuse,  2  ;  but  on  being  pressingly  solicited,  they  at  last  comply,  3.  The  abominable  conduct  of  the  men 
of  Sodom ,  4,  5.  Lot's  deep  concern  for  the  honour  and  safety  of  his  guests ,  ivhich  leads  him  to  make  a  most 
exceptionable  proposal  to  those  wicked  men,  6-8.  The  violent  proceedings  of  the  Sodomites,  9.  Lot 
rescued  from  their  barbarity  by  the  angels,  who  smite  them  with  blindness,  10,  11.  The  angels  exhort  Lot 
and  his  family  to  flee  from  that  wicked  place,  as  God  was  about  to  destroy  it,  12,  13.  Lot's  fruitless 
exhortation  to  his  sons-in-law,  14.  The  angels  hasten  Lot  and  his  family  to  depart,  15,  16.  Their 
exhortation,  17.  Lot's  request,  18-20.  He  is  permitted  to  escape  to  Z oar,  21-23.  Fire  and  brimstone 
are  rained  down  from  heaven  upon  all  the  cities  of  the  plain,  by  which  they  are  entirely  destroyed,  24,  25. 
Lot's  wife,  looking  behind,  becomes  a  pillar  of  salt,  26.  Abraham ,  early  in  the  morning,  discovers  the 
desolation  of  those  iniquitous  cities,  27—29.  Lot,  fearing  to  continue  in  Zoar,  went  ivith  his  two  daughters 
to  the  mountain,  and  dwelt  in  a  cave,  30.  The  strange  conduct  of  his  daughters,  and  his  unhappy  decep¬ 
tion,  31—36.  Moab  and  Ammon  born,  from  whom  sprang  the  Moabites  and  Ammonites,  37,  38. 


A.  M.  2107. 

B.  C.  1897. 


there 
to  Sodom 


a  came  two 
at  even :  and 


angels 


Lot 

sat  in  the  gate  of  Sodom  :  and  Lot  b  seeing 
them  rose  up  to  meet  them  ;  and  he  bowed 


himself  with  his  face  toward  the  A.  M.  2107. 

B.  C.  1897. 

,  - - 

2  And  he  said,  Behold  now,  my  lords,  c  turn 
in,  I  pray  you,  into  your  servant’s  house,  and 


a  Chap,  xviii.  22. - b  Chap,  xviii.  1,  &e. 


c  Heb.  xiii.  2. 


NOTES  ON  CHAP.  XIN. 

Verse  1.  Two  angels ]  The  two  referred  to  chap, 
xviii.  22. 

Sat  in  the  gate ]  Probably,  in  order  to  prevent  un¬ 
wary  travellers  from  being  entrapped  by  his  wicked 
townsmen,  he  waited  at  the  gate  of  the  city  to  bring 
the  strangers  he  might  meet  with  to  his  own  house, 
as  well  as  to  transact  his  own  business.  Or,  as  the 
gate  was  the  place  of  judgment,  he  might  have  been 

120 


sitting  there  as  magistrate  to  hear  and  determine 
disputes. 

Bowed  himself ']  Not  through  religious  reverence, 
for  he  did  not  know  the  quality  of  his  guests ;  but 
through  the  customary  form  of  civility.  See  on  verses 
3—5  of  the  preceding  chapter. 

Verse  2.  Nay ;  but  ive  will  abide  in  the  street]  In¬ 
stead  of  lo,  nay,  some  MSS.  have  lb  lo,  to  him  5 
M  And  they  said  unto  him,  for  we  lodge  in  the  street  i** 

a 


Wicked  conduct  of  CHAP 

A.  M.  2107.  tarry  all  night,  and  d  wash  your  feet, 

-  and  ye  shall  rise  up  earJy,  and  go 

on  your  ways.  And  they  said,  e  Nay ;  but 
we  will  abide  in  the  street  all  night. 

3  And  he  pressed  upon  them  greatly ;  and 
they  turned  in  unto  him,  and  entered  into  his 
house ;  f  and  he  made  them  a  feast,  and  did 
bake  unleavened  bread,  and  they  did  eat. 

4  But  before  they  lay  down,  the  men  of  the 
city,  even  the  men  of  Sodom,  compassed  the 
house  round,  both  old  and  young,  all  the 
people  from  every  quarter  : 

5  s  And  they  called  unto  Lot,  and  said  unto 
him,  Where  are  the  men  which  came  in  to 
thee  this  night  ?  h  bring  them  out  unto  us  that 
we  1  may  know  them. 

6  And  k  Lot  went  out  at  the  door  unto  them, 
and  shut  the  door  after  him, 

7  And  said,  I  pray  you,  brethren,  do  not  so 
wickedly  : 

8  1  Behold  now,  I  have  two  daughters  which 
have  not  known  man  ;  let  me,  I  pray  you, 

d  Chap,  xviii.  4. - e  See  Luke  xxiv.  28. - f  Chap,  xviii.  8  ; 

e  Isa.  iii.  9. - h  Judg.  xix.  22. - ‘Chap.  iv.  1  ;  Rom.  i.  24,  27 ; 

Jude  7. - k  Judg.  xix.  23. - 1  See  Judg.  xix.  24. 

where,  nevertheless,  the  negation  is  understood.  Know¬ 
ing  the  disposition  of  the  inhabitants,  and  appearing  in 
the  mere  character  of  travellers,  they  preferred  the 
open  street  to  any  house ;  but  as  Lot  pressed  them 
vehemently,  and  they  knew  him  to  be  a  righteous  man, 
not  yet  willing  to  make  themselves  known,  they  con¬ 
sented  to  take  shelter  under  his  hospitable  roof.  Our 
Lord,  willing  for  the  time  being  to  conceal  his  person 
from  the  knowledge  of  the  disciples  going  to  Emmaus, 
made  as  though  he  would  go  farther,  Luke  xxiv.  13  ; 
but  at  last,  like  the  angels  here,  yielded  to  the  impor¬ 
tunity  of  his  disciples,  and  went  into  their  lodgings. 

Verse  5.  Where  are  the  men  which  came  in  to  thee , 
4 1.]  This  account  justifies  the  character  given  of 
this  depraved  people  in  the  preceding  chapter,  ver.  20, 
and  in  chap.  xiii.  13.  As  their  crime  was  the  deepest 
disgrace  to  human  nature,  so  it  is  too  bad  to  be  de¬ 
scribed  ;  in  the  sacred  text  it  is  sufficiently  marked ; 
and  the  iniquity  which,  from  these  most  abominable 
wretches,  has  been  called  Sodomy ,  is  punished  in  our 
country  with  death. 

Verse  8.  Behold  now ,  I  have  two  daughters ]  No¬ 
thing  but  that  sacred  light  in  which  the  rights  of  hos¬ 
pitality  were  regarded  among  the  eastern  nations,  could 
either  justify  or  palliate  this  proposal  of  Lot.  A  man 
who  had  taken  a  stranger  under  his  care  and  protection, 
was  bound  to  defend  him  even  at  the  expense  of  his 
own  life.  In  this  light  the  rights  of  hospitality  are 
still  regarded  in  Asiatic  countries  ;  and  on  these  high 
notions  only,  the  influence  of  which  an  Asiatic  mind 
alone  can  properly  appreciate,  Lot’s  conduct  on  this 
occasion  can  be  at  all  excused :  but  even  then,  it  was 

a 


.  XIX.  the  men  of  Sodom 

bring;  them  out  unto  you,  and  do  A.  M.  2107. 

ye  to  them  as  is  good  m  your  - - 

eyes  :  only  unto  these  men  do  nothing  ;  m  for 
therefore  came  they  under  the  shadow  of 
my  roof. 

9  And  they  said,  Stand  back.  And  they 
said  again ,  This  one  fellow  n  came  in  to  so¬ 
journ,  0  and  he  will  needs  be  a  judge  :  now 
will  we  deal  worse  with  thee  than  with  them. 
And  they  pressed  sore  upon  the  man,  even 
Lot,  and  came  near  to  break  the  door. 

10  But  the  men  put  forth  their  hand,  and 
pulled  Lot  into  the  house  to  them,  and  shut 
to  the  door. 

1 1  And  they  smote  the  men  p  that  were  at 
the  door  of  the  house  with  blindness,  both 
small  and  great ;  so  that  they  wearied  them¬ 
selves  to  find  the  door. 

12  And  the  men  said  unto  Lot,  Hast  thou 
here  any  besides  ?  son-in-law,  and  thy  sons, 
and  thy  daughters,  and  whatsoever  thou  hast 
in  the  city,  q  bring  them  out  of  this  place  : 

“‘See  chap,  xviii.  5. - n  2  Pet.  ii.  7,  8. - 0  Exod.  ii.  14 

p  Wisd.  xix.  17 ;  see  2  Kings  vi.  18 ;  Acts  xiii.  11. - 4  Chap 

vii.  1 ;  2  Pet.  ii.  7,  9. 


not  only  the  language  of  anxious  solicitude,  but  of  un¬ 
warrantable  haste. 

Verse  9.  And  he  will  needs  he  a  judge ]  So  his 
sitting  in  the  gate  is  perhaps  a  farther  proof  of  his 
being  there  in  a  magisterial  capacity,  as  some  have 
supposed. 

Verse  1 1.  And  they  smote  the  men — with  blindness] 
This  has  been  understood  two  ways:  1.  The  angels, 
by  the  power  which  God  had  given  them,  deprived 
these  wicked  men  of  a  proper  and  regular  use  of  their 
sight,  so  as  either  totally  to  deprive  them  of  it,  or 
render  it  so  confused  that  they  could  no  longer  distin¬ 
guish  objects  ;  or,  2.  They  caused  such  a  deep  dark¬ 
ness  to  take  place,  that  they  could  not  find  Lot’s  door. 
The  author  of  the  book  of  Wisdom  was  evidently  of 
this  latter  opinion,  for  he  says  they  were  compassed 
about  with  horrible  great  darkness ,  chap.  xix.  17. 
See  a  similar  case  of  Elisha  and  the  Syrians,  2  Kings 
vi.  18,  &c. 

Verse  12.  Hast  thou  here  any  besides l  son-in-law ] 
Here  there  appears  to  be  but  one  meant,  as  the  word 
jnn  chathan  is  in  the  singular  number ;  but  in  ver.  14 
the  word  is  plural ,  VOPn  chathanaiv,  his  sons-in-law. 
There  were  only  two  in  number ;  as  we  do  not  hear 
that  Lot  had  more  than  two  daughters :  and  these  seem 
not  to  have  been  actually  married  to  those  daughters, 
but  only  betrothed ,  as  is  evident  from  what  Lot  says, 
ver.  8  ;  for  they  had  not  known  man ,  but  were  the 
spouses  elect  of  those  who  are  here  called  his  sons- 
in-law.  But  though  these  might  be  reputed  as  a  part 
of  Lot’s  family,  and  entitled  on  this  account  to  God’s 
protection,  yet  it  is  sufficiently  plain  that  they  did  not 

121 


GENESIS. 


Lot  and  his  family  commanded 
A.  M.  2107.  13  For  we  will  destroy  this  place, 

B  C.  1897.  .  ,  r  t  ■ 

- -  because  the  r  cry  of  them  is  waxen 

great  before  the  face  of  the  Lord  ;  and  s  the 

Lord  hath  sent  us  to  destroy  it. 

14  And  Lot  went  out  and  spake  unto  his 
sons-in-law,  4  which  married  his  daughters, 
and  said,  u  Up,  get  you  out  of  this  place  ;  for 
the  Lord  will  destroy  this  city.  T  But  he 
seemed  as  one  that  mocked  unto  his  sons-in- 
law. 

15  And  when  the  morning  arose,  then  the 
angels  hastened  Lot,  saying,  w  Arise,  take  thy 
wife,  and  thy  two  daughters,  which  x  are  here  ; 
lest  thou  be  consumed  in  the  y  iniquity  of  the 
city. 

16  And  z  while  he  lingered,  the  men  laid 
hold  upon  his  hand,  and  upon  the  hand  of  his 
wife,  and  upon  the  hand  of  his  two  daugh¬ 
ters  ;  a  the  Lord  being  merciful  unto  him : 
b  and  they  brought  him  forth,  and  set  him 
without  the  city. 

17  And  it  came  to  pass,  when  they  had 
brought  them  forth  abroad,  that  he  said,  c  Es- 

r  Chapter  xviii.  20. - s  1  Chron.  xxi.  15. - t  Matt.  i.  18. 

e  Num.  xvi.  21,  4-5. - v  Exod.  ix.  21 ;  Luke  xvii.  28  ;  xxiv.  11. 

n  Num.  xvi.  24,  26  ;  Rev.  xviii.  4.' - x  Heb.  are  found. - T  Or, 

punishment. - z  Wisd.  x.  6. - aLuke  xviii.  13  ;  Rom.  ix.  15, 

16. - b  Psa.  xxxiv.  22. 

escape  the  perdition  of  these  wicked  men  ;  and  the 
reason  is  given,  ver.  14,  they  received  the  solemn 
warning  as  a  ridiculous  tale,  the  creature  of  Lot’s 
invention,  or  the  offspring  of  his  fear.  Therefore  they 
made  no  provision  for  their  escape,  and  doubtless 
perished,  notwithstanding  the  sincerely  offered  grace, 
in  the  perdition  that  fell  on  this  ungodly  city. 

Verse  16.  While  he  lingered ]  Probably  in  affec¬ 
tionate  though  useless  entreaties  to  prevail  on  the  re¬ 
maining  parts  of  his  family  to  escape  from  the  destruc¬ 
tion  that  wTas  now  descending ;  laid  hold  upon  his 
hand — pulled  them  away  by  mere  force,  the  Lord  being 
merciful;  else  they  had  been  left  to  perish  in  their 
lingering ,  as  the  others  were  in  their  gainsaying. 

Verse  17.  When  they  had  brought  them  forth,  c fc.] 
Every  word  here  is  emphatic,  Escape  for  thy  life  ; 
thou  art  in  the  most  imminent  danger  of  perishing  ; 
thy  life  and  thy  soul  are  both  at  stake.  Look  not 
behind  thee — thou  hast  but  barely  time  enough  to 
escape  from  the  judgment  that  is  now  descending  ;  no 
lingering,  or  thou  art  lost !  one  look  back  may  prove 
fatal  to  thee,  and  God  commands  thee  to  avoid  it. 
Neither  stay  thou  in  all  the  plain,  because  God  will 
destroy  that  as  well  as  the  city.  Escape  to  the  moun¬ 
tain ,  on  which  these  judgments  shall  not  light,  and 
which  God  has  appointed  thee  for  a  place  of  refuge  ; 
lest  thou  be  consumed.  It  is  not  an  ordinary  judg¬ 
ment  that  is  coming ;  a  fire  from  heaven  shall  burn 
up  the  cities,  the  plain,  and  all  that  remain  in  the 
cities  and  in  the  plain.  Both  the  beginning  and  end 

122 


to  make  their  escape. 

cape  for  thy  life  ;  d  look  not  behind  a.  m.  2107. 

thee,  neither  stay  thou  in  all  the - - 

plain ;  escape  to  the  mountain,  lest  thou  be 
consumed. 

1 8  And  Lot  said  unto  them,  0,  e  not  so, 
my  Lord  : 

19  Behold  now,  thy  servant  hath  found 
grace  in  thy  sight,  and  thou  hast  magnified 
thy  mercy,  which  thou  hast  showed  unto  me 
in  saving  my  life  ;  and  I  cannot  escape  to  the 
mountain,  lest  some  evil  take  me,  and  I  die: 

20  Behold  now,  this  city  is  near  to  flee 
unto,  and  it  is  a  little  one  :  O,  let  me  escape 
thither,  (is  it  not  a  little  one  ?)  and  my  soul 
shall  live. 

2 1  And  he  said  unto  him,  See,  f  I  have  ac¬ 
cepted  g  thee  concerning  this  thing  also,  that 
I  will  not  overthrow  this  city,  for  the  which 
thou  hast  spoken. 

22  Haste  thee,  escape  thither ;  for  h  I  can¬ 
not  do  any  thing  till  thou  be  come  thither. 
Therefore  1  the  name  of  the  city  was  called 
k  Zoar. 


c  1  Kings  xix.  3. - d  Ver.  26  ;  Matt.  xxiv.  16,  17,  18  ;  Luke 

ix.  62  ;  Phil.  iii.  13, 24. - e  Acts  x.  14. - f  Job  xlii.  8, 9  ;  Psa. 

cxlv.  19. - s  Heb.  thy  face. - h  See  chap,  xxxii.  25,  26  ;  Exod. 

xxxii.  10  ;  Deut.  ix.  14  ;  Mark  vi.  5. - 1  Chap.  xiii.  10  ;  xiv.  2. 

k  That  is,  little;  ver.  20. 

of  this  exhortation  are  addressed  to  his  personal  feel¬ 
ings.  “  Skin  for  skin,  yea,  all  that  a  man  hath  will 
he  give  for  his  life  and  self-preservation  is  the  first 
law  of  nature,  to  which  every  other  consideration  is 
minor  and  unimportant. 

Verse  19.  I  cannot  escape  to  the  mountain ]  He 
saw  the*  destruction  so  near,  that  he  imagined  he 
should  not  have  time  sufficient  to  reach  the  mountain 
before  it  arrived.  He  did  not  consider  that  God  could 
give  no  command  to  his  creatures  that  it  would  be  im¬ 
possible  for  them  to  fulfil  ;  but  the  hurry  and  pertur¬ 
bation  of  his  mind  will  at  once  account  for  and  excuse 
this  gross  oversight. 

Verse  20.  It  is  a  little  one\  Probably  Lot  wished 
to  have  it  for  an  inheritance,  and  therefore  pleaded  its 
being  a  little  one,  that  his  request  might  be  the  mere 
readily  granted.  Or  he  might  suppose,  that  being  a 
little  city,  it  was  less  depraved  than  Sodom  and  Go¬ 
morrah,  and  therefore  not  so  ripe  for  punishment ; 
which  was  probably  the  case. 

Verse  21.  See,  I  have  accepted  thee ]  Plow  preva¬ 
lent  is  prayer  with  God !  Far  from  refusing  to  grant 
a  reasonable  petition,  he  shows  himself  as  if  under 
embarrassment  to  deny  any. 

Verse  22.  I  cannot  do  any  thing  till  thou  be  come 
thither. ]  So  these  heavenly  messengers  had  the  strict¬ 
est  commission  to  take  care  of  Lot  and  his  family  ; 
and  even  the  purposes  of  Divine  justice  could  not  be 
accomplished  on  the  rebellious,  till  this  righteous  man 
and  his  family  had  escaped  from  the  place.  A  proof 

a 


Lot  escapes  to  Zoar. 


CHAP.  XIX.  Sodom  and  Gomorrah  destroyed. 


B  C  is??'  ^3  The  sun  was  lri®en  uPon  the 

• - earth  when  Lot  entered  into  Zoar. 

24  Then  m  the  Lord  rained  upon  Sodom 


and  upon  Gomorrah  brimstone  and  a.  m.  2107. 

fire  from  the  Lord  out  of  heaven ;  A — 1 - L. 

25  And  he  overthrew  those  cities,  and  all 


1  Heb.  gone  forth. - m  Deuteronomy  xxix.  23  ;  Isaiah  xni. 

19  ;  Jeremiah  xx.  16  ;  1.  40  ;  Ezekiel  xvi.  49,  50  ;  Hos.  xi.  8  ; 

of  Abraham’s  assertion,  The  Judge  of  all  the  earth 
will  do  right. 

The  name  of  the  city  was  called  Zoar.']  ‘TJJIX  Tsoar, 
little,  its  former  name  being  Bela. 

Verse  24.  The  Lord  rained — brimstone  and  fire 
from  the  Lord]  As  all  judgment  is  committed  to  the 
Son  of  God,  many  of  the  primitive  fathers  and  several 
modern  divines  have  supposed  that  the  words  mm 
vaihovah  and  mm  meeth  Yehovah  imply,  Jehovah 
the  Son  raining  brimstone  and  fire  from  Jehovah  the 
Father ;  and  that  this  place  affords  no  mean  proof  of 
the  proper  Divinity  of  our  blessed  Redeemer.  It  may 
be  so ;  but  though  the  point  is  sufficiently  established 
elsewhere,  it  does  not  appear  to  me  to  be  plainly  indi¬ 
cated  here.  And  it  is  always  better  on  a  subject  of 
this  kind  not  to  have  recourse  to  proofs  which  require 
proofs  to  confirm  them.  It  must  however  be  granted 
that  two  persons  mentioned  as  Jehovah  in  one  verse, 
is  both  a  strange  and  curious  circumstance  ;  and  it  will 
appear  more  remarkable  tvhen  we  consider  that  the 
person  called  Jehovah,  who  conversed  with  Abraham, 
(see  chap,  xviii.,)  and  sent  those  two  angels  to  bring 
Lot  and  his  family  out  of  this  devoted  place,  and  seems 
himself  after  he  left  off  talking  with  Abraham  to  have 
ascended  to  heaven,  ver.  33,  does  not  any  more  appear 
on  this  occasion  till  we  hear  that  Jehovah  rained  upon 
Sodom  and  Gomorrah  brimstone  and  fire  from  Jeho¬ 
vah  out  of  heaven.  This  certainly  gives  much  coun¬ 
tenance  to  the  opinion  referred  to  above,  though  still 
it  may  fall  short  of  positive  proof. 

Brimstone  and  fire. — The  word  gophrith, 

which  we  translate  brimstone ,  is  of  very  uncertain 
derivation.  It  is  evidently  used  metaphorically,  to 
point  out  the  utmost  degrees  of  punishment  executed 
on  the  most  flagitious  criminals,  in  Deut.  xxix.  23  ; 
Job  xviii.  15;  Psa.  xi.  6;  Isa.  xxxiv.  9;  Ezek. 
xxxviii.  22.  And  as  hell,  or  an  everlasting  separation 
from  God  and  the  glory  of  his  power,  is  the  utmost 
punishment  that  can  be  inflicted  on  sinners,  hence 
brimstone  and  fire  are  used  in  Scripture  to  signify  the 
torments  in  that  place  of  punishment.  See  Isa.  xxx. 
33;  Rev.  xiv.  10;  xix.  20;  xx.  10;  xxi.  8.  We 
may  safely  suppose  that  it  was  quite  possible  that  a 
shower  of  nitrous  particles  might  have  been  precipi¬ 
tated  from  the  atmosphere,  here,  as  in  many  other 
places,  called  heaven ,  which,  by  the  action  of  fire  or 
the  electric  fluid,  would  be  immediately  ignited,  and 
so  consume  the  cities  ;  and,  as  we  have  already  seen 
that  the  plains  about  Sodom  and  Gomorrah  abounded 
with  ’  asphaltus  or  bitumen  pits,  (see  chap.  xiv.  10,) 
that  what  is  particularly  meant  here  in  reference  to 
the  plain  is  the  setting  fire  to  this  vast  store  of  inflam¬ 
mable  matter  by  the  agency  of  lightning  or  the  elec¬ 
tric  fluid ;  and  this,  in  the  most  natural  and  literal 
manner,  accounts  for  the  whole  plain  being  burnt  up, 
as  that  plain  abounded  with  this  bituminous  substance ; 
and  thus  we  find  three  agents  employed  in  the  total 

a 


Amos  iv.  11 ;  Zephaniah  ii.  9  ;  Luke  xvii.  29;  2  Pet.  ii.  6; 
Jude  7. 


ruin  of  these  cities,  and  all  the  circumjacent  plain  : 
1 .  Innumerable  nitrous  particles  precipitated  from  the 
atmosphere.  2.  The  vast  quantity  of  asphaltus  or 
bitumen  which  abounded  in  that  country :  and,  3.  Light¬ 
ning  or  the  electric  spark,  which  ignited  the  nitre  and 
bitumen,  and  thus  consumed  both  the  cities  and  the  plain 
or  champaign  country  in  which  they  were  situated. 

Yerse  25.  And  he  overthrew  those  cities ,  and  all 
the  plain]  This  forms  what  is  called  the  lake  Asphal- 
tites,  Dead  Sea,  or  Salt  Sea,  which,  according  to  the 
most  authentic  accounts,  is  about  seventy  miles  in 
length,  and  eighteen  in  breadth. 

The  most  strange  and  incredible  tales  are  told  by 
many  of  the  ancients,  and  by  many  of  the  moderns, 
concerning  the  place  where  these  cities  stood.  Com¬ 
mon  fame  says  that  the  waters  of  this  sea  are  so  thick 
that  a  stone  will  not  sink  in  them,  so  tough  and  clammy 
that  the  most  boisterous  wind  cannot  ruffle  them,  so 
deadly  that  no  fish  can  live  in  them,  and  that  if  a  bird 
happen  to  fly  over  the  lake,  it  is  killed  by  the  poison¬ 
ous  effluvia  proceeding  from  the  waters;  that  scarcely 
any  verdure  can  grow  near  the  place,  and  that  in  the 
vicinity  where  there  are  any  trees  they  bear  a  most 
beautiful  fruit,  but  when  you  come  to  open  it  you  find 
nothing  but  ashes !  and  that  the  place  was  burning 
long  after  the  apostles’  -times.  These  and  all  similar 
tales  may  be  safely  pronounced  great  exaggerations 
of  facts,  or  fictions  of  ignorant,  stupid,  and  superstitious 
monks,  or  impositions  of  unprincipled  travellers,  who, 
knowing  that  the  common  people  are  delighted  with 
the  marvellous,  have  stuffed  their  narratives  with  such 
accounts  merely  to  procure  a  better  sale  for  their  books. 

The  truth  is,  the  waters  are  exceedingly  salt,  far 
beyond  the  usual  saltness  of  the  sea,  and  hence  it  is 
called  the  Salt  Sea.  In  consequence  of  this  circum¬ 
stance  bodies  will  float  in  it  that  would  sink  in  com¬ 
mon  salt  water,  and  probably  it  is  on  this  account  that 
few  fish  can  live  in  it.  But  the  monks  of  St.  Saba 
affirmed  to  Dr.  Shaw,  that  they  had  seen  fish  caught 
in  it ;  and  as  to  the  reports  of  any  noxious  quality  in 
the  air,  or  in  the  evaporations  from  its  surface,  the 
simple  fact  is,  lumps  of  bitumen  often  rise  from  the 
bottom  to  its  surface,  and  exhale  a  foetid  odour  which 
does  not  appear  to  have  any  thing  poisonous  in  it.  Dr. 
Pococke  swam  in  it  for  nearly  a  quarter  of  an  hour, 
and  felt  no  kind  of  inconvenience  ;  the  water,  he  says, 
is  very  clear,  and  having  brought  away  a  bottle  of  it, 
he  “  had  it  analyzed,  and  found  it  to  contain  no  sub¬ 
stances  besides  salt  and  a  little  alum.”  As  there  are 
frequent  eruptions  of  a  bituminous  matter  from  the 
bottom  of  this  lake,  which  seem  to  argue  a  subterra¬ 
neous  fire,  hence  the  accounts  that  this  place  was  burn¬ 
ing  even  after  the  days  of  the  apostles.  And  this 
phenomenon  still  continues,  for  “  masses  of  bitumen,” 
says  Dr.  Shaw,  “  in  large  hemispheres,  are  raised  at 
certain  times  from  the  bottom,  which,  as  soon  as  they 
touch  the  surface,  and  are  thereby  acted  upon  by  the 

123 


GENESIS. 


Lots  wife  disobeys ,  and 


becomes  a  pillar  of  salt. 


A.  M.  2107.  the  plain,  and  all  the  inhabitants 
_ 1C~  1'9“.  of  the  cities,  and  n  that  which  grew 
upon  the  ground. 


26  But  his  wife  looked  back  a.  m.  2107. 

from  behind  him,  and  she  became  - - 

0  a  pillar  of  salt. 


ECliap.  xiv.  3;  Psa.  cvii.  34. - °Ter.  17;  N'um.  xvi.  33; 


Prov.  xir.  14 ;  Wisd.  x.  7 ;  Luke  xvii.  32 ;  Heb.  x.  39. 


external  air,  burst  at  once,  with  great  smoke  and  noise, 
like  the  pulvis  fidminans  of  the  chemists,  and  disperse 
themselves  in  a  thousand  pieces.  But  this  only  hap¬ 
pens  near  the  shore,  for  in  greater  depths  the  eruptions 
are  supposed  to  discover  themselves  in  such  columns 
of  smoke  as  are  now  and  then  observed  to  arise  from 
the  lake.  And  perhaps  to  such  eruptions  as  these  we 
may  attribute  that  variety  of  pits  and  hollows,  not  un¬ 
like  the  traces  of  many  of  our  ancient  lime-kilns, 
which  are  found  in  the  neighbourhood  of  this  lake. 
The  bitumen  is  in  all  probability  accompanied  from  the 
bottom  with  sulphur,  as  both  of  them  are  found  pro¬ 
miscuously  upon  the  shore,  and  the  latter  is  precisely 
the  same  with  common  native  sulphur ;  the  other  is 
friable,  yi elding  upon  friction,  or  by ‘being  put  into  the 
fire,  a  foetid  smell.”  The  bitumen,  after  having  been 
some  time  exposed  to  the  air,  becomes  indurated  like  a 
stone.  I  have  some  portions  of  it  before  me,  brought 
by  a  friend  of  mine  from  the  spot ;  it  is  very  black, 
hard,  and  on  friction  yields  a  foetid  odour. 

For  several  curious  particulars  on  this  subject,  see 
Dr.  Pococke’s  Travels,  vol.  ii.,  part  1,  chap.  9,  and 
Dr.  Shaw’s  Travels,  4to.  edit.,  p.  346,  &c. 

Verse  26.  She  became  a  pillar  of  salt]  The  vast 
variety  of  opinions,  both  ancient  and  modern,  on  the 
crime  of  Lot’s  wife,  her  change,  and  the  manner  in 
which  that  change  was  effected,  are  in  manv  cases  as 
unsatisfactory  as  they  are  ridiculous.  On  this  point 
the  sacred  Scripture  says  little.  God  had  commanded 
Lot  and  his  family  not  to  look  behind  them  ;  the  wife 
of  Lot  disobeyed  this  command  ;  she  looked  back  from 
behind  him — Lot,  her  husband,  and  she  became  a  pillar 
of  salt.  This  is  all  the  information  the  inspired  his¬ 
torian  has  thought  proper  to  give  us  on  this  subject ; 
it  is  true  the  account  is  short,  but  commentators  and 
critics  have  made  it  long  enough  by  their  laborious 
glosses.  The  opinions  which  are  the  most  probable 
are  the  following  :  1.  “Lot’s  wife,  by  the  miraculous 
power  of  God,  was  changed  into  a  mass  of  rock  salt, 
probably  retaining  the  human  figure.”  2.  “Tarrying 
too  long  in  the  plain,  she  was  struck  with  lightning 
and  enveloped  in  the  bituminous  and  sulphuric  matter 
which  abounded  in  that  country,  and  which,  not  being 
exposed  afterwards  to  the  action  of  the  fire,  resisted 
the  air  and  the  wet,  and  was  thus  rendered  permanent.” 
3.  “  She  was  struck  dead  and  consumed  in  the  burn¬ 
ing  up  of  the  plain ;  and  this  judgment  on  her  disobe¬ 
dience  being  recorded,  is  an  imperishable  memorial  of 
the  fact  itself,  and  an  everlasting  w amino-  to  sinners 
in  general,  and  to  backsliders  or  apostates  in  particu¬ 
lar.”  On  these  opinions  it  may  be  only  necessary  to 
state  that  the  two  first  understand  the  text  literally, 
and  that  the  last  considers  it  metaphorically.  That 
God  might  in  a  moment  convert  this  disobedient  wo¬ 
man  into  a  pillar  or  mass  of  salt,  or  any  other  sub¬ 
stance,  there  can  be  no  doubt.  Or  that,  by  continuing 
in  the  plain  till  the  brimstone  and  fire  descended  from 

124 


heaven,  she  might  be  struck  dead  with  lightning,  and 
indurated  or  petrified  on  the  spot,  is  as  possible.  And 
that  the  account  of  her  becoming  a  pillar  of  salt  may 
be  designed  to  be  understood  metaphorically,  is  also 
highlv  probable.  It  is  certain  that  salt  is  frequently 
used  in  the  Scriptures  as  an  emblem  of  incorruption , 
durability,  &c.  Hence  a  covenant  of  salt,  Xum. 
xviii.  19,  is  a  perpetual  covenant,  one  that  is  ever  to 
be  in  full  force,  and  never  broken ;  on  this  ground  a 
pillar  of  salt  may  signify  no  more  in  this  case  than  an 
everlasting  monument  against  criminal  curiosity,  unbe¬ 
lief,  and  disobedience. 

Could  we  depend  upon  the  various  accounts  given 
by  different  persons  who  pretend  to  have  seen  the 
wife  of  Lot  standing  in  her  complete  human  form,  with 
all  her  distinctive  marks  about  her,  the  difficulty  would 
be  at  an  end.  But  we  cannot  depend  on  these  accounts  ; 
they  are  discordant,  improbable,  ridiculous,  and  often 
grossly  absurd.  Some  profess  to  have  seen  her  as  a 
heap  of  salt ;  others,  as  a  rock  of  salt ;  others,  as  a 
complete  human  being  as  to  shape,  proportion  of  parts, 
&c.,  &c.,  but  only  petrified.  This  human  form,  ac¬ 
cording  to  others,  has  still  resident  in  it  a  miraculous 
continual  energy ;  break  off  a  finger,  a  toe,  an  arm, 
Ac.,  it  is  immediately  reproduced,  so  that  though  mul¬ 
titudes  of  curious  persons  have  gone  to  see  this  woman, 
and  every  one  has  brought  awav  a  part  of  her,  vet 
still  she  is  found  by  the  next  comer  a  complete  human 
form !  To  crown  this  absurd  description,  the  author 
of  the  poem  De  Sodoma,  usually  attributed  to  Tertul- 
lian,  and  annexed  to  his  works,  represents  her  as  yet 
instinct  with  a  portion  of  animal  life,  which  is  une¬ 
quivocally  designated  by  certain  signs  which  every 
month  produces.  I  shall  transcribe  the  whole  passage 
and  refer  to  my  author ;  and  as  I  have  given  above 
the  sense  of  the  whole,  my  readers  must  excuse  me 
from  giving  a  more  literal  translation  : — 

- - et  simul  illic 

In  fragilem  mutata  salem,  stetit  ipsa  sepulchrum, 
Ipsaque  imago  sibi,  formam  sine  corpore  servans. 
Durat  adhuc  etenim  nuda  statione  sub  sethra, 
Nec  pluviis  dilapsa  situ,  nee  diruta  vent  is. 
Quinetiam,  si  quis  mutilaverit  advena  formam, 
Protinus  ex  sese  suggestu  vulnera  complet. 
Dicitur  et  vivens  alio  sub  corpore  sexus 
Munifcos  solito  dispungere  sanguine  menses. 
Tep.tulliaxi  Opera,  vol.  ii.,  p.  731.  Edit.  Oberthur 

The  sentiment  in  the  last  lines  is  supported  by  Ire- 
nteus,  who  assures  us  that,  though  still  remaining  as  a 
pillar  of  salt,  the  statue,  in  form  and  other  natural 
'  accidents ,  exhibits  decisive  proofs  of  its  original:  Jam 
non  caro  corruptibilis,  sed  statua  salis  semper  manens, 
et,  per  naturalia,  ea  qui e  sunt  consuetudinis  hominis 
ostendens,  lib.  iv.,  q.  51.  To  complete  this  absurdity, 
this  father  makes  her  an  emblem  of  the  true  Church, 
which,  though  she  suffers  much,  and  often  loses  whole 

a 


CHAP.  XIX. 


Lot  leave*  Zoor 


Desolation  of  the  cities. 


a.  iL  c:r.  21. ,.  2  /  And  Abraham  ^at  up  p  eariv 

B.  C.  cir.  1997.  .  .  °  ,r  .  J  I 

-  m  the  morning  to  the  place 

where  *  he  stood  before  the  Lord  : 

2S  And  he  looked  toward  Sodom  and 
Gomorrah,  and  toward  all  the  land  of  the 
plain,  and  beheld,  and  lo,  T  die  smoke  of  the  . 
country  went  up  as  the  smoke  of  a  furnace. 

29  And  it  came  to  pass,  when  God  de¬ 
stroyed  the  cities  o:  the  plain,  that  God  5  re- 
membered  Abraham.  ajul  sent  Lot  out  of  the 
mics:  of  tne  oyerthrow,  when  he  overthrew  the 
cities  in  the  which  Lot  dwelt. 


30  And  Lot  went  up  out  of  a.  cir.  2107. 
Zoar,  and  *  dwelt  in  the  moan-  ?'  C~ . c 
tain,  and  his  two  daughters  with  rim  ;  for  he 
reared  to  dwe^  in  Zoar :  and  he  dwelt  in  a 
cave,  he  and  his  two  daughters. 

3  i  Ana  tne  nrst-boxn  said  unto  the  voonser. 
Our  father  is  old,  and  there  is  not  a  man.  in 
the  earth  -  to  come  in  unto  us  after  the  man¬ 
ner  of  ah  the  earth  : 

32  Come,  let  us  make  our  father  drink 
wine,  and  we  will  lie  with  him.  that  we  T  may 
preserve  seed  of  our  father. 


9  Psa-  t.  a - i  Chap.  iriiL  22  ;  Ezek.  xrL  49,  50 ;  Haixii.  1;  J  2“  1;  -  i  ;  -  •  1  -  - —  • 

HdtiLL - r2Pet.iL7;  Eer.  xTiiL9. - ’ Ck. raL  1 ;  xiiiL  I  Dai.  xxt.  5. - TCfcap..  uuL 34-33 ;  Makm  19l 


members,  yet  preserves  the  pilhzr  of  sail.  that  is.  the 
foundation  of  the  true  foil  ..  <5fC.  See  CaineL 

Josephus  says  that  this  pular  was  stealing  in  his 
time,  and  that  himself  had  seen  it :  E.j  crrjkqv  <1*6.7 
ue~s3as.ei .  IcTc-jqKtL  c~  err:  ;<ao  sxu  vtv  dtcuar a. 

Ant.  lib.  L,  c.  xi.  3.  4. 

St.  Clement,  m  his  First  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians. 
chap.  ii..  follows  Josephus,  and  asserts  that  Lot's  wife 
was  remaining  even  a:  that  time  as  a  p  ilar  of  sai:. 

Authors  of  respectability  and  credit  who  hare  since 
travelled  into  the  Hedy  Land,  and  made  it  their  busi¬ 
ness  to  inquire  into  this  subject  in  the  most  particular 
and  careful  manner,  have  no:  been  aide  to  meet  with 
any  remains  of  :  : is  pillar;  ar.d  all  accounts  begin  now 
to  be  confounded  in  the  pretty  general  concession,  both 
of  Jews  and  Gentiles.  that  either  the  statue  does  not 
now  remain,  or  that  some  of  the  heaps  of  sait  or 
blocks  of  sait  rock  which  are  to  be  met  with  in  the 
vicinity  of  the  Dead  Sea.  may  be  the  re  mams  of  Dot's 
wife !  All  speculations  on  this  subject  are  perfectly 
idle ;  and  if  the  general  prejudice  in  favour  of  the 
continued  existence  of  this  monument  of  God’s  justice 
bad  not  been  very  strong.  I  should  not  have  deemed 
myself  justified  in  entering  so  much  at  length  into  the 
subject.  Those  who  profess  to  have  seen  it.  have  in 
genera!  sumciently  invalidated  their  own  testimonv  bv 
the  monstrous  absurdities  with  which  they  have  en-  ’ 
cumbered  their  relations.  Had  Lot’s  wife  been  changed 
in  the  way  that  many  have  supposed,  arm  had  she  been 
still  preserved  somewhere  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the 
Dead  Sea,  surely  we  might  expect  some  account  of  it 
in  after  parts  of  the  Scripture  history;  but  it  is  never 
more  mentioned  in  the  Bible,  and  occurs  nowhere  in 
the  New  Testament  but  in  the  simple  reference  of  our 
Lord  to  the  judgment  itself,  as  a  warning  to  die  dis- 1 
obedient  and  backsliding.  Luke  xvim  3*2  :  Remember 
Let's  tcifo  ! 

^  erse  27.  Abraham  gmt  up  early  in  the  .'naming-] 
Anxious  to  know  what  was  the  effect  of  the  prayers 
which  he  had  ode  red  to  God  the  preceding  day  ;  what 
must  have  been  his  astonishment  when  he  found  that 
all  these  cities,  with  the  plain  which  resembled  the 
garden  of  the  Lord.  chap.  xiii.  10.  bum:  up.  and  the 
smoke  ascending  like  the  smote  of  a  furnace,  and 
was  thereby  assured  that  even  God  himself  could  not 
discover  ten  -gi tecus  persons  in  lour  whole  cities  ! 

a 


Terse  29.  G:L  remembered  A^aham  T neigh  re 
did  not  descend  lower  than  ten  righteous  persons,  see 
chap,  xv mi.  32.  yet  the  Lord  had  respect  to  the  spmt; 
of  his  petitions,  aim  spared  all  these  who  could  be  raided 
r lilt and  for  Abraham's  sake  offeree  salvation  tc 
add  the  family  of  Let.  though  neither  his  sous-m-iiv 
eleet  n>:r  his  cm  wife  nd mated y  printed  by  it  Tne 
former  ridiculed  the  warning  ;  a&d  the  latter,  though 
led  out  by  the  hands  of  the  angel,  yet  by  breaking  the 
command  of  God  perished  with  the  other  gainsay ers. 

Terse  30.  Lot  icent  u:  our  of  Z*ar  Fiwn  seeing 
the  universal  desolation  that  had  fahen  upon  the  land, 
and  that  the  nre  was  stud  can  tinning  its  deprecations. 
he  feared  io  cceh  ;n  Z\:-.  lest  that  also  snoui-i  be 
consumed,  and  men  went  to  th-tse  vary  mountains  to 
which  God  had  ordered  mm  at  fast  to  make  his  escape. 
Foolish  mm  is  ever  preferring  his  own  wisdom  to  that 
of  his  Maker.  I:  was  wrong  a:  frst  nc-:  to  betake 
himself  to  the  me  nr  ram ;  it  was  wrong  in  tne  next 
place  to  go  to  it  when  Gcd  had  given  run  me  assu¬ 
rance  that  Zoar  shenii  be  sp  ired  for  his  sake.  Both 
these  eases  argue  a  strange  want  of  faith,  net  only  in 
the  truth,  but  also  in  the  providence,  of  God.  Hod 
he  stdi  dwelt  at  Zoar.  the  shameful  transaction  amer- 
waris  recorded  had  in  all  probability  not  taken  place. 

Terse  31.  Our  father  is  Mi]  And  coaseqsemtly 
no:  likely  to  le-marry  ;  end  there  is  n; :  c  men  sn  tie 
earth — mmb  left,  accepting  to  their  opinion  in  all  tie 
Lai  of  Canaan,  of  iheir  om  f emu’,  and  kindred:  and 
they  might  think  it  unlawful  to  match  with  ethers,  such 
as  the  inhabitants  of  Zoar.  who  they  knew  had  seer 
devoted  to  destruction  as  weld  as  those  of  Sodom  and 
Gomorrah,  and  were  only  saved  at  the  earnest  request 
of  their  father ;  an  i  nrobablv  while  they  lived  among 
them  they  found  them  ripe  enough  for  p -ms hirer:,  and 
therefore  would  have  thought  it  both  dangerous  and 
criminal  to  have  formed  any  marrim  trial  connections 
with  them. 

Terse  32.  Come.  let  us  rteie  ear  father  irmc  rrae] 
On  their  fight  from  Zoar  it  as  probable  they  ban  trengn; 
with  them  cerram  r revisions  to  serve  them  tor  the  time 
being,  red  the  trvne  here  mentioned  among  the  rest. 

After  considering  all  that  has  been  soil  to  enmintp 
both  Lo:  ami  his  daughters  in  this  business.  I  carnet 
help  thinking  that  the  transaction  itself  will  bear  a 
more  favourable  construction  than  that  which  has  teen 

135 


Moab  and  Ammon  are  born . 


Strange  conduct  of  Lot's  daughters.  GENESIS. 


a.  M.  cir.  2107.  33  w  And  they  made  their  father 

B.  C.  cir.  1897.  jr'nk  wine  night :  and  the 

first-born  went  in,  and  lay  with  her  father ; 
and  he  perceived  not  when  she  lay  down,  nor 
when  she  arose. 

34  And  it  came  to  pass  on  the  morrow,  that 
the  first-born  said  unto  the  younger,  Behold, 
I  lay  yesternight  with  my  father  :  let  us  make 
him  drink  wine  this  night  also ;  and  go  thou 
in,  and  lie  with  him,  that  we  may  preserve 
seed  of  our  father. 

35  And  they  made  their  father  drink  wine 
that  night  also  :  and  the  younger  arose,  and 


lav  with  him  ;  and  he  perceived  a.  m.  cir.  2107. 

J  ,  ,  ’  .  1  B.  C.  cir.  1897. 

not  when  she  lay  down,  nor  when  - - 

she  arose. 

36  Thus  were  both  the  daughters  of  Lot 
with  child  by  their  father. 

37  And  the  first-born  bare  a  A.  M.  cir.  2108. 

son,  and  called  his  name  Moab :  —  — 

xthe  same  is  the  father  of  the  Moabites  unto 

this  day. 

%> 

38  And  the  younger,' she  also  bare  a  son, 
and  called  his  name  Ben-ammi :  y  the  same 
is  the  father  of  the  children  of  Ammon  unto 
this  day. 


wLev.xviii.  6, 7  ;  Hab.  ii.  15, 16. - xNum.  xxii.36 ;  Deut.  ii.  9; 


generally  put  on  it.  1.  It  does  not  appear  that  it  was 
through  any  base  or  sensual  desires  that  the  daughters 
of  Lot  wished  to  deceive  their  father.  2.  They  might 
have  thought  that  it  would  have  been  criminal  to  have 
married  into  any  other  family,  and  they  knew  that  their 
husbands  elect,  who  were  probably  of  the  same  kin¬ 
dred,  had  perished  in  the  overthrow  of  Sodom.  3. 
They  might  have  supposed  that  there  was  no  other 
way  left  to  preserve  the  family,  and  consequently  that 
righteousness  for  which  it  had  been  remarkable,  but 
the  way  which  they  now  took.  4.  They  appear  to 
have  supposed  that  their  father  would  not  come  into 
the  measure,  because  he  would  have  considered  it  as 
profane  ;  yet,  judging  the  measure  to  be  expedient  and 
necessary,  they  endeavoured  to  sanctify  the  improper 
means  used,  by  the  goodness  of  the  end  at  which  they 
aimed  ;  a  doctrine  which,  though  resorted  to  by  many, 
should  be  reprobated  by  all.  Acting  on  this  bad  prin¬ 
ciple  they  caused  their  father  to  drink  wine.  See  on 
ver.  38. 

Verse  33.  And  he  perceived  not  when  she  lay  down , 
nor  when,  c f-c.]  That  is,  he  did  not  perceive  the  time 
she  came  to  his  bed,  nor  the  time  she  quitted  it ;  con¬ 
sequently  did  not  know  who  it  was  that  had  lain  with 
him.  In  this  transaction  Lot  appears  to  me  to  be  in 
many  respects  excusable.  1.  He  had  no  accurate 
knowledge  of  what  took  place  either  on  the  first  or 
second  night,  therefore  he  cannot  be  supposed  to  have 
been  drawn  away  by  his  own  lust,  and  enticed.  That 
he  must  have  been  sensible  that  some  person  had  been 
in  his  bed,  it  would  be  ridiculous  to  deny  ;  but  he  might 
have  judged  it  to  have  been  some  of  his  female  do¬ 
mestics,  which  it  is  reasonable  to  suppose  he  might 
have  brought  from  Zoar.  2.  It  is  very  likely  that  he 
was  deceived  in  the  wine,  as  well  as  in  the  conse¬ 
quences  ;  either  he  knew  not  the  strength  of  the  wine, 
or  wine  of  a  superior  power  had  been  given  to  him  on 
this  occasion.  As  he  had  in  general  followed  the 
simple  pastoral  life,  it  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  if  he 
did  not  know  the  intoxicating  power  of  wine,  and  being 
an  old  man,  and  unused  to  it,  a  small  portion  would  be 
sufficient  to  overcome  him  ;  sound  sleep  would  soon, 
at  his  time  of  life,  be  the  effect  of  taking  the  liquor 
to  which  he  was  unaccustomed,  and  cause  him  to  for¬ 
get  the  effects  of  his  intoxication.  Except  in  this 

126 


2  Sam.  viii.  2 ;  2  Kings  iii.  4-27. - 1  Deut.  ii.  19 ;  Judg.  x.  6-18 


case,  his  moral  conduct  stands  unblemished  in  the  sa¬ 
cred  writings  ;  and  as  the  whole  transaction,  especially 
as  it  relates  to  him,  is  capable  of  an  interpretation  not 
wholly  injurious  to  his  piety,  both  reason  and  religion 
conjoin  to  recommend  that  explanation.  As  to  his 
daughters,  let  their  ignorance  of  the  real  state  of  the 
case  plead  for  them,  as  far  as  that  can  go ;  and  let  it 
be  remembered  that  their  sin  was  of  that  very  peculiar 
nature  as  never  to  be  capable  of  becoming  a  precedent. 
For  it  is  scarcely  possible  that  any  should  ever  be  able 
to  plead  similar  circumstances  in  vindication  of  a  simi¬ 
lar  line  of  conduct. 

Verse  37.  Called  his  name  Moab]  This  name  is 
generally  interpreted  of  the  father ,  or,  according  to 
Calmet,  Moab ,  the  waters  of  the  father. 

Verse  38.  Ben-ammi]  p  Ben-ammi,  the  son  of 
my  people.  Both  these  names  seem  to  justify  the  view 
taken  of  this  subject  above,  viz.,  that  it  was  merely 
to  preserve  the  fainily  that  the  daughters  of  Lot  made 
use  of  the  above  expedient ;  and  hence  we  do  not  find 
that  they  ever  attempted  to  repeat  it,  which,  had  it 
been  done  for  any  other  purpose,  they  certainly  would 
not  have  failed  to  do.  On  this  subject  Origen,  in  his 
fifth  homily  on  Genesis,  has  these  remarkable  words  : 
Ubi  hie  libidinis  culpa ,  ubi  incesti  criminis  arguitur  1 
Quomodo  dabitur  in  vitio  quod  non  iteratur  in  facto  ? 
Vereor  proloqui  quod  sentio ,  vereor,  inquam ,  ne  castior 
fuerit  harum  incestus,  quam  pudicitia  multarum. 
“  Where,  in  all  this  transaction,  can  the  crime  of  lust 
or  of  incest  be  proved  1  How  can  this  be  proved  to 
be  a  vice  when  the  fact  was  never  repeated  ?  I  am 
afraid  to  speak  my  whole  mind  on  the  subject,  lest  the 
incest  of  these  should  appear  more  laudable  than  the 
chastity  of  multitudes.  ”  There  is  a  distinction  made 
here  by  Origen  which  is  worthy  of  notice  ;  a  single 
bad  act ,  though  a  sin,  does  not  necessarily  argue  a 
vicious  heart,  as  in  order  to  be  vicious  a  man  must  be 
habituated  to  sinful  acts. 

The  generation  which  proceeded  from  this  inces¬ 
tuous  connection,  whatever  may  be  said  in  extenuation 
of  the  transaction,  (its  peculiar  circumstances  being 
considered,)  was  certainly  a  bad  one.  The  Moabites 
soon  fell  from  the  faith  of  God,  and  became  idolaters, 
the  people  of  Chemosh,  and  of  Baal-peor,  Num.  xxi 
29  ;  xxv,  1-3  ;  and  were  enemies  to  the  children  of 

a 


Abraham  sojourns  in  Gerar. 

Abraham.  See  Num.  xxii.  ;  Judg.  iii.  14,  & c.  And 
the  Ammonites,  who  dwelt  near  to  the  Moabites,  united 
with  them  in  idolatry,  and  were  also  enemies  to  Israel. 
See  Judg.  xi.  4,  24  ;  Deut.  xxiii.  3,  4.  As  both  these 
people  made  afterwards  a  considerable  figure  in  the 
sacred  history,  the  impartial  inspired  writer  takes  care 
to  introduce  at  this  early  period  an  account  of  their 
origin.  See  what  has  been  said  on  the  case  of  Noah’s 
drunkenness,  Gen.  ix.  20,  &c. 

This  is  an  awful  history,  and  the  circumstances  de¬ 
tailed  in  it  are  as  distressing  to  piety  as  to  humanity. 
It  may,  however,  be  profitable  to  review  the  particulars. 

1.  From  the  commencement  of  the  chapter  we  find 
that  the  example  and  precepts  of  Abraham  had  not 
been  lost  on  his  nephew  Lot.  He  also,  like  his  uncle, 
watches  for  opportunities  to  call  in  the  weary  traveller. 
This  Abraham  had  taught  his  household,  and  we  see 
the  effect  of  his  blessed  teaching.  Lot  was  both  hos¬ 
pitable  and  pious ,  though  living  in  the  midst  of  a 
crooked  and  perverse  race.  It  must  be  granted  that 
from  several  circumstances  in  his  history  he  appears 
to  have  been  a  weak  man,  but  his  weakness  was  such 
as  was  not  inconsistent  with  general  uprightness  and 
sincerity.  He  and  his  family  were  not  forgetful  to 
entertain  strangers,  and  they  alone  were  free  from  the 
pollutions  of  this  accursed  people.  How  powerful  are 
the  effects  of  a  religious  education,  enforced  by  pious, 
example  !  It  is  one  of  God’s  especial  means  of  grace. 
Let  a  man  only  do  justice  to  his  family,  by  bringing 
them  up  in  the  fear  of  God,  and  he  ivill  crown  it  with 
his  blessing.  How  many  excuse  the  profligacy  of 
their  family,  which  is  often  entirely  owing  to  their  own 
neglect,  by  saying,  “  O,  we  cannot  give  them  grace  !” 
No,  you  cannot ;  but  you  can  afford  them  the  means 
of  grace.  This  is  your  work,  that  is  the  Lord’s.  If, 
through  your  neglect  of  precept  and  example,  they 
perish,  what  an  awful  account  must  you  give  to  the 


Sarah  taken  by  Abimelech. 

Judge  of  quick  and  dead  !  It  wTas  the  sentiment  of  a 
great  man,  that  should  the  worst  of  times  arrive,  and 
magistracy  and  ministry  were  both  to  fail,  yet,  if  pa¬ 
rents  would  but  be  faithful  to  their  trust,  pure  religion 
would  be  handed  down  to  posterity,  both  in  its  form 
and  in  its  power. 

2.  We  have  already  heard  of  the  wickedness  of  the 
inhabitants  of  the  cities  of  the  plain ;  the  cup  of  their 
iniquity  was  full  ;  their  sin  was  of  no  common  magni¬ 
tude,  and  what  a  terrible  judgment  fell  upon  them  ! 
Brimstone  and  fire  are  rained  down  from  heaven  upon 
these  traders  in  iniquity  ;  and  what  a  correspondence 
between  the  crime  and  the  punishment  ?  They  burned 
in  lust  towards  each  other,  and  God  burned  them  up 
with  fire  and  brimstone.  Their  sin  was  unnatural , 
and  God  punished  it  by  supernatural  means.  Divine 
justice  not  only  observes  a  proportion  between  the 
crime  and  the  degree  of  punishment,  but  also  between 
the  species  of  crime  and  the  kind  of  punishment  in¬ 
flicted. 

3.  Disobedience  to  the  command  of  God  must  ever 
meet  with  severe  reprehension,  especially  in  those  who 
have  already  partaken  of  his  grace,  because  these 
know  his  salvation,  and  are  justly  supposed  to  possess, 
by  his  grace,  the  power  of  resisting  all  solicitations  to 
sin.  The  servant  who  knew  his  lord’s  will  and  did  it 
not,  was  to  be  beaten  with  many  stripes  ;  see  Luke 
xii.  47.  Lot’s  wife  stands  as  an  everlasting  monu¬ 
ment  of  admonition  and  caution  to  all  backsliders.  She 
ran  well,  she  permitted  Satan  to  hinder,  and  she  died 
in  her  provocation  !  While  we  lament  her  fate,  we 
should  profit  by  her  example.  To  begin  in  the  good 
way  is  well ;  to  continue  in  the  path  is  better ;  and  to 
persevere  unto  the  end,  best  of  all.  The  exhortation 
of  our  blessed  Lord  on  this  subject  should  awaken  our 
caution,  and  strongly  excite  our  diligence  :  Remember 
LoVs  wife  !  On  the  conduct  of  Lot  and  his  daughters, 
see  the  notes  on  ver.  31. 


CHAP.  XX. 


CHAPTER  XX. 


Abraham  leaves  Mature,  and,  after  having  sojourned  at  Kadesh  and  Shur,  settles  in  Gerar,  1.  Abimelech 
takes  Sarah,  Abraham  having  acknowledged  her  only  as  his  sister,  2.  Abimelech  is  warned  by  God  in  a 
dream  to  restore  Sarah,  3.  He  asserts  his  innocence,  4,  5.  He  is  farther  warned ,  6,  7.  Expostulates 
with  Abraham ,  8—10.  Abraham  vindicates  his  conduct,  11—13.  Abimelech  restores  Sarah,  makes  Abra¬ 
ham  a  present  of  sheep,  oxen,  and  male  and  female  slaves,  1 4  ;  offers  him  a  residence  in  any  part  of  the 
land,  15  ;  and  reproves  Sarah,  16.  At  the  intercession  of  Abraham ,  the  curse  of  barrenness  is  removed 
from  Abimelech  and  his  household,  17,  18. 


A.  M.  cir.  2107. 

B.  C.  cir.  1897. 


A  ND  Abraham  journeyed  from 
a  thence  toward  the  south 
country,  and  dwelled  between  b  Kadesh  and 
Shur,  and  c  sojourned  in  Gerar. 


2  And  Abraham  said  of  Sarah  A.  M.  cir.  2107. 

his  wife,  d  She  is  my  sister  :  -1 — 1 — 1 - 

and  Abimelech  king  of  Gerar  sent,  and  e  took 
Sarah. 


aChap.  xviii.  1. - b  Chap.  xvi.  7. - c  Chap.  xxvi.  6. 


d  Chap.  xii.  13  ;  xxvi.  7. - e  Chap.  xii.  15. 


NOTES  ON  CHAP.  XX. 

Terse  1.  And  Abraham  journeyed ]  It  is  very 
likely  that  this  holy  man  was  so  deeply  affected  with 
the  melancholy  prospect  of  the  ruined  cities,  and  not 
knowing  what  was  become  of  his  nephew  Lot  and  his 


family,  that  he  could  no  longer  bear  to  dwell  within 
sight  of  the  place.  Having,  therefore,  struck  his 
tents,  and  sojourned  for  a  short  time  at  Kadesh  and 
Shur,  he  fixed  his  habitation  in  Gerar,  which  was  a 
city  of  Arabia  Petroca,  under  a  king  of  the  Philistines 

127 


GENESIS. 


to  restore  Sarah . 


Abimelech  is  warned  of  God 

A.  M.  cm  2107.  3  But f  God  came  to  Abimelech 

B.  C.  cir.  1897.  .  ■.  ,  .  ,  ■,  .j 

_ _  b  m  a  dream  by  night,  and  said 

to  him,  h  Behold,  thou  art  but  a  dead  man, 
for  the  woman  which  thou  hast  taken  ;  for  she 
is *  1  a  man’s  wife. 

4  But  Abimelech  had  not  come  near  her : 
and  he  said,  Lord,  kwilt  thou  slay  also  a 
righteous  nation  ? 

5  Said  he  not  unto  me,  She  is  my  sister? 
and  she,  even  she  herself  said,  He  is  my 

f  Psa.  cv.  14. - s  Job  xxxiii.  15. - h  Yer.  7. - iHeb. 

married  to  a  husband. - k  Chap,  xviii.  23 ;  ver.  18. - 1  2  Kings 

xx.  3  ;  2  Cor.  i.  12. - m  Or,  simplicity  ;  or,  sincerity. - n  Chap. 

called  Abimelech,  my  father  king ,  who  appears  to 
have  been  not  only  the  father  of  his  people ,  but  also 
a  righteous  man. 

Verse  2.  She  is  my  sister ]  See  the  parallel  ac¬ 
count,  chap,  xii.,  and  the  notes  there.  Sarah  was 
now  about  ninet3r  years  of  age,  and  probably  pregnant 
with  Isaac.  Her  beauty,  therefore,  must  have  been 
considerably  impaired  since  the  time  she  was  taken  in 
a  similar  manner  by  Pharaoh,  king  of  Egypt ;  but  she 
was  probably  now.  chosen  by  Abimelech  more  on  the 
account  of  forming  an  alliance  with  Abraham,  who  was 
very  rich,  than  on  account  of  any  personal  accom¬ 
plishments.  A  petty  king,  such  as  Abimelech,  would 
naturally  be  glad  to  form  an  alliance  with  such  a  power¬ 
ful  chief  as  Abraham  was :  we  cannot  but  recollect  his 
late  defeat  of  the  four  confederate  Canaanitish  kings. 
See  on  chap.  xiv.  14,  &c.  This  circumstance  was 
sufficient  to  establish  his  credit,  and  cause  his  friend¬ 
ship  to  be  courted  ;  and  what  more  effectual  means 
could  Abimelech  use  in  reference  to  this  than  the 
taking  of  Sarah,  who  he  understood  was  Abraham’s 
sister,  to  be  his  concubine  or  second  wife,  which  in 
those  times  had*  no  kind  of  disgrace  attached  to  it  1 

Verse  3.  But  God  came  to  Abimelech ]  Thus  we 
find  that  persons  who  were  not  of  the  family  of  Abra¬ 
ham  had  the  knowledge  of  the  true  God.  Indeed,  all 
the  Gerarites  are  termed  p'Hi'  ’U  goi  tsaddik,  a  right¬ 
eous  nation,  ver.  4. 

Verse  5.  In  the  integrity  of  my  heart ,  <fc.]  Had 
Abimelech  any  other  than  honourable  views  in  taking 
Sarah,  he  could  not  have  justified  himself  thus  to  his 
Maker  ;  and  that  these  views  were  of  the  most  honour¬ 
able  kind,  God  himself,  to  whom  the  appeal  was  made, 
asserts  in  the  most  direct  manner,  Yea,  I  know  that 
thou  didst  this  in  the  integrity  of  thy  heart. 

Verse  7.  He  is  a  prophet ,  and  he  shall  pray  for 
thee ]  The  word  prophet,  which  we  have  from  the 
Greek  Ttpo^yryg,  and  which  is  compounded  of  v po, 
before,  and  <prj/u,  I  speak ,  means,  in  its  general  accep¬ 
tation,  one  who  speaks  of  things  before  they  happen, 
i.  e.,  one  who  foretells  future  events.  But  that  this 
was  not  the  original  notion  of  the  word,  its  use  in  this 
place  sufficiently  proves.  Abraham  certainly  was  not 
a  prophet  in  the  present  general  acceptation  of  the 
term,  and  for  the  Hebrew  X'Dl  nabi,  we  must  seek 
some  other  meaning.  I  have,  in  a  discourse  entitled 
“  The  Christian  Prophet  and  his  Work,”  proved  that 
the  proper  ideal  meaning  of  the  original  word  is  to 

128 


brother :  1  m  the  m  integrity  of  A.  M.  cir.  2107. 

,  A  -j  .  r  B.  C.  cir.  1897. 

my  heart  and  innocency  ot  my  - - 

hands  have  I  done  this. 

6  And  God  said  unto  him  in  a  dream,  Yea, 

1  know  that  thou  didst  this  in  the  integrity 
of  thy  heart ;  for  n  I  also  withheld  thee  from 
sinning  0  against  me  :  therefore  suffered  I  thee 
not  to  touch  her. 

7  Now  therefore  restore  the  man  his  wife ; 
pfor  he  is  a  prophet,  and  he  shall  pray  for 

xxxi.  7 ;  xxxv.  5 ;  Exod.  xxxiv.  24 ;  1  Sam.  xxv.  26,  34. 
0  Chap,  xxxix.  9  ;  Lev.  vi.  2  ;  Psa.  li.  4. - p  1  Sam.  vii.  5  ; 

2  Kings  v.  11 ;  Job  xlii.  8 ;  James  v.  14,  15  ;  1  John  v.  16. 

pray,  entreat,  make  supplication,  dye.,  and  this  mean¬ 
ing  of  it  I  have  justified  at  large  both  from  its  appli¬ 
cation  in  this  place,  and  from  its  pointed  use  in  the 
case  of  Saul,  mentioned  1  Sam.  x.,  and  from  the  case 
of  the  priests  of  Baal,  1  Kings  xviii.,  where  prophesy¬ 
ing  most  undoubtedly  means  making  prayer  and  sup¬ 
plication.  As  those  who  were  in  habits  of  intimacy 
with  God  by  prayer  and  faith  were  found  the  most 
proper  persons  to  communicate  his  mind  to  man,  both 
with  respect  to  the  present  and  the  future,  hence, 
nabi,  the  intercessor ,  became  in  process  of  time  the 
public  instructer  or  preacher,  and  also  the  predicter 
of  future  events,  because  to  such  faithful  praying  men 
God  revealed  the  secret  of  his  will.  Hence  St.  Paul, 

1  Cor.  xiv.  3,  seems  to  restrain  the  word  wholly  to 
the  interpreting  the  mind  of  God  to  the  people,  and 
their  instruction  in  Divine  things,  for,  says  he,  he  that 
prophesieth  speaketh  unto  men  to  edification  and  ex¬ 
hortation  and  comfort.  See  the  discourse  on  this 
text  referred  to  above.  The  title  was  also  given  to 
men  eminent  for  eloquence  and  for  literary  abilities ; 
hence  Aaron,  because  he  was  the  spokesman  of  Moses 
to  the  Egyptian  king,  wTas  termed  nabi,  prophet ; 
Exod.  iv.  16;  vii.  1 .  And  Epimenides,  a  heathen 
poet,  is  expressly  styled  'Kpotpyryg,  a  prophet,  by  St. 
Paul,  Tit.  i.  12,  just  as  poets  in  general  were  termed 
rates  among  the  Romans,  which  properly  signifies  the 
persons  who  professed  to  interpret  the  will  of  the  gods 
to  their  votaries,  after  prayers  and  sacrifices  duly  per¬ 
formed.  In  Arabic  the  word  LJ  naba  has  nearlv  the 

*  J 

same  meaning  as  in  Hebrew,  but  in  the  first  conjuga¬ 
tion  it  has  a  meaning  which  may  cast  light  upon  the 
subject  in  general.  It  signifies  to  itinerate,  move  from 
one  place  or  country  to  another,  compelled  thereto 
either  by  persecution  or  the  command  of  God  ;  exivit 

de  una  regione  in  aliam. —  migrans  de  loco  in  lo¬ 
cum. — Golius.  Hence  Mohammed  was  called  ^ 

an  nabi,  because  of  his  sudden  removal  from  Mecca  to 
Medina,  when,  pretending  to  a  Divine  commission,  his 
townsmen  sought  to  take  away  his  life  :  e  Mecca  exiens 

Medinam ,  unde  Muhammed  suis  Nabi  Allah 

dictus  fuit. — Golius.  If  this  meaning  belonged  ori¬ 
ginally  to  the  Hebrew  word,  it  will  apply  with  great 
force  to  the  case  of  Abraham,  whose  migratory, 
itinerant  kind  of  life,  generally  under  the  immediate 
direction  of  God,  might  have  given  him  the  title  nabi. 
However  this  may  be,  the  term  was  a  title  of  the  high- 


CHAP.  XX. 


and  restores  Sarah 


Ahimelech  reproves  Abraham , 

A.  M.  cir.  2107.  thee,  and  thou  shalt  live  :  and 

_  if  thou  restore  her  not,  ^  know 

thou  that  thou  shalt  surely  die,  thou,  r  and  all 
that  are  thine. 

8  Therefore  Abimelech  rose  early  in  the 
morning,  and  called  all  his  servants,  and  told 
all  these  things  in  their  ears  :  and  the  men 
were  sore  afraid. 

9  Then  Abimelech  called  Abraham,  and 
said  unto  him,  What  hast  thou  done  unto  us? 
and  what  have  I  offended  thee,  s  that  thou 
hast  brought  on  me  and  on  my  kingdom  a 
great  sin  ?  thou  hast  done  deeds  unto  me 
1  that  ought  not  to  be  done. 

10  And  Abimelech  said  unto  Abraham, 
What  sawest  thou,  that  thou  hast  done  this 
thing  ? 

1 1  And  Abraham  said,  Because  I  thought, 
Surely,  11  the  fear  of  God  is  not  in  this 
place ;  and  v  they  will  slay  me  for  my  wife’s 
sake. 

‘iChap.ii.  17. - rNum.  xvi.  32,  33. - s  Chap.  xxvi.  10; 

Exod.  xxxii.  21 ;  Josh.  vii.  25. - *  Chap,  xxxiv.  7. - u  Chap. 

xlii.  18  ;  Psa.  xxxvi.  1 ;  Prov.  xvi.  6. - v  Chap.  xii.  12  ;  xxvi.  7. 

w  See  chap.  xi.  29. 

Gst  respectability  and  honour,  both  among  the  Hebrews 
and  Arabs,  and  continues  so  to  this  day.  And  from 
the  Hebrews  the  word,  in  all  the  importance  and  dig¬ 
nity  of  its  meaning,  was  introduced  among  the  heathens 
in  the  Tcpo^rj-ryg  and  vates  of  the  Greeks  and  Romans. 
See  on  the  word  seer ,  Gen.  xv.  1. 

Yerse  8.  Abimelech  rose  early ,  <fc.]  God  came  to 
Abimelech  in  a  dream  by  night,  and  we  find  as  the  day 
broke  he  arose,  assembled  his  servants,  (what  we  would 
call  his  courtiers ,)  and  communicated  to  them  what  he 
had  received  from  God.  They  were  all  struck  with 
astonishment,  and  discerned  the  hand  of  God  in  this 
business.  Abraham  is  then  called,  and  in  a  most  re¬ 
spectful  and  pious  manner  the  king  expostulates  with 
him  for  bringing  him  and  his  people  under  the  Divine 
displeasure,  by  withholding  from  him  the  information 
that  Sarah  was  his  wife  ;  when,  by  taking  her,  he 
sought  only  an  honourable  alliance  with  his  family. 

Verse  11.  And  Abraham  said ]  The  best  excuse 
he  could  make  for  his  conduct,  which  in  this  instance 
is  far  from  defensible. 

Yerse  12.  She  is  my  sister ]  I  have  not  told  a  lie  ; 
I  have  suppressed  only  a  part  of  the  truth.  In  this 
place  it  may  be  proper  to  ask,  What  is  a  lie  ?  It  is 
any  action  done  or  word  spoken,  whether  true  or  false 
in  itself,  which  the  doer  or  speaker  wishes  the  ob¬ 
server  or  hearer  to  take  in  a  contrary  sense  to  that 
which  he  knows  to  be  true.  It  is,  in  a  word,  any 
action  done  or  speech  delivered  with  the  intention  to 
deceive ,  though  both  may  be  absolutely  true  and  right 
in  themselves.  See  the  note  on  chap.  xii.  13. 

The  daughter  of  my  father,  but  not — of  my  mother ] 
Ebn  Batrich,  in  his  annals,  among  other  ancient  tradi- 

Vol.  I.  (  10  ) 


12  And  yet  indeed  w  she  is  my  A.  M.  cir.  2107. 

B.  C.  cir.  1897. 

sister ;  she  is  the  daughter  of  - . 

my  father,  but  not  the  daughter  of  my  mother ; 
and  she  became  my  wife. 

13  And  it  came  to  pass,  when  x  God  caused 
me  to  wander  from  my  father’s  house,  that  I 
said  unto  her,  This  is  thyr  kindness  which 
thou  shalt  show  unto  me  ;  at  every  place 
whither  we  shall  come,  say  of  me,  He  is 
my  brother. 

14  And  Abimelech  z  took  sheep,  and  oxen, 
and  men-servants,  and  women-servants,  and 
gave  them  unto  Abraham,  and  'restored  him 
Sarah  his  wife. 

15  And  Abimelech  said,  Behold,  a  my  land 
is  before  thee  :  dwell  b  where  it  pleaseth  thee. 

16  And  unto  Sarah  he  said,  Behold,  I  have 
given  c  thy  brother  a  thousand  pieces  of  silver . 
d  behold,  he  is  to  thee  e  a  covering  of  the  eyes, 
unto  all  that  are  with  thee,  and  with  all  other: 
f  thus  she  was  reproved. 

x  Chap.  xii.  1,  9,  11,  &c.  ;  Heb.  xi.  8. - r  Chap.  xii.  13. 

z  Chap.  xii.  16. - a  Chap.  xiii.  9. - b  Heb.  as  is  good  in  thine 

eyes. - c  Ver.  5. - d  Chap.  xxvi.  11. - e  Chapter  xxiv.  65. 

f  Prov.  ix.  8,  9  ;  xxv.  12 ;  xxvii.  5  ;  Matt.  vii.  7. 

tions  has  preserved  the  following  :  “  Terah  first  mar¬ 
ried  Yona,  by  whom  he  had  Abraham ;  afterwards  he 
married  Tehevita,  by  wdiom  he  had  Sarah.”  Thus 
she  was  the  sister  of  Abraham,  being  the  daughter  of 
the  same  father  by  a  different  mother. 

Yerse  13.  When  God  caused  me  to  wander ]  Here 
the  word  Elohim  is  used  with  a  plural  verb, 

(Tpfin  hithu ,  caused  me  to  wander,)  which  is  not  very 
usual  in  the  Hebrew  language,  as  this  plural  noun  is 
generally  joined  with  verbs  in  the  singular  number. 
Because  there  is  a  departure  from  the  general  mode 
in  this  instance,  some  have  contended  that  the  word 
Elohim  signifies  princes  in  this  place,  and  suppose  it 
to  refer  to  those  in  Chaldea,  who  expelled  Abraham 
because  he  would  not  worship  the  fire ;  but  the  best 
critics,  and  with  them  the  Jews ,  allow  that  Elohim 
here  signifies  the  true  God.  Abraham  probably  refers 
to  hisymsi  call. 

Yerse  16.  And  unto  Sarah  he  said~\  Y>utwhat  did 
he  say  1  Here  there  is  scarcely  any  agreement  among 
interpreters  ;  the  Hebrew  is  exceedingly  obscure,  and 
every  interpreter  takes  it  in  his  own  sense. 

A  thousand  pieces  of  silver]  Shekels  are  very 
probably  meant  here,  and  so  the  Targurn  understands 
it.  The  Septuagint  has  %ikia  dtdpaxya,  a  thousand 
didrachma,  no  doubt  meaning  shehels ;  for  in  chap, 
xxiii.  15,  16,  this  translation  uses  didpaxya  for  the 
Hebrew  bptf  shekel.  As  shakal  signifies  literally  to 
weigh,  and  the  shekel  was  a  coin  of  such  a  weight, 
Mr.  Ainsworth  and  others  think  this  to  be  the  origin 
of  our  word  scale,  the  instrument  to  weigh  with. 

The  shekel  of  the  sanctuary  weighed  twenty  gerahs, 
Exod.  xxx.  13.  And  according  to  the  Jews,  the 

129  a 


Abraham  prays  for  Abimelech ,  GEXESIS. 


and  God  heals  his  family 


A.  M.  cir.  2107. 

B.  C.  cir.  1897. 


17  So  Abraham  g  prayed  unto 
God  :  and  God  healed  Abimelech, 
and  his  wife,  and  his  maid-servants  ;  and  they 
bare  children . 


18  For  the  Lord  h  had  fast 
closed  up  all  the  wombs  of  the 
house  of  Abimelech,  because 
Abraham’s  wife. 


A.  M.  cir.  2107 

B.  C.  cir.  1897 


of  Sarah, 


s  Chap.  xxix.  31 ;  1  Sam.  v.  11,  12  ;  Job  xlii.  8,  9,  10. 


hChap.  xii.  17  ;  xvi.  2. 


gerah  weighed  sixteen  grains  of  barley.  R.  Maimon 
observes,  that  after  the  captivity  the  shekel  was  in¬ 
creased  to  three  hundred  and  eighty-four  grains  or  bar¬ 
ley-corns.  On  the  subject  of  ancient  weights  and  mea¬ 
sures,  very  little  that  is  satisfactory  is  known. 

Behold,  he  is  to  thee  a  covering  of  the  eyes ]  It — 
the  one  thousand  shekels,  (not  he — Abraham,)  is  to  thee 
for  a  covering — to  procure  thee  a  veil  to  conceal  thy 
beauty  {unto  all  that  are  with  thee,  and  with  all  other) 
from  all  thy  own  kindred  and  acquaintance,  and  from 
all  strangers,  that  none,  seeing  thou  art  another  man’s 
wife,  may  covet  thee  on  account  of  thy  comeliness. 

Thus  she  was  reproved ]  The  original  is  nfOJl  ve- 
nochachath,  but  the  word  is  probably  the  second  person 
preterite,  used  for  the  imperative  mood,  from  the  root 
rOJ  nachach,  to  make  straight,  direct,  right ;  or  to  speak 
rightly,  correctly ;  and  may,  in  connection  with  the 
rest  of  the  text,  be  thus  paraphrased  :  Behold,  I  have 
given  thy  brother  (Abraham,  gently  alluding  to  the 
equivocation,  ver.  2,  5)  a  thousand  shekels  of  silver; 
behold ,  it  is  (that  is,  the  silver  is,  or  may  be,  or  let  it 
be)  to  thee  a  covering  of  the  eyes  (to  procure  a  veil  ; 
see  above)  with  regard  to  all  those  who  are  with  thee, 
and  to  all  (or  and  in  all)  speak  thou  the  truth.  Cor¬ 
rectly  translated  by  the  Septuagint,  nat  rravra  a^r/dev- 
aov,  and  in  all  things  speak  the  truth — not  only  tell  a 
part  of  the  truth,  but  tell  the  whole ;  say  not  merely 
he  is  my  brother ,  but  say  also,  he  is  my  husband  too. 
Thus  in  all  things  speak  the  truth.  I  believe  the  above 
to  be  the  sense  of  this  difficult  passage,  and  shall  not 
puzzle  my  readers  with  criticisms.  See  Kennicott. 

Verse  17.  So  Abraham  prayed ]  This  was  the 
prime  office  of  the  nabi ;  see  ver.  7. 

Verse  18.  For  the  Lord  had  fast  closed  up  all  the 
toombs\  Probably  by  means  of  some  disease  with 
which  he  had  smitten  them,  hence  it  is  said  they  ivere 
healed  at  Abraham’s  intercession ;  and  this  seems  ne¬ 
cessarily  to  imply  that  they  had  been  afflicted  by  some 
disease  that  rendered  it  impossible  for  them  to  have 


children  till  it  was  removed.  And  possibly  this  dis¬ 
ease,  as  Dr.  Dodd  conjectures,  had  afflicted  Abimelech, 
and  by  this  he  was  withheld,  ver.  6,  from  defiling 
Abraham’s  bed. 

1.  On  the  prevarication  of  Abraham  and  Sarah,  see 
the  notes  and  concluding  observations  on  chap.  xii. ;  and 
while  we  pity  this  weakness ,  let  us  take  it  as  a  warning . 

2.  The  cause  why  the  patriarch  did  not  acknow¬ 
ledge  Sarah  as  his  wife,  was  a  fear  lest  he  should  lose 
his  life  on  her  account,  for  he  said,  Surely  the  fear , 
i.  e.,  the  true  worship,  of  the  true  God  is  not  in  this 
place.  Such  is  the  natural  bigotry  and  narrowness  of 
the  human  heart,  that  we  can  scarcely  allow  that  any 
besides  ourselves  possess  the  true  religion.  To  indulge 
a  disposition  of  this  kind  is  highly  blamable.  The 
true  religion  is  neither  confined  to  one  spot  nor  to  one 
people ;  it  is  spread  in  various  forms  over  the  whole 
earth.  He  who  fills  immensity  has  left  a  record  of 
himself  in  every  nation  and  among  every  people  under 
heaven.  Beware  of  the  spirit  of  intolerance !  for 
bigotry  produces  uncharitableness  ;  and  uncharitable¬ 
ness,  harsh  judging ;  and  in  such  a  spirit  a  man  may 
think  he  does  God  service  when  he  tortures,  or  makes 
a  burnt-offering  of  the  person  whom  his  narrow  mind 
and  hard  heart  have  dishonoured  with  the  name  of 
heretic.  .Such  a  spirit  is  not  confined  to  any  one  com¬ 
munity,  though  it  has  predominated  in  some  more  than 
in  others.  But  these  things  are  highly  displeasing  in 
the  sight  of  God.  HE,  as  the  Father  of  the  spirits 
of  all  flesh,  loves  every  branch  of  his  vastly  extended 
family ;  and  as  far  as  we  love  one  another,  no  matter 
of  what  sect  or  party,  so  far  we  resemble  him.  Had 
Abraham  possessed  more  charity  for  man  and  confi¬ 
dence  in  God  at  this  time,  he  had  not  fallen  into  that 
snare  from  which  he  barely  escaped.  A  hasty  judg¬ 
ment  is  generally  both  erroneous  and  harsh  ;  and  those 
who  are  the  most  apt  to  form  it  are  generally  the  most 
difficult  to  be  convinced  of  the  truth. 


CHAPTER  XXL 

Isaac  is  born  according  to  the  promise ,  1—3  ;  and  is  circumcised  when  eight  days  old,  4.  Abraham's  age , 
and  Sarah's  exultation  at  the  birth  of  their  son ,  5—7.  Isaac  is  weaned ,  8.  Ishmael  mocking  on  the 
occasion,  Sarah  requires  that  both  he  and  his  mother  Hagar  shall  be  dismissed,  9,  10.  Abraham,  distressed 
on  the  account,  is  ordered  by  the  Lord  to  comply,  11,  12.  The  promise  renewed  to  Ishmael ,  13.  Abra¬ 
ham  dismisses  Ilagar  and  her  son,  who  go  to  the  ivilderness  of  Beer-sheba,  14.  They  are  greatly  dis¬ 
tressed  for  want  of  water,  15,  16.  An  angel  of  God  appears  to  and  relieves  them,  17—19.  Ishmael  prospers 
and  is  married ,  20,  21.  Abimelech ,  and  Phichol  his  chief  captain,  make  a  covenant  with  Abraham,  and 
surrender  the  well  of  Beer-sheba  for  seven  ewe  lambs ,  22—32.  Abraham  plants  a  grove,  and  invokes  the 
name  of  the  everlasting  God,  33. 
a  130 


(  10*  ) 


Isaac  is  born  and  circumcised. 


CHAP.  XXI. 


Sarah  exults  and  Ishmael  moclis 


A.  M.  2108.  AND  the  Lord  a  visited  Sarah 
1896'  as  he  had  said,  and  the  Lord 
did  unto  Sarah  b  as  he  had  spoken. 

2  For  Sarah  c  conceived,  and  bare  Abraham 
a  son  in  his  old  age,  d  at  the  set  time  of  which 
God  had  spoken  to  him. 

3  And  Abraham  called  the  name  of  his  son 
that  was  born  unto  him,  whom  Sarah  bare  to 
him,  6  Isaac. 

4  And  Abraham  f  circumcised  his  son  Isaac 
being  eight  days  old,  s  as  God  had  command¬ 
ed  him. 

5  And  h  Abraham  was  a  hundred  years 
old,  when  his  son  Isaac  was  born  unto  him. 

6  And  Sarah  said,  *  God  hath  made  me  to 
laugh,  so  that  all  that  hear  k  will  laugh  with  me. 


7  And  she  said,  Who  would  have  A.  M.  2108. 
said  unto  Abraham,  that  Sarah  B' C’  1896‘ 


should  have  given  children  suck  ? *  1  for  I  have 
borne  him  a  son  in  his  old  ase. 

8  And  the  child  grew  and  was  weaned  ;  and 
Abraham  made  a  great  feast  the  same  day 
that  Isaac  was  weaned. 

9  And  Sarah  saw  the  son  of  A.  M.  cir.  2110. 

tt  ™  ,i  t''  B.  C.  cir.  1894. 

Hagar  m  the  Lgyptian,  n  which  _ _ 

she  had  borne  unto  Abraham,  0  mocking. 

10  Wherefore  she  said  unto  Abraham,  p  Cast 
out  this  bond-woman  and  her  son  :  for  the 
son  of  this  bond-woman  shall  not  be  heir  with 
my  son,  even  with  Isaac. 

1 1  And  the  thing  was  very  grievous  m 
Abraham’s  sight,  q  because  of  his  son. 


a  1  Sam.  ii.  21. - b  Chap.  xvii.  19  ;  xviii.  10,  14  ;  Gal.  iv. 

23,  28. - c  Acts  vii.  8  ;  Gal.  iv.  22  ;  Heb.  xi.  il. - d  Chap. 

xvii.  21. - e  Chap.  xvii.  19. - f  Acts  vii.  8. - s  Chap.  xvii. 

10,  12. - h  Chap.  xvii.  1,  17. 


1  Psa.  exxvi.  2  ;  Isa.  liv.  1  ;  Gal.  iv.  27. - k  Luke  i.  58. 

1  Chap,  xviii.  11,  12. - m  Chap.  xvi.  1. - "Chap.  xvi.  15. 

0  Gal.  iv.  22. - P  Gal.  iv.  30  ;  see  chap.  xxv.  6  ;  xxxvi.  6,  7 

a  Chap.  xvii.  18. 


NOTES  ON  CHAP.  XNI. 

Verse  1.  The  Lord  visited  Sarah ]  That  is,  God 
fulfilled  his  promise  to  Sarah  by  giving  her,  at  the  ad¬ 
vanced  age  of  ninety ,  power  to  conceive  and  bring 
forth  a  son. 

Verse  3.  Isaac.]  See  the  reason  and  interpretation 
of  this  name  in  the  note  on  chap.  xvii.  7. 

Verse  4.  And  Abraham  circumcised  his  son]  See 
on  chap.  xvii.  10,  &c. 

Verse  6.  God  hath  made  me  to  laugh]  Sarah 
alludes  here  to  the  circumstance  mentioned  chap, 
xviii.  12  ;  and  as  she  seems  to  use  the  word  to  laugh 
in  this  place,  not  in  the  sense  of  being  incredulous, 
but  to  express  such  pleasure  or  happiness  as  almost 
suspends  the  reasoning  faculty  for  a  time,  it  justifies 
the  observation  on  the  above-named  verse.  See  a 
similar  case  in  Luke  xxiv.  41,  where  the  disciples 
were  so  overcome  with  the  good  news  of  our  Lord’s 
resurrection,  that  it  is  said,  They  believed  not  for  joy . 

Verse  8.  The  child  grew  and  teas  weaned]  Debc  cilb 
poplice  peox  peajip  gepeneb.— Anglo-Saxon  VERSION. 
Now  the  child  waxed  and  became  weaned.  We  have 
the  verb  to  wean  from  the  Anglo-Saxon  apenban  awen- 
dan,  to  convert ,  transfer,  turn  from  one  thing  to 
another,  which  is  the  exact  import  of  the  Hebrew 
word  gamal  in  the  text.  Hence  penan  wenan,  to 
wean,  to  turn  the  child  from  the  breast  to  receive  another 
kind  of  aliment.  And  hence,  probably,  the  word  wean, 
a  young  child,  which  is  still  in  use  in  the  northern 
parts  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  and  which  from  its 
etymology  seems  to  signify  a  child  taken  from  the 
breast;  surely  not  from  the  Scotch  ivee-ane,  a  little 
one ,  much  less  from  the  German  wenig,  little,  as  Dr. 
Johnson  and  others  would  derive  it.  At  what  time 
children  were  weaned  among  the  ancients,  is  a  disputed 
point.  St.  Jerome  says  there  wrere  two  opinions  on 
this  subject..  Some  hold  that  children  were  always 
weaned  at  five  years  of  age ;  others,  that  they  were 
not  weaned  till  they  were  twelve.  From  the  speech 


of  the  mother  to  her  son,  2  Mac.  vii.  27,  it  seems 
likely  that  among  the  Jews  they  were  weaned  when 
three  years  old  :  O  my  son,  have  pity  upon  me  that 
bare  thee  nine  months  in  my  womb,  and  gave  thee  suck 
three  years,  anji  nourished  thee  and  brought  thee  up. 
And  this  is  farther  strengthened  by  2  Chron.  xxxi.  16, 
where  Hezekiah,  in  making  provision  for  the  Levites 
and  priests,  includes  the  children  from  three  years  old 
and  upwards  ;  which  is  a  presumptive  proof  that  pre¬ 
viously  to  this  age  they  were  wholly  dependent  on  the 
mother  for  their  nourishment.  Samuel  appears  to  have 
been  brought  to  the  sanctuary  when  he  was  just  weaned , 
and  then  he  was  capable  of  ministering  before  the  Lord, 

1  Sam.  i.  22-28  ;  and  this  certainly  could  not  be  be¬ 
fore  he  wras  three  years  of  age.  The  term  among  the 
Mohammedans  is  fixed  by  the  Koran,  chap.  xxxi.  14, 
at  two  years  of  age. 

Verse  9.  Mocking.]  What  was  implied  in  this 
mocking  is  not  known.  St.  Paul,  Gal.  iv.  29,  calls 
it  persecuting ;  but  it  is  likely  he  meant  no  more  than 
some  species  of  ridicule  used  by  Ishmael  on  the  occa¬ 
sion,  and  probably  with  respect  to  the  age  of  Sarah 
at  Isaac’s  birth,  and  her  previous  barrenness.  Jonathan 
ben  Uzziel  and  the  Jerusalem  Targum  represent  Ish¬ 
mael  as  performing  some  idolatrous  rite  on  the  occa¬ 
sion,  and  that  this  had  given  the  offence  to  Sarah. 
Conjectures  are  as  useless  as  they  are  endless.  What¬ 
ever  it  was,  it  became  the  occasion  of  the  expulsion 
of  himself  and  mother.  Several  authors  are  of  opi¬ 
nion  that  the  Egyptian  bondage  of  four  hundred  years, 
mentioned  chap.  xv.  13,  commenced  with  this  perse¬ 
cution  of  the  righteous  seed  by  the  son  of  an  Egyptian 
woman. 

Verse  10.  Cast  out  this  bond-woman  and  her  son[ 
Both  Sarah  and  Abraham  have  been  accused  of  cru¬ 
elty  in  this  transaction,  because  every  word  reads  harsh 
to  us.  Cast  out ;  ITU  garash  signifies  not  only  to 
thrust  out,  drive  away,  and  expel,  but  also  to  divorce ; 
(see  Lev.  xxi.  7  ;)  and  it  is  in  this  latter  sense  the 

131 


Hagar  and  Ishmael  cast  out.  GENESIS.  They  wander  in  the  wilderness 


A.  M.  cir.  2110.  1 2  And  God  said  unto  Abra- 

B.  C.  cir.  1894.  ,  T  .  , 

_ ham,  Get  it  not  be  grievous  m 

thy  sight  because  of  the  lad,  and  because  of 

thy  bond-woman ;  in  all  that  Sarah  hath  said 

unto  thee,  hearken  unto  her  voice ;  for  r  in 

Isaac  shall  thy  seed  be  called. 

13  And  also  of  the  son  of  the  bond-woman 
will  I  make  s  a  nation,  because  he  is  thy  seed. 

14  And  Abraham  rose  up  early  in  the  morn¬ 
ing,  and  took  bread,  and  a  bottle  of  water, 
and.  gave  it  unto  Hagar,  (putting  it  on  her 
shoulder,)  and  the  child,  and  t  sent  her  away: 
and  she  departed,  and  wandered  in  the  wilder¬ 
ness  of  Beer-sheba. 

15  And  the  water  was  spent  in  the  bottle, 
and  she  cast  the  child  under  one  of  the 
shrubs. 


rRom.  ix.  7,  8;  Heb.  xi.  18. - sVer.  18;  chap.  xvi.  10; 

xvii.  20. - 1  John  viii.  35. - -u  Exod.  iii.  7. - v  Ver.  13. 


word  should  be  understood  here.  The  child  of  Abra¬ 
ham  by  Hagar  might  be  considered  as  having  a  right 
at  least  to  a  part  of  the  inheritance ;  and  as  it  was 
sufficiently  known  to  Sarah  that  God  had  designed  that 
the  succession  should  be  established  in  the  line  of 
Isaac,  she  wished  Abraham  to  divorce  Hagar,  or  to 
perform  some  sort  of  legal  act  by  which  Ishmael  might 
be  excluded  from  all  claim  on  the  inheritance. 

Yerse  12.  In  Isaac  shall  thy  seed  be  called .]  Here 
God  shows  the  propriety  of  attending  to  the  counsel 
of  Sarah  ;  and  lest  Abraham,  in  whose  eyes  the  thing 
was  grievous,  should  feel  distressed  on  the  occasion, 
God  renews  his  promises  to  Ishmael  and  his  posterity. 

Yerse  14.  Took  bread ,  and  a  bottle ]  By  the  word 
bread  we  are  to  understand  the  food  or  provisions 
which  were  necessary  for  her  and  Ishmael,  till  they 
should  come  to  the  place  of  their  destination  ;  which, 
no  doubt,  Abraham  particularly  pointed  out.  The  bot¬ 
tle,  which  was  made  of  skin,  ordinarily  a  goat’s  skin, 
contained  water  sufficient  to  last  them  till  they  should 
come  to  the  next  well ;  which,  it  is  likely,  Abraham 
particularly  specified  also.  This  well,  it  appears,  Ha¬ 
gar  missed,  and  therefore  wandered  about  in  the  wil¬ 
derness  seeking  more  water,  till  all  she  had  brought 
with  her  was  expended.  We  may  therefore  safely 
presume  that  she  and  her  son  were  sufficiently  pro¬ 
vided  for  their  journey,  had  they  not  missed  their  way. 
Travellers  in  those  countries  take  only,  to  the  present 
day,  provisions  sufficient  to  carry  them  to  the  next 
village  or  encampment ;  and  water  to  supply  them  till 
they  shall  meet  with  the  next  well.  What  adds  to 
the  appearance  of  cruelty  in  this  case  is,  that  our 
translation  seems  to  represent  Ishmael  as  being  a 
young  child ;  and  that  Hagar  was  obliged  to  carry 
him,  the  bread,  and  the  bottle  of  water  on  her  back  or 
shoulder  at  the  same  time.  But  that  Ishmael  could 
not  be  carried  on  his  mother’s  shoulder  will  be  suffi¬ 
ciently  evident  when  his  age  is  considered ;  Ishmael 
was  born  when  Abraham  was  eighty-six  years  of  age, 

132 


16  And  she  went,  and  sat  her  A.  M.  cir.  2110. 

,  .  .  B.  C.  cir.  1894 

down  over  against  him  a  good  - - 

way  off,  as  it  were  a  bow-shot :  for  she  said, 

Let  me  not  see  the  death  of  the  child.  And 

she  sat  over  against  him ,  and  lift  up  her 

voice,  and  wept. 

17  And  u  God  heard  the  voice  of  the  lad; 
and  the  angel  of  God  called  to  ITagar  out  of 
heaven,  and  said  unto  her,  What  aileth  thee, 
Hagar  ?  fear  not ;  for  God  hath  heard  the 
voice  of  the  lad  where  he  is. 

18  Arise,  lift  up  the  lad,  and  hold  him  in 
thine  hand  ;  for  T I  will  make  him  a  great  nation. 

1 9  And  w  God  opened  her  eyes,  and  she  saw 
a  well  of  water ;  and  she  went,  and  filled  the 
bottle  with  water,  and  gave  the  lad  drink. 

20  And  God  1  was  with  the  lad  ;  and  he 


w  Num.  xxii.  31  ;  see  2  Kings  vi.  17,  18,  20 ;  Luke  xxiv.  16,  31. 
x  Chap,  xxviii.  15  ;  xxxix.  2,  3,  21. 


chap.  xvi.  1 6  ;  Isaac  was  born  when  he  wTas  one  hun¬ 
dred  years  of  age,  chap.  xxi.  5  ;  hence  Ishmael  was 
fourteen  years  old  at  the  birth  of  Isaac.  Add  to  this 
the  age  of  Isaac  when  he  wras  weaned,  which,  from 
ver.  8  of  this  chapter,  (see  the  note,)  was  probably 
three ,  and  we  shall  find  that  Ishmael  was  at  the  time 
of  his  leaving  Abraham  not  less  than  seventeen  years 
old  ;  an  age  at  which,  in  those  primitive  times,  a  young 
man  was  able  to  gain  his  livelihood,  either  by  his  bow 
in  the  wilderness,  or  by  keeping  flocks  as  Jacob  did. 

Yerse  15.  And  she  cast  the  child ]  tEh  HR 
vattashlech  eth  haiyeled ,  and  she  sent  the  lad  under 
one  of  the  shrubs,  viz.,  to  screen  him  from  the  inten¬ 
sity  of  the  heat.  Here  Ishmael  appears  to  be  utterly 
helpless,  and  this  circumstance  seems  farther  to  con¬ 
firm  the  opinion  that  he  was  now  in  a  state  of  infancy  ; 
but  the  preceding  observations  do  this  supposition  en¬ 
tirely  away,  and  his  present  helplessness  will  be  easily 
accounted  for  on  this  ground  :  1.  Young  persons  can 
bear  much  less  fatigue  than  those  who  are  arrived  at 
mature  age.  2.  They  require  much  more  fluid  from 
the  greater  quantum  of  heat  in  their  bodies,  strongly 
marked  by  the  impetuosity  of  the  blood  ;  because  from 
them  a  much  larger  quantity  of  the  fluids  is  thrown 
off  by  sweat  and  insensible  perspiration,  than  from 
grown  up  or  aged  persons.  3.  Their  digestion  is 
much  more  rapid,  and  hence  they  cannot  bear  hunger 
and  thirst  as  well  as  the  others.  On  these  grounds 
Ishmael  must  be  much  more  exhausted  with  fatigue 
than  his  mother. 

Yerse  19.  God  opened  her  eyes ]  These  words  ap¬ 
pear  to  me  to  mean  no  more  than  that  God  directed 
her  to  a  well,  which  probably  was  at  no  great  distance 
from  the  place  in  which  she  then  was  ;  and  therefore 
she  is  commanded,  ver.  18,  to  support  the  lad,  literally, 
to  make  her  hand  strong  in  his  behalf — namely,  that 
he  might  reach  the  well  and  quench  his  thirst. 

Yerse  20.  Became  an  archer.]  And  by  his  skill  in 
this  art,  under  the  continual  superintendence  of  the 

a 


Abraham  and  Abimelech  make 


CHAP.  XXL 


a  covenant  at  Beer-sheba. 


A.  M.  cir.  2110.  grew,  and  dwelt  m  the  wilder- 

B.  C.  cir.  1894. * *  6  .  .  . 

- -  ness,  y  and  became  an  archer. 

2 1  And  he  dwelt  in  the  wilderness  of  Paran : 
and  his  mother  z  took  him  a  wife  out  of  the 
land  of  Egypt. 

A.  M.  cir.  2118.  22  And  it  came  to  pass  at  that 

B,  C.  cir.  1886.  .  .  .  ,  1  • 

■ - - -  time,  that  a  Abimelech,  and  Phi- 

chol  the  chief  captain  of  his  host,  spake  unto 
Abraham,  saying,  b  God  is  with  thee  in  all 
that  thou  doest: 

23  Now  therefore  c  swear  unto  me  here  by 
God  d  that  thou  wilt  not  deal  falsely  with  me, 
nor  with  my  son,  nor  with  my  son’s  son:  but 
according  to  the  kindness  that  I  have  done 
unto  thee,  thou  shalt  do  unto  me,  and  to  the 
land  wherein  thou  hast  sojourned. 

24  And  Abraham  said,  I  will  swear. 

25  And  Abraham  reproved  Abimelech  be¬ 
cause  of  a  well  of  water,  which  Abimelech’s 
servants  e  had  violently  taken  away. 

26  And  Abimelech  said,  I  wot  not  who  hath 


y  Chap.  xvi.  12. - ■*  Chap.  xxiv.  4.' - a  Chap.  xx.  2  ;  xxvi. 

26. - b  Chap.  xxvi.  28. - c  Josh.  ii.  12  ;  1  Sam.  xxiv.  21. 

&  Heb.  if  thou  shalt  lie  unto  me. 


Divine  Providence,  (for  God  ivas  with  the  lad,)  he  was 
undoubtedly  enabled  to  procure  a  sufficient  supply  for 
his  own  wants  and  those  of  his  parent. 

Verse  21.  He  dwelt  in  the  wilderness  of  Paran ] 
This  is  generally  allowed  to  have  been  a  part  of  the 
desert  belonging  to  Arabia  Petraea,  in  the  vicinity  of 
Mount  Sinai ;  and  this  seems  to  be  its  uniform  mean¬ 
ing  in  the  sacred  writings. 

Verse  22.  At  that  time ]  This  may  either  refer  to 
the  transactions  recorded  in  the  preceding  chapter,  or 
to  the  time  of  Ishmael’s  marriage,  but  most  probably 
to  the  former. 

God  is  with  thee\  fcOD’D  meimera  daiya,  the 
WORD  of  Jehovah;  see  before,  chap.  xv.  1.  That 
the  Chaldee  paraphrasts  use  this  term,  not  for  a  word 
spoken ,  but  in  the  same  sense  in  which  St.  John  uses 
the  Tioyog  tov  Qeov,  the  WORD  of  God,  chap,  i.,  must 
be  evident  to  every  unprejudiced  reader.  See  on 
chap,  xv  1 . 

Verse  23.  Now  therefore  swear  untome ]  The  oath 
on  such  occasions  probably  meant  no  more  than  the 
mutual  promise  of  both  the  parties,  when  they  slew  an 
animal,  poured  out  the  blood  as  a  sacrifice  to  God,  and 
then  passed  between  the  pieces.  See  this  ceremony, 
chap.  v.  18,  and  on  chap.  xv. 

According  to  the  kindness  that  I  have  done ]  The 
simple  claims  of  justice  were  alone  set  up  among 
virtuous  people  in  those  ancient  times,  which  con¬ 
stitute  the  basis  of  the  famous  lex  talionis ,  or  law  of 
like  for  like ,  kind  office  for  kind  office ,  and  breach  for 
breach. 

Verse  25.  Abraham  reproved  Abimelech ]  Wells 
were  of  great  consequence  in  those  hot  countries,  and 


done  this  thing :  neither  didst  a.  m.  cir.  2118. 
thou  tell  me  ;  neither  yet  heard  B-'.C'.  cir'  188G! 
I  of  it ,  but  to-day. 

27  And  Abraham  took  sheep  and  oxen,  and 
gave  them  unto  Abimelech ;  and  both  of  them 
fmade  a  covenant. 

28  And  Abraham  set  seven  ewe  lambs  of 
the  flock  by  themselves. 

29  And  Abimelech  said  unto  Abraham, 
g  What  mean  these  seven  ewe  lambs  which 
thou  hast  set  by  themselves  ? 

30  And  he  said,  For  these  seven  ewe  lambs 
shalt  thou  take  of  my  hand,  that  h  they  may  be 
a  witness  unto  me,  that  I  have  digged  this  well. 

3 1  Wherefore  he  1  called  that  place  k  Beer- 
sheba  ;  because  there  they  sware  both  of  them. 

32  Thus  they  made  a  covenant  at  Beer- 
sheba  :  then  Abimelech  rose  up,  and  Phichol 
the  chief  captain  of  his  host,  and  they  returned 
into  the  land  of  the  Philistines. 

33  And  Abraham  planted  a  1  grove  in  Beer- 


e  See  chap.  xxvi.  15,  18,  20,  21,  22. - fChap.  xxvi.  31. 

s  Chap,  xxxiii.  8. - h  Chap.  xxxi.  48,  52. - ;  Chap.  xxvi.  33. 

k  That  is,  the  well  of  the  oath. - 1  Or,  tree  ;  Amos  viii.  14. 


especially  where  the  flocks  were  numerous,  because 
the  water  was  scarce,  and  digging  to  find  it  wras  ac¬ 
companied  with  much  expense  of  time  and  labour. 

Verse  26.  I  ivot  not  who  hath  done  this  thmg] 
The  servants  of  Abimelech  had  committed  these  depre¬ 
dations  on  Abraham  without  any  authority  from  their 
master,  who  appears  to  have  been  a  very  amiable  man, 
possessing  the  fear  of  God,  and  ever  regulating  the 
wdiole  of  his  conduct  by  the  principles  of  righteousness 
and  strict  justice. 

Verse  27.  Took  sheep  and  oxen ]  Some  think  that 
these  were  the  sacrifices  which  were  offered  on  the 
occasion,  and  which  Abraham  furnished  at  his  own 
cost,  and,  in  order  to  do  Abimelech  the  greater  honour, 
gave  them  to  him  to  offer  before  the  Lord. 

Verse  28.  Seven  ewe  lambs ]  These  were  either  given 
as  a  present ,  or  they  were  intended  as  the  price  of  the 
well ;  and  being  accepted  by  Abimelech,  they  served 
as  a  witness  that  he  had  acknowledged  Abraham’s 
right  to  the  well  in  question. 

Verse  31.  He  called  that  place  Beer-sheba\ 

Beer-shaba,  literally,  the  well  of  swearing  or  of 
the  oath,  because  they  both  sware  there — mutually  con¬ 
firmed  the  covenant. 

Verse  33.  Abraham  planted  a  grove ]  The  original 
word  eshel  has  been  variously  translated  a  grove , 
a  plantation,  an  orchard,  a  cultivated  field,  and  an  oak. 
From  this  word,  says  Mr.  Parkhurst,  may  be  derived 
the  name  of  the  famous  asylum ,  opened  by  Romulus, 
between  two  groves  of  oaks  at  Rome ;  ( pedopiov  dvotv 
Spvywv,  Dionys.  Hal.,  lib.  ii.  c.  16  ;)  and  as  Abraham, 
Gen.  xxi.  33,  agreeably,  no  doubt,  to  the  institutes  of 
the  patriarchal  religion,  planted  an  oak  in  Beer-sheba, 

133 


Abraham  plants  a  grove,  GENESIS.  and  invokes  the  everlasting  God. 


A.  M.  cir.  2118.  sheba,  and  “called  there  on  the 

B.  C.  cir.  1886.  name  Q£  L0BjDj  n  ever- 

lasting  God. 

m  Chap.  iv.  26  ;  xxvi.  23,  25,  33. - ■“  Deut.  xxxiii.  27  ; 


and  called  on  the  name  of  Jehovah,  the  everlasting 
God,  (compare  Gen.  xii.  8  ;  xviii.  1,)  so  we  find  that 
oaks  were  sacred  among  the  idolaters  also.  Ye  shall 
he  ashamed  of  the  oaks  ye  have  chosen ,  says  Isaiah, 
chap.  1..29,  to  the  idolatrous  Israelites.  And  in  Greece 
we  meet  in  very  early  times  with  the  oracle  of  Jupiter 
at  the  oaks  of  Dodona.  Among  the  Greeks  and  Ro- 
mans  we  have  sacra  Jovi  quercus,  the  oak  sacred  to 
Jupiter,  even  to  a  proverb.  And  in  Gaul  and  Britain 
we  find  the  highest  religious  regard  paid  to  the  same 
tree  and  to  its  misletoe ,  under  the  direction  of  the 
Druids,  that  is,  the  oak  prophets  or  priests,  from  the 
Celtic  deru,  and  Greek  Spvg,  an  oak.  Few  are  igno¬ 
rant  that  the  misletoe  is  indeed  a  very  extraordinary 
plant,  not  to  he  cultivated  in  the  earth,  but  always  grow¬ 
ing  on  some  other  tree.  “  The  druids,”  says  Pliny, 
Nat.  Hist.,  lib.  xvii.,  c.  44,  “  hold  nothing  more  sacred 
than  the  misletoe,  and  the  tree  on  which  it  is  produced, 
provided  it  be  the  oak.  They  make  choice  of  groves 
of  oak  on  this  account,  nor  do  they  perform  any  of 
their  sacred  rites  without  the  leaves  of  those  trees ; 
so  that  one  may  suppose  that  they  are  for  this  reason 
called,  by  a  Greek  etymology,  Druids.  And  whatever 
misletoe  grows  on  the  oak  they  think  is  sent  from 
heaven,  and  is  a  sign  that  God  himself  has  chosen  that 
tree.  This  however  is  very  rarely  found,  but  when 
discovered  is  treated  with  great  ceremony.  They  call 
it  by  a  name  which  signifies  in  their  language  the  curer 
of  all  ills ;  and  having  duly  prepared  their  feasts  and 
sacrifices  under  the  tree,  they  bring  to  it  two  white 
bulls,  whose  horns  are  then  for  the  first  time  tied  ;  the 
priest,  dressed  in  a  white  robe,  ascends  the  tree,  and 
with  a  golden  pruning  hook  cuts  off  the  misletoe ,  which 
is  received  into  a  white  sagum  or  sheet.  Then  they 
sacrifice  the  victims,  praying  that  God  would  bless  his 
own  gift  to  those  on  whom  he  has  bestowed  it.”  It  is 
impossible  for  a  Christian  to  read  this  account  without 
thinking  of  him  who  was  the  desire  of  all  nations,  of 
the  man  whose  name  was  the  branch,  who  had  indeed 
no  father  upon  earth,  but  came  down  from  heaven, 
was  given  to  heal  all  our  ills,  and,  after  'being  cut  off 
through  the  Divine  counsel,  was  wrapped  in  fine  linen 
and  laid  in  the  sepulchre  for  our  sakes.  I  cannot  for¬ 
bear  adding  that  the  misletoe  was  a  sacred  emblem  to 
other  Celtic  nations,  as,  for  instance,  to  the  ancient  in¬ 
habitants  of  Italy.  The  golden  branch,  of  which  Yirgil 
speaks  so  largely  in  the  sixth  book  of  the  iEneis,  and 
without  which,  he  says,  none  could  return  from  the  in¬ 
fernal  regions,  (see  line  126,)  seems  an  allusion  to  the 
misletoe,  as  he  himself  plainly  intimates  by  comparing 
it  to  that  plant,  line  205,  &c.  See  Parkhurst ,  under 
the  word  b^R  eshel. 

In  the  first  ages  of  the  world  the  worship  of  God 
was  exceedingly  simple  ;  there  were  no  temples  nor 
covered  edifices  of  any  kind ;  an  altar,  sometimes  a 
single  stone,  sometimes  consisting  of  several,  and  at 
other  times  merely  of  turf,  was  all  that  was  necessary  ; 

134 


34  And  Abraham  soiourned  a.  m.  cir.  2118. 
1  t-jt  ...  .  ,  ,  1  B.  C.  cir.  1886. 

m  the  rhiiistmes  land  many  - 

days. 

Isa.  xl.  28  ;  Rom.  i.  20 ;  xvi.  26 ;  1  Tim.  i.  17 ;  Jer.  x.  10. 


on  this  the  fire  was  lighted  and  the  sacrifice  offered. 
Any  place  was  equally  proper,  as  they  knew  that  the 
object  of  their  worship  filled  the  heavens  and  the  earth. 
In  process  of  time  wThen  families  increased,  and  many 
sacrifices  were  to  be  offered,  groves  or  shady  places 
were  chosen,  where  the  worshippers  might  enjoy  the 
protection  of  the  shade,  as  a  considerable  time  must 
be  employed  in  offering  many  sacrifices.  These  groves 
became  afterwards  abused  to  impure  and  idolatrous 
purposes,  and  were  therefore  strictly  forbidden.  See 
Exod.  xxxiv.  13;  Deut.  xii.  3;  xvi.  21. 

And  ccdled  there  on  the  name  of  the  Lord ]  On  this 
important  passage  Dr.  Shuckford  speaks  thus  :  “  Our 
English  translation  very  erroneously  renders  this  place, 
he  called  upon  the  name  of  Jehovah ;  but  the  expres¬ 
sion  DBG  Rip  kara  heshem  never  signifies  to  call  upon 
the  name ;  DB  Rip  kara  shem  would  signify  to  invoke 
or  call  upon  the  name ,  or  DK7  btt  Rip  kara  el  shem  would 
signify  to  cry  unto  the  name ;  but  DBG  Rip  kara  heshem 
signifies  to  invoke  in  the  name,  and  seems  to  be  used 
where  the  true  worshippers  of  God  offered  their  prayers 
in  the  name  of  the  true  Mediator,  or  where  the  idola¬ 
ters  offered  their  prayers  in  the  name  of  false  ones,  1 
Kings  xviii.  26  ;  for  as  the  true  worshippers  had  but 
one  God  and  one  Lord,  so  the  false  worshippers  had 
gods  many  and  lords  many,  1  Cor.  viii.  5.  We  have 
several  instances  of  Rip  kara,  and  a  noun  after  it, 
sometimes  ivith  and  sometimes  without  the  particle  Sr 
el,  and  then  it  signifies  to  call  upon  the  person  there 
mentioned ;  thus,  HUY  Rip  kara  Yehovah  is  to  call  upon 
the  Lord,  Psa.  xiv.  4;  xvii.  6  ;  xxxi.  17  ;  liii.  4;  cxviiL 
5,  Ac.  ;  and  HUT  bR  Rip  kara  el  Yehovah  imports  the 
same,  1  Sam.  xii.  17  ;  Jonah  i.  6,  &c. ;  but  DBG  Rip 
kara  heshem  is  either  to  name  by  the  name,  Gen.  iv. 
17;  Num.  xxxii.  42;  Psa.  xlix.  11;  Isa.  xliii.  7; 
or  to  invoke  in  the  name ,  when  it  is  used  as  an  expres¬ 
sion  of  religious  worship.”  Connex.  vol.  i.,  p.  293. 
I  believe  this  to  be  a  just  view  of  the  subject,  and 
therefore  I  admit  it  without  scruple. 

The  everlasting  God.]  DVj?  Sr  miY  Yehovah  el  olam, 
Jehovah,  the  strong  God,  the  eternal  one.  This  is 
the  first  place  in  Scripture  in  which  obff?  olam  occurs 
as  an  attribute  of  God,  and  here  it  is  evidently  de¬ 
signed  to  point  out  his  eternal  duration ;  that  it  can 
mean  no  limited  time  is  self-evident,  because  nothing 
of  this  kind  can  be  attributed  to  God.  The  Septuagint 
render  the  words  0rof  aioviog,  the  ever-existing  God  ; 
and  the  Yulgate  has  Invocavit  ihi  nomen  Domini,  Dei 
azterni.  There  he  invoked  the  name  of  the  Lord,  the 
eternal  God.  The  Arabic  is  nearly  the  same.  From 
this  application  of  both  the  Hebrew  and  Greek  words 
we  learn  that  Dbiy  olam  and  aitsv  aion  originally  signi¬ 
fied  eternal,  or  duration  without  end.  ubg  alam  sig¬ 
nifies  he  iogs  hidden,  concealed ,  or  kept  secret ;  and 
aiuv,  according  to  Aristotle,  (De  G&lo ,  lib.  i.,  chap.  9, 
and  a  higher  authority  need  not  be  sought,)  is  com¬ 
pounded  of  asi ,  always ,  and  qv,  being ,  aiQv  am 

a 


Additional  observatiotis 


CHAP.  XXI. 


tov  £wcu.  The  same  author  informs  us  that  God 
was  termed  Aisa,  because  he  was  always  existing,  2e- 
year&ai — Aiaav  6e,  au  ovcav.  De  Mundo ,  chap,  xi., 
in  fine.  Hence  we  see  that  no  words  can  more  forci¬ 
bly  express  the  grand  characteristics  of  eternity  than 
these.  It  is  that  duration  which  is  concealed ,  hidden , 
or  kept  secret  from  all  created  beings  ;  which  is  always 
existing ,  still  running  on  but  never  running  out  ;  an 
interminable ,  incessant,  and  immeasurable  duration  ;  it 
is  that,  in  the  whole  of  ivhich  God  alone  can  be  said 
to  exist,  and  that  which  the  eternal  mind  can  alone 
comprehend. 

In  all  languages  words  have,  in  process  of  time,  de¬ 
viated  from  their  original  acceptations,  and  have  become 
accommodated  to  particular  purposes,  and  limited  to 
particular  meanings.  This  has  happened  both  to  the 
Hebrew  D*7>?  alam,  and  the  Greek  aiuv  ;  they  have  been 
both  used  to  express  a  limited  time,  but  in  general  a 
time  the  limits  of  which  are  unknown ;  and  thus  a 
pointed  reference  to  the  original  ideal  meaning  is  still 
kept  up.  Those  who  bring  any  of  these  terms  in  an 
accommodated  sense  to  favour  a  particular  doctrine, 
&c.,  must  depend  on  the  good  graces  of  their  oppo¬ 
nents  for  permission  to  use  them  in  this  way.  For  as 
the  real  grammatical  meaning  of  both  words  is  eternal, 
and  all  other  meanings  are  only  accommodated  ones, 
sound  criticism,  in  all  matters  of  dispute  concerning 
the  import  of  a  word  or  term,  must  have  recourse  to 
the  grammatical  meaning,  and  its  use  among  the  earliest 
and  most  correct  writers  in  the  language,  and  will  de¬ 
termine  all  accommodated  meanings  by  this  alone.  Now 
the  first  and  best  writers  in  both  these  languages  apply 
dam  and  acav  to  express  eternal,  in  the  proper  mean¬ 
ing  of  that  word  ;  and  this  is  their  proper  meaning  in 
the  Old  and  New  Testaments  when  applied  to  God, 
his  attributes,  his  operations  taken  in  connection  with 
the  ends  for  which  he  performs  them,  for  whatsoever 
he  doth,  it  shall  be  for  ever — PITT  yihyeh  leolam, 
it  shall  be  for  eternity,  Eccl.  iii.  14  ;  forms  and  ap¬ 
pearances  of  created  things  may  change,  but  the  coun¬ 
sels  and  purposes  of  God  relative  to  them  are  perma¬ 
nent  and  eternal,  and  none  of  them  can  be  frustrated ; 
hence  the  words,  when  applied  to  things  which  from 
their  nature  must  have  a  limited  duration,  are  properly 
to  be  understood  in  this  sense,  because  those  things, 
though  temporal  in  themselves,  shadow  forth  things  that 
are  eternal.  Thus  the  Jewish  dispensation,  which  in 
the  whole  and  in  its  parts  is  frequently  said  to  be 
leolam ,  for  ever,  and  which  has  terminated  in  the 
Christian  dispensation,  has  the  word  properly  applied 
to  it,  because  it  typified  and  introduced  that  dispensa¬ 
tion  which  is  to  continue  not  only  while  time  shall  last, 
but  is  to  have  its  incessant  accumulating  consummation 
throughout  eternity.  The  word  is,  with  the  same  strict 
propriety,  applied  to  the  duration  of  the  rewards  and 
punishments  in  a  future  state.  And  the  argument  that 
pretends  to  prove  (and  it  is  only  pretension)  that  in  the 
future  punishment  of  the  wicked  u  the  worm  shall  die,” 
and  “  the  fire  shall  be  quenched ,”  will  apply  as  forcibly 
to  the  state  of  happy  spirits,  and  as  fully  prove  that  a 
point  in  eternity  shall  arrive  when  the  repose  of  the 
righteous  shall  be  interrupted,  and  the  glorification  of 
the  children  of  God  have  an  eternal  end !  See  the 
notes  on  chap.  xvii.  7,  8. 

a 


on  the  preceding  accounts . 

1.  Faithfulness  is  one  of  the  attributes  of  God, 
and  none  of  his  promises  can  fail.  According  to  the 
promise  to  Abraham,  Isaac  is  born  ;  but  according  to 
the  course  of  nature  it  fully  appears  that  both  Abraham 
and  Sarah  had  passed  that  term  of  life  in  which  it  was 
possible  for  them  to  have  children.  Isaac  is  the  child 
of  the  promise ,  and  the  promise  is  supernatural.  Ish- 
mael  is  born  according  to  the  ordinary  course  of  nature , 
and  cannot  inherit,  because  the  inheritance  is  spiritual , 
and  cannot  come  by  natural  birth ;  hence  we  see  that 
no  man  can  expect  to  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God 
by  birth,  education,  profession  of  the  true  faitlu  &c., 
&c.  Those  alone  who  are  born  from  above ,  and  are 
made  partakers  of  the  Divine  nature,  can  be  admitted 
into  the  family  of  God  in  heaven,  and  everlastingly 
enjoy  that  glorious  inheritance.  Reader,  art  thou  born 
again  l  Hath  God  changed  thy  heart  and  thy  life  I 
If  not,  canst  thou  suppose  that  in  thy  present  state  thou 
canst  possibly  enter  into  the  paradise  of  God!  I  leave 
thy  conscience  to  answer. 

2.  The  actions  of  good  men  may  be  misrepresented, 
and  their  motives  suspected,  because  those  motives  are 
not  known ;  and  those  who  are  prone  to  think  evil  are 
the  last  to  take  any  trouble  to  inform  their  minds,  so 
that  they  may  judge  righteous  judgment.  Abraham, 
in  the  dismissal  of  Hagar  and  Ishmael,  has  been  ac¬ 
cused  of  cruelty.  Though  objections  of  this  kind  have 
been  answered  already,  yet  it  may  not  be  amiss  farther 
to  observe  that  what  he  did  he  did  in  conformity  to  a 
Divine  command,  and  a  command  so  unequivocally  given 
that  he  could  not  doubt  its  Divine  origin  ;  and  this  very 
command  was  accompanied  with  a  promise  that  both 
the  child  and  his  mother  should  be  taken  under  the  Di¬ 
vine  protection.  And  it  was  so ;  nor  does  it  appear 
that  they  lacked  any  thing  but  water,  and  that  only  for 
a  short  time,  after  wdiich  it  was  miraculously  supplied. 
God  will  work  a  miracle  when  necessary,  and  never 
till  then  ;  and  at  such  a  time  the  Divine  interposition 
can  be  easily  ascertained,  and  man  is  under  no  temp¬ 
tation  to  attribute  to  second  causes  what  has  so  evi¬ 
dently  flowed  from  thejzr.s£.  Thus,  while  he  is  pro¬ 
moting  his  creatures’  good,  he  is  securing  his  own 
glory  ;  and  he  brings  men  into  straits  and  difficulties, 
that  he  may  have  the  fuller  opportunity  to  convince 
his  followers  of  his  providential  care,  and  to  prove  how 
much  he  loves  them. 

3.  Did  we  acknowledge  God  in  all  our  ways,  he 
would  direct  our  steps.  Abimelecli,  king  of  Gerar, 
and  Phichol,  captain  of  his  host,  seeing  Abraham  a 
worshipper  of  the  true  God,  made  him  swear  by  the 
object  of  his  worship  that  there  should  be  a  lasting 
peace  between  them  and  him ;  for  as  they  saw  that 
God  was  with  Abraham,  they  well  knew  that  he 
could  not  expect  the  Divine  blessing  any  longer  than 
he  walked  in  integrity  before  God  ;  they  therefore 
require  him  to  swear  by  God  that  he  would  not  deal 
falsely  with  them  or  their  posterity.  From  this  very 
circumstance  we  may  see  the  original  purpose,  design, 
and  spirit  of  an  oath,  viz.,  Let  God  prosper  or  curse 
me  in  all  that  I  do,  as  I  prove  true  or  false  to  my  en¬ 
gagements  !  This  is  still  the  spirit  of  all  oaths  where 
God  is  called  to  witness,  whether  the  form  be  by  the 
water  of  the  Ganges,  the  sign  of  the  cross,  kissing  the 

I  Bible,  or  lifting  up  the  hand  to  heaven.  Hence  we 

135 


An  account  of  the 

may  learn  that  he  who  falsifies  an  oath  or  promise,  made 
in  the  presence  and  name  of  God,  thereby  forfeits  all 
right  and  title  to  the  approbation  and  blessing  of  his 
Maker. 

But  it  is  highly  criminal  to  mako  such  appeals  to 
God  upon  trivial  occasions.  Only  the  most  solemn 
matters  should  be  thus  determined.  Legislators  who 

o 


temptation  of  Abraham. 

regard  the  morals  of  the  people  should  take  heed  not 
to  multiply  oaths  in  matters  of  commerce  and  revenue, 
if  they  even  use  them  at  all.  Who  can  take  the  oaths 
presented  by  the  custom  house  or  excise,  and  be  guilt¬ 
less  ?  I  have  seen  a  person  kiss  his  pen  or  thumb  nail 
instead  of  the  book,  thinking  that  he  avoided  the  con¬ 
demnation  thereby  of  the  false  oath  he  was  then  taking  ! 


GENESIS. 


*  CHAPTER  XXII. 

The  faith  and  obedience  of  Abraham  put  to  a  most  extraordinary  test,  1.  He  is  commanded  to  offer  his  beloved 
son  Isaac  for  a  burnt-offering,  2.  He  prepares,  with  the  utmost  promptitude,  to  accomplish  the  will 
of  God,  3—6.  Affecting  speech  of  Isaac,  7  ;  and  Abraham’s  answer,  8.  Having  arrived  at  mount  Moriah 
he  prepares  to  sacrifice  his  son,  9,  10  ;  and  is  prevented  by  an  angel  of  the  Lord,  11,  12.  A  ram  is 
offered  in  the  stead  of  Isaac,  13  ;  and  the  place  is  named  Jehovah-jireh,  14.  The  angel  of  the  Lord  calls 
to  Abraham  a  second  time,  15  ;  and,  in  the  most  solemn  manner,  he  is  assured  of  innumerable  blessings  in 
the  multiplication  and  prosperity  of  his  seed,  16—18.  Abraham  returns  and  dwells  at  Beer-sheba,  19  ; 
hears  that  his  brother  Nahor  has  eight  children  by  his  wife  Milcah ,  20  ;  their  names,  21—23  ;  and  four  by 
his  concubine  Reumah,  24. 


A. M. 2132.  AND  it  came  to  pass  after  these 
Jos  '.  Ant. '  things,  that  a  God  did  tempt 

Abraham,  and  said  unto  him, 
Abraham :  and  he  said,  b  Behold,  here  I  am. 
2  And  he  said,  Take  now  thy  son,  c  thine 

a  1  Cor.  x.  13  ;  Heb.  xi.  17  ;  James  i.  12;  1  Pet.  i.  7. 

NOTES  ON  CHAP.  XXII. 

Verse  1.  God  did  tempt  Abraham ]  The  original 
here  is  very  emphatic:  DmDK  HDJ  D''nb.sni  veha- 
ehhim  nissah  eth  Abraham, “  And  the  Elohim  he  tried 
this  Abraham  God  brought  him  into  such  circum¬ 
stances  as  exercised  and  discovered  his  faith,  love,  and 
obedience.  Though  the  word  tempt,  from  tento,  sig¬ 
nifies  no  more  than  to  prove  or  try,  yet  as  it  is  now 
generally  used  to  imply  a  solicitation  to  evil,  in  which 
way  God  never  tempts  any  man,  it  would  be  well  to 
avoid  it  here.  The  Septuagint  used  the  word  er etpaoe, 
which  signifies  tried ,  pierced  through ;  and  Symma- 
chus  translates  the  Hebrew  H0.1  nissah  by  sdoga&v, 
God  glorified  Abraham,  or  rendered  him  illustrious , 
supposing  the  word  to  be  the  same  with  D3  nas,  which 
signifies  to  glister  with  light,  whence  DJ  nes,  an  en¬ 
sign  or  banner  displayed.  Thus  then,  according  to 
him,  the  words  should  be  understood  :  “  God  put  great 
honour  on  Abraham  by  giving  him  this  opportunity  of 
showing  to  all  successive  ages  the  nature  and  efficacy 
of  an  unshaken  faith  in  the  power,  goodness,  and  truth 
of  God.”  The  Tar  gum  of  Jonathan  ben  TJzziel  para¬ 
phrases  the  place  thus  :  “And  it  happened  that  Isaac 
and  Ishmael  contended,  and  Ishmael  said,  I  ought  to 
be  my  father’s  heir,  because  I  am  his  first-born  ;  but 
Isaac  said,  It  is  more  proper  that  I  should  be  my 
father’s  heir,  because  I  am  the  son  of  Sarah  his  wife, 
and  thou  art  only  the  son  of  Hagar,  my  mother’s  slave. 
Then  Ishmael  answered,  I  am  more  righteous  than 
thou,  because  I  was  circumcised  when  I  was  thirteen 
years  of  age,  and  if  I  had  chosen,  I  could  have  pre¬ 
vented  my  circumcision  ;  but  thou  wert  circumcised 
when  thou  wert  but  eight  days  old,  and  if  thou  hadst 

136 


only  son  Isaac,  whom  thou  lovest,  a.  m.  cir.  2132. 

f  ,  ’  .  ,  .  ,  ’  B.  C.  cir.  1872. 

and  get  thee  dmto  the  land  01  - - 

Moriah  ;  and  offer  him  there  for  a  burnt-offer¬ 
ing,  upon  one  of  the  mountains  which  I  will 
tell  thee  of. 

b  Heb.  Behold  me. - c  Heb  xi.  17. - d  2  Ckron.  iii.  1. 


had  knowledge,  thou  wouldst  probably  not  have  suffered 
thyself  to  be  circumcised.  Then  Isaac  answered  and 
said,  Behold,  I  am  now  thirty-six  years  old,  and  if  the 
holy  and  blessed  God  should  require  all  my  members, 
I  would  freely  surrender  them.  These  words  were 
immediately  heard  before  the  Lord  of  the  universe, 
and  1',"i  fcOD’D  meimera  daiya,  the  WORD  of  the 
LORD,  did  try  Abraham.”  I  wrish  once  for  all  to 
remark,  though  the  subject  has  been  referred  to  before, 
that  the  Chaldee  term  tnfD'D  meimera,  which  we  trans¬ 
late  word,  is  taken  personally  in  some  hundreds  of 
places  in  the  Tar  gums.  When  the  author,  Jonathan, 
speaks  of  the  Divine  Being  as  doing  or  saying  any 
thing,  he  generally  represents  him  as  performing  the 
whole  by  his  meimera,  which  he  appears  to  consider, 
not  as  a  speech  or  word  spohen,  but  as  a  person  quite 
distinct  from  the  Most  High,  St.  John  uses  the  word 
Aoyof  in  precisely  the  same  sense  with  the  Targumists, 
chap.  i.  i  ;  see  the  notes  there,  and  see  before  or 
chap.  xxi.  22,  and  xv.  I. 

Verse  2.  Take  now  thy  son ]  Bishop  Warburton’s 
observations  on  this  passage  are  weighty  and  import¬ 
ant.  “  The  order  in  which  the  words  are  placed  in 
the  original  gradually  increases  the  sense,  and  raises 
the  passions  higher  and  higher  :  Take  now  thy  son , 
(rather,  take  I  beseech  thee  $s\3  naf)  thine  only  son  whom 
thou  lovest,  even  Isaac.  Jarchi  imagines  this  minute¬ 
ness  was  to  preclude  any  doubt  in  Abraham.  Abra¬ 
ham  desired  earnestly  to  be  let  into  the  mystery  of 
redemption  ;  and  God,  to  instruct  him  in  the  infinite 
extent  of  the  Divine  guodness  to  mankind,  who  spared 
not  his  own  Son,  but  delivered  him  up  for  us  all ,  let 
Abraham  feel  by  experience  what  it  was  to  lose  a  he* 

it 


Abraham  travels  to  Mount  Moriah ,  CHAP. 

A.  M.  cir.  2132.  3  And  Abraham  rose  up  e  early 

B.  C.  cir.  1872.  .  .  ,  f  „  ,  ,  / 

-  in  the  morning,  and  saddled  his 

ass,  and  took  two  of  his  young  men  with  him, 

and  Isaac  his  son,  and  clave  the  wood  for  the 

burnt-offering,  and  rose  up,  and  went  unto  the 

place  of  which  God  had  told  him. 

4  Then  on  the  third  day  Abraham  lifted  up 
his  eyes,  and  saw  the  place  afar  off. 

5  And  Abraham  said  unto  his  young  men, 


•  Psa.  cxix.  60 ;  Eccles.  ix.  10  ;  Isa.  xxvi.  3, 4 ;  Luke  xiv.  26  ; 

Heb.  xi.  17-19. 


loved  son,  the  son  born  miraculously  when  Sarah  was 
past  child-bearing,  as  Jesus  was  miraculously  born  of 
a  virgin.  The  duration ,  too,  of  the  action,  ver.  4, 

was  the  same  as  that  between  Christ’s  death  and  re- 

* 

surrection,  both  which  are  designed  to  be  represented 
in  it ;  and  still  farther  not  only  the  final  archetypical 
sacrifice  of  the  Son  of  God  was  figured  in  the  com¬ 
mand  to  offer  Isaac,  but  the  intermediate  typical  sacri¬ 
fice  in  the  Mosaic  economy  was  represented  by  the 
permitted  sacrifice  of  the  ram  offered  up,  ver.  13, 
instead  of  Isaac.”  See  Dodd. 

Only  son]  All  that  he  had  by  Sarah  his  legal  wife. 

The  land  of  Moriah ]  This  is  supposed  to  mean  all 
the  mountains  of  Jerusalem,  comprehending  Mount 
Gihon  or  Calvary,  the  mount  of  Sion  and  of  Acra. 
As  Mount  Calvary  is  the  highest  ground  to  the  west, 
and  the  mount  of  the  temple  is  the  lowrest  of  the 
mounts,  Mr.  Mann  conjectures  that  it  was  upon  this 
mount  Abraham  offered  up  Isaac,  which  is  well  known 
to  be  the  same  mount  on  which  our  blessed  Lord  was 
crucified.  Beer-sheba,  where  Abraham  dwelt,  is  about 
forty-two  miles  distant  from  Jerusalem,  and  it  is  not  to 
be  wondered  at  that  Abraham,  Isaac,  the  two  servants, 
and  the  ass  laden  with  wood  for  the  burnt  offering,  did 
not  reach  this  place  till  the  third  day  ;  see  ver.  4. 

Verse  3.  Two  of  his  young  men ]  Eliezer  and 
Ishmael,  according  to  the  Targum. 

Clave  the  ivood ]  Small  wood,  fig  and  palm,  proper 
for  a  burnt-offering. — Targum. 

Versed.  The  third  day}  “As  the  number  seven,” 
says  Mr.  Ainsworth,  “  is  of  especial  use  in  Scripture 
because  of  the  Sabbath  day,  Gen.  ii.  2,  so  three  is  a 
mystical  number  because  of  Christ’s  rising  from  the 
dead  the  third  day,  Matt.  xvii.  23  ;  1  Cor.  xv.  4  ;  as 
he  was  crucified  the  third  hour  after  noon,  Mark  xv. 
25  :  and  Isaac,  as  he  was  a  figure  of  Christ,  in  being 
the  only  son  of  his  father,  and  not  spared  but  offered 
for  a  sacrifice,  Rom.  viii.  32,  so  in  sundry  particulars 
he  resembled  our  Lord  :  the  third  day  Isaac  was  to 
be  offered  up,  so  it  was  the  third  day  in  which  Christ 
also  was  to  be  perfected,  Luke  xiii.  32  ;  Isaac  carried 
the  wood  for  the  burnt-offering,  ver.  6,  so  Christ 
carried  the  tree  whereon  he  died,  John  xix.  17  ;  the 
binding  of  Isaac,  ver.  9,  was  also  typical,  so  Christ 
was  bound,  Matt,  xxvii.  2. 

“  In  the  following  remarkable  cases  this  number 
also  occurs.  Moses  desired  to  go  three  days’  journey 
in  the  wilderness  to  sacrifice,  Exod.  v.  3  ;  and  they 
travelled  three  days  in  it  before  they  found  water, 

a 


XXII.  and  prepares  to  offer  up  Isaac . 

Abide  ye  here  with  the  ass ;  and  A.  M.  cir.  2132. 
T  ,  “  ,  ......  ’  B.  C.  cir.  1872. 

I  and  the  lad  will  go  yonder  - 

and  worship,  and  come  again  to  you. 

6  And  Abraham  took  the  wood  of  the  burnt- 
offering,  and  f  laid  it  upon  Isaac  his  son  ;  and 
he  took  the  fire  in  his  hand,  and  a  knife  :  and 
they  went  both  of  them  together. 

7  And  Isaac  spake  unto  Abraham  his  father, 
and  said,  My  father :  and  he  said,  g  Here  am 

fIsa.  liii.  6;  Matt.  viii.  17;  John  xix.  17;  1  Pet.  ii.  24. 

s  Heb.  Behold  me. 


Exod.  xv.  22  ;  and  three  days’  journey  the  ark  of  the 
covenant  went  before  them,  to  search  out  a  resting 
place,  Num.  x.  33  ;  by  the  third  day  the  people  were 
to  be  ready  to  receive  God’s  law,  Exod.  xix.  11  ;  and 
after  three  days  to  pass  over  Jordan  into  Canaan,  Josh, 
i.  1 4  ;  the  third  day  Esther  put  on  the  apparel  of  the 
kingdom,  Esth.  v.  1  ;  on  the  third  day  Hezekiah,  being 
recovered  from  his  illness,  went  up  to  the  house  of  the 
Lord,  2  Kings  xx.  5  ;  on  the  third  day,  the  prophet 
said,  God  will  raise  us  up  and  we  shall  live  before 
Him,  Hos.  vi.  2  ;  and  on  the  third  day,  as  well  as  on 
the  seventh,  the  unclean  person  was  to  purify  himself, 
Num.  xix.  12  :  with  many  other  memorable  things 
which  the  Scripture  speaks  concerning  the  third  day, 
and  not  without  mystery.  See  Gen.  xl.  12,  13  ;  xlii. 
17, 18;  Jonah  i.  17  ;  Josh.  ii.  16  ;  unto  which  we  may 
add  a  Jew’s  testimony  in  Bereshith  Babb  a,  in  a  com¬ 
ment  on  this  place  :  There  are  many  three  days  men¬ 
tioned  in  the  Holy  Scripture ,  of  which  one  is  the 
resurrection  of  the  Messiah.’’’ — Ainsworth. 

Saw  the  place  afar  off.]  He  knew  the  place  by 
seeing  the  cloud  of  glory  smoking  on  the  top  of  the 
mountain. — -Targum. 

Verse  5.  land  the  lad  will  go — and  come  again\ 
How  could  Abraham  consistently  with  truth  say  this, 
when  he  knew  he  was  going  to  make  his  son  a  burnt- 
offering  ?  The  apostle  answers  for  him  :  By  faith 
Abraham ,  when  he  was  tried ,  offered  up  Isaac — ac¬ 
counting  that  God  was  able  to  raise  him  up  even  from 
the  dead,  from  whence  also  he  received  him  in  a  figure , 
Heb.  xi.  17,  19.  He  knew  that  previously  to  the 
birth  of  Isaac  both  he  and  his  wife  were  dead  to  all 
the  purposes  of  procreation  ;  that  his  birth  was  a  kind 
of  life  from  the  dead ;  that  the  promise  of  God  was 
most  positive,  In  Isaac  shall  thy  seed  be  called ,  chap, 
xxi.  12  ;  that  this  promise  could  not  fail ;  that  it  was 
his  duty  to  obey  the  command  of  his  Maker ;  and  that 
it  was  as  easy  for  God  to  restore  him  to  life  after  he 
had  been  a  burnt-offering,  as  it  was  for  him  to  give  him 
life  in  the  beginning.  Therefore  he  wrent  fully  pur¬ 
posed  to  offer  his  son,  and  yet  confidently  expecting  to 
have  him  restored  to  life  again.  We  will  go  yonder 
and  worship — perform  a  solemn  act  of  devotion  which 
God  requires,  and  come  again  to  you. 

Verse  6.  Took  the  wood — and  laid  it  upon  Isaac ] 
Probably  the  mountain-top  to  which  they  were  going 
was  too  difficult  to  be  ascended  by  the  ass  ;  therefore 
either  the  father  or  the  son  must  carry  the  wood,  and 
it  was  most  becoming  in  the  latter. 

137 


Isaac  bound  and  laid  on  the  altar .  GENESIS.  Abraham  directed  to  spare  him. 


A.  M.  cir.  2132.  I,  my  .  son.  And  he  said,  Be- 

B. _C.  cir.  137-.  t|le  ^re  an(j  t|ie  W0Q(^  .  but 

where  is  the  11  lamb  for  a  burnt-offering  ? 

8  And  Abraham  said,  My  son,  God  will 
provide  himself  a  lamb  1  for  a  burnt-offering  : 
so  they  went  both  of  them  together. 

9  And.  they  came  to  the  place  which  God 
had  told  him  of;  and  Abraham  built  an  altar 
there,  and  laid  the  wood  in  order,  and  bound 
Isaac  his  son,  and  k  laid  him  on  the  altar  upon 
the  wood. 

a  Or,  kid. - 1  John  i.  29,  36  ;  Rev.  v.  6,  12 ;  xiii.  8. - k  Heb. 

xi.  17  ;  James  ii.  21. 

Verse  7.  Behold  the  fire  and  the  wood:  hut  where 
is  the  lamb ]  Nothing  can  be  conceived  more  tender, 
affectionate,  and  affecting,  than  the  question  of  the  son 
and  the  reply  of  the  father  on  this  occasion.  A  para¬ 
phrase  would  spoil  it ;  nothing  can  be  added  without 
injuring  those  expressions  of  affectionate  submission  on 
the  one  hand,  and  dignified  tenderness  and  simplicity 
on  the  other. 

Verse  8.  My  son ,  God  will  provide  himself  a  lamb\ 
Here  we  find  the  same  obedient  unshaken  faith  for 
which  this  pattern  of  practical  piety  was  ever  remark¬ 
able.  But  we  must  not  suppose  that  this  was  the  lan¬ 
guage  merely  of  faith  and  obedience  ;  the  patriarch 
spoke  prophetically,  and  referred  to  that  Lamb  of  God 
which  HE  had  provided  for  himself,  who  in  the  ful¬ 
ness  of  time  should  take  away  the  sin  of  the  world, 
and  of  whom  Isaac  was  a  most  expressive  type.  All 
the  other  lambs  which  had  been  offered  from  the  foun¬ 
dation  of  the  world  had  been  such  as  men  chose  and 
men  offered  ;  but  this  was  the  Lamb  which  GOD  had 
provided — emphatically,  the  Lamb  of  God. 

Verse  9.  And  hound  Isaac  his  son ]  If  the  patri¬ 
arch  had  not  been  upheld  by  the  conviction  that  he  was 
doing  the  will  of  God,  and  had  he  not  felt  the  most 
perfect  confidence  that  his  son  should  be  restored  even 
from  the  dead ,  what  agony  must  his  heart  have  felt  at 
every  step  of  the  journey,  and  through  all  the  circum¬ 
stances  of  this  extraordinary  business  1  What  must 
his  affectionate  heart  have  felt  at  the  questions  asked 
by  his  innocent  and  amiable  son  1  What  must  he  have 
suffered  while  building  the  altar,  laying  on  the  wood, 
binding  his  lovely  son,  placing  him  on  the  wood,  taking 
the  knife,  and  stretching  out  his  hand  to  slay  the  child 
of  his  hopes  1  Every  view  we  take  of  the  subject 
interests  the  heart,  and  exalts  the  character  of  this 
father  of  the  faithful.  But  has  the  character  of  Isaac 
been  duly  considered  ?  Is  not  the  consideration  of  his 
excellence  lost  in  the  supposition  that  he  was  too  young 
to  enter  particularly  into  a  sense  of  his  danger,  and  too 
feeble  to  have  made  any  resistance,  had  he  been  un¬ 
willing  to  submit  l  J osephus  supposes  that  Isaac  was 
now  twenty-five ,  (see  the  chronology  on  ver.  1  ;)  some 
rabbins  that  he  was  thirty-six  ;  but  it  is  more  probable 
that  he  was  now  about  thirty-three ,  the  age  at  which 
his  great  Antitype  was  offered  up  ;  and  on  this  medium 
I  have  ventured  to  construct  the  chronology,  of  which 
I  think  it  necessary  to  give  this  notice  to  the  reader. 

138 


1 0  And  Abraham  stretched  a.  m.  dr.  2132. 

forth  his  hand,  and  took  the  knife - - 

to  slay  his  son. 

1 1  And  the  angel  of  the  Lord  called  unto 
him  out  of  heaven,  and  said,  Abraham,  Abra¬ 
ham  !  and  he  said,  Here  am  I. 

1 2  And  he  said,  1  Lay  not  thine  hand  upon 
the  lad,  neither  do  thou  any  thing  unto  him : 
for  mnow  I  know  that  thou  fearest  God,  see¬ 
ing  thou  hast  not  withheld  thy  son,  thine  only 
son ,  from  me. 

1 1  Sam.  xv.  22 ;  Mic.  vi.  7,  8. - mChap.  xxvi.  5  ;  Rom.  viii. 

32 ;  James  ii.  22 ;  1  John  iv.  9,  10. 

Allowing  him  to  be  only  twenty-five ,  he  might  have 
easily  resisted ;  for  can  it  be  supposed  that  an  old  man 
of  at  least  one*lrundred  and  twenty-five  years  of  age 
could  have  bound,  without  his  consent,  a  young  man  in 
the  very  prime  and  vigour  of  life  1  In  this  case  we 
cannot  say  that  the  superior  strength  of  the  father  pre¬ 
vailed ,  but  the  piety ,  filial  affection ,  and  obedience  of 
the  son  yielded.  All  this  was  most  illustriously  typical 
of  Christ.  In  both  cases  the  father  himself  offers  up 
his  only-begotten  son,  and  the  father  himself  binds  him 
on  the  wood  or  to  the  cross  ;  in  neither  case  is  the  son 
forced  to  yield,  but  yields  of  his  own  accord ;  in  neither 
case  is  the  life  taken  away  by  the  hand  of  violence  ,* 
Isaac  yields  himself  to  the  knife,  Jesus  lays  down  his 
life  for  the  sheep. 

Verse  11.  The  angel  of  the  Lord ]  The  very  person 
who  was  represented  by  this  offering  ;  the  Lord  Jesus, 
who  calls  himself  Jehovah,  ver.  16,  and  on  his  own 
authority  renews  the  promises  of  the  covenant.  He 
was  ever  the  great  Mediator  between  God  and  man. 
See  this  point  proved,  chap.  xv.  7. 

Verse  12.  Lay  not  thine  hand  upon  the  lad\  As 
Isaac  was  to  be  the  representative  of  Jesus  Christ’s 
real  sacrifice,  it  wTas  sufficient  for  this  purpose  that  in 
his  own  will ,  and  the  will  of  his  father,  the  purpose  of 
the  immolation  was  complete.  Isaac  was  now  fully 
offered  both  by  his  father  and  by  himself.  The  father 
yields  up  the  son,  the  son  gives  up  his  life  ;  on  both 
sides,  as  far  as  ivill  and  purpose  could  go,  the  sacrifice 
was  complete.  God  simply  spares  the  father  the  tor¬ 
ture  of  putting  the  knife  to  his  son’s  throat.  Now  was 
the  time  when  it  might  properly  be  said,  “  Sacrifice, 
and  offering,  and  burnt-offering,  and  sacrifice  for  sin 
thou  wouldest  not,  neither  hadst  pleasure  in  them  :  then 
said  the  Angel  of  the  Covenant ,  Lo  !  I  come  to  do  thy 
will,  0  God.”  Lay  not  thy  hand  upon  the  lad  ;  an  ir¬ 
rational  creature  will  serve  for  the  purpose  of  a  repre¬ 
sentative  sacrifice,  from  this  till  the  fulness  of  time 
But  without  this  most  expressive  representation  of  the 
father  offering  his  beloved ,  only-begotten  son ,  what  re¬ 
ference  can  such  sacrifices  be.  considered  to  have  to  the 
great  event  of  the  incarnation  and  crucifixion  of  Christ! 
Abraham,  the  most  dignified,  the  most  immaculate  of 
all  the  patriarchs  ;  Isaac,  the  true  pattern  of  piety  to 
God  and  filial  obedience,  may  well  represent  God  the 
Father  so  loving  the  world  as  to  give  his  only-begotten 
Son,  Jesus  Christ,  to  die  for  the  sin  of  man,  But 

a 


Abraham  offers  a  ram. 


CHAP.  XXII. 


God  renews  his  'promise  to  him. 


a.  M.  cir.  2132.  13  And  Abraham  lifted  up  his 

- - — - - i  eyes,  and  looked,  and  behold, 

behind  him  a  ram  caught  in  a  thicket  by  his 
horns  ;  and  Abraham  went  and  took  the  ram, 
and  offered  him  up  for  a  burnt-offering  in  the 
stead  of  his  son. 

14  And  Abraham  called  the  name  of  that 
place  n  Jehovah-jireh  :  as  it  is  said  to  this  day, 
In  the  mount  of  the  Lord  it  shall  be  seen. 

15  And  the  angel  of  the  Lord  called  unto 
Abraham  out  of  heaven  the  second  time, 

1 6  And  said,  0  By  myself  have  I  sworn, 
saith  the  Lord,  for  because  thou  hast  done 
this  thing,  and  hast  not  withheld  thy  son,  thine 
only  son; 

17  That  in  blessing  I  will  bless  thee,  and 
in  multiplying  I  will  multiply  thy  seed  p  as  the 


stars  of  the  heaven,  and  as  the  a.  m.  cir.  2132. 

sand  which  is  upon  the  sea-  _ . 

shore  ;r  and  8  thy  seed  shall  possess  4  the  gate 
of  his  enemies  ; 

1 8  11  And  in  thy  seed  shall  all  the  nations  of 
the  earth  be  blessed ;  v  because  thou  hast 
obeyed  my  voice. 

19  So  Abraham  returned  unto  his  young 
men,  and  they  rose  up,  and  went  together  to 
w  Beer-sheba ;  and  Abraham  dwelt  at  Beer- 
sheba. 

20  And  it  came  to  pass  after  a.  M.  cir.  2142. 

.  ,  .  ,  .  r  ,  ,  B.  C.  cir.  1862. 

these  things,  that  it  was  told  - 

Abraham,  saying,  Behold,  x  Milcah,  she  hath 

also  borne  children  unto  thy  brother  Nahor ; 

21  y  Huz  his  first-born,  and  Buz  his  brother, 
and  Kemuel  the  father  z  of  Aram, 


a  That  is,  the  LORD  will  see,  or,  provide. - 0  Psa.  cv.  9  ; 

Ecclus.  xliv.  21  ;  Luke  i.  73  ;  Heb.  vi.  13,  14. - P  Chap.  xv.  5 ; 

Jer.  xxxiii.  22. - <i  Ch.  xiii.  16. - r  Heb.  lip. - s  Chap.  xxiv. 

60. - 1  Mic.  i.  9. 


the  grand  circumstances  necessary  to  prefigure  these 
important  points  could  not  be  exhibited  through  the 
means  of  any  or  of  the  ichole  brute  creation.  The 
whole  sacrificial  system  of  the  Mosaic  economy  had  a 
retrospective  and  prospective  view,  referring  from  the 
sacrifice  of  Isaac  to  the  sacrifice  of  Christ ;  in  the 
first  the  dawning  of  the  Sun  of  righteousness  was 
seen ;  in  the  latter ,  his  meridian  splendour  and  glory. 
Taken  in  this  light  (and  this  is  the  only  light  in  which 
it  should  be  viewed)  Abraham  offering  his  son  Isaac  is 
one  of  the  most  important  facts  and  most  instructive 
histories  in  the  whole  Old  Testament.  See  farther 
on  this  subject,  chap,  xxiii.  2. 

Yerse  14.  Jehovah-jireh ]  HXY  HI  TV  Yehovali-yireh, 
literally  interpreted  in  the  margin,  The  Lord  will  see ; 
that  is,  God  will  take  care  that  every  thing  shall  be 
done  that  is  necessary  for  the  comfort  and  support  of 
them  who  trust  in  him  :  hence  the  words  are  usually 
translated,  The  Lord  will  provide  ;  so  our  translators, 
ver.  8,  PIXY  DTI1?^  Elohim  yireh ,  God  will  provide  ; 
because  his  eye  ever  affects  his  heart ,  and  the  wants 
he  sees  his  hand  is  ever  ready  to  supply.  But  all  this 
seems  to  have  been  done  under  a  Divine  impulse,  and 
the  words  to  have  been  spoken  prophetically  ;  hence 
Houbigant  and  some  others  render  the  words  thus  : 
Dominus  videbitur ,  the  Lord  shall  be  seen  ;  and  this 
translation  the  following  clause  seems  to  require,  As  it 
is  said  to  this  day ,  HXT  HI  IT  “I  HD  behar  Yehovah  ye- 
raeh,  on  this  mount  the  Lord  shall  be  seen.  From 
this  it  appears  that  the  sacrifice  offered  by  Abraham 
was  understood  to  be  a  representative  one,  and  a  tra¬ 
dition  was  kept  up  that  Jehovah  should  be  seen  in  a 
sacrificial  way  on  this  mount.  And  this  renders  the 
opinion  stated  on  ver.  1  more  than  probable,  viz.,  that 
Abraham  offered  Isaac  on  that  very  mountain  on  which, 
in  the  fulness  of  time,  Jesus  suffered.  See  Bishop 
Warburton. 

Verse  16.  By  myself  have  I  sworn ]  So  we  find 


u  Chap.  xii.  3  ;  xviii.  18  ;  xxvi.  4  ;  Ecclus.  xliv.  22  ;  Acts  iii. 

25  ;  Gal.  iii.  8,  9,  16,  18. - v  Ver.  3,  10  ;  chap.  xxvi.  5. 

vvChap.  xxi.  3i. - x  Chap.  xi.  29. - y  Job  i.  1. - z  Job 

xxxii.  2. 


that  the  person  who  was  called  the  angel  of  the  Lord 
is  here  called  Jehovah  ;  see  on  ver.  2.  An  oath  or  an 
appeal  to  God  is,  among  men,  an  end  to  strife  ;  as  God 
could  swear  by  no  greater ,  he  sware  by  himself :  being 
willing  more  abundantly,  says  the  apostle,  to  show  unto 
the  heirs  of  promise  the  immutability  of  his  counsel ,  he 
confirmed  it  by  an  oath,  that  by  two  immutable  things , 
(his  promise  and  his  oath,)  in  which  it  was  impossible 
for  God  to  lie,  we  might  have  a  strong  consolation,  who 
have  fled  for  refuge  to  lay  hold  on  the  hope  set  before 
us.  See  Heb.  vi.  13—18. 

Yerse  17.  Shall  possess  the  gate  of  his  enemies ] 
Instead  of  gate  the  Septuagint  have  iroleic,  cities ;  but 
as  there  is  a  very  near  resemblance  between  'ko’Xuq, 
cities,  and  rcvTiac,  gates ,  the  latter  might  have  been  the 
original  reading  in  the  Septuagint,  though  none  of  the 
MSS.  now  acknowledge  it.  By  the  gates  may  be 
meant  all  the  strength,  whether  troops,  counsels,  or  for¬ 
tified  cities  of  their  enemies.  So  Matt.  xvi.  18  :  On 
this  roch  I  will  build  my  Church,  and  the  gates  of  hell 
shall  not  prevail  against  it — the  counsels,  stratagems, 
and  powers  of  darkness  shall  not  be  able  to  prevail 
against  or  overthrow  the  true  Church  of  Christ ;  and 
possibly  our  Lord  had  this  promise  to  Abraham  and  his 
spiritual  posterity  in  view,  when  he  spoke  these  words. 

Verse  18.  And  in  thy  seed ,  c fc.]  We  have  the  au¬ 
thority  of  St.  Paul,  Gal.  iii.  8,  16,  18,  to  restrain  this  . 
to  our  blessed  Lord,  who  was  the  seed  through  whom 
alone  all  God’s  blessings  of  providence,  mercy,  grace, 
and  glory,  should  be  conveyed  to  the  nations  of  the  earth. 

Yerse  20.  Behold,  Milcah,  she  hath  also  borne  chil¬ 
dren  unto  thy  brother ]  This  short  history  seems  intro¬ 
duced  solely  for  the  purpose  of  preparing  the  reader 
for  the  transactions  related  chap,  xxiv.,  and  to  show 
that  the  providence  of  God  was  preparing,  in  one  of 
the  branches  of  the  family  of  Abraham,  a  suitable  spouse 
for  his  son  Isaac. 

Yerse  2 1 .  Huz]  He  is  supposed  to  have  peopled 

139 


The  descendants  of  Nahor , 


GENESIS. 


the  brother  of  Abraham. 


A.  M.  cir.  2142.  22  And  Chesed,  and  tlazo,  and 

B.  c.  cn.  186^.  p-|jag].^  anc[  Jidlapli,  and  Bethuel. 

23  And  a  Bethuel  begat  bRebekah:  these  eight 
Milcah  did  bear  to  Nahor,  Abraham’s  brother. 

aChap.  xxiv.  15,24,4-7  ;  xxv.  20;  xxviii.  2-5. 


24  And  his  concubine,  c  whose  A.  M.  cir.  2142. 

n  ill  B.  C.  cir.  1862. 

name  was  Jtieumah,  she  bare  - - 

also  Tebah,  and  Gaham,  and  Thahash,  and 
Maachah. 

b  Called,  Rom.  ix.  10,  Rebecca. - c  Chap.  xvi.  3  ;  xxv.  6. 


the  land  of  Uz  or  Ausitis ,  in  Arabia  Deserta,  the  coun¬ 
try  of  Job. 

Buz  his  brother ]  From  this  person  Elihu  the  Buzite , 
one  of  the  friends  of  Job,  is  thought  to  have  descended. 

Kemuel  the  father  of  Aram\  Kamouel,  Tvarspa  2u- 
ouv ,  the  father  of  the  Syrians,  according  to  the  Sep- 
tuagint.  Probably  the  Kamiletes,  a  Syrian  tribe  to  the 
westward  of  the  Euphrates  are  meant ;  they  are  men¬ 
tioned  by  Strabo. 

Verse  23.  Bethuel  begat  Rebehah\  Who  afterward 
became  the  wife  of  Isaac. 

Verse  24.  His  concubine ]  We  borrow  this  word 
from  the  Latin  compound  concubina ,  from  con,  toge¬ 
ther,  and  cubo,  to  lie,  and  apply  it  solely  to  a  woman 
cohabiting  with  a  man  without  being  legally  married. 
The  Hebrew  wrord  is  BUT  3  pilegesh ,  which  is  also  a 
compound  term,  contracted,  according  to  Parkhurst, 
from  palag,  to  divide  or  share,  and  KOI  nagash,  to 
approach  ;  because  the  husband,  in  the  delicate  phrase 
of  the  Hebrew  tongue,  approaches  the  concubine,  and 
shares  the  bed,  &c.,  of  the  real  wTife  with  her.  The 
pilegesh  or  concubine,  (from  which  comes  the  Greek 
naXhatcri  pallake ,  and  also  the  Latin  pellex ,)  in  Scrip¬ 
ture,  is  a  kind  of  secondary  wife,  not  unlawful  in  the 
patriarchal  times  ;  though  the  progeny  of  such  could  not 
inherit.  The  word  is  not  used  in  the  Scriptures  in  that 
disagreeable  sense  in  which  we  commonly  understand 
it.  Hagar  was  properly  the  concubine  or  pilegesh  of 
Abraham,  and  this  annuente  Deo,  and  with  his  wife’s 
consent.  Keturah,  his  second  wife,  is  called  a  concu¬ 
bine,  chap.  xxvi.  15  ;  1  Chron.  i.  32  ;  and  Bilhah  and 
Zilhah  were  concubines  to  Jacob,  chap.  xxxv.  22.  After 
the  patriarchal  times  many  eminent  men  had  concubines, 
viz.,  Caleb,  1  Chron.  ii.  46,  48  ;  Manasses,  1  Chron. 
vii.  14;  Gideon,  Judg.  viii.  31  ;  Saul,  2  Sam.  iii.  7  ; 
David,  2  Sam.  v.  13  ;  Solomon,  2  Kings  xi.  3  ;  and 
Rehoboam,  2  Chron.  xi.  21.  The  pilegesh,  therefore, 
differed  widely  from  a  prostitute  ;  and  however  unlawful 
under  the  New  Testament,  was  not  so  under  the  Old. 

From  this  chapter  a  pious  mind  may  collect  much 
useful  instruction.  From  the  trial  of  Abraham  wTe 
again  see,  1.  That  God  may  bring  his  followers  into 


severe  straits  and  difficulties,  that  they  may  have  the 
better  opportunity  of  both  knowing  and  showing  their 
own  faith  and  obedience  ;  and  that  he  may  seize  on 
those  occasions  to  show  them  the  abundance  of  his 
mercy,  and  thus  confirm  them  in  righteousness  all  their 
days.  There  is  a  foolish  saying  among  some  religious 
people,  which  cannot  be  too  severely  reprobated  :  Un¬ 
tried  grace  is  no  grace.  On  the  contrary,  there  may 
be  much  grace,  though  God,  for  good  reasons,  does  not 
think  proper  for  a  time  to  put  it  to  any  severe  trial  or 
proof.  But  grace  is  certainly  not  fully  known  but  in 
being  called  to  trials  of  severe  and  painful  obedience. 
But  as  all  the  gifts  of  God  should  be  used,  (and  they 
are  increased  and  strengthened  by  exercise,)  it  w’ould 
be  unjust  to  deny  trials  and  exercises  to  grace,  as  this 
would  be  to  preclude  it  from  the  opportunities  of  being 
strengthened  and  increased.  2.  The  offering  up  of 
Isaac  is  used  by  several  religious  people  in  a  sort  of 
metaphorical  way,  to  signify  their  easily -be setting  sins, 
beloved  idols,  <fc.  But  this  is  a  most  reprehensible 
abuse  of  the  Scripture.  It  is  both  insolent  and  wicked 
to  compare  some  abominable  lust  or  unholy  affection 
to  the  amiable  and  pious  youth  wrho,  for  his  purity  and 
excellence,  w’as  deemed  worthy  to  prefigure  the  sacri¬ 
fice  of  the  Son  of  God.  To  call  our  vile  passions  and 
unlawful  attachments  by  the  name  of  our  Isaacs  is  un¬ 
pardonable  ;  and  to  talk  of  sacrificing  such  to  God  is 
downright  blasphemy.  Such  sayings  as  these  appear 
to  be  legitimated  by  long  use  ;  but  we  should  be  deeply 
and  scrupulously  careful  not  to  use  any  of  the  words 
of  God  in  any  sense  in  which  he  has  not  spoken  them. 
If,  in  the  course  of  God’s  providence,  a  parent  is  called 
to  give  up  to  death  an  amiable,  only  son,  then  there  is  a 
parallel  in  the  case  ;  and  it  may  be  justly  said,  if  pious 
resignation  fill  the  parent’s  mind,  such  a  person,  like 
Abraham,  has  been  called  to  give  his  Isaac  back  to  God. 

Independently  of  the  typical  reference  to  this  trans¬ 
action,  there  are  two  points  which  seem  to  be  recom¬ 
mended  particularly  to  our  notice.  1.  The  astonish¬ 
ing  faith  and  prompt  obedience  of  the  father.  2.  The 
innocence,  filial  respect,  and.  passive  submission  of  the 
son.  Such  a  father  and  such  a  son  were  alone  worthy 
of  each  other. 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

The  age  and  death  of  Sarah,  1,  2.  Abraham  mourns  for  her,  and  requests  a  burial-place  from  the  sons  of 
Heth,  2—4.  They  freely  offer  him  the  choice  of  all  their  sepulchres,  5,  6.  Abraham  refuses  to  receive 
any  as  a  free  gift,  and  requests  to  buy  the  cave  of  Machpelah  from  Ephron ,  7—9.  Ephron  proffers  the 
cave  and  the  field  in  which  it  was  situated  as  a  free  gift  unto  Abraham,  10,  11.  Abraham  insists  on  giving 
its  value  in  money,  12,  13.  Ephron  at  last  consents,  and  names  the  sum  of  four  hundred  shekels ,  14,  15 
Abraham  weighs  him  the  money  in  the  presence  of  the  people  ;  in  consequence  of  which  the  cave,  the  whole 
field,  trees,  Spc.,  are  made  sure  to  him  and  his  family  for  a  possession,  16—18.  The  transaction  being 
completed,  Sarah  is  buried  in  the  cave,  19.  The  sons  of  Hath  ratify  the  bargain,  20. 

140  '  '  a 


The  age  and  death  of  Sarah.  CHAP. 

a.  M.  2145.  AND  Sarah  was  a  hundred  and 

B.  C.  1859.  Jal  ,  A  -i  , 

- -  seven  and  twenty  years  old  : 

these  were  the  years  of  the  life  of  Sarah. 

2  And  Sarah  died  in  a  Kirja/th-arba  ;  the 
same  is  b  Hebron  in  the  land  of  Canaan  :  and 
Abraham  came  to  mourn  for  Sarah,  and  to 
weep  for  her. 

3  And  Abraham  stood  up  from  before  his 

a  Joshua  xiv.  15  ;  Judges  i.  10. - b  Chapter  xiii.  18  ; 

ver.  19. 

NOTES  ON  CHAP.  XXIII. 

Verse  1 .  And  Sarah  was  a  hundred  and  seven  and 
twenty  years  old ]  It  is  worthy  of  remark  that  Sarah 
is  the  only  woman  in  the  sacred  writings  whose  age , 
death ,  and  burial  are  distinctly  noted.  And  she  has 
been  deemed  worthy  of  higher  honour,  for  St.  Paul, 
Gal.  iv.  22,  23,  makes  her  a  type  of  the  Church  of 
Christ ;  and  her  faith  in  the  accomplishment  of  God’s 
promise,  that  she  should  have  a  son,  when  all  natural 
probabilities  were  against  it,  is  particularly  celebrated 
in  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  chap.  xi.  11.  Sarah 
was  about  ninety-one  years  old  when  Isaac  was  born, 
and  she  lived  thirty-six  years  after,  and  saw  him  grown 
up  to  man’s  estate.  With  Sarah  the  promise  of  the 
incarnation  of  Christ  commenced,  though  a  compara¬ 
tively  obscure  prophecy  of  it  had  been  delivered  to 
Eve,  chap.  iii.  15 ;  and  with  Mary  it  terminated,  having 
had  its  exact  completion.  Thus  God  put  more  honour 
upon  these  two  women  than  upon  all  the  daughters  of 
Eve  besides.  Sarah’s  conception  of  Isaac  was  super¬ 
natural  ;  she  had  passed  the  age  and  circumstances  in 
which  it  was  possible,  naturally  speaking,  to  have  a 
child ;  therefore  she  laughed  when  the  promise  was 
given,  knowing  that  the  thing  was  impossible,  because 
it  had  ceased  to  be  with  her  after  the  manner  of  wo¬ 
men.  God  allows  this  natural  impossibility,  and  grants 
that  the  thing  must  be  the  effect  of  Divine  interposi¬ 
tion  ;  and  therefore  asks,  Is  any  thing  too  hard  for 
God  ?  The  physical  impossibility  was  increased  in  the 
case  of  Mary,  she  having  no  connection  with  man  ;  but 
the  same  power  interposed  as  in  the  case  of  Sarah  :  and 
we  find  that  when  all  aptitude  for  natural  procreation 
was  gone,  Sarah  received  strength  to  conceive  seed,  and 
bore  a  son,  from  whom,  in  a  direct  line,  the  Messiah, 
the  Saviour  of  the  world,  was  to  descend  ;  and  through 
this  same  power  we  find  a  virgin  conceiving  and  bear¬ 
ing  a  son  against  all  natural  impossibilities.  Every 
thing  is  supernatural  in  the  births  both  of  the  type 
and  antitype  ;  can  it  be  wondered  at  then,  if  the  spiritual 
offspring  of  the  Messiah  must  have  a  supernatural  birth 
likewise  l  hence  the  propriety  of  that  saying,  Unless 
a  man  be  born  again — born  from  above — born,  not  only 
of  water,  but  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  he  cannot  see  the  king¬ 
dom  of  God.  These  may  appear  hard  sayings,  and 
those  who  are  little  in  the  habit  of  considering  spiritual 
things  may  exclaim,  “  It  is  enthusiasm  !  Who  can  bear 
it  1  Such  things  cannot  possibly  be.”  To  such  per¬ 
sons  I  have  only  to  say,  God  hath  spoken.  This  is 
sufficient  for  those  who  credit  his  being  and  his  Bible ; 
nor  is  there  any  thing  too  hard  for  him.  He,  by  whose 
almighty  power,  Sarah  had  strength  to  conceive  and  j 

a 


XXIII.  Preparations  for  her  burial . 

dead,  and  spake  unto  the  sons  of  a.  m.  2145. 
TT  .  .  B.  CM 859. 

Heth,  saying,  . — — - 

4  c  I  am  a  stranger  and  a  sojourner  with 
you  :  d  give  me  a  possession  of  a  burying 
place  with  you,  that  I  may  bury  my  dead  out 
of  my  sight. 

5  And  the  children  of  Heth  answered  Abra¬ 
ham,  saying  unto  him, 

c  Chap.  xvii.  8  ;  1  Chron.  xxix.  15  ;  Psa.  cv.  12  ;  Hebrews  xi. 

9,  13. — — d  Acts  vii.  5. 

bear  a  son  in  her  old  age,  and  by  whose  miraculous 
interference  a  virgin  conceived,  and  the  man  Christ 
Jesus  was  born  of  her,  can  by  the  same  power  transform 
the  sinful  soul,  and  cause  it  to  bear  the  image  of  the 
heavenly  as  it  has  borne  the  image  of  the  earthly. 

Verse  2.  Sarah  died  in  Kirjath-arba ]  Literally  in 
the  city  of  the  four.  Some  suppose  this  place  was 
called  the  city  of  the  four  because  it  was  the  burial 
place  of  Adam,  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob ;  others, 
because  according  to  the  opinion  of  the  rabbins,  Eve 
was  buried  there,  with  Sarah,  Rebekah,  and  Leah. 
But  it  seems  evidently  to  have  had  its  name  from  a 
Canaanite,  one  of  the  Anakim,  probably  called  Arba, 
(for  the  text,  Josh.  xiv.  14,  does  not  actually  say  this 
was  his  name,)  who  was  the  chief  of  the  four  brothers 
who  dwelt  there  ;  the  names  of  the  others  being 
Sheshai,  Ahiman,  and  Talmai.  See  Judges  i.  10. 
These  three  were  destroyed  by  the  tribe  of  Judah  ; 
probably  the  other  had  been  previously  dead. 

Abraham  came  to  mourn  for  Sarah ]  From  verse 
19  of  the  preceding  chapter  it  appears  that  Abraham 
had  settled  at  Beer-sheba ;  and  here  we  find  that 
Sarah  died  at  Hebron,  which  was  about  twenty-four 
miles  distant  from  Beer-sheba.  For  the  convenience 
of  feeding  his  numerous  flocks,  Abraham  had  probably 
several  places  of  temporary  residence,  and  particularly 
one  at  Beer-sheba,  and  another  at  Hebron  ;  and  it  is 
likely  that  while  he  sojourned  at  Beer-sheba,  Sarah 
died  at  Hebron  ;  and  his  coming  to  mourn  and  weep 
for  her  signifies  his  coming  from  the  former  to  the 
latter  place  on  the  news  of  her  death. 

Verse  3.  Abraham  stood  up  from  before  his  dead\ 
He  had  probably  sat  on  the  ground  some  days  in  token 
of  sorrow,  as  the  custom  then  was,  (see  Tobit  ii.  12, 
13;  Isa.  xlvii.  1  ;  and  Gen.  xxxvii.  35;)  and  when 
this  time  was  finished  he  arose  and  began  to  treat 
about  a  burying  place. 

Verse  4.  I  am  a  stranger  and  a  sojourner\  It  ap¬ 
pears  from  Heb.  xi.  13-16  ;  1  Pet.  ii.  11,  that  these 
words  refer  more  to  the  state  of  his  mind  than  of  his 
body.  He  felt  that  he  had  no  certain  dwelling  place, 
and  was  seeking  by  faith  a  city  that  had  foundations. 

Give  me  a  possession  of  a  burying  place\  It  has 
been  remarked  that  in  different  nations  it  was  deemed 
ignominious  to  be  buried  in  another’s  ground  ;  proba¬ 
bly  this  prevailed  in  early  times  in  the  east,  and  it  may 
be  in  reference  to  a  sentiment  of  this  kind  that  Abra¬ 
ham  refuses  to  accept  the  offer  of  the  children  of 
Heth  to  bury  in  any  of  their  sepulchres,  and  earnestly 
requests  them  to  sell  him  one,  that  he  might  bury  his 
wife  in  a  place  that  he  could  claim  as  his  own. 

141 


Abraham  buys  the  cave  of 


GENESIS.  Machpelah ,  atid  buries  Sarah 


A.  M.  2145.  6  Hear  us,  mv  lord  :  thou  art  e  a 

;  B.  C.  1859.  .  w  J  f  .  . 

_  mighty  prince  among  us  : 1  m  the 

choice  of  our  sepulchres  bury  thy  dead  ;  none 

of  us  shall  withhold  from  thee  his  sepulchre, 

hut  that  thou  mayest  bury  thy  dead. 

7  And  Abraham  stood  up,  and  bowed  him¬ 
self  to  the  people  of  the  land,  even  to  the 
children  of  Heth. 

8  And  he  communed  with  them,  saying,  If' 
it  be  your  mind  that  I  should  bury  my  dead 
out  of  my  sight ;  hear  me,  and  entreat  for  me 
to  Ephron  the  son  of  Zohar, 

9  That  he  may  give  me  the  cave  of  Mach¬ 
pelah,  which  he  hath,  which  is  in  the  end  of 
his  field ;  for  g  as  much  money  as  it  is  worth 
he  shall  give  it  me  for  a  possession  of  a  bury¬ 
ing  place  amongst  you. 

10  And  Ephron  dwelt  among  the  children 
of  Heth  :  and  Ephron  the  Hittite  answered 
Abraham  in  the  h  audience  of  the  children  of 
Heth,  even  of  all  that  1  went  in  at  the  gate  of 
his  city,  saying, 

1 1  k  Nay,  my  lord,  hear  me  :  the  field  give 
I  thee,  and  the  cave  that  is  therein,  I  give  it 
thee in  the  presence  of  the  sons  of  my  peo¬ 
ple  give  I  it  thee  :  bury  thy  dead. 

12  And  Abraham  bowed  down  himself  be¬ 
fore  the  people  of  the  land. 


13  And  he  spake  unto  Ephron  in  A.  M.  21 45 
the  audience  of  the  people  of  the  — 1 — 1 1 
land,  saying,  But  if  thou  wilt  give  it,  I  pray  thee, 
hear  me  :  I  will  give  thee  money  for  the  field  ; 
take  it  of  me,  and  I  will  bury  my  dead  there 

14  And  Ephron  answered  Abraham,  saying 
unto  him, 

1 5  My  lord,  hearken  unto  me  :  the  land  is 
worth  four  hundred  1  shekels  of  silver ;  what 
is  that  betwixt  me  and  thee  ?  bury  therefore 
thy  dead. 

1 6  And  Abraham  hearkened  unto  Ephron ; 
and  Abraham  m  weighed  to  Ephron  the  silver, 
which  he  had  named  in  the  audience  of  the 
sons  of  Heth,  four  hundred  shekels  of  silver, 
current  money  with  the  merchant. 

17  And  n  the  field  of  Ephron,  which  was  in 
Machpelah,  which  was  before  Mamre,  the 
field,  and  the  cave  which  was  therein,  and  all 
the  trees  that  were  in  the  field,  that  were  in 
all  the  borders  round  about,  were  made  sure 

18  Unto  Abraham  for  a  possession  in  the 
presence  of  the  children  of  Heth,  before  all 
that  went  in  at  the  gate  of  his  city. 

19  And  after  this  Abraham  buried  Sarah 
his  wife  in  the  cave  of  the  field  of  Machpelah 
before  Mamre:  the  same  is  Hebron  in  the 
land  of  Canaan. 


e  Heb.  a  prince  of  God. - fChap.  xiii.  2;  xiv.  14;  xxiv.  35. 

'g  Heb.  full  money. - h  Heb.  ears. - ‘  Chap,  xxxiv.  20,  24  ; 

Ruth  iv.  4. 


k  See  2  Sam.  xxiv.  21-24. - 1  Exod.  xxx.  15  ;  Ezek.  xlv.  12, 

m  Jer.  xxxii.  9. - 11  Chap.  xxv.  9  ;  xlix.  30,  31,  32  ;  1.  13  ;  Acts 

vii.  16. 


Verse  6.  Thou  art  a  mighty  prince]  DTlbtt 
nesi  Elohim ,  a  prince  of  God — a  person  whom  we 
know  to  be  Divinely  favoured,  and  whom,  in  conse¬ 
quence,  we  deeply  respect  and  reverence. 

Verse  8.  Entreat  for  me  to  Ephron ]  Abraham 
had  already  seen  the  cave  and  field,  and  finding  to 
whom  they  belonged,  and  that  they  would  answer  his 
purpose,  came  to  the  gate  of  Hebron,  where  the  elders  of 
the  people  sat  to  administer  justice,  &c.,  and  where  bar¬ 
gains  and  sales  were  made  and  witnessed,  and  having 
addressed  himself  to  the  elders,  among  whom  Ephron 
was,  though  it  appears  he  was  not  personally  known  to 
Abraham,  he  begged  them  to  use  their  influence  with 
the  owner  of  the  cave  and  field  to  sell  it  to  him,  that  it 
might  serve  him  and  his  family  for  a  place  of  sepulture. 

Verse  10.  And  Ephron  dwelt  among  the  children 
of  Heth]  And  Ephron  2W'  yosheh ,  was  sitting  among 
the  children  of  Heth,  but,  as  was  before  conjectured, 
was  personally  unknown  to  Abraham  ;  he  therefore 
answered  for  himself,  making  a  free  tender  of  the  field, 
&c.,  to  Abraham,  in  the  presence  of  all  the  people, 
which  amounted  to  a  legal  conveyance  of  the  whole 
property  to  the  patriarch. 

Verse  13.  Jf  thou  wilt  give  it]  Instead  of,  If  thou 
wilt  give  it,  we  should  read,  But  if  thou  will  sell  it,  T 

143 


will  give  thee  money  for  the  field ;  rpD  keseph,  silver, 
not  coined  money,  for  it  is  not  probable  that  any  such 
was  then  in  use. 

Verse  15.  The  land  is  worth  four  hundred  shekels 
of  silver]  Though  the  words  is  worth  are  not  in  the 
text,  yet  they  are  necessarily  expressed  here  to  adapt 
the  Hebrew  to  the  idiom  of  our  tongue.  A  shekel, 
according  to  the  general  opinion,  was  equal  to  two 
shillings  and  sixpence  ;  but  according  to  Dr.  Prideaux, 
whose  estimate  I  shall  follow,  three  shillings  English, 
four  hundred  of  which  are  equal  to  sixty  pounds  ster¬ 
ling  ;  but  it  is  evident  that  a  certain  weight  is  intended, 
and  not  a  coin,  for  in  verse  16  it  is  said,  And  Abraham 
weighed  bptJH  vaiyishkol ,  the  silver,  and  hence  it  ap¬ 
pears  that  this  weight  itself  passed  afterwards  as  a 
current  coin,  for  the  word  bpi^  is  not  only  used  to  ex¬ 
press  a  coin  or  piece  of  silver,  but  also  to  weigh;  see 
the  note  on  chap.  xx.  16. 

Verse  16.  Current  with  the  merchant.]  “mob 
ober  lassocher ,  passing  to  or  with  the  traveller — such 
as  was  commonly  used  by  those  who  travelled  about 
with  merchandise  of  any  sort.  The  word  signifies  the 
same  as  hawker  or  pedlar  among  us. 

Verse  17.  A  ll  the  trees  that  were  in  the  field]  It  is 
possible  that  all  these  were  specified  in  the  agreement. 

9 


Observations  on  the 


CIIAP.  XXIV. 


A.  M.  2145.  20  And  the  field,  and  the  cave  that 

B.  C.  1859.  ...  , 

- is  therein,  0  were  made  sure  unto 

0  See  Ruth  iv.  7,  8,  9,  10 ;  Jer.  xxxii.  10,  11. 

Verse  20.  And  the  field ,  c fc.  were  made  sure J  DpU 
vaiyakom ,  were  established ,  caused  to  stand  ;  the  whole 
transaction  having  been  regulated  according  to  all  the 
forms  of  law  then  in  use. 

1.  In  this  transaction  between  Abraham  and  the 
sons  of  Heth  concerning  the  cave  and  field  of  Mach- 
pelah,  we  have  the  earliest  account  on  record  of  the 
purchase  of  land.  The  simplicity,  openness,  and  can¬ 
dour  on  both  sides  cannot  be  too  much  admired. 

2.  Sarah  being  dead,  Abraham  being  only  a 
sojourner  in  that  land,  shifting  from  place  to  place  for 
the  mere  purpose  of  pasturing  his  flocks,  and  having 
no  right  to  any  part  of  the  land,  wished  to  purchase  a 
place  in  which  he  might  have  the  continual  right  of 
sepulture.  For  this  purpose,  1.  He  goes  to  the  gate 
of  the  city,  the  place  where,  in  all  ancient  times,  jus¬ 
tice  was  administered,  and  bargains  and  sales  con¬ 
cluded,  and  where  for  these  purposes  the  elders  of  the 
people  sat.  2.  He  there  proposes  to  buy  the  cave 
known  by  the  name  of  the  Cave  of  Machpelah,  the  cave 
of  the  turning  or  the  double  cave,  for  a  burying  place 
for  his  family.  3.  To  prevent  him  from  going  to  any 
unnecessary  expense,  the  people  with  one  voice  offer 
him  the  privilege  of  burying  his  wife  in  any  of  their 
sepulchres  ;  this  appearing  to  them  to  be  no  more  than 
the  common  rights  of  hospitality  and  humanity  required. 
4.  Abraham,  intent  on  making  a  purchase,  Ephron, 
the  owner  of  the  field  and  cave,  values  them  at  four 
hundred  shekels,  but  at  the  same  time  wishes  Abraham 
to  receive  the  whole  as  a  gift.  5.  Abraham  refuses 
the  gift  and  weighs  down  the  silver  specified.  G.  The 
people  who  enter  in  at  the  gate,  i.  e.,  the  inhabitants 
coming  from  or  going  to  their  ordinary  occupations  in 
the  country,  witness  the  transaction,  and  thus  the  con¬ 
veyance  to  Abraham  is  made  sure  without  the  inter¬ 
vention  of  those  puzzlers  of  civil  affairs  by  whose 
tricks  and  chicanery  property  often  becomes  insecure, 
and  right  and  succession  precarious  and  uncertain. 
13 ut  this  censure  does  not  fall  on  lawyers  properly  so 
called,  who  are  men  of  honour,  and  whose  office,  in 
every  well-regulated  state,  is  as  useful  as  it  is  respect¬ 
able.  But  the  accumulation  and  complex  nature  of 
almost  all  modern  systems  of  law  puzzle  even  justice 
herself,  and  often  induce  decisions  by  which  truth 
falls  in  the  streets  and  equity  goes  backwards  In  the 


preceding  chapter. 
Abraham  for  a  possession  of  a  bury-  A-  2145- 

i  .1  r  tt  i  B.  C.  1859. 

mg  place  p  by  the  sons  of  Heth.  - - 

P  Chap.  1.  13  ;  2  Kings  xxi.  18. 

first  ages  of  mankind,  suspicion,  deceit,  and  guile 
seem  to  have  had  a  very  limited  influence.  Happy 
days  of  primitive  simplicity  !  When  shall  they 
return  1 

3.  We  often  hear  of  the  rudeness  and  barbarity  of 
the  primitive  ages,  but  on  what  evidence  ?  Every  rule 
of  politeness  that  could  be  acted  upon  in  such  a  case 
as  that  mentioned  here,  is  brought  into  full  practice. 
Is  it  possible  to  read  the  simple  narration  in  this  place 
without  admiring  the  amiable,  decent,  and  polite  con 
duct  displayed  on  both  sides  l  Had  even  Lord  Ches¬ 
terfield  read  this  account,  his  good  sense  would  have’ 
led  him  to  propose  it  as  a  model  in  all  transactions  be¬ 
tween  man  and  his  fellows.  There  is  neither  awkward, 
stiff  formality  on  the  one  hand,  nor  frippery  or  affecta¬ 
tion  on  the  other.  Decent  respect,  good  sense,  good 
nature,  and  good  breeding,  are  all  prominently  display¬ 
ed.  And  how  highly  laudable  and  useful  is  all  this  ! 
A  pedant  or  a  boor  on  either  side  might  have  destroyed 
the  simplicity  of  the  wdiole  transaction  ;  the  one  by 
engendering  caution  and  suspicion ,  and  the  other  by 
exciting  disgust.  In  all  such  transactions  the  beau  and 
the  boor  are  equally  to  be  avoided.  From  the  first  no 
sincerity  can  be  expected,  and  the  manners  of  the  latter 
render  him  intolerable.  The  religion  of  the  Bible  re¬ 
commends  and  inculcates  orderly  behaviour,  as  well  as 
purity  of  heart  and  life.  They  who,  under  the  sanc¬ 
tion  of  religion,  trample  under  foot  the  decent  forms 
of  civil  respect,  supposing  that  because  they  are  reli¬ 
gious  they  have  a  right  to  be  rude,  totally  mistake  the 
spirit  of  Christianity,  for  love  or  charity  (the  soul  and 
essence  of  that  religion)  behaveth  not  itself  unseemly. 
Every  attentive  reader  of  the  thirteenth  chapter  of  St. 
Paul’s  first  epistle  to  the  Corinthians,  will  clearly  dis¬ 
cern  that  the  description  of  true  religion  given  in  that 
place  applies  as  forcibly  to  good  breeding  as  to  inward 
and  outward  holiness.  What  lessons  of  honesty,  de¬ 
cent  respect,  and  good  manners  could  a  sensible  man 
derive  from  Abraham  treating  with  the  sons  of  Heth 
for  the  cave  of  Machpelah,  and  William  Penn  treating 
with  the  American  Indians  for  the  tract  of  land  now 
called  Pennsylvania  !  I  leave  others  to  draw  the  pa¬ 
rallel,  and  to  show  how  exactly  the  conduct  and  spirit 
of  patriarch  the  first  were  exemplified  in  the  conduct 
and  spirit  of  patriarch  the  second.  Let  the  righteous 
be  had  in  everlasting  remembrance  ! 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

Abraham,  being  solicitous  to  get  his  son  Isaac  properly  married,  calls  his  confidential  servant,  probably  Eliezer , 
and  makes  him  swear  that  he  will  not  take  a  wife  for  Isaac  from  among  the  Canaanites,  1—3,  but  from  among 
his  own  kindred,  4.  The  servant  proposes  certain  difficulties,  5,  which  Abraham  removes  by  giving  him 
the  strongest  assurances  of  God's  direction  in  the  business,  6,  7,  and  then  specifies  the  conditions  of  the 
oath,  8.  The  form  of  the  oath  itself,  9.  The  servant  makes  preparations  for  his  journey,  and  sets  out 
for  Mesopotamia,  the  residence  of  Abraham's  kindred,  10.  Arrives  at  a  well  near  to  the  place,  11.  His 
prayer  to  God,  12-14.  Rebekah,  the  daughter  of  Bethuel,  son  of  Nahor ,  Abraham's  brother,  comes  to 
the  well  to  draw  water ,  15.  She  is  described ,  1G  Conversation  between  her  and  Abraham's  servant ,  in 

143 


a 


Abraham  directs  his  servant 


GENESIS. 


to  procure  a  wife  for  Isaac. 

which  every  thing  took  place  according  to  his  prayer  to  God,  17-21.  He  makes  her  presents,  and  learns 
whose  daughter  she  is,  22—24.  She  invites  him  to  her  father1  s  house,  25.  He  returns  thanks  to  God  for 
having  thus  far  given  him  a  prosperous  journey,  26,  27.  Rebekah  runs  home  and  informs  her  family,  28  ; 
on  which  her  brother  Laban  comes  out,  and  invites  the  servant  home,  29—31.  His  reception,  32,  33. 
Tells  his  errand,  34,  and  how  he  had  proceeded  in  executing  the  trust  reposed  in  him,  35—48.  Requests 
an  answer ,  49.  The  family  of  Rebekah  consent  that  she  should  become  the  wife  of  Isaac,  50,  51.  The 
servant  ivorships  God,  52,  and  gives  presents  to  Milcah,  Laban,  and  Rebekah,  53.  He  requests  to  be 
dismissed,  54—56.  Rebekah,  being  consulted,  consents  to  go,  57,  58.  She  is  accompanied  by  her  nurse,  59  , 
and  having  received  the  blessing  of  her  parents  and  relatives,  60,  she  departs  with  the  servant  of  Abra¬ 
ham,  61.  They  are  met  by  Isaac ,  who  was  on  an  evening  walk  for  the  purpose  of  meditation,  62—65. 
The  servant  relates  to  Isaac  all  that  he  had  done,  66.  Isaac  and  Rebekah  are  married,  67. 


A.  M.  2148.  A  ND  Abraham  a  was  old  and 

B.  C.  i8o6.^  b  wep  stricken  in  age  :  and  the 

Lord  c  had  blessed  Abraham  in  all  things. 

2  And  Abraham  said  d  unto  his  eldest  servant 
of  his  house,  that  e  ruled  over  all  that  he 
had,  f  Put,  I  pray  thee,  thy  hand  under  my 
thigh  : 

3  And  I  Will  make  thee  &  swear  by  the  Lord, 
the  Go,d  of  heaven,  and  the  God  of  the  earth, 
that  h  thou  shalt  not  take  a  wife  unto  my  son  of 
the  daughters  of  the  Canaanites,  among  whom 
I  dwell  : 

4  1  But  thou  shalt  go  k  unto  my  country,  and 
to  my  kindred,  and  take  a  wife  unto  my  son 
Isaac. 

5  And  the  servant  said  unto  him,  Peradven- 
ture  the  woman  will  not  be  willing  to  follow 

1  Chap,  xviii.  11  ;  xxi.  5. - b  Heb.  gone  intodays. - -cChap. 

xiii.  2 ;  ver.  35  ;  Psa.  cxii.  3  ;  Prov.  x.  22. - ^  Chap.  xv.  2. 

e  Ver.  10  ;  chap,  xxxix.  4,  5,  6. - f  Chap,  xlvii.  29  ;  1  Chron. 

xxix.  24  ;  Lam.  v.  6. - s  Chap.  xiv.  22  ;  Deut.  vi.  13  ;  Josh. 

li.  12. - h  Chap.  xxvi.  35  ;  xxvii.  46  ;  xxviii.  2  ;  ExoH.  xxxiv. 

NOTES  ON  CHAP.  XXIY. 

Verse  1 .  And  Abraham  was  old ]  Pie  was  now  about 
one  hundred  and  forty  years  of  age,  and  consequently 
Isaac  was  forty,  being  born  when  his  father  was  one 
hundred  years  old.  See  chap.  xxi.  5  ;  xxv.  20. 

Verse  2.  Eldest  servant ]  As  this  eldest  servant  is 
stated  to  have  been  the  rider  over  all  that  he  had,  it  is 
very  likely  that  Eliezer  is  meant.  See  chap.  xv.  2,3. 

Put,  I  pray  thee,  thy  hand ]  See  on  ver.  9. 

Verse  3.  I  will  make  thee  swear ]  See  on  ver.  9. 

Of  the  Canaanites ]  Because  these  had  already  been 
devoted  to  slavery,  &c.,  and  it  would  have  been  utterly 
inconsistent  as  well  with  prudence  as  with  the  design  of 
God  to  have  united  the  child  and  heir  of  the  promise  with 
one  who  was  under  a  curse,  though  that  curse  might 
be  considered  to  be  only  of  a  political  nature.  See 
the  curse  of  Canaan,  chap.  ix.  25. 

Verse  4.  My  country ]  Mesopotamia,  called  here 
Abraham’s  country,  because  it  was  the  place  where  the 
family  of  Haran,  his  brother,  had  settled  ;  and  where 
himself  had  remained  a  considerable  time  with  his  fa¬ 
ther  Terah.  In  this  family,  as  well  as  in  that  of  Nahor, 
the  true  religion  had  been  in  some  sort  preserved,  though 
afterwards  considerably  corrupted  ;  see  chap.  xxxi.  19. 

And  take  a  wife  unto  my  son\  A  young  man  in 
Bengal  is  precisely  in  the  same  circumstances  as  Isaac  ; 

144 


me  unto  this  land :  must  I  needs  A.  M.  2148. 

bring  thy  son  again  unto  the  land  — — 1 - ! 

from  whence  thou  earnest  ? 

6  And  Abraham  said  unto  him,  Beware  thou 
that  thou  bring  not  my  son  thither  again. 

7  The  Lord  God  of  heaven,  which  1  took 
me  from  my  father’s  house,  and  from  the  land 
of  my  kindred,  and  which  spake  unto  me,  and 
that  sware  unto  me,  saying,  m  Unto  thy  seed 
will  I  give  this  land  ;  n  he  shall  send  his  angel 
before  thee,  and  thou  shalt  take  a  wife  unto 
my  son  from  thence. 

8  And  if  the  woman  will  not  be  willing  to 
follow  thee,  then  0  thou  shalt  be  clear  from 
this  my  oath  :  only  bring  not  my  son  thither 
again. 

9  And  the  servant  put  his  hand  under  the 

16;  Deut.  vii.  3. - { Chap,  xxviii.  2. - k  Chapter  xii.  1. 

1  Chap.  xii.  1,  7. - m  Chap.  xii.  7;  xiii.  15;  xv.  18;  xvii. 

8 ;  Exod.  xxxii.  13 ;  Deut.  i.  8 ;  xxxiv.  4 ;  Acts  vii.  5. 

n  Exodus  xxiii.  20,  23  ;  xxxiii.  2  ;  Hebrews  i.  14. - 0  Josh. 

ii.  17,  20. 

he  has  nothing  to  do  in  the  choice  of  a  wife  ;  parents 
employ  others  to  seek  wives  *for  their  sons.  Those 
who  leave  their  homes  in  search  of  employment  always 
marry  their  children  in  their  own  country,  and  among 
their  acquaintance  at  home  ;  never  among  the  people 
with  whom  they  reside.  In  Asiatic  countries  this  cus¬ 
tom  has  prevailed  from  the  infancy  of  the  human  race. 
See  Ward’s  Hindoo  Customs. 

Verse  5.  Per  adventure  the  woman  will  not  be  willing ] 
We  may  see,  says  Calmet,  by  this  and  other  passages 
of  Scripture.,  Josh.  ix.  18,  what  the  sentiments  of  the 
ancients  were  relative  to  an  oath.  They  believed  they 
were  bound  precisely  by  what  was  spoken,  and  had  no 
liberty  to  interpret  the  intentions  of  those  to  whom  the 
oath  was  made. 

Verse  7.  The  Lord  God,  <fc.\  He  expresses  the 
strongest  confidence  in  God,  that  the  great  designs  for 
which  he  had  brought  him  from  his  own  kindred  to  pro¬ 
pagate  the  true  religion  in  the  earth  would  be  accom¬ 
plished  ;  and  that  therefore,  when  earthly  instruments 
failed,  heavenly  ones  should  be  employed.  He  shall 
send  his  angel,  probably  meaning  the  Angel  of  the 
Covenant,  of  whom  see  chap.  xv.  7. 

Verse  9.  Put  his  hand  under  the  thigh  of  A.braham\ 
This  form  of  swearing  has  greatly  puzzled  the  com¬ 
mentators  ;  but  it  is  useless  to  detail  opinions  which 

a 


CHAP.  XXIV. 


He  departs  for  Mesopotamia. 


Ilis  prayer  at  the  well. 


A.  M.  2148.  thisrli  of  Abraham  Ins  master,  and 

B.  C.  1856.  °  ,  .  , 

-  svvare  to  him  concerning  that 

matter. 

10  And  the  servant  took  ten  camels,  of  the 
camels  of  his  master,  and  departed  ;  (p  for 
q  all  the  goods  of  his  master  were  in  his 
hand:)  and  he  arose,  and  went  to  Mesopota¬ 
mia,  unto  r  the  city  of  Nahor. 


1 1  And  he  made  his  camels  to  A.  M.  2148. 
kneel  down  without  the  city  by  a  — 1 — - — Al 
well  of  water  at  the  time  of  the  evening,  even 
the  time  s  that  women  go  out  to  draw  water. 

12  And  he  said,  u  0  Lord  God  of  my 
master  Abraham,  I  pray  thee,  v  send  me  good 
speed  this  day,  and  show  kindness  unto  my 
master  Abraham. 


P  Ver.  2. - *1  Or,  and. - r  Chap,  xxvii.  43. - s  Heb.  that 

women  tvhich  draw  water  go  forth. - 1 * * * * *  Exod.  ii.  16;  1  Sam.  ix. 


11. - u  Ver.  27  ;  chap.  xxvi.  24  ;  xxviii.  13  ;  xxxii.  9  ;  Exod, 

iii.  6,  15. - vNeh.  i.  11  ;  Psa.  xxxvii.  5. 


I  neither  believe  myself,  nor  would  wish  my  readers 

to  credit.  I  believe  the  true  sense  is  given  in  the 
Targwn  of  Jonathan  hen  Uzziel ,  and  that  called  the 

Jerusalem  Tar  gum.  In  the  former  it  is  said,  Put  now 

thy  hand  T^iriD  r\*VU3  bigzirath  mehulathi,  in  sectione 

circumcisionis  mece ;  in  the  latter  ’D'p  IT  mnn  techoth 

yerech  key  ami,  sub  femore  foederis  mei.  When  we  put 
the  circumstances  mentioned  in  this  and  the  third  verse 
together,  we  shall  find  that  they  fully  express  the  an¬ 
cient  method  of  binding  by  oath  in  such  transactions 
as  had  a  religious  tendency.  1 .  The  rite  or  ceremony 
used  on  the  occasion  ;  the  person  binding  himself  put 
his  hand  under  the  thigh  of  the  person  to  whom  he 
was  to  be  bound;  i.  e .,  he  put  his  hand  on  the  part 
that  bore  the  mark  of  circumcision ,  the  sign  of  God’s 
covenant,  which  is  tantamount  to  our  kissing  the  book , 
or  laying  the  hand  upon  the  New  Testament  or  cove¬ 
nant  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  2.  Th e  form  of  the 
oath  itself :  the  person  swore  by  Jehovah ,  the  God  of 
heaven  and  the  God  of  the  earth.  Three  essential  at¬ 
tributes  of  God  are  here  mentioned  ;  1.  His  self -exist¬ 
ence  and  eternity  in  the  name  Jehovah.  2.  His  do¬ 
minion  of  glory  and  blessedness  in  the  kingdom  of 
heaven.  3.  His  providence  and  bounty  in  the  earth. 
The  meaning  of  the  oath  seems  to  be  this  :  “As  God 
is  unchangeable  in  his  nature  and  purposes,  so  shall  I 
be  in  this  engagement,  under  the  penalty  of  forfeiting 
all  expectation  of  temporal  prosperity,  the  benefits  of 
the  mystical  covenant,  and  future  glory.”  An  oath  of 
this  kind,  taken  at  such  a  time,  and  on  such  an  occa¬ 
sion,  can  never  be  deemed  irreligious  or  profane.  Thou 
shalt  swear  by  his  name — shalt  acknowledge  and  bind 
thyself  unto  the  true  God ,  as  the  just  Judge  of  thy 
motives  and  actions,  is  a  command  of  the  Most  High ; 
and  such  an  oath  as  the  above  is  at  once  (on  such  an 
occasion)  both  proper  and  rational.  The  person  bind¬ 
ing  himself  proposes  for  a  pattern  the  unchangeable 
and  just  God  ;  and  as  He  is  the  avenger  of  w7rong, 
and  the  punisher  of  falsehood,  and  has  all  power  in  the 
heavens  and  in  the  earth,  so  he  can  punish  perjury  by 
privation  of  spiritual  and  temporal  blessings,  by  the 
loss  of  life,  and  by  inflicting  the  perdition  due  to  un¬ 
godly  men,  among  whom  liars  and  perjured  persons 
occupy  the  most  distinguished  rank.  Our  ideas  of 
delicacy  may  revolt  from  the  rite  used  on  this  occa¬ 
sion  ;  but  when  the  nature  of  the  covenant  is  considered, 
of  w7hich  circumcision  was  the  sign,  we  shall  at  once 
perceive  that  this  rite  could  not  be  used  without  pro¬ 
ducing  sentiments  of  reverence  and  godly  fear,  as  the 
contracting  party  must  know  that  the  God  of  this  cove¬ 
nant  w7as  a  consuming  fire. 

VOL.  I.  (  11  ) 


Yerse  10.  Took  ten  camels']  It  appears  that  Abra¬ 
ham  had  left  the  wdiole  management  of  this  business 
to  the  discretion  of  his  servant,  to  take  with  him  what 
retinue  and  what  dowry  he  pleased  ;  for  it  is  added, 
All  the  goods  of  his  master  were  in  his  hand ;  and  in 
those  times  it  was  customary  to  give  a  dowry  for  a 
wife,  and  not  to  receive  one  with  her. 

Yerse  11.  He  made  his  camels  to  kneel  down]  To 
rest  themselves,  or  lie  dowm,  as  the  Septuagint  has 
very  properly  expressed  it,  Kcu  eicoipuje  rag  KayriXovg. 

The  time  that  women  go  out  to  draw  water.]  In 
Bengal  it  is  the  universal  practice  for  the  women  to  go 
to  pools  and  rivers  to  fetch  water.  Companies  of  four, 
six,  ten,  or  more,  may  be  seen  in  every  town  daily 
going  to  fetch  water,  wTith  the  pitchers  resting  upon 
their  sides ;  and,  on  their  return  from  bathing,  women 
frequently  bring  water  home. — Ward. 

Yerse  12.  And  he  said,  O  Lord  God,  djc.]  “  The 
conduct  of  this  servant,”  says  Hr.  Dodd,  “  appears  no 
less  pious  than  rational.  By  supplicating  for  a  sign, 
he  acknowledges  God  to  be  the  great  superintendent 
and  director  of  the  universe,  and  of  that  event  in  par¬ 
ticular  ;  and  at  the  same  time,  by  asking  a  natural  sign, 
such  as  betokened  humanity,  condescension,  and  other 
qualities  which  promised  a  discreet  and  virtuous  wife, 
he  puts  his  prayer  upon  such  a  discreet,  rational  foot¬ 
ing,  as  to  be  a  proper  example  for  all  to  imitate  who 
would  not  tempt  the  providence  of  God,  by  expecting 
extraordinary  signs  to  be  given  them  for  the  determi¬ 
nation  of  cases  which  they  are  capable  of  deciding  by 
a  proper  use  of  their  rational  faculties.”  This  is  all 
very  good  ;  but  certainly  the  case  referred  to  here  is 
such  a  one  as  required  especial  direction  from  God ; 
a  case  which  no  use  of  the  rational  faculties,  without 
Divine  influence,  could  be  sufficient  to  determine.  It 
is  easy  to  run  into  extremes,  and  it  is  very  natural  so 
to  do.  In  all  things  the  assistance  and  blessing  of 
God  are  necessary,  even  where  human  strength  and 
wisdom  have  the  fullest  and  freest  sphere  of  action  ; 
but  there  are  numberless  cases,  of  infinite  consequence 
to  man,  w7here  his  strength  and  prudence  can  be  of  little 
or  no  avail,  and  wdiere  the  God  of  all  grace  must  work 
all  things  according  to  the  counsel  of  his  own  will. 
To  expect  the  accomplishment  of  any  good  end,  with¬ 
out  a  proper  use  of  the  means,  is  the  most  reprehen¬ 
sible  enthusiasm  ;  and  to  suppose  that  any  good  can 
be  done  or  procured  wuthout  the  blessing  and  mercy 
of  God,  merely  because  proper  means  are  used,  is  not 
less  reprehensible.  Plan,  scheme,  and  labour  like 
Eliezer,  and  then,  by  earnest  faith  and  prayer,  commit 
the  wffiole  to  the  direction  and  blessing  of  God. 

145 


a 


Rebekah  comes  to  draw  water, 


GENESIS.  and  invites  Abraham’s  servant  home. 


A.  M.  2148.  13  Behold,  WI  stand  here  by  the 

B.  c.  1856^  we||  0£  water  .  ai)(]  i  the  daughters 

of  the  men  of  the  city  come  out  to  draw  water  : 

14  And  let  it  come  to  pass,  that  the  damsel 
to  whom  I  shall  say,  Let  down  thy  pitcher, 
I  pray  thee,  that  I  may  drink  ;  and  she  shall 
say,  Drink,  and  I  will  give  thy  camels  drink 
also ;  let  the  same  be  she  that  thou  hast  ap¬ 
pointed  for  thy  servant  Isaac :  and  y  thereby 
shall  I  know  that  thou  hast  showed  kindness 
unto  my  master. 

15  And  it  came  to  pass,  before  he  had  done 
speaking,  that,  behold,  Rebekah  came  out, 
who  was  born  to  Bethuel,  son  of  z  Milcah, 
the  wife  of  Nahor,  Abraham’s  brother,  with 
her  pitcher  upon  her  shoulder. 

1 6  And  the  damsel  a  was  b  very  fair  to  look 
upon,  a  virgin,  neither  had  any  man  known 
her :  and  she  went  down  to  the  well,  and 
filled  her  pitcher,  and  came  up. 

17  And  the  servant  ran  to  meet  her,  and 
said,  Let  me,  I  pray  thee,  drink  a  little  water 
of  thy  pitcher. 

18°  And  she  said,  Drink,  my  lord  :  and  she 
hasted,  and  let  down  her  pitcher  upon  her 
hand,  and  gave  him  drink. 


1 9  And  when  she  had  done  giving  A.  M.  2148. 
,  .  ,  .  ,  .  .  ,  ,  1  °  B.  C.  1856. 

him  drink,  she  said,  I  will  draw  - - 


water  for  thy  camels  also,  until  they  have 
done  drinking. 

20  And  she  hasted,  and  emptied  her  pitcher 
into  the  trough,  and  ran  again  unto  the  well 
to  draw  water,  and  drew  for  all  his  camels. 

2 1  And  the  man,  wondering  at  her,  held  his 
peace,  to  wit,  whether  d  the  Lord  had  made 
his  journey  prosperous  or  not. 

22  And  it  came  to  pass,  as  the  camels  had 
done  drinking,  that  the  man  took  a  golden 
e  ear-ring  fof  half  a  shekel  weight,  and  two 
bracelets  for  her  hands  of  ten  shekels  weight 


of  gold  ; 

23  And  said,  Whose  daughter  art  thou  ? 
tell  me,  I  pray  thee  :  is  there  room  in  thy 
father’s  house  for  us  to  lodge  in  ? 

24  And  she  said  unto  him,  g  I  am  the 
daughter  of  Bethuel  the  son  of  Milcah,  which 
she  bare  unto  Nahor. 

25  She  said  moreover  unto  him,  We  have 
both  straw  and  provender  enough,  and  room 
to  lodge  in. 


26  And  the  man  b  bowed  down  his  head, 
and  worshipped  the  Lord. 


w  Ver.  43. -*  1  Chap.  xxix.  9  ;  Exod.  ii.  16. - Y  See  Judg. 

vi.  17,  37  ;  1  Sam.  vi.  7  ;  xiv.  8  ;  xx.  7  ;  1  Mic.  v.  40. - z  Ch. 

xi.  29  ;  xxii.  23. - a  Chap.  xxvi.  7. - b  Heb.  good  of  counte¬ 

nance. 


c  1  Pet.  iii.  8  ;  iv.  9. - d  Ver.  12,  56. - e  Exod.  xxxii.  2, 

3  ;  Isa.  iii.  19,  20,  21 ;  Ezek.  xvi.  11,  12  ;  1  Pet.  iii.  3. - f  Or, 

jewel  for  the  forehead. - 5  Chap.  xxii.  23. - h  Ver.  52  ;  Exod. 

iv.  31. 


Verse  15.  Behold ,  Rebekah  came  out ]  How  admi¬ 
rably  had  the  providence  of  God  adapted  every  circum¬ 
stance  to  the  necessity  of  the  case,  and  so  as  in  the 
most  punctual  manner  to  answer  the  prayer  which  his 
servant  had  offered  up  ! 

Verse  19.  I  will  draw  water  for  thy  camels  also ] 
Had  Rebekah  done  no  more  than  Eliezer  had  prayed 
for,  we  might  have  supposed  that  she  acted  not  as  a 
free  agent,  but  was  impelled  to  it  by  the  absolutely  con¬ 
trolling  power  of  God  ;  but  as  she  exceeds  all  that  was 
requested,  we  see  that  it  sprang  from  her  native  be¬ 
nevolence,  and  sets  her  conduct  in  the  most  amiable 
point  of  view. 

Verse  21.  The  man ,  wondering  at  her]  And  he 
was  so  lost  in  wonder  and  astonishment  at  her  simpli¬ 
city,  innocence.,  and  benevolence,  that  he  permitted  this 
delicate  female  to  draw  water  for  ten  camels ,  without 
ever  attempting  to  afford  her  any  kind  of  assistance  ! 

I  know  not  which  to  admire  most,  the  benevolence  and 
condescension  of  Rebekah,  or  the  cold  and  apparently 
stupid  indifference  of  the  servant  of  Abraham.  Surely 
they  are  both  of  an  uncommon  cast. 

Verse  22.  The  man  took  a  golden  ear-ring]  Dru  DT3 
nezem  zahab.  That  this  could  not  be  an  ear-ring  is 
very  probable  from  its  being  in  the  singular  number. 
The  margin  calls  it  a  jewel  for  the  forehead;  but  it 
most  likely  means  a  jewel  for  the  nose,  or  nose-ring , 
a  146 


which  is  in  universal  use  through  all  parts  of  Arabia 
and  Persia,  particularly  among  young  women.  They 
are  generally  worn  in  the  left  nostril.  The  word  is 
very  properly  translated  ek ipfiivtov,  an  ornament  for  the 
nose,  by  Symmachus. 

Half  a  shekel]  For  the  weight  of  a  shekel,  see 
chap.  xx.  16. 

And  tioo  bracelets]  D’TD2f  usheney  tsemidim. 
As  tsemidim  comes  from  tsamad,  to  join  or  couple 
together,  it  may  very  properly  mean  bracelets,  or  what¬ 
ever  may  clasp  round  the  arms  or  legs  ;  for  rings  and 
ornaments  are  worn  round  both  by  females  in  India  and 
Persia.  The  small  part  of  the  leg  is  generally  deco¬ 
rated  in  this  way,  and  so  is  the  whole  arm  from  the 
shoulder  to  the  wrist.  As  these  tsemidim  were  given 
to  Rebekah  for  her  hands ,  it  sufficiently  distinguishes 
them  from  a  similar  ornament  used  for  the  ankles. 

In  different  parts  of  the  sacred  writings  there  are 
allusions  to  ornaments  of  various  kinds  still  in  use  in 
different  Asiatic  countries.  They  are  of  seven  different 
sorts:  1.  for  the  forehead  ;  2.  for  the  nose  ;  3.  for  the 
ears  ;  4.  for  the  arms  ;  5.  for  th e  fingers  ;  6.  for  the 
neck  and  breast ;  7.  for  the  ankles.  See  ver.  22,  47  ; 
also  Ezek.  xvi.  12  ;  Prov.  xi.  22  ;  Isa.  iii.  21  ;  Gen. 
xxxv.  4  ;  Exod.  xxxii.  2,  3  ;  Job  xlii.  11  ;  Judg.  viii. 
24.  The  principal  female  ornaments  are  enumerated 
in  the  third  chapter  of  Isaiah,  which  are  very  nearly 

(  ID  ) 


CHAP.  XXIV. 


Laban  repeats  the  invitation. 


The  servant  delivers  his  message. 


a.  M.  2148.  27  And  he  said,  1  Blessed  be  the 

-  C'  18j6~  Lord  God  of  my  master  Abraham, 
who  hath  not  left  destitute  my  master  of 
k  his  mercy  and  his  truth :  I  being  in  the 
way,  the  Lord  1  led  me  to  the  house  of  my 
master’s  brethren. 

28  And  the  damsel  ran,  and  told  them  of 
her  mother’s  house  these  things. 

29  And  Rebekah  had  a  brother,  and  his 
name  ivas  m  Laban  :  and  Laban  ran  out  unto 
the  man,  unto  the  well. 

30  And  it  came  to  pass,  when  he  saw  the 
ear-ring  and  bracelets  upon  his  sister’s  hands, 
and  when  he  heard  the  words  of  Rebekah 
his  sister,  saying,  Thus  spake  the  man  unto 
me,  that,  he  came  unto  the  man ;  and,  behold, 
he  stood  by  the  camels  at  the  well. 

31  And  he  said,  Come  in,  n  thou  blessed  of 
the  Lord  ;  wherefore  standest  thou  without  ? 
for  I  have  prepared  the  house,  and  room  for 
the  camels. 

32  And  the  man  came  into  the  house  :  and 
he  ungirded  his  camels,  and  0  gave  straw  and 
provender  for  the  camels,  and  water  to  wash 
his  feet,  and  the  men’s  feet  that  were  with  him. 

33  And  there  was  set  meat  before  him  to 


eat :  but  he  said,  p  I  will  not  eat  a.  m.  2148 
until  I  have  told  mine  errand.  1856‘, 
And  he  said,  Speak  on. 

34  And  he  said,  I  am  Abraham’s  servant. 

35  And  the  Lord  q  hath  blessed  my  master 
greatly  ;  and  he  is  become  great :  and  he  hath 
given  him  flocks,  and  herds,  and  silver,  and 
gold,  and  men-servants,  and  maid-servants,  and 
camels,  and  asses. 

36  And  Sarah  my  master’s  wife  rbare  a  son 
to  my  master  when  she  was  old,  and  s  unto 
him  hath  he  given  all  that  he  hath. 

37  And  my  master  lmade  me  swear,  saying, 
Thou  shalt  not  take  a  wife  to  my  son  of  the 
daughters  of  the  Canaanites,  in  whose  land  I 
dwell  : 


38  u  But  thou  shalt  go  unto  my  father’s 
house,  and  to  my  kindred,  and  take  a  wife 
unto  my  son. 

39  v  And  I  said  unto  my  master,  Peradven- 
ture  the  woman  will  not  follow  me. 

40  w  And  he  said  unto  me,  The  Lord,  x  be¬ 
fore  whom  I  walk,  will  send  his  angel  with 
thee,  and  prosper  thy  way ;  and  thou  shalt 
take  a  wife  for  my  son  of  my  kindred,  and  of 
my  father’s  house. 


5  Exod.  xviii.  10 ;  Ruth  iv.  14 ;  l  Sam.  xxv.  32,  39  ;  2  Sam. 

xviii.  28  ;  Luke  i.  68. - k  Chapter  xxxii.  10  ;  Psa.  xcviii.  3. 

1  Ver.  48. - m  Chap.  xxix.  5. - n  Chap.  xxvi.  29  ;  Judg.  xvii.  2 ; 

Ruth  iii.  10 ;  Psa.  cxv.  15. 

the  same  that  are  in  use  in  Persia  and  India  to  the 
present  time. 

Verse  26.  Bowed  down  his  head ,  and  worshipped ] 
Two  acts  of  adoration  are  mentioned  here  ;  1 .  Bowing 
the  head,  Ip’1  yikkod ;  and,  2.  Prostration  upon  the 
earth,  inntJH  vaiyishtachu.  The  bowing  of  the  head 
was  to  Rebekah ,  to  return  her  thanks  for  her  kind  in¬ 
vitation.  The  prostration  was  to  Jehovah ,  in  gratitude 
for  the  success  with  which  he  had  favoured  him. 

Verse  27.  The  Lord  led  me]  By  desire  of  his  master 
he  went  out  on  this  journey  ;  and  as  he  acknowledged 
God  in  all  his  ways,  the  Lord  directed  all  his  steps. 

Verse  28.  Her  mother's  house]  Some  have  con¬ 
jectured  from  this  that  her  father  Bethuel  was  dead  ; 
and  the  person  called  Bethuel ,  verse  50,  was  a  younger 
brother.  This  is  possible,  but  the  mother’s  house 
might  be  mentioned  were  even  the  father  alive  ;  for  in 
Asiatic  countries  the  women  have  apartments  entirely 
separate  from  those  of  the  men,  in  which  their  little 
children  and  grown-up  daughters  reside  with  them. 
This  was  probably  the  case  here,  though  it  is  very 
likely  that  Bethuel  was  dead,  as  the  whole  business 
appears  to  be  conducted  by  Rebekah’s  brothers. 

Verse  31.  Thou  blessed  of  the  Lord]  Probably  a 
usual  mode  of  wishing  prosperity,  as  he  that  is  blessed 
of  the  Lord  is  worthy  of  all  respect;  for,  enjoying  the  Di¬ 
vine  favour,  he  is  in  possession  of  the  sum  of  happiness. 

a 


0  Chap,  xliii.  24 ;  Judg.  xix.  21. - P  Job  xxiii.  12  ;  John  iv. 

34;  Eph.  vi.  5,  6,  7. - Ver.  1  ;  chap.  xiii.  2. - rChap.  xxi. 

2. - s  Ch.  xxi.  10  ;  xxv.  5. - 1  Ver.  3. - u  Ver.  4. - v  Ver. 

5. - w  Ver.  7. - x  Chap.  xvii.  1. 

Verse  32.  Provender  for  the  camels]  These  were 
the  first  objects  of  his  care  ;  for  a  good  man  is  mer¬ 
ciful  to  his  beast. 

Water  to  wash  his  feet]  Thus  it  thus  appears  that 
he  had  servants  with  him ;  and  as  the  fatigues  of  the 
journey  must  have  fallen  as  heavily  upon  them  as  upon 
himself,  so  we  find  no  distinction  made,  but  water 
is  provided  to  wash  their  feet  also. 

Verse  33.  I  will  not  eat  until  I  have  told]  In 
Hindoostan  it  is  not  unusual  for  a  Brahmin  to  enter  a 
house  and  sit  down,  and  when  meat  is  offered,  refuse 
to  eat  till  he  has  obtained  the  object  of  his  errand. 
Here  is  a  servant  who  had  his  master’s  interest  more 
at  heart  than  his  own.  He  refuses  to  take  even 
necessary  refreshment  till  he  knows  whether  he 
is  likely  to  accomplish  the  object  of  his  journey. 
Did  not  our  blessed  Lord  allude  to  the  conduct 
of  Abraham’s  servant,  John  iv.  34 :  My  meat  is 
to  do  the  will  of  him  that  sent  me ,  and  to  finish  his 
work  ? 

Verse  36.  Unto  him  hath  he  given  all  that  he 
hath.]  He  has  made  Isaac  his  sole  heir.  These 
things  appear  to  be  spoken  to  show  the  relatives  of 
Rebekah  that  his  master’s  son  was  a  proper  match  for 
her  ;  for  even  in  those  primitive  times  there  was  re¬ 
gard  had  to  the  suitableness  of  station  and  rank  in  life, 
as  well  as  of  education,  in  order  to  render  a  match 

147 


GENESIS. 


conversation  he  had  with  Rebekah 


Abraham's  servant  repeats  the 

A.  M.  2148.  41  y  Then  shalt  thou  be  clear 

— — ' - 1  from  this  my  oath,  when  thou 

comest  to  my  kindred ;  and  if  they  give  not 
thee  one,  thou  shalt  be  clear  from  my  oath. 

42  And  I  came  this  day  unto  the  well,  and 
said,  z  0  Lord  God  of  my  master  Abraham, 
if  now  thou  do  prosper  my  way  which  I  go  ; 

43  a  Behold,  I  standby  the  well  of  water; 
and  it  shall  come  to  pass,  that  when  the  virgin 
cometh  forth  to  draw  water,  and  I  say  to  her, 
Give  me,  I  pray  thee,  a  little  water  of  thy 
pitcher  to  drink ; 

44  And  she  say  to  me,  Both  drink  thou,  and 
I  will  also  draw  for  thy  camels  ;  let  the  same 
be  the  woman  whom  the  Lord  hath  appointed 
out  for  my  master’s  son. 

45  h  And  before  I  had  done  c  speaking  in 
mine  heart,  behold,  Rebekah  came  forth,  with 
her  pitcher  on  her  shoulder  ;  and  she  went 
down  unto  the  well,  and  drew  water :  and  I 
said  unto  her,  Let.  me  drink,  I  pray  thee. 

46  And  she  made  haste,  and  let  down  her 
pitcher  from  her  shoulder,  and  said,  Drink, 
and  I  will  give  thy  camels  drink  also :  so  I 
drank,  and  she  made  the  camels  drink  also. 

47  And  I  asked  her,  and  said,  Whose  daugh¬ 
ter  art  thou  ?  And  she  said,  The  daughter  of 

y  Ver.  8. - zVer.  12. - aVer.  13. - bVer.  15,  &c. 

c  1  Sam.  i.  13. - d  Ezek.  xvi.  11,  12. - e  Ver.  26. - f  Chap. 

xxii.  23. - s  Chap,  xlvii.  29  ;  Josh.  ii.  14. - h  Psa.  cxviii.  23  ; 

comfortable.  Persons  of  dissimilar  habits,  as  well  as 
of  dissimilar  religious  principles,  are  never  likely  to  be 
very  happy  in  a  married  life.  Even  the  poor  and  the 
rich  may  better  meet  together  in  matrimonial  alliances 
than  the  religious  and  the  profane,  the  well-bred  and 
the  vulgar.  A  person  may  be  unequally  yoked  in  a 
great  variety  of  ways  :  Bear  ye  one  another's  burdens 
is  the  command  of  God  ;  but  where  there  is  unsuitable¬ 
ness  in  the  dispositions,  education,  mental  capacity,  &c., 
of  the  persons,  then  one  side  is  obliged  to  bear  the 
whole  burden,  and  endless  dissatisfaction  is  the  result. 
See  at  the  end. 

Verse  42.  O  Lord  God  of  my  master ]  As  Abra¬ 
ham  was  the  friend  of  God,  Eliezer  makes  use  of  this 
to  give  weight  and  consequence  to  his  petitions. 

Verse  43.  When  the  virgin]  nsbj’PI  haalmah,  from 
chy  alarn,  to  hide,  cover,  or  conceal ;  a  pure  virgin,  a 
woman  not  uncovered,  and  in  this  respect  still  concealed 
from  man.  The  same  as  nblHD  bethulah,  ver.  16, 
which,  from  the  explanation  there  given,  incontestably 
means  a  virgin  in  the  proper  sense  of  the  word — a 
young  woman,  not  that  is  covered  or  kept  at  home ,  the 
common  gloss,  but  who  was  not  uncovered  in  the 
delicate  sense  in  which  the  Scripture  uses  this  word. 
See  this  interpretation  vindicated  on  Isa.  vii.  14. 

Verse  45.  Before  I  had  done  speaking  in  mine 
heart ]  So  we  find  that  the  whole  of  this  prayer,  so 

148 


Bethuel,  Nahor  s  son,  whom  Milcah  A. M. 2148. 

.  ’  .  .  1  ,  .  B.  C.  1856 

bare  unto  him  :  ana  i  d  put  the  ear-  - - 

ring  upon  her  face,  and  the  bracelets  upon 

her  hands. 

48  e  And  I  bowed  down  my  head,  and  wor¬ 
shipped  the  Lord  ;  and  blessed  the  Lord 
God  of  my  master  Abraham,  which  had  led 
me  in  the  right  way,  to  take  fmy  master’s 
brother’s  daughter  unto  his  son. 

49  And  now  if  ye  will  s  deal  kindly  and 
truly  with  my  master,  tell  me  ;  and  if  not,  tell 
me  ;  that  I  may  turn  to  the  right  hand,  or  to 
the  left. 

50  Then  Laban  and  Bethuel  answered  and 
said,  h  The  thing  proceedeth  from  the  Lord  : 
we  cannot  1  speak  unto  thee  bad  or  good. 

5 1  Behold,  Rebekah  k  is  before  thee,  take 
her,  and  go,  and  let  her  be  thy  master’s  son’s 
wife,  as  the  .Lord  hath  spoken. 

52  And  it  came  to  pass,  that,  when  Abra¬ 
ham’s  servant  heard  their  words,  he  1  wor¬ 
shipped  the  Lord,  bowing  himself  to  the 
earth. 

53  And  the  servant  brought  forth  m  jewels 
of  silver,  n  and  jewels  of  gold,  and  raiment, 
and  gave  them  to  Rebekah  :  he  gave  also  to 
her  brother  and  to  her  mother  0  precious  things. 

Matt.  xxi.  42  ;  Mark  xii.  11. - ’  Chap.  xxxi.  24. - k  Chap.  xx. 

15. - 1  Ver.  26. - m  Heb.  vessels. - n  Exod.  iii.  22  ;  xi.2;  xii. 

35. - 0  2  Chron.  xxi.  3  ;  Ezra  i.  6. 

circumstantially  related  verses  12—14,  and  again 
42—44,  was  mental,  and  heard  only  by  that  God  to 
whom  it  was  directed.  It  would  have  been  improper 
to  have  used  public  prayer  on  the  occasion,  as  his  ser¬ 
vants  could  have  felt  no  particular  interest  in  the  ac¬ 
complishment  of  his  petitions,  because  they  were  not 
concerned  in  them,  having  none  of  the  responsibility 
of  this  mission. 

Verse  49.  That  I  may  turn  to  the  right  hand  or  to 
the  left.]  That  is,  That  I  may  go  elsewrhere  and  seek 
a  proper  match  for  the  son  of  my  master.  Some  have 
imagined  that  Eliezer  intimated  by  these  expressions 
that  if  he  did  not  succeed  in  obtaining  Rebekah,  he 
would  go  and  seek  for  a  wife  either  among  the  de¬ 
scendants  of  Ishmael  or  the  descendants  of  Lot.  This 
interpretation  is  fanciful. 

Verse  50.  Laban  and  Bethuel ]  These  seem  both 
to  be  brothers,  of  vrhom  Laban  was  the  eldest  and 
chief;  for  the  opinion  of  Josephus  appears  to  be  very 
correct,  viz.,  that  Bethuel,  the  father,  had  been  some 
time  dead.  See  ver.  28. 

Bad  or  good.]  We  can  neither  speak  for  nor 
against;  it  seems  to  be  entirely  the  work  of  God, 
and  we  cordially  submit :  consult  Rebekah  ;  if  she  be 
willing,  take  her  and  go.  See  ver.  58. 

Verse  53.  Jewels  of  silver,  and  jewels  of  gold ] 
The  wrord  'bj  keley ,  which  we  here  translate  jewels 


CHAP.  XXIV. 


He  departs  with  Rehehah. 

A.  M.  2148.  54  And  they  did  eat  and  drink, 

"  J~.  he  and  the  men  that  were  with  him, 
and  tarried  all  night ;  and  they  rose  up  in  the 
morning,  and  he  said,  p  Send  me  away  unto 
my  master. 

55  And  her  brother  and  her  mother  said, 
Let  the  damsel  abide  with  us  *  a  few  days,  at 
the  least  ten ;  after  that  she  shall  go. 

56  And  he  said  unto  them,  Hinder  me  not, 
seeing  the  Lord  hath  prospered  my  way ; 
send  me  away  that  I  may  go  to  my  master. 

57  And  they  said,  We  will  call  the  damsel, 
and  inquire  at  her  mouth. 

58  And  they  called  Rebekah,  and  said  unto 
her,  Wilt  thou  go  with  this  man  ?  And  she 
said,  I  will  go. 

59  And  they  sent  away  Rebekah  their  sister, 
and  r  her  nurse,  and  Abraham’s  servant,  and 
his  men. 

P  Ver.  56,  59. - i  Or,  a  full  year,  or,  ten  months  ;  Judg.  xiv.  8. 

r  Chap.  xxxv.  8. - s  Chap.  xvii.  16. - 1  Chap.  xxii.  17. 

signifies  properly  vessels  or  instruments ;  and  those 
presented  by  Eliezer  might  have  been  of  various  kinds. 
What  he  had  given  before,  ver.  22,  was  in  token  of 
respect ,  what  lie  gave  now  appears  to  have  been  in 
the  way  of  dowry. 

Precious  things.']  friUD  migdanoth.  This  word 
is  used  to  express  exquisite  fruits  or  delicacies ,  Deut. 
xxxiii.  13—16;  precious  plants  or  flowers,  Cant.  iv. 
16 ;  vii.  13.  But  it  may  mean  gifts  in  general,  though 
rather  of  an  inferior  kind  to  those  mentioned  above. 

Yerse  54.  And  they  did  eat  and  drink]  When 
Eliezer  had  got  a  favourable  answer,  then  he  and  his 
servants  sat  down  to  meat ;  this  he  had  refused  to  do 
till  he  had  told  his  message,  ver.  33. 

Yerse  55.  Let  the  damsel  abide  with  us  a  few  days , 
at  the  least  ten]  The  original  is  very  abrupt  and  ob¬ 
scure,  because  we  are  not  acquainted  with  the  precise 
meaning  of  the  form  of  speech  which  is  here  used ; 

IX  D’D’  yamim  or  asor  days  or  ten,  probably 
meaning  a  year  or  ten  months ,  as  the  margin  reads 
it,  or  a  week  or  ten  days.  This  latter  is  the  most 
likely  sense,  as  there  would  be  no  propriety  after 
having  given  their  consent  that  she  should  go,  in  de¬ 
taining  her  for  a  year  or  ten  months.  In  matters  of 
simple  phraseology,  or  in  those  which  concern  peculiar 
customs,  the  Septuagint  translation,  especially  in  the 
Pentateuch,  where  it  is  most  accurate  and  pure,  may 
be  considered  a  legitimate  judge  ;  this  translation 
renders  the  words  i/pepaq  uctei  Sena,  about  ten  days. 
Houbigant  contends  strongly  that  instead  of  the  words 
IX  D'D1  yamim  o  asor,  days  or  ten,  we  should  read 
O'D’  mn  chodesh  yamim,  a  month  of  days,  i.  e.,  a 
full  month;  without  which  emendation  he  asserts, 
locus  explicari  non  possit,  u  the  passage  cannot  be  ex¬ 
plained.”  This  emendation  is  supported  by  the  Syriac 

version,  which  reads  here  CajJL*  y orach 

yomin,  a  month  of  days,  or  a  full  month.  The  reader 

a 


They  are  met  by  Isaac. 

60  And  they  blessed  Rebekah,  A.  M.  2148. 
and  said  unto  her,  Thou  art  our  .C‘  1856‘ 
sister,  be  thou  sthe  mother  of  thousands  of 
millions,  and  t  let  thy  seed  possess  the  gate 
of  those  which  hate  them. 

6 1  And  Rebekah  arose,  and  her  damsels, 
and  they  rode  upon  the  camels,  and  followed 
the  man:  and  the  servant  took  Rebekah,  and 
went  his  way. 

62  And  Isaac  came  from  the  way  of  the 
11  well  Lahai-roi ;  for  he  dwelt  in  the  south 
country. 

63  And  Isaac  went  out  Tto  meditate  in  the 
field  at  the  w  eventide  :  and  he  lifted  up  his 
eyes,  and  saw,  and  behold,  the  camels  were 
coming. 

64  And  Rebekah  lifted  up  her  eyes, 
and  when  she  saw  Isaac,  x  she  lighted  off  the 
camel. 

u  Chap.  xvi.  14 ;  xxv.  11. - v  Or,  to  pray. - w  Josh.  i.  8  ;  Psa. 

i.  2  ;  lxxvii.  12  ;  cxix.  15  ;  cxliii.  5. - x  Josh.  xv.  18. 

may  adopt  the  Syriac  or  the  Septuagint,  as  he  judges 
best. 

Yerse  58.  Wilt  thou  go  with  this  man?]  So  it 
appears  it  was  left  ultimately  to  the  choice  of  Rebekah 
whether  she  would  accept  the  proposals  now  made  to 
her,  unless  we  suppose  that  the  question  meant,  Wilt 
thou  go  immediately ,  or  stay  with  us  a  month  longer  ? 

She  said,  I  will  go.]  It  fully  appears  to  be  the  will 
of  God  that  it  should  be  so,  and  I  consent.  This  at 
once  determined  the  whole  business. 

Yerse  59.  And  her  nurse]  Whose  name,  we  learn 
from  chap.  xxxv.  8,  was  Deborah,  and  who,  as  a 
second  mother,  was  deemed  proper  to  accompany 
Rebekah.  This  was  a  measure  dictated  by  good 
sense  and  prudence.  Rebekah  had  other  female  at¬ 
tendants.  See  ver.  61. 

Yerse  60.  Be  thou  the  mother  of  thousands  of 
millions]  rDD*l  '’Sbxb  lealphey  rebabah ,  for  thousands 
ten  thousand,  or  for  myriads  of  thousands,  a  large 
family  being  ever  considered,  in  ancient  times,  as  a 
proof  of  the  peculiar  blessing  and  favour  of  God. 
Similar  addresses  to  a  daughter,  when  she  is  going 
from  her  father’s  house  to  live  with  her  husband,  are 
very  common  among  the  Hindoos  ;  such  as,  “  Be  thou 
the  mother  of  a  son,”  “  Be  thou  the  wife  of  a  king,” 
&c.  See  Ward. 

Yerse  62.  And  Isaac  came]  Concerning  this  well 
see  chap.  xvi.  13,  &c.  As  it  appears  from  chap.  xxv. 
1 1 ,  that  Isaac  dwelt  at  the  well  Lahai-roi,  it  has  been 
conjectured  that  he  had  now  come  on  a  visit  to  his 
aged  father  at  Beer-sheba,  where  he  waited  in  expec¬ 
tation  of  his  bride. 

For  he  dwelt  in  the  south  country.]  The  southern 
part  of  the  land  of  Canaan.  See  chap.  xii.  9. 

Yerse  63.  Isaac  went  out  to  meditate]  lasu- 

ach,  to  bend  down  the  body,  or  the  mind,  or  both.  He 
was  probably  in  deep  thought,  with  his  eyes  fixed  upon 

149 


I 


Rebekah  veils  herself.  GENESIS.  She  becomes  the  wife  of  Isaac. 


A.  M.  2148.  65  For  she  had  said  unto  the 

— — - - 1  servant,  What  man  is  this  that 

walketh  in  the  field  to  meet  us  ?  And 
the  servant  had  said,  It  is  my  master : 
therefore  she  took  y  a  veil,  and  covered 
herself. 

y  Chap.  xx.  16  ;  1  Cor.  xi.  1,  6,  10. 

the  ground.  What  the  subject  of  his  meditation  was 
it  is  useless  to  inquire  ;  he  was  a  pious  man,  and  could 
not  be  trijiingly  employed. 

Verse  65.  She  took  a  veil]  hatstsaaif.  This 

is  the  first  time  this  word  occurs,  and  it  is  of  doubtful 
signification ;  but  most  agree  to  render  it  a  veil  or  a 
cloak.  The  former  is  the  most  likely,  as  it  was  gene¬ 
rally  used  by  women  in  the  east  as  a  sign  of  chastity , 
modesty ,  and  subjection. 

Verse  67.  Sarah's  tent ]  Sarah  being  dead,  her 
tent  became  now  appropriated  to  the  use  of  Rebekah. 

And  took  Rebekah ,  tyc.]  After  what  form  this  was 
done  we  are  not  told ;  or  whether  there  was  any  form 
used  on  the  occasion,  more  than  solemnly  receiving 
her  as  the  person  whom  God  had  chosen  to  be  his 
wife  ;  for  it  appears  from  ver.  66  that  the  servant 
told  him  all  the  especial  providential  circumstances 
which  had  marked  his  journey.  The  primitive  form 
of  marriage  we  have  already  seen,  chap.  ii.  23,  24, 
which,  it  is  likely,  as  far  as  form  was  attended  to, 
was  that  which  was  commonly  used  in  all  the  pa¬ 
triarchal  times. 

In  this  chapter  we  have  an  affecting  and  edifying 
display  of  that  providence  by  which  God  disposes  and 
governs  the  affairs  of  the  universe,  descending  to  the 
minutest  particulars,  and  managing  the  great  whole  by 
directing  and  influencing  all  its  parts.  This  particular 
or  especial  providence  we  see  is  not  confined  to  work 
by  general  laws  ;  it  is  wise  and  intelligent,  for  it  is 
the  mind,  the  will,  and  energy  of  God ;  it  steps  out  of 
common  ways,  and  takes  particular  directions,  as  end¬ 
lessly  varied  human  necessities  may  need,  or  the 
establishment  and  maintenance  of  godliness  in  the 
earth  may  require.  What  a  history  of  providential 
occurrences,  coming  all  in  answer  to  the  prayer  and 
faith  of  a  simple,  humble  individual,  does  this  chapter 
exhibit ! 

As  Abraham’s  servant  has  God’s  glory  only  in  view 
in  the  errand  on  which  he  is  going,  he  may  well  expect 
the  Divine  direction.  See  with  what  simplicity  and 
confidence  he  prays  to  God  !  He  even  prescribes  the 
way  in  which  the  Divine  choice  and  approbation  shall 
be  made  known  ;  and  God  honours  the  purity  of  his 
motives  and  his  pious  faith,  by  giving  him  precisely  the 
answer  he  wished.  How  honourable  in  the  sight  of 
God  is  simplicity  of  heart !  It  has  nothing  to  fear, 
and  all  good  to  hope  for  ;  whereas  a  spirit  warped  by 
self-interest  and  worldly  views  is  always  uncertain  and 
agitated ,  as  it  is  ever  seeking  that  from  its  own  coun¬ 
sels, ,  projects,  and  schemes,  which  should  be  sought  in 
God  alone.  In  every  place  the  upright  man  meets 
with  his  God ;  his  heart  acknowledges  his  Maker, 
and  his  Maker  acknowledges  him  ;  for  such  a  one  the 

150 


66  And  the  servant  told  Isaac  A. M.2H8. 

all  things  that  he  had  done.  — -  C~ 1856', 

67  And  Isaac  brought  her  into  his  mother 
z  Sarah’s  tent,  and  took  Rebekah,  and  she 
became  his  wife ;  and  he  loved  her :  and 
Isaac  a  was  comforted  after  his  mother’s  death. 

z  Chap,  xviii.  6,  9,  10. - a  Chap,  xxxviii.  12  ;  1  Thess.  iv.  15. 

whole  economy  of  providence  and  grace  is  ever  at 
work. 

Abraham’s  solicitude  to  get  a  suitable  wife  for  his 
son  is  worthy  of  the  most  serious  regard.  He  was 
well  aware  that  if  Isaac  formed  a  matrimonial  alliance 
with  the  Canaanites  it  might  be  ruinous  to  his  piety, 
and  prevent  the  dissemination  of  the  true  religion  ; 
therefore  he  binds  his  most  trusty  servant  by  a  solemn 
oath  not  to  take  a  wife  for  his  son  from  the  daughters 
of  Canaan,  but  from  his  own  kindred,  among  whom 
the  knowledge  of  the  true  God  was  best  preserved. 
Others  had  different  rays  of  the  light  of  truth,  but 
Abraham’s  family  alone  had  the  truth;  and  to  the 
descendants  of  this  family  were  the  promises  made. 

How  careful  should  parents  be  to  procure  alliances 
for  their  children  with  those  who  fear  God,  as  so 
much  of  the  peace  and  comfort  of  the  children,  and  the 
happiness  of  their  posterity,  depend  on  this  circum¬ 
stance  !  But  alas !  how  many  sacrifice  the  comfort 
and  salvation  of  their  offspring  at  the  shrine  of  Mam¬ 
mon  !  If  they  can  procure  rich  husbands  and  wives 
for  their  daughters  and  sons,  then  all,  in  their  appre¬ 
hension,  is  well.  Marriages  of  this  kind  may  be  con¬ 
sidered  as  mere  bargain  and  sale ;  for  there  is  scarcely 
ever  any  reference  to  God  or  eternity  in  them.  The 
Divine  institution  of  marriage  is  left 'out  of  sight;  and 
the  persons  are  united,  not  properly  to  each  other,  in 
the  love,  fear,  and  according  to  the  ordinance  of  God, 
but  they  are  wedded  to  so  many  thousand  pounds  ster¬ 
ling,  and  to  so  many  houses,  fields,  &c.  Thus  like 
goes  to  like,  metal  to  metal,  earth  to  earth.  Marriages 
formed  on  such  principles  are  mere  licensed  adulteries. 
Let  such  contractors  hear  these  awful  words  of  God: 
“Ye  adulterers  and  adulteresses,  know  ye  not  that  the 
friendship  of  the  world  is  enmity  with  God  1”  James 
iv.  4.  See  on  ver.  36. 

Although  under  the  patriarchal  dispensation  parents 
had  a  kind  of  absolute  authority  over  their  children, 
and  might  dispose  of  them  as  they  pleased  in  general 
cases,  yet  it  appears  that  in  matrimonial  connections 
they  were  under  no  compulsion.  The  suitable  person 
was  pointed  out  and  recommended  ;  but  it  does  not 
appear  that  children  were  forced,  against  the  whole 
tide  of  their  affections,  to  take  those  persons  who  were 
the  objects  of  the  parent’s  choice.  Wilt  thou  go  with 
this  man  ?  was,  in  all  likelihood,  deemed  essential  to 
the  completion  of  the  contract ;  and  by  the  answer,  1 
will  go,  was  the  contract  fully  ratified.  Thus  the  per¬ 
sons  were  ultimately  left  to  their  own  choice,  though 
the  most  prudent  and  proper  means  were  no  doubt 
used  in  order  to  direct  and  fix  it.  Whether  this  was 
precisely  the  plan  followed  in  primitive  times  we  can¬ 
not  absolutely  say  :  they  were  times  of  great  simple 
city ;  and  probably  connections  on  the  mere  principle 

a 


Abraham's  posterity  by  CHAP.  XXV.  his  second  wife,  Keturah. 


of  affection ,  independently  of  all  other  considerations, 
seldom  existed.  And  it  must  be  allowed  that  matches 
formed  on  the  sole  principle  of  convenience  might  as 
well  be  formed  by  the  parents  as  by  any  others ; 
and  in  Asiatic  countries  it  was  generally  so,  for 
there  the  female  seldom  presumes  to  have  a  choice 
of  her  own. 

In  all  cases  of  this  kind  the  child  should  invariably 


consult  the  experience  and  wisdom  of  the  parents  ;  and 
the  parents  should  ever  pay  much  respect  to  the  feel¬ 
ings  of  the  child,  nor  oppose  an  alliance  which  may 
be  in  all  other  respects  suitable,  because  there  may  bo 
a  lack  of  property  on  one  side  of  the  intended  match. 
If  parents  would  proceed  in  this  way,  God  would  pour 
his  blessing  on  their  seed,  and  his  Spirit  upon  their 
offspring. 


CHAPTER  XXV. 


Abraham  marries  Keturah ,  1.  Their  issue ,  2—4.  Makes  Isaac  his  heir,  5  ;  but  gives  portions  to  the  sons 
of  his  concubines,  and  sends  them  eastward  from  Isaac,  to  find  settlements,  6.  Abraham's  age,  7,  and 
death ,  8.  Is  buried  by  his  sons  Isaac  and  Ishmael  in  the  cave  of  Machpelah,  9,  10.  God's  blessing  upon 
Isaac,  11.  The  generations  of  Ishmael ,  12—16.  Ilis  age,  17,  and  death,  18.  Of  the  generations  of 
Isaac,  19,  who  was  married  in  his  fortieth  year,  20.  Rebekah  his  wife  being  barren ,  on  his  prayer  to  God 
she  conceives,  21.  She  inquires  of  the  Lord  concerning  her  state ,  22.  The  Lord's  answer ,  23.  She  is 
delivered  of  twins,  24.  Peculiarities  in  the  birth  of  her  sons  Esau  and  Jacob,  from  which  they  had  their 
names,  25,  26.  Their  different  manner  of  life,  27,  28.  Esau,  returning  from  the  field  faint,  begs  pottage 
from  his  brother,  29,  30.  Jacob  refuses  to  grant  him  any  but  on  condition  of  his  selling  him  his  birth¬ 
right,  31.  Esau,  ready  to  die,  parts  with  his  birthright  to  save  his  life,  32.  Jacob  causes  him  to  confirm 
the  sale  with  an  oath,  33.  He  receives  bread  and  pottage  of  lentiles,  and  departs ,  34. 


a.  M.  cir.  2154.  T^HEN  a  cram  a  Abraham  took 
B.  C.  cir.  1850.  JL  . .  °  . 

-  a  wile,  and  her  name  was 

Keturah. 


2  And  b  she  bare  him  Zimran, 
and  Jokshan,  and  Medan,  and 


A.  M.  cir.  2155 

B.  C.  cir.  1849 


c  Midian,  and  Ishbak,  and  Shuah. 


‘Chap.  xxiii.  1,  2. - b  1  Chron.  i.  32, 33. - c  Chap,  xxxvii.  28; 

NOTES  ON  CHAP.  XNY. 

Verse  1.  Then  again  Abraham  took  a  wife\  When 
Abraham  took  Keturah  we  are  not  informed ;  it  might 
have  been  in  the  lifetime  of  Sarah  ;  and  the  original 
vaiyoseph,  and  he  added,  <fc.,  seems  to  give  some 
countenance  to  this  opinion.  Indeed  it  is  not  very 
likely  that  he  had  the  children  mentioned  here  after 
the  death  of  Sarah  ;  and  from  the  circumstances  of 
his  age,  feebleness,  &c.,  at  the  birth  of  Isaac,  it  is 
still  more  improbable.  Even  at  that  age,  forty  years 
before  the  marriage  of  Isaac,  the  birth  of  his  son  is 
considered  as  not  less  miraculous  on  his  part  than  on 
the  part  of  Sarah  ;  for  the  apostle  expressly  says,  Rom. 
iv.  19,  that  Abraham  considered  not  his  own  body  now- 
dead,  when  he  was  about  a  hundred  years  old,  nor  the 
deadness  of  Sarah's  womb ;  hence  we  learn  that  they 
were  both  past  the  procreation  of  children,  insomuch 
that  the  birth  of  Isaac  is  ever  represented  as  super¬ 
natural.  It  is  therefore  very  improbable  that  he  had 
any  child  after  the  birth  of  Isaac  ;  and  therefore  we 
may  well  suppose  that  Moses  had  related  this  transac¬ 
tion  out  of  its  chronological  order,  which  is  not  unfre¬ 
quent  in  the  sacred  writings,  when  a  variety  of  im¬ 
portant  facts  relative  to  the  accomplishment  of  some 
grand  design  are  thought  necessary  to  be  produced  in 
a  connected  series.  On  this  account  intervening  mat¬ 
ters  of  a  different  complexion  are  referred  to  a  future 
time.  Perhaps  we  may  be  justified  in  reading  the 
verse  :  “  And  Abraham  had  added,  and  had  taken  a 
wife  (besides  Hagar)  whose  name  w'as  Keturah,”  &c. 
The  chronology  in  the  margin  dates  this  marriage  with 
Keturah  A.  M.  2154,  nine  years  after  the  death  of 

a 


Exod.  ii.  15,  16  ;  xviii.  1-4  ;  Num.  xxii.  4  ;  Judg.  vi,,  vii.,  viii. 

Sarah,  A.  M.  2145.  Jonathan  ben  Uzziel  and  the 
Jerusalem  Targum  both  assert  that  Keturah  was  the 
same  as  Hagar.  Some  rabbins,  and  with  them  Dr. 
Hammond,  are  of  the  same  opinion  ;  but  both  Hagar 
and  Keturah  are  so  distinguished  in  the  Scriptures,  that 
the  opinion  seems  destitute  of  probability. 

Verse  2.  Zimran ]  Stephanus  Byzantinus  mentions 
a  city  in  Arabia  Felix  called  Zadram,  which  some  sup¬ 
pose  to  have  been  named  from  this  son  of  Keturah  ; 
but  it  is  more  likely,  as  Calmet  observes,  that  all  these 
sons  of  Abraham  resided  in  Arabia  Deserta;  and  Pliny, 
Hist.  Nat.,  lib.  vi.,  c.  28,  mentions  a  people  in  that 
country  called  Zamarenians,  who  were  probably  the 
descendants  of  this  person. 

Jokshan ]  Several  learned  men  have  been  of  opi¬ 
nion  that  this  Jokshan  was  the  same  as  Kachtan ,  the 
father  of  the  Arabs.  The  testimonies  in  favour  of 
this  opinion  see  in  Dr.  Hunt’s  Oration,  De  Antiquitate, 
Ac.,  Linguae  Arabicw,  p.  4.  Calmet  supposes  that 
the  Cataneans,  who  inhabited  a  part  of  Arabia  Deserta, 
sprang  from  this  Jokshan. 

Medan,  and  Midian ]  Probably  those  who  peopled 
that  part  of  Arabia  Petraea  contiguous  to  the  land  of 
Moab  eastward  of  the  Dead  Sea.  St.  Jerome  terms 
the  people  of  this  country  Madinwans  ;  and  Ptolemy 
mentions  a  people  called  Madianites,  who  dwelt  in  the 
same  place. 

Ishbak]  From  this  person  Calmet  supposes  the 
brook  Jabbok,  which  has  its  source  in  the  mountains  of 
Gilead,  and  falls  into  the  sea  of  Tiberias,  took  its  name. 

Shuah.]  Or  Shuach.  From  this  man  the  Sacceans , 
near  to  Batania,  at  the  extremity  of  Arabia  Deserta, 

151 


Abraham  gives  portions  to  his  sons.  GENESIS. 


Age  and  death  of  Abraham. 


a.  M.  cir.  2180.  3  And  Jokshan  begat  Sheba, 

B.  c.  cir.^18^4.  ancj  Dedan.  And  the  sons  of 


A.  M.  cir.  2200.  Dedan  were  Asshnrim,  and  Le- 

B.  C.  cir.  1804.  A  .  T 

- tushim,  and  Leummim. 

4  And  the  sons  of  Midian;  Ephah,  and 

Epher,  and  Hanoch,  and  Abidah,  and  Eldaah. 

All  these  were  the  children  of  Keturah. 

a.  M.  cir.  2175.  5  And  d  Abraham  gave  all  that 

B.  C.  cir.  1829.  6 


he  had  unto  Isaac. 


6  But  unto  the  sons  of  the  concubines,  which 


d  Chap.  xxiv.  36. - e  Chap.  xxi.  14. 


Abraham  had,  Abraham  gave  A.  M.  cir.  2175. 
•  r.  j  n  1  r  B.  C.  cir.  1829 

gilts,  and  e  sent  them  away  Irom - - 

Isaac  his  son,  while  he  yet  lived,  eastward, 
unto  f  the  east  country. 

7  And  these  are  the  days  of  A.  M.  cir.  2183. 

.  riii  ,  ...»  B.  C.  cir.  1821. 

the  years  01  Abraham’s  life - 

which  he  lived,  a  hundred  threescore  and 

fifteen  years. 

8  Then  Abraham  gave  up  the  ghost,  and 
g  died  in  a  good  old  age,  an  old  man,  and  full 

f  Judg.  vi.  3. - s  Chap.  xv.  15 ;  xlix.  29. 


towards  Syria,  are  supposed  to  have  sprung.  Bildad 
the  Shuhite ,  one  of  Job’s  friends,  is  supposed  to  have 
descended  from  this  son  of  Abraham. 

Verse  3.  Sheba]  From  whom  sprang  the  Sabeans, 
who  robbed  Job  of  his  cattle.  See  Bochart  and  Calmet. 

Asshurim,  and  Letusliim ,  and  Leummim.]  We  know 
not  who  these  were,  but  as  each  name  is  plural  they 
must  have  been  tribes  or  families,  and  not  individuals. 
Onkelos  interprets  these  words  of  persons  dwelling  in 
camps ,  tents,  and  isla?ids;  and  Jonathan  ben  Uzziel  calls 
them  merchants,  artificers,  and  heads  or  chiefs  of  people. 

Verse  4.  Ephah,  and  Epher,  <fc.]  Of  these  we  know 
no  more  than  of  the  preceding ;  an  abundance  of  con¬ 
jectures  is  already  furnished  by  the  commentators. 

Verse  5.  Gave  all  that  he  had  unto  Isaac.]  His  prin¬ 
cipal  flocks,  and  especially  his  right  to  the  land  of  Ca¬ 
naan,  including  a  confirmation  to  him  and  his  posterity 
of  whatever  was  contained  in  the  promises  of  God. 

Verse  G.  Into  the  sons  of  the  concubines]  Viz., 
Hagar  and  Keturah,  Abraham  gave  gifts.  Cattle  for 
breed,  seed  to  sow  the  land,  and  implements  for  hus¬ 
bandry,  may  be  what  is  here  intended. 

And  sent  them  away — while  he  yet  lived]  Lest  after 
his  death  they  should  dispute  a  settlement  in  the  Land 
of  Promise  with  Isaac  ;  therefore  he  very  prudently 
sent  them  to  procure  settlements  during  his  lifetime, 
that  they  might  be  under  no  temptation  to  dispute  the 
settlement  with  Isaac  in  Canaan.  From  this  circum¬ 
stance  arose  that  law  which  has  prevailed  in  almost 
all  countries,  of  giving  the  estates  to  the  eldest  son  by 
a  lawful  wife  ;  for  though  concubines,  or  wives  of  the 
second  rank,  were  perfectly  legitimate  in  those  ancient 
times,  yet  their  children  did  not  inherit,  except  in  case 
of  the  failure  of  legal  issue,  and  with  the  consent  of 
the  lawful  wife  ;  and  it  is  very  properly  observed  by 
Calmet,  that  it  was  in  consequence  of  the  consent  of 
Leah  and  Rachel  that  the  children  of  their  slaves  by 
J  acob  had  a  common  and  equal  lot  with  the  rest.  By 
a  law  of  Solon  all  natural  children  were  excluded  from 
the,  paternal  inheritance,  but  their  fathers  were  per¬ 
mitted  to  give  them  any  sum  not  beyond  a  thousand 
drachma  by  way  of  present. 

Eastward,  unto  the  east  country.]  Arabia  Deserta, 
which  was  eastward  of  Beer-sheba,  where  Abraham 
lived. 

Verse  7.  The  days  of  the  years ,  $c.]  There  is  a 
beauty  in  this  expression  which  is  not  sufficiently  re¬ 
garded.  Good  men  do  not  live  by  centuries,  though 
many  such  have  lived  several  hundred  years,  nor  do 

153 


they  count  their  lives  even  by  years,  but  by  days,  living 
as  if  they  were  the  creatures  only  of  a  day  ;  having 
no  more  time  than  they  can  with  any  propriety  call 
their  own,  and  living  that  day  in  reference  to  eternity. 

Verse  8.  Then  Abraham  gave  up  the  ghost]  Highly 
as  I  value  our  translation  for  general  accuracy,  fidelity, 
and  elegance,  I  must  beg  leave  to  dissent  from  this 
version.  The  original  word  .p  IT  yigva,  from  the  root 
J7U  gava,  signifies  to  pant  for  breath,  to  expire,  to  cease 
from  breathing ,  or  to  breathe  one's  last;  and  here, 
and  wherever  the  original  word  is  used,  the  simple 
term  expired  would  be  the  proper  expression.  In  our 
translation  this  expression  occurs  Gen.  xxv.  8,  17 ; 
xxxv.  29  ;  xlix.  33  ;  Job  iii.  11  ;  x.  18  ;  xi.  20  ;  xiii. 
19  ;  xiv.  10  ;  Lam.  i.  19  ;  in  all  of  which  places  the 
original  is  gava.  It  occurs  also  in  our  translation, 
Jer.  xv.  9,  but  there  the  original  is  PIK0J  nn£)J  naphe- 
cah  naphshah,  she  breathed  out  her  soul;  the  verb 
gava  not  being  used.  Now  as  our  English  word  ghost , 
from  the  Anglo-Saxon  ga ytzgast,  an  inmate,  inhabitant, 
guest,  (a  casual  visitant,)  also  a  spirit,  is  now  restricted 
among  us  to  the  latter  meaning,  always  signifying  the 
immortal  spirit  or  soul  of  man,  the  guest  of  the  body  ; 
and  as  giving  up  the  spirit,  ghost,  or  soul,  is  an  act  not 
proper  to  man,  though  commending  it  to  God,  in  our 
last  moments,  is  both  an  act  of  faith  and  piety ;  and 
as  giving  up  the  ghost,  i.  e.,  dismissing  his  spirit  from 
his  body,  is  attributed  to  Jesus  Christ,  to  whom  alone 
it  is  proper,  I  therefore  object  against  its  use  in  every 
other  case. 

Every  man  since  the  fall  has  not  only  been  liable  to 
death,  but  has  deserved  it,  as  all  have  forfeited  their 
lives  because  of  sin.  Jesus  Christ,  as  born  immacu¬ 
late,  and  having  never  sinned,  had  not  forfeited  his  life, 
and  therefore  may  be  considered  as  naturally  and  pro¬ 
perly  immortal.  No  man,  says  he,  taketh  it— my  life, 
from  me,  but  I  lay  it  down  of  myself;  I  have  power 
to  lay  it  down,  and  I  have  power  to  take  it  again:  there¬ 
fore  doth  the  Father  love  me,  because  I  lay  down  my 
life  that  I  might  take  it  again,  John  x.  17,  18.  Hence 
we  rightly  translate  Matt,  xxvii.  50,  a<fnjKe  to  wevya, 
he  gave  up  the  ghost ;  i.  e.,  he  dismissed  his  spirit 
that  he  might  die  for  the  sin  of  the  world.  The  Evan¬ 
gelist  St.  John,  xix.  30,  makes  use  of  an  expression 
to  the  same  import,  which  we  translate  in  the  same 
way,  TcapsdoKe  to  wevya,  he  delivered  up  hi§  spirit . 
We  translate  Mark  xv.  37,  and  Luke  xxiii.  48,  h<$ 
gave  up  the  ghost,  but  not  correctly,  because  the  word 
in  both  these  places  is  very  different,  efnrvevac, 

a 


Isaac  and  Ishmael  bury  Abraham  CHAP 

A.  M.  cir.  2183.  of  years  ;  and  h  was  gathered 

B.  C.  cir.  1821.  J  G 

-  to  his  people. 

9  And  1  his  sons  Isaac  and  Ishmael  buried 

h  Chap.  xxxv.  29  ;  xlix.  33. 

breathed  his  last ,  or  expired ,  though  in  the  latter  place 
(Luke  xxiii.  46)  there  is  an  equivalent  expression,  O 
Father ,  into  thy  hands  napanOepat.  to  Tvvevpa  pov,  I 
commit  my  spirit ,  i.  e.,  I  place  my  soul  in  thy  hand; 
proving  that  the  act  was  his  own ,  that  no  man  could 
take  his  life  away  from  him,  that  he  did  not  die  by  the 
perfidy  of  his  disciple,  or  the  malice  of  the  Jews,  but 
by  his  own  free  act .  Thus  he  laid  down  his  life  for 
the  sheep.  Of  Ananias  and  Sapphira,  Acts  v.  5,  10, 
and  of  Herod,  Acts  xii.  23,  our  translation  says  they 
gave  up  the  ghost ;  but  the  word  in  both  places  is 
e^erpv^e,  which  simply  means  to  breathe  out ,  to  expire , 
or  die;  but  in  no  case,  either  by  the  Septuagint  in  the 
Old  or  any  of  the  sacred  writers  in  the  Neiv  Testa¬ 
ment,  is  a<prjKS  to  irvevpa  or  -irapedune  to  nvcvpa ,  he 
dismissed  his  spirit  or  delivered  up  his  spirit ,  spoken 
of  any  person  but  Christ.  Abraham,  Isaac,  Ishmael, 
Jacob,  &c.,  breathed  their  last ;  Ananias,  Sapphira, 
and  Herod  expired;  but  none,  Jesus  Christ  excepted, 
gave  up  the  ghost ,  dismissed ,  or  delivered  up  his  own 
spirit ,  and  was  consequently  free  among  the  dead.  Of 
the  patriarchs,  &c.,  the  Septuagint  uses  the  word  en’ka- 
ttuv,  failing,  or  Karerravcre,  he  ceased  or  rested. 

An  old  man ]  Viz.,  one  hundred  and  seventy-five, 
the  youngest  of  all  the  patriarchs ;  and  full  of  years. 
The  word  years  is  not  in  the  text  ;  but  as  our  trans¬ 
lators  saw  that  some  word  was  necessary  to  fill  up  the 
text,  they  added  this  in  Italics.  It  is  probable  that  the 
true  word  is  HD1?}'’  yamim,  days,  as  in  Gen.  xxxv.  29 ; 
and  this  reading  is  found  in  several  of  KennicotC s  and 
De  Rossi’s  MSS.,  in  the  Samaritan  text,  Septuagint, 
Vulgate,  Syriac,  Arabic,  Persic,  and  Chaldee.  On  these 
authorities  it  might  be  safely  admitted  into  the  text. 

Being  full  of  days,  ox  full  of  years. — To  be  satiated 
with  days  or  life,  has  been  in  use  among  different  na¬ 
tions  to  express  the  termination  of  life,  and  especially 
life  ended  without  reluctance.  It  seems  to  be  a  meta¬ 
phor  taken  from  a  guest  regaled  by  a  plentiful  banquet, 
and  is  thus  used  by  the  Roman  poets. 

Lucretius,  lib.  iii.,  ver.  947,  ridiculing  those  who 
were  unreasonably  attached  to  life,  and  grievously  af¬ 
flicted  at  the  prospect  of  death,  addresses  them  in  the 
following  manner  : — 

■ - - - Quid  mortem  congemis,  ac  fles  1 

Nam  si  grata  fuit  tibi  vita  anteacta,  priorque, 

Et  non  omnia  pertusum  congesta  quasi  in  vas 
Commoda  perfluxere,  atque  ingrata  interiere  : 

Cur  non,  ut  plenus  vit^e  conviva,  recedis  ? 

Fond  mortal,  what ’s  the  matter,  thou  dost  smh  1 
Why  all  these  fears  because  thou  once  must  die  ? 
For  if  the  race  thou  hast  already  run 
Was  pleasant,  if  with  joy  thou  saw’st  the  sun, 

If  -all  thy  pleasures  did  not  pass  thy  mind 
As  through  a  sieve,  but  left  some  sweets  behind, 
Why  dost  thou  not  then,  like  a  thankful  guest, 
Rise  cheerfully  from  life’s  abundant  feast  1 

Creech. 


.  XXV.  in  the  cave  'of  Machpelah. 

him  in  the  cave  of  Machpelah,  in  A.  M.  cir.  2183. 

.  r  1  i  r  -r'  i  i  -  B.  C.  cir.  1821. 

the  held  ot  Ephron  the  son  of  - 

Zohar  the  Hittite,  which  is  before  Mamre ; 

5  Chap.  xxxv.  29  ;  1.  13. 

Et  nec  opinanti  mors  ad  caput  astitit  ante, 

Quam  satur,  ac  plenus  possis  discedere  rerum. 

Ib.  ver.  972. 

And  unexpected  hasty  death  destroys, 

Before  thy  greedy  mind  is  full  of  joys.  Idem . 

Horace  makes  use  of  the  same  figure  : — 

Inde  fit,  ut  raro,  qui  se  vixisse  beatum 
Dicat,  et  exacto  contentus  tempore  vitae 
Cedat,  ut  conviva  satur,  reperire  queamus. 

Sal.  1.  i.  Sat.  i.  ver.  117. 

From  hence  how  few,  like  sated  guests,  depart 
From  life’s  full  banquet  with  a  cheerful  heart  ? 

Francis. 

The  same  image  is  expressed  with  strong  ridicule 
in  his  last  Epistle  — 

Lusisti  satis,  edisti  satis,  atque  bibisti  ; 

Tempus  abire  tibi  est.  Epist.  1.  ii.,  ver.  216. 

Thou  hast  eaten,  drunk,  and  play’d  enough  ;  then  why 
So  stark  r&luctant  to  leave  off,  and  die  1 

The  poet  Statius  uses  abire  paratum,  plenum  vita, 
“  prepared  to  depart,  being  full  of  life,”  in  exactly 
the  same  sense  : — 

- Dubio  quem  non  in  turbine  rerum 

Deprcndet  suprema  dies  ;  sed  abire  paratum, 

Ac  PLENUM  VITA. 

Sylv.  1.  ii.,  Villa  Surrentina ,  ver.  128. 

The  man  whose  mighty  soul  is  not  immersed 
In  dubious  whirl  of  secular  concerns, 

His  final  hour  ne’er  takes  him  by  surprise, 

But,  full  of  life,  he  stands  prepared  to  die. 

It  was  the  opinion  of  Aristotle  that  a  man  should 
depart  from  life  as  he  should  rise  from  a  banquet. 
Thus  Abraham  died  full  of  days,  and  satisfied  ivitk 
life,  but  in  a  widely  different  spirit  from  that  recom¬ 
mended  by  the  above  waiters — he  left  life  with  a  hope 
full  of  immortality ,  which  they  could  never  boast ;  for 
he  saw  the  day  of  Christ,  and  was  glad ;  and  his  hope 
was  crowned,  for  here  it  is  expressly  said,  He  was 
gathered  to  his  fathers  ;  surely  not  to  the  bodies  of  his 
sleeping  ancestors,  who  were  buried  in  Chaldea  and 
not  in  Canaan,  nor  with  his  fathers  in  any  sense,  for 
he  was  deposited  in  the  cave  where  his  wife  alone 
slept ;  but  he  wTas  gathered  to  the  spirits  of  just  men 
made  perfect ,  and  to  the  Church  of  the  first-born ,  ivhose 
names  are  written  in  heaven;  Heb.  xii.  23. 

Verse  9.  His  sons  Isaac  and  Ishmael  buried  him\ 
Though  Ishmael  and  his  mother  had  been  expelled  from 
Abraham’s  family  on  the  account  of  Isaac,  yet,  as  he 
was  under  the  same  obligation  to  a  most  loving  affec¬ 
tionate  father  as  his  brother  Isaac,  if  any  personal  feuds 
remained,  they  agreed  to  bury  them  on  this  occasion, 
that  both  might  dutifully  join  in  doing  the  last  ^ffices 
to  a  parent  who  was  an  honour  to  them  and  to  human 
nature  :  and,  considering  the  rejection  of  Ishmael  from 

153 


a 


God  blesses  Isaac . 


GENESIS. 


A.  M.  cir.  2183.  1 0  k  The  field  which  Abraham 

sons  of  Heth : 
1  there  was  Abraham  buried,  and  Sarah  his 
wife. 

1 1  And  it  came  to  pass  after  the  death  of 
Abraham,  that  God  blessed  his  son  Isaac  ; 
and  Isaac  dwelt  by  the  “well  Lahai-roi. 

12  Now  these  are  the  generations  of  Ish- 
mael,  Abraham’s  son,  nwhom  Hagar  the  Egyp¬ 
tian,  Sarah’s  handmaid,  bare  unto  Abraham : 

13  And  0  these  are  the  names  of  the  sons 
of  Ishmael,  by  their  names,  according  to  their 
generations  ;  the  first-born  of  Ishmael,  Neba- 
joth  ;  and  Kedar,  and  Adbeel,  and  Mibsam, 

14  And  Mishma,  and  Duma,  and  Massa, 

k  Chap,  xxiii.  16. - 1  Chap.  xlix.  31. - mChap.  xvi.  14; 

xxiv.  62. - n  Ch.  xvi.  15. - 0  1  Chron.  i.  29. - P  Or,  Hadad  ; 

the  inheritance,  this  transaction  shows  his  character  in 
an  amiable  point  of  view ;  for  though  he  was  a  wild 
man ,  (see  chap.  xvi.  12,)  yet  this  appellation  appears 
to  be  more  characteristic  of  his  habits  of  life  than  of 
his  disposition. 

For  the  character  of  Abraham  see  the  conclusion 
of  this  chapter. 

Y erse  1 1 .  God  blessed  his  son  Isaac ]  The  peculiar 
blessings  and  influences  by  which  Abraham  had  been 
distinguished  now  rested  upon  Isaac  ;  but  how  little  do 
we  hear  in  him  of  the  work  of  faith,  the  patience  of 
hope,  and  the  labour  of  love  !  Only  one  Abraham  and 
one  Christ  ever  appeared  among  men  ;  there  have  been 
some  successful  imitators ,  there  should  have  been  many. 

Verse  12.  These  are  the  generations  of  Ishmael} 
The  object  of  the  inspired  writer  seems  to  be  to  show 
how  the  promises  of  God  were  fulfilled  to  both  the 
branches  of  Abraham’s  family.  Isaac  has  been  already 
referred  to  ;  God  blessed  him  according  to  the  promise. 
He  had  also  promised  to  multiply  Ishmael ,  and  an  ac¬ 
count  of  his  generation  is  introduced  to  show  how  ex¬ 
actly  the  promise  had  also  been  fulfilled  to  him. 

Verse  13.  Nebajoth ]  From  whom  came  the  Naba- 
theans,  whose  capital  was  Petra,  or,  according  to  Strabo, 
Nabathea.  They  dwelt  in  Arabia  Petrsea,  and  ex¬ 
tended  themselves  on  the  east  towards  Arabia  Heserta. 

Kedar ]  The  founder  of  the  Cedreans ,  who  dwelt 
near  to  the  Nabatheans.  The  descendants  of  Kedar 
form  a  part  of  the  Saracens. 

Adbeel ,  and  Mils  am ]  Where  these  were  situated 
is  not  known. 

Verse  14.  Mishma,  and  Dumah,  and  Massa]  Where 
the  first  and  last  of  these  settled  is  not  known  ;  but  it 
is  probable  that  Dumah  gave  his  name  to  a  place  called 
Dumah  in  Arabia.  See  a  prophecy  concerning  this 
place,  Isa.  xxi.  11,  from  which  we  find  that  it  was  in 
the  vicinity  of  Mount  Seir. 

These  three  names  have  passed  into  a  proverb  among 
the  Hebrews,  because  of  their  signification, 
mishma  signifies  hearing;  n^n  dumah,  silence;  and 
KE/D  massa,  patience.  Hence,  “  Hear  much,  say  little, 
and  bear  much,”  tantamount  to  the  famous  maxim  of 

154 


B.  C.  cir.  1821. 


purchased  of  the 


The  generations  of  Ishmael. 

15  p  Hadar,  and  Tema,  Jetur,  a.  M.  cir.  2183. 

B.  C.  cir.  1821. 

1 6  These  are  the  sons  of  Ishmael,  and  these 

are  their  names,  by  their  towns,  and  by  their 
castles ;  4  twelve  princes  according  to  their 

nations. 

17  And  these  are  the  years  of  A.  M.  2231 
the  life  of  Ishmael,  a  hundred  and  B~  C  _1773‘. 
thirty  and  seven  years  :  and  r  he  gave  up  the 
ghost  and  died ;  and  was  gathered  unto  his 
people. 

1 8  s  And  they  dwelt  from  Havilah  unto  Shur, 
that  is  before  Egypt,  as  thou  goest  toward 
Assyria  :  and,  he  t  died  tl  in  the  presence  of 
all  his  brethren. 

1  Chron.  i.  30. - <1  Chap.  xvii.  20. - r  Yer.  8. - 3 1  Sam.  xv 

7. - tAeh.fell;  Psa.  lxxviii.  64. - uChap.  xv.  12. 

the  Stoics,  A vexov  sat  arrexov,  “  Sustain  and  abstain f 
is  supposed  to  be  the  spirit  of  the  original  words. 

Verse  15.  Hadar ]  This  name  should  be  read  Hadad 
as  in  1  Chron.  i.  30.  This  reading  is  supported  by 
more  than  three  hundred  MSS.,  versions,  and  printed 
editions.  See  ver.  18. 

Tema ]  Supposed  to  be  a  place  in  Arabia  Heserta, 

the  same  of  which  Job  speaks,  chap.  vi.  19. 

Jetur ]  From  wrhom  came  the  Itureans,  who  occu¬ 
pied  a  small  tract  of  country  beyond  Jordan,  which 
was  afterwards  possessed  by  the  half- tribe  of  Manasseh. 

Naphish ]  These  are  evidently  the  same  people 
mentioned  1  Chron.  v.  19,  who,  with  the  Itureans  and 
the  people  of  Nadab,  assisted  the  Hagarenes  against 
the  Israelites,  but  were  overcome  by  the  two  tribes  of 
Reuben  and  Gad,  and  the  half-tribe  of  Manasseh. 

Kedemah ]  Probably  the  descendants  of  this  person 
dwTelt  at  Kedemoth,  a  place  mentioned  Deut.  ii.  26.  I 
wish  the  reader  to  observe,  that  concerning  those  an¬ 
cient  tribes  mentioned  here  or  elsewhere  in  the  Penta¬ 
teuch  little  is  known  ;  nor  of  their  places  of  settlement 
have  we  more  certain  information.  On  this  subject 
many  learned  men  have  toiled  hard  with  but  little  fruit 
of  their  labour.  Those  who  wash  to  enter  into  dis¬ 
cussions  of  this  nature  must  consult  Bochart's  Geo- 
graphia  Sacra,  Calmet,  &c. 

Verse  16.  These  are  their  names ]  By  which  their 
descendants  were  called.  Their  towns — places  of  en¬ 
campment  in  the  wilderness,  such  as  have  been  used 
by  the  Arabs  from  the  remotest  times.  Their  castles , 
□nTt3  tirotham,  their  towers,  probably  mountain  tops, 
fortified  rocks,  and  fastnesses  of  various  kinds  in  woods 
and  hilly  countries. 

Verse  18.  They  dwelt  from  Havilah  unto  SAwr] 
The  descendants  of  Ishmael  possessed  all  that  country 
which  extends  from  east  to  west,  from  Havilah  on  the 
Euphrates,  near  its  junction  with  the  Tigris,  to  the  de¬ 
sert  of  Shur  eastward  of  Egypt ;  and  which  extends 
along  the  isthmus  of  Suez,  which  separates  the  Red 
Sea  from  the  Mediterranean. 

As  thou  goest  toward  Assyria ]  “  These  words,”  says 
Calmet,  “  may  refer  either  to  Egypt,  to  Shur,  or  to 

a 


Naphish,  and  Kedemah 


Isaac  entreats  for  Rebekah. 


CHAP.  XXV.  Conception  of  Esau  and  Jacob. 


A.  M.  2108.  19  And  these  are  the  genera- 

B.  C.  1896.  .  f  T  ,  , 

- -  tions  oi  Isaac,  Abraham  s  son : 

Abraham  begat  Isaac ; 

A.  M.  2148.  20  And  Isaac  was  forty  years 

B.  c.  1856.  ^  w]ien  jjg  ^00]t  Rebekah  to  wife, 

w  tlie  daughter  of  Bethuel  the  Syrian,  of 
Padan-aram,  x  the  sister  to  Laban  the  Syrian. 

2 1  And  Isaac  entreated  the 
Lord  for  his  wife,  because  she 

vMatt.  i.  2. - Chapter  xxii.  23. - x  Chapter  xxiv.  29. 

y  1  Chron.  v.  20 ;  2  Chron.  xxxiii.  13  ;  Ezra.  viii.  23. 


A.  M.  cir.  2167. 

B.  C.  cir.  1837. 


was  barren  :  y  and  the  Lord  was  a.  m.  cir.  2167. 
entreated  of  him,  and  2  Rebekah  B-_c-  ^r-1837- 
his  wife  conceived. 

22  And  the  children  struggled  A.  M.2168. 
together  within  her ;  and  she  said,  - . 


If  it  be  so,  why  am  I  thus  ?  a  And  she  went 
to  inquire  of  the  Lord. 

23  And  the  Lord  said  unto  her,  b  Two  na¬ 
tions  are  in  thy  womb,  and  two  manner  of 


z  Rom.  ix.  10.- 


-a  1  Samuel  ix.  9  ;  x.  22. 
xxiv.  60. 


-b  Chap.  xvii.  16 ; 


Havilah.  The  desert  of  Shur  is  on  the  road  from 
Egypt  to  Assyria  in  traversing  Arabia  Petraea,  and  in 
passing  by  the  country  of  Havilah.  I  know  not,”  adds 
he,  “  whether  Ashshurah  in  the  text  may  not  mark  out 
rather  the  Asshurim  descended  from  Keturah ,  than 
the  Assyrians ,  who  were  the  descendants  of  Asshur 
the  son  of  Shem .” 

He  died  in  the  presence  of  all  his  brethren .]  The 
original  will  not  well  bear  this  translation.  In  ver. 
17  it  is  said,  He  gave  up  the  ghost  and  died ,  and  was 
gathered  to  his  people.  Then  follows  the  account  of 
the  district  occupied  by  the  Ishmaelites,  at  the  con¬ 
clusion  of  which  it  is  added,  1TIK  Sj  ’J3  bjf  al  peney 
col  echaiv  naphal,  “  It  (the  lot  or  district)  fell  (or  was 
divided  to  him)  in  the  presence  of  all  his  brethren 
and  this  was  exactly  agreeable  to  the  promise  of  God, 
chap.  xvi.  12,  He  shall  dwell  in  the  presence  of  all  his 
brethren ;  and  to  show  that  this  promise  had  been 
strictly  fulfilled,  it  is  here  remarked  that  his  lot  or 
inheritance  was  assigned  him  by  Divine  Providence, 
contiguous  to  that  of  the  other  branches  of  the  family. 
The  same  word,  naphal ,  is  used  Josh,  xxiii.  4,  for 

to  divide  by  lot. 


On  the  subject  of  writing  the  same  proper  name 
variously  in  our  common  Bibles,  the  following  ob¬ 
servations  and  tables  will  not  be  unacceptable  to  the 
reader. 

u  Men  who  have  read  their  Bible  with  care,”  says 
Dr.  Kennicott,  “  must  have  remarked  that  the  name 
of  the  same  person  is  often  expressed  differently  in 
different  places.  Indeed  the  variation  is  sometimes  so 
great  that  we  can  scarcely  persuade  ourselves  that 
one  and  the  same  person  is  really  meant.  A  uniform 
expression  of  proper  names  is  diligently  attended  to  in 
other  books  :  perhaps  in  every  other  book,  except  the 
Old  Testament.  But  here  we  find  strange  variety  in 
the  expression,  and  consequently  great  confusion  :  and 
indeed  there  is  scarcely  any  one  general  source  of 
error  which  calls  for  more  careful  correction  than  the 
same  proper  names  now  wrongly  expressed.  I  shall 
add  here,  from  the  Pentateuch ,  some  proper  names 
which  are  strangely  varied  :  first,  twenty-three  names 
expressed  differently  in  the  Hebrew  text  itself,  and 
seventeen  of  them  in  our  English  translation  ;  and  then 
thirty-one  names  expressed  uniformly  in  the  Hebrew 
yet  differently  in  the  English. 


SAME  NAMES  differing  in  the  HEBREW. 


1 

Gen.  iv.  18. 

Mehujael 

Mehijael 

in  the  same  verse. 

2 

- x.  3. 

Riphath 

Diphath 

1  Chron.  i.  6. 

3 

- x.  4. 

Tarshish 

Tarshishah 

i.  7. 

4 

- x.  4. 

Dodanim 

Rodanim 

i.  7. 

5 

- x.  23. 

Mash 

Meshech 

i.  17. 

6 

- x.  28. 

Obal 

Ebal 

i.  22. 

7 

- xxxii.  30,  31. 

Peniel 

Penuel 

in  the  next  verse. 

8 

- xxxvi.  11. 

Zepho 

Zephi 

1  Chron.  i.  36. 

9 

- xxxvi.  23. 

Shepho 

Shephi 

-  i.  40. 

10 

- xxxvi.  39. 

Pau 

Pai 

i.  50. 

11 

- xxxvi.  40. 

Alvah 

Aliah 

-  i.  51. 

12 

- xlvi.  10. 

Jemuel 

Nemnel 

Num.  xxvi.  12. 

13 

- xlvi.  10. 

J  achin 

Jarib 

1  Chron.  iv.  24. 

14 

- xlvi.  10. 

Zohar 

Zerah 

(  Num.  xxvi.  13,  and 
(  1  Chron.  iv.  24. 

15 

- xlvi.  11. 

Gershon 

Gershom 

1  Chron.  vi.  1,  16. 

16 

- xlvi.  13. 

Job 

Jashub 

Num.  xxvi.  24. 

17 

xlvi.  16. 

Ezbon 

Ozni 

- xxvi.  16. 

18 

- xlvi.  21. 

Huppim 

Huram 

1  Chron.  viii.  5. 

19 

- xlvi.  21. 

Ard 

Addar 

- -  viii.  3. 

20 

- xlvi.  23. 

Hushim 

Shuham 

Num.  xxvi.  42. 

21 

Exod.  iv.  18. 

Jether 

Jethro 

in  the  same  verse. 

22 

Num.  i.  14. 

Deuel 

Reuel 

Num.  ii.  14. 

23 

Deut.  xxxii.  44. 

Hoshea 

Joshua 

Deut.  xxxiv.  9. 

a 


155 


The  subjection  of  Esau  GENESIS. 


to  Jacob  foretold. 
*/ 


A.  M.  2168. 

B.  C.  1836. 


people  shall  be  separated  from  thy  stronger  than  the  other  people  ;  and 
bowels ;  and  c  the  one  people  shall  be  d  the  elder  shall  serve  the  younger. 


A.  M.  2168. 

B.  C.  1836. 


0  2  Sara.  viii.  14. 


d  Chap,  xxvii.  29 ;  Mai.  i.  3  ;  Rom.  ix.  12. 


NAMES  same  in  HEBREW  yet  different  in  ENGLISH. 


1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 
9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

14 

15 

16 

17 

18 

19 

20 
21 
22 

23 

24 

25 

26 

27 

28 
29 


Gen.  v. 

3. 

-  V. 

6. 

-  V. 

9. 

-  V. 

15. 

-  V. 

18. 

-  V. 

21. 

-  X. 

6. 

-  X. 

14. 

-  X. 

14. 

-  X. 

16. 

-  X. 

16. 

-  X. 

19,  and 

Jer.  xlvii.  5.  £ 
Gen.  x.  22. 

-  x.  24. 

-  xiv.  2,  8. 

-  xiv.  5 ;  xv.  20. 

-  xxv.  15. 

-  xxix.  6. 

-  xxxvi.  34. 

-  xxxvi.  37. 

-  xxxvii.  25,  28. 

Exod.  i.  11. 

-  vi.  18. 

-  vi.  19. 

Lev.  xviii.  21. 

Num.  xiii.  8,  16. 

- xiii.  16. 

- xxi.  12. 

- xxxii.  3. 


30 


xxxiii.  31. 


31 


Deut.  iii.  17. 


Seth 

Enos 

Cainan 

Jared 

Enoch 

Methuselah 

Phut 

Philistim 

Caphtorim 

Emorite 

Girgasite 

Gaza 

Ashur 

Salah 

Zeboiim 

Rephaims 

Naphish 

Rachel 

Temani 

Saul 

Ishmeelites 

Raamses 

Izhar 

Mahali 

Molech 

Oshea 

Jehoshua 

Zared 

Jazer 

Bene-Jaakan 

Ashdoth-pisgah 


Sheth 

Enosh 

Kenan 

Jered 

Henoch 

Mathushelah 

Put 

The  Philistines 
Caphthorim 
Amorites 
Girgashites 

Azzah 

Asshur 

Shelah 

Zeboim 

Giants 

Nephish 

Rah  el 

The  Temanites 

Shaul 

Ishmaelites 

Rameses 

Izehar 

Mahli 

Moloch 

Hoshea 

.1  oshua 

Zered 

Jaazar 

Children  of  } 

J  aakan  C 
Springs  of  f 
Pisgah  f 


1  Chron.  i.  1. 

-  i.  1. 

• -  i.  2. 

-  i.  2. 

-  i.  3. 

-  i.  3. 

-  i.  8. 

-  i.  12. 

-  i.  12. 

Gen.  xv.  16,  21. 

-  xv.  21. 

Deut.  ii.  23,  and 

Jer.  xxv.  20. 

1  Chron.  i.  17. 

- -  i.  18. 

Deut.  xxix.  23. 

-  ii.  20 ;  iii.  11,  13. 

1  Chron.  v.  19. 

Jer.  xxxi.  15. 

1  Chron.  i.  45. 

-  i.  48. 

Judg.  viii.  24. 

Exod.  xii.  37. 

Num.  iii.  19. 

1  Chron.  vi.  19. 

Amos  v.  26. 

Deut.  xxxii.  44. 

Num.  xiv.  6. 

Deut.  ii.  13. 

Num.  xxxii.  35. 

Deut.  x.  6. 

-  iv.  49. 


“  Nothing  can  be  more  clear  than  that  these  fifty- 
four  proper  names  (at  least  the  far  greater  part  of 
them)  should  be  expressed  with  the  very  same  letters, 
in  the  places  where  they  are  now  different.  In  the 
second  list,  instances  6,  10,  and  13,  have  been  cor¬ 
rected  and  expressed  uniformly  in  the  English  Bible 
printed  at  Oxford  in  1769.  And  surely  the  same 
justice  in  the  translation  should  be  done  to  the  rest  of 
these  proper  names,  and  to  all  others  through  the  Bible  ; 
at  least,  where  the  original  words  are  now  properly 
the  same.  Who  would  not  wonder  at  seeing  the  same 
persons  named  both  Simon  and  Shimon,  Richard  and 
Ricard  ?  And  can  we  then  admit  here  both  Seth  and 
Sheth,  Rachel  and  Rahel  ?  Again  :  whoever  could 
admit  (as  above)  both  Gaza  and  Azzah,  with  Rameses 
and  Raamses,  should  not  object  to  London  and  Ondon, 
with  Amsterdam  and  Amstradam.  In  short,  in  a  his¬ 
tory  far  more  interesting  than  any  other,  the  names  of 
persons  and  places  should  be  distinguished  accurately, 
and  defined  with  exact  uniformity.  And  no  true  critic 
will  think  lightly  of  this  advice  of  Origen,  Contem- 
nenda  non  est  accurata  circa  nomina  diligentia  ei,  qui 
voluerit  probe  intelligere  sanctas  liter  as  ?  No  person 

156 


who  desires  thoroughly  to  understand  the  sacred  wri¬ 
tings,  should  undervalue  a  scrupulous  attention  to  the 
proper  names.” — Kennicoif s  Remarks. 

Verse  19.  These  are  the  generations  of  Isaac ]  This 
is  the  history  of  Isaac  and  his  family.  Here  the  sixth 
section  of  the  law  begins,  called  pn:T  mbin  toledoth 
yitschak  ;  as  the  fifth,  called  mtP  ”n  chaiye  Sarah, 
which  begins  with  chap,  xxiii.,  ends  at  the  preceding 
verse. 

Verse  21.  Isaac  entreated  the  Lord  for  his  wife ] 
Isaac  and  Rebekah  had  now  lived  nineteen  years 
together  without  having  a  child  ;  for  he  was  forty  years 
old  when  he  married  Rebekah,  ver.  20,  and  he  was 
threescore  years  of  age  when  Jacob  and  Esau  were 
born,  ver.  26.  Hence  it  is  evident  they  had  lived 
nineteen  years  together  without  having  a  child. 

The  form  of  the  original  in  this  place  is  worthy  of 
notice  :  Isaac  entreated  Jehovah,  TlDjS  lenochach 
ishto,  directly,  purposely,  especially,  for  his  wife. 
Ainsworth  thinks  the  words  imply  their  praying  to¬ 
gether  for  this  thing  ;  and  the  rabbins  say  that  “  Isaac 
and  Rebekah  went  on  purpose  to  Mount  Moriah,  where 
he  had  been  bound,  and  prayed  together  there  that  they 

a 


CHAP.  XXV. 


The  time  of  the  birth 


of$Esau  and  Jacob. 


A.  M.  2168. 

B.  C.  1836. 


24  And  when  her  days 
be  delivered  were  fulfilled, 


to 

be¬ 


hold,  there 
womb. 


were  twins 


in  her  a.  m.  21 68. 

B.  C.  1836. 


might  have  a  son.”  God  was  pleased  to  exercise  the 
faith  of  Isaac  previous  to  the  birth  of  Jacob,  as  he  had 
exercised  that  of  Abraham  previous  to  his  own  birth. 

Verse  22.  The  children  struggled  togethe r]  1¥¥YV 
yithrotsatsu,  they  dashed  against  or  bruised  each  other , 
there  was  a  violent  agitation,  so  that  the  mother  was 
apprehensive  both  of  her  own  and  her  children’s  safe¬ 
ty  ;  and,  supposing  this  was  an  uncommon  case,  she 
went  to  inquire  of  the  Lord,  as  the  good  women  in  the 
present  day  would  go  to  consult  a  surgeon  or  physi¬ 
cian  ;  for  intercourse  with  God  is  not  so  common  now, 
as  it  was  in  those  times  of  great  primitive  simplicity. 
There  are  different  opinions  concerning  the  manner  in 
which  Rebekah  inquired  of  the  Lord.  Some  think  it 
was  by  faith  and  prayer  simply  ;  others,  that  she  went 
to  Shem  or  Melchizedek ;  but  Shem  is  supposed  to 
have  been  dead  ten  years  before  this  time  ;  but  as 
Abraham  was  yet  alive,  she  might  have  gone  to  him, 
and  consulted  the  Lord  through  his  means.  It  is  most 
likely  that  a  prophet  or  priest  was  applied  to  on  this 
occasion.  It  appears  she  was  in  considerable  perplex¬ 
ity,  hence  that  imperfect  speech,  If  so,  why  am  I  thus  ? 
the  simple  meaning  of  which  is  probably  this ;  If  I 
must  suffer  such  things,  why  did  I  ever  wish  to  have 
a  child  ?  A  speech  not  uncommon  to  mothers  in  their 
first  pregnancy. 

Verse  23.  Two  nations  are  in  thy  womb ]  “We 
have,”  says  Bishop  Newton,  “  in  the  prophecies  de¬ 
livered  respecting  the  sons  of  Isaac,  ample  proof  that 
these  prophecies  were  not  meant  so  much  of  single 
persons  as  of  whole  nations  descended  from  them ;  for 
what  was  predicted  concerning  Esau  and  Jacob  was 
not  verified  in  themselves,  but  in  their  posterity.  The 
Edomites  were  the  offspring  of  Esau,  the  Israelites 
were  of  Jacob  ;  and  who  but  the  Author  and  Giver  of 
life  could  foresee  that  two  children  in  the  womb  would 
multiply  into  two  nations  ?  Jacob  had  twelve  sons,  and 
their  descendants  were  all  united  and  incorporated  into 
one  nation ;  and  what  an  overruling  providence  was  it 
that  two  nations  should  arise  from  the  two  sons  only 
of  Isaac  !  and  that  they  should  be  two  such  different 
nations  !  The  Edomites  and  Israelites  have  been  from 
the  beginning  two  such  different  people  in  their  man¬ 
ners,  customs,  and  religion,  as  to  be  at  perpetual  va¬ 
riance  among  themselves.  The  children  struggled  to¬ 
gether  in  the  womb ,  which  was  an  omen  of  their  future 
disagreement ;  and  when  they  grew  up  to  manhood, 
they  manifested  very  different  inclinations.  Esau  was 
a  cunning  hunter,  and  delighted  in  the  sports  of  the 
field  ;  Jacob  wras  a  plain  man,  dwelling  in  tents — mind¬ 
ing  his  sheep  and  his  cattle.  The  religion  of  the  Jews 
is  well  known  ;  but  whatever  the  Edomites  were  at 
first.,  in  process  of  time  they  became  idolaters.  When 
Amaziah  king  of  Judah  overthrew  them,  he  brought 
their  gods,  and  set  them  up  to  be  his  gods.  The  king 
of  Edom  having  refused  a  passage  to  the  Israelites 
through  his  territories  on  their  return  from  Egypt,  the 
history  of  the  Edomites  afterwards  is  little  more  than 
the  history  of  their  wars  with  the  Jews. 

The  one  people  shall  be  stronger  than  the  other 
people\  The  same  author  continues  to  observe,  that 


“  for  some  time  the  family  of  Esau  was  the  more  pow¬ 
erful  of  the  two,  there  having  been  dukes  and  kings 
in  Edom  before  there  was  any  king  in  Israel ;  but  Da¬ 
vid  and  his  captains  made  an  entire  conquest  of  the 
Edomites,  slew  several  thousands  of  them,  and  com¬ 
pelled  the  rest  to  become  tributaries,  and  planted  gar 
risons  among  them  to  secure  their  obedience.  In  this 
state  of  servitude  they  continued  about  one  hundred  and 
fifty  years,  without  a  king  of  their  own,  being  govern¬ 
ed  by  deputies  or  viceroys  appointed  by  the  kings  of 
Judah ;  but  in  the  days  of  Jehoram  they  revolted,  re¬ 
covered  their  liberties,  and  set  up  a  king  of  their  own. 
Afterwards  Amaziah,  king  of  Judah,  gave  them  a  to¬ 
tal  overthrow  in  the  valley  of  Salt ;  and  Azariah  took 
Elath,  a  commodious  harbour  on  the  Red  Sea,  from 
them.  Judas  Maccabeus  also  attacked  and  defeated  them 
with  a  loss  of  more  than  twenty  thousand  at  two  dif¬ 
ferent  times,  and  took  their  chief  city  Hebron.  At  last 
Hyrcanus  his  nephew  took  other  cities  from  them,  and 
reduced  them  to  the  necessity  of  leaving  their  country 
or  embracing  the  Jewish  religion  ;  on  which  they  sub¬ 
mitted  to  be  circumcised ,  and  become  proselytes  to  the 
Jewish  religion,  and  were  ever  afterwards  incorporated 
into  the  Jewish  Church  and  nation.” 

The  elder  shall  serve  the  younger .]  “  This  passage,” 
says  Dr.  Dodd,  “  serves  for  a  key  to  explain  the  ninth 
chapter  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans,  where  the  words 
are  quoted ;  for  it  proves  to  a  demonstration  that  this 
cannot  be  meant  of  God’s  arbitrary  predestination  of 
particular  persons  to  eternal  happiness  or  misery,  with¬ 
out  any  regard  to  their  merit  or  demerit — a  doctrine 
which  some  have  most  impiously  fathered  on  God,  who 
is  the  best  of  beings,  and  who  cannot  possibly  hate* 
far  less  absolutely  doom  to  misery,  any  creature  that 
he  has  made  :  but  that  it  means  only  his  bestowing 
greater  external  favours,  or,  if  you  please,  higher  op¬ 
portunities  for  knowing  and  doing  their  duty,  upon  some 
men,  than  he  does  upon  others  ;  and  that  merely  ac¬ 
cording  to  his  own  wise  purpose,  without  any  regard 
to  their  merits  or  demerits,  as  having  a  right  to  confer 
greater  or  smaller  degrees  or  perfection  on  whom  he 
pleases.” 

The  doctrine  of  unconditional  predestination  to  eter¬ 
nal  life  and  eternal  death  cannot  be  supported  by  the 
example  of  God’s  dealings  with  Esau  and  Jacob,  or 
with  the  Edomites  and  Israelites.  After  long  repro¬ 
bation  the  Edomites  were  incorporated  among  the  Jews, 
and  have  ever  since  been  undistinguishable  members  • 
in  the  Jewish  Church.  The  Jews,  on  the  contrary, 
the  elect  of  God,  have  been  cut  off  and  reprobated, 
and  continue  so  to  this  day.  If  a  time  should  ever 
come  when  the  Jews  shall  all  believe  in  Christ  Jesus, 
which  is  a  general  opinion,  then  the  Edomites,  which 
are  now  absorbed  among  them,  shall  also  become  the 
elect.  And  even  now  Isaac  finds  both  his  children 
within  the  pale  of  the  Jewish  Church,  equally  entitled 
to  the  promises  of  salvation  by  Christ  J esus,  of  whom  he 
was  the  most  expressive  and  the  most  illustrious  type. 
See  the  account  of  Abraham’s  offering,  chap.  xxii. 

Yerse  24.  There  were  twins ]  DOIH  thomim,  from 
which  comes  Thomas,  properly  interpreted  by  the  word 

157 


a 


Characters  of  Esau  and  Jacob .  GENESIS.  Esau  returns  faint  from  the  field, 


A.  M.  2168.  25  And  the  first  came  out  red, 

-  e  all  over  like  a  hairy  garment ; 

and  they  called  his  name  Esau. 

26  And  after  that  came  his  brother  out,  and 
f  his  hand  took  hold  on  Esau’s  heel ;  and  g  his 
name  was  called  Jacob  :  and  Isaac  was  three¬ 
score  years  old  when  she  bare  them. 

27  And  the  boys  grew  :  and  Esau  was  h  a 
cunning  hunter,  a  man  of  the  field  ;  and  Jacob 
was  1  a  plain  man,  k  dwelling  in  tents. 

28  And  Isaac  loved  Esau,  because  1  he  did 
m  eat  of  his  venison :  n  but  Rebekah  loved 
Jacob. 

eChap.  xxvii.  11,  16,  23. - f  Hos.  xii.  3. - s  Chap,  xxvii. 

36. - h  Chap,  xxvii.  3, 5. - 1  Job  i.  1, 8  ;  ii.  3 ;  Psa.  xxxvii.  37. 

k  Heb.  xi.  9. 


A  tdvyog,  Didymus ,  which  signifies  a  twin ;  so  the  first 
person  who  was  called  Thomas  or  Didymus,  we  may 
take  for  granted,  had  this  name  from  the  circumstance 
of  his  being  a  twin. 

Verse  25.  Red,  all  over  like  a  hairy  garment ]  This 
simply  means  that  he  was  covered  all  over  with  red 
hair  or  down ;  and  that  this  must  be  intended  here  is 
sufficiently  evident  from  another  part  of  his  history, 
where  Rebekah,  in  order  to  make  her  favourite  son 
Jacob  pass  for  his  brother  Esau,  was  obliged  to  take 
the  skins  of  kids,  and  put  them  upon  his  hands  and  on 
the  smooth  part  of  his  neck. 

They  called  his  name  Esau .]  It  is  difficult  to  assign 
the  proper  meaning  of  the  original  VJtp  esau  or  esav ; 
if  we  derive  it  from  ntyy  asah  it  must  signify  made , 
performed,  and,  according  to  some,  perfected ;  \.vq 
esa  in  Arabic  signifies  to  make  firm  or  hard,  and  also 
to  come  to  man's  estate,  to  groiv  old.  Probably  he 
had  this  name  from  his  appearing  to  be  more  perfect, 
robust,  &c.,  than  his  brother. 

Verse  26.  His  name  was  called  Jacob ]  Yaacob, 

from  akab,  to  defraud,  deceive ,  to  supplant,  i.  e., 
to  overthrow  a  person  by  tripping  up  his  heels.  Hence 
this  name  was  given  to  Jacob,  because  it  was  found 
he  had  laid  hold  on  his  brother's  heel,  which  was  em¬ 
blematical  of  his  supplanting  Esau,  and  defrauding  him 
of  his  birthright. 

Verse  27.  A  man  of  the  field ]  !T11P  ECN  ish  sadeh, 

one  who  supported  himself  and  family  by  hunting  and 
by  agriculture. 

*  Jacob  was  a  plain  man\  DPI  JTX  ish  tam,&  perfect 
or  upright  man  ;  dwelling  in  tents — subsisting  by  breed¬ 
ing  and  tending  cattle,  which  was  considered  in  those 
early  times  the  most  perfect  employment ;  and  in  this 
sense  the  word  DH  tarn,  should  be  here  understood,  as 
in  its  moral  meaning  it  certainly  could  not  be  applied 
to  Jacob  till  after  his  name  was  changed,  after  which 
time  only  his  character  stands  fair  and  unblemished. 
See  chap,  xxxii.  26—30. 

Verse  28.  Isaac  loved  Esau — but  Rebekah  loved 
Jacob.]  This  is  an  early  proof  of  unwarrantable  pa¬ 
rental  attachment  to  one  child  in  preference  to  another. 
Isaac  loved  Esau,  and  Rebekah  loved  Jacob  ;  and  in 
consequence  of  this  the  interests  of  the  family  were 

158 


29  And  Jacob  sod  pottage  :  A.  M.  cir.  2199. 

j  XT'  r  J\  r  1 J  C-  cir-  1805- 

and  Esau  came  from  the  field,  - - 

and  he  teas  faint. 

30  And  Esau  said  to  Jacob,  Feed  me,  I 
pray  thee,  0  with  that  same  red  pottage ;  for 
I  am  faint :  therefore  was  his  name  called 
p  Edom. 

31  And  Jacob  said,  Sell  me  this  day  thy 
birthright. 

32  And  Esau  said,  Behold,  I  am  q  at  the 
point  to  die ;  and  what  profit  shall  this  birth¬ 
right  do  to  me  ? 

33  And  Jacob  said,  Swear  to  me  this  day; 

1  Heb.  venison  was  in  his  mouth. - 111  Chap,  xxvii.  19,  25,  31. 

n  Chap,  xxvii.  6. - 0  Heb.  with  that  red,  with  that  red  pottage 

P  That  is,  red. - <1  Heb.  going  to  die. 

divided,  and  the  house  set  in  opposition  to  itself.  The 
fruits  of  this  unreasonable  and  foolish  attachment  were 
afterwards  seen  in  a  long  catalogue  of  both  natural  and 
moral  evils  among  the  descendants  of  both  families. 

Verse  29.  Sod  pottage]  TT1  ‘tr  yazed  nazid,  he 
boiled  a  boiling  ;  and  this  we  are  informed,  ver.  34, 
was  of  D’lZHV  adashim,  what  the  Septuagint  render 
ttog,  and  we,  following  them  and  the  Vulgate  lens,  trans¬ 
late  lentiles,  a  sort  of  pulse.  Dr.  Shaw  casts  some 
light  on  this  passage,  speaking  of  the  inhabitants  of 
Barbary.  “  Beans,  lentiles,  kidney  beans,  and  gar- 
vancosfi  says  he,  “  are  the  chiefest  of  their  pulse  kind  : 
beans,  when  boiled  and  stewed  with  oil  and  garlic,  are 
the  principal  food  of  persons  of  all  distinctions ;  len¬ 
tiles  are  dressed  in  the  same  manner  with  beans,  dis¬ 
solving  easily  into  a  mass,  and  making  a  pottage  of  a 
chocolate  colour.  This  we  find  was  the  red  pottage 
which  Esau,  from  thence  called  Edom,  exchanged  for 
his  birthright  J  Shaw's  Travels,  p.  140,  4to.  edit. 

Verse  30.  I  am  faint]  It  appears  from  the  whole 
of  this  transaction,  that  Esau  was  so  completely  ex¬ 
hausted  by  fatigue  that  he  must  have  perished  had  he 
not  obtained  some  immediate  refreshment.  He  had 
been  either  hunting  or  labouring  in  the  field,  and  was 
now  returning  for  the  purpose  of  getting  some  food,  but 
had  been  so  exhausted  that  his  strength  utterly  failed 
before  he  had  time  to  make  the  necessary  preparations. 

Verse  31.  Sell  me  this  day  thy  birthright.]  What 
the  n"03  bechorah  or  birthright  was,  has  greatly  divided 
both  ancient  and  modern  commentators.  It  is  gene¬ 
rally  supposed  that  the  following  rights  were  attached 
to  the  primogeniture  :  1.  Authority  and  superiority 

over  the  rest  of  the  family.  2.  A  double  portion  of 
the  paternal  inheritance.  3.  The  peculiar  benediction 
of  the  father.  4.  The  priesthood,  previous  to  its 
establishment  in  the  family  of  Aaron.  Calmet  contro¬ 
verts  most  of  these  rights,  and  with  apparent  reason, 
and  seems  to  think  that  the  double  portion  of  the  pa¬ 
ternal  inheritance  was  the  only  incontestable  right 
which  the  first-born  possessed ;  the  others  were  such 
as  were  rather  conceded  to  the  first-born,  than  fixed  by 
any  law  in  the  family.  However  this  may  be,  it  ap¬ 
pears,  1.  That  the  first-born  were  peculiarly  conse¬ 
crated  to  God,  Exod.  xxii.  29.  2.  Were  next  in 

a 


CHAP.  XXV. 


Esau  sells  his  birthright  f of 

A.  M.  cir.  2199.  and  he  sware  unto  him  :  and  r  he 
B-l.C  .cn-  .lb0,)'.  sold  his  birthright  unto  Jacob. 

34  Then  Jacob  gave  Esau  bread  and  pottage 

r  Heb.  xii.  16. 

honour  to  their  parents,  Gen.  xlix.  3.  3.  Had  a  double 

portion  of  their  father’s  goods,  Deut.  xxi.  17.  4.  Suc¬ 

ceeded  him  in  the  government  of  the  family  or  king¬ 
dom,  2  Chron.  xxi.  3.  5.  Had  the  sole  right  of  con¬ 

ducting  the  service  of  God,  both  at  the  tabernacle  and 
temple  ;  and  hence  the  tribe  of  Levi,  which  was  taken 
in  lieu  of  the  first-born ,  had  the  sole  right  of  adminis¬ 
tration  in  the  service  of  God,  Num.  viii.  14—18.;  and 
hence  we  may  presume,  had  originally  a  right  to  the 
‘priesthood  previous  to  the  giving  of  the  law  ;  but  how¬ 
ever  this  might  have  been,  afterwards  the  priesthood  is 
never  reckoned  among  the  privileges  of  the  first-born. 

That  the  birthright  was  a  matter  of  very  great 
importance,  there  can  be  no  room  to  doubt ;  and  that 
it  was  a  transferable  property,  the  transaction  here 
sufficiently  proves. 

Verse  34.  Pottage  of  lentiles ]  See  on  ver.  29. 

Thus  Esau  despised  his  birthright .]  On  this  ac¬ 
count  the  apostle,  Heb.  xii.  16,  calls  Esau  a  profane 
person,  because  he  had,  by  this  act,  alienated  from 
himself  and  family  those  spiritual  offices  connected 
with  the  rights  of  primogeniture.  While  we  condemn 
Esau  for  this  bad  action,  (for  he  should  rather  have 
perished  than  have  alienated  this  right,)  and  while  we 
consider  it  as  a  proof  that  his  mind  was  little  affected 
with  Divine  or  spiritual  things,  what  shall  we  say  of 
his  most  unnatural  brother  Jacob,  who  refused  to  let 
him  have  a  morsel  of  food  to  preserve  him  from  death, 
unless  he  gave  him  up  his  birthright  1  Surely  he  who 
bought  it,  in  such  circumstances,  was  as  bad  as  he  who 
sold  it.  Thus  Jacob  verified  his  right  to  the  name  of 
supplanter,  a  name  which  in  its  first  imposition  appears 
to  have  had  no  other  object  in  view  than  the  circum¬ 
stance  of  his  catching  his  brother  by  the  heel ;  but  all 
his  subsequent  conduct  proved  that  it  was  truly  de¬ 
scriptive  of  the  qualities  of  his  mind,  as  his  whole  life, 
till  the  time  his  name  was  changed,  (and  then  he  had 
a  change  of  nature ,)  was  a  tissue  of  cunning  and  de¬ 
ception,  the  principles  of  which  had  been  very  early 
instilled  into  him  by  a  mother  whose  regard  for  truth 
and  righteousness  appears  to  have  been  very  superfi¬ 
cial.  See  on  chap,  xxvii. 

The  death  of  Abraham,  recorded  in  this  chapter, 
naturally  calls  to  mind  the  virtues  and  excellences  of 
this  extraordinary  man.  His  obedience  to  the  call  of 
God,  and  faith  in  his  promises,  stand  superejjninent. 
No  wonders ,  signs,  or  miraculous  displays  of  the  great 
and  terrible  God,  as  Israel  required  in  Egypt,  were 
used  or  were  necessary  to  cause  Abraham  to  believe 
and  obey.  He  left  his  own  land,  not  knowing  where 
he  was  going,  or  for  what  purpose  God  had  called  him 
to  remove.  Exposed  to  various  hardships,  in  danger 
of  losing  his  life,  and  of  witnessing  the  violation  of  his 
wife,  he  still  obeyed  and  went  on  ;  courageous,  hu¬ 
mane,  and  disinterested,  he  cheerfully  risked  his  life 
for  the  welfare  of  others;  and,  contented  with  having 
rescued  the  captives  and  avenged  the  oppressed,  he 

a 


bread  and  pottage  of  lentiles. 

of  lentiles  ;  and  8  he  did  eat  and  A.  M.  cir.  2199. 
...  ,  .  ,  .  B.  C.  cir.  1805. 

drink,  and  rose  np,  and  went  his  - 

way  :  thus  Esau  despised  his  birthright. 

“Eccles.  viii.  15  ;  Isa.  xxii.  13  ;  1  Cor.  xv.  32. 

refused  to  accept  even  the  spoils  he  had  taken  from 
the  enemy  whom  his  skill  and  valour  had  vanquished. 
At  the  same  time  he  considers  the  excellency  of  the 
power  to  be  of  God,  and  acknowledges  this  by  giving 
to  him  the  tenth  of  those  spoils  of  which  he  would 
reserve  nothing  for  his  private  use.  His  obedience  to 
God,  m  offering  up  his  son  Isaac,  we  have  already 
seen  and  admired  ;  together  with  the  generosity  of  his 
temper,  and  that  respectful  decency  of  conduct  towards 
superiors  and  inferiors  for  which  he  was  so  peculiarly 
remarkable ;  see  on  chap,  xxiii.  Without  disputing 
with  his  Maker,  or  doubting  in  his  heart,  he  credited 
every  thing  that  God  had  spoken  ;  hence  he  always 
walked  in  a  plain  way.  The  authority  of  God  was 
always  sufficient  for  Abraham ;  he  did  not  weary  him¬ 
self  to  find  reasons  for  any  line  of  conduct  which  he 
knew  God  had  prescribed  ;  it  was  his  duty  to  obey ; 
the  success  and  the  event  he  left  with  God.  His 
obedience  was  as  prompt  as  it  was  complete.  As  soon 
as  he  hears  the  voice  of  God,  he  girds  himself  to  his 
work!  Not  a  moment  is  lost !  How  rare  is  such 
conduct !  But  should  not  we  do  likewise  l  The  pre¬ 
sent  moment  and  its  duties  are  ours  ;  every  past  mo¬ 
ment  was  once  present ;  every  future  will  be  present ; 
and,  while  we  are  thinking  on  the  subject,  the  present 
is  past,  for  life  is  made  up  of  the  past  and  the  present. 
Are  our  past  moments  the  cause  of  deep  regret  and 
humiliation  ?  Then  let  us  use  the  present  so  as  not 
to  increase  this  lamentable  cause  of  our  distresses. 
In  other  words,  let  us  now  believe — love — obey.  Re¬ 
gardless  of  all  consequences,  let  us,  like  Abraham, 
follow  the  directions  of  God’s  word,  and  the  openings 
of  his  providence,  and  leave  all  events  to  Him  who 
doth  all  things  well. 

See  to  what  a  state  of  moral  excellence  the  grace 
of  God  can  exalt  a  character,  when  there  is  simple, 
implicit  faith,  and  prompt  obedience  !  Abraham  walked 
before  God ,  and  Abraham  was  perfect.  Perhaps  no 
human  being  ever  exhibited  a  fairer,  fuller  portrait  of 
the  perfect  man  than  Abraham.  The  more  I  consider 
the  character  of  this  most  amiable  patriarch,  the  more 
I  think  the  saying  of  Calmet  justifiable  :  “  In  the  life 
of  Abraham,”  says  he,  “  we  find  an  epitome  of  the 
whole  law  of  nature,  of  the  written  law ,  and  of  the 
Gospel  of  Christ.  He  has  manifested  in  his  own 
person  those  virtues,  for  which  reason  and  philosophy 
could  scarcely  find  out  names,  when  striving  to  sketch 
the  character  of  their  sophist — wise  or  perfect  man. 
St.  Ambrose  very  properly  observes  that  ‘  philosophy 
itself  could  not  equal,  in  its  descriptions  and  wishes, 
what  was  exemplified  by  this  great  man  in  the  whole 
of  his  conduct.’  Magnus  plane  vir,  quern  volis  suis 
philosophia  non  potuit  cequare ;  denique  minus  est  quod 
ilia  finxit  quam  quod  ille  gessit.  The  law  which  God 
gave  to  Moses,  and  in  which  he  has  proposed  the  great 
duties  of  the  law  of  nature,  seems  to  be  a  copy  of  the 
life  of  Abraham.  This  patriarch,  without  being  under 
the  law,  has  performed  the  most  essential  duties  it 

159 


GENESIS. 


Isaac  sojourns  in  Gerar. 

requires  ;  and  as  to  the  Gospel,  its  grand  object  was 
that  on  which  he  had  fixed  his  eye — that  Jesus  whose 
day  he  rejoiced  to  see  ;  and  as  to  its  spirit  and  design , 
they  were  wondrously  exemplified  in  that  faith  which 
was  imputed  to  him  for  righteousness,  receiving  that 
grace  which  conformed  his  whole  heart  and  life  to  the 
will  of  his  Maker,  and  enabled  him  to  persevere  unto 
death.  ‘  Abraham,’  says  the  writer  of  Ecclesiasticus, 
xliv.  20.  &c.,  ‘was  a  great  father  of  many  people  :  in 
glory  was  there  none  like  unto  him,  who  kept  the  law 
of  the  Most  High,  and  was  in  covenant  with  him.  He 
established  the  covenant  in  his  flesh,  and  when  he  was 
tried  he  was  found  faithful.’  ”  See  Calmet. 

As  a  son,  as  a  husband,  as  a  father,  as  a  neighbour, 


God  renews  the  promise  to  him. 

a3  a  sovereign,  and  above  all  as  a  man  of  God ,  he 
stands  unrivalled  ;  so  that  under  the  most  exalted  and 
perfect  of  all  dispensations,  the  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ, 
he  is  proposed  and  recommended  as  the  model  and 
pattern  according  to  which  the  faith,  obedience,  and 
perseverance  of  the  followers  of  the  Messiah  are  to  be 
formed.  Reader,  while  you  admire  the  man,  do  not 
forget  the  God  that  made  him  so  great,  so  good,  and 
so  useful.  Even  Abraham  had  nothing  but  what  he 
had  received  ;  from  the  free  unmerited  mercy  of  God 
proceeded  all  his  excellences  ;  but  he  was  a  worker 
together  with  God,  and  therefore  did  not  receive  the 
grace  of  God  in  vain.  Go  thou,  believe,  love,  obey, 
and  persevere  in  like  manner. 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 

A  famine  in  the  land  obliges  Isaac  to  leave  Beer-sheba  and  go  to  Gerar ,  1 .  God  appears  to  him ,  and  warns 
him  not  to  go  to  Egypt,  2.  Renews  the  promises  to  him  which  he  had  made  to  his  father  Abraham,  3—5. 
Isaac  dwells  at  Gerar,  6.  Being  questioned  concerning  Rebekah,  and  fearing  to  lose  his  life  on  her  account , 
he  calls  her  his  sister,  7.  Abimelech  the  king,  discovers  by  certain  familiarities  which  he  had  noticed 
between  Isaac  and  Rebekah ,  that  she  was  his  wife,  8.  Calls  Isaac  and  reproaches  him  for  his  insincerity , 
9,  10.  He  gives  a  strict  command  to  all  his  people  not  to  molest  either  Isaac  or  his  wife,  11.  Isaac 
applies  himself  to  husbandry  and  breeding  of  cattle,  and  has  a  great  increase,  12—14.  Is  envied  by  the 
Philistines,  who  stop  up  the  wells  he  had  digged,  15.  Is  desired  by  Abimelech  to  remove,  16.  He  obeys, 
and  fixes  his  tent  in  the  valley  of  Gerar,  17.  Opens  the  wells  dug  in  the  days  of  Abraham,  which  the 
Philistines  had  stopped  up,  18.  Digs  the  well,  Ezek.  19,  20;  and  the  well  Sitnah,  21  ;  and  the  well 
Rehoboth,  22.  Returns  to  Beer-sheba,  23.  God  appears  to  him,  and  renews  his  promises,  24.  He 
builds  an  altar  there,  pitches  his  tent,  and  digs  a  well,  25.  Abimelech,  Ahuzzath,  and  Phichol,  visit  him , 
26.  Isaac  accuses  them  of  unkindness,  27.  They  beg  him  to  make  a  covenant  with  them ,  28,  29.  He 
makes  them  a  feast,  and  they  bind  themselves  to  each  other  by  an  oath,  30,  31.  The  well  dug  by  Isaac's 
servants  (ver.  25)  called  Shebah,  33.  Esau,  at  forty  years  of  age,  marries  two  ivives  of  the  Hittites,  34  ; 
at  which  Isaac  and  Rebekah  are  grieved,  35. 


A.  M.  cir.  2200.  A  ND  there  was  a  famine  in 

B.  C.  cir.  1804.  -Z~l_  , 


the  land,  beside  a  the  first 
famine  that  was  in  the  days  of  Abraham. 
And  Isaac  went  unto  b  Abimelech,  king  of  the 
Philistines,  unto  Gerar. 

2  And  the  Lord  appeared  unto  him,  and 
said,  Go  not  down  into  Egypt ;  dwell  in 


a  Chap.  xii.  10. — -b  Chap.  xx.  2. - c  Chap.  xii.  1. - d  Chap. 

xx.  1 ;  Psa.  xxxix.  12  ;  Heb.  xi.  9. 


c  the  land  which  I  shall  tell  A.  M.  cir.  2200. 
,  B.  C.  cir.  1804. 

thee  on  :  - 

3  d  Sojourn  in  this  land,  and  e  I  will  be  with 

thee,  and  f  will  bless  thee  ;  for  unto  thee,  and 

unto  thy  seed,  g  I  will  give  all  these  countries ; 

and  I  will  perform  h  the  oath  which  I  sware 

unto  Abraham  thy  father: 

e  Chap,  xxviii.  15. - fChap.  xii.  1. - ?Chap.  xiii.  15;  xv.  18. 

h  Chap.  xxii.  16 ;  Psa.  cv.  9. 


NOTES  ON  CHAP.  XXYI. 

Yerse  1.  There  was  a  famine ]  When  this  hap¬ 
pened  we  cannot  tell ;  it  appears  to  have  been  after 
the  death  of  Abraham.  Concerning  the  first  famine, 
see  chap.  xii.  10. 

Abimelech ]  As  we  know  not  the  time  when  the 
famine  happened,  so  we  cannot  tell  whether  this  was 
the  same  Abimelech,  Phichol,  &c.,  which  are  men¬ 
tioned  chap.  xx.  1,  &c.,  or  the  sons  or  other  descend¬ 
ants  of  these  persons. 

Yerse  2.  Go  not  down  into  Egypt ]  As  Abraham 
had  taken  refuge  in  that  country,  it  is  probable  that 
Isaac  was  preparing  to  go  thither  also  ;  and  God, 
foreseeing  that  he  would  there  meet  with  trials,  &c., 
which  might  prove  fatal  to  his  peace  or  to  his  piety, 
warns  him  not  to  fulfil  his  intention. 

160 


Yerse  3.  Sojourn  in  this  land ]  In  Gerar,  whither 
he  had  gone,  ver.  1,  and  where  we  find  he  settled,  ver. 
6,  though  the  land  of  Canaan  in  general  might  be  here 
intended.  That  there  were  serious  and  important  rea¬ 
sons  why  Isaac  should  not  go  to  Egypt,  we  may  be 
fully  assured,  though  they  be  not  assigned  here ;  it  is 
probable  that  even  Isaac  himself  was  not  informed  why 
he  should  not  go  down  to  Egypt.  I  have  already  sup¬ 
posed  that  God  saw  trials  in  his  way  which  he  might 
not  have  been  able  to  bear.  While  a  man  acknow¬ 
ledges  God  in  all  his  vrays,  he  will  direct  all  his  steps, 
though  he  may  not  choose  to  give  him  the  reasons  of 
the  workings  of  his  providence.  Abraham  might  go 
safely  to  Egypt,  Isaac  might  not  ;  in  firmness  and  de¬ 
cision  of  character  there  was  a  wide  difference  be¬ 
tween  the  two  men. 


a 


CHAP.  XXVI. 


Isaac  is  questioned 


concerning  his  wife. 


a.  M.  cir.  2200.  4  And  1  I  will  make  thy  seed  to 

B.  C.  cir.  1304.  ...  ,  /  , 

- -  multiply  as  the  stars  ot  heaven, 

and  will  give  unto  thy  seed  all  these  countries  ; 

k  and  in  thy  seed  shall  all  the  nations  of  the 

earth  be  blessed ; 

5  1  Because  that  Abraham  obeyed  my  voice, 
and  kept  my  charge,  my  commandments,  my 
statutes,  and  my  laws. 

6  And  Isaac  dwelt  in  Gerar. 

7  And  the  men  of  the  place  asked  him  of 
his  wife  ;  and  m  he  said,  She  is  my  sister :  for 
n  he  feared  to  say,  She  is  my  wife ;  lest,  said 
he ,  the  men  of  the  place  should  kill  me  for 
Rebekah  ;  because  she  0  was  fair  to  look  upon. 

8  And  it  came  to  pass,  when  he  had  been 
there  a  long  time,  that  Abimelech  king  of  the 
Philistines  looked  out  at  a  window,  and  saw, 


and  behold,  Isaac  was  sporting  A.  M.  cir.  2200. 

.  1  t»  u  1  i  0  B.  C.  cir.  1804. 

with  Rebekah  his  wile.  - 

9  And  Abimelech  called  Isaac,  and  said, 
Behold,  of  a  surety  she  is  thy  wife  ;  and  how 
saidst  thou,  She  is  my  sister  ?  And  Isaac 
said  unto  him,  Because  I  said,  Lest  I  die 
for  her. 

10  And  Abimelech  said,  What  is  this  thou 
hast  done  unto  us  ?  one  of  the  people  might 
lightly  have  lien  with  thy  wife,  and  p  thou 
shouldest  have  brought  guiltiness  upon  us. 

1 1  And  Abimelech  charged  all  his  people, 
saying,  He  that  q  toucheth  this  man  or  his 
wife  shall  surely  be'  put  to  death. 

12  Then  Isaac  sowed  in  that  land,  and  r  re¬ 
ceived  in  the  same  year  s  a  hundred-fold  :  and 
the  Lord  t  blessed  him  : 


5  Chap.  xv.  5  ;  xxii.  17. - k  Chap.  xii.  3  ;  xxii.  18. - 1  Chap. 

xxii.  16,  18. - m  Chap.  xii.  13;  xx.  2,  13. - "Proverbs 

xxix.  25. 


Verse  4.  I  will  make  thy  .seed — as  the  stars  of 
heaven J  A  promise  often  repeated  to  Abraham,  and 
which  has  been  most  amply  fulfilled  both  in  its  literal 
and  spiritual  sense. 

Verse  5.  Abraham  obeyed  my  voice ]  meimeri, 

my  WORD.  See  chap.  xv.  1. 

My  charge ]  VnfttPD  mishmarti,  from  shamar , 
he  kept,  observed,  &c.,  the  ordinances  or  appointments 
of  God.  These  were  always  of  two  kinds  :  1.  Such 
as  tended  to  promote  moral  improvement ,  the  increase 
of  piety,  the  improvement  of  the  age,  &c.  And  2.  Such 
as  were  typical  of  the  promised  seed,  and  the  salva¬ 
tion  which  was  to  come  by  him.  For  commandments , 
statutes,  &c.,  the  reader  is  particularly  desired  to  refer 
to  Lev.  xvi.  15,  &c.,  where  these  things  are  all  ex¬ 
plained  in  the  alphabetical  order  of  the  Hebrew  words. 

Verse  7.  He  said,  She  is  my  sister ]  •  It  is  very 
strange  that  in  the  same  place,  and  in  similar  circum¬ 
stances,  Isaac  should  have  denied  his  wife ,  precisely 
as  his  father  had  done  before  him  !  It  is  natural  to 
ask,  Did  Abraham  never  mention  this  circumstance  to 
his  son  1  Probably  he  did  not,  as  he  was  justly  ashamed 
of  his  weakness  on  the  occasion — the  only  blot  in  his 
character  ;  the  son,  therefore,  not  being  forewarned, 
was  not  armed  against  the  temptation.  It  may  not  be 
well  in  general  for  parents  to  tell  their  children  of 
their  former  failings  or  vices,  as  this  might  lessen  their 
authority  or  respect,  and  the  children  might  make  a 
bad  use  of  it  in  extenuation  of  their  own  sins.  But 
there  are  certain  cases,  which,  from  the  nature  of  their 
circumstances,  may  often  occur,  where  a  candid  ac¬ 
knowledgment,  with  suitable  advice,  may  prevent  those 
children  from  repeating  the  evil  ;  but  this  should  be 
done  with  great  delicacy  and  caution,  lest  even  the  ad¬ 
vice  itself  should  serve  as  an  incentive  to  the  evil.  I 
had  not  known  lust,  says  St.  Paul,  if  the  law  had  not 
said,  Thou  shalt  not  covet.  Isaac  could  not  say  of 
Rebekah,  as  Abraham  had  done  of  Sarah,  She  is  my 
sister  ;  in  the  case  of  Abraham  this  was  literally  true  ; 

VT>l.  T.  (  12  ) 


0  Chap.  xxiv.  16. - p  Chap.  xx.  9. - a  Psa.  cv.  15. - r  Heb. 

found. - 8  Matt.,  xiii.  8  ;  Mark  iv.  8. - 1  Ver.  3  ;  chap.  xxiv. 

1,  35  ;  Job  xlii.  12. 

it  was  not  so  in  the  case  of  Isaac,  for  Rebekah  was 
only  his  cousin.  Besides,  though  relatives,  in  the 
Jewish  forms  of  speaking,  are  often  called  brothers 
and  sisters,  and  the  thing  may  be  perfectly  proper  when 
this  use  of  the  terms  is  generally  known  and  allowed,, 
yet  nothing  of  this  kind  can  be  pleaded  here  in  behalf 
of  Isaac  ;  for  he  intended  that  the  Gerarites  should 
understand  him  in  the  proper  sense  of  the  term,  and 
consequently  have  no  suspicion  that  she  was  his  ivife. 
We  have  already  seen  that  the  proper  definition  of  a 
lie  is  any  word  spoken  with  the  intention  to  deceive. 
See  chap.  xx.  12. 

Verse  8.  Isaac  was  sporting  with  Rebekah  his  wife.  ] 
Whatever  may  be  the  precise  meaning  of  the  word, 
it  evidently  implies  that  there  were  liberties  taken  and 
freedoms  used  on  the  occasion,  which  were  not  lawful 
but  between  man  and  wife. 

Verse  10.  Thou  shouldest  have  brought  guiltiness 
upon  us.]  It  is  likely  that  Abimelech  might  have  had 
some  knowledge  of  God’s  intentions  concerning  the 
family  of  Abraham,  and  that  it  must  be  kept  free  from 
all  impure  and  alien  mixtures  ;  and  that  consequently, 
had  he  or  any  of  his  people  taken  Rebekah,  the  Divine 
judgments  might  have  fallen  upon  the  land.  Abime¬ 
lech  was  a  good  and  holy  man  ;  and  he  appears  to  have 
considered  adultery  as  a  grievous  and  destructive  crime. 

V erse  1 1 .  He  that  toucheth]  He  who  injures  Isaac 
or  defiles  Rebekah  shall  certainly  die  for  it.  Death 
was  the  punishment  for  adultery  among  the  Canaanites, 
Philistines,  and  Hebrews.  See  chap,  xxxviii.  24. 

Verse  12.  Isaac  sowed  in  that  land]  Being  now 
perfectly  free  from  the  fear  of  evil,  he  betakes  himself 
to  agricultural  and  pastoral  pursuits,  in  which  he  has 
the  especial  blessing  of  God,  so  that  his  property  be¬ 
comes  greatly  increased. 

A  hundred-fold]  D’ me  ah  sliearim,  literally, 

“  A  hundred-fold  of  barley  and  so  the  Septuagint, 
£7 ca-ooTEVovoav  KpiOijv.  Perhaps  such  a  crop  of  this 
grain  was  a  rare  occurrence  in  Gerar.  The  words, 

101 


GENESIS. 


Isaac  acquires  much  property, 

A.  M.  cir.  2200.  1 3  And  the  man  u  waxed  great, 

B.  c.  cir.  1804.  an(^  v  went  forward,  and  grew 

until  he  became  very  great ; 

14  For  he  had  possession  of  flocks,  and 
possession  of  herds,  and  great  store  of  w  ser¬ 
vants  :  and  the  Philistines  *  envied  him. 

15  For  all  the  wells  y  which  his  father’s 
servants  had  digged  in  the  days  of  Abraham 
his  father,  the  Philistines  had  stopped  them, 
and  filled  them  with  earth. 

16  And  Abimelech  said  unto  Isaac,  Go  from 
us ;  for  z  thou  art  much  mightier  than  we. 

17  And  Isaac  departed  thence,  and  pitched 
his  tent  in  the  valley  of  Gerar,  and  dwelt  there. 

18  And  Isaac  digged  again  the  wells  of 
water,  which  they  had  digged  in  the  days  of 
Abraham  his  father  ;  for  the  Philistines  had 
stopped  them  after  the  death  of  Abraham  : 
a  and  he  called  their  names  after  the  names 


u  Chap.  xxiv.  35;  Psa.  cxii.  3  ;  Prov.  x.  22. - vHeb.  went 

going. - w  Or,  husbandry. - x  Chap,  xxxvii.  11  ;  Eccles.  iv.  4. 

y  Chap.  xxi.  30. - 2  Exod.  i.  9. - a  Chap.  xxi.  31. 


however,  may  be  taken  in  a  general  way,  as  signifying 
a  very  great  increase ;  so  they  are  used  by  our  Lord 
in  the  parable  of  the  sower. 

Verse  13.  The  man  waxed  great]  There  is  a  strange 
and  observable  recurrence  of  the  same  term  in  the  ori¬ 
ginal  :  “!kd  hi:  o  t  Si:i  -pbn  •jVi  Viri  vaiyig- 
dal  haish  vaiyelech  haloch  vegadel  ad  ki  gadal  meod , 
And  the  man  was  great  ;  and  he  went,  going  on,  and 
icas  great,  until  that  he  was  exceeding  great.  How 
simple  is  this  language,  and  yet  how  forcible  ! 

Verse  14.  He  had  possession  of  flocks ]  He  who 
blessed  him  in  the  increase  of  his  fields  blessed  him 
also  in  the  increase  of  his  flocks ;  and  as  he  had  ex¬ 
tensive  possessions,  so  he  must  have  many  hands  to 
manage  such  concerns :  therefore  it  is  added,  he 
had  great  store  of  servants — he  had  many  domestics, 
some  born  in  his  house,  and  others  purchased  by  his 
money. 

Verse  15.  For  all  the  wells — the  Philistines  had 
stopped  them]  In  such  countries  a  good  well  was  a 
great  acquisition ;  and  hence  in  predatory  wars  it  was 
usual  for  either  party  to  fill  the  wells  with  earth  or 
sand,  in  order  to  distress  the  enemy.  The  filling  up 
the  wells  in  this  case  was  a  most  unprincipled  trans¬ 
action,  as  they  had  pledged  themselves  to  Abraham, 
by  a  solemn  oath,  not  to  injure  each  other  in  this  or 
any  other  respect.  See  chap.  xxi.  25-31. 

V erse  1 6 .  ,Go  from  us ;  for  thou  art  much  mightier 
than  we.]  This  is  the  first  instance  on  record  of  what 
was  termed  among  the  Greeks  ostracism  ;  i.  e.,  the 
banishment  of  a  person  from  the  state,  of  whose  power, 
influence,  or  riches,  the  people  were  jealous.  There 
is  a  remarkable  saying  ot  Bacon  on  this  subject,  which 
seems  to  intimate  that  he  had  this  very  circumstance 
under  his  eye  :  “  Public  envy  is  an  ostracism  that 
eclipseth  men  when  they  grow  loo  great. 

a  162 


and  is  obliged  to  leave  Gerar. 

by  which  his  father  had  called  A.  M.  cir.  2200. 

/  B.  C.  cir.  1804. 

them.  - 

19  And  Isaac’s  servants  digged  in  the 
valley,  and  found  there  a  w^ell  of  b  springing 
water. 

20  And  the  herdmen  of  Gerar  c  did  strive 
with  Isaac’s  herdmen,  saying,  The  water  is 
ours  :  and  he  called  the  name  of  the  well 
d  Esek  ;  because  they  strove  with  him. 

2 1  And  they  digged  another  well,  and  strove 
for  that  also  :  and  he  called  the  name  of  it 
e  Sitnah. 

22  And  he  removed  from  thence,  and  digged 
another  well ;  and  for  that  they  strove  not : 
and  he  called  the  name  of  it  f  Rehoboth ;  and 
he  said,  For  now  the  Lord  hath  made  room 
for  us,  and  we  shall  s  be  fruitful  in  the  land. 

23  And  he  went  up  from  thence  to  Beer- 
sheba. 


b  Heb.  living. - c  Chap.  xxi.  25. - d  That  is.  Contention. 

e  That  is,  Hatred. — — f  That  is,  Room. - 5  Chap.  xvii.  6  ;  xxviii. 

3  ;  xli.  52 ;  Exod.  i.  7. 


same  principle  Pharaoh  oppressed  the  Israelites.  The 
Philistines  appear  to  have  been  jealous  of  Isaac’s  grow¬ 
ing  prosperity,  and  to  have  considered  it,  not  as  a  due 
reward  of  his  industry  and  holiness,  but  as  their  indi¬ 
vidual  loss,  as  though  his  gain  was  at  their  expense ; 
therefore  they  resolved  to  drive  him  out,  and  take  his 
well-cultivated  ground,  &c.,  to  themselves,  and  com¬ 
pelled  Abimelech  to  dismiss  him,  who  gave  this  reason 
for  it,  D'O'jy  atsamta  mimmennu,  Thou  hast  ob¬ 
tained  much  ivealth  among  us,  and  my  people  are  en¬ 
vious  of  thee.  Is  not  this  the  better  translation  1  for 
it  can  hardly  be  supposed  that  Isaac  was  “  mightier ” 
than  the  king  of  wdiole  tribes. 

Verse  18.  In  the  days  of  Abraham]  Instead  of 
bimey ,  in  the  days,  Houbigant  contends  we  should 
read  '•‘iny  abdey,  servants.  Isaac  digged  again  the 
wells  which  the  servants  of  Abraham  his  father  had 
digged.  This  reading  is  supported  by  the  Samaritan, 
Septuagint ,  Syriac,  and  Vulgate;  and  it  is  probably 
the  true  one. 

Verse  19.  A  well  of  springing  water.]  D^n  D'O  ‘IXH 
beer  mayim  chaiyim,  A  well  of  living  waters.  This  is 
the  oriental  phrase  for  a  spring ,  and  this  is  its  mean¬ 
ing  both  in  the  Old  and  New  Testaments  :  Lev.  xiv. 
5,  50;  xv.  30;  Num.  xix.  17;  Cant.  iv.  15.  See 
also  John  iv.  10—14;  vii.  38  ;  Rev.  xxi.  6  ;  xxii.  1. 
And  by  these  scriptures  we  find  that  an  unfailing 
spring  was  an  emblem  of  the  graces  and  influences  of. 
the  Spirit  of  God. 

Verse  21.  They  digged  another  well]  Never  did 
any  man  more  implicitly  follow  the  Divine  command, 
Resist  not  evil,  than  Isaac  ;  whenever  he  found  that 
his  work  was  likely  to  be  a  subject  of  strife  and  con¬ 
tention,  he  gave  place,  and  rather  chose  to  suffer  wrong 
than  to  have  his  own  peace  of  mind  disturbed.  Thus 
he  overcame  evil  with  good. 

(  12*  > 


On  this 


CHAP.  XXVI. 


Isaac  is  visited  by  Abimelech. 

A.  M.  cir.  2200.  24  And  the  Lord  appeared 

B.  C.  cir.  1804.  ,  .  .  .  , 

-  unto  him  the  same  night,  and 

said,  hI  am  the  God  of  Abraham  thy  father: 

i  fear  not,  for  k  I  am  with  thee,  and  will  bless 

thee,  and  multiply  thy  seed  for  my  servant 

Abraham’s  sake. 

25  And  he  1  budded  an  altar  there,  and 
m  called  upon  the  name  of  the  Lord,  and 
pitched  his  tent  there  :  and  there  Isaac’s  ser¬ 
vants  digged  a  well. 

26  Then  Abimelech  went  to  him  from  Gerar, 
and  Ahuzzath  one  of  his  friends,  n  and  Phichol 
the  chief  captain  of  his  army. 

27  And  Isaac  said  unto  them,  Wherefore 
come  ye  to  me,  seeing  0  ye  hate  me,  and  have 
p  sent  me  away  from  you  ? 

28  And  they  said,  ^  We  saw  certainly  that 
the  Lord  r  was  with  thee  :  and  we  said,  Let 
there  be  now  an  oath  betwixt  us,  even  be¬ 
twixt  us  and  thee,  and  let  us  make  a  covenant 
with  thee  ; 

h  Chap.  xvii.  7;  xxiv.  12;  xxviii.  13;  Exod.  iii.  6;  Acts  vii. 

32. - ‘  Chap.  xv.  1. - k  Ver.  3,  4. - 1  Chap.  xii.  7  ;  xiii.  18. 

m  Psa.  cxvi.  17. - “Chap.  xxi.  22. - °Judg.  xi.  7. - P  Ver. 

16. - Heb.  seeing  we  saw. 

Verse  24.  The  Lord  appeared  unto  him ]  He  needed 
especial  encouragement  when  insulted  and  outraged  by 
the  Philistines;  for  having  returned  to  the  place  where 
his  noble  father  had  lately  died,  the  remembrance  of 
his  wrongs ,  and  the  remembrance  of  his  loss,  could 
not  fail  to  afflict  his  mind  ;  and  God  immediately  ap¬ 
pears  to  comfort  and  support  him  in  his  trials,  by  a  re¬ 
newal  of  all  his  promises. 

Yerse  25.  Builded  an  altar  there]  That  he  might 
have  a  place  for  God’s  worship,  as  well  as  a  place  for 
himself  and  family  to  dwell  in. 

And  called  upon  the  name  of  the  Lord ]  And  in¬ 
voked  in  the  name  of  Jehovah.  See  on  chap.  xii.  8 ; 
xiii.  15. 

Yerse  26.  Abimelech  went  to  him ]  When  a  man’s 
ways  please  God,  he  makes  even  his  enemies  to  be  at 
peace  with  him  ;  so  Isaac  experienced  on  this  occa¬ 
sion.  Whether  this  was  the  same  Abimelech  and  Phi¬ 
chol  mentioned  chap.  xxi.  22,  we  cannot  tell ;  it  is 
possible  both  might  have  been  now  alive,  provided  we 
suppose  them  young  in  the  days  of  Abraham ;  but  it 
is  more  likely  that  Abimelech  was  a  general  name  of 
the  Gerarite  kings,  and  that  Phichol  was  a  name  of 
office. 

Ahuzzath ]  The  Targum  translates  this  word  a  com¬ 
pany,  not  considering  it  as  a  proper  name  ;  “  Abime¬ 
lech  and  Phichol  came  with  a  company  of  their  friends.” 
The  Septuagint  calls  him  Oxo&O  6  wytyayoyog,  Ocho- 
zath,  the  paranymph,  he  who  conducts  the  bride  to  the 
bridegroom’s  house.  Could  we  depend  on  the  correct¬ 
ness  of  this  version,  we  might  draw  the  following  cu¬ 
rious  conclusions  from  it:  1.  That  this  was  the  son 
of  that  Abimelech  the  friend  of  Abraham.  2.  That 


They  make  a  covenant 

29  s  That  thou  wilt  do  us  no  a.  m.  cir.  2200. 

hurt,  as  we  have  not  touched  - 

thee,  and  as  we  have  done  unto  thee  nothing 
but  good,  and  have  sent  thee  away  in 
peace :  t  thou  art  now  the  blessed  of  the 
Lord. 

30  11  And  he  made  them  a  feast,  and  they 
did  eat  and  drink. 

31  And  they  rose  up  betimes  in  the  morn¬ 
ing,  and  v  sware  one  to  another :  and  Isaac 
sent  them  away,  and  they  departed  from  him 
in  peace. 

32  And  it  came  to  pass  the  same  day,  that 
Isaac’s  servants  came,  and  told  him  concern¬ 
ing  the  well  which  they  had  digged,  and  said 
unto  him,  We  have  found  wat^:. 

33  And  he  called  it  w  Shebah  :  x  therefore 
the  name  of  the  city  is  ?  Beer-sheba  unto 
this  day. 

34  z  And  Esau  was  forty  years  old  when  he 
took  to  wife  Judith  the  daughter  of  Beeri  the 

r  Chap.  xxi.  22,  23. - s  Heb.  if  thou  shalt,  &c. - 1  Chaptei 

xxiv.  31  ;  Psa.  cxv.  15. - “Chap.  xix.  3. - vChap.  xxi.  31 

w  That  is,  an  oath. - x  Chap.  xxi.  31. - r  That  is,  the  well  of 

the  oath. - z  Chap,  xxxvi.  2. 

he  had  been  lately  married,  and  on  this  journey  brings 
with  him  his  confidential  friend,  to  whom  he  had  lately 
intrusted  the  care  of  his  spouse. 

Verse  27.  Seeing  ye  hate  me]  He  was  justified  in 
thinking  thus,  because  if  they  did  not  injure  him,  they 
had  connived  at  their  servants  doing  it. 

Yerse  28.  Let  there  be  now  an  oath  betzvixt  zzs]  Let 
us  make  a  covenant  by  which  we  shall  be  mutually 
bound,  and  let  it  be  ratified  in  the  most  solemn  manner. 

Yerse  30.  He  made  them  a  feast ]  Probably  on  the 
sacrifice  that  was  offered  on  the  occasion  of  making 
this  covenant.  This  was  a  common  custom. 

Yerse  31.  They  rose  up  betimes]  Early  rising  was 
general  among  the  primitive  inhabitants  of  the  world, 
and  this  was  one  cause  which  contributed  greatly  to 
their  health  and  longevity. 

Yerse  33.  He  called  it  Shebah]  This  was  probably 
the  same  well  which  was  called  Beer-sheba  in  the  time 
of  Abraham,  which  the  Philistines  had  filled  up,  and 
which  the  servants  of  Isaac  had  reopened.  The  same 
name  is  therefore  given  to  it  which  it  had  before,  with 
the  addition  of  the  emphatic  letter  n  he,  by  which  its 
signification  became  extended,  so  that  now  it  signified 
not  merely  an  oath  or  full,  but  satisfaction  and  abun¬ 
dance. 

The  name  of  the  city  is  Beer-sheba]  This  name 
was  given  to  it  a  hundred  years  before  this  time  ;  but 
as  the  well  from  which  it  had  this  name  originally  was 
closed  up  by  the  Philistines,  probably  the  name  of  the 
place  was  abolished  with  the  well ;  when  therefore 
Isaac  reopened  the  well,  he  restored  the  ancient  name 
of  the  place. 

Yerse  34.  He  took  to  wife — the  daughter  <5yc.]  It 

163 


a 


"Esau  marries  two  Hittite  women, 


GENESIS. 


A.  M.  cir.  2200. 

B.  C.  cir.  1804. 


Hittite,  and  Bashemath  the  daugh¬ 
ter  of  Elon  the  Hittite  : 


a  Chap,  xxvii.  46;  xxviii.  1,  8. 


is  very  likely  that  the  wives  taken  by  Esau  were  daugh¬ 
ters  of  chiefs  among  the  Hittites,  and  by  this  union  he 
sought  to  increase  and  strengthen  his  secular  power 
and  influence. 

Terse  35.  ’Which  were  a  grief  of  mind ]  Not  the 
marriage ,  though  that  was  improper,  but  the  persons ; 
they,  by  their  perverse  and  evil  ways,  brought  bitter¬ 
ness  into  the  hearts  of  Isaac  and  Rebekah.  The  Tar- 
gum  of  Jonathan  ben  TJzziel ,  and  that  of  Jerusalem , 
say  they  were  addicted  to  idol  worship,  and  rebelled 
against  and  would  not  hearken  to  the  instructions 
either  of  Isaac  or  Rebekah.  From  Canaanites  a  dif¬ 
ferent  conduct  could  not  be  reasonably  expected.  Esau 
was  far  from  being  spiritual ,  and  his  wives  were  wholly 
carnal.  * 

The  same  reflections  which  were  suggested  by 
Abraham’s  conduct  in  denying  his  wife  in  Egypt  and 
Gerar,  will  apply  to  that  of  Isaac  ;  but  the  case  of 
Isaac  was  much  less  excusable  than  that  of  Abraham. 
The  latter  told  no  falsity  ;  he  only  through  fear  sup- 
po'essed  a  part  of  the  truth. 

1 .  A  good  man  has  a  right  to  expect  God’s  blessing 
on  his  honest  industry.  Isaac  sowed,  and  received  a 
hundred-fold,  and  he  had  possession  of  flocks,  &c.,  for 
the  Lord  blessed  him.  Worldly  men ,  if  they  pray  at 
all,  ask  for  temporal  things  :  “  What  shall  we  eat  1 
what  shall  we  drink  1  and  wherewithal  shall  we  be 
clothed  1”  Most  of  the  truly  religious  people  go  into 
another  extreme  ;  they  forget  the  body,  and  ask  only 
for  the  soul !  and  yet  there  are  “  things  requisite  and 
necessary  as  well  for  the  body  as  the  soul,”  and  things 
which  are  only  at  God’s  disposal.  The  body  lives  for 
the  soul’s  sake ;  its  life  and  comfort  are  in  many  re¬ 
spects  essentially  requisite  to  the  salvation  of  the  soul ; 
and  therefore  the  things  necessary  for  its  support  should 
be  earnestly  asked  from  the  God  of  all  grace,  the  Fa¬ 
ther  of  bounty  and  providence.  Ye  have  not  because 
ye  ash  not ,  may  be  said  to  many  poor,  afflicted  religious 
people  ;  and  they  are  afraid  to  ask  lest  it  should  ap¬ 
pear  mercenary,  or  that  they  sought  their  portion  in 
this  life.  They  should  be  better  taught.  Surely  to 
none  of  these  will  God  give  a  stone  if  they  ask  bread : 
he  who  is  so  liberal  of  his  heavenly  blessings  will  not 
withhold  earthly  ones,  wrhich  are  of  infinitely  less  con¬ 
sequence.  Reader,  expect  God’s  blessing  on  thy  honest 
industry ;  pray  for  it,  and  believe  that  God  does  not 
love  thee  less,  who  hast  taken  refuge  in  the  same  hope, 
than  he  loved  Isaac.  Plead  not  only  his  promises,  but 
plead  on  the  precedents  he  has  set  before  thee.  “  Lord, 
thou  didst  so  and  so  to  Abraham,  to  Isaac,  to  Jacob, 
and  to  others  who  trusted  in  thee  ;  bless  my  field,  bless 
my  flocks,  prosper  my  labour,  that  I  may  be  able  to 
provide  things  honest  in  the  sight  of  all  men,  and  have 
something  to  dispense  to  those  who  are  in  want.”  And 
will  not  God  hear  such  prayers  1  Yea,  and  answmr 
them  too,  for  he  does  not  willingly  afflict  the  children 
of  men.  And  we  may  rest  assured  that  there  is  more 
affliction  and  poverty  in  the  world  than  either  the  jus- 

164 


which  are  a  grief  to  his  parents 

35  Which  a  were  ba  grief  of  A.  M.  cir.  2200. 
.  ,  T  .  ,  ,  B.  C.  cir.  1804. 

mind  unto  Isaac  and  to  Kebekah.  - - - 


b  Heb.  bitterness  of  spirit. 


tice  or  providence  of  God  requires.  There  are,  how¬ 
ever,  many  who  owre  their  poverty  to  their  wrant  of 
diligence  and  economy  ;  they  sink  down  into  indolence, 
and  forget  that  word,  Whatsoever  thy  hand  findeth  to 
do,  do  it  with  thy  might ;  nor  do  they  consider  that 
by  idleness  a  man  is  clothed  with  rags.  Be  diligent 
in  business  and  fervent  in  spirit,  and  God  wall  withhold 
from  thee  no  manner  of  thing  that  is  good. 

2.  From  many  examples  we  find  that  the  wealth  of 
the  primitive  inhabitants  of  the  world  did  not  consist 
in  gold,  silver ,  or  precious  stones,  but  principally  in 
flocks  of  useful  cattle,  and  the  produce  of  the  field. 
With  precious  metals  and  precious  stones  they  were 
not  unacquainted,  and  the  former  wrere  sometimes  used 
in  purchases,  as  we  have  already  seen  in  the  case  of 
Abraham  buying  a  field  from  the  children  of  Heth. 
But  the  blessings  winch  God  promises  are  such  as 
spring  from  the  soil.  Isaac  sowed  in  the  land,  and  had 
possessions  of  flocks  and  herds,  and  great  store  of  ser¬ 
vants,  ver.  12-14.  Commerce,  by  which  nations  and 
individuals  so  suddenly  rise  and  as  suddenly  fall,  had 
not  been  then  invented  ;  every  man  was  obliged  to  ac¬ 
quire  property  by  honest  and  persevering  labour,  or  be 
destitute.  Lucky  hits,  fortunate  speculations,  and  ad¬ 
venturous  risks,  could  then  have  no  place ;  the  field 
must  be  tilled,  the  herds  watched  and  fed,  and  the 
proper  seasons  for  ploughing,  sowing,  reaping,  and  lay¬ 
ing  up,  be  carefully  regarded  and  improved.  No  man, 
therefore,  could  grow  rich  by  accident.  Isaac  waxed 
great,  and  went  forward,  and  grew  until  he  became 
very  great,  ver.  13.  Speculation  was  of  no  use,  for 
it  could  have  no  object ;  and  consequently  many  in¬ 
citements  to  knavery  and  to  idleness,  that  bane  of  the 
physical  and  moral  health  of  the  body  and  soul  of  man, 
could  not  show  themselves.  Happy  times !  when  every 
man  wrought  with  his  hands,  and  God  particularly 
blessed  his  honest  industry.  As  he  had  no  luxuries , 
he  had  no  unnatural  and  factitious  wants,  few  diseases, 
and  a  long  life. 

O  fortunatos  nimium,  sua  si  bona  nonnt, 

Agricolas ! - - 

0  thrice  happy  husbandmen !  did  they  but  knowr  their 

own  mercies. 

But  has  not  wThat.  is  termed  commerce  produced  the 
reverse  of  all  this  1  A  few  are  speculators,  and  the 
many  are  comparatively  slaves ;  and  slaves,  not  to 
enrich  themselves,  (this  is  impossible,)  but  to  enrich 
the  speculators  and  adventurers  by  whom  they  are 
employed.  Even  the  farmers  become,  at  least  par¬ 
tially,  commercial  men  ;  and  the  soil,  the  fruitful  parent 
of  natural  wrnalth,  is  comparatively  disregarded  :  the 
consequence  is,  that  the  misery  of  the  many,  and  the 
luxury  of  the  feio,  increase  ;  and  from  both  these 
spring,  on  the  one  hand,  pride,  insolence,  contempt  of 
the  poor,  contempt  of  God’s  holy  word  and  command¬ 
ments,  with  the  long  catalogue  of  crimes  which  pro¬ 
ceed  from  pampered  appetites  and  unsubdued  pas¬ 
sions  :  and  on  the  other,  murmuring,  repining,  discon- 

a 


Isaac  desires  his  son  Esau 

tent,  and  often  insubordination  and  revolt,  the  most 
fell  and  most  destructive  of  all  the  evils  that  can  de¬ 
grade  and  curse  civil  society.  Hence  wars,  fightings, 
and  revolutions  of  states,  and  public  calamities  of  all 
kinds.  Bad  as  the  world  and  the  times  are,  men  have 
made  them  much  worse  by  their  unnatural  methods 


to  prepare  him  savoury  meat. 

of  providing  for  the  support  of  life.  When  shall 
men  learn  that  even  this  is  but  a  subordinate  pursuit; 
and  that  the  cultivation  of  the  soul  in  the  know¬ 
ledge,  love,  and  obedience  of  God,  is  essentially 
necessary,  not  only  to  future  glory,  but  to  present 
happiness  1 


CHAP.  XXVII. 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 


Isaac,  grown  old  and  feeble,  and  apprehending  the  approach  of  death ,  desires  his  son  Esau  to  provide  some 
savoury  meat  for  him,  that  having  eaten  of  it  he  might  convey  to  him  the  blessing  connected  with  the  right 
of  primogeniture,  1—4.  Rebekah  hearing  of  it,  relates  the  matter  to  Jacob,  and  directs  him  how  to  person¬ 
ate  his  brother,  and  by  deceiving  his  father,  obtain  the  blessing,  5—10.  Jacob  hesitates,  11,  12;  but 
being  counselled  and  encouraged  by  his  mother,  he  at  last  consents  to  use  the  means  she  prescribes,  13,  14. 
Rebekah  disguises  Jacob,  and  sends  him  to  personate  his  brother,  15—17.  Jacob  comes  to  his  father,  and 
professes  himself  to  be  Esau,  18,  19.  Isaac  doubts,  questions,  and  examines  him  closely ,  but  does  not 
discover  the  deception ,  20—24.  He  eats  of  the  savoury  meat,  and  confers  the  blessing  upon  Jacob,  25—27. 
In  what  the  blessing  consisted,  28,  29.  Esau  arrives  from  the  field  with  the  meat  he  had  gone  to  provide, 
and  presents  himself  before  his  father,  30,  31.  Isaac  discovers  the  fraud  of  Jacob,  and  is  much  affected, 
32,  33.  Esau  is  greatly  distressed  on  hearing  that  the  blessing  had  been  received  by  another,  34.  Isaac 
accuses  Jacob  of  deceit,  35.  Esau  expostulates,  and  prays  for  a  blessing,  36.  Isaac  describes  the  bless¬ 
ing  which  he  has  already  conveyed,  37.  Esau  weeps,  and  earnestly  implores  a  blessing,  38.  Isaac  pro¬ 
nounces  a  blessing  on  Esau,  and  prophecies  that  his  posterity  should,  in  process  of  time,  cease  to  be  tribu¬ 
tary  to  the  posterity  of  Jacob,  39,  40.  Esau  purposes  to  kill  his  brother,  41.  Rebekah  hears  of  it,  and 
counsels  Jacob  to  take  refuge  with  her  brother  Laban  in  Padan-aram,  42—45.  She  professes  to  be  greatly 

alarmed ,  lest  Jacob  should  take  any  of  the  Canaanites  to  wife ,  46. 


A.  M.  cir.  2225.  A  ND  it  came  to  pass,  that 

B.  C.  cir.  1779.  J\.  .  _  r  ,  ’  , 

Kennicott.  when  Isaac  was  old,  and 


a  his  eyes  were  dim,  so  that  he 
could  not  see,  he  called  Esau  his  eldest  son, 
and  said  unto  him,  My  son :  and  he  said  unto 
him,  Behold,  here  am  I. 

2  And  he  said,  Behold  now,  I  am  old,  I 


of  my  A.  M.  cir.  2225. 
J  B.  C.  cir.  1779. 


b  know  not  the  day 
death : 

3  c  Now  therefore  take,  I  pray  thee,  thy 
weapons,  thy  quiver  and  thy  bow,  and  go  out 
to  the  field,  and  d  take  me  some  venison ; 

4  And  make  me  savoury  meat,  such  as  I 
love,  and  bring  it  to  me,  that  I  may  eat ;  that 


a  Chap,  xlviii.  10  ;  1  Sam.  iii.  2. - b  Prov.  xxvii.  1  ; 

NOTES  ON  CHAP.  XXVII. 

Verse  1.  Isaac  teas  old]  It  is  conjectured,  on  good 
grounds,  that  Isaac  was  now  about  one  hundred  and 
seventeen  years  of  age,  and  Jacob  about  fifty-seven  ; 
though  the  commonly  received  opinion  makes  Isaac  one 
hundred  and  thirty-seven,  and  Jacob  seventy-seven  ; 
but  see  the  notes  on  chap.  xxxi.  38,  &c. 

And  his  eyes  were  dim]  This  was  probably  the 
effect  of  that  affliction,  of  what  kind  we  know  not, 
under  which  Isaac  now  laboured ;  and  from  which,  as 
well  as  from  the  affliction,  he  probably  recovered,  as 
it  is  certain  he  lived  forty  if  not  forty-three  years  after 
this  time,  for  he  lived  till  the  return  of  Jacob  from 
Padan-aram ;  chap.  xxxv.  27-29. 

Verse  2.  I  know  not  the  day  of  my  death]  From 
his  present  weakness  he  had  reason  to  suppose  that 
his  death  could  not  be  at  any  great  distance,  and  there¬ 
fore  would  leave  no  act  undone  which  he  believed  it 
his  duty  to  perform.  He  who  lives  not  in  reference 
to  eternity,  lives  not  at  all. 

Verse  3.  Thy  weapons]  The  original  word  keley 
signifies  vessels  and  instruments  of  any  kind  ;  and  is  pro¬ 
bably  used  here  for  a  hunting  spear ,  javelin ,  sword,  <$-c. 

Quiver]  ’ifi  teli,  from  n*7r\  talah ,  to  hang  or  sus- 


James  iv.  14. - c  Chap.  xxv.  27,  28. - d  Heb.  hunt. 

pend.  Had  not  the  Septuagint  translated  the  word 
< paperpav ,  and  the  Vidgate  pharetram,  a  quiver,  I  should 
rather  have  supposed  some  kind  of  shield  was  meant ; 
but  either  can  be  suspended  on  the  arm  or  from  the 
shoulder.  Some  think  a  sivord  is  meant ;  and  because 
the  original  signifies  to  hang  or  suspend ,  hence  they 
think  is  derived  our  word  hanger,  so  called  because  it 
is  generally  worn  in  a  pendent  posture  ;  but  the  word 
hanger  did  not  exist  in  our  language  previously  to  the 
Crusades,  and  we  have  evidently  derived  it  from  the 

«  e 

Persian  khanjar,  a  poniard  or  dagger,  the 

use  of  which,  not  only  in  battles,  but  in  private  assas¬ 
sinations,  was  well  known. 

Verse  4.  Savoury  meat]  matammim,  from 

DJ?£0  taam ,  to  taste  or  relish;  how  dressed  we  know 
not,  but  its  name  declares  its  nature. 

That  I  may  eat]  The  blessing  which  Isaac  was  to 
confer  on  his  son  was  a  species  of  Divine  right,  and 
must  be  communicated  with  appropriate  ceremonies. 
As  eating  and  drinking  were  used  among  the  Asiatics 
on  almost  all  religious  occasions,  and  especially  in 
making  and  confirming  covenants,  it  is  reasonable  to 
suppose  that  something  of  this  kind  was  essentially 
necessary  on  this  occasion,  and  that  Isaac  could  not 

165 


GENESIS. 


Jacob  counselled  by  Rebekah 

A.  M.  cir.  2225.  my  soul  e  may  bless  thee  before 

B.  C.  cir.  1779.  j 

5  And  Rebekah  heard  when  Isaac  spake  to 
Esau  his  son.  And  Esau  went  to  the  field 
to  hunt  for  venison,  and  to  bring  it. 

6  And  Rebekah  spake  unto  Jacob  her  son, 
saying,  Behold,  I  heard  thy  father  speak  unto 
Esau  thy  brother,  saying, 

7  Bring  me  venison,  and  make  me  savoury 
meat,  that  I  may  eat,  and  bless  thee  before  the 
Lord,  before  my  death. 

8  Now  therefore,  my  son,  f  obey  my  voice 
according  to  that  which  I  command  thee. 

9  Go  now  to  the  flock,  and  fetch  me  from 
thence  two  good  kids  of  the  goats  ;  and  I  will 
make  them  °  savoury  meat  for  thy  father,  such 
as  he  loveth : 

10  And  thou  shalt  bring  it  to  thy  father, 
that  he  may  eat,  and  that  he  h  may  bless  thee 
before  his  death. 

1 1  And  Jacob  said  to  Rebekah  his  mother, 
Behold,  1  Esau  my  brother  is  a  hairy  man,  and 
I  am  a  smooth  man  . 


to  supplant  Ins  brother. 


12  My  father  peradventure  will  A.  M.  cir.  2225 

,  r  J  ,  t  ,  t,  B.  C.  cir.  1779. 

k  feel  me,  and  1  shall  seem  to  - 

him  as  a  deceiver ;  and  I  shall  bring  1  a  curse 

upon  me,  and  not  a  blessing. 

1 3  And  his  mother  said  unto  him,  m  Upon 
me  be  thy  curse,  my  son :  only  obey  my 
voice,  and  go  fetch  me  them. 

14  And  he  went,  and  fetched,  and  brought 
ihem  to  his  mother :  and  his  mother  n  made 
savoury  meat,  such  as  his  father  loved. 

1 5  And  Rebekah  took  0  goodly  raiment  of 
her  eldest  son  Esau,p  which  were  with  her  in 
the  house,  and  put  them  upon  Jacob  her 
younger  son  : 

1 6  And  she  put  the  skins  of  the  kids  of  the 
goats  upon  his  hands,  and  upon  the  smooth 
of  his  neck : 

17  And  she  gave  the  savoury  meat  and  the 
bread,  which  she  had  prepared,  into  the  hand 
of  her  son  Jacob. 

18  And  he  came  unto  his  father,  and  said, 
My  father :  and  he  said,  Here  am  I ;  who  art 
thou,  my  son  ? 


eYer.  27;  chapter  xlviii.  9,  15  ;  xlix.  28;  Deut.  xxxiii.  1. 

fVer.  13. - s  Verse  4. - h  Verse  4. - *  Chapter  xxv.  25. 

k  Ver.  22. 


convey  the  right  till  he  had  eaten  of  the  meat  pro¬ 
vided  for  the  purpose  by  him  who  was  to  receive  the 
blessing.  As  Isaac  was  now  old,  and  in  a  feeble  and 
languishing  condition,  it  was  necessary  that  the  flesh 
used  on  this  occasion  should  be  prepared  so  as  to  in¬ 
vite  the  appetite,  that  a  sufficiency  of  it  might  be  taken 
to  revive  and  recruit  his  drooping  strength,  that  he 
might  be  the  better  able  to  go  through  the  whole  of 
this  ceremony. 

This  seems  to  be  the  sole  reason  why  savoury  meat 
is  so  particularly  mentioned  in  the  text.  When  we 
consider,  1.  That  no  covenant  was  deemed  binding 
unless  the  parties  had  eaten  together  ;  2.  That  to  con¬ 
vey  this  blessing  some  rite  of  this  kind  was  necessary  ; 
and,  3.  That  Isaac’s  strength  was  now  greatly  ex¬ 
hausted,  insomuch  that  he  supposed  himself  to  be 
dying  ;  we  shall  at  once  see  why  meat  was  required 
on  this  occasion,  and  why  that  meat  was  to  be  pre¬ 
pared  so  as  to  deserve  the  epithet  of  savoury.  As  I 
believe  this  to  be  the  true  sense  of  the  place,  I  do  not 
trouble  my  readers  with  interpretations  which  I  sup¬ 
pose  to  be  either  exceptionable  or  false. 

Verse  5.  And  Rebekah  heard ]  And  was  deter¬ 
mined,  if  possible,  to  frustrate  the  design  of  Isaac,  and 
procure  the  blessing  for  her  favourite  son.  Some 
pretend  that  she  received  a  Divine  inspiration  to  the 
purpose ;  but  if  she  had  she  neede’d  not  to  have  re¬ 
course  to  deceit ,  to  help  forward  the  accomplishment. 
Isaac,  on  being  informed,  would  have  had  too  much 
piety  not  to  prefer  the  will  of  his  Maker  to  his  own 
partiality  for  his  eldest  son ;  but  Rebekah  had  nothing 

166 


1  Chap.  ix.  25 ;  Deut.  xxvii.  18. - 111  Chap,  xliii.  9  ;  1  Sam. 

xxv.  24;  2  Sam.  xiv.  9;  Matt,  xxvii.  25. - “Verse  4,  9. 

0  Heb.  desirable. - P  Ver.  27. 


of  the  kind  to  plead,  and  therefore  had  recourse  to  the 
most  exceptionable  means  to  accomplish  her  ends. 

Verse  12.  I  shall  bring  a  curse  upon  me]  For  even 
in  those  early  times  the  spirit  of  that  law  was  under¬ 
stood,  Deut.  xxvii.  18  :  Cursed  is  he  that  maketh  the 
blind  to  wander  out  of  the  way ;  and  Jacob  seems  to 
have  possessed  at  this  time  a  more  tender  conscience 
than  his  mother. 

Verse  13.  Upon  me  be  thy  curse ,  my  son]  Onkelos 
gives  this  a  curious  turn  :  It  has  been  revealed  to  me 
by  prophecy  that  the  curses  will  not  come  upon  thee ,  my 
son.  What  a  dreadful  responsibility  did  this  woman 
take  upon  her  at  this  time  !  The  sacred  writer  states 
the  facts  as  they  wrere,  and  we  may  depend  on  the 
truth  of  the  statement ;  hut  he  nowhere  says  that  God 
would  have  any  man  to  copy  this  conduct.  He  often 
relates  facts  and  sayings  which  he  never  recommends. 

Verse  15.  Goodly  raiment]  Mr.  Ainsworth  has  a 
sensible  note  on  this  place.  “  The  priest  in  the  law 
had  holy  garments  to  minister  in,  Exod.  xxviii.  2—4, 
which  the  Septuagint  there  and  in  this  place  term  nqv 
crrofayv,  the  robe,  and  oTolrjv  ayiav,  the  holy  robe. 
Whether  the  first-born,  before  the  law,  had  such  to 
minister  in  is  not  certain,  but  it  is  probable  by  this  ex¬ 
ample  ;  for  had  they  been  common  garments,  why  did 
not  Esau  himself,  or  his  wives,  keep  them  1  But  being, 
in  all  likelihood,  holy  robes,  received  from  their  ances¬ 
tors,  the  mother  of  the  family  kept  them  in  sweet 
chests  from  moths  and  the  like,  wdiereupon  it  is  said, 
ver.  27,  Isaac  smelled  the  smell  of  his  garments .” 
The  opinion  of  Ainsworth  is  followed  by  many  critics. 

a 


Jacob  provides  savoury  meat ,  CHAP. 

A.  M.cir.  2225.  19  And  Jacob  said  unto  his 

B.  c.  cir.  1//9.  £atj.ier^  j  am  j;sau  thy  hrst-born ; 

I  have  done  according  as  thou  badest  me  : 
arise,  I  pray  thee,  sit  and  eat  of  my  venison, 
q  that  thy  soul  may  bless  me. 

20  And  Isaac  said  unto  his  son,  How  is  it 
that  thou  hast  found  it  so  quickly,  my  son  ? 
And  he  said,  Because  the  Lord  thy  God 
brought  it  r  to  me. 

21  And  Isaac  said  unto  Jacob,  Come  near, 
I  pray  thee,  that  I  s  may  feel  thee,  my  son, 
whether  thou  be  my  very  son  Esau  or  not. 

22  And  Jacob  went  near  unto  Isaac  his 
father ;  and  he  felt  him,  and  said,  The  voice 
is  Jacob’s  voice,  but  the  hands  are  the  hands 
of  Esau. 

23  And  he  discerned  him  not,  because  1  his 

Verse  4. - r  Heb.  before  me. - s  Verse  12. - 1  Verse  16. 

u  Verse  4. 

Verse  19.  I  am  Esau  thy  Jirst-horn\  Here  are 
many  palpable  falsehoods,  and  such  as  should  neither 
be  imitated  nor  excused.  “Jacob,”  says  Calmet,  “im¬ 
poses  on  his  father  in  three  different  ways.  1.  By  his 
words  :  I  am  thy  first-born  Esau.  2.  By  his  actions ; 
he  gives  him  kids ’  flesh  for  venison ,  and  says  he  had 
executed  his  orders,  and  got  it  by  hunting.  3.  By  his 
clothing ;  he  puts  on  Esau’s  garments,  and  the  kids’ 
skins  upon  his  hands  and  the  smooth  of  his  neck.  In 
short,  he  made  use  of  every  species  of  deception  that 
could  be  practised  on  the  occasion,  in  order  to  accom¬ 
plish  his  ends.”  To  attempt  to  palliate  or  find  excuses 
for  such  conduct,  instead  of  serving ,  disserves  the 
cause  of  religion  and  truth.  Men  have  laboured,  not 
only  to  excuse  all  this  conduct  of  Rebekah  and  Jacob, 
but  even  to  show  that  it  was  consistent ,  and  that  the 
whole  was  according  to  the  mind  and  will  of  God ! 

Non  tali  auxilio,  non  defensoribus  istis — 

The  cause  of  God  and  truth  is  under  no  obligation  to 
such  defenders  ;  their  hands  are  more  unhallowed  than 
those  of  Uzzah ;  and  however  the  bearers  may  stum¬ 
ble,  the  ark  of  God  requires  not  their  support.  It  was 
the  design  of  God  that  the  elder  should  serve  the 
younger,  and  he  would  have  brought  it  about  in  the 
way  of  his  own  wise  and  just  providence  ;  but  means 
such  as  here  used  he  could  neither  sanction  nor  recom¬ 
mend. 

Verse  23.  And  he  discerned  him  not ,  because  his 
hands  were  hairy ]  From  this  circumstance  we  may 
learn  that  Isaac’s  sense  of  feeling  was  much  impaired 
by  his  present  malady.  When  he  could  not  discern 
the  skin  of  a  kid  from  the  flesh  of  his  son,  we  see  that 
he  was,  through  his  infirmity,  in  a  fit  state  to  be  im¬ 
posed  on  by  the  deceit  of  his  wife,  and  the  cunning 
of  his  younger  son. 

Verse  27.  The  smell  of  my  son  is  as  the  smell  of 
afield ]  The  smell  of  these  garments,  the  goodly  rai¬ 
ment  which  had  been  laid  up  in  the  house ,  was  proba¬ 
bly  occasioned  by  some  aromatic  herbs,  which  we  may 

a 


XXVII.  and  imposes  on  his  father, 

hands  were  hairy,  as  his  brother  A.  M.  cir.  2225. 
Esau’s  hands  :  so  he  blessed  him.  B'  ClAr'  1779' 

24  And  he  said,  Art  thou  my  very  son  Esau? 
And  he  said,  I  am. 

25  And  he  said,  Bring  it  near  to  me,  and  I 
will  eat  of  my  son’s  venison,  that  my  soul 
may  bless  thee.  And  he  brought  it  near  to 
him,  and  he  did  eat :  and  he  brought  him 
wine,  and  he  drank. 

26  And  his  father  Isaac  said  unto  him, 
Come  near  now,  and  kiss  me,  my  son. 

27  And  he  came  near,  and  kissed  him :  and. 
he  smelled  the  smell  of  his  raiment,  and  bless¬ 
ed  him,  and  said,  See,  v  the  smell  of  my  son 
is  as  the  smell  of  a  field  which  the  Lord  hath 
blessed : 

28  Therefore  w  God  give  thee  of  x  the  dew 

v  Hosea  xiv.  6. - w  Hebrews  xi.  20. - x  Deut.  xxxiii.  13,  28  * 

2  Sam.  i.  21. 

naturally  suppose  were  laid  up  with  the  clothes  ;  a  cus¬ 
tom  which  prevails  in  many  countries  to  the  present 
day.  Thyme,  lavender ,  &c.,  are  often  deposited  in 
wardrobes,  to  communicate  an  agreeable  scent,  and 
under  the  supposition  that  the  moths  are  thereby  pre¬ 
vented  from  fretting  the  garments.  I  have  often  seen 
the  leaves  of  aromatic  plants,  and  sometimes  whole 
sprigs,  put  in  eastern  MSS.,  to  communicate  a  pleasant 
smell,  and  to  prevent  the  worms  from  destroying  them. 
Persons  going  from  Europe  to  the  East  Indies  put 
pieces  of  Russia  leather  among  their  clothes  for  the 
same  purpose.  Such  a  smell  would  lead  Isaac’s  re¬ 
collection  to  the  fields  where  aromatic  plants  grew  in 
abundance,  and  where  he  had  often  been  regaled  by 
the  scent. 

Verse  28.  God  give  thee  of  the  dew  of  heaven ]  Bp. 
Newton’s  view  of  these  predictions  is  so  correct  and 
appropriate,  as  to  leave  no  wish  for  any  thing  farther 
on  the  subject. 

“  It  is  here  foretold,  and  in  ver.  39,  of  these  two 
brethren,  that  as  to  situation,  and  other  temporal  ad¬ 
vantages,  they  should  be  much  alike.  It  was  said  to 
Jacob  :  God  give  thee  of  the  dew  of  heaven,  and  the 
fatness  of  the  earth,  and  plenty  of  corn  and  wine ; 
and  much  the  same  is  said  to  Esau,  ver.  39  :  Behold, 
thy  dwelling  shall  be  the  fatness  of  the  earth,  and  of 
the  deiv  of  heaven  from  above.  The  spiritual  blessing, 
or  the  promise  of  the  blessed  seed,  could  be  given  only 
to  one  ;  but  temporal  good  things  might  be  imparted 
to  both.  Mount  Seir,  and  the  adjacent  country,  was 
at  first  in  the  possession  of  the  Edomites  ;  they  after¬ 
wards  extended  themselves  farther  into  Arabia,  and 
into  the  southern  parts  of  Judea.  But  wherever  they 
were  situated,  we  find  in  fact  that  the  Edomites,  in 
temporal  advantages,  were  little  inferior  to  the  Israel¬ 
ites.  Esau  had  cattle  and  beasts  and  substance  in 
abundance,  and  he  went  to  dwell  in  Seir  of  his  own. 
accord ;  but  he  would  hardly  have  removed  thither 
with  so  many  cattle,  had  it  been  such  a  barren  and  de¬ 
solate  country  as  some  would  represent  it.  The  Edom- 

107 


Isaac  blesses  Jacob. 


GENESIS. 


Jacob's  deceit  discovered 


a.  M.  cir.  2225.  of  heaven,  and  y  the  fatness  of 
B.  c.  cir.  i//9.  ^ie  ear|j-j^  an(j  z  pienty  0f  corn 

and  wine  : 

29  a  Let  people  serve  thee,  and  nations  bow 
down  to  thee ;  be  lord  over  thy  brethren,  and 
b  let  thy  mother’s  sons  bow  down  to  thee  : 
c  cursed  be  every  one  that  curseth  thee,  and 
blessed  be  he  that  blesseth  thee. 

30  And  it  came  to  pass  as  soon  as  Isaac  had 
made  an  end  of  blessing  Jacob,  and  Jacob 
was  yet  scarce  gone  out  from  the  presence  of 

y  Chap.  xlv.  18. - z  Deut.  xxxiii.  28. - a  Chap.  ix.  25  ;  xxv. 

23. - b  Chap.  xlix.  8. 

ites  had  dukes  and  kings  reigning  over  them,  while 
the  Israelites  were  slaves  in  Egypt.  When  the  Israel¬ 
ites,  on  their  return,  desired  leave  to  pass  through  the 
territories  of  Edom,  it  appears  that  the  country  abound¬ 
ed  with  fruitful  fields  and  vineyards  :  Let  us  pass , 
I  pray  thee ,  through  thy  country  ;  ice  will  not  pass 
through  the  fields ,  or  through  the  vineyards ,  neither 
will  we  drink  of  the  water  of  the  wells  ;  Num.  xx.  17. 
And  the  prophecy  of  Malachi,  which  is  generally  al¬ 
leged  as  a  proof  of  the  barrenness  of  the  country,  is 
rather  a  proof  of  the  contrary  :  I  hated  Esau ,  and 
laid  his  mountains  and  his  heritage  waste  for  the  dra¬ 
gons  of  the  wilderness,  Mai.  i.  3  ;  for  this  implies  that 
the  country  was  fruitful  before,  and  that  its  present  un¬ 
fruitfulness  was  rather  an  effect  of  war,  than  any  natu¬ 
ral  defect  in  the  soil.  If  the  country  is  unfruitful  now, 
neither  is  Judea  what  it  was  formerly.”  As  there  was 
hut  little  rain  in  Judea,  except  what  was  termed  the 
early  rain ,  which  fell  about  the  beginning  of  spring, 
and  the  latter  rain ,  which  fell  about  September,  the 
lack  of  this  was  supplied  by  the  copious  dews  which 
fell  both  morning  and  evening,  or  rather  through  the 
whole  of  the  night.  And  we  may  judge,  says  Calmet, 
of  the  abundance  of  these  dews  by  what  fell  on  Gideon’s 
fleece,  Judges  vi.  38,  which  being  wrung  filled  a  bowl. 
And  Hushai  compares  an  army  ready  to  fall  upon  its 
enemies  to  a  dew  falling  on  the  ground ,  2  Sam.  xvii. 
12,  which  gives  us  the  idea  that  this  fluid  fell  in  great 
profusion,  so  as  to  saturate  every  thing.  Travellers 
in  these  countries  assure  us  that  the  dews  fall  there  in 
an  extraordinary  abundance. 

The  fatness  of  the  earth]  What  Homer  calls  ovdap 
apovpris ,  Ilias  ix.,  141,  and  Yirgil  uber  glebce,  AEneis 
i.,  531,  both  signifying  a  soil  naturally  fertile.  Under 
this,  therefore,  and  the  former  expressions,  Isaac  wishes 
his  son  all  the  blessings  which  a  plentiful  country  can 
produce  ;  for,  as  Le  Clerc  rightly  observes,  if  the  dews 
and  seasonable  rains  of  heaven  fall  upon  a  fruitful  soil, 
nothing  but  human  industry  is  wanting  to  the  plentiful 
enjoyment  of  all  temporal  good  things..  Hence  they 
are  represented  in  the  Scripture  as  emblems  of  pros¬ 
perity,  of  plenty,  and  of  the  blessing  of  God,  Deut. 
xxxiii.  13,  28  ;  Micah  v.  7  ;  Zech.  viii.  12  ;  and,  on 
the  other  hand,  the  withholding  of  these  denotes  bar¬ 
renness ,  distress ,  and  the  curse  of  God ;  2  Sam,  i.  2 1 . 
See  Dodd. 

A'erse  29.  Let  people  serve  thee ]  “  However  alike 

168 


Isaac  his  father,  tnat  Esau  his  A.M.  cir.  2225. 
brother  came  m  from  his  hunting.  - 

3 1  And  he  also  had  made  savoury  meat,  and 
brought  it  unto  his  father,  and  said  unto  his 
father,  Let  my  father  arise,  and  d  eat  of  his 
son’s  venison,  that  thy  soul  may  bless  me. 

32  And  Isaac  his  father  said  unto  him.  Who 
art  thou  ?  And  he  said,  I  am  thy  son,  thy 
first-born,  Esau. 

33  And  Isaac  e  trembled  very  exceedingly, 
and  said,  Who  ?  where  is  he  that  hath  f  taken 

c  Chap.  xii.  3. - d  Ver.  4. - e  Heb.  trembled  with  a  great 

trembling  greatly. - f  Heb.  hunted. 

their  temporal  advantages  were  to  each  other,”  says 
Bp.  Newton,  “in  all  spiritual  gifts  and  graces  the 
younger  brother  was  to  have  the  superiority,  was  to  be 
the  happy  instrument  of  conveying  the  blessing  to  all 
nations  :  In  thee  and  in  thy  seed  shall  all  the  families 
of  the  earth  be  blessed  ;  and  to  this  are  to  be  referred, 
in  their  full  force,  those  expressions  :  Let  people  serve 
thee ,  and  nations  bow  down  to  thee.  Cursed  be  every 
one  that  curseth  thee ,  and  blessed  be  he  that  blesseth 
thee.  The  same  promise  was  made  to  Abraham  in 
the  name  of  God  :  I  will  bless  them  that  bless  thee , 
and  curse  him  that  curseth  thee,  chap.  xii.  3  ;  and  it 
is  here  repeated  to  Jacob,  and  thus  paraphrased  in  the 
Jerusalem  Targum  :  ‘  He  who  curseth  thee  shall  be 
cursed  as  Balaam  the  son  of  Beor  ;  and  he  who  bless¬ 
eth  thee  shall  be  blessed  as  Moses  the  prophet,  the 
lawgiver  of  Israel.’  It  appears  that  Jacob  was,  on 
the  whole,  a  man  of  more  religion,  and  believed  the 
Divine  promises  more,  than  Esau.  The  posterity  of 
Jacob  likewise  preserved  the  true  religion,  and  the  wor¬ 
ship  of  one  God,  while  the  Edomites  were  sunk  in 
idolatry ;  and  of  the  seed  of  Jacob  was  born  at  last 
the  Saviour  of  the  world.  This  was  the  peculiar  privi¬ 
lege  and  advantage  of  Jacob,  to  be  the  happy  instru¬ 
ment  of  conveying  these  blessings  to  all  nations.  This 
was  his  greatest  superiority  over  Esau  ;  and  in  this 
sense  St.  Paul  understood  and  applied  the  prophecy  : 
The  elder  shall  serve  the  younger ,  Rom.  ix.  12.  The 
Christ,  the  Saviour  of  the  world,  was  to  be  born  of 
some  one  family  ;  and  Jacob’s  was  preferred  to  Esau’s, 
out  of  the  good  pleasure  of  Almighty  God,  who  is  cer¬ 
tainly  the  best  judge  of  fitness  and  expedience,  and 
has  undoubted  right  to  dispense  his  favours  as  he  shall 
see  proper ;  for  he  says  to  Moses,  as  the  apostle  pro¬ 
ceeds  to  argue,  ver.  15  :  ‘I  will  have  mercy  on  whom 
I  will  have  mercy,  and  I  will  have  compassion  on 
whom  I  will  have  compassion.’  And  when  the  Gen¬ 
tiles  were  converted  to  Christianity,  the  prophecy  was 
fulfilled  literally :  Let  people  serve  thee ,  and  let  nations 
bow  down  to  thee ;  and  will  be  more  amply  fulfilled 
when  the  fulness  of  the  Gentiles  shall  come  in,  and 
all  Israel  shall  be  saved.” 

Verse  33.  And  Isaac  trembled]  The  marginal  read¬ 
ing  is  very  literal  and  proper,  And  Isaac  trembled  with 
a  great  trembling  greatly .  And  this  shows  the  deep 
concern  he  felt  for  his  own  deception,  and  the  iniquity 
of  the  means  by  which  it  had  been  brought  about. 

a 


CHAP.  XXVII. 


and  receives  a  blessing 


Esau  entreats  his  father, 

A.  M.  cir.  2225.  venison,  and  brought  it  me,  and  I 
— C'  Clr‘  1//J‘  have  eaten  of  all  before  thou 
earnest,  and  have  blessed  him  ?  yea,  «  and  he 
shall  be  blessed. 

34  And  when  Esau  heard  the  words  of  his 
father,  h  he  cried  with  a  great  and  exceeding 
bitter  cry,  and  said  unto  his  father,  Bless  me, 
even  me  also,  O  my  father. 

35  And  he  said,  Thy  brother  came  with 
subtilty,  and  hath  taken  away  thy  blessing. 

36  And  he  said,  1  Is  not  he  rightly  named 
k  Jacob  ?  for  he  hath  supplanted  me  these  two 
times  :  1  he  took  away  my  birthright ;  and 
behold,  now  he  hath  taken  away  my  blessing. 
And  he  said,  Hast  thou  not  reserved  a  bless¬ 
ing  for  me  ? 

s  Chap,  xxviii.  3, 4  ;  Rom.  xi.  29. - h  Heb.  xii.  17. - 1  Chap. 

xxv.  26. - k  That  is,  asupplanter. - 1  Chap.  xxv.  33. - m  Ful¬ 
filled,  2  Sam.  viii.  14  ;  ver.  29. - 11  Ver.  28. 

Though  Isaac  must  have  heard  of  that  which  God  had 
spoken  to  Rebekah,  The  elder  shall  serve  the  younger , 
and  could  never  have  wished  to  reverse  this  Divine 
purpose  ;  yet  he  might  certainly  think  that  the  spiritual 
blessing  might  be  conveyed  to  Esau,  and  by  him  to  all 
the  nations  of  the  earth,  notwithstanding  the  superiority 
of  secular  dominion  on  the  other  side. 

Yea ,  and  he  shall  be  blessed .]  From  what  is  said  in 
this  verse,  collated  with  Heb.  xii.  17,  we  see  how  bind¬ 
ing  the  conveyance  of  the  birthright  was  when  com¬ 
municated  with  the  riles  already  mentioned.  When 
Isaac  found  that  he  had  been  deceived  by  Jacob,  he 
certainly  would  have  reversed  the  blessing  if  he  could  ; 
but  as  it  had  been  conveyed  in  the  sacramental  way 
this  was  impossible.  I  have  blessed  him ,  says  he,  yea , 
and  he  must ,  or  will,  be  blessed.  Hence  it  is  said  by 
the  apostle,  Esau  found  no  place  for  repentance ,  yera- 
voiag  yap  tottov  ovx  evpe,  no  place  for  change  of  mind 
or  purpose  in  his  father,  though  he  sought  it  carefully 
with  tears.  The  father  could  not  reverse  it  because 
the  grant  had  already  been  made  and  confirmed.  But 
this  had  nothing  to  do  with  the  final  salvation  of  poor 
outwitted  Esau,  nor  indeed  with  that  of  his  unnatural 
brother. 

Yerse  35.  Hath  taken  away  thy  blessing .]  This 
blessing,  which  was  a  different  thing  from'  the  birth¬ 
right,  seems  to  consist  of  two  parts  :  1.  The  dominion, 
generally  and  finally,  over  the  other  part  of  the  family  ; 
and,  2.  Being  the  progenitor  of  the  Messiah.  But  the 
former  is  more  explicitly  declared  than  the  latter.  See 
the  notes  on  chap.  xxv.  31. 

Yerse  36.  Is  not  he  rightly  named  Jacob  ?]  See  on 
chap.  xxv.  26. 

He  took  away  my  birthright ]  So  he  might  say  with 
considerable  propriety;  for  though  he  sold  it  to  Jacob, 
yet  as  Jacob  had  taken  advantage  of  his  perishing  situ¬ 
ation,  he  considered  the  act  as  a  species  of  robbery. 

Yerse  37.  I  have  made  him  thy  lord ]  See  on  ver.  28. 

Verse  40.  By  thy  sword  shall  thou  live ]  This  does 
not  absolutely  mean  that  the  Edomites  should  have 

a 


37  And  Isaac  answered  and  a.  m.  cir.  2225 
said  unto  Esau,  ni  Behold,  I  have  Clr;  1,l9m 
made  him  thy  lord,  and  all  his  brethren  have 
I  given  to  him  for  servants  ;  and  n  with  corn 
and  wine  have  I  0  sustained  him  :  and  what 
shall  I  do  now  unto  thee,  my  son  ? 

38  And  Esau  said  unto  his  father,  Hast  thou 
but  one  blessing,  my  father  ?  bless  me,  even 
me  also,  O  my  father.  And  Esau  lifted  up 
his  voice,  p  and  wept. 

39  And  Isaac  his  father  answered  and  said 
unto  him,  Behold,  *  thy  dwelling  shall  be  r  the 
fatness  of  the  earth,  and  of  the  dew  of  heaven 
from  above  ; 

40  And  by  thy  sword  shalt  thou  live,  and 
s  shalt  serve  thy  brother ;  and  t  it  shall  come 

0  Or,  supported. - p  Heb.  xii.  ]7. - ^  Yer.  28  ;  Heb.  xi.  20 

r  Or,  of  the  fatness . - s  Ch.  xxv.  23  ;  Obad.  18,  19,  20  ;  2  Sam.. 

viii.  14. - 4  2  Kings  viii.  20. 

constant  wTars ;  but  that  they  should  be  of  a  fierce  and 
warlike  disposition,  gaining  their  sustenance  by  hunt¬ 
ing ,  and  by  predatory  excursions  upon  the  possessions 
of  others.  Bishop  Newton  speaks  on  this  subject  with 
his  usual  good  sense  and  judgment :  “  The  elder  branch, 
it  is  here  foretold,  should  delight  more  in  war  and  vio¬ 
lence,  but  yet  should  be  subdued  by  the  younger.  By 
thy  sword  shalt  thou  live ,  and  shalt  serve  thy  brother. 
Esau  might  be  said  to  live  much  by  the  sword ;  for  he 
was  a  cunning  hunter,  a  man  of  the  field.  He  and 
his  children  got  possession  of  Mount  Seir  by  force  and 
violence,  expelling  from  thence  the  Horites,  the  former 
inhabitants.  By  what  means  they  spread  themselves 
farther  among  the  Arabians  is  not  known ;  but  it  ap¬ 
pears  that  upon  a  sedition  and  separation  several  of 
the  Edomites  came  and  siezed  upon  the  south-west 
parts  of  Judea,  during  the  Babylonish  captivity,  and 
settled  there  ever  after.  Before  and  after  this  they 
were  almost  continually  at  war  with  the  Jews  ;  upon 
every  occasion  they  were  ready  to  join  with  their  ene¬ 
mies  ;  and  wdien  Nebuchadnezzar  besieged  Jerusalem, 
they  encouraged  him  utterly  to  destroy  the  city,  say¬ 
ing,  Rase  it,  rase  it,  even  to  the  foundations  thereof. 
Psa.  cxxxvii.  7.  And  even  long  after  they  were  sub¬ 
dued  by  the  Jews,  they  retained  the  same  martial 
spirit ;  for  Josephus  in  his  time  gives  them  the  charac¬ 
ter  of  ‘  a  turbulent  and  disorderly  nation,  always  erect 
to  commotions,  and  rejoicing  in  changes ;  at  the  least 
adulation  of  those  who  beseech  them,  beginning  war, 
and  hasting  to  battles  as  to  a  feast.’  And  a  little  be¬ 
fore  the  last  siege  of  Jerusalem  they  came,  at  the  en¬ 
treaty  of  the  Zealots,  to  assist  them  against  the  priests 
and  people  ;  and  there,  together  with  the  Zealots,  com¬ 
mitted  unheard-of  cruelties,  and  barbarously  murdered 
Annas,  the  high  priest,  from  whose  death  Josephus 
dates  the  destruction  of  the  city.”  See  Dr.  Dodd, 

Any — when  thou  shalt  have  the  dominion]  It  is  here 
foretold  that  there  was  to  be  a  time  when  the  elder 
was  to  have  dominion  and  shake  off  the  yoke  of  the 
younger.  The  word  Ynn  tarid,  which  we  translate 

169 


GENESIS. 


RebekaJi’s  counsel  to  him 


Esau  purposes  to  slay  Jacob. 


A.  M.  cir.  2225.  to  pass,  when  thou  shalt  have 

B.  C.  cir.  17/9.  t^e  dominion,  plat  tpou  s}iap 

break  his  yoke  from  off  thy  neck. 

4 1  And  Esau  11  hated  Jacob  because  of  the 
blessing  wherewith  his  father  blessed  him  : 
and  Esau  said  in  his  heart,  v  The  days  of 
mourning  for  my  father  are  at  hand  ;  w  then 
will  I  slay  my  brother  Jacob. 

42  And  these  words  of  Esau  her  elder  son 
were  told  to  Rebekah  :  and  she  sent  and  called 


Jacob  her  younger  son,  and  said  A.  M.  cir.  2225 

,  .  A  . .  B.  C.  cir.  1779 

unto  him,  .Behold,  thy  brother  - - 

Esau,  as  touching  thee,  doth  x  comfort  him¬ 
self,  purposing  to  kill  thee. 

43  Now  therefore,  my  son,  obey  my  voice  ; 
and  arise,  flee  thou  to  Laban  my  brother  7  to 
Haran ; 

44  And  tarry  with  him  a  few  days,  until 
thy  brother’s  fury  turn  away  ; 

4  5  Until  thy  brother’s  anger  turn  away  from 


u  Chap.  iv.  2-8  ;  xxxvii.  4,  8  ;  Ezek.  xxv.  12-15  ;  1  John  iii. 
12-15. - v  Chap.  xxv.  29  ;  1.  3,  4,  10. 


have  dominion ,  is  rather  of  doubtful  meaning,  as  it  may 
be  deduced  from  three  different  roots,  TV  yarad ,  to 
descend ,  to  be  brought  down  or  brought  low;  mi  ra- 
dah,  to  obtain  rule  or  have  dominion ;  and  TH  rud,  to 
complain  ;  meaning  either  that  when  reduced  very  low 
God  would  magnify  his  power  in  their  behalf,  and  de¬ 
liver  them  from  the  yoke  of  their  brethren  ;  or  when 
they  should  be  increased  so  as  to  venture  to  set  up  a 
king  over  them,  or  when  they  mourned  for  their  trans¬ 
gressions,  God  would  turn  their  captivity.  The  Je¬ 
rusalem  Targum  gives  the  words  the  following  turn  : 
“  When  the  sons  of  Jacob  attend  to  the  law  and  ob¬ 
serve  the  precepts,  they  shall  impose  the  yoke  of  ser¬ 
vitude  upon  thy  neck  ;  but  when  they  shall  turn  away 
themselves  from  studying  the  law  and  neglect  the  pre¬ 
cepts,  thou  shalt  break  off  the  yoke  of  servitude  from 
thy  neck.” 

“  It  was  David  who  imposed  the  yoke,  and  at  that 
time  the  Jewish  people  observed  the  law  ;  but  the  yoke 
was  very  galling  to  the  Edomites  from  the  first ;  and 
towards  the  end  of  Solomon’s  reign  Hadad,  the  Edom¬ 
ite,  of  the  blood  royal,  who  had  been  carried  into  Egypt 
from  his  childhood,  returned  into  his  own  country,  and 
raised  some  disturbances,  but  was  not  able  to  recover 
his  throne,  his  subjects  being  overawed  by  the  garri- 
risons  which  David  had  placed  among  them  ;  but  in  the 
reign  of  Jehoram,  the  son  of  Jehoshaphat  king  of  Ju¬ 
dah,  the  Edomites  revolted  from  under  the  dominion 
of  Judah,  and  made  themselves  a  king.  Jehoram  made 
some  attempts  to  subdue  them  again,  but  could  not  pre¬ 
vail;  so  the  Edomites  revolted  from  under  the  hand  of 
Judah  unto  this  day,  2  Chron.  xxi.  8,  10,  and  hereby 
this  part  of  the  prophecy  was  fulfilled  about  nine  hun¬ 
dred  years  after  it  was  delivered.”  See  Bishop  Newton. 

“  Thus,”  says  Bishop  Newton,  “  have  we  traced,  in 
our  notes  on  this  and  the  xxvth  chapter,  the  accom¬ 
plishment  of  this  prophecy  from  the  beginning ;  and 
we  find  that  the  nation  of  the  Edomites  has  at  several 
times  been  conquered  by  and  made  tributary  to  the 
Jews,  but  never  the  nation  of  the  Jews  to  the  Edomites  ; 
and  the  Jews  have  been  the  more  considerable  people, 
more  known  in  the  world,  and  more  famous  in  history. 
We  know  indeed  little  more  of  the  history  of  the 
Edomites  than  as  it  is  connected  with  that  of  the  Jews  ; 
and  where  is  the  name  or  nation  now  1  They  were 
swallowed  up  and  lost,  partly  among  the  Nabathean 
Arabs,  and  partly  among  the  Jews  ;  and  the  very  name, 
as  Dr.  Prideaux  has  observed,  was  abolished  and  dis- 

170 


w  Eccles.  vii.  9  ;  Obad.  10  ;  Eph.  iv.  26,  27. - x  Psa.  lxiv  5. 

Prov.  ii  14;  iv.  16,  17. - y  Chap.  xi.  31. 


used  about  the  end  of  the  first  century  of  the  Chris¬ 
tian  era.  Thus  were  they  rewarded  for  insulting  and 
oppressing  their  brethren  the  Jews  ;  and  hereby  other 
prophecies  were  fulfilled,  viz.,  Jer.  xlix.  7,&c. ;  Ezek. 
xxv.  12,  &c.  ;  Joel  iii.  19;  Amos  i.  11,  &c.  ;  and 
particularly  Obadiah  ;  for  at  this  day  we  see  the  Jews 
subsisting  as  a  distinct  people,  while  Edom  is  no  more, 
agreeably  to  the  words  of  Obadiah,  ver.  10  :  For  thy 
violence  against  thy  brother  Jacob,  in  the  return  of  his 
posterity  from  Egypt,  shame  shall  cover  thee,  and  thou 
shalt  be  cut  off  for  ever.  And  again,  ver.  18  :  There 
shall  not  be  any  remaining  of  the  house  of  Esau,  for 
the  Lord  hath  spoken  it.  In  what  a  most  extensive 
and  circumstantial  manner  has  God  fulfilled  all  these 
predictions  !  and  what  a  proof  is  this  of  the  Divine 
inspiration  of  the  Pentateuch,  and  the  omniscience  of 
God !” 

Verse  4 1 .  The  days  of  mourning  for  my  father  are 
at  hand \  Such  was  the  state  of  Isaac’s  health  at  that 
time,  though  he  lived  more  than  forty  years  afterwards, 
that  his  death  was  expected  by  all ;  and  Esau  thought 
that  would  be  a  favourable  time  for  him  to  avenge  him¬ 
self  on  his  brother  Jacob,  as,  according  to  the  custom 
of  the  times,  the  sons  were  always  present  at  the  burial 
of  the  father.  Ishmael  came  from  his  own  country 
to  assist  Isaac  to  bury  Abraham;  and  both  Jacob  and 
Esau  assisted  in  burying  their  father  Isaac,  but  the  en¬ 
mity  between  them  had  happily  subsided  long  before 
that  time. 

Verse  42.  Doth  comfort  himself  purposing  to  kill 
thee.\  “j5?  CDmnrD  mithnachem  lecha,  which  Houbi- 
gant  renders  cogitat  super  te,  he  thinks  or  meditates 
to  kill  thee.  This  sense  is  natural  enough  here,  but  it 
does  not  appear  to  be  the  meaning  of  the  original ;  nor 
does  Houbigant  himself  give  it  this  sense,  in  his  Ra¬ 
cines  Hebraiques .  There  is  no  doubt  that  Esau,  in 
his  hatred  to  his  brother,  felt  himself  pleased  with  the 
thought  that  he  should  soon  have  the  opportunity  of 
avenging  his  wrongs. 

Verse  44.  Tarry  with  him  a  few  days ]  It  was 
probably  forty  years  before  he  returned,  and  it  is 
likely  Rebekah  saw  him  no  more ;  for  it  is  the  gene¬ 
ral  opinion  of  the  Jewish  rabbins  that  she  died  before 
Jacob’s  return  from  Padan-aram,  whether  the  period 
of  his  stay  be  considered  twenty  ox  forty  years.  See 
on  chap.  xxxi.  38,  &c. 

Verse  45.  Why  should  I  be  deprived  also  of  you 
both J  If  Esau  should  kill  Jacob,  then  the  nearest  akin 

a 


Rebekah's  alarm  on  account 


CHAP.  XXVII. 


a.  M.  cir.  2225.  thee,  and  he  forget  that  which 

B.  C.  cir.  17<9.  Jiagt  ^one  t0  :  then  l  will 

send,  and  fetch  thee  from  thence  :  why  should 
I  be  deprived  also  of  you  both  in  one  day  ? 
46  And  Rebekah  said  to  Isaac,  z  I  am  weary 


z  Chap.  xxvi.  35  ;  xxviii.  8  ;  Num.  xi.  15  ; 

to  Jacob,  who  was  by  the  patriarchial  law,  Gen.  ix.  6, 
the  avenger  of  blood,  would  kill  Esau  ;  and  both  these 
deaths  might  possibly  take  place  in  the  same  day. 
This  appears  to  be  the  meaning  of  Rebekah.  Those 
who  are  ever  endeavouring  to  sanctify  the  means  by 
the  end,  are  full  of  perplexity  and  distress.  God  will 
not  give  his  blessing  to  even  a  Divine  service,  if  not 
done  in  his  own  way,  on  principles  of  truth  and  right¬ 
eousness.  Rebekah  and  her  son  would  take  the  means 
out  of  God’s  hands  ;  they  compassed  themselves  with 
their  own  sparks,  and  warmed  themselves  with  their 
own  fire  ;  and  this  had  they  at  the  hand  of  God,  they 
lay  down  in  sorrow.  God  would  have  brought  about 
his  designs  in  a  way  consistent  with  his  own  perfec¬ 
tions  ;  for  he  had  fully  determined  that  the  elder  should 
serve  the  younger ,  and  that  the  Messiah  should  spring 
not  from  the  family  of  Esau,  but  from  that  of  Jacob ; 
and  needed  not  the  cunning  craftiness  or  deceits  of 
men  to  accomplish  his  purposes.  Yet  in  his  mercy 
he  overruled  all  these  circumstances,  and  produced 
good,  where  things,  if  left  to  their  own  operations  and 
issues,  would  have  produced  nothing  but  evil.  How¬ 
ever,  after  this  reprehensible  transaction,  we  near  no 
more  of  Rebekah.  The  Holy  Spirit  mentions  her  no 
more ,  her  burial  excepted,  chap.  xlix.  31.  See  on 
chap.  xxxv.  8. 

Verse  46.  I  am  weary  of  my  life]  It  is  very  likely 
that  Rebekah  kept,  many  of  the  circumstances  related 
above  from  the  knowledge  of  Isaac ;  but  as  Jacob 
could  not  go  to  Padan-aram  without  his  knowledge, 
she  appears  here  quite  in  her  own  character ,  framing 
an  excuse  for  his  departure,  and  concealing  the  true 
cause.  Abraham  had  been  solicitous  to  get  a  wife 
for  his  son  Isaac  from  a  branch  of  his  own  family  ; 
hence  she  was  brought  from  Syria.  She  is  now  afraid, 
or  pretends  to  be  afraid,  that  her  son  Jacob  will  marry 
among  the  Hittites ,  as  Esau  had  done  ;  and  therefore 
makes  this  to  Isaac  the  ostensible  reason  why  Jacob 
should  immediately  go  to  Padan-aram,  that  he  might 
get  a  wife  there.  Isaac,  not  knowing  the  true  cause 
of  sending  him  away,  readily  falls  in  with  Rebekah’s 
proposal,  and  immediately  calls  Jacob,  gives  him  suit¬ 
able  directions  and  his  blessing,  and  sends  him  away. 
This  view  of  the  subject  makes  all  consistent  and 
natural ;  and  we  see  at  once  the  reason  of  the  abrupt 
speech  contained  in  this  verse,  which  should  be  placed 
at  the  beginning  of  the  following  chapter. 


1.  In  the  preceding  notes  I  have  endeavoured  to 
represent  things  simply  as  they  were.  I  have  not 
copied  the  manner  of  many  commentators,  who  have 
laboured  to  vindicate  the  character  of  Jacob  and  his 
mother  in  the  transactions  here  recorded.  As  I  fear 
God,  and  wish  to  follow  him,  I  dare  not  bless  what  he 
hath  not  blessed,  nor  curse  what  he  hath  not  cursed. 

a 


of  the  daughters  of  Hcth 

of  my  life  because  of  the  daugh-  A.M.  cir.  2225 
ters  of  Heth  :  a  if  Jacob  take  a  B,--‘-c!_..177?. 
wife  of  the  daughters  of  Heth,  such  as  these 
which  are  of  the  daughters  of  the  land,  what 
good  shall  my  life  do  me  ? 

1  Kings  xix.  4 ;  Job  iii.  20-22. - a  Chap.  xxiv.  3. 


I  consider  the  whole  of  the  conduct  both  of  Rebekah 
and  Jacob  in  some  respects  deeply  criminal,  and  in  all 
highly  exceptionable.  And  the  impartial  relation  of 
the  facts  contained  in  this  and  the  xxvth  chapter,  gives 
me  the  fullest  evidence  of  the  truth  and  authenticity 
of  the  sacred  original.  How  impartial  is  the  history 
that  God  w'rites  !  We  may  see,  from  several  com¬ 
mentators,  what  man  would  have  done,  had  he  had  the 
same  facts  to  relate.  The  history  given  by  God  de¬ 
tails  as  well  the  vices  as  the  virtues  of  those  who  are 
its  subjects.  How  widely  different  from  that  in  the 
Bible  is  the  biography  of  the  present  day  ?  Virtuous 
acts  that  were  never  performed,  voluntary  privations 
which  were  never  borne,  piety  which  was  never  felt, 
and  in  a  word  lives  which  were  never  lived ,  are  the 
principal  subjects  of  our  biographical  relations.  These 
may  be  well  termed  the  Lives  of  the  Saints ,  for  to 
these  are  attributed  all  the  virtues  which  can  adorn 
the  human  character,  with  scarcely  a  failing  or  a  ble¬ 
mish  ;  while  on  the  other  hand,  those  in  general  men¬ 
tioned  in  the  sacred  writings  stand  marked  with  deep 
shades.  What  is  the  inference  which  a  reflecting 
mind,  acquainted  with  human  nature,  draws  from  a 
comparison  of  the  biography  of  the  Scriptures  with 
that  of  uninspired  writers  1  The  inference  is  this — 
the  Scripture  history  is  natural,  is  probable,  bears  all 
the  characteristics  of  veracity,  narrates  circumstances 
which  seem  to  make  against  its  own  honour,  yet  dwells 
on  them,  and  often  seeks  occasion  to  refeat  them. 
It  is  true  !  infallibly  true  !  In  this  conclusion  common 
sense,  reason,  and  criticism  join.  On  the  other  hand,, 
of  biography  in  general  we  must  say  that  it  is  often 
unnatural,  improbable  ;•  is  destitute  of  many  of  th& 
essential  characteristics  of  truth ;  studiously  avoids 
mentioning  those  circumstances  which  are  dishonour¬ 
able  to  its  subject ;  ardently  endeavours  either  to  cas£ 
those  which  it  cannnot  wholly  . hide  into  deep  shades, 
or  sublime  them  into  virtues.  This  is  notorious,  and 
we  need  not  go  far  for  numerous  examples.  From  these 
facts  a  reflecting  mind  will  draw  this  general  conclu¬ 
sion — an  impartial  history,  in  every  respect  true,  can 
be  expected  only  from  God  himself. 

2.  These  should  be  only  preliminary  observations 
to  an  extended  examination  of  the  characters  and  con¬ 
duct  of  Rebekah  and  her  two  sons  ;  but  this  in  detail 
would  be  an  ungracious  task,  and  I  wish  only  to  draw 
the  reader’s  attention  to  what  may,  under  the  blessing 
of  God,  promote  his  moral  good.  No  pious  man  can 
read  the  chapter  before  him  without  emotions  of  grief 
and  pain.  A  mother  teaches  her  favourite  son  to 
cheat  and  defraud  his  brother,  deceive  his  father,  and 
tell  the  most  execrable  lies  !  And  God,  the  just,  the 
impartial  God  relates  all  the  circumstances  in  the  most 
ample  and  minute  detail !  I  have  already  hinted  that 
this  is  a  strong  proof  of  the  authenticity  of  the  sacred 

171 


Directions  to  Jacob 

book.  Had  the  Bible  been  the  work  of  an  impostor, 
a  single  trait  of  this  history  had  never  appeared.  God, 
it  is  true,  had  purposed  that  the  elder  should  serve 
the  younger ;  but  never  designed  that  the  supremacy 
should  be  brought  about  in  this  way.  Had  Jacob’s 
unprincipled  mother  left  the  matter  in  the  hands  of 
God’s  providence,  her  favourite  son  would  have  had 
the  precedency  in  such  a  way  as  would  not  only  have 
manifested  the  justice  and  holiness  of  God,  but  would 
have  been  both  honourable  and  lasting  to  himself. 
He  got  the  birthright,  and  he  got  the  blessing ;  and 
how  little  benefit  did  he  personally  derive  from  either ! 
What  was  his  life  from  this  time  till  his  return  from 
Padan-aram  ?  A  mere  tissue  of  vexations,  disappoint¬ 
ments,  and  calamities.  Men  may  endeavour  to  palliate 
the  iniquity  of  these  transactions  ;  but  this  must  pro¬ 
ceed  either  from  weakness  or  mistaken  zeal.  God  has 
sufficiently  marked  the  whole  with  his  disapprobation. 

3.  The  enmity  which  Esau  felt  against  his  brother 
Jacob  seems  to  have  been  transmitted  to  all  his  pos¬ 
terity  ;  and  doubtless  the  matters  of  the  birthright  and 
the  blessing  were  the  grounds  on  which  that  perpetual 
enmity  was  kept  up  between  the  descendants  of  both 
families,  the  Edomites  and  the  Israelites.  So  unfor¬ 
tunate  is  an  ancient  family  grudge,  founded  on  the 
opinion  that  an  injury  has  been  done  by  one  of  the 
branches  of  the  family,  in  a  period  no  matter  how 
remote,  provided  its  operation  still  continues,  and  cer¬ 
tain  secular  privations  to  one  side  be  the  result.  How 
possible  it  is  to  keep  feuds  of  this  kind  alive  to  any 
assignable  period,  the  state  of  a  neighbouring  island 
sufficiently  proves  ;  and  on  the  subject  in  question,  the 
bloody  contentions  of  the  two  houses  of  York  and 
Lancaster  in  this  nation  are  no  contemptible  com¬ 


concerning  his  marriage 

ment.  The  facts,  however,  relative  to  this  point,  may 
be  summed  up  in  a  few  words.  1.  The  descendants 
of  Jacob  were  peculiarly  favoured  by  God.  2.  They 
generally  had  the  dominion,  and  were  ever  reputed 
superior  in  every  respect  to  the  Edomites.  3.  The 
Edomites  were  generally  tributary  to  the  Israelites. 
4.  They  often  revolted,  and  sometimes  succeeded  so 
far  in  their  revolts  as  to  become  an  independent  peo¬ 
ple.  5.  The  Jews  were  never  subjected  to  the  Edom¬ 
ites.  6.  As  in  the  case  between  Esau  and  Jacob, 
who  after  long  enmity  were  reconciled,  so  were  the 
Edomites  and  the  Jews,  and  at  length  they  became 
one  people.  7.  The  Edomites,  as  a  nation,  are  now 
totally  extinct ;  and  the  Jews  still  continue  as  a  dis¬ 
tinct  people  from  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  earth  !  So 
exactly  have  all  the  words  of  God,  which  he  has 
spoken  by  his  prophets,  been  fulfilled  ! 

4.  On  the  blessings  pronounced  on  Jacob  and  Esau, 
these  questions  may  naturally  be  asked.  1.  Was  there 
any  thing  in  these  blessings  of  such  a  spiritual  nature 
as  to  affect  the  eternal  interests  of  either  1  Certainly 
there  was  not,  at  least  as  far  as  might  absolutely  in¬ 
volve  the  salvation  of  the  one,  or  the  perdition  of  the 
other.  2.  Was  not  the  blessing  pronounced  on  Esau 
as  good  as  that  pronounced  on  Jacob,  the  mere  tempo¬ 
rary  lordship ,  and  being  the  progenitor  of  the  Messiah , 
excepted  1  So  it  evidently  appears.  3.  If  the  bless¬ 
ings  had  referred  to  their  eternal  states,  had  not  Esau 
as  fair  a  prospect  for  endless  glory  as  his  unfeeling 
brother  1  Justice  and  mercy  both  say — Yes.  The 
truth  is,  it  was  their  posterity ,  and  not  themselves, 
that  were  the  objects  of  these  blessings.  Jacob,  per¬ 
sonally,  gained  no  benefit ;  Esau,  personally,  sustained 
no  loss. 


GENESIS. 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 


Isaac  directs  Jacob  to  take  a  wife  from  the  family  of  Laban,  1,2;  blesses  and  sends  him  away,  3,  4.  Jacob 
begins  his  journey,  5.  Esau ,  perceiving  that  the  daughters  of  Canaan  were  not  pleasing  to  his  parents , 
and  that  Jacob  obeyed  them  in  going  to  get  a  wife  of  his  own  kindred,  6—8,  went  and  took  to  wife  Mahalath, 
the  daughter  of  Ishmael  his  father's  brother,  9.  Jacob,  in  his  journey  towards  Haran,  came  to  a  certain 
place,  (Luz,  ver.  19,)  where  he  lodged  all  night,  10,  11.  He  sees  in  a  dream  a  ladder  reaching  from 
earth  to  heaven,  on  ivhich  he  beholds  the  angels  of  God  ascending  and  descending,  IS*  God  appears  above 
this  ladder,  and  renews  those  promises  ivhich  he  had  made  to  Abraham  and  to  Isaac,  13,  14;  promises 
Jacob  personal  protection  and  a  safe  return  to  his  own  country,  15.  Jacob  awakes,  and  makes  reflections 
upon  his  dream,  16,  17.  Sets  up  one  of  the  stones  he  had  for  his  pillow,  and  pours  oil  on  it,  and 
calls  the  place  Beth-el,  18,  19.  Makes  a  vow  that  if  God.  will  preserve  him  in  his  journey,  and  bring  him 
back  in  safety,  the  stone  should  be  God's  house,  and  that  he  would  give  him  the  tenths  of  all  that  he  should 
have,  20 — 22. 


A.  M.  c.i  r.  2225.  AND  Isaac  called  Jacob,  and 

B.  C.  cir.  1779.  J-A.  .  .  1 

■ -  a  blessed  him,  and  charged 

him,  and  said  unto  him,  b  Thou  shalt  not 


take  a  wife  of  the  daughters  of  A.  M.  cir.  2225. 
r,  &  B.  C.  cir.  1779. 

Oanaan.  - - 

2  c  Arise,  go  to  d  Padan-aram,  to  the  house 


a  Chap,  xxvii.  33. - Chap.  xxiv.  3. 


c  Hos.  xii.  11. - d  Chap.  xxv.  20. 


NOTES  ON  CHAP.  XNYIII. 

Verse  1.  And  Isaac  called  Jacob ]  See  the  note  on 
ver.  46  of  the  preceding  chapter. 

And  blessed  him ]  Now  voluntarily  and  cheerfully 
confirmed  to  him  the  blessing,  which  he  had  before 

172 


obtained  through  subtlety.  It  was  necessary  that  he 
should  have  this  confirmation  previously  to  his  depart¬ 
ure  ;  else,  considering  the  way  in  which  he  had  obtained 
both  the  birthright  and  the  blessing,  he  might  be  doubt¬ 
ful,  according  to  his  own  words,  whether  he  might  not 


CHAP.  XXVIII. 


Esau  marries  Mahalath . 


Jaco6  goes  Zo  Padan-aram. 


a.  M.  or.  2225.  of  e  Bethuel  thy  mother  s  father ; 

B.  C.  cir.  1779.  .  .  ,  J  -  . 

-  and  take  thee  a  wite  trom  thence 

of  the  daughters  of  f  Laban  thy  mother’s 

brother. 

3  *  And  God  Almighty  bless  thee,  and  make 
thee  fruitful,  and  multiply  thee,  that  thou 
mayest  be  h  a  multitude  of  people  : 

4  And  give  thee  1  the  blessing  of  Abraham, 
to  thee,  and  to  thy  seed  with  thee :  that 
thou  mayest  inherit  the  land  k  wherein  1  thou 
art  a  stranger,  which  God  gave  unto  Abra¬ 
ham. 


5  And  Isaac  sent  away  Jacob  :  and  he  went 
to  Padan-aram  unto  Laban,  son  of  Bethuel 
the  Syrian,  the  brother  of  Rebekah,  Jacob’s 
and  Esau’s  mother. 


6  When  Esau  saw  that  Isaac  A.  M.  cir.  2225 

had  blessed  Jacob,  and  sent  him  — — '-cir' _ 

away  to  Padan-aram,  to  take  him  a  wife  from 
thence  ;  and  that  as  he  blessed  him,  he  gave 
him  a  charge,  saying,  Thou  shalt  not  take 
a  wife  of  the  daughters  of  Canaan  ; 

7  And  that  Jacob  obeyed  his  father,  and  his 
mother,  and  was  gone  to  Padan-aram  ; 

8  And  Esau  seeing  m  that  the  daughters  of 
Canaan  n  pleased  not  Isaac  his  father  ; 

9  Then  went  Esau  unto  Ishmael,  and  took 
unto  the  wives  which  he  had,  0  Mahalath  the 
daughter  of  Ishmael,  Abraham’s  son,  p  the 
sister  of  Nebajoth,  to  be  his  wife. 

10  And  Jacob  q  went  out  from  Beer-sheba, 
and  went  toward  r  Haran. 


e  Chap.  xxii.  23. - fChap.  xxiv.  29. - s  Chap.  xvii.  1,6. 

11  Heb.  an  assembly  of  people. - 1  Chap.  xii.  2. - k  Ileb.  of  thy 

sojoumings. - 1  Chap.  xvii.  8. 

have  got  a  curse  instead  of  a  blessing.  As  the  bless¬ 
ing  now  pronounced  on  Jacob  was  obtained  without 
any  deception  on  his  part,  it  is  likely  that  it  produced 
a  salutary  effect  upon  his  mind,  might  have  led  him  to 
confession  of  his  sin,  and  prepared  his  heart  for  those 
discoveries  of  God’s  goodness  with  which  he  was  fa¬ 
voured  at  Luz. 

Verse  2.  Go  to  Padan-aram]  This  mission,  in  its 
spirit  and  design,  is  nearly  the  same  as  that  in  chap, 
xxiv.,  which  see.  There  have  been  several  ingenious 
conjectures  concerning  the  retinue  which  Jacob  had, 
or  might  have  had,  for  his  journey ;  and  by  some  he 
has  been  supposed  to  have  been  well  attended.  Of 
this  nothing  is  mentioned  here,  and  the  reverse  seems 
to  be  intimated  elsewhere.  It  appears,  from  ver.  11, 
that  he  lodged  in  the  open  air,  with  a  stone  for  his  pil¬ 
low  ;  and  from  chap,  xxxii.  10,  that  he  went  on  foot 
with  his  staff  in  his  hand  ;  nor  is  there  even  the  most 
indirect  mention  of  any  attendants,  nor  is  it  probable 
there  were  any.  He  no  doubt  took  provisions  with 
him  sufficient  to  carry  him  to  the  nearest  encampment 
or  village  on  the  way,  where  he  would  naturally  re¬ 
cruit  his  bread  and  water  to  carry  him  to  the  next  stage, 
and  so  on.  The  oil  that  he  poured  on  the  pillar  might 
be  a  little  of  that  which  he  had  brought  for  his  own 
use,  and  can  be  no  rational  argument  of  his  having  a 
stock  of  provisions,  servants,  camels,  &c.,  for  which  it 
has  been  gravely  brought.  He  had  God  alone  with  him. 

Verse  3.  That  thou  mayest  he  a  multitude  of  people ] 
tzrov  bnpb  likhal  ammim.  There  is  something  very 
remarkable  in  the  original  words  :  they  signify  literally 
for  an  assembly ,  congregation ,  or  church  of  peoples  ; 
referring  no  doubt  to  the  Jewish  Church  in  the  wil¬ 
derness,  but  more  particularly  to  the  Christian  Church , 
composed  of  every  kindred,  and  nation,  and  people, 
and  tongue.  This  is  one  essential  part  of  the  blessing 
of  Abraham.  See  ver.  4. 

Verse  4.  Give  thee  the  blessing  of  Abraham]  May 
he  confirm  the  inheritance  with  all  its  attendant  bless¬ 
ings  to  thee,  to  the  exclusion  of  Esau  ;  as  he  did  to 

a 


m  Chap.  xxiv.  3  ;  xxvi.  35. - n  Heb.  were  evil  in  the  eyes,  &e. 

0  Chap,  xxxvi.  3,  she  is  called  Bashemath. - PChap.  xxv.  13. 

<i  Hos.  xii.  12. - r  Called,  Acts  vii.  2,  Charran. 


me,  to  the  exclusion  of  Ishmael.  But,  according  to 
St.  Paul,  much  more  than  this  is  certainly  intended 
here,  for  it  appears,  from  Gal.  iii.  6-14,  that  the  bless¬ 
ing  of  Abraham ,  which  is  to  come  upon  the  Gentiles 
through  Jesus  Christ ,  comprises  the  whole  doctrine  of 
justification  by  faith,  and  its  attendant  privileges,  viz..., 
redemption  from  the  curse  of  the  law,  remission  of 
sins,  and  the  promise  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  including  the 
constitution  and  establishment  of  the  Christian  Church. 

Verse  5.  Bethuel  the  Syrian ]  Literally  the  Aramean, 
so  called,  not  because  he  was  of  the  race  of  Aram  the 
son  of  Shem,  but  because  he  dwelt  in  that  country 
which  had  been  formerly  possessed  by  the  descendants 
of  Aram. 

Verse  9.  Then  icent  Esau  unto  Ishmael ]  Those 
who  are  apt  to  take  every  thing  by  the  wrong  handle, 
and  who  think  it  was  utterly  impossible  for  Esau  to  do 
any  right  action,  have  classed  his  taking  a  daughter 
of  Ishmael  among  his  crimes  ;  whereas  there  is  nothing 
more  plain  than  that  he  did  this  with  a  sincere  desire 
to  obey  and  please  his  parents .  Having  heard  the  pious 
advice  which  Isaac  gave  to  Jacob,  he  therefore  went 
and  took  a  wife  from  the  family  of  his  grandfather 
Abraham,  as  Jacob  was  desired  to  do  out  of  the  family 
of  his  maternal  uncle  Laban.  Mahalath ,  whom  he 
took  to  wife,  stood  in  the  same  degree  of  relationship 
to  Isaac  his  father  as  Rachel  did  to  his  mother  Re- 
bekah.  Esau  married  his  father’s  niece  ;  Jacob  mar¬ 
ried  his  mother’s  niece.  It  was  therefore  most  ob¬ 
viously  to  please  his  parents  that  Esau  took  this  addi¬ 
tional  wife.  It  is  supposed  that  Ishmael  must  have 
been  dead  thirteen  or  fourteen  years  before  this  time, 
and  that  going  to  Ishmael  signifies  only  going  to  the 
family  of  Ishmael.  If  we  follow  the  common  com¬ 
putation,  and  allow  that  Isaac  was  now  about  one  hun¬ 
dred  and  thirty-six  or  one  hundred  and  thirty-seven 
years  of  age,  and  Jacob  seventy-seven,  and  as  Ishmael 
died  in  the  one  hundred  and  thirty-seventh  year  of  his 
age,  which  according  to  the  common  computation  was 
the  one  hundred  and  twenty-third  of  Isaac,  then  Ish- 

173 


GENESIS. 


Jacob's  vision  of  the  ladder. 

a.  M.  dr.  2225.  1 1  And  he  lighted  upon  a 

-  certain  place,  and  tarried  there 

all  night,  because  the  sun  was  set ;  and  he 
took  of  the  stones  of  that  place,  and  put  them 
for  his  pillows,  and  lay  down  in  that  place 
to  sleep. 

1 2  And  he  s  dreamed,  and  behold  a  ladder 
set  up  on  the  earth,  and  the  top  of  it  reached 
to  heaven  :  and  behold  *  the  angels  of  God  as¬ 
cending  and  descending  on  it. 

13  u  And,  behold,  the  Lord  stood  above  it, 
and  said,  v  I  am  the  Lord  God  of  Abraham 
thy  father,  and  the  God  of  Isaac  :  w  the  land 

s  Chapter  xli.  1 ;  Job  xxxiii.  15. - 1  John  i.  51  ;  Heb.  i.  14. 

u  Chap.  xxxv.  1 ;  xlviii.  3. - v  Chap.  xxvi.  24. - w  Chap.  xiii. 

15  ;  xxxv.  12. - x  Chapter  xiii.  16. - y  Heb.  break  forth. 

E  Chap.  xiii.  14 ;  Deut.  xii.  20. 

mael  must  have  been  dead  about  fourteen  years.  But 
if  we  allow  the  ingenious  reasoning  of  Mr.  Skinner 
and  Dr.  Kennicott,  that  Jacob  was  at  this  time  only 
fifty-seven  years  of  age,  and  Isaac  consequently  only 
one  hundred  and  seventeen ,  it  will  appear  that  Ishmael 
did  not  die  till  six  years  after  this  period ;  and  hence 
with  propriety  it  might  be  said,  Esau  went  unto  Ish¬ 
mael  ^  and  took  Mahalath  the  daughter  of  Ishmael  to 
be  his  wife.  See  the  notes  on  chap.  xxxi.  38,  &c. 

Verse  1 1 .  A  certain  place ,  and  tarried  there ]  From 
ver.  19  we  find  this  certain  place  was  Luz ,  or  some 
part  of  its  vicinity.  Jacob  had  probably  intended  to 
reach  Luz  ;  but  the  sun  being  set,  and  night  coming 
on,  he  either  could  not  reach  the  city,  or  he  might  sus¬ 
pect  the  inhabitants,  and  rather  prefer  the  open  field, 
as  he  must  have  heard  of  the  character  and  conduct 
of  the  men  of  Sodom  and  Gomorrah.  Or  the  gates 
might  be  shut  by  the  time  he  reached  it,  which  would 
prevent  his  admission  ;  for  it  frequently  happens,  to  the 
present  day,  that  travellers  not  reaching  a  city  in  the 
eastern  countries  previously  to  the  shutting  of  the  gates, 
are  obliged  to  lodge  under  the  walls  all  night,  as  when 
once  shut  they  refuse  to  open  them  till  the  next  day. 
This  was  probably  Jacob’s  case. 

He  took  of  the  stones ]  He  took  one  of  the  stones 
that  were  in  that  place  :  from  ver.  18  we  find  it  was 
one  stone  only  rvhich  he  had  for  his  pillow.  Luz  was 
about  forty-eight  miles  distant  from  Beer-sheba ;  too 
great  a  journey  for  one  day,  through  what  we  may 
conceive  very  unready  roads. 

Verse  12.  He  dreamed ,  and  behold  a  ladder ]  A 
multitude  of  fanciful  things  have  been  spoken  of  Ja¬ 
cob’s  vision  of  the  ladder,  and  its  signification.  It 
might  have  several  designs,  as  God  chooses  to  accom¬ 
plish  the  greatest  number  of  ends  by  the  fewest  and 
simplest  means  possible.  1.  It  is  very  likely  that  its 
primary  design  was  to  point  out  the  providence  of  God, 
by  which  he  watches  over  and  regulates  all  terrestrial 
things  ;  for  nothing  is  left  to  merely  natural  causes ;  a 
heavenly  agency  pervades,  actuates,  and  directs  all. 
In  his  present  circumstances  it  was  highly  necessary 
that  Jacob  should  have  a  clear  and  distinct  view  of 
this  subject,  that  he  might  be  the  better  prepared  to 

174 


God  renews  his  promises. 

whereon  thou  liest,  to  thee  will  A.  M.  cir.  2225. 
T  •  .  1  ,  1  B.  C.  cir.  1779. 

1  give  it,  and  to  thy  seed ; - 

14  And  x  thy  seed  shall  be  as  the  dust  of 
the  earth,  and  thou  shalt  y  spread  abroad  z  to 
the  west,  and  to  the  east,  and  to  the  north, 
and  to  the  south  :  and  in  thee  and  a  in  thy 
seed  shall  all  the  families  of  the  earth  be 
blessed. 

1 5  And,  behold,  b  I  am  with  thee,  and  will 
c  keep  thee  in  all  places  whither  thou  goest, 
and  will  d  bring  thee  again  into  this  land  ;  for 
e  I  will  not  leave  thee,  f  until  I  have  done  that 
which  I  have  spoken  to  thee  of. 

aChap.  xii.  3  ;  xviii.  18  ;  xxii.  18  ;  xxvi.  4. - b  See  ver.  20, 

21  ;  chap.  xxvi.  24  ;  xxxi.  3. - c  Chap,  xlviii.  16  ;  Psa.  cxxi. 

5,  7,  8. - d  Chap.  xxxv.  6. - e  Deut.  xxxviii.  6  ;  Josh.  i.  5  ; 

1  Kings  viii.  57 ;  Heb.  xiii.  5. - fNum.  xxiii.  19. 

meet  all  occurrences  with  the  conviction  that  all  was 
working  together  for  his  good.  2.  It  might  be  intended 
also  to  point  out  the  intercourse  between  heaven  and 
earth,  and  the  connection  of  both  worlds  by  the  means 
of  angelic  ministry.  That  this  is  fact  we  learn  from 
many  histories  in  the  Old  Testament ;  and  it  is  a  doc¬ 
trine  that  is  unequivocally  taught  in  the  New  :  Are 
they  not  all  ministering  spirits,  sent  forth  to  minister 
for  them  who  shall  be  heirs  of  salvation  ?  3.  It  was 

probably  a  type  of  Christ,  in  whom  both  worlds  meet, 
and  in  whom  the  Divine  and  human  nature  are  con¬ 
joined.  The  ladder  was  set  up  on  the  earth,  and 
the  top  of  it  reached  to  heaven  ;  for  GOD  was  mani¬ 
fested  in  the  FLESH,  and  in  him  dwelt  all  the  fulness 
of  the  Godhead  bodily.  Nothing  could  be  a  more  ex¬ 
pressive  emblem  of  the  incarnation  and  its  effects  ; 
Jesus  Christ  is  the  grand  connecting  medium  between 
heaven  and  earth,  and  between  God  and  man.  By 
him  God  comes  down  to  man  ;  through  him  man  as¬ 
cends  to  God.  It  appears  that  our  Lord  applies  the 
vision  in  this  way  himself,  1st,  In  that  remarkable 
speech  to  Nathanael,  Hereafter  ye  shall  see  the  heaven 
opened,  and  the  angels  of  God  ascending  and  descend¬ 
ing  on  the  Son  of  man,  John  i.  51.  2dly,  In  his  speech 
to  Thomas,  John  xiv.  6  :  I  am  the  way,  and  the  truth, 
and  the  life  ;  no  man  cometh  unto  the  Father  but  by  me. 

V erse  13.  I  am  the  Lord  God  of  Abraham ]  Here 
God  confirms  to  him  the  blessing  of  Abraham,  for 
which  Isaac  had  prayed,  ver.  3,  4. 

Verse  14.  Thy  seed  shall  be  as  the  dust ]  The  people 
that  shall  descend  from  thee  shall  be  extremely  nume¬ 
rous,  and  in  thee  and  thy  seed — the  Lord  Jesus  de¬ 
scending  from  thee,  according  to  the  flesh,  shall  all  the 
families  of  the  earth — not  only  all  of  thy  race,  but 
all  the  other  families  or  tribes  of  mankind  which  have 
not  proceeded  from  any  branch  of  the  Abrahamic  family, 
be  blessed ;  for  Jesus  Christ  by  the  grace  of  God  tasted 
death  for  every  man,  Heb.  ii.  9. 

Verse  15.  And,  behold,  I  am  with  thee ]  For  I  fill 
the  heavens  and  the  earth.  “My  Word  shall  be  thy 
helpJ — Targum.  And  will  keep  thee  in  all  places,  ev  vy 
odu  Tracy,  in  all  this  way. — Septuagint.  I  shall  direct, 
help,  and  support  thee  in  a  peculiar  manner,  in  thy 

a 


CHAP.  XXVIII 


Jacob  awakes  from  sleep , 
a.  M.  cir.  2225.  16  And  Jacob  awaked  out 

B.  C  cir.  1779. 

the  Lord  is  in  «  this  place ;  and  I  knew 
it  not. 

1 7  And  he  was  afraid,  and  said,  How  dread¬ 
ful  is  this  place  !  this  is  none  other  but  the 

s  Exod.  iii.  5;  Josh.  v.  15. - h  Chap.  xxxi.  13,  45  ;  xxxv.  14. 

present  journey,  be  with  thee  while  thou  sojournest 
with  thy  uncle,  and  will  bring  thee  again  into  this  land ; 
so  that  in  all  thy  concerns  thou  mayest  consider  thy¬ 
self  under  my  especial  providence,  for  I  will  not  leave 
thee.  Thy  descendants  also  shall  be  my  peculiar  peo¬ 
ple,  whom  I  shall  continue  to  preserve  as  such  until  I 
have  done  that  -which  I  have  spoken  to  thee  of — until 
the  Messiah  shall  be  born  of  thy  race,  and  all  the  fami¬ 
lies  of  the  earth — the  Gentiles,  be  blessed  through  thee; 
the  Gospel  being  preached  to  them,  and  they,  with  the 
believing  Jews,  made  one  fold  under  one  Shepherd, 
and  one  Bishop  or  Overseer  of  souls.  And  this  cir¬ 
cumstantial  promise,  has  been  literally  and  punctually 
fulfilled. 

Yerse  16.  The  Lord  is  in  this  place;  and  I  knew 
it  not.]  That  is,  God  has  made  this  place  his  pecu¬ 
liar  residence  ;  it  is  a  place  in  which  he  meets  with 
and  reveals  himself  to  his  followers.  Jacob  might 
have  supposed  that  this  place  had  been  consecrated  to 
God.  And  it  has  already  been  supposed  that,  his  mind 
having  been  brought  into  a  humble  frame,  he  was  pre¬ 
pared  to  hold  communion  with  his  Maker. 

Verse  17.  How  dreadful  is  this  place!]  The  ap¬ 
pearance  of  the  ladder ,  the  angels ,  and  the  Divine 
glory  at  the  top  of  the  ladder,  must  have  left  deep, 
solemn,  and  even  awful  impressions  on  the  mind  of 
Jacob ;  and  hence  the  exclamation  in  the  text,  How 
dreadful  is  this  place  ! 

This  is  none  other  but  the  house  of  God]  The 
Chaldee  gives  this  place  a  curious  turn  :  “  This  is  not 
a  common  place,  but  a  place  in  which  God  delights ; 
and  opposite  to  this  place  is  the  gate  of  heaven.”  On- 
kelos  seems  to  suppose  that  the  gate  or  entrance  into 
heaven  was  actually  above  this  spot,  and  that  when  the 
angels  of  God  descended  to  earth,  they  came  through 
that  opening  into  this  place,  and  returned  by  the  same 
way.  And  it  really  appears  that  Jacob  himself  had 
a  similar  notion. 

Yerse  18.  And  Jacob — took  the  stone — and  set  it  up 
for  a  pillar]  He  placed  the  stone  in  an  erect  posture, 
that  it  might  stand  as  a  monument  of  the  extraordinary 
vision  which  he  had  in  this  place  ;  and  he  poured  oil 
upon  it ,  thereby  consecrating  it  to  God,  so  that  it  might 
be  considered  an  altar  on  which  libations  might  be 
poured,  and  sacrifices  offered  unto  God.  See  chap, 
xxxv.  14.  The  Brahmins  anoint  their  stone  images 
with  oil  before  bathing ;  and  some  anoint  them  with 
sweet-scented  oil.  This  is  a  practice  which  arises 
more  from  the  customs  of  the  Hindoos  than  from  their 
idolatry.  Anointing  persons  as  an  act  of  homage  has 
been  transferred  to  their  idols. 

There  is  a  foolish  tradition  that  the  stone  set  up  by 
Jacob  was  afterwards  brought  to  Jerusalem,  from  which, 
after  a  long  lapse  of  time,  it  was  brought  to  Spain, 


and  sets  up  a  pillar 
house  of  God,  and  this  is  the  a.  m.  cir.  2225. 

r  ,  B.  C.  cir.  1779. 

gate  ot  heaven.  - 

18  And  Jacob  rose  up  early  in  the  morning, 
and  took  the  stone  that  he  had  put  for  his 
pillows,  and  h  set  it  up  for  a  pillar,  1  and 
poured  oil  upon  the  top  of  it. 

1  Lev.  viii.  10,  11,  12  ;  Num.  vii.  1. 

from  Spain  to  Ireland,  from  Ireland  to  Scotland,  and 
on  it  the  kings  of  Scotland  sat  to  be  crowned  ;  and 
concerning  which  the  following  leonine  verses  were 
made  : — 

Ni  fallat  fatum, — Scoti  quocunque  locatum 
Invenient  lapidem, — regnare  tenentur  ibidem. 

Or  fate  is  blind — or  Scots  shall  find 
Where’er  this  stone — the  royal  throne. 

Camden's  Perthshire. 

Edward  I.  had  it  brought  to  Westminster  ;  and  there 
this  stone,  called  Jacob's  pillar ,  and  Jacob's  pilloiv ,  is 
now  placed  under  the  chair  on  which  the  king  sits  when 
crowned  !  It  would  be  as  ridiculous  to  attempt  to  dis¬ 
prove  the  truth  of  this  tradition,  as  to  prove  that  the 
stone  under  the  old  chair  in  Westminster  was  the  iden¬ 
tical  stone  which  served  the  patriarch  for  a  bolster. 

And  poured  oil  upon  the  top  of  it.]  Stones,  images, 
and  altars,  dedicated  to  Divine  worship,  were  always 
anointed  with  oil.  This  appears  to  have  been  con¬ 
sidered  as  a  consecration  of  them  to  the  object  of  the 
worship,  and  a  means  of  inducing  the  god  or  goddess 
to  take  up  their  residence  there,  and  answer  the  peti¬ 
tions  of  their  votaries.  Anointing  stones,  images,  &c., 
is  used  in  idolatrous  countries  to  the  present  day,  and 
the  whole  idol  is  generally  smeared  over  with  oil. 
Sometimes,  besides  the  anointing,  a  crown  or  garland 
was  placed  on  the  stone  or  altar  to  honour  the  divinity, 
who  was  supposed,  in  consequence  of  the  anointing , 
to  have  set  up  his  residence  in  that  place.  It  appears 
to  have  been  on  this  ground  that  the  seats  of  polished 
stone,  on  which  the  kings  sat  in  the  front  of  their 
palaces  to  administer  justice,  were  anointed,  merely  to 
invite  the  deity  to  reside  there,  that  true  judgment 
might  be  given,  and  a  righteous  sentence  always  be 
pronounced.  Of  this  we  have  an  instance  in  Homer, 
Odyss.  lib.  v.,  ver.  406—410  : — 

E/c  6’  eXGuv,  nar’  ap'  k&r’  etu  ^egtolgl  TuOolgiv, 

Ol  ol  eoav  TTpoKapotOe  Ovpauv  viprjkauv, 

Aevkol ,  a-KOGTLkftovTES  akecdarog'  olg  etu  jusv  npiv 

N rjTiEvg  i^egkev,  dsotpiv  fiT]GT0)p  arahavTog. 

The  old  man  early  rose,  walk’d  forth,  and  sate 

On  polish'd  stone  before  his  palace  gate  ; 

With  unguent  smooth  the  lucid  marble  shone, 

Where  ancient  Neleus  sate,  a  rustic  throne.  Pope. 

This  gives  a  part  of  the  sense  of  the  passage  ;  but 
the  last  line,  on  which  much  stress  should  be  laid,  is 
very  inadequately  rendered  by  the  English  poet.  It 
should  be  translated, — 

Where  Neleus  sat,  equal  in  counsel  to  the  gods  ; 
because  inspired  by  their  wisdom,  and  which  inspira¬ 
tion  he  and  his  successor  took  pains  to  secure  by  con¬ 
secrating  with  the  anointing  oil  the  seat  of  judgment 

175 


of  his  sleep,  and  he  said,  Surely 


Jacob  calls  the  name 


GENESIS. 


A.  M.  cir.  2225. 

B.  C.  cir.  1779. 


1 9  And  he  called  the  name  of 
k  that  place  1  Beth-el :  but  the 
name  of  that  city  was  called;  Luz  at  the  first. 
20  m  And  Jacob  vowed  a  vow,  saying,  If 


k  Judges  i.  23,  26;  Hosea  iv.  15. 

of  God. 


That  is,  the  house 


on  which  they  were  accustomed  to  sit.  Some  of  the 
ancient  commentators  on  Homer  mistook  the  meaning 
of  this  place  by  not  understanding  the  nature  of  the 
custom ;  and  these  Cowper  unfortunately  follows,  trans¬ 
lating  “  resplendent  as  with  oil which  as  destroys 
the  whole  sense,  and  obliterates  the  allusion.  This 
sort  of  anointing  was  a  common  custom  in  all  antiquity, 
and  was  probably  derived  from  this  circumstance.  Ar- 
nobius  tells  us  that  it  was  customary  with  himself  while 
a  heathen,  “  when  he  saw  a  smooth  polished  stone  that 
had  been  smeared  with  oils,  to  kiss  and  adore  it,  as  if 
possessing  a  Divine  virtue.”  Si  quando  conspexeram 
lubricatum  lapidem ,  et  ex  olivi  unguine  sordidatum 
( ordinatum  ?)  tanquam  inesset  vis  prcesens,  adulabar, 
qffabar.  And  Theodoret ,  in  his  eighty-fourth  question 
on  Genesis,  asserts  that  many  pious  women  in  his  time 
were  accustomed  to  anoint  the  coffins  of  the  martyrs, 
&c.  And  in  Catholic  countries  when  a  church  is  con¬ 
secrated  they  anoint  the  door-posts,  pillars,  altars,  &c. 
So  under  the  law  there  was  a  holy  anointing'  oil  to 
sanctify  the  tabernacle,  laver,  and  all  other  things  used 
in  God’s  service,  Exod.  xl.  9,  &c. 

Yerse  19.  He  called  the  name  of  that  place  Beth-el] 
That  is,  the  house  of  God ;  for  in  consequence  of  his 
having  anointed  the  stone,  and  thus  consecrated  it  to 
God,  he  considered  it  as  becoming  henceforth  his  pe¬ 
culiar  residence ;  see  on  the  preceding  verse.  This 
word  should  be  always  pronounced  as  two  distinct  syl¬ 
lables,  each  strongly  accented,  Beth-El. 

Was  called  Luz  at  the  first.]  The  Hebrew  has 
Tib  Ulam  Luz ,  which  the  Roman  edition  of  the 

Septuagint  translates  OiJayJovti  Oulamlouz ;  the 
Alexandrian  MS.,  OiJauyavc  Oulammaus ;  the  Al- 
dine,  O vlayyaovg  Oulammaous ;  Symmachus,  A ay- 
uaovq  Lammaous  ;  and  some  others,  O v\ay  Out  am. 
The  Hebrew  ulam  is  sometimes  a  particle  sig¬ 

nifying  as, just  as;  hence  it  may  signify  that  the  place 
was  called  Beth-El,  as  it  teas  formerly  called  Luz. 
As  Luz  signifies  an  almond,  almond  or  hazel  tree,  this 
place  probably  had  its  name  from  a  number  of  such 
trees  growing  in  that  region.  Many  of  the  ancients 
confounded  this  city  with  Jerusalem,  to  which  they  at¬ 
tribute  the  eight  following  names,  which  are  all  ex¬ 
pressed  in  this  verse  : — 


Solyma,  Luza,  Bethel,  Hierosolyma,  Jehus,  JElia , 
Urbs  sacra,  Hierusalem  dicitur  atque  Salem. 

Solyma,  Luz,  Beth-El,  Hierosolyma,  Jebus,  AElia, 
The  holy  city  is  call’d,  as  also  Jerusalem  and  Salem. 

From  Beth-El  came  the  Baetylia,  Bethyllia,  B ai- 
rvha,  or  animated  stones ,  so  celebrated  .in  antiquity, 
and  to  which  Divine  honours  were  paid.  The  tradi¬ 
tion  of  Jacob  anointing  this  stone,  and  calling  the  place 
Beth-El,  gave  rise  to  all  the  superstitious  accounts  of 
the  Baetylia  or  consecrated  stones,  which  we  find  in 
Sanchoniathon  and  others.  These  became  abused  to 

176 


of  the  place  Beth-el 

n  God  will  be  with  me,  and  will  a.  m.  cir.  2225. 

keep  me  m  this  way  that  1  go,  - — 

and  will  give  me  0  bread  to  eat,  and  raiment 
to  put  on, 

mChap.  xxxi.  13  ;  Judg.  xi.  30  ;  2  Sam.  xv.  8. - n  Yer.  15. 

'  0  1  Tim.  vi.  8. 

idolatrous  purposes,  and  hence  God  strongly  prohibits 

them,  Lev.  xxvi.  1  ;  and  it  is  very  likely  that  stones 
of  this  kind  were  the  most  ancient  objects  of  idola¬ 
trous  worship :  these  were  afterwards  formed  into  beau¬ 
tiful  human  figures,  male  and  female,  when  the  art  of 
sculpture  became  tolerably  perfected,  and  hence  the 
origin  of  idolatry  as  far  as  it  refers  to  the  worshipping 
of  images,  for  these,  being  consecrated  by  anointing, 
&c.,  were  supposed  immediately  to  become  instinct 
with  the  power  and  energy  of  some  divinity.  Hence3 

then,  the  Baetylia  or  living  stones  of  the  ancient  Phoe¬ 
nicians,  &c.  As  oil  is  an  emblem  of  the  gifts  and 
graces  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  so  those  who  receive  this 
anointing  are  considered  as  being  alive  unto  God,  and 
are  expressly  called  by  St.  Peter  living  stones,  1  Pet 
ii.  4,  5.  May  not  the  apostle  have  reference  to  those 
living  stones  or  Baetyllia  of  antiquity,  and  thus  correct 
the  notion  by  showing  that  these  rather  represented  the 
true  worshippers  of  God,  who  were  consecrated  to  his 
service  and  made  partakers  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and 
that  these  alone  could  be  properly  called  the  living  stones 
out  of  which  the  true  spiritual  temple  is  composed  1 

Yerse  20.  Voiced  avow]  A  vow  is  a  solemn,  holy 
promise,  by  which  a  man  bound  himself  to  do  certain 
things  in  a  particular  way,  time,  &c.,  and  for  power 
to  accomplish  which  he  depended  on  God ;  hence  all 
vows  were  made  with  prayer. 

If  God  will  be  with  me,  i fc.]  Jacob  seems  to  make 
this  vow  rather  for  his  posterity  than  for  himself,  as 
we  may  learn  from  ver.  13-15;  for  he  particularly 
refers  to  the  promises  which  God  had  made  to  him, 
which  concerned  the  multiplication  of  his  offspring, 
and  their  establishment  in  that  land.  If,  then,  God 
shall  fulfil  these  promises,  he  binds  his  posterity  to 
build  God  a  house,  and  to  devote  for  the  maintenance 
of  his  worship  the  tenth  of  all  their  earthly  goods. 
This  mode  of  interpretation  removes  that  appearance 
of  self-interest  which  almost  any  other  view  of  the 
subject  presents.  Jacob  had  certainly,  long  ere  this, 
taken  Jehovah  for  his  God ;  and  so  thoroughly  had  he 
been  instructed  in  the  knowledge  of  Jehovah,  that  we 
may  rest  satisfied  no  reverses  of  fortune  could  have 
induced  him  to  apostatize  :  but  as  his  taking  refuge 
with  Laban  was  probably  typical  of  the  sojourning  of 
his  descendants  in  Egypt,  his  persecution,  so  as  to  be 
obliged  to  depart  from  Laban,  the  bad  treatment  of  his 
posterity  by  the  Egyptians,  his  rescue  from  death,  pre¬ 
servation  on  his  journey,  re-establishment  in  his  own 
country,  &c.,  were  all  typical  of  the  exodus  of  his  de¬ 
scendants,  their  travels  in  the  desert,  and  establishment 
in  the  promised  land,  where  they  built  a  house  to  God, 
and  where,  for  the  support  and  maintenance  of  the  pure 
worship  of  God,  they  gave  to  the  priests  and  Levites 
the  tenth  of  all  their  worldly  produce.  If  all  this  be 
understood  as  referring  to  Jacob  only,  the  Scripture 
gives  us  no  information  how  he  performed  his  vow. 

a 


CHAP.  XXVIII. 


Jacob  promises  to  God 


the  tenth  of  all  his  goods. 


A.  M.  cir.  2225.  2 1  So  that  p  I  come  again  to  mv 

iJ.  C.  cir.  1779.  r  .  ,  ,  .  , 

-  father  s  house  in  peace ;  q  then 

shall  the  Lord  be  my  God  : 

22  And  this  stone,  which  I  have  set  for 


a  pillar,  T  shall  be  God’s  house  :  a.  m.  cir.  2225 
3  and  of  all  that  thou  shalt  ?'  C‘  Clr‘  1779‘ 
give  me  I  will  surely  give  the  tenth  unto 
thee. 


P  Judg.  xi.  31  ;  2  Samuel  xix.  24,  30. - Exodus  xv.  2  ;  Deut. 

xxvi.  17 ;  2  Sam.  xv.  8  ;  2  Kings  v.  17. 


r  Ver.  17 ;  chap.  xiv.  20  ;  xxxv.  7,  14. - s  Lev.  xxvii.  30-33  ; 

Deut.  xiv.  22,  23. 


Verse  22.  This  stone — shall  be  God’s  house ]  That 
is,  (as  far  as  this  matter  refers  to  Jacob  alone,)  should 
I  be  preserved  to  return  in  safety,  I  shall  worship 
God  in  this  place.  And  this  purpose  he  fulfilled,  for 
there  he  built  an  altar,  anointed  it  with  oil,  and  'poured 
a  drink-offering  thereon. 

For  a  practical  use  of  Jacob’s  vision,  see  note  on 
verse  12. 

On  the  doctrine  of  tithes,  or  an  adequate  support 
for  the  ministers  of  the  Gospel,  I  shall  here  register 
my  opinion.  Perhaps  a  word  may  be  borne  from  one 
who  never  received  any,  and  has  none  in  prospect. 
Tithes  in  their  origin  appear  to  have  been  a  sort  of 
eucharistic  offering  made  unto  God,  and  probably  were 
something  similar  to  the  minchah ,  which  we  learn  from 
Gen.  iv.  was  in  use  almost  from  the  foundation  of  the 
world.  When  God  established  a  regular,  and  we  may 
add  an  expensive  worship,  it  was  necessary  that  proper 
provision  should  be  made  for  the  support  of  those  who 
were  obliged  to  devote  their  whole  time  to  it,  and  con¬ 
sequently  were  deprived  of  the  opportunity  of  providing 
for  themselves  in  any  secular  way.  It  was  soon  found 
that  a  tenth  part  of  the  produce  of  the  whole  land  was 
necessary  for  this  purpose,  as  a  whole  tribe ,  that  of 
Levi,  was  devoted  to  the  public  service  of  God  ;  and 
when  the  land  was  divided,  this  tribe  received  no  in¬ 
heritance  among  their  brethren.  Hence,  for  their  sup¬ 
port,  the  law  of  tithes  was  enacted  ;  and  by  these  the 
priests  and  Levites  were  not  only  supported  as  the 
ministers  of  God,  but  as  the  teachers  and  intercessors 
of  the  people,  performing  a  great  variety  of  religious 
duties  for  them  which  otherwise  they  themselves  were 
bound  to  perform.  As  this  mode  of  supporting  the 
ministers  of  God  was  instituted  by  himself,  so  we  may 
rest  assured  it  was  rational  and  just.  Nothing  can  be 
more  reasonable  than  to  devote  a  portion  of  the  earthly 
good  which  we  receive  from  the  free  mercy  of  God, 
to  his  own  service  ;  especially  when  by  doing  it  we 
are  essentially  serving  ourselves.  If  the  ministers  of 
God  give  up  their  whole  time,  talents,  and  strength, 
to  watch  over,  labour  for,  and  instruct  the  people  in 
spiritual  things,  justice  requires  that  they  shall  receive 
their  support  from  the  work.  How  worthless  and 
wicked  must  that  man  be,  who  is  continually  receiving 
good  from  the  Lord’s  hands  without  restoring  any  part 
for  the  support  of  true  religion,  and  for  charitable  pur¬ 
poses  !  To  such  God  says,  Their  table  shall  become 
a  snare  to  them ,  and  that  he  will  curse  their  blessings. 
God  expects  returns  of  gratitude  in  this  way  from 
every  nan;  he  that  has  much  should  give  plenteously, 
he  that  has  little  should  do  his  diligence  to  give  of 
that  little. 

It  is  not  the  business  of  these  notes  to  dispute  on 
the  article  of  tithes  ;  certainly  it  would  be  well  could 
a  proper  substitute  be  found  for  them,  and  the  clergy 

Vol.  I.  (  13  ) 


paid  by  some  other  method,  as  this  appears  in  the 
present  state  of  things  to  be  very  objectionable ;  and 
the  mode  of  levying  them  is  vexatious  in  the  extreme, 
and  serves  to  sow  dissensions  between  the  clergyman 
and  his  parishioners,  by  which  many  are  not  only 
alienated  from  the  Church,  but  also  from  the  power  as 
well  as  the  form  of  godliness.  But  still  the  labourer 
is  worthy  of  his  hire ;  and  the  maintenance  of  the  pub¬ 
lic  ministry  of  the  word  of  God  should  not  be  left  to 
the  caprices  of  men.  He  who  is  only  supported  for  his 
work,  will  be  probably  abandoned  when  he  is  no  longer 
capable  of  public  service.  I  have  seen  many  aged  and 
worn-out  ministers  reduced  to  great  necessity,  and 
almost  literally  obliged  to  beg  their  bread  among  those 
whose  opulence  and  salvation  were,  under  God,  the 
fruits  of  their  ministry !  Such  persons  may  think  they 
do  God  service  by  disputing  against  “  tithes,  as  legal 
institutions  long  since  abrogated,”  while  they  permit 
their  worn-out  ministers  to  starve  : — but  how  shall  they 
appear  in  that  day  when  Jesus  shall  say,  I  was  hungry, 
and  ye  gave  me  no  meat ;  thirsty,  and  ye  gave  me  no 
drink;  naked,  and  ye  clothed  me  not  ?  It  is  true,  that 
where  a  provision  is  established  on  a  certain  order  of 
priesthood  by  the  law,  it  may  be  sometimes  claimed 
and  consumed  by  the  worthless  and  the  profane  ;  but 
this  is  no  necessary  consequence  of  such  establish¬ 
ment,  as  there  are  laws  which,  if  put  in  action,  have 
sufficient  energy  to  expel  every  wicked  and  slothful 
servant  from  the  vineyard  of  Christ.  This  however 
is  seldom  done.  At  all  events,  this  is  no  reason  why 
those  who  have  served  God  and  their  generation  should 
not  be  comfortably  supported  during  that  service  ;  and 
when  incapable  of  it,  be  furnished  at  least  with  the 
necessaries  of  life.  Though  many  ministers  have 
reason  to  complain  of  this  neglect,  who  have  no  claims 
on  a  legal  ecclesiastical  establishment,  yet  none  have 
cause  for  louder  complaint  than  the  generality  ot  those 
called  curates,  or  unbeneficed  ministers,  in  the  Church 
of  England  :  their  employers  clothe  themselves  with 
the  wool,  and  feed  themselves  with  the  fat ;  they  tend 
not  the  flock,  and  their  substitutes  that  perform  the 
labour  and  do  the  drudgery  of  the  office,  are  permitted 
at  least  to  half  starve  on  an  inadequate  remuneration. 
Let  a  national  worship  be  supported,  but  let  the  sup¬ 
port  be  derived  from  a  less  objectionable  source  than 
tithes  ;  for  as  the  lavv  now  stands  relative  to  them,  no 
one  purpose  of  moral  instruction  oi  piety  can  be  pro¬ 
moted  by  the  system.  On  their  present  plan  tithes 
are  oppressive  and  unjust  ;  the  clergyman  has  a  right 
by  law  to  the  tenth  of  the  produce  of  the  soil,  and  to 
the  tenth  of  all  that  is  supported  by  it.  He  claims 
even  the  tenth  egg,  as  well  as  the  tenth  apple ;  the 
tenth  of  all  grain,  of  all  hay,  and  even  of  all  the  pro¬ 
duce  of  the  kitchen  garden ;  but  he  contributes  nothing 
to  the  cultivation  of  the  soil.  A  comparatively  poor 
man  rents  a  farm  ;  it  is  entirely  out  of  heart ,  for  it 

1  / 1 


Jacob  travels  toward,  Raran , 


GENESIS. 


and  comes  to  a  well . 


has  been  exhausted ;  it  yields  very  little,  and  the  'tenth 
is  not  much  ;  at  the  expense  of  all  he  has,  he  dresses 
and  manures  this  ungrateful  soil ;  to  repay  him  and 
keep  up  the  cultivation  would  require  three  years’  pro¬ 
duce.  It  begins  to  yield  well,  and  the  clergyman  takes 
the  tenth  which  is  now  in  quantity  and  quality  more  in 
value  than  a  pound ,  where  before  it  was  not  a  shilling. 
But  the  whole  crop  would  not  repay  the  farmer’s  ex¬ 
penses.  In  proportion  to  the  farmer’s  improvement  is 
the  clergyman’s  tithe,  who  has  never  contributed  one 
shilling  to  aid  in  this  extra  produce!  Here  then  not 
only  the  soil  pays  tithes,  but  the  maids  property  brought 


upon  the  soil  pays  tithes :  his  skill  and  industry  also 
are  tithed ;  or  if  he  have  been  obliged  to  borrow  cash , 
he  not  only  has  to  pay  tithes  on  the  produce  of  this  bor¬ 
rowed  money,  but  five  per  cent,  interest  for  the  money 
itself.  All  this  is  oppressive  and  cruelly  unjust.  I 
say  again,  let  there  be  a  national  religion,  and  a  na¬ 
tional  clergy  supported  by  the  state  ;  but  let  them  be 
supported  by  a  tax ,  not  by  tithes ,  or  rather  let  them  be 
paid  out  of  the  general  taxation ;  or,  if  the  tithe  sys¬ 
tem  must  be  continued,  let  the  poor-rates  be  abolished, 
and  the  clergy,  out  of  the  tithes,  support  the  poor  in 
their  respective  parishes,  as  was  the  original  custom. 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 

Jacob  proceeds  on  his  journey,  1.  Comes  to  a  welt  where  the  flocks  of  his  uncle  Laban,  as  well  as  those  of 
several  others,  were  usually  ivatered,  2,  3.  Inquires  from  the  shepherds  concerning  Laban  and  his  family, 
4—6.  While  they  are  conversing  about  watering  the  sheep ,  7,  8,  Rachel  arrives,  9.  He  assists  her  to 
water  her  flock,  10;  makes  himself  known  unto  her,  11,  12.  She  hastens  home  and  communicates  the 
tidings  of  Jacob's  arrival  to  her  father,  12.  Laban  hastens  to  the  well,  embraces  Jacob,  and  brings  him 
home,  13.  After  a  month's  stay,  Laban  proposes  to  give  Jacob  wages,  14,  15.  Leah  and  Rachel  described, 
16,  17.  Jacob  proposes  to  serve  seven  years  for  Rachel,  18.  Laban  consents,  19.  When  the  seven  years 
were  fulfilled,  Jacob  demands  his  wife,  20,  21.  Laban  makes  a  marriage  feast,  22  ;  and  in  the  evening 
substitutes  Leah  for  Rachel,  to  whom  he  gives  Z ilp ah  for  handmaid,  23,  24.  Jacob  discovers  the  fraud, 
and  upbraids  Laban,  25.  He  excuses  himself,  26  ;  and  promises  to  give  him  Rachel  for  another  seven 
years  of  service,  27.  After  abiding  a  week  with  Leah,  he  receives  Rachel  for  wife,  to  whom  Laban  gives 
Bilhah  for  handmaid,  28,  29.  Jacob  loves  Rachel  more  than  Leah ,  and  serves  seven  years  for  her,  30. 
Leah  being  despised,  the  Lord  makes  her  fruitful,  while  Rachel  continues  barren,  31.  Leah  bears  Reuben, 
32,  and  Simeon,  33,  and  Levi,  34,  and  Judah;  after  which  she  leaves  off  bearing,  35. 


A.  M.  cir.  2225.  ^HEN  Jacob  a  went  on  his 

B.  C.  cir.  1779.  JL  .  .  . 

- -  journey,  b  and  came  into 

the  land  of  the  c  people  of  the  east. 

2  And  he  looked,  and  behold  a  well  in  the 
field,  and,  lo,  there  were  three  flocks  of  sheep 
lying  by  it  ;  for  out  of  that  well  they  watered 
the  flocks  :  and  a  great  stone  was  upon  the 
well’s  mouth. 


3  And  thither  were  all  the  flocks  A.M.  cir.  222 5. 
gathered  :  and  they  rolled  the  --  C~  Clr'  1779‘. 
stone  from  the  well’s  mouth,  and  watered  the 
sheep,  and  put  the  stone  again  upon  the  well’s 
mouth  in  his  place. 

4  And  Jacob  said  unto  them,  My  brethren, 
whence  be  ye  ?  And  they  said,  d  Of  Haran 
are  we. 


aHeb.  lift  up  his  feet. — — b  Chap.  xxviii.  5-7  ;  Num.  xxiii.  7; 
Judg.  vi.  3,  33  ;  Hos.  xii.  12. 


c  Hebrews,  children. - d  Chapter  xxvii.  43 ; 

xxviii.  10. 


notes  on  CHAP.  XXIX. 

Verse  1.  Then  Jacob  went  on  his  journey ]  The 
original  is  very  remarkable  :  And  Jacob  lifted  up  his 
feet,  and  he  travelled  unto  the  land  of  the  children  of 
the  east.  There  is  a  certain  cheerfulness  marked  in 
the  original  which  comports  well  with  the  state  of 
mind  into  which  he  had  been  brought  by  the  vision  of 
the  ladder  and  the  promises  of  God.  He  now  saw 
that  having  God  for  his  protector  he  had  nothing  to 
fear,  and  therefore  he  went  on  his  way  rejoicing. 

People  of  the  east.]  The  inhabitants  of  Mesopota¬ 
mia  and  the  whole  country  beyond  the  Euphrates  are 
called  HDJp  kedem,  or  easterns,  in  the  sacred  writino-s. 

Verse  2.  Three  flocks  of  sheep ]  jxy  tson,  small 
cattle,  such  as  sheep ,  goats ,  &c.  ;  see  on  chap.  xii.  16. 
Sheep,  in  a  healthy  state,  seldom  drink  in  cold  and 
comparatively  cold  countries  :  but  it  was  probably  dif¬ 
ferent  in  hot  climates.  The  three  flocks,  if  flocks  and 
not  shepherds  be  meant,  which  were  lying  now  at  the 
well,  did  not  belong  to  Laban ,  but  to  three  other  chiefs  ; 
a  178 


for  Laban’s  flock  was  yet  to  come,  under  the  care  of 
Rachel,  ver.  6. 

Verse  3.  All  the  flocks]  Instead  of  ha - 

darim,  flocks,  the  Samaritan  reads  haroim , 

shepherds  ;  for  which  reading  Houbigant  strongly  con¬ 
tends,  as  well  in  this  verse  as  in  verse  8.  It  certainly 
cannot  be  said  that  all  the  flocks  rolled  the  stone  from 
the  well's  mouth,  and  watered  the  sheep :  and  yet  so 
it  appears  to  read  if  we  prefer  the  common  Hebrew 
text  to  the  Samaritan.  It  is  probable  that  the  same 
reading  was  originally  that  of  the  second  verse  also. 

And  put  the  stone  again  upon  the  well's  mouth]  It 
is  very  likely  that  the  stone  was  a  large  one,  which 
was  necessary  to  prevent  ill-minded  individuals  from 
either  disturbing  the  water,  or  filling  up  the  well ;  hence  a 
great  stone  was  provided,  which  required  the  joint  exer¬ 
tions  of  several  shepherds  to  remove  it;  and  hence  those 
who  arrived  first  waited  till  all  the  others  were  come  up, 
that  they  might  water  their  respective  flocks  in  concert. 

V  erse  4.  My  brethren,  whence  be  ye  ?]  The  lan» 

(  13*  ) 


Jacob  meets  with  Rachel,  and 


CHAP.  XXIX. 


is  taken  to  Labans  house 


A.  M.  cir.  2225.  5  And  he  said  unto  them, 

B.  C.  cir.  1779.  Tt-  T  ,  -  r 

- -  Know  ye  Laban  the  son  of 

Nahor?  And  they  said,  We  know  him. 

6  And  he  said  unto  them,  e  Is  he  well  ?  f 
And  they  said,  He  is  well :  and  behold,  Ra¬ 
chel  his  daughter  cometh  with  the  sheep. 

7  And  he  said,  Lo,  b  it  is  yet  high  day : 
neither  is  it  time  that  the  cattle  should  be 
gathered  together  :  water  ye  the  sheep,  and 
go  and-  feed  them. 

8  And  they  said,  We  cannot,  until  all  the 
flocks  be  gathered  together,  and  till  they  roll 
the  stone  from  the  well’s  mouth ;  then  we 
water  the  sheep. 

9  And  while  he  yet  spake  with  them,  h  Ra¬ 
chel  came  with  her  father’s  sheep  :  for  she 
kept  them. 

10  And  it  came  to  pass,  when  Jacob  saw 

e  Heb.  Is  there  peace  to  him  l - f  Chap,  xliii.  27. - s  Heb. 

yet  the  day  is  great. - h  Exod.  ii.  16. - 1  Exod.  ii.  17. - k  Ch. 

xxxiii.  4 ;  xlv.  14,  15. 

guage  of  Laban  and  his  family  was  Chaldee  and  not 
Hebrew ;  (see  chap.  xxxi.  47 ;)  but  from  the  names 
which  Leah  gave  to  her  children  we  see  that  the  two 
languages  had  many  words  in  common,  and  there¬ 
fore  Jacob  and  the  shepherds  might  understand  each 
other  with  little  difficulty.  It  is  possible  also  that 
Jacob  might  have  learned  the  Chaldee  or  Aramitish 
language  from  his  mother,  as  this  was  his  mother's 
tongue. 

Verse  5.  Laban  the  son  of  Nahor ]  Son  is  here 
put  for  grandson ,  for  Laban  was  the  son  of  Bethuel 
the  son  of  Nahor. 

Verse  6.  Is  he  well  ?]  lb  QlV^fi  hashalom  lo  ?  Is 
there  peace  to  him?  Peace  among  the  Hebrews  sig¬ 
nified  all  kinds  of  prosperity.  Is  he  a  prosperous  man 
in  his  family  and  in  his  property  1  And  they  said, 
He  is  well ,  shalom,  he  prospers. 

Rachel — cometh  with  the  sheep.]  bl"P  rachel  (thecA 
sounded  strongly  guttural)  signifies  a  sheep  or  ewe  ; 
and  she  probably  had  her  name  from  her  fondness  for 
these  animals. 

Verse  7.  It  is  yet  high  day]  The  day  is  but  about 
half  run  ;  neither  is  it  time  that  the  cattle  should  be 
gathered  together — it  is  surely  not  time  yet  to  put 
them  into  the  folds  ;  give  them  therefore  water,  and 
take  them  again  to  pasture. 

Verse  8.  We  cannot ,  until  all  the  flocks  be  gathered 
together]  It  is  a  rule  that  the  stone  shall  not  be 
removed  till  all  the  shepherds  and  the  flocks  which 
have  a  right  to  this  well  be  gathered  together ; 
then,  and  not  before,  we  may  water  the  sheep.  See 
on  ver.  3.. 

Verse  9.  Rachel  came  with  her  father's  sheep]  So 
we  find  that  young  women  were  not  kept  concealed  in 
the  house  till  the  time  they  were  married,  which  is  the 
common  gloss  put  on  TTjTJ?  almah,  a  virgin ,  one  con¬ 
cealed.  Nor  was  it  beneath  the  dignity  of  the  daugh¬ 
ters  of  the  most  opulent  chiefs  to  carry  water  from 

a 


Rachel  the  daughter  of  Laban  A.  M.  cir.  2225. 
his  mother’s  brother,  and  the  B‘._  Clr'  1779 . 
sheep  of  Laban  his  mother’s  brother,  that 
Jacob  went  near,  and  rolled  1  the  stone  from 
the  well’s  mouth,  and  watered  the  flock  of 
Laban  his  mother’s  brother. 

1 1  And  Jacob  k  kissed  Rachel,  and  lifted  up 
his  voice,  and  wept. 

12  And  Jacob  told  Rachel  that  he  was 

1  her  father’s  brother,  and  that  he  was  Re- 
bekah’s  son :  “  and  she  ran  and  told  her 
father. 

13  And  it  came  to  pass,  when  Laban  heard 
the  n  tidings  of  Jacob  his  sister’s  son,  that  0  he 
ran  to  meet  him,  and  embraced  him,  and  kissed 
him,  and  brought  him  to  his  house.  And  he 
told  Laban  all  these  things. 

14  And  Laban  said  to  him,  p  Surely  thou 

1  Chap.  xiii.  8  ;  xiv.  14,  16. - m  Chapter  xxiv.  28. - n  Heb. 

hearing. - 0  Chap.  xxiv.  29. - P  Chapter  ii.  23  ;  Judg.  ix.  2  ; 

2  Sam.  v.  1  ;  xix.  12,  13. 

the  well,  as  in  the  case  of  Rebekah ;  or  tend  sheep, 
as  in  the  case  of  Rachel.  The  chief  property  in  those 
times  consisted  in  flocks :  and  who  so  proper  to  take 
care  of  them  as  those  who  were  interested  in  their 
safety  and  increase  ?  Honest  labour,  far  from  being 
a  discredit,  is  an  honour  both  to  high  and  low.  The 
king  himself  is  served  by  the  field  ;  and  without  it,  and 
the  labour  necessary  for  its  cultivation,  all  ranks  must 
perish.  Let  every  son,  let  every  daughter,  learn  that 
it  is  no  discredit  to  be  employed,  whenever  it  may  be 
necessary,  in  the  meanest  offices,  by  which  the  inte¬ 
rests  of  the  family  may  be  honestly  promoted. 

Verse  10.  Jacob  went  near ,  and  rolled  the  stone] 
Probably  the  flock  of  Laban  was  the  last  of  those 
which  had  a  right  to  the  well ;  that  flock  being  now 
come,  Jacob  assisted  the  shepherds  to  roll  off  the  stone, 
(for  it  is  not  likely  he  did  it  by  himself,)  and  so  assisted 
his  cousin,  to  whom  he  was  as  yet  unknown,  to  water 
her  flock. 

Verse  11.  Jacob  kissed  Rachel]  A  simple  and  pure 
method  by  which  the  primitive  inhabitants  of  the  earth 
testified  their  friendship  to  each  other,  first  abused  by 
hypocrites ,  who  pretended  affection  while  their  vile 
hearts  meditated  terror,  (see  the  case  of  Joab,)  and 
afterwards  disgraced  by  refiners  on  morals,  who,  while 
they  pretended  to  stumble  at  those  innocent  expressions 
of  affection  and  friendship,  were  capable  of  committing 
the  grossest  acts  of  impurity. 

And  lifted  up  his  voice ]  It  may  be,  in  thanksgiving 
to  God  for  the  favour  he  had  shown  him,  in  conduct¬ 
ing  him  thus  far  in  peace  and  safety. 

And  wept.]  From  a  sense  of  the  goodness  of  his 
heavenly  Father,  and  his  own  unworthiness  of  the  suc¬ 
cess  with  which  he  had  been  favoured.  The  same 
expressions  of  kindness  and  pure  affection  are  repeated 
on  the  part  of  Laban,  ver.  13. 

Verse  14.  My  bone  and  my  flesh.  J  One  of  my  near¬ 
est  relatives. 


179 


Jacob  agrees  to  serve  Laban  GENESIS. 


seven  years  for  Rachel 


A.  M.  cir.  2225. 
J3.  C.  cir.  1779. 


art  my  bone  and  my  flesh.  And 
he  abode  with  him  q  the  space 


of  a  month. 

15  And  Laban  said  unto  Jacob,  Because 
thou  art  my  brother,  shouldest  thou  therefore 
serve  me  for  naught  ?  tell  me,  what  shall  thy 
wages  be  ? 

1 6  And  Laban  had  two  daughters  :  the  name 
of  the  elder  was  Leah,  and  the  name  of  the 
younger  was  Rachel. 


17  Leah  was  tender-eyed  ;  but  A.  M.  cir.  2225 

Rachel  was  r  beautiful  and  well  lr>  1779. 

favoured. 

18  And  Jacob  loved  Rachel;  and  said, 
s  I  will  serve  thee  seven  years  for  Rachel  thy 
younger  daughter. 

19  And  Laban  said, *  1  It  is  better  that  I  give 
her  to  thee,  than  that  I  should  give  her  to 
another  man  :  abide  with  me. 

20  And  Jacob  u  served  seven  years  for 


<1  Heb.  a  month  of  days. - r  Chap.  xii.  11  ;  xxiv.  16  ;  xxxix.  6  ; 

Prov.  xxxi.  30. - s  Chap.  xxxi.  41  ;  xxxiv.  12. 


lPsa.  xii.  2. - u  Chap.  xxx.  26 ;  Hos.  xii.  12  ;  Cant.  viii.  6, 7  ; 

1  Cor.  xiii.  7. 


Verse  15.  Because  thou  art  my  brother,  c fc.] 
Though  thou  art  my  nearest  relative,  yet  I  have  no 
right  to  thy  services  without  giving  thee  an  adequate 
recompense.  Jacob  had  passed  a  whole  month  in  the 
family  of  Laban,  in  which  he  had  undoubtedly  render¬ 
ed  himself  of  considerable  service.  As  Laban,  who 
was  of  a  very  saving  if  not  covetous  disposition,  saw 
that  he  was  likely  to  be  of  great  use  to  him  in  his 
secular  concerns,  he  wished  to  secure  his  services,  and 
therefore  asks  him  what  wages  he  wished  to  have. 

Verse  17.  Leah  was  tender-eyed ]  HIDI  raccoth,  soft , 
delicate ,  lovely.  I  believe  the  word  means  just  the 
reverse  of  the  signification  generally  given  to  it.  The 
design  of  the  inspired  writer  is  to  compare  both  the 
sisters  together,  that  the  balance  may  appear  to  bey 
greatly  in  favour  of  Rachel.  The  chief  recommenda¬ 
tion  of  Leah  washer  soft  and  beautiful  eyes;  but  Ra¬ 
chel  was  HIP  yephath  toar,  beautiful  in  her  shape , 
person,  mien,  and  gait,  and  HfcOD  PD’  yephath  mareh, 
beautiful  in  her  countenance.  The  words  plainly  sig¬ 
nify  a  fine  shape  and  fine  features,  all  that  can  be  con¬ 
sidered  as  essential  to  personal  beauty.  Therefore 
Jacob  loved  her,  and  was  willing  to  become  a  bond 
servant  for  seven  years,  that  he  might  get  her  to  wife ; 
for  in  his  destitute  state  he  could  produce  no  dowry, 
and  it  was  the  custom  of  those  times  for  the  father  to 
receive  a  portion  for  his  daughter,  and  not  to  give  one 
with  her.  One  of  the  Hindoo  lawgivers  says,  “  A 
person  may  become  a  slave  on  account  of  love,  or  to 
obtain  a  wife.”  The  bad  system  of  education  by  which 
women  are  spoiled  and  rendered  in  general  good  for 
nothing,  makes  it  necessary  for  the  husband  to  get  a 
dowry  with  his  wife  to  enable  him  to  maintain  her  ; 
whereas  in  former  times  they  were  well  educated  and 
extremely  useful,  hence  he  who  got  a  wife  almost  in¬ 
variably  got  a  prize,  or  as  Solomon  says,  got  a  good 
thing. 

V  erse  20.  And  Jacob  served  seven  years  for  Rachel ] 
In  ancient  times  it  appears  to  have  been  a  custom 
among  all  nations  that  men  should  give  dowries  for 
their  wives;  and  in  many  countries  this  custom  still 
prevails.  When  Shechem  asked  Dinah  for  wife,  he 
said,  Ash  me  never  so  much  dowry  and,  gift,  and  I  ivill 
give  according  as  ye  shall  say  unto  me.  When  Eliezer 
went  to  get  Rebekah  for  Isaac,  he  took  a  profusion  of 
riches  with  him,  in  silver,  gold,  jewels,  and  raiment , 
writh  other  costly  things ,  which,  when  the  contract  was 
made,  he  gave  to  Rebekah,  her  mother,  and  her  brothers.  , 

180 


David,  in  order  to  be  Saul’s  son-in-law,  must,  instead 
of  a  dowry,  kill  Goliath  ;  and  when  this  was  done,  he 
was  not  permitted  to  espouse  Michal  till  he  had  killed 
one  hundred  Philistines.  The  Prophet  Hosea  bought 
his  wife  for  fifteen  pieces  of  silver,  and  a  homer  and 
a  half  of  barley.  The  same  custom  prevailed  among 
the  ancient  Greeks,  Indians,  and  Germans.  The  Ro¬ 
mans  also  had  a  sort  of  marriage  entitled  per  coemp- 
tionem,  “  by  purchase.”  The  Tartars  and  Turks  still 
buy  their  wives  ;  but  among  the  latter  they  are  bought 
as  a  sort  of  slaves. 

Herodotus  mentions  a  very  singular  custom  among 
the  Babylonians,  which  may  serve  to  throw  light  on 
Laban’s  conduct  towards  Jacob.  “  In  every  district 
they  annually  assemble  all  the  marriageable  virgins  on 
a  certain  day  ;  and  when  the  men  are  come  together 
and  stand  round  the  place,  the  crier  rising  up  sells  one 
after  another,  always  bringing  forward  the  most  beau¬ 
tiful  first  ;  and  having  sold  her  for  a  great  sum  of  gold, 
he  puts  up  her  who  is  esteemed  second  in  beauty.  On 
this  occasion  the  richest  of  the  Babylonians  used  to 
contend  for  the  fairest  wife,  and  to  outbid  one  another.. 
But  the  vulgar  are  content  to  take  the  ugly  and  lame 
with  money  ;  for  when  all  the  beautiful  virgins  are  sold, 
the  crier  orders  the  most  deformed  to  stand  up  ;  and 
after  he  has  openly  demanded  who  will  mary  her  with 
a  small  sum,  she  is  at  length  given  to  the  man  that  is 
contented  to  marry  her  with  the  least.  And  in  this 
manner  the  money  arising  from  the  sale  of  the  hand¬ 
some  served  for  a  portion  to  those  whose  look  was  dis¬ 
agreeable,  or  who  had  any  bodily  imperfection.  A  fa¬ 
ther  was  not  permitted  to  indulge  his  owTn  fancy  in  the 
choice  of  a  husband  for  his  daughter  ;  neither  might 
the  purchaser  carry  off  the  woman  which  he  had  bought 
without  giving  sufficient  security  that  he  would  live 
with  her  as  his  own  wife.  Those  also  who  received 
a  sum  of  money  with  such  as  could  bring  no  price  in 
this  market,  were  obliged  also  to  give  sufficient  secu¬ 
rity  that  they  would  live  with  them,  and  if  they  did 
not  they  were  obliged  to  refund  the  money.”  Thus 
Laban  made  use  of  the  beauty  of  Rachel  to  dispose  of 
his  daughter  Leah,  in  the  spirit  of  the  Babylonian  cus¬ 
tom,  though  not  in  the  letter. 

And  they  seemed  unto  him  but  a  few  days ]  If  Jacob 
had  been  obliged  to  wrait  seven  years  before  he  mar¬ 
ried  Rachel,  could  it  possibly  be  said  that  they  could 
appear  to  him  as  a  few  days?  Though  the  letter  of 
the  text  seems  to  say  the  contrary,  yet  there  are  emi- 


Jacob  demands  Rachel ,  but 


CHAP.  XXIX. 


a.  M.  cir.  2225.  Rachel ;  and  they  seemed  unto 
B.  c.  cm  iwj.  kim  })Ut  a  few  days,  for  the  love 

he  had  to  her. 

A.  m.  cir.  2232.  21  And  Jacob  said  unto  La- 

B.  C.  Cir.  1772.  ,  ^ .  -r  r 

- -  ban,  Live  me  my  wile,  lor  my 

days  are  fulfilled,  that  I  may  v  go  in  unto  her. 

22  And  Laban  gathered  together  all  the 
men  of  the  place,  and  w  made  a  feast. 

23  And  it  came  to  pass  in  the  evening,  that 
he  took  Leah  his  daughter,  and  brought  her 
to  him  ;  and  he  went  in  unto  her. 

24  And  Laban  gave  unto  his  daughter  Leah 
Zilpali  his  maid  for  a  handmaid. 

v  Judges  xv.  1. - w  Judges  xiv.  10;  Matthew  xxii.  2-10; 

John  ii.  1,  2. 

nent  men  who  strongly  contend  that  he  received  Ra¬ 
chel  soon  after  the  month  was  finished,  (see  ver.  14,) 
and  then  served  seven  years  for  her,  which  might  really 
appear  but  a  few  days  to  him,  because  of  his  increas¬ 
ing  love  to  her ;  but  others  think  this  quite  incompati¬ 
ble  with  all  the  circumstances  marked  down  in  the 
text,  and  on  the  supposition  that  Jacob  was  not  now 
seventy-seven  years  of  age,  as  most  chronologers  make 
him,  but  only  fifty-seven,  (see  on  chap,  xxxi.,)  there 
will  be  time  sufficient  to  allow  for  all  the  transactions 
which  are  recorded  in  his  history,  during  his  stay  with 
Laban.  As  to  the  incredibility  of  a  passionate  lover , 
as  some  have  termed  him,  waiting  patiently  for  seven 
years  before  he  could  possess  the  object  of  his  wishes, 
and  those  seven  years  appearing  to  him  as  only  a  few 
days,  it  may  be  satisfactorily  accounted  for,  they  think, 
two  ways  :  1.  He  had  the  continual  company  of  his 

elect  spouse,  and  this  certainly  would  take  away  all 
tedium  in  the  case.  2.  Love  affairs  were  not  carried 
to  such  a  pitch  of  insanity  among  the  patriarchs  as 
they  have  been  in  modern  times  ;  they  were  much 
more  sober  and  sedate,  and  scarcely  ever  married  be¬ 
fore  they  were  forty  years  of  age,  and  then  more  for 
conveniency,  and  the  desire  of  having  an  offspring , 
than  for  any  other  purpose.  At  the  very  lowest  com¬ 
putation  Jacob  was  now  fifty-seven,  and  consequently 
must  have  passed  those  days  in  which  passion  runs 
away  with  reason.  Still,  however,  the  obvious  con¬ 
struction  of  the  text  shows  that  he  got  Rachel  the 
week  after  he  had  married  Leah. 

Verse  21.  My  days  are  fulfilled]  My  seven  years 
are  now  completed,  let  me  have  my  wife,  for  whom  I 
have  given  this  service  as  a  dowry. 

Verse  22.  Laban — made  a  feast.]  nnt^D  mishteh 
signifies  a  feast  of  drinking.  As  marriage  was  a  very 
solemn  contract,  there  is  much  reason  to  believe  that 
sacrifices  were  offered  on  the  occasion,  and  libations 
poured  out ;  and  we  know  that  on  festival  occasions  a 
cup  of  wine  was  offered  to  every  guest ;  and  as  this 
was  drunk  with  particular  ceremonies,  the  feast  might 
derive  its  name  from  this  circumstance,  which  was  the 
most  prominent  and  observable  on  such  occasions. 

Verse  23.  In  the  evening — he  took  Leah  his  daugh- 
ter]  As  the  bride  was  always  veiled ,  and  the  bride 
chamber  generally  dark ,  or  nearly  so,  and  as  Leah  was 


Laban  gives  him  Leah 

25  And  it  came  to  pass,  that  in  A.  M.  cir.  2232. 

.  .  n  ,  !  1  •  ’  .  B.  C.  cir.  1772. 

the  morning,  behold,  it  was  Leah :  - 

and  he  said  to  Laban,  What  is  this  thou  hast 
done  unto  me  ?  did  not  I  serve  with  thee 
for  Rachel  ?  wherefore  then  hast  thou  be¬ 
guiled  me  ? 

26  And  Laban  said,  It  must  not  be  so  done 
in  our  country,  xto  give  the  younger  before 
the  first-born. 

27  y  Fulfil  her  week,  and  we  will  give  thee 
this  also,  for  the  service  which  thou  shalt 
serve  with  me,  yet  seven  other  years. 

28  And  Jacob  did  so,  and  fulfilled  her  week  : 

*Heb.  place. - y  Judg.  xiv.  12  ;  Lev.  xviii.  18;  Mai.  ii.  15; 

chap.  xxix.  20. 

brought  to  Jacob  in  the  evening,  the  imposition  here 
practised  might  easily  pass  undetected  by  Jacob,  till 
the  ensuing  day  discovered  the  fraud. 

Verse  24.  And  Laban  gave — Zilpah  his  maid] 
Slaves  given  in  this  way  to  a  daughter  on  her  marriage, 
were  the  peculiar  property  of  the  daughter;  and  over 
them  the  husband  had  neither  right  nor  power. 

Verse  26.  It  must  not  be  so  done  in  our  country] 
It  was  an  early  custom  to  give  daughters  in  marriage 
according  to  their  seniority  ;  and  it  is  worthy  of  remark 
that  the  oldest  people  now  existing,  next  to  the  Jews, 
I  mean  the  Hindoos ,  have  this  not  merely  as  a  custom , 
but  as  a  positive  law ;  and  they  deem  it  criminal  to 
give  a  younger  daughter  in  marriage  while  an  elder 
daughter  remains  unmarried.  Among  them  it  is  a  high 
offence,  equal  to  adultery,  “  for  a  man  to  marry  while 
his  elder  brother  remains  unmarried ,  or  for  a  man  to 
give  his  daughter  to  such  a  person,  or  to  give  his 
youngest  daughter  in  marriage  while  the  eldest  sister 
remains  unmarried.” — Code  of  Gentoo  Laws,  chap, 
xv.,  sec.  1,  p.  204.  This  was  a  custom  at  Mesopo¬ 
tamia;  but  Laban  took  care  to  conceal  it  from  Jacob 
till  after  he  had  given  him  Leah.  The  words  of  La¬ 
ban  are  literally  what  a  Hindoo  would  say  on  such  a 
subject. 

Verse  27.  Fulfil  her  week]  The  marriage  feast,  it 
appears,  lasted  seven  days  ;  it  would  not  therefore  have 
been  proper  to  break  off  the  solemnities  to  which  all 
the  men  of  the  place  had  been  invited,  ver.  22,  and 
probably  Laban  wished  to  keep  his  fraud  from  the  pub¬ 
lic  eye  ;  therefore  he  informs  Jacob  that  if  he  will  fulfil 
the  marriage  week  for  Leah,  he  will  give  him  Rachel 
at  the  end  of  it,  on  condition  of  his  serving  seven  other 
years.  To  this  the  necessity  of  the  case  caused  Jacob 
to  agree  ;  and  thus  Laban  had  fourteen  years’  service 
instead  of  seven ;  for  it  is  not  likely  that  Jacob  would 
have  served  ev^n  seven  days  for  Leah,  as  his  affection 
was  wholly  set  on  Rachel,  the  wife  of  his  own  choice. 
By  this  stratagem  Laban  gained  a  settlement  for  both 
his  daughters.  What  a  man  soweth,  that  shall  he  reap. 
Jacob  had  before  practised  deceit,  and  is  now  deceived  ; 
and  Laban,  the  instrument  of  it,  was  afterwards  de¬ 
ceived  himself. 

Verse  28.  And  Jacob  did  so — and  he  gave  him  Ra¬ 
chel]  It  is  perfectly  plain  that  Jacob  did  not  serve 

181 


GENESIS. 


Rachel  also  given  to  Jacob. 

A.  M.  cir.  2232.  and  he  gave  him  Rachel  his 

B.  C.  cir.  1772.  ,  ,  .  °  , 

_  daughter  to  wile  also. 

29  And  Laban  gave  to  Rachel  his  daughter 
K  Bilhah  his  handmaid  to  be  her  maid. 

30  And  he  went  in  also  unto  Rachel,  and 
he  a  loved  also  Rachel  more  than  Leah,  and 
served  with  him  b  yet  seven  other  years. 

3 1  And  when  the  Lord  c  saw  that  Leah 
iv as  hated,  he  d  opened  her  womb  :  but  Ra¬ 
chel  was  barren. 

a.m.  cir.  2233.  32  And  Leah  conceived,  and 

cir.  1771.  a  son>  anc[  gPg  caped  Pis 

name  e  Reuben :  for  she  said,  Surely  the 
Lord  hath  f  looked  upon  my  affliction ;  now 
therefore  my  husband  will  love  me. 

z  Verse  24  ;  chapter  xxx.  3-8. - a  Verse  20  ;  Deut.  xxi.  15. 

b  Chap.  xxx.  26;  xxxi.  41  ;  Hosea  xii.  12. - c  Psa.  cxxvii.  3. 

d  Chap.  xxx.  1. - e  That  is,  see  a  son. 

seven  years  more  before  he  got  Rachel  to  wife ;  but 
having  spent  a  week  with  Leah,  and  in  keeping  the 
marriage  feast,  he  then  got  Rachel,  and  served  after¬ 
wards  seven  years  for  her.  Connections  of  this  kind 
are  now  called  incestuous ;  but  it  appears  they  were 
allowable  in  those  ancient  times.  In  taking  both  sis¬ 
ters,  it  does  not  appear  that  any  blame  attached  to  Ja¬ 
cob,  though  in  consequence  of  it  he  was  vexed  by  their 
jealousies.  It  was  probably  because  of  this  that  the 
law  was  made,  Thou  shall  not  take  a  wife  to  her  sister , 
to  vex  her ,  besides  the  other  in  her  life-time.  After 
this,  all  such  marriages  were  strictly  forbidden. 

Verse  31.  The  Lord  saw  that  Leah  was  hated ] 
From  this  and  the  preceding  verse  we  get  the  genuine 
meaning  of  the  word  sane ,  to  hate ,  in  certain  dis¬ 
puted  places  in  the  Scriptures.  The  word  simply  sig¬ 
nifies  a  less  degree  of  love;  so  it  is  said,  ver.  30: 
“  Jacob  loved  Rachel  more  than  Leah,”  i.  e.,  he  loved 
Leah  less  than  Rachel ;  and  this  is  called  hating  in 
ver.  3 1  :  When  the  Lord  saw  that  Leah  ivas  hated — 
that  she  had  less  affection  shown  to  her  than  was  her 
due,  as  one  of  the  legitimate  wives  of  Jacob,  he  opened 
her  womb — he  blessed  her  with  children.  Now  the 
frequent  intercourse  of  Jacob  with  Leah  (see  the  fol¬ 
lowing  verses)  sufficiently  proves  that  he  did  not  hate 
her  in  the  sense  in  which  this  term  is  used  among  us ; 
but  he  felt  and  showed  less  affection  for  her  than  for 
her  sister.  So  Jacob  have  I  loved ,  but  Esau  have  I 
hated ,  simply  means,  I  have  shown  a  greater  degree 
of  affection  for  Jacob  and  his  posterity  than  I  have 
done  for  Esau  and  his  descendants,  by  giving  the  for¬ 
mer  a  better  earthly  portion  than  I  have  given  to  the 
latter,  and  by  choosing  the  family  of  Jacob  to  be  the 
progenitors  of  the  Messiah.  But  not  one  word  of  all 
this  relates  to  the  eternal  states  of  either  of  the  two 
nations.  Those  wTho  endeavour  to  support  certain 
peculiarities  of  their  creed  by  such  scriptures  as  these, 
do  greatly  err,  not  knowing  the  Scripture,  and  not  pro¬ 
perly  considering  either  the  sovereignty  or  the  mercy 
of  God. 

Verse  32.  She  called  his  name  Reuben]  pISO  reu- 

182 


Leah  bears  four  sons . 

33  And  she  conceived  again,  A.  M.  cir.  2234 
and  bare  a  son ;  and  said,  Be-  B-'.C.’AU 
cause  the  Lord  hath  heard  that  I  was  hated 
he  hath  therefore  given  me  this  son  also  :  and 
she  called  his  name  «  Simeon. 

34  And  she  conceived  again,  A.  M.  cir.  2235. 

and  bare  a  son  ;  and  said,  Now  — — - - - 

this  time  will  my  husband  be  joined  unto  me, 
because  I  have  borne  him  three  sons  :  there¬ 
fore  was  his  name  called  h  Levi. 

35  And  she  conceived  again,  A.  M.  cir.  2236 

.  .  .  ,  0  .  |  B.  C.  cir.  1768 

and  bare  a  son ;  and  she  said,  - - 

Now  will  I  praise  the  Lord  :  therefore 
she  called  his  name  1  Judah ; k  and  1  left 
bearing. 

f  Exod.  iii.  7  ;  iv.  31  ;  Deut.  xxvi.  7  ;  Psa.  xxv.  18  ;  cvi.  44. 

s  That  is,  hearing. - h  That  is,  joined ;  see  Num.  xviii.  2,  4. 

1  Matt.  i.  2. - k  That  is,  praise. - 1  Heb.  stood  from  bearing. 


ben,  literally,  see  ye  or  behold  a  son;  for  Jehovah  hath 
looked  upon ,  riX")  raah,  beheld ,  my  affliction ;  behold 
then  the  consequence,  I  have  got  a  son  ! 

Verse  33.  She  called  his  name  Simeon.] 
shimon,  hearing ;  i.  e.,  God  had  blessed  her  with 
another  son,  because  he  had  heard  that  she  ivas  hated 
— loved  less  than  Rachel  was. 

Verse  34.  Therefore  was  his  name  called  Levi.]  'lb 
levi,  joined ;  because  she  supposed  that,  in  consequence 
of  all  these  children,  Jacob  would  become  joined  to 
her  in  as  strong  affection,  at  least,  as  he  was  to  Rachel. 
From  Levi  sprang  the  tribe  of  Levites ,  who  instead 
of  the  first-born ,  were  joined  unto  the  priests  in  the 
service  of  the  sanctuary.  See  Num.  xviii.  2,  4. 

Verse  35.  She  called  his  name  Judah]  mUT  ye- 
hudah ,  a  confessor  ;  one  who  acknowledges  God,  and 
acknowledges  that  all  good  comes  from  his  hands, 
and  gives  him  the  praise  due  to  his  grace  and  mercy. 
From  this  patriarch  the  Jews  have  their  name,  and 
could  it  be  now  rightly  applied  to  them,  it  would 
intimate  that  they  were  a  people  that  confess  God, 
acknowledge  his  bounty,  and  praise  him  for  his  grace. 

Left  bearing.]  That  is,  for  a  time ;  for  she  had 
several  children  afterwards.  Literally  translated,  the 
original  mbs  *isyn  taamod  milledeth — she  stood  still 
from  bearing ,  certainly  does  not  convey  the  same 
meaning  as  that  in  our  translation ;  the  one  appearing 
to  signify  that  she  ceased  entirely  from  having 
children  ;  the  other,  that  she  only  desisted  for  a  time , 
which  was  probably  occasioned  by  a  temporary  sus¬ 
pension  of  Jacob’s  company,  who  appears  to  have 
deserted  the  tent  of  Leah  through  the  jealous  manage¬ 
ment  of  Rachel. 

The  intelligent  and  pious  care  of  the  original  in¬ 
habitants  of  the  world  to  call  their  children  by  those 
names  which  were  descriptive  of  some  remarkable 
event  in  providence ,  circumstance  of  their  birth ,  or  do¬ 
mestic  occurrence ,  is  worthy,  not  only  of  respect,  but 
of  imitation.  As  the  name  itself  continually  called  to 
the  mind,  both  of  the  parents  and  the  child,  the  cir¬ 
cumstance  from  which  it  originated,  it  could  not  fail  to 

a 


CHAP.  XXX. 


Rachel  envies  her  sister , 

be  a  lasting  blessing  to  both.  How  widely  different 
is  our  custom !  Unthinking  and  ungodly,  we  impose 
names  upon  our  offspring  as  we  do  upon  our  cattle ; 
and  often  the  dog,  the  horse,  the  monkey,  and  the 
parrot,  share  in  common  with  our  children  the  names 
which  are  called  Christian  !  Some  of  our  Christian 


and  is  displeased  with  Jacob 

names,  so  called,  are  absurd ,  others  are  ridiculous , 
and  a  third  class  impious ;  these  last  being  taken  from 
the  demon  gods  and  goddesses  of  heathenism.  May  we 
hope  that  the  rational  and  pious  custom  recommended 
in  the  Scriptures  shall  ever  be  restored,  even  among 
those  who  profess  to  believe  in,  fear,  and  love  God  1 


CHAPTER  XXX. 


Rachel  envies  her  sister,  and  chides  Jacob,  1.  He  reproves  her  and  vindicates  himself,  2.  She  gives  him 
her  maid  Bilhah,  3,  4.  She  conceives,  and  bears  Dan,  5,  6  ;  and  afterwards  Naphtali,  7,  8.  Leah  gives 
Zilpah  her  maid  to  Jacob,  9.  She  conceives  and  bears  Gad,  10,  11,  and  also  Asher,  12,  13.  Reuben 
finds  mandrakes,  of  which  Rachel  requests  a  part ,  14.  The  bargain  made  between  her  and  Leah,  15. 
Jacob  in  consequence  lodges  with  Leah  instead  of  Rachel,  16.  She  conceives,  and  bears  Issachar,  17,  18, 
and  Zebulun,  19,  20,  and  Dinah,  21.  Rachel  conceives,  and  bears  Joseph,  22-24.  Jacob  requests  per¬ 
mission  from  Laban  to  go  to  his  own  country ,  25,  26.  Laban  entreats  him  to  tarry,  and  offers  to  give  him 
what  ivages  he  shall  choose  to  name ,  27,  28.  Jacob  details  the  importance  of  his  services  to  Laban,  29,  30, 
and  offers  to  continue  those  services  for  the  speckled  and  spotted  among  the  goats,  and  the  brown  amon  <*• 
the  sheep,  31—33.  Laban  consents,  34,  and  divides  all  the  ring-streaked  and  spotted  among  the  he-goats, 
the  speckled  and  spotted  among  the  she-goats,  and  the  brown  among  the  sheep,  and  puts  them  under  the 
care  of  his  sons,  and  sets  three  days'  journey  between  himself  and  Jacob,  35,  36.  Jacob's  stratagem  of 
the  pilled  rods,  to  cause  the  cattle  to  bring  forth  the  ring-streaked,  speckled,  and  spotted,  37—39.  In  conse¬ 
quence  of  which  he  increased  his  flock  greatly,  getting  all  that  was  strong  and  healthy  in  the  flock  of 
Laban,  40—43. 


A.  M.  or.  2236.  \  ND  when  Rachel  saw  that 

B.  C.  cir.  1768.  AL  .  .  T  ,  .  .. 

• -  a  she  bare  Jacob  no  chil¬ 

dren,  Rachel  b  envied  her  sister  ;  and  said  unto 
Jacob,  Give  me  children,  c  or  else  I  die. 

2  And  Jacob’s  anger  was  kindled  against 
Rachel :  and  he  said,  d  Am  I  in  God’s  stead, 
who  hath  withheld  from  thee  the  fruit  of  the 
womb  ? 

3  And  she  said,  Behold,  e  my  maid  Bilhah, 
go  in  unto  her ;  f  and  she  shall  bear  upon  my 
knees,  s  that  I  may  also  h  have  children  by  her. 

4  And  she  gave  him  Bilhah  her  handmaid 
1  to  wife  :  and  Jacob  went  in  unto  her. 


1  Chapter  xxix.  31. - b  Chapter  xxxvii.  11. - c  Job  v.  2. 

d  Chap.  xvi.  2  ;  1  Sam.  i.  5. — — e  Chap.  xvi.  2. - f  Chap.  1.  23  ; 

Job  iii.  12. - s  Chap.  xvi.  2. - h  Heb.  be  built  by  her. - 1  Ch. 


5  And  Bilhah  conceived,  and  A.  M.  cir.  2237. 

1  T  1  B.  C.  cir.  1767 

bare  Jacob  a  son.  _ _ 

6  And  Rachel  said,  God  hath  k  judged  me, 
and  hath  also  heard  my  voice,  and  hath  given 
me  a  son :  therefore  called  she  his  name 
1  Dan. 

7  And  Bilhah  Rachel’s  maid  A.  M.  cir.  2239. 

•  ,  .  -1  ,  T  .  B.  C.  cir.  1765. 

conceived  again,  and  bare  Jacob  - 

a  second  son. 

8  And  Rachel  said,  With  m  great  wrest¬ 
lings  have  I  wrestled  with  my  sister,  and  I 
have  prevailed :  and  she  called  his  name 
n  Naphtali.0 

xvi.  3;  xxxv.  22. - k  Psalm  xxxv.  24;  xliii.  1  ;  Lam.  iii.  59. 

1  That  is ,  judging. - m  Heb.  wrestlings  of  God  ;  chap,  xxiii.  6. 

n  That  is,  my  wrestling. - 0  Called,  Matt.  iv.  13,  Nephthalim. 


NOTES  ON  CHAP.  XXX. 

Verse  1.  Give  me  children,  or  else  I  die.]  This  is 
a  most  reprehensible  speech,  and  argues  not  only  envy 
and  jealousy,  but  also  a  total  want  of  dependence  on 
God.  She  had  the  greatest  share  of  her  husband’s 
affection,  and  yet  was  not  satisfied  unless  she  could 
engross  all  the  privileges  which  her  sister  enjoyed  ! 
How  true  are  those  sayings,  Envy  is  as  rottenness  of 
the  bones  !  and,  Jealousy  is  as  cruel  as  the  grave ! 

Verse  2.  Am  I  in  God's  stead ]  Am  I  greater  than 
God,  to  give  thee  what  he  has  refused  1 

Verse  3.  She  shall  bear  upon  my  knees]  The  hand¬ 
maid  was  the  sole  property  of  the  mistress,  as  has 
already  been  remarked  in  the  case  of  Hagar  ;  and 
therefore  not  only  all  her  labour,  but  even  the  chil¬ 
dren  borne  by  her,  were  the  property  of  the  mistress. 
These  female  slaves,  therefore,  bore  children  vicari¬ 


ously  for  their  mistresses  ;  and  this  appears  to  be  the 
import  of  the  term,  she  shall  bear  upon  my  knees. 

That  I  may  also  ho.ve  children  by  her.]  HJiDD  HJDKl 
veibbaneh  mimmennah,  and  I  shall  be  built  up  by  her. 
Hence  p  ben,  a  son  or  child,  from  DJU  banah,  to  build  ; 
because,  as  a  house  is  formed  of  the  stones,  &c.,  that 
enter  into  its  composition,  so  is  a  family  by  children. 

Verse  6.  Called  she  his  name  Dan.]  Because  she 
found  God  had  judged  for  her,  and  decided  she  should 
have  a  son  by  her  handmaid  ;  hence  she  called  his 
name  p  dan,  judging. 

Verse  8.  She  called  his  name  Naphtali.] 
naphtali,  my  wrestling,  according  to  the  common  mode 
of  interpretation  ;  but  it  is  more  likely  that  the  root 
bna  pathal  signifies  to  twist  or  entwine.  Hence  Mr. 
Parkhurst  translates  the  verse,  “  By  the  twistings — 
agency  or  operation,  of  God,  I  am  entwisted  with  my 

183 


a 


GENESIS. 


Issachar  is  born  unto  Jacob 


Account  of  the  mandrakes. 

A.  M.  cir.  2239.  9  When  Leah  saw  that  she 

E.  C.  cir.  i/65.  ]ef}-  bearing,  she  took  Zilpah 

her  maid,  and  p  gave  her  Jacob  to  wife. 

a.  M.  cir.  2240.  to  And  Zilpah  Leah’s  maid 

- -  bare  Jacob  a  son. 

1 1  And  Leah  said,  A  troop  cometh  :  and  she 
called  his  name  9  Gad. 

A.  M.  cir.  2242.  ]  2  And  Zilpah  Leah’s  maid 

B.  C.  cir.  1762.  .  T  .  , 

- bare  Jacob  a  second  son. 

13  And  Leah  said,  r  Happy  am  I,  for  the 
daughters  s  will  call  me  blessed  :  and  she 
called  his  name  4  Asher. 

a.  M.  cir.  2246.  1 4  And  Reuben  went  in  the 

B.  C.  cir.  1758.  ,  r  .  .  i  r  i 

-  days  oi  wheat  harvest,  and  iound 

11  mandrakes  in  the  field,  and  brought  them 
unto  his  mother  Leah.  Then  Rachel  said  to 
Leah,  v  Give  me,  I  pray  thee,  of  thy  son’s 
mandrakes. 

P  Ver.  4. - 'i  That  is,  a  troop  or  company ;  chap.  xlix.  19  ; 

Deut.  xxxiii.  20,  21  ;  Isa.  lxv.  11. - r  Heb.  in  my  happiness. 

s  Prov.  xxxi.  28  ;  Cant.  vi.  9  ;  Luke  i.  48. 

sister ;  that  is,  my  family  is  now  entwined  or  inter¬ 
woven  with  my  sister’s  family,  and  has  a  chance  of 
producing  the  promised  Seed.”  The  Septuagint, 
Aquila,  and  the  Vulgate ,  have  nearly  the  same  mean¬ 
ing.  It  is,  however,  difficult  to  fix  the  true  meaning 
of  the  original. 

Verse  11.  She  called  his  name  Gad.]  This  has 
been  variously  translated.  TJ  gad,  may  signify  a  troop , 
an  army ,  a  soldier,  a  false  god ,  supposed  to  be  the 
same  as  Jupiter  or  Mars  ;  for  as  Laban  appears  to 
have  been,  if  not  an  idolater,  yet  a  dealer  in  a  sort  of 
judicial  astrology,  (see  chap  xxxi.  19,)  Leah,  in  say¬ 
ing  “CD  bagad,  which  we  translate  a  troop  cometh, 
might  mean,  By  or  with  the  assistance  of  Gad — a  par¬ 
ticular  planet  or  star,  Jupiter  possibly,  I  have  gotten 
this  son  ;  therefore  she  called  him  after  the  name  of 
that  planet  or  star  from  which  she  supposed  the  suc¬ 
cour  came.  See  the  note  on  chap.  xxxi.  19.  The 
Septuagint  translate  it  ev  rv^y,  with  good  fortune ;  the 
Vulgat e,feliciter,  happily;  but  in  all  this  diversity  our 
own  translation  may  appear  as  probable  as  any,  if  not 
the  genuine  one,  “U  SO  ba  gad,  for  the  keri,  or  mar¬ 
ginal  reading,  has  it  in  two  words,  a  troop  cometh ; 
whereas  the  textual  reading  has  it  only  in  one, 
bagad,  ivith  a  troop.  In  the  Bible  published  by 
Becke,  1549,  the  word  is  translated  as  an  exclamation, 
Good  luck  ! 

Verse  13.  And  Leah  said,  Happy  am  7]  '‘IKWD 
beoshri,  in  my  happiness,  therefore  she  called  his  name 
TCW  asher,  that  is,  blessedness  or  happiness. 

Verse  14.  Reuben — found  mandrakes]  tD'Kin 
dudaim.  What  these  were  is  utterly  unknown,  and 
learned  men  have  wasted  much  time  and  pains  in  en¬ 
deavouring  to  guess  out  a  probable  meaning.  Some 
translate  the  word  lilies,  others  jessamine,  others  citrons, 
others  mushrooms,  others  figs,  and  some  think  the  word 
means  flowers,  ox  fine  flowers  in  general.  Hasselquist, 
the  intimate  friend  and  pupil  of  Linne ,  who  travelled. 

184 


1 5  And  she  said  unto  her,  a.  m.  cir.  2246 
w  Is  it  a  small  matter  that  thou  B-  c-  cir~  1758 
hast  taken  my  husband  ?  and  wouldest  thou 
take  away  my  son’s  mandrakes  also  ?  And 
Rachel  said,  Therefore  he  shall  lie  with  thee 
to-night  for  thy  son’s  mandrakes. 

16  And  Jacob  came  out  of  the  field  in  the 
evening,  and  Leah  went  out  to  meet  him,  and 
said,  Thou  must  come  in  unto  me  ;  for  surely 
I  have  hired  thee  with  my  son’s  mandrakes. 
And  he  lay  with  her  that  night. 


17  And  God  hearkened  unto  A.  M.  cir.  2247. 

-r  -i  j  ,  ,  .  B.  C.  cir.  1757. 

-Leah,  and  she  conceived,  and _ _ 

bare  Jacob  the  fifth  son. 

18  And  Leah  said,  God  hath  given  me 
my  hire,  because  I  have  given  my  maiden 
to  my  husband :  and  she  called  his  name 
x  Issachar. 


1  That  is,  happy ;  chapter  xlix.  20;  Deut.  xxxiii.  24,  25. 

u  Cant.  vii.  13. - v  Chapter  xxv.  30. - w  Num.  xvi.  9,  13. 

x  That  is,  a  hire. 

into  the  Holy  Land  to  make  discoveries  in  natural  his¬ 
tory,  imagines  that  the  plant  commonly  called  man¬ 
drake  is  intended  ;  speaking  of  Nazareth  in  Galilee  he 
says :  “  What  I  found  most  remarkable  at  this  village 
was  a  great  number  of  mandrakes  which  grew  in  a 
vale  below  it.  I  had  not  the  pleasure  to  see  this  plant 
in  blossom,  the  fruit  now  (May  5th,  O.  S.)  hanging 
ripe  to  the  stem ,  which  lay  withered  on  the  ground. 
From  the  season  in  which  this  mandrake  blossoms  and 
ripens  fruit,  one  might  form  a  conjecture  that  it  was 
Rachel’s  dudaim.  These  were  brought  her  in  the 
wheat  harvest,  which  in  Galilee  is  in  the  month  of  May , 
about  this  time,  and  the  mandrake  was  now  in  fruit.” 
Both  among  the  Greeks  and  orientals  this  plant  was 
held  in  high  repute,  as  being  of  a  prolific  virtue,  and 
helping  conception  ;  and  from  it  philtres  were  made, 
and  this  is  favoured  by  the  meaning  of  the  original, 
loves,  i.  e.,  incentives  to  matrimonial  connections  :  and 
it  was  probably  on  this  account  that  Rachel  desired 
them.  The  whole  account  however  is  very  obscure. 

Verse  15.  Thou  hast  taken  my  husband]  It  ap¬ 
pears  probable  that  Rachel  had  found  means  to  engross 
the  whole  of  Jacob’s  affection  and  company,  and  that 
she  now  agreed  to  let  him  visit  the  tent  of  Leah,  on 
account  of  receiving  some  of  the  fruits  or  plants  which 
Reuben  had  found. 

Verse  16.  I  have  hired  thee]  We  may  remark 
among  the  Jewish  women  an  intense  desire  of  having 
children  ;  and  it  seems  to  have  been  produced,  not  from 
any  peculiar  affection  for  children,  but  through  the  hope 
of  having  a  share  in  the  blessing  of  Abraham,  by  bring¬ 
ing  forth  Him  in  whom  all  the  nations  of  the  earth  were 
to  be  blessed. 

Verse  18.  God  hath  given  me  my  hire]  '"Ot?  secharu 
And  she  called  his  name  Issachar,  This  word 

is  compounded  of  W  yesh,  is,  and  sachar ,  wages, 

from  sachar,  to  content,  satisfy,  saturate ;  hence 
a  satisfaction  or  compensation  for  work  done,  &o. 

a 


CHAP.  XXX. 


Joseph  is  horn  unto  Jacob 


Jacob's  agreement  with  Laban 


A.  M.  cir.  2249. 

B.  C.  cir.  1755. 


19  And  Leah  conceived  again, 
and  bare  Jacob  the  sixth  son. 

20  And  Leah  said,  God  hath  endued  me 
with  a  good  dowry ;  now  will  my  husband 
dwell  with  me,  because  I  have  borne  him  six 
and  she  called  his  name  y  Zebulun.2 

21  And  afterwards  she  bare  a 
and  called  her  name 


sons 

A.  M.  cir.  2250. 

B.  C.  cir.  1754. 


a  Dinah. 


daughter, 


a.  M.  cir.  2258.  22  And  God  b  remembered 

s  -  C‘  Cir~  i746’  Rachel,  and  God  hearkened  to 
her,  and  c  opened  her  womb. 

A.  M. 2259.  23  And  she  conceived,  and  bare 

— — - - 1-  a  son ;  and  said,  God  hath  taken 

away  d  my  reproach  : 

24  And  she  called  his  name  e  Joseph  ;  and 
said,  f  The  Lord  shall  add  to  me  another  son. 

25  And  it  came  to  pass,  when  Rachel  had 
borne  Joseph,  that.  Jacob  said  unto  Laban, 
B  Send  me  away,  that  I  may  go  unto  h  mine 
own  place,  and  to  my  country. 

26  Give  me  my  wives  and  my  children,  ^or 
whom  I  have  served  thee,  and  let  me  go  :  for 


thou  knowest  my  service  which  I  a.  M.  2259. 
have  done  thee.  jL-C‘.17^ 

27  And  Laban  said  unto  him,  I  pray  thee, 
if  I  have  found  favour  in  thine  eyes,  tarry  : 
for  k  I  have  learned  by  experience  that  the 
Lord  hath  blessed  me  1 *  for  thy  sake. 

28  And  he  said,  111  Appoint  me  thy  wages, 
and  I  will  give  it. 

O 


29  And  he  said  unto  him,  nThou  knowest 
how  I  have  served  thee,  and  how  thy  cattle 
was  with  me. 

30  For  it  was  little  which  thou  hadst  before 
I  cam.e,  and  it  is  now  0  increased  unto  a  mul¬ 
titude  ;  and  the  Lord  hath  blessed  thee  p  since  . 
my  coming  :  and  now,  when  shall  I  q  provide 
for  mine  own  house  also  ? 

3 1  And  he  said,  What  shall  I  give  thee  ? 
And  Jacob  said,  Thou  shalt  not  give  me  any 
thing  ;  if  thou  wilt  do  this  thing  for  me,  I  will 
again  feed  and  keep  thy  flock : 

32  I  will  pass  through  all  thy  flock  to-day, 
removing  from  thence  all  the  speckled  and 
spotted  cattle,  and  all  the  brown  cattle  among 


y  That  is,  dwelling. - z  Called,  Matthew  iv.  13,  Zabulon. 

*  That  is,  judgment. - b  Chap.  viii.  1 ;  1  Sam.  i.  19. - c  Chap. 

xxix.  31. - d  1  Sam.  i.  6  ;  Isa.  iv.  1  ;  Luke  i.  25. - e  That  is, 

adding. - f  Chap.  xxxv.  17. - s  Chap.  xxiv.  54,  56. - b  Chap. 


xviii.  33  ;  xxxi.  55. - ’  Chap.  xxix.  20,  30. - k  Chapter  xxxix. 

3,  5. - 1  See  chap.  xxvi.  24. - ,n  Chap.  xxix.  15. - n  Chapter 

xxxi.  6,  38,39,  40;  Matt.  xxiv.  45;  Tit.  ii.  10. - 0  Heb.  broken. 

forth  ;  ver.  43. - P  Heb.  at  my  foot. - ‘i  1  Tim.  v.  8. 


Verse  20.  Now  will  my  husband  dwell  with  me] 
yizbelem ;  and  she  called  his  name  Zebulun, 
phsT,  a  dwelling  or  cohabitation ,  as  she  now  expected 
that  Jacob  would  dwell  with  her ,  as  he  had  before 
dwelt  with  Rachel. 

Verse  21.  And  called  her  name  Dinah.]  Hl'l  dinah , 
judgment.  As  Rachel  had  called  her  son  by  Bilhah 
Dan,  ver.  6,  so  Leah  calls  her  daughter  Dinah,  God 
having  judged  and  determined  for  her,  as  well  as  for 
her  sister  in  the  preceding  instance. 

Verse  22.  And  God  hearkened  to  her]  After  the 
severe  reproof  which  Rachel  had  received  from  her  hus¬ 
band,  ver.  2,  it  appears  that  she  sought  God  by  prayer, 
and  that  he  heard  her  ;  so  that  her  prayer  and  faith  ob¬ 
tained  what  her  impatience  and  unbelief  had  prevented. 

Verse  24.  She  called  his  name  Joseph]  fpv  Yoseph , 
adding ,  or  he  who  adds ;  thereby  prophetically  declaring 
that  God  would  add  unto  her  another  son,  which  was 
accomplished  in  the  birth  of  Benjamin,  chap.  xxxv.  18. 

Verse  25.  Jacob  said  unto  Laban ,  Send  me  away] 
Having  now,  as  is  generally  conjectured,  fulfilled  the 
fourteen  years  which  he  had  engaged  to  serve  for  Leah 
and  Rachel.  See  ver.  26,  and  conclusion  of  chap.  xxxi. 

Verse  27.  I  have  learned  by  experience]  Wm 
nichashti,  from  nachash,  to  view  attentively,  to 
observe,  to  pry  into.  I  have  diligently  considered  the 
whole  of  thy" conduct,  and  marked  the  increase  of  my 
property,  and  find  that  the  Lord  hath  blessed  me  for 
thy  sake.  For  the  meaning  of  the  word  tSTU  nachash, 
see  on  chap.  iii.  1,  &c. 

Verse  30.  For  it  was  little  which  thou  hadst  before 


I  came]  Jacob  takes  advantage  of  the  concession 
made  by  his  father-in-law,  and  asserts  that  it  was  for 
his  sake  that  the  Lord  had  blessed  him  :  Since  my 
coming,  'bjlb  leragli,  according  to  my  footsteps — every 
step  I  took  in  thy  service,  God  prospered  to  the  mul¬ 
tiplication  of  thy  flocks  and  property. 

When  shall  I  provide  for  mine  own  house]  Jacob 
had  already  laid  his  plan  ;  and,  from  what  is  afterwards 
mentioned,  we  find  him  using  all  his  skill  and  experience 
to  provide  for  his  family  by  a  rapid  increase  of  his  flocks. 

Verse  32.  I  will  pass  through  all  thy  flock]  jKX 
tson,  implying,  as  we  have  before  seen,  all  smaller 
cattle,  such  as  sheep,  goats ,  &c. 

All  the  speckled  and  spotted  cattle]  TVt?  seh,  which 
we  translate  cattle,  signifies  the  young  either  of  sheep  or 
goats,  what  we  call  a  lamb  or  a  kid.  Speckled, nakod , 
signifies  interspersed  with  variously  coloured  spots. 

Spotted]  XlbtD  talu,  spotted  with  large  spots,  either 
of  the  same  or  different  colours,  from  tala,  to  patch, 

to  make  party-coloured  or  patch-work ;  see  Ezek.  xvi. 
16.  I  have  never  seen  such  sheep  as  are  here  de¬ 
scribed  but  in  the  islands  of  Zetland.  There  I  have 
seen  the  most  beautiful  brown,  or  fine  chocolate  colour 
among  the  sheep  ;  and  several  of  the  ring-streaked, 
spotted,  speckled,  and  piebald  among  the  same  ;  and 
some  of  the  latter  description  I  have  brought  over,  and 
can  exhibit  a  specimen  of  Jacob’s  flock  brought  from 
the  North  Seas,  feeding  in  Middlesex. 

And  all  the  brown]  Din  chum.  I  should  rather 
suppose  this  to  signify  a  lively  brown ,  as  the  root  sig¬ 
nifies  to  be  warm  or  hot. 

185 


Separation  of  the  GENESIS.  differ ently  coloured  cattle. 


A.  M.  2259.  the  sheep,  and  the  spotted  and 
C'  ll45‘-  speckled  among  the  goats  :  and 
T  of  such  shall  be  my  hire. 

33  So  shall  my  righteousness  answer  for 
me  t  in  time  to  come,  when  it  shall  come  for 
my  hire  before  thy  face  :  every  one  that  is  not 
speckled  and  spotted  among  the  goats,  and 
brown  among  the  sheep,  that  shall  be  counted 
stolen  with  me. 

34  And  Laban  said,  Behold,  I  would  it 
might  be  according  to  thy  wrord. 

35  And  he  removed  that  day  the  he-goats 

r  Chap.  xxxi.  8. - s  Psa.  xxxvii.  6. - 1  Heb.  to-morrow  ; 

Verse  35.  The  he-goats  that  were  ring-streaked ] 
DHpyn  d  ’Kcnn  hatteyashim  haakuddim ,  the  he-goats 
that  had  rings  of  black  or  other  coloured  hair  around 
their  feel  or  legs. 

It  is  extremely  difficult  to  find  out,  from  the  32d 
and  35th  verses,  in  what  the  bargain  of  Jacob  with 
his  father-in-law  properly  consisted.  It  appears  from 
verse  32,  that  Jacob  was  to  have  for  his  wages  all  the 
speckled ,  spotted ,  and  brown  among  the  sheep  and  the 
goats ;  and  of  course  that  all  those  which  were  not 
party-coloured  should  be  considered  as  the  property 
of  Laban.  But  in  verse  35  it  appears  that  Laban 
separated  all  the  party-coloured  cattle,  and  delivered 
them  into  the  hands  of  his  own  sons ;  which  seems  as 
if  he  had  taken  these  for  his  own  property,  and  left  the 
others  to  Jacob.  It  has  been  conjectured  that  Laban, 
for  the  greater  security,  when  he  had  separated  the 
party-coloured,  which  by  the  agreement  belonged  to 
Jacob,  see  verse  32,  put  them  under  the  care  of  his 
own  sons,  while  Jacob  fed  the  flock  of  Laban,  verse 
36,  three  days’  journey  being  between  the  two  flocks. 
If  therefore  the  flocks  under  the  care  of  Laban’s  sons 
brought  forth  young  that  were  all  of  one  colour ,  these 
were  put  to  the  flocks  of  Laban  under  the  care  of 
Jacob;  and  if  any  of  the  flocks  under  Jacob’s  care 
brought  forth  party-coloured  young,  they  were  put  to 
the  flocks  belonging  to  Jacob  under  the  care  of  Laban’s 
sons.  This  conjecture  is  not  satisfactory,  and  the  true 
meaning  appears  to  be  this  :  Jacob  had  agreed  to  take 
all  the  party-coloured  for  his  wages.  As  he  was  now 
only  beginning  to  act  upon  this  agreement,  consequently 
none  of  the  cattle  as  yet  belonged  to  him  ;  therefore 
Laban  separated  from  the  flock,  verse  35,  all  such 
cattle  as  Jacob  might  afterwards  claim  in  consequence 
of  his  bargain,  (for  as  yet  he  had  no  right ;)  therefore 
Jacob  commenced  his  service  to  Laban  with  a  flock 
that  did  not  contain  a  single  animal  of  the  description 
of  those  to  which  he  might  be  entitled ;  and  the  others 
were  sent  away  under  the  care  of  Laban’s  sons,  three 
days’  journey  from  those  of  which  Jacob  had  the  care. 
The  bargain,  therefore,  seemed  to  be  wholly  in  favour 
of  Laban ;  and  to  turn  it  to  his  own  advantage,  Jacob 
made  use  of  the  stratagems  afterwards  mentioned. 
This  mode  of  interpretation  removes  all  the  apparent 
contradiction  between  the  32d  and  35th  verses,  with 
which  commentators  in  general  have  been  grievously 

186 


that  were  ring-streaked  and  spotted,  A.  M.  2259, 

and  all  the  she-goats  that  were  - 

speckled  and  spotted,  and  every  one  that  had 
some  white  in  it,  and  all  the  brown  among  the 
sheep,  and  gave  them  into  the  u  hand  of  his  sons. 

36  And  he  set  three  days’  journey  betwixt 
himself  and  Jacob  :  and  Jacob  fed  the  rest 
of  Laban’s  flocks. 

37  And  v  Jacob  took  him  rods  of  green  pop¬ 
lar,  and  of  the  hazel  and  chestnut  tree  ;  and 
pilled  white  streaks  in  them,  and  made  the 
white  appear  which  was  in  the  rods. 

Exod.  xiii.  14. - u  Chap.  xxxi.  9. - v  See  chap.  xxxi.  9-12. 


perplexed.  From  the  whole  account  we  learn  that 
Laban  acted  with  great  prudence  and  caution ,  and 
Jacob  with  great  judgment.  Jacob  had  already  served 
fourteen  years ;  and  had  got  no  patrimony  whatever, 
though  he  had  now  a  family  of  twelve  children,  eleven 
sons  and  one  daughter ,  besides  his  two  wives,  and 
their  two  maids,  and  several  servants.  See  ver.  43. 
It  was  high  time  that  he  should  get  some  property  for 
these  ;  and  as  his  father-in-law  was  excessively  parsi¬ 
monious,  and  would  scarcely  allow  him  to  live,  he  was 
in  some  sort  obliged  to  make  use  of  stratagem  to  get 
an  equivalent  for  his  services.  But  did  he  not  push 
this  so  far  as  to  ruin  his  father-in-law’s  flocks,  leaving 
him  nothing  but  the  refuse  1  See  ver.  42. 

Verse  37.  Rods  of  green  poplar\  Tib  nj^b  libneh 
lach.  The  libneh  is  generally  understood  to  mean  the 
ivhite  poplar ;  and  the  word  lach ,  which  is  here  joined 
to  it,  does  not  so  much  imply  greenness  of  colour  as 
being  fresh,  in  opposition  to  witheredness.  Had  they 
not  been  fresh — just  cut  off,  he  could  not  have  pilled 
the  bark  from  them. 

And  of  the  hazel ]  Tib  luz ,  the  nut  or  filbert  tree , 
translated  by  others  the  almond  tree ;  which  of  the  two 
is  here  intended  is  not  known. 

And  chestnut  tree ]  armon ,  the  plane  tree , 

from  aram ,  he  was  naked.  The  plane  tree  is 
properly  called  by  this  name,  because  of  the  outer 
bark  naturally  peeling  off ,  and  leaving  the  tree  bare 
in  various  places,  having  smooth  places  where’  it  has 
fallen  off.  A  portion  of  this  bark  the  plane  tree  loses 
every  year.  The  Septuagint  translate  it  in  the  same 
way,  7r karavoq'  and  its  name  is  supposed  to  be  derived 
from  TrXarvg,  broad,  on  account  of  its  broad  spreading 
branches ,  for  which  the  plane  tree  is  remarkable.  So 
we  find  the  Grecian  army  in  Homer,  II.  ii.,  ver.  307, 
sacrificing  naXy  vno  TrhaTaviGTu,  under  a  beautiful 
plane  tree. 

Virgil,  Geor.  iv.  146,  mentions, 

- ministrantem  platanum  polantibus  u?nbras. 

The  plane  tree  yielding  the  convivial  shade. 

And  Petronius  Arbiter  in  Satyr.  : — u 

Nobilis  cestivas  platanus  diffuderat  umbras. 

“  The  noble  plane  had  spread  its  summer  shade.” 

See  more  in  Parkhurst.  Such  a  tree  would  be  pecu¬ 
liarly  acceptable  in  hot  countries,  because  of  its  shade. 


a 


CHAP.  XXX. 


By  the  stratagem  of  the  rods 


Jacob  gets  all  the  best  cattle 


a.  M.  2259.  3S  And  he  set  the  rods  which  he 

- 1 - 1  had  pilled  before  the  flocks  in  the 

gutters  in  the  watering  troughs  when  the  flocks 
came  to  drink,  that  they  should  conceive  when 
they  came  to  drink. 

•39  And  the  flocks  conceived  before  the 
rods,  and  brought  w  forth  cattle  ring-streaked, 
speckled,  and  spotted. 

40  And  Jacob  did  separate  the  lambs,  and 
set  the  faces  of  the  flocks  toward  the  ring- 
streaked,  and  all  the  brown  in  the  flock  of 
Laban  ;  and  he  put  his  own  flocks  by  them¬ 


A .  M.  2259. 

B.  C.  1745 


selves,  and  put  them  not  unto 
Laban’s  cattle. 

4 1  And  it  came  to  pass,  whensoever  the 
stronger  cattle  did  conceive,  that  Jacob  laid 
the  rods  before  the  eyes  of  the  cattle  in  the  gut¬ 
ters,  that  they  might  conceive  among  the  rods. 

42  But  when  the  cattle  were  feeble,  he  put 
them  not  in  :  so  the  feebler  were  Laban’s,  and 
the  stronger  Jacob’s. 

43  And  the  man  x  increased  exceedingly,  and 
y  had  much  cattle,  and  maid-servants,  and  men- 
servants,  and  camels,  and  asses. 


w  Jer.  xxvii.  5. - x  Ver.  30. 


y  Chap.  xiii.  2  ;  xxiv.  35 ;  xxvi.  13,  14. 


Pilled  white  streaks  in  them ]  Probably  cutting  the 
bark  through  in  a  spiral  line ,  and  taking  it  off  in  a  cer¬ 
tain  breadth  all  round  the  rods,  so  that  the  rods  would 
appear  party-coloured,  the  white  of  the  wood  showing 
itself  where  the  bark  was  stripped  off. 

Verse  38.  And  he  set  the  rods  which  he  had  pilled 
before  the  flocks ]  It  has  long  been  an  opinion  that 
whatever  makes  a  strong  impression  on  the  mind  of  a 
female  in  the  time  of  conception  and  gestation,  will 
have  a  corresponding  influence  on  the  mind  or  bod}'- 
of  the  fetus.  This  opinion  is  not  yet  rationally  ac¬ 
counted  for.  It  is  not  necessary  to  look  for  a  miracle 
here  ;  for  though  the  fact  has  not  been  accounted  for, 
it  is  nevertheless  sufficiently  plain  that  the  effect  does 
not  exceed  the  powers  of  nature  ;  and  I  have  no  doubt 
that  the  same  modes  of  trial  used  by  Jacob  would  pro¬ 
duce  the  same  results  in  similar  cases.  The  finder  of 
God  works  in  nature  myriads  of  ways  unknown  to  us ; 
we  see  effects  without  end,  of  which  no  rational  cause 
can  be  assigned  :  it  has  pleased  God  to  work  thus  and 
thus,  and  this  is  all  that  we  know  ;  and  God  mercifully 
hides  the  operations  of  his  power  from  man  in  a  variety 
of  cases,  that  he  may  hide  pride  from  him.  Even  with 
the  little  we  know,  how  apt  are  we  to  be  puffed  up  ! 
We  must  adore  God  in  a  reverential  silence  on  such 
subjects  as  these,  confess  our  ignorance,  and  acknow¬ 
ledge  that  nature  is  the  instrument  by  which  he  chooses 
to  work,  and  that  he  performs  all  things  according  to 
the  counsel  of  his  own  will,  which  is  always  infinitely 
wise  and  infinitely  good. 

Verse  40.  Jacob  did  separate  the  lambs,  <fc.]  When 
Jacob  undertook  the  care  of  Laban’s  flock,  according 
to  the  agreement  already  mentioned,  there  were  no 
party-coloured  sheep  or  goats  among  them,  therefore  the 
ring-streaked ,  &c.,  mentioned  in  this  verse,  must  have 
been  born  since  the  agreement  was  made  ;  and  Jacob 
makes  use  of  them  precisely  as  he  used  the  pilled  rods, 
that,  having  these  before  their  eyes  during  conception, 
the  impression  might  be  made  upon  their  imagination 
which  would  lead  to  the  results  already  mentioned. 

Verse  41.  Whensoever  the  stronger  cattle  did  con¬ 
ceive']  The  word  mekushsharoth,  which  we 

translate  stronger,  is  understood  by  several  of  the  an¬ 
cient  interpreters  as  signifying  the  early ,  first-born,  or 
early  spring  cattle  ;  and  hence  it  is  opposed  to  D'3l9>’ 
atuphim,  which  we  translate  feeble,  and  which  Symma- 
chus  properly  renders  devrepoyovoi ,  cattle  of  the  second 

a 


birth,  as  he  renders  the  word  mekushsharoth  by  irpu- 
Toyovot ,  cattle  of  the  first  or  earliest  birth.  Now  this 
does  not  apply  merely  to  two  births  from  the  same 
female  in  one  year,  which  actually  did  take  place 
according  to  the  rabbins,  the  first  in  Nisan,  about  our 
March,  and  the  second  in  Tisri,  about  our  September  ; 
but  it  more  particularly  refers  to  early  atid  late  lambs , 
&c.,  in  the  same  year  ;  as  those  that  are  born  just  at 
the  termination  of  winter,  and  in  the  very  commence¬ 
ment  of  spring,  are  every  way  more  valuable  than 
those  which  were  born  later  in  the  same  spring.  Jacob 
therefore  took  good  heed  not  to  try  his  experiments 
with  those  late  produced  cattle,  because  he  knew  these 
would  produce  a  degenerate  breed,  but  with  the  early 
cattle,  which  were  strong  and  vigorous,  by  which  his 
breed  must  be  improved.  Hence  the  whole  flock  of 
Laban  must  be  necessarily  injured,  while  Jacob’s  flock 
was  preserved  in  a  state  of  increasing  perfection.  All 
this  proves  a  consummate  knowledge  in  Jacob  of  his 
pastoral  office.  If  extensive  breeders  in  this  country 
were  to  attend  to  the  same  plan,  our  breed  would  be 
improved  in  a  most  eminent  degree.  What  a  fund  of 
instruction  upon  almost  every  subject  is  to  be  found  in 
the  sacred  writings ! 

Verse  43.  And  the  man  increased  exceedingly]  No 
wonder,  when  he  used  such  means  as  the  above.  And 
had  maid-sei'vants ,  and  men-servants — he  was  obliged 
to  increase  these  as  his  cattle  multiplied.  And  camels 
and  asses,  to  transport  his  tents,  baggage,  and  family, 
from  place  to  place,  being  obliged  often  to  remove  for 
the  benefit  of  pasturage. 

We  have  already  seen  many  difficulties  in  this  chap¬ 
ter,  and  strange  incidents,  for  which  we  are  not  able 
to  account.  1.  The  vicarious  bearing  of  children; 
2.  The  nature  and  properties  of  the  mandrakes ;  3. 
The  bargain  of  Jacob  and  Laban  ;  and  4.  The  business 
of  the  party-coloured  flocks  produced  by  means  of  the 
females  looking  at  the  variegated  rods.  Tnese,  espe¬ 
cially  the  three  last,  may  be  ranked  among  the  most 
difficult  things  in  this  book.  Without  encumbering  the 
page  with  quotations  and  opinions,  I  have  given  the 
best  sense  I  could  ;  and  think  it  much  better  and  safer 
to  confess  ignorance,  than,  under  the  semblance  of 
wisdom  and  learning,  to  multiply  conjectures.  Jacob 
certainly  manifested  much  address  in  the  whole  of  his 
conduct  with  Laban ,  but  though  nothing  can  excuse 

187 


GENESIS. 


Laban  and  his  sons. 


Jacob  is  envied  by 

overreaching  or  insincerity ,  yet  no  doubt  Jacob  sup¬ 
posed  himself  justified  in  taking  these  advantages  of  a 
man  who  had  greatly  injured  and  defrauded  him.  Had 
Jacob  got  Rachel  at  first,  for  whom  he  had  honestly 
and  faithfully  served  seven  years,  there  is  no  evidence 
whatever  that  he  would  have  taken  a  second  wife. 
Laban,  by  having  imposed  his  eldest  daughter  upon 
him,  and  by  obliging  him  to  serve  seven  years  for  her 
who  never  was  an  object  of  his  affection,  acted  a  part 
wholly  foreign  to  every  dictate  of  justice  and  honesty  ; 
(for  though  it  was  a  custom  in  that  country  not  to  give 
the  younger  daughter  in  marriage  before  the  elder,  yet, 
as  he  did  not  mention  this  to  Jacob,  it  cannot  plead  in 
Lis  excuse ;)  therefore,  speaking  after  the  manner  of 
men,  he  had  reason  to  expect  that  Jacob  should  repay 
him  in  his  own  coin,  and  right  himself  by  whatever 
means  came  into  his  power  ;  and  many  think  that  he 
did  not  transgress  the  bounds  of  justice,  even  in  the 
business  of  the  party-coloured  cattle. 

The  talent  possessed  by  Jacob  was  a  most  danger¬ 
ous  one  :  he  was  what  may  be  truly  called  a  scheming 
man  ;  his  wits  were  still  at  work,  and  as  he  devised  so 
he  executed,  being  as  fruitful  in  expedients  as  he  was 
in  plans.  This  was  the  principal  and  the  most  promi¬ 
nent  characteristic  of  his  life  ;  and  whatever  was  ex¬ 
cessive  here  was  owing  to  his  mother’s  tuition ;  she 
was  evidently  a  woman  who  paid  little  respect  to  what 
is  called  moral  principle ,  and  sanctified  all  kinds  of 


means  by  the  goodness  of  the  end  at  which  she  aimed  ; 
which  in  social,  civil,  and  religious  life,  is  the  most 
dangerous  principle  on  which  a  person  can  possibly 
act.  In  this  art  she  appears  to  have  instructed  her 
son ;  and,  unfortunately  for  himself,  he  was  in  some 
instances  but  too  apt  a  proficient.  Early  habits  are 
not  easily  rooted  out,  especially  those  of  a  bad  kind. 
Next  to  the  influence  and  grace  of  the  Spirit  of  God 
is  a  good  and  religious  education.  Parents  should 
teach  their  children  to  despise  and  abhor  low  cunning, 
to  fear  a  lie,  and  tremble  at  an  oath  ;  and  in  order  to 
be  sucesssful,  they  should  illustrate  their  precepts  by 
their  own  regular  and  conscientious  example.  How  fai 
God  approved  of  the  whole  of  Jacob’s  conduct  I  shall 
not  inquire  ;  it  is  certain  that  he  attributes  his  success 
to  Divine  interposition,  and  God  himself  censures  La¬ 
ban’s  conduct  towards  him  ;  see  chap.  xxxi.  7—12.  But 
still  he  appears  to  have  proceeded  farther  than  this  in¬ 
terposition  authorized  him  to  go,  especially  in  the  means 
he  used  to  improve  his  own  breed,  which  necessarily 
led  to  the  deterioration  of  Laban’s  cattle  ;  for,  after 
the  transactions  referred  to  above,  these  cattle  could  be 
of  but  little  worth.  The  whole  account,  with  all  its 
lights  and  shades,  I  consider  as  another  proof  of  the 
impartiality  of  the  Divine  historian,  and  a  strong  evi¬ 
dence  of  the  authenticity  of  the  Pentateuch.  Neither 
the  spirit  of  deceit,  nor  the  partiality  of  friendship } 
could  ever  pen  such  an  account. 


CHAPTER  XXXI. 


Laban  and  his  sons  envy  Jacob ,  1,2;  on  which  he  is  commanded  by  the  Lord  to  return  to  his  owti  country ,  3. 
Having  called  his  wives  together ,  he  lays  before  them  a  detailed  statement  of  his  situation  in  reference 
to  their  father,  4—5  ;  the  services  he  had  rendered  him,  6  ;  the  various  attempts  made  by  Laban  to  defraud 
him  of  his  hire,  7  ;  how ,  by  God's  providence,  his  evil  designs  had  been  counteracted,  8—12  ;  and  then 
informs  them  that  he  is  now  called  to  return  to  his  oivn  country,  13.  To  the  proposal  of  an  immediate 
departure,  Leah  and  Rachel  agree  ;  and  strengthen  the  propriety  of  the  measure  by  additional  reasons , 
14—16  ;  on  which  Jacob  collects  all  his  family,  his  flocks  and  his  goods,  and  prepares  for  his  departure , 
17,  18.  Laban  having  gone  to  shear  his  sheep ,  Rachel  secretes  his  images,  19.  Jacob  and  his  family, 
unknown  to  Laban,  take  their  departure,  20,  21.  On  the  third  day  Laban  is  informed  of  their  flight,  22  ; 
and  pursues  them  to  Mount  Gilead,  23.  God  appears  to  Laban  in  a  dream,  and  warns  him  not  to  molest 
Jacob,  24.  He  comes  up  ivith  Jacob  at  Mount  Gilead,  25  ;  reproaches  him  with  his  clandestine  departure, 
26—29  ;  and  charges  him  ivith  having  stolen  his  gods ,  30.  Jacob  vindicates  himself ,  and  protests  his  inno¬ 
cence  in  the  matter  of  the  theft,  31,  32.  Laban  makes  a  general  search  for  his  images  in  Jacob's,  Leah's, 
Bilhah's,  and  Zilpah's  tents  ;  and  not  finding  them,  proceeds  to  examine  Rachel's,  33.  Rachel,  having 
hidden  them  among  the  camel's  furniture,  sat  upon  them,  34;  and  making  a  delicate  excuse  for  not  rising 
up,  Laban  desists  from  farther  search,  35.  Jacob,  ignorant  of  Rachel's  theft,  reproaches  Laban  for  his 
suspicions,  36,  37  ;  enumerates  his  long  and  faithful  services,  his  fatigues,  and  Laban's  injustice,  38—41  ; 
and  shows  that  it  was  owing  to  pod's  goodness  alone  that  he  had  any  property,  42.  Laban  is  moderated, 
and  proposes  a  covenant,  43,  44.  Jacob  sets  up  a  stone,  and  the  rest  bring  stones  and  make  a  heap,  which 
Laban  calls  Jegar-Sahadutha,  and  Jacob  Galeed,  45—47.  They  make  a  covenant,  and  confirm  it  by  an 
oath,  48—53.  Jacob  offers  a  sacrifice  ;  they  eat  together  ;  and  Laban  and  his  companions,  having  lodged 
in  the  mount  all  night ,  take  a  friendly  leave  of  Jacob  and  his  family  next  morning,  and  depart ,  54,  55. 


A.  M.  2265.  A  ND  he  heard  the  words  of 

B.  C.  1739.  JjL  T 

- — — -  Labans  sons,  saying,  Jacob 

hath  taken  away  all  that  was  our  father’s  ;  and 

a  Psa.  xlix.  16. 

NOTES  ON  CHAP.  XXXI. 

Verse  1 .  And  he  heard  the  words  of  Laban's  sows] 
The  multiplication  of  Jacob’s  cattle,  and  the  decrease 

188 


of  that  which  teas  our  father  s  hath  A.  M.  2265. 

i  n  ,  •  B.  C.  1739. 

he  gotten  all  tins  a  glory.  — - - 

2  And  Jacob  beheld  b  the  countenance  of 

b  Chap.  iv.  5. 

and  degeneracy  of  those  of  Laban,  were  sufficient 
to  rouse  the  jealousy  of  Laban’s  sons.  This,  with 
Laban’s  unfair  treatment,  and  the  direction  he  re- 


a 


Jacob  commanded  to  leave  Laban .  CHAP.  XXXI. 


He  consults  with  his  wives. 


A.  M.  2265.  Laban,  and,  behold,  it  was  not 
- c  toward  him  d  as  before. 

3  And  the  Lord  said  unto  Jacob,  e  Return 
unto  the  land  of  thy  fathers,  and  to  thy  kin¬ 
dred  ;  and  I  will  be  with  thee. 

4  And  Jacob  sent  and  called  Rachel  and 
Leah  to  the  field  unto  his  flock, 

5  And  said  unto  them,  f  I  see  your  father’s 
countenance,  that  it  is  not  toward  me  as  be¬ 
fore  ;  but  the  God  of  my  father  s  hath  been 
with  me. 

6  And  h  ye  know  that  with  all  my  power  I 
have  served  your  father. 

7  And  your  father  hath  deceived  me,  and 

c  Deut.  xxviii.  54. - 11  Heb.  as  yesterday  and  the  day  before  ; 

1  Sara.  xix.  7. - e  Chap,  xxviii.  15,  20,  21  ;  xxxii.  9. - f  Ver. 

2. - s  Ver.  3. - h  Ver.  38,  39,  40,  41 ;  chap.  xxx.  29. 

ceived  from  God,  determined  him  to  return  to  his  own 
country. 

Hath  he  gotten  all  this  glory. ]  All  these  riches, 
this  wealth,  or  property.  The  original  word  “T3D 
signifies  both  to  be  rich  and  to  be  heavy ;  and 
perhaps  for  this  simple  reason,  that  riches  ever  bring 
with  them  heavy  weight  and  burden  of  cares  and 
anxieties. 

Verse  3.  And  the  Lord  said  unto  Jacob ,  Return — 
and  I  will  be  with  thee .]  I  will  take  the  same  care  of 
thee  in  thy  return ,  as  I  took  of  thee  on  thy  way  to 
this  place.  The  Targum  reads,  My  Word  shall  be 
for  thy  help ,  see  chap.  xv.  1.  A  promise  of  this  kind 
was  essentially  necessary  for  the  encouragement  of 
Jacob,  especially  at  this 'time  ;  and  no  doubt  it  was  a 
powerful  means  of  support  to  him  through  the  whole 
journey  ;  and  it  was  particularly  so  when  he  heard  that 
his  brother  was  coming  to  meet  him,  with  four  hundred 
men  in  his  retinue,  chap,  xxxii.  6.  At  that  time  he 
went  and  pleaded  the  very  words  of  this  promise  with 
God,  chap,  xxxii.  9. 

Verse  4.  Jacob  sent  and  called  Rachel  and  Leah ] 
He  had  probably  been  at  some  considerable  distance 
with  the  flocks  ;  and  for  the  greater  secrecy,  he  rather 
sends  for  them  to  the  field,  to  consult  them  on  this  most 
momentous  affair,  than  visit  them  in  their  tents,  wrhere 
probably  some  of  the  family  of  Laban  might  overhear 
their  conversation,  though  Laban  himself  was  at  the 
time  three  days’  journey  off.  It  is  possible  that  Jacob 
shore  his  sheep  at  the  same  time  ;  and  that  he  sent  for 
his  wives  and  household  furniture  to  erect  tents  on  the 
spot,  that  they  might  partake  of  the  festivities  usual 
on  such  occasions.  Thus  they  might  all  depart  with¬ 
out  being  suspected. 

Verse  7.  Changed  my  wages  ten  times ]  There  is  a 
stiange  diversity  among  the  ancient  versions,  and  an¬ 
cient  and  modern  interpreters,  on  the  meaning  of  these 
words,  flie  Hebrew  is  tZTJD  rntsrp  asereth  monim , 
which  Aquila  translates  <Je/ca  aptOyov ten  numbers ; 
Symmachus,  de/ca/uf  apiOyu,  ten  times  in  number ;  the 
Septuagint  dena  ayvuv,  ten  lambs ,  with  which  Origen 
appears  to  agree.  St.  Augustine  thinks  that  by  ten 
lambs  five  years’  wages  is  meant :  that  Laban  had  with- 

a 


1  changed  my  wages  Men  times;  but  a.  m.  2265. 
God  1  suffered  him  not  to  hurt  me.  1<39’ 

8  If  he  said  thus,  m  The  speckled  shall  be 
thy  wages  ;  then  all  the  cattle  bare  speckled  : 
and  if  he  said  thus,  The  ring-streaked  shall  be 
thy  hire  ;  then  bare  all  the  cattle  ring-streaked. 

9  Thus  God  hath  n  taken  away  the  cattle  of 
your  father,  and  given  them  to  me. 

1 0  And  it  came  to  pass  at  the  time  that  the 
cattle  conceived,  that  I  lifted  up  mine  eyes, 
and  saw  in  a  dream,  and,  behold,  the  0  rams 
which  leaped  upon  the  cattle  were  ring-streaked, 
speckled,  and  grisled. 

1 1  And  p  the  angel  of  G  od  spake  unto  me 

1  Ver.  41. - k  Num.  xiv.  22  ;  Neh.  iv.  12  ;  Job  xix.  3  ;  Zech. 

viii.  23. - 1  Chap.  xx.  6  ;  Psa.  cv.  14. - m  Chapter  xxx.  32. 

n  Ver.  1,  16. - 0  Or,  he-goats.- - p  Chap,  xlviii.  16. 

held  from  him  all  the  party-coloured  lambs  which  had 
been  brought  forth  for  five  years,  and  because  the  ewes 
brought  forth  lambs  twice  in  the  year,  bis  gravida  pe- 
cudes ,  therefore  the  number  ten  is  used,  Jacob  having 
been  defrauded  of  his  part  of  the  produce  of  ten  births. 
It  is  supposed  that  the  Septuagint  use.  lambs  for  years. 
as  Virgil  does  aristas. 

En  unquam  patrios  longo  post  tempore  fines, 
Pauperis  et  tuguri  congeslum  cespite  culmen, 
Post  aliquot  mea  regna  videns  mirabor  aristas  1 

Virg.  Ec.  i.,  ver.  68. 

Thus  inadequately  translated  by  Dryden  : — 

O  must  the  wretched  exiles  ever  mourn ; 

Nor,  after  length  of  rolling  years,  return  1 
Are  we  condemn’d  by  Fate’s  unjust  decree, 

No  more  our  harvests  and  our  homes  to  see  ? 

Or  shall  we  mount  again  the  rural  throng, 

And  rule  the  country,  kingdoms  once  our  own  ? 

Here  aristas ,  which  signifies  ears  of  corn ,  is  put  for 
harvest ,  harvest  for  autumn ,  and  autumn  for  years. 
After  all,  it  is  most  natural  to  suppose  that  Jacob  uses 
the  word  ten  times  for  an  indefinite  number,  which  we 
might  safely  translate  frequently  ;  and  that  it  means  an 
indefinite  number  in  other  parts  of  the  sacred  writings, 
is  evident  from  Lev.  xxvi.  26  :  Ten  women  shall  bake 
your  bread  in  one  oven.  Eccles.  vii.  19  :  Wisdom 
strengthened  the  wise  more  than  ten  mighty  men  the 
city.  Num.  xiv.  22  :  Because  all  these  men  have 
tempted  me  now  these  ten  times.  Job  xix.  3  :  These 
ten  times  have  ye  reproached  me.  Zech.  viii.  23  '.In 
those  days — ten  men  shall  take  hold  of  the  skirt  of 
him  that  is  a  Jew.  Rev.  ii.  10  :  Ye  shall  have  tribu¬ 
lation  ten  days. 

Verse  11.  The  angel  of  God  spake  unto  me  in  a 
dream ]  It  is  strange  that  we  had  not  heard  of  this 
dream  before  ;  and  yet  it  seems  to  have  taken  place  be¬ 
fore  the  cattle  brought  forth,  immediately  after  the  bar¬ 
gain  between  him  and  Laban.  If  we  follow  the  Sa¬ 
maritan  the  difficulty  is  at  once  removed,  for  it  gives 
us  the  whole  of  this  dream  after  verse  36  of  the  pre¬ 
ceding  chapter. 


189 


GENESIS. 


Jacob  and  his  family 
a.  M.  2265.  in  a  dream,  saving,  Jacob  :  and  I 

B.  C.  1739.  .  .  -u-  i 

_ _  said,  Here  am  I. 

1 2  And  he  said,  Lift  up  now  thine  eyes,  and 
see,  all  the  rams  which  leap  upon  the  cattle 
are  ring-streaked,  speckled,  and  grisled  :  for 
9  I  have  seen  all  that  Laban  doeth  unto  thee. 

1 3  I  am  the  God  of  Beth-el,  r  where  thou 
anointedst  the  pillar,  and  where  thou  vowedst 
a  vow  unto  me  :  now  s  arise,  get  thee  out  from 
this  land,  and  return  unto  the  land  of  thy 
kindred. 

14  And  Rachel  and  Leah  answered  and  said 
unto  him,  t  Is  there  yet  any  portion  or  inherit¬ 
ance  for  us  in  our  father’s  house  ? 

15  Are  we  not  counted  of  him  strangers  ? 
for  u  he  hath  sold  us,  and  hath  quite  devoured 
also  our  money. 

•i  Exocl.  iii.  7. - rChap.  xxviii.  18,  19,  20. - 3  Ver.  3;  chap. 

xxxii.  9. - 1  Chap.  ii.  24. - u  Chap.  xxix.  15,  27. 

Verse  12.  Grisled J  D  beruddim ;  YT3  bar  ad  sig¬ 
nifies  Aou7,and  the  meaning  must  be,  they  had  white  spots 
on  them  similar  to  hail.  Our  word  grisled  comes  from 
the  old  French,  gresle,  hail ,  now  written  grele  ;  hence 
gresle,  grisled,  spotted  with  white  upon  a  dark  ground. 

Verse  15.  Are  we  not  counted  of  him  strangers  ?] 
Rachel  and  Leah,  who  well  knew  the  disposition  of 
their  father,  gave  him  here  his  true  character.  He 
has  treated  us  as  strangers — as  slaves  whom  he  had 
a  right  to  dispose  of  as  he  pleased  ;  in  consequence, 
he  hath  sold  us — disposed  of  us  on  the  mere  princi¬ 
ple  of  gaining  by  the  sale. 

And  hath  quite  devoured  also  our  money .]  Has  ap¬ 
plied  to  his  own  use  the  profits  of  the  sale,  and  has 
allowed  us  neither  portion  nor  inheritance. 

Verse  19.  Laban  went  to  shear  his  sheep ]  Laban  had 
gone;  and  this  was  a  favourable  time  not  only  to  take  his 
images,  but  to  return  to  Canaan  without  being  perceived. 

Rachel  had  stolen  the  images ]  teraphim. 

What  the  teraphim  were  is  utterly  unknown.  In  ver. 
30  they  are  termed  ’PlSx  elohai ,  gods  ;  and  to  some  it 
appears  very  likely  that  they  were  a  sort  of  images 
devoted  to  superstitious  purposes,  not  considered  as 
gods,  but  as  representatives  of  certain  Divine  attributes. 
Dr.  Shuckford  supposes  them  to  be  a  sort  of  tiles,  on 
which  the  names  or  figures  of  their  ancestors  were  en¬ 
graven.  Theodoret,  in  his  89th  question,  calls  them 
idols  ;  and  says  that  Rachel,  who  was  a  type  of  the 
true  Church,  stole  them  from  her  father  that  he  might 
be  delivered  from  idolatry.  R.  S.  Jarclii  gives  nearly 
the  same  reason. 

The  Tar  gum  of  Jonathan  ben  Uzziel  gives  a  strange 
turn  to  the  whole  passage.  “  And  Rachel  stole  the 
images  of  her  father :  for  they  had  murdered  a  man, 
who  was  a  first-born  son ;  and  having  cut  off  his  head, 
they  embalmed  it  with  salt  and  spices,  and  they  wrote 
divinations  upon  a  plate  of  gold,  and  put  it  under  his 
tongue  ;  and  placed  it  against  the  wall,  and  it  conversed 
with  them,  and  Laban  worshipped  it.  And  Jacob  stole 

190 


steal  away  from  Laban. 

16  For  all  the  riches  which  God  a.  m.  2265. 

hath  taken  from  our  father,  that  J _ 1 _ 

is  ours,  and  our  children’s:  now  then,  what¬ 
soever  God  hath  said  unto  thee,  do. 

17  Then  Jacob  rose  up,  and  set  his  sons  and 
his  wives  upon  camels  ; 

18  And  he  carried  away  all  his  cattle,  and 
all  his  goods  which  he  had  gotten,  (the  cattle 
of  his  getting,  which  he  had  gotten  in  Padan- 
aram,)  for  to  go  to  Isaac  his  father  in  the  land 
of  Canaan. 

1 9  And  Iiaban  went  to  shear  his  sheep  :  and 
Rachel  had  stolen  the  v  images  w  that  were  her 
father’s. 

20  And  Jacob  stole  away,  x  unawares  to 
Laban  the  Syrian,  in  that  he  told  him  not  that 
he  fled. 

v  Heb.  teraphim;  Judg.  xvii.  5;  1  Sam.  xix.  13  ;  Hosea  iii.  4, 
w  Chap.  xxxv.  2. - x  Heb.  the  heart  of  Laban. 

the  science  of  Laban  the  Syrian,  that  it  might  not 
discover  his  departure.” 

If  the  w’ord  be  derived  from  rapha,  to  heal  or 
restore,  then  the  teraphim  may  be  considered  as  a  sort 
of  talismans,  kept  for  the  purpose  of  averting  and  curing 
diseases  ;  and  probably  were  kept  by  Laban  for  the  same 
purpose  that  the  Romans  kept  their  lares  and  penates. 
It  is  however  possible  that  D*2*Vl  teraphim  is  the  same 
as  seraphim,  the  P  tau  and  W  sin  being  changed, 

which  is  very  frequent  in  the  Syrian  or  Chaldee  lan¬ 
guage  ;  and  we  know  that  Laban  was  an  Aramean  or 
Syrian.  Fire  has  been  considered  from  the  earliest 
ages  as  a  symbol  of  the  Deity  ;  and  as  the  word  sefa- 
phim  comes  from  rpi?  saraph ,  to  burn,  it  has  been  con¬ 
jectured  that  the  teraphim  of  Laban  were  luminous 
forms,  prepared  of  burnished  brass,  ’&c.,  which  he 
might  imagine  a  proper  medium  of  communication  be¬ 
tween  God  and  his  worshippers.  Mr.  Parkhurst  has 
observed  that  the  teraphim  were  in  use  among  believers 
and  unbelievers.  Among  the  former,  see  this  chapter ; 
for  he  denies  that  La.ban  was  an  idolater.  See  also 
Judg.  xvii.  5  ;  xviii.  14,  18,  20;  1  Sam.  xix.  13,  16. 
Among  the  latter,  see  2  Kings  xxiii.  24  ;  Ezek.  xxi. 
21  ;  Zech.  x.  2.  Compare  1  Sam.  xv.  23,  and  Hos. 
iii.  4.  These  are  all  the  places  in  which  the  original 
word  is  found. 

The  Persian  translator  seems  to  have  considered 
these  teraphim  as  tables  or  instruments  that  served  for 
purposes  of  judicial  astrology,  and  hence  translates  the 
word  asterlabha ,  astrolabes.  As  the  astro¬ 

labe  was  an  instrument  with  which  they  took  the  alti¬ 
tude  of  the  pole-star,  the  sun,  &c.,  it  might,  in  the 
notion  of  the  Persian  translator,  imply  tables,  &c.,  by 
which  the  culminating  of  particular  stars  knight  be 
determined,  and  the  whole  serve  foi  purposes  o(  judi¬ 
cial  astrology.  Now  as  many  who  have  professed 
themselves  to  be  believers  in  Christianity,  have  never¬ 
theless  addicted  themselves  to  judicial  astrology,  we 
might  suppose  such  a  thing  in  this  case,  and  still  con- 


overtake  them  at  Mount  Gilead. 


Laban  and  his  friends  pursue,  and  CHAP.  XXXI. 


A.  M.  2265.  21  So  he  fled  with  all  that  he 

—1 — 1 - 1  had  ;  and  he  rose  up,  and  passed 

over  the  river,  and  y  set  his  face  toward  the 
mount  Gilead. 

22  And  it  was  told  Laban  on  the  third  day 
that  Jacob  was  fled. 

23  And  he  took  z  his  brethren  with  him,  and 
pursued  after  him  seven  days’  journey ;  and 
they  overtook  him  in  the  mount  Gilead. 

24  And  God  a  came  to  Laban  the  Syrian  in 
a  dream  by  night,  and  said  unto  him,  Take 
heed  that  thou  b  speak  not  to  Jacob  c  either 
good  or  bad. 

25  Then  Laban  overtook  Jacob.  Now  Ja¬ 
cob  had  pitched  his  tent  in  the  mount :  and 
Laban  with  his  brethren  pitched  in  the  mount 
of  Gilead. 

26  And  Laban  said  to  Jacob,  What  hast 
thou  done,  that  thou  hast  stolen  away  un¬ 


awares  to  me,  and  d  carried  away  A-  ^  22G5* 

J  B.  C.  1739. 

my  daughters,  as  captives  taken  — — 1 - 1 

with  the  sword  ? 

27  Wherefore  didst  thou  flee  away  secretly, 
and  e  steal  away  from  me ;  and  didst  not  tell 
me,  that  I  might  have  sent  thee  away  with 
mirth,  and  with  songs,  with  tabret,  and  with 
harp  ? 

28  And  hast  not  suffered  me  f  to  kiss  my 
sons  and  my  daughters  ?  s  thou  hast  now  done 
foolishly  in  so  doing. 

29  It  is  in  the  power  of  my  hand  to  do  you 
hurt :  but  the  h  God  of  your  father  spake  unto 
me  1  yesternight,  saying,  Take  thou  heed  that 
thou  speak  not  to  Jacob  either  good  or  bad. 

30  And  now,  though  thou  wouldest  needs  be 
gone,  because  thou  sore  longedst  after  thy 
father’s  house,  yet  wherefore  hast  thou  k  stolen 
my  gods  ? 


y  Chap.  xlvi.  28  ;  2  Kings  xii.  17  ;  Luke  ix.  51,  53. - z  Chap. 

xiii.  8. - 1  Chap.  xx.  3  ;  Job  xxxiii.  15  ;  Matt.  i.  20. - b  Ch. 

xxiv.  50. - c  Heb .  from  good  to  bad. - d  1  Sam.  xxx.  2. 


sider  Laban  as  no  idolater.  If  the  Persian  translator 
has  not  hit  on  the  true  meaning,  he  has  formed  the 
most  likely  conjecture. 

Verse  21.  Passed  over  the  river]  The  Euphrates , 
as  the  Targum  properly  notices.  But  how  could  he 
pass  such  a  river  with  his  flocks,  &c.  1  This  difficulty 
does  not  seem  to  have  struck  critics  in  general.  The 
rabbins  felt  it,  and  assert  that  God  wrought  a  miracle 
for  Jacob  on  this  occasion,  and  that  he  passed  overdry 
shod.  As  we  know  not  in  what  other  way  he  could 
pass,  it  is  prudent  to  refer  it  to  the  power  of  God, 
which  accompanied  him  through  the  whole  of  his  jour¬ 
ney.  There  might,  however,  have  been  fords  well 
known  to  both  Jacob  and  Laban,  by  which  they  might 
readily  pass. 

The  mount  Gilead.]  What  the  ancient  name  of  this 
mountain  was,  we  know  not ;  but  it  is  likely  that  it 
had  not  the  name  of  Gilead  till  after  the  transaction 
mentioned  ver.  47.  The  mountains  of  Gilead  were 
eastward  of  the  country  possessed  by  the  tribes  of 
Reuben  and  Gad  ;  and  extended  from  Mount  Hermon 
to  the  mountains  of  Moab. — Calmet.  It  is  joined  to 
Mount  Libanus,  and  includes  the  mountainous  region 
called  in  the  New  Testament  Trachonitis. — Dodd. 

Verse  24.  And  God  came  to  Lahan]  God’s  cau¬ 
tion  to  Laban  was  of  high  importance  to  Jacob — Take 
heed  that  thou  speak  not  to  Jacob  either  good  or  bad ; 
or  rather,  as  is  the  literal  meaning  of  the  Hebrew, 

TJ?  3133  mitlob  ad  ra ,  from  good  to  evil;  for  had 
he  neither  spoken  good  nor  evil  to  Jacob,  they  could 
have  had  no  intercourse  at  all.  The  original  is,  there¬ 
fore,  peculiarly  appropriate  ;  for  when  people  meet, 
the  language  at  first  is  the  language  of  friendship ;  the 
command  therefore  implies,  “  Do  not  begin  with  Peace 
be  unto  thee ,  and  then  proceed  to  injurious  language 
and  acts  of  violence .”  If  this  Divine  direction  were 

A 


e  Heb.  hast  stolen  me. - f  Ver.  55  ;  Ruth  i.  9, 14  ;  1  Kings  xix. 

20  ;  Acts  xx.  37. - s  1  Sam.  xiii.  13  ;  2  Chron.  xvi.  9. - h  Ver. 

53  ;  chap,  xxviii.  13. - 1  Ver.  24. - k  Ver.  19  ;  Judg.  xviii.  24. 


attended  to,  how  many  of  those  affairs  of  honour ,  so 
termed,  which  commence  with,  “  I  hope  you  are  well” 
— “  I  am  infinitely  glad  to  see  you” — “  I  am  happy 
to  see  you  well,”  &c.,  and  end  with  small  swords  and 
pistol  bullets,  would  be  prevented!  Where  God  and 
true  religion  act,  all  is  fair,  kind,  honest,  and  upright; 
but  where  these  are  not  consulted,  all  is  hollow,  deceit¬ 
ful,  or  malicious.  Beware  of  unmeaning  compliments, 
and  particularly  of  saying  what  thy  heart  feels  not. 
God  hates  a  hypocrite  and  a  deceiver. 

Verse  27.  I  might  have  sent  thee  away  with  mirth ] 
besimehah ,  with  rejoicing,  making  a  feast  or 
entertainment  on  the  occasion  ;  and  with  songs, 
beshirim,  odes  either  in  the  praise  of  God,  or  to  com¬ 
memorate  the  splendid  acts  of  their  ancestors  ;  with 
tabret ,  bethoph,  the  tympanum  used  in  the  east 

to  the  present  day,  and  there  called  t  \\  diff,  a  thin 
broad  wooden  hoop,  with  parchment  extended  over  one 
end  of  it,  to  which  are  attached  small  pieces  of  brass, 
tin,  &c.,  which  make  a  jingling  noise  ;  it  is  held  in 
the  air  with  one  hand,  and  beat  on  with  the  fingers  of 
the  other.  It  appears  to  have  been  precisely  the 
same  with  that  which  is  called  the  tambourine,  and 
which  is  frequently  to  be  met  with  in  our  streets.  And 
with  harp,  *V)JD3  bekinnor,  a  sort  of  stringed  instru¬ 
ment,  a  lute  or  harp ;  probably  the  same  as  the  Greek 
tavvpa  kinura,  a  harp  ;  the  name  being  evidently  bor¬ 
rowed  from  the  Hebrew.  These  four  things  seem  to 
include  all  that  was  used  in  those  primitive  times,  as 
expressive  of  gladness  and  satisfaction  on  the  most 
joyous  occasions. 

Verse  29.  It  is  in  the  power  of  my  hand  to  do  you 
hurt]  Literally,  My  hand  is  unto  God  to  do  you  evil , 
i.  e.,  I  have  vowed  to  God  that  I  will  punish  thee  for 
thy  flight,  and  the  stealing  of  my  teraphim ;  but  the 
God  of  your  father  has  prevented  me  from  doing  it. 

191 


GENESIS. 


Jacob  chides  with  him 


Laban  searches  for  his  images 
a.  M.  2265.  31  And  Jacob  answered  and  said 

B  0  1739 

_ _ _ — A  to  Laban,  Because  I  was  afraid  : 

for  I  said,  Peradventure  thou  wouldest  take 
by  force  thy  daughters  from  me. 

32  With  whomsoever  thou  findest  thy  gods, 
1  let  him  not  live  :  before  our  brethren  discern 
thou  what  is  thine  with  me,  and  take  it  to 
thee.  For  Jacob  knew  not  that  Rachel  had 
stolen  them. 

33  And  Laban  went  into  Jacob’s  tent,  and 
into  Leah’s  tent,  and  into  the  two  maid-ser¬ 
vants’  tents ;  but  he  found  them  not.  Then 
went  he  out  of  Leah’s  tent,  and  entered  into 
Rachel’s  tent. 

34  Now  Rachel  had  taken  the  images,  and 
put  them  in  the  camel’s  furniture,  and  sat 
upon  them.  And  Laban  m  searched  all  the 
tent,  but  found  them  not. 

35  And  she  said  to  her  father,  Let  it  not 
displease  my  lord  that  I  cannot  n  rise  up  be- 

1  See  chap.  xliv.  9. - m  Heb  .felt. - n  Exod.  xx.  12 ; 

It  is  a  singular  instance  that  the  plural  pronoun,  when 
addressing  an  individual ,  should  be  twice  used  in  this 
place — the  God  of  your  father,  CJD'QX  abichem ,  for 
abicha,  thy  father. 

Verse  32.  Let  him  not  live]  It  appears  that  an¬ 
ciently  theft  was  punished  by  death  ;  and  we  know  that 
the  patriarchs  had  the  power  of  life  and  death  in  their 
hands.  But  previously  to  the  law,  the  punishment  of 
death  was  scarcely  ever  inflicted  but  for  murder.  The 
rabbins  consider  that  this  was  an  imprecation  used  by 
Jacob,  as  if  he  had  said,  Let  God  take  away  the  life 
of  the  person  who  has  stolen  them  !  And  that  this 
was  answered  shortly  after  in  the  death  of  Rachel, 
chap.  xxxv. 

Verse  35.  The  custom  of  women  is  upon  me.]  This 
she  knew  must  be  a  satisfactory  reason  to  her  father ; 
for  if  the  teraphim  were  used  to  any  religious  purpose, 
and  they  seem  to  have  been  used  in  this  way,  as  La¬ 
ban  calls  them  his  gods,  he  therefore  could  not  suspect 
that  a  woman  in  such  a  situation,  whose  touch  was  con¬ 
sidered  as  defiling,  would  have  sat  upon  articles  that 
were  either  the  objects  of  his  adoration,  or  used  for 
any  sacred  purpose.  The  stratagem  succeeded  to  her 
wish,  and  Laban  departed  without  suspicion.  It  seems 
very  natural  to  suppose  that  Rachel  did  believe  that 
by  the  use  of  these  teraphim  Laban  could  find  out  their 
flight,  and  the  direction  they  took,  and  therefore  she 
stole  them ;  and  having  stolen  them  she  was  afraid  to 
acknowledge  the  theft,  and  probably  might  think  that 
they  might  be  of  some  use  to  herself.  Therefore,  for 
these  reasons,  she  brought  them  away. 

Verse  36.  And  Jacob  was  wroth,  and  chode  with 
Laban]  The  expostulation  of  Jacob  with  Laban,  and 
their  consequent  agreement,  are  told  in  this  place  with 
great  spirit  and  dignity.  Jacob  was  conscious  that 
though  he  had  made  use  of  cunning  to  increase  his 
flocks,  yet  Laban  had  been  on  the  whole  a  great  gainer 

192 


fore  thee  ;  for  the  custom  of  women  a.  m.  2265. 

.  ...  11,  B.  C.  1739. 

is  upon  me.  And  he  searched,  but - 

found  not  the  images. 

36  And  Jacob  was  wroth,  and  chode  with 
Laban:  and  Jacob  answered  and  said  to 
Laban,  What  is  my  trespass  ?  what  is  my  sin, 
that  thou  hast  so  hotly  pursued  after  me  ? 

37  Whereas  thou  hast  searched  all  my  stuff, 
what  hast  thou  found  of  all  thy  household  stuff? 
set  it  here  before  my  brethren  and  thy  bre¬ 
thren,  that  they  may  judge  betwixt  us  both. 

38  This  twenty  years  have  I  been  with  thee ; 
thy  ewes  and  thy  she-goats  have  not  cast 
their  young,  and  the  rams  of  thy  flock  have  I 
not  eaten. 

39  0  That  which  was  torn  of  beasts  I  brought 
not  unto  thee  ;  I  bare  the  loss  of  it ;  of  p  my 
hand  didst  thou  require  it,  whether  stolen  by 
day,  or  stolen  by  night. 

40  Thus  I  was ;  in  the  day  the  drought 

Lev.  xix.  32. - 0  Exod.  xxii.  10,  &c. - p  Exod.  xxii.  12. 

by  his  services.  He  had  served  him  at  least  twenty 
years,  fourteen  for  Rachel  and  Leah,  and  six  for  the 
cattle  ;  and  some  suppose  he  had  served  him  twenty 
years  besides  the  above,  which  is  not  unlikely  :  see  the 
remarks  at  the  conclusion  of  this  chapter.  Forty  or 
even  twenty  years  of  a  man’s  life,  devoted  to  incessant 
labour  and  constantly  exposed  to  all  the  inclemencies 
of  the  weather,  (see  ver.  40,)  deserve  more  than  an 
ordinary  reward.  Laban’s  constitutional  sin  was  covet¬ 
ousness,  and  it  was  an  easily  besetting  sin ;  for  it  ap¬ 
pears  to  have  governed  all  his  conduct,  and  to  have 
rendered  him  regardless  of  the  interests  of  his  chil¬ 
dren,  so  long  as  he  could  secure  his  own.  That  he  had 
frequently  falsified  his  agreement  with  Jacob,  though 
the  particulars  are  not  specified,  we  have  already  had 
reason  to  conjecture  from  ver.  7,  and  with  this  Jacob 
charges  his  father-in-law,  in  the  most  positive  manner, 
ver.  41.  Perhaps  some  previous  unfair  transactions 
of  this  kind  were  the  cause  why  Jacob  was  led  to  adopt 
the  expedient  of  outwitting  Laban  in  the  case  of  the  spot¬ 
ted,  spangled ,  ring-streaked,  and  grisled  cattle.  This 
if  it  did  take  place,  though  it  cannot  justify  the  measure, 
is  some  palliation  of  it ;  and  almost  the  whole  of  Jacob’s 
conduct,  as  far  as  relates  to  Laban,  can  be  better  ex¬ 
cused  than  his  injuring  Laban’s  breed,  by  leaving  him 
none  but  the  weak,  unhealthy,  and  degenerated  cattle. 

Verse  39.  That  which  was  torn — of  my  hand  didst 
thou  require  it]  This  more  particularly  marks  the 
covetous  and  rigorous  disposition  of  Laban  ;  for  the 
law  of  God  required  that  what  had  been  torn  by  beasts 
the  shepherd  should  not  be  obliged  to  make  good,  Exod. 
xxii.  10,  13.  And  it  is  very  likely  that  this  law  was 
in  force  from  the  earliest  times. 

.Verse  40.  In  the  day  the  drought  consumed  me,  and 
the  frost  by  night]  The  being  exposed  to  the  heat  by 
day,  and  frost  by  night ,  is  made  part  of  the  heaviest 
punishment  of  Prometheus  by  JEschylus . 

a 


CHAP.  XXXI. 


Jacob  expostulates  with  Laban . 

A.  M.  2265.  consumed  me,  and  the  frost  by 

— ! _ 1  night ;  and  my  sleep  departed  from 

mine  eyes. 

4  1  Thus  have  I  been  twenty  years  in  thy 
house  ;  I  *  served  thee  fourteen  years  for  thy 
two  daughters,  and  six  years  for  thy  cattle  : 
and  r  thou  hast  changed  my  wages  ten  times. 

42  s  Except  the  God  of  my  father,  the  God 
of  Abraham,  and  4  the  fear  of  Isaac,  had  been 
with  me,  surely  thou  hadst  sent  me  away  now 
empty.  u  God  hath  seen  mine  affliction  and 
the  labour  of  my  hands,  and * *  v *  rebuked  thee 
yesternight. 

43  And  Laban  answered  and  said  unto  Ja¬ 
cob,  These  daughters  are  my  daughters,  and 
these  children  are  my  children,  and  these  cat¬ 
tle  are  my  cattle,  and  all  that  thou  seest  is 
mine  :  and  what  can  I  do  this  day  unto  these 
my  daughters,  or  unto  their  children  which 
they  have  born  ? 

1  Chap.  xxix.  27,  28. - rVer.  7. - s  Psa.  cxxiv.  1,  2. 

1  Verse  53  ;  Isa.  viii.  13.' - u  Chap.  xxix.  32  ;  Exodus  iii.  7. 

v  1  Chron.  xii.  17 ;  Jude  9. - w  Chapter  xxvi.  28.  x  Josh. 

xxiv.  27. 


■ - Hradevrog  6’  i/hiov  tyoifiy  tyTioyi, 

Xpotag  aye  lips  eg  avGog"  acyevp  6e  col 
’H  yzouaheiyuv  vvt;  arcoKpvxpEL  <baog‘ 

Haxvrjv  Q’  t'pav  r/hiog  c/csda  Tra2.iv. 

JEschyl.  Prom.  Vine.,  v.  22. 

Opposed  to  the  sun’s  most  fervid  beam, 

The  hue  of  beauty  changed ;  till  parch’d  by  heat 
The  night  with  spangled  stole  shall  hide  its  light 
From  thee  rejoicing,  but  again  the  sun 
Chases  the  hoar  frost  from  thy  harass’d  form. 

J.  B.  B.  C. 

Verse  4 1 .  Twenty  years ]  See  the  remarks  at  the  end. 
Verse  42.  The  fear  of  Isaac ]  It  is  strange  that 

Jacob  should  say,  the  God  of  Abraham  and  the  fear 
of  Isaac,  when  both  words  are  meant  of  the  same  Be- 
in  <r.  The  reason  perhaps  was  this  ;  Abraham  was  long 
since  dead,  and  God  was  his  unalienable  portion  for 
ever.  Isaac  was  yet  alive  in  a  state  of  probation ,  liv¬ 
ing  in  the  fear  of  God,  not  exempt  from  the  danger  of 
falling ;  therefore  God  is  said  to  be  his  fear — not  only 
the  object  of  his  religious  worship  in  a  general  way, 
but  that  holy  and  just  God  before  whom  he  was  still 
working  out  his  salvation  with  fear  and  trembling — fear 
lest  he  should  fall,  and  trembling  lest  he  should  offend. 

Verse  46.  Made  a  heap ]  Si  gal ,  translated  heap, 
signifies  properly  a  round  heap  ;  and  this  heap  was 
probably  made  for  the  double  purpose  of  an  altar  and 
a  table,  and  Jacob’s  stone  or  pillar  was  set  on  it  for  the 
purpose  of  a  memorial. 

Verse  47.  Laban  called  it  Jegar-sahadutha]  TP 
XnnnBt  yegar  sahadutha,  the  heap  or  round  heap  of 
witness ;  but  Jacob  called  it  galed ,  which  signi¬ 
fies  the  same  thing.  The  first  is  pure  Chaldee ,  the 

Vol.  I.  (  14  ) 


They  set  up  a  monument 

44  Now  therefore,  come  thou,  w  let  A.  M.  2265. 

us  make  a  covenant,  1  and  thou  ;  _ 

x  and  let  it  be  for  a  witness  between  me  and  thee 

45  And  Jacob  y  took  a  stone,  and  set  it  up 
for  a  pillar. 

46  And  Jacob  said  unto  his  brethren,  Gather 
stones ;  and  they  took  stones,  and  made  a 
heap  :  and  they  did  eat  there  upon  the  heap. 

47  And  Laban  called  it  2  Jegar-sabadutha : 
but  Jacob  called  it  a  Galeed. 

48  And  Laban  said,  b  This  heap  is  a  witness 
between  me  and  thee  this  day.  Therefore 
was  the  name  of  it  called  Galeed, 

49  And  c  Mizpah ;  d  for  he  said,  The  Lord 
watch  between  me  and  thee,  when  we  are  ab¬ 
sent  one  from  another. 

50  If  thou  shalt  afflict  my  daughters,  or  if 
thou  shalt  take  other  wives  beside  my  daugh¬ 
ters,  (no  man  is  with  us  ;)  see,  God  is  witness 
betwixt  me  and  thee. 


y  Chap,  xxviii.  18. - z  That  is,  the  heap  of  witness  ;  Chald. 

a  That  is,  the  heap  of  witness ;  Heb. - b  Josh.  xxiv.  27, 

c  Judges  xi.  29  ;  1  Sam.  vii.  5. - d  That  is,  a  beacon  or 

watch  tower. 


second  pure  Hebrew.  “UK  agar  signifies  to  collect , 
hence  “U1  yegar  and  “U1X  ogar,  a  collection  or  heap 
made  up  of  gathered  stones  ;  and  hence  also  &OUN 
egora ,  an  altar,  used  frequently  by  the  Chaldee  para¬ 
phrase  See  1  Kings  xii.  33  ;  Judg.  vi.  31  ;  2  Kings 
xxi.  3  ;  Jer.  xvii.  1.  See  Caste! s  Lexicon.  From 
this  example  we  may  infer  that  the  Chaldee  language 
was  nearly  coeval  with  the  Hebrew.  A  gloss  made 
by  St.  Jerome,  and  which  was  probably  only  entered 
by  him  in  his  margin  as  a  note,  has  crept  into  the  text 
of  the  Vulgate.  It  is  found  in  every  copy  of  this 
version,  and  is  as  follows  :  Uterque  juxta  proprieta- 
tem  linguae  suae,  Each  according  to  the  idiom  of  his 
own  tongue. 

Verses  48,  49.  I  think  these  two  verses  are  badly 
divided,  and  should  be  read  thus  : — 

Verse  48.  And  Laban  said,  This  heap  is  a  witness 
between  me  and  thee  this  day. 

Verse  49.  Therefore  was  the  name  of  it  called  Ga¬ 
leed  and  Mizpah  ;  for  he  said,  The  Lord  ivatch  between 
me  and  thee ,  when  ive  are  absent  one  from  another. 

Mizpah ]  TtDXro  mitspah  signifies  a  watch-tower  ; 
and  Laban  supposes  that  in  consequence  of  the  conse¬ 
cration  of  the  place,  and  the  covenant  now  solemnly 
made  and  ratified,  that  God  would  take  possession  of 
this  heap,  and  stand  on  it  as  on  a  watch-tower,  to  pre¬ 
vent  either  of  them  from  trenching  on  the  conditions 
of  their  covenant. 

Verse  50.  No  man  is  with  ns]  Though  all  were 
present  at  the  sacrifice  offered,  yet  it  appears  that  in 
making  the  contract  Jacob  and  Laban  withdrew,  and 
transacted  the  business  in  private,  calling  on  God  to 
witness  it. 

Jacob  had  already  four  wives  ;  but  Laban  feared  that 

193 


GENESIS. 


"Laban  and  Jacob  part 


A.  M.  2265.  51  And  Laban  said  to  Jacob, 

11'39’-  Behold  this  heap,  and  behold  this 
pillar,  which  I  have  cast  betwixt  me  and 
thee ; 


52  This  heap  be  witness,  and  this  pillar  be 
witness,  that  I  will  not  pass  over  this  heap  to 
thee,  and  that  thou  shalt  not  pass  over  this 
heap  and  this  pillar  unto  me,  for  harm. 

53  The  God  of  Abraham,  and  the  God  of 
Nahor,  the  God  of  their  father,  e  judge  be- 


e  Chap.  xvi.  5. - f  Chap.  xxi.  23. - s  Yer.  42. - h  Or,  killed 

I 

he  might  take  others,  whose  children  would  naturally 
come  in  for  a  share  of  the  inheritance  to  the  prejudice 
of  his  daughters  and  grandchildren.  Though  the  Ko¬ 
ran  allows  a  man  to  have  four  wives  if  he  can  main¬ 
tain  them,  yet  we  learn  that  in  many  cases  where  a 
man  takes  a  wife,  the  parents  or  relatives  of  the 
woman  stipulate  that  the  man  is  not  to  take  another 
during  the  lifetime  of  that  one  whom  he  now  espouses; 
and  notwithstanding  the  permission  of  the  Koran,  he 
is  obliged  to  fulfil  this  agreement. 

Verse  51.  And  Laban  said  to  Jacob — behold  this 
pillar ,  which  I  have  cast  betwixt  me  and  thee ]  But 
this  pillar,  not  cast  but  set  up ,  was  certainly  set  up  by 
Jacob ;  for  in  ver.  45  we  read,  And  Jacob  took  a  stone , 
and  set  it  up  for  a  pillar :  it  is  therefore  for  the  honour 
of  one  Hebrew  and  one  Samaritan  MS.  that  they  have 
preserved  the  true  reading  in  ver.  51,  JVT  yaritha, 
thou  hast  set  up. — Kennicott.  Instead  of  either  of 

the  above  readings  the  Samaritan  text  has  fcLJ'JR 
yarata,  The  pillar  which  thou  seest  betwixt  me  and  thee. 

Verse  53.  The  God  of  their  father]  As  Laban  cer¬ 
tainly  speaks  of  the  true  God  here,  with  what  propriety 
can  he  say  that  this  God  was  the  God  of  Terah ,  the 
father  of  Abraham  and  Nahor  ?  It  is  certain  that  Terah 
was  an  idolater  ;  of  this  we  have  the  most  positive 
proof,  Josh.  xxiv.  2.  Because  the  clause  is  not  in  the 
Septuagint,  and  is  besides  wanting  in  some  MSS.,  Dr. 
Kennicott  considers  it  an  interpolation.  But  there  is 
no  need  of  having  recourse  to  this  expedient  if  we 
adopt  the  reading  tZJD^N  abichem ,  your  father ,  for 
CDiTSK  abihem,  their  father ,  which  is  supported  by 
several  of  Kennicott’s  and  De  Rossi’s  MSS.,  and  is 
precisely  the  same  form  made  use  of  by  Laban,  ver. 
29,  when  addressing  Jacob,  and  appears  to  me  to  be 
used  here  in  the  same  way ;  for  he  there  most  mani¬ 
festly  uses  the  plural  pronoun ,  when  speaking  only  to 
Jacob  himself.  It  is  therefore  to  be  considered  as  a 
form  of  speech  peculiar  to  Laban ;  at  least  we  have 
two  instances  of  his  use  of  it  in  this  chapter. 

Jacob  sware  by  the  fear  of  his  father  Isaac.]  See 
on  ver.  42. 

Verse  54.  Offered  sacrifice  upon  the  mount]  It  is 
very  likely  that  Laban  joined  in  this  solemn  religious 
rite,  and  that,  having  offered  the  blood  and  fat  to  God, 
they  feasted  upon  the  sacrifice. 

Verse  55.  Kissed  his  sons  and  his  daughters]  That 
is,  his  grandchildren ,  Jacob’s  eleven  sons  with  Dinah 
their  sister,  and  their  mothers  Leah  and  Rachel.  All 
these  he  calls  his  children ,  ver.  43.  And  blessed 
a  194 


in  a  friendly  manner . 

twixt  us.  And  Jacob  f  sware  by  A.  M.  2265. 
s  the  fear  of  his  father  Isaac.  B.  C.  1739^ 

54  Then  Jacob  h  offered  sacrifice  upon  the 
mount,  and  called  his  brethren  to  eat  bread : 
and  they  did  eat  bread,  and  tarried  all  night 
in  the  mount. 

55  And  early  in  the  morning  Laban  rose  up, 
and  kissed  his  sons  and  his  daughters,  and 
1  blessed  them  :  and  Laban  departed,  and  k  re¬ 
turned  unto  his  place. 


beasts. - >  Chap,  xxviii.  1. - k  Chap,  xviii.  33  ;  xxx.  25. 

them — prayed  heartily  for  their  prosperity,  though  we 
find  from  ver.  29  that  he  came  having  bound  himself 
by  a  vow  to  God  to  do  them  some  injury.  Thus  God 
turned  his  intended  curse  into  a  blessing. 

The  most  important  topics  in  this  chapter  have 
already  been  considered  in  the  notes,  and  to  those  the 
reader  is  referred.  Jacob’s  character  we  have  already 
seen,  and  hitherto  have  met  in  it  little  to  admire  ;  but 
\ve  shall  soon  find  a  blessed  change  both  in  his  mind 
and  in  his  conduct.  Laban’s  character  appears  in 
almost  every  instance  to  disadvantage  ;  he  does  not 
seem  to  be  what  we  commonly  term  a  wicked  man, 
but  he  was  certainly  both  weak  and  covetous  ;  and 
covetousness  extinguished  in  him,  as  it  does  in  all  its 
votaries,  the  principles  of  righteousness  and  benevo¬ 
lence,  and  the  very  charities  of  human  life.  Provided 
he  could  get  an  increase  of  property,  he  regarded  not 
who  was  wronged  or  who  suffered.  In  this  case  he 
hid  himself  even  from  his  own  bowels,  and  cared  not 
that  his  own  children  should  lack  even  the  necessaries 
of  life,  provided  he  could  increase  his  own  store  !  How 
watchful  should  we  be  against  this  destructive,  un¬ 
natural,  and  degrading  vice  !  It  is  impossible  for  a 
man  who  loves  money  to  love  either  God  or  man ;  and 
consequently  he  must  be  in  the  broad  way  that  leads 
to  destruction. 

For  the  difficulties  in  the  chronology  of  Jacob’s 
sojourning  in  Padan-aram,  I  beg  leave  to  refer  to  the 
following  remarks. 

Remarks  upon  Gen.  xxxi.  38,  &c.,  relative  to  the 

time  spent  by  Jacob  in  the  service  of  his  father-in- 

law  Laban,  in  Mesopotamia ;  from  Dr.  Kennicott. 

“  If  every  reading  which  introduces  but  a  single 
difficulty  demands  our  attention,  much  greater  must 
that  demand  be  when  several  difficulties  are  caused  by 
any  one  mistake,  or  any  one  mistranslation.  Of  this 
nature  is  the  passage  before  us,  which  therefore  shall 
be  here  considered  more  fully,  especially  as  I  have 
not  already  submitted  to  the  learned  any  remarks  upon 
this  subject.  Jacob’s  age,  at  the  time  of  his  going  to 
Laban,  has  (till  very  lately)  been  fixed,  perhaps  uni¬ 
versally,  at  seventy-seven  years.  But  I  think  it  has 
been  shown  by  the  learned  Mr.  Skinner ,  in  an  excel¬ 
lent  dissertation,  (4to.  1765,)  that  the  number  seventy- 
seven  cannot  here  be  right. 

“  Jacob  was  one  hundred  and  thirty  when  he  went 
down  (with  sixty-six  persons)  into  Egypt.  Joseph 

(  14*  ) 


Reasons  to  prove  that  Jacob  CHAP. 

had  then  been  governor  ten  years  ;  and  when  made 
governor  was  thirty  ;  therefore  Jacob  could  not  be 
more  than  ninety  at  the  birth  of  Joseph.  Now,  upon 
supposition  that  Jacob  was  seventy -seven  at  going  to 
Laban,  and  that  he  had  no  son  till  he  was  eighty-five , 
and  that  he,  with  eleven  sons,  left  Laban  at  ninety- 
seven.  there  will  follow  these  amongst  other  strange 
consequences  which  are  enumerated  by  Mr.  Skinner, 
page  11,  &c.  :  1.  Though  Isaac  and  Esau  married  at 
forty ,  Jacob  goes  at  seventy -seven  to  look  for  a  wife, 
and  agrees  to  marry  her  seven  years  after.  2.  Issa- 
char  is  born  after  the  affair  of  the  mandrakes,  which 
Reuben  finds  and  brings  home  when  he  (Reuben)  was 
about  four  years  old  ;  that  is,  if  Issachar  was  born 
before  Joseph,  agreeably  to  Gen.  xxx.  18,  25.  3.  Ju¬ 
dah  begets  Er  at  thirteen ;  for  in  the  first  of  the  fol¬ 
lowing  tables  Judah  is  born  in  Jacob’s  year  eighty  - 
eight ,  and  Er  in  one  hundred  and  two.  4.  Er  marries 
at  nine,  and  is  destroyed  for  profligacy.  Er,  born  one 
hundred  and  two ,  marries  in  one  hundred  and  eleven. 
See  also  Gen.  xxxviii.  7.  5.  Onan  marries  at  eight; 

for  Onan,  born  in  one  hundred  and  three,  marries  in 
one  hundred  and  eleven.  6.  Shelah,  being  grown  at 
ten,  ought  to  be  married  ;  for  Shelah,  born  in  one 
hundred  and  four,  is  marriageable,  but  not  married  to 
Tamar  in  one  hundred  and  fourteen.  See  Gen.  xxxviii. 
14.  7.  Pharez  kept  from  marrying  while  young,  yet 

has  a  son  at  thirteen ;  for  Pharez,  born  in  one  hundred 
and  fifteen,  had  two  sons  at  going  to  Egypt  in  one 
hundred  and  thirty.  8.  Esau  goes  to  Ishmael  and 
marries  his  daughter,  after  Jacob  went  to  Laban  at 
seventy-seven  ;  though  Ishmael  died  when  Jacob  was 
sixty-three.  9.  If  Jacob  had  no  son  till  he  was  eighty - 
five,  and  if  Joseph  was  born  when  his  father  was 
ninety,  then  the  eleven  sons  and  Dinah  were  born  in 
five  years.  Lastly,  if  Jacob  had  no  son  till  eighty-five, 
and  he  went  to  Egypt  at  one  hundred  and  thirty,  with 
sixty-six  persons,  only  forty  five  years  are  allowed  for 
his  family  ;  whereas  the  larger  sum  of  sixty-five  years 
seems  necessary  for  the  births  of  so  many  children  and 
grandchildren.  On  this  subject  Le  Clerc  has  pro¬ 
nounced,  Hisce  in  rebus  occurrunt  nodi,  quos  nemo 
hactenus  solvit ;  neque  porro,  ut  opinor,  solvet.  There 
are  difficulties  here  ivhich  have  never  been  explained, 
and  in  my  opinion  never  can  be  explained.  But  upon 
the  single  principle  of  Mr.  Skinner,  that  Jacob  went  to 
Laban  at  fifty-seven,  (instead  of  seventy-seven ,)  these 
difficulties  are  solved.  And  it  only  remains  to  wish 
that  some  authority  may  be  found  to  support  this  con¬ 
jecture,  thus  strongly  founded  on  the  exigentia  loci. 
The  common  opinion  is  formed  by  reckoning  back 
from  the  age  of  Joseph,  when  governor  of  Egypt,  to 
the  time  of  his  birth,  and  from  the  twenty  years  which 
Jacob  was  with  Laban.  This  number,  Mr.  Skinner 
hinks,  was  originally  forty ;  and  I  think  that  the  He- 
jrew  text  as  it  now  stands  confirms  the  conjecture,  and 
furnishes  the  very  authority  which  is  so  much  wanted. 

“  After  Jacob  had  served  Laban  fourteen  years  for 
his  two  wives,  where  was  Jacob  to  reside  ?  Esau  was 
still  living ;  and  Jacob  might  well  be  afraid  of  return¬ 
ing  to  him,  till  more  years  of  absence  had  disarmed 

a 


XXXI.  ivas  with  Laban  forty  years. 

his  resentment ;  and  had  the  death  of  Esau  happened, 
Jacob  would  then  have  been  secure.  But  let  us  also 
remember  that  Isaac  was  still  alive,  and  that  Esau  had 
determined  to  kill  Jacob  whenever  their  father  should 
die.  It  would  therefore  be  no  wonder  if  Jacob  should 
have  desired  to  continue  longer  in  Haran.  And  to 
carry  this  point  more  effectually,  he  might  offer  to  take 
care  of  Laban’s  cattle,  and  to  live  in  his  neighbourhood, 
upon  such  terms  of  advantage  to  Laban  as  could  not 
easily  be  withstood.  Lastly,  when  the  good  effects 
to  Laban  from  this  connection  had  been  experienced, 
without  profit,  nay  with  some  losses,  to  Jacob,  for 
twenty  years,  Jacob  might  naturally  grow  tired  of  thus 
assisting  Laban  without  providing  for  his  own  growing 
family.  Accordingly  we  find  that  Jacob  covenants 
with  Laban  for  six  years  of  more  close  attendance  and 
service  in  Laban’s  own  house,  for  which  the  wages 
were  expressly  settled.  Agreeable  to  the  preceding 
possibilities  seems  to  have  been  the  fact,  Jacob  living 
in  Haran  forty  years,  and  in  this  manner  : — 

14  years  in  Laban’s  house,  a  covenant  servant  for  his 
wives. 

20  -  in  Laban’s  neighbourhood,  as  a  friend. 

6  - in  Laban’s  house,  a  covenant  servant  for  cattle. 

40 

“  Now  the  twenty  concurrent  years  of  neighbourly 
assistance,  and  the  disjointed  twenty  of  covenant  ser¬ 
vice,  seem  both  of  them  distinguished  in  the  history 
itself.  For  upon  Laban’s  pursuit  of  Jacob  he  men¬ 
tions  twenty  years  twice  ;  which  two  sets  of  twenty , 
if  really  different,  make  forty.  Each  mention  of  the 
twenty  years  is  introduced  with  the  word  HT  zeh ,  which 
word,  when  repeated,  is  used  by  way  of  distinction  ; 
as  when  we  say,  this  and  that,  the  one  or  the  other. 
Thus,  Exod.  xiv.  20  :  So  that  the  one  came  not  near 
the  other.  Eccles.  vi.  5  :  This  hath  more  rest  than  the 
other.  And  with  the  two  words  at  a  great  distance, 
Job  xxi.  23  :  One  dieth ;  ver.  25  ;  and  another  dieth, 
&c.  So  here,  in  Gen.  xxxi.  38,  Jacob  says  to  La¬ 
ban,  'DJX  n.3ty  nt  zeh  esrim  shanah  anochi 

immach ,  during  the  one  set  of  twenty  years  I  was  with 
thee,  dfc.  ;  meaning  the  time  in  which  he  lived,  not  in 
Laban’s  house,  but  in  his  neighbourhood ;  not  as  a 
servant ,  but  a  friend  ;  after  he  had  served  in  Laban’s 
house  fourteen  years  for  his  daughters,  and  before  he 
served  six  years  for  his  cattle.  But  then,  as  to  the 
other  twenty ,  he  tells  Laban,  at  verse  41,  varying  the 
phrase  very  remarkably,  “JJTm  mi?  Dntpy  HI 

zeh  li  esrim  shanah  bebeithecha  abadticha,  during  the 
other  twenty  years  ('*7  li)  for  myself  (for  my  own 
benefit)  in  thy  house  ;  7  served  thee  fourteen  years 
and  six  years,  <Sfc.  And  during  this  last  period,  though 
only  six  years,  he  charges  Laban  with  changing  his 
wages  ten  times.  So  that  Jacob  insists  upon  having 
well  earned  his  wages  through  the  twenty  years  when 
he  served  for  hire  ;  but  he  makes  a  far  greater  merit 
of  having,  for  another  twenty  years ,  assisted  him  with¬ 
out  wages,  and  even  with  some  losses ;  and  therefore, 
with  particular  propriety,  he  reminds  Laban  of  that  set 
of  twenty  years  in  the  first  place. 

195 


20  years’  assist.  14  years’  service 


Reasons  to  prove  that  Jacob  GENESIS.  ivas  with  Laban  forty  years. 

The  following  Tables,  taken  chiefly  from  Mr.  Skinner,  will  greatly  elucidate  the  true  chronology  of  Jacob. 

TABLE  I. — On  Jacob’s  being  at  Haran  only  twenty  years. 

(and  Esau)  born. 

Esau  marries  two  wives,  Hittites  .... 

Ishmael  dies,  aged  137 


0  Jacob 
40 
63 

77  Jacob 

84  - 

85 


Gen.  xxvi.  34. 
Gen.  xxv.  17. 


86 

87 

88 
89 


J 


91 

97 

98 

99 
101 
102 
106 

107 

108 
111 

114 

115 
120 
121 
130 
147 


0 

40 

57 

58 

63 

64 


goes  to  Haran. 

-  marries  Leah  and  Rachel 

Reuben  born  of  Leah" 

Simeon  do. 

Levi  do. 

Judah  do. 

Dan  born  of  Bilhah 
Naphtali  do. 

Gad  born  of  Zilpah 
Asher  do. 

Issachar  born  of  Leah 
Zebulun  and  Dinah  do. 

Joseph  born  of  Rachel 
Jacob  returns  from  Haran. 

-  dwells  in  Succoth. 

-  comes  to  Shalem,  and  continues  there  eight  years. 

Judah  marries  Shuah’s  daughter. 

Er  born, — 103  Onan, — 104  Shelah. 

Shechemites  destroyed  by  Simeon  and  Levi. 

Benjamin  is  born,  and  Rachel  dies. 

Joseph  sold  when  seventeen  ..... 
Tamar  married  to  Er,  and  immediately  afterwards  to  Onan. 
Tamar’s  incest  with  Judah. 

Pharez  and  Zarah  born  to  Judah. 

Isaac  dies,  aged  180 

Joseph  is  made  governor  of  Egypt  .... 

Jacob  goes  into  Egypt  ....... 

and  dies  ....... 


Gen.  xxix.  20,  21,  27,  28. 


Gen.  xxix.  32-35 


Gen.  xxx.  6-24 


Gen.  xxxvii.  2. 


Gen.  xxxv.  28. 
Gen.  xli.  46. 
Gen.  xlvii.  9. 
do.  28  ; 


and  xlix.  33. 


TABLE  II. — On  Jacob’s  being  at  Haran  forty  years. 

Jacob  (and  Esau)  born. 

Esau  marries  two  wives,  Hittites  .... 

Jacob  goes  to  Haran. 

Esau  goes  to  Ishmael,  and  marries  his  daughter  .  .  Gen.  xxviii.  9. 


Gen.  xxvi.  34. 


Ishmael  dies,  aged  137 
Jacob  marries  Leah  and  Rachel 


65 

Reuben  born  of  Leah' 

66 

Simeon  do. 

67 

Levi  do. 

^  •  o 

68 

Judah  do. 

Rachel,  not  bearing,  gives  Bilhah" 

69 

Dan  born  of  Bilhah 

.71 

Naphtali  do. 

Leah,  not  bearing,  gives  Zilpah 

'72 

Gad  born  of  Zilpah 

>» 

74 

Asher  do. 

78 

Reuben  at  1 3  finds  the  mandrakes 

79 

Issachar  born  of  Leah 

<  81 

Zebulun  do. 

82  Dinah 

86 

Judah  at  18  marries  Shuah’s  daughter. 

87 

Er  born, — 88  Onan 

— 89  Shelah. 

_91 

Joseph  born  of  Rachel. 

Gen.  xxv.  17. 

Gen.  xxix.  20,  21,  27,  20. 

Gen.  xxix.  32-35. 


Gen.  xxx.  6-24. 


-  -  -  years’  service  for  cattle. 

97  Jacob  comes  from  Haran  to  Succoth  and  Shalem. 

Dinah  defiled,  and  the  Shechemites  destroyed, 

98  Benjamin  is  bom,  and  Rachel  dies. 

103  Beriah,  fourth  son  of  Asher,  bom. 

*  Not  placed  in  order  of  time,  Gen.  xxxvih 

196 


a 


of  God  at  Mahanaim 


Jacob  is  met  by  the  angels 


CHAP.  XXXII. 


105  Tamar  married  to  Er — 106  to  Onan. 

108  Joseph,  at  seventeen,  is  carried  into  Egypt 

109  Shelah,  at  twenty,  not  given  to  Tamar. 

110  Pharez  and  Zarah  born  of  Tamar,  by  Judah. 

120  Isaac  die§,  aged  180  .  .  • 

121  Joseph,  at  thirty,  governor  of  Egypt 

123  Beriah,  at  twenty,  marries. 

125  Heber — 127  Malchiel — born  to  Beriah. 

128  Pharez,  at  eighteen,  marries. 

129  Hezron — 130  Hamul — born  to  Pharez. 

130  Benjamin,  at  thirty-two,  has  ten  sons. 

Jacob  goes  to  Egypt  ..... 

147  -  and  dies  ..... 


.  Gen.  xxxvii.  2. 


.  Gen.  xxxv.  28. 
.  Gen.  xli.  46. 


.  Gen.  xlvii.  9. 

.  do.  28 : 


“Our  translation  now  is,  xxxi.  38  :  This  twenty 
years  have  I  been  with  thee  ;  thy  ewes  and  thy  she- 
goats  have  not  cast  their  young ,  and  the  rams  of  thy 
flock  have  I  not  eaten.  39.  That  which  was  torn  of 
beasts  I  brought  not  unto  thee  ;  I  bare  the  loss  of  it ; 
of  my  hand  didst  thou  require  it,  whether  stolen  by  day 
'  or  stolen  by  night.  40.  Thus  I  was;  in  the  day  the 
drought  consumed  me,  and  the  frost  by  night ;  and  my 
sleep  departed  from  mine  eyes.  41.  Thus  have  I  been 
twenty  years  in  thy  house  :  I  served  thee  fourteen 
years  for  thy  two  daughters ,  and  six  years  for  thy 
cattle ;  and  thou  hast  changed  my  wages  ten  times. 

“  The  alteration  here  recommended  is  this,  chap, 
xxxi.  38  :  During  the  one  twenty  years  I  was  with 
thee  ;  thy  ewes  and  thy  she- goats  have  'not  cast  their 
young,  and  the  rams ,  c fc.,  dye.  41.  During  the  other 
i  wenty  years  for  myself,  in  thy  house,  I  served,  c fc. 
The  same  distinction  is  expressed  in  chap.  xxx.  29  : 
Thou  knowest  how  I  have  served  thee,  and  how  thy  cat¬ 
tle  was  with  me;  i.  e.,  how  I  behaved  during  the  time 
I  was  with  thee  as  thy  servant,  and  how  thy  cattle 
fered  during  the  time  they  were  with  me  as  thy  friend. 


and  xhx.  33. 

“  It  must  not  be  omitted  that  Archbishop  Usher  and 
Bishop  Lloyd  ascribe  sons  to  Jacob  very  soon  after  his 
coming  to  Laban  ;  nay,  assert  that  he  was  married  al¬ 
most  as  soon  as  he  came  to  Haran,  instead  of  waiting 
seven  years,  as  he  most  evidently  did.  And  Mr.  Jack- 
son  allows  that  some  of  the  sons  of  Benjamin,  who 
are  expressly  numbered  as  going  into  Egypt  with  Ja¬ 
cob,  might  be  born  in  Egypt !  From  such  distresses, 
and  such  contradictions,  does  the  distinction  of  two  sets 
of  twenty  years  happily  deliver  us.” 

Hoc  temporis  intervallo  nemo  concipere  poterit  tot  res 
contingere  potuisse.  S pinos a. 

In  such  a  short  space  of  time,  it  is  impossible  that 
so  many  transactions  could  have  taken  place. 

I  shall  leave  this  subject  with  chronologers  and 
critics,  and  shall  not  attempt  to  decide  on  either  opinion. 
That  of  Dr.  Kennicott-  I  think  the  most  likely,  and  to 
it  I  have  adapted  the  chronology  in  those  cases  to 
which  it  relates  ;  but  there  are  difficulties  in  both  cases. 
See  the  note  on  chap,  xxxviii.  1. 


CHAPTER  XXXII. 

Jacob,  proceeding  on  his  journey,  is  met  by  the  angels  of  God,  1,  2.  Sends  messengers  before  him  to  his 
brother  Esau ,  requesting  to  be  favourably  received,  3—5.  The  messengers  return  without  an  answer,  but 
with  the  intelligence  that  Esau,  ivith  four  hundred  men,  was  coming  to  meet  Jacob,  6.  He  is  greatly 
alarmed,  and  adopts  prudent  means  for  the  safety  of  himself  and  family,  7,  8.  His  affecting  prayer  to 
God,  9—12.  Prepares  a  present  of  five  droves  of  different  cattle  for  his  brother,  13—15.  Sends  them 
fonvard  before  him,  at  a  certain  distance  from  each  other,  and  instructs  the  drivers  what  to  say  when  met 
by  Esau,  15—20.  Sends  his  ivives,  servants,  children  and  baggage,  over  the  brook  Jabbok,  by  night,  21—23. 
Himself  stays  behind,  and  wrestles  with  an  angel  until  the  break  of  day,  24.  He  prevails  and  gets  a  new 
name,  25—29.  Calls  the  name  of  the  place  Peniel,  30.  Is  lame  in  his  thigh  in  consequence  of  his  wrest¬ 
ling  with  the  angel,  31,  32. 


A-  M.  2265. 
B.  C.  1739. 


met  him. 


AND.  Jacob  went  on  his  way, 
and  a  the  angels  of  God 


2  And  when  Jacob  saw  them,  he  ^M-2265. 

said,  This  is  God’s  b  host :  and  he  - - 

called  the  name  of  that  place  c  Mahanaim. 


a  Psa.  xci.  11  ;  Heb.  i.  14. - b  Josh.  v.  14  ;  Psa.  ciii.  21  ; 

NOTES  ON  CHAP.  NXXII. 

Verse  1.  The  angels  of  God  met  him.]  Our  word 
angel  comes  from  the  Greek  ayyeXog,  angelos,  which 
literally  signifies  a  messenger ;  or,  as  translated  in  some 
of  our  old  Bibles,  a  tiding s-bringer .  The  Hebrew 
word  1*0:3  malach,  from  ]*o  laach ,  to  send,  minister  to, 

a 


cxlviii.  2  ;  Luke  ii.  13. - c  That  is,  two  hosts  or  camps. 

employ,  is  nearly  of  the  same  import ;  and  hence  we 
may  see  the  propriety  of  St.  Augustine’s  remark  :  No¬ 
men  non  natures  sed  officii,  “  It  is  a  name,  not  of 
nature,  but  of  office  and  hence  it  is  applied  indif¬ 
ferently  to  a  human  agent  or  messenger,  2  Sam.  ii. 
5  ;  to  a  prophet,  Hag.  i.  13  ;  to  a  priest ,  Mai. 

197 


GENESIS. 


Esau  comes  to  meet  him . 


Jacob  sends  messengers  to  Esau. 

A.  M.  2265.  3  And  Jacob  sent  messengers 

B.  c.  i/39^  jjgfoj-g  him  ^0  Esau  his  brother, 

d  unto  the  land  of  Seir,  e  the  f  country  of 
Edom. 

4  And  he  commanded  them,  saying,  &  Thus 
shall  ye  speak  unto  my  lord  Esau ;  Thy  ser¬ 
vant  Jacob  saith  thus  :  I  have  sojourned  with 
Laban,  and  stayed  there  until  now  : 

**  Chap,  xxxiii.  14,  16. - e  Chapter  xxxvi.  6,  7,  8  ;  Deut.  ii.  5. 

Josh.  xxiv.  4. - fHeb.  field. 

ii.  7  ;  to  celestial  spirits ,  Psa.  ciii.  19,  20,  22  ; 
civ.  4. 

“We  often,”  says  Mr.  Parkhurst,  “read  of  the  “jxbft 
mrr  malach  Yehovah,  or  CD'Tlbx  ",DXI70  malakey  Elohim, 
the  angel  of  Jehovah,  or  the  angels  of  God,  that  is,  his 
agent,  personator ,  mean  of  visibility  or  action ,  what 
was  employed  by  God  to  render  himself  visible  and 
approachable  by  flesh  and  blood.”  This  angel  was 
evidently  a  human  form,  surrounded  or  accompanied 
by  light  or  glory ,  with  or  in  which  Jehovah  was  pre¬ 
sent;  see  Gen.  xix  1,  12,  16 ;  Judg.  xiii.  6,  21 ;  Exod. 

iii.  2,  6.  “  By  this  vision,”  says  Mr.  Ainsworth,  “God 

confirmed  Jacob’s  faith  in  him  who  commanded  his  an¬ 
gels  to  keep  his  people  in  all  their  ways,  Psa.  xci.  1 1 . 
Angels  are  here  called  God’s  host,  camp ,  or  army ,  as 
in  wars ;  for  angels  are  God’s  soldiers,  Luke  ii.  13; 
horses  and  chariots  of  fire,  2  Kings  ii.  11  ;  fighting 
for  God’s  people  against  their  enemies,  Dan.  x.  20  ; 
of  them  there  are  thousand  thousands,  and  ten  thou¬ 
sand  times  ten  thousand ,  Dan.  vii.  10;  and  they  are 
all  sent  forth  to  minister  for  them  that  shall  be  heirs 
of  salvation,  Heb.  i.  14  ;  and  they  pitch  a  camp  about 
them  that  fear  God,  Psa.  xxxiv.  7.”  One  of  the  oldest 
of  the  Greek  poets  had  a  tolerably  correct  notion  of 
the  angelic  ministry  : — 

A vrap  ckelkev  tovto  yEvoc  Kara  yaia.  tcalvipEV 
T oi  fisv  Aaipovsg  eicn,  Aloc;  peyahov  dia  j3ov2,ac;, 

E<7@Aoi,  ETTl^doVLOi,  (j)V?iaK££  dvTJTUV  avdpOTTOV’  K.  T.  A. 

Hesiod.  Op.  Dies,  1.  i.,  ver.  120. 
When  in  the  grave  this  race  of  men  was  laid, 

Soon  was  a  world  of  holy  demons  made, 

Aerial  spirits,  by  great  Jove  design’d 
To  be  on  earth  the  guardians  of  manhind. 

Invisible  to  mortal  eyes  they  go, 

And  mark  our  actions  good  or  bad  below ; 

The  immortal  spies  with  watchful  care  preside , 

And  thrice  ten  thousand  round  their  charges  glide  : 
They  can  reward  with  glory  or  with  gold, 

A  power  they  by  Divine  permission  hold.  Cooke. 
Verse  2.  Mahanaim .]  The  two  hosts,  if  read  by 
the  points,  the  angels  forming  one,  and  Jacob  and  his 
company  forming  another ;  or  simply  hosts  or  camps 
in  the  plural.  There  was  a  city  built  afterwards  here, 
and  inhabited  by  the  priests  of  God,  Josh.  xxi.  38. 
For  what  purpose  the  angels  of  God  met  Jacob,  does 
not  appear  from  the  text  ;  probably  it  was  intended  to 
show  him  that  he  and  his  company  were  under  the  care 
of  an  especial  providence,  and  consequently  to  confirm 
his  trust  and  confidence  in  God. 

4  he  doctrine  of  the  ministration  of  angels  has  been 
much  abused,  not  only  among  the  heathens ,  but  also  1 

198 


5  And  k  I  have  oxen,  and  asses,  a.  m.  2265. 

nocks,  and  men-servants,  and  - 

women-servants  :  and  I  have  sent  to  tell  my 
lord,  that  1 1  may  find  grace  in  thy  sight. 

6  And  the  messengers  returned  to  Jacob, 
saying,  We  came  to  thy  brother  Esau,  and 
also  k  he  cometh  to  meet  thee,  and  four  hun¬ 
dred  men  with  him. 

s  Prov.  xv.  1. - h  Chapter  xxx.  43. - ‘Chapter  xxxiii.  8,  15. 

k  Chap,  xxxiii.  1. 

among  Jews  and  Christians,  and  perhaps  most  among 
the  latter.  Angels  with  feigned  names,  titles,  and  in¬ 
fluences,  have  been  and  still  are  invoked  and  worship¬ 
ped  by  a  certain  class  of  men ;  because  they  have  found 
that  God  has  been  pleased  to  employ  them  to  minister 
to  mankind  ;  and  hence  they  have  made  supplications 
to  them  to  extend  their  protection,  to  shield,  defend, 
instruct,  &c.  This  is  perfectly  absurd.  1.  They  are 
God’s  instruments ,  not  self-determining  agents.  2. 
They  can  only  do  what  they  are  appointed  to  perform, 
for  there  is  no  evidence  that  they  have  any  discretion¬ 
ary  power.  3.  God  helps  man  by  ten  thousand  means 
and  instruments ;  some  intellectual,  as  angels  ;  some 
rational,  as  men ;  some  irrational ,  as  brutes ;  and  some 
merely  material,  as  the  sun,  wind,  rain,  food,  raiment, 
and  the  various  productions  of  the  earth.  He  there¬ 
fore  helps  by  whom  he  will  help,  and  to  him  alone  be¬ 
longs  all  the  glory ;  for  should  he  be  determined  to  de¬ 
stroy,  all  these  instruments  collectively  could  not  save. 
Instead  therefore  of  worshipping  them,  we  should  take 
their  own  advice  :  See  thou  do  it  not — Worship  God. 

Verse  3.  Jacob  sent  messengers']  CTDkSd  malachim, 
the  same  word  which  is  before  translated  angels .  It 
is  very  likely  that  these  messengers  had  been  sent 
some  time  before  he  had  this  vision  at  Mahanaim,  for 
they  appear  to  have  returned  while  Jacob  encamped  at 
the  brook  Jabbok,  where  he  had  the  vision  of  angels ; 
see  verses  6  and  23. 

The  land  of  Seir,  the  country  of  Edom..]  This  land, 
which  was,  according  to  Dr.  Wells,  situated  on  the 
south  of  the  Dead  Sea,  extending  from  thence  to  the 
Arabian  Gulf,  1  Kings  ix.  26,  was  formerly  possessed 
by  the  Horites,  Gen.  xiv.  6;  but  Esau  with  his  chil¬ 
dren  drove  them  out,  destroyed  them,  and  dwelt  in 
their  stead,  Deut.  ii.  22 ;  and  thither  Esau  went  from 
the  face  of  his  brother  Jacob,  chap,  xxxvi.  6,  7.  Thus 
we  find  he  verified  the  prediction,  By  thy  sword  shall 
thou  live,  chap,  xxvii.  40. 

Yerse  4.  Thus  shall  ye  speak  unto  my  lord  Esau] 
Jacob  acknowledges  the  superiority  of  his  brother, 
for  the  time  was  not  yet  come  in  which  it  could  be 
said,  The  elder  shall  serve  the  younger. 

Yerse  6.  Esau — cometh — and  four  hundred  men 
with  him.]  Jacob,  conscious  that  he  had  injured  his 
brother,  was  now  apprehensive  that  he  was  coming 
with  hostile  intentions,  and  that  he  had  every  evil  to 
fear  from  his  displeasure.  Conscience  is  a  terrible 
accuser.  It  was  a  fine  saying  of  a  heathen, — 

- - -  Hie  murus  aheneus  esto, 

Nil  conscire  sibi,  nulla  pallescere  culpa. 

Hor.  Ep.,  1.  i.,  E.  i.,  v  60. 
a 


CHAP.  XXXII. 


Jacob  prays  for  deliverance 


from  the  hand  of  Esau . 


A.  M. 2265.  7  Then  Jacob  was  greatly  afraid 

3°~  and *  1  distressed  :  and  he  divided 
the  people  that  was  with  him,  and  the 
flocks,  and  herds,  and  the  camels  into  two 
bands ; 

8  And  said,  If  Esau  come  to  the  one  com¬ 
pany,  and  smite  it,  then  the  other  company 
which  is  left  shall  escape. 

9  111 * * * * *  And  Jacob  said,  n  O  God  of  my  father 
Abraham,  and  God  of  my  father  Isaac,  the 
Lord  0  which  saidst  unto  me,  Return  unto 
thy  country,  and  to  thy  kindred,  and  I  will 
deal  well  with  thee  : 

10  p  I  am  not  worthy  of  the  least  of  all  the 

✓ 

*  mercies,  and  of  all  the  truth,  which  thou  hast 


1  Chap.  xxxv.  3.- 
0  Chap.  xxxi.  3,  13.- 
xxiv.  27. 


-m  Psalm  1.  15. - n  Chapter  xxviii.  13. 

-P  Heb.  I  am  less  than  all,  &c. - 1  Chap. 


showed  unto  thy  servant :  for  with  A.  M.  2265. 

**  '  B  C  1739 

r  my  staff  I  passed  over  this  Jordan  ;  _ 1_ 1 _ 1 

and  now  I  am  become  two  bands. 

1 1  8  Deliver  me,  I  pray  thee,  from  the  hand 
of  my  brother,  from  the  hand  of  Esau :  for  I 
fear  him,  lest  he  will  come  and  smite  me,  and 
4  the  mother  u  with  the  children. 

1 2  And  T  thou  saidst,  I  will  surely  do  thee 
good,  and  make  thy  seed  as  the  sand  of  the 
sea,  which  cannot  be  numbered  for  multitude. 

1 3  And  he  lodged  there  that  same  night ; 
and  took  of  that  which  came  to  his  hand  w  a 
present  for  Esau  his  brother ; 

14  Two  hundred  she-goats,  and  twenty  he- 
goats,  two  hundred  ewes,  and  twenty  rams, 


-s  Psalm  lix.  1,  2. - f  Hos.  x.  14.- 


r  Job  viii.  7.- 

upon. - v  Chapter  xxviii.  13,  14,  15.- 

Prov.  xviii.  16. 


-u  Heb. 


Chapter  xliii.  11  ; 


Be  this  thy  brazen  bulwark  of  defence, 

Still  to  preserve  thy  conscious  innocence, 

Nor  e’er  turn  pale  with  guilt.  Francis. 

In  other  words,  He  that  has  a  good  conscience  has  a 
brazen  wall  for  his  defence  ;  for  a  guilty  conscience 
needs  no  accuser;  sooner  or  later  it  will  tell  the  truth, 
and  not  only  make  the  man  turn  pale  who  has  it,  but 
also  cause  him  to  tremble  even  while  his  guilt  is  known 
only  to  himself  and  God. 

It  does  not  appear  that  Esau  in  this  meeting  had 
any  hostile  intention,  but  was  really  coming  with  a  part 
of  his  servants  or  tribe  to  do  his  brother  honour.  If 
he  had  had  any  contrary  intention,  God  had  removed 
it ;  and  the  angelic  host  which  Jacob  met  with  before 
might  have  inspired  him  with  sufficient  confidence  in 
God’s  protection.  But  we  find  that  when  he  needed 
faith  most,  he  appears  to  have  derived  but  little  benefit 
from  its  influence,  partly  from  the  sense  he  had  of  the 
injury  he  had  done  to  his  brother,  and  partly  from  not 
attending  sufficiently  to  the  assurance  which  God  had 
given  him  of  his  gracious  protection. 

Verse  7.  He  divided  the  people ,  dpc.]  His  prudence 
and  cunning  were  now  turned  into  a  right  channel,  for 
he  took  the  most  effectual  method  to  appease  his  brother, 
had  he  been  irritated,  and  save  at  least  a  part  of  his 
family.  This  dividing  and  arranging  of  his  flocks, 
family,  and  domestics,  has  something  in  it  highly  cha¬ 
racteristic.  To  such  a  man  as  Jacob  such  expedients 
would  naturally  present  themselves. 

Verse  9.  O  God  of  my  father  Abraham ,  dpc.]  This 
prayer  is  remarkable  for  its  simplicity  and  energy  ; 
and  it  is  a  model  too  for  prayer,  of  which  it  contains 
the  essential  constituents:  1.  Deep  self-abasement. 
2.  Magnification  of  God’s  mercy.  3.  Deprecation  of 
the  evil  to  which  he  was  exposed.  4.  Pleading  the 
promises  that  God  had  made  to  him.  And,  5.  Taking 
encouragement  from  what  God  had  already  wrought. 

Verse  10.  I  am  not  worthy  of  the  least  of  all  the 
mercies ]  The  marginal  reading  is  more  consistent 
with  the  original:  BOSH  Q'lDnn  ’mttp  ka- 
tonti  miccol  liachasadim  umiccol  luemeth ,  lam  less  than 


all  the  compassions ,  and  than  all  the  faithfulness ,  which 
thou  hast  showed  unto  thy  servant.  Probably  St.  Paul 
had  his  eye  on  this  passage  when  he  wrote,  Unto  me, 
who  am  less  than  the  least  of  all  saints.  A  man  who 
sees  himself  in  the  light  of  God  will  ever  feel  that  he 
has  no  good  but  what  he  has  received,  and  that  he  de¬ 
serves  nothing  of  all  that  he  has.  The  archangels  of 
God  cannot  use  a  different  language,  and  even  the 
spirits  of  just  men  consummated  in  their  plenitude  of 
bliss,  cannot  make  a  higher  boast. 

For  with  my  staff]  i.  e.,  myself  alone ,  without  any 
attendants,  as  the  Chaldee  has  properly  rendered  it. 

Verse  11.  And  the  mother  with  the  children.]  He 
must  have  had  an  awful  opinion  of  his  brother  when 
he  used  this  expression,  which  implies  the  utmost  cru¬ 
elty,  proceeding  in  the  work  of  slaughter  to  total  ex¬ 
termination.  See  Hos.  x.  14. 

Verse  12.  Mahe  thy  seed  as  the  sand]  Having  come 
to  the  promise  by  which  the  covenant  was  ratified  both 
to  Abraham  and  Isaac ,  he  ceased,  his  faith  having 
gained  strong  confirmation  in  a  promise  which  he  knew 
could  not  fail,  and  which  he  found  was  made  over  to 
him,  as  it  had  been  to  his  father  and  grandfather. 

Verse  13.  And  took  of  that  which  came  to  his  hand] 
ITS  N3H  habba  bey  ado,  which  came  under  his  hand, 

i.  e.,  what,  in  the  course  of  God’s  providence,  came 

under  his  power. 

Verse  14.  Two  hundred  she-goats,  fyc.]  This  was  a 

princely  present,  and  such  as  was  sufficient  to  have 

compensated  Esau  for  any  kind  of  temporal  loss  he 

might  have  sustained  in  being  deprived  of  his  birth¬ 

right  and  blessing.  The  thirty  milch  camels  were  par¬ 
ticularly  valuable,  for  milch  camels  among  the  Arabs 
constitute  a  principal  part  of  their  riches,  the  creature 
being  every  way  so  serviceable  that  the  providence  of 
God  appears  peculiarly  kind  and  wise  in  pioviding  such 
a  beast  for  those  countries  where  no  other  animal  could 
be  of  equal  service.  “  The  she-camel  gives  milk  con¬ 
tinually,  not  ceasing  till  great  with  young  ;  the  milk 
of  which,”  as  Pliny  has  remarked,  “  when  mixed  with 
three  parts  of  water,  affords  the  most  pleasant  and 

199 


Jacob  prepares  and  sends  forward  GENESIS.  a  present  for  his  brother  Esau 


A.  M.  2265.  15  Thirty  milch  camels  with 

B.  C.  1739^  C0^Sj  forty  kine,  and  ten  bulls, 

twenty  she-asses,  and  ten  foals. 

16  And  he  delivered  them  into  the  hand  of 
his  servants,  every  drove  by  themselves  ;  and 
said  unto  his  servants,  Pass  over  before  me, 
and  put  a  space  betwixt  drove  and  drove. 

17  And  he  commanded  the  foremost,  saying, 
When  Esau  my  brother  meeteth  thee,  and 
asketh  thee,  saying,  Whose  art  thou  ?  and 
whither  goest  thou  ?  and  whose  are  these 
before  thee  ? 

18  Then  thou  shalt  say,  They  be  thy  servant 
Jacob’s  ;  it  is  a  present  sent  unto  my  lord 
Esau  :  and,  behold,  also  he  is  behind  us. 

19  And  so  commanded  he  the  second,  and 
the  third,  and  all  that  followed  the  droves, 
saying,  On  this  manner  shall  ye  speak  unto 
Esau,  when  ye  find  him. 

20  And  say  ye  moreover,  Behold,  thy  ser- 

x  Proverbs  xxi.  14. - y  Heb.  my  face  ;  Job  xlii.  8,  9. - z  Deut. 

iii.  16. - a  Heb.  caused  to  pass. 

wholesome  beverage.”  Cornell  lac  habent,  donee  ite- 
rum  gravescant,  suavissimumque  hoc  existimatur,  ad 
imam  mensurafn  tribus  aquee  addiiis. — Hist.  Nat.,  lib. 
xi.,  chap.  41. 

Yerse  15.  Ten  bulls ]  The  Syriac  and  Vulgate  have 
twenty ;  but  ten  is  a  sufficient  proportion  to  the  forty 
kine.  By  all  this  we  see  that  Jacob  was  led  to  make 
restitution  for  the  injury  he  had  done  to  his  brother. 
Restitution  for  injuries  done  to  man  is  essentially  re¬ 
quisite  if  in  our  power.  He  who  can  and  will  not 
make  restitution  for  the  wrongs  he  has  done,  can  have 
no  claim  even  on  the  mercy  of  God. 

Verse  22.  Passed  over  the  ford  Jabbok.\  This  brook 
or  rivulet  rises  in  the  mountains  of  Galaad,  and  falls 
into  the  Jordan  at  the  south  extremity  of  the  lake  of 
Gennesaret. 

Verse  24.  And  there  wrestled  a  man  with  him]  This 
was  doubtless  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  who,  among  the 
patriarchs,  assumed  that  human  form,  w'hich  in  the  ful¬ 
ness  of  time  he  really  took  of  a  woman,  and  in  which 
he  dwelt  thirty-three  years  among  men.  He  is  here 
styled  an  angel,  because  he  was  peya’Xrjg  (loving  A y- 
yelog,  (see  the  Septuagint,  Isa.  ix.  7,)  the  Messenger 
of  the  great  counsel  or  design  to  redeem  fallen  man 
from  death,  and  bring  him  to  eternal  glory ;  see 
chap.  xvi.  7. 

But  it  may  be  asked,  Had  he  here  a  real  human 
body,  or  only  its  form  ?  The  latter,  doubtless.  How 
then  could  he  wrestle  with  Jacob  1  It  need  not  be 
supposed  that  this  angel  must  have  assumed  a  human 
body,  or  something  analagous  to  it,  in  order  to  render 
himself  tangible  by  Jacob  ;  for  as  the  soul  operates  on 
the  body  by  the  order  of  God,  so  could  an  angel  ope¬ 
rate  on  the  body  of  Jacob  during  a  whole  night,  and 
produce  in  his  imagination ,  by  the  effect  of  his  power, 
every  requisite  idea  of  corporeity ,  and  in  his  nerves 

200 


vant  Jacob  is  behind  us.  For  he  A.  M.  2265. 

.  .  T  ...  ,  .  ...  B.  C.  1739. 

said,  I  will  x  appease  him  with  the  - 

present  that  goeth  before  me,  and  afterward  I 

will  see  his  face  :  peradventure  he  will  accept 

y  of  me. 

21  So  went  the  present  over  before  him  : 
and  himself  lodged  that  night  in  the  company 

22  And  he  rose  up  that  night,  and  took  his 
two  wives,  and  his  two  women-servants,  and 
his  eleven  sons,  z  and  passed  over  the  ford 
Jabbok. 

23  And  he  took  them,  and  a  sent  them  over 
the  brook,  and  sent  over  that  he  had. 

24  And  Jacob  was  left  alone,  and  there 
b  wrestled  a  man  with  him  until  the  c  breaking 
of  the  day. 

25  And  when  he  saw  that  he  prevailed  not 
against  him,  he  touched  the  hollow  of  his 
thigh  :  and  d  the  hollow  of  Jacob’s  thigh  was 
out  of  joint,  as  he  wrestled  with  him. 

b  Hos.  xii.  3,  4  ;  Eph.  vi.  12. - c  Heb.  ascending  of  the  morning. 

d  See  Matt.  xxvi.  44 ;  2  Cor.  xii.  7. 

every  sensation  of  substance,  and  yet  no  substantiality 
be  in  the  case. 

If  angels,  in  appearing  to  men,  borrow  human  bodies 
as  is  thought,  how  can  it  be  supposed  that  with  such 
gross  substances  they  can  disappear  in  a  moment  ?  Cer¬ 
tainly  they  do  not  take  these  bodies  into  the  invisible 
world  with  them,  and  the  established  laws  of  matter 
and  motion  require  a  gradual  disappearing,  however 
swiftly  it  may  be  effected.  But  this  is  not  allowed  to 
be  the  case,  and  yet  they  are  reported  to  vanish  in¬ 
stantaneously.  Then  they  must  render  themselves  in¬ 
visible  by  a  cloud ,  and  this  must  be  of  a  very  dense 
nature  in  order  to  hide  a  human  body.  But  this  very 
expedient  would  make  their  departure  still  more  evi¬ 
dent,  as  the  cloud  must  be  more  dense  and  apparent 
than  the  body  in  order  to  hide  it.  This  does  not  re¬ 
move  the  difficulty.  But  if  they  assume  a  quantity  of 
air  or  vapour  so  condensed  as  to  become  visible,  and 
modified  into  the  appearance  of  a  human  body,  they 
can  in  a  moment  dilate  and  rarefy  it,  and  so  disappear  ; 
for  when  the  vehicle  is  rarefied  beyond  the  power  of 
natural  vision,  as  their  own  substance  is  invisible  they 
can  instantly  vanish. 

From  Hos.  xii.  4,  we  may  learn  that  the  wrestling 
of  Jacob,  mentioned  in  this  place,  was  not  merely  a 
corporeal  exercise,  but  also  a  spiritual  one ;  He  wept 
and  made  supplication  unto  him.  See  the  notes  there. 

Verse  25.  The  hollow  of  Jacob's  thigh  was  out  of 
joint]  What  this  implies  is  difficult  to  find  out ;  it  is 
not  likely  that  it  was  a  complete  luxation  of  the  thigh 
bone.  It  may  mean  no  more  than  he  received  a  stroke 
on  the  groin,  not  a  touch  ;  for  the  Hebrew  word  JElJ 
naga  often  signifies  to  smite  with  violence,  which  stroke, 
even  if  comparatively  slight,  would  effectually  disable 
him  for  a  time,  and  cause  him  to  halt  for  many  hours, 
if  not  for  several  days.  I  might  add  that  in  this  place 

a 


CHAP.  XXXIX. 


and  is  surnamed  Israel. 


Jacob  wrestles  with  an  angel , 

A.  M.  2265.  26  And  e  he  said,  Let  me  go, 

R  P  1 7QQ  O  7 

— i — 1 - 1  for  the  day  breaketh  :  And  he 

said,  f  I  will  not  let  thee  go,  except  thou 
bless  me. 

27  And  he  said  unto  him,  What  is  thy 
name  ?  And  he  said,  Jacob. 

28  And  he  said,  *  Thy  name  shall  be  called 
no  more  Jacob,  but  h  Israel :  for  as  a  prince 
hast  thou  1  power  with  God  and  k  with  men, 
and  hast  prevailed. 

29  And  Jacob  asked  him,  and  said,  Tell  me, 

1  pray  thee,  thy  name.  And  he  said,  1  Where- 

e  See  Luke  xxiv.  28. - f  Hos.  xii.  4. - s  Chapter  xxxv.  10 ; 

2  Kings  xvii.  34. - h  That  is,  a  prince  of  God. - iJIos.  xii. 

3,  4. - -k  Chap.  xxv.  31 ;  xxvii.  33. - 1  Judg.  xiii.  18. 

— the  groin,  a  blow  might  be  of  fatal  consequence ; 
but  as  the  angel  gave  it  only  as  a  proof  of  his  power, 
and  to  show  that  he  could  not  prevail  because  he  would 
not,  hence  the  blow  was  only  disabling,  without  being 
dangerous ;  and  he  was  probably  cured  by  the  time 
the  sun  rose. 

Yerse  26.  Let  me  go,  for  the  day  breaJceth\  Pro¬ 
bably  meaning,  that  as  it  was  now  morning,  Jacob  must 
rejoin  his  wives  and  children,  and  proceed  on  their 
journey.  Though  phantoms  are  supposed  to  disappear 
when  the  sun  rises ,  that  could  be  no  reason  in  this  case. 
Most  of  the  angelic  appearances  mentioned  in  the  Old 
and  New  Testaments  took  place  in  open  day,  which 
put  their  reality  out  of  question. 

Yerse  28.  Thy  name  shall  be  called  no  more  Jacob , 
but  Israel ]  SxTkJT1  Yisrael,  from  *1^  sar,  a  prince,  or 
•"Pi?  sarah,  he  ruled  as  a  prince,  and  bx  el,  God  ;  or 
rather  from  LS^X  ish,  a  man,  (the  X  aleph  being  drop¬ 
ped,)  and  HX^  raah,  he  saw,  bx  el,  God  ;  and  this  cor¬ 
responds  with  the  name  which  Jacob  imposed  on  the 
place,  calling  it  bx"13  peniel ,  the  faces  of  God,  or  of 
Elohim,  which  faces  being  manifested  to  him  caused 
him  to  say,  verse  30,  OD3  bx  Jzns  CD'rtbx  ’JVjn 
raithi  Elohim  panim  el  panim,  i.  e.,  “  I  have  seen  the 
Elohim  faces  to  faces,  ( i .  e.,  fully  and  completely,  with¬ 
out  any  medium,)  '^33  bxiPl  vatlinnatscl  napshi,  and 
my  soul  is  redeemed.” 

We  may  learn  from  this  that  the  redemption  of  the 
soul  will  be  the  blessed  consequence  of  wrestling  by 
prayer  and  supplication  with  God  :  “  The  kingdom  of 
heaven  suffereth  violence,  and  the  violent  take  it  by 
force.”  From  this  time  Jacob  became  a  new  man  ; 
but  it  was  not  till  after  a  severe  struggle  that  he  got 
his  name ,  his  heart,  and  his  character  changed.  After 
this  he  was  no  more  Jacob  the  supplanter,  but  Israel — 
the  man  who  prevails  with  God,  and  sees  him  face  to 
face. 

A  nd  hast  prevailed. ]  More  literally,  Thou  hast  had 
power  icith  God,  and  with  man  thou  shalt  also  prevail. 
D'nbx  im  Elohim,  with  the  strong  God ;  D'tWX 
im  anashim,  with  weak,  feeble  man.  There  is  a  beau¬ 
tiful  opposition  here  between  the  two  words  :  Seeing 
thou  hast  been  powerful  with  the  Almighty ,  surely  thou 
shalt  prevail  over  perishing  mortals ;  as  thou  hast  pre¬ 
vailed  with  God,  thou  shalt  also  prevail  with  men  : 


fore  is  it  that  thou  dost  ask  after  my  A.  M.  2265. 

J  n  1 700 

name  ?  And  he  blessed  him  there.  — — 1 - k 

30  And  Jacob  called  the  name  of  the  place 
m  Peniel :  for  n  I  have  seen  God  face  to  face, 
and  my  life  is  preserved. 

3 1  And  as  he  passed  over  Penuel  the  sun 
0  rose  upon  him,  and  he  halted  upon  his  thigh. 

32  Therefore  the  children  of  Israel  eat  not 
of  the  sinew  which  shrank,  which  is  upon  the 
hollow  of  the  thigh,  p  unto  this  day :  because 
he  touched  the  hollow  of  Jacob’s  thigh  in  the 
sinew  that  shrank. 

m  That  is,  the  face  of  God. - n  Ch.  xvi.  13  ;  Exod.  xxiv.  11 ; 

xxxiii.  20  ;  Deut.  v.  25  ;  Judg.  vi.  22  ;  xiii.  22  ;  Isaiah  vi.  5. 
0  Mai.  iv.  2. - P  1  Sam.  v.  5. 


God  calling  the  things  that  were  not  as  though  they 
had  already  taken  place,  because  the  prevalency  of 
this  people,  the  Israelites,  by  means  of  the  Messiah , 
who  should  proceed  from  them,  was  already  determined 
in  the  Divine  counsel.  He  has  never  said  to  the  seed 
of  Jacob,  Seek  ye  my  face  in  vain.  He  who  wrestles 
must  prevail. 

Verse  29.  Tell  me,  I  pray  thee,  thy  name.]  It  is 
very  likely  that  Jacob  wished  to  know  the  name  of 
this  angel,  that  he  might  invoke  him  in  his  necessities : 
but  this  might  have  led  him  into  idolatry,  for  the  doc¬ 
trine  of  the  incarnation  could  be  but  little  understood 
at  this  time ;  hence,  he  refuses  to  give  himself  any 
name,  yet  shows  himself  to  be  the  true  God,  and  so 
Jacob  understood  him;  (see  verse  28  ;)  but  he  wished 
to  have  heard  from  his  own  lips  that  name  by  which 
he  desired  to  be  invoked  and  worshipped. 

Wherefore  is  it  that  thou  dosts  ask  after  my  name ?] 
Canst  thou  be  ignorant  who  I  am  1  And  he  blessed 
him  there — gave  him  the  new  heart  and  the  new  na¬ 
ture  which  God  alone  can  give  to  fallen  man,  and  by 
the  change  he  wrought  in  him,  sufficiently  showed  ivho 
he  was.  After  this  clause  the  Aldine  edition  of  the 
Septuagint,  and  several  MSS.,  add  6  eart  tiavyaorov,  or 
sat  tovto  eon  d-avyaorov,  tohich  is  wonderful ;  but  this 
addition  seems  to  have  been  taken  from  Judges  xiii.  18. 

Yerse  31.  The  sun  rose  upon  him ]  Did  the  Pro¬ 
phet  Malachi  refer  to  this,  chap.  iv.  2  :  Unto  you  that 
fear  my  name  shall  the  Sun  of  righteousness  arise  ivith 
healing  in  his  wings  ?  Possibly  with  the  rising  of  the 
sun,  which  may  here  be  understood  as  emblematical  of 
the  Sun  of  righteousness — the  Lord  Jesus,  the  pain  and 
weakness  of  his  thigh  passed  away,  and  he  felt  both  in 
soul  and  body  that  he  was  healed  of  his  plagues. 

Yerse  32.  Therefore  the  children  of  Israel  eat  not 
of  the  sinew ]  What  this  sinew  was  neither  Jew  nor 
Christian  can  tell ;  and  it  can  add  nothing  either  to 
science,  or  to  a  true  understanding  of  the  text,  to  mul¬ 
tiply  conjectures.  I  have  already  supposed  that  the 
part  which  the  angel  touched  or  struck  was  the  groin ; 
and  if  this  be  right,  the  sinew,  nerve ,  or  muscle  that 
shrank,  must  be  sought  for  in  that  place. 

The  serious  reader  must  meet  with  much  instruc¬ 
tion  in  this  chapter. 


201 


Esau  comes  to  meet  Jacob 


GENESIS. 


1.  After  his  reconciliation  with  Laban,  Jacob  pro¬ 
ceeds  on  his  way  to  Canaan ;  and  as  God,  who  was 
continually  watching  for  his  welfare,  saw  the  trials  to 
which  he  would  shortly  be  exposed,  therefore  he  pro¬ 
vided  for  him  the  instructive  vision  of  angels,  that  he 
might  see  that  those  who  were  for  him  were  more 
than  those  who  could  be  against  him.  A  proper  con¬ 
sideration  of  God’s  omniscience  is  of  the  utmost  advan¬ 
tage  to  every  genuine  Christian.  He  knows  whereof 
we  are  made,  he  remembers  that  we  are  but  dust,  he 
sees  our  trials  and  difficulties,  and  his  eye  affects  his 
heart.  Hence  he  is  ever  devising  means  that  his  ba¬ 
nished  be  not  expelled  from  him. 

2.  Jacob’s  recollection  of  his  unkindness  and  injus¬ 
tice  to  his  brother,  when  he  hears  that  he  is  coming  to 
meet  him,  fills  his  soul  with  fear,  and  obliges  him  to 
betake  himself  to  God  by  prayer  and  supplication. 
How  important  is  the  office  of  conscience  !  And  how 
necessary  are  times  of  trial  and  difficulty  when  its 
voice  is  loudest,  and  the  heart  is  best  prepared  to  re¬ 
ceive  its  reproofs  !  In  how  many  cases  has  conscience 
slumbered  till  it  pleased  God  to  send  some  trial  by 
which  it  has  been  powerfully  awakened,  and  the  salva¬ 
tion  of  the  sinner  was  the  result !  Before  I  was  af¬ 
flicted  I  went  astray. 

3.  Though  salvation  be  the  free  gift  of  God,  yet  he 
gives  it  not  to  any  who  do  not  earnestly  seek  it. 
The  deeper  the  conviction  of  guilt  and  helplessness  is, 
the  more  earnest  the  application  to  God  for  mercy  is 
likely  to  be.  They  whose  salvation  costs  them  strong 
crying  and  tears,  are  not  likely  (humanly  speaking)  to 


with  four  hundred  men 

part  with  it  lightly ;  they  remember  the  vinegar  and 
the  gall,  and  they  watch  and  pray  that  they  enter  not 
into  temptation. 

4.  In  the  strife  and  agony  requisite  to  enter  in  at 
the  strait  gate,  it  is  highly  necessary  that  we  should 
know  that  the  grace  and  salvation  of  God  are  not  pur¬ 
chased  by  our  tears,  &c.  ;  for  those  things  which  are 
only  proofs  and  arguments  that  we  have  sinned,  can 
never  remove  the  iniquity  of  our  transgressions.  A 
sensible  and  pious  man  observes  on  this  subject,  “  That 
prayer  and  wrestling  with  God  should  be  made  as  though 
no  other  means  were  to  be  practised,  and  then  the  best 
means  be  adopted  as  though  no  prayer  or  wrestling  had 
been  used.”  God  marks  even  this  strife,  though  highly 
pleasing  in  his  sight,  with  such  proofs  of  its  own  ut¬ 
ter  insufficiency,  that  we  may  carry  about  with  us  the 
memorial  of  our  own  weakness,  worthlessness,  and 
slowness  of  heart  to  believe.  God  smote  the  thigh  of 
Jacob,  1.  That  he  might  know  he  had  not  prevailed 
by  his  own  strength ,  but  by  the  power  and  mercy 
of  his  God.  2.  That  he  might  have  the  most  sensi¬ 
ble  evidence  of  the  reality  of  the  Divine  interposition 
in  his  behalf.  3.  That  he  might  see  God’s  displeasure 
against  his  unbelief.  And  4.  That  men  in  general 
might  be  taught  that  those  who  will  be  the  disciples  of 
Christ  must  deny  themselves,  take  up  their  cross  daily, 
and  mortify  their  members  which  are  upon  the  earth. 
Those  w7ho  have  not  cut  off  a  right  hand  or  foot,  or 
plucked  out  a  right  eye,  for  the  kingdom  of  heaven’s 
sake,  are  never  likely  to  see  God.  The  religion  that 
costs  us  nothing ,  is  to  us  worth  nothing . 


CHAPTER  XXXIII. 

Esau ,  with  four  hundred  men ,  meets  Jacob ,  1.  He  places  his  children  under  their  respective  mothers ,  passes 
over  before  them ,  and  bows  himself  to  his  brother ,  2,  3.  Esau  receives  him  with  great  affection ,  4.  Re¬ 
ceives  the  homage  of  the  handmaids ,  Leah,  Rachel,  and  their  children ,  5—7.  Jacob  offers  him  the  present 
of  cattle,  which  he  at  first  refuses,  but  after  much  entreaty  accepts ,  8—11.  Invites  Jacob  to  accompany  him 
to  Mount  Seir,  12.  Jacob  excuses  himself  because  of  his  flocks  and  his  children,  but  promises  to  follow 
him,  13,  14.  Esau  offers  to  leave  him  some  of  his  attendants,  which  Jacob  declines,  15.  Esau  returns  to 
Seir,  16,  and  Jacob  journeys  to  Succoth,  17,  and  to  Shalem,  in  the  land  of  Canaan,  18.  Buys  a  parcel 
of  ground  from  the  children  of  Hamor,  19,  and  erects  an  altar  which  he  calls  El-elohe-Israel,  20. 


A.  M.  2265. 

B.  C.  1739. 


^ND  Jacob  lifted  up  his  eyes, 
and  looked,  and,  behold,  aEsau 
came,  and  with  him  four  hundred  men.  And 
he  divided  the  children  unto  Leah,  and  unto 

a  Genesis, 


unto  the  two  hand- 


A.  M.  2265. 

B.  C.  1739. 


Rachel,  and 
maids. 

2  And  he  put  the  handmaids  and  their  chil¬ 
dren  foremost,  and  Leah  and  her  children  after, 

chap,  xxxii.  6. 


NOTES  ON  CHAP.  XXXIII. 

Yerse  1.  Behold,  Esau  came,  and  with  him  four 
hundred  men .j  It  has  been  generally  supposed  that 
Esau  came  with  an  intention  to  destroy  his  brother, 
and  for  that  purpose  brought  with  him  four  hundred 
armed  men.  But,  1.  There  is  no  kind  of  evidence  of 
this  pretended  hostility.  2.  There  is  no  proof  that  the 
lour  hundred  men  that  Esau  brought  with  him  were  at 
all  armed.  3.  But  there  is  every  proof  that  he  acted 
towards  his  brother  Jacob  with  all  openness  and  can¬ 
dour,  and  with  such  a  forgetfulness  of  past  injuries  as 
none  but  a  great  mind  could  have  been  capable  of.  Why 

202 


then  should  the  character  of  this  man  be  perpetually 
vilified  l  Here  is  the  secret.  With  some  people,  on 
the  most  ungrounded  assumption,  Esau  is  a  reprobate, 
and  the  type  and  figure  of  all  reprobates,  and  therefore 
he  must  be  every  thing  that  is  bad.  This  serves  a 
system ;  but,  whether  true  or  false  in  itself,  it  has 
neither  countenance  nor  support  from  the  character  or 
conduct  of  Esau. 

Yerse  2.  He  put  the  handmaids  and  their  children 
foremost ]  There  is  something  so  artificial  in  this 
arrangement  of  Jacob’s  family,  that  it  must  have  had 
some  peculiar  design.  Was  Jacob  still  apprehensive 

a 


CHAP.  XXXIII. 


Esau  receives  Jacob  kindly. 
a.  M.  2265.  and  Rachel  and  Joseph  hinder- 

B.  C.  1739  r 

- most. 

3  And  he  passed  over  before  them,  and 
T)  bowed  himself  to  the  ground  seven  times, 
until  he  came  near  to  his  brother. 

4  c  And  Esau  ran  to  meet  him,  and  embraced 
him,  ^  and  fell  on  his  neck,  and  kissed  him  : 
and  they  wept. 

5  And  he  lifted  up  his  eyes,  and  saw  the 
women  and  the  children  :  and  said,  Who  are 
those  e  with  thee  ?  And  he  said,  The  chil¬ 
dren  f  which  God  hath  graciously  given  thy 
servant. 

6  Then  the  handmaidens  came  near,  they 
and  their  children,  and  they  bowed  them¬ 
selves. 

7  And  Leah  also  with  her  children  came 
near,  and  bowed  themselves  :  and  after  came 
Joseph  near,  and  Rachel,  and  they  bowed 
themselves. 

8  And  he  said,  s  What  meanest  thou  by 
h  all  this  drove  which  I  met  ?  And  he  said, 
These  are  1  to  find  grace  in  the  sight  of  my 
lord. 

9  And  Esau  said,  I  have  enough,  my  bro¬ 
ther  ;  k  keep  that  thou  hast  unto  thyself. 

10  And  Jacob  said,  Nay,  I  pray  thee,  if  now 
1  have  found  grace  in  thy  sight,  then  receive 

b  Chap,  xviii.  2 ;  xlii.  6 ;  xliii.  26. - c  Chap,  xxxii.  28. 

d  Chap.  xlv.  14,  15. - e  Heb.  to  thee. - f  Chap,  xlviii.  9  ;  Psa. 

cxxvii.  3  ;  Isa.  viii.  18. - s  Heb.  What  is  all  this  band  to  thee  ? 

hChap.  xxxii.  16. - 1  Chap,  xxxii.  5. - k  Heb.  be  that  to  thee 

that  is  thine. - 1  Chap,  xliii.  3;  2  Sam.  iii.  13;  xiv.  24,  28, 

32  ;  Matt,  xviii.  10. 

of  danger,  and  put  those  foremost  whom  he  least  es¬ 
teemed,  that  if  the  foremost  met  with  any  evil,  those 
who  were  behind  might  escape  on  their  swift  beasts  1 
chap,  xxxii.  7,  8.  Or  did  he  intend  to  keep  his 
choicest  treasure  to  the  last,  and  exhibit  his  beautiful 
Rachel  and  favourite  Joseph  after  Esau  had  seen  all 
the  rest,  in  order  to  make  the  deeper  impression  on 
his  mind  ? 

Verse  4.  Esau  ran  to  meet  him ]  How  sincere  and 
genuine  is  this  conduct  of  Esau,  and  at  the  same  time 
how  magnanimous !  He  had  buried  all  his  resentment, 
and  forgotten  all  his  injuries  ;  and  receives  his  brother 
with  the  strongest  demonstrations,  not  only  of  forgive¬ 
ness,  but  of  fraternal  affection. 

And  kissed  him ]  IHpUH  vaiyishshakehu.  In  the 
Masoretic  Bibles  each  letter  of  this  word  is  noted  with 
a  point  over  it  to  make  it  emphatic .  And  by  this  kind 
of  notation  the  rabbins  wished  to  draw  the  attention  of 
the  reader  to  the  change  that  had  taken  place  in  Esau, 
and  the  sincerity  with  which  he  received  his  brother 
Jacob.  A  Hindoo  when  he  meets  a  friend  after  ab¬ 
sence  throws  his  arms  round  him,  and  his  head  across 
his  shoulders,  twice  over  the  right  shoulder  and  once 

a 


They  part  in  friendship . 

my  present  at  my  hand ;  for  there-  a.  m.  2265. 

r  r  1  l  A  r  B.  C.  1739. 

lore  1  1  have  seen  thy  face,  as  _ 

though  I  had  seen  the  face  of  God,  and  thou 

wast  pleased  with  me. 

1 1  Take,  I  pray  thee,  m  my  blessing  that  is 
brought  to  thee  ;  because  God  hath  dealt 
graciously  with  me,  and  because  I  have 
11  enough.  0  And  he  urged  him ;  and  he 
took  it. 

12  And  he  said,  Let  us  take  our  journey, 
and  let  us  go,  and  I  will  go  before  thee. 

13  And  he  said  unto  him,  My  lord  knoweth 
that  the  children  are  tender,  and  the  flocks  and 
herds  with  young  are  with  me  :  and  if  men 
should  overdrive  them  one  day,  all  the  flock 
will  die. 

14  Let  my  lord,  I  pray  thee,  pass  over  be¬ 
fore  his  servant ;  and  I  will  lead  on  softly, 
according  p  as  the  cattle  that  goeth  before  me 
and  the  children  be  able  to  endure,  until  I 
come  unto  mv  lord  q  unto  Seir. 

m/ 

15  And  Esau  said,  Let  me  now  r  leave  with 
thee  some  of  the  folk  that  are  with  me  :  and 
he  said,  s  What  needeth  it  ?  Get  me  find  grace 
in  the  sight  of  my  lord. 

16  So  Esau  returned  that  day  on  his  way 
unto  Seir. 

17  And  Jacob  journeyed  to  11  Suecoth,  and 

m  Judges  i.  15  ;  1  Sam.  xxv.  27  ;  xxx.  26 ;  2  Kings  v.  15. 

nHeb.  all  things;  Phil.  iv.  18. - 0 2  Kings  v.  23. - rHeb. 

according  to  the  foot  of  the  work,  &c.,  and  according  to  the  foot  of 

the  children. - Ch.  xxxii.  3. - r  Heb.  set  ox  place. - sHeb. 

Wherefore  is  this  1 - f  Chap,  xxxiv.  11  ;  xlvii.  25  ;  Ruth  ii.  13. 

"Josh.  xiii.  27;  Judg.  viii.  5  ;  Psa.  lx.  6. 

over  the  left,  with  other  ceremonies  according  to  the 
rank  of  the  parties. 

Verse  10.  Receive  my  present  at  my  hand]  Jacob 
could  not  be  certain  that  he  had  found  favour  with  Esau, 
unless  the  present  had  been  received  ;  for  in  accepting 
it  Esau  necessarily  became  his  friend ,  according  to 
the  custom  of  those  times,  and  in  that  country.  In  the 
eastern  countries,  if  your  present  be  received  by  your 
superior,  you  may  rely  on  his  friendship ;  if  it  be  not 
received,  you  have  every  thing  to  fear.  It  is  on  this 
ground  that  Jacob  was  so  urgent  with  Esau  to  receive 
his  present,  because  he  knew  that  after  this  he  must 
treat  him  as  a  friend. 

Verse  14.  Until  I  come  unto  my  lord  unto  Seir.] 
It  is  very  likely  that  Jacob  was  perfectly  sincere  in  his 
expressed  purpose  of  visiting  Esau  at  Seir,  but  it  is  as 
likely  that  circumstances  afterwards  occurred  that  ren¬ 
dered  it  either  improper  or  impracticable ;  and  we  find 
that  Esau  afterwards  removed  to  Canaan,  and  he  and 
Jacob  dwelt  there  together  for  several  years.  See  chap, 
xxxvi.  6. 

Verse  17.  Journeyed  to  Succoth]  So  called  from 
rao  succoth,  the  booths  or  tents  which  Jacob  ereoted 

203 


Jacob  comes  to  Shalem, 


GENESIS. 


and  erects  an  altar  to  God. 


a.  M.  2265.  built  him  a  house,  and  made  oooths 
_ — 1 — 11  for  his  cattle  :  therefore  the  name 
of  the  place  is  called  v  Succoth. 

18  And  Jacob  came  to  w  Shalem,  a  city  of 
x  Shechem,  y  which  is  in  the  land  of  Canaan, 
when  he  came  from  Padan-aram  ;  and  pitched 
his  tent  before  the  city. 


1 9  And  z  he  bought  a  parcel  A.  M.  2265. 
of  a  field,  where  he  had  spread  B*  C‘  _1739, 
his  tent,  at  the  hand  of  the  children  of 
a  Hamor,  Shechem’s  father,  for  a  hundred 
b  pieces  of  money. 

20  And  he  erected  there  an  altar ;  and 
c  called  it  d  El-elohe-Israel. 


v  That  is,  booths. - w  John  iii.  23. - x  Called,  Acts  vii.  16, 

Sychem. - J'  Josh.  xxiv.  1  ;  Judges  ix.  1. - 2  Josh.  xxiv.  32  ; 


John  iv.  5. - a  Called,  Acts  vii.  16,  Emmor. - b  Or,  lambs. 

c  Chap.  xxxv.  7. - d  That  is,  God,  the  God  of  Israel. 


there  for  the  resting  and  convenience  of  his  family, 
who  in  all  probability  continued  there  for  some  con¬ 
siderable  time. 

Verse  18.  And  Jacob  came  to  Shalem ,  a  city  of  She¬ 
chem ]  The  word  ubw  shalem ,  in  the  Samaritan 

shalom ,  should  be  translated  here  in  peace ,  or  in  safety. 
After  resting  some  time  at  Succoth,  which  was  neces¬ 
sary  for  the  safety  of  his  flocks  and  the  comfort  of  his 
family,  he  got  safely  to  a  city  of  Shechem,  in  health 
of  body,  without  any  loss  of  his  cattle  or  servants,  his 
wives  and  children  being  also  in  safety.  Coverdale 
and  Matthews  translate  this  word  as  above,  and  with 
them  agree  the  Chaldee  and  the  Arabic  :  it  is  not  likely 
to  have  been  the  name  of  a  city,  as  it  is  nowhere  else 
to  be  found.  Shechem  is  called  in  Acts  vii.  16,  Sy¬ 
chem,  and  in  John  iv.  5,  Sychar ;  in  the  Arabic  it  is 
called  Nablous,  and  to  the  present  day  Neapolis.  It 
was  near  to  Samaria;  and  the  place  where  the  wretched 
remains  of  the  sect  of  the  Samaritans  were  lately  found, 
from  whom  Dr.  Huntington  received  a  perfect  copy  of 
the  Samaritan  Pentateuch. 

Verse  19.  For  a  hundred  pieces  of  money. ]  The 
original,  HNIOD  bemeah  kesitah ,  has  been  a  mat¬ 

ter  of  long  and  learned  discussion  among  critics.  As 
kesitah  signifies  a  lamb,  it  may  imply  that  Jacob  gave 
the  Hamorites  one  hundred  lambs  for  the  field  ;  but  if 
it  be  the  same  transaction  that  St.  Stephen  refers  to  in 
Acts  vii.  16,  it  was  money,  npiqq  apyvptov ,  a  sum  or 
price  of  silver,  which  was  given  on  the  occasion.  It 
has  been  conjectured  that  the  money  had  the  figure  of  a 
iamb  stamped  on  it,  because  it  was  on  an  average  the 
value  of  a  lamb  ;  and  hence  it  might  be  called  a  kesitah 
or  lamb  from  the  impression  it  bore.  It  is  certain  that 
in  many  countries  the  coin  has  had  its  name  from  the 
image  it  bore ;  so  among  our  ancestors  a  coin  was  called 
an  angel  because  it  bore  the  image  of  an  angel ;  hence 
also  a  Jacobus,  a  Carolus,  a  Lewis,  ( Louis  d?  Or,)  a 
Joe,  because  certain  coins  in  England,  Spain,  France, 
and  Portugal,  bore  on  one  side  the  image  of  the  kings 
of  those  countries,  James ,  Charles,  Lewis,  Joseph,  or 
Johannes.  The  Athenians  had  a  coin  called  (3ovq ,  an 
ox,  because  it  was  stamped  with  the  figure  of  an  ox,- 
Hence  the  saying  in  JEschylus  : — 

Ta  S’,  alia  ctyo,  (3ovq  era  yTioTTrjq  peyaq 

Beprjitev  Ac  am.  v.  36. 

H  I  must  be  silent  concerning  other  matters,  a  great  ox 
has  come  upon  my  tongue to  signify  a  person  who 
had  received  a  bribe  for  secrecy,  i.  e.,  a  sum  of  money, 
on  each  piece  of  which  an  ox  was  stamped,  and  hence 
called  ftovq,  an  ox.  The  word  opes,  riches,  is  a  cor¬ 
ruption  of  the  word  oves,  sheep,  because  these  animals 

204 


in  ancient  times  constituted  the  principal  riches  of 
their  owners ;  but  when  other  cattle  were  added,  the 
word  pecunia,  (from  pecus,  cattle,)  which  we  translate 
money,  and  from  which  we  still  have  our  English  term 
pecuniary ,  appears  to  have  been  substituted  for  oves , 
because  pecus,  pecoris,  and  pecus,  pecudis,  were  used 
to  signify  all  kinds  of  cattle  large  and  small.  Among 
our  British  and  Saxon  ancestors  we  find  coins  stamp¬ 
ed  with  the  figure  of  an  ox,  horse,  hog,  goat,  <fc.,  and 
this  custom  arose  in  all  probability,  both  among  them 
and  other  nations,  from  this  circumstance,  that  in  pri¬ 
mitive  times  the  coin  was  the  ordinary  value  of  the 
animal  whose  image  it  bore.  It  is,  all  circumstances 
weighed,  most  likely  that  a  piece  of  money  is  here  in¬ 
tended,  and  possibly  marked  with  the  image  of  a  lamb  ; 
but  as  the  original  word  kesitah  occurs  only  here , 

and  in  Josh.  xxiv.  32,  and  Job  xlii.  11,  this  is  not 
sufficiently  evident,  the  word  itself  being  of  very  doubt¬ 
ful  signification.  Mr.  Parkhurst  is  of  opinion  that  the 
kesitah  bore  the  image  of  a  lamb  ;  and  that  these  lamb 
coins  of  the  ancient  Hebrews  typified  the  Lamb  of 
God,  who  in  the  Divine  purpose  wras  considered  as  slain 
from  the  foundation  of  the  world,  and  who  purchased 
us  unto  God  with  his  own  blood.  The  conjecture  is 
at  least  pious,  and  should  lead  to  useful  reflections. 
Those  who  wish  to  see  more  on  this  subject  may  con¬ 
sult  the  writers  in  the  Critici  Sacri,  and  Calmet. 

Verse  20.  And  he  erected  there  an  altar ]  It  ap¬ 
pears  that  Jacob  had  a  very  correct  notion  of  the  pro¬ 
vidence  and  mercy  of  God  ;  hence  he  says,  ver.  5  :  The 
children  which  God  hath  graciously  given  thy  ser¬ 
vant  ;  and  in  ver.  1 1  he  attributes  all  his  substance  to 
the  bounty  of  his  Maker  :  Take,  I  pray  thee,  my  bless¬ 
ing — because  God  hath  dealt  graciously  with  me,  and 
because  I  have  enough.  Hence  he  viewed  God  as  the 
God  of  all  grace,  and  to  him  he  erects  an  altar,  dedi¬ 
cating  it  to  God,  the  God  of  Israel,  referring  particu¬ 
larly  to  the  change  of  his  own  name,  and  the  mercies 
which  he  then  received  ;  and  hence  perhaps  it  would 
be  best  to  translate  the  words,  The  strong  God  (is)  the 
God  of  Israel ;  as  by  the  power  of  his  grace  and  good¬ 
ness  he  had  rescued,  defended,  blessed,  and  supported 
him  from  his  youth  up  until  now.  The  erecting  altars 
with  particular  names  appears  in  other  places ;  so,  Exod. 
xvii.  15,  Moses  calls  his  altar  Jehovah-nissi ,  “  the  Lord 
is  my  banner.” 

1.  When  a  man’s  ways  please  God,  he  maketh  even 
his  enemies  to  be  at  peace  with  him.  When  Jacob  had 
got  reconciled  to  God,  God  reconciled  his  brother  to 
him.  The  hearts  of  all  men  are  in  the  hands  of  God, 
and  he  turns  them  howsoever  he  will. 


a 


CHAP.  XXXIV. 


Dinah  is  violated  by  Shechem , 

2.  Since  the  time  in  which  Jacob  wrestled  with  the 
Angel  of  the  covenant,  we  see  in  him  much  depend¬ 
ence  on  God,  accompanied  with  a  spirit  of  deep  hu¬ 
mility  and  gratitude.  God’s  grace  alone  can  change 
the  heart  of  man,  and  it  is  by  that  grace  only  that  we 
get  a  sense  of  our  obligations ;  this  lays  us  in  the  dust, 
and  the  more  we  receive  the  lower  we  shall  lie. 

3.  “  The  first  thing,”  says  good  Bishop  Wilson, 
“  that  pious  men  do,  is  to  provide  for  the  honour  and 


which  displeases  Jacobs  sons, 

worship  of  God.”  Jacob  buys  apiece  of  ground,  and 
erects  an  altar  on  it  in  the  land  of  a  heathen,  that  he 
might  acknowledge  God  among  his  enemies,  and  turn 
them  to  the  true  faith  ;  and  there  is  every  reason  to 
believe  that  this  expedient  would  have  been  success¬ 
ful,  had  it  not  been  for  the  base  conduct  of  his  sons- 
How  true  is  the  saying,  One  sinner  spoileth  much 
good !  Reader,  beware,  lest  thy  conduct  should  be¬ 
come  a  stumbling  block  to  any. 


CHAPTER  XXXIV. 


Dinah,  the  daughter  of  Jacob  and  Leah ,  going  out  to  see  the  daughters  of  the  land ,  is  ravished  by  Shechem , 
the  son  of  Hamor ,  1,2.  He  entreats  his  father  to  get  her  for  him  to  wife ,  3.  Jacob  and  his  sons  hear 
of  the  indignity  offered  to  Dinah ,  5—7.  Hamor  proposes  the  suit  of  Shechem  to  Jacob  and  his  sons,  and 
offers  them  a  variety  of  advantages ,  8—10.  Shechem  himself  comes  forward,  begs  to  have  Dinah  to  wife , 
and  offers  dowry  to  any  extent ,  11,  12.  The  sons  of  Jacob  pretend  scruples  of  conscience  to  give  their 
sister  to  one  who  was  uncircumcised  ;  and  require ,  as  a  condition  of  this  marriage ,  and  of  intermarriages 
in  general,  that  all  the  Shechemites  should  be  circumcised,  13—17.  Hamor  and  Shechem  consent ,  18,  19. 
They  lay  the  business  before  the  elders  of  their  city,  dwell  on  the  advantages  of  a  connection  with  Jacob 
and  his  family,  and  propose  to  them  the  condition  required  by  the  sons  of  Jacob ,  20—23.  The  elders  con¬ 
sent,  and  all  the  males  are  circumcised,  24.  While  the  Shechemites  are  incapable  of  defending  themselves, 
on  the  third  day  after  their  circumcision ,  Simeon  and  Levi,  the  brothers  of  Dinah,  came  upon  the  city,  slew 
all  the  males,  sacked  the  city ,  took  the  women  and  children  captives,  and  seized  on  all  the  cattle  belonging  to 
the  Shechemites,  25—29.  Jacob  is  greatly  displeased  and  alarmed  at  this  treachery  and  cruelty  of  his  sons, 
and  lays  before  them  the  probable  consequences ,  30.  They  endeavour  to  vindicate  their  conduct,  31. 


A.  M.  cir.  2266.  A  ND  a  Dmah  the  daughter  of 

B.  C.  cir.  1738.  T  .  ...  .  .  ° 

-  .Leah,  which  she  bare  unto 

Jacob,  b  went  out  to  see  the  daughters  of  the 

land. 

2  And  when  Shechem  the  son  of  Hamor  the 
Hivite,  prince  of  the  country,  c  saw  her,  he 
d  took  her,  and  lay  with  her,  and  e  defiled  her. 

3  And  his  soul  clave  unto  Dinah  the  daugh¬ 
ter  of  Jacob  ;  and  he  loved  the  damsel,  and 
spake  f  kindly  unto  the  damsel. 

4  And  Shechem  g  spake  unto  his  father 
Hamor,  saying,  Get  me  this  damsel  to  wife. 


5  And  Jacob  heard  that  he  had 
defiled  Dinah  his  daughter  :  now 


A.  M.  cir.  2266. 

B.  C.  cir.  1738. 


his  sons  were  with  his  cattle  in  the  field  ;  and 
Jacob  h  held  his  peace  until  they  were  come. 

6  And  Hamor  the  father  of  Shechem  went 
out  unto  Jacob  to  commune  with  him. 

7  And  the  sons  of  Jacob  came  out  of  the 
field  when  they  heard  it :  and  the  men  were 
grieved,  and  they  Jwere  very  wroth,  because 
he  k  had  wrought  folly  in  Israel,  in  lying  with 
Jacob’s  daughter ;  1  which  thing  ought  not  to 
be  done. 


a  Chap.  xxx.  21. - b  Tit.  ii.  5. - c  Chap.  vi.  2  ;  Judg.  xiv.  1. 

d  Chap.  xx.  2. - -e  Heb.  humbled  her ;  Deut.  xxii.  29. - f  Heb. 

to  the  heart  of  the  damsel ;  see  Isa.  xl.  2  ;  Hos.  ii.  14. 

NOTES  ON  CHAP.  XXXIV. 

Verse  1.  And  Dinah — went  out  to  see  the  daughters 
of  the  land.]  It  is  supposed  that  Jacob  had  been  now 
about  seven  or  eight  years  in  the  land,  and  that  Dinah, 
who  was  about  seven  years  of  age  when  Jacob  came 
to  Canaan,  was  now  about  fourteen  or  fifteen.  Why 
or  on  what  occasion  she  went  out  we  know  not,  but 
the  reason  given  by  Josephus  is  very  probable,  viz., 
that  it  was  on  one  of  their  festivals. 

Verse  2.  Prince  of  the  country]  i.  e.,  Hamor  was 
prince  ;  Shechem  was  the  son  of  the  prince  or  chief. 
Our  version  appears  to  represent  Shechem  as  prince, 
but  his  father  was  the  chief  of  the  country.  See 
verses  6,  8,  &c. 

Verse  3.  Spake  kindly  unto  the  damsel.]  Literally, 
he  spake  to  the  heart  of  the  damsel — endeavoured  to 
gain  her  affections,  and  to  reconcile  her  to  her  dis- 


sJudg.  xiv.  2. - hl  Sam.  x.  27  ;  2  Sam.  xiii.  22. - '  Chap. 

xlix.  7  ;  2  Sam.  xiii.  21. - k  Josh.  vii.  15;  Judg.  xx.  6. - 1Deut. 

xxiii.  17  ;  2  Sam.  xiii.  12. 

grace.  It  appears  sufficiently  evident  from  this  and 
the  preceding  verse  that  there  had  been  no  consent  on 
the  part  of  Dinah,  that  the  whole  was  an  act  of  vio¬ 
lence,  and  that  she  was  now  detained  by  force  in  the 
house  of  Shechem.  Here  she  was  found  when  Simeon 
and  Levi  sacked  the  city,  verse  26. 

Verse  7.  He  had  wrought  folly  in  Israel]  The 
land,  afterwards  generally  called  Israel,  was  not  as 
yet  so  named ;  and  the  sons  of  Jacob  were  neither 
called  Israel,  Israelites  nor  Jews,  till  long  after  this. 
How  then  can  it  be  said  that  Shechem  had  wrought 
folly  in  Israel  ?  The  words  are  capable  of  a  more 
literal  translation  :  beyisrael,  may  be  translated, 

against  Israel .  The  angel  had  said,  Thy  name  shall 
be  called  no  more  Jacob — not  only  Jacob,  but  Israel. 
It  was  this  that  aggravated  the  offence  of  Shechem ; 
he  wrought  folly  against  Israel ,  the  prince  of  God, 

205 


a 


GENESIS. 


the  Shechemites  he  circumcised . 


Jacob's  sons  propose  that  all 
A.  M.  cir.  2266.  8  And  Hamor  communed  with 

u  C.  cir.  1738.  ,  •  m,  ,  c 

_ -  them,  saying,  I  he  soul  oi  my  son 

Shechem  longeth  for  your  daughter  :  I  pray 
you  give  her  him  to  wife. 

9  And  make  ye  marriages  with  us,  and  give 
your  daughters  unto  us,  and  take  our  daughters 
unto  you. 

1 0  And  ye  shall  dwell  with  us  :  and  m  the 
land  shall  be  before  you  ;  dwell  and  11  trade  ye 
therein,  and  0  get  you  possession  therein. 

1 1  And  Shechem  said  unto  her  father  and 
unto  her  brethren,  Let  me  find  grace  in  your 
eyes,  and  what  ye  shall  say  unto  me  I  will 
give. 

1 2  Ask  me  never  so  much  p  dowry  and  gift, 
and  I  will  give  according  as  ye  shall  say  unto 
me  ;  but  give  me  the  damsel  to  wife. 

13  And  the  sons  of  Jacob  answered  Shechem 
and  Hamor  his  father  q  deceitfully,  (and  said, 
Because  he  had  defiled  Dinah  their  sister:) 

14  And  they  said  unto  them,  We  cannot  do 
this  thing,  to  give  our  sister  to  one  that  is 
uncircumcised ;  for  r  that  were  a  reproach 
unto  us  : 

15  But  in  this  will  we  consent  unto  you  :  If 
ye  will  be  as  we  he,  that  every  male  of  you  be 
circumcised ; 

16  Then  will  we  give  our  daughters  unto 
you,  and  we  will  take  your  daughters  to  us  ; 

m  Chapter  xiii.  9  ;  xx.  15. - nChap.  xlii.  34. - 0  Chapter 

xlvii.  27. - p  Exodus  xxii.  16,  17  ;  Deut.  xxii.  29  ;  1  Samuel 

xviii.  25. 


in  lying  with  the  daughter  of  Jacob.  Here  both  the 
names  are  given ;  Jacob ,  whose  daughter  was  defiled, 
and  Israel,  the  prince  of  God,  against  whom  the  offence 
was  committed. 

Verse  12.  Ask  me  never  so  much  dowry\  See  on 
chap.  xxix.  20,  &c.  See  the  law  relative  to  this, 
Exod.  xxii.  16,  17. 

Verse  13.  Answered — deceitfully ]  Which  nothing 
could  excuse  ;  yet,  to  show  that  they  had  had  much  pro¬ 
vocation,  it  is  immediately  subjoined  VinTl  vaidabberu, 
they  spoke  thus  because  he  had  defiled  Dinah  their 
sister ;  for  so  this  parenthesis  should  be  read. 

Verse  14.  That  were  a  reproach  unto  ns]  Because 
the  uncircumcised  were  not  in  the  covenant  of  God  ; 
and  to  have  given  an  heiress  of  the  promise  to  one 
who  had  no  kind  of  right  to  its  spiritual  blessings, 
from  whom  might  spring  children  who  would  natural¬ 
ly  walk  in  the  way  of  their  father,  would  have  been 
absurd,  reproachf  ul,  and  wicked.  Thus  far  they  were 
perfectly  right ;  but  to  make  this  holy  principle  a  cloak 
for  their  deceitful  and  murderous  purposes,  was  the 
full  sum  of  all  wickedpess. 

Verse  17.  Then  will  we  take  our  daughter,  and  we 
will  be  gone.]  It  is  natural  to  suppose  that  the  tribe 

206 


and  we  will  dwell  with  you,  and  A.  M.  cir.  2266. 

J  ,  B.  C.  cir.  1738. 

we  will  become  one  people. - 

17  But  if  ye  will  not  hearken  unto  us,  to  be 

circumcised ;  then  will  we  take  our  daughter, 
and  we  will  be  gone.  ^ 

18  And  their  words  pleased  Hamor,  and 
Shechem  Hamor’s  son. 

19  And  the  young  man  deferred  not  to  do 
the  thing,  because  he  had  delight  in  Jacob’s 
daughter  :  and  he  was  s  more  honourable  than 
all  the  house  of  his  father. 

20  And  Hamor  and  Shechem  his  son  came 
unto  the  gate  of  their  city,  and  communed  with 
the  men  of  their  city,  saying, 

2 1  These  men  are  peaceable  with  us  ;  there¬ 
fore  let  them  dwell  in  the  land,  and  trade 
therein ;  for  the  land,  behold,  it  is  large 
enough  for  them  ;  let  us  take  their  daughters 
to  us  for  wives,  and  let  us  give  them  our 
daughters. 

22  Only  herein  will  the  men  consent  unto 
us  for  to  dwell  with  us,  to  be  one  people,  if 
every  male  among  us  be  circumcised,  as  they 
are  circumcised. 

23  Shall  not  their  cattle  and  their  substance 
and  every  beast  of  theirs  he  ours  ?  only  let  us 
consent  unto  them,  and  they  will  dwell  with  us 

24  And  unto  Hamor  and  unto  Shechem  his 
son  hearkened  all  that  4  went  out  of  the  gate 

See  2  Sam.  xiii.  24,  &c. - r  Josh.  v.  9. - sNum.  xxii 

15  ;  2  Chron.  iv.  9  ;  Isa.  iii.  3-5. - 1  Chap,  xxiii.  10  ;  Matt,  vii 

6 ;  Rom.  ii.  28,  29. 

of  Hamor  was  very  inconsiderable,  else  they  would 
not  have  sought  an  alliance  with  the  family  of  Jacob, 
and  have  come  so  readily  into  a  painful,  disgraceful 
measure,  without  having  either  the  sanction  of  Divine 
authority  or  reason ;  for  it  does  not  appear  that  the 
sons  of  Jacob  urged  either.  And  they  are  threatened 
here  that  if  they  do  not  agree  to  be  circumcised, 
Dinah  shall  be  taken  from  them,  and  restored  to  her 
family ;  and  this  is  probably  what  the  Shechemites 
saw  they  had  not  power  at  present  to  prevent. 

Verse  23.  Shall  not  their  cattle  and  their  substance 
— be  ours  ?]  This  was  a  bait  held  out  for  the  poor 
unsuspecting  people  of  Hamor  by  their  prince  and  his 
son,  who  were  not  much  less  deceived  than  the  people 
themselves. 

Verse  24.  Dvery  male  teas  circumcised]  These 
simple  people  must  have  had  very  great  affection  for 
their  chief  and  his  son,  or  have  been  under  the  influ¬ 
ence  of  the  most  passive  obedience ,  to  have  come  so 
readily  into  this  measure,  and  to  have  submitted  to  this 
rite.  But  the  petty  princes  in  Asiatic  countries  have 
ever  been  absolute  and  despotic,  their  subjects  paying 
them  the  most  prompt  and  blind  obedience.  I  shall  give 
a  few  examples  from  Mr.  Richardson’s  Dissertations  ; — 


The  Shechemites  consent,  and  CHAP. 

A.  M.  cir.  2266.  of  his  city  :  and  every  male  was 

J _ L.clr' _ 1  circumcised,  all  that  went  out  of 

the  gate  of  his  city. 

25  And  it  came  to  pass  on  the  third  day, 
when  they  were  sore,  that  two  of  the  sons  of 
Jacob,  u  Simeon  and  Levi,  Dinah’s  brethren, 
took  each  man  his  sword,  and  came  upon  the 
city  boldly,  and  slew  all  the  males. 

26  And  they  slew  Hamor  and  Shechem  his 
son  with  the  v  edge  of  the  sword,  and  took 
Dinah  out  of  Shechem’s  house,  and  went  out. 

27  The  sons  of  Jacob  came  upon  the  slain, 
and  spoiled  the  city,  because  they  had  defiled 
their  sister. 

28  They  took  their  sheep,  and  their  oxen, 

“Chapter  xlix.  5,  6,  7. - v  Hebrew,  mouth  ;  Deut.  xxxii.  42; 

2  Sam.  ii.  26  ;  Isa.  xxxi.  8. 

Abu  Thaher,  chief  of  the  Carmathians ,  about  the 
year  nine  hundred  and  thirty,  ravaged  the  territory 
of  Mecca ,  defiled  the  temple,  and  destroyed  nearly 
40,000  people.  With  only  500  horse  he  went  to  lay 
siege  to  Bagdad  :  the  caliph’s  general,  at  the  head  of 
30,000  men,  marched  out  to  seize  him,  but  before  he 
attacked  him  he  sent  an  officer  to  summon  him  to 
surrender.  £  How  many  men  has  the  caliph’s  general  V 
said  Abu  Thaher.  1  Thirty  thousand,’  replied  the  offi¬ 
cer  ‘  Among  them  all,’  says  the  Carmathian  chief, 
‘has  he  got  three  like  mine  V  Then,  ordering  his  fol¬ 
lowers  to  approach,  he  commanded  one  to  stab  him¬ 
self,  another  to  throw7  himself  from  a  precipice,  and 
a  third  to  plunge  into  the  Tigris;  all  three  instantly 
obeyed,  and  perished.  Then  turning  to  the  officer, 
he  said,  ‘  He  who  has  such  troops  needs  not  value  the 
number  of  his  enemies  !’ 

11  Hassan  Sabat,  one  of  those  petty  princes  formerly 
known  in  Asia  and  Europe  by  the  title  Sheekh-ul-jibel , 
or  old  man  of  the  mountain ,  being  required  by  an 
ambassador  to  do  homage  to  his  master,  the  Sultan 
Malekshah  Jelaleddin,  without  giving  any  answer, 
ordered  one  of  his  attendants  to  poniard  himself,  and 
another  to  leap  from  the  battlements  of  the  tower  ; 
and  he  was  instantly  obeyed  !  Then  turning  to  the 
ambassador,  he  said,  £  Seventy  thousand  are  thus  at¬ 
tentive  to  my  commands.  Let  this  be  my  answer.’” 
On  a  principle  of  this  kind  we  may  account  for  the 
prompt  obedience  of  the  people  of  Hamor. 

Verse  25.  On  the  third  day ,  when  they  ivere  sore] 
When  the  inflammation  wras  at  the  height,  and  a  fever 
ensued  which  rendered  the  person  utterly  helpless, 
and  his  state  critical,  Simeon  and  Levi ,  the  half 
brothers  of  Dinah,  took  each  man  his  sword ,  probably 
assisted  by  that  portion  of  the  servants  which  helped 
them  to  take  care  of  the  flock,  came  on  the  city  boldly, 
betach,  securely — without  being  suspected ,  and 
being  in  no  danger  of  meeting  with  resistance,  and 
slew  all  the  males.  Great  as  the  provocation  was, 
and  it  certainly  was  very  great,  this  was  an  act  of  un¬ 
paralleled  treachery  and  cruelty. 

Verse  27.  The  sons  of  Jacob ]  The  rest  of  Jacob’s 

a 


XXXIV.  are  treacherously  murdered. 

and  their  asses,  and  that  which  A.  M.  cir.  226G. 

,  .  .  .  ...  B.  C.  cir  '738. 

was  111  the  city,  and  that  which  -  -  — 

was  in  the  field, 

29  And  all  their  wealth,  and  all  their  little 
ones,  and  their  wives  took  they  captive  ;  and 
spoiled  even  all  that  ivas  in  the  house. 

30  And  Jacob  said  to  Simeon  and  Levi, 
w  Ye  have  x  troubled  me  y  to  make  me  to  stink 
among  the  inhabitants  of  the  land,  among  the 
Canaanites  and  the  Perizzites  :  z  and  I  being 
few  in  number,  they  shall  gather  themselves 
together  against  me,  and  slay  me  ;  and  I  shall 
be  destroyed,  I  and  my  house. 

3 1  And  they  said,  Should  he  deal  with  our 
sister  as  with  a  harlot  ? 

w  Chap.  xlix.  6. - x  Josh.  vii.  25. - Y  Exod.  v.  21  ;  1  Samuel 

xiii.  4. - z  Deut.  iv.  27 ;  Psa.  cv.  12. 

sons,  the  remaining  brothers  of  Simeon  and  Levi,  spoiled 
the  city.  Though  the  others  could  slay  the  defenceless 
males,  it  wTas  not  likely  that  they  could  have  carried 
away  all  the  booty,  with  the  women,  children,  and  cat¬ 
tle  ;  it  is  therefore  most  natural  to  suppose  that  the  rest 
of  the  sons  of  Jacob  assisted  at  last  in  the  business. 

Verse  30.  Ye  have  troubled  me]  Brought  my  mind 
into  great  distress,  and  endangered  my  personal  safety  ; 
to  make  me  to  stink — to  render  me  odious  to  the  sur¬ 
rounding  tribes,  so  that  there  is  every  reason  to  sus¬ 
pect  that  when  this  deed  is  come  abroad  they  will  join 
in  a  confederacy  against  me,  and  extirpate  my  whole 
family.  And  had  he  not  been  under  the  peculiar  pro¬ 
tection  of  God,  this  in  all  human  probability  would 
have  been  the  case;  but  he  had  prevailed  with  God, 
and  he  was  also  to  prevail  with  men.  That  Jacob’s 
resentment  was  not  dissembled  we  have  the  fullest 
proof  in  his  depriving  these  two  sons  of  the  birthright, 
which  otherwise  they  had  doubtless  enjoyed.  See 
chap.  xlix.  5,  7,  where  some  additional  circumstances 
are  related. 

Verse  31.  Shoidd  he  deal  with  our  sister  as  with  a 
harlot  ?]  On  this  outrage  alone  they  vindicated  their 
flagitious  conduct.  The  word  harlot  first  occurs  here  : 
the  original  is  not  BOb'S  pilegesh,  which  we  render  con¬ 
cubine ,  (see  its  explanation  chap.  xxii.  24,)  but  roil 
zonah,  which  ordinarily  signifies  one  who  prostitutes 
herself  to  any  person  for  hire.  Our  word  harlot  is 
said  to  have  been  derived  from  a  very  odd  circumstance  : 
Robert,  duke  of  Normandy,  seeing  a  fine-looking  coun¬ 
try  girl  dancing  with  her  companions  on  the  green,  took 
her  to  his  bed.  She  was  the  daughter  of  a  skinner , 
and  her  name  was  Arlotta  ;  and  of  her  William ,  sur- 
named  The  Conqueror ,  was  born.  Hence  it  is  said  all 
such  women  were  from  her  called  harlots ,  as  William 
himself  was  usually  termed  the  Bastard.  But  horelet , 
the  diminutive  of  whore ,  is  not  a  less  likely  derivation. 

Solomon  has  very  properly  said,  My  son ,  enter  not 
into  the  path  of  the  wicked,  and  go  not  in  the  way  of 
evil  men ;  avoid  it,  pass  not  by  it,  turn  from  it,  and 
pass  cacay,  Prov.  iv.  14,  15.  Had  not  Dinah  pone  * 

207 


GENESIS. 


Bethel  and  build  an  altar 


Jacob  commanded  to  go  to 

out  to  see  the  daughters  of  the  land,  and  very  possibly 
at  one  of  their  idolatrous  festivals,  she  had  not  suffered 
the  foul  disgrace  mentioned  in  this  chapter.  Not  only 
prudence  dictates  that  young  women  should  keep  at 
home ,  but  God  expressly  commands  it,  Tit.  ii.  5.  Dinah 
got  among  idolaters,  and  thus  partook  of  their  iniqui¬ 
ties  ;  and  this  led  to  the  most  base  and  cruel  transac¬ 
tion  upon  record.  How  true  is  the  saying,  Those  who 
wander  out  of  the  way  of  understanding  shall  abide 
m  the  congregation  of  the  dead !  In  the  case  before 
us  blame  seems  to  attach  to  all  parties. 

1 .  It  was  wrong  in  Jacob  to  suffer  his  daughter,  alone 
and  unprotected,  to  visit  the  daughters  of  the  land. 

2.  It  was  excessively  wicked  in  Shechem  to  take 
this  advantage  of  the  daughter  of  a  respectable  stran¬ 
ger,  who  had  sought  his  friendship,  and  came  to  sojourn 
among  his  people,  and  whose  righteous  dealing  they 
must  have  witnessed  for  at  least  seven  years  past.  In 
his  behalf  we  may  say,  and  it  would  be  unjust  not  to 
say  it,  that  having  done  the  mischief,  and  sinned  deeply 
against  the  laws  of  hospitality,  he  wished  to  make  all 
the  reparation  in  his  power ;  and  therefore  in  the  most 
frank  and  liberal  manner  he  not  only  offered,  but  most 
pressingly  entreated,  permission  to  take  Dinah  to  wife. 
This  was  the  utmost  he  could  do  in  such  a  case.  And 
in  this  he  is  a  saint  of  the  first  order  when  compared 
with  the  noble  and  ignoble  profligates  who,  while  blas¬ 
pheming  the  Christian  name  by  continuing  to  assume 
it,  commit  all  kinds  of  breaches  on  the  virtue  of  simple 
females,  and  the  peace  of  respectable  families,  and  not 
only  make  no  reparation,  but  glory  in  their  shame. 

3.  It  was  diabolical  in  Jacob' s  sons  to  slay  a  whole 
tribe  for  the  offence  of  one  man,  and  especially  as  that 
one  had  offered  to  make  all  the  restitution  in  his  power. 
They  required  that  Hamor,  Shechem,  and  all  their  sub¬ 
jects  should  be  circumcised  before  they  could  conscien¬ 
tiously  consent  to  give  their  sister  to  Shechem  in  mar¬ 
riage.  This  required  conformity  was  made  the  cloak 


of  the  most  base  and  infamous  designs.  The  simple 
unsuspecting  Shechemites  agreed  to  the  proposal ;  and 
when  rendered  by  this  religious  rite  incapable  of  de¬ 
fending  themselves,  they  were  basely  murdered  by 
Simeon  and  Levi,  and  their  city  destroyed.  Jacob, 
to  his  great  honour,  remonstrated  against  this  barbarous 
and  bloody  act,  committed  apparently  under  the  sanc¬ 
tion  of  religion ;  and  God  showed  his  abhorrence  of 
it  by  directing  the  patriarch,  in  his  dying  moments,  to 
proscribe  them  from  the  blessings  of  the  covenant,  so 
that  they  barely  retained  a  name  among  the  tribes  of 
Israel,  being  in  general  small,  and  ever  disreputable, 
except  merely  in  the  service  of  the  sanctuary,  in  which 
Levi  was  employed.  How  often  since,  notwithstand¬ 
ing  this  solemn  warning,  has  the  pure  and  benevolent 
religion  of  God  been  made,  by  wicked  and  designing 
men,  a  political  stalking-horse  to  serve  the  basest  pur¬ 
poses,  and  a  covert  to  the  worst  of  crimes  !  But  shall 
we  find  fault  with  the  holy  religion  of  the  blessed  God 
because  wicked  men  have  abused  it  1  God  forbid  ! 
Were  it  not  so  good  as  it  really  is,  it  would  be  inca¬ 
pable  of  such  abuse.  An  evil  cannot  be  abused ,  a 
good  may  ;  and  the  greater  and  the  more  acknowledged 
the  good,  the  more  liable  to  abuse.  As  every  good  is 
so  capable  of  being  abused,  does  he  act  wisely  who 
argues  against  the  use  of  the  thing  on  this  account  1 
Shall  we  say  that  various  kinds  of  grain,  fruits,  and 
aliments  are  a  curse ,  because  wicked  men  abuse  them 
to  the  purposes  of  drunkenness  and  gluttony  ?  This 
would  argue  an  utter  perversion  of  all  reason  :  and  is 
it  not  on  such  a  pretext  as  this  that  many  persons  have 
ventured  to  call  in  question  even  the  truths  of  Chris¬ 
tianity  1 

Whatever  such  men  may  be  determined  to  think  on 
the  subject  of  this  chapter,  with  the  unprejudiced  reader 
the  ample  and  detailed  relation  which  we  have  hereof 
this  barbarous  transaction  will  appear  an  additional  proof 
of  the  veracity  and  impartiality  of  the  sacred  historian. 


CHAPTER  XXXV. 


Jacob  is  commanded  of  God  to  go  to  Beth-el,  and  to  build  an  altar  there ,  1.  His  exhortation  to  his  family 
to  put  away  all  strange  gods ,  (fc.,  2,  3.  They  deliver  them  all  up ,  and  Jacob  hides  them  in  the  earth ,  4. 
They  commence  their  journey,  5  ;  come  to  Luz,  6  ;  build  there  the  altar  El-beth-el,  7.  Burial  place  of 
Deborah,  Rebekah's  nurse ,  8.  God  appears  again  unto  Jacob ,  9.  Blesses  him  and  renews  the  promises , 
10—13.  To  commemorate  this  manifestation  of  God,  Jacob  sets  up  a  pillar,  and  calls  the  place  Beth-el, 
14,  15.  They  journey  to  Ephrath,  where  Rachel,  after  hard  labour,  is  delivered  of  Benjamin,  and  dies, 
16—19.  Jacob  sets  up  a  pillar  on  her  grave,  20.  They  journey  to  Edar,  21.  While  at  this  place , 
Reuben  defiles  his  father's  bed,  22.  Account  of  the  children  of  Jacob,  according  to  the  mothers ,  23—26. 
Jacob  comes  to  Mamre  to  his  father  Isaac,  who  ivas  probably  then  in  the  one  hundred  and  fifty -eighth  year 
of  his  age,  27.  Isaac  dies,  and  is  buried  by  his  sons  Esau  and  Jacob,  29. 


A.  M.  cir.  2266. 

B.  C.  cir.  1738. 


AND  God  said  unto  Jacob, 
Arise,  go  up  to  a  Beth-el, 
and  dwell  there  :  and  make  there  an  altar  unto 

a  Chap,  xxviii.  19. - b  Chap,  xxviii.  13. 


God,  b  that  appeared  unto  thee  a.  M.  cir.  2266. 
c  when  thou  fleddest  from  the  ...1738.‘ 

face  of  Esau  thy  brother. 

c  Chap,  xxvii.  43. 


NOTES  ON  CHAP.  XXXY. 

Terse  1.  Arise,  go  up  to  Belh-el\  The  transaction 
that  had  lately  taken  place  rendered  it  unsafe  for  Jacob 
to  dwell  any  longer  at  the  city  of  Shechem ;  and  it 

208 


seems  that  while  he  was  reflecting  on  the  horrible 
act  of  Simeon  and  Levi,  and  not  knowing  what  to 
do,  God  graciously  appeared  to  him,  and  commanded 
him  to  go  up  to  Beth-el,  build  an  altar  there,  and 

a 


CHAP.  XXXV. 


Jacob  arrives  at  Beth-el, 

A.  M.  cir.  2266.  2  Then  Jacob  said  unto  his 

B.  c.  cir.  1738.  d  ]10Uge]10ij)  and  to  all  that  were 

with  him,  Put  away  e  the  strange  gods  that 
are  among  you,  and  fbe  clean,  and  change 
your  garments  : 

3  And  let  us  arise,  and  go  up  to  Beth-el ; 
and  I  will  make  there  an  altar  unto  God,  *  who 
answered  me  in  the  day  of  my  distress,  11  and 
was  with  me  in  the  way  which  I  went. 

4  And  they  gave  unto  Jacob  all  the  strange 
gods  which  were  in  their  hand,  and  all  their 
1  ear-rings  which  were  in  their  ears ;  and 
Jacob  hid  them  under  k  the  oak  which  was  by 
Shechem. 

d  Chap,  xviii.  19  ;  Josh.  xxiv.  15. - e  Chap.  xxxi.  19,  34  ; 

Josh.  xxiv.  2,  23  ;  1  Sam.  vii.  3. - fExod.  xix.  10. - s  Chap. 

xxxii.  7,  24  ;  Psa.  cvii.  6. - h  Chap,  xxviii.  20  ;  xxxi.  3,  42. 

1  Hos.  ii.  13. - k  Josh.  xxiv.  26  ;  Judg.  ix.  6. - 1  Exod.  xv.  16  ; 

thus  perform  the  vow  he  had  made,  chap,  xxviii. 

20,  22. 

Verse  2.  Put  away  the  strange  gods]  *V)jn  Tlbx  elo- 
hey  hannechar,  the  gods  of  the  foreigners,  which  were 
among  them.  Jacob’s  servants  were  all  Syrians,  and 
no  doubt  were  addicted  less  or  more  to  idolatry  and 
superstition.  These  gods  might  belong  to  them,  or,  as 
some  have  conjectured,  they  were  the  teraphim  which 
Rachel  stole  ;  but  these  have  already  been  supposed 
to  be  astrological  tables,  or  something  of  this  kind, 
called  by  Laban  his  gods,  because  by  them  he  supposed 
he  could  predict  future  events,  and  that  they  referred 
to  certain  astral  and  planetary  intelligences,  by  whose 
influences  sublunary  things  were  regulated.  But  it  is 
more  natural  to  suppose  that  these  gods  found  now  in 
Jacob’s  family  were  images  of  silver,  gold,  or  curious 
workmanship,  which  were  found  among  the  spoils  of 
the  city  of  Shechem.  Lest  these  should  become  in¬ 
citements  to  idolatry,  Jacob  orders  them  to  be  put  away. 

Be  clean,  and  change  your  garments]  Personal  or 
outward  purification,  as  emblematical  of  the  sanctifica¬ 
tion  of  the  soul,  has  been  in  use  among  all  the  true 
worshippers  of  God  from  the  beginning  of  the  world. 
In  many  cases  the  law  of  Moses  more  solemnly  enjoined 
rites  and  ceremonies  which  had  been  in  use  from  the 
earliest  ages.  “  A  Hindoo  considers  those  clothes  de¬ 
filed  in  which  he  has  been  employed  in  business,  and 
always  changes  them  before  eating  and  worship.” — 
Ward. 

Verse  3.  Answered  me  in  the  day  of  my  distress] 
Not  only  when  he  fled  from  the  face  of  his  brother, 
but  more  particularly  when  he  was  in  his  greatest  strait 
at  the  brook  of  Jabbok. 

Verse  4.  And — ear-rings  which  were  in  their  ears] 
Whether  these  rings  were  in  the  ears  of  the  gods,  or 
in  those  of  Jacob’s  family,  we  may  rest  assured  that 
they  were  not  mere  ornaments,  but  served  for  super¬ 
stitious  purposes.  Ear-rings  were  certainly  worn  as 
amulets  and  charms,  first  consecrated  to  some  god,  or 
formed  under  some  constellation,  on  which  magical 
characters  and  images  were  drawn.  A  very  ancient 
and  beautiful  one  of  this  kind  brought  from  Egypt,  cut 
Vol.  I  (  15  ) 


where  God  appeared  to  him. 

5  And  they  Tourneyed  :  and  A.  M.  cir.  22 66. 

,  ,  r  o  j  ,  B.  C.  cir.  1738. 

1  the  terror  ot  God  was  upon  the  _ _ 

cities  that  were  round  about  them,  and  they 

did  not  pursue  after  the  sons  of  Jacob. 

6  So  Jacob  came  to  m  Luz,  which  is  in  the 
land  of  Canaan,  (that  is,  Beth-el,)  he  and  all 
the  people  that  were  with  him. 

7  And  he  n  built  there  an  altar,  and  called 
the  place  0  El-beth-el  :  because  p  there  God 
appeared  unto  him,  when  he  fled  from  the 
face  of  his  brother. 

8  But  q  Deborah,  Rebekah’s  nurse,  died,  and 
she  was  buried  beneath  Beth-el,  under  an  oak  : 
and  the  name  of  it  was  called  r  Allon-bachuth. 

xxiii.  27 ;  xxxiv.  24  ;  Deut.  xi.  25  ;  Josh.  ii.  9  ;  v.  1  ;  1  Sam.  xiv 

15  ;  2  Chron.  xiv.  14. - m  Chap,  xxviii.  19,  22. - 11  Eccles 

v.  4. - °That  is,  the  God  of  Beth-el. - P  Chap,  xxviii.  13. 

<l  Chap.  xxiv.  59. - r  That  is,  the  oak  of  weeping. 

out  of  a  solid  piece  of  cornelian,  now  lies  before  me. 
It  was  evidently  intended  for  the  ear,  as  the  opening 
is  too  small  for  any  human  finger ;  and  it  is  engraved 
all  over  with  strange  characters  and  images,  which 
prove  that  it  was  intended  for  a  talisman  or  amulet. 
It  seems  to  be  such  a  one  as  St.  Augustine  describes, 
Epist.  73,  which  Avas  suspended  from  the  tip  of  the 
ears  both  of  men  and  women,  not  for  the  purpose  of 
ornament,  but  through  an  execrable  superstition,  for 
the  service  of  demons.  “  Execranda  superstitio  liga- 
turarum,  in  quibus  etiam  inaures  virorum  in  summis  ex 
una  parte  auriculis  suspensas  deputantur,  non  ad  pla- 
cendum  hominibus,  sed  ad  serviendum  daemonibus.” 
See  the  notes  on  chap.  xxiv.  22. 

Verse  5.  The  terror  of  God]  A  supernatural  awe 
sent  by  the  Almighty,  was  upon  the  cities  that  were 
round  about ,  so  that  they  were  not  molested  in  their 
departure.  This  could  be  owing  to  nothing  less  than 
the  especial  providence  of  God. 

Verse  7.  El-beth-el]  bx  IT’D  bx,  the  strong  God, 
the  house  of  the  strong  God.  But  the  first  bx  el  is 
wanting  in  one  ofDe  Rossi’s  MSS.,  as  it  is  also  in  the 
Septuagint,  Vulgate,  Syriac,  and  some  copies  of  the 
Arabic.  The  sentence  reads  much  better  without  itr 
and  much  more  consistent  with  the  parallel  passages. 

Verse  8.  But  Deborah,  Rebekalds  nurse,  died]  She 
Avas  sent  with  Rebekah  Avhen  taken  by  Abraham’s 
servant  to  be  wife  to  Isaac,  chap.  xxiv.  59.  Hoav  she 
came  to  be  in  Jacob’s  family,  expositors  are  greatly 
puzzled  to  find  out ;  but  the  text  does  liot  state  that 
she  was  in  Jacob’’ s  family .  Her  death  is  mentioned 
merely  because  Jacob  and  his  family  had  now  arrived 
at  the  place  where  she  Avas  buried,  and  the  name  of 
that  place  was  called  Allon-bachuth,  “  the  oak  of 
weeping,”  as  it  is  likely  her  death  had  been  greatly 
regretted,  and  a  general  and  extraordinary  mourning 
had  taken  place  on  the  occasion.  Of  Rebekah’s  death 
we  know  nothing.  After  her  counsel  to  her  son, 
chap,  xxvii.,  Ave  hear  no  more  of  her  history  from  the 
sacred  writings,  except  of  her  burial  in  chap.  xlix.  31. 
Her  name  is  written  in  the  dust.  And  is  not  this 
designed  as  a  mark  of  the  disapprobation,  of  God  1  It' 

209 


The  ‘promise  renewed  to  Jacob.  GENESIS. 


The  birth  of  Benjamin. 


A.  M.  cir.  2266.  9  And  s  God  appeared  unto 

B.  C.  cir.  1738.  T  u  •  i  f 

_ _  Jacob  again,  when  he  came  out 

of  Padan-aram,  and  blessed  him. 

10  And  God  said  unto  him,  Thy  name  is 
Jacob:  *  thy  name  shall  not  be  called  any 
more  Jacob,  11  but  Israel  shall  be  thy  name  : 
and  he  called  his  name  Israel. 

1 1  And  God  said  unto  him,  v  I  am  God 
Almighty  :  be  fruitful  and  multiply  ;  w  a  nation 
and  a  company  of  nations  shall  be  of  thee, 
and  kings  shall  come  out  of  thy  loins  : 

1 2  And  the  land  x  which  I  gave  Abraham 
and  Isaac,  to  thee  I  will  give  it,  and  to  thy 
seed  after  thee  will  I  give  the  land. 

1 3  And  God  y  went  up  from  him  in  the 
place  where  he  talked  with  him. 

14  And  Jacob  z  set  up  a  pillar  in  the  place 


where  he  talked  with  him,  even  a  A.  M.  cir.  2266. 
P  ,  ,  ,  B.  C.  cir.  1738. 

ot  stone  :  and  he  poured  a  - — _ 

drink-offering  thereon,  and  he  poured  oil  thereon. 

15  And  Jacob  called  the  name  of  the  place 
where  God  spake  with  him,  a  Beth-el. 

16  And  they  journeyed  from  Beth-el  ;  and 
there  was  but  b  a  little  way  to  come  to  Ephrath ; 
and  Rachel  tra  vailed,  and  she  had  hard  labour  : 

17  And  it  came  to  pass,  when  she  was  in 
hard  labour,  that  the  midwife  said  unto  her, 
Fear  not ;  c  thou  shalt  have  this  son  also. 

18  And  it  came  to  pass,  as  her  soul  was  in 
departing,  (for  she  died,)  that  she  called  his 
name  d  Ben-oni :  but  his  father  called  him 
e  Benjamin. 

1 9  And  f  Rachel  died,  and  was  buried  in 
the  way  to  s  Ephrath,  which  is  Beth-lehem. 


sHos.  xii.  4. - 1  Chap.  xvii.  5. - u  Chapter  xxxii.  28. 

v  Chap.  xvii.  1 ;  xlviii.  3,  4  ;  Exod.  vi.  3. - w  Chap.  xvii.  5,  6, 

16  ;  xlviii.  3  ;  xlviii.  4. - x  Chap.  xii.  7 ;  xiii.  15  ;  xxvi.  3,  4  ; 

xxviii.  i3.- - y  Chap.  xvii.  22. - z  Chap,  xxviii.  18. 

seems  strange  that  such  an  inconsiderable  person  as  a 
nurse  should  be  mentioned,  when  even  the  person  she 
brought  up  is  passed  by  unnoticed  !  It  has  been  ob¬ 
served  that  the  nurse  of  AEneas  is  mentioned  nearly  in 
the  same  way  by  the  poet  Virgil ;  and  in  the  circum¬ 
stances,  in  both  cases,  there  is  a  striking  resemblance. 

“  Tu  quoque  littoribus  nostris,  AEneia  nutrix, 
AEternam  moriens  famam,  Caieta,  dedisti  : 

Et  nunc  servat  honos  sedem  tunus  ;  ossaque  nomen, 
Hesperia  in  magna,  (si  qua  est  ea  gloria,)  signat. 

At  pius  exequiis  AEneas  rite  solutis, 

Aggere  composito  tumuli,  postquam  alta  quierunt 
AEquora,  tendit  iter  velis,  portumque  relinquit.” 

AEn.,  lib.  vii.,  ver.  1,  &c. 

“Thou  too,  Cajeta,  whose  indulgent  cares 
Nursed  the  great  chief,  and  form’d  his  tender  years, 
Expiring  here  (an  ever-honour’d  name  !) 

Adorn  Hesperia  with  immortal  fame  : 

Thy  name  survives ,  to  please  thy  pensive  ghost ; 
Thy  sacred  relics  grace  the  Latian  coast. 

Soon  as  her  funeral  rites  the  prince  had  paid, 

And  raised  a  tomb  in  honour  of  the  dead ; 

The  sea  subsiding,  and  the  tempests  o’er, 

He  spreads  the  flying  sails,  and  leaves  the  shore.” 

Pitt. 

Verse  9.  God  appeared  unto  Jacob  again]  He  ap¬ 
peared  to  him  first  at  Shechem,  when  he  commanded 
him  to  go  to  Beth-el,  and  now  that  he  is  arrived  at  the 
place,  God  appears  to  him  the  second  time,  and  recon¬ 
firms  to  him  the  Abrahamic  blessing.  To  Isaac  and 
Jacob  these  frequent  appearances  of  God  were  neces¬ 
sary,  but  they  were  not  so  to  Abraham  ;  for  to  him  one 
word  was  sufficient — Abraham  believed  God. 

Verse  13.  And  God  went  up  from  him]  This  was 
not  a  vision,  nor  a  strong  mental  impression,  but  a 
real  manifestation  of  God.  Jacob  saw  and  heard  him 
speak,  and  before  his  eyes  he  went  up — ascended  to 

a  210 


a  Chap,  xxviii.  19. - b  Heb.  a  little  piece  of  ground  ;  2  Kings 

v.  19. - c  Chap.  xxx.  24  ;  1  Sam.  iv.  20. - d  That  is,  the  soil 

of  my  sorrow. - e  That  is,  the  son  of  the  right  hand. - f  Chap. 

xlviii.  7. - s  Ruth  i.  2 ;  iv.  11 ;  Mic.  v.  2 ;  Matt.  ii.  6. 

heaven.  This  w*as  no  doubt  the  future  Saviour,  the 
Angel  of  the  covenant.  See  chap.  xvi.  7. 

Verse  14.  A  drink-offering]  “ID 2  nesech,  a  libation. 
These  were  afterwards  very  common  in  all  countries. 
At  first  they  consisted  probably  of  water  only,  after¬ 
wards  wine  was  used  ;  see  on  Lev.  vii.  1,  &c.  The 
pillar  which  Jacob  set  up  was  to  commemorate  the 
appearance  of  God  to  him  ;  the  drink-offering  and  the 
oil  were  intended  to  express  his  gratitude  and  devo¬ 
tion  to  his  preserver.  It  was  probably  the  same  pil¬ 
lar  which  he  had  set  up  before,  which  had  since  been 
thrown  down,  and  which  he  had  consecrated  afresh  to 
God. 

Verse  16.  There  was  but  a  little  way  to  come  to 
Ephrath]  The  word  rnUD  kibrath,  translated  here  a 
little  way,  has  greatly  perplexed  commentators.  It 
occurs  only  here,  in  chap,  xlviii.  7,  and  2  Kings  v.  19 , 
and  it  seems  to  have  been  some  sort  of  measure  applied 
to  land,  as  we  say  a  mile,  an  acre,  a  rood,  a  perch  ;  but 
what  the  exact  quantity  of  the  kibrath  was  cannot  be 
ascertained.  Ephrath,  called  also  Bethlehem,  and 
Bethlehem  Ephrata,  was  the  birthplace  of  our  blessed 
Redeemer.  See  its  meaning  Matt.  ii.  6. 

Verse  18.  As  her  soul  ivas  in  departing]  Is  not 
this  a  proof  that  there  is  an  immortal  spirit  in  man, 
which  can  exist  separate  from  and  independent  of  the 
body  l  Of  Rachel’s  death  it  is  said,  TV^33  betseth 

naphshah,  in  the  going  away  of  her  soul ;  her  body  did 
not  go  away,  therefore  her  soul  and  body  must  have 
been  distinct.  If  her  breath  only  had  been  intended, 
riDlSO  neshamah  or  flH  ruach  would  have  rather  been 
used,  as  the  first  means  breath,  the  latter  breath  or 
spirit  indifferently. 

She  called  his  name  Ben-oni]  p  the  son  of  my 
sorrow  or  affliction,  because  of  the  hard  labour  she  had 
in  bringing  him  into  the  world ;  but  his  father  called 
him  Benjamin,  the  son  of  my  right  hand ,  i.  e., 

the  son  peculiarly  dear  to  me.  So  man  of  the  right 

(  15*.  ) 


The  trespass  of  Reuben.  CHAP.  XXXV.  The  twelve  sons  of  Jacob. 


A.  M.  cir.  22cg.  20  And  Jacob  set  a  pillar  upon 

B.  C.  cir.  1738.  ,  .  ,  r  r 

-  her  grave  :  that  is  the  pillar  oi 

Rachel’s  grave  h  unto  this  day. 

21  And  Israel  journeyed,  and  spread  his 
tent  beyond  *  the  tower  of  Edar. 

22  And  it  came  to  pass,  when  Israel  dwelt 
in  that  land,  that  Reuben  went  and  k  lay  with 
Bilhah  his  father’s  concubine  :  and  Israel  heard 
it.  Now  the  sons  of  Jacob  were  twelve  : 

23  The  sons  of  Leah ;  1  Reuben,  Jacob’s 
first-born,  and  Simeon,  and  Levi,  and  Judah, 
and  Issachar,  and  Zebulun. 

h  1  Sam.  x.  2  ;  2  Sam.  xviii.  18. - ‘  Mic.  iv.  8. - k  Chap.  xlix. 

4  ;  1  Chron.  v.  1  ;  see  2  Sam.  xvi.  22;  xx.  3  ;  1  Cor.  v.  1. 


24  The  sons  of  Rachel:  Joseph,  A.  M.  cir.  22G6. 

-n  •  1  B.  C.  cir.  1738. 

and  Benjamin.  _ _ _ _ 

25  And  the  sons  of  Bilhah,  Rachel’s  hand¬ 
maid  ;  Dan,  and  Naphtali. 

26  And  the  sons  of  Zilpah,  Leah’s  hand¬ 
maid  ,  *4ad,  and  Asher.  These  are  the  sons 
of  Jacob,  which  were  born  to  him  in  Padan- 
aram. 

27  And  Jacob  came  unto  Isaac  his  father 
unto  mMamre,  unto  the  ncity  of  Arbah,  (which 
is  Hebron,)  where  Abraham  and  Isaac  so¬ 
journed. 

1  Chap.  xlvi.  8  ;  Exod.  i.  2. - m  Chapter  xiii.  18  ;  xxiii.  2,  19 

“Josh.  xiv.  15;  xv.  13. 


hand,  Psa.  lxxx.  17,  signifies  one  much  loved  and  re¬ 
garded  of  God.  The  Samaritan  has  Benyamin ,  the 
son  of  days;  i.  e .,  the  son  of  his  old  age,  as  Judah 
calls  him,  chap.  xliv.  20  ;  and  Houbigant  contends 
that  this  is  the  true  reading,  and  that  the  Chaldee 
termination  in  for  im  is  a  corruption.  If  it  be  a  cor¬ 
ruption,  it  is  as  old  as  the  days  of  St.  Jerome,  who 
translates  the  place  Benjamin,  id  est,  filius  dextrce ; 
Benjamin,  that  is,  the  son  of  the  right  hand. 

Verse  20.  Jacob  set  a  pillar  upon  her  grave ]  Was 
not  this  the  origin  of  funeral  monuments  1  In  ancient 
times,  and  among  rude  nations,  a  heap  of  stones  desig¬ 
nated  the  burial  place  of  the  chief ;  many  of  these 
still  remain  in  different  countries.  Afterwards  a  rude 
stone,  with  a  simple  inscription,  was  used,  containing 
only  the  name  of  the  deceased,  and  that  of  his  father. 
But  where  arts  and  sciences  flourished,  superb  monu¬ 
ments  were  erected  highly  decorated,  and  pompously 
inscribed.  It  is  very  likely  from  the  circumstances 
of  Jacob  that  a  single  stone  constituted  the  pillar  in 
this  case,  on  which,  if  writing  did  then  exist,  the  name, 
or  rather  some  hieroglyphical  device,  was  probably 
inscribed.  That  which  is  now  called  RacheVs  pillar 
is  allowed,  by  those  who  have  examined  it,  to  be  a 
comparatively  modern  structure. 

Verse  21.  Tower  of  Edar.]  Literally,  the  tower  of 
the  flock,  and  so  translated  Mic.  iv.  8.  It  is  supposed 
that  this  tower  was  about  a  mile  from  Bethlehem, 
and  to  have  been  the  place  where  the  angels  appeared 
to  the  shepherds.  The  Targum  of  Jonathan  expressly 
says  :  “  It  is  the  place  in  which  the  King  Messiah 
shall  be  manifested  in  the  end  of  days.”  By  the 
tower  of  the  flock  we  may  understand  a  place  built  by 
the  shepherds  near  to  some  well,  for  the  convenience 
of  watering  their  flocks,  and  keeping  watch  over  them 
by  night. 

Verse  22.  Reuben  went  and  lay  with  Bilhah  his 
fathers  concubine]  Jonathan,  in  his  Targum,  says 
that  Reuben  only  overthrew  the  bed  of  Bilhah,  which 
was  set  up  opposite  to  the  bed  of  his  mother  Leah, 
and  that  this  was  reputed  to  him  as  if  he  had  lain 
with  her.  The  colouring  given  to  the  passage  by  the 
Targumist  is,  that  Reuben  was  incensed,  because  he 
found  Bilhah  preferred  after  the  death  of  Rachel  to 
his  own  mother  Leah ;  and  therefore  in  his  anger  he 
overthrew  her  couch.  The  same  sentiment  is  repeat- 

a 


ed  by  Jonathan,  and  glanced  at  by  the  Jerusalem 
Targum,  chap.  xlix.  4.  Could  this  view  of  the  sub¬ 
ject  be  proved  to  be  correct,  both  piety  and  candour 
wmuld  rejoice. 

And  Israel  heard  it.]  Not  one  word  is  added  far¬ 
ther  in  the  Hebrew  text  ;  but  a  break  is  left  in  the 
verse,  opposite  to  which  there  is  a  Masoretic  note,  which 
simply  states  that  there  is  a  hiatus  in  the  verse.  This 
hiatus  the  Septuagint  has  thus  supplied  :  kol  r xovrjpov 
e^avT]  Evavriov  avrov,  and  it  appeared  evil  in  his  sight . 

Now  the  sons  of  Jacob  were  twelve]  Called  after¬ 
wards  the  tivelve  patriarchs,  because  they  became  heads 
or  chiefs  of  numerous  families  or  tribes,  Acts  vii.  8  ; 
and  the  people  that  descended  from  them  are  called 
the  twelve  tribes ,  Acts  xxvi.  7  ;  James  i.  1.  Twelve 
princes  came  from  Ishmael,  chap.  xxv.  16,  who  were 
heads  of  families  and  tribes.  And  in  reference  to  the 
tivelve  patriarchs,  our  Lord  chose  twelve  apostles. 
Strictly  speaking,  there  were  thirteen  tribes  among  the 
Hebrews,  as  Ephraim  and  Manasses  were  counted  for 
tribes,  chap,  xlviii.  5,  6  ;  but  the  Scripture  in  naming 
them,  says  Mr.  Ainsworth,  usually  sets  down  but  twelve, 
omitting  the  name  now  of  one,  then  of  another,  as  may 
in  sundry  places  be  observed,  Deut.  xxxiii.  ;  Ezek. 
xlviii .  ;  Rev.  vii.,  &c. 

Verse  23.  The  sons  of  Leah]  The  children  are  ar¬ 
ranged  under  their  respective  mothers,  and  not  in  order 
of  their  birth. 

Verse  26.  Born  to  him  in  Padan-aram.]  i.  e.,  all 
but  Benjamin  was  born  in  Canaan,  ver.  16,  17. 

It  is  well  known  that  Padan-aram  is  the  same  as 
Mesopotamia,  and  hence  the  Septuagint  translate  Me- 
GOTzoTayia  Trig  'Zvpiag,  Mesopotamia  of  Syria.  The 
word  signifies  between  the  two  rivers,  from  yecrog,  ihe 
midst,  and  vroTayog,  a  river.  It  is  situated  between 
the  Euphrates  and  Tigris,  having  Assyria  on  the  east, 
Arabia  Deserta,  with  Babylonia,  on  the  south,  Syria  on 
the  ivest,  and  Armenia  on  the  north.  It  is  now  the 
province  of  Diarbek,  in  Asiatic  Turkey,  and  is  some¬ 
times  called  Maverannahar ,  the  country  beyond  the 
river  ;  and  Aram  Naharaim,  Aram  or  Syria  of  the  two 
rivers. 

Verse  27.  The  city  of  Arbah,  ( which  is  Hebron )] 
See  chap,  xxiii.  2.  It  has  been  conjectured  that  Ja¬ 
cob  must  have  paid  a  visit  to  his  father  before  this 
time,  as  previously  to  this  he  had  been  some  years  in 

211 


GENESIS. 


Isaac's  age  and  death. 


Esau  and  Jacob  bury  him. 


a.  M.  2288.  28  And  the  days  of  Isaac  were  a 

B.  C.  1716.  ,  j  j  jr 

_ _  hundred  and  fourscore  years. 

29  And  Isaac  gave  up  the  ghost  and  died, 


and  0  was  gathered  unto  his  people,  a.  m.  2288. 
being  old  and  full  of  days :  and  C‘  1716‘. 
p  his  sons  Esau  and  Jacob  buried  him. 


0  Chap.  xv.  15  ;  xxv.  8. 


p  So  chap.  xxv.  9  ;  xlix.  31. 


Canaan  ;  but  now,  as  he  was  approaching  to  his  end, 
Jacob  is  supposed  to  have  gone  to  live  with  and  com¬ 
fort  him  in  his  declining  days. 

Yerse  29.  Isaac  gave  up  the  ghost — and  was  ga¬ 
thered  unto  his  people ]  See  on  chap.  xxv.  8. 

Esau  and  Jacob  buried  him.]  See  chap.  xxv.  9. 
Esau,  as  we  have  seen  chap,  xxxiii.,  was  thoroughly 
reconciled  to  his  brother  Jacob,  and  now  they  both  join 
in  fraternal  and  filial  affection  to  do  the  last  kind  office 
to  their  amiable  father.  It  is  generally  allowed  that 
the  death  of  Isaac  is  mentioned  here  out  of  its  chrono¬ 
logical  order,  as  several  of  the  transactions  mentioned 
in  the  succeeding  chapters,  especially  xxxvii.  and 
xxxviii. ,  must  have  happened  during  his  life ;  but  that 
the  history  of  Joseph  might  not  be  disturbed,  his  death 
is  anticipated  in  this  place.  It  is  supposed  that  he  lived 
at  least  twelve  years  after  Joseph  was  sold  into  Egypt. 

This  chapter  contains  several  subjects  which  are 
well  worthy  of  the  reader’s  most  serious  attention. 

1.  That  such  a  family  as  that  of  Jacob  should  have 
had  false  gods  in  it,  is  a  matter  not  less  astonishing 
than  real  :  and  suppose  that  we  allow,  as  is  very  pro¬ 
bable,  that  their  images  and  rings  were  got  from  stran¬ 
gers,  the  Syrians  and  the  Shechemites,  yet  their  being 
tolerated  in  the  family,  though  it  is  probable  this  was 
for  a  very  short  time,  cannot  be  easily  accounted  for. 
It  is  true  the  law  was  not  then  given,  and  the  unity 
of  God  not  so  particularly  taught  as  it  was  afterwards. 
Besides,  we  have  already  seen  that  certain  supersti¬ 
tions  were  compatible  in  those  early  times  with  general 
sincerity  and  attachment  to  the  truth  ;  those  times  and 
acts  of  ignorance  were  winked  at,  till  superior  light 
shone  upon  the  world.  Between  many  of  the  prac¬ 
tices  of  Laban’s  family  and  those  of  the  surrounding 
heathenish  tribes,  there  might  have  been  but  little  dif¬ 
ference  ;  and  this  was  probably  the  reason  why  Dinah 
could  so  readily  mix  with  the  daughters  of  the  land, 
chap,  xxxiv.  1,  which  led  to  the  fatal  consequences 
already  reviewed.  Sin  is  like  the  letting  out  of  wa¬ 
ter — when  once  a  breach  is  made  in  the  dyke,  the 
stream  becomes  determined  to  a  wrong  course,  and  its 
progress  is  soon  irresistible.  Had  not  Jacob  put  away 
these  strange  gods,  the  whole  family  might  have  been 
infected  with  idolatry.  This  saying  of  one  of  the  an¬ 
cients  is  good,  Vitia  transmittit  ad  posteros,  qui  prce- 
sentibus  culpis  ignoscit. — Seneca.  “  He  who  is  in¬ 
dulgent  to  present  offences,  transmits  sin  to  posterity  J 
The  first  motions  of  it  should  be  firmly  resisted  ;  after 
struggles  are  too  often  fruitless. 

2.  The  doctrine  of  a  particular  and  especial  provi¬ 
dence  has  another  proof  in  this  chapter.  After  the 
sanguinary  conduct  of  Jacob’s  sons,  is  it  not  surprising 

212 


that  the  neighbouring  tribes  did  not  join  together  and 
extirpate  the  whole  family  1  And  so  they  certainly 
would,  had  not  the  terror  of  God  fallen  upon  them, 
ver.  5.  Jacob  and  the  major  part  of  his  family  were 
innocent  of  this  great  transgression  ;  and  on  the 
preservation  of  their  lives,  the  accomplishment  of 
great  events  depended  :  therefore  God  watches  over 
them,  and  shields  them  from  the  hands  of  their 
enemies. 

3.  The  impatience  and  fate  of  the  amiable  Rachel, 
who  can  read  of  without  deploring  1  Give  me  children , 
said  she,  or  else  I  die ,  chap.  xxx.  1.  Her  desire  was 
granted,  and  her  death  was  the  consequence  !  God’s 
way  is  ever  best.  We  know  not  what  we  ask,  nor  what 
we  ought  to  ask,  and  therefore  often  ask  amiss  when 
we  petition  for  such  secular  things  as  belong  to  the 
dispensations  of  God’s  providence.  For  things  of  this 
kind  we  have  no  revealed  directory  ;  and  when  we  ask 
for  them,  it  should  be  with  the  deepest  submission  to 
the  Divine  will,  as  God  alone  knows  what  is  best  for 
us.  With  respect  to  the  soul ,  every  thing  is  clearly 
revealed,  so  that  we  may  ask  and  receive,  and  have  a 
fulness  of  joy ;  but  as  to  our  bodies ,  there  is  much 
reason  to  fear  that  the  answer  of  our  petitions  would 
be,  in  numerous  cases,  our  inevitable  destruction.  How 
many  prayers  does  God  in  mercy  shut  out ! 

4.  The  transgression  of  Reuben,  of  whatsoever  kind, 
was  marked,  not  only  by  the  displeasure  of  his  father, 
but  by  that  of  God  also  ;  see  chap.  xlix.  4.  It  brought 
a  curse  upon  him,  and  he  forfeited  thereby  the  right 
of  primogeniture  and  the  priesthood  :  the  first  was 
given  to  Judah,  the  second  to  Levi.  Is  it  not  in  refer¬ 
ence  to  this  that  our  Lord  addresses  these  solemn 
words  to  the  angel  of  the  Church  of  Philadelphia  :  Be¬ 
hold ,  I  come  quickly  ;  hold  that  fast  which  thou  hast , 
that  no  man  take  thy  crown  \  A  man,  by  sowing  a 
grain  of  forbidden  sweets,  may  reap  an  abundant  har¬ 
vest  of  eternal  wretchedness.  Reader,  let  not  sin  rob 
thee  of  the  kingdom  of  God. 

5.  Here  we  have  the  death  of  Isaac  recorded  :  most 
that  can  can  be  said  of  his  character  has  been  already 
anticipated,  see  chap,  xxii.,  &c.  He  appears  to  have 
been  generally  pious,  deeply  submissive  and  obedient. 
He  was  rather  an  amiable  and  good,  than  a  great  and 
useful,  man.  If  compared  with  his  son  Jacob,  in  the 
early  part  of  their  lives,  he  appears  to  great  advantage, 
as  possessing  more  sincerity  and  more  personal  piety. 
But  if  compared  with  his  father  Abraham,  O,  what  a 
falling  off  is  here  !  Abraham  is  the  most  perfect  cha¬ 
racter  under  the  Old  Testament,  and  even  under  the 
New  he  has  no  parallel  but  St.  Paul.  Isaac,  though 
falling  far  short  of  his  father’s  excellences,  will  ever 
remain  a  pattern  of  piety  and  filial  obedience. 

a 


The  generations  of  Esau 


CHAP.  XXXVI. 


hy  his  Canaamtish  wives. 


CHAPTER  XXXVI. 


The  genealogy  of  Esau ,  i.  e.,  his  sons,  by  his  Canaanitish  wives  Adah,  Aholibamah,  and  Bashemath,  1—3. 
The  children  of  Adah  and  Bashemath,  4.  Of  Aholibamah,  5.  Esau  departs  from  Canaan  and  goes  to 
Mount  Seir,  6—8.  The  generations  of  Esau ,  i.  e.,  his  grandchildren,  while  in  Seir ,  9—19.  The  genera¬ 
tions  of  Seir,  the  Horite,  20-30.  Anah  finds  mules  (Yemim)  in  the  wilderness ,  24.  The  kings  which 
reigned  in  Edom ,  31—39.  The  dukes  that  succeeded  them ,  40—43. 


A.  M.  cir.  2225.  AT 0 W  these  are  the  genera- 

B.  C.  cir.  1779.  ^ 

. - .  tions  ot  Esau,  awho  is  Edom. 

a.  M.  cir.  2288.  2  b  Esau  took  his  wives  of  the 

B.  c.  cm  1716.  jaUg|lters  0anaan  •  Adah  the 

daughter  of  Elon  the  Hittite,  and  c  Aholibamah 
the  daughter  of  Anah  the  daughter  of  Zibeon 
the  Hivite ; 

A.  M.  cir.  2225.  3  And  d  Bashemath  Ishmael’s 

B.  C.  cir.  1779.  ,  .  .  r  ,T  i  •  i 

- -  daughter,  sister  ot  JNebajoth. 

A.  M.  cir.  2230.  4  And  e  Adah  bare  to  Esau 

-_^‘.--Clr'  17/4~  Eliphaz  ;  and  Bashemath  bare 
Reuel. 

A.  M.  cir.  2292.  5  And  Aholibamah  bare  Jeush, 

B.  c.  and  Jaalam,  and  Korah :  these 

are  the  sons  of  Esau,  which  were  born  unto 
him  in  the  land  of  Canaan. 

a.  M.  cir.  2266.  6  And  Esau  took  his  wives, 

B.  C.  cir.  1738.  9 


and  his  sons,  and  his  daughters, 
and  all  the  f  persons  of  his  house,  and  his 
cattle,  and  all  his  beasts,  and  all  his  substance, 
which  he  had  got  in  the  land  of  Canaan  ;  and 


a  Chap .  xxv.  30. 
xxviii.  9.- 
6,  11. - hChap.  xvii.  8  ;  xxviii.  4. 


-b  Chap.  xxvi.  34.- 
e  1  Chron.  i.  35. - f  Heb.  souls. 


c  Ver.  25.- 


Chap. 
-s  Chap.  xiii. 


J  Chap,  xxxii.  3  ;  Deut. 


went  into  the  country  from  the  a.  m.  cir.  2266. 
lace  ot  his  brother  Jacob.  _ 

7  g  For  their  riches  were  more  than  that 
they  might  dwell  together ;  and  h  the  land 
wherein  they  were  strangers  could  not  bear 
them,  because  of  their  cattle. 

8  Thus  dwelt  Esau  in  1  mount  Seir  :  k  Esau 
is  Edom. 

9  And  these  are  the  generations  of  Esau 
the  father  of  1  the  Edomites  in  mount  Seir. 

1 0  These  are  the  names  of  A.  M.  cir.  2230. 

,  tv,.  .  ,  B.  C.  cir.  1774. 

Esau  s  sons  ;  m  Eliphaz  the  son  - 

of  Adah  the  wife  of  Esau,  Reuel  the  son  of 
Bashemath  the  wife  of  Esau. 

1 1  And  the  sons  of  Eliphaz  A.  M.  cir.  2270. 

were  Teman,  Omar,  n  Zepho,  and  - 

Gatam,  and  Kenaz. 

12  And  Timna  was  concubine  to  Eliphaz 
Esau’s  son ;  and  she  bare  to  Eliphaz  0  Ama- 
lek :  these  were  the  sons  of  Adah  Esau’s 
wife. 


ii.  5 ;  Josh.  xxiv.  4. - k  Ver.  1. - 1  Heb.  Edom. - m  1  Chron. 

i.  35,  &c. - n  Or,  Zephi ;  1  Chron.  i.  36. - 0  Exodus  xvii.  8, 

14  ;  Num.  xxiv.  20  ;  1  Sam.  xv.  2,  3,  &c. 


NOTES  ON  CHAP.  XXXVI. 

Verse  1.  These  are  the  generations  of  Esau ]  We 
have  here  the  genealogy  of  Esau  in  his  sons  and  grand¬ 
sons,  and  also  the  genealogy  of  Seir  the  Horite.  The 
genealogy  of  the  sons  of  Esau,  born  in  Canaan,  is  re¬ 
lated  ver.  1-8  ;  those  of  his  grandchildren  born  in 
Seir,  9— 19  ;  those  of  Seir  the  Horite,  20-30.  The 
generations  of  Esau  are  particularly  marked,  to  show 
how  exactly  God  fulfilled  the  promises  he  made  to  him, 
chap.  xxv.  and  xxvii.  ;  and  those  of  Seir  the  Horite 
are  added,  because  his  family  became  in  some  measure 
blended  with  that  of  Esau. 

Verse  2.  His  wives ]  It  appears  that  Esau’s  wives 
went  by  very  different  names.  Aholibamah  is  named 
Judith ,  chap.  xxvi.  34  ;  Adah  is  called  Bashemath  in 
the  same  place  ;  and  she  who  is  here  called  Bashemath 
is  called  Mahalath,  chap,  xxviii.  9.  These  are  varia¬ 
tions  which  cannot  be  easily  accounted  for ;  and  they 
are  not  of  sufficient  importance  to  engross  much  time. 
It  is  well  known  that  the  same  persons  in  Scripture  are 
often  called  by  different  names.  See  the  Table  of 
variations,  chap,  xxv.,  where  there  are  some  slight 
examples. 

Anah  the  daughter  of  Zibeon ]  But  this  same  Anah 
is  said  to  be  the  son  of  Zibeon,  ver.  24,  though  in  this 

a 


and  the  fourteenth  verse  he  is  said  to  be  the  daughter 
of  Zibeon.  But  the  Samaritan ,  the  Septuagint,  (and 
the  Syriac ,  in  ver.  2,)  read  son  instead  of  daughter , 
which  Houbigant  and  Kennicott  contend  to  be  the  true 
reading.  Others  say  that  daughter  should  be  referred 
to  Aholibamah,  who  was  the  daughter  of  Anah,  and 
granddaughter  of  Zibeon.  I  should  rather  prefer  the 
reading  of  the  Samaritan,  Septuagint,  and  Syriac,  and 
read,  both  here  and  in  ver.  14,  “Aholibamah,  the 
daughter  of  Anah  the  son  of  Zibeon,”  and  then  the 
whole  will  agree  with  verse  24. 

Verse  6.  Esau  took  his  wives ,  dpci]  So  it  appears 
that  Esau  and  Jacob  dwelt  together  in  Canaan,  whither 
the  former  removed  from  Seir,  probably  soon  after  the 
return  of  Jacob.  That  they  were  on  the  most  friendly 
footing  this  sufficiently  proves  ;  and  Esau  shows  the 
same  dignified  conduct  as  on  other  occasions,  in  leav¬ 
ing  Canaan  to  Jacob,  and  returning  again  to  Mount 
Seir ;  certainly  a  much  less  fruitful  region  than  that 
which  he  now  in  behalf  of  his  brother  voluntarily 
abandoned. 

Verse  12.  Timna  was  concubine  to  Eliphaz ]  As 
Timna  was  sister  to  Lotan  the  Horite,  ver.  22,  we 
see  how  the  family  of  Esau  and  the  Horites  got  in¬ 
termixed.  This  might  give  the  sons  of  Esau  a  pre- 

213 


GENESIS. 


Dukes  of  the  house  of  Esau. 


Descendants  of  Seir,  the  Ho/ite 


A.  M.  cir.  2270.  1 3  And  these  are  the  sons 

B.  c.  cir.  1734.  j^euej .  j\jahath,  and  Zerah, 

Shammah,  and  Mizzah  :  these  were  the  sons 
of  Bashemath  Esau’s  wife. 

A.  M.  cir.  2292.  14  And  these  were  the  sons 

B.  c.  cir.  1712.  ^  Aholibamah,  the  daughter  of 

Anah  the  daughter  of  Zibeon,  Esau’s  wife  : 
and  she  bare  to  Esau  Jeush,  and  Jaalam,  and 
Korah. 

First  aristocracy  15  These  were  dukes  of  the 

of  dukes.  From  r  _  ,  r 

A.  M.  cir.  2429  sons  oi  Esau  :  the  sons  oi  ±l<1i- 
a.  M.  cir.  2471.  phaz  the  first-born  son  of  Esau  ; 
o  r,Fr°m,c~c  duke  Teman,  duke  Omar,  duke 

B.  (J.  cir.  1575  7  7 

to  Zepho,  duke  Kenaz, 

B.  C.  cir.  1533.  *  n  ,  Tr  ,  ,  .  ~ 

-  16  Duke  Korah,  duke  Datam, 


and  duke  Amalek  :  these  are  the  dukes  that 
came  of  Eliphaz  in  the  land  of  Edom  :  these 
were  the  sons  of  Adah. 

17  And  these  are  the  sons  of  Reuel  Esau’s 
son ;  duke  Nahath,  duke  Zerah,  duke  Sham¬ 
mah,  duke  Mizzah :  these  are  the  dukes  that 
came  of  Reuel  in  the  land  of  Edom :  these 
are  the  sons  of  Bashemath  Esau’s  wife. 

18  And  these  are  the  sons  of  Aholibamah 


P  1  Chron.  i.  38. - <1  Chapter  xiv.  6 ;  Deut.  ii.  12,  22. - r  Or, 

Homarn  ;  1  Chron.  i.  39. 


Esau’s  wife  ;  duke  Jeush,  duke  From 
Jaalam,  duke  Korah  :  these  were  B‘  C’  to  1573 
the  dukes  that  came  of  Aholi-  B- c-  Clr-  1533- 
bamah  the  daughter  of  Anah,  Esau’s  wife. 

19  These  are  the  sons  of  Esau,  who  is 
Edom,  and  these  are  their  dukes. 

20  p  These  are  the  sons  of  a  m.  cir.  2198. 

Seir  q  the  Horite,  who  inhabited  B-  c-  Clr-  18Q6; 

the  land ;  Lotan,  and  Shobal,  and  Zibeon, 
and  Anah. 

2 1  And  Dishon,  and  Ezer,  and  a.  m.  cir.  2204. 

Dishan :  these  are  the  dukes  of  B~  18Q_°.’ 

the  Horites,  the  children  of  Seir  in  the  land 
of  Edom. 

22  And  the  children  of  Lotan  a.  m.  cir.  2248. 

TT  .  ,  TT  ,  B.  C.  cir.  1756. 

were  Hon,  and  r  Hemam  ;  and  - - 

Lotan’s  sister  was  Timna. 

23  And  the  children  of  Shobal  were  these ; 
s  Alvan,  and  Manahath,  and  Ebal,  *  Shepho, 
and  Onam. 

24  And  these  are  the  children  of  Zibeon  , 
both  Ajah,  and  Anah :  this  was  that  Anah 
that  found  u  the  mules  in  the  wilderness,  as 
he  fed  the  asses  of  Zibeon  his  father. 

s  Or,  Allan  ;  1  Chron.  i.  40. - t  Or,  Shephi ;  1  Chron.  i.  40. 

u  See  Lev.  xix.  19. 


text  to  seize  the  land,  and  expel  the  ancient  inhabit¬ 
ants,  as  we  find  they  did,  Deut.  ii.  12. 

Amalek']  The  father  of  the  Amalekites,  afterwards 
bitter  enemies  to  the  Jews,  and  whom  God  commanded 
to  be  entirely  exterminated,  Deut.  xxv.  17,  19. 

Verse  15.  Dukes  of  the  sons  of  Esau]  The  word 
duke  comes  from  the  Latin  dux,  a  captain  or  leader. 
The  Hebrew  alluph  has  the  same  signification ; 
and  as  it  is  also  the  term  for  a  thousand,  which  is  a 
grand  capital  or  leading  number,  probably  the  ’’SiSn 
alluphey  or  dukes  had  this  name  from  being  leaders 
of  or  captains  over  a  company  of  one  thousand  men  ; 
just  as  those  among  the  Greeks  called  chiliarchs,  which 
signifies  the  same  ;  and  as  the  Romans  called  those 
centurions  who  were  captains  over  one  hundred  men, 
from  the  Latin  word  centum,  which  signifies  a  hun¬ 
dred.  The  ducal  government  was  that  which  prevailed 
first  among  the  Idumeans,  or  descendants  of  Esau. 
Here  fourteen  dukes  are  reckoned  to  Esau,  seven  that 
came  of  his  wife  Adah,  four  of  Bashemath,  and  three 
of  Aholibamah. 

Verse  16.  Duke  Korah]  This  Dr.  Kennicott  pro¬ 
nounces  to  be  an  interpolation.  “  It  is  certain,  from 
verse  4,  that  Eliphaz  was  Esau’s  son  by  Adah ;  and 
from  verses  11,  12,  that  Eliphaz  had  but  six  sons, 
Teman,  Omar,  Zepho ,  Gatam,  Kenaz,  and  Amalek. 
It  is  also  certain,  from  verses  5  and  14,  that  Korah 
was  the  son  of  Esau  (not  of  Eliphaz)  by  Aholibamah ; 
and  as  such  he  is  properly  mentioned  in  ver.  18  : 
These  are  the  sons  of  Aholibamah,  Esau’s  wife  :  duke 
Jeush,  duke  Jaalam,  duke  Korah.  It  is  clear,  there- 

214 


fore,  that  some  transcriber  has  improperly  inserted 
duke  Korah  in  the  16th  verse;  from  which  interpo¬ 
lation  both  the  Samaritan  text  and  the  Samaritan  ver¬ 
sion  are  free.” — Kennicott’s  Remarks.  Everything 
considered,  I  incline  to  the  opinion  that  these  words 
were  not  originally  in  the  text. 

Verse  20.  These  are  the  sons  of  Seir  the  Horite J 
These  Horites  were  the  original  inhabitants  of  the 
country  of  Seir,  called  the  land  of  the  Horites,  and 
afterwards  the  land  of  the  Idumeans,  when  the  descend¬ 
ants  of  Esau  had  driven  them  out.  These  people  are 
first  mentioned  chap.  xiv.  6. 

V erse  2 1 .  These  are  the  dukes  of  the  Horites]  It 
appears  pretty  evident  that  the  Horites  and  the  de¬ 
scendants  of  Esau  were  mixed  together  in  the  same 
land,  as  before  observed ;  and  Calmet  has  very  pro¬ 
perly  remarked,  that  if  we  compare  this  verse  with 
verse  30,  there  were  princes  of  Seir  in  the  country 
of  Seir,  and  in  that  of  Edom  ;  and  in  comparing  the 
generations  of  Seir  and  Esau,  we  are  obliged  to  con¬ 
sider  these  princes  as  contemporary . 

Verse  24.  This  was  that  Anah  that  found  the  mules 
in  the  wilderness]  The  words  ODTl  UN  eth  haiyemim , 
here  translated  mules,  has  given  rise  to  a  great  variety 
of  conjectures  and  discordant  opinions.  St.  Jerome , 
who  renders  it  aquas  calidas,  warm  springs,  or  hot 
baths,  says  there  are  as  many  opinions  concerning  it 
as  there  are  commentators. 

The  Septuagint  has  rov  lapeiv,  which  seems  to  be 
the  name  of  a  man ;  but  this  is  expressed  in  a  great 
variety  of  ways  in  different  MSS.  of  that  version. 

a 


CHAP.  XXXVI. 


Dukes  of  the  Horitcs , 


and  kings  of  the  Edomites. 


A.  M.  cir.  2248.  25  And  the  children  of  Anah 

— C'  cir'  1'56‘  were  these ;  Dishon,  and  Aholi- 
bamali  the  daughter  of  Anah. 

26  And  these  are  the  children  of  Dishon  ; 
v  Hemdan,  and  Eshban,  and  Ithran,  and  Cheran. 

27  The  children  of  Ezer  are  these  ;  Bilhan, 
and  Zaavan,  and  w  Akan. 

28  The  children  of  Dishan  are  these ;  Uz, 
and  Aran. 

29  These  are  the  dukes  that  came  of  the 
Horites ;  duke  Lotan,  duke  Shobal,  duke 
Zibeon,  duke  Anah, 


30  Duke  Dishon,  duke  Ezer, 
duke  Dishan :  these  are  the 
dukes  that  came  of  Hori,  among 

7  O 

in  the  land  of  Seir. 

31  And  x  these  are  the  kings 

o 

that  reigned  in  the  land  of 
Edom,  before  there  reigned 
any  king  over  the  children  of 
Israel. 

32  And  Bela  the  son  of  Beor 
reigned  in  Edom  :  and  the  name 
of  his  city  was  Dimhabah. 


A. 

M 

cir. 

2248. 

B. 

0. 

cir. 

1756. 

their  dukes 

I 

*  rom 

A. 

M. 

cir. 

2093, 

B. 

C. 

cir. 

1911, 

to 

A. 

M. 

cir. 

2429, 

B. 

C. 

cir. 

1575. 

A. 

M. 

cir. 

2093. 

B. 

C. 

cir. 

1911. 

v  Or,  Amram ;  1  Chron.  i.  41. 


w  Or,  Jakan  ;  1  Chron.  i.  42. - x  1  Chron.  i.  43. 


The  Syriac  renders  it  maye,  waters ;  the 

author  of  this  version  having  read  in  the  Plebrew  copy 
from  which  he  translated,  □’’ft  mayim ,  waters ,  for  DD’ 
yemim ,  the  two  first  letters  being  transposed. 

Onkelos  translates  the  word  gibbaraiy a,  giants, 

or  strong  or  powerful  men. 

The  Samaritan  text  has  >zn nam#?  haaimim, 
and  the  Samaritan  version  nfj&snr/e  ^  v  am 
aimai,  the  Emim,  a  warlike  people,  bordering  upon  the 
Horites. 

The  Targum  of  Jonathan  ben  Uzziel  paraphrases 
the  place  thus  :  “  This  is  the  Anah  who  united  the 
onager  with  the  tame  ass,  and  in  process  of  time  he 
found  mules  produced  by  them.”  R.  D.  Kimchi  says, 
that  u  Zibeon  was  both  the  father  and  brother  of  Anah  ; 
and  this  Anah,  intent  on  heterogeneous  mixtures,  caused 
asses  and  horses  to  copulate,  and  so  produced  mules.” 
R.  S.  Jarchi  is  of  the  same  opinion.  See  his  com¬ 
ment  on  this  place. 

Bochart  believes  the  Emim  are  meant ;  and  argues 
forcibly,  1.  That  matsa ,  he  found,  never  signifies 

to  invent ,  but  rather  the  meeting  with  or  happening  on 
a  thing  which  already  exists.  2.  That  mules  are 
never  called  DD1  yemim  in  the  Scriptures,  but  D’Tia 
peradim.  3.  That  Anah  fed  asses  only,  not  horses. 
And,  4.  That  there  is  no  mention  of  mules  in  Palestine 
till  the  days  of  David.  From  the  whole  he  concludes 
that  the  Emim  are  meant,  with  whom  Axi&h.  fought ; 
and  he  brings  many  places  of  Scripture  where  the  same 
form  of  expression,  he  or  they  found,  signifies  the  on¬ 
set  to  battle ,  Judg.  i.  5  ;  1  Sam.  xxxi.  3  ;  1  Kings 
xiii.  24  ;  2  Chron.  xxii.  8  ;  Num.  xxxv.  27  ;  Gen.  iv. 
14;  with  many  others.  See  the  Hierozoicon,  vol.  i., 
cap.  21,  p.  238.,  edit.  1692. 

Gusset ,  in  Comment.  Heb.  Ling.,  examines  what 
Bochart  has  asserted,  and  supposes  that  mules,  not  the 
Emim,  were  found  by  Anah. 

Wagenseil  would  credit  wThat  Bochart  has  asserted, 
did  not  stronger  reasons  lead  him  to  believe  that  the 
word  means  a  sort  of  plant ! 

From  the  above  opinions  and  versions  the  reader 
may  choose  which  he  likes  best,  or  invent  one  for  him¬ 
self.  My  own  opinion  is,  that  mules  were  not  known 
before  the  time  of  Anah ;  and  that  he  was  probably 
the  first  who  coupled  the  mare  and  ass  together  to 
produce  this  mongrel,  or  was  the  first  who  met  with 
creatures  of  this  race  in  some  very  secluded  part  of 

a 


the  wilderness.  Is  it  not  probable  that  from  this  Anah, 
or  HJp  enah ,  the  Enetce  derived  at  least  their  fabulous 
origin,  whom  Homer  mentions  as  famous  for  their  race 
of  wild  mules  ? 

Uacphayovuv  S’  hyciro  TlvTiaipeveog  "Xamov  Kyp, 

Ef  E vstuv,  odev  r/piovuv  yevop  ayporepaav. 

II.,  lib.  ii.,  v.  852. 
The  Paphlagonians  Pylcemenes  rules, 

Where  rich  Henetia  breeds  her  savage  mules.  Pope. 

The  Enetcc  or  Henetce,  who  were  a  people  contigu¬ 
ous  to  Paphlagonia,  Cappadocia,  and  Galatia,  might 
have  derived  their  origin  from  this  Anah,  or  Henah , 
out  of  which  the  E vetol  of  the  ancient  Greek  writers 
might  have  been  formed ;  and  according  toTheophrastus, 
Strabo,  and  Plutarch,  th e  first  mules  were  seen  among 
these  people.  See  Ludov.  De  Dieu  and  Scheuchzer. 

Yerse  31.  Before  there  reigned  any  king  over — 
Israel.\  I  suppose  all  the  verses,  from  this  to  the  39th 
inclusive,  have  been  transferred  to  this  place  from 
1  Chron.  i.  43-50,  as  it  is  not  likely  they  could  have 
been  written  by  Moses ;  and  it  is  quite  possible  they 
might  have  been,  at  a  very  early  period,  written  in  the 
margin  of  an  authentic  copy,  to  make  out  the  regal 
succession  in  Edom,  prior  to  the  consecration  of  Saul ; 
which  words  being  afterwards  found  in  the  margin  of 
a  valuable  copy,  from  which  others  were  transcribed, 
were  supposed  by  the  copyist  to  be  a  part  of  the  text, 
which  having  been  omitted  by  the  mistake  of  the  ori¬ 
ginal  writer,  had  been  since  added  to  make  up  the  de¬ 
ficiency  ;  on  this  conviction  he  would  not  hesitate  to 
transcribe  them  consecutively  in  his  copy.  In  most 
MSS.  sentences  and  paragraphs  have  been  left  out  by 
the  copyists,  which,  when  perceived,  have  been  added 
in  the  margin,  either  by  the  original  writer,  or  by  some 
later  hand.  Now,  as  the  margin  was  the  ordinary 
place  where  glosses  or  explanatory  notes  were  written, 
it  is  easy  to  conceive  how  the  notes,  as  well  as  the 
parts  of  the  original  text  found  in  the  margin,  might 
be  all  incorporated  with  the  text  by  a  future  transcriber; 
and  his  MSS.,  being  often  copied,  would  of  course 
.multiply  the  copies  with  such  additions,  as  we- have 
much  reason  to  believe  has  been  the  case.  This  ap¬ 
pears  very  frequently  in  the  Vulgate  and  8^)ptuagint; 
and  an  English  Bible  now  before  me,  written  some 
time  in  the  fourteenth  century,  exhibits  several  proofs 
of  this  principle.  See  the  preface  to  this  work. 

215 


GENESIS. 


The  kings  and  dukes 


of  the  Edomites. 


A.  M.  cir.  2135.  33  And  Bela  died,  and  Jobab 

B.  c.  cir.  i860.  gon  Q£  2erah  of  Bozrah 

reigned  in  his  stead. 

a.  M.  cir.  2177.  34  And  Jobab  died,  and  Hu- 

B.  c.  cii^827-  g^am  of  the  land  of  Temani 

reigned  in  his  stead. 

A.  M.  cir.  2219.  35  And  Husham  died,  and 

B.  C.  cir.  1/So.  t|ie  son  0£  Bedad,  who 

smote  Midian  in  the  field  of  Moab,  reigned  in 
his  stead  :  and  the  name  of  his  city  was  Avith. 

A.  M.  cir.  2261.  36  And  Hadad  died,  and 

B.  c.  cn.  1743^  gam]aj1  q£  Masrekah  reigned 

in  his  stead. 

A.  M.  cir.  2303.  37  And  Samlah  died,  and  Saul 

B.  C.  cir.  1701.  r  t»  i  i  i  r 

_  of  Rehoboth,  by  the  river,  reign¬ 
ed  in  his  stead. 

A.  M.  cir.  2345.  38  And  Saul  died,  and  Baal- 

B.  C.  cir.  1659.  .  .  ~  .  ,  .  . 

- -  hanan  the  son  of  Achbor  reigned 

in  his  stead. 

y  1  Chron.  i.  50  ;  Hadad  Pai ;  after  his  death  was  an  aristo¬ 
cracy  ;  Exodus  xv..  15. - Z1  Chron.  i.  51. - a  Or,  Aliah. 


39  And  Baal-hanan  the  son  of  A.  M.  cir.  2387. 

...  ..  .  .  TT  ,  .  B.  C.  cir.  1617. 

Achbor  died,  and  y  Hadar  reign- - 

ed  in  his  stead  :  and  the  name  of  his  city 

was  Pau  ;  and  his  wife’s  name  was  Mehetabel, 

the  daughter  of  Matred,  the  daughter  of 

Mezahab. 

40  And  these  are  the  names  of  Second  aristo. 

...  7  r  -r,  cracy  of  dukes. 

z  the  dukes  that  came  of  Esau,  From 
according  to  their  families,  after  g '  <5^  1533! 

their  places,  by  their  names ;  A  M  *?.  2M3> 
duke  Timnah,  duke  a  Alvah,  duke  B.  C.  cir.  1491. 
Jetheth. 

4 1  Duke  Aholibamah,  duke  Elah,  duke 
Pin  on, 

42  Duke  Kenaz,  duke  Teman,  duke  Mibzar, 

43  Duke  Magdiel,  duke  Iram  :  b  these  be  the 
dukes  of  Edom,  according  to  their  habitations 
in  the  land  of  their  c  possession  :  he  is  Esau 
the  d  father  of  the  Edomites. 


b  Ver.  31 ;  Exod.  xv.  15  ;  Num.  xx.  14. - c  Ver.  7,8 ;  Deut.ii.5 

d  Chap.  xxv.  30  ;  xlv.  8  ;  xxxvi.  43  ;  1  Chron.  iv.  14 ;  Heb.  Edom. 


I  know  there  is  another  way  of  accounting  for  those 
words  on  the  ground  of  their  being  written  originally 
by  Moses  ;  but  to  me  it  is  not  satisfactory.  It  is  sim¬ 
ply  this  :  the  word  king  should  be  considered  as  imply¬ 
ing  any  kind  of  regular  government,  whether  by  chiefs, 
dukes ,  judges ,  dfc.,  and  therefore  when  Moses  says 
these  are  the  kings  which  reigned  in  Edom,  before 
there  was  any  king  in  Israel,  he  may  be  only  under¬ 
stood  as  saying  that  these  kings  reigned  among  the 
Edomites  before  the  family  of  Jacob  had  acquired  any 
considerable  power,  or  before  the  time  in  which  his 
twelve  sons  had  become  the  fathers  of  those  numerous 
tribes,  at  the  head  of  which,  as  king  himself  in  Jeshu- 
run,  he  now  stood. 

Esau,  after  his  dukes ,  had  eight  kings,  who  reigned 
successively  over  their  people,  while  Israel  were  in 
affliction  in  Egypt. 

Verse  33.  Jobab  the  son  of  Zerah ]  Many  have 
supposed  that  Jobab  is  the  same  as  Job,  so  remarkable 
for  his  afflictions  and  patience  ;  and  that  Eliphaz,  men¬ 
tioned  verse  10,  &c.,  was  the  same  who  in  the  book 
of  Job  is  called  one  of  his  friends  :  but  there  is  no 
proper  proof  of  this,  and  there  are  many  reasons 
against  it. 

Verse  35.  Smote  Midian  in  the  field  of  Moab ] 
Bishop  Cumberland  supposes  that  this  was  Midian,  the 
son  of  Abraham  by  Keturah,  and  that  he  was  killed 
by  Hadad  some  time  before  he  wTas  one  hundred  and 
nine  years  of  age ;  and  that  Moses  recorded  this,  pro¬ 
bably,  because  it  was  a  calamity  to  the  ancestor  of 
Jethro,  his  father-in-law. — Orig.  of  Nat.,  p.  14. 

Verse  40.  These  are  the  names  of  the  dukes  that 
came  of  Esau\  These  dukes  did  not  govern  the  whole 
nation  of  the  Idumeans,  but  they  were  chiefs  in  their 
respective  families,  in  their  places — -the  districts  they 
governed,  and  to  which  they  gave  their  names.  Calmet 
thinks  that  those  mentioned  above  were  dukes  in  Edom 

216 


or  Idumea  at  the  time  of  the  exodus  of  Israel  from 
Egypt. 

Verse  43.  He  is  Esau  the  father  of  the  Edomites.'] 
That  is,  The  preceding  list  contains  an  account  of  the 
posterity  of  Esau,  who  was  the  father  of  Edom.  Thus 
ends  Esau's  history ;  for  after  this  there  is  no  farther 
account  of  his  life,  actions,  or  death,  in  the  Pentateuch. 

1.  As  Esau  is  so  considerable  a  person  in  polemic 
divinity,  it  may  be  necessary,  in  this  place  especially, 
to  say  something  farther  of  his  conduct  and  character. 
I  have  already,  in  several  places,  endeavoured,  and  I 
hope  successfully,  to  wipe  off  the  odium  that  has  been 
thrown  upon  this  man,  (see  the  notes  on  chap,  xxvii. 
and  chap,  xxxiii.,)  without  attempting  to  lessen  his 
faults  ;  and  the  unprejudiced  reader  must  see  that,  pre¬ 
viously  to  this  last  account  we  have  of  him,  his  cha¬ 
racter  stands  without  a  blot,  except  in  the  case  of  sell¬ 
ing  his  birthright,  and  his  purpose  to  destroy  his  brother. 
To  the  first  he  was  led  by  his  famishing  situation  and 
the  unkindness  of  his  brother,  who  refused  to  save  his 
life  but  on  this  condition ;  and  the  latter,  made  in  the 
heat  of  vexation  and  passion,  he  never  attempted  to 
execute,  even  wdien  he  had  the  most  ample  means  and 
the  fairest  opportunity  to  do  it. 

Dr.  Shuckford  has  drawn  an  impartial  character  of 
Esau,  from  which  I  extract  the  following  particulars  : 
“  Esau  was  a  plain,  generous,  and  honest  man,  for  we 
have  no  reason,  from  any  thing  that  appears  in  his  life 
or  actions,  to  think  him  wicked  beyond  other  men  of 
his  age  or  times  ;  and  his  generous  and  good  temper 
appears  from  all  his  behaviour  towards  his  brother. 
When  they  first  met  he  was  all  humanity  and  affection, 
and  he  had  no  uneasiness  when  he  found  that  Jacob 
followed  him  not  to  Seir,  but  went  to  live  near  his  fa¬ 
ther.  And  at  Isaac’s  death  we  do  not  find  that  he  made 
arty  difficulty  of  quitting  Canaan,  which  was  the  very 

a 


Observations  on 


CHAP.  XXXVII. 


point  which,  if  he  had  harboured  any  latent  (evil)  in¬ 
tentions,  would  have  revived  all  his  resentments.  He 
is  indeed  called  in  Scripture  the  profane  Esau  ;  and  it 
is  written,  Jacob  have  I  loved ,  and  Esau  have  I  hated ; 
but  there  is,  I  think,  no  reason  to  infer,  from  any  of 
those  expressions,  that  Esau  was  a  very  wicked  man, 
or  that  God  hated  or  punished  him  for  an  immoral  life. 
For,  1.  The  sentence  here  against  him  is  said  expressly 
to  be  founded,  not  upon  his  actions,  for  it  was  deter¬ 
mined  before  the  children  had  done  good  or  evil.  2. 
God’s  hatred  of  Esau  was  not  a  hatred  which  induced 
him  to  punish  him  with  any  evil,  for  he  was  as  happy 
in  all  the  blessings  of  this  life  as  either  Abraham,  Isaac, 
or  Jacob ;  and  his  posterity  had  a  land  designed  by 
God  to  be  their  possession,  as  well  as  the  children  of 
Jacob,  and  they  were  put  in  possession  of  it  much 
sooner  than  the  Israelites ;  and  God  was  pleased  to 
protect  them  in  the  enjoyment  of  it,  and  to  caution  the 
Israelites  against  invading  them  with  a  remarkable 
strictness,  Deut.  ii.  4,  5.  And  as  God  was  pleased 
thus  to  bless  Esau  and  his  children  in  the  blessings  of 
this  life,  even  as  much  as  he  blessed  Abraham,  Isaac, 
or  Jacob,  if  not  more,  why  may  we  not  hope  to  find 
him  with  them  at  the  last  day,  as  wrell  as  Lot  or  Job 
or  any  other  good  and  virtuous  man,  who  was  not  de¬ 
signed  to  be  a  partaker  of  the  blessing  given  to  Abra¬ 
ham  ?  3.  All  the  punishment  inflicted  on  Esau  was 

an  exclusion  from  being  heir  to  the  blessing  promised 
to  Abraham  and  to  his  seed,  which  was  a  favour  not 
granted  to  Lot,  to  Job,  to  several  other  very  virtuous 
and  good  men.  4.  St.  Paul,  in  the  passage  before 
cited,  only  intends  to  show  the  Jews  that  God  had  all 
along  given  the  favours  that  led  to  the  Messiah  where 
he  pleased  ;  to  Abraham,  not  to  Lot ;  to  Jacob,  not  to 
Esau;  as  at  the  time  St.  Paul  wrote  the  Gentiles  were 
made  the  people  of  God,  not  the  Jews.  5.  Esau  is 
indeed  called  profane,  but  I  think  that  word 

does  not  mean  wicked  or  immoral,  aae(3rjg  or  ayapTu- 
Aof  •  he  was  called  profane  for  not  having  that  due  value 
for  the  priest’s  office  which  he  should  have  had  ;  and 
therefore,  though  I  think  it  does  not  appear  that  he  was 
cut  off  from  being  the  heir  of  the  promises  by  any 
particular  action  in  his  life,  yet  his  turn  of  mind  and 


the  preceding  chapter , 

thoughts  do  appear  to  have  been  such  as  to  evidence 
that  God’s  purpose  towards  Jacob  was  founded  on  the 
truest  wisdom.” — Shuckford’s  Connections,  vol.  ii., 
p.  174,  &c. 

The  truth  is,  the  Messiah  must  spring  from  some 
one  family,  and  God  chose  Abraham's  through  Isaac , 
Jacob,  <fc.,  rather  than  the  same  through  Ishmael, 
Esau ,  and  the  others  in  that  line  ;  but  from  this  choice 
it  does  not  follow  that  the  first  were  all  necessarily 
saved,  and  the  others  necessarily  lost. 

2.  To  some  the  genealogical  lists  in  this  chapter  will 
doubtless  appear  uninteresting,  especially  those  which 
concern  Esau  and  his  descendants ;  but  it  was  as  ne- 
cessarjr  to  register  the  generations  of  Esau  as  to  re¬ 
gister  those  of  Jacob ,  in  order  to  show  that  the  Mes¬ 
siah  did  not  spring  from  the  former,  but  that  he  did 
spring  from  the  latter.  The  genealogical  tables,  so 
frequently  met  with  in  the  sacred  waitings,  and  so  little 
regarded  by  Christians  in  general,  are  extremely  use¬ 
ful.  1.  As  they  are  standing  proofs  of  the  truth  of 
the  prophecies,  which  stated  that  the  Messiah  should 
come  from  a  particular  family,  which  prophecies  were 
clearly  fulfilled  in  the  birth  of  Christ.  2.  As  they 
testify,  to  the  conviction  of  the  Jews,  that  the  Messiah 
thus  promised  is  found  in  the  person  of  Jesus  of  Na¬ 
zareth,  who  incontestably  sprang  from  the  last,  the  only 
remaining  branch  of  the  family  of  David.  These  re¬ 
gisters  were  religiously  preserved  among  the  Jews  till 
the  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  after  which  they  were 
all  destroyed,  insomuch  that  there  is  not  a  Jew  in  the 
universe  who  can  trace  himself  to  the  family  of  David  ; 
consequently,  all  expectation  of  a  Messiah  to  come  is, 
even  on  their  own  principles,  nugatory  and  absurd,  as 
nothing  remains  to  legitimate  his  birth.  When  Christ 
came  all  these  registers  were  in  existence.  When  St. 
Matthew  and  St.  Luke  wrote,  all  these  registers  were 
still  in  existence  ;  and  had  they  pretended  what  could 
not  have  been  supported,  an  appeal  to  the  registers 
would  have  convicted  them  of  a  falsehood.  But  no 
Jew  attempted  to  do  this,  notwithstanding  the  excess 
of  their  malice  against  Christ  and  his  followers  ;  and 
because  they  did  not  do  it,  we  may  safely  assert  no 
Jew  could  do  it.  Thus  the  foundation  standeth  sure. 


CHAPTER  XXXVII. 

Jacob  continues  to  sojourn  in  Canaan ,  1.  Joseph,  being  seventeen  years  of  age,  is  employed  in  feeding  the 
flocks  of  his  father,  2.  Is  loved  by  his  father  more  than  the  rest  of  his  brethren,  3.  His  brethren  envy 
him,  4.  His  dream  of  the  sheaves,  5—7.  His  brethren  interpret  it,  and  hate  him  on  the  account,  8.  His 
dream  of  the  sun,  moon,  and  eleven  stars,  9—11.  Jacob  sends  him  to  visit  his  brethren,  ivho  were  with  the 
flock  in  Shechem,  13,  14.  He  wanders  in  the  field,  and  is  directed  to  go  to  Dothan,  whither  his  brethren 
had  removed  the  flocks,  15—17.  Seeing  him  coming  they  conspire  to  destroy  him,  18—20.  Reuben, 
.  secretly  intending  to  deliver  him,  counsels  his  brethren  not  to  kill,  but  to  put  him  into  a  pit,  21,  22.  They 
strip  Joseph  of  his  coat  of  many  colours,  and  put  him  into  a  pit,  23,  24.  They  afterwards  draw  him  out , 
and  sell  him  to  a  company  of  Ishmaelite  merchants  for  twenty  pieces  of  silver,  who  carry  him  into  Egypt, 
25—28.  Reuben  returns  to  the  pit,  and  not  finding  Joseph,  is  greatly  affected,  29,  30,  Josephs  brethren 
dip  his  coat  in  goat's  blood  to  persuade  his  father  that  he  had  been  devoured  by  a  wild  beast,  3 1— 33.  Jacob 
is  greatly  distressed,  34,  35.  Joseph  is  sold  in  Egypt  to  Potiphar,  captain  of  Pharaoh  s  guard,  36. 

a  217 


Commencement  of  the 


GENESIS. 


history  of  Joseph . 


ANY  Jacob  dwelt  in  the  land  a  wherein 
b  his  father  was  a  stranger,  in  the  land  of 
Canaan. 

A.  M.  2276.  2  These  are  the  generations  of 

—I _ ’ - 1  Jacob.  Joseph,  being  seventeen 

years  old,  was  feeding  the  flock  with  his  bre¬ 
thren  ;  and  the  lad  was  with  the  sons  of 
Bilhah,  and  with  the  sons  of  Zilpah,  his 
father’s  wives  :  and  Joseph  brought  unto  his 
father  c  their  evil  report. 

3  Now  Israel  loved  Joseph  more  than  all 
his  children,  because  he  was  d  the  son  of  his 
old  age  :  and  he  made  him  a  coat  of  many 
e  colours. 

4  And  when  his  brethren  saw  that  their 


father  loved  him  more  than  all  his  a.  m.  2276. 

brethren,  they  f  hated  him,  and  could  — — I - 1 

not  speak  peaceably  unto  him. 

5  And  Joseph  dreamed  a  dream,  and  he  told 
it  his  brethren  :  and  they  hated  him  yet  the 
more. 

6  And  he  said  unto  them,  Hear,  I  pray  you, 
this  dream  which  I  have  dreamed : 

7  For,  ^  behold,  we  were  binding  sheaves  in 
the  field,  and,  lo,  my  sheaf  arose,  and  also 
stood  upright ;  and,  behold,  your  sheaves  stood 
round  about,  and  made  obeisance  to  my  sheaf 

8  And  his  brethren  said  to  him,  Shalt  thou 
indeed  reign  over  us  ?  or  shalt  thou  indeed 
have  dominion  over  us  ?  and  they  hated  him 


aHeb.  of  his  father' s  sojournings. - b  Chap.  xvii.  8  ;  xxiii.  4  ; 

xxviii.  4;  xxxvi.  7  ;  Heb.  xi.  9. - c  1  Sam.  ii.  22-24. - d  Ch. 


xliv.  20. - e  Or,  pieces  ;  Judg.  v.  30  ;  2  Sam.  xiii.  18. - f  Ch. 

xxvii.  41  ;  xlix.  23. - e  Chap.  xlii.  6,  9  ;  xliii.  26 ;  xliv.  14. 


NOTES  ON  CHAP.  XXXVII. 

Verse  1.  Wherein  his  father  ivas  a  stranger]  "HUD 
VDfc*  megurey  abiv ,  Jacob  dwelt  in  the  land  of  his 
father's  sojournings ,  as  the  margin  very  properly 
reads  it.  The  place  was  probably  the  vale  of  Hebron , 
see  ver.  14. 

Verse  2.  These  are  the  generations]  finbn  toledoth, 
the  history  of  the  lives  and  actions  of  Jacob  and  his 
sons ;  for  in  this  general  sense  the  original  must  be 
taken,  as  in  the  whole  of  the  ensuing  history  there  is 
no  particular  account  of  any  genealogical  succession. 
Yet  the  words  may  be  understood  as  referring  to  the 
tables  or  genealogical  lists  in  the  preceding  chapter ; 
and  if  so,  the  original  must  be  understood  in  its  com¬ 
mon  acceptation. 

The  lad  was  with  the  sons  of  Bilhah]  It  is  supposed 
that  our  word  lad  comes  from  the  Hebrew  “lb'1  yeled, 
a  child,  a  son  ;  and  that  lass  is  a  contraction  of  ladess, 
the  female  of  lad,  a  girl,  a  young  woman.  Some 
have  supposed  that  King  James  desired  the  trans¬ 
lators  to  insert  this  word ;  but  this  must  be  a  mistake, 
as  the  word  occurs  in  this  place  in  Edmund  Becke's 
Bible,  printed  in  1549;  and  still  earlier  in  that  of 
Cover  dale,  printed  in  1535. 

B  rought  unto  his  father  their  evil  report.]  Conjec¬ 
ture  has  been  busily  employed  to  find  out  what  this 
evil  report  might  be  ;  but  it  is  needless  to  inquire  what 
it  was,  as  on  this  head  the  sacred  text  is  perfectly 
silent.  All  the  use  we  can  make  of  this  information 
is,  that  it  was  one  cause  of  increasing  his  brothers’ 
hatred  to  him,  which  was  first  excited  by  his  father’s 
partiality,  and  secondly  by  his  own  dreams. 

Verse  3.  A  coat  of  many  colours.]  D’D3  rOfQ  ke- 
thoneth  passim,  a  coat  made  up  of  stripes  of  differently 
coloured  cloth.  Similar  to  this  was  the  toga  pr&texta 
of  the  Roman  youth,  which  was  white,  striped  or 
fringed  with  purple ;  this  they  wore  till  they  were 
seventeen  years  of  age,  when  they  changed  it  for  the 
toga  virilis,  or  toga  pur  a,  which  was  all  white.  Such 
vestures  as  clothing  of  distinction  are  worn  all  over 
Persia,  India,  and  China  to  the  present  day.  It  is  no 
wonder  that  his  brethren  should  envy  him,  when  his 

218 


father  had  thus  made  him  such  a  distinguished  object 
of  his  partial  love.  •  We  have  already  seen  some  of 
the  evils  produced  by  this  unwarrantable  conduct  of 
parents  in  preferring  one  child  to  all  the  rest.  The 
old  fable  of  the  ape  and  her  favourite  cub ,  which  she 
hugged  to  death  through  kindness,  was  directed  against 
such  foolish  parental  fondnesses  as  these. 

Verse  4.  And  could  not  speak  peaceably  unto  him.\ 
Does  not  this  imply,  in  our  use  of  the  term,  that  they 
were  continually  quarrelling  with  him  1  but  this  is  no 
meaning  of  the  original :  Dbtyb  I'VH  1*73’  veto  ya- 
chelu  dabbero  leshalom,  they  could  not  speak  peace  to 
him,  i.  e.,  they  would  not  accost  him  in  a  friendly 
manner.  They  would  not  even  wish  him  ivell.  The 
eastern  method  of  salutation  is,  Peace  be  to  thee  !  DlSzr 

]b  shalom  lecha,  among  the  Hebrews,  and 

salam,  peace,  or  ^  salam  hebibi,  peace  to 

thee  my  friend,  among  the  Arabs.  Now  as  peace 
among  those  nations  comprehends  all  kinds  of  bless¬ 
ings  spiritual  and  temporal,  so  they  are  careful  not  to 
say  it  to  those  whom  they  do  not  cordially  wash  well. 
It  is  not  an  unusual  thing  for  an  Arab  or  a  Turk  to 
hesitate  to  return  the  salam,  if  given  by  a  Christian, 
or  by  one  of  whom  he  has  not  a  favourable  opinion  : 
and  this,  in  their  own  country,  may  be  ever  considered 
as  a  mark  of  hostility ;  not  only  as  a  proof  that  they 
do  not  wish  you  well,  but  that  if  they  have  an  oppor¬ 
tunity  they  will  do  you  an  injury.  This  was  precisely 
the  case  w7ith  respect  to  Joseph’s  brethren  :  they  would 
not  give  him  the  salam,  and  therefore  felt  themselves 
at  liberty  to  take  the  first  opportunity  to  injure  him. 

Verse  7.  We  were  binding  sheaves  in  the  field] 
Though  in  these  early  times  we  read  little  of  tillage , 
yet  it  is  evident  from  this  circumstance  that  it  was 
practised  by  Jacob  and  his  sons.  The  whole  of  this 
dream  is  so  very  plain  as  to  require  no  comment,  un¬ 
less  we  could  suppose  that  the  sheaves  of  grain  might 
have  some  reference  to  the  plenty  in  Egypt  under 
Joseph’s  superintendence,  and  the  scarcity  in  Canaan, 
which  obliged  the  brethren  to  go  down  to  Egypt  for 
corn,  where  the  dream  was  most  literally  fulfilled, 

a 


Joseph  relates  his  two  dreams.  CHAP.  XXXVII.  His  brethren  conspire  against  him . 


A.  M.  2276.  yet  the  more  for  his  dreams,  and  for 

B.  C.  1728.  f .  , 

-  his  words. 

9  And  he  dreamed  yet  another  dream,  and 
told  it  his  brethren,  and  said,  Behold,  I  have 
dreamed  a  dream  more  ;  and,  behold,  h  the 
sun  and  the  moon  and  the  eleven  stars  made 
obeisance  to  me. 

10  And  he  told  it  to  his  father,  and  to  his 
brethren  :  and  his  father  rebuked  him,  and 
said  unto  him,  What  is  this  dream  that  thou 
hast  dreamed  ?  Shall  I  and  thy  mother  and 
1  thy  brethren  indeed  come  to  bow  down  our¬ 
selves  to  thee  to  the  earth  ? 

1 1  And  k  his  brethren  envied  him ;  but  his 
father  1  observed  the  saying. 

12  And  his  brethren  went  to  feed  their 
father’s  flock  in  Shechem. 

13  And  Israel  said  unto  Joseph,  Do  not  thy 
brethren  feed  the  flock  in  Shechem  ?  come, 
and  I  will  send  thee  unto  them.  And  he  said 
to  him,  Here  am  I. 

14  And  he  said  to  him,  Go,  I  pray  thee, 
31  see  whether  it  be  well  with  thy  brethren, 
and  well  with  the  flocks ;  and  bring  me  word 

hCh.  xlvi.  29. - '  Ch.  xxvii.  29. - k  Acts  vii.  9. - 1  Dan. 

vii.  28;  Luke  ii.  19,  51. - m  Heb.  see  the  peace  of  thy  brethren , 

&c. ;  chapter  xxix.  6. - n  Chapter  xxxV.  27. - 0  Cant.  i.  7. 

P  2  Kings  vi.  13. 

his  brethren  there  bowing  in  the  most  abject  manner 
before  him. 

Yerse  9.  He  dreamed  yet  another  dream ]  This  is 
as  clear  as  the  preceding.  But  how  could  Jacob  say, 
Shall  I  and  thy  mother,  <fc.,  when  Rachel  his  mother 
was  dead  some  time  before  this  ?  Perhaps  Jacob  might 
hint,  by  this  explanation,  the  impossibility  of  such  a 
dream  being  fulfilled,  because  one  of  the  persons  who 
should  be  a  chief  actor  in  it  was  already  dead.  But 
any  one  wife  or  concubine  of  Jacob  was  quite  suffi¬ 
cient  to  fulfil  this  part  of  the  dream.  It  is  possible, 
some  think,  that  Joseph  may  have  had  these  dreams 
before  his  mother  Rachel  died  ;  but  were  even  this  the 
case,  she  certainly  did  not  live  to  fulfil  the  part  which 
appears  to  refer  to  herself. 

The  sun  and  the  moon  and  the  eleven  siars]  Why 
eleven  stars  1  Was  it  merely  to  signify  that  his  bro¬ 
thers  might  be  represented  by  stars  1  Or  does  he  not 
rather  there  allude  to  the  Zodiac ,  his  eleven  brethren 
answering  to  eleven  of  the  celestial  signs,  and  himself 
to  the  tivelfth  ?  This  is  certainly  not  an  unnatural 
thought,  as  it  rs  very  likely  that  the  heavens  were 
thus  measured  in  the  days  of  Joseph  ;  for  the  zodiacal 
constellations  have  been  distinguished  among  the  east¬ 
ern  nations  from  time  immemorial.  See  the  notes  at 
the  end  of  chap.  xlix. 

Yerse  14.  Go — see  whether  it  be  ivell  with  thy  bre¬ 
thren ]  Literally,  Go,  I  beseech  thee,  and  see  the 
peace  of  thy  brethren,  and  the  peace  of  the  flock.  Go 
and  see  whether  they  are  all  in  prosperity .  See  on 


again.  So  he  sent  him  out  of  the  a.  m.  2276. 
vale  of  n  Hebron,  and  he  came  to  .B~  C‘  17~8‘. 
Schehem. 

15  And  a  certain  man  found  him,  and,  be¬ 
hold,  he  was  wandering  in  the  field  :  and  the 
man  asked  him,  saying,  What  seekest  thou  ? 

1 6  And  he  said,  I  seek  my  brethren  :  0  tell 
me,  I  pray  thee,  where  they  feed  their 
flocks. 

17  And  the  man  said,  They  are  departed 
hence  ;  for  I  heard  them  say,  Let  us  go  to 
Dothan.  And  Joseph  went  after  his  brethren, 
and  found  them  in  p  Dothan. 

18  And  when  they  saw  him  afar  off,  even 
before  he  came  near  unto  them,  9  they  con¬ 
spired  against  him  to  slay  him. 

19  And  they  said  one  to  another,  Behold, 
this  r  dreamer  cometh. 

20  s  Come  now  therefore,  and  let  us  slay 
him,  and  cast  him  into  some  pit,  and  we  will 
say,  Some  evil  beast  hath  devoured  him  : 
and  we  shall  see  what  will  become  of  his 
dreams. 

2 1  And  t  Reuben  heard  it,  and  he  delivered 

9  1  Sam.  xix.  1 ;  Psa.  xxxi.  13  ;  xxxvii.  12,  32  ;  xciv.  21  ; 
Matt,  xxvii.  1  ;  Mark  xiv.  1  ;  John  xi.  53  ;  Acts  xxiii.  12. 

r  Heb.  master  of  dreams. - s  Proverbs  i.  11, 16  ;  vi.  17 ;  xxvii.  4. 

1  Chap.  xlii.  22. 

ver.  4.  As  Jacob’s  sons  were  now  gone  to  feed  the 
flock  on  the  parcel  of  ground  they  had  bought  from  the 
Shechemites,  (see  chap,  xxxiii.  19,)  and  where  they 
had  committed  such  a  horrible  slaughter,  their  father 
might  feel  more  solicitous  about  their  welfare,  lest  the 
neighbouring  tribes  should  rise  against  them,  and  re¬ 
venge  the  murder  of  the  Shechemites. 

As  Jacob  appeals  to  have  been  at  this  time  in  the 
vale  of  Hebron,  it  is  supposed  that  Shechem  was  about 
sixty  English  miles  distant  from  it,  and  that  Dothan 
was  about  eight  miles  farther.  But  I  must  again  ad¬ 
vertise  my  readers  that  all  these  calculations  are  very 
dubious  ;  for  we  do  not  even  know  that  the  same  place 
is  intended,  as  there  are  many  proofs  that  different 
places  went  by  the  same  names. 

Yerse  19.  Behold,  this  dreamer  cometh.}  niiobnn 
baal  hachalomolh,  this  master  of  dreams ,  this  master 
dreamer.  A  form  of  speech  which  conveys  great 
contempt. 

Yerse  20.  Come  now — and  let  us  slay  him ]  What 
unprincipled  savages  these  must  have  been  to  talk 
thus  coolly  about  imbruing  their  hands  in  an  innocent 
brother’s  blood !  How  necessary  is  a  Divine  revelation, 
to  show  man  wrhat  God  hates  and  what  he  loves  !  Fe¬ 
rocious  cruelty  is  the  principal  characteristic  of  the  na- 
tions  and  tribes  who  receive  not  the  law  at  his  mouth 

Yerse  21.  Reuben  heard  it]  Though  Reuben  ap¬ 
pears  to  have  been  a  transgressor  of  no  ordinary  mag¬ 
nitude,  if  we  take  chap.  xxxv.  22  according  to  the 
letter,  yet  his  bosom  was  not  the  habitation  of  cruelty . 

219 


GENESIS. 


Joseph  sold  to  the  Ishmaelites. 

a.  M.  2276.  him  out  of  their  hands  ;  and  said, 
B.  c.  i  /J3^  us  not  kill  him. 

22  And  Reuben  said  unto  them,  Shed  no 
blood,  hut  cast  him  into  this  pit  that  is  in  the 
wilderness,  and  lay  no  hand  upon  him ;  that 
he  might  rid  him  out  of  their  hands,  to  de¬ 
liver  him  to  his  father  again. 

23  And  it  came  to  pass,  when  Joseph  was 
come  unto  his  brethren,  that  they  stripped  J oseph 
out  of  his  coat,  his  coat  of  many  u  colours  that 
was  on  him ; 

24  And  they  took  him,  and  cast  him  into  a 
pit :  and  the  pit  was  empty,  there  was  no 
water  in  it. 

25  v  And  they  sat  down  to  eat  bread  :  and 
they  lifted  up  their  eyes  and  looked,  and,  be¬ 
hold,  a  company  of  w  Ishmaelites  came  from 
Gilead,  with  their  camels  bearing  spicery,  and 
xbalm  and  myrrh,  going  to  carry  it  down  to 
Egypt. 

26  And  Judah  said  unto  his  brethren,  What 
profit  is  it  if  we  slay  our  brother,  and  y  con¬ 
ceal  his  blood  ? 

u  Or,  pieces. - v  Prov.  xxx.  20  ;  Amos  vi.  6. - 'v  See  verse 

28,  36. - x  Jer.  viii.  22. - y  Chap.  iv.  10  ;  ver.  20 ;  Job  xvi.  18. 

*  1  Sam.  xviii.  17. - aChap.  xlii.  21. - b  Chap.  xxix.  14. 

He  determined,  if  possible,  to  save  his  brother  from 
death,  and  deliver  him  safely  to  his  father,  with  whose 
fondness  for  him  he  was  sufficiently  acquainted.  Jo¬ 
sephus,  in  his  usual  way,  puts  a  long  flourishing  speech 
in  the  mouth  of  Reuben  on  the  occasion,  spoken  in  order 
to  dissuade  his  brethren  from  their  barbarous  purpose  ; 
but  as  it  is  totally  unfounded,  it  is  worthy  of  no  regard. 

Verse  23.  They  stripped  Joseph  out  of  his  co'at]  This 
probably  was  done  that,  if  ever  found,  he  might  not 
be  discerned  to  be  a  person  of  distinction ,  and  conse¬ 
quently,  no  inquiry  made  concerning  him. 

Verse  25.  They  sat  down  to  eat  bread]  Every  act 
is  perfectly  in  character,  and  describes  forcibly  the 
brutish  and  diabolic  nature  of  their  ruthless  souls. 

A  company  of  Ishmaelites ]  We  may  naturally  sup¬ 
pose  that  this  was  a  caravan,  composed  of  different 
tribes  that,  for  their  greater  safety,  were  travelling  to¬ 
gether,  and  of  which  Ishmaelites  and  Midianites  made 
the  chief.  In  the  Chaldee  they  are  called  Arabians, 
which,  from  my  arab,  to  mingle,  was  in  all  probability 
used  by  the  Targumist  as  the  word  Arabians  is  used 
among  us,  which  comprehends  a  vast  number  of  clans, 
or  tribes  of  people.  The  Jerusalem  Targum  calls  them 
ppID  Sarkin,  what  we  term  Saracens .  In  the  Persian, 

tho  clause  stands  thus  :  k»J 

karavanee  ishmaaleem  araban  ay  a.  “  A  caravan  of 
Ishmaelite  Arabs  came.”  This  seems  to  give  the  true 
sense. 

Verse  28.  For  twenty  pieces  of  silver]  \n\he  Anglo- 
Saxon  it  is  pjiitigum  penegum,  thirty  pence.  This,  I 
think,  is  the  first  instance  on  record  of  selling  a  man 

220 


Jacob  is  deceived  hy  his  sons. 

27  Come,  and  let  ns  sell  him  to  A. M.  2276 

the  Ishmaelites,  and  z  let  not  our  — — - 1 

hand  be  upon  him  ;  for  he  is  a  our  brother  and 
b  our  flesh.  And  his  brethren  c  were  content. 

28  Then  there  passed  by  d  Midianites,  mer¬ 
chantmen  ;  and  they  drew  and  lifted  up  Joseph 
out  of  the  pit,  e  and  sold  Joseph  to  the  Ish¬ 
maelites  for  f  twenty  pieces  of  silver  ;  and  they 
brought  Joseph  into  Egypt. 

29  And  Reuben  returned  unto  the  pit :  and 
behold,  Joseph  was  not  in  the  pit ;  and  he 
g  rent  his  clothes. 

30  And  he  returned  unto  his  brethren,  and 
said,  The  child  h  is  not  ;  and  I,  whither  shall 
I  go? 

3 1  And  they  took  1  Joseph’s  coat,  and  killed 
a  kid  of  the  goats,  and  dipped  the  coat  in  the 
blood  ; 

32  And  they  sent  the  coat  of  many  colours, 
and  they  brought  it  to  their  father  ;  and  said, 
This  have  we  found  :  know  now  whether  it 
he  thy  son’s  coat  or  no. 

33  And  he  knew  it,  and  said,  It  is  my  son’s 

c  Heb.  hearkened. - d  Judg.  vi.  3;  ch.  xlv.  4,5. - e  Psa.  cv. 

17  ;  Wisd.  x.  13  ;  Acts  vii.  9. - f  See  Matt,  xxvii.  9. - s  Job 

i.  20. - h  Chap.  xlii.  13,  36  ;  Jer.  xxxi.  15. - '  Ver.  23. 

for  a  slave  ;  but  the  practice  certainly  did  not  commence 
now,  it  had  doubtless  been  in  use  long  before.  Instead 
of  pieces,  which  our  translators  supply,  the  Persian  has 
miskal,  which  was  probably  intended  to  signify 
a  shekel ;  and  if  shekels  be  intended,  taking  them  at 
three  shillings  each,  Joseph  was  sold  for  about  three 
pounds  sterling.  I  have  known  a  whole  cargo  of 
slaves,  amounting  to  eight  hundred  and  thirteen,  bought 
by  a  slave  captain  in  Bonny  river,  in  Africa,  on  an 
average,  for  six  pounds  each ;  and  this  payment  was 
made  in  guns,  gunpowder,  and  trinkets !  As  there 
were  only  nine  of  the  brethren  present,  and  they  sold 
Joseph  for  twenty  shekels,  each  had  more  than  two 
shekels  as  his  share  in  this  most  infamous  transaction. 

Verse  29.  Reuben  returned  unto  the  pit]  It  appears 
he  was  absent  when  the  caravan  passed  by,  to  whom 
the  other  brethren  had  sold  Joseph. 

Verse  30.  The  child  is  not ;  and  I,  whither  shall  1 
go  ?]  The  words  in  the  original  are  very  plaintive, 
N3  ’JX  rm  ’JKl  1JPK  nVn  haiyeled  einennu,  vaani 
anah,  ani  ba  ! 

Verse  32.  Sent  the  coal  of  many  colours — to  their 
father]  What  deliberate  cruelty  to  torture  the  feelings 
of  their  aged  father,  and  thus  harrow  up  his  soul ! 

Verse  33.  Joseph  is  without  doubt  rent  in  pieces!] 
It  is  likely  he  inferred  this  from  the  lacerated  state  of 
the  coat,  which,  in  order  the  better  to  cover  their  wick¬ 
edness,  they  had  not  only  besmeared  with  the  blood  of 
the  goat,  but  it  is  probable  reduced  to  tatters.  And 
what  must  a  father’s  heart  have  felt  in  such  a  case ! 
As  this  coat  is  rent,  so  is  the  body  of  my  beloved  sop 
rent  in  pieces !  and  Jacob  rent  his  clothes. 

a 


CHAP.  XXXVII. 


Jacob  mourns  for  Joseph. 

A.  M.  2276.  coat ;  k  an  evil  beast  hath  devoured 
B  C  1728  1 2 3 

— — 1 - 1  him  ;  Joseph  is  without  doubt  rent 

in  pieces  1 

34  And  Jacob  1  rent  his  clothes,  and  put 
sackcloth  upon  his  loins,  and  mourned  for  his 
son  many  days. 

35  And  all  his  sons  and  all  his  daughters 

kVer.  20;  chap.  xliv.  28. - Wer.  29;  2  Sam.  iii.  31. 

m  2  Sam.  xii.  17. - n  Chap.  xlii.  38 ;  xliv.  29,  31. - 0  Chapter 

xxxix.  1. - PHeb.  eunuch.  But  the  word  doth  signify  not  only 


Verse  35.  All  his  sons  and  all  his  daughters ]  He 
had  only  one  daughter,  Dinah  ;  but  his  sons'  ivives  may 
be  here  included.  But  what  hypocrisy  in  his  sons  to 
attempt  to  comfort  him  concerning  the  death  of  a  son 
who  they  knew  was  alive  ;  and  what  cruelty  to  put 
their  aged  father  to  such  torture,  when,  properly  speak¬ 
ing,  there  was  no  ground  for  it ! 

Verse  36.  Potiphar,  an  officer  of  Pharaoh's']  The 
word  D’lD  saris ,  translated  officer ,  signifies  a  eunuch ; 
and  lest  any  person  should  imagine  that  because  this 
Potiphar  had  a  wife ,  therefore  it  is  absurd  to  suppose 
him  to  have  been  a  eunuch ,  let  such  persons  know  that 
it  is  not  uncommon  in  the  east  for  eunuchs  to  have 
wives ,  nay,  some  of  them  have  even  a  harem,  or  sera¬ 
glio ,  where  they  keep  many  women,  though  it  does  not 
appear  that  they  have  any  progeny  ;  and  probably  dis¬ 
content  on  this  ground  might  have  contributed  as  much 
to  the  unfaithfulness  of  Potiphar’s  wife,  as  that  less 
principled  motive  through  which  it  is  commonly  be¬ 
lieved  she  acted. 

Captain  of  the  guard.]  Q'TODH  112?  sar  hattabbachim , 
chief  of  the  butchers ;  a  most  appropriate  name  for  the 
guards  of  an  eastern  despot.  If  a  person  offend  one 
of  the  despotic  eastern  princes,  the  order  to  one  of 
the  life-guards  is,  Go  and  bring  me  his  head ;  and  this 
command  is  instantly  obeyed,  without  judge,  jury,  or 
any  form  of  law.  Potiphar,  we  may  therefore  sup¬ 
pose,  was  captain  of  those  guards  whose  business  it 
wras  to  take  care  of  the  royal  person,  and  execute  his 
sovereign  will  on  all  the  objects  of  his  displeasure. 
Reader,  if  thou  hast  the  happiness  to  live  under  the 
British  constitution,  be  thankful  to  God.  Here,  the 
will,  the  power,  and  utmost  influence  of  the  king,  were 
he  even  so  disposed,  cannot  deprive  the  meanest  sub¬ 
ject  of  his  property,  his  liberty,  or  his  life.  All  the 
solemn  legal  forms  of  justice  must  be  consulted  ;  the 
culprit,  however  accused,  be  heard  by  himself  and  his 
counsel ;  and  in  the  end  twelve  honest,  impartial  men, 
chosen  from  among  his  fellows,  shall  decide  on  the  va¬ 
lidity  of  the  evidence  produced  by  the  accuser.  For 
the  trial  by  jury,  as  well  as  for  innumerable  political 
blessings,  may  God  make  the  inhabitants  of  Great 
Britain  thankful ! 

1.  With  this  chapter  the  history  of  Joseph  com¬ 
mences,  and  sets  before  our  eyes  such  a  scene  of 
wonders  wrought  by  Divine  Providence  in  such  a 
variety  of  surprising  instances,  as  cannot  fail  to  con¬ 
firm  our  faith  in  God,  show  the  propriety  of  resigna¬ 
tion  to  his  will,  and  confidence  in  his  dispensations, 
and  prove  that  all  things  work  together  for  good  to  1 

a 


He  is  sold  into  Egypt. 

m  rose  lip  to  comfort  him;  but  he  A.  M.  2276. 

refused  to  be  comforted:  and  he  — — i - 1 

said,  For  n  I  will  go  down  into  the  grave  unto  my 
son  mourning.  Thus  his  father  wept  for  him. 

36  And  0  the  Midianites  sold  him  into  Egypt, 
unto  Potiphar,  an  p  officer  of  Pharoah’s,  and 
q  captain  of  the  guard  .r 

eunuchs ,  but  also  chamberlains,  courtiers,  and  officers  ;  Esth.  i.  10. 

q  Heb.  chief  of  the  slaughtermen  or  executioners. - r  Or,  chief 

marshal. 


them  that  love  him.  Joseph  has  often  been  consider¬ 
ed  as  a  type  of  Christ,  and  this  subject  in  the  hands 
of  different  persons  has  assumed  a  great  variety  of 
colouring.  The  following  parallels  appear  the  most 
probable  ;  but  I  shall  not  pledge  myself  for  the  pro¬ 
priety  of  any  of  them  :  “  Jesus  Christ,  prefigured  by 
Joseph,  the  beloved  of  his  father,  and  by  him  sent  to 
visit  his  brethren,  is  the  innocent  person  whom  his 
brethren  sold  for  a  few  pieces  of  silver,  the  bargain 
proposed  by  his  brother  Judah ,  (Greek  Judas,)  the 
very  namesake  of  that  disciple  and  brother  (for  so 
Christ  vouchsafes  to  call  him)  who  sold  his  Lord  and 
Master ;  and  who  by  this  means  became  their  Lord 
and  Saviour  ;  nay,  the  Saviour  of  strangers,  and  of 
the  whole  world  ;  which  had  not  happened  but  for  this 
plot  of  destroying  him,  the  act  of  rejecting,  and  ex¬ 
posing  him  to  sale.  In  both  examples  we  find  the 
same  fortune  and  the  same  innocence  ;  Joseph  in  the 
prison  between  two  criminals  ;  Jesus  on  the  cross 
between  two  thieves.  Joseph  foretells  deliverance  to 
one  of  his  companions  and  death  to  the  other,  from  the 
same  omens  :  of  the  two  thieves,  one  reviles  Christ, 
and  perishes  in  his  crimes  ;  the  other  believes,  and  is 
assured  of  a  speedy  entrance  into  paradise.  Joseph 
requests  the  person  that  should  be  delivered  to  be 
mindful  of  him  in  his  glory  ;  the  person  saved  by 
Jesus  Christ  entreats  his  deliverer  to  remember  him 
when  he  came  into  his  kingdom.” — See  Pascal's 
Thoughts.  Parallels  and  coincidences  of  this  kind 
should  always  be  received  cautiously,  for  where  the 
Spirit  of  God  has  not  marked  a  direct  resemblance, 
and  obviously  referred  to  it  as  such  in  some  other  part 
of  his  word,  it  is  bold,  if  not  dangerous,  to  say  “  such 
and  such  things  and  persons  are  types  of  Christ.”  We 
have  instances  sufficiently  numerous,  legitimately  at¬ 
tested,  without  having  recourse  to  those  which  are  of 
dubious  import  and  precarious  application.  See  the 
observation  on  chap.  xl. 

2.  Envy  has  been  defined,  “  pain  felt,  and  malig¬ 
nity  conceived,  at  the  sight  of  excellence  or  happiness 
in  another.”  Under  this  detestable  passion  did  the 
brethren  of  Joseph  labour ;  and  had  not  God  particu¬ 
larly  interposed,  it  would  have  destroyed  both  its  sub¬ 
jects  and  its  object.  Perhaps  there  is  no  vice  which 
so  directly  filiates  itself  on  Satan,  as  this  does.  In 
opposition  to  the  assertion  that  we  cannot  envy  that  by 
which  we  profit ,  it  may  be  safely  replied  that  we  may 
envy  our  neighbour’s  wisdom,  though  he  gives  us  good 
counsel ;  his  riches,  though  he  supplies  our  wants  ;  and 
his  greatness ,  though  he  employs  it  for  our  protection. 

3.  How  ruinous  are  family  distractions  !  A  house 

221 


Judah  marries  a  Canaanite , 


GENESIS. 


of  whom  three  sons  are  horn 


divided  against  itself  cannnot  stand.  Parents  should 
take  good  heed  that  their  own  conduct  be  not  the 
first  and  most  powerful  cause  of  such  dissensions,  by 
exciting  envy  in  some  of  their  children  through  undue 
partiality  to  others ;  but  it  is  in  vain  to  speak  to  most 


parents  on  the  subject  ;  they  will  give  way  to  foolish 

predilections,  till,  in  the  prevailing  distractions  of 

their  families,  they  meet  with  the  punishment  of  their 

imprudence,  when  regrets  are  vain,  and  the  evil  past 

remedv. 

* 


CHAPTER  XXXVIII. 

Judah  marries  the  daughter  of  a  Canaanite,  1,  2  ;  and  begets  of  her  Er,  3,  Onan,  4,  and  Shelah,  5.  Er 
marries  Tamar,  6  ;  is  slain  for  his  ivickedness,  7.  Onan ,  required  to  raise  up  seed  to  his  brother ,  refuses, 
8,  9.  He  also  is  slain ,  10.  Judah  promises  his  son  Shelah  to  Tamar ,  when  he  should  be  of  age  ;  but 
performs  not  his  promise,  11.  Judah's  wife  dies,  12.  Tamar  in  disguise  receives  her  father-in-law,  he 
leaves  his  signet,  bracelets,  and  staff  in  her  hand,  and  she  conceives  by  him,  13—23.  Judah  is  informed 
that  his  daughter-in-law  is  with  child ;  and,  not  knowing  that  himself  was  the  father ,  condemns  her  to  be 
burnt,  24.  She  produces  the  signet,  bracelets,  and  staff ,  and  convicts  Judah,  25,  26.  She  is  delivered  of 
twins,  ivho  are  called  Pharez  and  Zarah,  27—30. 


A.  M.  cir.  2251.  A  ND  it  came  to  pass  at  that 

B.  c.  cir.  1753.  time,  that  Judah  went  down 

from  his  brethren,  and  a  turned  in  to  a  certain 
b  Adullamite,  whose  name  was  Hirah. 

2  And  Judah  c  saw  there  a  daughter  of  a 
certain  Canaanite,  whose  name  ivas  d  Shuah  ; 
and  he  took  her,  and  went  in  unto  her. 

A.  M.  cir.  2252.  3  And  she  conceived,  and 

B.  C.  cir.  1752.  ,  ,  .  n  i  i  • 

- -  bare  a  son ;  and  he  called  Jus 

name  e  Er. 


a  Chap.  xix.  2,  3  ;  Judg.  iv.  18  ;  2  Kings  iv.  8  ;  Prov.  xiii.  20. 
b  Josh.  xv.  35  ;  1  Sam.  xxii.  1  ;  2  Sam.  xxiii.  13  ;  Mic.  i.  15. 

cChap.  xxxiv.  2. 


A.  M.  cir.  2256. 

B.  C.  cir.  1748. 


4  And  she  conceived  again,  A.  M.  cir.  2253. 
i  1  n  !  ,  B.  C.  cir.  1751. 

and  bare  a  son ;  and  she  called  _ 

his  name  f  Onan. 

5  And  she  yet  again  con¬ 
ceived,  and  bare  a  son ;  and 
called  his  name  s  Shelah :  and  he  was  at 
Chezib,  when  she  bare  him. 

6  And  Judah  h  took  a  wife  for  A.  M.  cir.  2273. 
Er,  his  first-born,  whose  name 
was  Tamar. 


B.  C.  cir.  1731. 


d  1  Chron.  ii.  3. - e  Chap.  xlvi.  12  ;  Num.  xxvi.  19. - f  Ch. 

xlvi.  12  ;  Num.  xxvi.  19. - s  Chapter  xlvi.  12  ;  Num.  xxvi.  20. 

h  Chap.  xxi.  21. 


NOTES  ON  CHAP.  XXXVIII. 

Verse  1.  And  it  came  to  pass  at  that  time ]  The 
facts  mentioned  here  could  not  have  happened  at  the 
times  mentioned  in  the  preceding  chapter,  as  those 
times  are  all  unquestionably  too  recent,  for  the  very 
earliest  of  the  transactions  here  recorded  must  have 
occurred  long  before  the  selling  of  Joseph.  Mr.  Ains¬ 
worth  remarks  “that  Judah  and  his  sons  must  have 
married  when  very  young,  else  the  chronology  will  not 
agree.  For  Joseph  was  born  six  years  before  Jacob 
left  Laban  and  came  into  Canaan;  chap.  xxx.  25,  and 
xxxi.  41.  Joseph  was  seventeen  years  old  when  he 
was  sold  into  Egypt,  chap,  xxxvii.  2,  25  ;  he  was  thirty 
years  old  when  he  interpreted  Pharaoh’s  dream,  chap, 
xli.  46.  And  nine  years  after,  when  there  had  been 
seven  years  of  plenty  and  two  years  of  famine,  did 
Jacob  with  his  family  go  down  into  Egypt,  chap.  xli. 
53,  54,  and  xlv.  6,  11.  And  at  their  going  down 
thither,  Pharez,  the  son  of  Judah,  whose  birth  is  set 
down  at  the  end  of  this  chapter,  had  two  sons,  Hezron 
and  Hamul,  chap.  xlvi.  8,  12.  Seeing  then  from  the 
selling  of  Joseph  unto  Israel’s  going  down  into  Egypt 
there  cannot  be  above  twenty-three  years,  how  is  it 
possible  that  Judah  should  take  a  wife,  and  have  by 
her  three  sons  successively,  and  Shelah  the  youngest 
of  the  three  be  marriageable  when  Judah  begat 
Pharez  of  Tamar,  chap,  xxxviii.  14,  24,  and  Pharez 
be  grown  up,  married,  and  have  two  sons,  all  within  so 
short  a  space  1  The  time  therefore  here  spoken  of 
seems  to  have  been  soon  after  Jacob’s  coming  to  She- 

222 


chem,  chap,  xxxiii.  18,  before  the  history  of  Dinah, 
chap,  xxxiv.,  though  Moses  for  special  cause  relates  it 
in  this  place.”  I  should  rather  suppose  that  this  chap¬ 
ter  originally  stood  after  chap,  xxxiii.,  and  that  it  got 
by  accident  into  this  place.  Dr.  Hales,  observing  that 
some  of  Jacob’s  sons  must  have  married  remarkably 
young,  says  that  “  Judah  was  about  forty-seven  years 
old  when  Jacob’s  family  settled  in  Egypt.  He  could 
not  therefore  have  been  above  fifteen  at  the  birth  of 
his  eldest  son  Er ;  nor  Er  more  than  fifteen  at  his 
marriage  with  Tamar;  nor  could  it  have  been  more 
than  two  years  after  Er's  death  till  the  birth  of  Ju¬ 
dah’s  twin  sons  by  his  daughter-in-law  Tamar  ;  nor 
could  Pharez,  one  of  them,  be  more  than  fifteen  at  the 
birth  of  his  twin  sons  Hezron  and  Hamul,  supposing 
they  were  twins,  just  born  before  the  departure  from 
Canaan.  For  the  aggregate  of  these  numbers,  15,  15, 
2,  15,  or  47  years,  gives  the  age  of  Judah  ;  compare 
chap,  xxxviii.  with  chap.  xlvi.  12.”  See  the  remarks 
of  Dr.  Kennicott,  at  the  end  of  chap.  xxxi. 

Adullamite ]  An  inhabitant  of  Adullam,  a  city  of 
Canaan,  afterwards  given  for  a  possession  to  the  sons 
of  Judah,  Josh.  xv.  1,  35.  It  appears  as  if  this  Adul¬ 
lamite  had  kept  a  kind  of  lodging  house,  for  Shuah  the 
Canaanite  and  his  family  lodged  with  him  ;  and  there 
J  udah  lodged  also.  As  the  woman  was  a  Canaanitess, 
Judah  had  the  example  of  his  fathers  to  prove  at  least 
the  impropriety  of  such  a  connection. 

Verse  5.  And  he  was  at  Chezib  when  she  bare  him.'] 
This  town  is  supposed  to  be  the  same  with  Achzibt 


a 


Er  and  Onan  are  slain. 


CHAP.  XXXVIII. 


A.  M.  cir.  2273.  7  And  1  Er,  Judah  s  first-born, 

B.  C.  cir.  1731.  .  _  .  .  ,  .  ,  r  . 

- -  was  wicked  m  the  sight  of  the 

Lord  ;  k  and  the  Lord  slew  him. 

a.  M.  cir.  2274.  8  And  Judah  said  unto  Onan, 

B.  C.  cir.  1730.  ~  ,  ,  ,  .r 

- bo  in  unto  1  thy  brother  s  wire, 

and  marry  her,  and  raise  up  seed  to  thy 

brother. 

9  And  Onan  knew  that  the  seed  should  not 
be  m  his ;  and  it  came  to  pass,  when  he  went 
in  unto  his  brother’s  wife,  that  he  spilled  it 
on  the  ground,  lest  that  he  should  give  seed 
to  his  brother. 

10  And  the  thing  which  he  did  n  displeased 
the  Lord  :  wherefore  he  slew  0  him  also. 

1 1  Then  said  Judah  to  Tamar  his  daughter- 


in-law,  p  Remain  a  widow  at  thy  father’s 
house,  till  Shelah  my  son  be  grown :  (for 
he  said,  Lest  peradventure  he  die  also,  as  his 
brethren  did.)  And  Tamar  went  and  dwelt 
q  in  her  father’s  house. 

A.  m.  cir.  2277.  1 2  And  r  in  process  of  time 

B.  C.  cir.  17 J7.  daughter  of  Shuah  Judah’s 

wife  died,  and  Judah  s  was  comforted,  and 


1  Chap.  xlv.  12  ;  Num.  xxvi.  19. - k  1  Chron.  ii.  3. - 1  Deut. 

xxv.  5  ;  Matt.  xxii.  24. - m  Deut.  xxv.  6. - D  Heb.  ivas  evil  in 

the  eyes  of  the  LORD. - 0  Chap.  xlvi.  12  ;  Num.  xxvi.  19. 

P  Ruth  i.  13. - Lev.  xxii.  13. - rHeb.  the  days  were  multiplied. 

which  fell  to  the  tribe  of  Judah,  Josh.  xv.  44.  “  The 

name,”  says  Ainsworth,  “  has  in  Hebrew  the  signifi¬ 
cation  of  lying ;  and  to  it  the  prophet  alludes,  saying 
the  houses  of  Achzib  shall  be  ( Achzab )  a  lie  to  the 
kings  of  Israel ,  Mic.  i.  14.” 

Verse  7.  Er — was  wicked  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord ] 
What  this  wickedness  consisted  in  we  are  not  told ; 
hut  the  phrase  sight  of  the  Lord  being  added,  proves 
that  it  was  some  very  great  evil.  It  is  worthy  of 
remark  that  the  Hebrew  word  used  to  express  Eds 
wickedness  is  his  own  name ,  the  letters  reversed.  Er 
;  wicked,  jn  ra.  As  if  the  inspired  writer  had 
said,  “  Er  was  altogether  wicked,  a  completely  aban¬ 
doned  character.” 

Terse  9.  Onan  knew  that  the  seed  should  not  be  his\ 
That  is,  that  the  child  begotten  of  his  brother’s  widow 
should  be  reckoned  as  the  child  of  his  deceased 
brother,  and  his  name,  though  the  real  father  of  it, 
should  not  appear  in  the  genealogical  tables. 

Verse  10.  Wherefore  he  slew  him  also. ]  The  sin 
of  Onan  has  generally  been  supposed  to  be  self -pollu¬ 
tion  ;  but  this  is  certainly  a  mistake  ;  his  crime  was 
his  refusal  to  raise  up  seed  to  his  brother ,  and  rather 
thai  do  it,  by  the  act  mentioned  above,  he  rendered 
himself  incapable  of  it.  We  find  from  this  history 
that  long  before  the  Mosaic  law  it  was  an  established 
custom,  probably  founded  on  a  Divine  precept,  that  if 
a  man  died  childless  his  brother  was  to  take  his  wife, 
and  the  children  produced  by  this  second  marriage 
were  considered  as  the  children  of  the  first  husband, 
and  in  consequence  inherited  his  possessions. 

a 


Judah  deceived  by  Tamar. 

went  up  unto  his  sheep-shearers  a.  m.  cir.  2277. 
to  Timnath,  he  and  his  friend  17  ~h. 

Hirah  the  Adullamite. 

'  13  And  it  was  told  Tamar,  saying,  Behold, 
thy  father-in-law  goeth  up  1  to  Timnath  to 
shear  his  sheep. 

14  And  she  u  put  her  widow’s  garments  off 
from  her,  and  covered  her  with  a  veil,  and 
wrapped  herself,  and  v  sat  in  w  an  open  place, 
which  is  by  the  way  to  Timnath ;  for  she  saw 
x  that  Shelah  was  grown,  and  she  was  not 
given  unto  him  to  wife. 

15  When  Judah  saw  her,  he  thought  her  to 
be  a  harlot:  because  she  had  covered  her  face. 

1 6  And  he  turned  unto  her  by  the  way,  and 
said,  Go  to,  I  pray  thee,  let  me  come  in  unto 
thee ;  (for  he  knew  not  that  she  was  his 
daughter-in-law.)  And  she  said,  What  wilt 
thou  give  me,  that  thou  mayest  come  in 
unto  me  ? 

17  And  he  said,  y  I  will  send  thee  z  a  kid 
from  the  flock.  And  she  said,  aWilt  thou 
give  me  a  pledge  till  thou  send  it  ? 

s2  Samuel  xiii.  39. - 1  Joshua  xv.  10,  57;  Judges  xiv.  1. 

u  Judith  x.  3. - v  Prov.  vii.  12. - w  Heb.  the  door  of  eyes  or 

of  Enajim. - x  Verse  11,  26. - T  Ezek.  xvi.  33. - zHeb.  a 

kid  of  the  goats. - a  V er.  20. 


Verse  12.  In  process  of  time ]  This  phrase,  which 
is  in  general  use  in  the  Bible,  needs  explanation  ;  the 
original  is  D'OTI  13T1  vaiyirbu  haiyamim ,  and  the  days 
ivere  tnultiplied.  Though  it  implies  an  indefinite  time, 
yet  it  generally  embraces  a  pretty  long  period,  and  in 
this  place  may  mean  several  years. 

Verse  15.  Thought  her  to  be  a  harlot ]  See  the 
original  of  this  term,  chap,  xxxiv.  31.  The  Hebrew 
is  mil  zonah ,  and  signifies  generally  a  person  who 
prostitutes  herself  to  the  public  for  hire,  or  one  who 
lives  by  the  public  ;  and  hence  very  likely  applied  to  a 
publican ,  a  tavern-keeper ,  or  hostess ,  Josh.  ii.  1  ;  trans¬ 
lated  by  the  Septuagint,  and  in  the  New  Testament, 
TTopvy,  from  7 repvaw,  to  sell ,  which  certainly  may  as 
well  apply  to  her  goods  as  to  her  person. 

It  appears  that  in  very  ancient  times  there  were 
public  persons  of  this  description ;  and  they  generally 
veiled  themselves,  sat  in  public  places  by  the  highway 
side,  and  received  certain  hire.  Though  adultery  was 
reputed  a  very  flagrant  crime,  yet  this  public  prostitu¬ 
tion  was  not ;  for  persons  whose  characters  were  on 
the  whole  morally  good  had  connections  with  them. 
But  what  could  be  expected  from  an  age  in  which  there 
was  no  written  Divine  revelation,  and  consequently  the 
bounds  of  right  and  wrong  were  not  sufficiently  ascer¬ 
tained!  This  defect  was  supplied  in  a  considerable 
measure  by  the  law  and  the  prophets ,  and  now  com¬ 
pletely  by  the  Gospel  of  Christ. 

Verse  17.  Will  thou  give  me  a  pledge  till  thou  send 
it  1]  The  word  erabon  signifies  an  earnest  of 

something  promised,  a  part  of  the  price  agreed  for 

223 


Tamar  lays  aside  her  veil . 


GENESIS. 


a.  M.  cir.  2277.  IS  And  he  said,  What 
B  C— cir'  shall  I  give  thee  ?  And  she  said, 

b  Thy  signet,  and  thy  bracelets,  and  thy  staff 
that  is  in  thine  hand.  And  he  gave  it  her, 
and  came  in  unto  her,  and  she  conceived  by 
him. 

1 9  And  she  arose,  and  went  away,  and  c  laid 
by  her  veil  from  her,  and  put  on  the  garments 
of  her  widowhood. 

20  And  Judah  sent  the  kid  by  the  hand  of 
his  friend  the  Adullamite,  to  receive  his  pledge 
from  the  woman’s  hand  :  but  he  found  her  not. 

21  Then  he  asked  the  men  of  that  place, 
saying.  Where  is  the  harlot  that  was  d  openly 
by  the  wayside  ?  And  they  said,  There  was 
no  harlot  in  this  place. 

22  And  he  returned  to  Judah,  and  said,  I 
cannot  find  her ;  and  also  the  men  of  the 

b  Ver.  25. - c  Ver.  14. - d  Or,  in  Enajim. - e  Heb.  become  a 

contempt. - f  Judg.  xix.  2. - s  Lev.  xxi.  9  ;  Deut.  xxii.  21. 

between  a  buyer  and  seller,  by  giving  and  receiving 
of  which  the  bargain  was  ratified;  or  a  deposit ,  which 
was  to  be  restored  when  the  thing  promised  should  be 
given.  St.  Paul  uses  the  same  word  in  Greek  letters, 
apfraftov,  2  Cor.  i.  22  ;  Eph.  i.  14.  From  the  use 
of  the  term  in  this  history  we  may  at  once  see  what 
the  apostle  means  by  the  Holy  Spirit  being  the  earn¬ 
est,  apfiaSov,  of  the  promised  inheritance;  viz.,  a  se¬ 
curity  given  in  hand  for  the  fulfilment  of  all  God’s  pro¬ 
mises  relative  to  grace  and  eternal  life.  We  may  learn 
from  this  that  eternal  life  will  be  given  in  the  great  day 
to  all  who  can  produce  this  erabon  or  pledge.  He 
who  has  the  earnest  of  the  Spirit  then  in  his  heart 
shall  not  only  be  saved  from  death ,  but  have  that  eter¬ 
nal  life  of  which  it  is  the  pledge  and  the  evidence. 
What  the  pledge  given  by  Judah  was,  see  on  ver.  25. 

Verse  21.  Where  is  the  harlot  that  was  openly  by 
the  wayside  ?]  Our  translators  often  render  different 
Hebrew  words  by  the  same  term  in  English ,  and  thus 
many  important  shades  of  meaning,  which  involve  traits 
of  character,  are  lost.  In  ver.  15,  Tamar  is  called  a 
harlot ,  nJU  zonah ,  which,  as  we  have  already  seen, 
signifies  a  person  who  prostitutes  herself  for  money. 
In  this  verse  she  is  called  a  harlot  in  our  version  ;  but 
the  original  is  not  HJ1T  but  niJHp  kedeshah,  a  holy  or 
consecrated  person ,  from  i5Hp  kadash,  to  make  holy ,  or 
to  consecrate  to  religious  purposes.  And  the  word 
here  must  necessarily  signify  a  person  consecrated  by 
prostitution  to  the  worship  of  some  impure  goddess. 

The  public  prostitutes  in  the  temple  of  Venus  are 
called  lepodovhoi  yvvaineg,  holy  or  consecrated  female 
servants ,  by  Strabo ;  and  it  appears  from  the  words 
zonah  and  kedeshah  above,  that  impure  rites  and  public 
prostitution  prevailed  in  the  worship  of  the  Canaanites 
in  the  time  of  Judah.  And  among  these  people  we 
have  much  reason  to  believe  that  Astarte  and  Asteroth 
occupied  the  same  place  in  their  theology  as  Venus  did 
among  the  Greeks  and  Romans,  and  were  worshipped 
with  the  same  impure  rites. 

224 


JudaNs  rash  judgment . 

place  said,  that  there  was  no  A.  M.  cir.  2277. 
f  n  .  ,  .  7  B.  C.  cir.  1727. 

harlot  in  this  place.  - - 

23  And  Judah  said,  Let  her  take  it  to  her, 
lest  we  e  be  shamed  :  behold,  I  sent  this  kid, 
and  thou  hast  not  found  her. 

24  And  it  came  to  pass  about  three  months 
after,  that  it  was  told  Judah,  saying,  Tamar 
thy  daughter-in-law  hath  f  played  the  harlot ; 
and  also,  behold,  she  is  with  child  by  whore¬ 
dom.  And  Judah  said,  Bring  her  forth,  g  and 
let  her  be  burnt. 

25  When  she  was  brought  forth,  she  sent  to 
her  father-in-law,  saying,  By  the  man,  whose 
these  are,  am  I  with  child :  and  she  said, 
11  Discern,  I  pray  thee,  whose  are  these,  1  the 
signet,  and  bracelets,  and  staff. 

26  And  Judah  k  acknowledged  them,  and 
said,  1  She  hath  been  more  righteous  than  I ; 

h  Chapter  xxxvii.  32. - 'Verse  18. - k  Chapter  xxxvii.  33. 

1 1  Sam.  xxiv.  17. 

Verse  23.  Lest  we  be  ashamed]  Not  of  the  act,  for 
this  he  does  not  appear  to  have  thought  criminal ;  but 
lest  he  should  fall  under  the  raillery  of  his  companions 
and  neighbours,  for  having  been  tricked  out  of  his  sig¬ 
net,  bracelets,  and  staff,  by  a  prostitute. 

Verse  24.  Bring  her  forth,  and  let  her  be  burnt.]  As 
he  had  ordered  Tamar  to  live  as  a  widow  in  her  own 
father’s  house  till  his  son  Shelah  should  be  marriage¬ 
able,  he  considers  her  therefore  as  the  wife  of  his  son ; 
and  as  Shelah  was  not  yet  given  to  her,  and  she  is 
found  with  child,  she  is  reputed  by  him  as  an  adulteress, 
and  burning,  it  seems,  was  anciently  the  punishment 
of  this  crime.  Judah,  being  a  patriarch  or  head  of  a 
family,  had,  according  to  the  custom  of  those  times, 
the  supreme  magisterial  authority  over  all  the  branches 
of  his  own  family  ;  therefore  he  only  acts  here  in  his 
juridical  capacity.  How  strange  that  in  the  very  place 
where  adultery  was  punished  by  the  most  violent 
death,  prostitution  for  money  and  for  religious  pur¬ 
poses  should  be  considered  as  no  crime  ! 

Verse  25.  The  signet]  n^nn  chothemeth,  properly  a 
seal,  or  instrument  with  which  impressions  were  made 
to  ascertain  property,  &c.  These  exist  in  all  countries. 

Bracelets]  D 'hTS  peihilim,  from  br\3  pathal,  to  twist, 
wreathe,  twine,  may  signify  a  girdle  or  a  collar  by 
which  precedency,  &c.,  might  be  indicated  ;  not  the 
muslin,  silk,  or  linen  wreath  of  his  turban,  as  Mr. 
Harmer  has  conjectured. 

Staff.]  nftD  matteh,  either  what  we  would  call  a 
common  w-alking  stick,  or  the  staff  which  was  the  en¬ 
sign  of  his  tribe. 

Verse  26.  She  hath  been  more  righteous  than  I]  It 
is  probable  that  Tamar  was  influenced  by  no  other  mo¬ 
tive  than  that  which  was  common  to  all  the  Israelitish 
women,  the  desire  to  have  children  ivho  might  be  heirs 
of  the  promise  made  to  Abraham,  <5fC.  And  as  Judah 
had  obliged  her  to  continue  in  her  widowhood  under 
the  promise  of  giving  her  his  son  Shelah  when  he 
should  be  of  age,  consequently  his  refusing  or  delaying 

a 


CHAP.  XXXVIII. 


Tamar  bears  twins,  which 


are  named  Pharez  and  Zarali 


A.  M.  cir.  2277.  because  that  m  I  gave  her  not  to 
B^  C.  cir.  i/2<.  mv  son.  And  fie  knew 

her  again  n  no  more. 

I  27  And  it  came  to  pass  in  the  time  of  her 
travail,  that,  behold,  twins  were  in  her  womb. 

28  And  it  came  to  pass,  when  she  travailed, 
that  the  one  put  out  his  hand :  and  the  mid¬ 
wife  took  and  bound  upon  his  hand  a  scarlet 
thread,  saying,  This  came  out  first. 

w  Ver.  14. - “Job  xxxiv.  31,  32. - 0  Or,  Wherefore  hast  thou 

made  this  breach  against  thee  ? 


29  And  it  came  to  pass,  as  A.  M.  cir.  2277 

1  1  1  i  i  •  ,  ,  ,  B.  C.  cir.  1727 

he  drew  back  his  hand,  that,  - 

behold,  his  brother  came  out :  and  she  said, 

0  How  hast  thou  broken  forth  ?  this  breach 

be  upon  thee  :  therefore  his  name  was  called 

p  PharezA 

30  And  afterward  came  out  his  brother,  that 
had  the  scarlet  thread  upon  his  hand :  and 
his  name  was  called  Zarah. 


P  That  is,  a  breach. 


-1  Chap.  xlvi.  12  ;  Num.  xxvi.  20 ;  1  Chron. 
ii.  4 ;  Matt.  i.  3. 


to  accomplish  this  promise  was  a  breach  of  truth,  and 
an  injury  done  to  Tamar. 

Verse  28.  The  midwife — bound  upon  his  hand  a 
scarlet  thread ]  The  binding  of  the  scarlet  thread  about 
the  wrist  of  the  child  whose  arm  appeared  first  in  the 
birth,  serves  to  show  us  how  solicitously  the  privileges 
of  the  birthright  were  preserved.  Had  not  this  cau¬ 
tion  been  taken  by  the  midwife,  Pharez  would  have  had 
the  right  of  primogeniture  to  the  prejudice  of  his  elder 
brother  Zarah.  And  yet  Pharez  is  usually  reckoned 
in  the  genealogical  tables  before  Zarah  ;  and  from  him, 
not  Zarah,  does  the  line  of  our  Lord  proceed.  See 
Matt.  i.  3.  Probably  the  two  brothers,  as  being  twins, 
urere  conjoined  in  the  privileges  belonging  to  the  birth¬ 
right. 

Verse  29.  How  hast  thou  brohen  forth  T\  P3T12  IT3 
mah  paratsta ,  this  breach  be  upon  thee ,  aleycha 

parents  ;  thou  shalt  bear  the  name  of  the  breach  thou 
hast  made,  i.  e.,  in  coming  first  into  the  world.  There¬ 
fore  his  name  was  called  Parets ,  i.  e.,  the  person 
who  made  the  breach.  The  breach  here  mentioned 
refers  to  a  certain  circumstance  in  parturition  which  it 
is  unnecessary  to  explain. 

Verse  30.  His  name  was  called  Zarah.]  TYV  Zarach , 
risen  or  sprung  up,  applied  to  the  sun,  rising  and  dif¬ 
fusing  his  light.  “  He  had  this  name,”  says  Ainsworth, 
“  because  he  should  have  risen,  i.  e.,  have  been  born 
first,  but  for  the  breach  which  his  brother  made.” 

There  are  several  subjects  in  this  chapter  on  which 
it  may  not  be  unprofitable  to  spend  a  few  additional 
moments. 

1.  The  insertion  of  this  chapter  is  a  farther  proof 
of  the  impartiality  of  the  sacred  writer.  The  facts 
detailed,  considered  in  themselves ,  can  reflect  no  credit 
on  the  patriarchal  history ;  but  Judah ,  Tamar ,  Zarah , 
and  Pharez ,  were  progenitors  of  the  Messiah,  and 
therefore  their  birth  must  be  recorded;  and  as  the  birth, 
so  also  the  circumstances  of  that  birth,  which,  even 
had  they  not  a  higher  end  in  view,  would  be  valuable 
as  casting  light  upon  some  very  ancient  customs ,  which 
it  is  interesting  to  understand.  These  are  not  forgot¬ 
ten  in  the  preceding  notes. 

2.  On  what  is  generally  reputed  to  be  the  sin  of 
Onan ,  something  very  pointed  should  be  spoken.  But 
who  dares  and  will  do  it,  and  in  such  language  that  it 
may  neither  pollute  the  ear  by  describing  the  evil  as 
it  is,  nor  fail  of  its  effect  by  a  language  so  refined  and 

Von.  I.  (  16  1 


so  laboriously  delicate  as  to  cover  the  sin  which  it 
professes  to  disclose  1  Elaborate  treatises  on  the 
subject  will  never  be  read  by  those  who  need  them 
most,  and  anonymous  pamphlets  are  not  likely  to  be 
regarded. 

The  sin  of  self-pollution,  which  is  generally  con¬ 
sidered  to  be  that  of  Onau,  is  one  of  the  most  de¬ 
structive  evils  ever  practised  by  fallen  man.  In  many 
respects  it  is  several  degrees  worse  than  common 
whoredom,  and  has  in  its  train  more  awful  consequences, 
though  practised  by  numbers  who  would  shudder  at  the 
thought  of  criminal  connections  with  a  prostitute.  It 
excites  the  powers  of  nature  to  undue  action,  and  pro¬ 
duces  violent  secretions,  which  necessarily  and  speedily 
exhaust  the  vital  principle  and  energy ;  hence  the  mus¬ 
cles  become  flaccid  and  feeble,  the  tone  and  natural 
action  of  the  nerves  relaxed  and  impeded,  the  under¬ 
standing  confused,  the  memory  oblivious,  the  judgment 
perverted,  the  will  indeterminate  and  wholly  without 
energy  to  resist;  the  eyes  appear  languishing  and  with¬ 
out  expression,  and  the  countenance  vacant ;  the  ap¬ 
petite  ceases,  for  the  stomach  is  incapable  of  perform¬ 
ing  its  proper  office  ;  nutrition  fails,  tremors,  fears,  and 
terrors  are  generated ;  and  thus  the  wretched  victim 
drags  out  a  most  miserable  existence,  till,  superannu¬ 
ated  even  before  he  had  time  to  arrive  at  mail’s  estate , 
with  a  mind  often  debilitated  even  to  a  state  of  idiot- 
ism,  his  worthless  body  tumbles  into  the  grave,  and  his 
guilty  soul  (guilty  of  self-murder)  is  hurried  into  the 
awful  presence  of  its  Judge  !  Reader,  this  is  no  cari¬ 
cature,  nor  are  the  colourings  overcharged  in  this  shock¬ 
ing  picture.  Worse  wroes  than  my  pen  can  relate  I 
have  witnessed  in  those  addicted  to  this  fascinating, 
unnatural,  and  most  destructive  of  crimes.  If  thou 
hast  entered  into  this  snare,  flee  from  the  destruction 
both  of  body  and  soul  that  awaits  thee  !  God  alone 
can  save  thee.  Advice,  warnings,  threatenings,  in¬ 
creasing  debility  of  body,  mental  decay,  checks  of  con¬ 
science,  expostulations  of  judgment  and  medical  assist¬ 
ance,  will  all  be  lost  on  thee  :  God,  and  God  alone , 
can  save  thee  from  an  evil  which  has  in  its  issue  the 
destruction  of  thy  body,  and  the  final  perdition  of  thy 
soul !  Whether  this  may  have  been  the  sin  of  Onan 
or  not,  is  a  matter  at  present  of  small  moment ;  it  may 
be  thy  sin  ;  therefore  take  heed  lest  God  slay  thee  for 
it.  The  intelligent  reader  wrill  see  that  prudence  for¬ 
bids  me  to  enter  any  farther  into  this  business.  See 
the  remarks  at  the  end  of  chap,  xxxix. 

225 


Joseph  is  bought  by  Potiphar , 


GENESIS. 


and  advanced  in  his  house 


CHAPTER  XXXIX. 

Joseph,  being  brought  to  Potiphar1  s  house,  prospers  in  all  his  undertakings ,  1—3.  Potiphar  makes  him  his 
overseer ,  4.  Is  prospered  in  all  his  concerns  for  Joseph's  sake,  in  whom  he  puts  unlimited  confidence ,  5,  6. 
The  wife  of  Potiphar  solicits  him  to  criminal  correspondence ,  7.  He  refuses ,  and  makes  a  fine  apology 
for  his  conduct ,  8,  9.  She  continues  her  solicitations ,  and  he  his  refusals ,  10.  She  uses  violence ,  and  he 
escapes  from  her  hand ,  11—13.  accuses  him  to  the  domestics,  14,  15,  and  afterward  to  Potiphar, 

16—18.  Potiphar  is  enraged,  and  Joseph  is  cast  into  prison,  19,  20.  The  Lord  prospers  him,  and  gives 
him  great  favour  in  the  sight  of  the  keeper  of  the  prison ,  21,  who  intrusts  him  with  the  care  of  the  house 
and  all  the  prisoners,  22,  23. 


A.  M.  2276.  A  ND  Joseph  was  brought  down 

-  to  Jtigypt;  and  a  Jrotiphar,  an 

officer  of  Pharaoh,  captain  of  the  guard,  an 
Egyptian,  b  bought  him  of  the  hands  of  the 
Ishmaelites,  which  had  brought  him  down 
thither. 

2  And  c  the  Lord  was  with  Joseph,  and  he 
was  a  prosperous  man;  and  he  was  in  the 
house  of  his  master  the  Egyptian. 

3  And  hi§  master  saw  that  the  Lord  was 
with  him,  and  that  the  Lord  d  made  all  that 
he  did  to  prosper  in  his  hand. 

4  And  Joseph  e  found  grace  in  his  sight,  and 


he  served  him  :  and  he  made  him  A.  M.  2276. 

f  overseer  over  his  house,  and  all  — - - 

that  he  had  he  put  into  his  hand. 

5  And  it  came  to  pass  from  the  time  that 
he  had  made  him  overseer  in  his  house,  and 
over  all  that  he  had,  that  g  the  Lord  blessed 
the  Egyptian’s  house  for  Joseph’s  sake  ;  and 
the  blessing  of  the  Lord  was  upon  all  that 
he  had  in  the  house  and  in  the  field. 

6  And  he  left  all  that  he  had  in  Joseph’s 
hand  ;  and  he  knew  not  aught  he  had,  save 
the  bread  which  he  did  eat.  And  Joseph 
h  was  a  goodly  person,  and  well-favoured. 


a  Ch.  xxxvii.  36  ;  Psa.  cv.  17. - bCh.  xxxvii.  28. - c  Yer.  21 ; 

chap.  xxi.  22  ;  xxvi.  24,  28  ;  xxviii.  15  ;  1  Sam.  xvi.  18  ;  xviii. 


14,  28  ;  Acts  vii.  9. - d  Psa.  i.  3. - e  Chap,  xviii.  3  ;  xix.  19; 

ver.  21. - f  Gen.  xxiv.  2. - s  Ch.  xxx.  27. - h  1  Sam.  xvi.  12. 


NOTES  ON  CHAP.  XXXIX. 

Yerse  1.  An  officer  of  Pharaoh,  captain  of  the  guard] 
Mr.  Ainsworth,  supposing  that  his  office  merely  con¬ 
sisted  in  having  charge  of  the  king’s  prisoners,  calls 
Potiphar  provost  marshal !  See  on  chap,  xxxvii.  36, 
and  xl.  3. 

Yerse  4.  He  made  him  overseer]  TpSH  hiphkid,  from 
*7p2  pakad,  to  visit,  take  care  of,  superintend  ;  the  same 
as  etuokottoc,  overseer  or  bishop,  among  the  Greeks. 
This  is  the  term  by  which  the  Septuagint  often  express 
the  meaning  of  the  original. 

Yerse  6.  Joseph  was  a  goodly  person,  and  w ell  fa¬ 
voured.]  ruOD  nSU  ixn  HD1  yepheh  thoar,  vipheh 
mareh,  beautiful  in  his  person,  and  beautiful  in  his 
countenance.  The  same  expressions  are  used  relative 
to  Rachel;  see  them  explained  chap.  xxix.  17.  The 
beauty  of  Joseph  is  celebrated  over  all  the  East,  and 
the  Persian  poets  vie  with  each  other  in  descriptions  of 
his  comeliness.  Mohammed  spends  the  twelfth  chapter 
of  the  Koran  entirely  on  Joseph,  and  represents  him  as 
a  perfect  beauty,  and  the  most  accomplished  of  mortals. 
Erom  his  account,  the  passion  of  Zuleekha  (for  so  the 
Asiatics  call  Potiphar’s  wife)  being  known  to  the  ladies 
of  the  court,  they  cast  the  severest  reflections  upon 
her  :  in  order  to  excuse  herself,  she  invited  forty  of 
them  to  dine  with  her,  put  knives  in  their  hands,  and 
gave  them  oranges  to  cut,  and  caused  Joseph  to  attend. 
When  they  saw  him  they  were  struck  with  admiration, 
and  so  confounded,  that  instead  of  cutting  their  oranges 
they  cut  and  hacked  their  own  hands,  crying  out, 

hasha  lillahi  ma  hadha  bashara  in  hadha  ilia  malakon 
kareemon.  “  O  God !  this  is  not  a  human  being  ,  this 
a  226 


is  none  other  than  a  glorious  angel !” — Surat  xii,, 
verse  32. 

Two  of  the  finest  poems  in  the  Persian  language 
were  written  by  the  poets  Jamy  and  Nizamy  on  the 
subject  of  Joseph  and  his  mistress;  they  are  both  en¬ 
titled  Yusuf  ive  Zuleekha.  These  poems  represent 
Joseph  as  the  most  beautiful  and  pious  of  men ;  and 
Zuleekha  the  most  chaste,  virtuous,  and  excellent  of 
women,  previous  to  her  having  seen  Joseph  ;  but  they 
state  that  when  she  saw  him  she  was  so  deeply  af¬ 
fected  by  his  beauty  that  she  lost  all  self-government, 
and  became  a  slave  to  her  passion.  Hafiz  expresses 
this,  and  apologizes  for  her  conduct  in  the  following 
elegant  couplet : — 


v  jpj  gI  J-  icr" 

••  *  t. 


Men  az  an  husn-i  roz  afzoon  keh  Yusuf  dasht  danistam 
Keh  ishk  az  pardah-i  ismat  beroon  arad  Zideekhara. 

“  I  understand,  from  the  daily  increasing  beauty  which 
Joseph  possessed, 

How  love  tore  away  the  veil  of  chastity  from  Zu¬ 
leekha.  ” 

The  Persian  poets  and  eastern  historians,  however, 
contrive  to  carry  on  a  sort  of  guiltless  passion  be¬ 
tween  them  till  the  death  of  Potiphar,  when  Zuleekha, 
grown  old,  is  restored  to  youth  and  beauty  by  the  power 
of  God,  and  becomes  the  wife  of  Joseph.  What  tra¬ 
ditions  they  had  beside  the  Mosaic  text  for  what  they 
say  on  this  subject,  are  now  unknown  ;  but  the  whole 
story,  with  innumerable  embellishments,  is  so  generally 
current  in  the  East  that  I  thought  it  not  amiss  to  take 

(  16*  ) 


CHAP.  XXXIX. 


by  the  wife  of  Potiyhar. 


Joseph  is  tempted  to  sin 


A.  M.  cir.  2285. 

B.  C.  cir.  1719. 


7  And  it  came  to  pass  after 
these  things,  that  his  master’s 
wife  cast  her  eyes  upon  Joseph  ;  and  she  said, 
*  Lie  with  me. 


8  But  he  refused,  and  said  unto  his  master’s 
wife,  Behold,  my  master  wotteth  not  what  is 
with  me  in  the  house,  and  he  hath  committed 
all  that  he  hath  to  my  hand ; 

9  There  is  none  greater  in  this  house  than  I ; 
neither  hath  he  kept  back  any  thing  from  me  but 
thee,  because  thou  art  his  wife :  k  how  then  can  I 
do  this  great  wickedness,  and  1  sin  against  God  ? 

10  And  it  came  to  pass,  as  she  spake  to 
Joseph  day  by  day,  that  he  hearkened  not 
unto  her,  to  lie  by  her,  or  to  be  with  her. 

1 1  And  it  came  to  pass  about  this  time,  that 
Joseph  went  into  the  house  to  do  his  business  ; 
and  there  was  none  of  the  men  of  the  house 
there  within. 

1 2  And  m  she  caught  him  by  his  garment, 
saying,  Lie  with  me  :  and  he  left  his  garment 
in  her  hand,  and  fled,  and  got  him  out. 

1 3  And  it  came  to  pass,  when  she  saw  that 
he  had  left  his  garment  in  her  hand,  and  was 
fled  forth, 

14  That  she  called  unto  the  men  of  her 
house,  and  spake  unto  them,  saying,  See,  he 
hath  brought  in  a  Hebrew  unto  us  to  mock 
us  :  he  came  in  unto  me  to  lie  with  me,  and 
I  cried  with  a  n  loud  voice  : 

1 5  And  it  came  to  pass,  when  he  heard  that 

*2  Sam.  xiii.  11. - kProv.  vi.  29,  32. - 1  Chap.  xx.  6  ;  Lev. 

vi.  2 ;  2  Sam.  xii.  13;  Psalm  li.  4. - m  Prov.  vii.  13,  &c. 

n  Heb.  great. - 0  Exod.  xxiii.  1  ;  Psa.  cxx.  3. - PProv.  vi. 

34,  35. - 9  Psa.  cv.  18;  1  Pet.  ii.  19. 

this  notice  of  it.  The  twelfth  chapter  of  the  Koran, 
which  celebrates  the  beauty,  piety,  and  acts  of  this  pa¬ 
triarch,  is  allowed  to  be  one  of  the  finest  specimens 
of  Arabic  composition  ever  formed ;  and  the  history 
itself,  as  told  by  Moses,  is  one  of  the  most  simple, 
natural,  affecting,  and  well-told  narratives  ever  publish¬ 
ed.  It  is  a  master-piece  of  composition,  and  never 
fails  of  producing  its  intended  effect  on  the  mind  of  a 
careful  reader.  The  Arab  lawgiver  saw  and  felt  the 
beauties  and  excellences  of  his  model ;  and  he  certainly 
put  forth  all  the  strength  of  his  own  language,  and  all 
the  energy  of  his  mind,  in  order  to  rival  it. 

Verse  8.  My  master  wotteth  not ]  Knoweth  not,  from 
the  old  Anglo-Saxon  pitan,  witan ,  to  know ;  hence  pic, 
wit,  intellect,  understanding,  icisdom,  prudence. 

Verse  9.  How  then]  "I' NT  veeik,  and  how  ?  Jo¬ 
seph  gives  two  most  powerful  reasons  for  his  noncom¬ 
pliance  with  the  wishes  of  his  mistress  :  1 .  Gratitude 
to  his  master,  to  whom  he  owed  all  that  he  had.  2. 
His  fear  of  God ,  in  whose  sight  it  would  be  a  heinous 
offence,  and  who  would  not  fail  to  punish  him  for  it. 
With  the  kindness  of  his  master  and  the  displeasure 

a 


I  lifted  up  my  voice  and  cried,  A.  M.  cir.  2285. 
that  he  left  his  garment  with  --  C‘  cir~  1/19i 
me,  and  fled,  and  got  him  out. 

16  And  she  laid  up  his  garment  by  her, 
until  his  lord  came  home. 

17  And  she  0  spake  unto  him  according  to 
these  words,  saying,  The  Hebrew  servant 
which  thou  hast  brought  unto  us,  came  in 


unto  me  to  mock  me  : 

18  And  it  came  to  pass,  as  I  lifted  up  my 
voice  and  cried,  that  he  left  his  garment  with 
me,  and  fled  out. 

19  And  it  came  to  pass,  when  his  master 
heard  the  words  of  his  wife,  which  she  spake 
unto  him,  saying,  After  this  manner  did  thy 
servant  to  me ;  that  his  p  wrath  was  kindled. 


20  And  Joseph’s  master  took  him,  and  *  put 
him  into  the  r  prison,  a  place  where  the  king’s 
prisoners  ivere  bound :  and  he  was  there  in 
the  prison. 

21  But  the  Lord  was  with  Joseph,  and 
s  showed  him  mercy,  and  *  gave  him  favour 
in  the  sight  of  the  keeper  of  the  prison. 

22  And  the  keeper  of  the  prison  u  commit¬ 
ted  to  Joseph’s  hand  all  the  prisoners  that 
were  in  the  prison  ;  and  whatsoever  they  did 
there,  he  was  the  doer  of  it. 

23  The  keeper  of  the  prison  looked  not  to 
any  thing  that  was  under  his  hand  ;  because 
vthe  Lord  was  with  him,  and  that  which  he 
did,  the  Lord  made  it  to  prosper. 

r  Chap.  xl.  3,  15;  xli.  14. - sHeb.  extended  kindness  unto 

him. - 1  Exod.  iii.  21 ;  xi.  3  ;  xii,  36  ;  Psa.  cvi.  46  ;  Proverbs 

xvi.  7  ;  Daniel  i.  9  ;  Acts  vii.  9,  10. - u  Chapter  xl.  3,  4. 

v  Ver.  2,  3. 

of  God  before  his  eyes,  how  could  he  be  capable  of 
committing  an  act  of  transgression,  which  would  at 
once  have  distinguished  him  as  the  most  ungrateful 
and  the  most  worthless  of  men  1 

Verse  14.  He  hath  brought  in  a  Hebreio  unto  us] 
Potiphar’s  wife  affects  to  throw  great  blame  on  her 
husband,  whom  we  may  reasonably  suppose  she  did 
not  greatly  love.  He  hath  brought  in — he  hath  raised 
this  person  to  all  his  dignity  and  eminence,  to  give 
him  the  greater  opportunity  to  mock  us.  pn'ib  le- 
tsachek ,  here  translated  to  mock,  is  the  same  word 
used  in  chap.  xxvi.  8,  relative  to  Isaac  and  Rebekah ; 
and  is  certainly  used  by  Potiphar’s  wife  in  ver.  17,  to 
signify  some  kind  of  familiar  intercourse  not  allowable 
but  between  man  and  wife. 

Verse  20.  Put  him  into  the  prison]  "1HD  fU3  beith 
sohar ,  literally  the  round  house ;  in  such  a  form  the 
prison  was  probably  built. 

Verse  21.  The  Lord  was  with  Joseph ]  It  is  but  of 
little  consequence  where  the  lot  of  a  servant  of  God 
mav  be  cast ;  like  Joseph  he  is  ever  employed  for  his 
master,  and  God  honours  him  and  prospers  his  work 

227 


GENESIS. 


Imprisonment  of  the 

1.  He  who  acknowledges  God  in  all  his  ways,  has 
the  promise  that  God  shall  direct  all  his  steps.  Jo¬ 
seph’s  captivity  shall  promote  God’s  glory ;  and  to 
this  end  God  works  in  him,  for  him,  and  by  him. 
Even  the  irreligious  can  see  when  the  Most  High  dis¬ 
tinguishes  his  followers.  Joseph’s  master  saw  that 
Jehovah  was  with  him  ;  and  from  this  we  may  learn 
that  the  knowledge  of  the  true  God  was  in  Egypt, 
even  before  the  time  of  Joseph,  though  his  worship 
was  neither  established  nor  even  tolerated  there. 
Both  Abraham  and  Isaac  had  been  in  Egypt,  and 
they  had  left  a  savour  of  true  godliness  behind  them. 

2.  Joseph’s  virtue  in  resisting  the  solicitations  of 
his  mistress  was  truly  exemplary.  Had  he  reasoned 
after  the  manner  of  men,  he  might  have  soon  found 
that  the  proposed  intrigue  might  be  carried  on  with 
the  utmost  secrecy  and  greatly  to  his  secular  advan¬ 
tage.  But  he  chose  to  risk  all  rather  than  injure  a 
kind  benefactor,  defile  his  conscience,  and  sin  against 
God.  Such  conduct  is  so  exceedingly  rare  that  his 
example  has  stood  on  the  records  of  time  as  almost 
without  a  parallel,  admired  by  all,  applauded  by  most, 
and  in  similar  circumstances,  I  am  afraid,  imitated 
by  few.  The  fable  of  the  brave  and  virtuous  Bellero- 
phon  and  Sthenobrea,  wife  of  Prcetus,  king  of  the 
Argives,  was  probably  founded  on  this  history. 

3.  Joseph  fled  and  got  him  out .  To  know  when  to 


crdef  butler  and  baker 

fight  and  when  to  fly  are  of  great  importance  in  the 
Christian  life.  Some  temptations  must  be  manfully 
met,  resisted,  and  thus  overcome  ;  from  others  we 
must  fly.  He  who  sthnds  to  contend  or  reason,  espe¬ 
cially  in  such  a  case  as  that  mentioned  here,  is  infalli¬ 
bly  ruined.  Principiis  obsta,  “  resist  the  first  overtures 
of  sin,”  is  a  good  maxim.  After-remedies  come  too  late. 

4.  A  woman  of  the  spirit  of  Potiphar’s  wife  is 
capable  of  any  species  of  evil.  When  she  could  not 
get  her  wicked  ends  answered,  she  began  to  accuse. 
This  is  precisely  Satan’s  custom  :  he  first  tempts  men 
to  sin,  and  then  accuses  them  as  having  committed  it, 
even  where  the  temptation  has  been  faithfully  and  per- 
severingly  resisted  !  By  this  means  he  can  trouble  a 
tender  conscience,  and  weaken  faith  by  bringing  con¬ 
fusion  into  the  mind.  Thus  the  inexperienced  especially 
are  often  distracted  and  cast  down ;  hence  Satan  is  pro¬ 
perly  called  the  accuser  of  the  brethren,  Rev.  xii.  10. 

Very  useful  lessons  may  be  drawn  from  every  part 
of  the  relation  in  this  chapter,  but  detailing  the  facts 
and  reasoning  upon  them  would  be  more  likely  to  pro¬ 
duce  than  prevent  the  evil.  An  account  of  this  kind 
cannot  be  touched  with  too  gentle  a  hand.  Others 
have  been  profuse  here  ;  I  chose  to  be  parsimonious, 
for  reasons  which  the  intelligent  reader  wall  feel  as 
well  as  myself.  Let  this  remark  be  applied  to  what 
has  been  said  on  the  sin  of  Onan,  chap,  xxxviii. 


CHAPTER  XL. 


Pharaoh's  chief  butler  and  his  chief  baker,  having  offended  their  lord,  are  put  in  prison,  1-3.  The  captain 
of  the  guard  gives  them  into  the  care  of  Joseph,  4.  Each  of  them  has  a  dream,  5.  Joseph,  seeing  them 
sad ,  questions  them  on  the  subject,  6,  7.  Their  answer ,  8.  The  chief  butler  tells  his  dream ,  9-11, 
Joseph  interprets  it,  12,  13.  Gives  a  slight  sketch  of  his  history  to  the  chief  butler,  and  begs  him  to  think 
upon  hiYn  when  restored  to  his  office,  14,  15.  The  chief  baker  tells  his  dream,  16,  17.  Joseph  interprets 
this  also ,  18,  19.  Both  dreams  are  fulfilled  according  to  the  interpretation,  the  chief  butler  being  restored 
to  his  office,  and  the  chief  baker  hanged,  20—22.  The  chief  butler  makes  no  interest  for  Joseph,  23. 


A.  M.  cir.  2286. 

B.  C.  cir.  1718. 


AND 


it  came  to  pass  after 
these  things,  that  the  a  but¬ 
ler  of  the  king  of  Egypt  and  his  baker  had 
offended  their  lord  the  king  of  Egypt. 

2  And  Pharaoh  was  b  wroth  against  two  of 
his  officers,  against  the  chief  of  the  butlers, 
and  against  the  chief  of  the  bakers. 


3  c  And  he  put  them  in  ward  a.  m.  cir.  2286. 
in  the  house  of  the  captain  of  C'  Clr'  1718j 
the  guard,  into  the  prison,  the  place  where 
Joseph  ivas  bound. 

4  And  the  captain  of  the  guard  charged 
J oseph  with  them,  and  he  served  them  :  and 
they  continued  a  season  in  ward. 


aNeh.  i.  11 - bProv.  xvi.  14. 


c  Chap,  xxxix.  20,  23. 


NOTES  ON  CHAP.  XL. 

Verse  1.  The  butler]  npi^D  mashkeh,  the  same  as 
saky  among  the  Arabians  and  Persians,  and 

signifying  a  cup-bearer. 

Baker]  opheh ;  rather  cook,  confectioner,  or 

the  like. 

Had  offended]  They  had  probably  been  accused 
of  attempting  to  take  away  the  king’s  life,  one  by 
poisoning  his  drink,  the  other  by  poisoning  his  bread 
or  confectionaries. 

Verse  3.  Where  Joseph  was  bound.]  The  place  in 
which  Joseph  was  now  confined ;  this  is  what  is  im¬ 
plied  in  being  bound ;  for,  without  doubt,  he  had  his 

228 


personal  liberty.  As  the  butler  and  the  baker  were 
state  criminals  they  were  put  in  the  same  prison  with 
Joseph,  which  we  learn  from  the  preceding  chapter, 
verse  20,  was  the  king's  prison.  All  the  officers  in 
the  employment  of  the  ancient  kings  of  Egypt  "were, 
according  to  Diodorus  Siculus,  taken  from  the  most 
illustrious  families  of  the  priesthood  in  the  country ;  no 
slave  or  common  person  being  ever  permitted  to  serve 
in  the  presence  of  the  king.  As  these  persons,  therefore, 
were  of  the  most  noble  families,  it  is  natural  to  expect 
they  would  be  put,  when  accused,  into  the  state  prison. 

Verse  4.  They  continued  a  season]  LTD'  yamim , 
literally  days ;  how  long  we  cannot  tell.  But  many 


CHAP.  XL. 


Dreams  of  the  butler  and  baker. 


Joseph's  interpretation  of  them . 


a.  M.  c,ir.  2287.  5  And  they  dreanjed  a  dream, 

B.  C.  cir.  1717.  ,  ,  -  ,  J  . 

- -  both  oi  them,  each  man  his 

dream  in  one  night,  each  man  according  to 

the  interpretation  of  his  dream ;  the  butler 

and  the  baker  of  the  king  of  Egypt,  which 

were  bound  in  the  prison. 

6  And  Joseph  came  in  unto  them  in  the 
morning,  and  looked  upon  them,  and,  behold, 
they  were  sad. 

7  And  he  asked  Pharaoh’s  officers  that  to  ere 
with  him  in  the  ward  of  his  lord’s  house,  saying, 
Wherefore  d  look  ye  so  sadly  to-day  ? 

8  And  they  said  unto  him,  e  We  have  dream¬ 
ed  a  dream,  and  there  is  no  interpreter  of  it. 
And  Joseph  said  unto  them,  *  Do  not  inter¬ 
pretations  belong  to  God  ?  tell  me  them ,  I 
pray  you. 

9  And  the  chief  butler  told  his  dream  to 
Joseph,  and  said  to  him,  In  my  dream,  behold, 
a  vine  was  before  me ; 

10  And  in  the  vine  were  three  branches  : 
and  it  teas  as  though  it  budded,  and  her  blos¬ 
soms  shot  forth ;  and  the  clusters  thereof 
brought  forth  ripe  grapes  : 

1 1  And  Pharaoh’s  cup  teas  in  my  hand : 
and  I  took  the  grapes,  and  pressed  them  into 
Pharaoh’s  cup,  and  I  gave  the  cup  into  Pha¬ 
raoh’s  hand. 


12  And  Joseph  said  unto  him,  A.  M.  cir.  2287. 

g  I  his  is  the  interpretation  of  it :  - 

The  three  branches  h  are  three  days  : 

13  Yet  within  three  days  shall  Pharaoh *  1  lift k 
up  thine  head,  and  restore  thee  unto  thy  place  : 
and  thou  shalt  deliver  Pharaoh’s  cup  into  his 
hand,  after  the  former  manner  when  thou  wast 
his  butler. 

14  But 1  think  m  on  me  when  it  shall  be  well 
with  thee,  and  n  show  kindness,  I  pray  thee7 
unto  me,  and  make  mention  of  me  unto  Pha¬ 
raoh,  and  bring  me  out  of  this  house  : 


15  For  indeed  I  was  stolen  away  out  of  the 
land  of  the  Hebrews  :  0  and  here  also  have  I 
done  nothing  that  they  should  put  me  into 
the  dungeon. 


16  When  the  chief  baker  saw  that  the  in¬ 
terpretation  was  good,  he  said  unto  Joseph,  I 
also  was  in  my  dream,  and,  behold,  I  had 
three  p  white  baskets  on  my  head  : 

17  And  in  the  uppermost  basket  there  ivas 
of  all  manner  of  9  bakemeats  for  Pharaoh ; 
and  the  birds  did  eat  them  out  of  the  basket 
upon  my  head. 

18  And  Joseph  answered  and  said,  r  This  is 
the  interpretation  thereof:  The  three  baskets 
are  three  days  : 

19  s  Yet  within  three  days  shall  Pharaoh 


d  Heb.  are  your  faces  evil?  Neh.  ii.  2. - e  Chap.  xli.  15. 

1  See  chap.  xli.  16  ;  Dan.  ii.  11,  28,  47. - s  Ver.  18  ;  chap.  xli. 

12,  25  ;  Judg.  vii.  14  ;  Dan.  ii.  36  ;  iv.  19. - h  Chap.  xli.  26. 

*2  Kings  xxv.  27  ;  Psa.  iii.  3  ;  Jer.  lii.  31. - k  Or,  reckon. 


suppose  the  word  signifies  a  complete  year ;  and  as 
Pharaoh  called  them  to  an  account  on  his  birthday, 
verse  20,  Calmet  supposes  they  had  offended  on  the 
preceding  birthday,  and  thus  had  been  one  whole  year 
in  prison. 

Verse  5.  Each  man  according  to  the  interpretation ] 
Not  like  dreams  in  general,  the  disordered  workings 
of  the  mind,  the  consequence  of  disease  or  repletion  ; 
these  were  dreams  that  had  an  interpretation,  that  is, 
that  were  prophetic. 

Verse  6.  They  were  sad.]  They  concluded  that 
their  dreams  portended  something  of  great  importance, 
DUt  they  could  not  tell  what. 

Verse  8.  There  is  no  interpreter]  They  either  had 
access  to  none,  or  those  to  whom  they  applied  could 
give  them  no  consistent,  satisfactory  meaning. 

Do  not  interpretations  belong  to  God  ?]  God  alone, 
the  Supreme  Being,  knows  what  is  in  futurity ;  and  if 
ho  have  sent  a  significant  dream,  he  alone  can  give  the 
solution. 

Verse  11.  And  I  took  the  grapes  and  pressed  them 
into  Pharaoh's  cup ]  From  this  we  find  that  wine  an¬ 
ciently  was  the  mere  expressed  juice  of  the  grape,  with¬ 
out  fermentation.  The  saky,  or  cup-bearer,  took  the 

a 


1  Heb.  remember  me  with  thee. - m  Luke  xxiii.  42. - n  Josh. 

ii.  12;  1  Sam.  xx.  14,  15  ;  2  Sam.  ix.  1 ;  1  Kings  ii.  7. - 0  Chap. 

xxxix.  20. - P  Or,  full  of  holes. - 4  Heb.  meat  of  Pharaoh,  the 

work  of  a  baker  or  cook. - r  Ver.  12. - s  Ver.  13. 


bunch,  pressed  the  juice  into  the  cup,  and  instantly  de¬ 
livered  it  into  the  hands  of  his  master.  This  was 
anciently  the  p1  yayin  of  the  Hebrews,  the  otvog  of  the 
Greeks ,  and  the  mustum  of  the  ancient  Latins. 

Verse  12.  The  three  branches  are  three  days]  That 
is,  The  three  branches  signify  three  days ;  so,  this  is 
my  body,  that  is,  this  bread  signifies  or  represents  my 
body  ;  this  cup  is  my  blood,  represents  my  blood ;  a 
form  of  speech  frequently  used  in  the  sacred  writings, 
for  the  Hebrew  has  no  proper  word  by  which  our  terms 
signifies,  represents,  &c.,  are  expressed  ;  therefore  it. 
says  such  a  thing  is,  for  represents,  points  out,  &c. 
And  because  several  of  our  ancestors  would  understand 
such  words  in  their  true,  genuine,  critical,  and  sole 
meaning,  Queen  Mary,  Bishops  Gardiner,  Bonner,  and 
the  rest  of  that  demoniacal  crew,  reduced  them  to  ashes 
in  Smithfield  and  elsewhere  ! 

Verse  14.  Make  mention  of  me  unto  Pharaoh ]  One 
would  have  supposed  that  the  very  circumstance  of 
his  restoration,  according  to  the  prediction  of  Joseph, 
would  have  almost  necessarily  prevented  him  from  for¬ 
getting  so  extraordinary  a  person.  But  what  have  mere 
courtiers  to  do  either  with  gratitude  or  kindness  ? 

Verse  15.  For  indeed  I  was  stolen]  TOJJ  gunnob 

229 


The  butler  is  restored. 


GENESIS. 


The  baker  is  hanged. 


A.  M.  cir.  2287.  t  lift  up  thy  head  from  off  thee, 

B.  C.  cir.  1717.  Tin,  , 

-  and  shall  hang  thee  on  a  tree  ; 

and  the  birds  shall  eat  thy  flesh  from  off  thee. 

20  And  it  came  to  pass  the  third  day,  which 

was  Pharaoh’s  u  birthday,  that  he *  v  made  a 

feast  unto  all  his  servants  :  and  he  w  lifted  x  up 

the  head  of  the  chief  butler  and  of  the  chief 

baker  among  his  servants. 


21  And  ►he  y  restored  the  A.  M.  cir.  2287 

chief  butler  unto  his  butlership  - — - 

again ;  and  z  he  gave  the  cup  into  Pharaoh’s 
hand  : 

22  But  he  a  hanged  the  chief  baker,  as 
Joseph  had  interpreted  to  them. 

23  Yet  did  not  the  chief  butler  remember 
Joseph,  but  b  forgat  him. 


1  Or,  reckon  thee,  and  take  thy  office  from  thee. - u  Matt.  xiv.  6. 

v  Mark  vi.  21. - -'r  Ver.  13,  19  ;  Matt.  xxv.  19. - x  Or,  reckoned. 


gumiabti,  stolen ,  I  have  been  stolen — most  assuredly  I 
was  stolen  ;  and  here  also  have  I  done  nothing.  These 
were  simple  assertions,  into  the  proof  of  which  he  was 
ready  to  enter  if  called  on. 

Verse  19.  Lift  up  thy  head  from  off  thee']  Thus  we 
find  that  beheading,  hanging,  and  gibbeting,  were  modes 
of  punishment  among  the  ancient  Egyptians  ;  but  the 
criminal  was  beheaded  before  he  was  hanged,  and  then 
either  hanged  on  hooks,  or  by  the  hands.  See  Lam. 
v.  12. 

Verse  20.  Pharaoh"1  s  birthday]  The  distinguishing 
a  birthday  by  a  feast  appears  from  this  place  to  have 
been  a  very  ancient  custom.  It  probably  had  its  origin 
from  a  correct  notion  of  the  immortality  of  the  soul, 
as  the  commencement  of  life  must  appear  of  great  con¬ 
sequence  to  that  person  who  believed  he  was  to  live 
for  ever.  St.  Matthew,  xiv.  6,  mentions  Herod’s  keep¬ 
ing  his  birthday ;  and  examples  of  this  kind  are  fre¬ 
quent  to  the  present  time  in  most  nations. 

Lifted  up  the  head  of  the  chief  butler ,  tyc.]  By 
lifting  up  the  head,  probably  no  more  is  meant  than 
bringing  them  to  trial,  tantamount  to  what  was  done 
by  Jezebel  and  the  nobles  of  Israel  to  Naboth  :  Set 
Naboth  on  high  among  the  people ;  and  set  two  men, 
sons  of  Belial,  to  bear  witness  against  him,  fie. ;  1 
Kings  xxi.  9,  &c.  The  issue  of  the  trial  was,  the 
baker  alone  was  found  guilty  and  hanged  ;  and  the 
butler,  being  acquitted,  was  restored  to  his  office. 

Verse  23.  Yet  did  not  the  chief  butler  remember 
Joseph]  Had  he  mentioned  the  circumstance  to  Pha¬ 
raoh,  there  is  no  doubt  that  Joseph’s  case  would  have 
been  examined  into,  and  he  would  in  consequence  have 


7  Ver.  13. - z  Neh.  ii.  1 . - a  Ver.  19. - b  Job  xix.  14  ;  Psa. 

xxxi.  12;  Eccles.  ix.  15,  16  ;  Amos  vi.  6. 


been  restored  to  his  liberty' ;  but,  owing  to  the  ingrati¬ 
tude  of  the  chief  butler,  he  was  left  two  years  longer 
in  prison. 

Many  commentators  have  seen  in  every  circumstance 
in  the  history  of  Joseph  a  parallel  between  him  and 
our  blessed  Lord  So,  “  Joseph  in  prison  represents 
Christ  in  the  custody  of  the  Jews  ;  the  chief  butler 
and  the  chief  baker  represent  the  two  thieves  which 
were  crucified  with  our  Lord ;  and  as  one  thief  was 
pardoned,  and  the  other  left  to  perish,  so  the  chief 
butler  was  restored  to  his  office,. and  the  chief  baker 
hanged.”  I  believe  God  never  designed  such  parallels ; 
and  I  am  astonished  to  find  comparatively  grave  and 
judicious  men  trifling  in  this  way,  and  forcing  the  fea¬ 
tures  of  truth  into  the  most  distorted  anamorphosis,  so 
that  even  her  friends  blush  to  acknowledge  her.  This 
is  not  a  light  matter  ;  we  should  beware  how  we  attri¬ 
bute  designs  to  God  that  he  never  had,  and  employ  the 
Holy  Spirit  in  forming  trifling  and  unimportant  simili¬ 
tudes.  Of  plain,  direct  truth  we  shall  find  as  much 
in  the  sacred  writings  as  we  can  receive  and  compre¬ 
hend;  let  us  not  therefore  hew  out  unto  ourselves  broken 
cisterns  that  can  hold  no  water.  Interpretations  of 
this  kind  only  tend  to  render  the  sacred  writings  un¬ 
certain  ;  to  expose  to  ridicule  all  the  solemn  types  and 
figures  which  it  really  contains  ;  and  to  furnish  pretexts 
to  infidels  and  irreligious  people  to  scoff  at  all  spiritu¬ 
ality,  and  lead  them  to  reject  the  word  of  God  entirety, 
as  incapable  of  being  interpreted  on  any  fixed  or  ra¬ 
tional  plan.  The  mischief  done  by  this  system  is  realty 
incalculable.  See  the  observations  on  chap,  xxxvii. 


CHAPTER  XL1. 

Pharaoh"1  s  dream  of  the  seven  iv  ell  favoured  and  seven  ill-favoured  Jdne,  1—4.  His  dream  of  the  seven  full 
and  seven  thin  ears  of  corn,  5—7.  The  magicians  and  wise  men  applied  to  for  the  interpretation  of  them, 
but  could  give  no  solution,  8.  The  chief  butler  recollects  and  recommends  Joseph,  9—13.  Pharaoh  com¬ 
mands  him  to  be  brought  out  of  prison,  14.  Joseph  appears  before  Pharaoh,  15,  16  Pharaoh  repeats  his 
dreams,  17—24.  Joseph  interprets  them,  25—32,  and  gives  Pharaoh  directions  how  to  provide  against  the 
approaching  scarcity,  33—36.  Pharaoh,  pleased  with  the  counsel,  appoints  Joseph  to  be  superintendent  of 
all  his  affairs,  37—41.  Joseph  receives  the  badges  of  his  new  office,  42,  43,  and  has  his  powers  defined, 
44  ;  receives  a  new  name,  and  marries  Asenath,  daughter  of  Poti-Pherah, priest  of  ON,  45.  Joseph's  age 
when  brought  before  Pharaoh,  46.  Great  fertility  of  Egypt  in  the  seven  plenteous  years ,  47.  Joseph 
hoards  up  the  grain,  48,  49.  Ephraim  and  Manasseh  born,  50-52.  The  seven  years  of  famine  commence, 
with  great  rigour,  53—55.  Joseph  opens  the  storehouses  to  the  Egyptians,  56.  People  from  the  neigh 
bouring  countries  come  to  Egypt  to  buy  corn ,  the  famine  being  in  all  those  lands,  57. 

230  a 


CHAP.  XLI. 


of  the  kine  and  ears  oj  corn. 


Pharaoh?  s  prophetic  dreams 


A 

B 


.  M.  2289.  A  ND  it  came  to  pass  at  the  end 
.  c.i/ij.  q£  two  fup  years,  that  Pharaoh 


a  dreamed :  and,  behold,  he  stood  by  b  the 
river. 

2  And,  behold,  there  came  up  out  of  the 
river  seven  well-favoured  c  kine  and  fat-flesh¬ 
ed  ;  and  they  fed  in  a  meadow 

3  And,  behold,  seven  other  kine  came  up 
after  them  out  of  the  river,  ill-favoured  and 
lean-fleshed ;  and  stood  by  the  other  kine 
upon  the  brink  of  the  river. 

4  And  the  ill-favoured  and  lean -fleshed  kine 
did  eat  up  the  seven  well-favoured  and  fat 
kine.  So  Pharaoh  awoke. 

5  And  he  slept  and  dreamed  the  second 


•  Chap,  xxxvii.  5-10 ;  xl.  5  ;  Esth.  vi.  1 ;  Dan.  ii.  1-3  ;  iv.  5  ; 

Matt,  xxvii.  19. - b  Ezek.  xxix.  3,  9. - c  See  ver.  17-27. 

NOTES  ON  CHAP.  XLI. 

Verse  1.  Two  full  years ]  rVD1  lDYUI#  shenatha- 
yim  yamim,  two  years  of  days,  two  complete  solar 
revolutions,  after  the  events  mentioned  in  the  preced¬ 
ing  chapter. 

The  river  i]  The  Nile,  the  cause  of  the  fertility  of 
Egypt. 

Verse  2.  There  came  up  out  of  the  river  seven 
well-favoured  kine ]  This  must  certainly  refer  to  the 
hippopotamus  or  river  horse,  as  the  circumstances  of 
coming  up  out  of  the  river  and  feeding  in  the  field 
characterize  that  animal  alone.  The  hippopotamus  is 
the  well-known  inhabitant  of  the  Nile,  and  frequently 
by  night  comes  out  of  the  river  to  feed  in  the  fields, 
or  in  the  sedge  by  the  river  side. 

Verse  6.  Blasted  ivith  the  east  wind ]  ■  It  has  been 
very  properly  observed  that  all  the  mischief  done  to 
corn  or  fruit,  by  blasting,  smutting,  mildews,  locusts, 
&c.,  is  attributed  to  the  east  wind.  See  Exod.  x.  13  ; 
xiv.  21  ;  Psa.  lxxviii.  26;  Ezek.  xvii.  10;  Jonah  iv.  8 
In  Egypt  it  is  peculiarly  destructive,  because  it  comes 
through  the  parched  deserts  of  Arabia,  often  destroy¬ 
ing  vast  numbers  of  men  and  women.  The  destruc¬ 
tive  nature  of  the  simoom  or  smoom  is  mentioned  by 
almost  all  travellers.  Mr.  Bruce  speaks  of  it  in  his 
Travels  in  Egypt.  On  their  way  to  Syene,  Idris 
their  guide,  seeing  one  of  these  destroying  blasts 
coming,  cried  out  with  a  loud  voice  to  the  company, 
“  Fall  upon  your  faces,  for  here  is  the  simoom  /”  “I 
saw,”  says  Mr.  B.,  “  from  the  <S.  E.  a  haze  come,  in 
colour  like  the  purple  part  of  the  rainbow,  but  not  so 
compressed  or  thick.  It  did  not  occupy  twenty  yards 
in  breadth,  and  was  about  twelve  feet  high  from  the 
ground.  It  was  a  kind  of  blush  upon  the  air,  and  it 
moved  very  rapidly,  for  I  scarce  could  turn  to  fall 
upon  the  ground,  with  my  head  northward,  when  I  felt 
the  heat  of  its  current  plainly  upon  my  face.  We  all 
lay  flat  upon  the  ground,  as  if  dead,  till  Idris  told  us 
it  was  blown  over.  The  meteor  or  purple  haze  which 
I  saw,  was  indeed  passed,  but  the  light  air  that  still 
blew  was  of  a  heat  to  threaten  suffocation.  For  my 
part,  I  found  distinctly  in  my  breast  that  I  had  imbibed 


a 


time;  and,  behold,  seven  ears  of  a. m. 2289. 

...  .  B.  C.  1715. 

corn  came  up  upon  one  stalk,  d  rank  — - 

and  good. 

6  And,  behold,  seven  thin  ears  and  blasted 
with  the  east  wind  sprung  up  after  them. 

7  And  the  seven  thin  ears  devoured  the 
seven  rank  and  full  ears.  And  Pharaoh 
awoke,  and,  behold,  it  ivas  a  dream. 

8  And  it  came  to  pass  in  the  morning,  e  that  . 
his  spirit  was  troubled  ;  and  he  sent  and  called 
for  all  f  the  magicians  of  Egypt,  and  all  the 

s  wise  men  thereof :  and  Pharaoh  told  them 
his  dreams  ;  but  there  was  none  that  could 
interpret  them  unto  Pharaoh. 

9  Then  spake  the  chief  butler  unto  Pharaoh, 

d  Heb  .fat. - e  Dan.  ii.  1 ;  iv.  5,  19. - f  Exodus  vii.  11,  22  ;  Isa. 

xxix.  14  ;  Dan.  i.  20  ;  ii.  2  ;  iv.  7. - s  Matt.  ii.  1. 

a  part  of  it ;  nor  was  I  free  from  an  asthmatic  sensa¬ 
tion  till  I  had  been  some  months  in  Italy,  at  the  baths 
of  Poretta,  near  two  years  afterwards.” — Travels,  vol. 
vi.  p.  462.  On  another  occasion  the  whole  company 
were  made  ill  by  one  of  these  pestilential  blasts,  so 
that  they  had  scarcely  strength  to  load  their  camels. — 
Ibid.  p.  484.  The  action  of  this  destructive  wind  is 
referred  to  by  the  Prophet  Hosea,  chap.  xiii.  15  : 
Though  he  be  fruitful  among  his  brethren ,  an  east 
wind  shall  come ,  the  wind  of  the  Lord  shall  come  up 
from  the  wilderness,  and  his  spring  shall  become 
dry,  and  his  fountain  shall  be  dried  up  :  he  shall  spoil 
the  treasure  of  all  pleasant  vessels. 

Verse  8.  Called  for  all  the  magicians ]  O’DDIH 
chartummim.  The  word  here  used  may  probably 
mean  no  more  than  interpreters  of  abstruse  and  diffi¬ 
cult  subjects  ;  and  especially  of  the  Egyptian  hiero¬ 
glyphics,  an  art  which  is  now  entirely  lost.  It  is  most 
likely  that  the  term  is  Egyptian,  and  consequently  its 
etymology  must  remain  unknown  to  us.  If  Hebrew, 
Mr.  Parkhurst’s  definition  may  be  as  good  as  any  : 

“  £9"in  cheret ,  a  pen  or  instrument  to  write  or  draw 
with,  and  DJI  tarn,  to  perfect  or  accomplish  ;  those  who 
were  perfect  in  drawing  their  sacred,  astrological,  and 
hieroglyphical  figures  or  characters,  and  who,  by  means 
of  them,  pretended  to  extraordinary  feats,  among  which 
was  the  interpretation  of  dreams.  They  seem  to  have 
been  such  persons  as  Josephus  (Ant.,  lib.  ii.,  c.  9,  s.  2) 
calls  'I epoypappaTeic,  sacred  scribes,  or  professors  of 
sacred  learning.” 

Wise  men]  TVDDn  chacameyha,  the  persons  who, 
according  to  Porphyry,  “  addicted  themselves  to  the 
worship  of  God  and  the  study  of  wisdom,  passing 
their  whole  life  in  the  contemplation  of  Divine  things. 
Contemplation  of  the  stars,  self-purification,  arithmetic, 
and  geometry,  and  singing  hymns  in  honour  of  their 
gods,  was  their  continual  employment.  ’ — See  Dodd. 

It  was  probably  among  these  that  Pythagoras  con¬ 
versed,  and  from  whom  he  borrowed  that  modest  name 
by  which  he  wished  his  countrymen  to  distinguish  him, 
viz.,  <j)tkoco(po(;,  a  philosopher,  simply,  a  lover  of  wisdom. 

Verse  9.  I  do  remember  my  faults ]  It  is  not  pos- 

231  " 


GENESIS. 


Pharaoh  calls  Joseph,  and 


repeats  his  dreams  to  him 


a.  M.  2289.  saving,  I  do  remember  mv  faults 
B.  C.  1715.  ,  r  ? 

_  this  day : 

10  Pharaoh  was  h  wroth  with  his  servants, 
*  and  put  me  in  ward  in  the  captain  of  the 
guard’s  house,  both  me  and  the  chief  baker : 

1 1  And  k  we  dreamed  a  dream  in  one  night, 
I  and  he  ;  we  dreamed  each  man  according 
to  the  interpretation  of  his  dream. 

12  And  there  was  there  with  us  a  young 
man,  a  Hebrew, *  1  servant  to  the  captain  of  the 
guard ;  and  we  told  him,  and  he  m  interpreted 
to  us  our  dreams  ;  to  each  man,  according  to 
his  dream,  he  did  interpret. 

1 3  And  it  came  to  pass,  n  as  he  interpreted 
to  us,  so  it  was  ;  me  he  restored  unto  mine 
office,  and  him  he  hanged. 

14  0  Then  Pharaoh  sent  and  called  Joseph, 
and  they  p  brought  q  him  hastily  r  out  of  the 
dungeon  :  and  he  shaved  himself,  and  changed 
his  raiment,  and  came  in  unto  Pharaoh. 

1 5  And  Pharaoh  said  unto  Joseph,  I  have 
dreamed  a  dream,  and  there  is  none  that  can 
interpret  it  :  s  and  I  have  heard  say  of  thee, 
that  1  thou  canst  understand  a  dream  to  inter¬ 
pret  it. 


16  And  Joseph  answered  Pha-  A.  M.  2289. 

,  .  \  .  .  B.  C.  1715. 

raoh,  saying,  "  It  is  not  in  me :  - 

v  God  shall  give  Pharaoh  an  answer  of  peace. 

17  And  Pharaoh  said  unto  Joseph,  w  In  my 
dream,  behold,  I  stood  upon  the  bank  of  the 
river. 

18  And,  behold,  there  came  up  out  of  the 
river  seven  kine,  fat-fleshed,  and  well  favour 
ed  ;  and  they  fed  in  a  meadow  : 

19  And,  behold,  seven  other  kine  came  up 
after  them,  poor,  and  very  ill-favoured  and 
lean-fleshed,  such  as  I  never  saw  in  all  the 
land  of  Egypt  for  badness  : 

20  And  the  lean  and  the  ill-favoured  kine 
did  eat  up  the,  first  seven  fat  kine  ; 

2 1  And  when  they  had  x  eaten  them  up,  it 
could  not  be  known  that  they  had  eaten  them  ; 
but  they  were  still  ill-favoured,  as  at  the  be¬ 
ginning.  So  I  awoke. 

22  And  I  saw  in  my  dream,  and,  behold, 
seven  ears  came  up  in  one  stalk,  full  and 
good  : 

23  And,  behold,  seven  ears,  y  withered,  thin, 
and  blasted  with  the  east  wind,  sprung  up 
after  them  : 


h  Chapter  xl.  2,  3. - *  Chapter  xxxix.  20. - k  Chapter  xl.  5. 

1  Chap,  xxxvii.  36. - m  Chap.  xl.  12,  &c. - n  Chapter  xl.  22. 

0  Psa.  cv.  20. - P  Dan.  ii.  25. - 1  Heb.  made  him  run. - r  1  Sam. 

ii.  8  ;  Psa.  cxiii.  7,  8. - s  Ver.  12  ;  Psa.  xxv.  14  ;  Dan.  v.  16. 


1  Or,  when  thou  hearest  a  dream ,  thou  canst  interpret  it. 

u  Dan.  ii.  30  ;  Acts  iii.  12 ;  2  Cor.  iii.  5. - T  Chap.  xl.  8  ;  Dan. 

ii.  22,  28,  47  ;  iv.  2. - *'Ver.  1. - x  Heb.  come  to  the  inward 

parts  of  them. - - y  Or,  small. 


sible  he  could  ha \e  forgotten  the  circumstance  to  which 
he  here  alludes  ;  it  was  too  intimately  connected  with 
all  that  was  dear  to  him,  to  permit  him  ever  to  forget 
it.  But  it  was  not  convenient  for  him  to  remember  this 
before ;  and  probably  he  would  not  have  remembered 
it  now,  had  he  not  seen,  that  giving  this  information  in 
such  a  case  was  likely  to  serve  his  own  interest.  We 
are  justified  in  thinking  evil  of  this  man  because  of  his 
scandalous  neglect  of  a  person  who  foretold  the  rescue 
of  his  life  from  imminent  destruction,  and  who,  being 
unjustly  confined,  prayed  to  have  his  case  fairly  repre¬ 
sented  to  the  king  that  justice  might  be  done  him  ;  but 
this  courtier ,  though  then  in  the  same  circumstances 
himself,  found  it  convenient  to  forget  the  poor,  friend¬ 
less  Hebrew  slave ! 

Yerse  14.  They  brought  him  hastily  out  of  the  dun¬ 
geon ]  Pharaoh  was  in  perplexity  on  account  of  his 
dreams  ;  and  when  he  heard  of  Joseph,  he  sent  imme¬ 
diately  to  get  him  brought  before  him.  He  shaved 
himself — having  let  his  beard  grow  all  the  time  he 
was  in  prison,  he  now  trimmed  it,  for  it  is  not  likely 
that  either  the  Egyptians  or  Hebrews  shaved  them¬ 
selves  in  our  sense  of  the  word  :  the  change  of  raiment 
was,  no  doubt,  furnished  out  of  the  king’s  wardrobe  ; 
as  Joseph,  in  his  present  circumstances,  could  not  be 
supposed  to  have  any  changes  of  raiment. 

Yerse  16  It  is  not  in  me,  cfr.]  'If1)!  biladai,  with¬ 
out  or  independently  of  me — 4  am  not  essential  to  thy 
comfort,  God  himself  has  thee  under  his  care.  And 

332 


he  will  send  thee,  or  answer  thee,  peace ;  thou  shalt 
have  prosperity  shelom)  howsoever  ominous 

thy  dreams  may  appear.  By  this  answer  he  not  only 
conciliated  the  mind  of  the  king,  but  led  him  to  expect 
his  help  from  that  God  from  whom  alone  all  comfort, 
protection,  and  prosperity,  must  proceed. 

Yerse  18.  Seven  kine,  fat-fleshed\  See  on  ver.  2. 
And  observe  farther,  that  the  seven  fat  and  the  seven 
lean  kine  coming  out  of  the  same  river  plainly  show, 
at  once,  the  cause  both  of  the  plenty  and  the  dearth. 
It  is  well  known  that  there  is  scarcely  any  rain  in 
Egypt ;  and  that  the  country  depends  for  its  fertility 
on  the  overflowing  of  the  Nile  ;  and  that  the  fertility 
is  in  proportion  to  the  duration  and  quantity  of  the 
overflow.  We  may  therefore  safely  conclude  that  the 
seven  years  of  plenty  were  owing  to  an  extraordinary 
overfloiving  of  the  Nile  ;  and  that  the  seven  years  of 
dearth  were  occasioned  by  a  very  partial,  or  total  want 
of  this  essentially  necessar}r  inundation.  Thus  then 
the  two  sorts  of  cattle ,  signifying  years  of  plenty  and 
ivant,  might  be  said  to  come  out  of  the  same  river ,  as 
the  inundation  was  either  complete,  partial,  or  wholly 
restrained.  See  on  ver.  31. 

Yerse  21.  And  ivhen  they  had  eaten  them  up,  4C-] 
Nothing  can  more  powerfully  mark  the  excess  and  se¬ 
verity  of  the  famine  than  creatures  of  the  beeve  or  of 
tbe  hippopotamus  kind  eating  each  other,  and  yet  with¬ 
out  any  effect ;  remaining  as  lean  and  as  wretched  as 
they  were  before.  A  sense  of  want  increases  the 

a 


CHAP.  XLI. 


Joseph  interprets  the 

A.  M.  2289.  24  And  the  thin  ears  devoured 

— — 1 - 1  the  seven  good  ears  :  and  2 1  told 

this  unto  the  magicians ;  but  there  was  none 
that  could  declare  it  to  me. 

25  And  Joseph  said  unto  Pharaoh,  The 
dream  of  Pharaoh  is  one  :  a  God  hath  showed 
Pharaoh  what  he  is  about  to  do. 

26  The  seven  good  kine  are  seven  years  ; 
and  the  seven  good  ears  are  seven  years  :  the 
dream  is  one. 

27  And  the  seven  thin  and  ill-favoured  kine 
that  came  up  after  them,  are  seven  years  ; 
and  the  seven  empty  ears,  blasted  with  the 
east  wind,  shall  be  b  seven  years  of  famine. 

28  c  This  is  the  thing  which  I  have  spoken 
unto  Pharaoh  :  what  God  is  about  to  do,  he 
showeth  unto  Pharaoh. 

29  Behold,  there  come  d  seven  years  of 
great  plenty  throughout  all  the  land  of  Egypt : 

30  And  there  shall  e  arise  after  them  seven 

z  Ver.  8  ;  Daniel  iv.  7. - a  Dan.  ii.  28,  29,  45  ;  Rev.  iv.  1. 

b2  Kings  viii.  1. - c  Ver.  25. - d  Verse  47. - eVer.  54. 

fChap.  xlvii.  13. 

appetite,  and  stimulates  the  digestive  powers  to  unusual 
action  ;  hence  the  concoction  of  the  food  becomes  very 
rapid,  and  it  is  hurried  through  the  intestines  before  its 
nutritive  particles  can  be  sufficiently  absorbed  ;  and 
thus,  though  much  is  eaten,  very  little  nourishment  is 
derived  from  it.  And  when  they  had  eaten  them  up , 
it  could  not  be  known  that  they  had  eaten  them  ;  but 
they  were  still  ill-favoured.,  as  at  the  beginning.  A 
most  nervous  and  physically  correct  description. 

Verse  25.  God  hath  shoioed  Pharaoh  what  he  is 
about  to  doi]  Joseph  thus  shows  the  Egyptian  king 
that  though  the  ordinary  cause  of  plenty  or  want  is 
the  river  Nile,  yet  its  inundations  are  under  the  direc¬ 
tion  of  God  :  the  dreams  are  sent  by  him,  not  only  to 
signify  beforehand  the  plenty  and  want ,  but  to  show 
also  that  all  these  circumstances,  however  fortuitous 
they  may  appear  to  man,  are  under  the  direction  of  an 
overruling  Providence. 

Verse  31.  The  plenty  shall  not  be  known  in  the  land 
by  reason  of  that  famine  following ]  As  Egypt  de¬ 
pends  for  its  fertility  on  the  flowing  of  the  Nile,  and 
this  flowing  is  not  always  equal,  there  must  be  a  point 
to  which  it  must  rise  to  saturate  the  land  sufficiently, 
in  order  to  produce  grain  sufficient  for  the  support  of 
its  inhabitants.  Pliny,  Hist.  Nat.,  lib.  v.,  cap.  9,  has 
given  us  a  scale  by  which  the  plenty  and  dearth  may 
be  ascertained ;  and,  from  what  I  have  been  able  to 
collect  from  modern  travellers,  this  scale  may  be  yet 
considered  as  perfectly  correct.  Justum  incrementum 
est  cubitorum  xvi.  Minores  aquce  non  omnia  rig  ant, 
ampliores  detinent ,  tardius  recedendo.  H^e  serendi 
tempora  absumunt ,  solo  madente ,  ill^e  non  dant,  si- 
tiente.  Utrumque  reputat  provincia.  In  xii.  cubitis 
famem  sentit.  In  xiii.  eliamnum  esurit;  xiv.  cubita 
hilaritatem  ajferunt ;  xv.  securitatem ;  xvi.  delicias. 


two  dreams  of  Pharaoh 

years  of  famine  ;  and  all  the  plenty  A.  M.  2289. 
shall  be  forgotten  in  the  land  of  R  c- 1715- 
Egypt  ;  and  the  famine  f  shall  consume  the 
land ; 

3 1  And  the  plenty  shall  not  be  known  in 
the  land  by  reason  of  that  famine  following; 
for  it  shall  he  very  s  grievous. 

32  And  for  that  the  dream  was  doubled  unto 
Pharaoh  twice  ;  it  is  because  the  h  thing  is 
5  established  by  God,  and  God  will  shortly 
bring  it  to  pass. 

33  Now  therefore  let  Pharaoh  look  out  a 
man  discreet  and  wise,  and  set  him  over  the 
land  of  Egypt. 

34  Let  Pharaoh  do  this,  and  let  him  appoint 
k  officers  over  the  land,  and  1  take  up  the  fifth 
part  of  the  land  of  Egypt  in  the  seven  plen¬ 
teous  years  : 

35  And  m  let  them  gather  all  the  food  of 
those  good  years  that  come,  and  lay  up  com 

5 Heb.  heavy.- - hNum.  xxiii.  19;  Isa.  xlvi.  10,  11. - 5  Or, 

prepared  of  God. - 151  Or,  overseers. - 1  Proverbs  vi.  6,  7,  8 

m  Ver.  48. 

“  The  ordinary  height  of  the  inundations  is  sixteen  cu¬ 
bits.  When  the  waters  are  lower  than  this  standard, 
they  do  not  overflow  the  whole  ground  ;  when  above 
this  standard,  they  are  too  long  in  running  off.  In  the 
first  case  the  ground  is  not  saturated  ;  by  the  second, 
the  waters  are  detained  so  long  on  the  ground  that 
seed-time  is  lost.  The  province  marks  both.  If  it 
rise  only  twelve  cubits,  a  famine  is  the  consequence. 
Even  at  thirteen  cubits  hunger  prevails ;  fourteen 
cubits  produces  general  rejoicing ;  fifteen,  perfect 
security  ;  and  sixteen,  all  the  luxuries  of  life .” 

When  the  Nile  rises  to  eighteen  cubits  it  prevents 
the  sowing  of  the  land  in  due  season,  and  as  necessa¬ 
rily  produces  a  famine  as  when  it  does  not  overflow 
its  banks. 

Verse  33.  A  man  discreet  and  ivise]  As  it  is  im¬ 
possible  that  Joseph  could  have  foreseen  his  own  ele¬ 
vation,  consequently  he  gave  this  advice  without  any 
reference  to  himself.  The  counsel  therefore  was  either 
immediately  inspired  by  God,  or  was  dictated  by  policy, 
prudence,  and  sound  sense. 

Verse  34.  Let  him  appoint  officers ]  pekidim, 

visiters,  overseers  :  translated  by  Ainsworth,  bishops  ; 
see  chap,  xxxix.  1. 

Take  up  the  fifth  part  of  the  land ]  What  is  still 
called  the  meery ,  or  that  part  of  the  produce  which  is 
claimed  by  the  king  by  way  of  tax.  It  is  probable 
that  in  Joseph’s  time  it  was  not  so  much  as  &  fifth  part, 
most  likely  a  tenth:  but  as  this  was  an  extraordinary 
occasion,  and  the  earth  brought  forth  by  handfuls,  ver. 
47,  the  king  would  be  justified  in  requiring  a  fifth  ;  and 
from  the  great  abundance ,  the  people  could  pay  this 
increased  tax  without  feeling  it  to  be  oppressive. 

Verse  35.  Under  the  hand  of  Pharaoh ]  To  be  com¬ 
pletely  at  the  disposal  of  the  king. 

233 


GENESIS. 


Joseph's  prudent  counsel. 


He  is  advanced  by  Pharaoh. 


A.  M.  2289.  under  the  hand  of  Pharaoh,  and  let 

B.  C.  1715.  .  £  ,  .  . 

-  them  keep  iood  m  the  cities. 

36  And  that  food  shall  be  for  store  to  the 
land  against  the  seven  years  of  famine,  which 
shall  be  in  the  land  of  Egypt ;  that  the  land 
n  perish  0  not  through  the  famine. 

37  And  p  the  thing  was  good  in  the  eyes  of 
Pharaoh,  and  in  the  eyes  of  all  his  servants. 

38  And  Pharaoh  said  unto  his  servants,  Can 
we  find  such  a  one  as  this  is,  a  man  q  in  whom 
the  Spirit  of  God  is  ? 

39  And  Pharaoh  said  unto  Joseph,  Foras¬ 
much  as  God  hath  showed  thee  all  this,  there 
is  none  so  discreet  and  wise  as  thou  art : 


40  r  Thou  shalt  be  over  my  house,  A.  M.  2289. 

J  B.  C.  1715. 


and  according  unto  thy  word  shall 
all  my  people  s  be  ruled :  only  in  the  throne 
will  I  be  greater  than  thou. 

41  And  Pharaoh  said  unto  Joseph,  See,  I 
have  1  set  thee  over  all  the  land  of  Egypt. 

42  And  Pharaoh  11  took  off  his  ring  from  his 
hand,  and  put  it  upon  Joseph’s  hand,  and 
v  arrayed  him  in  vestures  of  w  fine  linen,  x  and 
put  a  gold  chain  about  his  neck ; 

43  And  he  made  him  to  ride  in  the  second 
chariot  which  he  had  ;  y  and  they  cried  before 
him,  z  Bow  the  knee  :  a  and  he  made  him 
ruler  b  over  all  the  land  of  Egypt. 


nHeb.  be  not  cut  off. - 0  Chap,  xlvii.  15,  19. - P  Psalm  cv. 

19  ;  Acts  vii.  10. - iNum.  xxvii.  18  ;  Job  xxxii.  8  ;  Prov.  ii. 

6 ;  Dan.  iv.  8,  18  ;  v.  11,  14  ;  vi.  3. - r  Psa.  cv.  21,  22  ;  1  Mac. 

ii.  53  ;  Acts  vii.  10. 


sHeb.  be  armed,  or,  kiss. - 1  Dan.  vi.  3. - u  Esth.  iii.  10; 

viii.  2,  8. - v  Esth.  viii.  15. - w  Or,  silk. - x  Dan.  v.  7,  29. 

y  Esth.  vi.  9. - z  Or,  tender  father;  chap.  xlv.  8. - aHeb. 

Abrech. - b  Chap.  xlii.  6 ;  xlv.  8,  26  ;  Acts  vii.  10. 


Yerse  37.  The  thing  ivas  good ]  Pharaoh  and  his 
courtiers  saw  that  the  counsel  was  prudent,  and  should 
be  carefully  followed. 

Yerse  38  .In  whom  the  Spirit  of  God  ist]  O'TlSx  ni7 
tuach  Elohim,  the  identical  words  used  chap.  i.  2;  and 
certainly  t6  be  understood  here  as  in  the  preceding 
place.  If  the  Egyptians  were  idolaters,  they  acknow¬ 
ledged  Joseph’s  God  ;  and  it  is  not  to  be  supposed  that 
they  only  became  acquainted  with  him  on  this  occasion. 
The  knowledge  of  the  true  God  was  in  Egypt  long 
before  ;  but  it  is  very  likely  that  though  they  acknow¬ 
ledged  his  influence  with  respect  to  Joseph,  as  they 
saw  most  clearly  that  he  acted  under  an  influence  far 
beyond  that  of  their  magicians,  for  he  interpreted 
dreams  which  they  could  not ;  yet  they  might,  notwith¬ 
standing,  have  their  gods  many  and  their  lords  many 
at  this  time,  for  wTe  know  that  in  religious  matters  they 
were  exceedingly  corrupt  afterwards. 

Yerse  40.  According  unto  thy  word  shall  all  my 
people  he  ruled\  Literally,  At  thy  mouth  shall  all  my 
people  kiss.  In  the  eastern  countries  it  is  customary 
to  kiss  any  thing  that  comes  from  a  superior,  and  this 
is  done  by  way  of  testifying  respect  and  submission. 
In  this  sense  the  words  in  the  text  are  to  be  under¬ 
stood  :  All  the  people  shall  pay  the  profoundest  respect 
and  obedience  to  all  thy  orders  and  commands. 

Only  in  the  throne  will  I  he  greater  than  thou. ] 
This,  in  one  word,  is  a  perfect  description  of  a  prime 
minister.  Thou  shalt  have  the  sole  management, 
under  me,  of  all  state  affairs. 

Verse  42.  And  Pharaoh  took  off  his  ring — and  put 
it  upon  Joseph's  hand ]  In  this  ring  was  probably  set 
the  king's  signet ,  by  which  the  royal  instruments  were 
sealed;  and  thus  Joseph  was  constituted  what  we  would 
call  Lord  Chancellor,  or  Lord  Keeper  of  the  Privy  Seal. 

Vestures  of  fine  linen\  W  shesh.  Whether  this 
mean  linen  or  cotton  is  not  known.  It  seems  to  have 
been  a  term  by  which  both  were  denominated  ;  or  it 
may  be  some  other  substance  or  cloth  with  which  we 
are  unacquainted.  If  the  fine  linen  of  Egypt  was 
such  as  that  which  invests  the  bodies  of  the  mummies, 
and  these  in  general  were  persons  of  the  first  distinc- 

234 


tion,  and  consequently  were  enveloped  in  cloth  of  the 
finest  quality,  it  was  only  fine  comparatively  speaking, 
Egypt  being  the  only  place  at  that  time  where  such, 
cloth  was  manufactured.  I  have  often  examined  the 
cloth  about  the  bodies  of  the  most  splendidly  orna¬ 
mented  mummies,  and  found  it  sackcloth  when  com¬ 
pared  with  the  fine  Irish  linens.  As  this  shesh  ap¬ 
pears  to  have  been  a  part  of  the  royal  clothing,  it  was 
probably  both  scarce  and  costly.  “  By  comparing,’5 
says  Parkhurst,  “Exod.  xxv.  4,  xxvi.  1,  with  2  Chron. 
ii.  14,  and  Exod.  xxvi.  31,  with  2  Chron.  iii.  14,  it 
appears  that  huts,  cotton,  is  called  V/W  shesh ;  and 
by  comparing  Exod.  xxviii.  42,  with  Exod.  xxxix.  28, 
that  12  had,  linen,  is  also  called  t VV)  shesh;  so  that 
shesh  seems  a  name  expressive  of  either  of  these,  from 
their  cheerful  vivid  whiteness." 

Put  a  gold  chain  about  his  neck ]  This  was  not 
merely  a  badge  of  office.  The  chain  might  be  intended 
to  point  out  the  union  which  should  subsist  between 
all  parts  of  the  government — the  king,  his  ministers, 
and  the  people  ;  as  also  that  necessary  dependence 
which  they  had  reciprocally  on  each  other,  as  well  as 
the  connection  which  must  be  preserved  between  the 
different  members  of  the  body  politic,  and  the  laws  and 
institutions  by  which  they  were  to  be  governed.  Its 
being  of  gold  might  be  intended  to  show  the  excellence, 
utility,  and  permanence  of  a  government  constituted 
on  wise,  just,  and  equal  laws.  We  are  justified  in 
drawing  such  inferences  as  these,  because  in  ancient 
times,  in  all  nations,  every  thing  was  made  an  emblem 
or  representation  of  some  spiritual  or  moral  subject. 
It  is  strange  that,  probably  without  adverting  to  the 
reasons,  the  chain  of  gold  worn  about  the  neck  is  in 
different  nations  an  emblem  of  civil  authority. 

Verse  43.  He  made  him  to  ride  in  the  second  cha¬ 
riot ]  That  which  usually  followed  the  king’s  chariot 
in  public  ceremonies. 

Bow  the  knee ]  *p:3tf  abrech,  which  we  translate  how 
the  knee ,  and  which  we  might  as  well  translate  any 
thing  else,  is  probably  an  Egyptian  word,  the  signifi¬ 
cation  of  which  is  utterly  unknown.  If  we  could  sup¬ 
pose  it  to  be  a  Hebrew  word,  it  might  be  considered 

a 


CHAP.  XLI. 


Joseph  is  married  to  Asenath 


Manasseh  and  Ephraim  horn. 


A.  M.  2299. 

B.  C.  1715. 


44  And  Pharaoh  said  unto  Joseph, 
I  am  Pharaoh,  and  without  thee 
shall  no  man  lift  up  his  hand  or  foot  in  all  the 
land  of  Egypt. 

45  And  Pharaoh  called  Joseph’s  name 
c  Zaphnath-paaneah  ;  and  he  gave  him  to  wife 
Asenath  the  daughter  of  Poti-pherah  d  priest 
of  On.  And  Joseph  went  out  over  all  the 
land  of  Egypt. 

46  And  Joseph  was  thirty  years  old  when 
he  e  stood  before  Pharaoh  king  of  Egypt. 
And  Joseph  went  out  from  the  presence  of 
Pharaoh,  and  went  throughout  all  the  land  of 
Egypt. 

a  M°™89  47  Arid  in  the  seven  plenteous 

B.  c.  1715.  years  the  earth  brought  forth  by 
A.  M.  2296.  handfuls. 

B~  c~ 1'08,  48  And  he  gathered  up  all  the 

0  Which  in  the  Coptic  signifies  a  revealer  of  secrets,  or,  the 

man  to  whom  secrets  are  revealed. - d  Or,  prince  ;  Exod.  ii.  16  ; 

2  Sam.  viii.  18  ;  xx.  26. - e  1  Sam.  r.vi.  21  ;  1  Kings  xii.  6,  8  ; 


food  of  the  seven  years,  which  a.  m.  cn-.  2289 

were  in  the  land  ot  Egypt,  and  - - 

laid  up  the  food  in  the  cities  :  the  food  of 
the  field,  which  was  round  about  every  city, 
laid  he  up  in  the  same. 

49  And  Joseph  gathered  f  corn  as  the  sand 
of  the  sea,  very  much,  until  he  left  number¬ 
ing  ;  for  it  was  without  number. 

50  °  And  unto  Joseph  were  born  two  sons 
before  the  years  of  famine  came,  which  Ase¬ 
nath  the  daughter  of  Poti-pherah  h  priest  of 
On  bare  unto  him. 

51  And  Joseph  called  the  A.  M.  cir.  2292. 
name  of  the  first-born  1  Manas-  C~  cir~  1712. 
sell :  for  God,  said  he ,  hath  made  me  forget 
all  my  toil,  and  all  my  father’s  house. 

52  And  the  name  of  the  second  A.  M.  cir.  2293 
called  he  k  Ephraim  :  for  God  B-  c-  Lir-  I7IL 

Dan.  i.  19. - f  Chap.  xxii.  17  ;  Judg.  vii.  12  ;  1  Sam.  xiii.  5  ; 

Psa.  lxxviii.  27. - s  Ch.  xlvi.  20  ;  xlviii.  5. - hOr,  prince ;  ver. 

45  ;  2  Sam.  viii.  18. - ‘  That  is,  forgetting. - k  That  is,  fruitful. 


as  compounded  of  2^  ab,  father,  and  “p  rack,  tender ; 
for  Joseph  might  be  denominated  a  father,  because  of 
his  care  over  the  people,  and  the  provision  he  was 
making  for  their  preservation ;  and  tender  because  of 
his  youth.  Or  it  may  be  compounded  of  3N  ab,  fa¬ 
ther,  and  “pD  barech,  blessing,  the  latter  2  beth  being 
easily  lost  in  the  preceding  one  ;  and  Joseph  might 
have  this  epithet  as  well  as  the  other,  on  account  of 
the  care  he  was  taking  to  turn  aside  the  heavy  curse 
of  the  seven  years  of  famine,  by  accumulating  the 
blessings  of  the  seven  years  of  plenty.  Besides,  fa¬ 
ther  seems  to  have  been  a  name  of  office,  and  proba¬ 
bly  father  of  the  king  ox  father  of  Pharaoh  might  sig¬ 
nify  the  same  as  the  king's  minister  among  us  ;  see  on 
chap.  xlv.  8.  But  if  it  be  an  Egyptian  word,  it  is 
vain  to  look  for  its  signification  in  Hebrew. 

Yerse  44.  I  am  Pharaoh ]  The  same  as  if  he  had 
said,  I  am  the  king;  for  Pharaoh  was  the  common 
title  of  the  sovereigns  of  Egypt. 

Yerse  45.  Zaphnath-paaneah ]  The  meaning  of  this 
title  is  as  little  known  as  that  of  abrech  in  the  prece¬ 
ding  verse.  Some  translate  it,  The  revealer  of  secrets  ; 
others,  The  treasury  of  glorious  comfort.  St.  Jerome 
translates  the  whole  verse  in  the  most  arbitrary  manner. 
Vertitque  nomen  ejus,  et  vocavit  eum,  lingua  JEgypli- 
aca ,  Salvatorem  mundi.  “  And  he  changed  his  name, 
and  called  him  in  the  Egyptian  language,  The  saviour 
of  the  world."  None  of  the  Asiatic  versions  acknow¬ 
ledge  this  extraordinary  gloss,  and  it  is  certainly  wor¬ 
thy  of  no  regard.  The  Anglo-Saxon  nearly  copies  the 
Yulgate  :  nembe  fiine  on  Cgiptipc  pibbaneapbep  pselenb. 

And  named  him  in  Egyptian,  The  healer  of  the  world. 
All  the  etymologies  hitherto  given  of  this  word  are,  to 
3ay  the  least  of  them,  doubtful.  I  believe  it  also  to  be 
an  Egyptian  epithet,  designating  the  office  to  which 
he  was  now  raised  ;  and  similar  to  our  compound  terms, 
Prime-Minister,  Lord-Chancellor .  High-Treasurer, 
Chief- Justice,  dye. 


Asenath,  the  daughter  of  Poti-pherah ]  There  is  no 
likelihood  that  the  Poti-pherah  mentioned  here  is  the 
same  as  the  Potiphar  who  had  purchased  Joseph,  and, 
on  the  false  accusations  of  his  wife,  cast  him  into  prison. 
1.  The  Scripture  gives  no  intimation  that  they  were 
one  and  the  same  person.  2.  Poti-pherah  had  chil¬ 
dren,  and  Potiphar  was  an  eunuch ;  see  on  chap, 
xxxvii.  36  ;  for  though  eunuchs  often  kept  women, 
there  is  no  proof  that  they  had  any  issue  by  them. 

Priest  of  On.~\  For  the  signification  of  the  word 
jDD  cohen  ox  priest,  see  on  chap.  xiv.  18.  On  is  ren¬ 
dered  Heliopolis  (the  city  of  the  sun,  Sunnan  bujih) 
by  the  Septuagint  and  Anglo-Saxon ;  and  it  is  very 
likely  that  this  Poti-pherah  was  intendant  of  that  noms 
or  province,  under  Pharaoh. 

Joseph  went  out  over  all  the  lanJ\  No  doubt  for 
the  building  of  granaries,  and  appointing  proper  officers 
to  receive  the  corn  in  every  place,  as  Dr.  Dodd  has 
very  properly  conjectured. 

Yerse  46.  Joseph  was  thirty  years  old ]  As  he  was 
seventeen  years  old  wffien  he  was  sold  into  Egypt, 
chap,  xxxvii.  2,  and  was  now  thirty,  he  must  have 
been  thirteen  years  in  slavery. 

Stood  before  Pharaoh ]  This  phrase  always  means 
admission  to  the  immediate  presence  of  the  sovereign, 
and  having  the  honour  of  his  most  unlimited  confidence. 
Among  the  Asiatic  princes,  the  privilege  of  coming 
even  to  their  seat,  of  standing  before  them,  dye.,  was 
granted  only  to  the  highest  favourites. 

Yerse  47.  The  earth  brought  forth  by  handfuls .] 
This  probably  refers  principally  to  rice,  as  it  grows  in 
tufts,  a  great  number  of  stalks  proceeding  from  the 
same  seed.  In  those  years  the  Nile  probably  rose 
sixteen  cubits  ;  see  on  ver.  3 1 . 

Yerse  50.  Two  50/15]  Whom  he  called  by  names 
expressive  of  God’s  particular  and  bountiful  providence 
towards  him.  Manasseh,  menashsheh ,  signi¬ 

fies  forgetfulness,  from  HUU  nashah,  to  forget  ;  and 

235 


a 


The  dearth  commences ,  and 


GENESIS. 


A.  M.  cir.  2293.  hath  caused  me  to  be  1  fruitful  in 
P'  Pi. cir'. 1  the  land  of  my  aflliction. 

A.  M.  2296.  53  And  the  seven  years  of  plen- 

B.  C.  1708.  X  ,  •  1  1  J  r 

-  teousness,  that  was  in  the  land  ot 

Egypt,  were  ended. 

54  m  And  the  seven  years  of  dearth  began  to 
come,  n  according  as  Joseph  had  said:  and 
the  dearth  was  in  all  lands  ;  but  in  all  the  land 
of  Egypt  there  was  bread. 

55  And  when  all  the  land  of  Egypt  was 
famished,  the  people  cried  to  Pharaoh  for 

Chapter  xlix.  22. - m  Psalm  cv.  16;  Acts  vii.  11. 

n  Ver.  30. 


Ephraim,  D’HiDN  ep  hr  ay  im, fruitfulness,  from  HID  pa- 
rah,  to  be  fruitful;  and  he  called  his  sons  by  these 
names,  because  God  had  enabled  him  to  forget  all  his 
toil,  disgrace,  and  affliction,  and  had  made  him  f  ruitful 
in  the  very  land  in  which  he  had  suffered  the  greatest 
misfortune  and  indignities. 

Verse  54.  The  seven  years  of  dearth  began  to  come ] 
Owing  in  Egypt  to  the  Nile  not  rising  more  than 
twelve  or  thirteen  cubits ;  (see  on  ver.  31;)  but  there 
must  have  been  other  causes  which  affected  other 
countries,  not  immediately  dependent  on  the  Nile, 
though  remotely  connected  with  Egypt  and  Canaan. 

The  dearth  ivas  in  all  lands ]  All  the  countries 
dependent  on  the  Nile.  And  it  appears  that  a  general 
drought  had  taken  place,  at  least  through  all  Egypt 
and  Canaan;  for  it  is  said,  ver.  57,  that  the  famine 
was  sore  in  all  lands — Egypt  and  Canaan,  and  their 
respective  dependencies. 

Verse  55.  When  all  the  land  of  Egypt  was  famished] 
As  Pharaoh,  by  the  advice  of  Joseph,  had  exacted  a 
fifth  part  of  all  the  grain  during  the  seven  years  of 
plenty,  it  is  very  likely  that  no  more  was  left  than 
what  was  merely  necessary  to  supply  the  ordinary 
demand  both  in  the  way  of  home  consumption,  and 
for  the  purpose  of  barter  or  sale  to  neighbouring 
countries. 

Verse  56.  Over  all  the  face  of  the  earth \  The 
original,  piKH  122 *  *73  col  peney  haarets,  should  be 
translated,  all  the  face  of  that  land,  viz.,  Egypt ,  as  it 
is  explained  at  the  end  of  the  verse. 

Verse  57.  All  countries  came  into  Egypt — to  buy ] 
As  there  had  not  been  a  sufficiency  of  rains,  vapours, 
&c.,  to  swell  the  Nile,  to  effect  a  proper  inundation  in 
Egypt,  the  same  cause  would  produce  drought,  and 
consequently  scarcity,  in  all  the  neighbouring  coun¬ 
tries  ;  and  this  may  be  all  that  is  intended  in  the  text. 

1 .  As  the  providence  of  God  evidently  led  the  but¬ 
ler  and  baker  of  Pharaoh,  as  well  as  the  king  himself, 
to  dream  the  prophetic  dreams  mentioned  in  this  and 

236 


prevails  over  all  the  earth 

bread  :  and  Pharaoh  said  unto  all  A.  M.  2296. 

B  C  1708 

the  Egyptians,  Go  unto  Joseph ;  — — 1 - i, 

what  he  saith  to  you,  do. 

56  And  the  famine  was  over  all  the  face 
of  the  earth.  And  Joseph  opened  0  all  the 
store-houses,  and  p  sold  unto  the  Egyptians  ; 
and  the  famine  waxed  sore  in  the  land  of 

Egypt- 

57  q  And  all  countries  came  into  Egypt,  to 
Joseph,  for  to  buy  corn ;  because  that  the 
famine  was  so  sore  in  all  lands. 

0  Heb.  all  wherein  was. - PChap.  xlii.  6;  xlvii.  14,  24. 

*1  Deut.  ix.  28. 


the  preceding  chapter,  so  his  Spirit  in  Joseph  led  to 
the  true  interpretation  of  them.  What  a  proof  do  all 
these  things  give  us  of  a  providence  that  is  so  general 
as  to  extend  its  influence  to  every  part,  and  so  parti¬ 
cular  as  to  notice,  influence,  and  direct  the  most 
minute  circumstances  !  Surely  God  “  has  way  every 
where,  and  all  things  serve  his  will.” 

2.  Dreams  have  been  on  one  hand  superstitiously 
regarded,  and  on  the  other  skeptically  disregarded. 
That  some  are  prophetic  there  can  be  no  doubt ;  that 
others  are  idle  none  can  hesitate  to  believe.  Dreams 
may  be  divided  into  the  six  following  kinds  :  1.  Those 
which  are  the  mere  nightly  result  of  the  mind’s  re¬ 
flections  and  perplexities  during  the  business  of  the 
day.  2.  Those  which  spring  from  a  diseased  state  of 
the  body,  occasioning  startings,  terrors,  &c.  3.  Those 

which  spring  from  an  impure  state  of  the  heart,  men¬ 
tal  repetitions  of  those  acts  or  images  of  illicit  plea¬ 
sure,  riot,  and  excess,  which  form  the  business  of  a 
profligate  life.  4.  Those  which  proceed  from  a  dis¬ 
eased  mind ,  occupied  with  schemes  of  pride,  ambition, 
grandeur,  &c.  These,  as  forming  the  characteristic 
conduct  of  the  life,  are  repeatedly  reacted  in  the  deep 
watches  of  the  night,  and  strongly  agitate  the  soul  with 
illusive  enjoyments  and  disappointments.  5.  Those 
which  come  immediately  from  Satan,  which  instil 
thoughts  and  principles  opposed  to  truth  and  righteous¬ 
ness,  leaving  strong  impressions  on  the  mind  suited  to 
its  natural  bent  and  turn,  which,  in  the  course  of  the 
day,  by  favouring  circumstances,  may  be  called  into 
action.  6.  Those  which  come  from  God,  and  which 
necessarily  lead  to  him,  whether  prophetic  of  future 
good  or  evil,  or  impressing  holy  purposes  and  heavenly 
resolutions.  Whatever  leads  away  from  God,  truth, 
and  righteousness,  must  be  from  the  source  of  evil ; 
whatever  leads  to  obedience  to  God,  and  to  acts  of  be¬ 
nevolence  to  man,  must  be  from  the  source  of  good¬ 
ness  and  truth.  Reader,  there  is  often  as  much  super¬ 
stition  in  disregarding  as  in  attending  to  dreams  ;  and 
he  who  fears  God  will  escape  it  in  both. 

a 


Jacob  sends  his  ten  sons 


CHAP.  XLIL 


to  Egypt  to  buy  food. 


CHAPTER  XLIL 

Jacob  sends  his  ten  sons  to  Egypt  to  buy  com ,  1—3  ;  but  refuses  to  permit  Benjamin  to  go,  4.  They  arrive 
in  Egypt,  and  bow  themselves  before  Joseph,  5,  6.  He  treats  them  roughly  and  calls  them  spies,  7—10. 
They  defend  themselves  and  give  an  account  of  their  family,  11—13.  He  appears  unmoved,  and  puts 
them  all  in  prison  for  three  days,  14—17.  On  the  third  day  he  releases  them  on  condition  of  their  bring¬ 
ing  Benjamin,  18—20.  Being  convicted  by  their  consciences,  they  reproach  themselves  with  their  cruelty 
to  their  brother  Joseph,  and  consider  themselves  under  the  displeasure  of  God,  21—23.  Joseph  is  greatly 
affected,  detains  Simeon  as  a  pledge  for  Benjamin,  orders  their  sacks  to  be  filled  with  corn,  and  the  purchase 
money  to  be  put  in  each  man’s  sack,  24,  25.  When  one  of  them  is  going  to  give  his  ass  provender  he 
discovers  his  money  in  the  mouth  of  his  sack ,  at  which  they  are  greatly  alarmed,  26—28.  They  come  to 
their  father  in  Canaan,  and  relate  what  happened  to  them  in  their  journey,  29—34.  On  emptying  their 
sacks,  each  man’s  money  is  found  in  his  sack's  mouth,  which  causes  alarm  both  to  them  and  their  father,  35. 
Jacob  deplores  the  loss  of  Joseph  and  Simeon,  and  refuses  to  let  Benjamin  go,  though  Reuben  offers  his 
two  sons  as  pledges  for  his  safety,  36-38. 


A.  M.  2297.  JYTOW  when  a  Jacob  saw  that 

B.  C.  1707.  ±\  .  .  _  ,  . 

-  there  was  corn  in  Egypt,  Jacob 

said  unto  his  sons,  Why  do  ye  look  one  upon 

another  ? 

2  And  he  said,  Behold,  I  have  heard  that 
there  is  corn  in  Egypt :  get  you  down  thither, 
and  buy  for  us  from  thence  ;  that  we  may 
b  live,  and  not  die. 

3  And  Joseph’s  ten  brethren  went  down  to 
buy  corn  in  Egypt. 

4  But  Benjamin,  Joseph’s  brother,  Jacob 
sent  not  with  his  brethren  ;  for  he  said,  c  Lest 
peradventure  mischief  befall  him. 

5  And  the  sons  of  Israel  came  to  buy  corn 
among  those  that  came  :  for  the  famine  was 
d  in  the  land  of  Canaan. 

6  And  Joseph  was  the  governor  e  over  the 
land,  and  he  it  was  that  sold  to  all  the  people 

*•  Acts  vii.  12. - b  Chap,  xliii.  8 ;  Psa.  cxviii.  17  ;  Isa.  xxxviii.  1. 

c  Ver.  38. - dActs  vii.  11. 

NOTES  ON  CHAP.  XLIL 
Verse  1 .  Jacob  saw  that  there  was  corn ]  That  is, 
Jacob  heard  from  the  report  of  others  that  there  was 
plenty  in  Egypt.  The  operations  of  one  sense,  in 
Hebrew,  are  often  put  for  those  of  another.  Before 
agriculture  was  properly  known  and  practised,  famines 
were  frequent ;  Canaan  seems  to  have  been  peculiarly 
vexed  by  them.  There  was  one  in  this  land  in  the 
time  of  Abraham,  chap.  xii.  10  ;  another  in  the  days  of 
Isaac,  chap.  xxvi.  1  ;  and  now'  a  third  in  the  time  of 
Jacob.  To  this  St.  Stephen  alludes,  Acts  vii.  11  : 
there  was  great  affliction,  and  our  fathers  found  no 
sustenance. 

Verse  6.  Joseph  was  the  governor]  shallit,  an 
intendant,  a  protector,  from  shalat,  to  be  over  as 
a  protector;  hence  shelatim,  shields,  or  arms 

for  protection  and  defence,  2  Sam.  viii.  7  ;  and  Jlt3*7Zr 
shilton,  power  and  authority ,  Eccles.  viii.  4,  8  ;  and 
nence  the  Arabic  sultan,  a  lord,  prince,  or 

king ,  from  LL*  salata,  he  obtained  and  exercised 
dominion,  he  ruled.  Was  it  not  from  this  very  cir¬ 
cumstance,  Joseph  being  shallit,  that  all  the  Moham- 


of  the  land:  and  Joseph  s  brethren  A.  M.  2297. 

...  .  \  .  B.  C.  1707. 

came,  and  1  bowed  down  them-  - - 

selves  before  him  with  their  faces  to  the  earth. 

7  And  Joseph  saw  his  brethren,  and  lie 
knew  them,  but  made  himself  strange  unto 
them,  and  spake  s  roughly  unto  them ;  and 
said  unto  them,  Whence  come  ye  ?  And  they 
said,  From  the  land  of  Canaan  to  buy  food. 

8  (And  Joseph  knew  his  brethren,  but  they 
knew  not  him.) 

9  And  Joseph  h  remembered  the  dreams 
which  he  dreamed  of  them,  and  said  unto 
them,  Ye  are  spies  ;  to  see  the  nakedness  of 
the  land  ye  are  come. 

10  And  they  said  unto  him,  Nay,  my  lord, 
but  to  buy  food  are  thy  servants  come. 

11  We  are  all  one  man’s  sons  ;  we  are  true 
men ,  thy  servants  are  no  spies. 

e  Chap.  xli.  41. - fChap.  xxxvii.  7. - s  Heb.  hard  things  with 

them. - h  Chap,  xxxvii.  5,  9. 

medan  governors  of  Egypt,  Ac.,  took  the  title  of 
sultan  ? 

Bowed  down  themselves  before  him]  Thus  fulfilling 
the  prophetic  dream,  chap,  xxxvii.  7,  8,  which  they 
had  taken  every  precaution  to  render  null  and  void. 
But  there  is  neither  might  nor  counsel  against  the  Lord. 

Verse  9.  Ye  are  spies]  Qnx  D’SllD  meraggelirn 
attem,  ye  are  footmen ,  trampers  about,  footpads,  vaga¬ 
bonds,  lying  in  wait  for  the  property  of  others  ;  persons 
who,  under  the  pretence  of  wishing  to  buy  corn,  desire 
only  to  find  out  whether  the  land  be  so  defenceless 
that  the  tribes  to  which  ye  belong  (see  ver.  11)  may 
attack  it  successfully,  drive  out  the  inhabitants,  and 
settle  in  it  themselves  ;  or,  having  plundered  it,  retire 
to  their  deserts.  This  is  a  frequent  custom  among 
the  Arabs  to  the  present  day.  Thus  Joseph  spake 
roughly  to  them  merely  to  cover  that  w^armth  of  affec¬ 
tion  which  he  felt  towards  them  ;  and  that  being  thus 
brought,  apparently,  into  straits  and  dangerous  circum¬ 
stances,  their  consciences  might  be  awakened  to  reflect 
on  and  abhor  their  own  wickedness. 

Verse  11.  We  are  all  one  man’s  sons]  We  do  not 

237 


GENESIS. 


with  his  brethren 


Joseph  deals  roughly 

A.  M.  2297.  12  And  he  said  unto  them,  Nay, 

-  but  to  see  the  nakedness  of  the 

land  ye  are  come. 

13  And  they  said,  Thy  servants  are  twelve 
brethren,  the  sons  of  one  man  in  the  land  of 
Canaan ;  and,  behold,  the  youngest  is  this  day 
with  our  father,  and  one  1  is  not.. 

14  And  Joseph  said  unto  them,  That  is  it 
that  I  spake  unto  you,  saying,  Ye  are  spies  : 

1 5  Hereby  ye  shall  be  proved  :  k  By  the 
life  of  Pharaoh  ye  shall  not  go  forth  hence, 
except  your  youngest  brother  come  hither. 

1 6  Send  one  of  you,  and  let  him  fetch  your 
brother,  and  ye  shall  be  1  kept  in  prison,  that 
your  words  may  be  proved,  whether  there  be 
any  truth  in  you :  or  else  by  the  life  of  Pha¬ 
raoh  surely  ye  are  spies. 

1 7  And  he  m  put  them  all  together  into  ward 
three  days. 

18  And  Joseph  said  unto  them  the  third 
day,  This  do,  and  live  ;  n/or  I  fear  God  : 

19  If  ye  be  true  men ,  let  one  of  your  bre- 

‘Chap.  xxxvii.  30  ;  Lara.  v.  7 ;  see  chap.  xliv.  20. - k  See 

1  Sam.  i.  26  ;  xvii.  55  ;  Judith  xi.  !:■ - 1  Heb.  bound. - m  Heb. 

gathered. - “Lev.  xxv.  43;  Neh.  v.  15. - °Ver.  24;  chapter 

xliii.  5 ;  xliv.  23. 

belong  to  different  tribes,  and  it  is  not  likely  that  one 
family  would  make  a  hostile  attempt  upon  a  whole 
kingdom.  This  seems  to  be  the  very  ground  that 
Joseph  took,  viz.,  that  they  were  persons  belonging  to 
different  tribes.  Against  this  particularly  they  set  up 
their  defence,  asserting  that  they  all  belonged  to  one 
family  ;  and  it  is  on  the  proof  of  this  that  Joseph  puts 
them,  ver.  15,  in  obliging  them  to  leave  one  as  a 
hostage,  and  insisting  on  their  bringing  their  remaining 
brother  ;  so  that  he  took  exactly  the  same  precautions 
to  detect  them  as  if  he  had  had  no  acquaintance  with 
them,  and  had  every  reason  to  be  suspicious. 

Yerse  13.  One  is  not.\  An  elliptical  sentence,  One 
is  not  alive. 

Yerse  15.  By  the  life  of  Pharaoh ]  Tl  chey 

Pharoh,  Pharaoh  hveth.  As  if  he  had  said,  As  surely 
as  the  king  of  Egypt  lives,  so  surely  shall  ye  not  go 
hence  unless  your  brother  come  hither.  Here  there¬ 
fore  is  no  oath  ;  it  is  just  what  they  themselves  make 
it  in  their  report  to  their  father,  chap,  xliii.  3  :  the 
man  did  solemnly  protest  unto  us  ;  and  our  translators 
should  not  have  put  it  in  the  form  of  an  oath,  espe¬ 
cially  as  the  original  not  only  will  bear  another  ver¬ 
sion,  but  is  absolutely  repugnant  to  this  in  our  sense 
of  the  word. 

Yerse  18.  I  fear  GoP j  NY  ’’JN  OVlSttH  UN  eth  ha- 
elohim  ani  yare,  literally  translated  the  passage  runs 
thus,  I  also  fear  the  gods ;  but  the  emphatic  H  ha  is 
probably  added  by  Joseph,  both  here  and  in  his  con¬ 
versation  with  Pharaoh,  the  more  particularly  to  point 
out  the  eminence  and  perfection  of  the  Supreme  Being 
as  contradistinguished  from  the  gods  of  Egypt.  He 

238 


thren  be  bound  in  the  house  of  your  A.  M.  2297. 

prison :  go  ye,  carry  com  ior  the  - - - 

famine  of  your  houses  : 

20  But  0  bring  your  youngest  brother  unto 
me  :  so  shall  your  words  be  verified,  and  ye 
shall  not  die.  And  they  did  so. 

21  And  they  said  one  to  another,  p  We  are 
verily  guilty  concerning  our  brother,  in  that 
we  saw  the  anguish  of  his  soul,  when  he 
besought  us,  and  we  would  not  hear  ;  **  there¬ 
fore  is  this  distress  come  upon  us. 

22  And  Reuben  answered  them,  saying, 
r  Spake  I  not  unto  you,  saying,  Do  not  sin 
against  the  child ;  and  ye  would  not  hear  ? 
therefore,  behold,  also  his  blood  is  s  required. 

23  And  they  knew  not  that  Joseph  under¬ 
stood  them ;  for  t  he  spake  unto  them  by  an 
interpreter. 

24  And  he  turned  himself  about  from  them, 
and  wept ;  and  returned  to  them  again,  and 
communed  with  them,  and  took  from  them 
Simeon,  and  bound  him  before  their  eyes. 

P  Job  xxxvi.  8,  9 ;  Hos.  v.  15. - <i  Prov.  xxi.  13  ;  Matt.  vii.  2. 

r  Chap,  xxxvii.  21. - s  Chap.  ix.  5 ;  1  Kings  ii.  32 ;  2  Chron. 

xxiv.  22 ;  Psa.  ix.  12  ;  Luke  xi.  50,  51.— — 1  Heb.  an  interpreter 
was  between  them. 


seems  to  say  to  his  brethren,  I  am  a  worshipper  of  the 
true  God,  and  ye  have  nothing  to  fear. 

Yerse  21.  We  are  verily  guilty]  How  finely  are 
the  office  and  influence  of  conscience  exemplified  in 
these  words !  It  was  about  twenty-two  years  since 
they  had  sold  their  brother,  and  probably  their  con¬ 
science  had  been  lulled  asleep  to  the  present  hour. 
God  combines  and  brings  about  those  favorable  cir¬ 
cumstances  which  produce  attention  and  reflection , 
and  give  weight  to  the  expostulations  of  conscience. 
How  necessary  to  hear  its  voice  in  time,  for  here  it 
may  be  the  instrument  of  salvation ;  but  if  not  heard 
in  this  world,  it  must  be  heard  in  the  next ;  and  there, 
in  association  with  the  unquenchable  fire,  it  will  be  the 
never-dying  worm.  Reader,  has  not  thy  sin  as  yet 
found  thee  out  1  Pray  to  God  to  take  away  the  veil 
from  thy  heart,  and  to  give  thee  that  deep  sense  of 
guilt  which  shall  oblige  thee  to  flee  for  refuge  to 
the  hope  which  is  set  before  thee  in  the  Gospel  of 
Christ. 

Yerse  23.  For  he  spake  unto  them  by  an  interpreter.] 
Either  there  was  a  very  great  difference  between  the 
two  languages  as  then  spoken,  or  Joseph,  to  prevent 
all  suspicion,  might  affect  to  be  ignorant  of  both.  We 
have  many  evidences  in  this  book  that  the  Egyptians, 
Hebrews,  Canaanites,  and  Syrians,  could  understand 
each  other  in  a  general  way,  though  there  are  also 
proofs  that  there  was  a  considerable  difference  between 
their  dialects. 

Yerse  24.  Took — Simeon  and  bound  him  before 
their  eyes.]  This  was  retaliation,  if,  as  the  rabbins 
suppose,  it  was  Simeon  who  bound  Joseph,  and  put  him 


a 


CHAP.  XLII. 


They  return  to  Jacob ,  and  give 

A.  M.  2297.  25  Then  Joseph  commanded  to 

- -  nil  their  sacks  with  corn,  and  to 

restore  every  man’s  money  into  his  sack,  and 
to  give  them  provision  for  the  way  :  and  u  thus 
did  he  unto  them. 

26  And  they  laded  their  asses  with  the  corn, 
and  departed  thence. 

27  And  as  v  one  of  them  opened  his  sack  to 
give  his  ass  provender  in  the  inn,  he  espied 
his  money ;  for,  behold,  it  was  in  his  sack’s 
mouth. 

28  And  he  said  unto  his  brethren,  My  mo¬ 
ney  is  restored  ;  and,  lo,  it  is  even  in  my 
sack  :  and  their  heart  w  failed  them,  and  they 
were  afraid,  saying  one  to  another,  What  is 
this  that  God  hath  done  unto  us  ? 

29  And  they  came  unto  Jacob  their  father 
unto  the  land  of  Canaan,  and  told  him  all  that 
befell  unto  them  ;  saying, 

30  The  man,  who  is  the  lord  of  the  land, 
spake  x  roughly  to  us,  and  took  us  for  spies 
of  the  country. 

3 1  And  we  said  unto  him,  We  are  true  men  ; 
we  are  no  spies  : 

uMatt.  v.  44;  Rom.  xii.  17,  20,  21. - v  See  chap,  xliii.  21. 

w  Heb.  went  forth. 

into  the  pit.  A  recollection  of  this  circumstance  must 
exceedingly  deepen  the  sense  he  had  of  his  guilt. 

Verse  25.  Commanded  to  Jill  their  sacks ]  CItSd 
keleyhem ,  their  vessels  ;  probably  large  woollen  bags, 
or  baskets  lined  with  leather,  which,  as  Sir  John  Char¬ 
din  says,  are  still  in  use  through  all  Asia,  and  are  called 
tambellet ;  they  are  covered  with  leather,  the  better  to 
resist  the  wet,  and  to  prevent  dirt  and  sand  from  mix¬ 
ing  with  the  grain.  These  vessels,  of  whatever  sort, 
must  have  been  different  from  those  called  ptjr  sak  in 
the  twenty-seventh  and  following  verses,  which  was 
probably  only  a  small  sack  or  bag,  in  which  each  had 
reserved  a  sufficiency  of  corn  for  his  ass  during  the 
journey  ;  the  larger  vessels  or  bags  serving  to  hold  the 
wheat  or  rice  they  had  brought,  and  their  own  packages. 
The  reader  will  at  once  see  that  the  English  word  sack 
is  plainly  derived  from  the  Hebrew. 

Verse  26.  They  laded  their  asses]  Amounting,  no 
doubt,  to  several  scores,  if  not  hundreds,  else  they 
could  not  have  brought  a  sufficiency  of  corn  for  the 
support  of  so  large  a  family  as  that  of  Jacob. 

Verse  27.  One  of  them  opened  his  sack]  From 
ver.  35  we  learn  that  each  of  the  ten  brethren  on 
emptying  his  sack  when  he  returned  found  his  money 
in  it ;  can  we  suppose  that  this  was  not  discovered  by 
them  all  before  1  It  seems  not ;  and  the  reason  was 
probably  this  :  the  money  was  put  in  the  mouth  of  the 
sack  of  one  only,  in  the  sacks  of  the  others  it  was 
placed  at  or  near  to  the  bottom ;  hence  only  one  dis¬ 
covered  it  on  the  road,  the  rest  found  it  when  they 
came  to  empty  their  sacks  at  their  father’s  house. 

a 


an  account  of  their  journey. 

32  We  be  twelve  brethren,  sons  A.  M.  2297. 

r  r  U  •  ’  .  B.  C.  1707. 

01  our  lather ;  one  is  not,  and  the _ 

youngest  is  this  day  with  our  father  in  the 
land  of  Canaan. 

33  And  the  man,  the  lord  of  the  country, 
said  unto  us,  y  Hereby  shall  I  know  that  ye 
are  true  men  ;  leave  one  of  your  brethren 
here  with  me,  and  take  food  for  the  famine 
of  your  households,  and  be  gone  : 

34  And  bring  your  youngest  brother  unto 
me  :  then  shall  I  know  that  ye  are  no  spies, 
but  that  ye  are  true  men  :  so  will  I  deliver 
you  your  brother,  and  ye  shall  z  traffic  in  the 
land. 

35  And  k  came  to  pass  as  they  emptied 
their  sacks,  that,  behold,  a  every  man’s  bundle 
of  money  was  in  his  sack  :  and  when  both 
they  and  their  father  saw  the  bundles  of  mo¬ 
ney,  they  were  afraid. 

36  And  Jacob  their  father  said  unto  them, 
Me  have  ye  b  bereaved  of  my  children:  Joseph 
is  not,  and  Simeon  is  not,  and  ye  will  take 
Benjamin  away :  all  these  things  are  against 
me. 

xHeb.  with  us  hard  things. - -7  Ver.  15,.  19,  20. - -z  Ch.  xxxiv. 

10. - aSee  chap,  xliii.  21. - b  Chap,  xliii.  14. 

In  the  inn]  pb?33  bammalon ,  from  jb  lan,  to  lodge , 
stay,  remain,  <fc.  The  place  at  which  they  stopped 
to  bait  or  rest  themselves  and  their  asses.  Our  word 
inn  gives  us  a  false  idea  here  ;  there  were  no  such 
places  of  entertainment  at  that  time  in  the  desert  over 
which  they  had  to  pass,  nor  are  there  any  to  the  pre¬ 
sent  day.  Travellers  generally  endeavour  to  reach  a 
well,  where  they  fill  their  girbahs,  or  leathern  bottles, 
with  fresh  water,  and  having  clogged  their  camels, 
asses,  &c.,  permit  them  to  crop  any  little  verdure  there 
may  be  in  the  place,  keeping  watch  over  them  by  turns. 
This  is  all  we  are  to  understand  by  the  malon  or  inn 
in  the  text,  for  even  caravanseries  were  not  then  in 
use,  which  are  generally  no  more  than  four  walls  per¬ 
fectly  exposed,  the  place  being  open  at  the  top. 

Verse  28.  Their  heart  failed  them]  D^b  NV1  vai- 
yetse  libbam,  their  heart  went  out.  This  refers  to  that 
spasmodic  affection  which  is  felt  in  the  breast  at  any 
sudden  alarm  or  fright.  Among  the  common  people 
in  our  own  country  we  find  an  expression  exactly  sim¬ 
ilar,  “  My  heart  was  ready  to  leap  out  at  my  mouth,” 
used  on  similar  occasions. 

What  is  this  that  God  hath  done  unto  us  ?]  Their 
guilty  consciences,  now  thoroughly  awakened,  were  in 
continual  alarms;  they  felt  that  they  deserved  God’s 
curse,  and  every  occurrence  served  to  confirm  and  in¬ 
crease  their  suspicions. 

Verse  35.  As  they  emptied  their  sacks]  See  on 
ver.  27. 

Verse  36.  All  these  things  are  against  me.]  VPI  ’bp 
n:bj  alai  hayu  cullanah  ;  literally,  All  these  things  are 

239 


GENESIS. 


Reuben  offers  his  two  sons  as 


pledges  for  Benjamin' s  safety 


A.  m.  2297.  37  And  Reuben  spake  unto  his 

B  C  1707.  .  A 

_ — 1 - k  father,  saying,  Slay  my  two  sons, 

if  I  bring  him  not  to  thee  :  deliver  him  into 

my  hand,  and  I  will  bring  him  to  thee  again. 

38  And  he  said,  My  son  shall  not  go  down 


with  you  ;  for  c  his  brother  is  dead,  A.  M.2297. 
and  he  is  left  alone  :  d  if  mischief  — — 
befall  him  by  the  way  in  the  which  ye  go, 
then  shall  ye  e  bring  down  my  gray  hairs  with 
sorrow  to  the  grave. 


c  Yer.  13  ;  chap,  xxxvii.  33 ;  xliv.  28. 


d  Yer.  4 ;  chap.  xliv.  29. - e  Chap,  xxxvii.  35  ;  xliv.  31. 


upon  me.  Not  badly  translated  by  the  Vulgate,  In  me 
hac  omnia  mala  reciderunt,  “  All  these  evils  fall  back 
upon  me.”  They  lie  upon  me  as  heavy  loads,  hasten¬ 
ing  my  death  ;  they  are  more  than  I  can  bear. 

Verse  37.  Slay  my  two  sons,  if  I  bring  him  not  to 
thee]  What  a  strange  proposal  made  by  a  son  to  his 
father ,  concerning  his  grandchildren  !  But  they  show 
the  honesty  and  affection  of  Reuben’s  heart ;  he  felt 
deeply  for  his  father’s  distress,  and  was  determined  to 
risk  and  hazard  every  thing  in  order  to  relieve  and 
comfort  him.  There  is  scarcely  a  transaction  in  which 
Reuben  is  concerned  that  does  not  serve  to  set  his 
character  in  an  amiable  point  of  view,  except  the  single 
instance  mentioned  chap.  xxxv.  22,  and  which  for  the 
sake  of  decency  and  piety  we  should  wish  to  understand 
as  the  Targumists  have  explained  it.  See  the  notes. 

Verse  38.  He  is  left  alone ]  That  is,  Benjamin  is 
the  only  remaining  son  of  Rachel ;  for  he  supposed 
Joseph ,  who  was  the  other  son,  to  be  dead. 

Shall  ye  bring  down  my  gray  hairs  with  sorrow] 
Here  he  keeps  up  the  idea  of  the  oppressive  burden 
mentioned  ver.  36,  to  which  every  occurrence  was 
adding  an  additional' weight,  so  that  he  felt  it  impos¬ 
sible  to  support  it  any  longer. 

The  following  observations  of  Dr.  Dodd  on  this 
verse  are  very  appropriate  and  judicious  :  “  Nothing 
can  be  more  tender  and  picturesque  than  the  words  of 
the  venerable  patriarch.  Full  of  affection  for  his  be¬ 
loved  Rachel,  he  cannot  think  of  parting  with  Benja¬ 
min,  the  only  remaining  pledge  of  that  love,  now  Jo¬ 
seph,  as  he  supposes,  is  no  more.  We  seem  to  behold 
the  gray-headed,  venerable  father  pleading  with  his 
sons,  the  beloved  Benjamin  standing  by  his  side,  im¬ 
patient  sorrow  in  their  countenances,  and  in  his  all  the 
bleeding  anxiety  of  paternal  love.  It  will  be  difficult 
to  find  in  any  author,  ancient  or  modern,  a  more  exqui¬ 
site  picture.” 

1.  There  is  one  doctrine  relative  to  the  economy 

J 

of  Divine  Providence  little  heeded  among  men;  I  mean 
the  doctrine  of  restitution.  When  a  man  has  done 
wrong  to  his  neighbour,  though,  on  his  repentance, 
and  faith  in  our  Lord  Jesus,  God  forgives  him  his  sin, 
yet  he  requires  him  to  make  restitution  to  the  person 


injured,  if  it  lie  in  the  compass  of  his  power.  If  he 
do  not,  God  will  take  care  to  exact  it  in  the  course  of 
his  providence.  Such  respect  has  he  for  the  dictates 
of  infinite  justice  that  nothing  of  this  kind  shall  pass 
unnoticed.  Several  instances  of  this  have  already  oc¬ 
curred  in  this  history,  and  we  shall  see  several  more. 
No  man  should  expect  mercy  at  the  hand  of  God  who, 
having  wronged  his  neighbour,  refuses,  when  he  has  it 
in  his  power,  to  make  restitution.  Were  he  to  weep 
tears  of  blood,  both  the  justice  and  mercy  of  God  would 
shut  out  his  prayer,  if  he  made  not  his  neighbour 
amends  for  the  injury  he  may  have  done  him.  The 
mercy  of  God,  through  the  blood  of  the  cross,  can 
alone  pardon  his  guilt ;  but  no  dishonest  man  can  ex¬ 
pect  this  ;  and  he  is  a  dishonest  man  who  illegally  holds 
the  property  of  another  in  his  hand.  The  unnatural 
brethren  who  sold  their  brother  are  now  about  to  be 
captivated  themselves  ;  and  the  binder  himself  is  bound 
in  his  turn  :  and  though  a  kind  Providence  permits  not 
the  evil  to  fall  upon  them,  yet,  while  apprehending  it, 
they  feel  all  its  reality,  conscience  supplying  the  lack 
of  prison ,  jailer ,  and  bonds. 

2.  The  ways  of  Providence  are  often  to  us  dark  and 
perplexed,  so  that  we  are  ready  to  imagine  that  good 
can  never  result  from  what  appears  to  us  to  be  directly 
contrary  to  our  interest ;  and  we  are  often  tempted  to 
think  that  those  very  providential  dealings  of  God, 
which  have  for  their  object  our  present  and  eternal 
welfare,  are  rather  proofs  of  his  displeasure,  or  evi¬ 
dences  of  his  vindictive  judgment.  All  these  things 
are  against  me,  said  poor  desponding  Jacob  ;  whereas, 
instead  of  being  against  him,  all  these  things  were  for 
him  ;  and  by  all  these  means  w'as  the  merciful  God 
wrorking  for  the  preservation  of  himself  and  his  family, 
and  the  fulfilment  of  his  ancient  promise,  that  the  pos¬ 
terity  of  Abraham  should  be  as  the  stars  of  heaven  for 
multitude.  Plow  strange  is  it  that  our  faith,  after  so 
many  evidences  of  his  goodness,  should  still  be  so  weak; 
and  that  our  opinion  of  him  should  be  so  imperfect, 
that  we  can  never  trust  in  him  but  while  he  is  under 
our  own  eye  !  If  we  see  him  producing  good,  wre  can 
believe  that  he  is  doing  so,  and  this  is  all.  If  we  be¬ 
lieve  not,  he  abides  faithful ;  but  our  unbelief  must 
make  our  own  way  extremely  perplexing  and  difficult. 


CHAPTER  XLIIL 

The  famine  continuing ,  Jacob  desires  his  sons  to  go  again  to  Egypt  and  buy  some  food,  1,  2.  Judah  shows 
the  necessity  of  Benjamin’s  accompanying  them,  without  whom  it  would  be  useless  to  return  to  Egypt,  3—5. 
Jacob  expostulates  with  him,  6.  Judah  replies,  and  offers  to  become  surety  for  Benjamin,  7—10.  Jacob 
at  last  consents,  and  desires  them  to  take  a  present  with  them  for  the  governor  of  Egypt;  and  double 
money,  that  which  they  had  brought  back  m  their  sacks 1  mouth,  and  the  price  of  the  load  they  loere  now  to 
bring;  and ,  having  prayed  for  them ,  sends  them  away ,  11—15.  They  arrive  in  Egypt,  and  ore  brought 

240  a 


Judah  shows  the  necessity  of  CHAP.  XLIII.  going  immediately  to  Egypt. 

to  Joseph's  house  to  dine  with  him ,  at  which  they  are  greatly  alarmed ,  16—18.  They  speak  to  the  steward 
of  Joseph's  house  concerning  the  money  returned  in  their  sacks ,  19—22.  He  gives  them  encouragement, 
23,  24.  Having  made  ready  the  present ,  they  bring  it  to  Joseph  when  he  came  home  to  dine ,  25,  26.  He 
speaks  kindly  to  them ,  and  inquires  concerning  their  health ,  and  that  of  their  father ,  27,  28.  Joseph  is 
greatly  affected  at  seeing  his  brother  Benjamin,  29—31.  They  dine  ivith  him ,  and  are  distinguished  accord¬ 
ing  to  their  seniority ;  but  Benjamin  receives  marks  of  peculiar  favour ,  32—34. 


A.  M.  2297.  And  the  famine  was  a  sore  in 


B.  C.  1707. 


the  land. 


2  And  it  came  to  pass,  when  they  had  eaten 
ap  the  corn  which  they  had  brought  out  of 
Egypt,  their  father  said  unto  them,  Go  again, 
buy  us  a  little  food. 

3  And  Judah  spake  unto  him,  saying,  The 
man  b  did  solemnly  protest  unto  us,  saying, 
Ye  shall  not  see  my  face,  except  your  c  bro¬ 
ther  he  with  you. 

4  If  thou  wilt  send  our  brother  with  us,  we 
will  go  down  and  buy  thee  food : 

5  But  if  thou  wilt  not  send  him,  we  will  not 
go  down  :  for  the  man  said  unto  us,  Ye  shall 
not  see  my  face,  except  your  brother  he  with 
you. 

«s 

6  And  Israel  said,  Wherefore  dealt  ye  so  ill 
with  me,  as  to  tell  the  man  whether  ye  had 
yet  a  brother  ? 

7  And  they  said,  The  man  d  asked  us  straitly 
of  our  state,  and  of  our  kindred,  saying,  Is 


a  Chap.  xli.  54,  57.- 
xlii.  20 ;  xliv.  23.- 


f  Heb.  knowing  could  we  know. 


- b  Heb.  protesting  protested. - c  Chap. 

-d  Heb.  asking  asked  us. - e  Heb.  mouth. 


your  father  yet  alive  ?  have  ye  A.  M.  2297. 

another  brother  ?  and  we  told  him  ----- " - - 

according  to  the  e  tenor  of  these  words  :  f  could 
we  certainly  know  that  he  would  say,  Bring 
your  brother  down  ? 

8  And  Judah  said  unto  Israel  his  father, 

Send  the  lad  with  me,  and  we  will  arise  and 

go  ;  that  we  may  live,  and  not  die,  both  we, 

and  thou,  and  also  our  little  ones. 

9  I  will  be  surety  for  him  ;  of  my  hand  shalt 
thou  require  him  :  ^  if  I  bring  him  not  unto 
thee,  and  set  him  before  thee,  then  let  me  bear 
the  blame  for  ever : 

10  For  except  we  had  lingered,  surely  now 
we  had  returned  h  this  second  time. 

1 1  And  their  father  Israel  said  unto  them, 
If  it  must  he  so  now,  do  this  ;  take  of  the 
best  fruits  in  the  land  in  your  vessels,  and 
1  carry  down  the  man  a  present,  a  little  k  balm, 
and  a  little  honey,  spices  and  myrrh,  nuts  and 
almonds  : 


£  Chap.  xliv.  32 ;  Philera.  18,  19. - h  Or,  twice  by  this. 

1  Chap,  xxxii.  20 ;  Prov.  xviii.  16. - k  Chap,  xxxvii.  25 ; 

Jer.  viii.  22. 


NOTES  ON  CHAP.  XLIII. 

Verse  8.  Send  the  lad  with  me]  As  the  original 
is  not  “iV  yeled ,  from  which  we  have  derived  our  word 
lad,  but  naar,  it  would  have  been  better  had  our 
translators  rendered  it  by  some  other  term,  such  as 
the  youth ,  or  the  young  man ,  and  thus  the  distinction 
in  the  Hebrew  would  have  been  better  kept  up.  Ben¬ 
jamin  was  at  this  time  at  least  twenty-four  years  of 
age,  some  think  thirty ,  and  had  a  family  of  his  own. 
See  chap.  xlvi.  21. 

That  we  may  live ,  and  not  die ]  An  argument  drawn 
from  self-preservation,  what  some  have  termed  the  first 
laic  of  nature.  By  your  keeping  Benjamin  we  are  pre¬ 
vented  from  going  to  Egypt  ;  if  we  go  not  to  Egypt 
we  shall  get  no  corn  ;  if  we  get  no  corn  we  shall  all 
perish  by  famine ;  and  Benjamin  himself,  who  other¬ 
wise  might  live,  must,  with  thee  and  the  whole  family, 
infallibly  die. 

Verse  9.  Let  me  bear  the  blame  for  ever]  TiNLDm 
D'D'H  Sj  "jb  vechaiathi  lecha  col  haiyamim,  then  shall 
I  sin  against  thee  all  my  days ,  and  consequently  be 
liable  to  punishment  for  violating  my  faith. 

Verse  11.  Carry  down  the  man  a  present]  From 
the  very  earliest  times  presents  were  used  as  means  of 
introduction  to  great  men.  This  is  particularly  noticed 
by  Solomon  :  A  man's  gift  maketh  room  for  him ,  and 
bringeth  him  before  great  men ,  Prov.  xviii.  16.  But 

Vol.  I  (  17  ) 


what  was  the  present  brought  to  Josepl  on  this  occa¬ 
sion  1  After  all  the  labour  of  commentators,  we  are 
obliged  to  be  contented  with  probabilities  and  conjec¬ 
ture.  According  to  our  translation,  the  gifts  wrere 
balm ,  honey ,  spices ,  myrrh ,  nuts,  and  almonds. 

Balm]  ’"IX  tsori  is  supposed  to  signify  resin  in 
general,  or  some  kind  of  gum  issuing  from  trees. 

Honey]  cm  debash  has  been  supposed  to  be  the 
same  as  the  rob  of  grapes ,  called  in  Egypt  dibs. 
Others  think  that  honey ,  in  the  common  sense  of  the 
term,  is  to  be  understood  here  :  we  know  that  honey 
was  plentiful  in  Palestine. 

Spices]  nechoth  is  supposed  to  mean  gum 

storax,  which  might  be  very  valuable  on  account  of 
its  qualities  as  a  perfume. 

Myrrh]  ttb  lot ,  supposed  by  some  to  mean  slacte; 
by  others  to  signify  an  ointment  made  of  myrrh. 

Nuts]  D AiD2  botnim,  by  some  rendered  pistachio 
nuts,  those  produced  in  Syria  being  the  finest  in  the 
world  ;  by  others,  dates  ;  others,  walnuts  ;  others,  pine 
apples ;  others,  the  nuts  of  the  terebinth  tree. 

Almonds]  D'lpiy  shekedim,  correctly  enough  trans¬ 
lated,  and  perhaps  the  only  article  in  the  collection  of 
which  we  know  any  thing  with  certainty.  It  is  gene¬ 
rally  allowed  that  the  land  of  Canaan  produces  the 
best  almonds  in  the  east ;  and  on  this  account  they 
might  be  deemed  a  very  acceptable  present  to  the 

241 


GENESIS. 


Benjamin  accompanies 


his  brethren  to  Egypt. 


A.  M.  2297.  12  And  take  double  money  in 

B‘ 17.Q7'.„  your  hand ;  and  the  money *  1 *  that 
was  brought  again  in  the  mouth  of  your  sacks, 
carry  it  again  in  your  hand ;  peradventure  it 
was  an  oversight : 

13  Take  also  your  brother,  and  arise,  go 
again  unto  the  man  : 

14  And  God  Almighty  give  you  mercy  before 
the  man,  that  he  may  send  away  your  other 
brother,  and  Benjamin.  m  If  n  I  be  bereaved 
of  my  children ,  I  am  bereaved. 

15  And  the  men  took  that  present,  and  they 
took  double  money  in  their  hand,  and  Benja¬ 
min  ;  and  rose  up,  and  went  down  to  Egypt, 
and  stood  before  Joseph. 

16  And  when  Joseph  saw  Benjamin  with 
them,  he  said  to  the  0  ruler  of  his  house,  Bring 
these  men  home,  and  p  slay,  and  make  ready  ; 
for  these  men  shall  q  dine  with  me  at  noon. 

17  And  the  man  did  as  Joseph  bade  ;  and 
the  man  brought  the  men  into  Joseph’s  house. 

18  And  the  men  were  afraid,  because  they 
were  brought  into  Joseph’s  house  ;  and  they 
said,  Because  of  the  money  that  wTas  returned 


m  our  sacks  at  the  first  time  are  A.  M.  229 <. 

.  B.  C.  1707. 

we  brought  in  :  that  he  may  r  seek  - 

occasion  against  us,  and  fall  upon  us,  and 

take  us  for  bondmen,  and  our  asses. 

19  And  they  came  near  to  the  steward  of 
Joseph’s  house,  and  they  communed  with  him 
at  the  door  of  the  house, 

20  And  said,  0  sir,  s  we  1  came  indeed  down 
at  the  first  time  to  buy  food  : 

2 1  And  u  it  came  to  pass,  when  we  came 
to  the  inn,  that  we  opened  our  sacks,  and, 
behold,  every  man’s  money  was  in  the  mouth 
of  his  sack,  our  money  in  full  weight  :  and 
we  have  brought  it  again  in  our  hand. 

22  And  other  money  have  we  brought  down 
in  our  hands  to  buy  food  :  we  cannot  tell  who 
put  our  money  in  our  sacks. 

23  And  he  said,  Peace  be  to  you,  fear  not : 
your  God,  and  the  God  of  your  father,  hath 
given  you  treasure  in  your  sacks  :  v  I  had  your 
money.  And  he  brought  Simeon  out  unto 
them. 

24  And  the  man  brought  the  men  into 
Joseph’s  house,  and  w  gave  them  water,  and 


1  Chap.  xlii.  25,  35. — - — m  Esth.  iv.  16. - n  Or,  and  I,  as  I  have 

been ,  &c. - 0  Chap.  xxiv.  2;  xxxix.  4;  xliv.  1. - PHeb.  kill  a 

killing  ;  1  Sam.  xxv.  11. - 1  Heb.  eat. 


T  Heb.  roll  himself  upon  us  ;  Job  xxx.  14. - 3Ch.  xlii.  3,  10 

1  Heb.  coming  down  we  came  down. - u  Chap.  xlii.  27,  35 

v  Heb.  your  money  came  to  me. - w  Chap,  xviii.  4  :  xxiv.  32. 


governor  of  Egypt.  Those  who  wish  to  see  this  sub¬ 
ject  exhausted  must  have  recourse  to  the  Physica  Sa¬ 
cra  of  Scheuchzer. 

Yerse  12.  Double  money]  What  was  returned  in 
their  sacks,  and  what  was  farther  necessary  to  buy 
another  load. 

Yerse  14.  This  verse  may  be  literally  translated 
thus  :  “  And  God,  the  all-sufficient,  shall  give  you 
tender  mercies  before  the  man,  and  send  to  you  your 
other  brother,  and  Benjamin  ;  and  I,  as  I  shall  be  child¬ 
less,  so  I  shall  be  childless.”  That  is,  I  will  submit 
to  this  privation,  till  God  shall  restore  my  children. 
It  appears  that  this  verse  is  spoken  prophetically ;  and 
that  God  at  this  time  gave  Jacob  a  supernatural  evi¬ 
dence  that  his  children  should  be  restored. 

Yerse  16.  Slay ,  and  make  ready ]  H2D  teboach 
tebach,  slay  a  slaying ,  or  make  a  great  slaughter — 
let  preparations  be  made  for  a  great  feast  or  entertain¬ 
ment.  See  a  similar  form  of  speech,  Prov.  ix.  2  ; 
I  Sam.  xxv.  11  ;  and  Gen.  xxxi.  54. 

Yerse  18.  And  the  men  were  afraid]  A  guilty  con¬ 
science  needs  no  accuser.  Every  thing  alarms  them  ; 
they  now  feel  that  God  is  exacting  retribution ,  and 
they  know  not  what  the  degrees  shall  be,  nor  where 
it  shall  stop. 

Fail  upon  us]  irSy  V^nn  hithgolel  alainu ,  roll 
himself  upon  us.  A  metaphor  taken  from  ivrestlers  ; 
when  a  man  has  overthrown  his  antagonist,  he  rolls 
himself  upon  him,  in  order  to  keep  him  down. 

And  our  asses.]  Which  they  probably  had  in  great 

242 


number  with  them  ;  and  which,  if  captured,  would  have 
been  a  great  loss  to  the  family  of  Jacob,  as  such  cattle 
must  have  constituted  a  principal  part  of  its  riches. 

Yerse  20.  O  sir,  we  came  indeed — to  buy  food ] 
There  is  a  frankness  now  in  the  conduct  of  Joseph’s 
brethren  that  did  not  exist  before ;  they  simply  and 
honestly  relate  the  whole  circumstance  of  the  money 
being  found  in  their  sacks  on  their  return  from  their 
last  journey.  Afflictions  from  the  hand  of  God,  and 
under  his  direction,  have  a  wonderful  tendency  to  hum¬ 
ble  the  soul.  Did  men  know  how  gracious  his  designs 
are  in  sending  such,  no  murmur  would  ever  be  heard 
against  the  dispensations  of  Divine  Providence. 

Yerse  23.  And  he  said]  The  address  of  the  steward 
in  this  verse  plainly  proves  that  the  knowledge  of  the 
true  God  was  in  Egypt.  It  is  probable  that  the  stew¬ 
ard  himself  was  a  Hebrew,  and  that  Joseph  had  given 
him  intimation  of  the  whole  affair  ;  and  though  he  was 
not  at  liberty  to  reveal  it,  yet  he  gives  them  assu¬ 
rances  that  the  whole  business  would  issue  happily. 

I  had  your  money.]  ,l7^  frO  D3DDD  caspechem  ba 
elai,  your  money  comes  to  me.  As  I  am  the  steward, 
the  cash  for  the  corn  belongs  to  me.  Ye  have  no  rea¬ 
son  to  be  apprehensive  of  any  evil ;  the  whole  trans¬ 
action  is  between  myself  and  you  ;  receive  therefore 
the  money  as  a  present  from  the  God  of  your  father, 
no  matter  whose  hands  he  makes  use  of  to  convey  it. 
The  conduct  of  the  steward,  as  well  as  his  words,  had 
a  great  tendency  to  relieve  their  burdened  minds. 

Yerse  24.  Brought  the  men  into  Joseph's  house,  <5pc.] 

(  17*  ) 


CHAP.  XLIII. 


with  his  brethren > 


Joseph's  interview 

A.  M.  2297.  thev  washed  their  feet ;  and  he  cave 

B.  C.  1707.  .  r  ,  ° 

- -  their  asses  provender. 

25  And  they  made  ready  the  present  against 
Joseph  came  at  noon  :  for  they  heard  that 
they  should  eat  bread  there. 

26  And  when  Joseph  came  home,  they 
brought  him  the  present  which  was  in  their 
hand  into  the  house,  and  x  bowed  themselves 
to  him  to  the  earth. 

27  And  he  asked  them  of  their  y  welfare, 
and  said,  *  Is  your  father  well,  the  old  man 
ft  of  whom  ye  spake  ?  Is  he  yet  alive  ? 

28  And  they  answered,  Thy  servant  our 
father  is  in  good  health,  he  is  yet  alive. 
b  And  they  bowed  down  their  heads,  and  made 
obeisance. 

29  And  he  lifted  up  his  eyes,  and  saw  his 
brother  Benjamin,  c  his  mother’s  son,  and  said, 
Is  this  your  younger  brother,  d  of  whom  ye 
spake  unto  me  ?  And  he  said,  God  be  gra¬ 
cious  unto  thee,  my  son  ! 

x  Chap,  xxxvii.  7,  10. - y  Heb.  peace  ;  chap,  xxxvii,  14. 

1  Heb.  Is  there  peace  to  your  father? - a  Chap.  xlii.  11,  13. 

b  Chap,  xxxvii.  7,  10. - c  Chap.  xxxv.  17,  18. 

This  is  exactly  the  way  in  which  a  Hindoo  receives  a 
guest.  As  soon  as  he  enters,  one  of  the  first  civilities 
is  the  presenting  of  water  to  wash  his  feet.  So  indis¬ 
pensable  is  this,  that  water  to  wash  the  feet  makes  a 
part  of  the  offerings  to  an  image. 

Verse  27.  And  he  asked  them  of  their  welfare ]  This 
verse  may  be  thus  translated :  “  And  he  asked  therh 
concerning  their  prosperity ;  and  he  said,  Is  your 
father  prosperous,  the  old  man  who  ye  told  me  was 
alive ?  And  they  said,  Thy  servant  our  father  pros¬ 
pers  ;  he  is  yet  alive.” 

Verse  29.  He  lifted  up  his  eyes ,  and  saw  his  bro¬ 
ther  Benjamin ]  They  were  probably  introduced  to 
him  successively  ;  and  as  Benjamin  was  the  youngest, 
he  would  of  course  be  introduced  last. 

God  be  gracious  unto  thee ,  my  son  /]  A  usual 
salutation  in  the  east  from  the  aged  and  superiors  to 
the  younger  and  inferiors ,  which,  though  very  em¬ 
phatic  and  expressive  in  ancient  times,  in  the  present 
day  means  no  more  than  “  I  am  your  humble  servant,” 
or  “  I  am  exceedingly  glad  to  see  you  ;”  words  which 
among  us  mean — just  nothing.  Even  in  David’s  time 
they  seem  to  have  been,  not  only  devoid  of  meaning, 
but  to  be  used  as  a  cloak  for  the  basest  and  most 
treacherous  designs  :  They  bless  with  their  mouths , 
but  they  curse  inwardly.  Hence  Joab  salutes  Amasa , 
kieses  him  with  apparent  affection,  and  stabs  him  in 
the  same  moment !  The  case  of  Judas ,  betraying  the 
Son  of  man  with  a  kiss,  will  not  be  forgotten. 

Verse  32.  They  set  on  for  him  by  himself,  dye.] 
From  the  text  it  appears  evident  that  there  were  three 
tables,  one  for  Joseph,  one  for  the  Egyptians,  and  one 
for  the  eleven  brethren. 

The  Eygptians  might  not  eat  bread  with  the  He- 

a 


30  And  Joseph  made  haste  ;  for  A.  m.  2297. 
e  his  bowels  did  yearn  upon  his  — ~  ‘ 1  ‘ °7'. 
brother :  and  he  sought  where  to  weep ; 
and  he  entered  into  his  chamber,  and  fwept 
there. 

3 1  And  he  washed  his  face,  and  went  out, 
and  refrained  himself,  and  said,  Set  on  s  bread. 

32  And  they  set  on  for  him  by  himself,  and 
for  them  by  themselves,  and  for  the  Egyptians 
which  did  eat  with  him,  by  themselves  :  be¬ 
cause  the  Egyptians  might  not  eat  bread  with 
the  Hebrews  ;  for  that  is  h  an  abomination 
unto  the  Egyptians. 

33  And  they  sat  before  him,  the  first-born 
according  to  his  birthright,  and  the  youngest 
according  to  his  youth  :  and  the  men  marvelled 
one  at  another. 

34  And  he  took  and  sent  messes  unto  them 
from  before  him  :  but  Benjamin’s  mess  was 
*  five  times  so  much  as  any  of  theirs.  And 
they  drank  and  k  were  merry  with  him. 

d  Chap.  xlii.  13. - el  Kings  iii.  26. - fChap.  xlii.  24. 

s  Ver.  25. - h  Chap.  xlvi.  34 ;  Exod.  viii.  26. - 1  Chap.  xlv.  22. 

k  Heb.  drank  largely  ;  see  Hag.  i.  6 ;  John  ii.  10. 

brews]  There  might  have  been  some  political  reason 
for  this,  with  which  we  are  unacquainted  ;  but  inde¬ 
pendently  of  this,  two  may  be  assigned.  1.  The  He¬ 
brews  were  shepherds ;  and  Egypt  had  been  almost 
ruined  by  hordes  of  lawless  wandering  banditti,  under 
the  name  of  Hycsos,  or  King-shepherds,  who  had  but 
a  short  time  before  this  been  expelled  from  the  land 
by  Amasis,  after  they  had  held  it  in  subjection  for 
259  years,  according  to  Manetho,  committing  the  most 
wanton  cruelties.  2.  The  Hebrews  sacrificed  those 
animals  which  the  Egyptians  held  sacred,  and  fed  on 
their  flesh.  The  Egyptians  were  in  general  very  su¬ 
perstitious,  and  would  have  no  social  intercourse  with 
people  of  any  other  nation ;  hence  we  are  informed 
that  they  would  not  even  use  the  knife  of  a  Greek, 
because  they  might  have  reason  to  suspect  it  had  cut 
the  flesh  of  some  of  those  animals  which  they  held  sa¬ 
cred.  Among  the  Hindoos  different  castes  will  not 
eat  food  cooked  in  the  same  vessel.  If  a  person  of 
another  caste  touch  a  cooking  vessel,  it  is  thrown 
away.  Some  are  of  opinion  that  the  Egyptian  idola¬ 
try,  especially  their  worship  of  Apis  under  the  figure 
of  an  ox,  was  posterior  to  the  time  of  Joseph  ;  ancient 
monuments  are  rather  against  this  opinion,  but  it  is 
impossible  to  decide  either  way.  The  clause  in  the 
Alexandrian  Septuagint  stands  thus,  B bckvypa  yap 
eotlv  rote  AtyvTtTtoig  [t rag  Tcoiprjv  Trpo(3aruv,]  “  For 
[every  shepherd]  is  an  abomination  to  the  Egyptians 
but  this  clause  is  probably  borrowed  from  chap.  xlvi. 
34,  where  it  stands  in  the  Hebrew  as  well  as  in  the 
Greek.  See  the  note  on  chap.  xlvi.  34. 

Verse  33.  The  first-born  according  to  his  birth¬ 
right]  This  must  greatly  astonish  these  brethren,  to 
find  themselves  treated  with  so  much  ceremony,  and 

243 


GENESIS. 


Joseph's  cup  is  put 

at  the  same  time  with  so  much  discernment  of  their 
respective  ages. 

Terse  34.  Benjamin's  mess  was  Jive  times  so  much 
as  any  of  theirs .]  Sir  John  Chardin  observes  that 
« in  Persia,  Arabia,  and  the  Indies,  there  are  several 
houses  where  they  place  several  plates  in  large  salvers, 
and  set  one  of  these  before  each  person,  or  before  two 
or  three,  according  to  the  magnificence  of  each  house. 
This  is  the  method  among  the  Hindoos ;  the  dishes 
are  not  placed  on  the  table,  but  messes  are  sent  to 
each  individual  by  the  master  of  the  feast  or  by  his 
substitute.  The  great  men  of  the  state  are  always 
served  by  themselves,  in  the  feasts  that  are  made  for 
them  ;  and  with  greater  profusion ,  their  part  of  each 
hind  of  provision  being  always  double,  treble,  or  a 
larger  proportion  of  each  kind  of  meat.”  The  cir¬ 
cumstance  of  Benjamin’s  having  a  mess  five  times  as 
large  as  any  of  his  brethren,  shows  the  peculiar  honour 
which  Joseph  designed  to  confer  upon  him.  See 
several  useful  observations  on  this  subject  in  Hammer's 
Observ.,  vol.  ii.,  p.  101,  &c.,  Edit.  1808. 


into  Benjamin's  sack . 

1 .  The  scarcity  in  Canaan  was  not  absolute;  though 
they  had  no  corn,  they  had  honey ,  nuts,  almonds,  &c. 
In  the  midst  of  judgment,  God  remembers  mercy.  If 
there  was  scarcity  in  Canaan ,  there  was  plenty  in 
Egypt ;  and  though  his  providence  had  denied  one 
country  corn,  and  accumulated  it  in  the  other,  his 
bounty  had  placed  in  the  former  money  enough  to 
procure  it  from  the  latter.  How  true  is  the  saying, 
“  It  is  never  ill  with  any  but  it  might  be  worse  P1 
Let  us  be  deeply  thankful  to  God  that  we  have  any 
thing,  seeing  we  deserve  no  good  at  his  hands. 

2.  If  we  examine  our  circumstances  closely,  and 
call  to  remembrance  the  dealings  of  God’s  providence 
towards  us,  we  shall  find  that  we  can  sing  much  both 
of  mercy  and  of  judgment.  For  one  day  of  absolute 
unavoidable  want,  we  shall  find  we  had  three  hundred 
and  sixty-four,  if  not  of  fulness,  yet  of  a  competency . 
Famines,  though  rarely  happening,  are  everywhere 
recorded;  innumerable  years  of  abundance  are  scarcely 
ever  registered !  Such  is  the  perverseness  and  in¬ 
gratitude  of  man ! 


CHAPTER  XLIY. 


Joseph  commands  his  steward  to  put  his  cup  secretly  into  Benjamin’s  sack,  1,2.  The  sons  of  Jacob  depart 
with  the  corn  they  had  purchased,  3.  Joseph  commands  his  steward  to  pursue  them,  and  charge  them  with 
having  stolen  his  cup ,  4—6.  The  brethren  excuse  themselves,  protest  their  innocence,  and  offer  to  submit 
to  be  slaves  should  the  cup  be  found  with  any  of  them,  7—9.  Search  is  made,  and  the  cup  is  found  in 
Benjamin's  sack,  10—12.  They  are  brought  back  and  submit  themselves  to  Joseph,  13—16.  He  deter¬ 
mines  that  Benjamin  alone,  with  whom  the  cup  is  found ,  shall  remain  in  captivity ,  17.  Judah ,  in  a  most 


affecting  speech,  pleads  for  Benjamin's  enlargement, 

A.  M.  2297.  A  ND  he  commanded  a  the  steward 

B.  C.  1707.  J-JL  . 

_  oi  his  house,  saying,  rill  the 

men’s  sacks  with  food,  as  much  as  they  can 

carry,  and  put  every  man’s  money  in  his 

sack’s  mouth ; 

2  And  put  my  cup,  the  silver  cup,  in  the 
sack’s  mouth  of  the  youngest,  and  his  corn 
money.  And  he  did  according  to  the  word 
that  Joseph  had  spoken. 

3  As  soon  as  the  morning  was  light,  the  men 
were  sent  away,  they  and  their  asses. 

a  Heb.  him  that  was  over  his  house. 

NOTES  ON  CHAP.  XLIY. 

Terse  2.  Put  my  cup — in  the  sack's  mouth  of  the 
youngest ]  The  stratagem  of  the  cup  seems  to  have 
been  designed  to  bring  Joseph’s  brethren  into  the 
highest  state  of  perplexity  and  distress ,  that  their  de¬ 
liverance  by  the  discovery  that  Joseph  was  their  bro¬ 
ther  might  have  its  highest  effect. 

Terse  5.  Whereby — he  divineth  ?]  Divination  by 
cups  has  been  from  time  immemorial  prevalent  among 
the  Asiatics ;  and  for  want  of  knowing  this,  com¬ 
mentators  have  spent  a  profusion  of  learned  labour 
upon  these  words,  in  order  to  reduce  them  to  that 
kind  of  meaning  which  would  at  once  be  consistent 
with  the  scope  and  design  of  the  history,  and  save 

244 


and  offers  himself  to  be  a  bondman  in  his  stead,  18-34. 

4  And  when  tliev  were  gone  out  a.  m.  2297. 

-  .  .  7  &  c  -.  B.  C.  1707. 

01  the  city,  and  not  yet  iar  on,  - 

Joseph  said  unto  his  steward,  Up,  follow  after 
the  men  :  and  when  thou  dost  overtake  them, 
say  unto  them,  Wherefore  have  ye  rewarded 
evil  for  good  ? 

5  Is  not  this  it  in  which  my  lord  drinketh, 
and  whereby  indeed  he  b  divineth  ?  ye  have 
done  evil  in  so  doing. 

6  And  he  overtook  them,  and  he  spake  unto 
them  these  same  words. 

b  Or,  maketh  trial. 

Joseph  from  the  impeachment  of  sorcery  and  divina¬ 
tion.  I  take  the  word  KTU  nachash  here  in  its  gene¬ 
ral  acceptation  of  to  view  attentively,  to  inquire.  Now 
there  has  been  in  the  east  a  tradition,  the  commence¬ 
ment  of  which  is  lost  in  immemorial  time,  that  there 
was  a  cup,  which  had  passed  successively  into  the 
hands  of  different  potentates,  which  possessed  the 
strange  property  of  representing  in  it  the  whole  world 
and  all  the  things  which  were  then  doing  in  it.  The 

cup  is  called  «A*w**=*  ^  jami  Jemsheed,  the  cup  of 
Jemsheed,  a  very  ancient  king  of  Persia,  whom  late 
historians  and  poets  have  confounded  with  Bacchus, 
Solomon,  Alexander  the  Great,  6pc.  This  cup,  filled 
with  the  elixir  of  immortality ,  they  say  was  discovered 

a 


The  embarrassed  situation 


CHAP.  XLIV. 


A.  M.  2297.  7  And  they  said  unto  him,  Where- 

B.  c.  1707.  £ore  sa*tj1  my  iorc[  these  words  ? 

God  forbid  that  thy  servants  should  do  accord¬ 
ing  to  this  thing : 

8  Behold,  c  the  money,  which  we  found  in 
our  sacks’  mouths,  we  brought  again  unto  thee 
out  of  the  land  of  Canaan :  how  then  should 
we  steal  out  of  thy  lord’s  house  silver  or  gold  ? 

9  With  whomsoever  of  thy  servants  it  be 
found,  d  both  let  him  die,  and  we  also  will  be 
my  lord’s  bondmen. 

10  And  he  said,  Now  also  let  it  he  accord¬ 
ing  unto  your  words  :  he,  with  whom  it  is 
found,  shall  be  my  servant;  and  ye  shall  be 
blameless. 

11  Then  they  speedily  took  down  every 
man  his  sack  to  the  ground,  and  opened  every 
man  his  sack. 

12  And  he  searched,  and  began  at  the  eldest, 
and  left  at  the  youngest ;  and  the  cup  was 
found  in  Benjamin’s  sack. 

c  Chap,  xliii.  21. - d  Chap.  xxxi.  32. - -e  Chap,  xxxvii.  29,  34  ; 

Num.  xiv.  6  ;  2  Sam.  i.  11. 

when  digging  to  lay  the  foundations  of  Persepolis.  The 
Persian  poets  are  full  of  allusions  to  this  cup,  which, 
from  its  property  of  representing  the  whole  world  and 

its  transactions,  is  styled  by  them  jam 

jehan  nima ,  11  the  cup  showing  the  universe  and  to 
the  intelligence  received  by  means  of  it  they  attribute 
the  great  prosperity  of  their  ancient  monarchs,  as  by  it 
they  understood  all  events,  past,  present,  and  to  come. 
Many  of  the  Mohammedan  princes  and  governors  affect 
still  to  have  information  of  futurity  by  means  of  a  cup. 
When  Mr.  Norden  was  at  Derri  in  the  farthest  part 
of  Egypt,  in  a  very  dangerous  situation,  an  ill-natured 
and  powerful  Arab,  in  a  threatening  way,  told  one  of 
their  people  whom  they  sent  to  him  that  “  he  knew 
what  sort  of  people  they  were,  for  he  had  consulted 
his  cup ,  and  found  by  it  that  they  were  those  of  whom 
one  of  their  prophets  had  said,  that  Franks  (Europeans) 
would  come  in  disguise  ;  and,  passing  everywhere, 
examine  the  state  of  the  country ;  and  afterwards 
bring  over  a  great  number  of  other  Franks,  conquer 
the  country,  and  exterminate  all.”  By  this  we  see 
that  the  tradition  of  the  divining  cup  still  exists,  and 
in  the  very  same  country  too  in  which  Joseph  formerly 
ruled.  Now  though  it  is  not  at  all  likely  that  Joseph 
practised  any  kind  of  divination ,  yet  probably,  accord¬ 
ing  to  the  superstition  of  those  times,  (for  I  suppose 
the  tradition  to  be  even  older  than  the  time  of  Joseph,) 
supernatural  influence  might  be  attributed  to  his  cup ; 
and  as  the  whole  transaction  related  here  was  merely 
intended  to  deceive  his  brethren  for  a  short  time,  he 
might  as  well  affect  divination  by  his  cup ,  as  he  affected 
to  believe  they  had  stolen  it.  The  steward  therefore 
uses  the  word  nachash  in  its  proper  meaning: 
Is  not  this  it  out  of  which  my  lord  drinketh ,  and  in 
which  he  inspecteth  accurately  ?  ver.  5.  And  hence 

a 


of  Joseph  s  brethren, 

1 3  Then  they  e  rent  their  clothes,  a.  m.  2297. 

J  7  B  C  1707 

and  laded  every  man  his  ass,  and  - 
returned  to  the  city. 

14  And  Judah  and  his  brethren  came  to 
Joseph’s  house  ;  for  he  was  yet  there  :  and 
they  f  fell  before  him  on  the  ground. 

15  And  Joseph  said  unto  them,  What  deed 
is  this  that  ye  have  done  ?  wot  ye  not  that 
such  a  man  as  I  can  certainly  s  divine  ? 

16  And  Judah  said,  What  shall  we  say  unto 
my  lord  ?  what  shall  we  speak  ?  or  how  shall 
we  clear  ourselves  ?  God  hath  found  out  the 
iniquity  of  thy  servants  :  behold,  h  we  are  my 
lord’s  servants,  both  we,  and  he  also  with 
whom  the  cup  is  found. 

]  7  And  he  said,  1  God  forbid  that  I  should 
do  so  :  hut  the  man  in  whose  hand  the  cup 
is  found,  he  shall  be  my  servant ;  and  as  for 
you,  get  you  up  in  peace  unto  your  father. 

18  Then  Judah  came  near  unto  him,  and 
said,  0,  my  lord,  let  thy  servant,  I  pray  thee, 

fChap.  xxxvii.  7. - s  Or,  make  trial ;  verse  5. - 11  Verse  9. 

1  Prov.  xvii.  15. 

Joseph  says,  ver.  15  :  Wot  ye  not— did  ye  not  know, 
that  such  a  person  as  I  (having  such  a  cup)  would 
accurately  and  attentively  look  into  it  ?  As  I  consider 
this  to  be  the  true  meaning,  I  shall  not  trouble  the 
reader  with  other  modes  of  interpretation. 

Verse  16.  What  shall  we  say ,  dfc .]  No  words  can 
more  strongly  mark  confusion  and  perturbation  of  mind. 
They,  no  doubt,  all  thought  that  Benjamin  had  actually 
stolen  the  cup ;  and  the  probability  of  this  guilt  might 
be  heightened  by  the  circumstance  of  his  having  that 
very  cup  to  drink  out  of  at  dinner ;  for  as  he  had  the 
most  honourable  mess,  so  it  is  likely  he  had  the  most 
honourable  cup  to  drink  out  of  at  the  entertainment. 

Verse  18.  Thou  art  even  as  Pharaoh .]  As  wise, 
as  powerful,  and  as  much  to  be  dreaded  as  he.  In 
the  Asiatic  countries,  the  reigning  monarch  is  always 
considered  to  be  the  pattern  of  all  perfection ;  and  the 
highest  honour  that  can  be  conferred  on  any  person,  is 
to  resemble  him  to  the  monarch  ;  as  the  monarch  him¬ 
self  is  likened,  in  the  same  complimentary  way,  to  an 
angel  of  God.  See  2  Sam.  xiv.  17,  18.  Judah  is  the 
chief  speaker  here,  because  it  was  in  consequence  of  his 
becoming  surety  for  Benjamin  that  Jacob  permitted  him 
to  accompany  them  to  Egypt.  See  chap,  xliii.  9. 

u  Every  man  who  reads,”  says  Dr.  Dodd,  “  to  the 
close  of  this  chapter,  must  confess  that  Judah  acts  here 
the  part  both  of  the  affectionate  brother  and  of  the  du¬ 
tiful  son,  who,  rather  than  behold  his  father’s  misery 
in  case  of  Benjamin’s  being  left  behind,  submits  to  be¬ 
come  a  bondman  in  his  stead  :  and  indeed  there  is  such 
an  air  of  candour  and  generosity  running  through  the 
whole  strain  of  this  speech,  the  sentiments  are  so  tender 
and  affecting,  the  expressions  so  passionate,  and  flow  so 
much  from  artless  nature,  that  it  is  no  wonder  if  they 

245 


I 


Judah's  affecting  speech 


GENESIS. 


in  behalf  of  Benjamin 


A.  M.  2297.  speak  a  word  in  my  lord’s  ears, 

B.  C.  1707.  klQ,  _ _  burn 


against 


and  k  let  not  thine  anger 
thy  servant :  for  thou  art  even 


as 


Pharaoh. 

1 9  My  lord  asked  his  servants,  saying,  Have 
ye  a  father,  or  a  brother  ? 

20  And  we  said  unto  my  lord,  We  have  a 
father,  an  old  man,  and  1  a  child  of  his  old  age, 


a  little  one  ;  and  his  brother  is  dead,  and  he 
alone  is  left  of  his  mother,  and  his  father  loveth 
him. 

2 1  And  thou  saidst  unto  thy  servants,  m  Bring 
him  down  unto  me,  that  I  may  set  mine  eyes 
upon  him. 

22  And  we  said  unto  my  lord,  The  lad 
cannot  leave  his  father  :  for  if  he  should  leave 
his  father,  his  father  would  die. 

23  And  thou  saidst  unto  thy  servants,  n  Ex¬ 
cept  your  youngest  brother  come  down  with 
you,  ye  shall  see  my  face  no  more. 

24  And  it  came  to  pass  when  we  came  up 
unto  thy  servant  my  father,  we  told  him  the 
words  of  my  lord. 

25  And  0  our  father  said,  Go  again,  and  buy 
us  a  little  food. 

26  And  we  said,  We  cannot  go  down  :  if 
our  youngest  brother  be  with  us,  then  will  we 
go  down  :  for  we  may  not  see  the  man’s  face, 
except  our  youngest  brother  be  with  us. 


k  Chap,  xviii.  30,  32  ;  Exod.  xxxii.  22. - 1  Chap,  xxxvii.  3. 

mChap.  xlii.  15,  20. - 11  Chapter  xliii.  3,  5. - °Chap.  xliii.  2. 

rChap.  xlvi.  19. - ^Chap.  xxxvii.  33. 


came  home  to  Joseph’s  heart,  and  forced  him  to  throw 
off  the  mask.”  “  When  one  sees,”  says  Dr.  Jackson, 
“  such  passages  related  hy  men  who  affect  no  art,  and 
who  lived  long  after  the  parties  who  first  uttered  them, 
we  cannot  conceive  how  all  particulars  could  be  so 
naturally  and  fully  recorded,  unless  they  had  been  sug¬ 
gested  by  His  Spirit  who  gives  mouths  and  speech  unto 
men ;  who,  being  alike  present  to  all  successions,  is 
able  to  communicate  the  secret  thoughts  of  forefathers 
to  their  children,  and  put  the  very  words  of  the  de¬ 
ceased,  never  registered  before,  into  the  mouths  or  pens 
of  their  successors  born  many  ages  after ;  and  that  as 
exactly  and  distinctly  as  if  they  had  been  caught,  in 
characters  of  steel  or  brass ,  as  they  issued  out  of  their 
mouths.  For  it  is  plain  that  every  circumstance  is 
here  related  with  such  natural  specifications ,  as  if  Moses 
had  heard  them  talk  ;  and  therefore  could  not  have 
been  thus  represented  to  us,  unless  they  had  been  writ¬ 
ten  by  His  direction  who  knows  all  things,  fore-past, 
present,  or  to  come.” 

246 


27  And  thy  servant  my  father  a.  m.  2297. 

said  unto  us,  Ye  know  that  p  my  - 

wife  bare  me  two  sons : 

28  And  the  one  went  out  from  me,  and  I 
said,  q  Surely  he  is  torn  in  pieces  :  and  I  saw 
him  not  since  : 

29  And  if  ye  rtake  this  also  from  me,  and 
mischief  befall  him,  ye  shall  bring  down  my 
gray  hairs  with  sorrow  to  the  grave. 

30  Now  therefore,  when  I  come  to  thy  ser¬ 
vant  my  father,  and  the  lad  be  not  with  us  ; 
(seeing  that  s  his  life  is  bound  up  in  the  lad’s 
life  ;) 

3 1  It  shall  come  to  pass,  when  he  seeth 
that  the  lad  is  not  with  us,  that  he  will  die  ; 
and  thy  servants  shall  bring  down  the  gray 
hairs  of  thy  servant  our  father  with  sorrow  to 
the  grave. 

32  For  thy  servant  became  surety  for  the 
lad  unto  my  father,  saying,  1  If  I  bring  him 
not  unto  thee,  then  I  shall  bear  the  blame  to 
my  father  for  ever. 

33  Now  therefore,  I  pray  thee,  11  let  thy 
servant  abide  instead  of  the  lad,  a  bondman 
to  my  lord ;  and  let  the  lad  go  up  with  hia 
brethren. 

34  For  how  shall  I  go  up  to  my  father,  and 
the  lad  be  not  with  me  ?  lest  peradventure  I 
see  the  evil  that  shall  T  come  on  my  father. 


rChap.  xlii.  36,  38. - 31  Sam.  xviii.  1. - *  Chap,  xliii.  9, 

uExod.  xxxii.  32. - vHeb .  find  my  father  •,  Exod.  xviii.  8  ;  Job 

xxxi.  29;  Psa.  cxvi.  3;  cxix.  143. 


To  two  such  able  and  accurate  testimonies  I  may  be 
permitted  to  add  my  own.  No  paraphrase  can  heighten 
the  effect  of  Judah’s  address  to  Joseph.  To  add  would 
be  to  diminish  its  excellence  ;  to  attempt  to  explain 
would  be  to  obscure  its  beauties ;  to  clothe  the  ideas 
in  other  language  than  that  of  Judah,  and  his  transla¬ 
tors  in  our  Bible,  would  ruin  its  energy,  and  destroy 
its  influence.  It  is  perhaps  one  of  the  most  tender, 
affecting  pieces  of  natural  oratory  ever  spoken  or 
penned;  and  we  need  not  wonder  to  find  that  when 
Joseph  heard  it  he  could  not  refrain  himself,  but  wept 
aloud.  His  soul  must  have  been  insensible  beyond 
what  is  common  to  human  nature,  had  he  not  imme¬ 
diately  yielded  to  a  speech  so  delicately  tender,  and  so 
powerfully  impressive.  We  cannot  but  deplore  the 
unnatural  and  unscientific  division  of  the  narrative  in 
our  common  Bibles,  which  obliges  us  to  have  re¬ 
course  to  another  chapter  in  order  to  witness  the 
effects  which  this  speech  produced  on  the  heart  of 
Joseph. 

a 


I 


Joseph ,  deeply  affected ,  makes 


CHAP.  XLY. 


himself  known  to  his  brethren . 


CHAPTER  XLY. 


Joseph,  deeply  affected  with  the  speech  of  Judah ,  could  no  longer  conceal  himself,  but  discovers  himself  to  his 
brethren ,  1-4.  Excuses  their  conduct  towards  him,  and  attributes  the  whole  to  the  providence  of  God,  5—8. 
Orders  them  to  hasten  to  Canaan ,  and  bring  up  their  father  and  their  own  families,  cattle,  cfc.,  because 
there  were  five  years  of  the  famine  yet  to  come,  9—13.  He  embraces  and  converses  with  all  his  brethren, 
14,  15.  Pharaoh,  hearing  that  Joseph's  brethren  were  come  to  Egypt,  and  that  Joseph  had  desired  them 
to  return  to  Canaan  and  bring  back  their  families ,  not  only  confirms  the  order,  but  promises  them  the  best 
part  of  the  land  of  Egypt  to  dwell  in;  and  provides  them  carriages  to  transport  themselves  and  their  house¬ 
holds,  16—20.  Joseph  provides  them  with  wagons  according  to  the  commandment  of  Pharaoh ;  and 
having  given  them  various  presents,  sends  them  away  with  suitable  advice,  21—24.  They  depart,  arrive 
in  Canaan,  and  announce  the  glad  tidings  to  their  father,  who  for  a  time  believes  not,  but  being  assured  of 
the  truth  of  their  relation,  is  greatly  comforted,  and  resolves  to  visit  Egypt,  25-28. 


A.  M.  2297.  T^HEN  Joseph  could  not  refrain 

B.  c.  1707.  JL  .  .. 

-  himseii  before  all  them  that 

stood  by  him ;  and  he  cried,  Cause  every 

man  to  go  out  from  me.  And  there  stood 

no  man  with  him,  while  Joseph  made  himself 

known  unto  his  brethren. 

2  And  he  a  wept  aloud :  and  the  Egyptians 
and  the  house  of  Pharaoh  heard. 

3  And  Joseph  said  unto  his  brethren,  b  I  am 
Joseph;  doth  my  father  yet  live?  And  his 


brethren  could  not  answer  him;  A.  m. 2297. 

B.  C.  1707. 


for  they  were  c  troubled  at  his 
presence. 

4  And  Joseph  said  unto  his  brethren,  Come 
near  to  me,  I  pray  you.  And  they  came  near. 
And  he  said,  I  am  Joseph  your  brother, 
d  whom  ye  sold  into  Egypt. 

5  Now  therefore  e  be  not  grieved,  f  nor  angry 
with  yourselves,  that  ye  sold  me  hither :  g  for 
God  did  send  me  before  you  to  preserve  life. 


aHeb.  gave  forth  his  voice  in  weeping  ;  Num.  xiv.  1. - b  Acts 

vii.  13. - cOr,  terrified;  Job  iv.  5  ;  xxiii.  15;  Matt.  xiv.  26; 

Mark  vi.  50. - d  Chap,  xxxvii.  28. 

NOTES  ON  CHAP.  XLY. 

Verse  1.  Joseph  could  not  refrain  himself]  The 
word  paxnn  hithappek  is  very  emphatic';  it  signifies  to 
force  one's  self,  to  do  something  against  nature ,  to  do 
violence  to  one's  self.  Joseph  could  no  longer  constrain 
himself  to  act  a  feigned  part — all  the  brother  and  the 
son  rose  up  in  him  at  once,  and  overpowered  all  his 
resolutions;  he  felt  for  his  father,  he  realized  his  dis¬ 
appointment  and  agony ;  and  he  felt  for  his  brethren, 
“  now  at  his  feet  submissive  in  distress ;”  and,  that  he 
might  give  free  and  full  scope  to  his  feelings,  and  the 
most  ample  play  to  the  workings  of  his  affectionate 
heart,  he  ordered  all  his  attendants  to  go  out,  while  he 
made  himself  known  to  his  brethren.  “  The  beauties 
of  this  chapter,”  says  Dr.  Dodd,  “  are  so  striking,  that 
it  would  be  an  indignity  to  the  reader’s  judgment  to 
point  them  out ;  all  who  can  read  and  feel  must  be  sen¬ 
sible  of  them,  as  there  is  perhaps  nothing  in  sacred  or 
profane  history  more  highly  wrought  up,  more  interest¬ 
ing  or  affecting.” 

Verse  2.  The  Egyptians  and  the  house  of  Pharaoh 
heard.]  It  seems  strange  that  Joseph  should  have 
wept  so  loud  that  his  cries  should  be  heard  at  some 
considerable  distance,  as  we  may  suppose  his  dwelling 
was  not  very  nigh  to  the  palace  !  “  But  this,”  says 

Sir  John  Chardin,  “  is  exactly  the  genius  of  the  people 
of  Asia — their  sentiments  of  joy  or  grief  are  properly 
transports,  and  their  transports  are  ungoverned,  exces¬ 
sive,  and  truly  outrageous.  When  any  one  returns 
from  a  long  journey,  or  dies,  his  family  burst  into  cries 
that  may  be  heard  twenty  doors  off ;  and  this  is  re¬ 
newed  at  different  times,  and  continues  many  days, 
according  to  the  vigour  of  the  passion.  Sometimes 


eIsa.  xl.  2  ;  2  Cor.  ii.  7. - f  Heb.  neither  let  there  he  anger  in 

your  eyes. - 6  Chap.  1.  20 ;  Psa.  cv.  16,  17 ;  see  2  Sam.  xvi.  10, 

11 ;  Acts  iv.  24. 

they  cease  all  at  once,  and  then  begin  as  suddenly, 
with  a  greater  shrillness  and  loudness  than  one  could 
easily  imagine.”  This  circumstance  Sir  John  brings 
to  illustrate  the  verse  in  question.  See  Harmer,  vol. 
iii.  p.  17.  But  the  house  of  Pharaoh  may  certainly 
signify  Pharaoh's  servants,  or  any  of  the  members  of 
his  household,  such  as  those  whom  Joseph  had  desired 
to  withdraw,  and  who  might  still  be  within  hearing  of 
his  voice.  After  all,  the  words  may  only  mean  that  the 
report  was  brought  to  Pharaoh’s  house.  See  ver.  16. 

Verse  3.  /  am  Joseph]  Mr.  Pope  supposed  that 
the  discovery  of  Ulysses  to  his  son  Telemachus  bears 
some  resemblance  to  Joseph’s  discovery  of  himself  to 
his  brethren.  The  passage  may  be  seen  in  Homer, 
Odyss.  1.  xvi.,  ver.  186—218. 

A  few  lines  from  Cowper's  translation  will  show 
much  of  the  spirit  of  the  original,  and  also  a  consider¬ 
able  analogy  between  the  two  scenes 

“I  am  thy  father,  for  whose  sake  thou  lead’st 
A  life  of  wo  by  violence  oppress’d. 

So  saying,  he  kiss’d  his  son  ;  while  from  his  cheeks 
Tears  trickled,  tears  till  then  perforce  restrain'd. 

- Then  threw  Telemachus 

His  arms  around  his  father's  neck,  and  wept. 

Pangs  of  soft  sorrow,  not  to  be  suppress'd , 

Seized  both. - 

So  they,  their  cheeks  with  big  round  drops  of  wo 
Bedewing,  stood." 

Verse  5.  Be  not  grieved ,  nor  angry  with  yourselves] 
This  discovers  a  truly  noble  mind :  he  not  only  for¬ 
gives  and  forgets,  but  he  wishes  even  those  who  had 
wronged  him  to  forget  the  injury  they  had  done,  that 

247 


GENESIS. 


Joseph  directs  his  brethren 


to  bring  their  f  ather  to  him 


A.  M.  2297.  6  For  these  two  years  hath  the 

B.  C.  1707.  r  •  i  *  i 

- famine  been  m  the  land :  and  yet 

there  are  five  years,  in  the  which  there  shall 

neither  he  earing  nor  harvest. 

7  And  God  sent  me  before  you  h  to  preserve 
you  a  posterity  in  the  earth,  and  to  save  your 
lives  by  a  great  deliverance. 

8  So  now  it  was  not  you  that  sent  me  hither, 
but  God :  and  he  hath  made  me  1  a  father  to 
Pharaoh,  and  lord  of  all  his  house,  and  a  ruler 
throughout  all  the  land  of  Egypt. 

9  Haste  ye,  and  go  up  to  my  father,  and 
say  unto  him,  Thus  saith  thy  son  Joseph,  God 
hath  made  me  lord  of  all  Egypt :  come  down 
unto  me,  tarry  not. 

1 0  And  k  thou  shaft  dwell  in  the  land  of 

11  Heb.  to  put  for  you  a  remnant. - [  Ch.  xli.  43  ;  Judg.  xvii.  10 ; 

they  might  not  suffer  distress  on  the  account ;  and  with 
deep  piety  he  attributes  the  whole  to  the  providence 
of  God ;  for,  says  he,  God  did  send  me  before  you  to 
preserve  life.  On  every  word  here  a  strong  emphasis 
may  be  laid.  It  is  not  you ,  but  God;  it  is  not  you 
that  sold  me,  but  God  who  sent  me  ;  Egypt  and  Ca¬ 
naan  must  both  have  perished,  had  not  a  merciful  pro¬ 
vision  been  made  ;  you  were  to  come  down  hither,  and 
God  sent  me  before  you  ;  death  must  have  been  the 
consequence  of  this  famine,  had  not  God  sent  me  here 
to  preserve  life. 

Verse  6.  There  shall  neither  be  earing  nor  harvest. ] 
Earing  has  been  supposed  to  mean  collecting  the  ears 
of  corn,  wdiich  would  confound  it  with  harvest :  the 
■word,  however,  means  ploughing  or  seed-time ,  from  the 
Anglo-Saxon  ejuan  erian,  probably  borrowed  from  the 
Latin  aro,  to  plough ,  and  plainly  means  that  there  should 
be  no  seed-time,  and  consequently  no  harvest;  and  why  1 
Because  there  should  be  a  total  want  of  rain  in  other 
countries,  and  the  Nile  should  not  rise  above  twelve 
cubits  in  Egypt;  see  on  chap.  xli.  31.  But  the  ex¬ 
pressions  here  must  be  qualified  a  little,  as  we  find  from 
chap,  xlvii.  19,  that  the  Egyptians  came  to  Joseph  to 
buy  seed;  and  it  is  probable  that  even  during  this 
famine  they  sowed  some  of  the  ground,  particularly  on 
the  borders  of  the  river,  from  which  a  crop,  though 
not  an  abundant  one,  might  be  produced.  The  passage, 
however,  in  the  above  chapter  may  refer  to  the  last 
year  of  the  famine,  when  they  came  to  procure  seed 
for  the  ensuing  year. 

Verse  8.  He  hath  made  me  a  father  to  Pharaoh ]  It 
has  already  been  conjectured  that  father  was  a  name 
of  office  in  Egypt,  and  that  father  of  Pharaoh  might 
among  them  signify  the  same  as  prime  minister  or  the 
king's  minister  does  among  us.  Calmet  has  remarked 
that  among  the  Phoenicians,  Persians,  Arabians,  and 
Romans,  the  title  of  father  was  given  to  certain  officers 
of  state.  The  Roman  emperors  gave  the  name  of 
father  to  the  prefects  of  the  Praetorium,  as  appears  by 
the  letters  of  Constantine  to  Ablavius.  The  caliphs 
gave  the  same  name  to  their  prime  ministers.  In 
Judges  xvii.  10,  Micah  says  to  the  young  Levite.  Dwell 

248 


Goshen,  and  thou  shalt  be  near  A.  M.  2297. 

unto  me,  thou,  and  thy  children,  — — - 1 

and  thy  children’s  children,  and  thy  flocks, 
and  thy  herds,  and  all  that  thou  hast : 

1 1  And  there  will  I  nourish  thee  ;  (for  yet 
there  are  five  years  of  famine ;)  lest  thou, 
and  thy  household,  and  all  that  thou  hast, 
come  to  poverty. 

12  And,  behold,  your  eyes  see,  and  the  eyes 
of  my  brother  Benjamin,  that  it  is  1  my  mouth 
that  speaketh  unto  you. 

13  And  ye  shall  tell  my  father  of  all  my 
glory  in  Egypt,  and  of  all  that  ye  have  seen; 
and  ye  shall  haste  and  m  bring  down  my  fa¬ 
ther  hither. 

14  And  he  fell  upon  his  brother  Benjamin’s 

Job  xxix.  16. - k  Ch.  xlvii.  1. - 1  Ch.  xlii.  23. - 111  Acts  vii.  14. 

with  me,  and  be  unto  me  a  father  and  a  priest.  And 
Diodorus  Siculus  remarks  that  the  teachers  and  coun¬ 
sellors  of  the  kings  of  Egypt  were  chosen  out  of  the 
priesthood. 

Verse  10.  Thou  shalt  dwell  in  the  land  of  Goshen ] 
Probably  this  district  had  been  allotted  to  Joseph  by 
the  king  of  Egypt,  else  we  can  scarcely  think  he  could 
have  promised  it  so  positively,  without  first  obtaining 
Pharaoh’s  consent.  Goshen  was  the  most  easterly 
province  of  Lower  Egypt,  not  far  from  the  Arabian 
Gulf,  lying  next  to  Canaan,  (for  Jacob  went  directly 
thither  when  he  came  into  Egypt,)  from  whence  it  is 
supposed  to  have  been  about  fourscore  miles  distant, 
though  Hebron  was  distant  from  the  Egyptian  capital 
about  three  hundred  miles.  At  Goshen  Jacob  stayed 
till  Joseph  visited  him,  chap.  xlvi.  28.  It  is  also  called 
the  land  of  Rameses ,  chap,  xlvii.  11,  from  a  city  of 
that  name,  which  was  the  metropolis  of  the  country. 
Josephus,  Antiq.,  1.  ii. ,  c.  4,  makes  Heliopolis,  the  city 
of  Joseph’s  father-in-law,  the  place  of  the  Israelites’ 
residence.  As  0120  geshem  signifies  rain  in  Hebrew, 
St.  Jerome  and  some  others  have  supposed  that  Ji2M 
Goshen  comes  from  the  same  root,  and  that  the  land 
in  question  was  called  thus  because  it  had  rain,  which 
was  not  the  case  with  Egypt  in  general ;  and  as  it  was 
on  the  confines  of  the  Arabian  Gulf,  it  is  very  probable 
that  it  was  watered  from  heaven,  and  it  might  be  ow¬ 
ing  to  this  circumstance  that  it  was  peculiarly  fertile, 
for  it  is  stated  to  be  the  best  of  the  land  of  Egypt. 
See  chap,  xlvii.  6,  11.  See  also  Calmet  and  Dodd. 

Verse  12.  That  it  is  my  mouth  that  speaketh  unto 
you.']  The  Targum  of  Jonathan  ben  Uzziel  renders 
the  place  thus  : — -<£  Your  eyes  see,  and  the  eyes  of  my 
brother  Benjamin,  that  it  is  my  own  mouth  that  speaketh 
with  you,  in  the  language  of  the  house  of  the  sanc¬ 
tuary.”  Undoubtedly  Joseph  laid  considerable  stress 
on  his  speaking  with  them  in  the  Hebrew  tongue ,  with¬ 
out  the  assistance  of  an  interpreter,  as  in  the  case 
mentioned  chap.  xlii.  23. 

Verse  14.  He  fell  upon  his  brother  Benjamin's  neck] 
Among  the  Asiatics  kissing  the  beard,  the  neck,  and 
the  shoulders ,  is  in  use  to  the  present  day ;  and  probably 


CHAP.  XLV. 


They  return  to  Canaan 


laden  with  rich  presents 


A.  M.  2297.  neck,  and  wept ;  and  Benjamin 

B.  C.  1707.  i  •  i 

-  wept  upon  his  neck. 

15  Moreover  he  kissed  all  his  brethren,  and 
wept  upon  them :  and  after  that  his  brethren 
talked  with  him. 

16  And  the  fame  thereof  was  heard  in 
Pharaoh’s  house,  saying,  Joseph’s  brethren 
are  come  :  and  it  n  pleased  Pharaoh  well,  and 
his  servants. 

17  And  Pharaoh  said  unto  Joseph,  Say  unto 
thy  brethren,  This  do  ye  :  lade  your  beasts, 
and  go,  get  you  unto  the  land  of  Canaan  ; 

18  And  take  your  father,  and  your  house¬ 
holds,  and  come  unto  me  :  and  I  will  give  you 
the  good  of  the  land  of  Egypt,  and  ye  shall 
eat  °  the  fat  of  the  land. 

19  Now  thou  art  commanded,  this  do  ye  ; 
take  you  wagons  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt  for 
your  little  ones,  and  for  your  wives,  and  bring 
your  father,  and  come. 

20  Also  p  regard  not  your  stuff ;  for  the 
good  of  all  the  land  of  Egypt  is  yours. 

21  And  the  children  of  Israel  did  so:  and 


Joseph  gave  them  wagons,  accord-  A.  M.  2297. 
ing  to  the  1  commandment  of  Pha-  17Q7*. 
raoh,  and  gave  them  provision  for  the  way. 

22  To  all  of  them  he  gave  each  man  changes 
of  raiment ;  but  to  Benjamin  he  gave  three 
hundred  pieces  of  silver,  and  r  five  changes  of 
raiment. 

23  And  to  his  father  he  sent  after  this  man¬ 
ner  ;  ten  asses  s  laden  with  the  good  things 
of  Egypt,  and  ten  she-asses  laden  with  corn 
and  bread  and  meat  for  his  father  by  the  way. 

24  So  he  sent  his  brethren  away,  and  they 
departed  :  and  he  said  unto  them,  See  that 
ye  fall  not  out  by  the  way. 

25  And  they  went  up  out  of  Egypt,  and 
came  into  the  land  of  Canaan  unto  Jacob  their 
father, 

26  And  told  him,  saying,  Joseph  is  yet  alive, 
and  he  is  governor  over  all  the  land  of  Egypt. 
t  And  u  Jacob’s  heart  fainted,  for  he  believed 
them  not. 

27  And  they  told  him  all  the  words  of 
Joseph,  which  he  had  said  unto  them  :  and 


nHeb.  was  good  in  the  eyes  of  Pharaoh;  chap.  xli.  37. 

°Chap.  xxvii.  28;  Num.  xviii.  12,  29. - -PHeb.  let  not  your  eyes 

spare,  &c. 

falling  on  the  neck  signifies  no  more  than  kissing  the 
neck  or  shoulders ,  with  the  arms  around. 

Verse  20.  Regard  not  your  stuff ]  Literally,  Let 
not  your  eye  spare  your  instruments  or  vessels.  DDll7D 
keleychem,  a  general  term ,  in  which  may  be  included 
household  furniture,  agricultural  utensils,  or  implements 
of  any  description.  They  were  not  to  delay  nor  en¬ 
cumber  themselves  with  articles  which  could  be  readily 
found  in  Egypt,  and  were  not  worth  so  long  a  carriage. 

Verse  2 1 .  Joseph  gave  them  ivagons]  rnS.3p  agaloth, 
from  agal,  which,  though  not  used  as  a  verb  in  the 
Hebrew  Bible,  evidently  means  to  turn  round ,  roll 
round ,  be  circular ,  &c.,  and  hence  very  properly  ap¬ 
plied  to  wheel  carriages.  It  appears  from  this  that 
such  vehicles  were  very  early  in  use,  and  that  the  road 
from  Egypt  to  Canaan  must  have  been  very  open  and 
much  frequented ,  else  such  carriages  could  not  have 
passed  by  it. 

Verse  22.  Changes  of  raiment ]  It  is  a  common 
custom  with  all  the  Asiatic  sovereigns  to  give  both 
garments  and  money  to  ambassadors  and  persons  of 
distinction,  whom  they  particularly  wish  to  honour. 
Hence  they  keep  in  their  wardrobes  several  hundred 
changes  of  raiment,  ready  made  up  for  presents  of  this 
kind  That  such  were  given  by  way  of  reward  and 
honour,  see  Judges  xiv.  12,  19  ;  Rev.  vi.  11.  At  the 
close  of  a  feast  the  Hindoos ,  among  other  presents  to 
the  guests,  commonly  give  new  garments.  A  Hindoo 
garment  is  merely  a  piece  of  cloth,  requiring  no  work 
of  the  tailor. — Ward. 

Verse  23.  Meat  for  his  father  by  the  way.]  pm 
mazon ,  from  |T  zan ,  to  prepare ,  provide ,  &c.  Hence 

a 


^  Heb.  mouth  ;  Num.  iii.  16. - rChap.  xliii.  34. - sHeb, 

carrying. - f  Job  xxix.  24 ;  Psa.  cxxvi.  1 ;  Luke  xxiv.  II,  41. 

u  Heb.  his. 

prepared  meat ,  some  made-up  dish,  delicacies ,  confec¬ 
tionaries,  &c.  As  the  word  is  used,  2  Chron.  xvi.  14, 
for  aromatic  preparations,  it  may  be  restrained  in  its 
meaning  to  something  of  that  kind  here.  In  Asiatic 
countries  they  have  several  curious  methods  of  pre¬ 
serving  flesh  by  potting,  by  which  it  may  be  kept  for 
any  reasonable  length  of  time  sweet  and  wholesome. 
Some  delicacy,  similar  to  the  savoury  food  which  Isaac 
loved,  may  be  here  intended  ;  and  this  was  sent  to  Ja¬ 
cob  in  consideration  of  his  age,  and  to  testify  the  re¬ 
spect  of  his  son.  Of  other  kinds  of  meat  he  could 
need  none,  as  he  had  large  herds,  and  could  kill  a  lamb , 
kid,  sheep,  or  goat,  whenever  he  pleased. 

’  Verse  24.  See  that  ye  fall  not  out  by  the  ivay.]  This 
prudent  caution  was  given  by  Joseph,  to  prevent  his 
brethren  from  accusing  each  other  for  having  sold  him  ; 
and  to  prevent  them  from  envying  Benjamin,  for  the 
superior  favour  shown  him  by  his  brother.  It  is  strange, 
but  so  it  is,  that  children  of  the  same  parents  are  apt 
to  envy  each  other,  fall  out,  and  contend ;  and  there¬ 
fore  the  exhortation  in  this  verse  must  be  always  sea¬ 
sonable  in  a  large  family.  But  a  rational,  religious 
education  will,  under  God,  prevent  every  thing  of  this 
sort. 

Verse  26.  JacoVs  heart  fainted]  Probably  the  good 
news  so  overpowered  him  as  to  cast  him  into  a  swoon. 
He  believed  them  not — he  thought  it  was  too  good  news 
to  be  true  ;  and  though  it  occasioned  his  swooning,  yet 
on  his  recovery  he  could  not  fully  credit  it.  See  a 
similar  case,  Luke  xxiv.  41. 

Verse  27.  When  he  saw  the  wagons — the  spirit  of 
Jacob — revived ]  The  wagons  were  additional  evi- 

249 


GENESIS. 


Jacob’s  joy  upon  hearing 


that  Joseph  was  yet  alive. 


A.  M.  2297.  when  he  saw  the  wagons  which 

B.  C.  1707.  T  i-i 

- -  Joseph  had  sent  to  carry  him,  the 

spirit  of  Jacob  their  father  revived  : 


28  And  Israel  said,  It  is  enough  ;  a.  m.  2297 

T  U  .  ’  T  T  B.C.  1707. 

Joseph  my  son  is  yet  alive:  I  - 

will  go  and  see  him  before  I  die. 


dences  of  the  truth  of  what  he  had  heard  from  his 
sons ;  and  the  consequence  was,  that  he  was  restored 
to  fresh  vigour,  he  seemed  as  if  he  had  gained  new 
life,  'nm  vattechi,  and  he  lived;  revixit,  says  the  Vul¬ 
gate,  he  lived  afresh.  The  Septuagint  translate  the 
original  word  by  avE&nvprioe,  which  signifies  the  blow¬ 
ing  and  stirring  up  of  almost  extinguished  embers  that 
had  been  buried  under  the  ashes,  which  word  St.  Paul 
uses,  2  Tim.  i.  6,  for  stirring  up  the  gift  of  God.  The 
passage  at  once  shows  the  debilitated  state  of  the  vene¬ 
rable  patriarch,  and  the  wonderful  effect  the  news  of 
Joseph’s  preservation  and  glory  had  upon  his  mind. 

Verse  28.  It  is  enough ;  Joseph  my  son  is  yet  alive'] 
It  was  not  the  state  of  dignity  to  which  Joseph  had 
arisen  that  particularly  affected  Jacob,  it  was  the  con¬ 
sideration  that  he  was  still  alive.  It  was  this  that 
caused  him  to  exclaim  3*1  rab  ;  “  much  !  multiplied ! 
my  son  is  yet  alive !  I  will  go  and  see  him  before  I 
die.”  None  can  realize  this  scene ;  the  words,  the 
circumstances,  all  refer  to  indescribable  feelings. 

1.  In  Joseph’s  conduct  to  his  brethren  there  are 
several  things  for  which  it  is  difficult  to  account.  It 
is  strange,  knowing  how  much  his  father  loved  him, 
that  he  never  took  an  opportunity,  many  of  which  must 
have  offered,  to  acquaint  him  that  he  was  alive ;  and 
that  self-interest  did  not  dictate  the  propriety  of  this 
to  him  is  at  first  view  surprising,  as  his  father  would 
undoubtedly  have  paid  his  ransom,  and  restored  him  to 
liberty :  but  a  little  reflection  will  show  that  prudence 
dictated  secrecy.  His  brethren,  jealous  and  envious 
in  the  extreme,  would  soon  have  found  out  other  methods 
of  destroying  his  life,  had  they  again  got  him  into  their 
power.  Therefore  for  his  pefsonal  safety,  he  chose 
rather  to  be  a  bond-slave  in  Egypt  than  to  risk  his  life 
by  returning  home.  On  this  ground  it  is  evident  that 
he  could  not  with  any  safety  have  discovered  the  place 
of  his  residence. 

2.  His  carriage  to  his  brethren,  previously  to  his 
making  himself  known,  appears  inexcusably  harsh,  if 
not  vindictive ;  but  when  the  men  are  considered,  it 
will  appear  sufficiently  evident  that  no  other  means 
would  have  been  adequate  to  awaken  their  torpid  con¬ 
sciences,  and  bring  them  to  a  due  sense  of  their  guilt. 
A  desperate  disease  requires  a  desperate  remedy.  The 
event  justified  all  that  he  did,  and  God  appears  to  have 
been  the  director  of  the  whole. 

3.  His  conduct  in  requiring  Benjamin  to  be  as  it 
were  torn  away  from  the  bleeding  heart  of  an  aged, 


desolate  father,  in  whose  affection  he  himself  had  long 
lived,  is  the  most  difficult  to  be  satisfactorily  accounted 
for.  Unless  the  Spirit  of  prophecy  had  assured  him 
that  this  experiment  would  terminate  in  the  most  fa¬ 
vourable  manner ,  his  conduct  in  making  it  cannot  well 
be  vindicated.  To  such  prophetic  intimation  this  con¬ 
duct  has  been  attributed  by  learned  men  ;  and  we  may 
say  that  this  consideration,  if  it  does  not  untie  the  knot , 
at  least  cuts  it.  Perhaps  it  is  best  to  say  that  in  all 
these  things  Joseph  acted  as  he  was  directed  by  a  pro¬ 
vidence,  under  the  influence  of  which  he  might  have 
been  led  to  do  many  things  which  he  had  not  previously 
designed.  The  issue  proves  that  the  hand  of  God’s 
wisdom  and  goodness  directed,  regulated,  and  governed 
every  circumstance,  and  the  result  was  glory  to  God  in 
the  highest,  and  on  earth,  peace  and  good  will  among  men. 

4.  This  chapter,  which  contains  the  unravelling  of 
the  plot,  and  wonderfully  illustrates  the  mysteries  of 
these  particular  providences,  is  one  of  the  most  in¬ 
teresting  in  the  whole  account :  the  speech  of  Joseph 
to  his  brethren,  ver.  1—13,  is  inferior  only  to  that  of 
Judah  in  the  preceding  chapter.  He  saw  that  his 
brethren  wore  confounded  at  his  presence,  that  they 
were  struck  with  his  present  power,  and  that  they  keenly 
remembered  and  deeply  deplored  their  own  guilt.  It 
was  necessary  to  comfort  them,  lest  their  hearts  should 
have  been  overwhelmed  with  overmuch  sorrow.  How 
delicate  and  finely  wrought  is  the  apology  he  makes 
for  them !  the  whole  heart  of  the  affectionate  brother 
is  at  once  seen  in  it — art  is  confounded  and  swallowed 
up  by  nature — “  Be  not  grieved,  nor  angry  with  your¬ 
selves — it  was  not  you  that  sent  me  hither,  but  God.” 
What  he  says  also  concerning  his  father  shows  the 
warmest  feelings  of  a  benevolent  and  filial  heart.  In¬ 
deed,  the  whole  chapter  is  a  master-piece  of  composi¬ 
tion  ;  and  it  is  the  more  impressive  because  it  is  evi¬ 
dently  a  simple  relation  of  facts  just  as  they  occurred  ; 
for  no  attempt  is  made  to  heighten  the  effect  by  rhe¬ 
torical  colouring  or  philosophical  reflections  ;  it  is  all 
simple,  sheer  nature,  from  beginning  to  end.  It  is  a 
history  that  has  no  fellow,  crowded  with  incidents  as 
probable  as  they  are  true  ;  wrhere  every  passion  is  called 
into  action,  where  every  one  acts  up  to  his  own  cha¬ 
racter,  and  where  nothing  is  outre  in  time,  or  extrava¬ 
gant  in  degree.  Had  not  the  history  of  Joseph  formed 
a  part  of  the  sacred  Scriptures,  it  would  have  been 
published  in  all  the  living  languages  of  man,  and  read 
throughout  the  universe  !  But  it  contains  the  things 
of  God ,  and  to  all  such  the  carnal  mind  is  enmity. 


CHAPTER  XL VI. 

Jacob  begins  his  journey  to  Egypt,  comes  to  Beer-sheba,  and  offers  sacrifices  to  God,  1.  God  appears  to  him 
in  a  vision,  gives  him  gracious  promises,  and  assures  him  of  his  protection,  2—4.  He  proceeds,  with  his 
family  and  their  cattle,  on  his  journey  towards  Egypt,  5—7.  A  genealogical  enumeration  of  the  seventy 
persons  who  went  down  to  Egypt,  8,  c fc.  The  posterity  of  Jacob  by  Leah.  Reuben  and  his  sons,  9, 
Simeon  and  his  sons,  10.  Levi  and  his  sons,  11.  Judah  and  his  sons,  12.  Issachar  and  his  sons,  13 

250  a 


CHAP.  XLVI. 


Jacob  and  his  family 


go  into  Egypt 


And  Zebulun  and  his  sons,  14.  All  the  posterity  of  Jacob  by  Leah,  thirty  and  three,  15.  The  posterity 
of  Jacob  by  Zilpah.  Gad  and  his  sons,  16.  Asher  and  his  sons,  17.  All  the  posterity  of  Jacob  by 
Zilpah,  sixteer,  18.  The  posterity  of  Jacob  by  Rachel.  Joseph  awe?  his  sons,  19,  20.  Benjamin  and 
his  sons,  21.  .ill  the  posterity  of  Jacob  by  Rachel,  fourteen,  22.  The  posterity  of  Jacob  by  Bilhah. 
Dan  and  his  sons,  23.  Naphtali  and  his  sons,  24.  All  the  posterity  of  Jacob  by  Bilhah,  seven,  25. 
All  the  immediate  descendants  of  Jacob  by  his  four  wives,  threescore  and  six,  26  ;  and  all  the  descendants 
of  the  house  of  Jacob,  seventy  souls,  27.  Judah  is  sent  before  to  inform  Joseph  of  his  father"1  s  coming,  28. 
Joseph  goes  to  Goshen  to  meet  Jacob,  29.  Their  affecting  interview,  30.  Joseph  proposes  to  return  to 
Pharaoh,  and  inform  him  of  the  arrival  of  his  family,  31,  and  of  their  occupation ,  as  keepers  of  cattle,  32. 
Instructs  them  what  to  say  when  called  before  Pharaoh,  and  questioned  by  him,  that  they  might  be  per¬ 
mitted  to  dwell  unmolested  in  the  land  of  Goshen,  33,  34. 


A.  M.  2298.  A  ND  Israel  took  his  lournev 

B.  C.  1706.  lx.  .  ,  ..  .  .  .  .  \  J 
-  with  all  that  he  had,  and  came 

to  a  Beer-sheba,  and  offered  sacrifices  b  unto 

the  God  of  his  father  Isaac. 

2  And  God  spake  unto  Israel c  in  the  visions 
of  the  night,  and  said,  Jacob,  Jacob.  And 
he  said,  Here  am  I. 

3  And  he  said,  I  am  God,  d  the  God  of  thy 
father  :  fear  not  to  go  down  into  Egypt  ;  for 
I  will  there  e  make  of  thee  a  great  nation  : 

4  f  I  will  go  down  with  thee  into  Egypt, 
and  I  will  also  surely  z  bring  thee  up  again : 
and  h  Joseph  shall  put  his  hand  upon  thine  eyes. 

5  And  1  Jacob  rose  up  from  Beer-sheba  :  and 
the  sons  of  Israel  carried  Jacob  their  father, 

aChap.  xxi.  31,33;  xxviii.  10. - b  Chap.  xxvi.  24, 25  ;  xxviii. 

13  ;  xxxi.  42. - c  Chap.  xv.  1 ;  Job  xxxiii.  14,  15. - d  Chap. 

rxviii.  13. - cChap.  xii.  2;  Deut.  xxvi.  5. - f  Chap,  xxviii. 

15;  xlviii.  21. 


and  their  little  ones,  and  their  wives,  A.  M.  2298. 
in  the  wagons  k  which  Pharaoh  had  —  C'  17°6*. 
sent  to  carry  him. 

6  And  they  took  their  cattle,  and  their  goods, 
which  they  had  gotten  in  the  land  of  Canaan, 
and  came  into  Egypt,  1  Jacob,  and  all  his  seed 
with  him  : 

7  His  sons,  and  his  sons’  sons  with  him, 
his  daughters,  and  his  sons’  daughters,  and  all 
his  seed  brought  he  with  him  into  Egypt. 

8  And  m  these  are  the  names  of  the  children 
of  Israel,  which  came  into  Egypt,  Jacob  and 
his  sons  :  n  Reuben,  Jacob’s  first-born. 

9  And  the  sons  of  Reuben  ;  Hanoch,  and 
Phallu,  and  Hezron,  and  Carmi. 


sChap.  xv.  16;  1.  13,  24,  25;  Exod.  iii.  8. - Chap.  1.  1. 

‘Acts  vii.  15. - k  Chap.  xlv.  19,  21. - 1  Deut.  xxvi.  5 ;  Josh. 

xxiv.  4  ;  Psa.  cv.  23 ;  Isa.  Iii.  4. - 111  Exod.  i.  1 ;  vi.  14. 

nNum.  xxvi.  5  ;  1  Chron.  v.  1. 


NOTES  ON  CHAP.  XLYI. 

Yerse  1.  And  came  to  Beer-sheba ]  This  place  ap¬ 
pears  to  be  mentioned,  not  only  because  it  was  the  way 
from  Hebron,  where  Jacob  resided,  to  Egypt,  whither 
he  was  going,  but  because  it  was  a  consecrated  place, 
a  place  where  God  had  appeared  to  Abraham,  chap, 
xxi.  33,  and  to  Isaac,  chap.  xxvi.  23,  and  where  Jacob 
is  encouraged  to  expect  a  manifestation  of  the  same 
goodness  :  he  chooses  therefore  to  begin  his  journey 
with  a  visit  to  God's  house ;  and  as  he  was  going  into 
a  strange  land,  he  feels  it  right  to  renew  his  covenant 
with  God  by  sacrifice.  There  is  an  old  proverb  which 
applies  strongly  to  this  case  :  “  Prayers  and  provender 
never  hinder  any  man’s  journey.”  He  who  would  travel 
safely  must  take  God  wTith  him. 

Verse  3.  Fear  not  to  go  down  into  Egypt]  It  ap¬ 
pears  that  there  had  been  some  doubts  in  the  patriarch’s 
mind  relative  to  the  propriety  of  this  journey  ;  he  found, 
from  the  confession  of  his  own  sons,  how  little  they 
were  to  be  trusted.  But  every  doubt  is  dispelled  by 
this  Divine  manifestation.  1.  He  may  go  down  con¬ 
fidently,  no  evil  shall  befall  him.  2.  Even  in  Egypt 
the  covenant  shall  be  fulfilled,  God  will  make  of  him 
there  a  great  nation .  3.  God  himself  wTill  acompany 

him  on  his  journey,  be  with  him  in  the  strange  land, 
and  even  bring  back  his  bones  to  rest  with  those  of  his 
fathers.  4.  He  shall  see  Joseph,  and  this  same  be¬ 
loved  son  shall  be  with  him  in  his  last  hours,  and  do 
the  last  kind  office  for  him.  Joseph  shall  put  his  hand 


upon  thine  eyes.  It  is  not  likely  that  Jacob  would  have 
at  all  attempted  to  go  down  to  Egypt,  had  he  not  re¬ 
ceived  these  assurances  from  God  ;  and  it  is  very  likely 
that  he  offered  his  sacrifice  merely  to  obtain  this  in¬ 
formation.  It  was  now  a  time  of  famine  in  Egypt, 
and  God  had  forbidden  his  father  Isaac  to  go  down  to 
Egypt  when  there  was  a  famine  there,  chap.  xxvi. 
1—3  ;  besides,  he  may  have  had  some  general  intima¬ 
tion  of  the  prophecy  delivereffto  his  grandfather  Abra¬ 
ham,  that  his  seed  should  be  afflicted  in  Egypt,  chap, 
xvs  13,  14  ;  and  he  also  knew  that  Canaan,  not  Egypt, 
was  to  be  the  inheritance  of  his  family,  chap,  xii.,  &c. 
On  all  these  accounts  it  was  necessary  to  have  the  most 
explicit  directions  from  God,  before  he  should  take  such 
a  journey. 

Yerse  7.  All  his  seed  brought  he  with  him  into 
Egypt.]  When  Jacob  went  down  into  Egypt  he  was 
in  the  one  hundred  and  thirtieth  year  of  his  age,  two 
hundred  and  fifteen  years  after  the  promise  was  made 
to  Abraham,  chap.  xii.  1—4,  in  the  year  of  the  world 
2298,  and  before  Christ  1706. 

Yerse  8.  These  are  the  names  of  the  children  of 
Israel]  It  may  be  necessary  to  observe  here,  First , 
that  several  of  these  names  are  expressed  differently 
elsewhere,  Jemuel  for  Nemuel,  Jachin  for  Jarib,  Ger- 
shon  for  Gershom,  &c.  ;  compare  Num.  xxvi.  12  ;  1 
Chron.  iv.  24.  But  it  is  no  uncommon  case  for  the 
same  person  to  have  different  names,  or  the  same 
name  to  be  differently  pronounced  ;  see  chap.  xxv.  15. 

251 


Enumeration  of  the  seventy  GENESIS.  persons  who  went  into  Egypt. 


A.  M.  2298.  1 0  And  0  the  sons  of  Simeon ; 

B.  C.  1706^  p  jemueij  and  Jamin,  and  Ohad, 

and  Jachin,  and  r  Zohar,  and  Shaul  the  son  of 
a  Canaanitish  woman. 

1 1  And  the  sons  of  s  Levi ;  t  Gershon,  Ko- 
hath,  and  Merari. 

1 2  And  the  sons  of  11  Judah  ;  Er,  and  Onan, 
and  Shelah,  and  Pharez,  and  Zarah :  but 
v  Er  and  Onan  died  in  the  land  of  Canaan. 
And  w  the  sons  of  Pharez  were  Hezron  and 
Hamul. 

13  xAnd  the  sons  of  Issachar ;  Tola,  and 
y  Phuvah,  and  Job,  and  Shimron. 

14  And  the  sons  of  Zebulun  ;  Sered,  and 
Elon,  and  Jahleel. 

15  These  be  the  sons  of  Leah,  which  she 
bare  unto  Jacob  in  Padan-aram,  with  his 
daughter  Dinah  :  all  the  souls  of  his  sons  and 

0  Exod.  vi.  15  ;  1  Chron.  iv.  24. - P  Or,  Nemuel. - 'i  Or, 

Jarib. - rOr,  Zerah ;  1  Chron.  iv.  24. - S1  Chron.  vi.  1,  16. 

*  Or,  Gershom. - u  1  Chron.  ii.  3  ;  iv.  21. - T  Chap,  xxxviii. 

3,  7,  10. - vv  Chap,  xxxviii.  29 ;  1  Chron.  ii.  5. 


his  daughters  were  thirty  and  a.  M.  2298. 
three.  - 

1 6  And  the  sons  of  Gad  ;  z  Ziphion,  and 
Haggi,  Shuni,  and  a  Ezbon,  Eri,  and  b  Arodi, 
and  Areli. 

17  c  And  the  sons  of  Asher;  Jimnah,  and 
Ishuah,  and  Isui,  and  Beriah,  and  Serah  their 
sister :  and  the  sons  of  Beriah  ;  Heber,  and 
Malchiel. 

18  d  These  are  the  sons  of  Zilpah,  e  whom 
Laban  gave  to  Leah,  his  daughter ;  and  these 
she  bare  unto  Jacob,  even  sixteen  souls. 

19  The  sons  of  Rachel  f Jacob’s  wife; 
Joseph  and  Benjamin. 

20  ^  And  unto  Joseph  in  the  land  of  Egypt 
were  born  Manasseh  and  Ephraim,  which 
Asenath  the  daughter  of  Poti-pherah  h  priest 
of  On  bare  unto  him. 

x  1  Chron.  vii.  1.- y  Or,  Puah,  and  Jashub. - z  Num.  xxvi. 

15,  &c. ,  Zephon. - a  Or,  Ozni. - b  Or,  Arod. - c  1  Chron.  vii 

30. - d  Chap.  xxx.  10. - e  Chap.  xxix.  24. - f  Chap.  xliv.  27. 

£  Chap.  xli.  50. - h  Or,  prince. 


Secondly,  that  it  is  probable  that  some  names  in  this  list 
are  brought  in  by  prolepsis  or  anticipation,  as  the  per¬ 
sons  were  born  (probably)  during  the  seventeen  years 
which  Jacob  sojourned  in  Egypt,  see  ver.  12.  Thirdly, 
that  the  families  of  some  are  entered  more  at  large  than 
others  because  of  their  peculiar  respectability,  as  in  the 
ease  of  Judah,  Joseph,  and  Benjamin ;  but  see  the 
tables  under  verse  20. 

Verse  12.  The  sons  of  Pharez  were  Hezron  and 
Hamul.']  It  is  not  likely  that  Pharez  was  more  than 
ten  years  of  age  when  he  came  into  Egypt,  and  if  so 
he  could  not  have  had  children ;  therefore  it  is  neces¬ 
sary  to  consider  Hezron  and  Hamul  as  being  born  du¬ 
ring  the  seventeen  years  that  Jacob  sojourned  in  Egypt, 
see  on  ver.  8  :  and  it  appears  necessary,  for  several 
reasons,  to  take  these  seventeen  years  into  the  account, 
as  it  is  very  probable  that  what  is  called  the  going  down 
into  Egypt  includes  the  seventeen  years  which  Jacob 
spent  there. 

Verse  20.  Unto  Joseph — were  born  Manasseh  and 
Ephraim]  There  is  a  remarkable  addition  here  in  the 
Septuagint,  which  must  be  noticed  :  E yevovro  de  vloi 
M-avaaorj,  ovp  etekev  avrcp  h  TcaXhanri  rj  'Ey  pa,  tov  M  axtp' 
M axip  <5e  eyevvrjc te  tov  TaAaad.  T lot  de  Etypaiy  adetyov 
Mavaocny,  S ovraliaap  icai  T aap.  T lot  de  hovraTiaap., 
Ede/r  These  were  the  sons  of  Manasseh  whom  his 
Syrian  concubine  bore  unto  him :  Machir ;  and  Ma- 
chir  begat  Galaad.  The  sons  of  Ephraim,  Manas- 
seEs  brother,  were  Sutalaam  and  Taam ;  and  the 
sons  of  Sutalaam,  Edem.  These  add  five  per¬ 
sons  to  the  list,  and  make  out  the  number  given  by 
Stephen,  Acts  vii.  14,  which  it  seems  he  had  taken 
from  the  text  of  the  Septuagint,  unless  we  could  sup¬ 
pose  that  the  text  of  Stephen  had  been  altered  to  make 
it  correspond  to  the  Septuagint,  of  which  there  is 
not  tne  slightest  evidence  from  ancient  MSS.  or 
versions.  The  addition  in  the  Septuagint  is  not 

252 


found  in  either  the  Hebrew  or  the  Samaritan  at  present ; 
and  some  suppose  that  it  was  taken  either  from 
Num.  xxvi.  29,  35,  or  1  Chron.  vii.  14—20,  but  in 
none  of  these  places  does  the  addition  appear  as  it 
stands  in  the  Septuagint,  though  some  of  the  names 
are  found  interspersed.  Various  means  have  been  pro¬ 
posed  to  find  the  seventy  persons  in  the  text,  and  to 
reconcile  the  Hebrew  with  the  Septuagint  and  the  New 
Testament. 

A  table  given  by  Scheuchzer,  extracted  from  the  Me¬ 
mories  de  Trevoux,  gives  the  following  general  view  : 


The  twelve  sons  of  Jacob  with  their  children  and 
grandchildren  .■ 

Reuben  and  his  four  sons  ....  5 
Simeon  and  his  six  sons  ....  7 

Levi  and  his  three  sons . 4 

Judah  and  his  seven  sons  and  grandsons  8 
Issachar  and  his  four  sons  ....  5 

Zebulun  and  his  three  sons  ....  4 

Total  sons  of  Jacob  and  Leah  .  .  -  33 

Gad  and  his  seven  sons . 8 

Asher  and  his  seven  sons  and  grandsons  8 

Total  sons  of  Jacob  and  Zilpah  .  .  -  16 

Joseph  and  his  two  sons . 3 

Benjamin  and  his  ten  sons  .  .  .  .11 

Total  sons  of  Jacob  and  Rachel  .  -  14 

Dan  and  his  son . 2 

Naphtali  and  his  four  sons  ....  5 

Total  sons  of  Jacob  and  Bilhah  .  -  7 


Total  sons  of  Jacob  and  his  four  wives  -  70 

“  To  harmonize  this  with  the  Septuagint  and  St. 
Stephen,  Acts  vii.  14,  to  the  number  sixty-six  (all  the 
souls  that  came  out  of  Jacob’s  loins,  ver.  26)  add  nine 
of  the  patriarchs’  wives,  Judah’s  wife  being  already 
dead  in  Canaan,  (chap,  xxxviii.  12.)  Benjamin  being 

a 


CHAP.  XLVI. 


Enumeration  of  the  seventy 


persons  who  went  into  Egypt.. 


a.  M.  2298.  2 1  1  And  the  sons  of  Benjamin 
a  c.  i<06.  were  J3eia?  an(j  jBecher,  and  Ash- 

bel,  Gera,  and  Naaman,  lc  Ehi,  and  Rosh, 
1  Muppim,  and  mHuppim,  and  Ard. 

22  These  are  the  sons  of  Rachel,  which 
were  born  to  Jacob  :  all  the  souls  were  fourteen. 

23  n  And  the  sons  of  Dan  ;  °  Hushim. 

24  p  And  the  sons  of  Naphtali ;  Jahzeel,  and 
Guni,  and  Jezer,  and  Shillem. 

25  q  These  are  the  sons  of  Bilhah,  r  which 
Laban  gave  unto  Rachel  his  daughter,  and 
she  bare  these  unto  Jacob  :  all  the  souls  were 
seven. 


A.  M.  2298. 

B.  C.  1706. 


26  8  All  the  souls  that  came  with 
Jacob  into  Egypt,  which  came  out 
of  his  t  loins,  besides  Jacob’s  sons’  wives,  all 
the  souls  were  threescore  and  six  ; 


27  And  the  sons  of  Joseph,  which  were 
born  him  in  Egypt,  were  two  souls  :  u  all  the 
souls  of  the  house  of  Jacob,  which  came  into 
Egypt,  were  threescore  and  ten. 

28  And  he  sent  Judah  before  him  unto  Jo¬ 
seph,  v  to  direct  his  face  unto  Goshen ;  and 
they  came  w  into  the  land  of  Goshen. 

29  And  Joseph  made  ready  his  chariot,  and 
went  up  to  meet  Israel  his  father,  to  Goshen, 


1 1  Chron.  vii.  6;  viii.  1. - kNum.  xxvi.  38;  Ahiram. 

•Numbers  xxvi.  39;  Shupham ;  1  Chron.  vii.  12;  Shuppim. 
m  Hupham,  Num.  xxvi.  39. - n  1  Chron.  vii.  12. - 0  Or,  Shu- 


ham ;  Num.  xxvi.  42. - P  1  Chron.  vii.  13. - q  Chap.  xxx.  5, 7. 

rCh.  xxix.  29. - aExod.  i.  5. - ‘Heb.  thigh;  chap.  xxxv.  11. 

u  Deut.  x.  22 ;  see  Acts  vii.  14. - v  Ch.  xxxi.  21. - w  Ch.  xlvii.  1. 


supposed  to  be  as  yet  unmarried,  and  the  wife  of  Jo¬ 
seph  being  already  in  Egypt,  and  therefore  out  of  the 
case  :  the  number  will  amount  to  seventy-five ,  which  is 
that  found  in  the  Acts.” — Universal  History. 

Dr.  Hales’  method  is  more  simple,  and  I  think  more 
satisfactory  :  “  Moses  states  that  all  the  souls  that  came 
with  Jacob  into  Egypt,  which  issued  from  his  loins ,  (ex¬ 
cept  his  sons’  wives,)  were  sixty-six  souls,  Gen.  xlvi. 


26  ;  and  this  number  is  thus  collected  : — 

Jacob’s  children,  eleven  sons  and  one  daughter  .  12 

Reuben's  sons . 4 

Simeon's  sons . 6 

Levi's  sons .  . 3 

Judah's  three  sons  and  two  grandsons  ....  5 

Issachar's  sons . 4 

Zebulun's  sons . 3 

Gad's  sons . 7 

Asher's  four  sons,  one  daughter,  and  two  grandsons  7 

Dan's  son . 1 

Naphtali's  sons . 4 

Benjamin's  sons . 10 


66 

“  If  to  these  sixty-six  children,  and  grandchildren, 
arid  great  grandchildren,  we  add  Jacob  himself,  Joseph 
and  his  two  sons ,  the  amount  is  seventy ,  the  whole 
amount  of  Jacob’s  family  which  settled  in  Egypt. 

“  In  this  statement  the  wives  of  Jacob’s  sons,  who 
formed  part  of  the  household,  are  omitted ;  but  they 
amounted  to  nine ,  for  of  the  twelve  wives  of  the  twelve 
sons  of  Jacob,  Judah’s  wife  was  dead,  chap,  xxxviii. 
12,  and  Simeon’s  also,  as  we  may  collect  from  his 
youngest  son  Shaul  by  a  Canaanitess,  ver.  10,  and 
Joseph’s  wife  was  already  in  Egypt.  These  nine 
wives,  therefore,  added  to  the  sixty-six ,  give  seventy- 
jive  souls,  the  whole  amount  of  Jacob’s  household  that 
went  down  with  him  to  Egypt ;  critically  correspond¬ 
ing  with  the  statement  in  the  New  Testament,  that 
‘  Joseph  sent  for  his  father  Jacob  and  all  his  kindred , 
amounting  to  seventy  five  souls.’  The  expression  all 
his  kindred ,  including  the  wives  which  were  Joseph’s 
kindred,  not  only  by  affinity,  but  also  by  consanguinity, 
being  probably  of  the  families  of  Esau ,  Ishmael,  or  Ke- 

a 


turah.  Thus  does  the  New  Testament  furnish  an  admi¬ 
rable  comment  on  the  Old.” — Analysis,  vol.,  ii.  p.  159. 

It  is  necessary  to  observe  that  this  statement,  which 
appears  on  the  whole  the  most  consistent,  supposes  that 
Judah  was  married  when  about  fourteen  years  of  age, 
his  son  Er  at  the  same  age,  Phare z  at  the  same ,  Asher 
and  his  fourth  son  Beriah  under  twenty,  Benjamin 
about  fifteen ,  and  Joseph's  sons  and  grandsons  about 
twenty.  But  this  is  not  improbable,  as  the  children 
of  Israel  must  all  have  married  at  a  very  early  age,  to 
have  produced  in  about  two  hundred  and  fifteen  years 
no  less  than  six  hundred  thousand  persons  above  twenty 
years  old,  besides  women  and  children. 

Verse  28.  He  sent  Judah  before  him  unto  Joseph ] 
Judah  was  certainly  a  man  of  sense,  and  also  an  elo¬ 
quent  man  ;  and  of  him  Joseph  must  have  had  a  very 
favourable  opinion  from  the  speech  he  delivered  before 
him,  chap.  xliv.  18,  &c.  ;  he  was  therefore  chosen  as 
the  most  proper  person  to  go  before  and  announce  Ja¬ 
cob’s  arrival  to  his  son  Joseph. 

To  direct  his  face  unto  Goshen ]  The  land  of  Go¬ 
shen  is  the  same,  according  to  the  Septuagint,  as  the 
land  of  Rameses,  and  Goshen  itself  the  same  as 
Heroopolis,  'H poov  rr ohg  Heroon-polis ,  the  city  of 
heroes,  a  name  by  which  it  went  in  the  days  of  the 
Septuagint,  and  which  it  still  retained  in  the  time  of 
Josephus,  for  he  makes  use  of  the  same  term  in  speak¬ 
ing  of  this  place.  See  on  ver.  34. 

Verse  29.  And  Joseph  made  ready  his  chariot ] 
irDIHD  mercabto.  In  chap.  xli.  43,  we  have  the  first 
mention  of  a  chariot,  and  if  the  translation  be  correct, 
it  is  a  proof  that  the  arts  were  not  in  a  rude  state  in 
Egypt  even  at  this  early  time.  When  we  find  wagons 
used  to  transport  goods  from  place  to  place,  we  need 
not  wonder  that  these  suggested  the  idea  of  forming 
chariots  for  carrying  persons,  and  especially  those  of 
high  rank  and  authority.  Necessity  produces  arts, 
and  arts  and  science  produce  not  only  an  increase  of 
the  conveniences  but  also  of  the  refinements  and  luxu¬ 
ries  of  life.  It  has  been  supposed  that  a  chariot  is 
not  intended  here  ;  for  as  the  word  ri3D*lD  mercabah, 
which  we  and  most  of  the  ancient  versions  translate 
chariot,  comes  from  DD")  rachab,  he  rode,  saddling  his 
horse  may  be  all  that  is  intended.  But  it  is  more 

253 


Joseph  meets  his  father,  and  tells  his  GENESIS,  *  brethren  what  to  sop  to  Pharaoh . 


A. M. 2298.  and  presented  himself  unto  him; 

- 1  and  he  x  fell  on  his  neck,  and  wept 

on  his  neck  a  good  while. 

30  And  Israel  said  unto  Joseph,  y  Now  let 
me  die,  since  I  have  seen  thy  face,  because 
hou  art  yet  alive. 

3 1  And  Joseph  said  unto  his  brethren,  and 
unto  his  father’s  house,  z  I  will  go  up,  and 
show  Pharaoh,  and  say  unto  him,  My  bre¬ 
thren,  and.  my  father’s  house,  which  were  in 
the  land  of  Canaan,  are  come  unto  me. 

32  And  the  men  are  shepherds,  for  a  their 


trade  hath  been  to  feed  cattle  ;  and  a.  M.  2298 

they  have  brought  their  flocks,  and  — — - - 

their  herds,  and  all  that  they  have. 

33  And  it  shall  come  to  pass,  when  Pharaoh 
shall  call  you,  and  shall  say,  b  What  is  your 
occupation  ? 

34  That  ye  shall  say,  Thy  servants’  c  trade 
hath  been  about  cattle  d  from  our  youth  even 
until  now,  both  we,  and  also  our  fathers  ; 
that  ye  may  dwell  in  the  land  of  Goshen  ;  for 
every  shepherd  is  e  an  abomination  unto  the 
Egyptians. 


*  So  chap.  xlv.  14. - y  So  Luke  ii.  29,  30. - z  Chap,  xlvii.  1. 

a  Heb.  they  are  men  of  cattle. - b  Chap,  xlvii.  2,  3. 

likely  to  signify  a  chariot,  as  the  verb  "1DK  asar,  which 
signifies  to  bind,  tie,  or  yoke,  is  used ;  and  not  JJOn 
chabash,  which  signifies  to  saddle. 

Fell  on  his  neck']  See  chap.  xlv.  14. 

Verse  30.  Now  let  me  die,  since  I  have  seen  thy 
face]  Perhaps  old  Simeon  had  this  place  in  view  when, 
seeing  the  salvation  of  Israel,  he  said,  Lord,  now  let- 
test  thou  thy  servant  depart  in  peace,  flc.,  Luke  ii.  29. 

Verse  34.  Thy  servants'1  trade  hath  been  about  cattle] 
“The  land  of  Goshen,  called  also  the  land  of  Rameses, 
lay  east  of  the  Nile,  by  which  it  was  never  overflowed, 
and  was  bounded  by  the  mountains  of  the  Thebaid  on 
the  south,  by  the  Nile  and  Mediterranean  on  the  west 
and  north,  and  by  the  Red  Sea  and  desert  of  Arabia 
on  the  east.  It  was  the  Heliopolitan  nome  or  district, 
and  its  capital  was  called  ON.  Its  proper  name  was 
Geshen,  the  country  of  grass  or  pasturage,  or  of  the 
shepherds,  in  opposition  to  the  rest  of  the  land  which 
was  sown  after  having  been  overflowed  by  the  Nile.” 
— Bruce.  As  this  land  was  both  fruitful  and  pleasant, 
Joseph  wished  to  fix  his  family  in  that  part  of  Egypt; 
hence  he  advises  them  to  tell  Pharaoh  that  their  trade 
had  been  in  cattle  from  their  youth :  and  because  every 
shepherd  is  an  abomination  to  the  Egyptians,  hence  he 
concluded  that  there  would  be  less  difficulty  to  get  them 
quiet  settlement  in  Goshen,  as  they  would  then  be  se¬ 
parated  from  the  Egyptians,  and  consequently  have  the 
free  use  of  all  their  religious  customs.  This  scheme 
succeeded,  and  the  consequence  was  the  preservation 
both  of  their  religion  and  their  lives,  though  some  of 
their  posterity  did  afterwards  corrupt  themselves ;  see 
Ezek.  xx.  8  ;  Amos  v.  26.  As  it  is  well  known  that 
the  Egyptians  had  cattle  and  flocks  themselves,  and 
that  Pharaoh  even  requested  that  some  of  Joseph’s 
brethren  should  be  made  rulers  over  his  cattle ,  how 
could  it  be  said,  as  in  ver.  34,  Every  shepherd  is  an 
abomination  unto  the  Egyptians  ?  Three  reasons  may 
be  assigned  for  this  :  1 .  Shepherds  and  feeders  of  cat¬ 
tle  were  usually  a  sort  of  lawless,  freebooting  banditti, 
frequently  making  inroads  on  villages,  &c.,  carrying 
off  cattle,  and  whatever  spoils  they  could  find.  This 
might  probably  have  been  the  case  formerly,  for  it  is 
well  known  it  has  often  been  the  case  since.  On  this 
account  such  persons  must  have  been  universally  de¬ 
tested.  2.  They  must  have  abhorred  shepherds  if  Ma- 
nctho's  account  of  the  hycsos  or  king-shepherds  can  be 

254 


0  Ver.  32. - d  Chap.  xxx.  35  ;  xxxiv.  5  ;  xxxvii.  12. - e  Chap. 

xliii.  32 ;  Exod.  viii.  26. 

credited.  Hordes  of  marauders  under  this  name,  from 
Arabia,  Syria,  and  Ethiopia,  (whose  chief  occupation, 
like  the  Bedouin  Arabs  of  the  present  day,  was  to  keep 
flocks,)  made  a  powerful  irruption  into  Egypt,  which 
they  subdued  and  ruled  with  great  tyranny  for  259 
years.  Now,  though  they  had  been  expelled  from  that 
land  some  considerable  time  before  this,  yet  their  name, 
and  all  persons  of  a  similar  occupation,  were  execrated 
by  the  Egyptians,  on  account  of  the  depredations  and 
long-continued  ravages  they  had  committed  in  the  coun¬ 
try.  3.  The  last  and  probably  the  best  reason  why 
the  Egyptians  abhorred  such  shepherds  as  the  Israel¬ 
ites  were,  was,  they  sacrificed  those  very  animals,  the 
ox  particularly,  and  the  sheep,  which  the  Egyptians 
held  sacred.  Hence  the  Roman  historian  Tacitus , 
speaking  of  the  Jews,  says  :  “  Caeso  ariete  velut  in 
contumelia  Ammonis  ;  Bos  quoque  immolatur,  quem 
AEgyptii  Apim  colunt.”  “  They  sacrifice  the  ram  in 
order  to  insult  Jupiter  Ammon,  and  they  sacrifice  the 
ox,  which  the  Egyptians  worship  under  the  name  of 
Apis.”  Though  some  contend  that  this  idolatry  was 
not  as  yet  established  in  Egypt,  and  that  the  king-shep¬ 
herds  were  either  after  the  time  of  Joseph,  or  that 
Manetho  by  them  intends  the  Israelites  themselves ; 
yet,  as  the  arguments  by  which  these  conjectures  are 
supported  are  not  sufficient  to  overthrow  those  which 
are  brought  for  the  support  of  the  contrary  opinions, 
and  as  there  was  evidently  an  established  religion  and 
priesthood  in  Egypt  before  Joseph’s  time,  (for  we  find 
the  priests  had  a  certain  portion  of  the  land  of  Egypt 
which  wras  held  so  sacred  that  Joseph  did  not  attempt 
to  buy  it  in  the  time  of  the  famine,  when  he  bought 
all  the  land  which  belonged  to  the  people,  chap,  xlvii. 
20-22,)  and  as  that  established  priesthood  was  in  all 
likelihood  idolatrous,  and  as  the  worship  of  Apis  under 
the  form  of  an  ox  was  one  of  the  most  ancient  forms 
of  worship  in  Egypt,  we  may  rest  tolerably  certain  that 
it  was  chiefly  on  this  account  that  the  shepherds,  or 
those  who  fed  on  and  sacrificed  these  objects  of  their 
worship,  were  an  abomination  to  the  Egyptians.  Cal- 
met  has  entered  into  this  subject  at  large,  and  to  his 
notes  I  must  refer  those  readers  who  wish  for  farther 
information.  See  on  chap,  xliii.  32. 

On  the  principal  subject  of  this  chapter,  the  going 
down  of  Jacob  and  his  family  into  Egypt,  Bishop  War- 

a 


CHAP.  XL VII. 


Joseph  informs  Pharaoh 

burton,  in  bis  Divine  Legation  of  Moses,  makes  the 
following  judicious  reflections:  “The  promise  God 
made  to  Abraham,  to  give  his  posterity  the  land  of  Ca¬ 
naan,  could  not  be  performed  till  that  family  was  grown 
strong  enough  to  take  and  keep  possession  of  it.  In 
the  meantime,  therefore,  they  were  necessitated  to 
reside  among  idolaters,  and  to  reside  unmixed  ;  but 
whoever  examines  their  history  will  see  that  the  Is¬ 
raelites  had  ever  a  violent  propensity  to  join  themselves 
to  Gentile  nations,  and  practise  their  manners.  God 
therefore,  in  his  infinite  wisdom,  brought  them  into 
Egypt,  and  kept  them  there  during  this  period,  the  only 
place  where  they  could  remain  for  so  long  a  time  safe 


of  his  father's  arrival. 

and  unconfounded  with  the  natives,  the  ancient  Egyp¬ 
tians  being  by  numerous  institutions  forbidden  all  fel¬ 
lowship  with  strangers,  and  bearing  besides  a  particular 
aversion  to  the  profession  of  the  Israelites,  who  were 
shepherds.  Thus  the  natural  dispositions  of  the  Is 
raelites,  which  in  Egypt  occasioned  their  superstitions, 
and  in  consequence  the  necessity  of  a  burdensome  ritual, 
would  in  any  other  country  have  absorbed  them  into 
Gentilism ,  and  confounded  them  with  idolaters.  From 
the  Israelites  going  into  Egypt  arises  a  new  occasion 
to  adore  the  footsteps  of  Eternal  Wisdom  in  his  dis¬ 
pensations  to  his  chosen  people.” 


CHAPTER  XLVII. 

Joseph  informs  Pharaoh  that  his  father  and  brethren  are  arrived  in  Goshen ,  1.  He  presents  five  of  his 
brethren  before  the  king ,  2,  who  questions  them  concerning  their  occupation  ;  they  inform  him  that  they  are 
shepherds,  and  request  permission  to  dwell  in  the  land  of  Goshen,  3,  4.  Pharaoh  consents ,  and  desires 
that  some  of  the  most  active  of  them  should  be  made  rulers  over  his  cattle ,  5,  6.  Joseph  presents  his 
father  to  Pharaoh ,  7,  who  questions  him  concerning  his  age ,  8,  to  which  Jacob  returns  an  affecting  answer , 
and  blesses  Pharaoh ,  9,  10.  Joseph  places  his  father  and  family  in  the  land  of  Rameses,  ( Goshen ,)  and 
furnishes  them  with  provisions.  11,  12.  The  famine  prevailing  in  the  land ,  the  Egyptians  deliver  up  all 
their  money  to  Joseph  to  get  food,  13—15.  The  next  year  they  bring  their  cattle,  16,  17.  The  third , 
their  lands  and  their  persons,  18-21.  The  land  of  the  priests  Joseph  does  not  buy ,  as  it  ivas  a  royal  grant 
to  them  from  Pharaoh ,  22.  The  people  receive  seed  to  sow  the  land  on  condition  that  they  shall  give  a 
fifth  part  of  the  produce  to  the  king ,  23,  24.  The  people  agree ,  and  Joseph  makes  it  a  law  all  over  Egypt , 
25,  26.  The  Israelites  multiply  exceedingly ,  27.  Jacob ,  having  lived  seventeen  years  in  Goshen ,  and 
being  one  hundred  and  forty -seven  years  old ,  28,  makes  Joseph  promise  not  to  bury  him  in  Egypt ,  but  in 
Canaan ,  29,  30.  Joseph  promises  and  confirms  it  with  an  oath ,  31. 


a.  M.  2298.  rpHEN  Joseph  a  came  and  told 

B.  C.  1706.  X  1 

and  my  brethren,  and  their  flocks,  and  their 
herds,  and  all  that  they  have,  are  come  out  of 
the  land  of  Canaan  ;  and,  behold,  they  are  in 
b  the  land  of  Goshen. 

2  And  he  took  some  of  his  brethren,  even 
five  men,  and  c  presented  them  unto  Pharaoh. 

3  And  Pharaoh  said  unto  his  brethren, 
d  What  is  your  occupation  ?  And  they  said 


Pharaoh,  and  said,  My  father 


unto  Pharaoh,  e  Thy  servants  are  A.  M.  2298. 

,  -1  ,  ,  1  J  .  B.  C.  1706. 

shepherds,  both  we,  and  also  our  - 

fathers. 

4  (They  said  moreover  unto  Pharaoh,)  f  For 
to  sojourn  in  the  land  are  we  come  ;  for  thy 
servants  have  no  pasture  for  their  flocks  ;  s  for 
the  famine  is  sore  in  the  land  of  Canaan  :  now 
therefore,  we  pray  thee,  let  thy  servants  h  dwell 
in  the  land  of  Goshen. 

5  And  Pharaoh  spake  unto  Joseph,  saying, 


a  Chap.  xlvi.  31. - b  Chap.  xlv.  10  ;  xlvi.  28. - c  Acts  vii.  13. 

d  Chap.  xlvi.  33. - e  Chap.  xlvi.  34. 


f  Chap.  xv.  13  ;  Deut.  xxvi.  5. - e  Chap.  xli.  27,  30,  31,  50,  56  ; 

xliii.  1  ;  Acts  vii.  11. - -hChap.  xlvi.  34. 


NOTES  ON  CHAP.  XLVII. 

Verse  2.  He  took  some  of  his  brethren ]  There  is 
something  very  strange  in  the  original ;  literally  trans¬ 
lated  it  signifies  “  from  the  end  or  extremity  (nifp^ 
miktseh)  of  his  brethren  he  took  five  men.”  This  has 
been  understood  six  different  ways.  1.  Joseph  took 
five  of  his  brethren  that  came  first  to  hand — 'at  random , 
without  design  or  choice.  2.  Joseph  took  five  of  the 
meanest-looking  of  his  brethren  to  present  before  Pha¬ 
raoh,  fearing  if  he  had  taken  the  sightliest  that  Pha¬ 
raoh  would  detain  them  for  his  service,  whereby  their 
religion  and  morals  might  be  corrupted.  3.  Joseph 
took  five  of  the  best  made  and  finest-looking  of  his 
brethren,  and  presented  them  before  Pharaoh,  wishing 
to  impress  his  mind  with  a  favourable  opinion  of  the 


family  which  he  had  just  now  brought  into  Egypt,  and 
to  do  himself  honour.  4.  Joseph  took  five  of  the 
youngest  of  his  brethren.  5.  He  took  five  of  the  eldest 
of  his  brethren.  6.  He  took  five  from  the  extremity 
or  end  of  his  brethren,  i.  e.,  some  of  the  eldest  and 
some  of  the  youngest ,  viz.,  Reuben,  Simeon,  Levi,  Is- 
sachar,.  and  Benjamin. — Rab.  Solomon.  It  is  certain 
that  in  Judges  xviii.  2,  the  word  may  be  understood 
as  implying  dignity ,  valour ,  excellence ,  and  pre-emi¬ 
nence  :  And  the  children  of  Dan  sent  of  their  family 
five  men  DJWSfpD  miklsotham,  not  from  their  coasts , 
but  of  the  most  eminent  or  excellent  they  had ;  and  it 
is  probable  they  might  have  had  their  eye  on  what  Jo¬ 
seph  did  here  when  they  made  their  choice,  choosing 
the  same  number,  five ,  and  of  their  principal  men,  as 

255 


Jacob  is  introduced  to  Pharaoh. 


GENESIS. 


A.  M.  2298.  Thy  father  and  thy  brethren  are 

B.  C.  1706.  J  J 

- -  come  unto  thee  : 

6  1  The  land  of  Egypt  is  before  thee ;  in 
the  best  of  the  land  make  thy  father  and  bre¬ 
thren  to  dwell ;  k  in  the  land  of  Goshen  let 
them  dwell :  and  if  thou  knowest  any  men  of 
activity  among  them,  then  make  them  rulers 
over  my  cattle. 

7  And  Joseph  brought  in  Jacob  his  father, 
and  set  him  before  Pharaoh :  and  Jacob 
blessed  Pharaoh. 

8  And  Pharaoh  said  unto  Jacob,  1  How  old 
art  thou  ? 

9  And  Jacob  said  unto  Pharaoh,  m  The  days 
of  the  years  of  my  pilgrimage  are  a  hundred 
and  thirty  years  :  n  few  and  evil  have  the  days 
of  the  years  of  my  life  been,  and  0  have  not 
attained  unto  the  days  of  the  years  of  the 
life  of  my  fathers,  in  the  days  of  their 
pilgrimage. 

i  Chap.  xx.  15. - Is  Yer.  4. - 1  Heb.  how  many  are  the  days 

of  the  years  of  thy  life  ? - m  Heb.  xi.  9,  13  ;  Psa.  xxxix.  12. 

a  Job  xiv.  1. - °Chap.  xxv.  7 ;  xxxv.  28. - p  Yer.  7. 

did  Joseph,  because  the  mission  was  important,  to  go 
and  search  out  the  land.  But  the  word  may  be  under¬ 
stood  simply  as  signifying  some ;  out  of  the  whole  of 
his  brethren  he  took  only  five  men,  &c. 

Yerse  6.  In  the  best  of  the  land  make  thy  father 
and  brethren  to  dwell ;  in  the  land  of  Goshen  let  them 
dwell ]  So  it  appears  that  the  land  of  Goshen  was  the 
best  of  the  land  of  Egypt. 

Men  of  activity ]  Vti  ’BUN  anshey  chayil,  stout  or 
robust  men — such  as  were  capable  of  bearing  fatigue, 
and  of  rendering  their  authority  respectable. 

Rulers  over  my  cattle.]  HJpD  mikneh  signifies  not 
only  cattle,  but  possessions  or  property  of  any  kind  ; 
though  most  usually  cattle  are  intended,  because  in  an¬ 
cient  times  they  constituted  the  principal  part  of  a 
man’s  property.  The  word  may  be  taken  here  in  a 
more  extensive  sense,  and  the  circumstances  of  the 
case  seem  obviously  to  require  it.  If  every  shepherd 
was  an  abomination  to  the  Egyptians,  however  we  may 
understand  or  qualify  the  expression,  is  it  to  be  sup¬ 
posed  that  Pharaoh  should  desire  that  the  brethren  of 
his  prime  minister,  of  his  chief  favourite,  should  be 
employed  in  some  of  the  very  meanest  offices  in  the 
land  1  We  may  therefore  safely  understand  Pharaoh 
as  expressing  his  will,  that  the  brethren  of  Joseph 
should  be  appointed  as  overseers  or  superintendents  of 
his  domestic  concerns,  while  Joseph  superintended 
those  of  the  state. 

Yerse  7.  Jacob  blessed  Pharaoh.]  Saluted  him  on 
his  entrance  with  Peace  be  unto  thee ,  or  some  such 
expression  of  respect  and  good  will.  For  the  mean¬ 
ing  of  the  term  to  bless ,  as  applied  to  God  and  man, 
see  on  chap.  ii.  3. 

Yerse  9.  The  days  of  the  years  of  my  pilgrimage] 
'‘lUft  megurai,  of  my  sojourning  or  wandering.  Jacob 

256 


He  and  his  sons  placed  in  Goshen . 

10  And  Jacob  p  blessed  Pha-  A.  M.  2298. 

,  ,  r  .  r  B.  C.  1706. 

raoh,  and  went  out  irom  beiore  - 

Pharaoh. 

11  And  Joseph  placed  his  father  and  his 
brethren,  and  gave  them  a  possession  in  the 
land  of  Egypt,  in  the  best  of  the  land,  in  the 
land  of  *  Rameses,  r  as  Pharaoh  had  com¬ 
manded. 

12  And  Joseph  nourished  his  father,  and  his 
brethren,  and  all  his  father’s  household,  with 
bread,  s  according  to  their  families. 1 

1 3  And  there  was  no  bread  in  all  the  land ; 
for  the  famine  was  very  sore,  11  so  that  the  land 
of  Egypt,  and  all  the  land  of  Canaan,  fainted 
by  reason  of  the  famine. 

14  v  And  Joseph  gathered  up  A.  M.  cir.  2300 

n  a  .1  .  r  ,  .  B.  C.  cir.  1704. 

all  the  money  that  was  found  in  — - . — 

the  land  of  Egypt,  and  in  the  land  of  Canaan, 
for  the  corn  which  they  bought :  and  Joseph 
brought  the  money  into  Pharaoh’s  house. 

^Exod.  i.  11  ;  xii.  37. - r  Yer.  6. - s  Or,  as  a  little  child  is 

nourished. - 1  Heb.  according  to  the  little  ones  ;  chap.  1.  21. 

“Chap.  xli.  30;  Acts  vii.  11. - v  Chap.  xli.  56. 

had  always  lived  a  migratory  or  wandering  life,  in  dif¬ 
ferent  parts  of  Canaan,  Mesopotamia,  and  Egypt, 
scarcely  ever  at  rest ;  and  in  the  places  wrhere  he  lived 
longest,  always  exposed  to  the  fatigues  of  the  field  and 
the  desert.  Our  word  pilgrim  comes  from  the  French 
pelerin  and  pelegrin,  which  are  corrupted  from  the  Latin 
peregrinus,  an  alien ,  stranger ,  or  foreigner,  from  the 
adverb  peregre ,  abroad,  not  at  home.  The  pilgrim  was 
a  person  who  took  a  journey,  long  or  short,  on  some 
religious  account,  submitting  during  the  time  to  many 
hardships  and  privations.  A  more  appropriate  term 
could  not  be  conceived  to  express  the  life  of  Jacob , 
and  the  motive  which  induced  him  to  live  such  a  life. 
His  journey  to  Padan-aram  or  Mesopotamia  excepted, 
the  principal  part  of  his  journeys  were  properly  pit- 
grimages,  undertaken  in  the  course  of  God’s  provi¬ 
dence  on  a  religious  account. 

Have  not  attained  unto  the — life  of  my  fathers] 
Jacob  lived  in  the  whole  one  hundred  and  forty-seven 
years  ;  Isaac  his  father  lived  one  hundred  and  eighty  ; 
and  Abraham  his  grandfather,  one  hundred  and  seventy- 
five.  These  were  days  of  years  in  comparison  of  the 
lives  of  the  preceding  patriarchs,  some  of  whom  lived 
nearly  ten  centuries  ! 

Yerse  14.  Gathered  up  all  the  money]  i.  e .,  by  selling 
corn  out  of  the  public  stores  to  the  people  ;  and  this 
he  did  till  the  money  failed,  ver.  15,  till  all  the  money 
was  exchanged  for  corn,  and  brought  into  Pharaoh’s 
treasury.  Besides  the  fifth  part  of  the  produce  of  the 
seven  plentiful  years,  Joseph  had  bought  additional  com 
with  Pharaoh1  s  money  to  lay  up  against  the  famine  that 
was  to  prevail  in  the  seven  years  of  dearth  ;  and  it  is 
very  likely  that  this  was  sold  out  at  the  price  for  which 
it  was  bought,  and  the  fifth  part,  which  belonged  to 
Pharaoh,  sold  out  at  the  same  price.  And  as  money 


CHAP.  XL VII. 


Joseph  buys  all  the  land 

A.  M.  230L  15  And  when  money  failed  in 

— — 1_ _ 1  the  land  of  Egypt,  and  in  the  land 

of  Canaan,  all  the  Egyptians  came  unto  Joseph, 
and  said,  Give  us  bread  :  for  w  why  should 
we  die  in  thy  presence  ?  for  the  money  faileth. 

16  And  Joseph  said,  Give  your  cattle  ;  and 
I  will  give  you  for  your  cattle,  if  money  fail. 

17  And  they  brought  their  cattle  unto  Jo¬ 
seph  :  and  Joseph  gave  them  bread  in  ex¬ 
change  for  horses,  and  for  the  flocks,  and  for 
the  cattle  of  the  herds,  and  for  the  asses  ;  and 
he  x  fed  them  with  bread  for  all  their  cattle, 
for  that  year. 

A.  M.  2302.  1 8  When  that  year  was  ended, 

B  C  1702  - 

— — 1 - 1  they  came  unto  him  the  second 

year,  and  said  unto  him,  We  will  not  hide  it 

from  my  lord,  how  that  our  money  is  spent ; 

my  lord  also  hath  our  herds  of  cattle  ;  there 

is  not  aught  left  in  the  sight  of  my  lord,  but 

our  bodies  and  our  lands  : 

1 9  Wherefore  shall  we  die  before  thine  eyes, 

w  Ver.  19. - x  Heb.  led  them. - y  Ezra  vii.  24. 

at  that  time  could  not  be  plentiful,  the  cash  of  the  whole 
nation  was  thus  exhausted,  as  far  as  that  had  circulated 
among-  the  common  people. 

"Verse  1G.  Give  your  cattle ]  This  was  the  wisest 
measure  that  could  be  adopted,  both  for  the  preserva¬ 
tion  of  the  people  and  of  the  cattle  also.  As  the  people 
had  not  grain  for  their  own  sustenance,  consequently 
they  could  have  none  for  their  cattle ;  hence  the  cattle 
were  in  the  most  immin  mt  danger  of  starving  ;  and  the 
people  also  were  in  equal  danger,  as  they  must  have 
divided  a  portion  of  that  bought  for  themselves  with 
the  cattle,  which  for  the  sake  of  tillage,  &c.,  they 
wished  of  course  to  preserve  till  the  seven  years  of 
famine  should  end.  The  cattle  being  bought  by  Joseph 
were  supported  at  the  royal  expense,  and  very  likely 
returned  to  the  people  at  the  end  of  the  famine  ;  for 
how  else  could  they  cultivate  their  ground,  transport 
their  merchandise,  &c.,  &c.  1  For  this  part  of  Jo¬ 
seph’s  conduct  he  certainly  deserves  high  praise  and 
no  censure, 

Verse  18.  When  that  year  was  ended\  The  sixth 
year  of  the  famine,  they  came  unto  him  the  second 
year ,  which  was  the  last  or  seventh  year  of  the  famine, 
in  which  it  was  necessary  to  sow  the  land  that  there 
might  be  a  crop  the  succeeding  year ;  for  Joseph,  on 
whose  prediction  they  relied had  foretold  that  the  fa¬ 
mine  should  continue  only  seven  years ,  and  consequently 
they  expected  the  eighth  year  to  be  a  fruitful  year  pro¬ 
vided  the  land  was  sowed ,  without  which,  though  the 
inundation  of  the  land  by  the  Nile  might  amount  to  the 
sixteen  requisite  cubits,  there  could  be  no  crop. 

Verse  19.  Buy  us  and  our  land  for  bread]  In  times 
of  famine  in  Hindostan ,  thousands  of  children  have 
been  sold  to  prevent  their  perishing.  In  the  Burman 
empire  the  sale  of  whole  families  to  discharge  debts 
is  very  common. — Wards  Customs. 

Vol.  I.  (  18  ) 


of  Egypt  for  Pharaoh 

both  we  and  our  land  ?  buy  us  and  A.  M.  2302. 

our  land  for  bread,  and  we  and  _ _ I 1,02\ 

our  land  will  be  servants  unto  Pharaoh  :  and 
give  us  seed,  that  we  may  live,  and  not  die,  that 
the  land  be  not  desolate. 

20  And  Joseph  bought  all  the  land  of  Egypt 
for  Pharaoh ;  for  the  Egyptians  sold  every 
man  his  field,  because  the  famine  prevailed 
over  them  :  so  the  land  became  Pharaoh’s. 

2 1  (And  as  for  the  people,  he  removed  them 
to  cities,  from  one  end  of  the  borders  of 
Egypt  even  to  the  other  end  thereof.) 

22  y  Only  the  land  of  the  z  priests  bought 
he  not  ;  for  the  priests  had  a  portion  assigned 
them  of  Pharaoh,  and  did  eat  their  portion 
which  Pharaoh  gave  them  :  wherefore  they 
sold  not  their  lands. 

23  Then  Joseph  said  unto  the  A.  M.  2203. 

people,  Behold,  I  have  bought  you  — — - - 1 

this  day  and  your  land  for  Pharaoh  :  lo,  here 
is  seed  for  you,  and  ye  shall  sow  the  land. 

z  Or,  princes  ;  chap.  xli.  45  ;  2  Sam.  viii.  18. 

Verse  2 1 .  And  as  for  the  people ,  he  removed  them  to 
cities]  It  is  very  likely  that  Joseph  was  influenced 
by  no  political  motive  in  removing  the  people  to  the 
cities,  but  merely  by  a  motive  of  humanity  and  pru¬ 
dence.  As  the  corn  was  laid  up  in  the  cities  he  found 
it  more  convenient  to  bring  them  to  the  place  where 
they  might  be  conveniently  fed  ;  each  being  within  the 
reach  of  an  easy  distribution.  Thus  then  the  country 
which  could  afford  no  sustenance  was  abandoned  for 
the  time  being,  that  the  people  might  be  fed  in  those 
places  where  the  provision  was  deposited. 

Verse  22.  The  land  of  the  priests  bought  he  not] 
From  this  verse  it  is  natural  to  infer  that  whatever  the 
religion  of  Egypt  was,  it  ivcis  established  by  law  and 
supported  by  the  state.  Hence  when  Joseph  bought 
all  the  lands  of  the  Egyptians  for  Pharaoh,  he  bought 
not- the  land  of  the  priests,  for  that  was  a  portion  as¬ 
signed  them  by  Pharaoh ;  and  they  did  eat — did  live 
on,  that  portion.  This  is  the  earliest  account  we  have 
of  an  established  religion  supported  by  the  state. 

Verse  23.  I  have  bought  you  this  day  and  your  land 
for  Pharaoh]  It  fully  appears  that  the  kingdom  of 
Egypt  was  previously  to  the  time  of  Joseph  a  very 
limited  monarchy.  The  king  had  his  estates  ;  the 
priests  had  their  lands  ;  and  the  common  people  their 
partrimony  independently  of  both.  The  land  of  Ra¬ 
ineses  or  Goshen  appears  to  have  been  the  king's  land, 
ver.  1 1 .  The  priests  had  their  lands,  which  they  did 
not  sell  to  Joseph,  ver.  22,  26  ;  and  that  the  people 
had  lands  independent  of  the  crown,  is  evident  from 
the  purchases  Joseph  made,  ver.  19,  20  ;  and  we  may 
conclude  from  those  purchases  that  Pharaoh  had  no 
power  to  levy  taxes  upon  his  subjects  to  increase  his 
own  revenue  until  he  had  bought  the  original  right 
which  each  individual  had  in  his  possessions.  And 
|  when  Joseph  bought  this  for  the  king  he  raised  the 

257  a 


The  Israelites  are  multiplied.  GENESIS.  "  Jacob’s  death  draws  near. 


A.  M.  2303.  24  And  it  shall  come  to  pass  m 

B.  C.  1701.  ,  .  ,  n  .  , 

. -  the  increase,  that  ye  shall  give  the 

fifth  part  unto  Pharaoh,  and  four  parts  shall 
be  your  own,  for  .seed  of  the  field,  and  for 
your  food,  and  for  them  of  your  households, 
and  for  food  for  your  little  ones. 

25  And  they  said,  Thou  hast  saved  our 
lives  .  a  let  us  find  grace  in  the  sight  of  my 
lord,  and  we  will  be  Pharaoh’s  servants. 

26  And  Joseph  made  it  a  law  over  the  land 
of  Egypt  unto  this  day,  that  Pharaoh  should 
have  the  fifth  part ;  b  except  the  land  of  the 
c. priests  only,  which  became  not  Pharaoh’s. 

27  And  Israel  d  dwelt  in  the  land  of  Egypt, 
in  the  country  of  Goshen  ;  and  they  had  pos¬ 
sessions  therein,  and  e  grew,  and  multiplied 
exceedingly. 

a  Chap,  xxxiii.  15. - b  Verse  22. - c  Or,  princes  ;  verse  22. 

d  Ver.  11. - e  Chap.  xlvi.  3. - { Heb.  the  days  of  the  years  of 

his  life ;  see  ver.  9. - s  So  Deut.  xxxi.  14  ;  1  Kings  ii.  1. 

crown  an  ample  revenue,  though  he  restored  the  lands, 
by  obliging  each  to  pay  one  fif  th  of  the  product  to  the 
king,  ver.  24.  And  it  is  worthy  of  remark  that  the 
people  of  Egypt  well  understood  the  distinction  be¬ 
tween  subjects  and  servants ;  for  when  they  came  to 
sell  their  land,  they  offered  to  sell  themselves  also,  and 
said  :  Buy  us  and  our  land,  and  we  and  our  land  will 
he  servants  unto  Pharaoh ,  ver.  19. 

Diodorus  Siculus,  lib.  i.,  gives  the  same  account  of 
the  ancient  constitution  of  Egypt.  “  The  land,”  says 
he,  “  was  divided  into  three  parts  :  1 .  One  belonged 
to  the  priests,  with  which  they  provided  all  sacri¬ 
fices,  and  maintained  all  the  ministers  of  religion. 
2.  A  second  part  was  the  king’s,  to  support  his  court 
and  family,  and  to  supply  expenses  for  wars  if  they 
should  happen.  Hence  there  were  no  taxes ,  the  king 
having  so  ample  an  estate.  3.  The  remainder  of  the 
land  belonged  to  the  subjects,  who  appear  (from  the 
account  of  Diodorus)  to  have  been  all  soldiers,  a  kind 
of  standing  militia,  liable,  at  the  king’s  expense,  to 
serve  in  all  wars  for  the  preservation  of  the  state.” 
This  was  a  constitution  something  like  the  British ; 
the  government  appears  to  have  been  mixed ,  and  the 
monarchy  properly  limited,  till  Joseph,  by  buying  the 
land  of  the  people,  made  the  king  in  some  sort  de¬ 
spotic.  But  it  does  not  appear  that  any  improper  use 
was  made  of  this,  as  in  much  later  times  we  find  it 
still  a  comparatively  limited  monarchy. 

Verse  24.  Ye  shall  give  the  fifth  part  unto  Pharaoh ] 
This  is  precisely  the  case  in  Hindostan ;  the  king  has 
the  fifth  part  of  all  the  crops. 

Verse  26.  And  Joseph  made  it  a  law\  That  the 
people  should  hold  their  land  from  the  king,  and  give 
him  the  fifth  part  of  the  produce  as  a  yearly  tax. 
Beyond  this  it  appears  the  king  had  no  farther  de¬ 
mands.  The  whole  of  this  conduct  of  Joseph  has 
been  as  strongly  censured  by  some  as  applauded  by 
others.  It  is  natural  for  men  to  run  into  extremes  in 
attacking  or  defending  any  position.  Sober  and  judi- 
a  258 


28  And  Jacob  lived  m  the  land  A.  M.  2315. 

r  -r,  ,  .  B.  C.  1689. 

01  Egypt  seventeen  years  :  so  1  the - ■ 

whole  age  of  Jacob  was  a  hundred  forty  and 

seven  years. 

29  And  the  time  &  drew  nigh  that  Israel  must 
die  ;  and  he  called  his  son  Joseph,  and  said 
unto  him,  If  now  I  have  found  grace  in  thy 
sight,  h  put,  I  pray  thee,  thy  hand  under  my 
thigh,  and  1  deal  kindly  and  truly  with  me ; 
k  bury  me  not,  I  pray  thee,  in  Egypt : 

30  But  1 1  will  lie  with  my  fathers,  and  thou 
shalt  carry  me  out  of  Egypt,  and  m  bury  me 
in  their  burying-place.  And  he  said,  I  will 
do  as  thou  hast  said. 

3 1  And  he  said,  Swear  unto  me  ;  and  he 
sware  unto  him.  And  n  Israel  bowed  himself 
upon  the  bed’s  head. 

h  Chap.  xxiv.  2 - •>  Chap.  xxiv.  49. -k  So  chap.  1.  25 

l2  Sam.  xix.  37. - m  Ch.  xlix.  29  ;  1.  5,  13. - n  Chap,  xlviii. 

2 ;  1  Kings  i.  47  ;  Heb.  xi.  21. 

cious  men  will  consider  ivhat  Joseph  did  by  Divine 
appointment  as  a  prophet  of  God,  and  what  he  did 
merely  as  a  statesman  from  the  circumstances  of  the 
case,  the  complexion  of  the  times,  and  the  character 
of  the  people  over  whom  he  presided.  When  this  is 
dispassionately  done,  we  shall  see  much  reason  to 
adore  God,  applaud  the  man,  and  perhaps  in  some 
cases  censure  the  minister.  Joseph  is  never  held  up 
to  our  view  as  an  unerring  prophet  of  God.  He  was 
an  honoured  instrument  in  the  hands  of  God  of  saving 
two  nations  from  utter  ruin,  and  especially  of  pre¬ 
serving  that  family  from  which  the  Messiah  was  to 
spring,  and  of  perpetuating  the  true  religion  among 
them.  In  this  character  he  is  represented  in  the 
sacred  pages.  His  conduct  as  the  prime  minister  of 
Pharaoh  was  powerfully  indicative  of  a  deep  and  con¬ 
summate  politician,  who  had  high  notions  of  preroga¬ 
tive,  which  led  him  to  use  every  prudent  means  to 
aggrandize  his  master,  and  at  the  same  time  to  do 
what  he  judged  best  on  the  whole  for  the  people  he 
governed.  See  the  conclusion  of  the  50th  chapter. 

Verse  29.  Put — thy  hand  under  my  thigh ]  See 
on  chap.  xxiv.  2. 

Verse  30.  I  will  lie  with  my  fathers]  As  God  had 
promised  the  land  of  Canaan  to  Abraham  and  his 
posterity,  Jacob  considered  it  as  a  consecrated  place, 
under  the  particular  superintendence  and  blessing  of 
God  :  and  as  Sarah,  Abraham,  and  Isaac  were  interred 
near  to  Hebron,  he  in  all  probability  wished  to  lie,  not 
only  in  the  same  place,  but  in  the  same  grave  ;  and  it 
is  not  likely  that  he  would  have  been  solicitous  about 
this,  had  he  not  considered  that  promised  land  as  being 
a  type  of  the  rest  that  remains  for  the  people  of  God , 
and  a  pledge  of  the  inheritance  among  the  saints  in 
light. 

Verse  31.  And  Israel  bowed  himself  upon  the  bed's 
head.]  Jacob  was  now  both  old  and  feeble,  and  we 
may  suppose  him  reclined  on  his  couch  when  Joseph 
came ;  that  he  afterwards  sat  up  erect  (see  chap. 

(  18*  ) 


CHAP.  XLVIII. 


Joseph  visits 

xlviii.  2)  while  conversing  with  his  son,  and  receiving 
his  oath  and  promise  ;  and  that  when  this  was  finished 
he  bowed  himself  upon  the  bed's  head — exhausted  with 
the  conversation,  he  again  reclined  himself  on  his  bed 
as  before.  This  seems  to  be  the  simple  meaning, 
which  the  text,  unconnected  with  any  religious  system 
or  prejudice,  naturally  proposes.  But  because  Pint? 
shachah,  signifies  not  only  to  bow  but  to  worship ,  be¬ 
cause  acts  of  religious  worship  were  performed  by 
bowing  or  prostration ,  and  because  HDP)  mittah ,  a  bed , 
by  the  change  of  the  points ,  only  becomes  matteh,  a 
staff,  in  which  sense  the  Septuagint  took  it,  translating 
the  original  words  thus  :  K at.  irpooEKwrioev  \apar\k  cm 
to  anpov  Trig  frafibov  avrov ,  and  Israel  worshipped  upon 
the  top  of  his  staff ,  which  the  writer  of  the  Epistle  to 


his  dying  father 

the  Hebrews,  chap.  xi.  21,  quotes  literatim ;  there¬ 
fore  some  have  supposed  that  Jacob  certainly  had  a 
carved  image  on  the  head  or  top  of  his  staff,  to  which 
he  paid  a  species  of  adoration  ;  or  that  he  bowed  him¬ 
self  to  the  staff  or  sceptre  of  Joseph,  thus  fulfilling  the 
prophetic  import  of  his  son’s  dreams !  The  sense  of 
the  Hebrew  text  is  given  above.  If  the  reader  pre¬ 
fers  the  sense  of  the  Septuagint  and  the  Epistle  to 
the  Hebrews,  the  meaning  is,  that  Jacob,  through 
feebleness,  supported  himself  with  a  staff,  and  that, 
when  he  got  the  requisite  assurance  from  Joseph  that 
his  dead  body  should  be  carried  to  Canaan,  leaning  on 
his  staff  he  bowed  his  head  in  adoration  to  God,  who 
had  supported  him  all  his  life  long,  and  hitherto  ful¬ 
filled  all  his  promises. 


CHAPTER  XLVIII. 

Joseph ,  hearing  that  his  father  was  near  death ,  toolc  his  two  sons  Ephraim  and  Manasseh,  and  went  to  Goshen 
to  visit  him ,  1.  Jacob  strengthens  himself  to  receive  them,  2.  Gives  Joseph  an  account  of  God's  appear¬ 
ing  to  Mm  at  Luz,  and  repeating  the  promise,  3,  4.  Adopts  Ephraim  ant?  Manasseh  as  his  own  sons,  5,  6. 
Mentions  the  death  of  Rachel  at  Ephrath,  7.  He  blesses  Ephraim  and  Manasseh,  preferring  the  former, 
who  ivas  the  younger ,  to  his  elder  brother,  8—17.  Joseph,  supposing  his  father  had  mistaken  in  giving  the 
right  of  primogeniture  to  the  youngest,  endeavours  to  correct  him,  18.  Jacob  shows  that  he  did  it  design¬ 
edly,  prophecies  much  good  concerning  both  ;  but  sets  Ephraim  the  youngest  before  Manasseh,  19,  20. 
Jacob  speaks  of  his  death,  and  predicts  the  return  of  his  posterity  from  Egypt,  21.  And  gives  Joseph  a 
portion  above  his  brethren,  which  he  had  taken  from  the  Amorites,  22. 


A.  M.  2315.  A  ND  it  came  to  pass  after  these 

-  things,  that  one  told  Joseph, 

Behold,  thy  father  is  sick  :  and  he  took  with 
him  his  two  sons,  Manasseh  and  Ephraim. 

2  And  one  told  Jacob,  and  said,  Behold,  thy 
son  Joseph  cometh  unto  thee  :  and  Israel 
strengthened  himself,  and  sat  upon  the  bed. 

3  And  Jacob  said  unto  Joseph,  God  almighty 
appeared  unto  me  at  a  Luz  in  the  land  of 
Canaan,  and  blessed  me, 

4  And  said  unto  me,  Behold,  I  will  make 
thee  fruitful,  and  multiply  thee,  and  I  will 
make  of  thee  a  multitude  of  people  ;  and  will 

a  Ch.  xxviii.  13,  19  ;  xxxv.  6,  9,  &c. - b  Ch.  xvii.  8. - c  Ch. 

NOTES  ON  CHAP.  XLVIII. 

Verse  1.  One  told  Joseph,  Behold,  thy  father  is  sick] 
He  was  ill  before,  and  Joseph  knew  it ;  but  it  appears 
that  a  messenger  had  been  now  despatched  to  inform 
Joseph  that  his  father  was  apparently  at  the  point  of 
death. 

Verse  2.  Israel  strengthened  himself,  and  sat  upon 
the  bed.]  He  had  been  confined  to  his  bed  before, 
(see  chap,  xlvii.  31,)  and  now,  hearing  that  Joseph 
.vas  come  to  see  him,  he  made  what  efforts  his  little 
remaining  strength  would  admit,  to  sit  up  in  bed  to 
receive  his  son.  This  verse  proves  that  a  bed,  not  a 
staff. ,  is  intended  in  the  preceding  chapter,  ver.  31. 

Verse  3.  God  Almighty]  bx  El  Shaddai,  the  all- 
sufficient  God ,  the  Outpourer  and  Dispenser  of  mercies , 


give  this  land  to  thy  seed  after  a.  m.  2315. 

thee,  b  for  an  everlasting  pos-  - 

session. 

5  And  now  thy  c  two  sons,  Ephraim  and 
Manasseh,  which  were  born  unto  thee  in  the 
land  of  Egypt,  before  I  came  unto  thee  into 
Egypt,  are  mine ;  as  Reuben  and  Simeon, 
they  shall  be  mine. 

6  And  thy  issue,  which  thou  begettest  after 
them,  shall  be  thine,  and  shall  be  called  after 
the  name  of  their  brethren  in  their  inheritance. 

?  And  as  for  me,  when  I  came  from  Padan, 
d  Rachel  died  by  me  in  the  land  of  Canaan 

xli.  50;  xlvi.  20;  Josh.  xiii.  7 ;  xiv.  4. - d  Ch.  xxxv.  9,  16,  19. 

(see  chap.  xvii.  1,)  appeared  to  me  at  Luz,  afterwards 
called  Beth- El ;  see  chap,  xxviii.  13  ;  xxxv.  6,  9. 

Verse  5.  And  now  thy  two  sons,  Ephraim  and  Ma¬ 
nasseh — are  mine]  I  now  adopt  them  into  my  own 
family,  and  they  shall  have  their  place  among  my 
twelve  sons,  and  be  treated  in  every  respect  as  those, 
and  have  an  equal  interest  in  all  the  spiritual  and  tem¬ 
poral  blessings  of  the  covenant. 

Verse  7.  Rachel  died  by  me,  df-c.]  Rachel  was  the 
wife  of  Jacob’s  choice,  and  the  object  of  his  unvary¬ 
ing  affection  ;  he  loved  her  in  life — he  loves  her  in 
death  :  many  waters  cannot  quench  love,  neither  can 
the  floods  drown  it.  A  match  of  a  man’s  own  making, 
when  guided  by  reason  and  religion,  will  neePsoarily 
be  a  happy  one.  When  fathers  and  mothers  make 

259 


GENESIS. 


t md  made  tribes  in  Israel 


Ephraim  and,  Manasseh  blessed , 


A.  M.  2315.  m  the  way,  when  yet  there  was 

-  but  a  little  way  to  come  unto 

Ephrath  :  and  I  buried  her  there  in  the  way 
of  Ephrath  ;  the  same  is  Beth-lehem. 

8  And  Israel  beheld  Joseph’s  sons,  and  said, 
Who  are  these  ? 

9  And  Joseph  said  unto  his  father,  e  They 
are  my  sons,  whom  God  hath  given  me  in 
this  place.  And  he  said,  Bring  them,  I  pray 
thee,  unto  me,  and  f  I  will  bless  them. 

10  (Now  £  the  eyes  of  Israel  were  h  dim  for 
age,  so  that  he  could  not  see.)  And  he 

e  So  chapter  xxxiii.  5. - f  Chapter  xxvii.  4. - s  Chapter 

xxvii.  I. 


matches  for  their  children,  which  are  dictated  by  mo¬ 
tives,  not  of  affection,  but  merely  of  convenience, 
worldly  gain,  &c.,  &c.,  such  matches  are  generally 
wretched  ;  it  is  Leah  in  the  place  of  Rachel  to  the  end 
of  life’s  pilgrimage. 

Verse  8.  Who  are  these?]  At  verse  10  it  is  said, 
that  Jacob’s  eyes  were  dim  for  age,  that  he  could  not 
see — could  not  discern  any  object  unless  it  were  near 
him ;  therefore,  though  he  saw  Ephraim  and  Manas¬ 
seh,  yet  he  could  not  distinguish  them  till  they  were 
brought  nigh  unto  him. 

Verse  11.  J  had  not  thought  to  see  thy  face]  Thero 
is  much  delicacy  and  much  tenderness  in  these  expres 
sions.  He  feels  himself  now  amply  recompensed  for 
his  long  grief  and  trouble  on  account  of  the  supposed 
death  of  Joseph,  in  seeing  not  only  himself  but  his  two 
sons,  whom  God,  by  an  especial  act  of  favour,  is  about 
to  add  to  the  number  of  his  own.  Thus  we  find  that 
as  Reuben  and  Simeon  were  heads  of  two  distinct 
tribes  in  Israel,  so  were  Ephraim  and  Manasseh ;  be¬ 
cause  Jacob,  in  a  sort  of  sacramental  way,  had  adopted 
them  with  equal  privileges  to  those  of  his  own  sons. 

Verse  12.  Joseph — bowed  himself  with  his  face  to 
the  earth.]  This  act  of  Joseph  has  been  extravagantly 
extolled  by  Dr.  Delaney  and  others.  “  When  I  con¬ 
sider  him  on  his  knees  to  God,”  says  Dr.  Delaney, 
“  I  regard  him  as  a  poor  mortal  in  the  discharge  of  his 
duty  to  his  Creator.  When  I  behold  him  bowing 
before  Pharaoh,  I  consider  him  in  the  dutiful  posture 
of  a  subject  to  his  prince.  But  when  I  see  him  bend¬ 
ing  to  the  earth  before  a  poor,  old ,  blind ,  decrepit  father, 
I  behold  him  with  admiration  and  delight.  How  doth 
that  humiliation  exalt  him  !”  This  is  insufferable  !  for 
it  in  effect  says  that  it  is  a  wondrous  condescension  in 
a  young  man,  who,  in  the  course  of  God’s  providence, 
with  scarcely  any  efforts  of  his  own,  was  raised  to 
affluence  and  worldly  grandeur,  to  show  respect  to  his 
father  !  And  that  respect  was  the  more  gratuitous 
and  condescending,  because  that  father  was  poor,  old, 
blind,  and  decrepit !  The  maxim  of  this  most  excep¬ 
tionable  flight  of  admiration  is,  that  “  children  who 
have  risen  to  affluence  are  not  obliged  to  reverence 
their  parents  when  reduced  in  their  circumstances,  and 
brought  down  by  the  weight  of  years  and  infirmities 
to  the  sides  of  the  grave  ;  and  should  they  acknow¬ 
ledge  and  reverence  them,  it  would  be  a  mark  of  sin- 

260 


brought  them  near  unto  him ;  and  he  A.  M.  2315. 

1  kissed  them,  and  en Braced  them.  — — i - - 

1 1  And  Israel  said  unto  Joseph,  k  I  had  not 
thought  to  see  thy  face  :  and  lo,  God  hath 
showed  me  also  thy  seed. 

12  And  Joseph  brought  them  out  from  be¬ 
tween  his  knees,  and  he  bowed  himself  with 
his  face  to  the  earth. 

13  And  Joseph  took  them  both,  Ephraim  in 
his  right  hand  toward  Israel’s  left  hand,  and 
Manasseh  in  his  left  hand  toward  Israel’s  right 
hand,  and  brought  them  near  unto  him. 

h  Heb.  heavy  ;  Isaiah  vi.  10  ;  lix.  1. - '  Chap,  xxvii.  27. 

k  Chap.  xlv.  26. 

gular  goodness,  and  be  highly  meritorious.”  Should 
positions  of  this  kind  pass  without  reprehension  ?  I 
trow  not.  By  the  law  of  God  and  nature  Joseph  was 
as  much  bound  to  pay  his  dying  father  this  filial  re¬ 
spect,  as  he  was  to  reverence  his  king,  or  to  worship 
his  God.  As  to  myself,  1  must  freely  confess  that  I 
see  nothing  peculiarly  amiable  in  this  part  of  Joseph’s 
conduct ;  he  simply  acquitted  himself  of  a  duty  which 
God,  nature,  decency,  and  common  sense,  imperiously 
demanded  of  him,  and  all  such  in  his  circumstances, 
to  discharge.  To  the  present  day  children  in  the  east, 
next  to  God,  pay  the  deepest  reverence  to  their  pa¬ 
rents.  Besides,  before  whom  was  Joseph  bowing  r 
Not  merely  his  father,  but  a  most  eminent  patriarch; 
one  highly  distinguished  by  the  Lord,  and  one  of  the 
three  of  whom  the  Supreme  Being  speaks  in  the  most 
favourable  and  affectionate  manner ;  the  three  who 
received  and  transmitted  the  true  faith ,  and  kept  un¬ 
broken  the  Divine  covenant ;  I  am  the  God  of  Abra¬ 
ham,  the  God  of  Isaac,  and  the  God  of  Jacob.  He 
has  never  said,  I  am  the  God  of  Joseph.  And  if  we 
compare  the  father  and  the  son  as  men,  we  shall  find 
that  the  latter  was  exceeded  by  the  former  in  almost 
endless  degrees.  Joseph  owed  his  advancement  and 
his  eminence  to  what  some  would  call  good  fortune , 
and  what  we  know  to  have  been  the  especial  providence 
of  God  working  in  his  behalf,  wholly  independent  of 
his  own  industry,  &c.,  every  event  of  that  providence 
issuing  in  his  favour.  Jacob  owed  his  own  support 
and  preservation,  and  the  support  and  preservation  of 
his  numerous  family,  under  God,  to  the  continual  ex¬ 
ercise  of  the  vast  powers  of  a  strong  and  vigorous 
mind,  to  which  the  providence  of  God  seemed  ever  in 
opposition ;  because  God  chose  to  try  to  the  uttermost 
the  great  gifts  which  he  had  bestowed.  If  therefore 
the  most  humble  and  abject  inferior  should  reverence 
dignity  and  eminence  raised  to  no  common  height,  so 
should  Joseph  bow  down  his  face  to  the  earth  before 
JACOB. 

Besides,  Joseph,  in  thus  reverencing  his  father,  only 
followed  the  customs  of  the  Egyptians  among  whom  he 
lived,  who,  according  to  Herodotus,  (Euterpe,  c.  80,) 
were  particularly  remarkable  for  the  reverence  they 
paid  to  old  age.  “  For  if  a  young  person  meet  his 
senior,  he  instantly  turns  aside  to  make  way  for  him ; 
if  an  aged  person  enter  an  apartment,  the  youth  always 

a 


Form  of  the  blessing  pronounced  CHAP.  XLVIII. 


on  Ephraim  and  Manasseh 


A.  M.  2315.  14  And  Israel  stretched  out  his 

— -C*  1689,  right  hand,  and  laid  it  upon  Ephraim’s 
head,  who  teas  the  younger,  and  his  left  hand 
upon  Manasseh’s  head,  1  guiding  his  hands 
wittingly ;  for  Manasseh  was  the  first-born. 

15  And  mhe  blessed  Joseph,  and  said,  God, 
n  before  whom  my  fathers  Abraham  and  Isaac 


did  walk,  the  God  which  fed  me  A.  M.  2315. 
all  my  life  long  unto  this  day,  B^c.  igsq. 

1 6  The  Angel  0  which  redeemed  me  from  all 
evil,  bless  the  lads  ;  and  let  p  my  name  be 
named  on  them,  and  the  name  of  my  fathers 
Abraham  and  Isaac  ;  and  let  them  q  grow  into 
a  multitude  in  the  midst  of  the  earth. 


1  Ver.  19. - m  Heb.  xi.  21. - “Chap.  xvii.  1;  xxiv.  40. 

°Chap.  xxviii.  15  ;  xxxi.  11,  13,  24 ;  Psa  xxxiv.  22 ;  exxi.  7. 

rise  from  their  seats and  Mr.  Savary  observes  that 
the  reverence  mentioned  by  Herodotus  is  yet  paid  to 
old  age  on  every  occasion  in  Egypt.  In  Mohammedan 
countries  the  children  sit  as  if  dumb  in  the  presence 
of  their  parents,  never  attempting  to  speak  unless 
spoken  to.  Among  the  ancient  Romans  it  was  consi¬ 
dered  a  crime  worthy  of  death  not  to  rise  up  in  the 
presence  of  an  aged  person,  and  acting  a  contrary 
part  was  deemed  an  awful  mark  of  the  deep  degene¬ 
racy  of  the  times.  Thus  the  satirist : — 

Credebant  hoc  grande  nefas,  et  morte  piandum , 

Si  Juvenis  vetulo  non  assurrexerat ;  et  si 
Barbato  cuicumque  puer.  Juv.  Sat.  xiii. ,  v.  54. 

And  had  not  men  the  hoary  heads  revered, 

Or  boys  paid  reverence  when  a  man  appear’d, 

Both  must  have  died .  Dryden. 

Indeed,  though  Dr.  Delaney  is  much  struck  with 
what  he  thinks  to  be  great  and  meritorious  condescen¬ 
sion  and  humility  on  the  part  of  Joseph  ;  yet  we  find 
the  thing  itself,  the  deepest  reverence  to  parents  and 
old  age,  practised  by  all  the  civilized  nations  in  the 
world,  not  as  a  matter  of  meritorious  courtesy,  but  as 
a  point  of  rational  and  absolute  duty. 

Verse  14.  Israel  stretched  out  his  right  hand,  <fc.] 
Laying  hands  on  the  head  was  always  used  among 
the  Jews  in  giving  blessings,  designating  men  to  any 
office,  and  in  the  consecration  of  solemn  sacrifices. 
This  is  the  first  time  we  find  it  mentioned ;  but  we 
often  read  of  it  afterwards.  See  Num.  xxvii.  18, 
23  ;  Deut.  xxxiv.  9  ;  Matt.  xix.  13,  15  ;  Acts  vi.  6  ; 
1  Tim.  iv.  14.  Jacob  laid  his  right  hand  on  the  head 
of  the  younger,  which  we  are  told  he  did  wittingly — 
well  knowing  what  he  was  about,  for  (or  although) 
Manasseh  was  the  first-born ,  knowing  by  the  Spirit 
of  prophecy  that  Ephraim’s  posterity  would  be  more 
powerful  than  that  of  Manasseh.  It  is  observable  how 
God  from  the  beginning  has  preferred  the  younger  to 
the  elder,  as  Abel  before  Cain ;  Shem  before  Japheth ; 
Isaac  before  Ishmael ;  Jacob  before  Esau ;  Judah  and 
Joseph  before  Reuben ;  Ephraim  before  Manasseh  ; 
Moses  before  Aaron;  and  David  before  his  brethren. 
“  This  is  to  be  resolved  entirely  into  the  wise  and  se¬ 
cret  counsel  of  God,  so  far  as  it  regards  temporal  bless- 
irgs  and  national  privileges,  as  the  apostle  tells  us, 
Rom.  ix.  11  ;  see  the  notes  on  chap.  xxv.  23.  But 
this  preference  has  no  concern  with  God’s  conferring 
a  greater  measure  of  his  love  and  approbation  on  one 
person  more  than  another  ;  compare  Gen.  iv.  7,  with 
Heb  xi.  4,  and  you  will  see  that  a  difference  in  moral 
character  was  the  sole  cause  why  God  preferred  Abel 
to  Cain.” — Dodd.  The  grace  that  converts  the  soul 

a 


PAmosix.  12;  Acts  xv.  17. - <iHeb.  as  fishes  do  increase; 

see  Num.  i.  46  ;  xxvi.  34,  37. 

certainly  comes  from  the  mere  mercy  of  God,  without 
any  merit  on  man’s  part ;  and  a  sufficiency  of  this  is 
offered  to  every  man ,  Tit.  ii.  11,  12.  But  it  is  not 
less  certain  that  God  loves  those  best  who  are  most 
faithful  to  this  grace. 

Verse  15.  He  blessed  Joseph ]  The  father  first, 
and  then  the  sons  afterwards.  And  this  is  an  addition¬ 
al  proof  to  what  has  been  adduced  under  ver.  12,  of 
Jacob’s  superiority ;  for  the  less  is  always  blessed  of 
the  greater. 

The  God  which  fed  me  all  my  life  long ]  Jacob  is 
now  standing  on  the  verge  of  eternity,  with  his  faith 
strong  in  God.  He  sees  his  life  to  be  a  series  of 
mercies ;  and  as  he  had  been  affectionately  attentive, 
provident,  and  kind  to  his  most  helpless  child,  so  has 
God  been  unto  him  ;  he  has  fed  him  all  his  life  long  ; 
he  plainly  perceives  that  he  owes  every  morsel  of  food 
which  he  has  received  to  the  mere  mercy  and  kindness 
of  God. 

Verse  16.  The  Angel  which  redeemed  me  from  all 
evil]  b&Jn  hammalac  haggoel.  The  Messen¬ 

ger,  the  Redeemer  or  Kinsman;  for  so  Sxi  goel  signi¬ 
fies  ;  for  this  term,  in  the  law  of  Moses,  is  applied  to 
that  person  whose  right  it  is,  from  his  being  nearest 
akin ,  to  redeem  or  purchase  back  a  forfeited  inherit¬ 
ance.  But  of  whom  does  Jacob  speak  1  We  have 
often  seen,  in  the  preceding  chapters,  an  angel  of  God 
appearing  to  the  patriarchs;  (see  particularly  chap.  xvi. 
7,  and  the  note  there  ;)  and  wre  have  full  proof  that 
this  was  no  created  angel,  but  the  Messenger  of  the 
Divine  Council,  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  Who  then 
was  the  angel  that  redeemed  Jacob,  and  whom  he  in¬ 
voked  to  bless  Ephraim  and  Manasseh  ?  Is  it  not 
JESUS  \  He  alone  can  be  called  Goel ,  the  redeem¬ 
ing  Kinsman ;  for  he  alone  took  part  of  our  flesh  and 
blood  that  the  right  of  redemption  might  be  his ;  and 
that  the  forfeited  possession  of  the  favour  and  image 
of  God  might  be  redeemed,  brought  back,  and  restored 
to  all  those  who  believe  in  his  name.  To  have  invoked 
any  other  angel  or  messenger  in  such  a  business  would 
have  been  impiety.  Angels  bless  not  ;  to  God  alone 
this  prerogative  belongs.  With  what  confidence  may 
a  truly  religious  father  use  these  words  in  behalf  of  his 
children  :  “  Jesus,  the  Christ,  who  hath  redeemed 
me,  bless  the  lads,  redeem  them  also,  and  save  them 
unto  eternal  life  !” 

Let  my  name  be  named  on  them]  “  Let  them  be 
ever  accounted  as  a  part  of  my  own  family ;  let  them 
be  true  Israelites — persons  who  shall  prevail  with  God 
as  I  have  done  ;  and  the  name  of  Abraham — being 
partakers  of  his  faith ;  and  the  name  of  Isaac — let 
them  be  as  remarkable  for  submissive  obedience  as  he 

261 


GENESIS. 


his  elder  brother. 


Ephraim  preferred  before 

A.  M.  2315.  17  And  when  Joseph  saw  that 

C-~  1689‘  ■  his  father  r  laid  his  right  hand 
upon  the  head  of  Ephraim,  it  s  displeased 
him  :  and  he  held  up  his  father’s  hand,  to 
remove  it  from  Ephraim’s  head  unto  Manas- 
seh’s  head. 

18  And  Joseph  said  unto  his  father,  Not  so, 
my  father :  for  this  is  the  first-born  ;  put  thy 
right  hand  upon  his  head. 

1 9  And  his  father  refused,  and  said, 4  I  know 
it,  my  son,  I  know  it :  he  also  shall  become  a 
people,  and  he  also  shall  be  great :  but  truly 
u  his  younger  brother  shall  be  greater  than 

r  Ye r.  14. - s  Was  evil  in  his  eyes  ;  chap,  xxviii.  8. - f  Ver. 

14. - u  Num.  i.  33,  35  ;  ii.  19,  21 ;  Deut.  xxxiii.  17  ;  Rev.  vii. 

6,  8. - v  Heb.  fulness. 

was.  Let  the  virtues  of  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob 
be  accumulated  in  them,  and  invariably  displayed  by 
them  !”  These  are  the  very  words  of  adoption  ;  and 
by  the  imposition  of  hands ,  the  invocation  of  the  Re¬ 
deemer,  and  the  solemn  blessing  pronounced,  the  adop¬ 
tion  was  completed.  From  this  moment  Ephraim  and 
Manasseh  had  the  same  rights  and  privileges  as  Jacob’s 
sons,  which  as  the  sons  of  Joseph  they  could  never 
have  possessed. 

And  let  them  grow  into  a  multitude ]  mb  UT1  ve- 
yidgu  larob  ;  Let  them  increase  like  fishes  into  a  mul¬ 
titude.  Fish  are  the  most  prolific  of  all  animals  ;  see 
the  instances  produced  on  chap.  i.  20.  This  prophetic 
blessing  was  verified  in  a  most  remarkable  manner ; 
see  Num.  xxvi.  34,  37  ;  Deut.  xxxiii.  17;  Josh.  xvii. 
17.  At  one  time  the  tribe  of  Ephraim  amounted  to 
40,500  effective  men,  and  that  of  Manasseh  to  52,700, 
amounting  in  the  whole  to  93,200. 

Verse  18.  Joseph  said — Not  so,  my  father\  Joseph 
supposed  that  his  father  had  made  a  mistake  in  laying 
his  right  hand  on  the  head  of  the  youngest,  because 
the  right  hand  was  considered  as  the  most  noble,  and 
the  instrument  of  conveying  the  highest  dignities,  and 
thus  it  has  ever  been  considered  among  all  nations, 
though  the  reason  of  it  is  not  particularly  obvious. 
Even  in  the  heavens  the  right  hand  of  God  is  the  place 
of  the  most  exalted  dignity.  It  has  been  observed  that 
Joseph  spoke  here  as  he  was  moved  by  natural  affec¬ 
tion,  and  that  Jacob  acted  as  he  was  influenced  by  the 
Holy  Spirit. 

Verse  20.  In  thee  shall  Israel  bless ]  That  is,  In 
future  generations  the  Israelites  shall  take  their  form 
of  wishing  prosperity  to  any  nation  or  family  from  the 
circumstance  of  the  good  which  it  shall  be  known  that 
God  has  done  to  Ephraim  and  Manasseh  :  May  God 
make  thee  as  fruitful  as  Ephraim ,  and  multiply  thee 
as  Manasseh  !  So,  to  their  daughters  when  married, 
the  Jewish  women  are  accustomed  to  say,  God  make 
thee  as  Sarah  and  Rebekah  !  The  forms  are  still  in  use. 

Verse  21.  Behold,  I  die ]  With  what  composure 
is  this  most  awful  word  expressed  !  Surely  of  Jacob  it 
might  be  now  said,  “  He  turns  his  sight  undaunted  on 
the  tomb  for  though  it  is  not  said  that  he  was  full 
of  days,  as  were  Abraham  and  Isaac,  yet  he  is  per- 

262 


he,  and  his  seed  shall  become  a  A.  M.  2315. 

B.  C.  1689. 

v  multitude  of  nations.  - - 

20  And  he  blessed  them  that  day,  saying, 
w  In  thee  shall  Israel  bless,  saying,  God  make 
thee  as  Ephraim  and  as  Manasseh :  and  he 
set  Ephraim  before  Manasseh. 

21  And  Israel  said  unto  Joseph,  Behold,  I 
die  ;  but  x  God  shall  be  with  you,  and  bring 
you  again  unto  the  land  of  your  fathers. 

22  Moreover  y  I  have  given  to  thee  one 
portion  above  thy  brethren,  which  I  took  out 
of  the  hand  z  of  the  Amorite,  with  my  sword 
and  with  my  bow. 

w  So  Ruth  iv.  11,  12. - x  Chap.  xlvi.  4  ;  1.  24. - r  Josh. 

xxiv.  32  ;  1  Chron.  v.  2  ;  John  iv.  5. - z  Chap.  xv.  16  ;  xxxiv. 

28 ;  Josh.  xvii.  14,  &c. 

fectly  willing  to  bid  adieu  to  earthly  things,  and  lay  his 
body  in  the  grave.  Could  any  person  act  as  the  pa¬ 
triarchs  did  in  their  last  moments,  who  had  no  hopes 
of  eternal  life ,  no  belief  in  the  immortality  of  the  soul  ? 
Impossible  !  With  such  a  conviction  of  the  being  of 
God,  with  such  proofs  of  his  tenderness  and  regard, 
with  such  experience  of  his  providential  and  miracu¬ 
lous  interference  in  their  behalf,  could  they  suppose 
that  they  were  only  creatures  of  a  day,  and  that  Gcd 
had  wasted  so  much  care,  attention,  providence,  grace, 
and  goodness,  on  creatures  who  were  to  be  ultimately 
like  the  beasts  that  perish  1  The  supposition  that  they 
could  have  no  correct  notion  of  the  immortality  of  the 
soul  is  as  dishonourable  to  God  as  to  themselves.  But 
what  shall  we  think  of  Christians  who  have  formed 
this  hypothesis  into  a  system  to  prove — what  ?  Why, 
that  the  patriarchs  lived  and  died  in  the  dark  !  That 
either  the  soul  has  no  immortality,  or  that  God  has  not 
thought  proper  to  reveal  it.  Away  with  such  an 
opinion  !  It  cannot  be  said  to  merit  serious  refutation. 

Verse  22.  Moreover  I  have  given  to  thee  one  por¬ 
tion ]  inx  DDKf  shechem  achad,  one  shechem  or  one 
shoulder.  We  have  already  seen  the  transactions  be¬ 
tween  Jacob  and  his  family  on  one  part,  and  Shechem 
and  the  sons  of  Hamor  on  the  other.  See  chap,  xxxiii. 
18,  19,  and  chap,  xxxiv.  As  he  uses  the  word  she¬ 
chem  here,  I  think  it  likely  that  he  alludes  to  the  pur¬ 
chase  of  the  field  or  parcel  of  ground  mentioned  chap, 
xxxiii.  18,  19.  It  has  been  supposed  that  this  parcel 
of  ground,  which  Jacob  bought  from  Shechem,  had 
been  taken  from  him  by  the  Amorites,  and  that  he  af¬ 
terwards  had  recovered  it  by  his  sword  and  by  his  bow , 
i.  e.,  by  force  of  arms.  Shechem  appears  to  have 
fallen  to  the  lot  of  Joseph’s  sons;  (see  Josh.  xvii.  1, 
and  xx.  7  ;)  and  in  our  Lord’s  time  there  was  a  parcel 
of  ground  near  to  Sychar  or  Shechem  which  was  still 
considered  as  that  portion  which  Jacob  gave  to  his  son 
Joseph,  John  iv.  5  ;  and  on  the  whole  it  was  probably 
the  same  that  Jacob  bought  for  a  hundred  pieces  of 
money,  chap,  xxxiii.  18,  19.  But  how  it  could  be  said 
that  he  took  this  out  of  the  hand  of  the  Amorite  with 
his  sword  and  his  bow,  we  cannot  tell.  Many  attempts 
have  been  made  to  explain  this  abstruse  verse,  but  they 
have  all  hitherto  been  fruitless.  Jacob’s  words  were 

a 


CHAP.  XLIX. 


Jacob  calls  his  sons  together 

no  doubt  perfectly  well  understood  by  Joseph,  and  pro¬ 
bably  alluded  to  some  transaction  that  is  not  now  on 
record ;  and  it  is  much  safer  for  us  to  confess  our  ig¬ 
norance,  than  to  hazard  conjecture  after  conjecture  on 
a  subject  of  which  we  can  know  nothing  certainly. 

1,  On  filial  respect  to  aged  and  destitute  parents  we 
have  already  had  occasion  to  speak  ;  see  ver.  1 1 .  The 
duty  of  children  to  their  parents  only  ceases  when  the 
parents  are  laid  in  their  graves,  and  this  duty  is  the 
next  .in  order  and  importance  to  the  duty  we  owe  to 
God.  No  circumstances  can  alter  its  nature  or  lessen 
its  importance  ;  Honour  thy  father  and  thy  mother  is 
the  sovereign,  everlasting  command  of  God.  While 
the  relations  of  parent  and  child  exist,  this  command¬ 
ment  will  be  in  full  force. 

2.  The  Redeeming  Angel ,  the  Messenger  of  the 
covenant ,  in  his  preserving  and  saving  influence,  is  in¬ 
voked  by  dying  Jacob  to  be  the  protector  and  Saviour 
of  Ephraim  and  Manasseh,  ver.  16.  With  what  ad¬ 
vantage  and  effect  can  a  dying  parent  recommend  the 
Lord  Jesus  to  his  children,  who  can  testify  with  his 
last  breath  that  this  Jesus  has  redeemed  him  from  all 
evil !  Reader,  canst  thou  call  Christ  thy  Redeemer  ? 
Hast  thou,  through  him,  recovered  the  forfeited  inhe- 


that  he  may  bless  them. 

ritance  1  Or  dost  thou  expect  redemption  from  all  evil 
by  any  other  means  1  Through  him ,  and  him  alone , 
God  will  redeem  thee  from  all  thy  sins ;  and  as  thou 
knowest  not  what  a  moment  may  bring  forth,  thou  hast 
not  a  moment  to  lose.  Thou  hast  sinned,  and  there 
is  no  name  given  under  heaven  among  men  whereby 
thou  canst  be  saved  but  Jesus  Christ.  Acquaint  thy¬ 
self  now  with  him,  and  be  at  peace,  and  thereby  good 
shall  come  unto  thee. 

3.  We  find  that  the  patriarchs  ever  held  the  pro¬ 
mised  land  in  the  most  sacred  point  of  view.  It  was 
God's  gift  to  them ;  it  was  confirmed  by  a  covenant 
that  spoke  of  and  referred  to  better  things.  We  be¬ 
lieve  that  this  land  typified  the  rest  which  remains  for 
the  people  of  Goa,  and  can  we  be  indifferent  to  the  ex¬ 
cellence  of  this  rest !  A  patriarch  could  not  die  in 
peace,  however  distant  from  this  land,  without  an  as¬ 
surance  that  his  bones  should  be  laid  in  it.  How  can 
we  live,  how  can  we  die  comfortably,  without  the  as¬ 
surance  that  our  lives  are  hid  with  Christ  in  God,  and 
that  we  shall  dwell  in  his  presence  for  ever  l  There 
remains  a  rest  for  the  people  of  God,  and  only  for  the 
people  of  God ;  for  those  alone  who  love,  serve,  re¬ 
verence,  and  obey  him,  in  his  Son  Jesus  Christ,  shall 
ever  enjoy  it. 


CHAPTER  XLIX. 


Jacob ,  about  to  die ,  calls  his  sons  together  that  he  may  bless  them ,  or  give  prophetic  declarations  concerning 
their  posterity,  1,  2.  Prophetic  declaration  concerning ,  Reuben,  3,  4.  Concerning  Simeon  and  Levi,  5—7 ; 
concerning  Judah,  8—12  ;  concerning  Zebulun,  13  ;  concerning  Issachar,  14,  15  ;  concerning  Dan,  16—18  ; 
concerning  Gad,  19  ;  concerning  Asher,  20  ;  concerning  Naphtali,  21  ;  concerning  Joseph,  22-26  ;  con¬ 
cerning  Benjamin,  27.  Summary  concerning  the  twelve  tribes ,  28.  Jacob  gives  directions  concerning  his 
being  buried  in  the  cave  of  Machpelah,  29—32.  Jacob  dies,  33. 


A.  M.  2315.  A  ND  Jacob  called  unto  his  sons, 

B.  C.  1G89.  -CL  , 

- - .  and  said,  leather  yourselves 

together,  that  I  may  a  tell  you  that  which  shall 
Defall  you  h  in  the  last  days. 


2  Gather  yourselves  together,  m.  2315. 

and  hear,  ye  sons  of  Jacob  ;  and - - 

c  hearken  unto  Israel  your  father. 

3  Reuben,  thou  art  d  my  first-born,  my  might, 


a  Deut.  xxxiii.  1 ;  Amos  iff.  7. - b  Deut.  iv.  30;  Numbers 

xxiv.  14  ;  Isa.  ii.  2 ;  xxxix.  6  ;  Jer.  xxiii.  20 ;  Dan.  ii.  28, 

NOTES  ON  CHAP.  XLIX. 

Verse  1.  That  which  shall  befall  you  in  the  last  days .] 
It  is  evident  from  this,  and  indeed  from  the  whole  com¬ 
plexion  of  these  important  prophecies,  that  the  twelve 
sons  of  Jacob  had  very  little  concern  in  them,  person¬ 
ally  considered,  as  they  were  to  be  fulfilled  in  the  last 
days,  i.  e.,  in  times  remote  from  that  period,  and  con¬ 
sequently  to  their  posterity ,  and  not  to  themselves ,  or 
to  their  immediate  families.  The  whole  of  these  pro¬ 
phetic  declarations,  from  ver.  2  to  ver.  27  inclusive,  is 
delivered  in  strongly  figurative  language,  and  in  the 
poetic  form,  which,  in  every  translation,  should  be  pre¬ 
served  as  nearly  as  possible,  rendering  the  version  line 
for  line  with  the  original.  This  order  I  shall  pursue 
in  the  succeeding  notes,  always  proposing  the  verse 
first,  in  as  literal  a  translation  as  possible,  line  for  line 
with  the  Hebrew  after  the  hemistich  form,  from  which 
the  sense  will  more  readily  appear  ;  but  to  the  Hebrew 

a 


29;  Acts  ii.  17;  Heb.  i.  2. - ePsa.  xxxiv.  11. - d  Chap. 

xxix.  32. 

text  and  the  common  version  the  reader  is  ultimately 
referred. 

2.  Come  together  and  hear,  0  sons  of  Jacob! 

And  hearken  unto  Israel  your  father. 

Bishop  Newton  has  justly  observed  that  Jacob  had 
received  a  double  blessing,  spiritual  and  temporal ; 
the  promise  of  being  progenitor  of  the  Messiah ,  and 
the  promise  of  the  land  of  Canaan.  The  promised 
land  he  might  divide  among  his  children  as  he  pleased, 
but  the  other  must  be  confined  to  one  of  his  sons  ; 
he  therefore  assigns  to  each  son  a  portion  in  the  land 
of  Canaan,  but  limits  the  descent  of  the  blessed  seed 
to  the  tribe  of  Judah.  Some  have  put  themselves  to 
a  great  deal  of  trouble  and  learned  labour  to  show 
that  it  was  a  general  opinion  of  the  ancients  that  the 
soul,  a  short  time  previous  to  its  departure  from  the 
bodv,  becomes  endued  with  a  certain  measure  of  the 

263  • 


GENESIS. 


The  'prophecy  concerning 

A.  M.  2315.  e  and  the  beginning  of  my  strength, 

_ — 1 - 1  the  excellency  of  dignity,  and  the 

excellency  of  power : 

4  Unstable  as  water, f  thou  s  shalt  not  excel ; 
because  thou  h  wentest  up  to  thy  father’s  bed ; 

e  Deut.  xxi.  17 ;  Psa.  lxxviii.  51. - f  Heb.  do  not  thou  excel. 

s  1  Chron.  v.  1. - h  Chap.  xxxv.  22;  1  Chron.  v.  1;  Deut. 

xxvii.  20. 

prophetic  gift  or  foresight ;  and  that  this  was  probably 
the  case  with  Jacob.  But  it  would  be  derogatory  to 
the  dignity  of  the  prophecies  delivered  in  this  chap¬ 
ter,  to  suppose  that  they  came  by  any  other  means 
than  direct  inspiration ,  as  to  their  main  matter,  though 
certain  circumstances  appear  to  be  left  to  the  patri¬ 
arch  himself,  in  which  he  might  express  his  own 
feelings  both  as  a  father  and  as  a  judge.  This  is 
strikingly  evident,  1.  In  the  case  of  Reuben ,  from 
whom  he  had  received  the  grossest  insult,  however 
the  passage  relative  to  him  may  be  understood  ;  and, 

2.  In  the  case  of  Joseph ,  the  tenderly  beloved  son  of 
his  most  beloved  wife  Rachel ,  in  the  prophecy  con¬ 
cerning  whom  he  gives  full  vent  to  all  those  tender 
and  affectionate  emotions  which,  as  a  father  and  a  hus¬ 
band,  do  him  endless  credit. 

3.  Reuben,  my  first-born  art  thou ! 

My  might,  and  the  prime  of  my  strength, 
Excelling  in  eminence,  and  excelling  in  power : 

4.  Pouring  out  like  the  waters : — thou  shalt  not  excel, 
For  thou  wentest  up  to  the  bed  of  thy  father, — 
Then  thou  didst  defile  :  to  my  couch  he  went  up  ! 

Verse  3.  Reuben  as  the  first-born  had  a  right  to  a 
double  portion  of  all  that  the  father  had  ;  see  Deut. 
xxi.  17. 

The  eminence  or  dignity  mentioned  here  may  refer 
to  the  priesthood  ;  the  power ,  to  the  regal  government 
or  kingdom.  In  this  sense  it  has  been  understood  by 
all  the  ancient  Targumists.  The  Targum  of  Onkelos 
paraphrases  it  thus  :  “  Thou  shouldst  have  received 
three  portions,  the  birthright,  the  priesthood,  and  the 
kingdom  and  to  this  the  Targums  of  Jonathan  ben 
JJzziel  and  Jerusalem  add  :  “  But  because  thou  hast 
sinned,  the  birthright  is  given  to  Joseph,  the  kingdom 
to  Judah,  and  the  priesthood  to  Levi.”  That  the 
birthright  was  given  to  the  sons  of  Joseph  we  have 
the  fullest  proof  from  1  Chron.  v.  1. 

Verse  4.  Pouring  out  like  the  waters ]  This  is  an 
obscure  sentence  because  unfinished.  It  evidently 
relates  to  the  defilement  of  his  father’s  couch ;  and 
the  word  THD  pachaz,  here  translated  pouring  out,  and 
in  our  Version  unstable,  has  a  bad  meaning  in  other 
places  of  the  Scripture,  being  applied  to  dissolute,  de¬ 
bauched,  and  licentious  conduct.  See  Judg.  ix.  4  ; 
Zeph.  iii.  4;  Jer.  xxiii.  14,  32;  xxix.  23. 

Thou  shalt  not  excels  This  tribe  never  rose  to  any 
eminence  in  Israel ;  was  not  so  numerous  by  one 
third  as  either  Judah,  Joseph,  or  Dan,  when  Moses 
took  the  sum  of  them  in  the  wilderness,  Num.  i.  21  ; 
and  was  among  the  first  that  were  carried  into  cap¬ 
tivity,  1  Chron.  v.  26. 

Then  thou  didst  defile ]  Another  unfinished  sen¬ 
tence,  similar  to  the  former,  and  upon  the  same  sub- 

264 


Reuben ,  Simeon ,  and  Levi 
then  defiledst  thou  it :  1 2 3 4  he  went  A.  M.  2315. 

B.  C.  1689. 

up  to  my  couch.  - 

5  k  Simeon  and  Levi  are  1  brethren ;  m  in 
struments  n  of  cruelty  are  in  their  habitations. 

6  O  my  soul,  0  come  not  thou  into  their 

1  Or,  my  couch  is  gone. - k  Chap.  xxix.  33,  34. - 1  Prov.  xviii. 

9. - m  Or,  their  swords  are  weapo?is  of  violence. - n  Ch.  xxxiv. 

25. - °  Prov.  i.  15,  16. 

ject,  passing  over  a  transaction  covertly,  which  deli¬ 
cacy  forbade  Jacob  to  enlarge  on.  For  the  crime  of 
Reuben,  see  the  notes  on  chap.  xxxv.  22. 

5.  Simeon  and  Levi,  brethren  : 

They  have  accomplished  their  fraudulent  purposes. 

6.  Into  their  secret  council  my  soul  did  not  come  ; 

In  their  confederacy  my  honour  was  not  united  : 
For  in  their  anger  they  slew  a  man^’K  ish,  a  noble,) 
And  in  their  pleasure  they  murdered  a  prince. 

7.  Cursed  was  their  anger,  for  it  was  fierce  ! 

And  their  excessive  wrath,  for  it  was  inflexible ! 

I  will  divide  them  out  in  Jacob, 

And  I  will  disperse  them  in  Israel. 

Verse  5.  Simeon  and  Levi  are  brethren ]  Not  only 
springing  from  the  same  parents,  but  they  have  the 
same  kind  of  disposition,  headstrong,  deceitful,  vindic¬ 
tive,  and  cruel. 

They  have  accomplished,  tfc.]  Our  margin  has  it. 
Their  swords  are  weapons  of  violence,  i.  e.  Their 
swords,  which  they  should  have  used  in  defence  of 
their  persons  or  the  honourable  protection  of  their 
families,  they  have  employed  in  the  base  and  dastardly 
murder  of  an  innocent  people. 

The  Septuagint  gives  a  different  turn  to  this  line 
from  our  translation,  and  confirms  the  translation 
given  above  :  hvvereXeaav  abuaav  e^aipeaecog-  avruw 
They  have  accomplished  the  iniquity  of  their  purpose  ; 
with  which  the  Samaritan  Version  agrees.  In  the 
Samaritan  text  we  read  calu,  they  have  accom¬ 

plished,  instead  of  the  Hebrew  'h D  keley,  weapons  or  in¬ 
struments,  which  reading  most  critics  prefer  :  and  as  to 
mecherotheyhem,  translated  above  their  frau¬ 
dulent  purposes,  and  which  our  translation  on  almost 
no  authority  renders  their  habitations ,  it  must  either 
come  from  the  JEthiopic  “Dro  macar,  he  counselled,  de¬ 
vised  stratagems,  c fc.,  (see  Castel ,)  or  from  the  Arabic 

macara,  he  deceived,  practised  deceit, plotted,  &c., 
which  is  nearly  of  the  same  import.  This  gives  not 
only  a  consistent  but  evidently  the  true  sense. 

Verse  6.  Into  their  secret  council,  &c.]  Jacob  here 
exculpates  himself  from  all  participation  in  the  guilt 
of  Simeon  and  Levi  in  the  murder  of  the  Shechemites. 
He  most  solemnly  declares  that  he  knew  nothing  of 
the  confederacy  by  which  it  was  executed,  nor  of  the 
secret  council  in  which  it  was  plotted. 

If  it  should  be  said  that  the  words  &OJ3  tabo  and 
*inn  techad  should  be  translated  in  the  future  tense 
or  in  the  imperative ,  as  in  our  translation,  I  shall  not 
contend  ;  though  it  is  well  known  that  the  preterite  is 
often  used  for  the  future  in  Hebrew,  and  vice  versa. 
Taken  thus,  the  words  mark  the  strong  detestation 
which  this  holy  man’s  soul  felt  for  the  villany  of  his 
sons  ;  “  My  soul  shall  not  come  into  their  secret 

a 


CHAP  XLIX. 


The  prophecy 
A.  M.  2315,  secret ;  p  unto  their  assembly, 

B  C  1 G89  '  ^  1 

—— - 1  i  mine  honour,  be  not  thou  united  : 

for  r  in  their  anger  they  slew  a  man,  and  in 

their  self-will  they  s  digged  down  a  wall. 

7  Cursed  he  their  anger,  for  it  was  fierce  ; 


P  Psa.  xxvi.  9  ;  Eph.  v.  11. - <1  Psa.  xvi.  9  ;  xxx.  12  ;  lvii.  8. 

r  Chap,  xxxiv.  26. - 3  Or,  houghed  oxen. - 1  Josh.  xix.  1  ;  xxi. 


council.  My  honour  shall  not  he  united  to  their  con¬ 
federacy.” 

For  in  their  anger  they  slew  a  man]  W'it  ish,  a 
noble,  an  honourable  man,  viz.,  Shechem. 

And  in  their  pleasure ]  This  marks  the  highest 
degree  of  wickedness  and  settled  malice ,  they  were 
delighted  with  their  deed.  A  similar  spirit  Saul  of 
Tarsus  possessed  previously  to  his  conversion  ;  speak¬ 
ing  of  the  martyrdom  of  St.  Stephen,  St.  Luke  says, 
Acts  viii.  1  :  2 avTioq  6e  rjv  ovvevdoicov  ttj  avaipeau 

avTov'  And  Saul  ivas  gladly  consenting  to  his  death. 
He  was  with  the  others  highly  delighted  with  it ;  and 
thus  the  prediction  of  our  Lord  was  fulfilled,  John 
xvi.  2  :  Yea ,  the  time  cometh,  that  whosoever  killeth 
you  will  think  that  he  doeth  God  service.  And  it  is 
represented  as  the  highest  pitch  of  profligacy  and 
wickedness,  riot  only  to  sin,  but  to  delight  in  it ;  see 
Rom.  i.  32.  As  the  original  word  |UT1  raison  signifies, 
in  general,  pleasure ,  benevolence ,  delight ,  &c.,  it  should 
neither  be  translated  self-will  nor  wilfulness ,  as  some 
have  done,  but  simply  as  above  ;  and  the  reasons 
appear  sufficiently  obvious.  They  murdered  a  prince — r 
Hamor ,  the  father  of  Shechem.  Instead  of  DW  shor , 
which  we  have  translated  a  wall ,  and  others  an  ox,  I 
read  sar,  a  prince,  which  makes  a  consistent  sense  ; 
(see  Kennicott’s  first  Dissertation,  p.  56,  &c. ;)  as  there 
is  no  evidence  whatever  that  Simeon  and  Levi  either 
dug  down  a  wall  or  houghed  the  oxen ,  as  some  have 
translated  the  passage ;  (see  the  margin ;)  on  the  con¬ 
trary,  the  text,  chap.  xxxv.  28,  29,  proves  that  they 
had  taken  for  their  own  use  the  sheep ,  oxen,  asses,  all 
their  wealth,  their  ivives,  and  their  little  ones. 

Verse  7.  Cursed  ivas  their  anger]  The  first  motions 
of  their  violence  were  savage ;  and  their  excessive  or 
overflowing  wrath ,  rnny  ebrah,  for  it  was  inflexible 
—neither  the  supplications  of  the  males,  nor  the  en¬ 
treaties,  tears,  cries,  and  shrieks  of  the  helpless  females, 
could  deter  them  from  their  murderous  purpose ;  for 
this,  ver.  5,  they  are  said  to  have  accomplished. 

Iioill  divide  them  out,  Dpinx  achallekem,  I  will  make 
them  into  lots,  giving  a  portion  of  them  to  one  tribe, 
and  a  portion  to  another  ;  but  they  shall  never  attain 
to  any  political  consequence.  This  appears  to  have 
been  literally  fulfilled.  Levi  had  no  inheritance 
except  forty-eight  cities,  scattered  through  different 
parts  of  the  land  of  Canaan  :  and  as  to  the  tribe  of 
Simeon,  it  is  generally  believed  among  the  Jews  that 
they  became  schoolmasters  to  the  other  tribes  ;  and 
when  they  entered  Canaan  they  had  only  a  small  por¬ 
tion,  a  few  towns  and  villages  in  the  worst  part  of 
Judah’s  lot,  Josh.  xix.  1,  which  afterwards  finding 
too  little,  they  formed  different  colonies  in  districts 
which  they  conquered  from  the  Idumeans  and  Ama- 
lehtes,  1  Chron.  iv.  39,  &c.  Thus  these  two  tribes 


concerning  Judah. 

and  their,  wrath,  for  it  was  cruel :  1 1  a.  m.  2315. 

will  divide  them  in  Jacob,  and  scat-  — — 1 - 

ter  them  in  Israel. 

8  u  Judah,  thou  art  he  whom  thy  brethren 
shall  praise  ;  v  thy  hand  shall  he  in  the  neck 

5,  6,  7 ;  1  Chron.  iv.  24,  39. - u  Chap.  xxix.  35 ;  Deut.  xxxiii.  7. 

v  Psa.  xviii.  40. 


were  not  only  separated  from  each  other,  but  even 
divided  from  themselves,  according  to  this  prediction 
of  Jacob. 

8.  Judah  !  thou  !  Thy  brethren  shall  praise  thee. 

Thy  hand,  in  the  neck  of  thine  enemies  : 

The  sons  of  thy  father  shall  bow  themselves  to  thee, 

9.  A  lion’s  whelp  is  Judah  : 

From  the  prey,  my  son,  thou  hast  ascended. 

He  couched,  lying  down  like  a  strong  lion, 

And  like  a  lioness  ;  who  shall  arouse  him  1 

10.  From  Judah  the  sceptre  shall  not  depart, 

Nor  a  teacher  from  his  offspring, 

Until  that  Shiloh  shall  come, 

And  to  him  shall  be  assembled  the  peoples. 

11.  Binding  his  colt  to  the  vine, 

And  to  the  choice  vine  the  foals  of  his  ass. 

He  washed  his  garments  in  wine, 

His  clothes  in  the  blood  of  the  grape. 

12.  With  wine  shall  his  eyes  be  red, 

And  his  teeth  shall  be  white  with  milk. 

Terse  8.  Thy  brethren  shall  praise  thee.]  As  the 
name  Judah  signifies  praise,  Jacob  takes  occasion  from 
its  meaning  to  show  that  this  tribe  should  be  so  emi¬ 
nent  and  glorious,  that  the  rest  of  the  tribes  should 
praise  it ;  that  is,  they  should  acknowledge  its  supe¬ 
rior  dignity,  as  in  its  privileges  it  should  be  distinguished 
beyond  all  the  others.  On  the  prophecy  relative  to  Ju¬ 
dah,  Dr.  Hales  has  several  judicious  remarks,  and  has 
left  very  little  to  be  farther  desired  on  the  subject. 
Every  reader  will  be  glad  to  meet  with  them  here. 

“  The  prophecy  begins  with  his  name  Judah,  sig¬ 
nifying  the  praise  of  the  Lord,  which  was  given  to 
him  at  his  birth  by  his  mother  Leah,  chap.  xxix.  35. 
It  t-hen  describes  the  warlike  character  of  this  tribe, 
to  which,  by  the  Divine  appointment,  was  assigned  the 
first  lot  of  the  promised  land,  which  was  conquered 
accordingly  by  the  pious  and  heroic  Caleb  ;  the  first 
who  laid  hands  on  the  necks  of  his  enemies,  and  routed 
and  subdued  them,  Josh.  xiv.  11  ;  xv.  1  ;  Judg.  i.  1, 
2  ;  and  led  the  way  for  their  total  subjugation  under 
David ;  who,  in  allusion  to  this  prediction,  praises  God, 
and  says  :  Thou  hast  given  me  the  necks  of  mine  ene¬ 
mies,  that  I  might  destroy  them  that  hate  me,  Psa. 
xviii.  40.  In  the  different  stages  of  its  strength,  this 
tribe  is  compared  to  a  lion’s  ivhelp,  to  a  full  grown 
lion,  and  to  a  nursing  lioness,  the  fiercest  of  all. 
Hence  a  lion  was  the  standard  of  Judah  ;  compare 
Num.  ii.  3,  Ezek.  i.  10.  The  city  of  David,  where 
he  reposed  himself  after  his  conquests,  secure  in  the 
terror  of  his  name,  1  Chron.  xiv.  17,  was  called 
Ariel,  the  lion  of  God ,  Isa.  xxix.  1  ;  and  our  Lord 
himself,  his  most  illustrious  descendant,  the  Lion  of 
the  tribe  of  Judah,  Rev.  v.  5. 

265 


a 


GENESIS. 


concerning  Judah. 


A.  M.  2315.  of  thine  enemies  ;  w  thy  father’s  chil 

B.  C.  1689.  J 


dren  shall  bow  down  before  thee. 

9  Judah  is  x  a  lion’s  whelp  :  from  the  prey, 

w  Chap,  xxvii.  29  ;  1  Chron.  v.  2. 


my  son,  thou  art  gone  up  :  y  he  A.  M.  2315. 

stooped  down,  he  couched  as  a  — — - - 

lion,  and  as  an  old  lion  ;  who  shall  rouse  him  up  ? 

x  Hos.  v.  4 ;  Rev.  v.  5. - y  Num.  xxiii.  24  ;  xxiv.  9. 


“  The  duration  of  the  power  of  this  famous  tribe  is 
next  determined  :  ‘  the  sceptre  of  dominion,’  as  it  is 
understood  Esth.  viii.  4  ;  Isa.  xiv.  5,  &c.,  or  its  civil 
government ,  was  not  to  cease  or  depart  from  Judah 
until  the  birth  or  coming  of  Shiloh,  signifying  the 
Apostle ,  as  Christ  is  styled,  Heb.  iii.  1  ;  nor  was  the 
native  lawgiver,  or  expounder  of  the  laiv,  teacher ,  or 
scribe ,  intimating  their  ecclesiastical  polity,  to  cease, 
until  Shiloh  should  have  a  congregation  of  peoples, 
or  religious  followers,  attached  to  him.  And  how 
accurately  was  this  fulfilled  in  both  these  respects  ! 

“  1.  Shortly  before  the  birth  of  Christ  a  decree  was 
issued  by  Augustus  Csesar  that  all  the  land  of  Judea 
and  Galilee  should  be  enrolled ,  or  a  registry  of  persons 
taken,  in  which  Christ  was  included,  Luke  ii.  1—7  ; 
whence  Julian  the  apostate  unwittingly  objected  to  his 
title  of  Christ  or  King,  that  ‘  he  was  born  a  subject 
of  Caesar  !’  About  eleven  years  after  Judea  was  made 
a  Roman  province,  attached  to  Syria  on  the  deposal 
and  banishment  of  Archelaus ,  the  son  of  Herod  the 
Great ,  for  maladministration  ;  and  an  assessment  of 
properties  or  taxing  was  carried  into  effect  by  Cyre- 
nius ,  then  governor  of  Syria,  the  same  who  before,  as 
the  emperor’s  procurator,  had  made  the  enrolment, 
Luke  ii.  2  ;  Acts  v.  37  ;  and  thenceforth  Judea  was 
governed  by  a  Roman  deputy,  and  the  judicial  power 
of  life  and  death  taken  away  from  the  Jews,  John 
xviii.  31. 

“  2.  Their  ecclesiastical  polity  ceased  with  the 
destruction  of  their  city  and  temple  by  the  Romans, 
A.  D.  70  ;  at  which  time  the  Gospel  had  been  preach¬ 
ed  through  the  known  world  by  the  apostles,  ‘  his  wit¬ 
nesses  in  Jerusalem ,  and  in  all  Judea ,  and  in  Samaria, 
and  unto  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth  ;’  Acts  ii.  8  ; 
Rom.  x.  18. 

“  Our  Lord’s  triumphant  entry  into  Jerusalem,  be¬ 
fore  his  crucifixion,  1  riding  on  an  ass,  even  a  colt  the 
foal  of  an  ass,’  which  by  his  direction  his  disciples 
brought  to  him  for  this  purpose, — £  Go  into  the  village 
over  against  you,  and  presently  ye  shall  find  an  ass 
tied ,  and  a  colt  with  her ;  loose  them,  and  bring  them 
to  me,’  Matt.  xxi.  2—5,  remarkably  fulfilling  the  pro¬ 
phecy  of  Zechariah,  ix.  9,  is  no  less  a  fulfilment  of 
this  prophecy  of  Shiloh.  1  binding  or  tying  his  foal  to 
the  vine,  even  his  ass's  colt  to  the  choice  vine.'  In 
ancient  times  to  ride  upon  white  asses  or  ass-colts  was 
the  privilege  of  persons  of  high  rank,  princes,  judges, 
and  prophets,  Judg.  v.  10;  x.  4;  Num.  xxii.  22. 
And  as  the  children  of  Israel  were  symbolized  by  the 
vine,  Psa.  lxxx.  8,  Hos.  x.  1,  and  the  men  of  Judah 
by  ‘  a  (choice)  vine  of  Sorek ,'  in  the  original,  both 
here  and  in  the  beautiful  allegory  of  Isaiah,  v.  1-7, 
adopted  by  Jeremiah,  ii.  21,  and  by  our  Lord,  Matt, 
xxi.  3  1,  who  styled  himself  the  true  vine,  John  xv.  1  ; 
so  the  union  of  both  these  images  signified  our  Lord’s 
assumption,  as  the  promised  Shiloh,  of  the  dignity  of 
the  king  of  the  Jews,  not  in  a  temporal  but  in  a 
spiritual  sense,  as  he  declared  to  Pilate,  John  xviii. 

266 


36,  as  a  prelude  to  his  second  coming  in  glory  ‘to 
restore  again  the  kingdom  to  Israel .' 

“  The  vengeance  to  be  then  inflicted  on  all  the 
enemies  of  his  Church,  or  congregation  of  faithful 
Christians,  is  expressed  by  the  symbolical  imagery  of 
c  washing  his  garments  in  wine,  and  his  clothes  in  the 
blood  of  grapes  ;'  which  to  understand  literally,  would 
be  incongruous  and  unusual  any  where,  while  it  aptly 
represents  his  garments  crimsoned  in  the  blood  of  his 
foes,  and  their  immense  slaughter ;  an  imagery  fre¬ 
quently  adopted  in  the  prophetic  scriptures. 

“  The  strength  and  wholesomer.ess  of  Shiloh’s  doc¬ 
trine  are  next  represented  by  having  ‘  his  eyes  red 
with  ivine,  and  his  teeth  white  with  milk.'  And  thus 
the  evangelical  prophet,  in  similar  strains,  invites  the 
world  to  embrace  the  Gospel  : — 

Ho,  every  one  that  thirsteth,  come  to  the  waters , 

And  he  that  hath  no  money  ;  come,  buy  and  eat : 

Yea,  come ,  buy  wine  and  milk, 

Without  money  and  without  price.  Isa.  lv.  1. 

“  On  the  last  day  of  the  feast  of  tabernacles  it  was 
customary  among  the  Jews  for  the  people  to  bring 
water  from  the  fountain  of  Siloah  or  Siloam,  which 
they  poured  on  the  altar,  singing  the  words  of  Isaiah, 

xii.  3  :  With  joy  shall  ye  draw  water  from  the  foun¬ 
tain  of  salvation  ;  which  the  Targum  interprets,  ‘  With 
joy  shall  ye  receive  a  new  doctrine  from  the  elect 
of  the  just  one  ;’  and  the  feast  itself  was  also  called 
Hosannah,  Save,  we  beseech  thee.  And  Isaiah  has 
also  described  the  apostasy  of  the  Jews  from  their  tu¬ 
telar  GoJ^Immanuel,  under  the  corresponding  imagery 
of  their  ‘  rejecting  the  gently-flowing  waters  of  Siloah ,’ 
Isa.  viii.  6-8. 

“  Hence  our  Lord,  on  the  last  day  of  the  feast,  sig¬ 
nificantly  invited  the  Jews  to  come  unto  him  as  the 
true  and  living  Fountain  of  waters,  Jer.  ii.  13.  ‘If 
any  man  thirst,  let  him  come  to  me  and  drink ;’  John 
vii.  37.  He  also  compared  his  doctrine  to  new  wine , 
which  required  to  be  put  into  new  bottles,  made  of 
skins  strong  enough  to  contain  it,  Matt.  ix.  17  ;  while 
the  Gospel  is  repeatedly  represented  as  affording  milk 
for  babes,  or  the  first  principles  of  the  oracles  of  God 
for  novices  in  the  faith,  as  well  as  strong  meat  [and 
strong  wine]  for  masters  in  Christ  or  adepts,  Matt. 

xiii.  11  ;  Heb.  v.  12-14. 

“  And  our  Lord’s  most  significant  miracle  was 
wrought  at  this  fountain,  when  he  gave  sight  to  a  man 
forty  years  old,  who  had  been  blind  from  his  birth,  by 
sending  him,  after  he  had  anointed  his  eyes  with 
moistened  clay,  to  wash  in  the  pool  of  Siloam,  which 
is  the  Greek  pronunciation  of  the  Hebrew  nVk?  Siloah 
or  Siloh,  Isa.  viii.  6,  where  the  Septuagmt  version 
reads  'Liloap,  signifying,  according  to  the  evangelist, 
aTTEGTaAfievog,  sent  forth,  and  consequently  derived 
from  nSjy  shalach,  to  send,  John  ix.  7.  Our  Lord 
thus  assuming  to  himself  his  two  leading  titles  of 
Messiah,  signifying  anointed,  and  Shiloh,  sent  forth 

a 


CHAP.  XLIX. 


Shiloh's  coming  foretold. 

A.  M.  2315.  10  2  The  sceptre  shall  not  depart 

B.  C.  1689.  r  .  i  •  i  r 

-  from  Judah,  nor  a  a  lawgiver  b  lrom 

between  his  feet,  c  until  Shiloh  come  ;  d  and 

unto  him  shall  the  gathering  of  the  people  be. 

1 1  0  Binding  his  foal  unto  the  vine,  and  his 

ass’s  colt  unto  the  choice  vine ;  he  washed 

his  garments  in  wine,  and  his  clothes  in  the 

blood  of  grapes  : 

zNum.  xxiv.  17;  Jer.  xxx.  21  ;  Zech.  x.  11. - aPsa.  lx.  7  ; 

cviii.  8,  or  Num.  xxi.  18. - b  Deut.  xxviii.  57. - cIsa.  xi.  1  ; 

lsii.  11  ;  Ezek.  xxi.  27  ;  Dan.  ix.  25;  Matt.  xxi.  9;  Luke  i.  32, 

or  delegated  from  God ;  as  he  had  done  before  at  the 
opening  of  his  mission  :  ‘  The  Spirit  of  the  Lord  is 

upon  me,  because  he  hath  anointed  me  to  preach  the 
Gospel  to  the  poor  ;  he  hath  sent  me  forth  {a-KEGTaAne) 
to  heal  the  broken-hearted,’  &c.  ;  Luke  iv.  18. 

“  And  in  the  course  of  it  he  declared,  I  was  not 
sent  forth  {aireoTaAr}v)  but  unto  the  lost  sheep  of  the 
house  of  Israel ,  Matt.  xv.  24,  by  a  twofold  reference 
to  his  character  in  Jacob's  prophecy  of  Shiloh  and 
Shepherd  of  Israel,  Gen.  xlix.  10—24.  ‘This  is 
life  eternal,  to  know  thee  the  only  true  God,  and  Jesus 
Christ  whom  thou  sentest  forth,'  (airEGTEiAac,)  to  in¬ 
struct  and  save  mankind,  John  xvii.  3  ;  and  he  thus 
distinguishes  his  own  superior  mission  from  his  com¬ 
mission  to  his  apostles:  ‘As  the  Father  hath  sent 
me,  ( aneoTaAne  [ie,)  so  I  send  you,’  tte/xtco)  vpaq,  John 
xx.  21.  Whence  St.  Paul  expressly  styles  Jesus 
C  hrist  ‘  the  Apostle  ('O  AnoGToAof)  and  High  Priest 
of  our  profession,’  Heb.  iii.  1  ;  and  by  an  elaborate 
argument  shows  the  superiority  of  his  mission  above 
that  of  Moses,  and  of  his  priesthood  above  that  of 
Aaron,  in  the  sequel  of  the  epistle.  His  priesthood 
was  foretold  by  David  to  be  a  royal  priesthood ,  after 
the  order  of  Melchizedek ,  Psa.  cx.  4.  But  Where  shall 
we  find  his  mission  or  apostleship  foretold,  except  in 
Jacob’s  prophecy  of  Shiloh  1  which  was  evidently  so 
understood  by  Moses  when  God  offered  to  send  him 
as  his  ambassador  to  Pharaoh,  and  he  declined  at  first 
the  arduous  mission  :  ‘  0  my  Lord,  send  I  pray  thee 
by  the  hand  of  Him  whom  thou  wilt  send'  or  by  the 
promised  Shiloh ,  Exod.  iii.  10  ;  iv.  13  ;  by  whom  in 
his  last  blessing  to  the  Israelites,  parallel  to  that  of 
Jacob,  he  prayed  that  ‘  God  would  bring  back  Judah 
to  his  people’  from  captivity,  Deut.  xxxiii.  7. 

“  Here  then  we  find  the  true  meaning  and  deriva¬ 
tion  of  the  much  disputed  term  Shiloh  in  this  prophecy 
of  Jacob,  which  is  fortunately  preserved  by  the  Vul¬ 
gate,  rendering  qui  mittendus  est,  he  that  is  to  be  sent, 
and  also  by  a  rabbinical  comment  on  Deut.  xxii.  7  : 
‘  If  you  keep  this  precept,  you  hasten  the  coming  of 
the  Messiah,  who  is  called  Sent.’ 

“  This  important  prophecy  concerning  Judah  inti¬ 
mates,  1 .  The  warlike  character  and  conquests  of  this 
tribe  ;  2.  The  cessation  of  their  civil  and  religious 
polity  at  the  first  coming  of  Shiloh ;  3.  His  meek  and 
lowly  inauguration  at  that  time,  as  spiritual  King  of 
the  Jews,  riding  on  an  ass  like  the  ancient  judges  and 
prophets ;  4.  His  second  coming  as  a  w  arrior  to 
trample  on  all  his  foes  ;  and,  5.  To  save  and  instruct 
his  faithful  people.” — Hales'  Anal.,  vol.  ii.,  p.  167,  &c. 

a 


Prophecy  concerning  Zebulun , 

12  His  f  eyes  shall  be  red  with  A.  M.  2315- 

wine,  and  his  teeth  white  with  — — 1 - 1 

milk. 

13  s  Zebulun  shall  dwell  at  the  haven  of  the 
sea  ;  and  he  shall  be  for  a  haven  of  ships  ; 
and  his  border  shall  be  unto  Zidon. 

14  Issachar  is  a  strong  ass  couching  down 
between  two  burdens  : 

33. - d  Isa.  ii.  2  ;  xi.  10  ;  xlii.  1,4;  xlix.  6,  7, 22,  23  ;  lv.  4,  5  ; 

lx.  1, 3, 4,  5  ;  Hag.  ii.  7  ;  Luke  ii.  30, 31,  32. - e  2  Kings  xviii.  32. 

f  Prov.  xxiii.  29. - s  Deut.  xxxiii.  18,  19  ;  Josh.  xix.  10,  11. 

Verse  10.  From  Judah  the  sceptre  shall  not  depart ] 
The  Jews  have  a  quibble  on  the  word  DDE?  shebet, 
which  we  translate  sceptre ;  they  say  it  signifies  a 
staff  or  rod,  and  that  the  meaning  of  it  is,  that  “  afflic¬ 
tions  shall  not  depart  from  the  Jews  till  the  Messiah 
comes that  they  are  still  under  affliction,  and  there¬ 
fore  the  Messiah  is  not  come.  This  is  a  miserable 
shift  to  save  a  lost  cause.  Their  chief  Targumist, 
Onkelos,  understood  and  translated  the  word  nearly  as 
we  do  ;  and  the  same  meaning  is  adopted  by  the  Jeru¬ 
salem  Targum,  and  by  all  the  ancient  versions,  the 
xVrabic  excepted,  which  has  1  kazeeb,  a  rod ;  but 

in  a  very  ancient  MS.  of  the  Pentateuch  in  my  own 
possession  the  word  sebet  is  used,  which  signi¬ 

fies  a  tribe.  Judah  shall  continue  a  distinct  tribe  till 
the  Messiah  shall  come  ;  and  it  did  so ;  and  after  his 
coming  it  was  confounded  with  the  olbcrs,  so  that  all 
distinction  has  been  ever  since  lost. 

Nor  a  teacher  from  his  offspring]  I  am  sufficiently 
aware  that  the  literal  meaning  of  the  original  vbj") 
mibbeyn  raglaiv  is  from  between  his  feet,  and  I  am  as 
fully  satisfied  that  it  should  never  be  so  translated ; 
from  between  the  feet  and  out  of  the  thigh  simply 
mean  progeny,  natural  offspring,  for  reasons  which 
surely  need  not  be  mentioned.  The  Targum  of  Jona¬ 
than  ben  Uzziel,  and  the  Jerusalem  Targum,  apply 
the  whole  of  this  prophecy,  in  a  variety  of  very  minute 
particulars,  to  the  Messiah,  and  give  no  kind  of  coun¬ 
tenance  to  the  fictions  of  the  modern  Jews. 

13.  At  the  haven  of  the  seas  shall  Zebulun  dwell, 
And  he  shall  be  a  haven  for  ships. 

And  his  border  shall  extend  unto  Sidon. 

Verse  13.  Zebulun’s  lot  or  portion  in  the  division 
of  the  Promised  Land  extended  from  the  Mediterra¬ 
nean  Sea  on  the  west,  to  the  lake  of  Gennesareth  on 
the  east;  see  his  division,  Josh.  xix.  10,  &c.  The 
Targum  of  Jonathan  ben  Uzziel  paraphrases  the  pas¬ 
sage  thus  :  “  Zebulun  shall  be  on  the  coasts  of  the  sea, 
and  he  shall  rule  over  the  havens ;  he  shall  subdue 
the  provinces  of  the  sea  with  his  ships,  and  his  border 
shall  extend  unto  Sidon.” 

14.  Issachar  is  a  strong  ass 
Couching  between  two  burdens. 

15.  And  he  saw  the  resting  place  that  it  was  good, 
And  the  land  that  it  was  pleasant ; 

And  he  inclined  his  shoulder  to  the  load, 

And  became  a  servant  unto  tribute. 

Verse  14.  Issachar  is  a  strong  ass]  D“U  "VStl  chamor 
varem  is  properly  a  strong-limbed  ass ;  couching  be 

267 


The  prophecy  concerning 


GENESIS. 


Issachar  and  Dan 


A.  M.  2315.  1 5  And  be  saw  that  rest  was 

B.  C.  1689.  ,  1  1  111 

-  good,  and  the  land  that  it  was 

pleasant ;  and  bowed  h  his  shoulder  to  bear, 

and  became  a  servant  unto  tribute. 


1 6  1  Dan  shall  judge  his  people,  a.  m.  23^5. 

as  one  of  the  tribes  of  Israel.  — — - - 1 

17  k  Dan  shall  be  a  serpent  by  the  way, 
1  an  adder  in  the  path,  that  biteth  the  horse 


h  1  Sam.  x.  9. - 1  Deut.  xxxiii.  22-;  Judg.  xviii.  1,  2. 


k  Judg.  xviii.  27. - 1  Heb.  an  arrow-snake. 


tween  two  burdens — bearing  patiently,  as  most  under¬ 
stand  it,  the  fatigues  of  agriculture,  and  submitting  to 
exorbitant  taxes  rather  that  exert  themselves  to  drive 
out  the  old  inhabitants. 

The  two  burdens  literally  mean  the  two  sacks  or 
panniers,  one  on  each  side  of  the  animal’s  body ;  and 
couching  down  between  these  refers  to  the  well-known 
propensity  of  the  ass,  whenever  wearied  or  overload¬ 
ed,  to  lie  down  even  with  its  burden  on  its  back. 

Terse  15.  He  saw  that  rest ]  The  inland  portion 
that  was  assigned  to  him  between  the  other  tribes. 
He  inclined  his  shoulder  to  the  load ;  the  Chaldee  pa- 
raphrast  gives  this  a  widely  different  turn  to,  that  given 
it  by  most  commentators :  “  He  saw  his  portion  that 
it  was  good,  and  the  land  that  it  was  fruitful ;  and  he 
shall  subdue  the  provinces  of  the  people,  and  drive  out 
their  inhabitants,  and  those  who  are  left  shall  be  his 
servants,  and  his  tributaries.”  Grotius  understands  it 
nearly  in  the  same  way.  The  pusillanimity  which  is 
generally  attributed  to  this  tribe  certainly  does  not 
agree  with  the  view  in  which  they  are  exhibited  in 
Scripture.  In  the  song  of  Deborah  this  tribe  is  praised 
for  the  powerful  assistance  which  it  then  afforded, 
Judg.  v.  15.  And  in  1  Chron.  vii.  1—5,  they  are  ex¬ 
pressly  said  to  have  been  valiant  men  of  might  in  all 
their  families,  and  in  all  their  generations;  i.  e., 
through  every  period  of  their  history.  It  appears  they 
were  a  laborious,  hardy,  valiant  tribe,  patient  in  labour, 
and  invincible  in  war;  bearing  both  these  burdens 
with  great  constancy  whenever  it  was  necessary. 
When  Tola  of  this  tribe  judged  Israel,  the  land  had 
rest  twenty-three  years,  Judg.  x.  1. 

16.  Dan  shall  judge  his  people, 

As  one  of  the  tribes  of  Israel. 

17.  Dan  shall  be  a  serpent  on  the  way, 

A  cerastes  upon  the  track, 

Biting  the  heels  of  the  horse, 

And  his  rider  shall  fall  backwards. 

Terse  16.  Dan  shall  judge]  Dan,  whose  name  sig¬ 
nifies  judgment,  was  the  eldest  of  Jacob’s  sons  by  Bil- 
hah,  Rachel’s  maid,  and  he  is  here  promised  an  equal 
rule  with  those  tribes  that  sprang  from  either  Leah  or 
Rachel,  the  legal  wives  of  Jacob. 

Some  Jewish  and  some  Christian  writers  under¬ 
stand  this  prophecy  of  Samson,  who  sprang  from  this 
tribe,  and  judged,  or  as  the  word  might  be  translated 
avenged,  the  people  of  Israel  twenty  years.  See  Judg. 
xiii.  2;  xv.  20. 

Terse  17.  Dan  shall  be  a  serpent ]  The  original 
word  is  nachash,  and  we  have  seen  on  chap.  iii. 
that  this  has  a  great  variety  of  significations.  It  is 
probable  that  a  serpent  is  here  intended,  but  of  what 
kind  we  know  not ;  yet  as  the  principal  reference  in 
the  text  is  to  guile ,  cunning,  &c.,  the  same  creature 
may  be  intended  as  in  chap.  iii. 

A  cerastes  upon  the  track]  The  word  paw  shephi- 

268 


phon,  which  is  nowhere  else  to  be  found  in  the  Bible, 
is  thus  translated  by  the  Vulgate,  and  Bochart  approves 
of  the  translation.  The  cerastes  has  its  name  from 
two  little  horns  upon  its  head,  and  is  remarkable  for 
the  property  here  ascribed  to  the  shephiphon.  The 
word  mN  orach,  which  we  translate  path,  signifies  the 
track  or  rut  made  in  the  ground  by  the  wheel  of  a 
cart ,  wagon,  &c.  And  the  description  that  Nicander 
gives  of  this  serpent  in  his  Theriaca  perfectly  agrees 
with  what  is  here  said  of  the  shephiphon 

ev  S’  ayadoicnv 

H  vai  ayaTpoxi'ijcn  rcapa  orifiov  evSvKeg  avei.  v.  262. 
It  lies  under  the  sand ,  or  in  some  cart  rut  by  the  way. 

It  is  intimated  that  this  tribe  should  gain  the  prin¬ 
cipal  part  of  its  conquests  more  by  cunning  and  stra¬ 
tagem,  than  by  valour ;  and  this  is  seen  particularly 
in  their  conquest  of  Laish,  Judges  xviii.,  and  even 
in  some  of  the  transactions  of  Samson,  such  as  burn¬ 
ing  the  corn  of  the  Philistines,  and  at  last  pulling  down 
their  temple,  and  destroying  three  thousand  at  one  time, 
see  Judg.  xvi.  26—30. 

18.  For  thy  salvation  have  I  waited,  O  Lord! 

This  is  a  remarkable  ejaculation,  and  seems  to  stand 
perfectly  unconnected  with  all  that  went  before  and  all 
that  follows;  though  it  is  probable  that  certain  pro¬ 
phetic  views  which  Jacob  now  had,  and  which  he 
does  not  explain,  gave  rise  to  it ;  and  by  this  he  at 
once  expressed  both  his  faith  and  hope  in  God.  Both 
Jewish  and  Christian  commentators  have  endeavoured 
to  find  out  the  connection  in  which  these  words  ex¬ 
isted  in  the  mind  of  the  patriarch.  The  Targum  of 
Jonathan  expresses  the  whole  thus :  “When  Jacob 
saw  Gideon  the  son  of  Joash,  and  Samson  the  son  of 
Manoah,  which  were  to  be  saviours  in  a  future  age, 
he  said :  I  do  not  wait  for  the  salvation  of  Gideon,  1 
do  not  expect  the  salvation  of  Samson,  because  their 
salvation  is  a  temporal  salvation ;  but  I  wait  for  and 
expect  thy  salvation,  0  Lord,  because  thy  salvation  is 
eternal.”  And  the  Jerusalem  Targum  much  to  the 
same  purpose  :  “  Our  father  Jacob  said  :  Wait  not,  my 
soul,  for  the  redemption  of  Gideon  the  son  of  Joash 
which  is  temporal ,  nor  the  redemption  of  Samson  which 
is  a  created  salvation  ;  but  for  the  salvation  which 
thou  hast  said  by  thy  Word  should  come  to  thy  peo¬ 
ple  the  children  of  Israel :  my  soul  waits  for  this  thy 
salvation.”  Indeed  these  Targums  understand  almost 
the  whole  of  these  prophecies  of  the  Messiah,  and  es¬ 
pecially  what  is  said  about  Judah,  every  word  of  which 
they  refer  to  him.  Thus  the  ancient  Jews  convict  the 
moderns  of  both  false  interpretations  and  vain  expecta¬ 
tions.  As  the  tribe  of  Dan  was  the  first  that  appears 
to  have  been  seduced  from  the  true  worship  of  God, 
(see  Judg.  xviii.  30,)  some  have  thought  that  Jacob 
refers  particularly  to  this,  and  sees  the  end  of  the 
general  apostasy  only  in  the  redemption  by  Jesus 


CHAP.  XLIX. 


The  prophecy  concerning 

a.  m.  2315.  heels,  so  that  his  rider  shall  fall 
B.  C.  1699.  .  , 

. -  backward. 

1 8  m  I  have  waited  for  thy  salvation,  0  Lord  ! 

19  n  Gad,  a  troop  shall  overcome  him  :  but 
he  shall  overcome  at  the  last. 


Psa.  xxv.  6  ;  cxix.  166, 174  ;  Isa.  xxv.  9.- 

1  Chron.  v.  18. 


-nDeut.  xxxiii.  20; 


Christ,  considering  the  nachash  above  as  the  seducer , 
and  the  Messiah  the  promised  seed. 

19.  Gad,  an  army  shall  attack  him, 

And  he  shall  attack  in  return. 

This  is  one  of  the  most  obscure  prophecies  in  the 
whole  chapter ;  and  no  two  interpreters  agree  in  the 
translation  of  the  original  words,  which  exhibit  a  most 
singular  alliteration : — 

lJIU’  TI“U  “U  gad  gedud  yegudennu  ; 

*1V  Nim  vehu  yagud  akeb. 

The  prophecy  seems  to  refer  generally  to  the  fre¬ 
quent  disturbances  to  which  this  tribe  should  be  ex¬ 
posed,  and  their  hostile,  warlike  disposition,  that  would 
always  lead  them  to  repel  every  aggression.  It  is 
likely  that  the  prophecy  had  an  especial  fulfilment 
when  this  tribe,  in  conjunction  with  that  of  Reuben 
and  the  half  tribe  of  Manasseh,  got  a  great  victory 
over  the  Hagarites,  taking  captive  one  hundred  thou¬ 
sand  men,  two  thousand  asses ,  fifty  thousand  camels, 
and  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  sheep ;  see 
1  Chron.  v.  18—22.  Dr.  Durell  and  others  translate 
the  last  word  akeb ,  rear — “  He  shall  invade  their 

rear  which  contains  almost  no  meaning ,  as  it  only 
seems  to  state  that  though  the  army  that  invaded  Gad 
should  be  successful,  yet  the  Gadites  would  harass 
their  rear  as  they  returned :  but  this  could  never  be  a 
subject  of  sufficient  consequence  for  a  prophecy.  The 
word  ekeb  is  frequently  used  as  a  particle ,  signi¬ 
fying  in  consequence ,  because  of,  on  account  of.  After 
the  Gadites  had  obtained  the  victory  above  mentioned, 
they  continued  to  possess  the  land  of  their  enemies 
till  they  were  carried  away  captive.  The  Chaldee 
paraphrasts  apply  this  to  the  Gadites  going  armed 
over  Jordan  before  their  brethren,  discomfiting  their 
enemies,  and  returning  back  with  much  spoil.  See 
Josh.  iv.  12,  13,  and  xxii.  1,  2,  8. 

20.  From  Asher  his  bread  shall  be  fat, 

And  he  shall  produce  royal  dainties. 

This  refers  to  the  great  fertility  of  the  lot  that  fell 
to  Asher,  and  which  appears  to  have  corresponded 
with  the  name ,  which  signifies  happy  or  blessed.  His 
great  prosperity  is  described  by  Moses  in  this  figura¬ 
tive  way  :  “  Let  Asher  be  blessed  with  children,  let 
him  be  acceptable  to  his  brethren,  and  let  him  dip  his 
foot  in  oil Deut.  xxxiii.  24. 

21.  Naphtali  is  a  spreading  oak, 

Producing  beautiful  branches. 

This  is  Bochart's  translation  ;  and  perhaps  no  man 
who  understands  the  genius  of  the  Hebrew  language 
will  attempt  to  dispute  its  propriety  ;  it  is  as  literal  as 
it  is  correct.  Our  own  translation  scarcely  gives  any 
sense.  The  fruitfulness  of  this  tribe  in  children  mav 


Gad,  Asher,  and  Naphtali. 

20  0  Out  of  Asher  his  bread  shall  he  a.  m.  2315. 
fat,  and  he  shall  yield  royal  dainties.  — -  ~  1689~ 

21  p  Naphtali  is  a  hind  let  loose  :  he  giveth 
goodly  words. 

22  Joseph  is  a  fruitful  bough,  even  a  fruit- 


-P  Deuteronomy 


0  Deuteronomy  xxxiii.  24  ;  Joshua  xix.  24.- 

xxxiii.  23. 


be  here  intended.  From  his  four  sons  Jahzeel,  Gum, 
Jezer,  and  Shillem,  which  he  took  down  into  Egypt, 
chap.  xlvi.  24,  in  the  course  of  two  hundred  and  fifteen 
years  there  sprang  of  effective  men  53,400  :  but  as 
great  increase  in  this  way  was  not  an  uncommon  case 
in  the  descendants  of  Jacob,  this  may  refer  particu¬ 
larly  to  the  fruitfulness  of  their  soil,  and  the  especial 
providential  care  and  blessing  of  the  Almighty ;  to 
which  indeed  Moses  seems  particularly  to  refer,  Deut. 
xxxiii.  23  :  O  Naphtali,  satisfied  with  favour,  and  full 
ivith  the  blessing  of  the  Lord.  So  that  he  may  be  re¬ 
presented  under  the  notion  of  a  tree  planted  in  a  rich 
soil,  growing  to  a  prodigious  size,  extending  its  branches 
in  all  directions,  and  becoming  a  shade  for  men  and 
cattle,  and  a  harbour  for  the  fowls  of  heaven 

22.  The  son  of  a  fruitful  (vine)  is  Joseph  ; 

The  son  of  a  fruitful  (vine)  by  the  fountain  : 

The  daughters  (branches)  shoot  over  the  wall. 

23.  They  sorely  afflicted  him  and  contended  with  him ; 
The  chief  archers  had  him  in  hatred. 

24.  But  his  bow  remained  in  strength, 

And  the  arms  of  his  hands  were  made  strong 
By  the  hand  of  the  Mighty  One  of  Jacob  : 

By  the  name  of  the  Shepherd,  the  Rock  of  Israel ; 

25.  By  the  God  of  thy  father,  for  he  helped  thee; 
And  God  All-sufficient,  he  blessed  thee. 

The  blessing  of  the  heavens  from  above, 

And  the  blessings  lying  in  the  deep  beneath, 

The  blessings  of  the  breasts  and  of  the  womb 

26.  The  blessings  of  thy  father  have  prevailed 
Over  the  blessings  of  the  eternal  mountains, 

And  the  desirable  things  of  the  everlasting  hills. 
These  shall  be  on  the  head  of  Joseph, 

And  on  his  crown  who  was  separated  from  his 
brethren. 

Verse  22.  The  son  of  a  fruitful  vine]  This  ap¬ 
pears  to  me  to  refer  to  Jacob  himself,  who  wras  blessed 
with  such  a  numerous  posterity  that  in  two  hundred 
and  fifteen  years  after  this  his  own  descendants  amount¬ 
ed  to  upwards  of  600,000  effective  men  ;  and  the 
figures  here  are  intended  to  point  out  the  continual 
growth  and  increase  of  his  posterity.  Jacob  was  a 
fruitful  tree  planted  by  a  fountain,  which  because  it 
was  good  would  yield  good  fruit ;  and  because  it  was 
planted  near  a  fountain,  from  being  continually  watered, 
would  be  perpetually  fruitful.  The  same  is  used  and 
applied  to  Jacob,  Deut.  xxxiii.  28  :  The  fountain  of 
Jacob  shall  be  upon  a  land  of  corn,  and  wine,  fyc. 

The  daughters,  DD3  banoth,  put  here  for  branches » 
shoot  over  or  run  upon  the  wall.]  Alluding  probably 
to  the  case  of  the  vine,  which  requires  to  be  supported 
by  a  wall,  trees,  &c.  Some  commentators  have  un¬ 
derstood  this  literally,  and  have  applied  it  to  the  Egyp¬ 
tian  women,  who  were  so  struck  with  the  beauty  of 

269 


GENESIS. 


Joseph  is  blessed  with 


extraordinary  privileges 


A.  M.  2315.  ful  bough  by  a  well  ;  whose 
-  branches  run  over  the  wall : 

23  The  archers  have  r  sorely  grieved  him, 
and  shot  at  him,  and  hated  him : 

24  But  his  s  bow  abode  in  strength,  and  the 
arms  of  his  hands  were  made  strong  by  the 
hands  of  t  the  mighty  God  of  Jacob  ;  11  (from 
thence  v  is  the  shepherd,  w  the  stone  of  Israel  :) 

25  x  Even  by  the  God  of  thy  father,  who 
shall  help  thee  :  y  and  by  the  Almighty,  z  who 


shall  bless  thee  with  blessings  of  a.  m.  2315. 

0  B.  C.  1689. 


heaven  above,  blessings  of  the  deep 
that  lieth  under,  blessings  of  the  breast  and 
of  the  womb  : 

26  The  blessings  of  thy  father  have  prevailed 
above  the  blessings  of  thy  progenitors,  a  unto 
the  utmost  bound  of  the  everlasting  hills  : 
b  they  shall  be  on  the  head  of  Joseph,  and  on 
the  crown  of  the  head  of  him  that  was  sepa¬ 
rate  from  his  brethren. 


1  Heb.  daughters. - r  Chap,  xxxvii.  4, 24, 28  ;  xxxix.  20  ;  xlii. 

21 ;  Psa.  cxviii.  13. - s  Job  xxix.  20  ;  Psa.  xxxvii.  15. - 1  Psa. 

cxxxii.  2,  5. - u  Chap.  xlv.  11  ;  xlvii.  12  ;  1.  21. 

Joseph  as  to  get  upon  walls,  the  tops  of  houses,  &c., 
to  see  him  as  he  passed  by.  This  is  agreeable  to  the 
view  taken  of  the  subject  by  the  Koran.  See  the 
notes  on  chap,  xxxix.  7. 

Verse  23.  The  chief  archers ]  □’’Vn  'by  3  baaley 
chitstsim,  the  masters  of  arrows — Joseph’s  brethren, 
who  either  used  such  weapons,  while  feeding  their 
flocks  in  the  deserts,  for  the  protection  of  themselves 
and  cattle,  or  for  the  purpose  of  hunting ;  and  who  pro¬ 
bably  excelled  in  archery.  It  may  however  refer  to  the 
bitter  speeches  and  harsh  words  that  they  spoke  to  and  of 
him,  for  they  hated  him ,  and  could  not  speak  peaceably 
to  him ,  chap,  xxxvii.  4.  Thus  they  sorely  afflicted 
him,  and  were  incessantly  scolding  or  finding  fault. 

Verse  24.  But  his  bow  remained  in  strength]  The 
more  he  was  persecuted,  either  by  his  brethren  or  in 
Egypt,  the  more  resplendent  his  uprightness  and  vir¬ 
tues  shone  :  and  the  arms — his  extended  power  and 
influence ,  of  his  hands — plans ,  designs ,  and  particular 
operations  of  his  prudence,  judgment,  discretion,  flc., 
were  all  rendered  successful  by  the  hand — the  power¬ 
ful  succour  and  protection,  of  the  Mighty  One  of  Ja¬ 
cob — that  God  who  blessed  and  prospered  all  the  coun¬ 
sels  and  plans  of  Jacob,  and  protected  and  increased 
him  also  when  he  was  in  a  strange  land,  and  often  un¬ 
der  the  power  of  those  who  sought  opportunities  to 
oppress  and  defraud  him. 

By  the  name  of  the  Shepherd ;  the  Rock  of  Israel ] 
Jehovah ,  and  El- Elohey  Israel ;  see  chap,  xxxiii.  20. 
This  appears  to  me  to  refer  to  the  subject  of  the  thirty- 
second  chapter,  where  Jacob  wrestled  with  God,  had 
God’s  name  revealed  to  him,  and  his  own  name  changed 
from  Jacob  to  Israel,  in  consequence  of  which  he  built 
an  altar,  and  dedicated  it  to  God,  who  had  appeared  to 
him  under  the  name  of  Elohey-Israel,  the  strong  God 
of  Israel ;  which  circumstance  led  him  to  use  the  term 
Rock,  which,  as  an  emblem  of  power,  is  frequently 
given  to  God  in  the  sacred  writings,  and  may  here  re¬ 
fer  to  the  stone  which  Jacob  set  up.  It  is  very  pro¬ 
bable  that  the  word  shepherd  is  intended  to  apply  to 
our  blessed  Lord,  who  is  the  Shepherd  of  Israel,  the 
good  Shepherd,  John  x.  11—17  ;  and  who,  beyond  all 
controversy,  was  the  person  with  whom  Jacob  wrestled. 
See  the  notes  on  chap.  xvi.  7,  and  xxxii.  24. 

Verse  25.  The  God  of  thy  father]  How  frequently 
God  is  called  the  God  of  Jacob  none  needs  be  told  who 
reads  the  Bible. 

God  All-sufficient]  Instead  of  ''Vd  fiX  eth  Shaddai, 

270 


vPsa.  lxxx.  1. - w  Isa.  xxviii.  16. - x  Chap,  xxviii.  13,  21  ; 

xxxv.  3  ;  xliii.  23. - y  Chap.  xvii.  1 ;  xxxv.  11. - z  Deut.  xxxiii. 

13. - a  Deut.  xxxiii.  15  ;  Hab.  iii.  6. - b  Deut.  xxxiii.  16. 

the  Almighty  or  All-sufficient;  I  read  HI?  bx  El  Shad¬ 
dai,  God  All-sufficient ;  which  is  the  reading  of  the 
Samaritan,  Septuagint,  Syriac,  and  Coptic,  and  of  three 
reputable  MSS.  in  the  collections  of  Kennicott  and  Be 
Rossi.  The  copies  used  by  those  ancient  versions  had 
evidently  bx  El,  God,  and  not  DX  eth,  the,  a  mistake 
produced  in  later  times.  On  the  word  'Hty  bx  El 
Shaddai,  see  the  note  on  chap.  xvii.  1. 

The  blessing  of  the  heavens  from  above]  A  gene¬ 
rally  pure,  clear,  serene  sky,  frequently  dropping  down 
fertilizing  showers  and  dews,  so  as  to  make  a  very 
fruitful  soil  and  salubrious  atmosphere. 

Blessings  lying  in  the  deep  beneath]  Whatever  riches 
could  be  gained  from  the  sea  or  rivers,  from  mines  and 
minerals  in  the  bowels  of  the  earth,  and  from  abundant 
springs  in  different  parts  of  his  inheritance.  Our  trans¬ 
lation  of  this  line  is  excessively  obscure  :  Blessings 
of  the  deep  that  lieth  under.  What  is  it  that  lies  un¬ 
der  the  deep  ?  By  connecting  bircoth,  blessings, 
with  JYim  robetseth,  lying,  all  ambiguity  is  avoided, 
and  the  text  speaks  a  plain  and  consistent  sense. 

The  blessings  of  the  breasts  and  of  the  womb.]  A 
numerous  offspring,  and  an  abundance  of  cattle.  The 
progeny  of  Joseph,  by  Ephraim  and  Manasseh,  amount¬ 
ed  at  the  first  census  or  enumeration  (Num.  i.)  to  75,900 
men,  which  exceeded  the  sum  of  any  one  tribe  ;  Ju¬ 
dah,  the  greatest  of  the  others,  amounting  to  no  more 
than  74,600.  Indeed,  Ephraim  and  Manasseh  had 
multiplied  so  greatly  in  the  days  of  Joshua,  that  a  com¬ 
mon  lot  was  not  sufficient  for  them.  See  their  com¬ 
plaint,  Josh.  xvii.  14. 

Verse  26.  The  blessing  of  thy  father,  c fc.]  The 
blessings  which  thy  father  now  prays  for  and  pronounces 
are  neither  temporal  nor  transitory ;  they  shall  exceed 
in  their  duration  the  eternal  mountains,  and  in  their 
value  and  spiritual  nature  all  the  conveniences,  com¬ 
forts,  and  delicacies  which  the  everlasting  hills  can 
produce.  They  shall  last  when  the  heavens  and  the 
earth  are  no  more,  and  shall  extend  throughout  eter¬ 
nity.  They  are  the  blessings  which  shall  be  commu¬ 
nicated  to  the  world  by  means  of  the  Messiah. 

The  Jerusalem  Targum  paraphrases  the  place  thus  : 
“  The  blessing  of  this  father  shall  be  added  unto  the 
blessings  wherewith  thy  fathers  Abraham  and  Isaac, 
who  are  likened  to  mountains,  have  blessed  thee  ;  and 
they  shall  exceed  the  blessings  of  the  four  mothers . 
Sarah,  Rebekah,  Rachel,  and  Leah,  who  are  likened 
to  the  hills :  all  these  blessings  shall  be  a  crown  of 

a 


Prophecy  concerning  Benjamin .  CHAP. 

A.  M.  2315.  27  Benjamin  shall  c  raven  as  a 

.A — 1 - 1  wolf :  in  the  morning  he  shall  devour 

the  prey,  d  and  at  night  he  shall  divide  the  spoil. 

28  All  these  are  the  twelve  tribes  of  Israel  : 
and  this  is  it  that  their  father  spake  unto  them, 
and  blessed  them  ;  every  one  according  to 
his  blessing  he  blessed  them. 

29  And  he  charged  them,  and  said  unto 
them,  I  e  am  to  be  gathered  unto  my  people  : 
f  bury  me  with  my  fathers  s  in  the  cave  that 
is  in  the  field  of  Ephron  the  Hittite. 

30  In  the  cave  that  is  in  the  field  of  Mach- 
pelah,  (which  is  before  Mamre  in  the  land  of 

c  Judg.  xx.  21,  25  ;  Ezek.  xxii.  25, 27. - dNum.  xxiii.  24 ;  Esth. 

viii.  11  ;  Ezek.  xxxix.  10  ;  Zech.  xiv.  1, 7. - e  Ch.  xv.  1 5  ;  xxv.  8. 

magnificence  on  the  head  of  Joseph,  and  on  the  crown 
of  the  head  of  him  who  was  a  prince  and  governor  in 
the  land  of  Egypt.” 

27.  Benjamin  is  a  ravenous  wolf : 

In  the  morning  he  shall  devour  the  prey, 

And  in  the  evening  he  shall  divide  the  spoil. 

This  tribe  is  very  fitly  compared  to  a  ravenous  wolf, 
because  of  the  rude  courage  and  ferocity  which  they 
have  invariably  displayed,  particularly  in  their  war  with 
the  other  tribes,  in  which  they  killed  more  men  than 
the  whole  of  their  own  numbers  amounted  to. 

“  This  last  tribe,”  says  Dr.  Hales,  “  is  compared  to 
a  wolf  for  its  ferocious  and  martial  disposition,  such 
as  was  evinced  by  their  contests  with  the  other  tribes, 
in  which,  after  two  victories,  they  were  almost  exter¬ 
minated,  Judg.  xix.,  xx.”  Its  union  with  the  tribe  of 
Judah  seems  to  be  intimated  in  their  joint  conquests, 
expressed  nearly  in  the  same  terms  :  “Judah  went  up 
from  the  prey ;”  “  Benjamin  devoured  the  prey.”  Moses 
in  his  parallel  prophecy,  Deut.  xxxiii.  12,  confirms  this 
by  signifying  that  the  sanctuary  should  be  fixed  in  his 
lot,  and  that  he  should  continue  as  long  as  the  exist¬ 
ence  of  the  temple  itself : — 

The  beloved  of  the  Lord  shall  dwell  with  him 
in  safety, 

And  shall  cover  him  all  the  day  long. 

And  shall  dwell  between  his  shoulders. 

Deut.  xxxiii.  12. 

In  the  morning ,  cf-c.]  These  expressions  have  been 
variously  understood.  The  sense  given  above  is  that 
in  which  the  principal  interpreters  agree  ;  but  Houbi- 
gant  protests  against  the  prophecy  signifying  the  con¬ 
tinuance  of  this  tribe,  as  the  words,  “  in  the  morning 
devouring  the  prey,”  and  “  in  the  evening  dividing  the 
spoil,”  are  supposed  to  imply  ;  “  because,”  he  observes, 
“after  the  return  from  the  Babylonish  captivity,  this 
tribe  is  no  more  mentioned.”  But  this  may  be  ac¬ 
counted  for  from  the  circumstance  of  its  being  asso¬ 
ciated  with  that  of  Judah,  (see  1  Kings  xii.  21-24,) 
after  which  it  is  scarcely  ever  mentioned  but  in  that 
union.  Being  thus  absorbed  in  the  tribe  of  Judah,  it 
continued  from  the  morning  till  the  evening  of  the  Jew¬ 
ish  dispensation,  and  consequently  till  the  Lion  of  the 
tribe  of  Judah  was  seen  in  the  wilderness  of  Israel. 

a 


XLIX.  Jacob's  dying  request . 

Canaan,)  h  which  Abraham  bought  a.  m.  2315. 
with  the  field  of  Ephron  the  Hit-  B- —  — 8-- 
tite  for  a  possession  of  a  burying-place. 

31  (*  There  they  buried  Abraham  and  Sarah 
his  wife  ;  k  there  they  buried  Isaac  and  Re- 
bekah  his  wife  ;  and  there  I  buried  Leah.) 

32  The  purchase  of  the  field  and  of  the 
cave  that  is  therein  zuas  from  the  children  of 
Heth. 

33  And  when  Jacob  had  made  an  end  of 
commanding  his  sons,  he  gathered  up  his  feet 
into  the  bed,  and  yielded  up  the  ghost,  and 
1  was  gathered  unto  his  people. 

f  Ch.  xlvii.  30 ;  2  Sam.  xix.  37. - s  Ch.  1. 13. - h  Ch.  xxiii.  16 

1  Chap,  xxiii.  19  ;  xxv.  9. - k  Chap.  xxxv.  29. - 1  Ver.  29. 

In  the  morning ,  according  to  Mr.  Ainsworth,  “  sig¬ 
nifies  th e  first  times;  for  Ehud  of  Benjamin  was  the 
second  judge  that  saved  the  Israelites  from  the  hands 
of  the  Moabites,  Judg.  iii.  15,  &c.  Saul  of  Benja¬ 
min  was  the  first  king  of  Israel ;  he  and  his  son  were 
great  warriors,  making  a  prey  of  many  enemies 
1  Sam.  xi.  6,  7,  11;  xiv.  13,  15,  47,  48.  And  the 
evening,  the  latter  times ;  for  Mordecai  and  Esther 
of  Benjamin  delivered  the  Jews  from  a  great  destruc¬ 
tion,  and  slew  their  enemies,  Esth.  viii.  7,  9,  11;  ix. 
5,  6,  15,  16.” 

Verse  28.  Every  one  according  to  his  blessing ] 
That  is,  guided  by  the  unerring  Spirit  of  prophecy 
Jacob  now  foretold  to  each  of  his  sons  all  the  import¬ 
ant  events  which  should  take  place  during  their  suc¬ 
cessive  generations,  and  the  predominant  characteristic 
of  each  tribe  ;  and,  at  the  same  time,  made  some  com¬ 
paratively  obscure  references  to  the  advent  of  the 
Messiah,  and  the  redemption  of  the  world  by  him. 

Verse  29.  Bury  me  ivith  my  fathers,  c j-c.]  From 
this  it  appears  that  the  cave  at  Maehpelah  was  a  com¬ 
mon  burying-place  for  Hebrews  of  distinction ;  and 
indeed  the  first  public  burying-place  mentioned  in  his¬ 
tory.  From  ver.  31  we  find  that  Abraham,  Sarah, 
Isaac,  Rebekah,  and  Leah,  had  been  already  deposited 
there,  and  among  them  Jacob  wished  to  have  his  bones 
laid  ;  and  he  left  his  dying  charge  with  his  children  to 
bury  him  in  this  place,  and  this  they  conscientiously 
performed.  See  chap.  1.  13. 

Verse  33.  He  gathered  up  his  feet  into  the  bed ]  It 
is  very  probable  that  while  delivering  these  prophetic 
blessings  Jacob  sat  upon  the  side  of  his  bed,  leaning 
upon  his  staff ;  and  having  finished,  he  lifted  up  his 
feet  into  the  bed,  stretched  himself  upon  it,  and 
expired  ! 

And  was  gathered  unto  his  people .]  The  testimony 
that  this  place  bears  to  the  immortality  of  the  soul, 
and  to  its  existence  separate  from  the  body,  should 
not  be  lightly  regarded.  In  the  same  moment  in 
which  Jacob  is  said  to  have  gathered  up  his  feet  into 
the  bed,  and  to  have  expired,  it  is  added,  and  was 
gathered  unto  his  people.  It  is  certain  that  his  body 
was  not  then  gathered  to  his  people ,  nor  till  seven 
weeks  after;  and  it  is  not  likely  that  a  circumstance, 
so  distant  in  point  both  of  time  and  place,  would 

271 


GENESIS, 


Jacob's  sons  supposed  to  have 

have  been  thus  anticipated ,  and  associated  with  facts 
that  took  place  in  that  moment.  I  cannot  help  there¬ 
fore  considering  this  an  additional  evidence  for  the 
immateriality  of  the  soul ,  and  that  it  was  intended 
by  the  Holy  Spirit  to  convey  this  grand  and  conso¬ 
latory  sentiment,  that  when  a  holy  man  ceases  to  live 
among  his  fellows,  his  soul  becomes  an  inhabitant  of 
another  world,  and  is  joined  to  the  spirits  of  just  men 
made  perfect. 

1.  It  has  been  conjectured  (see  the  note,  chap, 
xxxvii.  9)  that  the  eleven  stars  that  bowed  down  to 
J oseph  might  probably  refer  to  the  signs  of  the  Zodiac , 
which  were  very  anciently  known  in  Egypt,  and  are 
supposed  to  have  had  their  origin  in  Chaldea.  On 
this  supposition  Joseph’s  eleven  brethren  answered 
to  eleven  of  these  signs,  and  himself  to  the  twelfth. 
General  Valiancy  has  endeavoured,  in  his  Collectanea 
de  Rebus  Hibernicis,  vol.  vi.,  part  ii.,  p.  343,  to  trace 
out  the  analogy  between  the  twelve  sons  of  Jacob 
and  the  twelve  signs  of  the  Zodiac,  which  Dr.  Hales 
( Analysis ,  vol.  ii.,  p.  165)  has  altered  a  little,  and 
placed  in  a  form  in  which  it  becomes  more  generally 
applicable.  As  this  scheme  is  curious,  many  readers 
who  may  not  have  the  opportunity  of  consulting  the 
above  works  will  be  pleased  to  find  it  here.  That 
there  is  an  allusion  to  the  twelve  signs  of  the  Zodiac, 
and  probably  to.their  ancient  asterisms ,  may  be  readily 
credited ;  but  how  far  the  peculiar  characteristics  of 
the  sons  of  Jacob  were  expressed  by  the  animals  in 
the  Zodiac,  is  a  widely  different  question. 

1.  Reuben — “Unstable  (rather  pouring  out)  as 
waters ” — the  sign  Aquarius,  represented  as  a 
man  pouring  out  waters  from  an  urn. 

2.  Simeon  and  Levi — “The  united  brethren” — 
the  sign  Gemini  or  the  Twins. 

3.  Judah — “  The  strong  lion ” — the  sign  Leo. 

4.  Asher — “  His  bread  shall  be  fat ” — the  sign 
Virgo  or  the  Virgin,  generally  represented  as 
holding  a  full  ear  of  corn. 

5.  Issachar — “  A  strong  ass ”  or  ox,  both  used  in 
husbandry — the  sign  Taurus  or  the  Bull. 

6.  and  7.  Dan — “  A  serpent  biting  the  horse’s 
heels” — Scorpio,  the  Scorpion.  On  the  celes¬ 
tial  sphere  the  Scorpion  is  actually  represented 
as  biting  the  heel  of  the  horse  of  the  archer 
Sagittarius ;  and  Chelae ,  “  his  claws,”  origin¬ 
ally  occupied  the  space  of  Libra. 

8.  Joseph — “  His  bow  remained  in  strength” — the 
sign  Sagittarius,  the  archer  or  bow-man  ;  com¬ 
monly  represented,  even  on  the  Asiatic  Zodiacs, 
with  his  bow  bent,  and  the  arrow  drawn  up  to  the 
head — the  bow  in  full  strength. 

9.  Naphtali — by  a  play  on  his  name,  PlStO  taleh,  the 

ram — the  sign  Aries,  according  to  the  rabbins. 

10.  Zebulun — “A  haven  for  ships” — denoted  by 
Cancer,  the  crab. 

11.  Gad — “  A  troop  or  army” — reversed,  dag ,  a  fish 
— the  sign  Pisces. 

12.  Benjamin — “A  ravening  wolf” — Capricorn, 
which  on  the  Egyptian  sphere  was  represented 
by  a  goat  led  by  Pan,  with  a  wolfs  head. 

What  likelihood  the  reader  may  see  in  all  this,  I 

272 


given  rise  to  the  ancient  Zodiac. 

cannot  pretend  to  say  ;  but  that  the  twelve  signs  were 
at  that  time  known  in  Egypt  and  Chaldea,  there  can 
be  little  doubt. 

2.  We  have  now  seen  the  life  of  Jacob  brought  to 
a  close ;  and  have  carefully  traced  it  through  all  its 
various  fortunes,  as  the  facts  presented  themselves  in 
the  preceding  chapters.  Isaac  Kis  father  was  what 
might  properly  be  called  a  good  man ;  but  in  strength 
of  mind  he  appears  to  have  fallen  far  short  of  his 
father  Abraham,  and  his  son  Jacob.  Having  left  the 
management  of  his  domestic  concerns  to  Rebekah  his 
wife,  who  was  an  artful  and  comparatively  irreligious 
woman,  the  education  of  his  sons  was  either  neglected 
or  perverted.  The  unhappy  influence  which  the  pre¬ 
cepts  and  example  of  his  mother  had  on  the  mind 
of  her  son  we  have  seen  and  deplored.  Through  the 
mercy  of  God  Jacob  outlived  the  shady  part  of  his 
own  character,  and  his  last  days  were  his  brightest 
and  his  best.  He  had  many  troubles  and  difficulties 
in  life,  under  which  an  inferior  mind  must  have  neces¬ 
sarily  sunk  ;  but  being  a  worker  together  with  the 
providence  of  God,  his  difficulties  only  served  in  gene¬ 
ral  to  whet  his  invention,  and  draw  out  the  immense 
resources  of  his  own  mind.  He  had  to  do  with  an 
avaricious,  procrastinating  relative,  as  destitute  of 
humanity  as  he  was  of  justice.  Let  this  plead  some¬ 
thing  in  his  excuse.  He  certainly  did  outwit  his 
father-in-law  ;  and  yet,  probably,  had  no  more  than 
the  just  recompense  of  his  faithful  services  in  the 
successful  issue  of  all  his  devices.  From  the  time  in 
which  God  favoured  him  with  that  wonderful  mani¬ 
festation  of  grace  at  Peniel,  chap,  xxxii.,  he  became 
a  new  man.  He  had  frequent  discoveries  of  God 
before,  to  encourage  him  in  journeys,  secular  affairs, 
&c.  ;  but  none  in  which  the  heart-changing  power  of 
Divine  grace  was  so  abundantly  revealed.  Happy  he 
whose  last  days  are  his  best!  We  can  scarcely  con¬ 
ceive  a  scene  more  noble  or  dignified  than  that 
exhibited  at  the  deathbed  of  Jacob.  This  great  man 
was  now  one  hundred  and  forty-seven  years  of  age ; 
though  his  body,  by  the  waste  of  time,  was  greatly 
enfeebled,  yet  with  a  mind  in  perfect  vigour,  and  a 
hope  full  of  immortality,  he  calls  his  numerous  family 
together,  all  of  them  in  their  utmost  state  of  pros¬ 
perity,  and  gives  them  his  last  counsels,  and  his 
dying  blessing.  His  declarations  show  that  the  secret 
of  the  Lord  was  with  him,  and  that  his  candle  shone 
bright  upon  his  tabernacle.  Having  finished  his  work, 
with  perfect  possession  of  all  his  faculties,  and  being 
determined  that  while  he  was  able  to  help  himself 
none  should  be  called  in  to  assist,  (which  was  one  of 
the  grand  characteristics  of  his  life,)  he,  with  that 
dignity  which  became  a  great  man  and  a  man  of  God, 
stretched  himself  upon  his  bed,  and  rather  appears  to 
have  conquered  death  than  to  have  suffered  it.  Who, 
seeing  the  end  of  this  illustrious  patriarch,  can  help 
exclaiming,  There  is  none  like  the  God  of  Jeshurun  ! 
Let  Jacob’s  God  be  my  God !  Let  me  die  the  death 
of  the  righteous,  and  let  my  last  end  be  like  his! 
Reader,  God  is  still  the  same:  and  though  he  may 
not  make  thee  as  great  as  was  Jacob,  yet  he  is  ready 
to  make  thee  as  good ;  and,  whatever  thy  past  life 
may  have  been,  to  crown  thee  with  loving-kindness 
and  tender  mercies,  that  thy  end  also  may  be  peace. 

a 


Joseph  mourns  for  the 


CHAP.  L. 


death  of  his  father. 


CHAPTER  L. 


Joseph  bewails  the  death  of  his  father ,  and  commands  the  physicians  to  embalm  him ,  1,2.  The  Egyptians 
mourn  for  him  seventy  days,  3.  Joseph  begs  permission  from  Pharaoh  to  accompany  his  father's  corpse  to 
Canaan ,  4,  5.  Pharaoh  consents ,  6.  Pharaoh's  domestics  and  elders ,  the  elders  of  Egypt ,  Joseph  and 
his  brethren ,  with  chariots ,  horsemen ,  <^c.,  form  the  funeral  procession ,  7-9.  They  come  to  the  threshing- 
floor  of  Atad,  and  mourn  there  seven  days,  10.  The  Canaanites  call  the  place  Abel-Mizraim,  11.  They 
bury  Jacob  in  the  cave  of  Machpelah,  12,  13.  Joseph  returns  to  Egypt ,  14.  His  brethren,  fearing  his 
displeasure ,  sene?  messengers  to  him  to  entreat  his  forgiveness  of  past  wrongs ,  15-17.  They  follow,  and 
prostrate  themselves  before  him,  and  offer  to  be  his  servants,  18.  Joseph  receives  them  affectionately,  and 
assures  them  and  theirs  of  his  care  and  protection,  1 9-2 1 .  Joseph  and  his  brethren  dwell  in  Egypt,  and 
he  sees  the  third  generation  of  his  children,  22,  23.  Being  about  to  die,  he  prophecies  the  return  of  the 
children  of  Israel  from  Egypt,  24,  and  causes  them  to  swear  that  they  will  carry  his  bones  to  Canaan,  25. 
Joseph  dies,  aged  one  hundred  and  ten  years ;  is  embalmed,  and  put  in  a  coffin  in  Egypt,  26. 


A.  M.  2315. 

B.  C.  1689. 


Joseph 
ther’s  face, 


him,  and  kissed  him. 


a  fell  upon  his  fa- 
and  b  wept  upon 


2  And  Joseph  commanded  his  ser-  A.  M.  2315. 
vants  the  physicians  to  c  embalm  his  — — ’ 16"’ 
father ;  and  the  physicians  embalmed  Israel 


“Chapter  xlvi.  4. - b2  Kings  xiii.  14. - c  Yer.  26  ;  2  Chron. 


xvi.  14  ;  Matt.  xxvi.  12 ;  Mark  xiv.  8  ;  xvi.  1  ;  Luke  xxiv.  1. 


NOTES  ON  CHAP.  L. 

Verse  1.  Joseph  fell  upon  his  father's  face]  Though 
this  act  appears  to  be  suspended  by  the  unnatural  divi¬ 
sion  of  this  verse  from  the  preceding  chapter,  yet  we 
may  rest  assured  it  was  the  immediate  consequence  of 
Jacob’s  death. 

Verse  2.  The  physicians]  ropheim,  the  healers , 

those  whose  business  it  was  to  heal  or  restore  the  bod}r 
from  sickness  by  the  administration  of  proper  medi¬ 
cines  ;  and  when  death  took  place,  to  heal  or  preserve 
it  from  dissolution  by  embalming ,  and  thus  give  it  a 
sort  of  immortality  or  everlasting  duration.  The  ori¬ 
ginal  word  £DJn  chanat,  which  we  translate  to  embalm, 
has  undoubtedly  the  same  meaning  with  the  Arabic 
In X^hanala,  which  also  signifies  to  embalm,  or  to  pre¬ 
serve  from  putrefaction  by  the  application  of  spices, 

&c.,  and  hence  % ••  hantat,  an  embalmer.  The 

word  is  used  to  express  the  reddening  of  leather  ;  and 
probably  the  ideal  meaning  may  be  something  analogous 
to  our  tanning,  which  consists  in  removing  the  moisture, 
and  closing  up  the  pores  so  as  to  render  them  imper¬ 
vious  to  wet.  This  probably  is  the  grand  principle  in 
embalming  ;  and  whatever  effects  this,  will  preserve 
flesh  as  perfectly  as  skin.  Who  can  doubt  that  a  hu¬ 
man  muscle ,  undergoing  the  same  process  of  tanning 
as  the  hide  of  an  ox,  would  not  become  equally  incor¬ 
ruptible  ?  I  have  seen  a  part  of  the  muscle  of  a  hu¬ 
man  thigh,  that,  having  come  into  contact  with  some 
tanning  matter ,  either  in  the  coffin  or  in  the  grave,  was 
in  a  state  of  perfect  soundness,  when  the  rest  of  the 
body  had  been  long  reduced  to  earth ;  and  it  exhibited 
the  appearance  of  a  thick  piece  of  ivell  tanned  leather. 

In  the  art  of  embalming,  the  Egyptians  excelled  all 
nations  in  the  world  ;  with  them  it  was  a  common  prac¬ 
tice.  Instances  of  the  perfection  to  which  they  car¬ 
ried  this  art  may  be  seen  in  the  numerous  mummies, 
as  they  are  called,  which  are  found  in  different  Euro¬ 
pean  cabinets,  and  which  have  been  all  brought  from 
Egypt.  This  people  not  only  embalmed  men  and  wo¬ 
men,  and  thus  kept  the  bodies  of  their  beloved  relatives 
from  the  empire  of  corruption,  but  they  embalmed  use¬ 
ful  animals  also.  I  have  seen  the  body  of  the  Ibris 
Vol.  I.  (  19  ) 


thus  preserved  ;  and  though  the  work  had  been  done 
for  some  thousands  of  years,  the  very  feathers  were 
in  complete  preservation,  and  the  colour  of  the  plumage 
discernible.  The  account  of  this  curious  process,  the 
articles  used,  and  the  manner  of  applying  them,  I  sub¬ 
join  from  Herodotus  and  Diodorus  Siculus,  as  also  the 
manner  of  their  mournings  and  funeral  solemnities, 
which  are  highly  illustrative  of  the  subjects  in  this 
chapter. 

“  When  any  man  of  quality  dies,”  says  Herodotus, 
“  all  the  women  of  that  family  besmear  their  heads  and 
faces  with  dirt ;  then,  leaving  the  body  at  home,  they 
go  lamenting  up  and  down  the  city  with  all  their  rela¬ 
tions  ;  their  apparel  being  girt  about  them,  and  their 
breasts  left  naked.  On  the  other  hand  the  men,  having 
likewise  their  clothes  girt  about  them,  beat  themselves. 
These  things  being  done,  they  carry  the  dead  body  to 
be  embalmed  ;  for  which  there  are  certain  persons  ap¬ 
pointed  who  profess  this  art.  These,  when  the  body 
is  brought  to  them,  show  to  those  that  bring  it  certain 
models  of  dead  persons  in  wood,  according  to  any  of 
which  the  deceased  may  be  painted.  One  of  these 
they  say  is  accurately  made  like  to  one  whom,  in  such 
a  matter,  I  do  not  think  lawful  to  name  ;  tov  ovk  oaiov 
rcoiovyai  to  ovvopa  era  toiovtu  Tcprjy/MTi  ovopa^uv  ;  (pro¬ 
bably  Osiris,  one  of  the  principal  gods  of  Egypt,  is 
here  intended  ;)  then  they  show  a  second  inferior  to  it, 
and  of  an  easier  price  ;  and  next  a  third,  cheaper  than 
the  former,  and  of  a  very  small  value  ;  which  being 
seen,  they  ask  them  after  which  model  the  deceased 
shall  be  represented.  When  they  have  agreed  upon 
the  price  they  depart ;  and  those  with  whom  the  dead 
corpse  is  left  proceed  to  embalm  it  after  the  following 
manner  :  First  of  all,  they  with  a  crooked  iron  draw 
the  brain  out  of  the  head  through  the  nostrils ;  next, 
with  a  sharp  JEthiopic  stone  they  cut  up  that  part  of 
the  abdomen  called  the  ilia,  and  that  way  draw  out  all 
the  bowels,  which,  having  cleansed  and  washed  with 
palm  wine,  they  again  rinse  and  wash  with  wine  per¬ 
fumed  with  pounded  odours  :  then  filling  up  the  belly 
with  pure  myrrh  and  cassia  grossly  powdered,  and  all 
other  odours  except  frankincense ,  they  sew  it  up  again. 

070  o 

£  l  O  A 


The  Egyptians  mourn 


GENESIS. 


tor  Jacob  seventy  days . 


A.  M.  2315. 

B.  O.  1689. 


3  And  forty  days  were  fulfilled 
for  him ;  (for  so  are  fulfilled  the 
days  of  those  which  are  embalmed  :)  and  the 

d  Heb.  wept. 


Egyptians  d  mourned  e  for  him  a.  m.  2315. 

_  _  B.  C.  1689. 

threescore  and  ten  days.  - 

4  And  when  the  days  of  his  mourning  were 

e  Num.  xx.  29  ;  Deut.  xxxiv.  8. 


Having  so  done,  they  salt  it  up  close  with  nitre  seventy 
days ,  for  longer  they  may  not  salt  it.  After  this  num¬ 
ber  of  days  are  over  they  wash  the  corpse  again,  and 
then  roll  it  up  with  fine  linen,  all  besmeared  with  a  sort 
of  gum,  commonly  used  by  the  Egyptians  instead  of 
glue.  Then  is  the  body  restored  to  its  relations,  who 
prepare  a  wooden  coffin  for  it  in  the  shape  and  likeness 
of  a  man,  and  then  put  the  embalmed  body  into  it,  and 
thus  enclbsed,  place  it  in  a  repository  in  the  house,  set¬ 
ting  it  upright  against  the  wall.  After  this  manner 
they,  with  great  expense,  preserve  their  dead ;  whereas 
those  who  to  avoid  too  great  a  charge  desire  a  medi¬ 
ocrity ,  thus  embalm  them  :  they  neither  cut  the  belly 
nor  pluck  out  the  entrails,  but  fill  it  with  clysters  of  oil 
of  cedar  injected  up  the  anus ,  and  then  salt  it  the  afore¬ 
said  number  of  days.  On  the  last  of  these  they  press 
out  the  cedar  clyster  by  the  same  way  they  had  in¬ 
jected  it,  which  has  such  virtue  and  efficacy  that  it 
brings  out  along  with  it  the  bowels  wasted,  and  the 
nitre  consumes  the  flesh,  leaving  only  the  skin  and 
bones  :  having  thus  done,  they  restore  the  dead  body 
to  the  relations,  doing  nothing  more.  The  third  way 
of  embalming  is  for  those  of  yet  meaner  circumstances ; 
they  with  lotions  wash  the  belly,  then  dry  it  up  with 
salt  for  seventy  days,  and  afterwards  deliver  it  to  be 
carried  away.  Nevertheless,  beautiful  women  and 
ladies  of  quality  were  not  delivered  to  be  embalmed 
till  three  or  four  days  after  they  had  been  dead  for 
which  Herodotus  assigns  a  sufficient  reason,  however 
degrading  to  human  nature  :  T ovto  6e  ttoieovgl  ovtu 
Tovde  elvcKa ,  Iva  prj  crept  oi  Tapt^evTat  ptayuvrai  ryot 
yvvat^r  hapepdrjvai  yap  rtva  (pact  ptoyopevov  veupcp  repoa- 
(parep  ywatnop’  KaTEnrai  be  rov  opoTExvov.  [The  ori¬ 
ginal  should  not  be  put  into  a  plainer  language ;  the 
abomination  to  which  it  refers  being  too  gross.]  “  But 
if  any  stranger  or  Egyptian  was  either  killed  by  a 
crocodile  or  drowned  in  the  river,  the  city  where  he 
was  cast  up  was  to  embalm  and  bury  him  honourably 
in  the  sacred  monuments,  whom  no  one,  no,  not  a  re¬ 
lation  or  friend,  but  the  priests  of  the  Nile  only,  might 
touch ;  because  they  buried  one  who  was  something 
more  than  a  dead  man.” — Herod.  Euterpe,  p.  120, 
ed.  Gale. 

Diodorus  Siculus  relates  the  funeral  ceremonies 
of  the  Egyptians  more  distinctly  and  clearly,  and 
with  some  very  remarkable  additional  circumstances. 
“  When  any  one  among  the  Egyptians  dies,”  says  he, 
“  all  his  relations  and  friends,  putting  dirt  upon  their 
heads,  go  lamenting  about  the  city,  till  such  time  as  the 
body  shall  be  buried  :  in  the  meantime,  they  abstain 
from  baths  and  wine,  and  all  kinds  of  delicate  meats ; 
neither  do  they,  during  that  time,  wear  any  costly  ap¬ 
parel.  The  manner  of  their  burials  is  threefold:  one 
very  costly,  a  second  sort  less  chargeable,  and  a  third 
very  mean.  In  the  first,  they  say ,  there  is  spent  a 
talent  of  silver ;  in  the  second,  twenty  mince ;  but  in 
the  last  there  is  very  little  expense.  Those  who  have 
the  care  of  ordering  the  body  are  such  as  have  been 
a  274 


taught  that  art  by  their  ancestors.  These,  showing 
each  kind  of  burial,  ask  them  after  what  manner  they 
will  have  the  body  prepared.  When  they  have  agreed 
upon  the  manner,  they  deliver  the  body  to  such  as  are 
usually  appointed  for  this  office.  First,  he  who  has 
the  name  of  scribe ,  laying  it  upon  the  ground,  marks 
about  the  flank  on  the  left  side  how  much  is  to  be  cut 
away ;  then  he  who  is  called  tt apaoxtoTyg,  paraschistes , 
the  cutter  or  dissector ,  with  an  JEthiopic  stone ,  cuts 
away  as  much  of  the  flesh  as  the  law  commands,  and 
presently  runs  away  as  fast  as  he  can ;  those  who  are 
present,  pursuing  him,  cast  stones  at  him,  and  curse 
him,  hereby  turning  all  the  execrations  which  they 
imagine  due  to  his  office  upon  him.  For  whosoever 
offers  violence,  wounds,  or  does  any  kind  of  injury  to 
a  body  of  the  same  nature  with  himself,  they  think 
him  worthy  of  hatred  :  but  those  who  are  Tapixevrai , 
taricheutce ,  the  embalmers ,  they  esteem  worthy  of  ho¬ 
nour  and  respect ;  for  they  are  familiar  with  their  priests, 
and  go  into  the  temples  as  holy  men,  without  any  pro¬ 
hibition.  As  soon  as  they  come  to  embalm  the  dis¬ 
sected  body,  one  of  them  thrusts  his  hand  through  the 
wound  into  the  abdomen ,  and  draws  forth  all  the  bowels 
but  the  heart  and  kidneys,  which  another  washes  and 
cleanses  with  wine  made  of  palms  and  aromatic  odours. 
Lastly,  having  washed  the  body,  they  anoint  it  with  oil 
of  cedar  and  other  things  for  about  thirty  days,  and 
afterwards  with  myrrh,  cinnamon,  and  other  such  like 
matters,  which  have  not  only  a  power  to  preserve  it  a 
long  time,  but  also  give  it  a  sweet  smell ;  after  which 
they  deliver  it  to  the  kindred  in  such  manner  that 
every  member  remains  whole  and  entire,  and  no  part 
of  it  changed,  but  the  beauty  and  shape  of  the  face 
seem  just  as  they  were  before ;  and  the  person  may 
be  known,  even  the  eyebrows  and  eyelids  remaining  as 
they  were  at  first.  By  this  means  many  of  the  Egyp¬ 
tians,  keeping  the  dead  bodies  of  their  ancestors  in 
magnificent  houses,  so  perfectly  see  the  true  visage  and 
countenance  of  those  that  died  many  ages  before  they 
themselves  were  born,  that  in  viewing  the  proportions 
of  every  one  of  them,  and  the  lineaments  of  their 
faces,  they  take  as  much  delight  as  if  they  were  still 
living  among  them.  Moreover,  the  friends  and  nearest 
relations  of  the  deceased,  for  the  greater  pomp  of  the 
solemnity,  acquaint  the  judges  and  the  rest  of  their 
friends  with  the  time  prefixed  for  the  funeral  or  day 
of  sepulture,  declaring  that  such  a  one  (calling  the 
dead  by  his  name)  is  such  a  day  to  pass  the  lake  ;  at 
which  time  above  forty  judges  appear,  and  sit  together 
in  a  semicircle,  in  a  place  prepared  on  the  hither. side 
of  the  lake,  where  a  ship,  provided  beforehand  by  such 
as  have  the  care  of  the  business,  is  haled  up  to  the 
shore,  and  steered  by  a  pilot  whom  the  Egyptians  in 
their  language  called  Charon.  Hence  they  say  Or¬ 
pheus,  upon  seeing  this  ceremony  while  he  was  in 
Egypt,  invented  the  fable  of  hell,  partly  imitating 
therein  the  people  of  Egypt,  and  partly  adding  some¬ 
what  of  his  own.  The  ship  being  thus  brought  to  the 

(  19*  ) 


CHAP.  L. 


Joseph  goes  up  to  Canaan 

a.  M.  2315.  past,  Joseph  spake  unto  fthe  house 

-  of  Pharaoh,  saying,  li  now  1  have 

found  grace  in  your  eyes,  speak,  I  pray  you, 
in  the  ears  of  Pharaoh,  saying, 

5  b  My  father  made  me  swear,  saying,  Lo, 
I  die  :  in  my  grave  h  which  I  have  digged  for 
me,  in  the  land  of  Canaan,  there  shalt  thou 
bury  me.  Now,  therefore,  let  me  go  up,  I 
pray  thee,  and  bury  my  father,  and  I  will 
come  again. 

6  And  Pharaoh  said,  Go  up,  and  bury  thy 
father,  according  as  he  made  thee  swear. 

{ Esth.  iv.  2. - s  Chap,  xlvii.  29. 

lake  side,  before  the  coffin  is  put  on  board  every  one 
is  at  liberty  by  the  law  to  accuse  the  dead  of  what  he 
thinks  him  guilty.  If  any  one  proves  he  was  a  bad 
'man,  the  judges  give  sentence  that  the  body  shall  be 
deprived  of  sepulture  ;  but  in  case  the  informer  be 
convicted  of  false  accusation,  then  he  is  severely  pun¬ 
ished.  If  no  accuser  appear,  or  the  information  prove 
false,  then  all  the  kindred  of  the  deceased  leave  off 
mourning,  and  begin  to  set  forth  his  praises,  yet  say 
nothing  of  his  birth,  (as  the  custom  is  among  the 
Greeks ,)  because  the  Egyptians  all  think  themselves 
equally  noble;  but  they  recount  how  the  deceased  was 
educated  from  his  youth  and  brought  up  to  man’s  estate, 
exalting  his  piety  towards  the  gods ,  and  justice  towards 
men,  his  chastity ,  and  other  virtues  wherein  he  excel¬ 
led  ;  and  lastly  pray  and  call  upon  the  infernal  deities 
(rou?  Karo  deove,  the  gods  below)  to  receive  him  into 
the  societies  of  the  just.  The  common  people  take 
this  from  the  others,  and  consequently  all  is  said  in  his 
praise  by  a  loud  shout,  setting  forth  likewise  his  vir¬ 
tues  in  the  highest  strains  of  commendation,  as  one 
that  is  to  live  for  ever  with  the  infernal  gods.  Then 
those  that  have  tombs  of  their  own  inter  the  corpse  in 
places  appointed  for  that  purpose ;  and  they  that  have 
none  rear  up  the  body  in  its  coffin  against  some  strong 
wall  of  their  house.  But  such  as  are  denied  sepul¬ 
ture  on  account  of  some  crime  or  debt,  are  laid  up  at 
home  without  coffins ;  yet  when  it  shall  afterwards 
happen  that  any  of  their  posterity  grows  rich,  he  com¬ 
monly  pays  off  the  deceased  person’s  debts,  and  gets 
his  crimes  absolved,  and  so  buries  him  honourably;  for 
the  Egyptians  are  wont  to  boast  of  their  parents  and 
ancestors  that  were  honourably  buried.  It  is  a  custom 
likewise  among  them  to  pawn  the  dead  bodies  of  their 
parents  to  their  creditors ;  but  then  those  that  do  not 
redeem  them  fall  under  the  greatest  disgrace  imagin¬ 
able,  and  are  denied  burial  themselves  at  their  deaths.” 
— Diod.  Sic.  Biblioth.,  lib.  i.,  cap.  91-93.,  edit.  Bi- 
pont.  See  also  the  Necrokedia,  or  Art  of  Embalm¬ 
ing ,  by  Greenhill,  4to.,  p.  241,  who  endeavoured  in 
vain  to  recommend  and  restore  the  art.  But  he  could 
not  give  his  countrymen  Egyptian  manners ;  for  a 
dead  carcass  is  to  the  British  an  object  of  horror,  and 
scarcely  any,  except  a  surgeon  or  an  undertaker ,  cares 
to  touch  it. 

Verse  3.  Forty  days]  The  body  it  appears  required 
this  number  of  days  to  complete  the  process  of  em- 


to  bury  his  father. 

7  And  Joseph  went  up  to  burv  his  A.  M.  2315. 

r  1  J  •  j  n  B.  C.  1689. 

father ;  and  with  him  went  up  all  - 

the  servants  of  Pharaoh,  the  elders  of  his  house, 
and  all  the  elders  of  the  land  of  Egypt, 

8  And  all  the  house  of  Joseph,  and  his 
brethren,  and  his  father’s  house  :  only  their 
little  ones,  and  their  flocks,  and  their  herds, 
they  left  in  the  land  of  Goshen. 

9  And  there  went  up  with  him  both  chariots 
and  horsemen :  and  it  was  a  very  great  com 
pany. 

1 0  And  they  came  to  the  threshing-floor  of 

h2  Chron.  xvi.  14  ;  Isa.  xxii.  16  ;  Matt,  xxvii.  60. 

balming  ;  afterwards  it  lay  in  natron  thirty  days  more, 
making  in  the  whole  seventy  days,  according  to  the 
preceding  accounts,  during  which  the  mourning  was 
continued. 

Verse  4.  Speak,  I  pray  you,  in  the  ears  of  Pharaoh] 
But  wrhy  did  not  Joseph  apply  himself  ?  Because  he 
was  now  in  his  mourning  habits,  and  in  such  none 
must  appear  in  the  presence  of  the  eastern  monarchs. 
See  Esth.  iv.  2. 

Verse  7.  The  elders  of  his  house]  Persons  wrho, 
by  reason  of  their  age,  had  acquired  much  experience ; 
and  who  on  this  account  were  deemed  the  best  quali¬ 
fied  to  conduct  the  affairs  of  the  king’s  household. 
Similar  to  these  were  the  ealboytmen,  Eldermen,  or 
Aldermen,  among  our  Saxon  ancestors,  who  were  sena¬ 
tors  and  peers  of  the  realm. 

The  funeral  procession  of  Jacob  must  have  been 
truly  grand.  Joseph,  his  brethren  and  their  descend¬ 
ants,  the  servants  of  Pharaoh,  the  elders  of  his  house, 
and  all  the  elders — all  the  principal  men,  of  the  land 
of  Egypt,  with  chariots  and  horsemen,  must  have  ap¬ 
peared  a  very  great  company  indeed.  We  have  seen 
lords,  for  their  greater  honour,  buried  at  the  public 
expense ;  and  all  the  male  branches  of  the  royal  family, 
as  well  as  the  most  eminent  men  of  the  nation,  join  in 
the  funeral  procession,  as  in  the  case  of  the  late  Lord 
Nelson ;  but  what  was  all  this  in  comparison  of  the 
funeral  solemnity  now  before  us  ?  Here  was  no  con¬ 
queror,  no  mighty  man  of  valour,  no  person  of  proud 
descent ;  here  was  only  a  plain  man,  who  had  dwelt 
almost  all  his  life  long  in  tents,  without  any  other 
subjects  than  his  cattle,  and  whose  kingdom  was  not 
of  this  world.  Behold  this  man  honoured  by  a  na¬ 
tional  mourning,  and  by  a  national  funeral !  It  may 
be  said  indeed  that  “  all  this  was  done  out  of  respect 
to  Joseph.”  Be  it  so  ;  ivhy  was  Joseph  thus  respect¬ 
ed  ?  Was  it  because  he  had  conquered  nations ,  had 
made  his  sword  drunk  with  blood,  had  triumphed  over 
the  enemies  of  Egypt  ?  NO  !  But  because  he  had 
saved  men  alive ;  because  he  was  the  king's  faithful 
servant,  the  rich  man's  counsellor,  and  the  poor  man's 
friend.  He  was  a  national  blessing ;  and  the  nation 
mourns  in  his  affliction,  and  unites  to  do  him  honour. 

Verse  10.  The  threshing-floor  of  Atad]  As 
atad  signifies  a  bramble  or  thorn,  it  has  been  under¬ 
stood  by  the  Arabic,  not  as  a  man's  name,  but  as  the 
name  of  a  place;  but  all  the  other  versions  and  the 

275 


GENESIS. 


Jacob  is  buried  in  the 
A.  M.  2315.  Atad,  which  is  beyond  Jordan,  and 

B  C  1689  ,  ,  ,  J  ,  .  . 

-  there  they  Mourned  with  a  great 

and  very  sore  lamentation :  k  and  he  made  a 

mourning  for  his  father  seven  days. 

1 1  And  when  the  inhabitants  of  the  land, 
the  Canaanites,  saw  the  mourning  in  the  floor 
of  Atad,  they  said,  This  is  a  grievous  mourn¬ 
ing  to  the  Egyptians  :  wherefore  the  name  of 
it  was  called  1  Abel-mizraim,  which  is  beyond 
Jordan. 

12  And  his  sons  did  unto  him  according  as 
he  commanded  them  : 

13  For  m  his  sons  carried  him  into  the  land 

*  2  Sam.  i.  17  ;  Acts  viii.  2. - kl  Sam.  xxxi.  13;  Job  ii.  13. 

1  That  is,  the  mourning  of  the  Egyptians. 

Targums  consider-  it  as  the  name  of  a  man.  Thresh¬ 
ing-floors  were  always  in  a  field,  in  the  open  air  ;  and 
Atad  was  probably  what  we  would  call  a  great  farmer 
or  chief  of  some  clan  or  tribe  in  that  place.  Jerome 
supposed  the  place  to  have  been  about  two  leagues 
from  Jericho  ;  but  we  have  no  certain  information  on 
this  point.  The  funeral  procession  stopped  here,  pro¬ 
bably  as  affording  pasturage  to  their  cattle  while  they 
observed  the  seven  days'  mourning  which  terminated 
the  funeral  solemnities,  after  which  nothing  remained 
but  the  interment  of  the  corpse.  The  mourning  of  the 
ancient  Hebrews  was  usually  of  seven  days’  continu¬ 
ance,  Num.  xix.  19  ;  1  Sam.  xxxi.  13  ;  though  on 
certain  occasions  it  was  extended  to  thirty  days,  Num. 
xx.  29  ;  Deut.  xxi.  13  ;  xxxiv.  8,  but  never  longer. 
The  seventy  days’  mourning  mentioned  above  was  that 
of  the  Egyptians,  and  was  rendered  necessary  by  the 
long  process  of  embalming ,  which  obliged  them  to  keep 
the  body  out  of  the  grave  for  seventy  days'  as  we 
learn  both  from  Herodotus  and  Diodorus.  Seven  days 
by  the  order  of  God  a  man  was  to  mourn  for  his  dead, 
because  during  that  time  he  was  considered  as  unclean  ; 
but  when  those  were  finished  he  was  to  purify  him¬ 
self,  and  consider  the  morning  as  ended ;  Num.  xix. 
11,  19.  Thus  God  gave  seven  days,  in  some  cases 
thirty ,  to  mourn  in  :  man,  ever  in  his  own  estimation 
wiser  than  the  word  of  Crod,  has  added  eleven  whole 
months  to  the  term,  which  nature  itself  pronounces  to 
be  absurd,  because  it  is  incapable  of  supporting  grief 
for  such  a  time  ;  and  thus  mourning  is  now,  except  in 
the  first  seven  or  thirty  days,  a  mere  solemn  ill-con¬ 
ducted  farce,  a  grave  mimicry,  a  vain  shoiv,  that  con¬ 
victs  itself  of  its  own  hypocrisy .  Who  will  rise  up 
on  the  side  of  God  and  common  sense,  and  restore  be¬ 
coming  sorrow  on  the  death  of  a  relative  to  decency 
of  garb  and  moderation  in  its  continuance  1  Suppose 
the  near  relatives  of  the  deceased  were  to  be  allowed 
seven  days  of  seclusion  from  society,  for  the  purpose 
of  meditating  on  death  and  eternity,  and  after  this  to 
appear  in  a  mourning  habit  for  thirty  days  ;  every  im¬ 
portant  end  would  be  accomplished,  and  hypocrisy, 
the  too  common  attendant  of  man,  be  banished,  espe¬ 
cially  from  that  part  of  his  life  in  which  deep  sincerity 
is  not  less  becoming  than  in  the  most  solemn  act  of 
his  religious  intercourse  with  God 

276 


cave  of  Machpelah, 
of  Canaan,  and  buried  him  in  the  a.  M.  2315 

r  „  ,  .  .  ,T  -1  in  B.  C.  1689 

cave  of  the  field  of  Machpelah,  - - 

(which  Abraham  n  bought  with  the  field,  for  a 

possession  of  a  burying-place,  of  Ephron  the 

Ilittite,)  before  Mamre. 

14  And  Joseph  returned  into  Egypt,  he 
and  his  brethren,  and  all  that  went  up  with 
him  to  bury  his  father,  after  he  had  buried 
his  father. 

15  And  when  Joseph’s  brethren  saw  that 
their  father  was  dead,  0  they  said,  Joseph  will 
peradventure  hate  us,  and  will  certainly  requite 
us  all  the  evil  which  we  did  unto  him. 

m Chapter  xlix.  29,  30;  Acts  vii.  16. - “Chapter  xxiii.  16. 

0  Job  xv.  21,  22. 

In  a  kind  of  politico-religious  institution  formed  by 
his  late  majesty  Ferdinand  IV.,  king  of  Naples  and 
the  Sicilies,  I  find  the  following  rational  institute  rela¬ 
tive  to  this  point  ;  “  There  shall  be  no  mourning  among 
you  but  only  on  the  death  of  a  father,  mother,  husband , 
or  wife.  To  render  to  these  the  last  duties  of  affec¬ 
tion,  children,  ivives,  and  husbands  only  shall  be  per¬ 
mitted  to  wear  a  sign  or  emblem  of  grief :  a  man  may 
wear  scrape  tied  round  his  right  arm ;  a  woman,  •ablacli 
handkerchief  around  her  neck ;  and  this  in  both  cases 
for  only  two  months  at  the  most.”  Is  there  a  purpose 
which  religion,  reason,  or  decency  can  demand  that 
would  not  be  answered  by  such  external  mourning  as 
this  1  Only  such  relatives  as  the  above,  brothers  and 
sisters  being  included,  can  mourn  ;  all  others  make 
only  a  part  of  the  dumb  hypocritical  show. 

Verse  12.  And  his  sons  did  unto  him ]  This  and 
the  thirteenth  verse  have  been  supposed  by  Mr.  Locke 
and  others  to  belong  to  the  conclusion  of  the  preceding 
chapter,  in  which  connection  they  certainly  read  more 
consistently  than  they  do  here. 

Verse  15.  Saw  that  their  father  was  dead]  This  at 
once  argues  both  a  sense  of  guilt  in  their  own  con¬ 
sciences,  and  a  leant  of  confidence  in  their  brother. 
They  might  have  supposed  that  hitherto  he  had  for¬ 
borne  to  punish  them  merely  on  their  father’s  account ; 
but  now  that  he  was  dead,  and  Joseph  having  them 
completely  in  his  power,  they  imagined  that  he  would 
take  vengeance  on  them  for  their  former  conduct  to¬ 
wards  him. 

Thus  conscience  records  criminality  ;  and,  hy  giving 
birth  to  continual  fears  and  doubtfulness,  destroys  all 
peace  of  mind,  security,  and  confidence.  On  this  sub¬ 
ject  an  elegant  poet  has  spoken  with  his  usual  point 
and  discernment  : — 

Exemplo  quodcumque  malo  committitur,  ipsi 

Displicet  auctori.  Prima  est  haze  idtio,  quod  se 

Judice  nemo  nocens  absolvitur,  improba  quamvis 

Gratia  fall aci  Prcetoris  vicerit  urna. 

Juv.  Sat.  xiii.  1,  &c. 

Happily  metaphrased  by  Mr.  Dry  den : — 

He  that  commits  a  fault  shall  quickly  find 

The  pressing  guilt  lie  heavy  on  his  mind. 


CHAP.  L. 


Joseph's  brethren  ask  forgiveness. 


Joseph's  last  charge  to  them. 


A.  M.  2315.  16  And  they  p  sent  a  messenger 

■?*  C‘  1689‘  unto  Joseph,  saying,  Thy  father  did 
command  before  he  died,  saying, 

17  So  shall  ye  say  unto  Joseph,  Forgive,  I 
pray  thee  now,  the  trespass  of  thy  brethren, 
and  their  sin  ;  q  for  they  did  unto  thee  evil : 
and  now,  we  pray  thee,  forgive  the  trespass 
of  the  servants  of  r  the  God  of  thy  father. 
And  Joseph  wept  when  they  spake  unto  him. 

18  And  his  brethren  also  went  and  s  fell 
down  before  his  face  ;  and  they  said,  Behold, 
we  be  thy  servants. 

19  And  Joseph  said  unto  them,  1  Fear  not: 
u  for  am  I  in  the  place  of  God  ? 

20  v  But  as  for  you,  ye  thought  evil  against 
me ;  but  w  God  meant  it  unto  good,  to  bring 
to  pass,  as  it  is  this  day,  to  save  much  people 
alive. 

21  Now  therefore  fear  ye  not:  XI  will 


nourish  you,  and  your  little  ones. 
And  he  comforted  them,  and  spake 
y  kindly  unto  them. 


A.  M.  2315. 
13.  C.  1639. 


22  And  Joseph  dwelt  in  Egypt,  A.  M.  2369. 
he,  and  his  father’s  house :  and  _B~ c;  I63j~. 
Joseph  lived  a  hundred  and  ten  years. 

23  And  Joseph  saw  Ephraim’s  children2 of 
the  third  generation :  a  the  children  also  of 
Machir,  the  son  of  Manasseh,  b  were  c  brought 
up  upon  Joseph’s  knees. 

24  And  Joseph  said  unto  his  brethren,  I 
die :  and  d  God  will  surely  visit  you,  and 
bring  you  out  of  this  land,  unto  the  land 
e  which  he  sware  to  Abraham,  to  Isaac,  and 
to  Jacob. 

25  And  f  Joseph  took  an  oath  of  the  chil 
dren  of  Israel,  saying,  God  will  surely  visit 
you,  and  ye  shall  carry  up  my  bones  from 
hence. 


PHeb.  charged. - 1  Prov.  xxviii.  13. - rChap.  xlix.  25. 

*Chap.  xxxvii.  7,  10. - 1  Chap.  xlv.  5. - uDeut.  xxxii.  35; 

Job  xxxiv.  29  ;  Rom.  xii.  19  ;  Heb.  x.  30  ;  2  Kings  v.  7. - v  Psa. 

Ivi.  5  ;  Isaiah  x.  7. - w  Chapter  xlv.  5,  7  ;  Acts  iii.  13,  14,  15. 

*Chap.  xlvii.  12  ;  Matt.  v.  44. 

Though  bribes  ox  favour  shall  assert  his  cause, 

Pronounce  him  guiltless ,  and  elude  the  laws, 

None  quits  himself ;  his  own  impartial  thought 

Will  damn,  and  conscience  will  record  the  fault. 

This,  first,  the  wicked  feels. 

We  have  seen  this  in  the  preceding  history  often 
exemplified  in  the  case  of  Joseph’s  brethren. 

Verse  16.  Thy  father  did  command]  Whether  he 
did  or  not  we  cannot  tell.  Some  think  they  had 
feigned  this  story,  but  that  is  not  so  likely.  Jacob 
might  have  had  suspicions  too,  and  might  have  thought 
that  the  best  way  to  prevent  evil  was  to  humble  them¬ 
selves  before  their  brother,  and  get  a  fresh  assurance 
of  his  forgiveness. 

Verse  17.  The  servants  of  the  God  of  thy  father.] 
These  words  were  wonderfully  well  chosen,  and  spo¬ 
ken  in  the  most  forcible  manner  to  Joseph’s  piety  and 
-filial  affection.  No  wonder  then  that  he  wept  when 
they  spake  to  him. 

Verse  19.  Am  I  in  the  place  of  Godl]  These 
words  may  be  understood  either  as  a  question ,  or  an 
affirmative  proposition.  How  should  I  take  any  far¬ 
ther  notice  of  your  transgression  !  I  have  passed  it 
by,  the  matter  lies  now  between  God  and  you.  Or, 
In  the  order  of  Divine  providence  I  am  now  in  God’s 
place  ;  he  has  furnished  me  with  means,  and  made 
me  a  distributor  of  his  bounty  ;  I  will  therefore  not 
only  nourish  you,  but  also  your  little  ones,  ver.  21  : 
and  therefore  he  spake  comfortably  unto  them,  as  in 
chap.  xlv.  8,  telling  them  that  he  attributed  the  whole 
business  to  the  particular  providence  of  God  rather 
than  to  any  ill  will  or  malice  in  them,  and  that,  in 
permitting  him  to  be  brought  into  Egypt,  God  had 
graciously  saved  their  lives,  the  life  of  their  father, 
the  lives  of  the  people  of  Canaan,  and  of  the  Egyptians  : 


y  Heb.  to  their  hearts  ;  chap,  xxxiv."  3. - z  Job  xlii.  16. 

aNum.  xxxii.  39. - bChap.  xxx.  3. - - c  Heb.  borne. - d  Ch. 

xv.  14;  xlvi.  4;  xlviii.  21;  Exod.  iii.  16,  17;  Heb.  xi.  22. 

e  Chap.  xv.  14 ;  xxvi.  3 ;  xxxv.  12  ;  xlvi.  4. - f  Exod.  xiii.  19  ; 

Josh.  xxiv.  32 ;  Acts  vii.  16. 

as  therefore  God  had  honoured  him  by  making  him 
vicegerent  in  the  dispensations  of  his  especial  bounty 
towards  so  many  people,  it  was  impossible  he  should 
be  displeased  with  the  means  by  which  this  was 
brought  about. 

Verse  22.  Joseph  dwelt  in  Egypt]  Continued  in 
Egypt  after  his  return  from  Canaan  till  his  death  ;  he, 
and  his  father's  house — all  the  descendants  of  Israel, 
till  the  exodus  or  departure  under  the  direction  of 
Moses  and  Aaron,  which  was  one  hundred  and  forty- 
four  years  after. 

Verse  23.  Were  brought  up  upon  Joseph's  knees.] 
They  were  educated  by  him,  or  under  his  direction  ;  his 
sons  and  their  children  continuing  to  acknowledge  him 
as  patriarch,  or  head  of  the  family,  as  long  as  he  lived. 

Verse  24.  Joseph  said — I  die]  That  is,  I  am  dying  ; 
and  God  will  surely  visit  you — he  will  yet  again  give 
you,  in  the  time  when  it  shall  be  essentially  necessary, 
the  most  signal  proof  of  his  unbounded  love  towards 
the  seed  of  Jacob. 

And  bring  you  out  of  this  land]  Though  ye  have 
here  every  thing  that  can  render  life  comfortable,  yet 
this  is  not  the  typical  land ,  the  Ignd  given  by  covenant , 
the  land  which  represents  the  rest  that  remains  for  the 
people  of  God. 

Verse  25.  Ye  shall  carry  up  my  bones]  That  I  may 
finally  rest  with  my  ancestors  in  the  land  which  God 
gave  to  Abraham,  to  Isaac,  and  to  Jacob  ;  and  which 
is  a  pledge  as  it  is  a  type  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven. 
Thus  says  the  author  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews, 
chap.  xi.  22  :  “  By  faith  Joseph,  when  he  died, 
(teTievtuv,  when  dying,)  made  mention  of  the  depar¬ 
ture  (efodoa,  of  the  exodus)  of  the  children  of  Israel ; 
and  gave  commandment  concerning  his  bones.”  From 
this  it  is  evident  that  Joseph  considered  all  these 

277 


GENESIS. 


Joseph,  dies ,  is  embalmed , 


and  put  in  a  coffin  in  Egypt. 


A.  M.  2369. 

B.  C. 1635. 


26  So  Joseph  died,  being  a  hun¬ 
dred  and  ten  years  old  :  and  they 


s  embalmed  him,  and  he  was  put 
in  a  coffin  in  Egypt. 


A.  M.  2369. 

B.  C.  1635. 


s  Genesis, 

things  as  typical ,  and  by  this  very  commandment 
expressed  his  faith  in  the  immortality  of  the  soul,  and 
the  general  resurrection  of  the  dead.  This  oath,  by 
which  Joseph  then  bound  his  brethren,  their  posterity 
considered  as  binding  on  themselves  ;  and  Moses  took 
care,  when  he  departed  from  Egypt,  to  carry  up 
Joseph’s  body  with  him,  Exod.  xiii.  19  ;  which  was 
afterwards  buried  in  Shechem,  Josh.  xxiv.  32,  the 
very  portion  which  Jacob  had  purchased  from  the 
Amorites,  and  which  he  gave  to  his  son  Joseph,  Gen. 
xlviii.  22  ;  Acts  vii.  16.  See  the  reason  for  this 
command  as  given  by  Chrysostom,  vol.  ii.,  p.  695, 
sec.  D.  E. 

Verse  26.  Joseph  died,  being  a  hundred  and  ten 
years  old\  D’JES?  p  ben  meah  vaeser  shanim  ; 

literally,  the  son  of  a  hundred  and  ten  years.  Here 
the  period  of  time  he  lived  is  personified ,  all  the  years 
of  which  it  was  composed  being  represented  as  a 
nurse  or  father,  feeding,  nourishing,  and  supporting 
him  to  the  end.  This  figure,  which  is  termed  by 
rhetoricians  prosopopoeia,  is  very  frequent  in  Scripture  ; 
and  by  this  virtues,  vices,  forms ,  attributes,  and  quali¬ 
ties,  with  every  part  of  inanimate  nature,  are  repre¬ 
sented  as  endued  with  reason  and  speech ,  and  perform¬ 
ing  all  the  actions  of  intelligent  beings. 

They  embalmed  him]  See  on  ver.  2.  The  same 
precautions  were  taken  to  preserve  his  body  as  to 
preserve  that  of  his  father  Jacob ;  and  this  was  parti¬ 
cularly  necessary  in  his  case,  because  his  body  was 
to  be  carried  to  Canaan  a  hundred  and  forty-four 
years  after ;  which  was  the  duration  of  the  Israelites’ 
bondage  after  the  death  of  Joseph. 

And  he  was  put  in  a  coffin  in  Egypt.]  On  this 
subject  I  shall  subjoin  some  useful  remarks  from 
Harmer's  Observations,  which  several  have  borrowed 
without  acknowledgment.  I  quote  my  own  edition  of 
this  Work,  vol.  hi.,  p.  69,  &c.  Lond.  1808. 

“  There  were  some  methods  of  honouring*  the  dead 
which  demand  our  attention  ;  the  being  put  into  a 
cofin  has  been  in  particular  considered  as  a  mark  of 
distinction. 

“  With  us  the  poorest  people  have  their  coffins  ;  if 
the  relations  cannot  afford  them,  the  parish  is  at  the 
expense.  In  the  east,  on  the  contrary,  they  are  not 
always  used,  even  in  our  times.  The  ancient  Jews 
probably  buried  their  dead  in  the  same  manner : 
neither  was  the  body  of  our  Lord  put  in  a  coffin,  nor 
that  of  Elisha,  whose  bones  were  touched  by  the 
corpse  that  was  let  down  a  little  after  into  his  se¬ 
pulchre,  2  Kings  xiii.  21.  That  coffins  were  anciently 
used  in  Egypt,  all  agree  ;  and  antique  coffins  of  stone 
and  of  sycamore  wood  are  still  to  be  seen  in  that 
country,  not  to  mention  those  said  to  be  made  of  a 
sort  of  pasteboard ,  formed  by  folding  and  gluing  cloth 
together  a  great  number  of  times,  curiously  plastered, 
and  then  painted  with  hieroglyphics. 

“  As  it  was  an  ancient  Egyptian  custom,  and  was 
not  used  in  the  neighbouring  countries,  on  these  ac¬ 
counts  the  sacred  historian  was  doubtless  led  to  observe 

278 


chap.  1.  2. 

of  Joseph  that  he  was  not  only  embalmed,  but  was 
also  put  in  a  coffin,  both  being  practices  almost  pecu¬ 
liar  to  the  Egyptians. 

“  Mr.  Maillet  conjectures  that  all  were  not  inclosed 
in  coffins  which  were  laid  in  the  Egyptian  reposi¬ 
tories  of  the  dead,  but  that  it  was  an  honour  appro¬ 
priated  to  persons  of  distinction  ;  for  after  having 
given  an  account  of  several  niches  which  are  found  in 
those  chambers  of  death,  he  adds  :  ‘  But  it  must  not 
be  imagined  that  the  bodies  deposited  in  these  gloomy 
apartments  were  all  inclosed  in  chests,  and  placed  in 
niches.  The  greater  part  were  simply  embalmed  and 
swathed,  after  which  they  laid  them  one  by  the  side 
of  the  other,  without  any  ceremony.  Some  were  even 
put  into  these  tombs  without  any  embalming  at  all,  or 
with  such  a  slight  one  that  there  remains  nothing  of 
them  in  the  linen  in  which  they  were  wrapped  but  the 
bones,  and  these  half  rotten.  It  is  probable  that  each 
considerable  family  had  one  of  these  burial-places  to 
themselves  ;  that  the  niches  were  designed  for  the 
bodies  of  the  heads  of  the  family ;  and  that  those  of 
their  domestics  and  slaves  had  no  other  care  taken  of 
them  than  merely  laying  them  in  the  ground  after 
being  slighty  embalmed,  and  sometimes  even  without 
that  ;  which  was  probably  all  that  was  done  to  heads 
of  families  of  less  distinction.’ — Lett.  7,  p.  281.  The 
same  author  gives  an  account  of  a  mode  of  burial 
anciently  practised  in  that  country,  which  has  been 
but  recently  discovered  :  it  consisted  in  placing  the 
bodies,  after  they  were  swathed  up,  on  a  layer  of  char¬ 
coal,  and  covering  them  with  a  mat,  under  a  bed  of 
sand  seven  or  eight  feet  deep. 

“  Hence  it  seems  evident  that  coffins  were  not 
universally  used  in  Egypt,  and  were  only  used  for 
persons  of  eminence  and  distinction.  It  is  also  rea¬ 
sonable  to  believe  that  in  times  so  remote  as  those  of 
Josdph  they  might  have  been  much  less  common  than 
afterwards,  and  that  consequently  Joseph’s  being  put 
in  a  coffin  in  Egypt  might  be  mentioned  with  a  de¬ 
sign  to  express  the  great  honours  the  Egyptians  did 
him  in  death,  as  well  as  in  life  ;  being  treated  after 
the  most  sumptuous  manner,  embalmed,  and  put  into 
a  coffin .” 

It  is  no  objection  to  this  account  that  the  widow 
of  Nain’s  son  is  represented  as  carried  forth  to  be 
buried  in  a  copog  or  bier ;  for  the  present  inhabitants 
of  the  Levant,  who  are  well  known  to  lay  their  dead 
in  the  earth  uninclosed,  carry  them  frequently  out  to 
burial  in  a  kind  of  coffin,  which  is  not  deposited  in  the 
grave,  the  body  being  taken  out  of  it,  and  placed  in 
the  grave  in  a  reclining  posture.  It  is  probable  that 
the  coffins  used  at  Nain  were  of  the  same  kind,  being 
intended  for  no  other  purpose  but  to  carry  the  body  to 
the  plarce  of  interment,  the  body  itself  being  buried 
without  them. 

It  is  very  probable  that  the  chief  difference  was 
not  in  being  with  or  without  a  coffin,  but  in  the  expen¬ 
siveness  of  the  coffin  itself ;  some  of  the  Egyptian 
coffins  being  made  of  granite,  and  covered  all  over 

a 


Observations  on  the 

with  hieroglyphics,  the  catting  of  which  must  have 
been  done  at  a  prodigious  expense,  both  of  time  and 
money  ;  the  stone  being  so  hard  that  we  have  no  tools 
by  which  we  can  make  any  impression  on  it.  Two 
of  these  are  now  in  the  British  Museum,  that  appear 
to  have  belonged  to  some  of  the  nobles  of  Egypt. 
They  are  dug  out  of  the  solid  stone,  and  adorned  with 
almost  innumerable  hieroglyphics.  One  of  these, 
vulgarly  called  Alexander’s  tomb,  is  ten  feet  three 
inches  and  a  quarter  long,  ten  inches  thick  in  the 
sides,  in  breadth  at  top  five  feet  three  inches  and  a 
half,  in  breadth  at  bottom  four  feet  two  inches  and  a 
half,  and  three  feet  ten  in  depth,  and  weighs  about  ten 
tons.  .In  such  a  coffin  I  suppose  the  body  of  Joseph 
was  deposited  ;  and  such  a  one  could  not  have  been 
made  and  transported  to  Canaan  at  an  expense  that 
any  private  individual  could  bear.  It  was  with  incre¬ 
dible  labour  and  at  an  extraordinary  expense  that  the 
coffin  in  question  was  removed  the  distance  of  but  a 
few  miles,  from  the  ship  that  brought  it  from  Egypt, 
to  its  present  residence  in  the  British  Museum.  Judge, 
then,  at  what  an  expense  such  a  coffin  must  have  been 
digged,  engraved,  and  transported  over  the  desert 
from  Egypt  to  Canaan,  a  distance  of  three  hundred 
miles !  We  need  not  be  surprised  to  hear  of  car¬ 
riages  and  horsemen,  a  very  great  company,  when 
such  a  coffin  was  to  be  carried  so  far,  with  a  suitable 
company  to  attend  it. 

Joseph’s  life  wras  the  shortest  of  all  the  patriarchs, 
for  which  Bishop  Patrick  gives  a  sound  physical 
reason — he  was  the  son  of  his  father’s  old  age.  It 
appears  from  Archbishop  Usher’s  Chronology  that  Jo¬ 
seph  governed  Egypt  under  four  kings,  Mephramutho- 
sis,  Thmosis,  Amenophis ,  and  Orus.  His  government, 
we  know,  lasted  eighty  years ;  for  when  he  stood 
before  Pharaoh  he  was  thirty  years  of  age,  chap.  xli. 
46,  and  he  died  when  he  was  one  hundred  and  ten. 

On  the  character  and  conduct  of  Joseph  many  re¬ 
marks  have  already  been  made  in  the  preceding  notes. 
On  the  subject  of  his  piety  there  can  be  but  one  opi¬ 
nion.  It  was  truly  exemplary,  and  certainly  was  tried 
in  cases  in  which  few  instances  occur  of  persevering 
fidelity.  His  high  sense  of  the  holiness  of  God,  the 
strong  claims  of  justice,  and  the  rights  of  hospitality 
and  gratitude,  led  him,  in  the  instance  of  the  solicita¬ 
tions  of  his  master’s  wife,  to  act  a  part  which,  though 
absolutely  just  and  proper,  can  never  be  sufficiently 
praised.  Heathen  authors  boast  of  some  persons  of 
such  singular  constancy ;  but  the  intelligent  reader 
will  recollect  that  these  relations  stand  in  general  in 
their  fabulous  histories ,  and  are  destitute  of  those 
characteristics  which  truth  essentially  requires  ;  such, 
I  mean,  as  the  story  of  Hippolytus  and  Phredra,  Belle- 
rophon  and  Antea  or  Sthenobcea,  Peleus  and  Astyda- 
mia ,  and  others  of  this  complexion,  which  appear  to 
be  marred  pictures,  taken  from  this  highly  finished 
original  which  the  inspired  writer  has  fairly  drawn 
from  life. 

His  fidelity  to  his  master  is  not  less  evident,  and 
God’s  approbation  of  his  conduct  is  strongly  marked ; 
for  he  caused  whatsoever  he  did  to  prosper,  whether 
a  slave  in  the  house  of  his  master,  a  prisoner  in  the 
dungeon,  or  a  prime  minister  by  the  throne,  which  is 
a  full  proof  that  his  ways  pleased  him ;  and  this  is 

a 


character  of  Joseph 

more  clearly  seen  in  the  providential  deliverances  by 
which  he  was  favoured. 

On  the  political  conduct  of  Joseph  there  are  con¬ 
flicting  opinions.  On  the  one  hand  it  is  asserted  that 
“  he  found  the  Egyptians  a  free  people ,  and  that  he 
availed  himself  of  a  most  afflicting  providence  of  God 
to  reduce  them  all  to  a  state  of  slavery ,  destroyed 
their  political  consequence,  and  made  their  king  des¬ 
potic.”  In  all  these  respects  his  political  measures 
have  been  strongly  vindicated,  not  only  as  being  di¬ 
rected  by  God,  but  as  being  obviously  the  best,  every 
thing  considered,  for  the  safety,  honour,  and  welfare 
of  his  sovereign  and  the  kingdom.  It  is  true  he 
bought  the  lands  of  the  people  for  the  king,  but  he 
farmed  them  to  the  original  occupiers  again,  at  the 
moderate  and  fixed  crown  rent  of  one-fifth  part  of  the 
produce.  “  Thus  did  he  provide  for  the  liberty  and 
independence  of  the  people ,  while  he  strengthened  the 
authority  of  the  king  by  making  him  sole  proprietor 
of  the  lands.  And  to  secure  the  people  from  farther 
exaction,  Joseph  made  it  a  law  over  all  the  land  of 
Egypt,  that  Pharaoh  (i.  e.  the  king)  should  have  only 
the  fifth  part ;  which  law  subsisted  to  the  time  of 
Moses,  chap,  xlvii.  21—26.  By  this  wise  regulation,’ 
continues  Dr.  Hales,  “  the  people  had  four-fifths  of 
the  produce  of  the  lands  for  their  own  use,  and  were 
exempted  from  any  farther  taxes,  the  king  being  bound 
to  support  his  civil  and  military  establishment  out  of 
the  crown  rents.”  By  the  original  constitution  of 
Egypt  established  by  Menes ,  and  Thoth  or  Hermes 
his  prime  minister,  the  lands  wrere  divided  into  three 
portions ,  between  the  king ,  the  priests ,  and  the  mili¬ 
tary,  each  party  being  bound  to  support  its  respective 
establishment  by  the  produce.  See  the  quotations 
from  Diodorus  Siculus,  in  the  note  on  chap,  xlvii.  23. 
It  is  certain,  therefore,  that  the  constitution  of  Egypt 
was  considerably  altered  by  Joseph,  and  there  can  be 
no  doubt  that  much  additional  powrer  was,  by  this 
alteration,  vested  in  the  hands  of  the  king  ;  but  as  we 
do  not  find  that  any  improper  use  was  made  of  this 
powder,  we  may  rest  assured  that  it  was  so  qualified 
and  restricted  by  wholesome  regidations ,  though  they 
are  not  here  particularized,  as  completely  to  prevent 
all  abuse  of  the  regal  power,  and  all  tyrannical  usurpa¬ 
tion  of  popular  rights.  That  the  people  were  nothing 
but  slaves  to  the  king,  the  military,  and  the  priests 
before,  appears  from  the  account  given  by  Diodorus  ; 
each  of  the  three  estates  probably  allowing  them  a 
certain  portion  of  land  for  their  own  use,  while  culti¬ 
vating  the  rest  for  the  use  and  emolument  of  their 
masters.  Matters,  however,  became  more  regular 
under  the  administration  of  Joseph  ;  and  it  is  perhaps 
not  too  much  to  say,  that,  previously  to  this,  Egypt 
was  without  a  fixed  regular  constitution,  and  that  it 
was  not  the  least  of  the  blessings  that  it  owed  to  the 
wisdom  and  prudence  of  Joseph,  that  he  reduced  it  to 
a  regular  form  of  government,  giving  the  people  such 
an  interest  in  the  safety  of  the  state  as  was  well  cal¬ 
culated  to  insure  their  exertions  to  defend  the  nation, 
and  render  the  constitution  fixed  and  permanent. 

It  is  well  known  that  Justin,  one  of  the  Roman 
historians,  has  made  particular  and  indeed  honourable 
mention  of  Joseph's  administration  in  Egypt,  in  the 
account  he  gives  of  Jewish  affairs,  lib.  xxxvi.  cap.  2. 

279 


CHAP.  L. 


Importance  of  the 

How  the  relation  may  have  stood  in  Trogus  Pompe- 
ius ,  from  whose  voluminous  works  in  forty-four  books 
or  volumes  Justin  abridged  his  history,  we  cannot  tell, 
as  the  work  of  Trogus  is  irrecoverably  lost ;  but  it  is 
evident  that  the  account  was  taken  in  the  main  from 
the  Mosaic  history,  and  it  is  written  with  as  much 
candour  as  can  be  expected  from  a  prejudiced  and 
unprincipled  heathen. 

Minimus  cctate  inter  fratres  Joseph  fuit,  djc.  “  Jo¬ 
seph  was  the  youngest  of  his  brethren,  who,  being 
envious  of  his  excellent  endowments,  stole  him  and 
privately  sold  him  to  a  company  of  foreign  merchants, 
by  whom  he  was  carried  into  Egypt ;  where,  having 
diligently  cultivated  magic  arts,  he  became,  in  a  short 
time,. a  prime  favourite  with  the  king  himself.  For 
he  was  the  most  sagacious  of  men  in  explaining  pro¬ 
digies  ;  and  he  was  the  first  who  constructed  the 
science  of  interpreting  dreams.  Nor  was  there  any 
thing  relative  to  lawrs  human  or  Divine  with  which  he 
seemed  unacquainted  ;  for  he  predicted  a  failure  of  the 
crops  many  years  before  it  took  place  ;  and  the  in¬ 
habitants  of  Egypt  must  have  been  famished  had  not 
the  king,  through  his  counsel,  made  an  edict  to  pre¬ 
serve  the  fruits  for  several  years.  And  his  experi¬ 
ments  were  so  powerful,  that  the  responses  appear  to 
have  been  given,  not  by  man,  but  by  God.”  Tanta- 
que  experimenta  ejus  fuerunt ,  ut  non  ab  homine ,  sed  a 
Deo,  responsa  dari  viderentur.  I  believe  Justin  refers 
here,  in  the  word  experimenta,  to  his  figment  of  magi¬ 
cal  incantations  eliciting  oracular  answers.  Others 
have  translated  the  words  :  “  So  excellent  ivere  his 
regulations  that  they  seemed  rather  to  be  oracular 
responses,  not  given  by  man,  but  by  God.” 

I  have  already  compared  Joseph  with  his  father 
Jacob,  see  chap,  xlviii.  12,  and  shall  make  no  apology 
for  having  given  the  latter  a  most  decided  superiority. 
Joseph  was  great ;  but  his  greatness  came  through 
the  interposition  of  especial  providences.  Jacob  was 
great,  mentally  and  practically  great,  under  the  ordi¬ 
nary  workings  of  Providence  ;  and,  towards  the  close 
of  his  life,  not  less  distinguished  for  piety  towards 
God  than  his  son  Joseph  was  in  the  holiest  period  of 
his  life. 

Thus  terminates  the  Book  of  Genesis,  the  most 
ancient  record  in  the  world  ;  including  the  history  of 
two  grand  subjects,  Creation  and  Providence,  of 
each  of  which  it  gives  a  summary,  but  astonishingly 
minute,  and  detailed  account.  From  this  book  almost 
all  the  ancient  philosophers,  astronomers,  chronologists, 
and  historians  have  taken  their  respective  data ;  and 
all  the  modern  improvements  and  accurate  discoveries 
in  different  arts  and  sciences  have  only  served  to  con¬ 
firm  the  facts  detailed  by  Moses  ;  and  to  show  that  all 
the  ancient  writers  on  these  subjects  have  approoxhed 
to  or  receded  from  truth  and  the  phenomena  of  na¬ 
ture,  in  proportion  as  they  have  followed  the  Mosaic 
history. 

In  this  book  the  creative  power  and  energy  of 
God  are  first  introduced  to  the  reader’s  notice,  and 
the  mind  is  overwhelmed  with  those  grand  creative 
acts  by  which  the  universe  was  brought  into  being. 
When  this  account  is  completed,  and  tbe  introduction 
of  sin,  and  its  awful  consequences  in  the  destruction 

280 


hook  of  Genesis. 

of  the  earth  by  a  flood,  noticed,  then  the  Almighty 
Creator  is  next  introduced  as  the  Restorer  and  Pre¬ 
server  of  the  world  ;  and  thus  the  history  of  Provi¬ 
dence  commences  :  a  history  in  which  the  mind  of 
man  is  alternately  delighted  and  confounded  with  the 
infinitely  varied  plans  of  wisdom  and  mercy  in  pre¬ 
serving  the  human  species,  counteracting  the  evil 
propensities  of  men  and  devils  by  means  of  gracious 
influences  conveyed  through  religious  institutions, 
planting  and  watering  the  seeds  of  righteousness  which 
himself  had  sowed  in  the  hearts  of  men,  and  leading 
forward  and  maturing  the  grand  purposes  of  his  grace 
in  the  final  salvation  of  the  human  race. 

After  giving  a  minutely  detailed  account  of  the 
peopling  of  the  earth,  ascertaining  and  settling  the 
bounds  of  the  different  nations  of  mankind,  the  sacred 
writer  proceeds  with  the  history  of  one  family  only ; 
but  he  chooses  that  one  through  which,  as  from  an 
ever-during  fountain,  the  streams  of  justice,  grace, 
goodness,  wisdom,  and  truth,  should  emanate.  Here 
we  see  a  pure  well  of  living  water,  springing  up  unto 
eternal  life,  restrained  in  its  particular  influence  to 
one  people  till,  in  the  fulness  of  time,  the  fountain 
should  be  opened  in  the  house  of  David  for  sin  and 
for  uncleanness  in  general,  and  the  earth  filled  with 
the  knowledge  and  salvation  of  God ;  thus  by  means 
of  one  family,  as  extensive  a  view  of  the  economy  of 
providence  and  grace  is  afforded  as  it  is  possible  for 
the  human  mind  to  comprehend. 

In  this  epitome  how  wonderful  do  the  workings  of 
Providence  appear  !  An  astonishing  concatenated  train 
of  stupendous  and  minute  events  is  laid  before  us ; 
and  every  transaction  is  so  distinctly  marked  as  every¬ 
where  to  exhibit  the  finger,  the  hand,  or  the  arm  of 
God  !  But  did  God  lavish  his  providential  cares  and 
attention  on  this  one  family,  exclusive  of  the  rest  of 
his  intelligent  offspring  1  No  :  for  the  same  superin¬ 
tendence,  providential  direction,  and  influence,  would 
be  equally  seen  in  all  the  concerns  of  human  life,  in 
the  preservation  of  individuals,  the  rise  and  fall  of 
kingdoms  and  states,  and  in  all  the  mighty  revolu¬ 
tions,  natural,  moral,  and  political,  in  the  universe, 
were  God,  as  in  the  preceding  instances,  to  give  us 
the  detailed  history  ;  but  what  was  done  in  the  family 
of  Abraham,  was  done  in  behalf  of  the  whole  human 
race.  This  specimen  is  intended  to  show  us  that  God 
does  work,  and  that  against  him  and  the  operations  of 
his  hand,  no  might,  no  counsel,  no  cunning  of  men  or 
devils,  can  prevail ;  that  he  who  walks  uprightly  walks 
securely  ;  and  that  all  things  work  together  for  good 
to  them  who  love  God  ;  that  none  is  so  ignorant,  low , 
or  lost,  that  God  cannot  instruct,  raise  up,  and  save. 
In  a  word,  he  shows  himself  by  this  history  to  be  the 
invariable  friend  of  mankind,  embracing  every  oppor¬ 
tunity  to  do  them  good,  and,  to  speak  after  the  manner 
of  men,  rejoicing  in  the  frequent  recurrence  of  such 
opportunities ;  that  every  man,  considering  the  sub¬ 
ject,  may  be  led  to  exclaim  in  behalf  of  all  his  fellows, 
BEHOLD  how  HE  loveth  THEM  ! 

On  the  character  of  Moses  as  a  historian  and  phi¬ 
losopher  (for  in  his  legislative  character  he  does  not 
yet  appear)  much  might  be  said,  did  the  nature  of  this 
work  admit.  But  as  brevity  has  been  everywnere 
studied,  and  minute  details  rarely  admitted,  and  only 

a 


GENESIS. 


Objections  against  the 

where  absolutely  necessary,  the  candid  reader  will  ex- 
cuse  any  deficiencies  of  this  kind  which  he  may  have 
already  noticed. 

Of  the  accuracy  and  impartiality  of  Moses  as  a 
historian ,  many  examples  are  given  in  the  course  of 
the  notes,  with  such  observations  and  reflections  as  the 
subjects  themselves  suggested ;  and  the  succeeding 
books  will  afford  many  opportunities  for  farther  remarks 
on  these  topics. 

The  character  of  Moses  as  a  philosopher  and  chro- 
nologist ,  has  undergone  the  severest  scrutiny.  A  class 
of  philosophers,  professedly  infidels,  have  assailed  the 
Mosaic  account  of  the  formation  of  the  universe,  and 
that  of  the  general  deluge,  with  such  repeated  attacks 
as  sufficiently  prove  that,  in  their  apprehension,  the 
pillars  of  their  system  must  be  shaken  into  ruin  if 
those  accounts  could  not  be  proved  to  be  false.  Tra¬ 
ditions,  supporting  accounts  different  from  those  in 
the  sacred  history,  have  been  borrowed  from  the  most 
barbarous  as  well  as  the  most  civilized  nations,  in 
order  to  bear  on  this  argument.  These,  backed  by 
various  geologic  observations  made  in  extensive  travels, 
experiments  on  the  formation  of  different  strata  or 
beds  of  earth,  either  by  inundations  or  volcanic  erup¬ 
tion,  have  been  all  condensed  into  one  apparently 
strong  but  strange  argument,  intended  to  overthrow 
the  Mosaic  account  of  the  creation.  The  argument 
may  be  stated  thus  :  “  Th$  account  given  by  Moses 
of  the  time  when  God  commenced  his  creative  acts 
is  too  recent ;  for,  according  to  his  Genesis,  six  thou¬ 
sand  years  have  not  yet  elapsed  since  the  formation  of 
the  universe;  whereas  a  variety  of  phenomena  prove 
that  the  earth  itself  must  have  existed,  if  not  from 
eternity,  yet  at  least  fourteen  if  not  twenty  thousand 
years.”  This  I  call  a  strange  argument,  because  it 
is  well  known  that  all  the  ancient  nations  in  the  world, 
the  Jews  excepted,  have,  to  secure  their  honour  and 
respectability,  assigned  to  themselves  a  duration  of  the 
most  improbable  length ;  and  have  multiplied  months, 
weeks,  and  even  days,  into  years,  in  order  to  support 
their  pretensions  to  the  most  remote  antiquity.  The 
millions  of  years  which  have  been  assumed  by  the 
Chinese  and  the  Hindoos  have  been  ridiculed  for  their 
manifest  absurdity,  even  by  those  philosophers  who 
have  brought  the  contrary  charge  against  the  Mosaic 
account  !  So  notorious  are  the  pretensions  to  remote 
ancestry  and  remote  eras,  in  every  false  and  fabricated 
system  of  family  pedigree  and  national  antiquity,  as  to 
produce  doubt  at  the  very  first  view  of  their  subjects, 
and  to  cause  the  impartial  inquirer  after  truth  to  take 
every  step  with  the  extreme  of  caution,  knowing  that 
in  going  over  such  accounts  he  everywhere  treads 
on  a  kind  of  enchanted  ground. 

When  in  the  midst  of  these  a  writer  is  found  who, 
without  saying  a  word  of  the  systems  of  other  nations, 
professes  to  give  a  simple  account  of  the  creation  and 
peopling  of  the  earth,  and  to  show  the  very  conspicu¬ 
ous  part  that  his  own  people  acted  among  the  various 
nations  of  the  world,  and  who  assigns  to  the  earth 
and  to  its  inhabitants  a  duration  comparatively  but  as 
of  yesterday,  he  comes  forward  with  such  a  variety 
of  claims  to  he  heard,  read,  and  considered,  as  no 
other  writer  can  pretend  to.  And  as  he  departs  from 
the  universal  custom  of  all  writers  on  similar  subjects,  j 

a 


Mosaic  chronology  answered 

in  assigning  a  comparatively  recent  date,  not  only  to 
his  own  nation,  but  to  the  universe  itself,  he  must  have 
been  actuated  by  motives  essentially  different  from 
those  which  have  governed  all  other  ancient  historians 
and  chronologists. 

The  generally  acknowledged  extravagance  and  ab¬ 
surdity  of  all  the  chronological  systems  of  ancient 
times,  the  great  simplicity  and  harmony  of  that  of 
Moses,  its  facts  evidently  borrowed  by  others,  though 
disgraced  by  the  fables  they  have  intermixed  with 
them,  and  the  very  late  invention  of  arts  and  sciences, 
all  tend  to  prove,  at  the  very  first  view,  that  the  Mo¬ 
saic  account,  which  assigns  the  shortest  duration  to 
the  earth,  is  the  most  ancient  and  the  most  likely  to 
be  true.  But  all  this  reasoning  has  been  supposed  to 
be  annihilated  by  an  argument  brought  against  the 
Mosaic  account  of  the  creation  by  Mr.  Patrick  Bry- 
done,  F.  R.  S.,  drawn  from  the  evidence  of  different 
eruptions  of  Mount  iEtna.  The  reader  may  find  this 
in  his  “  Tour  through  Sicily  and  Malta,”  letter  vii., 
where,  speaking  of  his  acquaintance  with  the  Cano - 
nico  Recupero  at  Catania,  who  was  then  employed  on 
writing  a  natural  history  of  Mount  .ZEtna,  he  says  : 
“  Near  to  a  vault  which  is  now  thirty  feet  below 
ground,  and  has  probably  been  a  burying-place,  there 
is  a  draw-well  where  there  are  several  strata  of  lavas, 
(i.  e.,  the  liquid  matter  formed  of  stones,  &o.,  which 
is  discharged  from  the  mountain  in  its  eruptions,)  with 
earth  to  a  considerable  thickness  over  each  stratum. 
Recupero  has  made  use  of  this  as  an  argument  to 
prove  the  great  antiquity  of  the  eruptions  of  this  moun¬ 
tain.  For  if  it  requires  two  thousand  years  and  up¬ 
wards  to  form  but  a  scanty  soil  on  the  surface  of  a 
lava,  there  must  have  been  more  than  that  space  of 
time  between  each  of  the  eruptions  which  have  formed 
these  strata.  But  what  shall  we  say  of  a  pit  they 
sunk  near  to  Jaci,  of  a  great  depth  1  They  pierced 
through  seven  distinct  lavas,  one  under  the  other,  the 
surfaces  of  which  were  parallel,  and  most  of  them 
covered  with  a  thick  bed  of  rich  earth .  Now,  says 
he,  the  eruption  which  formed  the  lowest  of  these 
lavas,  if  we  may  be  allowed  to  reason  from  analogy, 
must  have  flowed  from  the  mountain  at  least  fourteen 
thousand  years  ago !  Recupero  tells  me,  he  is  ex¬ 
ceedingly  embarrassed  by  these  discoveries,  in  writing 
the  history  of  the  mountain  ;  that  Moses  hangs  like  a 
dead  weight  upon  him,  and  blunts  all  his  zeal  for  in¬ 
quiry,  for  that  he  really  has  not  the  conscience  to  make 
his  mountain  so  young  as  that  prophet  makes  the 
world. 

“  The  bishop,  who  is  strenuously  orthodox,  (for  it  is 
an  excellent  see,)  has  already  warned  him  to  be  upon 
his  guard  ;  and  not  to  pretend  to  be  a  better  natural 
historian  than  Moses,  nor  to  presume  to  urge  any  thing 
that  may  in  the  smallest  degree  be  deemed  contradic¬ 
tory  to  his  sacred  authority.” 

Though  Mr.  Brydone  produces  this  as  a  sneer 
against  revelation,  bishops,  and  orthodoxy,  yet  the 
sequel  will  prove  that  it  was  good  advice,  and  that 
the  bishop  was  much  better  instructed  than  either  Re¬ 
cupero  or  Brydone,  and  that  it  would  have  been  much 
to  their  credit  had  they  taken  his  advice. 

1  have  given,  however,  this  argument  at  length  ; 

’  and  even  in  the  insidious  dress  of  Mr.  Brydone,  whose 

281 


CHAP.  L. 


The  geology  and  astronomy 

faith  in  Divine  revelation  appears  to  have  been  upon 
a  par  with  that  of  Signior  Recupero,  both  being  built 
nearly  on  the  same  foundation ;  to  show  from  the 
answer  how  slight  the  strongest  arguments  are,  pro¬ 
duced  from  insulated  facts  by  prejudice  and  partiality, 
when  brought  to  the  test  of  sober,  candid,  philosophi¬ 
cal  investigation,  aided  by  an  increased  knowledge  of 
the  phenomena  of  nature.  “  In  answer  to  this  argu¬ 
ment,”  says  Bishop  Watson,  (Letters  to  Gibbon,)  “it 
might  be  urged  that  the  time  necessary  for  converting 
lavas  into  fertile  fields  must  be  very  different,  accord¬ 
ing  to  the  different  consistencies  of  the  lavas,  and 
their  different  situations  with  respect  to  elevation  and 
depression ,  or  their  being  exposed  to  winds,  rains,  and 
other  circumstances  ;  as  for  instance,  the  quantity  of 
ashes  deposited  over  them,  after  they  had  cooled,  &c., 
Sic.,  just  as  the  time  in  which  heaps  of  iron  slag, 
which  resembles  lava,  are  covered  with  verdure,  is 
different  at  different  furnaces,  according  to  the  nature 
of  the  slag  and  situation  of  the  furnace ;  and  something 
of  this  kind  is  deducible  from  the  account  of  the  Canon 
(Recupero)  himself,  since  the  crevices  in  the  strata  are 
often  full  of  rich  good  soil,  and  have  pretty  large  trees 
growing  upon  them.  But  should  not  all  this  be  thought 
sufficient  to  remove  the  objection,  I  will  produce  the 
canon  an  analogy  in  opposition  to  his  analogy,  and 
which  is  grounded  on  more  certain  facts. 

“  JE tna  and  Vesuvius  resemble  each  other  in  the 
causes  which  produce  their  eruptions,  in  the  nature  of 
their  lavas,  and  in  the  time  necessary  to  mellow  them 
into  soil  fit  for  vegetation ;  or,  if  there  be  any  slight 
difference  in  this  respect,  it  is  probably  not  greater 
than  what  subsists  between  different  lavas  of  the  same 
mountain.  This  being  admitted,  which  no  philosopher 
will  deny,  the  canon’s  (Recupero’s)  analogy  will  prove 
just  nothing  at  all  if  we  can  produce  an  instance  of 
seven  different  lavas,  with  interjacent  strata  of  vegeta¬ 
ble  earth,  which  have  flowed  from  Mount  Vesuvius 
within  the  space,  not  of  fourteen  thousand,  but  of 
somewhat  less  than  one  thousand  seven  hundred  years  ; 
for  then,  according  to  our  analogy,  a  stratum  of  lava 
may  be  covered  with  vegetable  soil  in  about  two  hun¬ 
dred  and  fifty  years,  instead  of  requiring  two  thousand 
for  that  purpose. 

“  The  eruption  of  Vesuvius,  which  destroyed  Her¬ 
culaneum  and  Pompeii ,  is  rendered  still  more  famous 
by  the  death  of  Pliny,  recorded  by  his  nephew  in  his 
letter  to  Tacitus.  This  event  happened  A.  D.  79  ; 
but  we  are  informed  by  unquestionable  authority,  (Re¬ 
marks  on  the  nature  of  the  soil  of  Naples  and  Us 
vicinity,  by  Sir  William  Hamilton,  Philos.  Transact., 
vol.  lxi.,  p.  7,)  that  the  matter  which  covers  the  an¬ 
cient  town  of  Herculaneum  is  not  the  produce  of  one 
eruption  only,  for  there  are  evident  marks  that  the 
matter  of  six  eruptions  has  taken  its  course  over  that 
which  lies  immediately  over  the  town,  and  was  the 
cause  of  its  destruction.  The  strata  are  either  of 
lava  or  burnt  matter  with  veins  of  good  soil  betiveen 
them.  You  perceive,”  says  the  bishop,  “  with  what 
ease  a  little  attention  and  increase  of  knowledge  may 
remove  a  great  difficulty  ;  but  had  we  been  able  to  say 
nothing  in  explanation  of  this  phenomenon,  we  should 
not  have  acted  a  very  rational  part  in  making  our 
ignorance  the  foundation  of  our  infidelity ,  or  suffer- 

282 


of  the  booh  of  Genesis 

ing  a  minute  philosopher  to  rob  us  of  our  religion.” 
In  this,  as  well  as  in  all  other  cases,  the  foundation  stands 
sure,  being  deeply  and  legibly  impressed  with  God’s  seal: 
See  also  Dr.  Greaves's  Lectures  on  the  Pentateuch. 

There  is  a  very  sensible  paper  written  by  Don  Jo¬ 
seph  Gioeni*  on  the  eruption  of  HUtna  in  1781  ;  in 
which,  among  many  other  valuable  observations,  I  find 
the  following  note  :  “  I  was  obliged  to  traverse  the 
current  of  lava  made  by  the  eruption  of  1766,  the  most 
ancient  of  any  that  took  this  direction,  viz.,  Bronte. 
I  saw  several  streams  of  lava  which  had  crossed  others , 
and  which  afforded  me  evident  proofs  of  the  fallacy  of 
the  conclusions  of  those  who  seek  to  estimate  the 
period  of  the  formation  of  the  beds  of  lava  from  the 
change  they  have  undergone.  Some  lava  of  earlier 
date  than  others  still  resist  the  weather,  and  present  a 
vitreous  and  unaltered  surface,  while  the  lava  of  later 
date  already  begin  to  be  covered  with  vegetation.” — See 
Pinkerton  on  Rock,  vol.  ii.,  p.  395. 

On  the  geology  and  astronomy  of  the  book  of  Gene¬ 
sis,  much  has  been  written,  both  by  the  enemies  and 
friends  of  revelation ;  but  as  Moses  has  said  but  very 
little  on  these  subjects,  and  nothing  in  a  systematic 
way,  it  is  unfair  to  invent  a  system  pretendedly  col¬ 
lected  out  cf  his  words,  and  thus  make  him  account¬ 
able  for  what  he  never  wrote.  There  are  systems  of 
this  kind,  the  preconceived  fictions  of  their  authors, 
for  which  they  have  sought  support  and  credit  by  tor¬ 
tured  meanings  extracted  from  a  few  Hebrew  roots , 
and  then  dignified  them  with  the  title  of  The  Mosaic 
System  of  the  Universe.  This  has  afforded  infidelity 
a  handle  which  it  has  been  careful  to  turn  to  its  own 
advantage.  On  the  first  chapter  of  Genesis,  I  have 
given  a  general  view  of  the  solar  system,  without  pre¬ 
tending  that  I  had  found  it  there.  I  have  also  ven¬ 
tured  to  apply  the  comparatively  recent  doctrine  of 
caloric  to  the  Mosaic  account  of  the  creation  of  light 
previous  to  the  formation  of  the  sun,  and  have  sup¬ 
ported  it  with  such  arguments  as  appeared  to  me  to 
render  it  at  least  probable  :  but  I  have  not  pledged 
Moses  to  any  of  my  explanations,  being  fully  convinced 
that  it  was  necessarily  foreign  from  his  design  to  enter 
into  philosophic  details  of  any  kind,  as  it  was  his  grand 
object,  as  has  been  already  remarked,  to  give  a  history 
of  Creation  and  Providence  in  the  most  abridged 
form  of  which  it  was  capable.  And  who,  in  so  few 
words,  ever  spoke  so  much  1  By  Creation  I  mean  the 
production  of  every  being,  animate  and  inanimate, 
material  and  intellectual.  And  by  Providence,  not 
only  the  preservation  and  government  of  all  being, 
but  also  the  various  and  extraordinary  provisions  made 
by  Divine  justice  and  mercy  for  the  comfort  and  final 
salvation  of  man.  These  subjects  I  have  endeavoured 
to  trace  out  through  every  chapter  of  this  book,  and  to 
exhibit  them  in  such  a  manner  as  appeared  to  me  the 
best  calculated  to  promote  glory  1 o  God  in  the  highest , 
and  upon  earth  peace  and  good  will  among  men. 

Observations  on  the  Jewish  manner  of  dividing  and 
reading  the  Law  and  the  Prophets. 

The  ancient  Jews  divided  the  whole  law  of  Moses 
into  fifty-four  sections,  which  they  read  in  their  syna- 

*  The  Chevalier  Gioeni  was  an  inhabitant  of  the  first  region 
of  JEtna. 


GENESIS. 


a 


CHAP.  L. 


Masoretical  notes. 


Jewish  division  of  the  Pentateuch. 


gogues  in  the  course  of  the  fifty-two  Sabbaths  in  the 
year,  joining  two  of  the  shortest  twice  together,  that 
the  whole  might  be  finished  in  one  year’s  space  ;  but 
in  their  intercalated  years,  in  which  they  added  a  month , 
they  had  fifty-four  Sabbaths,  and  then  they  had  a  sec¬ 
tion  for  each  Sabbatli :  and  it  was  to  meet  the  exigency 
of  the  intercalated  years  that  they  divided  the  law  into 
fifty-four  sections  at  first.  When  Antiochus  Epiphanes 
forbade  the  Jews  on  pain  of  death  to  read  their  law, 
they  divided  the  prophets  into  the  same  number  of  sec¬ 
tions,  and  read  them  in  their  synagogues  in  place  of 
the  law ;  and  when,  under  the  Asmoneans,  they  re¬ 
covered  their  liberty,  and  with  it  the  free  exercise  of 
their  religion,  though  the  reading  of  the  law  was  re¬ 
sumed,  they  continued  the  use  of  the  prophetic  sections , 
reading  them  conjointly  with  those  in  the  law.  To 
this  first  division  and  mode  of  reading  the  law  there 
is  a  reference,  Acts  xv.  21:  For  Moses  of  old  time 
hath  in  every  city  them  that  preach  him ,  being  read 
IN  THE  SYNAGOGUES  EVERY  SABBATH  DAY.  To  the 
second  division  and  conjoint  reading  of  the  law  and 
the  prophets  we  also  find  a  reference,  Acts  xiii.  15  : 
And  after  the  reading  of  the  law  and  the  prophets, 
the  rulers  of  the  synagogue  sent  unto  them ,  saying , 
6fc.  And  that  the  prophets  were  read  in  this  way  in 
our  Lord's  time ,  we  have  a  proof,  Luke  iv.  16,  &c  , 
where,  going  into  the  synagogue  to  read  on  the  Sab¬ 
bath  day ,  as  was  his  custom ,  there  ivas  delivered  unto 
him  the  book  of  the  Prophet  Isaiah :  and  it  appears 
that  the  prophetical  section  for  that  Sabbath  was  taken 
from  the  sixty-first  chapter  of  his  prophecies. 

Of  these  sections  the  book  of  Genesis  contains 
twelve  : 

The  first,  called  iYtsn3  bereshith,  begins  chap.  i. 
ver.  1,  and  ends  chap.  vi.  ver.  8. 

The  second,  called  PU  Noach,  begins  chap.  vi.  ver. 
9,  and  ends  chap.  xi. 

The  third,  called  "jS  lech  lecha ,  begins  chap,  xii., 
and  ends  chap,  xviii. 

The  fourth,  called  KYI  vaiyera ,  begins  chap,  xviii., 
and  ends  chap.  xxii. 

The  fifth,  called  ’Tl  chaiyey  Sarah,  begins 
chap,  xxiii.,  and  ends  chap.  xxv.  ver.  18. 

The  sixth,  called  rn^in  toledolh,  begins  chap.  xxv. 
ver.  19,  and  ends  chap,  xxviii.  ver.  9. 

The  seventh,  called  vaiyetse,  begins  chap, 
xxviii.  ver.  10,  and  ends  chap,  xxxii.  ver.  3. 

The  eighth,  called  mtiH  vaiyishlach ,  begins  chap, 
xxxii.  ver.  4,  and  ends  chap,  xxxvi. 

The  ninth,  called  vaiyesheb ,  begins  chap, 

xxxvii.,  and  ends  chap.  xl. 

The  tenth,  called  ppD  mikkets,  begins  chap,  xli., 
and  ends  chap.  xliv.  ver.  17. 

The  eleventh,  called  iVYl  vaiyiggash ,  begins  chap, 
xliv.  ver.  18,  and  ends  chap,  xlvii.  ver.  27. 

The  twelfth,  called  TH  vayechi ,  begins  chap,  xlvii. 
rex.  28,  and  ends  chap.  1. 


These  sections  have  their  technical  names,  from  the 
words  with  which  they  commence  ;  and  are  marked  in 
the  Hebrew  Bibles  with  three  233  pe's,  which  are  an 
abbreviation  for  PI15H3  parashah,  a  section  or  division ; 
and  sometimes  with  three  ODD  samech's,  which  are  an 
abbreviation  for  the  word  YiD  seder,-  or  KY1D  sidra,  an 
order ,  a  full  and  absolute  division.  The  former  are 
generally  called  nV'tJHD  parashioth,  distinctions,  divi  ■ 
sions,  sections  ;  the  latter  DYD  sedarim,  orders,  ar¬ 
rangements  ;  as  it  is  supposed  that  the  sense  is  more 
full  and  complete  in  these  than  in  the  parashioth.  See 
the  Tables,  &c.,  at  the  end  of  the  Book  of  Deuteronomy, 
where  all  these  matters,  and  others  connected  with 
them,  are  considered  in  great  detail. 

Masoretic  Notes  on  the  Book  of  Genesis. 

At  the  end  of  all  the  books  in  the  Hebrew  Bible, 
the  Masoretes  have  affixed  certain  notes,  ascertaining 
the  number  of  greater  and  smaller  sections,  chapters, 
verses,  and  letters.  These  they  deemed  of  the  greatest 
importance,  in  order  to  preserve  the  integrity  of  their 
law,  and  the  purity  of  their  prophets.  And  to  this 
end  they  not  only  numbered  every  verse,  word,  and 
letter,  but  even  went  so  far  as  to  ascertain  how  often 
each  letter  of  the  alphabet  occurred  in  the  whole  Bible  l 
Thus  sacredly  did  they  watch  over  their  records  in  or¬ 
der  to  prevent  every  species  of  corruption. 

The  sum  of  all  the  verses  in  Bereshith  (Genesis) 
is  1534.  And  the  memorial  sign  of  this  sum  is  lb  "jk — 
aleph  K  signifying  1000  ;  final  caph  "|  500;  lamed  *7  30, 
and  daleth  1  4.==  1534. 

The  middle  verse  of  Genesis  is  the  fortieth  of  chap, 
xxvii.  :  By  thy  sword  shalt  thou  live. 

The  parashioth,  or  greater  sections,  are  twelve. 
The  symbol  of  which  is  the  word  nr  zeh ,  this,  Exod. 
iii.  15  :  And  this  is  my  memorial  to  all  generations. 
Where  zain  T  stands  for  7,  and  he  n  for  5.=  12. 

The  sedarim,  or  orders,  (see  above)  are  forty-three. 
The  symbol  of  which  is  the  word  DJ  gam.  Gen.  xxvii. 
33  :  Yea  (DJ  gam)  and  he  shall  be  blessed.  Where 
girnel  J  stands  for  3,  and  mem  D  for  40.  =  43. 

The  perakim,  or  modern  division  of  chapters,  are 
fifty  ;  the  symbol  of  which  is  "J1?  lecha,  Isa.  xxxiii.  2  : 
We  have  waited  for  thee.  Where  lamed  h  stands  for 
30,  and  caph  "j  for  20.  =  50. 

The  open  sections  are  43,  the  close  sections  48  / 
total  91  :  the  numerical  sign  of  which  is  tse,  get 
thee  out,  Exod.  xi.  8,  where  tsaddi  ¥  stands  for  90, 
and  aleph  K  for  1 .  =  91. 

The  number  of  letters  is  about  52,740;  but  this 
last  is  more  a  matter  of  conjecture  and  computation 
than  of  certainty,  and  on  it  no  dependence  can  safely 
be  placed,  it  being  a  mere  multiplication  by  twelve,  the 
number  of  sections,  of  4395,  the  known  number  of 
letters  in  the  last  or  twelfth  section  of  the  book.  On 
this  subject  see  Buxtorf’s  Tiberias,  p.  181. 

283 


a 


A  CHRONOLOGICAL  TABLE 


OF  THE  PRINCIPAL  TRANSACTIONS  RELATED  IN  THE  BOOK  OF  GENESIS,  ACCORDING  TO  THE  COMPUTATION  OF  ARCH¬ 
BISHOP  USHER,  WHICH  IS  CHIEFLY  FOLLOWED  IN  THE  PRECEDING  NOTES  ;  SHOWING  IN  WHAT  YEAR  OF  THE 
WORLD,  AND  WHAT  YEAR  BEFORE  CHRIST,  EACH  EVENT  HAPPENED. 


The  reader  will  observe,  from  the  chronological  notes  in  the  margin  of  the  preceding  work,  that  in  a  few 
instances  I  have  departed  from  the  Usherian  computation,  for  which  he  will  find  my  reasons  in  the  notes. 

This  table  I  have  considerably  enlarged  by  inserting  the  Edomitish  kings  and  dukes ,  and  a  few  other  trans¬ 
actions  of  profane  history  contemporary  with  the  facts  mentioned  by  Moses,  by  which  the  reader  will  have  a 
synopsis  or  general  view  of  all  the  transactions  of  the  first  two  thousand  four  hundred  years  of  the  world, 
which  stand  upon  any  authentic  records. 

The  first  year  of  the  world,  answering  to  the  710th  year  of  the  Julian  period,  and  supposed  to  be  4004 


before  the  vulgar  era  of  the  birth  of  Christ. 

A.  M.  B.  C. 

1  First  day’s  work  :  Creation  of  the  hea-  40t)4 
vens  and  earth  ;  of  light,  with  the 
distinction  of  day  and  night,  Gen.  i. 

1-5. 

Second  day :  Creation  of  the  firmament, 
and  separation  of  the  superior  and 
inferior  waters,  i.  6—8. 

Third  day :  The  earth  drained,  the  seas, 
lakes,  &c.,  formed ;  trees,  plants,  and 
vegetables  produced,  i.  9—13. 

Fourth  day  :  The  sun,  moon,  planets, 
and  stars  produced,  i.  14—19. 

Fifth  day :  All  kinds  of  fowls  and  fishes 
created,  i.  20—23. 

Sixth  day  :  Beasts  wild  and  tame,  rep¬ 
tiles,  insects,  and  man,  i.  24—28. 

Seventh  day  :  Set  apart  and  hallowed 
to  be  a  Sabbath,  or  day  of  rest  for 
ever,  ii.  2,  3. 

Tenth  day  :  The  first  woman  sins, 
leads  her  husband  into  the  trans¬ 
gression,  is  called  Eve,  iii.  1—20. 

They  are  both  expelled  from  Para¬ 
dise,  iii.  22—24. 

N.  B.  This  opinion ,  though  rendered 
respectable  by  great  names,  is  very 
doubtf  ul,  and  should  be  received  with 
very  great  caution.  I  think  it  wholly 
inadmissible ;  and  though  I  insert  it 
as  the  generally  received  opinion, 
yet  judge  it  best  to  form  no  guesses 
and  indulge  no  conjectures  on  such 


an  obscure  point. 

2  Cain  and  Abel  born,  iv.  1,  2.  4002 

129  Abel  killed  by  his  brother  Cain,  iv.  8.  3875 

130  Birth  of  Seth,  iv.  25.  3874 

235  Enos  son  of  Seth  born,  iv.  26.  Hence  3769 


followed  the  distinction  between  the 
descendants  of  Cain  and  those  of 
Seth ;  the  former  being  called  sons  of 
men,  the  latter  sons  of  God,  vi.  1—4. 


325 

Birth  of  Cainan,  son  of  Enos,  v.  9. 

3679 

395 

- —  of  Mahalaleel,  son  of  Cainan,  v. 

3609 

12. 

460 

— —of  Jared,  son  of  Mahalaleel,  v.  15. 

3544 

632 

— - —  of  Enoch,  son  of  Jared,  v.  18. 

3382 

OO 

c* 

A.  M.  B.  C. 

687  Birthof  Methuselah,  son  of  Enoch, v.  21.  3317 


874  - of  Lamech,  son  of  Methuselah,  3130 

v.  25. 

930  Death  of  Adam,  aged  930  years,  v.  5.  3074 

987  Enoch  is  translated  in  the  365th  year  3017 
of  his  age,  v.  24. 

1042  Seth  dies,  aged  912  years,  v.  8.  2962 

1056  Birth  of  Noah,  son  of  Lamech,  v.  29.  2948 

1140  Enos  dies,  aged  905  years,  v.  11.  2864 

1235  Cainan  dies,  aged  910  years,  v.  14.  2769 

1290  Mahalaleel  dies,  aged  895  years,  v.  17.  2714 

1422  Jared  dies,  aged  962  years,  v.  20.  2582 

1536  God  commissions  Noah  to  preach  re-  2468 
pentance  to  the  guilty  world,  and  to  * 


announce  the  deluge.  He  commands 
him  also  to  build  an  ark  for  the  safety 
of  himself  and  his  family.  This  com¬ 
mission  was  given  120  years  before 
the  flood  came,  1  Pet.  iii.  20 ;  2  Pet. 
ii.  5  ;  Gen.  vi.  17. 

1556  Birth  of  Japheth,  son  of  Noah,  v.  32,  2448 

compared  with  x.  21. 

1558  of  Shem.  2446 

1560  of  Ham.  2444 

1651  Death  of  Lamech,  aged  777  years,  v.  2353 
31. 

1656  of  Methuselah,  aged  969  years,  2348 

v.  27. 

-  The  general  DELUGE,  vii.  - 

-  Noah,  his  family,  and  the  animals  to  - 

be  preserved,  enter  the  ark  the  17th 
day  of  the  2d  month  of  this  year, 

vii.  11.  The  rain  commences,  and 
continues  40  days  and  nights,  and 
the  waters  continue  without  decreas¬ 
ing  150  days;  they  afterwards  be¬ 
gin  to  abate,  and  the  ark  rests  on 
Mount  Ararat,  viii.  4. 

-  Noah  sends  out  a  raven,  viii.  7.  - - 

-  Seven  days  after  he  sends  out  a  dove,  - 

which  returns  the  same  day ;  after 
seven  days  he  sends  out  the  dove  a 
second  time,  which  returns  no  more, 

viii.  8-12. 

1657  Noah,  his  family,  &c.,  leave  the  ark.  He  2347 

offers  sacrifices  to  God,  viii.  and  ix. 


a 


CHRONOLOGY  TO  GENESIS. 


A..  M.  B.  C. 

1658  Birth  of  Arphaxad,  son  of  Shem,  xi.  2346 
10,  11. 

1693  of  Salah,  son  of  Arphaxad,  xi.  12.  2311 

1723  of  Eber,  son  of  Salah,  xi.  14.  2281 

1757  of  Peleg,  son  of  Eber,  xi.  16.  2247 

-  Building  of  the  Tower  of  Babel,  xi.  1—9.  - 

1771  About  this  time  Babylon  was  built  by  2233 
the  command  of  Nimrod. 

1787  Birth  of  Reu,  son  of  Peleg,  xi.  18.  2217 

1816  Commencement  of  the  regal  government  2188 


of  Egypt,  from  Mizraim,  son  of  Ham. 

Egypt  continued  an  independent 
kingdom  from  this  time  to  the  reign 
of  Cambyses,  king  of  Persia,  which 
was  a  period  of  1663  years,  accord¬ 
ing  to  Constantinus  Manasses. 

1819  Birth  of  Serug,  son  of  Reu  xi.  20.  2185 

1849  - of  Nahor,  son  of  Seiag,  xi.  22.  2155 

1878  - of  Terah,  son  of  Nahor,  xi.  24.  2126 

1915  About  this  time,  JEgialeus  founds  the  2089 
kingdom  of  Sicvon,  according  to 
Eusebius. 

1948  Birth  of  Nahor  and  Ha  ran,  sons  of  2056 
Terah,  xi.  26. 

1996  Peleg  dies,  aged  239  years,  xi.  19.  2008 

1997  Nahor  dies,  aged  148  years,  xi.  25.  2007 
2006  Noah  dies,  aged  950  years,  350  years  1998 

after  the  flood,  ix.  29. 

2008  Birth  of  Abram,  son  of  Terah,  xi.  26.  1996 

2018  - of  Sarai,  wife  of  Abram.  1986 

2026  Reu  dies,  xi.  21.  1978 

2049  Serug  dies,  xi.  23.  1955 

2079  Chedorlaomer,  king  of  Elam,  subdues  1925 
the  kings  of  the  Pentapolis,  Sodom, 
Gomorrah,  &c.,  to  whom  they  con¬ 
tinued  in  subjection  12  years,  xiv.  4. 

2083  The  calling  of  Abram  out  of  UR  of  the  1921 

Chaldees,  where  the  family  had  been 
addicted  to  idolatry,  Josh.  xxiv.  2. 

He  comes  to  Haran  in  Mesopotamia, 
with  Lot  his  nephew,  Sarai  his  wife, 
and  his  father  Terah,  who  dies  at 
Haran,  aged  205  years,  xi.  31,  32. 

-  Abram  comes  to  Canaan, when  75  years  - 

of  age,  Gen.  xii.  4.  From  this  period 
the  430  years  of  the  sojourning  of  the 
Israelites,  mentioned  Exod.  xii.  40, 

41,  is  generally  dated. 

2084  Abram  goes  into  Egypt  because  of  the  1920 

famine,  xii.  10 ;  causes  Sarai  to  pass 
for  his  sister.  Pharaoh  ( Apophis ) 
takes  her  to  his  house  ;  but  soon  re¬ 
stores  her,  finding  her  to  be  Abram’s 
wife,  ver.  14—20. 

2086  Abram  and  Lot,  having  returned  to  the  1918 
land  of  Canaan,  separate  ;  Lot  goes 
to  Sodom,  and  Abram  to  the  valley 
of  Mamre,  near  to  Hebron,  xiii. 

2090  The  kings  of  the  Pentapolis  revolt  from  1914 

Chedorlaomer,  xiv.  4. 

2091  Chedorlaomer  and  his  allies  make  war  1913 

with  the  kings  of  the  Pentapolis ; 

Lot  is  taken  captive  ;  Abram  with 


A.  M.  B.  C 

his  allies  pursues  Chedorlaomer,  de¬ 
feats  him  and  the  confederate  kings 
delivers  Lot  and  the  other  captives, 
and  is  blessed  by  Melchizedek,  king 
of  Salem,  xiv. 

2093  God  promises  Abram  a  numerous  pos-  1911 

terity,  xv.  1 . 

-  About  this  time  Bela,  the  first  king  - - 

of  the  Edomites,  began  to  reign, 
xxxvi.  32. 

2094  Sarai  gives  Hagar  to  Abram,  xvi.  2.  1910 

-  Of  her  Ishmael  is  born,  xvi.  15,  Abram  - - 

being  then  86  years  old. 

2096  Arphaxad  dies,  403  years  after  the  1908 
birth  of  Salah,  xi.  13. 

2107  God  makes  a  covenant  with  Abram;  1897 

gives  him  the  promise  of  a  son  ; 
changes  his  name  into  A  braham ,  and 
Sarai’s  into  Sarah,  and  enjoins  cir¬ 
cumcision,  xvii.  1,  5,  6,  &c.  Abra¬ 
ham  entertains  three  angels  on  their 
way  to  destroy  Sodom,  &c.,  xviii. 

He  intercedes  for  the  inhabitants ; 
but  as  ten  righteous  persons  could 
not  be  found  in  those  cities,  they 
are  destroyed,  xix.  23.  Lot  is  de¬ 
livered,  and  for  his  sake  Zoar  is 
preserved,  ver.  19,  &c. 

- —  Abraham  retires  to  Beer-sheba,  after-  - - 

wards  sojourns  at  Gerar.  Abime- 
lech,  king  of  Gerar,  takes  Sarah, 
in  order  to  make  her  his  wife,  but 
is  obliged  to  restore  her,  xx. 

2108  Isaac  is  born,  xxi.  2,  3.  1896 

-  Moab  and  Ben-ammi,  the  sons  of  Lot,  - - 

born,  xix.  37,  38. 

2110  Abraham  sends  away  Ishmael,  xxi.  1894 
13,  14. 

2118  Abimelech  and  Phichol  his  chief  cap-  1886 
tain  make  an  agreement  with  Abra¬ 
ham,  and  surrender  the  well  of  Beer- 
sheba  for  seven  ewe  lambs,  xxi. 

22,  &c. 

2126  Salah  dies  403  years  after  the  birth  of  1878 
Eber,  xi.  15. 

2135  About  this  time  Jobab,  the  second  king  1869 
of  the  Edomites,  began  to  reign, 
xxxvi.  33. 

2141  Abraham  is  called  to  sacrifice  his  son  1863 
Isaac,  xxii. 


2145  Sarah  dies,  aged  127  years,  xxiii.  1.  1859 

2148  Abraham  sends  Eliezer  to  Mesopotamia  1856 
to  get  a  wife  for  his  son  Isaac,  xxxiv. 

2154  About  this  time  Abraham  marries  Ke-  1850 
turah,  xxv.  1. 

2158  Shem,  son  of  Noah,  dies  500  years  1846 
after  the  birth  of  Arphaxad,  xi.  11. 

2168  Birth  of  Jacob  and  Esau,  Isaac  their  1836 


father  being  60 years  old,  xv.  22,  &c. 

2177  About  this  time  Husham,  the  third  1827 
king  of  the  Edomites,  began  to 
reign,  xxxvi.  34. 

2183  Abraham  dies,  aged  175  years, xxv.  7, 8.  1821 

285 


CHRONOLOGY  TO  GENESIS. 


A.  M.  B.  C. 

2187  Eber  dies,  430  years  after  the  birth  of  1817 
Peleg,  xi.  17. 

2200  God  appears  to  Isaac,  and  gives  him  1804 
glorious  promises,  xxvi.  4.  He 
stays  at  Gerar  during  the  famine, 
xxvi.  6. 

2208  Esau  marries  two  Canaanitish  women,  1796 
xxvi.  34. 

2219  About  this  time  Hadad,  the  fourth  king  1785 
of  the  Edomites,  began  to  reign, 
xxxvi.  35. 

• - -  Deluge  of  Ogyges  in  Greece ,  1020  years  - 

before  the  first  Olympiad. 

2225  Jacob  by  subtlety  obtains  Esau’s  bless-  1779 
ing,  xxvii.  He  goes  to  Haran,  and 
engages  to  serve  Laban  seven  years 
for  Rachel,  xxviii.,  xxix. 

-  Esau  marries  Mahalath,  the  daughter  - 

of  Ishmael,  xxviii.  9. 

2231  Ishmael  dies,  aged  137  years,  xxv.  17.  1773 

2232  Jacob  espouses  Rachel  seven  years  1772 

after  his  engagement  with  Laban  : 

Leah  is  put  in  the  place  of  her  sis¬ 
ter  ;  but  seven  days  after  he  receives 


Rachel,  xxix. 

2233  Reuben  is  born,  xxix.  32.  1771 

2234  Simeon  is  born,  xxix.  33.  1770 

2235  Levi  is  born,  xxix.  34.  1769 

2236  Judah  is  born,  xxix.  35.  1768 

2237  Dan  is  born,  xxx.  5,  6.  1767 

2239  Naphtali  is  born,  xxx.  7,  8.  1765 

2240  Gad  is  born,  xxx.  10,  11.  1764 

2242  Asher  is  born,  xxx.  12,  13.  1762 


Evechous  begins  to  reign  over  the  Chal¬ 
deans  224  years  before  the  Arabs 
reigned  in  that  country  (Julius  Afri- 
canus.)  Usher  supposes  him  to  have 
been  the  same  with  Belus,  who  was 


afterwards  worshipped  by  the  Chal¬ 
deans. 

2247  Issachar  is  born,  xxx.  17,  18.  1757 

2249  Zebulun  is  born,  xxx.  19,  20.  1755 

2250  Dinah  is  born,  xxx.  21.  1754 

2259  Joseph  is  born,  xxx.  23,  24.  1745 

2261  About  this  time  Samlah,  the  fifth  king  1743 

of  the  Edomites,  began  to  reign, 
xxxvi.  36. 

2265  Jacob  and  his  family,  unknown  to  La-  1739 

ban,  set  out  for  Canaan.  Laban, 
hearing  of  his  departure,  pursues 
him  ;  after  seven  days  he  comes  up 
with  him  at  the  mountains  of  Gilead ; 


they  make  a  covenant,  and  gather  a 
heap  of  stones,  and  set  up  a  pillar  as 
a  memorial  of  the  transaction,  xxxi. 

-  Jacob  wrestles  with  an  Angel,  and  has  - 

his  name  changed  to  that  of  Israel, 
xxxii.  24-29. 

-  Esau  meets  Jacob,  xxxiii.  4.  - 

- Jacob  arrives  in  Canaan,  and  settles  - 

among  the  Shechemites,  xxxiii.  18. 

2266  Benjamin  born,  and  Rachel  dies  imme-  1738 
diately  after  his  birth,  xxxv.  18. 

286 


A.  M.  B.  C. 

2266  Dinah  defiled  by  Shechem,  and  the  sub-  1738 
sequent  murder  of  the  Shechemites 
by  Simeon  and  Levi,  xxxiv. 

2276  Joseph,  aged  seventeen  years,  falling  1728 
under  the  displeasure  of  his  brothers, 
they  conspire  to  take  away  his  life, 
but  afterwards  change  their  minds, 
and  sell  him  for  a  slave  to  some 
Ishmaelite  merchants, who  bring  him 
to  Egypt  and  sell  him  to  Potiphar, 
xxxvii. 

2278  Pharez  and  Zarah,  the  twin-sons  of  1726 
Judah,  born  about  this  time,  xxxviii 
27-30. 

2285  Joseph,  through  the  false  accusation  of  1719 
his  mistress,  is  cast  into  prison, 
where,  about  two  years  after,  he  in¬ 
terprets  the  dreams  of  the  chief  but¬ 
ler  and  the  chief  baker,  xxxix.,  xl. 

2288  Isaac  dies,  aged  180  years,  xxxv.  28.  1716 

2289  Joseph  interprets  the  two  prophetic  1715 

dreams  of  Pharaoh,  xli. 

-  Commencement  of  the  seven  years  of  - 

plenty. 

2290  About  this  time  was  born  Manasseh,  1714 

Joseph’s  first-born. 

2292  About  this  time  was  born  Ephraim,  Jo-  1712 
seph’s  second  son. 

2296  Commencement  of  the  seven  years  of  1708 

famine. 

2297  Jacob  sends  his  sons  to  Egypt  to  buy  1707 

corn,  xlii.  1,  &c. 

2298  He  sends  them  a  second  time,  and  with  1706 

them  his  son  Benjamin,  xliii.  11. 

-  Joseph  makes  himself  known  to  his  - - 

brethren,  sends  for  his  father,  and 
allots  him  and  his  household  the  land 
of  Goshen  to  dwell  in  ;  Jacob  being 
then  130  years  old,  xlv.,  xlvi. 

2300  Joseph  sells  corn  to  the  Egyptians,  and  1704 

brings  all  the  money  in  Egypt  into 
the  king’s  treasury,  xlvii.  14. 

2301  He  buys  all  the  cattle,  xlvii.  16.  1703 

2302  All  the  Egyptians  give  themselves  up  1702 

to  be  Pharaoh’s  servants,  in  order  to 
get  corn  to  preserve  their  lives  and 
sow  their  ground,  xlvii.  18,  &c. 

2303  The  seven  years  of  famine  ended.  1701 

-  About  this  time  Saul,  the  sixth  king  - - 

of  the  Edomites,  began  to  reign, 
xxxvi.  37. 

2315  Jacob,  having  blessed  his  sons  and  the  1689 
sons  of  Joseph,  Ephraim,  and  Ma¬ 
nasseh,  dies,  aged  147  years.  He 
is  embalmed  and  carried  into  Ca¬ 
naan,  and  buried  in  the  cave  of 
Machpelah,  xlix.  1. 

2345  About  this  time  Baal-hanan,  the  se-  1659 
venth  king  of  the  Edomites,  began 
to  reign,  xxxvi.  38. 

2369  Joseph  dies,  aged  110,  having  go-  1635 
verned  Egypt  fourscore  years. 

About  this  time  Hadar  or  Hadad,  the 
a 


2387 


1617 


CHRONOLOGY  TO  GENESIS. 


A.  M.  B.  C. 

eighth  and  last  king  of  the  Edom¬ 
ites,  began  to  reign,  xxxvi.  39. 

2429  About  this  time  the  regal  government  1575 
of  the  Edomites  is  abolished,  and 
the  first  aristocracy  of  dukes  begins, 
xxxvi.  15,  16. 

2471  About  this  time  the  second  aristocracy  1533 
of  Edomitish  dukes  begins,  xxxvi. 

40-43. 


A.M.  B.C. 

2474  Caleb,  the  son  of  Jephunneh,  born  forty  1530 
years  before  he  was  sent  by  Moses 
to  spy  out  the  land  of  Canaan. 

2494  Ramasses  Miamun  died  in  the  67th  1510 
year  of  his  reign,  under  whom,  and 
his  son  Amenophis ,  who  succeeded 
him,  the  children  of  Israel  endured 
the  cruel  bondage  and  oppression 
mentioned  in  Exodus  i. 


Finished  the  correction  of  this  Part ,  April  6th ,  1827. — A.  Clarke. 

a  287 


PREFACE  TO  THE  BOOK 


OP 


EXODUS. 


^pHE  name  by  which  this  book  is  generally  distinguished  is  borrowed  from  the  Septuagmt , 
in  which  it  is  called  Efydog,  Exodus,  the  going  out  or  departure ;  and  by  the  Codex 
Alexandrinus,  Egodoc  Aljvktov,  the  departure  from  Egypt ,  because  the  departure  of  the 
Israelites  from  Egypt  is  the  most  remarkable  fact  mentioned  in  the  whole  book.  In  the 
Hebrew  Bibles  it  is  called  ninty  nbxi  ve-elleii  siiemoth,  these  are  the  names ,  which  are  the 
words  with  which  it  commences.  It  contains  a  history  of  the  transactions  of  145  years, 
beginning  at  the  death  of  Joseph,  where  the  book  of  Genesis  ends,  and  coming  down  to  the 
erection  of  the  tabernacle  in  the  wilderness  at  the  foot  of  Mount  Sinai. 

In  this  book  Moses  details  the  causes  and  motives  of  the  persecution  raised  up  against  the 
Israelites  in  Egypt,  the  orders  given  by  Pharaoh  to  destroy  all  the  Hebrew  male  children, 
and  the  prevention  of  the  execution  of  those  orders  through  the  humanity  and  piety  of  the 
midwives  appointed  to  deliver  the  Hebrew  women.  The  marriage  of  Amram  and  Jochebed 
is  next  related ;  the  birth  of  Moses  ;  the  mangier  in  which  he  was  exposed  on  the  river  Nile, 
and  in  which  he  was  discovered  by  the  daughter  of  Pharaoh;  his  being  providentially  put 
under  the  care  of  his  own  mother  to  be  nursed,  and  educated  as  the  son  of  the  Egyptian 
princess  ;  how,  when  forty  years  of  age,  he  left  the  court,  visited  and  defended  his  brethren ; 
the  danger  to  which  he  was  in  consequence  exposed ;  his  flight  to  Arabia  ;  his  contract  with 
Jethro,  priest  or  prince  of  Midian,  whose  daughter  Zipporah  he  afterwards  espoused.  While 
employed  in  keeping  the  flocks  of  his  father-in-law,  God  appeared  to  him  in  a  burning  bush, 
and  commissioned  him  to  go  and  deliver  his  countrymen  from  the  oppression  under  which 
they  groaned.  Having  given  him  the  most  positive  assurances  of  protection  and  power  to 
work  miracles,  and  having  associated  with  him  his  brother  Aaron,  he  sent  them  first  to  the 
Israelites  to  declare  the  purpose  of  Jehovah,  and  afterwards  to  Pharaoh  to  require  him,  in 
the  name  of  the  Most  High,  to  set  the  Israelites  at  liberty.  Pharaoh,  far  from  submitting, 
made  their  yoke  more  grievous  ;  and  Moses,  on  a  second  interview  with  him,  to  convince  him 
by  whose  authority  he  made  the  demand,  wrought  a  miracle  before  him  and  his  courtiers. 
This  being  in  a  certain  way  imitated  by  Pharaoh’s  magicians,  he  hardened  his  heart,  and 
refused  to  let  the  people  go,  till  God,  by  ten  extraordinary  plagues,  convinced  him  of  his 
omnipotence,  and  obliged  him  to  consent  to  dismiss  a  people  over  whose  persons  and  pro¬ 
perties  he  had  claimed  and  exercised  a  right  founded  only  on  the  most  tyrannical  principles. 
The  plagues  by  which  God  afflicted  the  whole  land  of  Egypt,  Goshen  excepted,  where  the 
Israelites  dwelt,  were  the  following : — 

1.  He  turned  all  the  waters  of  Egypt  into  blood.  2.  He  caused  innumerable  frogs  to 
come  over  the  whole  land.  3 .  He  afflicted  both  man  and  beast  with  immense  swarms  of 
vermin.  4.  Afterwards  with  a  multitude  of  different  kinds  of  insects.  5.  He  sent  a  grievous 
pestilence  among  their  cattle.  6.  Smote  both  man  and  beast  with  boils.  7.  Destroyed  their 

288  a 


PREFACE  TO  EXODUS 


crops  with  grievous  storms  of  hail,  accompanied  with  the  most  terrible  thunder  and  lightning. 
8.  Desolated  the  whole  land  by  innumerable  swarms  of  locusts.  9.  He  spread  a  palpable 
darkness  all  over  Egypt;  and,  10.  In  one  night  slew  all  the  first-born,  both  of  man  and 
beast,  through  the  whole  of  the  Egyptian  territories.  What  proved  the  miraculous  nature  of 
all  these  plagues  most  particularly  was,  1st,  Their  coming  exactly  according  to  the  prediction 
and  at  the  command  of  Moses  and  Aaron.  2dly,  Their  extending  only  to  the  Egyptians, 
and  leaving  the  land  of  Goshen,  the  Israelites,  their  cattle  and  substance,  entirely  untouched. 

After  relating  all  these  things  in  detail,  with  their  attendant  circumstances,  Moses  describes 
the  institution,  reason,  and  celebration  of  the  passover  ;  the  preparation  of  the  Israelites  for 
their  departure ;  their  leaving  Goshen  and  beginning  their  journey  to  the  promised  land,  by 
the  way  of  Raineses,  Succoth,  and  Etham.  How  Pharaoh,  repenting  of  the  permission  he 
had  given  them  to  depart,  began  to  pursue  them  with  an  immense  army  of  horse  and  foot,  and 
overtook  them  at  their  encampment  at  Baal-zephon,  on  the  borders  of  the  Red  Sea.  Their 
destruction  appearing  then  to  be  inevitable,  Moses  farther  relates  that  having  called  earnestly 
upon  God,  and  stretched  his  rod  over  the  waters,  they  became  divided,  and  the  Israelites 
entered  into  the  bed  of  the  sea,  and  passed  over  to  the  opposite  shore.  Pharaoh  and  his  host 
madly  pursuing  in  the  same  track,  the  rear  of  their  army  being  fairly  entered  by  the  time  the 
last  of  the  Israelites  had  made  good  their  landing  on  the  opposite  coast,  Moses  stretching 
his  rod  again  over  the  waters,  they  returned  to  their  former  channel  and  overwhelmed  the 
Egyptian  army,  so  that  every  soul  perished. 

Moses  next  gives  a  circumstantial  account  of  the  different  encampments  of  the  Israelites 
in  the  wilderness,  during  the  space  of  nearly  forty  years  :  the  miracles  wrought  in  their 
behalf ;  the  chief  of  which  were  the  pillar  of  cloud  by  day,  and  the  pillar  of  fire  by  night, 
to  direct  and  protect  them  in  the  wilderness  ;  the  bringing  water  out  of  a  rock  for  them  and 
their  cattle  ;  feeding  them  with  manna  from  heaven  ;  bringing  innumerable  flocks  of  quails 
to  their  camp ;  giving  them  a  complete  victory  over  the  Amalekites  at  the  intercession  of 
Moses ;  and  particularly  God’s  astonishing  manifestation  of  himself  on  Mount  Sinai,  when 
he  delivered  to  Moses  an  epitome  of  his  whole  law,  in  what  was  called  the  Ten  Words  or 
Ten  Commandments. 

Moses  proceeds  to  give  a  circumstantial  detail  of  the  different  laws,  statutes,  and  ordinances 
which  he  received  from  God,  and  particularly  the  giving  of  the  Ten  Commandments  on  Mount 
Sinai,  and  the  awful  display  of  the  Divine  Majesty  on  that  solemn  occasion  ;  the  formation 
of  the  Ark,  holy  Table  and  Candlestick  ;  the  Tabernacle,  with  its  furniture,  covering, 
courts,  &c.,  the  brazen  Altar,  golden  Altar ,  brazen  Laver,  anointing  oil,  perfume,  sacer¬ 
dotal  garments  for  Aaron  and  his  sons,  and  the  artificers  employed  on  the  work  of  the 
Tabernacle,  &c.  He  then  gives  an  account  of  Israel’s  idolatry  in  the  matter  of  the  golden 
calf,  made  under  the  direction  of  Aaron ;  God’s  displeasure,  and  the  death  of  the  principal 
idolaters ;  the  erection  and  consecration  of  the  Tabernacle,  and  its  being  filled  and  encom¬ 
passed  with  the  Divine  glory,  with  the  order  and  manner  of  their  marches  by  direction  of 
the  miraculous  pillar  ;  with  which  the  book  concludes. 

Vol.  I.  (  20  ) 


289 


THE  SECOND  BOOK  OF  MOSES, 

CALLED 


EXODUS. 


Year  before  the  common  Year  of  Christ,  1706. — Julian  Period,  3008. — Cycle  of  the  Sun,  7. — Dominical 
Letter,  F. — Cycle  of  the  Moon,  2. — Indiction,  15. — Creation  from  Tisri  or  September,  2298 


CHAPTER  I. 


The  names  and  number  of  the  children  of  Israel  that  went  down  into  Egypt,  1—5.  Joseph  and  all  his  bre *> 
thren  of  that  generation  die ,  6.  The  great  increase  of  their  posterity ,  7.  The  cruel  policy  of  the  king  of 
Egypt  to  destroy  them ,  8—11.  They  increase  greatly,  notwithstanding  their  affliction,  12.  Account  of 
their  hard  bondage,  13,  14.  Pharaoh's  command  to  the  Hebrew  midwives  to  kill  all  the  male  children , 
15,  16.  The  midwives  disobey  the  king's  commandment ,  and ,  on  being  questioned ,  vindicate  themselves , 
17—19.  God  is  pleased  with  their  conduct,  blesses  them,  and  increases  the  people,  20,  21.  Pharaoh  gives 
a  general  command  to  the  Egyptians  to  drown  all  the  male  children  of  the  Hebrews,  22. 


A.  M.  2298. 

B.  C.  1706. 


N°w  a  these  are  the  names  of 

the  children  of  Israel,  which 
came  into  Egypt ;  every  man  and  his  house¬ 
hold  came  with  Jacob. 


2  Reuben,  Simeon,  Levi,  and  Judah, 

3  Issachar,  Zebulun,  and  Benjamin, 

4  Dan,  and  Naphtali,  Gad,  and  Asher. 

5  And  all  the  souls  that  came  out  of  the 


b  loins  of  Jacob  were  c  seventy  souls  :  A.  M.  229a 

r  T  1  .  ^  /  7  B.  C.  1706. 

tor  Joseph  was  in  Egypt  already .  - 

6  And  d  Joseph  died,  and  all  his  A.  M.  2369. 

brethren,  and  all  that  generation.  - 

7  e  And  the  children  of  Israel  were  fruitful, 
and  increased  abundantly,  and  multiplied,  and 
waxed  exceeding  mighty  ;  and  the  land  was 
filled  with  them. 


a  Gen.  xlvi.  8  ;  chap.  vi.  14. - 15  Heb.  thigh. - =  Gen.  xlvi.  26, 

27  ;  ver.  20  ;  Beut.  x.  22. 


NOTES  ON  CHAP.  I. 

Yerse  1.  These  are  the  names ]  Though  this  book 
is  a  continuation  of  the  book  of  Genesis,  with  which 
probably  it  was  in  former  times  conjoined,  Moses 
thought  it  necessary  to  introduce  it  with  an  account  of 
the  names  and  number  of  the  family  of  Jacob  when 
they  came  to  Egypt,  to  show1 2 3 4 5  that  though  they  were 
then  very  few,  yet  in  a  short  time,  under  the  especial 
blessing  of  God,  they  had  multiplied  exceedingly  ;  and 
thus  the  promise  to  Abraham  had  been  literally  fulfilled. 
See  the  notes  on  Gen.  xlvi. 

Yerse  6.  Joseph  died,  and  all  his  brethren ]  That 
is,  Joseph  had  now  been  some  time  dead,  as  also  all 
his  brethren,  and  all  the  Egyptians  who  had  known 
Jacob  and  his  twelve  sons ;  and  this  is  a  sort  of  reason 
why  the  important  services  performed  by  Joseph  were 
forgotten. 

Yerse  7.  The  children  of  Israel  were  fruitful ]  1*12 

290 


d  Gen.  1.  26  ;  Acts  vii.  15. - eGen.  xlvi.  3  ;  Deut.  xxvi.  5; 

Psa.  cv.  24  ;  Acts  vii.  17. 


paru,  a  general  term,  signifying  that  they  were  like 
healthy  trees,  bringing  forth  an  abundance  of  fruit. 

And  increased ]  XYtJP  yishretsu,  they  increased  like 
fishes,  as  the  original  word  implies.  See  Gen.  i.  20, 
and  the  note  there. 

Abundantly ]  UY  yirbu,  they  multiplied  ;  this  is  a 
separate  term,  and  should  not  have  been  used  as  an 
adverb  by  our  translators. 

And  waxed  exceeding  mighty ]  TKD  1DVJH 

vaiyaalsmu  bimod  meod,  and  they  became  strong  be¬ 
yond  measure — superlatively ,  superlatively — so  that 
the  land  (Goshen)  was  filled  ivith  them.  This  astonish¬ 
ing  increase  was,  under  the  providence  of  God,  chiefly 
owing  to  two  causes  :  1 .  The  Hebrew  women  were 
exceedingly  fruitful,  suffered  very  little  in  parturition, 
and  probably  often  brought  forth  twins.  2.  There  ap¬ 
pear  to  have  been  no  premature  deaths  among  them. 
Thus  in  about  two  hundred  and  fifteen  years  they  were 

(  20*  ) 


CHAP.  1. 


The  Hebrews  are  persecuted 


by  the  Egyptians . 


A.  M.  cir.  2400. 

B.  C.  cir.  1604. 


8  N ow  there  f  arose  up  a  new 
king  over  Egypt,  which  knew 


not  Joseph. 

9  And  he  said  unto  his  people,  Behold, 
e  the  people  of  the  children  of  Israel  are  more 
and  mightier  than  we  : 

10  h  Come  on,  let  us *  *  deal  wisely  with 
them ;  lest  they  multiply,  and  it  come  to 
pass,  that,  when  there  falleth  out  any  war, 
they  join  also  unto  our  enemies,  and  fight 


against  us,  and  so  get  them  up  a.  m.  cir.  2400. 

®  r  ,  ,  L  B.  C.  cir.  1604. 

out  01  the  land.  _ 

1 1  Therefore  they  did  set  over  them  task¬ 
masters  k  to  afflict  them  with  their  burdens. 
And  they  built  for  Pharaoh  treasure  cities, 
Pithom  m  and  Raamses. 

12  n  But  the  more  they  afflicted  them, 
the  more  they  multiplied  and  grew.  And 
they  were  grieved  because  of  the  children 
of  Israel. 


fActs  vii.  18. - s  Psa.  cv.  24. - h  Psa.  x.  2;  lxxxiii. 

3,  4. - ’  Job  v.  13  ;  Psa.  cv.  25  ;  Prov.  xvi.  25  ;  xxi.  30 ; 

Acts  vii.  19. 


k  Gen.  xv.  13  ;  chap.  iii.  7 ;  Deut.  xxvi.  6. - 1  Chap.  ii.  11  ; 

v.  4,  5;  Psa.  lxxxi.  6. - m  Gen.  xlvii.  11. - n  Heb.  and  as 

they  afflicted  them,  so  they  multiplied,  &c. 


multiplied  to  upwards  of  600,000,  independently  of  old 
men ,  women,  and  children. 

Verse  8.  There  arose  up  a  new  king ]  Who  this 
was  it  is  difficult  to  say.  It  was  probably  Ramesses 
Miamun,  or  his  son  Amenophis ,  who  succeeded  him 
in  the  government  of  Egypt  about  A.  M.  2400,  before 
Christ  1604. 

Which  knew  not  Joseph .]  The  verb^T  yada ,  which 
we  translate  to  know,  often  signifies  to  acknowledge  or 
approve.  See  Judges  ii.  10;  Psa.  i.  6;  xxxi.  7; 
Hos.  ii.  8  ;  Amos  iii.  2.  The  Greek  verbs  eidu  and 
yivcjoiio  are  used  precisely  in  the  same  sense  in  the 
New  Testament.  See  Matt.  xxv.  12,  and  1  John  iii.  1. 
We  may  therefore  understand  by  the  new  king's  not 
knowing  Joseph,  his  disapproving  of  that  system  of 
government  which  Joseph  had  established,  as  well  as 
his  haughtily  refusing  to  acknowledge  the  obligations 

•  under  which  the  whole  land  of  Egypt  was  laid  to  this 
eminent  prime  minister  of  one  of  his  predecessors. 

Verse  9.  He  said  unto  his  people ]  He  probably 
summoned  a  council  of  his  nobles  and  elders  to  con¬ 
sider  the  subject ;  and  the  result  was  to  persecute  and 
destroy  them,  as  is  afterwards  stated. 

Verse  10.  They  join  also  unto  our  enemies ]  It  has 
been  conjectured  that  Pharaoh  had  probably  his  eye 
on  the  oppressions  which  Egypt  had  suffered  under  the 
shepherd-kings,  who  for  a  long  series  of  years  had, 
according  to  Manetho,  governed  the  land  with  extreme 
cruelty.  As  the  Israelites  were  of  the  same  occupa¬ 
tion,  (viz.,  shepherds ,)  the  jealous,  cruel  king  found  it 
easy  to  attribute  to  them  the  same  motives  ;  taking  it 
for  granted  that  they  were  only  waiting  for  a  favoura¬ 
ble  opportunity  to  join  the  enemies  of  Egypt,  and  so 
overrun  the  whole  land. 

Verse  11.  Set  over  them  task-masters ]  D'DID  'HIP 
sarey  missim,  chiefs  or  princes  of  burdens,  works,  or 
tribute ;  emoTarag  tov  epyov,  Sept,  overseers  oj  the 
works.  The  persons  who  appointed  them  their  work, 
and  exacted  the  performance  of  it.  The  work  itself 
being  oppressive,  and  the  manner  in  which  it  was  ex¬ 
acted  still  more  so,  there  is  some  room  to  think  that 
they  not  only  worked  them  unmercifully,  but  also  obliged 
them  to  pay  an  exorbitant  tribute  at  the  same  time. 

Treasure  cities\  niJDDD  arey  miscenoth,  store 
cities — public  granaries.  Calmet  supposes  this  to  be 
the  name  of  a  city,  and  translates  the  verse  thus  : 
“  They  built  cities,  viz.,  Miscenoth,  Pithom,  and  Ra- 
meses.”  Pithom  is  supposed  to  be  that  which  Hero¬ 


dotus  calls  Patumos.  Raamses,  or  rather  Rameses , 
(for  it  is  the  same  Hebrew  word  as  in  Gen.  xlvii.  11, 
and  should  be  written  the  same  way  here  as  there,)  is 
supposed  to  have  been  the  capital  of  the  land  of 
Goshen,  mentioned  in  the  book  of  Genesis  by  antici¬ 
pation  ;  for  it  was  probably  not  erected  till  after  the 
days  of  Joseph,  when  the  Israelites  were  brought 
under  that  severe  oppression  described  in  the  book  of 
Exodus.  The  Septuagint  add  here,  sat  Q,v ,  y  eanv 
Ukiov-Kohig'  and  ON,  which  is  Heliopolis ;  i.  e.,  the 
city  of  the  Sun.  The  same  reading  is  found  also  in 
the  Coptic  version. 

Some  writers  suppose  that  beside  these  cities  the 
Israelites  built  the  pyramids.  If  this  conjecture  be 
well  founded,  perhaps  they  are  intended  in  the  word 
HIJDDD  miscenoth,  which,  from  |DD  sachan,  to  lay  up 
in  store,  might  be  intended  to  signify  places  where 
Pharaoh  laid  up  his  treasures  ;  and  from  their  structure 
they  appear  to  have  been  designed  for  something  of 
this  kind.  If  the  history  of  the  pyramids  be  not  found 
in  the  book  of  Exodus,  it  is  nowhere  else  extant ; 
their  origin,  if  not  alluded  to  here,  being  lost  in  their 
very  remote  antiquity.  Diodorus  Siculus,  who  has 
given  the  best  traditions  he  could  find  relative  to  them, 
says  that  there  was  no  agreement  either  among  the 
inhabitants  or  the  historians  concerning  the  building  of 
the  pyramids.— -Bib.  Hist.,  lib.  i.,  cap.  lxiv. 

Josephus  expressly  says  that  one  part  of  the  op¬ 
pression  suffered  by  the  Israelites  in  Egypt  was  occa¬ 
sioned  by  building  pyramids.  See  on  ver.  14. 

In  the  book  of  Genesis,  and  in  this  book,  the  word 
Pharaoh  frequently  occurs,  which,  though  many  sup¬ 
pose  it  to  be  a  proper  name  peculiar  to  one  person, 
and  by  this  supposition  confound  the  acts  of  several 
Egyptian  kings,  yet  is  to  be  understood  only  as  a  name 
of  office. 

It  may  be  necessary  to  observe  that  all  the  Egyp¬ 
tian  kings,  whatever  their  own  name  was,  took  the  sur¬ 
name  of  Pharaoh  when  they  came  to  the  throne  ;  a 
name  which,  in  its  general  acceptation  signified  the  same 
as  king  or  monarch,  but  in  its  literal  meaning,  as  Bo- 
chart  has  amply  proved,  it  signifies  a  crocodile,  which 
being  a  sacred  animal  among  the  Egyptians,  the  word 
might  be  added  to  their  kings  in  order  to  procure  them 
the  greater  reverence  and  respect. 

Verse  12.  But  the  more  they  afflicted  them ]  The 
margin  has  pretty  nearly  preserved  the  import  of  the 
original  :  And  as  they  afflicted  them ,  so  they  multiplied 

291 


The  midwives  are  commanded 


EXODUS. 


A.  M.  cir.  2400. 

B.  C.  cir.  1604. 


13  And  the  Egyptians  made 
the  children  of  Israel  to  serve 


with  rigour  : 

14  And  they  0  made  their  lives  bitter  with 
hard  bondage,  p  in  mortar,  and  in  brick,  and 
in  all  manner  of  service  in  the  field :  all  their 
service,  wherein  they  made  them  serve,  was 
with  rigour. 

15  And  the  king  of  Egypt  spake  to  the 
Hebrew  midwives,  of  which  the  name  of  the 
one  was  Shiphrah,  and  the  name  of  the  other 
Puah  : 

16  And  he  said,  When  ye  do  the  office  of 


0  Chapter  ii.  23 ;  vi.  9 ;  Num.  xx.  15 ;  Acts  vii.  19,  34. 

P  Psa.  lxxxi.  6. 


to  destroy  the  male  children 

a  midwife  to  the  Hebrew  women,  A.  M.  cir.  2400. 

,  7  .  ,  B.  C.  cir.  1604. 

and  see  them  upon  the  stools  ;  - 

if  it  he  a  son,  then  ye  shall  kill  him  :  but  if 

it  he  a  daughter,  then  she  shall  live. 

17  But  the  midwives  q  feared  God,  and  did 
not  r  as  the  king  of  Egypt  commanded  them, 
but  saved  the  men  children  alive. 

18  And  the  king  of  Egypt  called  for  the 
midwives,  and  said  unto  them,  Why  have  ye 
done  this  thing,  and  have  saved  the  men 
children  alive  ? 

19  And  s  the  midwives  said  unto  Pharaoh, 
Because  the  Hebrew  women  are  not  as  the 

q  Prov.  xvi.  6. - r  Dan.  iii.  16,  18 ;  vi.  13  ;  Acts  v.  29. 

8  See  Josh.  ii.  4,  &c. ;  2  Sam.  xvii.  19,  20. 


and  so  they  grew.  That  is,  in  proportion  to  their 
afflictions  was  their  prosperity  ;  and  had  their  suffer¬ 
ings  been  greater,  their  increase  would  have  been  still 
more  abundant. 

Verse  13.  To  serve  with  rigour ]  “pan  bepharech, 
with  cruelty ,  great  oppression  ;  being  ferocious  with 
them.  The  word  fierce  is  supposed  by  some  to  be 
derived  from  the  Hebrew,  as  well  as  the  Latin  ferox, 
from  which  we  more  immediately  bring  our  English 
term.  This  kind  of  cruelty  to  slaves,  and  ferocious¬ 
ness,  unfeelingness,  and  hard-heartedness,  were  par¬ 
ticularly  forbidden  to  the  children  of  Israel.  See  Lev. 
xxv.  43,46,  where  the  same  word  is  used  :  Thou  shall 
not  rule  over  him  with  rigour,  but  shall  fear  thy  God. 

Verse  14.  They  made  their  lives  bitter ]  So  that 
they  became  weary  of  life,  through  the  severity  of 
their  servitude. 

With  hard  bondage']  baabodah  kashah, 

with  grievous  servitude.  This  was  the  general  cha¬ 
racter  of  their  life  in  Egypt ;  it  was  a  life  of  the  most 
painful  servitude,  oppressive  enough  in  itself,  but  made 
much  more  so  by  the  cruel  manner  of  their  treatment 
while  performing  tbeir  tasks. 

In  mortar ,  and  in  brick]  First,  in  digging  the  clay, 
kneading,  and  preparing  it,  and  secondly,  forming  it 
into  bricks ,  drying  them  in  the  sun,  &c. 

Service  in  the  field]  Carrying  these  materials  to 
the  places  where  they  were  to  be  formed  into  build¬ 
ings,  and  serving  the  builders  while  employed  in  those 
public  works.  Josephus  says  “  The  Egyptians  con¬ 
trived  a  variety  of  ways  to  afflict  the  Israelites;  for 
they  enjoined  them  to  cut  a  great  number  of  channels 
for  the  river,  and  to  build  walls  for  their  cities  and 
ramparts,  that  they  might  restrain  the  river,  and  hin¬ 
der  its  waters  from  stagnating  upon  its  overrunning 
its  own  banks  ;  they  set  them  also  to  build  pyramids, 
(jTvpajubas  re  avoiKodoyovvreg,)  and  wore  them  out, 
and  forced  them  to  learn  all  sorts  of  mechanic  arts, 
and  to  accustom  themselves  to  hard  labour.” — Antiq., 
lib.  ii.,  cap.  ix.,  sec.  1.  Philo  bears  nearly  the  same 
testimony,  p.  86,  Edit.  Mangey. 

Verse  15.  Hebrew  midwives]  Shiphrah  and  Puah, 
who  are  here  mentioned,  were  probably  certain  chiefs , 
under  whom  all  the  rest  acted,  and  by  whom  they 
were  instructed  in  the  obstetric  art.  Aben  Ezra  sup- 

292 


poses  there  could  not  have  been  fewer  than  five  hun¬ 
dred  midwives  among  the  Hebrew  women  at  this  time  ; 
but  that  very  few  were  requisite  see  proved  on  verse  19. 

Verse  16.  Upon  the  stools]  CD'JDXn  Sp  al  haob - 
nayim.  This  is  a  difficult  word,  and  occurs  nowhere 
else  in  the  Hebrew  Bible  but  in  Jer.  xviii.  3,  where 
we  translate  it  the  potter'’ s  wheels.  As  px  signifies 
a  stone ,  the  obnayim  has  been  supposed  to  signify  a 
stone  trough ,  in  which  they  received  and  washed  the 
infant  as  soon  as  born.  Jcirchi ,  in  his  book  of  Hebreiv 
roots ,  gives  a  very  different  interpretation  of  it ;  he 
derives  it  from  p  ben,  a  son ,  or  tHTJD  banim,  children  ; 
his  words  must  not  be  literally  translated,  but  this  is 
the  sense  :  “  When  ye  do  the  office  of  a  midwife  to 
the  Hebrew  women,  and  ye  see  that  the  birth  is 
broken  forth,  if  it  be  a  son,  then  ye  shall  kill  him.” 
Jonathan  ben  Uzziel  gives  us  a  curious  reason  for  the 
command  given  by  Pharaoh  to  the  Egyptian  women : 
“  Pharaoh  slept,  and  saw  in  his  sleep  a  balance,  and 
behold  the  whole  land  of  Egypt  stood  in  one  scale, 
and  a  lamb  in  the  other  ;  and  the  scale  in  which  the 
lamb  was  outweighed  that  in  which  was  the  land  of 
Egypt.  Immediately  he  sent  and  called  all  the  chief 
magicians,  and  told  them  his  dream.  And  Janes  and 
Jimbres ,  (see  2  Tim.  iii.  8,)  who  were  chief  of  the 
magicians,  opened  their  mouths  and  said  to  Pharaoh, 
‘  A  child  is  shortly  to  be  born  in  the  congregation  of 
the  Israelites,  whose  hand  shall  destroy  the  whole 
land  of  Egypt.’  Therefore  Pharaoh  spake  to  the 
midwives ,  c fc.” 

Verse  17.  The  midwives  feared  God]  Because 
they  knew  that  God  had  forbidden  murder  of  every 
kind  ;  for  though  the  law  was  not  yet  given,  Exod.  xx. 
13,  being  Hebrews  they  must  have  known  that  God 
had  from  the  beginning  declared,  Whosoever  sheddeth 
mail’s  blood ,  by  man  shall  his  blood  be  shed ,  Gen.  ix.  6. 
Therefore  they  saved  the  male  children  of  all  to  whose 
assistance  they  were  called.  See  ver.  19. 

Verse  19.  The  Hebreiv  women  are  not  as  the  Egyp~ 
tian  ivomen]  This  is  a  simple  statement  of  what 
general  experience  shows  to  be  a  fact,  viz.,  that 
women,  who  during  the  whole  of  their  pregnancy  are 
accustomed  to  hard  labour,  especially  in  the  open  air, 
have  comparatively  little  pain  in  parturition.  At  this 
time  the  whole  Hebrew  nation,  men  and  women ,  wbre 


CHAP.  I. 


and  God  blesses  them. 


The  midwives  refuse , 

a.  M.  cir.  2400.  Egyptian  women ;  for  they  are 

- - lively,  and  are  delivered  ere  the 

midwives  come  in  unto  them. 

20  *  Therefore  God  dealt  well  with  the 

1  Proverbs  xi.  18 ;  Eccles.  viii.  12 ;  Isaiah  iii.  10 ; 

Heb.  vi.  10. 

in  a  state  of  slavery ,  and  were  obliged  to  work  in 
mortar  and  brick,  and  all  manner  of  service  in  the 
field,  ver.  14,  and  this  at  once  accounts  for  the  ease 
and  speediness  of  their  travail.  With  the  strictest 
truth  the  midwives  might  say,  The  Hebrew  women  are 
not  as  the  Egyptian  women:  the  latter  fare  delicately, 
are  not  inured  to  labour,  and  are  kept  shut  up  at  home, 
therefore  they  have  hard,  difficult,  and  dangerous 
labours ;  but  the  Hebrew  women  are  lively ,  r\vn  cha- 
yoth ,  are  strong ,  hale ,  and  vigorous ,  and  therefore  are 
delivered  ere  the  midwives  come  in  unto  them.  In 
such  cases  we  may  naturally  conclude  that  the  midwives 
were  very  seldom  even  sent  for.  And  this  is  proba¬ 
bly  the  reason  why  we  find  but  two  mentioned ;  as  in 
such  a  state  of  society  there  could  be  but  very  little 
employment  for  persons  of  that  profession,  as  a  mother , 
an  aunt ,  or  any  female  acquaintance  or  neighbour, 
could  readily  afford  all  the  assistance  necessary  in 
such  cases.  Commentators,  pressed  with  imaginary 
difficulties,  have  sought  for  examples  of  easy  parturi¬ 
tion  in  ^Ethiopia,  Persia,  and  India,  as  parallels  to  the 
case  before  us ;  but  they  might  have  spared  them¬ 
selves  the  trouble,  because  the  case  is  common  in  all 
parts  of  the  globe  where  the  women  labour  hard,  and 
especially  in  the  open  air.  I  have  known  several  in¬ 
stances  of  the  kind  myself  among  the  labouring  poor. 
I  shall  mention  one  :  I  saw  a  poor  woman  in  the  open 
field  at  hard  labour  ;  she  stayed  away  in  the  afternoon, 
but  she  returned  the  next  morning  to  her  work  with 
her  infant  child,  having  in  the  interim  been  safely  de¬ 
livered  !  She  continued  at  her  daily  work,  having 
apparently  suffered  no  inconvenience  ! 

I  have  entered  more  particularly  into  this  subject 
because,  through  want  of  proper  information,  (perhaps 
from  a  worse  motive,)  certain  persons  have  spoken 
very  unguardedly  against  this  inspired  record  :  “  The 
Hebrew  midwives  told  palpable  lies,  and  God  com¬ 
mends  them  for  it ;  thus  we  may  do  evil  that  good 
may  come  of  it,  and  sanctify  the  means  by  the  end.'" 
Now  I  contend  that  there  was  neither  lie  direct  nor 
even  prevarication  in  the  case.  The  mid  wives  boldly 
state  to  Pharaoh  a  fact ,  (had  it  not  been  so,  he  had  a 
thousand  means  of  ascertaining  the  truth,)  and  they 
tate  it  in  such  a  way  as  to  bring  conviction  to  his 
mind  on  the  subject  of  his  oppressive  cruelty  on  the 
one  hand,  and  the  mercy  of  J  ehovah  on  the  other.  As 
if  they  had  said,  “  The  very  oppression  under  which, 
through  thy  cruelty,  the  Israelites  groan,  their  God  has 
turned  to  their  advantage  ;  they  are  not  only  fruitful , 
but  they  bring  forth  with  comparatively  no  trouble ; 
we  have  scarcely  any  employment  among  them.” 
Here  then  is  a  fact ,  boldly  announced  in  the  face  of 
danger ;  and  we  see  that  God  was  pleased  with  this 
frankness  of  the  mid  wives,  and  he  blessed  them  for  it. 

"Verse  20.  Therefore  God  dealt  well  ivith  the  mid¬ 
wives  :  and  the  people  multiplied ,  and  waxed  very 


midwives  :  and  the  people  mul-  A.  M.  cir.  2400. 

.  ..  J  J  1  •  ,  B.  C.  cir.  1604. 

tiplied,  and  waxed  very  mighty.  - 

21  And  it  came  to  pass,  because  the  mid¬ 
wives  feared  God,  u  that  he  made  them  houses. 

u  1  Samuel  ii.  35  ;  2  Samuel  vii.  11,  13,  27,  29  ;  1  Kings  ii.  24  ; 
xi.  38 ;  Psa.  cxxvii.  1. 

mighty. \  This  shows  an  especial  providence  and 
blessing  of  God ;  for  though  in  all  cases  where  fe¬ 
males  are  kept  to  hard  labour  they  have  comparatively 
easy  and  safe  travail,  yet  in  a  state  of  slavery  the  in¬ 
crease  is  generally  very  small,  as  the  children  die  for 
want  of  proper  nursing,  the  women,  through  their 
labour,  being  obliged  to  neglect  their  offspring ;  so 
that  in  the  slave  countries  the  stock  is  obliged  to  be 
recruited  by  foreign  imports  :  yet  in  the  case  above 
it  was  not  so ;  there  was  not  one  barren  among  their 
tribes,  and  even  their  women,  though  constantly  obliged 
to  perform  their  daily  tasks,  were  neither  rendered  un¬ 
fruitful  by  it,  nor  taken  off  by  premature  death  through 
the  violence  and  continuance  of  their  labour,  when 
even  in  the  delicate  situation  mentioned  above. 

Verse  21.  He  made  them  houses .]  Dr.  Shuckford 
thinks  that  there  is  something  wrong  both  in  the 
punctuation  and  translation  of  this  place,  and  reads 
the  passage  thus,  adding  the  21st  to  the  20th  verse  : 
“  And  they  multiplied  and  waxed  mighty  ;  and  this 
happened  (VTI  vayehi)  because  the  midwives  feared 
God ;  and  he  ( Pharaoh )  made  (drib  lahem,  masc.) 
them  ( the  Israelites)  houses  ;  and  commanded  all  his 
people,  saying,  Every  son  that  is  born,  &c.”  The 
doctor  supposes  that  previously  to  this  time  the  Is¬ 
raelites  had  no  fixed  dwellings,  but  lived  in  tents,  and 
therefore  had  a  better  opportunity  of  concealing  their 
children ;  but  now  Pharaoh  built  them  houses,  and 
obliged  them  to  dwell  in  them,  and  caused  the  Egyp¬ 
tians  to  watch  over  them,  that  all  the  male  children 
might  be  destroyed,  which  could  not  have  been  easily 
effected  had  the  Israelites  continued  to  live  in  their 
usual  scattered  manner  in  tents.  That  the  houses  in 
question  were  not  made  for  the  midwives,  but  for  the 
Israelites  in  general,  the  Hebrew  text  seems  pretty 
plainly  to  indicate,  for  the  pronoun  Dnb  lahem ,  to  them , 
is  the  masculine  gender  ;  had  the  midwives  been  meant, 
the  feminine  pronoun  jnb  lahen  would  have  been  used. 
Others  contend  that  by  making  them  houses,  not  only 
the  midwives  are  intended,  but  also  that  the  words 
mark  an  increase  of  their  families,  and  that  the  objec¬ 
tion  taken  from  the  masculine  pronoun  is  of  no  weight, 
because  these  pronouns  are  often  interchanged  ;  see 
1  Kings  xxii.  17,  where  Dnb  lahem  is  written,  and  in 
the  parallel  place,  2  Chron.  xviii.  6,  jnb  lahen  is  used. 
So  DHD  bahem,  in  1  Chron.  x.  7,  is  written  jHD  bahen , 
1  Sam.  xxxi.  7,  and  in  several  other  places.  There 
is  no  doubt  that  God  did  bless  the  midwives,  his  ap¬ 
probation  of  their  conduct  is  strictly  marked  ;  and 
there  can  be  no  doubt  of  his  prospering  the  Israelites, 
for  it  is  particularly  said  that  the  people  multiplied  and 
waxed  very  mighty.  But  the  words  most  probably 
refer  to  the  Israelites,  whose  houses  or  families  were 
built  up  by  an  extraordinary  increase  of  children,  not¬ 
withstanding  the  cruel  policy  of  the  Egyptian  king. 
Vain  is  the  counsel  of  man  when  opposed  to  the  de- 

293 


Pharaoh  commands  all  his  people  EXODUS. 


to  destroy  the  male  children. 


A.  M.  cir.  2431.  22  And  Pharaoh  charged  all  his 

B.  C.  cir.  1573.  ,  .  v  t,  °  +1  .  • 

-  people,  saying, '  Every  son  that  is 


born  ye  shall  cast  into  the  river,  and  A.  M.  cir.  2431. 

J  „  I.  B.  C.  cir.  1573. 

every  daughter  ye  shall  save  alive.  - 


v  Acts  vii.  19  ;  chap.  vii.  19-21  ; 


Rev.  xvi.  4-6. 


terminations  of  God  !  All  the  means  used  for  the  de¬ 
struction  of  this  people  became  in  his  hand  instruments 
of  their  prosperity  and  increase.  How  true  is  the 
saying,  If  God  be  for  us,  who  can  be  against  us  ? 

Verse  22.  Ye  shall  cast  into  the  river ]  As  the  Nile, 
which  is  here  intended,  was  a  sacred  river  among  the 
Egyptians,  it  is  not  unlikely  that  Pharaoh  intended  the 
young  Hebrews  as  an  offering  to  his  god,  having  two 
objects  in  view  :  1.  To  increase  the  fertility  of  the 
country  by  thus  procuring,  as  he  might  suppose,  a  pro¬ 
per  and  sufficient  annual  inundation;  and  2.  To  prevent 
an  increase  of  population  among  the  Israelites,  and  in 
process  of  time  procure  their  entire  extermination. 

It  is  conjectured,  with  a  great  show  of  probability, 
that  the  edict  mentioned  in  this  verse  was  not  made 
till  after  the  birth  of  Aaron,  and  that  it  was  revoked 
soon  after  the  birth  of  Moses  ;  as,  if  it  had  subsisted 
in  its  rigour  during  the  eighty-six  years  which  elapsed 
between  this  and  the  deliverance  of  the  Israelites,  it 
is  not  at  all  likely  that  their  males  would  have  amounted 
to  six  hundred  thousand,  and  those  all  effective  men. 

In  the  general  preface  to  this  work  reference  has 
been  made  to  Origen’s  method  of  interpreting  the 
Scriptures,  and  some  specimens  promised.  On  the 
plain  account  of  a  simple  matter  of  fact,  related  in  the 
preceding  chapter,  this  very  eminent  man,  in  his  2d 
Homily  on  Exodus,  imposes  an  interpretation  of  which 
the  following  is  the  substance. 

“  Pharaoh ,  king  of  Egypt,  represents  the  devil ;  the 
male  and  female  children  of  the  Hebrews  represent  the 
animal  and  rational  faculties  of  the  soul.  Pharaoh, 
the  devil,  wishes  to  destroy  all  the  males,  i.  e.,  the 
seeds  of  rationality  and  spiritual  science  through  which 
the  soul  tends  to  and  seeks  heavenly  things ;  but  he 
wishes  to  preserve  the  females  alive,  i.  e.,  all  those 
animal  propensities  of  man,  through  which  he  becomes 
carnal  and  devilish.  Plence,”  says  he,  “  when  you 
see  a  man  living  in  luxury,  banquetings,  pleasures,  and 
sensual  gratifications,  know  that  there  the  king  of 
Egypt  has  slain  all  the  males,  and  preserved  all  the 
females  alive.  The  midivives  represent  the  Old  and 
New  Testaments :  the  one  is  called  Sephora,  which 
signifies  a  sparrow,  and  means  that  sort  of  instruction 
by  which  the  soul  is  led  to  soar  aloft,  and  contemplate 
heavenly  things ;  the  other  is  called  Phua,  which  sig¬ 
nifies  ruddy  or  bashful,  and  points  out  the  Gospel,  which 
is  rudely  with  the  blood  of  Christ,  spreading  the  doc¬ 
trine  of  his  passion  over  the  earth.  By  these,  as  mid¬ 
wives,  the  souls  that  are  born  into  the  Church  are  heal¬ 
ed,  for  the  reading  of  the  Scriptures  corrects  and  heals 
what,  is  amiss  in  the  mind.  Pharaoh,  the  devil,  wishes 
to  corrupt  those  midwives,  that  all  the  males — the 
spiritual  propensities,  may  be  destroyed  ;  and  this  he 
endeavours  to  do  by  bringing  in  heresies  and  corrupt 
opinions.  But  the  foundation  of  God  standeth  sure. 
The  midwives  feared  God,  therefore  he  builded  them 
houses.  If  this  be  taken  literally,  it  has  little  or  no 
meaning,  and  is  of  no  importance ;  but  it  points  out 

294 


that  the  midwives — the  law  and  the  Gospel,  by  teach¬ 
ing  the  fear  of  God,  build  the  houses  of  the  Church , 
and  fill  the  whole  earth  with  houses  of  prayer.  There¬ 
fore  these  midwives,  because  they  feared  God,  and 
taught  the  fear  of  God,  did  not  fulfil  the  command  of 
the  king  of  Egypt — they  did  not  kill  the  males,  and  I 
dare  confidently  affirm  that  they  did  not  preserve  the 
females  alive  ;  for  they  do  not  teach  vicious  doctrines 
in  the  Church,  nor  preach  up  luxury,  nor  foster  sin, 
which  are  what  Pharaoh  wishes  in  keeping  th e  females 
alive ;  for  by  these  virtue  alone  is  cultivated  and  nou¬ 
rished.  By  Pharaoh's  daughter  I  suppose  the  Church 
to  be  intended,  which  is  gathered  from  among  the  Gen¬ 
tiles  ;  and  although  she  has  an  impious  and  iniquitous 
father,  yet  the  prophet  says  unto  her,  Hearken,  O  daugh¬ 
ter,  and  consider,  incline  thine  ear ;  forget  also  thine 
own  people,  and  thy  father's  house,  so  shall  the  king 
greatly  desire  thy  beauty,  Psa.  xlv.  10,  11.  This 
therefore  is  she  who  is  come  to  the  waters  to  bathe , 
i.  e.,  to  the  baptismal  font,  that  she  may  be  washed 
from  the  sins  which  she  has  contracted  in  her  father's 
house.  Immediately  she  receives  bowels  of  commise¬ 
ration,  and  pities  the  infant ;  that  is,  the  Church ,  com¬ 
ing  from  among  the  Gentiles,  finds  Moses — the  law , 
lying  in  the  pool,  cast  out,  and  exposed  by  his  own  peo¬ 
ple  in  an  ark  of  bulrushes,  daubed  over  ivilh  pitch — 
deformed  and  obscured  by  the  carnal  and  absurd  glosses 
of  the  Jews,  who  are  ignorant  of  its  spiritual  sense ; 
and  wrhile  it  continues  with  them  is  as  a  helpless  and 
destitute  infant ;  but  as  soon  as  it  enters  the  doors  of 
the  Christian  Church  it  becomes  strong  and  vigorous; 
and  thus  Moses — the  law,  groivs  up,  and  becomes, 
through  means  of  the  Christian  Church,  more  respect¬ 
able  even  in  the  eyes  of  the  Jews  themselves,  accord¬ 
ing  to  his  own  prophecy  :  I  will  move  them  to  jealousy 
with  those  which  are  not  a  people ;  I  will  provoke  them 
to  anger  with  a  foolish  nation ,  Deut.  xxxii.  21.  Thus 
taught  by  the  Christian  Church,  the  synagogue  forsakes 
idolatry ;  for  when  it  sees  the  Gentiles  worshipping 
the  true  God,  it  is  ashamed  of  its  idols ,  and  worships 
them  no  more.  In  like  manner,  though  we  have  had 
Pharaoh  for  our  father — though  the  prince  of  this 
world  has  begotten  us  by  wicked  works,  yet  when  we 
come  unto  the  waters  of  baptism  we  take  unto  us  Mo¬ 
ses — the  law  of  God,  in  its  true  and  spiritual  mean¬ 
ing  ;  what  is  low  or  weak  in  it  we  leave,  what  is  strong 
and  perfect  we  take  and  place  in  the  royal  palace  of 
our  heart.  Then  we  have  Moses  grown  up — we  no 
longer  consider  the  law  as  little  or  mean ;  all  is  mag¬ 
nificent,  excellent,  elegant,  for  all  is  spiritually  under¬ 
stood.  Let  us  beseech  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  that  he 
may  reveal  himself  to  us  more  and  more,  and  show  us 
how  great  and  sublime  Moses  is ;  for  he  by  his  Holy 
Spirit  reveals  these  things  to  whomsoever  he  will.  To 
him  be  glory  and  dominion  for  ever  and  ever  !  Amen.” 

Neither  the  praise  of  piety  nor  the  merit  of  inge¬ 
nuity  can  be  denied  to  this  eminent  man  in  such  inter¬ 
pretations  as  these.  But  who  at  the  same  time  does 
not  see  that  if  such  a  mode  of  exposition  were  to  be 

a 


Moses  is  born, 


CHAP  II. 


allowed,  the  trumpet  could  no  longer  give  a  certain 
sound  1  Every  passage  and  fact  might  then  be  obliged 
to  say  something ,  any  thing ,  every  thing ,  or  nothing , 
according  to  the  fancy ,  peculiar  creed ,  or  caprice  of 
the  interpreter. 

I  have  given  this  large  specimen  from  one  of  the 
ancients ,  merely  t.o  save  the  moderns ,  from  whose  works 
on  the  sacred  writings  I  could  produce  many  specimens 
equally  singular  and  more  absurd.  Reader,  it  is  pos¬ 


and  put  into  an  ark. 

sible  to  trifle  with  the  testimonies  of  God,  and  all  the 
while  speak  serious  things ;  but  if  all  be  not  done  ac¬ 
cording  to  the  pattern  shown  in  the  mount,  much  evil 
may  be  produced,  and  many  stumbling  blocks  thrown 
in  the  way  of  others,  which  may  turn  them  totally  out 
of  the  way  of  understanding;  and  then  what  a  dreadful 
account  must  such  interpreters  have  to  give  to  that  God 
who  has  pronounced  a  curse,  not  only  on  those  who  take 
away  from  his  word,  but  also  on  those  who  add  to  it. 


CHAPTER  II. 


Amram  and  Jochebed  marry ,  1.  Moses  is  born ,  and  is  hidden  by  his  mother  three  months ,  2.  Is  exposed  in 
an  ark  of  bulrushes  on  the  river  Nile ,  and  watched  by  his  sister ,  3,4.  He  is  found  by  the  daughter  of 
Pharaoh ,  who  commits  him  to  the  care  of  his  own  mother ,  and  has  him  educated  as  her  own  son ,  5—9. 
When  grown  up,  he  is  brought  to  Pharaoh’s  daughter,  who  receives  him  as  her  oivn  child,  and  calls  him 
Moses,  10.  Finding  an  Egyptian  smiting  a  Hebrew,  he  kills  the  Egyptian,  and  hides  him  in  the  sand , 
11,  12.  Reproves  two  Hebrews  that  were  contending  together,  one  of  whom  charges  him  with  killing  the 
Egyptian,  13,  14.  Pharaoh ,  hearing  of  the  death  of  the  Egyptian,  sought  to  slay  Moses,  ivho,  being 
alarmed,  escapes  to  the  land  of  Midian,  15.  Meets  with  the  seven  daughters  of  Reuel,  priest  or  prince  of 
Midian,  who  came  to  water  their  flocks,  and  assists  them,  16,  17.  On  their  return  they  inform  their 
father  Reuel,  who  invites  Moses  to  his  house,  18—20.  Moses  dwells  with  him,  and  receives  Zipporah  his 
daughter  to  wife,  21.  She  bears  him  a  son  whom  he  calls  Gershom,  22.  The  children  of  Israel,  griev¬ 
ously  oppressed  in  Egypt,  cry  for  deliverance,  23.  God  remembers  his  covenant  with  Abraham,  Isaac, 
and  Jacob ,  and  hears  their  prayer,  24,  25. 


A. M.  cir.  2432.  A  ND  there  went  aa  man  of  the 

B.  C.  cir.  1572.  -Tx.  .  r  t  •  i  ,  •, 

- _ house  ot  Levi,  and  took  to 

wife  a  daughter  of  Levi. 

A.  M.  2433.  2  And  the  woman  conceived,  and 

B.  C.  1571.  .  ,  .  ,  . 

- -  bare  a  son  :  and  b  when  she  saw 

him  that  he  was  a  goodly  child,  she  hid  him 
three  months. 

aChap.  vi.  20  ;  Num.  xxvi.  59  ;  1  Chron.  xxiii.  14. 

NOTES  ON  CHAP.  II. 

Yerse  1.  There  went  a  man]  Amram,  son  of  Ko- 
hath,  son  of  Levi,  chap.  vi.  16—20.  A  daughter  of 
Levi,  Jochebed,  sister  to  Kohath,  and  consequently  both 
the  wife  and  aunt  of  her  husband  Amram,  chap.  vi.  20  ; 
Num.  xxvi.  59.  Such  marriages  were  at  this  time 
lawful,  though  they  were  afterwards  forbidden,  Lev. 
xviii.  12.  But  it  is  possible  that  daughter  of  Levi 
means  no  more  than  a  descendant  of  that  family,  and 
that  probably  Amram  and  Jochebed  were  only  cousin 
germans.  As  a  new  law  was  to  be  given  and  a  new 
priesthood  formed,  God  chose  a  religious  family  out 
of  which  the  lawgiver  and  the  high  priest  were  both 
to  spring. 

Yerse  2.  Bare  a  sow]  This  certainly  was  not  her 
first  child,  for  Aaron  was  fourscore  and  three  years  old 
when  Moses  was  but  fourscore,  see  chap.  vii.  7  :  and 
there  was  a  sister,  probably  Miriam,  who  was  older 
than  either;  see  below,  ver.  4,  and  see  Num.  xxvi.  59. 
Miriam  and  Aaron  had  no  doubt  been  both  born  before 
the  decree  was  passed  for  the  destruction  of  the  He¬ 
brew  male  children,  mentioned  in  the  preceding  chapter. 

Goodly  child]  The  text  simply  says  Kin  DID  ’D  ki  tob 
hi,  that  he  was  good ,  which  signifies  that  he  was  not 
only  a  perfect,  well-formed  child,  but  that  he  was  very 


3  And  when  she  could  not  longer  a.  M.  2433. 
hide  him,  she  took  for  him  an  ark  B'  P.'...!0!.1.*- 
of  bulrushes,  and  daubed  it  with  slime  and 
with  pitch,  and  put  the  child  therein  ;  and  she 
laid  it  in  the  flags  by  the  river’s  brink. 

4  c  And  his  sister  stood  afar  off,  to  wit  what 
would  be  done  to  him. 

b  Acts  vii.  20 ;  Heb.  xi.  23. - c  Ch.  xv.  20 ;  Num.  xxvi.  59. 

beautiful ;  hence  the  Septuagint  translate  the  place, 
Idovreg  be  avro  aareiov,  Seeing  him  to  be  beautiful, 
which  St.  Stephen  interprets,  Hv  aamog  to  6eo,  He 
was  comely  to  God,  or  divinely  beautiful.  This  very 
circumstance  was  wisely  ordained  by  the  kind  provi¬ 
dence  of  God  to  be  one  means  of  his  preservation. 
Scarcely  any  thing  interests  the  heart  more  than  the 
sight  of  a  lovely  babe  in  distress.  His  beauty  would 
induce  even  his  parents  to  double  their  exertions  to 
save  him,  and  was  probably  the  sole  motive  which  led 
the  Egyptian  princess  to  take  such  particular  care  of 
him,  and  to  educate  him  as  her  own  son,  which  in  all 
likelihood  she  would  not  have  done  had  he  been  only 
an  ordinary  child. 

Yerse  3.  An  ark  of  bulrushes]  NQJl  HAH  tebath 
gome,  a  small  boat  or  basket  made  of  the  Egyptian 
reed  called  papyrus ,  so  famous  in  all  antiquity.  This 
plant  grows  on  the  banks  of  the  Nile,  and  in  marshy 
grounds ;  the  stalk  rises  to  the  height  of  six  or  seven 
cubits  above  the  water,  is  triangular,  and  terminates 
in  a  crown  of  small  filaments  resembling  hair,  which 
the  ancients  used  to  compare  to  a  thyrsus.  This  reed 
was  of  the  greatest  use  to  the  inhabitants  of  Egypt, 
the  pith  contained  in  the  stalk  serving  them  for  food, 
and  the  woody  part  to  build  vessels  with ;  which  ves- 

295 


EXODUS. 


Pharaoh’s  daughter  sees 


Moses  among  the  flags. 


A.  M.  2433.  5  And  the  d  daughter  of  Pharaoh 

_! — 1 - 1  came  down  to  wash  herself  at  the 

river ;  and  her  maidens  walked  along  by  the 

d  Acts, 

&els  frequently  appear  on  engraved  stones  and  other 
monuments  of  Egyptian  antiquity.  For  this  purpose 
they  made  it  up  like  rushes  into  bundles,  and  by  tying 
them  together  gave  their  vessels  the  necessary  figure 
and  solidity.  “  The  vessels  of  bulrushes  or  papyrus,” 
says  Dr.  Shaw,  “  were  no  other  than  large  fabrics  of 
the  same  kind  with  that  of  Moses,  Exod.  ii.  3,  which 
from  the  late  introduction  of  planks  and  stronger  mate¬ 
rials  are  now  laid  aside.”  Thus  Pliny ,  lib.  vi.,  cap. 
16,  takes  notice  of  the  naves  papyraceas  armamenta- 
que  Nili,  “  ships  made  of  papyrus  and  the  equipments 
of  the  Nile  :”  and  lib.  xiii.,  cap.  11,  he  observes,  Ex 
ipsa  quidem  papyro  navigia  texunt :  “  Of  the  papyrus 
itself  they  construct  sailing  vessels.”  Herodotus  and 
Diodorus  have  recorded  the  same  fact ;  and  among 
the  poets,  Lucan ,  lib.  iv.,  ver.  136  :  Conseritur  bibula 
Memphitis  cymba  papyro ,  “  The  Memphian  or  Egyp¬ 
tian  boat  is  constructed  from  the  soaking  papyrus.” 
The  epithet  bibula  is  particularly  remarkable,  as  cor¬ 
responding  with  great  exactness  to  the  nature  of  the 
plant,  and  to  its  Hebrew  name  gome,  which  signi¬ 
fies  to  soak,  to  drink  up.  See  Parkhurst  sub  voce. 

She  laid  it  in  the  flags]  Not  willing  to  trust  it  in 
the  stream  for  fear  of  a  disaster ;  and  probably  choos¬ 
ing  the  place  to  which  the  Egyptian  princess  was 
accustomed  to  come  for  the  purposes  specified  in  the 
note  on  the  following  verse. 

Verse  5.  And  the  daughter  of  Pharaoh]  Josephus 
calls  her  Thermuthis,  and  says  that  “  the  ark  was 
borne  along  by  the  current,  and  that  she  sent  one  that 
could  swim  after  it ;  that  she  was  struck  with  the 
figure  and  uncommon  beauty  of  the  child  ;  that  she 
inquired  for  a  nurse,  but  that  he  having  refused  the 
breasts  of  several,  and  his  sister  proposing  to  bring  a 
Hebrew  nurse,  his  own  mother  was  procured.”  But 
all  this  is  in  Josephus’s  manner,  as  well  as  the  long 
circumstantial  dream  that  he  gives  to  Amram  concern¬ 
ing  the  future  greatness  of  Moses,  which  cannot  be 
considered  in  any  other  light  than  that  of  a  fable,  and 
not  even  a  cunningly  devised  one. 

To  wash  herself  at  the  river]  Whether  the  daugh¬ 
ter  of  Pharaoh  went  to  bathe  in  the  river  through 
motives  of  pleasure,  health,  or  religion,  or  whether 
she  bathed  at  all,  the  text  does  not  specify.  It  is 
merely  stated  by  the  sacred  writer  that  she  went  down 
to  the  river  to  wash  ;  for  the  word  herself  is  not  in 
the  original.  Mr.  Harmer,  Observat.,  vol.  iii.,  p.  529, 
is  of  opinion  that  the  time  referred  to  above  was  that 
in  which  the  Nile  begins  to  rise ;  and  as  the  dancing 
girls  in  Egypt  are  accustomed  now  to  plunge  them¬ 
selves  into  the  river  at  its  rising,  by  which  act  they 
testify  their  gratitude  for  the  inestimable  blessing  of 
its  inundations,  so  it  might  have  been  formerly ;  and 
that  Pharaoh’s  daughter  was  now  coming  down  to  the 
river  on  a  similar  account.  I  see  no  likelihood  in  all 
this.  If  she  washed  herself  at  all,  it  might  have  been 
a  religious  ablution,  and  yet  extended  no  farther  than 
to  the  hands  and  face ;  for  the  word  yrn  rachats}  to 

206 


river’s  side  :  and  when  she  saw  a.  m.  2433. 

,  ,  7  .  _  ,  B.  C.  1571. 

the  ark  among  the  nags,  she  sent - - 

her  maid  to  fetch  it. 

chap.  vii.  21. 

wash,  is  repeatedly  used  in  the  Pentateuch  to  signify 
religious  ablutions  of  different  kinds.  Jonathan  in  his 
Targum  says  that  God  had  smitten  all  Egypt  with 
ulcers ,  and  that  the  daughter  of  Pharaoh  came  to  wash 
in  the  river  in  order  to  find  relief ;  and  that  as  soon 
as  she  touched  the  ark  where  Moses  was,  her  ulcers 
were  healed.  This  is  all  fable.  I  believe  there  wTas 
no  bathing  in  the  case,  but  simply  what  the  text  states, 
washing,  not  of  her  person,  but  of  her  clothes,  wrhich 
was  an  employment  that  even  kings’  daughters  did 
not  think  beneath  them  in  those  primitive  times.  Ho¬ 
mer,  Odyss.  vi.,  represents  Nausicaa,  daughter  of 
Alcmous,  king  of  the  Phwacians,  in  company  with  her 
maidens,  employed  at  the  seaside  in  washing  her  own 
clothes  and  those  of  her  five  brothers  !  While  thus 
employed  they  find  Ulysses  just  driven  ashore  after 
having  been  shipwrecked,  utterly  helpless,  naked,  and 
destitute  of  every  necessary  of  life.  The  whole  scene 
is  so  perfectly  like  that  before  us  that  they  appear  to 
me  to  be  almost  parallels.  I  shall  subjoin  a  few  lines. 
The  princess,  having  piled  her  clothes  on  a  carriage 
drawn  by  several  mules,  and  driven  to  the  place  of 
washing,  commences  her  work,  which  the  poet  de¬ 
scribes  thus : — 

T ai  6’  aid  anr/VTic 

Elpara  xEP,yLV  cTiovto,  k ai  Eafipeov  peT^av  vdup. 

'Lrefiov  6’  ev  ftodpoiai  6oug,  epida  irpodepovaai. 

A vrap  ettei  tt Tivvav  re,  nadrjpav  te  f)wxa  iravra^ 

E %Eir\Q  TTETaaav  n apa  8iv ’  aXog,  r/xi  paAiora 
Aaiyyac  ttotl  ^epcrov  we  oteTcvv  eg  ke  QaTiaoGa. 

Odyss.,  lib.  vi.,  ver.  90. 

“  Light’ning  the  carriage,  next  they  bore  in  hand 
The  garments  down  to  the  unsullied  leave, 

And  thrust  them  heap'd  into  the  pools ;  their  task 
Despatching  brisk,  and  with  an  emulous  haste. 
When  all  ivere  purified ,  and  neither  spot 
Could  be  perceived  or  blemish  more,  they  spread 
The  raiment  orderly  along  the  beach, 

Where  dashing  tides  had  cleansed  the  pebbles  most.” 

Cowper. 

When  this  task  was  finished  we  find  the  Phasacian 
princess  and  her  ladies  (K ovprj  6’  ek  BaXapoio — apfi- 
tecAol  aTAai)  employed  in  amusing  themselves  upon 
the  beach,  till  the  garments  they  had  washed  should 
be  dry  and  fit  to  be  folded  up,  that  they  might  reload 
their  carriage  and  return. 

In  the  text  of  Moses  the  Egyptian  princess,  accom¬ 
panied  by  her  maids,  nTnj’J  naarotheyha,  comes  down 
to  the  river,  not  to  bathe  herself,  for  this  is  not  inti¬ 
mated,  but  merely  to  wash,  vrn1?  lirchots ;  at  the  time 
in  which  the  ark  is  perceived  we  may  suppose  that 
she  and  her  companions  had  finished  their  task,  and, 
like  the  daughter  of  Alcinous  and  her  maidens,  were 
amusing  themselves  walking  along  by  the  river's  side, 
as  the  others  did  by  tossing  a  ball ,  a<paipr)  rat  r’  ap 
eiecu&v,  when  they  as  suddenly  and  as  unexpectedly 
discovered  Mqsqs  adrift  on  the  flood,  as  Nausicaa 


CHAP.  II. 


Moses  is  given  to  his  mother. 


He  slays  an  Egyptian . 


b’  c  is?3 *’  ^  And  W^en  S^e  ^ad  °Pened  it, 

— — 1  she  saw  the  child  :  and,  behold,  the 

babe  wept.  And  she  had  compassion  on  him, 
and  said,  This  is  one  of  the  Hebrews’  children. 

7  Then  said  his  sister  to  Pharaoh’s  daughter, 
Shall  I  go  and  call  to  thee  a  nurse  of  the 
Hebrew  women,  that  she  may  nurse  the  child 
for  thee  ? 

8  And  Pharaoh’s  daughter  said  to  her,  Go. 
And  the  maid  went,  and  called  the  child’s 
mother.  • 

9  And  Pharaoh’s  daughter  said  unto  her, 
Take  this  child  away,  and  nurse  it  for  me,  and 
I  will  give  thee  thy  wages.  And  the  woman 
took  the  child,  and  nursed  it. 


10  And  the  child  grew,  and  she  A.  M.  2433. 

o  ;  BO  1571 

brought  him  unto  Pharaoh’s  daugh-  — - 1 

ter,  and  he  became  e  her  son.  And  she  called 
his  name  f  Moses  :  and  she  said,  Because  I 
drew  him  out  of  the  water. 

1 1  And  it  came  to  pass  in  those  A.  M.  2473. 

days,  s  when  Moses  was  grown,  _ _ 1 _ 1 


that  he  went  out  unto  his  brethren,  and 
looked  on  their  h  burdens  :  and  he  spied  an 
Egyptian  smiting  a  Hebrew,  one  of  his 
brethren. 

12  And  he  looked  this  way  and  that  way, 
and  when  he  saw  that  there  teas  no  man, 
he  1  slew  the  Egyptian,  and  hid  him  in 
the  sand. 


e  Acts  vii.  21. - fThat  is,  drawn  out. - S'  Acts  vii.  23,  24; 


Heb.  xi.  24,  25,  26. - 11  Chapter  i.  11. - 5  Acts  vii.  24 


and  her  companions  discovered  Ulysses  just  escaped 
naked  from  shipwreck.  In  both  the  histories,  that  of 
the  poet  and  this  of  the  prophet ,  both  the  strangers, 
the  shipwrecked  Greek  and  the  almost  drowned  He¬ 
brew,  were  rescued  by  the  princesses,  nourished  and 
preserved  alive  !  Were  it  lawful  to  suppose  that  Ho¬ 
mer  had  ever  seen  the  Hebrew  story,  it  would  be 
reasonable  to  conclude  that  he  had  made  it  the  basis 
of  the  6th  book  of  the  Odyssey. 

Versed.  She  had  compassion  on  him]  The  sight  of 
a  beautiful  babe  in  distress  could  not  fail  to  make  the 
impression  here  mentioned  ;  see  on  ver.  2.  It  has 
already  been  conjectured  that  the  cruel  edict  of  the 
Egyptian  king  did  not  continue  long  in  force  ;  see 
chap.  i.  22.  And  it  will  not  appear  unreasonable  to 
suppose  that  the  circumstance  related  here  might  have 
brought  about  its  abolition.  The  daughter  of  Pharaoh, 
struck  with  the  distressed  state  of  the  Hebrew  chil¬ 
dren  from  what  she  had  seen  in  the  case  of  Moses, 
would  probably  implore  her  father  to  abolish  this  san¬ 
guinary  edict. 

V  erse  7.  Shall  I  go  and  call — a  nurse]  Had  not 
the  different  circumstances  marked  here  been  placed 
under  the  superintendence  of  an  especial  providence, 
there  is  no  human  probability  that  they  could  have 
had  such  a  happy  issue.  The  parents  had  done  every 
thing  to  save  their  child  that  piety,  affection,  and  pru¬ 
dence  could  dictate,  and  having  done  so,  they  left  the 
event  to  God.  By  faith ,  says  the  apostle,  Heb.  xi. 
23,  Moses ,  when  he  ivas  born,  was  hid  three  months 
of  his  parents ,  because  they  saw  he  loas  a  proper  child ; 
and  they  were  not  afraid  of  the  Icing's  commandment. 
Because  of  the  king’s  commandment  they  were  obliged 
to  make  use  of  the  most  prudent  caution  to  save  the 
child’s  life  ;  and  their  faith  in  God  enabled  them  to 
risk  their  own  safety ,  for  they  were  not  afraid  of  the 
king’s  commandment — they  feared  God,  and  they  had 
no  other  fear. 

Verse  10.  And  he  became  her  son.]  From  this  time 
of  his  being  brought  home  by  his  nurse  his  education 
commenced,  and  he  was  learned  in  all  the  wisdom  of 
the  Egyptians ,  Acts  vii.  22,  who  in  the  knowledge  of 


nature  probably  exceeded  all  the  nations  then  on  the 
face  of  the  eaafh. 

And  she  called  his  name]  n&’D  mosheh ,  because 
□’OH  jO  min  hammayim ,  out  of  the  waters  inn’i^D  me - 
shithihu,  have  I  drawn  him.  51^0  mashah  signifies  t& 
draw  out ;  and  mosheh  is  the  person  drawn  out ;  the 
word  is  used  in  the  same  sense  Psa.  xviii.  17,  and 

2  Sam.  xxii.  17.  What  name  he  had  from  his  parents 
we  know  not  ;  but  whatever  it  might  be  it  was  ever 
after  lost  in  the  name  given  to  him  by  the  princess  of 
Egypt.  x\bul  Farajius  says  that  Thermuthis  delivered 
him  to  the  wise  men  Janees  and  Jimbrees  to  he  in¬ 
structed  in  wisdom. 

Verse  11.  When  Moses  was  grown]  Being  full 
forty  years  of  age,  as  St.  Stephen  says,  Acts  vii.  23, 
it  came  into  his  heart  to  visit  his  brethren ,  i.  e.,  he  was 

excited  to  it  by  a  Divine  inspiration  ;  and  seeing  one 
of  them  suffer  wrong ,  by  an  Egyptian  smiting  him, 
probably  one  of  the  task-masters,  he  avenged  him  and 
smote — slew,  the  Egyptian,  supposing  that  God  who 
had  given  him  commission,  had  given  also  his  brethren 
to  understand  that  they  were  to  be  delivered  by  his 
hand,;  see  Acts  vii.  23-25.  Probably  the  Egyptian 
killed  the  Hebrew,  and  therefore  on  the  Noahic  pre¬ 
cept  Moses  was  justified  in  killing  him  ;  and  he  was 
authorized  so  to  do  by  the  commission  which  he  had 
received  from  God,  as  all  succeeding  events  amply 
prove.  Previously  to  the  mission  of  Moses  to  deliver 
the  Israelites,  Josephus  says,  “  The  ^Ethiopians  hav¬ 
ing  made  an  irruption  into  Egypt,  and  subdued  a 
great  part  of  it,  a  Divine  oracle  advised  them  to  em¬ 
ploy  Moses  the  Hebrew.  On  this  the  king  of  Egypt 
made  him  general  of  the  Egyptian  forces ;  with  these 
he  attacked  the  .Ethiopians,  defeated  and  drove  them 
back  into  their  own  land,  and  forced  them  to  take 
refuge  in  the  city  of  Saba,  where  he  besieged  them. 
Tharbis,  daughter  of  the  .Ethiopian  king,  seeing  him, 
fell  desperately  in  love  with  him,  and  promised  to  give 
up  the  city  to  him  on  condition  that  he  would  take  her 
to  wife,  to  which  Moses  agreed,  and  the  city  was  put 
into  the  hands  of  the  Egyptians.” — Jos.  Ant.  lib.  ii., 
chap.  9.  St.  Stephen  probably  alluded  to  something 

297 


EXODUS. 


Moses  flees  from  Pharaoh , 

A.  M.  2473.  1 3  And  k  when  he  went  out  the 

two  men  of 
the  Hebrews  strove  together :  and  he  said  to 
him  that  did  the  wrong,  Wherefore  smite st 
thou  thy  fellow  ? 

1 4  And  he  said,  1  Who  made  thee  111  a  prince 
and  a  judge  over  us  ?  intendest  thou  to  kill 
me,  as  thou  killedst  the  Egyptian  ?  And  Moses 
feared,  and  said,  Surely  this  thing  is  known. 

15  Now  when  Pharaoh  heard  this  thing,  he 
sought  to  slay  Moses.  But  n  Moses  fled  from 
the  face  of  Pharaoh,  and  dwelt  in  the  land  of 
Midian  :  and  he  sat  down  by  0  a  well. 

k  Acts  vii.  26. - 1  Acts  vii.  27, 28. - m  Heb.  a  man,  a  prince  ; 

Gen.  xiii.  8. - n  Acts  vii.  29  ;  Heb.  xi.  27. - 0  Gen.  xxiv.  11  ; 

xxix.  2. - P  Chap.  iii.  1. 

of  this  kind  when  he  said  Moses  was  mighty  in  deeds 
as  well  as  words. 

Verse  13.  Two  men  of  the  Hebrews  strove  together] 
How  strange  that  in  the  very  place  where  they  were 
suffering  a  heavy  persecution  because  they  were  He¬ 
brews ,  the  very  persons  themselves  who  suffered  it 
should  be  found  persecuting  each  other  !  It  has  been 
often  seen  that  in  those  times  in  which  the  ungodly 
oppressed  the  Church  of  Christ,  its  own  members  have 
been  separated  from  each  other  by  disputes  concern¬ 
ing  comparatively  unessential  points  of  doctrine  and 
discipline,  in  consequence  of  which  both  they  and  the 
truth  have  become  an  easy  prey  to  those  whose  de¬ 
sire  was  to  waste  the  heritage  of  the  Lord.  The 
Targum  of  Jonathan  says  that  the  two  persons  who 
strove  were  Dathan  and  Abiram. 

Verse  14.  And  Moses  feared]  He  saw  that  the 
Israelites  were  not  as  yet  prepared  to  leave  their 
bondage  ;  and  that  though  God  had  called  him  to  be 
their  leader,  yet  his  providence  had  not  yet  suffi¬ 
ciently  opened  the  way  ;  and  had  he  stayed  in  Egypt 
be  must  have  endangered  his  life.  Prudence  there¬ 
fore  dictated  an  escape  for  the  present  to  the  land  of 
Midian. 

Verse  15.  Pharaoh — sought  to  slay  Moses.  But 
Moses  fled  from  the  face  of  Pharaoh]  How  can  this 
be  reconciled  with  Heb.  xi.  27  :  By  faith  he  (Moses) 
forsook  Egypt ,  not  fearing  the  wrath  of  the  king  ? 
Very  easily.  The  apostle  speaks  not  of  this  forsak¬ 
ing  of  Egypt,  but  of  his  and  the  Israelites’  final  de¬ 
parture  from  it,  and  of  the  bold  and  courageous  manner 
in  which  Moses  treated  Pharaoh  and  the  Egyptians, 
disregarding  his  threatenings  and  the  multitudes  of 
them  that  pursued  after  the  people  whom,  in  the  name 
and  strength  of  God,  he  led  in  the  face  of  their  ene¬ 
mies  out  of  Egypt. 

Dwelt  in  the  land  of  Midian]  A  country  generally 
supposed  to  have  been  in  Arabia  Petraea,  on  the  east¬ 
ern  coast  of  the  Red  Sea,  not  far  from  Mount  Sinai. 
This  place  is  still  called  by  the  Arabs  the  land  of 
Midian  or  the  land  of  Jethro.  Abul  Farajius  calls 
it  the  land  of  the  Arabs.  It  is  supposed  that  the  Mi- 
dianites  derived  their  origin  from  Midian,  the  fourth 
son  of  Abraham  by  Keturah,  thus  : — Abraham,  Zim- 

298 


and  goes  to  Midian . 

16  p  Now  9  the  priest  of  Midian  A.  M.  2473. 

,  .  .  ,  r  1  ,  B.  C.  1531. 

had  seven  daughters :  and  r  they  - 

came  and  drew  water ,  and  filled  the  troughs 

to  water  their  father’s  flock. 

1 7  And  the  shepherds  came  and  drove  them 
away :  but  Moses  stood  up  and  helped  them, 
and  s  watered  their  flock. 

1 8  And  when  they  came  to  *  Reuel,  their 
father,  he  said,  How  is  it  that  ye  are  come 
so  soon  to-day  ? 

1 9  And  they  said,  An  Egyptian  delivered  us 
out  of  the  hand  of  the  shepherds,  and  also  drew 
water  enough  for  us,  and  watered  the  flock. 

*1  Or,  prince,  as  Gen.  xli.  45. - r  Genesis  xxiv.  11  ;  xxix.  10; 

1  Sam.  ix.  11. - s  Gen.  xxix.  10. - f  Num.  x.  29  ;  called  also 

Jethro  or  J ether ;  chap.  iii.  1 ;  iv.  18  ;  xviii.  1,  &c. 

ran,  Jokshan,  Medan  and  Midian,  Raguel,  Jethro ; 
see  Gen.  xxv.  1.  But  Calmet  contends  that  if  Jethro 
had  been  of  the  family  of  Abraham,  either  by  Jokshan , 
or  Midian ,  Aaron  and  Miriam  could  not  have  re¬ 
proached  Moses  with  marrying  a  Cushite ,  Zipporah, 
the  daughter  of  Reuel.  He  thinks  therefore  that  the 
Midianites  were  of  the  progeny  of  Cush ,  the  son  of 
Ham;  see  Gen.  x.  6. 

Verse  16.  The  priest  of  Midian]  Or  prince ,  or 
both  ;  for  the  original  jPO  cohen  has  both  meanings. 
See  it  explained  at  large,  Gen.  xv.  18.  The  trans¬ 
action  here  very  nearly  resembles  that  mentioned  Gen. 
xxix.  concerning  Jacob  and  Rachel ;  see  the  notes 
there. 

Verse  17.  The  shepherds — drove  them]  The  verb 
DHJnV  yegareshum ,  being  in  the  masculine  gender, 
seems  to  imply  that  the  shepherds  drove  away  the 
flocks  of  Reuel’s  daughters,  and  not  the  daughters 
themselves.  .  The  fact  seems  to  be,  that,  as  the  daugh¬ 
ters  of  Reuel  filled  the  troughs  and  brought  their  flocks 
to  drink,  the  shepherds  drove  those  away,  and,  profit¬ 
ing  by  the  young  women’s  labour,  watered  their  own 
cattle.  Moses  resisted  this  insolence,  and  assisted 
them  to  water  their  flocks,  in  consequence  of  which 
they  were  enabled  to  return  much  sooner  than  they 
were  wont  to  do,  ver.  18. 

Verse  18.  Reuel ,  their  father]  In  Num.  x.  2.9  this 
person  is  called  Raguel ,  but  the  Hebrew  is  the  same 
in  both  places.  The  reason  of  this  difference  is  that 
the  y  ain  in  bxijn  is  sometimes  used  merely  as  vowel , 
sometimes  as  g ,  ng,  and  gn,  and  this  is  occasioned  by 
the  difficulty  of  the  sound,  which  scarcely  any  Euro¬ 
pean  organs  can  enunciate.  As  pronounced  by  the 
Arabs  it  strongly  resembles  the  first  effort  made  by 
the  throat  in  gargling,  or  as  Meninski  says,  Est  vox 
vituli  matrem  vocantis ,  “  It  is  like  the  sound  made  by 
a  calf  in  seeking  its  dam.”  Raguel  is  the  worst 
method  of  pronouncing  it ;  Re-u-el,  the  first  syllable 
strongly  accented,  is  nearer  to  the  true  sound.  A 
proper  uniformity  in  pronouncing  the  same  word  where- 
ever  it.  may  occur,  either  in  the  Old  or  New  Testa¬ 
ment,  is  greatly  to  be  desired.  The  person  in  question 
appears  to  have  several  names.  Here  he  is  called 
Reuel;  in  Num.  x.  29,  Raguel;  in  Exod.  iii.  1  ,Jethor ; 

a. 


B.  C.  1531. 


second  day,  behold, 


CHAP.  IT. 


Moses  marries  Zipporah. 


God  hears  the  cry  of  his  people 


a.  M.  2473.  20  And  he  said  unto  his  daugh- 

— - — 1 - 1  ters,  And  where  is  he  ?  why  is  it 

that  ye  have  left  the  man  ?  call  him,  that  he 
may  u  eat  bread. 

21  And  Moses  was  content  to  dwell  with 
the  man  :  and  he  gave  Moses  v  Zipporah  his 
daughter. 

22  And  she  bare  him  a  son,  and  he  called 
his  name  w  Gershom  :  x  for  he  said,  I  have 
been  y  a  stranger  in  a  strange  land. 

23  And  it  came  to  pass  z  in  process  of 


time,  that  the  king  of  Egypt  a.  m.  cir.  2504. 
died  :  and  the  children  of  Israel  B_c-  cir~  Ij0Q 


a  sighed  by  reason  of  the  bondage,  and  they 
cried,  and  b  their  cry  came  up  unto  God  by 
reason  of  the  bondage. 

24  And  God  c  heard  their  groaning,  and  God 
d  remembered  his  e  covenant  with  Abrahatn, 
with  Isaac,  and  with  Jacob. 

25  And  God  f  looked  upon  the  children 
of  Israel,  and  God  s  had  respect  unto 
them?1 


uGen.  xxxi.  54;  xliii.  25. - '  Chapter  iv.  25;  xviii.  2. 

w  That  is,  a  stranger  here. - x  Chap,  xviii.  3. - y  Acts  vii.  29  ; 

Heb.  xi.  13,  14. - z  Chap.  vii.  7  ;  Acts  vii.  30. - a  Num.  xx. 

16;  Deut.  xxvi.  7  ;  Psa.  xii.  5. 


in  Judges  iv.  11,  Hobab ;  and  in  Judges  i.  16  he 
is  called  Tp  Keyni ,  which  in  chap.  iv.  we  translate 
Kenite.  Some  suppose  that  Re-u-el  was  father  to 
Hobab ,  who  was  also  called  Jethro.  This  is  the  most 
likely;  see  the  note  on  chap.  iii.  1. 

Verse  20.  That  he  may  eat  bread. ]  That  he  may 
be  entertained,  and  receive  refreshment  to  proceed  on 
his  journey.  Bread ,  among  the  Hebrews,  was  used  to 
signify  all  kinds  of  food  commonly  used  for  the  support 
of  man’s  life. 

Verse  21.  Zipporah  his  daughter.]  AbulFarajius 
calls  her  “  Saphura  the  black ,  daughter  of  Rewel  the 
Midianite,  the  son  of  Dedan,  the  son  of  Abraham  by 
his  wife  Keturah.”  The  Targum  calls  her  the  grand¬ 
daughter  of  Reuel.  It  appears  that  Moses  obtained 
Zipporah  something  in  the  same  way  that  Jacob  ob¬ 
tained  Rachel ;  namely,  for  the  performance  of  certain 
services,  probably  keeping  of  sheep;  see  chap.  iii.  1. 

Verse  22.  Called  his  name  Gershom ]  Literally,  a 
stranger ;  the  reason  of  which  Moses  immediately 
adds,  for  I  have  been  an  alien  in  a  strange  land. 

The  Vulgate ,  the  Septuagint,  as  it  stands  in  the 
Complutensian  Polyglot ,  and  in  several  MSS.,  the  Sy¬ 
riac ,  the  Coptic ,  and  the  Arabic ,  add  the  following 
words  to  this  verse  :  And  the  name  of  the  second  he 
called  Eliezer,  for  the  God  of  my  father  has  been  my 
help ,  and  delivered  me  from  the  hand  of  Pharaoh. 
These  words  are  found  in  chap,  xviii.  4,  but  they  are 
certainly  necessary  here,  for  it  is  very  likely  that  these 
two  sons  were  born  within  a  short  space  of  each 
other;  for  in  chap.  iv.  20  it  is  said,  Moses  took  his 
wife  and  his  sons,  by  which  it  is  plain  that  he  had 
both  Gershom  and  Eliezer  at  that  time.  Houbigant 
introduces  this  addition  in  his  Latin  version,  and  con¬ 
tends  that  this  is  its  most  proper  place.  Notwith¬ 
standing  the  authority  of  the  above  versions,  the 
clause  is  found  in  no  copy,  printed  or  MS.,  of  the  He¬ 
brew  text. 

Verse  23.  In  process  of  time — the  king  of  Egypt 
died]  According  to  St.  Stephen,  (Acts  vii.  30,  com¬ 
pared  with  Exod.  vii.  7,)  the  death  of  the  Egyptian 
king  happened  about  forty  years  after  the  eccape  of 
Moses  to  Midian.  The  words  DHH  D’3^n  D’D’3  TVI 
vayehi  baiyamim  harabbim  hahem ,  which  we  translate 
And  it  came  to  pass  in  process  of  time ,  signify,  And  it 

a 


b  Gen.  xviii.  20;  chap.  iii.  9;  xxii.  23,  27;  Deut.  xxiv.  15 

James  v.  4. - c  Chap.  vi.  5. - d  Chap.  vi.  5  ;  Psa.  cv.  8,  42 

cvi.  45. - e  Gen.  xv.  14;  xlvi.  4. - fCh.  iv.  31 ;  1  Sam.  i.  11 

2  Sam.  xvi.  12 ;  Luke  i.  25. - s  Heb.  knew. - h  Chap.  iii.  7. 


was  in  many  days  from  these  that  the  king,  &c.  It 
has  already  been  remarked  that  Archbishop  Usher 
supposes  this  king  to  have  been  Ramesses  Miamun , 
who  was  succeeded  by  his  son  Amenophis,  who  was 
drowned  in  the  Red  Sea  when  pursuing  the  Israelites, 
but  Abid  Farajius  says  it  was  Amunfathis ,  (Ameno¬ 
phis,)  he  who  made  the  cruel  edict  against  the  Hebrew 
children. 

Some  suppose  that  Moses  wrote  the  book  of  Job 
during  the  time  he  sojourned  in  Midian,  and  also  the 
book  of  Genesis.  See  the  preface  to  the  book  of  Job, 
where  this  subject  is  considered. 

Sighed  by  reason  of  the  bondage]  F or  the  nature  of 
their  bondage,  see  on  chap.  i.  14. 

Verse  24.  God  remembered  his  covenant]  God’s 
covenant  is  God’s  engagement ;  he  had  promised  to 
Abraham,  to  Isaac,  and  to  Jacob,  to  give  their  posterity 
a  land  flowing  with  milk  and  honey,  &c.  They  are 
now  under  the  most  oppressive  bondage,  and  this  was 
the  most  proper  time  for  God  to  show  them  his  mercy 
and  power  in  fulfilling  his  promise.  This  is  all  that  is 
meant  by  God’s  remembering  his  covenant,  for  it  was 
noio  that  he  began  to  give  it  its  effect. 

Verse  25.  And  God  had  respect  unto  them.]  VTJ 
□'PlSx  vaiyeda  Elohim,  God  kneiv  them,  i.  e.,  he  ap¬ 
proved  of  them,  and  therefore  it  is  said  that  their  cry 
came  up  before  God ,  and  he  heard  their  groaning.  The 
word  JH’  yada ,  to  know ,  in  the  Hebrew  Bible,  as  well 
as  yivuxjKw  in  the  Greek  Testament,  is  frequently  used 
in  the  sense  of  approving  ;  and  because  God  kneiv — 
had  respect  for  and  approved  of,  them,  therefore  he  was 
determined  to  deliver  them.  For  □TlSx  Elohim ,  GOD, 
in  the  last  clause  of  this  verse,  Houbigant  reads  □JT'Sx 
aleyhem,  upon  them,  which  is  countenanced  by  the 
Vulgate ,  Septuagint ,  Chaldee ,  Coptic ,  and  Arabic ,  and 
appears  to  have  been  the  original  reading.  The  dif¬ 
ference  in  the  original  consists  in  the  interchange  of 
two  letters,  the  ,  yod  and  n  he.  Our  translators  in¬ 
sert  unto  them ,  in  order  to  make  up  that  sense  which 
this  various  reading  gives  without  trouble. 

The  farther  we  proceed  in  the  sacred  writings,  the 
more  the  history  both  of  the  grace  and  providence  of 
God  opens  to  our  view.  He  ever  cares  for  his  crea¬ 
tures,  and  is  mindful  of  his  promise.  The  very  means 

299 


EXODUS. 


Jethro  at  Mount  Horeh. 


Moses  keeps  the  flock  of 

made  use  of  to  destroy  his  work  are,  in  his  hands,  the 
instruments  of  its  accomplishment.  Pharaoh  orders 
the  male  children  of  the  Hebrews  to  be  thrown  into 
the  river ;  Moses,  who  was  thus  exposed,  is  found  by 
his  own  daughter,  brought  up  as  her  own  son,  and  from 
his  Egyptian  education  becomes  much  better  qualified 
for  the  great  work  to  which  God  had  called  him  ;  and 
his  being  obliged  to  leave  Egypt  was  undoubtedly  a 
powerful  means  to  wean  his  heart  from  a  land  in  which 
he  had  at  his  command  all  the  advantages  and  luxuries 
of  life.  His  sojourning  also  in  a  strange  land,  where 
he  was  obliged  to  earn  his  bread  by  a  very  painful  em¬ 
ployment,  fitted  him  for  the  perilous  journey  he  was 
obliged  to  take  in  the  wilderness,  and  enabled  him  to 
bear  the  better  the  privations  to  which  he  was  in  con¬ 
sequence  exposed. 

The  bondage  of  the  Israelites  was  also  wisely  per¬ 
mitted,  that  they  might  with  less  reluctance  leave  a 
country  where  they  had  suffered  the  greatest  oppres¬ 
sion  and  indignities.  Had  they  not  suffered  severely 
previously  to  their  departure,  there  is  much  reason  to 
believe  that  no  inducements  could  have  been  sufficient 
to  have  prevailed  on  them  to  leave  it.  And  yet  their 
leaving  it  was  of  infinite  consequence,  in  the  order  both 
of  grace  and  providence,  as  it  was  indispensably  ne¬ 
cessary  that  they  should  be  a  people  separated  from  all 
the  rest  of  the  world,  that  they  might  see  the  promises 
of  God  fulfilled  under  their  own  eyes,  and  thus  have 
the  fullest  persuasion  that  their  law  was  Divine,  their 
prophets  inspired  by  the  Most  High,  and  that  the  Mes¬ 
siah  came  according  to  the  prophecies  before  delivered 
concerning  him. 

From  the  example  of  Pharaoh’s  daughter,  (see  note 
ver.  4,)  and  the  seven  daughters  of  Jethro,  (ver.  16,) 
we  learn  that  in  the  days  of  primitive  simplicity,  and 
in  this  respect  the  best  days,  the  children,  particularly 
the  daughters  of  persons  in  the  highest  ranks  in  life, 


were  employed  in  the  most  laborious  offices.  Kings’ 
daughters  performed  the  office  of  the  laundress  to  their 
own  families  ;  and  the  daughters  of  princes  tended  and 
watered  the  flocks.  We  have  seen  similar  instances 
in  the  case  of  Rebekah  and  Rachel ;  and  we  cannot 
be  too  pointed  in  calling  the  attention  of  modern  deli¬ 
cate  females,  who  are  not  only  above  serving  their  own 
parents  and  family,  but  even  their  own  selves  :  the  con¬ 
sequence  of  which  is,  they  have  neither  vigour  nor 
health  ;  their  growth,  for  want  of  healthy  exercise,  is 
generally  cramped  ;  their  natural  powers  are  prema¬ 
turely  developed,  and  their  whole  course  is  rather  an 
apology  for  living,  than  a  state  of  effective  life.  Many 
of  these  live  not  out  half  their  days,  and  their  offspring, 
when  they  have  any,  is  more  feeble  than  themselves ; 
so  that  the  jace  of  man  where  such  preposterous  con¬ 
duct  is  followed  (and  where  is  it  not  followed  1)  is  in 
a  state  of  gradual  deterioration.  Parents  who  wish 
to  fulfil  the  intention  of  God  and  nature,  will  doubtless 
see  it  their  duty  to  bring  up  their  children  on  a  different 
plan.  A  worse  than  the  present  can  scarcely  be  found 
out. 

Afflictions ,  under  the  direction  of  God’s  providence 
and  the  influence  of  his  grace,  are  often  the  means  of 
leading  men  to  pray  to  and  acknowledge  God,  who  in 
the  time  of  their  prosperity  hardened  their  necks  from 
his  fear.  When  the  Israelites  were  sorely  oppressed, 
they  began  to  pray.  If  the  cry  of  oppression  had  not 
been  among  them,  probably  the  cry  for  mercy  had  not 
been  heard.  Though  afflictions,  considered  in  them¬ 
selves,  can  neither  atone  for  sin  nor  improve  the  moral 
state  of  the  soul,  yet  God  often  uses  them  as  means  to 
bring  sinners  to  himself,  and  to  quicken  those  who, 
having  already  escaped  the  pollutions  of  the  world,  were 
falling  again  under  the  influence  of  an  earthly  mind. 
Of  many  millions  besides  David  it  may  truly  be  saids 
Before  they  were  afflicted  they  went  astray. 


CHAPTER  III. 


Moses  keeping  the  flock  of  Jethro  at  Mount  Horeb,  the  angel  of  the  Lord  appears  to  him  in  a  burning  bush , 
I,  2.  Astonished  at  the  sight,  he  turns  aside  to  examine  it,  3,  ichen  God  speaks  to  him  out  of  the  fire, 
and  declares  himself  to  be  the  God  of  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob,  4—6  ;  announces  his  purpose  of  deliver¬ 
ing  the  Israelites  from  their  oppression,  and  of  bringing  them  into  the  promised  land,  7—9  ;  commissions 
him  to  go  to  Pharaoh,  and  to  be  leader  of  the  children  of  Israel  from  Egypt,  10.  Moses  excuses  him¬ 
self,  11  ;  and  God,  to  encourage  him,  promises  him  his  protection,  12.  Moses  doubts  whether  the  Israel¬ 
ites  will  credit  him,  13,  and  God  reveals  to  him  his  Name,  andinforms  himivhathe  is  to  say  to  the  people, 
14—17,  and  instructs  him  and  the  elders  of  Israel  to  apply  unto  Pharaoh  for  permission  to  go  three  days' 
journey  into  the  wilderness,  to  sacrifice  unto  the  Lord,  18  ;  foretells  the  obstinacy  of  the  Egyptian  king , 
and  the  miracles  which  he  himself  should  luork  in  the  sight  of  the  Egyptians,  19,  20  ;  and  promises  that, 
on  the  departure  of  the  Israelites,  the  Egyptians  should  be  induced  to  furnish  them  with  all  necessaries  for 
their  journey ,  21,22. 


B  C  1491  ’  N ^-oses  kept  the  flock  of 

- — - 1-  Jethro  his  father-in-law,  a  the 

priest  of  Midian  :  and  he  led  the  flock  to  the 


backside  of  the  desert,  and  came  A.  M.  2513. 

to  D  the  mountain  of  God,  even - 

to  Horeb. 


a  Chap.  ii.  16. 

NOTES  ON  CHAP.  III. 

Terse  1.  Jethro  his  father-in-law ]  Concerning 

Jethro ,  see  the  note  on  chap.  ii.  18.  Learned  men 

300 


b  Chap,  xviii.  5  ;  1  Kings  xix.  8. 

are  not  agreed  on  the  signification  of  the  word  jnn 
chothen,  which  we  translate  father-in-law,  and  which 
in  Gen.  xix.  14,  we  translate  son-in-law .  It  seems  to 

a 


CHAP.  III. 


The  angel  appears  to  Moses , 


out  of  the  burning  bush. 


A.  M.  2513.  2  And  c  the  angel  of  the  Lord  ap- 

B.  C.  1491.  r 

— — 1 - 1  peared  unto  him  in  a  flame  of  fire, 

out  of  the  midst  of  a  bush  :  and  he  looked, 

and,  behold,  the  bush  burned  with  fire,  and 

the  bush  tuas  not  consumed. 

3  And  Moses  said,  I  will  now  turn  aside, 


and  see  this  d  great  sight,  why  the  a.  m.  2513. 

bush  is  not  burned.  _ 1 _ 1 _ 

4  And  when  the  Lord  saw  that  he  turned 
aside  to  see,  God  called  e  unto  him  out  of  the 
midst  of  the  bush,  and  said,  Moses,  Moses. 
And  he  said,  Here  am  I. 


c  Deut.  xxxiii.  16  ;  Isa.  lxiii.  9  ;  Acts  vii.  30. 

be  a  general  term  for  a  relative  by  marriage ,  and  the 
connection  only  in  which  it  stands  can  determine  its 
precise  meaning.  It  is  very  possible  that  Reuel  was 
now  dead,  it  being  forty  years  since  Moses  came  to 
Midian  ;  that  Jethro  was  his  son,  and  had  succeeded 
him  in  his  office  of  prince  and  priest  of  Midian  ;  that 
Zipporah  was  the  sister  of  Jethro  ;  and  that  conse¬ 
quently  the  word  pn  chothen  should  be  translated 
brother-in-law  in  this  place  :  as  we  learn  from  Gen. 
xxxiv.  9,  Deut.  vii.  3,  Josh,  xxiii.  12,  and  other  places, 
that  it  simply  signifies  to  contract  affinity  by  marriage . 
If  this  conjecture  be  right,  we  may  well  suppose  that, 
Reuel  being  dead,  Moses  was  continued  by  his  brother- 
in-law  Jethro  in  the  same  employment  he  had  under 
his  father. 

Mountain  of  God]  Sometimes  named  Horeb,  at 
other  times  Sinai.  The  mountain  itself  had  two  peaks ; 
one  was  called  Horeb ,  the  other  Sinai.  Horeb  was 
probably  the  primitive  name  of  the  mountain,  which 
was  afterwards  called  the  mountain  of  God ,  because 
God  appeared  upon  it  to  Moses ;  and  Mount  Sinai,  TD, 
from  HID  seneh,  a  bush,  because  it  was  in  a  bush  or 
bramble,  in  a  flame  of  fire,  that  this  appearance  was 
made. 

Yerse  2.  The  angel  of  the  Lord ]  Not  a  created 
angel  certainly ;  for  he  is  called  miT  Jehovah,  ver.  4, 
&e.,  and  has  the  most  expressive  attributes  of  the 
Godhead  applied  to  him,  ver.  14,  & c.  Yet  he  is  an 
angel ,  malach,  a  messenger,  in  whom  was  the 

name  of  God,  chap,  xxiii.  21  ;  and  in  whom  dwelt  all 
the  fulness  of  the  Godhead  bodily,  Col.  ii.  9  ;  and  who, 
in  all  these  primitive  times,  was  the  Messenger  of  the 
covenant,  Mai.  iii.  1.  And  who  was  this  but  Jesus, 
the  Leader,  Redeemer,  and  Saviour  of  mankind  ?  See 
the  note  on  Gen.  xvi.  7. 

A  flame  of  fire,  out  of  the  midst  of  a  bush\  Fire  was, 
not  only  among  the  Hebrews  but  also  among  many 
other  ancient  nations,  a  very  significant  emblem  of  the 
Deity.  God  accompanied  the  Israelites  in  all  their 
journeyings  through  the  wilderness  as  a  pillar  of  fire 
by  night  ;  and  probably  a  fire  or  flame  in  the  holy  of 
holies,  between  the  cherubim,  was  the  general  symbol 
of  his  presence  ;  and  traditions  of  these  things,  which 
must  have  been  current  in  the  east,  have  probably  given 
birth,  not  only  to  the  pretty  general  opinion  that  God 
appears  in  the  likeness  of  fire,  *but  to  the  whole  of  the 
Zoroastrian  system  of  fire-worship.  It  has  been  re¬ 
ported  of  Zoroaster,  or  Zeradusht ,  that  having  retired 
to  a  mountain  for  the  study  of  wisdom,  and  the  benefit 
of  solitude,  the  whole  mountain  was  one  day  enveloped 
with  flame,  out  of  the  midst  of  which  he  came  with¬ 
out  receiving  any  injury ;  on  which  he  offered  sacrifices 
to  God,  who,  he  was  persuaded,  had  then  appeared  to 
him.  M.  Anquetil  du  Perron  gives  much  curious  in- 


d  Psa.  cxi.  2 ;  Acts  vii.  31. - e  Deut.  xxxiii.  16. 

formation  on  this  subject  in  his  Zend  Avesta.  The 
modern  Parsees  call  fire  the  offspring  of  Ormusd,  and 
worship  it  with  a  vast  variety  of  ceremonies. 

Among  the  fragments  attributed  to  EEschylus,  and 
collected  by  Stanley  in  his  invaluable  edition  of  this 
poet,  p.  647,  col.  1,  we  find  the  following  beautiful 
verses  : — 

Xopifo  Ovtjtov  tov  Qeov ,  sat  prj  bosu 
'Oyoiov  avrip  oapuLvov  KaOecravaL. 

Ovk  oicrOa  6’  avrov’  ttote  ysv  up  n vp  QaivcTac 
A.K'XaoTov  bpgtj'  nore  6’  v<5op,  ttote  de  yvo<j>og. 

“Distinguish  God  from  mortal  men  ;  and  do  not 
suppose  that  any  thing  fleshly  is  like  unto  him.  Thou 
knowest  him  not  :  sometimes  indeed  he  appears  as  a 
formless  and  impetuous  fire,  sometimes  as  water , 
sometimes  as  thick  darkness .”  The  poet  proceeds 

Tpeyei  d’  opr],  sat  yaia,  nai  TreXupiop 
Bi >dop  OaTiaaarig,  icupsuv  i npog  yeya, 

'O rav  ETrfikeipy  yopyov  oyfia  Seckotov. 

“  The  mountains,  the  earth,  the  deep  and  extensive 
sea,  and  the  summits  of  the  highest  mountains  tremble 
whenever  the  terrible  eye  of  the  Supreme  Lord  looks 
down  upon  them.” 

These  are  very  remarkable  fragments,  and  seem  all 
to  be  collected  from  traditions  relative  to  the  different 
manifestations  of  God  to  the  Israelites  in  Egypt,  and 
in  the  wilderness.  Moses  wished  to  see  God,  but  he 
could  behold  nothing  but  an  indescribable  glory  :  no¬ 
thing  like  mortals,  nothing  like  a  human  body,  appear¬ 
ed  at  any  time  to  his  eye,  or  to  those  of  the  Israelites. 
“  Ye  saw  no  manner  of  similitude,”  said  Moses,  “  on 
the  day  that  the  Lord  spake  unto  you  in  Horeb,  out 
of  the  midst  of  the  fire,”  Deut.  iv.  15.  But  some¬ 
times  the  Divine  power  and  justice  were  manifested 
by  the  indescribable ,  formless ,  impetuous,  consuming 
flame  ;  at  other  times  he  appeared  by  the  water  which 
he  brought  out  of  the  flinty  rock ;  and  in  the  thick 
darkness  on  Horeb,  when  the  fiery  law  proceeded  from 
his  right  hand,  then  the  earth  quaked  and  the  mountain 
trembled :  and  when  his  terrible  eye  looked  out  upon 
the  Egyptians  through  the  pillar  of  cloud  and  fire, 
their  chariot  wheels  were  struck  off,  and  confusion  and 
dismay  were  spread  through  all  the  hosts  of  Pharaoh  ; 
Exod.  xiv.  24,  25. 

And  the  bush  was  not  consumed.]  I.  An  emblem 
of  the  state  of  Israel  in  its  various  distresses  and  per¬ 
secutions  :  it  was  in  the  fire  of  adversity,  but  was  not 
consumed.  2.  An  emblem  also  of  the  state  of  the 
Church  of  God  in  the  wilderness,  in  persecutions  often, 
in  the  midst  of  its  enemies,  in  the  region  of  the  shadow 
of  death — yet  not  consumed.  3.  An  emblem  also  of 
the  state  of  every  follower  of  Christ :  cast  down,  but 
not  forsaken  ;  grievously  tempted,  but  not  destroved  ; 

301 


God  converses  with  Moses,  EXODU  S.  * and  makes  known  his  purpose . 


A.  M.  2513.  5  And  he  said,  Draw  not  nigh 

R  G  1401  ° 

- L  hither :  f  put  off  thy  shoes  from 

off  thy  feet,  for  the  place  whereon  thou  standest 
is  holy  ground. 

6  Moreover  he  said,  *  I  am  the  God  of  thy 
father,  the  God  df  Abraham,  the  God  of  Isaac, 
and  the  God  of  Jacob.  And  Moses  hid  his 
face  ;  for  h  he  was  afraid  to  look  upon  God. 

7  And  the  Lord  said,  I  have  surely  seen 
the  affliction  of  my  people  which  are  in  Egypt, 

f  Chap.  xix.  12 ;  Josh.  v.  15  ;  Acts  vii.  33. - s  Gen.  xxviii.  13 ; 

ver.  15 ;  chap.  iv.  5  ;  Matt.  xxii.  32  ;  Markxii.  26  ;  Luke  xx.  37  ; 

Acts  vii.  32. - 11  So  1  Kings  xix.  13;  Isa.  vi.  1,  5  ;  Neh.  ix.  9  ; 

Psa.  cvi.  44;  Acts  vii.  34. - 1  Ch.  ii.  23,  24. - k  Chap.  i.  11. 

walking  through  the  fire,  but  still  unconsumed  !  Why 
are  all  these  preserved  in  the  midst  of  those  things 
which  have  a  natural  tendency  to  destroy  them  1  Be¬ 
cause  God  is  in  the  midst  of  them  ;  it  was  this  that 
preserved  the  bush  from  destruction ;  and  it  was  this 
that  preserved  the  Israelites  ;  and  it  is  this,  and  this 
alone,  that  preserves  the  Church,  and  holds  the  soul 
of  every  genuine  believer  in  the  spiritual  life.  He  in 
whose  heart  Christ  dwells  not  by  faith,  will  soon  be 
consumed  by  the  world,  the  flesh,  and  the  devil. 

Verse  5.  Put  off  thy  shoes ]  It  is  likely  that  from 
this  circumstance  all  the  eastern  nations  have  agreed 
to  perform  all  the  acts  of  their  religious  worship  bare¬ 
footed.  All  the  Mohammedans,  Brahmins,  and  Par- 
sees  do  so  still.  The  Jews  were  remarked  for  this  in 
the  time  of  Juvenal ;  hence  he  speaks  of  their  per¬ 
forming  their  sacred  rites  barefooted ;  Sat.  vi.,  ver.  158  : 

Observant  ubi  festa  mero  pede  sabbata  reges. 

The  ancient  Greeks  did  the  same.  Jamblichus,  in  the 
life  of  Pythagoras,  tells  us  that  this  was  one  of  his 
maxims,  kvvTtobrjTo g  6ve  nai  TcpooicvvEL,  Offer  sacrifice 
and  worship  with  your  shoes  off.  And  Solinus  asserts 
that  no  person  was  permitted  to  enter  into  the  temple 
of  Diana,  in  Crete,  till  he  had  taken  off  his  shoes. 
“  JEdem  Numinis  (Diana)  praterquam  nudus  vestigio 
nullus  licito  ingreditur .”  Tertullian  observes,  de  je- 
junio,  that  in  a  time  of  drought  the  worshippers  of 
Jupiter  deprecated  his  wrath,  and  prayed  for  rain, 
walking  barefooted.  “  Cum  stupet  ccelum,  et  aret 
annus,  nudipedalia,  denunciantur.”  It  is  probable  that 
D’bgJ  nealim ,  in  the  text,  signifies  sandals ,  translated 
by  the  Chaldee  blJD  sandal ,  and  icblJD  sandala ,  (see 
Gen.  xiv.  23,)  which  was  the  same  as  the  Roman  so- 
lea ,  a  sole  alone,  strapped  about  the  foot.  As  this  sole 
must  let  in  dust,  gravel,  and  sand  about  the  foot  in 
travelling,  and  render  it  very  uneasy,  hence  the  cus¬ 
tom  of  frequently  washing  the  feet  in  those  countries 
where  these  sandals  were  worn.  Pulling  off  the  shoes 
was,  therefore,  an  emblem  of  laying  aside  the  pollu¬ 
tions  contracted  by  walking  in  the  way  of  sin.  Let 
those  who  name  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  depart  from 
iniquity.  In  our  western  countries  reverence  is  ex¬ 
pressed  by  pulling  off  the  hat ;  but  how  much  more 
significant  is  the  eastern  custom !  “  The  natives  of 

Bengal  never  go  into  their  own  houses  with  their  shoes 
on,  nor  into  the  houses  of  others,  but  always  leave 

302 


and  1  have  heard  their  cry  k  by  rea-  A.  M.  2513. 

c  ^  J  r  1  T  B-  C.  1491. 

son  01  their  task-masters ;  lor  1 1  - 

know  their  sorrows  ; 

8  And  m  I  am  come  down  to  n  deliver  them 
out  of  the  hand  of  the  Egyptians,  and  to  bring 
them  up  out  of  that  land  0  unto  a  good  lancf 
and  a  large,  unto  a  land  p  flowing  with  milk 
and  honey  ;  unto  the  place  of  9  the  Canaanites, 
and  the  Hittites,  and  the  Amorites,  and  the 
Perizzites,  and  the  Hivites,  and  the  Jebusites. 

1  Gen.  xviii.  21 ;  ch.  ii.  25. - m  Gen.  xi.  5,  7  ;  xviii. 21  ;  1. 24. 

n  Ch.  vi.  6,  8  ;  xii.  51. - 0  Deut.  i.  25  ;  viii.  7,  8,  9. - p  Ver. 

17  ;  chap.  xiii.  5  ;  xxxiii.  3  ;  Num.  xiii.  27  ;  Deut.  xxvi.  9,  15  ; 
Jer.  xi.  5  ;  xxxii.  22  ;  Ezek.  xx.  6. - 3  Gen.  xv.  18. 

their  shoes  at  the  door.  It  would  be  a  great  affront 
not  to  attend  to  this  mark  of  respect  when  visiting  ; 
and  to  enter  a  temple  without  pulling  off  the  shoes 
would  be  an  unpardonable  offence.” — Ward. 

The  place  whereon  thou  standest  is  holy  ground .]  It 
was  now  particularly  sanctified  by  the  Divine  pre¬ 
sence  ;  but  if  we  may  credit  Josephus,  a  general  opi¬ 
nion  had  prevailed  that  God  dwelt  on  that  mountain  ; 
and  hence  the  shepherds,  considering  it  as  sacred 
ground,  did  not  dare  to  feed  their  flocks  there.  Moses, 
however,  finding  the  soil  to  be  rich  and  the  pasturage 
good,  boldly  drove  his  flock  thither  to  feed  on  it. — - 
Antiq.,  b.  ii.,  c.  xii.,  s.  1. 

Verse  6.  7  am  the  God  of  thy  father ]  Though  the 
word  abi,  father ,  is  here  used  in  the  singular,  St. 
Stephen,  quoting  this  place,  Acts  vii.  32,  uses  the 
plural,  fO  tcjv  TraTepuv  aov,  The  God  of  thy 

fathers  ;  and  that  this  is  the  meaning  the  following 
words  prove  :  The  God  of  Abraham,  the  God  of  Isaac, 
and  the  God  of  Jacob.  These  were  the  fathers  of 
Moses  in  a  direct  line.  This  reading  is  confirmed  by 
the  Sa?7iaritan  and  by  the  Coptic.  Abraham  was  the 
father  of  the  Ishmaelites,  and  with  him  was  the  cove¬ 
nant  first  made.  Isaac  was  the  father  of  the  Edom¬ 
ites  as  well  as  the  Israelites ,  and  with  him  was  the 
covenant  renewed.  Jacob  was  the  father  of  the 
twelve  patriarchs,  who  were  founders  of  the  Jewish 
nation,  and  to  him  were  the  promises  particularly  con¬ 
firmed.  Hence  we  see  that  the  Arabs  and  Turks  in 
general,  who  are  descendants  of  Ishmael ;  the  Edom¬ 
ites ,  now  absorbed  among  the  Jews,  (see  the  note  on 
Gen.  xxv.  23,)  who  are  the  descendants  of  Esau; 
and  the  Jewish  people ,  wheresoever  scattered,  wlio 
are  the  descendants  of  Jacob ,  are  all  heirs  of  the  pro¬ 
mises  included  in  this  primitive  covenant ;  and  their 
gathering  in  with  the  fulness  of  the  Gentiles  may  be 
confidently  expected. 

And  Moses  hid  his  face']  For  similar  acts,  see  the 
passages  referred  to  in  the  margin.  He  teas  afraid  to 
look — he  was  overawed  by  God’s  presence,  and  daz¬ 
zled  with  the  splendour  of  the  appearance. 

Verse  7.  I  have  surely  seen]  TPiO  71*0  raoh  raithi , 
seeing ,  I  have  seen — I  have  not  only  seen  the  afflic¬ 
tions  of  this  people  because  I  am  omniscient,  but  I  have 
considered  their  sorrows,  and  my  eye  affects  my  heart. 

Verse  8.  And  I  am  come  down  to  deliver  them] 
This  is  the  very  purpose  for  which  I  am  now  come 

a 


CHAP.  III. 


God  commissions  Moses 

a.  M.2513.  9  Now  therefore,  behold,  rthe 

B-.C.  1491‘-  cry  of  the  children  of  Israel  is 
come  unto  me  :  and  I  have  also  seen  the 
*  oppression  wherewith  the  Egyptians  oppress 
them. 

10  1  Come  now  therefore,  and  I  will  send 
thee  unto  Pharaoh,  that  thou  mayest  bring 
forth  my  people  the  children  of  Israel  out  of 
Egypt. 

1 1  And  Moses  said  unto  God,  11  Who  am  I, 
that  I  should  go  unto  Pharaoh,  and  that  I 

rChap.  ii.  23. - 3  Chap.  i.  11,  13,  14,  22. - 1  Psa.  cv.  26; 

Mic.  vi.  4. — - — u  See  chap.  vi.  12 ;  1  Sam.  xviii.  18  ;  Isa.  vi.  5, 8  ; 

down  upon  this  mountain,  and  for  which  I  manifest 
myself  to  thee. 

Large — la?id]  Canaan,  when  compared  with  the 
small  tract  of  Goshen,  in  which  they  were  now  situat¬ 
ed,  and  where,  we  learn,  from  chap.  i.  7,  they  were 
straitened  for  room,  might  be  well  called  a  large  land. 
See  a  fine  description  of  this  land  Deut.  viii.  7. 

A  land  flowing  with  milk  and  honey\  Excellent  for 
pasturage,  because  abounding  in  the  most  wholesome 
herbage  and  flowers  ;  and  from  the  latter  an  abundance 
of  wild  honey  was  collected  by  the  bees.  Though  cul¬ 
tivation  is  now  almost  entirely  neglected  in  this  land, 
because  of  the  badness  of  the  government  and  the 
scantiness  of  the  inhabitants,  yet  it  is  still  good  for 
pasturage ,  and  yields  an  abundance  of  honey.  The 
terms  used  in  the  text  to  express  the  fertility  of  this 
land,  are  commonly  used  by  ancient  authors  on  similar 
subjects  It  is  a  metaphor  taken  from  a  breast  pro¬ 
ducing  copious  streams  of  milk.  Homer  calls  Argos 
ovdap  apovpr/e,  the  breast  of  the  country ,  as  affording 
streams  of  milk  and  honey,  II.  ix. ,  ver.  141.  So  Virgil ; — 
Prima  tulit  tellus,  eadem  vos  ubere  laeto 
Accipiet.  JEn.,  lib.  iii.,  ver.  95. 

“  The  land  that  first  produced  you  shall  receive  you 
again  into  its  joyous  bosom.” 

The  poets  feign  that  Bacchus,  the  fable  of  whom 
they  have  taken  from  the  history  of  Moses,  produced 
rivers  of  milk  and  honey,  of  water  and  wine  : — 

'Pei  6e  yaTiasri  neSov, 

'Pei  6'  oivcp,  fyei  6e  ye'kiaaav 

NeKTapi.  Eurip.  Bacch .,  E7rod.,  ver.  8. 

“  The  land  flows  with  milk  ;  it  flows  also  with  wine  ; 
it  flows  also  with  the  nectar  of  bees,  (honey.)”  This 
seems  to  be  a  mere  poetical  copy  from  the  Pentateuch, 
where  the  sameness  of  the  metaphor  and  the  corre¬ 
spondence  of  the  descriptions  are  obvious. 

Place  of  the  Canaanites,  c fc.]  See  Gen.  xv.  18,  &c. 

Verse  1 1 .  Who  am  I — that  I  should  bring ]  He 
was  so  satisfied  that  this  was  beyond  his  power,  and 
all  the  means  that  he  possessed,  that  he  is  astonished 
that  even  God  himself  should  appoint  hirp  to  this 
work !  Such  indeed  was  the  bondage  of  the  children 
of  Israel,  and  the  power  of  the  people  by  whom  they 
were  enslaved,  that  had  not  their  deliverance  come 
through  supernatural  means,  their  escape  had  been 
utterly  impossible. 


to  go  to  Pharaoh 

should  bring  forth  the  children  of  A.  M.  2513 
Israel  out  of  Egypt  ?  B.  c.  hoi. 

12  And  he  said,  Y  Certainly  I  will  be  with 
thee  ;  and  this  shall  he  a  token  unto  thee  that 
I  have  sent  thee  :  When  thou  hast  brought 
forth  the  people  out  of  Egypt,  ye  shall  serve 
God  upon  this  mountain. 

13  And  Moses  said  unto  God,  Behold,  when 
I  come  unto  the  children  of  Israel,  and  shall 
say  unto  them,  The  God  of  your  fathers  hath 
sent  me  unto  you ;  and  they  shall  say  to  me, 

Jer.  i.  6. - v  Genesis  xxxi.  3  ;  Deut.  xxxi.  23  ;  Josh.  i.  5  ; 

Rom.  viii.  31. 


Verse  12.  Certainly  I  will  be  with  thee ]  This 
great  event  shall  not  be  left  to  thy  wisdom  and  to  thy 
power  ;  my  counsel  shall  direct  thee,  and  my  power 
shall  bring  all  these  mighty  things  to  pass. 

And  this  shall  be  a  token]  Literally,  And  this  to 
thee  for  a  sign ,  i.  e.,  this  miraculous  manifestation  of 
the  burning  bush  shall  be  a  proof  -that  I  have  sent 
thee ;  or,  My  being  with  thee ,  to  encourage  thy  heart, 
strengthen  thy  hands,  and  enable  thee  to  work  mira¬ 
cles,  shall  be  to  thyself  and  to  others  the  evidence  of 
thy  Divine  mission. 

Ye  shall  serve  God  upon  this  mountain .]  This  was 
not  the  sign ,  but  God  shows  him,  that  in  their  return 
from  Egypt  they  should  take  this  mountain  in  their 
way,  and  should  worship  him  in  this  place.  There 
may  be  a  prophetic  allusion  here  to  the  giving  o^  the 
law  on  Mount  Sinai.  As  Moses  received  his  com¬ 
mands  here ,  so  likewise  should  the  Israelites  icceive 
theirs  in  the  same  place.  After  all,  the  Divine  Being 
seems  to  testify  a  partial  predilection  for  thu  moun¬ 
tain,  for  reasons  that  are  not  expressed.  See  the 
note  on  ver.  5. 

Verse  13.  They  shall  say — What  is  his  nameT\ 
Does  not  this  suppose  that  the  Israelites  had  an  idola¬ 
trous  notion  even  of  the  Supreme  Being  1  They  had 
probably  drank  deep  into  the  Egyptian  superstitions, 
and  had  gods  many  and  lords  many ;  and  Moses  con¬ 
jectured  that,  hearing  of  a  supernatural  deliverance, 
they  would  inquire  who  that  God  was  by  whom  it  was 
to  be  effected.  The  reasons  given  here  by  the  rab¬ 
bins  are  too  refined  for  the  Israelites  at  this  time. 
“  When  God,”  say  they,  “  judgeth  his  creatures,  he  is 
called  DTlbx  Elohim ;  when  he  warreth  against  the 
wicked,  he  is  called  Tsebaoth ;  but  when  he 

showeth  mercy  unto  the  world,  he  is  called  mrr  Ye- 
hovah .”  It  is  not  likely  that  the  Israelites  had  much 
knowledge  of  God  or  of  his  ways  at  the  time  to  which 
the  sacred  text  refers  ;  it  is  certain  they  had  no  writ¬ 
ten  word.  The  book  of  Genesis,  if  even  written,  (for 
some  suppose  it  had  been  composed  by  Moses  during 
his  residence  in  Midian,)  had  not  yet  been  communi¬ 
cated  to  the  people  ;  and  being  so  long  without  any 
revelation,  and  perhaps  without  even  the  form  of  Di¬ 
vine  worship,  their  minds  being  degraded  by  the  state 
of  bondage  in  which  they  had  been  so  long  held,  and 
seeing  and  hearing  little  in  religion  but  the  supersti¬ 
tions  of  those  among  whom  they  sojourned,  they  could 

303 


a 


God  reveals  his  name  to  Moses,  EXODUS.  and  gives  particular  instructions 


A.  M.  2513.  What  is  his  name  ?  what  shall  I 
?'  C’  1491‘ .  say  unto  them  ? 

14  And  God  said  unto  Moses,  I  AM  THAT 
I  AM  :  and  he  said,  Thus  shalt  thou  say  unto 
the  children  of  Israel,  w  I  AM  hath  sent  me 
unto  you. 

1 5  And  God  said  moreover  unto  Moses, 
Thus  shalt  thou  say  unto  the  children  of  Israel, 
The  Lord  God  of  your  fathers,  the  God  of 
Abraham,  the  God  of  Isaac,  and  the  God  of 
Jacob,  hath  sent  me  unto  you :  this  is  x  my 
name  for  ever,  and  this  is  my  memorial  unto 
all  generations. 

16  Go,  and  y  gather  the  elders  of  Israel 
together,  and  say  unto  them,  The  Lord  God 

w  Chap.  vi.  3  ;  John  viii.  58  ;  2  Cor.  i.  20  ;  Heb.  xiii.  8  ;  Rev. 
i.  4. - 2  Psa.  cxxxv.  13 ;  Hos.  xii.  5. - y  Ch.  iv.  29. - z  Gen. 

have  no  distinct  notion  of  the  Divine  Being.  Moses 
himself  might  have  been  in  doubt  at  first  on  this  sub¬ 
ject,  and  he  seems  to  have  been  greatly  on  his  guard 
against  illusion  ;  hence  he  asks  a  variety  of  questions, 
and  endeavours,  by  all  prudent  means,  to  assure  him¬ 
self  of  the  truth  and  certainty  of  the  present  appear¬ 
ance  and  commission.  He  well  knew  the  power  of 
the  Egyptian  magicians,  and  he  could  not  tell  from 
these  first  views  whether  there  might  not  have  been 
som«  delusion  in  this  case.  God  therefore  gives  him 
the  fullest  proof,  not  only  for  the  satisfaction  of  the 
people,  to  whom  he  was  to  be  sent,  but  for  his  own 
full  conviction,  that  it  was  the  supreme  God  who  now 
spoke  to  him. 

VerseH.  I  am  that  I  am]  DTRs*  T^X  ITTIH  Eheyeh 
asher  Eheyeh.  These  words  have  been  variously 
understood.  The  Vulgate  translates  Ego  sum  qui  sum, 
I  am  who  am.  The  Septuagint,  E yo  el/u  6  £2v,  I  am 
he  to  ho  exists.  The  Syriac ,  the  Persic ,  and  the  Chal¬ 
dee  preserve  the  original  words  without  any  gloss. 
The  Arabic  paraphrases  them,  The  Eternal,  who  passes 
not  away ;  which  is  the  same  interpretation  given  by 
Abul  Farajius ,  who  also  preserves  the  original  words, 
and  gives  the  above  as  their  interpretation.  The  Tar- 
gum  of  Jonathan ,  and  the  Jerusalem  Targum  para¬ 
phrase  the  words  thus  :  “  He  who  spake,  and  the  world 
was ;  who  spake,  and  all  things  existed.”  As  the  ori¬ 
ginal  words  literally  signify,  I  will  he  ichat  I  will  he , 
some  have  supposed  that  God  simply  designed  to  in¬ 
form  Moses,  that  what  he  had  been  to  his  fathers 
Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob,  he  ivould  he  to  him  and 
the  Israelites  ;  and  that  he  would  perform  the  promises 
he  had  made  to  his  fathers,  by  giving  their  descend¬ 
ants  the  promised  land.  It  is  difficult  to  put  a  mean¬ 
ing  on  the  words  ;  they  seem  intended  to  point  out  the 
eternity  and  self-existence  of  God.  Plato,  in  his  Par¬ 
menides,  where  he  treats  sublimely  of  the  nature  of 
God,  says,  Ovd’  apa  ovopa  egtiv  avrcp,  nothing  can  ex¬ 
press  his  nature ;  therefore  no  name  can  he  attributed 
to  him.  See  the  conclusion  of  this  chapter,  and  on 
the  word  Jehovah ,  chap,  xxxiv.  6,  7. 

Verse  15.  This  is  my  name  for  ever ]  The  name 

304 


of  your  fathers,  the  God  of  Abra-  A.  M.  2M3. 

ham,  of  Isaac,  and  of  Jacob,  ap-  - - 

peared  unto  me,  saying,  z  I  have  surely  visited 
you,  and  seen  that  which  is  done  to  you  in 
Egypt : 

17  And  I  have  said,  aI  will  bring  you  up 
out  of  the  affliction  of  Egypt  unto  the  land 
of  the  Canaanites,  and  the  Hittites,  and  the 
Amorites,  and  the  Perizzites,  and  the  Hivites, 
and  the  Jebusites,  unto  a  land  flowing  with 
milk  and  honey. 

1 8  And  b  they  shall  hearken  to  thy  voice  :  and 
c  thou  shalt  come,  thou  and  the  elders  of  Israel, 
unto  the  king  of  Egypt,  and  ye  shall  say  unto 
him,  The  Lord  God  of  the  Hebrews  hath  d  met 

1.  24  ;  ch.  ii.  25  ;  iv.  31  ;  Luke  i.  68. - a  Gen.  xv.  14, 16  ;  ver  8. 

b  Ch.  iv.  31. - 0  Ch.  v.  1,  3. - d  Num.  xxiii.  3,  4,  15,  16. 

here  referred  to  is  that  which  immediately  precedes, 
lThSk  mrr  Yehovah  Elohim ,  which  we  translate  the 
Lord  God,  the  name  by  which  God  had  been  known 
from  the  creation  of  the  world,  (see  Gen.  ii.  4,)  and 
the  name  by  which  he  is  known  among  the  same 
people  to  the  present  day.  Even  the  heathens  knew 
this  name  of  the  true  God  ;  and  hence  out  of  our  mn1 
Yehovah  they  formed  their  Jao,  Jeve ,  and  Jove;  so 
that  the  word  has  been  literally  fulfilled,  This  is  my 
memorial  unto  all  generations.  See  the  note  on  the 
word  Elohim,  Gen.  i.  1.  As  to  be  self-existent  and 
eternal  must  be  attributes  of  God  for  ever,  does  it  not 
follow  that  the  dS^1?  leolam,  for  ever,  in  the  text  sig¬ 
nifies  eternity  ?  “  This  is  my  name  to  eternity — and 

my  memorial,”  “H  Tib  ledor  dor,  “  to  all  succeeding 
generations.”  While  human  generations  continue  he 
shall  be  called  the  God  of  Abraham,  the  God  of  Isaac, 
and  the  God  of  Jacob;  but  when  time  shall  be  no 
more,  he  shall  be  Jehovah  Elohim.  Hence  the  first 
expression  refers  to  his  eternal  existence,  the  latter  to 
the  discovery  he  should  make  of  himself  as  long  as 
time  should  last.  See  Gen.  xxi.  33.  Diodorus  Sicu¬ 
lus  says,  that  “  among  the  Jews,  Moses  is  reported 
to  have  received  his  laws  from  the  God  named  Jao,” 
law,  i.  e.,  Jeue,  Jove,  or  Jeve ;  for  in  all  these  ways 
the  word  mn'  Yehovah  may  be  pronounced ;  and  in 
this  way  I  have  seen  it  on  Egyptian  monuments.  See 
Diod.,  lib.  1.,  c.  xciv. 

Verse  16.  Elders  of  Israel ]  Though  it  is  not  likely 
the  Hebrews  were  permitted  to  have  any  regular  go¬ 
vernment  at  this  time,  yet  there  can  be  no  doubt  of 
their  having  such  a  government  in  the  time  of  Joseph, 
and  for  some  considerable  time  after ;  the  elders  of 
each  tribe  forming  a  kind  of  court  of  magistrates,  by 
which  all  actions  were  tried,  and  legal  decisions  made, 
in  the  Israelitish  community. 

I  have  surely  visited  you\  An  exact  fulfilment  of 
the  prediction  of  Joseph,  Gen.  1.  24,  God  will  surely 
visit  you,  and  in  the  same  words  too. 

Verse  18.  They  shall  hearken  to  thy  voice ]  This 
assurance  was  necessary  to  encourage  him  in  an  en-« 
terprise  so  dangerous  and  important. 

a 


CHAP.  III. 


Obstinacy  of  Pharaoh  foretold . 


The  people  not  to  go  out  empty . 


A.  M.  2513.  with  us  :  and  now  let  us  go,  we 

^ 1 _ 1  beseech  thee,  three  days’  journey 

into  the  wilderness,  that  we  may  sacrifice  to 
the  Lord  our  God. 

19  And  I  am  sure  that  the  king  of  Egypt 
e  will  not  let  you  go,  f  no,  not  by  a  mighty  hand. 

20  And  I  will  8  stretch  out  my  hand,  and 
smite  Egypt  with  h  all  my  wonders  which  I 
will  do  in  the  midst  thereof :  and *  1  after  that 
he  will  let  you  go. 

e  Chap.  v.  2  ;  vii.  4. - f  Or,  but  by  strong  hand. - S  Ch.  vi. 

6 ;  vii.  5 ;  ix.  15. - h  Chap.  vii.  3  ;  xi.  9 ;  Deut.  vi.  22  ;  Neh. 

*x.  10;  Psa.  cv.  27 ;  cxxxv.  9  ;  Jer.  xxxii.  20  ;  Acts  vii.  36;  see 

Three  days'  journey  into  the  wilderness}  Evidently 
intending  Mount  Sinai,  which  is  reputed  to  be  about 
three  days’  journey,  the  shortest  way,  from  the  land 
of  Goshen.  In  ancient  times,  distances  were  com¬ 
puted  by  the  time  required  to  pass  over  them.  Thus, 
instead  of  miles,  furlongs,  &c.,  it  was  said,  the  dis¬ 
tance  from  one  place  to  another  was  so  many  days', 
so  many  hours'  journey ;  and  it  continues  the  same 
in  all  countries  where  there  are  no  regular  roads  or 
highways. 

Verse  19.  I  am  sure  that  the  king  of  Egypt  will 
not  let  you  go,  no,  not  by  a  mighty  hand]  When  the 
facts  detailed  in  this  history  have  been  considered  in 
connection  with  the  assertion  as  it  stands  in  our  Bibles, 
the  most  palpable  contradiction  has  appeared.  That 
the  king  of  Egypt  did  let  them  go,  and  that  by  a 
mighty  hand,  the  book  itself  amply  declares.  We 
should  therefore  seek  for  another  meaning  of  the  ori¬ 
ginal  word.  velo,  which  generally  means  and  not, 
has  sometimes  the  meaning  of  if  not ,  unless ,  except, 
&c.  ;  and  in  Becke's  Bible,  1549,  it  is  thus  translated  : 

I  am  sure  that  the  kyng  of  Egypt  wyl  not  let  you  go, 
except  wyth  a  myghty  hand.  This  import  of  the 
negative  particle,  which  is  noticed  by  Noldius,  Heb. 
Part.,  p.  328,  was  perfectly  understood  by  the  Vul¬ 
gate,  where  it  is  translated  nisi,  unless  ;  and  the  Sep- 
tuagint  in  their  eav  yrj,  which  is  of  the  same  import ; 
and  so  also  the  Coptic.  The  meaning  therefore  is 
very  plain  :  The  king  of  Egypt,  who  now  profits  much 
by  your  servitude,  will  not  let  you  go  till  he  sees  my 
hand  stretched  out,  and  he  and  his  nation  be  smitten 
with  ten  plagues.  Hence  God  immediately  adds,  ver. 
20  :  I  will  stretch  out  my  hand,  and  smite  Egypt 
with  all  my  wonders — and  after  that,  he  will  let 
you  go. 

Verse  22.  Every  woman  shall  borrow\  This  is 
certainly  not  a  very  correct  translation  :  the  original 
word  shaal  signifies  simply  to  ask,  request,  de¬ 

mand,  require,  inquire,  &c.  ;  but  it  does  not  signify  to 
borrow  in  the  proper  sense  of  that  word,  though  in  a 
very  few  places  of  Scripture  it  is  thus  used.  In  this 
and  the  parallel  place,  chap.  xii.  35,  the  word  signifies 
to  ask  or  demand,  and  not  to  borrow,  which  is  a  gross 
mistake  into  which  scarcely  any  of  the  versions,  an¬ 
cient  or  modern,  have  fallen,  except  our  own.  The 
•Septuagint  has  airyoei,  she  shall  ask  ;  the  Vulgate, 
postulabit,  she  shall  demand ;  the  Syriac,  Chaldee, 
Samaritan,  Samaritan  Version,  Coptic,  and  Persian, 

Vol.  I.  (  21  ) 


2 1  And  k  I  will  give  tins  people  A.  M.  2513. 

r  •  .i  •  i  .  ?  1  T'  •  B.  C.  1491. 

lavour  in  the  sight  01  the  Egyptians  :  _ 

and  it  shall  come  to  pass,  that,  when  ye  go, 
ye  shall  not  go  empty. 

22  1  But  every  woman  shall  borrow  of  her 
neighbour,  and  of  her  that  sojourneth  in  her 
house,  jewels  of  silver,  and  jewels  of  gold, 
and  raiment :  and  ye  shall  put  them  upon 
your  sons,  and  upon  your  daughters  ;  and  m  ye 
shall  spoil  n  the  Egyptians. 

chap.  vii.  to  xiii. - '  Chap.  xii.  31. - k  Chap.  xi.  3  ;  xii.  36; 

Psa.  cvi.  46  ;  Prov.  xvi.  7. - 1  Gen.  xv.  14  ;  ch.  xi.  2  ;  xii.  35,  36. 

m  Job  xxvii.  17 ;  Prov.  xiii.  22 ;  Ezek.  xxxix.  10. - n  Or,  Egypt. 

are  the  same  as  the  Hebrew.  The  European  ver¬ 
sions  are  generally  correct  on  this  point ;  and  our 
common  English  version  is  almost  the  sole  transgress¬ 
or  :  I  say,  the  common  version,  which,  copying  the 
Bible  published  by  Becke  in  1549,  gives  us  the  ex¬ 
ceptionable  term  borrow,  for  the  original  shaal , 

which  in  the  Geneva  Bible,  and  Barker's  Bible  of 
1015,  and  some  others,  is  rightly  translated  aske. 
God  commanded  the  Israelites  to  ask  or  demand  a 
certain  recompense  for  their  past  services,  and  he  in¬ 
clined  the  hearts  of  the  Egyptians  to  give  liberally ; 
and  this,  far  from  being  a  matter  of  oppression,  wrong , 
or  even  charity,  was  no  more  than  a  very  partial 
recompense  for  the  long  and  painful  services  which  we 
may  say  six  hundred  thousand  Israelites  had  rendered 
to  Egypt,  during  a  considerable  number  of  years.  And 
there  can  be  no  doubt  that  while  their  heaviest  op¬ 
pression  lasted,  they  were  permitted  to  accumulate 
no  kind  of  property,  as  all  their  gains  went  to  their 
oppressors. 

Our  exceptionable  translation  of  the  original  has 
given  some  countenance  to  the  desperate  cause  of  in¬ 
fidelity  ;  its  abettors  have  exultingly  said  :  “  Moses  re¬ 
presents  the  just  God  as  ordering  the  Israelites  to  bor¬ 
row  the  goods  of  the  Egyptians  under  the  pretence  of 
returning  them,  whereas  he  intended  that  they  should 
march  off  with  the  booty.”  Let  these  men  know  that 
there  was  no  borrowing  in  the  case  ;  and  that  if  ac¬ 
counts  were  fairly  balanced,  Egypt  would  be  found 
still  in  considerable  arrears  to  Israel.  Let  it  also  be 
considered  that  the  Egyptians  had  never  any  right  to 
the  services  of  the  Hebrews.  Egypt  owed  its  policy, 
its  opulence,  and  even  its  political  existence,  to  the 
Israelites.  What  had  Joseph  for  his  important  ser¬ 
vices  l  Nothing  !  He  had  neither  district,  nor  city, 
nor  lordship  in  Egypt ;  nor  did  he  reserve  any  to  his 
children.  All  his  services  were  gratuitous;  and  being 
animated  with  a  better  hope  than  any  earthly  posses¬ 
sion  could  inspire,  he  desired  that  even  his  bones  should 
be  carried  up  out  of  Egypt.  Jacob  and  his  family,  it 
is  true,  were  permitted  to  sojourn  in  Goshen,  but  they 
were  not  provided  for  in  that  place  ;  for  they  brought 
their  cattle,  their  goods,  and  all  that  they  had  into 
Egypt ,  Gen.  xlvi.  1,6;  so  that  they  had  nothing  but 
the  bare  land  to  feed  on ;  and  had  built  treasure  cities 
or  fortresses,  we  know  not  how  many  ;  and  two  whole 
cities,  Pithom  and  Raamses,  besides ;  and  for  all  these 
services  they  had  no  compensation  whatever ,  but  were 

305 


Observations  on  the 


EXODUS. 


preceding  chapter. 


besides  cruelly  abused,  and  obliged  to  witness,  as  the 
sum  of  their  calamities,  the  daily  murder  of  their  male 
infants.  These  particulars  considered,  will  infidelity 
ever  dare  to  produce  this  case  again  in  support  of  its 
worthless  pretensions  1 

Jewels  of  silver,  cf-c.]  The  word  ’Sd  keley  we  have 
already  seen  signifies  vessels ,  instruments ,  weapons , 
&c.,  and  may  be  very  well  translated  by  our  English 
term,  articles  or  goods.  The  Israelites  got  both  gold 
and  silver,  probably  both  in  coin  and  in  plate  of  dif¬ 
ferent  kinds ;  and  such  raiment  as  was  necessary  for 
the  journey  which  they  were  about  to  undertake. 

Ye  shall  spoil  the  Egyptians .]  The  verb  natsal 
signifies,  not  only  to  spoil,  snatch  away ,  but  also  to  get 
away ,  to  escape ,  to  deliver ,  to  regain ,  or  recover.  Spoil 
signifies  what  is  taken  by  rapine  or  violence ;  but  this 
cannot  be  the  meaning  of  the  original  word  here,  as 
the  Israelites  only  asked ,  and  the  Egyptians  without 
fear ,  terror ,  or  constraint,  freely  gave.  It  is  worthy 
of  remark  that  the  original  word  is  used,  1  Sam.  xxx. 
22,  to  signify  the  recovery  of  property  that  had.  been 
taken  away  by  violence :  “  Then  answered  all  the  wicked 
men,  and  men  of  Belial,  of  those  that  went  with  Da¬ 
vid,  Because  they  went  not  with  us  we  will  not  give 
them  aught  of  the  spoil  (SbtPnD  mehashsHALAi.)  that 
we  have  recovered,  uSxn  ntsw  asher  hitstsalnu.  In 
this  sense  we  should  understand  the  word  here.  The 
Israelites  recovered  a  part  of  their  property — their 
wages,  of  which  they  had  been  most  unjustly  deprived 
by  the  Egyptians. 

In  this  chapter  wre  have  much  curious  and  important 
information ;  but  what  is  most  interesting  is  the  name 
by  which  God  was  pleased  to  make  himself  known  to 
Moses  and  to  the  Israelites,  a  name  by  which  the  Su¬ 
preme  Being  was  afterwards  known  among  the  wisest 
inhabitants  of  the  earth.  He  who  IS  and  who  WILL 
BE  what  he  IS.  This  is  a  proper  characteristic  of 
the  Divine  Being,  who  is,  properly  speaking,  the  only 
Being,  because  he  is  independent  and  eternal ;  whereas 
all  other  beings,  in  whatsoever  forms  they  may  appear, 
are  derived,  finite,  changeable,  and  liable  to  destruc¬ 
tion,  decay,  and  even  to  annihilation.  When  God, 
therefore,  announced  himself  to  Moses  by  this  name, 
he  proclaimed  his  own  eternity  and  immateriality ;  and 
the  very  name  itself  precludes  the  possibility  of  idol¬ 
atry,  because  it  was  impossible  for  the  mind,  in  con¬ 
sidering  it,  to  represent  the  Divine  Being  in  any 
assignable  shape  ;  for  who  could  represent  Being  or 
Existence  by  any  limited  form  ?  And  who  can  have 
any  idea  of  a  form  that  is  unlimited  ?  Thus,  then,  we 
find  that  the  first  discovery  which  God  made  of  him¬ 
self  was  intended  to  show  the  people  the  simplicity 
and  spirituality  of  his  nature  ;  that  while  they  con¬ 
sidered  him  as  Being,  and  the  Cause  of  all  Being,  they 
might  be  preserved  from  all  idolatry  for  ever.  The 
a  306 


very  name  itself  is  a  proof  of  a  Divine  revelation  ;  for 
it  is  not  possible  that  such  an  idea  could  have  ever 
entered  into  the  mind  of  man,  unless  it  had  been  com¬ 
municated  from  above.  It  could  not  have  been  pro¬ 
duced  by  reasoning,  for  there  were  no  premises  on 
which  it  could  be  built,  nor  any  analogies  by  w'hich  it 
could  have  been  formed.  We  can  as  easily  compre¬ 
hend  eternity  as  we  can  being ,  simply  considered  in  and 
of  itself,  when  nothing  of  assignable  forms,  colours,  or 
qualities  existed,  besides  its  infinite  and  illimitable  self. 

To  this  Divine  discovery  the  ancient  Greeks  owed 
the  inscription  which  they  placed  above  the  door  of 
the  temple  of  Apollo  at  Delphi:  the  whole  of  the 
inscription  consisted  in  the  simple  monosyllable  El, 
THOU  ART,  the  second  person  of  the  Greek  sub¬ 
stantive  verb  et/u,  I  am.  On  this  inscription  Plutarch, 
one  of  the  most  intelligent  of  all  the  Gentile  philoso¬ 
phers,  made  an  express  treatise,  tt epi  rov  El  ev  A e7apoigy 
having  received  the  true  interpretation  in  his  travels  in 
Egypt,  whither  he  had  gone  for  the  express  purpose 
of  inquiring  into  their  ancient  learning,  and  where  he 
had  doubtless  seen  these  words  of  God  to  Moses  in 
the  Greek  version  of  the  Septuagint,  which  had  been 
current  among  the  Egyptians  ( for  whose  sake  it  was 
first  made)  about  four  hundred  years  previously  to  the 
death  of  Plutarch.  This  philosopher  observes  that 
“  this  title  is  not  only  proper,  but  peculiar  to  God,  be¬ 
cause  He  alone  is  being ;  for  mortals  have  no  partici¬ 
pation  of  true  being,  because  that  which  begins  and 
ends ,  and  is  continually  changing,  is  never  one  nor  the 
same,  nor  in  the  same  state.  The  deity  on  whose 
temple  this  word  was  inscribed  was  called  Apollo ,  Ako?l- 
/l ov,  from  a,  negative,  and  ttoTivc,  many,  because  God 
is  one,  his  nature  simple,  his  essence  uncompounded. ” 
Hence  he  informs  us  the  ancient  mode  of  addressing 
God  was,  “  El  'EN,  Thou  art  One ,  ov  yap  ttoTJo  to 
deiov  eotlv,  for  many  cannot  be  attributed  to  the  Divine 
nature  :  aai  ov  wpoTcpov  ovdtv  eariv,  ovd’  varepov,  ovbs 
ye?Aov,  ovSe  Trap(pxVp£Vov,  ovdc  tt peofivTepov,  ovde  veo- 
repov,  in  which  there  is  neither  first  nor  last,  future 
nor  past,  old  nor  young ;  aXK  elc  uv  evl  to  vvv  to  aei 
TTE'ir'kripuK.E,  but  as  being  one,  fills  up  in  one  NOW  an 
eternal  duration.”  And  he  concludes  with  observing 
that  “  this  word  corresponds  to  certain  others  on  the 
same  temple,  viz.,  rN£20T  2EAYT0N,  Know  thy¬ 
self;  as  if,  under  the  name  El,  Thou  Art,  the  Deity 
designed  to  excite  men  to  venerate  Him  as  eternally 
existing,  ovra  SiairavToc,  and  to  put  them  in  mind 
of  the  frailty  and  mortality  of  their  own  nature.” 

What  beautiful  things  have  the  ancient  Greek  phi¬ 
losophers  stolen  from  the  testimonies  of  God  to  enrich 
their  own  works,  without  any  kind  of  acknowledgment! 
And,  strange  perversity  of  man  !  these  are  the  very 
things  which  we  so  highly  applaud  in  the  heathen  co¬ 
pies,  while  we  neglect  or  pass  them  by  in  the  Divine 
originals  ! 


(  21*  ) 


The  rod  changed  into  a  serpent. 


GIIAP.  IV.  The  hand  of  Moses  becomes  leprous . 
CHAPTER  IV. 


Moses  continuing  to  express  his  fear  that  the  Israelites  would  not  credit  his  Divine  mission ,  1,  God,  to 
strengthen  his  faith,  and  to  assure  him  that  his  countrymen  would  believe  him,  changed  his  rod  into  a  ser¬ 
pent,  and  the  serpent  into  a  rod,  2-5;  made  his  hand  leprous,  and  afterwards  restored  it,  6,  7  ;  intimating 
that  he  had  now  endued  him  ivith  power  to  work  such  miracles ,  and  that  the  Israelites  would  believe,  8 ; 
and  farther  assures  him  that  he  should  have  power  to  turn  the  water  into  blood,  9.  Moses  excuses  himself 
on  the  ground  of  his  not  being  eloquent ,  10,  and  God  reproves  him  for  his  unbelief,  and  promises  to  give 
him  supernatural  assistance,  11,  12.  Moses  expressing  his  utter  unwillingness  to  go  on  any  account,  God 
is  angry,  and  then  promises  to  give  him  his  brother  Aaron  to  be  his  spokesman ,  13—16,  and  appoints  his 
rod  to  be  the  instrument  of  working  miracles,  17.  Moses  returns  to  his  relative  Jethro,  and  requests 
liberty  to  visit  his  brethren  in  Egypt,  and  is  permittted,  18.  God  appears  to  him  in  Midian,  and  assures 
him  that  the  Egyptians  who  sought  his  life  were  dead,  19.  Moses,  with  his  ivife  and  children,  set  out  on 
their  journey  to  Egypt,  20.  God  instructs  him  what  he  shall  say  to  Pharaoh,  21—23.  He  is  in  danger 
of  losing  his  life,  because  he  had  not  circumcised  his  son,  24.  Zipporah  immediately  circumcising  the 
child,  Moses  escapes  unhurt,  25,  26.  Aaron  is  commanded  to  go  and  meet  his  brother  Moses;  he  goes 
and  meets  him  at  Horeb,  27.  Moses  informs  him  of  the  commission  he  had  received  from  God,  28.  They 
both  go  to  their  brethren,  deliver  their  message,  and  work  miracles,  29,  30.  The  people  believe  and  adore 
God ,  31. 


A.  M.  2oi3.  A  ND  Moses  answered  and  said, 

B.  C.  1491.  JPL  -p,  .  .  . .  .  . 

-  nut,  behold,  they  will  not  be¬ 
lieve  me,  nor  hearken  unto  my  voice :  for 
they  will  say,  The  Lord  hath  not  appeared 
unto  thee. 

2  And  the  Lord  said  unto  him,  What  is 
that  in  thine  hand  ?  And  he  said,  a  A  rod. 

3  And  he  said,  Cast  it  on  the  ground.  And 
he  cast  it  on  the  ground,  and  it  became  a 
serpent ;  and  Moses  fled  from  before  it. 

4  And  the  Lord  said  unto  Moses,  Put  forth 
thine  hand,  and  take  it  by  the  tail.  And  he 


put  forth  his  hand,  and  caught  A.  M.  2513. 

it,  and  it  became  a  rod  in  his  — - — 1 -1 

hand : 

5  That  they  may  b  believe  that  c  the  Lord 
God  of  their  fathers,  the  God  of  Abraham,  the 
God  of  Isaac,  and  the  God  of  Jacob,  hath 
appeared  unto  thee. 

6  And  the  Lord  said  furthermore  unto  him. 

* 

Put  now  thine  hand  into  thy  bosom.  And 
he  put  his  hand  into  his  bosom  :  and  when 
he  took  it  out,  behold,  his  hand  was  leprous 
d  as  snow. 


a  Ver.  17,  20. - b  Chap.  xix.  9. - c  Chap.  iii.  15. 


d  Nura.  xii.  10 ;  2  Kings  v.  27. 


NOTES  ON  CHAP.  IY. 

Verse  1.  They  will  not  believe  me]  As  if  he  had 
said,  Unless  I  be  enabled  to  work  miracles,  and  give 
them  proofs  by  extraordinary  works  as  well  as  by  words, 
they  will  not  believe  that  thou  hast  sent  me. 

Verse  2.  A  rod.]  matteh,  a  staff,  probably  his 

shepherd’s  crook;  see  Lev.  xxvii.  32.  As  it  was 
made  the  instrument  of  working  many  miracles,  it  was 
afterwards  called  the  rod  of  God;  see  ver.  20. 

Verse  3.  A  serpent]  Of  what  sort  we  know  not, 
as  the  word  nachash  is  a  general  name  for  serpents, 
and  also  means  several  other  things,  see  Gen.  iii.  1  : 
but  it  was  either  of  a  kind  that  he  had  not  seen  before, 
or  one  that  he  knew  to  be  dangerous ;  for  it  is  said, 
he  fled  from  before  it  Some  suppose  the  staff  was 
changed  into  a  crocodile;  see  on  chap.  vii.  7. 

Verse  4.  He  put  forth  his  hand,  and  caught  it] 
Considering  the  light  in  which  Moses  had  viewed  this 
serpent,  it  required  considerable  faith  to  induce  him 
thus  implicitly  to  obey  the  command  of  God ;  but  he 
obeyed,  and  the  noxious  serpent  became  instantly  the 
miraculous  rod  in  his  hand !  Implicit  faith  and  obe¬ 
dience  conquer  all  difficulties ;  and  he  who  believes  in 
God,  and  obeys  him  in  all  things,  has  really  nothing  to 
fear. 

Aerse  5.  That  they  may  believe]  This  is  an  ex- 

a 


ample  of  wrhat  is  called  an  imperfect  or  unfinished 
speech,  several  of  which  occur  in  the  sacred  writings. 
It  may  be  thus  supplied  :  Do  this  before  them ,  that  they 
may  believe  that  the  Lord — hath  appeared  unto  thee. 

Verse  6.  His  hand  was  leprous  as  snow.]  That  is, 
the  leprosy  spread  itself  over  the  whole  body  in  thin 
white  scales;  and  from  this  appearance  it  has  its  Greek 
name  herrpa,  from  lemp,  a  scale.  Dr.  Mead  says,  “  I 
have  seen  a  remarkable  case  of  this  in  a  countryman, 
whose  whole  body  was  so  miserably  seized  with  it,  that 
his  skin  was  shining  as  if  covered  with  snoio ;  and  as 
the  furfuraceous  scales  were  daily  rubbed  off,  the  flesh 
appeared  quick  or  raw  underneath.”  The  leprosy,  at 
least  among  the  Jews,  was  a  most  inveterate  and  con¬ 
tagious  disorder,  and  deemed  by  them  incurable.  Among 
the  heathens  it  was  considered  as  inflicted  by  their  gods, 
and  it  was  supposed  that  they  alone  could  remove  it. 
It  is  certain  that  a  similar  belief  prevailed  among  the 
Israelites  ;  hence,  when  the  king  of  Syria  sent  his 
general,  Naaman,  to  the  king  of  Israel  to  cure  him  of 
his  leprosy,  he  rent  his  clothes,  saying,  Am  I  God,  to 
kill  and  to  make  alive,  that  this  man  doth  send  unto  me 
to  recover  a  man  of  his  leprosy  ?  2  Kings  v.  7.  This 
appears,  therefore,  to  be  the  reason  why  God  chose  this 
sign,  as  the  instantaneous  infliction  and  removal  of  this 
disease  were  demonstrations  which  all  would  allow  of 

307 


Moses  pleads  his  unfitness 


EXODUS, 


for  the  Divine  mission . 


A.  M.  2513.  7  And  he  said,  Pat  thine  hand 

— — - - 1  into  thy  bosom  again.  And  he  put 

his  hand  into  his  bosom  again  ;  and  plucked 
it  out  of  his  bosom,  and,  behold,  e  it  was  turn¬ 
ed  again  as  his  other  flesh. 

8  And  it  shall  come  to  pass,  if  they  will 
not  believe  thee,  neither  hearken  to  the  voice 
of  the  first  sign,  that  they  will  believe  the 
voice  of  the  latter  sign. 

9  And  it  shall  come  to  pass,  if  they  will  not 
believe  also  these  two  signs,  neither  hearken 
unto  thy  voice,  that  thou  shalt  take  of  the 
water  of  the  river,  and  pour  it  upon  the  dry 
land  :  and  f  the  water  which  thou  takest  out 


of  the  river  s  shall  become  blood  A.  M.  2513. 

,  .  7  7  B.  C.  1491. 

upon  the  dry  land.  ■ - 

10  And  Moses  said  unto  the  Lord,  0  my 
Lord,  I  am  not  h  eloquent,  neither *  1 * i.  heretofore 
nor  since  thou  hast  spoken  unto  thy  servant ; 
but  k  I  am  slow  of  speech,  and  of  a  slow  tongue. 

1 1  And  the  Lord  said  unto  him,  1  Who  hath 
made  man  s  mouth  ?  or  who  maketh  the  dumb, 
or  deaf,  or  the  seeing,  or  the  blind  ?  have  not 
I  the  Lord  ? 

12  Now  therefore  go,  and  I  will  be  mwith 
thy  mouth,  and  teach  thee  what  thou  shalt  say. 

1 3  And  he  said,  O  my  Lord,  n  send,  I  pray 
thee,  by  the  hand  of  him  whom  thou  0  wilt  send. 


0  Deut.  xxxii.  39  ;  Num.  xii.  13, 14 ;  2  Kings  v.  14  ;  Matt.  viii.  3. 

1  Chap.  vii.  19. - s  Heb.  shall  be  and  shall  be. - h  Heb.  a  man 

of  words. - *  Heb.  smce  yesterday,  nor  since  the  third  day. 


k  Chap.  vi.  12  ;  Jer.  i.  6. - 1  Psa.  xciv.  9. - m  Isa.  1. 4  ;  Jer 

i.  9  ;  Matt.  x.  19  ;  Mark  xiii.  11 ;  Luke  xii.  11,  12 ;  xxi.  14,  15 
n  See  Jonah  i.  3. - 0  Or,  shouldest. 


the  sovereign  power  of  God.  We  need,  therefore, 
seek  for  no  other  reasons  for  this  miracle  :  the  sole 
reason  is  sufficiently  obvious. 

Verse  8.  If  they  will  not  believe — the  voice  of  the 
first  sign ,  df-c.]  Probably  intimating  that  some  would 
be  more  difficult  to  be  persuaded  than  others  :  some 
would  yield  to  the  evidence  of  the  first  miracle ;  others 
would  hesitate  till  they  had  seen  the  second;  and  others 
would  not  believe  till  they  had  seen  the  water  of  the 
Nile  turned  into  blood,  when  poured  upon  the  dryland; 
ver.  9. 

Verse  10.  I  am  not  eloquent ]  D'HDT  lo  ish 

debarim ,  I  am  not  a  man  of  words ;  a  periphrasis  com¬ 
mon  in  the  .Scriptures.  So  Job  xi.  2,  DTSSJf  iVN  ish 
sephathayim,  a  man  of  lips ,  signifies  one  that  is  talkative. 
Psa.  cxl.  12,  pi^b  ish  lashon,  a  man  of  tongue ,  sig¬ 
nifies  a  prattler.  But  how  could  it  be  said  that  Moses 
was  not  eloquent,  -when  St.  Stephen  asserts,  Acts  vii. 
22,  that  he  was  mighty  in  words  as  well  as  in  deeds  ? 
There  are  three  ways  of  solving  this  difficulty  :  1. 
Moses  might  have  had  some  natural  infirmity,  of  a  late 
standing,  which  at  that  time  rendered  it  impossible  for 
him  to  speak  readily,  and  which  he  afterwards  over¬ 
came  ;  so  that  though  he  was  not  then  a  man  of  words , 
yet  he  might  afterwards  have  been  mighty  in  ivords  as 
well  as  deeds.  2.  It  is  possible  he  was  not  intimately 
acquainted  with  the  Hebrew  tongue,  so  as  to  speak 
clearly  and  distinctly  in  it.  The  first  forty  years  of 
his  life  he  had  spent  in  Egypt,  chiefly  at  court ;  and 
though  it  is  very  probable  there  was  an  affinity  between 
the  two  languages,  yet  they  certainly  were  not  the 
same.  The  last  forty  he  had  spent  in  Midian,  and  it 
is  not  likely  that  the  pure  Hebrew  tongue  prevailed 
there,  though  it  is  probable  that  a  dialect  of  it  was 
there  spoken.  On  these  accounts  Moses  might  find 
it  difficult  to  express  himself  with  that  readiness  and 
persuasive  flow  of  language,  which  he  might  deem  es¬ 
sentially  necessary  on  such  a  momentous  occasion  ;  as 
he  would  frequently  be  obliged  to  consult  his  memory 
for  proper  expressions,  which  would  necessarily  pro¬ 
duce  frequent  hesitation,  and  general  slowness  of  utter¬ 
ance,  which  he  might  think  would  ill  suit  an  ambassa- 

308 


dor  of  God.  3.  Though  Moses  was  slow  of  speech, 
yet  when  acting  as  the  messenger  of  God  his  word 
was  with  power ,  for  at  his  command  the  plagues  came 
and  the  plagues  were  stayed ;  thus  was  he  mighty  in 
words  as  well  as  in  deeds  :  and  this  is  probably  the 
meaning  of  St.  Stephen. 

By  the  expression,  neither  heretofore ,  nor  since  thou 
hast  spoken  unto  thy  servant ,  he  might  possibly  mean, 
that  the  natural  inaptitude  to  speak  readily,  which  he 
had  felt,  he  continued  to  feel,  even  since  God  had  be¬ 
gun  to  discover  himself;  for  though  he  had  wrought 
several  miracles  for  him,  yet  he  had  not  healed  this  in¬ 
firmity.  See  on  chap.  vi.  12. 

Verse  11.  Who  hath  made  maids  mouth  ?  <fyci\  Can¬ 
not  he  who  formed  the  mouth,  the  whole  organs  of 
speech,  and  hath  given  the  gift  of  speech  also,  cannot 
he  give  utterance  1  God  can  take  away  those  gifts 
and  restore  them  again.  Do  not  provoke  him  :  he  who 
created  the  eye ,  the  ear,  and  the  mouth ,  hath  also  made 
the  blind,  the  deaf  and  the  dumb. 

Verse  12.  I  will  be  with  thy  mouth ]  The  Chaldee 
translates,  My  WORD,  meimeri ,  shall  be  with  thy 
mouth.  And  Jonathan  ben  Uzziel  paraphrases,  I  and 
my  WORD  will  be  with  the  speech  of  thy  mouth.  See 
on  Gen.  xv.  1,  and  Lev.  xxv.  10. 

Verse  13.  Send — by  the  hand  of  him  whom  thou 
wilt  send.\  Many  commentators,  both  ancient  and  mo¬ 
dern,  have  thought  that  Moses  prays  here  for  the  im¬ 
mediate  mission  of  the  Messiah ;  as  if  he  had  said  : 
“Lord,  thou  hast  purposed  to  send  this  glorious  person 
at  some  time  or  other,  I  beseech  thee  send  him  noiv , 
for  who  can  be  sufficient  to  deliver  and  rule  this  people 
but  himself  alone  1”  The  Hebrew  nbtSTl  T3  *0  nbl? 
shelach  na  beyad  tishlach  literally  translated  is,  Send 
now  (or,  I  beseech  thee )  by  the  hand  thou  wilt  send ; 
which  seems  to  intimate,  Send  a  person  more  fit  for 
the  work  than  I  am.  So  the  Septuagint :  Upoxeipioat. 
Svvapevov  aXkov ,  ov  aTcocrreleLg •  Elect  another  powerful 
person ,  whom  thou  wilt  send.  It  is  right  to  find  out 
the  Messiah  wherever  he  is  mentioned  in  the  Old  Tes¬ 
tament;  but  to  press  scriptures  into  this  service  which 
have  not  an  obvious  tendency  that  way,  is  both  impro- 

a 


God,  greatly  displeased ,  appoints  CIIAP.  IV.  Aaron  to  accompany  Moses. 


A.  M.  2513.  14  And  the  anger  of  the  Lord 

— * — 1 - 1  was  kindled  against  Moses,  and  he 

said,  Is  not  Aaron  the  Levite  thy  brother  ?  I 
know  that  he  can  speak  well.  And  also,  be¬ 
hold,  p  he  cometh  forth  to  meet  thee  ;  and 
when  he  seeth  thee,  he  will  be  glad  in  his 
heart. 

1 5  And  q  thou  shalt  speak  unto  him,  and 
T  put  words  in  his  mouth  :  and  I  will  be  with 

p  Ver.  27 ;  1  Sam.  x.  2,  3,  5. - i  Chapter  vii.  1,  2. - rNum. 

xxii.  38;  xxiii.  5,  12,  16;  Deut.  xviii.  18;  Isa.  li.  16;  Jer. 


per  and  dangerous.  I  am  firmly  of  opinion  that  Moses 
had  no  reference  to  the  Messiah  when  he  spoke  these 
words. 

Yerse  14.  And  the  anger  of  the  Lord  was  kindled 
against  Moses]  Surely  this  would  not  have  been  the 
case  had  he  only  in  modesty ,  and  from  a  deep  sense 
of  his  own  unfitness,  desired  that  the  Messiah  should 
be  preferred  before  him.  But  the  whole  connection 
shows  that  this  interpretation  is  unfounded. 

Is  not  Aaron  the  Levite  thy  brother  ?]  Iloubigant 
endeavours  to  prove  from  this  that  Moses,  in  ver.  13, 
did  pray  for  the  immediate  mission  of  the  Messiah, 
and  that  God  gives  him  here  a  reason  why  this  could 
not  be,  because  the  Levitical  priesthood  was  to  precede 
the  priesthood  of  our  Lord.  Is  not  Aaron  the  Levite , 
&c.  Must  not  the  ministry  of  Aaron  be  first  esta¬ 
blished,  before  the  other  can  take  place  1  Why  then 
ask  for  that  which  is  contrary  to  the  Divine  counsel  1 
From  the  opinion  of  so  great  a  critic  as  Houbigant  no 
man  would  wrish  to  dissent,  except  through  necessity  : 
however,  I  must  say  that  it  does  appear  to  me  that  his 
view  of  these  verses  is  fanciful,  and  the  arguments  by 
which  he  supports  it  are  insufficient  to  establish  his 
point. 

I  know  that  he  can  speak  well.]  N1H  ‘IDT'  DDT  'D  TJ?V 
yadati  ki  dabber  yedabber  hu,  I  knoiv  that  in  speaking 
he  toill  speak.  That  is,  he  is  apt  to  talk ,  and  has  a 
ready  utterance. 

He  cometh  forth  to  meet  thee]  He  shall  meet  thee 
at  my  mount,  (ver.  27,)  shall  rejoice  in  thy  mission, 
and  most  heartily  co-operate  with  thee  in  all  things. 
A  necessary  assurance,  to  prevent  Moses  from  sus¬ 
pecting  that  Aaron,  who  was  his  elder  brother,  would 
envy  his  superior  call  and  office. 

Verse  15.  I  will  be  with  thy  mouth ,  and  with  his 
mouth]  Ye  shall  be  both,  in  all  things  which  I  ap¬ 
point  you  to  do  in  this  business,  under  the  continual 
inspiration  of  the  Most  High. 

Verse  16.  He  shall  be  thy  spokesman]  Literally, 
He  shall  speak  for  thee  (or  in  thy  stead)  to  the  people. 

He  shall  be  to  thee  instead  of  a  mouth]  He  shall 
convey  every  message  to  the  people ;  and  thou  shalt 
be  to  him  instead  of  God — thou  shalt  deliver  to  him 
what  I  communicate  to  thee. 

Verse  17.  Thou  shalt  take  this  rod]  From  the 
story  of  Moses’s  rod  the  heathens  have  invented  the 
fables  of  the  thyrsus  of  Bacchus,  and  the  caduceus 
of  Mercury.  Cicero  reckons  five  Bacchuses,  one  of 
which,  according  to  Orpheus,  was  born  of  the  river 

a 


thy  mouth,  and  with  his  mouth,  a.  M.  2513. 
and  swill  teach  you  what  ye  B’  C‘ 149L 
shall  do. 

16  And  he  shall  be  thy  spokesman  unto 
the  people  :  and  he  shall  be,  even  he  shall  be 
to  thee  instead  of  a  mouth,  and  *  thou  shalt 
be  to  him  instead  of  God. 

17  And  thou  shalt  take  u  this  rod  in  thine 
hand,  wherewith  thou  shalt  do  signs. 

O 

i-  9- - s  Deuteronomy  v.  31 . - t  Chap.  vii.  1 ;  xviii.  19. 

u  Ver.  2. 


Nile ;  but,  according  to  the  common  opinion,  he  was 
born  on  the  banks  of  that  river.  Bacchus  is  expressly 
said  to  have  been  exposed  on  the  river  Nile ,  hence  he 
is  called  Nilus,  both  by  Diodorus  and  Macrobius ; 
and  in  the  hymns  of  Orpheus  he  is  named  Myses , 
because  he  was  drawn  out  of  the  water.  He  is  repre¬ 
sented  by  the  poets  as  being  very  beautiful ,  and  an 
illustrious  warrior ;  they  report  him  to  have  overrun 
all  Arabia  with  a  numerous  army  both  of  men  and  wo¬ 
men.  He  is  said  also  to  have  been  an  eminent  law¬ 
giver,  and  to  have  written  his  laws  on  two  tables.  He 
always  carried  in  his  hand  the  thyrsus,  a  rod  wreathed 
with  serpents,  and  by  which  he  is  reported  to  have 
wrought  many  miracles.  Any  person  acquainted  with 
the  birth  and  exploits  of  the  poetic  Bacchus  will  at 
once  perceive  them  to  be  all  borrowed  from  the  life 
and  acts  of  Moses,  as  recorded  in  the  Pentateuch  ;  and 
it  would  be  losing  time  to  show  the  parallel,  by  quot¬ 
ing  passages  from  the  book  of  Exodus. 

The  caduceus  or  rod  of  Mercury  is  well  known  in 
poetic  fables.  It  is  another  copy  of  the  rod  of  Moses. 
He  also  is  reported  to  have  wrought  a  multitude  of 
miracles  by  this  rod ;  and  particularly  he  is  said  to 
kill  and  make  alive,  to  send  souls  to  <the  invisible  world 
and  bring  them  back  from  thence.  Homer  represents 
Mercury  taking  his  rod  to  work  miracles  precisely  in 
the  same  way  as  God  commands  Moses  to  take  his. 

'E pprjq  6e  ipvxaq  Ku/l krjviog  eZefcakeiTo 
A vdpov  yvTjaTTjpaw  6e  'PAB AON  pera  xePa’lt> 

K akijv,  xPvxeirjv,  tij  t*  avdpuv  oppara  Oskyei, 

'fiv  edekei,  rove;  <J’  avre  sat  vk vuovraq  eyeipei . 

Odyss.,  lib.  xxiv.,  ver.  1. 

Cyllenian  Hermes  now  call’d  forth  the  souls 
Of  all  the  suitors  ;  with  his  golden  wand 
Of  power,  to  seal  in  balmy  sleep  ivhose  eyes 
Soe'er  he  will ,  and  open  them  again.  Cowper. 

Virgil  copies  Homer,  but  carries  the  parallel  far¬ 
ther,  tradition  having  probably  furnished  him  with 
more  particulars ;  but  in  both  we  may  see  a  disguised 
copy  of  the  sacred  history,  from  which  indeed  the 
Greek  and  Roman  poets  borrowed  most  of  their 
beauties. 

Turn  virgam  capit  :  hac  animas  ille  evoc.at  Oreo 
Pallentes,  alias  sub  tristia  Tartara  mittit ; 

Dat  somnos,  adimitque,  et  lumina  morte  resignat. 
Illa  fretus  agit  ventos,  et  turbida  tranat. 

iEneid.,  lib.  iv.,  ver.  242. 
309 


EXODUS. 


Moses  returns  to  Midian ,  and 


brings  his  family  to  Egypt 


a.  M.  2513.  18  And  Moses  went  and  returned 

149]1  to  v  Jethro  his  father-in-law,  and 
said  unto  him,  Let  me  go,  I  pray  thee,  and 
return  unto  my  brethren  which  are  in  Egypt, 
and  see  whether  they  be  yet  alive.  And  Jethro 
said  to  Moses,  Go  in  peace. 

1 9  And  the  Lord  said  unto  Moses  in  Midian, 
Go,  return  into  Egypt :  for  w  all  the  men  are 
dead  which  sought  thy  life. 


20  And  Moses  took  his  wife  and  A.  M.  2513. 

B.  C.  1491. 

his  sons,  and  set  them  upon  an  ass,  - - 

and  he  returned  to  the  land  of  Egypt :  and 
Moses  took  x  the  rod  of  God  in  his  hand. 

21  And  the  Lord  said  unto  Moses,  When 
thou  goest  to  return  into  Egypt,  see  that  thou 
do  all  those  y  wonders  before  Pharaoh  wdiich 
I  have  put  in  thine  hand :  but  z  I  will  harden 
his  heart,  that  he  shall  not  let  the  people  go. 


r  Heb.  Jether. - w  Chap.  ii.  15,  23  ;  Matt.  ii.  20. - x  Chapter 

xvii.  9  ;  Num.  xx.  8,  9. - y  Chap.  iii.  20. 


2  Chap.  vii.  3,  13  ;  ix.  12,  35 ;  x.  1 ;  xiv.  8  ;  Deut.  ii.  30  ; 
xi.  20  ;  Isa.  lxiii.  17 ;  John  xii.  40  ;  Rom.  ix.  18. 


J  *sh. 


But  first  he  grasps  within  his  awful  hand 

The  mark  of  sovereign  power ,  the  magic  wand  ; 

With  this  he  draws  the  ghosts  from  hollow  graves, 

With  this  he  drives  them  doivn  the  Stygian  waves ; 

With  this  he  seals  in  sleep  the  wakeful  sight, 

And  eyes,  though  closed  in  death,  restores  to  light. 

Thus  arm’d,  the  god  begins  his  airy  race, 

And  drives  the  racking  clouds  along  the  liquid  space. 

Dryden. 

Many  other  resemblances  between  the  rod  of  the 
poets  and  that  of  Moses,  the  learned  reader  will 
readily  recollect.  These  specimens  may  be  deemed 
sufficient. 

Yerse  18.  Let  me  go,  I  pray  thee,  and  return  unto 
my  brethren ]  Moses,  having  received  his  commission 
from  God,  and  directions  how  to  execute  it,  returned 
to  his  father-in-law,  and  asked  permission  to  visit  his 
family  and  brethren  in  Egypt,  without  giving  him  any 
intimation  of  the  great  errand  on  which  he  wTas  going. 
His  keeping  this  secret  has  been  attributed  to  his  sin¬ 
gular  modesty :  but  however  true  it  might  be  that 
Moses  was  a  truly  humble  and  modest  man,  yet  his 
prudence  alone  was  sufficient  to  have  induced  him  to 
observe  silence  oil  this  subject;  for,  if  once  imparted 
to  the  family  of  his  father-in-law,  the  news  might  have 
reached  Egypt  before  he  could  get  thither,  and  a  ge¬ 
neral  alarm  among  the  Egyptians  would  in  all  proba¬ 
bility  have  been  the  consequence  ;  as  fame  would  not 
fail  to  represent  Moses  as  coming  to  stir  up  sedition 
and  rebellion,  and  the  whole  nation  would  have  been 
armed  against  them.  It  was  therefore  essentially  ne¬ 
cessary  that  the  business  should  be  kept  secret. 

In  the  Septuagint  and  Coptic  the  following  addition 
is  made  to  this  verse  :  M era  tie  rag  ypepag  rag  noT^'Xag 
eke  wag  ETelevTrjcEV  6  fiaatlevg  AtyvTrrov'  After  these 
many  days,  the  king  of  Egypt  died.  This  was  pro¬ 
bably  an  ancient  gloss  or  side  note,  which  in  process 
of  time  crept  into  the  text,  as  it  appeared  to  throw 
light  on  the  following  verse. 

Yerse  19.  In  Midian ]  This  was  a  new  revelation, 
and  appears  to  have  taken  place  after  Moses  returned 
to  his  father-in-law  previous  to  his  departure  for 
Egypt. 

Verse  20.  His  wife  and  his  sons]  Both  Gershom 
and  Eliezer,  though  the  birth  of  the  latter  has  not  yet 
been  mentioned  in  the  Hebrew  text.  See  the  note  on 
chap.  ii.  22. 

Set  them  upon  an  aw]  The  Septuagint  reads  the 
word  in  the  plural,  etu  ra  vKo^vyia,  upon  asses ,  as  it 

310 


certainly  required  more  than  one  to  carry  Zipporah, 
Gershom,  and  Eliezer. 

The  rod  of  God]  The  sign  of  sovereign  power,  by 
which  he  was  to  perform  all  his  miracles ;  once  the 
badge  of  his  shepherd's  office,  and  now  that  by  which 
he  is  to  feed,  rule,  and  protect  his  people  Israel. 

Yerse  21.  But  I  will  harden  his  heart]  The  case 
of  Pharaoh  has  given  rise  to  many  fierce  controver¬ 
sies,  and  to  several  strange  and  conflicting  opinions. 
Would  men  but  look  at  the  whole  account  without  the 
medium  of  their  respective  creeds,  they  would  find 
little  difficulty  to  apprehend  the  truth.  If  we  take  up 
the  subject  in  a  theological  point  of  view,  all  sober 
Christians  will  allow  the  truth  of  this  proposition  of 
St.  Augustine,  when  the  subject  in  question  is  a  person 
who  has  hardened  his  own  heart  by  frequently  resist¬ 
ing  the  grace  and  Spirit  of  God :  Non  ohdurat  Deus 
impertiendo  malitiam,  sed  non  impertiendo  misert- 
cordiam ;  Epist.  194,  ad  Sixtum,  “  God  does  not 
harden  men  by  infusing  malice  into  them,  but  by  not 
imparting  mercy  to  them.”  And  this  other  will  be  as 
readily  credited  :  Non  operatur  Deus  in  homine  ipsam 
duritiam  cordis ;  sed  indurare  eum  dicitur  quern  mol- 
lire  noluerit,  sic  etiam  excczcare  quern  illuminare  nolue- 
rit,  et  repellere  eum  quern  noluerit  vocare.  “  God 
does  not  work  this  hardness  of  heart  in  man ;  but  he 
may  be  said  to  harden  him  whom  he  refuses  to  soften, 
to  blind  him  whom  he  refuses  to  enlighten,  and  to 
repel  him  whom  he  refuses  to  call.”  It  is  but  just 
and  right  that  he  should  withhold  those  graces  which 
he  had  repeatedly  offered,  and  which  the  sinner  had 
despised  and  rejected.  Thus  much  for  the  general 
principle.  The  verb  pin  chazak ,  which  we  translate 
harden,  literally  signifies  to  strengthen,  confirm,  make 
hold  or  courageous ;  and  is  often  used  in  the  sacred 
writings  to  excite  to  duty,  perseverance,  &c.,  and  is 
placed  by  the  Jews  at  the  end  of  most  books  in  the 
Bible  as  an  exhortation  to  the  reader  to  take  courage , 
and  proceed  with  his  reading  and  with  the  obedience 
it  requires.  It  constitutes  an  essential  part  of  the 
exhortation  of  God  to  Joshua,  chap.  i.  7  :  Only  be 
thou  strong,  pin  pi  rak  chazak.  And  of  Joshua’s 
dying  exhortation  to  the  people,  chap,  xxiii.  6  :  Be  ye 
therefore  very  courageous,  DHpini  vachazaktem ,  to 
keep  and  to  do  all  that  is  ivritten  in  the  book  of  the 
law.  Now  it  would  be  very  strange  in  these  places 
to  translate  the  word  harden :  Only  be  thou  hard ,  Be 
ye  therefore  very  hard ;  and  yet  if  we  use  the  word 
hardy ,  it  would  suit  the  sense  and  context  perfectly 

a 


CHAP.  IV. 


The  Lord  meets  him  by  the  way. 

A.  M.  2513.  22  And  thou  shalt  say  unto  Pha- 

B.  C.  1491.  raQj1^  rpjius  saith  the  Lord,  a  Israel 

is  my  son,  b  even  my  first-born  : 

23  And  I  say  unto  thee,  Let  my  son  go, 
that  he  may  serve  me  :  and  if  thou  refuse  to 
let  him  go,  behold,  c  I  will  slay  thy  son,  even 
thy  first-born. 

aHos.  xi.  1  ;  Rom.  ix.  4;  2  Cor.  vi.  18. - b  Jer.  xxxi.  9; 

James  i.  18. - c  Chap.  xi.  5  ;  xii.  29. 

well :  Only  be  thou  hardy  ;  Be  ye  therefore  very 
hardy.  Now  suppose  we  apply  the  word  in  this  way 
to  Pharaoh,  the  sense  would  be  good,  and  the  justice 
of  God  equally  conspicuous.  I  will  make  his  heart 
hardy,  bold,  daring,  presumptuous  ;  for  the  same  prin¬ 
ciple  acting*  against  God’s  order  is  presumption ,  which 
when  acting  according  to  it  is  undaunted  courage. 
It  is  true  that  the  verb  kashah  is  used,  chap.  vii. 
3,  which  signifies  to  render  stiff,  tough,  or  stubborn, 
but  it  amounts  to  nearly  the  same  meaning  with  the 
above. 

All  those  who  have  read  the  Scriptures  with  care 
and  attention,  know  well  that  God  is  frequently  repre¬ 
sented  in  them  as  doing  what  he  only  permits  to  be 
done.  So  because  a  man  has  grieved  his  Spirit  and 
resisted  his  grace  he  withdraws  that  Spirit  and  grace 
from  him,  and  thus  he  becomes  bold  and  presumptuous 
in  sin.  Pharaoh  made  his  own  heart  stubborn  against 
God,  chap.  ix.  34;  and  God  gave  him  up  to  judicial 
blindness,  so  that  he  rushed  on  stubbornly  to  his  own 
destruction.  From  the  whole  of  Pharaoh’s  conduct 
we  learn  that  he  was  bold,  haughty,  and  cruel ;  and 
God  chose  to  permit  these  dispositions  to  have  their 
full  sway  in  his  heart  without  check  or  restraint  from 
Divine  influence  :  the  consequence  was  what  God  in¬ 
tended,  he  did  not  immediately  comply  with  the  requi¬ 
sition  to  let  the  people  go  ;  and  this  \vas  done  that 
God  might  have  the  fuller  opportunity  of  manifesting 
his  power  by  multiplying  signs  and  miracles,  and  thus 
impress  the  hearts  both  of  the  Egyptians  and  Israelites 
with  a  due  sense  of  his  omnipotence  and  justice.  The 
whole  procedure  was  graciously  calculated  to  do  end¬ 
less  good  to  both  nations.  The  Israelites  must  be 
satisfied  that  they  had  the  true  God  for  their  protector  ; 
and  thus  their  faith  was  strengthened.  The  Egyp¬ 
tians  must  see  that  their  gods  could  do  nothing  against 
the  God  of  Israel ;  and  thus  their  dependence  on  them 
was  necessarily  shaken.  These  great  ends  could  not 
have  been  answered  had  Pharaoh  at  once  consented 
to  let  the  people  go.  This  consideration  alone  unra¬ 
vels  the  mystery,  and  explains  every  thing.  Let  it  be 
observed  that  there  is  nothing  spoken  here  of  the 
eternal  state  of  the  Egyptian  king  ;  nor  does  any  thing 
in  the  whom  of  the  subsequent  account  authorize  us 
to  believe  that  God  hardened  his  heart  against  the 
influences  of  his  own  grace ,  that  he  might  occasion 
him  so  to  sin  that  his  justice  might  consign  him  to 
hell.  This  would  be  such  an  act  of  flagrant  injustice 
as  we  could  scarcely  attribute  to  the  worst  of  men. 
He  who  leads  another  into  an  offence  that  he  may 
have  a  fairer  pretence  to  punish  him  for  it,  or  brings 
him  into  such  circumstances  that  he  cannot  avoid  com- 


Zipporah  circumcises  her  son. 

24  And  it  came  to  pass  by  the  A.  M.  2513 

way  in  the  inn,  that  the  Lord  d  met  - — 

him,  and  sought  to  0  kill  him. 

25  Then  Zipporah  took  fa  sharp  *  stone; 
and  cut  off  the  foreskin  of  her  son,  and  h  cast 
it,  at  his  feet,  and  said,  Surely  a  bloody  hus¬ 
band  art  thou  to  me. 

dNum.  xxii.  22. - e  Gen.  xvii.  14. - f  Josh.  v.  2,  3. - sOr, 

knife. - h  Heb.  made  it  touch. 

mitting  a  capital  crime,  and  then  hangs  him  for  it,  is 
surely  the  most  execrable  of  mortals.  What  then 
should  we  make  of  the  God  of  justice  and  mercy 
should  we  attribute  to  him  a  decree,  the  date  of  which 
is  lost  in  eternity,  by  which  he  has  determined  to  cut 
off  from  the  possibility  of  salvation  millions  of  millions 
of  unborn  souls,  and  leave  them  under  a  necessity  of 
sinning,  by  actually  hardening  their  hearts  against  the 
influences  of  his  own  grace  and  Spirit,  that  he  may, 
on  the  pretext  of  justice,  consign  them  to  endless  per¬ 
dition  1  Whatever  may  be  pretended  in  behalf  of 
such  unqualified  opinions,  it  must  be  evident  to  all 
who  are  not  deeply  prejudiced,  that  neither  the  justice 
nor  the  sovereignty  of  God  can  be  magnified  by  them. 
See  farther  on  chap.  ix.  16. 

Yerse  22.  Israel  is  my  son,  even  my  first-born\ 
That  is,  The  Plebrew  people  are  unutterably  dear  to  me. 

Yerse  23.  Let  my  son  go,  that  he  may  serve  me] 
Which  they  could  not  do  in  Goshen,  consistently  with 
the  policy  and  religious  worship  of  the  Egyptians; 
because  the  most  essential  part  of  an  Israelite’s  wor¬ 
ship  consisted  in  sacrifice,  and  the  animals  which  they 
offered  to  God  were  sacred  among  the  Egyptians. 
Moses  gives  Pharaoh  this  reason  chap.  viii.  26. 

I  will  slay  thy  son,  even  thy  first-born.]  Which,  on 
Pharaoh’s  utter  refusal  to  let  the  people  go,  was  ac¬ 
cordingly  done  ;  see  chap.  xii.  29. 

Yerse  24.  By  the  icay  in  the  inn]  See  the  note  on 
Gen.  xlii  27.  The  account  in  this  and  the  following 
verse  is  very  obscure.  Some  suppose  that  the  23d 
verse  is  not  a  part  of  the  message  to  Pharaoh,  but 
was  spoken  by  the  Lord  to  Moses  ;  and  that  the  whole 
may  be  thus  paraphrased  :  “  And  I  have  said  unto  thee , 
(Moses,)  Send  forth  (rh'M  shallach )  my  son,  (Gershom, 
by  circumcising  him,)  that  he  may  serve  me,  (which  he 
cannot  do  till  entered  into  the  covenant  by  circumci¬ 
sion,)  but  thou  hast  refused  to  send  him  forth  ;  behold , 
(therefore,)  I  will  slay  thy  son,  thy  first-born.  And 
it  came  to  pass  by  the  way  in  the  inn,  (when  he  was 
on  his  journey  to  Egypt,)  that  Jehovah  met  him,  and 
sought  (threatened)  to  kill  him  (Gershom.)  Then 
Zipporah  took  a  sharp  stone,  and  cut  away  the  fore¬ 
skin  of  her  son,  and  caused  it  to  touch  his  feet,  (Jeho¬ 
vah’s,  who  probably  appeared  in  a  bodily  shape ;  the 
Septuagint  call  him  the  Angel  of  the  Lord,)  and  said 
unto  him,  A  spouse  by  blood,  art  thou  unto  me -  Then 
he  (Jehovah)  ceased  from  him  (Gershom.)  Then  she 
said ,  A  spouse  by  blood  art  thou  unto  me,  because  of 
this  circumcision .”  That  is,  I  who  am  an  alien  have 
entered  as  fully  into  covenant  with  thee  by  doing  this 
act,  as  my  son  has  on  whom  this  act  has  been  performed. 

The  meaning  of  the  whole  passage  seems  to  be  this : — * 

311 


a 


Moses  and  Aaron  meet  at  Horeb. 


EXODUS. 


A.  M.  2513. 

B.  C.  1491. 


26  So  he  let  him  go:  then  she 
said,  A  bloody  husband  thou  art , 
because  of  the  circumcision. 

27  And  the  Lord  said  to  Aaron,  Go  into  the 
wilderness  1  to  meet  Moses.  And  he  went,  and 
met  him  in  k  the  mount  of  God,  and  kissed  him. 

28  And  Moses  1  told  Aaron  all  the  words 
of  the  Lord  who  had  sent  him,  and  all  the 
m  signs  which  he  had  commanded  him. 

29  And  Moses  and  Aaron  n  went  and  ga- 


*Ver.  14. - k  Chap.  iii.  1. - 1  Verses  15, 16. - m  Verses  8, 9. 

“Chap.  iii.  16. - 0  Ver.  16. - p  Chap.  iii.  18 ;  ver.  8,  9. 


They  make  known  their  mission. 

tliered  together  all  the  elders  of  A.  M.  2513. 
the  children  of  Israel :  -?'..0'.1.491.*. 

30  0  And  Aaron  spake  all  the  words  which 
the  Lord  had  spoken  unto  Moses,  and  did 
the  signs  in  the  sight  of  the  people. 

3 1  And  the  people  p  believed  :  and  when 
they  heard  that  the  Lord  had  q  visited  the 
children  of  Israel,  and  that  he  r  had  looked  upon 
their  affliction,  then  s  they  bowed  their  heads 
and  worshipped. 


i  Chapter  iii.  16. - r  Chap.  ii.  25 ;  iii.  7. - s  Gen.  xxiv.  26  ; 

chap.  xii.  27 ;  1  Chron.  xxix.  20. 


The  son  of  Moses,  Gershom  or  Eliezer ,  (for  it  does  not 
appear  which,)  had  not  been  circumcised,  though  it 
would  seem  that  God  had  ordered  the  father  to  do  it ; 
but  as  he  had  neglected  this,  therefore  Jehovah  was 
about  to  have  slain  the  child,  because  not  in  cove¬ 
nant  with  him  by  circumcision,  and  thus  he  intended 
to  have  punished  the  disobedience  of  the  father  by  the 
natural  death  of  his  son.  Zipporah,  getting  acquainted 
with  the  nature  of  the  case  and  the  danger  to  which 

o 

her  first-born  was  exposed,  took  a  sharp  stone  and 
cut  off  the  foreskin  of  her  son.  By  this  act  the  dis¬ 
pleasure  of  the  Lord  was  turned  aside,  and  Zipporah 
considered  herself  as  now  allied  to  God  because  of  this 
circumcision.  According  to  the  law,  (Gen.  xvii.  14,) 
the  uncircumcised  child  ivas  to  be  cut  off  from  his 
; people ,  so  that  there  should  be  no  inheritance  for  that 
branch  of  the  family  in  Israel.  Moses  therefore,  for 
neglecting  to  circumcise  the  child,  exposed  him  to  this 
cutting  off ,  and  it  was  but  barely  prevented  by  the 
prompt  obedience  of  Zipporah.  As  circumcision  was 
the  seal  of  that  justification  by  faith  which  comes 
through  Christ,  Moses  by  neglecting  it  gave  a  very 
bad  example,  and  God  was  about  to  proceed  against 
him  with  that  severity  which  the  law  required. 

The  sharp  stone  mentioned  ver.  25  was  probably  a 
knife  made  of  flint ,  for  such  were  anciently  used,  even 
where  knives  of  metal  might  be  had,  for  every  kind 
of  operation  about  the  human  body,  such  as  embowel- 
ling  for  the  purpose  of  embalming,  circumcision,  &c. 
Ancient  authors  are  full  of  proofs  of  these  facts.  See 
the  note  on  Gen.  1.  2. 

It  is  probable  that  Zipporah,  being  alarmed  by  this 
circumstance,  and  fearing  worse  evils,  took  the  reso¬ 
lution  to  return  to  her  father’s  house  with  her  two 
sons.  See  chap,  xviii.  1,  &c. 

Verse  27.  The  Lord  said  to  Aaron]  See  ver.  14. 
By  some  secret  but  powerful  movement  on  Aaron’s 
mind,  or  by  some  voice  or  angelic  ministry,  he  was 
now  directed  to  go  and  meet  his  brother  Moses ;  and 
so  correctly  was  the  information  given  to  both,  that 
they  arrived  at  the  same  time  on  the  sacred  mountain. 

Verse  30.  Aaron  spake  all  the  words ]  It  is  likely 
that  Aaron  was  better  acquainted  with  the  Hebrew 
tongue  than  his  brother,  and  on  this  account  he  be¬ 
came  the  spokesman.  See  on  ver.  8. 

Did  the  signs]  Turned  the  rod  into  a  serpent,  made 
the  hand  leprous ,  and  changed  the  water  into  blood. 
See  on  ver  8  and  9. 


Verse  31.  The  people  believed]  They  credited  the 
account  given  of  the  Divine  appointment  of  Moses 
and  Aaron  to  be  their  deliverers  out  of  their  bondage, 
the  miracles  wrought  on  the  occasion  confirming  the 
testimony  delivered  by  Aaron. 

They  bowed  their  heads  and  worshipped.]  See  a 
similar  act  mentioned,  and  in  the  same  words,  Gen. 
xxiv.  26.  The  bowing  the  head,  &c.,  here,  may  pro¬ 
bably  refer  to  the  eastern  custom  of  bowing  the  head 
down  to  the  knees,  then  kneeling  down  and  touching 
the  earth  with  the  forehead.  This  was  a  very  painful 
posture  and  the  most  humble  in  which  the  body  could 
possibly  be  placed.  Those  who  pretend  to  worship 
God,  either  by  prayer  or  thanksgiving,  and  keep  them¬ 
selves  during  the  performance  of  those  solemn  acts  in 
a  state  of  perfect  ease,  either  carelessly  standing  or 
stupidly  sitting ,  surely  cannot  have  a  due  sense  of  the 
majesty  of  God,  and  their  own  sinfulness  and  unwor¬ 
thiness.  Let  the  feelings  of  the  body  put  the  soul  in 
remembrance  of  its  sin  against  God.  Let  a  man  put 
himself  in  such  a  position  ( kneeling  for  instance)  as  it 
is  generally  acknowledged  a  criminal  should  assume, 
when  coming  to  his  sovereign  and  judge  to  bewail  his 
sins,  and  solicit  forgiveness. 

The  Jewish  custom,  as  we  learn  from  Rabbi  May- 
mon,  was  to  bend  the  body  so  that  every  joint  of  the 
backbone  became  incurvated,  and  the  head  was  bent 
towards  the  knees,  so  that  the  body  resembled  a  bow  ; 
and  prostration  implied  laying  the  body  flat  upon  the 
earth,  the  arms  and  legs  extended  to  the  uttermost, 
the  mouth  and  forehead  touching  the  ground.  In 
Matt.  viii.  2  the  leper  is  said  to  worship  our  Lord, 
TvpooEKwei  avrcp •  but  in  Luke  v.  12  he  is  said  to  have 
fallen  on  his  face,  tceuuv  etu  rpoaorov.  These  two 
accounts  show  that  he  first  kneeled  down,  probably 
putting  his  face  down  to  his  knees,  and  touching  the 
earth  with  his  forehead  ;  and  then  prostrated  himself, 
his  legs  and  arms  being  both  extended.  See  on 
Gen.  xvii.  3. 

The  backwardness  of  Moses  to  receive  and  execute 
the  commission  to  deliver  the  children  of  Israel,  has 
something  very  instructive  in  it.  He  felt  the  import¬ 
ance  of  the  charge,  his  own  insufficiency,  and  the 
awful  responsibility  under  which  he  should  be  laid  if 
he  received  it.  Who  then  can  blame  him  for  hesitat¬ 
ing  ?  If  he  miscarried  (and  how  difficult  in  such  a 
case  not  to  miscarry  !)  he  must  account  to  a  jealous 


312 


CHAP.  V. 


God's  message  to  Pharaoh 

God,  whose  justice  required  him  to  punish  every  de¬ 
linquency.  What  should  ministers  of  the  Gospel  feel 
on  such  subjects  1  Is  not  their  charge  more  important 
and  more  awful  than  that  of  Moses  1  How  few  con¬ 
sider  this  !  It  is  respectable ,  it  is  honourable ,  to  be  in 
the  Gospel  ministry,  but  who  is  sufficient  to  guide  and 
feed  the  flock  of  God  1  If  through  the  pastor’s  unfit¬ 
ness  or  neglect  any  soul  should  go  astray,  or  perish 
through  want  of  proper  spiritual  nourishment,  or 
through  not  getting  his  portion  in  due  season ,  in  what 
a  dreadful  state  is  the  pastor  !  That  soul,  says  God, 
shall  die  in  his  iniquities,  but  his  blood  will  I  require 


He  refuses  to  let  the  people  go. 

at  the  watchman’s  hands  !  Were  these  things  duly 
considered  by  those  who  are  candidates  for  the  Gos¬ 
pel  ministry,  who  could  be  found  to  undertake  it  1  We 
should  then  indeed  have  the  utmost  occasion  to  pray 
the  Lord  of  the  harvest ,  £n/3a?i?iecv,  to  thrust  out 
labourers  into  the  harvest ,  as  no  one,  duly  considering 
those  things  would  go,  unless  thrust  out  by  God  him¬ 
self.  0  ye  ministers  of  the  sanctuary  !  tremble  for 
your  own  souls,  and  the  souls  of  those  committed  to 
your  care,  and  go  not  into  this  work  unless  God  go 
with  you.  Without  his  presence,  unction,  and  appro¬ 
bation,  ye  can  do  nothing. 


CHAPTER  V. 


Moses  and  Aaron  open  their  commission  to  Pharaoh,  1.  He  insultingly  asks  who  Jehovah  is,  in  whose  name 
they  require  him  to  dismiss  the  people,  2.  They  explain,  3.  He  charges  them  ivith  making  the  people 
disaffected,  4,  5  ;  and  commands  the  task-masters  to  increase  their  work ,  and  lessen  their  means  of  perform¬ 
ing  it,  6—9.  The  task-masters  do  as  commanded,  and  refuse  to  give  the  people  straw  to  assist  them  m 
making  brick,  and  yet  require  the  fulfilment  of  their  daily  tasks  as  formerly,  when  furnished  with  all  the 
necessary  means,  10—13.  The  Israelites  failing  to  produce  the  ordinary  quantity  of  brick,  their  own 
officers,  set  over  them  by  the  task-masters,  are  cruelly  insulted  and  beaten,  14.  The  officers  complain  to 
Pharaoh,  15,  16  ;  but  find  no  redress,  17,  18.  The  officers,  finding  their  case  desperate,  bitterly  reproach 
Moses  and  Aaron  for  bringing  them  into  their  present  circumstances ,  19—21.  Moses  retires,  and  lays  the 
matter  before  the  Lord ,  and  pleads  with  him,  22,  23. 


A.  M.  2513.  A  ND  afterward  Moses  and  Aaron 

B.  C.  1491.  lx.  .  .  , ,  t™  i 

-  went  in,  and  told  rharaoh, 

Thus  saith  the  Lord  God  of  Israel,  Let  my 

people  go,  that  they  may  hold  a  a  feast  unto 

me  in  the  wilderness. 

2  And  Pharaoh  said,  b  Who  is  the  Lord, 
that  I  should  obey  his  voice  to  let  Israel  go  ? 


I  know  not  the  Lord,  c  neither  A.  M.  2513, 
will  I  let  Israel  go.  B.  C.  1491. 

3  And  they  said,  d  The  God  of  the  Hebrews 
hath  met  with  us  :  let  us  go,  we  pray  thee, 
three  days’  journey  into  the  desert,  and  sacri¬ 
fice  unto  the  Lord  our  God ;  lest  he  fall  upou 
us  with  pestilence,  or  with  the  sword. 


aChap.  x.  9. - b2  Kings  xviii.  35  ;  Job  xxi.  15. 

NOTES  ON  CHAP.  Y. 

Verse  1.  And  afterward  Moses  and  Aaron  went ] 
This  chapter  is  properly  a  continuation  of  the  preced¬ 
ing,  as  the  succeeding  is  a  continuation  of  this ;  and 
to  preserve  the  connection  of  the  facts  they  should  be 
read  together. 

How  simply,  and  yet  with  what  authority,  does  Moses 
deliver  his  message  to  the  Egyptian  king  !  Thus  saith 
JEHOVAH,  God  of  Israel,  Let  my  people  go.  It  is 
well  in  this,  as  in  almost  every  other  case  where  mrr 
Jehovah  occurs,  to  preserve  the  original  word  :  our 
using  the  word  Lord  is  not  sufficiently  expressive,  and 
often  leaves  the  sense  indistinct. 

Verse  2.  Who  is  the  Lord ]  Who  is  Jehovah,  that 
I  should  obey  his  voice  1  What  claims  has  he  on  me  ? 
I  am  under  no  obligation  to  him.  Pharaoh  spoke  here 
under  the  common  persuasion  that  every  place  and 
people  had  a  tutelary  deity,  and  he  supposed  that  this 
Jehovah  might  be  the  tutelary  deity  of  the  Israelites, 
to  whom  he,  as  an  Egyptian,  could  be  under  no  kind 
of  obligation.  It  is  not  judicious  to  bring  this  ques¬ 
tion  as  a  proof  that  Pharaoh  was  an  atheist :  of  this 
the  text  alTords  no  evidence. 

^  erse  3.  JThree  days’  journey]  The  distance  from 
Goshen  to  Sinai ;  see  chap.  iii.  18. 


c  Chap.  iii.  19. - d  Chap.  iii.  18. 

And  sacrifice  unto  the  Lord]  Great  stress  is  laid 
on  this  circumstance.  God  required  sacrifice  ;  no  re¬ 
ligious  acts  which  they  performed  could  be  acceptable 
to  him  without  this.  He  had  now  showed  them  that 
it  was  their  indispensable  duty  thus  to  worship  him, 
and  that  if  they  did  not  they  might  expect  him  to  send 
the  pestilence — some  plague  or  death  proceeding  im¬ 
mediately  from  himself,  or  the  sword — extermination 
by  the  hands  of  an  enemy.  The  original  word  “VH 
deber,  from  “IDT  dabar,  to  drive  off,  draw  under ,  <fc., 
which  we  translate  pestilence  from  the  Latin  pestis,  the 
plague,  signifies  any  kind  of  disease  by  which  an  ex¬ 
traordinary  mortality  is  occasioned,  and  which  appears 
from  the  circumstances  of  the  case  to  come  imme¬ 
diately  from  God.  The  Israelites  could  not  sacrifice 
in  the  land  of  Egypt,  because  the  animals  they  were 
to  offer  to  God  were  held  sacred  by  the  Egyptians  ; 
and  they  could  not  omit  this  duty,  because  it  was  essen¬ 
tial  to  religion  even  before  the  giving  of  the  law.  Thus 
we  find  that  Divine  justice  required  the  life  of  the  ani¬ 
mal  for  the  life  of  the  transgressor,  and  the  people  were 
conscious,  if  this  were  not  done,  that  God  would  con¬ 
sume  them  with  the  pestilence  or  the  sword.  From 
the  foundation  of  the  world  the  true  religion  required 
sacrifice.  Before,  under,  and  after  the  ^aw,  this  was 

313 


The  Israelites  are  ordered 


EXODUS. 


to  make  brick  without  straw. 


a.m. 2513.  4  And  the  king  oi  Egypt  said 

B.  C.  1491.  ,  ,,n°  , 

- — -  unto  them,  Where!  ore  do  ye, 

Moses  and  Aaron,  let  the  people  from  their 
works  ?  get  you  unto  your  e  burdens. 

5  And  Pharaoh  said,  Behold,  the  people  of 
the  land  now  are  f  many,  and  ye  make  them 
rest  from  their  burdens. 

6  And  Pharaoh  commanded  the  same  day 
the  e  task-masters  of  the  people,  and  their 
officers,  saying, 

7  Ye  shall  no  more  give  the  people  straw  to 
make  brick,  as  heretofore  :  let  them  go  and 
gather  straw  for  themselves. 

8  And  the  tale  of  the  bricks,  which  they  did 

e  Chap.  i.  11. - f  Chap.  i.  7,  9. - s  Chap.  i.  11. 

deemed  essential  to  salvation.  Under  the  Christian 
dispensation  Jesus  is  the  lamb  of  God  that  taketh 
away  the  sin  of  the  world  ;  and  being  still  the  Lamb 
newly  slain  before  the  throne,  no  man  cometh  unto  the 
Father  but  by  him. 

“  In  this  first  application  to  Pharaoh,  we  observe,” 
says  Dr.  Dodd,  “  that  proper  respectful  submission 
which  is  due  from  subjects  to  their  sovereign.  They 
represent  to  him  the  danger  they  should  be  in  by  dis¬ 
obeying  their  God,  but  do  not  so  much  as  hint  at  any 
punishment  that  would  follow  to  Pharaoh.” 

Verse  4.  Wherefore  do  ye,  Moses  and  Aaron]  He 
hints  that  the  Hebrews  are  in  a  state  of  revolt,  and 
charges  Moses  and  Aaron  as  being  ringleaders  of  the 
sedition.  This  unprincipled  charge  has  been,  in  nearly 
similar  circumstances,  often  repeated  since.  Men  who 
have  laboured  to  bring  the  mass  of  the  common  people 
from  ignorance,  irreligion,  and  general  profligacy  of 
manners,  to  an  acquaintance  with  themselves  and  God, 
and  to  a  proper  knowledge  of  their  duty  to  him  and  to 
each  other,  have  been  often  branded  as  being  disaffect¬ 
ed  to  the  state,  and  as  movers  of  sedition  among  the 
people!  See  on  ver.  17. 

Let  the  people ]  taphriu,  from  para,  to 

loose  or  disengage,  which  we  translate  to  let,  from  the 
Anglo-Saxon  lettan  lettan,  to  hinder .  Ye  hinder 
the  people  from  working.  Get  ye  to  your  burdens. 
11  Let  religion  alone,  and  mind  your  work.”  The 
language  not  only  of  tyranny,  but  of  the  basest 
irreligion  also. 

Verse  5.  The  people  of  the  land  now  are  many ] 
The  sanguinary  edict  had  no  doubt  been  long  before 
repealed,  or  they  could  not  have  multiplied  so  greatly. 

Verse  6.  The  task-masters  of  the  people  and  their 
officers ]  The  task-masters  were  Egyptians,  (see  on 
chap.  i.  11,)  the  officers  were  Hebrews ;  see  below, 
ver.  14.  But  it  is  probable  that  the  task-masters, 
chap.  i.  11,  who  are  called  D'DD  'Ytf  sarey  missim, 
princes  of  the  burdens  or  taxes ,  were  different  from 
those  termed  task-masters  here,  as  the  words  are  dif¬ 
ferent  ;  nogesim  signifies  exactors  or  oppressors 

—persons  who  exacted  from  them  an  unreasonable 
proportion  either  of  labour  or  money. 

Officers. — D’lDiy  shoterim ;  those  seem  to  have  been 

314 


make  heretofore,  ye  shall  lay  upon  A.  M.  2513. 

them ;  ye  shall  not  diminish  aught  — — - - - 

thereof :  for  they  be  idle  ;  therefore  they  cry, 
saying,  Let  us  go  and  sacrifice  to  our  God. 

9  h  Let  there  more  work  be  laid  upon  the 
men,  that  they  may  labour  therein  ;  and  let 
them  not  regard  vain  words. 

1 0  And  the  task-masters  of  the  people  went 
out,  and  their  officers,  and  they  spake  to  the 
people,  saying,  Thus  saith  Pharaoh,  I  will  not 
give  you  straw. 

1 1  Go  ye,  get  you  straw  where  ye  can  find 
it :  yet  not  aught  of  your  work  shall  be  dimi¬ 
nished. 

h  Heb.  Let  the  work  he  heavy  upon  the  men. 

an  inferior  sort  of  officers,  who  attended  on  supe¬ 
rior  officers  or  magistrates  to  execute  their  orders. 
They  are  supposed  to  have  been  something  like  our 
sheriffs. 

Verse  7.  Straw  to  make  brick]  There  have  been 
many  conjectures  concerning  the  use  of  straw  in  mak¬ 
ing  bricks.  Some  suppose  it  was  used  merely  for 
burning  them,  but  this  is  hh^ounded.  The  eastern 
bricks  are  often  made  of  clay  and  straw  kneaded  to¬ 
gether,  and  then  not  burned,  but  thoroughly  dried  in 
the  sun.  This  is  expressly  mentioned  by  Philo  in  his 
life  of  Moses,  who  says,  describing  the  oppression  of 
the  Israelites  in  Egypt,  that  some  were  obliged  to  work 
in  clay  for  the  formation  of  bricks,  and  others  to  gather 
straw  for  the  same  purpose,  because  straw  is  the  bond 
by  which  the  brick  is  held  together,  7r ?uv6ov  yap  axvpa 
Seayog. — Phil.  Oper.,  edit.  Mang.,  vol.  ii. ,  p.  86. 
And  Philo’s  account  is  confirmed  by  the  most  intelli¬ 
gent  travellers.  Dr.  Shaw  says  that  the  straw  in  the 
bricks  still  preserves  its  original  colour,  which  is  a 
proof  that  the  bricks  were  never  burned.  Some  of 
these  are  still  to  be  seen  in  the  cabinets  of  the  curious ; 
and  there  are  several  from  ancient  Babylon  now  before 
me,  where  the  straw  which  was  amalgamated  with  the 
clay  is  still  perfectly  visible.  From  this  we  may  see 
the  reason  of  the  complaint  made  to  Pharaoh,  ver.  16  : 
the  Egyptians  refused  to  give  the  necessary  portion 
of  straw  for  kneading  the  bricks,  and  yet  they  required 
that  the  full  tale  or  number  of  bricks  should  be  pro¬ 
duced  each  day  as  they  did  when  all  the  necessary 
materials  were  brought  to  hand ;  so  the  people  were 
obliged  to  go  over  all  the  cornfields,  and  pluck  up  the 
stubble,  which  they  were  obliged  to  substitute  for  straw. 
See  ver.  12. 

Verse  8.  And  the  tale  of  the  bricks ]  Tale  signi¬ 
fies  the  number,  from  the  Anglo-Saxon  teeiian,  to  num - 
her,  to  count,  &c. 

For  they  be  idle ;  therefore  they  cry — Let  us  go  and 
sacrifice ]  Thus  their  desire  to  worship  the  true  God 
in  a  proper  manner  was  attributed  to  their  unwilling¬ 
ness  to  work  ;  a  reflection  which  the  Egyptians  (in 
principle)  of  the  present  day  cast  on  those  who,  while 
they  are  fervent  in  spirit  serving  the  Lord,  are  not 
slothful  in  business.  See  below,  ver.  17. 


CIIAP.  V. 


The  Israelites  cruelly  oppressed. 


Moses  pleads  with  the  Lord. 


A.  M.  2513. 

B.  C.  1491. 


12  »So  the  people  were  scattered 
abroad  throughout  all  the  land  of 
Egypt,  to  gather  stubble  instead  of  straw. 

13  And  the  task-masters  hasted  them ,  say¬ 
ing,  Fulfil  your  works,  your  1  daily  tasks,  as 
when  there  was  straw. 

.14  And  the  officers  of  the  children  of  Israel, 
which  Pharaoh’s  task-masters  had  set  over 
them,  were  beaten,  and  demanded,  Wherefore 
have  ye  not  fulfilled  your  task,  in  making 
brick  both  yesterday  and  to-day,  as  heretofore  ? 

1 5  Then  the  officers  of  the  children  of  Israel 
came  and  cried  unto  Pharaoh,  saying,  Where¬ 
fore  dealest  thou  thus  with  thy  servants  ? 

1 6  There  is  no  straw  given  unto  thy  ser¬ 
vants,  and  they  say  to  us,  Make  brick  :  and, 
behold,  thy  servants  are  beaten ;  but  the  fault 
is  in  thine  own  people. 

17  But  he  said,  Ye  are  idle;  ye  are  idle  : 
therefore  ye  say,  Let  us  go  and  do  sacrifice 
to  the  Lord. 

1 S  Go  therefore  now,  and  work ;  for  there 


shall  no  straw  be  given  vou,  yet  a.  M.  2513. 

°  J  7  J  ft  CJ  14Q1 

shall  ye  deliver  the  tale  of  bricks.  — — - - 

1 9  And  the  officers  of  the  children  of  Israel 
did  see  that  they  were  in  evil  case ,  after  it 
was  said,  Are  shall  not  diminish  aught  from 
your  bricks  of  your  daily  task. 

20  And  they  met  Moses  and  Aaron,  who 

«/  ' 

stood  in  the  way,  as  they  came  forth  from 
Pharaoh : 

21  k  And  they  said  unto  them,  The  Lord 
look  upon  you,  and  judge  ;  because  ye  have 
made  our  savour  1  to  be  abhorred  in  the  eyes 
of  Pharaoh,  and  in  the  eyes  of  his  servants, 
to  put  a  sword  in  their  hand  to  slay  us. 

22  And  Moses  returned  unto  the  Lord,  and 
said,  Lord,  wherefore  hast  thou  so  evil  en¬ 
treated  this  people  ?  why  is  it  that  thou  hast 
sent  me  ? 

23  For  since  I  came  to  Pharaoh  to  speak 
in  thy  name,  he  hath  done  evil  to  this  peo¬ 
ple  ;  m  neither  hast  thou  delivered  thy  people 
at  all. 


*  Heb.  a  matter  of  a  ®ay  inhis  day. - k  Chap.  vi.  9. - 1  Heb. 

to  stink;  Gen.  xxxiv.  30  ;  1  Sam.  xiii.  4  ,  xxvii.  12  ;  2  Samuel 


x.  6 ;  1  Chron.  xix.  6. - m  Hebrew,  delivering  thou  hast  not 

delivered. 


Verse  14.  And  the  officers — were  beaten\  Probably 
bastinadoed;  for  this  is  the  common  punishment  in 
Egypt  to  the  present  day  for  minor  offences.  The 
manner  of  it  is  this  :  the  culprit  lies  on  his  belly,  his 
legs  being  turned  up  behind  erect,  and  the  executioner 
gives  him  so  many  blows  on  the  soles  of  the  feet  with 
a  stick.  This  is  a  very  severe  punishment,  the  suf¬ 
ferer  not  being  able  to  walk  for  many  weeks  after,  and 
some  are  lamed  by  it  through  the  whole  of  their  lives. 

Verse  16.  The  fault  is  in  thine  own  people.]  JlNtDn 
chatath,  the  sin,  is  in  thy  own  people.  1st.  Because 
they  require  impossibilities ;  and,  2dly,  because  they 
punish  us  for  not  doing  what  cannot  be  performed. 

Verse  17.  Ye  are  idle — therefore  ye  say ,  Let  us 
go  and  do  sacrifice ]  It  is  common  for  those  who  feel 
unconcerned  about  their  own  souls  to  attribute  the 
religious  earnestness  of  others,  who  feel  the  impor¬ 
tance  of  eternal  things,  to  idleness  or  a  disregard  of 
their  secular  concerns.  Strange  that  they  cannot  see 
there  is  a  medium !  He  who  has  commanded  them 
to  be  diligent  in  business ,  has  also  commanded  them  to 
be  fervent  in  spirit ,  serving  the  Lord.  He  whose 
diligence  in  business  is  not  connected  with  a  true  reli¬ 
gious  fervour  of  spirit,  is  a  lover  of  the  world  ;  and 
whatever  form  he  may  have  he  has  not  the  power  of 
godliness,  and  therefore  is  completely  out  of  the  road 
to  salvation. 

Verse  19.  Did  see  that  they  were  in  evil  case] 
They  saw  that  they  could  neither  expect  justice  nor 
mercy ;  that  their  deliverance  was  very  doubtful,  and 
their  case  almost  hopeless. 

Verse  21.  The  Lord  look  upon  you ,  and  judge ] 
These  were  hasty  and  unkind  expressions  ;  but  the 
afflicted  must  be  allowed  the  privilege  of  complaining  ; 

a 


it  is  all  the  solace  that  such  sorrow  can  find  ;  and  if 
in  such  distress  words  are  spoken  which  should  not 
be  justified,  yet  the  considerate  and  benevolent  w'ill 
hear  them  with  indulgence.  God  is  merciful ;  and 
the  stroke  of  this  people  was  heavier  even  than  their 
groaning. 

Put  a  sword  in  their  hand]  Given  them  a  pretence 
which  they  had  not  before,  to  oppress  us  even  unto 
death. 

Verse  22.  And  Moses  returned  unto  the  Lord ] 
This  may  imply,  either  that  there  was  a  particular 
place  into  which  Moses  ordinarily  went  to  commune 
with  Jehovah  ;  or  it  may  mean  that  kind  of  turning  of 
heart  and  affection  to  God,  which  every  pious  mind 
feels  itself  disposed  to  practise  in  any  time  or  place. 
The  old  adage  will  apply  here  :  “  A  praying  heart 
never  lacks  a  praying  placed 

Lord ,  wherefore  hast  thou  so  evil  entreated  this 
people  ?]  It  is  certain  that  in  this  address  Moses  uses 
great  plainness  of  speech.  Whether  the  offspring  of 
a  testy  impatience  and  undue  familiarity,  or  of  strong 
faith  which  gave  him  more  than  ordinary  access  to 
the  throne  of  his  gracious  Sovereign,  it  would  be  diffi¬ 
cult  to  say.  The  latter  appears  to  be  the  most  pro¬ 
bable,  as  we  do  not  find,  from  the  succeeding  chapter, 
that  God  was  displeased  writh  his  freedom  ;  we  may 
therefore  suppose  that  it  was  kept  within  due  bounds, 
and  that  the  principles  and  motives  were  all  pure  and 
good.  However,  it  should  be  noted,  that  such  free¬ 
dom  of  speech  with  the  Most  High  should  never  be 
used  but  on  very  special  occasions,  and  then  only  by 
his  extraordinary  messengers. 

Verse  23.  He  hath  done  evil  to  this  people]  Their 
misery  is  increased  instead  of  being  diminished. 

315 


The  Lord's  gracious  EXODUS.  promises  of  redemption* 


Neither  hast  thou  delivered  thy  people  at  all.]  The 
marginal  reading  is  both  literal  and  correct  :  And  deli¬ 
vering  thou  hast  not  delivered.  Thou  hast  begun  the 
work  by  giving  us  counsels  and  a  commission,  but  thou 
hast  not  brought  the  people  from  under  their  bondage. 
Thou  hast  signified  thy  pleasure  relative  to  their  de¬ 
liverance,  but  thou  hast  not  brought  them  out  of  the 
hands  of  their  enemies. 

1.  It  is  no  certain  proof  of  the  displeasure  of  God 
that  a  whole  people,  or  an  individual,  may  be  found 
in  a  state  of  great  oppression  and  distress  ;  nor  are 
affluence  and  prosperity  any  certain  signs  of  his  appro¬ 
bation.  God  certainly  loved  the  Israelites  better  than 
he  did  the  Egyptians ;  yet  the  former  were  in  the 
deepest  adversity,  while  the  latter  were  in  the  height 
of  prosperity.  Luther  once  observed,  that  if  secular 
prosperity  were  to  be  considered  as  a  criterion  of  the 
Divine  approbation,  then  the  grand  Turk  must  be 
the  highest  in  the  favour  of  God,  as  he  was  at  that 
time  the  most  prosperous  sovereign  on  the  earth. 
An  observation  of  this  kind,  on  a  case  so  obvious, 
was  realiy  well  calculated  to  repress  hasty  conclu¬ 
sions  drawn  from  these  external  states,  and  to 
lay  down  a  correct  rule  of  judgment  for  all .  such 
occasions. 

2.  In  all  our  addresses  to  God  we  should  ever 


remember  that  we  have  sinned,  against  him,  and 
deserve  nothing  but  punishment  from  his  hand.  We 
should  therefore  bow  before  him  with  the  deepest 
humiliation  of  soul,  and  take  that  caution  of  the  wise 
man,  “  Be  not  rash  with  thy  mouth,  and  let  not  thine 
heart  be  hasty  to  utter  any  thing  before  God  ;  for  God 
is  in  heaven,  and  thou  upon  earth  ;  therefore  let  thy 
words  be  few,”  Eccles.  v.  2.  There  is  the  more 
need  to  attend  to  this  caution,  because  many  ignorant 
though  well-meaning  people  use  very  improper,  not 
to  say  indecent,  freedoms  in  their  addresses  to  the 
throne  of  grace.  With  such  proceedings  God  cannot 
be  well  pleased  ;  and  he  who  has  not  a  proper  im¬ 
pression  of  the  dignity  and  excellence  of  the  Divine 
Nature,  is  not  in  such  a  disposition  as  it  is  essentially 
necessary  to  feel,  in  order  to  receive  help  from  God. 
He  who  knows  he  has  sinned,  and  feels  that  he  is  less 
than  the  least  of  all  God’s  mercies,  will  pray  with  the 
deepest  humility,  and  even  rejoice  before  God  with 
trembling.  A  solemn  awe  of  the  Divine  Majesty  is 
not  less  requisite  to  successful  praying,  than  faith  in 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  When  we  have  such  a  com¬ 
mission  as  that  of  Moses,  we  may  make  use  of  his 
freedom  of  speech  ;  but  till  then,  the  publican’s  prayer 
will  best  suit  the  generality  of  those  who  are  even 
dignified  by  the  name  of  Christian — Lord,  be  merci¬ 
ful  to  ME,  a  SINNER  ! 


CHAPTER  VI. 


God  encourages  Moses,  and  promises  to  show  wonders  upon  Pharaoh ,  and  to  bring  out  his  people  with  a  strong 
hand ,  I.  He  confirms  this  promise  by  his  essential  name  JEHOVAH,  2,  3  ;  by  the  covenant  he  had  made 
with  their  fathers,  4,  5.  Sends  Moses  with  a  fresh  message  to  the  Hebreios,  full  of  the  most  gracious 
promises,  and  confirms  the  whole  by  appealing  to  the  name  in  which  his  unchangeable  existence  is  implied , 
6—8.  Moses  delivers  the  message  to  the  Israelites,  but  through  anguish  of  spirit  they  do  not  believe,  9. 
He  receives  a  new  commission  to  go  to  Pharaoh,  10,  11.  He  excuses  himself  on  account  of  his  unreadi¬ 
ness  of  speech,  12.  The  Lord  gives  him  and  Aaron  a  charge  both  to  Pharaoh  and  to  the  children  of 
Israel,  13.  The  genealogy  of  Reuben,  14  ;  of  Simeon,  15  ;  of  Levi,  from  whom  descended  Gershon, 
Kohath,  and  Merari,  16.  The  sons  of  Gershon,  17  ;  of  Kohath,  18  ;  of  Merari,  19.  The  marriage  of 
Amram  and  Jochebed,  20.  The  sons  of  Izhar  and  Uzziel,  the  brothers  of  Amram,  21,  22.  Marriage 
of  Aaron  and  Elisheba,  and  the  birth  of  their  sons,  Nadab,  Abihu,  Eleazar,  and  Ithamar,  23.  The  sons 
o/Korah,  the  nephew  of  Aaron,  24.  The  marriage  of  Eleazar  to  one  of  the  daughters  of  Putiel,  and 
the  birth  o/’Phinehas,  25.  These  genealogical  accounts  introduced  for  the  sake  of  showing  the  line  of 
descent  of  Moses  and  Aaron,  26,27.  A  recapitulation  of  the  commission  delivered  to  Moses  and  Aaron,  29, 
and  a  repetition  of  the  excuse  formerly  made  by  Moses,  30. 


A.  M.  2513.  rFIIEN  the  Lord  said  unto  Moses, 

B.  C.  1491.  J-  _T  ill  i  t  'll 

-  i\ow  shalt  thou  see  what  I  will 

do  to  Pharaoh  :  for  a  with  a  strong  hand  shall 

he  let  them  go,  and  with  a  strong  hand  b  shall 

he  drive  them  out  of  his  land. 


2  And  God  spake  unto  Moses,  a.  M.  2513. 

,  U.  T  ’  B.  C.  1491. 

and  said  unto  him,  1  am  the  - 

c  Lord  : 

3  And  I  appeared  unto  Abraham,  unto  Isaac, 
and  unto  Jacob,  by  the  name  of  d  God  Almighty, 


aChap.  iii.  19. - -b  Chap.  xi.  1 ;  xii.  31,  33,  39. 

NOTES  ON  CHAP.  VI. 

Verse  1.  With  a  strong  hand]  npin  V  yad  chaza- 
hah,  the  same  verb  which  we  translate  to  harden ;  see 
on  chap.  iv.  21.  The  strong  hand  here  means  sove¬ 
reign  power,  suddenly  and  forcibly  applied.  God  pur¬ 
posed  to  manifest  his  sovereign  power  in  the  sight  of 
Pharaoh  and  the  Egyptians  ;  in  consequence  of  which 
Pharaoh  would  manifest  his  power  and  authority  as 

316 


c  Or,  JEHOVAH. - dGen.  xvii.  1 ;  xxxv.  11  ;  xlviii.  3. 

sovereign  of  Egypt,  in  dismissing  and  thrusting  out 
the  people.  See  chap.  xii.  31—33. 

Verse  2.  I  am  the  Lord]  It  should  be,  I  am  JE¬ 
HOVAH,  and  without  this  the  reason  of  what  is  said 
in  the  3d  verse  is  not  sufficiently  obvious. 

Verse  3.  By  the  name  of  God  Almighty]  'Hty  bx 
El-Shaddai,  God  All-sufficient ;  God  the  dispenser  oi 
pourer-out  of  gifts.  See  on  Gen  xvii.  1. 

a 


CHAP.  VI. 


to  remember  his  covenant. 


Jehovah  promises  by  his  name 

A.  M.  2513.  but  by  my  name  e  JEHOVAH 
- - -  was  1  not  known  to  them. 

4  f  And  I  have  also  established  my  covenant 
with  them,  *  to  give  them  the  land  of  Canaan, 
the  land  of  their  pilgrimage,  wherein  they 
were  strangers. 

5  And  h  I  have  also  heard  the  groaning  of 
the  children  of  Israel,  whom  the  Egyptians 

e  Chap.  iii.  14 ;  Psa.  lxviii.  4  ;  lxxxiii.  18  ;  John  via.  58  ;  Rev. 

i.  4. - -fGen.  xv.  18  ;  xvii.  4,  7. - s  Gen.  xvii.  8;  xxviii.  4. 

h  Chap.  ii.  24. 

But  by  my  name  Jehovah  was  I  not  known  to 
them.]  This  passage  has  been  a  sort  of  crux  criti- 
corum ,  and  has  been  variously  explained.  It  is  cer¬ 
tain  that  the  name  Jehovah  was  in  use  long  before  the 
days  of  Abraham,  see  Gen.  ii.  4,  where  the  words 
DTlbx  nirr  Jehovah  Elohim  occur,  as  they  do  fre¬ 
quently  afterwards  ;  and  see  Gen.  xv.  2,  where  Abra¬ 
ham  expressly  addresses  him  by  the  name  Adonai 
Jehovah;  and  see  the  7th  verse,  where  God  reveals 
himself  to  Abraham  by  this  very  name  :  And  he  said 
unto  him ,  I  am  Jehovah,  that  brought  thee  out  of  Ur 
of  the  Chaldees.  How  then  can  it  be  said  that  by  his 
name  Jehovah  he  was  not  known  unto  them  ?  Several 
answers  have  been  given  to  this  question  ;  the  fol¬ 
lowing  are  the  chief : — 1.  The  words  should  be  read 
interrogatively ,  for  the  negative  particle  if}  lo,  not, 
has  this  power  often  in  Hebrew.  “  I  appeared  unto 
Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob  by  the  name  of  God  Al¬ 
mighty,  and  by  my  name  Jehovah  was  I  not  also 
made  known  unto  them  1”  2.  The  name  Jehovah 

was  not  revealed  before  the  time  mentioned  here,  for 
though  it  occurs  so  frequently  in  the  book  of  Genesis, 
as  that  book  was  written  long  after  the  name  had 
come  into  common  use,  as  a  piincipal  characteristic 
of  God,  Moses  employs  it  in  his  history  because  of 
this  circumstance  ;  so  that  whenever  it  appears  pre¬ 
viously  to  this,  it  is  by  the  figure  called  prolepsis  or 
anticipation.  3.  As  the  name  niiY  Jehovah  signifies 
existence ,  it  may  be  understood  in  the  text  in  question 
thus :  “  1  appeared  unto  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob 
by  my  name  God  Almighty,  or  God  All-sufficient,  i.  e., 
having  all  power  to  do  all  good ;  in  this  character  I 
made  a  covenant  with  them,  supported  by  great  and 
glorious  promises  ;  but  as  those  promises  had  respect 
unto  their  posterity,  they  could  not  be  fulfilled  to  those 
fathers  :  but  now,  as  Jehovah,  I  am  about  to  give 
existence  to  all  those  promises  relative  to  your  support, 
deliverance  from  bondage,  and  your  consequent  settle¬ 
ment  in  the  promised  land.”  4.  The  words  may  be 
considered  as  used  comparatively :  though  God  did 
appear  to  those  patriarchs  as  Jehovah,  and  they 
acknowledged  him  by  this  name,  yet  it  was  but  com¬ 
paratively  known  unto  them  ;  they  knew  nothing  of 
the  power  and  goodness  of  God,  in  comparison  of  what 
the  Israelites  were  now  about  to  experience. 

I  believe  the  simple  meaning  is  this,  that  though 
from  the  beginning  the  name  Jehovah  was  known  as 
one  of  the  names  of  the  Supreme  Being,  yet  what  it 
really  implied  they  did  not  know'.  ’T#  Sx  El-Shaddai, 
God  All-sufficient ,  they  knew  well  by  the  continual 


keep  m  bondage ;  and  I  have  re-  A.  M.  2513. 

membered  my  covenant.  - - 

6  Wherefore  say  unto  the  children  of  Israel, 
* 1  am  the  Lord,  and  k  I  will  bring  you  out 
from  under  the  burdens  of  the  Egyptians, 
and  I  will  rid  you  out  of  their  bondage,  and 
I  will *  1  redeem  you  with  a  stretched-out  arm, 
and  with  great  judgments  : 

‘Ver.  2,  8,  29. - k  Chap.  iii.  17;  vii.  4  ;  Deut.  xxvi.  8; 

Psa.  lxxxi.  6 ;  cxxxvi.  11,  12. - 1  Chap.  xv.  13  ;  Deut.  vii.  8  ; 

1  Chron.  xvii.  21  ;  Neh.  i.  10. 

provision  he  made  for  them,  and  the  constant  protec¬ 
tion  he  afforded  them  ;  but  the  name  niJT  Jehovah  is 
particularly  to  be  referred  to  the  accomplishment  of 
promises  already  made ;  to  the  giving  them  a  being , 
and  thus  bringing  them  into  existence,  which  could  not 
have  been  done  in  the  order  of  his  providence  sooner 
than  here  specified  :  this  name  therefore  in  its  power 
and  significancy  was  not  known  unto  them  ;  nor  fully 
known  unto  their  descendants  till  the  deliverance  from 
Egypt  and  the  settlement  in  the  promised  land.  It  is 
surely  possible  for  a  man  to  bear  the  name  of  a  cer¬ 
tain  office  or  dignity  before  he  fulfils  any  of  its  func¬ 
tions.  King,  mayor,  alderman ,  magistrate,  constable , 
may  be  borne  by  the  several  persons  to  whom  they 
legally  belong,  before  any  of  the  acts  peculiar  to  those 
offices  are  performed.  The  king,  acknowledged  as 
such  on  his  coronation,  is  known  to  be  such  by  his  le¬ 
gislative  acts  ;  the  civil  magistrate,  by  his  distribution 
of  justice,  and  issuing  warrants  for  the  apprehending 
of  culprits  ;  and  the  constable,  by  executing  those  war¬ 
rants.  All  these  were  known  to  have  their  respective 
names,  but  the  exercise  of  their  powers  alone  shows 
what  is  implied  in  being  king,  magistrate,  and  consta¬ 
ble.  The  following  is  a  case  in  point,  which  fell  within 
my  own  knowledge. 

A  case  of  dispute  between  certain  litigious  neigh¬ 
bours  being  heard  in  court'  before  a  weekly  sitting  of 
the  magistrates,  a  woman  who  came  as  an  evidence  in 
behalf  of  her  bad  neighbour,  finding  the  magistrates 
inclining  to  give  judgment  against  her  mischievous 
companion,  took  her  by  the  arm  and  said,  “  Come  away ! 

I  told  you  you  would  get  neither  law  nor  justice  in  this 
place.”  A  magistrate,  who  was  as  much  an  honour 
to  his  function  as  he  was  to  human  nature,  immediately 
said,  “  Here,  constable !  take  that  woman  and  lodge 
her  in  Bridewell,  that  she  may  know  there  is  some  law 
and  justice  in  this  place.” 

Thus  the  worthy  magistrate  proved  he  had  the  power 
implied  in  the  name  by  executing  the  duties  of  his 
office.  And  God  who  teas  known  as  Jehovah,  the 
being  who  makes  and  gives  effect  to  promises,  was 
known  to  the  descendants  of  the  twelve  tribes  to  be 
that  Jehovah,  by  giving  effect  and  being  to  the  pro¬ 
mises  which  he  had  made  to  their  fathers. 

Yerse  4.  I  have  also  established  my  covenant]  I  have 
now  fully  purposed  to  give  present  effect  to  all  my  en¬ 
gagements  with  your  fathers,  in  behalf  of  their  posterity. 

Yerse  6.  Say  unto  the  children  of  Israel,  I  am  the 
Lord,  and  I  will  bring  you  out,  4c.]  This  confirms 
the  explanation  given  of  ver.  3,  which  see. 

317 


The  Israelites  disbelieve  Moses. 


EXODUS.  God's  charge  to  Israel  and  Pharaoh. 


A.  M.  2513.  7  And  I  will  m  take  you  to  me  for 

B.  C.  1491.  .  .  T  , 

- -  a  people,  and  n  I  will  be  to  you  a 

God :  and  ye  shall  know  that  I  am  the  Lord 

your  God,  which  bringeth  you  out  0  from 

under  the  burdens  of  the  Egyptians. 

8  And  I  will  bring  you  in  unto  the  land, 
concerning  the  which  I  did  p  swear  q  to  give 
it  to  Abraham,  to  Isaac,  and  to  Jacob ;  and  I 
will  give  it  you  for  a  heritage  :  I  am  the 
Lord. 

9  And  Moses  spake  so  unto  the  children  of 
Israel  :  r  but  they  hearkened  not  unto  Moses 
for  s  anguish  of  spirit,  and  for  cruel  bondage. 

10  And  the  Lord  spake  unto  Moses,  saying, 

1 1  Go  in,  speak  unto  Pharaoh  king  of 
Egypt,  that  he  let  the  children  of  Israel  go 
out  of  his  land. 

12  And  Moses  spake  before  the  Lord, 
saying,  Behold,  the  children  of  Israel  have 
4  not  hearkened  unto  me  ;  how  then  shall 


Pharaoh  hear  me,  11  who  am  of  un-  A.  M.  2513. 
circumcised  lips  :  - - — — 

13  And  the  Lord  spake  unto  Moses  and 
unto  Aaron,  and  gave  them  a  charge  unto  the 
children  of  Israel,  and  unto  Pharaoh  king  of 
Egypt,  to  bring  the  children  of  Israel  out  of 
the  land  of  Egypt. 

14  These  be  the  heads  of  their  fathers’ 
houses  : * *  v * *  The  sons  of  Reuben,  the  first-born 
of  Israel ;  Hanoch,  and  Pallu,  Hezron,  and 
Carmi  :  these  be  the  families  of  Reuben. 

15  w  And  the  sons  of  Simeon  ;  Jemuel,  and 
Jamin,  and  Ohad,  and  Jachin,  and  Zohar,  and 
Shaul  the  son  of  a  Canaanitish  woman  :  these 
are  the  families  of  Simeon, 

16  And  these  are  the  names  of  xthe  sons 
of  Levi  according  to  their  generations  ;  Ger- 
shon,  and  Kohath,  and  Merari ;  and  the  years 
of  the  life  of  Levi  were  a  hundred  thirty  and 
seven  years. 


m  Deut.  iv.  20  ;  vii.  6  ;  xiv.  2  ;  xxvi.  18  ;  2  Sam.  vii.  24. 

n  Gen.  xvii.  7,  8 ;  chap.  xxix.  45,  46  ;  Deut.  xxix.  13  ;  Rev.  xxi. 

7. - 0  Chap.  v.  4,  5  ;  Psa.  lxxxi.  6. - p  Heb.  lift  up  my  hand ; 

see  Gen.  xiv.  22;  Deut.  xxxii.  40. - i  Gen.  xv.  18;  xxvi.  3  ; 


xxviii.  13  ;  xxxv.  12. - r  Chapter  v.  21. - s  Heb.  shortness,  or, 

straitness. - -l 2 3  Ver.  9. - u  Ver.  30;  chap.  iv.  10;  Jer.  i.  6. 

v  Gen.  xlvi.  9 ;  1  Chron.  v.  3. - w  1  Chron.  iv.  24 ;  Gen.  xlvi. 

10. - x  Gen.  xlvi.  11  ;  Num.  iii.  17;  1  Chron.  vi.  1,  16. 


Verse  7.  I  will  take  you  to  me  for  a  people ,  <fc.] 
This  was  precisely  the  covenant  that  he  had  made  with 
Abraham.  See  Gen.  xvii.  7,  and  the  notes  there. 

And  ye  shall  know  that  I  am  the  Lord  your  God ] 
By  thus  fulfilling  my  promises  ye  shall  know  what  is 
implied  in  my  name.  See  on  ver.  3. 

But  why  should  God  take  such  a  most  stupid,  re¬ 
fractory,  and  totally  worthless  people  for  his  people  ? 

1.  Because  he  had  promised  to  do  so  to  their  noble 
ancestors  Abraham,  Isaac,  Jacob,  Joseph,  Judah,  &c., 
men  worthy  of  all  praise,  because  in  general  friends  of 
God,  devoted  to  his  will  and  to  the  good  of  mankind. 

2.  “  That  (as  Bishop  Warburton  properly  observes) 
the  extraordinary  providence  by  which  they  were  pro¬ 
tected,  might  become  the  more  visible  and  illustrious ; 
for  had  they  been  endowed  with  the  shining  qualities 
of  the  more  polished  nations,  the  effects  of  that  provi¬ 
dence  might  have  been  ascribed  to  their  own  wisdom.” 

3.  That  God  might  show  to  all  succeeding  genera¬ 
tions  that  he  delights  to  instruct  the  ignorant,  help  the 
weak,  and  save  the  lost ;  for  if  he  bore  long  with  Israel, 
showed  them  especial  mercy,  and  graciously  received 
them  whenever  they  implored  his  protection,  none  need 
despair.  God  seems  to  have  chosen  the  worst  people 
in  the  universe,  to  give  by  them  unto  mankind  the  high¬ 
est  and  most  expressive  proofs,  that  he  wills  not  the 
death  of  a  sinner,  but  rather  that  he  may  turn  from  his 
iniquity  and  live. 

Verse  8.  Which  I  did  swear ]  ’T  DX  'TXtyj  nasathi 
eth  yadi,  I  have  lifted  up  my  hand.  The  usual  mode 
of  making  an  appeal  to  God,  and  hence  considered  to 
be  a  form  of  swearing.  It  is  thus  that  Isa.  lxii.  8  is 
to  be  understood  :  The  Lord  hath  sworn  by  his  right 
hand ,  and  by  the  arm  of  his  strength. 

Verse  9.  But  they  hearkened  not ]  Their  bondage 

318 


was  become  so  extremely  oppressive  that  they  had  lost 
all  hope  of  ever  being  redeemed  from  it.  After  this 
verse  the  Samaritan  adds,  Let  us  alone,  that  we  may 
serve  the  Egyptians  :  for  it  is  better  for  us  to  serve 
the  Egyptians  than  that  we  should  die  in  the  wilder¬ 
ness.  This  appears  to  be  borrowed  from  chap.  xiv.  12. 

Anguish  of  spirit ]  TTH  kotzer  ruach,  shortness 
of  spirit  or  breath.  The  words  signify  that  their  la¬ 
bour  was  so  continual,  and  their  bondage  so  cruel  and 
oppressive,  that  they  had  scarcely  time  to  breathe. 

Verse  12.  Uncircumcised  lips  ?]  The  word  *77p  aral, 
which  we  translate  uncircurncised ,  seems  to  signify 
any  thing  exuberant  or  superfluous.  Had  not  Moses 
been  remarkable  for  his  excellent  beauty,  I  should  have 
thought  the  passage  might  be  rendered  protuberant  lips  ; 
but  as  this  sense  cannot  be  admitted  for  the  above  rea¬ 
son,  the  word  must  refer  to  some  natural  impediment 
in  his  speech  ;  and  probably  means  a  want  of  distinct 
and  ready  utterance,  either  occasioned  by  some  defect 
in  the  organs  of  speech,  or  impaired  knowledge  of  the 
Egyptian  language  after  an  absence  of  forty  years. 
See  the  note  on  chap.  iv.  10. 

Verse  14.  These  be  the  heads ]  ’’KWI  rashey ,  the 
chiefs  or  captains.  The  following  genealogy  was  sim¬ 
ply  intended  to  show  that  Moses  and  Aaron  came  in  a 
direct  line  from  Abraham,  and  to  ascertain  the  time  of 
Israel’s  deliverance.  The  whole  account  from  this 
verse  to  ver.  26  is  a  sort  of  parenthesis,  and  does  not 
belong  to  the  narration  ;  and  what  follows  from  ver. 
28  is  a  recapitulation  of  what  was  spoken  in  the  pre¬ 
ceding  chapters. 

Verse  16.  The  years  of  the  life  of  Levi ]  “  Bishop 
Patrick  observes  that  Levi  is  thought  to  have  lived  the 
longest  of  all  Jacob’s  sons,  none  of  whose  ages  are 
recorded  in  Scripture  but  his  and  Joseph’s,  whom  Levi 

a 


Genealogy  of  Moses  and  Aaron  CHAP.  VI, 


from  the  line  of  Abraham 


A.  M.  2513.  17  y  The  sons  of  Gershon ; 

— 1 — I - -  Librii,  and  Shimi,  according  to  their 

families. 

18  And  7  the  sons  of  Kohath ;  Amram,  and 
Izhar,  and  Hebron,  and  Uzziel:  and  the  years 
of  the  life  of  Kohath  were  a  hundred  thirty 
and  three  years. 

19  And  a  the  sons  of  Merari  ;  Mahali  and 
Mushi :  these  are  the  families  of  Levi  accord¬ 
ing  to  their  generations. 

20  And  b  Amram  took  him  Jochebed  his  fa¬ 
ther’s  sister  to  wife  ;  and  she  bare  him  Aaron 
and  Moses  :  and  the  years  of  the  life  of  Am¬ 
ram  were  a  hundred  and  thirty  and  seven  years. 

2 1  And  c  the  sons  of  Izhar ;  Korah,  and 
Nepheg,  and  Zichri. 

22  And  dthe  sons  of  Uzziel;  Mishael,  and 
Elzaphan,  and  Sithri. 

23  And  Aaron  took  him  Elisheba,  daughter 
of  e  Amminadab,  sister  of  Naashon,  to  wife  ; 


and  she  bare  him  f  Nadab,  and  a.  M-  2513. 
Abihu,  Eleazar,  and  Ithamar.  — — -  H9-- 

24  And  the  *  sons  of  Korah  ;  Assir,  and 
Elkanah,  and  Abiasaph  :  these  are  the  families 
of  the  Korhites. 

25  And  Eleazar,  Aaron’s  son,  took  him  one 
of  the  daughters  of  Putiel  to  wife  ;  and  h  she 
bare  him  Phinehas  :  these  are  the  heads  of 
the  fathers  of  the  Levites  according  to  their 
families. 

26  These  are  that  Aaron  and  Moses,  1  to 
whom  the  Lord  said,  Bring  out  the  children 
of  Israel  from  the  land  of  Egypt  according  to 
their  k  armies. 

27  These  are  they  which  1  spake  to  Pha¬ 
raoh,  king  of  Egypt,  m  to  bring  out  the  children 
of  Israel  from  Egypt :  these  are  that  Moses 
and  Aaron. 

28  And  it  came  to  pass  on  the  day  when  the 
Lord  spake  unto  Moses  in  the  land  of  Egypt, 


y  1  Chron.  vi.  17  ;  xxiii.  7. - zNum.  xxvi.  57  ;  1  Chron.  vi. 

2,  18. - al  Chron.  vi.  19;  xxiii.  21. - b  Chap.  ii.  1,2  ;  Num. 

xxvi.  59. - c  Num.  xvi.  1  ;  1  Chron.  vi.  37,  38. - d  Lev.  x.  4 ; 

Num.  iii.  30. - e  Ruth  iv.  19,  20;  1  Chron.  ii.  10;  Matt.  i.  4. 


f  Lev.  x.  1  ;  Num.  iii.  2;  xxvi.  60  ;  1  Chron.  vi.  3  ;  xxiv.  1. 

s  Num.  xxvi.  11. - h  Num.  xxv.  7, 11 ;  Josh.  xxiv.  33. - 1  Ver. 

13. - k  Chap.  vii.  4  ;  xii.  17, 51  ;  Num.  xxxiii.  1 . - 1  Chap.  v. 

1,3;  vii.  10. - m  Ver.  13  ;  ch.  xxxii.  7 ;  xxxiii.  1 ;  Psa.  Ixxvii.  20. 


survived  twenty-seven  years,  though  he  was  much  the 
elder  brother.  By  the  common  computation  this  would 
be  twenty-three  years  :  by  Kennicott’s  computation  at 
the  end  of  Gen.  xxxi.,  Levi’s  birth  is  placed  twenty- 
four  years  before  that  of  Joseph  ;  his  death,  therefore, 
would  be  only  three  years  later.  But  this  is  not  the 
only  difficulty  in  ancient  chronologies.  Kohath,  the 
second  son  of  Levi,  according  to  Archbishop  Usher 
was  thirty  years  old  when  Jacob  came  into  Egypt,  and 
lived  there  one  hundred  and  three  years.  He  attained 
to  nearly  the  same  age  with  Levi,  to  one  hundred  and 
thirty-three  years  ;  and  his  son  Amram,  the  father  of 
Moses,  lived  to  the  same  age  with  Levi.  We  may 
observe  here  how  the  Divine  promise,  Gen.  xv.  16, 
of  delivering  the  Israelites  out  of  Egypt  in  the  fourth 
generation  was  verified  ;  for  Moses  was  the  son  of 
Amram ,  the  son  of  Kohath ,  the  son  of  Levi ,  the  son 
of  Jacob.'1'1 — Dodd. 

Verse  20.  His  father's  sister ]  lfvn  dodatho.  The 
true  meaning  of  this  word  is  uncertain.  Parkhurst 
observes  that  “in  dod  signifies  an  uncle  in  1  Sam.  x. 
14  ;  Lev.  x.  4,  and  frequently  elsewhere.  It  signifies 
also  an  uncle's  son ,  a  cousin-german :  compare  Jer. 
xxxii.  8  with  ver.  12,  where  the  Vulgate  renders  m 
dodi  by  patruelis  mei,  my  paternal  cousin ;  and  in 
Amos  vi.  10,  for  nn  dodo,  the  Targum  has  nnnp 
karibiah ,  his  near  relation .  So  the  Vulgate,  propin- 
quus  ejus,  his  relative,  and  the  Septuagint,  ol  ouceioi 
avTuv,  those  of  their  household.  The  best  critics  sup¬ 
pose  that  Jochebed  was  the  cousin-german  of  Amram, 
and  not  his  aunt.  See  chap.  ii.  1. 

Bare  him  Aaron  and  Moses ]  The  Samaritan,  Sep¬ 
tuagint,  Syriac,  and  one  Hebrew  MS.  add,  And  Mi¬ 
riam  their  sister.  Some  of  the  best  critics  suppose 
these  words  to  have  been  originally  in  the  Hebrew  text. 


Verse  21.  Korah\  Though  he  became  a  rebel 
against  God  and  Moses,  (see  Num.  xvi.  1,  &c.,)  yet 
Moses,  in  his  great  impartiality,  inserts  his  name  among 
those  of  his  other  progenitors. 

Verse  22.  Uzziel]  He  is  called  Aaron’s  uncle, 
Lev.  x.  4. 

Verse  23.  Elisheba]  The  oath  of  the  Lord.  It  is 
the  same  name  as  Elizabeth,  so  very  common  among 
Christians.  She  was  of  the  royal  tribe  of  Judah,  and 
was  sister  to  Nahshon,  one  of  the  princes ;  see  Num. 
ii.  3. 

Eleazar]  He  succeeded  to  the  high  priesthood  on 
the  death  of  his  father  Aaron,  Num.  xx.  25,  &c. 

Verse  25.  Phinehas]  Of  the  celebrated  act  of  this 
person,  and  the  most  honourable  grant  made  to  him  and 
his  posterity,  see  Num.  xxv.  7—13. 

Verse  26.  According  to  their  armies.]  tsi- 

botham,  their  battalions — regularly  arranged  troops. 
As  God  had  these  particularly  under  his  care  and 
direction,  he  had  the  name  of  JYlNUy  miT  Yehovah 
tsebaoth,  Lord  of  hosts  or  armies. 

“  The  plain  and  disinterested  manner,”  says  Dr. 
Dodd,  “  in  which  Moses  speaks  here  of  his  relations, 
and  the  impartiality  wherewith  he  inserts  in  the  list 
of  them  such  as  were  afterwards  severely  punished 
by  the  Lord,  are  striking  proofs  of  his  modesty  and 
sincerity.  He  inserts  the  genealogy  of  Reuben  and 
Simeon,  because  they  were  of  the  same  mother  with 
Levi ;  and  though  he  says  nothing  of  himself,  yet  he 
relates  particularly  what  concerns  Aaron,  ver.  23,  who 
married  into  an  honourable  family,  the  sister  of  a 
prince  of  the  tribe  of  Judah.” 

Verse  28.  And  it  came  to  pass]  Here  the  seventh 
chapter  should  commence,  as  there  is  a  complete  end¬ 
ing  of  the  sixth  with  ver.  27,  and  the  30th  verse  of 

319 


Mission  of  Moses  and  Aaron.  EXODUS.  Obstinacy  of  Pharaoh  foretold 


A.  M.  2513.  29  That  the  Lord  spake  unto 

B.  C.  1491.  ,,  .  T  A  T 

- -  Moses,  saying,  n  1  am  the  JLord  : 

0  speak  thou  unto  Pharaoh,  king  of  Egypt,  all 
that  I  say  unto  thee. 

n  Ver.  2. - 0  Yer.  11 ;  chap.  vii.  2. 

this  chapter  is  intimately  connected  with  the  1st  verse 
of  the  succeeding. 

The  principal  subjects  in  this  chapter  have  been  so 
amply  considered  in  the  notes,  that  little  of  importance 
remains  to  be  done.  On  the  nature  of  a  covenant 
(see  ver.  4)  ample  information  may  be  obtained  by 
referring  to  Gen.  vi.  18,  and  xv.  9-18,  which  places 
the  reader  will  do  well  to  consult. 

Supposing  Moses  to  have  really  laboured  under 
some  defect  in  speech,  we  may  consider  it  as  wisely 
designed  to  be  a  sort  of  counterbalance  to  his  other 
excellences  :  at  least  this  is  an  ordinary  procedure 
of  Divine  Providence ;  personal  accomplishments  are 


30  And  Moses  said  before  the  A.  M.  2513. 

Lord,  Behold,  p  I  am  of  uncircum-  — - — 1 - 1 

cised  lips,  and  how  shall  Pharaoh  hearken 
unto  me  ? 

P  Yer.  12  ;  chap.  iv.  10. 

counterbalanced  by  mental  defects,  and  mental  imper¬ 
fections  often  by  personal  accomplishments.  Thus 
the  head  cannot  say  to  the  foot,  I  have  no  need  of 
thee.  And  God  does  all  this  in  great  wisdom,  to  hide 
pride  from  man,  and  that  no  flesh  may  glory  in  his 
presence.  To  be  contented  with  our  formation,  endow¬ 
ments,  and  external  circumstances,  requires  not  only 
much  submission  to  the  providence  of  God,  but  also 
much  of  the  mind  of  Christ.  On  the  other  hand, 
should  we  feel  vanity  because  of  some  personal  or 
mental  accomplishment,  we  have  only  to  take  a  view 
of  our  whole  to  find  sufficient  cause  of  humiliation  ; 
and  after  all,  the  meek  and  gentle  spirit  only  is,  in  the 
sight  of  God,  of  great  price. 


CHAPTER  VII. 


The  dignified  mission  of  Moses  and  Aaron  to  Pharaoh — the  one  to  he  as  God ,  the  other  as  a  prophet  of  the 
Most  High ,  1,  2.  The  prediction  that  Pharaoh’s  heart  should  he  hardened ,  that  God  might  multiply  his 
signs  and  wonders  in  Egypt ,  that  the  inhabitants  might  know  he  alone  was  the  true  God ,  3—6.  The  age 
of  Moses  and  Aaron ,  7.  God  gives  them  directions  how  they  should  act  before  Pharaoh ,  8,  9.  Moses 
turns  his  rod  into  a  serpent,  10.  The  magicians  imitate  this  miracle ,  and  Pharaohs  heart  is  hardened , 
11—13.  Moses  is  commanded  to  ivait  upon  Pharaoh  next  morning  when  he  should  come  to  the  river ,  and 
threaten  to  turn  the  waters  into  blood  if  he  did  not  let  the  people  go,  14-18.  The  waters  in  all  the  land 
of  Egypt  are  turned  into  blood,  19,  20.  The  fish  die,  21.  The  magicians  imitate  this,  and  Pharaohs 
heart  is  again  hardened,  22,  23.  The  Egyptians  sorely  distressed  because  of  the  bloody  waters,  24.  This 
plague  endures  seven  days,  25. 


A.  M.  2513.  A  ND  the  Lord  said  unto  Moses, 
149I1  See,  I  have  made  thee  a  a  god 
to  Pharaoh :  and  Aaron  thy  brother  shall  be 
b  thy  prophet. 

2  Thou  c  shalt  speak  all  that  I  command 
thee  *  and  Aaron  thy  brother  shall  speak  unto 
Pharaoh,  that  he  send  the  children  of  Israel 
out  of  his  land. 

3  And  d  I  will  harden  Pharaoh’s  heart,  and 
e  multiply  my  f  signs  and  my  wonders  in  the 
land  of  Egypt. 

aChap.  iv.  16;  Jer.  i.  10. - b  Chap.  iv.  16. - c  Chap.  iv.  15. 

d  Chap.  iv.  21. - e  Chap.  xi.  9. - f  Chap.  iv.  7. 

NOTES  ON  CHAP.  VII. 

Verse  1.  I  have  made  thee  a  god ]  At  thy  word 
every  plague  shall  come,  and  at  thy  command  each 
shall  be  removed.  Thus  Moses  must  have  appeared 
as  a  god  to  Pharaoh. 

Shall  he  thy  prophet .]  Shall  receive  the  word  from 
thy  mouth,  and  communicate  it  to  the  Egyptian  king, 
ver.  2. 

Verse  3.  I  will  harden  Pharaohs  heart\  I  will 
permit  his  stubbornness  and  obstinacy  still  to  remain, 

320 


4  But  Pharaoh  shall  not  hearken  a.  m.  2513. 

unto  you,  s  that  I  may  lay  my  hand  — — 1 - 1 

upon  Egypt,  and  bring  forth  mine  armies,  and 
my  people  the  children  of  Israel,  out  of  the 
land  of  Egypt,  h  by  great  judgments. 

5  And  the  Egyptians  1  shall  know  that  I  am 
the  Lord,  when  I  k  stretch  forth  mine  hand 
upon  Egypt,  and  bring  out  the  children  of 
Israel  from  among  them. 

6  And  Moses  and  Aaron  1  did  as  the  Lord 
commanded  them,  so  did  they. 

s  Chap.  x.  1 ;  xi.  9. - h  Chap.  vi.  6. - 5  Yer.  17  ;  chap.  viii.  22  ; 

xiv.  4,  18  ;  Psa.  ix.  16. - k  Chap.  iii.  20. - -1  Ver.  2. 

that  I  may  have  the  greater  opportunity  to  multiply 
my  wonders  in  the  land,  that  the  Egyptians  may  know 
that  I  only  am  Jehovah,  the  self-existent  God.  See 
on  chap.  iv.  21. 

Verse  5.  And  bring  out  the  children  of  Israel ] 
Pharaoh’s  obstinacy  was  either  caused  or  permitted  in 
mercy  to  the  Egyptians,  that  he  and  his  magicians 
being  suffered  to  oppose  Moses  and  Aaron  to  the  ut¬ 
termost  of  their  power,  the  Israelites  might  be  brought 
out  of  Egypt  in  so  signal  a  manner,  in  spite  of  all 


The  rod  becomes  a  serpent.  CHAP  VII.  The  magicians  imitate  it 


A.  m.  2513.  7  And  Moses  icas  m  fourscore 

— — - 1  years  old,  and  Aaron  fourscore  and 

three  years  old,  when  they  spake  unto  Pharaoh. 

8  And  the  Lord  spake  unto  Moses  and  unto 
Aaron,  saying, 

9  When  Pharaoh  shall  speak  unto  you, 
saying,  n  Show  a  miracle  for  you  :  then  thou 
shalt  say  unto  Aaron,  0  Take  thy  rod,  and 
cast  it  before  Pharaoh,  and  it  shall  become 
a  serpent. 


10  And  Moses  and  Aaron  went  A.  M.  2513. 


in  unto  Pharaoh,  and  they  did 


B.  C.  1491. 


so  p  as  the  Lord  had  commanded  :  and  Aaron 
east  down  his  rod  before  Pharaoh,  and 
before  his  servants,  and  it  q  became  a 
serpent. 

1 1  Then  Pharaoh  also  r  called  the  wise  men 
and  s  the  sorcerers  :  now  the  magicians  of 
Egypt,  they  also *  1  did  in  like  manner  with 
their  enchantments. 


“  Deut.  xxix.  5  ;  xxxi.  2  ;  xxxiv.  7  ;  Acts  vii.  23,  30.— — n  Isa. 
vii.  11 ;  John  ii.  18  ;  vi.  30. - 0  Chap.  iv.  2,  17. 


P  Verse  9. - 4  Chap.  iv.  3. - r  Gen.  xli.  8. - 3  2  Tim.  iii.  8. 

1  Ver.  22;  chap.  viii.  7,  18. 


the  opposition  of  the  Egyptians,  their  king,  and  their 
gods,  that  Jehovah  might  appear  to  be  AU-mighty  and 
All-sufficient. 

Yerse  7.  Moses  was  fourscore  years  old]  lie  was 
forty  years  old  when  he  went  to  Midian,  and  he  had 
tarried  forty  years  in  Midian;  (see  chap.  ii.  11,  and 
Acts  vii.  30  ;)  and  from  this  verse  it  appears  that 
Aaron  was  three  years  older  than  Moses.  We  have 
already  seen  that  Miriam  their  sister  was  older  than 
either,  chap.  ii.  4. 

Yerse  9.  Show  a  miracle  for  you]  A  miracle, 
mopheth ,  signifies  an  effect  produced  in  nature  which 
is  opposed  to  its  laws,  or  such  as  its  powers  are  inade¬ 
quate  to  produce.  As  Moses  and  Aaron  professed  to 
have  a  Divine  mission,  and  to  come  to  Pharaoh  on 
the  most  extraordinary  occasion,  making  a  most  singu¬ 
lar  and  unprecedented  demand,  it  was  natural  to  sup¬ 
pose,  if  Pharaoh  should  even  give  them  an  audience, 
that  he  would  require  them  to  give  him  some  proof  by 
an  extraordinary  sign  that  their  pretensions  to  such  a 
Divine  mission  were  well  founded  and  incontestable. 
For  it  appears  to  have  ever  been  the  sense  of  man¬ 
kind,  that  he  who  has  a  Divine  mission  to  effect  some 
extraordinary  purpose  can  give  a  supernatural  proof 
that  he  has  got  this  extraordinary  commission. 

Take  thy  rod]  This  rod,  whether  a  common  staff, 
an  ensign  of  office,  or  a  shepherd’s  crook,  was  now 
consecrated  for  the  purpose  of  working  miracles  ;  and 
is  indifferently  called  the  rod  of  God,  the  rod  of  Mo¬ 
ses,  and  the  rod  of  Aaron.  God  gave  it  the  miracu¬ 
lous  power,  and  Moses  and  Aaron  used  it  indifferently. 

Yerse  10 .  It  became  a  serpent.]  j'jn  tannin.  What 
kind  of  a  serpent  is  here  intended,  learned  men  are 
not  agreed.  From  the  manner  in  which  the  original 
word  is  used  in  Psa.  lxxiv.  13  ;  Isa.  xxvii.  1  ;  li.  9  ; 
Job  vii.  12  ;  some  very  large  creature,  either  aquatic 
or  amphibious,  is  probably  meant ;  some  have  thought 
that  the  crocodile ,  a  well-known  Egyptian  animal,  is 
here  intended.  In  chap.  iv.  3  it  is  said  that  this  rod 
was  changed  into  a  serpent ,  but  the  original  word 
there  is  nachash,  and  here  j'JH  tannin ,  the  same 
word  which  we  translate  whale,  Gen.  i.  21. 

As  tynfl  nachash  seems  to  be  a  term  restricted  to  no 
one  particular  meaning,  as  has  already  been  shown  on 
Gen.  iii.  ;  so  the  words  rjn  tannin,  D'm  tanninim, 
D’in  tannim,  and  fffin  tannoth,  are  used  to  signify  dif¬ 
ferent  kinds  of  animals  in  the  Scriptures.  The  word 
is  supposed  to  signify  the  jackal  in  Job  xxx.  29  ;  Psa. 
Vol.  I.  *  (  22  ) 


xliv.  19  ;  Isa.  xiii.  22  ;  xxxiv.  13  ;  xxxv.  7  ;  xliii.  20  ; 
Jer.  ix.  11,  &c.,  &c.  ;  and  also  a  dragon,  serpent,  or 
whale,  Job  vii.  12  ;  Psa.  xci.  13  ;  Isa.  xxvii.  1  ;  li.  9  ; 
Jer.  li.  34  ;  Ezek.  xxix.  3  ;  xxxii.  2  ;  and  is  termed,  in 
our  translation,  a  sea-monster ,  Lam.  iv.  3.  As  it  was 
a  rod  or  staff  that  was  changed  into  the  tannim  in  the 
cases  mentioned  here,  it  has  been  supposed  that  an 
ordinary  serpent  is  what  is  intended  by  the  word,  be¬ 
cause  the  size  of  both  might  be  then  pretty  nearly 
equal  :  but  as  a  miracle  was  wrought  on  the  occasion, 
this  circumstance  is  of  no  weight ;  it  was  as  easy  for 
God  to  change  the  rod  into  a  crocodile,  or  any  other  crea¬ 
ture,  as  to  change  it  into  an  adder  or  common  snake. 

Yerse  11.  Pharaoh — called  the  wise  men] 
chacamim,  the  men  of  learning.  Sorcerers,  D'SSJO 
cashshephim,  those  who  reveal  hidden  things  ;  proba¬ 
bly  from  the  Arabic  root  L  4 At  kashafa,  to  reveal , 
uncover,  &c.,  signifying  diviners,  or  those  who  pre¬ 
tended  to  reveal  what  was  in  futurity,  to  discover 
things  lost,  to  find  hidden  treasures,  &c.  Magicians , 
chartummey ,  decypherers  of  abstruse  writings. 
See  the  note  on  Gen.  xli.  8. 

They  also  did  in  like  manner  with  tlicir  enchant¬ 
ments.]  The  word  D'ftrV?  laliatim,  comes  from 
lahat,  to  burn,  to  set  on  fire ;  and  probably  signifies 
such  incantations  as  required  lustral  fires ,  sacrifices, 
fumigations,  burning  of  incense ,  aromatic  and  odori¬ 
ferous  drugs,  &c.,  as  the  means  of  evoking  departed 
spirits  or  assistant  demons,  by  whose  ministry,  it  is 
probable,  the  magicians  in  question  wrought  some  of 
their  deceptive  miracles :  for  as  the  term  miracle  sig¬ 
nifies  properly  something  which  exceeds  the  powers 
of  nature  or  art  to  produce,  (see  ver.  9,)  hence  there 
could  be  no  miracle  in  this  case  but  those  wrought, 
through  the  power  of  God,  by  the  ministry  of  Moses 
and  Aaron.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  real  serpents 
were  produced  by  the  magicians.  On  this  subject 
there  are  two  opinions:  1st,  That  the  serpents  were 
such  as  they,  either  by  juggling  or  sleight  of  hand, 
had  brought  to  the  place,  and  had  secreted  till  the 
time  of  exhibition,  as  our  common  conjurers  do  in  the 
public  fairs,  &c.  2dly,  That  the  serpents  were  brought 
by  the.  ministry  of  a  familiar  spirit,  which,  by  the 
magic  flames  already  referred  to,  they  had  evoked  for 
the  purpose.  Both  these  opinions  admit  the  serpents 
to  be  real ,  and  no  illusion  of  the  sight,  as  some  have 
supposed. 

The  first  opinion  appears  to  me  insufficient  to  ac- 

321 


God  threatens  to  turn  the 


EXODUS. 


A.  M.  2513.  12  For  they  cast  down  every  man 

B.  C.  1491.  .  J 

— — 1 - 1  his  rod,  and  they  became  serpents  : 

but  Aaron’s  rod  swallowed  up  their  rods. 

1 3  And  he  hardened  Pharaoh’s  heart,  that  he 
hearkened  not  unto  them ;  11  as  the  Lord 
had  said. 

14  And  the  Lord  said  unto  Moses,  v  Pha¬ 
raoh’s  heart  is  hardened,  he  refuseth  to  let 
the  people  go. 

1 5  Get  thee  unto  Pharaoh  in  the  morning ; 
lo,  he  goeth  out  unto  the  water ;  and  thou 
shalt  stand  by  the  river’s  brink  against  he 
come  ;  and  w  the  rod  which  was  turned  to  a 
serpent  shalt  thou  take  in  thine  hand. 

u  Chap.  iv.  21 ;  ver.  4. - v  Chap.  viii.  15  ;  x.  1,  20,  27. - w  Ch. 

i  \t  9  *4  •  vor  1  0  ■  ,x  f  ILqty  iii  1  Q 


count  for  the  phenomena  of  the  case  referred  to.  If 
the  magicians  threw  down  their  rods ,  and  they  became 
serpents  after  they  were  thrown  down,  as  the  text  ex¬ 
pressly  says,  ver.  12,  juggling  or  sleight  of  hand  had 
nothing  farther  to  do  in  the  business,  as  the  rods  were 
then  out  of  their  hands.  If  Aaron’s  rod  swallowed  up 
their  rods ,  their  sleight  of  hand  was  no  longer  con¬ 
cerned.  A  man,  by  dexterity  of  hand,  may  so  far 
impose  on  his  spectators  as  to  appear  to  eat  a  rod  ; 
but  for  rods  lying  on  the  ground  to  become  serpents, 
and  one  of  these  to  devour  all  the  rest  so  that  it  alone 
remained,  required  something  more  than  juggling. 
How  much  more  rational  at  once  to  allow  that  these 
magicians  had  familiar  spirits  who  could  assume  all 
shapes,  change  the  appearances  of  the  subjects  on 
which  they  operated,  or  suddenly  convey  one  thing 
away  and  substitute  another  in  its  place  !  Nature  has 
no  such  power,  and  art  no  such  influence  as  to  pro¬ 
duce  the  effects  attributed  here  and  in  the  succeeding 
chapters  to  the  Egyptian  magicians. 

Verse  12.  Aaron's  rod  swallowed  up  their  rods.] 
As  Egypt  was  remarkably  addicted  to  magic,  sorcery, 
&c.,  it  was  necessary  that  God  should  permit  Pha¬ 
raoh's  wise  men  to  act  to  the  utmost  of  their  skill  in 
order  to  imitate  the  work  of  God,  that  his  superiority 
might  be  clearly  seen,  and  his  powerful  working  in¬ 
contestably  ascertained  ;  and  this  was  fully  done  when 
Aaron's  rod  swallowed  up  their  rods.  We  have  al¬ 
ready  seen  that  the  names  of  two  of  the  chief  of  these 
magicians  were  Jamies  and  Jambres  ;  see  chap.  ii.  10, 
and  2  Tim.  iii.  8.  Many  traditions  and  fables  con¬ 
cerning  these  may  be  seen  in  the  eastern  writers. 

Verse  13.  And  he  hardened  Pharaoh's  heart ]  pim 
runs  nb  vaiyechezak  leb  Paroh ,  “  And  the  heart  of 
Pharaoh  was  hardened,”  the  identical  words  which  in 
ver.  22  are  thus  translated,  and  which  should  have 
been  rendered  in  the  same  way  here,  lest  the  harden¬ 
ing ,  which  was  evidently  the  effect  of  his  own  obsti¬ 
nate  shutting  of  his  eyes  against  the  truth,  should  be 
attributed  to  God.  See  on  chap.  iv.  21. 

Verse  14.  Pharaoh' s  heart  is  hardened]  "D3  cabed, 
is  become  heavy  or  stupid ;  he  receives  no  conviction, 
notwithstanding  the  clearness  of  the  light  which  shines 
upon  him.  We  well  know  the  power  of  prejudice: 
a  322 


waters  of  the  river  into  blood 

1 6  And  thon  shalt  say  unto  him,  A.  M.  2513. 

J  B  n  1491 

x  The  Lord  God  of  the  Hebrews  — bA - L 

hath  sent  me  unto  thee,  saying,  Let  my  people 
go,  y  that  they  may  serve  me  in  the  wilder¬ 
ness  :  and,  behold,  hitherto  thou  wouldest 
not  hear. 

1 7  Thus  saith  the  Lord,  In  this  2  thou  shalt 
know  that  I  am  the  Lord  :  behold,  I  will 
smite  with  the  rod  that  is  in  mine  hand  upon 
the  waters  which  are  in  the  river,  and  a  they 
shall  be  turned  b  to  blood. 

1 8  And  the  fish  that  is  in  the  river  shall  die, 
and  the  river  shall  stink ;  and  the  Egyptians 
shall  c  loathe  to  drink  of  the  water  of  the  river. 

y  Chap.  iii.  12,  18  ;  v.  1,  3. - z  Chap.  v.  2  ;  ver.  5. - a  Chap. 

iv.  9. - b  Rev.  xvi.  4,  6. - c  Ver.  24. 

where  persons  are  determined  to  think  and  act  after  a 
predetermined  plan,  arguments,  demonstrations,  and 
even  miracles  themselves,  are  lost  on  them,  as  in  the 
case  of  Pharaoh  here,  and  that  of  the  obstinate  Jews 
in  the  days  of  our  Lord  and  his  apostles. 

Verse  15.  Lo,  he  goeth  out  unto  the  water]  Proba¬ 
bly  for  the  purpose  of  bathing,  or  of  performing  some 
religious  ablution.  Some  suppose  he  went  out  to  pay 
adoration  to  the  river  Nile,  which  was  an  object  of  reli¬ 
gious  worship  among  the  ancient  Egyptians.  “  For,” 
says  Plutarch,  De  Iside.,  ovdev  ovru  nyr]  kiyvmioig 
<hg  6  N eilog'  “  nothing  is  in  greater  honour  among 
the  Egyptians  than  the  river  Nile.”  Some  of  the 
ancient  Jews  supposed  that  Pharaoh  himself  was  a 
magician,  and  that  he  walked  by  the  river  early  each 
morning  for  the  purpose  of  preparing  magical  rites,  &c. 

Verse  17.  Behold,  I  will  smite]  Here  commences 
the  account  of  the  ten  plagues  which  were  inflicted 
on  the  Egyptians  by  Moses  and  Aaron,  by  the  com¬ 
mand  and  through  the  power  of  God.  According  to 
Archbishop  Usher  these  ten  plagues  took  place  in  the 
course  of  one  month,  and  in  the  following  order  : — 

The  first,  the  waters  turned  into  blood,  took  place, 
he  supposes,  the  18th  day  of  the  sixth  month  ;  ver.  20. 

The  second,  the  plague  of  frogs,  on  the  25th  day 
of  the  sixth  month;  chap.  viii.  1. 

The  third ,  the  plague  of  lice,  on  the  27th  day  of 
the  sixth  month;  chap.  viii.  16. 

The  fourth,  grievous  swarms  of  flies,  on  the  29th 
day  of  the  sixth  month;  chap.  viii.  24. 

The  fifth,  the  grievous  murrain,  on  the  2d  day  of 
the  seventh  month;  chap.  ix.  3. 

The  sixth ,  the  plague  of  boils  and  blains,  on  the 
3d  day  of  the  seventh  month;  chap.  ix.  10. 

The  seventh,  the  grievous  hail,  on  the  5th  day  of 
the  seventh  month;  chap.  ix.  18. 

The  eighth,  the  plague  of  locusts,  on  the  8th  day 
of  the  seventh  month;  chap.  x.  12. 

The  ninth,  the  thick  darkness,  on  the  10th  day  of 
Abib,  (April  30,)  now  become  the  first  month  of  the  Jew¬ 
ish  year;  chap.  x.  22.  But  see  the  note  on  chap.  xii.  2. 

The  tenth,  the  slaying  the  first-born,  on  the  15th 
of  Abib;  chap.  xii.  29.-  But  most  of  these  dates  are 
destitute  of  proof. 


(  22*  ) 


CHAP  VII. 


The  waters  turned  into  blood. 


The  first  plague  of  Egypt. 


A.  M.  2513.  19  And  the  Lord  spake  unto 

— — 1 - 1  Moses,  Say  unto  Aaron,  Take  thy 

rod,  and  d  stretch  out  thine  hand  upon  the 
'waters  of  Egypt,  upon  their  streams,  upon 
their  rivers,  and  upon  their  ponds,  and  upon 
all  their  e  pools  of  water,  that  they  may  be¬ 
come  blood ;  and  that  there  may  be  blood 
throughout  all  the  land  of  Egypt,  both  in 
vessels  of  wood,  and  in  vessels  of  stone. 

20  And  Moses  and  Aaron  did  so,  as  the  Lord 
commanded ;  and  he  f  lifted  up  the  rod,  and 
smote  the  waters  that  were  in  the  river,  in  the 

d  Chap.  viii.  5,  6, 16 ;  ix.  22 ;  x.  12,  21 ;  xiv.  21,  26. - e  Heb. 

gathering  of  their  waters. - -f  Chap.  xvii.  5. - s  Psa.  lxxviii.  44  ; 

Verse  18.  The  Egyptians  shall  loathe  to  drink  of 
the  water ]  The  force  of  this  expression  cannot  be 
well  felt  without  taking  into  consideration  the  peculiar 
pleasantness  and  great  salubrity  of  the  waters  of  the 
Nile.  “  The  water  of  Egypt,”  says  the  Abbe  Mas- 
crier,  “  is  so  delicious,  that  one  would  not  wish  the 
heat  to  be  less,  or  to  be  delivered  from  the  sensation 
of  thirst.  The  Turks  find  it  so  exquisite  that  they 
excite  themselves  to  drink  of  it  by  eating  salt.  It  is 
a  common  saying  among  them,  that  if  Mohammed  had 
drank  of  it  he  would  have  besought  God  that  he  might 
never  die,  in  order  to  have  had  this  continual  gratifi¬ 
cation.  When  the  Egyptians  undertake  the  pilgrim¬ 
age  of  Mecca,  or  go  out  of  their  country  on  any  other 
account,  they  speak  of  nothing  but  the  pleasure  they 
shall  have  at  their  return  in  drinking  of  the  waters  of 
the  Nile.  There  is  no  gratification  to  be  compared  to 
this  ;  it  surpasses,  in  their  esteem,  that  of  seeing  their 
relations  and  families.  All  those  who  have  tasted  of 
this  water  allow  that  they  never  met  with  the  like  in 
any  other  place.  When  a  person  drinks  of  it  for  the 
first  time  he  can  scarcely  be  persuaded  that  it  is  not  a 
water  prepared  by  art ;  for  it  has  something  in  it  in¬ 
expressibly  agreeable  and  pleasing  to  the  taste  ;  and  it 
should  have  the  same  rank  among  waters  that  cham¬ 
paign  has  among  wines.  But  its  most  valuable  quality 
is,  that  it  is  exceedingly  salutary.  It  never  incom¬ 
modes,  let  it  be  drank  in  what  quantity  it  may  :  this  is 
so  true  that  it  is  no  uncommon  thing  to  see  some  per¬ 
sons  drink  three  buckets  of  it  in  a  day  without  the 
least  inconvenience  !  When  I  pass  such  encomiums 
on  the  water  of  Egypt  it  is  right  to  observe  that  I 
speak  only  of  that  of  the  Nile,  which  indeed  is  the 
only  water  drinkable,  for  their  well  water  is  detestable 
and  unwholesome.  Fountains  are  so  rare  that  they 
are  a  kind  of  prodigy  in  that  country  ;  and  as  to  rain 
water ,  that  is  out  of  the  question,  as  scarcely  any  falls 
in  Egypt.” 

“  A  person,”  says  Mr.  Harmer,  “  who  never  before 
heard  of  the  deliciousness  of  the  Nile  water,  and  of 
the  large  quantities  which  on  that  account  are  drank 
of  it,  will,  I  am  sure,  find  an  energy  in  those  words 
of  Moses  to  Pharaoh,  The  Egyptians  shall  loathe  to 
drink  of  the  water  of  the  river ,  which  he  never  ob¬ 
served  before.  They  will  loathe  to  drink  of  that  water 
which  they  used  to  prefer  to  all  the  waters  of  the  uni- 


siglit  of  Pharaoh,  and  m  the  sight  A-  M.  251.'?. 

p,.  *  J  n  1  B.  C.  1491. 

of  his  servants  ;  and  all  the  s  waters  - - - 

that  were  in  the  river  were  turned  to  blood. 

2 1  And  the  fish  that  was  in  the  river  died  ; 
and  the  river  stank,  and  the  Egyptians  h  could 
not  drink  of  the  water  of  the  river ;  and 
there  was  blood  throughout  all  the  land  of 
Egypt. 

22  1  And  the  magicians  of  Egypt  did  so  with 
their  enchantments  :  and  Pharaoh’s  heart  was 
hardened,  neither  did  he  hearken  unto  them ; 
k  as  the  Lord  had  said. 

cv.  29  ;  Rev.  viii.  9. - h  Ver.  18. - ■  Ver.  11  ;  chap.  viii.  7,  8 ; 

Wisd.  xvii.  7. - kProv.  xxix.  1;  Isa.  xxvi.  11 ;  Jer.  v.  3  ;  xxxvi.24. 

verse  ;  loathe  to  drink  of  that  for  which  they  had  been 
accustomed  to  long,  and  will  rather  choose  to  drink  of 
well  water,  which  in  their  country  is  detestable  !”■ — 
Observations ,  vol.  iii.,  p.  564. 

Verse  19.  That  there  may  be  blood — both  in  vessels 
of  ivood,  and  in  vessels  of  stone .]  Not  only  the  Nile 
itself  was  to  be  thus  changed  into  blood  in  all  its 
branches,  and  the  canals  issuing  from  it,  but  all  the 
water  of  lakes ,  ponds ,  and  reservoirs ,  was  to  undergo 
a  similar  change.  And  this  was  to  extend  even  to  the 
water  already  brought  into  their  houses  for  culinary 
and  other  domestic  purposes.  As  the  water  of  the 
Nile  is  known  to  be  very  thick  and  muddy,  and  the 
Egyptians  are  obliged  to  filter  it  through  pots  of  a  kind 
of  white  earth,  and  sometimes  through  a  paste  made 
of  almonds,  Mr.  Harmer  supposes  that  the  vessels  of 
wood  and  stone  mentioned  above  may  refer  to  the  pro¬ 
cess  of  filtration,  which  no  doubt  has  been  practised 
among  them  from  the  remotest  period.  The  meaning 
given  above  I  think  to  be  more  natural. 

The  first  plague.  The  waters  turned  into  blood. 

Verse  20.  All  the  waters — were  turned  to  blood.\ 
Not  merely  in  appearance,  but  in  reality ;  for  these 
changed  waters  became  corrupt  and  insalubrious,  so 
that  even  the  fish  that  were  in  the  river  died ;  and  the 
smell  became  highly  offensive,  so  that  the  waters  could 
not  be  drank  ;  ver.  21. 

Verse  22.  And  the  magicians — did  so]  But  if  all 
the  water  in  Egypt  was  turned  into  blood  by  Moses, 
where  did  the  magicians  get  the  water  which  they 
changed  into  blood  1  This  question  is  answered  in 
verse  24.  The  Egyptians  digged  round  about  the 
river  for  water  to  drink,  and  it  seems  that  the  water 
obtained  by  this  means  was  not  bloody  like  that  in  the 
river :  on  this  water  therefore  the  magicians  might 
operate.  Again,  though  a  general  commission  was 
given  to  Moses,  not  only  to  turn  the  waters  of  the  river 
(Nile)  into  blood,  but  also  those  of  their  streams,  rivers, 
ponds,  and  pools  ;  yet  it  seems  pretty  clear  from  verse 
20  that  he  did  not  proceed  thus  far,  at  least  in  the  first 
instance  ;  for  it  is  there  stated  that  only  the  waters  of 
the  river  were  turned  into  blood.  Afterwards  the  plague 
doubtless  became  general.  At  the  commencement 
therefore  of  this  plague,  the  magicians  might  obtain 
other  water  to  imitate  the  miracle  ;  and  it  would  not 

323 


EXODUS. 


The  waters  of  the  river 

a.  M.  2513.  23  And  Pharaoh  turned  and  v/ent 

_ — 1 - 1  into  his  house,  1  neither  did  he  set 

his  heart  to  this  also. 

24  And  all  the  Egyptians  digged  round  about 

1  Yer.  3. - ™  Ver.  18,  21. 

be  difficult  for  them,  by  juggling  tricks  or  the  assist¬ 
ance  of  a  familiar  spirit ,  (for  we  must  not  abandon  the 
possibility  of  this  use,)  to  give  it  a  bloody  appearance, 
a  fetid  smell,  ’and  a  bad  taste.  On  either  of  these 
grounds  there  is  no  contradiction  in  the  Mosaic  account, 
though  some  have  been  very  studious  to  find  one. 

The  plague  of  the  bloody  waters  may  be  considered 
as  a  display  of  retributive  justice  against  the  Egyp¬ 
tians,  for  the  murderous  decree  wrhich  enacted  that  all 
the  male  children  of  the  Israelites  should  be  drowned 
in  that  river,  the  waters  of  which,  so  necessary  to  their 
support  and  life,  were  now  rendered  not  only  insalu¬ 
brious  but  deadly ,  by  being  turned  into  blood.  As  it 
is  well  known  that  the  Nile  was  a  chief  object  of 
Egyptian  idolatry,  (see  on  ver.  15,)  and  that  annually 
they  sacrificed  a  girl ,  or  as  others  say,  both  a  hoy  and 
a  girl ,  to  this  river,  in  gratitude  for  the  benefits  re¬ 
ceived  from  it,  ( Universal  Hist.,  vol.  i.,  p.  178,  fol. 
edit.,)  God  might  have  designed  this  plague  as  a  pun¬ 
ishment  for  such  cruelty  :  and  the  contempt  poured 
upon  this  object  of  their  adoration,  by  turning  its  wa¬ 
ters  into  blood,  and  rendering  them  fetid  and  corrupt, 
must  have  had  a  direct  tendency  to  correct  their  idol¬ 
atrous  notions,  and  lead  them  to  acknowledge  the  power 
and  authority  of  the  true  God. 

Terse  25.  And  seven  days  ivere  fulfilled]  So  we 
learn  that  this  plague  continued  at  least  a  whole 
week. 

The  contention  between  Moses  and  Aaron  and  the 
magicians  of  Egypt  has  become  famous  throughout  the 
world.  Tradition  in  various  countries  has  preserved, 
not  only  the  account,  but  also  the  names  of  the  chief 
persons  concerned  in  the  opposition  made  by  the  Egyp¬ 
tians  to  these  messengers  of  God.  Though  their  names 
are  not  mentioned  in  the  sacred  text,  yet  tradition  had 
preserved  them  in  the  Jewish  records,  from  which  St. 
Paul  undoubtedly  quotes  2  Tim.  iii.  8,  where,  speaking 
of  the  enemies  of  the  Gospel,  he  compares  them  to 
Jannes  and  Jambres,  who  withstood  Moses.  That  these 
names  existed  in  the  ancient  Jewish  records,  their  own 
writings  show.  In  the  Tar  gum  of  Jonathan  ben  IJz- 
ziel  on  this  place  they  are  called  D’J '  Janis  and 

Jamhris;  and  in  the  Babylonian  Talmud  they  are  named 
Joanne  and  Mamhre,  and  are  represented  as  chiefs  of 
the  sorcerers  of  Egypt,  and  as  having  ridiculed  Moses 
and  Aaron  for  pretending  to  equal  them  in  magical  arts. 
And  Rab.  Tanchum,  in  his  Commentary,  names  them 
Jonos  and  Jomhrus.  If  we  allow  the  readings  of  the 
ancient  editions  of  Pliny  to  be  correct,  he  refers,  in 
Hist.  Nat.,  1.  xxx.,  c.  2,  to  the  same  persons,  the  names 
being  a  little  changed  :  JEst  et  alia  magices  f actio,  a 
Mose  et  Jamne  et  Jotape  Judceis  pendens,  sed  multis 
millibus  annorum  post  Zoroastrem ;  “  There  is  also 
another  faction  of  magicians  which  took  its  origin  from 
the  Jews,  Moses,  Jamnes,  and  Jotapes,  many  thousands 
of  years  after  Zoroaster where  he  confounds  Moses 

324 


continue  blood  seven  days. 

the  river  for  water  to  drink ;  m  for  they  a.  M.  2513. 

could  not  drink  of  the  water  of  the  river.  — — - - -• 

25  And  n  seven  days  were  fulfilled,  after 
that  the  Lord  had  smitten  the  river. 

n  2  Sam.  xxiv.  13. 

with  the  Egyptian  magicians  ;  for  the  heathens,  having 
no  just  notion  of  the  power  of  God,  attributed  all  mira¬ 
cles  to  the  influence  of  magic.  Pliny  also  calls  the 
Egyptian  magicians  Jeivs  ;  but.  this  is  not  the  only  mis¬ 
take  in  his  history ;  and  as  he  adds,  sed  multis  milli¬ 
bus  annorum  post  Zoroastrem,  he  is  supposed  by  some 
to  refer  to  the  Christians,  and  particularly  the  apostles , 
who  wrought  many  miracles,  and  whom  he  considers 
to  be  a  magical  sect  derived  from  Moses  and  the  Jews, 
because  they  were  Jews  by  nation,  and  quoted  Moses 
and  the  prophets  in  proof  of  the  truth  of  the  doctrines 
of  Christianity,  and  of  the  Divine  mission  of  Christ 

Numenius,  a  Pythagorean  philosopher,  mentioned 
by  Eusebius,  names  these  magicians,  Jamnes  and  Jam¬ 
bres,  and  mentions  their  opposition  to  Moses ;  and  we 
have  already  seen  that  there  was  a  tradition  among  the 
Asiatics  that  Pharaoh’s  daughter  had  Moses  instructed 
by  the  wise  men  Jannes  and  Jambres ;  see  Abul  Fa - 
raje,  edit.  Pococ.,  p.  26.  Here  then  is  a  very  remark¬ 
able  fact,  the  principal  circumstances  of  which,  and 
the  chief  actors  in  them,  have  been  preserved  by  a 
sort  of  universal  tradition.  See  Ainsworth. 

When  all  the  circumstances  of  the  preceding  case 
are  considered,  it  seems  strange  that  God  should  enter 
into  any  contest  with  such  persons  as  the  Egyptian 
magicians ;  but  a  little  reflection  will  show  the  abso¬ 
lute  necessity  of  this.  Mr.  Psalmanazar,  who  wrote 
the  Account  of  the  Jeivs  in  the  first  volume  of  the 
Universal  History,  gives  the  following  judicious  rea-- 
sons  for  this  :  “If  it  be  asked,”  says  he,  “  why  God 
did  suffer  the  Egyptian  magicians  to  borrow  power 
from  the  devil  to  invalidate,  if  possible,  those  miracles 
which  his  servant  wrought  by  his  Divine  power,  the 
following  reasons  may  be  given  for  it :  1.  It  was  ne¬ 
cessary  that  these  magicians  should  be  suffered  to  exert 
the  utmost  of  their  power  against  Moses,  in  order  to 
clear  him  from  the  imputation  of  magic  or  sorcery  ; 
for  as  the  notion  of  such  an  extraordinary  art  was  very 
rife,  not  only  among  the  Egyptians,  but  all  other  na¬ 
tions,  if  they  had  not  entered  into  this  strenuous  com¬ 
petition  with  him,  and  been  at  length  overcome  by  him, 
both  the  Hebrews  and  the  Egyptians  would  have  been 
apter  to  have  attributed  all  his  miracles  to  his  skill  in 
magic,  than  to  the  Divine  power. 

“2.  It  was  necessary,  in  order  to  confirm  the  faith 
of  the  wavering  and  desponding  Israelites,  by  making 
them  see  the  difference  between  Moses  acting  by  the 
power  of  God,  and  the  sorcerers  by  that  of  Satan. 

“3.  It  was  necessary,  in  order  to  preserve  them 
afterwards  from  being  seduced  by  any  false  miracles 
from  the  true  worship  of  God.” 

To  these  a  fourth  reason  may  be  added  :  God  per¬ 
mitted  this  in  mercy  to  the  Egyptians,  that  they  might 
see  that  the  gods  in  whom  they  trusted  were  utterly 
incapable  of  saving  them  ;  that  they  could  not  undo  or 
counteract  one  of  the  plagues  sent  on  them  by  the 
power  of  Jehovah  ;  the  whole  of  their  influence  ex- 

a 


Moses  is  again  sent  to  Pharaoh.  CHAP.  VIII.  Frogs ,  the  second  plague,  threatened . 


tending  only  to  some  superficial  imitations  ot  the  genu-  ! 
ine  miracles  wrought  by  Moses  in  the  name  of  the  true 
God.  By  these  means  it  is  natural  to  conclude  that 
many  of  the  Egyptians,  and  perhaps  several  of  the 
servants  of  Pharaoh,  were  cured  of  their  idolatry ; 
though  the  king  himself  hardened  his  heart  against  the 
evidences  which  God  brought  before  his  eyes.  Thus 


!  God  is  known  by  his  judgments  :  for  in  every  opera¬ 
tion  of  his  hand  his  design  is  to  enlighten  the  minds 
of  men,  to  bring  them  from  false  dependences  to  trust 
in  himself  alone  ;  that,  being  saved  from  error  and  sin, 
they  may  become  wise,  holy,  and  happy.  When  his 
judgments  are  abroad  in  the  earth,  the  inhabitants  learn 
righteousness.  See  the  note  on  chap.  iv.  21. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 


The  plague  of  frogs  threatened ,  1,  2.  The  extent  of  this  plague ,  3,  4.  Aaron  commanded  to  stretch  out 
his  hand ,  with  the  rod ,  over  the  river  and  waters  of  Egypt ,  in  consequence  of  which  the  frogs  came ,  5,  6. 
The  magicians  imitate  this  miracle ,  7.  Pharaoh  entreats  Moses  to  remove  the  frogs,  and  promises  to  let 
the  people  go,  8.  Moses  promises  that  they  shall  he  removed  from  every  part  of  Egypt,  the  river  excepted , 
9—11.  Moses  prays  to  God,  and  the  frogs  die  throughout  the  land  of  Egypt,  12—14.  Pharaoh,  finding 
himself  respited,  hardens  his  heart,  15.  The  plague  of  lice  on  man  and  beast,  16,  17.  The  magicians 
attempt  to  imitate  this  miracle,  but  in  vain,  18.  They  confess  it  to  be  the  finger  of  God,  and  yet  Pharaoh 
continues  obstinate,  19.  Moses  is  sent  again  to  him  to  command  him  to  let  the  people  go,  and  in  case  of 
disobedience  he  is  threatened  with  swarms  of  flies,  20,  21.  A  promise  made  that  the  land  of  Goshen , 
where  the  Israelites  dwelt,  should  be  exempted  from  this  plague ,  22,  23.  The  flies  are  sent,  24.  Pha¬ 
raoh  sends  for  Moses  and  Aaron,  and  offers  to  permit  them  to  sacrifice  in  the  land,  25.  They  refuse , 
and  desire  to  go  three  days'  journey  into  the  wilderness,  26,  27.  Pharaoh  consents  to  let  them  go  a  little 
way,  provided  they  would  entreat  the  Lord  to  remove  the  flies,  28.  Moses  consents,  prays  to  God,  and 
the  flies  are  removed,  29—31.  After  which  Pharaoh  yet  hardened  his  heart,  and  refused  to  let  the  people 
go,  32. 


A 

B 


.  M.  2513.  A  ND  the  Lord  spake  unto  Moses, 

!.  C.  1491.  JrL  ™  i  i 

bo  unto  Pharaoh,  ana  say  unto 


him,  Thus  saith  the  Lord,  Let  my  people  go, 
a  that  they  may  serve  me. 

a  Chap.  iii.  12,  18. 


2  And  if  thou  b  refuse  to  let  them  a.  m.  2513. 
go,  behold,  I  will  smite  all  thy  -?1.C'-1491. 
borders  with  c  frogs  : 

3  And  the  river  shall  bring  forth  frogs 

b  Chap.  vii.  14  ;  ix.  2. - c  Rev.  xvi.  13. 


NOTES  ON  CHAP.  VIII. 

The  second  plague — frogs. 

Verse  1.  Let  my  people  go]  God,  in  great  mercy 
to  Pharaoh  and  the  Egyptians,  gives  them  notice  of 
the  evils  he  intended  to  bring  upon  them  if  they  con¬ 
tinued  in  their  obstinacy.  Having  had  therefore  such 
warning,  the  evil  might  have  been  prevented  by  a 
timely  humiliation  and  return  to  God. 

Verse  2.  If  thou  refuse]  Nothing  can  be  plainer 
than  that  Pharaoh  had  it  still  in  his  power  to  have  dis¬ 
missed  the  people,  and  that  his  refusal  was  the  mere 
effect  of  his  own  wilful  obstinacy. 

With  frogs]  DT"H3¥  tsepardeim.  This  word  is 
of  doubtful  etymology :  almost  all  interpreters,  both 
ancient  and  modern,  agree  to  render  it  as  we  do, 
though  some  mentioned  by  Aben  Ezra  think  the  croco¬ 
dile  is  meant ;  but  these  can  never  weigh  against  the 
conjoint  testimony  of  the  ancient  versions.  Parkhurst 
derives  the  word  from  tsaphar,  denoting  the  brisk 
action,  or  motion  of  the  light ,  and  pT  yada,  to  feel, 
as  they  seem  to  feel  or  rejoice  in  the  light,  croaking 
all  the  summer  months,  yet  hiding  themselves  in  the 
winter.  The  Arabic  name  for  this  animal  is  very 

nearly  the  same  with  the  Hebrew  zafda,  where 

the  letters  are  the  same,  the  “1  resell  being  omitted. 
It  is  used  as  a  quadriliteral  root  in  the  Arabic  lan¬ 
guage,  to  signify  froggy,  or  containing  frogs :  see 
Golius. 


by  Bochart,  who  says  the  word  is  compounded  of 

zifa,  a  bank,  and  rada,  mud ,  because  the 
frog  delights  in  muddy  or  marshy  places ;  and  that 
from  these  two  words  the  noun  zafda  is  formed, 

the  J  re  being  dropped.  In  the  Batrochomyomachia 
of  Homer,  the  frog  has  many  of  its  epithets  from  this 
very  circumstance.  Hence  A cyvoxapig,  delighting  in 
the  lake ;  B opj3opoK.oirr/c,  lying  or  engendering  in  the 
mud ;  Tlffevg  and  Jlr/kofSarrjc,  belonging  to  the  mud, 
walking  in  the  mud,  c fc.,  c fc. 

A  frog  is  in  itself  a  very  harmless  animal ;  but  to 
most  people  who  use  it  not  as  an  article  of  food,  ex¬ 
ceedingly  loathsome.  God,  with  equal  ease,  could 
have  brought  crocodiles,  bears ,  lions,  or  tigers  to  have 
punished  these  people  and  their  impious  king,  instead 
of  frogs,  lice,  flies,  <Sgc.  But  had  he  used  any  of  those 
formidable  animals,  the  effect  would  have  appeared  so 
commensurate  to  the  cause,  that  the  hand  of  God  might 
have  been  forgotten  in  the  punishment ;  and  the  people 
would  have  been  exasperated  without  being  humbled. 
In  the  present  instance  he  shows  the  greatness  of  his 
power  by  making  an  animal,  devoid  of  every  evil  qua¬ 
lity,  the  means  of  a  terrible  affliction  to  his  enemies. 
Plow  easy  is  it,  both  to  the  justice  and  mercy  of  God, 
to  destroy  or  save  by  means  of  the  most  despicable 
and  insignificant  of  instruments !  Though  he  is  the 
Lord  of  hosts  he  has  no  need  of  powerful  armies, 


the  ministry  of  angels,  or  the  thunderbolts  of  justice, 
But  the  true  etymology  seems  to  be  given  ,  to  punish  a  sinner  or  a  sinful  nation ;  the  frog  or  the 
a  '  "  ‘  325 


EXODUS. 


Frogs  come  over  all  the  land , 

A.  M.  2513.  abundantly,  which  shall  go  up  and 

B  C.  1491.  .  o  i 

— 1 — 1 - 1  come  into  thine  house,  and  into 

d  thy  bed-chamber,  and  upon  thy  bed,  and 

into  the  house  of  thy  servants,  and  upon  thy 

people,  and  into  thine  ovens,  and  into  thy 

e  kneading-troughs  : 

4  And  the  frogs  shall  come  up  both  on  thee, 
and  upon  thy  people,  and  upon  all  thy  servants. 

5  And  the  Lord  spake  unto  Moses,  Say 
unto  Aaron,  f  Stretch  forth  thine  hand  with 
thy  rod  over  the  streams,  over  the  rivers,  and 
over  the  ponds,  and  cause  frogs  to  come  up 
upon  the  land  of  Egypt. 

6  And  Aaron  stretched  out  his  hand  over 
the  waters  of  Egypt ;  and  s  the  frogs  came 

d  Psa.  cv.  30. - e  Or,  dough. - { Ch.  vii.  19. - s  Psa.  lxxviii. 

45 ;  cv.  30. - Ch.  vii.  11 ;  Wisd.  xvii.  7. - -»  Ch.  ix.  28  ;  x.  17; 

jly  in  his  hands  is  a  sufficient  instrument  of  ven¬ 
geance. 

Verse  3.  The  river  shall  bring  forth  frogs  abun¬ 
dantly]  The  river  Nile,  which  was  an  object  of  their 
adoration,  was  here  one  of  the  instruments  of  their 
punishment.  The  expression,  bring  forth  abundantly , 
not  only  shows  the  vast  numbers  of  those  animals, 
which  should  now  infest  the  land,  but  it  seems  also 
to  imply  that  all  the  spawn  or  ova  of  those  animals 
which  were  already  in  the  river  and  marshes,  should 
be  brought  miraculously  to  a  state  of  perfection.  We 
may  suppose  that  the  animals  were  already  in  an  embryo 
existence,  but  multitudes  of  them  would  not  have  come 
to  a  state  of  perfection  had  it  not  been  for  this  mira¬ 
culous  interference.  This  supposition  will  appear  the 
more  natural  when  it  is  considered  that  the  Nile  was 
remarkable  for  breeding  frogs,  and  such  other  animal's 
as  are  principally  engendered  in  such  marshy  places 
as  must  be  left  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Nile  after  its  an¬ 
nual  inundations. 

Into  thine  ovens ]  In  various  parts  of  the  east,  in¬ 
stead  of  what  we  call  ovens  they  dig  a  hole  in  the 
ground,  in  which  they  insert  a  kind  of  earthen  pot, 
which  having  sufficiently  heated,  they  stick  their  cakes 
to  the  inside,  and  when  baked  remove  them  and  sup¬ 
ply  their  places  with  others,  and  so  on.  To  find  such 
places  full  of  frogs  when  they  came  to  heat  them,  in 
order  to  make  their  bread,  must  be  both  disgusting  and 
distressing  in  the  extreme. 

Verse  5.  Stretch  forth  thine  hand — over  the  streams , 
over  the  rivers]  The  streams  and  rivers  here  may  refer 
to  the  grand  divisions  of  the  Nile  in  the  Lower  Egypt, 
which  were  at  least  seven ,  and  to  the  canals  by  which 
these  were  connected  ;  as  there  were  no  other  streams, 
&c.,  but  what  proceeded  from  this  great  river. 

Verse  6.  The  frogs  came  up,  and  covered  the  land 
of  Egypt.]  In  some  ancient  writers  we  have  examples 
of  a  similar  plague.  The  Abderites,  according  to  Oro- 
sius ,  and  the  inhabitants  of  Pseonia  and  Dardania,  ac¬ 
cording  to  Athenceus ,  were  obliged  to  abandon  their 
country  un  account  of  the  great  numbers  of  frogs  by 
which  their  land  was  infested. 

326 


upon  which  Pharaoh  relents. 

up,  and  covered  the  land  of  a.  M.  2513. 
-rf  B.  C.  1491. 

Egypt.  - - - 

7  h  And  the  magicians  did  so  with  their 
enchantments,  and  brought  up  frogs  upon  the 
land  of  Egypt. 

8  Then  Pharaoh  called  for  Moses  and  Aaron, 
and  said,  1  Entreat  the  Lord  that  he  may  take 
away  the  frogs  from  me,  and  from  my  people  ; 
and  I  will  let  the  people  go,  that  they  may 
do  sacrifice  unto  the  Lord. 

9  And  Moses  said  unto  Pharaoh,  k  Glory 
over  me  :  1  when  shall  I  entreat  for  thee,  and 
for  thy  servants,  and  for  thy  people,  m  to  de¬ 
stroy  the  frogs  from  thee  and  thy  houses, 
that  they  may  remain  in  the  river  only  ? 

Num.  xxi.  7  ;  1  Kings  xiii.  6  ;  Acts  viii.  24. - k  Or,  have  this 

honour  over  me,  &c. - 1  Or,  against  when. - 111  Heb.  to  cut  off. 

Verse  7.  The  magicians  did  so]  A  little  juggling 
or  dexterity  of  hand  might  have  been  quite  sufficient 
for  the  imitation  of  this  miracle,  because  frogs  in  abun¬ 
dance  had  already  been  produced  ;  and  some  of  these 
kept  in  readiness  might  have  been  brought  forward  by 
the  magicians,  as  proofs  of  their  pretended  power  and 
equality  in  influence  to  Moses  and  Aaron. 

Verse  9.  Glory  over  me]  ’bp  “ixsnn  hithpaer  alai. 
These  words  have  greatly  puzzled  commentators  in 
general ;  and  it  is  not  easy  to  assign  their  true  mean¬ 
ing.  The  Septuagint  render  the  words  thus  :  Ta^ai 
Trpog  ye  ttots,  &c.,  Appoint  unto  me  when  I  shall 
pray ,  dye.  The  constitue  mihi  quando  of  the  Vulgate 
is  exactly  the  same ;  and  in  this  sense  almost  all  the 
versions  understood  this  place.  This  countenances 
the  conjectural  emendation  of  Le  Clerc.,  who,  by  the 
change  of  a  single  letter,  reading  nscnn  hithbaer  for 
hithpaer ,  gives  the  same  sense  as  that  in  the 
ancient  versions.  Houbigant,  supposing  a  corruption 
in  the  original,  amends  the  reading  thus :  ’’bp  7 XU  HIRS 
attah  baar  alai — Die  mihi  quo  tempore ,  dye.,  “  Tell 
me  when  thou  wishest  me  to  pray  for  thee,”  &c., 
which  amounts  to  the  same  in  sense  with  that  pro¬ 
posed  by  Le  Clerc.  Several  of  our  English  versions 
preserve  the  same  meaning ;  so  in  the  Saxon  Hepta¬ 
teuch,  Deretfee  me  anne  an  bagan  ;  SO  in  Becke’s  Bible, 
1549,  “  And  Moses  sayed  unto  Pharaoh,  Appoint  thou 
the  time  unto  me.”  This  appears  to  be  the  genuine 
import  of  the  words,  and  the  sense  taken  in  this  way 
is  strong  and  good.  We  may  conceive  Moses  address¬ 
ing  Pharaoh  in  this  way  :  “  That  thou  mayest  be 
persuaded  that  Jehovah  alone  is  the  inflicter  of  these 
plagues,  appoint  the  time  when  thou  wouldst  have  the 
present  calamity  removed,  and  I  will  pray  unto  God, 
and  thou  shalt  plainly  see  from  his  answer  that  this  is 
no  casual  affliction,  and  that  in  continuing  to  harden 
thy  heart  and  resist  thou  art  sinning  against  God.” 
Nothing  could  be  a  fuller  proof  that  this  plague  was 
supernatural  than  the  circumstance  of  Pharaoh’s  being 
permitted  to  assign  himself  the  time  of  its  being 
removed,  and  its  removal  at  the  intercession  of  Moses 
according  to  that  appointment.  And  this  is  the  very 

a 


CIIAP.  VIII. 


The  frogs  are  removed. 

A.  M.  2513.  10  And  lie  said,  11  To-morrow. 

— — 1 - k  And  lie  said,  Be  it  according  to 

thy  word  :  that  thou  mayest  know  that  0  there 
is  none  like  unto  the  Lord  our  God. 

1 1  And  the  frogs  shall  depart  from  thee, 
and  from  thy  houses,  and  from  thy  servants, 
and  from  thy  people  ;  they  shall  remain  in 
the  river  only. 

12  And  Moses  and  Aaron  went  out  from 
Pharaoh,  and  Moses  p  cried  unto  the  Lord, 
because  of  the  frogs  which  he  had  brought 
against  Pharaoh. 

1 3  And  the  Lord  did  according  to  the  word 
of  Moses  ;  and  the  frogs  died  out  of  the  houses, 
out  of  the  villages,  and  out  of  the  fields. 

n  Or,  against  to-morrow. - 0  Chap.  ix.  14;  Deut.  xxxiii.  26  ; 

2  Sam.  vii.  22 ;  1  Chron.  xvii.  20  ;  Psa.  lxxxvi.  8 ;  Isa.  xlvi.  9 ;  Jer. 

use  made  of  it  by  Moses  himself,  ver.  10,  when  he  says, 
Be  it  according  to  thy  word :  that  thou  mayest  know 
that  there  is  none  like  unto  the  Lord  our  God ;  and 
that,  consequently,  he  might  no  longer  trust  in  his 
magicians,  or  in  his  false  gods. 

Verse  14.  They  gathered  them  together  upon  heaps'] 
The  killing  of  the  frogs  was  a  mitigation  of  the  punish¬ 
ment  ;  but  the  leaving  them  to  rot  in  the  land  was  a 
continual  proof  that  such  a  plague  had  taken  place, 
and  that  the  displeasure  of  the  Lord  still  continued. 

The  conjecture  of  Calmet  is  at  least  rational :  he 
supposes  that  the  plague  of  flies  originated  from  the 
plague  of  frogs  ;  that  the  former  deposited  their  ova  in 
the  putrid  masses,  and  that  from  these  the  innumerable 
swarms  afterwards  mentioned  were  hatched.  In  vin¬ 
dication  of  this  supposition  it  may  be  observed,  that 
God  never  works  a  miracle  when  the  end  can  be  ac¬ 
complished  by  merely  natural  means ;  and  in  the  ope¬ 
rations  of  Divine  providence  we  always  find  that  the 
greatest  number  of  effects  possible  are  accomplished 
by  the  fewest  causes.  As  therefore  the  natural  means 
for  this  fourth  plague  had  been  miraculously  provided 
by  the  second,  the  Divine  Being  had  a  right  to  use  the 
instruments  which  he  had  already  prepared. 

The  third  plague — lice. 

Verse  16.  Smite  the  dust  of  the  land ,  that  it  m.ay 
become  lice]  If  the  vermin  commonly  designed  by  this 
name  be  intended,  it  must  have  been  a  very  dreadful 
and  afflicting  plague  to  the  Egyptians,  and  especially 
to  their  priests,  who  were  obliged  to  shave  the  hair 
off  every  part  of  their  bodies,  and  to  wear  a  single 
tunic,  that  no  vermin  of  this  kind  might  be  permitted 
to  harbour  about  them.  See  Herod,  in  Euterp.,  c. 
Xxxvii.,  p.  104,  edit.  Gale.  Of  the  nature  of  these 
insects  it  is  not  necessary  to  say  much.  The  common 
louse  is  very  prolific.  In  the  space  of  twelve  days  a 
full-grown  female  lays  one  hundred  eggs,  from  which, 
in  the  space  of  six  days,  about  fifty  males  and  as  many 
females  are  produced.  In  eighteen  days  these  young 
females  are  at  their  full  growth,  each  of  which  may 
lay  one  hundred  eggs,  which  will  be  all  hatched  in  six 


Lice,  the  third  plague. 

14  And  they  gathered  them  A.  M.  2513. 

together  upon  heaps  :  and  the  land  — — 1 - ■ 

stank. 

15  But  when  Pharaoh  saw  that  there  was 
1  respite,  r  he  hardened  his  heart,  and  heark¬ 
ened  not  unto  them ;  as  the  Lord  had  said. 

•  16  And  the  Lord  said  unto  Moses,  Say 
unto  Aaron,  Stretch  out  thy  rod,  and  smite 
the  dust  of  the  land,  that  it  may  become  lice 
throughout  all  the  land  of  Egypt. 

1 7  And  they  did  so  ;  for  Aaron  stretched 
out  his  hand  with  his  rod,  and  smote  the  dust 
of  the  earth,  and  s  it  became  lice  in  man,  and 
in  beast ;  all  the  dust  of  the  land  became  lice, 
throughout  all  the  land  of  Egypt. 

x.  6,7. - P  Ver.  40  ;  ch.  ix.  33  ;  x.  18  ;  xxxii.  ]  1  ;  James  v.  16, 

17,  18. - 1  Eccles.  viii.  1 1. - -r  Chap.  vii.  14. - s  Psa.  cv.  31. 

days  more.  Thus,  in  the  course  of  six  weeks,  the 
parent  female  may  see  5,000  of  its  own  descendants! 
So  mightily  does  this  scourge  of  indolence  and  filthi¬ 
ness  increase ! 

But  learned  men  are  not  agreed  on  the  signification 
of  the  original  word  Q’JD  kinnim,  which  different  copies 
of  the  Septuagint  render  onvideg,  cuvnreg,  and  GKvrjneg , 
gnats  ;  and  the  Vulgate  renders  sciniphes,  which  sig¬ 
nifies  the  same. 

Mr.  Harmer  supposes  he  has  found  out  the  true 
meaning  in  the  word  tarrentes,  mentioned  by  Vinisauf, 
one  of  our  ancient  English  writers  ;  who,  speaking  of 
the  expedition  of  King  Richard  I.  to  the  Holy  Land, 
says,  that  “  while  the  army  were  marching  from  Cay- 
phas  to  Caesarea,  they  were  greatly  distressed  every 
night  by  certain  worms  called  tarrentes ,  which  crept 
on  the  ground,  and  occasioned  a  very  burning  heat  by 
most  painful  punctures  ;  for,  being  armed  with  stings, 
they  conveyed  a  poison  which  quickly  occasioned  those 
who  were  wounded  by  them  to  swell,  and  was  attended 
with  the  most  acute  pain.”  All  this  is  far  fetched. 
Bochart  has  endeavoured  to  prove  that  the  kinnim 
of  the  text  may  mean  lice  in  the  common  acceptation 
of  the  term,  and  not  gnats.  1.  Because  those  in 
question  sprang  from  the  dust  of  the  earth,  and  not 
from  the  waters.  2.  Because  they  were  both  on  men 
and  cattle,  which  cannot  be  spoken  of  gnats.  3.  Be¬ 
cause  their  name  comes  from  the  radix  jlD  kun,  which 
signifies  to  make  firm,  fix,  establish,  which  can  never 
agree  to  gnats,  flies,  &c.,  which  are  ever  changing 
their  place,  and  are  almost  constantly  on  the  wing . 
4.  Because  POD  kinnah  is  the  term  by  which  the  Tal¬ 
mudists  express  the  louse ,  &c.  See  his  Hierozoicon , 
vol.  ii. ,  c.  xviii.,  col.  571.  The  circumstance  of  their 
being  in  man  and  in  beast  agrees  so  well  with  the 
nature  of  the  acarus  sanguisugus,  commonly  called  the 
lick,  belonging  to  the  seventh  order  of  insects  called 
aptera,  that  I  am  ready  to  conclude  this  is  the  insect 
meant.  This  animal  buries  both  its  sucker  and  head 
equally  in  man  or  beast ;  and  can  with  very  great  difficul¬ 
ty  be  extracted  before  it  is  grown  to  its  proper  size,  and 
1  filled  with  the  blood  and  juices  of  the  animal  on  which. 

327 


a 


The  magicians  confounded. 


EXODUS. 


The  fourth  plague  th'eatened 


A.  M.  2513. 

B.  C.  1491. 


1 8  And *  1  the 


magicians 


did 


so 


with  their  enchantments,  to  bring 
forth  lice,  but  they  11  could  not :  so  there  were 
lice  upon  man  and  upon  beast. 

19  Then  the  magicians  said  unto  Pharaoh, 


This  is  v  the  finger  of  God :  and  Pharaoh’s 
w  heart  was  hardened,  and  he  hearkened  not 
unto  them  ;  as  the  Lord  had  said. 

20  And  the  Lord  said  unto  Moses,  x  Rise 
up  early  in  the  morning,  and  stand  before 
Pharaoh  ;  (lo,  he  cometh  forth  to  the  water;) 
and  say  unto  him,  Thus  saith  the  Lord,  y  Let 


my  people  go,  that  they  may  A.  M.  2513. 
serve  me.  - 

2 1  Else,  if  thou  wilt  not  let  my  people  go, 
behold,  I  will  send  z  swarms  of  flies  upon  thee, 
and  upon  thy  servants,  and  upon  thy  people, 
and  into  thy  houses  :  and  the  houses  of  the 
Egyptians  shall  be  full  of  swarms  of  flies,  and 
also  the  ground  whereon  they  are. 

22  And  a  I  will  sever  in  that  day  the 
land  of  Goshen,  in  which  my  people  dwel], 
that  no  swarms  of  flies  shall  be  there ;  to 
the  end  thou  mayest  know  that  I  am 


♦  Ch.  vii.  11. - uLuke  x.  18  ;  Wisd.  xvii.  7  ;  2  Tim.  iii.  8,  9. 

v  1  Sam.  vi.  3, 9  ;  Psa.  viii.  3 ;  Matt.  xii.  28 ;  Luke  xi.  20. - w  Ver. 

it  preys.  When  fully  grown,  it  has  a  glossy  black  oval 
body  :  not  only  horses,  cows,  and  sheep,  are  infested 
with  it  in  certain  countries,  but  even  the  common  peo¬ 
ple,  especially  those  who  labour  in  the  field,  in  woods, 
&c.  I  know  no  insect  to  which  the  Hebrew  term  so 
properly  applies.  This  is  the  fixed ,  established  insect, 
which  will  permit  itself  to  be  pulled  in  pieces  rather 
than  let  go  its  hold ;  and  this  is  literally  jl 

baadam  ubabbehemah,  in  man  and  in  beast ,  burying  its 
trunk  and  head  in  the  flesh  of  both.  In  woodland 
countries  I  have  seen  many  persons  as  well  as  cattle 
grievously  infested  with  these  insects. 

Verse  18.  The  magicians  did  xo]  That  is,  They 
tried  the  utmost  of  their  skill,  either  to  produce  these 
insects  or  to  remove  this  plague  ;  but  they  coidd  not, 
no  juggling  could  avail  here,  because  insects  must  be 
produced  which  would  stick  to  and  infix  themselves  in 
man  and  beast,  which  no  kind  of  trick  could  possibly 
imitate ;  and  to  remove  them,  as  some  would  translate 
the  passage,  was  to  their  power  equally  impossible. 
If  the  magicians  even,  acted  by  spiritual  agents,  we 
find  from  this  case  that  these  agents  had  assigned 
limits,  beyond  which  they  could  not  go  ;  for  every 
agent  in  the  universe  is  acting  under  the  direction  or 
control  of  the  Almighty. 

Verse  19.  This  is  the  finger  of  God]  That  is,  The 
power  and  skill  of  God  are  here  evident.  Probably 
before  this  the  magicians  supposed  Moses  and  Aaron 
to  be  conjurers,  like  themselves ;  but  now  they  are 
convinced  that  no  man  could  do  these  miracles  which 
these  holy  men  did,  unless  God  were  with  him.  God 
permits  evil  spirits  to  manifest  themselves  in  a  certain 
way,  that  men  may  see  that  there  is  a  spiritual  world, 
and  be  on  their  guard  against  seduction.  He  at  the 
same  time  shows  that  all  these  agents  are  under  his 
control,  that  men  may  have  confidence  in  his  goodness 
and  power. 

The  fourth  plague— flies. 

Verse  21.  Swarms  of  flies  upon  thee]  It  is  not 
easy  to  ascertain  the  precise  meaning  of  the  original 
word  hearob  ;  as  the  word  comes  from  mp  arab, 
he  mingled,  it  may  be  supposed  to  express  a  multitude 
of  various  sorts  of  insects.  And  if  the  conjecture  be 
admitted  that  the  putrid  frogs  became  the  occasion  of 

328 


15. - x  Chap.  vii.  15. - y  Ver.  1. - z  Or,  a  mixture  of  noisome 

beasts,  &c. - a  Chap.  ix.  4,  6,  26  ;  x.  23  ;  xi.  6,  7 ;  xii.  13. 

this  plague,  {different  insects  laying  their  eggs  in  the 
bodies  of  those  dead  animals,  which  would  soon  be 
hatched,  see  on  verse  14,)  then  the  supposition  that  a 
multitude  of  different  kinds  of  insects  is  meant,  will 
seem  the  more  probable.  Though  the  plague  of  the 
locusts  was  miraculous,  yet  God  both  brought  it  and 
removed  it  by  natural  means;  see  chap.  x.  13—19. 

Bochart ,  who  has  treated  this  subject  with  his  usual 
learning  and  ability,  follows  the  Septuagint,  explaining 
the  original  by  Kvvoyvi.a,  the  dog-fly ;  which  must  be 
particularly  hateful  to  the  Egyptians,  because  they 
held  dogs  in  the  highest  veneration,  and  worshipped 
Anubis  under  the  form  of  a  dog.  In  a  case  of  this 
kind  the  authority  of  the  Septuagint  is  very  high,  as 
they  translated  the  Pentateuch  in  the  very  place  where 
these  plagues  happened.  But  as  the  Egyptians  are 
well  known  to  have  paid  religious  veneration  to  all 
kinds  of  animals  and  monsters,  whence  the  poet : — 

Omnigenumque  deum  monstra,  et  latrator  Anubis , 

I  am  inclined  to  favour  the  literal  construction  of  the 
word  :  for  as  ereb,  chap.  xii.  38,  expresses  that 
mixed  multitude  of  different  kinds  of  people  who  ac¬ 
companied  the  Israelites  in  their  departure  from  Egypt; 
so  here  the  same  term  being  used,  it  may  have  been 
designed  to  express  a  multitude  of  different  kinds  of 
insects,  such  as  flies,  ivasps,  hornets,  &c.,  &c.  The 
ancient  Jewish  interpreters  suppose  that  all  kinds  of 
beasts  and  reptiles  are  intended,  such  as  wolves,  lions , 
bears,  serpents,  &c.  Mr.  Bate  thinks  the  raven  is 
meant,  because  the  original  is  so  understood  in  other 
places ;  and  thus  he  translates  it  in  his  literal  version 
of  the  Pentateuch  :  but  the  meaning  already  given  is 
the  most  likely.  As  to  the  objection  against  this 
opinion  drawn  from  ver.  31,  there  remained  not  one , 
it  can  have  very  little  weight,  when  it  is  considered 
that  this  may  as  well  be  spoken  of  one  of  any  of  the 
different  kinds,  as  of  an  individual  of  one  species. 

Verse  22.  I  iv ill  sever  in  that  day~\  '’rrban  hiphley- 
thi,  has  been  translated  by  some  good  critics,  1  will 
miraculously  separate  ;  so  the  Vulgate  :  Faciam  mira * 
bilem,  “  I  will  do  a  marvellous  thing.”  And  the  Sep¬ 
tuagint,  rrapado^aao),  I  will  render  illustrious  the  land 
of  Goshen  in  that  day ;  and  this  he  did,  by  exempting 
that  land,  and  its  inhabitants  the  Israelites,  from  the 
plagues  by  which  he  afflicted  the  land  of  Egypt. 

a 


Flies  come  over  all  the  land. 


CHAP.  VIII. 


Phuraoh  desires  their  removal . 


A.  M.  2513.  the  Lord  in  the  midst  of  the 

B.  C.  1491.  . 

-  earth. 

23  And  I  will  put  b  a  division  between  my 
people  and  thy  people  :  c  to-morrow  shall  this 
sign  be. 

24  And  the  Lord  did  so  :  and  d  there  came 
a  grievous  swarm  of  flies  into  the  house  of 
Pharaoh,  and  into  his  servants’  houses,  and 
into  all  the  land  of  Egypt :  the  land  was 
c  corrupted  by  reason  of  the  swarm  of  flies. 

25  And  Pharaoh  called  for  Moses  and  for 


b  Heb.  a  redemption. - c  Or,  by  to-morrow. - -d  Psa.  lxxviii.  45  ; 

cv.  31  ;  Wisd.  xvi.  9. - e  Or,  destroyed. 

Verse  23.  And  I  will  put  a  division ]  m3  peduth, 
a  redemption,  between  my  people  and  thy  people  ;  God 
hereby  showing  that  he  had  redeemed  them  from  those 
plagues  to  which  he  had  abandoned  the  others. 

Verse  24.  The  land  was  corrupted ]  Every  thing 
was  spoiled,  and  many  of  the  inhabitants  destroyed, 
Being  probably  stung  to  death  by  these  venomous 
insects.  This  seems  to  be  intimated  by  the  psalmist, 
“  He  sent  divers  sorts  of  flies  among  them,  which  de¬ 
voured  them,”  Psa.  lxxviii.  45. 

In  ancient  times,  when  political,  domestic,  and  per¬ 
sonal  cleanliness  was  but  little  attended  to,  and  offal 
of  different  kinds  permitted  to  corrupt  in  the  streets 
and  breed  vermin,  flies  multiplied  exceedingly,  so  that 
we  read  in  ancient  authors  of  whole  districts  being 
laid  waste  by  them  ;  hence  different  people  had  deities, 
whose  office  it  was  to  defend  them  against  flies. 
Among  these  we  may  reckon  Baalzebub,  the  jhj-god 
of  Ekron  ;  Hercules ,  muscarum  abactor ,  Hercules,  the 
expeller  of  flies,  of  the  Romans;  the  Muagrus  of  the 
Eleans ,  whom  they  invoked  against  pestilential  swarms 
of  flies ;  and  hence  Jupiter ,  the  supreme  god  of  the 
heathens,  had  the  epithets  of  knouviog  and  M vuSrjc, 
because  he  was  supposed  to  expel  flies ,  and  defend  his 
worshippers  against  them.  See  Dodd. 

Verse  25.  Sacrifice  to  your  God  in  the  land. ]  That 
is,  Ye  shall  not  leave  Egypt,  but  I  shall  cause  your 
worship  to  be  tolerated  here. 

Verse  26.  We  shall  sacrifice  the  abomination  of  the 
Egyptians ]  That  is,  The  animals  which  they  hold 
sacred,  and  will  not  permit  to  be  slain,  are  those 
which  our  customs  require  us  to  sacrifice  to  our  God ; 
and  should  we  do  this  in  Egypt  the  people  would  rise 
in  a  mass,  and  stone  us  to  death.  Perhaps  few  people 
were  more  superstitious  than  the  Egyptians.  Almost 
every  production  of  nature  was  an  object  of  their  reli¬ 
gious  worship :  the  sun,  moon,  planets,  stars,  the 
river  Nile,  animals  of  all  sorts,  from  the  human  bein & 
to  the  monkey,  dog,  cat,  and  ibis,  and  even  the  onions 
and  leeks  which  grew  in  their  gardens.  Jupiter  was 
adored  by  them  under  the  form  of  a  ram ,  Apollo  under 
the  form  of  a  crow ,  Bacchus  under  that  of  a  goat ,  and 
Juno  under  that  of  a  heifer.  The  reason  why  the 
Egyptians  worshipped  those  animals  is  given  by  Eu¬ 
sebius,  viz.,  that  when  the  giants  made  war  on  the 
gods,  they  were  obliged  to  take  refuge  in  Egypt,  and 
assume  the  shapes  or  disguise  themselves  under  dif- 

a 


Aaron,  and  said,  Go  ye,  sacrifice  A.  M.  2513. 
to  your  God  in  the  land.  -B'  CY 49L 

26  And  Moses  said,  It  is  not  meet  so  to  do ; 
for  we  shall  sacrifice  f  the  abomination  of  the 
Egyptians  to  the  Lord  our  God :  lo,  shall 
we  sacrifice  the  abomination  of  the  Egyptians 
before  their  eyes,  and  will  they  not  stone  us  ? 

27  We  will  go  %  three  days’  journey  into 
the  wilderness,  and  sacrifice  to  the  Lord  our 
God,  as  h  he  shall  command  us. 

28  And  Pharaoh  said,  I  will  let  you  go, 

fGen.  xliii.  32;  xlvi.  34;  Deut.  vii.  25,26;  xii.  31. - sChap. 

iii.  18. - h  Chap.  iii.  12. 

ferent  kinds  of  animals  in  order  to  escape.  Jupiter 
hid  himself  in  the  body  of  a  ram,  Apollo  in  that  of  a 
crow,  Bacchus  in  a  goat,  Diana  in  a  cat,  Juno  in  a 
white  heifer,  Venus  in  a  fish,  and  Mercury  in  the  bird 
ibis  ;  all  which  are  summed  up  by  Ovid  in  the  follow¬ 
ing  lines  : — 

Duxque  gregis  fit  Jupiter - 

Delius  in  corvo,  proles  Semeleia  capro , 

Fele  soror  Phcebi,  nivea  Saturnia  vacca , 

Pisce  Venus  latuit,  Cyllenius  ibidis  alls. 

Metam.,  1.  v.,  fab.  v.,  1.  326. 

How  the  gods  fled  to  Egypt’s  slimy  soil, 

And  hid  their  heads  beneath  the  banks  of  Nile ; 
How  Typhon  from  the  conquer’d  skies  pursued 
Their  routed  godheads  to  the  seven-mouth’d  flood; 
Forced  every  god,  his  fury  to  escape, 

Some  beastly  form  to  take,  or  earthly  shape. 

Jove ,  so  she  sung,  was  changed  into  a  ram , 

From  whence  the  horns  of  Libyan  Ammon  came  ; 
Bacchus  a  goat,  Apollo  was  a  crow , 

Phoebe  a  cat ,  the  wife  of  Jove  a  cow , 

Whose  hue  was  whiter  than  the  falling  snow ; 
Mercury ,  to  a  nasty  ibis  turn’d, 

The  change  obscene,  afraid  of  Typhon  mourn’d 
While  Venus  from  a  fish  protection  craves, 

And  once  more  plunges  in  her  native  waves 

Maynwaring. 

These  animals  therefore  became  sacred  to  them  on 
account  of  the  deities,  who,  as  the  fable  reports,  bad 
taken  refuge  in  them.  Others  suppose  that  the  reason 
why  the  Egyptians  would  not  sacrifice  or  kill  those 
creatures  was  their  belief  in  the  doctrine  of  the  me¬ 
tempsychosis,  or  transmigration  of  souls ;  for  they 
feared  lest  in  killing  an  animal  they  should  kill  a 
relative  or  a  friend.  This  doctrine  is  still  held  by  the 
Hindoos. 

Verse  27.  And  sacrifice  to  the  Lord — as  he  shall 
command  ms.]  It  is  very  likely  that  neither  Moses 
nor  Aaron  knew  as  yet  in  what  manner  God  would  be 
worshipped ;  and  they  expected  to  receive  a  direct 
revelation  from  him  relative  to  this  subject,  when  they 
should  come  into  the  wilderness. 

Verse  28.  I  will  let  you  go — only  ye  shall  not  go 
very  far  away\  Pharaoh  relented  because  the  hand 
of  God  was  heavy  upon  him  ;  but  he  was  not  willing 
to  give  up  his  gain.  The  Israelites  were  very  profit- 

329 


EXODUS. 


Pharaoh  hardens  dns  heart. 


The  flies  are  removed ,  and 

A.  M.  2533.  that  ye  may  sacrifice  to  the  Lord 

- ’  your  God  in  the  wilderness  ;  only 

ye  shall  not  go  very  far  away :  1  entreat  for  me 
29  And  Moses  said,  Behold,  I  go  out  from 
thee,  and  I  will  entreat  the  Lord  that  the 
swarms  of  flies  may  depart  from  Pharaoh, 
from  his  servants,  and  from  his  people,  to¬ 
morrow  :  but  let  not  Pharaoh  k  deal  deceitfully 
any  more  in  not  letting  the  people  go  to  sa¬ 
crifice  to  the  Lord. 

i  Ver.  8  ;  chap.  ix.  28  ;  1  Kings  xiii.  6. 

able  to  him  ;  they  were  slaves  of  the  state,  and  their 
hard  labour  was  very  productive  :  hence  he  professed 
a  willingness,  first  to  tolerate  their  religion  in  the  land, 
(ver.  25  ;)  or  to  permit  them  to  go  into  the  wilderness, 
so  that  they  went  not  far  away,  and  would  soon  return. 
How  ready  is  foolish  man,  when  the  hand  of  God 
presses  him  sore,  to  compound  with  his  Maker  !  He 
will  consent  to  give  up  some  sins,  provided  God  will 
permit  him  to  keep  others. 

Entreat  for  me.]  Exactly  similar  to  the  case  of 
Simon  Magus,  who,  like  Pharaoh,  fearing  the  Divine 
judgments,  begged  an  interest  in  the  prayers  of  Peter, 
Acts  viii.  24. 

Verse  31.  The  Lord  did  according  to  the  word  of 

Moses]  How  powerful  is  prayer  !  God  permits  his 

servant  to  prescribe  even  the  manner  and  time  in 

which  he  shall  work. 

* 

lie  removed  the  swai'ms]  Probably  by  means  of  a 
strong  wind,  which  swept  them  into  the  sea. 

Verse  32.  Pharaoh  hardened  his  heart  at  this  time 
also]  See  ver.  15.  This  hardening  was  the  mere 
effect  of  his  self-determining  obstinacy.  He  preferred 
his  gain  to  the  will  and  command  of  Jehovah,  and 
God  made  his  obstinacy  the  means  of  showing  forth 
his  own  power  and  providence  in  a  supereminent 
degree. 

1.  As  every  false  religion  proves  there  is  a  true 
one,  as  a  copy ,  however  marred  or  imperfect,  shows 
there  was  an  original  from  which  it  was  taken,  so 
false  miracles  prove  that  there  were  genuine  miracles, 
and  that  God  chooses  at  particular  times,  for  the  most 
important  purposes,  to  invert  the  established  order  of 
nature,  and  thus  prove  his  omnipotence  and  universal 
agency.  That  the  miracles  wrought  at  this  time  were 
real  we  have  the  fullest  proof.  The  waters,  for  in¬ 
stance,  were  not  turned  into  blood  in  appearance 
merely,  but  were  really  thus  changed.  Hence  the 
people  could  not  drink  of  them  ;  and  as  blood  in  a 
very  short  time,  when  exposed  to  the  air,  becomes 
putrid,  so  did  the  bloody  waters ;  therefore  all  the  fish 
that  were  in  the  river  died. 

2.  No  human  power  or  ingenuity  could  produce 
such  frogs  as  annoyed  the  land  of  Egypt.  This  also 
was  a  real,  not  an  imaginary,  plague.  Innumerable 
multitudes  of  these  animals  were  produced  for  the 
purpose  ;  and  the  heaps  of  their  dead  carcasses,  which 
putrefied  and  infected  the  land,  'at  once  demonstrated 
the  reality  of  the  miracle. 

330 


30  And  Moses  went  out  from  a.  q' 

Pharaoh,  and  1  entreated  the  Lord.  — 1 — i - - 

3 1  And  the  Lord  did  according  to  the  word 
of  Moses  ;  and  he  removed  the  swarms 
of  flies  from  Pharaoh,  from  his  servants, 
and  from  his  people  ;  there  remained  not 
one. 

32  And  Pharaoh  “hardened  his  heart 
at  this  time  also,  neither  would  he  let  the 
people  go. 

k  Ver.  15. - 1  Ver.  12. - mVer.  15;  chap.  iv.  21. 

3.  The  lice  both  on  man  and  beast  through  the 
whole  land,  and  the  innumerable  swarms  of  flies,  gave 
such  proofs  of  their  reality  as  to  put  the  truth  of  these 
miracles  out  of  question  for  ever.  It  was  necessary 
that  this  point  should  be  fully  proved,  that  both  the 
Egyptians  and  Israelites  might  see  the  finger  of  God 
in  these  awful  works. 

4.  To  superficial  observers  only  do  “Moses  and  the 
magicians  appear  to  be  nearly  matched.”  The  power 
of  God  was  shown  in  producing  and  removing  the 
plagues.  In  certain  cases  the  magicians  imitated  the 
production  of  a  plague,  but  they  had  no  power  to 
remove  any.  They  could  not  seem  to  remove  the 
bloody  colour,  nor  the  putrescency  from  the  waters 
through  which  the  fish  were  destroyed,  though  they 
could  imitate  the  colour  itself ;  they  could  not  remove 
the  frogs,  the  lice,  or  swarms  of  flies,  though  they 
could  imitate  the  former  and  latter ;  they  could  by 
dexterity  of  hand  or  diabolic  influence  produce  ser¬ 
pents,  but  they  could  not  bring  one  forward  that  could 
swallow  up  the  rod  of  Aaron.  In  every  respect  they 
fall  infinitely  short  of  the  power  and  wonderful  energy 
evidenced  in  the  miracles  of  Moses  and  Aaron.  The 
opposition  therefore  of  those  men  served  only  as  a  foil 
to  set  off  the  excellence  of  that  power  by  which  these 
messengers  of  God  acted. 

5.  The  courage,  constancy,  and  faith  of  Moses,  are 
worthy  of  the  most  serious  consideration.  Had  he 
not  been  fully  satisfied  of  the  truth  and  certainty  of 
his  Divine  mission,  he  could  not  have  encountered  such, 
a  host  of  difficulties  ;  had  he  not  been  certain  of  the 
issue,  he  could  not  have  persevered  amidst  so  many 
discouraging  circumstances  ;  and  had  he  not  had  a  deep 
acquaintance  with  God,  his  faith  in  every  trial  must 
have  necessarily  failed.  So  strong  was  this  grace  in 
him  that  he  could  even  pledge  his  Maker  to  the  per¬ 
formance  of  works  concerning  which  he  had  not  as  yet 
consulted  him  !  He  therefore  let  Pharaoh  fix  the  very 
time  on  which  he  would  wish  to  have  the  plague  re¬ 
moved  ;  and  when  this  was  done,  he  went  to  God  by 
faith  and  prayer  to  obtain  this  new  miracle  ;  and  God 
in  the  most  exact  and  circumstantial  manner  fulfilled 
the  word  of  his  servant. 

6.  From  all  this  let  us  learn  that  there  is  a  God 
who  worketh  in  the  earth  ;  that  universal  nature  is  un¬ 
der  his  control ;  that  he  can  alter,  suspend,  counteract, 
or  invert  its  general  laws  whensoever  he  pleases ;  and 
that  he  can  save  or  destroy  by  the  most  feeble  and 
most  contemptible  instruments.  We  should  therefore 


A  pestilence  among  the  cattle 

deeply  reverence  his  eternal  power  and  Godhead,  and 
look  with  respect  on  every  creature  he  has  made,  as 
the  meanest  of  them  may,  in  his  hand,  become  the  in¬ 
strument  of  our  salvation  or  our  ruin. 

7.  Let  us  not  imagine  that  God  has  so  bound  him¬ 
self  to  work  by  general  laws,  that  those  destructions 
cannot  take  place  which  designate  a  particular  provi¬ 
dence.  Pharaoh  and  the  Egyptians  are  confounded, 
afflicted,  routed,  and  ruined,  while  the  land  of  Goshen 
and  the  Israelites  are  free  from  every  plague  !  No 
blood  appears  in  their  streams  ;  no  frogs,  lice,  nor  flies, 
in  all  their  borders  !  They  trusted  in  the  true  God, 


of  Pharaoh  is  threatened. 

and  could  not  be  cr.nfounded.  Reader,  how  secure 
mayest  thou  rest  if  thou  hast  this  God  for  thy  friend  ! 
He  was  the  Protector  and  Friend  of  the  Israelites 
through  the  blood  of  that  covenant  which  is  the  very 
charter  of  thy  salvation  :  trust  in  and  pray  to  him  as 
Moses  did,  and  then  Satan  and  his  angels  shall  be 
bruised  under  thy  feet,  and  thou  shalt  not  only  be  pre¬ 
served  from  every  plague,  but  be  crowned  with  his 
loving  kindness  and  tender  mercy.  He  is  the  same 
to-day  that  he  was  yesterday,  and  shall  continue  the 
same  for  ever.  Hallelujah,  the  Lord  God  omnipotent 
reigneth  ! 


CHAP.  IX. 


CHAPTER  IX. 


The  Lord  sends  Moses  to  Pharaoh  to  inform  him  that ,  if  he  did  not  let  the  Israelites  depart ,  a  destructive 
pestilence  should  he  sent  among  his  cattle ,  1—3  ;  while  the  cattle  of  the  Israelites  should  he  preserved,  4. 
The  next  day  this  pestilence ,  which  was  the  fifth  plague,  is  sent,  and  all  the  cattle  of  the  Egyptians  die , 
5,  6.  Though  Pharaoh  finds  that  not  one  of  the  cattle  of  the  Israelites  had  died,  yet,  through  hardness 
of  heart ,  he  refuses  to  let  the  people  go,  7.  Moses  and  Aaron  are  commanded  to  sprinkle  handfuls  of 
ashes  from  the  f  urnace,  that  the  sixth  plague,  that  of  boils  and  blains,  might  come  on  man  and  beast ,  8,  9  ; 
which  having  done,  the  plague  takes  place,  10.  The  magicians  cannot  stand  before  this  plague,  which  they 
can  neither  imitate  nor  remove,  11.  Pharaoh's  heart  is  again  hardened ,  12.  God's  awful  message  to 
Pharaoh,  with  the  threat  of  more  severe  plagues  than  before,  13—17.  The  seventh  plague  of  rain,  hail, 
and  fire  threatened ,  18.  The  Egyptians  commanded  to  house  their  cattle  that  they  might  not  be  destroyed, 
19.  Those  who  feared  the  word  of  the  Lord  brought  home  their  servants  and  cattle,  and  those  who  did 
not  regard  that  word  left  their  cattle  and  servants  in  the  fields,  20,  21.  The  storm  of  hail,  thunder,  and 
lightning  takes  place,  22—24.  It  nearly  desolates  the  ivhole  land  of  Egypt,  25,  xohile  the  land  of  Goshen 
escapes,  26.  Pharaoh  confesses  his  sin,  and  begs  an  interest  in  the  prayers  of  Moses  and  Aaron,  27,  28. 
Moses  promises  to  intercede  for  him,  and  while  he  promises  that  the  storm  shall  cease ,  he  foretells  the  con¬ 
tinuing  obstinacy  of  both  himself  and  his  servants,  29,  30.  The  flax  and  barley,  being  in  a  state  of  matu¬ 
rity,  are  destroyed  by  the  tempest,  31 ;  ichile  the  wheat  and  the  rye,  not  being  grown  up,  are  preserved,  32. 
Moses  obtains  a  cessation  of  the  storm,  33.  Pharaoh  and  his  servants,  seeing  this,  harden  their  hearts , 
and  refuse  to  let  the  people  go,  34,  35. 


A.  M.  2513.  HPHEN  the  Lord  said  unto 

B.  C.  1491^  Moses,  a  Go  in  unto  Pharaoh, 

and  tell  him,  Thus  saith  the  Lord  God  of 
the  Hebrews,  Let  my  people  go,  that  they 
may  serve  me. 


2  For  if  thou  b  refuse  to  let  them  a.  M.  2513. 

go,  and  wilt  hold  them  still,  JB^c^49i^ 

3  Behold,  the  c  hand  of  the  Lord  is  upon 
thy  cattle  which  is  in  the  field,  upon  the 
horses,  upon  the  asses,  upon  the  camels,  upon 


a  Chap.  viii.  1. - b  Chap.  viii.  2. 

NOTES  ON  CHAP.  IX. 

Verse  1.  The  Lord  God  of  the  Hebrews ]  It  is  very 
likely  that  the  term  Lord,  niTT  Yehovah,  is  used  here 
to  point  out  particularly  his  eternal  power  and  God¬ 
head  ;  and  that  the  term  God,  TiSn  Elohey,  is  intended 
to  be  understood  in  the  sense  of  Supporter,  Defender, 
Protector,  &c.  Thus  saith  the  self-existent,  omnipo¬ 
tent,  and  eternal  Being,  the  Supporter  and  Defender 
of  the  Hebrews,  “  Let  my  people  go,  that  they  may 
worship  me.” 

The  fifth  plague — the  murrain. 

Verse  3.  The  hand  of  the  Lord ]  The  power  of  God 
manifested  in  judgment. 

Upon  the  horses ]  D'DID  susim.  This  is  +he  first 
place  the  horse  is  mentioned  ;  a  creature  for  which 
Egypt  and  Arabia  were  always  famous.  DD  sus  is 
supposed  to  have  the  same  meaning  with  W  sas ,  which 

a 


c  Chap.  vii.  4. 

signifies  to  be  active,  brisk,  or  lively,  all  which  are  pro¬ 
per  appellatives  of  the  horse,  especially  in  Arabia  and 
Egypt.  Because  of  their  activity  and  swiftness  they 
were  sacrificed  and  dedicated  to  the  sun,  and  perhaps 
it  was  principally  on  this  account  that  God  prohibited 
the  use  of  them  among  the  Israelites. 

A  very  grievous  murrain .]  The  murrain  is  a  very 
contagious  disease  among  cattle,  the  symptoms  of  which 
are  a  hanging  down  and  swelling  of  the  head,  abun¬ 
dance  of  gum  in  the  eyes,  rattling  in  the  throat,  diffi¬ 
culty  of  breathing,  palpitation  of  t.h£  heart,  staggering, 
a  hot  breath,  and  a  shining  tongue  ;  which  symptoms 
prove  that  a  general  inflammation  has  taken  place. 
The  original  word  “m  deber  is  variously  translated. 
The  Septuagint  have  Qavaroq,  death  ;  the  Vidgate  has 
pestis,  a  plague  or  pestilence ;  the  old  Saxon  version, 
cpealine,  from  cpcalan,  to  die,  any  fatal  disease .  Our 
English  word  murrain  comes  either  from  the  French 

331 


EXODUS. 


Murrain ,  the  fifth  'plague. 


Boils ,  the  sixth  plague. 


A.  M.  2513. 

B.  C.  1491. 


the  oxen,  and  upon  the  sheep : 
there  shall  he  a  very  grievous 


murrain. 

4  And  d  the  Lord  shall  sever  between  the 
cattle  of  Israel,  and  the  cattle  of  Egypt :  and 
there  shall  nothing  die  of  all  that  is  the  chil¬ 
dren’s  of  Israel. 

5  And  the  Lord  appointed  a  set  time,  say¬ 
ing,  To-morrow  the  Lord  shall  do  this  thing 
in  the  land. 

6  And  the  Lord  did  that  thing  on  the  mor¬ 
row,  and  e  all  the  cattle  of  Egypt  died  :  but 
of  the  cattle  of  the  children  of  Israel  died  not 
one. 


7  And  Pharaoh  sent,  and,  behold,  there  was 
not  one  of  the  cattle  of  the  Israelites  dead. 
And  f  the  heart  of  Pharaoh  was  hardened, 
and  he  did  not  let  the  people  go. 


8  And  the  Lord  said  unto  Moses  a.  m.  2513. 

and  unto  Aaron,  Take  to  you  hand-  — ! - 1 

fuls  of  ashes  of  the  furnace,  and  let  Moses 
sprinkle  it  toward  the  heaven  in  the  sight  of 
Pharaoh. 

9  And  it  shall  become  small  dust  in  all  the 
land  of  Egypt,  and  shall  be  ^  a  boil  breaking 
forth  with  blains  upon  man,  and  upon  beast, 
throughout  all  the  land  of  Egypt. 

1 0  And  they  took  ashes  of  the  furnace,  and 
stood  before  Pharaoh ;  and  Moses  sprinkled 
it  up  toward  heaven  ;  and  it  became  h  a  boil 
breaking  forth  with  blains  upon  man  and 
upon  beast. 

1 1  And  the  1  magicians  could  not  stand 
before  Moses,  because  of  the  boils  ;  for  the 
boil  was  upon  the  magicians,  and  upon  all  the 
Egyptians. 


&  Chapter  viii.  22. - ~e  Psa.  Ixxviii.  50. - -f  Chapter  vii.  14; 

viii.  32. - s  Rev.  xvi.  2. 


b Deuteronomy  xxviii.  27. - ’Chapter  viii.  18,  19; 

2  Tim.  iii.  9. 


mourir ,  to  die,  or  from  the  Greek  yapaivco  maraino ,  to 
grow  lean,  waste  away.  The  term  mortality  would 
be  the  nearest  in  sense  to  the  original,  as  no  particular 
disorder  is  specified  by  the  Hebrew  word. 

Verse  4.  The  Lord  shall  sever ]  See  on  chap.  viii.  22. 

Verse  5.  To-morrow  the  Lord  shall  do  this ]  By  thus 
foretelling  the  evil,  he  showed  his  prescience  and  pow¬ 
er  ;  and  from  this  both  the  Egyptians  and  Hebrews 
must  see  that  the  mortality  that  ensued  was  no  casualty, 
but  the  effect  of  a  predetermined  purpose  in  the  Divine 
justice. 

Verse  6.  All  the  cattle  of  Egypt  died ]  That  is,  All 
the  cattle  that  did  die  belonged  to  the  Egyptians,  but 
not  one  died  that  belonged  to  the  Israelites,  ver.  4  and 
6.  That  the  whole  stock  of  cattle  belonging  to  the 
Egyptians  did  not  die  we  have  the  fullest  proof,  be¬ 
cause  there  were  cattle  both  to  be  killed  and  saved  alive 
in  the  ensuing  plague,  ver.  19-25.  By  this  judgment 
the  Egyptians  must  see  the  vanity  of  the  whole  of 
their  national  worship,  when  they  found  the  animals 
which  they  not  only  held  sacred  but  deified,  slain  with¬ 
out  distinction  among  the  common  herd,  by  a  pestilence 
sent  from  the  hand  of  Jehovah.  One  might  naturally 
suppose  that  after  this  the  animal  worship  of  the  Egyp¬ 
tians  could  never  more  maintain  its  ground. 

Verse  7.  And  Pharaoh  sent,  dpc.]  Finding  so  many 
of  his  own  cattle  and  those  of  his  subjects  slain,  he 
sent  to  see  whether  the  mortality  had  reached  to  the 
cattle  of  the  Israelites,  that  he  might  know  whether 
this  were  a  judgment  inflicted  by  their  God,  and  pro¬ 
bably  designing  to  replace  the  lost  cattle  of  the  Egyp¬ 
tians  with  those  of  the  Israelites. 

The  sixth  plague— the  boils  and  blains. 

Verse  8.  Handfuls  of  ashes  of  the  furnace ]  As 
one  part  of  the  oppression  of  the  Israelites  consisted 
in  their  labour  in  the  brick-kilns,  some  have  observed 
a  congruity  between  the  crime  and  the  punishment. 
The  furnaces,  in  the  labour  of  which  they  oppressed 

332 


the  Hebrews,  now  yielded  the  instruments  of  their  pun¬ 
ishment  ;  for  every  particle  of  those  ashes,  formed  by 
unjust  and  oppressive  labour,  seemed  to  be  a  boil  or 
a  blain  on  the  tyrannic  king  and  his  cruel  and  hard¬ 
hearted  people. 

Verse  9.  Shall  he  a  hoil]  JTlt#  shechin.  This  word 
is  generally  expounded,  an  inflammatory  swelling,  a 
burning  boil ;  one  of  the  most  poignant  afflictions,  not 
immediately  mortal,  that  can  w'ell  affect  the  surface  of 
the  human  body..  If  a  single  boil  on  any  part  of  the 
body  throws  the  whole  system  into  a  fever,  wfflat  an¬ 
guish  must  a  multitude  of  them  on  the  body  at  the 
same  time  occasion  ! 

Breaking  forthwith,  blains]  ababuoth,  sup¬ 

posed  to  come  from  baah,  to  swell,  bulge  out ;  any 
inflammatory  swelling,  node,  or  pustule,  in  any  part 
of  the  body,  but  more  especially  in  the  more  glandular 
parts,  the  neck,  arm-pits,  groin,  Ac.  The  Septuagint 
translate  it  thus  :  Kat  serai  eXkt]  favnndep  ava&ovaar 
And  it  shall  be  an  ulcer  with  burning  pustules.  It 
seems  to  have  been  a  disorder  of  an  uncommon  kind, 
and  hence  it  is  called  by  way  of  distinction,  the  botch 
of  Egypt,  Deut.  xxviii.  27,  perhaps  never  known  be¬ 
fore  in  that  or  any  other  country.  Orosius  says  that 
in  the  sixth  plague  “all  the  people  were  blistered,  that 
the  blisters  burst  with  tormenting  pain,  and  that  worms 
issued  out  of  them.”  Does  call  pole  peep  on  blaebpan,  -3  »a 
psepon  ppibe  lijieoplice  beppfcenbe,  anb  ba  pojunp  ufcpionbe. — 
Alfred's  Oros.,  lib.  i.,  c.  vii. 

Verse  11.  The  boil  was  upon  the  magicians]  They 
could  not  produce  a  similar  malady  by  throwing  ashes 
in  the  air ;  and  they  could  neither  remove  the  plague 
from  the  people,  nor  from  their  own  tormented  flesh. 
Whether  they  perished  in  this  plague  wre  know  not, 
but  they  are  no  more  mentioned.  If  they  were  not 
destroyed  by  this  awful  judgment,  they  at  least  left  the 
field,  and  no  longer  contended  with  these  messengers 
of  God.  The  triumph  of  God's  power  was  now  com¬ 
plete,  and  both  the  Hebrews  and  Egyptians  must  see 


Hail,  fire,  and  thunder ,  the 

A.  M.  2513.  12  And  the  Lord  hardened  the 

— — 1 - -  heart  of  Pharaoh,  and  he  hearkened 

not  unto  them ;  k  as  the  Lord  had  spoken 
unto  Moses. 

1 3  And  the  Lord  said  unto  Moses,  1  Rise 
up  early  in  the  morning,  and  stand  before 
Pharaoh,  and  say  unto  him,  Thus  saith  the 
Lord  God  of  the  Hebrews,  Let  my  people  go, 
that  they  may  serve  me. 

14  For  I  will  at  this  time  send  all  my 
plagues  upon  thine  heart,  and  upon  thy  ser¬ 
vants,  and  upon  thy  people ;  m  that  thou 
mayest  know  that  there  is  none  like  me  in  all 
the  earth. 

k  Chap.  iv.  21. - 1  Chapter  viii.  20. - m  Chapter  viii.  10. 

n  Chap.  iii.  20. 


that  there  was  neither  might,  nor  wisdom,  nor  counsel 
against  the  Lord  ;  and  that,  as  universal  nature  acknow¬ 
ledged  his  power,  devils  and  men  must  fail  before  him. 

Yerse  15.  For  now  I  xoill  stretch  out  my  hand ]  In 
the  Hebrew  the  verbs  are  in  the  past  tense,  and  not 
m  the  future,  as  our  translation  improperly  expresses 
them,  by  which  means  a  contradiction  appears  in  the 
text ;  for  neither  Pharaoh  nor  his  people  were  smitten 
by  a  pestilence ,  nor  was  he  by  any  kind  of  mortality 
cut  off  from  the  earth.  It  is  true  the  first-born  were 
slain  by  a  destroying  angel,  and  Pharaoh  himself  was 
drowned  in  the  Red  Sea  ;  but  these  judgments  do  not 
appear  to  be  referred  to  in  this  place.  If  the  words 
be  translated,  as  they  ought,  in  the  subjunctive  mood, 
or  in  the  past  instead  of  the  future ,  this  seeming  con¬ 
tradiction  to  facts,  as  well  as  all  ambiguity,  will  be 
avoided  :  For  if  now  I  had  stretched  out  (\nnSt? 
shalachti,  had  set  forth)  my  hand ,  and  had  smitten 
thee  (l niX  "]X1  vaach  otheca )  and  thy  people  loith  the 
pestilence ,  thou  shouldst  have  been  cut  off  ("iron 
ticcached)  from  the  earth.  16.  But  truly ,  on  this 
very  account ,  have  I  caused  thee  to  subsist,  (ymoyn 
heemadticha ,)  that  I  might  cause  thee  to  see  my 
power,  ('PD  PX  “JPXTI  harotheca  eth  cochi,)  and  that 
my  name  might  be  declared  throughout  all  the  earth, 
(or,  pXH  bin  becol  haarets,  in  all  this  land.)  See 
Ainsworth  and  Houbigant. 

Thus  God  gave  this  impious  king  to  know  that  it 
was  in  consequence  of  his  especial  providence  that 
both  he  and  his  people  had  not  been  already  destroyed 
by  means  of  the  past  plagues  ;  but  God  had  preserved 
him  for  this  very  purpose,  that  he  might  have  a  farther 
opportunity  of  manifesting  that  he,  Jehovah,  was  the 
only  true  God,  for  the  full  conviction  both  of  the  He¬ 
brews  and  Egyptians,  that  the  former  might  follow 
and  the  latter  fear  before  him.  Judicious  critics  of 
almost  all  creeds  have  agreed  to  translate  the  origi¬ 
nal  as  above,  a  translation  which  it  not  only  can  bear 
but  requires,  and  which  is  in  strict  conformity  to  both 
the  Septuagint  and  Targum.  Neither  the  Hebrew 
ymojin  heemadticha ,  I  have  caused  thee  to  stand ; 
nor  the  apostle’s  translation  of  it,  Rom.  ix.  17,  et-rjyeipa 
at,  I  have  raised  thee  ;  nor  that  of  the  Septuagint, 


seventh  plague,  threatened. 

15  For  now  I  will  n  stretch  out  A.  M.  2513. 

my  hand,  that  I  may  smite  thee  — — - - 

and  thy  people  with  pestilence  :  and  thou 
shalt  be  cut  off  from  the  earth. 

1 6  And  in  very  deed  for  0  this  cause  have  I 
p  raised  thee  up,  for  to  show  in  thee  my  power, 
and  that  my  name  may  be  declared  throughout 
all  the  earth. 

17  As  yet  exaltest  thou  thyself  against  my 
people,  that  thou  wilt  not  let  them  go  ? 

18  Behold,  to-morrow  about  this  time  I  will 
cause  it  to  rain  a  very  grievous  hail,  such  as 
hath  not  been  in  Egypt  since  the  foundation 
thereof  even  until  now. 


0  Rom.  ix.  17  ;  see  chap.  xiv.  17  ;  Prov.  xvi.  4 ;  1  Peter  ii.  9. 
P  Pleb.  made  thee  stand. 


ivenev  rovrov  bieT^p'pdrjg,  on  this  account  art  thou  pre¬ 
served,  viz.,  in  the  past  plagues  ;  can  countenance  that 
most  exceptionable  meaning  put  on  the  words  by  cer¬ 
tain  commentators,  viz.,  “  That  God  ordained  or  ap¬ 
pointed  Pharaoh  from  all  eternity,  by  certain  means, 
to  this  end  ;  that  he  made  him  to  exist  in  time  ;  that 
he  raised  him  to  the  throne  ;  promoted  him  to  that 
high  honour  and  dignity  ;  that  he  preserved  him,  and 
did  not  cut  him  off  as  yet ;  that  he  strengthened  and 
hardened  his  heart ;  irritated,  provoked,  and  stirred 
him  up  against  his  people  Israel,  and  suffered  him  to 
go  all  the  lengths  he  did  go  in  his  obstinacy  and  re¬ 
bellion  ;  all  which  was  done  to  show  in  him  his  power 
in  destroying  him  in  the  Red  Sea.  The  sum  of 
which  is,  that  this  man  was  raised  up  by  God  in  every 
sense  for  God  to  show  his  power  in  his  destruction.” 
So  man  speaks ;  thus  God  hath  not  spoken.  See 
Henry  on  the  place. 

Yerse  17.  As  yet  exaltest  thou  thyself  against  my 
people ]  So  it  appears  that  at  this  time  he  might  have 
submitted,  and  thus  prevented  his  own  destruction. 

The  seventh  plague — the  hail. 

Yerse  18.  To-morrow  about  this  time ]  The  time 
of  this  plague  is  marked  thus  circumstantially  to  shotv 
Pharaoh  that  Jehovah  was  Lord  of  heaven  and  earth, 
and  that  the  water ,  the  fire,  the  earth ,  and  the  air, 
which  were  all  objects  of  Egyptian  idolatry,  were  the 
creatures  of  his  power  ;  and  subservient  to  his  will  ; 
and  that,  far  from  being  able  to  help  them,  they  Avere 
now,  in  the  hands  of  God,  instruments  of  their  destruc¬ 
tion. 

To  rain  a  very  grievous  hail]  To  rain  hail  may 
appear  to  some  superficial  observers  as  an  unphilo- 
sophical  mode  of  expression,  but  nothing  can  be  more 
correct.  “  Drops  of  rain  falling  through  a  cold  region 
of  the  atmosphere  are  frozen  and  converted  into  hail 
and  thus  the  hail  is  produced  by  rain.  When  it  be¬ 
gins  to  fall  it  is  rain  ;  when  it  is  falling  it  is  converted 
into  hail ;  thus  it  is  literally  true  that  it  rains  hail. 
The  farther  a  hail-stone  falls  the  larger  it  generally 
is,  because  in  its  descent  it  meets  with  innumerable 
particles  of  water,  which,  becoming  attached  to  it,  are 

333 


CHAP.  IX. 


Hail,  fire,  and  thunder  sent.  EXODUS. 


Pharaoh  confesses  his  sin 


B  c  1491 *  *  ^  Send  therefore  now,  and 

— — - h  gather  thy  cattle,  and  all  that  thou 

hast  in  the  field ;  for  upon  every  man  and 
beast  which  shall  be  found  in  the  field,  and 
shall  not  be  brought  home,  the  hail  shall  come 
down  upon  them,  and  they  shall  die. 

20  He  that  feared  the  word  of  the  Loud 
among  the  servants  of  Pharaoh  made  his 
servants  and  his  cattle  flee  into  the  houses  : 

2 1  And  he  that  q  regarded  not  the  word  of 
the  Lord  left  his  servants  and  his  cattle  in 
the  field. 

22  And  the  Lord  said  unto  Moses,  Stretch 
forth  thine  hand  toward  heaven,  that  there  may 
be  r  hail  in  all  the  land  of  Egypt,  upon  man, 
and  upon  beast,  and  upon  every  herb  of  the 
field,  throughout  the  land  of  Egypt. 

23  And  Moses  stretched  forth  his  rod  toward 
heaven  :  and  s  the  Lord  sent  thunder  and  hail, 


and  the  fire  ran  along  upon  the  A.  M.  2513. 

ground ;  and  the  Lord  rained  hail  — — 1 - 1 

upon  the  land  of  Egypt. 

24  So  there  was  hail,  and  fire  mingledwith 

the  hail,  very  grievous,  such  as  there  was 
none  like  it  in  all  the  land  of  Egypt  since  it 
became  a  nation.  , 

25  And  the  hail  smote  throughout  all  the  land 
of  Egypt  all  that  was  in  the  field,  both  man 
and  beast ;  and  the  hail  1  smote  every  herb  of 
the  field,  and  brake  every  tree  of  the  field. 

26  11  Only  in  the  land  of  Goshen,  where  the 
children  of  Israel  were,  was  there  no  hail. 

27  And  Pharaoh  sent  and  called  for  Moses 
and  Aaron,  and  said  unto  them,  VI  have  sinned 
this  time  :  w  the  Lord  is  righteous,  and  I  and 
my  people  are  wicked. 

28  x  Entreat  the  Lord  (for  it  is  enough) 
that  there  be  no  more  y  mighty  thunderings 


THeb.  set  not  his  heart  unto  ;  chap.  vii.  23. - rRev.  xvi.  21. 

*  Josh.  x.  11 ;  Psa.  xviii.  13;  lxxviii.  47  ;  cv.  32;  cxlviii.  8  ;  Isa. 

xxx.  30;  Ezek.  xxxviii.  22 ;  Rev.  viii.  7. - 1  Psa.  cv.  33. 

u  Chap.  viii.  22 ;  ix.  4,  G  ;  x.  23  ;  xi.  7  ;  xii.  13  ;  Isa.  xxxii.  18, 


19. - v  Chap.  x.  16. - w  2  Chron.  xii.  6  ;  Psa.  cxxix.  4  ;  cxlv. 

17  ;  Lam.  i.  18 ;  Dan.  ix.  14. - x  Ch.  viii.  8,  28  ;  x.  17 ;  Acts 

viii.  24. - y  Heb.  voices  of  God  ;  Psa.  xxix.  3,  4. 


also  frozen,  and  thus  its  bulk  is  continually  increasing- 
till  it  reaches  the  earth.  In  the  case  in  question,  if 
natural  means  were  at  all  used,  we  may  suppose  a 
highly  electrified  state  of  an  atmosphere  loaded  with 
vapours,  which,  becoming  condensed  and  frozen,  and 
having  a  considerable  space  to  fall  through,  were  of 
an  unusually  large  size.  Though  this  was  a  super¬ 
natural  storm,  there  have  been  many  of  a  natural  kind, 
that  have  been  exceedingly  dreadful.  A  storm  of  hail 
fell  near  Liverpool,  in  Lancashire,  in  the  year  1795, 
which  greatly  damaged  the  vegetation,  broke  windows, 
&c.,  &c.  Many  of  the  stones  measured  five  inches 
in  circumference.  Dr.  Halley  mentions  a  similar 
storm  of  hail  in  Lancashire,  Cheshire,  &c.,  in  1697, 
April  29,  that  for  sixty  miles  in  length  and  two  miles 
in  breadth  did  immense  damage,  by  splitting  trees, 
killing  fowls  and  all  small  animals,  knocking  down 
men  and  horses,  &c.,  &c.  Mezeray,  in  his  History 
of  France,  says  “  that  in  Italy,  in  1510,  there  was 
for  some  time  a  horrible  darkness,  thicker  than  that  of 
night,  after  which  the  clouds  broke  into  thunder  and 
lightning,  and  there  fell  a  shower  of  hail-stones  which 
destroyed  all  the  beasts,  birds,  and  even  fish  of  the 
country.  It  was  attended  with  a  strong  smell  of  sul¬ 
phur,  and  the  stones  were  of  a  bluish  colour,  some  of 
them  weighing  one  hundred  pounds’  weight.”  The 
Almighty  says  to  Job  :  “  Hast  thou  seen  the  treasures 
of  the  hail,  which  I  have  reserved  against  the  time  of 
trouble,  against  the  day  of  battle  and  war  1”  Job, 
chap,  xxxviii.  22,  23.  While  God  has  such  artillery 
at  his  command,  how  soon  may  he  desolate  a  country 
or  a  world  !  See  the  account  of  a  remarkable  hail¬ 
storm  in  Josh.  x.  11. 

Verse  19.  Send — now,  and  gather  thy  cattle ]  So 
in  the  midst  of  judgment,  God  remembered  mercy. 
The  miracle  should  be  wrought  that  they  might  know 

334 


he  was  the  Lord  ;  but  all  the  lives  both  of  men  and 
beasts  might  have  been  saved,  had  Pharaoh  and  his 
servants  taken  the  warning  so  mercifully  given  them. 
While  some  regarded  not  the  word  of  the  Lord,  others 
feared  it,  and  their  cattle  and  their  servants  were  saved. 
See  ver.  20,  21. 

Verse  23.  The  Lord  sent  thunder ]  nSp  koloth, 
voices  ;  but  loud,  repeated  peals  of  thunder  are  meant,. 

And  the  fire  ran  along  upon  the  ground ]  17  K 

vattihalac  esh  aretsah ,  and  the  fire  walked  upon 
the  earth.  It  was  not  a  sudden  flash  of  lightning,  but 
a  devouring  fire,  walking  through  every  part,  destroy¬ 
ing  both  animals  and  vegetables  ;  and  its  progress  was 
irresistible. 

Verse  24.  Hail,  and  fire  mingled  with  the  hail)  It  is 
generally  allowed  that  the  electric  fluid  is  essential  to 
the  formation  of  hail.  On  this  occasion  it  was  supplied 
in  a  supernatural  abundance  ;  for  streams  of  fire  seem 
to  have  accompanied  the  descending  hail,  so  that  herbs 
and  trees,  beasts  and  men,  were  all  destroyed  by  them. 

Verse  26.  Only  in  the  land  of  Goshen — was  there 
no  hail.]  What  a  signal  proof  of  a  most  particular 
providence  !  Surely  both  the  Hebrews  and  Egyptians 
profited  by  this  display  of  the  goodness  and  severity  of 
God. 

Verse  27.  The  Lord  is  righteous,  and  I  and  my 
people  are  wicked.]  The  original  is  very  emphatic  : 
The  Lord  is  the  righteous  one,  (p'ltfn  hatstsaddik,) 
and  I  and  my  people  are  the  sinners,  (D'ytJnn  hare - 
shaim  ;)  i.  e.,  He  is  alone  righteous,  and  we  alone  are 
transgressors.  Who  could  have  imagined  that  after 
such  an  acknowledgment  and  confession,  Pharaoh 
should  have  again  hardened  his  heart  ? 

Verse  28.  It  is  enough]  There  is  no  need  of  any 
farther  plague  ;  I  submit  to  the  authority  of  Jehovah, 
and  will  rebel  no  more. 


a 


CHAP.  IX. 


Moses  promises  to  entreat 

B  c*  HQ13’  an(^  ^ail  ’  an<^  ^  ^°U  S0’ 

— — - k  and  ye  shall  stay  no  longer. 

29  And  Moses  said  unto  him,  As  soon  as  I 
am  gone  out  of  the  city,  I  will  z  spread  abroad 

z  1  Kings  viii.  22,  38  ;  Psa.  cxliii.  6 ;  Isa.  i.  15. 

Mighty  thunderings ]  D'nStt  pSp  koloth  Elohim , 
voices  of  God ; — that  is,  superlatively  loud  thunder. 
So  mountains  of  God  (Psa.  xxxvi.  6)  means  exceed¬ 
ing  high  mountains.  So  a  prince  of  God  (Gen.  xxiii. 
6)  means  a  mighty  prince.  See  a’  description  of 
thunder,  Psa.  xxix.  3—8  :  “  The  voice  of  the  Lord 
is  upon  the  waters  :  the  God  of  glory  thundereth  ;  the 
Lord  is  upon  many  waters.  The  voice  of  the  Lord  is 
powerful ;  the  voice  of  the  Lord  is  full  of  majesty. 
The  voice  of  the  Lord  breakeththe  cedars.  The  voice 
of  the  Lord  divideth  the  flames  of  fire.  The  voice  of 
the  Lord  shaketh  the  wilderness,”  &c.  The  produc¬ 
tion  of  rain  by  the  electric  spark  is  alluded  to  in  a 
very  beautiful  manner,  Jer.  x.  13  :  When  he  uttereth 
his  voice,  there  is  a  multitude  of  waters  in  the  heavens. 
See  the  note  on  Gen.  vii.  11,  and  viii.  1. 

Terse  29.  I ivill  spread  abroad  my  hands]  That  is, 
I  will  make  supplication  to  God  that  he  may  remove 
this  plague.  This  may  not  be  an  improper  place  to 
make  some  observations  on  the  ancient  manner  of  ap¬ 
proaching  the  Divine  Being  in  prayer.  Kneeling 
down,  stretching  out  of  the  hands,  and  lifting  them  up 
to  heaven,  were  in  frequent  use  among  the  Plebrews  in 
their  religious  worship.  Solomon  kneeled  down  on  his 
knees,  and  spread  forth  his  hands  to  heaven  ;  2  Chron. 
vi.  13.  So  David,  Psa.  cxliii.  6  :  I  stretch  forth  my 
hands  unto  thee.  So  Ezra  :  I  fell  upon  my  knees,  and 
spread  out  my  hands  unto  the  Lord  my  God ;  chap, 
ix.  5.  See  also  Job  xi.  13  :  If  thou  prepare  thine 
heart,  and  stretch  out  thy  hands  towards  him.  Most 
nations  who  pretended  to  any  kind  of  worship  made  use 
of  the  same  means  in  approaching  the  objects  of  their 
adoration,  viz.,  kneeling  down  and  stretching  out  their 
hands  ;  which  custom  it  is  very  likely  they  borrowed 
from  the  people  of  God.  Kneeling  was  ever  consider¬ 
ed  to  be  the  proper  posture  of  supplication,  as  it  ex¬ 
presses  humility,  contrition,  and  subjection.  If  the 
person  to  whom  the  supplication  was  addressed  was 
within  reach,  the  supplicant  caught  him  by  the  knees ; 
for  as  among  the  ancients  the  forehead  was  consecrated 
to  genius,  the  ear  to  memory,  and  the  right  hand  to 
faith,  so  the  knees  were  consecrated  to  mercy.  Hence 
those  who  entreated  favour  fell  at  and  caught  hold  of 
the  knees  of  the  person  whose  kindness  they  suppli¬ 
cated.  This  mode  of  supplication  is  particularly  re¬ 
ferred  to  in  the  following  passages  in  Homer  : — 

Tuv  vvv  fuv  pvrjcaaa  Trape&o,  sai  Aa/?e  yovvuv. 

Iliad  i.,  ver.  407. 

Now  therefore,  of  these  things  reminding  Jove, 

Embrace  his  knees.  Cowper. 

To  which  the  following  answer  is  made : — 

K at  tot’  sTrecTa  tol  eifu  A ioq  non  ^aA/co/Jaref  4«, 

Kai  piv  yovvaoopai,  nai  piv  TreicEoftai  oiu. 

Iliad  i.,  ver.  126. 


the  Lord  for  Pharaoh. 

my  hands  unto  the  Lord  ;  and  the  A.  M.  2513. 

thunder  shall  cease,  neither  shall  — — 1 - 

there  be  any  more  hail  ;  that  thou  mayest 
know  how  that  the  a  earth  is  the  Lord’s. 

aPsa.  xxiv.  1  ;  ]  Cor.  x.  26,  28. 

Then  will  I  to  Jove’s  brazen-floor’d  abode, 

That  I  may  clasp  his  knees  ;  and  much  misdeem 
Of  my  endeavour,  or  my  prayer  shall  speed.  Id. 

See  the  issue  of  thus  addressing  Jove,  Ibid.,  ver.  500— 
502,  and  ver.  511,  &c. 

In  the  same  manner  we  find  our  Lord  accosted, 
Matt.  xvii.  14  :  There  came  to  him  a  certain  man , 
kneeling  down  to  him,  yovvrreTuv  avrov,  falling  down 
at  his  knees. 

As  to  the  lifting  up  or  stretching  out  of  the  hands , 
(often  joined  to  kneeling,)  of  which  we  have  seen 
already  several  instances,  and  of  which  we  have  a 
very  remarkable  one  in  this  book,  chap.  xvii.  11,  where 
the  lifting  up  or  stretching  out  of  the  hands  of  Moses 
was  the  means  of  Israel’s  prevailing  over  Amalek; 
we  find  many  examples  of  both  in  ancient  authors. 
Thus  Homer  : — 

Ecr dhov  yap  Ail  x£LPaS  avaaxepev,  at  k’  eherjay. 

Iliad  xxiv.,  ver.  301. 

For  right  it  is  to  spread  abroad  the  hands 
To  Jove  for  mercy. 

Also  Virgil  : — 

Corripio  e  stratis  corpus,  tendoque  supinas 
Ad  ccelum  cum  voce  manus,  et  munera  libo. 

kEneid  iii.,  ver.  176. 

I  started  from  my  bed,  and  raised  on  high 
My  hands  and  voice  in  rapture  to  the  sky  ; 

And  pour  libations.  Pitt. 

Dixerat :  et  genua  amplexus,  genibusque  volutans 
Hcerebat.  Ibid.,  ver.  607. 

Then  kneeVd  the  wretch,  and  suppliant  clung  around 
My  /meeswdth  tears,  and  grovell’d  on  the  ground.  Id. 

- media  inter  numina  divurn 

Multa  Jovem  manibus  supplex  orasse  supinis. 

Ibid,  iv.,  ver.  204. 

Amidst  the  statues  of  the  gods  he  stands, 

And  spreading  forth  to  Jove  his  lifted  hands.  Id. 

Et  duplices  cum  voce  manus  ad  sidera  tendit. 

Ibid,  x.,  ver.  667. 

And  lifted  both  his  hands  and  voice  to  heaven. 
In  some  cases  the  person  petitioning  came  forward, 
and  either  sat  in  the  dust  or  kneeled  on  the  ground, 
placing  his  left  hand  on  the  knee  of  him  from  whom 
he  expected  the  favour,  while  he  touched  the  person’s 
chin  with  his  right.  We  have  an  instance  of  this 
also  in  Homer  : — • 

Kai  pa  irapoid'  avroco  Ka&efrro,  nai  ha(3e  yovvuv 
Snany  de^irepy  4’  ap’  vi f  avdxpeuvop  bhovca. 

Iliad  i.,  ver.  500. 

Suppliant  the  goddess  stood  :  one  hand  she  placed 
Beneath  his  chin,  and  one  his  knee  embraced.  Pope. 

335 


a 


The  flax  ana l  the  EXODUS.  barley  are  destroyed. 


A.  M.  2513.  30  But  as  for  thee  and  thy  ser- 

-  vants,  b  I  know  that  ye  will  not  yet 

fear  the  Lord  God. 

31  And  the  flax  and  the  barley  was  smitten: 

b  Isa.  xxvi.  10. - c  Ruth  i.  22  ;  ii.  23. 

When  the  supplicant  could  not  approach  the  person 
to  whom  he  prayed,  as  where  a  deity  was  the  object 
of  the  prayer,  he  washed  his  hands,  made  an  offering-, 
and  kneeling  down,  either  stretched  out  both  his  hands 
to  heaven ,  or  laid  them,  upon  the  offering  or  sacrifice , 
or  upon  the  altar.  Thus  Horner  represents  the  priest 
of  Apollo  praying  : — 

XepvcipavTo  d’  err  sera,  nai  ovTcoxvrag  avskovro. 

Toimv  be  Xpvarjg  yeyaV  evxero,  xELPa£  uvaaxoiv. 

Iliad  i.,  ver.  449. 

With  water  purify  their  hands ,  and  take 
The  sacred  offering  of  the  salted  cake, 

While  thus,  with  arms  devoutly  raised  in  air , 

And  solemn  voice,  the  priest  directs  his  prayer. 

Pope. 

How  necessary  ablutions  of  the  whole  body,  and  of 
the  hands  particularly,  accompanied  with  offerings  and 
sacrifices  were,  under  the  law,  every  reader  of  the 
Bible  knows  :  see  especially  chap.  xxix.  1-4,  where 
Aaron  and  his  sons  were  commanded  to  be  washed, 
previously  to  their  performing  the  priest’s  office ;  and 
chap.  xxx.  19-21,  where  it  is  said  :  “  Aaron  and  his 
sons  shall  wash  their  hands — that  they  die  not.”  See 
also  Lev.  xvii.  15.  When  the  high  priest  among  the 
Jews  blessed  the  people,  he  lifted  up  his  hands ,  Lev. 
ix.  22.  And  the  Israelites,  when  they  presented  a 
sacrifice  to  God,  lifted  up  their  hands  and  placed  them 
on  the  head  of  the  victim  :  “  If  any  man  of  you  bring 
an  offering  unto  the  Lord — of  the  cattle  of  the  herd, 
and  of  the  flock — he  shall  put  his  hand  upon  the  head 
of  the  burnt-offering,  and  it  shall  be  accepted  for  him, 
to  make  atonement  for  him  Lev.  i.  2—4.  To  these 
circumstances  the  apostle  alludes,  1  Tim.  ii.  8  :  “  I 
will  therefore  that  men  pray  everywhere,  lifting  up 
holy  hands,  without  wrath  and  doubting.”  In  the 
apostle’s  word  ercaipovTag,  lifting  up,  there  is  a  mani¬ 
fest  reference  to  stretching  out  the  hands  to  place  them 
either  on  the  altar  or  on  the  head  of  the  victim.  Four 
things  were  signified  by  this  lifting  up  of  the  hands. 
1.  It  was  the  posture  of  supplication,  and  expressed 
a  strong  invitation — Come  to  my  help ;  2.  It  expressed 
the  earnest  desire  of  the  person  to  lay  hold  on  the  help 
he  required,  by  bringing  him  who  was  the  object  of 
his  prayer  to  his  assistance  ;  3.  It  showed  the  ardour 
of  the  person  to  receive  the  blessings  he  expected; 
and  4.  By  this  act  he  designated  and  consecrated  his 
offering  or  sacrifice  to  his  God. 

From  a  great  number  of  evidences  and  coincidences 
it  is  not  unreasonable  to  conclude  that  the  heathens 
borrowed  all  that  was  pure  and  rational,  even  in  their 
mode  of  worship,  from  the  ancient  people  of  God  ;  and 
that  the  preceding  quotations  are  proofs  of  this. 

Verse  31.  The  flax  and  the  barley  was  smitten ] 
The  word  pishlah,  flax,  Mr.  Parkhurst  thinks, 

is  derived  from  the  root  pashat,  to  strip,  because 
the  substance  which  we  term  flax  is  properly  the  baric 

336 


c  for  the  barley  was  m  the  ear.  and  A.  M.  2513 
1  -  ,  B.  C.  1491. 

the  flax  was  boiled.  - - 

32  But  the  wheat  and  the  rye  were  not 
smitten  :  for  they  were  d  not  grown  up. 

d  Heb.  hidden ,  or  dark. 

or  rind  of  the  vegetable,  pilled  or  stripped  off  the 
stalks.  From  time  immemorial  Egypt  was  celebrated 
for  the  production  and  manufacture  of  flax  :  hence  the 
linen  and  fine  linen  of  Egypt,  so  often  spoken  of  in 
ancient  authors. 

Barley ]  seorah,  from  saar ,  to  stand  on 

end,  to  be  rough,  bristly,  &c.;  hence  sear,  the 
hair  of  the  head,  and  VytP  sair,  a  he-goat,  because  of 
its  shaggy  hair  ;  and  hence  also  barley,  because  of  the 
rough  and  prickly  beard  with  which  the  ears  are  co¬ 
vered  and  defended. 

Dr.  Pocock  has  observed  that  there  is  a  double  seed¬ 
time  and  harvest  in  Egypt :  Rice,  India  wheat ,  and  a 
grain  called  the  corn  of  Damascus,  and  in  Italian  surgo 
rosso ,  are  sown  and  reaped  at  a  ver}r  different  time 
from  wheat ,  barley  and  flax.  The  first  are  sown  in 
March,  before  the  overflowing  of  the  Nile,  and  reaped 
about  October ;  whereas  the  wheat  and  barley  are 
sown  in  November  and  December,  as  soon  as  the  Nile 
is  gone  off,  and  are  reaped  before  May. 

Pliny  observes,  Hist.  Nat.,  lib.  xviii.,  cap.  10,  that 
in  Egypt  the  barley  is  ready  for  reaping  in  six  months 
after  it  is  sown,  and  wheat  in  seven.  In  JEgypto 
hordeum  sexto  a  satu  mense ,  frumenta  septimo,  me- 
tuntur. 

The  flax  was  boiled .]  Meaning,  I  suppose,  was 
grown  up  into  a  stalk  :  the  original  is  byiU  gibol , 
podded  or  was  in  the  pod.  The  word  well  expresses 
that  globous  pod  on  the  top  of  the  stalk  of  flax  which 
succeeds  the  flower  and  contains  the  seed,  very  pro¬ 
perly  expressed  by  the  Septuagint,  to  be  ?avov  cnep- 
paTifrv,  but  the  flax  was  in  seed  or  ivas  seeding. 

Verse  32.  But  the  wheat  and  the  rye  were  not 
smitten ]  Wheat ,  HDn  chittah,  which  Mr.  Parkhurst 
thinks  should  be  derived  from  the  Chaldee  and  Sama¬ 
ritan  'an  chati,  which  signifies  tender,  delicious,  deli¬ 
cate,  because  of  the  superiority  of  its  flavour,  &c.,  to 
every  other  kind  of  grain.  But  this  term  in  Scrip¬ 
ture  appears  to  mean  any  kind  of  bread-corn.  Rye, 
DIODD  cussemeth,  from  DDD  casam,  to  have  long  hair 
and  hence,  though  the  particular  species  is  not  known, 
the  word  must  mean  some  bearded  grain.  The  Sep¬ 
tuagint  call  it  olvpa,  the  Vulgate  for,  and  Aquila  fee, 
which  signify  the  grain  called  spelt;  and  some  sup¬ 
pose  that  rice  is  meant. 

Mr.  Harmer,  referring  to  the  double  harvest  in 
Egypt  mentioned  by  Dr.  Pocock,  says  that  the  cir¬ 
cumstance  of  the  wheat  and  the  rye  being  ph'21* 
aphiloth,  dark  or  hidden,  as  the  margin  renders  it, 
(i.  e.,  they  were  sown,  but  not  grown  up,)  shows  that 
it  was  the  Indian  wheat  or  surgo  rosso  mentioned 
ver.  31,  which,  with  the  rye,  escaped,  while  the  bar¬ 
ley  and  flax  were  smitten  because  they  were  at  or 
nearly  at  a  state  of  maturity.  See  Harmer’s  Obs., 
vol.  iv.,  p.  11,  edit.  1808.  But  what  is  intended  by 
the  words  in  the  Hebrew  text  we  cannot  positively 
say,  as  there  is  a  great  variety  of  opinions  on  this 

a 


The  seventh  plague  is  removed.  CHAP.  IX.  Pharaoh  again  hardens  his  heart 


a.  M.  2513.  33  And  Moses  went  out  of  the 

— - — 1 - 1.  city  from  Pharaoh,  and  e  spread 

abroad  his  hands  unto  the  Lord  :  and  the 
thunders  and  hail  ceased,  and  the  rain  was 
not  poured  upon  the  earth. 

34  And  when  Pharaoh  saw  that  the  rain 

e  Ver.  29;  chap.  viii.  12. - fChap.  iv.  21. 

subject,  both  among-  the  versions  and  the  commenta¬ 
tors.  The  Anglo-Saxon  translator,  probably  from  not 
knowing  the  meaning  of  the  words,  omits  the  whole 
verse. 

Verse  33.  Spread  abroad  his  hands]  Probably  with 
the  rod  of  God  in  them.  See  what  has  been  said  on 
the  spreading  out  of  the  hands  in  prayer,  ver.  29. 

Verse  34.  He  sinned  yet  more ,  and  hardened  his 
heart ]  These  were  merely  acts  of  his  own  ;  “  for 
who  can  deny,”  says  Mr.  Psalmanazar,  “  that  what 
God  did  on  Pharaoh  was  much  more  proper  to  soften 
than  to  harden  his  heart;  especially  when  it  is  observ¬ 
able  that  it  was  not  till  after  seeing  each  miracle,  and 
after  the  ceasing  of  each  plague,  that  his  heart  is  said 
to  have  been  hardened  1  The  verbs  here  used  are  in 
the  conjugations  pihel  and  hiphil,  and  often  signify  a 
bare  permission ,  from  which  it  is  plain  that  the  words 
should  have  been  read,  God  suffered  the  heart  of 
Pharaoh  to  be  hardened .” — Universal  Hist.,  vol.  i., 
p.  494.  Note  D. 

Verse  35.  And  the  heart  of  Pharaoh  teas  hardened] 
In  consequence  of  his  sinning  yet  more ,  and  harden¬ 
ing  his  own  heart  against  both  the  judgments  and 
mercies  of  God,  we  need  not  be  surprised  that,  after 
God  had  given  him  the  means  of  softening  and  repent¬ 
ance,  and  he  had  in  evei-y  instance  resisted  and  abused 
them,  he  should  at  last  have  been  left  to  tho  hardness 
and  darkness  of  his  own  obstinate  heart,  so  as  to  fill 
up  the  measure  of  his  iniquity,  and  rush  headlong  to 
his  own  destruction. 

In  th q  fifth,  sixth ,  and  seventh  plagues  described  in 
this  chapter,  we  have  additional  proofs  of  the  justice 
and  mercy  of  God,  as  well  as  of  the  stupidity ,  rebellion , 
and  wickedness  of  Pharaoh  and  his  courtiers.  As 
these  continued  to  contradict  and  resist,  it  was  just 
that  God  should  continue  to  inflict  those  punishments 
which  their  iniquities  deserved.  Yet  in  the  midst  of 
judgment  he  remembers  mercy ;  and  therefore  Moses 
and  Aaron  are  sent  to  inform  the  Egyptians  that  such 
plagues  would  come  if  they  continued  obstinate.  Here 
is  mercy  ;  the  cattle  only  are  destroyed,  and  the  people 
saved !  Is  it  not  evident  from  all  these  messages, 
and  the  repeated  expostulations  of  Moses  and  Aaron 
in  the  name  and  on  the  authority  of  God,  that  Pha¬ 
raoh  was  bound  by  no  fatal  necessity  to  continue  his 
obstinacy  ;  that  he  might  have  humbled  himself  before 
God,  and  thus  prevented  the  disasters  that  fell  on  the 
land,  and  saved  himself  and  his  people  from  destruc¬ 
tion  1  But  he  ivould  sin,  and  therefore  he  must  be 
punished. 

In  the  sixth  plague  Pharaoh  had  advantages  which 
he  had  not  before.  The  magicians,  by  their  success¬ 
ful  imitations  of  the  miracles  wrought  by  Moses,  made 

Vol.  I.  (  23  ) 


and  the  hail  and  the  thunders  were  A.  M.  2513. 

J  1  .  ,  .  B.  C.  1491. 

ceased,  he  sinned  yet  more,  and  - 

hardened  his  heart,  he  and  his  servants. 

35  And  f  the  heart  of  Pharaoh  was  hardened, 
neither  would  he  let  the  children  of  Israel  go; 
as  the  Lord  had  spoken  s  by  Moses. 

s  Heb.  by  the  hand  of  Moses ;  chap.  iv.  13. 

it  doubtful  to  the  Egyptians  whether  Moses  himself 
was  not  a  magician  acting  without  any  Divine  autho¬ 
rity;  but  the  plague  of  the  boils,  which  they  could  not 
imitate,  by  which  they  were  themselves  afflicted,  and 
which  they  confessed  to  be  the  finger  of  God ,  decided 
the  business.  Pharaoh  had  no  longer  any  excuse, 
and  must  know  that  he  had  now  to  contend,  not  with 
Moses  and  Aaron,  mortals  like  himself,  but  with  the 
living  God.  How  strange,  then,  that  he  should  con¬ 
tinue  to  resist !  Many  affect  to  be  astonished  at  this, 
and  think  it  must  be  attributed  only  to  a  sovereign 
controlling  influence  of  God,  which  rendered  it  impos¬ 
sible  for  him  to  repent  or  take  warning.  But  the 
whole  conduct  of  God  shows  the  improbability  of  this 
opinion  :  and  is  not  the  conduct  of  Pharaoh  and  his 
courtiers  copied  and  reacted  by  thousands  who  are 
never  suspected  to  be  under  any  such  necessitating 
decree  1  Every  sinner  under  heaven,  who  has  the 
Bible  in  his  hand,  is  acting  the  same  part.  God  says 
to  the  swearer  and  the  profane,  Thou  shalt  not  take 
the  name  of  the  Lord  thy  God  in  vain ;  and  yet  com¬ 
mon  swearing  and  profaneness  are  most  scandalously 
common  among  multitudes  who  bear  the  Christian 
name,  and  who  presume  on  the  mercy  of  God  to  get 
at  last  to  the  kingdom  of  heaven  !  He  says  also, 
Remember  the  Sabbath  day  to  keep  it  holy ;  thou  shalt 
not  kill ;  thou  shalt  not  commit  adultery ;  thou  shalt 
not  steal ;  thou  shalt  not  bear  false  witness  ;  thou- 
shalt  not  covet;  and  sanctions  all  these  commandments 
with  the  most  awful  penalties  :  and  yet,  with  all  these 
things  before  them,  and  the  professed  belief  that  they 
came  from  God,  Sabbath-breakers,  men-slayers,  adul¬ 
terers,  fornicators,  thieves,  dishonest  men,  false  wit¬ 
nesses,  liars,  slanderers,  backbiters,  covetous  men, 
lovers  of  the  world  more  than  lovers  of  God,  are  found 
by  hundreds  and  thousands !  What  were  the  crimes 
of  the  poor  half-blind  Egyptian  king  when  compared 
with  these  !  He  sinned  against  a  comparatively 
unknown  God  ;  these  sin  against  the  God  of  their 
fathers — 'against  the  God  and  Father  of  Him  whom 
they  call  their  Lord  and  Saviour,  Jesus  Christ !  They 
sin  with  the  Bible  in  their  hand,  and  a  conviction  of 
its  Divine  authority  in  their  hearts.  They  sin  against 
light  and  knowledge  ;  against  the  checks  of  their  con¬ 
sciences,  the  reproofs  of  their  friends,  the  admonitions 
of  the  messengers  of  God  ;  against  Moses  and  Aaron 
in  the  law ;  against  the  testimony  of  all  the  prophets  ; 
against  the  evangelists,  the  apostles,  the  Maker  of 
heaven  and  earth,  the  Judge  of  all  men,  and  the  Sa¬ 
viour  of  the  world  !  What  were  Pharaoh’s  crimes  to 
the  crimes  of  these  1  On  comparison,  his  atom  of 
moral  turpitude  is  lost  in  their  world  of  iniquity.  And 
yet  who  supposes  these  to  be  under  any  necessitating 
decree  to  sin  on,  and  go  to  perdition!  Nor  are  they; 

337 


The  Lord  again  sends  Moses  EXODUS.  to  expostulate  with  Pharaoh. 


nor  was  Pharaoh.  In  all  things  God  has  proved  both 
his  justice  and  mercy  to  be  clear  in  this  point.  Pha¬ 
raoh,  through  a  principle  of  covetousness ,  refused  to 
dismiss  the  Israelites,  whose  services  he  found  profit¬ 
able  to  the  state  :  these  are  absorbed  in  the  love  of 
the  world,  the  love  of  pleasure,  and  the  love  of  gain  ; 
nor  will  they  let  one  lust  go,  even  in  the  presence 
of  the  thunders  of  Sinai,  or  in  sight  of  the  agony, 
bloody  sweat,  crucifixion,  and  death  of  Jesus  Christ  ! 
Alas  !  how  many  are  in  the  habit  of  considering  Pha¬ 
raoh  the  worst  of  human  beings,  inevitably  cut  off 


from  the  possibility  of  being  saved  because  of  his  ini¬ 
quities,  who  outdo  him  so  far  in  the  viciousness  of 
their  lives,  that  Pharaoh,  hardening  his  heart  against 
ten  plagues,  appears  a  saint  when  compared  with  those 
who  are  hardening  their  hearts  against  ten  millions  of 
mercies.  Reader,  art  thou. of  this  number  1  Proceed 
no  farther  !  God’s  judgments  linger  not.  Desperate 
as  thy  state  is,  thou  mayest  return  ;  and  thou,  even 
thou,  find  mercy  through  the  blood  of  the  Lamb. 

See  the  observations  at  the  conclusion  of  the  next 
chapter. 


CHAPTER  X. 


Moses  is  again  sent  to  Pharaoh ,  and  expostulates  with  him  on  his  refusal  to  let  the  Hebrews  go,  1—3.  The 
eighth  plague,  viz.,  of  locusts,  is  threatened,  4.  The  extent  and  oppressive  nature  of  this  plague ,  5,  6. 
Pharaoh's  servants  counsel  him  to  dismiss  the  Hebrews ,  7.  He  calls  for  Moses  and  Aaron,  and  inquires 
who  they  are  of  the  Hebrews  ivho  ivish  to  go,  8.  Moses  having  answered  that  the  whole  people,  with  their 
flocks  and  herds  must  go  and  hold  a  feast  to  the  Lord,  9,  Pharaoh  is  enraged,  and  having  granted  per¬ 
mission  only  to  the  men,  drives  Moses  and  Aaron  from  his  presence ,  10,  11.  Moses  is  commanded  to 
stretch  out  his  hand  and  bring  the  locusts,  12.  He  does  so,  and  an  east  wind  is  sent,  which,  blowing  all 
that  day  and  night,  brings  the  locusts  the  next  morning,  13.  The  devastation  occasioned  by  these  insects , 
14,  15.  Pharaoh  is  humbled,  acknowledges  his  sin ,  and  begs  Moses  to  intercede  with  Jehovah  for  him , 
16,  17.  Moses  does  so,  and  at  his  request  a  strong  ivest  wind  is  sent,  which  carries  all  the  locusts  to  the 
Red  Sea,  18,  19.  Pharaoh's  heart  is  again  hardened,  20.  Moses  is  commanded  to  bring  the  ninth 
plague — an  extraordinary  darkness  over  all  the  land  of  Egypt ,  21.  The  nature,  duration,  and  effects  of 
this,  22,  23.  Pharaoh,  again  humbled,  consents  to  let  the  people  go,  provided  they  leave  their  cattle 
behind,  24.  Moses  insists  on  having  all  their  cattle,  because  of  the  sacrifices  which  they  must  make  to  the 
Lord,  25,  26.  Pharaoh,  again  hardened,  refuses,  27.  Orders  Moses  from  his  presence,  and  threatens 
him  with  death  should  he  ever  return,  28.  Moses  departs  with  the  promise  of  returning  no  more ,  29. 


A.  M.  2513.  A  ND  the  Lord  said  unto  Moses, 

JB.  C.  1491.  AL  _  .  r  T 

- Go  m  unto  Pharaoh  :  a  tor  J 

have  hardened  his  heart,  and  the  heart  of  his 
servants,  b  that  I  might  show  these  my  signs 
before  him  : 

2  And  that  c  thou  mayest  tell  in  the  ears  of 


thy  son,  and  of  thy  son’s  son,  A.  M.  2513. 

J  J  B.  C.  1491. 

what  things  I  have  wrought  in  - - 1 

Egypt,  and  my  signs  which  I  have  done  among 

them  ;  that  ye  may  know  how  that  I  am 

the  Lord. 

3  And  Moses  and  Aaron  came  in  unto  Pha- 


a  Chap,  iv,  21  ;  vii.  14. — — b  Chap.  vii.  4. 

 % 

NOTES  ON  CHAP.  N. 

Terse  1.  Hardened  his  heart ]  God  suffered  his 
natural  obstinacy  to  prevail,  that  he  might  have  farther 
opportunities  of  showing  forth  his  eternal  power  and 
Godhead. 

Verse  2.  That  thou  mayest  tell  in  the  ears  of  thy 
son]  That  the  miracles  wrought  at  this  time  might 
be  a  record  for  the  instruction  of  the  latest  posterity, 
that  Jehovah  alone,  the  God  of  the  Hebrews,  was  the 
sole  Maker,  Governor,  and  Supporter  of  the  heavens 
and  the  earth.  Thus  we  find  God  so  did  his  marvel¬ 
lous  works,  that  they  might  be  had  in  everlasting  re¬ 
membrance.  It  was  not  to  crush  the  poor  worm,  Pha¬ 
raoh,  that  he  wrought  such  mighty  wonders,  but  to 
convince  his  enemies,  to  the  end  of  the  world,  that  no 
cunning  or  power  can  prevail  against  him ;  and  to  show 
his  followers  that  whosoever  trusted  in  him  should 
never  be  confounded. 

Verse  3.  How  longivilt  thou  refuse  to  humble  thy¬ 
self]  Had  it  been  impossible  for  Pharaoh,  in  all  the 
preceding  plagues,  to  have  humbled  himself  and  re- 
a  338 


c  Deut.  iv.  9;  Psa.  xliv.  1  ;  lxxi.  18  ;  Ixxviii.  5,  &c.  ;  Joel  i.  3. 

pented,  can  we  suppose  that  God  could  have  addressed 
him  in  such  language  as  the  preceding!  We  may  rest 
assured  that  there  was  always  a  time  in  which  he  might 
have  relented,  and  that  it  was  because  he  hardened  his 
heart  at  such  times  that  God  is  said  to  harden  him, 
i.  e.,  to  give  him  up  to  his  own  stubborn  and  obstinate 
heart ;  in  consequence  of  which  he  refused  to  let  the 
people  go,  so  that  God  had  a  fresh  opportunity  to  work 
another  miracle,  for  the  very  gracious  purposes  men¬ 
tioned  in  ver.  2.  Had  Pharaoh  relented  before ,  the 
same  gracious  ends  would  have  been  accomplished  by 
other  means. 

The  eighth  plague — the  locusts. 

Verse  4.  To-morrow  will  I  bring  the  locusts]  The 
word  nrHiS:  arbeh ,  a  locust,  is  probably  from  the  root 
nm  rabah,  he  multiplied,  became  great,  mighty,  &c., 
because  of  the  immense  swarms  of  these  animals  by 
which  different  countries,  especially  the  east,  are  in¬ 
fested.  The  locust,  in  entomology ,  belongs  to  a  genus 
of  insects  known  among  naturalists  by  the  term  grylli  ; 

(  23*  ) 


Pharaoh  is  threatened  with 


CHAP.  X. 


A.  M.  2513.  raoh,  and  said  unto  him,  Thus  saith 
£,—  .‘-1491‘.  the  Lord  God  of  the  Hebrews, 
How  long  wilt  thou  refuse  to  d  humble  thy¬ 
self  before  me  ?  let  my  people  go,  that  they 
may  serve  me  ; 

4  Else,  if  thou  refuse  to  let  my  people  go, 
behold,  to-morrow  will  I  bring  the  e  locusts 
into  thy  coast : 

5  And  they  shall  cover  the  f  face  of  the 
earth,  that  one  cannot  be  able  to  see  the 
earth  :  and  e  they  shall  eat  the  residue  of  that 
which  is  escaped,  which  remaineth  unto  you 

d  1  Kings  xxi.  29  ;  2  Chron.  vii.  14  ;  xxxiv.  27 ;  Job  xlii.  6  ; 

Jer.  xiii.  18  ;  James  iv.  10 ;  1  Pet.  v.  6. - e  Proverbs  xxx.  27 ; 

Wisd.  xvi.  9  ;  Rev.  ix.  3. 

and  includes  three  species,  crickets,  grasshoppers,  and 
those  commonly  called  locusts ;  and  as  they  multiply 
faster  than  any  other  animal  in  creation,  they  are  pro¬ 
perly  entitled  to  the  name  arbeh,  which  might  be 

translated  the  numerous  or  multiplied  insect.  See  this 
circumstance  referred  to,  Judg.  vi.  5  ;  vii.  12  ;  Psa. 
cv.  34  ;  Jer.  xlvi.  23  ;  li.  14  ;  Joel  i.  6  ;  Nahum  iii. 
15  ;  Judith  ii.  19,  20  ;  where  the  most  numerous  ar¬ 
mies  are  compared  to  the  arbeh  or  locust.  The  locust 
has  a  large  open  mouth ;  and  in  its  two  jaws  it  has 
four  incisive  teeth,  which  traverse  each  other  like  scis¬ 
sors,  being  calculated,  from  their  mechanism,  to  gripe 
or  cut.  Mr.  Volney,  in  his  Travels  in  Syria,  gives  a 
striking  account  of  this  most  awful  scourge  of  God  : — 

“  Syria  partakes  together  with  Egypt  and  Persia,  and 
almost  all  the  whole  middle  part  of  Asia,  in  that  terrible 
scourge ,  I  mean  those  clouds  of  locusts  of  which  travel¬ 
lers  have  spoken  ;  the  quantity  of  which  is  incredible 
to  any  person  who  has  not  himself  seen  them,  the  earth 
being  covered  by  them  for  several  leagues  round.  The 
noise  they  make  in  browsing  the  plants  and  trees  may 
be  heard  at  a  distance,  like  an  army  plundering  in  se¬ 
cret.  Fire  seems  to  follow  their  tracks.  Wherever 
their  legions  march  the  verdure  disappears  from  the 
country,  like  a  curtain  drawn  aside ;  the  trees  and 
plants,  despoiled  of  their  leaves,  make  the  hideous  ap¬ 
pearance  of  winter  instantly  succeed  to  the  bright  scenes 
of  spring.  When  these  clouds  of  locusts  take  their 
flight,  in  order  to  surmount  some  obstacle,  or  the  more 
rapidly  to  cross  some  desert,  one  may  literally  say  that 
the  sun  is  darkened  by  them .” 

Baron  de  Tott  gives  a  similar  account :  “Clouds  of 
locusts  frequently  alight  on  the  plains  of  the  Noguais, 
(the  Tartars,)  and  giving  preference  to  their  fields  of 
millet,  ravage  them  in  an  instant.  Their  approach 
darkens  the  horizon,  and  so  enormous  is  their  multi¬ 
tude,  it  hides  the  light  of  the  sun.  They  alight  on  the 
fields,  and  there  form  a  bed  of  six  or  seven  inches  thick. 
To  the  noise  of  their  flight  succeeds  that  of  their  de¬ 
vouring  actively,  which  resembles  the  rattling  of  hail¬ 
stones  ;  but  its  consequences  are  infinitely  more  de¬ 
structive.  Fire  itself  eats  not  so  fast ;  nor  is  there 
any  appearance  of  vegetation  to  be  found  when  they 
again  take  their  flight,  and  go  elsewhere  to  produce 
new  disasters.” 

a 


locusts ,  the  eighth  plague. 

from  the  hail,  and  shall  eat  every  A.  M.  2513. 

,  .  ,  ,  r  i  B.  C.  1491. 

tree  which  groweth  for  you  out  of  - 

the  field  : 

6  And  they  h  shall  fill  thy  houses,  and  the 
houses  of  all  thy  servants,  and  the  houses  of 
all  the  Egyptians  ;  which  neither  thy  fathers, 
nor  thy  fathers’  fathers  have  seen,  since  the 
day  that  they  were  upon  the  earth  unto  this 
day.  And  he  turned  himself,  and  went  out 
from  Pharaoh. 

7  And  Pharaoh’s  servants  said  unto  him, 
How  lonor  shall  this  man  be  *  a  snare  unto  us  ? 

O 


f  Heb.  eye ;  ver.  15. - s  Chapter  ix.  32  ;  Joel  i.  4  ;  ii.  25. 

h  Chap.  viii.  3,  21. - 'Chap,  xxiii.  33  ;  Josh,  xxiii.  13  ;  1  Sam. 

xviii.  21 ;  Eccles.  vii.  26  ;  1  Cor.  vii.  35. 


Dr.  Shaw,  who  witnessed  most  formidable  swarms 
of  these  in  Barbary  in  the  years  1724  and  1725,  gives 
the  following  account  of  them  :  “  They  were  much 
larger  than  our  grasshoppers,  and  had  brown-spotted 
wings,  with  legs  and  bodies  of  a  bright  yellow.  Their 
first  appearance  was  towards  the  latter  end  of  March. 
In  the  middle  of  April  their  numerous  swarms,  like  a 
succession  of  clouds,  darkened  the  sun.  In  the  month 
of  May  they  retired  to  the  adjacent  plains  to  deposit 
their  eggs  :  these  were  no  sooner  hatched  in  June  than 
the  young  brood  first  produced,  while  in  their  cater¬ 
pillar  or  worm-like  state,  formed  themselves  into  a  com¬ 
pact  body  of  more  than  a  furlong  square,  and,  march¬ 
ing  directly  forward,  climbed  over  trees,  walls,  and 
houses,  devouring  every  plant  in  their  way.  Within 
a  day  or  two  another  brood  was  hatched,  and  advancing 
in  the  same  manner,  gnawed  off  the  young  branches 
and  bark  of  the  trees  left  by  the  former,  making  a 
complete  desolation.  The  inhabitants,  to  stop  their 
progress,  made  a  variety  of  pits  and  trenches  all  over 
their  fields  and  gardens,  which  they  filled  with  water, 
or  else  heaped  up  therein  heath,  stubble,  &c.,  which 
they  set  on  fire ;  but  to  no  purpose  :  for  the  trenches 
were  quickly  filled  up  and  the  fires  extinguished,  by 
infinite  swarms  succeeding  one  another  ;  while  the  front 
seemed  regardless  of  danger,  and  the  rear  pressed  on 
so  close  that  a  retreat  was  altogether  impossible.  In 
a  month’s  time  they  threw  off  their  worm -like  state  ; 
and  in  a  new  form,  with  wings  and  legs,  and  additional 
powers,  returned  to  their  former  voracity.”- — Shaw's 
Travels,  187,  188,  4to  edition. 

The  descriptions  given  by  these  travellers  show  that 
God's  army ,  described  by  the  Prophet  Joel,  chap,  ii., 
was  innumerable  swarms  of  locusts,  to  which  the  ac¬ 
counts  given  by  Dr.  Shaw  and  others  exactly  agree. 

Verse  5.  They  shall  cover  the  face  of  the  earth ] 
They  sometimes  cover  the  whole  ground  to  the  depth 
of  six  or  eight  inches.  See  the  preceding  accounts. 

Verse  6.  They  shall  fill  thy  houses ]  Dr.  Shaw 
mentions  this  circumstance  ;  “  they  entered,”  says  he, 
«  into  our  very  houses  and  bed-chambers,  like  so  many 
thieves.” — Ibid.  p.  187. 

Verse  7.  How  long  shall  this  man  be  a  snare  unto 
us  ?]  As  there  is  no  noun  in  the  text,  the  pronoun  HI 
zeh  may  either  refer'to  the  Israelites,  to  the  plague  by 

339 


Moses  and  Aaron  are  driven 


EXODUS. 


a.  M.  2513.  let  the  men  go,  that  they  may  serve 

— — 1 - 1  the  Lord  their  God  :  knowest  thou 

not  yet  that  Egypt  is  destroyed  ? 

8  And  Moses  and  Aaron  were  brought  again 
unto  Pharaoh  ;  and  he  said  unto  them,  Go, 
serve  the  Lord  your  God  :  but  k  who  are  they 
that  shall  go  ? 

9  And  Moses  said,  We  will  go  with  our 
young  and  with  our  old,  with  our  sons  and 
with  our  daughters,  with  our  flocks  and  with 
our  herds  will  we  go ;  for  1  we  must  hold  a 
feast  unto  the  Lord. 

10  And  he  said  unto  them,  Let  the  Lord 


k  Heb.  who ,  and  who,  &c. - 1  Chap  v.  1. 

which  they  were  then  afflicted,  or  to  Moses  and  Aaron, 
the  instruments  used  by  the  Most  High  in  their  chas¬ 
tisement.  The  Yulgate  translates,  U squequo  patiemur 
hoc  scandalum  ?  “  How  long  shall  we  suffer  this  scan¬ 
dal  or  reproach  1” 

Let  the  men  go,  that  they  may  serve  the  Lord  their 
God\  Much  of  the  energy  of  several  passages  is  lost 
in  translating  mrr  Yehovah  by  the  term  Lord.  The 
Egyptians  had  their  gods,  and  they  supposed  that  the 
Hebrews  had  a  god  like  unto  their  own  ;  that  this  Je¬ 
hovah  required  their  services,  and  would  continue  to 
afflict  Egypt  till  his  people  were  permitted  to  worship 
him  in  his  own  way. 

Egypt  is  destroyed  ?]  This  last  plague  had  nearly 
mined  the  whole  land 

Yerse  8.  Who  are  they  that  shall  go  ?]  Though  the 
Egyptians,  about  fourscore  years  before,  wished  to  de¬ 
stroy  the  Hebrews,  yet  they  found  them  now  so  profit¬ 
able  to  the  state  that  they  were  unwilling  to  part  with 
them. 

Yerse  9.  We  will  go  with  our  young  and  with  our 
old,  #c.]  As  a  feast  was  to  be  celebrated  to  the  ho¬ 
nour  of  Jehovah,  all  wrho  were  partakers  of  his  bounty 
and  providential  kindness  must  go  and  perform  their 
part  in  the  solemnity.  The  men  and  the  ivomen  must 
make  the  feast,  the  children  must  witness  it,  and  the 
cattle  must  be  taken  along  with  them  to  furnish  the 
sacrifices  necessary  on  this  occasion.  This  must  have 
appeared  reasonable  to  the  Egyptians,  because  it  was 
their  oion  custom  in  their  religious  assemblies.  Men, 
women,  and  children  attended  them,  often  to  the  amount 
of  several  hundred  thousand.  Herodotus  informs  us, 
in  speaking  of  the  six  annual  feasts  celebrated  by  the 
Egyptians  in  honour  of  their  deities,  that  they  hold 
their  chief  one  at  the  city  of  Bubastis  in  honour  of 
Neith  or  Diana  ;  that  they  go  thither  by  water  in  boats 
— men,  women,  and  children ;  that  during  their  voy¬ 
age  snne  of  the  women  play  on  castanets,  and  some 
of  the  men  upon  flutes,  while  the  rest  are  employed  in 
singing  and  clapping  their  hands  ;  and  that,  when  they 
arrive  at  Bubastis,  they  sacrifice  a  vast  number  of  vic¬ 
tims,  and  drink  much  wine ;  and  that  at  one  such  fes¬ 
tival,  the  inhabitants  assured  him,  that  there  were  not 
assembled  fewer  than  700,000  men  and  women,  with¬ 
out  reckoning  the  children. — Euterpe,  chap,  lix.,  lx. 

340 


from  the  presence  of'  Pharaoh 

be  so  with  you,  as  I  will  let  you  A.  M.  2513. 

go,  and  your  little  ones  :  look  to  it ;  — — - - - 

for  evil  is  before  you. 

11  Not  so :  go  now  ye  that  are  men,  and 
serve  the  Lord  ;  for  that  ye  did  desire.  And 
they  were  driven  out  from  Pharaoh’s  presence. 

12  And  the  Lord  said  unto  Moses,  m  Stretch 
out  thine  hand  over  the  land  of  Egypt  for  the 
locusts,  that  they  may  come  up  upon  the  land 
of  Egypt,  and  n  eat  every  herb  of  the  land, 
even  all  that  the  hail  hath  left. 

13  And  Moses  stretched  forth  his  rod  over 
the  land  of  Egypt,  and  the  Lord  brought  an 

“Chap.  vii.  19. - n  Ver.  4,  5. 

I  find  that  the  ancient  Egyptians  called  Diana  Neith  ; 
this  comes  as  near  as  possible  to  the  Gaile  of  the  Isle 
of  Man.  The  moon  is  called  yn  neith  or  neaih  ;  and 
also  ke-sollus,  from  he,  smooth  or  even,  and  sollus,  light , 
the  smooth  light  ;  perhaps  to  distinguish  her  from  the 
sun,  grian,  from  gri-tien  or  cri-tien,  i.  e.,  trembling 
fire  ;  yn  neith — easga,  as  Macpherson  has  it,  signifies 
wan  complexion.  I  should  rather  incline  to  think  it 
may  come  from  aise.  The  Celtic  nations  thought  that 
the  heavenly  luminaries  were  the  residences  of  spirits 
which  they  distinguished  by  the  name  of  aise ,  thus 
grian-ais  signifies  the  spirit  of  the  sun. 

Moses  and  Aaron,  requesting  liberty  for  the  Hebrews 
to  go  three  days’  journey  into  the  wilderness,  and  with 
them  all  their  wives,  little  ones,  and  cattle,  in  order  to 
hold  a  feast  unto  Jehovah  their  God,  must  have  at 
least  appeared  as  reasonable  to  the  Egyptians  as  their 
going  to  the  city  of  Bubastis  with  their  wives,  little 
ones,  and  cattle,  to  hold  a  feast  to  Neith  or  Diana,  who 
was  there  worshipped.  The  parallel  in  these  two 
cases  is  too  striking  to  pass  unnoticed. 

Yerse  10.  Let  the  Lord  be  so  with  you ]  This  is  an 
obscure  sentence.  Some  suppose  that  Pharaoh  meant 
it  as  a  curse,  as  if  he  had  said,  “May  your  God  be  as 
surely  with  you,  as  I  shall  let  you  go  !”  For  as  he 
purposed  not  to  permit  them  to  go,  so  he  wished  them 
as  much  of  the  Divine  help  as  they  should  have  of  his 
permission. 

Look— for  evil  is  before  you.]  DD\33  "ID  Hjn  1&n 
reu  hi  raah  neged  peneychem ,  See  ye  that  evil  is  before 
your  faces — if  you  attempt  to  go,  ye  shall  meet  with 
the  punishment  ye  deserve.  Probably  Pharaoh  intend¬ 
ed  to  insinuate  that  they  had  some  sinister  designs,  and 
that  they  wished  to  go  in  a  body  that  they  might  the 
better  accomplish  their  purpose  ;  but  if  they  had  no  such 
designs  they  would  be  contented  for  the  males  to  go, 
and  leave  their  wives  and  children  behind  :  for  he  well 
knew  if  the  men  went  and  left  their  families  they  would 
infallibly  return,  but  that  if  he  permitted  them  to  take 
their  families  with  them,  they  would  undoubtedly  make 
their  escape ;  therefore  he  says,  ver.  11 ,  Go  now  ye 
that  are  men ,  and  serve  the  Lord. 

Yerse  13.  The  Lord  brought  an  east  ivind]  As 
locusts  abounded  in  those  countries,  and  particularly  in 
^Ethiopia,  and  more  especially  at  this  time  of  the  year, 


Locusts ,  the  eighth  plague, 


CHAP.  X.  and  thick  darkness ,  the  ninth . 


A.  M.  2513. 

B.  C.  1491. 


east  wind  upon  the  land  all  that  day, 
and  all  that  night ;  and  when  it  was 
morning,  the  east  wind  brought  the  locusts. 

14  And  0  the  locusts  went  up  over  all  the 
land  of  Egypt,  and  rested  in  all  the  coasts  of 
Egypt :  very  grievous  were  they ;  p  before 
them  there  were  no  such  locusts  as  they,  nei¬ 
ther  after  them  shall  be  such. 

15  For  they  q  covered  the  face  of  the  whole 
earth,  so  that  the  land  was  darkened  ;  and  they 
r  did  eat  every  herb  of  the  land,  and  all  the 
fruit  of  the  trees  which  the  hail  had  left  :  and 
there  remained  not  any  green  thing  in  the 
trees,,  or  in  the  herbs  of  the  field,  through  all 
the  land  of  Egypt. 

16  Then  Pharaoh  s  called  for  Moses  and 
Aaron  in  haste  :  and  he  said,  1 1  have  sinned 
against  the  Lord  your  God,  and  against  you. 

17  Now  therefore  forgive,  I  pray  thee,  my 


sin  only  this  once,  and  u  entreat  a.  M.  2513. 
the  Lord  your  God,  that  he  may  — 1 
take  away  from  me  this  death  only. 

18  And  he  v  went  out  from  Pharaoh,  and 
entreated  the  Lord. 

19  And  the  Lord  turned  a  mighty  strong 
west  wind,  which  took  away  the  locusts,  and 
w  cast  them  xinto  the  Red  Sea  ;  there  remained 
not  one  locust  in  all  the  coasts  of  Egypt. 

20  But  the  Lord  y  hardened  Pharaoh’s 
heart,  so  that  he  would  not  let  the  children 
of  Israel  go. 

2 1  And  the  Lord  said  unto  Moses,  z  Stretch 
out  thine  hand  toward  heaven,  that  there  may 
be  darkness  over  the  land  of  Egypt,  a  even 
darkness  which  may  be  felt. 

22  And  Moses  stretched  forth  his  hand 
toward  heaven  ;  and  there  was  a  b  thick  dark¬ 
ness  in  all  the  land  of  Egypt  three  days  : 


0  Psa.  Ixxviii.  46;  c v.  34. - PJoel  ii.  2. - <1  Ver.  5. - r  Psa. 

cv.  35. - s  Heb.  hastened  to  call. - 1  Chap.  ix.  27. - u  Chap. 

ix.  28 ;  1  Kings  xiii.  6. - v  Chap.  viii.  30. 

God  had  no  need  to  create  new  swarms  for  this  pur¬ 
pose  ;  all  that  was  requisite  was  to  cause  such  a  wind 
to  blow  as  would  bring-  those  which  already  existed 
over  the  land  of  Egypt.  The  miracle  in  this  business 
wa3  he  bringing  the  locusts  at  the  appointed  time,  and 
causing  the  proper  wind  to  blow  for  that  purpose  ;  and 
then  taking  them  away  after  a  similar  manner. 

Verse  14.  Before  them  there  were  no  such  locusts , 
*fc.]  They  exceeded  all  that  went  before,  or  were 
since,  in  number ,  and  in  the  devastations  they  produced. 
Probably  both  these  things  are  intended  in  the  passage. 
See  ver.  15. 

Ver.  15.  There  remained  not  any  green  thing]  See 
the  note  on  ver.  4. 

Verse  17.  Forgive ,  I  pray  thee ,  my  sin  only  this 
once ]  What  a  strange  case  !  And  what  a  series  of 
softening  and  hardening,  of  sinning  and  repenting  ! 
Had  he  not  now  another  opportunity  of  returning  to 
God  ?  But  the  love  of  gain,  and  the  gratification  of 
his  own  self-will  and  obstinacy,  finally  prevailed. 

Verse  19.  A  mighty  strong  west  wind ]  D'  PH  ruacli 
yam ,  literally  the  wind  of  the  sea;  the  wind  that  blew 
from  the  Mediterranean  Sea,  which  lay  north-west  of 
Egypt,  which  had  the  Red  Sea  on  the  east.  Here 
again  God  works  by  natural  means  ;  he  brought  the 
locusts  by  the  east  wind,  and  took  them  away  by  the 
west  or  north-west  wind,  which  carried  them  to  the 
Red  Sea  where  they  were  drowned. 

The  Red  Sea]  ^10  □’  yam  suph,  the  weedy  sea  ;  so 
called,  as  some  suppose,  from  the  great  quantity  of 
alga  or  sea-weed  which  grows  in  it  and  about  its  shores. 
But  Mr.  Bruce,  who  has  sailed  the  whole  extent  of  it, 
declares  that  he  never  saw  in  it  a  weed  of  any  kind  ; 
and  supposes  it  has  its  name  suph  from  the  vast  quan¬ 
tity  of  coral  which  grows  in  it,  as  trees  and  plants  do 
on  land.  “  One  of  these,”  he  observes,  “  from  a  root 


w  Heb.  fastened. - x  Joel  ii.  20. — —  y  Chapter  iv.  21 ;  xi.  10. 

zCh.  ix.  22. - aHeb.  that  one  may  feel  darkness. - b  Psa.  cv 

28  ;  Wisd.  xvii.  2,  &c. 

nearly  central,  threw  out  ramifications  in  a  nearly  cir¬ 
cular  form  measuring  twenty-six  feet  diameter  every 
way.” — Travels,  vol.  ii.,  p.  138.  In  the  Septuagint 
it  is  called  Qa'X aaaa  epvdpa,  the  Red  Sea,  from  which 
version  we  have  borrowed  the  name  ;  and  Mr.  Bruce 
supposes  that  it  had  this  name  from  Edom  or  Esau, 
whose  territories  extended  to  its  coasts  ;  for  it  is  well 
known  that  the  word  DIN  Edom  in  Hebrew  signifies 
red  or  ruddy.  The  Red  Sea,  called  also  the  Arabic 
Gulf,  separates  Arabia  from  Upper  ^Ethiopia  and  part 
of  Egypt.  It  is  computed  to  be  three  hundred  and 
fifty  leagues  in  length  from  Suez  to  the  Straits  of 
Babelmandel,  and  is  about  forty  leagues  in  breadth. 
It  is  not  very  tempestuous,  and  the  winds  usually  blow 
from  north  to  south,  and  from  south  to  north ,  six  months 
in  the  year  ;  and,  like  the  monsoons  of  India,  invariably 
determine  the  seasons  of  sailing  into  or  out  of  this  sea 
It  is  divided  into  two  gulfs  ;  that  to  the  east  called 
the  Elanitic  Gulf,  from  the  city  of  Elana  to  the  north 
end  of  it  ;  and  that  to  the  west  called  the  Heroopoli- 
tan  Gulf,  from  the  city  of  Heroopolis ;  the  former  of 
which  belongs  to  Arabia,  the  latter  to  Egypt.  The 
Heroopolitan  Gulf  is  called  by  the  Arabians  Bahr  el 
Kolzum,  the  sea  of  destruction,  or  of  Clysmce,  an  an¬ 
cient  town  in  that  quarter  ;  and  the  Elanitic  Gulf  Bahr 
el  Akaba,  the  sea  of  Akaba,  a  town  situated  on  its 
most  inland  point. 

The  ninth  plague — thick  darkness. 

Verse  21.  Darkness  which  may  be  felt.]  Probably 
this  was  occasioned  by  a  superabundance  of  aqueous 
vapours  floating  in  the  atmosphere,  which  were  so 
thick  as  to  prevent  the  rays  of  the  sun  from  pene¬ 
trating  through  them  ;  an  extraordinarily  thick  mist 
supernaturally,  i.  e.,  miraculously,  brought  on.  An 
awful  emblem  of  the  darkened  state  of  the  Egyptians 
and  their  king. 


341 


Moses  is  dismissed 


EXODUS. 


by  Pharaoh  in  wrath. 


A.  M.  2513.  23  Thev  saw  not  one  another, 

B.  C.  1491.  .  ,  J  r  ,  .  -1  r 

-  neither  rose  any  irom  his  place  lor 

three  days  :  c  but  all  the  children  of  Israel 

had  light  in  their  dwellings. 

24  And  Pharaoh  called  unto  Moses,  and 
d  said,  Go  ye,  serve  the  Lord  ;  only  let  your 
flocks  and  your  herds  be  stayed :  let  your 
e  little  ones  also  go  with  you. 

25  And  Moses  said,  Thou  must  give  f  us 
also  sacrifices  and  burnt-offerings,  that  we  may 
sacrifice  unto  the  Lord  our  God. 

26  Our  cattle  also  shall  go  with  us  ;  there 

c  Chapter  viii.  22;  Wisdom  xviii.  1. - d  Verse  8. 

e  Ver.  10. 

Verse  23.  They  saw  not  one  another 1  So  deep  was 
the  obscurity,  and  probably  such  was  its  nature,  that  no 
artificial  light  could  be  procured  ;  as  the  thick  clammy 
vapours  would  prevent  lamps,  &c.,  from  burning,  or  if 
they  even  could  be  ignited,  the  light  through  the  pal¬ 
pable  obscurity,  could  diffuse  itself  to  no  distance  from 
the  burning  body.  The  author  of  the  book  of  Wis¬ 
dom,  chap.  xvii.  2—19,  gives  a  fearful  description  of 
this  plague.  He  says,  “  The  Egyptians  were  shut  up 
in  their  houses,  the  prisoners  of  darkness  :  and  were 
fettered  with  the  bonds  of  a  long  night.  They  were 
scattered  under  a  dark  veil  of  forgetfulness,  being  hor¬ 
ribly  astonished  and  troubled  with  strange  apparitions  ; 
for  neither  might  the  corner  that  held  them  keep  them 
from  fear  ;  but  noises  as  of  waters  falling  down  sound¬ 
ed  about  them  ;  and  sad  visions  appeared  unto  them 
with  heavy  countenances.  No  power  of  the  fire  could 
give  them  light — only  there  appeared  unto  them  a  fire 
kindled  of  itself  very  dreadful ;  for  being  much  terrified, 
they  thought  the  things  which  they  saw  to  be  worse 
than  the  sight  they  saw  not.  For  though  no  terrible 
thing  did  scare  them,  yet  being  scared  with  beasts  that 
passed  by,  and  hissing  of  serpents,  they  died  for  fear  : 
for  whether  he  were  husbandman,  or  shepherd,  or  a 
labourer  in  the  field,  he  was  overtaken  ;  for  they  were 
all  bound  with  one  chain  of  darkness.  Whether  it 
were  a  whistling  wind,  or  a  terrible  sound  of  stones 
cast  down,  or  a  running  that  could  not  be  seen  of  trip¬ 
ping  beasts,  or  a  roaring  voice  of  most  savage  wild 
beasts,  or  a  rebounding  echo  from  the  hollow  mount¬ 
ains,  these  things  made  them  to  swoon  for  fear.”  See 
Psalm  lxxviii.  49. 

To  this  description  nothing  need  be  added  except 
this  circumstance,  that  the  darkness,  with  its  attendant 
horrors,  lasted  for  three  days. 

All  the  children  of  Israel  had  light ]  By  thus  dis¬ 
tinguishing  the  Israelites,  God  showed  the  Egyptians 
that  the  darkness  was  produced  by  his  power ;  that  he 
sent  it  in  judgment  against  them  for  their  cruelty  to  his 
people  ;  that  because  they  trusted  in  him  they  were 
exempted  from  these  plagues  ;  that  in  the  displeasure  of 
such  a  Being  his  enemies  had  every  thing  to  fear,  and 
in  his  approbation  his  followers  had  every  thing  to  hope. 

Verse  24.  Only  let  your  flocks  and  your  herds  be 
stayed]  Pharaoh  cannot  get  all  he  wishes  ;  and  as  he 
sees  it  impossible  to  contend  with  Jehovah,  he  now 

342 


shall  not  a  hoof  be  left  bemnd  ;  for  A.  M.  2513. 

thereof  must  we  take  to  serve  the  - - 

Lord  our  God  ;  and  we  know  not  with  what  we 
must  serve  the  Lord  until  we  come  thither. 

27  But  the  Lord  g  hardened  Pharaoh’s 
heart,  and  he  would  not  let  them  go. 

28  And  Pharaoh  said  unto  him,  Get  thee 
from  me,  take  heed  to  thyself,  see  my  face 
no  more  ;  for  in  that  day  thou  seest  my  face 
thou  shalt  die. 

29  And  Moses  said,  Thou  hast  spoken  well, 
h  I  will  see  thy  face  again  no  more. 

f  Heb.  into  our  hands. - s  Ver.  20  ;  chapter  iv.  21 ;  xiv.  4,  8. 

hHeb.  xi.  27. 

consents  to  give  up  the  Israelites,  their  wives  and  their 
children,  provided  he  may  keep  their  flocks  and  their 
herds.  The  cruelty  of  this  demand  is  not  more  evident 
than  its  avarice.  Had  six  hundred  thousand  men,  be¬ 
sides  women  and  children,  gone  three  days’ journey  into 
the  wilderness  without  their  cattle,  they  must  have 
inevitably  perished,  being  without  milk  for  their  little 
ones,  and  animal  food  for  their  own  sustenance,  in  a 
place  where  little  as  a  substitute  could  possibly  be  found. 
It  is  evident  from  this  that  Pharaoh  intended  the  total 
destruction  of  the  whole  Israelitish  host. 

Verse  26.  We  know  not  with  what  we  must  serve 
the  Lord ,  <fc.]  The  law  was  not  yet  given  ;  the  ordi¬ 
nances  concerning  the  different  kinds  of  sacrifices  and 
offerings  not  known.  What  kind  and  what  number  of 
animals  God  should  require  to  be  sacrificed,  even 
Moses  himself  could  not  as  yet  tell.  He  therefore  very 
properly  insists  on  taking  the  whole  of  their  herds  with 
them,  and  not  leaving  even  one  hoof  behind. 

Verse  27.  The  Lord  hardened  Pharaoh's  heart ]  He 
had  yet  another  miracle  to  work  for  the  complete  con¬ 
viction  of  the  Egyptians  and  triumph  of  his  people ; 
and  till  that  was  wrought  he  permitted  the  natural  obsti¬ 
nacy  of  Pharaoh’s  haughty  heart  to  have  its  full  sway, 
after  each  resistance  of  the  gracious  influence  which 
was  intended  to  soften  and  bring  him  to  repentance. 

Verse  28.  See  my  face  no  more]  Hitherto  Pharaoh 
had  left  the  way  open  for  negotiation ;  but  now,  in 
wrath  against  Jehovah,  he  dismisses  his  ambassador, 
and  threatens  him  with  death  if  he  should  attempt  any 
more  to  come  into  his  presence. 

V erse  29.  I  will  see  thy  face  again  no  more.]  It  is 
very  likely  that  this  was  the  last  interview  that  Moses 
had  with  Pharaoh,  for  what  is  related,  chap.  xi.  4—8, 
might  have  been  spoken  on  this  very  occasion,  as  it  is 
very  possible  that  God  gave  Moses  to  understand  his 
purpose  to  slay  the  first-born,  while  before  Pharaoh  at 
this  time  ;  so,  in  all  probability,  the  interview  men¬ 
tioned  here  was  the  last  which  Moses  had  with  the 
Egyptian  king.  It  is  true  that  in  ver.  3 1  of  chap.  xii. 
it  is  stated  that  Pharaoh  called  for  Moses  and  Aaron 
by  night ,  and  ordered  them  to  leave  Egypt,  and  to  take 
all  their  substance  with  them,  which  seems  to  imply 
that  there  was  another  interview,  but  the  words  may 
imply  no  more  than  that  Moses  and  Aaron  received 
such  a  message  from  Pharaoh,  If,  however,  this  mode 

a 


The  Israelites  commanded  to  ask 


CHAP.  XI. 


of  interpreting  these  passages  should  not  seem  satis¬ 
factory  to  any,  he  may  understand  the  words  of  Moses 
thus  :  I  will  see  thy  face — seek  thy  favour,  no  more 
in  behalf  of  my  people,  which  was  literally  true  ;  for 
if  Moses  did  appear  any  more  before  Pharaoh,  it  was 
not  as  a  supplicant,  but  merely  as  the  ambassador  of 
God,  to  denounce  his  judgments  by  giving  him  the 
final  determination  of  Jehovah  relative  to  the  destruc¬ 
tion  of  the  first-born. 

1.  To  the  observations  at  the  conclusion  of  the 
preceding  chapter,  we  may  add  that  at  first  view  it 
seems  exceedingly  strange  that,  after  all  the  proofs 
Pharaoh  had  of  the  power  of  God,  he  should  have 
acted  in  the  manner  related  in  this  and  the  preceding 
chapters,  alternately  sinning  and  repenting  ;  but  it  is 
really  a  common  case,  and  multitudes  who  condemn  the 
conduct  of  this  miserable  Egyptian  king,  act  in  a  similar 
manner.  They  relent  when  smarting  under  God’s  judg¬ 
ments,  but  harden  their  hearts  when  these  judgments 
are  removed.  Of  this  kind  I  have  witnessed  numerous 
cases.  To  such  God  says  by  his  prophet,  Why  should 
ye  he  stricken  any  more  ?  ye  will  revolt  more  and  more. 
Reader,  are  not  the  vows  of  God  upon  thee  ?  Often 
when  afflicted  in  thyself  or  family  hast  thou  not  said 
like  Pharaoh,  (ver.  17,)  Now  therefore  forgive,  I  pray 
thee ,  my  sin  only  this  once,  and  take  away  from  me 
this  death  only  1  And  yet  when  thou  hadst  respite, 
didst  thou  not  harden  thy  heart,  and  with  returning 


gold  and  silver  of  the  Egyptians. 

health  and  strength  didst  thou  not  return  unto  iniquity  \ 
And  art  thou  not  still  in  the  broad  road  of  transgres¬ 
sion  ?  Be  not  deceived  ;  God  is  not  mocked  ;  he  warns 
thee,  but  he  will  not  be  mocked  by  thee.  What  thou 
sowest,  that  thou  must  reap.  Think  then  what  a  most 
dreadful  harvest  thou  mayest  expect  from  the  seeds 
of  vice  which  thou  hast  already  sown ! 

2.  Even  in  the  face  of  God’s  judgments  the  spirit 
of  avarice  will  make  its  requisitions.  Only  let  your 
flocks  and  your  herds  he  stayed,  says  Pharaoh.  The 
love  of  gain  was  the  ruling  principle  of  this  man’s  soul, 
and  he  chooses  desperately  to  contend  with  the  justice 
of  his  Maker,  rather  than  give  up  his  bosom  sin ! 
Reader,  is  this  not  thy  own  case  1  And  art  thou  not 
ready,  with  Pharaoh,  to  say  to  the  messenger  of  God, 
who  rebukes  thee  for  thy  worldly  mindedness,  &c., 
Get  thee  gone  from  me.  Take  heed  to  thyself,  and 
see  my  face  no  more.  Esau  and  Pharaoh  have  both 
got  a  very  bad  name,  and  many  persons  who  are  re¬ 
peating  their  crimes  are  the  foremost  to  cover  them 
with  obloquy  !  When  shall  we  learn  to  look  at  home  ? 
to  take  warning  by  the  miscarriages  of  others,  and 
thus  shun  the  pit  into  which  we  have  seen  so  many 
fall  1  If  God  were  to  give  the  history  of  every  man 
who  hardens  himself  from  his  fear,  how  many  Pharaoh¬ 
like  cases  should  we  have  on  record  !  But  a  day  is 
coming  in  whjch  the  secrets  of  every  heart  shall  be 
revealed,  and  the  history  of  every  imn’s  life  laid  open 
to  an  assembled  world. 


CHAPTER  XI. 


God  purposes  to  bring  another  plague  upon  Pharaoh ,  after  which  he  should  let  the  Israelites  go,  1.  They 
are  commanded  to  ask  gold  and  silver  from  the  Egyptians,  2.  The  estimation  in  ivhich  Moses  was  held 
among  the  Egyptians,  3.  Moses  predicts  the  destruction  of  the  first-lorn  of  the  Egyptians ,  4—6,  and 
Israels  protection,  7.  On  seeing  ivhich,  Pharaoh  and  his  servants  should  entreat  the  Hebrews  to  depart,  8. 
The  prediction  of  his  previous  obstinacy,  9,  10. 


A.  m.  2513.  A  ND  the  Lord  said  unto  Moses, 

B.  C.  1491.  ...  T  i  •  t 

- -  let  will  I  bring  one  plague 

more  upon  Pharaoh,  and  upon  Egypt ;  after¬ 
wards  he  will  let  you  go  hence  :  a  when  he 
shall  let  you  go,  he  shall  surely  thrust  you 
out  hence  altogether. 

2  Speak  now  in  the  ears  of  the  people,  and 
let  every  man  borrow  of  his  neighbour,  and 


every  woman  of  her  neighbour,  A.  M.  2513. 

J  &  .  B.  C.  1491. 

b  jewels  of  silver,  and  jewels  of  gold.  - 1 

3  c  And  the  Lord  gave  the  people  favour  in 
the  sight  of  the  Egyptians.  Moreover  the  man 
d  Moses  was  very  great  in  the  land  of  Egypt, 
in  the  sight  of  Pharaoh’s  servants,  and  in  the 
sight  of  the  people. 

4  And  Moses  said,  Thus  saith  the  Lord, 


aCh.  xii. 31 , 33,  39. - bCh.  iii.  22;  xii.  35. - c  Ch.  iii.  21 ;  xii. 

NOTES  ON  CHAP.  XI. 

Verse  1.  The  Lord  said  unto  Moses ]  Calmet  con¬ 
tends  that  this  should  be  read  in  the  preterpluperfect 
tense,  for  the  Lord  had  said  to  Moses,  as  the  fourth, 
fifth,  sixth,  seventh,  and  eighth  verses  appear  to  have 
been  spoken  when  Moses  had  the  interview  with  Pha¬ 
raoh  mentioned  in  the  preceding  chapter  ;  see  the  note 
there  on  verse  29.  If  therefore  this  chapter  be  con¬ 
nected  with  the  preceding,  as  it  should  be,  and  the  first 
three  verses  not  only  read  in  the  past  tense  but  also  in 
a  parenthesis,  the  sense  wall  be  much  more  distinct  and 
clear  than  it  now  appears. 


36;  P?a.  cvi.  46. - d2  Sam.  vii.  9;  Esth.  ix.  4  ;  Eccles.xlv.  1. 

Verse  2.  Let  every  man  borrow ]  For  a  proper  cor¬ 
rection  of  the  strange  mistranslation  of  the  word  bxttf 
shaal  in  this  verse,  see  the  note  on  chap.  iii.  22. 

Yerse  3.  The  man  Moses  was  very  great ]  The 
miracles  which  Pharaoh  and  his  servants  had  already 
seen  him  work  had  doubtless  impressed  them  with  a 
high  opinion  of  his  wisdom  and  power.  Had  he  not 
appeared  in  their  sight  as  a  very  extraordinary  person, 
whom  it  would  have  been  very  dangerous  to  molest, 
we  may  naturally  conclude  that  some  violence  would 
long  ere  this  have  been  offered  to  his  person. 

Verse  4.  About  midnight  will  I  go  out ]  Whether 

343 


a 


EXODUS. 


A  prediction  of  the  tenth 


plague ,  and  its  effects 


A.  M.  2513.  e  About  midnight  will  I  go  out  into 

B.  C.  1491.  ,  • j  r  T? 

— -  the  midst  ot  Egypt : 

5  And  f  all  the  first-born  in  the  land  of 
Egypt  shall  die,  from  the  first-born  of  Pha¬ 
raoh  that  sitteth  upon  his  throne,  even  unto 
the  first-born  of  the  maid-servant  that  is  be¬ 
hind  the  mill  ;  and  all  the  first-born  of  beasts. 

6  %  And  there  shall  be  a  great  cry  throughout 


all  the  land  of  Egypt,  such  as  A.  M.  2513. 

,  ...  .  n  .  B.  C.  1491. 

there  was  none  like  it,  nor  shall  be  - - 

like  it  any  more. 

7  11  But  against  any  of  the  children  of  Israel 
1  shall  not  a  dog  move  his  tongue,  against  man 
or  beast :  that  ye  may  know  how  that  the 
Lord  doth  put  a  difference  between  the  Egyp¬ 
tians  and  Israel. 


e  Chapter  xii.  12,  23,  29  ;  Amos  v.  17. - f  Chapter  xii.  12,  29  ; 

Amos  iv.  10. 

God  did  this  by  the  ministry  of  a  good  or  of  an  evil 
angel  is  a  matter  of  little  importance,  though  some  com¬ 
mentators  have  greatly  magnified  it.  Both  kinds  of 
angels  are  under  his  power  and  jurisdiction,  and  he 
may  employ  them  as  he  pleases.  Such  a  work  of  de¬ 
struction  as  the  slaying  of  the  first-born  is  supposed  to 
be  more  proper  for  a  bad  than  for  a  good  angel.  But 
the  works  of  God’s  justice  are  not  less  holy  and  pure 
than  the  works  of  his  mercy ;  and  the  highest  archangel 
may,  with  the  utmost  propriety,  be  employed  in  either. 

Verse  5.  The  first-born  of  Pharaoh,  <fc.]  From 
the  heir  to  the  Egyptian  throne  to  the  son  of  the  most 
abject  slave,  or  the  principal  person  in  each  family. 
See  the  note  on  chap.  xii.  29. 

The  maid-servant  that  is  behind  the  mill ]  The 
meanest  slaves  were  employed  in  this  work.  In  many 
parts  of  the  east  they  still  grind  all  their  corn  with  a 
kind  of  portable  mill-stones,  the  upper  one  of  which  is 
turned  round  by  a  sort  of  lever  fixed  in  the  rim.  A 
drawing  of  one  of  these  machines  as  used  in  China  is 
now  before  me,  and  the  person  who  grinds  is  repre¬ 
sented  as  pushing  the  lever  before  him,  and  thus  run¬ 
ning  round  with  the  stone.  Perhaps  something  like 
this  is  intended  by  the  expression  behind  the  mill  in 
the  text.  On  this  passage  Dr.  Shaw  has  the  following 
observation  : — “  Most  families  grind  their  wheat  and 
barley  at  home,  having  two  portable  mill-stones  for  that 
purpose,  the  uppermost  of  which  is  turned  round  by  a 
small  handle  of  wood  or  iron  that  is  placed  in  the  rim. 
When  this  stone  is  large,  or  expedition  required,  a 
second  person  is  called  in  to  assist ;  and  as  it  is  usual 
for  women  alone  to  be  concerned  in  this  employment, 
who  seat  themselves  over  against  each  other  with  the 
mill-stone  between  them,  we  may  see,  not  only  the  pro¬ 
priety  of  the  expression  (Exod.  xi.  5)  of  sitting  behind 
the  mill,  but  the  force  of  another,  (Matt.  xxiv.  40,) 
that  two  women  shall  be  grinding  at  the  mill ;  the  one 
shall  be  taken,  and  the  other  left.” — Travels,  p.  231, 
4to  edit.  These  portable  mills,  under  the  name  of 
querns,  were  used  among  our  ancestors  in  this  and  the 
sister  kingdoms,  and  some  of  them  are  in  use  to  the 
present  day.  Both  the  instrument  and  its  name  our 
forefathers  seem  to  have  borrowed  from  the  continent. 
They  have  long  existed  among  the  inhabitants  of  Shet¬ 
land,  Iceland,  Norway,  Denmark,  &c. 

Verse  6.  There  shall  be  a  great  cry]  Of  the  dying 
and  for  the  dead.  See  more  on  this  subject,  chap.  xii.  30. 

Verse  7.  Not  a  dog  move  his  tongue]  This  passage 
has  been  generally  understood  as  a  proverbial  expres¬ 
sion,  intimating  that  the  Israelites  should  not  only  be 
free  from  this  death,  but  that  they  should  depart  with- 

314 


s  Chap.  xii.  30 ;  Amos  v.  17  ;  Wisd.  xviii.  10. - 11  Chap.  viii. 

22. - i  Josh.  x.  21. 

out  any  kind  of  molestation.  For  though  there  must 
be  much  bustle  and  comparative  confusion  in  the  sud¬ 
den  removal  of  six  hundred  thousand  persons  with  their 
wives,  children,  goods,  cattle,  &c.,  yet  this  should  pro¬ 
duce  so  little  alarm  that  even  the  dogs  should  not  bark 
at  them,  which  it  would  be  natural  to  expect,  as  the 
principal  stir  was  to  be  about  midnight. 

After  giving  this  general  explanation  from  others,  I 
may  be  permitted  to  hazard  a  conjecture  of  my  own. 
And,  1 .  Is  it  not  probable  that  the  allusion  is  here  made 
to  a  well-knowTn  custom  of  dogs  howling  when  any 
mortality  is  in  a  village,  street,  or  even  house,  where 
such  animals  are  1  There  are  innumerable  instances 
of  the  faithful  house-dog  howling  when  a  death  hap¬ 
pens  in  a  family,  as  if  distressed  on  the  account,  feel¬ 
ing  for  the  loss  of  his  benefactor ;  but  their  apparent 
presaging  such  an  event  by  their  cries,  as  some  will 
have  it,  may  be  attributed,  not  to  any  prescience,  but 
to  the  exquisite  keenness  of  their  scent.  If  the  words 
may  be  understood  in  this  way,  then  the  great  cry 
through  the  whole  land  of  Egypt  may  refer  to  this 
very  circumstance  :  as  dogs  were  sacred  among  them, 
and  consequently  religiously  preserved,  they  must  have 
existed  in  great  multitudes.  2.  We  know  that  one  of 
their  principal  deities  was  Osiris,  whose  son,  worship¬ 
ped  under  the  form  of  a  dog,  or  a  man  with  a  dog’s 
head,  was  called  Anubis  latrator,  the  barking  Anubis. 
May  he  not  be  represented  as  deploring  a  calamity 
which  he  had  no  powder  to  prevent  among  his  worship¬ 
pers,  nor  influence  to  inflict  punishment  upon  those  who 
set  his  deity  at  naught  1  Hence  while  there  was  a 
great  cry,  nSlJl  npjttf  tseakah  gedolah,  throughout  all 
the  land  of  Egypt,  because  of  the  mortality  in  every 
house,  yet  among  the  Israelites  there  was  no  death, 
consequently  no  dog  moved  his  tongue  to  howl  for  their 
calamity  ;  nor  could  the  object  of  the  Egyptians’  wor¬ 
ship  inflict  any  similar  punishment  on  the  worshippers 
of  Jehovah. 

In  honour  of  this  dog-god  there  was  a  city  called 
Anubis  in  Egypt,  by  the  Greeks  called  Cynopolis,  the 
city  of  the  dog,  the  same  that  is  now  called  Menich  ; 
in  this  he  had  a  temple,  and  dogs,  which  were  sacred 
to  him,  were  here  fed  with  consecrated  victuals. 

Thus,  as  in  the  first  plagues  their  magicians  were 
confounded,  so  in  this  last  their  gods  were  put  to  flight. 
And  may  not  this  be  referred  to  in  chap.  xii.  12,  when 
Jehovah  says  :  Against  all  the  gods  of  Egypt  I  will 
execute  judgment  ?  Should  it  be  objected,  that  to  con¬ 
sider  the  passage  in  this  light  would  be  to  acknowledge 
the  being  and  deity  of  the  fictitious  Anubis,  it  may  be 
answered,  that  in  the  sacred  writings  it  is  not  an  un- 

a 


CHAP.  XI. 


Pharaoh  again 


hardens  his  heart 


A.  M.  2513.  8  And  k  ail  these  thy  servants 

B.  C.  1491.  ...  .  J  .  , 

-  shall  come  down  unto  me,  and  bow 

down  themselves  unto  me,  saying,  Get  thee 

out,  and  all  the  people  1  that  follow  thee  :  and 

after  that  I  will  go  out.  And  lie  went  out 

from  Pharaoh  in  rn  a  great  anger. 

9  And  the  Lord  said  unto  Moses,  11  Pharaoh 


shall  not  hearken  unto  you ;  that  a.  m.  2513. 

n  J  T  J  ,  B.  C.  1491. 

0  m}r  wonders  may  be  multiplied - - 

in  the  land  of  Egypt. 

10  And  Moses  and  Aaron  did  all  these  won¬ 
ders  before  Pharaoh  :  p  and  the  Lord  hard¬ 
ened  Pharaoh’s  heart,  so  that  he  would  not 
let  the  children  of  Israel  go  out  of  his  land. 


k  Chap.  xii.  33. - 1  Heb.  that  is  at  thy  feet ;  so  Judg.  iv.  10  ; 

viii.  5;  1  Kings  xx.  10  ;  2  Kings  iii.  9. 


mHeb.  heat  of  anger. - u  Chap.  iii.  19  ;  vii.  4;  x.  1. - °Ch. 

vii.  3. - p  Chap.  x.  20,  27 ;  Rom.  ii.  5  ;  ix.  22. 


common  thing  to  see  the  idol  acknowledged  in  order  to 
show  its  nullity,  and  the  more  forcibly  to  express  con¬ 
tempt  for  it,  for  its  worshippers,  and  for  its  worship. 
Thus  Isaiah  represents  the  Babylonish  idols  as  being 
endued  with  sense,  bowing  down  under  the  judgments 
of  God,  utterly  unable  to  help  themselves  or  their 
worshippers,  and  being  a  burden  to  the  beasts  that  car¬ 
ried  them  :  Bel  boweth  doivn,  Nebo  stoopeth  ;  their 
idols  ivere  upon  the  beasts  and  upon  the  cattle :  your 
carriages  ivere  heavy  laden;  they  are  a  burden  to  the 
weary  beast.  They  stoop ,  they  bow  down  together ; 
they  could  not  deliver  the  burden ,  but  themselves  are 
gone  into  captivity ;  chap.  xlvi.  1,2.  The  case  of  Eli¬ 
jah  and  the  prophets  of  Baal  should  not  be  forgotten 
here  ;  this  prophet,  by  seeming  to  acknowledge  the 
reality  of  Baal's  being,  though  by  a  strong  irony ,  pour¬ 
ed  the  most  sovereign  contempt  upon  him,  his  worship¬ 
pers,  and  his  worship  :  And  Elijah  mocked  them ,  and 
said ,  Cry  aloud  ;  for  he  is  a  god  :  '  either  he  is  talk¬ 
ing ,  or  he  is  pursuing ,  or  he  is  in  a  journey ,  or  per  ad¬ 
venture  he  sleepeth  and  must  be  awaked;  1  Kings 
xviii.  27.  See  the  observations  at  the  end  of  chap.  xii. 

The  Lord  doth  pul  a  difference ]  See  on  chap.  viii. 
22.  And  for  the  variations  between  the  Hebrew  and 
Samaritan  Pentateuch  in  this  place,  see  at  the  end  of 
the  chapter. 

Verse  8.  And  all  these  thy  servants  shall  come\ 
A  prediction  of  what  actually  took  place.  See  chap, 
xii.  31-33. 

Verse  9.  Pharaoh  shall  not  hearken  unto  you ] 
Though  shall  and  will  are  both  reputed  signs  of  the 
future  tense,  and  by  many  indiscriminately  used,  yet 
they  make  a  most  essential  difference  in  composition 
in  a  variety  of  cases.  For  instance,  if  we  translate 
JfDty  nS  lo  yishma ,  Pharaoh  shall  not  hearken ,  as  in 
our  text,  the  word  shall  strongly  intimates  that  it  was 
impossible  for  Pharaoh  to  hearken,  and  that  God  had 
placed  him  under  that  impossibility :  but  if  we  trans¬ 
late  as  we  should  do,  Pharaoh  will  not  hearken,  it 
alters  the  case  most  essentially,  and  agrees  with  the 
many  passages  in  the  preceding  chapters,  where  he  is 
said  to  have  hardened  his  oivn  heart ;  as  this  proves 
that  he,  without  any  impulsive  necessity,  obstinately 
refused  to  attend  to  what  Moses  said  or  threatened  ; 
and  that  God  took  the  advantage  of  this  obstinacy  to 
work  another  miracle,  and  thus  multiply  his  wonders 
in  the  land. 

Pharaoh  will  not  hearken  unto  you  ;  and  because 
he  would  not  God  hardened  his  heart — left  him  to  his 
own  obstinacy. 

To  most  critics  it  is  well  known  that  there  are  in 
several  parts  of  the  Pentateuch  considerable  differences 


between  the  Hebrew  and  Samaritan  copies  of  this 
work.  In  this  chapter  the  variations  are  of  consider¬ 
able  importance,  and  competent  critics  have  allowed 
that  the  Samaritan  text,  especially  in  this  chapter,  is 
fuller  and  better  connected  than  that  of  the  Hebrew. 

1.  It  is  evident  that  the  eighth»verse  in  the  present 
Hebrew  text  has  no  natural  connection  with  the  se¬ 
venth.  For  in  the  seventh  verse  Moses  delivers  to 
the  Israelites  what  God  had  commanded  him  to  say ; 
and  in  the  eighth  he  appears  to  continue  a  direct  dis¬ 
course  unto  Pharaoh,  though  it  does  not  appear  when 
this  discourse  was  begun.  This  is  quite  contrary  to 
the  custom  of  Moses,  who  always  particularly  notes 
the  commencement  of  his  discourses. 

2.  It  is  not  likely  that  the  Samaritans  have  added 
these  portions,  as  they  could  have  no  private  interest 
to  serve  by  so  doing  ;  and  therefore  it  is  likely  that 
these  additions  were  originally  parts  of  the  sacred  text, 
and  might  have  been  omitted,  because  an  ancient  copy¬ 
ist  found  the  substance  of  them  in  other  places.  It 
must  however  be  granted,  that  the  principal  additions 
in  the  Samaritan  are  repetitions  of  speeches  which  ex¬ 
ist  in  the  Hebrew  text. 

3.  The  principal  part  of  these  additions  do  not  ap¬ 
pear  to  have  been  borrowed  from  any  other  quarter. 
Interpolations  in  general  are  easily  discerned  from  the 
confusion  they  introduce  ;  but  instead  of  deranging 
the  sense,  the  additions  here  make  it  much  more  appa¬ 
rent  ;  for  should  these  not  be  admitted  it  is  evident 
that  something  is  wanting,  without  which  the  connec¬ 
tion  is  incomplete. — See  Calmet.  But  the  reader  is 
still  requested  to  observe,  that  the  supplementary  mat¬ 
ter  in  the  Samaritan  is  collected  from  other  parts  of 
the  Hebrew  text ;  ,and  that  the  principal  merit  of  the 
Samaritan  is,  that  it  preserves  the  words  in  a  better 
arrangement. 

Dr.  Kennicott  has  entered  into  this  subject  at  large, 
and  by  printing  the  two  texts  in  parallel  columns,  the 
supplementary  matter  in  the  Samaritan  and  the  hiatus  in 
the  Hebrew  text  will  be  at  once  'perceived.  It  is  well 
known  that  he  preferred  the  Samaritan  to  the  Hebrew 
Pentateuch  ;  and  his  reasons  for  that  preference  in  this 
case  I  shall  subjoin.  As  the  work  is  extremely  scarce 
from  which  I  select  them,  one  class  of  readers  espe¬ 
cially  will  be  glad  to  meet  with  them  in  this  place. 

“Within  these  five  chapters,  vii.,  viii.,  ix.,  x.,  and 
xi.,  are  seven  very  great  differences  between  the  He¬ 
brew  and  SumaritaiiPentateuchs,  relating  \.o\he  speeches 
which  denounced  seven  out  of  the  ten  judgments  upon 
the  Egyptians,  viz.,  waters  into  blood,  frogs ,  flies ,  mur¬ 
rain,  hail,  locusts,  and  destruction  of  the  first-born. 
The  Hebrew  text  gives  the  speeches  concerning  these 
judgments  only  once  at  each  ;  but  the  Samaritan  gives 

345 


a 


The  Hebrew  and  Samaritan 


EXODUS. 


each  speech  twice.  In  the  Hebrew  we  have  the 
speeches  concerning  the  five  first  as  in  command  from 
God  to  Moses,  without  reading  that  Moses  delivered 
them ;  and  concerning  the  two  last,  as  delivered  by 
Moses  to  Pharaoh,  without  reading  that  God  had  com¬ 
manded  them.  Whereas  in  the  Samaritan  we  find 
every  speech  twice  :  God  commands  Moses  to  go  and 
speak  thus  or  thus  before  Pharaoh ;  Moses  goes  and 
denounces  the  judgment ;  Pharaoh  disobeys,  and  the 
judgment  takes  place.  All  this  is  perfectly  regular, 
and  exactly  agreeable  to  the  double  speeches  of  Homer 
in  very  ancient  times.  I  have  not  the  least  doubt  that 
the  Hebrew  text  now  wants  many  words  in  each  of 
the  seven  following  places  :  chap,  vii.,  between  verses 
18  and  19  ;  end  of  chap.  vii.  ;  chap,  viii.,  between  19 
and  20  ;  chap,  x.,  between  2  and  3  ;  chap,  xi.,  at 
verses  3  and  4.  The  reader  will  permit  me  to  refer 
him  (for  all  the  words  thus  omitted)  to  my  own  edition 
of  the  Hebrew  Bible,  (Oxford  1780,  2  vols.  fol.,)  where 
the  whole  differences  are  most  clearly  described.  As 
this  is  a  matter  of  very  extensive  consequence,  I  can¬ 
not  but  observe  here,  that  the  present  Hebrew  text 
of  Exod.  xi.  did  formerly,  and  does  still  appear  to  me 
to  furnish  a  demonstration  against  itself,  in  proof  of 
the  double  speech  being  formerly  recorded  there,  as 
it  is  now  in  the  Samaritan.  And  some  very  learned 
men  have  confessed  the  impossibility  of  explaining 
this  chapter  without  the  assistance  of  the  Samaritan 
Pentateuch.  I  shall  now  give  this  important  chapter 
as  I  presume  it  stood  originally,  distinguishing  by  ita¬ 
lics  all  such  words  as  are  added  to  or  differ  from  our 
present  translation.  And  before  this  chapter  must  be 
placed  the  two  last  verses  of  the  chapter  preceding, 
Exod.  x.  28  :  And  Pharaoh  said  unto  him ,  Get  thee 
from  me,  take  heed  to  thyself ,  see  my  face  no  more ; 
for  in  that  day  thou  seest  my  face  thou  shalt  die. 
29  :  And  Moses  said,  Thou  hast  well  spoken,  I  will 
see  thy  face  again  no  more. 


EXODUS  XI. 


Hebrew  text  and  pre¬ 
sent  VERSION. 

1.  And  the  Lord  said 
unto  Moses,  Yet  will  I 
bring  one  plague  more 
upon  Pharaoh  and  upon 
Egypt,  afterwards  he 
will  let  you  go  hence : 
when  he  shall  let  you  go, 
he  shall  surely  thrust  you 
out  hence  altogether. 

2.  Speak  now  in  the 
ears  of  the  people  ;  and 
let  every  man  borrow  of 
his  neighbour,  and  every 
woman  of  her  neighbour, 
jewels  of  silver,  and  jewels 
of  gold. 

3.  And  the  Lord  gave 
the  people  favour  in  the 
sight  of  the  Egyptians. 


Samaritan  text  and  new 
version. 

1.  Then  Jehovah  said 
unto  Moses,  Yet  will  I 
bring  one  plague  more 
upon  Pharaoh  and  upon 
Egypt,  and  afterwards  he 
will  send  you  out  hence  : 
when  he  will  send  you 
awTay,  he  will  surely  drive 
you  hence  altogether. 

2.  Speak  now  in  the 
ears  of  the  people  ;  and 
let  every  man  ask  of  his 
neighbour,  and  every  wo¬ 
man  of  her  neighbour,  ves¬ 
sels  of  silver,  and  vessels 
of  gold  and  raiment. 

3.  And  I  will  give  this 
people  favour  in  the  sight 
of  the  Egyptians,  so  that 
they  shall  give  them  what 
they  ask. 


346 


texts  collated  and  compared. 

EXODUS  XI. 

Hebrew.  Samaritan. 

4.  For  about  midnight 
I  will  go  forth  into  the\ 
midst  of  the  land  of  Egypt,  j 

5.  And  every  first-born 
in  the  land  of  Egypt  shall 
die,  from  the  first-born  of 
Pharaoh  who  sitteth  upon 
his  throne ,  unto  the  first¬ 
born  of  the  maid-servant 
that  is  behind  the  mill ; 

•  and  even  unto  the  first¬ 

born  of  every  beast. 

6.  And  there  shall  be  a 
great  cry  through  all  the 
land  of  Egypt ,  such  as 
there  was  none  like  it,  nor 
shall  be  like  it  any  more. 

7.  But  against  any  of 
the  children  of  Israel  shall 
not  a  dog  move  his  tongue, 
against  man  or  even  against 
beast ;  that  thou  mayest 
know  that  Jehovah  doth 
put  a  difference  between 
the  Egyptians  and  Israel. 

Moreover  the  man  Moses  8.  And  thou  also  shalt 
was  very  great  in  the  land  be  greatly  honoured  in 
of  Egypt,  in  the  sight  of  the  land  of  Egypt,  in  the 
Pharaoh’s  servants,  and  in  sight  of  Pharaoh’s  ser- 
the  sight  of  the  people.  vants,  and  in  the  sight  of 

the  people. 

9.  Then  Moses  said 
unto  Pharaoh,  Thus  saith 
Jehovah,  Israel  is  my  son , 
my  first-born  ;  and  I  said 
unto  thee ,  Let  my  son  go 
that  he  may  serve  me. 

10.  But  thou  hast  re¬ 
fused  to  let  him  go ;  be¬ 
hold,  Jehovah  slayeth  thy 
son,  thy  first-born. 

4.  And  Moses  said, Thus  11.  And  Moses  said, 

saith  the  Lord,  About  mid-  Thus  saith  Jehovah,  About 
night  will  I  go  out  into  midnight  will  I  go  forth 
the  midst  into  the  midst  of  the  land 

of  Egypt.  of  Egypt. 

5.  And  all  the  first-born  12.  And  every  first-born 

in  the  land  of  Egypt  shall  in  the  land  of  Egypt  shall 
die,  from  the  first-born  of  die,  from  the  first-born  of 
Pharaoh  that  sitteth  upon  Pharaoh  that  sitteth  upon 
his  throne,  even  unto  the  his  throne,  unto  the  first 
first-born  of  the  maid-ser-  born  of  the  maid-servant 
vant  that  is  behind  the  that  is  behind  the  mill ; 

mill ;  and  all  the  first-born  and  even  unto  the  first- 

of  beasts.  born  of  every  beast. 

6.  And  there  shall  be  13.  And  there  shall  be 

a  great  cry  through  all  the  a  great  cry  through  all  the 
land  of  Egypt,  such  as  land  of  Egypt,  such  as 

there  was  none  like  it,  there  was  none  like  it, 

nor  shall  be  like  it  any  nor  shall  be  like  it  any 
more.  more. 

7.  But  against  any  of  14.  But  against  any  of 

a 


Directions  concerning  the 


CHAP.  XTT. 


celebration  of  the  passover . 


EXODUS  XI. 


EXODUS  XI. 


Hebrew. 


Samaritan. 


Hebrew. 


Samaritan. 


the  children  of  Israel  shall 
not  a  dog  move  his  tongue, 
against  man  or 
beast ;  that  ye  may  know 
how  that  the  Lord  doth 
put  a  difference  between 
the  Egyptians  and  Israel. 

8.  And  all  these  thy 
servants  shall  come  down 
unto  me,  and  bow  down 
themselves  unto  me,  say¬ 
ing,  Get  thee  out  and  all  the 
people  that  follow  thee  ; 
and  after  that  I  will  go  out. 
And  he  went  out  from 
Pharaoh  in  great  anger. 

9.  And  the  Lord  said 
unto  Moses,  Pharaoh  shall 
not  hearken  unto  you,  that 
my  wonders  may  be  multi¬ 
plied  in  the  land  of  Egypt. 


the  children  of  Israel  shall 
not  a  dog  move  his  tongue, 
against  man  or  even  against 
beast  :  that  thou  mayest, 
know  that  the  Lord  doth 
put  a  difference  between 
the  Egyptians  and  Israel. 

15.  And  all  these  thy 
servants  shall  come  down 
to  me,  and  bow  down 
themselves  to  me,  saying, 
Go  forth,  thou  and  all  the 
people  that  follow  thee  ; 
and  then  I  will  go  forth. 

16.  Then  went  he  forth 
from  before  Pharaoh  in 
great  indignation. 

17.  And  Jehovah  said 
unto  Moses,  Pharaoh  doth 
not  hearken  unto  you,  that 
my  wonders  may  be  multi¬ 
plied  in  the  land  of  Egypt. 


10.  And  Moses  and 
Aaron  did  all  these  won¬ 
ders  before  Pharaoh  :  and 
the  Lord  hardened  Pha¬ 
raoh’s  heart,  so  that  he 
would  not  let  the  chil¬ 
dren  of  Israel  go  out  of 
his  land. 


18.  And  Moses  and 
Aaron  performed  all  these 
wonders  before  Pharaoh  : 
but  Jehovah  hardened 
Pharaoh’s  heart,  so  that 
he  would  not  let  the  chil¬ 
dren  of  Israel  go  out  of 
his  land. 


“  The  reader  has  now  the  whole  of  this  chapter 
before  him.  When,  therefore,  he  has  first  read  the 
28th  and  29th  verses  of  the  preceding  chapter,  and 
has  then  observed  with  due  surprise  the  confusion  of 
the  Hebrew  text  in  chap,  xi.,  he  will  be  prepared  to 
acknowledge  with  due  gratitude  the  regularity  and 
truth  of  the  Samaritan  text,  through  these  many  and 
very  considerable  differences.” — Remarks  on  select 
passages  in  the  Old  Testament ,  8vo.,  Oxford,  1787. 

The  reader  will  pass  his  own  judgment  on  the 
weight  of  this  reasoning,  and  the  importance  of  the 
additions  preserved  in  the  Samaritan  text ;  a  convic¬ 
tion  of  their  utility  has  induced  me  to  insert  them. 


CHAPTER  XII. 


The  month  Abib  is  to  be  considered  as  the  commencement  of  the  year ,  1,  2.  The  Passover  instituted;  the 
lamb  or  kid  to  be  used  on  the  occasion  to  be  taken  from  the  flock  the  tenth  day  of  the  month ,  and  each 
family  to  provide  one ,  3,  4.  The  lamb  dr  kid  to  be  a  male  of  the  first  year  without  blemish ,  5.  To  be 
killed  on  the  fourteenth  day,  6,  and  the  blood  to  be  sprinkled  on  the  side  posts  and  lintels  of  the  doors,  7. 
The  flesh  to  be  prepared  by  roasting,  and  not  to  be  eaten  either  sodden  or  raw,  8,  9  ;  and  no  part  of  it  to 
be  left  till  the  morning,  10.  The  people  to  eat  it  with  their  loins  girded,  <fc.,  as  persons  prepared  for  a 
journey,  11.  Why  called  the  Passover,  12.  The  blood  sprinkled  on  the  door  posts,  dfc.,  to  be  a  token  to 
them  of  preservation  from  the  destroying  angel,  13.  The  fourteenth  day  of  the  month  Abib  to  be  a  feast 
for  ever,  14.  Unleavened  bread  to  be  eaten  seven  days,  15.  This  also  to  be  observed  in  all  their  genera¬ 
tions  for  ever,  17—20.  Moses  instructs  the  elders  of  Israel  how  they  are  to  ofjer  the  lamb  and  sprinkle 
his  blood ,  and  for  what  purpose,  21—23.  He  binds  them  to  instruct  their  children  in  the  nature  of  this  rite , 
24—27.  The  children  of  Israel  act  as  commanded,  28.  All  the  first-born  of  Egypt  slain,  29,  30.  Pha¬ 
raoh  and  the  Egyptians  urge  Moses,  Aaron,  and  the  Israelites  to  depart,  31—33.  They  prepare  for  their 
departure,  and  get  gold,  silver,  and  raiment  from  the  Egyptians,  34—36.  They  journey  from  Rameses 
to  Succoth,  in  number  six  hundred  thousand  men ,  besides  women  and  children,  and  a  mixed  multitude,  37,  38. 
They  bake  unleavened  cakes  of  the  dough  they  brought  with  them  out  of  Egypt,  39.  The  time  in  ivhich 
they  sojourned  in  Egypt,  40-42.  Different  ordinances  concerning  the  Passover,  43-49  ;  which  are  all 
punctually  observed  by  the  people,  who  are  brought  out  of  Egypt  the  same  day,  50,  51. 


A.  M.  2513.  A  ND  the  Lord  spake  unto 

B.  C.  1491.  A  1  . 

An.  Exod.  Isr.  l.  Moses  and  Aaron  in  the 

Abib  or  Nisan.  ian(j  Egypt,  saying, 

2  a  This  month  shall  he  unto  you  the 

a  Chap.  xiii.  4  ;  Deut.  xvi.  1 ;  xxiii.  15  ;  xxxiv.  18  ; 


beginning  of  months  :  it  shall  A.  M.  2513. 
So  B.  C.  1491. 

he  the  first  month  of  the  year  An.  Exod.  Isr.  l. 

Abib  or  Nisan. 

to  you.  _ _ 

3  Speak  ye  unto  all  the  congregation  of 

Lev.  xiii.  5  ;  Num.  xxviii.  16;  Esth.  iii.  7. 


NOTES  ON  CHAP.  XII. 

Verse  2.  This  month  shall  be  unto  you  the  begin¬ 
ning  of  months]  It  is  supposed  that  God  now  changed 
the  commencement  of  the  Jewish  year.  The  month 
to  which  this  verse  refers,  the  month  Abib,  answers  to 
a  part  of  our  March  and  April ;  whereas  it  is  supposed 
that  previously  to  this  the  year  began  with  Tisri, 
which  answers  to  a  part  of  our  September ;  for  in  this 
month  the  Jews  suppose  God  created  the  world,  when 

a 


the  earth  appeared  at  once  with  all  its  fruits  in  perfec¬ 
tion.  From  this  circumstance  the  Jews  have  formed 
a  twofold  commencement  of  the  year,  which  has  given 
rise  to  a  twofold  denomination  of  the  year  itself,  to 
which  they  afterwards  attended  in  all  their  reckon¬ 
ings  :  that  which  began  with  Tisri  or  September  was 
called  their  civil  year  ;  that  which  began  with  Abib  or 
March  was  called  the  sacred  or  ecclesiastical  year. 

As  the  exodus  of  the  Israelites  formed  a  particular 

347 


EXODUS. 


lamb  described 


The  paschal 

b'  c  hoi* * 3,  Israe^j  saying,  In  the  tenth  day 

An.  Exod.  isr.  l.  of  this  month  they  shall  take  to 
Abu  01  Niban.  every  man  a  b  lamb,  ac¬ 

cording  to  the  house  of  their  fathers,  a  lamb 
for  a  house  : 

4  And  if  the  household  be  too  little  for  the 
lamb,  let  him  and  his  neighbour  next  unto  his 
house  take  it ,  according  to  the  number  of  the 

b  Or,  kid. - c  Lev.  xxii.  19,  20,  21  ;  Mai.  i.  8,  14 ;  Heb.  ix.  14 ; 

1  Pet.  i.  19. 


era,  which  is  referred  to  in  Jewish  reckonings  down  to 
the  building  of  the  temple,  I  have  marked  it  as  such 
in  the  chronology  in  the  margin ;  and  shall  carry  it  down 
to  the  time  in  which  it  ceased  to  be  acknowledged. 

Some  very  eminently  learned  men  dispute  this  ;  and 
especially  Houbigant,  wdio  contends  with  great  plau¬ 
sibility  of  argument  that  no  new  commencement  of  the 
year  is  noted  in  this  place ;  for  that  the  year  had  al¬ 
ways  begun  in  this  month,  and  that  the  words  shall  be , 
which  are  inserted  by  different  versions,  have  nothing 
answering  to  them  in  the  Hebrew,  which  he  renders 
literally  thus  :  Hie  mensis  vobis  est  caput  mensium ; 
hie  vobis  primus  est  anni  mensis.  “  This  month  is  to 
you  the  head  or  chief  of  the  months  ;  it  is  to  you  the 
first  month  of  the  year.”  And  he  observes  farther 
that  God  only  marks  it  thus,  as  is  evident  from  the 
context,  to  show  the  people  that  this  month,  which 
was  the  beginning  of  their  year,  should  be  so  desig¬ 
nated  as  to  point  out  to  their  posterity  on  what  month 
and  on  what  day  of  the  month  they  were  to  celebrate 
the  passover  and  the  feast  of  unlea\  ened  bread.  His 
words  are  these  :  “  Ergo  superest,  et  Hebr.  ipso  ex 
contextu  efficitur,  non  hie  novi  ordinis  annum  con- 
stitui,  sed  eum  anni  mensem,  qui  esset  primus,  ideo 
eommemorari,  ut  posteris  constaret,  quo  mense,  et  quo 
die  mensis  pascha  et  azyma  celebranda  essent.” 

Verse  3.  In  the  tenth  day  of  this  month ]  In  after 
times  they  began  their  preparation  on  the  thirteenth 
day  or  day  before  the  passover,  which  was  not  cele¬ 
brated  till  the  fourteenth  day,  see  ver.  6  :  but  on  the 
present  occasion,  as  this  was  their  first  passover ,  they 
probably  required  more  time  to  get  ready  in  ;  as  a 
state  of  very  great  confusion  must  have  prevailed  at 
this  time.  Mr.  Ainsworth  remarks  that  on  this  day 
the  Israelites  did  aftenvards  go  through  Jordan  into 
the  land  of  Canaan;  Josh.  iv.  19.  And  Christ,  our 
Paschal  Lamb,  on  this  day  entered  Jerusalem,  riding 
on  an  ass ;  the  people  bearing  palm  branches,  and 
crying,  Hosanna,  John  xii.  1,  12,  13,  &c.  :  and  in 
him  this  type  was  truly  fulfilled. 

A  lamb]  The  original  word  rw  seh  signifies  the 
young  of  sheep  and  of  goats,  and  may  be  indifferently 
translated  either  lamb  or  kid.  See  ver.  5. 

A  lamb  for  a  house]  The  whole  host  of  Israel  was 
divided  into  twelve  tribes ,  these  tribes  into  families , 
the  families  into  houses ,  and  the  houses  into  particular 
persons;  Num.  i.,  Josh.  vii.  14. — Ainsworth. 

Verse  4.  If  the  household  be  too  little]  That  is,  If 
there  be  not  persons  enough  in  one  family  to  eat  a 
whole  lamb,  then  two  families  must  join  together.  The 

348 


souls  ;  every  man,  according  to  a.  m.  2513. 

his  eating,  shall  make  your  count  An.  Exod.  isr.  1. 
for  the  lamb.  Abib  or  N1San. 

5  Your  lamb  shall  be  c  without  blemish,  a 
male  d  of  the  first  year :  ye  shall  take  it  out 
from  the  sheep,  or  from  the  goats  : 

6  And  ye  shall  keep  it  up  until  the  e  four¬ 
teenth  day  of  the  same  month  :  and  the  whole 

d  Heb.  son  of  a  year ;  Lev.  xxiii.  12. - -e  Lev.  xxiii.  5  ;  Num. 

ix.  3;  xxviii.  16;  Deut.  xvi.  1,  6. 


rabbins  allow  that  there  should  be  at  least  ten  persons 
to  one  paschal  lamb,  and  not  more  than  twenty. 

Take  it,  according  to  the  number  of  the  souls]  The 
persons  who  were  to  eat  of  it  were  to  be  first  ascer¬ 
tained,  and  then  the  lamb  was  to  be  slain  and  dressed 
for  that  number. 

Verse  5.  Without  blemish]  Having  no  natural  im¬ 
perfection,  no  disease,  no  deficiency  or  redundancy  of 
parts.  On  this  point  the  rabbins  have  trifled  most 
egregiously,  reckoning  fifty  blemishes  that  render  a 
lamb  or  a  kid,  or  any  animal,  improper  to  be  sacrificed  : 
five  in  the  ear ,  three  in  the  eyelid,  eight  in  the  eye, 
three  in  the  nose,  six  in  the  mouth,  &c.,  &c. 

A  male  of  the  first  year]  That  is,  any  age  in  the 
first  year  between  eight  days  and  twelve  months. 

From  the  sheep,  or  from  the  goats]  The  r W  seh 
means  either ;  and  either  was  equally  proper  if  with¬ 
out  blemish.  The  Hebrews  however  in  general  pre¬ 
ferred  the  lamb  to  the  kid. 

Verse  6.  Ye  shall  keep  it  up  until  the  fourteenth  day ] 
The  lamb  or  kid  was  to  be  taken  from  the  flock  on  the 
tenth  day,  and  kept  up  and  fed  by  itself  till  the  four¬ 
teenth  day,  when  it  was  to  be  sacrificed.  This  was 
never  commanded  nor  practised  afterwards.  The  rab¬ 
bins  mark  four  things  that  were  required  in  the  first 
passover  that  were  never  required  afterwards  ;  1 .  The 
eating  of  the  lamb  in  their  houses  dispersed  through 
Goshen.  2.  The  taking  the  lamb  on  the  tenth  day. 

3.  The  striking  of  its  blood  on  the  door  posts  and  lin¬ 
tels  of  their  houses.  And,  4.  Their  eating  it  in  haste. 
These  things  were  not  required  of  the  succeeding 
generations. 

The  whole  assembly — shall  kill  it]  Any  person 
might  kill  it,  the  sacrificial  act  in  this  case  not  being 
confined  to  the  priests. 

In  the  evening.]  D’mpn  f’!3  beyn  haarbayim,  “be¬ 
tween  the  two  evenings.”  The  Jews  divided  the  day 
into  morning  and  evening:  till  the  sun  passed  the  meri¬ 
dian  all  was  morning  or  forenoon ;  after  that,  all  wTas 
afternoon  or  evening.  Their  first,  evening  began  just 
after  twelve  o’clock,  and  continued  till  sunset ;  their 
second  evening  began  at  sunset  and  continued  till  night , 
i.  e.,  during  the  whole  time  of  tivilight;  between  twelve 
o’clock,  therefore,  and  the  termination  of  tivilight,  the 
passover  was  to  be  offered. 

“The  day  among  the  Jews  had  twelve  hours,  John 
xi.  9.  Their  first  hour  was  about  six  o’clock  in  the 
mornino-  with  us.  Their  sixth  hour  was  our  noon. 

o 

Their  ninth  hour  answered  to  our  three  o’clock  in  the 
afternoon.  By  this  we  may  understand  that  the  time 


Directions  for  eating 


CHAP.  XII. 


A.  M.  2513.  assembly  of  the  congregation 

R  P  14Q1  J  O  O 

An.  Exod.  isr.  l.  of  Israel  shall  kill  it  f  in  the 
Abib  or  Nisan.  eyening. 

7  And  they  shall  take  of  the  blood,  and 
strike  it  on  the  two  side  posts,  and  on  the 
upper  door  post  of  the  houses,  wherein  they 
shall  eat  it. 

8  And  they  shall  eat  the  flesh  in  that  night, 


the  paschal  lamb. 

roast  with  fire,  and  &  unleavened  A.  M.  2513. 
bread  ;  and  with  bitter  herbs  An.  Exod.  isr.  1. 
they  shall  eat  it.  Ablb  or  Nlsan- 

9  Eat  not  of  it  raw,  nor  sodden  at  all  with 
water,  but  h  roast  with  fire  ;  his  head  with  his 
legs,  and  with  the  purtenance  thereof. 

10  1  And  ye  shall  let  nothing  of  it  remain 
until  the  morning ;  and  that  which  remaineth 


f  Heb.  between  the  tivo  evenings  ;  chap.  xvi.  12. - s  Ch.  xxxiv. 

25 ;  Deut.  xvi.  3  ;  Num.  ix.  11 ;  1  Cor.  iv.  8. 


in  which  Christ  was  crucified  began  at  the  third  hour, 
that  is,  at  nine  o’clock  in  the  morning,  the  ordinary 
time  for  the  daily  morning  sacrifice ,  and  ended  at  the 
ninth  hour,  that  is,  three  o’clock  in  the  afternoon,  the 
time  of  the  evening  sacrifice,  Mark  xv.  25,  33,  34, 
37.  Wherefore  their  ninth  hour  was  their  hour  of 
prayer ,  when  they  used  to  go  into  the  temple  at  the 
daily  evening  sacrifice,  Acts  iii.  1  ;  and  this  was  the 
ordinary  time  for  the  passover.  It  is  worthy  of  remark 
that  God  sets  no  particular  hour  for  the  killing  of  the 
passover  :  any  time  between  the  two  evenings,  i.  e., 
between  twelve  o’clock  in  the  day  and  the  termination 
of  twilight,  was  lawful.  The  daily  sacrifice  (see  Exod. 
xxix.  38,  39)  was  killed  at  half  past  the  eighth  hour , 
that  is,  half  an  hour  before  three  in  the  afternoon  ; 
and  it  was  offered  up  at  half  past  the  ninth  hour ,  that 
is,  half  an  hour  after  three.  In  the  evening  of  the 
passover  it  was  killed  at  half  past  the  seventh  hour, 
and  offered  at  half  past  the  eighth ,  that  is,  half  an  hour 
before  three  :  and  if  the  evening  of  the  passover  fell 
on  the  evening  of  the  Sabbath,  it  was  killed  a.t  half 
past  the  sixth  hour ,  and  offered  at  half  past  the 
seventh,  that  is,  half  an  hour  before  two  in  the  after¬ 
noon.  The  reason  of  this  was,  they  were  first  obliged 
to  kill  the  daily  sacrifice,  and  then  to  kill  and  roast  the 
paschal  lamb,  and  also  to  rest  the  evening  before  the 
passover.  Agreeably  to  this  Maimonides  says  ‘  the 
killing  of  the  passover  is  after  mid-day,  and  if  they 
kill  it  before  it  is  not  lawful ;  and  they  do  not  kill  it 
till  after  the  daily  evening  sacrifice,  and  burning  of  in¬ 
cense  :  and  after  they  have  trimmed  the  lamps  they 
begin  to  kill  the  paschal  lambs  until  the  end  of  the 
day.’  By  this  time  of  the  day  God  foreshowed  the 
sufferings  of  Christ  in  the  evening  of  times  or  in  the 
last  days,  Heb.  i.  2  ;  1  Pet.  i.  19,  20  :  and  about  the 
same  time  of  the  day,  when  the  paschal  lamb  ordina¬ 
rily  died,  He  died  also,  viz.,  at  the  ninth  hour  ;  Matt, 
xxvii.  46—50.”  See  Ainsworth. 

Verse  7.  Take  of  the  blood,  and  strike  it  on  the  two 
side  posts ]  This  was  to  be  done  by  dipping  a  bunch 
of  hyssop  into  the  blood,  and  thus  sprinkling  it  upon 
the  posts,  &e.  ;  see  ver.  22.  That  this  sprinkling  of 
the  blood  of  the  paschal  lamb  was  an  emblem  of  the 
sacrifice  and  atonement  made  by  the  death  of  Jesus 
Christ,  is  most  clearly  intimated  in  the  sacred  writings, 
1  Pet.  i.  2  ;  Heb.  ix.  13,  14  ;  viii.  10.  It  is  remark¬ 
able  that  no  blood  was  to  be  sprinkled  on  the  threshold , 
to  teach,  as  Mr.  Ainsworth  properly  observes,  a  re¬ 
verent  regard  for  the  blood  of  Christ,  that  men  should 
not  tread  under  foot  the  Son  of  GOD ,  nor  count  the 

a 


h  Deuteronomy  xvi.  7. - ‘Chapter  xxiii.  18; 

xxxiv.  25. 


blood  of  the  covenant  wherewith  they  were  sanctified 
an  unholy  thing;  Pleb.  x.  29. 

Verse  8.  They  shall  eat  the  flesh — roast  with  fire ] 
As  it  was  the  ordinary  custom  of  the  Jews  to  boil 
their  flesh,  some  think  that  the  command  given  here 
was  in  opposition  to  the  custom  of  the  Egyptians,  who 
ate  raw  flesh  in  honour  of  Osiris.  The  HUthiopians 
are  to  this  day  remarkable  for  eating  raw  flesh,  as  is 
the  case  with  most  savage  nations. 

Unleavened  bread ]  JYli'D  matstsoth,  from  Hi* 3  matsah , 
to  squeeze  or  compress,  because  the  bread  prepared 
without  leaven  or  yeast  was  generally  compressed,  sad 
or  heavy,  as  we  term  it.  The  word  here  properly 
signifies  unleavened  cakes  ;  the  word  for  leaven  in  He¬ 
brew  is  pn  chamets,  which  simply  signifies  to  fer¬ 
ment.  It  is  supposed  that  leaven  was  forbidden  on 
this  and  other  occasions,  that  the  bread  being  less 
agreeable  to  the  taste,  it  might  be  emblematical  of 
their  bondage  and  bitter  servitude,  as  this  seems  to 
have  been  one  design  of  the  bitter  herbs  which  were 
commanded  to  be  used  on  this  occasion ,  but  this  cer¬ 
tainly  was  not  the  sole  design  of  the  prohibition  :  leaven 
itself  is  a  species  of  corruption,  being  produced  by 
fermentation,  which  in  such  cases  tends  to  putrefac¬ 
tion.  In  this  very  light  St.  Paul  considers  the  subject 
in  this  place  ;  hence,  alluding  to  the  passover  as  a  type 
of  Christ,  he  says  :  Purge  out  therefore  the  old  leaven 
— for  Christ  our  passover  is  sacrificed  for  us :  there¬ 
fore  let  us  keep  the  feast ,  not  with  old  leaven,  neither 
with  the  leaven  of  malice  and  ivickedness,  but  with  the 
unleavened  bread  of  sincerity  and  truth ;  1  Cor.  v.  6-8. 

Bitter  herbs]  What  kind  of  herbs  or  salad  is  in¬ 
tended  by  the  word  merorim ,  which  literally  sig¬ 

nifies  bitters ,  is  not  well  known.  The  Jews  think 
cichory,  ivild  lettuce,  horehound,  and  the  like  are  in¬ 
tended.  Whatever  may  be  implied  under  the  term, 
whether  bitter  herbs  or  bitter  ingredients  in  general,  it 
was  designed  to  put  them  in  mind  of  their  bitter  and 
severe  bondage  in  the  land  of  Egypt,  from  which  God 
was  now  about  to  deliver  them. 

Verse  9.  With  the  purtenance  thereof. \  All  the 
intestines,  for  these  were  abused  by  the  heathens  to 
purposes  of  divination ;  and  when  roasted  in  the  man¬ 
ner  here  directed  they  could  not  be  thus  used.  The 
command  also  implies  that  the  lamb  was  to  be  roasted 
whole ;  neither  the  head  or  legs  were  to  be  separated* 
nor  the  intestines  removed.  I  suppose  that  these  last 
simply  included  the  heart ,  lungs,  liver,  kidneys,  &c., 
and  not  the  intestinal  canal. 

Verse  10.  Ye  shall  let  nothing  of  it  remain  until  the 

349 


EXODUS. 


Manner  of  eating  the  lamb. 
a.  M.  2513.  of  it  until  the  morning  ye  shall 

B.  C. 1491.  ,  .  ,  c  °  J 

An.  Exod.  isr.  i.  bum  with  hre. 

Abib  or  Nisan.  j  j  And  thus  shall  ye  eat  it ; 
loith  your  loins  girded,  your  shoes  on  your  feet, 
and  your  staff  in  your  hand  ;  and  ye  shall 
eat  it  in  haste  :  k  it  is  the  Lord’s  passover. 

K  Deut.  xvi.  5. - 1  Chap.  xi.  4,  5  ;  Amos  v.  17. - m  Numbers 

xxxiii.  4. 


morning ]  Merely  to  prevent  putrefaction ;  for  it  was 
not  meet  that  a  thing  offered  to  God  should  be  sub¬ 
jected  to  corruption,  which  in  such  hot  countries  it 
must  speedily  undergo.  Thus  the  body  of  our  blessed 
Lord  saiv  no  corruption ,  Psalm  xvi.  10  ;  Acts  ii.  27, 
because,  like  the  paschal  lamb,  it  was  a  sacrifice  offer¬ 
ed  to  God. 

It  appears  that  from  the  Jewish  passover  the  hea¬ 
thens  borrowed  their  sacrifice  termed  propter  viam. 
It  was  their  custom  previously  to  their  undertaking  a 
journey,  to  offer  a  sacrifice  to  their  gods,  and  to  eat 
the  whole  if  possible,  but  if  any  part  was  left  they 
burned  it  with  fire  ;  and  this  was  called  propter  viam , 
because  it  was  made  to  procure  a  prosperous  journey. 
It  was  in  reference  to  this  that  Cato  is  said  to  have 
rallied  a  person  called  Q.  Albidius ,  who,  having  eaten 
up  all  his  goods,  set  fire  to  his  house,  his  only  remain¬ 
ing  property.  “  He  has  offered  his  sacrifice  propter 
viam,"  says  Cato,  “  because  he  has  burned  what  he 
could  not  eat.”  This  account  is  given  by  Macrobius, 
Saturn.,  lib.  ii.,  2,  edit.  Bipont.,  vol.  i.,  p.  333  ;  and  is 
a  remarkable  instance  how  closely  some  of  the  religious 
observances  of  the  people  of  God  have  been  copied  by 
the  heathen  nations. 

Verse  1 1.  And  thus  shall  ye  eat  it ;  with  your  loins 
girded ]  As  in  the  eastern  countries  they  wear  long 
loose  garments,  whenever  they  travel  they  tuck  up  the 
fore  parts  of  their  garments  in  the  girdle  which  they 
wear  round  their  loins. 

Your  shoes  on  your  feet]  This  seems  particularly 
mentioned  because  not  customary.  “  The  easterns 
throw  off  their  shoes  when  they  eat,  because  it  would 
be  troublesome,”  says  Sir  J.  Chardin,  “  to  keep  their 
shoes  upon  their  feet,  they  sitting  cross-legged  on  the 
floor,  and  having  no  hinder  quarters  to  their  shoes, 
which  are  made  like  slippers ;  and  as  they  do  not  use 
tables  and  chairs  as  we  do  in  Europe,  but  have  their 
floors  covered  with  carpets,  they  throw  off  their  shoes 
when  they  enter  their  apartments,  lest  they  should  soil 
those  beautiful  pieces  of  furniture.”  On  the  contrary 
the  Israelites  were  to  have  their  shoes  on,  because  now 
about  to  commence  their  journey.  It  was  customary 
among  the  Romans  to  lay  aside  their  shoes  when  they 
went  to  a  banquet.  The  servants  took  them  off  them 
when  they  entered  the  house,  and  returned  them  when 
they  departed  to  their  own  habitations. 

Your  staff  in  your  hand]  The  same  writer  ob¬ 
serves  that  the  eastern  people  universally  make  use  of 
a  staff  when  they  travel  on  foot. 

Ye  shall  eat  it  in  haste]  Because  they  were  sud¬ 
denly  to  take  their  departure  :  the  destroying  angel 
was  at  hand,  their  enemies  were  coming  against  them, 
and  they  had  not  a  moment  to  lose. 

350 


Why  called  the  passover 

12  For  I  1  will  pass  through  A.  M.  2513. 
the  land  of  Egypt  this  night,  and  An.  Exod.  isr.i 
will  smite  all  the  first-born  in  the  Ablb  or  N.isa.nl 
land  of  Egypt,  both  man  and  beast ;  and 
m  against  all  the  n  gods  of  Egypt  I  will  execute 
judgment :  0 1  am  the  Lord. 

n  Or,  princes  ;  chap.  xxi.  6;  xxii.  28;  Psa.  Ixxxii.  1,  6;  John 
x.  34,  35. - 0  Chap.  vi.  2. 

It  is  the  Lord's  passover.]  That  is,  Jehovah  is 
now  about  to  pass  over  the  land,  and  the  houses  only 
where  the  blood  is  sprinkled  shall  be  safe  from  the 
stroke  of  death.  The  Hebrew"  word  nD3  pesach,  which 
we  very  properly  translate  passover,  and  wrhich  should 
always  be  pronounced  as  two  words ,  has  its  name  from 
the  angel  of  God  passing  by  or  over  the  houses  of  the 
Israelites,  on  the  posts  and  lintels  of  which  the  blood 
of  the  lamb  wras  sprinkled,  w'hile  he  stopped  at  the 
houses  of  the  Egyptians  to  slay  their  first-born. 

Verse  3  2.  Against  all  the  gods  of  Egypt,  <fr.]  As 
different  animals  wrere  sacred  among  the  Egyptians, 
the  slaying  of  the  first-born  of  all  the  beasts  might  be 
called  executing  judgment  upon  the  gods  of  Egypt. 
As  this  however  does  not  appear  very  clear  and  satis¬ 
factory,  some  have  imagined  that  the  wTord  ’nhx  elohey 
should  be  translated  princes,  which  is  the  rendering  in 
our  margin ;  for  as  these  princes,  who  were  rulers  of 
the  kingdom  under  Pharaoh,  were  equally  hostile  to 
the  Hebrew's  with  Pharaoh  himself,  therefore  these 
judgments  fell  equally  heavy  on  them  also.  But  we 
may  ask,  Did  not  these  judgments  fall  equally  on  all 
the  families  of  Egypt,  though  multitudes  of  them  had 
no  particular  part  either  in  the  evil  counsel  against  the 
Israelites  or  in  their  oppression  1  Why  then  distin¬ 
guish  those  in  calamities  in  which  all  equally  shared  1 
None  of  these  interpretations  therefore  appear  satis¬ 
factory.  Houbigant,  by  a  very  simple  and  natural 
emendation,  has,  he  thinks,  restored  the  whole  passage 
to  sense  and  reason.  He  supposes  that  'nbtf  elohey, 
gods,  is  a  mistake  for  ,bn$'s  able y,  tents  or  habita¬ 
tions,  the  n  he  and  the  7  lamed  being  merely  inter¬ 
changed.  This  certainly  gives  a  very  consistent  sense, 
and  points  out  the  universality  of  the  desolation  to 
which  the  whole  context  continually  refers.  He  there¬ 
fore  contends  that  the  text  should  be  read  thus  :  And 
on  all  the  tents  (or  habitations)  of  Egypt  I  will  exe¬ 
cute  judgment ;  by  which  words  the  Lord  signified 
that  not  one  dwelling  in  the  whole  land  of  Egypt  should 
be  exempted  from  the  judgment  here  threatened.  It 
is  but  justice  to  say  that  however  probable  this  criti¬ 
cism  may  appear,  it  is  not  supported  by  any  of  the 
ancient  versions,  nor  by  any  of  the  MSS.  collated  by 
Kennicott  and  Be  Rossi.  The  parallel  place  also 
Num.  xxxiii.  4,  is  rather  against  Houbigant’s  inter¬ 
pretation  ;  For  the  Egyptians  buried  all  their  first¬ 
born,  ivhich  the  Lord  had  smitten  among  them :  upon 
their  gods  also  [onTI1?^!  ubeloheyhem]  the  Lord  exe¬ 
cuted  judgments.  But  Houbigant  amends  the  word 
in  this  place  in  the  same  way  as  he  does  that  in 
Exodus.  There  appears  also  to  be  an  allusion  to  this 
former  judgment  in  Isa.  xix.  1  :  Behold ,  the  Lord — • 
shall  come  into  Egypt,  and  the  idols  [“S'Sx  eliley]  of 

a 


CHAP-  XII. 


a  continual  ordinance 


T7ie  passover  to  be 

a.  M.  2513.  1 3  And  the  blood  shall  be  to 

An.  Exod.  Isr.  l.  you  for  a  token  upon  the  houses 
Abib  or  Nisan.  wpere  ye  are :  and  when  I  see 

the  blood,  I  will  pass  over  you,  and  the  plague 
shall  not  be  upon  you  p  to  destroy  you,  when 
I  smite  the  land  of  Egypt. 

14  And  this  day  shall  be  unto  you  *  for  a 
memorial ,  and  ye  shall  keep  it  a  r  feast  to  the 
Lord  throughout  your  generations  ;  ye  shall 
keep  it  a  feast  s  by  an  ordinance  for  ever. 

15  1  Seven  days  shall  ye  eat  unleavened 
bread  ;  even  the  first  day  ye  shall  put  away 

P  Heb.  for  a  destruction. - -a  Chap.  xiii.  9. - r  Lev.  xxiii.  4, 

5  ;  2  Kings  xxiii.  21. - 8  Yer.  24,  43  ;  chap.  xiii.  10. - c  Chap. 

xiii.  6, 7  ;  xxiii.  15  ;  xxxiv.  18,  25  ;  Lev.  xxiii.  5, 6  ;  Num.  xxviii. 


Egypt  shall  be  moved  at  his  presence.  And  in  Jer. 
xliii.'13  :  The  houses  of  the  gods  [TlStf  TO  bottey 
elohey ]  of  the  Egyptians  shall  he  burn  ivith  fire.  The 
rabbins  say  that  “  when  Israel  came  out  of  Egypt,  the 
holy  blessed  God  threwT  down  all  the  images  of  their 
abominations,  and  they  were  broken  to  pieces.”  When 
a  nation  was  conquered,  it  was  always  supposed  that 
their  gods  had  either  abandoned  them  or  were  over¬ 
come.  Thus  Egypt  wras  ruined,  and  their  gods  con¬ 
founded  and  destroyed  by  Jehovah.  See  the  note  on 
chap.  xi.  7. 

Yerse  13.  The  blood  shall  be  to  you  for  a  token ] 
It  shall  be  the  sign  to  the  destroying  angel,  that  the 
house  on  which  he  sees  this  blood  sprinkled  is  under 
the  protection  of  God,  and  that  no  person  in  it  is  to 
be  injured.  See  on  ver.  11. 

Yerse  14.  A  memorial \  To  keep  up  a  remem¬ 
brance  of  the  severity  and  goodness,  or  justice  and 
mercy,  of  God.  Ye  shall  keep  it  a  feast — it  shall  be 
annually  observed,  and  shall  be  celebrated  with  solemn 
religious  joy,  throughout  your  generations — as  long  as 
ye  continue  to  be  a  distinct  people  ;  an  ordinance — 
a  Divine  appointment,  an  institution  of  God  himself, 
neither  to  be  altered  nor  set  aside  by  any  human 
authority. 

For  ever  ]  Tpn  chukkath  olam ,  an  everlasting 

or  endless  statute,  because  representative  of  the  Lamb 
of  God  who  taketh  awray  the  sin  of  the  world  ;  whose 
mediation,  in  consequence  of  his  sacrifice,  shaft  endure 
while  time  itself  lasts  ;  and  to  whose  merits  and  effi¬ 
cacy  the  salvation  of  the  soul  shall  be  ascribable 
throughout  eternity.  This,  therefore,  is  a  statute  and 
ordinance  that  can  have  no  end,  either  in  this  world 
or  in  the  world  to  come.  It  is  remarkable  that  though 
the  Jews  have  ceased  from  the  whole  of  their  sacri¬ 
ficial  system,  so  that  sacrifices  are  no  longer  offered 
by  them  in  any  part  of  the  world,  yet  they  all,  in  all 
their  generations  and  in  all  countries,  keep  up  the  re¬ 
membrance  of  the  passover,  and  observe  the  feast  of 
unleavened  bread.  But  no  lamb  is  sacrificed.  Their 
sacrifices  have  all  totally  ceased,  ever  since  the  de¬ 
struction  of  Jerusalem  by  the  Romans.  Even  the  flesh 
that  is  used  on  this  occasion  is  partly  roasted  and  partly 
boiled ,  that  it  may  not  even  resemble  the  primitive 
sacrifice  ;  for  they  deem  it  unlawful  to  sacrifice  out  of 

a 


leaven  out  of  your  houses,  for  A. M. 2513. 
whosoever  eateth  leavened  bread  An.  Exod.  isr.  1. 
from  the  first  day  until  the  seventh  Ablb  or  Nlsan- 
day,  u  that  soul  shall  be  cut  off  from  Israel. 

1 6  And  in  the  first  day  there  shall  be  y  a 
holy  convocation,  and  in  the  seventh  day  there 
shall  be  a  holy  convocation  to  you ;  no  man¬ 
ner  of  work  shall  be  done  in  them,  save  that 
which  every  w  man  must  eat,  that  only  may 
be  done  of  you. 

17  And  ye  shall  observe  the  feast  of  unlea¬ 
vened  bread ;  for  x  in  this  self-same  day  have 


17 ;  Deut.  xvi.  3,  8  ;  1  Cor.  v.  7.- 

13. - vLev.  xxiii.  7,  8  ;  Num.  xxviii.  18,  25. 

x  Chap.  xiii.  3. 


•u  Gen.  xvii.  14 ;  Num.  ix. 

-w  Heb.  soul. 


Jerusalem.  The  truth  is,  the  true  Lamb  of  God  that 
taketh  away  the  sin  of  the  world  has  been  offered,  and 
they  have  no  power  to  restore  the  ancient  type.  See 
on  ver.  27. 

Yerse  15.  Seven  days  shall  ye  eat  unleavened  bread ] 
This  has  been  considered  as  a  distinct  ordinance,  and 
not  essentially  connected  with  the  passover.  The 
passover  was  to  be  observed  on  the  fourteenth  day  of 
the  first  month  ;  the  feast  of  unleavened  bread  began 
on  the  fifteenth  and  lasted  seven  days,  the  first  and  last 
of  wdfich  were  holy  convocations. 

That  soul  shall  be  cut  off ]  There  are  thirty-six 
places  in  which  this  excision  or  cutting  off  is  threat¬ 
ened  against  the  Jews  for  neglect,  of  some  particular 
duty  ;  and  what  is  implied  in  the  thing  itself  is  not 
well  known.  Some  think  it  means  a  violent  death, 
some  a  premature  death,  and  some  an  eternal  death. 
It  is  very  likely  that  it  means  no  more  than  a  separa¬ 
tion  from  the  rights  and  privileges  of  an  Israelite  ;  so 
that  after  -this  excision  the  person  was  considered  as 
a  mere  stranger,  who  had  neither  lot  nor  part  in  Israel, 
nor  any  right  to  the  blessings  of  the  covenant.  This 
is  probably  what  St.  Paul  means,  Rom.  ix.  3.  But 
we  naturally  suppose  this  punishment  was  not  inflicted 
but  on  those  who  had  showed  a  marked  and  obstinate 
contempt  for  the  Divine  authority.  This  punishment 
appears  to  have  been  nearly  the  same  with  excommu¬ 
nication  among  the  Christians ;  and  from  this  general 
notion  of  the  cutting  off,  the  Christian  excommunica¬ 
tion  seems  to  have  been  borrowed. 

Yerse  16.  In  the  first  day — and  in  the  seventh  day 
there  shall  be  a  holy  convocation ]  This  is  the  first 
place  where  we  meet  with  the  account  of  an  assembly 
collected  for  the  mere  purpose  of  religious  worship. 
Such  assemblies  are  called  holy  convocations ,  which  is 
a  very  appropriate  appellation  for  a  religious  assembly ; 
they  were  called  together  by  the  express  command  of 
God,  and  were  to  be  employed  in  a  work  of  holiness. 
iOpiO  mikra,  convocation,  is  a  word  of  similar  import 
with  the  Greek  euKkriaia ,  which  w^e  commonly  trans¬ 
late  Church,  and  which  properly  signifies  an  assembly 
convened  by  public  call. 

Yerse  17.  Self-same  day\  beetsem,  in  the  body 

of  this  day,  or  in  the  strength  of  this  day  ;  probably 
they  began  their  march  about  day-break,  called  here 

351 


EXODUS. 


Feast  of  unleavened  bread. 

A.  M.  2513.  I  brought  your  armies  out  of  the 

An.  Ex'od.  isr.  i.  land  of  Egypt :  therefore  shall  ye 
Abib  or  Nisan.  0bserve  this  day  in  your  gene¬ 
rations  by  an  ordinance  for  ever. 

18  y  In  the  first  month ,  on  the  fourteenth 
day  of  the  month  at  even,  ye  shall  eat  unlea¬ 
vened  bread,  until  the  one  and  twentieth  day 
of  the  month  at  even. 

19  z  Seven  days  shall  there  be  no  leaven 
found  in  your  houses  :  for  whosoever  eateth 
that  which  is  leavened,  a  even  that  soul  shall 
be  cut  off  from  the  congregation  of  Israel, 
whether  he  be  a  stranger,  or  born  in  the  land. 

20  Ye  shall  eat  nothing  leavened  ;  in  all 
your  habitations  shall  ye  eat  unleavened 
bread. 

21  Then  Moses  called  for  all  the  elders  of 
Israel,  and  said  unto  them,  b  Draw  out  and 
take  you  a  c  lamb  according  to  your  families, 
and  kill  the  passover. 

22  d  And  ye  shall  take  a  bunch  of  hyssop, 

y  Lev.  xxiii.  5  ;  Num.  xxviii.  16. - z  Exod.  xxiii.  15  ;  xxxiv. 

18  ;  Deut.  xvi.  3  ;  1  Cor.  v.  7,  8. - a  Num.  ix.  13. - b  Ver.  3  ; 

Num.  ix.  4;  Josh.  v.  10;  2  Kings  xxiii.  21  ;  Ezra  vi.  20  ;  Matt, 
xxvi.  18,  19  ;  Mark  xiv.  12-16  ;  Luke  xxii.  7,  &c. 

the  body  or  strength  of  the  day,  and  in  Deut.  xvi.  1, 
by  night — some  time  before  the  sun  rose. 

Verse  19.  No  leaven  found  in  your  houses ]  To 
meet  the  letter  of  this  precept  in  the  fullest  manner 
possible,  the  Jews,  on  the  eve  of  this  festival,  institute 
the  most  rigorous  search  through  every  part  of  their 
houses,  not  only  removing  all  leavened  bread,  but 
sweeping  every  part  clean,  that  no  crumb  of  bread 
shall  be  left  that  had  any  leaven  in  it.  And  so  strict 
were  they  in  the  observance  of  the  letter  of  this  law, 
that  if  even  a  mouse  was  seen  to  run  across  the  floor 
with  a  crumb  of  bread  in  its  mouth,  they  considered 
the  whole  house  as  polluted,  and  began  their  purifi¬ 
cation  afresh.  We  have  alreadvseen  that  leaven  was 

j 

an  emblem  of  sin,  because  it  proceeded  from  corrup¬ 
tion  ;  and  the  putting  away  of  this  implied  the  turning 
to  God  with  simplicity  and  uprightness  of  heart.  See 
on  ver.  8,  and  the  note  on  ver.  27. 

Verse  21.  Kill  the  passover .]  That  is,  the  lamb , 
which  was  called  the  paschal  or  passover  lamb.  The 
animal  that  was  to  be  sacrificed  on  this  occasion  got 
the  name  of  the  institution  itself :  thus  the  word  cove¬ 
nant  is  often  put  for  the  sacrifice  offered  in  making  the 
covenant ;  so  the  rock  was  Christ ,  1  Cor.  x.  4  ;  bread 
and  wine  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ ,  Mark  xiv.  22, 
24,  St.  Paul  copies  the  expression,  1  Cor.  v.  7  : 
Christ  our  passover  (that  is,  our  paschal  lamb)  is  sa¬ 
crificed  for  us. 

Verse  22.  A  bunch  of  hyssop ]  The  original  word 
D1TX  ezob  has  been  variously  translated  musk ,  rosemary , 
polypody  of  the  wall,  mint,  origanum ,  marjoram ,  and 
hyssop  :  the  latter  seems  to  be  the  most  proper.  Park- 
hurst  says  it  is  named  from  its  detersive  and  cleansing 

352 


Door  posts  sprinkled  with  blood . 
and  dip  it  in  the  blood  that  is  in  A.  M.  2513. 

ii-  !  .  ..  ,  B.  C.  1491. 

the  basin,  and  e  strike  the  lintel  An.Exod.isr.  1. 

and  the  two  side  posts  with  the  Ablb  or  Nlsan‘ 

blood  that  is  in  the  basin  ;  and  none  of  you 

shall  go  out  at  the  door  of  his  house  until 

the  morning. 

23  fFor  the  Lord  will  pass  through  to 
smite  the  Egyptians  ;  and  when  he  seeth  the 
blood  upon  the  lintel,  and  on  the  two  side 
posts,  the  Lord  will  pass  over  the  door,  and 
s  will  not  suffer  h  the  destroyer  to  come  in 
unto  your  houses  to  smite  you. 

24  And  ye  shall  observe  this  thing  for  an 
ordinance  to  thee  and  to  thy  sons  for  ever. 

25  And  it  shall  come  to  pass,  when  ye  be 
come  to  the  land  which  the  Lord  will  give 
you,  1  according  as  he  hath  promised,  that  ye 
shall  keep  this  service. 

26  k  And  it  shall  come  to  pass,  when  your 
children  shall  say  unto  you,  What  mean  ye 
by  this  service  ? 

c  Or,  kid. - d  Heb.  xi.  28. - ^  Verse  7. - f  Verse  12,  13 

s  Ezek.  ix.  6  ;  Rev.  vii.  3  ;  ix.  4. - h  2  Sam.  xxiv.  16  ;  1  Cor 

x.  10 ;  Heb.  xi.  28. - 1  Chap.  iii.  8,  17. - k  Chap.  xiii.  8,  14 

Deut.  xxxii.  7  ;  Josh.  iv.  6  ;  Psa.  lxxviii.  6. 

qualities,  whence  it  was  used  in  sprinkling  the  blood 
of  the  paschal  lamb,  in  cleansing  the  leprosy,  Lev.  xiv. 
4,  6,  51,  52  ;  in  composing  the  water  of  purification, 
Num.  xix.  6,  and  sprinkling  it,  ver.  18.  It  was  a 
type  of  the  purifying  virtue  of  the  bitter  sufferings  of 
Christ.  And  it  is  plain,  from  Psa.  li.  7,  that  the 
psalmist  understood  its  meaning.  Among  botanists 
hyssop  is  described  as  “  a  genus  of  the  gymnospermia 
(naked-seeded)  order,  belonging  to  the  didynamia  class 
of  plants.  It  has  under-shrubby,  low,  bushy  stalks, 
growing  a  foot  and  a  half  high,  small,  spear-shaped, 
close-sitting,  opposite  leaves,  with  several  smaller  ones 
rising  from  the  same  joint ;  and  all  the  stalks  and 
branches  terminated  by  erect  whorled  spikes  of  flowers 
of  different  colours,  in  the  varieties  of  the  plant.  The 
leaves  have  an  aromatic  smell,  and  a  warm  pungent 
taste.  The  leaves  of  this  plant  are  particularly  re¬ 
commended  in  humoral  asthmas,  and  other  disorders 
of  the  breast  and  lungs,  and  greatly  promote  expecto¬ 
ration.”  Its  medicinal  qualities  were  probably  the 
reason  why  this  plant  was  so  particularly  recommended 
in  the  Scriptures. 

Verse  26.  What  mean  ye  by  this  service  ?]  The 
establishment  of  this  service  annually  was  a  very  wise 
provision  to  keep  up  in  remembrance  this  wonderful 
deliverance.  From  the  remotest  antiquity  the  institu¬ 
tion  of  feasts,  games,  &c.,  has  been  used  to  keep  up 
the  memory  of  past  grand  events.  Hence  God  insti¬ 
tuted  the  Sabbath,  to  keep  up  the  remembrance  of  the 
creation;  and  the  passover,  to  keep  up  the  remembrance 
of  the  deliverance  from  Egypt.  All  the  other  feasts 
were  instituted  on  similar  reasons.  The  Jews  never 
took  their  sons  to  the  tabernacle  or  temple  till  they 


CHAP.  XII. 


Their  posterity  to  be  taught 


the  nature  of  the  passover. 


a.  M.  2513.  27  That  ye  shall  say,  1  It  is 

An.  Exod.  isr.  l.  the  sacrifice  of  the  Lord’s  pass- 
Abih  or  Nisan.  over)  wh0  passed  over  the  houses 

of  the  children  of  Israel  in  Egypt,  when  he 
smote  the  Egyptians,  and  delivered  our  houses. 


1  Ver.  11. - m  Chap.  iv.  31. 


And  the  people  m  bowed  the  head  A.  M.  2513. 

r  .  B  C.  1491. 

and  worshipped.  An.  Exod.  isr’.  1. 

28  And  the  children  of  Israel  Abib  or  NisalK 


went  away,  and  n  did  as  the  Lord  had  com¬ 
manded  Moses  and  Aaron,  so  did  they. 

n  Heb.  xi.  28. 


were  twelve  years  of  age ,  nor  suffered  them  to  eat  of 
the  flesh  of  any  victim  till  they  had  themselves  offered 
a  sacrifice  at  the  temple,  which  they  were  not  permit¬ 
ted  to  do  before  the  twelfth  year  of  their  age.  It  was 
at  this  age  that  Joseph  and  Mary  took  our  blessed  Lord 
to  the  temple,  probably  for  the  first  time,  to  offer  his 
sacrifice.  See  Calmet. 

Verse  27.  It  is  the  sacrifice  of  the  Lords  passover ] 
We  have  already  intimated  that  the  paschal  lamb  was 
an  illustrious  type  of  Christ ;  and  we  shall  find  that 
every  thing  in  this  account  is  typical  or  representative. 
The  bondage  and  affliction  of  the  people  of  Israel  may 
be  considered  as  emblems  of  the  hard  slavery  and 
wretchedness  consequent  on  a  state  of  sinfulness.  Sa¬ 
tan  reigns  over  both  body  and  soul,  bringing  the  whole 
into  subjection  to  the  law  of  sin  and  death  ;  while  va¬ 
rious  evil  tempers,  passions,  lusts,  and  irregular  appe¬ 
tites,  act  as  subordinate  tormentors,  making  the  lives 
of  the  vassals  of  sin  bitter,  because  of  the  rigour  by 
which  they  are  obliged  to  serve.  Reader,  is  this  thy 
case  l  The  mercy  of  God  projects  the  redemption  of 
man  from  this  cruel  bondage  and  oppression  ;  and  a 
sacrifice  is  appointed  for  the  occasion  by  God  himself, 
to  be  offered  with  particular  and  significant  rites  and 
ceremonies,  all  of  which  represent  the  passion  and 
death  of  our  blessed  Lord,  and  the  great  end  for  which 
he  became  a  sacrifice ,  viz.,  the  redemption  of  a  lost 
world  from  the  power,  the  guilt,  and  the  pollution  of 
sin,  &c.  And  it  is  worthy  of  remark,  1.  That  the  an¬ 
niversary  or  annual  commemoration  of  the  passover 
was  strictly  and  religiously  kept  by  the  Jews  on  the 
day,  and  hour  of  the  day,  on  which  the  original  trans¬ 
action  took  place,  throughout  all  their  succeeding  gene¬ 
rations.  2.  That  on  one  of  these  anniversaries,  and, 
as  many  suppose,  on  the  very  day  and  hour  on  which 
the  paschal  lamb  was  originally  offered,  our  blessed 
Lord  expired  on  the  cross  for  the  salvation  of  the 
world.  3.  That  after  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  the 
paschal  lamb  ceased  to  be  offered  by  the  Jews  through¬ 
out  the  world,  though  they  continue  to  hold  the  anni¬ 
versary  of  the  passover,  but  without  any  sacrifice ,  not¬ 
withstanding  their  deep-rooted,  inveterate  antipathy 
against  the  author  and  grace  of  the  Gospel.  4.  That 
the  sacrament  of  the  Lord’s  Supper  was  instituted  to 
keep  this  true  paschal  sacrifice  in  commemoration,  and 
that  this  has  been  religiously  observed  by  the  whole 
Christian  world  (one  very  small  class  of  Christians 
excepted)  from  the  foundation  of  Christianity  to  the 
present  day!  5.  That  the  Jews  were  commanded  to 
eat  the  paschal  lamb  ;  and  our  Lord,  commemorating 
the  passover,  commanded  his  disciples,  saying,  Take, 
eat,  this  is  my  body,  which  is  given  for  you  ;  do  this 
in  remembrance'  of  ME.  In  the  communion  service 
of  the  Church  of  England,  the  spirit  and  design  both 
of  the  type  and  antitype  are  most  expressly  con- 
Vol.  I.  (  24  I 


densed  into  one  point  of  view,  in  the  address  to  the 
communicant  :  “  Take  and  eat  this  in  remembrance 
that  Christ  died  for  thee  ;  and  feed  upon  him,  in  thy 
heart ,  by  faith  with  thanksgiving.”  Thus  God  con¬ 
tinues  the  memorial  of  that  grand  transaction  which 
he  has  said  should  be  an  ordinance  for  ever ;  evidently 
meaning  thereby,  that  the  paschal,  lamb  should  be  the 
significator  till  the  passion  and  death  of  Christ  ;  and 
that  afterwards  bread  and  wine  taken  sacramentally,  in 
commemoration  of  his  crucifixion,  should  be  the  con¬ 
tinual  representatives  of  that  sacrifice  till  the  end  of 
the  world.  Thus  the  passover  in  itself  and  in  its  re¬ 
ference,  is  an  ordinance  for  ever ;  and  thus  the  words 
of  the  Lord  are  literally  fulfilled.  Reader,  learn  from 
this,  1.  That  if  thou  art  not  rescued  from  the  thraldom 
of  sin,  thou  must  perish  for  ever.  2.  That  nothing 
less  than  the  power  and  mercy  of  God  can  set  thee 
free.  3.  That  God  will  save  thee  in  no  other  way 
than  by  bringing  thee  out  of  thy  sinful  state,  and  from 
thy  wicked  practices  and  companions.  4.  That  in  or¬ 
der  to  thy  redemption  it  was  absolutely  necessary  that 
the  Son  of  God  should  take  thy  nature  upon  him,  and 
die  in  thy  stead.  5.  That  unless  the  blood  of  this  sa¬ 
crifice  be  sprinkled,  in  its  atoning  efficacy  and  merits, 
on  thy  heart  and  conscience,  the  guilt  and  power  of 
thy  sin  cannot  be  taken  away.  6.  That  as  the  blood 
of  the  paschal  lamb  must  be  sprinkled  on  every  house , 
in  order  to  the  preservation  of  its  inhabitants,  so  there 
must  be  a  personal  application  of  the  blood  of  the  cross 
to  thy  conscience,  to  take  away  thy  sins.  7.  As  it 
was  not  enough  that  the  passover  was  instituted,  but 
the  blood  must  be  sprinkled  on  the  lintels  and  door 
posts  of  every  house  to  make  the  rite  effectual  to  the 
salvation  of  each  individual,  so  it  is  not  enough  that 
Christ  should  have  taken  human  nature  upon  him,  and 
died  for  the  sin  of  the  world  ;  for  no  man  who  has  the 
opportunity  of  hearing  the  Gospel  is  saved  by  that 
death,  who  does  not,  by  faith,  get  a  personal  applica¬ 
tion  of  it  to  his  own  heart.  8.  That  those  who  wish 
for  an  application  of  the  atoning  blood,  must  receive 
this  spiritual  passover  with  a  perfect  readiness  to  de¬ 
part  from  the  land  of  their  captivity,  and  travel  to  the 
rest  that  remains  for  the  people  of  God  ;  it  being  im¬ 
possible,  not  only  to  a  gross  sinner,  continuing  such, 
to  be  finally  saved,  (however  he  may  presume  upon  the 
mercy  of  God,)  but  also  to  a  worldly-minded  man,  to 
get  to  the  kingdom  of  God  ;  for  Christ  died  to  save 
us  from  the  present  evil  world,  according  to  the  will  of 
God.  9.  That  in  order  to  commemorate  aright,  in  the 
sacrament  of  the  Lord’s  Supper,  the  great  atonement 
made  for  the  sin  of  the  world,  all  leaven  of  malice, 
bitterness,  and  insincerity,  must  be  put  away ;  as  God 
will  have  no  man  to  partake  of  this  mystery  who  does 
not  fully  enter  into  its  spirit  and  meaning.  See  1  Cor. 
v.  7,  8. 


353 


EXODUS. 


All  the  first-horn  of  the 


Egyptians  are  slain. 


A.  M.  2513.  29  0  And  it  came  to  pass,  that 

B.  C.  1491.  .  ,  .  ,  ,  ,  r  „ 

An.  Exod.  Isr.  l.  at  midnight  pthe  Lord  smote  all 

Abxb  or  Nisan.  ^  fij.gj.horn  jn  the  land  of  Egypt, 

q  from  the  first-born  of  Pharaoh  that  sat  on  his 
throne,  unto  the  first-born  of  the  captive  that 


was  m  the  r  dungeon  ;  and  all  tne  A.  M.  2513. 

n  ,  r  1  B.  C.  1491. 

nrst-born  OI  cattle.  An.  Exod.  Isr.  I 

30  And  Pharaoh  rose  up  in  Abib  or  Nisan- 

the  night,  he,  and  all  his  servants,  and  all 

the  Egyptians ;  and  there  was  a  s  great  cry 


°Chap.  xi.  4. - PNum.  viii.  17 ;  xxxiii.  4  ;  Psa.  lxxviii.  51  ; 

cv.  36  ;  cxxxv.  8  ;  cxxxvi.  10. - q  Chap.  iv.  23  ;  xi.  5  ;  Wisd. 

Yerse  29.  Smote  all  the  first-horn ]  If  we  take  the 
term  first-horn  in  its  literal  sense  only ,  we  shall  be  led 
to  conclude  that  in  a  vast  number  of  the  houses  of  the 
Egyptians  there  could  have  been  no  death,  as  it  is  not 
at  all  likely  that  every  first-born  child  of  every  Egyp¬ 
tian  family  was  still  alive,  and  that  all  the  first-born  of 
their  cattle  still  remained.  And  yet  it  is  said,  ver.  30, 
that  there  was  not  a  house  where  there  was  not  one 
dead.  The  word  therefore  must  not  be  taken  in  its 
literal  sense  only.  From  its  use  in  a  great  variety  of 
places  in  the  Scriptures  it  is  evident  that  it  means  the 
chief ,  most  excellent ,  best  beloved ,  most  distinguished , 
&c.  In  this  sense  our  blessed  Lord  is  called  the  first¬ 
born  of  every  creature ,  Col.  i.  15,  and  the  first-born 
among  many  brethren ,  Rom.  viii.  29  ;  that  is,  he  is 
more  excellent  than  all  creatures,  and  greater  than  all 
the  children  of  men.  In  the  same  sense  .we  may  un¬ 
derstand  Rev.  i.  5,  where  Christ  is  called  the  first- 
begotten  from  the  dead ,  i.  e.,  the  chief  of  all  that 
have  ever  visited  the  empire  of  death,  and  on  whom 
death  has  had  any  power  ;  and  the  only  one  who  by 
his  own  might  quickened  himself.  In  the  same  sense 
icisdom  is  represented  as  being  brought  forth  before  all 
the  creatures ,  and  being  possessed  by  the  Lord  in  the 
beginning  of  his  ways,  Prov.  viii.  22-30  ;  that  is,  the 
ivisdom  of  God  is  peculiarly  conspicuous  in  the  produc¬ 
tion,  arrangement,  and  government  of  every  part  of 
the  creation.  So  Ephraim  is  called  the  Lord’s  first¬ 
born,  Jer.  xxxi.  9.  And  the  people  of  Israel  are  often 
called  by  the  same  name,  see  Exod.  iv.  22  :  Israel  is 
my  son ,  my  first-born  ;  that  is,  the  people  in  whom 
I  particularly  delight,  and  whom  I  will  especially  sup¬ 
port  and  defend.  And  because  the  first-born  are  in 
genera]  peculiarly  dear  to  their  parents,  and  because 
among  the  Jews  they  had  especial  and  peculiar  privi¬ 
leges,  whatever  was  most  dear,  most  valuable,  and  most 
prized,  was  thus  denominated.  So  Micah  vi.  7  :  Shall 
I  give  my  first-born  for  my  transgression,  the  fruit 
of  my  body  for  the  sin  of  my  soid  ?  Shall  I  give  up 
the  most  beloved  child  I  have,  he  that  is  most  dear  and 
most  necessary  to  me,  in  order  to  make  an  atonement 
for  my  sins !  In  like  manner  the  Prophet  Zechariah, 
speaking  of  the  conversion  of  the  Jews  to  the  Gos¬ 
pel  of  Christ,  represents  them  as  looking  on  him  whom 
they  have  pierced ,  and  being  as  one  that  is  in  bitterness 
for  his  first-born  ;  that  is,  they  shall  feel  distress  and 
anguish  as  those  who  had  lost  their  most  beloved  child. 
So  the  Church  triumphant  in  the  kingdom  of  God  are 
called,  Heb.  xii.  23,  the  general  assembly  and  Church 
of  the  first-born,  i.  e.,  the  most  noble  and  excellent 
of  all  human  if  not  created  beings.  So  Homer,  II. 
iv.,  ver.  102  :  A pvuv  irpoToyovuv  pe^eiv  kKuttiv  eko- 
Toyfrjv  “ A  hecatomb  of  lambs  all  firstlings  of  the 
flock.”  That  is,  the  most  excellent  of  their  kind. 

In  a  contrary  sense,  when  the  word  first-born  is 
a  354 


xviii.  11. - rHeb.  house  of  the  pit. - s  Chap.  xi.  6  ;  Prov.  xxi. 

13  ;  Amos  v.  17  ;  James  ii.  13. 

joined  to  another  that  signifies  any  kind  of  misery  or 
disgrace ,  it  then  signifies  the  depth  of  misery,  the  ut¬ 
most  disgrace.  So  the  first-born  of  the  poor ,  Isa. 
xiv.  30,  signifies  the  most  abject,  destitute,  and  im¬ 
poverished.  The  first-born  of  death ,  Job.  xviii.  13, 
means  the  most  horrible  kind  of  death.  So  in  the 
threatening  against  Pharaoh,  chap.  xi.  5,  where  he 
informs  him  that  he  will  slay  all  the  first-born,  from 
the  first-born  of  Pharaoh  that  sitteth  upon  the  throne , 
to  the  first-born  of  the  maid-servant  that  is  behind  the 
mill ,  he  takes  in  the  very  highest  and  lowest  condi¬ 
tions  of  life.  As  there  wTas  no  state  in  Egypt  supe¬ 
rior  to  the  throne ,  so  there  was  none  inferior  to  that 
of  the  female  slave  that  ground  at  the  mill.  The 
Prophet  Plabakkuk  seems  to  fix  this  as  the  sense  in 
which  the  word  is  used  here;  for  speaking  of  the 
plagues  of  Egypt  in  general,  and  the  salvation  which 
God  afforded  his  people,  he  says,  chap.  iii.  13  :  Thou 
wentest  forth  for  the  salvation  of  thy  people — thou 
woundedst  the  head  (tJW  rosh,  the  chief,  the  most  ex¬ 
cellent )  of  the  house  of  the  wicked — of  Pharaoh  and 
the  Egyptians.  And  the  author  of  the  book  of  Wis¬ 
dom  understood  it  in  the  same  way  :  The  master  and 
the  servant  were  punished  after  one  manner  ;  and  like 
as  the  king,  so  suffered  the  common  people — -for  in  one 
moment  the  noblest  offspring  of  them  was  destroyed ; 
chap,  xviii.  11,  12.  And  in  no  other  sense  can  we 
understand  the  word  in  Psa.  lxxxix.  27,  where,  among 
the  promises  of  God  to  David,  we  find  the  following  : 
Also  I  will  make  him  my  first-born,  higher  than  the 
kings  of  the  earth  ;  in  which  passage  the  latter  clause 
explains  the  former  ;  David,  as  king,  should  be  the 
first-born  of  God,  i.  e.,  he  should  be  higher  than  the 
kings  of  the  earth — the  most  eminent  potentate  in  the 
universe.  In  this  sense,  therefore,  we  should  under¬ 
stand  the  passage  in  question  ;  the  most  eminent  per¬ 
son  in  every  family  in  Egypt,  as  well  as  those  who 
were  literally  the  first-born,  being  slain  in  this  plague. 
Calmet  and  some  other  critics  particularly  contend  for 
this  sense. 

Yerse  30.  There  was  a  great  cry\  No  people  in 
the  universe  were  more  remarkable  for  their  mourn¬ 
ings  than  the  Egyptians,  especially  in  matters  of  reli¬ 
gion  ;  they  whipped,  beat,  tore  themselves,  and  howled 
in  all  the  excess  of  grief.  When  a  relative  died,  the 
people  left  the  house,  ran  into  the  streets,  and  howled 
in  the  most  lamentable  and  frantic  manner.-  See  Diod. 
Sicul.,  lib.  i.,  and  Herod.,  lib.  ii.,  c.  85,  86.  And 
this  latter  author  happening  to  be  in  Egypt  on  one 
of  their  solemnities,  saw  myriads  of  people  whipping 
and  beating  themselves  in  this  manner,  lib.  ii.,  c.  60  , 
and  see  Mr.  Bryant  on  the  Plagues  of  Egypt,  where 
many  examples  are  given,  p.  162,  &c.  How  dread¬ 
ful  then  must  the  scene  of  horror  and  distress  appear, 
when  there  was  not  one  house  or  family  in  Egypt 

(  24*  ) 


Pharaoh  commands  the 


CHAP.  XII. 


a.  M.  2513.  m  Egypt ;  for  there  was  not  a 

B.  C.  1491.  .  5Ji  /  7 

An.  Exod.  isr.  1.  house  where  there  was  not  one 
Abib  or  Nisan.  dead 

3 1  And  i  he  called  for  Moses  and  Aaron  by 

night,  and  said,  Rise  up,  and  get  you  forth 
from  among  my  people,  "  both  ye  and  the 
children  of  Israel ;  and  go,  serve  the  Lord, 
as  ye  have  said.  . 

32  v  Also  take  your  flocks  and  your  herds, 
as  ye  have  said,  and  be  gone  ;  and  w  bless 
me  also. 

33  x  And  the  Egyptians  were  urgent  upon 
the  people,  that  they  might  send  them  out  of 
the  land  in  haste  ;  for  they  said,  AVe  he  all 
dead  men . 

1  Chap.  xi.  1  ;  Psa.  cv.  38. - u  Chap.  x.  9. - 7  Chap.  x.  20. 

w  Gen.  xxvii.  34. - x  Chap.  xi.  8  ;  Psa.  cv.  38. - v  Gen.  xx.  3. 

*  Or,  dough. ;  chap.  viii.  3. - a  Chap.  iii.  22  ;  xi.  2. 


where  there  was  not  one  dead  ;  and  according  to  their 
custom,  all  the  family  running  out  into  the  streets  be¬ 
wailing  this  calamity  ! 

Verse  31.  Called  for  Moses  and  Aaron ]  That  is, 
he  sent  the  message  here  mentioned  to  them  ;  for  it 
does  not  appear  that  he  had  any  farther  interview  with 
Moses  and  Aaron,  after  what  is  mentioned  chap.  x. 
28,  29,  and  xi.  8.  See  the  notes  there. 

Verse  33.  The  Egyptians  were  urgent  upon  the 
people ]  They  felt  much,  they  feared  more ;  and  there¬ 
fore  wished  to  get  immediately  rid  of  a  people  on 
whose  account  they  found  they  were  smitten  with  so 
many  and  such  dreadful  plagues. 

Verse  34.  The  people  took  their  dough  before  it  was 
leavened ,  <fc.\  There  was  no  time  now  to  make  any 
regular  preparation  for  their  departure,  such  was  the 
universal  hurry  and  confusion.  The  Israelites  could 
carry  but  little  of  their  household  utensils  with  them  ; 
but  some,  such  as  they  kneaded  their  bread  and  kept 
their  meal  in,  they  were  obliged  to  carry  with  them. 
The  kneading  troughs  of  the  Arabs  are  comparatively 
small  wooden  bowls,  wdiich,  after  kneading  their  bread, 
in,  serve  them  as  dishes  out  of  which  they  eat  their 
victuals.  And  as  to  these  being  bound  up  in  their 
clothes,  no  more  may  be  intended  than  their  wrapping 
them  up  in  their  long,  loose  garments,  or  in  what  is  still 
used  among  the  Arabs,  and  called  hykes ,  wdiich  is  a 
long  kind  of  blanket,  something  resembling  a  highland 
plaid,  in  which  they  often  carry  their  provision,  wTrap 
themselves  by  day,  and  sleep  at  night.  Dr.  Shaw  has 
been  particular  in  his  description  of  this  almost  entire 
wardrobe  of  an  Arab.  He  says  they  are  of  different 
sizes  and  of  different  qualities,  but  generally  about  six 
yards  in  length,  and  five  or  six  feet  broad.  He  sup¬ 
poses  that  wrhat  we  call  Ruth’s  veil,  Ruth  iii.  15, 
was  a  hyke,  and  that  the  same  is  to  be  understood  of 
the  clothes  of  the  Israelites  mentioned  in  this  verse. 
See  his  Travels,  p.  224,  4to  edition. 

Verse  35.  They  borrowed  of  the  Egyptians ]  See 
the  note  on  chap.  iii.  22,  where  the  very  exceptiona¬ 
ble  term  borrow  is  largely  explained. 

a 


Israelites  to  depart 

34  And  the  people  took  their  A.  M.  2513. 
dough  before  it  was  leavened,  An?Exod.4far’ 1. 
their  z  kneading-troughs  being  Ablb  or  ^lsan 
bound  up  in  their  clothes  upon  their 
shoulders. 

35  And  the  children  of  Israel  did  according 
to  the  word  of  Moses  :  and  they  borrowed 
of  the  Egyptians  a  jewels  of  silver,  and  jewels 
of  gold,  and  raiment : 

36  b  And  the  Lord  gave  the  people  favour 
in  the  sight  of  the  Egyptians,  so  that  they 
lent  unto  them  such  things  as  they  required. 
And  d  they  spoiled  the  Egyptians. 

37  And  d  the  children  of  Israel  journeyed 
from  e  Rameses  to  Succoth,  about  f  six  hun- 

b  Chap.  iii.  21  ;  xi.  3. - c  Gen.  xv.  14  ;  chap.  iii.  22  ;  Psa.  cv. 

37. - d  Num.  xxxiii.  3,  5. - e  Gen.  xlvii.  11. - f  Gen.  xii.  2  ; 

xlvi.  3;  chap,  xxxviii.  26;  Num.  i.  46  ;  xi.  21. 

Verse  37.  From  Rameses  to  Succoth ]  Rameses 
appears  to  have  been  another  name  for  Goshen ,  though 
it  is  probable  that  there  might  have  been  a  chief  city 
or  village  in  that  land,  where  the  children  of  Israel 
rendezvoused  previously  to  their  departure,  called 
Rameses.  As  the  term  Succoth  signifies  booths  or 
tents ,  it  is  probable  that  this  place  was  so  named  from 
its  being  the  place  of  the  first  encampment  of  the 
Israelites. 

Six  hundred  thousand ]  That  is,  There  was  this 
number  of  effective  men,  twenty  years  old  and  up¬ 
wards,  who  were  able  to  go  out  to  war.  But  this 
was  not  the  whole  number,  and  therefore  the  sacred 
writer  says  they  were  about  600,000  ;  for  when  the 
numbers  were  taken  about  thirteen  months  after  this 
they  were  found  to  be  six  hundred  and  three  thousand 
five  hundred  and  fifty ,  without  reckoning  those  under 
twenty  years  of  age,  or  any  of  the  tribe  of  Levi ;  see 
Num.  i.  45,  46.  But  besides  those  on  foot,  or  foot¬ 
men,  there  were  no  doubt  many  old  and  comparatively 
infirm  persons ,  who  rode  on  camels,  horses,  or  asses, 
besides  the  immense  number  of  women  and  children, 
which  must  have  been  at  least  three  to  one  of  the 
others  ;  and  the  mixed  multitude,  ver.  38,  probably  of 
refugees  in  Egypt,  who  came  to  sojourn  there,  because 
of  the  dearth  which  had  obliged  them  to  emigrate  from 
their  own  countries ;  and  who  now,  seeing  that  the* 
hand  of  Jehovah  wTas  against  the  Egyptians  and  with 
the  Israelites,  availed  themselves  of  the  general  con¬ 
sternation,  and  took  their  leave  of  Egypt,  choosing 
Israel’s  God  for  their  portion,  and  his  people  for  their 
companions.  Such  a  company  moving  at  once,  and 
emigrating  from  their  own  country,  the  world  never 
before  nor  since  witnessed  ;  no  doubt  upwards  of  two 
millions  of  souls,  besides  their  flocks  and  herds ,  even 
very  much  cattle ;  and  what  but  the  mere  providence 
of  God  could  support  such  a  multitude,  ana  in  the  wil¬ 
derness,  too,  where  to  this  day  the  necessaries  of  life 
are  not  to  be  found  1 

Suppose  we  take  them  at  a  rough  calculation  thus, 
two  millions  will  be  found  too  small  a  number. 

355 


EXODUS. 


Israelites'  journey  from  Raineses. 


The  time  they  dwelt  in  Egypt. 


A.  M.  2513.  dred  thousand  on  foot  that  were 

B.  C.  1491.  .  .  .  .  ..  . 

A  u.  Exod.  isr.  i.  men,  besides  children. 

Abib or  Nlban-  38  And  s  a  mixed  multitude 
went  up  also  with  them  ;  and  flocks,  and 
herds,  even  very  much  cattle. 

39  And  they  baked  unleavened  cakes  of 
the  dough  which  they  brought  forth  out  of 
Egypt,  for  it  was  not  leavened  ;  because 
h  they  were  thrust  out  of  Egypt,  and  could 


not  tarry,  neither  had  they  pre-  a.  m.  2513. 
pared,  for  themselves  any  victual.  An.  Exod.  Isr!  1. 

40  Now  the  sojourning  of  the  Ablb  or  Nlsan- 
children  of  Israel,  who  dwelt  in  Egypt,  was 
1  four  hundred  and  thirty  years. 

4  1  And  it  came  to  pass  at  the  end  of  the 
four  hundred  and  thirty  years,  even  the  self¬ 
same  day  it  came  to  pass,  that  all  k  the  hosts 
of  the  Lord  went  out  from  the  land  of  Egypt. 


£  Heb.  a  great  mixture;  Numbers  xi.  4. - h  Chapter  vi.  1  ;  xi. 

1  ;  ver.  33. 

Effective  men,  20  years  old  and  upward  000,000 
Two-thirds  of  whom  we  may  suppose 
were  married,  in  which  case  their 

wives  would  amount  to .  400,000 

These,  on  an  average,  might  have  5  chil¬ 
dren  under  20  years  of  age,  an  estimate 
which  falls  considerably  short  of  the 
number  of  children  each  family  must 
have  averaged  in  order  to  produce  from 
75  persons,  in  A.  M.  2298,  upwards  of 
600,000  effective  men  in  A.  M.  2494, 
a  period  of  only  196  years  ....  2,000,000 


The  Levites,  who  probably  were  not  in¬ 
cluded  among  the  effective  men  .  .  45,000 

Their  wives .  33,000 

Their  children .  165,000 

The  mixed  multitude  probably  not  less  than  20,000 


Total  .  .  3,263,000 

Besides  a  multitude  of  old  and  infirm  persons  who 
would  be  obliged  to  ride  on  camels  and  asses,  &c., 
and  who  must,  from  the  proportion  that  such  bear  to 
the  young  and  healthy,  amount  to  many  thousands 
more !  Exclude  even  the  Levites  and  their  families, 
and  upwards  of  three  millions  will  be  left. 

“  In  Num.  iii.  39  the  male  Levites,  aged  one  month 
and  upwards,  are  reckoned  22,000,  perhaps  the  females 
did  not  much  exceed  this  number,  say  23,000,  and  500 
children,  under  one  month,  will  make  45,500.” — Anon. 

Had  not  Moses  the  fullest  proof  of  his  Divine  mis¬ 
sion,  he  never  could  have  put  himself  at  the  head  of 
such  an  immense  concourse  of  people,  who,  without 
the  most  especial  and  effective  providence,  must  all 
have  perished  for  lack  of  food.  This  single  circum¬ 
stance,  unconnected  with  all  others,  is  an  ample  de¬ 
monstration  of  the  Divine  mission  of  Moses,  and  of 
the  authenticity  and  Divine  inspiration  of  the  Penta¬ 
teuch.  To  suppose  that  an  impostor,  or  one  pretend¬ 
ing  only  to  a  Divine  call,  could  have  ventured  to  place 
himself  at  the  head  of  such  an  immense  body  of  people, 
to  lead  them  through  a  trackless  wilderness,  utterly 
unprovided  for  such  a  journey,  to  a  land  as  yet  in  the 
possession  of  several  powerful  nations  whom  they 
must  expel  before  they  could  possess  the  country, 
would  have  implied  such  an  extreme  of  madness  and 
folly  as  has  never  been  witnessed  in  an  individual, 
and  such  a  blind  credulity  in  the  multitude  as  is  un¬ 
paralleled  in  the  annals  of  mankind  !  The  succeeding 
stupendous  events  proved  that  Moses  had  the  authority 
of  God  to  do  what  he  did  ;  and  the  people  had  at  least 

356 


1  Gen.  xv.  13;  Acts  vii.  6;  Gal.  iii.  17. - k  Chapter  vii.  4' 

ver.  51. 

such  a  general  conviction  that  he  had  this  authority, 
that  they  implicitly  followed  his  directions,  and  re¬ 
ceived  their  law  from  his  mouth. 

Yerse  40.  Now  the  sojourning  of  the  children  of 
Israel ,  <fc.\  The  statement  in  this  verse  is  allowed 
on  all  hands  to  be  extremely  difficult,  and  therefore 
the  passage  stands  in  especial  need  of  illustration. 
“  That  the  descendants  of  Israel  did  not  dwell  430 
years  in  Egypt,”  says  Dr.  Kennicott,  “may  be  easily 
proved,  and  has  often  been  demonstrated.  Some 
therefore  imagine  that  by  Egypt  here  both  it  and  Ca¬ 
naan  are  to  be  understood.  But  this  greater  latitude 
of  place  wall  not  solve  the  difficulty,  since  the  Israel¬ 
ites,  including  Israel  their  father,  did  not  sojourn  430 
years  in  both  countries  previous  to  their  departure 
from  Egypt.  Others,  sensible  of  the  still  remaining 
deficiency,  would  not  only  have  Egypt  in  the  text  to 
signify  it  and  Canaan ,  but  by  a  figure  more  compre¬ 
hensive  would  have  the  children  of  Israel  to  mean 
Israel's  children,  and  Israel  their  father,  and  Isaac 
the  father  of  Israel,  and  part  of  the  life  of  Abraham , 
the  father  of  Isaac. 

“  Thus  indeed,”  says  Dr.  Kennicott,  “  we  arrive  at 
the  exact  sum,  and  by  this  method  of  reckoning  we 
might  arrive  at  any  thing  but  truth ,  which  we  may  pre¬ 
sume  was  never  thus  conveyed  by  an  inspired  writer.” 
But  can  the  difficulty  be  removed  without  having  re¬ 
course  to  such  absurd  shifts'?  Certainly  it  can.  The 
Samaritan  Pentateuch,  in  all  its  manuscripts  and 
printed  copies,  reads  the  place  thus  ; — ■ 

-iamMisa  •mjt at  -mAa  <saa»nr 

jet A3  vaiAX 

Umoshab  beney  Yishrael  vcabotham  asher  yashebu 
baarets  Cenaan ,  ubaarets  mitsraim  sheloshim  shanak 
vearba  meoth  shanah. 

“  No iv  the  sojourning  of  the  children  of  Israel,  and 
of  their  fathers,  which  they  sojourned  in  the  land  of 
Canaan  and  in  the  land  of  Egypt ,  was  430  years.” 
This  same  sum  is  given  by  St.  Paul,  Gal.  iii.  17,  who 
reckons  from  the  promise  made  to  Abraham,  when 
God  commanded  him  to  go  to  Canaan,  to  the  giving 
of  the  law,  which  soon  followed  the  departure  from 
Egypt ;  and  this  chronology  of  the  apostle  is  concord¬ 
ant  with  the  Samaritan  Pentateuch,  which,  by  pre¬ 
serving  the  two  passages,  they  and  their  fathers ,  and 
in  the  land  of  Canaan,  which  are  lost  out  of  the  pre¬ 
sent  copies  of  the  Hebrew  text,  has  rescued  this  pas¬ 
sage  from  all  obscurity  and  contradiction.  It  may  be 

a 


CHAP.  XII. 


Who  may,  and  who  may 


not,  eat  the  passover. 


A.  M.  2513.  42  It  is  1  a  night  m  to  be  much 

An.  Exoci  isr.  l.  observed  unto  the  Lord  for 
Ainh  or  Xisan.  |3rj[ngj11g  them  out  from  the  land 

of  Egypt :  this  is  that  night  of  the  Lord  to 
be  observed  of  all  the  children  of  Israel  in 
their  generations. 

43  And  the  Lord  said  unto  Moses  and 
Aaron,  This  is  n  the  ordinance  of  the  pass- 

1  Heb.  a  night  of  observation. - m  See  Deut.  xvi.  6. 


over :  there  shall  no  stranger  A.  M.  2513. 

.  r  °  B.  C.  1491. 

eat  tiiereol An.  Exod.  isr.  1. 

44  But  every  man’s  servant  Ablb  or  Nisan- 
that  is  bought  for  money,  when  thou  hast 
0  circumcised  him,  then  shall  he  eat  thereof. 

45  p  A  foreigner  and  a  hired  servant  shall 
not  eat  thereof. 

46  In  one  house  shall  it  be  eaten  ;  thou 

nNum.  ix.  14. - 0  Gen.  xvii.  12,  13. - PLev.  xxii.  10. 


necessary  to  observe  that  the  Alexandrian  copy  of  the 
Septuagint  has  the  same  reading  as  that  in  the  Sama¬ 
ritan.  The  Samaritan  Pentateuch  is  allowed  by  many 
learned  men  to  exhibit  the  most  correct  copy  of  the 
five  books  of  Moses  ;  and  the  Alexandrian  copy  of  the 
Septuagint  must  also  be  allowed  to  be  one  of  the 
most  authentic  as  well  as  most  ancient  copies  of  this 
version  which  we  possess.  As  to  St.  Paul,  no  man 
will  dispute  the  authenticity  of  his  statement ;  and  thus 
in  the  mouth  of  these  three  most  respectable  witnesses 
the  whole  account  is  indubitably  established.  That 
these  three  witnesses  have  the  truth,  the  chronology 
itself  proves  :  for  from  Abraham’s  entry  into  Canaan 
to  the  birth  of  Isaac  was  25  years,  Gen.  xii.  4,  xvii. 
1—21  ;  Isaac  was  60  years  old  at  the  birth  of  Jacob, 
Gen.  xxv.  26  ;  and  Jacob  was  130  at  his  going  down 
into  Egypt,  Gen.  xlvii.  9  ;  which  three  sums  make 
215  years.  And  then  Jacob  and  his  children  having 
continued  in  Egypt  215  years  more,  the  whole  sum 
of  4  30  years  is  regularly  completed.  See  KennicotVs 
Dissertation  on  the  Hebrew  Text. 

Yerse  42.  A  night  to  he  much  observed]  A  night 
to  be  held  in  everlasting  remembrance,  because  of  the 
peculiar  display  of  the  power  and  goodness  of  God, 
the  observance  of  which  annually  was  to  be  considered 
a  religious  precept  while  the  Jewish  nation  should 
continue. 

Yerse  43.  This  is  the  ordinance  of  the  passover] 
From  the  last  verse  of  this  chapter  it  appears  pretty 
evident  that  this,  to  the  50th  verse  inclusive,  consti¬ 
tuted  a  part  of  the  directions  given  to  Moses  relative 
to  the  proper  observance  of  the  first  passover,  and 
should  be  read  conjointly  with  the  preceding  account 
beginning  at  verse  21.  It  may  be  supposed  that  these 
latter  parts  contain  such  particular  directions  as  God 
gave  to  Moses  after  he  had  given  those  general  ones 
mentioned  in  the  preceding  verses,  but  they  seem  all 
to  belong  to  this  first  passover. 

There  shall  no  stranger  eat  thereof]  *0,3  p  ben 
nechar ,  the  son  of  a  stranger  or  foreigner,  i.  e.,  one 
who  was  not  of  the  genuine  Hebrew  stock,  or  one 
who  had  not  received  circumcision  ;  for  any  circum¬ 
cised  person  might  eat  the  passover,  as  the  total  ex¬ 
clusion  extends  only  to  the  uncircumcised ,  see  ver.  48. 
As  there  are  two  sorts  of  strangers  mentioned  in  the 
sacred  writings  ;  one  who  was  admitted  to  all  the 
Jewish  ordinances,  and  another  who,  though  he  dwelt 
among  the  Jews,  was  not  permitted  to  eat  the  passover 
or  partake  of  any  of  their  solemn  feasts ;  it  may  be 
necessary  to  show  what  was  the  essential  point  of  dis¬ 
tinction  through  which  the  one  was  admitted  and  the 
other  excluded. 


In  treatises  on  the  religious  customs  of  the  Jews 
we  frequently  meet  with  the  term  proselyte ,  from  the 
Greek  'Kpoari'kvTog,  a  stranger  or  foreigner  ;  one  who 
is  come  from  his  own  people  and  country  to  sojourn 
with  another.  All  who  were  not  descendants  of  some 
one  of  the  twelve  sons  of  Jacob,  or  of  Ephraim  and 
Manasseh,  the  two  sons  of  Joseph,  were  reputed  stran¬ 
gers  or  proselytes  among  the  Jews.  But  of  those 
strangers  or  proselytes  there  were  two  kinds,  called 
among  them  proselytes  of  the  gate ,  and  proselytes  of 
justice  or  of  the  covenant.  The  former  were  such  as 
wished  to  dwell  among  the  Jews,  but  would  not  sub¬ 
mit  to  be  circumcised ;  they,  however,  acknowledged 
the  true  God,  avoided  all  idolatry,  and  observed  the 
seven  precepts  of  Noah,  but  were  not  obliged  to  ob¬ 
serve  any  of  the  Mosaic  institutions.  The  latter  sub¬ 
mitted  to  be  circumcised,  obliged  themselves  to  observe 
all  the  rites  and  ceremonies  of  the  law,  and  were  in 
nothing  different  from  the  Jews  but  merely  in  their 
having  once  been  heathens.  The  former,  or  proselytes 
of  the  gate,  might  not  eat  the  passover  or  partake  of 
any  of  the  sacred  festivals ;  but  the  latter,  the  prose¬ 
lytes  of  the  covenant ,  had  the  same  rights,  spiritual  and 
secular,  as  the  Jews  themselves.  See  ver.  48. 

Yerse  45.  A  foreigner]  toshab,  from  31#'’ 

yashab,  to  sit  down  or  dwell ;  one  who  is  a  mere  so¬ 
journer,  for  the  purpose  of  traffic,  merchandise,  &c., 
but  who  is  neither  a  proselyte  of  the  gate  nor  of  the 
covenant. 

And  a  hired  servant]  Who,  though  he  be  bought 
with  money,  or  has  indented  himself  for  a  certain  term 
to  serve  a  Jew,  yet  has  not  become  either  a  proselyte 
of  the  gate  or  of  the  covenant.  None  of  these  shall 
eat  of  it,  because  not  circumcised — not  brought  under 
the  bond  of  the  covenant ;  and  not  being  under  obli¬ 
gation  to  observe  the  Mosaic  law,  had  no  right  to  its 
privileges  and  blessings.  Even  under  the  Gospel  of 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  he  is  the  author  of  eternal  sal¬ 
vation  only  to  them  who  obey  him,  Heb.  v.  9  ;  and 
those  wrho  become  Christians  are  chosen  to  salvation 
through  sanctification  of  the  Spirit,  and  belief  of  the 
truth,  2  Thess.  ii.  13  ;  for  the  grace  of  God,  that 
bringeth  salvation  to  all  men,  hath  appeared,  teaching 
us  that,  DENYING  UNGODLINESS  and  WORLDLY  LUSTS, 
we  should  live  soberly,  righteously,  and  godly,  in 
this  present  world;  Tit.  ii.  11,  12.  Such  persons  only 
walk  worthy  of  the  vocation  wherewith  they  are  called. 

Yerse  46.  In  one  house  shall  it  be  eaten]  In  one 
family,  if  that  be  large  enough  ;  if  not,  a  neighbouring 
family  might  be  invited,  ver.  4. 

Thou  shalt  not  carry  forth  aught  of  the  flesh]  Every 
family  must  abide  within  doors  because  of  the  destroy- 

357 


a 


EXODUS. 


must  be  circumcised 


All  who  eat  the  passover 


a.  M.  2513.  shall  not  carry  forth  aught  of  the 

An.  Exod.  isr.  l.  flesh  abroad  out  of  the  house  ; 
Abib  or  Nisan.  q  neither  shall  ye  break  a  bone 

thereof. 

47  rAll  the  congregation  of  Israel  shall 
s  keep  it. 

48  And  1  when  a  stranger  shall  sojourn  with 
thee,  and  will  keep  the  passover  to  the  Lord, 


let  all  his  males  be  circumcised,  a.  m.  2513 
and  then  let  him  come  near  and  An.  Exod.  Isr.  1. 
keep  it ;  and  he  shall  be  as  one  Ablb  or  Nlsan' 
that  is  born  in  the  land  :  for  no  uncircumcised 
person  shall  eat  thereof. 

49  u  One  law  shall  be  to  him  that  is  home- 
born,  and  unto  the  stranger  that  sojourneth 
among  you. 


(i  Num.  ix.  12;  John  xix.  33,  36. - rVer.  6;  Num.  ix.  13. 

sHeb.  do  it. 


1  Numbers  ix.  14. - u  Numbers  ix.  14  ;  xv.  15,  16 ; 

Gal.  iii.  28. 


ing  angel,  none  being  permitted  to  go  out  of  his  house 
till  the  next  day,  ver.  22. 

Neither  shall  ye  break  a  hone  thereof  ]  As  it  was 
to  be  eaten  in  haste ,  (ver.  11,)  there  was  no  time  either 
to  separate  the  bones,  or  to  break  them  in  order  to  ex¬ 
tract  the  marrow  ;  and  lest  they  should  be  tempted  to 
consume  time  in  this  way,  therefore  this  ordinance  was 
given.  It  is  very  likely  that,  when  the  whole  lamb 
was  brought  to  table,  they  cut  off  the  flesh  without 
even  separating  any  of  the  large  joints,  leaving  the 
skeleton,  with  whatever  flesh  they  could  not  eat,  to  be 
consumed  with  fire ,  ver.  10.  This  precept  was  also 
given  to  point  out  a  most  remarkable  circumstance 
which  1500  years  after  was  to  take  place  in  the  cru¬ 
cifixion  of  the  Saviour  of  mankind,  who  was  the  true 
Paschal  Lamb,  that  Lamb  of  God  that  takes  away  the 
sin  of  the  world  ;  who,  though  he  was  crucified  as  a 
common  malefactor,  and  it  was  a  universal  custom  to 
break  the  legs  of  such  on  the  cross,  yet  so  did  the 
providence  of  God  order  it  that  a  bone  of  him  was  not 
broken.  See  the  fulfilment  of  this  wondrously  ex¬ 
pressive  type,  John  xix.  33,  36. 

Yerse  48.  And  when  a  stranger — will  keep  the 
passover ,  c fc.]  Let  all  who  sojourn  among  you,  and 
who  desire  to  partake  of  this  sacred  ordinance,  not 
only  be  circumcised  themselves,  but  all  the  males  of 
their  families  likewise,  that  they  may  all  have  an  equal 
right  to  the  blessings  of  the  covenant. 

Verse  49.  One  law  shall  he  to  him  that  is  home-horn , 
<fc.]  As  this  is  the  first  place  that  the  term  rnin  torah 
or  law  occurs,  a  term  of  the  greatest  importance  in 
Divine  revelation,  and  on  the  proper  understanding 
of  which  much  depends,  I  judge  it  best  to  give  its 
genuine  explanation  once  for  all. 

The  word  min  torah  comes  from  the  root  ITT  yarah, 
which  signifies  to  aim  at ,  teach ,  point  out,  direct ,  lead, 
guide,  make  straight,  or  even ;  and  from  these  signi¬ 
fications  of  the  word  (and  in  all  these  senses  it  is  used 
in  the  Bible)  we  may  see  at  once  the  nature,  pro¬ 
perties,  and  design  of  the  law  of  God.  It  is  a  sys¬ 
tem  of  instruction  in  righteousness ;  it  teaches  the 
difference  between  moral  good  and  evil  ;  ascertains 
what  is  right  and  fit  to  be  done,  and  what  should  be 
left  undone ,  because  improper  to  be  performed.  It 
continually  aims  at  the  glory  of  God,  and  the  happi¬ 
ness  of  his  creatures ;  teaches  the  true  knowledge  of 
the  true  God,  and  the  destructive  nature  of  sin  ;  points 
out  the  absolute  necessity  of  an  atonement  as  the  only 
means  by  which  God  can  be  reconciled  to  transgress¬ 
ors  ;  and  in  its  very  significant  rites  and  ceremonies 
points  out  the  Son  of  God,  till  he  should  come  to  put 

358 


away  iniquity  by  the  sacrifice  of  himself.  It  is  a  re¬ 
velation  of  God’s  wisdom  and  goodness,  wonderfully 
well  calculated  to  direct  the  hearts  of  men  into  the 
truth,  to  guide  their  feet  into  the  path  of  life,  and  to 
make  straight,  even,  and  plain  that  way  which  leads  to 
God,  and  in  which  the  soul  must  walk  in  order  to  ar¬ 
rive  at  eternal  life.  It  is  the  fountain  whence  every 
correct  notion  relative  to  God — his  perfections,  provi¬ 
dence,  grace,  justice,  holiness,  omniscience,  and  omni¬ 
potence,  has  been  derived.  And  it  has  been  the  origin 
whence  all  the  true  principles  of  law  and  justice  have 
been  deduced.  The  pious  study  of  it  was  the  grand 
means  of  producing  the  greatest  kings,  the  most  enlight¬ 
ened  statesmen,  the  most  accomplished  poets,  and  the 
most  holy  and  useful  men,  that  ever  adorned  the  world. 
It  is  exceeded  only  by  the  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ, 
which  is  at  once  the  accomplishment  of  its  rites  and 
predictions,  and  the  fulfilment  of  its  grand  plan  and 
outline.  As  a  system  of  teaching  or  instruction,  it  is 
the  most  sovereign  and  most  effectual ;  as  by  it  is  the 
knowledge  of  sin,  and  it  alone  is  the  schoolmaster,  irai- 
dayuyog,  that  leads  men  to  Christ,  that  they  may  be 
justified  through  faith,  Gal.  iii.  24.  Who  can  abso¬ 
lutely  ascertain  the  exact  quantum  of  obliquity  in  a 
crooked  line,  without  the  application  of  a  straight  one  I 
And  could  sin,  in  all  its  twistings,  windings,  and  varied 
involutions,  have  ever  been  truly  ascertained,  had  not 
God  given  to  man  this  perfect  rule  to  judge  by?  The 
nations  who  acknowledge  this  revelation  of  God  have, 
as  far  as  they  attained  to  its  dictates,  the  wisest,  purest, 
most  equal,  and  most  beneficial  laws.  The  nations 
that  do  not  receive  it  have  laws  at  once  extravagantly 
severe  and  extravagantly  indulgent.  The  proper  dis¬ 
tinctions  between  moral  good  and  evil,  in  such  states, 
are  not  known  :  hence  the  penal  sanctions  are  not 
founded  on  the  principles  of  justice,  weighing  the  ex¬ 
act  proportion  of  moral  turpitude  ;  but  on  the  most 
arbitrary  caprices,  which  in  many  cases  show  the  ut¬ 
most  indulgence  to  first-rate  crimes,  while  they  punish 
minor  offences  with  rigour  and  cruelty.  What  is  the 
consequence  ?  Just  what  might  be  reasonably  ex¬ 
pected  :  the  will  and  caprice  of  a  man  being  put  in  the 
place  of  the  wisdom  of  God,  the  government  is  oppres¬ 
sive,  and  the  people,  frequently  goaded  to  distraction, 
rise  up  in  a  mass  and  overturn  it ;  so  that  the  monarch, 
however  powerful  for  a  time,  seldom  lives  out  half  his 
days.  This  was  the  case  in  Greece,  in  Rome,  in  the 
major  part  of  the  Asiatic  governments ,  and  is  the  case 
in  all  nations  of  the  world  to  the  present  day,  where 
the  governor  is  despotic,  and  the  laws  not  formed  ac¬ 
cording  to  the  revelation  of  God . 

a 


The  Israelites  act  as 


CHAP.  XII. 


A.  m.  2513.  50  Thus  did  all  the  children 

An.  Exod.  isr  l  of  Israel ;  as  the  Lord  com- 
Abih  or  Xtsaa.  manc[ed  Moses  and  Aaron,  so 

did  they. 

v  Ver.  41. 

The  word  lex ,  law ,  among-  the  Romans,  has  been 
derived  from  lego ,  I  read ;  because  when  a  law  or 
statute  was  made,  it  was  hung  up  in  the  most  public 
places,  that  it  might  be  seen ,  read ,  and  known  by  all 
men,  that  those  who  were  to  obey  the  laws  might  not 
break  them  through  ignorance,  and  thus  incur  the 
penalty.  This  was  called  promulgatio  legis ,  q.  pro- 
vulgatio,  the  promulgation  of  the  law ,  i.  e,,  the  laying 
it  before  the  common  people.  Or  from  ligo,  I  bi?id, 
because  the  law  binds  men  to  the  strict  observance  of 
its  precepts.  The  Greeks  call  a  law  voyog  nomos, 
from  vvycj,  to  divide ,  distribute ,  minister  to,  or  serve , 
because  the  law  divides  to  all  their  just  rights,  appoints 
or  distributes  to  each  his  proper  duty,  and  thus  serves 
or  ministers  to  the  welfare  of  the  individual  and  the 
support  of  society.  Hence  where  there  are  either  no 
laws,  or  unequal  and  unjust  ones,  all  is  distraction, 
violence,  rapine,  oppression,  anarchy,  and  ruin. 

Verse  51.  By  their  armies. ]  tsibotham,  from 

NUi*  tsaba ,  to  assemble,  meet  together,  in  an  orderly  or 
regulated  manner,  and  hence  to  war,  to  act  together 
as  troops  in  battle  ;  whence  niJOV  Hsebaoth,  troops, 
armies,  hosts.  It  is  from  this  that  the  Divine  Being 
calls  himself  miT  Yehovah  tsebaoth,  the  Lord 

of  hosts  or  armies,  because  the  Israelites  were  brought 
out  of  Egypt  under  his  direction,  marshalled  and  order¬ 
ed  by  himself,  guided  by  his  wisdom,  supported  by  his 
providence,  and  protected  by  his  might.  This  is  the 
true  and  simple  reason  why  God  is  so  frequently  styled 
in  Scripture  the  Lord  of  hosts ;  for  the  Lord  did 
bring  the  children  of  Israel  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt 
by  their  armies. 

On  this  chapter  the  notes  have  been  so  full  and  so 
explicit,  that  little  can  be  added  to  set  the  subject  be¬ 
fore  the  reader  in  a  clearer  light.  On  the  ordinance 
of  the  passover,  the  reader  is  requested  to  consult  the 
notes  on  verses  7,  14,  and  27.  For  the  display  of 
God’s  power  and  providence  in  supporting  so  great  a 
multitude  where,  humanly  speaking,  there  was  no  pro¬ 
vision,  and  the  proof  that  the  exodus  of  the  Israelites 
gives  of  the  truth  of  the  Mosaic  history,  he  is  referred 
to  ver.  37.  And  for  the  meaning  of  the  term  law, 
to  ver.  49. 

On  the  ten  plagues  it  may  be  but  just  necessary, 
after  what  has  been  said  in  the  notes,  to  make  a  few 
general  reflections.  When  the  nature  of  the  Egyptian 
idolatry  is  considered,  and  the  plagues  which  were 
sent  upon  them,  we  may  see  at  once  the  peculiarity 
of  the  judgment,  and  the  great  propriety  of  its  being 
inflicted  in  the  way  related  by  Moses.  The  plagues 
were  either  inflicted  on  the  objects  of  their  idolatry,  or 
by  their  means. 

1.  That  the  river  Nile  was  an  object  of  their  wor¬ 
ship,  and  one  of  their  greatest  gods,  we  have  already 
seen.  As  the  first  plague,  its  waters  were  therefore 
turned  into  blood ;  and  the  fish,  many  of  which  were 

a 


commanded  by  Moses 


51  vx4nd  it  came  to  pass  the  a.  m.  2513. 
self-same  day,  that  the  Lord  did  An.  Exod.  isr.  l, 
bring  the  children  of  Israel  out  Ablb  or  Nlsan- 
of  the  land  of  Egypt  w  by  their  armies. 

w  Chap.  vi.  26. 


objects  also  of  their  adoration,  died.  Blood  was  par¬ 
ticularly  offensive  to  them,  and  the  touch  of  any  dead 
animal  rendered  them  unclean.  When  then  their  great 
god,  the  river,  was  turned  into  blood,  and  its  waters 
became  putrid,  so  that  all  the  fish,  minor  objects  of 
their  devotion,  died,  we  see  a  judgment  at  once  calcu¬ 
lated  to  punish,  correct,  and  reform  them.  Could  they 
ever  more  trust  in  gods  who  could  neither  save  them¬ 
selves  nor  their  deluded  worshippers  l 

2.  Mr.  Bryant  has  endeavoured  to  prove  that  frogs, 
the  second  plague,  were  sacred  animals  in  Egypt,  and 
wrere  dedicated  to  Osiris  :  they  certainly  appear  on 
many  ancient  Egyptian  monuments,  and  in  such  cir¬ 
cumstances  and  connections  as  to  show  that  they  were 
held  in  religious  veneration.  These  therefore  became 
an  awful  scourge  ;  first,  by  their  numbers,  and  their 
intrusion  into  every  place  ;  and,  secondly,  by  their 
death,  and  the  infection  of  the  atmosphere  which  took 
place  in  consequence. 

3.  We  have  seen  also  that  the  Egyptians,  espe¬ 
cially  the  priests,  affected  great  cleanliness ,  and  would 
not  wear  woollen  garments  lest  any  kind  of  vermin 
should  harbour  about  them.  The  third  plague,  by 
means  of  lice  or  such  like  vermin,  was  wisely  calcu¬ 
lated  both  to  humble  and  confound  them.  In  this  the)’- 
immediately  saw  a  power  superior  to  any  that  could 
be  exerted  by  their  gods  or  their  magicians  ;  and  the 
latter  were  obliged  to  confess,  This  is  the  finger  of 
God  ! 

4.  That  files  were  held  sacred  among  the  Egyp¬ 
tians  and  among  various  other  nations,  admits  of  the 
strongest  proof.  It  is  very  probable  that  Baal-zebub 
himself  was  worshipped  under  the  form  of  a  fly  or 
great  cantharid.  These,  therefore,  or  some  kind  of 
winged  noxious  insects,  became  the  prime  agents  in 
the  fourth  plague  ;  and  if  the  cynomyia  or  d.og-fly  be 
intended,  we  have  already  seen  in  the  notes  with  what 
propriety  and  effect  this  judgment  was  inflicted. 

5.  The  murrain  or  mortality  among  the  cattle  was 
the  fifth  plague,  and  the  most  decisive  mark  of  the 
power  and  indignation  of  Jehovah.  That  dogs,  cats, 
monkeys,  rams ,  heifers,  and  bulls,  were  all  objects  of 
their  most  religious  veneration,  all  the  world  knowrs. 
These  were  smitten  in  a  most  singular  manner  by  the 
hand  of  God  ;  and  the  Egyptians  saw  themselves  de¬ 
prived  at  once  of  all  their  imaginary  helpers.  Even 
Apis,  their  ox-god,  in  whom  they  particularly  trusted, 
now  suffers,  groans,  and  dies  under  the  hand  of  Jeho¬ 
vah.  Thus  does  he  execute  judgment  against  all  the 
gods  of  Egypt.  See  ver.  12. 

6.  The  sixth  plague,  viz.,  of  boils  and  blains,  was 
as  appropriate  as  any  of  the  preceding  ;  and  the  sprink¬ 
ling  of  the  ashes,  the  means  by  which  it  wras  produced, 
peculiarly  significant.  Pharmacy,  Mr.  Bryant  has  ob¬ 
served,  was  in  high  repute  among  the  Egyptians ;  and 
Isis,  their  most  celebrated  goddess,  was  considered  as 
the  preventer  or  healer  of  all  diseases.  “For  this 

359 


General  observations 


EXODUS. 


goddess,”  says  Diodorus,  Hist.,  lib.  i.,  “  used  to  reveal 
herself  to  people  in  their  sleep  when  they  laboured 
under  any  disorder,  and  afford  them  relief.  Many  who 
placed  their  confidence  in  her  influence  napado^cog 
tiyicuvscOcu,  were  miraculously  restored.  Many  like¬ 
wise  who  had  been  despaired  of  and  given  over  by  the 
physicians  on  account  of  the  obstinacy  of  the  distem¬ 
per,  were  saved  by  this  goddess.  Numbers  who  had 
been  deprived  of  their  eyes,  and  of  other  parts  of  their 
bodies,  were  all  restored  on  their  application  to  Isis.” 
By  this  disorder,  therefore,  which  no  application  to 
their  gods  could  cure,  and  which  was  upon  the  magi¬ 
cians  also,  who  were  supposed  to  possess  most  power 
and  influence,  God  confounded  their  pride,  showed  the 
folly  of  their  worship,  and  the  vanity  of  their  depend 
ence.  The  means  by  which  these  boils  and  blains 
were  inflicted,  viz.,  the  sprinkling  of  ashes  from  the 
furnace ,  was  peculiarly  appropriate.  Plutarch  assures 
us,  De  Iside  et  Osiride,  that  in  several  cities  of  Egypt 
they  were  accustomed  to  sacrifice  human  beings  to 
Typhon,  which  they  burned  alive  upon  a  high  altar  ;  and 
at  the  close  of  the  sacrifice  the  priests  gathered  the 
ashes  of  these  victims,  and  scattered  them  in  the  air  : 
“  I  presume,”  says  Mr.  Bryant,  “  with  this  view,  that 
where  an  atom  of  their  dust  was  wafted,  a  blessing 
might  be  entailed.  The  like  was  done  by  Moses  with 
the  ashes  of  the  furnace,  that  wherever  any,  the  small¬ 
est  portion,  alighted,  it  might  prove  a  plague  and  a  curse 
to  this  cruel,  ungrateful,  and  infatuated  people.  Thus 
there  was  a  designed  contrast  in  these  workings  of 
Providence,  an  apparent  opposition  to  the  superstition 
of  the  times.” 

7.  The  grievous  hail ,  the  seventh  plague ,  attended 
with  rain,  thunder ,  and  lightning,  in  a  country  where 
these  scarcely  ever  occur,  and  according  to  an  express 
prediction  of  Moses,  must  in  the  most  signal  manner 
point  out  the  power  and  justice  of  God.  Fire  and  water 
were  some  of  the  principal  objects  of  Egyptian  idolatry ; 
and  fire,  as  Porphyry  says,  they  considered  yeyav  Eivai 
deov,  to  be  a  great  god.  To  find,  therefore,  that  these 
very  elements,  the  objects  of  their  adoration,  were,  at 
the  command  of  a  servant  of  Jehovah,  brought  as  a 
curse  and  scourge  on  the  whole  land,  and  upon  men 
also  and  cattle,  must  have  shaken  their  belief  in  these 
imaginary  deities,  while  it  proved  to  the  Israelites  that 
there  ivas  none  like  the  God  of  Jeshurun. 

8.  In  the  eighth  plague  we  see  by  what  insignifi¬ 
cant  creatures  God  can  bring  about  a  general  destruc¬ 
tion.  A  caterpillar  is  beyond  all  animals  the  most 
contemptible,  and,  taken  singly,  the  least  to  be  dreaded 
in  the  whole  empire  of  nature  ;  but  in  the  hand  of 
Divine  justice  it  becomes  one  of  the  most  formidable 
foes  of  the  human  race.  From  the  examples  in  the 
notes  we  see  how  little  human  power,  industry,  or  art, 
can  avail  against  this  most  awful  scourge.  Not  even 
the  most  contemptible  animal  should  be  considered 
with  disrespect,  as  in  the  hand  of  God  it  may  become 
the  most  terrible  instrument  for  the  punishment  of  a 
criminal  individual  or  a  guilty  land. 

9.  The  ninth  plague,  the  total  and  horrible  dark¬ 
ness  that  lasted  for  three  days ,  afforded  both  Israelites 
and  Egyptians  the  most  illustrious  proof  of  the  power 
and  universal  dominion  of  God  ;  and  was  particularly 
to  the  latter  a  most  awful  yet  instructive  lesson  against ! 

360 


on  the  ten' plagues. 

a  species  of  idolatry  which  had  been  long  prevalent  in 
that  and  other  countries,  viz.,  the  worship  of  the  celes¬ 
tial  luminaries .  The  sun  and  moon  were  both  adored 
as  supreme  deities,  as  the  sole  dispensers  of  light  and 
life  ;  and  the  sun  was  invoked  as  the  giver  of  immor¬ 
tality  and  eternal  blessedness.  Porphyry,  De  Abstin., 
1.  4,  preserves  the  very  form  used  by  the  Egyptian 
priests  in  addressing  the  sun  on  behalf  of  a  deceased 
person,  that  he  might  be  admitted  into  the  society  of 
the  gods  :  12  dean-ora  'll?ae,  nac  0eoi  navreg,  oi  nyv 

roig  avOponotg  dovreg,  rrpoodeigaoOs  pe,  nac  rrapa- 
dore  roig  a'idiocg  Qeotg  gvvolkov.  “  O  sovereign  lord  the 
sun,  and  all  ye  other  deities  wTho  bestow  life  on  man¬ 
kind  !  receive  me,  and  grant  that  I  may  be  admitted 
as  a  companion  with  the  immortal  gods !”  These 
objects  of  their  superstitious  worship  Jehovah  showed 
by  this  plague  to  be  his  creatures,  dispensing  or  with¬ 
holding  their  light  merely  at  his  will  and  pleasure ; 
and  that  the  people  might  be  convinced  that  all  this 
came  by  his  appointment  alone,  he  predicted  this  awful 
darkness  ;  and  that  their  astronomers  might  have  the 
fullest  proof  that  this  was  no  natural  occurrence,  and 
could  not  be  the  effect  of  any  kind  of  eclipse,  which 
even  when  total  could  endure  only  about  four  minutes, 
(and  this  case  could  happen  only  once  in  a  thousand 
years,)  he  caused  this  palpable  darkness  to  continue 
for  three  days  l 

10.  The  tenth  and  last  plague,  the  slajfing  of  the 
first-born  or  chief  person  in  each  family,  may  be  con¬ 
sidered  in  the  light  of  a  Divine  retribution :  for  after 
that  their  nation  had  been  preserved  by  one  of  the 
Israelitish  family,  “  they  had,”  says  Mr.  Bryant,  “  con¬ 
trary  to  all  right,  and  in  defiance  of  original  stipulation, 
enslaved  the  people  to  whom  they  had  been  so  much 
indebted  ;  and  not  contented  with  this,  they  had  pro¬ 
ceeded  to  murder  their  offspring,  and  to  render  the 
people’s  bondage  intolerable  by  a  wanton  exertion  of 
power.  It  had  been  told  them  that  the  family  of  the 
Israelites  were  esteemed  as  God’s  first-born,  chap.  iv. 
22  ;  therefore  God  said  :  Let  my  son  go,  that  he  may 
serve  me  ;  and  if  thou  refuse — behold,  I  will  slay  thy 
son,  even  thy  first-born,  ver.  23.  But  they  heeded 
not  this  admonition,  and  hence  those  judgments  came 
upon  them  that  terminated  in  the  death  of  the  eldest 
in  each  family  ;  a  just  retaliation  for  their  disobedience 
and  cruelty.”  See  several  curious  and  important 
remarks  on  this  subject  in  a  work  entitled,  Observa¬ 
tions  upon  the  Plagues  inflicted  on  the  Egyptians,  by 
Jacob  Bryant,  8vo.,  1810. 

On  the  whole  we  may  say,  Behold  the  goodness 
and  severity  of  God  !  Severity  mixed  with  goodness 
even  to  the  same  people.  He  punished  and  corrected 
them  at  the  same  time  ;  for  there  was  not  one  of  these 
judgments  that  had  not,  from  its  peculiar  nature  and 
circumstances,  some  emendatory  influence.  Nor  could 
a  more  effectual  mode  be  adopted  to  demonstrate  to 
that  people  the  absurdity  of  their  idolatry,  and  the 
inefficacy  of  their  dependence,  than  that  made  use  of 
on  this  occasion  by  the  wise,  just,  and  merciful  God. 
At  the  same  time  the  Israelites  themselves  must  have 
received  a  lesson  of  the  most  impressive  instruction  on 
the  vanity  and  wickedness  of  idolatry,  to  which  they 
were  at  all  times  most  deplorably  prone,  and  of  which 
they  would  no  doubt  have  given  many  more  examples, 

a 


CHAP.  XIII. 


The  law  concerning  the 

had  they  not  had  the  Egyptian  plagues  continually  be¬ 
fore  their  eyes.  It  was  probably  these  signal  displays 
of  God’s  power  and  justice,  and  these  alone ,  that  in¬ 
duced  them  to  leave  Egypt  at  his  command  by  Moses 
and  Aaron ;  otherwise,  with  the  dreadful  wilderness 
before  them,  totally  unprovided  for  such  a  journey,  in 
which  humanly  speaking  it  was  impossible  for  them 
and  their  households  to  subsist,  they  would  have  rather 
preferred  the  ills  they  then  suffered,  than  have  run  the 


first-born  of  man  and  beast. 

risk  of  greater  by  an  attempt  to  escape  from  their  pre¬ 
sent  bondage.  This  is  proved  by  their  murmurings, 
chap,  xvi.,  from  which  it  is  evident  that  they  preferred 
Egypt  with  all  its  curses  to  their  situation  in  the  wil¬ 
derness,  and  never  could  have  been  induced  to  leave 
it  had  they  not  had  the  fullest  evidence  that  it  was  the 
will  of  God  ;  which  will  they  were  obliged,  on  pain 
of  utter  destruction,  to  obey. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 


God  establishes  the  law  concerning  the  first-born,  and  commands  that  all  such ,  both  of  man  and  beast ,  should 
be  sanctified  unto  him ,  1,  2.  Orders  them  to  remember  the  day  in  which  they  were  brought  out  of  Egypt , 
when  they  should  be  brought  to  the  land  of  Canaan ;  and  to  keep  this  service  in  the  month  Abib,  3—5. 
Repeats  the  command  concerning  the  leavened  bread,  6,  7,  and  orders  them  to  teach  their  children  the  cause 
of  it,  8,  and  to  keep  strictly  in  remembrance  that  it  was  by  the  might  of  God  alone  they  had  been  delivered 
from  Egypt ,  9.  Shows  that  the  consecration  of  the  first-born,  both  of  man  and  beast,  should  take  place 
when  they  should  be  settled  in  Canaan ,  10—12.  The  first-born  of  man  and  beast  to  be  redeemed,  13.  The 
reason  of  this  also  to  be  shown  to  their  children,  14,  15.  Frontlets  or  phylacteries  for  the  hands  and 
forehead  commanded,  16.  And  the  people  are  not  led  directly  to  the  promised  land ,  but  about  through  the 
wilderness ;  and  the  reason  assigned ,  17,  18.  Moses  takes  the  bones  of  Joseph  'with  him,  19.  They 
journey  from  Succoth  and  come  to  Etham,  20.  And  the  Lord  goes  before  them  by  day  in  a  pillar  of  cloud, 
and  by  night  in  a  pillar  of  fire,  21,  which  miracle  is  regularly  continued  both  by  day  and  night,  22. 


A.  M.  2513.  A  ND  the  Lord  spake  unto 

B.  C.  1491.  JrL  .  r 

An.  Exod.  Isr.1.  Moses,  saying, 

Abib  or  Nisan.  o  a 


2  a. Sanctify  unto  me  all  the 
first-born,  whatsoever  openeth  the  womb  among 
the  children  of  Israel,  both  of  man  and  of 
beast :  it  is  mine. 

3  And  Moses  said  unto  the  people,  b  R  e¬ 
member  this  day,  in  which  ye  came  out  from 
Egypt,  out  of  the  house  of  c  bondage  ;  for  d  by 
strength  of  hand  the  Lord  brought  you  out 
from  this  place :  e  there  shall  no  leavened 
bread  be  eaten. 

a  Ver.  12,  13,  15;  chap.  xxii.  29,  30  ;  xxxiv.  19  ;  Lev.  xxvii. 
26;  Num.  iii.  13;  viii.  16,  17  ;  xviii.  15;  Deut.  xv.  19;  Luke 
ii.  23. - b  Chap.  xii.  42  ;  Deut.  xvi.  3. 


4  f  Phis  day  came  ye  out,  m  a.  M.  2513, 

!  ,  7  B.  C.  1491. 

the  month  Abib.  An.  Exod.  isr.  1. 

5  And  it  shall  be,  when  the  Abib  or  Nisan' 
Lord  shall  s  bring  thee  into  the  land  of  the 
Canaanites,  and  the  Hittites,  and  the  Amorites, 
and  the  Hivites,  and  the  Jebusites,  which  he 
h  sware  unto  thy  fathers  to  give  thee,  a  land 
flowing  with  milk  and  honey,  j  that  thou  shaft 
keep  this  service  in  this  month. 

6  k  Seven  days  thou  shalt  eat  unleavened 
bread,  and  in  the  seventh  day  shall  be  a  feast 
to  the  Lord. 


c  Heb.  servants.- 


Chap.  vi.  1.- 


xxiii.  15  ;  xxxiv.  18  ;  Deut.  xvi.  1 
vi.  8.- - '  Chap.  xii.  25,  26. - -k  Chap.  xii.  1 5,  16 


•e  Chap.  xii.  8.- 
■s  Chap.  iii.  8.- 


-f  Chap. 
-h  Chan. 


NOTES  ON  CHAP.  XIII. 

Verse  1.  The  Lord  spake  unto  Moses ]  The  com¬ 
mands  in  this  chapter  appear  to  have  been  given  at 
Succoth,  on  the  same  day  in  which  they  left  Egypt. 

Verse  2.  Sanctify  unto  me  all  the  first-born ]  To 
sanctify,  “CHp  kadash,  signifies  to  consecrate,  separate, 
and  set  apart  a  thing  or  person  from  all  secular  pur¬ 
poses  to  some  religious  use ;  and  exactly  answers  to 
the  import  of  the  Greek  ityiafa,  from  a,  privative,  and 
yr\,  the  earth,  because  every  thing  offered  or  conse¬ 
crated  to  God  was  separated  from  all  earthly  uses. 
Hence  a  holy  person  or  saint  is  termed  ayiog,  i.  e.,  a 
person  separated  from  the  earth  ;  one  who  lives  a  holy 
life,  entirely  devoted  to  the  service  of  God.  Thus  the 
persons  and  animals  sanctified  to  God  were  employed  in 
the  service  of  the  tabernacle  and  temple ;  and  the  ani¬ 
mals,  such  as  were  proper,  were  offered  in  sacrifice. 

The  Hindoos  frequenly  make  a  vow,  and  devote  to 
an  idol  the  first-born  of  a  goat  and  of  a  man.  The  goat 

a 


is  permitted  to  run  wild,  as  a  consecrated  animal.  A 
child  thus  devoted  has  a  lock  of  hair  separated,  which 
at  the  time  appointed  is  cut  off  and  placed  near  the 
idol.  Hindoo  women  sometimes  pray  to  Gunga  (the 
Ganges)  for  children,  and  promise  to  devote  the  first¬ 
born  to  her.  Children  thus  devoted  are  cast  into  the 
Ganges,  but  are  generally  saved  by  the  friendly  hand 
of  some  stranger. — Ward's  Customs. 

Whatsoever  openeth  the  womb\  That  is,  the  first¬ 
born,  if  a  male  ;  for  females  were  not  offered,  nor  the 
first  male,  if  a  female  had  been  born  previously.  Again, 
if  a  man  had  several  wives,  the  first-born  of  each,  if  a 
male,  was  to  be  offered  to  God.  And  all  this  was  done 
to  commemorate  the  preservation  of  the  first-born  of 
the  Israelites,  when  those  of  the  Egyptians  were 
destroyed. 

Verse  5.  When  the  Lord  shall  biing  thee  into  the 
land ]  Hence  it  is  pretty  evident  that  the  Israelites 
were  not  obliged  to  celebrate  the  passover,  or  keep 

361 


The  annual  celebration 


EXODUS. 


a.  M.  2.313.  7  Unleavened  bread  shall  be 

b.  c.  1491.  1  .  , 

An.  Exod.isr.  i.  eaten  seven  days;  and  there 

Abib  ot  Nih.m.  s}laq  i  no  leavened  bread  be  seen 
with  thee,  neither  shall  there  be  leaven  seen 
with  thee  in  all  thy  quarters. 

8  And  thou  shalt  m  show  thy  son  in  that  day, 
saying,  This  is  done ,  because  of  that  which 
the  Lord  did  unto  me,  when  I  came  forth  out 
of  Egypt. 

9  And  it  shall  be  for  n  a  sign  unto  thee  upon 
thine  hand,  and  for  a  memorial  between  thine 

1  Chap.  xii.  19. - -m  Ver.  14  ;  chap.  xii.  26. - n  See  ver.  16  ; 

chap.  xii.  14 ;  Num.  xv.  39  ;  Deut.  vi.  8  ;  xi.  18  ;  Prov.  i.  9  ;  Isa. 
xlix.  16  ;  Jer.  xxii.  24  ;  Matt,  xxiii.  5. - 0  Chap.  xii.  14,  24. 


the  feast  of  unleavened  bread,  till  they  were  brought 
into  the  promised  land. 

Verse  6.  Unleavened  bread]  Seeonchap.  xii.  15, 16. 

Verse  9.  And  it  shall  be  for  a  sign — upon  thine  hand] 
This  direction,  repeated  and  enlarged  ver.  16,  gave 
rise  to  phylacteries  or  tephillin ,  and  this  is  one  of  the 
passages  which  the  Jews  write  upon  them  to  the  pre¬ 
sent  day.  The  manner  in  which  the  Jews  understood 
and  kept  these  commands  may  appear  in  their  practice. 
They  wrote  the  following  four  portions  of  the  law  upon 
slips  of  parchment  or  vellum  :  Sanctify  unto  me  the 
first-born ,  Exod.  xiii.,  from  verse  2  to  10  inclusive. 
And  it  shall  be,  when  the  Lord  shall'  bring  thee  into  the 
land,  Exod.  xiii.,  from  verse  11  to  16  inclusive.  Hear, 
O  Israel,  the  Lord  our  God  is  one  Lord,  Deut.  vi., 
from  verse  4  to  9  inclusive.  And  it  shall  come  to  pass, 
if  ye  shall  hearken  diligently ,  Deut.  xi.,  from  verse  13 
to  21  inclusive.  These  four  portions,  making  in  all  30 
verses,  written  as  mentioned  above,  and  covered  with 
leather,  they  tied  to  the  forehead  and  to  the  hand  or  arm. 

Those  which  were  for  the  head  (the  frontlets )  they 
wrote  on  four  slips  of  parchment,  and  rolled  up  each  by 
itself,  and  placed  them  in  four  compartments,  joined 
together  in  one  piece  of  skin  or  leather.  Those  which 
were  designed  for  the  hand  were  formed  of  one  piece 
of  parchment,  the  four  portions  being  written  upon  it 
in  four  columns,  and  rolled  up  from  one  end  to  the 
other.  These  were  all  correct  transcripts  from  the 
Mosaic  text,  without  one  redundant  or  deficient  letter, 
otherwise  they  were  not  lawful  to  be  worn.  Those 
for  the  head  were  tied  on  so  as  to  rest  on  the  forehead. 
Those  for  the  hand  or  arm  were  usually  tied  on  the 
left  arm,  a  little  above  the  elbow,  on  the  inside,  that 
they  might  be  near  the  heart,  according  to  the  com¬ 
mand,  Deut.  vi.  6  :  And  these  words  which  I  command 
thee  this  day  shall  be  in  thine  heart.  These  phylac¬ 
teries  formed  no  inconsiderable  part  of  a  Jew’s  religion ; 
they  wore  them  as  a  sign  of  their  obligation  to  God, 
and  as  representing  some  future  blessedness.  Hence 
they  did  not  wear  them  on  feast  days  nor  on  the  Sab¬ 
bath,  because  these  things  were  in  themselves  signs ; 
but  they  wore  them  always  when  they  read  the  law,  or 
when  they  prayed,  and  hence  they  called  them  rban 
tephillin,  pray er,  ornaments,  oratories ,  or  incitements  to 
prayer.  In  process  of  time  the  spirit  of  this  law  was 
lost  in  the  letter,  and  when  the  word  was  not  in  their 
mouth ,  nor  the  law  in  their  heart,  they  had  their  phy-  i 

362 


of  the  passover  commanded . 

eyes,  that  the  Lord’s  law  may  be  A.  M.  2513. 
in  thy  mouth  :  for  with  a  strong  An.  Exod.  isr.  1. 
hand  hath  the  Lord  brought  thee  Ablb  or  N]san- 
out  of  Egypt. 

1 0  0  Thou  shalt  therefore  keep  this  ordi¬ 
nance  in  his  season,  from  year  to  year. 

1 1  And  it  shall  be,  when  the  Lord  shall 
bring  thee  into  the  land  of  the  Canaanites,  as 
he  sware  unto  thee  and  to  thy  fathers,  and 
shall  give  it  thee, 

1 2  p  That  thou  shalt  *  set  apart  unto  the  Lord 

p  Ver.  2 ;  chapter  xxii.  29  ;  xxxiv.  19  ;  Lev.  xxvii.  26  ;  Num. 

viii.  17  ;  xviii.  15  ;  Deut.  xv.  19  ;  Ezek.  xliv.  30. - 4  Hebrew 

cause  to  pass  over. 

lacteries  on  their  heads  and  on  their  hands.  And  the 
Pharisees,  who  in  our  Lord’s  time  affected  extraordi¬ 
nary  piety,  made  their  phylacteries  very  broad,  that 
they  might  have  many  sentences  written  upon  them, 
or  the  ordinary  portions  in  very  large  and  observable 
letters. 

It  appears  that  the  Jews  wore  these  for  three  dif¬ 
ferent  purposes : — 

1 .  As  signs  or  remembrancers.  This  was  the  original 
design,  as  the  institution  itself  sufficiently  proves. 

2.  To  procure  reverence  and  respect  in  the  sight  of 
the  heathen.  This  reason  is  given  in  the  Gemara , 
Berachoth,  chap.  i.  :  “  Whence  is  it  proved  that  the 
phylacteries  or  tephillin  are  the  strength  of  Israel  ? 
Ans.  From  what  is  written,  Deut.  xxviii.  10  :  All  the 
people  of  the  earth  shall  see  that  thou  art  called  by 
the  name  of  the  Lord  (niTT  Yehovah)  and  they  shall 
be  afraid  of  thee.” 

3.  They  used  them  as  amulets  or  charms,  to  drive 
away  evil  spirits.  This  appears  from  the  Targum  on 
Canticles  viii.  3  :  His  left  hand  is  under  my  head ,  dpc . 
“  The  congregation  of  Israel  hath  said,  I  am  elect 
above  all  people,  because  I  bind  my  phylacteries  on 
my  left  hand  and  on  my  head,  and  the  scroll  is  fixed 
to  the  right  side  of  my  gate,  the  third  part  of  which 
looks  to  my  bed-chamber,  that  demons  may  not  be 
permitted  to  injure  me.” 

One  of  the  original  phylacteries  or  pban  tephillin 
now  lies  before  me  ;  it  is  a  piece  of  fine  vellum,  about 
eighteen  inches  long,  and  an  inch  and  quarter  broad.  It 
is  divided  into  four  unequal  compartments  ;  the  letters 
are  very  well  formed,  but  written  with  many  apices, 
after  the  manner  of  the  German  Jews.  In  the  first 
compartment  is  written  the  portion  taken  from  Exod. 
xiii.  2—10  ;  in  the  second,  Exod.  xiii.  11—16  ;  in  the 
third,  Deut.  vi.  4—9  ;  in  the  fourth,  Deut.  xi.  13—21, 
as  before  related.  This  had  originally  served  for  the 
hand  or  arm. 

These  passages  seem  to  be  chosen  in  vindication  of 
the  use  of  the  phylactery  itself,  as  the  reader  may  see 
on  consulting  them  at  large.  Bind  them  for  a  sign 
upon  thy  hand;  and  for  frontlets  between  thy  eyes; 
write  them  upon  the  posts  of  thy  house  and  upon  thy 
gates  ;  all  which  commands  the  Jews  take  in  the 
most  literal  sense.  To  acquire  the  reputation  of  ex¬ 
traordinary  sanctity  they  wore  the  fringes  of  their 
garments  of  an  uncommon  length.  Moses  had  com- 

a 


Reasons  assigned  for  the  CHAP. 

A.  M.  2513.  all  that  openeth  the  matrix,  and 

An.  Exod.  isr.  l.  every  firstling  that  cometh  of  a 
Abib  or  Nisan.  peast  which  thou  hast ;  the  males 

shall  he  the  Lord’s. 

1 3  And  r  every  firstling  of  an  ass  thou  shalt 
redeem  with  a  s  lamb  ;  and  if  thou  wilt  not 
redeem  it,  then  thou  shalt  break  his  neck  : 
and  all  the  first-born  of  man  among  thy  chil¬ 
dren  4  shalt  thou  redeem. 

14  uAnd  it  shall  be  when  thy  son  asketh 
thee  v  in  time  to  come,  saying,  What  is  this  ? 
that  thou  shalt  say  unto  him,  w  By  strength 
of  hand  the  Lord  brought  us  out  from  Egypt, 
from  the  house  of  bondage  : 

15  And  it  came  to  pass,  when  Pharaoh 
would  hardly  let  us  go,  that  x  the  Lord  slew  all 
the  first-born  in  the  land  of  Egypt,  both  the 

r  Chap,  xxxiv.  20  ;  Num.  xviii.  15, 16. - s  Or,  kid. - *  Num. 

iii.  46,  47 ;  xviii.  15,  16. - u  Chap.  xii.  26  ;  Deut.  vi.  20  ;  Josh. 

iv.  6,  21. - v  Heb.  to-morrow. 

manded  them,  Num.  xv.  38,  39,  to  put  fringes  to  the 
borders  of  their  garments,  that  when  they  looked  upon 
even  these  distinct  threads  they  might  remember,  not 
only  the  law  in  general  but  also  the  very  minutiae  or 
smaller  parts  of  all  the  precepts ,  rites ,  and  ceremonies 
belonging  to  it.  As  those  hypocrites  (for  such  our 
Lord  proves  them  to  be)  were  destitute  of  all  the  life 
and  power  of  religion  within ,  they  endeavoured  to  sup¬ 
ply  its  place  with  phylacteries  and  fringes  without. 
The  same  principles  distinguish  hypocrites  every 
where,  and  multitudes  of  them  may  be  found  among 
those  termed  Christians  as  well  as  among  the  Jeivs. 
It  is  probably  to  this  institution  relative  to  the  phylac¬ 
tery  that  the  words,  Rev.  xiv.  1,  allude  :  And  I  looked, 
and,  lo,  a  hundred  and  forty-four  thousand  having  his 
Father’s  name  written  on  their  foreheads.  “  That  is,” 
says  Mr.  Ainsworth,  “  as  a  sign  of  the  profession  of 
God’s  law ;  for  that  which  in  the  Gospel  is  called  his 
name,  (Matt.  xii.  21,)  in  the  prophets  is  called  his 
law,  (Isa.  xlii.  4).”  So  again  antichrist  exacts  the 
obedience  to  his  precepts  by  a  mark  on  men’s  right 
hands  or  on  their  foreheads ,  Rev.  xiii.  16. 

Verse  13.  Every  firstling  of  an  ass  thou  shalt  redeem 
with  a  lamb ]  Or  a  hid,  as  in  the  margin.  In  Num. 
xviii.  15,  it  is  said  :  “  The  first-born  of  man  shalt  thou 
surely  redeem ;  and  the  firstling  of  an  unclean  beast 
shalt  thou  redeem.”  Hence  we  may  infer  that  ass  is 
put  here  for  any  unclean  beast,  or  for  unclean  beasts 
in  general.  The  lamb  was  to  be  given  to  the  Lord, 
that  is,  to  his  priest,  Num.  xviii.  8,  15.  And  then 
the  owner  of  the  ass  might  use  it  for  his  own  service, 
which  without  this  redemption  he  could  not  do ;  see 
Deut.  xv.  19. 

The  first-born,  of  man — shalt  thou  redeem .]  This  was 
done  by  giving  to  the  priests  five  standard  shekels, 
or  shekels  of  the  sanctuary,  every  shekel  weighing 
twenty  gerahs.  What  the  gerah  was,  see  on  Gen.  xx. 
16.  And  for  the  shekel,  see  Gen.  xxiii.  15. 

It  may  be  necessary  to  observe  here  that  the  He- 

a 


XIII.  consecration  of  the  first-horn. 

first-born  of  man,  and  the  first-  A.  M.  2513. 
born  of  beasts :  therefore  I  sacri-  An.  Exod.  isr.  1 
fice  to  the  Lord  all  that  openeth  Al)lb  or  Nisan. 
the  matrix,  being  males ;  but  all  the  first¬ 
born  of  my  children  I  redeem. 

16  And  it  shall  be  for  y  a  token  upon  thine 
hand,  and  for  frontlets  between  thine  eyes  : 
for  by  strength  of  hand  the  Lord  brought  us 
forth  out  of  Egypt. 

1 7  And  it  came  to  pass,  when  Pharaoh  had 
let  the  people  go,  that  God  led  them  not 
through  the  way  of  the  land  of  the  Philistines, 
although  that  was  near  ;  for  God  said,  Lest 
peradventure  the  people  z  repent  when  they 
see  war,  and  a  they  return  to  Egypt  : 

1 8  But  God  b  led  the  people  about,  through 
the  way  of  the  wilderness  of  the  Red  Sea  : 

w  Yer.  3. - x  Chap.  xii.  29. - y  Ver.  9. - z  Chap.  xiv.  11, 

12;  Num.  xiv.  1-4. - aDeut.  xvii.  16. - b  Ch.  xiv.  2  ;  Num. 

xxxiii.  6,  &c. 

brew  doctors  teach,  that  if  a  father  had  neglected  or 
refused  thus  to  redeem  his  first-born,  the  son  himself 
was  obliged  to  do  it  when  he  came  of  age.  As  this 
redeeming  of  the  first-born  was  instituted  in  conse¬ 
quence  of  sparing  the  first-born  of  the  Israelites,  when 
the  first-born  both  of  man  and  beast  among  the  Egyp¬ 
tians  was  destroyed,  on  this  ground  all  the  first-born 
were  the  Lord’s,  and  should  have  been  employed  in 
his  service  ;  but  he  permitted  the  first-born  of  a  useful 
unclean  animal  to  be  redeemed  by  a  clean  animal  of 
much  less  value.  And  he  chose  the  tribe  of  Levi  in 
place  of  all  the  first-born  of  the  tribes  in  general ;  and 
the  five  shekels  were  ordered  to  be  paid  in  lieu  of 
such  first-born  sons  as  were  liable  to  serve  in  the 
sanctuary,  and  the  money  was  applied  to  the  support 
of  the  priests  and  Levites.  See  this  subject  at  large 
in  Num.  iii.  12,  13,  41,  43,  45,  47—51. 

Verse  16.  It  shall  be  for  a  token ,  3fC.~\  See  the 
note  on  ver.  9. 

Verse  17.  God  led  them  not  through  the  way  of  the 
land  of  the  Philistines,  <fc.]  Had  the  Israelites  been 
obliged  to  commence  their  journey  to  the  promised  land 
by  a  military  campaign,  there  is  little  room  to  doubt 
that  they  would  have  been  discouraged,  have  rebelled 
against  Moses  and  Aaron,  and  have  returned  back  to 
Egypt.  Their  long  slavery  had  so  degraded  their 
minds  that  they  were  incapable  of  any  great  or  noble 
exertions  ;  and  it  is  only  on  the  ground  of  this  mental 
degradation,  the  infallible  consequence  of  slavery,  that 
we  can  account  for  their  many  dastardly  acts,  mur- 
murings,  and  repinings  after  their  escape  from  Egypt. 
The  reader  is  requested  to  bear  this  in  mind,  as  it  will 
serve  to  elucidate  several  circumstances  in  the  ensuing 
history.  Besides,  the  Israelites  were  in  all  probability 
unarmed,  and  totally  unequipped  for  battle,  encumbered 
with  their  flocks,  and  certain  culinary  utensils,  which 
they  were  obliged  to  carry  with  them  in  the  wilder¬ 
ness  to  provide  them  with  bread,  &c. 

Verse  18.  But  God  led  the  people  about ]  Dr.  Shaw 

363 


EXODUS. 


Moses  carries  up  Joseph’s  bones. 


The  Israelites  encamp  in  Etham . 


A.  M.  2513.  and  the  children  of  Israel  went 

An.  Exod.  isr.  l.  up  c  harnessed  out  of  the  land 
Abib  or  Nisan.  0f  Egypt> 

1 9  And  Moses  took  the  bones  of  Joseph  with 
him  :  for  he  had  straitly  sworn  the  children  of 
Israel,  saying,  d  God  will  surely  visit  you ;  and  ye 
shall  carry  up  my  bones  away  hence  with  you. 


20  And  e  they  took  their  jour-  A.  M.  2513. 
ney  from  Succoth,  and  encamped  An.  Exod.  isr.  1. 
in  Etham,  in  the  edge  of  the  Ablb  or  Nlban- 
wilderness. 

21  And  f  the  Lord  went  before  them  by 
day  in  a  pillar  of  a  cloud,  to  lead  them  the 
way ;  and  by  night  in  a  pillar  of  fire,  to  give 


c  Or,  by  five  in  a  rank. - d  Gen.  1.  25  ;  Josh.  xxiv.  32  ;  Acts 

vii.  16. - e  Num.  xxxiii.  6. - f  Chap.  xiv.  19,  24  ;  xl.  38  ; 


Num.  ix.  15  ;  x.  34  ;  xiv.  14  ;  Deut.  i.  33  ;  Neh.  ix.  12,  19  ;  Psa 
lxxviii.  14  ;  xcix.  7 ;  cv.  39  ;  Isa.  iv.  5  ;  1  Cor.  x.  1. 


has  shown  that  there  were  two  roads  from  Egypt  to 
Canaan,  one  through  the  valleys  of  Jendilly,  Rumeleah, 
and  Baideah,  bounded  on  each  side  by  the  mountains 
of  the  lower  Thebais  ;  the  other  lies  higher,  having  the 
northern  range  of  the  mountains  of  Mocatee  running 
parallel  with  it  on  the  right  hand,  and  the  desert  of 
the  Egyptian  Arabia,  which  lies  all  the  way  open  to 
the  land  of  the  Philistines,  to  the  left..  See  his  account 
of  these  encampments  at  the  end  of  Exodus. 

Went  up  harnessed ]  chamushim.  It  is  truly 

astonishing  what  a  great  variety  of  opinions  are  enter¬ 
tained  relative  to  the  meaning  of  this  word.  After 
having  maturely  considered  all  that  I  have  met  with  on 
the  subject,  I  think  it  probable  that  the  word  refers 
simply  to  that  orderly  or  well  arranged  manner  in 
tvhich  the  Israelites  commenced  their  journey  from 
Egypt.  For  to  arrange ,  array ,  or  set  in  order ,  seems 
to  be  the  ideal  meaning  of  the  word  chamash. 

As  it  was  natural  to  expect  that  in  such  circumstances 
there  must  have  been  much  hurry  and  confusion,  the 
inspired  writer  particularly  marks  the  contrary,  to  show 
that  God  had  so  disposed  matters  that  the  utmost 
regularity  and  order  prevailed  ;  and  had  it  been  other¬ 
wise,  thousands  of  men,  women,  and  children  must 
have  been  trodden  to  death.  Our  margin  has  it  by 
five  in  a  rank;  but  had  they  marched  only  five  abreast, 
supposing  only  one  yard  for  each  rank  to  move  in, 
it  would  have  required  not  less  than  sixty-eight  miles 
for  even  the  600,000  to  proceed  on  regularly  in  this 
way  ;  for  600,000  divided  by  five  gives  120,000  ranks 
of  five  each;  and  there  being  only  1760  yards  in  a 
mile,  the  dividing  120,000  by  1760  will  give  the 
number  of  miles  such  a  column  of  people  would  take 
up,  which  by  such  an  operation  will  be  found  to  be 
something  more  than  sixty- eight  miles.  But  this  the 
circumstances  of  the  history  will  by  no  means  admit. — 
Harmer.  The  simple  meaning  therefore  appears  to  be 
that  given  above ;  and  if  the  note  on  the  concluding  verse 
of  the  preceding  chapter  be  considered,  it  may  serve 
to  place  this  explanation  in  a  still  clearer  point  of  view. 

Verse  19.  Moses  took,  the  bones  of  Joseph ]  See  the 
note  on  Gen.  1.  25.  It  is  supposed  that  the  Israel¬ 
ites  carried  with  them  the  bones  or  remains  of  all  the 
twelve  sons  of  Jacob ,  each  tribe  taking  care  of  the 
bones  of  its  own  patriarch,  while  Moses  took  care  of 
the  bones  of  Joseph.  St.  Stephen  expressly  says, 
Acts  vii.  15,  16,  that  not  only  Jacob,  but  the  fathers 
were  carried  from  Egypt  into  Sychem ;  and  this,  as 
Calmet  remarks,  was  the  only  opportunity  that  seems 
to  have  presented  itself  for  doing  this  :  and  certainly 
the  reason  that  rendered  it  proper  to  remove  the  bones 
of  Joseph  to  the  promised  land,  had  equal  weight  in 

364 


reference  to  those  of  the  other  patriarchs.  See  the 
notes  on  Gen.  xlix.  29. 

Verse  20.  Encamped  in  Etham ]  As  for  the  rea¬ 
sons  assigned  on  ver.  17,  God  would  not  lead  the  Is¬ 
raelites  by  the  way  of  the  Philistines’  country,  he 
directed  them  towards  the  wilderness  of  Shier,  chap, 
xv.  22,  upon  the  edge  or  extremity  of  which,  next  to 
Egypt,  at  the  bottom  of  the  Arabian  Gulf,  lay  Etham , 
which  is  the  second  place  of  encampment  mentioned. 
See  the  extracts  from  Dr.  Shaw  at  the  end  of  Exodus. 

Verse  21.  The  Lord  went  before  them\  That  by 
the  Lord  here  is  meant  the  Lord  Jesus,  we  have  the 
authority  of  St.  Paul  to  believe,  1  Cor.  x.  9  :  it  was 
he  whose  Spirit  they  tempted  in  the  wilderness,  for  it. 
was  he  who  led  them  through  the  desert  to  the  pro¬ 
mised  rest. 

Pillar  of  a  cloud ]  This  pillar  or  column ,  which 
appeared  as  a  cloud  by  day,  and  a  fire  by  night,  was 
the  symbol  of  the  Divine  presence.  This  was  the 
Shechinah  or  Divine  dwelling  place,  and  was  the  con¬ 
tinual  proof  of  the  presence  and  protection  of  GOD. 
It  was  necessary  that  they  should  have  a  guide  to  di¬ 
rect  them  through  the  wilderness,  even  had  they  taken 
the  most  direct  road  ;  and  how  much  more  so  when 
they  took  a  circuitous  route  not  usually  travelled,  and 
of  which  they  knew  nothing  but  just  as  the  luminous 
pillar  pointed  out  the  way !  Besides,  it  is  very  likely 
that  even  Moses  himself  did  not  know  the  route  which 
God  had  determined  on,  nor  the  places  of  encamp¬ 
ment,  till  the  pillar  that  went  before  them  became  sta¬ 
tionary,  and  thus  pointed  out,  not  only  the  road,  but 
the  different  places  of  rest.  Whether  there  was  more 
than  one  pillar  is  not  clearly  determined  by  the  text. 
If  there  was  but  one  it  certainly  assumed  three  differ¬ 
ent  appearances ,  for  the  performance  of  three  very 
important  offices.  1.  In  the  day-time ,  for  the  purpose 
of  pointing  out  the  way,  a  column  or  pillar  of  a  cloud 
was  all  that  was  requisite.  2.  x4_t  night,  to  prevent 
that  confusion  which  must  otherwise  have  taken  place, 
the  pillar  of  cloud  became  a  pillar  of  fire,  not  to  direct 
their  journeyings,  for  they  seldom  travelled  by  night, 
but  to  give  light  to  every  part  of  the  Israelitish  camp. 
3.  In  such  a  scorching,  barren,  thirsty  desert,  some¬ 
thing  farther  was  necessary  than  a  light  and  a  guide . 
Women,  children,  and  comparatively  infirm  persons, 
exposed  to  the  rays  of  such  a  burning  sun,  must  have 
been  destroyed  if  without  a  covering ;  hence  we  find 
that  a  cloud  overshadowed  them :  and  from  what  St. 
Paul  observes,  1  Cor.  x.  1,  2,  we  are  led  to  conclude 
that  this  covering  cloud  was  composed  of  aqueous  par¬ 
ticles  for  the  cooling  of  the  atmosphere  and  refresh¬ 
ment  of  themselves  and  their  cattle  ;  for  he  represents 

a 


CHAP.  XIII. 


They  are  led  by  the 


pillar  of  a  cloud  and  fire. 


A.  M.  2513. 

B.  C.  1491. 
An.  Exod.  Isr.  1. 
Abib  or  Nisan. 


them  light;  to  go  by  day  and 
night : 

22  He  took  not  away  the  pillar 


of  the  cloud  by  day,  nor  the 
pillar  of  fire  by  night,  from  before 
the  people. 


A.  M.  2513. 

B.  C.  1491. 
An.  Exod.  Isr.  1 
Abib  or  Nisan. 


the  whole  camp  as  being  sprinkled  or  immersed  in  the 
humidity  of  its  vapours,  and  expressly  calls  it  a  being 
under  ihe  cloud  and  being  baptized  in  the  cloud.  To 
the  circumstance  of  the  cloud  covering  them,  there  are 
several  references  in  Scripture.  Thus  :  He  spread  a 
cloud  for  their  covering;  Psa.  cv.  39.  And  the 
Lord  ivill  create  upon  every  dwelling  place  of  Mount 
Zion ,  and  upon  her  assemblies ,  a  cloud  and  smoke  by 
day,  and  the  shining  of  a  flaming  fire  by  night ;  for 
upon  all  the  glory  shall  be  a  defence,  (or  covering,) 
Isa.  iv.  5  ;  which  words  contain  the  most  manifest 
allusion  to  the  threefold  office  of  the  cloud  in  the  wil¬ 
derness.  See  Num.  ix.  16,  17,  18,  &c. 

Verse  22.  He  took  not  away  the  pillar  of  the  cloud] 
Neither  Jews  nor  Gentiles  are  agreed  how  long  the 
cloud  continued  with  the  Israelites.  It  is  very  proba¬ 
ble  that  it  first  visited  them  at  Succoth ,  if  it  did  not 
accompany  them  from  Rameses ;  and  that  it  continu¬ 
ed  with  them  till  they  came  to  the  river  Jordan,  to 
pass  over  opposite  to  Jericho,  for  after  that  it  appears 
that  the  ark  alone  ivas  their  guide ,  as  it  always  march¬ 
ed  at  their  head.  See  Josh.  iii.  10,  &c.  But  others 
think  that  it  wrent  no  farther  with  them  than  Mount 
Hor,  and  never  appeared  after  the  death  of  Aaron. 
We  may  safely  assert  that  while  it  was  indispensably 
necessary  it  continued  with  them,  when  it  was  not  so 
it  was  removed.  But  it  is  worthy  of  remark  that  the 
ark  of  the  covenant  became  its  substitute.  While  a 
miracle  was  necessary,  a  miracle  was  granted ;  when 
that  was  no  longer  necessary,  then  the  testimony  of 
the  Lord  deposited  in  the  ark  was  deemed  sufficient  by 
Him  who  cannot  err.  So,  under  the  Gospel  dispensa¬ 
tion,  miracles  were  necessary  at  its  first  promulgation ; 
but  after  that  the  canon  of  Scripture  was  completed, 
the  new  covenant  having  been  made,  ratified  by  the 
blood  of  the  Lamb,  and  published  by  the  Holy  Spirit, 
then  God  withdrew  generally  those  outward  signs, 
leaving  his  word  for  a  continual  testimony ,  and  seal¬ 
ing  it  on  the  souls  of  believers  by  the  Spirit  of  truth. 

It  is  also  worthy  of  remark  that  the  ancient  hea¬ 
then  writers  represent  their  gods,  in  their  pretended 
manifestations  to  men,  as  always  encompassed  with  a 
cloud;  Homer  and  Virgil  abound  with  examples  of 
this  kind :  and  is  it  not  very  probable  that  they  bor¬ 
rowed  this,  as  they  did  many  other  things  in  their 
mythologic  theology,  from  the  tradition  of  Jehovah 
guiding  his  people  through  the  desert  by  means  of  the 
cloud,  in  and  by  which  he  repeatedly  manifested  himself  I 

1.  Extraordinary  manifestations  and  interpositions 
of  providence  and  grace  should  be  held  in  continual 
remembrance.  We  are  liable  to  forget  the  hole  of  the 
pit  whence  we  were  digged,  and  the  rock  whence  we 
were  hewn.  Pnidcnce  and  piety  will  institute  their 
anniversaries ,  that  the  merciful  dealings  of  the  Lord 
may  never  be  forgotten.  The  passover  and  the  feast 
of  unleavened  bread ,  by  an  annual  commemoration,  be¬ 
came  standing  proofs  to  the  children  of  Israel  of  the 
Divine  origin  of  their  religion  ;  and  are  supporting  pil¬ 


lars  of  it  to  the  present  day.  For  when  a  fact  is  re¬ 
ported  to  have  taken  place,  and  certain  rites  or  cere¬ 
monies  have  been  instituted  in  order  to  commemorate 
it,  which  rites  or  ceremonies  continue  to  be  observed 
through  succeeding  ages,  then  the  fact  itself,  no  mat¬ 
ter  how  remote  the  period  of  its  occurrence  may  have 
been,  has  the  utmost  proofs  of  authenticity  that  it  is 
possible  for  any  fact  to  have  ;  and  such  as  every  per¬ 
son  pretending  to  reason  and  judgment  is  obliged  to 
receive.  On  this  ground  the  Mosaic  religion,  and  the 
facts  recorded  in  it,  are  indubitably  proved  ;  and  the 
Christian  religion  and  its  facts,  being  commemorated 
in  the  same  way,  particularly  by  baptism  and  the  Lord's 
Supper ,  stand  on  such  a  foundation  of  moral  certainty 
as  no  other  records  in  the  universe  can  possibly  boast. 
Reader,  praise  God  for  his  ordinances ;  they  are  not 
only  means  of  grace  to  thy  soul,  but  standing  irrefra¬ 
gable  proofs  of  the  truth  of  that  religion  which  thou 
hast  received  as  from  HIM. 

2.  A  serious  public  profession  of  the  religion  of 
Christ  has  in  all  ages  of  the  Church  been  considered 
not  only  highly  becoming,  but  indispensably  necessary 
to  salvation.  He  who  consistently  confesses  Christ 
before  men  shall  be  confessed  by  him  before  God  and 
his  angels.  A  Jew  wore  his  phylacteries  on  fore¬ 
head,  on  his  hands ,  and  round  his  garments ,  that  he 
might  have  reverence  in  the  sight  of  the  heathen  ;  he 
gloried  in  his  law,  and  he  exulted  that  Abraham  was 
his  father.  Christian  !  with  a  zeal  not  less  becoming, 
and  more  consistently  supported,  let  the  words  of  thy 
mouth,  the  acts  of  thy  hands,  and  all  thy  goings,  show 
that  thou  belongest  unto  God  ;  that  thou  hast  taken 
his  Spirit  for  the  guide  of  thy  heart,  his  word  for  the 
rule  of  thy  life,  his  people  for  thy  companions,  his 
heaven  for  thy  inheritance,  and  himself  for  the  portion 
of  thy  soul.  And  see  that  thou  hold  fast  the  truth, 
and  that  thou  hold  it  in  righteousness. 

3.  How  merciful  is  God  in  the  dispensations  of  his 
providence  !  He  permits  none  to  be  tried  above  what 
he  is  able  to  bear,  and  he  proportions  the  burden  to 
the  back  that  is  to  bear  it.  He  led  not  the  Israelites 
by  the  way  of  the  Philistines,  lest,  seeing  ivar,  they 
should  repent  and  bo  discouraged.  Young  converts 
are  generally  saved  from  severe  spiritual  conflicts  and 
heavy  temptations  till  they  have  acquired  a  habit  of 
believing,  are  disciplined  in  the  school  of  Christ,  and 
instructed  in  the  nature  of  the  path  in  which  they  go, 
and  the  difficulties  they  may  expect  to  find  in  it. 
They  are  informed  that  such  things  may  take  place, 
they  are  thus  armed  for  the  battle,  and  when  trials  do 
come  they  are  not  taken  by  surprise.  God,  the  most 
merciful  and  kind  God,  “  tempers  even  the  blast  to  the 
shorn  lamb.”  Trust  in  him  therefore  with  all  thy 
heart,  and  never  lean  to  thy  own  understanding. 

4.  The  providence  and  goodness  of  God  are  equally 
observable  in  the  pillar  of  cloud  and  the  pillar  of  fire. 
The  former  was  the  proof  of  his  providential  kindness 
by  day ;  the  latter,  by  night.  Thus  he  adjusts  the 
assistances  of  his  grace  and  Spirit  to  the  exigencies 

365 


EXODUS. 


at  Pi-hahiroth. 


The  Israelites  encamp 

of  his  creatures,  giving  at  some  times,  when  peculiar 
trials  require  it,  more  particular  manifestations  of  his 
mercy  and  goodness  ;  but  at  all  times,  such  evidences 
of  his  approbation  as  are  sufficient  to  satisfy  a  pious 
faithful  heart.  It  is  true  the  pillar  of  fire  was  more 
observable  in  the  night ,  because  of  the  general  dark¬ 
ness,  than  the  pillar  of  cloud  was  by  day ;  yet  the 
latter  wras  as  convincing  and  as  evident  a  proof  of  his 
presence,  approbation,  and  protection  as  the  former. 
It  is  the  duty  and  interest  of  every  sound  believer  in 
Christ  to  have  the  witness  of  God’s  Spirit  in  his  soul 
at  all  times,  that  his  spirit  and  ways  please  his  Maker ; 
but  in  seasons  of  peculiar  difficulty  he  may  expect  the 
more  sensible  manifestations  of  God’s  goodness.  A 
good  man  is  a  temple  of  the  Holy  Spirit ;  but  he  who 
has  an  unholy  heart,  and  who  lives  an  unrighteous  life, 


though  he  may  have  an  orthodox  creed,  is  a  hold  of 
unclean  spirits,  and  an  abomination  in  the  sight  of  the 
Lord.  Reader,  let  not  these  observations  be  fruitless 
to  thee.  God  gives  thee  his  word  and  his  Spirit, 
obey  this  word  that  thou  grieve  not  this  Spirit.  The 
following  figurative  saying  of  a  Jewish  rabbin  is  wor¬ 
thy  of  regard  :  “  God  addresses  Israel  and  says,  My 
son,  I  give  thee  my  lamp,  give  me  thy  lamp.  If  thou 
keep  my  lamp,  I  will  keep  thy  lamp;  but  if  thou  quench 
my  lamp,  I  will  extinguish  thy  lamp  i.  e.,  I  give 
thee  my  ivord  and  Spirit,  give  me  thy  heart  and  sold. 
If  thou  carefully  attend  to  my  word,  and  grieve  not 
my  Spirit,  I  will  preserve  thy  soul  alive ;  but  if  thou 
rebel  against  my  word,  and  quench  my  Spirit,  then  thy 
light  shall  be  put  out,  and  thy  soul’s  blessedness  extin¬ 
guished  in  everlasting  darkness. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

The  Israelites  are  commanded  to  encamp  before  Pi-hahiroth,  1,2.  God  predicts  the  pursuit  of  Pharaoh ,  3,  4. 
Pharaoh  is  informed  that  the  Israelites  are  fled,  and  regrets  that  he  suffered  them  to  depart,  5.  He  mus¬ 
ters  his  troops  o/nd  pursues  them,  6-8.  Overtakes  them  in  their  encampment  by  the  Red  Sea,  9.  The 
Israelites  are  terrified  at  his  approach,  10.  They  murmur  against  Moses  for  leading  them  out ,  11,  12. 
Moses  encourages  them,  and  assures  them  of  deliverance,  13,  14.  God  commands  the  Israelites  to  advance, 
and  Moses  to  stretch  out  his  rod  over  the  sea  that  it  might  be  divided,  15,  16  ;  and  promises  utterly  to 
discomfit  the  Egyptians,  17,  18.  The  angel  of  God  places  himself  between  the  Israelites  and  the  Egyp¬ 
tians,  1 9.  The  pillar  of  the  cloud  becomes  darkness  to  the  Egyptians,  while  it  gives  light  to  the  Israelites,  20. 
Moses  stretches  out  his  rod,  and  a  strong  east  wind  blows,  and  the  waters  are  divided,  21.  The  Israelites 
enter  and  walk  on  dry  ground,  22.  The  Egyptians  enter  also  in  pursuit  of  the  Israelites,  23.  The 
Lord  looks  out  of  the  pillar  of  cloud  on  the  Egyptians,  terrifies  them ,  and  disjoints  their  chariots ,  24,  25. 
Moses  is  commanded  to  stretch  forth  his  rod  over  the  waters,  that  they  may  return  to  their  former  bed,  26. 
He  does  so,  and  the  whole  Egyptian  army  is  overwhelmed,  27,  28,  while  every  Israelite  escapes ,  29. 
Being  thus  saved  from  the  hand  of  their  adversaries,  they  acknowledge  the  power  of  God,  and  credit  the 
mission  of  Moses,  30,  31. 


A.  M.  2513.  A  ND  the  Lord  spake  unto 

B.  C.  1491.  .  r 

An.Exod.  isr.i.  Moses,  saying, 

Abib  or  Wisan-  2  Speak  unto  the  children  of 

Israel,  a  that  they  turn  and  encamp  before 

b  Pi-hahiroth,  between  c  Migdol  and  the  sea, 

over  against  Baal-zephon  ;  before  it  shall  ye 

encamp  by  the  sea. 


3  For  Pharaoh  will  say  of  the  A.  M.  2513. 
children  of  Israel,  d  They  are  An.  Exod.  isr*.  i , 
entangled  in  the  land,  the  wilder-  Ablb  or  Nisan- 
ness  hath  shut  them  in. 

4  And  e  I  will  harden  Pharaoh’s  heart,  that 
he  shall  follow  after  them  ;  and  I  f  will  be 
honoured  upon  Pharaoh,  and  upon  all  his  host; 


a  Chapter  xiii.  18. - b  Numbers  xxxiii.  7. - c  Jer.  xliv.  1. 

d  Psa.  lxxi.  11. 


e  Chap.  iv.  21  ;  vii.  3. - f  Chap.  ix.  16  ;  ver.  17,  18  ;  Romans 

ix.  17,  22,  23. 


NOTES  ON  CHAP.  XIV. 

Verse  2.  Encamp  before  Pi-hahiroth ]  r\Ynn  ’3  pi 
hachiroth,  the  mouth,  strait,  or  bay  of  Chiroth.  Be¬ 
tween  Migdol ,  *71  JO  migdol,  the  tower,  probably  a  for¬ 
tress  that  served  to  defend  the  bay.  Over  against 
Baal-zephon ,  jDY  baal  tsephon,  the  lord  or  master 
of  the  ivatch,  probably  an  idol  temple,  where  a  con¬ 
tinual  guard,  watch,  or  light  was  kept  up  for  the  de¬ 
fence  of  one  part  of  the  haven,  or  as  a  guide  to  ships. 
Dr.  Shaw  thinks  that  chiroth  may  denote  the  valley 
which  extended  itself  from  the  wilderness  of  Etham 
to  the  Red  Sea,  and  that  the  part  in  which  the  Israel¬ 
ites  encamped  was  called  Pi-hachiroth,  i.  e.,  the  mouth 
or  bay  of  Chiroth.  See  his  Travels,  p.  310,  and  his 
account  at  the  end  of  Exodus. 

Verse  3.  They  are  entangled  in  the  land ]  God 

366 


himself  brought  them  into  straits  from  which  no  human 
power  or  art  could  extricate  them.  Consider  their 
situation  when  once  brought  out  of  the  open  country, 
where  alone  they  had  room  either  to  fight  or  fly.  Now 
they  had  the  Red  Sea  before  them,  Pharaoh  and  his 
host  behind  them,  and  on  their  right  and  left  hand/or- 
tresses  of  the  Egyptians  to  prevent  their  escape  ;  nor 
had  they  one  boat  or  transport  prepared  for  their  pas¬ 
sage  !  If  they  be  now  saved,  the  arm  of  the  Lord 
must  be  seen,  and  the  vanity  and  nullity  of  the  Egyp¬ 
tian  idols  be  demonstrated.  By  bringing  them  into 
such  a  situation  he  took  from  them  all  hope  of  human 
help,  and  gave  their  adversaries  every  advantage  against 
them,  so  that  they  themselves  said,  They  are  entangled 
in  the  land,  the  wilderness  hath  shut  them  in. 

Verse  4.  I  will  harden  Pharaoh's  heart]  After  re- 

a 


CHAP.  XIV. 


overtakes  the  Israelites. 


Pharaoh  pursues  and 

A.  M.  2513.  §r  that  the  Egyptians  may  know 

B  C  14  91  x  J 

A n.  Exod.  isr.  l.  that  I  am  the  Lord.  And  they 
Abib  or  Nisan.  did  g()> 

5  And  it  wras  told  the  king  of  Egypt  that 
the  people  fled :  and  h  the  heart  of  Pharaoh 
and  of  his  servants  was  turned  against  the 
people,  and  they  said,  Why  have  we  done, 
this,  that  we  have  let  Israel  go  from  serv¬ 
ing  us  ? 

6  And  he  made  ready  his  chariot,  and  took 
his  people  with  him  : 

7  And  he  took  *  six  hundred  chosen  chariots, 
and  all  the  chariots  of  Egypt,  and  captains 
over  every  one  of  them. 

8  And  the  Lord  k  hardened  the  heart  of 
Pharaoh  king  of  Egypt,  and  he  pursued  after 
the  children  of  Israel  :  and  1  the  children  of 
Israel  went  out  with  a  high  hand. 

9  But  the  m  Egyptians  pursued  after  them, 
(all  the  horses  and  chariots  of  Pharaoh,  and 
his  horsemen,  and  his  army,)  and  overtook 
them  encamping  by  the  sea,  beside  Pi-hahi- 
roth,  before  Baal-zephon. 

sChap.  vii.  5. - hPsa.  cv.  25. - 1  Chap.  xv.  4. - kVer.  4. 

Chap.  vi.  1  ;  xiii.  9  ;  Nura.  xxxiii.  3. - m  Chap.  xv.  9  ;  Josh. 

xxiv.  6 ;  1  Mac.  iv.  9. - n  Josh.  xxiv.  7  ;  Neh.  ix.  9  ;  Psa.  xxxiv. 

17 ;  evii.  6. - 0  Psa.  cvi.  7,  8. - p  Chap.  v.  21 ;  vi.  9. 

lenting  and  giving  them  permission  to  depart,  he  now 
changes  his  mind  and  determines  to  prevent  them;  and 
without  any  farther  restraining  grace,  God  permits  him 
to  rush  on  to  his  final  ruin,  for  the  cup  of  his  iniquity 
was  now  full. 

Verse  5.  And  it  was  told  the  king — that  the  people 
fled ]  Of  their  departure  he  could  not  be  ignorant, 
because  himself  had  given  them  liberty  to  depart  :  but 
the  word  fled  here  may  be  understood  as  implying  that 
they  had  utterly  left  Egypt  without  any  intention  to 
return,  which  is  probably  what  he  did  not  expect,  for 
he  had  only  given  them  permission  to  go  three  days’ 
journey  into  the  wilderness,  in  order  to  sacrifice  to  Je¬ 
hovah  ;  but  from  the  circumstances  of  their  departure, 
and  the  property  they  had  got  from  the  Egyptians,  it 
was  taken  for  granted  that  they  had  no  design  to  re¬ 
turn  ;  and  this  was  in  all  likelihood  the  consideration 
that  weighed  most  with  this  avaricious  king,  and  de¬ 
termined  him  to  pursue,  and  either  recover  the  spoil  or 
bring  them  back,  or  both.  Thus  the  heart  of  Pharaoh 
and  his  servants  ivas  turned  against  the  people ,  and 
they  said ,  Why  have  we  let  Israel  go  from  serving  us? 
Here  was  the  grand  incentive  to  pursuit ;  their  service 
was  profitable  to  the  state,  and  they  were  determined 
not  to  give  it  up. 

Verse  7  Six  hundred  chosen  chariots ,  c fc.]  Ac¬ 
cording  to  the  most  authentic  accounts  we  have  of 
war-chariots ,  they  were  frequently  drawn  by  two  or 
by  four  horses,  and  carried  three  persons  :  one  was 
charioteer,  whose  business  it  was  to  guide  the  horses, 

a 


10  And  when  Pharaoh  drew  A.  M.  2513. 
nigh,  the  children  of  Israel  lifted  An.  Exod.  Isr.  l. 
tip  their  eyes,  and,  behold,  the  Al,lb  or  Nisan- 
Egyptians  marched  after  them ;  and  they 
were  sore  afraid  :  and  the  children  of  Israel 
11  cried  out  unto  the  Lord. 

11  °  And  they  said  unto  Moses,  Because 
there  were  no  graves  in  Egypt,  hast  thou 
taken  us  away  to  die  in  the  wilderness  ? 
wherefore  hast  thou  dealt  thus  with  us,  to 
carry  us  forth  out  of  Egypt  ? 

12  p  Is  not  this  the  word  that  we  did  tell  thee 
in  Egypt,  saying,  Let  us  alone,  that  we  may 
serve  tide  Egyptians  ?  For  it  had  beenbettev 
for  us  to  serve  the  Egyptians,  than  that  we 
should  die  in  the  wilderness. 

13  And  Moses  said  unto  the  people,  **  Fear 
ye  not,  stand  still,  and  see  the  salvation  of  the 
Lord,  which  he  will  show  to  you  to-day  :  r  for 
the  Egyptians  whom  ye  have  seen  to-day,  ye 
shall  see  them  again  no  more  for  ever. 

14  s  The  Lord  shall  fight  for  you,  and  ye 
shall  t  hold  your  peace. 

2  Chron.  xx.  15,  17  ;  Isa.  xli.  10,  13,  14. - r  Or,  for  ivhereas 

ye  have  seen  the  Egyptians  to-day,  &c. - 3  Ver.  25  ;  Deut.  i.  30  ; 

lii.  22 ;  xx.  4  ;  Josh.  x.  14,  42  ;  xxiii.  3  ;  2  Chron.  xx.  29  ;  Neh, 
iv.  20 ;  Isa.  xxxi.  4. - 4  Isa.  xxx.  15. 


but  he  seldom  fought;  the  second  chiefly  defended  the 
charioteer  ;  and  the  third  alone  was  properly  the  com¬ 
batant.  It  appears  that  in  this  case  Pharaoh  had  col¬ 
lected  all  the  cavalry  of  Egypt  ;  (see  ver.  17  ;)  and 
though  these  might  not  have  been  very  numerous,  yet, 
humanly  speaking,  they  might  easily  overcome  the  un¬ 
armed  and  encumbered  Israelites,  who  could  not  be 
supposed  to  be  able  to  make  any  resistance  against 
cavalry  and  war-chariots. 

Verse  10.  The  children  of  Israel  cried  out  unto  the 
Lord.]  Had  their  prayer  been  accompanied  with  faith, 
we  should  not  have  found  them  in  the  next  verses  mur¬ 
muring  against  Moses,  or  rather  against  the  Lord, 
through  whose  goodness  they  were  now  brought  from 
under  that  bondage  from  which  they  had  often  cried 
for  deliverance.  Calmet  thinks  that  the  most  pious 
and  judicious  cried  unto  God,  wThile  the  unthinking  and 
irreligious  murmured  against  Moses. 

Verse  13.  Moses  said — Fear  ye  not]  This  exhor¬ 
tation  was  not  given  to  excite  them  to  resist,  for  of 
that  there  was  no  hope  ;  they  were  unarmed,  they  had 
no  courage,  and  their  minds  were  deplorably  degraded. 

Stand  still]  Ye  shall  not  be  even  workers  together 
with  God;  only  be  quiet,  and  do  not  render  yourselves 
wretched  by  your  fears  and  your  confusion. 

See  the  salvation  of  the  Lord]  Behold  the  deliver¬ 
ance  which  God  will  work,  independently  of  all  human 
help  and  means. 

Ye  shall  see  them  again  no  more]  Here  was  strong 
faith,  but  this  was  accompanied  by  the  spirit  of  pro- 

367 


The  Lord  promises  to  deliver  EXOBUS.  the  Israelites  from  Pharaoh ,  ■ 


a.  m.  2513.  1 5  And  the  Lord  said  unto 

An.Exod.isr.  l.  Moses,  "Wherefore  criest  thou 
Abib  or  Nisan.  unto  me  ?  speak  unto  the  chil¬ 
dren  of  Israel,  that  they  go  forward  : 

1 6  But  11  lift  thou  up  thy  rod,  and  stretch 
out  thine  hand  over  the  sea,  and  divide  it : 
and  the  children  of  Israel  shall  go  on  dry 
ground  through  the  midst  of  the  sea. 

17  And  I,  behold,  I  will  v  harden  the  hearts 
of  the  Egyptians,  and  they  shall  follow  them : 
and  I  will  w  get  me  honour  upon  Pharaoh, 
and  upon  all  his  host,  upon  his  chariots,  and 
upon  his  horsemen. 

1 8  And  the  Egyptians  x  shall  know  that  I  am 
the  Lord,  when  I  have  gotten  me  honour 

“Verse  21,  26;  chapter  vii.  19. - v  Verse  8;  chapter  vii.  3. 

w  Ver.  4. - x  Ver.  4. 


phecy.  God  showed  Moses  what  he  would  do,  he 
believed,  and  therefore  he  spoke  in  the  encouraging 
manner  related  above. 

Verse  14.  The  Lord  shall  fight  for  you]  Ye  shall 
have  no  part  in  the  honour  of  the  day ;  God  alone  shall 
bring  you  off,  and  defeat  your  foes. 

Ye  shall  hold  your  peace.]  Your  unbelieving  fears 
and  clamours  shall  be  confounded,  and  ye  shall  see 
that  by  might  none  shall  be  able  to  prevail  against  the 
Lord,  and  that  the  feeblest  shall  take  the  prey  when 
the  power  of  Jehovah  is  exerted. 

Verse  15.  Wherefore  criest  thou  unto  me  ?]  We 
hear  not  one  word  of  Moses’  praying,  and  yet  here  the 
Lord  asks  him  why  he  cries  unto  him  1  From  which 
we  may  learn  that  the  heart  of  Moses  was  deeply  en¬ 
gaged  with  God,  ffiough  it  is  probable  he  did  not  ar¬ 
ticulate  one  word  ;  but  the  language  of  sighs ,  tears , 
and  desires  is  equally  intelligible  to  God  with  that  of 
words.  This  consideration  should  be  a  strong  encour¬ 
agement  to  every  feeble,  discouraged  mind :  Thou  canst 
not  pray ,  but  thou  canst  iceep  ;  if  even  tears  are  de¬ 
nied  thee,  (for  there  may  be  deep  and  genuine  repent¬ 
ance,  where  the  distress  is  so  great  as  to  stop  up  those 
channels  of  relief,)  then  thou  canst  sigh  ;  and  God, 
whose  Spirit  has  thus  convinced  thee  of  sin,  righteous¬ 
ness,  and  judgment,  knows  thy  unutterable  groanings, 
and  reads  the  inexpressible  wish  of  thy  burdened  soul, 
a  wish  of  which  himself  is  the  author,  and  which  he 
has  breathed  into  thy  heart  with  the  purpose  to  satisfy  it. 

Verse  16.  Lift  thou  up  thy  rod]  Neither  Moses 
nor  his  rod  could  be  any  effective  instrument  in  a  work 
which  could  be  accomplished  only  by  the  omnipotence 
of  God ;  but  it  was  necessary  that  he  should  appear 
in  it,  in  order  that  he  might  have  credit  in  the  sight 
of  the  Israelites,  and  that  they  might  see  that  God  had 
chosen  him  to  be  the  instrument  of  their  deliverance. 

Verse  18.  Shall  knoio  that  I  am  the  Lord]  Pha¬ 
raoh  had  just  recovered  from  the  consternation  and  con¬ 
fusion  with  which  the  late  plagues  had  overwhelmed 
him,  and  now  he  is  emboldened  to  pursue  after  Israel ; 
and  God  is  determined  to  make  his  overthrow  so  sig¬ 
nal  by  such  an  exertion  of  omnipotence,  that  he  shall 

368 


upon  Pharaoh,  upon  his  chariots,  A.  M.  2513. 
and  upon  his  horsemen.  An.  Exod.  isr.  1. 

19  And  the  angel  of  God,  Ablb  or  wisan- 
y  which  went  before  the  camp  of  Israel,  re¬ 
moved  and  went  behind  them ;  and  the  pillar 
of  the  cloud  went  from  before  their  face,  and 
stood  behind  them : 

20  And  it  came  between  the  camp  of  the 
Egyptians,  and  the  camp  of  Israel  ;  and  z  it 
was  a  cloud  and  darkness  to  them ,  but  it  gave 
light  by  night  to  these :  so  that  the  one  came 
not  near  the  other  all  the  night. 

2 1  And  Moses  a  stretched  out  his  hand  over 
the  sea  ;  and  the  Lord  caused  the  sea  to  go 
hack  by  a  strong  east  wind  all  that  night,  and 

y  Ch.  xiii.  21  ;  xxiii.  20  ;  xxxii.  34  ;  Nam.  xx.  16  ;  Isa.  lxiii.  9. 
z  See  Isa.  viii.  14 ;  2  Cor.  iv.  3. - a  Ver.  16. 

get  himself  honour  by  this  miraculous  act,  and  that  the 
Egyptians  shall  know,  i.  e.,  acknowledge ,  that  he  is 
Jehovah,  the  omnipotent,  self-existing,  eternal  God. 

Verse  19.  The  angel  of  God]  It  has  been  thought 
by  some  that  the  angel ,  i.  e.,  messenger,  of  the  Lord, 
and  the  pillar  of  cloud,  mean  here  the  same  thing. 
An  angel  might  assume  the  appearance  of  a  cloud ; 
and  even  a  material  cloud  thus  particularly  appointed 
might  be  called  an  angel  or  messenger  of  the  Lord, 
for  such  is  the  literal  import  of  the  word  “jfcBn  malach , 
an  angel.  It  is  however  most  probable  that  the  Angel 
of  the  covenant,  the  Lord  Jesus,  appeared  on  this  oc¬ 
casion  in  behalf  of  the  people  j  for  as  this  deliverance 
was  to  be  an  illustrious  type  of  the  deliverance  of  man 
from  the  power  and  guilt  of  sin  by  his  incarnation  and 
death,  it  might  have  been  deemed  necessary,  in  the 
judgment  of  Divine  wisdom,  that  he  should  appear 
chief  agent  in  this  most  important  and  momentous  cri¬ 
sis.  On  the  word  angel,  and  Angel  of  the  covenant, 
see  the  notes  on  Gen.  xvi.  7 ;  xviii.  13  ;  and  Exod.  iii.  2. 

Verse  20.  It  teas  a  cloud  and  darkness  to  them,  <fyc.] 
That  the  Israelites  might  not  be  dismayed  at  the  ap¬ 
pearance  of  their  enemies,  and  that  these  might  not 
be  able  to  discern  the  object  of  their  pursuit,  the  pillar 
of  cloud  moved  from  the  front  to  the  rear  of  the  Israel- 
itish  camp,  so  as  perfectly  to  separate  between  them 
and  the  Egyptians.  It  appears  also  that  this  cloud  had 
two  sides ,  one  dark  and  the  other  luminous :  the  lu¬ 
minous  side  gave  light  to  the  whole  camp  of  Israel 
during  the  night  of  passage ;  and  the  dark  side,  turned 
towards  the  pursuing  Egyptians,  prevented  them  from 
receiving  any  benefit  from  that  light.  Ilow’easily  can 
God  make  the  same  thing-  an  instrument  of  destruction 
or  salvation,  as  seems  best  to  his  godly  wisdom!  He 
alone  can  work  by  all  agents,  and  produce  any  kind  of 
effect  even  by  the  same  instrument ;  for  all  things  serve 
the  purposes  of  his  will. 

Verse  2 1 .  The  Lord  caused  the  sea  to  go  back]  That 
part  of  tire  sea  over  which  the  Israelites  passed  was, 
according  to  Mr.  Bruce  and  other  travellers,  about  four 
leagues  across,  and  therefore  might  easily  be  crossed 
in  one  night.  In  the  dividing  of  the  sea  tivo  agents 

a 


The  Israelites  enter  the  sea , 


CHAP.  XIV. 


a.  m.  2513.  b  made  the  sea  dry  land,  and  the 

B.  C.  1491.  _  i •  •  j  i 

An.  Exod.  isr.  i.  waters  were  divided. 

Ainb  or  Nisan.  22  And  d  the  children  of  Israel 
went  into  the  midst  of  the  sea,  upon  the  dry 
ground :  and  the  waters  were  e  a  wall  unto 
them  on  their  right  hand  and  on  their  left. 

23  And  the  Egyptians  pursued,  and  went 
in  after  them  to  the  midst  of  the  sea,  even  all 


Psalm  lxvi.  6. - c  Chap.  xv.  8  ;  Josh.  iii.  16  ;  iv.  23  ;  Neh. 

ix.  11  ;  Psa.  lxxiv.  13  ;  cvi.  9  ;  cxiv.  3  ;  Isa.  lxiii.  12. - d  Ver. 

29;  chap.  xv.  19;  Numbers  xxxiii.  8  ;  Psa.  lxvi.  6  ;  lxxviii.  13  ; 

appear  to  be  employed,  though  the  effect  produced  can 
be  attributed  to  neither.  By  stretching  out  the  rod 
the  waters  were  divided;  by  the  blowing  of  the  ve¬ 
hement,  ardent,  east  wind,  the  bed  of  the  sea  was  dried. 
Jt  has  been  observed,  that  in  the  place  where  the  Is¬ 
raelites  are  supposed  to  have  passed,  the  water  is  about 
fourteen  fathoms  or  twenty -eight  yards  deep  :  had  the 
wind  mentioned  here  been  strong  enough,  naturally 
speaking,  to  have  divided  the  waters,  it  must  have  blown 
in  one  narrow  track,  and  continued  blowing  in  the  di¬ 
rection  in  which  the  Israelites  passed  ;  and  a  wind  suf¬ 
ficient  to  have  raised  a  mass  of  water  twenty-eight 
yards  deep  and  twelve  miles  in  length,  out  of  its  bed, 
would  necessarily  have  blown  the  whole  six  hundred 
thousand  men  away,  and  utterly  destroyed  them  and 
their  cattle.  I  therefore  conclude  that  the  east  wind, 
which  was  ever  remarked  as  a  parching ,  burning  wind, 
was  used  after  the  division  of  the  waters,  merely  to 
dry  the  bottom ,  and  render  it  passable.  For  an  account 
of  the  hot  drying  winds  in  the  east,  see  the  note  on 
Gen.  viii.  1.  God  ever  puts  the  highest  honour  on 
his  instrument,  Nature ;  and  where  it  can  act,  he  ever 
employs  it.  No  natural  agent  could  divide  these  wa¬ 
ters,  and  cause  them  to  stand  as  a  ivall  upon  the  right 
hand  and  upon  the  left  ;  therefore  God  did  it  by  his 
own  sovereign  power.  When  the  waters  were  thus 
divided,  there  was  no  need  of  a  miracle  to  dry  the  bed 
'  of  the  sea  and  make  it  passable ;  therefore  the  strong 
desiccating  east  wind  was  brought,  which  soon  accom¬ 
plished  this  object.  In  this  light  I  suppose  the  text 
should  be  understood. 

Verse  22.  And  the  waters  were  a  wcdl  unto  them  on 
their  right  hand  and  on  their  left.]  This  verse  demon¬ 
strates  that  the  passage  was  miraculous.  Some  have 
supposed  that  the  Israelites  had  passed  through,  fa¬ 
voured  by  an  extraordinary  ebb,  which  happened  at  that 
time  to  be  produced  by  a  strong  wind,  which  happened 
just  then  to  blow  !  Had  this  been  the  case,  there  could 
not  have  been  waters  standing  on  the  right  hand  and 
on  the  left ;  much  less  could  those  waters,  contrary  to 
every  law  of  fluids,  have  stood  as  a  ivall  on  either  side 
while  the  Israelites  passed  through,  and  then  happen 
to  become  obedient  to  the  laws  of  gravitation  when  the 
Egyplians  entered  in  !  An  infidel  may  deny  the  reve¬ 
lation  in  toto,  and  from  such  we  expect  nothing  better  ; 
but  to  hear  those  who  profess  to  believe  this  to  be  a 
Divine  revelation  endeavouring  to  prove  that  the  pas¬ 
sage  of  the  Red  Sea  had  nothing  miraculous  in  it,  is 
really  intolerable.  Such  a  mode  of  interpretation 
requires  a  miracle  to  make  itself  credible.  Poor 
Vol.  I.  (  25  ) 


and  the  Egy plains  follow  them. 


Pharaoh  s  horses,  his  chariots,  A.  M.  2513. 

,  ,  .  ,  B.  C.  1491. 

and  his  horsemen.  An.  Exod.  Isr.  1 

24  And  it  came  to  pass,  that  in  Ablb  or  Nlsan* 


the  morning  watch  f  the  Lord  looked  unto  the 


host  of  the  Egyptians,  through  the  pillar  of 
fire  and  of  the  cloud,  and  troubled  the  host 
of  the  Egyptians, 

25  And  took  off  their  chariot  wheels,  s  that 


Isaiah  lxiii.  13  ;  1  Cor.  x.  1  ;  Hebrews  xi.  29. - e  Hab.  iii.  10. 

{  See  Psalm  lxxvii.  17,  &c. - s  Or,  and  made  them  to  go 

heavily. 


infidelity !  how  miserable  and  despicable  are  thy 
shifts  ! 

Verse  24.  The  morning  ivatch]  A  watch  was  the 
fourth  part  of  the  time  from  sun-setting  to  sun-rising  ; 
so  called  from  soldiers  keeping  guard  by  night,  who 
being  changed  four  times  during  the  night,  the  periods 
came  to  be  called  watches. — Dodd. 

As  here  and  in  1  Sam.  xi.  1 1  is  mentioned  the 
morning  watch;  so  in  Lam.  ii.  19,  the  beginning  of 
the  watches ;  and  in  Judg.  vii.  19,  the  middle  watch. 
is  spoken  of ;  in  Luke  xii.  38,  the  second  and  third 
watch;  and  in  Matt,  xiv  25,  the  fourth  watch  of  the 
night ;  which  in  Mark  xiii.  35  are  named  evening,  mid¬ 
night,  cock-crowing,  and  day-dawning. — Ainsworth. 

As  the  Israelites  went  out  of  Egypt  at  the  vernal 
equinox,  the  morning  watch,  or,  according  to  the  Pie- 
brew,  NOT  jTTOBWU  beashmoreth  habboker,  the  watch 
of  day-break,  would  answer  to  our  four  o'clock  in  the 
morning. — Calmet. 

The  Lord  looked  unto]  This  probably  means  that 
the  cloud  suddenly  assumed  a  fiery  appearance  where 
it  had  been  dark  before  ;  or  they  were  appalled  by  vio¬ 
lent  thunders  and  lightning,  which  we  are  assured  bv 
the  psalmist  did  actually  take  place,  together  with  great 
inundations  of  rain,  &c.  :  The  clouds  poured  out  wa¬ 
ter  ;  the  skies  sent  out  a  sound  :  thine  arrows  also 
went  abroad.  The  voice  of  thy  thunder  ivas  in  the 
heaven  ;  the  lightnings  lightened  the  world;  the  earth 
trembled  and  shook.  Thy  way  is  in  the  sea,  and  thy 
path  in  the  great  waters.  Thou  leddest  thy  people  like 
a  flock,  by  the  hand  of  Moses  and  Aaron ;  Psa.  lxxvii. 
17—20.  Such  tempests  as  these  would  necessarily 
terrify  the  Egyptian  horses,  and  produce  general  con¬ 
fusion.  By  their  dashing  hither  and  thither  the  wheels 
must  be  destroyed,  and  the  chariots  broken  ;  and  foot 
and  horse  must  be  mingled  together  in  one  universal 
ruin  ;  see  ver.  25.  During  the  time  that  this  state  of 
horror  and  confusion  was  at  its  summit  the  Israelites 
had  safely  passed  over ;  and  then  Moses,  at  the  com¬ 
mand  of  God,  (ver.  26,)  having  stretched  out  his  rod 
over  the  waters,  the  sea  returned  to  its  strength  ;  (ver. 
27  ;)  i.  e.,  the  waters  by  their  natural  gravity  resumed 
their  level,  and  the  whole  Egyptian  host  were  com¬ 
pletely  overwhelmed,  ver.  28.  But  as  to  the  Israel¬ 
ites,  the  waters  had  been  a  wall  unto  them  on  the  right 
hand  and  on  the  left,  ver.  29.  This  the  waters  could 
not  have  been,  unless  they  had  been  supernaturally  sup¬ 
ported  ;  as  their  own  gravity  would  necessarily  have 
occasioned  them  to  have  kept  their  level,  or,  if  raised 
beyond  it,  to  have  regained  it  if  left  to  their  natural 

369 


The  waters  return  and 


EXODUS. 


A.  M.  2513.  thev  drave  them  heavily  :  so  that 

B  C  1491  J  J 

An.  Exod.  1st.  i.  the  Egyptians  said,  Let  us  flee 

Abxb  or  Nisan.  from  face  0f  Israel  ;  for  the 

Lord  h  fighteth  for  them  against  the  Egyptians. 

26  And  the  Lord  said  unto  Moses,  1  Stretch 
out  thine  hand  over  the  sea,  that  the  waters 
may  come  again  upon  the  Egyptians,  upon 
their  chariots,  and  upon  their  horsemen. 

27  And  Moses  stretched  forth  his  hand  over 
the  sea,  and  the  sea  k  returned  to  his  strength 
when  the  morning  appeared  ;  and  the  Egyp¬ 
tians  fled  against  it ;  and  the  Lord *  1 2  overthrew  m 
the  Egyptians  in  the  midst  of  the  sea. 

28  And  n  the  waters  returned,  and  0  covered 
the  chariots,  and  the  horsemen,  and  all  the 

hVer.  14. - 1  Ver.  16. - k  Josh.  iv.  18. - 1  Chap.  xv.  1,  7. 

m  Heb.  shook  off;  Deut.  xi.  4  ;  Psa.  lxxviii.  53 ;  Neh.  ix.  11; 
Heb.  xi.  29. - nHab.  iii.  8,  13. - °Psa.  cvi.  11. 


law,  to  which  they  are  ever  subject,  unless  in  cases  of 
miraculous  interference.  Thus  the  enemies  of  the 
Lord  perished  ;  and  that  people  who  decreed  that  the 
male  children  of  the  Hebrews  should  be  drowned ,  were 
themselves  destroyed  in  the  pit  which  they  had  des¬ 
tined  for  others.  God’s  ways  are  all  equal ;  and  he 
renders  to  every  man  according  to  his  ivorks. 

Yerse  28.  There  remained  not  so  much  as  one  of 
them.]  Josephus  says  that  the  army  of  Pharaoh  con¬ 
sisted  of  fifty  thousand  horse,  and  two  hundred  thou¬ 
sand  foot,  of  whom  not  one  remained  to  carry  tidings 
of  this  most  extraordinary  catastrophe. 

Yerse  30.  Israel  saw  the  Egyptians  dead  upon  the 
seashore .]  By  the  extraordinary  agitation  of  the  wa¬ 
ters,  no  doubt  multitudes  of  the  dead  Egyptians  were 
cast  on  the  shore,  and  by  their  spoils  the  Israelites 
were  probably  furnished  wTith  considerable  riches,  and 
especially  clothing  and  arms  ;  which  latter  wTere  essen¬ 
tially  necessary  to  them  in  their  wars  with  the  Ama- 
leldtes ,  Basanites ,  and  Amorites,  &c.,  on  their  way  to 
the  promised  land.  If  they  did  not  get  their  arms  in 
this  way,  we  know  not  how  they  got  them,  as  there 
is  not  the  slightest  reason  to  believe  that  they  brought 
any  with  them  out  of  Egypt. 

Yerse  31.  The  people  feared  the  Lord ]  They  were 
convinced  by  the  interference  of  Jehovah  that  his 
power  was  unlimited,  and  that  he  could  do  whatsoever 
he  pleased,  both  in  the  way  of  judgment  and  in  the 
way  of  mercy. 

And  believed  the  Lord,  and  his  servant  Moses.] 
They  now  clearly  discerned  that  God  had  fulfilled  all 
his  promises  ;  and  that  not  one  thing  had  failed  of  all 
the  good  which  he  had  spoken  concerning  Israel. 
And  they  believed  his  servant  Moses — they  had  nowr 
the  fullest  proof  that  he  -was  Divinely  appointed  to 
work  all  these  miracles,  and  to  bring  them  out  of 
Egypt  into  the  promised  land. 

Thus  God  got  himself  honour  upon  Pharaoh  and  the 
Egyptians,  and  credit  in  the  sight  of  Israel.  After  this 
overthrow  of  their  king  and  his  host,  the  Egyptians  in¬ 
terrupted  them  no  more  in  their  journeyings,  convinced 
a  370 


overwhelm  the  Egyptians. 
host  of  Pharaoh,  that  came  into  a.  M.  2513. 

.  r  1  t  B-  C.  1491. 

the  sea  alter  them;  there  re-  An. Exod. isr.i. 

mained  not  so  much  as  one  of  Ablb  or  Nis<m‘ 

them. 

29  But  p  the  children  of  Israel  walked  upon 
dry  land ,  in  the  midst  of  the  sea  ;  and  the 
waters  were  a  wall  unto  them,  on  their  right 
hand,  and  on  their  left. 

30  Thus  the  Lord  q  saved  Israel  that  day 
out  of  the  hand  of  the  Egyptians  ;  and  Israel 
r  saw  the  Egyptians  dead  upon  the  seashore. 

3 1  And  Israel  saw  that  great  s  work  which 
the  Lord  did  upon  the  Egyptians  :  and  the 
people  feared  the  Lord,  and  *  believed  the 
Lord,  and  his  servant  Moses. 

P  Ver.  22  ;  Psa.  lxxvii.  20 ;  lxxviii.  52,  53. - 9  Psalm  cvi.  8, 

10. - r  Psa.  lviii.  10;  lix.  10. - 3  Heb.  hand. - 1  Chap.  iv.  31  ; 

xix.  9 ;  Psa.  cvi.  12  ;  John  ii.  11  ;  xi.  45. 


of  the  omnipotence  of  their  Protector :  and  how  strange, 
that  after  such  displays  of  the  justice  and  mercy  of 
Jehovah,  the  Israelites  should  ever  have  been  deficient 
in  faith,  or  have  given  place  to  murmuring ! 

1.  The  events  recorded  in  this  chapter  are  truly 
astonishing ;  and  they  strongly  mark  what  God  can 
do,  and  what  he  will  do,  both  against  his  enemies  and 
in  behalf  of  his  followers.  In  vain  are  all  the  forces 
of  Egypt  united  to  destroy  the  Israelites  :  at  the 
breath  of  God’s  mouth  they  perish ;  and  his  feeble, 
discouraged,  unarmed  followers  take  the  prey  !  With 
such  a  history  before  their  eyes,  is  it  not  strange  that 
sinners  should  run  on  frowardly  in  the  path  of  trans¬ 
gression  ;  and  that  those  who  are  redeemed  from  the 
world,  should  ever  doubt  of  the  all-sufficiency  and 
goodness  of  their  God  !  Had  we  not  already  known 
the  sequel  of  the  Israelitish  history,  we  should  have 
been  led  to  conclude  that  this  people  would  have  gone 
on  their  way  rejoicing,  trusting  in  God  with  their 
whole  heart,  and  never  leaning  to  their  own  under¬ 
standing  ;  but  alas  !  we  find  that  as  soon  as  any  new 
difficulty  occurred,  they  murmured  against  God  and 
their  leaders,  despised  the  pleasant  land,  and  gave  no 
credence  to  his  word. 

2.  Their  case  is  not  a  solitary  one  :  most  of  those 
who  are  called  Christians  are  not  more  remarkable 
for  faith  and  patience.  Every  reverse  will  necessarily 
pain  and  discompose  the  people  who  are  seeking  their 
portion  in  this  life.  And  it  is  a  sure  mark  of  a  worldly 
mind,  when  we  trust  the  God  of  Providence  and  grace 
no  farther  than  we  see  the  operations  of  his  hand  in 
our  immediate  supply;  and  murmur  and  repine  when 
the  hand  of  his  bounty  seems  closed,  and  the  influ¬ 
ences  of  his  Spirit  restrained,  though  our  unthankful 
and  unholy  carriage  has  been  the  cause  of  this  change. 
Those  alone  who  humble  themselves  under  the  mighty 
hand  of  God,  shall  be  lifted  up  in  due  season.  Reader, 
thou  canst  never  be  deceived  in  trusting  thy  all,  the 
concerns  of  thy  body  and  soul,  to  Him  who  divided  the 
sea,  saved  the  Hebrews,  and  destroyed  the  Egyptians. 

(  25*  ) 


The  triumphal  song  of 


CHAP.  XV. 


Moses  and  the  Israelites. 


CHAPTER  XV. 


Moses  and  the  Israelites  sing  a  song  of  praise  to  God  for  their  late  deliverance ,  m  which  they  celebrate  the 
power  of  God,  gloriously  manifested  in  the  destruction  of  Pharaoh  and  his  host ,  1  ;  express  their  confidence 
in  him  as  their  strength  and  protector,  2,  3  ;  detail  the  chief  circumstances  in  the  overthrow  of  the  Egyp¬ 
tians ,  4-8  ;  and  relate  the  purposes  they  had  formed  for  the  destruction  of  God's  people ,  9,  and  hoio  he 
destroyed  them  in  the  imaginations  of  their  hearts ,  10.  Jehovah  is  celebrated  for  the  perfections  of  his 
nature  and  his  wondrous  works,  11—13.  A  prediction  of  the  effect  which  the  account  of  the  destruction 
of  the  Egyptians  should  have  on  the  Edomites,  Moabites,  and  Canaanites ,  14-16.  A  prediction  of  the 
establishment  of  Israel  in  the  promised  land,  17.  The  full  chorus  of  praise,  18.  Recapitulation  of  the 
destruction  of  the  Egyptians ,  and  the  deliverance  of  Israel,  19.  Miriam  and  the  women  join  in  and  pro¬ 
long  the  chorus,  20,  21.  The  people  travel  three  days  in  the  wilderness  of  Shur,  and  find  no  water,  22. 
Coming  to  Marah,  and  finding  bitter  waters,  they  murmur  against  Moses,  23,  24.  In  answer  to  the  prayer 
of  Moses,  God  shows  him  a  tree  by  which  the  waters  are  sweetened,  25.  God  gives  them  statutes  and 
gracious  promises ,  26.  They  come  to  Elim,  where  they  find  twelve  wells  of  water  and  seventy  palm  trees, 
and  there  they  encamp,  27. 


A.  M.  2513. 

B.  C.  1491. 
An.  Exod.  Isr.  1. 
Abib  or  Nisan. 


^HEN  sang  a  Moses  and  the 
children  of  Israel  this  song 
unto  the  Lord;  and  spake,  say¬ 


ing,  I  will  b  sing  unto  the  A.  M.  2513. 

°  q.  i49i# 

Lord,  for  he  hath  triumphed  An.  Exod.  isr.’i, 
gloriously  :  the  horse  and  his  Ablb  or  Nisan- 


1  Judg.  v.  1  ;  2  Sam.  xxii.  1 ;  Psa.  cvi.  12 ; 


Wisd.  x.  20. - b  Ver.  21. 


NOTES  ON  CHAP.  XV. 

Verse  1.  Then  sang  Moses  and  the  children  of 
Israel  this  song ]  Poetry  has  been  cultivated  in  all 
ages  and  among  all  people,  from  the  most  refined  to 
the  most  barbarous  ;  and  to  it  principally,  under  the 
kind  providence  of  God,  we  are  indebted  for  most  of 
the  original  accounts  we  have  of  the  ancient  nations 
of  the  universe.  Equally  measured  lines,  with  a  har¬ 
monious  collocation  of  expressive,  sonorous,  and  some¬ 
times  highly  metaphorical  terms,  the  alternate  lines 
either  answering  to  each  other  in  sense,  or  ending  with 
similar  sounds,  were  easily  committed  to  memory,  and 
easily  retained.  As  these  were  often  accompanied 
with  a  pleasing  air  or  tune ,  the  subject  being  a  con¬ 
catenation  of  striking  and  interesting  events,  histories 
formed  thus  became  the  amusement  of  youth,  the 
softeners  of  the  tedium  of  labour,  and  even  the  solace 
of  age.  In  such  a  way  the  histories  of  most  nations 
have  been  preserved.  The  interesting  events  cele¬ 
brated,  the  rhythm  or  metre,  and  the  accompanying 
tune  or  recitativo  air,  rendered  them  easily  transmis¬ 
sible  to  posterity  ;•  and  by  means  of  tradition  they 
passed  safely  from  father  to  son  through  the  times  of 
comparative  darkness,  till  they  arrived  at  those  ages 
in  which  the  pen  and  the  press  have  given  them  a  sort 
of  deathless  duration  and  permanent  stability,  by  mul¬ 
tiplying  .  the  copies.  Many  of  the  ancient  historic 
and  heroic  British  tales  are  continued  by  tradition 
among  the  aboriginal  inhabitants  of  Ireland  to  the  pre¬ 
sent  day ;  and  the  repetition  of  them  constitutes  the 
chief  amusement  of  the  winter  evenings.  Even  the 
prose  histories,  which  were  written  on  the  ground  of 
the  poetic,  copied  closely  their  exemplars,  and  the 
historians  themselves  were  obliged  to  study  all  the 
beauties  and  ornaments  of  style,  that  their  works  might 
become  popular ;  and  to  this  circumstance  we  owe 
not  a  small  measure  of  what  is  termed  refinement  of 
language.  How  observable  is  this  in  the  history  of 
Herodotus,  who  appears  to  have  closely  copied  the 
ancient  poetic  records  in  his  inimitable  and  harmonious 


prose  ;  and,  that  his  books  might  bear  as  near  a  resem¬ 
blance  as  possible  to  the  ancient  and  popular  originals, 
he  divided  them  into  nine,  and  dedicated  each  to  one 
of  the  muses  !  His  work  therefore  seems  to  occupy 
the  same  place  between  the  ancient  poetic  compositions 
and  mere  prosaic  histories,  as  the  polype  does  between 
plants  and  animals.  Much  even  of  our  sacred  records 
is  written  in  poetry,  which  God  has  thus  consecrated 
to  be  the  faithful  transmitter  of  remote  and  important 
events  ;  and  of  this  the  song  before  the  reader  is  a 
proof  in  point.  Though  this  is  not  the  first  specimen 
of  poetry  we  have  met  with  in  the  Pentateuch,  (see 
Lantech’s  speech  to  his  wives,  Gen.  iv.  23,24;  Noah’s 
prophecy  concerning  his  sons,  chap.  ix.  25-27  ;  and 
Jacob’s  blessing  to  the  twelve  patriarchs,  chap.  xlix. 
2—27,  and  the  notes  there,)  yet  it  is  the  first  regular 
ode  of  any  considerable  length,  having  but  one  sub¬ 
ject  ;  and  it  is  all  written  in  hemistichs,  or  half  lines, 
the  usual  form  in  Hebrew  poetry  ;  and  though  this 
form  frequently  occurs,  it  is  not  attended  to  in  our 
common  printed  Hebrew  Bibles,  except  in  this  and 
three  other  places,  (Deut.  xxxii.,  Judg.  v.,  and  2  Sam. 
xxii.,)  all  of  which  shall  be  noticed  as  they  occur.  But 
in  Hr.  Kennicott’s  edition  of  the  Hebrew  Bible,  all 
the  poetry,  wheresoever  it  occurs,  is  printed  in  its 
own  hemistich  form. 

After  what  has  been  said  it  is  perhaps  scarcely  ne¬ 
cessary  to  observe,  that  as  such  ancient  poetic  his¬ 
tories  commemorated  great  and  extraordinary  displays 
M providence,  courage,  strength,  fidelity,  heroism,  and 
piety  ;  hence  the  origin  of  epic  poems,  of  which  the 
song  in  this  chapter  is  the  earliest  specimen.  And  on 
the  principle  of  preserving  the  memory  of  such  events, 
most  nations  have  had  their  epic  poets ,  who  have  gene¬ 
rally  taken  for  their  subject  the  most  splendid  or  most 
remote  events  of  their  country’s  history,  which  either 
referred  to  the  formation  or  extension  of  their  empire , 
the  exploits  of  their  ancestors,  or  the  establishment  of 
their  religion.  Hence  the  ancient  Hebrews  had  their 
Shir  Mosheh,  the  piece  in  question:  the  Greeks,  their 


Confidence  of  Israel 


EXODUS. 


in  God's  protection 


rider  hath  lie  thrown  into 
the  sea. 

_ 2  The  Lord  is  my  strength 

and  °  song,  and  he  is  become  my  salvation : 


A.  M.  2513. 

B.  C.  1491. 
An.  Exod.  Isr.  1. 
Abib  or  Nisan. 


he  is  my  God,  and  I  will  pre¬ 
pare  him  d  a  habitation ;  my 
e  father’s  God,  and  I  f  will 
exalt  him. 


A.  M.  2513. 

B.  C.  1491. 
An.  Exod.  Isr.  1 

Abib  or  Nisan. 


c  Deut.  x.  21 ;  Psa.  xviii.  2 ;  xxii.  3  ;  lix.  17 ;  lxii.  6  ;  cix.  1  ; 
cxviii.  14;  cxl.  7 ;  Isa.  xii.  2  ;  Hab.  iii.  18,  19. - dGen.  xxviii. 


21,  22;  2  Sam.  vii.  5;  Psa.  cxxxii.  5. - e  Chap.  iii.  15,  16. 

f  2  Sam.  xxii.  47  ;  Psa.  xcix.  5  ;  cxviii.  28  ;  Isa.  xxv.  1. 


Ilias ;  the  Hindoos,  their  Mahabarat;  the  Romans, 
their  JEneis ;  the  Norwegians,  their  Edda  ;  the  Irish 
and  Scotch,  their  Fingal  and  Chronological  'poems  ; 
the  Welsh,  their  Taliessin  and  his  Triads;  the  Arabs, 
their  Nebiun-Nameh  (exploits  of  Mohammed)  and 
Hamleh  Heedry ,  (exploits  of  Aly  ;)  the  Persians,  their 
Shah  Nameh ,  (book  of  kings ;)  the  Italians,  their 
Gerusalemme  Liberata  ;  the  Portuguese,  their  Lu- 
siad ;  the  English,  their  Paradise  Lost ;  and,  in 
humble  imitation  of  all  the  rest,  ( etsi  non  passibus 
wquis,)  the  French,  their  Henriade. 

The  song  of  Moses  has  been  in  the  highest  repute 
in  the  Church  of  God  from  the  beginning  ;  the  author 
of  the  Booh  of  Wisdom  attributes  it  in  a  particular 
manner  to  the  wisdom  of  God,  and  says  that  cn  this 
occasion  God  opened  the  mouth  of  the  dumb,  and  made 
the  tongues  of  infants  eloquent;  chap.  x.  21.  As  if 
he  had  siid,  Every  person  felt  an  interest  in  the  great 
events  which  had  taken  place,  and  all  laboured  to  give 
Jehovah  that  praise  which  was  due  to  his  name. 
“  With  this  song  of  victory  over  Pharaoh,”  says  Mr. 
Ainsworth,  “  the  Holy  Ghost  compares  the  song  of 
those  who  have  gotten  the  victory  over  the  spiritual 
Pharaoh,  the  beast,  (Antichrist,)  when  they  stand  by 
the  sea  of  glass  mingled  with  fire,  (as  Israel  stood 
here  by  the  Red  Sea,)  having  the  harps  of  God,  (as 
the  women  here  had  timbrels,  ver.  20,)  and  they  sing 
the  song  of  Moses  the  servant  of  God,  and  the  song 
of  the  Lamb,  the  Son  of  God  Rev.  xv.  2—4. 

I  will  sing  unto  the  Lord ]  Moses  begins  the  song, 
and  in  the  two  first  hemistichs  states  the  subject  of  it ; 
and  these  two  first  lines  became  the  grand  chorus  of 
the  piece,  as  wre  may  learn  from  ver.  21.  See  Dr. 
Kennicott’s  arrangement  and  translation  of  this  piece 
at  the  end  of  this  chapter. 

Triumphed  gloriously']  ntG  'J  hi  gaoh  gaah, 
he  is  exceedingly  exalted,  rendered  by  the  Septuagint, 
JdvSofi)r  yap  (hdo^aarai,  He  is  gloriously  glorified; 
and  surely  this  was  one  of  the  most  signal  displays  of 
the  glorious  majesty  of  God  ever  exhibited  since  the 
creation  of  the  world.  And  when  it  is  considered  that 
the  whole  of  this  transaction  shadowed  out  the  redemp¬ 
tion  of  the  human  race  from  the  thraldom  and  power 
of  sin  and  iniquity  by  the  Lord  Jesus,  and  the  final 
triumph  of  the  Church  of  God  over  all  its  enemies,  we 
may  also  join  in  the  song,  and  celebrate  Him  who  has 
triumphed  so  gloriously,  having  conquered  death,  and 
opened  the  kingdom  of  heaven  to  all  believers. 

Verse  2.  The  Lord  is  my  strength  and  song]  How 
judiciously  are  the  members  of  this  sentence  arranged  ! 
He  who  has  God  for  his  strength,  will  have  him  for 
his  song;  and  he  to  wdiom  Jehovah  is  become  salva¬ 
tion,  will  exalt  his  name.  Miserably  and  untunably, 
in  the  ears  of  God,  does  that  man  sing  praises,  who  is 
not  saved  by  the  grace  of  Christ,  nor  strengthened  by 
the  power  of  his  might. 


It  is  worthy  of  observation  that  the  word  wdrich  we 
translate  Lord  here,  is  not  m)T  Jehovah  in  the  ori¬ 
ginal,  but  IT  Jah  ;  “  as  if  by  abbreviation,”  says  Mr. 
Parkhurst,  “  for  tTIT  yeheieh  or  ’IT  yehi.  It  signifies 
the  Essence  'O  GN,  He  wdio  IS,  simply,  absolutely, 
and  independently.  The  relation  between  TV  Jah  and 
the  verb  HTI,  to  subsist,  exist,  be,  is  intimated  to  us  the 
first  time  TV  Jah  is  used  in  Scripture,  (Exod.  xv.  2  :) 

‘  My  strength  and  my  song  is  IT  Jah,  and  he  is  be¬ 
come  (TPl  vajehi)  to  me  salvation.’  ”  See  Psa.  lxviii. 
5;  lxxxix.  6;  xciv.  7  ;  cxv.  17,  18;  cxviii.  17. 

Jah  IT  is  several  times  joined  writh  the  name  Jeho¬ 
vah  nirr,  so  that  we  may  be  sure  that  it  is  not,  as 
some  have  supposed,  a  mere  abbreviation  of  that  word. 
See  Isa.  xii.  2  ;  xxvi.  4.  Our  blessed  Lord  solemnly 
claims  to  himself  what  is  intended  in  this  Divine  name 
TV  Jah,  John  viii.  58  :  “Before  Abraham  was,  ( yevea - 
dai,  was  born,)  eyo  eiyi,  I  AM,”  not  I  ivas,  but  I  am, 
plainly  intimating  his  Divine  eternal  existence.  Com¬ 
pare  Isa.  xliii.  13.  And  the  Jews  appear  to  have 
well  understood  him,  for  then  tooh  they  up  stones  to 
cast  at  him  as  a  blasphemer.  Compare  Col.  i.  10,  17, 
where  the  Apostle  Paul,  after  asserting  that  all  things 
that  are  in  heaven  and  that  are  in  earth,  visible  and 
invisible,  were  created,  enTLcrai,  by  and  for  Christ, 
adds,  And  HE  IS  (avrop  can,  not  rjv,  ivas)  before  all 
things,  and  by  him  all  things  gvvegttjke,  have  subsisted, 
and  still  subsist.  See  Parhhurst. 

From  this  Divine  name  TV  Jah  the  ancient  Greeks 
had  their  I?/,  I rj,  in  their  invocations  of  the  gods,  par¬ 
ticularly  of  Apollo  (the  uncompounded  one)  the  light; 
and  hence  ei,  written  after  the  oriental  manner  from 
right  to  left,  afterwards  ie,  wTas  inscribed  over  the 
great  door  of  the  temple  at  Delphi !  See  the  note  on 
chap.  iii.  14,  and  the  concluding  observations  there. 

I  will  prepare  him  a  habitation]  veanvehu. 

It  has  been  supposed  that  Moses,  by  this  expression, 
intended  the  building  of  the  tabernacle  ;  but  it  seems 
to  come  in  very  strangely  in  this  place.  Most  of  the 
ancient  versions  understood  the  original  in  a  very  dif¬ 
ferent  sense.  The  Vulgate  has  et  glorificabo  eum  ; 
the  Septuagint  So^aao  avrov,  I  will  glorify  him;  with 
which  the  Syriac,  Coptic,  the  Targum  of  Jonathan,  and 
the  Jerusalem  Targum,  agree.  From  the  Targum 
of  Onkelos  the  present  translation  seems  to  have 
been  originally  derived ;  he  has  translated  the  place 
tsnpro  H7  ’JDNl  veebnei  leh  makdash,  “  And  I  will  build 
him  a  sanctuary,”  which  not  one  of  the  other  ver¬ 
sions,  the  Persian  excepted,  acknowledges.  Our  own 
old  translations  are  generally  different  from  the  pre¬ 
sent  :  Cover  dale ,  “  This  my  God,  I  will  magnify  him 
Matthew's,  Cranmer's,  and  the  Bishops'  Bible,  render 
it  glorify,  and  the  sense  of  the  place  seems  to  require 
it.  Calmet,  Houbigant,  Kennicott,  and  other  critics, 
contend  for  this  translation. 

My  father's  God]  I  believe  Houbigant  to  be  right. 


372 


CHAP.  XV. 


God  is  praised  for  his 


power,  excellency,  and  justice 


A.  M.  2513.  3  The  Lord  is  a  man  of  *  war  : 

B.  C.  1491.  .  T  .  ,  .  , 

An.  Exod.  isr.  i.  the  Lord  is  his  11  name. 

Ab.b  or  Nison.  4  i  Pharao]l>s  chariots  and  his 

host  hath  he  cast  into  the  sea  :  k  his  chosen 
captains  also  are  drowned  in  the  Red  Sea. 

5  1  The  depths  have  covered  them  :  m  they 
sank  into  the  bottom  as  a  stone. 

6  ?  Thy  right  hand,  0  Lord,  is  become 
glorious  in  power  :  thy  right  hand,  0  Lord, 
hath  dashed  in  pieces  the  enemy. 

7  And  in  the  greatness  of  thine  0  excellency 
thou  hast  overthrown  them  that  rose  up  against 
thee:  thou  sentest  forth  thy  wrath,  which  p con¬ 
sumed  them  q  as  stubble. 


8  And  r  with  the  blast  of  thy  A.  M.  2513. 
nostrils  the  waters  were  gathered  An.  Exod.  isr!  l. 
together,  5  the  floods  stood  up-  Abib  or  Nisan- 
right  as  a  heap,  and  the  depths  were  congealed 
in  the  heart  of  the  sea. 

9  1  The  enemy  said,  I  will  pursue,  I  will 
overtake,  I  will  u  divide  the  spoil ;  my  lust 
shall  be  satisfied  upon  them  ;  I  will  draw  my 
sword,  my  hand  shall  v  destroy  them. 

10  Thou  didst  w  blow  with  thy  wind,  *  the 
sea  covered  them  :  they  sank  as  lead  in  the 
mighty  waters. 

1 1  y  Who  is  like  unto  thee,  O  Lord,  among 
the  z  gods  ?  who  is  like  thee,  a  glorious  in 


s  Psa.  xxiv.  8;  Rev.  xix.  11. - hChap.  vi.  3;  Psa.  lxxxiii. 

18. - 1  Chap.  xiv.  28. - k  Chapter  xiv.  7. - 1  Chap.  xiv.  28. 

m  Neh.  ix.  11. - n  Psalm  cxviii.  15,  26. - 0  Deut.  xxxiii.  26. 

P  Psa.  lix.  13. - 1 1saiah  v.  24  ;  xlvii.  14. - r  Chapter  xiv.  21  ; 

2  Sam.  xxii.  16;  Job  iv.  9  ;  2  Thess.  ii.  8. 

who  translates  the  original,  'UX  TlSx  Elohey  abi,  Deus 
mens,  pater  meus  est,  “My  God  is  my  Father.”  Every 
man  may  call  the  Divine  Being  his  God  ;  but  only  those 
who  are  his  children  by  adoption  through  grace  can 
call  him  their  Father.  This  is  a  privilege  which  God 
has  given  to  none  but  his  children.  See  Gal.  iv.  6. 

Verse  3.  The  Lord  is  a  man  of  wa?-]  Perhaps  it 
would  be  better  to  translate  the  words,  Jehovah  is  the 
man  or  hero  of  the  battle.  As  we  scarcely  ever  apply 
the  term  to  any  thing  but  first-rate  armed  vessels,  the 
change  of  the  translation  seems  indispensable,  though 
the  common  rendering  is  literal  enough.  Besides,  the 
object  of  Moses  was  to  show  that  man  had  no  part  in 
this  victory,  but  that  the  whole  was  wrought  by  the 
miraculous  power  of  God,  and  that  therefore  he  alone 
should  have  all  the  glory. 

The  Lord  is  his  name.]  That  is,  Jehovah.  He 
has  now,  as  the  name  implies,  given  complete  exist¬ 
ence  to  all  his  promises.  See  the  notes  on  Gen.  ii.  4, 
and  Exod.  vi.  3. 

Verse  4.  Pharaoh'' s  chariots — his  host — his  chosen 
captains]  On  such  an  expedition  it  is  likely  that  the 
principal  Egyptian  nobility  accompanied  their  king,  and 
that  the  overthrow  they  met  with  here  had  reduced 
Egypt  to  the  lowest  extremity.  Had  the  Israelites 
been  intent  on  plunder,  or  had  Moses  been  influenced 
by  a  spirit  of  ambition,  how  easily  might  both  have 
gratified  themselves,  as,  had  they  returned,  they  might 
have  soon  overrun  and  subjugated  the  whole  land. 

Verse  6..  Thy  right  hand]  Thy  omnipotence,  mani¬ 
fested  in  a  most  extraordinary  way. 

Verse  7.  In  the  greatness  of  thine  excellency]  To 
this  wonderful  deliverance  the  Prophet  Isaiah  refers, 
chap.  Ixiii.  11-14  :  “Then  he  remembered  the  days 
of  old,  Moses  and  his  people,  saying ,  Where  is  he  that 
brought  them  up  out  of  the  sea  with  the  shepherd  of 
his  flock  1  Where  is  he  that  put  his  Holy  Spirit  within 
him  1  That  led  them  by  the  right  hand  of  Moses  with 
his  glorious  arm,  dividing  the  water  before  them,  to 
make  himself  an  everlasting  name  1  That  led  them 
through  the  deep,  as  a  horse  in  the  wilderness,  that 

a 


s  Psa.  lxxviii.  13  ;  Hab.  iii.  10. - t  Judg.  v.  30. - u  Gen.  xlix. 

27;  Isa.  liii .  12 ;  Luke  xi.  22. - v  Or,  repossess. - w  Chap,  xiv, 

21  ;  Psa.  cxlvii.  18. - x  Ver.  5  ;  chap.  xiv.  28. - y  2  Sam.  vii. 

22  ;  1  Kings  viii.  23  ;  Psa.  lxxi.  19  ;  lxxxvi.  8  ;  lxxxix.  6, 8  ;  Jer. 

x.  6 ;  xlix.  19. - z  Or,  mighty  ones. - a  Isa.  vi.  3. 

they  should  not  stumble  1  As  a  beast  goeth  down 
into  the  valley,  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  caused  him  to 
rest ;  so  didst  thou  lead  thy  people,  to  make  thyself  a 
glorious  name.” 

Verse  8.  The  depths  were  congealed]  The  strong 
east  wind  (chap.  xiv.  21)  employed  to  dry  the  bottom 
of  the  sea,  is  here  represented  as  the  blast  of  God’s 
nostrils  that  had  congealed  or  frozen  the  waters,  so 
that  they  stood  in  heaps  like  a  wall  on  the  right  hand 
and  on  the  left. 

Verse  9.  The  enemy  said]  As  this  song  was  com¬ 
posed  by  Divine  inspiration,  we  may  rest  assured  that 
these  words  were  spoken  by  Pharaoh  and  his  captains, 
and  the  passions  they  describe  felt,  in  their  utmost 
sway,  in  their  hearts  ;  but  how  soon  was  their  boast¬ 
ing  confounded  ?  “  Thou  didst  blow  with  thy  wind, 

and  the  sea  covered  them  :  they  sank  as  lead  in  the 
mighty  waters !” 

Verse  11.  Who  is  like  unto  thee ,  O  Lord ,  among 
the  gods  ?]  We  have  already  seen  that  all  the  Egyp¬ 
tian  gods,  or  the  objects  of  the  Egyptians’  idolatry, 
were  confounded,  and  rendered  completely  despicable, 
by  the  ten  plagues ,  which  appear  to  have  been  directed 
principally  against  them.  Here  the  people  of  God  ex¬ 
ult  over  them  afresh  :  Who  among  these  gods  is  like 
unto  Thee  1  They  can  neither  save  nor  destroy ;  Thou 
dost  both  in  the  most  signal  manner. 

As  the  original  words  miT  0^X3  TIDTOID  ’D  mi  cha- 
mochah  baelim  Yehovah  are  supposed  to  have  consti¬ 
tuted  the  motto  on  the  ensign  of  the  Asmoneans ,  and 
to  have  furnished  the  name  of  Maccabeus  to  Judas , 
their  grand  captain,  from  whom  they  were  afterwards 
called  Maccabeans ,  it  may  be  necessary  to  say  a  few 
words  on  this  subject.  It  is  possible  that  Judas  Mac¬ 
cabeus  might  have  had  this  motto  on  his  ensign,  or  at 
least  the  initial  letters  of  it,  for  such  a  practice  was 
not  uncommon.  For  instance,  on  the  Roman  standard 
the  letters  S.  P.  Q.  R.  stood  for  Senatus  Populus  Que 
Romanus,  i.  e.  the  Senate  and  Roman  People ;  and 
'  3  D  O  M.  C.  B.  I.  might  have  stood  for  Mi  Chamo- 
chah  Baelim  Jehovah,  “  Who  among  the  gods  (or  strong 

373 


EXODUS. 


The  nations  shall  fear ,  when 

A.  M.  2513.  holiness,  fearful  in  praises,  b  do- 

13.  C.  1491.  .  \  „  r  * 

An.  Exod.  Isr.  l.  mg  wonders  ! 

Abib  or  Nisan.  j  2  Thou  stretchedst  out  c  thy 
right  hand,  the  earth  swallowed  them. 

13  Thou  in  thy  mercy  hast  d  led  forth  the 
people  which  thou  hast  redeemed  :  thou  hast 
guided  them  in  thy  strength  unto  e  thy  holy 
habitation. 

14  f  The  people  shall  hear,  and  be  afraid  : 
£  sorrow  shall  take  hold  on  the  inhabitants  of 
Palestina. 

1 5  b  Then  1  the  dukes  of  Edom  shall  be 
amazed  ;  k  the  mighty  men  of  Moab,  trembling 
shall  take  hold  upon  them  ;  1  all  the  inhabit¬ 
ants  of  Canaan  shall  melt  away. 

bPsa.  lxxvii.  14. - cVer.  6. - dPsa.  lxxvii.  15,20;  Ixxviii. 

52 ;  lxxx.  1  ;  cvi.  9  ;  Isa.  lxiii.  12, 13 ;  Jer.  ii.  6. - e  Psa.  Ixxviii. 

54. - f  Num.  xiv.  14  ;  Deut.  ii.  25  ;  Josh.  ii.  9,  JO. - s  Psalm 

xlviii.  6. - h  Gen.  xxxvi.  40. - 1  Deut.  ii.  4. - k  Num.  xxii.  3 ; 

Hab.  iii.  7. - 1  Josh.  v.  1. - m  Deut.  ii.  25 ;  xi.  25  ;  Josh.  ii.  9. 

ones )  is  like  unto  thee,  0  Jehovah !”  But  it  appears 
from  the  Greek  M annafiaLog,  and  also  the  Syriac 
makabi ,  that  the  name  was  written  originally 
with  p  koph ,  not  D  caph.  It  is  most  likely,  as  Mi- 
chaelis  has  observed,  that  the  name  must  have  been 
derived  from  Dp"0  makkab,  a  hammer  or  mallet ;  hence 
Judas,  because  of  his  bravery  and  success,  might  have 
been  denominated  the  hammer  or  mallet  by  which  the 
enemies  of  God  had  been  beaten ,  pounded ,  and  broken 
to  pieces.  Judas,  the  hammer  of  the  Lord. 

Glorious  in  holiness ]  Infinitely  resplendent  in  this 
attribute,  essential  to  the  perfection  of  the  Divine 
nature. 

Fearful  in  praises]  Such  glorious  holiness  cannot 
be  approached  without  the  deepest  reverence  and  fear, 
even  by  angels,  who  veil  their  faces  before  the  majesty 
of  God.  How  then  should  man,  who  is  only  sin  and 
dust,  approach  the  presence  of  his  Maker ! 

Doing  wonders  ?]  Every  part  of  the  work  of  God 
is  wonderful ;  not  only  miracles,  which  imply  an  in¬ 
version  or  suspension  of  the  laws  of  nature,  but  every 
part  of  nature  itself.  Who  can  conceive  how  a  single 
blade  of  grass  is  formed  ;  or  how  earth,  air,  and  water 
become  consolidated  in  the  body  of  the  oak  1  And 
who  can  comprehend  how  the  different  tribes  of  plants 
and  animals  are  preserved,  in  all  the  distinctive  cha¬ 
racteristics  of  their  respective  natures  ?  And  who  can 
conceive  how  the  human  being  is  formed,  nourished, 
and  its  different  parts  developed  1  What  is  the  true 
cause  of  the  circulation  of  the  blood  ?  or,  how  different 
aliments  produce  the  solids  and  fluids  of  the  animal 
machine  1  What  is  life,  sleep,  death  1  And  how  an 
impure  and  unholy  soul  is  regenerated,  purified,  refined, 
and  made  like  unto  its  great  Creator  l  These  are 
wonders  which  God  alone  works,  and  to  himself  only 
are  they  fully  known. 

Verse  12.  The  earth  swallowed  them.]  It  is  very 
likely  there  was  also  an  earthquake  on  this  occasion, 
and  that  chasms  were  made  in  the  bottom  of  the  sea, 
by  which  many  of  them  were  swallowed  up,  though 

374 


they  hear  what  God  has  done . 

1 6  m  Fear  and  dread  shall  fall  A.  M.  2513. 

...  r  AB.  C.  1491. 

upon  them  ;  by  the  greatness  01  An.  Exod.  isr.  1. 

thine  arm,  they  shall  be  as  still  Ablb  or  Nisan- 

“as  a  stone  ;  till  thy  people  pass  over,  0 

Lord,  till  the  people  pass  over,  0  which  thou 

hast  purchased. 

17  Thou  shalt  bring  them  in;  and  p  plant 
them  in  the  mountain  of  thine  inheritance,  in 
the  place,  0  Lord,  which  thou  hast  made  for 
thee  to  dwell  in,  in  the  sanctuary,  0  Lord, 
which  thy  hands  have  established. 

18  r  The  Lord  shall  reign  for  ever  and 
ever. 

19  For  the  s  horse  of  Pharaoh  went  in  with 
his  chariots  and  with  his  horsemen  into  the 

n  1  Sam.  xxv.  37. - 0  Chap.  xix.  5  ;  Deut.  xxxii.  9 ;  2  Sam. 

vii.  23  ;  Psalm  lxxiv.  2  ;  Isaiah  xliii.  1,  3  ;  li.  10 ;  Jer.  xxxi.  11  , 

Tit.  ii.  14;  1  Pet.  ii.  9 ;  2  Pet.  ii.  1. - PPsa.  xliv.  2;  lxxx.  8 

i  Psa.  Ixxviii.  54. - rPsa.  x.  16  ;  xxix.  10  ;  cxlvi.  10  ;  Isa.  1  vii. 

15. - 5  Chap.  xiv.  23  ;  Prov.  xxi.  31. 

multitudes  were  overwhelmed  by  the  waters,  whose 
dead  bodies  were  afterward  thrown  ashore.  The 
psalmist  strongly  intimates  that  there  was  an  earth¬ 
quake  on  this  occasion  :  The  voice  of  thy  thunder  was 
in  the  heaven  ;  the  lightnings  lightened  the  world  ;  the 
earth  trembled  and  shook;  Psa.  lxxvii.  18. 

Verse  13.  Thou  hast  guided  them  in  thy  strength 
unto  thy  holy  habitation.]  As  this  ode  was  dictated 
by  the  Spirit  of  God,  it  is  most  natural  to  understand 
this  and  the  following  verses,  to  the  end  of  the  18th, 
as  containing  a  prediction  of  what  God  would  do  for 
this  people  which  he  had  so  miraculously  redeemed. 
On  this  mode  of  interpretation  it  would  be  better  to 
read  several  of  the  verbs  in  the  future  tense. 

Verse  15.  The  dukes  of  Edom]  Idumea  was  go¬ 
verned  at  this  time  by  those  called  D’Dbx  alluphim, 
heads,  chiefs,  or  captains.  See  the  note  on  Gen. 
xxxvi.  15. 

Verse  16.  Till  thy  people  pass  over]  Not  over  the 
Red  Sea,  for  that  event  had  been  already  celebrated  ; 
but  over  the  desert  and  Jordan,  in  order  to  be  brought 
into  the  promised  land. 

Verse  17.  Thou  shalt  bring  them  in ]  By  thy 
strength  and  mercy  alone  shall  they  get  the  promised 
inheritance. 

And  plant  them]  Give  them  a,  fixed  habitation  in 
Canaan,  after  their  unsettled  wandering  life  in  the 
wilderness. 

In  the  mountain]  Meaning  Canaan,  which  was  a 
very  mountainous*  country,  Deut.  xi.  11  ;  or  probably 
Mount  Zion,  on  which  the  temple  was  built.  Where 
the  pure  worship  of  God  was  established ,  there  the 
people  might  expect  both  rest  and  safety.  Wherever 
the  purity  of  religion  is  established  and  preserved,  and 
the  high  and  the  low  endeavour  to  regulate  their  lives 
according  to  its  precepts,  the  government  of  that  coun¬ 
try  is  likely  to  be  permanent. 

Verse  18.  The  Lord  shall  reign  for  ever  and  ever.] 
This  is  properly  the  grand  chorus  in  which  all  the 
people  joined.  The  words  are  expressive  of  God’s 

a 


Miriam  leads  the 


CHAP.  XV. 


chorus  of  women. 


A.  M.  2513.  sea,  and  *  the  Lord  brought  again 

An.  Exod.  isr!  l.  the  waters  of  the  sea  upon  them  ; 
Abib  or  Nisan.  tjie  children,  of  Israel  went 

on  dry  land,  in  the  midst  of  the  sea. 

20  And  Miriam  u  the  prophetess,  T  the  sister 
of  Aaron,  w  took  a  timbrel  in  her  hand ;  and 
all  the  women  went  out  after  her  x  with  tim¬ 
brels  and  with  dances. 


2 1  And  Miriam  y  answered  A.  M.  2513. 
them, z  Sing  ye  to  the  Lord,  for  he  An.  ExodJsr.’  L 
hath  triumphed  gloriously  :  the  Ablb  or  Nlsan- 
horse  and  his  rider  hath  he  thrown  into  the  sea. 

22  So  Moses  brought  Israel  from  the  Red 
Sea,  and  they  went  out  into  the  wilderness 
of  a  Shur ;  and  they  went  three  days  in  the 
wilderness,  and  found  no  water. 


1  Chap.  xiv.  28,29. - uJudg.  iv,  4;  1  Sam.  x.  5. - vNum. 

xxvi.  59. - w  1  Sam.  xviii.  6. -1  2  Judg.  xi.  34  ;  xxi.  21 ;  2  Sam. 


vi.  16  ;  Psa.  lxviii.  11,  25  ;  cxlix.  3;  cl.  4. - y  1  Sam.  xviii.  7. 

z  Ver.  1. - a  Gen.  xvi.  7  ;  xxv.  18. 


everlasting  dominion,  not  only  in  the  world ,  but  in  the 
Church ;  not  only  under  the  law ,  but  also  under  the 
Gospel ;  not  only  in  time,  but  through  eternity.  The 
original  Dbyb  leolam  vaed  may  be  translated,  for 
ever  and  onward ;  or,  by  our  very  expressive  com¬ 
pound  term,  for  evermore,  i.  e.  for  ever  and  more — 
not  only  through  time,  but  also  through  all  duration. 
His  dominion  shall  be  ever  the  same,  active  and  in¬ 
finitely  extending.  With  this  verse  the  song  seems 
to  end,  as  with  it  the  hemistichs  or  poetic  lines  ter¬ 
minate.  The  20th  and  beginning  of  the  21st  are  in 
plain  prose,  but  the  latter  part  of  the  21st  is  in  hemi¬ 
stichs,  as  it  contains  the  response  made  by  Miriam  and 
the  Israelitish  women  at  different  intervals  during  the 
song.  See  Dr.  Kennicott’s  arrangement  of  the  parts 
at  the  end  of  this  chapter. 

\erse  20.  And  Miriam  the  prophetess]  We  have 
already  seen  that  Miriam  was  older  than  either  Moses 
or  Aaron  :  for  when  Moses  was  exposed  on  the  Nile, 
she  was  a  young  girl  capable  of  managing  the  strata¬ 
gem  used  for  the  preservation  of  his  life  ;  and  then 
Aaron  was  only  three  years  and  three  months  old, 
for  he  was  fourscore  and  three  years  old  when  Moses 
was  but  fourscore,  (see  chap.  vii.  7  ;)  so  that  Aaron 
was  older  than  Moses,  and  Miriam  considerably  older 
than  either,  not  less  probably  than  nine  or  ten  years 
of  age.  See  on  chap.  ii.  2. 

There  is  great  diversity  of  opinion  on  the  origin  of 
the  name  of  Miriam,  which  is  the  same  with  the 
Greek  M apiay,  the  Latin  Maria,  and  the  English 
Mary.  Some  suppose  it  to  be  compounded  of  7D 
mar,  a  drop,  (Isa.  xl.  15,)  and  yam,  the  sea,  and 
that  from  this  etymology  the  heathens  formed  their 
Venus,  whom  they  feign  to  have  sprung  from  the  sea. 
St.  Jerome  gives  several  etymologies  for  the  name, 
which  at  once  show  how  difficult  it  is  to  ascertain  it : 
she  who  enlightens  me,  or  she  who  enlightens  them,  or 
the  star  of  the  sea.  Others,  the  lady  of  the  sea,  the 
bitterness  of  the  sea,  dfc.  It  is  probable  that  the  first 
or  the  last  is  the  true  one,  hut  it  is  a  matter  of  little 
importance,  as  we  have  not  the  circumstance  marked, 
as  in  the  case  of  Moses  and  many  others,  that  gave 
rise  to  the  name. 

The  prophetess]  hannebiah.  For  the  mean¬ 

ing  of  the  word  prophet,  fccm  nabi,  see  the  note  on 
Gen.  xx.  7.  It  is  very  likely  that  Miriam  was  in¬ 
spired  by  the  Spirit  of  God  to  instruct  the  Hebrew 
women,  as  Moses  and  Aaron  were  to  instruct  the  men  ; 
and  when  she  and  her  brother  Aaron  sought  to  share 
in  the  government  of  the  people  with  Moses,  we  find 
her  laying  claim  to  the  prophetic  influence,  Num.  xii.  2  : 

a 


Hath  the  Lord  indeed  spoken  only  by  Moses  ?  Hath 
he  not  spoken  also  by  us  1  And  that  she  was  consti¬ 
tuted  joint  leader  of  the  people  with  her  two  brothers, 
we  have  the  express  word  of  God  by  the  Prophet 
Micah,  chap.  vi.  4  :  For  I  brought  thee  up  out  of  the 
land  of  Egypt — and  I  sent  before  thee  Moses,  Aaron, 
and  Miriam.  Hence  it  is  very  likely  that  she  was 
the  instructress  of  the  women,  and  regulated  the  times, 
places,  &c.,  of  their  devotional  acts  ;  for  it  appears 
that  from  the.  beginning  to  the  present  day  the  Jewish 
women  all  worshipped  apart. 

A  timbrel]  toph,  the  same  word  which  is  trans¬ 
lated  tabret,  Gen.  xxxi.  27,  on  which  the  reader  is  de¬ 
sired  to  consult  the  note. 

And  with  dances .]  mecholoth.  Many  learned 

men  suppose  that  this  word  means  some  instruments 
of  wind  music,  because  the  word  comes  from  the  root 
bbn  chalal,  the  ideal  meaning  of  which  is  to  perforate, 
penetrate,  pierce,  stab,  and  hence  to  wound.  Pipes  or 
hollow  tubes,  such  as  flutes,  hautboys ,  and  the  like,  may 
be  intended.  Both  the  Arabic  and  Persian  understand 
it  as  meaning  instruments  of  music  of  the  pipe,  drum, 
or  sistrum  kind  ;  and  this  seems  to  comport  better  with 
the  scope  and  design  of  the  place  than  the  term  dances. 
It  must  however  be  allowed  that  religious  dances  have 
been  in  use  from  the  remotest  times  ;  and  yet  in  most 
of  the  places  where  the  term  occurs  in  our  translation, 
an  instrument  of  music  bids  as  fair  to  be  its  meaning 
as  a  dance  of  any  kind.  Miriam  is  the  first  prophetess 
on  record,  and  by  this  we  find  that  God  not  only  poured 
out  his  Spirit  upon  men,  but  upon  women  also  ;  and  we 
learn  also  that  Miriam  was  not  only  a  prophetess,  but 
a  poetess  also,  and  must  have  had  considerable  skill  in 
music  to  have  been  able  to  conduct  her  part  of  these 
solemnities.  It  may  appear  strange  that  during  so 
long  an  oppression  in  Egypt,  the  Israelites  were  able 
to  cultivate  the  fine  arts ;  but  that  they  did  so  there  is 
the  utmost  evidence  from  the  Pentateuch.  Not  only 
architecture,  weaving,  and  such  necessary  arts,  were 
well  known  among  them,  but  also  the  arts  that  are 
called  ornamental,  such  as  those  of  the  goldsmith,  lapi¬ 
dary,  embroiderer,  furrier,  &c.,  of  which  we  have  am¬ 
ple  proof  in  the  construction  of  the  tabernacle  and  its 
utensils.  However  ungrateful,  rebellious,  &c.,  the 
Jews  may  have  been,  the  praise  of  industry  and  eco¬ 
nomy  can  never  be  denied  them.  In  former  ages,  and 
in  all  places  even  of  their  dispersions,  they  appear  to 
have  been  frugal  and  industrious,  and  capable  of  great 
proficiency  in  the  most  elegant  and  curious  arts  ;  but 
they  are  now  greatly  degenerated. 

Verse  22.  The  wilderness  of  Shur]  This  was  on 

.  375 


EXODUS. 


Mar  ah  made  sweet. 


The  hitter  waters  of 

A.  M.  2513.  23  And  when  they  came  to 

An.  Exod.  isr.  i.  b  Marah,  they  could  not  drink 
Abib  or  ^Tlsan-  0f  t}ie  waters  of  Marah,  for  they 
were  bitter  :  therefore  the  name  of  it  was 
called  c  Marah. 

24  And  the  people  d  murmured  against  Mo¬ 
ses,  saying,  What  shall  we  drink  ? 

25  And  life  e  cried  unto  the  Lord  ;  and  the 
Lord  showed  him  a  f  tree,  &  which  when  he 


had  cast  into  the  waters,  the  A.  M.  2513. 

waters  were  made  sweet.  1  here  An.  Exod.  isr.  1. 
he  h  made  for  them  a  statute  Abib  or  Nisan. 

and  an  ordinance,  and  there  1  he  proved 
them 

26  And  said,  k  If  thou  wilt  diligently  hearken 
to  the  voice  of  the  Lord  thy  God,  and  wilt 
do  that  which  is  right  in  his  sight,  and  wilt 
give  ear  to  his  commandments,  and  keep  all 


b  Numbers  xxxiii.  8. - c  That  is,  bitterness ;  Ruth  i.  20. 

d  Chap.  xvi.  2  ;  xvii.  3. - e  Chap.  xiv.  10  ;  xvii.  4 ;  Psa.  1.  15. 

f  Eccles.  xxxviii.  5. 


s  See  2  Kings  ii.  21 ;  iv.  41. - h  See  Josh.  xxiv.  25. - 5  Ch. 

xvi.  4  ;  Deut.  viii.  2,  16 ;  Judg.  ii.  22  ;  iii.  1,  4  ;  Psa.  lxvi.  10 ; 
lxxxi.  7. - k  Deut.  vii.  12,  15. 


the  coast  of  the  Red  Sea  on  their  road  to  Mount  Sinai. 
See  the  map. 

Verse  23.  Marah]  So  called  from  the  hitter  waters 
found  there.  Dr.  Shaw  conjectures  that  this  place  is 
the  same  as  that  now  called  Corondel,  where  there  is 
still  a  small  rill  which,  if  not  diluted  with  dews  or 
rain,  continues  brackish.  See  his  account  at  the  end 
of  Exodus. 

Verse  24.  The  people  murmured]  They  were  in 
a  state  of  great  mental  degradation,  owing  to  their  long 
and  oppressive  vassalage,  and  had  no  firmness  of  cha¬ 
racter.  See  the  note  on  chap.  xiii.  17. 

Verse  25.  He  cried  unto  the  Lord]  Moses  was  not 
only  their  leader,  but  also  their  mediator.  Of  prayer 
and  dependence  on  the  Almighty,  the  great  mass  of 
the  Israelites  appear  to  have  had  little  knowledge  at 
this  time.  Moses,  therefore,  had  much  to  bear  from 
their  weakness,  and  the  merciful  Lord  was  long-suf¬ 
fering. 

The  Lord  showed  him  a  tree]  What  this  tree  was 
we  know  not  :  some  think  that  the  tree  was  extremely 
bitter  itself,  such  as  the  quassia ;  and  that  God  acted 
in  this  as  he  generally  does,  correcting  contraries  by 
contraries,  which,  among  the  ancient  physicians,  was 
a  favourite  maxim,  Clavus  clavo  expellitur.  The  Tar- 
gums  of  Jonathan  and  Jerusalem  say  that,  when  Moses 
prayed,  “  the  word  of  the  Lord  showed  him  the  tree 
ardiphney ,  on  which  he  wrote  the  great  and 
precious  name  of  (Jehovah,)  and  then  threw  it  into  the 
waters,  and  the  waters  thereby  became  sweet.”  But 
what  the  tree  ardiphney  was  we  are  not  informed. 

Many  suppose  that  this  tree  which  healed  the  bitter 
waters  was  symbolical  of  the  cross  of  our  blessed 
Redeemer,  that  has  been  the  means  of  healing  infected 
nature,  and  through  the  virtue  of  which  the  evils  and 
hitters  of  life  are  sweetened,  and  rendered  subservient 
to  the  best  interests  of  God’s  followers.  Whatever 
may  be  in  the  metaphor,  this  is  true  in  fact  ;  and  hence 
the  greatest  of  apostles  gloried  in  the  cross  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  by  which  the  world  was  crucified  to  him 
and  he  unto  the  world. 

It  appears  that  these  waters  were  sweetened  only 
for  that  occasion,  as  Dr.  Shaw  reports  them  to  be  still 
brackish,  which  appears  to  be  occasioned  by  the  abun¬ 
dance  of  natron  which  prevails  in  the  surrounding  soil. 
Thus  we  may  infer  that  the  natural  cause  of  their  bit¬ 
terness  or  brackishness  was  permitted  to  resume  its 
operations,  when  the  occasion  that  rendered  the  change 
necessary  had  ceased  to  exist.  Thus  Christ  simply 

376 


changed  that  water  into  wine  which  was  to  be  drawn 
out  to  be  carried  to  the  master  of  the  feast  ;  the  rest 
of  the  water  in  the  pots  remaining  as  before.  As  the 
water  of  the  Nile  was  so  peculiarly  excellent,  to  which 
they  had  been  long  accustomed,  they  could  not  easily 
put  up  with  what  was  indifferent.  See  the  note  on 
chap.  vii.  18. 

There  he  made  for  them]  Though  it  is  probable 
that  the  Israelites  are  here  intended,  yet  the  word  1*7 
lo  should  not  be  translated  for  them ,  but  to  him ,  for 
these  statutes  were  given  to  Moses  that  he  might  de¬ 
liver  them  to  the  people. 

There  he  proved  them.]  1HD3  nissahu,  he  proved  him. 
By  this  murmuring  of  the  people  he  proved  Moses,  to 
see,  speaking  after  the  manner  of  men,  whether  he 
would  be  faithful,  and,  in  the  midst  of  the  trials  to 
which  he  was  likely  to  be  exposed,  whether  he  would 
continue  to  trust  in  the  Lord,  and  seek  all  his  help 
from  him. 

Verse  26.  If  thou  ivilt  diligently  hearken]  What  is 
contained  in  this  verse  appears  to  be  what  is  intended 
by  the  statute  and  ordinance  mentioned  in  the  preced¬ 
ing  :  If  thou  ivilt  diligently  hearken  unto  the  voice 
of  the  Lord  thy  God,  and  wilt  do  that  which  is  right  in 
his  sight,  and  ivilt  give  ear  to  his  commandments,  and 
keep  all  his  statutes ,  I  will  put  none  of  these  diseases 
upon  thee,  dpc.  This  statute  and  ordinance  implied 
the  three  following  particulars:  1.  That  they  should 
acknowledge  Jehovah  for  their  God,  and  thus  avoid 
all  idolatry.  2.  That  they  should  receive  his  word 
and  testimony  as  a  Divine  revelation,  binding  on  their 
hearts  and  lives,  and  thus  be  saved  from  profligacy  of 
every  kind,  and  from  acknowledging  the  maxims  or 
adopting  the  customs  of  the  neighbouring  nations. 
3.  That  they  should  continue  to  do  so,  and  adorn  their 
profession  with  a  holy  life.  These  things  being  at¬ 
tended  to,  then  the  promise  of  God  was,  that  they  should 
have  none  of  the  diseases  of  the  Egyptians  put  on 
them  ;  that  they  should  be  kept  in  a  state  of  health  of 
body  and  peace  of  mind  ;  and  if  at  any  time  they  should 
be  afflicted,  on  application  to  God  the  evil  should  be 
removed,  because  he  was  their  healer  or  physician — 1 
am  the  Lord  that  healeth  thee.  That  the  Israelites 
had  in  general  a  very  good  state  of  health,  their  his¬ 
tory  warrants  us  to  believe  ;  and  when  they  were  af¬ 
flicted,  as  in  the  case  of  the  fiery  serpents,  on  appli¬ 
cation  to  God  they  were  all  healed.  The  Targum  of  • 
Jonathan  ben  Uzziel  states  that  the  statutes  which 

Moses  received  at  this  time  were  commandments  con- 

/* 

a 


The  1st  aelites  encamp  by  the 


CHAP.  XV. 


wells  and  palm  trees  of  Elim 


a.  M.  2513.  his  statutes,  I  will  put  none  of 

An.  Exod.  is/.  1.  these  1  diseases  upon  thee,  which 
A  tub  or  Nisan.  j  have  brought  upon  the  Egyp¬ 
tians  :  for  I  am  the  Lord  m  that  healeth  thee. 


1  Deut.  xxviii.  27,  60. - mChap.  xxiii.  25;  Psa.  xli.  3,  4  ; 


27  n  And  they  came  to  Elim,  A.  M.  2513. 
where  were  twelve  wells  of  water,  An.  Exod.  is/ 1. 
and  threescore  and  ten  palm  trees  :  Ablb  or  Nlsan- 
and  they  encamped  there  by  the  waters. 

ciii.  3;  cxlvii.  3. - “Num.  xxxiii.  9. 


cerning  the  observance  of  the  Sabbath,  duty  to  parents, 
the  ordinances  concerning  wounds  and  bruises,  and  the 
penalties  which  sinners  should  incur  by  transgressing 
them.  But  it  appears  that  the  general  ordinances 
already  mentioned  are  those  which  are  intended  here, 
and  this  seems  to  be  proved  beyond  dispute  by  Jer.  vii. 
22,  23  :  “  For  I  spake  not  unto  your  fathers,  nor  com¬ 
manded  them  in  the  day  that  I  brought  them  out  of  the 
land  of  Egypt,  concerning  burnt-offerings  or  sacrifices : 
but  this  thing  commanded  I  them,  saying,  Obey  my 
voice,  and  I  will  be  your  God,  and  ye  shall  be  my  peo¬ 
ple  ;  and  walk  ye  in  all  the  ways  that  I  have  com¬ 
manded  you,  that  it  may  be  well  unto  you.” 

Verse  27.  They  came  to  Elim\  This  was  in  the 
desert  of  Sin,  and,  according  to  Dr.  Shaw,  about  two 
leagues  from  Tor,  and  thirty  from  Marah  or  Corondel. 

Twelve  wells  of  wate r]  One  for  each  of  the  tribes  of 
Israel,  say  the  Targums  of  Jonathan  and  Jerusalem. 

And  threescore  and  ten  palm  trees\  One  for  each 
of  the  seventy  elders. — Ibid. 

Dr.  Shaw  found  nine  of  the  twelve  wells,  the  other 
three  having  been  choked  up  with  sand ;  and  the  seventy 
palm  trees  multiplied  into  more  than  2000,  the  dates 
of  which  bring  a  considerable  revenue  to  the  Greek 
monks  at  Tor.  See  his  account  at  the  end  of  this 
book,  and  see  also  the  map.  Thus  sufficient  evidence 
of  the  authenticity  of  this  part  of  the  sacred  history 
remains,  after  the  lapse  of  more  than  3000  years. 

In  the  preceding  notes  the  reader  has  been  referred 
to  Dr.  Kennicott’s  translation  and  arrangement  of  the 
song  of  Moses.  To  this  translation  he  prefixes  the 
following  observations  : — 

“  This  triumphant  ode  was  sung  by  Moses  and  the 
sons  of  Israel  :  and  the  women,  headed  by  Miriam, 
answered  the  men  by  repeating  the  two  first  lines  of 
the  song,  altering  only  the  first  word,  which  two  lines 
were  probably  sung  more  than  once  as  a  chorus. 

“  The  conclusion  of  this  ode  seems  very  manifest ; 
and  yet,  though  the  ancient  Jevrs  had  sense  enough  to 
write  this  song  differently  from  prose ;  and  though  their 
authority  has  prevailed  even  to  this  day  in  this  and 
three  other  poems  in  the  Old  Testament,  (Deut.  xxii. ; 
Judg.  v.  ;  and  2  Sam.  xxii.,)  still  expressed  by  them 
as  poetry ;  yet  have  these  critics  carried  their  ideas 
of  the  song  here  to  the  end  of  verse  19.  The  reason 
why  the  same  has  been  done  by  others  probably  is, 
they  thought  that  the  particle  '3  for,  which  begins  verse 
19,  necessarily  connected  it  with  the  preceding  poetry. 
But  this  difficulty  is  removed  by  translating  '3  when, 
especially  if  we  take  verses  1 9—2 1  as  being  a  prose 
explanation  of  the  manner  in  which  this  song  of  tri¬ 
umph  was  performed.  For  these  three  verses  say  that 
the  men  singers  were  answered  in  the  chorus  by  Miriam 
and  the  women,  accompanying  their  words  with  mu¬ 
sical  instruments.  1  When  the  horse  of  Pharaoh  had 
gone  into  the  sea,  and  the  Lord  had  brought  the  sea 

a 


upon  them  ;  and  Israel  had  passed ,  on  dry  land,  in  the 
midst  of  the  sea ;  then  Miriam  took  a  timbrel,  and  all 
the  women  went  out  after  her  with  timbrels  and  dances  ; 
and  Miriam  (with  the  women)  answered  them  (CPI1?  la- 
hem,  the  men,  by  way  of  chorus)  in  the  words,  O  sing 
ye,  &c.’  That  this  chorus  was  sung  more  than  once  is 
thus  stated  by  Bishop  Lowth  :  Maria,  cxim  mulieribus, 
virorum  choro  identidem  succinebal. — Praelect.  19. 

“  I  shall  now  give  what  appears  to  me  to  be  an  ex¬ 
act  translaton  of  this  whole  song  ; — 

Moses.  Part  I. 


1.  I  will  sing  to  Jehovah,  for  he  hath  triumphed 

gloriously  ; 

The  horse  and  his  rider  hath  he  thrown  into  the  sea, 

2.  My  strength  and  my  song  is  Jehovah; 

And  he  is  become  to  me  for  salvation  : 

This  is  my  God,  and  I  will  celebrate  him  ; 

The  God  of  my  father,  and  I  will  exalt  him. 

3.  Jehovah  is  mighty  in  ^  ^  , 

^  j  !  \  Perhaps  a  chorus  sung 

T  ,  ,  .'  ,  .  ,  C  by  the  men. 

Jehovah  is  his  jgame  !  y  J 

Chorus,  by  Miriam  and  the  women. 

Perhaps  sung  first  in  this  place. 

O  sing  ye  to  Jehovah,  for  he  hath  triumphed  gloriously! 

The  horse  and  his  rider  hath  he  thrown  into  the  sea. 


Moses.  Part  II. 

4.  Pharaoh’s  chariots  and  his  host  hath  he  cast  into 

the  sea ; 

And  his  chosen  captains  are  drowned  in  the  Red  Sea. 

5.  The  depths  have  covered  them,  they  went  down; 
(They  sank)  to  the  bottom  as  a  stone. 

6.  Thy  right  hand,  Jehovah ,  is  become  glorious  in 

power  ; 

Thy  right  hand,  Jehovah,  dasheth  in  pieces  the 
enemy. 

7.  And  in  the  greatness  of  thine  excellence  thou 

overthrowest  them  that  rise  against  thee. 

Thou  sendest  forth  thy  wrath,  which  consumeth 
them  as  stubble. 

8.  Even  at  the  blast  of  thy  displeasure  the  waters 

are  gathered  together  ;  * 

The  floods  stand  upright  as  a  heap , 

Congealed  are  the  depths  in  the  very  heart  of  the  sea. 
O  sing  ye  to  Jehovah,  &c.  Chorus  by  the  women. 

Moses.  Part  III. 

9.  The  enemy  said  :  ‘  I  will  pursue,  I  shall  overtake; 
I  shall  divide  the  spoil,  my  soul  shall  “be  satiated 

with  them ; 

I  will  draw  my  sword,  my  hand  shall  destroy  themd 

10.  Thou  didst  blov;  with  thy  wind,  the  sea  covered 

them  ; 

They  sank  as  lead  in  the  mighty  waters. 

1 1.  Who  is  like  thee  among  the  gods,  O  Jehovah  ? 
Who  is  like  thee,  glorious  in  holiness  1 

377 


The  Israelites  leave  Elim,  and 

12.  Fearful  in  praises  ;  performing  wonders  ! 

Thou  stretchest  out  thy  right  hand,  the  earth  swal- 

loweth  them ! 

13.  Thou  in  thy  mercy  leadest  the  people  whom  thou 

hast  redeemed ; 

Thou  in  thy  strength  guidest  to  the  habitation  of 
thy  holiness  ! 

0  sing  ye  to  Jehovah,  &c.  Chorus  by  the  women. 
Moses.  Part  IY. 

14.  The  nations  have  heard,  and  are  afraid  ; 

Sorrow  hath  seized  the  inhabitants  of  Palestine. 

15.  Already  are  the  dukes  of  Edom  in  consternation, 
And  the  mighty  men  of  Moab,  trembling  hath 

seized  them ; 

All  the  inhabitants  of  Canaan  do  faint. 

16.  Fear  and  dread  shall  fall  upon  them  ; 

Through  the  greatness  of  thine  arm  they  shall  be 

still  as  a  stone  : 

17.  Till  thy  people,  Jehovah,  pass  over  [Jordan  ;] 
Till  the  people  pass  over  whom  thou  hast  re* 

deemed. 

18.  Thou  shalt  bring  them  and  plant  them  in  the  mount 

of  thine  inheritance  : 

The  place  for  thy  rest  which  thou,  Jehovah,  hast 
made ; 

The  sanctuary,  Jehovah,  which  thy  hands  have 
established. 

Grand  chorus  by  all. 

Jehovah  for  ever  and  ever  shall  reign.” 


come  to  the  wilderness  of  Sin. 

1.  When  poetry  is  consecrated  to  the  service  of 
God,  and  employed  as  above  to  commemorate  his  mar¬ 
vellous  acts,  it  then  becomes  a  very  useful  handmaid 
to  piety,  and  God  is  honoured  by  his  gifts.  God  in¬ 
spired  the  song  of  Moses,  and  perhaps  from  this  very 
circumstance  it  has  passed  for  current  among  the  most 
polished  of  the  heathen  nations,  that  a  poet  is  a  person 
Divinely  inspired ;  and  hence  the  epithet  of  Trpo^rjTrjc, 
prophet ,  and  vates ,  of  the  same  import,  was  given  them 
among  the  Greeks  and  Romans. 

2.  The  song  of  Moses  is  a  proof  of  the  miraculous 
passage  of  the  Israelites  through  the  Red  Sea.  There 
has  been  no  period  since  the  Plebrew  nation  left 
Egypt  in  which  this  song  was  not  found  among  them, 
as  composed  on  that  occasion ,  and  to  commemorate 
that  event.  It  may  be  therefore  considered  as  com¬ 
pletely  authentic  as  any  living  witness  could  be  who 
had  himself  passed  through  the  Red  Sea,  and  whose 
life  had  been  protracted  through  all  the  intervening 
ages  to  the  present  day 

3.  We  have  already  seen  that  it  is  a  song  of  triumph 
for  the  deliverance  of  the  people  of  God,  and  that  it 
was  intended  to  point  out  the  final  salvation  and  triumph 
of  the  whole  Church  of  Christ ;  so  that  in  the  heaven 
of  heavens  the  redeemed  of  the  Lord,  both  among  the 
Jews  and  the  Gentiles,  shall  unite  together  to  sing  the 
son g  of  Moses  and  the  song  of  the  Lamb.  See  Rev. 
xv.  2—4.  Reader,  implore  the  mercy  of  God  to  en¬ 
able  thee  to  make  thy  calling  and  election  sure,  that 
thou  mayest  bear  thy  part  in  this  glorious  and  eternal 
triumph. 


EXODUS 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

The  Israelites  journey  from  Elim,  and  come  to  the  wilderness  of  Sin,  1.  They  murmur  for  lack  oj  bread , 
2,  3.  God  promises  to  rain  bread  from  heaven  for  them,  4,  of  ivhich  they  were  to  collect  a  double  portion 
on  the  sixth  day,  5.  A  miraculous  supply  of  flesh  in  the  evening  and  bread  in  the  morning,  promised,  6—9. 
The  glory  of  the  Lord  appears  in  the  cloud,  10.  Flesh  and  bread  promised  as  a  proof  of  God's  care  over 
them,  11,  12.  Quails  come  and  cover  the  whole  camp,  13.  And  a  dew  fell  which  left  a  small  round  sub¬ 
stance  on  the  ground,  which  Moses  tells  them  ivas  the  b'ead  which  God  had  sent,  14,  15.  Directions  for 
gathering  it,  16.  The  Israelites  gather  each  an  omer,  17,  18.  They  are  directed  to  leave  none  of  it  till 
the  next  day,  19;  which  some  neglecting,  it  became  putrid,  20.  They  gather  it  every  morning,  because  it 
melted  when  the  sun  waxed  hot,  21.  Each  person  gathers  two  omers  on  the  sixth  day,  22.  Moses  com¬ 
mands  them  to  keep  the  seventh  as  a  Sabbath  to  the  Lord,  23.  What  was  laid  up  for  the  Sabbath  did  not 
putrefy,  24.  Nothing  of  it  fell  on  that  day,  hence  the  strict  observance  of  the  Sabbath  was  enjoined , 
25—30.  The  Israelites  name  the  substance  that  fell  with  the  dew  manna  ;  its  appearance  and  taste 
described,  3 1 .  An  omer  of  the  manna  is  commanded  to  be  laid  up  for  a  memorial  of  Jehovah's  kindness , 
32-34.  The  manna  now  sent  continued  daily  for  the  space  of  forty  years ,  35.  How  much  an  omer 
contained ,  36. 


A.  M.  2513.  A  ND  they  a  took  their  lourney 

B.  C.  1491.  .TJL  r  f..  .  ..  J  J 

An.  Exod.  Isr.  l.  Irom  Elim,  and  all  the  con- 

ijar  or  Zif.  gregation  of  the  children  of  Is¬ 
rael  came  unto  the  wilderness  of  b  Sin,  which 


aNum.  xxxiii.  10,  11. 

NOTES  ON  CHAP.  XVI. 

Verse  1.  The  wilderness  of  $m]  This  desert  lies 
between  Elim  and  Sinai,  and  from  Elim,  Hr.  Shaw 
says,  Mount  Sinai  can  be  seen  distinctly.  Mr.  Ains- 

378 


is  between  Elim.  and  Sinai,  on  A.  M.  2513. 
the  fifteenth  day  of  the  second  An.  Exod.isr.  1. 
month  after  their  departing  out  jar  or  1 .... 
of  the  land  of  Egypt. 

b  Ezek.  xxx.  15. 

worth  supposes  that  this  wilderness  had  its  name  from 
a  strong  city  of  Egypt  called  Sin,  near  which  it  lay.  See 
Ezek.  xxx.  15,  16.  Before  they  came  to  the  wilder¬ 
ness  of  Sin,  they  had  a  previous  encampment  by  the 


They  murmur  for  lack  of  bread.  CHAP 

A.  M.  2513.  2  And  the  whole  congregation 

An.  Exod.  isrl  i.  of  the  children  of  Israel  c  mur- 

ijaror  Zif.  mured  against  Moses  and  Aaron, 

in  the  wilderness  : 

3  And  the  children  of  Israel  said  unto  them, 
d  Would  to  God  we  had  died  by  the  hand  of 
the  Lord,  in  the  land  of  Egypt,  e  when  we 
sat  by  the  flesh  pots,  and  when  we  did  eat 
bread  to  the  full  ;  for  ye  have  brought  us  forth 
into  this  wilderness,  to  kill  this  whole  assem¬ 
bly  with  hunger. 

4  Then  said  the  Lord  unto  Moses,  Behold, 
I  will  rain  f  bread  from  heaven  for  you ;  and 
the  people  shall  go  out,  and  gather  s  a  certain 
rate  every  day,  that  I  may  h  prove  them,  whether 
they  will  walk  in  my  law,  or  no. 

5  And  it  shall  come  to  pass,  that  on  the 
sixth  day  they  shall  prepare  that  which  they 
bring  in ;  and  1  it  shall  be  twice  as  much  as 
they  gather  daily. 

c  Chap.  xv.  24;  Psa.  cvi.  25  ;  1  Cor.  x  10. - d  Lam.  iv.  9. 

e  Num.  xi.  4,  5. - f  Psa.  lxxviii.  24,  25  ;  cv.  40  ;  John  vi.  31,  32. 

1  Cor.  x.  3. - ?  Heb.  the  portion  of  a  day  in  his  day  ;  Prov.  xxx. 

8 ;  Matt.  vi.  11. - h  Chap.  xv.  25  ;  Deut.  viii.  2,  16. 

Red  Sea  after  they  left  Elim,  of  which  Moses  makes 
distinct  mention  Num.  xxxiii.  10,  11. 

The  fifteenth  day  of  the  second  month ]  This  was 
afterwards  called  Ijar ,  and  they  had  now  left  Egypt 
one  month ,  during  which  it  is  probable  they  lived  on 
the  provisions  they  brought  with  them  from  Rameses, 
though  it  is  possible  they  might  have  had  a  supply 
from  the  sea-coast.  Concerning  Mount  Sinai,  see  the 
note  on  chap.  xix.  1. 

Yerse  2.  The  lohole  congregation — murmured ]  This 
is  an  additional  proof  of  the  degraded  state  of  the 
minds  of  this  people;  see  the  note  on  chap.  xiii.  17. 
And  this  very  circumstance  affords  a  convincing  argu¬ 
ment  that  a  people  so  stupidly  carnal  could  not  have 
been  induced  to  leave  Egypt  had  they  not  been  per¬ 
suaded  so  to  do  by  the  most  evident  and  striking  mira¬ 
cles.  Human  nature  can  never  be  reduced  to  a  more 
abject  state  in  this  world  than  that  in  which  the  body 
is  enthralled  by  political  slavery ,  and  the  soul  de¬ 
based  by  the  influence  of  sin.  These  poor  Hebrews 
were  both  slaves  and  sinners ,  and  were  therefore  capa¬ 
ble  of  the  meanest  and  most  disgraceful  acts. 

Yerse  3.  The  flesh  pots ]  As  the  Hebrews  were  in 
a  state  of  slavery  in  Egypt,  they  were  doubtless  fed 
in  various  companies  by  their  task  masters  in  particu¬ 
lar  places,  where  large  pots  or  boilers  were  fixed  for 
the  purpose  of  cooking  their  victuals.  To  these  there 
maybe  a  reference  in  this  place,  and  the  whole  speech 
only  goes  to  prove  that  they  preferred  their  bondage 
in  Egypt  to  their  present  state  in  the  wilderness ;  for 
they  could  not  have  been  in  a  state  of  absolute  want , 
as  they  had  brought  an  abundance  of  flocks  and  herds 
with  them  out  of  Egypt. 

Yerse  4.  I  will  rain  bread ]  Therefore  this  sub¬ 
stance  was  not  a  production  of  the  desert ;  nor  was 


.  XVI.  Flesh  and  bread  promised. 

6  And  Moses  and  Aaron  said  A.  M.  2513. 

unto  all  the  children  of  Israel,  An.  Exod.  isr.i. 
k  At  even,  then  ye  shall  know  ijar  or  Zif, 

that  the  Lord  hath  brought  you  out  from  the 
land  of  Egypt : 

7  And  in  the  morning,  then  ye  shall  see 
1  the  glory  of  the  Lord  ;  for  that  he  heareth 
your  murmurings  against  the  Lord  :  and 
m  what  are  we,  that  ye  murmur  against  us  ? 

8  And  Moses  said,  This  shall  be  when  the 
Lord  shall  give  you  in  the  evening  flesh  to 
eat,  and  in  the  morning  bread  to  the  full  ;  for 
that  the  Lord  heareth  your  murmuring  which 
ye  murmur  against  him  :  and  what  are  we  ? 
your  murmurings  are  not  against  us,  but 
n  against  the  Lord. 

9  And  Moses  spake  unto  Aaron,  Say  unto 
all  the  congregation  of  the  children  of  Israel, 
0  Come  near  before  the  Lord  :  for  he  hath 
heard  your  murmurings. 

1  See  ver.  22  ;  Lev.  xxv.  21. - k  See  ver.  12, 13  ;  chapter  vi. 

7  ;  Num.  xvi.  28,  29,  30. - 1  See  ver.  10  ;  Isa.  xxxv.  2  ;  xl.  15 ; 

John  xi.  4,  40. - m  Numbers  xvi.  11. - n  See  1  Sam.  viii.  7  ; 

Luke  x.  16;  Rom.  xiii.  2. - °Num.  xvi.  16. 

the  dew  that  was  the  instrument  of  producing  it  com-: 
mon  there,  else  they  must  have  had  this  bread  for  a 
month  before. 

Yerse  6.  Ye  shall  know  that  the  Lord  hath  brought 
you  out\  After  all  the  miracles  they  had  seen  they 
appear  still  to  suppose  that  their  being  brought  out  of 
Egypt  was  the  work  of  Moses  and  Aaron  ;  for  though 
the  miracles .  they  had  already  seen  were  convincing 
for  the  time,  yet  as  soon  as  they  had  passed  by  they 
relapsed  into  their  former  infidelity.  God  therefore 
saw  it  necessary  to  give  them  a  daily  miracle  in  the 
fall  of  the  manna,  that  they  might  have  the  proof  of 
his  Divine  interposition  constantly  before  their  eyes. 
Thus  they  knew  that  Jehovah  had  brought  them  out, 
and  that  it  was  not  the  act  of  Moses  and  Aaron. 

Yerse  7.  Ye  shall  see  the  glory  of  the  Lord ]  Does 
it  not  appear  that  the  glory  of  the  Lord  is  here  spoken 
of  as  something  distinct  from  the  Lord  1  for  it  is  said 
He  (the  glory)  heareth  your  murmurings  against  the 
Lord ;  though  the  Lord  may  be  here  put  for  himself 
the  antecedent  instead  of  the  relative.  This  passage 
may  receive  some  light  from  Heb.  i.  3  :  Who  being 
the  brightness  of  his  glory ,  and  the  express  image  of 
his  person ,  &c.  And  as  St.  Paul’s  words  are  spoken 
of  the  Lord  Jesus,  is  it  not  likely  that  the  words  of 
Moses  refer  to  him  also  1  “No  man  hath  seen  God  at 
any  time hence  we  may  infer  that  Christ  was  the 
visible  agent  in  all  the  extraordinary  and  miraculous 
interferences  which  took  place  both  in  the  patriarchal 
times  and  under  the  law. 

Yerse  8.  In  the  evening  flesh  to  eat ]  Yiz.,  the 
quails;  and  in  the  morning  bread  to  the  full,  viz.,  the 
manna. 

And  what  are  we  ?]  Only  his  servants,  obeying  his 
commands. 


a 


379 


EXODUS. 


The  quails  come  up. 


and  cover  the  camp 


A.  M.  2513.  l  o  And  it  came  to  pass,  as 

B.  C.  1491.  .  ,  ^ 

An.  Exod.lsr.  i.  Aaron  spake  unto  the  whole  con- 

ijar  or  Zif.  gregation  of  the  children  of  Israel, 
that  they  looked  toward  the  wilderness,  and 
behold,  the  glory  of  the  Lord  p  appeared  in 
the  cloud. 

1 1  And  the  Lord  spake  unto  Moses,  saying, 


12  q  I  have  heard  the 


murmunngs 


of  the 


children  of  Israel :  speak  unto  A.  M.  2513 
,  .  .  1  .  ..  B.  C.  1491. 

them,  saying,  r  At  even  ye  shall  An.  Exod.  Isr.  1. 

eat  flesh,  and  s  in  the  morning  ye  Ijar  or  Zlf' 

shall  be  filled  with  bread  ;  and  ye  shall  know 

that  I  am  the  Lord  your  God. 

13  And  it  came  to  pass,  that  at  even  t  the 

quails  came  up,  and  covered  the  camp  :  and  in 

the  morning  u  the  dew  lay  round  about  the  host. 


PVer.  7  ;  chapter  xiii.  21  ;  Num.  xvi.  19;  1  Kings  viii.  10,  11. 
q  Ver.  8. - *'  Ver.  6. 

Your  murmurings  are  not  against  us]  For  ive  have 
not  brought  you  up  from  Egypt ;  but  against  the  Lord , 
who,  by  his  own  miraculous  power  and  goodness,  has 
brought  you  out  of  your  slavery. 

Verse  9.  Come  near  before  the  Lord \  This  has 
been  supposed  to  refer  to  some  particular  place ,  wrhere 
the  Lord  manifested  his  presence.  The  great  taber¬ 
nacle  was  not  yet  built,  but  there  appears  to  have  been 
a  small  tabernacle  or  tent  called  the  Tabernacle  of  the 
Congregation ,  which,  after  the  sin  of  the  golden  calf, 
was  always  placed  without  the  camp  ;  see  chap,  xxxiii. 
7  :  And  Moses  took  the  Tabernacle  and  pitched  it 
without  the  camp ,  afar  off  from  the  camp ,  and  called 
it  The  Tabernacle  of  the  Congregation ;  and  it  came 
to  pass  that  every  one  that  sought  the  Lord  ivent  out 
unto  the  Tabernacle  of  the  Congregation ,  ivhich  was 
without  the  camp.  This  could  not  be  that  portable 
temple  which  is  described  chap,  xxvi.,  &c.,  and  which 
was  not  set  up  till  the  first  day  of  the  first  month  of 
the  second  year,  after  their  departure  from  Egypt, 
(chap,  xl.,)  which  was  upwards  of  ten  months  after 
the  time  mentioned  in  this  chapter ;  and  notwithstand¬ 
ing  this,  the  Israelites  are  commanded  (ver.  34)  to  lay 
up  an  omer  of  the  manna  before  the  testimony ,  which 
certainly  refers  to  an  ark,  tabernacle,  or  some  such 
portable  shrine,  already  in  existence.  If  the  great 
tabernacle  be  intended,  the  whole  account  of  laying  up 
the  manna  must  be  introduced  here  by  anticipation,  Mo¬ 
ses  finishing  the  account  of  what  was  afterwards  done, 
because  the  commencement  of  those  circumstances 
which  comprehended  the  reasons  of  the  fact  itself  took 
place  now.  See  the  note  on  ver.  34. 

But  from  the  reasonings  in  the  preceding  verses  it 
appears  that  much  infidelity  still  reigned  in  the  hearts 
of  the  people  ;  and  in  order  to  convince  them  that  it 
was  God  and  not  Moses  that  had  brought  them  out  of 
Egypt,  he  (Moses)  desired  them  to  come  near ,  or  pay 
particular  attention  to  some  extraordinary  manifestation 
of  the  Lord.  And  we  are  told  in  the  tenth  verse,  that 
“  as  Aaron  spake  unto  them,  they  looked  toward  the 
ivilderness ,  and  behold  the  glory  of  the  Lord  appeared, 
and  the  Lord  spake  unto  Moses,”  &c.  Is  not  this 
passage  explained  by  chap.  xix.  9,  “And  the  Lord 
said  unto  Moses,  Lo,  I  come  unto  thee  in  a  thick  cloud, 
that  the  people  may  hear,  when  I  speak  with  thee,  and 
believe  thee  for  ever  ?”  May  we  not  conclude  that 
Moses  invited  them  to  come  near  before  the  Lord ,  and 
so  witness  his  glory,  that  they  might  be  convinced  it 
was  God  and  not  he  that  led  them  out  of  Egypt,  and 
that  they  ought  to  submit  to  him,  and  cease  from  their 
xaurmurings  1  It  is  said,  chap.  xix.  17,  that  Moses 

380 


s  Verse  7. - lumbers  xi.  31  ;  Psalm  lxxviii.  27,  28  ;  cv.  40. 

u  Num.  xi.  9. 

brought  forth  the  people  out  of  the  camp  to  meet  with 
God.  And  in  this  instance  there  might  have  been  a 
similar  though  less  awful  manifestation  of  the  Divine 
presence. 

Verse  10.  As  Aaron  spake]  So  he  now  became 
the  spokesman  or  minister  of  Moses  to  the  Hebrews, 
as  he  had  been  before  unto  Pharaoh ;  according  to 
what  is  written,  chap.  vii.  1,  &c. 

Verse  13.  At  even  the  quails  came]  'hw  selav,  from 
nSiy  salah,  to  be  quiet,  easy,  or  secure ;  and  hence  the 
quail,  from  their  remarkably  living  at  ease  and  plenty 
among  the  corn.  “  An  amazing  number  of  these 
birds,”  says  Hasselquist,  Travels,  p.  209,  “come  to 
Egypt  at  this  time,  (March,)  for  in  this  month  the 
wheat  ripens.  They  conceal  themselves  among  the 
corn,  but  the  Egyptians  knowT  that  they  are  thieves, 
and  when  they  imagine  the  field  to  be  full  of  them  they 
spread  a  net  over  the  corn  and  make  a  noise,  by  which 
the  birds,  being  frightened,  and  endeavouring  to  rise, 
are  caught  in  the  net  in  great  numbers,  and  make  a 
most  delicate  and  agreeable  dish.”  The  Abbe  Pluche 
tells  us,  in  his  Histoire  du  Ciel,  that  the  quail  was 
among  the  ancient  Egyptians  the  emblem  of  safety  and 
security. 

“  Several  lea.rned  men,  particularly  the  famous  Lu~ 
dolf  Bishop  Patrick,  and  Scheuchzer,  have  supposed 
that  the  lhSs?  selavim  eaten  by  the  Israelites  were 
locusts.  But  not  to  insist  on  other  arguments  against 
this  interpretation,  they  are  expressly  called  1X1?  sheer, 
flesh,  Psalm  lxxviii.  27, which  surely  locusts  are  not; 
and  the  Hebrew  word  is  constantly  rendered  by  the 
Septuagint  opTvyoyr/rpa,  a  large  kind  of  quail,  and  by 
the  Vulgate  coturnices,  quails.  Compare  Wisd.  xvi.  2, 
xix.  12  ;  Num.  xi.  31,  32  ;  Psa.  cv.  40  ;  and  on  Num. 
xi.  observe  that  DTlDiO  keamathayim  should  be  ren¬ 
dered,  not  two  cubits  high,  but  as  Mr.  Bate  translates 
it,  1  two  cubits  distant,  (i.  e.,  one  from  the  other,)  for 
quails  do  not  settle  like  the  locusts  one  upon  another, 
but  at  small  distances.’  And  had  the  quails  lain  for  a 
day’s  journey  round  the  camp,  to  the  great  height  of 
two  cubits,  upwards  of  three  feet,  the  people  could  not 
have  been  employed  two  days  and  a  night  in  gathering 
them.  The  spreading  them  round  the  camp  was  in 
order  to  dry  them  in  the  burning  sands  for  use,  which 
is  still  practised  in  Egypt.”  See  Parkhurst,  sub  voce 
nVtf  salah. 

The  difficulties  which  encumber  the  text,  supposing 
these  to  be  quails,  led  Bishop  Patrick  to  imagine  them 
to  be  locusts.  The  difficulties  are  three  :  “  1 .  Their 
coming  by  a  wind.  2.  Their  immense  quantities, 
covering  a  circle  of  thirty  or  forty  miles,  two  cubits 


Manna  descends  upon  the 

A.  M.  2513.  14  And  when  the  dew  that  lav 

B.  C.  1491.  -i  i  u  . J 

An.  Exod.  isr.  l.  was  gone  up,  behold,  upon  the 

_ Ijaror  Zlfl  face  of  the  wilderness  there 

vNum.  xi.  7  ;  Deut.  viii.  3  ;  Neh.  ix.  15; 

thick.  3.  Their  being  spread  in  the  sun  for  drying, 
which  would  have  been  preposterous  had  they  been 
quails,  for  it  would  have  made  them  corrupt  the 
sooner  ;  hut  this  is  the  principal  way  of  preparing 
locusts  to  keep  for  a  month  or  more,  wh£n  they  are 
boiled  or  otherwise  dressed.”  This  difficulty  he  thinks 
interpreters  pass  over,  who  suppose  quails  to  be  in¬ 
tended  in  the  text.  Mr.  Harmer  takes  up  the  subject, 
removes  the  bishop’s  difficulties,  and  vindicates  the 
common  version. 

“  These  difficulties  appear  pressing,  or  at  least  the 
two  last  ;  nevertheless,  I  have  met  with  several  pas¬ 
sages  in  books  of  travels,  which  I  shall  here  give  an 
account  of,  that  they  may  soften  them ;  perhaps  my 
reader  may  think  they  do  more. 

u  No  interpreters,  the  bishop  complains,  supposing 
they  were  quails,  account  for  the  spreading  them  out 
in  the  sun.  Perhaps  they  have  not.  Let  me  then 
translate  a  passage  of  Maillet,  which  relates  to  a  little 
island  which  covers  one  of  the  ports  of  Alexandria : 

‘  It  is  on  this  island,  which  lies  farther  into  the  sea 
than  the  main  land  of  Egypt,  that  the  birds  annually 
alight  which  come  hither  for  refuge  in  autumn,  in 
order  to  avoid  the  severity  of  the  cold  of  our  winters 
in  Europe.  There  is  so  large  a  quantity  of  all  sorts 
taken  there,  that  after  these  little  birds  have  been  strip¬ 
ped  of  their  feathers,  and  buried  in  the  burning  sands 
for  about  half  a  quarter  of  an  hour,  they  are  worth  but 
two  sols  the  pound.  The  crews  of  those  vessels  which 
in  that  season  lie  in  the  harbour  of  Alexandria,  have 
no  other  meat  allowmd  them.’  Among  other  refugees 
of  that  time,  Maillet  elsewhere  expressly  mentions 
quails,  which  are,  therefore,  I  suppose,  treated  after 
this  manner.  This  passage  then  does  what,  according 
to  the  bishop,  no  commentator  has  done  ;  it  explains 
the  design  of  spreading  these  creatures,  supposing  they 
were  quails,  round  about  the  camp  ;  it  was  to  dry  them 
in  the  burning  sands  in  order  to  preserve  them  for  use. 
So  Maillet  tells  us  of  their  drying  fish  in  the  sun  of 
Egypt,  as  well  as  of  their  preserving  others  by  means 
of  pickle.  Other  authors  speak  of  the  Arabs  drying 
camel’s  flesh  in  the  sun  and  wind,  which,  though  it  be 
not  at  all  salted,  will  if  kept  dry  remain  good  a  long 
while,  and  which  oftentimes,  to  save  themselves  the 
trouble  of  dressing,  they  will  eat  raw.  This  is  what 
St.  Jerome  may  be  supposed  to  refer  to,  when  he  calls 
the  food  of  the  Arabs  carries  semicrudcc.  This  dry¬ 
ing  then  of  flesh  in  the  sun  is  not  so  preposterous  as 
the  bishop  imagined.  On  the  other  hand,  none  of  the 
authors  that  speak  of  their  way  of  preserving  locusts 
in  the  east,  so  far  as  I  at  present  recollect,  give  any 
account  of  drying  them  in  the  sun.  They  are,  accord¬ 
ing  to  Pellow,  first  purged  with  water  and  salt,  boiled 
in  new  pickle,  and  then  laid  up  in  dry  salt.  So,  Dr. 
Russel  says,  the  Arabs  eat  these  insects  when  fresh, 
and  also  salt  them  up  as  a  delicacy.  Their  immense 
quantities  also  forbid  the  bishop’s  believing  they  were 
quails ;  and  in  truth  he  represents  this  difficulty  in  all 


face  of  the  wilderness, 
lay  T  a  small  round  thing1,  as  a.  m.  2513. 

J  °  B  C  1491 

small  as  the  hoar  frost  on  the  An.  Exoa.  isr!  l. 

ground.  1Jaror  zif- 

Psa.  lxxviii.  24  ;  cv.  40  ;  Wisd.  xvi.  20. 

its  force,  perhaps  too  forcibly.  A  circle  of  forty  mile3 
in  diameter,  all  covered  with  quails  to  the  depth  of 
more  than  forty-three  inches,  without  doubt  is  a  start¬ 
ling  representation  of  this  matter  :  and  I  would  beg 
leave  to  add  that  the  like  quantity  of  locusts  would 
have  been  very  extraordinary  :  but  then  this  is  not  the 
representation  of  Scripture ;  it  does  not  even  agree 
with  it ;  for  such  a  quantity  of  either  quails  or  locusts 
would  have  made  the  clearing  of  places  for  spreading 
them  out,  and  the  passing  of  Israel  up  and  down  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  the  camp,  very  fatiguing,  which  is 
not  supposed. 

“  Josephus  supposed  they  were  quails,  which  he  says 
are  in  greater  numbers  thereabouts  than  any  other  kinds 
of  birds  ;  and  that,  having  crossed  the  sea  to  the  camp 
of  Israel,  they  who  in  common  fly  nearer  the  ground 
than  most  other  birds,  flew  so  low  through  the  fatigue 
of  their  passage  as  to  be  within  reach  of  the  Israelites. 
This  explains  what  he  thought  was  meant  by  the  two 
cubits  from  the  face  of  the  earth — their  flying  within 
three  or  four  feet  of  the  ground. 

“  And  when  I  read  Dr.  Shaw’s  account  of  the  way 
in  which  the  Arabs  frequently  catch  birds  that  they 
have  tired,  that  is,  by  running  in  upon  them  and  knock¬ 
ing  them  down  with  their  zerwattys ,  or  bludgeons,  as 
we  should  call  them,  I  think  I  almost  see  the  Israelites 
before  me  pursuing  the  poor,  fatigued,  and  languid 
quails. 

“This  is  indeed  a  laborious  method  of  catching  these 
birds,  and  not  that  which  is  now  used  in  Egypt ;  for 
Egmont  and  Heyman  tell  us,  that  in  a  walk  on  the 
shore  of  Egypt  they  saw  a  sandy  plain  several  leagues 
in  extent,  and  covered  with  reeds  without  the  least  ver¬ 
dure  ;  between  which  reeds  they  saw  many  nets  laid 
for  catching  quails,  which  come  over  in  large  flights 
from  Europe  during  the  month  of  September.  If  the 
ancient  Egyptians  made  use  of  the  same  method  of 
catching  quails  that  they  now  practise  on  those  shores, 
yet  Israel  in  the  wilderness,  without  these  conveniences, 
must  of  course  make  use  of  that  more  inartificial  and 
laborious  way  of  catching  them.  The  Arabs  of  Bar¬ 
bary,  who  have  not  many  conveniences,  do  the  same 
thing  still. 

“  Bishop  Patrick  supposes  a  day’s  journey  to  be  six¬ 
teen  or  twenty  miles,  and  thence  draws  his  circle  with 
a  radius  of  that  length ;  but  Dr.  Shaw,  on  another  oc¬ 
casion,  makes  a  day’s  journey  but  ten  miles,  which 
would  make  a  circle  but  of  twenty  miles  in  diameter : 
and  as  the  text  evidently  designs  to  express  it  very  in¬ 
determinately,  as  it  were  a  day's  journey ,  it  might  be 
much  less. 

“  But  it  does  not  appear  to  me  at  all  necessary  to 
suppose  the  text  intended  their  covering  a  circular  or 
nearly  a  circular  spot  of  ground,  but  only  that  these 
creatures  appeared  on  both  sides  of  the  camp  of  Israel, 
about  a  day’s  journey.  The  same  word  is  used  Exod. 
vii.  24,  where  roundabout  can  mean  only  on  each  side 
of  the  Nile.  And  so  it  may  be  a  little  illustrated  by 

381 


CHAP.  XVI. 


The  Israelites  see  the  manna, 


EXODUS. 


hut  know  nolwhat  it  is. 


A.  M.  2513. 

B.  C.  1491. 
An.  Exod.  Isr.  1. 

Ijar  or  Zif. 


1 5  And  when  the  children 
of  Israel  saw  it,  they  said 
one  to  another,  w  It  is  manna  : 


for  thev  wist  not  what  it  was.  A.  M.  2513. 

J  B.  C.  1491. 

And  Moses  said  unto  them,  An.  Exod.  isr.' 1 

x  This  is  the  bread  which  the  .  ljar  or  Zlf‘ 


w  Or,  What  is  this  ?  or,  it  is  a  portion. 


x  John  vi.  31,  49,  58  ;  1  Cor.  x.  3. 


what  Dr.  Shaw  tells  us  of  the  three  flights  of  storks 
which  he  saw,  when  at  anchor  under  the  Mount  Car¬ 
mel,  some  of  which  were  more  scattered,  others  more 
compact  and  close,  each  of  which  took  up  more  than 
three  hours  in  passing,  and  extended  itself  more  than 
half  a  mile  in  breadth.  Had  this  flight  of  quails  been 
no  greater  than  these,  it  might  have  been  thought,  like 
them,  to  have  been  accidental ;  but  so  unusual  a  flock 
as  to  extend  fifteen  or  twenty  miles  in  breadth,  and  to 
be  two  days  and  one  night  in  passing,  and  this,  in  con¬ 
sequence  of  the  declaration  of  Moses,  plainly  deter¬ 
mined  that  the  finger  of  God  was  there. 

“  A  third  thing  which  was  a  difficulty  with  the  bishop 
was  their  being  brought  with  the  wind.  A  hot  south¬ 
erly  wind,  it  is  supposed,  brings  the  locusts ;  and  why 
quails  might  not  be  brought  by  the  instrumentality  of 
a  like  wind,  or  what  difficulty  there  is  in  that  supposi¬ 
tion,  I  cannot  imagine.  As  soon  as  the  cold  is  felt  in 
Europe,  Maillet  tells  us,  turtles,  quails,  and  other  birds 
come  to  Egypt  in  great  numbers  ;  but  he  observed  that 
their  numbers  were  not  so  large  in  those  years  in  which 
the  winters  were  favourable  in  Europe  ;  from  whence 
he  conjectured  that  it  is  rather  necessity  than  habit 
which  causes  them  to  change  their  climate  :  if  so,  it 
appears  that  it  is  the  increasing  heat  that  causes  their 
return,  and  consequently  that  the  hot  sultry  wands  from 
the  south  must  have  a  great  effect  upon  them,  to  direct 
their  flight  northwards. 

“  It  is  certain  that  it  is  about  the  time  that  the  south 
wind  begins  to  blow  in  Egypt,  which  is  in  April,  that 
many  of  these  migratory  birds  return.  Maillet,  who 
joins  quails  and  turtles  together,  and  says  that  they  ap¬ 
pear  in  Egypt  when  the  cold  begins  to  be  felt  in  Eu¬ 
rope,  does  not  indeed  tell  us  when  they  return  :  but 
Thevenot  may  be  said  to  do  it ;  for  after  he  had  told 
his  reader  that  they  catch  snipes  in  Egypt  from  January 
to  March,  he  adds  that  in  May  they  catch  turtles,  and 
that  the  turtles  return  again  in  September  ;  now  as  they 
go  together  southward  in  September,  we  may  believe 
they  return  again  northward  much  about  the  same  time. 
Agreeably  to  which,  Russel  tells  us  that  quails  appear 
in  abundance  about  Aleppo  in  spring  and  autumn. 

“  If  natural  history  were  more  perfect  we  might 
speak  to  this  point  writh  great  distinctness ;  at  present, 
however,  it  is  so  far  from  being  an  objection  to  their 
being  quails  that  their  coming  w7as  caused  by  a  wind, 
that  nothing  is  more  natural.  The  same  wind  wmuld 
in  course  occasion  sickness  and  mortality  among  the 
Israelites,  at  least  it  does  so  in  Egypt.  The  miracu¬ 
lousness  then  in  this  story  does  not  lie  in  their  dying, 
but  the  prophet’s  foretelling  with  exactness  the  coming 
of  that  wind,  and  in  the  prodigious  numbers  of  the 
quails  that  came  with  it,  together  with  the  unusualness 
of  the  place,  perhaps,  where  they  alighted. 

“  Nothing  more  remains  to  be  considered  but  the 
gathering  so  large  a  quantity  as  ten  omers  by  those 
that  gathered  fewest.  But  till  that  quantity  is  more 
precisely  ascertained,  it  is  sufficient  to  remark  that  this 

382 


is  only  affirmed  of  those  expert  sportsmen  among  the 
people,  who  pursued  the  game  two  whole  days  and  a 
whole  night  without  intermission ;  and  of  them,  and 
of  them  only,  I  presume  it  is  to  be  understood  that  he 
that  gathered  fewest  gathered  ten  omers.  Hasselquist, 
who  frequently  expresses  himself  in  the  most  dubious 
manner  in  relation  to  these  animals,  at  other  times  is 
very  positive  that,  if  they  were  birds  at  all,  they  were 
a  species  of  the  quail  different  from  ours,  which  he 
describes  as  very  much  resembling  the  ‘  red  partridge, 
but  as  not  being  larger  than  the  turtle-dove.’  To  this 
he  adds,  that  1  the  Arabians  carry  thousands  of  them 
to  Jerusalem  about  Whitsuntide,  to  sell  there,’  p.  442. 
In  another  place  he  tells  us  ‘  it  is  found  in  Judea  as 
well  as  in  Arabia  Petraea,  and  that  he  found  it  between 
Jordan  and  Jericho,’  p.  203.  One  would  imagine  that 
Hasselquist  means  the  scata,  which  is  described  by  Dr. 
Russel,  vol.  ii.,  p.  194,  and  which  he  represents  as 
brought  to  market  at  Aleppo  in  great  numbers  in  May 
and  June,  though  they  are  to  be  met  with  in  all  seasons. 

“  A  whole  ass-load  of  them,  he  informs  us,  has  often 
been  taken  at  once  shutting  a  clasping  net,  in  the  above- 
mentioned  months,  they  are  in  such  plenty.” — Harmer, 
vol  iv.,  p.  367. 

Yerse  14.  Behold,  upon  the  face  of  the  wilderness 
there  lay  a  small  round  thing ]  It  appears  that  this  small 
round  thing  fell  with  the  dew,  or  rather  the  dew  fell 
first,  and  this  substance  fell  on  it.  The  dew  might 
have  been  intended  to  cool  the  ground,  that  the  manna 
on  its  fall  might  not  be  dissolved ;  for  wrn  find  from 
ver.  21,  that  the  heat  of  the  sun  melted  it.  The  ground 
therefore  being  sufficiently  cooled  by  the  dew,  the 
manna  lay  unmelted  long  enough  for  the  Israelites  to 
collect  a  sufficient  quantity  for  their  daily  use. 

Yerse  15.  They  said  one  to  another,  It  is  manna  : 
for  they  wist  not  what  it  was.]  This  is  a  most  unfor¬ 
tunate  translation,  because  it  not  only  gives  no  sense, 
but  it  contradicts  itself.  The  Hebrew  N1H  p  man  hu , 
literally  signifies,  What  is  this  l  for,  says  the  text,  they 
wist  not  what  it  was,  and  therefore  they  could  not  give 
it  a  name.  Moses  immediately  answers  the  question, 
and  says,  This  is  the  bread  which  the  Lord  hath  given 
you  to  eat.  From  ver.  3 1  we  learn  that  this  substance 
was  afterwards  called  p  man,  probably  in  commemo¬ 
ration  of  the  question  they  had  asked  on  its  first  ap¬ 
pearance.  Almost  all  our  own  ancient  versions  trans¬ 
late  the  words,  What  is  this  ? 

What  this  substance  was  we  know  not.  It  was 
nothing  that  was  common  to  the  wilderness.  It  is 
evident  the  Israelites  never  saw  it  before,  for  Moses 
says,  Deut.  viii.  3,  16  :  He  fed  thee  with  manna  which 
thou  knevoest  not,  neither  did  thy  fathers  know  ;  and 
it  is  very  likely  that  nothing  of  the  kind  had  ever  been 
seen  before  ;  and  by  a  pot  of  it  being  laid  up  in  the 
ark,  it  is  as  likely  that  nothing  of  the  kind  ever  ap¬ 
peared  more,  after  the  miraculous  supply  in  the  wilder¬ 
ness  had  ceased.  It  seems  to  haye  been  created  for 
the  present  occasion,  and,  like  Him  whom  it  typified, 

a 


CHAP.  XVI. 


Directions  jor  gathering  it, 

A.  M.  2513.  Lord  hath  given  you  to  eat. 

An.  Exod.  isr!  i.  16  This  is  the  thing  which 
i jar  or  Zif.  Lord  hath  commanded, 

Gather  of  it  every  man  according  to  his  eat¬ 
ing,  y  an  omcr  z  for  every  man,  according  to 
the  number  of  your  a  persons  ;  take  ye  every 
man  for  them  which  are  in  his  tents. 

17  And  the  children  of  Israel  did  so,  and 
gathered,  some  more,  some  less. 

18  And  when  they  did  mete  it  with  an  omer, 

y  Ver.  36. - z  Heb.  by  the  poll,  or  head. 

to  have  been  the  only  thing  of  the  hind,  the  only  bread 
from  heaven,  which  God  ever  gave  to  preserve  the  life 
of  man,  as  Christ  is  the  true  bread  that  came  down 
from  heaven,  and  was  given  for  the  life  of  the  world. 
See  John  vi.  31—58. 

Yerse  16.  An  omer  for  every  mcni]  I  shall  here 
once  for  all  give  a  short  account  of  the  measures  of 
capacity  among  the  Hebrews. 

Omer,  DDJ?,  from  the  root  amar ,  to  press ,  squeeze, 
collect ,  and  bind  together ;  hence  a  sheaf  of  corn — a 
multitude  of  stalks  pressed  together.  It  is  supposed 
that  the  omer ,  which  contained  about  three  quarts 
English,  had  its  name  from  this  circumstance  ;  that  it 
was  the  most  contracted  or  the  smallest  measure  of 
things  dry  known  to  the  ancient  Hebrews  ;  for  the  Dp 
hab,  which  was  less,  was  not  known  till  the  reign  of 
Jehoram,  king  of  Israel,  2  Kings  vi.  25. — Parkhurst. 

The  ephah,  r!3X  or  HTX  eiphah,  from  HDX  aphah, 
to  bake,  because  this  was  probably  the  quantity  which 
was  baked  at  one  time.  According  to  Bishop  Cum¬ 
berland  the  ephah  contained  seven  gallons,  two  quarts, 
and  about  half  a  pint,  wine  measure  ;  and  as  the  omer 
was  the  tenth  part  of  the  ephah ,  ver.  36,  it  must  have 
contained  about  six  pints  English. 

The  kab,  Dp,  is  said  to  have  contained  about  the  sixth 
part  of  a  seah,  or  three  pints  and  one  third  English. 

The  homer,  “nn  chomer,  mentioned  Lev.  xxvii.  16, 
was  quite  a  different  measure  from  that  above,  and  is 
a  different  word  in  the  Hebrew.  The  chomer  was 
the  largest  measure  of  capacity  among  the  Hebrews, 
being  equal  to  ten  baths  or  ephahs,  amounting  to  about 
eventy-five  gallons,  three  pints ,  English.  See  Ezek. 
xlv.  11,  13,  14.  Goodwin  supposes  that  this  measure 
derived  its  name  from.  Ton  chamor,  an  ass,  being  the 
ordinary  load  of  that  animal. 

The  bath,  JlD,  was  the  largest  measure  of  capacity 
next  to  the  homer ,  of  whifih  it  was  the  tenth  part. 
It  was  the  same  as  the  ephah,  and  consequently  con¬ 
tained  about  seven  gallons,  two  quarts,  and  half  a 
pint,  and  is  always  used  in  Scripture  as  a  measure  of 
liquids. 

The  seah,  HXD,  was  a  measure  of  capacity  for  things 
dry,  equal  to  about  two  gallons  and  a  half  English. 
See  2  Kings  vii.  1,  16,  18. 

The  hin,  jTl,  according  to  Bishop  Cumberland,  was 
the  one-sixth  part  of  an  ephah ,  and  contained  a  little 
more  than  one  gallon  and  two  pints.  See  Exod. 
xxix.  40. 

The  log,  ;S,  was  the  smallest  measure  of  capacity 


which  some  disobey. 

h  he  that  gathered  much  had  a.  m.  2513. 
nothing  over,  and  he  that  gather-  An.  Exod.  Isr.’  1 
ed  little  had  no  lack  ;  they  gather-  ijar  or  Zif. 

ed  every  man  according  to  his  eating. 

19  And  Moses  said,  Let  no  man  leave  of  it 
till  the  morning. 

20  Notwithstanding  they  hearkened  not  unto 
Moses  ;  but  some  of  them  left  of  it  until  the 
morning,  and  it  bred  worms,  and  stank  :  and 
Moses  was  wroth  with  them. 

a  Heb.  souls. - b2  Cor.  viii.  15. 

for  liquids  among  the  Hebrews  :  it  contained  about 
three  quarters  of  a  pint.  See  Lev.  xiv.  10,  12. 

Take  ye — for  them  which  are  in  his  tents.\  Some 
might  have  been  confined  in  their  tents  through  sick¬ 
ness  or  infirmity,  and  charity  required  that  those  who 
were  in  health  should  gather  a  portion  for  them.  For 
though  the  psalmist  says,  Psa.  cv.  37,  There  was  not 
one  feeble  person  among  their  tribes,  this  must  refer 
principally  to  their  healthy  state  when  brought  out  of 
Egypt ;  for  it  appears  that  there  were  many  infirm 
among  them  when  attacked  by  the  Amalekites.  See 
the  note  on  chap.  xvii.  8. 

Verse  17.  Some  more,  some  Ze.ss.]  According  to 
their  respective  families,  an  omer  for  a  man  ;  and  ac¬ 
cording  to  the  number  of  infirm  persons,  whose  wants 
they  undertook  to  supply. 

Yerse  18.  He  that  gathered  much  had  nothing  over ] 
Because  his  gathering  was  in  proportion  to  the  number 
of  persons  for  whom  he  had  to  provide.  And  some 
having  fewer,  others  more  in  family,  and  the  gathering 
being  in  proportion  to  the  persons  who  were  to  eat  of 
it,  therefore  he  that  gathered  much  had  nothing  over, 
and  he  that  gathered  little  had  no  lack.  Probably 
every  man  gathered  as  much  as  he  could  ;  and  then 
when  brought  home  and  measured  by  an  omer,  if  he 
had  a  surplus,  it  went  to  supply  the  wants  of  some 
other  family,  that  had  not  been  able  to  collect  a  suffi¬ 
ciency,  the  family  being  large,  and  the  time  in  which 
the  manna  might  be  gathered,  before  the  heat  of  the 
day,  not  being  sufficient  to  collect  enough  for  so  nume¬ 
rous  a  household,  several  of  whom  might  be  so  con¬ 
fined  as  not  to  be  able  to  collect  for  themselves.  Thus 
there  was  an  equality,  and  in  this  light  the  words  of 
St.  Paul,  2  Cor.  viii.  15,  lead  us  to  view  the  passage. 
Here  the  36th  verse  should  come  in  :  Now  an  omer  is 
the  tenth  part  of  an  ephah. 

Yerse  19.  Let  no  man  leave  of  it  till  the  morning .] 
For  God  would  have  them  to  take  no  thought  for  the 
morrow,  and  constantly  to  depend  on  him  for  their 
daily  bread.  And  is  not  that  petition  in  our  Lord’s 
prayer  founded  on  this  very  circumstance,  Give  us  day 
by  day  our  daily  bread  ? 

Yerse  20.  It  bred  toorms ]  Their  sinful  curiosity 
and  covetousness  led  them  to  make  the  trial ;  and  they 
had  a  mass  of  the  most  loathsome  putrefaction  for  their 
pains.  How  gracious  is  God  !  He  is  continually  ren¬ 
dering  disobedience  and  sin  irksome  to  the  transgressor; 
that  finding  his  evil  ways  to  be  unprofitable,  he  may 
I  return  to  his  Maker,  and  trust  in  God  alone. 

383 


a 


The  Lord  commands  the 


EXODUS. 


a.  M.  2513.  2 1  And  they  gathered  it  every 

An.  Exod.  isr.  l.  morning,  every  man  according  to 
Ijar  or  Zif.  eaj-jng  .  anc[  w}16n  the  SU11 

waxed  hot,  it  melted. 

22  And  it  came  to  pass,  that  on  the  sixth 
day  they  gathered  twice  as  much  bread,  two 
omers  for  one  man :  and  all  the  rulers  of  the 
congregation  came  and  told  Moses. 

23  And  he  said  unto  them,  This  is  that 
which  the  Lord  hath  said,  To-morrow  is  c  the 
rest  of  the  holy  Sabbath  unto  the  Lord  :  bake 
that  which  ye  will  bake  to-day ,  and  seethe 
that  ye  will  seethe  ;  and  that  which  remaineth 
over,  lay  up  for  you  to  be  kept  until  the 
morning. 

24  And  they  laid  it  up  till  the  morning,  as 
Moses  bade  ;  and  it  did  not  d  stink,  neither 
was  there  any  worm  therein. 

c  Gen.  ii.  3  ;  chapter  xx.  8  ;  xxxi.  15  ;  xxxv.  3 ;  Lev.  xxiii.  3. 

J  Ver.  20. 


Verse  22.  On  the  sixth  day  they  gathered  twice  as 
much ]  This  they  did  that  they  might  have  a  provision 
for  the  Sabbath,  for  on  that  day  no  manna  fell,  ver. 
26,  27.  What  a  convincing  miracle  was  this  !  No 
manna  fell  on  the  Sabbath!  Had  it  been  a  -natural 
production  it  would  have  fallen  on  the  Sabbath  as  at 
other  times  ;  and  had  there  not  been  a  supernatural 
influence  to  keep  it  sweet  and  pure,  it  would  have 
been  corrupted  on  the  Sabbath  as  well  as  on  other 
days.  By  this  series  of  miracles  God  showed  his 
own  power,  presence,  and  goodness,  1.  In  sending  the 
manna  on  each  of  the  six  days  ;  2.  In  sending  none  on 
the  seventh,  or  Sabbath  ;  3.  In  preserving  it  from  pu¬ 
trefaction  when  laid  up  for  the  use  of  that  day ,  though  it 
infallibly  corrupted  if  kept  over  night  on  any  other  day. 

Verse  23.  To-morrow  is  the  rest  of  the  holy  Sabbath \ 
There  is  nothing  either  in  the  text  or  context  that  seems 
to  intimate  that  the  Sabbath  was  now  first  given  to  the 
Israelites,  as  some  have  supposed  :  on  the  contrary,  it 
is  here  spoken  of  as  being  perfectly  well  known,  from 
its  having  been  generally  observed.  The  command¬ 
ment,  it  is  true,  may  be  considered  as  being  now  re¬ 
newed ;  because  they  might  have  supposed  that  in 
their  unsettled  state  in  the  wilderness  they  might  have 
been  exempted  from  the  observance  of  it.  Thus  we 
find,  1.  That  when  God  finished  his  creation,  he  insti¬ 
tuted  the  Sabbath  ;  2.  When  he  brought  the  people  out 
of  Egypt,  he  insisted  on  the  strict  observance  of  it  ; 
3.  When  he  gave  the  LAW,  he  made  it  a  tenth  part 
of  the  whole,  such  importance  has  this  institution  in 
the  eyes  of  the  Supreme  Being  !  On  the  supposed 
change  of  the  Sabbath  from  what  we  call  Sunday  to 
Saturday ,  effected  on  this  occasion,  see  the  note  on 
Heut.  v.  15. 

Verse  29.  Abide  ye  every  man  in  his  place']  Neither 
go  out  to  seek  manna  nor  for  any  other  purpose ;  rest 
at  home  and  devote  your  time  to  religious  exercises. 
Several  of  the  Jews  understood  by  place  in  the  text, 

384 


Sabbath  to  be  sanctified 

25  And  Moses  said,  Eat  that  A.  M.  2513. 

,  r  .  .  ’  .  .  ,  B.  C.  1491. 

to-day;  lor  to-day  is  a  babbatn  An.  Exod. isr.  1. 

unto  the  Lord  :  to-day  ye  shall  Ijar  or  Zif. 
not  find  it  in  the  field. 

26  e  Six  days  ye  shall  gather  it ;  but  on  the 
seventh  day,  which  is  the  Sabbath,  in  it  there 
shall  be  Done. 

27  And  it  came  to  pass,  that  there  went  out 
some  of  the  people  on  the  seventh  day  for  to 
gather,  and  they  found  none. 

28  And  the  Lord  said  unto  Moses,  How 
long  f  refuse  ye  to  keep  my  commandments 
and  my  laws  ? 

29  See,  for  that  the  Lord  hath  given  you 
the  Sabbath,  therefore  he  giveth  you  on  the 
sixth  day  the  bread  of  two  days  ;  abide  ye 
every  man  in  his  place  ;  let  no  man  go  out  of 
his  place  on  the  seventh  day. 

e  Chapter  xx.  9,  10. - f  2  Kings  xvii.  14 ;  Psalm  lxxviii. 

10,  22  ;  cvi.  13. 


the  camp ,  and  have  generally  supposed  that  no  man 
should  go  out  of  the  place,  i.  e.,  the  city,  town,  or  vil¬ 
lage  in  which  he  resides,  any  farther  than  one  thousand 
cubits,  about  an  English  mile,  which  also  is  called  a 
Sabbath  day's  journey ,  Acts  i.  12  ;  and  so  many  cu¬ 
bits  they  consider  the  space  round  the  city  that  consti¬ 
tutes  its  suburbs,  which  they  draw  from  Num.  xxxv. 
3,  4.  Some  of  the  Jews  have  carried  the  rigorous 
observance  of  the  letter  of  this  law  to  such  a  length, 
that  in  whatever  posture  they  find  themselves  on  the 
Sabbath  morning  when  they  awake,  they  continue  in 
the  same  during  the  day  ;  or  should  they  be  up  and 
happen  to  fall,  they  refuse  even  to  rise  till  the  Sabbath 
be  ended  !  Mr.  Stapleton  tells  a  story  of  one  Rabbi 
Solomon,  who  fell  into  a  slough  on  the  Jewish  Sab¬ 
bath,  Saturday,  and  refused  to  be  pulled  out,  giving  his 
reason  in  the  following  Leonine  couplet : — 

Sabbatha  sancta  colo,  De  stercore  surgere  nolo . 

“  Out  of  this  slough  I  will  not  rise, 

For  holy  Sabbath  day  I  prize.” 

The  Christians,  finding  him  thus  disposed,  deter¬ 
mined  he  should  honour  their  Sabbath  in  the  same 
place,  and  actually  kept  the  poor  man  in  the  slough  all 
Sunday ,  giving  their  reasons  in  nearly  the  same  way : — - 

Sabbatha  nostra  quidetn,  Solomon ,  celebrabis  ibidem. 

“  In  the  same  slough,  thou  stubborn  Jew, 

Our  Sabbath  day  thou  shalt  spend  too.” 

This  might  have  served  to  convince  him  of  his  folly, 
but  certainly  was  not  the  likeliest  way  to  convert  him 
to  Christianity. 

Fabyan,  in  his  Chronicles ,  tells  the  following  story 
of  a  case  of  this  kind.  “  In  this  yere  also  (1259) 
fell  that  happe  of  the  Iewe  of  Tewkysbury,  which 
fell  into  a  gonge  upon  the  Satyrday,  and  wolde  not 
for  reverence  of  his  sabbot  day  be  pluckyd  out ; 
whereof  heryng  the  Erie  of  Gloucetyr,  that  the  Iewe 

a 


Moses  is  commanded  to 


CHAP.  XVI. 


A.  M.  2513.  30  So  the  people  rested  on  the 

An.  Exod.  Isr.  l.  seventh  day. 

ijar  or  Zif.  g  ^  And  the  house  of  Israel 

called  the  name  thereof  Manna  :  and  g  it  ivas 
like  coriander  seed,  white  ;  and  the  taste  of  it 
was  like  wafers  made  with  honey. 

32  And  Moses  said,  This  is  the  thing  which 
the  Lord  commandeth,  Fill  an  omer  of  it  to 
be  kept  for  your  generations  ;  that  they  may 
see  the  bread  wherewith  I  have  fed  you  in 
the  wilderness,  when  I  brought  you  forth  from 
the  land  of  Egypt. 

eNum.  xi.  7,  8. - hHeb.  ix.  4. - 1 2 3 4  Chap.  xxv.  16,  21  ;  xl.  20; 

Num.  xvii.  10 ;  Deut.  x.  5 ;  1  Kings  viii.  9. 

dyd  so  great  reverence  to  his  sabbot  daye,  thought  he 
wolde  doo  as  moche  unto  his  holy  day,  which  was 
Sonday,  and  so  kepte  hym  there  tyll  Monday,  at 
whiche  season  he  was  foundyn  dede.”  Then  the  earl 
of  Gloucester  murdered  the  poor  man. 

Verse  31.  Called  the  name  thereof  Manna\  See 
note  on  ver.  15. 

Verse  32.  To  he  kept  for  your  generations]  See 

note  on  ver.  9. 

Verse  34.  Laid  it  up  before  the  testimony]  The 
r\n>’  edulh  or  testimony  belonged  properly  to  the  taber¬ 
nacle,  but  that  was  not  yet  built.  Some  are  of  opinion 
that  the  tabernacle,  built  under  the  direction  of  Moses, 
v-'as  only  a  renewal  of  one  that  had  existed  in  the 
patriarchal  times.  See  the  note  on  ver.  9.  The 
word  signifies  reference  to  something  beyond  itself ; 
thus  the  tabernacle,  the  manna,  the  tables  of  stone, 
Aaron’s  rod,  &c.,  all  bore  reference  and  testimony  to 
that  spiritual  good  which  was  yet  to  come,  viz.,  Jesus 
Christ  and  his  salvation. 

Verse  35.  The  children  of  Israel  did  eat  manna 
forty  years]  From  this  verse  it  has  been  supposed 
that  the  book  of  Exodus  was  not  written  till  after  the 
miracle  of  the  manna  had  ceased.  But  these  words 
might  have  been  added  by  Ezra,  who  under  the  direc¬ 
tion  of  the  Divine  Spirit  collected  and  digested  the 
different  inspired  books,  adding  such  supplementary , 
explanatory ,  and  connecting  sentences,  as  were  deemed 
proper  to  complete  and  arrange  the  whole  of  the  sacred 
canon.  For  previously  to  his  time,  according  to  the 
universal  testimony  of  the  Jews,  all  the  books  of  the 
Old  Testament  were  found  in  an  unconnected  and 
dispersed  state. 

Verse  36.  Now  an  omer  is  the  tenth  part  of  an 
ephah.]  About  six  pints,  English.  See  the  note  on 
ver.  16.  The  true  place  of  this  verse  seems  to  be  im¬ 
mediately  after  ver.  18,  for  here  it  has  no  connection. 

1  On  the  miracle  of  the  manna,  which  is  the  chief 
subject  in  this  chapter,  a  good  deal  has  already  been 
said  in  the  preceding  notes.  The  sacred  historian  has 
given  us  the  most  circumstantial  proofs  that  it  was  a 
supernatural  and  miraculous  supply ;  that  nothing  of 
the  kind  had  ever  been  seen  before,  and  probably  no¬ 
thing  like  it  had  ever  afterwards  appeared.  That  it 
was  a  type  of  our  blessed  Redeemer,  and  of  the  salva- 
Vol.  I.  (  26  ) 


preserve  a  pot  of  manna. 

33  And  Moses  said  unto  Aaron,  A.  M.  2513. 

hT1  .  ,  B.  C.  1491. 

1  ake  a  pot,  and  put  an  omer  An.  Exod.  isr.  i. 

full  of  manna  therein,  and  lay  it  Ijar  or  Zif. 
up  before  the  Lord,  to  be  kept  for  your 
generations. 

34  As  the  Lord  commanded  Moses,  so  Aaron 
laid  it  up  1  before  the  testimony,  to  be  kept. 

35  And  the  children  of  Israel  did  cat  manna 
k  forty  years,  1  until  they  came  to  a  land  in 
habited  ;  they  did  eat  manna,  until  they  came 
unto  the  borders  of  the  land  of  Canaan. 

36  Now  an  omer  is  the  tenth  part  of  an  ephah. 

k  Num.  xxxiii.  38 ;  Deut.  viii.  2,  3  ;  Neh.  ix.  20,  21  ;  John  vi. 

31,  49. - 'Josh.  v.  12  ;  Neh.  ix.  15. 

tion  which  he  has  provided  for  man,  there  can  be  no 
doubt,  for  in  this  way  it  is  applied  by  Christ  himself ; 
and  from  it  we  may  gather  this  general  conclusion,  that 
salvation  is  of  the  Lord.  The  Israelites  must  have 
perished  in  the  wilderness,  had  not  God  fed  them  with 
bread  from  heaven ;  and  every  human  soul  must  have 
perished,  had  not  Jesus  Christ  come  down  from  heaven, 
and  given  himself  for  the  life  of  the  world. 

2.  God  would  have  the  Israelites  continually  de¬ 
pendent  on  himself  for  all  their  supplies ;  but  he  would 
make  them,  in  a  certain  way,  workers  with  him.  He 
provided  the  manna ;  they  gathered  and  ate  it.  The 
first  was  God’s  work ;  the  latter,  their  own.  The}' 
could  not  produce  the  manna,  and  God  would  not 
gather  it  for  them.  Thus  the  providence  of  God 
appears  in  such  a  way  as  to  secure  the  co-operation 
of  man.  Though  man  should  plant  and  water ,  yet  it 
is  God  who  giveth  the  increase.  But  if  man  neither 
plant  nor  water,  God  will  give  no  increase.  We  can¬ 
not  do  God’s  work,  and  he  will  not  do  ours.  Let  us, 
therefore,  both  in  things  spiritual  and  temporal,  be 
workers  together  with  HIM. 

3.  This  daily  supply  of  the  manna  probably  gave 
rise  to  that  petition,  Give  us  to-day  our  daily  bread. 
It  is  worthy  of  remark,  1.  That  what  was  left  over 
night  contrary  to  the  command  of  God  bred  worms  and 
stank  ;  2.  That  a  double  portion  was  gathered  on  the 
day  preceding  the  Sabbath;  3.  That  this  alone  con¬ 
tinued  wholesome  on  the  following  day ;  and,  4.  That 
none  fell  on  the  Sabbath  !  Hence  we  find  that  the 
Sabbath  was  considered  a  Divine  institution  previously 
to  the  giving  of  the  Mosaic  law  ;  and  that  God  con¬ 
tinued  to  honour  that  day  by  permitting  no  manna  to 
fall  during  its  course.  Whatever  is  earned  on  the 
Sabbath  is  a  curse  in  a  man’s  property.  They  who 
will  be  rich ,  fall  into  temptation  and  into  a  snare,  <$c. ; 
for,  using  illicit  means  to  acquire  lawful  things,  they 
bring  God’s  curse  upon  themselves,  and  are  drowned 
in  destruction  and  perdition.  Reader,  dost  thou  work 
on  the  Sabbath  to  increase  th}r  property  1  See  thou 
do  it  not !  Property  acquired  in  this  way  will  be  a 
curse  both  to  thee  and  to  thy  posterity. 

4.  To  show  their  children  and  children’s  children 
what  God  had  done  for  their  fathers,  a  pot  of  manna 
was  laid  up  before  the  testimony.  We  should  remem¬ 
ber  our  providential  and  gracious  deliverances  in  such 

385 


The  people  murmur 


EXODUS. 


a  way  as  to  give  God  the  praise  of  his  own  grace. 
An  ungrateful  heart  is  always  associated  with  an  un¬ 
believing  mind  and  an  unholy  life.  Like  Israel,  we 
should  consider  with  what  bread  God  has  fed  our  fa¬ 
thers,  and  see  tiiat  we  have  the  same ;  the  same  Christ 
— the  bread  of  life,  the  same  doctrines,  the  same  ordi¬ 
nances,  and  the  same  religious  experience.  How  little 
are  we  benefited  by  being  Protestants ,  if  we  be  not 
partakers  of  the  Protestant  faith !  And  how  useless 


for  lack  of  water 

s 

will  even  that  faith  be  to  us,  if  we  hold  the  truth  in 
unrighteousness  !  Our  fathers  had  religion  enough  to 
enable  them  to  burn  gloriously  for  thn  trufli  of  God  ! 
Reader,  hast  thou  so  much  of  the  life  of  God  in  thy 
soul,  that  thou  couldst  burn  to  ashes  at  the  stake  rather 
than  lose  it  1  In  a  word,  couldst  thou  be  a  martyr  ? 
Or  hast  thou  so  little  grace  to  lose,  that  thy  life  would 
be  more  than  an  equivalent  for  thy  loss  ?  Where  is 
the  manna  on  which  thy  fathers  fed  l 


CHAPTER  XVII. 


The  Israelites  journey  from  the  wilderness  of  Sin  to  Rephidim,  1,  where  they  murmur  for  lack  of  water ,  2,  3. 
Moses  asks  counsel  of  God ,  4,  who  commands  him  to  take  his  rod  and  smite  the  rock ,  5,  and  promises  that 
water  should  proceed  from  it  for  the  people  to  drink,  6.  The  place  is  called  Massah  and  Meribah,  7.  The 
Amalekites  attack  Israel  in  Rephidim,  8.  Joshua  is  commanded  to  fight  with  them,  9.  Moses,  Aaron ,  and 
Hur,  go  to  the  top  of  a  hill,  and  while  Moses  holds  up  his  hands,  the  Israelites  prevail ;  when  he  lets  them 
down,  Amalek  prevails,  10,  11.  Moses,  being  weary,  sits  dozen,  and  Aaron  and  Hur  hold  up  his  hands,  12. 
The  Amalekites  are  totally  routed,  13,  and  the  event  commanded  to  be  recorded,  14.  Moses  builds  an 
altar,  and  calls  it  Jehovah-nissi,  15.  Amalek  is  threatened  with  continual  tears,  16. 


A.  M.  2513. 

B.  C.  1491. 
An.  Exod.  Isr.  1. 

Ijar  or  Zif. 


AND  a  all  the  congregation  of 
the  children  of  Israel  jour¬ 
neyed  from  the  wilderness  of  Sin, 
after  their  journeys,  according  to  the  command¬ 
ment  of  the  Lord,  and  pitched  in  Rephidim : 
and  there  was  no  water  for  the  people  to  drink. 

2  b  Wherefore  the  people  did  chide  with 
Moses,  and  said,  Give  us  water  that  we  may 
drink.  And  Moses  said  unto  them,  Why 
chide  ye  with  me  ?  wherefore  do  ye  c  tempt 
the  Lord  ? 

3  And  the  people  thirsted  there  for  water ; 
and  the  people  d  murmured  against  Moses, 


and  said,  Wherefore  is  this  that  A.  M.  2513. 

,  ,  ,  -i  c  B.  C.  1491. 

thou  hast  brought  US  up  out  ol  An.  Exod.  Isr.  1. 

Egypt,  to  kill  us  and  our  chil-  Ijar  or  Zlf~ 

dren  and  our  cattle  with  thirst  ? 

4  And  Moses  e  cried  unto  the  Lord,  saying, 
What  shall  I  do  unto  this  people  ?  they  be 
almost  ready  to  f  stone  me. 

5  And  the  Lord  said  unto  Moses,  s  Go  on 
before  the  people,  and  take  with  thee  of  the 
elders  of  Israel ;  and  thy  rod,  wherewith  h  thou 
smotest  the  river,  take  in  thine  hand,  and  go. 

6  1  Behold,  I  will  stand  before  thee  there, 
upon  the  rock  in  Horeb  ;  and  thou  shalt  smite 


a  Chapter  xvi.  1  ;  Num.  xxxiii.  12,  14. - bNumbers  xx.  3,  4. 

®  Deut.  vi.  16;  Psa.  lxxviii.  18,41;  Isa.  vii.  12;  Matt.  iv.  7; 
1  Cor.  x.  9. - d  Chap.  xvi.  2. - e  Chap.  xiv.  15. 


f  1  Samuel  xxx.  6  ;  John  viii.  59  ;  x.  31. - s  Ezekiel  ii.  6. 

h  Chap.  vii.  20  ;  Num.  xx.  8. - 1  Num.  xx.  10, 11  ;  Psa.  lxxviii. 

15,  20  ;  cv.  41  ;  cxiv.  8 ;  Wisd.  xi.  4  ;  1  Cor.  x.  4. 


NOTES  ON  CHAP.  XVII. 

Verse  1.  Pitched  in  Rephidim ]  In  Num.  xxxiii. 
12—14  it  is  said,  that  when  the  Israelites  came  from 
Sin  they  encamped  in  Dophkah,  and  next  in  Alush, 
after  which  they  came  to  Rephidim.  Here,  therefore, 
two  stations  are  omitted,  probably  because  nothing 
of  moment  took  place  at  either.  See  the  notes  on 
Num.  xxxiii. 

Verse  2.  Why  chide  ye  zeith  me?]  God  is  your 
leader,  complain  to  him ;  Wherefore  do  ye  tempt  the 
.Lord  ?  As  he  is  your  leader,  all  your  murmurings 
against  me  he  considers  as  directed  against  himself ; 
why  therefore  do  ye  tempt  him  ?  Has  he  not  given 
you  sufficient  proofs  that  he  can  destroy  his  enemies 
and  support  his  friends  1  And  is  he  not  among  you 
to  do  you  good  1  ver.  7.  Why  therefore  do  ye  doubt 
his  power  and  goodness,  and  thus  provoke  him  to  treat 
you  as  his  enemies  1 

Verse  3.  And  the  people  murmured ']  The  reader 
must  not  forget  what  has  so  often  been  noted  relating 
to  the  degraded  state  of  the  minds  of  the  Israelites. 

a  386 


A  strong  argument  however  may  be  drawn  from  this 
in  favour  of  their  supernatural  escape  from  Egypt. 
Had  it  been  a  scheme  concerted  by  the  heads  of  the 
people,  provision  would  necessarily  have  been  made  for 
such  exigencies  as  these.  But  as  God  chose  to  keep 
them  constantly  dependent  upon  himself  for  every  ne¬ 
cessary  of  life,  and  as  they  had  Moses  alone  as  their 
mediator  to  look  to,  they  murmured  against  him  when 
brought  into  straits  and  difficulties,  regretted  their 
having  left  Egypt,  and  expressed  the  strongest  desire  to 
return.  This  shows  that  they  had  left  Egypt  reluct¬ 
antly  ;  and  as  Moses  and  Aaron  never  appear  to  have 
any  resources  but  those  which  came  most  evidently  in  a 
supernatural  way,  therefore  the  whole  exodus  or  depart¬ 
ure  from  Egypt  proves  itself  to  have  been  no  human 
contrivance,  but  a  measure  concerted  by  God  himself. 

Verse  6.  I  will  stand  before  thee  there,  upon  the  rock 
in  Iloreb ]  The  rock,  TTin  hatstsur.  It  seems  as  if  God 
had  directed  the  attention  of  Moses  to  a  particular 
rock,  with  which  he  was  well  acquainted  ;  for  every 
part  of  the  mount  and  its  vicinity  must  have  been  well 

(  26*  ) 


Moses  smites  the  rock,  CHAP 

a.  M.  2513.  the  rock,  and  there  shall  come 

An.  Exod.  isr.  l.  water  out  of  it,  that  the  people 
ijar  or  Zif. _  may  drink.  And  Moses  did  so 

in  the  sight  of  the  elders  of  Israel. 

7  And  he  called  the  name  of  the  place 
k  Massali,1  and  m  Meribah,  because  of  the 
chiding  of  the  children  of  Israel,  and  because 

k  Num.  xx.  13  ;  Psa.  lxxxi.  7  ;  xcv.  8  ;  Heb.  iii.  8. - 1  That  is, 

temptation. - 111  That  is,  chiding  or  strife. 


known  to  Moses  during  the  time  he  kept  Jethro’s  flocks 
in  those  quarters.  Dr.  Priestley  has  left  the  following 
sensible  observations  upon  this  miracle  : — 

“  The  luminous  cloud,  the  symbol  of  the  Divine 
presence,  would  appear  on  the  rock,  and  Horeb  was 
probably  a  part  of  the  same  mountain  with  Sinai.  This 
supply  of  water,  on  Moses  only  striking  the  rock, 
where  no  water  had  been  before  nor  has  been  since, 
was  a  most  wonderful  display  of  the  Divine  power. 
The  water  must  have  been  in  great  abundance  to  sup¬ 
ply  two  millions  of  persons,  which  excluded  all  possi¬ 
bility  of  artifice  or  imposture  in  the  case.  The  miracle 
must  also  have  been  of  some  continuance,  no  doubt  so 
long  as  they  continued  in  that  neighbourhood,  which 
was  more  than  a  year.  There  are  sufficient  traces  of 
this  extraordinary  miracle  remaining  at  this  day.  This 
rock  has  been  visited,  drawn,  and  described  by  Dr. 
Shaw,  Dr.  Pocock,  and  others ;  and  holes  and  channels 
appear  in  the  stone,  which  could  only  have  been  formed 
by  the  bursting  out  and  running  of  the  water.  No  art 
of  man  could  have  done  it,  if  any  motive  could  be  sup¬ 
posed  for  the  undertaking  in  such  a  place  as  this.” 

This  miracle  has  not  escaped  the  notice  of  the  ancient 
Greek  poets.  Callimachus  represents  Rhea  bringing 
forth  water  from  a  rock  in  the  same  way,  after  the 
birth  of  Jupiter. 

II opog  (jKTjTrrpc),  re  de  oi  btxa  tvovXv  dieoTij. 

E/c  d’  exeev  peya  ^ev/za.  Hymn  ad  Jov.,  ver.  31. 

With  her  sceptre  struck 
The  yawning  cliff ;  from  its  disparted  height 
Adown  the  mount  the  gushing  torrent  ran.  Prior. 

The  rock  mentioned  above  has  been  seen  and  de¬ 
scribed  by  Norden,  p.  144,  8vo. ;  Dr.  Shaw,  p.  314, 
4to.,  where  there  is  an  accurate  drawing  of  it ;  Dr. 
Pocock ,  vol.  i.,  p.  143,  &c.,  where  the  reader  may  find 
some  fine  plates  of  Mount  Horeb  and  Sinai,  and  four 
different  views  of  the  wonderful  rock  of  Meribah.  It 
is  a  vast  block  of  red  granite,  fifteen  feet  long,  ten 
broad,  and  twelve  high.  See  Dr.  Shaw’s  account  at 
the  end  of  Exodus.  My  nephew,  who  visited  this 
rock  in  1823,  confirms  the  account  of  the  preceding 
travellers,  and  has  brought  a  piece  of  this  wonderful 
stone.  The  granite  is  fine,  and  the  quartz,  mica,  and 
feldspar  equally  mixed  in  it.  This  rock  or  block  of 
granite  is  the  only  type  of  Christ  now  existing. 

Verse  7.  He  called  the  name  of  the  place  Massah, 
and  Meribah]  HD3  Massah  signifies  temptation  or 
trial ;  and  HTYS  Meribah,  contention  or  litigation. 
From  1  Cor.  x.  4,  we  learn  that  this  rock  was  a  type 
of  Christ,  and  their  drinking  of  it  is  represented  as 

a 


XVII.  from  which  water  issues. 

they  tempted  the  Lord,  saying,  A.  M.  2513. 

Is  the  Lord  among  us,  or  not  ?  An.  Exod.  hr.  1 

8  n  Then  came  Amalek,  and  ijar  or  za. 

fought  with  Israel  in  Rephidim. 

9  And  Moses  said  unto  0  Joshua,  Choose  us 
out  men,  and  go  out,  fight  with  Amalek  :  to¬ 
morrow  I  will  stand  on  the  top  of  the  hill, 


n  Gen.  xxxvi.  12  ;  Num.  xxiv.  20  ;  Deut.  xxv.  17  ;  1  Sam.  xv.  2  ; 
Wisd.  xi.  3. - 0  Called  Jesus,  Acts  vii.  45  ;  Heb.  iv.  8. 


their  being  made  partakers  of  the  grace  and  mercy 
of  God  through  Christ  Jesus  ;  and  yet  many  who 
drank  fell  and  perished  in  the  wilderness  in  the  very 
act  of  disobedience !  Reader,  be  not  high  minded, 
but  fear ! 

On  the  smiting  of  the  rock  by  the  rod  of  Moses , 
Mr.  Ainsworth  has  the  following  pious  note  :  “  This 
rock  signified  Christ,  and  is  therefore  called  a  spiritual 
Rock,  1  Cor.  x.  4.  He  being  smitten  with  Moses's 
rod,  and  bearing  the  curse  of  the  laio  for  our  sins, 
and  by  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel  crucified  among 
his  people,  Gal.  iii.  1,  from  him  floweth  the  spiritual 
drink  wherewith  all  believing  hearts  are  refreshed.” 
John  vii.  37,  and  Isa.  liii.  1-3. 

Verse  8.  Then  came  Amalek,  and  fought  with  Israel] 
The  Amalekites  seem  to  have  attacked  the  Israelites 
in  the  same  way  and  through  the  same  motives  that 
the  wandering  Arabs  attack  the  caravans  which  an¬ 
nually  pass  through  the  same  desert.  It  does  not  ap¬ 
pear  that  the  Israelites  gave  them  any  kind  of  provo¬ 
cation,  they  seem  to  have  attacked  them  merely  through 
the  hopes  of  plunder.  The  Amalekites  were  the  pos¬ 
terity  of  Amalek,  one  of  the  dukes  of  Eliphaz,  the 
son  of  Esau,  and  consequently  Israel’s  brother,  Gen. 
xxxvi.  15,  16. 

Fought  with  Israel]  In  the  most  treacherous  and 
dastardly  manner ;  for  they  came  at  the  rear  of  the 
camp,  smote  the  hindmost  of  the  people,  even  all  that 
were  feeble  behind,  when  they  ivere  faint  and  weary ; 
see  Deut.  xxv.  18.  The  baggage,  no  doubt,  was  the 
object  of  their  avarice ;  but  finding  the  women,  chil¬ 
dren,  aged  and  infirm  persons,  behind  with  the  bag¬ 
gage,  they  smote  them  and  took  away  their  spoils. 

Verse  9.  Moses  said  unto  Joshua]  This  is  the  first 
place  in  which  Joshua  the  son  of  Nun  is  mentioned  : 
the  illustrious  part  which  he  took  in  Jewish  affairs,  till 
the  settlement  of  his  countrymen  in  the  promised  land, 
is  well  known.  He  was  captain-general  of  the  He¬ 
brews  under  Moses ;  and  on  this  great  man’s  death  he 
became  his  successor  in  the  government.  Joshua  was 
at  first  called  Hoshea,  Num.  xiii.  16,  and  afterwards 
called  Joshua  by  Moses.  Both  in  the  Septuagint  and 
Greek  Testament  he  is  called  Jesus:  the  name  signi¬ 
fies  Saviour ;  and  he  is  allowed  to  have  been  a  very 
expressive  type  of  our  blessed  Lord.  He  fought  with 
and  conquered  the  enemies  of  his  people,  brought  them 
into  the  promised  land,  and  divided  it  to  them  by  lot. 
The  parallel  between  him  and  the  Saviour  ol  the  world 
is  too  evident  to  require  pointing  out. 

Top  of  the  hill]  Probably  some  part  of  Horeb  or 
Sinai,  to  which  they  were  then  near. 

387 


The  Amaleldtes 


EXODUS* 


A.  M.  2513.  with  p  the  rod  of  God  in  mine 

B.  C.  1491.  ,  , 

An.  Exod.  Isr.  1.  hand. 

ijar or  Zlf-  io  So  Joshua  did  as  Moses 
had  said  to  him,  and  fought  with  Amalek  :  and 
Moses,  Aaron,  and  Hur  went  up  to  the  top  of 
the  hill. 

1 1  And  it  came  to  pass,  when  Moses  i  held 
up  his  hand,  that  Israel  prevailed  ;  and  when 
he  let  down  his  hand,  Amalek  prevailed. 

12  But  Moses’  hands  were  r  heavy ;  and 
they  took  a  stone,  and  put  it  under  him,  and 
he  sat  thereon  ;  and  Aaron  and  Hur  stayed 

l>  Chap.  iv.  20. - <i  James  v.  16. - r  Psa.  xxxv.  3  ;  James  i.  6  ; 

Heb.  xii.  12. - s  Chap,  xxxiv.  27. 

Yerse  10.  Moses ,  Aaron ,  and  Hur  went  up\  It  is 
very  likely  that  the  Hur  mentioned  here  is  the  same 
with  that  Hur  mentioned  1  Chron.  ii.  19,  who  appears 
from  the  chronology  in  that  chapter  to  have  been  the 
son  of  Caleb,  the  son  of  Ezron,  the  son  of  Pharez, 
the  son  of  Judah.  The  rabbins  and  Josephus  say  he 
was  the  brother-in-law  of  Moses,  having  married  his 
sister  Miriam.  He  was  a  person  in  whom  Moses  put 
much  confidence  ;  for  he  left  him  conjoint  governor  of 
the  people  with  Aaron,  when  he  went  to  confer  with 
God  on  the  mount,  chap.  xxiv.  14.  His  grandson 
Bezaleel  was  the  chief  director  in  the  work  of  the 
tabernacle  ;  see  chap.  xxxi.  2—5. 

Yerse  1 1.  When  Moses  held  up  his  hand ]  We  can¬ 
not  understand  this  transaction  in  any  literal  way  ;  for 
the  lifting  up  or  letting  down  the  hands  of  Moses  could 
not,  humanly  speaking,  influence  the  battle.  It  is  likely 
that  he  held  up  the  rod  of  God  in  his  hand,  ver.  9,  as 
an  ensign  to  the  people.  We  have  already  seen  that 
in  prayer  the  hands  were  generally  lifted  up  and  spread 
out ,  (see  the  note  on  chap.  ix.  29,)  and  therefore  it  is 
likely  that  by  this  act  prayer  and  supplication  are  in¬ 
tended.  The.  Jerusalem  Targum  says,  “  W~hen  Moses 
held  up  his  hands  in  prayer ,  the  house  of  Israel  pre¬ 
vailed  ;  and  when  he  let  down  his  hands  from  prayer , 
the  house  of  Amalek  prevailed.”  We  may  therefore 
conclude,  that  by  holding  up  the  hands  in  this  case 
these  two  things  were  intended  :  1 .  That  hereby  a 

reference  was  made  to  God,  as  the  source  whence  all 
help  and  protection  must  come,  and  that  on  him  alone 
they  must  depend.  2.  That  prayer  and  supplication 
to  God  are  essentially  necessary  to  their  prevalence 
over  all  their  enemies.  It  is  indisputably  true  that, 
while  the  hands  are  stretched  out,  that  is,  while  the 
soul  exerts  itself  in  prayer  and  supplication  to  God, 
we  are  sure  to  conquer  our  spiritual  adversaries  ;  but 
if  our  hands  become  heavy — if  we  restrain  prayer  be¬ 
fore  God,  Amalek  will  prevail — every  spiritual  foe, 
every  internal  corruption,  will  gain  ground.  Several 
of  the  fathers  consider  Moses,  with  his  stretched-out 
hands,  as  a  figure  of  Christ  on  the  cross,  suffering  for 
mankind,  and  getting  a  complete  victory  over  sin  and 
Satan. 

Yerse  13.  Joshua  discomfited  Amalek  and  his  people] 
Amalek  might  have  been  the  name  of  the  ruler  of  this 
people  continued  down  from  their  ancestor,  (see  on 

383 


are  totally  routed • 

up  his  hand?,  the  one  on  the  one  ^  ^  ||13. 
side,  and  the  other  on  the  other  An.  Exod  isr.  1. 
side  ;  and  his  hands  were  steady  .  Ijar 
until  the  going  down  of  the  sun. 

13  And  Joshua  discomfited  Amalek  and  his 
people  with  the  edge  of  the  swrord. 

14  And  the  Lord  said  unto  Moses,  s  Write 
this  for  a  memorial  in  a  book,  and  rehearse  it 
in  the  ears  of  Joshua  ;  for  t  I  will  utterly  put 
out  the  remembrance  of  Amalek  from  under 
heaven. 

15  And  Moses  built  an  altar,  and  called 

4Num.  xxiv.  20  ;  Deut.  xxv.  19  ;  1  Sam.  xv.  3,  7  ;  xxx.  1,  17 ; 

2  Sam.  viii.  12  ;  Ezra  ix.  14. 

ver.  8,)  as  Pharaoh  was  the  name  of  all  succeeding 
kings  in  Egypt.  If  this  were  the  case,  then  Amalek 
and  his  people  mean  the  prince  and  the  army  that 
fought  under  him.  But  if  Amalek  stand  here  for  the 
Amaleldtes ,  then  his  people  must  mean  the  confederates 
he  had  employed  on  this  occasion. 

Yerse  14.  Write  this  for  a  memorial  in  a  book] 
This  is  the  first  mention  of  writing  on  record  :  what 
it  signified,  or  how  it  was  done,  we  cannot  tell.  But 
it  is  evident  that  either  this  passage  is  introduced  here 
instead  of  Deut.  xxv.  17,  by  way  of  anticipation,  or 
that  by  the  words  13D  nrD  kethob  and  sepher  was  in¬ 
tended  only  a  monumental  declaration  of  the  defeat  ct 
Amalek  by  Joshua ,  by  some  action  or  symbolical  re¬ 
presentation  ;  for  it  is  immediately  subjoined,  “  And 
Moses  built  an  altar,  and  called  the  name  of  it  Jehovah- 
nissiP  See  Dr.  A.  Bayley ,  and  see  the  note  on  chap, 
xxx.  It  is  very  likely  that  the  first  regular  alphabet¬ 
ical  writing  in  the  world  was  that  written  by  the  finger 
of  God  himself  on  the  two  tables  of  stone.  What  is 
said  here  was  probably  by  way  of  anticipation ,  or 
means  some  other  method  of  registering  events  than 
by  alphabetical  characters,  if  we  allow  that  God  gave 
the  first  specimen  of  regular  writing  on  the  tables  of 
stone,  which  did  not  take  place  till  some  time  after  this. 

Rehearse  it  in  the  ears  of  Joshua]  Thus  showing 
that  Joshua  was  to  succeed  Moses,  and  that  this  charge 
should  be  given  to  every  succeeding  governor. 

I  will  utterly  put  out  the  remembrance  of  Amalek ] 
This  threatening  was  accomplished  bjr  Saul,  1  Sam. 
xv.  3,  &c.,  four  hundred  and  twelve  years  after.  Judg¬ 
ment  is  God’s  strange  work  ;  but  it  must  take  place 
when  the  sins  which  incensed  it  are  neither  repented 
of  nor  forsaken.  This  people,  by  their  continued 
transgressions,  proved  themselves  totally  unworthy  of 
a  political  existence  ;  and  therefore  said  God  to  Saul, 
Go,  and  utterly  destroy  the  sinners  the  Amaleldtes  ; 
1  Sam.  xv.  18.  So  their  continuance  in  sin  was  the 
cause  of  their  final  destruction. 

Yerse  15.  Jehovah-nissi\  Jehovah  is  my  ensign  ox 
banner.  The  hands  and  rod  of  Moses  were  held  up 
as  soldiers  are  wont  to  hold  up  their  standards  in  the 
time  of  battle  ;  and  as  these  standards  bear  the  arms 
of  the  country,  the  soldiers  are  said  to  fight  under  that 
banner,  i.  e.,  under  the  direction  and  in  the  defence 
of  that  government.  Thus  the  Israelites  fought  under 

•ZD  ZJ 


CHAP.  XVIII. 


and  calls  it  Jehovah-nissi . 


Moses  builds  an  altar , 
a.  m.  2513.  the  name  of  it  u  JEHOVAH- 

B.  C.  1491.  .  . 

An.  Exod.  Isr.  1.  111SS1  I 

Ijar  or  Zif.  10  ]7or  Jie  v  Because 

u  That  is,  the  LORD  my  banner ;  see  Judg.  vi.  24. - v  Or, 

because  the  hand  of  Amalek  is  against  the  throne  of  the  LORD, 

the  direction  of  God,  and  in  the  defence  of  his  truth ; 
and  therefore  the  name  of  Jehovah  became  the  armo¬ 
rial  bearing  of  the  whole  congregation.  By  his  direc¬ 
tion  they  fought,  and  in  his  name  and  strength  they 
conquered ;  each  one  feeling  himself,  not  his  own,  but 
the  Lord’s  soldier. 

Verse  16.  The  Lord  hath  sworn  that  the  Lord  will 
have  tear  with  Amalek ,  <^c.]  This  is  no  translation 
of  the  words  IT  33  Sy  T  '3  ki  yad  al  kes  yah 

milchamah ,  which  have  been  variously  rendered  by 
different  translators  and  critics  ;  the  most  rational  ver¬ 
sion  of  which  is  the  following :  Because  the  hand  of 
Amalek  is  against  the  throne  of  God ,  therefore  ivill  I 
have  war  with  Amalek  from  generation  to  generation. 
This  gives  a  tolerably  consistent  sense,  yet  still  there 
is  considerable  obscurity  in  the  passage.  Houbigant , 
a  most  judicious  though  bold  critic,  supposes  that,  as 
’'Dl  mrr  Jehovah-nissi ,  Jehovah  my  ensign ,  was  spoken 
of  immediately  before,  D3  kes ,  a  throne ,  in  this  verse, 
is  an  error  of  some  transcriber  for  DJ  nes,  an  ensign , 
which  might  be  readily  occasioned  by  the  great  simi¬ 
larity  between  the  3  caph  and  the  ]  nun.  He  thinks 
farther  that  the  two  letters  TV  yah,  which  are  supposed 
to  be  here  a  contraction  of  the  word  HITT  Yehovah, 
are  separated,  the  '  yod  from  the  33  nes ,  which  should 
be  written  '33  nissi,  and  the  n  he,  from  mil¬ 
chamah,  which  should  be  written  hammilcha- 

mah ,  and  then  the  whole  verse  will  run  thus  :  For  the 
hand  shall  be  upon  the  ensigns  of  ivar  unto  the  Lord, 
against  Amalek  for  ever,  i.  e.,  God  makes  now  a  de¬ 
claration  of  war  against  the  Amalekites,  which  shall 
continue  till  their  final  destruction.  The  conjecture 
of  Mr.  Julius  Bate,  in  his  Literal  Translation  of  the 
Pentateuch,  deserves  attention.  He  supposes  that,  as 
33  cos  signifies  a  cup,  and  a  cup  is  emblematically  used 
for  wrath,  on  one  of  the  stones  of  the  altar,  mentioned 
in  the  preceding  verse,  a  hand  holding  a  cup  was  sculp¬ 
tured,  this  being  a  memorial,  according  to  the  custom 
of  hieroglyphical  writing,  that  the  Lord  would  con- 


w  the  Lord  hath  sworn  that  the  a.  m.  2513. 
Lord  will  have  war  with  Amalek,  An.  Exod.  isr.  1. 
from  generation  to  generation.  ijar  or  zn. 

therefore,  &c. - wHeb.  the  hand  upon  the  throne  of  the 

LORD. 

tinue  the  cup  of  wrath,  portending  continual  war,  against 
Amalek  for  ever.  I  prefer  Iloubigant's  exposition. 

1.  This  first  victory  of  Israel  must  have  inspired 
them  with  a  considerable  measure  of  confidence  in 
God,  and  in  his  servant  Moses.  Though  God  alone 
could  give  them  the  victory,  yet  it  was  necessary  to 
show  them  that  it  was  by  the  influence  of  Moses  they 
got  it.  Moses  could  not  deliver  Amalek  into  their 
hands ;  yet  if  Moses  did  not  continue  to  hold  up  his 
hands,  i.  e.,  to  pray,  Amalek  must  prevail.  God, 
therefore,  wrought  this  work  in  such  a  way  as  to  in¬ 
struct  the  people,  promote  his  own  glory,  and  secure  the 
true  honour  of  his  servant.  The  Divine  Being  always 
performs  the  greatest  number  possible  of  ends,  by  the 
fewest  and  simplest  means.  In  every  work  of  God 
there  is  as  much  of  wisdom  and  economy ,  as  there  is 
of  sovereign  uncontrolled  power. 

2.  It  is  not  probable  that  the  people  whom  Joshua 
chose  out  to  lead  against  Amalek  were  unarmed ;  and 
we  have  already  seen  that  it  is  not  at  all  likely  that 
they  came  armed  out  of  Egypt.  And  as  the  whole 
circumstances  of  this  case  show  that  those  who  fought 
against  the  Amalekites  were  properly  equipped  for  the 
fight,  we  may  then  safely  presume  that  they  got  their 
arms  from  the  Egyptians,  whose  bodies  were  thrown 
on  the  shore  after  having  been  overwhelmed  in  the 
Red  Sea.  Thus,  what  was  a  judgment  in  the  one 
case,  was  a  most  gracious  providence  in  the  other. 
Judgment  on  God’s  foes  is  mercy  to  his  friends. 

3.  Of  the  efficacy  of  prayer  we  have  already  had 
the  most  striking  examples.  He  who  has  the  spirit 
of  prayer,  has  the  highest  interest  in  the  court  of  hea¬ 
ven  ;  and  the  only  way  to  retain  it,  is  to  keep  it  in 
constant  employment.  Apostasy  begins  in  the  closet: 
no  man  ever  backslid  from  the  life  and  power  of  Chris¬ 
tianity  who  continued  constant  and  fervent,  especially 
in  private  prayer.  He  who  prays  without  ceasing  is 
likely  to  rejoice  evermore. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

Jethro,  called  the  father-in-law  of  Moses,  hearing  of  the  deliverance  xchich  God  had  granted  to  Israel,  1,  took 
Zipporah  and  her  two  sons,  Gershom  and  Eliezer,  and  brought  them  to  Moses,  when  the  Israelites  were 
encamped  near  Horeb,  2—5.  He  sends  to  Moses,  announcing  his  arrival,  6.  Moses  goes  out  to  meet  him,  7, 
and  gives  him  a  history  of  God's  dealings  with  the  Israelites,  8.  Jethro  greatly  rejoices,  and  makes 
striking  observations  on  the  power  and  goodness  of  God,  9—1 1.  He  offers  burnt-offerings  and  sacrifices  to 
Jehovah,  and  Aaron  and  all  the  elders  of  Israel  feast  with  him,  12.  The  next  day  Jethro,  observing  how 
much  Moses  was  fatigued  by  being  obliged  to  sit  as  judge  and  hear  causes  from  morning  to  evening,  13, 
inquires  why  he  did  so,  14.  Moses  answers,  and  shows  that  he  is  obliged  to  determine  causes  between  man 
and  man,  and  to  teach  them  the  statutes  and  laws  of  God,  15,  16.  Jethro  finds  fault,  and  counsels  him 
to  appoint  men  who  fear  God,  love  truth,  and  hate  covetousness ,  to  be  judges  over  thousands,  hundreds,  fifties, 
and  tens,  to  judge  and  determine  in  all  smaller  matters,  and  refer  only  the  greater  and  most  important  to 
himself,  17—22  ;  and  shows  that  this  plan  will  be  advantageous  both  to  himself  and  to  the  people,  23. 
Moses  hearkens  to  the  counsel  of  Jethro,  and  appoints  proper  officers  over  the  people,  who  enter  upon  their 
functions,  determine  all  minor  causes ,  and  refer  only  the  most  difficult  to  Moses ,  24—26.  Moses  dismisses 
Jethro,  who  returns  to  his  own  country ,  27. 

a 


389 


Zip])  or  ah  and  her  two  sons  EXODUS.  brought  to  Moses  atHoreh 


a.  M.  2514.  WHEN  a  Jethro,  the  priest  of 
An^Exod.  isr."  2.  Midian,  Moses’  father-in- 

ijgi  or  Zif.  jaWj  pear(j  0f  ap  tpat  b  Q0H  had 

done  for  Moses,  and  for  Israel  his  people,  and 
that  the  Lord  had  brought  Israel  out  of  Egypt ; 

2  Then  Jethro,  Moses’  father-in-law,  took 
Zipporah,  Moses’  wife,  c  after  he  had  sent 
her  back, 

3  And  her  d  two  sons  ;  of  which  the  e  name 
of  the  one  was  f  Gershom  ;  for  he  said, 

a  Chap.  ii.  16  ;  iii.  1. - b  Psa.  xliv.  1 ;  lxxvii.  14, 15 ;  Ixxviii.  4 ; 

cv.  5,  43  ;  cvi.  2,  8. - c  Chap.  iv.  26. - d  Acts  vii.  29. 


NOTES  ON  CHAP.  XVIII. 

Verse  1.  When  Jethro,  the  priest  of  Midian,  <5fc.] 
Concerning  this  person  and  his  several  names,  see  the 
notes  on  chap.  ii.  15,  16,  18  ;  iii.  1  ;  and  iv.  20,  24. 
Jethro  was  probably  the  son  of  Reuel,  the  father-in- 
law  of  Moses,  and  consequently  the  brother-in-law  of 
Moses ;  for  the  word  jnn  chothen,  which  we  translate 
father-in-law,  in  this  chapter  means  simply  a  relative 
by  marriage.  See  the  note  on  chap.  iii.  1. 

Verse  2.  After  he  had  sent  her  back]  Why  Zippo¬ 
rah  and  her  two  sons  returned  to  Midian,  is  not  cer¬ 
tainly  known.  From  the  transaction  recorded  chap, 
iv.  20,  24,  it  seems  as  if  she  had  been  alarmed  at  the 
danger  to  which  the  life  of  one  of  her  sons  had  been 
exposed,  and  fearing  worse  evils,  left  her  husband  and 
returned  to  her  father.  It  is  however  possible  that 
Moses,  foreseeing  the  troubles  to  which  his  wife  and 
children  were  likely  to  be  exposed  had  he  taken  them 
down  to  Egypt,  sent  them  back  to  his  father-in-law  till 
it  should  please  God  to  deliver  his  people.  Jethro, 
now  finding  that  God  had  delivered  them,  and  totally 
discomfited  the  Egyptians,  their  enemies,  thought  it 
proper  to  bring  Zipporah  and  her  sons  to  Moses,  while 
he  w’as  in  the  vicinity  of  Horeb. 

Verse  3.  The  name  of  the  one  was  Gershom]  See 
the  note  on  chap.  ii.  22. 

Verse  5.  Jethro — came  with  his  sons]  There  are 
several  reasons  to  induce  us  to  believe  that  the  fact 
related  here  is  out  of  its  due  chronological  order,  and 
that  Jethro  did  not  come  to  Moses  till  the  beginning 
of  the  second  year  of  the  exodus,  (see  Num.  x.  11,) 
some  time  after  the  tabernacle  had  been  erected,  and 
the  Hebrew  commonwealth  established,  both  in  things 
civil  and  ecclesiastical.  This  opinion  is  founded  on 
the  following  reasons  : — 

1.  On  this  verse,  where  it  is  said  that  Jethro  came 
to  Moses  while  he  was  encamped  at  the  mount  of  God. 
Now  it  appears,  from  chap.  xix.  1,  2,  that  they  were 
not  yet  come  to  Horeb,  the  mount  of  God,  and  that 
they  did  not  arrive  there  till  the  third  month  after  their 
departure  from  Egypt ;  and  the  transactions  with  which 
this  account  is  connected  certainly  took  place  in  the 
second  month;  see  chap.  xvi.  1. 

2.  Moses,  in  Deut.  i.  6,  9,  10,  12-15,  relates  that 
when  they  were  about  to  depart  from  Horeb,  which 
was  on  the  20th  day  of  the  second  month  of  the  second 
year  from  their  leaving  Egypt,  that  he  then  complain¬ 
ed  that  he  was  not  able  to  bear  the  burden  alone  of 

390 


I  have  been  an  alien  m  a  a.  M.  2514. 

.  .  B.  C.  1490. 

strange  land  :  An.  Exod.  Isr.  2. 

4  And  the  name  of  the  other  ijar  or  Zif. 
was  b  Eliezer ;  for  the  God  of  my  father, 
said  he,  was  mine  help,  and  delivered  me 
from  the  sword  of  Pharaoh  : 

5  And  Jethro,  Moses’  father-in-law,  came 
with  his  sons  and  his  wife  unto  Moses  into 
the  wilderness,  where  he  encamped  at  h  the 
mount  of  God  : 


e  Chap.  ii.  22. - f  That  is,  a  stranger  there. - 5  That  is,  my 

God  is  a  help. - h  Chap.  iii.  1,  12. 

the  government  of  a  people  so  numerous ;  and  that  it 
was  at  that  time  that  he  established  judges  and  cap¬ 
tains  over  thousands  and  hundreds  and  fifties  and  tens , 
which  appears  to  be  the  very  transaction  recorded  in 
this  place ;  the  measure  itself  being  recommended  by 
Jethro,  and  done  in  consequence  of  his  advice. 

3.  From  Num.  x.  11,  29,  &c.,  we  find  that  when 
the  cloud  was  taken  up,  and  the  Israelites  were  about 
to  depart  from  Horeb,  that  Moses  addressed  Hobab , 
who  is  supposed  to  have  been  the  same  as  Jethro,  and 
who  then  was  about  to  return  to  Midian,  his  own  coun¬ 
try,  entreating  him  to  stay  with  them  as  a  guide  while 
they  travelled  through  the  wilderness.  It  therefore 
seems  necessary  that  the  transaction  recorded  in  this 
chapter  should  be  inserted  Num.  x.,  between  the  10th 
and  11th  verses. 

4.  It  has  been  remarked,  that  shortly  after  they 
had  departed  from  Sinai  the  dispute  took  place  be¬ 
tween  Miriam,  Aaron,  and  Moses,  concerning  the 
^Ethiopian  woman  Zipporah  whom  he  had  married, 
(see  Num.  xii.  1,  &c.  ;)  and  this  is  supposed  to  have 
taken  place  shortly  after  she  had  been  brought  back 
by  Jethro. 

5.  In  the  discourse  between  Moses  and  Jethro, 
mentioned  in  this  chapter,  we  find  that  Moses  speaks 
of  the  statutes  and  laws  of  the  Lord  as  things  already 
revealed  and  acknowledged,  which  necessarily  implies 
that  these  laws  had  already  been  given,  (ver.  16,) 
which  we  know  did  not  take  place  till  several  months 
after  the  transactions  mentioned  in  the  preceding- 
chapters. 

6.  Jethro  offers  burnt-offerings  and  sacrifices  to 
God  apparently  in  that  way  in  which  they  were  com¬ 
manded  in  the  law.  Now  the  law  respecting  burnt- 
offerings  was  not  given  till  after  the  transactions  men¬ 
tioned  here,  unless  we  refer  this  chapter  to  a  time  pos¬ 
terior  to  that  in  which  it  appears  in  this  place.  See 
the  note  on  ver.  12. 

From  all  these  reasons,  but  particularly  from  the 
two  first  and  the  two  last,  it  seems  most  likely  that 
this  chapter  stands  out  of  its  due  chronological  order, 
and  therefore  I  have  adjusted  the  chronology  in  the 
margin  to  the  time  in  which,  from  the  reasons  above 
alleged,  I  suppose  these  transactions  to  have  taken 
place  ;  but  the  matter  is  not  of  much  importance,  and 
the  reader  is  at  liberty  to  follow  the  common  opinion. 
As  Moses  had  in  the  preceding  chapter  related  the 
war  with  Amalek  and  the  curse  under  which  they  were 

a 


Jethro  offers  a  burnt-offering 


The  meeting  of  Moses  and  Jethro.  CHAP.  XVT1I. 


A.  M.  2514.  6  And  he  said  unto  Moses,  I 

An.  Exod.  Isr.2.  thy  father-in-law  Jethro  am  come 
ijar  or  Zif.  unt0  thee,  and  thy  wife,  and  her 

two  sons  with  her. 

7  And  Moses  1  went  out  to  meet  his  father- 
in-law,  and  did  obeisance,  and  k  kissed  him ; 
and  they  asked  each  other  of  their  1  welfare  ; 
and  they  came  into  the  tent. 

8  And  Moses  told  his  father-in-law  all  that 
the  Lord  had  done  unto  Pharaoh  and  to  the 
Egyptians  for  Israel’s  sake,  and  all  the  travail 
that  had  m  come  upon  them  by  the  way,  and 
hoiu  the  Lord  n  delivered  them. 

9  And  Jethro  rejoiced  for  all  the  goodness 
which  the  Lord  had  done  to  Israel,  whom  he 


had  delivered  out  of  the  hand  A.  M.  2514. 

r  .1  .  •  .  B.  C.  1490. 

of  the  Egyptians.  An.  Exod  Isr.  2. 

10  And  Jethro  said,  0  Blessed  Ijar or  Zlf- 


be  the  Lord,  who  hath  delivered  you  out  of 
the  hand  of  the  Egyptians,  and  out  of  the 
hand  of  Pharaoh,  who  hath  delivered  the  peo¬ 
ple  from  under  the  hand  of  the  Egyptians. 

11  Now  I  know  that  the  Lord  is  p  greater 
than  all  gods  :  *  for  in  the  thing  wherein  they 
dealt  r  proudly  he  was  above  them. 

12  And  Jethro,  Moses’  father-in-law,  took 
a  burnt-offering  and  sacrifices  for  God  :  and 
Aaron  came,  and  all  the  elders  of  Israel,  to 
eat  bread  with  Moses’  father-in-law,  s  before 
God. 


*  Gen.  xiv.  17  ;  xviii.  2  ;  xix.  1  ;  1  Kings  ii.  19. - k  Gen.  xxix. 

13;  xxxiii.  4. - ^eb.  peace  ;  Gen.  xliii.  27  ;  2  Samuel  xi.  7. 

m  Heb  .found,  them  ;  Gen.  xliv.  34  ;  Numbers  xx.  14. - n  Psalm 

lxxviii.  42  ;  lxxxi.  7  ;  cvi.  10  ;  cvii.  2. - 0  Gen.  xiv.  20  ;  2  Sam. 


xviii.  28  ;  Luke  i.  08. - P2  Chron.  ii.  5  ;  Psa.  xcv.  3  ;  xcvii.  9  ; 

cxxxv.  5. - <1  Ch.  i.  10, 16,22  ;  v.  2,  7  ;  xiv.  8, 18. - r  1  Sam.  ii. 

3  ;  Nell.  ix.  10,  16,  29  ;  Job  xl.  11,  12  ;  Psa.  xxxi.  23  ;  cxix.  21 ; 
Luke  i.  51. - 5  Deut.  xii.  7  ;  1  Chron.  xxix.  22 ;  1  Cor.  x.  18,  21 , 31. 


laid,  he  may  be  supposed  to  have  introduced  here  the 
account  concerning  Jethro  the  Midianite,  to  show  that 
he  was  free  from  that  curse,  although  the  Midianites 
and  the  Kenites,  the  family  of  Jethro,  were  as  one 
people,  dwelling  with  the  Amalekites.  See  Judg.  i. 
16  ;  1  Chron.  ii.  55  ;  1  Sam.  xv.  6.  For  although 
the  Kenites  were  some  of  those  people  whose  lands 
God  had  promised  to  the  descendants  of  Abraham,  (see 
Gen.  xv.  18,  19,)  yet,  in  consideration  of  Jethro,  the 
relative  of  Moses,  all  of  them  who  submitted  to  the 
Hebrews  were  suffered  to  live  in  their  own  country  ; 
the  rest  are  supposed  to  have  taken  refuge  among  the 
Edomites  and  Amalekites .  See  Calmet,  Locke,  <fc. 

Verse  6.  And  he  said  unto  Moses ]  That  is,  by  a 
messenger  ;  in  consequence  of  which  Moses  went  out 
to  meet  him,  as  is  stated  in  the  next  verse,  for  an 
interview  had  not  yet  taken  place.  This  is  supported 
by  reading  nin  hinneh,  behold,  for  ’JX  ani,  I,  which 
is  the  reading  of  the  Septuagint  and  Syriac,  and  seve¬ 
ral  Samaritan  MSS.  ;  instead  therefore  of  I,  thy  fa¬ 
ther,  we  should  read,  Behold  thy  father,  &c. — Kenni- 
coiVs  Remarks. 

Verse  7.  And  did  obeisance]  TlHtJH  vaiyishtachu , 
he  bowed  himself  down,  (see  on  Gen.  xvii.  3,  and  Exod. 
iv.  31;)  this  was  the  general  token  of  respect.  And 
kissed  him  ;  the  token  of  friendship.  And  they  asked 
each  other  of  their  welfare  ;  literally,  and  they  in¬ 
quired,  each  man  of  his  neighbour ,  concerning  peace 
or  prosperity ;  the  proof  of  affectionate  intercourse. 
These  three  things  constitute  good  breeding  and  polite¬ 
ness,  accompanied  with  sincerity. 

And  they  came  into  the  tent.]  Some  think  that  the 
tabernacle  is  meant,  which  it  is  likely  had  been  erect¬ 
ed  before  this  time  ;  see  the  note  on  ver.  5.  Moses 
might  have  thought  proper  to  take  his  relative  first 
to  the  house  of  God,  before  he  brought  him  to  his 
own  tent. 

Verse  9.  And  Jethro  rejoiced  for  all  the  goodness] 
Every  part  of  Jethro’s  conduct  proves  him  to  have  been 
a  religious  man  and  a  true  believer.  His  thanksgiving 
lo  Jehovah  (ver.  10)  is  a  striking  proof  of  it;  he  first 


blesses  God  for  the  preservation  of  Moses,  and  next 
for  the  deliverance  of  the  people  from  their  bondage. 

Verse  1 1 .  Now  I  know  that  the  Lord  is  greater  than 
all  gods]  Some  think  that  Jethro  was  now  converted 
to  the  true  God  ;  but  it  is  very  probable  that  he  en¬ 
joyed  this  blessing  before  he  knew  any  thing  of  Moses, 
for  it  is  not  likely  that  Moses  would  have  entered  into 
an  alliance  with  this  family  had  they  been  heathens. 
Jethro  no  doubt  had  the  true  patriarchal  religion. 

Wherein  they  dealt  proudly]  Acting  as  tyrants  over 
the  people  of  God  ;  enslaving  them  in  the  most  unprin¬ 
cipled  manner,  and  still  purposing  more  tyrannical  acts. 
He  was  above  them — he  showed  himself  to  be  infinitely 
superior  to  all  their  gods,  by  the  miracles  which  he 
wrought.  Various  translations  have  been  given  of  this 
clause  ;  the  above  I  believe  to  be  the  sense. 

Verse  12.  Jethro — took  a  burnt- offering-]  vh'J  olah. 
Though  it  be  true  that  in  the  patriarchal  times  we  read 
of  a  burnt-offering,  (see  Gen.  xxii.  2,  &c.,)  yet  we  only 
read  of  one  in  the  case  of  Isaac,  and  therefore,  though 
this  offering  made  by  Jethro  is  not  a  decisive  proof 
that  the  law  relative  to  burnt-offerings,  &c.,  had  al¬ 
ready  been  given,  yet,  taken  with  other  circumstances 
in  this  account,  it  is  a  presumptive  evidence  that  the 
meeting  between  Moses  and  Jethro  took  place  after  the 
erection  of  the  tabernacle.  See  the  note  on  ver.  5. 

Sacrifices  for  God]  DTDt  zebachim ,  slain  beasts, 
as  the  word  generally  signifies.  We  have  already  seen 
that  sacrifices  were  instituted  by  God  himself  as  soon 
as  sin  entered  into  our  world ;  and  we  see  that  they 
were  continued  and  regularly  practised  among  all  the 
people  who  had  the  knowledge  of  the  only  true  God, 
from  that  time  until  they  became  a  legal  establishment.. 
Jethro,  who  was  a  priest,  (chap.  ii.  16,)  had  a  right 
to  offer  these  sacrifices  ;  nor  can  there  be  a  doubt  of 
his  being  a  worshipper  of  the  true  God,  for  those  Ke¬ 
nites,  from  whom  the  Bechabites  came,  were  descended 
from  him  ;  1  Chron.  ii.  55.  See  also  Jer.  xxxv. 

And  Aaron  came,  and  all  the  elders  of  Israel,  to  eat 
bread]  The  burnt-offering  was  wholly  consumed  ; 
every  part  was  considered  as  the  Lord’s  portion,  and 

391 


Jethro's  counsel  to  Moses  on 


EXODUS. 


A.  M.  2514.  1 3  And  it  came  to  pass  on 

An.  Exod.  isr.  2.  the  morrow,  that  Moses  sat  to 

i jar or  Zlf-  judge  the  people  :  and  the  people 
stood  by  Moses  from  the  morning  unto  the 
evening. 

14  And  when  Moses’  father-in-law  saw  all 
that  he  did  to  the  people,  he  said,  What  is 
this  thing  that  thou  doest  to  the  people  ?  why 
sittest  thou  thyself  alone,  and  all  the  people 
stand  by  thee,  from  morning  unto  even  ? 

15  And  Moses  said  unto  his  father-in-law, 
Because  1  the  people  come  unto  me  to  inquire 
of  God : 

16  When  they  have  ua  matter,  they  come 
unto  me  ;  and  I  judge  between  v  one  and 

lLev.  xxiv.  12;  Num.  xv.  34. - uChap.  xxiii.  7 ;  xxiv.  14  ; 

Deut.  xvii.  8  ;  2  Sam.  xv.  3  ;  Job  xxxi.  13  ;  Acts  xviii.  15  ;  1  Cor. 

vi.  1. - v  Heb.  a  man  and  his  fellow. - w  Lev.  xxiv.  15  ;  Num. 

xv.  35 ;  xxvii.  6,  &c. ;  xxxvi.  6,  7,  8,  9. 

therefore  it  was  entirely  burnt  up.  The  other  sacrifices 
mentioned  here  were  such  that,  after  the  blood  had 
been  poured  out  before  God,  the  officers  and  assistants 
might  feed  on  the  flesh.  Thus,  in  ancient  times,  con¬ 
tracts  were  made  and  covenants  sealed ;  see  the  notes 
on  Gen.  xv.  13,  &c.  It  is  very  likely,  therefore, 
that  the  sacrifices  offered  on  this  occasion,  were  those 
on  the  flesh  of  which  Aaron  and  the  elders  of  Israel 
feasted  with  Jethro. 

Before  God.]  Before  the  tabernacle ,  where  God 
dwelt. ;  for  it  is  supposed  that  the  tabernacle  was  now 
erected.  See  on  ver.  5  ;  and  see  Deut.  xii.  5-7, 
and  1  Chron.  xxix.  21,  22,  where  the  same  form  of 
speech,  before  the  Lord ,  is  used,  and  plainly  refers  to 
his  manifested  presence  in  the  tabernacle. 

Yerse  13.  To  judge  the  people]  To  hear  and  de¬ 
termine  controvex-sies  between  man  and  man,  and  to 
give  them  instruction  in  things  appertaining  to  God. 

From  the  morning  unto  the  evening.]  Moses  was 
obliged  to  sit  all  day,  and  the  people  were  continually 
coming  and  going. 

Yerse  15.  The  people  come  unto  me  to  inquire  of 
God]  To  know  the  mind  and  will  of  God  on  the  sub¬ 
ject  of  their  inquiries.  Moses  was  the  mediator  between 
God  and  the  people  ;  and  as  they  believed  that  all  jus¬ 
tice  and  judgment  must  come  from  him,  therefore  they 
came  to  Moses  to  know  what  God  had  spoken. 

Yerse  16.  I  do  make  them  know  the  statutes  of  God , 
and  his  laws.]  These  wrords  are  so  very  particular 
that  they  leave  little  room  for  doubt  that  the  law  had 
been  given.  Such  words  would  scarcely  have  been 
used  had  not  the  statutes  and  laws  been  then  in  exist¬ 
ence.  And  this  is  one  of  the  proofs  that  the  transac¬ 
tion  mentioned  here  stands -out  of  its  due  chronological 
order ;  see  on  ver.  5. 

Verse  18.  Thou  wilt  surely  wear  away]  bOD  bn 2 
nabol  tibbol,  in  wearing  away ,  ihou  wilt  wear  away — 
by  being  thus  continually  employed,  thou  wilt  soon  be¬ 
come  finally  exhausted.  And  this  people  that  is  with 
thee ;  as  if  he  had  said,  “  Many  of  them  are  obliged 
to  wait  so  long  for  the  determination  of  their  suit  that 

392 


the  government  of- the  people 

another  ;  and  I  do  w  make  them  a.  m.  2514. 

1  ;  r  ~  .  ,  b.  C.  1490. 

know  the  statutes  01  God,  and  An.  Exod.  isr. 2. 

his  laws.  ljar  or  Zit 

17  And  Moses’  father-in-law  said  unto  him, 
The  thing  that  thou  doest  is  not  good. 

18  x  Thou  wilt  surely  wear  away,  both  thou, 
and  this  people  that  is  with  thee  :  for  this 
thing  is  too  heavy  for  thee  ;  y  thou  art  not 
able  to  perform  it  thyself  alone. 

1 9  Hearken  now  unto  my  voice,  I  will 
give  thee  counsel,  and  z  God  shall  be  with 
thee  :  Be  thou  a  for  the  people  to  God-ward, 
that  thou  mayest  b  bring  the  cause  unto  God  : 

20  And  thou  shalt  c  teach  them  ordinances 
and  laws,  and  shalt  show  them  d  the  way 

x  Heb.  fading  thou  wilt  fade. - y  Num.  xi.  14,  17  ;  Deut.  i.  9, 

12. - z  Chap.  iii.  12. - aChap.  iv.  16;  xx.  19;  Deut.  v.  5. 

bNum.  xxvii.  5. - cDeut.  iv.  1,  5  ;  v,  1 ;  vi.  1,  2;  vii.  11. 

d  Psa.  cxliii.  8. 

their  patience  must  be  soon  necessarily  worn  out,  as 
there  is  no  one  to  hear  every  cause  but  thyself.” 

Yerse  19.  I  will  give  thee  counsel ,  and  God  shall  be 
with  thee]  Jethro  seems  to  have  been  a  man  of  great 
understanding  and  prudence.  His  advice  to  Moses  was 
most  appropriate  and  excellent ;  and  it  was  probably 
given  under  the  immediate  inspiration  of  God,  for  after 
such  sacrificial  rites,  and  public  acknowledgment  of 
God,  the  prophetic  spirit  might  be  well  expected  to 
descend  and  rest  upon  him.  God  could  have  showed 
Moses  the  propriety  and  necessity  of  adopting  such 
measures  before,  but  he  chose  in  this  case  to  help  man 
by  man,  and  in  the  present  instance  a  permanent  basis 
was  laid  to  consolidate  the  union  of  the  two  families, 
and  prevent  all  future  misunderstandings. 

Yerse  20.  Thou  shalt  teach  them  ordinances]  D'pn 
chukkim ,  all  such  precepts  as  relate  to  the  ceremonies 
of  religion  and  political  economy.  And  laics ,  rninn, 
hattoroth ,  the  instructions  relative  to  the  whole  sys¬ 
tem  of  morality. 

And  shalt  show  them  the  way]  *]Yin  DX  eth  hadderech , 
that  very  way,  that  only  way,  which  God  himself  has 
revealed,  and  in  which  they  should  walk  in  order  to 
please  him,  and  get  their  souls  everlastingly  saved. 

And  the  work  that  they  must  do.]  For  it  was  not 
sufficient  that  they  should  know  their  duty  both  to  God 
and  man,  but  they  must  do  it  too  ;  JlKfjT  yaasun ,  they 
must  do  it  diligently ,  fervently ,  effectually ;  for  the 
paragogic  j  nun  deepens  and  extends  the  meaning  of 
the  verb. 

What  a  very  comprehensive  form  of  a  preacher’s 
duty  does  this  verse  exhibit !  1 .  He  must  instruct 

the  people  in  the  nature,  use,  and  importance  of  the 
ordinances  of  religion.  2.  He  must  lay  before  them 
the  whole  moral  laiv,  and  their  obligations  to  fulfil  all 
its  precepts.  3.  He  must  point  out  to  each  his  par¬ 
ticular  duty,  and  what  is  expected  of  him  in  his  situa¬ 
tion,  connections,  &c.  And,  4.  He  must  set  them  all 
their  work ,  and  see  that  they  do  it.  On  such  a  plan 
as  this  he  will  have  full  opportunity  to  show  the 
people,  1,  Their  sin,  ignorance. ,  and  folly ;  2.  The 

a 


Moses  hearkens  to  Jethro's  counsel ,  CHAP.  XVIII. 


and  appoints  judges  over  the  people. 


A.  M.  25U.  wherein  they  must  walk,  and 
An.  Exod.  isr.  2.  c  the  work  that  they  must  do. 
ijar  or  Zif.  2 1  Moreover  thou  shalt  provide 

out  of  all  the  people  f  able  men,  such  as  g  fear 
God,  h  men  of  truth,  1  hating  covetousness  ; 
and  place  such  over  them,  to  be  rulers  of 
thousands,  and  rulers  of  hundreds,  rulers  of 
fifties,  and  rulers  of  tens  : 

22  And  let  them  judge  the  people  k  at  all 

seasons  :  1  and  it  shall  be,  that  every  great 

matter  they  shall  bring  unto  thee,  but  every 
small  matter  they  shall  judge  :  so  shall  it  be 
easier  for  thyself,  and  m  they  shall  bear  the 
burden  with  thee. 

23  If  thou  shalt  do  this  thing,  and  God 
command  thee  so,  then  thou  shalt  be  n  able 

e  Deut.  i.  18. - f  Ver.  25  ;  Deut.  i.  15,  16 ;  xvi.  18  ;  2  Chron. 

xix.  5-10  ;  Acts  vi.  3. - s  Genesis  xlii.  18  ;  2  Sam.  xxiii.  3  ; 

2  Chron.  xix.  9. - h  Ezek.  xviii.  8. - ’  Deut.  xvi.  19. - k  Ver. 

26. - 1  Ver.  26  ;  Lev.  xxiv.  11  ;  Num.  xv.  33  ;  xxvii.  2  ;  xxxvi. 


to  endure,  and  all  this  people  A.  M.  2514. 

1  n  i  .  o  1  •  1  •  B .  C.  1490. 

shall  also  go  to  0  their  place  in  An.  Exod.  isr.  2. 

peace.  ^  or  Zif- 

24  So  Moses  hearkened  to  the  voice  of 
his  father-in-law,  and  did  all  that  he  had 
said. 

25  And  p  Moses  chose  able  men  out  of  all 
Israel,  and  made  them  heads  over  the  people, 
rulers  of  thousands,  rulers  of  hundreds,  rulers 
of  fifties,  and  rulers  of  tens. 

26  And  they  q  judged  the  people  at  all  sea¬ 
sons  :  the  r  hard  causes  they  brought  unto 
Moses,  but  every  small  matter  they  judged 
themselves. 

27  And  Moses  let  his  father-in-law  depart  ; 
and  s  he  went  his  way  into  his  own  land. 

1  ;  Deut.  i.  17;  xvii.  8. - "^Numbers  xi.  17. - “Verse  18. 

0  Gen.  xviii.  33  ;  xxx.  25  ;  chapter  xvi.  29  ;  2  Samuel  xix.  39. 

P  Deut.  i.  15;  Acts  vi.  5. - 9  Verse  22. - rJob  xxix.  16. 

8  Num.  x.  29,  30. 


pure  and  holy  law  which  they  have  broken,  and  by 
which  they  are  condemned;  3.  The  grace  of  God  that 
bringeth  salvation,  by  which  they  are  to  be  justified 
and  finally  saved ;  and,  4.  The  necessity  of  showing 
their  faith  by  their  works ;  not  on! 37  denying  ungodli¬ 
ness  and  worldly  lusts,  but  living  soberly,  righteously, 
and  godly  in  this  present  world,  looking  for  that  blessed 
hope,  and  the  glorious  appearing  of  the  great  God  and 
our  Saviour,  Jesus  Christ. 

Yerse  21.  Able  men ]  Persons  of  wisdom,  discern¬ 
ment,  judgment,  prudence,  and  fortitude  ;  for  who  can 
be  a  ruler  without  these  qualifications'? 

Such  as  fear  God ]  Who  are  truly  religious,  with¬ 
out  which  they  will  feel  little  concerned  either  for  the 
bodies  or  souls  of  the  people. 

Men  of  truth ]  Honest  and  true  in  their  own  hearts 
and  lives ;  speaking  the  truth,  and  judging  according 
to  the  truth. 

Hating  covetousness ]  Doing  all  for  God’s  sake,  and 
love  to  man  ;  labouring  to  promote  the  general  good  ; 
never  perverting  judgment,  or  suppressing  the  testi¬ 
monies  of  God,  for  the  love  of  money  or  through  a 
base,  man-pleasing  spirit,  but  expecting  their  reward 
from  the  mercy  of  God  in  the  resurrection  of  the  just. 

Rulers  of  thousands ,  fc.\  Millenaries,  centurions, 
quinqua genaries ,  and  decurions ;  each  of  these,  in  all 
probability,  dependent  on  that  officer  immediately  above 
himself.  So  the  decurion,  or  ruler  over  ten,  if  he 
found  a  matter  too  hard  for  him,  brought  it  to  the 
quinquagenary,  or  ruler  of  fifty ;  if,  in  the  course  of 
the  exercise  of  his  functions,  he  found  a  cause  too 
complicated  for  him  to  decide  on,  he  brought  it  to  the 
centurion,  or  ruler  over  a  hundred.  In  like  manner 
the  centurion  brought  his  difficult  case  to  the  millenary, 
or  ruler  over  a  thousand;  the  case  that  was  too  hard 
for  him  to  judge,  he  brought  to  Moses  ;  and  the  case 
that  was  too  hard  for  Moses,  he  brought  immediately 
to  God.  It  is  likely  that  each  of  these  classes  had  a 
court  composed  of  its  own  members,  in  which  causes 
were  heard  and  tried.  Some  of  the  rabbins  have  sup- 

a 


posed  that  there  were  600  rulers  of  thousands,  6000 
rulers  of  hundreds,  12,000  rulers  of  fifties  and  60,000 
rulers  of  tens;  making  in  the  whole  78,600  officers. 
But  Josephus  says  (Antiq.,  lib.  iii.,  chap.  4)  that 
Moses,  by  the  advice  of  Jethro,  appointed  rulers  over 
myriads,  and  then  over  thousands  ;  these  he  divided 
into  five  hundreds,  and  again  into  hundreds,  and  into 
fifties  ;  and  appointed  rulers  over  each  of  these,  who 
divided  them  into  thirties,  and  at  last  into  twenties  and 
tens ;  that  each  of  these  companies  had  a  chief,  who 
took  his  name  from  the  number  of  persons  who  were 
under  his  direction  and  government.  Allowing  what 
Josephus  states  to  be  correct,  some  have  supposed  that 
there  could  not  have  been  less  than  129,860  officers 
in  the  Israelitish  camp.  But  such  computations  are 
either  fanciful  or  absurd.  That  the  people  were 
divided  into  thousands,  hundreds,  fifties  and  tens,  we 
know,  for  the  text  states  it ;  but  we  cannot  tell  pre¬ 
cisely  how  many  of  such  divisions  there  were,  nor, 
consequently,  the  number  of  officers. 

Yerse  23.  If  thou  shalt  do  this  thing,  and  God 
command  thee\  Though  the  measure  Was  obviously 
of  the  utmost  importance,  and  plainly  recommended 
itself  by  its  expediency  and  necessity  ;  yet  Jethro  very 
modestly  leaves  it  to  the  wisdom  of  Moses  to  choose 
or  reject  it ;  and,  knowing  that  in  all  things  his  rela¬ 
tive  was  now  acting  under  the  immediate  direction  of 
God,  intimates  that  no  measure  can  be  safely  adopted 
without  a  positive  injunction  from  God  himself.  As 
the  counsel  was  doubtless  inspired  by  the  Divine  Spirit, 
we  find  that  it  was  sanctioned  by  the  same,  for  Moses 
acted  in  every  respect  according  to  the  advice  he  had 
received. 

Yerse  27.  And  Moses  let  his  father-in-law  depart ] 
But  if  this  be  the  same  transaction  with  that  mentioned 
Num.  x.  29,  &c.,  we  find  that  it  was  with  great  re¬ 
luctance  that  Moses  permitted  so  able  a  counsellor  to 
leave  him  ;  for,  having  the  highest  opinion  of  his  judg¬ 
ment,  experience,  and  discretion,  he  pressed  him  to 
stay  with  them,  that  he  might  be  instead  of  eyes  to 

393 


Observations  on  the 


EXODUS. 


them  in  the  desert.  But  Jethro  chose  rather  to  return 
to  his  own  country,  where  probably  his  family  were  so 
settled  and  circumstanced  that  they  could  not  be  con¬ 
veniently  removed,  and  it  was  more  his  duty  to  stay 
with  them ,  to  assist  them  with  his  counsel  and  advice, 
than  to  travel  with  the  Israelites.  Many  others  might 
be  found  that  could  be  eyes  to  the  Hebrews  in  the 
desert,  but  no  man  could  be  found  capable  of  being  a 
father  to  his  family,  but  himself.  It  is  well  to  labour 
for  the  public  good,  but  our  own  families  are  the  first 
claimants  on  our  care,  attention,  and  time.  He  who 
neglects  his  own  household  on  pretence  of  labouring 
even  for  the  good  of  the  public,  has  surely  denied  the 
faith,  and  is  worse  than  an  infidel. 

It  is  strange  that  after  this  we  hear  no  more  of 
Zipporah  !  Why  is  she  forgotten  1  Merely  because 
she  was  the  wife  of  Moses ;  for  he  chose  to  conduct 
himself  so  that  to  the  remotest  ages  there  should  be 
the  utmost  proofs  of  his  disinterestedness.  While 
multitudes  of  the  families  of  Israel  are  celebrated  and 
dignified ,  his  own  he  writes  in  the  dust.  He  had  no 
interest  but  that  of  God  and  his  people  ;  to  promote 
this,  he  employed  his  whole  time  and  his  uncommon 
talents.  His  body,  his  soul,  his  whole  life,  were  a 
continual  offering  to  God.  They  were  always  on  the 
Divine  altar  ;  and  God  had  from  his  creature  all  the 
praise,  glory,  and  honour  that  a  creature  could  possibly 
give.  Like  his  great  antitype,  he  went  about  doing 
good ;  and  God  was  with  him.  The  zeal  of  God’s 
house  consumed  him,  for  in  that  house ,  in  all  its  con¬ 
cerns,  we  have  the  testimony  of  God  himself  that  he 
was  faithful ,  Heb.  iii.  2  ;  and  a  higher  character  was 
never  given,  nor  can  be  given  of  any  governor,  sacred 
or  civil.  He  made  no  provision  even  for  his  own  sons, 
Gershom  and  Eliezer ;  they  and  their  families  were 
incorporated  with  the  Levites,  1  Chron.  xxiii.  14,  and 
had  no  higher  employment  than  that  of  taking  care 
of  the  tabernacle  and  the  tent,  Num.  iii.  21-26,  and 
merely  to  serve  at  the  tabernacle  and  to  carry  burdens , 
Num.  iv.  24—28.  No  history,  sacred  or  profane,  has 
been  able  to  produce  a  complete  parallel  to  the  disin¬ 
terestedness  of  Moses.  This  one  consideration  is 
sufficient  to  refute  every  charge  of  imposture  brought 
against  him  and  his  laws.  There  never  was  an  im¬ 
posture  in  the  world  (says  Dr.  Pridea.ux,  Letter  to 
the  Deists)  that  had  not  the  following  characters  : — 

1.  It  must  always  have  for  its  end  some  carnal 
interest. 

2.  It  can  have  none  but  wicked  men  for  its  authors. 

3.  Both  of  these  must  necessarily  appear  in  the 
very  contexture  of  the  imposture  itself. 

4.  That  it  can  never  be  so  framed,  that  it  will  not 


preceding  chapter . 

contain  some  palpable  falsities ,  which  will  discover  the 
falsity  of  all  the  rest. 

5.  That  wherever  it  is  first  propagated,  it  must  be 
done  by  craft  and  fraud. 

6.  That  when  intrusted  to  many  persons ,  it  cannot 
be  long  concealed. 

1.  The  keenest-eyed  adversary  of  Moses  has  never 
been  able  to  fix  on  him  any  carnal  interest.  No  grati¬ 
fication  of  sensual  passions,  no  accumulation  of  wealth, 
no  aggrandizement  of  his  family  or  relatives,  no  pur¬ 
suit  of  worldly  honour,  has  ever  been  laid  to  his  charge. 

2.  His  life  was  unspotted,  and  all  his  actions  the 
offspring  of  the  purest  benevolence. 

3.  As  his  own  hands  were  pure,  so  were  the  hands 
of  those  whom  he  associated  with  himself  in  the  work. 

4.  No  palpable  falsity  has  ever  been  detected  in  his 
writings,  though  they  have  for  their  subject  the  most 
complicate,  abstruse,  and  difficult  topics  that  ever  came 
under  the  pen  of  man. 

5.  No  craft ,  no  fraud ,  not  even  what  one  of  his 
own  countrymen  thought  he  might  lawfully  use,  inno¬ 
cent  guile,  because  he  had  to  do  with  a  people  greatly 
degraded  and  grossly  stupid,  can  be  laid  to  his  charge. 
His  conduct  was  as  open  as  the  day ;  and  though  con¬ 
tinually  watched  by  a  people  who  were  ever  ready  to 
murmur  and  rebel,  and  industrious  to  find  an  excuse  for 
their  repeated  seditious  conduct,  yet  none  could  be  found 
either  in  his  spirit,  private  life,  or  public  conduct. 

6.  None  ever  came  after  to  say,  “  We  have  joined 
with  Moses  in  a  plot,  we  have  feigned  a  Divine  autho 
rity  and  mission,  we  have  succeeded  in  our  innocent 
imposture,  and  now  the  mask  may  be  laid  aside.” 
The  whole  work  proved  itself  so  fully  to  be  of  God, 
that  even  the  person  who  might  wish  to  discredit 
Moses  and  his  mission,  could  find  no  ground  of  this 
kind  to  stand  on.  The  ten  plagues  of  Egypt,  the 
passage  of  the  Red  Sea,  the  destruction  of  the  king 
of  Egypt  and  his  immense  host,  the  quails,  the  rock 
of  Horeb,  the  supernatural  supply  by  the  forty  years’ 
manna,  the  continual  miracle  of  the  Sabbath,  on  which 
the  preceding  day’s  manna  kept  good,  though,  if  thus 
kept,  it  became  putrid  on  any  other  day,  together  with 
the  constantly  attending  supernatural  cloud,  in  its 
threefold  office  of  a  guide  by  day,  a  light  by  night, 
and  a  covering  from  the  ardours  of  the  sun,  all,  all  in¬ 
vincibly  proclaim  that  God  brought  out  this  people 
from  Egypt ;  that  Moses  was  the  man  of  God ,  chosen 
by  him,  and  fully  accredited  in  his  mission  ;  and  that 
the  laws  and  statutes  which  he  gave  were  the  offspring 
of  the  wisdom  and  goodness  of  Him  who  is  the  Father 
of  Lights,  the  fountain  of  truth  and  justice,  and  the 
continual  and  unbounded  benefactor  of  the  human 
race. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

✓ 

The  children  of  Israel,  having  departed  from  Rephidim,  come  to  the  wilderness  of  Sinai  in  the  third  month , 
1,  2.  Moses  goes  up  into  the  mount  to  God,  and  receives  a  message  ivhich  he  is  to  deliver  to  the  people , 
3—6.  He  returns  and  delivers  it  to  the  people  before  the  elders,  7.  The  people  promise  obedience,  8.  The 
Lord  proposes  to  meet  Moses  in  the  cloud,  9.  He  commands  him  to  sanctify  the  people,  and  promises  to 
come  down  visibly  on  Mount  Sinai  on  the  third  day,  10,  11.  He  commands  him  also  to  set  bounds ,  to 
prevent  the  people  or  any  of  the  cattle  from  touching  the  mount,  on  pain  of  being  stoned  or  shot  through 

394  a 


CHAP.  XIX. 


The  people  come  to  Sinai. 


Moses  goes  up  into  the  mount . 


with  a  dart ,  12,  13.  Moses  goes  down  and  delivers  this  message ,  14,  15.  The  third  day  is  ushered  in 
tvith  the  appearance  of  the  thick  cloud  upon  the  mount ,  and  with  thunders,  lightning,  and  the  sound  of  a 
trumpet ;  at  which  the  people  are  greatly  terrified.,  16.  Moses  brings  forth  the  people  out  of  the  camp  to 
meet  ivith  God ,  17.  Mount  Sinai  is  enveloped  with  smoke  and  fire ,  18.  After  the  trumpet  had  sounded 
long  and  loud ,  Moses  spoke ,  and  God  answered  him  by  a  voice ,  19.  God  calls  Moses  up  to  the  mount ,  20, 
and  gives  him  a  charge  to  the  people  and  to  the  priests,  that  they  do  not  attempt  to  come  near  to  the  mount , 
21,  22.  Moses,  alleging  that  it  was  impossible  for  them  to  touch  it  because  of  the  bounds,  23,  is  sent 
down  to  bring  up  Aaron,  and  to  warn  the  people  again  not  to  break  through  the  bounds,  24.  Moses  goes 
down  and  delivers  this  message ,  25  ;  after  which  we  may  suppose  that  he  and  Aaron  went  up  to  meet  God 
in  the  mount. 


A.  M.  2513.  IN  the  third  month,  when  the 
An.  Exod.  isr!  l.  children  of  Israel  were  gone 
SnaI1,  forth  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt, 
the  same  day  a  came  they  into  the  wilderness 
of  Sinai. 

2  For  they  were  departed  from  b  Rephidim, 
and  were  come  to  the  desert  of  Sinai,  and 
had  pitched  in  the  wilderness  ;  and  there 
Israel  encamped  before  c  the  mount. 

aNum.  xxxiii.  15. - b  Chap.  xvii.  1,  8. - c  Chapter  iii.  1,  12. 

d  Chap.  xx.  21  ;  Acts  vii.  38. - e  Chap.  iii.  4. 


3  And  d  Moses  went  up  unto  A.  M  2513. 
God,  and  the  Lord  e  called  unto  An.  Exod.  Isr.  l. 
him  out  of  the  mountain,  saying,  Siyan' 
Thus  shalt  thou  say  to  the  house  of  Jacob, 
and  tell  the  children  of  Israel ; 

4  f  Ye  have  seen  what  I  did  unto  the  Egyp¬ 
tians,  and  how  ^  I  bare  you  on  eagles’  wings, 
and  brought  you  unto  myself. 

5  Now  h  therefore,  if  ye  will  obey  my  voice 


f  Deut.  xxix.  2.- 


-s  Deut.  xxxii.  11 ;  Isa.  lxiii.  9  ;  Rev.  xii.  14. 
h  Deut.  v.  2. 


NOTES  ON  CHAP.  XIX. 

Verse  1.  In  the  third  month\  This  was  called  Si- 
van,  and  answers  to  our  May.  For  the  Jewish  months, 
years,  &c.,  see  the  tables  at  the  end  of  Deuteronomy. 

The  same  day\  There  are  three  opinions  concerning 
the  meaning  of  this  place,  which  are  supported  by  re¬ 
spectable  arguments.  1.  The  same  day  means  the 
same  day  of  the  third  month  with  that,  viz.,  the  15th, 
on  which  the  Israelites  had  left  Egypt.  2.  The  same 
day  signifies  here  a  day  of  the  same  number  with  the 
month  to  which  it  is  applied,  viz.,  the  third  day  of  the 
third  month.  3.  By  the  same  day,  the  first  day  of 
the  month  is  intended.  The  Jews  celebrate  the  feast 
of  pentecost  fifty  days  after  the  passover :  from  the 
departure  out  of  Egypt  to  the  coming  to  Sinai  were 
forty-five  days  ;  for  they  came  out  the  fifteenth  day 
of  the  first  month,  from  which  day  to  the  first  of  the 
third  month  forty-five  days  are  numbered.  On  the  2d 
day  of  this  third  month  Moses  went  up  into  the  moun¬ 
tain,  when  three  days  were  given  to  the  people  to  pu¬ 
rify  themselves ;  this  gives  the  fourth  day  of  the  third 
month,  or  the  forty-ninth  from  the  departure  out  of 
Egypt.  On  the  next  day,  which  was  the  fiftieth  from 
the  celebration  of  the  passover,  the  glory  of  God  ap¬ 
peared  on  the  mount ;  in  commemoration  of  which  the 
Jews  celebrate  the  feast  of  pentecost.  This  is  the 
opinion  of  St.  Augustine  and  of  several  moderns,  and 
is  defended  at  large  by  Houbigant.  As  the  word  ann 
chodesh,  month,  is  put  for  new  moon,  which  is  with  the 
Jews  the  first  day  of  the  month,  this  may  be  considered 
an  additional  confirmation  of  the  above  opinion. 

The  wilderness  of  Sinai.]  Mount  Sinai  is  called 
by  the  Arabs  libel  Mousa  or  the  Mount  of  Moses,  or, 
by  way  of  eminence,  El  Tor,  the  'Mount.  It  is  one 
hill,  with  two  peaks  or  summits  ;  one  is  called  Horeb, 
the  other  Sinai.  Horeb  was  probably  its  most  ancient 
name,  and  might  designate  the  whole  mountain  ;  but 
as  the  Lord  had  appeared  to  Moses  on  this  mountain 
in  a  bush,  HJD  seneh,  chap.  iii.  2,  from  this  circum¬ 


stance  it  might  have  received  the  name  of  Sinai  or 
'TO  ‘in  har  Sinai,  the  mount  of  the  bush  or  the  mount 
of  bushes  ;  for  it  is  possible  that  it  was  not  in  a  single 
bush,  but  in  a  thicket  of  bushes ,  that  the  Angel  of  God 
made  his  appearance.  The  word  bush  is  often  used 
for  woods  or  forests. 

Verse  3.  Moses  went  up  unto  God]  It  is  likely 
that  the  cloud  which  had  conducted  the  Israelitish  camp 
had  now  removed  to  the  top  of  Sinai ;  and  as  this  was 
the  symbol  of  the  Divine  presence,  Moses  went  up  to 
the  place,  there  to  meet  the  Lord. 

The  Lord  called  unto  him]  This,  according  to  St. 
Stephen,  was  the  Angel  of  the  Lord,  Acts  vii.  38. 
And  from  several  scriptures  we  have  seen  that  the 
Lord  Jesus  was  the  person  intended  ;  see  the  notes  on 
Gen.  xvi.  7  ;  xviii.  13  ;  Exod.  iii.  2. 

Verse  4.  How  I  bare  you  on  eagles’’  wings]  Mr. 
Bruce  contends  that  the  word  nesher  does  not  mean 
the  bird  we  term  eagle ;  but  a  bird  which  the  Arabs, 
from  its  kind  and  merciful  disposition,  call  rachama , 
which  is  noted  for  its  care  of  its  young,  and  its  car¬ 
rying  them  upon  its  back.  See  his  Travels,  vol.  vii., 
pi.  33.  It  is  not  unlikely  that  from  this  part  of  the 
sacred  history  the  heathens  borrowed  their  fable  of 
the  eagle  being  a  bird  sacred  to  Jupiter,  and  which  was 
employed  to  carry  the  souls  of  departed  heroes,  kings, 
&c.,  into  the  celestial  regions.  The  Romans  have 
struck  several  medals  with  this  device,  which  may  be 
seen  in  different  cabinets,  among  Which  are  the  follow¬ 
ing  :  one  of  Faustina,  daughter  of  Antoninus  Pius , 
on  the  reverse  of  which  she  is  represented  ascending 
to  heaven  on  the  back  of  an  eagle ;  and  another  of 
Salonia,  daughter  of  the  Emperor  Galienus ,  on  the  re¬ 
verse  of  which  she  is  represented  on  the  back  of  an 
eagle,  with  a  sceptre  in  her  hand,  ascending  to  heaven. 
Jupiter  himself  is  sometimes  represented  on  the  back 
of  an  eagle  also,  with  his  thunder  in  his  hand,  as  on  a 
medal  of  Licinus.  This  brings  us  nearer  to  the  letter 
of  the  text,  where  it  appears  *.hat  the  heathens  con- 

395 


EXODUS. 


Moses  receives  God's  message, 


and  delivers  it  to -  the  people . 


B  c  1491*  indeed,  and  keep  my  covenant, 
An.  Exod.  isr!  i.  then  *  ye  shall  be  a  peculiar  trea- 
Slvan'  sure  unto  me  above  all  people  : 
for  k  all  the  earth  is  mine  : 

6  And  ye  shall  be  unto  me  a *  1  kingdom  of 
priests,  and  a  m  holy  nation.  These  are  the 
words  which  thou  shalt  speak  unto  the  chil¬ 
dren  of  Israel. 

7  And  Moses  came  and  called  for  the  elders 
of  the  people,  and  laid  before  their  faces  all 
these  words  which  the  Lord  commanded  him. 


8  And  n  all  the  people  answer-  A.  M.  2513. 

i  !  i  -P  .  „  ,  B.  C.  1491. 

ed  together,  and  said,  All  that  An.  Exod.  Isr.  1. 

the  Lord  hath  spoken  we  will  Slvan‘.  .  .. 

do.  And  Moses  returned  the  words  of  the 

people  unto  the  Lord. 

9  And  the  Lord  said  unto  Moses,  Lo,  I 
come  unto  thee  0  in  a  thick  cloud,  p  that 
the  people  may  hear  when  I  speak  with 
thee,  and  ^  believe  thee  for  ever.  And 
Moses  told  the  words  of  the  people  unto 
the  Lord. 


iDeut.  iv.  20;  vii.  6;  xiv.  2,  21;  xxvi.  18;  xxxii.  8,  9; 
1  Kings  viii.  53;  Psa.  c.xxxv.  4  ;  Cant.  viii.  12  ;  Isa.  xli.  8  ;  xliii. 

1  ;  Jer.  x.  16  ;  Mai.  iii.  17  ;  Tit.  ii.  14. - k  Chap.  ix.  29  ;  Deut. 

x.  14;  Job  xli.  11  ;  Psa.  xxiv.  1;  1.  12;  1  Cor.  x.  26,  28. 
1  Deut.  xxxiii.  2,  3,  4 ;  1  Pet.  ii.  5,  9  ;  Rev.  i.  6  ;  v.  10  ;  xx.  6. 

founded  the  figure  made  use  of  by  the  sacred  penman, 

I  bare  you  on  eagles ’  wings ,  with  the  manifestation  of 
God  in  thunder  and  lightning  on  Mount  Sinai.  And 
it  might  be  in  reference  to  all  this  that  the  Romans 
took  the  eagle  for  their  ensign.  See  Scheuchzer, 
Musellius ,  &c. 

Brought  you  unto  myself.]  In  this  and  the  two 
following  verses,  we  see  the  design  of  God  in  select¬ 
ing  a  people  for  himself.  1.  They  were  to  obey  his 
voice ,  ver.  5,  to  receive  a  revelation  from  him,  and  to 
act  according  to  that  revelation,  and  not  according  to 
their  reason  or  fancy,  in  opposition  to  his  declarations. 
2.  They  were  to  obey  his  voice  indeed ,  JllQSy 

shamoa  tishmeu ,  in  hearing  they  should  hear  ;  they 
should  consult  his  testimonies,  hear  them  whenever 
read  or  proclaimed,  and  obey  them  as  soon  as  heard, 
affectionately  and  steadily.  3.  They  must  keep  his 
covenant — not  only  copy  in  their  lives  the  ten  com¬ 
mandments,  but  they  must  receive  and  preserve  the 
grand  agreement  made  between  God  and  man  by  sacri¬ 
fice,  in  reference  to  the  incarnation  and  death  of  Christ; 
for  from  the  foundation  of  the  world  the  covenant  of 
God  ratified  by  sacrifices  referred  to  this,  and  now  the 
sacrificial  system  was  to  be  more  fully  opened  by  the 
giving  of  the  law.  4.  They  should  then  be  God’s 
peculiar  treasure,  TmD  segullah,  his  own  patrimony ,  a 
people  in  whom  he  should  have  all  right,  and  over 
whom  he  should  have  exclusive  authority  above  all  the 
people  of  the  earth ;  for  though  all  the  inhabitants  of 
the  world  were  his  by  his  right  of  creation  and  provi¬ 
dence,  yet  these  should  be  peculiarly  his,  as  receiving 
his  revelation  and  entering  into  his  covenant.  5.  They 
should  be  a  kingdom  of  priests,  ver.  6.  Their  state 
should  be  a  theocracy ;  and  as  God  should  be  the  sole 
governor,  being  king  in  Jeshurun ,  so  all  his  subjects 
should  be  priests,  all  worshippers,  all  sacrificers,  every 
individual  offering  up  the  victim  for  himself.  A  beau¬ 
tiful  representation  of  the  Gospel  dispensation,  to  which 
the  Apostles  Peter  and  John  apply  it,  1  Pet.  ii.  5,  9 ; 
Rev.  i.  6 ;  v.  10,  and  xx.  6;  under  which  dispensation 
every  believing  soul  offers  up  for  himself  that  Lamb 
of  God  which  was  slain  for  and  which  takes  away  the 
sin  of  the  world,  and  through  which  alone  a  man  can 
have  access  to  God. 

Terse  6,  And  a  holy  nation.]  They  should  be  a 

396 


m  Lev.  xx.  24,  26  ;  Deut.  vii.  6  ;  xxvi.  19  ;  xxviii.  9  ;  Isaiah  lxii. 

12  ;  1  Cor.  iii.  17  ;  1  Thess.  v.  27. - n  Chap.  xxiv.  3,  7  ;  Deut. 

v.  27;  xxvi.  17. - °Ver.  16;  chap.xx.21;  xxiv.15,  16;  Deut 

iv.  11  ;  Psa.  xviii.  11, 12  ;  xcvii.  2  ;  Matt.  xvii.  5. - P  Deut.  iv: 

12,  36 ;  John  xii.  29,  30. - Chap.  xiv.  31. 

nation,  one  people ;  firmly  united  among  themselves, 
living  under  their  own  laws  ;  and  powerful,  because 
united,  and  acting  under  the  direction  and  blessing  of 
God.  They  should  be  a  holy  nation,  saved  from  their 
sins,  righteous  in  their  conduct,  holy  in  their  hearts ; 
every  external  rite  being  not  only  a  significant  cere¬ 
mony,  but  also  a  means  of  conveying  light  and  life, 
grace  and  peace,  to  every  person  who  conscientiously 
used  it.  Thus  they  should  be  both  a  kingdom,  having 
God  for  their  governor ;  and  a  nation,  a  multitude  of 
peoples  connected  together  ;  not  a  scattered,  disordered, 
and  disorganized  people,  but  a  royal  nation,  using  their 
own  rites,  living  under  their  own  laws,  subject  in  reli¬ 
gious  matters  only  to  God,  and  in  things  civil,  to  every 
ordinance  of  man  for  God’s  sake. 

This  was  the  spirit  and  design  of  this  wonderful 
institution,  which  could  not  receive  its  perfection  but 
under  the  Gospel,  and  has  its  full  accomplishment  in 
every  member  of  the  mystical  body  of  Christ. 

Terse  7.  The  elders  of  the  people ]  The  head  of 
each  tribe,  and  the  chief  of  each  family,  by  whose 
ministry  this  gracious  purpose  of  God  was  speedily 
communicated  to  the  whole  camp. 

Terse  8.  And  all  the  people  answered,  Ac.]  The 
people,  having  such  gracious  advantages  laid  before 
them,  most  cheerfully  consented  to  take  God  for  their 
portion;  as  he  had  graciously  promised  to  take  them 
for  his  people.  Thus  a  covenant  was  made,  the  parties 
being  mutually  bound  to  each  other. 

Moses  returned  the  words]  When  the  people  had 
on  their  part  consented  to  the  covenant,  Moses  appears 
to  have  gone  immediately  up  to  the  mountain  and 
related  to  God  the  success  of  his  mission';  for  he  was 
now  on  the  mount,  as  appears  from  ver.  14. 

Terse  9.  A  thick  cloud]  This  is  interpreted  by 
ver.  18:  And  Mount  Sinai  was  altogether  on  a  smoke 
— and  the  smoke  thereof  ascended  as  the  smoke  of  a 
furnace ;  his  usual  appearance  was  in  the  cloudy 
pillar,  which  we  may  suppose  was  generally  clear  and 
luminous. 

That  the  people  may  hear]  See  the  note  on  chap, 
xv.  9.  The  Jews  consider  this  as  the  fullest  evidence 
their  fathers  had  of  the  Divine  mission  of  Moses  ;  them¬ 
selves  were  permitted  to  see  this  awfully  glorious  sight, 
and  to  hear  God  himself  speak  out  of  the  thick  dark- 

a 


CHAP.  XIX. 


The  people  are  sanctified ,  and 

a.  m.  2513.  10  And  the  Lord  said  unto 

An.  Exod.  isr!i.  Moses,  Go  unto  the  people,  and 
Slvan~  r  sanctify  them  to-day  and  to¬ 
morrow,  and  let  them  s  wash  their  clothes, 

1 1  And  be  ready  against  the  third  day  :  for 
the  third  day  the  Lord  1  will  come  down  in 
the  sight  of  all  the  people,  upon  Mount  Sinai. 

12  And  thou  shalt  set  bounds  unto  the 
people  round  about,  saying,  Take  heed  to 
yourselves,  that  ye  go  not  up  into  the  mount, 
or  touch  the  border  of  it :  u  whosoever 
toucheth  the  mount  shall  be  surely  put  to 
death ; 

13  There  shall  not  a  hand  touch  it,  but  he 
shall  surely  be  stoned,  or  shot  through  ;  whe¬ 
ther  it  he  beast  or  man,  it  shall  not  live  : 

rLev.  xi.  44,  45  ;  Heb.  x.  22. - s  Ver.  14  ;  Genesis  xxxv.  2  ; 

Lev.  xv.  5. - 1  Ver.  16,  18;  chap,  xxxiv.  5  ;  Deut.  xxxiii.  2. 

u  Heb.  xii.  20. - v  Or,  cornet. - w  Ver.  1G,  19. - x  Ver.  10. 

y  Ver.  11. 

ness  :  for  before  this,  as  Rabbi  Maymon  remarks,  they 
might  have  thought  that  Moses  wrought  his  miracles 
by  sorcery  or  enchantment ;  but  now,  hearing  the  voice 
of  God  himself,  they  could  no  longer  disbelieve  nor 
even  doubt. 

Verse  10.  Sanctify  them\  See  the  meaning  of  this 
term,  chap.  xiii.  2. 

Let  them  ivash  their  clothes ]  And  consequently 
bathe  their  bodies  ;  for,  according  to  the  testimony  of 
the  Jews,  these  always  went  together.  It  was  neces¬ 
sary  that,  as  they  were  about  to  appear  in  the  presence 
of  God,  every  thing  should  be  clean  and  pure  about 
them  ;  that  they  might  be  admonished  by  this  of  the 
necessity  of  inward  purity,  of  which  the  outward 
washing  was  the  emblem. 

From  these  institutions  the  heathens  appear  to  have 
borrowed  their  precepts  relative  to  washings  and  puri¬ 
fications  previously  to  their  offering  sacrifice  to  their 
gods,  examples  of  which  abound  in  the  Greek  and  Latin 
writers.  They  washed  their  hands  and  clothes,  and 
bathed  their  bodies  in  pure  water,  before  the}^  performed 
any  act  of  religious  worship  ;  and  in  a  variety  of  cases, 
abstinence  from  all  matrimonial  connections  was  posi¬ 
tively  required,  before  a  person  was  permitted  to  per¬ 
form  any  religious  rite,  or  assist  at  the  performance. 

Verse  12.  Thou  shalt  set  bounds ]  Whether  this 
was  a  line  marked  out  on  the  ground,  beyond  which 
they  were  not  to  go,  or  whether  a  fence  was  actually 
made  to  keep  them  off,  we  cannot  tell  ;  or  whether 
this  fence  was  made  all  round  the  mountain,  or  only 
at  that  part  to  which  one  wing  of  the  camp  extended, 
is  not  evident. 

This  verse  strictly  forbids  the  people  from  coming 
near  and  touching  Mount  Sinai,  which  was  burning 
with  fire.  The  words  therefore  in  ver.  15,  HSUH  *7X 
Hi^X  Sx  al  tiggeshu  el  ishshah ,  come  not  at  your  wives, 
seem  rather  to  mean,  come  not  near  unto  the  fire  ; 
especially  as  the  other  phrase  is  not  at  all  probable  : 
but  the  fire  is,  on  this  occasion,  spoken  of  so  emphati¬ 
cally  (see  Deut.  v.  4,5,22-25)  that  we  are  naturally 


the  Lord  appears  on  the  mount . 

when  the  v  trumpet  w  soundeth  A.  M.  2513. 
long,  they  shall  come  up  to  the  An.  Exod.  isr.  1. 
mount.  &lvan‘  „ 

14  And  Moses  went  down  from  the  mount 
unto  the  people,  and  x  sanctified  the  people  ; 
and  they  washed  their  clothes. 

1 5  And  he  said  unto  the  people,  y  Be  ready 
against  the  third  day  :  z  come  not  at  your 
wives. 

16  And  it  came  to  pass  on  the  third  day  in 
the  morning,  that  there  were  a  thunders  and 
lightnings,  and  a  b  thick  cloud  upon  the  mount, 
and  the  c  voice  of  the  trumpet  exceeding  loud ; 
so  that  all  the  people  that  was  in  the  camp 
d  trembled. 

17  And  e  Moses  brought  forth  the  people 

z  1  Sam.  xxi.  4,  5  ;  Zech.  vii.  3  ;  1  Cor.  vii.  5. - a  Psa.  lxxvii 

18  ;  Heb.  xii.  18,  19  ;  Rev.  iv.  5  ;  viii.  5  ;  xi.  19. - b  Ver.  9  ; 

chap.  xl.  34  ;  2  Chron.  v.  14. - :c  Rev.  i.  10  ;  iv.  1. - d  Heb. 

xii.  21. - e  Deut.  iv.  10. 

led  to  consider  n&*X  ishshah  here  as  l?xn  ha-esk  trans¬ 
posed,  or  to  say,  with  Simon  in  his  Lexicon,  HtfX  fcem. 
idem  quod  masc.  i7X  ignis.  So,  among  other  instances, 
we  have  “13  X  and  ni3X  a  wing ;  “11 X  and  mix  light ; 
yiDX  and  m>3X  strength ;  and  "1DX  and  mDX  a  speech. 
— Buxt.  See  Kennicott’s  Remarks. 

Whosoever  touchetli  the  mount  shall  be  surely  pul 
to  death ]  The  place  was  awfully  sacred,  because  the 
dreadful  majesty  of  God  was  displayed  on  it.  And 
this  taught  them  that  God  is  a  consuming  fire,  and 
that  it  is  a  fearful  thing  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  the 
living  God. 

Verse  13.  There  shall  not  a  hand  touch  it]  13  bo, 
him,  not  the  mountain ,  but  the  man  who  had  presumed 
to  touch  the  mountain.  He  should  be  considered 
altogether  as  an  unclean  and  accursed  thing,  not  to  be 
touched  for  fear  of  conveying  defilement ;  but  should 
be  immediately  stoned  or  pierced  through  with  a  dart, 
Heb.  xii.  20. 

Verse  16.  Thunders  and  lightnings ,  and  a  thick 
cloud — and  the  voice  of  the  trumpet ]  The  thunders , 
lightnings ,  &c.,  announced  the  coming,  as  they  pro¬ 
claimed  the  majesty,  of  God.  Of  the  thunders  and 
lightnings,  and  the  deep,  dark,  dismal,  electric  cloud , 
from  which  the  thunders  and  lightnings  proceeded,  we 
can  form  a  tolerable  apprehension  ;  but  of  the  loud, 
long-sounding  trumpet,  we  can  scarcely  form  a  con¬ 
jecture.  Such  were  the  appearances  and  the  noise 
that  all  the  people  in  the  camp  trembled,  and  Moses 
himself  was  constrained  to  say,  “  I  exceedingly  fear 
and  quake,”  Heb.  xii.  21.  Probably  the  sound  of  the 
trumpet  was  something  similar  to  that  which  shall  be 
blown  by  the  angel  when  he  sweareth,  by  Him  that 
liveth  for  ever,  There  shall  be  time  no  longer  l 

Verse  17.  And  Moses  brought  forth  the  people — to 
meet  with  God]  For  though  they  might  not  touch  the 
mount  till  they  had  permission,  yet  when  the  trumpet 
sounded  long,  it  appears  they  might  come  up  to  the 
nether  part  of  the  mount,  (see  ver.  13,  and  Deut.  iv. 
11;)  and  when  the  trumpet  had  ceased  to  sound,  they 

397 


EXODUS. 


The  Lord  descends ,  and 

a.  M.  2513.  out  of  the  camp  to  meet  with  I 
AnJExod .^isr.  l.  God ;  and  they  stood  at  the 
Slvan~  nether  part  of  the  mount. 

18  And  f  Mount  Sinai  was  altogether  on  a 
smoke,  because  the  Lord  descended  upon  it 
s  in  fire  :  h  and  the  smoke  thereof  ascended 
as  the  smoke  of  a  furnace,  and  1  the  whole 
mount  quaked  greatly. 

1 9  And  k  when  the  voice  of  the  trumpet 
sounded  long,  and  waxed  louder  and  louder, 

1  Moses  spake,  and  111 * * * *  God  answered  him  by  a 
voice. 

f  Deut.  iv.  11  ;  xxxiii.  2  ;  Judg.  v.  5  ;  Psa.  lxviii.  7,  8  ;  Isa.  vi. 

4  ;  Hab.  iii.  3. - -e  Chap.  iii.  2 ;  xxiv.  17  ;  2  Chron.  vii.  1,2,  3. 

h  Gen.  xv.  17  ;  Psa.  cxliv.  5 ;  Rev.  xv.  8. - 5  Psa.  lxviii.  8 ;  lxxvii. 

might  then  go  up  unto  the  mountain,  as  to  any  other 
place. 

It  was  absolutely  necessary  that  God  should  give 
the  people  at  large  some  particular  evidence  of  his 
being  and  power ,  that  they  might  be  saved  from  idol¬ 
atry,  to  which  they  were  most  deplorably  prone  ;  and 
that  they  might  the  more  readily  credit  Moses,  who 
was  to  be  the  constant  mediator  between  God  and 
them.  God,  therefore,  in  his  indescribable  majesty, 
descended  on  the  mount ;  and,  by  the  thick  dark  cloud, 
the  violent  thunders,  the  vivid  lightnings,  the  long  and 
loud  blasts  of  the  trumpet,  the  smoke  encompassing  the 
whole  mountain,  and  the  excessive  earthquake,  pro¬ 
claimed  his  power,  his  glory ,  and  his  holiness  ;  so 
that  the  people,  however  unfaithful  and  disobedient 
afterwards,  never  once  doubted  the  Divine  interference, 
or  suspected  Moses  of  any  cheat  or  imposture.  In¬ 
deed,  so  absolute  and  unequivocal  were  the  proofs 
of  supernatural  agency,  that  it  was  impossible  these 
appearances  could  be  attributed  to  any  cause  but  the 
unlimited  power  of  the  author  of  Nature. 

It  is  worthy  of  remark  that  the  people  were  in¬ 
formed  three  days  before,  ver.  9—11,  that  such  an 
appearance  was  to  take  place  ;  and  this  answered  two 
excellent  purposes  :  1 .  They  had  time  to  sanctify  and 
prepare  themselves  for  this  solemn  transaction  ;  and, 

2.  Those  who  might  be  skeptical  had  sufficient  oppor¬ 

tunity  to  make  use  of  every  precaution  to  prevent  and 

detect  an  imposture  ;  so  this  previous  warning  strongly 
serves  the  cause  of  Divine  revelation. 

Their  being  at  first  prohibited  from  touching  the 
mount  on  the  most  awful  penalties,  and  secondly,  being 
permitted  to  see  manifestations  of  the  Divine  majesty, 
and  hear  the  words  of  God,  subserved  the  same  great 
purposes.  .  Their  being  prohibited  in  the  first  instance 

would  naturally  whet  their  curiosity,  make  them  cau¬ 
tious  of  being  deceived,  and  ultimately  impress  them 
with  a  due  sense  of  God’s  justice  and  their  own  sin¬ 
fulness  ;  and  their  being  permitted  afterwards  to  go 
up  to  the  mount,  must  have  deepened  the  conviction 
that  all  was  fair  and  real,  that  there  could  be  no  im¬ 
posture  in  the  case,  and  that  though  the  justice  and 
purity  of  God  forbade  them  to  draw7  nigh  for  a  time, 
yet  his  mercy,  which  had  prescribed  the  means  of 
purification,  had  permitted  an  access  to  his  presence. 

398 


calls  Moses  to  the  top  of  Sinai. 

20  And  the  Lord  came  down 

.  r  B.  C.  1491. 

upon  Mount  Sinai,  on  the  top  ot  An.  Exod.  Isr.  l. 

the  mount :  and  the  Lord  called  n an' 

Moses  up  to  the  top  of  the  mount ;  and  Moses 

went.  up. 

21  And  the  Lord  said  unto  Moses,  Go 
down,  n  charge  the  people,  lest  they  break 
through  unto  the  Lord  0  to  gaze,  and  many 
of  them  perish. 

22  And  let  the  priests  also,  which  come 
near  to  the  Lord,  p  sanctify  themselves,  lest 
the  Lord  q  break  forth  upon  them. 

18  ;  cxiv.  7 ;  Jer.  iv.  24  ;  Heb.  xii.  26. - k  Ver.  13. - 1  Heb.  xii, 

21. - mNeh.  ix.  13  ;  Psa.  lxxxi.  7. - nHeb.  contest. - °  See 

chap.  iii.  5  ;  1  Sam.  vi.  19. - P  Lev.  x.  3. - 4  2  Sam.  vi.  7,  8. 

The  directions  given  from  ver.  10  to  15  inclusive 
show,  not  only  the  holiness  of  God,  but  the  purity  he 
requires  in  his  worshippers. 

Besides,  the  whole  scope  and  design  of  the  chapter 
prove  that  no  soul  can  possibly  approach  this  holy  and 
terrible  Being  but  through  a  mediator ;  and  this  is  the 
use  made  of  this  wdiole  transaction  by  the  author  of 
the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  chap.  xii.  18—24. 

Yerse  20.  The  Lord  came  doiori\  This  was  un¬ 
doubtedly  done  in  a  visible  manner,  that  the  people 
might  witness  the  awful  appearance.  We  may  sup¬ 
pose  that  every  thing  was  arranged  thus  :  the  glory 
of  the  Lord  occupied  the  top  of  the  mountain,  and  near 
to  this  Moses  was  permitted  to  approach.  Aaron  and 
the  seventy  elders  were  permitted  to  advance  some  way 
up  the  mountain,  while  the  people  were  only  permitted 
to  come  up  to  its  base.  Moses,  as  the  lawgiver,  was 
to  receive  the  statutes  and  judgments  from  God’s 
mouth  ;  Aaron  and  the  elders  were  to  receive  them 
from  Moses,  and  deliver  them  to  the  people  ;  and  the 
people  wrere  to  act  according  to  the  direction  received. 
Nothing  can  be  imagined  more  glorious,  terrible,  ma¬ 
jestic,  and  impressive,  than  the  whole  of  this  transac¬ 
tion  ;  but  it  was  chiefly  calculated  to  impress  deep 
reverence,  religious  fear,  and  sacred  awe;  and  he  who 
attempts  to  worship  God  uninfluenced  by  these,  has 
neither  a  proper  sense  of  the  Divine  majesty,  nor  of  the 
sinfulness  of  sin.  It  seems  in  reference  to  this  that 
the  apostle  says,  Let  us  have  grace  ivhereby  we  may 
serve  God  acceptably  with  reverence  and  godly  fear  : 
for  our  God  is  a  consuming  fire  ;  Heb.  xii.  28,  29. 
Who  then  shall  dare  to  approach  him  in  his  own  name, 
and  without  a  mediator  ? 

Verse  22.  Let  the  priests  also — sanctify  themselves ] 
That  there  were  priests  among  the  Hebrews  before 
the  consecration  of  Aaron  and  his  sons,  cannot  be 
doubted  ;  though  their  functions  might  be  in  a  con¬ 
siderable  measure  suspended  while  under  persecution 
in  Egypt,  yet  the  persons  existed  whose  right  and 
duty  it  was  to  offer  sacrifices  to  God.  Moses  re¬ 
quested  liberty  from  Pharaoh  to  go  into  the  wilderness 
to  sacrifice  ;  and  had  there  not  been  among  the  peo¬ 
ple  both  sacrifices  and  priests ,  the  request  itself  must 
have  appeared  nugatory  and  absurd.  Sacrifices  from 
the  beginning  had  constituted  an  essential  part  of  the 


CHAP  XX. 


not  to  ascend  the  mount. 


The  people  are  charged 

A.  M.  2513.  23  And  Moses  said  unto  the 

An.  Exod.  isr.  l.  Lord,  1  he  people  cannot  come 
8lvan~  up  to  Mount  Sinai  :  for  thou 
chargedst  us,  saying,  r  Set  bounds  about  the 
mount,  and  sanctify  it. 

24  And  the  Lord  said  unto  him,  Away, 
get  thee  down,  and  thou  shalt  come  up, 

r  Ver.  12  ; 

worship  of  God,  and  there  certainly  were  priests  whose 
business  it  was  to  offer  them  to  God  before  the  giv¬ 
ing  of  the  law  ;  though  this,  for  especial  reasons,  was 
restricted  to  Aaron  and  his  sons  after  the  law  had  been 
given.  As  sacrifices  had  not  been  offered  for  a  con¬ 
siderable  time,  the  priests  themselves  were  considered 
in  a  state  of  impurity  ;  and  therefore  God  requires  that 
they  also  should  be  purified  for  the  purpose  of  ap¬ 
proaching  the  mountain,  and  hearing  their  Maker  pro¬ 
mulgate  his  laws.  See  the  note  on  chap,  xxviii.  1. 

Verse  23.  The  people  cannot  come  up]  Either  be¬ 
cause  they  had  been  so  solemnly  forbidden  that  they 
would  not  dare,  with  the  penalty  of  instant  death  be¬ 
fore  their  eyes,  to  transgress  the  Divine  command  ;  or 
the  bounds  which  were  set  about  the  mount  were  such 
as  rendered  their  passing  them  physically  impossible. 

And  sanctify  it.]  vekiddashto.  Here  the 

word  BHp  kadash  is  taken  in  its  proper  literal  sense, 
signifying  the  separating  of  a  thing ,  person,  or  place , 
from  all  profane  or  common  uses,  and  devoting  it  to 
cacred  purposes. 

Verse  24.  Let  not  the  priests  and  the  people  break 
through]  God  knew  that  they  were  heedless,  crimi¬ 
nally  curious,  and  stupidly  obstinate ;  and  therefore 
his  mercy  saw  it  right  to  give  them  line  upon  line,  that 
they  might  not  transgress  to  their  own  destruction. 

From  the  very  solemn  and  awful  manner  in  which 
the  LAW  was  introduced,  we  may  behold  it  as  the 
ministration  of  terror  and  death,  2  Cor.  iii.  7,  appear¬ 
ing  rather  to  exclude  men  from  God  than  to  bring 
them  nigh ;  and  from  this  we  may  learn  that  an  ap¬ 
proach  to  God  would  have  been  for  ever  impossible, 
had  not  infinite  mercy  found  out  the  Gospel  scheme 
of  salvation.  By  this,  and  this  alone,  we  draw  nigh 


thou,  and  Aaron  with  thee  ;  but  A.  M.  2513. 
let  not  the  priests  and  the  peo-  An.  ExodHsr.  1. 
pie  break  through,  to  come  up  Slvan- 
unto  the  Lord,  lest  he  break  forth  upon 
them. 

25  So  Moses  went  down  unto  the  people, 
and  spake  unto  them. 

Josh.  iii.  4. 

to  God  ;  for  we  have  an  entrance  into  the  holiest 
by  the  blood  of  Jesus,  Heb.  x.  19.  “For,”  says  the 
apostle,  “  ye  are  not  come  unto  the  mount  that  might 
be  touched,  and  that  burned  with  fire  ;  nor  unto  black¬ 
ness,  and  darkness,  and  tempest,  and  to  the  sound  of 
a  trumpet,  and  the  voice  of  words  ;  which  voice  they 
that  heard  entreated  that  the  word  should  not  be 
spoken  to  them  any  more,  (for  they  could  not  endure 
that  which  wTas  commanded,  And  if  so  much  as  a  beast 
touch  the  mountain  it  shall  be  stoned,  or  thrust  through 
with  a  dart  :  and  so  terrible  was  the  sight  that  Moses 
said,  I  exceedingly  fear  and  quake  :)  but  ye  are  come 
unto  Mount  Sion,  and  unto  the  city  of  the  living  God, 
the  heavenly  Jerusalem,  and  to  an  innumerable  com¬ 
pany  of  angels,  to  the  general  assembly  and  Church  of 
the  first-born,  which  are  written  in  heaven  ;  and  to 
God,  the  Judge  of  all ;  and  to  the  spirits  of  just  men 
made  perfect ;  and  to  Jesus  the  MEDIATOR  of  the 
NEW  COVENANT  ;  and  to  the  blood  of  sprinkling, 
that  speaketh  better  things  than  that  of  Abel Heb. 
xii.  18—24. 

Reader,  art  thou  still  under  the  influence  and  con¬ 
demning  power  of  that  fiery  law  which  proceeded 
from  his  right  hand  1  Art  thou  yet  afar  off  ?  Remem¬ 
ber,  thou  canst  only  come  nigh  by  the  blood  of  sprink¬ 
ling  ;  and  till  justified  by  his  blood,  thou  art  under 
the  curse.  Consider  the  terrible  majesty  of  God.  If 
thou  have  his  favour  thou  hast  life  ;  if  his  froivn,  death . 
Be  instantly  reconciled  to  God,  for  though  thou  hast 
deeply  sinned ,  and  he  is  just,  yet  he  is  the  justifier  of 
him  that  believeth  in  Christ  Jesus.  Believe  on  him, 
receive  his  salvation,  obey  his  voice  indeed,  and  keep 
his  covenant,  and  then  shalt  thou  be  a  king  and  a 
priest  unto  God  and  the  Lamb,  and  be  finally  saved 
with  all  the  power  of  an  endless  life.  Amen. 


CHAPTER  XX. 

The  preface  to  the  ten  commandments,  1,  2.  The  first  commandment,  against  mental  or  theoretic  idolatry,  3. 
The  second,  against  making  and  worshipping  images,  or  practical  idolatry,  4-6.  The  third,  against  false 
swearing,  blasphemy,  and  irreverent  use  of  the  name  of  God,  7.  The  fourth,  against  profanation  of  the 
Sabbath,  and  idleness  on  the  other  days  of  the  week,  8—11.  The  fifth,  against  disrespect  and  disobe¬ 
dience  to  parents,  12.  The  sixth,  against  murder  and  cruelty,  13.  The  seventh,  against  adultery  and 
uncleanness,  14.  The  eighth,  against  stealing  and  dishonesty,  15.  The  ninth,  against  false  testimony, 
perjury,  &c.,  16.  The  tenth,  ogamsCcovetousness,  17.  The  people  are  alarmed  at  the  auful  appearance 
of  God  on  the  mount ,  and  stand  afar  off,  18.  They  pray  that  Moses  may  be  mediator  between  God  and 
them,  19.  Moses  encourages  them ,  20.  He  draws  near  to  the  thick  darkness,  and  God  communes  with, 
him,  21,  22.  Farther  directions  against  idolatry,  23.  Directions  concerning  making  an  altar  of  earth, 
24  ;  and  an  altar  of  hewn  stone ,  25.  None  of  these  to  be  ascended  by  steps,  and  the  reason  given ,  26. 

a  399 


Preface  to  the  commandments . 

a.  M.  2513.  A  ND  God  spake  a  all  these 

b.  c.  i49i.  JrL  f 

An.  Exod.  isr.  i.  words,  saying, 

Slvan~  2  b  I  am  the  Lord  thy  God, 
which  have  brought  thee  out  of  the  land  of 

aDeut.  v.  22. - b  Lev.  xxvi.  1,  13  ;  Deut.  v.  6  ;  Psa.  lxxxi.  10  ; 

Hos.  xiii.  4. - c  Chap.  xiii.  3. 

NOTES  ON  CHAP.  XX. 

Verse  1.  All  these  words ]  Houbigant  supposes, 
and  with  great  plausibility  of  reason,  that  the  clause 
71*7X11  D1“Din  bn  DX  eth  col  haddebarim  haelleh,  “  all 
these  words,”  belong  to  the  latter  part  of  the  conclud¬ 
ing  verse  of  chap,  xix.,  which  he  thinks  should  be  read 
thus  :  And  Moses  went  doivn  unto  the  people ,  and 
spake  unto  them  all  these  words  ;  i.  e.,  delivered 
the  solemn  charge  relative  to  their  not  attempting  to 
come  up  to  that  part  of  the  mountain  on  which  God 
manifested  himself  in  his  glorious  majesty,  lest  he 
should  break  forth  upon  them  and  consume  them.  For 
how  could  Divine  justice  and  purity  suffer  a  people  so 
defiled  to  stand  in  his  immediate  presence  1  When 
Moses,  therefore,  had  gone  down  and  spoken  all  these 
words ,  and  he  and  Aaron  had  reascended  the  mount, 
then  the  Divine  Being,  as  supreme  legislator,  is  ma¬ 
jestically  introduced  thus  :  And  God  spake ,  saying. 
This  gives  a  dignity  to  the  commencement  of  this 
chapter  of  which  the  clause  above  mentioned,  if  not 
referred  to  the  speech  of  Moses,  deprives  it.  The 
Anglo-Saxon  favours  this  emendation  :  Dob  rppsec  5up, 
God  spoke  thus,  which  is  the  whole  of  the  first  verse 
as  it  stands  in  that  version. 

Some  learned  men  are  of  opinion  that  the  ten  com¬ 
mandments  were  delivered  on  May  30,  being  then  the 
day  of  pentecost. 

THE  TEN  COMMANDMENTS. 

The  laws  delivered  on  Mount  Sinai  have  been  va¬ 
riously  named.  In  Deut.  iv.  13,  they  are  called  tXW'J 
DnAin  asereth  haddebarim ,  the  ten  words.  In  the 
preceding  chapter,  ver.  5,  God  calls  them  'TT*n  fix  eth 
berithi ,  my  covenant,  i.  e.,  the  agreement  he  entered 
into  with  the  people  of  Israel  to  take  them  for  his  pecu¬ 
liar  people,  if  they  took  him  for  their  God  and  portion. 
If  ye  xoill  obey  my  voice  indeed ,  and  keep  my  covenant, 
then  shall  ye  be  a  peculiar  treasure  unto  me.  And 
the  word  covenant  here  evidently  refers  to  the  laws 
given  in  this  chapter,  as  is  evident  from  Deut.  iv.  13  : 
And  he  declared  unto  you  his  covenant,  which  he 
commanded  you  to  perform ,  even  ten  commandments. 
They  have  been  also  termed  the  moral  law ,  because 
they  contain  and  lay  down  rules  for  the  regulation  of 
the  manners  or  conduct  of  men.  Sometimes  they 
have  been  termed  the  law,  minn  hattorah,  by  way 
of  eminence,  as  containing  the  grand  system  of  spirit¬ 
ual  instruction ,  direction ,  guidance ,  &c.  See  on  the 
word  law,  chap.  xii.  49.  And  frequently  the  deca¬ 
logue,  A emloyog,  which  is  a  literal  translation  into 
Greek  of  the  D’linn  JYlt&T  aseretli  haddebarim,  or  ten 
words,  of  Moses. 

Among  divines  they  are  generally  divided  into  wdiat 
they  term  the  first  and  second  tables.  The  first 
table  containing  the  first ,  second ,  third,  and  fourth 
commandments,  and  comprehending  the  whole  system 

400 


The  first ,  against  idolatry. 
Egypt,  c  out  of  the  house  of  A.  M.  2513. 

r  B  C  1491 

d  bondage.  An.  Exod.  Isr.  1 

3  e  Thou  shalt  have  no  other  Slvan‘ 
gods  before  me. 

d  Heb.  servants. - e  Deut.  v.  7 ;  vi.  14 ;  2  Kings  xvii.  35  ;  Jer. 

xxv.  6  ;  xxxv.  15. 

of  theology,  the  true  notions  we  should  form  of  the  Di¬ 
vine  nature,  the  reverence  we  owe  and  the  religious 
service  we  should  render  to  him.  The  second,  con¬ 
taining  the  six  last  commandments,  and  comprehend¬ 
ing  a  complete  system  of  ethics,  or  moral  duties  which 
man  owes  to  his  fellows,  and  on  the  due  performance 
of  which  the  order,  peace,  and  happiness  of  society 
depend.  By  this  division,  the  first  table  contains  our 
duty  to  God  ;  the  second  our  duty  to  our  neighbour. 
This  division,  which  is  natural  enough,  refers  us  to 
the  grand  principle,  love  to  God  and  love  to  man, 
through  which  both  tables  are  observed.  1.  Thou 
shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God  with  all  thy  heart,  soul, 
mind,  and  strength.  2.  Thou  shalt  love  thy  neigh¬ 
bour  as  thyself.  On  these  two  hang  all  the  law  and 
the  prophets.  See  Matt.  xxii.  37—40. 

THE  FIRST  COMMANDMENT. 

Against  mental  or  theoretic  idolatry. 

Verse  2.  I  amthe  Lord  thy  God ]  “J'nbx  nUT  Yeho - 
vah  eloheycha.  On  the  word  Jehovah,  which  we  here 
translate  Lord,  see  the  notes  on  Gen.  ii.  4,  and  Exod. 
vi.  3.  And  on  the  word  Elohim,  here  translated  God, 
see  on  Gen.  i.  1.  It  is  worthy  of  remark  that  each 
individual  is  addressed  here,  and  not  the  people  col¬ 
lectively,  though  they  are  all  necessarily  included ;  that 
each  might  feel  that  he  was  bound  for  himself  to  hear 
and  do  all  these  words.  Moses  laboured  to  impress 
this  personal  interest  on  the  people’s  minds,  when  he 
said,  Deut.  v.  3,  4  :  “The  Lord  made  this  covenant 
with  us,  even  us,  who  are  all  of  us  here  alive  this  day.” 

Brought  thee  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt,  Sfc.]  And 
by  this  very  thing  have  proved  myself  to  be  superior 
to  all  gods,  unlimited  in  power,  and  most  gracious  as 
well  as  fearful  in  operation.  This  is  the  preface  or 
introduction,  but  should  not  be  separated  from  the  com¬ 
mandment.  Therefore, — 

Verse  3.  Thou  shalt  have  no  other  gods  before  me.] 
Dnna  D,ni7X  elohim  acherim,  no  strange  gods — none 
that  thou  art  not  acquainted  with,  none  who  has  not 
given  thee  such  proofs  of  his  power  and  godhead  as 
I  have  done  in  delivering  thee  from  the  Egyptians, 
dividing  the  Red  Sea,  bringing  water  out  of  the  rock, 
quails  into  the  desert,  manna  from  heaven  to  feed  thee, 
and  the  pillar  of  cloud  to  direct,  enlighten,  and  shield 
thee.  By  these  miracles  God  had  rendered  himself 
familiar  to  them,  they  were  intimately  acquainted  with 
the  operation  of  his  hands ;  and  therefore  with  great 
propriety  he  says,  Thou  shalt  have  no  strange  gods 
before  me  ;  'J3  hg  al  panai,  before  or  in  the  place  of 
those  manifestations  which  I  have  made  of  myself. 

This  commandment  prohibits  every  species  of  men¬ 
tal  idolatry,  and  all  inordinate  attachment  to  earthly 
and  sensible  things.  As  God  is  the  fountain  of  hap¬ 
piness,  and  no  intelligent  creature  can  be  happy  but 
through  him,  whoever  seeks  happiness  in  the  creature 


EXODUS. 


The  sexond,  against  making 

A.  M.  2513.  4  f  Thou  shall  not  make  unto 

B.  C.  1491.  , 

An.  Exod.  Isr.  l.  thee  any  graven  image,  or  any 

_ Sivan- _  likeness  of  any  thing  that  is  in 

heaven  above,  or  that  is  in  the  earth  beneath, 
or  that  is  in  the  water  under  the  earth  : 

f  Lev.  xxvi.  1 ;  Dent.  iv.  16  ;  v.  8  ;  xxvii.  15  ;  Psa.  xcvii.  7. 
g  Chap,  xxiii.  24;  Josh,  xxiii.  7  ;  2  Kings  xvii.  35  ;  Isa.  xliv.  15, 
19. - h  Chap,  xxxiv.  14  ;  Deut.  iv.  24  ;  vi.  15  ;  Josh.  xxiv.  19  ; 

is  necessarily  an  idolater ;  as  he  puts  the  creature  in 
the  place  of  the  Creator ,  expecting  that  from  the  grati¬ 
fication  of  his  passions,  in  the  use  or  abuse  of  earthly 
things,  which  is  to  be  found  in  God  alone.  The  very 
first  commandment  of  the  whole  series  is  divinely  cal¬ 
culated  to  prevent  man’s  misery  and  promote  his  hap¬ 
piness,  by  taking  him  off  from  all  false  dependence,  and 
leading  him  to  God  himself,  the  fountain  of  all  good. 

THE  SECOND  COMMANDMENT. 

Against  making  and  worshipping  images. 

Verse  4.  Thou  shalt  not  make  unto  thee  any  graven 
image ]  As  the  word  *703  pasal  signifies  to  hew,  carve , 
grave,  &c.,  ^33  pesel  may  here  signify  any  kind  of  image, 
either  of  wood ,  stone,  or  metal,  on  which  the  axe,  the 
chisel,  or  the  graving  tool  has  been  employed.  This 
commandment  includes  in  its  prohibitions  every  species 
of  idolatry  known  to  have  been  practised  among  the 
Egyptians.  The  reader  will  see  this  the  more  plainly 
by  consulting  the  notes  on  the  ten  plagues,  particularly 
those  on  chap.  xii. 

Or  any  likeness,  cfc.]  To  know  the  full  spirit  and 
extent  of  this  commandment,  this  place  must  be  col¬ 
lated  with  Deut.  iv.  15,  &c.  ;  Take  ye  therefore  good 
heed  unto  yourselves — lest  ye  corrupt  yourselves — and 
make  you  a  graven  image ,  the  similitude  of  any  figure, 
the  likeness  of  male  or  female.  All  who  have  even 
the  slightest  acquaintance  with  the  ancient  history  of 
Egypt,  know  that  Osiris  and  his  wife  Isis  were  su¬ 
preme  divinities  among  that  people. 

The  likeness  of  any  beast. — n*Dn3  behemah,  such  as 
the  ox  and  the  heifer.  Among  the  Egyptians  the  ox 
was  not  only  sacred  but  adored,  because  they  supposed 
that  in  one  of  these  animals  Osiris  took  up  his  resi¬ 
dence  :  hence  they  always  had  a  living  ox,  which  they 
supposed  to  be  the  habitation  of  this  deity  ;  and  they 
imagined  that  on  the  death  of  one  he  entered  into  the 
body  of  another,  and  so  on  successive^.  This  famous 
ox-god  they  called  Apis  and  Mnevis. 

The  likeness  of  any  winged  fowl. — The  ibis,  or 
stork,  or  crane,  and  hawk ,  may  be  here  intended,  for 
all  these  were  objects  of  Egyptian  idolatry. 

The  likeness  of  any  thing  that  creepeth. — The 
crocodile,  serpents,  the  scarabeus  or  beetle,  were  all 
objects  of  their  adoration  ;  and  Mr.  Bryant  has  ren¬ 
dered  it  very  probable  that  even  the  frog  itself  was-  a 
sacred  animal,  as  from  its  inflation  it  was  emblematic 
of  the  prophetic  influence,  for  they  supposed  that  the 
god  inflated  or  distended  the  body  of  the  person  by 
whom  he.  gave  oracular  answers. 

The  likeness  of  any  fish. — All  fish  were  esteemed 
sacred  animals  among  the  Egyptians.  One  called 
Oxurunchus  had,  according  to  Strabo,  lib.  xvii.,  a  tem¬ 
ple,  and  divine  honours  paid  to  it.  Another  fish,  called 
Vol.  I  (  27  ) 


and  worshipping  mages 

5  g  Thou  shalt  not  bow  down  A.  M.  2513. 
thyself  to  them,  nor  serve  them  :  An.  Exod.  isr.  1 
for  I  the  Lord  thy  God  am  h  a  Sivan’ 
jealous  God,  1  visiting  the  iniquity  of  the 
fathers  upon  the  children,  unto  the  third  and 

Neh.  i.  2. - 5  Chap,  xxxiv.  7  ;  Lev.  xx.  5  ;  xxvi.  39,  40  ;  Num. 

xiv.  18,  33  ;  1  Kings  xxi.  29 ;  Job  v.  4  ;  xxi.  19  ;  Psa.  lxxix.  8  ; 
cix.  4;  Isa.  xiv.  20,  21  ;  lxv.  6,  7 ;  Jer.  ii.  9  ;  xxxii.  18. 

Phagrus,  was  worshipped  at  Syene,  according  to  Cle¬ 
mens  Alexandrinus  in  his  Cohortatio.  And  the  Lepi- 
dotus  and  eel  were  objects  of  their  adoration,  as  we 
find  from  Herodotus,  lib.  ii.,  cap.  72.  In  short,  oxen , 
heifers ,  sheep,  goats,  lions,  dogs,  monkeys,  and  cats; 
the  ibis,  the  crane,  and  the  haivk ;  the  crocodile,  ser¬ 
pents,  frogs,  flies ,  and  the  scarabeus  or  beetle;  the 
Nile  and  its  fish ;  the  sun,  moon,  planets,  and  stars  ; 
fire ,  light,  air,  darkness,  and  night,  wrere  all  objects 
of  Egyptian  idolatry,  and  all  included  in  this  very  cir¬ 
cumstantial  prohibition  as  detailed  in  Deuteronomy.; 
and  very  forcibly  in  the  general  terms  of  the  text ; 
Thou  shalt  not  make  unto  thee  any  graven  image ,  or 
any  likeness  of  any  thing  that  is  in  the  heavens  above , 
or  that  is  in  the  earth  beneath ,  or  that  is  in  the  water 
under  the  earth.  And  the  reason  of  this  becomes  self- 
evident,  when  the  various  objects  of  Egyptian  idolatry 
are  considered. 

To  countenance  its  image  worship ,  the  Roman  Ca¬ 
tholic  Church  has  left  the  whole  of  this  second  com¬ 
mandment  out  of  the  decalogue,  and  thus  lost  one 
whole  commandment  out  of  the  ten ;  but  to  keep  up 
the  number  they  have  divided  the  tenth  into  two.  This 
is  totally  contrary  to  the  faith  of  God’s  elect  and  to 
the  acknowledgment  of  that  truth  which  is  according 
to  godliness.  The  verse  is  found  in  ever}^  MS.  of  the 
Hebrew  Pentateuch  that  has  ever  yet  been  discovered. 
It  is  in  all  the  ancient  versions,  Samaritan,  Chaldee, 
Syriac,  Septuagint,  Vulgate,  Coptic,  and  Arabic  ;  also 
in  the  Persian,  and  in  all  modern  versions.  There 
is  not  one  word  of  the  whole  verse  wanting  in  the 
many  hundreds  of  MSS.  collected  by  Kennicott  and 
De  Rossi.  This  corruption  of  the  word  of  God  by 
the  Homan  Catholic  Church  stamps  it,  as  a  false  and 
heretical  Church,  with  the  deepest  brand  of  ever-during 
infamy  ! 

This  commandment  also  prohibits  every  species  of 
external  idolatiy,  as  the  first  does  all  idolatry  that  may 
be  called  internal  or  mental.  All  false  worship  may 
be  considered  of  this  kind,  together  with  all  image 
worship ,  and  all  other  superstitious  rites  and  ceremo¬ 
nies.  See  the  note  on  ver.  23. 

Verse  5.  Jealous  God]  This  shows  in  a  most  ex¬ 
pressive  manner  the  love  of  God  to  this  people.  He 
felt  for  them  as  the  most  affectionate  husband  could 
do  for  his  spouse ;  and  was  jealous  for  their  fidelity, 
because  he  willed  their  invariable  happiness. 

Visiting  the  iniquity  of  the  fathers  upon  the  children ] 
This  necessarily  implies — if  the  children  walk  in  the. 
steps  of  their  fathers ;  for  no  man  can  be  condemned 
by  Divine  justice  for  a  crime  of  which  he  was*  never 
guilty  ;  see  Ezek.  xviii.  Idolatry  is  however  particu¬ 
larly  intended,  and  visiting  sins  of  this  kind  refers 
principallv  to  national  judgments.  By  withdrawing 

401 


CHAP.  XX. 


The  third  and 


EXODUS. 


fourth  commandments 


A.  M.  2513.  fourth  generation  of  them  that 

B.  C.  1491.  ,  G 

An.  Exod.  Isr.  l.  nate  me  ; 

SlYan'  6  And  k  showing  mercy  unto 

thousands  of  them  that  love  me,  and  keep  my 

commandments. 

7  1  Thou  shalt  not  take  the  name  of  the 


b  Chap,  xxxiv.  7 ;  Deut.  vii.  9  ;  Psa.  lxxxix.  34  ;  Rom.  xi.  28. 
1  Chap,  xxiii.  1;  Lev.  xix.  12 ;  Deut.  v.  11 ;  Psa.  xv.  4  ;  Matt. 


Lord  thy  God  in  vain  ;  for  A.  M.  2513. 
the  Lord  m  will  not  hold  him  An.  Exod.  isr.  1. 
guiltless  that  taketh  his  name  Slvan‘ 
in  vain. 

8  n  Remember  the  Sabbath  day,  to  keep  it 
holy. 

v.  33. - m  Mic.  vi.  11. - “Chap.  xxxi.  13,  14;  Lev.  xix.  3, 

30  ;  xxvi.  2 ;  Deut.  v.  12. 


the  Divine  protection  the  idolatrous  Israelites  were  de¬ 
livered  up  into  the  hands  of  their  enemies,  from  whom 
the  gods  in  whom  they  had  trusted  could  not  deliver 
them.  This  God  did  to  the  third  and  fourth  genera¬ 
tions ,  i.  e.,  successively ;  as  maybe  seen  in  every  part 
of  the  Jewish  history,  and  particularly  in  the  book  of 
Judges.  And  this,  at  last,  became  the  grand  and  the 
only  effectual  and  lasting  means  in  his  hand  of  their 
final  deliverance  from  idolatry  ;  for  it  is  well  known 
that  after  the  Babylonish  captivity  the  Israelites  were 
so  completely  saved  from  idolatry,  as  never  more  to 
have  disgraced  themselves  by  it  as  they  had  formerly 
done.  These  national  judgments,  thus  continued  from 
generation  to  generation,  appear  to  be  what  are  designed 
by  the  words  in  the  text,  Visiting  the  sins  of  the  fa¬ 
thers  upon  the  children,  &c. 

Yerse  6.  And  shoiving  mercy  unto  thousands]  Mark; 
even  those  who  love  God  and  keef  his  commandments 
merit  nothing  from  him,  and  therefore  the  salvation 
and  blessedness  which  these  enjoy  come  from  the  mercy 
of  God  :  Showing  mercy ,  &c.  What  a  disproportion 
between  the  works  of  justice  and  mercy  !  Justice 
works  to  the  third  or  fourth ,  mercy  to  thousands  of 
generations ! 

The  heathen  had  maxims  like  these.  Theocritus 
also  teaches  that  the  children  of  the  good  shall  be 
blessed  because  of  their  parents’  piety,  and  that  evil 
shall  come  upon  the  offspring  of  the  wicked  : — 

Vvoe^eov  Traideacu  ra  Tuaia,  dvac refieov  6’  ov. 

Idyll.  26,  v.  32. 

Upon  the  children  of  the  righteous  fall 
The  choicest  blessings ;  on  the  wicked,  wo. 

That  love  me,  and  keep  my  commandments .]  It  was 
this  that  caused  Christ  to  compnse  the  fulfilment  of 
the  whole  law  in  love  to  God  and  man  ;  see  the  note 
on  ver.  1.  And  as  love  is  the  grand  principle  of  obe¬ 
dience,  and  the  only  incentive  to  it,  so  there  can  be 
no  obedience  without  it.  It  would  be  more  easy  even 
in  Egyptian  bondage  to  make  brick  without  straw,  than 
to  do  the  wall  of  God  unless  his  love  be  shed  abroad 
in  the  heart  by  the  Holy  Spirit.  Love,  says  the  apostle, 
is  the  fulfilling  of  the  law;  Rom.  xiii.  10. 

THE  THIRD  COMMANDMENT. 

Against  false  swearing,  blasphemy,  and  irreverent  use 
of  the  name  of  God. 

Yerse  7.  Thou,  shall  not  take  the  name  of  the  Lord 
thy  God  in  vain ]  This  precept  not  only  forbids  all 
false  'oaths,  but  all  common  swearing  where  the  name 
of  God  is  used,  or  where  he  is  appealed  to  as  a  wit¬ 
ness  of  the  truth.  It  also  necessarily  forbids  all  light 
and  irreverent  mention  of  God,  or  any  of  his  attributes  ; 
a  402 


and  this  the  original  word  Kljyb  laslxshav  particularly 
imports  :  and  we  may  safely  add  to  all  these,  that 
every  prayer,  ejaculation,  &c.,  that  is  not  accompanied 
with  deep  reverence  and  the  genuine  spirit  of  piety,  is 
here  condemned  also.  In  how  many  thousands  of 
instances  is  this  commandment  broken  in  the  prayers , 
whether  read  or  extempore,  of  inconsiderate,  bold,  and 
presumptuous  worshippers  !  And  how  few  are  there 
who  do  not  break  it,  both  in  their  public  and  priyate 
devotions !  How  low  is  piety  when  we  are  obliged, 
in  order  to  escape  damnation,  to  pray  to  God  to  “  par¬ 
don  the  sins  of  our  holy  things  /” 

Even  heathens  thought  that  the  names  of  their  gods 
should  be  treated  with  reverence. 

IT avTuc  yev  dr]  naXov  ETnrpdevya,  6euv  ovoyara  yj] 
XpaivcLV  {radios,  exovra  og  exovcuv  r/yuv  esaaroTE  ra 
rroWa  oi  tcTieiotoi  Kadaporr/rog  te  nai  ayveiag  ra  TTEpi 
rovg  Oeovg .• 

“  It  is  most  undoubtedly  right  not  easily  to  pollute 
the  names  of  the  gods,  using  them  as  we  do  common 
names ;  but  to  watch  with  purity  and  holiness  all 
things  belonging  to  the  gods.” 

The  Lord  will  not  hold  him  guiltless,  cj-c.]  What¬ 
ever  the  person  himself  may  think  or  hope,  however 
he  may  plead  in  his  own  behalf,  and  say  he  intends  no 
evil,  &c.  ;  if  he  in  any  of  the  above  ways,  or  in  any 
other  way,  takes  the  name  of  God  in  vain,  God  wiU 
not  hold  him  guiltless — he  will  account  him  guilty 
and  punish  him  for  it.  Is  it  necessary  to  say  to  any 
truly  spiritual  mind,  that  all  such  interjections  as  O  God ! 
my  God !  good  God!  good  Heavens !  &c.,  &c.,  are 
formal  positive  breaches  of  this  law  1  How  many 
who  pass  for  Christians  are  highly  criminal  here 

THE  FOURTH  COMMANDMENT. 

Against  profanation  of  the  Sabbath,  and  idleness  on  the 
other  days  of  the  week. 

Yerse  8.  Remem, ber  the  Sabbath  day,  to  keep  it  holy.] 
See  what  has  been  already  said  on  this  precept,  Gen. 
ii.  2,  and  elsewhere.  As  this  was  the  most  ancient 
institution,  God  calls  them  to  remember  it ;  as  if  he 
had  said,  Do  not  forget  that  when  I  had  finished  my 
creation  I  instituted  the  Sabbath,  and  remember  why  I 
did  so,  and  for  what  purposes.  The  word  rot#  shab - 
bath  signifies  rest  or  cessation  from  labour;  and  the 
sanctification  of  the  seventh  day  is  commanded,  as 
having  something  representative  in  it ;  and  so  indeed 
it  has,  for  it  typifies  the  rest  which  remains  for  the 
people  of  God,  and  in  this  light  it  evidently  appears 
to  have  been  understood  by  the  apostle,  Heb.  iv.  Be¬ 
cause  this  commandment  has  not  been  particularly 
mentioned  in  the  New  Testament  as  a  moral  precept 
binding  on  all,  therefore  some  have  presumptuously 

(  27*  ) 


CHAP.  XX. 


sixth  commandments 


The  fifth  and 

A.  M.  2513.  9  0  Six  days  shalt  thou  labour, 

An1  Exod.lsr.  l.  and  do  all  thy  work  : 

sTan~  10  But  the  p  seventh  day  is  the 

Sabbath  of  the  Lord  thy  God  :  in  it  thou  shalt 
not  do  any  work,  thou,  nor  thy  son,  nor  thy 
daughter,  thy  man-servant,  nor  thy  maid-ser¬ 
vant,  nor  thy  cattle,  *  nor  thy  stranger  that  is 
within  thy  gates  : 

11  For  r  in  six  days  the  Lord  made  hea- 

°Chap.  xxiii.  12;  xxxi.  15  ;  xxxiv.  21  ;  Lev.  xxiii.  3  ;  Ezek. 

xx.  12;  Luke  xiii.  14. - PGen.  ii.  2,  3  ;  chap.  xvi.  26;  xxxi. 

15. - 1  Neh.  xiii.  16,  17,  18,  19. - *  Gen.  ii.  2. 

inferred  that  there  is  no  Sabbath  under  the  Christian 
dispensation.  The  truth  is,  the  Sabbath  is  considered 
as  a  type :  all  types  are  of  full  force  till  the  thing  sig¬ 
nified  by  them  takes  place ;  but  the  thing  signified  by  the 
Sabbath  is  that  rest  in  glory  which  remains  for  the  peo¬ 
ple  of  God,  therefore  the  moral  obligation  of  the  Sab¬ 
bath  must  continue  till  time  be  swallowed  up  in  eternity. 

Verse  9.  Six  days  shalt  thou  labour]  Therefore  he 
who  idles  away  time  on  any  of  the  six  days,  is  as 
guilty  before  God  as  he  who  works  on  the  Sabbath. 
[No  work  should  be  done  on  the  Sabbath  that  can  be 
done  on  the  preceding  days,  or  can  be  deferred  to  the 
succeeding  ones.  Works  of  absolute  necessity  and 
mercy  are  alone  excepted.  He  who  works  by  his  ser¬ 
vants  or  cattle  is  equally  guilty  as  if  he  worked  him¬ 
self.  Hiring  out  horses ,  &c.,  for  pleasure  ox  business, 
going  on  journeys ,  paying  worldly  visits ,  or  taking 
jaunts  on  the  Lord’s  day,  are  breaches  of  this  law. 
The  whole  of  it  should  be  devoted  to  the  rest  of  the 
body  and  the  improvement  of  the  mind.  God  says  he 
has  hallowed  it — he  has  made  it  sacred  and  set  it  apart 
for  the  above  purposes.  It  is  therefore  the  most  pro¬ 
per  day  for  public  religious  worship. 

THE  FIFTH  COMMANDMENT. 

Against  disrespect  and  disobedience  to  parents. 

Verse  12.  Honour  thy  father  and  thy  mother] 
There  is  a  degree  of  affectionate  respect  which  is 
owing  to  parents,  that  no  person  else  can  properly 
claim.  For  a  considerable  time  parents  stand  as  it 
were  in  the  place  of  God  to  their  children,  and  there¬ 
fore  rebellion  against  their  lawful  commands  has  been 
considered  as  rebellion  against  God.  This  precept 
therefore  prohibits,  not  only  all  injurious  acts,  irreve¬ 
rent  and  unkind  speeches  to  parents,  but  enjoins  all 
necessary  acts  of  kindness,  filial  respect,  and  obedience. 
We  can  scarcely  suppose  that  a  man  honours  his  pa¬ 
rents  who,  when  they  fall  weak,  blind,  or  sick,  does  not 
exert  himself  to  the  uttermost  in  their  support.  In 
such  cases  God  as  truly  requires  the  children  to  pro¬ 
vide  for  their  parents,  as  he  required  the  parents  to 
feed,  nourish,  support,  instruct,  and  defend  the  children 
when  they  were  in  the  lowest  state  of  helpless  infancy. 
Sc  .  :he  note  on  Gen.  xlviii.  12.  The  rabbins  say,  Ho¬ 
nour  the  Lord  with  thy  substance,  Prov.  iii.  9;  and, 
Honour  thy  father  and  mother.  The  Lord  is  to  be 
honoured  thus  if  thou  have  it ;  thy  father  and  mother, 
whether  thou  have  it  or  not ;  for  if  thou  have  nothing, 
thou  art  bound  to  beg  for  them.  See  Ainsworth. 


ven  and  earth,  the  sea,  and  all  A.  M.  2513. 
that  in  them  is,  and  rested  the  An.  Exod.  isr.  i . 
seventh  day ;  wherefore  the  1Vdn' 
Lord  blessed  the  Sabbath  day,  and  hal¬ 
lowed  it. 

1 2  s  Honour  thy  father  and  thy  mother ; 
that  thy  days  may  be  long  upon  the  land 
which  the  Lord  thy  God  giveth  thee. 

13  1  Thou  shalt  not  kill. 

8  Chap,  xxiii.  26  ;  Lev.  xix.  3 ;  Deut.  v.  16  ;  Jer.  xxxv.  7,  1&, 
19  ;  Matt.  xv.  4;  xix.  19  ;  Mark  vii.  10  ;  x.  19  ;  Luke  xviii.  20; 
Eph.  vi.  2. - 1  Deut.  v.  17  ;  Matt.  v.  2i ;  Rom.  xiii.  9. 

That  thy  days  may  be  long]  This,  as  the  apostle 
observes,  Eph.  vi.  2,  istheyZr.sZ  commandment  to  which 
God  has  annexed  a  promise  ;  and  therefore  we  may 
learn  in  some  measure  how  important  the  duty  is  in 
the  sight  of  God.  In  Deut.  v.  16  it  is  said,  And  that 
it  may  go  well  with  thee ;  -  'e  may  therefore  conclude 
that  it  will  go  t’/Zwith  the  disobedient;  and  there  is  no 
doubt  that  the  untimely  deaths  of  many  young  persons 
are  the  judicial  consequence  of  their  disobedience  to 
their  parents.  Most  who  come  to  an  untimely  end  are 
obliged  to  confess  that  this,  with  the  breach  of  the  Sab¬ 
bath,  was  the  principal  cause  of  their  ruin.  Reader, 
art  thou  guilty  1  Humble  thyself  therefore  before  God, 
and  repent.  1.  As  children  are  bound  to  succour  their 
parents,  so  parents  are  bound  to  educate  and  instruct 
their  children  in  all  useful  and  necessary  knowledge, 
and  not  to  bring  them  up  either  in  ignorance  or  idle¬ 
ness.  2.  They  should  teach  their  children  the  fear 
and  knowledge  of  God,  for  how  can  they  expect  affec¬ 
tion  or  dutiful  respect  from  those  who  have  not  the 
fear  of  God  before  their  eyes  1  Those  who  are  best 
educated  are  generally  the  most  dutiful.  Heathens 
also  inculcated  respect  to  parents. 

Ovbev  irpog  &eov  riptoTEpov  aya/ipa  av  KrTjGaipeda 
irarpog  sat  rpoiraropog  icapcipEvov  yppa,  rat  prjTEpuv 
tt/v  avrrjv  dvvayiv  exovoow  ovg  orav  aya’Kkrf  ng, 

rtpaig  yeypOev  6  &eog. - Ilaf  6rj  vow  exuv  (pofieLrai, 

/ cat  npa,  yoveuv  evxag  scdog  ico?\,?LOLg  nai  iroXTia/CLg 
ei uT£?wig  ysvopevag.  Plato  de  Leg.,  lib.  xi.,  vol.  ix, 
p.  160.  Ed.  Bipont. 

“We  can  obtain  no  more  honourable  possession 
from  the  gods  than  fathers  and  forefathers  worn  down 
with  age,  and  mothers  who  have  undergone  the  same 
change,  whom  when  we  delight,  God  is  pleased  with 
the  honour  ;  and  every  one  that  is  governed  by  right 
understanding  fears  and  reverences  them,  well  know¬ 
ing  that  the  prayers  of  parents  oftentimes,  and  in  many 
particulars,  have  received  full  accomplishment.” 

THE  SIXTH  COMMANDMENT. 

Against  murder  and  cruelty. 

Verse  13.  Thou  shalt  not  kill.]  This  commandment, 
which  is  general,  prohibits  murder  of  every  kind. 
1.  All  actions  by  which  the  lives  of  our  fellow  crea¬ 
tures  may  be  abridged.  2.  All  wars  for  extending 
empire,  commerce,  &c.  3.  All  sanguinary  laws,  by 

the  operation  of  which  the  lives  of  men  may  be  taken 
away  for  offences  of  comparatively  trifling  demerit. 

403 


a 


EXODUS. 


and  tenth  commandments. 


The  seventh ,  eighth ,  ?iinth} 

A.  M.  2513.  14  u  Thou  shall  not  commit 

B.  C.  1491.  .  . 

An.  Exod.  Isr.  l.  adultery. 

Slvan'  15  v  Thou  shalt  not  steal. 

1 6  w  Thou  shalt  not  bear  false  witness 
against  thy  neighbour. 

uDeut.  v.  18;  Matt.  v.  27. - vLev.  xix.  11;  Deut.  v.  19; 

Matt.  xix.  18  ;  Rom.  xiii.  9  ;  1  Thess.  iv.  6. - 'v  Chap,  xxiii.  1; 

Deut.  v.  20  ;  xix.  16;  Matt.  xix.  18. 

4.  All  bad  dispositions  which  lead  men  to  wish  evil  to, 
or  meditate  mischief  against,  one  another ;  for,  says  the 
Scripture,  He  that  hateth  his  brother  in  his  heart  is  a 
murderer.  5.  AM  want  of  charity  to  the  helpless  and 
distressed ;  for  he  who  has  it  in  his  power  to  save  the 
life  of  another  by  a  timely  application  of  succour,  food, 
raiment,  &c.,  and  does  not  do  it,  and  the  life  of  the 
person  either  falls  or  is  abridged  on  this  account,  is 
in  the  sight  of  God  a  murderer.  He  who  neglects  to 
save  life  is,  according  to  an  incontrovertible  maxim  in 
law ,  the  same  as  he  wrho  takes  it  away.  6.  All  riot 
and  excess ,  all  drunkenness  and  gluttony ,  all  inacti¬ 
vity  and  slothfulness ,  and  all  superstitious  mollifica¬ 
tions  and  self-denials ,  by  which  life  may  be  destroyed 
or  shortened ;  all  these  are  point-blank  sins  against 
the  sixth  commandment. 

THE  SEVENTH  COMMANDMENT. 
x'Vgainst  adidtery  and  uncleanness. 

Verse  14.  Thou  shalt  not  commit  adultery .]  Adul¬ 
tery,  as  defined  by  our  laws,  is  of  two  kinds;  double , 
when  between  two  married  persons ;  single ,  when  one 
of  the  parties  is  married,  the  other  single.  One  prin¬ 
cipal  part  of  the  criminality  of  adultery  consists  in  its 
injustice.  1 .  It  robs  a  man  of  his  right  by  taking 
from  him  the  affection  of  his  wife.  2.  It  does  him  a 
wrong  by  fathering  on  him  and  obliging  him  to  main¬ 
tain  as  his  oivn  a  spurious  offspring — a  child  which  is 
not  his.  The  act  itself,  and  every  thing  leading  to 
the  act,  is  prohibited  by  this  commandment ;  for  our 
Lord  says,  Even  he  who  looks  on  a  woman  to  lust  after 
her ,  has  already  committed  adultery  with  her  in  his 
heart.  And  not  only  adultery  (the  unlawful  commerce 
between  two  married  persons)  is  forbidden  here,  but 
also  fornication  and  all  kinds  of  mental  and  sensual 
uncleanness.  All  impure  books ,  songs,  paintings,  &c., 
which  tend  to  inflame  and  debauch  the  mind,  are 
against  this  law,  as  well  as  another  species  of  impurity, 
for  the  account  of  which  the  reader  is  referred  to  the 
notes  on  Gen.  xxxviii.  at  the  end.  That  fornication 
was  included  under  this  command  we  may  gather  from 
St.  Matthew,  xv.  19,  where  our  Saviour  expresses  the 
sense  of  the  different  commandments  by  a  word  for 
each,  and  mentions  them  in  the  order  in  which  thev 
stand  ;  but  when  he  comes  to  the  seventh  he  uses  two 
words,  yoixnai,  iropvEtai,  to  express  its  meaning,  and 
then  goes  on  to  the  eighth,  &c.  ;  thus  evidently  show¬ 
ing  that  fornication  was  understood  to  be  comprehended 
under  the  command,  “  Thou  shalt  not  commit  adul¬ 
tery.’'  As  to  the  word  adultery,  adulterium,  it  has 
probably  been  derived  from  the  words  ad  alterius  torurn, 
to  another's  bed  ;  for  it  is  going  to  the  bed  of  another 
man  that  constitutes  the  act  and  the  crime.  Adultery 
often  means  idolatry  in  the  worship  of  God. 

404 


17  *  Thou  shalt  not  covet  thy  A.  M.  2513. 
neighbour  s  house,  ?  thou  shalt  not  An.  Exod.  Isr.  1. 

covet  thy  neighbour’s  wife,  nor  his  Suan'  _ _ 

man-servant,  nor  his  maid-servant,  nor  his  ox, 
nor  his  ass, nor  any  thing  that  is  thy  neighbour’s. 

x  Deut.  v.  21  ;  Mic.  ii.  2;  Hab.  ii.  9 ;  Luke  xii.  15  ;  Acts  xx. 

33  ;  Rom.  vii.  7  ;  xiii.  9  ;  Eph.  v.  3,  5  ;  Heb.  xiii.  5. - y  Job 

xxxi.  9  ;  Prov.  vi.  29  ;  Jer.  v.  8  ;  Matt.  v.  28. 


THE  EIGHTH  COMMANDMENT. 

Against  stealing  and  dishonesty. 

Verse  15.  Thou  shalt  not  steal .]  All  rapine  and 
theft  are  forbidden  by  this  precept ;  as  well  national 
and  commercial  wrongs  as  petty  larceny,  highway  rob¬ 
beries,  and  private  stealing  :  even  the  taking  advan¬ 
tage  of  a  seller’s  or  buyer’s  ignorance,  to  give  the  one 
less  and  make  the  other  pay  more  for  a  commodity  than 
its  worth,  is  a  breach  of  this  sacred  law.  All  withholding 
of  rights  and  doing  of  wrongs  are  against  the  spirit 
of  it.  But  the  word  is  principally  applicable  to  clan¬ 
destine  stealing ,  though  it  may  undoubtedly  include  all 
political  injustice  and  private  wrongs.  And  conse¬ 
quently  all  kidnapping,  crimping,  and  slave-dealing  are 
prohibited  here,  whether  practised  by  individuals  or  by 
the  state.  Crimes  are  not  lessened  in  their  demerit  by 
the  number,  or  political  importance  of  those  who  com¬ 
mit  them.  A  state  that  enacts  bad  laws  is  as  criminal 
before  God  as  the  individual  who  breaks  good,  ones. 

It  has  been  supposed  that  under  the  eighth  com¬ 
mandment,  injuries  done  to  character,  the  depriving  a 
man  of  his  reputation  or  good  name ,  are  included ; 
hence  those  words  of  one  of  our  poets  — ■ 

Good  name  in  man  or  woman 

Is  the  immediate  jewel  of  their  souls. 

Who  steals  my  purse  steals  trash  ; — 

But  he  that  filches  from  me  my  good  name, 

Robs  me  of  that  which  not  enriches  him, 

And  makes  me  poor  indeed. 

THE  NINTH  COMMANDMENT. 

Against  false  testimony,  perjury ,  &c. 

Verse  16.  Thou  shalt  not  bear  false  witness,  <fc.] 
Not  only  false  oaths,  to  deprive  a  man  of  his  life  or 
of  his  right,  are  here  prohibited,  but  all  whispering , 
tale-bearing,  slander,  and  calumny ;  in  a  word,  what¬ 
ever  is  deposed  as  a  truth,  which  is  false  in  fact,  and 
tends  to  injure  another  in  his  goods,  person,  or  charac¬ 
ter,  is  against  the  spirit  and  letter  of  this  law.  Sup¬ 
pressing  the  truth  when  known,  by  which  a  person 
may  be  defrauded  of  his  property  or  his  good  name,  or 
lie  under  injuries  or  disabilities  which  a  discovery  of 
the  tiuth  would  have  prevented,  is  also  a  crime  against 
this  law.  He  who  bears  a  false  testimony  against  or 
belies  even  the  devil  himself,  comes  under  the  curse 
of  this  law,  because  his  testimony  is  false.  •  By  the 
term  neighbour  any  human  being  is  intended,  whether 
he  rank  among  our  enemies  ox  friends. 

THE  TENTH  COMMANDMENT. 

Against  covetousness. 

Verse  17.  Thou  shalt  not  covet  thy  neighbour's 
house — wife,  dfc.]  Covet  signifies  to  desire  or  long 
after,  in  order  to  enjoy  as  a  property  the  person  or 

a 


-  TMMMja'i 

'<*L A. >'y  ^  '■ 


i 


O' 


(S>  <3>  C  > — • 

®cu  €omman5ment0. 

■-00  co<o  o>o~ 

^OCS>CT^-- 


/"' 


1.  Thou  shalt  have  no  other  gods  before  me. 

2.  Thou  shalt  net  make  unto  thee  any  graven  image,  or 
any  likeness  of  any  thing  that  is  in  heaven  above,  or  that  is 
in  the  earth  beneath,  or  that  is  in  the  water  under  the  earth : 
Thou  shalt  not  bow  down  thyself  to  them,  nor  serve  them  :  for 
I  the  Lord  thy  God  am.  a  jealous  God,  visiting  the  iniquity 
of  the  fathers  upon  the  children  unto  the  third  and  fourth 
generation  of  them  that  hate  me  ;  And  showing  mercy  unto 
thousands  of  them  that  love  ms,  and  keep  my  commandments. 

3.  Thou  shalt  not  take  the  name  of  tne  Lord  .hy  God  in 
vain  :  for  the  Lord  will  not  hold  him  guiltlese  that  taketh  his 
name  in  vain. 

4.  Remember  the  sabbath-day  to  keep  it  holy.  Six 
days  shalt  thou  labor  and  do  all  thy  work:  But  the  seventh 
day  is  the  sabbath  of  the  Lord  thy  God  :  in  it  thou  shalt 
not  do  any  work,  thou,  nor  thy  son,  nor  thy  daughter,  thy 
man-servant,  nor  thy  maid-servant,  nor  thy  cattle,  nor  thy 
stranger  that  is  within  thy  gates  :  For  in  six  days  the  Lord 
mane  heaven  and  earth,  "the  sea  and  all  that  in  them  is,  and 
rested  the  seventh  day :  wherefore  the  Lord  blessed  the  sab- 
bath-day,  and  hallowed  it. 

5.  Honor  thy  father  and  thy  mother  ;  that  thy  days  may 

be  long  upon  the  land  which  the  Lord  thy  God  giveth"  thee. 

6.  Thou  shalt  not  kill. 

7.  Thou  shalt  not  commit  adultery. 

8.  Thou  shalt  not  steal. 

9.  Thou  shalt  not  bear  false  witness  against  thy  neigh¬ 
bour. 

10.  Thou  shalt  not  covet  thy  neighbour’s  house,  thou 
shalt  not  covet  thy  neighbour’s  wife,  nor  his  man-servant,  nor 
his  maid-servant,  nor  his  ox,  nor  his  ass,  nor  any  thing  that 
is  thy  neighbour’s. 


slfi 


-'r. 


cfedEhc  ilortfs  P renter. 

<22/  1  * 


Our  Father  which  art  in  Heaven,  hallowed  be  « 
thy  name.  Thy  kingdom  come.  Thy  will  be  done  i 
in  earth  as  it  is  in  heaven.  Give  11s  this  day  our 
daily  bread.  And  forgive  us  our  debts  as  we  forgive 
our  debtors.  And  lead  us  not  into  temptation,  but 
deliver  us  from  evil.  For  thine  is  the  kingdom,  and 
the  power,  and  the  glory,  for  ever.  Amen. 

The  sum  of  the  Ten  Commandments. 

With  all  thy  soul  love  God  above, 

And  as  thyself  thy  neighbor  love. 


O,  write  upon  my  memory,  Lord, 
The  texts  and  doctrines  of  thy  Word  ; 
That  I  may  break  thy  laws  no  more, 
But  love  thee  better  than  before. 


Be  you  to  others  kind  and  true  — 
As  you  ’d  have  others  be  to  you ; 
x\nd  neither  do  nor  say  to  men 
What’er  you  would  not  take  again 


The  people  are  greatly  afraid.  CHAP.  XX.  They  are  not  to  make  false  gods 


a.  m.  2513.  18  And  z  all  the  people  a  saw 

An.Exod.  isr.  l.  the  thunderings,  and  the  light- 
buail~  nings,  and  the  noise  of  the  trum¬ 
pet,  and  the  mountain  b  smoking :  and  when 
the  people  saw  it,  they  removed,  and  stood 
afar  off: 

19  And  they  said  unto  Moses,  c  Speak  thou 
with  us,  and  we  will  hear :  but  d  let  not  God 
speak  with  us,  lest  we  die. 

20  And  Moses  said  unto  the  people,  e  Fear 
not :  f  for  God  is  come  to  prove  you,  and 
s  that  his  fear  may  be  before  your  faces,  that 
ye  sin  not. 

z  Heb.  xii.  18. - a  Rev.  i.  10,  12. - b  Ch.  xix.  18. - c  Deut. 

v.  27  ;  xviii.  16  ;  Gal.  iii.  19,  20  ;  Heb.  xii.  19. - -d  Deut.  v.  25. 

C1  Sara.  xii.  20  ;  Isa.  xii.  10,  13. - f  Gen.  xxii.  1  ;  Deut.  xiii. 

3. - s  Deut.  iv.  10  ;  vi.  2  ;  x.  12  ;  xvii.  13,  19  ;  xix.  20;  xxviii. 

thing  coveted.  He  breaks  this  command  who  by  any 
means  endeavours  to  deprive  a  man  of  his  house  or 
farm  by  taking  them  over  his  head ,  as  it  is  expressed 
in  some  countries ;  who  lusts  after  his  neighbour’s 
wife,  and  endeavours  to  ingratiate  himself  into  her 
affections,  and  to  lessen  her  husband  in  her  esteem  ; 
and  who  endeavours  to  possess  himself  of  the  servants , 
cattle ,  &c.,  of  another  in  any  clandestine  or  unjustifia¬ 
ble  manner.  “  This  is  a  most  excellent  moral  pre¬ 
cept,  the  observance  of  which  will  prevent  all  public 
crimes ;  for  he  who  feels  the  force  of  the  law  that 
prohibits  the  inordinate  desire  of  any  thing  that  is  the 
property  of  another,  can  never  make  a  breach  in  the 
peace  of  society  by  an  act  of  wrong  to  any  of  even  its 
feeblest  members.” 

Verse  18.  And  all  the  people  saw  the  thunderings , 
They  had  witnessed  all  these  awful  things  be¬ 
fore,  (see  chap.  xix.  16,)  but  here  they  seem  to  have 
been  repeated  ;  probably  at  the  end  of  each  command, 
there  was  a  peal  of  thunder,  a  blast  of  the  trumpet, 
and  a  gleam  of  lightning,  to  impress  their  hearts  the 
more  deeply  with  a  due  sense  of  the  Divine  Majesty, 
of  the  holiness  of  the  law  which  was  now  delivered, 
and  of  the  fearful  consequences  of  disobedience.  This 
had  the  desired  effect ;  the  people  were  impressed  with 
a  deep  religious  fear  and  a  terror  of  God’s  judgments  ; 
acknowledged  themselves  perfectly  satisfied  with  the 
discoveries  God  had  made  of  himself ;  and  requested 
that  Moses  might  be  constituted  the  mediator  between 
God  and  them,  as  they  wrere  not  able  to  bear  these 
tremendous  discoveries  of  the  Divine  Majesty.  “  Speak 
thou  with  us,  and  we  will  hear ;  hut  let  not  God  speak 
with  us,  lest  we  die;”  ver.  19.  This  teaches  us  the 
absolute  necessity  of  that  great  Mediator  between  God 
and  man,  Christ  Jesus,  as  no  man  can  come  unto  the 
Father  but  hy  him. 

Verse  20.  And  Moses  said — Fear  not:  for  God  is 
come  to  prove  you ,  and  that  his  fear  may  he  before 
your  faces]  The  maxim  contained  in  this  verse  is, 
Fear  not,  that  ye  may  fear — do  not  fear  with  such  a 
fear  as  brings  consternation  into  the  soul,  and  pro¬ 
duces  nothing  but  terror  and  confusion  ;  but  fear  with 
that  fear  which  reverence  and  filial  affection  inspire, 

a 


2 1  And  the  people  stood  afar  off,  A.  M.  2513. 
and  Moses  drew  near  unto  h  the  An.  Exod.  isr.  l 
thick  darkness,  where  God  was.  Slvan‘ 

22  And  the  Lord  said  unto  Moses,  Thus 
thou  shalt  say  unto  the  children  of  Israel,  Ye 
have  seen  that  I  have  talked  with  you  1  from 
heaven. 

23  Ye  shall  not  make  k  with  me  gods  of 
silver,  neither  shall  ye  make  unto  you  gods 
of  gold. 

24  An  altar  of  earth  thou  shalt  make  unto 
me,  and  shalt  sacrifice  thereon  thy  burnt  offer¬ 
ings,  and  thy  peace-offerings,  1  thy  sheep  and 

58  ;  Prov.  iii.  7 ;  xvi.  6  ;  Isa.  viii.  13. - h  Chap.  xix.  16  ;  Deut 

v.  5  ;  1  Kings  .viii.  12. - ‘  Deut.  iv.  36 ;  Neh.  ix.  13. - k  Chap. 

xxxii.  1,  2,  4  ;  1  Sam.  v.  4,  5 ;  2  Kings  xvii.  33  ;  Ezek.  xx.  39  , 
xliii.  8 ;  Dan.  v. 4, 23  ;  Zeph.  i. 5 ;  2  Cor.  vi.  14, 15, 16. - 1  Lev.  i.  2. 

that  ye  sin  not — that,  through  the  love  and  reverence 
ye  feel  to  your  Maker  and  Sovereign,  ye  may  abstain 
from  every  appearance  of  evil,  lest  you  should  forfeit 
that  love  which  is  to  you  better  than  life.  He  who 
fears  in  the  first  sense  can  neither  love  nor  obey ;  he 
who  fears  not  in  the  latter  sense  is  sure  to  fall  under 
the  first  temptation  that  may  occur.  Blessed  is  the 
man  who  thus  feareth  always. 

Verse  22.  I  have  talked  with  you  from  heaven. j 
Though  God  manifested  himself  by  the  fire,  the  light¬ 
ning,  the  earthquake,  the  thick  darkness ,  &c.,  yet  the 
ten  words,  or  commandments  were  probably  uttered 
from  the  higher  regions  of  the  air,  which  would  be 
an  additional  proof  to  the  people  that  there  was  no 
imposture  in  this  case  ;  for  though  strange  appear¬ 
ances  and  voices  might  be  counterfeited  on  earth,  as 
was  often,  no  doubt,  done  by  the  magicians  of  Egypt ; 
yet  it  would  be  utterly  impossible  to  represent  a  voice, 
in  a  long  continued  series  of  instruction,  as  proceeding 
from  heaven  itself,  or  the  higher  regions  of  the  atmo¬ 
sphere.  This,  with  the  earthquake  and  repeated  thun¬ 
ders,  (see  on  verse  18,)  would  put  the  reality  of  this 
whole  procedure  beyond  all  doubt ;  and  this  enabled 
Moses,  Deut.  v.  26,  to  make  such  an  appeal  to  the 
people  on  a  fact  incontrovertible  and  of  infinite  import¬ 
ance,  that  God  had  indeed  talked  with  them  face  to  face. 

Verse  23.  Ye  shall  not  make  with  me  gods  of  silver ] 
The  expressions  here  are  very  remarkable.  Before  it 
was  said,  Ye  shall  have  no  other  gods  before  me, 
’JS  by  al  panai,  ver.  3.  Here  they  are  commanded, 
ye  shall  not  make  gods  of  silver  or  gold  TX  itti  with 
me,  as  emblems  or  representatives  of  God,  in  order,  as 
might  be  pretended,  to  keep  these  displays  of  his  mag¬ 
nificence  in  memory ;  on  the  contrary,  he  would  have 
only  an  altar  of  earth — of  plain  turf,  on  which  they 
should  offer  those  sacrifices  by  which  they  should 
commemorate  their  own  guilt  and  the  necessity  of  an 
atonement  to  reconcile  themselves  to  God.  *  See  the 
note  on  verse  4. 

Verse  24.  Thy  burnt -offerings,  and  thy  peace-offer¬ 
ings]  The  law  concerning  which  was  shortly  to  be 
given,  though  sacrifices  of  this  kind  were  in  use  from 
the  days  of  Abel. 


405 


General  directions  for 


EXODUS. 


the  erection  of  altars 


A.  M.  2513.  thine  oxen  :  in  all  m  places,  where 

B.  C.  1491.  t  -n 

An.  Exod.  isr.  l.  1  record  my  name,  1  will  come 

Slvan~  unto  thee,  and  I  will  n  bless  thee. 
25  And  °  if  thou  wilt  make  me  an  altar  of 
stone,  thou  shalt  not  p  build  it  of  hewn  stone  ; 

m  Deut.  xii.  5,  11,  21 ;  xiv.  23  ;  xvi.  6,  11 ;  xxvi.  2  ;  1  Kings 
viii.  43  ;  ix.  3  ;  2  Chron.  vi.  6  ;  vii.  16  ;  xii.  13  ;  Ezra  vi.  12  ; 
Neh.  i.  9;  Psa.  lxxiv.  7  ;  Jer.  vii.  10,  12. 


for  if  thou  lift  up  thy  tool  upon  A.  M.  2513. 
it,  thou  hast  polluted  it.  An.  Exod.  Isr.  1. 

26  Neither  shalt  thou  go  up  Snan‘ 
by  steps  unto  mine  altar,  q  that  thy  nakedness 
be  not  discovered  thereon. 


u  Gen.  xii.  2  ;  Deut.  vii.  13. - 0  Deut.  xxvii.  5  ;  Josh.  viii.  31; 

1  Mac.  iv.  47. - p  Heb.  build  them,  with  hewing ;  Deut.  xxvii.  5, 

6. - TLev.  x.  3;  Psa.  lxxxix.  7  ;  Heb.  xii.  28,  29. 


In  all  places  where  I  record  my  name]  Wherever 
I  am  worshipped,  whether  in  the  open  wilderness,  at 
the  tabernacle,  in  the  temple,  the  synagogues,  or  else¬ 
where,  I  will  come  unto  thee  and  bless  thee.  These 
words  are  precisely  the  same  in  signification  with 
those  of  our  Lord,  Matt,  xviii.  20  :  For  inhere  two  or 
three  are  gathered  together  in  my  name ,  there  am  I  in 
the  midst  of  them.  And  as  it  was  JESUS  who  was 
the  angel  that  spoke  to  them  in  the  wilderness,  Acts 
vii.  38,  from  the  same  mouth  this  promise  in  the  law 
and  that  in  the  Gospel  proceeded. 

Terse  25.  Thou  shalt  not  build,  it  of  hewn  stone] 
Because  they  were  now  in  a  wandering  state,  and  had 
as  yet  no  fixed  residence  ;  and  therefore  no  time  should 
be  wasted  to  rear  costly  altars,  which  could  not  be 
transported  with  them,  and  which  they  must  soon  leave. 
Besides,  they  must  not  lavish  skill  or  expense  on  the 
construction  of  an  altar ;  the  altar  of  itself,  whether 
costly  or  mean,  was  nothing  in  the  worship ;  it  was 
only  the  place  on  which  the  victim  should  be  laid,  and 
their  mind  must  be  attentively  fixed  on  that  God  to 
whom  the  sacrifice  was  offered,  and  on  the  sacrifice 
itself,  as  that  appointed  by  the  Lord  to  make  an  atone¬ 
ment  for  their  sins. 

Terse  26.  Neither  shalt  thou  go  up  by  steps  unto 
mine  altar]  The  word  altar  comes  from  altus,  high  or 
elevated,  though  the  Hebrew  word  rDTE  mizbach,  from 
POT  zabach,  to  slay,  kill,  &c.,  signifies  merely  a  place 
for  sacrifice  ;  see  Gen.  viii.  20.  But  the  heathens,  who 
imitated  the  rites  of  the  true  God  in  their  idolatrous 
worship,  made  their  altars  very  high  ;  whence  they 
derived  their  name  altaria,  altars,  i.  e.,  very  high  or 
elevated  places  ;  which  they  built  thus,  partly  through 
pride  and  vain  glory,  and  partly  that  their  gods  might 
the  better  hear  them.  Hence  also  the  high  places  or 
idolatrous  altars  so  often  and  so  severely  condemned 
in  the  Holy  Scriptures.  The  heathens  made  some  of 
their  altars  excessively  high  ;  and  some  imagine  that 
the  pyramids  were  altars  of  this  kind,  and  that  the 
inspired  writer  refers  to  those  in  these  prohibitions. 
God  therefore  ordered  his  altars  to  be  made,  1.  either 
of  simple  turf,  that  there  might  be  no  unnecessary 
expense,  which,  in  their  present  circumstances,  the 
people  could  not  well  afford  ;  and  that  they  might  be 
no  ineen  ives  to  idolatry  from  their  costly  or  curious 
structure;  or  2.  of  unhewn  stone,  that  no  images  of 
animals  or  of  the  celestial  bodies  might  be  sculptured 
on  them,  as  was  the  case  among  the  idolaters,  and 
especially  among  the  Egyptians,  as  several  of  their 
ancient  altars  which  remain  to  the  present  day  amply 
testify ;  which  altars  themselves,  and  the  images 
carved  on  them,  became  in  process  of  time  incentives 
to  idolatry,  and  even  objects  of  worship.  In  short, 
God  formed  every  part  of  his  worship  so  that  every 

406 


thing  belonging  to  it  might  be  as  dissimilar  as  possible 
from  that  of  the  surrounding  heathenish  nations,  and 
especially  the  Egyptians,  from  whose  land  they  had 
just  now  departed.  This  seems  to  have  been  the 
whole  design  of  those  statutes  on  which  many  com¬ 
mentators  have  written  so  largely  and  learnedly, 
imagining  difficulties  where  probably  there  are  none. 
The  altars  of  the  tabernacle  were  of  a  different  kind. 

In  this  and  the  preceding  chapter  we  have  met  with 
some  of  the  most  awful  displays  of  the  Divine  Majes¬ 
ty  ;  manifestations  of  justice  and  holiness  which  have 
no  parallel,  and  can  have  none  till  that  day  arrive  in 
which  he  shall  appear  in  his  glory,  to  judge  the  quick 
and  the  dead.  The  glory  was  truly  terrible,  and  to 
the  children  of  Israel  insufferable  ;  and  yet  how  highly 
privileged  to  have  God  himself  speaking  to  them  from 
the  midst  of  the  fire,  giving  them  statutes  and  judg¬ 
ments  so  righteous,  so  pure,  so  holy,  and  so  truly  ex¬ 
cellent  in  their  operation  and  their  end,  that  they  have 
been  the  admiration  of  all  the  wise  and  upright  in  all 
countries  and  ages  of  the  world,  where  their  voice 
has  been  heard  !  Mohammed  defied  all  the  poets  and 
literati  of  Arabia  to  match  the  language  of  the  Koran  ; 
and  for  purity,  elegance,  and  dignity  it  bore  away  the 
palm,  and  remained  unrivalled.  This  indeed  was  the 
only  advantage  which  the  work  derived  from  its  au¬ 
thor  ;  for  its  other  excellences  it  was  indebted  to  Mo¬ 
ses  and  the  prophets,  to  Christ  and  the  apostles  ;  as 
there  is  scarcely  a  pure,  consistent,  theologic  notion 
in  it,  that  has  not  been  borrowed  from  our  sacred  books. 
Moses  calls  the  attention  of  the  people,  not  to  the  lan¬ 
guage  in  which  these  Divine  laws  were  given,  though 
that  is  all  that  it  should  be,  and  every  way  worthy  of 
its  author  ;  compressed  yet  perspicuous ;  simple  yet 
dignified;  in  short,  such  as  God  should  speak  if  he 
wished  his  creatures  to  comprehend  ;  but  he  calls  their 
attention  to  the  purity,  righteousness,  and  usefulness 
of  the  grand  revelation  which  they  had  just  received. 
For  what  nation,  says  he,  is  there  so  great,  who  hath 
God  so  nigh  unto  them,  as  Jehovah  our  God  is,  in  all 
things  that  we  call  upon  him  for  ?  And  what  nation 
hath  statutes  and  judgments  so  righteous  as  all  this 
laiv  which  I  set  before  you  this  day  ?  And  that  which 
was  the  sum  of  all  excellence  in  the  present  case  was 
this,  that  the  God  who  gave  these  laws  dwelt  among 
his  people  ;  to  him  they  had  continual  access,  and 
from  him  received  that  power  without  which  obedience 
so  extensive  and  so  holy  would  have  been  impossible  ; 
and  yet  not  one  of  these  laws  exacted  more  than  eter¬ 
nal  reason,  the  nature  and  fitness  of  things,  the  pros¬ 
perity  of  the  community,  and  the  peace  and  happiness 
of  the  individual,  required.  The  law  is  holy ,  and  the 
COMMANDMENT  is  HOLY,  JUST,  and  GOOD. 

a 


Observations  on  the 


CHAP.  XXL 


To  show  still  more  clearly  the  excellence  and  great 
utility  of  the  ten  commandments,  and  to  correct  some 
mistaken  notions  concerning  them,  it  may  be  neces¬ 
sary  to  make  a  few  additional  observations.  And 
1.  It  is  worthy  of  remark  that  there  is  none  of  these 
commandments,  nor  any  part  of  one,  which  can  fairly 
be  considered  as  merely  ceremonial.  All  are  moral , 
and  consequently  of  everlasting  obligation.  2.  When 
considered  merely  as  to  the  letter ,  there  is  certainly 
no  difficulty  in  the  moral  obedience  required  to  them. 
Let  every  reader  take  them  up  one  by  one,  and  ask 
his  conscience  before  God,  which  of  them  he  is  under 
a  fatal  and  uncontrollable  necessity  to  break  '!  3. 

Though  by  the  incarnation  and  death  of  Christ  all  the 
ceremonial  law  which  referred  to  him  and  his  sacrifice 
is  necessarily  abrogated,  yet,  as  none  of  these  ten 
commandments  refer  to  any  thing  properly  ceremonial, 
therefore  they  are  not  abrogated.  4.  Though  Christ 
came  into  the  world  to  redeem  them  who  believe  from 
the  curse  of  the  law,  he  did  not  redeem  them  from 
the  necessity  of  walking  in  that  newness  of  life  which 
these  commandments  so  strongly  inculcate.  5.  Though 
Christ  is  said  to  have  fulfilled  the  law  for  us,  yet  it 
is  nowhere  intimated  in  the  Scripture  that  he  has  so 
fulfilled  these  ten  laws,  as  to  exempt  us  from  the 
necessity  and  privilege  of  being  no  idolaters,  swearers, 
Sabbath-breakers,  disobedient  and  cruel  children,  mur¬ 
derers,  adulterers,  thieves,  and  corrupt  witnesses.  All 
these  commandments,  it  is  true,  he  punctually  fulfilled 
himself ;  and  all  these  he  writes  on  the  heart  of  every 
soul  redeemed  by  his  blood.  6.  Do  not  those  who 
scruple  not  to  insinuate  that  the  proper  observation  of 
these  laws  is  impossible  in  this  life,  and  that  every 
man  since  the  fall  does  daily  break  them  in  thought, 
word,  and  deed ,  bear  false  witness  against  God  and 
his  truth'!  and  do  they  not  greatly  err,  not  knowing 
the  Scripture,  which  teaches  the  necessity  of  such 
obedience,  nor  the  power  of  God,  by  which  the  evil 
principle  of  the  heart  is  destroyed,  and  the  law  of 


preceding  chapter 

purity  written  on  the  soul  1  If  even  the  regenerate 
man,  as  some  have  unwarily  asserted,  does  daily  break 
these  commands,  these  ten  words,  in  thought ,  word , 
and  deed,  he  may  be  as  bad  as  Satan  for  aught  we 
know ;  for  Satan  himself  cannot  transgress  in  more 
forms  than  these,  for  sin  can  be  committed  in  no 
other  way,  either  by  bodied  or  disembodied  spirits, 
than  by  thought,  or  word,  or  deed.  Such  sayings  as 
these  tend  to  destroy  the  distinction  between  good  and 
evil,  and  leave  the  infidel  and  the  believer  on  a  par  as 
to  their  moral  state.  The  people  of  God  should  be 
careful  how  they  use  them.  7.  It  must  be  granted, 
and  indeed  has  sufficiently  appeared  from  the  preced¬ 
ing  exposition  of  these  commandments,  that  they  are 
not  only  to  be  understood  in  the  letter  but  also  in  the 
spirit,  and  that  therefore  they  may  be  broken  in  the 
heart  while  outwardly  kept  inviolate ;  yet  this  does  not 
prove  that  a  soul  influenced  by  the  grace  and  spirit  of 
Christ  cannot  most  conscientiously  observe  them  ;  for 
the  grace  of  the  Gospel  not  only  saves  a  man  from 
outward  but  also  from  inward  sin  ;  for,  says  the  hea¬ 
venly  messenger,  his  name  shall  be  called  Jesus,  (i.  e., 
Saviour,)  because  he  shall  save,  (i.  e.,  deliver)  lvis 
people  from  their  sins.  Therefore  the  weakness  or 
corruption  of  human  nature  forms  no  argument  here, 
because  the  blood  of  Christ  cleanses  from  all  unright¬ 
eousness  ;  and  he  saves  to  the  uttermost  all  who  come 
unto  the  Father  through  him.  It  is  therefore  readily 
granted  that  no  man  unassisted  and  uninfluenced  by 
the  grace  of  Christ  can  keep  these  commandments, 
either  in  the  letter  or  in  the  spirit ;  but  he  who  is  truly 
converted  to  God,  and  has  Christ  dwelling  in  his  heart 
by  faith,  can,  in  the  letter  and  in  the  spirit,  do  all 
these  things,  because  Christ  strengthens  him. — 
Reader,  the  following  is  a  good  prayer,  and  oftentimes 
thou  hast  said  it ;  now  learn  to  pray  it :  “  Lord,  have 
mercy  upon  us,  and  incline  our  hearts  to  keep  these 
laws !  Lord,  have  mercy  upon  us,  and  write  all  these  thy 
laws  in  our  hearts ,  we  beseech  thee!” — Com.  Service. 


CHAPTER  XXL 

Laws  concerning  servants.  They  shall  serve  for  only  seven  years ,  1,2.  If  a  servant  brought  a  wife  to 
servitude  with  him,  both  should  go  out  free  on  the  seventh  year,  3.  If  his  master  had  given  him  a  wife , 
and  she  bore  him  children,  he  might  go  out  free  on  the  seventh  year,  but  his  wife  and  children  must  remain, 
as  the  property  of  the  master,  4.  If,  through  love  to  his  master ,  wife,  and  children,  he  did  not  choose  to 
avail  himself  of  the  privilege  granted  by  the  law,  of  going  out  free  on  the  seventh  year ,  his  ear  was  to  be 
bored  to  the  door  post  with  an  awl ,  as  an  emblem  of  his  being  attached  to  the  family  for  ever,  5,  6.  Laws 
concerning  maid-servants,  betrothed  to  their  masters  or  to  the  sons  of  their  masters,  7—11.  Laws  con¬ 
cerning  battery  and  murder,  12—15.  Concerning  men-stealing,  16.  Concerning  him  that  curses  bis 
parents,  17.  Of  strife  between  man  and  man,  18,  19  ;  between  a  master  and  his  servants,  20,  21.  Of 
injuries  done  to  women  in  pregnancy,  22.  The  lex  talionis,  or  law  o/like  for  like,  23-25.  Of  injuries 
done  to  servants,  by  which  they  gain  the  right  of  freedom,  26,  27.  Laws  concerning  the  ox  which  has 
gored  men,  28—32.  Of  the  pit  left  uncovered ,  into  which  a  man  or  a  beast  has  fallen ,  33,  34.  Laics 
concerning  the  ox  that  kills  another ,  35,  36. 


a 


407 


EXODUS. 


Laws  concerning  servants. 


Ceremony  of  boring  the  ear 


A.  M.  2513.  J^OW  these  are  the  judgments 
AnBExod.4isr.  l.  which  thou  shalt  a  set  before 
Slvan‘  them. 

2  b  If  thou  buy  a  Hebrew  servant,  six 
years  he  shall  serve  :  and  in  the  seventh  he 
shall  go  out  free  for  nothing. 

3  If  he  came  in  c  by  himself,  he  shall  go 
out  by  himself :  if  he  were  married,  then  his 
wife  shall  «;o  out  with  him. 

4  If  his  master  have  given  him  a  wife,  and 
she  have  borne  him  sons  or  daughters  ;  the 


wife  and  her  children  shall  be  A.  M.  2513. 

.  ,  .  .  .  „  B.  C.  1491. 

her  master  s,  and  he  shall  go  An.  Exod.  isr.  1 

out  by  himself.  SlYan~ 

5  d  And  if  the  servant  e  shall  plainly  say,  I 
love  my  master,  my  wife,  and  my  children; 
I  will  not  go  out  free  : 

6  Then  his  master  shall  bring  him  unto  the 
f judges;  he  shall  also  bring  him  to  the  door, 
or  unto  the  door  post ;  and  his  master  shall 
B  bore  his  ear  through  with  an  awl ;  and  he 
shall  serve  him  for  ever. 


a  Chap.  xxiv.  3,  4  ;  Deut.  iv.  14 ;  vi.  1. - b  Lev.  xxv.  39, 40,  41 ; 

.Deut.  xv.  12  ;  Jer.  xxxiv.  14. - c  Heb.  with  his  body. 

NOTES  ON  CHAP.  XXI. 

Verse  1.  Now  these  are  the  judgments']  There  is  so 
much  good  sense,  feeling,  humanity,  equity,  and  jus¬ 
tice  in  the  following  laws,  that  they  cannot  but  be 
admired  by  every  intelligent  reader  ;  and  they  are  so 
very  plain  as  to  require  very  little  comment.  The 
laws  in  this  chapter  are  termed  political ,  those  in  the 
succeeding  chapter  judicial ,  laws  ;  and  are  supposed  to 
have  been  delivered  to  Moses  alone ,  in  consequence 
of  the  request  of  the  people,  chap.  xx.  19,  that  God 
should  communicate  his  will  to  Moses,  and  that  Moses 
should,  as  mediator,  convey  it  to  them. 

Verse  2.  If  thou  buy  a  Hebrew  servant]  Calmet 
enumerates  six  different  ways  in  which  a  Hebrew 
might  lose  his  liberty  :  1 .  In  extreme  poverty  they 
might  sell  their  liberty.  Lev.  xxv.  39  :  If  thy  brother 
be  waxen  poor ,  and  be  sold  unto  thee ,  &c.  2.  A 

father  might  sell  his  children.  If  a  man  sell  his 
daughter  to  be  a  ma.id-servant ;  see  ver.  7.  3.  In¬ 

solvent  debtors  became  the  slaves  of  their  creditors. 
My  husband  is  dead — and  the  creditor  is  come  to  take 
unto  him  my  two  sons  to  be  bondmen,  2  Kings  iv.  1. 
4.  A  thief,  if  he  had  not  money  to  pay  the  fine  laid  on 
him  by  tbe  law,  was  to  be  sold  for  his  profit  whom  he 
had  robbed.  If  he  have  nothing,  then  he  shall  be  sold 
for  his  theft;  chap.  xxii.  3,  4.  5.  A  Hebrew  was 

liable  to  be  taken  prisoner  in  war,  and  so  sold  for  a 
slave.  6.  A  Hebrew  slave  who  had  been  ransomed 
from  a  Gentile  by  a  Hebrew  might  be  sold  by  him 
who  ransomed  him,  to  one  of  his  own  nation. 

Six  years  he  shall  serve]  It  was  an  excellent  pro¬ 
vision  in  these  laws,  that  no  man  could  finally  injure 
himself  by  any  rash,  foolish,  or  precipitate  act.  No 
man  could  make  himself  a  servant  or  slave  for  more 
than  seven  years ;  and  if  he  mortgaged  the  family  in¬ 
heritance,  it  must  return  to  the  family  at  the  jubilee , 
which  returned  every  fiftieth  year. 

It  is  supposed  that  the  term  six  years  is  to  be  un¬ 
derstood  as  referring  to  the  sabbatical  years ;  for  let 
a  man  come  into  servitude  at  whatever  part  of  the  in¬ 
terim  between  two  sabbatical  years,  he  could  not  be 
detained  in  bondage  beyond  a  sabbatical  year ;  so  that 
if  he  fell  into  bondage  the  third  year  after  a  sabbatical 
year,  he  had  but  three  years  to  serve  ;  if  the  fifth, 
but  one.  See  on  chap,  xxiii.  11,  &c.  Others  sup¬ 
pose  that  this  privilege  belonged  only  to  the  year 
of  jubilee,  beyond  which  no  man  could  be  detained 

408 


d  Deut.  xv.  16, 17. - e  Heb.  saying  shalt  say. - Chap.  xii.  12  ; 

xxii.  8,  28. - s  Psa.  xl.  6. 

in  bondage,  though  he  had  been  sold  only  one  year 
before. 

Verse  3.  If  he  came  in  by  himself]  If  he  and  his 
wife  came  in  together,  they  were  to  go  out  together  : 
in  all  respects  as  he  entered,  so  should  he  go  out. 
This  consideration  seems  to  have  induced  St.  Jerome 
to  translate  the  passage  thus  :  Own  quali  veste  intra- 
verat,  cum  tali  exeat.  “  He  shall  have  tbe  same  coat 
in  going  out,  as  he  had  when  he  came  in  i.  e.,  if 
he  came  in  with  a  new  one,  he  shall  go  out  with  a 
new  one,  which  was  perfectly  just,  as  the  former  coat 
must  have  been  worn  out  in  his  master’s  service,  and 
not  his.  own. 

Verse  4.  The  wife  and  her  children  shall  be  he7 
master's]  It  was  a  law  among  the  Hebrews,  that  if 
a  Hebrew  had  children  by  a  Canaanitish  woman,  those 
children  must  be  considered  as  Canaanitish  only,  and 
might  be  sold  and  bought,  and  serve  for  ever.  The 
law  here  refers  to  such  a  case  only. 

Verse  6.  Shall  bring  him  unto  the  judges]  DTi^XH 
el  haelohim,  literally,  to  God ;  or,  as  the  Septuagint 
have  it,  npoe  to  uptryptov  0  eov,  to  the  judgment  of  God; 
who  condescended  to  dwell  among  his  people  ;  who  de¬ 
termined  all  their  differences  till  he  had  given  them  laws 
for  all  cases,  and  who,  by  his  omniscience,  brought  to 
light  the  hidden  things  of  dishonesty.  See  chap.  xxii.  8. 

Bore  his  ear  through  ivith  an  awl]  This  was  a 
ceremony  sufficiently  significant,  as  it  implied,  1.  That 
he  was  closely  attached  to  that  house  and  family.  2. 
That  he  wras  bound  to  hear  all  his  master’s  orders,  and 
to  obey  them  punctually.  Boring  of  the  ear  was  an 
ancient  custom  in  the  east.  It  is  referred  to  by  Juve¬ 
nal  : — 

Prior,  inquit,  ego  adsum. 

Cur  timeam,  dubitemve  locum  defendere  ?  quamvis 
Natus  ad  Euphraten,  molles  quod  in  aure  fenestras 
Arguerint,  licet  ipse  negem.  Sat.  i.  102. 

“  First  come,  first  served,  he  cries  ;  and  I,  in  spite 
Of  your  great  lordships,  will  maintain  my  right : 
Though  born  a  slave,  though  my  torn  ears  are  bored, 
’Tis  not  the  birth,  ’tis  money  makes  the  lord.”  Dryden. 

Calmet  quotes  a  saying  from  Petronius  as  attesting 
the  same  thing ;  and  one  from  Cicero,  in  which  he 
rallies  a  Libyan  who  pretended  he  did  not  hear  him  : 
“  It  is  not,”  said  he,  “  because  your  ears  are  not  suf¬ 
ficiently  bored  alluding  to  his  having  been  a  slave. 

a 


Of  the  betrothed  maidservant.  CHAP 

A.  M.  2513.  7  And  if  a  man  h  sell  his 

B.  C.  1491.  ,  .  ,  . , 

An.  Exod.  Isr.  i.  daughter  to  be  a  maid-servant, 

Slvan~  she  shall  not  go  out  1  as  the 
men-servants  do. 

8  If  she  k  please  not  her  master,  who  hath 
betrothed  her  to  himself,  then  shall  he  let  her 
be  redeemed  :  to  sell  her  unto  a  strange  nation 
he  shall  have  no  power,  seeing  he  hath  dealt 
deceitfully  with  her. 

9  And  if  he  have  betrothed  her  unto  his  son, 
he  shall  deal  with  her  after  the  manner  of 
daughters. 

10  If  he  take  him  another  wife  ;  her  food, 
her  raiment,  1  and  her  duty  of  marriage,  shall 
he  not  diminish. 

•  1 1  And  if  he  do  not  these  three  unto  her, 
then  shall  she  go  out  free,  without  money. 

12  m  He  that  smiteth  a  man,  so  that  he  die, 
shall  be  surely  put  to  death. 

13  And  11  if  a  man  lie  not  in  wait,  but  God 
0  deliver  him  into  his  hand  ;  then  p  I  will  ap¬ 
point  thee  a  place  whither  he  shall  flee. 

14  But  if  a  man  come  q  presumptuously 

hNeh.  v.  5. - '  Ver.  2,  3. - kHeb.  be  evil  hi  the  eyes  of,  &c. 

1 1  Cor.  vii.  3. - m  Gen.  ix.  6;  Lev.  xxiv.  17  ;  Num.  xxxv.  30, 

31 ;  Matthew  xxvi.  52. - n  Numbers  xxxv.  22;  Deut.  xix.  4,  5. 

0 1  Sara.  xxiv.  4, 10,  18. - P  Num.  xxxv.  1 1  ;  Deut.  xix.  3  ;  Josh. 

xx.  2. - iNum.  xv.  30  ;  xxxv.  20 ;  Deut.  xix.  11,  12  ;  Heb.  x. 

Verse  7.  If  a  man  sell  his  daughter ]  This  the 
Jews  allowed  no  man  to  do  but  in  extreme  distress — 
when  he  had  no  goods,  either  movable  or  immovable 
left,  even  to  the  clothes  on  his  back  ;  and  he  had  this 
permission  only  while  she  was  unmarriage  able.  It 
may  appear  at  first  view  strange  that  such  a  law 
should  have  been  given ;  but  let  it  be  remembered, 
that  this  servitude  could  extend,  at  the  utmost,  only  to 
six  years ;  and  that  it  was  nearly  the  same  as  in  some 
cases  of  apprenticeship  among  us,  where  the  parents 
bind  the  child  for  seven  years ,  and  have  from  the  mas¬ 
ter  so  much  per  week  during  that  period. 

Verse  9.  Betrothed  her  unto  his  son ,  he  shall  deal 
with  her ]  He  shall  give  her  the  same  dowry  he  would 
give  to  one  of  his  own  daughters.  From  these  laws 
we  learn,  that  if  a  man’s  son  married  his  servant,  by 
his  father’s  consent,  the  father  was  obliged  to  treat 
her  in  every  respect  as  a  daughter ;  and  if  the  son 
married  another  woman,  as  it  appears  he  might  do, 
ver.  10,  he  was  obliged  to  make  no  abatement  in  the 
privileges  of  the  first  wife,  either  in  hex  food,  raiment, 
or  duty  of  marriage.  The  word  nnip  onathah,  here, 
is  the  same  with  St.  Paul’s  o^ulopevriv  evvoiav,  the  mar¬ 
riage  debt,  and  with  the  opOnav  of  the  Septuagint, 
which  signifies  the  cohabitation  of  man  and  wife. 

Verse  11.  These  three]  1.  Ilex  food,  rnxiP  sheerah, 
her  flesh,  for  she  must  not,  like  a  common  slave,  be  fed 
merely  on  vegetables.  2.  Her  raiment — her  private 
wardrobe,  with  all  occasional  necessary  additions.  And, 
3.  The  marriage  debt — a  due  proportion  of  the  hus¬ 
band’s  time  and  company. 


.  XXI.  Of  menstealing  and  manslaughter. 

upon  his  neighbour,  to  slay  him  a.  Nr.  2513. 
with  guile;  rthou  shalt  take  An.  Exod.  Isr.  1. 
him  from  mine  altar,  that  he  Slvan‘ 
may  die. 

15  And  he  that  smiteth  his  father,  or  his 
mother,  shall  be  surely  put  to  death. 

1 6  And  s  he  that  stealeth  a  man,  and  t  selleth 
him,  or  if  he  be  u  found  in  his  hand,  he  shall 
surely  be  put  to  death. 

1 7  And  v  he  that  w  curseth  his  father,  or  his 
mother,  shall  surely  be  put  to  death. 

18  And  if  men  strive  together,  and  one 
smite  1  another  with  a  stone,  or  with  his  fist, 
and  he  die  not,  but  keepeth  his  bed  : 

19  If  he  rise  again,  and  walk  abroad  y  upon 
his  staff,  then  shall  he  that  smote  him  be 
quit  :  only  he  shall  pay  for  z  the  loss  of  his 
time,  and  shall  cause  him  to  be  thoroughly 
healed. 

20  And  if  a  man  smite  his  servant,  or  his 
maid,  with  a  rod,  and  he  die  under  his  hand ; 
he  shall  be  surely  a  punished. 

21  Notwithstanding,  if  he  continue  a  day  or 

20. - rl  Kings  ii.  28-34;  2  Kings  xi.  15. - 3  Deut.  xxiv.  7. 

1  Gen.  xxxvii.  28. - u  Chap.  xxii.  4. - v  Lev.  xx.  9  ;  Prov.  xx. 

20  ;  Matt.  xv.  4  ;  Mark  vii.  10. - w  Or,  revileth. - 3  Or,  his 

neighbour. - y  2  Sam.  iii.  29. - z  Heb.  his  ceasing. - a  Heb. 

avenged ;  Gen.  iv.  15,  24;  Rom.  xiii.  4. 

Verse  13.  I  will  appoint  thee  a  place  whither  he 
shall  flee.]  From  the  earliest  times  the  nearest  akin 
had  a  right  to  revenge  the  murder  of  his  relation,  and 
as  this  right  was  universally  acknowledged,  no  law 
was  ever  made  on  the  subject ;  but  as  this  might  be 
abused,  and  a  person  who  had  killed  another  accident¬ 
ally,  having  had  no  previous  malice  against  him,  might 
be  put  to  death  by  the  avenger  of  blood,  as  the  near¬ 
est  kinsman  was  termed,  therefore  God  provided  the 
cities  of  refuge  to  which  the  accidental  manslayer 
might  flee  till  the  affair  was  inquired  into,  and  settled 
by  the  civil  magistrate. 

Verse  14.  Thou  shalt  take  him  from  mine  altar] 
Before  the  cities  of  refuge  were  assigned,  the  altar  of 
God  was  the  common  asylum. 

Verse  15.  That  smiteth  his  father,  or  his  mother] 
As  such  a  case  argued  peculiar  depravity,  therefore 
no  mercy  was  to  be  shown  to  the  culprit. 

Verse  16.  He  that  stealeth  a  man]  By  this  law 
every  man-stealer,  and  every  receiver  of  the  stolen 
person,  should  lose  his  life  ;  no  matter  whether  the 
latter  stole  the  man  himself,  or  gave  money  to  a  slave 
captain  or  negro-dealer  to  steal  him  for  him. 

Verse  19.  Shall  pay  for  the  loss  of  his  time,  and 
shall  cause  him  to  be  thoroughly  healed.]  This  was 
a  wise  and  excellent  institution,  and  most  courts  of 
justice  still  regulate  their  decisions  on  such  cases  by 
this  Mosaic  precept. 

Verse  21.  If  the  slave  who  had  been  beaten  by  his 
master  died  under  his  hand,  the  master  was  punished 
with  death;  see  Gen.  ix.  5,  6.  But  if  he  survived 

409 


a 


EXODUS. 


Law  of  like  for  like , 


and  of  the  goring  ox. 


a.  M.  2513.  two,  he  shall  not  be  punished  : 

B.  C.  1491.  r 

An.  Exod.  isr.  l.  ior  b  he  is  Ins  money. 

Slvan‘  22  If  men  strive,  and  hurt  a 
woman  with  child,  so  that  her  fruit  depart 
from  her ,  and  yet  no  mischief  follow  :  he 
shall  be  surely  punished,  according  as  the 
woman’s  husband  will  lay  upon  him  ;  and  he 
shall  c  pay  as  the  judges  determine. 

23  And  if  any  mischief  follow,  then  thou 
shalt  give  life  for  life, 

24  d  Eye  for  eye,  tooth  for  tooth,  hand  for 
hand,  foot  for  foot, 

25  Burning  for  burning,  wound  for  wound, 
stripe  for  stripe. 

26  And  if  a  man  smite  the  eye  of  his 
servant,  or  the  eye  of  his  maid,  that  it  perish  ; 
he  shall  let  him  go  free  for  his  eye’s  sake. 

27  And  if  he  smite  out  his  man-servant’s 
tooth,  or  his  maid-servant’s  tooth  ;  he  shall  let 
him  go  free  for  his  tooth’s  sake. 


28  If  an  ox  gore  a  man  or  a  a.  m.  2513. 

.  .  °  .  ,  B.  C.  149L 

woman,  that  they  die  :  then  e  the  An.  Exod.  Isr.  1. 

J  q . 

ox  shall  be  surely  stoned,  and  his  lvan‘ 
flesh  shall  not  be  eaten ;  but  the  owner  of 
the  ox  shall  he  quit. 

29  But  if  the  ox  were  wont  to  push  with  his 
horn  in  time  past,  and  it  hath  been  testified 
to  his  owner,  and  he  hath  not  kept  him  in, 
but  that  he  hath  killed  a  man  or  a  woman  ; 
the  ox  shall  be  stoned,  and  his  owner  also 
shall  be  put  to  death. 

30  If  there  be  laid  on  him  a  sum  of  money, 
then  shall  he  give  for  f  the  ransom  of  his  life 
whatsoever  is  laid  upon  him. 

3  1  Whether  he  have  gored  a  son,  or  have 
gored  a  daughter,  according  to  this  judgment 
shall  it  be  done  unto  him. 

3  2  If  the  ox  shall  push  a  man-servant  or  a  maid¬ 
servant  ;  he  shall  give  unto  their  master  £  thirty 
shekels  of  silver,  and  the  h  ox  shall  be  stoned. 


b  Lev.  xxv.  45,  4G. - c  Ver.  30  ;  Deut.  xxii.  18,  19. - dLev. 

xxiv.  20  ;  Deut.  xix.  21  ;  Matt.  v.  38. 

the  beating  a  day  or  two  the  master  was  not  punished, 
because  it  might  be  presumed  that  the  man  died  through 
some  other  cause.  And  all  penal  laws  should  be  con¬ 
strued  as  favourably  as  possible  to  the  accused. 

Verse  22.  And  hurt  a  woman  with  child ]  As  a 
posterity  among  the  Jews  was  among  the  peculiar 
promises  of  their  covenant,  and  as  every  man  had  some 
reason  to  think  that  the  Messiah  should  spring  from 
his  family,  therefore  any  injury  done  to  a  woman  with 
child,  by  which  the  fruit  of  her  womb  might  be  de¬ 
stroyed,  was  considered  a  very  heavy  offence  ;  and  as 
the  crime  was  committed  principally  against  the  hus¬ 
band,  the  degree  of  punishment  was  left  to  his  discre¬ 
tion.  But  if  mischief  followed ,  that  is,  if  the  child 
had  been  fully  formed,  and  was  killed  by  this  means, 
or  the  woman  lost  her  life  in  consequence,  then  the 
punishment  was  as  in  other  cases  of  murder — the  per¬ 
son  was  put  to  death;  ver.  23. 

Verse  24.  Eye  for  eye]  This  is  the  earliest  ac¬ 
count  we  have  of  the  lex  talionis ,  or  law  of  like  for 
like ,  which  afterwards  prevailed  among  the  Greeks 
and  Romans.  Among  the  latter,  it  constituted  a  part 
of  the  twelve  tables ,  so  famous  in  antiquity  ;  but  the 
punishment  was  afterwards  changed  to  a  pecuniary 
fine,  to  be  levied  at  the  discretion  of  the  praetor.  It 
prevails  less  or  more  in  most  civilized  countries,  and 
is  fully  acted  upon  in  the  canon  law,  in  reference  to 
all  calumniators  :  Calumniator,  si  in  accusatione  defe- 
cent,  talionem  recipiat.  “  If  the  calumniator  fail  in 
the  proof  of  his  accusation,  let  him  suffer  the  same 
punishment  which  he  wished  to  have  inflicted  upon  the 
man  whom  he  falsely  accused.”  Nothing,  however., 
of  this  kind  was  left  to  private  revenge ;  the  magis¬ 
trate  awarded  the  punishment  when  the  fact  was  proved, 
otherwise  the  lex  talionis  would  have  utterly  destroyed 
the  peace  of  society,  and  have  sown  the  seeds  of  ha¬ 
tred,  revenge,  and  all  uncharitableness. 

410 


e  Gen.  ix.  5. - {  Ver.  22  ;  Num.  xxxv.  31. - s  See  Zeeh.  xi 

12,  13  ;  Matt.  xxvi.  15;  Phil.  ii.  7. - h  Yer.  28. 

Verse  26.  If  a  man  smite  the  eye,  c fc.]  See  the 
following  verse. 

Verse  27.  If  he  smite  out  his — tooth ]  It  was  a 
noble  law  that  obliged  the  unmerciful  slave-holder  to 
set  the  slave  at  liberty  whose  eye  or  tooth  he  had 
knocked  out.  If  this  did  not  teach  them  humanity,  it 
taught  them  caution,  as  one  rash  blow  might  have  de¬ 
prived  them  of  all  right  to  the  future  services  of  the 
slave ;  and  thus  self-interest  obliged  them  to  be  cau¬ 
tious  and  circumspect. 

Verse  28.  If  an  ox  gore  a  man\  It  is  more  likely 
that  a  bull  is  here  intended,  as  the  word  signifies  both, 
see  chap.  xxii.  1 ;  and  the  Septuagint  translate  the 
shor  of  the  original  by  ravpoc,  a  bull.  Mischief  of 
this  kind  was  provided  against  by  most  nations.  It 
appears  that  the  Romans  twisted  hay  about  the  horns 
of  their  dangerous  cattle,  that  people  seeing  it  might 
shun  them;  hence  that  saying  of  Horace,  Sat.,  lib.  i., 
sat.  4,  ver.  34  :  Fcenum  habet  in  cornu,  longefuge.  “  He 
has  hay  on  his  horns  ;  fly  for  life  !”  The  laws  of  the 
twelve  tables  ordered,  That  the  owner  of  the  beast 
should  pay  for  what  damages  he  committed,  or  deliver 
him  to  the  person  injured.  See  on  chap.  xxii.  1. 

His  flesh  shall  not  be  eaten ]  This  served  to  keep 
up  a  due  detestation  of  murder,  whether  committed  by 
man  or  beast ;  and  at  the  same  time  punished  the  man 
as  far  as  possible,  by  the  total  loss  of  the  beast. 

Verse  30.  If  there  be  laid  on  him  a  sum  of  money — • 
the  ransom  of  his  life ]  So  it  appears  that,  though  by 
the  law  he  forfeited  his  life,  yet  this  might  be  com¬ 
muted  for  a  pecuniary  mulct,  at  which  the  life  of  the 
deceased  might  be  valued  by  the  magistrates. 

Verse  32.  Thirty  shekels ]  Each  worth  about  three 
shillings  English ;  see  Gen.  xx.  1 6  ;  xxiii.  15.  So,  count¬ 
ing  the  shekel  at  its  utmost  value,  the  life  of  a  slave  was 
valued  at  four  pounds  ten  shillings.  And  at  this  price 
these  same  vile  people  valued  the  life  of  our  blessed 

a 


CHAP.  XXII. 


Laws  concerning  the 


stealing  of  cattle. 


A.  m.  2513.  33  And  if  a  man  shall  open  a 

13.  C.  1491.  '.  .r  1  n  J-  • 

An.  Exod.  Isr.  l.  pit,  or  it  a  man  shall  dig  a  pit, 

8lv:m‘  and  not  cover  it,  and  an  ox  or  an 
ass  fall  therein ; 

34  The  owner  of  the  pit  shall  make  it  good, 
and  give  money  unto  the  owner  of  them  ;  and 
the  dead  Least  shall  be  his. 

35  And  if  one  man’s  ox  hurt  another’s,  that 


he  die  ;  then  they  shall  -sell  the  a.  m  2513. 

,.  r  B.  C.  1491. 

live  ox,  and  divide  the  money  ol  An.  Exod.  isr.  1 

it ;  and  the  dead  ox  also  they  Slvan‘ 

shall  divide. 

36  Or  if  it  be  known  that  the  ox  hath  used 
to  push  in  time  past,  and  his  owner  hath  not 
kept  him  in  ;  he  shall  surely  pay  ox  for  ox  ; 
and  the  dead  shall  be  his  own. 


Lord;  see  Zech.  xi.  12,  13  ;  Matt.  xxvi.  15.  And 
in  return,  the  justice  of  God  has  ordered  it  so,  that 
they  have  been  sold  for  slaves  into  every  country  of 
the  universe.  And  yet,  strange  to  tell,  they  see  not 
the  hand  of  God  in  so  visible  a  retribution  ! 

Yerse  33.  And  if  a  man  shall  open  a  pit ,  or — dig 
a  pit ]  That  is,  if  a  man  shall  open  a  well  or  cistern 
that  had  been  before  closed  up,  or  dig  a  new  one  ;  for 
these  two  cases  are  plainly  intimated  :  and  if  he  did 
this  in  some  public  place  where  there  was  danger  that 
men  or  cattle  might  fall  into  it  ;  for  a  man  might  do 
as  he  pleased  in  his  own  grounds,  as  those  were  his 
private  right.  In  the  above  case,  if  he  had  neglected 
to  cover  the  pit,  and  his  neighbour’s  ox  or  ass  was 
killed  by  falling  into  it,  he  was  to  pay  its  value  in 
money.  The  33d  and  34th  verses  seem  to  be  out  of 
their  places.  They  probably  should  conclude  the  chap¬ 


ter,  as,  where  they  are,  they  interrupt  the  statutes  con¬ 
cerning  the  goring  ox,  which  begin  at  verse  28. 

These  different  regulations  are  as  remarkable  for 
their  justice  and  prudence  as  for  their  humanity. 
Their  great  tendency  is  to  show  the  valuableness  of 
human  life,  and  the  necessity  of  having  peace  and  good 
understanding  in  every  neighbourhood  ;  and  they  pos¬ 
sess  that  quality  which  should  be  the  object  of  all  good 
and  wholesome  laws — the  prevention  of  crimes.  Most 
criminal  codes  of  jurisprudence  seem  more  intent  on 
the  punishment  of  crimes  than  on  preventing  the  com¬ 
mission  of  them.  The  law  of  God  always  teaches  and 
warns,  that  his  creatures  may  not  fall  into  condemna¬ 
tion  ;  for  judgment  is  his  strange  work,  i.  e.,  one  re¬ 
luctantly  and  seldom  executed,  as  this  text  is  frequently 
understood. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

Laws  concerning  theft,  1—4  ;  concerning  trespass,  5  ;  concerning  casualties,  6.  Laws  concerning  deposits, 
or  goods  left  in  custody  of  others,  ivhich  may  have  been  lost,  stolen,  or  damaged,  7—13.  Laws  concerning 
things  borrowed  or  let  out  on  hire,  14,  15.  Laws  concerning  seduction,  16,  17.  Laws  concerning  witch¬ 
craft,  18;  bestiality,  19;  idolatry,  20.  Laws  concerning  strangers,  21;  concerning  widows,  22-24  ; 
lending  money  to  the  poor,  25  ;  concerning  pledges,  26  ;  concerning  respect  £0  magistrates,  28  ;  concerning 
the  first  ripe  fruits,  and  the  first-born  of  man  and  beast,  29,  30.  Directions  concerning  carcasses  found 
torn  in  the  field,  31. 


A.  M.  2513.  JF  a  man  shall  steal  an  ox,  or 
An.  Exod.  isr.  I  a  a  sheep,  and  kill  it,  or  sell 
Slvan~  it ;  he  shall  restore  five  oxen  for 

_ ft _  - 

a  Or,  goat. - b  2  Sam.  xii.  6  ;  Luke  xix.  8  ;  see  Prov.  vi.  31. 


an  ox,  and  b  four  sheep  for  a 
sheep. 

2  If  a  thief  be  found  c  break- 


A.  M.  2513. 

B.  C.  1491. 
An.  Exod.  Isr.  1. 

Sivan. 


c  Matt.  xxiv.  43. 


NOTES  ON  CHAP.  XXII. 

Yerse  1 .  If  a  man  shall  steal ]  This  chapter  con¬ 
sists  chiefly  of  judicial  laws,  as  the  preceding  chapter 
does  of  political ;  and  in  it  the  same  good  sense,  and 
well-marked  attention  to  the  welfare  of  the  community 
and  the  moral  improvement  of  each  individual,  are 
equally  evident. 

In  our  translation  of  this  verse,  by  rendering  differ¬ 
ent  Hebrew  words  by  the  same  term  in  English,  we 
have  greatly  obscured  the  sense.  I  shall  produce 
the  verse  with  the  original  words  which  I  think  im¬ 
properly  translated,  because  one  English  term  is  used 
for  two  Hebrew  words,  which  in  this  place  certainly 
do  not  mean  the  same  thing.  If  a  man  shall  steal  an 
ox  (Tity  shor)  or  a  sheep,  (nt?  seh,)  and  kill  it,  or  sell 
it;  he  shall  restore  five  oxen  bakar)  for  an  ox, 

(YUf  shor,)  and  four  sheep  (|XX  tson)  for  a  sheep  (ntP 

a 


seh.)  I  think  it  must  appear  evident  that  the  sacred 
writer  did  not  intend  that  these  words  should  be  un¬ 
derstood  as  above.  A  shor  certainly  is  different  from 
a  bakar,  and  a  seh  from  a  tson.  Where  the  difference 
in  every  case  lies,  wherever  these  words  occur,  it  is 
difficult  to  say.  The  shor  and  the  bakar  are  doubtless 
creatures  of  the  beeve  kind,  and  are  used  in  different 
parts  of  the  sacred  writings  to  signify  the  bull,  the  ox, 
the  heifer ,  the  steer ,  and  the  calf.  The  seh  and  the 
tson  are  used  to  signify  the  ram,  the  wether,  the  ewe, 
the  lamb,  the  he-goat,  the  she-goat,  and  the  kid.  And 
the  latter  word  jtfX  tson  seems  frequently  to  signify 
th e  flock,  composed  of  either  of  these  lesser  cattle,  or 
both  sorts  conjoined. 

As  "llii?  s/tur  is  used,  Jobxxi.  10,  for  a  bull,  probably 
it  may  mean  so  here.  If  a  man  sieal  a  bull  he  shall 
n-ive  five  oxen  for  him ,  which  we  rpay  presume  was 

411 


Laws  concerning  trespass, 


EXODUS.  and  goods  in  the  custody  of  others . 


A.  M.  2513.  ing  lip,  and  be  smitten  that  he 
An.  Exod.  isr.  l.  die,  there  shall  d  no  blood  he 
Sivan-  shed  for  him. 

3  If  the  sun  be  risen  upon  him,  there  shall 
he  blood  shed  for  him ;  for  he  should  make 
full  restitution  ;  if  he  have  nothing,  then  he 
shall  be  e  sold  for  his  theft. 

4  If  the  theft  be  certainly  f  found  in  his 
hand  alive,  whether  it  be  ox,  or  ass,  or  sheep ; 
he  shall  s  restore  double. 

5  If  a  man  shall  cause  a  field  or  vineyard  to 
be  eaten,  and  shall  put  in  his  beast,  and  shall 
feed  in  another  man’s  field  ;  of  the  best  of  his 
own  field,  and  of  the  best  of  his  own  vineyard, 
shall  he  make  restitution. 


6  If  fire  break  out,  and  catch  A.  M.  2513. 

.  .  .  ,  '  -  B.  C.  1491. 

m  thorns,  so  that  the  stacks  01  An.  Exod.  isr.  1. 

corn,  or  the  standing  corn,  or  the  Slvan' 
field,  be  consumed  therewith ;  he  that  kindled 
the  fire  shall  surely  make  restitution. 

7  If  a  man  shall  deliver  unto  his  neighbour 
money  or  stuff  to  keep,  and  it  be  stolen  out 
of  the  man’s  house  ;  h  if  the  thief  be  found, 
let  him  pay  double. 

8  If  the  thief  be  not  found,  then  the  master 
of  the  house  shall  be  brought  unto  the  1  judges, 
to  see  whether  he  have  put  his  hand  unto  his 
neighbour’s  goods. 

9  For  all  manner  of  trespass,  whether  it  he 
for  ox,  for  ass,  for  sheep,  for  raiment,  or  for 


<*  Num.  xxxv.  27. - e  Ch.  xxi.  2. - f  Chap.  xxi.  16. - s  See 

- - - - i - 

no  more  than  his  real  value,  as  very  few  bulls  could 
be  kept  in  a  country  destitute  of  horses ,  where  oxen 
were  so  necessary  to  till  the  ground.  For  though 
some  have  imagined  that  there  were  no  castrated  cattle 
among  the  Jews,  yet  this  cannot  be  admitted  on  the 
above  reason  ;  for  as  they  had  no  horses,  and  bulls 
would  have  been  unmanageable  and  dangerous,  they 
must  have  had  oxen  for  the  purposes  of  agriculture. 
Tson  is  used  for  a  flock  either  of  sheep  or  goats , 
and  sek  HE?  for  an  individual  of  either  species.  For 
every  seh,  four,  taken  indifferently  from  the  tson  or 
flock,  must  be  given  ;  i.  e.,  a  sheep  stolen  might  be 
recompensed  with  four  out  of  the  flock ,  whether  of 
sheep  or  goats  :  so  that  a  goat  might  be  compensated 
with  four  sheep ,  or  a  sheep  with  four  goats. 

Verse  2.  If  a  thief  be  found]  If  a  thief  was  found 
breaking  into  a  house  in  the  night  season,  he  might  be 
killed  ;  but  not  if  the  sun  had  risen,  for  then  he  might 
be  known  and  taken,  and  the  restitution  made  which 
is  mentioned  in  the  succeeding  verse.  So  by  the  law 
of  England  it  is  a  burglary  to  break  and  enter  a  house 
by  night ;  and  “  anciently  the  day  was  accounted  to 
begin  only  from  sunrising,  and  to  end  immediately 
upon  sunset  :  but  it  is  now  generally  agreed  that  if 
there  be  daylight  enough  begun  or  left,  either  by  the 
light  of  the  sun  or  twilight ,  whereby  the  countenance 
of  a  person  may  reasonably  be  discerned,  it  is  no  bur¬ 
glary  ;  but  that  this  does  not  extend  to  moonlight ,  for 
then  many  midnight  burglaries  would  go  unpunished. 
And  besides,  the  malignity  of  the  offence  does  not  so 
properly  arise,  as  Mr.  Justice  Blackstone  observes,  from 
its  being  done  in  the  dark,  as  at  the  dead  of  night , 
when  all  the  creation  except  beasts  of  prey  are  at  rest ; 
when  sleep  has  disarmed  the  owner,  and  rendered  his 
castle  defenceless.” — East's  Pleas  of  the  Crown ,  vol. 
ii.,  p.  509. 

Verse  4.  He  shall  restore  double .]  In  no  case  of 
theft  was  the  life  of  the  offender  taken  away ;  the  ut¬ 
most  that  the  law  says  on  this  point  is,  that,  if  when 
found  breaking  into  a  house ,  he  should  be  smitten  so 
as  to  die ,  no  blood  should  be  shed  for  him  ;  ver.  2. 
If  he  had  stolen  and  sold  the  property,  then  he  was  to 

412 


ver.  1,  7 ;  Prov.  vi.  31. - 11  Ver.  4. - 1  Chap.  xxi.  6;  ver.  28. 


restore  four  or  jivefold ,  ver.  1  ;  but  if  the  animal  was 
found  alive  in  his  possession,  he  was  to  restore  double. 

Verse  6.  If  fire  break  out ]  Mr.  Harmer  observes 
that  it  is  a  common  custom  in  the  east  to  set  the  dry 
herbage  on  fire  before  the  autumnal  rains,  which  fires, 
for  want  of  care,  often  do  great  damage  :  and  in  coun¬ 
tries  where  great  drought  prevails,  and  the  herbage  is 
generally  parched,  great  caution  was  peculiarly  neces¬ 
sary  ;  and  a  law  to  guard  against  such  evils,  and  to 
punish  inattention  and  neglect,  was  highly  expedient. 
See  Harmer'’ s  Observat.,  vol.  iii.,  p.  310,  &c. 

Verse  7.  Deliver  unto  his  neighbour ]  This  is  called 
pledging  in  the  law  of  bailments  ;  it  is  a  deposit  of 
goods  by  a  debtor  to  his  creditor,  to  be  kept  till  the 
debt  be  discharged.  Whatever  goods  were  thus  left 
in  the  hands  of  another  person,  that  person,  according 
to  the  Mosaic  law,  became  responsible  for  them  ;  if 
they  were  stolen,  and  the  thief  was  found,  he  was  to 
pay  double  ;  if  he  could  not  be  found,  the  oath  of  the 
person  who  had  them  in  keeping,  made  before  the 
magistrates,  that  he  knew  nothing  of  them,  was  con¬ 
sidered  a  full  acquittance.  Among  the  Romans,  if 
goods  were  lost  which  a  man  had  intrusted  to  his 
neighbour,  the  depositary  was  obliged  to  pay ‘their 
full  value.  But  if  a  man  had  been  driven  by  neces¬ 
sity,  as  in  case  of  fire,  to  lodge  his  goods  with  one  of 
his  neighbours,  and  the  goods  were  lost,  the  depositary 
was  obliged  to  pay  double  their  value,  because  of  his 
unfaithfulness  in  a  case  of  such  distress,  where  his  dis¬ 
honesty,  connected  with  the  destruction  by  the  fire, 
had  completed  the  ruin  of  the  sufferer.  To  this  case 
the  following  law  is  applicable  :  Cum  quis fidem  elegit , 
nec  depositum  redditur,  contentus  esse  debet  simplo : 
cum  vero  extante  necessitate  deponat ,  crescit  perfidies 
crimen,  &c. — Digest.,  lib.  xvi.,  tit.  3,  1.  1. 

Verse  8.  Unto  the  judges]  See  the  note  on  chap, 
xxi.  G. 

Verse  9.  Challengeth  to  be  his]  It  was  necessary 
that  such  a  matter  should  come  before  the  judges,  be¬ 
cause  the  person  in  whose  possession  the  goods  were 
found  might  have  had  them  by  a  fair  and  honest  pur¬ 
chase  ;  and,  by  sifting  the  business,  the  thief  might  be 

a 


Concerning  things  borrowed ,  CHAP. 

a.  M.  2513.  any  manner  of  lost  thing,  which 

B.  C.  1491.  J  . 

An.  Exod.  isr!  l.  another  challengeth  to  be  his,  the 

Snun’  k  cause  of  both  parties  shall 
come  before  the  judges  ;  and  whom  the  judges 
shall  condemn,  he  shall  pay  double  unto  his 
neighbour. 

10  If  a  man  deliver  unto  his  neighbour  an 
ass,  or  an  ox,  or  a  sheep,  or  any  beast,  to  keep  ; 
and  it  die,  or  be  hurt,  or  driven  away,  no  man 
seeing  it : 

1 1  Then  shall  an  1  oath  of  the  Lord  be  be¬ 
tween  them  both,  that  he  hath  not  put  his 
hand  unto  his  neighbour’s  goods ;  and  the 
owner  of  it  shall  accept  thereof  \  and  he  shall 
not  make  it  good. 

12  And  m  if  it  be  stolen  from  him,  he  shall 
make  restitution  unto  the  owner  thereof. 

kDeut.  xxv.  1  ;  2  Chron.  xix.  10. - 1  Ileb.  vi.  16. - mGen. 

xxxi.  39. - u  Deut.  xxii.  28,  29. - 0  Heb.  iveigh  ;  Gen.  xxiii.  16. 


XXII.  seduction ,  and  witchcraft. 

13  If  it  be  torn  in  pieces,  then  a.  M.  2513. 
let  him  bring  it /or  witness,  and  An.  Exod.  isr.  1. 
he  shall  not  make  good  that  Slvan' 
which  was  torn. 

14  And  if  a  man  borrow  aught  of  his 
neighbour,  and  it  be  hurt,  or  die,  the  owner  there¬ 
of  being  not  with  it,  he  shall  surely  make  it  good. 

1 5  But  if  the  owner  thereof  be  with  it,  he 
shall  not  make  it  good  :  if  it  be  a  hired  thing, 
it  came  for  his  hire. 

1 6  And  n  if  a  man  entice  a  maid  that  is  not 
betrothed,  and  lie  with  her,  he  shall  surely 
endow  her  to  be  his  wife. 

17  If  her  father  utterly  refuse  to  give  her 
unto  him,  he  shall  0  pay  money,  according  to 
the  p  dowry  of  virgins. 

18  q  Thou  shalt  not  suffer  a  witch  to  live. 

P  Gen.  xxxiv.  12;  Deut.  xxii.  29  ;  1  Sam.  xviii.  25. - Lev. 

xix.  26,  31  ;  xx.  27  ;  Deut.  xviii.  10,  11 ;  1  Sam.  xxviii.  3,  9. 


found  out,  and  if  found,  be  obliged  to  pay  double  to  his 
neighbour. 

Verse  1 1 .  An  oath  of  the  Lord  be  between  them  ]  So 
solemn  and  awful  were  all  appeals  to  God  considered 
in  those  ancient  times,  that  it  was  taken  for  granted 
that  the  man  was  innocent  who  could  by  an  oath  ap¬ 
peal  to  the  omniscient  God  that  he  had  not  put  his 
hand  to  his  neighbour’s  goods.  Since  oaths  have  be¬ 
come  multiplied ,  and  since  they  have  been  administer¬ 
ed  on  the  most  trifling  occasions ,  their  solemnity  is 
gone,  and  their  importance  little  regarded.  Should 
the  oath  ever  reacquire  its  weight  and  importance,  it 
must  be  when  administered  only  in  cases  of  peculiar 
delicacy  and  difficulty,  and  as  sparingly  as  in  the  days 
of  Moses. 

Verse  13.  If  it  be  torn  in  pieces — let  him  bring  it 
for  witness]  Rather,  Let  him  bring niDIftH  *tj,’  ed  hat- 
terephah ,  a  testimony  or  evidence  of  the  torn  thing ,  such 
as  the  horns,  hoofs ,  &c.  This  is  still  a  law  in  some 
countries  among  graziers  :  if  a  horse,  cow,  sheep,  or 
goat,  intrusted  to  them,  be  lost,  and  the  keeper  asserts 
it  was  devoured  by  dogs,  &c.,  the  law  obliges  him  to 
produce  the  horns  and  hoofs,  because  on  these  the 
owner’s  mark  is  generally  found.  If  these  can  be  pro¬ 
duced,  the  keeper  is  acquitted  by  the  law.  The  ear 
is  often  the  place  marked,  but  this  is  not  absolutely 
required,  because  a  ravenous  beast  may  eat  the  ear  as 
well  as  any  other  part,  but  he  cannot  eat  the  horns  or 
the  hoofs.  It  seems  however  that  in  after  times  two 
of  the  legs  and  the  ear  were  required  as  evidences  to 
acquit  the  shepherd  of  all  guilt.  See  Amos  iji.  12. 

Verse  16.  If  a  man  entice  a  maid ]  This  was  an 
exceedingly  wise  and  humane  law,  and  must  have  ope¬ 
rated  powerfully  against  seduction  and  fornication ; 
because  the  person  who  might  feel  inclined  to  take  the 
advantage  of  a  young  woman  knew  that  he  must  mar¬ 
ry  her,  and  give  her  a  dowry,  if  her  parents  consent¬ 
ed  ;  and  if  they  did  not  consent  that  their  daughter 
should  wed  her  seducer,  in  this  case  he  was  obliged  to 
give  her  the  full  dowry  which  could  have  been  demand¬ 


ed  had  she  been  still  a  virgin.  According  to  the  Tar - 
gumist  here,  and  to  Deut.  xxii.  29,  the  dowry  was 
fifty  shekels  of  silver,  which  the  seducer  was  to  pay 
to  her  father,  and  he  was  obliged  to  take  her  to  wife ; 
nor  had  he  authority,  according  to  the  Jewish  canons, 
ever  to  put  her  away  by  a  bill  of  divorce.  This  one 
consideration  was  a  powerful  curb  on  disorderly  pas¬ 
sions,  and  must  tend  greatly  to  render  marriages  re¬ 
spectable,  and  prevent  all  crimes  of  this  nature. 

Verse  18.  Thou  shalt  not  suffer  a  witch  to  live.]  If 
there  had  been  no  witches,  such  a  law  as  this  had  never 
been  made.  The  existence  of  the  law,  given  under 
the  direction  of  the  Spirit  of  God,  proves  the  existence 
of  the  thing.  It  has  been  doubted  whether  n3*ZOD 
mecashshephah,  which  we  translate  witch ,  really 
means  a  person  who  practised  divination  or  sorcery 
by  spiritual  or  infernal  agency.  Whether  the  persons 
thus  denominated  only  pretended  to  have  an  art  which 
had  no  existence,  or  whether  they  really  possessed  the 
power  commonly  attributed  to  them,  are  questions  which 
it  would  be  improper  to  discuss  at  length  in  a  work  of 
this  kind  ;  but  that  ivitches,  wizards,  those  who  dealt 
with  familiar  spirits,  &c.,  are  represented  in  the  sa¬ 
cred  writings  as  actually  possessing  a  power  to  evoke 
the  dead,  to  perform  supernatural  operations,  and  to 
discover  hidden  or  secret  things  by  spells,  charms, 
incantations,  &c.,  is  evident  to  every  unprejudiced 
reader  of  the  Bible.  Of  Manasseh  it  is  said  :  He 
caused  his  children  to  pass  through  the  fire  in  the  val¬ 
ley  of  the  son  of  Hinnom :  also  he  observed  times  [plf  1 
veonen,  he  used  divination  by  clouds]  and  used  enchant¬ 
ments,  and  used  witchcraft,  [“pDl  vechishsheph,]  and 
dealt  with  a  familiar  spirit,  [31X  niyj*l  veasah  oh,  per¬ 
formed  a  variety  of  operations  by  means  of  what  was 
afterwards  called  the  nvevjua  tt vOovog,  the  spirit  of 
Python,]  and  with  wizards,  [TiyH"  yiddeoni,  the  ivise 
or  knowing  ones ;]  and  he  wrought  much  evil  in  the 
sight  of  the  Lord ;  2  Chron.  xxxiii.  6.  It  is  very 
likely  that  the  Hebrew  fpD  cashaph,  and  the  Arabic 
t  _  ifX  cashafa,  had  originally  the  same  meaning,  to 

413 


I 


Laws  concerning  widows , 


EXODUS. 


and  lending  to  the  poor. 


a.  M.  2oi3.  19  r  Whosoever  lietli  with  a 

b.  c-  ]491-  i  i  I.  ,  . 

An.  Exod.  isr.  l.  beast,  shall  surely  be  put  to 

Sivan-  death.  ' 

20  s  He  that  sacrificeth  unto  any  god,  save 
unto  the  Lord  only,  he  shall  be  utterly  de¬ 
stroyed. 

21  t  Thou  shalt  neither  vex  a  stranger,  nor 
oppress  him  :  for  ye  were  strangers  in  the  land 
of  Egypt. 

22  u  Ye  shall  not  afflict  any  widow,  or  fa¬ 
therless  child. 


23  If  thou  afflict  them  in  any  A.  M.  2513. 
wise,  and  they  v  cry  at  all  unto  An.  Exod.lsr.l, 
me,  I  will  surely  w  hear  their  cry  ;  Sivan' 

24  And  my  x  wrath  shall  wax  hot,  and  I 
will  kill  you  with  the  sword ;  and  y  your 
wives  shall  be  widows,  and  your  children 
fatherless. 

25  z  If  thou  lend  money  to  any  of  my  peo¬ 
ple  that  is  poor  by  thee,  thou  shalt  not  be  to 
him  as  a  usurer,  neither  shalt  thou  lay  upon 
him  usury. 


rLev.  xviii.  23  ;  xx.  15. - 3  Num.  xxv.  2,  7,  8  ;  Deut.  xiii.  1, 

2,  5,  6,  9,  13,  14,  15  ;  xvii.  2, 3,  5  ;  1  Mac.  ii.  24. - 1  Chapter 

xxiii.  9  ;  Lev.  xix.  33 ;  xxv.  35  ;  Deut.  x.  19  ;  Jer.  vii.  6  ;  Zech. 

vii.  10;  Mai.  iii.  5. - u  Deut.  x.  18  ;  xxiv.  17  ;  xxvii.  19  ;  Psa. 

xciv.  6  ;  Isa.  i.  17, 23  ;  x.  2  ;  Ezek.  xxii.  7  ;  Zech.  vii.  10  ;  James 

uncover ,  to  remove  a  veil ,  to  manifest ,  reveal ,  make 

bare  or  naked;  and  «!!» ljLA\£*>  mecashefat  is  used  to 
signify  commerce  with  God.  See  Wilmet  and  Gig- 
geius.  The  mecashshephah  or  witch ,  therefore,  was 
probably  a  person  who  professed  to  reveal  hidden 
mysteries ,  by  commerce  with  God ,  or  the  invisible 
world. 

From  the  severity  of  this  law  against  witches,  &c., 
we  may  see  in  what  light  these  were  viewed  by  Di¬ 
vine  justice.  They  were  seducers  of  the  people  from 
their  allegiance  to  God,  on  whose  judgment  alone  they 
should  depend  ;  and  by  impiously  prying  into  futurity, 
assumed  an  attribute  of  God,  the  foretelling  of  future 
events ,  which  implied  in  itself  the  grossest  blasphemy, 
and  tended  to  corrupt  the  minds  of  the  people,  by  lead¬ 
ing  them  away  from  God  and  the  revelation  he  had 
made  of  himself.  Many  of  the  Israelites  had,  no 
doubt,  learned  these  curious  arts  from  their  long  resi¬ 
dence  with  the  Egyptians  ;  and  so  much  were  the  Is¬ 
raelites  attached  to  them,  that  we  find  such  arts  in 
repute  among  them,  and  various  practices  of  this  kind 
prevailed  through  the  whole  of  the  Jewish  history,  not¬ 
withstanding  the  offence  was  capital,  and  in  all  cases 
punished  with  death. 

Verse  19.  Lieth  with  a  beast ]  If  this  most  abomi¬ 
nable  crime  had  not  been  common,  it  never  would 
have  been  mentioned  in  a  sacred  code  of  laws.  It  is 
very  likely  that  it  was  an  Egyptian  practice  ;  and  it 
is  certain,  from  an  account  in  Sonnini’s  Travels,  that 
it  is  practised  in  Egypt  to  the  present  day. 

Verse  20.  Utterly  destroyed.}  The  word  D*in  che- 
rem  denotes  a  thing  utterly  and  finally  separated  from 
God  and  devoted  to  destruction,  without  the  possibility 
of  redemption. 

Verse  21.  Thou  shalt  neither  vex  a  stranger ,  nor 
oppress  him ]  This  was  not  only  a  very  humane  law, 
but  it  was  also  the  offspring  of  a  sound  policy  :  “  Do 
not  vex  a  stranger ;  remember  ye  were  strangers.  Do 
not  oppress  a  stranger  ;  remember  ye  were  oppressed. 
Therefore  do  unto  all  men  as  ye  would  they  should 
do  to  you.”  It  was  the  produce  of  a  sound  policy  : 
“  Let  strangers  be  well  treated  among  you,  and  many 
will  come  to  take  refuge  among  you,  and  thus  the 
strength  of  your  country  will  be  increased.  If  refu¬ 
gees  of  this  kind  be  treated  well,  they  will  become 

414 


i.  27. - v  Deut.  xv.  9  ;  xxiv.  15  ;  Job  xxxv.  9  ;  Luke  xviii.  7. 

w  Ver.  23  ;  Job  xxxiv.  28  ;  Psa.  xviii.  6  ;  cxlv.  19  ;  James  v.  4. 

x  Job  xxxi.  23  ;  Psa.  lxix.  24. - y  Psalm  cix.  9  ;  Lam.  v.  3 

zLev.  xxv.  35,  36,  37 ;  Deut.  xxiii.  19,  20 ;  Neh.  v.  7 ;  Psa.  xv 
5;  Ezek.  xviii.  8,  17. 

proselytes  to  your  religion,  and  thus  their  souls  may 
be  saved.”  In  every  point  of  view,  therefore,  justice, 
humanity,  sound  policy,  and  religion,  say,  Neither  vex 
nor  oppress  a  stranger. 

Verse  22.  Ye  shall  not  afflict  any  widow,  or  father¬ 
less  child.}  It  is  remarkable  that  offences  against  this 
law  are  not  left  to  the  discretion  of  th e  judges  to  be 
punished  ;  God  reserves  the  punishment  to  himself, 
and  by  this  he  strongly  shows  his  abhorrence  of  the 
crime.  It  is  no  common  crime,  and  shall  not  be  pu¬ 
nished  in  a  common  way  ;  the  wrath  of  God  shall  ivax 
hot  against  him  who  in  any  wise  afflicts  or  wrongs  a 
widow  or  a  fatherless  child:  and  we  may  rest  assured 
that  he  who  helps  either  does  a  service  highly  accept¬ 
able  in  the  sight  of  God. 

Verse  25.  Neither  shalt  thou  lay  upon  him  usury.}  • 
-jtyj  neshech ,  .from  nashach,  to  bite,  cut,  or  pierce  with 
the  teeth  ;  biting  usury.  So  the  Latins  call  it  usura 
vorax ,  devouring  usury.  “  The  increase  of  usury  is 
called  “]iyj  neshech ,  because  it  resembles  the  biting  of  a 
serpent ;  for  as  this  is  so  small  as  scarcely  to  be  per¬ 
ceptible  at  first,  but  the  venom  soon  spreads  and 
diffuses  itself  till  it  reaches  the  vitals,  so  the  increase 
of  usury,  which  at  first  is  not  perceived  nor  felt,  at 
length  grows  so  much  as  by  degrees  to  devour  ano¬ 
ther’s  substance.” — Leigh. 

It  is  evident  that  what  is  here  said  must  be  under¬ 
stood  of  accumulated  usury,  or  what  we  call  compound 
interest  only  ;  and  accordingly  neshech  is  men¬ 
tioned  with  and  distinguished  from  jTmn  tarbith  and 
mnro  marbith ,  interest  or  simple  interest,  Lev.  xxv. 
36,  37  ;  Prov.  xxviii.  8  ;  Ezek.  xviii.  8,  13,  17,  and 
xxii.  12. — Parkhurst. 

Perhaps  usury  may  be  more  properly  defined  un¬ 
lawful  interest ,  receiving  more  for  the  loan  of  money 
than  it  is*  really  worth,  and  more  than  the  law  allows. 

It  is  a  wise  regulation  in  the  laws  of  England,  that  if 
a  man  be  convicted  of  usury — taking  unlawful  inte¬ 
rest,  the  bond  or  security  is  rendered  void,  and  he 
forfeits  treble  the  sum  borrowed.  Against  such  an 
oppressive  practice  the  wisdom  of  God  saw  it  essen¬ 
tially  necessary  to  make  a  law  to  prevent  a  people, 
who  were  naturally  what  our  Lord  calls  the  Pharisees, 
<}>i?iapyvpoi,  lovers  of  money,  (Luke  xvi.  14,)  from  op¬ 
pressing  each  other  ;  and  who,  notwithstanding  the 


CHAP.  XXII. 


Concerning  pledges,  and 

A.  M.  2513.  26  a  If  thou  at  all  take  thy 

B.  C.  1491.  .  , ,  ,  •  .  .  i  J 

An.  Fxod.  isr.  l.  neighbour  s  raiment  to  pledge, 

Slvan~  thou  shalt  deliver  it  unto  him  by 
that  the  sun  goeth  down : 

27  For  that  is  his  covering  only,  it  is  his 
raiment  for  his  skin  :  wherein  shall  he  sleep  ? 
and  it  shall  come  to  pass,  when  he  b  crieth 

a  Deut.  xxiv.  6,  10,  13,  17 ;  Job  xxii.  6  ;  xxiv.  3,  9  ;  Proverbs 

xx.  16;  xxii.  27  ;  Ezek.  xviii.  7,  16  ;  Amos  ii.  8. - b  Verse  23. 

c  Chap,  xxxiv.  6  ;  2  Chron.  xxx.  9 ;  Psa.  Lxxxvi.  15. 


law  in  the  text,  practise  usury  in  all  places  of  their 
dispersion  to  the  present  day. 

Verse  26.  If  thou — take  thy  neighbour'1  s  raiment 
to  pledge ]  It  seems  strange  that  any  pledge  should  be 
taken  which  must  be  so  speedily  restored  ;  but  it  is 
very  likely  that  the  pledge  was  restored  by  night  only, 
and  that  he  who  pledged  it  brought  it  back  to  his  cre¬ 
ditor  next  morning.  The  opinion  of  the  rabbins  is, 
that  whatever  a  man  needed  for  the  support  of  life,  he 
had  the  use  of  it  when  absolutely  necessary,  though  it 
was  pledged.  Thus  he  had  the  use  of  his  working 
tools  by  day,  but  he  brought  them  to  his  creditor  in 
the  evening.  His  hylce,  which  serves  an  Arab  as  a 
plaid  does  a  Highlander,  (see  it  described  chap.  xii. 
34,)  was  probably  the  raiment  here  referred  to  :  it  is 
a  sort  of  coarse  blanket,  about  six  yards  long,  and  five 
or  six  feet  broad,  which  an  Arab  always  carries  with 
him,  and  on  which  he  sleeps  at  night,  it  being  his  only 
substitute  for  a  bed.  As  the  fashions  in  the  east 
scarcely  ever  change,  it  is  very  likely  that  the  raiment 
of  the  Israelites  was  precisely  the  same  with  that  of 
the  modern  Arabs,  who  live  in  the  very  same  desert  in 
which  the  Hebrews  were  when  this  law  was  given. 
How  necessary  it  was  to  restore  the  hyke  to  a  poor 
man  before  the  going  down  of  the  sun,  that  he  might 
have  something  to  repose  on,  will  appear  evident  from 
the  above  considerations.  At  the  same  time,  the 
returning  it  daily  to  the  creditor  was  a  continual  ac¬ 
knowledgment  of  the  debt,  and  served  instead  of  a 
written  acknowledgment  or  bond ;  as  we  may  rest 
assured  that  writing,  if  practised  at  all  before  the  giv¬ 
ing  of  the  law,  was  not  common  :  but  it  is  most  likely 
that  it  did  not  exist. 

Verse  28.  Thou  shalt  not  revile  the  gods ]  Most 
commentators  believe  that  the  word  gods  here  means 
magistrates.  The  original  isD’H^X  Elohim,  and  should 
be  understood  of  the  true  God  only  :  Thou  shalt  not 
blaspheme  or  make  light  of  [SSpn  tekallel\  God ,  the 
fountain  of  justice  and  power,  nor  curse  the  rider  of 
thy  people,  who  derives  his  authority  from  God.  We 
shall  ever  find  that  he  who  despises  a  good  civil  go¬ 
vernment,  and  is  disaffected  to  that  under  which  he 
lives,  is  one  who  has  little  fear  of  God  before  his  eyes. 
The  spirit  of  disaffection  and  sedition  is  ever  opposed 
tc  the  religion  of  the  Bible.  When  those  who  have 
been  pious  get  under  the  spirit  of  misrule,  they  infal¬ 
libly  get  shorn  of  their  spiritual  strength,  and  become 
like  salt  that  has  lost  its  savour.  He  who  can  indulge 
himself  in  speaking  evil  of  the  civil  ruler,  will  soon 
learn  to  blaspheme  God.  The  highest  authority  says, 
Fear  God :  honour  the  king. 

a 


respect  to  magistrates 

unto  me,  that  I  will  hear  ;  for  I  A.  M.  2513. 

’  B.  C.  1491? 

am  0  gracious.  An.  Exod.  isr.  1. 

28  d  Thou  shalt  not  revile  the  Slvan‘ 
e  gods,  nor  curse  the  ruler  of  thy  people. 

29  Thou  shalt  not  delay  to  offer  f  the  s  first 
of  thy  ripe  fruits,  and  of  thy  h  liquors  :  *  the 
first-born  of  thy  sons  shalt  thou  give  unto  me. 

d  Eccles.  x.  20  ;  Acts  xxiii.  5  ;  Jude  8. - e  Or,  Judges ;  ver.  8, 

9;  Psa.  lxxxii.  6. - tAeh.thy  fulness. - s  Chap,  xxiii.  16 

19 ;  Prov.  iii.  9. - h  Heb.  tear. - 1  Ch.  xiii.  2,  12  ;  xxxiv.  19. 


Verse  29.  The  first  of  thy  ripe  fruits]  This  offer¬ 
ing  was  a  public  acknowledgment  of  the  bounty  and 
goodness  of  God,  who  had  given  them  their  proper 
seed  time ,  th e  first  and  the  latter  rain ,  and  the  appoint¬ 
ed  weeks  of  harvest. 

From  the  practice  of  the  people  of  God  the  heathens 
borrowed  a  similar  one,  founded  on  the  same  reason. 
The  following  passage  from  Censorious,  De  Die  Na¬ 
tali,  is  beautiful,  and  worthy  of  the  deepest  attention  : — 
Illi  enim  ( majores  nostri )  qui  alimenta,  patriam, 
lucem,  se  denique  ipsos  deorum  dono  habebant,  ex  omni¬ 
bus  aliquid  diis  sacrabant,  rnagis  adeo,  ut  se  gratos 
approbarent,  quam  quod  deos  arbitrarentur  hoc  indi- 
gere.  Itaque  cum  perceperant  fruges,  antequam  vesce- 
rentur ,  Diis  libare  inslituerunt :  et  cum  agros  atque 
urbes,  deorum  munera ,  possiderent ,  partem  quondam 
templis  sacellisque,  ubi  eos  cclereni,  dicavere. 

“  Our  ancestors,  who  held  their  food,  their  country, 
the  light,  and  all  that  they  possessed,  from  the  bounty 
of  the  gods,  consecrated  to  them  a  part  of  all  their 
property,  rather  as  a  token  of  their  gratitude,  than 
from  a  conviction  that  the  gods  needed  any  thing. 
Therefore  as  soon  as  the  harvest  wras  got  in,  before 
they  had  tasted  of  the  fruits ,  they  appointed  libations 
to  be  made  to  the  gods.  And  as  they  held  their  fields 
and  cities  as  gifts  from  their  gods,  they  consecrated  a 
certain  part  for  temples  and  shrines,  where  they  might 
worship  them.” 

Pliny  is  express  on  the  same  point,  who  attests  that 
the  Romans  never  tasted  either  their  new  corn  or 
wine,  till  the  priests  had  offered  the  first-fruits  to 
the  gods.  Ac  ne  degustabant  quidem,  novas  fruges 
aut  vina,  antequam  sacerdotes  primitias  libassent. — 
Hist.  Nat.,  lib.  xviii.,  c.  2. 

Horace  bears  the  same  testimony,  and  show7s  that 
his  countrymen  offered,  not  only  their  first-fruits,  but 
the  choicest  of  all  their  fruits,  to  the  Lares  or  house¬ 
hold  gods  ;  and  he  shows  also  the  wickedness  of  those 
who  sent  these  as  presents  to  the  rich ,  before  the  gods 
had  been  thus  honoured : — 

Dulcia  poma, 

Et  quo scumque  fere t  cultus  tibi  fundus  honores , 
Ante  Larem  gustet  venerabilior  Lare  dives. 

Sat.,  lib.  ii.,  s.  v.,  ver.  12. 

“  What  your  garden  yields, 

The  choicest  honours  of  your  cultured  fields, 

To  him  be  sacrificed,  and  let  him  taste, 

Before  your  gods,  the  vegetable  feast.”  Dunkin. 

And  to  the  same  purpose  Tibullus,  in  one  of  the 
most  beautiful  of  his  elegies  : — 

415 


EXODUS. 


to  be  dedicated  to  the  Lord 


The  first-born  of  oxen  and  sheep 
a.  M.  2513.  30  k  Likewise  shalt  thou  do 

B.  C.  1491.  .  -|  .  .  7-ii 

An.  Expd.  Isr.  l.  with  thine  oxen,  and  with  thy 

Slvan'  sheep  :  1  seven  days  it  shall  be 
with  his  dam ;  on  the  eighth  day  thou  shalt 
give  it  me. 

k  Deut.  xv.  19. - 1  Lev.  xxii.  27. - m  Chap.  xix.  6  ;  Lev.  xix. 

Ft  quodcumque  mihi  pomum  novus  educat  annus , 
Libatum  agricolce  ponitur  ante  deo. 

Flava  Ceres ,  tibi  sit  nostro  dc  rure  corona 
Spicca,  quae  templi  pendeat  ante  fores. 

Eleg.,  lib.  i.,  eleg.  i.  ver.  13. 

“  My  grateful  fruits,  the  earliest  of  the  year, 
Before  the  rural  god  shall  daily  wait. 

From  Ceres’  gifts  I  ’ll  cull  each  browner  ear , 

And  hang  a  wheaten  wreath  before  her  gate.” 

Grainger. 

The  same  subject  he  touches  again  in  the  fifth  elegy 
of  the  same  book,  where  he  specifies  the  different 
offerings  made  for  the  produce  of  the  fields ,  of  the 
flocks ,  and  of  the  vine,  ver.  27  : — 

Ilia  deo  sciet  agricolce  pro  vitibus  uvam, 

Pro  segete  spicas,  pro  grege  ferre  dapem . 

u  With  pious  care  will  load  each  rural  shrine, 

For  ripen"1  d  crops  a  golden  sheaf  assign, 

Cates  for  my  fold,  rich  clusters  for  my  wine.” 

Id. — See  Calmct. 

These  quotations  will  naturally  recall  to  our  memory 
the  offerings  of  Cain  and  Abel,  mentioned  Gen.  iv.  3,4. 

The  rejoicings  at  our  harvest-home  are  distorted 
remains  of  that  gratitude  which  our  ancestors,  with 
all  the  primitive  inhabitants  of  the  earth,  expressed  to 
God  with  appropriate  signs  and  ceremonies.  Is  it  not 
possible  to  restore,  in  some  goodly  form,  a  custom  so 
pure,  so  edifying,  and  so  becoming  ]  There  is  a  lauda¬ 
ble  custom,  observed  by  some  pious  people,  of  dedi¬ 
cating  a  new  house  to  God  by  prayer,  &c.,  which 
cannot  be  too  highly  commended. 

Yerse  30.  Seven  days  it  shall  be  with  his  dam]  For 
the  mother’s  health  it  was  necessary  that  the  young 
one  should  suck  so  long ;  and  prior  to  this  time  the 
process  of  nutrition  in  a  young  animal  can  scarcely  be 


3 1  And  ye  shall  be  m  holy  A.  M.  2513. 

J  J  B.  C.  1491. 

men  unto  me  :  n  neither  shall  An.  Exod.  Isr.’  1 

ye  eat  any  flesh  that  is  torn  of  Slvan‘ _ 

beasts  in  the  field ;  ye  shall  cast  it  to  the 

dogs. 

2  ;  Deut.  xiv.  21. - “Lev.  xxii.  8  ;  Ezek.  iv.  14  ;  xliv.  31. 

considered  as  completely  formed.  Among  the  Ro¬ 
mans  lambs  were  not  considered  as  pure  or  clean 
before  the  eighth  day  ;  nor  calves  before  the  thirtieth: 
Pecoris  foetus  die  octavo  purus  est,  bovis  trigesimo. 
— Plin.  Hist.  Nat.,  lib.  viii. 

Yerse  31.  Neither  shall  ye  eat — -flesh — torn  of 
beasts  in  the  field\  This  has  been  supposed  to  be  an 
ordinance  against  eating  flesh  cut  off  the  animal  while 
alive,  and  so  the  Syriac  seems  to  have  understood  it. 
If  we  can  credit  Mr.  Bruce,  this  is  a  frequent  custom 
in  Abyssinia  ;  but  human  nature  revolts  from  it.  The 
reason  of  the  prohibition  against  eating  the  flesh  of 
animals  that  had  been  torn ,  or  as  we  term  it  worried 
in  the  field,  appears  to  have  been  simply  this  :  That 
the  people  might  not  eat  the  blood,  which  in  this  case 
must  be  coagulated  in  the  flesh ;  and  the  blood,  being 
the  life  of  the  beast,  and  emblematical  of  the  blood  of 
the  covenant,  was  ever  to  be  held  sacred,  and  was  pro¬ 
hibited  from  the  days  of  Noah.  See  on  Gen.  ix.  4. 

In  the  conclusion  of  this  chapter  we  see  the  grand 
reason  of  all  the  ordinances  and  laws  which  it  contains. 
No  command  was  issued  merely  from  the  sovereignty 
of  God.  He  gave  them  to  the  people  as  restraints  on 
disorderly  passions,  and  incentives  to  holiness ;  and 
hence  he  gays,  Ye  shall  be  holy  men  unto  me.  Mere 
outward  services  could  neither  please  him  nor  profit 
them ;  for  from  the  very  beginning  of  the  world  the 
end  of  the  commandment  was  love  out  of  a  pure  heart 
and  good  conscience,  and  faith  unfeigned,  1  Tim.  i.  5. 
And  without  these  accompaniments  no  set  of  religious 
duties,  however  punctually  performed,  could  be  pleasing 
in  the  sight  of  that  God  who  seeks  truth  in  the  inward 
parts,  and  in  whose  eyes  the  faith  that  worketh  by 
love  is  alone  valuable.  A  holy  heart  and  a  holy,  use¬ 
ful  life  God  invariably  requires  in  all  his  worshippers. 
Reader,  how  standest  thou  in  his  sight  ? 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

Laws  against  evil-speaking,  1.  Against  bad  company,  2.  Against  partiality,  3.  Laws  commanding  acts 
of  kindness  and  humanity,  4,  5.  Against  oppression,  6.  Against  unrighteous  decisions,  7.  Against 
bribery  and  corruption,  8.  Against  unkindness  to  strangers,  9.  The  ordinance  concerning  the  Sabbatical 
year,  10,  11.  The  Sabbath  a  day  of  rest ,  12.  General  directions  concerning  circumcision ,  dfc.,  13.  The 
three  annual  festivals,  14.  The  feast  of  unleavened  bread,  15.  The  feast  of  harvest,  and  the  feast  of 
ingathering,  16.  All  the  males  to  appear  before  God  thrice  in  a  year,  17.  Different  ordinances — no 
blood  to  be  offered  with  leavened  bread — no  fat  to  be  left  till  the  next  day— the  first  fruits  to  be  brought  to 
the  house  of  God — and  a  kid  not  to  be  seethed  in  its  mother's  milk,  18,  19.  Description  of  the  Angel  of 
God,  who  was  to  lead  the  people  into  the  promised  land,  and  drive  out  the  Amorites,  dfc.,  20—23.  Idolatry 
to  be  avoided,  and  the  images  of  idols  destroyed,  24.  Different  promises  to  obedience,  25—27.  Hornets 
shall  be  sent  to  drive  out  the  Canaanites,  flc.,  28.  The  ancient  inhabitants  to  be  driven  out  by  little  and 
little,  and  the  reason  why,  29,  30.  The  boundaries  of  the  promised  land,  31.  No  league  or  covenant  to 
be  made  with  the  ancient  inhabitants,  who  are  all  to  be  utterly  expelled,  32,  33. 

416  a 


Laws  against  evil-speaking , 


CHAP.  XXIII. 


a.  M.  2513.  rpHOU  a  shalt  not  b  raise  a 

B.  C.  1491.  A  r  ,  .  .  .  .  . 

An.  Exod.  isr.  i  false  report :  put  not  thine 

Slvan‘  hand  with  the  wicked  to  be  an 
c  unrighteous  witness. 

2  d  Thou  shalt  not  follow  a  multitude  to  do 
evil ;  e  neither  shalt  thou  f  speak  in  a  cause 
to  decline  after  many  to  wrest  judgment: 

3  Neither  shalt  thou  countenance  a  poor 
man  in  his  cause. 

4  e  If  thou  meet  thine  enemy’s  ox  or  his  ass 
going  astray,  thou  shalt  surely  bring  it  back 
to  him  again. 

5  h  If  thou  see  the  ass  of  him  that  hateth 
thee  lying  under  his  burden,  1  and  wouldest  for- 

a  Verse  7  ;  Lev.  xix.  16  ;  Psalm,  xv.  3  ;  ci.  5  ;  Prov.  x.  18  ; 

see  2  Sam.  xix.  27,  with  xvi.  3. - b  Or,  receive. - c  Chap.  xx. 

16;  Deut.  xix.  16,  17,  18  ;  Psa.  xxxv.  11  ;  Prov.  xix.  5,  9,  28  ; 
xxiv.  28;  see  1  Kings  xxi.  10,  13;  Matt.  xxvi.  59,  60,  61 ;  Acts 

vi.  11,  13. - d  Genesis  vii.  1  ;  xix.  4,  7;  chapter  xxxii.  1,  2; 

Josh.  xxiv.  15  ;  1  Samuel  xv.  9  ;  1  Kings  xix.  10  ;  Job  xxxi.  34  ; 
Prov.  i.  10,  11,  15;  iv.  14;  Matt,  xxvii.  24,  26;  Mark.  xv.  15  ; 

Luke  xxiii.  23  ;  Acts  xxiv.  27  ;  xxv.  9. - e  Ver.  6, 7  ;  Lev.  xix. 

15 ;  Deut.  i.  17 ;  Psa.  lxxii.  2. - f  Heb.  ansiver. - s  Deut.  xxii. 

1  ;  Job  xxxi.  29  ;  Prov.  xxiv.  17  ;  xxv.  21  ;  Matt.  v.  44  ;  Rom. 

xii.  20  ;  1  Thessalonians  v.  15. - h  Deut.  xxii.  4. - '  Or,  wilt 

thou  cease  to  help  him  ?  or,  and  wouldest  cease  to  leave  thy  business 

NOTES  ON  GHAP.  XXIII. 

Verse  1.  Thou  shalt  not  raise  a  false  report\  Acting 
contrary  to  this  precept  is  a  sin  against  the  ninth  com¬ 
mandment.  And  the  inventor  and  receiver  of  false 
and  slanderous  reports,  are  almost  equally  criminal. 
The  word  seems  to  refer  to  either ,  and  our  translators 
have  very  properly  retained  both  senses,  putting  raise 
in  the  text ,  and  receive  in  the  margin.  The  original 
KtfD  nS  lo  tissa  has  been  translated,  thou  shalt  not 
publish.  Were  there  no  publishers  of  slander  and 
calumny,  there  would  be  no  receivers ;  and  were  there 
none  to  receive  them,  there  would  be  none  to  raise 
them  ;  and  were  there  no  raisers ,  receivers ,  nor  propa¬ 
gators  of  calumny,  lies,  &c.,  society  would  be  in  peace. 

Verse  2.  Thou  shalt  not  follow  a  multitude  to  do 
evil]  Be  singular.  Singularity,  if  in  the  right,  can 
never  be  criminal.  So  completely  disgraceful  is  the 
way  of  sin,  that  if  there  were  not  a  multitude  walking 
in  that  way,  who  help  to  keep  each  other  in  counte¬ 
nance,  every  solitary  sinner  would  be  obliged  to  hide 
his  head.  But  D'3“l  rabbim ,  which  we  translate  mul¬ 
titude. ,  sometimes  signifies  the  great ,  chiefs,  or  mighty 
ones ;  and  is  so  understood  by  some  eminent  critics  in 
this  place  :  Thou  shalt  not  follow  the  example  of  the 
great  or  rich,  who  may  so  far  disgrace  their  own  cha¬ 
racter  as  to  live  without  God  in  the  world,  and  trample 
under  foot  his  laws.”  It  is  supposed  that  these  direc¬ 
tions  refer  principally  to  matters  which  come  under  the 
eye  of  the  civil  magistrate  ;  as  if  he  had  said,  “  Do 
not  join  with  great  men  in  condemning  an  innocent  or 
righteous  person,  against  whom  they  have  conceived  a 
prejudice  on  the  account  of  his  religion,”  &c. 

Verse  3.  Neither  shalt  thou  countenance  a  poor 
man  in  his  cause.]  The  word  Si  dal,  which  we  trans- 

ate  poor  man,  is  probably  put  here  in  opposition  to 
D’ID1  rabbim ,  the  great,  or  noblemen,  in  the  preceding 
Vol.  I.  (  28  ) 


bad  company ,  partiality ,  df  c 

bear  to  help  him, thou  shalt  surely  A.  M.  2513. 

r  .  J  B  C  1491. 

help  with  him.  .  An.  Exod.  Isr.’  L 

6  k  Thou  shalt  not  wrest  the  Suan‘ 
judgment  of  thy  poor  in  his  cause. 

7  1  Keep  thee  far  from  a  false  matter  ;  m  and 
the  innocent  and  righteous  slay  thou  not :  for 
n  I  will  not  justify  the  wicked. 

8  And  0  thou  shalt  take  no  gift  :  for  the  gift 
blindeth  p  the  wise,  and  perverteth  the  words 
of  the  righteous. 

9  Also  q  thou  shalt  not  oppress  a  stranger  : 
for  ye  know  the  r  heart  of  a  stranger,  seeing 
ye  were  strangers  in  the  land  of  Egypt. 

1 0  And  s  six  years  thou  shalt  sow  thy  land, 

for  him  ;  thou  shalt  surely  leave  it  to  join  with  him. - k  Verse  2  ; 

Deut.  xxvii.  19  ;  Job  xxxi.  13,  21  ;  Eccles.  v.  8;  Isaiah  x.  1,  2  ; 

Jer.  v.  28  ;  vii.  6  ;  Amos  v.  12  ;  Mai.  iii.  5. - 1  Verse  1  ;  Lev. 

xix.  11  ;  Luke  iii.  14;  Eph.  iv.  25. - mDeut.  xxvii.  25;  Psa. 

xciv.  21  ;  Prov.  xvii.  15, 26  ;  Jer.  vii.  6  ;  Matt,  xxvii.  4. - n  Ch. 

xxxiv.  7  ;  Rom.  i.  18. - 0  Deut.  xvi.  19  ;  1  Sam.  viii.  3  ;  xii.  3 ; 

2  Chron.  xix.  7  ;  Psalm  xxvi.  10  ;  Prov.  xv.  27  ;  xvii.  8,  23  ;  xxix. 
4;  Isaiah  i.  23  ;  v.  23  ;  xxxiii.  15;  Ezek.  xxii.  12;  Amos  v. 

12;  Eccles.  xx.  29;  Acts  xxiv.  26. - p  Hebrew,  the  seeing. 

4  Chapter  xxii.  21  ;  Deuteronomy  x.  19  ;  xxiv.  14,  17  ;  xxvii.  19; 

Psa.  xciv.  6  ;  Ezek.  xxii.  7 ;  Mai.  iii.  5. - r  Hebrew,  soul. 

s  Lev.  xxv.  3,  4. 

verse  :  if  so,  the  meaning  is,  Thou  shalt  neither  be 
influenced  by  the  great  to  make  an  unrighteous  deci¬ 
sion,  nor  by  the  poverty  or  distress  of  the  poor  to  give 
th}r  voice  against  the  dictates  of  justice  and  truth. 
Hence  the  ancient  maxim,  fiat  justitia,  ruat  ccelum. 
“  Let  justice  be  done,  though  the  heavens  should  be 
dissolved.” 

Verse  4.  If  thou  meet  thine  enemy's  ox — going 
astray]  From  the  humane  and  heavenly  maxim  in  this 
and  the  following  verse,  our  blessed  Lord  has  formed 
the  following  precept  :  “  Love  your  enemies,  bless 

them  that  curse  you,  do  good  to  them  that  hate  you, 
and  pray  for  them  which  despitefully  use  you  and  per¬ 
secute  you  ;”  Matt.  v.  44.  A  precept  so  plain,  wise, 
benevolent,  and  useful,  can  receive  no  other  comment 
than  that  which  its  influence  on  the  heart  of  a  kind 
and  merciful  man  produces  in  his  life. 

Verse  6.  Thou  shall  not  wrest  the  judgment  of  thy 
poor]  Thou  shalt  neither  countenance  him  in  his 
crimes,  nor  condemn  him  in  his  righteousness.  See 
verses  5  and  7. 

Verse  8.  Thou  shalt  take  no  gift]  A  strong  ordi¬ 
nance  against  selling  justice,  which  has  been  the  dis¬ 
grace  and  ruin  of  every  state  where  it  has  been  prac¬ 
tised.  In  the  excellent  charter  of  British  liberties 
called  Magna  Charta ,  there  is  one  article  expressly 
on  this  head  :  Nulli  vendemus,  nulli  nsgabimus  aut 
differemus ,  rectum  aut justitiam. — Art.  xxxiii.  “To 
none  will  we  sell,  to  none  will  wre  deny  or  defer,  right 
or  justice.”  This  was  the  more  necessary  in  those 
early  and  corrupt  times,  as  he  wdio  had  most  money , 
and  gave  the  largest  presents  (called  then  oblata)  to 
the  king  or  queen,  was  sure  to  gain  his  cause  in  the 
king’s  court,  whether  he  had  right  and  justice  on  his 
side  or  not. 

Verse  9.  Ye  know  the  heart  of  a  stranger]  Having 

417 


The  Sabbatical  year  and 


EXODUS. 


the  Sabbath  to  be  observed 


A.  M.  2513. 

B.  C.  1491. 
An.  Exod.  Isr.  1. 

Si van. 


and  shall  gather  in  the  fruits 
thereof : 

11  But  the  seventh  year  thou 
shalt  let  it  rest  and  lie  still ;  that  the  poor  of 
thy  people  may  eat :  and  what  they  leave,  the 
beasts  of  the  field  shall  eat.  In  like  manner 

*  Or,  olive-trees. 

been  strangers  yourselves,  under  severe,  long  conti¬ 
nued,  and  cruel  oppression,  ye  know  the  fears,  cares, 
anxieties,  and  dismal  forebodings  which  the  heart  of  a 
stranger  feels.  What  a  forcible  appeal  to  humanity 
and  compassion ! 

Verse  11.  The  seventh  year  thou  shalt  let  it  rest ] 
As  every  seventh  day  was  a  Sabbath  day,  so  every 
seventh  year  was  to  be  a  Sabbath  year.  The  reasons 
for  this  ordinance  Calmet  gives  thus  : — 

“  1.  To  maintain  as  far  as  possible  an  equality  of 
condition  among  the  people,  in  setting  the  slaves  at 
liberty,  and  in  permitting  all,  as  children  of  one  family, 
to  have  the  free  and  indiscriminate  use  of  whatever 
the  earth  produced. 

“  2.  To  inspire  the  people  with  sentiments  of  hu¬ 
manity,  by  making  it  their  duty  to  give  rest,  and  proper 
and  sufficient  nourishment,  to  the  poor ,  the  slave ,  and 
the  stranger ,  and  even  to  the  cattle. 

“3.  To  accustom  the  people  to  submit  to  and  de¬ 
pend  on  the  Divine  providence,  and  expect  their  sup¬ 
port  from  that  in  the  seventh  year,  by  an  extraordinary 
provision  on  the  sixth. 

“  4.  To  detach  their  affections  from  earthly  and  pe¬ 
rishable  things,  and  to  make  them  disinterested  and 
heavenly-minded. 

“5.  To  show  them  God’s  dominion  over  the  country, 
and  that  he,  not  they,  was  lord  of  the  soil ;  and  that 
they  held  it  merely  from  his  bounty.”  See  this  ordi¬ 
nance  at  length,  Lev.  xxv. 

That  God  intended  to  teach  them  the  doctrine  of 
providence  by  this  ordinance,  there  can  be  no  doubt ; 
and  this  is  marked  very  distinctly,  Lev.  xxv.  20,  21  : 
“  And  if  ye  shall  say,  What  shall  we  eat  the  seventh 
year  1  behold,  we  shall  not  sow,  nor  gather  in  our  in¬ 
crease  :  then  I  will  command  my  blessing  upon  you  in 
the  sixth  year,  and  it  shall  bring  forth  fruit  for  three 
years.”  That  is,  There  shall  be,  not  three  crops  in 
one  year,  but  one  crop  equal  in  its  abundance  to  three , 
because  it  must  supply  the  wants  of  three  years.  1. 
For  the  sixth  year,  supplying  fruit  for  its  own  con¬ 
sumption  ;  2.  For  the  seventh  year,  in  v/hich  they  were 
neither  to  sow  nor  reap  ;  and  3.  For  the  eighth  year, 
for  though  they  ploughed,  sowed,  &c.,  that  year,  yet 
a  whole  course  of  its  seasons  was  requisite  to  bring 
all  these  fruits  to  perfection,  so  that  they  could  not 
have  the  fruits  of  the  eighth  year  till  the  ninth ,  (see 
ver.  22,)  till  which  time  God  promised  that  they  should 
eat  of  the  old  store.  What  an  astonishing  proof  did 
this  give  of  the  being,  power,  providence,  mercy,  and 
goodness  of  God !  Could  there  be  an  infidel  in  such 
a  land,  or  a  sinner  against  God  and  his  own  soul,  with 
such  proofs  before  his  eyes  of  God  and  his  attributes 
as  one  sabbatical  year  afforded  1 
a  418 


thou  shalt  deal  with  thy  vine-  A.  M.  2531. 

.  B.  C.  1491. 

yard,  and  with  thy  *  olive-yard.  An.  Exod.  Isr.  1. 
1 2  n  Six  days  thou  shalt  do  thy  Sivan. 


work,  and  on  the  seventh  day  thou  shalt  rest ;  that 
thine  ox  and  thine  ass  may  rest,  and  the  son  of  thy 
handmaid,  and  the  stranger,  may  be  refreshed. 


u  Chap.  xx.  8,  9  ;  Deut.  v.  13  ;  LuKe  xiii.  14. 


It  is  very  remarkable  that  the  observance  of  this 
ordinance  is  nowhere  expressly  mentioned  in  the  sa¬ 
cred  writings  ;  though  some  suppose,  but  without  suffi¬ 
cient  reason,  that  there  is  a  reference  to  it  in  Jer.  xxxiv. 
8,  9.  Perhaps  the  major  part  of  the  people  could  not 
trust  God,  and  therefore  continued  to  sow  and  reap  on 
the  seventh  year,  as  on  the  preceding.  This  greatly 
displeased  the  Lord,  and  therefore  he  sent  them  into 
captivity ;  so  that  the  land  enjoyed  those  Sabbaths , 
through  lack  of  inhabitants,  of  which  their  ungodliness 
had  deprived  it.  See  Lev.  xviii.  24,  25,  28  ;  xxvi. 
34,  35,  43  ;  2  Chron.  xxxvi.  20,  21.  Commentators 
have  been  much  puzzled  to  ascertain  the  time -in  which 
the  sabbatical  year  began ;  because,  if  it  began  in  Abib 
or  March,  they  must  have  lost  two  harvests ;  for  they 
could  neither  reap  nor  plant  that  year,  and  of  course 
they  could  have  no  crop  the  year  following ;  but  if  it 
began  with  what  was  called  the  civil  year,  or  in  Tisri 
or  Marcheshvan,  which  answers  to  the  beginning  of 
our  autumn ,  they  would  then  have  had  that  year’s  pro¬ 
duce  reaped  and  gathered  in. 

Verse  12.  Six  days  thou  shalt  do  thy  work ]  Though 
they  were  thus  bound  to  keep  the  sabbatical  year,  yet 
they  must  not  neglect  the  seventh  day’s  rest  or  weekly 
Sabbath  ;  for  that  was  of  perpetual  obligation,  and  was 
paramount  to  all  others.  That  the  sanctification  of 
the  Sabbath  was  of  great  consequence  in  the  sight  of 
God,  we  may  learn  from  the  various  repetitions  of  this 
law ;  and  we  may  observe  that  it  has  still  for  its  ob¬ 
ject,  not  only  the  benefit  of  the  soul,  but  the  health 
and  comfort  of  the  body  also.  Doth  God  care  for 
oxen  ?  Yes  ;  and  he  mentions  them  with  tenderness, 
that  thine  ox  and  thine  ass  may  rest.  How  criminal 
to  employ  the  labouring  cattle  on  the  Sabbath,  as  well 
as  upon  the  other  days  of  the  week  !  More  cattle  are 
destroyed  in  England  than  in  any  other  part  of  the 
world,  in  proportion,  by  excessive  and  continued  labour. 
The  noble  horse  in  general  has  no  Sabbath  !  Does 
God  look  on  this  with  an  indifferent  eye  1  Surely  he 
does  not.  “  England,”  said  a  foreigner,  “  is  the  pa¬ 
radise  of  women ,  the  purgatory  of  servants ,  and  the 
hell  of  horses .” 

The  son  of  thy  handmaid,  and  the  strange 1 — be  re- 
freshed .]  yinnaphesh  may  be  re-spirited  or  new- 

souled ;  have  a  complete  renewal  both  of  bodily  and 
spiritual  strength.  The  expression  used  by  Moses  here 
is  very  like  that  used  by  St.  Paul,  Acts  iii.  19  :  “  Re¬ 
pent  ye  therefore,  and  be  converted,  that  your  sins  may 
be  blotted  out,  when  the  times  of  refreshing  ( nacpoc 
avaipv^eug,  the  times  'of  re-souling)  shall  come  from 
the  presence  of  the  Lord  alluding,  probably,  to  those 
times  of  refreshing  and  rest  for  body  and  soul  origi¬ 
nally  instituted  under  the  law. 

(  28*  ) 


CHAP.  XXIII. 


Three  great  annual  feasts 

a.  M.  2513.  13  And  in  all  things  that  I 

.in.  Exod.  isr.  i.  have  said  unto  you,  v  be  circum- 

rj  * 

lvan'  spect :  and  w  make  no  mention 
of  the  name  of  other  gods,  neither  let  it  be 
heard  out  of  thy  mouth. 

14  1  Three  times  thou  shalt  keep  a  feast 
unto  me  in  the  year. 

1 5  y  Thou  shalt  keep  the  feast  of  unleavened 
bread  :  (thou  shalt  eat  unleavened  bread  seven 
days,  as  I  commanded  thee,  in  the  lime  ap¬ 
pointed  of  the  month  Abib  ;  for  in  it  thou 
earnest  out  from  Egypt :  z  and  none  shall 
appear  before  me  empty  :) 

16  a  And  the  feast  of  harvest,  the  first-fruits 

v  Deut.  iv.  9  ;  Josh.  xxii.  5  ;  Psa.  xxxix.  1 ;  Eph.  v.  15  ;  1  Tim. 

iv.  16. - w  Num.  xxxii.  38  ;  Deut.  xii.  3  ;  Josh,  xxiii.  7  ;  Psa. 

xvi.  4;  Hos.  ii.  17  ;  Zech.  xiii.  2. - xChap.  xxxiv.  23;  Lev. 

xxiii.  4  ;  Deut.  xvi.  16. - y  Chap.  xii.  15  ;  xiii.  6  ;  xxxiv.  18  ; 

Lev.  xxiii.  6  ;  Deut.  xvi.  8. - z  Chap,  xxxiv.  20  ;  Deut.  xvi.  16  ; 

Verse  14.  Three  times  thou  shalt  keep  a  feast  unto 
me  in  the  year.]  The  three  feasts  here  referred  to 
were,  1.  The  feast  of  the  Passover;  2.  The  feast  of 
Pentecost;  3.  The  feast  of  Tabernacles. 

1.  The  feast  of  the  Passover  was  celebrated  to  keep 
in  remembrance  the  wonderful  deliverance  of  the  He¬ 
brews  from  Egypt.  2.  The  feast  of  Pentecost ,  called 
also  the  feast  of  harvest  and  the  feast  of  weeks,  chap, 
xxxiv.  22,  was  celebrated  fifty  days  after  the  Passover 
to  commemorate  the  giving  of  the  law  on  Mount  Sinai, 
which  took  place  fifty  days  after,  and  hence  called  by 
the  Greeks  Pentecost.  3.  The  feast  of  Tabernacles, 
called  also  the  feast  of  the  ingathering,  was  celebrated 
about  the  15th  of  the  month  Tisri  to  commemorate 
the  Israelites’  dwelling  in  tents  for  forty  years,  during 
their  stay  in  the  wilderness.  See  on  Lev.  xxiii. 

“  God,  out  of  his  great  wisdom,”  says  Calmet,  “  ap¬ 
pointed  several  festivals  among  the  Jews  for  many  rea¬ 
sons  :  1.  To  perpetuate  the  memory  of  those  great 
events,  and  the  wonders  he  had  wrought  for  the  people  ; 
for  example,  the  Sabbath  brought  to  remembrance  the 
creation  of  the  world  ;  the  Passover,  the  departure  out 
of  Egypt ;  the  Pentecost,  the  giving  of  the  law  ;  the 
feast  of  Tabernacles,  the  sojourning  of  their  fathers  in 
the  wilderness,  &c.  2.  To  keep  them  faithful  to  their 

religion  by  appropriate  ceremonies,  and  the  splendour 
of  Divine  service.  3.  To  procure  them  lawful  plea¬ 
sures,  and  necessary  rest.  4.  To  give  them  instruc¬ 
tion  ;  for  in  their  religious  assemblies  the  law  of  God 
was  always  read  and  explained.  5.  To  consolidate 
their  social  union,  by  renewing  the  acquaintance  of 
their  tribes  and  families  ;  for  on  these  occasions  they 
come  together  from  different  parts  of  the  land  to  the 
holy  city.” 

Besides  the  feasts  mentioned  above,  the  Jews  had, 

1 .  The  feast  of  the  Sabbath,  which  was  a  weekly  feast. 

2.  The  feast  of  the  Sabbatical  Year,  which  was  a 
septennial  feJfest. 

3.  The  feast  of  Trumpets,  which  was  celebrated  on 
the  first  day  of  what  was  called  their  civil  year,  which 
was  ushered  in  by  the  blowing  of  a  trumpet ;  Lev. 
xxiii.  23,  &c. 


to  he  strictly  observed 

of  thy  labours,  which  thou  hast  A.  M.  2513. 
sown  in  thy  field  :  and  b  the  feast  An.  Exod.  isr.’  1 
of  ingathering,  which  is  in  the  Slvarj~ 
end  of  the  year,  when  thou  hast  gathered  in  thy 
labours  out  of  the  field. 

17  c  Three  times  in  the  year  all  thy  males 
shall  appear  before  the  Lord  God. 

18  d  Thou  shalt  not  offer  the  blood  of  my 
sacrifice  with  leavened  bread  ;  neither  shall  the 
fat  of  my  e  sacrifice  remain  until  the  morning. 

19  f  The  first  of  the  first-fruits  of  thy  land 
thou  shalt  bring  into  the  house  of  the  Lord 
thy  God.  s  Thou  shalt  not  seethe  a  kid  in 
his  mother’s  milk. 

Ecclus.  xxxv.  4. - a  Ch.  xxxiv.  22  ;  Lev.  xxiii.  10. - b  Deut. 

xvi.  13. - c  Chap,  xxxiv.  23  ;  Deut.  xvi.  16. - d  Chap.  xii.  8  ; 

xxxiv.  25 ;  Lev.  ii.  11 ;  Deut.  xvi.  4. - e  Or,  feast. - ‘  Chap. 

xxii.  29 ;  xxxiv.  26  ;  Lev.  xxiii.  10,  17  ;  Numbers  xviii.  12,  13  ; 
Deut.  xxvi.  10;  Neh.  x.  35. - s  Ch.  xxxiv.  26  ;  Deut.  xiv.  21. 

4.  The  feast  of  the  New  Moon,  which  was  cele¬ 
brated  on  the  first  day  the  moon  appeared  after  her 
change. 

5.  The  feast  of  Expiation,  which  wTas  celebrated 
annually  on  the  tenth  day  of  Tisri  or  September,  on 
which  a  general  atonement  was  made  for  all  the  sins, 
negligences,  and  ignorances,  throughout  the  year. 

6.  The  feast  of  Lots  or  Purim,  to  commemorate 
the  preservation  of  the  Jews  from  the  general  massa¬ 
cre  projected  by  Haman.  See  the  book  of  Esther. 

7.  The  feast  of  the  Dedication,  or  rather  the  Re¬ 
storation  of  the  temple,  which  had  been  profaned  by 
Antiochus  Epiphanes.  This  was  also  called  the  feast 
of  Lights. 

Besides  these,  the  Jews  have  had  several  other 
feasts,  such  as  the  feast  of  Branches,  to  commemorate 
the  taking  of  Jericho. 

The  feast  of  Collections,  on  the  10th  of  September, 
on  which  they  make  contributions  for  the  service  of 
the  temple  and  synagogue. 

The  feast  for  the  death  of  Nicanor,  1  Mac.  vii.  48,  &c. 

The  feast  for  the  discovery  of  the  sacred  fire,  2  Mac. 

i.  18,  &c. 

The  feast  of  the  carrying  oj  wood  to  the  temple, 
called  Xylophoria ,  mentioned  by  Josephus. — War,  b. 

ii.  c.  17. 

Yerse  17.  All  thy  males ]  Old  men,  sick  men,  male 
idiots,  and  male  children  under  thirteen  years  of  age, 
excepted  ;  for  so  the  Jewish  doctors  understand  this 
command. 

Yerse  18.  The  blood  of  my  sacrifice  with  leavened 
bread ]  The  sacrifice  here  mentioned  is  undoubtedly 
the  Passover  ;  (see  chap,  xxxiv.  25  ;)  this  is  called  by 
way  of  eminence  my  sacrifice,  because  God  had  insti¬ 
tuted  it  for  that  especial  purpose,  the  redemption  of 
Israel  from  the  Egyptian  bondage,  and  because  it  typi¬ 
fied  the  Lamb  of  God,  who  taketh  away  the  sin  of 
the  world.  We  have  already  seen  how  strict  the  pro¬ 
hibition  against  leaven  was  during  this  festival,  and 
what  was  signified  by  it.  See  on  chap.  xii. 

Verse  19.  Thou  shalt  not  seethe  a  kid  in  his  mother’s 
milk.]  This  passage  has  greatly  perplexed  commcn- 

419 


a 


EXODUS. 


The  angel  sent  before  Israel , 


who  are  teamed  against  idolatry. 


A.  M.  2513.  20  h  Behold,  I  send  an  angel 

B.  C.  1491.  .  ° 

An.  Exod.  isr.  i.  before  thee,  to  keep  thee  in  the 

^ lvan'  way,  and  to  bring  thee  into  the 
place  which  I  have  prepared. 

21  Beware  of  him,  and  obey  his  voice,  {  pro¬ 
voke  him  not ;  for  he  will  k  not  pardon  your 
transgressions  :  for *  1  my  name  is  in  him. 

22  But  if  thou  shalt  indeed  obey  his  voice, 
and  do  all  that  I  speak ;  then  m  I  will  be  an 
enemy  unto  thine  enemies,  and  n  an  adversary 
unto  thine  adversaries. 


23  0  For  mine  Angel  shall  go  A.  M  2M3. 
before  thee,  and  p  bring  thee  in  An.  Exod.  Isr.  1, 
unto  the  Amorites,  and  the  Hit-  Slvan' 


tites,  and  the  Perizzites,  and  the  Canaanites, 
the  Hivites,  and  the  Jebusites  :  and  I  will 
cut  them  off. 

24  Thou  shalt  not  q  bow  down  to  their  gods, 
nor  serve  them,  r  nor  do  after  their  works  : 
s  but  thou  shalt  utterly  overthrow  them,  and 
quite  break  down  their  images. 

25  And  ye  shall  1  serve  the  Lord  your  God, 


h  Chap.  xiv.  19  ;  xxxii.  34  ;  xxxiii.  2,  14 ;  Num.  xx.  16  ;  Josh. 

v.  13  ;  vi.  2 ;  Psa.  xci.  11  ;  Isa.  lxiii.  9. - ‘  Num.  xiv.  11  ;  Psa. 

lxxviii.  40,  56  ;  Eph.  iv.  30  ;  Heb.  iii.  10,  16. - k  Chap,  xxxii. 

34;  Num.  xiv.  35;  Deut.  xviii.  19;  Josh.  xxiv.  19;  Jer.  v.  7  ; 

Heb.iii.il;  1  John  v.  16. - 1  Isa.  ix.  6;  Jer.  xxiii.  6;  John 

x.  30,  38. 


m  Gen.  xii.  3 ;  Deut.  xxx.  7  ;  Jer.  xxx.  20. - n  Or,  J  will  afflict 

them  that  afflict  thee. - 0  Yer.  20;  chap,  xxxiii.  2. - pJosh 

xxiv.  8,  11. - 3  Ch.  xx.  5. - rLev.  xviii.  3  ;  Deut.  xii.  30,  31 

s  Chap,  xxxiv.  13  ;  Numbers  xxxiii.  52  ;  Deut.  vii.  5,  25  ;  xii.  3 
4  Deut.  vi.  13;  x.  12,20;  xi.  13,  14;  xiii.  4;  Joshua  xxii.  5; 
xxiv.  14,  15,  21,  24 ;  1  Sam.  vii.  3 ;  xii.  20,  24;  Matt.  iv.  10. 


tators  ;  but  Dr.  Cudworth  is  supposed  to  have  given 
it  its  true  meaning  by  quoting  a  MS.  comment  of  a 
Karaite  Jew,  which  he  met  with,  on  this  passage.  “It 
was  a  custom  of  the  ancient  heathens,  when  they  had 
gathered  in  all  their  fruits,  to  take  a  kid  and  boil  it  in 
the  milk  of  its  dam ;  and  then,  in  a  magical  way,  to 
go  about  and  besprinkle  with  it  all  their  trees  and  fields, 
gardens  and  orchards ;  thinking  by  these  means  to  make 
them  fruitful,  that  they  might  bring  forth  more  abun¬ 
dantly  in  the  following  year.” — Cudworth  on  the  Lord's 
Supper ,  4to. 

I  give  this  comment  as  I  find  it,  and  add  that  Spen¬ 
ser  has  shown  that  the  Zabii  used  this  kind  of  magical 
milk  to  sprinkle  their  trees  and  fields,  in  order  to  make 
them  fruitful.  Others  understand  it  of  eating  flesh  and 
milk  together ;  others  of  a  lamb  or  a  kid  while  it  is 
sucking  its  mother ,  and  that  the  paschal  lamb  is  here 
intended,  which  it  was  not  lawful  to  offer  while  sucking. 

After  all  the  learned  labour  which  critics  have  be¬ 
stowed  on  this  passage,  and  by  which  the  obscurity  in 
some  cases  is  become  more  intense,  the  simple  object 
of  the  precept  seems  to  be  this  :  “  Thou  shalt  do  no¬ 
thing  that  may  have  any  tendency  to  blunt  thy  moral 
feelings,  or  teach  thee  hardness  of  heart.”  Even  hu¬ 
man  nature  shudders  at  the  thought  of  causing  the  mo¬ 
ther  to  lend  her  milk  to  seethe  the  flesh  of  her  young 
one !  We  need  go  no  farther  for  the  delicate,  tender, 
humane,  and  impressive  meaning  of  this  precept. 

Verse  20.  Behold ,  I  send  an  Angel  before  thee ] 
Some  have  thought  that  this  was  Moses ,  others  Joshua , 
because  the  word  “jttVo  malach  signifies  an  angel  or 
messenger  ;  but  as  it  is  said,  ver.  21,  My  name  is  in 
him ,  bekirbo,  intimately ,  essentially  in  him,)  it 

is  more  likely  that  the  great  Angel  of  the  Covenant, 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  is  meant,  in  whom  dwelt  all 
the  fulness  of  the  Godhead  bodily.  We  have  had 
already  much  reason  to  believe  that  this  glorious  per¬ 
sonage  often  appeared  in  a  human  form  to  the  patri¬ 
archs,  &c.  ;  and  of  him  Joshua  was  a  very  expressive 
type,  the  names  Joshua  and  Jesus ,  in  Hebrew  and 
Greek,  being  of  exactly  the  same  signification,  because 
radically  the  same,  from  JW  yasha ,  he  saved ,  deliver¬ 
ed ,  preserved ,  or  kept  safe .  Nor  does  it  appear  that 
the  description  given  of  the  Angel  in  the  text  can  be¬ 
long  to  any  other  person. 

420 


Calmet  has  referred  to  a  very  wonderful  comment 
on  these  words  given  by  Philo  Judaeus  De  Agricul¬ 
tural  which  I  shall  produce  here  at  full  length  as  it 
stands  in  Dr.  Mangey's  edition,  vol.  i.,  p.  308  :  '0$ 
i voiprjv  nai  fflacn'kevg  6  Qeor  ayei  Kara  ducrjv  naivopov, 
irpoarijaapevog  rov  opdov  avrov  ?,oyov  irporoyovov  vlovf 
og  tt]V  emyekeiav  rrjg  iepag  ravTijg  ayeXrjg,  ola  rig  ye- 
yalov  (SaatTiewg  vie apxog,  diade^eTai.  K at  yap  eiprjrat 
7 row  Idov  eye.)  etju,  airoa~e?M  ayysAov  yov  eig  repoa- 
ui rov  aov ,  rov  (}>v?ia^at  ae  ev  tij  oSw.  “  God,  as  the 
Shepherd  and  King,  conducts  all  things  according  to 
law  and  righteousness,  having  established  over  them 
his  right  Word,  his  only-begotten  Son,  who,  as  the 
Viceroy  of  the  Great  King,  takes  care  of  and  ministers 
to  this  sacred  flock.  For  it  is  somewhere  said,  (chap, 
xxiii.  20,)  Behold,  I  AM,  and  I  xviii  send  my  Angel 
before  thy  face,  to  keep  thee  in  the  ivay." 

This  is  a  testimony  liable  to  no  suspicion,  coming 
from  a  person  who  cannot  be  supposed  to  be  even 
friendly  to  Christianity,  nor  at  all  acquainted  with  that 
particular  doctrine  to  which  his  words  seem  so  point¬ 
edly  to  refer. 

Verse  2 1 .  He  will  not  pardon  your  transgressions ] 
He  is  not  like  a  man,  with  whom  ye  may  think  that 
ye  may  trifle  ;  were  he  either  man  or  angel,  in  the 
common  acceptation  of  the  term,  it  need  not  be  said, 
He  will  not  pardon  your  transgressions,  for  neither 
man  nor  angel  could  do  it. 

My  name  is  in  him.]  The  Jehovah  dwrells  in  him ; 
in  him  dwelt  all  the  fulness  of  the  Godhead  bodily  ; 
and  because  of  this  he  could  either  pardon  or  punish. 
All  power  is  given  unto  me  in  heaven  and  earth,  Matt, 
xxviii.  18. 

Verse  23.  TJnto  the  Amorites]  There  are  only  six 
of  the  seven  nations  mentioned  here,  but  the  Septua- 
gint,  Samaritan,  Coptic,  and  one  Hebrew  MS.,  add 
Girgashite,  thus  making  the  seven  nations. 

Verse  24.  Break  down  their  images.] 
matstsebotheyhem ,  from  natsab,  to  stand  up;  pil¬ 

lars,  anointed  stones,  Sic.,  such  as  the  baitulia.  See 
on  Gen.  xxviii.  18.  « 

Verse  25.  Shall  bless  thy  bread  and  thy  water]  That 
is,  all  thy  provisions,  no  matter  of  what  sort ;  the 
meanest  fare  shall  be  sufficiently  nutritive  when  God’3 
blessinsr  is  in  it. 


a 


CHAP.  XXIII. 


Their  enemies  to  be  expelled. 

A.  M.  2513.  and  u  lie  shall  bless  thy  bread  and 
An.  Exod.isr.  l.  thy  water  ;  and  v  I  will  take  sick- 
Slvan~  ness  away  from  the  midst  of  thee. 

26  w  There  shall  nothing  cast  their  young, 
nor  be  barren,  in  thy  land  :  the  number  of  thy 
days  I  will  x  fulfil. 

27  I  will  send  y  my  fear  before  thee,  and 
will  z  destroy  all  the  people  to  whom  thou 
shalt  come,  and  I  will  make  all  thine  enemies 
turn  their  a  backs  unto  thee. 

28  And  b  I  will  send  hornets  before  thee, 
which  shall  drive  out  the  Hivite,  the  Canaanite, 
and  the  Hittite,  from  before  thee. 

29  c  I  will  not  drive  them  out  from  before  thee 
in  one  year  ;  lest  the  land  become  desolate, 
and  the  beast  of  the  field  multiply  against  thee. 

u  Deut.  vii.  13  ;  xxviii.  5,  8. - v  Chap.  xv.  26  ;  Deut.  vii.  15. 

w  Deut.  vii.  14;  xxviii.  4;  Job  xxi.  10;  Mai.  iii.  10,  11. 

*  Gen.  xxv.  8  ;  xxxv.  29  ;  1  Chron.  xxiii.  1  ;  Job  v.  26  ;  xlii.  17  ; 

Psa.  lv.  23  ;  xc.  10. - y  Gen.  xxxv.  5  ;  chap.  xv.  14,  16  ;  Deut. 

ii.  25 ;  xi.  25  ;  Josh.  ii.  9, 11  ;  1  Sam.  xiv.  15  ;  2  Chron.  xiv.  14. 

*  Deut.  vii.  23. - a  Heb.  neck  ;  Psa.  xviii.  40. 

Verse  26.  There  shall  nothing  cast  their  young ,  nor 
he  barren]  Hence  there  must  be  a  very  great  increase 
both  of  men  and  cattle. 

The  number  of  thy  days  I  will  fulfil.]  Ye  shall  all 
live  to  a  good  old  age,  and  none  die  before  his  time. 
This  is  the  blessing  of  the  righteous,  for  wicked  men 
live  not  aut  half  their  days ;  Psa.  lv.  23. 

Verse  28.  I  will  send  hornets  before  thee]  n>?Wn 
hatstsirah.  The  root  is  not  found  in  Hebrew,  but  it 
may  be  the  same  with  the  Arabic  saraa,  to  lay 

prostrate ,  to  strike  down ;  the  hornet,  probably  so 
called  from  the  destruction  occasioned  by  the  violence 
of  its  sting.  The  hornet,  in  natural  history,  belongs 
to  the  species  crabro,  of  the  genus  vespa  or  wasp  ;  it 
is  a  most  voracious  insect,  and  is  exceedingly  strong 
for  its  size,  which  is  generally  an  inch  in  length, 
though  I  have  seen  some  an  inch  and  a  half  long,  and 
so  strong  that,  having  caught  one  in  a  small  pair  of 
forceps,  it  repeatedly  escaped  by  using  violent  contor¬ 
tions,  so  that  at  last  I  was  obliged  to  abandon  all  hopes 
of  securing  it  alive,  which  I  wished  to  have  done. 
How  distressing  and  destructive  a  multitude  of  these 
might  be,  any  person  may  conjecture ;  even  the  bees 
of  one  hive  would  be  sufficient  to  sting  a  thousand  men 
to  madness,  but  how  much  worse  must  wasps  and 
hornets  be!  No  armour,  no  weapons,  could  avail 
against  these.  A  few  thousands  of  them  would  be 
quite  sufficient  to  throw  the  best  disciplined  army  into 
confusion  and  rout.  From  Josh.  xxiv.  12,  we  find 
that  two  kings  of  the  Amorites  were  actually  driven  out 
of  the  land  by  these  hornets,  so  that  the  Israelites  were 
not  obliged  to  use  either  sword  or  bow  in  the  conquest. 

Verse  31.  I  will  set  thy  bounds  from  the  Red  Sea] 
On  the  south-east,  even  unto  the  sea  of  the  Philistines 
— the  Mediterranean,  on  the  north-west ;  and  from 
the  desert — of  Arabia,  or  the  wilderness  of  Shur,  on 
the  west,  to  the  river — the  Euphrates,  on  the  north¬ 
east.  Or  in  general  terms,  from  the  Euphrates  on  the 

a 


The  boundaries  of  the  land. 

30  By  little  and  little  I  will  A.  M.  2513. 
drive  them  out  from  before  thee,  An.  Exod.isr.  1. 
until  thou  be  increased,  and  in-  Slvan‘ 
herit  the  land. 

3  1  And  d  I  will  set  thy  bounds  from  the 
Red  Sea  even  unto  the  sea  of  the  Philistines, 
and  from  the  desert  unto  the  river  :  for  I  will 
e  deliver  the  inhabitants  of  the  land  into  your 
hand ;  and  thou  shalt  drive  them  out  before 
thee. 

32  fThou  shalt  make  no  covenant  with 
them,  nor  with  their  gods. 

33  They  shall  not  dwell  in  thy  land,  lest 
they  make  thee  sin  against  me  :  for  if  thou 
serve  their  gods,  s  it  will  surely  be  a  snare 
unto  thee. 

b  Deut.  vii.  20  ;  Josh.  xxiv.  12  ;  Wisd.  xii.  8. - c  Deut.  vii. 

22. - d  Gen.  xv.  18  ;  Nurn.  xxxiv.  3  ;  Deut.  xi.  24  ;  Josh.  i.  4 ; 

1  Kings  iv.  21,  24  ;  Psa.  lxxii.  8. - e  Josh.  xxi.  44  ;  Judg.  i.  4 

xi.  21. - f  Chap,  xxxiv.  12,  15;  Deut.  vii,  2. - s  Clxap.  xxxiv. 

12  ;  Deut.  vii.  16  ;  xii.  30;  Josh,  xxiii.  13  ;  Judg.  ii.  3  ;  1  Sam. 
xviii.  21  ;  Psa.  cvi.  36. 

east,  to  the  Mediterranean  Sea  on  the  west ;  and  from 
Mount  Libanus  on  the  north,  to  the  Red  Sea  and  the 
Nile  on  the  south.  This  promise  was  not  completely 
fulfilled  till  the  days  of  David  and  Solomon.  The 
general  disobedience  of  the  people  before  this  time 
prevented  a  more  speedy  accomplishment ;  and  their 
disobedience  afterwards  caused  them  to  lose  the  pos¬ 
session.  So,  though  all  the  promises  of  God  are  yea 
and  amen,  yet  they  are  fulfilled  but  to  a  few,  because 
men  are  slow  of  heart  to  believe ;  and  the  blessings  of 
providence  and  grace  are  taken  away  from  several 
because  of  their  unfaithfulness. 

Verse  32.  Thou  shalt  make  no  covenant  with  them] 
They  were  incurable  idolaters,  and  the  cup  of  their 
iniquity  was  full.  And  had  the  Israelites  contracted 
any  alliance  with  them,  either  sacred  or  civil,  they 
would  have  enticed  them  into  their  idolatries,  to  which 
the  Jews  were  at  all  times  most  unhappily  prone  ;  and 
as  God  intended  that  they  should  be  the  preservers 
of  the  true  religion  till  the  coming  of  the  Messiah, 
hence  he  strictly  forbade  them  to  tolerate  idolatry. 

Verse  33.  They  shall  not  dwell  in  thy  land]  They 
must  be  utterly  expelled.  The  land  was  the  Lord’s, 
and  he  had  given  it  to  the  progenitors  of  this  people, 
to  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob.  The  latter  being  ob¬ 
liged  to  leave  it  because  of  a  famine,  God  is  now  con¬ 
ducting  back  his  posterity,  who  alone  had  a  Divine  and 
natural  right  to  it,  and  therefore  their  seeking  to  pos¬ 
sess  the  inheritance  of  their  fathers  can  be  only  crimi¬ 
nal  in  the  sight  of  those  who  are  systematically  opposed 
to  the  thing,  because  it  is  a  part  of  Divine  revelation. 

What  a  pity  that  the  Mosaic  Law  should  be  so  lit¬ 
tle  studied !  What  a  number  of  just  and  equal  laws, 
pious  and  humane  institutions,  useful  and  instructive 
ordinances,  does  it  contain!  Everywhere  we  see  the 
purity  and  benevolence  of  God  always  working  to  pre¬ 
vent  crimes  and  make  the  people  happy  !  But  what 

421 


Moses  and  others  go  to  the  mount  EXODUS.  The  people  promise  obedience , 


else  can  be  expected  from  that  God  who  is  love,  whose 
tender  mercies  are  over  all  his  works,  and  who  hateth 
nothing  that  he  has  made  1  Reader,  thou  art  not  strait¬ 
ened  in  him,  be  not  straitened  in  thy  own  bowels. 
Learn  from  him  to  be  just,  humane,  kind,  and  merciful. 
Love  thy  enemy,  and  do  good  to  him  that  hates  thee. 


Jesus  is  with  thee ;  hear  and  obey  his  voice  ;  provoke 
him  not,  and  he  will  be  an  enemy  to  thine  enemies,  and 
an  adversary  to  thine  adversaries.  Believe ,  love ,  obey  ; 
and  the  road  to  the  kingdom  of  God  is  plain  before 
thee.  Thou  shalt  inherit  the  good  land,  and  be  esta¬ 
blished  in  it  for  ever  and  ever. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

Moses  and  Aaron,  Nadab  and  Abihu,  and  the  seventy  elders ,  are  commanded  to  go  to  the  mount  to  meet  the 
Lord,  1.  Moses  alone  to  come  near  to  the  Divine  presence ,  2.  He  informs  the  people,  and  they  promise 
obedience,  3.  He  writes  the  words  of  the  Lord ,  erects  an  altar  at  the  foot  of  the  hill,  and  sets  up  twelve 
pillars  for  the  twelve  tribes,  4.  The  young  priests  offer  burnt-offerings  and  peace-offerings,  5.  Moses 
reads  the  book  of  the  covenant,  sprinkles  the  people  with  the  blood,  and  they  promise  obedience,  6—8 .  Moses , 
Aaron,  Nadab ,  Abihu,  and  the  seventy  elders  of  Israel,  go  up  to  the  mount ,  and  get  a  striking  display  of 
the  majesty  of  God,  9—1 1.  Moses  alone  is  called  up  into  the  mount,  in  order  to  receive  the  tables  of  stone , 
ivritten  by  the  hand  of  God,  12.  Moses  and  his  servant  Joshua  go  up,  and  Aaron  and  Harare  left  regents 
of  the  people  during  his  absence,  13,-  14.  The  glory  of  the  Lord  rests  on  the  mount ,  and  the  cloud  covers 
it  for  six  days,  and  on  the  seventh  God  speaks  to  Moses  out  of  the  cloud,  15,  16.  The  terrible  appearance 
of  God's  glory  on  the  mount,  17.  Moses  continues  with  God  on  the  mount  forty  days,  18. 


A.  M.  2513.  A  ND  he  said  unto  Moses, 

B.  C.  1491.  ~  .  T 

An.  Exod.  isr.  i.  Come  up  unto  the  Lord, 

Slvan~  thou,  and  Aaron,  a  Nadab,  and 
Abihu,  b  and  seventy  of  the  elders  of  Israel ; 
and  worship  ye  afar  off. 

2  And  Moses  c  alone  shall  come  near  the 
Lord  :  but  they  shall  not  come  nigh  ;  neither 
shall  the  people  go  up  with  him. 

a  Chap,  xxviii.  1 ;  Lev.  x.  1,  2. - b  Chapter  i.  5 ;  Nura.  xi.  16. 

c  Ver.  13,  15,  18. 

NOTES  ON  CHAP.  NXIY. 

Verse  1.  Come  up  unto  the  Lord]  Moses  and  Aaron 
were  already  on  the  mount,  or  at  least  some  way  up, 
(chap.  xix.  24,)  where  they  had  heard  the  voice  of 
the  Lord  distinctly  speaking  to  them  :  and  the  people 
also  saw  and  heard,  but  in  a  less  distinct  manner,  pro¬ 
bably  like  the  hoarse  grumbling  sound  of  distant 
thunder;  see  chap.  xx.  18.  Calmet,  who  complains 
of  the  apparent  want  of  order  in  the  facts  laid  down 
here,  thinks  the  whole  should  be  understood  thus  : — 
“  After  God  had  laid  before  Moses  and  Aaron  all  the 
laws  mentioned  from  the  beginning  of  the  20th  chap¬ 
ter  to  the  end  of  the  23d,  before  they  went  down  from 
the  mount  to  lay  them  before  the  people,  he  told  them 
that,  when  they  had  proposed  the  conditions  of  the 
covenant  to  the  Israelites,  and  they  had  ratified  them, 
they  were  to  come  up  again  unto  the  mountain  accom¬ 
panied  with  Nadab  and  Abihu  the  sons  of  Aaron,  and 
seventy  of  the  principal  elders  of  Israel.  Moses  ac¬ 
cordingly  went  down,  spoke  to  the  people,  ratified  the 
covenant,  and  then,  according  to  the  command  of  God 
mentioned  here,  he  and  the  others  reascended  the 
mountain.  Tout  cela  est  raconte  ici  avec  assez  peu 
d'ordre." 

Verse  2.  Moses  alone  shall  come  near]  The  people 
stood  at  the  foot  of  the  mountain.  Aaron  and  his  two 
sons  and  the  seventy  elders  went  up,  probably  about 
half  way,  and  Moses  alone  went  to  the  summit. 

422 


3  And  Moses  came  and  told  a.  M.  2513. 

the  people  all  the  words  of  the  An.  Exod.  lsr.’  1. 
Lord,  and  all  the  judgments  :  Ivan' 

and  all  the  people  answered  with  one  voice* 
and  said,  d  All  the  words  which  the  Lord 
hath  said  will  we  do. 

4  And  Moses  e  wrote  all  the  words  of  the 
Lord,  and  rose  up  early  in  the  morning,  and 

d  Verse  7  ;  chapter  xix.  8  ;  Deut.  v.  27  ;  Galatians  iii.  19,  20. 

e  Deut.  xxxi.  9. 

Verse  3.  Moses — told  the  people  all  the  ivords  of 
the  Lord]  That  is,  the  ten  commandments,  and  the 
various  laivs  and  ordinances  mentioned  from  the  begin¬ 
ning  of  the  20th  to  the  end  of  the  23d  chapter. 

Verse  4.  Moses  wrote  all  the  ivords  of  the  Lord ] 
After  the  people  had  promised  obedience,  (ver.  3,)  and 
so  entered  into  the  bonds  of  the  covenant,  “  it  was 
necessary,”  says  Calmet,  “to  draw  up  an  act  by  which 
the  memory  of  these  transactions  might  be  preserved, 
and  confirm  the  covenant  by  authentic  and  solemn 
ceremonies.”  And  this  Moses  does.  1.  As  legislator, 
he  reduces  to  writing  all  the  articles  and  conditions 
of  the  agreement,  with  the  people’s  act  of  consent. 

2.  As  their  mediator  and  the  deputy  of  the  Lord,  he 
accepts  on  his  part  the  resolution  of  the  people  ;  and 
Jehovah  on  his  part  engages  himself  to  Israel,  to  be 
their  God,  their  King,  and  Protector,  and  to  fulfil  to 
them  all  the  promises  he  had  made  to  their  fathers. 

3.  To  make  this  the  more  solemn  and  affecting,  and 
to  ratify  the  covenant,  which  could  not  be  done  with¬ 
out  sacrifice,  shedding  and  sprinkling  of  blood,  Moses 
builds  an  altar,  probably  of  turf,  as  was  commanded, 
chap.  xx.  24,  and  erects  twelve  pillars,  no  doubt  of 
unhewn  stone,  and  probably  set  round  about  the  altar. 
The  altar  itself  represented  the  throne  of  God ;  the 
twelve  stones,  the  twelve  tribes  of  Israel.  These  were 
the  two  parties,  who  were  to  contract,  or  enter  into 
covenant,  on  this  occasion. 

a 


CHAP.  XXIV. 


Moses  reads  the  hook  of 


the  covenant  to  the  people. 


a.  M.  2513.  builded  an  altar  under  the  hill, 
An.  Exod.  Isr.i.  and  twelve  f  pillars,  according  to 
Slvan‘  the  twelve  tribes  of  Israel. 

5  And  he  sent  young  men  of  the  children 
of  Israel,  which  offered  burnt-offerings,  and 
sacrificed  peace-offerings  of  oxen  unto  the 
Lord. 

6  And  Moses  *  took  half  of  the  blood,  and 
put  it  in  basins  ;  and  half  of  the  blood  he 
sprinkled  on  the  altar. 

7  And  he  h  took  the  book  of  the  covenant, 

f  Gen.  xxviii.  18  ;  xxxi.  45. - s  Heb.  ix.  18. - hHeb.  ix.  19. 

*  Ver.  3. - k  Heb.  ix.  20  ;  xiii.  20 ;  1  Pet.  i.  2. - 1  Ver.  1. 

Verse  5.  He  sent  young  men\  Stout,  able,  reputable 
young  men,  chosen  out  of  the  different  tribes,  for  the 
purpose  of  killing,  flaying,  and  offering  the  oxen  men¬ 
tioned  here. 

j Burnt-offerings]  They  generally  consisted  of  sheep 
and  goats,  Lev.  i.  10.  These  were  wholly  consumed 
by  fire. 

Peace-offerings ]  Bullocks  or  goats  ;  see  Heb.  ix. 
19.  The  blood  of  these  was  poured  out  before  the 
Lord,  and  then  the  priests  and  people  might  feast  on 
the  flesh. 

Verse  7.  The  book  of  the  covenant ]  The  writing 
containing  the  laws  mentioned  in  the  three  preceding 
chapters.  As  this  writing  contained  the  agreement 
made  between  God  and  them,  it  was  called  the  book 
of  the  covenant ;  but  as  no  covenant  was  considered  to 
be  ratified  and  binding  till  a  sacrifice  had  been  offered 
on  the  occasion,  hence  the  necessity  of  the  sacrifices 
mentioned  here. 

Half  of  the  blood  being  sprinkled  on  the  altar,  and 
half  of  it  sprinkled  on  the  people,  showed  that  both 
God  and  they  were  mutually  bound  by  this  covenant. 
God  was  bound  to  the  people  to  support,  defend,  and 
save  them ;  the  people  were  bound  to  God  to  fear, 
love,  and  serve  him.  On  the  ancient  method  of 
making  covenants,  see  on  Gen.  vi.  18  ;  xv.  18.  Thus 
the  blood  of  the  new  covenant  was  necessary  to  pro¬ 
pitiate  the  throne  of  justice  on  the  one  hand,  and  to 
reconcile  men  to  God  on  the  other.  On  the  nature 
and  various  kinds  of  the  Jewish  offerings,  see  the  note 
on  Lev.  vii.  1,  &c. 

Verse  10.  They  saw  the  God  of  Israel ]  The  seven¬ 
ty  elders,  who  were  representatives  of  the  whole  con¬ 
gregation,  were  chosen  to  witness  the  manifestation 
of  God,  that  they  might  be  satisfied  of  the  truth  of  the 
revelation  which  he  had  made  of  himself  and  of  his 
will;  and  on  this  occasion  it  was  necessary  that  the 
people  also  should  be  favoured  with  a  sight  of  the 
glory  of  God  ;  see  chap.  xx.  18.  Thus  the  certainty 
of  the  revelation  was  established  by  many  witnesses, 
and  by  those  especially  of  the  most  competent  kind. 

A  paved  work  of  a  sapphire  stone ]  Or  sapphire 
brick-work.  I  suppose  that  something  of  the  Musive 
or  Mosaic  pavement  is  here  intended  ;  floors  most 
curiously  inlaid  with  variously  coloured  stones  or  small 
square  tiles,  disposed  in  a  great  variety  of  ornamental 
forms.  Many  of  these  remain  in  different  countries  to 

a 


and  read  in  the  audience  of  the  A.  M.  2513. 
people  :  and  they  said,  1  All  that  An.  Exod.  isr.  1. 
the  Lord  hath  said  will  we  do,  Slvan‘ 
and  be  obedient. 

8  And  Moses  took  the  blood,  and  sprinkled 
it  on  the  people,  and  said,  Behold  k  the  blood 
of  the  covenant,  which  the  Lord  hath  made 
with  you  concerning  all  these  words. 

9  Then  1  went  up  Moses,  and  Aaron,  Nadab, 
and  Abihu,  and  seventy  of  the  elders  of  Israel : 

10  And  they  m  saw  the  God  of  Israel  :  and 

m  See  Gen.  xxxii.  30 ;  ch.  iii.  6;  Judg.  xiii.  22  ;  Isa.  vi.  1,  5, 
with  ch.  xxxiii.  20,  23  ;  John  i.  18  ;  1  Tim.  vi.  16  ;  1  Johniv.  12. 

the  present  day.  The  Romans  were  particularly  fond 
of  them,  and  left  monuments  of  their  taste  and  ingenuity 
in  pavements  of  this  kind,  in  most  countries  where 
they  established  their  dominion.  Some  very  fine  spe¬ 
cimens  are  found  in  different  parts  of  Britain. 

Sapphire  is  a  precious  stone  of  a  fine  blue  colour, 
next  in  hardness  to  the  diamond.  The  ruby  is  con¬ 
sidered  by  most  mineralogists  of  the  same  genus  ;  so 
is  also  the  topaz :  hence  we  cannot  say  that  the  sap¬ 
phire  is  only  of  a  blue  colour ;  it  is  blue,  red,  or  yel¬ 
low,  as  it  may  be  called  sapphire,  ruby,  or  topaz;  and 
some  of  them  are  blue  or  green,  according  to  the  light 
in  which  they  are  held ;  and  some  white.  A  very 
large  specimen  of  such  a  one  is  now  before  me.  The 
ancient  oriental  sapphire  is  supposed  to  have  been  the 
same  with  the  lapis  lazuli.  Supposing  that  these  differ¬ 
ent  kinds  of  sapphires  are  here  intended,  how  glorious 
must  a  pavement  be,  constituted  of  polished  stones  of 
this  sort,  perfectly  transparent,  with  an  effulgence  of 
heavenly  splendour  poured  out  upon  them  !  The  red, 
the  blue,  the  green,  and  the  yellow,  arranged  by  the 
wisdom  of  God,  into  the  most  beautiful  emblematic 
representations,  and  the  whole  body  of  heaven  in  its 
clearness  shining  upon  them,  must  have  made  a  most 
glorious  appearance.  As  the  Divine  glory  appeared 
above  the  mount,  it  is  reasonable  to  suppose  that  the 
Israelites  saw  the  sapphire  pavement  over  their  heads, 
as  it  might  have  occupied  a  space  in  the  atmosphere 
equal  in  extent  to  the  base  of  the  mountain  ;  and  be¬ 
ing  transparent,  the  intense  brightness  shining  upon  it 
must  have  greatly  heightened  the  effect. 

It  is  necessary  farther  to  observe  that  all  this  must 
have  been  only  an  appearance,  unconnected  with  any 
personal  similitude  ;  for  this  Moses  expressly  asserts, 
Deut.  iv.  15.  And  though  the  feet  are  here  men¬ 
tioned,  this  can  only  be  understood  of  the  sapphirine 
basis  or  pavement,  on  which  this  celestial  and  inde¬ 
scribable  glory  of  the  Lord  appeared.  There  is  a 
similar  description  of  the  glory  of  the  Lord  in  the  Book 
of  Revelation,  chap.  iv.  3  :  “  And  he  who  sat  [upon 

the  throne]  was  to  look  upon  like  a  jasper  and  a  sar¬ 
dine  stone  ;  and  there  was  a  rainbow  round  about  the 
throne,  in  sight  like  unto  an  emerald .”  In  neither  of 
these  appearances  was  there  any  similitude  or  likeness 
of  any  thing  in  heaven,  earth,  or  sea.  Thus  God  took 
care  to  preserve  them  from  all  incentives  to  idolatry , 
while  he  gave  them  the  fullest  proofs  of  his  being 

423 


EXODUS. 


Moses  called  up  into  the  mount. 


The  glory  of  God  appears . 


a.  M.  2513.  there  was  under  his  feet  as  it 

B.  C.  1491.  ,  .  r  „  1  • 

An.  Exod.  isr.  i.  were  a  paved  work  ot  a  n  sapphire 

Slvan'  stone,  and  as  it  were  the  0  body 
of  heaven  in  his  clearness. 

1 1  And  upon  the  nobles  of  the  children  of 
Israel  he  p  laid  not  his  hand :  also  Q  they  saw 
God,  and  did  r  eat  and  drink. 

12  And  the  Lord  said  unto  Moses,  s  Come 
up  to  me  into  the  mount,  and  be  there  :  and  I 
will  give  thee  t  tables  of  stone,  and  a  law, 
and  commandments  which  I  have  written ; 
that  thou  mayest  teach  them. 

13  And  Moses  rose  up,  and  u  his  minister 
Joshua  :  and  Moses  v  went  up  into  the  mount 
of  God. 

14  And  he  said  unto  the  elders,  Tarry  ye 
here  for  us,  until  we  come  again  unto  you  : 


and,  behold,  Aaron  and  Hur  are  A.  m.  2513. 

.  ’  ’  .  B.  C.  1491. 

with  you  :  11  any  man  have  any  An.  Exod.  Isr.  1 

matters  to  do,  let  him  come  unto  Slvan~ 

them. 


1 5  And  Moses  went  up  into  the  mount,  and 
w  a  cloud  covered  the  mount. 

1 6  And  x  the  glory  of  the  Lord  abode  upon 
Mount  Sinai,  and  the  cloud  covered  it  six 
days  :  and  the  seventh  day  he  called  unto 
Moses,  out  of  the  midst  of  the  cloud. 

17  And  the  sight  of  the  glory  of  the  Lord 
was  like  y  devouring  fire,  on  the  top  of  the 
mount,  in  the  eyes  of  the  children  of  Israel. 

18  And  Moses  went  into  the  midst  of  the 
cloud,  and  gat  him  up  into  the  mount :  and 
z  Moses  was  in  the  mount  forty  days  and 
forty  nights. 


nEzek.  i.  26  ;  x.  1  ;  Rev.  iv.  3. - 0  Matt.  xvii.  2. - P  Chap. 

xix.  21. - 1  Ver.  10  ;  chap,  xxxiii.  20 ;  Gen.  xvi.  13  ;  xxxii.  30  ; 

Deut.  iv.  33  ;  Judg.  xiii.  22. - r  Gen.  xxxi.  54  ;  chap,  xviii.  12  ; 

1  Cor.  x.  18. - s  Ver.  2,  15,  18. - 1  Chap.  xxxi.  18  ;  xxxii.  15, 


16;  Deut.  v.  22. - u  Chap,  xxxii.  17;  xxxiii.  11. - vVer.  2. 

w  Chap.  xix.  9, 16  ;  Matt.  xvii.  5. - x  Chap.  xvi.  10  ;  Num.  xiv. 

10. - y  Chapter  iii.  2  ;  xix.  18  ;  Deut.  iv.  36  ;  Heb.  xii.  18,  29. 

z  Chap,  xxxiv.  28;  Deut.  ix.  9. 


In  Scheuchzer’s  Physica  Sacra,  among  his  numerous 
fine  engravings,  there  is  one  of  this  glorious  manifes¬ 
tation,  which  cannot  be  too  severely  reprehended. 
The  Supreme  Being  is  represented  as  an  old  man, 
sitting  on  a  throne,  encompassed  with  glory,  having  a 
crown  on  his  head,  and  a  sceptre  in  his  hand,  the 
people  prostrate  in  adoration  at  the  foot  of  the  piece. 
A  print  of  this  kind  should  be  considered  as  utterly 
improper,  if  not  blasphemous. 

Verse  1 1 .  Upon  the  nobles  of — Israel  he  laid  not  his 
hand ]  This  laying  on  of  the  hand  has  been  variously 
explained.  1.  He  did  not  conceal  himself  from  the 
nobles  of  Israel  by  covering  them  with  his  hand,  as  he 
did  Moses,  chap,  xxxiii.  22.  2.  He  did  not  endue  any 

of  the  nobles,  i.  e.,  the  seventy  elders,  with  the  gift  of 
prophecy  ;  for  so  laying  on  of  the  hand  has  been  under¬ 
stood.  3.  He  did  not  slay  any  of  them  ;  none  of  them 
received  any  injury  ;  which  is  certainly  one  meaning 
of  the  phrase  :  see  Neh.  xiii.  21  ;  Psa.  Iv.  20.  Also 
they  saiv  God,  i.  e.,  although  they  had  this  discovery 
of  his  majesty,  yet  they  did  eat  and  drink,  i.  e.,  were 
preserved  alive  and  unhurt.  Perhaps  the  eating  and 
drinking  here  may  refer  to  the  peace-offerings  on 
which  they  feasted,  and  the  libations  that  were  then 
offered  on  the  ratification  of  the  covenant.  But  they 
rejoiced  the  more  because  they  had  been  so  highly 
favoured,  and  were  still  permitted  to  live  ;  for  it  was 
generally  apprehended  that  God  never  showed  his  glory 
in  this  signal  manner  but  for  the  purpose  of  manifest¬ 
ing  his  justice  ;  and  therefore  it  appeared  a  strange 
thing  that  these  should  have  seen  God  as  it  were  face 
to  face,  and  yet  live.  See  Gen.  xvi.  13  ;  xxxiii.  30  ; 
and  Judg.  xiii.  22,  23. 

Verse  12.  Come  up  to  me  into  the  mount,  and  be 
there]  We  may  suppose  Moses  to  have  been,  with 
Aaron,  Nadab,  Abihu,  and  the  seventy  elders,  about 
midway  up  the  mount ;  for  it  plainly  appears  that  there 
were  several  stations  on  it. 

424 


Verse  13.  Moses  rose  up\  In  verse  16  it  is  said 
that  the  glory  of  the  Lord  abode  on  the  mount,  and  the 
cloud  covered  it.  The  glory  wras  probably  above  the 
cloud,  and  it  was  to  the  cloud  that  Moses  and  his  ser¬ 
vant  Joshua  ascended  at  this  time,  leaving  Aaron  and 
the  elders  below.  After  they  had  been  in  this  region, 
viz.,  where  the  cloud  encompassed  the  mountain,  for 
six  days,  God  appears  to  have  called  Moses  up  higher : 
compare  the  16th  and  1 8t,h  verses.  Moses  then  as¬ 
cended  to  the  glory,  leaving  Joshua  in  the  cloud,  with 
whom  he  had,  no  doubt,  frequent  conferences  during  the 
forty  days  he  continued  with  God  on  the  mount. 

Verse  14.  Tarry  ye  here  for  us]  Probably  Moses 
did  not  know  that  he  was  to  continue  so  long  on  the 
mount,  nor  is  it  likely  that  the  elders  tarried  the  whole 
forty  days  where  they  were  :  they  doubtless,  after 
waiting  some  considerable  time,  returned  to  the  camp  ; 
and  their  return  is  supposed  to  have  been  the  grand 
cause  why  the  Israelites  made  the  golden  calf,  as  they 
probably  reported  that  Moses  was  lost. 

Aaron  and  Hur  are  with  you]  Not  knowing  how 
long  he  might  be  detained  on  the  mount,  and  knowing 
that  many  cases  might  occur  which  would  require  the 
interference  of  the  chief  magistrate,  Moses  constituted 
them  regents  of  the  people  during  the  time  he  should 
be  absent. 

Verse  16.  And  the  seventh  day  he  called ]  It  is  very 
likely  that  Moses  went  up  into  the  mount  on  the  first 
day  of  the  week  ;  and  having  with  Joshua  remained 
in  the  region  of  the  cloud  during  six  days,  on  the 
seventh,  which  was  the  Sabbath,  God  spake  to  him, 
and  delivered  successively  to  him,  during  forty  days 
and  forty  nights,  the  different  statutes  and  ordinances 
which  are  afterwards  mentioned. 

Verse  17.  The  glory  of  the  Lord  was  like  devouring 
fire ]  This  appearance  was  well  calculated  to  inspire 
the  people  with  the  deepest  reverence  and  godly  fear ; 
and  this  is  the  use  the  apostle  makes  of  it,  Heb,  xii. 

a 


The  people  required  to  bring 


CHAP.  XXV. 


28,  29,  where  he  evidently  refers  to  this  place,  say¬ 
ing,  Let  us  have  grace  whereby  we  may  serve  God 
acceptably  with  reverence  and  godly  fear ;  for  our 
God  is  a  consuming  fire.  Seeing  the  glory  of  the 
Lord  upon  the  mount  like  a  devouring  fire,  Moses  hav¬ 
ing  tarried  long,  the  Israelites  probably  supposed  that 
he  had  been  devoured  or  consumed  by  it,  and  therefore 
the  more  easily  fell  into  idolatry.  But  how  could  they 
do  this,  with  this  tremendous  sight  of  God’s  glory 
before  their  eyes  1 

Verse  18.  Forty  days  and  forty  nights. \  During 
the  whole  of  this  time  he  neither  ate  bread  nor  drank 
water;  see  chap,  xxxiv.  28  ;  Deut.  ix.  9.  Both  his 
body  and  soul  were  so  sustained  by  the  invigorating 
presence  of  God,  that  he  needed  no  earthly  support, 
and  this  may  be  the  simple  reason  why  he  took  none. 
Elijah  fasted  forty  days  and  forty  nights,  sustained  by 
the  same  influence,  1  Kings  xix.  8  ;  as  did  likewise 
our  blessed  Lord,  when  he  was  about  to  commence  the 
public  ministry  of  his  own  Gospel,  Matt.  iv.  2. 

1.  Moses,  who  was  the  mediator  of  the  Old  Cove¬ 
nant,  is  alone  permitted  to  draw  nigh  to  God  ;  none 


free-will  offerings  to  the  Lord 

of  the  people  are  suffered  to  come  up  to  the  Divine 
glory,  not  even  Aaron,  nor  his  sons,  nor  the  nobles  of 
Israel.  Moses  was  a  type  of  Christ,  who  is  the  me¬ 
diator  of  the  New  Covenant ;  and  he  alone  hasp  access 
to  God  in  behalf  of  the  human  race,  as  Moses  had  in 
behalf  of  Israel. 

2.  The  law  can  inspire  nothing  but  terror,  when 
viewed  unconnected  with  its  sacrifices,  and  those  sa¬ 
crifices  are  nothing  but  as  they  refer  to  Jesus  Christ, 
the  Lamb  of  God,  who  alone  by  the  sacrifice  of  himself, 
bears  away  the  sin  of  the  world. 

3.  The  blood  of  the  victims  was  sprinkled  both  on 
the  altar  and  on  the  people ,  to  show  that  the  death  of 
Christ  gave  to  Divine  justice  what  it  demanded,  and 
to  men  what  they  needed.  The  people  were  sancti¬ 
fied  by  it  unto  God,  and  God  was  propitiated  by  it  unto 
the  people.  By  this  sacrifice  the  law  was  magnified 
and  made  honourable,  so  Divine  justice  received  its 
due  ;  and  those  who  believe  are  justified  from  all  guilt, 
and  sanctified  from  all  sin,  so  they  receive  all  that  they 
need.  Thus  God  is  well  pleased,  and  believers  eter¬ 
nally  saved.  This  is  a  glorious  economy,  highly 
worthy  of  God  its  author. 


CHAPTER  XXV. 


The  Lord  addresses  Moses  out  of  the  Divine  glory ,  and  commands  him  to  speak  unto  the  Israelites ,  that  they 
may  give  him  free-will  offerings,  1,  2.  The  different  kinds  of  offerings,  gold,  silver,  and  brass,  3.  Purple,, 
scarlet,  fine  linen,  and  goats’  hair,  4.  Rams’  skins,  badgers’  skins,  {rather  violet -coloured  skins,)  and  shitims 
wood,  5.  Oil  and  spices,  6.  Onyx  stones,  and  stones  for  the  ephod  and  breastplate,  7.  A  sanctuary  is 
to  be  made  after  the  pattern  of  the  tabernacle ,  8,  9.  The  ark  and  its  dimensions,  10.  Its  crown  of  gold,  1 1. 
/tarings,  12.  Its  staves,  and  their  use,  13—15.  The  testimony  to  be  laid  up  in  the  ark,  16,  The 
mercy-seat  and  its  dimensions,  17.  The  cherubim,  how  made  and  placed,  18-20.  The  mercy  scat  to  be 
placed  on  the  ark,  and  the  testimony  to  be  put  within  it,  21.  The  Lord  promises  to  commune  with  the 
people  from  the  mercy-seat ,  22.  The  table  of  shew-bread,  and  its  dimensions,  23.  Its  crown  and  border 
of  gold,  24,  25.  Its  rings,  26,  27.  Staves,  28.  Dishes,  spoons,  and  bowls',  29.  Its  use,  30.  The 
golden  candlestick;  its  branches ,  bowls,  knops,  and  flowers,  31—36.  Its  seven  lamps,  37.  Tongs  and 
snuffers,  38.  The  weight  of  the  candlestick  and  its  utensils,  one  talent  of  gold ,  39.  All  to  be  made, 
according  to  the  pattern  showed  to  Moses  on  the  mount ,  40. 


A.  M.  2513.  A  ND  the  Lord  spake  unto 

B.  C.  1491.  Lx.  __  .  r 

An.  Exod.  Isr.  l.  Moses,  saying, 

Slvan’  2  Speak  unto  the  children  of 

Israel,  that  they  a  bring  me  an  b  offering : 

a  Hebrew,  take  for  me. - b  Or,  heave-offering. 


c  of  every  man  that  mveth  it  a.  M.  2513. 

J  .  ,  .  .  ,  &  B.  C.  1491. 

willingly  with  his  heart,  ye  shall  An.  Exod.  isr.  i. 

take  my  offering.  Slvan~ 

3  And  this  is  the  offering  which  ye  shall 

c  Chap.  xxxv.  5, 21  ;  1  Chron.  xxix.  3,  5,  9,  14 ;  Ezra  ii.  68 ; 
iii.  5  ;  vii.  16  ;  Neh.  xi.  2  ;  2  Cor.  viii.  12  ;  ix.  7. 


NOTES  ON  CHAP.  XXV. 

Verse  2.  That  they  bring  me  an  offering ]  The 
offering  here  mentioned  is  the  nD1"lO  terumah,  a  kind 
of  free-will  offering,  consisting  of  any  thing  that  was 
necessary  for  the  occasion.  It  signifies  properly  any 
thing  that  was  lifted  up,  the  heave- offering ,  because 
in  presenting  it  to  God  it  was  lifted  up  to  be  laid  on 
his  altar;  but  see  on  chap.  xxix.  26.  God  requires 
that  they  should  build  him  a  tent,  suited  in  some  sort 
to  his  dignity  and  eminence,  because  he  was  to  act  as 
their  king,  and  to  dwell  among  them ;  and  they  were 
to  consider  themselves  as  his  subjects,  and  in  this 
character  to  bin.g  him  presents,  which  was  considered 
to  be  the  duty  of  every  subject  appearing  before  his 
prince.  See  chap,  xxiii.  15. 

a 


Verse  3.  This  is  the  offering ]  There  were  three 
kinds  of  metals:  1.  Gold,  271?  zahab,  which  may 
properly  signify  wrought  gold ;  what  was  bright  and 
resplendent ,  as  the  word  implies.  In  Job  xxviii.  15, 
16,  17,  19,  gold  is  mentioned  five  times,  and  four  of 
the  words  are  different  in  the  original.  1.  *UiD  segor, 
from  AID  sagar,  to  shut  up  ;  gold  in  the  mine,  or  shut 
up  in  its  ore.  2.  DAD  kethem,  from  DAD  cat  ham,  t© 
sign,  seal,  or  stamp  ;  gold  made  current  by  being  coined ; 
standard  or  sterling  gold,  exhibiting  the  stamp  expres¬ 
sive  of  its  value.  3.  DH?  zahab,  wrought  gold,  pure , 
highly  polished  gold ;  probably  what  was  used  for 
overlaying  or  gilding.  4.  T3  paz,  denoting  solidity , 
compactness,  and  strength  ;  probably  gold  formed  into 
different  kinds  of  plate,  as  it  is  joined  in  ver.  17  of 

425 


EXODUS. 


The  different  offerings 


to  be  brought  to  the  Lord 


a.  M.  2513.  take  of  them  ;  gold,  and  silver, 

B.  C.  1491.  ,  .  >  e>  ’ 

An.  Exod.  Isr.  l.  and  brass, 

Slvan'  4  And  blue,  and  purple,  and 

,  -  -  -  _  .  -  -  -•*  — .  - - 

d  Or,  silk ; 

the  above  chapter  with  ,!7D  keley ,  vessels.  The  zahab , 
or  pure  gold ,  is  here  mentioned,  because  it  was  in  a 
state  that  rendered  it  capable  of  being  variously  manu¬ 
factured  for  the  service  of  the  sanctuary. 

2.  Silver,  fpD  kesepb ,  from  casaph ,  to  be  pale ,  wan , 
or  white ;  so  called  from  its  well-known  colour. 

3.  Brass,  nechosheth,  copper ;  unless  we  sup¬ 
pose  that  the  factitious  metal  commonly  called  brass 
is  intended  :  this  is  formed  by  a  combination  of  the 
oxide  or  ore  of  zinc,  called  lapis  calaminaris,  with 
copper.  Brass  seems  to  have  been  very  anciently  in 
use,  as  we  find  it  mentioned  Gen.  iv.  22  ;  and  the 
preparation  of  copper,  to  transform  it  into  this  facti¬ 
tious  metal,  seems  to  be  very  pointedly  referred  to 
Job  xxviii.  2  :  Iron  is  taken  out  of  the  earth ,  and  brass 
is  molten  out  of  the  stone  ;  nBnnJ  pUT  pX  eben  yatsuk 
nechushah ,  translated  by  the  Vulgate,  Lapis,  solutus 
calore ,  in  ccs  vertitur ,  “  The  stone,  liquefied  by  heat, 
is  turned  into  brass.”  Is  it  going  too  far.  to  say  that 
the  stone  here  may  refer  to  the  lapis  calaminaris ,  which 
was  used  to  turn  the  copper  into  brass  1  Because  brass 
was  capable  of  so  fine  a  polish  as  to  become  exceedingly 
bright,  and  keep  its  lustre  a  considerable  time,  hence 
it  was  used  for  all  weapons  of  war  and  defensive  armour 
among  ancient  nations  ;  and  copper  seems  to  have  been 
in  no  repute,  but  for  its  use  in  making  brass. 

Verse  4.  Blue ]  nbnn  techeleth ,  generally  supposed 
to  mean  an  azure  or  sky  colour ;  rendered  by  the  Sep- 
tuagint  vatavOov ,  and  by  the  Vulgate  hyacinthum ,  a 
sky-blue  or  deep  violet. 

Purple ]  argaman,  a  very  precious  colour, 

extracted  from  the  purpura  or  murex,  a  species  of 
shell-fish,  from  which  it  is  supposed  the  famous  Tyrian 
purple  came,  so  costly,  and  so  much  celebrated  in 
antiquity.  See  this  largely  described,  and  the  manner 
of  dying  it,  in  Pliny,  Hist.  Nat.,  lib.  ix.,  c.  60-65, 
edit.  Bipont. 

Scarlet]  fijAin  tolaath,  signifies  a  worm,  of  which 
this  colouring  matter  was  made  ;  and,  joined  with  'Jt? 
shard ,  which  signifies  to  repeat  or  double ,  implies  that 
to  strike  this  colour  the  wool  or  cloth  was  twice  dip¬ 
ped  :  hence  the  Vulgate  renders  the  original  coccum  bis 
iinctum,  “  scarlet  twice  dyed  and  to  this  Horace 
refers,  Odar.,  lib.  ii.,  od.  16,  v.  35  : — 

- Te  bis  Jgfro 

Murice  tinct^: 

Vestiunt  lan^e. - 

“  Thy  robes  the  twice  dyed  purple  stains.” 

It  is  the  same  colour  which  the  Arabs  call  al  kermez , 
whence  the  French  cramoisi,  and  the  English  crimson. 
On  this  subject  much,  may  be  seen  in  Bochart,  Calmet, 
and  Scheuchzer. 

Fine  linen]  WW  shesh  ;  whether  this  means  linen, 
cotton,  or  silk,  is  not  agreed  on  among  interpreters. 
Because  WW  shesh  signifies  six,  the  rabbins  suppose 
that  it  always  signifies  the  fine  linen  of  Egypt,  in 
which  six  folds  constituted  one  thread  ;  and  that  when 

426 


scarlet,  and  d  fine  linen,  and  goats’  a.  m.  2513. 

hair  ,'  An.  Exod.  Isr.  1 

5  And  rams’  skins  dyed  red,  SlYan' 

Gen.  xli.  42. 

a  single  fold  was  meant,  "13  bad  is  the  term  used.  See 
the  note  on  Gen.  xli.  42. 

Goats'  hair]  D'lp  izzim,  goats,  but  used  here  ellip- 
tically  for  goats’  hair.  In  different  parts  of  Asia  Minor, 
Syria,  Cilicia,  and  Phrygia,  the  goats  have  long,  fine, 
and  beautiful  hair,  in  some  cases  almost  as  fine  as  silk, 
which  they  shear  at  proper  times,  and  manufacture  into 
garments.  From  Virgil,  Georg,  iii.,  v.  305—311,  we 
learn  that  goats’  hair  manufactured  into  cloth  was 
nearly  of  equal  value  with  that  formed  from  wool. 

Hae  quoque  non  cura  nobis  leviore  tuendw; 

Nec  minor  usus  erit :  quamvis  Milesia  magno 
Vellera  mutentur,  Tyrios  incocta  rubores. — 

Nec  minus  interea  barbas  incanaque  menta 
Cinyphii  tondent  hirci,  setasque  comantes, 

Usum  in  castrorum,  et  miseris  velamina  nautis. 

“For  hairy  goats  of  equal  profit  are 
With  woolly  sheep,  and  ask  an  equal  care. 

’Tis  true  the  fleece  when  drunk  with  Tyrian  juice 
Is  dearly  sold,  but  not  for  needful  use  : 

Meanwhile  the  pastor  shears  their  hoary  beards 
And  eases  of  their  hair  the  loaden  herds. 

Their  camelots,  warm  in  tents,  the  soldier  hold, 
And  shield  the  shivering  mariner  from  the  cold.” 

Dryden. 

Verse  5.  Rams'  skins  dyed  red]  D’DHND  dVx  FHV 
oroth  eylim  meoddamim,  literally,  the  skins  of  red  rams. 
It  is  a  fact  attested  by  many  respectable  travellers, 
that  in  the  Levant  sheep  are  often  to  be  met  with  that 
have  red  or  violet-coloured  fleeces.  And  almost  all 
ancient  writers  speak  of  the  same  thing.  Homer 
describes  the  rams  of  Polyphemus  as  having  a  violet- 
coloured  fleece. 


A pcrevEg  oieq  rjaav  EvrpEtpEEq,  dacvpa^oi, 

K aXoi  te,  yeyaloi  te,  tobvEtyeg  Eipoq  exovTEq. 

Odyss.,  lib.  ix.,  ver.  425. 

“  Strong  were  the  rams,  with  native  purple  fair, 

Well  fed,  and  largest  of  the  fleecy  care.”  Pope. 

Pliny,  Aristotle,  and  others  mention  the  same.  And 
from  facts  of  this  kind  it  is  very  probable  that  the  fable 
of  the  golden  fleece  had  its  origin.  In  the  Zetland  Isles 
I  have  seen  sheep  with  variously  coloured  fleeces,  some 
white,  some  black,  some  black  and  white,  some  of  a  very 
fine  chocolate  colour.  Beholding  those  animals  brought 
to  my  recollection  those  words  of  Virgil : — 

Ipse  sed  in  pratis  Aries  jam  suave  rubenti 
Murice,  jam  croceo  mutabit  vellera  luto. 

.  Eclog.  iv.,  ver.  43. 


“No  wool  shall  in  dissembled  colours  shine  ; 

But  the  luxurious  father  of  the  fold, 

With  native  purple  or  unborrow’d  gold, 

Beneath  his  pompous  fleece  shall  proudly  sweat, 
And  under  Tyrian  robes  the  lamb  shall  bleat.” 

Dryden. 


a 


The  people  directed, 


CHAP.  XXV. 


to  make  the  sanctuary 


A.  M.  2513. 

B.  C.  1491. 


and  badgers’  skins,  and  shittim 

d.  \j.  I'iyi.  , 

An.  Exod.  Isr.  1.  WOOd 

Slvan‘  6  e  Oil  for  the  light,  f  spices 
for  anointing  oil,  and  for  *  sweet  incense  ; 

e  Chapter  xxvii.  20. - f  Chapter  xxx.  23. - s  Chapter  xxx.  34- 

h  Chap,  xxviii.  4,  6. 

Badgers'  sArms]  D'itfnn  oroth  techashim.  Few 
terms  have  afforded  greater  perplexity  to  critics  and 
commentators  than  this.  Bochart  has  exhausted  the 
subject,  and  seems  to  have  proved  that  no  kind  of  ani¬ 
mal  is  here  intended,  but  a  colour.  None  of  the  ancient 
versions  acknowledge  an  animal  of  any  kind  except  the 
Chaldee,  which  seems  to  think  the  badger  is  intended, 
and  from  it  we  have  borrowed  our  translation  of  the 
word.  The  Septuagint  and  Yulgate  have  skins  dyed 
a  violet  colour  ;  the  Syriac,  azure ;  the  Arabic,  black ; 
the  Coptic,  violet ;  the  modern  Persic,  ram-skins ,  &c. 
The  colour  contended  for  by  Bochart  is  the  hysginus , 
which  is  a  very  deep  blue.  So  Pliny,  Coccoque  tinc- 
tum  Tyrio  tingere,  ut  jieret  hysginum.  “  They  dip 
crimson  in  purple  to  make  the  colour  called  hysgi¬ 
nus.'1'' — Hist.  Nat.,  lib.  ix.,  c.  65,  edit.  Bipont. 

Shittim  ivood ]  By  some  supposed  to  be  the  finest 
species  of  the  cedar ;  by  others,  the  acacia  Nilotica, 
a  species  of  thorn ,  solid,  light,  and  very  beautiful. 
This  acacia  is  known  to  have  been  plentiful  in  Egypt, 
and  it  abounds  in  Arabia  Deserta,  the  very  place  in 
which  Moses  was  when  he  built  the  tabernacle  ;  and 
hence  it  is  reasonable  to  suppose  that  he  built  it  of  that 
wood,  which  was  every  way  proper  for  his  purpose. 

Verse  6.  Oil  for  the  light ]  This  they  must  have 
brought  with  them  from  Egypt,  for  they  could  not  get 
any  in  the  wilderness  where  there  were  no  olives  ; 
but  it  is  likely  that  this  and  some  other  directions 
refer  more  to  what  was  to  be  done  when  in  their 
fixed  and  settled  residence,  than  while  wandering  in 
the  wilderness. 

Spices ]  To  make  a  confection  for  sweet  incense, 

abounded  in  different  parts  of  these  countries. 

Verse  7.  Onyx  stones ]  We  have  already  met  with 
the  stone  called  Dn*tf  shoham,  Gen.  ii.  12,  and  acknow¬ 
ledged  the  difficulty  of  ascertaining  what  is  meant  by 
it.  Some  think  the  onyx,  some  the  sardine,  and  some 
the  emerald,  is  meant.  We  cannot  say  precisely  what 
it  was  ;  possibly  it  might  have  been  that  fine  pale 
pebble,  called  the  Egyptian  pebble,  several  specimens 
of  which  now  lie  before  me,  which  were  brought  from 
the  coast  of  the  Red  Sea,  and  other  parts  in  Egypt, 
by  a  particular  friend  of  mine,  on  purpose  to  add  to 
my  collection  of  minerals. 

Stones  to  be  set  in  the  ephod]  D'nSd  D3N  abney 
milluim,  stones  of  filling  up.  Stones  so  cut  as  to  be 
proper  to  be  set  in  the  gold  work  of  the  breastplate. 

The  “!3X  ephod. — It  is  very  difficult  to  tell  what  this 
was,  or  in  what  form  it  was  made.  It  was  a  garment 
of  some  kind  peculiar  to  the  priests,  and  ever  consi¬ 
dered  essential  to  all  the  parts  of  Divine  worship,  for 
without  it  no  person  attempted  to  inquire  of  God.  As 
the  word  itself  comes  from  the  root  TDX  aphad,  he  tied 
or  bound  close,  Calmet  supposes  that  it  was  a  kind  of 
girdle,  which,  brought  from  behind  the  neck  and  over 
the  shoulders,  and  so  hanging  down  before,  was  put 

a 


7  Onyx  stones,  and  stones  to  a.  m.  2513. 

be  set  in  the  h  ephod,  and  in  the  An.  Exod. Isr.  1. 
*  breastplate.  Slvan‘ 

8  And  let  them  make  me  a  k  sanctuary ; 


i  Chap 


1.  xxviii.  15. - k  Chap,  xxxvi.  1,  3,  4  ;  Lev.  iv.  6;  x.  4  ; 

xxi.  12  ;  Heb.  ix.  1,  2. 

cross  upon  the  stomach,  and  then  carried  round  the 
waist,  and  thus  made  a  girdle  to  the  tunic.  Where 
the  ephod  crossed  on  the  breast  there  was  a  square 
ornament  called  jtyn  choshen,  the  breastplate,  in  which 
twelve  precious  stones  were  set,  each  bearing  one  of 
the  names  of  the  twelve  sons  of  Jacob  engraven  on  it 
There  were  two  sorts  of  ephods,  one  of  plain  linen  for 
the  priests,  the  other  very  much  embroidered  for  the 
high  priest.  As  there  was  nothing  singular  in  this 
common  sort,  no  particular  description  is  given ;  but 
that  of  the  high  priest  is  described  very  much  in  detail 
chap,  xxviii.  6-8.  It  was  distinguished  from  the  com¬ 
mon  ephod  by  being  composed  of  gold,  blue ,  purple , 
scarlet,  fine  twisted  linen,  and  cunning  icork,  i.  e., 
superbly  ornamented  and  embroidered.  This  ephod 
was  fastened  on  the  shoulders  with  two  precious  stones, 
on  which  the  twelve  names  of  the  twelve  tribes  of 
Israel  were  engraved,  six  names  on  each  stone.  These 
two  stones,  thus  engraved,  were  different  from  those 
on  the  breastplate,  with  which  they  have  been  con¬ 
founded.  From  Calmet’s  description  the  ephod  seems 
to  have  been  a  series  of  belts,  fastened  to  a  collar, 
which  were  intended  to  keep  the  garments  of  th@ 
priest  closely  attached  to  his  body  :  but  there  is  some 
reason  to  believe  that  it  was  a  sort  of  garment  like 
that  worn  by  our  heralds ;  it  covered  the  back,  breast, 
and  belly,  and  was  open  at  the  sides.  A  piece  of  the 
same  kind  of  stuff  with  itself  united  it  on  the  shoulders, 
where  the  two  stones,  already  mentioned,  were  placed, 
and  it  was  probably  without  sleeves.  See  on  chap, 
xxviii.  2,  &c. 

Verse  8.  Let  them  make  me  a  sanctuary\  KHpD 
mikdash,  a  holy  place,  such  as  God  might  dwell  in  ; 
this  was  that  part  of  the  tabernacle  that  was  called  the 
most  holy  place,  into  which  the  high  priest  entered 
only  once  a  year,  on  the  great  day  of  atonement. 

That  I  may  dwell  among  them?[  “  This,”  says  Mr. 
Ainsworth,  “  was  the  main  end  of  all ;  and  to  this  all 
the  particulars  are  to  be  referred,  and  by  this  they 
are  to  be  opened.  For  this  sanctuary,  as  Solomon’s 
temple  afterwards,  was  the  place  of  prayer,  and  of 
the  public  service  of  God,  Lev.  xvii.  4—6  ;  Matt.  xxi. 
13  ;  and  it  signified  the  Church  which  is  the  habita¬ 
tion  of  God  through  the  Spirit,  2  Cor.  vi.  16  ;  Eph. 
ii.  19—22  ;  Rev.  xxi.  2,  3  ;  and  was  a  visible  sign  of 
God’s  presence  and  protection,  Lev.  xxvi.  11,  12; 
Ezek.  xxxvii.  27,  28  ;  1  Kings  vi.  12,  13  ;  and  of  his 
leading  them  to  his  heavenly  glory.  For  as  the  high 
priest  entered  into  the  tabernacle,  and  through  the  veil 
into  the  most  holy  place  where  God  dwelt  ;  so  Christ 
entered  into  the  holy  of  holies,  and  we  also  enter 
through  the  veil,  that  is  to  say  his  flesh.  See  the  use 
made  of  this  by  the  apostle,  Heb,  ix.  and  x.  Thus 
the  sanctuary  is  to  be  applied  as  a  type,  1.  To  Christ's 
person,  Heb.  viii.  2  ;  ix.  11,  12  ;  John  ii.  19—21. 
2.  To  every  Christian,  1  Cor.  vi.  19.  3.  To  the 

427 


EXODUS. 


Directions  for  the 


construction  of  the  ark. 


a.  M,  2513.  that  1 1  may  dwell  among 

B.  C.  1491.  .  J  n 

An.  Exod.  Isr.  1.  them. 

Slvan~  9  m  According  to  all  that  I 
show  thee,  after  the  pattern  of  the  tabernacle, 
and  the  pattern  of  all  the  instruments  thereof, 
even  so  shall  ye  make  it. 

10  n  And  they  shall  make  an  ark  of  shittim 
wood :  two  cubits  and  a  half  shall  he  the 
length  thereof,  and  a  cubit  and  a  half  the 
breadth  thereof,  and  a  cubit  and  a  half  the 
height  thereof. 

1 1  And  thou  shalt  overlay  it  with  pure  gold, 
within  and  without  shalt  thou  overlay  it,  and 
shalt  make  upon  it  a  crown  of  gold  round  about. 

1  Chap.  xxix.  45  ;  1  Kings  vi.  13  ;  2  Cor.  vi.  16  ;  Heb.  iii.  6  ; 

Rev.  xxi.  3. - m  Ver.  40. - n  Chapter  xxxvii.  1  ;  Deut.  x.  3  ; 

Heb.  ix.  4. 


Church ;  both  particular,  Heb.  iii.  6;  1  Tim.  iii.  15; 
and  universal ,  Heb.  x.  21 :  and  it  was  because  of  the 
very  extensive  signification  of  this  building,  that  the 
different  things  concerning  this  sanctuary  are  particu¬ 
larly  set  down  by  Moses,  and  so  variously  applied  by 
the  prophets  and  by  the  apostles.” — See  Ainsworth. 
As  the  dwelling  in  this  tabernacle  was  the  highest 
proof  of  God’s  grace  and  mercy  towards  the  Israelites, 
so  it  typified  Christ’s  dwelling  by  faith  in  the  hearts 
of  believers,  and  thus  giving  them  the  highest  and 
surest  proof  of  their  reconciliation  to  God,  and  of  his 
love  and  favour  to  them;  see  Eph.  i.  22,  iii.  17. 

V erse  9.  After  the  pattern  of  the  tabernacle\  It  has 
been  supposed  that  there  had  been  a  tabernacle  before 
that  erected  by  Moses,  though  it  probably  did  not  now 
exist ;  but  the  tabernacle  which  Moses  is  ordered  to 
make  was  to  be  formed  exactly  on  the  model  of  this 
ancient  one,  the  pattern  of  which  God  showed  him  in 
the  mount,  ver.  40.  The  word  mishcan  signifies 
literally  the  dwelling  or  habitation ;  and  this  was  so 
called  because  it  was  the  dwelling  place  of  God  ;  and 
the  only  place  on  the  earth  in  which  he  made  himself 
manifest.  See  the  note  on  ver.  40,  and  on  chapter 
xxxiii.  7-10. 

Verse  10.  They  shall  make  an  ark]  aron  sig¬ 

nifies  an  ark ,  chest,  coffer,  or  coffin.  It  is  used  par¬ 
ticularly  to  designate  that  chest  or  coffer  in  which  the 
testimony  or  two  tables  of  the  covenant  was  laid  up, 
on  the  top  of  which  was  the  propitiatory  or  mercy-seat , 
(see  on  ver.  17,)  and  at  the  end  of  which  were  the 
cherubim  of  gold,  (ver.  18—20,)  between  whom  the  visi¬ 
ble  sign  of  the  presence  of  the  supreme  God  appeared 
as  seated  upon  his  throne.  The  ark  was  the  most 
excellent  of  all  the  holy  things  which  belonged  to  the 
Mosaic  economy,  and  for  its  sake  the  tabernacle  and 
the  temple  were  built,  chap.  xxvi.  33  ;  xl.  18,  21.  It 
was  considered  as  conferring  a  sanctity  wherever  it 
was  fixed,  2  Chron.  viii.  11;  2  Sam.  vi.  12. 

Two  cubits  and  a  half  shall  be  the  length,  4'C.] 
About  four  feet  five  inches  in  length,  taking  the  cubit 
as  twenty-one  inches,  and  two  feet  six  inches  in  breadth 
and  in  depth,  As  this  ark  was  chiefly  intended  to 

438 


1 2  And  thou  shalt  cast  four  a.  m.  2513. 
rings  of  gold  for  it,  and  put  them  An.  Exod.  isr’.  1. 
in  the  four  corners  thereof ;  and  felvan~ 
two  rings  shall  he  in  the  one  side  of  it,  and 
two  rings  in  the  other  side  of  it. 

13  And  thou, shalt  make  staves  of  shittim 
wood,  and  overlay  them  with  gold. 

14  And  thou  shalt  put  the  staves  into  the 
rings  by  the  sides  of  the  ark,  that  the  ark  may 
be  borne  with  them. 

15  0  The  staves  shall  be  in  the  rings  of  the 
ark ;  they  shall  not  be  taken  from  it. 

16  And  thou  shalt  put  into  the  ark  p  the 
testimony  which  I  shall  give  thee. 

0  1  Kings  viii.  8. - P  Chapter  xvi.  34  ;  xxxi.  18  ;  Deut.  x.  2, 

5  ;  xxxi.  26 ;  1  Kings  viii.  9 ;  2  Kings  xi.  12 ;  Hebrews 
ix.  4. 


deposit  the  two  tables  of  stone  in,  which  had  been 
written  by  the  finger  of  God,  we  may  very  reasonably 
conjecture  that  the  length  of  those  tables  was  not  less 
than  four  feet  and  their  breadth  not  less  than  two. 
As  to  their  thickness  we  can  say  nothing,  as  the  depth 
of  the  ark  was  intended  for  other  matters  besides  the 
two  tables,  such  as  Aaron’s  rod,  the  pot  of  manna,  &c., 
&c.,  though  probably  these  were  laid  up  beside,  not 
in,  the  ark. 

Verse  11  .A  crown  of  gold  round  about.]  A  border, 
or,  as  the  Septuagint  have  it,  nvyana  xPvoa  arpenra 
kvk?Ux),  waves  of  gold  wreathed  round  about. 

Verse  15.  The  staves — shall  not  be  taken  from  it  '. ] 
Because  it  should  ever  be  considered  as  in  readiness 
to  be  removed,  God  not  having  told  them  at  what  hour 
he  should  command  them  to  strike  their  tents.  If  the 
staves  were  never  to  be  taken  out,  how  can  it  be  said, 
as  in  Num.  iv.  6,  that  when  the  camp  should  set  for¬ 
ward,  they  should  put  in  the  staves  thereof,  which  in¬ 
timates  that  when  they  encamped  they  took  out  the 
staves,  which  appears  to  be  contrary  to  what  is  here 
said  1  To  reconcile  these  two  places,  it  has  been  sup¬ 
posed,  with  great  show  of  probability,  that  besides  the 
staves  which  passed  through  the  rings  of  the  ark,  and 
by  which  it  was  carried,  there  were  two  other  staves 
or  poles  in  the  form  of  a  bier  or  hand-barrow,  on  which 
the  ark  was  laid  in  order  to  be  transported  in  their 
journeyings,  when  it  and  its  own  staves,  still  in  their 
rings,  had  been  wrapped  up  in  the  covering  of  what  is 
called  badgers'  skins  and  blue  cloth.  The  staves  of 
the  ark  itself,  which  might  be  considered  as  its  handles 
simply  to  lift  it  by,  were  never  taken  out  of  their  rings  ; 
but  the  staves  or  poles  which  served  as  a  bier  were 
taken  from  under  it  when  they  encamped. 

Verse  16.  The  testimony]  The  two  tables  of  stone, 
which  were  not  yet  given ;  these  tables  were  called 
my  eduth,  from  Ty  forward,  onward ,  to  bear  witness 
to  or  of  a  person  or  thing.  Not  only  the  tables  of 
stone,  but  all  the  contents  of  the  ark,  Aaron’s  rod,  the 
pot  of  manna,  the  holy  anointing  oil,  &c.,  bore  testi¬ 
mony  to  the  Messiah  in  his  prophetic ,  sacerdotal,  and 
reo-al  offices. 


a 


CHAP.  XXV. 


and  the  cherubim . 


The  mercy-seat , 


a.  M.  2513.  17  And  q  thou  shalt  make  a 

B.  C.  1491.  /.  ,, 

An.  Exod.  isr.  l.  mercy-seat  oj  pure  gold:  two 

8lvan~  cubits  and  a  half  shall  be  the 

length  thereof,  and  a  cubit  and  a  half  the 
breadth  thereof. 

18  And  thou  shalt  make  two  cherubims  of 
gold,  of  beaten  work  shalt  thou  make  them,  in 
the  two  ends  of  the  mercy-seat. 

19  And  make  one  cherub  on  the  one  end, 
and  the  other  cherub  on  the  other  end  ;  even 
x  of  the  mercy-seat  shall  ye  make  the  cheru¬ 
bims  on  the  two  ends  thereof. 

20  And  s  the  cherubims  shall  stretch  forth 
their  wings  on  high,  covering  the  mercy-seat 

^  Chap,  xxxvii.  6  ;  Rom.  iii.  25 ;  Heb.  ix.  5. - r  Or,  of  the 

matter  of  the  mercy-seat. - s  1  Kings  viii.  7 ;  1  Chron.  xxviii. 

18  ;  Heb.  ix.  5. - 1  Chap.  xxvi.  34. - u  Ver.  16. - T  Chapter 

xxix.  42,  43  ;  xxx.  6,  36  ;  Lev.  xvi.  2  ;  Num.  xvii.  4. - w  JNum. 

Verse  17.  A  mercy -seat]  rn3D  capporeth ,  from  *133 
caphar ,  to  cover  or  overspread ;  because  by  an  act  of 
pardon  sins  are  represented  as  being  covered,  so  that 
they  no  longer  appear  in  the  eye  of  Divine  justice  to 
displease,  irritate,  and  call  for  punishment ;  and  the 
person  of  the  offender  is  covered  or  protected  from  the 
stroke  of  the  broken  law.  In  the  Greek  version  of 
the  Septuagint  the  word  IXaorr/piov,  hilasterion,  is  used, 
which  signifies  a  propitiatory ,  and  is  the  name  used  by 
the  apostle,  Heb.  ix.  5.  This  mercy -seat  or  propitia¬ 
tory  was  made  of  pure  gold ;  it  was  properly  the  lid 
or  covering  of  that  vessel  so  well  known  by  the  name 
of  the  ark  and  ark  of  the  covenant.  On  and  before 
this,  the  high  priest  was  to  sprinkle  the  blood  of  the 
expiatory  sacrifices  on  the  great  day  of  atonement  : 
and  it  was  in  this  place  that  God  promised  to  meet 
the  people,  (see  ver.  22  ;)  for  there  he  dwelt,  and  there 
was  the  symbol  of  the  Divine  presence.  At  each  end 
of  this  propitiatory  was  a  cherub,  between  whom  this 
glory  was  manifested  ;  hence  in  Scripture  it  is  so  often 
said  that  he  dwelleth  between  the  cherubim.  As  the 
word  ikaarypiov,  propitiatory  or  mercy-seat ,  is  applied 
to  Christ,  Rom.  iii.  25,  whom  God  hath  set  forth  to 
be  a  propitiation  ( l^aarypiov )  through  faith  in  his 
blood — for  the  remission  of  sins  that  are  past ;  hence 
we  learn  that  Christ  was  the  true  mercy-seat,  the 
thing  signified  by  the  capporeth ,  to  the  ancient  be¬ 
lievers.  And  we  learn  farther  that  it  was  by  his  blood 
that  an  atonement  was  to  be  made  for  the  sins  of  the 
world.  And  as  God  showed  himself  between  the 
cherubim  over  this  propitiatory  or  mercy-seat,  so  it  is 
said,  God  ivas  in  Christ  reconciling  the  world  unto  him¬ 
self  ;  2  Cor.  v.  19,  &c.  See  on  Lev.  vii. 

Verse  18.  Thou  shall  make  two  cherubims]  What 
these  were  we  cannot  distinctly  say.  It  is  generally 
supposed  that  a  cherub  was  a  creature  with  four  heads 
and  one  body  :  and  the  animals,  of  which  these  em¬ 
blematical  forms  consisted,  were  the  noblest  of  their 
kinds  ;  the  lion  among  the  wild  beasts,  the  bull  among 
the  tame  ones,  the  eagle  among  the  birds ,  and  man  at 
the  head  of  all ;  so  that  they  might  be,  says  Dr.  Priest¬ 
ley,  the  representatives  of  all  nature.  Concerning 


with  their  wings,  and  their  faces  a.  m.  2513. 
shall  look  one  to  another  ;  toward  An.  Exod.  Isr!  1. 
the  mercy-seat  shall  the  faces  of  Slvan‘ 
the  cherubims  be. 

2 1  1  And  thou  shalt  put  the  mercy-seat  above 
upon  the  ark  ;  and  11  in  the  ark  thou  shalt 
put  the  testimony  that  I  shall  give  thee. 

22  And  v  there  I  will  meet  with  thee,  and 
I  will  commune  with  thee  from  above  the 
mercy-seat,  from  w  between  the  two  cheru¬ 
bims  which  are  upon  the  ark  of  thp  testimony, 
of  all  things  which  I  will  give  thee  in  com¬ 
mandment  unto  the  children  of  Israel. 

23  x  Thou  shalt  also  make  a  table  of  shittim 

vii.  89;  1  Samuel  iv.  4;  2  Samuel  vi.  2;  2  Kings  xix. 

15 ;  Psalm  lxxx.  1  ;  xc.  1  ;  Isaiah  xxxvii.  16. - x  Chap. 

xxxvii.  10;  1  Kings  vii.  48;  2  Chron.  iv.  8;  Hebrews 

ix.  2. 

their  forms  and  design  there  is  much  difference  of 
opinion  among  divines.  It  is  probable  that  the  term 
often  means  a  figure  of  any  kind,  such  as  was  ordi¬ 
narily  sculptured  on  stone,  engraved  on  metal,  carved 
on  wood,  or  embroidered  on  cloth.  See  on  chap.  xxxv. 
8.  It  may  be  only  necessary  to  add,  that  cherub  is 
the  singular  number ;  cherubim,  not  cherubims,  the 
plural.  See  what  has  been  said  on  this  subject  in  the 
note  on  Gen.  iii.  24. 

Verse  22.  And  there  I  will  meet  with  thee ]  That 
is,  over  the  mercy-seat,  between  the  cherubim.  In 
this  place  God  chose  to  give  the  most  especial  mani¬ 
festations  of  himself ;  here  the  Divine  glory  was  to  be 
seen  ;  and  here  Moses  was  to  come  in  order  to  consult 
Jehovah,  relative  to  the  management  of  the  people. 

Ainsworth  has  remarked  that  the  rabbins  say,  “  The 
heart  of  man  may  be  likened  to  God’s  sanctuary ;  for 
as,  in  the  sanctuary,  the  shechinah  or  Divine  glory 
dwelt,  because  there  were  the  ark,  the  tables,  and  the 
cherubim ;  so,  in  the  heart  of  man,  it  is  meet  that  a 
place  be  made  for  the  Divine  Majesty  to  dwell  in,  and 
that  it  be  the  holy  of  holies.”  This  is  a  doctrine  most 
implicitly  taught  by  the  apostles  ;  and  the  absolute  ne¬ 
cessity  of  having  the  heart  made  a  habitation  of  God 
through  the  Spirit,  is  strongly  and  frequently  insisted 
on  through  the  whole  of  the  New  Testament.  See 
the  note  on  the  following  verse. 

Verse  23.  Thou  shalt  also  make  a  table  of  shittim 
wood]  The  same  wood,  the  acacia,  of  which  the  ark- 
staves,  &c.,  were  made.  On  the  subject  of  the  ark, 
table  of  shew-bread,  &c.,  Dr.  Cudworth,  in  his  very 
learned  and  excellent  treatise  on  the  Lord’s  Supper,  has 
the  following  remarks  : — 

“  When  God  had  brought  the  children  of  Israel  out 
of  Egypt,  resolving  to  manifest  himself  in  a  peculiar 
manner  present  among  them,  he  thought  good  to  dwell 
amongst  them  in  a  visible  and  external  manner ;  and 
therefore,  while  they  were  in  the  wilderness,  and  so¬ 
journed  in  tents,  he  would  have  a  tent  or  tabernacle 
built  to  sojourn  with  them  also.  This  mystery  of  the 
tabernacle  was  fully  understood  by  the  learned  Nach- 
manides,  who,  in  few  words,  but  pregnant,  expresseth 

429 


The  golden  table 


EXODUS. 


for  the  shew-bread. 


a.  M.  2513.  wood  :  two  cubits  shall  be  the 
An.  Exod.lsr.  l.  length  thereof,  and  a  cubit  the 
Slvan'  breadth  thereof,  and  a  cubit  and 
a  half  the  height  thereof. 

24  And  thou  shalt  overlay  it  with  pure  gold, 
and  make  thereto  a  crown  of  gold  round  about. 

25  And  thou  shalt  make  unto  it  a  border  of 
a  hand-breadth  round  about,  and  thou  shalt 
make  a  golden  crown  to  the  border  thereof 
round  about. 

26  And  thou  shalt  make  for  it  four  rings 
of  gold,  and  put  the  rings  in  the  four  corners 
that  are  on  the  four  feet  thereof. 

y  Chap,  xxxvii.  16;  Num.  iv.  7. 

himself  to  this  purpose  :  ‘  The  mystery  of  the  taber¬ 
nacle  was  this,  that  it  was  to  be  a  place  for  the  she- 
chinah,  or  habitation  of  Divinity,  to-  be  fixed  in ;’  and 
this,  no  doubt,  as  a  special  type  of  God’s  future  dwell¬ 
ing  in  Christ’s  human  nature,  which  was  the  True 
Shechinah  :  but  when  the  Jews  were  come  into  their 
land,  and  had  there  built  them  houses,  God  intended 
to  have  a  fixed  dwelling-house  also ;  and  therefore  his 
movable  tabernacle  was  to  be  turned  into  a  standing 
temple.  Now  the  tabernacle  or  temple,  being  thus  as 
a  house  for  God  to  dwell  in  visibly,  to  make  up  the 
notion  of  dwelling  or  habitation  complete  there  must 
be  ail  things  suitable  to  a  house  belonging  to  it;  hence, 
in  the  holy  place,  there  must  be  a  table,  and  a  candle¬ 
stick,  because  this  was  the  ordinary  furniture  of  a  room, 
as  the  fore-commended  Nachmanides  observes.  The 
table  must  have  its  dishes,  and  spoons,  and  bowls,  and 
covers  belonging  to  it,  though  they  were  never  used  ; 
and  always  be  furnished  with  bread  upon  it.  The  can¬ 
dlestick  must  have  its  lamps  continually  burning.  Hence 
also  there  must  be  a  continual  fire  kept  in  this  house 
of  God  upon  the  altar,  as  the  focus  of  it  ;  to  which 
notion  I  conceive  the  Prophet  Isaiah  doth  allude,  chap, 
xxxi.  9  :  Whose  fire  is  in  Zion ,  and  his  furnace  in 
Jerusalem  ;  and  besides  all  this,  to  carry  the  notion 
etill  farther,  there  must  be  some  constant  meat  and  pro¬ 
vision  brought  into  this  house ;  which  was  done  in  the 
sacrifices  that  were  partly  consumed  by  fire  upon  God’s 
own  altar,  and  partly  eaten  by  the  priests,  who  were 
God’s  family,  and  therefore  to  be  maintained  by  him. 
That  which  was  consumed  upon  God’s  altar  was  ac¬ 
counted  God's  mess ,  as  appeareth  from  Mai.  i.  12, 
where  the  altar  is  called  God's  table ,  and  the  sacrifice 
upon  it,  God's  meat:  Ye  say ,  The  table  of  the  Lord 
is  polluted ;  and  the  fruit  thereof  even  his  meat,  is 
contemptible.  And  often,  in  the  law,  the  sacrifice  is 
called  God’s  onh  lechem ,  i.  e.,  his  bread  or  food. 
Wherefore  it  is  farther  observable,  that  besides  the  flesh 
of  the  beast  offered  up  in  sacrifice,  there  was  a  min- 
chah ,  i.  e.,  a  meat-offering,  or  rather  bread-offering , 
made  of  flour  and  oil ;  and  a  libamen  or  drink-offering , 
which  was  always  joined  with  the  daily  sacrifice,  as 
the  bread  and  drink  which  wTas  to  go  along  with  God’s 
meat.  It  was  also  strictly  commanded  that  there  should 
be  salt  in  every  sacrifice  and  oblation,  because  all  meat 

430 


27  Over  against  the  border  a.  m.  2513. 
shall  the  rings  be  for  places  An.  Exod.  isr.  1. 
of  the  staves  to  bear  the  Slvan' 
table. 

28  And  thou  shalt  make  the  staves  of  shittim 
wood,  and  overlay  them  with  gold,  that  the 
table  may  be  borne  with  them. 

29  And  thou  shalt  make  y  the  dishes  there¬ 
of,  and  spoons  thereof,  and  covers  thereof,  and 
bowls  thereof,  z  to  cover  withal:  of  pure  gold 
shalt  thou  make  them. 

30  And  thou  shalt  set  upon  the  table  a  shew- 
bread  before  me  alway. 

zOr,  to  pour  out  withal. - aLev.  xxiv.  5,  6. 

is  unsavoury  without  salt,  as  Nachmanides  hath  here 
also  well  observed  ;  ‘  because  it  was  not  honourable 
that  God’s  meat  should  be  unsavoury,  without  salt.’ 
Lastly,  all  these  things  were  to  be  consumed  on  the 
altar  ordy  by  the  holy  fire  which  came  down  from  heaven, 
because  they  were  God’s  portion,  and  therefore  to  be 
eaten  or  consumed  by  himself  in  an  extraordinary  man¬ 
ner.”  See  on  ver.  22. 

Yerse  29.  The  dishes  thereof  ]  VTHyp  kearothaiv , 
probably  the  deep  bowls  in  which  they  kneaded  the 
mass  out  of  which  they  made  the  shew-bread. 

And  spoons  thereof  ]  VT33  cappothaiv ,  probably 
censers,  on  which  they  put  up  the  incense  ;  as  seems 
pretty  evident  from  Num.  vii.  14,  20,  26,  32,  38,  44, 
50,  56,  62,  68,  74,  80,  86,  where  the  same  word  is 
used,  and  the  instrument,  whatever  it  w7as,  is  always 
represented  as  being  filled  with  incense. 

Covers  thereof  ]  Vm&’p  kesothaiv,  supposed  to  be  a 
large  cup  or  tankard,  in  which  pure  wine  was  kept  on 
the  table  along  with  the  shew-bread  for  libations,  which 
were  poured  out  before  the  Lord  every  Sabbath,  when 
the  old  bread  was  removed,  and  the  new  bread  laid  on 
the  table. 

Bowls  thereof  ]  V’jYpJD  menakkiyothaiv,  from  HpJ 
nakah,  to  clear  away,  remove,  empty,  &c.;  supposed  by 
Calmet  to  mean,  either  the  sieves  by  which  the  Levites 
cleansed  the  wheat  they  made  into  bread,  (for  it  is  as¬ 
serted  that  the  grain,  out  of  which  the  shew-bread  was 
made,  was  sowed, reaped, ground, sifted,  kneaded,  baked, 
&c.,  by  the  Levites  themselves,)  or  the  ovens  in  which 
the  bread  was  baked.  Others  suppose  they  were  ves¬ 
sels  which  they  dipped  into  the  kesoth,  to  take  out  the 
wine  for  libations. 

Verse  30.  Shew-bread]  D'J3  OH1?  lechem  panim, 
literally,  bread  of  faces  ;  so  called,  either  because  they 
were  placed  before  the  presence  or  face  of  God  in  the 
sanctuary,  or  because  they  were  made  square ,  as  the 
Jews  will  have  it.  It  is  probable  that  they  were  in 
the  form  of  cubes  or  hexaedrons,  each  side  presenting 
the  same  appearance  ;  and  hence  the  Jews  might  sup¬ 
pose  they  were  called  the  bread  or  loaves  of  faces : 
but  the  Hebrew  text  seems  to  intimate  that  they  were 
called  the  bread  of  faces,  IT 33  panim ,  because,  as  the 
Lord  says,  they  were  set  ’’JsS  lephanai ,  before  my  face. 
These  loaves  or  cakes  were  twelve ,  representing,  as  is 


CHAP.  XXV. 


Its  branches  and,  knops 


The  golden  candlestick. 

a.  M.  2513.  31  b  And  thou  shall  make  a 

An.  Exod.  1st.  i.  candlestick  of  pure  gold  ;  of 
Sivap~  beaten  work  shall  the  candle¬ 

stick  be  made  :  his  shaft,  and  his  branches, 
his  bowls,  his  knops,  and  his  flowers,  shall  be 
of  the  same. 

32  And  six  branches  shall  come  out  of  the 
sides  of  it ;  three  branches  of  the  candlestick 
out  of  the  one  side,  and  three  branches  of  the 
candlestick  out  of  the  other  side  : 

33  Three  bowls  made  like  unto  almonds, 
with  a  knop  and  a  flower  in  one  branch  ;  and 
three  bowls  made  like  almonds  in  the  other 
branch,  with  a  knop  and  a  flower  :  so  in  the 

bChap.  xxxvii.  17  ;  1  Kings  vii.  49  ;  Zech.  iv.  2  ; 

generally  supposed,  the  twelve  tribes  of  Israel.  They 
were  in  two  rows  of  six  each.  On  the  top  of  each 
row  there  was  a  golden  dish  with  frankincense,  which 
was  burned  before  the  Lord,  as  a  memorial,  at  the  end 
of  the  week,  when  the  old  loaves  were  removed  and 
replaced  by  new  ones,  the  priests  taking  the  former  for 
their  domestic  use. 

It  is  more  difficult  to  ascertain  the  use  of  these,  or 
what  they  represented,  than  almost  any  other  emblem 
in  the  whole  Jewish  economy.  Many  have  conjectured 
their  meaning,  and  I  feel  no  disposition  to  increase 
their  number  by  any  addition  of  my  own.  The  note 
on  ver.  23,  from  Dr.  Cud  worth,  appears  to  me  more 
rational  than  any  thing  else  I  have  met  with.  The 
tabernacle  was  God’s  house,  and  in  it  he  had  his  table , 
his  bread ,  his  wine ,  candlestick ,  &c.,  to  show  them  that 
he  had  taken  up  his  dwelling  among  them.  See  the 
note  on  ver.  23. 

Verse  31.  A  candlestick  of  pure  gold ]  This  candle¬ 
stick  or  chandelier  is  generally  described  as  having 
one  shaft  or  stock,  with  six  branches  proceeding  from 
it,  adorned  at  equal  distances  with  six  flowers  like 
lilies,  with  as  many  bowls  and  knops  placed  alternately. 
On  each  of  the  branches  there  was  a  lamp,  and  one 
on  the  top  of  the  shaft  which  occupied  the  centre ;  thus 
there  were  seven  lamps  in  all,  ver.  37.  These  seven 
lamps  were  lighted  every  pvening  and  extinguished 
every  morning. 

We  are  not  so  certain  of  ‘he  precise  form  of  any  in¬ 
strument  or  utensil  of  the  tabernacle  or  temple,  as  we  are 
of  this,  the  golden  table,  and  the  two  silver  trumpets. 

Titus,  after  the  overthrow  of  Jerusalem,  A.  D.  70, 
had  the  golden  candlestick  and  the  golden  table  of  the 
shew-bread,  the  silver  trumpets ,  and  the  book  of  the 
law ,  taken  out  of  the  temple  and  carried  in  triumph 
to  Rome  ;  and  Vespasian  lodged  them  in  the  temple 
which  he  had  consecrated  to  the  goddess  of  Peace. 
Some  plants  also  of  the  balm  of  Jericho  are  said  to 
have  been  carried  in  the  procession.  At  the  foot  of 
Mount  Palatine  there  are  the  ruins  of  an  arch,  on  which 
the  triumph  of  Titus  for  his  conquest  of  the  Jews  is 
represented,  and  on  which  the  several  monuments  which 
were  carried  in  the  procession  are  sculptured,  and  par¬ 
ticularly  the  golden  candlestick,  the  tabic  of  the  shew- 


six  branches  that  come  out  of  A.  M.  2513. 
the  candlestick.  An.  Exod.  isr.  1. 

34  And  in  the  candlestick  shall  Slvan‘ 

be  four  bowls,  made  like  unto  almonds,  with 
their  knops  and  their  flowers. 

35  And  there  shall  be  a  knop  under  two 
branches  of  the  same,  and  a  knop  under  two 
branches  of  the  same,  and  a  knop  under  two 
branches  of  the  same,  according  to  the  six 
branches  that  proceed  out  of  the  candlestick. 

36  Their  knops  and  their  branches  shall  be 
of  the  same  :  all  of  it  shall  be  one  beaten 
work  of  pure  gold. 

37  And  thou  shalt  make  the  seven  lamps 


Heb.  ix.  2  ;  Rev.  i.  12  ;  iv.  5. 

bread  and  the  two  silver  trumpets.  A  correct  model 
of  this  arch,  taken  on  the  spot,  now  stands  before  me  ; 
and  the  spoils  of  the  temple,  the  candlestick,  the  golden 
table,  and  the  two  trumpets,  are  represented  on  the 
panel  on  the  left  hand,  in  the  inside  of  the  arch,  in 
basso-relievo.  The  candlestick  is  not  so  ornamented 
as  it  appears  in  many  prints  ;  at  the  same  time  it  looks 
much  better  than  it  does  in  the  engraving  of  this  arch 
given  by  Montfaucon,  Antiq.  Expliq.,  vol.  iv.,  pi.  32. 
It  is  likely  that  on  the  real  arch  this  candlestick  is  less 
in  size  than  the  original,  as  it  scarcely  measures  three 
feet  in  height.  See  the  Diarium  Italicum ,  p.  129. 
To  see  these  sacred  articles  given  up  by  that  God  who 
ordered  them  to  be  made  according  to  a  pattern  ex¬ 
hibited  by  himself,  gracing  the  triumph  of  a  heathen 
emperor,  and  at  last  consecrated  to  an  idol,  affords 
melancholy  reflections  to  a  pious  mind.  But  these 
things  had  accomplished  the  end  for  which  they  were 
instituted,  and  were  now  of  no  farther  use.  The  glo¬ 
rious  personage  typified  by  all  this  ancient  apparatus, 
had  about  seventy  years  before  this  made  his  appear¬ 
ance.  The  true  light  was  come,  and  the  Holy  Spirit 
poured  out  from  on  high ;  and  therefore  the  golden 
candlestick,  by  which  they  were  typified,  was  given  up. 
The  ever-during  bread  had  been  sent  from  heaven  ;  and 
therefore  the  golden  table,  which  bore  its  representa¬ 
tive,  the  shew-bread,  was  now  no  longer  needful.  The 
joyful  sound  of  the  everlasting  Gospel  was  then  pub¬ 
lished  in  the  world  ;  and  therefore  the  silver  trumpets 
that  typified  this  were  carried  into  captivity,  and  their 
sound  was  no  more  to  be  heard.  Strange  providence 
but  unutterable  mercy  of  God  !  The  Jews  lost  both 
the  sign  and  the  thing  signified ;  and  that  very  people, 
who  destroyed  the  holy  city,  carried  away  the  spoils 
of  the  temple,  and  dedicated  them  to  the  objects  of 
their  idolatry,  were  the  first  in  the  universe  to  receive 
the  preaching  of  the  Gospel,  the  light  of  salvation, 
and  the  bread  of  life  !  There  is  a  sort  of  coincidence 
or  association  here,  which  is  worthy  of  the  most  serious 
observation.  The  Jews  had  these  significant  emblems 
to  lead  them  to,  and  prepare  them  for,  the  things  signi¬ 
fied.  They  trusted  in  the  former,  and  rejected  the 
latter  l  God  therefore  deprived  them  of  both,  and  gave 
up  their  temple  to  the  spoilers,  their  land  to  desolation, 

431 


a 


EXODUS. 


with  its  utensils 


Weight  of  the  candlestick , 
a.  M.  2513.  thereof :  and  c  they  shall  d  light 

B.  C.  1491.  .  .  .  r  i 

An.  Exod.  isr.  l.  the  lamps  thereof,  that  they  may 

SlYan~  e  give  light  over  against  f  it. 

38  And  the  tongs  thereof,  and  the  snuff- 

dishes  thereof,  shall  he  of  pure  gold. 

c  Chap,  xxvii.  21  ;  xxx.  8 ;  Lev.  xxiv.  3,  4  ;  2  Chron.  xiii.  11. 
A  Or,  cause  to  ascend. - eNum.  viii.  2. — — fHeb.  the  face  of  it. 


39  Of  a  talent  of  pure  gold  shall  a.  m.  2513. 

J  10  B.  C.  1491. 

he  make  it,  with  all  these  vessels.  An.  Exod.  isr!  1 

40  And  s  look  that  thou  make  _  SlYan‘ 
them  after  their  pattern,  h  which  was  showed 
thee  in  the  mount. 

£  Chap.  xxvi.  30;  Num.  viii.  4  ;  1  Chron.  xxviii.  11, 19;  Acts 
vii.  44  ;  Heb.  viii.  5. - h  Heb.  which  thou  wast  caused  to  see. 


and  themselves  to  captivity  and  to  the  sword.  The 
heathens  then  carried  away  the  emblems  of  their  sal¬ 
vation ,  and  God  shortly  gave  unto  those  heathens  that 
very  salvation  of  which  these  things  wrere  the  emblems  ! 
Thus,  because  of  their  unbelief  and  rebellion,  the  king¬ 
dom  of  heaven,  according  to  the  prediction  of  our  blessed 
Lord,  teas  taken  from  the  Jews,  and  given  to  a  na¬ 
tion  (the  Gentiles)  that  brought  forth  the  fruits  thereof ; 
Matt.  xxi.  43.  Behold  the  goodness  and  severity 
of  God  ! 

Verse  39.  Of  a  talent  of  pure  gold  shall  he  make 
it,  with  all  these  vessels .]  That  is,  a  talent  of  gold  in 
weight  was  used  in  making  the  candlestick,  and  the 
different  vessels  and  instruments  which  belonged  to  it. 
According  to  Bishop  Cumberland,  a  talent  was  three 
thousand  shekels.  As  the  Israelites  brought  each 
half  a  shekel,  chap,  xxxviii.  26,  so  that  one  hundred 
talents,  one  thousand  seven  hundred  and  seventy-five 
shekels,  were  contributed  by  six  hundred  and  three 
thousand  five  hundred  and  fifty  persons  ;  by  halving 
the  number  of  the  Israelites,  he  finds  they  contributed 
three  hundred  and  one  thousand  seven  hundred  and 
seventy-five  shekels  in  all.  Now,  as  we  find  that  this 
number  of  shekels  made  one  hundred  talents,  and  one 
thousand  seven  hundred  and  seventy-five  shekels  over, 
if  we  subtract  one  thousand  seven  hundred  and  seventy- 
five,  the  odd  shekels,  from  three  hundred  and  one 
thousand  seven  hundred  and  seventy-five,  we  shall 
have  for  a  remainder  three  hundred  thousand,  the 
number  of  shekels  in  one  hundred  talents  :  and  if  this 
remainder  be  divided  by  one  hundred,  the  number  of 
talents,  it  quotes  three  thousand,  the  number  of  shekels 
in  each  talent.  A  silver  shekel  of  the  sanctuary,  being 
equal,  according  to  Dr.  Prideaux,  to  three  shillings 
English,  three  thousand  such  shekels  will  amount  to 
four  hundred  and  fifty  pounds  sterling  ;  and,  reckon¬ 
ing  gold  to  silver  as  fifteen  to  one,  a  talent  of  gold 
will  amount  to  six  thousand  seven  hundred  and  fifty 
pounds  sterling  :  to  which  add  two  hundred  and  sixty- 
three  pounds  for  the  one  thousand  seven  hundred  and 
seventy-five  shekels,  at  three  shillings  each,  and  it 
makes  a  total  of  seven  thousand  and  thirteen  pounds, 
which  immense  sum  was  expended  on  the  candlestick 
and  its  furniture.  It  is  no  wonder,  then,  (if  the  can¬ 
dlestick  in  the  second  temple  was  equal  in  value  to 
that  in  the  ancient  tabernacle,)  that  Titus  should  think 
it  of  sufficient  consequence  to  be  one  of  the  articles, 
with  the  golden  table,  and  silver  trumpets ,  that  should 
be  employed  to  grace  his  triumph.  Their  intrinsic 
worth  was  a  matter  of  no  consequence  to  Him  whose 
are  the  silver  and  gold,  the  earth  and  its  fulness ;  they 
had  accomplished  their  design,  and  were  of  no  farther 
use,  either  in  the  kingdom  of  providence,  or  the  king¬ 
dom  of  grace.  See  the  note  on  ver.  31,  and  see  that 
on  chap,  xxxviii.  24. 


Verse  40.  And  look  that  thou  make,  <fc.]  This 
verse  should  be  understood  as  an  order  to  Moses  after 
the  tabernacle,  &c.,  had  been  described  to  him ;  as  if 
he  had  said  :  “  When  thou  comest  to  make  all  the 
things  that  I  have  already  described  to  thee,  with  the 
other  matters  of  which  I  shall  afterwards  treat,  see 
that  thou  make  every  thing  according  to  the  pattern 
which  thou  didst  see  in  the  mount.”  The  Septuagint 
have  it,  Kara  rov  tvkov  tov  dedeiyyevov  cot'  according 
to  the  type — form  or  fashion,  which  ivas  shoivn  thee. 
It  appears  to  me  that  St.  Paul  had  this  command  par¬ 
ticularly  in  view  when  he  gave  that  to  his  son  Timo¬ 
thy  which  we  find  in  the  second  epistle,  chap.  i.  13  : 
'YTVOTvmjaiv  Exe  vyiaivovrov  Tioywv,  uv  Trap’  epov  t]kov~ 
aaq.  “  Hold  fast  the  form  of  sound  ivords  which 
thou  hast  heard  of  me.”  The  tabernacle  was  a  type 
of  the  Church  of  God ;  that  Church  is  built  upon  the 
foundation  of  the  prophets  and  apostles,  Jesus  Christ 
being  the  chief  corner-stone,  Eph.  ii.  20—22  :  the  doc¬ 
trines,  therefore,  delivered  by  the  prophets,  Jesus 
Christ,  and  his  apostles,  are  essential  to  the  constitu¬ 
tion  of  this  Church.  As  God,  therefore,  gave  the 
plan  or  form  according  to  which  the  tabernacle  must 
be  constructed,  so  he  gives  the  doctrines  according  to 
wThich  the  Christian  Church  is  to  be  modelled ;  and 
apostles,  and  subordinate  builders,  are  to  have  and 
hold  fast  that  form  of  sound  words,  and  construct  this 
heavenly  building  according  to  that  form  or  pattern 
which  has  come  through  the  express  revelation  of  God. 

In  different  parts  of  this  work  we  have  had  occa¬ 
sion  to  remark  that  the  heathens  borrowed  their  best 
things  from  Divine  revelation,  both  as  it  refers  to  what 
wras  pure  in  their  doctrines,  and  significant  in  their 
religious  rites.  Indeed,  they  seem  in  many  cases  to 
have  studied  the  closest  imitation  possible,  consistent 
with  the  adaptation  of  all  to  their  preposterous  and 
idolatrous  worship.  They  had  their  Iao  or  Jove,  in 
imitation  of  the  true  JEHOVAH  ;  and  from  different 
attributes  of  the  Divine  Nature  they  formed  an  innu¬ 
merable  group  of  gods  and  goddesses.  They  had  also 
their  temples  in  imitation  of  the  temple  of  God  ;  and 
in  these  they  had  their  holy  and  more  holy  places,  in 
imitation  of  the  courts  of  the  Lord’s  house.  The 
heathen  temples  consisted  of  several  parts  or  divisions  : 
1.  The  area  or  porch;  2.  The  vaop  or  temple,  similar 
to  the  nave  of  our  churches;  3.  The  adytum  or  holy 
place,  called  also  penetrate  and  sacrarium  ;  and,  4.  The 
oTucdodoyog  or  the  inner  temple,  the  most  secret  recess* 
where  they  had  their  mysteria ,  and  which  answered 
to  the  holy  of  holies  in  the  tabernacle.  And  as  there 
is  no  evidence  whatever  that  there  was  any  temple 
among  the  heathens  prior  to  the  tabernacle,  it  is  rea¬ 
sonable  to  conclude  that  it  served  as  a  model  for  all  that 
they  afterwards  built.  They  had  even  their  portable 


432 


CHAP.  XXV. 


The  heathens  borrowed  many 

temples ,  to  imitate  the  tabernacle;  and  the  shrines 
for  Diana,  mentioned  Acts  xix.  24,  were  of  this  kind. 
They  had  even  their  arks  or  sacred  coffers,  where 
they  kept  their  most  holy  things,  and  the  mysterious 
emblems  of  their  religion ;  together  with  candlesticks 
or  lamps,  to  illuminate  their  temples,  which  had  few 
windows,  to  imitate  the  golden  candlestick  in  the  Mo¬ 
saic  tabernacle.  They  had  even  their  processions , 
in  imitation  of  the  carrying  about  of  the  ark  in  the 
wilderness  ;  accompanied  by  such  ceremonies  as  suf¬ 
ficiently  show,  to  an  unprejudiced  mind,  that  they  bor¬ 
rowed  them  from  this  sacred  original.  Dr.  Dodd  has 
a  good  note  on  this  subject,  which  I  shall  take  the 
liberty  to  extract. 

Speaking  of  the  ark,  he  says,  44  We  meet  with  imi¬ 
tations  of  this  Divinely  instituted  emblem  among  seve¬ 
ral  heathen  nations.  Thus  Tacitus ,  Be  Moribus  Ger- 
manorum ,  cap.  40,  informs  us  that  the  inhabitants  of 
the  north  of  Germany,  our  Saxon  ancestors,  in  general 
worshipped  Herthum  or  Hertham,  i.  e.  the  mother 
earth :  Hertham  being  plainly  derived  from  arets, 
earth,  and  DX  am,  mother :  and  they  believed  her  to 
interpose  in  the  affairs  of  men,  and  to  visit  nations  : 
that  to  her,  in  a  sacred  grove  in  a  certain  island  of 
the  ocean,  a  vehicle  covered  with  a  vestment  was  con¬ 
secrated,  and  allowed  to  be  touched  by  the  priests  only, 
(compare  2  Sam.  vi.  6,  7  ;  1  Chron.  xiii.  9,  10,)  who 
perceived  when  the  goddess  entered  into  her  secret 
place,  penetrate,  and  with  profound  veneration  attended 
her  vehicle,  which  was  drawn  by  cows  ;  see  1  Sam.  vi. 
7—10.  While  the  goddess  was  on  her  progress,  days 
of  rejoicing  were  kept  in  every  place  which  she  vouch¬ 
safed  to  visit ;  they  engaged  in  no  war,  they  handled 
no  weapons ;  peace  and  quietness  were  then  only 
known,  only  relished,  till  the  same  priest  reconducted 
the  goddess  to  her  temple.  Then  the  vehicle  and  vest¬ 
ment,  and,  if  you  can  believe  it,  the  goddess  herself, 
were  washed  in  a  sacred  lake.” 

Apuleius ,  Be  Aur.  Asin.,  lib.  ii.,  describing  a  solemn 
idolatrous  procession,  after  the  Egyptian  mode,  says, 
44  A  chest,  or  ark,  was  carried  by  another,  containing 
their  secret  things,  entirely  concealing  the  mysteries 
of  religion.” 

And  Plutarch ,  in  his  treatise  Be  Iside,  &c.,  de¬ 
scribing  the  rites  of  Osiris,  says,  44  On  the  tenth  day 
of  the  month,  at  night,  they  go  down  to  the  sea ;  and 
the  stolists,  together  with  the  priest,  carry  forth  the 
sacred  chest,  in  which  is  a  small  boat  or  vessel  of  gold.” 

Pausanius  likewise  testifies,  lib.  vii.,  c.  19,  that 
the  ancient  Trojans  had  a  sacred  ark,  wherein  was  the 
image  of  Bacchus,  made  by  Vulcan,  which  had  been 
given  to  Dardanus  by  Jupiter.  As  the  ark  was  depo¬ 
sited  in  the  holy  of  holies,  so  the  heathens  had  in  the 
inmost  part  of  their  temples  an  adytum  or  penetrate, 
to  which  none  had  access  but  the  priests.  And  it  is 
Vol.  I.  (  29  ) 


sacred  rites  from  the  Hebrews 

remarkable  that,  among  the  Mexicans,  Vitzliputzli , 
their  supreme  god,  was  represented  under  a  human 
shape,  sitting  on  a  throne,  supported  by  an  azure  globe 
which  they  called  heaven  ;  four  poles  or  sticks  came 
out  from  two  sides  of  this  globe,  at  the  end  of  which 
serpents’  heads  were  carved,  the  whole  making  a  litter 
which  the  priests  carried  on  their  shoulders  whenever 
the  idol  was  shown  in  public. — Religious  Ceremonies , 
vol.  iii.,  p.  146. 

Calmet  remarks  that  the  ancients  used  to  dedicate 
candlesticks  in  the  temples  of  their  gods,  bearing  a 
great  number  of  lamps. 

Pliny,  Hist.  Nat.,  lib.  xxxiv,  c.  3,  mentions  one 
made  in  the  form  of  a  tree,  with  lamps  in  the  likeness 
of  apples,  which  iUexander  the  Great  consecrated  in 
the  temple  of  Apollo. 

And  Athenceus,  lib.  xv.,  c.  19,  20,  mentions  one 
that  supported  three  hundred  and  sixty-five  lamps, 
which  Bionysius  the  younger,  king  of  Syracuse,  dedi¬ 
cated  in  the  Prytaneum  at  Athens.  As  the  Egyptians, 
according  to  the  testimony  of  Clemens  Alexandrinus , 
Strom.,  lib.  i.,  were  the  first  who  used  lamps  in  their 
temples,  they  probably  borrowed  the  use  from  the 
golden  candlestick  in  the  tabernacle  and  temple. 

From  the  solemn  and  very  particular  charge,  Look 
that  thou  make  them  after  their  pattern,  which  was 
showed  thee  in  the  mount,  it  appears  plainly  that  God 
showed  Moses  a  model  of  the  tabernacle  and  all  its 
furniture  ;  and  to  receive  instructions  relative  to  this 
was  one  part  of  his  employment  while  on  the  mount 
forty  days  with  God.  As  God  designed  that  this  build¬ 
ing,  and  all  that  belonged  to  it,  should  be  patterns  or 
representations  of  good  things  to  come,  it  was  indis¬ 
pensably  necessary  that  Moses  should  receive  a  mode! 
and  specification  of  the  whole,  according  to  which  he 
might  direct  the  different  artificers  in  their  construct¬ 
ing  the  work.  1.  We  may  observe  that  the  whole 
tabernacle  and  its  furniture  resembled  a  dwelling-house 
and  its  furniture.  2.  That  this  tabernacle  was  the 
house  of  God,  not  merely  for  the  performance  of  his 
worship,  but  for  his  residence.  3.  That  God  had  pro¬ 
mised  to  dwell  among  this  people,  and  this  was  the 
habitation  which  he  appointed  for  his  glory.  4.  That 
the  tabernacle,  as  well  as  the  temple,  was  a  type  of  the 
incarnation  of  Jesus  Christ.  See  J  ohn  i.  14,  and  ii. 
19,  21.  5.  That  as  the  glory  of  God  was  manifested 

between  the  cherubim,  above  the  mercy-scat,  in  this 
tabernacle,  so  God  icas  in  Christ,  and  h  him  dwelt 
all  the  fulness  of  the  Godhead  bodily.  9.  As  in  the 
tabernacle  were  found  bread,  light,  &c.,  probably  all 
these  were  emblematical  of  the  ample  provision  made 
in  Christ  for  the  direction,  support,  and  salvation  of 
the  soul  of  man.  Of  these,  and  many  other  things  in 
the  law  and  the  prophets,  we  shall  know  more  when 
mortality  is  swallowed  up  of  life. 

433 


The  tabernacle  and 


EXODUS, 


its  ten  curtains. 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 

The  ten  curtains  of  the  tabernacle ,  and  of  what  composed ,  1.  Their  length,  2,  3  ;  their  loops,  4,  5  ;  their 
taches,  6.  The  curtains  of  goats’ hair  for  a  covering,  7  ;  their  length  and  breadth,  8.  Coupled  with  loops, 
9,  10,  and  taches,  11.  The  remnant  of  the  curtains ,  how  to  be  employed,  12,  13.  The  covering  of  rams’ 
skins,  14,  The  boards  of  the  tabernacle  for  the  south  side ,  15  ;  their  length ,  16,  tenons ,  17,  number ,  18, 
sockets ,  19.  Boards,  dfC.,for  the  north  side,  20,  21.  Boards ,  dfc.,  for  the  west  side,  22  ;  for  the  corners , 
23  ;  their  rings  and  sockets ,  24,  25.  The  bars  of  the  tabernacle,  26-30.  The  veil,  its  pillars,  hooks, 
and  taches,  31—33.  How  to  place  the  mercy-seat,  34.  The  table  and  the  candlestick,  35.  The  hanging 
for  the  door  of  the  tent,  36  ;  and  the  hangings  for  the  pillars,  37. 


A.  m.  2513.  lY/TOREOVER  a  thou  shalt 

B.  C.  1491.  1VA  .  .  .  , 

An.  Exod.  isr.  l.  make  the  tabernacle  with 

Slvan'  ten  curtains  of  fine  twined  linen, 
and  blue,  and  purple,  and  scarlet :  with  che- 
rubims  b  of  cunning  work  shalt  thou  make 


them. 

2  The  length  of  one  curtain  shall  be  eight 
and  twenty  cubits,  and  the  breadth  of  one 
curtain  four  cubits :  and  every  one  of  the 
curtains  shall  have  one  measure. 

3  The  five  curtains  shall  be  coupled  toge¬ 
ther  one  to  another ;  and  other  five  curtains 
shall  be  coupled  one  to  another. 

4  And  thou  shalt  make  loops  of  blue,  upon 
the  edge  of  the  one  curtain,  from  the  selvage 
in  the  coupling ;  and  likewise  shalt  thou  make 
in  the  uttermost  edge  of  another  curtain,  in 
the  coupling  of  the  second. 

5  Fifty  loops  shalt  thou  make  in  the  one 
curtain,  and  fifty  loops  shalt  thou  make  in  the 
edge  of  the  curtain  that  is  in  the  coupling  of 


the  second  ;  that  the  loops  mav  A.  2513* 

r  J  B.  C.  1491. 

take  hold  one  of  another.  An.  Exod.  Isr.  l. 

6  And  thou  shalt  make  fifty  Slvan~ 
taches  of  gold,  and  couple  the  curtains  toge¬ 
ther  with  the  taches ;  and  it  shall  be  one 
tabernacle. 

7  And  c  thou  shalt  make  curtains  of  goats’ 
hair,  to  be  a  covering  upon  the  tabernacle  : 
eleven  curtains  shalt  thou  make. 

8  The  length  of  one  curtain  shall  be  thirty 
cubits,  and  the  breadth  of  one  curtain  four 
cubits  :  and  the  eleven  curtains  shall  be  all  of 
one  measure. 

9  And  thou  shalt  couple  five  curtains  by 
themselves,  and  six  curtains  by  themselves, 
and  shalt  double  the  sixth  curtain  in  the  fore¬ 
front  of  the  tabernacle. 

10  And  thou  shalt  make  fifty  loops  on  the 
edge  of  the  one  curtain  that  is  outmost  in 
the  coupling,  and  fifty  loops  in  the  edge  of 
the  curtain  which  coupleth  the  second. 


a  Chap,  xxxvi.  8. - b  Heb.  the  work  of  a  cunning  workman 

NOTES  ON  CHAP.  XXVI. 

Verse  1.  Thou  shalt  make  the  tabernacle]  ptJPJO 
mischan,  from  pi#  shachan,  to  dwell,  means  simply  a 
dwelling  place  or  habitation  of  any  kind,  but  here  it 
means  the  dwelling  place  of  Jehovah,  who,  as  a  king 
in  his  camp,  had  his  dwelling  or  pavilion  among  his 
people,  his  table  always  spread,  his  lamps  lighted,  and 
the  priests,  &c.,  his  attendants,  always  in  waiting. 
From  the  minute  and  accurate  description  here  given, 
a  good  workman,  had  he  the  same  materials,  might 
make  a  perfect  fac  simile  of  the  ancient  Jewish  taber¬ 
nacle.  It  was  a  movable  building,  and  so  constructed 
that  it  might  be  easily  taken  to  pieces,  for  the  greater 
convenience  of  carriage,  as  they  were  often  obliged  to 
transport  it  from  place  to  place,  in  their  various  jour¬ 
ney  ings.  For  the  twined  linen,  blue,  purple,  and  scar¬ 
let,  see  the  notes  on  chap.  xxv.  4,  &c. 

Cherubims]  See  the  note  on  chap.  xxv.  18. 

Cunning  work]  DttTl  chosheb  probably  means  a 
sort  of  diaper,  in  which  the  figures  appear  equally  per¬ 
fect  on  both  sides  ;  this  was  probably  formed  in  the 
loom.  Another  kind  of  curious  work  is  mentioned,  ver. 
36,  Qp't  rokem,  which  we  term  needle-work;  this  was 
probably  similar  to  our  embroidery ,  tapestry,  or  cloth  of 
a  434 


or  embroiderer. - c  Chap,  xxxvi.  14. 

arras.  It  has  been  thought  unlikely  that  these  curi¬ 
ous  works  were  all  manufactured  in  the  wilderness  : 
what  was  done  in  the  loom,  they  might  have  brought 
with  them  from  Egypt;  what  could  be  done  by  hand, 
without  the  use  of  complex  machinery,  the  Israelitish 
women  could  readily  perform  with  their  needles,  during 
their  stay  in  the  wilderness.  But  still  it  seems  pro¬ 
bable  that  they  brought  even  their  looms  with  them. 
The  whole  of  this  account  shows  that  not  only  neces¬ 
sary  but  ornamental  arts  had  been  carried  to  a  con¬ 
siderable  pitch  of  perfection,  both  among  the  Israelites 
and  Egyptians. 

The  inner  curtains  of  the  tabernacle  were  ten  in 
number,  and  each  in  length  twenty-eight  cubits,  and 
four  in  breadth  ;  about  sixteen  )7ards  twelve  inches 
long,  and  two  yards  twelve  inches  broad.  The  cur¬ 
tains  were  to  be  coupled  together,  five  and  five  of  a 
side,  by  fifty  loops,  ver.  5,  and  as  many  golden  clasps, 
ver.  6,  so  that  each  might  look  like  one  curtain, 
and  the  whole  make  one  entire  covering,  which  was 
the  first. 

Verse  7.  Curtains  of  goats'  hair]  Stuff  made  of 
goats’  hair.  See  the  note  on  chap.  xxv.  4.  This  was 
the  second  covering. 


(  29*  I 


CHAP.  XXVI. 


The  covering ,  hoards,  and 
a.  M.  2513.  1 1  And  thou  shalt  make  fifty 

B.  C.  1491.  .  r  .  ,  . J 

An.Exod.isr.  l.  laches  oi  brass,  and  put  the 

_ _  taches  into  the  loops,  and  couple 

the  d  tent  together,  that  it  may  be  one. 

12  And  the  remnant  that  remaineth  of  the 
curtains  of  the  tent,  the  half  curtain  that  re¬ 
maineth,  shall  hang  over  the  backside  of  the 
tabernacle. 

1 3  And  a  cubit  on  the  one  side,  and  a  cubit 
on  the  other  side,  e  of  that  which  remaineth  in 
the  length  of  the  curtains  of  the  tent,  it  shall 
hang  over  the  sides  of  the  tabernacle,  on  this 
side  and  on  that  side,  to  cover  it. 

14  And  f  thou  shalt  make  a  covering  for  the 
tent  of  rams’  skins  dyed  red,  and  a  covering 
above  of  badgers’  skins. 

1 5  And  thou  shalt  make  beards  for  the  taber¬ 
nacle  of  shittim  wood  standing  up. 

16  Ten  cubits  shall  he  the  length  of  a  board, 
and  a  cubit  and  a  half  shall  he  the  breadth  of 
one  board. 

17  Two  s  tenons  shall  there  he  in  one  board, 
set  in  order  one  against  another :  thus  shalt 
thou  make  for  all  the  boards  of  the  tabernacle. 

18  And  thou  shalt  make  the  boards  for  the 
tabernacle,  twenty  boards  on  the  south  side 
southward. 

19  And  thou  shalt  make  forty  sockets  of  silver 
under  the  twenty  boards  ;  two  sockets  under 
one  board  for  his  two  tenons,  and  two  sockets 
under  another  board  for  his  two  tenons. 

20  And  for  the  second  side  of  the  taber- 

d  Or,  covering. - e  Hebrew,  in  the  remainder  or  surplusage. 

{  Chap,  xxxvi.  19. - S  Heb.  hands. 

Verse  14.  Rams'  skins  dyed  red ]  See  on  chap.  xxv. 
5.  This  was  the  third  covering  ;  and  what  is  called 
the  badgers'  skins  was  the  fourth.  See  the  note  on 
chap.  xxv.  5.  Why  there  should  have  been  four 
coverings  does  not  appear.  They  might  have  been 
designed  partly  for  respect ;  and  partly  to  keep  off  dust 
and  dirt,  and  the  extremely  fine  sand  which  in  that  de¬ 
sert  rises  as  it  were  on  every  breeze  ;  and  partly  to 
keep  off  the  intense  heat  of  the  sun,  which  would  other¬ 
wise  have  destroyed  the  poles,  bars,  boards,  and  the 
whole  of  the  wood  work.  As  to  the  conjecture  of  some 
that  “  the  four  coverings  were  intended  the  better  to 
keep  off  the  rain,"  it  must  appear  unfounded  to  those 
who  know  that  in  that  desert  rain  was  rarely  ever  seen. 

Verse  15.  Thou  shalt  make  boards]  These  formed 
what  might  be  called  the  walls  of  the  tabernacle,  and 
were  made  of  shittim  wood,  the  acacia  Nilotica ,  which 
Dr.  Shaw  says  grows  here  in  abundance.  To  have 
worked  the  acacia  into  these  boards  or  planks ,  the  Is¬ 
raelites  must  have  had  sawyers,  joiners,  &c.,  among 
them  ;  but  bow  they  got  the  tools  is  a  question.  But 
as  the  Israelites  were  the  general  workmen  of  Egypt, 

a 


bars  of  the  tabernacle. 

nacle,  on  the  north  side,  there  A.  M.  2513. 
shall  he  twenty  boards  :  An.  Exod.  isr.  1 

21  And  their  forty  sockets  of  Slvan’ 
silver ;  two  sockets  under  one  board,  and 
two  sockets  under  another  board. 

22  And  for  the  sides  of  the  tabernacle  west¬ 
ward,  thou  shalt  make  six  boards. 

23  And  two  boards  shalt  thou  make  for  the 
corners  of  the  tabernacle  in  the  two  sides. 

24  And  they  shall  be  h  coupled  together  be¬ 
neath,  and  they  shall  be  coupled  together  above 
the  head  of  it  unto  one  ring :  thus  shall  it  be 
for  them  both  ;  they  shall  be  for  the  two  corners. 

25  And  they  shall  be  eight  boards,  and  their 
sockets  of  silver,  sixteen  sockets ;  two  sockets 
under  one  board,  and  two  sockets  under  ano¬ 
ther  board. 

26  And  thou  shalt  make  bars  of  shittim  wood  ; 
five  for  the  boards  of  the  one  side  of  the  taber¬ 
nacle, 

27  And  five  bars  for  the  boards  of  the  other 
side  of  the  tabernacle,  and  five  bars  for  the 
boards  of  the  side  of  the  tabernacle,  for  the 
two  sides  westward. 

28  And  the  middle  bar,  in  the  midst  of  the 
boards,  shall  reach  from  end  to  end. 

29  And  thou  shalt  overlay  the  boards  with  gold, 
and  make  their  rings  of  gold  for  places  for  the 
bars  :  and  thou  shalt  overlay  the  bars  with  gold. 

30  And  thou  shalt  rear  up  the  tabernacle, 

1  according  to  the  fashion  thereof,  which  was 
showed  thee  in  the  mount. 

h  Hebrew,  twined. - '  Chapter  xxv.  9,  40;  xxvii.  8;  Acts  vii. 

44 ;  Heb.  viii.  5. 

and  were  brought  up  to  every  kind  of  trade  for  the  ser¬ 
vice  of  their  oppressors,  we  may  naturally  suppose  that 
every  artificer  brought  off  some  of  his  tools  with  him. 
For  though  it  is  not  at  all  likely  that  they  had  any  ar¬ 
mour  or  defensive  weapons  in  their  power,  yet  for  the 
reason  above  assigned  they  must  have  had  the  imple¬ 
ments  which  were  requisite  for  their  respective  trades. 

Verse  16.  Ten  cubits  shall  be  the  length  of  a  board] 
Each  of  these  boards  or  planks  was  about  five  yards 
and  two  feet  and  a  half  long,  and  thirty-two  inches 
broad  ;  and  as  they  are  said  to  be  standing  up,  this  was 
the  height  of  the  tabernacle.  The  length  being  thirty 
cubits,  twenty  boards,  one  cubit  and  a  half  broad  each, 
make  about  seventeen  yards  and  a  half,  and  the  breadth 
was  about  five  yards. 

Verse  29.  Thou  shalt  overlay  the  boards  with  gold] 
It  is  not  said  how  thick  the  gold  was  by  which  these 
boards,  &c.,  were  overlaid  ;  it  was  no  doubt  done  with 
gold  plates ,  but  these  must  have  been  very  thin,  else  the 
boards,  &c.,  must  have  been  insupportably  heavy.  The 
gold  was  probably  something  like  our  gold  leaf,  but  not 
brought  to  so  great  a  degree  of  tenuity. 

435 


EXODUS. 


The  veil  of  the  tabernacle. 


Place  of  the  mercy -seat  and  table 


A.  M.  2513.  3 1  And  k  thou  shall  make  a 

An.  Exod.  isr!  l.  veil  of  blue,  and  purple,  and 
Slvan'  scarlet,  and  fine  twined  .linen  of 
cunning  work:  with  cherubims  shall  it  be 


made. 

32  And  thou  shalt  hang  it  upon  four  pillars 
of  shittim  icood,  overlaid  with  gold  :  their  hooks 
shall  be  of  gold,  upon  the  four  sockets  of  silver. 

33  And  thou  shalt  hang  up  the  veil  under 
the  taches,  that  thou  mayest  bring  in  thither 
within  the  veil  1  the  ark  of  the  testimony : 


and  the  veil  shall 
you  between  m  the 
and  the  most  holy. 

34  And  n  thou  shalt  put  the  mercy-seat 
upon  the  ark  of  the  testimony,  in  the  most 
holy  place. 

35  And  0  thou  shalt  set  the  table  without  the 
veil,  and  p  the  candlestick  over  against  the  table 
on  the  side  of  the  tabernacle  toward  the  south  : 
and  thou  shalt  put  the  table  on  the  north  side. 

36  And  q  thou  shalt  make  a  hanging  for  the 


livide  unto  A  M.  2513. 

.  .  7  B.  C.  1491. 

holy  place  An.  Exod.  Isr.  1. 

Sivan. 


k  Chap,  xxxvi.  35  ;  Lev.  xvi.  2  ;  2  Chron.  iii.  14  ;  Matt,  xxvii. 
51 ;  Heb.  ix.  3. - 1  Chapter  xxv.  16;  xl.  21. - mLev.  xvi.  2; 

Verse  31.  Thou  shalt  make  a  veil. ]  nin2  parocheth , 
from  *pS  parach,  to  break  or  rend ;  the  inner  veil  of  the 
tabernacle  or  temple,  (2  Chron.  iii.  14,)  which  broke , 
interrupted ,  or  divided  between  the  holy  place  and  the 
most  holy  ;  the  Holy  Ghost  this  signifying ,  that  the 
ivay  into  the  holiest  of  all  ivas  not  yet  made  manifest , 
while  as  the  first  tabernacle  ivas  standing.  Compare 
Heb.  ix.  8.  The  Septuagint  constantly  render  it  by 
KaraneTaapa.  Hoes  not  the  Hebrew  name  rO"12  pa¬ 
rocheth  moreover  intimate  the  typical  correspondence 
of  this  veil  to  the  body  or  fiesh  of  Christ  1  For  this 
KaraTtETaapa  or  veil  was  his  fiesh,  (Heb.  x.  20,)  which, 
being  rent,  affords  us  a  new  and  living  way  into  the 
holiest  of  all ,  i.  e.,  into  heaven  itself.  Compare  Heb. 
x.  19,  20  ;  ix.  24.  And  accordingly  when  his  blessed 
body  was  rent  upon  the  cross,  this  veil  also  (to  aara- 
TtETaopa  tov  lepov)  eaxiodij,  was  rent  in  twain  from 
the  top  to  the  bottom  ;  Matt,  xxvii.  51. — See  Park- 
hurst,  under  the  word  -pD. 

The  veil  in  the  tabernacle  was  exceedingly  costly  ; 
it  was  made  of  the  same  materials  with  the  inner 
covering,  blue,  purple,  scarlet,  fine  twined  linen,  em¬ 
broidered  with  cherubim,  &c.  It  served  to  divide  the 
tabernacle  into  two  parts  :  one,  the  outermost,  called 
the  holy  place  ;  the  other,  or  innermost,  called  the 
holy  of  holies,  or  the  most  holy  place.  In  this  was 
deposited  the  ark  of  the  covenant,  and  the  other  things 
that  were  laid  up  by  way  of  memorial.  Into  this  the 
high  priest  alone  was  permitted  to  enter,  and  that  only 
once  in  the  year,  on  the  great  day  of  atonement.  It 
was  in  this  inner  place  that  Jehovah  manifested  him¬ 
self  between  the  cherubim.  The  Jews  say  that  this 
veil  was  four  fingers’  breadth  in  thickness,  in  order  to 
prevent  any  person  from  seeing  through  it ;  but  for 
this,  as  Calmet  observes,  there  was  no  necessity,  as 
there  was  no  window  or  place  for  light  in  the  taber¬ 
nacle,  and  consequently  the  most  simple  veil  would 
have  been  sufficient  to  obstruct  the  discovery  of  any 
thing  behind  it,  which  could  only  be  discerned  by  the 
light  that  came  in  at  the  door,  or  by  that  afforded  by 
the  golden  candlestick  which  stood  on  the  outside  of 
this  veil. 

Verse  32.  Their  hooks  shall  be  of  gold\  01T11  va- 
veyhem,  which  we  translate  their  hooks,  is  rendered 
Ketyafadeg,  capitals,  by  the  Septuagint,  and  capita  by 
the  Vulgate.  As  the  word  11  vav  or  vau,  plural  D’ll 
vavim,  occurs  only  in  this  book,  chap.  xxvi.  32,  37  ; 

436 


Heb.  ix.  2,  3. - n  Chap.  xxv.  21  ;  xl.  20  ;  Heb.  ix.  5. - 0  Chap. 

xl.  22  ;  Heb.  ix.  2. - P  Chap.  xl.  24. - 1  Chap,  xxxvi.  37. 

xxvii.  10,  1 1,  17  ;  xxxvi.  36,  38  ;  xxxviii.  10,  11,  12, 
17,  19,  28  ;  and  is  used  in  these  places  in  reference  to 
the  same  subject,  it  is  very  difficult  to  ascertain  its 
precise  meaning.  Most  commentators  and  lexicogra¬ 
phers  think  that  the  ideal  meaning  of  the  word  is  to 
connect,  attach,  join  to,  hook;  and  that  the  letter  1  vau 
has  its  name  from  its  hook-like  form,  and  its  use  as  a 
particle  in  the  Hebrew  language,  because  it  serves  to 
connect  the  words  and  members  of  a  sentence,  and  the 
sentences  of  a  discourse  together,  and  that  therefore 
hook  must  be  the  obvious  meaning  of  the  word  in  all 
the  above  texts.  Calmet  thinks  this  reason  of  no 
weight,  because  the  1  vau  of  the  present  Hebrew  alpha¬ 
bet  is  widely  dissimilar  from  the  vau  of  the  primitive 
Hebrew  alphabet,  as  may  be  seen  on  the  ancient  shekels ; 
on  these  the  characters  appear  as  in  the  word  Jehovah, 
chap,  xxviii.  36.  This  form  bears  no  resemblance  to 
a  hook  ;  nor  does  the  Samaritan  ^  vau,  which  appears 
to  have  been  copied  from  this  ancient  character. 

Calmet  therefore  contends,  1.  That  if  Moses  does 
not  mean  the  capitals  of  the  pillars  by  the  D’ll  vavim 
of  the  text,  he  mentions  them  nowhere ;  and  it  would 
be  strange  that  while  he  describes  the  pillars,  their 
sockets,  bases,  fillets,  &c.,  &c.,  with  so  much  exactness, 
as  will  appear  on  consulting  the  preceding  places,  that 
he  should  make  no  mention  of  the  capitals ;  or  that 
pillars,  every  way  so  correctly  formed,  should  have 
been  destitute  of  this  very  necessary  ornament. 

2.  As  Moses  was  commanded  to  make  the  hooks , 
□'ll  vavim,  of  the  pillars  and  their  fillets  of  silver,  chap, 
xxvii.  10,  11,  and  the  hooks,  vavim,  of  the  pillars  of  the 
veil  of  gold,  chap,  xxxvi.  36 ;  and  as  one  thousand  seven 
hundred  and  seventy-five  shekels  were  employed  in 
making  these  hooks,  vavim,  overlaying  their  chapiters, 
rasheyhem,  their  heads,  and  filleting  them, 
chap,  xxxviii.  28  ;  it  is  more  reasonable  to  suppose 
that  all  this  is  spoken  of  the  capitals  of  the  pillars  than 
of  any  kind  of  hooks,  especially  as  hooks  are  mentioned 
under  the  word  taches  or  clasps  in  other  places  On 
the  whole  it  appears  much  more  reasonable  to  trans¬ 
late  the  original  by  capitals  than  by  hooks. 

After  this  verse  the  Samaritan  Pentateuch  intro¬ 
duces  the  ten  first  verses  of  chap,  xxx.,  and  this 
appears  to  be  their  proper  place.  Those  ten  verses 
are  not  repeated  in  the  thirtieth  chapter  in  the  Sama¬ 
ritan,  the  chapter  beginning  with  the  11th  verse. 

Verse  36.  A  hanging  for  the  door  of  the  tent]  This 

a 


CHAP.  XXVII. 


and  its  dimensions. 


Altar  of  burnt-offerings , 


a.  M.  2513.  door  of  the  tent,  of  blue,  and  pur- 
An.  Exod.  Isr.  l.  pie,  and  scarlet,  and  hue  twined 
Slvan'  linen,  wrought  with  needlework. 
37  And  thou  slialt  make  for  the  hanging 

r  Exodus, 

may  be  called  the  first  veil,  as  it  occupied  the  door  or 
entrance  to  the  tabernacle  ;  the  veil  that  separated  the 
holy  place  from  the  holy  of  holies  is  called  the  second 
veil,  Heb.  ix.  3.  These  two  veils  and  the  inner  cover¬ 
ing  of  the  tabernacle  were  all  of  the  same  materials, 
and  of  the  same  workmanship.  See  chap,  xxvii.  16. 

1.  For  the  meaning  and  design  of  the  tabernacle 
see  the  note  on  chap.  xxv.  40  :  and  while  the  reader 
is  struck  with  the  curious  and  costly  nature  of  this 
building,  as  described  by  Moses,  let  him  consider  how 
pure  and  holy  that  Church  should  be  of  which  it  was 
a  very  expressive  type  ;  and  what  manner  of  person 
he  should  be  in  all  holy  conversation  and  godliness, 
who  professes  to  be  a  member  of  that  Church  for 
which,  it  is  written,  Christ  has  given  himself,  that  he 
might  sanctify  and  cleanse  it ;  that  he  might  present 
it  unto  himself  a  glorious  Church,  not  having  spot,  or 
wrinkle,  or  any  such  thing  ;  but  that  it  should  be  holy 
and  without  blemish.  See  Eph.  v.  25-27. 


r  five  pillars  of  shittim  wood ,  and  A.  M.  2513. 
overlay  them  with  gold,  and  their  An.  Exod.  isr.’  l. 
hooks  shall  be  of  gold  :  and  thou  Sivan‘ 
shalt  cast  five  sockets  of  brass  for  them. 

chap,  xxxvi.  38. 

2.  In  the  Jewish  tabernacle  almost  every  thing  was 
placed  out  of  the  sight  of  the  people.  The  holy  of 
holies  was  inaccessible ,  the  testimony  was  compara¬ 
tively  hidden ,  as  were  also  the  mercy -seat  and  the 
Divine  glory.  Under  the  Gospel  all  these  things  are 
laid  open,  the  way  to  the  holiest  is  made  manifest,  the 
veil  is  rent ,  and  we  have  an  entrance  to  the  holiest  by 
the  blood  of  Jesus,  by  a  new  and  living  way ,  which  he 
hath  consecrated  for  us,  through  the  veil ,  that  is  to  say , 
his  flesh;  Heb.  x.  19,  20.  How  abundantly  has  God 
brought  life  and  immortality  to  light  by  the  Gospel ! 
The  awful  distance  is  abolished,  the  ministry  of  recon¬ 
ciliation  is  proclaimed,  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is 
opened  to  all  believers,  and  the  Lord  is  in  his  holy 
temple.  Sinner,  weary  of  thyself  and  thy  transgres¬ 
sions,  fainting  under  the  load  of  thy  iniquities,  look 
to  Jesus ;  he  died  for  thee,  and  will  save  thee.  Be¬ 
liever,  stand  fast  in  the  liberty  wherewith  God  has 
made  thee  free,  and  be  not  entangled  again  in  the 
yoke  of  bondage. 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 


The  altar  of  burnt-offerings,  and  its  dimensions,  1  ;  its  horns,  2  ;  pans,  shovels,  6fC.,  3  ;  its  grate  and  net¬ 
work,  4,  5  ;  its  staves,  6,  7.  Court  of  the  tabernacle,  with  its  pillars  and  hangings,  9—15.  Gate  of  the 
court ,  its  pillars,  hangings,  length,  breadth,  and  height,  16—18.  All  the  vessels  used  in  the  court  of  the 
tabernacle  to  be  of  brass,  19.  The  Israelites  to  provide  pure  olive  oil  for  the  light ,  20.  Every  thing  to 
be  ordered  by  Aaron  and  his  sons,  21. 


AND  thou  shalt  make  a  an 
altar  of  shittim  wood,  five 
cubits  long,  and  five  cubits 
broad  :  the  altar  shall  be  four-square  ;  and  the 


A.  M.  2513. 

B.  C.  1491. 
An.  Exod.  Isr.  1. 

Sivan. 


height  thereof  shall  be  three  A.  M.  2513. 

B.  C.  1491. 

CUbitS.  An.  Exod.  Isr.  1. 

2  And  thou  shalt  make  the  Suan' 
horns  of  it  upon  the  four  corners  thereof: 


a  Chap,  xxxviii.  1  ; 

NOTES  ON  CHAP.  XXVII. 

Verse  1.  Thou  shalt  make  an  altar ]  ttUTD  mizbeach, 
from  nUT  zabach,  to  slay  :  Septuagint,  dvcnaarripiov, 
from  Ouoiafa,  to  sacrifice,  or  from  dvu,  to  kill,  &c. 
See  the  note  on  Gen  viii.  20. 

Four-square ]  As  this  altar  was  five  cubits  long  and 
five  broad,  and  the  cubit  is  reckoned  to  be  twenty-one 
inches,  hence  it  must  have  been  eight  feet  nine  inches 
square,  and  about  five  feet  three  inches  in  height,  the 
amount  of  three  cubits ,  taken  at  the  same  ratio. 

Verse  2.  Thou  shalt  make  the  horns  of  it]  The 
horns  might  have  three  uses :  1.  For  ornament.  2.  To 
prevent  carcasses,  &c.,  from  falling  off.  3.  To  tie 
the  victim  to,  previously  to  its  being  sacrificed.  So 
David  :  Bind  the  sacrifice  with  cords  to  the  horns  of 
the  altar;  Psa.  cxviii.  27.  Horns  were  much  used 
in  all  ancient  altars  among  the  heathen,  and  some  of 
them  were  entirely  constructed  of  the  horns  of  the 
beasts  that  had  been  offered  in  sacrifice ;  but  such  al- 


Ezek.  xliii.  13. 

tars  appear  to  be  erected  rather  as  trophies  in  honour  of 
their  gods.  On  the  reverses  of  several  medals  we  find 
altars  represented  with  horns  at  the  corners.  There 
is  a  medal  of  Antoninus  on  the  reverse  of  which  is  an 
altar,  on  which  a  fire  burns,  consecrated  Divo  Pio, 
where  the  horns  appear  on  each  of  the  corners. 

There  is  one  of  Faustina,  on  which  the  altar  and 
its  horns  are  very  distinct,  the  legend  Pietas  Augusta. 
All  the  following  have  altars  with  horns.  One  of 
Valerian,  legend  Consecratio ;  one  of  Claudius  Gothi- 
cus,  same  legend  ;  one  of  Quintillus ,  same  legend  ;  one 
of  Crispina,  with  the  legend  Diis  Gemtalibus  ;  and 
several  others.  See  Numismatica  Antiq.,  a  Musellio, 
under  Consecratio,  in  the  index. 

Callimachus,  in  hi3  Hymn  to  Apollo,  line  60,  intro¬ 
duces  him  constructing  an  altar  of  the  horns  of  the 
animals  slain  by  Diana  : — 

- iryt;e  be  ftupov 

Es  nepauv  k.  t.  h. 

437 


a 


The  court  of  the  tabernacle , 


EXODUS. 


A  M.  2513.  his  horns  shall  be  of  the  same  ; 
An.  Exod.  Isr.  l.  and  b  thou  shall  overlay  it  with 
Si,an-  brass. 

3  And  thou  shalt  make  his  pans  to  receive 
his  ashes,  and  his  shovels,  and  his  basins, 
and  his  flesh-hooks,  and  his  fire-pans  :  all  the 
vessels  thereof  thou  shalt  make  of  brass. 

4  And  thou  shalt  make  for  it  a  grate  of  net¬ 
work  of  brass  ;  and  upon  the  net  shalt  thou 
make  four  brazen  rings  in  the  four  corners 
thereof. 

5  And  thou  shalt  put  it  under  the  compass 
of  the  altar  beneath,  that  the  net  may  be  even 
to  the  midst  of  the  altar. 

6  And  thou  shalt  make  staves  for  the  altar, 
staves  of  shittim  wood,  and  overlay  them  with 
brass. 

7  And  the  staves  shall  be  put  into  the  rings, 
and  the  staves  shall  be  upon  the  two  sides  of 
the  altar,  to  bear  it. 

8  Hollow  with  boards  shalt  thou  make  it : 
c  as  dit  was  showed  thee  in  the  mount,  so 
shall  they  make  it. 

9  And  e  thou  shalt  make  the  court  of  the 
tabernacle  :  for  the  south  side  southward, 

b  See  Num.  xvi.  38. - c  Chap.  xxv.  40 ;  xxvi.  30. 


with  its  pillars  and  hangings 
there  shall  be  hangings  for  the  a.  M.  2513. 

r  r  r-  c  B.  C.  1491. 

court  of  fine  twined  linen  of  a  An.  Exod.  isr.  1. 

hundred  cubits  long  for  one  side  :  Slvan‘ 

10  And  the  twenty  pillars  thereof  and  their 
twenty  sockets  shall  be  of  brass  ;  the  hooks 
of  the  pillars  and  their  fillets  shall  be  of  silver. 

1 1  And  likewise  for  the  north  side,  in  length 
there  shall  be  hangings  of  a  hundred  cubits 
long,  and  his  twenty  pillars  and  their  twenty 
sockets  of  brass  ;  the  hooks  of  the  pillars  and 
their  fillets  of  silver. 

12  And/or  the  breadth  of  the  court  on  the 
west  side  shall  be  hangings  of  fifty  cubits  : 
their  pillars  ten,  and  their  sockets  ten. 

1 3  And  the  breadth  of  the  court  on  the  east 
side  eastward  shall  be  fifty  cubits. 

14  The  hangings  of  one  side  of  the  gate 
shall  be  fifteen  cubits  ;  their  pillars  three,  and 
their  sockets  three. 

15  And  on  the  other  side  shall  be  hangings 
fifteen  cubits :  their  pillars  three,  and  their 
sockets  three. 

16  And  for  the  gate  of  the  court  shall  be 
a  hanging  of  twenty  cubits,  of  blue,  and  pur¬ 
ple,  and  scarlet,  and  fine  twined  linen,  wrought 


d  Heb.  be  showed. - e  Chap,  xxxviii.  9. 


Martial  has  these  words  :  Cornibus  arci  frequens. 

Verse  3.  Thou  shalt  make  his  pans]  VilYD  sirothaiv, 
a  sort  of  large  brazen  dishes,  which  stood  under  the 
altar  to  receive  the  ashes  that  fell  through  the  grating. 

His  shovels ]  VJT  yaaiv.  Some  render  this  besoms  ; 
but  as  these  were  brazen  instruments,  it  is  more  natural 
to  suppose  that  some  kind  of  fire-shovels  are  intended, 
or  scuttles,  which  were  used  to  carry  off  the  ashes  that 
fell  through  the  grating  into  the  large  pan  or  siroth. 

His  basins]  vnpVD  mizrekothaiv,  from  p”U  zarak , 
to  sprinkle  or  disperse ;  bowls  or  basins  to  receive  the 
blood  of  the  sacrifices,  in  order  that  it  might  be  sprin¬ 
kled  on  the  people  before  the  altar,  &c. 

His  flesh-hooks]  VTU7TD  mizlegothaiv.  That  this 
word  is  rightly  translated  flesh-hooks  is  fully  evident 
from  1  Sam.  ii.  13,  where  the  same  word  is  used  in 
such  a  connection  as  demonstrates  its  meaning  :  And 
the  priest's  custom  with  the  people  was,  that  when  any 
man  offered  sacrifice ,  the  priest's  servant  came ,  while 
the  flesh  was  in  the  seething ,  with  a  flesh-hook 
mazleg)  of  three  teeth  (prongs)  in  his  hand ,  and  he 
struck  it  into  the  pan ,  &c.  ;  all  that  the  flesh-hook 
mazleg)  brought  up,  the  priest  took  for  himself. 
It  was  probably  a  kind  of  trident ,  or  fork  with  three 
prongs,  and  these  bent  to  a  right  angle  at  the  middle, 
as  the  ideal  meaning  of  the  Hebrew  seems  to  imply 
crookedness  or  curvature  in  general. 

His  fire-pans]  UfinriiD  machtothaiv.  Bishop  Patrick 
and  others  suppose  that  “  this  was  a  larger  sort  of 
vessel,  wherein,  probably,  the  sacred  fire  which  came 

438 


down  from  heaven  (Lev.  ix.  24)  was  kept  burning, 
whilst  they  cleansed  the  altar  and  the  grate  from  the 
coals  and  the  ashes  ;  and  while  the  altar  was  carried 
from  one  place  to  another,  as  it  often  was  in  the  wil¬ 
derness.” 

Verse  4.  Thou  shalt  make  for  it  a  grate]  Calmet 
supposes  this  altar  to  have  been  a  sort  of  box,  covered 
with  brass  plates,  on  the  top  of  which  was  a  grating 
to  supply  the  fire  with  air,  and  permit  the  ashes  to  fall 
through  into  the  siroth  or  pan  that  was  placed  below. 
At  the  four  corners  of  the  grating  were  four  rings  and 
four  chains,  by  which  it  was  attached  to  the  four 
horns ;  and  at  the  sides  were  rings  for  the  poles  of 
shittim  wood  with  which  it  was  carried.  Even  on  this 
there  is  a  great  variety  of  opinions. 

Verse  8.  Hollow  with  boards]  It  seems  to  have 
been  a  kind  of  frame-work ,  and  to  have  had  nothing 
solid  in  the  inside,  and  only  covered  with  the  grating 
at  the  top.  This  rendered  it  more  light  and  portable. 

Verse  9.  The  court  of  the  tabernacle]  The  taber¬ 
nacle  stood  in  an  enclosure  or  court,  open  at  the  top. 
This  court  was  made  with  pillars  or  posts,  and  hang¬ 
ings.  It  was  one  hundred  cubits,  or  about  fifty-eight 
yards  and  a  half,  in  length ;  t&e  breadth  we  learn  from 
verses  12  and  18;  and  five  cubits,  or  nearly  three 
yards,  high,  ver.  18.  And  as  this  was  but  half  the 
height  of  the  tabernacle,  chap.  xxvi.  16,  that  sacred 
building  might  easily  be  seen  by  the  people  from 
without. 

Verse  16.  And  for  the  gate  of  the  court]  If  appears 

a 


CHAP.  XXVII. 


All  the  vessels  to  he  of  brass , 

A.  M.  2513.  with  needlework  :  and  their  pil- 
An.Exod.  isr.i.  lars  shall  he  four,  and  their 
_ blvan~  sockets  four. 

17  All  the  pillars  round  about  the  court 
shall  he  filleted  with  silver ;  their  hooks  shall 
he  of  silver,  and  their  sockets  of  brass. 

18  The  length  of  the  court  shall  he  a  hun¬ 
dred  cubits,  and  the  breadth  f  fifty  every 
where,  and  the  height  five  cubits  of  fine 
twined  linen,  and  their  sockets  of  brass. 

19  All  the  vessels  of  the  tabernacle  in  all 
the  service  thereof,  and  all  the  pins  thereof, 

{  Heb.  fifty  by  fifty. - ?  Lev.  xxiv.  2. - hHeb.  to  ascend  up. 

*  Chap.  xxvi.  31,  33. - k  Chap.  xxx.  8  ;  1  Sam.  iii.  3  ;  2  Chron. 

that  the  hangings  of  this  gate  were  of  the  same  mate¬ 
rials  and  workmanship  with  that  of  the  inner  covering 
of  the  tabernacle,  and  the  outer  and  inner  veil.  See 
chap.  xxvi.  36. 

Verse  19.  All  the  vessels — shall  be  of  brass .]  It 
would  have  been  improper  to  have  used  instruments 
made  of  the  more  precious  metals  about  this  altar,  as 
they  must  have  been  soon  worn  out  by  the  severity  of 
the  service. 

Verse  20.  Pure  oil  olive  beaten ]  That  is,  such  oil 
as  could  easily  be  expressed  from  the  olives  after  they 
had  been  bruised  in  a  mortar  ;  the  mother  drop ,  as  it 
is  called,  which  drops  out  of  itself  as  soon  as  the  olives 
are  a  little  broken,  and  which  is  much  purer  than  that 
which  is  obtained  after  the  olives  are  put  under  the 
press. 

Columella ,  who  is  a  legitimate  evidence  in  all  such 
matters,  says  that  the  oil  which  flowed  out  of  the  fruit 
either  spontaneously,  or-  with  little  .application  of  the 
force  of  the  press,  was  of  a  much  finer  flavour  than 
that  which  was  obtained  otherwise.  Quoniam  longe 
melioris  saporis  est,  quod  minore  vi  preli,  quasi  luxu¬ 
rious ,  dejluxerit. — Colum.,  lib.  xii.,  c.  50. 

To  cause  the  lamp  to  burn  always ]  They  were  to 
be  kept  burning  through  the  whole  of  the  night,  and 
some  think  all  the  day  besides ;  but  there  is  a  differ¬ 
ence  of  sentiment  upon  this  subject.  See  the  note  on 
the  following  verse. 

This  oil  and  continual  flame  were  not  only  emble¬ 
matical  of  the  unction  and  influences  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  but  also  of  that  pure  spirit  of  devotion  which 
ever  animates  the  hearts  and  minds  of  the  genuine  wor¬ 
shippers  of  the  true  God.  The  temple  of  Vesta, 
where  a  fire  was  kept  perpetually  burning,  seems  to 
have  been  formed  on  the  model  of  the  tabernacle  ;  and 
from  this  the  followers  of  Zeratusht,  commonly  called 
Zoroaster ,  appear  to  have  derived  their  doctrine  of 
the  perpetual  fire ,  which  they  still  worship  as  an  em¬ 
blem  of  the  Deity. 

V erse  2 1 .  The  tabernacle  of  the  congregation ]  The 
place  where  all  the  assembly  of  the  people  were  to 
worship,  where  the  God  of  that  assembly  was  pleased 
to  reside,  and  to  which,  as  the  habitation  of  their  king 
and  protector,  they  were  ever  to  turn  their  faces  in  all 
their  adorations. 

Before  the  testimony ]  That  is,  the  ark  where  the 

a 


ordered  by  Aaron  and  his  sons 

and  all  the  pins  of  the  court,  A.  M.  2513. 
shall  he  of  brass.  An.  Exod.  isr.  1, 

20  And  b  thou  shalt  command  Slvan~ 
the  children  of  Israel,  that  they  bring  thee 
pure  oil  olive  beaten  for  the  light,  to  cause 
the  lamp  h  to  burn  always, 

21  In  the  tabernacle  of  the  congregation, 

1  without  the  veil,  which  is  before  the  testi¬ 
mony  :  k  Aaron  and  his  sons  shall  order  it  from 
evening;  to  morning;  before  the  Lord  :  1  it  shall 
he  a  statute  for  ever  unto  their  generations,  on 
the  behalf  of  the  children  of  Israel. 

xiii.  11. - 1  Chapter  xxviii.  43  ,  xxix.  9,  28  ;  Lev.  iii.  17 ;  xvi. 

34;  xxiv.  9;  Num.  xviii.  23  ;  xix.  21 ;  1  Sam.  xxx.  25. 

tables  of  the  covenant  were  deposited.  See  chap, 
xxv.  16. 

41 

Aaron  and  his  sows]  These  and  their  descendants 
being  the  only  legitimate  priests,  God  having  established 
the  priesthood  in  this  family. 

Shall  order  it  from  evening  to  morning']  Josephus 
says  the  whole  of  the  seven  lamps  burned  all  the  night; 
in  the  morning  four  were  extinguished,  and  three  kept 
burning  through  the  whole  day.  Others  assert  that 
the  whole  seven  were  kept  lighted  both  day  and  night 
continually ;  but  it  appears  sufficiently  evident,  from 
1  Sam.  iii.  3,  that  these  lamps  were  extinguished  in 
the  morning :  And  ere  the  lamp  of  God  went  out  in 
the  temple  of  the  Lord ,  where  the  ark  of  God  ivas,  and 
Samuel  was  laid  dozen  to  sleep,  &c.  See  also  chap, 
xxx.  8  :  And  when  Aaron  lighteth  the  lamps  at 
even.  It  appears  therefore  that  the  business  of  the 
priests  was  to  light  the  lamps  in  the  evening  ;  and  either 
to  extinguish  them  in  the  morning,  or  permit  them  to 
burn  out,  having  put  in  the  night  before  as  much  oil  as 
was  necessary  to  last  till  day-light. 

A  statute  for  ever]  This  ordering  of  the  lamps 
night  and  morning,  and  attendance  on  the  service  of 
the  tabernacle,  was  a  statute  that  was  to  be  in  full  force 
while  the  tabernacle  and  temple  stood,  and  should  have 
its  spiritual  accomplishment  in  the  Christian  Church  to 
the  end  of  time.  Reader,  the  tabernacle  and  temple 
are  both  destroyed  ;  the  Church  of  Christ  is  established 
in  their  place.  The  seven  golden  candlesticks  were 
typical  of  this  Church  and  the  glorious  light  it  pos¬ 
sesses,  Rev.  i.  12-20  ;  and  Jesus  Christ,  the  Fountain 
and  Dispenser  of  this  true  light,  walks  in  the  midst  of 
them.  Reader,  hast  thou  that  celestial  flame  to  en¬ 
lighten  and  animate  thy  heart  in  all  those  acts  of  de¬ 
votion  which  thou  professest  to  pay  to  him  as  thy  Ma¬ 
ker,  Redeemer,  and  Preserver  l  What  is  thy  profes¬ 
sion,  and  what  thy  religious  acts  and  services,  without 
this  l  A  sounding  brass,  a  tinkling  cymbal. 

Tep.tullian  asserts  that  all  the  ancient  heathens 
borrowed  their  best  notions  from  the  sacred  writings  : 
«  Which,”  says  he,  “  of  your  poets,  which  of  your 
sophists,  have  not  drunk  from  the  fountain  of  the  pro¬ 
phets  l  It  is  from  those  sacred  springs  that  your  phi¬ 
losophers  have  refreshed  their  thirsty  spirits ;  and  if 
they  found  any  thing  in  the  Holy  Scriptures  which  hit 

439 


Aaron  and  Ids  sons  to  be  set 


EXODUS. 


their  fancy,  or  which  served  their  hypothesis,  they  took 
and  turned  it  to  a  compliance  with  their  own  curiosity, 
not  considering  those  writings  to  be  sacred  and  unalter¬ 
able,  nor  understanding  their  true  sense,  every  one 
altering  them  according  to  his  own  fancy.” — Apologet. 

The  reader’s  attention  has  already  been  called  to 
this  point  several  times  in  the  preceding  parts  of  this 
work,  and  the  subject  will  frequently  recur.  At  the 
conclusion  of  chap.  xxv.  we  had  occasion  to  observe 
that  the  heathens  had  imitated  many  things  in  that  Di¬ 
vine  worship  prescribed  by  Moses ;  but  in  application 
to  their  own  corrupt  system  every  thing  was  in  a  cer¬ 
tain  measure  falsified  and  distorted,  yet  not  so  far  as 
to  prevent  the  grand  outlines  of  primitive  truth  from 
being  discerned  One  of  the  most  complete  imitations 
of  the  tabernacle  and  its  whole  service  is  found  in  the 
very,  ancient  temple  of  Hercules,  founded  probably  by 
the  Phoenicians,  at  Gades ,  now  Cadiz,  in  Spain,  so  mi¬ 
nutely  described  by  Silius  ltalicus  from  actual  obser¬ 
vation.  He  observes  that  though  the  temple  was  at 
that  time  very  ancient,  yet  the  beams  were  the  same 
that  had  been  placed  there  by  the  founders,  and  that 
they  were  generally  supposed  to  be  incorruptible ;  a 
quality  ascribed  to  the  shittim  wood,  termed  Ijvlov  aarjir- 
rov,  incorruptible  wood ,  by  the  Septuagint.  That  wo¬ 
men  were  not  permitted  to  enter  this  temple ,  and  that 
no  swine  were  ever  suffered  to  come  near  it.  That 
the  priests  did  not  wear  party-coloured  vestments,  but 
were  always  clothed  in  fine  linen ,  and  their  bonnets 
made  of  the  same.  That  they  offered  incense  to  their 
god,  their  clothes  being  ungirded ;  for  the  same  reason 
doubtless  given  chap.  xx.  26,  that  in  going  up  to  the 
altar  nothing  unseemly  might  appear,  and  therefore  they 
permitted  their  long  robes  to  fall  down  to  their  feet. 
Pie  adds,  that  by  the  laws  of  their  forefathers  they 
bore  on  their  sacerdotal  vestments  the  latus  clavus, 
which  was  a  round  knob  or  stud  of  purple  with  which 
the  robes  of  the  Roman  knights  and  senators  were 
adorned,  which  these  priests  seem  to  have  copied  from 
the  breastplate  of  judgment  made  of  cunning  work, 


apart  for  the  priest's  office. 

embroidered  with  purple ,  blue ,  &c.  See  chap,  xxviii. 
15.  They  also  ministered  barefooted ,  their  hair  was 
trimmed  or  cut  off,  and  they  observed  the  strictest 
continency,  and  kept  a  perpetual  fire  burning  on  their 
altars.  And  he  farther  adds  that  there  was  no  image 
or  similitude  of  the  gods  to  be  seen  in  that  sacred 
place.  This  is  the  substance  of  his  description ;  but 
as  some  of  my  readers  may  wish  to  see  the  original, 
I  shall  here  subjoin  it. 

Vulgatum  ( nee  cassa  fides)  ab  origine  fani 
Impositas  durare  trabes,  solasque  per  cevum 
Condentum  novisse  manus :  hie  credere  gaudent 
Consedisse  Deum ,  seniumque  repellere  templis. 
Turn,  queis  fas  et  honos  adyti  penetralia  nosse , 
Fcemineos  prohibent  gressus,  ac  limine  cur  ant 
Setigeros  arcere  sues :  nec  discolor  ulli 
Ante  aras  cultus :  velantur  corpora  lino, 

Et  Pelusiaco  preefulget  stamine  vertex. 

Discinctis  mos  thura  dare,  atque  e  lege  parentum 
Sacrificam  lato  vest.em  distinguere  clavo. 

Pes  nudus,  tonsaeque  coma;,  castumque  cubile, 
Irrestincta  focis  servant  altaria  flammae. 

Sed  nulla  effigies,  simulacrave  nota  Deorum 
Majestate  locum ,  et  sacro  implevere  timore. 

Punicor.,  lib.  iii.,  ver.  17-31. 

This  is  such  a  remarkable  case  that  I  think  myself 
justified  in  quoting  it  at  length,  as  an  extraordinary 
monument,  though  corrupted,  of  the  tabernacle  and  its 
service.  It  is  probable  that  the  original  founders  had 
consecrated  this  temple  to  the  true  God,  under  the  name 
of  el,  the  strong  God,  or  Sk  el  gibbor,  the 
strong,  prevailing,  and  victorious  God,  Isa.  ix.  6,  out 
of  whom  the  Greeks  and  Romans  made  their  Hercules , 
or  god  of  strength ;  and,  to  make  it  agree  with  this 
appropriation,  the  labours  of  Hercules  were  sculptured 
on  the  doors  of  this  temple  at  Gades. 

In  foribus  labor  Alcidw  Lernwa  recisis 
Anguibus  Hydra  jacet ,  &c.,  &c. 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 


Aaron  and  his  sons  are  set  apart  for  the  priest’’ s  office,  1.  Garments  to  be  provided  for  them,  2,  3.  What 
these  garments  were,  4,  and  of  what  made,  5.  The  ephod,  its  shoulder-pieces  and  girdle,  6—8.  The  two 
onyx  stones,  on  which  the  names  of  the  twelve  tribes  were  to  be  engraven,  9—14.  The  breastplate  of  judg¬ 
ment  ;  its  tivelve  precious  stones,  engraving,  rings,  chains,  and  its  use,  15—29.  The  Urim  and  Thummim, 
30.  The  robe  of  the  ephod,  its  border,  bells,  pomegranates,  c fc.,  and  their  use,  31—35.  The  plate  of 
pure  gold  and  its  motto,  36,  to  be  placed  on  Aaron’s  mitre,  37,  38.  The  embroidered  coat  for  Aaron,  39. 
Coats,  girdles,  and  bonnets,  40.  Aaron  and  his  sons  to  be  anointed  for  the  priest's  office,  41.  Other 
articles  of  clothing  and  their  use,  42,  43. 


AND  take  thou  unto  thee 
a  Aaron  thy  brother,  and 
his  sons  with  him,  from  among 
the  children  of  Israel,  that  he  may  minister 


A.  M.  2513. 

B.  C.  149.1. 
An.  Exod.  Isr.  1. 

Sivan. 


unto  me  in  the  priest’s  office, 
even  Aaron,  Nadab,  and  Abihu, 
Eleazar,  and  Ithamar,  Aaron’s 
sons. 


A.  M.  2513. 

B.  C.  1491. 
An.  Exod.  Isr.  1. 

Sivan. 


aNum.  xviii.  7 ;  Ecclus.  xlv.  6; 


Heb.  v.  1,  4. 


NOTES  ON  CHAP.  XXYIII. 

Yerse  1.  Aaron — and  his  sews]  The  priesthood 
was  to  be  restrained  to  this  family  because  the  public 

440 


worship  was  to  be  confined  to  one  place  ;  and  previously 
to  this  the  eldest  in  every  family  officiated  as  priest, 
there  being  no  settled  place  of  worship.  It  has  been 

a. 


CHAP.  XXVIII. 


Holy  garments  are 

A.  M.  2513.  2  And  b  thou  shalt  make  holv 

B.  C.  1491.  r  A  ,  ,  , 

An.Exod.lsr.1.  garments  tor  Aaron  thy  brother, 

Slvan~  for  glory  and  for  beauty. 

3  And  c  thou  shalt  speak  unto  all  that  are 

b  Chap.  xxix.  5,  29 ;  xxxi.  10  ;  xxxix.  1,2;  Lev.  viii.  7,  30  ; 
Num.  xx.  26,  28;  Ecclus.  xlv.  7,  8. - c  Chap.  xxxi.  6  ;  xxxv. 

very  properly  observed  that,  if  Moses  had  not  acted 
by  the  Divine  appointment,  he  would  not  have  passed 
by  his  own  family,  which  continued  in  the  condition  of 
ordinary  Levites,  and  established  the  priesthood ,  the 
only  dignity  in  the  nation,  in  the  family  of  his  brother 
Aaron.  “  The  priests,  however,  had  no  power  of  a 
secular  nature,  nor  does  it  appear  from  history  that  they 
ever  arrived  at  any  till  the  time  of  the  Asmoneans  or 
Maccabees.”  See  the  note  on  chap.  xix.  22. 

Verse  2.  For  glory  and  for  beauty. ]  Four  articles 
of  dress  were  prescribed  for  the  priests  in  ordinary, 
and  four  more  for  the  high-priest.  Those  for  the  priests 
in  general  were  a  coat,  drawers ,  &  girdle,  and  a  bonnet . 
Besides  these  the  high-priest  had  a  robe ,  an  ephod,  a 
breastplate,  and  a  plate  or  diadem  of  gold  on  his  fore¬ 
head.  The  garments,  says  the  sacred  historian,  were 
for  honour  and  for  beauty.  They  were  emblematical 
of  the  office  in  which  they  ministered.  1.  It  was  ho¬ 
nourable.  They  were  the  ministers  of  the  Most  High, 
and  employed  by  him  in  transacting  the  most  important 
concerns  between  God  and  his  people,  concerns  in 
which  all  the  attributes  of  the  Divine  Being  were  in¬ 
terested,  as  well  as  those  which  referred  to  the  present 
and  eternal  happiness  of  his  creatures.  2.  They  were 
for  beauty.  They  were  emblematical  of  that  holiness 
and  purity  which  ever  characterize  the  Divine  nature 
and  the  worship  which  is  MTorthy  of  him,  and  which 
are  essentially  necessary  to  all  those  who  wish  to  serve 
him  in  the  beauty  of  holiness  here  below,  and  without 
which  none  can  ever  see  his  face  in  the  realms  of  glory. 
Should  not  the  garments  of  all  those  who  minister  in 
holy  things  still  be  emblematical  of  the  things  in  which 
they  minister  1  Should  they  not  be  for  glory  and  beauty, 
expressive  of  the  dignity  of  the  Gospel  ministry,  and 
that  beauty  of  holiness  without  which  none  can  see 
the  Lord  1  As  the  high-priest’s  vestments,  under  the 
law,  were  emblematical  of  what  was  to  come,  should 
not  the  vestments  of  the  ministers  of  the  Gospel  bear 
some  resemblance  of  what  is  come  ?  Is  then  the  dis¬ 
mal  black,  now  worn  by  almost  all  kinds  of  priests  and 
ministers,  for  glory  and  for  beauty  ?  Is  it  emblemati¬ 
cal  of  any  thing  that  is  good,  glorious,  or  excellent  1 
How  unbecoming  the  glad  tidings  announced  by  Chris¬ 
tian  ministers  is  a  colour  emblematical  of  nothing  but 
mourning  and  wo,  sin,  desolation,  and  death  !  How 
inconsistent  the  habit  and  office  of  these  men!  Should 
it  be  said,  “  These  are  only  shadows,  and  are  useless 
because  the  substance  is  come.”  I  ask,  Why  then  is 
black  almost  universally  worn  1  why  is  a  particular 
colour  preferred,  if  there  be  no  signification  in  any  l 
Is  there  not  a  danger  that  in  our  zeal  against  shadows, 
we  shall  destroy  or  essentially  change  the  substance 
itself!  Would  not  the  same  sort  of  argumentation 
exclude  water  in  baptism,  and  bread  and  wine  in  the 
sacrament  of  the  Lord’s  Supper  1  The  while  surplice 
in  the  service  of  the  Church  is  almost  the  only  thing 


to  he  made  for  them. 

wise-hearted,  d  whom  I  have  A.  M.  2513. 
filled  with  the  spirit  of  wisdom,  An.  Exod.  isr!  1 
that  they  may  make  Aaron’s  Slvan~ 
garments  to  consecrate  him,  that  he  may 

31-35;  xxxvi.  1,  2;  Isa.  xxviii.  24-29. - d  Chap.  xxxi.  3 

xxxv.  30,  31 ;  Dent,  xxxiv.  9  ;  James  i.  17. 

that  remains  of  those  ancient  and  becoming  vestments 
which  God  commanded  to  be  made  for  glory  and  beauty. 
Clothing,  emblematical  of  office,  is  of  more  consequence 
than  ^generally  imagined.  Were  the  great  officers 
of  the  crown,  and  the  great  officers  of  justice,  to  clothe 
themselves  like  the  common  people  when  they  appear 
in  their  public  capacity,  both  their  persons  and  their 
decisions  would  be  soon  held  in  little  estimation. 

Verse  3.  Whom  I  have  filled  with  the  spirit  of  wis¬ 
dom ]  So  we  find  that  ingenuity  in  arts  and  sciences, 
even  those  of  the  ornamental  kind,  comes  from  God. 
It  is  not  intimated  here  that  these  persons  were  filled 
with  the  spirit  of  wisdom  for  this  purpose  only ;  for 
the  direction  to  Moses  is,  to  select  those  whom  he 
found  to  be  expert  artists,  and  those  who  were  such, 
God  shows  by  these  words,  had  derived  their  know¬ 
ledge  from  himself.  Every  man  should  be  permitted 
as  far  as  possible  to  follow  the  bent  or  direction  of  his 
own  genius,  when  it  evidently  leads  him  to  new  inven¬ 
tions,  and  improvements  on  old  plans.  How  much 
has  both  the  labour  of  men  and  cattle  been  lessened  by 
improvements  in  machinery  !  And  can  we  say  that 
the  wisdom  which  found  out  these  improvements  did 
not  come  from  God  1  No  man,  by  course  of  tea  ling 
or  study,  ever  acquired  a  genius  of  this  kind  :  we  cal] 
it  natural,  and  say  it  was  bom  with  the  man.  Moses 
teaches  us  to  consider  it  as  Divine.  Who  taught 
Newton  to  ascertain  the  laws  by  which  God  governs 
the  universe,  through  which  discovery  a  new  source 
of  profit  and  pleasure  has  been  opened  to  mankind 
through  every  part  of  the  civilized  world  ?  No  read¬ 
ing,  no  study,  no  example,  formed  his  genius.  God, 
who  made  him,  gave  him  that  compass  and  bent  of 
mind  by  which  he  made  those  discoveries,  and  for 
which  his  name  is  celebrated  in  the  earth.  When  I 
see  Napier  inventing  the  logarithms ;  Copernicus, 
Des  Cartes,  and  Kepler  contributing  to  pull  down 
the  false  systems  of  the  universe,  and  Newton  demon¬ 
strating  the  true  one ;  and  wThen  I  see  the  long  list  of 
patentees  of  useful  inventions,  by  whose  industry  and 
skill  long  and  tedious  processes  in  the  necessary  arts 
of  life  have  been  shortened,  labour  greatly  lessened, 
and  much  time  and  expense  saved  ;  I  then  see,  with 
Moses,  men  who  are  wise-hearted,  whom  God  has 
filled  with  the  spirit  of  wisdom  for  these  very  pur¬ 
poses  ;  that  he  might  help  man  by  man,  and  that,  as 
time  rolls  on,  he  might  give  to  his  intelligent  creatures 
such  proofs  of  his  Being,  infinitely  varied  wisdom,  and 
gracious  providence,  as  should  cause  them  to  depend 
on  him,  and  give  him  that  glory  which  is  due  to  his 
name. 

How  pointedly  does  the  Prophet  Isaiah  refer  to  this 
sort  of  teaching  as  coming  from  God,  even  in  the  most 
common  and  less  difficult  arts  of  life  !  The  whole  pas¬ 
sage  is  worthy  of  the  reader’s  most  serious  attention. 

“  Doth  the  ploughman  plough  all  day  to  sow  1  doth  ho 

441 


The  garments  which  the 


EXODUS. 


priests  are  to  wear. 


A.  M.  2513. 

B.  C.  1491. 

An.  Exod.  Isr.  1.  QITlCe. 

Si  van. 


minister  unto  me  in  the  priest’s 


_______  4  And  these  are  the  garments 

which  they  shall  make ;  e  a  breastplate,  and 


f  an  ephod,  and  *  a  robe,  and  A.  M.  2513. 
n  a  broidered  coat,  a  mitre,  and  An.  Exod.  isr.  1 
a  girdle  :  and  they  shall  make  Slvan~ 
holy  garments  for  Aaron  thy  brother,  and  his 


e  Yer.  15. - f  Yer.  6. - s  Ver.  31. 


open  and  break  the  clods  of  his  ground  1  When  he 
hath  made  plain  the  face  thereof,  doth  he  not  cast 
abroad  the  fitches,  and  scatter  the  cummin,  and  cast 
in  the  principal  wheat,  and  the  appointed  barlhy,  and 
the  rye,  in  their  place  1  For  his  God  doth  instruct 
him  to  discretion,  and  doth  teach  him.  For  the  fitches 
are  not  threshed  with  a  threshing-instrument,  neither 
is  a  cart-wheel  turned  about  upon  the  cummin  ;  but  the 
fitches  are  beaten  out  with  a  staff,  and  the  cummin  with 
a  rod.  Bread  corn  is  bruised  ;  because  he  will  not 
ever  be  threshing  it,  nor  break  it  with  the  wheel  of 
his  cart,  nor  bruise  it  with  his  horsemen.  This  also 
cometh  forth  from  the  Lord  of  hosts,  who  is  won¬ 
derful  in  counsel,  and  excellent  in  working,”  Isa. 
xxviii.  24—29. 

But  let  us  take  heed  not  to  run  into  extremes  here  ; 
machinery  is  to  help  man,  not  to  render  him  useless. 
The  human  hand  is  the  great  and  most  perfect  machine, 
let  it  not  be  laid  aside.  In  our  zeal  for  machinery 
we  are  rendering  all  the  lower  classes  useless  ;  filling 
the  land  with  beggary  and  vice,  and  the  workhouses 
with  paupers  ;  and  ruining  the  husbandman  with  op¬ 
pressive  poor-rates.  Keep  machinery  as  a  help  to  the 
human  hand,  and  to  lighten  the  labour,  but  never  let  it 
supersede  either. 

This  principle,  that  God  is  the  author  of  all  arts 
and  sciences,  is  too  little  regarded  :  Every  good  gift , 
and  every  perfect  gift,  says  St.  James,  comes  from 
above,  from  the  father  of  lights.  Why  has  God 
constructed  every  part  of  nature  with  such  a  profusion 
of  economy  and  skill,  if  he  intended  this  skill  should 
never  be  discovered  by  man,  or  that  man  should  not 
attempt  to  examine  his  works  in  order  to  find  them 
out  \  From  the  works  of  creation  what  proofs,  aston¬ 
ishing  and  overwhelming  proofs,  both  to  believers  and 
infidels,  have  been  drawn  both  of  the  nature,  being, 
attributes,  and  providence  of  God  !  What  demonstra¬ 
tions  of  all  these  have  the  Archbishop  of  Cambray, 
Dr.  Nieuwentyt,  Dr.  Derham,  and  Mr.  Charles  Bon¬ 
net,  given  in  their  philosophical  works !  And  who 
gave  those  men  this  wisdom!  GOD,  from  whom 
alone  MIND,  and  all  its  attributes,  proceed.  While 
we  see  Count  de  Bujfon  and  Swammerdam  examining 
and  tracing  out  all  the  curious  relations,  connections, 
and  laws  of  the  animal  kingdom  ; — Tournefort ,  Ray, 
and  Linne,  those  of  the  vegetable  ; — Theophrastus, 
Werner,  Klaproth,  Cronstedt,  Morveau,  Reamur,  Kir- 
wan,  and  a  host  of  philosophical  chemists,  Boerhaave, 
Boyle,  Stahl,  Priestley,  Lavoisier,  Fourcroy,  Black, 
and  Davy ,  those  of  the  mineral  ;  the  discoveries  they 
have  made,  the  latent  and  important  properties  of 
vegetables  and  minerals  which  they  have  developed, 
the  powerful  machines  which,  through  their  discove¬ 
ries,  have  been  constructed,  by  the  operations  of  which 
the  human  slave  is  restored  to  his  own  place  in  society, 
the  brute  saved  from  his  destructive  toil  in  our  manu- 

442 


h  Ver.  39;  Exod.  xxxix.  2-21. 


factories,  and  inanimate,  unfeeling  nature  caused  to 
perform  the  work  of  all  these  better,  more  expedi¬ 
tiously,  and  to  much  more  profit ;  shall  we  not  say 
that  the  hand  of  GOD  is  in  all  this  ?  Only  I  again 
say,  let  machinery  aid  man,  and  not  render  him  use¬ 
less.  The  nations  of  Europe  are  pushing  mechanical 
power  to  a  destructive  extreme.  He  alone  girded 
those  eminent  men,  though  many  of  them  knew  him 
not ;  he  inspired  them  with  wisdom  and  understand¬ 
ing  ;  by  his  all-pervading  and  all-informing  spirit  he 
opened  to  them  the  entrance  of  the  paths  of  the  depths 
of  science,  guided  them  in  their  researches,  opened  to 
them  successively  more  and  more  of  his  astonishing 
treasures,  crowned  their  persevering  industry  with  his 
blessing,  and  made  them  his  ministers  for  good  to  man¬ 
kind.  The  antiquary  and  the  medalist  are  also  his 
agents ;  their  discernment  and  penetration  come  from 
him  alone.  By  them,  how  many  dark  ages  of  the 
world  have  been  brought  to  light ;  how  many  names 
of  men  and  places,  how  many  customs  and  arts,  that 
were  lost,  restored  !  And  by  their  means  a  few  busts , 
images,  stones,  bricks ,  coins,  rings,  and  culinary  uten¬ 
sils,  the  remaining  wrecks  of  long-past  numerous  cen¬ 
turies,  have  supplied  the  place  of  ivritlen  documents, 
and  cast  a  profusion  of  light  on  the  history  of  man, 
and  the  history  of  providence.  And  let  me  add,  that 
the  providence  which  preserved  these  materials,  and 
raised  up  men  to  decipher  and  explain  them,  is  itself 
gloriously  illustrated  by  them. 

Of  all  those  men  (and  the  noble  list  might  be  greatly 
swelled)  we  may  say  the  same  that  Moses  said  of 
Bezaleel  and  Aholiab :  “  GOD  hath  filled  them  with 
the  Spirit  of  God,  in  wisdom,  and  in  understanding, 
and  in  knowledge  ;  and  in  all  manner  of  workmanship, 
to  devise  cunning  works  ;  to  work  in  gold  and  in  silver, 
and  in  brass,  in  cutting  of  stones,  carving  of  timber , 
and  in  all  manner  of  workmanship  ;”  chap.  xxxi.  3—6. 
“  The  works  of  the  Lord  are  great,  sought  out  of  all 
them  that  have  pleasure  therein;”  Psa.  cxi.  2. 

Verse  4.  Breastplate ]  j choshen.  See  on  chap, 
xxv.  7. 

Ephod ]  T£){n*.  See  the  note  on  chap.  xxv.  7. 

Robe ]  meil,  from  alah,  to  go  up,  go  upon  ; 

hence  the  meil  may  be  considered  as  an  upper  coat,  a 
surtout.  It  is  described  by  Josephus  as  a  garment 
that  reaches  down  to  the  feet,  not  made  of  two  dis¬ 
tinct  pieces,  but  was  one  entire  long  garment,  woven 
throughout.  This  was  immediately  under  the  ephod. 
See  on  ver.  31,  &c. 

Broidered  coat]  nJHD  kethoneth,  tashbets, 

what  Parkhurst  translates  a  close,  strait  coat  or  gar¬ 
ment  ;  according  to  Josephus,  “  a  tunic  circumscribing 
or  closely  encompassing  the  body,  and  having  tight 
sleeves  for  the  arms.”  This  was  immediately  under 
the  meil  or  robe,  and  answered  the  same  purpose  to 
the  priests  that  our  shirts  do  to  us.  See  on  ver.  13. 


Directions  f  or  making  the  CHAP.  XXVIII.  garments  of  the  priests,  c \c 


A.  M.  2513.  sons,  that  he  may  minister  unto 

B.  C.  1491.  .  ,  •  .f  rr 

An. Exod.  isr. l.  me  in  the  priests  office. 

Slvan-  5  And  they  shall  take  gold,  and 
blue,  and  purple,  and  scarlet,  and  fine  linen  : 

6  1  And  they  shall  make  the  ephod  of  gold, 
of  blue,  and  of  purple,  of  scarlet,  and  fine 
twined  linen,  with  cunning  work. 

7  It  shall  have  the  two  shoulder-pieces 
thereof  joined  at  the  two  edges  thereof ;  and 
so  it  shall  be  joined  together. 

8  And  the  k  curious  girdle  of  the  ephod, 
which  is  upon  it,  shall  be  of  the  same,  accord¬ 
ing  to  the  work  thereof ;  even  of  gold,  of  blue, 
and  purple,  and  scarlet,  and  fine  twined  linen. 

9  And  thou  shalt  take  two  onyx  stones,  and 
grave  on  them  the  names  of  the  children  of 
Israel : 

10  Six  of  their  names  on  one  stone,  and 

*  Chap,  xxxix.  2,  4,  27,  29. - k  Or,  embroidered  ;  ch.  xxxix.  20  ; 

Isa.  xi.  5  ;  Rev.  i.  13.  _ 

Milre]  mitsnepheth.  As  this  word  comes 

from  the  root  tsanaph ,  to  roll  or  wrap  round ,  it 

evidently  means  that  covering  of  the  head  so  universal 
in  the  eastern  countries  which  we  call  turban  or  tur- 
band,  corrupted  from  the  Persian  doolbend , 

which  signifies  what  encompasses  and  binds  the  head 
or  body ;  and  hence  is  applied,  not  only  to  this  cover¬ 
ing  of  the  head,  but  to  a  sash  in  general.  As  the 
Persian  word  is  compounded  of  dool  or  dawal,  a 

revolution,  vicissitude,  wheel,  &c.,  and  binden , 

to  bind ;  it  is  very  likely  that  the  Hebrew  words  in 
dur,  to  go  round,  and  £333  benet,  a  band,  may  have 
been  the  original  of  doolbend  and  turband.  It  is 
sometimes  called  serbend,  from  j***  ser,  the 

head,  and  bidden,  to  bind.  The  turban  consists 

generally  of  two  parts  :  the  cap,  which  goes  on  the 
head ;  and  the  long  sash  of  muslin,  linen,  or  silk,  that 
is  wrapped  round  the  head.  These  sashes  are  gene¬ 
rally  several  yards  in  length. 

A  girdle ]  £DJ3X  abnet,  a  belt  or  girdle  ;  see  before. 
This  seems  to  have  been  the  same  kind  of  sash  or 
girdle,  so  common  in  the  eastern  countries,  that  con¬ 
fined  the  loose  garments  about  the  waist ;  and  in 
which  their  long  skirts  were  tucked  up  when  they 
were  employed  in  work,  or  on  a  journey.  After  being 
tied  round  the  waist,  the  two  ends  of  it  fell  down 
before,  to  the  skirts  of  their  robes. 

Verse  8.  The  curious  girdle  of  the  ephod ]  The 
word  3£££n  chesheb,  rendered  here  curious  girdle,  sig¬ 
nifies  merely  a  kind  of  diaper ,  or  embroidered  work  ; 
(see  the  note  on  chap.  xxvi.  1  ;)  and  it  is  widely  different 
from  £333X  abnet ,  which  is  properly  translated  girdle 
ver.  4.  The  meaning  therefore  of  the  text,  according 
to  some,  is  this,  that  the  two  pieces,  ver.  7,  which  con¬ 
nected  the  parts  of  the  ephod  at  the  shoulders  where 
the  onyx  stones  were  set,  should  be  of  the  same  tex¬ 
ture  with  the  ephod  itself,  i.  e.,  of  gold,  blue,  pur- 

a 


the  other  six  names  of  the  rest  A.  M.  2513. 
on  the  other  stone,  according  to  An.  Exod.  isr.  1 
their  birth.  Slvan~ 

1 1  1  With  the  work  of  an  engraver  in  stone, 
like  the  engravings  of  a  signet,  shalt  thou  en¬ 
grave  the  two  stones  with  the  names  of  the 
children  of  Israel :  thou  shalt  make  them  to 
be  set  in  ouches  of  gold. 

12  And  thou  shalt  put  the  two  stones  upon 
the  shoulders  of  the  ephod  for  stones  of  me¬ 
morial  unto  the  children  of  Israel  :  and  m  Aaron 
shall  bear  their  names  before  the  Lord,  upon 
his  two  shoulders,  n  for  a  memorial. 

1 3  And  thou  shalt  make  ouches  of  gold  ; 

14  And  two  chains  of  pure  gold  at  the  ends ; 
of  wreathen  work  shalt  thou  make  them,  and 
fasten  the  wreathen  chains  to  the  ouches. 

15  And  0  thou  shalt  make  the  breastplate 

1  Wisd.  xviii.  24. - mVer.  29  ;  chap,  xxxix.  7. - “See  Josh. 

iv.  7  ;  Zech.  vi.  14. - °Chap.  xxxix.  8. 

pie,  scarlet,  and  fine  twined  linen,  embroidered  together. 
But  others  suppose  that  some  kind  of  a  girdle  is  meant, 
different  from  the  abnet,  ver.  39,  being  only  of  plain 
workmanship. 

Verse  9.  Two  onyx  stones ]  See  on  chap.  xxv.  7. 

Verse  11.  Like  the  engravings  of  a  signet \  So 
signets  or  seals  were  in  use  at  this  time,  and  engraving 
on  precious  stones  was  then  an  art,  and  this  art,  which 
was  one  of  the  most  elegant  and  ornamental,  was  car¬ 
ried  in  ancient  times  to  a  very  high  pitch  of  perfection, 
and  particularly  among  the  ancient  Greeks  ;  such  a 
pitch  of  perfection  as  has  never  been  rivalled,  and  can¬ 
not  now  be  even  well  imitated.  And  it  is  very  likely 
that  the  Greeks  themselves  borrowed  this  art  from  the 
ancient  Hebrews ,  as  we  know  it  flourished  in  Egypt 
and  Palestine  long  before  it  was  known  in  Greece. 

Verse  12.  Aaron  shall  bear  their  names  before  the 
Lord ]  He  was  to  consider  that  he  was  the  represen¬ 
tative  of  the  children  of  Israel ;  and  the  stones  on  the 
ephod  and  the  stones  on  the  breastplate  were  for  a 
memorial  to  put  Aaron  in  remembrance  that  he  was 
the  priest  and  mediator  of  the  twelve  tribes ;  and, 
speaking  after  the  manner  of  men,  God  was  to  be  put 
in  mind  of  the  children  of  Israel,  their  wants,  &c.,  as 
frequently  as  the  high  priest  appeared  before  him  with 
the  breastplate  and  the  ephod.  See  ver.  29. 

Verse  13.  Ouches  of  gold ]  mishbetsoth, 

strait  places,  sockets  to  insert  the  stones  in,  from 
shabats ,  to  close ,  inclose,  straiten.  Socket,  in  this 
place,  would  be  a  more  proper  translation,  as  ouch  can¬ 
not  be  traced  up  to  any  legitimate  authority.  It  appears 
sometimes  to  signify  a  hook,  or  some  mode  of  attach¬ 
ing  things  together. 

Verse  15.  The  breastplate  of  judgment ]  OStPD  ftj?n 
choshen  mishpat,  the  same  as  the  choshen,  see 
chap.  xxv.  7,  but  here  called  the  breastplate  of  judg¬ 
ment,  because  the  high  priest  wore  it  upon  his  breast 
when  he  went  to  ask  counsel  of  the  Lord,  to  give  judgv. 

443 


EXODUS. 


The  precious  stones 

A.  M.  2513.  of  judgment  with  cunning  work  ; 

B.  C.  1491.  JO  O’ 

An.  Exod.lsr.  i.  after  the  work  of  the  ephod  thou 
Slvan'  shalt  make  it ;  of  gold,  of  blue, 
and  of  purple,  and  of  scarlet,  and  of  fine 
twined  linen,  shalt  thou  make  it. 

16  Four-square  it  shall  be,  being  doubled; 
a  span  shall  be  the  length  thereof,  and  a  span 
shall  be  the  breadth  thereof.  • 

17  p  And  thou  shalt  i  set  in  it  settings  of 
stones,  even  four  rows  of  stones  :  the  first  row 
shall  be  a  r  sardius,  a  topaz,  and  a  carbuncle  : 
this  shall  be  the  first  row. 

1 8  And  the  second  row  shall  be  an  emerald, 
a  sapphire,  and  a.  diamond. 

PChap.  xxxix.  10,  &c. - Heb  .fill  it  in  fillings  of  stone. 

ment  in  any  particular  case  ;  as  also  when  he  sat  as 
fudge  to  teach  the  law,  and  to  determine  controversies. 
See  Lev.  x.  11  ;  Deut.  xvii.  8,  9. 

Verse  16.  Four-square  it  shall  be\  Here  we  have 
the  exact  dimensions  of  this  breastplate,  or  more  pro¬ 
perly  breast-piece  or  stomacher.  It  was  a  span  in 
length  and  breadth  when  doubled ,  and  consequently 
two  spans  long  one  way  before  it  was  doubled.  Be- 


of  the  breastplate 

19  And  the  third  row  a  ligUre,  A.  M.  2513. 

an  agate,  and  an  amethyst.  An.  Exod.  Isr.  1 

20  And  the  fourth  row  a  beryl,  Sivan‘ 
and  an  onyx,  and  a  jasper  :  they  shall  be  set 
in  gold  in  their  s  enclosings. 

21  And  the  stones  shall  be  with  the  names 
of  the  children  of  Israel,  twelve,  according  to 
their  names,  like  the  engravings  of  a  signet  ; 
every  one  with  his  name  shall  they  be  accord¬ 
ing  to  the  twelve  tribes. 

c_) 

22  And  thou  shalt  make  upon  the  breast 
plate  chains  at  the  ends  of  wreathen  work, 
o/*pure  gold. 

23  And  thou  shalt  make  upon  the  breast- 

rOr,  ruby. - sHeb.  fillings. 

tween  these  doublings,  it  is  supposed,  the  Urim  and 
Thummim  were  placed.  See  on  ver.  30. 

Verse  17.  Four  rows  of  stones ]  With  a  name  on 
each  stone,  making  in  all  the  twrelve  names  of  the 
twelve  tribes.  And  as  these  were  disposed  according 
to  their  birth,  ver.  10,  we  may  suppose  they  stood  in 
this  order,  the  stones  being  placed  also  in  the  order  in 
which  they  are  produced,  ver.  17—20  : — 


Upon  a  Sardius  or  Ruby 

-  Topaz 

-  Carbuncle 

Upon  an  Emerald 
- — —  a  Sapphire 
- —  Diamond 

Upon  a  Ligure  or  Jacinth 

-  Agate 

• -  Amethyst 

Upon  a  Beryl,  or  Chrysolite 

-  Onyx,  or  Sardonyx 

-  Jasper 


FIRST 

was  engraven 


SECOND 

was  engraven 


THIRD 

was  engraven 


FOURTH 

was  engraven 


ROW. 

Reuben 

Simeon 

Levi 

ROW. 

Judah 

Issachar 

Zebulun 

ROW. 

Dan 

Naphtali 

Gad 

ROW. 

Asher 

Joseph 

Benjamin 


pisn 


mirr 

niOT1 

jSut 


Sons  of  Leah. 


Sons  of  Bilhah,  Rachel’s  maid. 
Sons  of  Zilpah,  Leah’s  maid 
Sons  of  Rachel. 


In  this  order  the  Jews  in  general  agree  to  place 
them.  See  the  Jerusalem  Tar  gum  on  this  place,  and 
the  Targum  upon  Canticles  v.  14  ;  and  see  also  Ains¬ 
worth.  The  Targum  of  Jonathan  says,  “  These  four 
rows  were  placed  opposite  to  the  four  quarters  of  the 
world ;  but  this  could  only  be  when  laid  down  hori¬ 
zontally,  for  when  it  hung  on  the  breast  of  the  high 
priest  it  could  have  had  no  such  position.  As  it  is 
difficult  to  ascertain  in  every  case  what  these  precious 
stones  were,  it  may  be  necessary  to  consider  this  sub¬ 
ject  more  at  large. 

1.  A  Sardius,  DTK  odem,  from  the  root  adam ,  he 
was  ruddy ;  the  ruby,  a  beautiful  gem  of  a  fine  deep 
red  colour.  The  sardius ,  or  sardie  stone,  is  defined 
to  be  a  precious  stone  of  a  blood-red  colour,  the  best 
of  which  come  from  Babylon. 

2.  A  Topaz,  m£33  pitdah,  a  precious  stone  of  a  pale 
dead  green ,  with  a  mixture  of  yellow,  sometimes  of  a 

444 


fine  yellow  ;  and  hence  it  was  called  chrysolite  by  the 
ancients,  from  its  gold  colour.  It  is  now  considered 
by  mineralogists  as  a  variety  of  the  sapphire. 

3.  Carbuncle,  r\p13  bareketh,  from  p-Q  barak ,  to 
lighten,  glitter ,  or  glister ;  a  very  elegant  gem  of  a 
deep  red  colour,  with  an  admixture  of  scarlet.  From 
its  bright  lively  colour  it  had  the  name  carbunculus, 
which  signifies  a  little  coal;  and  among  the  Greeks 
avdpai ;  anthrax,  a  coal,  because  wThen  held  before  the 
sun  it  appears  like  a  piece  of  bright  burning  charcoal. 
It  is  found  only  in  the  East  Indies,  and  there  but  rarely. 

4.  Emerald,  *]33  nophech,  the  same  with  the  ancient 
smaragdus ;  it  is  one  of  the  most  beautiful  of  all  the 
gems,  and  is  of  a  bright  green  colour,  without  any  other 
mixture.  The  true  oriental  emerald  is  very  scarce,  and 
is  only  found  at  present  in  the  kingdom  of  Cambay. 

5.  Sapphire,  T3D  sappir.  See  this  described,  chap, 
xxiv.  10. 


a 


The  chains  and  rings  CHAP.  XX  v  III.  of  the  breastplate 


a.  M.  2513.  plate 6 7 8 9 10 *  1  two  rings  of  gold,  and 

It  C  1491  *  °  .  ° 

An.  Exod.  isr!  l.  shalt  put  the  two  rings  on  the 

_ Slvan‘  two  ends  of  the  breastplate. 

24  And  thou  shalt  put  the  two  wreathen 
chains  of  gold  in  the  two  rings,  which  are  on 
the  ends  of  the  breastplate. 

25  And  the  other  two  ends  of  the  two 
u  wreathen  chains ,  thou  shalt  fasten  in  the  two 
ouches,  and  put  them  on  the  shoulder-piecesv 
of  the  ephod  before  it. 

26  And  thou  shalt  make  two  rings  of  gold, 
and  thou  shalt  put  them  upon  the  two  ends 
of  the  breastplate,  in  the  border  thereof,  which 
is  in  the  side  of  the  ephod  inward. 

27  And  two  other  rings  of  gold  thou  shalt 

1  Chap.  xxv.  11-15. - u  Chap,  xxviii.  14  ;  xxxix.  15. 

6.  Diamond,  dSiV  yahalom,  from  oSn  halam,  to  beat 
or  smite  upon.  The  diamond  is  supposed  to  have  this 
name  from  its  resistance  to  a  blow ,  for  the  ancients 
have  assured  us  that  if  it  be  struck  with  a  hammer, 
upon  an  anvil,  it  will  not  break ,  but  either  break  them 
or  sink  into  the  surface  of  that  which  is  softest.  This 
is  a  complete  fable,  as  it  is  well  known  that  the  dia¬ 
mond  can  be  easily  broken,  and  is  capable  of  being 
entirely  volatilized  or  consumed  by  the  action  of  fire. 
It  is,  however,  the  hardest,  as  it  is  the  most  valuable, 
of  all  the  precious  stones  hitherto  discovered,  and  one 
of  the  most  combustible  substances  in  nature. 

7.  Ligure,  leshem,  the  same  as  the  jacinth  or 
hyacinth  ;  a  precious  stone  of  a  dead  red  or  cinnamon 
colour,  with  a  considerable  mixture  of  yellow. 

8.  Agate,  112 shebo.  This  is  a  stone  that  assumes 
such  a  variety  of  hues  and  appearances,  that  Mr.  Park- 
hurst  thinks  it  derives  its  name  from  the  root  2V  shab, 
to  turn,  to  change,  11  as  from  the  circumstance  of  the 
agate  changing  its  appearance  without  end,  it  might  be 
called  the  varier .”  Agates  are  met  with  so  variously 
figured  in  their  substance,  that  they  seem  to  represent 
the  sky,  the  stars,  clouds,  earth,  water,  rocks,  vil¬ 
lages,  fortifications,  birds,  trees,  flowers,  men,  and 
animals  of  different  kinds.  Agates  have  a  ivhite,  red¬ 
dish,  yellowish,  or  greenish  ground.  They  are  only 
varieties  of  the  flint,  and  the  lowest  in  value  of  all  the 
precious  stones. 

9.  Amethyst,  rnSnN  achlamah,  a  gem  generally 
of  a  purple  colour,  composed  of  a  strong  blue  and  deep 
red.  The  oriental  amethyst  is  sometimes  of  a  dove 
colour,  though  some  are  purple,  and  others  white  like 
diamonds.  The  name  amethyst  is  Greek,  ayedvoToc, 
and  it  was  so  called  because  it  was  supposed  that  it 
prevented  inebriation. 

10.  The  Beryl,  KHSHn  tarshish.  Mr.  Parkhurst 
derives  this  name  from  "in  tar,  to  go  round,  and  EJJJ? 
shash,  to  be  vivid  or  bright  in  colour.  If  the  beryl  be 
intended,  it  is  a  pellucid  gem  of  a  bluish  green  colour, 
found  in  the  East  Indies,  and  about  the  gold  mines  of 
Peru.  But  some  of  the  most  learned  mineralogists  and 
critics  suppose  the  chrysolite  to  be  meant.  This  is  a 
gem  of  a  yellowish  green  colour,  and  ranks  at  present 

a 


make,  and  shall  put  them  on  the  a.  m.  2013. 

.  ,  r  1  1  1  ,  B.  C.  1491. 

two  sides  01  the  ephod  under-  An.  Exod.  isr.  1. 

neath,  toward  the  forepart  there-  iSlvaTK 

of,  over  against  the  other  coupling  thereof, 

above  the  curious  girdle  of  the  ephod. 

28  And  they  shall  bind  the  breastplate  by 
the  rings  thereof,  unto  the  rings  of  the  ephod 
with  a  lace  of  blue,  that  it  may  be  above  the 
curious  girdle  of  the  ephod,  and  that  the 
breastplate  be  not  loosed  from  the  ephod. 

29  And  Aaron  shall  bear  the  names  of  the 
children  of  Israel  in  the  breastplate  of  judg¬ 
ment  upon  his  heart,  when  he  goeth  in  unto 
the  holy  place ,  w  for  a  memorial  before  the 
Lord  continually. 

v  Chap,  xxviii.  7,  25 ;  xxxix.  4. - w  Ver.  12. 

among  the  topazes.  Its  name  in  Greek,  chrysolite , 
XpvcroXiOog,  literally  signifies  the  golden  stone. 

11.  The  Onyx,  DiT#  shoham.  See  the  notes  on 
Gen.  ii.  12  ;  Exod.  xxv.  7.  There  are  a  great  num¬ 
ber  of  different  sentiments  on  the  meaning  of  the  origi¬ 
nal  ;  it  has  been  translated  beryl,  emerald,  prasius ,  sap¬ 
phire,  sardius,  ruby,  cornelian,  onyx,  and  sardonyx . 
It  is  likely  that  the  name  may  signify  both  the  onyx 
and  sardonyx.  This  latter  stone  is  a  mixture  of  the 
chalcedony  and  cornelian,  sometimes  in  strata,  at  other 
times  blended  together,  and  is  found  striped  with  white 
and  red  strata  or  layers.  It  is  generally  allowed  that 
there  is  no  real  difference,  except  in  the  degree  of 
hardness,  between  the  onyx,  cornelian,  chalcedony 
sardonyx,  and  agate.  It  is  well  known  that  the  onyx 
is  of  a  darkish  horny  colour,  resembling  the  hoof  or 
nail,  from  which  circumstance  it  has  its  name.  It  has 
often  a  plate  of  a  bluish  ivhite  or  red  in  it,  and  when 
on  one  or  both  sides  of  this  white  there  appears  a  plate 
of  a  reddish  colour,  the  jewellers,  says  Woodward, 
call  the  stone  a  sardonyx. 

12.  Jasper,  nDt?’  yashepheh.  The  similarity  of  the 
Hebrew  name  has  determined  most  critics  and  mine¬ 
ralogists  to  adopt-  the  jasper  as  intended  by  the  origi¬ 
nal  word.  The  jasper  is  usually  defined  a  hard  stone, 
of  a  beautiful  bright  green  colour,  sometimes  clouded 
with  white,  and  spotted  with  red  or  yellow.  Minera¬ 
logists  reckon  not  less  than  fifteen  varieties  of  this 
stone:  1.  green ;  2.  red ;  3.  yellow ;  4.  brown ;  5. 
violet ;  6.  black  ;  7.  bluish  grey  ;  8.  milky  white  ; 

9.  variegated  with  green,  red,  and  yellow  clouds  ; 

10.  green  with  red  specks ;  11.  veined  with  various 
colours,  apparently  in  the  form  of  letters  ;  12.  with 
variously  coloured  zones;  13.  with  various  colours 
mixed  without  any  order ;  14.  with  many  colours  to¬ 
gether  ;  15.  mixed  with  particles  of  agate.  It  can 
scarcely  be  called  a  precious  stone  ;  it  is  rather  a  dull 
opaque  rock. 

In  examining  what  has  been  said  on  these  different 
precious  stones  by  the  best  critics,  I  have  adopted  such 
explanations  as  appeared  to  me  to  be  best  justified  by 
the  meaning  and  use  of  the  original  words ;  but  I  can¬ 
not  say  that  the  stones  which  I  have  described  are 

445 


The  Urim  and  Thummim 


EXODUS. 


to  he  put  in  the  breastplate. 


a.  M.  2513.  30  And  *  thou  shall  put  in  the 

An.  Exod.  Isr.  I.  breastplate  of  judgment  the  Urim 
Siyan~  and  the  Thummim ;  and  they 
shall  be  upon  Aaron’s  heart  when  he  goeth 

x  Lev.  viii.  8  ;  Num.  xxvii.  21  ;  Deut.  xxxiii.  8  ;  1  Sam.  xxviii. 

0 ;  Ezra  ii.  63  ;  Neh.  vii.  65  ;  Ecclus.  xlv.  10. 

precisely  those  intended  by  the  terms  in  the  Hebrew 
text,  nor  can  I  take  upon  me  to  assert  that  the  tribes 
are  arranged  exactly  in  the  manner  intended  by  Mo¬ 
ses  ;  for  as  these  things  are  not  laid  down  in  the  text 
in  such  a  way  as  to  preclude  all  mistake,  some  things 
must  be  left  to  conjecture.  Of  several  of  these  stones 
many  fabulous  accounts  are  given  by  the  ancients,  and 
indeed  by  the  moderns  also  :  these  I  have  in  general 
omitted  because  they  are  fabulous ;  as  also  all  spirit¬ 
ual  meanings  which  others  have  found  so  plentifully 
in  each  stone,  because  I  consider  some  of  them  puerile, 
all  futile ,  and  not  a  few  dangerous . 

Verse  30.  Thou  shall  put  in  the  breastplate — the 
Urim  and  the  Thummim .]  What  these  were  has,  I  be¬ 
lieve,  never  yet  been  discovered.  1.  They  are  no¬ 
where  described.  2.  There  is  no  direction  given  to 
Moses  or  any  other  how  to  make  them.  3.  Whatever 
they  were,  they  do  not  appear  to  have  been  made  on 
this  occasion.  4.  If  they  were  the  work  of  man  at 
all,  they  must  have  been  the  articles  in  the  ancient 
tabernacle,  matters  used  by  the  patriarchs,  and  not  here 
particularly  described,  because  well  known.  5.  It  is 
probable  that  nothing  material  is  designed.  This  is 
the  opinion  of  some  of  the  Jewish  doctors.  Rabbi 
Menachem  on  this  chapter  says,  “  The  Urim  and 
Thummim  were  not  the  work  of  the  artificer ;  neither 
had  the  artificers  or  the  congregation  of  Israel  in  them 
any  work  or  any  voluntary  offering ;  but  they  were  a 
mystery  delivered  to  Moses  from  the  mouth  of  God, 
or  they  were  the  work  of  God  himself,  or  a  measure 
of  the  Holy  Spirit.”  6.  That  God  was  often  consult¬ 
ed  by  Urim  and  Thummim,  is  sufficiently  evident  from 
several  scriptures  ;  but  how  or  in  what  manner  he  was 
thus  consulted  appears  in  none.  7.  This  mode  of 
consultation,  whatever  it  was,  does  not  appear  to  have 
been  in  use  from  the  consecration  of  Solomon’s  tem¬ 
ple  to  the  time  of  its  destruction ;  and  after  its  de¬ 
struction  it  is  never  once  mentioned.  Hence  the  Jews 
say  that  the  five  following  things,  which  were  in  the 
first  temple,  were  wanting  in  the  second  :  “  1.  The 
ark  with  the  mercy-seat  and  cherubim ;  2.  The  fire 
which  came  down  from  heaven  ;  3.  The  shechinah  or 
Divine  presence;  4.  The  Holy  Spirit,  i.  e.,  the  gift 
of  prophecy;  and,  5.  The  Urim  and  Thummim .” 

8.  As  the  word  D'llN  urim  signifies  lights,  and  the 
word  D’Dn  tummim,  perfections,  they  were  probably 
designed  to  point  out  the  light — •the  abundant  informa¬ 
tion,  in  spiritual  things,  afforded  by  the  wonderful  re¬ 
velation  which  God  made  of  himself  by  and  under  the 
law  ;  and  the  perfection — entire  holiness  and  strict 
conformity  to  himself,  which  this  dispensation  required, 
and  which  are  introduced  and  accomplished  by  that 
dispensation  of  light  and  truth,  the  Gospel,  which  was 
prefigured  and  pointed  out  by  the  law  and  its  sacrifices , 
&c.  ;  and  in  this  light  the  subject  has  been  viewed  by 
the  Vulgate,  where  the  words  are  translated  doctrina 

446 


in  before  the  Lord  :  y  and  Aaron  A.  M.  2513. 

.  r  .  B.  C.  1491. 

shall  bear  the  judgment  01  the  An.  Exod.  Isr.  1 

children  of  Israel  upon  his  heart  Slvan‘  _ 

before  the  Lord  continually. 

y  Zech.  vi.  13 ;  2  Cor.  vii.  3;  Heb.  ii.  17. 


et  veritas,  doctrine  and  truth — a  system  of  teaching 
proceeding  from  truth  itself.  The  Septuagint  trans¬ 
late  the  original  by  bipMOLg  nai  aTipOna,  the  manifesta¬ 
tion  and  the  truth ;  meaning  probably  the  manifesta¬ 
tion  which  God  made  of  himself  to  Moses  and  the 
Israelites,  and  the  truth  which  he  had  revealed  to 
them,  of  which  this  breastplate  should  be  a  continual 
memorial. 

All  the  other  versions  express  nearly  the  same 
things,  and  all  refer  to  intellectual  and  spiritual  sub¬ 
jects,  such  as  light,  truth ,  manifestation,  doctrine,  per¬ 
fection,  &c.,  &c.,  not  one  of  them  supposing  that  any 
thing  material  is  intended.  The  Samaritan  text  is 
however  different ;  it  adds  here  a  whole  clause  not 
found  in  the  Hebrew :  -AAp- 

ArAT  veasitha  eth  haurim  veeth  hattum- 
mim,  Thou  shalt  make  the  Urim  and  the  Thummim. 
If  this  reading  be  admitted,  the  Urim  and  Thummim 
were  manufactured  on  this  occasion  as  well  as  the 
other  articles.  However  it  be,  they  are  indescribable 
and  unknown. 

The  manner  in  which  the  Jews  suppose  that  the 
inquiry  was  made  by  Urim  and  Thummim  is  the  fol¬ 
lowing  :  “  When  they  inquired  the  priest  stood  with 
his  face  before  the  ark,  and  he  that  inquired  stood  be¬ 
hind  him  with  his  face  to  the  back  of  the  priest ;  and 
the  inquirer  said,  Shall  I  go  up  ?  or,  Shall  I  not  go 
up  ?  And  forthwith  the  Holy  Ghost  came  upon  the 
priest,  and  he  beheld  the  breastplate,  and  saw  therein 
by  the  vision  of  prophecy,  Go  up,  or,  Go  not  up,  in  the 
letters  which  showed  forth  themselves  upon  the  breast¬ 
plate  before  his  face.”  See  Num.  xxvii.  18,  21  , 
Judg.  i.  1;  xx.  18,  28;  1  Sam.  xxiii.  9-12;  xxviii. 
6  ;  and  see  Ainsworth. 

It  was  the  letters  that  formed  the  names  of  the 
twelve  tribes  upon  the  breastplate,  which  the  Jews  sup¬ 
pose  were  used  in  a  miraculous  way  to  give  answers 
to  the  inquirers.  Thus  when  David  consulted  the 
Lord  whether  he  should  go  into  a  city  of  Judea,  three 
letters  which  constituted  the  word  nbj?  aloh ,  go,  rose 
up  or  became  prominent  in  the  names  on  the  breast¬ 
plate  ;  y  ain,  from  the  name  of  Simeon,  b  lamed  from 
the  name  of  Levi,  and  n  he  from  the  name  of  Judah, 
But  this  supposition  is  without  proof. 

Among  the  Egyptians,  a  breastplate  something  like 
that  of  the  Jewish  high-priest  was  worn  by  the  presi¬ 
dent  of  the  courts  of  justice.  Diodorus  Siculus  has 
these  words  :  E^ope'i  <5’  ovtoc;  7t epc  ~ov  rpaxp'hov  eit 
XPvtjrlQ  uTiVasuc  pprypevov  tuv  tzoXweTiuv  ?u6ov, 

6  Trpoapyopsvov  AAH0EIAN.  “  He  bore  about  his  neck 
a  golden  chain,  at  which  hung  an  image  set  about  with 
or  composed  of  precious  stones,  which  was  called 
TRUTH.” — Bib.  Hist.,  lib.  i.,  chap.  Ixxv.,  p.  225. 
And  ho  farther  adds,  that  as  soon  as  the  president 
put  this  gold  chain  about  his  neck,  the  legal  proceed¬ 
ings  commenced,  but  not  before.  And  that  when  the 

a 


CHAP.  XXVIII. 


The  robe  of  the  ephod , 

A.  M.  2513.  3 1  And  2  thou  shalt  make  the 

An.  Exod.  Isr.  l.  robe  of  the  ephod  all  of  blue. 

Slvan‘  32  And  there  shall  be  a  hole 
in  the  top  of  it,  in  the  midst  thereof :  it  shall 
have  a  binding  of  woven  work  round  about  the 
hole  of  it,  as  it  were  the  hole  of  a  a  haber¬ 
geon,  that  it  be  not  rent. 

33  And  beneath ,  upon  the  b  hem  of  it,  thou 
shalt  make  pomegranates  of  blue,  and  of  pur¬ 
ple,  and  of  scarlet,  round  about  the  hem 
thereof  ;  and  bells  of  gold  between  them  round 
about : 

34  A  golden  bell  and  a  pomegranate,  a 


and  the  golden  plate 

golden  bell  and  a  pomegranate,  A.  M.  2513. 
upon  the  hem  of  the  robe  round  An.  Exod.  Isr.  l 
about.  Sivan‘ 

35  c  And  it  shall  be  upon  Aaron  to  minis¬ 
ter  :  and  his  sound  shall  be  heard  when  he 
goeth  in  unto  the  holy  place  before  the  Lord, 
and  when  he  cometli  out,  that  he  die  not. 

36  And  d  thou  shalt  make  a  plate  of  pure 
gold,  and  grave  upon  it,  like  the  engravings 
of  a  signet,  HOLINESS  TO  THE  LORD. 

37  And  thou  shalt  put  it  on  a  blue  lace, 
that  it  may  be  upon  the  mitre  ;  upon  the  fore 
front  of  the  mitre  it  shall  be. 


7  Chap.  xxxix.  22;  Lev.  viii.  7. - a  Chap,  xxxix.  23. - b  Or, 

skirts  ;  chap,  xxxix.  24-26. 

case  of  the  plaintiff  and  defendant  had  been  fully  and 
fairly  heard,  the  president  turned  the  image  of  truth , 
which  was  hung  to  the  golden  chain  round  his  neck, 
toward  the  person  whose  cause  was  found  to  be  just,”  by 
which  he  seemed  to  intimate  that  truth  was  on  his  side. 

JEHan ,  in  his  Hist.  Var .,  lib.  xxxiv.,  gives  the  same 
account.  “  The  chief  justice  or  president,”  he  says, 
“was  always  a  priest,  of  a  venerable  age  and  acknow¬ 
ledged  probity.  E t%e  tie  sat  aya?pa  n ept  top  avxeva 
ek.  cairdeipov  Atdov ,  teat  eica?wtro  aya'Xua  AAH0EIA. 
And  he  had  an  image  which  was  called  TRUTH  en¬ 
graved  on  a  sapphire ,  and  hung  about  his  neck  with  a 
gold  chain.” 

Peter  du  Val  mentions  a  mummy  which  he  saw  at 
Cairo,  in  Egypt,  round  the  neck  of  which  was  a  chain, 
having  a  golden  plate  suspended,  which  lay  on  the 
breast  of  the  person,  and  on  which  was  engraved  the 
figure  of  a  bird.  This  person  was  supposed  to  have 
been  one  of  the  supreme  judges  ;  and  in  all  likelihood 
the  bird,  of  what  kind  he  does  not  mention,  was  the 
emblem  of  truth ,  justice ,  or  innocence. 

I  have  now  before  me  paintings,  taken  on  the  spot 
by  a  native  Chinese,  of  the  different  courts  in  China 
where  criminal  causes  were  tried.  In  these  the  judge 
always  appears  with  a  piece  of  embroidery  on  his 
breast,  on  which  a  ivhite  bird  of  the  ardea  or  heron 
kind  is  represented,  with  expanded  wings.  All  these 
seem  to  have  been  derived  from  the  same  source,  both 
among  the  Hebrews ,  the  Egyptians ,  and  the  Chinese. 
And  it  is  certainly  not  impossible  that  the  two  latter 
might  have  borrowed  the  notion  and  use  of  the  breast¬ 
plate  of  judgment  from  the  Hebrews,  as  it  was  in  use 
among  them  long  before  we  have  any  account  of  its 
use  either  among  the  Egyptians  or  Chinese.  The 
different  mandarins  have  a  breast-piece  of  this  kind. 

Verse  31.  The  robe  of  the  ephod]  See  on  ver.  4. 
From  this  description,  and  from  what  Josephus  says, 
who  must  have  been  well  acquainted  with  its  form,  we 
find  that  this  me  if  or  robe,  was  one  long  straight  piece 
of  blue  cloth,  with  a  hole  or  opening  in  the  centre  for 
the  head  to  pass  through  ;  which  hole  or  opening  was 
bound  about,  that  it  might  not  be  rent  in  putting  it  on 
or  taking  it  off,  ver.  32. 

verse  35.  His  sound  shall  be  heard]  The  bells 
were  doubtless  intended  to  keep  up  the  people’s  atten- 


c  Ecclus.  xlv.  9. - d  Chapter  xxxix.  30;  Zech.  xiv.  20, 

Ecclus.  xlv.  12. 

tion  to  the  very  solemn  and  important  office  which  the 
priest  was  then  performing,  that  they  might  all  have 
their  hearts  engaged  in  the  work ;  and  at  the  same 
time  to  keep  Aaron  himself  in  remembrance  that  he 
ministered  before  Jehovah ,  and  should  not  come  into 
his  presence  without  due  reverence. 

That  he  die  not.]  This  seems  an  allusion  to  certain 
ceremonies  which  still  prevail  in  the  eastern  countries. 
Jehovah  appeared  among  his  people  in  the  tabernacle 
as  an  emperor  in  his  tent  among  his  troops.  At  the 
doors  of  the  tents  or  palaces  of  grandees  was  gene¬ 
rally  placed  some  sonorous  body,  either  of  metal  or 
wood,  which  was  struck  to  advertise  those  within  that 
a  person  prayed  for  admittance  to  the  presence  of  the 
king,  &c.  As  the  tabernacle  had  no  door,  but  a  veil, 
and  consequently  nothing  to  prevent  any  person  from 
going  in,  Aaron  was  commanded  to  put  the  bells  on  his 
robe,  that  his  sound  might  be  heard  when  he  went  into 
the  holy  place  before  the  Lord , 

Verse  36.  Thou  shalt  make  a  plate  of  pure  gold] 
The  word  tsils,  which  we  render  plate ,  means  a 
flower ,  or  any  appearance  of  this  kind.  The  Septua- 
gint  translate  it  by  TreraTiov,  a  leaf ;  hence  we  might 
be  led  to  infer  that  this  plate  resembled  a  wreath  of 
flowers  or  leaves ;  and  as  it  is  called,  chap.  xxix.  6, 
"UJ  nezer ,  a  crown ,  and  the  author  of  the  book  of  Wis¬ 
dom,  chap,  xviii.  24,  who  was  a  Jew,  and  may  be  sup¬ 
posed  to  know  well  what  it  was,  calls  it  dtabpya,  it 
was  probably  of  the  form,  not  of  the  ancient  diadem, 
but  rather  of  the  radiated  crown  worn  by  the  ancient 
Roman  emperors,  which  was  a  gold  band  that  went 
round  the  head  from  the  vertex  to  the  occiput ;  but  the 
position  of  the  Jewish  sacerdotal  crown  was  different, 
as  that  went  round  the  forehead,  under  which  there 
was  a  blue  lace  or  fillet,  ver.  37,  which  was  probably 
attached  to  the  mitre  or  turban,  and  formed  its  lowest 
part  or  border. 

Holiness  to  the  Lord.]  This  we  may  consider 
as  the  grand  badge  of  the  sacerdotal  office.  1.  The 
priest  was  to  minister  in  holy  things.  2.  He  was  the 
representative  of  a  holy  God.  3.  He  was  to  offer 
sacrifices  to  make  an  atonement  for  and  to  put  away 
sin.  4.  He  was  to  teach  the  people  the  way  of  right¬ 
eousness  and  true  holiness.  5.  As  mediator,  he  was 
1  to  obtain  for  them  those  Divine  influences  by  which 

447 


a 


EXODUS. 


Aaron  and  his  sons. 


The  clothing  of 


A.  M.  2513.  38  And  it  shall  be  upon  Aaron  s 

An.  Exod.  isr.  i.  forehead,  that  Aaion  may  e  bear 

Q  *  ** 

1Vltn~  the  iniquity  of  the  holy  things, 
which  the  children  of  Israel  shall  hallow  in 
all  their  holy  gifts  ;  and  it  shall  he  always 
upon  his  forehead,  that  they  may  be  f  accepted 
before  the  Lord. 

39  And  thou  shalt  embroider  the  coat  of  fine 
linen,  and  thou  shalt  make  the  mitre  of  fine 
linen,  and  thou  shalt  make  the  girdle  of 
needle-work. 

40  £  And  for  Aaron’s  sons  thou  shalt  make 
coats,  and  thou  shalt  make  for  them  girdles, 
and  bonnets  shalt  thou  make  for  them,  for 
glory  and  for  beauty. 

4 1  And  thou  shalt  put  them  upon  Aaron  thy 

e  Yer.  43  ;  Lev.  x.  17  ;  xxii.  9 ;  Num.  xviii.  1  ;  Isa.  liii.  11  ; 

Ezek.  iv.  4,  5,  6  ;  John  i.  29  ;  Heb.  ix.  28  ;  1  Pet.  ii.  24. - f  Lev. 

i.  4;  xxii.  27  ;  xxiii.  11 ;  Isa.  lvi.  7. - s  Yer.  4  ;  ch.  xxxix.  27, 

28,  29,  41 ;  Ezek.  xliv.  17,  18. - h  Chap.  xxix.  7 ;  xxx.  30 ;  xl. 

15  ;  Lev.  x.  7. - *  Heb.  fill  their  hand. 

they  should  be  made  holy ,  and  be  prepared  to  dwell 
with  holy  spirits  in  the  kingdom  of  glory.  G.  In  the 
sacerdotal  office  he  was  the  type  of  that  holy  and  just 
One  who,  in  the  fulness  of  time,  was  to  come  and  put 
away  sin  by  the  sacrifice  of  himself. 

It  is  allowed  on  all  hands  that  this  inscription  was, 
in  the  primitive  Hebrew  character,  such  as  appears 
upon  ancient  shekels ,  and  such  as  was  used  before  the 
Babylonish  captivity,  and  probably  from  the  giving  of 
the  law  on  Mount  Sinai.  The  niTT* 1?  BHp  Kodesh 
Laihovah,  of  the  present  Hebrew  text,  would  in  those 
ancient  characters  appear  thus  : — 


which,  in  the  modern  Samaritan  character,  evidently 
derived  from  that  above,  is  as  follows  :  scra/nz  ssxys 
And  the  word  raror  in  this  ancient  and  original  cha¬ 
racter  is  the  famous  Tetragrammaton,  or  word  of  four 
letters ,  which,  to  the  present  day,  the  Jews  will  neither 
write  nor  pronounce.  The  Jews  teach  that  these  let¬ 
ters  were  embossed  on  the  gold,  and  not  engraven  in 
it,  and  that  the  plate  on  which  they  were  embossed  was 
about  two  fingers  broad,  and  that  it  occupied  a  space 
on  the  forehead  between  the  hair  and  the  eyebrows. 
But  it  is  most  likely  that  it  was  attached  to  the  lower 
part  of  the  mitre. 

Yerse  38.  May  bear  the  iniquity  of  the  holy  things ] 
D’tnpn  j\p  HX  jinx  XUEI1  venasa  Aharon  eth  avon  hak- 
kodashim.  And  Aaron  shall  bear  (in  a  vicarious  and 
typical  manner)  the  sin  of  the  holy  or  separated  things 
— offerings  or  sacrifices.  Aaron  was,  as  the  high 
priest  of  the  Jews,  the  type  or  representative  of  our 
blessed  Redeemer  ;  and  as  he  offered  the  sacrifices  pre¬ 
scribed  by  the  law  to  make  an  atonement  for  sin,  and 
was  thereby  represented  as  bearing  their  sins  because 
he  was  bound  to  make  an  atonement  for  them ;  so 
Christ  is  represented  as  bearing  their  sins ,  i.  e.,  the 
punishment  due  to  the  sins  of  the  world,  in  his  becom¬ 
ing  a  sacrifice  for  the  human  race.  See  Isa.  liii.  4, 

448 


brother,  and  his  sons  with  him  ;  A.  M.  2513. 
and  shalt  h  anoint  them,  and1  com  An.  Exod.  isr.  1. 

secrate  k  them,  and  sanctify  them,  _ Sl_van' _ , 

that  they  may  minister  unto  me  in  the  priest’s 
office. 

42  And  thou  shalt  make  them  1  linen 
breeches  to  cover  m  their  nakedness  ;  from 
the  loins  even  unto  the  thighs  they  shall 
n  reach  : 

4  3  And  they  shall  be  upon  Aaron,  and  upon 
his  sons,  when  they  come  in  unto  the  taber¬ 
nacle  of  the  congregation,  or  when  they  come 
near  0  unto  the  altar,  to  minister  in  the  holy 
place  ;  that  they  p  bear  not  iniquity,  and  die  : 
9  it  shall  he  a  statute  for  ever  unto  him,  and 
his  seed  after  him. 

k  Chap.  xxix.  9,  &c. ;  Lev.  viii.;  Heb.  vii.  28. - 1  Ch.  xxxix. 

28  ;  Lev.  vi.  10  ;  xvi.  4  ;  Ezek.  xliv.  18. - m  Heb  .flesh  of  their 

nakedness. - “Heb.  he. - 0  Chap.  xx.  26. - PLev.  v.  1,  17; 

xx.  19,  20  ;  xxii.  9  ;  Num.  ix.  13  ;  xviii.  22. - <1  Chapter  xxvii. 

21 ;  Lev,  xvii.  7. _ 

12,  where  the  same  verb ,  XISO  nasa,  is  used ;  and  see 

1.  Pet.  ii.  24.  By  the  inscription  on  the  plate  on  his 
forehead  Aaron  was  acknowledged  as  the  holy  minister 
of  the  holy  God.  To  the  people’s  services  and  their 
offerings  much  imperfection  was  attached,  and  there¬ 
fore  Aaron  was  represented,  not  only  as  making  an 
atonement  in  general  for  the  sins  of  the  people  by  the 
sacrifices  they  brought,  but  also  as  making  an  atone¬ 
ment  for  the  imperfection  of  the  atonement  itself,  and 
the  manner  in  which  it  was  brought. 

It  shall  be  always  upon  his  forehead ']  The  plate 
inscribed  with  Holiness  to  the  Lord  should  be  always 
on  his  forehead,  to  teach  that  the  law  required  holiness  ; 
that  this  was  its  aim,  design,  and  end  :  and  the  same 
is  required  by  the  Gospel ;  for  under  this  dispensation 
it  is  expressly  said,  Without  holiness  no  man  shall  see 
the  Lord;  Heb.  xii.  14. 

Yerse  40.  For  glory  and  for  beauty. ]  See  the  note 
on  ver.  2. 

Yerse  42.  Linen  breeches ]  This  command  had  in 
view  the  necessity  of  purity  and  decency  in  every  part 
of  the  Divine  worship,  in  opposition  to  the  shocking 
indecency  of  the  pagan  worship  in  general,  in  which 
the  priests  often  ministered  naked,  as  in  the  sacrifices 
to  Bacchus,  &c. 

On  the  garments  of  the  high  priest  some  general 
reflections  have  already  been  made ;  see  ver.  2  :  and 
to  what  is  there  said  it  may  be  just  necessary  to  add, 
that  there  can  be  no  doubt  of  their  being  all  emble¬ 
matical  of  spiritual  things  ;  but  of  which,  and  in  what 
wray,  no  man  can  positively  say.  Many  commentators 
have  entered  largely  into  this  subject,  and  have  made 
many  edifying  and  useful  remarks ;  but  wdiere  no  clue 
is  given  to  guide  us  through  a  labyrinth  in  which  the 
possibility  of  mistake  is  every  moment  occurring,  it  is 
much  better  not  to  attempt  to  be  wise  above  what  is 
written ;  for  however  edifying  the  reflections  may  be 
which  are  made  on  these  subjects,  yet,  as  they  are  not 

a 


The  manner  of  consecrating 


CHAP.  XXIX. 


Aaron  and  his  sons. 


dearly  deducible  from  the  text  itself,  they  can  give 
little  satisfaction  to  a  sincere  inquirer  after  truth.  These 
garments  were  all.  made  for  glory  and  for  beauty,  and 
this  is  the  general  account  that  it  has  pleased  God  to 
give  of  their  nature  and  design :  in  a  general  sense, 
they  represented,  1.  The  necessity  of  purity  in  every 
part  of  the  Divine  worship  ;  2.  The  necessity  of  an 


atonement  for  sin  ;  3.  The  purity  and  justice  of  the 
Divine  Majesty;  and,  4.  The  absolute  necessity  of  that 
holiness  without  which  none  can  see  the  Lord.  And 
these  subjects  should  be  diligently  kept  in  view  by  all 
those  who  wish  to  profit  by  the  curious  and  interesting 
details  given  in  this  chapter.  In  the  notes  these  topics 
are  frequently  introduced. 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 

Ceremonies  to  be  used  in  consecrating  Aaron  and  his  sons ,  1—3.  They  are  to  be  washed ,  4.  Aaron  is  to  be 
clothed  with  the  holy  vestments ,  5,  6  ;  to  be  anointed,  7.  His  sons  to  be  clothed  and  girded,  8,  9.  They 
are  to  offer  a  bullock  for  a  sin-offering,  10-14  ;  and  a  ram  for  a  burnt-offering,  15—18  ;  and  a  second  ram 
for  a  consecration-offering,  19—22.  A  loaf,  a  cake,  and  a  wafer  or  thin  cake,  for  a  wave-offering,  23—25. 
The  breast  of  the  wave-offering  and  the  shoulder  of  the  heave-offering  to  be  sanctified,  26—28.  Aaron's 
vestments  to  descend  to  his  son,  who  shall  succeed  him ,  29,  30.  Aaron  and  his  sons  to  eat  the  flesh  of  the 
ram  of  consecration,  31,  32.  No  stranger  to  cat  of  it,  33.  Nothing  of  it  to  be  left  till  the  morning ,  but 
to  be  burnt  with  fire,  34.  Seven  days  to  be  employed  in  consecrating  Aaron  and  his  sons,  35—37.  Two 
lambs,  one  for  the  morning  and  the  other  for  the  evening  sacrifice,  to  be  offered  continually,  38—42.  God 
promises  to  sanctify  Israel  with  his  glory ,  and  to  dwell  among  them ,  43—46. 


A.  M.  2513.  A  ND  this  is  the  thing  that  thou 


B.  C. 1491 


An.  Exod.  Isr.  l.  shalt  do  unto  them,  to  hallow 

-Cir.  Thammuz.  l0  minister  unto  me  in  the 

priest’s  office  :  a  Take  one  young  bullock,  and 
two  rams  without  blemish, 

2  And  b  unleavened  bread,  and  cakes  unlea¬ 
vened  tempered  with  oil,  and  wafers  unleaven¬ 
ed  anointed  with  oil ;  of  wheaten  flour  shalt 
thou  make  them. 

3  And  thou  shalt  put  them  into  one  basket, 
and  bring  them  in  the  basket,  with  the  bul¬ 
lock  and  the  two  rams. 


4  And  Aaron  and  his  sons  A.  M.  2513. 
thou  shalt  bring  unto  the  door  of  An.  Exod. Isr.’ 1. 
the  tabernacle  of  the  congrega-  Clr-  Thammuz. 

tion,  c  and  shalt  wash  them  with  water. 

5  d  And  thou  shalt  take  the  garments,  and  put 
upon  Aaron  the  coat,  and  the  robe  of  the  ephod, 
and  the  ephod,  and  the  breastplate,  and  gird 
him  with  e  the  curious  girdle  of  the  ephod : 

6  f  And  thou  shalt  put  the  mitre  upon  his 
head,  and  put  the  holy  crown  upon  the  mitre. 

7  Then  shalt  thou  take  the  anointing  e  oil, 
and  pour  it  upon  his  head,  and  anoint  him. 


aLev.  viii.  2. - bLev.  ii.  4  ;  vi.  20,  21,  22. - c  Chapter  xl. 

12  ;  Lev.  viii.  6  ;  Heb.  x.  22. - <t  Chap,  xxviii.  2  ;  Lev.  viii.  7. 

NOTES  ON  CHAP.  XXIX. 

Verse  1.  Take  one  young  bullock\  This  conse¬ 
cration  did  not  take  place  till  after  the  erection  of  the 
tabernacle.  See  Lev.  viii.  9,  10. 

Yrerse  2.  Unleavened  bread ]  Three  kinds  of  bread 
as  to  its  form  are  mentioned  here,  but  all  unleavened: 
1.  ni'i’j  matstsoth ,  unleavened  bread,  no  matter  in  what 
shape.  See  chap.  xii.  9.  2.  fibn  challoih,  cakes, 

■pricked  or  perforated,  as  the  root  implies.  3.  ’p'p"! 
rekikey,  an  exceeding  thin  cake,  from  pq  rak,  to  be 
attenuated,  properly  enough  translated  wafer.  The 
manner  in  which  these  were  prepared  is  sufficiently 
plain  from  the  text,  and  probably  these  were  the  prin¬ 
cipal  forms  in  which  flour  was  prepared  for  household 
use  during  their  stay  in  the  wilderness.  These  were 
all  waved  before  the  Lord,  ver.  24,  as  an  acknow¬ 
ledgment  that  the  bread  that  sustains  the  body,  as 
well  as  the  mercy  which  saves  the  soul,  comes  from 
God  alone. 

Verse  4.  Thou — shalt  wash  them]  This  was  done 
emblematically,  to  signify  that  they  were  to  put  away 
all  filthiness  of  the  flesh  and  spirit,  and  perfect  holi¬ 
ness  in  the  fear  of  God;  2  Cor.  vii.  1. 

\erse  5.  Thou  shalt  take  the  garments]  As  most  i 
Vol.  I.  (  30  ) 


e  Chap,  xxviii.  8. - f  Lev.  viii.  9. - s  Chap,  xxviii.  41  ;  xxx. 

25  ;  Lev.  viii.  12  ;  x.  7  ;  xxi.  10  ;  Nurn.  xxxv.  25. 

offices  of  spiritual  and  secular  dignity  had  appropriate 
habits  and  insignia,  hence,  when  a  person  was  ap¬ 
pointed  to  an  office  and  habited  for  the  purpose,  he 
was  said  to  be  invested  with  that  office,  from  in,  used 
intensively,  and  vestio,  I  clothe,  because  he  was  then 
clothed  with  the  vestments  peculiar  to  that  office. 

\  erse  7.  Then  shalt  thou  take  the  anointing  oil]  It 
appears,  from  Isa.  lxi.  1,  that  anointing  with  oil,  in 
consecrating  a  person  to  any  important  office,  whether 
civil  or  religious,  was  considered  as  an  emblem  of  the 
communication  of  the  gifts  and  graces  of  the  Holy 
Spirit.  This  ceremony  was  used  on  three  occasions, 
viz.,  the  installation  of  prophets,  priests,  and  kings , 
into  their  respective  offices.  But  why  should  such  an 
anointing  be  deemed  necessary  ?  Because  the  com¬ 
mon  sense  of  men  taught  them  that  all  good,  whether 
spiritual  or  secular,  must  come  from  God,  its  origin 
and  cause.  Hence  it  was  taken  for  granted,  1.  That 
no  man  could  foretell  events  unless  inspired  by  the 
Spirit  of  God.  And  therefore  the  prophet  was  anointed, 
to  signify  the  communication  of  the  Spirit  of  wisdom 
and  knowledge.  2.  That  no  person  could  offer  an 
acceptable  sacrifice  to  God  for  the  sins  of  men,  or  pro¬ 
fitably  minister  in  holy  things,  unless  enlightened, 

’  449 


EXODUS. 


A  bullock  for  a  sin-offering, 


and  a  rain  for  a  burnt-offering 


A.  M.  2513.  8  And  11  thou  shalt  bring  his 

B.  C.  1491.  ,  f 

An.Exod.  isr.  l.  sons,  and  put  coats  upon  them. 

cir.  Thammuz.  g  An(J  thou  ghaU  gird  them 

with  girdles,  Aaron  and  his  sons,  and *  1  put  the 
bonnets  on  them:  and  kthe  priest’s  office  shall 
be  theirs  for  a  perpetual  statute  :  and  thou 
shalt  1 *  consecrate  m  Aaron  and  his  sons. 

10  And  thou  shalt  cause  a  bullock  to  be 
brought  before  the  tabernacle  of  the  congrega¬ 
tion  :  and  n  Aaron  and  his  sons  shall  put  their 
hands  upon  the  head  of  the  bullock. 

1 1  And  thou  shalt  kill  the  bullock  before 
the  Lord,  by  the  door  of  the  tabernacle  of  the 
congregation. 

12  And  thou  0  shalt  take  of  the  blood  of 
the  bullock,  and  put  it  upon  p  the  horns  of  the 
altar  with  thy  finger,  and  pour  all  the  blood 
beside  the  bottom  of  the  altar. 

1 3  And  q  thou  shalt  take  all  the  fat  that 
covereth  the  inwards,  and  r  the  caul  that  is 
above  the  liver,  and  the  two  kidneys,  and  the 


fat  that  is  upon  them,  and  burn  A.  M.  2513. 

7  f  _  ’  B.  C.  1491. 

them  upon  the  altar.  An.  Exod.  Isr.  i 

14  But s  the  flesh  of  the  bullock,  cir-  Thammuz. 
and  his  skin,  and  Iris  dung,  shalt  thou  burn 
with  fire  without  the  camp :  it  is  a  sin-offering. 

1 5  t  Thou  shalt  also  take  one  ram ;  and 
Aaron  and  his  sons  shall  11  put  their  hands 
upon  the  head  of  the  ram. 

16  And  thou  shalt  slay  the  ram,  and  thou 
shalt  take  his  blood,  and  sprinkle  it  round 
about  upon  the  altar. 

1 7  And  thou  shalt  cut  the  ram  in  pieces,  and 
wash  the  inwards  of  him,  and  his  legs,  and  put 
them  unto  his  pieces,  and  T  unto  his  head. 

18  And  thou  shalt  burn  the  whole  ram  upon 
the  altar  :  it  is  a  burnt-offering  unto  the  Lord  : 
it  is  a  w  sweet  savour,  an  offering  made  by 
fire  unto  the  Lord. 

19  x  And  thou  shalt  take  the  other  ram  ; 
and  Aaron  and  his  sons  shall  put  their  hands 
upon  the  head  of  the  ram  : 


hLev.  viii.  13. - ‘Heb.  bind. - k  Num.  xviii.  7. - 1  Heb. 

■fill  the  hand  of. - m  Chap,  xxviii.  41  ;  Lev.  viii.  22  ;  Heb.  vii. 

28. - nLev.  i.  4  ;  viii.  14. - °Lev.  viii.  15. - PChap.  xxvii. 

2  ;  xxx.  2. - 3  Lev.  iii.  3. 

influenced,  and  directed  by  the  Spirit  of  grace  and  ho¬ 
liness.  Hence  the  priest  was  anointed,  to  signify  his 
being  Divinely  qualified  for  the  due  performance  of  his 
sacred  functions.  3.  That  no  man  could  enact  just 
and  equitable  laws,  which  should  have  the  prosperity 
of  the  community  and  the  welfare  of  the  individual 
continually  in  view,  or  could  use  the  power  confided 
to  him  only  for  the  suppression  of  vice  and  the  encou¬ 
ragement  of  virtue,  but  that  man  who  was  ever  under 
the  inspiration  of  the  Almighty.  Hence  kings  wrere 
inaugurated  by  anointing  with  oil.  Two  of  these  offices 
only  exist  in  all  civilized  nations,  the  sacerdotal  and 
regal ;  and  in  some  countries  the  priest  and  king  are 
still  consecrated  by  anointing.  In  the  Hebrew  lan¬ 
guage  mashach  signifies  to  anoint,  and  FV^D 

mashiach ,  the  anointed  person.  But  as  no  man  was 
ever  dignified  by  holding  the  three  offices,  so  no  person 
ever  had  the  title  mashiach,  the  anointed  one ,  but  Jesus 
the  Christ.  He  alone  is  King  of  kings  and  Lord  of 
lords  :  the  king  who  governs  the  universe,  and  rules 
in  the  hearts  of  his  followers ;  the  prophet,  to  instruct 
men  in  the  way  wherein  they  should  go  ;  and  the  great 
high  priest,  to  make  atonement  for  their  sins.  Hence 
he  is  called  the  Messias,  a  corruption  of  the  wrord 
rruron  hammashiach,  the  anointed  one,  in  Hebrew ; 
which  gave  birth  to  6  XptoToq,  ho  Christos,  which  has 
precisely  the  same  signification  in  Greek.  Of  him,  Mel- 
chizedek,  Abraham,  Aaron,  David,  and  others  were 
illustrious  types.  But  none  of  these  had  the  title  of  the 
Messiah,  or  the  Anointed  of  God.  This  does,  and 
ever  will,  belong  exclusively  to  Jesus  the  Christ. 

Verse  10.  Shall  put  their  hands  upon  the  head,  of  the 
bullock .]  By  this  rite  the  animal  was  consecrated  4 * * * * * *o 
a  450 


r  It  seemeth  by  anatomy  and  the  Hebrew  doctors,  to  be  the 

midriff. - s  Lev.  iv.  11,  12,  21;  Heb.  xiii.  11. - 1  Lev.  viii, 

18. - u  Lev.  i.  4-9. - v  Or,  upon. - w  Gen.  viii.  21 . - 2  Ver, 

3 ;  Lev.  viii.  22. 

God,  and  was  then  proper  to  be  offered  in  sacrifice. 
Imposition  of  hands  also  signified  that  they  offered  the 
life  of  this  animal  as  an  atonement  for  their  sins,  and 
to  redeem  their  lives  from  that  death  which,  through 
their  sinfulness,  they  had  deserved.  In  the  case  of 
the  sin-offering  and  trespass-offering,  the  person  who 
brought  the  sacrifice  placed  his  hands  on  the  head  of 
the  animal  between  the  horns,  and  confessed  his  sin 
over  the  sin-offering,  and  his  trespass  over  the  trespass¬ 
offering,  saying,  “I  have  sinned,  I  have  done  iniquity  ; 

I  have  trespassed,  and  have  done  thus  and  thus;  and  do 

return  by  repentance  before  thee,  and  with  this  I  make 
atonement.”  Then  the  animal  was  considered  as  vica¬ 
riously  bearing  the  sins  of  the  person  who  brought  it. 

Verse  14.  It.  is  a  sin- offering.]  See  the  notes  on 
Gen.  iv.  7  ;  xiii.  13  ;  Lev.  vii.  1,  &c. 

Verse  18.  It  is  a  burnt-offering ]  See  the  note  on 
Lev.  vii.  1,  &c. 

Verse  19.  The  other  ram ]  There  were  two  rams 
brought  on  this  occasion  :  one  was  for  a  burnt-offering , 

and  was  to  be  entirely  consumed ;  the  other  was  the 
ram  of  consecration,  ver.  22,  lTnSd  S’X  eil  milluim, 

the  ram  of  filling  up,  because  when  a  person  was  dedi¬ 

cated  or  consecrated  to  God,  his  hands  were  filled  with 

some  particular  offering  proper  for  the  occasion,  which 
he  presented  to  God.  Hence  the^  word  consecration 

signifies  the  filling  up  or  filling  the  hands,  some  part 
of  the  sacrifice  being  put  into  the  hands  of  such  per¬ 
sons,  denoting  thereby  that  they  had  now  a  right  to 
offer  sacrifices  and  oblations  to  God.  It  seems  in 
reference  to  this  ancient  mode  of  consecration,  that  in 
the  Church  of  England,  when  a  person  is  ordained 
priest,  a  Bible  is  put  into  his  hands  with  these  words, 

(  30*  ) 


CHAP.  XXIX. 


and  the  wave-offering 


The  ram  of  consecration , 


A  -  M.  2513.  20  Then  shalt  thou  kill  the 

An.  Exod.Isr.  1.  rani,  and  take  of  his  blood,  and 
cir.  Thammuz.  pUt  ^  Up0n  the  tip  of  the  right 

ear  of  Aaron,  and  upon  the  tip  of  the  right 
ear  of  his  sons,  and  upon  the  thumb  of  their 
right  hand,  and  upon  the  great  toe  of  their 
right  foot,  and  sprinkle  the  blood  upon  the 
altar  round  about. 

21  And  thou  shalt  take  of  the  blood  that  is 
upon  the  altar,  and  of  y  the  anointing  oil,  and 
sprinkle  it  upon  Aaron,  and  upon  his  garments, 
and  upon  his  sons,  and  upon  the  garments  of 
his  sons  with  him  :  and  z  he  shall  be  hallowed, 
and  his  garments,  and  his  sons,  and  his  sons’ 
garments  with  him. 


22  Also  thou  shalt  take  of  the  ram  the  fat 
and  the  rump,  and  the  fat  that  covereth  the  in¬ 
wards,  and  the  caul  above  the  liver,  and  the  two 
kidneys,  and  the  fat  that  is  upon  them,  and  the 
right  shoulder ;  for  it  is  a  ram  of  consecration : 


y  Chap.  xxx.  25,  31  ;  Lev.  viii.  30. - z  Ver.  1  ;  Heb.  ix.  22. 

a  Lev.  viii.  26. - b  Heb.  ska/ce  to  and  fro. - c  Lev.  vii.  30. 

-  - 1 

‘‘Take  thou  authority  to  preach  the  word  of  God,”  &c. 
The  filling  the  hands  refers  also  to  the  presents  which, 
in  the  eastern  countries,  every  inferior  was  obliged  to 
bring  when  brought  into  the  presence  of  a  superior. 
Thus  the  sacrifice  was  considered,  not  only  as  an 
atonement  for  sin,  but  also  as  a  means  of  approach  and 
as  a  present  to  Jehovah. 

Verse  20.  Take  of  his  blood']  The  putting  the 
blood  of  the  sacrifice  on  the  tip  of  the  right  ear ,  the 
thumb  of  the  right  hand ,  and  the  great  toe  of  the  right 
foot ,  was  doubtless  intended  to  signify  that  they  should 
dedicate  all  their  faculties  and  powers  to  the  service 
of  God;  their  ears  to  the  hearing  and  study  of  his 
law ,  their  hands  to  diligence  in  the  sacred  ministry 
and  to  all  acts  of  obedience ,  and  their  feet  to  walking 
in  the  way  of  God's  precepts.  And  this  sprinkling 
appears  to  have  been  used  to  teach  them  that  they 
could  neither  hear ,  work ,  nor  ivalk  profitably,  uprightly, 
and  well-pleasing  in  the  sight  of  God,  without  this 
application  of  the  blood  of  the  sacrifice.  And  as  the 
blood  of  rams ,  bulls,  and  goats ,  could  never  take  away 
sin,  does  not  this  prove  to  us  that  something  infinitely 
better  is  shadowed  out,  and  that  we  can  do  nothing 
holy  and  pure  in  the  sight  of  a  just  and  holy  God,  but 
through  the  blood  of  atonement?  See  on  chap.  xxx.  20. 

Verse  22.  The  fat  and  the  rump]  The  rump  or 
tail  of  some  of  the  eastern  sheep  is  the  best  part  of  the 
anima.,  and  is  counted  a  great  delicacy.  They  are 
also  very  large,  some  of  them  weighing  from  twelve 
to  forty  pounds'  weight ;  “  so  that  the  owners,”  says 
Mr.  Ludolf  in  his  History  of  Ethiopia,  “  are  obliged 
to  tie  a  little  cart  behind  them,  whereon  they  put  the 
tail  of  the  sheep,  as  well  for  the  convenience  of  car¬ 
riage,  and  to  ease  the  poor  creature,  as  to  preserve 
the  wool  from  dirt,  and  the  tail  from  being  torn  among 
the  bushes  and  stones.”  An  engraving  of  this  kind 

a 


23  a  And  one  loaf  of  bread,  A.  M.  2513. 
and  one  cake  of  oiled  bread,  and  An.  Exod.  isr!  1 
one  wafer  out  of  the  basket  of  Clr-  rhammua. 

the  unleavened  bread,  that  is  before  the  Lord  : 

24  And  thou  shalt  put  all  in  the  hands  of 
Aaron,  and  in  the  hands  of  his  sons  :  and  shalt 
b  wave  c  them  for  a  wave-offering  before  the 
Lord. 

25  d  And  thou  shalt  receive  them  of  their 
hands,  and  burn  them  upon  the  altar  for  a 
burnt-offering,  for  a  sweet  savour  before  the 
Lord  :  it  is  an  offering  made  by  fire  unto  the 
Lord. 

26  And  thou  shalt  take  e  the  breast  of  the 
ram  of  Aaron’s  consecration,  and  wave  it  for 
a  wave -offering  before  the  Lord  :  and  f  it  shall 


be  thy  part. 

27  And  thou  shalt  sanctify  *  the  breast  of  the 
wave-offering,  and  the  shoulder  of  the  heave¬ 
offering,  which  is  waved,  and  which  is  heaved 


d  Lev.  viii.  28. - e  Lev.  viii.  29. - f  Psa.  xeix.  6. - s  Lev. 

vii.  31,  34;  Num.  xviii.  11,  18;  Deut.  xviii.  3. 

of  sheep,  his  tail,  cart,  &c.,  may  be  seen  at  p.  53  of 
the  above  work. 

Verse  23.  And  one  loaf  of  bread]  The  bread  of 
different  kinds,  (see  on  ver.  2,)  in  this  offering,  seems 
to  have  been  intended  as  a  minchah,  or  offering  of 
grateful  acknowledgment  for  providential  blessings. 
The  essence  of  worship  consisted  in  acknowledging 
God,  1.  As  the  Creator,  Governor,  and  Preserver  of 
all  things,  and  the  Dispenser  of  every  good  and  perfect 
gift.  2.  As  the  Judge  of  men,  the  Punisher  of  sin,  and 
he  who  alone  could  pardon  it.  The  minchahs,  heave- 
offerings,  wave-offerings,  and  thank-offerings,  referred 
to  the  first  point.  The  burnt-offerings,  sin-offerings, 
and  sacrifices  in  general,  referred  to  the  second. 

Verse  24.  Fora  wave-offering]  See  the  notes  on 
Lev.  vii.,  where  an  ample  account  of  all  the  offerings, 
sacrifices ,  &c.,  under  the  Mosaic  dispensation,  and  the 
reference  they  bore  to  the  great  sacrifice  offered  by 
Christ,  is  given  in  detail. 

Verse  25.  Thou  shalt  receive  them  of  their  hands] 
Aaron  and  his  sons  are  here  considered  merely  as  any 
common  persons  bringing  an  offering  to  God,  and  not 
having,  as  yet,  any  authority  to  present  it  themselves, 
but  through  the  medium  of  a  priest.  Moses,  therefore, 
was  now  to  Aaron  and  his  sons  what  they  were  after¬ 
wards  to  the  children  of  Israel ;  and  as  the  minister 
of  God  he  now  consecrates  them  to  the  sacred  office, 
and  presents  their  offerings  to  Jehovah. 

Verse  27.  The  breast  of  the  wave-offering,  and  the 
shoulder  of  the  heave-offering]  As  the  wave-offering 
was  agitated  to  and  fro ,  and  the  heave-offering  up  and 
down,  some  have  conceived  that  this  twofold  action 
represented  the  figure  of  the  cross,  on  which  the  great 
Peace-offering  between  God  and  man  was  offered  in 
the  personal  sacrifice  of  our  blessed  Redeemer.  Had 
we  authority  for  this  conjecture,  it  would  certainly 

451 


EXODUS. 


descend,  to  his  sons . 


Aaron's  garments  to 

A.  M.  2513.  up,  of  the  ram  of  the  consecration, 

B  C  1491  1 

An.  Exod.  Isr.  l.  even  of  that  which  is  for  Aaron, 

cir.  Thammuz.  wyc|1  for  Rjs  gons  • 

28  And  it  shall  be'Aaron’s  and  his  sons’  11  by 
a  statute  for  ever,  from  the  children  of  Israel : 
for  it  is  a  heave-offering .  and  1  it  shall  be  a 
heave-offering  from  the  children  of  Israel,  of 
the  sacrifice  of  their  peace-offerings,  even  their 
heave-offering  unto  the  Lord. 

29  And  the  holy  garments  of  Aaron  k  shall 

b  Lev.  x.  15. - ’  Lev.  vii.  34. - k  Num.  xx.  26,  28. - 1  Num. 

xviii.  8  ;  xxxv.  25. 

cast  much  light  on  the  meaning  and  intention  of  these 
offerings ;  and  when  the  intelligent  reader  is  informed 
that  one  of  the  most  judicious  critics  in  the  whole 
republic  of  letters  is  the  author  of  this  conjecture,  viz., 
Houbigant ,  he  will  treat  it  with  respect.  I  shall  here 
produce  his  own  words  on  this  verse  :  Hie  distinguun- 
tur,  713271  et  7121371,  Ut  ejusdem  oblationis  cseremoniae 
duoe.  In  713211  significatur,  moveri  oblatam  victimam 
hue  et  illuc,  ad  dextram  et  ad  sinistram.  In  71 31“' 71 
sursum  tolli,  et  sublcttam  rursus  deprimi ;  nam  pluri- 
bus  vicibus  id  fiebat.  Rem  sic  interpretantur  Juda?i ; 
et  Christianos  docent,  quanquam  id  non  agentes,  sic 
adumbrari  earn  crucem,  in  quam  generis  humani  vic- 
tima  ilia  pacifica  sublata  est ,  quam  veteres  victimas 
omnes  praenunciabant.  <{  The  heave-offering  and  wave¬ 
offering. ,  as  two  ceremonies  in  the  same  oblation,  are 
here  distinguished.  The  wave-offering  implies  that 
the  victim  was  moved  hither  and  thither,  to  the  right 
hand  and  to  the  left ;  the  heave-offering  was  lifted  up 
and  down ,  and  this  was  done  several  times.  In  this 
way  the  Jew's  explain  these  things,  and  teach  the  Chris¬ 
tians,  that  by  these  acts  the  cross  was  adumbrated,  upon 
which  that  Peace-offering  of  the  human  race  was  lifted 
up  which  was  prefigured  by  all  the  ancient  victims.” 

The  breast  and  the  shoulder,  thus  waved  and  heaved, 
were  by  this  consecration  appointed  to  be  the  priests’ 
portion  for  ever  ;  and  this,  as  Mr.  Ainsworth  piously 
remarks,  “  taught  the  priests  how,  with  all  their  heart 
and  all  their  strength ,  they  should  give  themselves 
unto  the  service  of  the  Lord  in  his  Church.”  Moses, 
as  priest ,  received  on  this  occasion  the  breast  and  the 
shoulder ,  which  became  aftenvards  the  portion  of  the 
priests  ;  see  ver.  28,  and  Lev.  vii.  34.  It  is  worthy  of 
remark,  that  although  Moses  himself  had  no  consecra¬ 
tion  to  the  sacerdotal  office,  yet  he  acts  here  as  high 
priest,  consecrates  a  high  priest,  and  receives  the 
breast  and  the  shoulder ,  which  w-ere  the  priests’  por¬ 
tion  !  But  Moses  was  an  extraordinary  messenger, 
and  derived  his  authority,  without  the  medium  of  rites 
or  ceremonies,  immediately  from  God  himself.  It  does 
not  appear  that  Christ  either  baptized  the  twelve  apos¬ 
tles ,  or  ordained  them  by  imposition  of  hands ;  yet, 
from  his  owm  infinite  sufficiency,  he  gave  them  autho¬ 
rity  both  to  baptize,  and  to  lay  on  hands,  in  appointing 
others  to  the  work  of  the  sacred  ministry. 

Yerse  29.  The  holy  garments — shall  be  his  sons’ 
after  him ]  These  garments  wmre  to  descend  from 
father  to  son,  and  no  neiv  garments  were  to  he  made. 

Yerse  30.  Seven  days ]  The  priest  in  his  conse- 

452 


be  his  sons’  after  him,  1  to  be  A.  M.  2513. 
anointed  therein,  and  to  be  con-  An.  Exod.  isr.  h 
secrated  m  them.  _ 

30  And  m  that  n  son  that  is  priest  in  his  stead 
shall  put  them  on  0  seven  days,  when  he 
cometh  into  the  tabernacle  of  the  congrega¬ 
tion  to  minister  in  the  holy  place. 

3 1  And  thou  shalt  take  the  ram  of  the  con¬ 
secration,  and  p  seethe  his  flesh  in  the  holy 
place. 

mLIeb.  he  of  his  so?is. - nNum.  xx.  28. - °Lev.  viii.  35;  ix 

1,  8. - p  Lev.  viii.  31. 


cration  w7as  to  abide  seven  days  and  nights  at  the  door 
of  the  tabernacle,  keeping  the  Lord’s  watch.  See  Lev. 
viii.  33,  &c.  The  number  seven  is  what  is  called  among 
the  Hebrews  a  number  of  perfection  ;  and  it  is  often 
used  to  denote  the  completion,  accomplishment,  fulness , 
or  perfection  of  a  thing,  as  this  period  contained  the 
w'hole  course  of  that  time  in  which  God  created  the 
world,  and  appointed  the  day  of  rest.  As  this  act  of 
consecration  lasted  seven  days,  it  signified  a  perfect 
consecration ;  and  intimated  to  the  priest  that  his 
whole  body  and  soul,  his  time  and  talents,  should  be 
devoted  to  the  service  of  God  and  his  people. 

The  number  seven ,  wdiich  w;as  a  sacred  number 
among  the  Hebreivs,  was  conveyed  from  them  down 
to  the  Greeks  by  means  of  the  Egyptian  philosophy, 
from  which  they  borrowed  most  of  their  mysteries ; 
and  it  is  most  likely  that  the  opinion  w-hich  the  Greeks 
give  is  the  same  that  the  original  framers  of  the  idea 
had.  That  there  was  some  mystical  idea  attached  to 
it,  is  evident  from  its  being  made  the  number  of  per¬ 
fection  among  the  Hebrews.  Philo  and  Josephus  say 
that  the  Essenes ,  an  ancient  sect  of  the  Jews,  held  it 
sacred  “  because  it  results  from  the  side  of  a  square 
added  to  those  of  a  triangle.”  But  what  meaning 
does  this  convey  1  A  triangle ,  or  triad ,  according  to 
the  Pythagoreans,  who  borrowed  their  systems  from 
the  Egyptians,  who  borrowed  from  the  Jews,  w7as  the 
emblem  of  wisdom ,  as  consisting  of  beginning  (Monad,) 
middle  (Duad,)  and  end  (Triad  itself ;)  so  wisdom  con¬ 
sists  of  three  parts — experience  of  the  past,  attention 
to  the  present,  and  judgment  of  the  future.  It  is  also 
the  most  penetrating  of  all  forms,  as  being  the  shape 
of  the  wedge  ;  and  indestructibility  is  essential  to  it, 
as  a  triangle  can  never  be  destroyed.  From  those 
three  properties  it  was  the  emblem  of  spirit.  The 
square,  solid,  and  tetrad,  by  the  same  system  were 
interchangeable  signs.  Now  a  square  is  the  repre¬ 
sentation  of  a  solid  or  matter,  and  thus  the  number 
seven  contains  within  itself  the  properties  of  both  the 
triangle  or  solid,  qnd  the  square  or  tetrad,  i.  e.,  is  an 
emblem  of  body  and  spirit  ;  comprehends  both  the 
intellectual  and  natural  wrorld ;  embraces  the  idea  of 
God,  the  chief  of  spirits  or  essences ;  and  all  nature , 
the  result  of  his  powrer ;  thus  a  very  fit  emblem  of 
perfection.  It  is  perhaps  in  this  w7ay  that  we  must 
explain  what  Cicero,  Tusc.  Quest.,  lib.  i.,  cap.  10, 
says  of  the  number  seven,  wdiere  he  calls  it  the  knot 
and  cement  of  all  things ;  as  being  that  by  which  the 
natural  and  spiritual  world  are  comprehended  in  one 

a 


CHAP.  XXIX. 


The  morning  and 

A.  M.  2513.  32  And  Aaron  and  his  sons 

An.  Exod.  Isr.  i.  shall  eat  the  flesh  of  the  ram, 
cir.  Thammuz.  and  the  q  bread  that  (s  in  the 

basket,  hy  the  door  of  the  tabernacle  of  the 
congregation. 

33  And  r  they  shall  eat  those  things  where¬ 
with  the  atonement  was  made,  to  consecrate 
and  to  sanctify  them  :  s  but  a  stranger  shall 
not  eat  thereof \  because  they  are  holy. 

34  And  if  aught  of  the  flesh  of  the  conse¬ 
crations,  or  of  the  bread,  remain  unto  the 
morning,  then  t  thou  shalt  burn  the  remainder 
with  fire:  it  shall  not  be  eaten,  because  it 
is  holy. 

35  And  thus  shalt  thou  do  unto  Aaron,  and 
to  his  sons,  according  to  all  things  which  I 
have  commanded  thee  :  u  seven  days  shalt  thou 
consecrate  them. 

36  And  thou  shalt  v  offer  every  day  a  bul¬ 
lock  for  a  sin-offering,  for  atonement :  and 
thou  shalt  cleanse  the  altar,  when  thou  hast 
made  an  atonement  for  it,  w  and  thou  shalt 
anoint  it,  to  sanctify  it. 

37  Seven  days  thou  shalt  make  an  atone¬ 
ment  for  the  altar,  and  sanctify  it ;  x  and 

<l  Matthew  xii.  4. - r  Lev.  x.  14,  15,  17. - s  Lev.  xxii.  10. 

'  Lev.  viii.  32. - u  Exod.  xl.  12  ;  Lev.  viii.  33,  34,  35. - v  Heb. 

iv.  11. - w  Chap.  xxx.  26,  28,  29  ;  xl.  10. - x  Chapter  xl.  10. 

y  Chap.  xxx.  29  ;  Matt,  xxiii.  19. - z  Nam.  xxviii.  3  ;  1  Chron. 

xvi.  40  ;  2  Chron.  ii.  4;  xiii.  11  ;  xxxi.  3  ;  Ezra  iii.  3. 

idea.  Thus  the  ancient  philosophers  spoke  of  num¬ 
bers,  themselves  being  the  best  judges  of  their  own 
meaning. 

Verse  33.  But  a  stranger  shall  not  eat  thereof] 
That  is,  no  person  who  was  not  of  the  family  of 
Aaron — no  Israelite,  and  not  even  a  Levite. 

Verse  34.  Burn  the  remainder  with  fire\  Com¬ 
mon,  voluntary,  and  peace-offerings,  might  be  eaten 
even  on  the  second  day ;  see  Lev.  vii.  16  ;  xix.  5,  6. 
But  this  being  a  peculiar  consecration,  in  order  to 
qualify  a  person  to  offer  sacrifices  for  sin,  like  that 
great  sacrifice,  the  paschal  lamb,  that  typified  the 
atonement  made  by  Christ,  none  of  it  was  to  be  left 
till  the  morning  lest  putrefaction  should  commence, 
which  would  be  utterly  improper  in  a  sacrifice  that 
was  to  make  expiation  for  sin,  and  bring  the  soul  into 
a  state  of  holiness  and  perfection  with  God.  See  the 
note  on  Exod.  xii.  10. 

Verse  36.  Thou  shalt  cleanse  the  altar]  The  altar 
was  to  be  sanctified  for  seven  days  ;  and  it  is  likely 
that  on  each  day,  previously  to  the  consecration  ser¬ 
vice,  the  altar  w’as  wiped  clean,  and  the  former  day’s 
ashes,  &c.,  removed. 

Verse  37.  Whatsoever  touches  the  altar  shall  be 
holy.]  To  this  our  Lord  refers  Matt,  xxiii.  19,  where 
he  says  the  altar  sanctifies  the  gift ;  and  this  may  be 
understood  as  implying  that  whatever  was  laid  on  the 
altar  became  the  Lord's  property ,  and  must  be  wholly 

% 


evening  offerings 

it  shall  be  an  altar  most  holy  :  A.  M.  2513. 

7  whatsoever  toucheth  the  altar  An.  Exod.  isr’.  1. 
shall  be  holy.  cir.  Thammuz. 

38  Now  this  is  that  which  thou  shalt  offer 
upon  the  altar ;  z  two  lambs  of  the  first  year 
a  day  by  day  continually. 

39  The  one  lamb  thou  shalt  offer  b  in  the 
morning ;  and  the  other  lamb  thou  shalt  offer 
at  even  : 

40  And  with  the  one  lamb  a  tenth  deal  of 
flour,  mingled  with  the  fourth  part  of  a  hin  of 
beaten  oil ;  and  the  fourth  part  of  a  hin  of 
wine /or  a  drink-offering. 

4 1  And  the  other  lamb  thou  shalt  c  offer 
at  even,  and  shalt  do  thereto  according  to 
the  meat-offering  of  the  morning,  and  ac¬ 
cording  to  the  drink-offering  thereof,  for  a 
sweet  savour,  an  offering  made  by  fire  unto 
the  Lord. 

42  This  shall  he  d  a  continual  burnt-offering 
throughout  your  generations,  at  the  door  of 
the  tabernacle  of  the  congregation,  before 
the  Lord  :  e  where  I  will  meet  you,  to  speak 
there  unto  thee. 

43  And  there  I  will  meet  with  the  children 

a  See  Dan.  ix.  27  ;  xii.  11. - b  2  Kings  xvi.  15 ;  Ezek.  xlvi. 

13,  14,  15. - c  1  Kings  xviii.  29,  36  ;  2  Kings  xvi.  15  ;  Ezra 

ix.  4,  5  ;  Psa.  cxli.  2  ;  Dan.  ix.  21. - d  Ver.  38  ;  chap.  xxx.  8  ; 

Num.  xxviii.  6  ;  Dan.  viii.  11,  12,  13. - e  Chap.  xxv.  22  ;  xxx. 

6,  36  ;  Num.  xvii.  4. 

devoted  to  sacred  uses,  for  in  no  other  sense  could 
such  things  be  sanctified  by  touching  the  altar. 

Verse  39-  One  lamb  thou  shalt  offer  in  the  morning \ 
These  two  lambs,  one  in  the  morning,  and  the  other 
in  the  evening,  were  generally  termed  the  morning 
and  evening  daily  sacrifices,  and  were  offered  from 
the  time  of  their  settlement  in  the  promised  land  to 
the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  by  the  Romans.  The 
use  of  these  sacrifices  according  to  the  Jews  was 
this  :  “  The  morning  sacrifice  made  atonement  for  the 
sins  committed  in  the  night,  and  the  evening  sacrifice 
expiated  the  sins  committed  during  the  day.” 

Verse  40.  A  tenth  deal  of  flour]  Deal  signifies  a 
part,  from  the  Anglo-Saxon  bseian,  to  divide ;  hence 
baei,  a  part,  a  portion  taken  from  the  whole.  From 
Num.  xxviii.  5  we  learn  that  this  tenth  deal  was  the 
tenth  part  of  an  ephah,  which  constituted  what  is  called 
an  omer.  See  chap.  xvi.  36  ;  and  see  the  note  on  ver. 
16  of  the  same  chapter,  where  an  account  is  given  of 
different  measures  of  capacity  among  the  Hebrews. 
The  omer  contained  about  three  quarts  English. 

The  fourth  part  of  a  hin]  The  hin  contained  one 
gallon  and  two  pints.  The  fourth  part  of  this  was 
about  one  quart  and  a  half  of  a  pint. 

Drink-offering.]  A  libation  poured  out  before  the 
Lord.  See  its  meaning,  Lev.  vii.  1,  &c. 

Verse  43.  There  I  will  meet  with  the  children  of 
Israel ]  See  the  note  on  chap.  xxv.  22. 

453 


EXODUS. 


The  Lord  promises  to  dwell 


among  the  children  of  Israel. 


A.  M.  2513.  of  Israel,  and  f  the  tabernacle 
An.  Exod.  isr.  i.  s  shall  be  sanctified  by  my 

cir.  Thammuz. 


& 


lory. 


44  And  I  will  sanctify  the  tabernacle  of  the 
congregation,  and  the  altar :  I  will  h  sanctify 
also  both  Aaron  and  his  sons,  to  minister  to 
me  in  the  priest’s  office. 

f  Or,  Israel. - s  Chap.  xl.  34  ;  1  Kings  viii.  11 ;  2  Chron.  v. 

14;  vii.  1,  2,  3 ;  Ezek.  xliii.  5 ;  Hag.  ii.  7,  9  ;  Mai.  iii.  1. 


45  And  iI  will  dwell  among  A.  M.  2513. 

the  children  of  Israel,  and  will  An.  Exod.  Isr.  1. 
be  their  God.  cir.  Thammuz. 

4  6  And  they  shall  know  that k  I  am  the  Lord 
their  God,  that  brought  them  forth  out  of  the 
land  of  Egypt,  that  I  may  dwell  among  them : 
I  am  the  Lord  their  God. 

h  Lev.  xxi.  15 ;  xxii.  9,  16. — 'Exod.  xxv.  8 ;  Lev.  xxvi.  12;  Zech. 
ii.  10 ;  John  xiv.  17,  23 ;  2  Cor.  vi.  16 ;  Rev.  xxi.  3. - k  Chap.  xx.  2 


Verse  44.  I  will  sanctify — both  Aaron  and  his  sons ] 
So  we  find  the  sanctification  by  Moses  according  to 
the  Divine  institution  was  only  symbolical ;  and  that 
Aaron  and  his  sons  must  be  sanctified,  i.  e.,  made 
holy,  by  God  himself  before  they  could  officiate  in 
holy  things.  From  this,  as  well  as  from  many  other 
things  mentioned  in  the  sacred  writings,  we  may  safely 
infer  that  no  designation  by  man  only  is  sufficient  to 
qualify  any  person  to  fill  the  office  of  a  minister  of  the 
sanctuary.  The  approbation  and  consecration  of  man 
have  both  their  propriety  and  use,  but  must  never  be 
made  substitutes  for  the  unction  and  inspiration  of  the 
Almighty.  Let  holy  men  ordain ,  but  let  God  sanctify ; 
then  we  may  expect  that  his  Church  shall  be  built  up 
on  its  most  holy  faith. 

Verse  45.  I  will  dwell  among  the  children  of  Israel ] 
This  is  the  great  charter  of  the  people  of  God,  both 
under  the  Old  and  New  Testaments  ;  see  chap.  xxv. 
8  ;  Lev.  xxvi.  11,  12;  2  Cor.  vi.  16;  Rev.  xxi.  3. 
God  dwells  among  them :  he  is  ever  to  be  found  in  his 
Church  to  enlighten,  quicken,  comfort,  and  support  it ; 
to  dispense  the  light  of  life  by  the  preaching  of  his 
word,  and  the  influences  of  his  Spirit  for  the  con¬ 
viction  and  conversion  of  sinners.  And  he  dwells  in 
those  who  believe  ;  and  this  is  the  very  tenor  of  the 
New  Covenant  which  God  promised  to  make  with  the 
house  of  Israel;  see  Jer.  xxxi.  31-34;  Ezek.  xxxvii. 
24-28  ;  Heb.  viii.  7—12  ;  and  2  Cor.  vi.  16.  And 
because  God  had  promised  to  dwell  in  all  his  genuine 
followers,  hence  the  frequent  reference  to  this  cove¬ 
nant  and  its  privileges  in  the  New  Testament.  And 
hence  it  is  so  frequently  and  strongly  asserted  that 
every  believer  is  a  habitation  of  God  through  the 
Spirit,  Eph.  ii.  22.  That  the  Spirit  of  God  witnesses 
with  their  spirits  that  they  are  the  children  of  God, 
Rom.  viii.  16.  That  the  Spirit  of  Christ  in  their 
hearts  enables  them  to  call  God  their  Father,  Gal. 
iv.  6.  And  that  if  any  man  have  not  this  Spirit,  he 
is  none  of  his,  Rom.  viii.  9,  &c.  And  hence  St.  Paul 
states  this  to  be  the  sum  and  substance  of  apostolical 


preaching,  and  the  riches  of  the  glory  of  the  mystery 
of  the  Gospel  among  the  Gentiles ,  viz.,  Christ  in  you 
the  hope  of  glory;  whom ,  says  he,  we  preach,  learning 
every  man ,  and  teaching  every  man  in  all  wisdom  ; 
that  ive  may  present  every  man  perfect  in  Christ  Jesus  ; 
Col.  i.  27,  28. 

Verse  46.  And  they  shall  hnow  that  I  am  the  Lord 
their  God ]  That  is,  They  shall  acknowledge  God,  and 
their  infinite  obligations  to  him.  In  a  multitude  of 
places  in  Scripture  the  word  know  should  be  thus 
understood. 

That  I  may  dwell  among  them ]  For  without  this 
acknowledgment  and  consequent  dependence  on  and 
gratitude  and  obedience  to  God,  they  could  not  expect 
him  to  dwell  among  them. 

By  dwelling  among  the  people  God  shows  that  he 
would  be  a  continual  resident  in  their  houses  and  in 
their  hearts ;  that  he  would  be  their  God — the  sole 
object  of  their  religious  worship,  to  whom  they  should 
turn  and  on  whom  they  should  trust  in  all  difficulties 
and  distresses ;  and  that  he  would  be  to  them  all  that 
the  Creator  could  be  to  his  creatures.  That  in  con¬ 
sequence  they  should  have  a  full  conviction  of  his 
presence  and  blessing,  and  a  consciousness  that  he 
was  their  God,  and  that  they  were  his  people.  Thus 
then  God  dwells  among  men  that  they  may  know  him  ; 
and  they  must  know  him  that  he  may  continue  to 
dwell  among  them.  He  who  does  not  experimentally 
know  God,  cannot  have  him  as  an  indwelling  Saviour ; 
and  he  who  does  not  continue  to  know — to  acknow¬ 
ledge,  love,  and  obey  him,  cannot  retain  him  as  his 
Preserver  and  Sanctifier.  From  the  beginning  of  the 
world,  the  salvation  of  the  souls  of  men  necessarily 
implied  the  indwelling  influences  of  God.  Reader, 
hast  thou  this  salvation  l  This  alone  will  support  thee 
in  all  thy  travels  in  this  wilderness,  comfort  thee  in 
death,  and  give  thee  boldness  in  the  day  of  judgment. 
“  He,”  says  an  old  writer,  “  who  has  pardon  may  look 
his  judge  in  the  face.” 


CHAPTER  XXX. 

The  altar  of  burnt  incense,  1.  Dimensions ,  2.  Golden  crown,  3.  Rings  and  staves,  4,  5.  Where  placed, 
6,  7.  Use,  8—10.  The  ransom  price  of  half  a  shekel,  11-13.  Who  were  to  pay  it,  14.  The  rich  and 
the  poor  to  pay  alike,  15.  The  use  to  which  it  was  applied,  16.  The  brazen  laver,  and  its  use ,  17—21. 
The  holy  anointing  oil,  audits  component  parts,  22-25.  To  be  applied  to  the  tabernacle ,  ark,  golden  table, 
candlestick,  altar  of  burnt-offerings,  and  the  laver,  26-29.  And  to  Aaron  and  his  sons,  30.  Never  to  be 
applied  to  any  other  uses,  and  none  like  it  ever  to  be  made,  31—33.  The  perfume,  and  how  made,  34,  35. 
Its  use,  36.  Nothing  similar  to  it  ever  to  be  made,  37,  38. 

454 


a 


CHAP.  XXX. 


Directions  concerning 

A.  M.  2513.  A  ND  thou  shall  make  a  an  altar 

B.  C.  1491.  lx.  ,  .  . 

An.  Exod.  isr.  l.  b  to  burn  incense  upon;  of 

cir.  lhammuz.  WOod  shalt  thou  make  it. 

2  A  cubit  shall  he  the  length  thereof,  and 
a  cubit  the  breadth  thereof;  four-square  shall 
it  be  :  and  two  cubits  shall  he  the  height  there¬ 
of:  the  horns  thereof  shall  he  of  the  same. 

3  And  thou  shalt  overlay  it  with  pure  gold, 
the  c  top  thereof,  and  the  d  sides  thereof  round 
about,  and  the  horns  thereof;  and  thou  shalt 
make  unto  it  a  crown  of  gold  round  about. 

4  And  two  golden  rings  shalt  thou  make  to 
it  under  the  crown  of  it,  by  the  two  e  corners 
thereof;  upon  the  two  sides  of  it  shalt  thou 
make  it ;  and  they  shall  be  for  places  for  the 
staves  to  bear  it  withal. 

5  And  thou  shalt  make  the  staves  of  shittim 
wood,  and  overlay  them  with  gold. 

6  And  thou  shalt  put  it  before  the  veil  that  is 
by  the  ark  of  the  testimony,  before  the  f  mercy- 
seat  that  is  over  the  testimony,  where  I  will 
meet  with  thee. 

7  And  Aaron  shall  burn  thereon  e  sweet h 
incense  every  morning :  when  1  he  dresseth 

Chap,  xxxvii.  25  ;  xl.  5. - b  See  ver.  7,  8,  10 ;  Lev.  iv.  7, 

18  ;  Rev.  viii.  3. - c  Heb.  roof. - d  Heb.  walls. - e  Heb.  ribs. 

f  Chap.  xxv.  21,  22. - ■=  Heb.  incense  of  spices. - h  Yerse  34  ; 

1  Sam.  ii.  28  ;  1  Chron.  xxiii.  13  ;  Luke  i.  9. - '  Chap,  xxvii. 

21. - k  Or,  setteth  up. - 1  Heb.  causeth  to  ascend. - m  Heb. 

between  the  two  evens  ;  chap.  xii.  6. 

NOTES  ON  CHAP.  XXX. 

Yerse  1.  Altar  to  burn  incense ]  The  Samaritan 
omits  the  ten  first  verses  of  this  chapter,  because  it 
inserts  them  after  the  32d  verse  of  chap.  xxvi.  See 
the  note  there. 

Shittim  io ood\  The  same  of  which  the  preceding 
articles  were  made,  because  it  was  abundant  in  those 
parts,  and  because  it  was  very  durable ;  hence  every¬ 
where  the  Septuagint  translation,  which  was  made  in 
Egypt,  renders  the  original  by  gvkov  aoTjKTov,  incor¬ 
ruptible  xoood. 

Yerse  2.  Four-square ]  That  is,  on  the  upper  or 
under  surface,  as  it  showed  four  equal  sides  ;  but  it  was 
twice  as  high  as  it  was  broad,  being  twenty-one  inches 
broad,  and  three  feet  six  inches  high.  It  was  called, 
not  only  the  altar  of  incense ,  but  also  the  golden  altar, 
Num.  iv.  11.  For  the  crown,  horns,  staves,  &c.,see 
on  the  altar  of  burnt-offering,  chap.  xxvi. 

Yerse  6.  Before  the  mercy -seat  that  is  over  the  tes¬ 
timony ]  These  words  in  the  original  are  supposed  to 
be  a  repetition,  by  mistake,  of  the  preceding  clause  ; 
the  word  HDIDH  happarochelh,  the  veil,  being  corrupted 
by  interchanging  two  letters  into  rnDDH  haccapporeth, 
the  mercy -seat ;  and  this,  as  Dr.  Ivennicott  observes, 
places  the  altar  of  incense  before  the  mercy-seat ,  and 
consequently  in  the  holy  of  holies !  Now  this  could 
not  be,  as  the  altar  of  incense  was  attended  every  day, 
and  the  holy  of  holies  entered  only  once  in  the  year. 
The  five  words  which  appear  to  be  a  repetition  are 

a 


the  altar  of  burnt  incense 

the  lamps,  lie  shall  burn  incense  A.  M.  2513. 

.  r  B.  C.  1491. 

Upon  it.  An.  Exod.  Isr.  1, 

8  And  when  Aaron  k  lighteth  cir‘ Thammuz- 

1  the  lamps  m  at  even,  he  shall  burn  incense 
upon  it,  a  perpetual  incense  before  the  Lord 
throughout  your  generations. 

9  Ye  shall  offer  no  n  strange  incense  there¬ 
on,  nor  burnt-sacrifice,  nor  meat-offering  ;  nei¬ 
ther  shall  ye  pour  drink-offering  thereon 

10  And  0  Aaron  shall  make  an  atonement 
upon  the  horns  of  it  once  in  a  year,  with  the 
blood  of  the  sin-offering  of  atonements  :  once 
in  the  year  shall  he  make  atonement  upon  it 
throughout  your  generations  :  it  is  most  holy 
unto  the  Lord. 

1 1  And  the  Lord  spake  unto  Moses,  saying, 

12  p  When  thou  takest  the  sum  of  the  chil¬ 
dren  of  Israel  after  q  their  number,  then  shall 
they  give  every  man  r  a  ransom  for  his  soul 
unto  the  Lord,  when  thou  numberest  them  ; 
that  there  be  no  s  plague  among  them  when 
thou  numberest  them. 

1 3  1  This  they  shall  give,  every  one  that 
passeth  among  them  that  are  numbered,  half 

“Lev.  x.  1. - “Lev.  xvi.  18;  xxiii.  27. - p  Chap,  xxxviii. 

25  ;  Num.  i.  2,  5 ;  xxvi.  2  ;  2  Sam.  xxiv.  2. - 1  Heb.  them  that 

are  to  be  numbered  ;  see  Numbers  xxxi.  50. - r  Job  xxxiii.  24  ; 

xxxvi.  18  ;  Psa.  xlix.  7  ;  Matt.  xx.  28  ;  Mark.  x.  45  ;  1  Timothy 

ii.  6  ;  1  Peter  i.  J  8,  19. - s2  Samuel  xxiv.  15. - 1  Matthew 

xvii.  24. 

wanting  in  twenty-six  of  Kennicott’s  and  De  Rossi’s 
MSS.,  and  in  the  Samaritan.  The  verse  reads  better 
without  them,  and  is  more  consistent  with  the  rest  of 
the  account. 

Yerse  7.  When  he  dresseth  the  lamps ]  Prepares  the 
wicks,  and  puts  in  fresh  oil  for  the  evening. 

Shall  burn  incense  upon  it.]  Where  so  many  sacri¬ 
fices  were  offered  it  was  essentially  necessary  to  have 
some  pleasing  perfume  to  counteract  the  disagreeable 
smells  that  must  have  arisen  from  the  slaughter  of  so 
many  animals,  the  sprinkling  of  so  much  blood,  and 
the  burning  of  so  much  flesh,  &c.  The  perfume  that 
was  to  be  burnt  on  this  altar  is  described  ver.  34.  No 
blood  was  ever  sprinkled  on  this  altar,  except  on  the 
day  of  general  expiation,  which  happened  only  once  in 
the  year,  ver.  10.  But  the  perfume  was  necessary  in 
every  part  of  the  tabernacle  and  its  environs. 

Yerse  9.  No  strange  incense]  None  made  in  any 
other  way. 

Nor  burnt-sacrifice]  It  should  be  an  altar  for  in¬ 
cense,  and  for  no  other  use. 

Yerse  10.  An  atonement — once  in  a  year]  On  the 
tenth  day  of  the  seventh  month.  See  Lev.  xvi.  18, 
&c.,  and  the  notes  there. 

Yerse  12.  Then  shall  they  give  every  man  a  ransom 
for  his  soul]  This  was  a  very  important  ordinance, 
and  should  be  seriously  considered.  See  the  follow¬ 
ing  verse. 

Yerse  13.  Half  a  shekel]  Each  of  the  Israelites 

455 


The  brazen  laver , 


EXODUS. 


a.  M.  2513.  a  shekel  after  the  shekel  of  the 
An.  Exod.  isr.  1.  sanctuary  :  (u  a  shekel  is  twenty 

cir.  Thammuz.  gerahg  „  a  half  shekel  shall 

the  offering  of  the  Lord. 

14  Every  one  that  passeth  among  them  that 
are  numbered,  from  twenty  years  old  and 
above,  shall  give  an  offering  unto  the  Lord. 

15  The  w  rich  shall  not  x  give  more,  and 
the  poor  shall  not  y  give  less  than  half  a  she¬ 
kel,  when  they  give  an  offering  unto  the  Lord, 
to  make  an  z  atonement  for  your  souls. 

16  And  thou  shaft  take  the  atonement  mo¬ 
ney  of  the  children  of  Israel,  and  a  shalt  ap¬ 
point  it  for  the  service  of  the  tabernacle  of  the 
congregation ;  that  it  may  be  b  a  memorial 
unto  the  children  of  Israel  before  the  Lord,  to 
make  an  atonement  for  your  souls. 

u  Lev.  xxvii.  25  ;  Nam.  iii.  47 ;  Ezekiel  xlv.  12. - v  Chapter 

xxxviii.  26. — — w  Job  xxxiv.  19  ;  Prov.  xxii.  2  ;  Eph.  vi.  9  ;  Col. 
iii.  25. - x  Heb.  multiply. — — y  Heb.  diminish. - 2  Ver.  12. 

was  ordered  to  give  as  a  ransom  for  his  soul  (i.  e.,for 
his  life)  half  a  shekel,  according  to  the  shekel  of  the 
sanctuary.  From  this  we  may  learn,  1.  That  the  life  of 
every  man  was  considered  as  being  forfeited  to  Divine 
justice.  2.  That  the  redemption  money  given,  which 
was  doubtless  used  in  the  service  of  the  sanctuary,  was 
ultimately  devoted  to  the  use  and  profit  of  those  who 
gave  it.  3.  That  the  standard  by  which  the  value  of 
coin  was  ascertained,  was  kept  in  the  sanctuary  ;  for 
this  appears  to  be  the  meaning  of  the  words,  after  the 
shekel  of  the  sanctuary,  4.  The  shekel  is  here  said 
to  be  twenty  gerahs.  A  gerah,  according  to  Mai- 
monides,  weighed  sixteen  barleycorns,  a  shekel  three 
hundred  and  twenty  of  pure  silver.  The  shekel  is 
generally  considered  to  be  equal  in  value  to  three  shil¬ 
lings  English  ;  the  redemption  money,  therefore,  must 
be  about  one  shilling  and  sixpence.  5.  The  rich  were 
not  to  give  more ,  the  poor  not  to  give  less  ;  to  signify 
that  all  souls  were  equally  precious  in  the  sight  of  God, 
and  that  no  difference  of  outward  circumstances  could 
affect  the  state  of  the  soul ;  all  had  sinned,  and  all 
must  be  redeemed  by  the  same  price.  6.  This  atone¬ 
ment  must  be  made  that  there  might  be  no  plague  among 
them ,  intimating  that  a  plague  or  curse  from  God  must 
light  on  those  souls  for  whom  the  atonement  was  not 
made.  7.  This  was  to  be  a  memorial  unto  the  chil¬ 
dren  of  Israel ,  ver.  16,  to  bring  to  their  remembrance 
their  past  deliverance ,  and  to  keep  in  view  their  future 
redemption.  8.  St.  Peter  seems  to  allude  to  this,  and 
to  inthpate  that  this  mode  of  atonement  was  ineffectual 
in  itself,  and  only  pointed  out  the  great  sacrifice  which, 
in  the  fulness  of  time,  should  be  made  for  the  sin  of 
the  world.  “  Ye  know,”  says  he,  “  that  ye  were  not 
redeemed  with  corruptible  things,  as  silver  and  gold, 
from  your  vain  conversation  received  by  tradition  from 
your  fathers  ;  but  with  the  precious  blood  of  Christ,  as 
of  a  lamb  without  blemish  and  without  spot  :  who  verily 
was  foreordained  before  the  foundation  of  the  world,” 
&c, ;  l  Pet.  i.  18,  19,  20.  9.  Therefore  all  these 

456 


where  placed ,  and  its  use. 

1 7  And  the  Lord  spake  unto  A.  M.  2513. 

Moses,  saying,  An.  Exod.  isr.  1, 

18  c  Thou  shalt  also  make  a  cir-  Thammuz. 

laver  of  brass,  and  his  foot  also  of  brass,  to 
wash  withal :  and  thou  shalt  d  put  it  between 
the  tabernacle  of  the  congregation  and  the  altar, 
and  thou  shall  put  water  therein. 

19  For  Aaron  and  his  sons  e  shall  wash  their 
hands  and  their  feet  thereat : 

20  When  they  go  into  the  tabernacle  of  the 
congregation,  they  shall  wash  with  water,  that 
they  die  not ;  or  when  they  come  near  to  the 
altar  to  minister,  to  burn  offering  made  by  fire 
unto  the  Lord  : 

21  So  they  shall  wash  their  hands  and  their 
feet,  that  they  die  not :  and  f  it  shall  be  a 
statute  for  ever  to  them,  even  to  him  and  to 

a  Chap,  xxxviii.  25. - bNum.  xvi.  40. - c  Chap,  xxxviii.  8; 

1  Kings  vii.  38. - d  Chap.  xl.  7,  30. - e  Chap.  xl.  31,  32 ;  Psa. 

xxvi.  6 ;  Isa.  Iii.  11  ;  John  xiii.  10 ;  Heb.  x.  22. - f  Ch.xxviii.  43. 

things  seem  to  refer  to  Christ  alone,  and  to  the  atone¬ 
ment  made  by  his  blood  ;  and  upon  him  who  is  not  in¬ 
terested  in  this  atonement,  God’s  plagues  must  be  ex¬ 
pected  to  fall.  Reader,  acquaint  now  thyself  with 
God  and  be  at  peace,  and  thereby  good  shall  comeun'o 
thee. 

Verse  18.  A  laver  of  brass ]  *1PD  kiyor  sometimes 
signifies  a  caldron ,  1  Sam.  ii.  14;  but  it  seems  to  sig¬ 
nify  any  large  round  vessel  or  basin  used  for  washing 
the  hands  and  feet.  There  were  doubtless  cocks  or 
spigots  in  it  to  draw  off  the  water,  as  it  is  not  likely 
the  feet  were  put  into  it  in  order  to  be  washed.  The 
foot  of  the  laver  must  mean  the  pedestal  on  which  it 
stood. 

Verse  20.  They  shall  wash  with  water ,  that  they  die 
not ]  This  was  certainly  an  emblematical  washing ; 
and  as  the  hands  and  the  feet  are  particularly  mention¬ 
ed,  it  must  refer  to  the  purity  of  their  whole  conduct. 
Their  hands — all  their  works,  their  feet — all  their  go¬ 
ings,  must  be  washed — must  be  holiness  unto  the  Lord. 
And  this  washing  must  be  repeated  every  time  they 
entered  into  the  tabernacle ,  or  when  they  came  near  to 
the  altar  to  minister.  This  washing  was  needful  be¬ 
cause  the  priests  all  ministered  barefoot ;  but  it  was 
ecfually  so  because  of  the  guilt  they  might  have  con¬ 
tracted,  for  the  washing  was  emblematical  of  the  put¬ 
ting  away  of  sin,  or  what  St.  Paul  calls  the  laver  of 
regeneration  and  the  renewing  of  the  Holy  Ghost, 
(Tit.  iii.  5,)  as  the  influences  of  the  Spirit  must  be 
repeated  for  the  purification  of  the  soul,  as  frequently 
as  any  moral  defilement  has  been  contracted. 

Verse  21.  And  it  shall  be  a  statute  for  ever ]  To 
continue,  in  its  literal  meaning,  as  long  as  the  Jewish 
economy  lasted,  and,  in  its  spiritual  meaning,  to  the 
end  of  time.  What  an  important  lesson  does  this  teach 
the  ministers  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ !  Each  time 
they  minister  in  public,  whether  in  dispensing  the  word 
or  the  sacraments,  they  should  take  heed  that  they 
have  a  fresh  application  of  the  grace  and  spirit  of 

a 


CHAP.  XXX. 


The  holy  anointing  oil , 


and  for  what  used. 


A.  M.  2513.  his  seed  throughout  their  gene~ 

B.  C.  1491.  .  °  ° 

An.  Exod.  Isr.  l.  rations. 

cir.  Thammuz.  22  Moreover  the  Lord  spake 
unto  Moses,  saying, 

23  Take  thou  also  unto  thee  *  principal 
spices,  of  pure  h  myrrh  five  hundred  shekels , 
and  of  sweet  cinnamon  half  so  much,  even 
two  hundred  and  fifty  shekels ,  and  of  sweet 
1  calamus  two  hundred  and  fifty  shekels. 

24  And  of  k  cassia  five  hundred  shekels, 
after  the  shekel  of  the  sanctuary,  and  of  oil 
olive  a  1  him 

25  And  thou  shaft  make  it  an  oil  of  holy 
ointment,  an  ointment  compound  after  the 
art  of  the  m  apothecary  :  it  shall  be  n  a  holy 
anointing  oil. 

26  0  And  thou  shalt  anoint  the  tabernacle 
of  the  congregation  therewith,  and  the  ark 
of  the  testimony, 

27  And  the  table  and  all  his  vessels,  and 
the  candlestick  and  his  vessels,  and  the  altar 
of  incense, 

s  Cant.  iv.  14 ;  Ezek.  xxvii.  22.- - h  Psa.  xlv.  8  ;  Prov.  vii.  17. 

1  Cant.  iv.  14 ;  Jer.  vi.  20. - k  Psa.  xlv.  8. - 1  Chap.  xxix.  40. 

m  Or,  perfumer. - 11  Chap,  xxxvii.  29  ;  Num.  xxxv.  25  ;  Psalm 

Ixxxix.  20;  cxxxiii.  2. 


28  And  the  altar  of  burnt-  a.  m.  2513. 

offering  with  all  his  vessels,  and  An.  Exod.  isr.’i. 
the  laver  and  his  foot.  cir‘  4  hammuz. 

29  And  thou  shalt  sanctify  them,  that  they 
may  be  most  holy  :  p  whatsoever  toucheth  them 
shall  be  holy. 

30  q  And  thou  shalt  anoint  Aaron  and  his 
sons,  and  consecrate  them,  that  they  may  mi¬ 
nister  unto  me  in  the  priest’s  office. 

3 1  And  thou  shalt  speak  unto  the  children 
of  Israel,  saying,  This  shall  be  a  holy  anoint¬ 
ing  oil  unto  me  throughout  your  generations. 

32  Upon  man’s  flesh  shall  it  not  be  poured, 
neither  shall  ye  make  any  other  like  it,  after 
the  composition  of  it :  r  it  is  holy,  and  it  shall 
be  holy  unto  you. 

33  8  Whosoever  compoundeth  any  like  it,  or 
whosoever  putteth  any  of  it  upon  a  stranger, 
t  shall  even  be  cut  off  from  his  people. 

34  And  the  Lord  said  unto  Moses,  u  Take 
unto  thee  sweet  spices,  stacte,  and  onycha,  and 
galbanum  ;  these  swTeet  spices  with  pure  frank- 

°Chap.  xl.  9;  Lev.  viii.  10;  Num.  vii.  1. - p  Chapter  xxix. 

37. - Chap.  xxix.  7,  &c.  ;  Lev.  viii.  12,  30. - T  Ver.  25,  37. 

3Ver.  38. - 1  Gen.  xvii.  14;  chapter  xii.  15;  Lev.  vii.  20,21. 

u  Chap.  xxv.  6  ;  xxxvii.  29. 


Christ,  to  do  away  past  transgressions  or  unfaithfulness, 
and  to  enable  them  to  minister  with  the  greater  effect., 
as  being  in  the  Divine  favour,  and  consequently  enti¬ 
tled  to  expect  all  the  necessary  assistances  of  the  Di¬ 
vine  unction,  to  make  their  ministrations  spirit  and  life 
to  the  people.  See  on  chap.  xxix.  20. 

Verse  23.  Take — unto  thee  principal  spices]  From 
this  and  the  following  verse  we  learn  that  the  holy 
anointing  oil  was  compounded  of  the  following  ingre¬ 
dients  : — 


Pure  myrh,  “VIVI  ID  mar 
dcror  . 


< 


Sweet  cinnamon,  UW2  pip 
kinnemon  besem,  (proba¬ 
bly  from  Arabia)  .  .  . 

Sweet  calamus,  DW2  Hip 
keneh  bosem ,  or  sweet 
cane,  Jer.  vi.  20. — Ca¬ 
lamus  aromaticus  .  .  . 

Cassia,  mp  kiddah,  ( cas¬ 
sia  lignea,)  brought  also 
from  Arabia  ..... 

Olive  oil,  n*T  shemen 
zayith,  one  hin,  about 


500  shekels. — Myrrh  is 
the  produce  of  an 
oriental  tree  not  well 
known,  and  is  col¬ 
lected  by  making  an 
incision  in  the  tree. 
What  is  now  called 
by  this  name  is  pre¬ 
cisely  the  same  with 
that  of  the  ancients. 

250  shekels. 


>250  shekels. 


>500  shekels. 
|  5  quarts. 


lbs.  oz.  dwts.  grs. 

500  shekels  of  the  first  and  last,  make  48  4  12  21|-f 
250  of  the  cinnanon  and  calamus  .  .  24  2  6  10|| 

Olive  oil  is  supposed  to  be  the  best  preservative  of 
odours.  As  the  gifts  and  graces  of  the  Holy  Spirit 
are  termed  the  anointing  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  therefore 
this  holy  ointment  appears  to  have  been  designed  as 
emblematical  of  those  gifts  and  graces.  See  Acts  i. 
5  ;  x.  38  ;  2  Cor.  i.  21  ;  1  John  ii.  20,  27. 

Verse  25.  After  the  art  of  the  apothecary ]  The 
original,  np7  rokeach,  signifies  a  compounder  or  con¬ 
fectioner  ;  any  person  who  compounds  drugs,  aroma¬ 
tics,  &c. 

Verse  30.  Thou  shalt  anoint  Aaron  and  his  sons] 
For  the  reason  of  this  anointing,  see  the  note  on  chap, 
xxix.  7.  It  seems  that  this  anointing  oil  was  an  em¬ 
blem  of  Divine  teaching,  and  especially  of  those  influ¬ 
ences  by  which  the  Church  of  Christ  was,  in  the  begin¬ 
ning,  guided  into  all  truth ;  as  is  evident  from  the 
allusion  to  it  by  St.  John  :  “  Ye  have  an  unction  from 
the  Holy  One,  and  ye  know  all  things.  The  anoint¬ 
ing  which  ye  have  received  from  him  abideth  in  you , 
and  ye  need  not  that  any  man  teach  you ;  but  as  the 
same  anointing  teachetli  you  of  all  things,  and  is  truth, 
and  is  no  lie,  and  even  as  it  hath  taught  you ,  ye  shall 
abide  in  him  ;  1  John  ii.  20,  27. 

Verse  34.  Take  unto  thee  sweet  spices]  The  holy 
perfume  was  compounded  of  the  following  ingredients  : 

Stacte]  nataph,  supposed  to  be  the  same  with 
what  was  afterwards  called  the  balm  of  Jericho. 
Stacte  is  the  gum  which  spontaneously  flows  from  the 
tree  which  produces  myrrh.  See  the  note  on  ver«  23. 

457 


a 


Bezaleel  appointed  for 


EXODUS.  the  work  of  the  tabernacle 


A.  M.  2513.  mcense  :  of  each  shall  there  be 
An.  Exod.  Isr.  l.  a  like  weight : 

cir.  Thammuz.  35  And  thou  shalt  make  it 

a  perfume,  a  confection  v *  after  the  art  of 
the  apothecary,  w  tempered  together,  pure 
and  holy  : 

36  And  thou  shalt  beat  some  of  it  very  small, 
and  put  of  it  before  the  testimony  in  the  taber¬ 
nacle  of  the  congregation,  x  where  I  will  meet 


v  Ver.  25. - wHeb.  salted;  Lev.  ii.  13.- 

42  ;  Lev.  xvi.  2. 


-x  Chapter  xxix. 


with  thee  :  y  it  shall  be  unto  you  A.  M.  2513. 

.  .  J  B  C.  1491. 

most  holy.  An.  Exod  Isr,  1. 

37  And  as  for  the  perfume  cir-  Thammuz. 
which  thou  shalt  make,  z  ye  shall  not  make  to 
yourselves  according  to  the  composition  there¬ 
of  :  it  shall  be  unto  thee  holy  for  the  Lord. 

38  a  Whosoever  shall  make  like  unto  that, 
to  smell  thereto,  shall  even  be  cut  off  from 
his  people. 


y  Verse  32 ;  chapter  xxix.  37  ;  Lev.  ii.  3. 

a  Ver.  33. 


-*  Verse  32. 


Onycha ]  nbnty  shecheleth,  allowed  by  the  best  cri¬ 
tics  to  be  the  unguis  odorifercins  described  by  Rumph, 
which  is  the  external  crust  of  the  shell-fish  purpura 
or  murex,  and  is  the  basis  of  the  principal  perfumes 
made  in  the  East  Indies. 

Galhanum ]  chelbenah ,  the  bubon  gummife- 

rum  or  African  ferula ;  it  rises  with  a  ligneous  stalk 
from  eight  to  ten  feet,  and  is  garnished  with  leaves  at 
each  joint.  The  top  of  the  stock  is  terminated  by  an 
umbel  of  yellow  flowers,  which  are  succeeded  by  ob¬ 
long  channelled  seeds,  which  have  a  thin  membrane 
or  wing  on  their  border.  When  any  part  of  the  plant 
is  broken,  there  issues  out  a  little  thin  milk  of  a  cream 
colour.  The  gummy  resinous  juice  which  proceeds 
from  this  plant  is  what  is  commonly  called  galbanum , 
from  the  chelbenah  of  the  Hebrews. 

Pure  frankincense ]  Hpl  HJhb  lebonah  zaccah. 
Frankincense  is  supposed  to  derive  its  name  from  frank, 
free,  because  of  its  liberal  or  ready  distribution  of  its 
odours.  It  is  a  dry  resinous  substance,  in  pieces  or 
drops  of  a  pale  yellowish  white  colour,  has  a  strong 
smell,  and  bitter  acrid  taste.  The  tree  which  pro¬ 
duces  it  is  not  well  known.  Dioscorides  mentions  it 
as  gotten  in  India.  What  is  called  here  pure  frank¬ 
incense  is  no  doubt  the  same  with  the  mascula  thura 
of  Virgil,  and  signifies  what  is  first  obtained  from  the 
tree — that  which  is  strongest  and  most  free  from  all 
adventitious  mixtures.  See  the  note  on  ver.  7. 

The  Israelites  were  most  strictly  prohibited,  on  the 
most  awful  penalties,  from  making  any  anointing  oil 
or  perfume  similar  to  those  described  in  this  chapter. 
He  that  should  compound  such,  or  apply  any  of  this 


to  any  common  purpose,  even  to  smell  to,  verse  38, 
should  be  cut  off,  that  is,  excommunicated  from  his 
people,  and  so  lose  all  right,  title,  and  interest  in  the 
promises  of  God  and  the  redemption  of  Israel.  From 
all  this  we  may  learn  how  careful  the  Divine  Being  is 
to  preserve  his  own  worship  and  his  own  truth,  so  as 
to  prevent  them  from  being  adulterated  by  human  in¬ 
ventions  ;  for  he  will  save  men  in  his  own  way,  and 
upon  his  own  terms.  What  are  called  human  inven¬ 
tions  in  matters  of  religion,  are  not  only  of  no  worth, 
but  are  in  general  deceptive  and  ruinous.  Arts  and 
sciences  in  a  certain  way  may  be  called  inventions  of 
men,  for  the  spirit  of  a  man  knoweth  the  things  of  a 
man — can  comprehend,  plan,  and  execute,  under  the 
general  influence  of  God,  every  thing  in  which  human 
life  is  immediately  concerned  ;  but  religion ,  as  it  is  the 
gift,  so  it  is  the  invention,  of  God  :  its  doctrines  and 
its  ceremonies  proceed  from  his  wisdom  and  goodness, 
for  he  alone  could  devise  the  plan  by  which  the  hu¬ 
man  race  may  be  restored  to  his  favour  and  image, 
and  taught  to  worship  him  in  spirit  and  in  truth.  And 
that  worship  which  himself  has  prescribed,  we  may 
rest  assured,  will  be  most  pleasing  in  his  sight.  Na- 
dab  and  Abihu  offered  strange  fire  before  the  Lord ; 
and  their  destruction  by  the  fire  of  Jehovah  is  recorded 
as  a  lasting  warning  to  all  presumptuous  worshippers, 
and  to  all  who  attempt  to  model  his  religion,  accord¬ 
ing  to  their  own  caprice,  and  to  minister  in  sacred 
things  without  that  authority  which  proceeds  from 
himself  alone.  The  imposition  of  hands  whether  of 
pope,  cardinal,  or  bishop,  can  avail  nothing  here.  The 
call  and  unction  of  God  alone  can  qualify  the  minister 
of  the  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ. 


CHAPTER  XXXI. 


Bezaleel  appointed  for  the  work  of  the  tabernacle,  1-5.  Aholiab  appointed  for  the  same,  6.  The  particular 
things  on  which  they  were  to  be  employed,  the  ark  and  mercy-seat,  7.  Table,  candlestick,  and  altar  of 
incense,  8.  Altar  of  burnt-offering  and  the  laver,  9.  Priest’s  garments,  10.  Anointing  oil  and  sweet 
incense,  11.  God  renews  the  command  relative  to  the  sanctification  of  the  Sabbath,  12—17.  Delivers  to 
Moses  the  two  tables  of  stone,  18. 


A.  M.  2513. 

B.  C.  1491. 
An.  Exod.  Isr.  1. 
cir.  Thammuz. 


A  V?  the  Lord  spake 
Moses,  saying, 


unto 


2  a  See,  I  have  called  byname 


Bezaleel  the  b  son  of  Uri,  the 
son  of  Hur,  of  the  tribe  of 
Judah : 


A.  M.  2513. 

B.  C.  1491. 
An.  Exod.  Isr.  1, 
cir.  Thammuz. 


a  Chap.  xxxv.  30;  xxxvi.  1. 


b  1  Chron.  ii.  20. 


NOTES  ON  CHAP.  XXXI. 

Verse  2.  I  have  called  by  name  Bezaleel ]  That  is, 
I  have  particularly  appointed  this  person  to  be  the 

458 


chief  superintendent  of  the  wdiole  work.  His  name 
is  significant,  betsal-el,  in  or  under  the  shadow 

of  God,  meaning,  under  the  especial  protection  of  the 


Aholiab  to  assist  'Bezaleel 


CHAP.  XXXI. 


a.  m.  2513.  3  And  I  have  c  filled  him  with 

An.  Exod.lsr.i.  the  spirit  of  God,  in  wisdom,  and 
ctr.  Thammuz.  jn  understanding,  and  in  know¬ 
ledge,  and  in  all  manner  of  workmanship. 

4  To  devise  cunning  works,  to  work  in  gold, 
and  in  silver,  and  in  brass, 

5  And  in  cutting  of  stones,  to  set  them , 
and  in  carving  of  timber,  to  work  in  all  man¬ 
ner  of  workmanship. 

6  And  I,  behold,  I  have  given  with  him 
d  Aholiab,  the  son  of  Ahisamach,  of  the  tribe 
of  Dan :  and  in  the  hearts  of  all  that  are 
e  wise-hearted  I  have  put  wisdom,  that  they 
may  make  all  that  I  have  commanded  thee  ; 

7  f  The  tabernacle  of  the  congregation,  and 
8  the  ark  of  the  testimony,  and  h  the  mercy- 
seat  that  is  thereupon,  and  all  the  1  furniture 
of  the  tabernacle, 


c  Chapter  xxxv.  31  ;  1  Kings  vii.  14. - d  Chapter  xxxv.  34. 

e  Ctiap.  xxviii.  3  ;  xxxv.  10,  35  ;  xxxvi.  1. - f  Chapter  xxxvi.  8. 

£  Chap,  xxxvii.  1. - h  Chapter  xxxvii.  6. - ‘Hebrew,  vessels. 

k  Chap,  xxxvii.  10. - 1  Chap,  xxxvii.  17. 

Most  High.  He  was  the  son  of  Uri ,  the  son  of  Hur, 
the  son  of  Caleb  or  Chelubai,  the  son  of  Esron,  the 
son  of  Pharez ,  the  son  of  Judah.  See  1  Chron.  ii. 
5,  9,  18,  19,  20,  and  the  note  on  chap.  xvii.  10. 

Verse  3.  I  have  filled  him  with  the  spirit  of  God ] 
See  the  note  on  chap,  xxviii.  3. 

In  wisdom ]  chochmah ,  from  DDn  chacham, 

to  be  wise,  skilful,  or  prudent,  denoting  the  compass 
of  mind  and  strength  of  capacity  necessary  to  form  a 
wise  man  :  hence  our  word  wisdom,  the  power  of  judg¬ 
ing  what  is  wise  or  best  to  be  done  ;  from  the  Saxon, 
'japan,  to  teach,  to  advise,  and  beman,  to  judge  ;  hence 
pipebom,  the  doom  or  judgment  of  the  well  taught, 
wise,  or  prudent  man. 

Understanding']  nilDD  tebunah,  from  p  ban  or  bun, 
to  separate,  distinguish,  discern  ;  capacity  to  compre¬ 
hend  the  different  parts  of  a  work,  how  to  connect, 
arrange,  &c.,  in  order  to  make  a  complete  whole. 

Knowledge]  PJH  daath ,  denoting  particular  ac¬ 
quaintance  with  a  person  or  thing  ;  practical,  experi¬ 
mental  knowledge. 

Verse  4.  Cunning  works]  fDl^nQ  machashaboth, 
works  of  invention  or  genius,  in  the  goldsmith  arid  sil¬ 
versmith  line. 

Verse  5.  In  cutting  of  stones ,  dpc.]  Every  thing  that 
concerned  the  lapidary's,  jeweller's,  and  carver's  art. 

Verse  6.  In  the  hearts  of  all  that  are  wise-hearted  I 
have  put  ivisdom]  So  every  man  that  had  a  natural 
genius ,  as  we  term  it,  had  an  increase  of  wisdom  by 
immediate  inspiration  from  God,  so  that  he  knew  how 
to  execute  the  different  works  which  Divine  wisdom 
designed  for  the  tabernacle  and  its  furniture.  Dark 
as  were  the  heathens,  yet  they  acknowledged  that  all 
talents,  and  the  seeds  of  all  arts,  came  from  God. 
Hence  Seneca  :  Insita  nobis  omnium  artium  semina, 
magisterque  ex  occulto  Deus  producit  ingenia. 

In  the  same  way  Homer  attributes  such  curious  arts 

a 


in  the  work  of  the  tabernacle. 

8  And  k  the  table  and  his  fur-  A.  M.  2513. 
niture,  and  1  the  pure  candlestick  An.  Exod.  isr.’  1. 
with  all  his  furniture,  and  the  cir' Thammnz- 
altar  of  incense  ; 

9  And  m  the  altar  of  burnt-offeriitg  with  all 
his  furniture,  and  n  the  laver  and  his  foot, 

10  And  0  the  clothes  of  service,  and  the 
holy  garments  for  Aaron  the  priest,  and  the 
garments  of  his  sons,  to  minister  in  the  priest’s 
office  ; 

11  p  And  the  anointing  oil,  and  *  sweet  in¬ 
cense  for  the  holy  place  :  according  to  all  that 
I  have  commanded  thee,  shall  they  do. 

12  And  the  Lord  spake  unto  Moses,  saying, 

13  Speak  thou  also  unto  the  children  of 
Israel,  saying,  r  Verily  my  Sabbaths  ye  shall 
keep  :  for  it  is  a  sign  between  me  and  you 
throughout  your  generations ;  that  ye  may 

m  Chap,  xxxviii.  1. - n  Chap,  xxxviii.  8. - 0  Chap.xxxix.  1, 

41  ;  Num.  iv.  5,  6,  &c. - p  Chap.  xxx.  25,  31  ;  xxxvii.  29. 

i  Chap.  xxx.  34  ;  xxxvii.  29. - rLev.  xix.  3, 30 ;  xxvi.  2 ;  Ezek. 

xx.  12,  20 ;  xliv.  24. 

to  Minerva,  the  goddess  of  wisdom,  and  Vulcan,  the 
god  of  handicrafts. 

6’  ore  rig  XPVG0V  7 reptxeveTcu  apyvpcp  avrjp 
I Spig,  ov  'HtyaiGTog  Ssdaev  Kai  VaT^’Xag  Adpv?) 

TexvTjv  7r avToirjv,  xaPL£VTa  be  £pyn  reXsiei. 

Odyss.,  1.  vi.,  ver.  232. 

As  by  some  artist,  to  whom  Vulcan  gives 
His  skill  divine,  a  breathing  statue  lives  ; 

By  Pallas  taught,  he  frames  the  wondrous  mould, 
And  o’er  the  silver  pours  the  fusile  gold. — Pope. 

And  all  this  the  wisest  of  men  long  before  them  de¬ 
clared  ;  when  speaking  of  the  wisdom  of  God  he  says, 
I,  Wisdom,  dwell  with  Prudence,  and  find  out  know¬ 
ledge  of  witty  inventions ;  Prov.  viii.  12.  See  the 
note  on  chap,  xxviii.  3,  to  which  the  reader  is  parti¬ 
cularly  desired  to  refer.  There  is  something  remark¬ 
able  in  the  name  of  this  second  superintendent,  DiOnX 
Aholiab,  the  tabernacle  of  the  father,  or,  the  father  is 
my  tabernacle ;  a  name  nearly  similar  in  its  meaning 
to  that  of  Bezaleel,  see  the  note  on  ver.  1. 

Verse  8.  The  pure  candlestick]  Called  so  either 
because  of  the  pure  gold  of  which  it  was  made,  or 
the  bright?iess  and  splendour  of  its  workmanship,  or 
of  the  light  which  it  imparted  in  the  tabernacle,  as  the 
purest,  finest  oil  was  always  burnt  in  it. 

Verse  9.  The  altar  of  burnt-offering']  See  on  chap, 
xxvii.  1. 

The  laver  and  his  foot]  The  pedestal  on  which  it 
stood. 

Verse  10.  Clothes  of  service]  Vestments  for  the  or¬ 
dinary  work  of  their  ministry ;  the  holy  garments — 
those  which  were  peculiar  to  the  high  priest. 

Verse  1 1.  The  anointing  oil]  See  on  chap.  xxx.  23. 

Sweet  incense]  See  on  chap.  xxx.  34. 

Verse  13.  My  Sabbaths  ye  shall  keep]  See  tha 
notes  on  Gen.  ii.  3  ;  Exod.  xx.  8. 

459 


EXODUS. 


The  Sabbath  to  be  sanctified. 


Moses  receives  the  two  tables. 


a.  M.  2513.  know  that  I  am  the  Lord  that 

• 

keep  the  Sab¬ 
bath  therefore  ;  for  it  is  holy  unto  37'ou  :  every 
one  that  defileth  it  shall  surely  be  put  to  death: 
for  t  whosoever  doeth  any  work  therein,  that 
soul  shall  be  cut  off  from  among  his  people. 

15  u  Six  days  may  work  be  done  ;  but  in  the 
v  seventh  is  the  Sabbath  of  rest,  w  holy  to  the 
Lord  :  whosoever  doeth  any  work  in  the 
Sabbath  day,  he  shall  surely  be  put  to  death. 

16  Wherefore  the  children  of  Israel  shall 


B.  C.  1491. 
An.  Exod.  Isr.  1. 
cir.  Thammuz. 


doth  sanctify  you 
14  sYe  shall 


keep  the  Sabbath,  to  observe  a.  m.  2513. 
the  Sabbath  throughout  their  An.  Exod.  isr.  1. 
generations,  for  a  perpetual  cir-  Thammuz. 

covenant. 

17  It  is  a  x  sign  between  me  and  the  children 
of  Israel  for  ever  :  for  y  in  six  days  the  Lord 
made  heaven  and  earth,  and  on  the  seventh 
day  he  rested,  and  was  refreshed. 

18  And  he  gave  unto  Moses,  when  he  had 
made  an  end  of  communing  with  him  upon 
Mount  Sinai,  z  two  tables  of  testimony,  tables 
of  stone,  written  with  the  finger  of  God. 


s  Chap.  xx.  8  ;  Deut.  v.  12  ;  Ezek.  xx.  12. - t  Chapter  xxxv. 

2  ;  Num.  xv.  35. - u  Chap.  xx.  9. - v  Gen.  ii.  2  ;  chapter  xvi. 

23  ;  xx.  10. - w  Heb.  holiness. 


x  Ver.  13  ;  Ezek.  xx.  12,  20. - 7  Gen.  i.  31  ;  ii.  2.- - z  Ch. 

xxiv.  12;  xxxii.  15,  16 ;  xxxiv.  28,  29  ;  Deut.  iv.  13  ;  v.  22;  ix. 
10,  11  ;  2  Cor.  iii.  3. 


Verse  14.  Every  one  that  clejileth  it]  By  any  kind 
of  idolatrous  or  profane  worship. 

Shall  surely  he  put  to  death]  The  magistrates  shall 
examine  into  the  business,  and  if  the  accused  be  found 
guilty,  he  shall  be  stoned  to  death. 

Shall  he  cut  off]  Because  that  person  who  could 
so  far  contemn  the  Sabbath,  which  was  a  sign  to  them 
of  the  rest  which  remained  for  the  people  of  God,  was 
of  course  an  infidel ,  and  should  be  cut  off  from  all  the 
privileges  and  expectations  of  an  Israelite. 

Verse  16.  A  perpetual  covenant.]  Because  it  is 
a  sign  of  this  future  rest  and  blessedness,  therefore 
the  religious  observance  of  it  must  be  perpetually 
kept  up.  The  type  must  continue  in  force  till  the 
antitype  come. 

Verse  17.  Rested ,  and  was  refreshed.]  God,  in  con¬ 
descension  to  human  weakness,  applies  to  himself  here 
xvhat  belongs  to  man.  If  a  man  religiously  rests  on 
the  Sabbath,  both  his  body  and  soul  shall  be  refreshed  ; 
he  shall  acquire  new  light  and  life. 

Verse  18.  When  he  had  made  an  end  of  communing] 
When  the  forty  days  and  forty  nights  were  ended. 

Two  tables  of  testimony]  See  on  chap,  xxxiv.  1. 

Tables  of  stone]  That  the  record  might  be  lasting , 
because  it  was  a  testimony  that  referred  to  future 
generations,  and  therefore  the  materials  should  be 
durable. 

Written  with  the  finger  of  God.]  All  the  letters  cut 
by  God  himself.  Dr.  Winder,  in  his  History  of  Know¬ 
ledge,  thinks  it  probable  that  this  was  the  first  writing 
in  alphabetical  characters  ever  exhibited  to  the  world, 
though  there  might  have  been  marks  or  hieroglyphics 
cut  on  wood,  stone,  &e.,  before  this  time  ;  see  chap, 
xvii.  14.  That  these  tables  were  written,  not  by  the 
commandment  but  by  the  power  of  God  himself,  the 
following  passages  seem  to  prove  :  “And  the  Lord  said 
unto  Moses,  Come  up  to  me  into  the  mountain,  and  be 
thou  there  ;  and  I  will  give  thee  tables  of  stone  which 
I  have  written,  that  thou  mayest  teach  them Exod. 
xxiv.  12.  “And  he  gave  unto  Moses,  upon  Mount 
Sinai,  two  tables  of  testimony,  tables  of  stone,  writ¬ 
ten  with  the  finger  of  God chap.  xxxi.  18.  “And 
Moses  went  down  from  the  mount,  and  the  two  tables 
of  testimony  were  in  his  hand  ;  the  tables  were  writ¬ 
ten  on  both  their  sides.  And  the  tables  were  the 

460 


work  of  God,  and  the  Writing  was  the  writing  of 
God,  graven  upon  the  tables;”  chap,  xxxii.  15,  16. 
“These  words  [the  ten  commandments]  the  Lord  spake 
in  the  mount,  out  of  the  midst  of  the  fire,. of  the  cloud, 
and  of  the  thick  darkness,  with  a  great  voice  ;  and  he 
added  no  more,  but  he  wrote  them  on  two  tables  of 
stone  Deut.  v.  22.  It  is  evident  therefore  that  this 
writing  was  properly  and  literally  the  writing  of  God 
himself.  God  wrote  now  on  tables  of  stone  what  he 
had  originally  written  on  the  heart  of  man,  and  in  mercy 
he  placed  that  before  his  eyes  which  by  sin  had  been 
obliterated  from  his  soul ;  and  by  this  he  shows  us 
what,  by  the  Spirit  of  Christ,  must  be  rewritten  in  the 
mind,  2  Cor.  iii.  3  ;  and  this  is  according  to  the  cove¬ 
nant  which  God  long  before  promised  to  make  with 
mankind,  Jer.  xxxi.  33.  See  also  what  is  said  on  this 
subject,  chap.  xx.  1,  and  see  chap,  xxxiv.  1.  See  the 
note  on  chap.  xvii.  14. 

“No  time,”  says  Dr.  A.  Bayley,  “  seems  so  proper 
from  whence  to  date  the  introduction  of  letters  among 
the  Hebrews  as  this,  for  after  this  period  we  find  con¬ 
tinual  mention  of  letters,  reading,  and  writing,  in  the 
now  proper  sense  of  those  words.  See  Deut.  xxvii. 
8;  xxxi.  9.  Moses,  it  is  said,  ETcaidtv&r],  ivas  edu¬ 
cated  in  all  the  wisdom  of  the  Egyptians — in  all  the 
learning  they  possessed ;  but  it  is  manifest  that  he  had 
not  learned  of  them  any  method  of  writing,  otherwise 
there  had  been  no  want  of  God’s  act  and  assistance  in 
writing  the  two  tables  of  the  law,  no  need  of  a  mi¬ 
raculous  writing.  Had  Moses  known  this  art,  the  Lord 
might  have  said  to  him,  as  he  does  often  afterwards, 
Write  thou  these  words  ;  Exod.  xxxiv.  27.  Write 
on  the  stones  the  words  of  this  law  ;  Deut.  xxvii.  3. 
Write  you  this  song  for  you  ;  xxxi.  19.  Perhaps  it 
may  be  said,  God’s  writing  the  law  gave  it  a  sanction. 
True  ;  but  why  might  it  not  also  teach  the  first  use  of 
letters,  unless  it  can  be  proved  that  they  were  in  use 
prior  to  this  transaction  1  It  might  be  thought  too 
much  to  assert  that  letters  no  more  than  language  were 
a  natural  discovery  ;  that  it  was  impossible  for  man  to 
have  invented  ivriting,  and  that  he  did  not  invent  it ; 
yet  this  may  appear  really  the  case  from  the  following 
reflections : — 1.  Reason  may  show  us  how  near  to  an  im¬ 
possibility  it  was  that  a  just  and  proper  number  of  con¬ 
venient  characters  for  the  sounds  in  language  should 


a 


CHAP.  XXXII. 


The  people  rebel ,  and  require 

naturally  be  hit  upon  by  any  man,  for  whom  it  was 
easy  to  imitate  and  vary,  but  not  to  invent.  2.  From 
evidence  of  the  Mosaic  history,  it  appears  that  the  in¬ 
troduction  of  writing  among  the  Hebrews  was  not  from 


Aaron  to  make  them  gods. 

man ,  but  God.  3.  There  are  no  evident  vestiges  of 
letters  subsisting  among  other  nations  till  after  the  de¬ 
livery  of  the  law  at  Mount  Sinai ;  nor  then,  among 
some,  till  very  late.” 


CHAPTER  XXXII. 


The  Israelites ,  finding  that  Moses  delayed  his  return,  desire  Aaron  to  make  them  gods  to  go  before  them,  1. 
Aaron  consents,  and  requires  their  ornaments,  2.  They  deliver  them  to  him,  and  he  makes  a  molten  calf, 
3,  4.  He  builds  an  altar  before  it,  5  ;  and  the  people  offer  burnt- offerings  and  peace-offerings,  6.  The 
Lord  commands  Moses  to  go  down,  telling  him  that  the  people  had  corrupted  themselves,  7,  8.  The  Lord 
is  angry,  and  threatens  to  destroy  them,  9,  10.  Moses  intercedes  for  them,  11—13  ;  and  the  Lord  pro¬ 
mises  to  spare  them,  14.  Moses  goes  down  with  the  tables  in  his  hands,  15,  16.  Joshua,  hearing  the  noise 
they  made  at  their  festival,  makes  some  remarks  on  it,  17,  18.  Moses,  coming  to  the  camp ,  and  seeing 
their  idolatrous  icorship,  is  greatly  distressed,  throws  down  and  breaks  the  two  tables,  19.  Takes  the  calf, 
reduces  it  to  powder,  strews  it  upon  the  water,  and  causes  them  to  drink  it,  20.  Moses  expostulates  with 
Aaron,  21.  Aaron  vindicates  himself,  22—24.  Moses  orders  the  Levites  to  slay  the  transgressors,  25—27. 
They  do  so,  and  3000  fall,  28,  29.  Moses  returns  to  the  Lord  on  the  mount ,  and  makes  supplication  f or 
the  people,  30—32.  God  threatens  and  yet  spares,  33.  Commands  Moses  to  lead  the  people,  and  promises 
him  the  direction  of  an  angel,  34.  The  people  are  plagued  because  of  their  sin,  35. 


A.  M.  2513.  A  ND  when  the  people  saw  that 
*  B.  c.  1491.  xA  ,,  ,  f 

An.  Exod.isr.  l.  Moses  a  delayed  to  come 

Ab'  down  out  of  the  mount,  the  peo¬ 
ple  gathered  themselves  together  unto  Aaron, 
and  said  unto  him,  b  Up,  make  us  gods,  which 
shall  c  go  before  u.s  ;  for  as  for  this  Moses, 
the  man  that  brought  us  up  out  of  the  land  of 
Egypt,  we  wot  not  what  is  become  of  him. 

2  And  Aaron  said  unto  them,  Break  off  the 


d  golden  ear-rings,  which  are  in  A.  M.  2513. 

°  °  7  B.  C.  1491 

the  ears  of  your  wives,  of  your  An.  ExocUsr.  i. 

sons,  and  of  your  daughters,  and  Ab‘ 

bring  them  unto  me. 

3  And  all  the  people  brake  off  the  golden 
ear-rings  which  were  in  their  ears,  and  brought 
thetn  unto  Aaron. 

4  e  And  he  received  them  at  their  hand,  and 
fashioned  it  with  a  graving  tool,  after  he  had 


aChap.  xxiv.  18;  Deut.  ix.  9. - b  Acts  vii.  40. - c  Chap. 

xiii.  21. - d  Judg.  viii.  24,  25,  26,  27. - e  Chap.  xx.  23  ;  Deut. 

NOTES  ON  CHAP.  XXXII. 

Yerse  1 .  When  the  people  saiv  that  Moses  delayed'] 
How  long  this  was  before  the  expiration  of  the  forty 
days,  we  cannot  tell ;  but  it  certainly  must  have  been 
some  considerable  time,  as  the  ornaments  must  be  col¬ 
lected,  and  the  calf  or  ox,  after  having  been  founded, 
must  require  a  considerable  time  to  fashion  it  with  the 
graving  tool ;  and  certainly  not  more  than  two  or  three 
persons  could  work  on  it  at  once.  This  work,  there¬ 
fore,  must  have  required  several  days. 

The  people  gathered  themselves  together]  They 
came  in  a  tumultuous  and  seditious  manner,  insisting 
on  having  an  object  of  religious  worship  made  for  them, 
as  they  intended  under  its  direction  to  return  to  Egypt. 
See  Acts  vii.  39,  40. 

As  for  this  Moses,  the  man  that  brought  us  up]  This 
seems  to  be  the  language  of  great  contempt,  and  by  it 
we  may  see  the  truth  of  the  character  given  them  by 
Aaron,  verse  22,  they  were  set  on  mischief.  It  is 
likely  they  might  have  supposed  that  Moses  had  pe¬ 
rished  in  the  fire,  which  they  saw  had  invested  the  top 
of  the  mountain  into  which  he  went. 

Yerse  2.  Golden  ear-rings]  Both  men  and  women 
wore  these  ornaments,  and  we  may  suppose  that  these 
were  a  part  of  the  spoils  which  they  brought  out  of 
Egypt.  How  strange,  that  the  very  things  which 
were  granted  them  by  an  especial  influence  and  pro- 

a 


ix.  16 ;  Judg.  xvii.  3,  4  ;  1  Kings  xii.  28 ;  Neh.  ix.  18  ;  Psa.  cvi. 
19  ;  Isa.  xlvi.  6 ;  Acts  vii.  41  ;  Rom.  i.  23. 

vidence  of  God,  should  be  now  abused  to  the  basest 
idolatrous  purposes  !  But  it  is  frequently  the  case  that 
the  gifts  of  God  become  desecrated  by  being  employed 
in  the  service  of  sin  ;  I  will  curse  your  blessings,  saith 
the  Lord,  Mai.  ii.  2. 

Yerse  3.  And  all  the  people  brake  off  the  golden  ear¬ 
rings]  The  human  being  is  naturally  fond  of  dress, 
though  this  has  been  improperly  attributed  to  the  female 
sex  alone,  and  those  are  most  fond  of  it  who  have  the 
shallowest  capacities ;  but  on  this  occasion  the  bent  of 
the  people  to  idolatry  was  greater  than  even  their  love 
of  dress,  so  that  they  readily  stripped  themselves  of 
their  ornaments  in  order  to  get  a  molten  god.  They 
made  some  compensation  for.this  afterwards  ;  see  chap, 
xxxv.,  and  the  note  on  chap,  xxxviii.  9. 

Yerse  4.  Fashioned  it  with  a  graving  tool]  There 
has  been  much  controversy  about  the  meaning  of  the 
word  £3 “in  cherct  in  the  text :  some  make  it  a  mould, 
others  a  garment,  cloth,  or  apron ;  some  a  purse  or  bag, 
and  others  a  graver.  It  is  likely  that  some  mould  was 
made  on  this  occasion,  that  the  gold  when  fused  was 
cast  into  it,  and  that  afterwards  it  was  brought  into  form 
and  symmetry  by  the  action  of  the  chisel  and  graver. 

These  be  thy  gods,  O  Israel]  The  whole  of  this  is 
a  most  strange  and  unaccountable  transaction.  Was 
it  possible  that  the  people  could  have  so  soon  lost  sight 
of  the  wonderful  manifestations  of  God  upon  the  mount! 

461 


Aaron  makes  a  molten  calf \ 

A.  M.  2513.  made  it  a  molten  calf :  and  they 

B.  C.  1491.  J 

An.  Exod.  isr.i.  said,  These  be  thy  gods,  0  Israel, 

_ _  which  brought  thee  up  out  of  the 

land  of  Egypt. 

5  And  when  Aaron  saw  it ,  he  built  an  altar 
before  it ;  and  Aaron  made  f  proclamation 
and  said,  To-morrow  is  a  feast  to  the  Lord. 

6  And  they  rose  up  early  on  the  morrow, 
and  offered  burnt-offerings,  and  brought  peace- 
offerings  ;  and  the  s  people  sat  down  to  eat 
and  to  drink,  and  rose  up  to  play. 

7  And  the  Lord  said  unto  Moses,  h  Go,  get 
thee  down ;  for  thy  people,  which  thou  brought- 
est  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt,  1  have  corrupted 
themselves : 

8  They  have  turned  aside  quickly  out  of  the 
way  which  k  I  commanded  them  :  they  have 
made  them  a  molten  calf,  and  have  worship- 

f  Lev.  xxiii.  2,  4,  21,  37;  2  Kings  x.  20 ;  2  Chron.  xxx.  5. 

El  Cor.  x.  7. - hDeut.  ix.  12  ;  ver.  1 ;  chap,  xxxiii.  1  ;  Dan. 

ix.  24. - 1  Gen.  vi.  11, 12  ;  Deut.  iv.  16  ;  xxxii.  5  ;  Judg.  ii.  19  ; 

Hos.  ix.  9. - k  Chap.  xx.  3.  4,  23 ;  Deut.  ix.  16. - 1 1  Kings 

xii.  28. 

Was  it  possible  that  Aaron  could  have  imagined  that 
he  could  make  any  god  that  could  help  them  1  And 
yet  it  does  not  appear  that  he  ever  remonstrated  with 
the  people  !  Possibly  he  only  intended  to  make  them 
some  symbolical  representation  of  the  Divine  power 
and  energy,  that  might  be  as  evident  to  them  as  the 
pillar  of  cloud  and  fire  had  been,  and  to  which  God 
might  attach  an  always  present  energy  and  influence  ; 
or  in  requiring  them  to  sacrifice  their  ornaments ,  he 
might  have  supposed  they  would  haye  desisted  from 
urging  their  request  :  but  all  this  is  mere  conjecture, 
with  very  little  probability  to  support  it.  It  must  how¬ 
ever  be  granted  that  Aaron  does  not  appear  to  have 
even  designed  a  worship  that  should  supersede  the 
worship  of  the  Most  High  ;  hence  we  find  him  making 
proclamation,  To-morrow  is  a  feast  to  the  Lord,  (iTIiT  ;)’ 
and  we  find  farther  that  some  of  the  proper  rites  of 
the  true  worship  were  observed  on  this  occasion,  for 
they  brought  burnt- offerings  and  peace-offerings ,  ver. 
6,  7  :  hence  it  is  evident  he  intended  that  the  true  God 
should  be  the  object  of  their  worship,  though  he  per¬ 
mitted  and  even  encouraged  them  to  offer  this  worship 
through  an  idolatrous  medium,  the  molten  calf.  It  has 
been  supposed  that  this  was  an  exact  resemblance  of 
the  famous  Egyptian  god  Apis  who  was  worshipped 
under  the  form  of  an  ox,  which  worship  the  Israelites 
no  doubt  saw  often  practised  in  Egypt.  Some  however 
think  that  this  worship  of  Apis  was  not  then  established  ; 
but  we  have  already  had  sufficient  proof  that  different 
animals  were  sacred  among  the  Egyptians,  nor  have  we 
any  account  of  any  worship  in  Egypt  earlier  than  that 
offered  to  Apis,  under  the  figure  of  an  OX. 

Verse  5.  To-morrow  is  a  feast  to  the  Lord ]  In  Ben¬ 
gal  the  officiating  Brahmin ,  or  an  appointed  person 

proclaims,  “  To-morrow,  or  on - day  of - ,  such 

a  ceremony  will  be  performed  !” 

462 


and  the  people  worship  it 

ped  it,  and  have  sacrificed  there-  A.  M.  2513. 
unto,  and  said,  1  These  be  thy  An.  Exod.  Isr.  1 
gods,  O  Israel,  which  have  Ab’ 
brought  thee  up  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt. 

9  And  the  Lord  said  unto  Moses,  m  I  have 
seen  this  people,  and,  behold,  it  is  a  stiff-neck¬ 
ed  people  : 

10  Now  therefore  Met  me  alone  that  0  my 
wrath  may  wax  hot  against  them,  and  that  I 
may  consume  them  :  and  p  I  will  make  of  thee 
a  great  nation. 

1 1  q  And  Moses  besought  r  the  Lord  his 
God,  and  said,  Lord,  why  doth  thy  wrath  wax 
hot  against  thy  people,  which  thou  hast  brought 
forth  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt  with  great 
power,  and  with  a  mighty  hand  ? 

12  s  Wherefore  should  the  Egyptians  speak, 
and  say,  For  mischief  did  he  bring  them  out, 

m  Chapter  xxxiii.  3,  5  ;  xxxiv.  9  ;  Deut.  ix.  6,  13  ;  xxxi.  27 

2  Chron.  xxx.  8;  Isa.  xlviii.  4;  Acts  vii.  51. - "Deut.  ix.  14, 

19. - 0  Chap.  xxii.  24. - PNum.  xiv.  12. - q  Deut.  ix.  18, 

26,  27,  28,  29  ;  Psa.  lxxiv.  1,  2  ;  cvi.  23. - r  Heb.  the  face  of 

the  LORD. - s  Num.  xiv.  13  ;  Deut.  ix.  28 ;  xxxii.  27. 

Verse  6.  The  people  sat  down  to  eat  and  to  drink ] 
The  burnt-offerings  were  wholly  consumed  ;  the  peace- 
offerings,  when  the  blood  had  been  poured  out,  became 
the  food  of  the  priests,  &c.  When  therefore  the 
strictly  religious  part  of  these  ceremonies  was  finished, 
the  people  sat  down  to  eat  of  the  peace-offerings,  and 
this  they  did  merely  as  the  idolaters,  eating  and  drink¬ 
ing  to  excess.  And  it  appears  they  went  much  farther, 
for  it  is  said  they  rose  up  to  play,  pn^b  Vetsachek ,  a 
word  of  ominous  import,  which  seems  to  imply  here 
fornicating  and  adulterous  intercourse  ;  and  in  some 
countries  the  verb  to  play  is  still  used  precisely  in  this 
sense.  In  this  sense  the  original  is  evidently  used, 
Gen.  xxxix.  14. 

Verse  7.  Thy  people — have  corrupted  themselves] 
They  had  not  only  got  into  the  spirit  of  idolatry,  but 
they  had  become  abominable  in  their  conduct,  so  that 
God  disowns  them  to  be  his  :  Thy  people  have  broken 
the  covenant,  and  are  no  longer  entitled  to  my  pro¬ 
tection  and  love. 

This  is  one  pretence  that  the  Roman  Catholics  have 
for  the  idolatry  in  their  image  worship.  Their  high 
priest,  the  pope,  collects  the  ornaments  of  the  people, 
and  makes  an  image,  a  crucifix,  a  madona,  &c.  The 
people  worship  it ;  but  the  pope  says  it  is  only  to  keep 
God  in  remembrance.  But  of  the  whole  God  says, 
Thy  people  have  corrupted  themselves ;  and  thus,  as 
they  continue  in  their  idolatry,  they  have  forfeited  the 
blessings  of  the  Lord’s  covenant.  They  are  not  God’s 
people,  they  are  the  pope’s  people,  and  he  is  called 
“  our  holy  father  the  pope.” 

Verse  9.  A  stiff-necked  people\  Probably  an  allusion 
to  the  stiff-necked  ox,  the  object  of  their  worship. 

Verse  10.  Noio  therefore  let  me  alone]  Moses  had 
already  begun  to  plead  with  God  in  the  behalf  of  this 
rebellious  and  ungrateful  people ;  and  so  powerful  was 

a 


EXODUS. 


CHAP.  XXXII. 


Moses  intercedes  for  the  people , 

A.  M.  2513.  to  slav  them  in  the  mountains, 
An.Exod.lsr.  l.  and  to  comsume  them  from  the 
Ab‘  face  of  the  earth  ?  Turn  from  thy 
fierce  wrath,  and  1  repent  of  this  evil  against 
thy  people. 

13  Remember  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Israel, 
thy  servants,  to  whom  thou  u  swarest  by  thine 
own  self,  and  saidst  unto  them,  v  I  will  multi¬ 
ply  your  seed  as  the  stars  of  heaven,  and  all 
this  land  that  I  have  spoken  of  will  I  give 
unto  your  seed,  and  they  shall  inherit  it  for 
ever. 

14  And  the  Lord  w  repented  of  the  evil 
which  he  thought  to  do  unto  his  people. 

15  And  1  Moses  turned,  and  went  down 
from  the  mount,  and  the  two  tables  of  the  tes¬ 
timony  were  in  his  hand :  the  tables  were 

1  Ver.  14. - u  Gen.  xxii.  16  ;  Heb.  vi.  13. - v  Gen.  xii.  7  ; 

xiii.  15;  xv.  7,  18;  xxvi.  4;  xxviii.  13;  xxxv.  11, 12. - w  Deut. 

xxxii.  26 ;  2  Sam.  xxiv.  16;  1  Chron.  xxi.  15;  Psa.  cvi.  45; 

his  intercession  that  even  the  Omnipotent  represents 
himself  as  incapable  of  doing-  any  thing  in  the  way  of 
judgment,  unless  his  creature  desisted  from  praying 
for  mercy  !  See  an  instance  of  the  prevalence  of  fer¬ 
vent  intercession  in  the  case  of  Abraham,  Gen.  xviii. 
23—33,  from  the  model  of  which  the  intercession  of 
Moses  seems  to  have  been  formed. 

Verse  14.  And  the  Lord  repented  of  the  evil ] 
This  is  spoken  merely  after  the  manner  of  men  who, 
having  formed  a  purpose,  permit  themselves  to  be 
diverted  from  it  by  strong  and  forcible  reasons,  and 
so  change  their  minds  relative  to  their  former  in¬ 
tentions. 

Verse  15.  The  tables  were  written  on  both  their 
sides ]  If  we  take  this  literally,  it  was  certainly  .a  very 
unusual  thing  ;  for  in  ancient  times  the  two  sides  of 
the  same  substance  were  never  written  over.  How¬ 
ever,  some  rabbins  suppose  that  by  the  writing  on  both 
sides  is  meant  the  letters  were  cut  through  the  tables, 
so  that  they  might  be  read  on  both  sides,  though  on  one 
side  they  would  appear  reversed.  Supposing  this  to 
be  correct,  if  the  letters  were  the  same  with  those 
called  Hebrew  now  in  common  use,  the  D  samech, 
which  occurs  twice,  and  the  final  HD  mem  which  oc¬ 
curs  twenty-three  times  in  the  ten  commandments,  both 
of  these  being  close  letters,  could  not  be  cut  through 
on  both  sides  without  falling  out,  unless,  as  some  of 
the  Jews  have  imagined,  they  were  held  in  by  miracle  ; 
but  if  this  ancient  character  were  the  same  with  the 
Samaritan,  this  thorough  cutting  might  have  been  quite 
practicable,  as  there  is  not  one  close  letter  in  the  whole 
Samaritan  alphabet.  On  this  transaction  there  are  the 
three  following  opinions:  1.  We  may  conceive  the 
tables  of  stone  to  have  been  thin  slabs  or  a  kind  of 
slate ,  and  the  writing  on  the  back  side  to  have  been  a 
continuation  of  that  on  the  front,  the  first  not  being 
sufficient  to  contain  the  whole.  2.  Or  the  writing  on 
the  back  side  was  probably  the  precepts  that  accompa¬ 
nied  the  ten  commandments  ;  the  latter  were  written 


and  God  spares  them 

written  on  both  their  sides  ;  on  a.  m.  2513. 
the  one  side  and  on  the  other  An.Exod.  isr.  1. 
were  they  written.  Ab‘ 

1 6  And  the  *  tables  were  the  work  of  God, 
and  the  writing  was  the  writing  of  God,  graven 
upon  the  tables. 

17  And  when  Joshua  heard  the  noise  of  the 
people  as  they  shouted,  he  said  unto  Moses, 
There  is  a  noise  of  war  in  the  camp. 

18  And  he  said,  It  is  not  the  voice  of  them 
that  shout  for  mastery,  neither  is  it  the  voice 
of  them  that  cry  for  z  being  overcome  :  hut 
the  noise  of  them  that  sing  do  I  hear. 

19  And  it  came  to  pass,  as  soon  as  he  came 
nigh  unto  the  camp,  that  a  he  saw  the  calf, 
and  the  dancing :  and  Moses’  anger  waxed 
hot,  and  he  cast  the  tables  out  of  his  hands, 

Jeremiah  xviii.  8  ;  xxvi.  13,  19;  Joel  ii.  13  ;  Jonah  iii.  10;  iv.  2. 

x  Deut.  ix.  15. - y  Chapter  xxxi.  18. - z  Hebrew,  weakness 

a  Deut.  ix.  16,  17. 

by  the  Lord,  the  former  by  Moses  ;  see  the  note  on 
chap,  xxxiv.  1,  27.  3.  Or  the  same  words  were 

written  on  both  sides ,  so  that  when  held  up,  two  par¬ 
ties  might  read  at  the  same  time. 

Verse  16.  The  tables  were  the  work  of  God ]  Be¬ 
cause  such  a  law  could  proceed  from  none  but  him¬ 
self  ;  God  alone  is  the  fountain  and  author  of  law,  of 
what  is  right ,  just,  holy ,  and  good.  See  the  meaning 
of  the  word  law,  Exod.  xii.  49. 

The  writing  was  the  writing  of  God ]  For  as  he  is 
the  sole  author  of  law  and  justice ,  so  he  alone  can 
write  them  on  the  heart  of  man.  This  is  agreeable 
to  the  spirit  of  the  new  covenant  which  God  had 
promised  to  make  with  men  in  the  latter  days  :  I  ivill 
make  a  new  covenant  with  the  house  of  Israel — I  ivill 

PUT  MY  LAWS  IN  THEIR  MINDS,  AND  WRITE  THEM  IN 

their  hearts,  Jer.  xxxi.  33  ;  Heb.  viii.  10  ;  2  Cor. 
iii.  3.  That  the  writing  of  these  tables  was  the 
writing  of  God,  see  proved  at  the  conclusion  of  the 
last  chapter. 

Verse  17.  Joshua — said — There  is  a  noise  of  war 
in  the  camp.]  How  natural  was  this  thought  to  the 
mind  of  a  military  man  !  Hearing  a  confused  noise  he 
supposed  that  the  Israelitish  camp  had  been  attacked 
by  some  of  the  neighbouring  tribes. 

Verse  18.  And  he  said ]  That  is,  Moses  returned 
this  answrer  to  the  observations  of  Joshua. 

Verse  19.  He  saw  the  calf  and  the  dancing ] 
Dancing  before  the  idol  takes  place  in  almost  every 
Hindoo  idolatrous  feast. — Ward. 

He  cast  the  tables  out  of  his  hands ,  and  brake  them ] 
He  might  have  done  this  through  distress  and  anguish 
of  spirit,  on  beholding  their  abominable  idolatry  and 
dissolute  conduct ;  or  he  probably  did  it  emblemati¬ 
cally,  intimating  thereby  that,  as  by  this  act  of  his  the 
tables  were  broken  in  pieces,  on  which  the  law  of  God 
was  written ;  so  they,  by  their  present  conduct,  had 
made  a  breach  in  the  covenant,  and  broken  the  laws 
of  their  Maker.  But  we  must  not  excuse  this  act ;  it 

463 


a 


Moses  destroys  the  golden  calf \  and,  EXODUS.  orders  the  transgressors  to  be  slain. 


A.  M.  2513.  and  brake  them  beneath  the 

B.  C.  1491. 

An.  Exod.Isr.  1.  mount. 

Ab'  20  b  And  he  took  the  calf 

which  they  had  made,  and  burnt  it  in  the  fire, 
and  ground  it  to  powder,  and  strawed  it  upon 
the  water,  and  made  the  children  of  Israel 
drink  of  it. 

2 1  And  Moses  said  unto  Aaron,  c  What  did 
this  people  unto  thee,  that  thou  hast  brought 
so  great  a  sin  upon  them  ? 

22  And  Aaron  said,  Let  not  the  anger  of  my 
lord  wax  hot :  d  thou  knowest  the  people,  that 
they  are  set  on  mischief. 

23  For  they  said  unto  me,  e  Make  us  gods, 
which  shall  go  before  us :  for  as  for  this  Moses, 
the  man  that  brought  us  up  out  of  the  land  of 
Egypt,  we  wot  not  what  has  become  of  him. 

24  And  I  said  unto  them,  Whosoever  hath 
any  gold,  let  them  break  it  off.  So  they  gave 

b  Deut.  ix.  21. - c  Gen.  xx.  9  ;  xxvi.  10. - d  Chap.  xiv.  11  ; 

xv.  24 ;  xvi.  2,  20,28  ;  xvii.  2,  4. - e  Ver.  1. - f  Ver.  4. 

was  rash  and  irreverent ;  God’s  writing  should  not 
have  been  treated  in  this  way. 

Yerse  20.  He  took  the  calf — andburnt — and  ground 
it  to  powder ,  c fc.]  How  truly  contemptible  must  the 
object  of  their  idolatry  appear  when  they  were  obliged 
to  drink  their  god,  reduced  to  powder  and  strewed  on 
the  water  !  “  But,”  says  an  objector,  “  how  could  gold, 
the  most  ductile  of  all  metals,  and  the  most  ponderous, 
be  stamped  into  dust,  and  strewed  on  water  V'  In 
Deut.  ix.  2 1  this  matter  is  fully  explained  :  I  took, 
says  Moses,  your  sin,  the  calf  which  ye  had  made,  and 
burnt  it  with  fire,  that  is,  melted  it  down,  probably 
into  ingots,  or  gross  plates,  and  stamped  it,  that  is, 
beat  into  thin  laminae,  something  like  our  gold  leaf, 
and  ground  it  very  small,  even  until  it  toas.as  small 
as  dust ,  which  might  be  very  easily  done  by  the  action 
of  the  hands,  when  beat  into  thin  plates  or  leaves,  as 
the  original  words  rOX  cccoih  and  p'l  dak  imply.  And 

I  cast  the  dust  thereof  into  the  brook ,  and  being  thus 
lighter  than  the  water,  it  would  readily  float,  so  that 
they  could  easily  see,  in  this  reduced  and  useless  state, 
the  idol  to  which  they  had  been  lately  offering  Divine 
honours,  and  from  which  they  were  vainly  expecting 
protection  and  defence.  No  mode  of  argumentation 
could  have  served  so  forcibly  to  demonstrate  the  folly 
of  their  conduct,  as  this  method  pursued  by  Moses. 

Yerse  21.  What  did  this  people  unto  thee. ]  It 
seems  if  Aaron  had  been  firm,  this  evil  might  have 
been  prevented. 

Yerse  22.  Thou  knowest  the  people]  He  excuses 
himself  by  the  wicked  and  seditious  spirit  of  the  peo¬ 
ple,  intimating  that  he  was  obliged  to  accede  to  their 
desires. 

Verse  24.  I  cast  it  into  the  fire  and  there  came  out 
this  calf.]  What  a  silly  and  ridiculous  subterfuge  ! 
He  seems  to  insinuate  that  he  only  threw  the  metal 
into  the  fire,  and  that  the  calf  came  unexpectedly  out 
by  mere  accident.  The  Targum  of  Jonathan  ben 

464 


it  me  :  then  I  cast  it  into  the  A.  M.  2513. 

-  .  .  .  ,  .  B.  C.  1491. 

lire,  and  there  f  came  out  this  An.  Exod.  isr.  1 

calf.  Ab- 

25  ’And  when  Moses  saw  that  the  people 
were  &  naked,  (for  Aaron  h  had  made  them 
naked,  unto  their  shame,  among *  1  their  ene¬ 
mies :) 

26  Then  Moses  stood  in  the  gate  of  the 
camp,  and  said,  Who  is  on  the  Lord’s  side  ? 
let  him  come  unto  me.  And  all  the  sons  of 
Levi  gathered  themselves  together  unto  him. 

27  And  he  said  unto  them,  Thus  saith  the 
Lord  God  of  Israel,  Put  every  man  his  sword 
by  his  side,  and  go  in  and  out  from  gate  to 
gate  throughout  the  camp,  and  k  sla3r  every 
man  his  brother,  and  every  man  his  compa¬ 
nion,  and  every  man  his  neighbour. 

28  And  the  children  of  Levi  did  according 
to  the  word  of  Moses  :  and  there  fell  of  the 

s  Chap,  xxxiii.  4,  5. - h2  Chron.  xxviii.  19. - iHeb.  those 

that  rose  up  against  them. - -k  Nurn.  xxv.  5  ;  Deut.  xxxiii.  9. 

Uzziel  makes  a  similar  excuse  for  him  :  “And  I  said 
unto  them,  Whosoever  hath  gold,  let  him  break  it  off 
and  give  it  to  me  ;  and  I  cast  it  into  the  fire,  and  Satan 
entered  into  it,  and  it  came  out  in  the  form  of  this 
calf!”  Just  like  the  popish  legend  of  the  falling  of 
the  shrine  of  our  Lady  of  Loretta  out  of  heaven  ! 
These  legends  come  from  the  same  quarter.  Satan 
can  provide  more  when  necessary  for  his  purpose. 

Yerse  25.  Moses  saio  that  the  people  were  naked] 
They  were  stripped,  says  the  Targum,  of  the  holy 
crown  that  was  upon  their  heads,  on  which  the  great 
and  precious  name  SfXxffIT  Jehovah  vTas  engraved. 
But  it  is  more  likely  that  the  word  g ID  parua  implies 
that  they  were  reduced  to  the  most  helpless  and 
wretched  state,  being  abandoned  by  God  in  the  midst 
of  their  enemies.  This  is  exactly  similar  to  that  ex¬ 
pression,  2  Chron.  xxviii.  19  :  For  the  Lord  brought 
Judah  low,  because  of  Ahaz  king  of  Israel :  for  he 
made  Judah  naked,  JDNDH  hiphria,  and  transgressed 
sore  against  the  Lord.  Their  nakedness,  therefore, 
though  in  the  first  sense  it  may  imply  that  several  of 
them  w'ere  despoiled  of  their  ornaments,  yet  it  may  also 
express  their  defenceless  and  abandoned  state,  in  con¬ 
sequence  of  their  sin.  That  they  could  not  literally 
have  all  been  despoiled  of  their  ornaments,  appears 
evident  from  their  offerings.  See  chap.  xxxv.  21,  &c. 

Yerse  26.  Who  is  on  the  Lord's  side  ?]  That  is, 
Who  among  you  is  free  from  this  transgression  1 

And  all  the  sons  of  Levi,  §c.]  It  seems  they  had 
no  part  in  this  idolatrous  business. 

Yerse  27.  From  gale  to  gate]  It  is  probable  that 
there  w^as  an  enclosed  or  intrenched  camp,  in  which  the 
chief  rulers  and  heads  of  the  people  vrnre,  and  that  this 
camp  had  two  gates  or  outlets ;  and  the  Levites  wrere 
commanded  to  pass  from  one  to  the  other,  slaying  as 
many  of  the  transgressors  as  they  could  find. 

Yerse  28.  There  fell — about  three  thousand  men.] 
These  were  no  doubt  the  chief  transgressors ;  having 


CHAP.  XXXII. 


Moses  again  intercedes 

A.  M.  2513.  people  that  day,  about  three 

B.  C.  1491.  \  r  J 

An.  Exod.  isr.  l.  thousand  men. 

Al>'  29  !For  “Moses  had  said, 

n  Consecrate  yourselves  to-day  to  the  Lord, 
even  every  man  upon  his  son,  and  upon  his 
brother ;  that  he  may  bestow  upon  you  a 
blessing  this  day. 

30  And  it  came  to  pass  on  the  morrow,  that 
Moses  said  unto  the  people,  0  Ye  have  sinned 

1  Num.  xxv.  11,  12,  13  ;  Deut.  xiii.  6-11  ;  xxxiii.9, 10  ;  1  Sam. 

xv.  18,  22;  Prov.  xxi.  3  ;  Zech.  xiii.  3;  Matt.  x.  37. - m  Or, 

And  Moses  said,  Consecrate  yourselves  to-day  to  the  LORD ,  be¬ 
cause  every  man  hath  been  against  his  son,  and  against  his  brother, 

broken  the  covenant  by  having  other  gods  besides  Jeho¬ 
vah,  they  lost  the  Divine  protection,  and  then  the  justice 
of  God  laid  hold  on  and  slew  them.  Moses  doubtless 
had  positive  orders  from  God  for  this  act  of  justice, 
(see  ver.  27  ;)  for  though,  through  his  intercession,  the 
people  were  spared  so  as  not  to  be  exterminated  as  a 
nation,  yet  the  principal  transgressors,  those  who  were 
set  on  mischief,  ver.  22,  were  to  be  put  to  death. 

Verse  29.  For  Moses  had  said,  Consecrate  your¬ 
selves ]  Fill  your  hands  to  the  Lord.  See  the  reason 
of  this  form  of  speech  in  the  note  on  chap.  xxix.  19. 

Verse  31.  Moses  returned  unto  the  Lord~\  Before 
he  went  down  from  the  mountain  God  had  acquainted 
him  with  the  general  defection  of  the  people,  where¬ 
upon  he  immediately,  without  knowing  the  extent  of 
their  crime,  began  to  make  intercession  for  them ;  and 
God,  having  given  him  a  general  assurance  that  they 
should  not  be  cut  off,  hastened  him  to  go  dowrn,  and 
bring  them  off  from  their  idolatry.  Having  descended, 
he  finds  matters  much  worse  than  he  expected,  and 
ordered  three  thousand  of  the  principal  delinquents  to 
be  slain  ;  but  knowing  that  an  evil  so  extensive  must 
be  highly  provoking  in  the  sight  of  the  just  and  holy 
God,  he  finds  it  highly  expedient  that  an  atonement 
be  made  for  the  sin  :  for  although  he  had  the  promise 
of  God  that  as  a  nation  they  should  not  be  extermi¬ 
nated,  yet  he  had  reason  to  believe  that  Divine  justice 
must  continue  to  contend  with  them,  and  prevent  them 
from  ever  entering  the  promised  land.  That  he  was 
apprehensive  that  this  would  be  the  case,  we  may  see 
plainly  from  the  following  verse. 

Verse  32.  Forgive  their  sin - ,*  and  if  not ,  blot 

me — out  of  thy  boolc]  It  is  probable  that  one  part  of 
Moses’  work  during  the  forty  days  of  his  residence  on 
the  mount  with  God,  was  his  regulating  the  muster-roll 
of  all  the  tribes  and  families  of  Israel,  in  reference  to 
the  parts  they  were  respectively  to  act  in  the  different 
transactions  in  the  wilderness,  promised  land,  &c.  ; 
and  this,  being  done  under  the  immediate  direction  of 
God,  is  termed  God's  book  which  he  had  written,  (such 
muster-rolls  or  registers,  called  also  genealogies,  the 
Jews  have  had  from  the  remotest  period  of  their  his¬ 
tory  ;)  and  it  is  probable  that  God  had  told  him,  that 
those  who  should  break  the  covenant  which  he  had 
then  made' with  them  should  be  blotted  out  of  that  list, 
and  never  enter  into  the  promised  land.  All  this  Mo¬ 
ses  appears  to  have  particularly  in  view,  and,  without 
entering  into  any  detail,  immediately  comes  to  the 
Vol.  I.  (  3i  ) 


for  the  people. 

a  great  sin  :  and  now  I  will  go  A.  M.  2513. 
up  unto  the  Lord  ;  p  peradven-  An.  Exod.  isr!  1. 
ture  I  shall  q  make  an  atonement  Ab‘ 
for  your  sin. 

31  And  Moses  r  returned  unto  the  Lord, 
and  said,  O,  this  people  have  sinned  a  great 
sin,  and  have  s  made  them  gods  of  gold  ; 

32  Yet  now,  if  thou  wilt,  forgive  their  sin 

- - ;  and  if  not,  *  blot  me,  I  pray  thee, 

&c. - nHeb.  Jill  your  hands. - 0  1  Samuel  xii.  20,  23  ;  Luke 

xv.  18. - P2  Samuel  xvi.  12;  Amos  v.  15. — —a  Numbers  xxv. 

13. - rDeut.  ix.  18. - sChap.  xx.  23. - 4  Psa.  lxix.  28; 

Rom.  ix.  3. 


point  which  he  knew  was  fixed  when  this  list  or  muster- 
roll  was  made,  namely,  that  those  who  should  break 
the  covenant  should  be  blotted  out,  and  never  have  any 
inheritance  in  the  promised  land  :  therefore  he  says, 
This  people  have  sinned  a  great  sin,  and  have  made 
them  gods  of  gold ;  thus  they  had  broken  the  covenant , 
(see  the  first  and  second  commandments,)  and  by  this 
had  forfeited  their  right  to  Canaan.  Yet  now ,  he 
adds,  if  thou  wilt  forgive  their  sin,  that  they  may  yet 

attain  the  promised  inheritance - ;  and  if  not,  blot 

me,  I  pray  thee,  out  of  thy  book  which  thou  hast  writ¬ 
ten — if  thou  wilt  blot  out  their  names  from  this  regis¬ 
ter,  and  never  suffer  them  to  enter  Canaan,  blot  me 
out  also  ;  for  I  cannot  bear  the  thought  of  enjoying 
that  blessedness,  while  my  people  and  their  posterity 
shall  be  for  ever  excluded.  And  God,  in  kindness  to 
Moses,  spared  him  the  mortification  of  going  into  Ca¬ 
naan  without  taking  the  people  with  him.  They  had 
forfeited  their  lives,  and  were  sentenced  to  die  in  the 
wilderness ;  and  Moses’  prayer  was  answered  in  mercy 
to  him,  while  the  people  suffered  under  the  hand  of 
justice.  But  the  promise  of  God  did  not  fail ;  for, 
although  those  who  sinned  were  blotted  out  of  the  book, 
yet  their  posterity  enjoyed  the  inheritance. 

This  seems  to  be  the  simple  and  pure  light  in  which 
this  place  should  be  viewed  ;  and  in  this  sense  St.  Paul 
is  to  be  understood,  Rom.  ix.  3,  where  he  says  :  For 
I  could  wish  that  myself  were  accursed  from  Christ 
for  my  brethren,  my  kinsmen  according  to  the  fiesh  ; 
who  are  Israelites,  to  whom  pertainetli  the  adoption, 
and  the  glory,  and  the  covenants.  Moses  could  not 
survive  the  destruction  of  his  people  by  the  neighbour¬ 
ing  nations,  nor  their  exclusion  from  the  piomised  land , 
and  St.  Paul,  seeing  the  Jews  about  to  be  cut  off  by 
the  Roman  sword  for  their  rejection  of  the  Gospel, 
was  willing  to  be  deprived  of  every  earthly  blessing, 
and  even  to  become  a  sacrifice  for  them,  if  this  might 
contribute  to  the  preservation  and  salvation  of  the 
Jewish  state.  Both  those  eminent  men,  engaged  in 
the  same  work,  influenced  by  a  spirit  of  unparalleled 
patriotism,  were  willing  to  forfeit  every  blessing  of  a 
secular  kind,  and  even  die  for  the  welfare  of  the  peo¬ 
ple.  But  certainly,  neither  of  them  could  wish  to  go 
to  eternal  perdition,  to  save  their  countrymen  from 
being  cut  off,  the  one  by  the  sword  of  the  Philistines , 
the  other  by  that  of  the  Romans.  Even  the  supposi¬ 
tion  is  monstrous. 

On  this  mode  of  interpretation  we  may  at  once  sec 

465 


Moses  is  commanded 


EXODUS. 


A.  M.  2513.  13  out  of  thy  book  which  thou 

An.  Exod.  isr.  l.  hast  written. 

Ab'  33  And  the  Lord  said  unto 

Moses,  v  Whosoever  hath  sinned  against  me, 
him  will  I  blot  out  of  my  book. 

34  Therefore  now  go,  lead  the  people  unto 
the  place  of  which  I  have  spoken  unto  thee  : 

u  Psa.  lvi.  8  ;  cxxxix.  16  ;  Dan.  xii.  1 ;  Phil.  iv.  3  ;  Rev.  iii.  5  ; 

xiii.  8  ;  xvii.  8  ;  xx.  12,  15 ;  xxi.  27 ;  xxii.  19. - v  Lev.  xxiii. 

30 ;  Ezek.  xviii.  4. 

what  is  impliecLin  the  book  of  life ,  and  being-  written 
in  or  blotted  out  of  such  a  book.  In  the  public  regis¬ 
ters,  all  that  were  born  of  a  particular  tribe  were  en¬ 
tered  in  the  list  of  their  respective  families  under  that 
iribe.  This  was  the  book  of  life ;  but  when  any  of 
those  died,  his  name  might  be  considered  as  blotted 
out  from  this  list.  Our  baptismal  registers,  which 
record  the  births  of  all  the  inhabitants  of  a  particular 
parish  or  district,  and  which  are  properly  our  books 
of  life  ;  and  our  bills  of  mortality,  which  are  properly 
our  books  of  death,  or  the  lists  of  those  who  are  thus 
blotted  out  from  our  baptismal  registers  or  books  of 
life ;  are  very  significant  and  illustrative  remains  of 
the  ancient  registers,  or  books  of  life  and  death  among 
the  Jews,  the  Greeks,  the  Romans,  and  most  ancient 
nations.  It  is  worthy  of  remark,  that  in  China  the 
names  of  the  persons  who  have  been  tried  on  criminal 
processes  are  written  in  tivo  distinct  books,  which  are 
called  the  book  of  life  and  the  book  of  death  :  those 
who  have  been  acquitted,  or  who  have  not  been  capi¬ 
tally  convicted,  are  written  in  th e  former  ;  those  who 
have  been  found  guilty,  in  the  latter.  These  two  books 
are  presented  to  the  emperor  by  his  ministers,  who,  as 
sovereign,  has  a  right  to  erase  any  name  from  either  : 
to  place  the  living  among  the  dead,  that  he  may  die  ; 
or  the  dead,  that  is,  the  person  condemned  to  death, 
among  the  living ,  that  he  may  be  preserved.  Thus  he 
blots  out  of  the  book  of  life  or  the  book  of  death  ac¬ 
cording  to  his  sovereign  pleasure,  on  the  representation 
of  his  ministers,  or  the  intercession  of  friends,  &c.  An 
ancient  and  extremely  rich  picture,  in  my  own  posses¬ 
sion,  representing  this  circumstance,  painted  in  China, 
was  thus  interpreted  to  me  by  a  native  Chinese. 

Yerse  33.  Whosoever  hath  sinned  against  me,  him 
will  I  blot  out ]  As  if  the  Divine  Being  had  said  : 
“All  my  conduct  is  regulated  by  infinite  justice  and 
righteousness  :  in  no  case  shall  the  innocent  ever  suf¬ 
fer  for  the  guilty.  That  no  man  may  transgress  through 
ignorance,  I  have  given  you  my  law,  and  thus  pub¬ 
lished  my  covenant ;  the  people  themselves  have  ac¬ 
knowledged  its  justice  and  equity,  and  have  volunta¬ 
rily  ratified  it.  He  then  that  sins  against  me,  (for  sin 
is  the  tranrgression  of  the  law,  1  John  iii.  4,  and  the 
law  must  be  published  and  known  that  it  may  be  bind¬ 
ing,)  him  will  I  blot  out  of  my  book.”  And  is  it  not 
remarkable  that  to  these  conditions  of  the  covenant 
God  strictly  adhered,  so  that  not  one  soul  of  these 
transgressors  ever  entered  into  the  promised  rest  1 
Here  was  justice.  And  yet,  though  they  deserved 
death,  they  were  spared  !  Here  was  mercy.  Thus, 
as  far  as  justice  would  permit,  mercy  extended ;  and 
as  far  as  mercy  would  permit,  justice  proceeded.  Be- 
a  466 


to  lead,  the  people  forward. 
w  behold,  mine  angel  shall  go  A.  M.  2513. 

&  .  B.  C.  1491. 

before  thee:  nevertheless,  x  in  An.  Exod.  isr.  1. 

the  day  when  I  visit,  I  will  visit  Ab'  . . 

their  sin  upon  them. 

35  And  the  Lord  plagued  the  people,  be¬ 
cause  y  they  made  the  calf,  which  Aaron 
made. 


w  Chapter  xxxiii.  2,  14,  &c. ;  Numbers  xx.  16. - x  Deut. 

xxxii.  35  ;  Amos  iii.  14;  Romans  ii.  5,  6. - y  2  Samuel  xii.  9  ; 

Acts  vii.  41. 


hold,  0  reader,  the  goodness  and  severity  of  GOD  ! 
Mercy  saves  all  that  justice  can  spare  ;  and  justice 
destroys  all  that  mercy  should  not  save. 

Verse  34.  Lead  the  people  unto  the  place]  The 
word  place  is  not  in  the  text,  and  is  with  great  pro¬ 
priety  omitted.  For  Moses  never  led  this  people  into 
that  place,  they  all  died  in  the  wilderness  except 
Joshua  and  Caleb  ;  but  Moses  led  them  towards  the 
place,  and  thus  the  particle  Stt  el  here  should  be 
understood,  unless  we  suppose  that  God  designed  to 
lead  them  to  the  borders  of  the  land,  but  not  to  take 
them  into  it. 

I  ivill  visit  their  sin ]  I  will  not  destroy  them,  but 
they  shall  not  enter  into  the  promised  land.  They 
shall  wander  in  the  wilderness  till  the  present  genera¬ 
tion  become  extinct. 

Yerse  35.  The  Lord  plagued  the  people ]  Every 
time  they  transgressed  afterwards  Divine  justice  seems 
to  have  remembered  this  transgression  against  them. 
The  Jews  have  a  metaphorical  saying,  apparently 
founded  on  this  text  :  “  No  affliction  has  ever  happened 
to  Israel  in  which  there  was  not  some  particle  of  the 
dust  of  the  golden  calf.” 

1.  The  attentive  reader  has  seen  enough  in  this 
chapter  to  induce  him  to  exclaim,  How  soon  a  clear 
sky  may  be  overcast !  How  soon  may  the  brightest 
prospects  be  obscured  !  Israel  had  just  ratified  its 
covenant  with  Jehovah,  and  had  received  the  most 
encouraging  and  unequivocal  pledges  of  his  protection 
and  love.  But  they  sinned,  and  provoked  the  Lord  to 
depart  from  them,  and  to  destrojr  the  work  of  his  hands. 
A  little  more  faith,  patience,  and  perseverance,  and 
they  should  have  been  safely  brought  into  the  promised 
land.  For  want  of  a  little  more  dependence  upon  God, 
how  often  does  an  excellent  beginning  come  to  an 
unhappy  conclusion  !  Many  who  were  just  on  the  bor¬ 
ders  of  the  promised  land,  and  about  to  cross  Jordan, 
have,  through  an  act  of  unfaithfulness,  been  turned 
back  to  wander  many  a  dreary  year  in  the  wilderness. 
Reader,  be  on  thy  guard.  Trust  in  Christ,  and  watch 
unto  prayer. 

2.  Many  people  have  been  greatly  distressed  on 
losing  their  baptismal  register,  and  have  been  reduced 
in  consequence  to  great  political  inconvenience.  But 
still  they  had  their  lives,  and  should  a  living  man  com¬ 
plain  1  But  a  man  may  so  sin  as  to  provoke  God  to 
cut  him  off ;  or,  like  a  fruitless  tree,  be  cut  down,  be¬ 
cause  he  encumbers  the  ground.  Or  he  may  have 
sinned  a  sm  unto  death,  1  John  v.  16,  17,  that  is,  a 
sin  which  God  will  punish  with  temporal  death,  while 
he  extends  mercy  to  the  soul. 

(  31*  ) 


CHAP.  XXXIII. 


The  Lord  promises  to  send 

3.  With  respect  to  the  blotting  out  of  God’s  book , 
on  which  there  has  been  so  much  controversy,  is  it  not 
evident  that  a  soul  could  not  be  blotted  out  of  a  book 
in  which  it  had  never  been  written  ?  And  is  it  not 
farther  evident  from  ver.  32,  33,  that,  although  a  man 


an  angel  before  the  people 

be  written  in  God’s  book,  if  he  sins  he  may  be  blotted 
out  ?  Let  him  that  readeth  understand  ;  and  let  him 
that  standeth  take  heed  lest  he  fall.  Reader,  be  not 
high-minded,  but  fear.  See  the  notes  on  verses  32 
and  33. 


CHAPTER  XXXIII. 

Moses  is  commanded  to  depart  from  the  mount,  and  lead  up  the  people  towards  the  promised  land,  1.  An 
angel  is  promised  to  be  their  guide,  2.  The  land  is  described ,  and  the  Lord  refuses  to  go  with  them,  3. 
The  people  mourn ,  and  strip  themselves  of  their  ornaments,  4—6.  The  tabernacle  or  tent  is  pitched  without 
the  camp,  7.  Moses  goes  to  it  to  consult  the  Lord,  and  the  cloudy  pillar  descends  on  it,  8,9.  The  people , 
standing  at  their  tent  doors  witness  this,  10.  The  Lord  speaks  familiarly  with  Moses ;  he  returns  to  the 
camp,  and  leaves  Joshua  in  the  tabernacle,  1 1 .  Moses  pleads  with  God,  and  desires  to  know  whom  he  will 
send  to  be  their  guide,  and  to  be  informed  of  the  way  of  the  Lord ,  12,  13.  The  Lord  promises  that  his 
presence  shall  go  with  them,  14.  Moses  pleads  that  the  people  may  be  taken  under  the  Divine  protection, 
15,  16.  The  Lord  promises  to  do  so,  17.  Moses  requests  to  see  the  Divine  glory,  18.  And  God  pro¬ 
mises  to  make  his  goodness  pass  before  him,  and  to  proclaim  his  name,  19.  Shows  that  no  man  can  see  his 
glory  and  live,  20  ;  but  promises  to  put  him  in  the  cleft  of  a  rock,  and  to  cover  him  ivith  his  hand  while 
his  glory  passed  by,  and  then  to  remove  his  hand  and  let  him  see  his  back  parts ,  21—23. 


A.  M.  2513.  A  ND  the  Lord  said  unto  Moses, 

B.  C.  1491.  J~. L  _  7  . 

An.  Exod.lsr.  l.  Depart,  and  go  up  hence, 

Ab‘  thou  a  and  the  people  which  thou 
hast  brought  up  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt, 
unto  the  land  which  I  sware  unto  Abraham, 
to  Isaac,  and  to  Jacob,  saying,  b  Unto  thy 
seed  will  I  give  it  : 

2  c  And  I  will  send  an  angel  before  thee  ; 
d  and  I  will  drive  out^the  Canaanite,  the  Amo- 
rite,  and  the  Hittite,  and  the  Perizzite,  the 
Hivite,  and  the  Jebusite  : 

“Chap,  xxxii.  7. - bGen.  xii.  7  ;  chap,  xxxii.  13. - c  Chap. 

xxxii.  34;  xxxiv.  11. - d  Deut.  vii.  22;  Joshua  xxiv.  11. 

e  Chap.  iii.  8. - fVer.  15,  17. - sChap.  xxxii.  9;  xxxiv.  9. 

Deut.  ix.  6,  13. - h  Chap,  xxiii.  21 ;  xxxii.  10 ;  Numbers  xvi. 

NOTES  ON  CHAP.  XXXIII. 

Verse  1.  Unto  the  land ]  That  is,  towards  it,  or  to 
the  borders  of  it.  See  chap,  xxxii.  34. 

Verse  2.  I  will  send  an  angel\  In  chap,  xxiii.  20 
God  promises  to  send  an  angel  to  conduct  them  into 
the  good  land,  in  whom  the  name  of  God  should  be  ; 
that  is,  in  whom  God  should  dwell.  See  the  note 
there.  Here  he  promises  that  an  angel  shall  be  their 
conductor ;  but  as  there  is  nothing  particularly  speci¬ 
fied  of  him,  it  has  been  thought  that  an  ordinary  angel 
is  intended,  and  not  that  Angel  of  the  Covenant  pro¬ 
mised  before.  And  this  sentiment  seems  to  be  con¬ 
firmed  by  the  following  verse. 

Verse  3.  I  will  not  go  up  in  the  midst  of  thee~\ 
Consequently,  the  angel  here  promised  to  be  their 
guide  was  not  that  angel  in  whom  Jehovah’s  name 
was :  and  so  the  people  understood  it ;  hence  the 
mourning  which  is  afterwards  mentioned. 

Verse  5.  Now  put  off  thy  ornaments  from  thee \ 
“  The  Septuagint,  in  their  translation,  suppose  that  the 
children  of  Israel  not  only  laid  aside  their  ear-rings, 
and  such  like  ornaments,  in  a  time  of  professed  deep 
humiliation  before  God,  but  their  upper  or  more  beau- 


3  e  Unto  a  land  flowing  with  A.  M.  2513. 
milk  and  honey  :  f  for  I  will  not  An.  Exod.  isr.  1. 
go  up  in  the  midst  of  thee,  for  Ab~ 
thou  art  a  s  stiff-necked  people,  lest  hI  con¬ 
sume  thee  in  the  way. 

4  And  when  the  people  heard  these  evil 
tidings,  *  they  mourned  ;  k  and  no  man  did  put 
on  him  his  ornaments. 

5  For  the  Lord  had  said  unto  Moses,  Say 
unto  the  children  of  Israel,  1  Ye  are  a  stiff¬ 
necked  people  :  I  will  come  up  m  into  the 

21,  45. - ‘Num.  xiv.  1,  39. - kLev.  x.  6  ;  2  Sam.  xix.  24; 

1  Kings  xxi.  27 ;  2  Kings  xix.  1 ;  Esther  iv.  1,  4  ;  Ezra  ix.  3  ; 
Job  i.  20;  ii.  12;  Isa.  xxxii.  11;  Ezek.  xxiv.  17,  23;  xxvi.  16. 
1  Ver.  3. - m  See  Num.  xvi.  45,  46. 

tiful  garments  too.  Moses  says  nothing  of  this  last 
circumstance  ;  but  as  it  is  a  modern  practice,  so  it 
appears  by  their  version  to  have  been  as  ancient  as  their 
time,  and  probably  took  place  long  before  that.  The 
Septuagint  gives  us  this  as  the  translation  of  the  pas¬ 
sage  :  ‘  The  people,  having  heard  this  sad  declaration, 
mourned  with  lamentations.  And  the  Lord  said  unto 
the  children  of  Israel,  Now,  therefore,  put  off  your 
robes  of  glory,  and  your  ornaments,  and  I  will  show 
you  the  things  I  will  do  unto  you.  And  the  children 
of  Israel  put  off  their  ornaments  and  robes  by  the 
mount,  by  Horeb.’ 

“  If  it  had  not  been  the  custom  to  put  off  their  upper 
garments  in  times  of  deep  mourning,  in  the  days  that 
the  Septuagint  translation  was  made,  they  would  not 
have  inserted  this  circumstance  in  the  account  Moses 
gives  of  their  mourning,  and  concerning  which  he  was 
silent.  They  must  have  supposed  too  that  this  prac¬ 
tice  might  be  in  use  in  those  elder  times. 

“  That  it  is  now  practised  in  the  east,  appears  from 
the  account  Pitts  gives  of  the  ceremonies  of  the  Mo¬ 
hammedan  pilgrimage  to  Mecca.  ‘  A  few  days  after 
this  we  came  to  a  place  called  Rabbock,  about  four 

467 


The  tabernacle  is  pitched,  a,nd  EXODUS.  the  cloudy  pillar  descends  on  it. 


A.  M.  2513.  midst  of  thee  m  a  moment,  and 

B.  C.  1491.  .  .  r 

An.  Exod.  isr.  l.  consume  thee  ;  therefore  now  put 

Ab~  off  thy  ornaments  from  thee,  that 
I  may  n  know  what  to  do  unto  thee. 

6  And  the  children  of  Israel  stripped  them¬ 
selves  of  their  ornaments  by  the  mount  Horeb. 

7  And  Moses  took  the  tabernacle,  and  pitch¬ 
ed  it  without  the  camp,  afar  off  from  the  camp, 
0  and  called  it  the  tabernacle  of  the  congre¬ 
gation.  And  it  came  to  pass,  that  every  one 
which  p  sought  the  Lord  went  out  unto  the 

»  Deut.  viii.  2  ;  Psalm  cxxxix.  23. - °  Chapter  xxix.  42,  43. 

P  Deut.  iv.  29  ;  2  Sam.  xxi.  1. 


days’  sail  on  this  side  of  Mecca,  where  all  the  hagges 
or  pilgrims,  (excepting  those  of  the  female  sex)  do  en¬ 
ter  into  hirrawem  or  ihram ,  i.  e.,  they  take  off  all  their 
clothes,  covering  themselves  with  two  hirrawems,  or 
large  white  cotton  wrappers ;  one  they  put  about  their 
middle,  which  reaches  down  to  their  ancles  ;  with  the 
other  they  cover  the  upper  part  of  their  body,  except 
the  head ;  and  they  wear  no  other  thing  on  their  bo¬ 
dies  but  these  wrappers,  only  a  pair  of  grimgameca, 
that  is  thin-soled  shoes  like  sandals,  the  over-leather 
of  which  covers  only  the  toes,  the  insteps  being  all 
naked.  In  this  manner,  like  humble  penitents,  they 
go  from  Rabbock  until  they  come  to  Mecca,  to  approach 
the  temple,  many  times  enduring  the  scorching  heat  of 
the  sun  until  the  very  skin  is  burnt  off  their  backs  and 
arms,  and  their  heads  swollen  to  a  very  great  degree.’ 
— pp.  115,  116.  Presently  after  he  informs  us  ‘that 
the  time  of  their  wearing  this  mortifying  habit  is  about 
the  space  of  seven  days.’  Again,  (p  138  :)  ‘It  was 
a  sight,  indeed,  able  to  pierce  one’s  heart,  to  behold  so 
many  thousands  in  their  garments  of  humility  and  mor¬ 
tification,  with  their  naked  heads,  and  cheeks  watered 
with  tears  ;  and  to  hear  their  grievous  sighs  and  sobs, 
begging  earnestly  for  the  remission  of  their  sins,  pro¬ 
mising  newness  of  life,  using  a  form  of  penitential  ex- 
.  pressions,  and  thus  continuing  for  the  space  of  four  or 
five  hours.’ 

“  The  Septuagint  suppose  the  Israelites  made  much 
the  same  appearance  as  these  Mohammedan  pilgrims, 
when  Israel  stood  in  anguish  of  soul  at  the  foot  of 
Mount  Horeb,  though  Moses  says  nothing  of  putting  off 
any  of  their  vestments. 

“  Some  passages  of  the  Jewish  prophets  seem  to 
confirm  the  notion  of  their  stripping  themselves  of 
some  of  their  clothes  in  times  of  deep  humiliation,  par¬ 
ticularly  Micah  i.  8  :  Therefore  I  will  wail  and  howl ; 
I  will  go  stripped  and  naked ;  I  will  make  a  ivailing 
like  the  dragons,  and  mourning  as  the  owls. 

“  Saul’s  stripping  himself,  mentioned  1  Sam.  xix.  24, 
is  perhaps  to  be  understood  of  his  assuming  the  ap¬ 
pearance  of  those  that  were  deeply  engaged  in  devo¬ 
tional  exercises,  into  which  he  was  unintentionally 
brought  by  the  prophetic  influences  that  came  upon  him, 
and  in  which  he  saw  others  engaged.” — Harmed s 
Observat.,  vol.  iv.,  p.  172. 

The  ancient  Jewish  commentators  were  of  opinion 
that  the  Israelites  had  the  name  mrt'  Jehovah  inscribed 

4G8 


tabernacle  of  the  congregation,  A.  m.  2513. 
which  was  without  the  camp.  An.  Exod.  Isr.I. 

8  And  it  came  to  pass,  when  Ab‘ 
Moses  went  out  unto  the  tabernacle,  that  all 
the  people  rose  up,  and  stood  every  man  *  at 
his  tent  door,  and  looked  after  Moses,  until  he 
was  gone  into  the  tabernacle. 

9  And  it  came  to  pass,  as  Moses  entered 
into  the  tabernacle,  the  cloudy  pillar  descend¬ 
ed,  and  stood  at  the  door  of  the  tabernacle, 
and  the  LORD  r  talked  with  Moses. 

9  Numbers  xvi.  27. - r  Chapter  xxv.  22;  xxxi.  18;  Psalm 

xcix.  7. 


on  them  in  such  a  way  as  to  ensure  them  the  Divine 
protection  ;  and  that  this,  inscribed  probably  on  a  plate 
of  gold,  was  considered  their  choicest  ornament ;  and 
that  when  they  gave  their  ornaments  to  make  the  golden 
calf,  this  was  given  by  many,  in  consequence  of  which 
they  were  considered  as  naked  and  defenceless.  All 
the  remaining  parts  of  their  ornaments,  which  it  is 
likely  were  all  emblematical  of  spiritual  things,  God 
commands  them  here  to  lay  off;  for  they  could  not 
with  propriety  bear  the  symbols  of  the  Divine  protec¬ 
tion,  who  had  forfeited  that  protection  for  their  trans¬ 
gression. 

That  I  may  know  what  to  do  unto  thee .]  For  it 
seems  that  while  they  had  these  emblematic  ornaments 
on  them,  they  were  still  considered  as  under  the  Di¬ 
vine  protection.  These  were  a  shield  to  them,  which 
God  commands  them  to  throw  aside.  Though  many 
had  parted  with  their  choicest  ornaments,  yet  not  all, 
only  a  few  comparatively,  of  the  wives,  daughters,  and 
sons  of  600,000  men,  could  have  been  thus  stripped 
to  make  one  golden  calf.  The  major  part  still  had 
these  ornaments,  and  they  are  now  commanded  to  lay 
them  aside. 

Verse  7.  Moses  took  the  tabernacle\  bnxn  DX  eth 
haohel ,  the  tent  ;  not  jlX  eth  hammishcan,  the 

tabernacle ,  the  dwelling-place  of  Jehovah,  see  chap. 
xxxv.  11,  for  this  was  not  as  yet  erected ;  but  proba¬ 
bly  the  tent  of  Moses,  which  was  before  in  the  midst 
of  the  camp,  and  to  which  the  congregation  came  for 
judgment,  and  where,  no  doubt,  God  frequently  met 
with  his  servant.  This  is  now  removed  to  a  consider¬ 
able  distance  from  the  camp,  ( two  thousand  cubits,  ac¬ 
cording  to  the  Talmudists,)  as  God  refuses  to  dwell 
any  longer  among  this  rebellious  people.  And  as  this 
was  the  place  to  which  all  the  people  came  for  justice 
and  judgment,  hence  it  was  probably  called  the  taber¬ 
nacle,  more  properly  the  tent,  of  the  congregation. 

Verse  9.  The  cloudy  pillar  descended]  This  very 
circumstance  precluded  the  possibility  of  deception. 
The  cloud  descending  at  these  times,  and  at  none  others, 
was  a  full  proof  that  it  was  miraculous,  and  a  pledge 
of  the  Divine  presence.  It  was  beyond  the  power  of 
human  art  to  counterfeit  such  an  appearance  ;  and  let 
it  be  observed  that  all  the  people  saio  this,  ver.  10. 
How  many  indubitable  and  irrefragable  proofs  of  its 
own  authenticity  and  Divine  origin  does  the  Pentateuch 
contain  ! 

a 


( 


CHAP.  XXXIII. 


Moses  pleads  for  the  people. 

a.  M.  2513.  10  And  all  the  people  saw 

An.  Exod.  isr.  l.  tlie  cloudy  pillar  stand  at  the 
Ah~  tabernacle  door  :  and  all  the  peo¬ 
ple  rose  up  and  s  worshipped,  every  man  in 
his  tent  door. 

1 1  And  1  the  Lord  spake  unto  Moses  face 
to  face,  as  a  man  speaketh  unto  his  friend. 
And  he  turned  again  into  the  camp  :  but  11  his 
servant  Joshua,  the  son  of  Nun,  a  young  man, 
departed  not  out  of  the  tabernacle. 

12  And  Moses  said  unto  the  Lord,  See, 
v  thou  sayest  unto  me,  Bring  up  this  people  : 
and  thou  hast  not  let  me  know  whom  thou 
wilt  send  with  me.  Yet  thou  hast  said,  w  I 
know  thee  by  name,  and  thou  hast  also  found 
grace  in  my  sight. 

13  Now  therefore,  I  pray  thee  x  if  I  have 

8  Chap.  iv.  31. - 1  Gen.  xxxii.  30  ;  Num.  xii.  8  ;  Deut.  xxxiv. 

10. - u  Chap.  xxiv.  13. - vChap.  xxxii.  34. - w  Verse  17; 

Gen.  xviii.  19  ;  Psa.  i.  6  ;  Jer.  i.  5  John  x.  14,  15;  2  Tim.  ii. 

19. - s  Ch.  xxxiv.  9. - y  Psa.  xxv.  4  ;  xxvii.  11 ;  lxxxvi.  11 ; 

cxix.  33. - z  Deut.  ix.  26,  29 ;  Joel  ii.  i7. 

Yerse  1 1 .  The  Lord  spake  unto  Moses  face  to  face'] 
That  there  was  no  personal  appearance  here  we  may 
readily  conceive  ;  and  that  the  communications  made 
by  God  to  Moses  were  not  by  visions ,  ecstacies,  dreams , 
inward  inspirations ,  or  the  mediation  of  angels,  is  suf¬ 
ficiently  evident  ;  we  may  therefore  consider  the  pas¬ 
sage  as  implying  that  familiarity  and  confidence  with 
which  the  Divine  Being*  treated  his  servant,  and  that 
he  spake  with  him  by  articulate  sounds  in  his  own  lan¬ 
guage,  though  no  shape  or  similitude  was  then  to  be  seen. 

Joshua ,  the  son  of  Nun ,  a  young  man]  There  is  a 
difficulty  here.  Joshua  certainly  was  not  a  young  man 
in  the  literal  sense  of  the  word ;  “  but  he  was  called 
so,”  says  Mr.  Ainsworth,  “  in  respect  of  his  service , 
not  of  his  years ;  for  he  was  now  above  fifty  years 
old,  as  may  be  gathered  from  Josh.  xxiv.  29.  But 
because  ministry  and  service  are  usually  by  the  younger 
sort,  all  servants  are  called  young  men ,  Gen.  xiv.  24.” 
See  also  Gen.  xxii.  3,  andxli.  12.  Perhaps  the  word 
naar,  here  translated  young  man ,  means  a  single 
person ,  one  unmarried. 

Verse  12.  Moses  said  unto  the  Lord]  We  may 
suppose  that  after  Moses  had  quitted  the  tabernacle  he 
went  to  the  camp,  and  gave  the  people  some  general 
information  relative  to  the  conversation  he  lately  had 
with  the  Lord ;  after  which  he  returned  to  the  taber¬ 
nacle  or  tent,  and  began  to  plead  with  God,  as  we  find 
in  this  and  the  following  verses. 

Thou  hast  not  let  me  know ,  c fc.]  As  God  had  said 
he  would  not  go  up  with  this  people,  Moses  wished  to 
know  whom  he  would  send  with  him,  as  he  had  only 
said,  in  general  terms,  that  he  would  send  an  angel. 

Verse  13.  Shoiv  me  now  thy  way]  Let  me  know 
the  manner  in  which  thou  wouldst  have  this  people  led 
up  and  governed,  because  this  nation  is  thy  people ,  and 
should  be  governed  and  guided  in  thy  own  way. 

^  erse  14.  My  presence  shall  go  with  thee]  loV 
panai  yelechu ,  my  faces  shall  go.  I  shall  give  thee 

a 


God’s  presence  to  go  with  them. 

\ 

found  grace  in  thy  sight,  y  show  A.  M.  2513. 
me  now  thy  way,  that  I  may  An.  Exod.  isk  l. 
know  thee,  that  I  may  find  Ab~ 
grace  in  thy  sight :  and  consider  that  this 
nation  is  z  thy  people. 

1 4  And  he  said,  a  My  presence  shall  go  with 
thee ,  and  I  witi  give  thee  b  rest. 

1 5  And  he  said  unto  him,  c  If  thy  presence 
go  not  with  me ,  carry  us  not  up  hence. 

16  For  wherein  shall  it  be  known  here  that 
I  and  thy  people  have  found  grace  in  thy 
sight?  d  is  it  not  in  that  thou  goest  with  us? 
so  e  shall  we  be  separated,  I  and  thy  people, 
from  all  the  people  that  are  upon  the  face  of 
the  earth. 

17  And  the  Lord  said  unto  Moses,  f  I  will 
do  this  thing  also  that  thou  hast  spoken  :  for 

a  Chapter  xiii.  21 ;  xl.  34-38  ;  Isa.  lxiii.  9. - b  Deut.  iii.  20 ; 

Josh.  xxi.  44 ;  xxii.  4;  xxiii.  1 ;  Psa.  xcv.  11. - c  Ver.  3  ;  chap. 

xxxiv.  9. - d  Num.  xiv.  14. — — 1 B  Chap,  xxxiv.  10  ;  Deut.  iv.  7, 

34;  2  Sam.  vii.  23  ;  1  Kings  viii.  53  ;  Psa.  cxlvii.  20. - f  Gen. 

xix.  21  ;  James  v.  16. 

manifestations  of  my  grace  and  goodness  through  the 
whole  of  thy  journey.  I  shall  vary  my  appearances 
for  thee,  as  thy  necessities  shall  require. 

Verse  15.  If  thy  presence  go  not]  DoSn  pX  DK 
im  ein  paneycha  holechim ,  if  thy  faces  do  not  go — if 
we  have  not  manifestations  of  thy  peculiar  providence 
and  grace,  carry  us  not  up  hence.  Without  supernatu¬ 
ral  assistance,  and  a  most  particular  providence,  he 
knew  that  it  would  be  impossible  either  to  govern  such 
a  people,  or  support  them  in  the  desert ;  and  therefore 
he  wishes  to  be  well  assured  on  this  head,  that  he  may 
lead  them  up  with  confidence,  and  be  able  to  give  them 
the  most  explicit  assurances  of  support  and  protection. 
But  by  what  means  should  these  manifestations  take 
place  1  This  question  seems  to  be  answered  by  the 
Prophet  Isaiah,  chap,  lxiii.  9  :  In  all  their  affliction  he 
was  afflicted ,  and  the  Angel  of  his  presence  (VJ3  pa- 
naiv,  of  his  faces)  saved  them.  So  we  find  that  the 
goodness  and  mercy  of  God  were  to  be  manifested  by 
the  Angel  of  the  Covenant ,  the  Lord  Jesus,  the  Mes¬ 
siah ;  and  this  is  the  interpretation  which  the  Jews 
themselves  give  of  this  place.  Can  any  person  lead 
men  to  the  typical  Canaan,  who  is  not  himself  influ¬ 
enced  and  directed  by  the  Lord  1  And  of  what  use 
are  all  the  means  of  grace,  if  not  crowned  with  the 
presence  and  blessing  of  the  God  of  Israel  l  It  is  on 
this  ground  that  Jesus  Christ  hath  said,  Where  two  or 
three  are  gathered  together  in  my  name ,  I  am  in  the 
midst  of  them,  Matt,  xviii.  20  ;  without  which,  what 
would  preachings,  prayers,  and  even  sacraments  avail  ? 

Verse  16.  So  shall  we  he  separated]  By  having  this 
Divine  protection  we  shall  be  saved  from  idolatry,  and 
be  preserved  in  thy  truth  and  in  the  true  worshipping 
of  thee  ;  and  thus  shall  we  be  separated  from  all  the 
people  that  are  upon  the  face  of  the  earth  :  as  all  the 
nations  of  the  world,  the  Jews  only  excepted,  were  at 
this  time  idolaters. 

Verse  17.  I  ivill  do  this  thing  also]  My  presence 

469 


The  Lord  promises  to 


EXODUS. 


show  himself  to  Moses 


A.  M.  2513.  §r  thou  hast  found  grace  in  my 

B.  C.  1491.  .  °  J 

An.  Exod.  Isr.  l.  sight,  and  I  know  thee  by 

Ab 

'  name. 

18  And  he  said,  I  beseech  thee,  show  me 
11  thy  glory. 

1 9  And  he  said,  1 1  will  make  all  my  good¬ 
ness  pass  before  thee,  and  I  will  proclaim  the 
name  of  the  Lord  before  thee,  k  and  will 
be  1  gracious  to  whom  I  will  be  gracious,  and 
will  show  mercy  on  whom  I  will  show 
mercy. 

20  And  he  said,  Thou  canst  not  see  my 


face  :  for  m  there  shall  no  man  a.  m.  2513. 

1  1 .  B.  C.  1491. 

see  me,  and  live.  An.  Exod.  isr.  1 

2 1  And  the  Lord  said,  Behold,  Ab' 
there  is  a  place  by  me,  and  thou  shalt  stand 
upon  a  rock  : 

22  And  it  shall  come  to  pass,  while  my 
glory  passeth  by,  that  I  will  put  thee  “in  a 
cleft  of  the  rock,  and  will  0  cover  thee  with  my 
hand  while  I  pass  by  : 

23  And  I  will  take  away  mine  hand,  and 
thou  shalt  see  my  back  parts  :  but  my  face 
shall  p  not  be  seen. 


s  Ver.  12. - hVer.  20;  1  Timothy  vi.  16. - !Chap.  xxxiv. 

5,  6,  7 ;  Jer.  xxxi.  14. - k  Romans  ix.  15,  16,  18. - 1  Romans 

iv.  4,  16. 

shall  go  with  thee,  and  I  will  keep  thee  separate  from 
all  the  people  of  the  earth.  Both  these  promises  have 
been  remarkably  fulfilled.  God  continued  miraculously 
wfilh  them  till  he  brought  them  into  the  promised  land  ; 
and  from  the  day  in  which  he  brought  them  out  of 
Egypt  to  the  present  day,  he  has  kept  them  a  distinct, 
unmixed  people  !  Who  can  account  for  this  on  any 
principle  but  that  of  a  continual  especial  providence, 
and  a  constant  Divine  interference  1  The  Jews  have 
ever  been  a  people  fond  of  money  ;  had  they  been  min¬ 
gled  with  the  people  of  the  earth  among  whom  they 
have  been  scattered,  their  secular  interests  would  have 
been  greatly  promoted  by  it ;  and  they  who  have  sa¬ 
crificed  every  thing  besides  to  their  love  of  money,  on 
this  point  have  been  incorruptible  !  They  chose  in 
every  part  of  their  dispersions  rather  to  be  a  poor,  de¬ 
spised,  persecuted  people,  and  continue  separate  from 
all  the  people  of  the  earth,  than  to  enjoy  ease  and  afflu¬ 
ence  by  becoming  mixed  with  the  nations.  For  what 
great  purposes  must  God  be  preserving  this  people! 
for  it  does  not  appear  that  any  moral  principle  binds 
them  together — they  seem  lost  to  this  ;  and  yet  in  op¬ 
position  to  their  interests,  for  which  in  other  respects 
they  would  sacrifice  every  thing,  they  are  still  kept 
distinct  from  all  the  people  of  the  earth :  for  this  an 
especial  providence  alone  can  account. 

Yerse  18.  Show  me  thy  glory ]  Moses  probably  de¬ 
sired  to  see  that  which  constitutes  the  peculiar  glory 
or  excellence  of  the  Divine  nature  as  it  stands  in  re¬ 
ference  to  man.  By  many  this  is  thought  to  signify 
his  eternal  mercy  in  sending  Christ  Jesus  into  the 
world.  Moses  perceived  that  what  God  was  now  do¬ 
ing  had  the  most  important  and  gracious  designs  which 
at  present  he  could  not  distinctly  discover ;  therefore 
he  desires  God  to  show  him  his  glory.  God  graciously 
promises  to  indulge  him  in  this  request  as  far  as  pos¬ 
sible,  b y  proclaiming  his  name,  and  making  all  his  good¬ 
ness  pass  before  him,  ver.  19.  But  at  the  same  time 
he  assures  him  that  he  could  not  see  his  face— the  ful¬ 
ness  of  his  perfections  and  the  grandeur  of  his  designs, 
and  live,  as  no  human  being  could  bear,  in  the  present 
state,  this  full  discovery.  But  he  adds,  Thou  shalt 
see  my  hack  parts,  nntf  fiN  eth  achorai,  probably  mean¬ 
ing  that  appearance  ivhich  he  should  assume  in  ajter 
times ,  when  it  should  be  said,  God  is  manifest  in  the 

470 


m  Gen.  xxxii.  30 ;  Deut.  v.  24 ;  Judg.  vi.  22 ;  xiii.  22  ;  Isa.  vi. 

5;  Rev.  i.  16,  17  ;  see  chap.  xxiv.  10. - nIsa.  ii.  21. - 0  Psa. 

xci.  1,  4. - P  Ver.  20;  John  i.  18. 

flesh.  This  appearance  did  Zake  place,  for  we  find 
God  putting  him  into  a  cleft  of  the  rock,  covering  him 
with  his  hand,  and  passing  by  in  such  a  way  as  to  ex¬ 
hibit  a  human  similitude.  John  may  have  had  this  in 
view  when  he  said,  The  Word  teas  made  flesh,  and 
dwelt  among  us,  full  of  grace  and  truth,  and  we  be- 
held  his  glory.  What  this  glory  was,  and  what  was 
implied  by  this  grace  and  truth,  we  shall  see  in  the 
succeeding  chapter. 

Yerse  19.  I  ivill  make  all  my  good?iess  pass  before 
thee ]  Thou  shalt  not  have  a  sight  of  my  justice,  for 
thou  couldst  not  bear  the  infinite  splendour  of  my  pu¬ 
rity  :  but  I  shall  show  myself  to  thee  as  the  fountain 
of  inexhaustible  compassion,  the  sovereign  Dispenser 
of  my  own  mercy  in  my  own  way,  being  gracious  t© 
whom  1  will  be  gracious,  and  showing  mercy  on  whom 
I  will  show  mercy. 

I  will  proclaim  the  name  of  the  Lord.]  See  the 
note,  chap,  xxxiv.  6. 

Yerse  20.  No  man  see  me,  and  live.]  The  splen¬ 
dour  would  be  insufferable  to  man ;  he  only,  whose 
mortality  is  swallowed  up  of  life,  can  see  God  as  he 
is.  See  1  John  iii.  2.  From  some  disguised  relation 
of  the  circumstances  mentioned  here,  the  fable  of  Ju¬ 
piter  and  Semele  was  formed ;  she  is  reported  to  have 
entreated  Jupiter  to  shoiv  her  his  glory,  who  was  at 
first  very  reluctant,  knowing  that  it  would  be  fatal  to 
her ;  but  at  last,  yielding  to  her  importunity,  he  dis¬ 
covered  his  divine  majesty,  and  she  was  consumed  by 
his  presence.  This  story  is  told  by  Ovid  in  his  Meta¬ 
morphoses,  book  iii.,  fable  iii.,  5. 

Y erse  2 1 .  Behold,  there  is  a  place  by  me]  There 
seems  to  be  a  reference  here  to  a  well-known  place 
on  the  mount  where  God  was  accustomed  to  meet 
with  Moses.  This  was  a  rock  ;  and  it  appears  there 
was  a  cleft  or  cave  in  it,  in  which  Moses  was  to  stand 
while  the  Divine  Majesty  was  pleased  to  show  him  all 
that  human  nature  was  capable  of  bearing  :  but  this 
appears  to  have  referred  more  to  the  counsels  of  his 
mercy  and  goodness,  relative  to  his  purpose  of  redeem¬ 
ing  the  human  race,  than  to  any  visible  appearance  of 
the  Divine  Majesty  itself.  See  on  ver.  18. 

1.  The  conclusion  of  this  chapter  is  very  obscure; 
we  can  scarcely  pretend  to  say,  in  any  precise  man- 

a 


Moses  is  commanded  to  hew 


CHAP.  XXXIV. 


ner,  what  it  means  ;  and  it  is  very  probable  that  the 
whole  concerned  Moses  alone.  He  was  in  great  per¬ 
plexity  and  doubt ;  he  was  afraid  that  God  was  about 
to  abandon  this  people ;  and  he  well  knew  that  if  he 
did  so,  their  destruction  must  be  the  consequence. 
He  had  received  general  directions  to  decamp,  and 
lead  the  people  towards  the  promised  land  ;  but  this 
was  accompanied  with  a  threat  that  Jehovah  would 
not  go  with  them.  The  prospect  that  was  before  him 
was  exceedingly  gloomy  and  discouraging ;  and  it  was 
rendered  t^e  more  so  because  God  predicted  their  per¬ 
severing  stiff-neckedness,  and  gave  this  as  one  reason 
why  he  would  not  go  up  among  them,  for  their  provo¬ 
cations  would  be  so  great  and  so  frequent  that  his  jus¬ 
tice  would  be  so  provoked  as  to  break  through  in  a 
moment  and  consume  them.  Moses,  well  knowing 
that  God  must  have  some  great  and  important  designs 
in  delivering  them  and  bringing  them  thus  far,  earnestly 
entreated  him  to  give  him  some  discovery  of  it,  that 
his  own  mind  might  be  satisfied.  God  mercifully 
condescends  to  meet  his  wishes  in  such  a  way  as 
no  doubt  gave  him  full  satisfaction  ;  but  as  this  refer¬ 
red  to  himself  alone,  the  circumstances  are  not  related, 
as  probably  they  could  be  of  no  farther  use  to  us  than 
the  mere  gratifying  of  a  principle  of  curiosity. 

2.  On  some  occasions  to  be  kept  in  the  dark  is  as 
instructive  as  to  be  brought  into  the  light.  In  many 
cases  those  words  of  the  prophet  are  strictly  applica¬ 
ble.  Verily ,  thou  art  a  God  who  hidest  thvself,  O 


two  new  tables  of  stone 

God  of  Israel ,  the  Saviour !  One  point  we  see  here 
very  plainly,  that  while  the  people  continued  obstinate 
and  rebellious,  that  presence  of  God  by  which  his  ap¬ 
probation  was  signified  could  not  be  manifested  among 
them ;  and  yet,  without  his  presence  to  guide,  protect, 
and  provide  for  them,  they  could  neither  go  up  nor  be 
saved.  This  presence  is  promised,  and  on  the  fulfil¬ 
ment  of  the  promise  the  safety  of  Israel  depended. 
The  Church  of  God  is  often  now  in  such  a  state  that 
the  approbation  of  God  cannot  be  manifested  in  it ; 
and  yet  if  his  presence  were  wholly  withdrawn,  truth 
would  fall  in  the  streets,  equity"  go  backward,  and  the 
Church  must  become  extinct.  How  have  the  seeds 
of  light  and  life  been  preserved  during  the  long,  dark, 
and  cold  periods  when  error  was  triumphant,  and  the 
pure  worship  of  God  adulterated  by  the  impurities  of 
idolatry  and  the  thick  darkness  of  superstition,  by  the 
presence  of  his  endless  mercy,  preserving  his  own 
truth  in  circumstances  in  which  he  could  not  show  his 
approbation  !  He  was  with  the  Church  in  the  wilder¬ 
ness,  and  preserved  the  living  oracles,  kept  alive  the 
heavenly  seeds,  and  is  now  showing  forth  the  glory  of 
those  designs  which  before  he  concealed  from  man¬ 
kind.  He  cannot  err  because  he  is  infinitely  wise ; 
he  can  do  nothing  that  is  unkind,  because  he  delight- 
eth  in  mercy.  We,  as  yet,  see  only  through  a  glass 
darkly  ;  by  and  by  we  shall  see  face  to  face.  The 
Lord’s  presence  is  with  his  people  ;  and  those  who 
trust  in  him  have  confident  rest  in  his  mercy. 


CHAPTER  XXXIV. 


Moses  is  commanded  to  hew  two  tables  similar  to  the  first,  and  bring  them  up  to  the  mount,  to  get  the  covenant 
renewed ,  1—3.  He  prepares  the  tables  and  goes  up  to  meet  the  Lord,  4.  The  Lord  descends,  and  proclaims 
his  name  JEHOVAH,  5.  What  this  name  signifies,  6,  7.  Moses  worships  and  intercedes ,  8,  9.  The 
Lord  promises  to  reneio  the  covenant,  work  miracles  among  the  people,  and  drive  out  the  Canaanites,  <^c., 
10,  11.  No  covenant  to  be  made  with  the  idolatrous  nations,  but  their  altars  and  images  to  be  destroyed, 
12—15.  No  matrimonial  alliances  to  be  contracted  with  them,  16.  The  Israelites  must  have  no  molten 
gods,  17.  The  commandment  of  the  feast  of  unleavened  bread ,  and  of  the  sanctification  of  the  first-born, 
renewed ,  18-20  ;  as  also  that  of  the  Sabbath,  and  the  three  great  annual  feasts,  21-23.  The  promise  that 
the  surrounding  nations  shall  not  invade  their  territories,  while  all  the  males  were  at  Jerusalem  celebrating 
the  annual  feasts,  24.  Directions  concerning  the  passover,  25  ;  and  the  first-fruits,  26.  Moses  is  com¬ 
manded  to  write  all  these  words,  as  containing  the  covenant  which  God  had  now  renewed  with  the  Israelites, 
27.  Moses,  being  forty  days  with  God  without  eating  or  drinking,  writes  tile  words  of  the  covenant ;  and 
the  Lord  writes  the  ten  commandments  upon  the  tables  of  stone ,  28.  Moses  descends  ivith  the  tables  ;  his 
face  shines,  29.  Aaron  and  the  people  are  afraid  to  approach  him,  because  of  his  glorious  appearance ,  30. 
Moses  delivers  to  them  the  covenant  and  commandments  of  the  Lord;  and  puts  a  veil  over  his  face  while 
he  is  speaking,  31-33,  but  takes  it  off  when  he  goes  to  minister  before  the  Lord ,  34,  35. 


A.  M.  2513. 

B.  C. 1491. 
An.  Exod.  Isr.  1. 

Ab. 


the  Lord  said  unto  Mo¬ 
ses,  a  Hew  thee  two  tables 
of  stone  like  unto  the  first :  b  and 


I  will  write  upon  these  tables  A.  M.  2513. 

,  .  .  1  ,  B.  C. 1491. 

the  words  that  were  m  the  nrst  An.  Exod.  isr.  l. 

tables,  which  thou  brakest.  Ab' 


aChap.  xxxii.  16,  19  ;  Deut.  x.  1. 

NOTES  ON  CHAP.  XXXIV. 

Verse  1.  Hew  thee  two  tables  of  stone  like  unto  the 
first ]  In  chap,  xxxii.  16  we  are  told  that  the  two 
first  tables  were  the  work  of  God,  and  the  writing  was 
the  writing  of  God  ;  but  here  Moses  is  commanded  to 
provide  tables  of  his  own  workmanship,  and  God  pro¬ 
mises  to  write  on  them  the  words  which  were  on  the 


b  Yer.  28  ;  Deut.  x.  2,  4. 

first.  That  God  wrote  the  first  tables  himself,  see 
proved  by  different  passages  of  Scripture  at  the  end 
of  chap,  xxxii.  But  here,  in  ver.  27,  it  seems  as  if 
Moses  was  commanded  to  write  these  words,  and  ir 
ver.  28  it  is  said,  And  he  wrote  upon  the  tables;  but 
in  Deut.  x.  1—4  it  is  expressly  said  that  God  wrote 
the  second  tables  as  well  as  the  first. 

471 


Moses  takes  the  tables  to  Sinai. 


EXODUS. 


A.  M.  2513.  2  And  be  ready  in  the  morn- 

13.  C.  1491.  .  ,  " .  . 

An.  Exod.lsr.  ].  mg,  and  come  up  in  the  morning 

Ab‘  _  unto  Mount  Sinai,  and  present 

thyself  there  to  me  c  in  the  top  of  the  mount. 

3  And  no  man  shall  d  come  up  with  thee, 
neither  let  any  man  be  seen  throughout  all  the 
mount ;  neither  let  the  flocks  nor  herds  feed 
before  that  mount. 

4  And  he  hewed  two  tables  of  stone  like 

c  Chap.  xix.  20  ;  xxiv.  12. - d  Chap.  xix.  12,  13,  21. 

In  order  to  reconcile  these  accounts  let  us  suppose 
that  the  ten  words,  or  ten  commandments,  were  writ¬ 
ten  on  both  tables  by  the  hand  of  God  himself,  and 
that  what  Moses  wrote,  ver.  27,  was  a  copy  of  these 
to  be  delivered  to  the  people,  while  the  tables  them¬ 
selves  were  laid  up  in  the  ark  before  the  testimony, 
whither  the  people  could  not  go  to  consult  them,  and 
therefore  a  copy  was  necessary  for  the  use  of  the  con¬ 
gregation;  this  copy,  being  taken  off  under  the  direc¬ 
tion  of  God,  was  authenticated  equally  with  the  origi¬ 
nal,  and  the  original  itself  was  laid  up  as  a  record  to 
which  all  succeeding  copies  might  be  continually  re¬ 
ferred,  in  order  to  prevent  corruption.  This  supposi¬ 
tion  removes  the  apparent  contradiction;  and  thus 
both  God  and  Moses  may  be  said  to  have  written  the 
covenant  and  the  ten  commandments  :  the  former,  the 
original ;  the  latter,  the  copy.  This  supposition  is 
rendered  still  more  probable  by  the  27th  verse  itself: 
“  And  the  Lord  said  unto  Moses,  Write  thou  these 
words  (that  is,  as  I  understand  it,  a  copy  of  the  words 
which.  God  had  already  written ;)  for  after  the  tenor 
(’3  Sy  al  pi,  according  to  the  mquth)  of  these  words 
J  have  made  a  covenant  with  thee  and  with  Israel.'1'1 
Here  the  original  writing  is  represented  by  an  elegant 
prosopopoeia,  or  personification,  as  speaking  and  giving 
out  from  its  own  mouth  a  copy  of  itself.  It  may  be 
supposed  that  this  mode  of  interpretation  is  contra¬ 
dicted  by  the  28th  verse :  And  he  wrote  upon  the  tables 
the  words  of  the  covenant ;  but  that  the  pronoun  he 
refers  to  the  Lord,  and  not  to  Moses,  is  sufficiently 
proved  by  the  parallel  plJce,  Deut.  x.  1—4  :  At  that 
time  the  Lord  said  unto  me,  Hew  thee  two  tables  of 
stone  like  unto  the  first — and  I  will  write  on  the  tables 
the  words  that  were  in  the  first  tables — and  I  hewed 
tivo  tables  of  stone  as  at  the  first — And  HE  ivrote  on 
the  tables  according  to  the  fi*'st  writing.  This  deter¬ 
mines  the  business,  and  proves  that  God  wrote  the 
second  as  well  as  the  first  tables,  and  that  the  pronoun 
in  the  28th  verse  of  this  chapter  refers  to  the  Lord, 
and  not  to  Moses.  By  this  mode  of  interpretation  all 
contradiction  is  removed.  Houbigant  imagines  that 
the  difficulty  may  be  removed  by  supposing  that  God 
wrote  the  ten  commandments,  and  that  Moses  wrote 
the  other  parts  of  the  covenant  from  ver.  1 1  to  ver. 
26,  and  thus  it  might  be  said  that  both  God  and 
Moses  wrote  on  the  same  tables.  This  is  not  an 
improbable  case,  and  is  left  to  the  reader’s  considera¬ 
tion.  See  on  ver.  27. 

There  still  remains  a  controversy  whether  what  are 
called  the  ten  commandments  were  at  all  written  on 
the  first  tables,  those  tables  containing,  according  to 

472 


Jehovah  proclaims  his  name 

unto  the  first ;  and  Moses  rose  A.  M.  2513. 

’  .  B.  C.  1491. 

up  early  in  the  morning,  and  An.  Exod.  .sr!  1. 

went  up  unto  Mount  Sinai,  as  the  Ab~ 

Lord  had  commanded  him,  and  took  in  his 

hand  the  two  tables  of  stone. 

5  And  the  Lord  descended  in  the  cloud, 
and  stood  with  him  there,  and  e  proclaimed] 
the  name  of  the  Lord. 

6  And  the  Lord  passed  by  before^im,  and 

e  Chap,  xxxiii.  19  ;  Num.  xiv.  17. 

some,  only  the  terms  of  the  covenant  without  the  ten 
ivords,  which  are  supposed  to  be  added  here  for  the 
first  time.  “The  following  is  a  general  view  of  this 
subject.  In  chap.  xx.  the  ten  commandments  are 
given ;  and  at  the  same  time  various  political  and 
ecclesiastical  statutes ,  which  are  detailed  in  chapters 
xxi.,  xxii.,  and  xxiii.  To  receive  these,  Moses  had 
drawn  near  unto  the  thick  darkness  where  God  was , 
chap.  xx.  21,  and  having  received  them  he  came  again 
with  them  to  the  people,  according  to  their  request 
before  expressed,  ver.  19  :  Speak  thou  ivith  us — but 
let  not  the  Lord  speak  with  us,  lest  we  die,  for  they 
had  been  terrified  by  the  manner  in  which  God  had 
uttered  the  ten  commandments  ;  see  ver.  18.  After 
this  Moses,  with  Aaron,  Nadab,  and  Abihu,  and  the 
seventy  elders,  went  up  to  the  mountain  ;  and  on  his 
return  he  announced  all  these  laws  unto  the  people, 
chap.  xxiv.  1,  &c.,  and  they  promised  obedience. 
Still  there  is  no  word  of  the  tables  of  stone.  Then  he 
wrote  all  in  a  book,  chap.  xxiv.  4,  which  was  called 
the  book  of  the  covenant,  ver.  7.  After  this  there 
was  a  second  going  up  of  Moses,  Aaron,  Nadah, 
Abihu,  and  the  seventy  elders,  chap.  xxiv.  9,  when 
that  glorious  discovery  of  God  mentioned  in  verses  10 
and  11  of  the  same  chapter  took  place.  After  their 
coming  down  Moses  is  again  commanded  to  go  up; 
and  God  promises  to  give  him  tables  of  stone,  con¬ 
taining  a  law  and  precepts,  ver.  12.  This  is  the  first 
place  these  tables  of  stone  are  mentioned  ;  and  thus  it 
appears  that  the  ten  commandments ,  and  several  other 
precepts,  were  given  to  and  accepted  by  the  people, 
and  the  covenant  sacrifice  offered,  chap.  xxiv.  5,  be¬ 
fore  the  tables  of  stone  were  either  written  or  men¬ 
tioned.”  It  is  very  likely  that  the  commandments, 
laws,  &c.,  were  first  published  by  the  Lord  in  the 
hearing  of  the  people;  repeated  afterwards  by  Moses; 
and  the  ten  ivords  or  commandments,  containing  the 
sum  and  substance  of  the  whole,  afterwards  written  on 
the  first  tables  of  stone,  to  be  kept  for  a  record  in  the 
ark.  These  being  broken,  as  is  related  chap,  xxxii. 
19,  Moses  is  commanded  to  hew  out  two  tables  like 
to  the  first,  and  bring  them  up  to  the  mountain,  that 
God  might  write  upon  them  what  he  had  written  on 
the  former,  chap,  xxxiv.  1.  And  that  this  was  ac¬ 
cordingly  done,  see  the  preceding  part  of  this  note. 

Verse  6.  And  the  Lord  passed  by— and  proclaimed, 
The  Lord ,  <fc.]  It  would  be  much  better  to  read  this 
verse  thus :  “  And  the  Loud  passed  by  before  him, 
and  proclaimed  Jehovah,”  that  is,  showed  Moses  fully 
what  was  implied  in  this  august  name.  Moses  had 
requested  God  to  show  him  his  glory,  (see  the  preced- 

a 


Jehovah  interprets  his  name.  CHAP. 

a.  M.  2513.  proclaimed,  The  Lord,  The  Lord 
An.  Exod.  is/,  l.  f  God,  merciful  and  gracious, 
Ab~  long-suffering,  and  abundant  in 
s  goodness  and  h  truth, 

7  1  Keeping  mercy  for  thousands,  k  forgiving 
iniquity  and  transgression  and  sin,  and  1  that 
will  by  no  means  clear  the  guilty  ;  visiting 
the  iniquity  of  the  fathers  upon  the  children, 
and  upon  the  children’s  children,  unto  the 

fNum.  xiv.  18  ;  2  Chron.  xxx.  9  ;  Neh.  ix.  17  ;  Psa.  lxxxvi. 
15;  ciii.  8 ;  cxi.  4;  cxii.  4;  cxvi.  5;  cxlv.  8;  Joel  ii.  13. 

e  Psalm  xxxi.  19  ;  Romans  ii.  4. - h  Psalm  lvii.  10  ;  cviii.  4. 

*  Chapter  xx.  6  ;  Deut.  v.  10  ;  Psalm  lxxxvi.  15  ;  Jer.  xxxii.  18  ; 

ing  chapter,  18th  verse,)  and  God  promised  to  pro¬ 
claim  or  fully  declare  the  name  Jehovah,  (verse  19  ;) 
by  which  proclamation  or  interpretation  Moses  should 
see  how  God  would  “  be  gracious  to  whom  he  would 
be  gracious,”  and  how  he  would  “  be  merciful  to  those 
to  whom  he  would  show  mercy.”  Here  therefore  God 
fulfils  that  promise  by  proclaiming  this  name.  It  has 
long  been  a  question,  what  is  the  meaning  of  the  word 
mrr  Jehovah,  Yehovah ,  Yehue,  Yehveh,  or  Yeve,Jeue, 
Jao,  Iao ,  Jhueh,  and  Jove ;  for  it  has  been  as  variously 
pronounced  as  it  has  been  differently  interpreted. 
Some  have  maintained  that  it  is  utterly  inexplicable  ; 
these  of  course  have  offered  no  mode  of  interpretation. 
Others  say  that  it  implies  the  essence  of  the  Divind 
nature.  Others,  that  it  expresses  the  doctrine  of  the 
Trinity  connected  with  the  incarnation  ;  the  letter 
1  yod  standing  for  the  Father,  n  he  for  the  Son,  and 
1  vau  (the  connecting  particle)  for  the  Holy  Spirit : 
and  they  add  that  the  n  he  being  repeated  in  the  word, 
signifies  the  human  nature  united  to  the  Divine  in  the 
incarnation.  These  speculations  are  calculated  to  give 
very  little  satisfaction.  How  strange  is  it  that  none 
of  these  learned  men  have  discovered  that  God  him¬ 
self  interprets  this  name  in  verses  6  and  7  of  this 
chapter  !  “  And  the  Lord  passed  by  before  him ,  and 

proclaimed  mm  Yehovah  the  Lord  God,  merciful 
and  gracious ,  long-suffering ,  and  abundant  in  goodness 
and  truth ,  keeping  mercy  for  thousands ,  forgiving 
iniquity  and  transgression  and  sin ,  and  that  will  by 
no  means  clear  the  guilty .”  These  words  contain  the 
proper  interpretation  of  the  venerable  and  glorious 
name  JEHOVAH.  But  it  will  be  necessary  to  con¬ 
sider  them  in  detail. 

The  different  names  in  this  and  the  following  verse 
have  been  considered  as  so  many  attributes  of  the 
Divine  nature.  Commentators  divide  them  into  eleven , 
thus: — 1.  mrr  Jehovah.  2.  b.S*  El,  the  strong  or 
mighty  God.  3.  Dirn  Rachum,  the  merciful  Being , 
who  is  full  of  tenderness  and  compassion.  4.  pan 
Channun,  the  gracious  One;  he  whose  nature  is  good¬ 
ness  itself;  the  loving  God.  5.  D'DX  "pX  Erech  ap- 
payim,  long-suffering ;  the  Being  who,  because  of  his 
goodness  and  tenderness,  is  not  easily  irritated,  but 
suffers  long  and  is  kind.  6.  37  Rab,  the  great  or 
mighty  One.  7.  “iDfl  Chesed,  the  bountiful  Being;  he 
who  is  exuberant  in  his  beneficence.  8.  r\3X  Emeth, 
the  truth  or  true  One  ;  he  alone  who  can  neither  de¬ 
ceive  nor  be  deceived ,  who  is  the  fountain  of  truth ,  and 

a 


XXXIV.  Moses  worships  and  intercedes. 
third  and  to  the  fourth  gene-  A.  M.  2513. 

0  B.  C.  1491. 

ration.  An.  Exod.  Isr.  1 

8  And  Moses  made  haste,  and  Ab~ 

m  bowed  his  head  toward  the  earth,  and  wor¬ 
shipped. 

9  And  he  said,  If  now  I  have  found  grace 
in  thy  sight,  O  Lori,  s  let  my  Lord,  I  pray 
thee,  go  among  us ;  for  0  it  is  a  stiff-necked 
people  ;  and  pardon  our  iniquity  and  our 

Dan.  ix.  4. - k  Psa.  ciii.  3  ;  cxxx.  4  ;  Dan.  ix.  9 ;  Eph.  iv.  32  ; 

1  John  i.  9. - 1  Chap,  xxiii.  7,  21  ;  Josh.  xxiv.  19 ;  Job  x.  14; 

Mic.  vi.  11 ;  Neh.  i.  3. - mChap. iv.  31. - “Chap,  xxxiii.  15, 

16. - 0  Chap,  xxxiii.  3. 

from  whom  all  wisdom  and  knowledge  must  be  derived. 
9.  7Dn  Notser  Chesed,  the  preserver  of  bounti¬ 
fulness  ;  he  whose  beneficence  never  ends,  keeping 
mercy  for  thousands  of  generations,  showing  compas¬ 
sion  and  mercy  while  the  world  endures.  10.  py  xt50 
nxsm  Nose  avon  vaphesha  vechattaah,  he  who 

bears  aiuay  iniquity  and  transgression  and  sin  :  pro¬ 
perly,  the  Redeemer,  the  Pardoner ,  the  Forgiver ;  the 
Being  whose  prerogative  alone  it  is  to  forgive  sin  and 
save  the  soul.  HpV  (lb)  xb  Nakkeh  lo  yenakleh } 
the  righteous  Judge ,  who  distributes  justice  with  an 
impartial  hand,  with  whom  no  innocent  person  can 
ever  be  condemned.  And,  11.  pjt  7p3  Poked  avon3 
&c.  ;  he  who  visits  iniquity,  who  punishes  transgres¬ 
sors,  and  from  whose  justice  no  sinner  can  escape. 
The  God  of  retributive  and  vindictive  justice. 

These  eleven  attributes,  as  they  have  been  termed, 
are  all  included  in  the  name  JEHOVAH,  and  are,  as 
we  have  before  seen,  the  proper  interpretation  of  it ; 
but  the  meaning  of  several  of  these  words  has  been 
variously  understood. 

Verse  7.  That  ivill  by  no  means  clear  the  guilty] 
This  last  clause  is  rather  difficult ;  literally  translated 
it  signifies,  in  clearing  he  will  not  clear.'  But  the  Sa¬ 
maritan,  reading  lb  lo ,  to  him ,  instead  of  the  negative 
xb  lo ,  not, ,  renders  the  clause  thus  :  With  whom  the 
innocent  shall  be  innocent;  i.  e.,  an  innocent  or  holy 
person  shall  never  be  treated  as  if  he  were  a  trans¬ 
gressor,  by  this  just  and  holy  God.  The  Arabic  ver¬ 
sion  has  it,  He  justifies  and  is  not  justified;  and  the 
Septuagint  is  nearly  as  our  English  text,  sat  ov  sada- 
piei  tov  evoxov,  and  he  doth  not  purify  the  guilty.  The 
Alexandrian  copy  of  the  Septuagint,  edited  by  Dr. 
Grabe,  has  aat  tov  evoxov  Kadapur/up  ov  naOapieL ,  and 
the  guilty  he  will  not  cleanse  with  a  purification-offer¬ 
ing.  The  Coptic  is  to  the  same  purpose.  The  Vul¬ 
gate  is  a  paraphrase  :  nuUusque  apud  te  per  se  innocens 
est,  “  and  no  person  is  innocent  by  or  of  himself  before 
thee.”  This  gives  a  sound  theologic  sense,  stating 
a  great  truth,  That  no  man  can  make  an  atonement 
for  his  own  sins ,  or  purify  his  own  heart ;  ard 
that  all  have  sinned  and  come  short  of  the  glory 
of  God. 

Verse  9.  O  Lord ,  let  my  Lord ,  I  pray  thee ,  go 
among  us~\  The  original  is  not  mm  Jehovah ,  but  'JIX 
Adonai  in  both  these  places,  and  seems  to  refer  parti¬ 
cularly  to  the  Angel  of  the  Covenant,  the  Messiah. 
See  the  note  on  Gen.  xv.  8. 

473 


Precepts  against  idolatry.  EXODUS.  Other  precepts  to  be  observed , 


A.  M.  2513.  sm,  and  take  us  for  p  thine 

B.  C.  1491.  .  ,  '  . 

An.  Exod.  Isr.  l.  inheritance. 

Ab~  1 0  And  he  said,  Behold,  q  I 

make  a  covenant :  before  all  thy  people  I  will 
r  do  marvels,  such  as  have  not  been  done  in 
all  the  earth,  nor  in  any  nation  :  and  all  the 
people  among  which  thou  art  shall  see  the 
work  of  the  Lord  ;  for  it  is  s  a  terrible  thing 
that  I  will  do  with  thee. 

1 1  *  Observe  thou  that  which  I  command 
thee  this  day  ;  behold,  u  I  drive  out  before 
thee  the  Amorite,  and  the  Canaanite,  and  the 
Hittite,  and  the  Perizzite,  and  the  Hivite,  and 
the  Jebusite. 

1 2  T  Take  heed  to  thyself,  lest  thou  make 
a  covenant  with  the  inhabitants  of  the  land 
whither  thou  goest,  lest  it  be  for  w  a  snare  in 
the  midst  of  thee  : 

13  But  ye  shall  x  destroy  their  altars,  break 
their  y  images,  and  z  cut  down  their  groves  : 

14  For  thou  shalt  worship  a  no  other  god: 
for  the  Lord,  whose  b  name  is  Jealous,  is  a 
c  jealous  God: 

15  d  Lest  thou  make  a  covenant  with  the 
inhabitants  of  the  land,  and  they  e  go  a  whoring 
after  their  gods,  and  do  sacrifice  unto  their 
gods,  and  one  f  call  thee,  and  thou  s  eat  of  his 
sacrifice  ; 

1 6  And  thou  take  of  h  their  daughters  unto 

PDeut.  xxxii.  9;  Psa.  xxviii.  9;  xxxiii.  12;  lxxviii.  62;  xciv. 

14;  Jer.  x.  16;  Zech.  ii.  12. - 4  Deut.  v.  2;  xxix.  12,  14. 

rDeut.  iv.  32;  2  Sam.  vii.  23;  Psa.  lxxvii.  14;  lxxviii.  12; 

cxlvii.  20. - s  Deut.  x.  21  ;  Psa.  cxlv.  6  ;  Isa.  lxiv.  3. - 1  Deut. 

v.  32;  vi.  3,  25;  xii.  28,  32;  xxviii.  f. - u  Chap,  xxxiii.  2. 

v  Chap,  xxiii.  32  ;  Deut.  vii.  2  ;  Judg.  ii.  2. - w  Chap,  xxiii.  33. 

x  Chap,  xxiii.  24;  Deut.  xii.  3;  Judg.  ii.  2. - V  Heb.  statues. 

z  Deut.  vii.  5;  xii.  2;  Judg.  vi.  25;  2  Kings  xviii.  4;  xxiii.  14; 

2  Chron.  xxxi.  1  ;  xxxiv.  3,  4. - a  Chap.  xx.  3,  5. - b  So  Isa. 

ix.  6;  lvii.  15. - c  Chap.  xx.  5. - dVer.  12. - e  Deut.  xxxi. 

16;  Judg.  ii.  17;  Jer.  iii.  9;  Ezek.  vi.  9. - fNum.  xxv.  2; 

1  Cor.  x.  27. - s  Psa.  cvi.  28  ;  1  Cor.  viii.  4,  7,  10. 

Verse  10.  I  will  do  marvels ]  This  seems  to  refer 
to  what  God  did  in  putting  them  in  possession  of  the 
land  of  Canaan,  causing  the  walls  of  Jericho  to  fall 
down ;  making  the  sun  and  moon  to  stand  still,  &c. 
And  thus  God  made  his  covenant  with  them ;  binding 
himself  to  put  them  in  possession  of  the  promised  land, 
and  binding  them  to  observe  the  precepts  laid  down 
in  the  following  verses,  from  the  11th  to  the  26th 
inclusive. 

Verse  13.  Ye  shall  destroy  their — images ]  See  the 
subjects  of  this  and  all  the  following  verses,  to  the 
28th,  treated  at  large  in  the  notes  on  chap,  xxiii. 

Verse  21.  In  earing  time  and  in  harvest  thou  shalt 
rest.  \  This  commandment  is  worthy  of  especial  note  ; 
many  break  the  Sabbath  on  the  pretence  of  absolute 
necessity,  because,  if  in  harvest  time  the  weather  hap¬ 
pens  to  be  what  is  called  bad ,  and  the  Sabbath  day  be 
fair  and  fine ,  they  judge  it  perfectly  lawful  to  employ 

474 


thy  sons,  and  their  daughters  1  go  A.  M.  2513. 
a  whoring  after  their  gods,  and* An. Exod. isr.  1 

make  thy  sons  go  a  whoring  after  Ab‘  _ _ 

their  gods. 

17  kThou  shalt  make  thee  no  molten  gods. 

1 8  The  feast  of  1  unleavened  bread  shalt 
thou  keep.  Seven  days  thou  shalt  eat  un¬ 
leavened  bread,  as  I  commanded  thee,  in  the 
time  of  the  month  Abib  :  for  in  the  m  month 
Abib  thou  earnest  out  from  Egypt. 

19  n  All  that  openeth  the  matrix  is  mine; 
and  every  firstling  among  thy  cattle,  whether 
ox  or  sheep,  that  is  male. 

20  But  0  the  firstling  of  an  ass  thou  shalt 
redeem  with  a  p  lamb  :  and  if  thou  redeem 
him  not,  then  shalt  thou  break  his  neck.  All 
the  first-born  of  thy  sons  thou  shalt  redeem. 
And  none  shall  appear  before  me  q  empty. 

21  r  Six  days  thou  shalt  work,  but  on  the 
seventh  day  thou  shalt  rest :  in  earing  time 
and  in  harvest  thou  shalt  rest. 

22  s  And  thou  shalt  observe  the  feast  of 
weeks,  of  the  first-fruits  of  wheat  harvest,  and 
the  feast  of  ingathering  at  the  4  year’s  end. 

23  u  Thrice  in  the  year  shall  all  your  men- 
children  appear  before  the  Lord  God,  the 
God  of  Israel. 

24  For  I  will  T  cast  out  the  nations  before 
thee,  and  w  enlarge  thy  borders  :  x  neither  shall 

h  Deut.  vii.  3 ;  1  Kings  xi.  2  ;  Ezra  ix.  2  ;  Neh.  xiii.  25. 

1  Num.  xxv.  1,2;  1  Kings  xi.  4. - k  Chap,  xxxii.  8  ;  Lev.  xix. 

4. - 'Chap.  xii.  15;  xxiii.  15. - m  Chap.  xiii.  4. - “Chap. 

xiii.  2,  12;  xxii.  29;  Ezek.  xliv.  30;  Luke  ii.  23. - 0  Chap. 

xiii.  13;  Num.  xviii.  15. - P  Or,  kid. - 4  Chap,  xxiii.  15, 

Deut.  xvi.  16  ;  1  Sam.  ix.  7,  8 ;  2  Sam.  xxiv.  24. - r  Chap.  xx. 

9;  xxiii.  12;  xxxv.  2;  Deut.  v.  12,  13;  Luke  xiii.  14. - s  Ch. 

xxiii.  16;  Deut.  xvi.  10,  13. - f  Heb.  revolution  of  the  year. 

u  Chap,  xxiii.  14,  17  ;  Deut.  xvi.  16. - v  Chap,  xxxiii.  2  ;  Lev. 

xviii.  24 ;  Deut.  vii.  1  ;  Psa.  lxxviii.  55  ;  lxxx.  8. - 'v  Deut.  xii. 

20  ;  xix.  8. - x  See  Gen.  xxxv.  5 ;  2  Chron.  xvii.  10 ;  Prov. 

xvi.  7  ;  Acts  xviii.  10. 

that  day  in  endeavouring  to  save  the  fruits  of  the  field, 
and  think  that  the  goodness  of  the  day  beyond  the 
preceding,  is  an  indication  from  Providence  that  it 
should  be  thus  employed.  But  is  not  the  above  com¬ 
mand  pointed  directly  against  this  1  I  have  known 
this  law  often  broken  on  this  pretence,  and  have  never 
been  able  to  discover  a  single  instance  where  the  per¬ 
sons  who  acted  thus  succeeded  one  whit  better  than 
their  more  conscientious  neighbours,  who  availed  them¬ 
selves  of  no  such  favourable  circumstances,  being 
determined  to  keep  God’s  law,  even  to  the  prejudice 
of  their  secular  interests ;  but  no  man  ever  yet  ulti¬ 
mately  suffered  loss  by  a  conscientious  attachment  to 
his  duty  to  God.  He  who  is  willing  and  obedient, 
shall  eat  the  good  of  the  land  ;  but  God  will  ever  dis¬ 
tinguish  those  in  his  providence  who  respect  his  com¬ 
mandments. 

Yerse  24.  Neither  shall  any  man  desire  thy  land] 

a 


After  forty  days  and  nights 


CHAP.  XXXIV.  Moses  descends  from  the  mount 


A.  M.  2513.  anv  man  desire  tliy  land,  when 

B  C  1491  J  J 

An.  Exod.  isr.  l.  thou  shalt  go  up  to  appear  before 

Ah~  the  Lord  thy  God  thrice  in 
the  year. 

25  y  Thou  shalt  not  offer  the  blood  of  my 
sacrifice  with  leaven  ;  z  neither  shall  the  sacri¬ 
fice  of  the  feast  of  the  passover  be  left  unto 
the  morning. 

26  a  The  feast  of  the  first-fruits  of  thy  land 
thou  shalt  bring  unto  the  house  of  the  Lord 
thy  God.  b  Thou  shalt  not  seethe  a  kid  in 
his  mother’s  milk. 

27  And  the  Lord  said  unto  Moses,  Write 
thou  c  these  words  :  for  after  the  tenor  of 
these  words  I  have  made  a  covenant  with  thee 
and  with  Israel. 

28  d  And  he  was  there  with  the  Lord  forty 
days  and  forty  nights ;  he  did  neither  eat 
bread,  nor  drink  water.  And  e  he  wrote  upon 

y  Chapter  xxiii.  18. - z  Chap.  xii.  10. - a  Chap,  xxiii.  19  ; 

Deut.  xxvi.  2,  10. - b  Chap,  xxiii.  19 ;  Deut.  xiv.  21. - c  Ver. 

10  ;  Deut.  iv.  13 ;  xxxi.  9. 


the  tables  the  words  o.f  the 
covenant,  the  ten  f  command¬ 
ments. 

29  And  it  came  to  pass,  when 
Moses  came  dawn  from  Mount 

Sinai  with  the  s  two  tables  of  tes- _ 

timony  in  Moses’  hand,  when  he  came  down 
from  the  mount,  that  Moses  wist  not  that 11  the 
skin  of  his  face  shone  while  he  talked  with 
him. 


A.  M.  2513. 

B.  C.  1491. 
An.  Exod.  Isr.  1. 

Ab. 

A.  M.  2513. 

B.  C.  1491. 
An.  Exod.  Isr.  1. 

Elul. 


30  And  when  Aaron  and  all  the  children  of 
Israel  saw  Moses,  behold,  the  skin  of  his  face 
shone  ;  and  they  were  afraid  to  come  nigh 
him. 

3 1  And  Moses  called  unto  them  ;  and  Aaron 
and  all  the  rulers  of  the  congregation  return¬ 
ed  unto  him  :  and  Moses  talked  with  them. 

32  And  afterward  all  the  children  of  Israel 
came  nigh :  1  and  he  gave  them  in  command- 


d  Chap.  xxiv.  18  ;  Deut.  ix.  9,  18. - e  Ver.  1  ;  chap.  xxxi.  18 ; 

xxxii.  16  ;  Deut.  iv.  13  ;  x.  2, 4. - f  Heb.  words. - Ch.  xxxii. 

15. - hMatt.  xvii.  2;  2  Cor.  iii.  7,  13. - 1  Chap.  xxiv.  3. 


What  a  manifest  proof  was  this  of  the  power  and  par¬ 
ticular  providence  of  God  !  How  easy  would  it  have 
been  for  the  surrounding  nations  to  have  taken  pos¬ 
session  of  the  whole  Israelitish  land,  with  all  their 
fenced  cities,  when  there  were  none  left  to  protect  them 
but  women  and  children  !  Was  not  this  a  standing 
proof  of  the  Divine  origin  of  their  religion,  and  a  bar¬ 
rier  which  no  deistical  mind  could  possibly  surmount  1 
Thrice  every  year  did  God  work  an  especial  miracle 
for  the  protection  of  his  people ;  controlling  even  the 
very  desires  of  their  enemies,  that  they  might  not  so 
much  as  meditate  evil  against  them.  They  who  have 
God  for  their  protector  have  a  sure  refuge  ;  and  how 
true  is  the  proverb,  The  path  of  duty  is  the  way  of 
safety  !  While  these  people  went  up  to  Jerusalem  to 
keep  the  Lord’s  ordinances,  he  kept  their  families  in 
peace,  and  their  land  in  safety. 

Verse  25.  The  blood  of  my  sacrifice ]  That  is,  the 
paschal  lamb.  See  on  chap,  xxiii.  18. 

Verse  26.  Thou  shalt  not  seethe  a  kid  in  his  mother's 
milk .]  See  this  amply  considered  chap,  xxiii.  19. 

Verse  27.  Write  thou  these  words ]  Either  a  tran¬ 
script  of  the  whole  law  now  delivered,  or  the  words 
included  from  verse  11  to  26.  God  certainly  wrote 
the  ten  ivords  on  both  sets  of  tables.  Moses  either 
wrote  a  transcript  of  these  and  the  accompanying  pre¬ 
cepts  for  the  use  of  the  people,  or  he  wrote  the  precepts 
themselves  in  addition  to  the  ten  commandments  which 
were  written  by  the  finger  of  God.  See  on  ver.  1. 
Allowing  this  mode  of  interpretation,  the  accompany¬ 
ing  precepts  were,  probably,  what  was  written  on  the 
back  side  of  the  tables  by  Moses ;  the  ten  command¬ 
ments. ,  what  were  written  on  the  front  by  the  finger 
of  Jehovah:  for  we  must  pay  but  little  attention  to 
the  supposition  of  the  rabbins,  that  the  letters  on  each 
table  were  cut  through  the  stone,  so  as  to  be  legible 
on  each  side.  See  chap,  xxxii.  15. 

a 


Verse  28.  Forty  days  and  forty  nights]  See  the 
note  on  chap.  xxiv.  18. 

Verse  29.  The  skin  of  his  face  shone]  ,PP  karan , 
was  horned :  having  been  long  in  familiar  intercourse 
with  his  Maker,  his  flesh,  as  well  as  his  soul,  was 
penetrated  with  the  effulgence  of  the  Divine  glory, 
and  his  looks  expressed  the  light  and  life  which  dwelt 
within.  Probably  Moses  appeared  now  as  he  did  when, 
in  our  Lord’s  transfiguration,  he  was  seen  with  Elijah 
on  the  mount,  Matt.  xvii.  As  the  original  word  pp 
karan  signifies  to  shine  out ,  to  dart  forth,  as  horns  on 
the  head  of  an  animal,  or  rays  of  light  reflected  from 
a  polished  surface,  we  may  suppose  that  the  heavenly 
glory  which  filled  the  soul  of  this  holy  man  darted  out 
from  his  face  in  coruscations,  in  that  manner  in  which 
light  is  generally  represented.  The  Vulgate  renders 
the  passage,  et  ignorabat  quod  cornuta  esset  facies 
sua ,  “  and  he  did  not  know  that  his  face  was  horned 
which  version,  misunderstood,  has  induced  painters  in 
general  to  represent  Moses  with  two  very  large  horns , 
one  proceeding  from  each  temple  !  But  we  might 
naturally  ask,  while  they  were  indulging  themselves 
in  such  fancies,  why  only  two  horns  1  for  it  is  very 
likely  that  there  were  hundreds  of  these  radiations,  pro¬ 
ceeding  at  once  from  the  face  of  Moses.  It  was  no 
doubt  from  this  very  circumstance  that  almost  all  the 
nations  of  the  world  who  have  heard  of  this  transac¬ 
tion,  have  agreed  in  representing  those  men  to  whom 
they  attributed  extraordinary  sanctity ,  and  whom  they 
supposed  to  have  had  familiar  intercourse  with  the 
Deity,  with  a  lucid  nimbus  or  glory  round  their  heads. 
This  has  prevailed  both  in  the  east  and  in  the  west ; 
not  only  the  Greek  and  Roman  saints,  or  eminent  per¬ 
sons,  are  thus  represented,  but  those  also  among  the 
Mohammedans ,  Hindoos,  and  Chinese. 

Verse  30.  They  were  afraid  to  come  nigh  him.]  A 
sio-ht  of  his  face  alarmed  them  ;  their  consciences  wero 
°  475 


Moses  puts  a  veil  on  his  face  EXODUS.  while  speaking  to  the  people. 


a.  M.  2513.  merit  all  that  the  Lord  had 
An.  kxod.  isr.  l.  spoken  with  him  in  Mount  Sinai. 

Elm'  33  And  till  Moses  had  done 
speaking  with  them,  he  put  k  a  veil  on  his  face. 

34  But  1  when  Moses  went  in  before  the 
Lord  to  speak  with  him,  he  took  the  veil  off 
until  he  came  out.  And  he  came  out,  and 


spake  unto  the  children  of  A.  M.  2513. 
Israel  that  which  he  was  com-  An.  Exod.lsr.  1. 

manded.  _ EluL _ 

35  And  the  children  of  Israel  saw  the  face 
of  Moses,  that  the  skin  of  Moses’  face  shone  : 
and  Moses  put  the  veil  upon  his  face  again, 
until  he  went  in  to  speak  with  him. 


k2  Cor.  iii.  13. 

still  guilty  from  their  late  transgression,  and  they  had 
not  yet  received  the  atonement.  The  very  appearance 
of  superior  sanctity  often  awes  the  guilty  into  respect. 

Verse  33.  And  till  Moses  had  done  speaking ]  The 
meaning  of  the  verse  appears  to  be  this  :  As  often  as 
Moses'  spoke  in  public  to  the  people,  he  put  the  veil 
on  his  face,  because  they  could  not  bear  to  look  on  the 
brightness  of  his  countenance  ;  hut  when  he  entered 
into  the  tabernacle  to  converse  with  the  Lord,  he  re¬ 
moved  this  veil,  ver.  34.  St.  Paul,  2  Cor.  iii.  7,  &c., 
makes  a  very  important  use  of  the  transactions  recorded 
in  this  place.  He  represents  the  brightness  of  the 
face  of  Moses  as  emblematical  of  the  glory  or  excel¬ 
lence  of  that  dispensation  ;  but  he  shows  that  however 
glorious  or  excellent  that  was,  it  had  no  glory  when 
compared  with  the  superior  excellence  of  the  Gospel. 
As  Moses  was  glorious  in  the  eyes  of  the  Israelites, 
but  that  glory  was  absorbed  and  lost  in  the  splendour 
of  God  when  he  entered  into  the  tabernacle,  or  went 
to  meet  the  Lord  upon  the  mount ;  so  the  brightness 
and  excellence  of  the  Mosaic  dispensation  are  eclipsed 
and  absorbed  in  the  transcendent  brightness  or  excel- 
fence  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ.  One  was  the  shadow , 
the  other  is  the  substance.  One  showed  sin  in  its 
exceeding  sinfulness,  together  with  the  justice  and  im¬ 
maculate  purity  of  God  ;  but,  in  and  of  itself,  made  no 
provision  for  pardon  or  sanctification.  The  other 
exhibits  Jesus,  the  Lamb  of  God,  typified  by  all  the  sa¬ 
crifices  under  the  law,  putting  away  sin  by  the  sacrifice 
of  himself,  reconciling  God  to  man  and  man  to  God, 
diffusing  his  Spirit  through  the  souls  of  believers,  and 
cleansing  the  very  thoughts  of  their  hearts  by  his  in¬ 
spiration,  and  causing  them  to  perfect  holiness  in  the 
fear  of  God.  The  one  seems  to  shut  heaven  against 
mankind,  because  by  the  law  was  the  knowledge ,  not 
the  cure,  of  sin  ;  the  other  opens  the  kingdom  of  hea¬ 
ven  to  all  believers.  The  former  was  a  ministration 
of  death ,  the  latter  a  dispensation  of  life.  The  former 
ministered  terror ,  so  that  even  the  high  priest  was 
afraid  to  approach,  the  people  withdrew  and  stood  afar 
off,  and  even  Moses,  the  mediator  of  it,  exceedingly 
feared  and  trembled  ;  by  the  latter  we  have  boldness 
to  enter  into  the  holiest  through  the  blood  of  Jesus, 


1 2  Cor.  iii.  16. 

who  is  the  end  of  the  law  for  righteousness — -justifi¬ 
cation,  to  every  one  that  believeth.  The  former  gives 
a  partial  view'  of  the  Divine  nature ;  the  latter  shows 
God  as  he  is, 

“  Full  orbed,  in  his  whole  round  of  rays  complete.” 

The  apostle  farther  considers  the  veil  on  the  face 
of  Moses,  as  being  emblematical  of  the  metaphorical 
nature  of  the  different  rites  and  ceremonies  of  the  Mo¬ 
saic  dispensation,  each  covering  some  spiritual  meaning 
or  a  spiritual  subject ;  and  that  the  Jew's  did  not  lift 
the  veil  to  penetrate  the  spiritual  sense,  and  did  not 
look  to  the  end  of  the  commandment,  which  wxas  to  be 
abolished,  but  rested  in  the  letter  or  literal  meaning, 
vdiich  conferred  neither  light  nor  life. 

He  considers  the  veil  also  as  being  emblematical 
of  that  state  of  intellectual  darkness  into  which  the 
Jewish  people,  by  their  rejection  of  the  Gospel,  were 
plunged,  and  from  which  they  have  never  yet  been 
recovered.  When  a  Jew,  even  at  the  present  day, 
reads  the  law  in  the  synagogue,  he  puts  over  his  head 
an  oblong  wroollen  veil,  with  four  tassels  at  the  four 
corners,  which  is  called  the  taled  or  thaled.  This  is  a 
very7  remarkable  circumstance,  as  it  appears  to  be  an 
emblem  of  the  intellectual  veil  referred  to  by  the  apos¬ 
tle,  which  is  still  upon  their  hearts  wdien  Moses  is  read, 
and  which  prevents  them  from  looking  to  the  end  of 
that  which  God  designed  should  be  abrogated,  and 
w7hich  has  been  abolished  by  the  introduction  of  the 
Gospel.  The  veil  is  upon  their  hearts,  and  prevents 
the  light  of  the  glory  of  God  from  shining  into  them  ; 
but  we  all,  says  the  apostle,  speaking  of  believers  in 
Christ,  with  open  face,  without  any  veil,  beholding  as 
in  a  glass  the  glory  of  God,  are  changed  into  the  same 
image,  from  glory  to  glory ,  as  by  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord ; 
2  Cor.  iii.  18.  Reader,  dost  thou  know  this  excel¬ 
lence  of  the  religion  of  Christ  1  Once  thou  w7ert 
darkness  ;  art  thou  now  light  in  the  Lord  1  Art  thou 
still  under  the  letter  that  killeth,  or  under  the  Spirit 
that  giveth  life  1  Art  thou  a  slave  to  sin  or  a  servant 
of  Christ  1  Is  the  veil  on  thy  heart,  or  hast  thou 
found  redemption  in  his  blood,  the  remission  of  sins  1 
Knowest  thou  not  these  things  1  Then  may  God  pity, 
enlighten,  and  save  thee  ! 


CHAPTER  XXXV. 

Moses  assembles  the  congregation  to  deliver  to  them  the  commandments  of  God,  1.  Directions  concerning  the 
Sabbath,  2,  3.  Free-will  offerings  of  gold,  silver,  brass,  dfc.,  for  the  tabernacle ,  4—7.  Of  oil  and  spices,  8. 
Of  precious  stones,  9.  Proper  artists  to  be  employed ,  10.  The  tabernacle  and  its  tent,  11.  The 
ark,  12.  Table  of  the  shew-bread,  13.  Candlestick,  14.  Altar  of  incense,  15.  Altar  of  burnt-offer¬ 
ing,  16.  Hangings,  pins,  cf-c.,  17,  18.  Clothes  of  service,  and  holy  vestments,  19.  The  people  checr- 

476  a 


CHAP.  XXXY. 


Different  free-will  offerings 


brought  by  the  people 


fully  bring  their  ornaments  as  offenngs  to  the  Lord ,  20-22;  together  with  blue ,  purple ,  scarlet ,  4-c.,  cf-c., 
23,  24.  The  women  s/nn,  and  bring  the  produce  of  their  skill  and  industry ,  25,  26.  The  rulers  bring 
precious  stones ,  c^c.,  27,  28.  AZZ  the  people  offer  willingly ,  29.  Bezaleel  and  Aholiab  appointed  to  con¬ 
duct  and  superintend  all  the  work  of  the  tabernacle,  for  ivhich  they  are  qualified  by  the  spirit  of  ivisdom , 

30-35. 


A.  M.  2513.  A  ND  Moses  gathered  all  the 
An.  Exod.  isr.  l.  congregation  ot  the  children 

_ Elul~  of  Israel  together,  and  said  unto 

them,  a  These  are  the  words  which  the  Lord 
hath  commanded,  that  ye  should  do  them. 

2  b  Six  days  shall  work  be  done,  but  on  the 
seventh  day  there  shall  be  to  you  c  a  holy 
day,  a  Sabbath  of  rest  to  the  Lord  :  whoso¬ 
ever  doeth  work  therein  shall  be  put  to  death. 

3  d  Ye  shall  kindle  no  fire  throughout  your 
habitations  upon  the  Sabbath  day. 

4  And  Moses  spake  unto  all  the  congrega¬ 
tion  of  the  children  of  Israel,  saying,  e  This 
is  the  thing  which  the  Lord  commanded, 
saying, 

5  Take  ye  from  among  you  an  offering  unto 
the  Lord  :  f  whosoever  is  of  a  willing  heart, 
let  him  bring  it,  an  offering  of  the  Lord  ; 
gold,  and  silver,  and  brass, 

6  And  blue,  and  purple,  and  scarlet,  and 
fine  linen,  and  goats’  hair , 

7  And  rams’  skins  dyed  red,  and  badgers’ 
skins,  and  shittim  wood, 

8  And  oil  for  the  light,  s  and  spices  for 
anointing  oil,  and.  for  the  sweet  incense, 

9  And  onyx  stones,  and  stones  to  be  set  for 
the  ephod,  and  for  the  breastplate. 

1 0  And  h  every  wise-hearted  man  among  you 
shall  come,  and  make  all  that  the  Lord  hath 
commanded ; 

aChap.  xxxiv.  32. - b  Chap.  xx.  9;  xxxi.  14,  15  ;  Lev.  xxiii. 

3;  Num.  xv.  32,  &c. ;  Deut.  V.  12;  Luke  xiii.  14. - cHeb. 

holiness. - d  Chap.  xvi.  23. - e  Chap.  xxv.  1,  2. - f  Chapter 

xxv.  2. - s  Chapter  xxv.  6. - h  Chap.  xxxi.  6. - 1  Chapter 

xxvi.  1,  2,  &c. 


1 1  1  The  tabernacle,  his  tent,  A.  M.  2513. 
and  his  covering,  his  taches,  and  An.  Exod.  Isr.  1. 

his  boards,  his  bars,  his  pillars,  _ _ Elu1, _ _ 

and  his  sockets  ; 

12  k  The  ark,  and  the  staves  thereof,  with 
the  mercy-seat,  and  the  veil  of  the  covering ; 

13  The  1  table,  and  his  staves,  and  all  his 
vessels,  m  and  the  shew-bread  ; 

14  n  The  candlestick  also  for  the  light,  and 
his  furniture,  and  his  lamps,  with  the  oil  for 
the  light ; 

15  0  And  the  incense  altar  and  his  staves, 
p  and  the  anointing  oil,  and  q  the  sweet  incense, 
and  the  hanging  for  the  door  at  the  entering 
in  of  the  tabernacle  ; 

1 6  r  The  altar  of  burnt-offering,  with  his 
brazen  gate,  his  staves,  and  all  his  vessels, 
the  laver,  and  his  foot ; 

17  s  The  hangings  of  the  court,  his  pillars, 
and  their  sockets,  and  the  hanging  for  the 
door  of  the  court ; 

1 8  The  pins  of  the  tabernacle,  and  the  pins 
of  the  court,  and  their  cords  ; 

1 9  1  The  clothes  of  service,  to  do  service  in 
the  holy  place ,  the  holy  garments  for  Aaron 
the  priest,  and  the  garments  of  his  sons,  to 
minister  in  the  priest’s  office. 

20  And  all  the  congregation  of  the  children 
of  Israel  departed  from  the  presence  of 
Moses. 

k  Chapter  xxv.  10,  &c. - 1  Chapter  xxv.  23. - m  Chap.  xxv. 

30  ;  Lev.  xxiv.  5,  6. - n  Chapter  xxv.  31,  &c. - 0  Chap,  xxx, 

1. - PChap.  xxx.  23. - <1  Chap.  xxx.  34. - rChap.  xxvii.  1. 


s  Chap,  xxvii.  9. 
5,  6,  &c. 


Chap.  xxxi.  10  ;  xxxix.  1,  41  ;  Numbers  iv. 


NOTES  ON  CHAP.  XXXY. 

Verse  1.  And  Moses  gathered']  The  principal  sub¬ 
jects  in  this  chapter  have  been  already  largely  con¬ 
sidered  in  the  notes  on  chapters  xxv.,  xxvi.,  xxvii., 
xxviii.,  xxix.,  xxx.,  and  xxxi.,  and  to  those  the  reader 
is  particularly  desired  to  refer,  together  with  the  paral¬ 
lel  texts  in  the  margin. 

Verse  3.  Ye  shall  kindle  no  fire]  The  J'ews  under¬ 
stand  this  precept  as  forbidding  the  kindling  of  fire  only 
for  the  purpose  of  doing  work  or  dressing  victuals ; 
but  to  give  them  light  and  heat,  they  judge  it  lawful 
to  light  a  fire  on  the  Sabbath  day,  though  themselves 
rarely  kindle  it — they  get  Christians  to  do  this  work 
for  them. 

Verse  5.  An  offering]  A  terumah  or  heave-offering; 
see  Lev.  vii.  1,  &c. 


Verses  5  and  6.  See,  on  these  metals  and  colours, 
chap.  xxv.  3,  4,  &c. 

Verse  7.  Rams ’  skins,  <fc.]  See  chap.  xxv.  5. 

Verse  8.  Oil  for  the  light]  See  chap.  xxv.  6. 

Verse  9.  Onyx  stones]  See  chap.  xxv.  7 

Verse  11.  The  tabernacle]  See  chap.  xxv.  8. 

Verse  12.  The  ark]  See  chap.  xxv.  10-17. 

Verse  13.  The  table]  See  chap.  xxv.  23—28. 

Verse  14.  The  candlestick]  See  chap.  xxv.  3 1—39. 

Verse  15.  The  incense  altar]  The  golden  altar,  see 
chap.  xxx.  1-10. 

Verse  16.  The  altar  of  burnt-offering]  The  brazen 
altar,  see  chap,  xxvii.  1-8. 

Verse  17.  The  hangings  of  the  court]  See  chap, 
xxvii.  9. 

Verse  19.  The  clothes  of  service]  Probably  aprons , 

477 


EXODUS. 


The  people  present 

a.  m.  2513.  21  And  they  came,  every  one 

An.  Exod.  Ise.  l.  11  whose  heart  stirred  him  up,  and 
E!uI'  every  one  whom  his  spirit  made 
willing,  and  they  brought  the  Lord’s  offering 
to  the  work  of  the  tabernacle  of  the  congre¬ 
gation,  and  for  all  his  service,  and  for  the  holy 
garments. 

22  And  they  came,  both  men  and  women, 
as  many  as  were  willing-hearted,  and  brought 
bracelets,  and  ear-rings,  and  rings,  and  tablets, 
all  jewels  of  gold  :  and  every  man  that  offered, 
offered  an  offering  of  gold  unto  the  Lord. 

23  And  v  every  man,  with  whom  was  found 
blue,  and  purple,  and  scarlet,  and  fine  linen, 
and  goats’  hair ,  and  red  skins  of  rams,  and 
badgers’  skins,  brought  them. 

24  Every  one  that  did  offer  an  offering  of 
silver  and  brass,  brought  the  Lord’s  offering  : 
and  every  man,  with  whom  was  found 
shittim  wood  for  any  work  of  the  service, 
brought  it. 

25  And  all  the  women  that  were  w  wise- 
hearted  did  spin  with  their  hands,  and  brought 
that  which  they  had  spun,  both  of  blue,  and 
of  purple,  and  of  scarlet,  and  of  fine  linen. 

26  And  all  the  women  whose  heart  stirred 
them  up  in  wisdom,  spun  goats’  hair. 

27  And  x  the  rulers  brought  onyx  stones, 
and  stones  to  be  set,  for  the  ephod,  and  for 
the  breastplate ; 

uVer.  5,  22,  26,  29  ;  chap.  xxv.  2;  xxxvL  2;  1  Chron.  xxviii. 
2, 9  ;  xxix.  9  ;  Ezra  vii.  27  ;  2  Cor.  viii.  12  ;  ix.  7- — -v  1  Chron. 

xxix.  8. - w  Chap,  xxviii.  3 ;  xxxi.  6  ;  xxxvi.  1  ;  2  Kings  xxiii.  7 ; 

Prov.  xxxi.  19,  22,  24. 

towels ,  and  such  like,  used  in  the  common  service,  and 
different  from  the  vestments  for  Aaron  and  his  sons. 
See  these  latter  described  chap,  xxviii.  1,  &c. 

Verse  21.  Every  one  whose  heart  stirred  him  up\ 
Literally,  ivhose  heart  was  lifted  up — whose  affections 
were  set  on  the  work,  being  cordially  engaged  in  the 
service  of  God. 

Verse  22.  As  many  as  were  willing-hearted ]  For 
no  one  was  forced  to  lend  his  help  in  this  sacred  work; 
all  was  a  free-will  offering  to  the  Lord. 

Bracelets ]  ntl  chach,  whatever  hooks  together;  orna¬ 
ments  for  the  wrists,  arms,  legs,  or  neck. 

Ear-rings ]  DTJ  nezem ,  see  this  explained  Gen. 
xxiv.  22. 

Rings ]  nynts  tabbaath,  from  yntD  taba,  to  penetrate, 
enter  into  ;  probably  rings  for  the  fingers. 

Tablets ]  TD1D  cumaz ,  a  word  only  used  here  and 
in  Num.  xxxi.  50,  supposed  to  be  a  girdle  to  support 
the  breasts. 

Verse  25.  All  the  women  that  were  wise-hearted  did 
spin\  They  had  before  learned  this  art,  they  were 
wise-hearted ;  and  now  they  practise  it,  and  God  con- 

478 


their  offerings  willingly. 

28  And  y  spice,  and  oil  for  the  a.  m.  2513. 

light,  and  lor  the  anointing  oil,  An.  Exod.  Isr.  1. 
and  for  the  sweet  incense.  _ u  ~ 

29  The  children  of  Israel  brought  a  z  willing 
offering  unto  the  Lord,  every  man  and  woman, 
whose  heart  made  them  willing  to  bring  for 
all  manner  of  work,  which  the  Lord  had  com¬ 
manded  to  be  made  by  the  hand  of  Moses. 

30  And  Moses  said  unto  the  children  of 
Israel,  See,  a  The  Lord  hath  called  by  name 
Bezaleel  the  son  of  Uri,  the  son  of  Hur,  of 
the  tribe  of  Judah  ; 

3  1  And  he  hath  filled  him  with  the  Spirit  of 
God,  in  wisdom,  in  understanding,  and  in  know¬ 
ledge,  and  in  all  manner  of  workmanship  ; 

32  And  to  devise  curious  works,  to  work  in 
gold,  and  in  silver,  and  in  brass, 

33  And  in  the  cutting  of  stones,  to  set  them , 
and  in  carving  of  wood,  to  make  any  manner 
of  cunning  work. 

34  And  he  hath  put  in  his  heart  that  he  may 
teach,  both  he,  and  b  Aholiab,  the  son  of  Ahi- 
samach,  of  the  tribe  of  Dan  : 

35  Them  hath  be  c  filled  with  wisdom  of 
heart,  to  work  all  manner  of  work,  of  the  en® 
graver,  and  of  the  cunning  workman,  and  of 
the  embroiderer,  in  blue,  and  in  purple,  in 
scarlet,  and  in  fine  linen,  and  of  the  weaver, 
even  of  them  that  do  any  work,  and  of  those 
that  devise  cunning  work. 

x  1  Chron.  xxix.  6  ;  Ezra  ii.  68. - y  Chap.  xxx.  23. - z  Ver. 

21  ;  1  Chron.  xxix.  9. - a  Chap.  xxxi.  2,  &c. - bChap.  xxxi. 

6;  Isa.  xxviii.  24-29. - °Ver.  31  ;  chap.  xxxi.  3,  6;  1  Kings 

vii.  14;  2  Chron.  ii.  14;  Isa.  xxviii.  26. 

descends  to  require  and  accept  their  services.  In 
building  this  house  of  God,  all  were  ambitious  to  do 
something  by  which  they  might  testify  their  piety  to 
God,  and  their  love  for  his  worship.  The  spinning 
practised  at  this  time  was  simple,  and  required  little 
apparatus.  It  was  the  plain  distaff  or  twirling  pin, 
which  might  be  easily  made  out  of  any  wood  they  met 
with  in  the  wilderness. 

Verse  27.  The  rulers  brought  onyx  stones ]  These, 
being  persons  of  consequence,  might  be  naturally  ex¬ 
pected  to  furnish  the  more  scarce  and  costly  articles. 
See  how  all  join  in  this  service  !  The  men  icorked 
and  brought  offerings,  the  women  spun  and  brought 
their  ornaments,  the  rulers  united  with  them  and 
delivered  up  their  jewels !  and  all  the  children  of 
Israel  brought  a  willing  offering  unto  the  Lord, 
ver.  29. 

Verse  30.  The  Lord  hath  called  by  name  Bezaleel ] 
See  this  subject  discussed  at  large  in  the  note  on  chap, 
xxxi.  3,  where  the  subject  of  superseding  the  work  of 
the  hand  by  the  extra  use  of  machinery  is  particularly 
considered. 


a 


Bezaleel  and  Aholiab 


CHAP.  XXXVI 


commence  their  work 


1.  From  the  nature  of  the  offerings  made  for  the 
service  of  the  tabernacle,  we  see  of  what  sort  the  spoils 
were  which  the  Israelites  brought  out  of  Egypt :  gold, 
silver ,  brass,  blue,  purple,  scarlet,  fine  linen,  rams'  skins 
dyed  red,  what  we  call  badgers'  skins,  oil,  spices,  in¬ 
cense,  onyx  stones,  and  other  stones,  the  names  of  which 
are  not  here  mentioned  They  must  also  have  brought 
looms,  spinning  wheels,  instruments  for  cutting  precious 
stones,  anvils,  hammers,  furnaces,  melting-pots  with  a 
vast  variety  of  tools  for  the  different  artists  employed 
on  the  work  of  the  tabernacle,  viz.,  smiths,  joiners, 
carvers,  gilders,  &c. 

2.  God  could  have  erected  his  tabernacle  without 
the  help  or  skill  of  man ;  but  he  condescended  to  em¬ 
ploy  him.  As  all  are  interested  in  the  worship  of 
God,  so  all  should  bear  a  part  in  it ;  here  God  employs 
the  whole  congregation :  every  male  and  female,  with 
even  their  sons  and  their  daughters ,  and  the  very  or¬ 
naments  of  their  persons,  are  given  to  raise  and  adorn 
the  house  of  God.  The  women  who  had  not  orna¬ 
ments,  and  could  neither  give  gold -nor  silver,  could 
spin  goat’s  hair,  and  the  Lord  graciously  employs  them 
in  this  work,  and  accepts  what  they  can  give  and  what 


they  can  do,  for  they  did  it  with  a  willing  mind  ;  they 
were  wise  of  heart — had  learned  a  useful  business, 
their  hearts  were  lifted  up  in  the  work,  ver.  21,  and 
all  felt  it  a  high  privilege  to  be  able  to  put  only  a  nail 
in  the  holy  place.  By  the  free-will  offerings  of  the 
people  the  tabernacle  was  erected,  and  all  the  costly 
utensils  belonging  to  it  provided.  This  was  the  primi¬ 
tive  mode  of  providing  proper  places  for  Divine  wor¬ 
ship  ;  and  as  it  was  the  primitive,  so  it  is  the  most 
rational  mode.  Taxes  levied  by  law  for  building  or 
repairing  churches  were  not  known  in  the  ancient 
times  of  religious  simplicity.  It  is  an  honour  to  be  per¬ 
mitted  to  do  any  thing  for  the  support  of  public  wor 
ship ;  and  he  must  have  a  strange,  unfeeling,  and  un¬ 
godly  heart,  who  does  not  esteem  it  a  high  privilege  to 
have  a  stone  of  his  own  laying  or  procuring  in  the  house 
of  God.  How  easily  might  ah  trie  buildings  necessary 
for  the  purpose  of  public  worship  be  raised,  if  the  money 
that  is  spent  in  needless  self-indulgence  by  ourselves, 
our  sons,  and  our  daughters,  were  devoted  to  this  pur¬ 
pose  !  By  sacrifices  of  this  kind  the  house  of  the 
Lord  would  be  soon  built,  and  the  top-stone  brought  on 
with  shouting,  Grace,  grace  unto  it  l 


CHAPTER  XXXVI. 


Moses  appoints  Bezaleel,  Aholiab ,  and  their  associates,  to  the  work ,  and  delivers  to  them  the  free-ivill  offerings 
of  the  people,  1—3.  The  people  bring  offerings  more  than  are  needed  for  the  work,  and  are  only  restrained 
by  the  proclamation  of  Moses,  4—7.  The  curtains,  their  loops,  taches,  dye.,  for  the  tabernacle,  8—18.  The 
covering  for  the  tent ,  19.  The  boards,  20—30.  The  bars,  31—34.  The  veil  and  its  pillars,  35,  36. 
The  hangings  and  their  pillars,  37,  38. 


A.  M.  2514.  HpHEN  wrought  Bezaleel  and 

B.  C.  1490.  X  .  ,  ,.  ,  &  . 

An.  Exod.  Isr.  i.  Aholiab,  and  every  a  wise- 

Tisn  to  Adar.  man,  in  whom  the  Lord 

put  wisdom  and  understanding,  to  know  how 
to  work  all  manner  of  work  for  the  service  of 
the  b  sanctuary,  according  to  all  that  the  Lord 
had  commanded. 

2  And  Moses  called  Bezaleel  and  Aholiab, 
and  every  wise-hearted  man,  in  whose  heart 
the  Lord  had  put  wisdom,  even  every  one 
c  whose  heart  stirred  him  up  to  come  unto  the 
work  to  do  it : 


3  And  they  received  of  Moses  A.  M.  2514. 
all  the  offering  which  the  chil-  An.  Exod.  isr.' 1. 
dren  of  Israel  d  had  brought  1  lsn  10  Adar' 
for  the  work  of  the  service  of  the  sanc¬ 
tuary,  to  make  it  withal.  And  they 
brought  yet  unto  him  free  offerings  every 
morning. 

4  And  all  the  wise  men,  that  wrought  all  the 
work  of  the  sanctuary,  came  every  man  from 
his  work  which  they  made  ; 

5  And  they  spake  unto  Moses,  saying,  e  The 
people  bring  much  more  than  enough  for  the 


a  Chapter  xxviii.  3;  xxxi.  6;  xxxv.  10,  35. - b  Chapter 

xxv.  8. 


c  Chapter  xxxv.  2,  26  ;  1  Chron.  xxix.  5. - d  Chapter  xxxv.  27. 

e  2  Cor.  viii.  2,  3. 


NOTES  ON  CIIAP.  XXXVI. 

Verse  1.  Then  wrought,  dye. ]  The  first  verse  of 
this  chapter  should  end  the  preceding  chapter,  and  this 
should  begin  with  verse  the  second ;  as  it  now  stands, 
it  does  not  make  a  very  consistent  sense.  By  reading 
the  first  word  ntgpl  veasah,  then  wrought,  in  the  future 
tense  instead  of  the  past,  the  proper  connection  will  be 
preserved  :  for  all  grammarians  know  that  the  conjunc¬ 
tion  1  van  is  often  conversive,  i.  e.,  it  turns  the  pre¬ 
terite  tense  of  those  verbs  to  which  it  is  prefixed  into 
the  future ,  and  the  future  into  the  preterite  :  this 
pow  er  it  evidently  has  here ;  and  joined  with  the  last 


verse  of  the  preceding  chapter  the  connection  will  ap¬ 
pear  thus,  chap.  xxxv.  ver.  30,  &c.  :  The  Lord  hath 
ccdled  by  name  Bezaleel  and  Aholiab ;  them  hath  he 
filled  with  wisdom  of  heart  to  work  all  manner  of 
work.  Chap,  xxxvi.  1.  :  And  Bezaleel  and  Aholiab 
shall  work,  and  every  wise-hearted  man ,  in  ivhom  the 
Lord  put  wisdom. 

Verse  5.  The  people  bring  much  more  than  enough ] 
With  what  a  liberal  spirit  do  these  people  bring  their 
free-will  offerings  unto  the  Lord  !  Moses  is  obliged 
to  make  a  proclamation  to  prevent  them  from  bringing 
any  more,  as  there  was  at  present  more  than  enough  1 

479 


The  curtains  and  hoards 


EXODUS. 


of  the  tabernacle . 


A.  M.  2514.  service  of  the  work,  which  the 

B.  C.  1490.  T  iii 

An.  Exod.  isr.  1.  Lord  commanded  to  make. 

Tisn  to  Adar.  g  And  Moses  gave  command¬ 
ment,  and  they  caused  it  to  be  proclaimed 
throughout  the  camp,  saying,  Let  neither  man 
nor  woman  m^ke  any  more  work  for  the  offer¬ 
ing  of  the  sanctuary.  So  the  people  were 
restrained  from  bringing. 

7  For  the  stuff  they  had  was  sufficient  for 
all  the  work  to  make  it,  and  too  much. 

8  f  And  every  wise-hearted  man  among  them 
that  wrought  the  work  of  the  tabernacle,  made 
ten  curtains  of  fine  twined  linen,  and  blue,  and 
purple,  and  scarlet :  with  cherubims  of  cun¬ 
ning  work  made  he  them. 

9  The  length  of  one  curtain  was  twenty  and 
eight  cubits,  and  the  breadth  of  one  curtain 
four  cubits  :  the  curtains  were  all  of  one  size. 

1 0  And  he  coupled  the  five  curtains  one  unto 
another  :  and  the  other  five  curtains  he  coupled 
one  unto  another. 

1 1  And  he  made  loops  of  blue  on  the  edge 
of  one  curtain  from  the  selvage  in  the  coup¬ 
ling:  likewise  he  made  in  the  uttermost  side 
of  another  curtain  in  the  coupling  of  the  second. 

12  s  Fifty  loops  made  he  in  one  curtain,  and 
fifty  loops  made  he  in  the  edge  of  the  curtain 
which  was  in  the  coupling  of  the  second  :  the 
loops  held  one  curtain  to  another. 

13  And  he  made  fifty  taches  of  gold,  and 
coupled  the  curtains  one  unto  another  with  the 
taches  :  so  it  became  one  tabernacle. 

14  h  And  he  made  curtains  of  goats’  hair  for 
the  tent  over  the  tabernacle  :  eleven  curtains 
he  made  them. 

f  Chap.  xxvi.  1. - s  Chap.  xxvi.  5. - h  Chap.  xxvi.  7. 

Had  Moses  been  intent  upon  gain,  and  had  he  not  been 
perfectly  disinterested,  he  would  have  encouraged  them 
to  continue  their  contributions,  as  thereby  he  might 
have  multiplied  to  himself  gold,  silver,  and  precious 
stones.  But  he  was  doing  the  Lord’s  work,  under  the 
inspiration  of  the  Divine  Spirit,  and  therefore  he  sought 
no  secular  gain.  Indeed,  this  one  circumstance  is  an 
ample  proof  of  it.  Every  thing  necessary  for  the  wor¬ 
ship  of  God  will  be  cheerfully  provided  by  a  people 
whose  hearts  are  in  that  worship.  In  a  state  where 
all  forms  of  religion  and  modes  of  worship  are  tolerated 
oy  the  laws,  it  would  be  well  to  find  out  some  less  ex¬ 
ceptionable  way  of  providing  for  the  national  clergy 
than  by  tithes.  Let  them  by  all  means  have  the  pro¬ 
vision  allowed  them  by  the  law  ;  but  let  them  not  be 
needlessly  exposed  to  the  resentment  of  the  people  by 
the  mode  in  which  this  provision  is  made,  as  this  often 
alienates  the  affections  of  their  flocks  from  them,  and  ex- 

480 


1 5  The  length  of  one  curtain  a.  m.  2514. 

.  .  &  .  r  B.  C.  1490. 

was  thirty  cubits,  and  lour  An.  Exod.isr.  1. 

cubits  was  the  breadth  of  one  Tlsn  t0  Adar‘ 

curtain :  the  eleven  curtains  were  of  one 

size. 

16  And  he  coupled  five  curtains  by  them¬ 
selves,  and  six  curtains  by  themselves. 

17  And  he  made  fifty  loops  upon  the  utter¬ 
most  edge  of  the  curtain  in  the  coupling,  and 
fifty  loops  made  he  upon  the  edge  of  the  cur¬ 
tain  which  coupleth  the  second. 

18  And  he  made  fifty  taches  of  brass,  to 
couple  the  tent  together,  that  it  might  be  one. 

1 9  1  And  he  made  a  covering  for  the  tent 
of  rams’  skins  dyed  red,  and  a  covering  of 
badgers’  skins  above  that. 

20  k  And  he  made  boards  for  the  tabernacle 
of  shittim  wood,  standing  up. 

2 1  The  length  of  a  board  was  ten  cubits,  and 
the  breadth  of  a  board  one  cubit  and  a  half. 

22  One  board  had  two  tenons,  equally  distant 
one  from  another :  thus  did  he  make  for  all 
the  boards  of  the  tabernacle. 

23  And  he  made  boards  for  the  tabernacle ; 
twenty  boards  for  the  south  side  southward  : 

24  And  forty  sockets  of  silver  he  made  under 
the  twenty  boards  ;  two  sockets  under  one 
board  for  his  two  tenons,  and  two  sockets  un¬ 
der  another  board  for  his  two  tenons. 

25  And  for  the  other  side  of  the  tabernacle, 
which  is  toward  the  north  corner,  he  made 
twenty  boards, 

26  And  their  forty  sockets  of  silver ;  two 
sockets  under  one  board,  and  two  sockets 
under  another  board. 

*  Chap.  xxvi.  14. - k  Chap.  xxvi.  15. 

ceedingly  injures  their  usefulness.  See  the  note  on  Gen. 
xxviii.  in  fine ,  where  the  subject  is  viewed  on  all  sides. 

Verse  8.  Cherubims  of  cunning  w  or  hi]  See  on  chap, 
xxvi.  18.  Probably  the  word  means  no  more  than 
figures  of  any  kind  wrought  in  the  diaper  fashion  in 
the  loom,  or  by  the  needle  in  embroidery ,  or  by  the 
chisel  or  graving  tool  in  wood ,  stone,  or  metal ;  see  on 
chap.  xxv.  18.  This  meaning  Houbigant  and  other 
excellent  critics  contend  for.  In  some  places  the  word 
seems  to  be  restricted  to  express  a  particular  figure 
then  well  known  ;  but  in  many  other  places  it  seems 
to  imply  any  kind  of  figure  commonly  formed  by  sculp¬ 
ture  on  stone,  by  carving  on  wood,  by  engraving  upon 
brass,  and  by  weaving  in  the  loom,  &c. 

Verse  9.  The  length  of  one  curlain\  Concerning 
these  curtains,  see  chap.  xxvi.  1,  &c. 

Verse  20.  And  he  made  boards ]  See  the  notes  od 
chap.  xxvi.  15,  &c. 


a 


CHAP.  XXXVII. 


Bezaleel  makes  the  ark, 

A.  M.  2514.  27  And  for  the  sides  of  the 

B.  C.  1490.  _  ,  ii. 

An.  Exod.  isr.  l.  tabernacle  westward  he  made 

Tiari  10  Adar-  six  boards. 

28  And  two  boards  made  he  for  the  corners 
of  the  tabernacle  in  the  two  sides. 

29  And  they  were  1  coupled  beneath,  and 
coupled  together  at  the  head  thereof,  to  one 
ring  :  thus  he  did  to  both  of  them,  in  both  the 
corners. 

30  And  there  were  eight  boards  ;  and  their 
sockets  were  sixteen  sockets  of  silver,  m  under 
every  board  two  sockets. 

3 1  And  he  made  n  bars  of  shittim  wood  ; 
five  for  the  boards  of  the  one  side  of  the 
tabernacle, 

32  And  five  bars  for  the  boards  of  the  other 
side  of  the  tabernacle,  and  five  bars  for  the 
boards  of  the  tabernacle  for  the  sides  westward. 

33  And  he  made  the  middle  bar  to  shoot 


Heb.  twined. - mHeb.  two  sockets,  tvio  sockets  under  one  board. 

n  Chap.  xxvi.  26. 


and  the  mercy-seat . 

through  the  boards  from  the  one  a.  m.  2514. 
end  to  the  other.  An.  ExodAsni. 

34  And  he  overlaid  the  boards  Flsn  to  Adar* 
with  gold,  and  made  their  rings  of  gold  to  he 
places  for  the  bars,  and  overlaid  the  bars 
with  gold. 

35  And  he  made  °a  veil  o/*blue,  and  pur¬ 
ple,  and  scarlet,  and  fine  twined  linen  :  with 
cherubims  made  he  it  of  cunning  work. 

36  And  he  made  thereunto  four  pillars  of 
shittim  wood,  and  overlaid  them  with  gold  : 
their  hooks  were  of  gold  ;  and  he  cast  for  them 
four  sockets  of  silver. 

37  And  he  made  a  p  hanging  for  the  taber¬ 
nacle  door,  of  blue,  and  purple,  and  scarlet, 
and  fine  twined  linen,  q  of  needle-work ; 

38  And  the  five  pillars  of  it  with  their  hooks ; 
and  he  overlaid  their  chapiters  and  their  fillets 
with  gold  ;  but  their  five  sockets  were  of  brass. 

0  Chap.  xxvi.  31. - P  Chap.  xxvi.  36. - *lHeb.  the  work  of  a 

needle-worker  or  embroiderer. 


Verse  31.  He  made  bars]  See  on  chap.  xxvi.  26,  &c. 

Verse  35.  He  made  a  veil ]  See  on  chap.  xxvi.  3 1 ,  &c. 

Verse  37.  Hanging  for  the — door ]  See  on  ch.  xxvi. 36. 

Verse  38.  The  five  pillars  of  it  with  their  hooks] 
Their  capitals.  See  the  note  on  chap.  xxvi.  32. 

There  is  scarcely  anything-  particular  in  this  chap¬ 
ter  that  has  not  been  touched  on  before ;  both  it  and 
the  following-  to  the  end  of  the  book  being  in  general 
a  repetition  of  what  we  have  already  met  in  detail  in 
the  preceding  chapters  from  chap.  xxv.  to  xxxi.  inclu¬ 
sive,  and  to  those  the  reader  is  requested  to  refer. 


God  had  before  commanded  this  work  to  be  done,  and 
it  was  necessary  to  record  the  execution  of  it  to  show 
that  all  was  done  according  to  the  pattern  shown  to 
Moses  ;  without  this  detailed  account  we  should  not 
have  known  whether  the  work  had  ever  been  executed 
according  to  the  directions  given. 

At  the  commencement  of  this  chapter  the  reader 
will  observe  that  I  have  advanced  the  dates  A.  M.  and 
B.  C.  one  year,  without  altering  the  year  of  the  exo¬ 
dus,  which  at  first  view  may  appear  an  error ;  the 
reason  is,  that  the  above  dates  commence  at  Tisri,  but 
the  years  of  the  exodus  are  dated  from  Abib. 


CHAPTER  XXXVII. 


Bezaleel  and  Aholiab  make  the  ark,  1-5.  The  mercy -seat,  6. 
shew -bread,  and  its  vessels ,  10—16.  The  candlestick,  17—24. 
holy  anointing  oil  and  perfume,  29. 


A.  X.  2514.  ^/^ND  Bezaleel  made  a  the  ark 

An.  Exod.  isr.'  i.  of  shittim  wood  :  two  cubits 
Tisri to  Adar~  and  a  half  was  the  length  of  it, 
and  a  cubit  and  a  half  the  height  of  it : 

2  And  he  overlaid  it  with  pure  gold  within 
and  without,  and  made  a  crown  of  gold  to  it 
round  about. 

3  And  he  cast  for  it  four  rings  of  gold,  to  he 
set  by  the  four  corners  of  it ;  even  two  rings 

a  Chap.  xxv.  10. 

NOTES  ON  CHAP.  XXXVII. 

Verse  1.  And  Bezaleel  made  the  ark,  <5fC.]  For  a 
description  of  the  ark,  see  chap.  xxv.  10,  &c. 

Vol.  I.  (  32  ) 


The  two  cherubim,  7-9.  The  table  of  the 
The  golden  altar  of  incense,  25—28.  The 

upon  the  one  side  of  it,  and  two  a.  m.  2514. 
rings  upon  the  other  side  of  it.  An.  Exod.  isr.  1. 

4  And  he  made  staves  of  shittim  Tlsrl  to  Adar‘ 
wood,  and  overlaid  them  with  gold. 

5  And  he  put  the  staves  into  the  rings  by 
the  sides  of  the  ark,  to  bear  the  ark. 

6  And  he  made  the  b  mercy-seat  of  pure  gold : 
two  cubits  and  a  half  was  the  length  thereof, 
and  one  cubit  and  a  half  the  breadth  thereof. 

b  Chap.  xxv.  17. 

Verse  6.  He  made  the  mercy-seat ]  See  this  de¬ 
scribed  chap.  xxv.  17. 

Verse  10.  He  made  the  table ]  See  chap.  xxv.  23. 

481  a 


Bezaleel  makes  the 


EXODUS. 


furniture  of  the  tabernacle . 


A.  M.  2514.  7  And  lie  made  two  cheru- 

B.  0*  1490.  i  c 

An.  Exod.isr.  i.  bims  oj  gold,  beaten  out  ot  one 

Tisn  to  Adar.  pjece  mac[e  p e  them,  on  the  two 

ends  of  the  mercy-seat. 

8  One  cherub  c  on  the  end  on  this  side,  and 
another  cherub  d  on  the  other  end  on  that  side  : 
out  of  the  mercy-seat  made  he  the  cherubims, 
on  the  two  ends  thereof. 

9  And  the  cherubims  spread  out  their  wings 
on  high,  and  covered  with  their  wings  over 
the  mercy-seat,  with  their  faces  one  to  another  ; 
even  to  the  mercy-seatward  were  the  faces  of 
the  cherubims. 

1 0  And  he  made  e  the  table  0/*  shittim  wood : 
two  cubits  was  the  length  thereof,  and  a  cubit 
the  breadth  thereof,  and  a  cubit  and  a  half  the 
height  thereof : 

1 1  And  he  overlaid  it  with  pure  gold,  and 
made  thereunto  a  crown  of  gold  round  about. 

12  Also  he  made  thereunto  a  border  of  a 
hand  breadth  round  about ;  and  made  a  crown 
of  gold  for  the  border  thereof  round  about. 

13  And  he  cast  for  it  four  rings  of  gold,  and 
put  the  rings  upon  the  four  corners  that  were 
in  the  four  feet  thereof. 

14  Over  against  the  border  were  the  rings, 
the  places  for  the  staves  to  bear  the  table. 

]  5  And  he  made  the  staves  of  shittim  wood, 
and  overlaid  them  with  gold,  to  bear  the 
table. 

16  And  he  made  the  vessels  which  were 
upon  the  table,  his  f  dishes,  and  his  spoons, 
and  his  bowls,  and  his  covers  z  to  cover  withal, 
of  pure  gold. 

17  And  he  made  the  h  candlestick  of  pure 
gold  :  of  beaten  work  made  he  the  candlestick  ; 
his  shaft,  and  his  branch,  his  bowls,  his  knops, 
and  his  flowers,  were  of  the  same  : 

18  And  six  branches  going  out  of  the  sides 
thereof :  three  branches  of  the  candlestick  out 


)r,  out  of,  &c. - d  Or,  out  of,  &c. - e  Chap. 

f  Chap.  xxv.  29. - s  Or,  to  pour  out  withal. 


xxv.  23. 


Verse  16.  He  made  the  vessels]  See  all  these  par¬ 
ticularly  described  in  the  notes  on  chap.  xxv.  29. 

Verse  17.  He  made  the  candlestick]  See  this  de¬ 
scribed  in  the  note  on  chap.  xxv.  31. 

Verse  25.  He  made  the  incense  altar]  See  this 
described  chap.  xxx.  1. 

a  482 


of  the  one  side  thereof,  and  three  A.  M.  2514. 

1  1  r  .  B.  C.  1490. 

branches  of  the  candlestick  out  An.  Exod.  Isr.  1. 

of  the  other  side  thereof :  r*&n  t0  Adar~ 

19  Three  bowls  made  after  the  fashion  of 
almonds  in  one  branch,  a  knop  and  a  flower  ; 
and  three  bowls  made  like  almonds  in  another 
branch,  a  knop  and  a  flower  :  so  throughout 
the  six  branches  going  out  of  the  candlestick. 

20  And  in  the  candlestick  were  four  bowls 

made  like  almonds,  his  knops,  and  his  flowers  : 

21  And  a  knop  under  two  branches  of  the 

same,  and  a  knop  under  two  branches  of  the 

same,  and  a  knop  under  two  branches  of  the 

same,  according  to  the  six  branches  going  out 
of  it. 

22  Their  knops  and  their  branches  wTere  of 
the  same  :  all  of  it  ivas  one  beaten  work  of 
pure  gold. 

23  And  he  made  his  seven  lamps,  and  his 
snuffers,  and  his  snuff  dishes,  of  pure  gold. 

24  O/a  talent  of  pure  gold  made  he  it,  and 
all  the  vessels  thereof. 

25  1  And  he  made  the  incense  altar  of  shit¬ 
tim  wood  :  the  length  of  it  was  a  cubit,  and 
the  breadth  of  it  a  cubit ;  it  ivas  four-square ; 
and  two  cubits  was  the  height  of  it ;  the  horns 
thereof  were  of  the  same. 

26  And  he  overlaid  it  with  pure  gold,  both 
the  top  of  it,  and  the  sides  thereof  round  about, 
and  the  horns  of  it ;  also  he  made  unto  it  a 
crown  of  gold  round  about. 

27  And  he  made  two  rings  of  gold  for  it 
under  the  crown  thereof,  by  the  two  corners 
of  it,  upon  the  two  sides  thereof,  to  be  places 
for  the  staves  to  bear  it  withal. 

28  And  he  made  the  staves  of  shittim  wood, 
and  overlaid  them  with  gold. 

29  And  he  made  k  the  holy  anointing  oil,  and 
the  pure  incense  of  sweet  spices,  according  to 
the  work  of  the  apothecary. 

h  Chap.  xxv.  31. - ’  Chap.  xxx.  1. - k  Chap.  xxx.  23,  34  ;  Isa. 

lxi.  1 ;  1  John  ii.  20,  27 ;  Psa.  cxli.  2. 

Verse  29.  He  made  the  holy  anointing  oil]  See  this 
and  the  perfume ,  and  the  materials  out  of  which  they 
were  made,  described  at  large  in  the  notes  on  chap, 
xxx.  23-25  and  34-38.  As  this  chapter  also  is-  a 
repetition  of  what  has  been  mentioned  in  preceding 
chapters,  the  reader  is  desired  to  refer  to  them. 

(  32*  ) 


482 


He  makes  the  altar  of 


CHAP.  XXX VI II. 


burnt-offering,  the  l aver,  tyc 


CHAPTER  XXXVIII. 


Bezaleel  makes  the  altar  of  burnt-offering ,  1—7.  He  makes  the  laver  and  its  foot  out  of  the  mirrors  given 
by  the  women,  8.  The  court,  its  pillars,  hangings,  dfc.,  9-20.  The  whole  tabernacle  and  Us  work  finished 
by  Bezaleel,  Aholiab,  and  their  assistants,  21—23.  The  amount  of  the  gold  contributed,  24.  The  amount 
of  the  silver,  and  hoio  it  ivas  expended,  25—28.  The  amount  of  the  brass,  and  how  this  was  used,  29-31. 


A.  M.  2514. 

B.  C.  1490. 
An.  Exod.  Isr.  1. 

Tisri  to  Adar. 


A  ND  a  he  made  the  altar 
of  burnt-offering  of  shittim 
wood :  five  cubits  was  the  length 
thereof,  and  five  cubits  the  breadth  thereof ;  it 
was  four-square ;  and  three  cubits  the  height 
thereof. 

2  And  he  made  the  horns  thereof  on  the  four 
corners  of  it ;  the  horns  thereof  were  of  the 
same  :  and  he  overlaid  it  with  brass. 

3  And  he  made  all  the  vessels  of  the  altar, 
the  pots,  and  the  shovels,  and  the  basins,  and 
the  flesh  hooks,  and  the  firepans  :  all  the  ves¬ 
sels  thereof  made  he  of  brass. 

4  And  he  made  for  the  altar  a  brazen  grate 

a  Chap,  xxvii.  1-8  ;  chap.  xl.  6,  20. - b  Chap.  xxx.  18. - c  Or, 


of  network,  under  the  compass  A.  M.  2514. 

thereof  beneath,  unto  the  midst  An.  Exod.  isr.  l 
p  Tisri  to  Adar 


5  And  he  cast  four  rings  for  the  four  ends  of 
the  grate  of  brass,  to  be  places  for  the  staves. 

6  And  he  made  the  staves  of  shittim  wood, 
and  overlaid  them  with  brass. 

7  x4nd  he  put  the  staves  into  the  rings  on 
the  sides  of  the  altar,  to  bear  it  withal ;  he 
made  the  altar  hollow  with  boards. 

8  And  he  made  b  the  laver  of  brass,  and  the 
foot  of  it  of  brass,  of  the  c  looking-glasses  of 
the  women  d  assembling,  which  assembled  at 
the  door  of  the  tabernacle  of  the  con  ore  nation. 

O  O 

brazen  glasses. - d  Heb.  assembling  by  troops ,  as  1  Sam.  ii.  22. 


NOTES  ON  CHAP.  XNNVIII. 

Verse  1.  The  altar  of  burnt-offering ]  See  the  notes 
on  chap,  xxvii.  1  ;  and  for  its  horns,  pots,  shovels, 
basins,  &c.,  see  the  meaning  of  the  Hebrew  terms 
explained,  chap,  xxvii.  3—5. 

Verse  8.  He  made  the  laver ]  See  the  notes  on 

chap.  xxx.  18,  &c. 

The  looking-glasses ]  The  word  HXTO  maroth,  from 
HiO  raah,  he  saw,  signifies  reflectors  or  mirrors  of  any 
kind.  Here  metal,  highly  polished,  must  certainly  be 
meant,  as  glass  was  not  yet  in  use;  and  had  it  even 
been  in  use,  we  are  sure  that  ZooHng-GLAssES  could 
not  make  a  brazen  laver.  The  word  therefore  should 
be  rendered  mirrors,  not  looking-glasses,  which  in  the 
above  verse  is  perfectly  absurd,  because  from  those 
maroth  the  brazen  laver  was  made.  The  first  mirrors 
known  among  men  were  the  clear,  still  fountain,  and 
unruffled  lake  ;  and  probably  the  mineral  called  mica, 
which  is  a  very  general  substance  through  all  parts  of 
the  earth.  Plates  of  it  have  been  found  of  three  feet 
square,  and  it  is  so  extremely  divisible  into  laminse, 
that  it  has  been  divided  into  plates  so  thin  as  to  be 
only  the  three  hundred  thousandth  part  of  an  inch. 
A  plate  of  this  forms  an  excellent  mirror  when  any 
thing  black  is  attached  to  the  opposite  side.  A  plate 
of  this  mineral,  nine  inches  by  eight,  now  lies  before 
me  ;  a  piece  of  black  cloth,  or  any  other  black  sub¬ 
stance,  at  the  back,  converts  it  into  a  good  mirror  ;  or 
it  would  serve  as  it  is  for  a  square  of  glass,  as  every 
object  is  clearly  perceivable  through  it.  It  is  used  in 
Russian  ships  of  war,  instead  of  glass,  for  windows. 
The  first  artificial  mirrors  were  apparently  made  of 
brass,  afterwards  of  polished  steel,  and  when  luxury 
increased  they  were  made  of  silver ;  but  they  were 
made  a.t  a  very  early  period  of  mixed  metal,  particu¬ 
larly  of  tin  and  copper,  the  best  of  which,  as  Pliny  tells 
us,  were  formerly  manufactured  at  Brundusium  :  Op¬ 


tima  apud  majores  fuerant  Brundisina,  stanno  et  asre 
mixtis. — Plist.  Nat.  lib.  xxxiii.,  cap.  9.  But,  accord¬ 
ing  to  him,  the  most  esteemed  were  those  made  of  tin  ; 
and  he  says  that  silver  mirrors  became  so  common 
that  even  the  servant  girls  used  them  :  Specula  (ex 
stanno)  laudatissima  Brundisii  temperabantur ;  donee 
argenteis  uti  coepere  et  ancillce  ;  lib.  xxxiv.,  cap.  17. 
When  the  Egyptian  women  went  to  the  temples,  they 
always  carried  their  mirrors  with  them.  The  Israel- 
itish  women  probably  did  the  same,  and  Dr.  Shaw 
states  that  the  Arabian  women  carry  them  constantly 
hung  at  their  breasts.  It  is  worthy  of  remark,  that  at 
first  these  women  freely  gave  up  their  ornaments  for 
this  important  service,  and  now  give  their  very  mir¬ 
rors,  probably  as  being  of  little  farther  service,  seeing 
they  had  already  given  up  the  principal  decorations  of 
their  persons.  Woman  has  been  invidiously  defined 
by  Aristotle,  an  animal  fond  of  dress,  (though  this  be¬ 
longs  to  the  whole  human  race,  and  not  exclusively  to 
woman.)  Had  this  been  true  of  the  Israelitish  women, 
in  the  present  case  we  must  say  they  nobly  sacrificed 
their  incentives  to  pride  to  the  service  of  their  God. 
Woman,  go  thou  and  do  likewise. 

Of  the  women — which  assembled  at  the  door ]  W  hat 
the  employment  of  these  women  was  at  the  door  of  the 
tabernacle,  is  not  easily  known.  Some  think  they 
assembled  there  for  purposes  of  devotion.  Others, 
that  they  kept  watch  there  during  the  night ;  and  this 
is  the  most  probable  opinion,  for  they  appear  to  have 
been  in  the  same  employment  as  those  who  assembled 
at  the  door  of  the  tabernacle  of  the  congregation  in 
the  days  of  Samuel,  who  were  abused  by  the  sons  of 
the  high  priest  Eli,  1  Sam.  ii.  22.  Among  the  an- 
cients  women  were  generally  employed  in  the  ofhee 
of  porters  or  doorkeepers.  Such  were  employed  about 
the  house  of  the  high  priest  in  our  Lord’s  time  ;  for  a 
woman  is  actually  represented  as  keeping  the  door  cf 

483 


Bezaleel  makes  the  court , 


EXODUS. 


its  pillars ,  hangings,  fyc 


A.  M.  2514.  9  And  he  made  e  the  court :  on 

4n.  Exod.  isr.  l.  the  south  side  southward  the 

Tisn  t0  Adar-  hangings  of  the  court  were  of 
fine  twined  linen,  a  hundred  cubits  : 

10  Their  pillars  were  twenty,  and  their  bra¬ 
zen  sockets  twenty ;  the  hooks  of  the  pillars 
and  their  fillets  ivere  of  silver. 

1 1  And  for  the  north  side  the  hangings  were 
a  hundred  cubits,  their  pillars  were  twenty, 
and  their  sockets  of  brass  twenty;  the  hooks 
of  the  pillars  and  their  fillets  of  silver. 

12  And  for  the  west  side  were  hangings  of 
fifty  cubits,  their  pillars  ten,  and  their  sockets 
ten ;  the  hooks  of  the  pillars  and  their  fillets 
of  silver. 

1 3  And  for  the  east  side  eastward,  fifty  cubits. 

14  The  hangings  of  the  one  side  of  the  gate 
ivere  fifteen  cubits  ;  their  pillars  three,  and 
their  sockets  three. 

15  And  for  the  other  side  of  the  court  gate, 
on  this  hand  and  that  hand,  ivere  hangings  of 
fifteen  cubits ;  their  pillars  three,  and  their 
sockets  three. 

1 6  All  the  hangings  of  the  court  round  about 
were  of  fine  twdned  linen. 

17  And  the  sockets  for  the  pillars  were  of 
brass  ;  the  hooks  of  the  pillars  and  their  fillets 
of  silver ;  and  the  overlaying  of  their  chapiters 


ip.  xxvii.  9. - f  Chap,  xxvii.  19. - s  Num.  i.  50,  53  ; 

11  ;  xvii.  7,  8  ;  xviii.  2  ;  2  Chron.  xxiv.  6 ;  Acts  vii. 


IX. 

44. 


the  palace  of  the  high  priest,  John  xviii.  17  :  Then 
saith  the  damsel  that  kept  the  door  Peter;  see 
also  Matt.  xxvi.  69.  In  2  Sam.  iv.  6,  both  the  Sep- 
tuagint  and  Vulgate  make  a  woman  porter  or  door¬ 
keeper  to  Ishbosheth.  Aristophanes  mentions  them  in 
the  same  office,  and  calls  them  Sekis ,  which 

seems  to  signify  a  common  maid-servant.  Aristoph. 
in  Yespis,  ver.  768  : — 

'O Ti  ttjv  Ovpav  ave cp^ev  ij  'Etjkiq  ?iaOpa. 

Homer,  Odyss.,  V,  ver.  225-229,  mentions  Actoris, 
Penelope’s  maid,  whose  office  it  was  to  keep  the  door 
of  her  chamber  : — 


A  UTopcg- 


'H  vocv  eipvro  dvpag  ttvklvov  0a?,apoLO. 

And  Euripides,  in  Troad .,  ver.  197,  brings  in  He¬ 
cuba,  complaining  that  she  who  was  wont  to  sit  upon 
a  throne  is  now  reduced  to  the  miserable  necessity  of 
becoming  a  doorkeeper  or  a  nurse,  in  order  to  get  a 
morsel  of  bread. 


- 7]  rav 

Tlapa  7T podvpoic  (pvTianav  icars^ovaa, 

H  Tratduv  dpeirmpa. 

Sir  John  Chardin  observes,  that  women  are  em¬ 
ployed  to  keep  the  gate  of  the  palace  of  the  Persian 

484 


of  silver ;  and  all  the  pillars  a.  M.  2514. 
of  the  court  ivere  filleted  with  An.  Exod.  isr.  i 
silver.  TisntoAdar- 

18  And  the  hanging  for  the  gate  of  the  court 
was  needlework,  of  blue,  and  purple,  and 
scarlet,  and  fine  twined  linen :  and  twenty  cu¬ 
bits  was  the  length,  and  the  height  in  the 
breadth  was  five  cubits,  answerable  to  the 
hangings  of  the  court. 

19  And  their  pillars  were  four,  and  their 
sockets  of  brass  four ;  their  hooks  of  silver, 
and  the  overlaying  of  their  chapiters  and  their 
fillets  of  silver. 

20  And  all  the  fpins  of  the  tabernacle,  and 
of  the  court  round  about,  were  of  brass. 

21  This  is  the  sum  of  the  tabernacle,  even 
of  s  the  tabernacle  of  testimony,  as  it  was  count¬ 
ed,  according  to  the  commandment  of  Moses, 
for  the  service  of  the  Levites,  h  by  the  hand 
of  Ithamar,  son  to  Aaron  the  priest. 

22  And  1  Bezaleel  the  son  of  Uri,  the  son  of 
Hur,  of  the  tribe  of  Judah,  made  all  that  the 
Lord  commanded  Moses. 

23  And  with  him  was  Aholiab,  son  of  Ahisa- 
mach,  of  the  tribe  of  Dan,  an  engraver,  and  a 
cunning  workman,  and  an  embroiderer  in  blue, 
and  in  purple,  and  in  scarlet,  and  fine  linen 

24  All  the  gold  that  was  occupied  for  the 

11  Num.  iv.  28,  33. - ’  Chap.  xxxi.  2,  6. 

kings.  Plautus,  Curcul.,  act  i.,  scene  1,  mentions  an 
old  woman  who  was  keeper  of  the  gate. 

Anus  hie  solet  cubitare ,  custos  janitrix. 

Many  other  examples  might  be  produced.  It  is  there¬ 
fore  very  likely  that  the  persons  mentioned  here,  and 
in  1  Sam.  ii.  22,  were  the  women  who  guarded  the 
tabernacle  ;  and  that  they  regularly  relieved  each  other, 
a  troop  or  company  regularly  keeping  watch  :  and  in¬ 
deed  this  seems  to  be  implied  in  the  original,  1iO¥ 
tsabeu ,  they  came  by  troops  ;  and  these  troops  succes¬ 
sively  consecrated  their  mirrors  to  the  service  of  the 
tabernacle.  See  Calmet  on  John  xviii.  16. 

Verse  9.  The  court ]  See  on  chap,  xxvii.  9. 

Verse  17.  The  hooks — and  their  fillets ]  The  capi¬ 
tals,  and  the  silver  bands  that  went  round  them ;  see 
the  note  on  chap.  xxvi.  32. 

Verse  21.  This  is  the  sum  of  the  tabernacle.']  That 
is,  The  foregoing  account  contains  a  detail  of  all  the 
articles  which  Bezaleel  and  Aholiab  were  commanded 
to  make  ;  and  which  were  reckoned  up  by  the  Levites, 
over  whom  Ithamar,  the  son  of  Aaron,  presided. 

Verse  24.  All  the  gold  that  ivas  occupied  for  the 
work,  4c.]  To  be  able  to  ascertain  the  quantum  and 
value  of  the  gold,  silver,  and  brass,  which  were  em¬ 
ployed  in  the  tabernacle,  and  its  different  utensils, 


CHAP.  XXXVIII. 


The  amount  of  gold 


contributed  by  the  people. 


A.  M.  2514. 

B.  C.  1490. 
An.  Exod.  Isr.  1. 

Tisri  to  Adar. 


work,  in  all  the  work  of  the  holy 
place ,  even  the  gold  of  the  offer¬ 
ing,  was  twenty  and  nine  talents, 


and  seven  hundred  and  thirty 
shekels,  after  k  the  shekel  of  the 
sanctuary. 


A.  M.  2514. 

B.  C.  1490. 
An.  Exod.  Isr.  1. 

Tisri  to  Adar. 


k  Chap.  xxx.  13,  24 ;  Lev.  v.  15 


xxvii.  3,  25  ;  Num.  iii.  47  ;  xviii.  16. 


altars,  &c.,  it  will  be  necessary  to  enter  into  the  sub¬ 
ject  in  considerable  detail. 

In  the  course  of  my  notes  on  this  and  the  preceding- 
book,  I  have  had  frequent  occasion  to  speak  of  the 
shekel  in  use  among  the  ancient  Hebrews,  which,  fol¬ 
lowing  Dean  Prideaux,  I  have  always  computed  at  3s. 
English.  As  some  value  it  at  2s.  Bd.,  and  others  at 
2s.  4 d.,  I  think  it  necessary  to  lay  before  the  reader 
the  learned  dean’s  mode  of  computation  as  a  proper 
introduction  to  the  calculations  which  immediately 
follow. 

“  Among  the  ancients,  the  way  of  reckoning  their 
money  was  by  talents.  So  the  Hebrews ,  so  the  Baby¬ 
lonians,  and  so  the  Romans  did  reckon.  And  of  these 
talents  they  had  subdivisions  which  were  usually  in 
minas  and  drachms  ;  i.  e.,  of  their  talents  into  minas, 
and  their  minas  into  drachms.  The  Hebrews  had, 
besides  these,  their  shekels  and  half-shekels  or  bekas ; 
and  the  Romans  their  denarii ,  which  last  were  very 
nearly  of  the  same  value  with  the  drachms  of  the 
Greeks.  What  was  the  value  of  a  Hebrew  talent  ap¬ 
pears  from  Exod.  xxxviii.  25,  26,  for  there  603,550 
persons  being  taxed  at  half  a  shekel  a  head,  they  must 
have  paid  in  the  whole  301,775  shekels ;  and  that  sum 
is  there  said  to  amount  to  one  hundred  talents,  and 
1775  shekels  over:  if  therefore  we  deduct  the  1775 
shekels  from  the  number  301,775,  and  divide  the  re¬ 
maining  sum,  i.  e.,  300,000,  by  a  hundred,  this  will 
prove  each  of  those  talents  to  contain  three  thousand 
shekels.  Each  of  these  shekels  weighed  about  three 
shillings  of  our  money ;  and  sixty  of  them,  Ezekiel 
tells  us,  chap.  xlv.  12,  made  a  mina  ;  and  therefore 
fifty  of  those  minas  made  a  talent.  And  as  to  their 
drachms,  it  appears  by  the  Gospel  of  St.  Matthew  that 
it  was  the  fouth  part  of  a  shekel,  that  is,  nine-pence 
of  our  money.  For  there  (chap.  xvii.  24)  the  tribute 
money  annually  paid  to  the  temple,  by  every  Jew, 
{Talmud  in  shekalim,)  which  was  half  a  shekel,  is 
called  AApaxyov,  (i.  e.,  the  two  drachm  piece;)  and 
therefore,  if  half  a  shekel  contained  two  drachms,  a 
drachm  must  have  been  the  quarter  part  of  a  shekel, 
and  every  shekel  must  have  contained  four  of  them  : 
and  so  Josephus  tells  us  it  did  ;  for  he  says,  Antiq., 
lib.  iii.,  c.  9,  that  a  shekel  contained/bwr  Attic  drachms, 
which  is  not  exactly  to  be  understood  according  to  the 
loeight,  but  according  to  the  valuation  in  the  currency 
of  common  payments.  For  according  to  the  weight, 
the  heaviest  Attic  drachms  did  not  exceed  eight-pence 
farthing  half -far  thing,  of  our  money  ;  and  a  Hebrew 
drachm,  as  I  have  said,  was  nine-pence ;  but  what  the 
Atiic  drachm  fell  short  of  the  Hebrew  in  weight  might 
be  made  up  in  the  fineness,  and  its  ready  currency  in 
all  countries,  (which  last  the  Hebrew  drachm  could  not 
have,)  and  so  might  be  made  equivalent  in  common 
estimation  among  the  Jews.  Allowing  therefore  a 
drachm,  as  w’ell  Attic  as  Jewish,  as  valued  in  Judea, 
U)  be  equivalent  to  nine-pence  of  our  money,  a  beka 
or  half  shekel  will  be  one  shilling  and  six-pence  ;  a 

a 


shekel,  three  shillings  ;  a  mina,  nine  pounds ;  and  a 
talent,  four  hundred  and  fifty  pounds.  So  it  was 
in  the  time  of  Moses  and  Ezekiel ;  and  so  was  it  in  the 
time  of  Josephus  among  that  people,  for  he  tells  us, 
Antiq.,  lib.  xiv.,  c.  12,  that  a  Hebrew  mina  contained 
two  litras  and  a  half,  which  comes  exactly  to  nine 
pounds  of  our  money  :  for  a  lilra,  being  the  same  with 
a  Roman  libra,  contained  twelve  ounces  troy  weight, 
that  is,  ninety-six  drachms ;  and  therefore  two  litras 
and  a  half  must  contain  two  hundred  and  forty 
drachms ,  which  being  estimated  at  nine-pence  a 
drachm,  according  to  the  Jewish  valuation,  comes  ex¬ 
actly  to  sixty  shekels,  or  nine  pounds  of  our  money. 
And  this  account  agrees  exactly  with  that  of  Alexan¬ 
dria.  For  the  Alexandrian  talent  contained  12,000 
Attic  drachms;  and  12,000  Attic  drachms,  according 
to  the  Jewish  valuation,  being  12,000  of  our  nine- 
pences,  they  amount  to  450  pounds  of  sterling  money, 
which  is  the  same  in  value  as  the  Mosaic  talent.  But 
here  it  is  to  be  observed,  that  though  the  Alexandrian 
talent  amounted  to  12,000  Attic  drachms,  yet  they 
themselves  reckoned  it  but  at  6000  drachms,  because 
every  Alexandrian  drachm  contained  two  Attic 
drachms ;  and  therefore  the  Septuagint  version  being 
made  by  the  Alexandrian  Jews,  they  there  render  the 
Hebrew  word  shekel,  by  the  Greek  SApaxyov,  which 
signifies  two  drachms,  because  two  Alexandrian  drachms 
make  a  shekel,  two  of  them  amounting  to  as  much  as 
four  Attic  drachms.  And  therefore,  computing  the 
Alexandria n  money  according  to  the  same  method  in 
which  we  have  computed  the  Jewish,  it  will  be  as 
follows  :  One  drachm  of  Alexandria  will  be  of  our 
money  eighteen  pence ;  one  didrachm  or  shekel,  con¬ 
sisting  of  two  drachms  of  Alexandria,  or  four  of  Attica, 
will  be  three  shillings ;  one  mina,  consisting  of  sixty 
didrachms  or  shekels ,  will  be  nine  pounds  ;  and  one 
talent,  consisting  of  fifty  minas,  will  be  four  hundrea 
and  fifty  pounds,  which  is  the  talent  of  Moses,  Exod. 
xxxviii.  25,  26  :  and  so  also  is  it  the  talent  of  Jose¬ 
phus,  Antiq.,  lib.  iii.,  c.  7  ;  for  he  tells  us  that  a  He¬ 
brew  talent  contained  one  hundred  Greek  (i.  e.,  Attic) 
minas.  For  those  fifty  minas,  which  here  make  an 
Alexandrian  talent,  would  be  one  hundred  Attic  minas 
in  the  like  method  of  valuation ;  the  Alexandrian 
talent  containing  double  as  much  as  the  Attic  talent, 
both  in  the  whole,  and  also  in  all  its  parts,  in  what¬ 
ever  method  both  shall  be  equally  distributed.  Among 
the  Greeks  the  established  rule  was,  Jul.  Polluc. 
Onomast.,  lib.  x.,  c.  6,  that  one  hundred  drachms 
made  a  mina,  and  sixty  minas  a  talent.  But  in  some 
different  states  their  drachms  being  different,  accord¬ 
ingly  their  minas  and  talents  were  within  the  same 
proportion  different  also.  But  the  money  of  Attica 
was  the  standard  by  which  all  the  rest  were  valued, 
according  as  they  more  or  less  differed  from  it.  And 
therefore,  it  being  of  most  note,  wherever  any  Greek 
historian  speaks  of  talents,  minas,  or  drachms,  if  they 
be  simply  mentioned,  it  is  to  be  always  understood  of 

485 


EXODUS. 


The  amount  of  silver 


contributed  by  the  people . 


a.  M.  2514.  25  And  the  silver  of  them  that 

Ail  ExodAsr.  l.  were  numbered  of  the  congrega- 
Tisn  to  Adar.  ^on  was  a  hundred  talents,  and  a 


thousand  seven  hundred  and  three¬ 
score  and  fifteen  shekels,  after  the 
shekel  of  the  sanctuary  : 


A.  M.  2514. 

B.  C.  1490. 
An.  Exod.  Isr.  1. 

Tisri  to  Adar. 


talents,  minas,  or  drachms  of  Attica ,  and  never  of  the 
talents,  minas,  or  drachms  of  any  other  place,  unless 
it  be  expressed.  Mr.  Brerewood,  going  by  the  gold¬ 
smith’s  weights,  reckons  an  Attic  drachm  to  be  the 
same  with  a  drachm  now  in  use  in  their  shops,  that  is, 
the  eighth  part  of  an  ounce ;  and  therefore  lays  it  at 
the  value  of  seven-pence  halfpenny  of  our  money,  or 
the  eighth  part  of  a  crown ,  which  is  or  ought  to  be  an 
ounce  weight.  But  Dr.  Bernard ,  going  more  accu¬ 
rately  to  work,  lays  the  middle  sort  of  Attic  drachms 
at  eight-pence  farthing  of  our  money,  and  the  minas 
and  talents  accordingly,  in  the  proportions  above  men¬ 
tioned.  The  Babylonish  talent,  according  to  Pollux , 
Onomast.,  lib.  x.,  c.  6,  contained  seven  thousand  of 
those  drachms.  The  Roman  talent  (see  Festus  Pom- 
peius )  contained  seventy-two  Italic  minas,  which  were 
the  same  with  the  Roman  libras  ;  and  ninety-six  Ro¬ 
man  denarius  es,  each  being  of  the  value  of  seven-pence 
halfpenny  of  our  money,  made  a  Roman  libra.  But 
all  the  valuations  I  have  hitherto  mentioned  must  be 
understood  only  of  silver  money ,  and  not  of  gold ;  for 
that  was  much  higher.  The  proportion  of  gold  to 
silver  was  among  the  ancients  commonly  as  ten  to 
one ;  sometimes  it  was  raised  to  be  as  eleven  to  one, 
sometimes  as  twelve,  and  sometimes  as  thirteen  to  one. 
In  the  time  of  King  Edivard  the  First  it  was  here,  in 
England,  at  the  value  of  ten  to  one ;  but  it  is  now 
gotten  at  sixteen  to  one,  and  so  I  value  it  in  all  the 
reductions  which  I  make  in  this  history  of  ancient 
sums  to  the  present  value.  But  to  make  the  whole 
of  this  matter  the  easier  to  the  reader,  I  will  lay  all 
of  it  before  him  for  his  clear  view  in  this  following 
table  of  valuations  : — 


Hebrew  money.  £  s.  d. 

A  Hebrew  drachm  ------  9 

Two  drachms  made  a  belta  or  half-she¬ 
kel,  which  was  the  tribute  money 
paid  by  every  Jew  to  the  temple  -  16 

Two  bekas  made  a  shekel  -  -  -  -  3  0 

Sixty  shekels  made  a  mina  -  -  -  9  0  0 

Fifty  minas  made  a  talent  -  -  -  450  0  0 

A  talent  of  gold,  sixteen  to  one  -  -  7200  0  0 

Attic  money,  according  to  Mr.  Brerewood. 

An  Attic  drachm  -  --  --  -  7^ 

A  hundred  drachms  made  a  mina  -  3  2  6 

Sixty  minas  made  a  talent  -  -  -  -  187  10  0 

A  talent  of  gold,  sixteen  to  one  -  -  3000  0  0 


Attic  money ,  according  to  Dr.  Bernard. 


An  Attic  drachm  -  --  --  -  8]- 

A  hundred  drachms  made  a  mina  -  -  3  8  9 

Sixty  minas  made  a  talent  -  -  -  206  5  0 

A  talent  of  gold,  sixteen  to  one  -  -  3300  0  0 

Babylonish  money ,  according  to  Mr.  Brerewood. 
A  Babylonish  talent  of  silver  contain¬ 
ing  seven  thousand  Attic  drachms  218  15  0 

A  Babylonish  talent  in  gold,  sixteen 

to  one .  3500  0  0 


Babylonish  money,  according  to  Dr.  Bernard. 

A  Babylonish  talent  in  silver  -  -  -£240  12  6 

A  Babylonish  talent  in  gold,  sixteen 

to  one  --------  3850  0  0 

Alexandrian  money. 

A  drachm  of  Alexandria,  containing  two 

Attic  drachms,  as  valued  by  the  Jews  1  6 

A  didrachm  of  Alexandria,  containing 
two  Alexandrian  drachms,  which 
was  a  Hebrew  shekel  -  -  -  -  3  0 

Sixty  didrachms  or  Hebrew  shekels 

made  a  mina  -------  900 

Fifty  minas  made  a  talent-  -  -  -  450  0  0 

A  talent  of  gold,  sixteen  to  one  -  -  7200  0  0 

Roman  money. 

Four  sesterciuses  made  a  Roman  de¬ 
narius  -------- 

Ninety-six  Roman  denariuses  made  an 
Italic  mina ,  which  was  the  same 
with  a  Roman  libra  -  -  -  - 

Seventy-two  Roman  libras  made  a  talent  216  0  0” 

See  the  Old  and  New  Testament  connected,  &c. 
Yol.  i.,  preface,  pp.  xx -xxvii. 

There  were  twenty-nine  talents  seven  hundred  and 
thirty  shekels  of  gold  ;  one  hundred  talents  one  thou¬ 
sand  seven  hundred  and  seventy-five  shekels  of  silver  ; 
and  seventy  talents  two  thousand  four  hundred  shekels 
of  BRASS. 

If  with  Dean  Prideaux  we  estimate  the  value  of  the 
silver  shekel  at  three  shillings  English,  we  shall  obtain 
the  weight  of  the  shekel  by  making  use  of  the  follow¬ 
ing  proportion.  As  sixty-two  shillings ,  the  value  of  a 
pound  weight  of  silver  as  settled  by  the  British  laws, 
is  to  two  hundred  and  forty ,  the  number  of  penny¬ 
weights  in  a  pound  troy ,  so  is  three  shillings,  the  value 
of  a  shekel  of  silver,  to  11  dwts.  1 4ff  grains,  the 
weight  of  the  shekel  required. 

In  the  next  place,  to  find  the  value  of  a  shekel  of 
gold  we  must  make  use  of  the  proportion  following  : 
As  one  ounce  troy  is  to  31.  Us.  10 %d.,  the  legal  value 
of  an  ounce  of  gold,  so  is  11  dwts.  14ff  grains,  the 
weight  of  the  shekel  as  found  by  the  last  proportion, 
to  21.  5s.  2\  -g-fdf.,  the  value  of  the  shekel  of  gold  re¬ 
quired.  From  this  datum  we  shall  soon  be  able  to  as¬ 
certain  the  value  of  all  the  gold  employed  in  the  work 
of  this  holy  place,  by  the  following  arithmetical  pro¬ 
cess  :  Reduce  21.  5s.  2\  ||<f.  to  the  lowest  term  men¬ 
tioned,  which  is  201,852  ninety-third  parts  of  a  far¬ 
thing.  Multiply  this  last  number  by  3000,  the  number 
of  shekels  in  a  talent,  and  the  product  by  29,  the  num¬ 
ber  of  talents  ;  and  add  in  730  times  201,852,  on  ac¬ 
count  of  the  730  shekels  which  were  above  the  £9 
talents  employed  in  the  work,  and  we  shall  have  for 
the  last  product  17,708,475,960,  which,  divided  suc¬ 
cessively  by  93,  4,  12,  and  20,  will  give  198,347/. 
12^.  6d.  for  the  total  value  of  the  gold  employed  in  the 
tabernacle,  &c. 

The  value  of  the  silver  contributed  by  603,550 
Israelites,  at  half  a  shekel  or  eighteen  pence  per  man, 

a 


n 

3  0  0 


486 


Bezaleel  makes  the 


CHAP.  XXXIX. 


A.  M.  2514.  26  1  A.  bekah  for  m  every  man, 

An.  Exod.  isr.  l.  that  is ,  half  a  shekel,  after  the 
l  isn  to  Adar.  s}iekel  0f  the  sanctuary,  for  every 

one  that  went  to  be  numbered,  from  twenty 
years  old  and  upward,  for  n  six  hundred  thou¬ 
sand,  and  three  thousand,  and  five  hundred  and 
fifty  men. 

27  And  of  the  hundred  talents  of  silver  were 
cast  0  the  sockets  of  the  sanctuary,  and  the 
sockets  of  the  veil ;  a  hundred  sockets  of  the 
hundred  talents,  a  talent  for  a  socket. 

28  And  of  the  thousand  seven  hundred 
seventy  and  five  shekels  he  made  hooks  for 

1  Chap.  xxx.  13, 15. - m  Heb.  a  poll. - nNum.  i.  46. - 0  Chap. 

may  be  found  by  an  easy  arithmetical  calculation  to 
amount  to  45,266/.  5s. 

The  value  of  the  brass  at  Is.  per  pound  will  amount 
to  513/.  17s. 

The  gold  of  the  holy  place  weighed  4245  pounds. 
The  silver  of  the  tabernacle  14,602  pounds. 

The  brass  10,277  pounds  troy  weight. 

The  total  value  of  all  the  gold ,  silver ,  and  brass  of 
the  tabernacle  will  consequently  amount  to  244,127/. 
1 4s  6d.  And  the  total  iveight  of  all  these  three  metals 
amounts  to  29,124  pounds  troy,  which,  reduced  to 
avoirdupois  weight,  is  nearly  ten  tons  and  a  half. 
When  all  this  is  considered,  besides  the  quantity  of 
gold  which  was  employed  in  the  golden  calf,  and  which 
was  all  destroyed,  it  is  no  wonder  that  the  sacred  text 
should  say  the  Hebrews  spoiled  the  Egyptians,  parti¬ 
cularly  as  in  those  early  times  the  precious  metals  were 
probabty  not  very  plentiful  in  Egypt. 

Verse  26.  A  bekah  for  every  man]  The  Hebrew 
word  yj p 2  beka,  fr om  baka,  to  divide,  separate  into 

two,  seems  to  signify,  not  a  particular  coin,  but  a  shekel 
broken  or  cut  in  two ;  so,  anciently,  our  farthing  was 
a  penny  divided  in  the  midst  and  then  subdivided,  so 
that  each  division  contained  the  fourth  part  of  the 


clothes  of  service ,  tyc 

the  pillars,  and  overlaid  their  chap-  A.  M.  2514. 

r  ,  ,  .  1  B.C.  1490. 

iters,  and  filleted  tfiem.  An.  Exod.  isr.  1. 

29  And  the  brass  of  the  offering  1  lsrl  t0  Adar‘ 
teas  seventy  talents,  and  two  thousand  and 
four  hundred  shekels. 

30  And  therewith  he  made  the  sockets  to 
the  door  of  the  tabernacle  of  the  congregation, 
and  the  brazen  altar,  and  the  brazen  grate  for 
it,  and  all  the  vessels  of  the  altar. 

3  1  And  the  p  sockets  of  the  court  round  about, 
and  the  sockets  of  the  court  gate,  and  all  the 
pins  of  the  tabernacle,  and  all  the  pins  of  the 
court  round  about. 


xxvi.  19,  21,  25,  32. - p  Chap.  xxvi.  37;  chap,  xxvii.  10,  17. 

penny  ;  hence  its  name  fourthing  or  fourthling,  since 
corrupted  into  farthing. 

There  appear  to  be  three  particular  reasons  why 
much  riches  should  be  employed  in  the  construction 
of  the  tabernacle,  &c.  1.  To  impress  the  people’s 

minds  with  the  glory  and  dignity  of  the  Divine  Ma¬ 
jesty,  and  the  importance  of  his  service.  2.  To  take 
out  of  their  hands  the  occasion  of  covetousness  ;  for 
as  they  brought  much  spoils  out  of  Egypt,  and  could 
have  little  if  any  use  for  gold  and  silver  in  the  wilder¬ 
ness,  where  it  does  not  appear  that  they  had  much  in¬ 
tercourse  with  any  other  people,  and  wrere  miraculously 
supported,  so  that  they  did  not  need  their  riches,  it  was 
right  to  employ  that  in  the  worship  of  God  which  other¬ 
wise  might  have  engendered  that  love  which  is  the 
root  of  all  evil.  3.  To  prevent  pride  and  vain-glory, 
by  leading  them  to  give  up  to  the  Divine  service  even 
the  ornaments  of  their  persons,  which  would  have  had 
too  direct  a  tendency  to  divert  their  minds  from  better 
things.  Thus  God’s  worship  was  rendered  august  and 
respectable,  incitements  to  sin  and  low  desires  removed, 
and  the  people  instructed  to  consider  nothing  valuable, 
but  as  far  as  it  might  be  employed  to  the  glory  and  in 
the  service  of  God. 


CHAPTER  XXXIX. 

Bezaleel  makes  the  clothes  of  service  for  the  holy  place,  and  the  holy  garments,  1.  The  ephod,  2.  Gold  is 
beaten  into  plates,  and  cut  into  wires  for  embroidery ,  3.  He  makes  the  shoulder-pieces  of  the  ephod,  4. 
The  curious  girdle,  5.  Cuts  the  onyx  stones/or  the  shoulder-pieces ,  6.  Makes  the  breastplate,  its  chains, 
ouches,  rings,  Spc.,  7-21.  The  robe  of  the  ephod,  22-26.  Coats  of  fine  linen,  27.  The  mitre,  28. 
The  girdle,  29.  The  plate  of  the  holy  crown,  30,  31.  The  completion  of  the  work  of  the  tabernacle ,  32. 
All  the  work  is  brought  unto  Moses,  33-41.  Moses ,  having  examined  the  whole,  finds  every  thing  done 
as  the  Lord  had  commanded ,  in  consequence  of  which  he  blesses  the  people ,  42,  43. 


A.  M.  2514.  Anb  of  a  the  blue,  and  pur- 

An.  Exod.  isr.  l.  pie,  and  scarlet,  they  made 
Tisn  to  Adar.  b  defies  of  service,  to  do  sendee 

a  Chap.  xxxv.  23. - b  Chap.  xxxi.  10  ;  xxxv,  19. 

NOTES  ON  CHAP.  XNXIX. 

Verse  1.  Blue ,  and  purple,  and  scarlet ]  See  this 
subject  largely  explained  in  the  notes  on  chap.  xxv.  4. 

a 


in  the  holy  place,  and  made  the  A.  M.  2514. 

J  1  ’  B.  C.  1490. 

holy  garments  for  Aaron ;  c  as  the  An.  Exod. isr.  1. 

Lord  commanded  Moses.  .  Tisn  to  Adar. 

c  Chap,  xxviii.  4. 

Verse  2.  Ephod]  See  this  described,  chap.  xxv.  7. 
Verse  3.  They  did  beat  the  gold  into  thin  plates] 
For  the  purpose,  as  it  is  supposed,  of  cutting  it  into 

487 


EXODUS. 


Of  the  ephod,  breastplate ,  and 

a.  M.  2514.  2  d  And  he  made  the  ephod  of 

An.  Exod.  Isr.  l.  gold,  blue,  and  purple,  and  scar- 
Tisn to  Adar-  let,  and  fine  twined  linen. 

3  And  they  did  beat  the  gold  into  thin  plates, 
and  cut  it  into  wires,  to  work  it  in  the  blue, 
and  in  the  purple,  and  in  the  scarlet,  and  in 
the  fine  linen,  with  cunning  work. 

4  They  made  shoulder-pieces  for  it,  to  couple 
it  together  :  by  the  two  edges  was  it  coupled 
together. 

5  And  the  curious  girdle  of  his  ephod,  that 
teas  upon  it,  was  of  the  same,  according  to  the 
work  thereof ;  of  gold,  blue,  and  purple,  and 
scarlet,  and  fine  twined  linen ;  as  the  Lord 
commanded  Moses. 

6  e  And  they  wrought  onyx  stones  inclosed  in 
ouches  of  gold,  graven,  as  signets  are  graven, 
with  the  names  of  the  children  of  Israel. 

7  And  he  put  them  on  the  shoulders  of  the 
ephod,  that  they  should  be  stones  for  a  f  me¬ 
morial  to  the  children  of  Israel ;  as  the  Lord 
commanded  Moses. 

8  sr  And  he  made  the  breastplate  of  cunning 
work,  like  the  work  of  the  ephod  ;  of  gold,  blue, 
and  purple,  and  scarlet,  and  fine  twined  linen. 

9  It  was  four-square  ;  they  made  the  breast¬ 
plate  double  :  a  span  was  the  length  thereof, 
and  a  span  the  breadth  thereof,  being  doubled. 

10  h  And  they  set  in  it  four  rows  of  stones ; 
the  first  row  was  a  1  sardius,  a  topaz,  and  a 
carbuncle  :  this  was  the  first  row. 

1 1  And  the  second  row,  an  emerald,  a  sap¬ 
phire,  and  a  diamond. 

12  And  the  third  row,  a  figure,  an  agate, 
and  an  amethyst. 

13  And  the  fourth  row,  a  beryl,  an  onyx, 
and  a  jasper  :  they  were  inclosed  in  ouches  of 
gold  in  their  inclosings. 

14  And  the  stones  were  according  to  the 
names  of  the  children  of  Israel,  twelve,  accord- 

d  Chap,  xxviii.  6. - e  Chap,  xxviii.  9. - f  Chap,  xxviii.  12. 

s  Chap,  xxviii.  15. 

toires  (D^TD)  or  threads ;  for  to  twist  or  twine  is  the 
common  acceptation  of  the  root  pathal.  I  cannot 
suppose  that  the  Israelites  had  not  then  the  art  of 
making  gold  thread ,  as  they  possessed  several  orna¬ 
mental  arts  much  more  difficult  :  but  in  the  present 
instance,  figures  made  in  a  more  solid  form  than  that 
which  could  have  been  effected  by  gold  thread ,  might 
have  been  required. 

Verse  6.  Onyx  stones]  Possibly  the  Egyptian 
■pebble.  See  chap.  xxv.  7,  and  xxviii.  17,  &c. 

Verse  8.  Breastplate]  See  on  chap,  xxviii,  18, 

488 


the  four  rows  of  precious  stones* 

mg  to  their  names,  like  the  en-  A.  M.  2514. 
gravmgs  01  a  signet,  every  one  An.  Exod.  Isr.  1 
with  his  name,  according  to  the  TiSri  tQ  Adar- 
twelve  tribes. 

1 5  And  they  made  upon  the  breastplate  chains 
at  the  ends,  of  wreathen  work  of  pure  gold. 

1 6  And  they  made  two  ouches  of  gold,  and 
two  gold  rings,  and  put  the  two  rings  in  the 
two  ends  of  the  breastplate. 

17  And  they  put  the  two  wreathen  chains 
of  gold  in  the  two  rings  on  the  ends  of  the 
breastplate. 

18  And  the  two  ends  of  the  two  wreathen 
chains  they  fastened  in  the  two  ouches,  and 
put  them  on  the  shoulder-pieces  of  the  ephod 
before  it. 

19  And  they  made  two  rings  of  gold,  and 
put  them  on  the  two  ends  of  the  breastplate, 
upon  the  border  of  it,  which  was  on  the  side 
of  the  ephod  inward. 

20  And  they  made  two  other  golden  rings, 
and  put  them  on  the  two  sides  of  the  ephod 
underneath,  toward  the  forepart  of  it,  over 
against  the  other  coupling  thereof,  above  the 
curious  girdle  of  the  ephod. 

2 1  And  they  did  bind  the  breastplate  by  his 
rings  unto  the  rings  of  the  ephod  with  a  lace 
of  blue,  that  it  might  be  above  the  curious 
girdle  of  the  ephod,  and  that  the  breastplate 
might  not  be  loosed  from  the.  ephod;  as  the 
Lord  commanded  Moses. 

22  k  And  he  made  the  robe  of  the  ephod  of 
woven  work,  all  of  blue. 

23  And  there  was  a  hole  in  the  midst  of  the 
robe,  as  the  hole  of  a  habergeon,  with  a  band 
round  about  the  hole,  that  it  should  not  rend. 

24  And  they  made  upon  the  hems  of  the 
robe  pomegranates  of  blue,  and  purple,  and 
scarlet,  and  twined  linen. 

25  And  they  made  1  bells  of  pure  gold,  and 

11  Chap,  xxviii.  17,  &c. - 1  Or,  ruby. - -  k  Chap,  xxviii.  31. 

1  Chap,  xxviii.  33. 

Verse  10.  And  they  set  in  it  four  roivs  of  stones] 
See  all  these  precious  stones  particularly  explained  in 
the  notes  on  chap,  xxviii.  17,  &c. 

Verse  23.  As  the  hole  of  a  habergeon]  The  haber¬ 
geon  or  hauberk  was  a  small  coat  of  mail,  something 
in  form  of  a  half  shirt,  made  of  small  iron  rings 
curiously  united  together.  It  covered  the  neck  and 
breast,  was  very  light,  and  resisted  the  stroke  of  a 
sword.  Sometimes  it  went  over  the  whole  head  as 
well  as  over  the  breast.  This  kind  of  defensive  ar¬ 
mour  was  used  among  the  Asiatics,  particularly  the 


Completion  of  the  work  CHAP. 

A.  M.  2514.  put  the  bells  between  the  pome- 

B.  C.  1490.  r  i  i  r*  i 

An.  Exod.  isr.  i.  granates  upon  the  hem  oi  the 

rxsn  to  Adar.  r0und  aboiit  between  the 

pomegranates ; 

26  A  bell  and  a  pomegranate,  a  bell  and  a 
pomegranate,  round  about  the  hem  of  the  robe 
to  minister  in,  as  the  Lord  commanded  Moses. 

27  m  And  they  made  coats  of  fine  linen  of 
woven  work  for  Aaron,  and  for  his  sons, 

28  11  And  a  mitre  of  fine  linen,  and  goodly 
bonnets  of  fine  linen,  and  0  linen  breeches  of 
fine  twined  linen, 

29  p  And  a  girdle  of  fine  twined  linen,  and 
blue,  and  purple,  and  scarlet,  of  needle-work; 
as  the  Lord  commanded  Moses. 

30  q  And  they  made  the  plate  of  the  holy 
crown  of  pure  gold,  and  wrote  upon  it  a  writ¬ 
ing,  like  to  the  engravings  of  a  signet,  HOLI¬ 
NESS  TO  THE  LORD. 

3 1  And  they  tied  unto  it  a  lace  of  blue,  to 
fasten  it  on  high  upon  the  mitre  ;  as  the  Lord 
commanded  Moses. 

32  Thus  was  all  the  work  of  the  tabernacle 
of  the  tent  of  the  congregation  finished  :  and 
the  children  of  Israel  did  r  according  to  all  that 
the  Lord  commanded  Moses,  so  did  they. 

33  And  they  brought  the  tabernacle  unto 
Moses,  the  tent,  and  all  his  furniture,  his  taches, 
his  boards,  his  bars,  and  his  pillars,  and  his 
sockets, 

34  And  the  covering  of  rams’  skins  dyed  red, 

m  Chap,  xxviii.  39,  40. - n  Chap,  xxviii.  4,  39  ;  Ezek.  xliv. 

18. - 0  Chapter  xxviii.  42. - P  Chap,  xxviii.  39. - 4  Chapter 

xxviii.  36,  37. - r  Ver.  42,  43  ;  chap.  xxv.  40. 

ancient  Persians,  among  whom  it  is  still  worn.  It 
seems  to  have  been  borrowed  from  the  Asiatics  by  the 
Norman  crusaders. 

Verse  30.  The  holy  crown  of  pure  gold ]  On  Asi¬ 
atic  monuments,  particularly  those  that  appear  in  the 
ruins  of  Persepolis  and  on  many  Egyptian  monuments, 
the  priests  are  represented  as  wearing  crowns  or  tiaras , 
and  sometimes  their  heads  are  crowned  with  laurel. 
Cuper  observes,  that  the  priests  and  priestesses,  among 
the  ancient  Greeks,  were  styled  oredavotpopot,  or 
crown-bearers,  because  they  officiated  having  some¬ 
times  crowns  of  gold ,  at  others,  crowns  of  laurel ,  upon 
their  heads. 

Verse  3  2.  Did  according  to  all  that  the  Lord  com¬ 
manded  Moses ]  This  refers  to  the  command  given 
chap.  xxv.  40  ;  and  Moses  has  taken  care  to  repeat 
every  thing  in  the  most  circumstantial  detail,  to  show 
that  he  had  conscientiously  observed  all  the  directions 
he  had  received. 

Verse  37.  The  pure  candlestick ]  See  the  note  on 
chap.  xxv.  31. 

The  lamps  to  be  set  in  order ]  To  be  trimmed  and 

a 


NXXIX.  of  the  tabernacle. 

and  the  covering  of  badgers’  a.  m.  2514. 

°.  0  B  C  1490 

skins,  and  the  veil  of  the  co-  An.  Exod.  isr!  1 

vering,  Tisri  to  Adar. 

35  The  ark  of  the  testimony,  and  the  staves 
thereof,  and  the  mercy-seat, 

36  The  table,  and  all  the  vessels  thereof, 
and  the  shew-bread, 

37  The  pure  candlestick,  with  the  lamps 
thereof,  even  with  the  lamps  to  be  set  in  order, 
and  all  the  vessels  thereof,  and  the  oil  for  light, 

38  And  the  golden  altar,  and  the  anointing 
oil,  and  the  s  sweet  incense,  and  the  hanging 
for  the  tabernacle  door, 

39  The  brazen  altar,  and  his  grate  of  brass,  his 
staves,  and  all  his  vessels,  the  laver  and  his  foot, 

40  The  hangings  of  the  court,  his  pillars, 
and  his  sockets,  and  the  hanging  for  the  court 
gate,  his  cords,  and  his  pins,  and  all  the  ves¬ 
sels  of  the  service  of  the  tabernacle,  for  the 
tent  of  the  congregation, 

4 1  The  clothes  of  service,  to  do  service 
in  the  holy  place ,  and  the  holy  garments  for 
Aaron  the  priest,  and  his  sons’  garments,  to 
minister  in  the  priest’s  office. 

42  According  to  all  that  the  Lord  com¬ 
manded  Moses,  so  the  children  of  Israel  4  made 
all  the  work. 

43  And  Moses  did  look  upon  all  the  work, 
and,  behold,  they  had  done  it  as  the  Lord  had 
commanded,  .even  so  had  they  done  it :  and 
Moses  u  blessed  them. 

s  Heb.  the  incense  of  sweet  spices. - *  Chap.  xxxv.  10. - u  Lev. 

ix.  22,  23  ;  Num.  vi.  23  ;  Josh.  xxii.  6  ;  2  Sam.  vi.  18  ;  1  Kings 
viii.  14 ;  2  Chron.  xxx.  27. 

fresh  oiled  every  day,  for  the  purpose  of  being  lighted 
in  the  evening.  See  the  note  on  chap,  xxvii.  21. 

Verse  43.  And  Moses  did  look  upon  all  the  work ] 
As  being  the  general  superintendent  of  the  whole, 
under  whom  Bezaleel  and  Aholiab  were  employed,  as 
the  other  workmen  were  under  them. 

They  had  done  it  as  the  Lord  had  commanded ] 
Exactly  according  to  the  pattern  which  Moses  received 
from  the  Lord,  and  which  he  laid  before  the  workmen 
to  work  by. 

And  Moses  blessed  them.]  Gave  them  that  praise 
which  was  due  to  their  skill,  diligence,  and  fidelity. 
See  this  meaning  of  the  original  word  in  the  note  on 
Gen.  ii.  3.  See  also  a  fine  instance  of  ancient  cour¬ 
tesy  between  masters  and  their  servants,  in  the  case 
of  Boaz  and  his  reapers,  Ruth  ii.  4.  Boaz  came  from 
Bethlehem,  and  said  to  the  reapers,  The  Lord  be  xoith 
you  !  And  they  answered  him,  The  Lord  bless  thee! 
It  is,  however,  very  probable  that  Moses  prayed  to  God 
in  their  behalf,  that  they  might  be  prospered  in  all  their 
undertakings,  saved  from  every  evil,  and  be  brought 
at  last  to  the  inheritance  that  fadeth  not  away.  This 

489 


Moses  is  commanded  to 


EXODUS. 


blessing  seems  to  have  been  given,  not  only  to  the 
workmen,  but  to  all  the  people.  The  people  con¬ 
tributed  liberally,  and  the  workmen  wrought  faith¬ 
fully,  and  the  blessing  of  God  was  pronounced  up¬ 
on  ALL. 

The  promptitude,  cordiality,  and  despatch  used  in 
this  business  cannot  be  too  highly  commended,  and  are 
worthy  of  the  imitation  of  all  who  are  employed  in 
any  way  in  the  service  of.  God.  The  prospect  of  hav¬ 
ing  God  to  divell  among  them  inflamed  every  heart,  be¬ 
cause  they  well  knew  that  on  this  depended  their  pros¬ 
perity  and  salvation.  They  therefore  hastened  to  build 
him  a  house,  and  they  spared  no  expense  or  skill  to 
make  it,  as  far  as  a  house  made  with  hands  could  be, 
worthy  of  that  Divine  Majesty  who  had  promised  to 
take  up  his  residence  in  it.  This  tabernacle,  like  the 
temple,  was  a  type  of  the  human  nature  of  the  Lord 
Jesus  ;  that  was  a  shrine  not  made  writh  hands,  formed 
by  God  himself,  and  worthy  of  that  fulness  of  the  Deity 
that  dwelt  in  it. 

It  is  scarcely  possible  to  form  an  adequate  opinion 
of  the  riches,  costly  workmanship,  and  splendour  of 
the  tabernacle ;  and  who  can  adequately  conceive  the 
glory  and  excellence  of  that  human  nature  in  which 
the  fulness  of  the  Godhead  bodily  dwelt  1  That  this 
tabernacle  typified  the  human  nature  of  Christ,  and 
the  Divine  shechinah  that  dwelt  in  it  the  Deity  that 
dwelt  in  the  man  Christ  Jesus,  these  words  of  St. 


set  up  the  tabernacle. 

John  sufficiently  prove :  In  the  beginning  was  the 
Word,  and  the  Word  was  with  God ,  and  the  Word 
was  God.  And  the  Word  ivas  made  flesh,  and  dwelt 
among  us,  (eoKr/vueev  ev  made  his  tabernacle 

among  us,)  full  of  grace  and  truth — possessing  the 
true  Urim  and  Thummim ;  all  the  lights  and  perf  ac¬ 
tions,  the  truth  and  the  grace ,  typified  by  the  Mosaic 
economy.  John  i.  1,  14.  And  hence  the  evangelist 
adds,  And  we  beheld  his  glory ;  as  the  Israelites  be¬ 
held  the  glory  of  God  resting  on  the  tabernacle,  so  did 
the  disciples  of  Christ  see  the  Divine  glory  resting  on 
him,  and  showing  itself  forth  in  all  his  words,  spirit , 
and  works.  And  for  what  purpose  was  the  tabernacle 
erected  1  That  God  might  dwell  in  it  among  the  chil¬ 
dren  of  Israel.  And  forwThat  purpose  was  the  human 
nature  of  Christ  so  miraculously  produced  1  That  the 
Godhead  might  dwell  in  it ;  and  that  God  and  man 
might  be  reconciled  through  this  wonderful  economy 
of  Divine  grace,  God  being  in  Christ  reconciling  the 
world  unto  himself,  2  Cor.  v.  19.  And  what  was  im¬ 
plied  by  this  reconciliation  1  The  union  of  the  soul 
with  God,  and  the  indwelling  of  God  in  the  soul. 
Reader,  has  God  yet  filled  thy  tabernacle  with  his 
glory  1  Does  Christ  dwell  in  thy  heart  by  faith  ;  and 
dost  thou  abide  in  him,  bringing  forth  fruit  unto  holi¬ 
ness  1  Then  thy  end  shall  be  eternal  life.  Why 
shouldst  thou  not  go  on  thy  way  rejoicing  with  Christ 
in  thy  heart,  heaven  in  thine  eye,  and  the  world,  the 
devil,  and  the  flesh,  under  thy  feet  ? 


CHAPTER  XL. 

Moses  is  commanded  to  set  up  the  tabernacle,  the  first  day  of  the  first  month  of  the  second  year  of  their 
departure  from  Egypt,  1,2.  The  ark  to  be  put  into  it,  3.  The  table  and  candlestick  to  be  brought  in  also 
with  the  golden  altar,  4,  5.  The  altar  of  burnt- offering  to  be  set  up  before  the  door ,  and  the  laver  between 

the  tent  and  the  altar,  6,  7.  The  court  to  be  set  up,  8.  The  tabernacle  and  Us  utensils  to  be  anointed , 
9—11.  Aaron  and  his  sons  to  be  washed,  clothed ,  and  anointed,  12—15.  All  these  things  are  done 
accordingly,  16.  The  tabernacle  is  erected;  and  all  its  utensils,  <fc.,  placed  in  it  on  the  first  of  the  first 
month  of  the  second  year,  17—33.  The  cloud  covers  the  tent,  and  the  glory  of  the  Lord  fills  the  tabernacle , 
so  that  even  Moses  is  not  able  to  enter ,  34,  35.  When  they  were  to  journey,  the  cloud  ivas  taken  up  ;  when 
to  encamp),  the  cloud  rested  on  the  tabernacle,  36,  37.  A  cloud  by  day  and  a  fire  by  night  was  upon  the 
tabernacle,  in  the  sight  of  all  the  Israelites,  through  the  ivhole  course  of  the  journey ings,  38. 


A.  M.  2514. 

B.  C.  1490. 
An.  Exod.  Isr.  1. 

Tisri  to  Adar. 


AND 


the  Lord  spakf 
Moses,  saying, 


unto 


2  On  the  first  day  of  the  a  first 
month  shalt  thou  set  up  b  the  tabernacle  of 
the  tent  of  the  congregation. 

3  And  c  thou  shalt  put  therein  the  ark  of 


the  testimony,  and  cover  the  ark 
with  the  veil. 

4  And  d  thou  shalt  bring  in  the 


A.  M.  2514. 

B.  C.  1490. 
An.  Exod.  Isr.  1 

Tisri  to  Adar. 


table,  and  e  set  in  order  f  the  things  that  are  to 
be  set  in  order  upon  it ;  s  and  thou  shalt  bring 
in  the  candlestick,  and  light  the  lamps  thereof. 


a  Chap.  xii.  2  ;  xiii.  4. - bVer.  17  ;  ch.  xxvi.  1,  30. - c  Yer. 

21  ;  chap.  xxvi.  33  ;  Num.  iv.  5. - d  Yer.  22  ;  ch.  xxvi.  35. 


e  Ver.  23  ;  chapter  xxv.  30  ;  Lev.  xxiv.  5,  6. - f  Heb.  the  order 

thereof. - s  Yer.  24,  25. 


NOTES  ON  CHAP.  XL. 

Verse  2.  The  first  day  of  the  first  month ]  It  is 
generally  supposed  that  the  Israelites  began  the  work 
of  the  tabernacle  about  the  sixth  month  after  they  had 
left  Egypt ;  and  as  the  work  was  finished  about  the 
end  of  the  first  year  of  their  exodus,  (for  it  was  set 
up  the  first  day  of  the  second  year,)  that  therefore 
they  had  spent  about  six  months  in  making  it  :  so  that 
the  tabernacle  was  erected  one  year  all  but  fifteen 

490 


days  after  they  had  left  Egypt.  Such  a  building, 
with  such  a  profusion  of  curious  and  costly  workman¬ 
ship,  was  never  got  up  in  so  short  a  time.  But  it  was 
the  work  of  the  Lord,  and  the  people  did  service  as 
unto  the  Lord  ;  for  the  people  had  a  mind  to  work. 

Verse  4.  Thou  shalt  bring  in  the  table,  and  set  in 
order  the  things,  <Spcf  That  is,  Thou  shalt  place  the 
twelve  loaves  upon  the  table  in  the  order  before  men¬ 
tioned.  See  the  note  on  chap.  xxv.  30. 

a 


CHAP.  XL. 


The  tabernacle  is  erected , 

a.  M.  25U.  5  h  And  thou  shalt  set.  the  altar 

An.  Exod.  isr.  l.  of  gold  for  the  incense  before  the 

l  isn  to  Adar.  arp  0f  t]ie  testimony,  and  put  the 

hanging  of  the  door  to  the  tabernacle. 

6  And  thou  shalt  set  the  altar  of  the  burnt- 
offering  before  the  door  of  the  tabernacle  of 
the  tent  of  the  congregation. 

7  And  1  thou  shalt  set  the  laver  between  the 
tent  of  the  congregation  and  the  altar,  and 
shalt  put  water  therein. 

8  And  thou  shalt  shut  up  the  court  round  about, 
and  hang  up  the  hanging  at  the  court  gate. 

9  And  thou  shalt  take  the  anointing  oil,  and 
k  anoint  the  tabernacle,  and  all  that  is  therein, 
and  shalt  hallow  it,  and  all  the  vessels  thereof : 
and  it  shall  be  holy. 

1 0  And  thou  shalt  anoint  the  altar  of  the  burnt- 
offering,  and  all  his  vessels,  and  sanctify  the 
altar  :  and  1  it  shall  be  an  altar  m  most  holy. 

1 1  And  thou  shalt  anoint  the  laver  and  his 

foot,  and  sanctify  it.  « 

12  n  And  thou  shalt  bring  Aaron  and  his  sons 
unto  the  door  of  the  tabernacle  of  the  congre¬ 
gation,  and  wash  them  with  water. 

1 3  And  thou  shalt  put  upon  Aaron  the  holy 
garments,  0  and  anoint  him,  and  sanctify  him  ; 
that  he  may  minister  unto  me  in  the  priest’s 
office. 

14  And  thou  shalt  bring  his  sons,  and  clothe 
them  with  coats  : 

h  Verse  26. - 1  Ver.  30  ;  chap.  xxx.  18. - k  Chap.  xxx.  26. 

1  Chap.  xxix.  36,  37. - mHeb.  holiness  of  holinesscs. - n  Lev. 

viii.  1-13. 

Verse  15.  For  their  anointing  shall  surely  be  an 
everlasting  priesthood ]  By  this  anointing  a  right 
was  given  to  Aaron  and  his  family  to  be  high  priests 
among  the  Jews  for  ever  ;  so  that  all  who  should  be 
born  of  this  family  should  have  a  right  to  the  priest¬ 
hood  without  the  repetition  of  this  unction,  as  they 
should  enjoy  this  honour  in  their  father’s  right,  who 
had  it  by  a  particular  grant  from  God.  But  it  appears 
that  the  bi^  priest,  on  his  consecration,  did  receive 
the  holy  unction;  see  Lev.  iv.  3;  vi.  22;  xxi.  10. 
And  this  continued  till  the  destruction  of  the  first  tem¬ 
ple,  and  the  Babylonish  captivity  ;  and  according  to 
Eusebius,  Cyril  .of  Jerusalem,  and  others,  this  custom 
continued  among  the  Jews  to  the  advent  of  our  Lord, 
after  which  there  is  no  evidence  it  was  ever  practised. 
See  Calmet’s  note  on  chap.  xxix.  7.  The  Jewish  high 
priest  was  a  type  of  Llim  who  is  called  the  high  priest 
over  the  house  of  God,  Heb.  x.  2 1 ;  and  when  he  came, 
the  functions  of  the  other  necessarily  ceased.  This 
case  is  wrorthy  of  observation.  The  Jewdsh  sacrifices 
were  never  resumed  after  the  destruction  of  their  city 
and  temple,  for  they  hold  it  unlawful  to  sacrifice  any. 
where  out  of  Jerusalem ;  and  the  unction  of  their  high 


and  its  utensils  placed  in  it 

15  And  thou  shalt  anoint  them,  A.  M.  2514. 
as  thou  didst  anoint  their  father,  An.  Exod.  isr.  1. 
that  they  may  minister  unto  me  Tlsn  to  Adar' 
in  the  priest’s  office  :  for  their  anointing  shall 
surely  be  p  an  everlasting  priesthood  through¬ 
out  their  generations. 

16  Thus  did  Moses  :  according  to  all  that 
the  Lord  commanded  him,  so  did  he. 

1 7  And  it  came  to  pass  in  the  a.  m.  2514. 

~  i-i  1  B.  C.  1490. 

first  month  m  the  second  year,  on  An.  Exod.  isr.  2. 

the  first  day  of  the  month,  that  Ablb  or  Nisan- 

the  ‘i  tabernacle  was  reared  up. 

18  And  Moses  reared  up  the  tabernacle,  and 
fastened  his  sockets,  and  set  up  the  boards 
thereof,  and  put  in  the  bars  thereof,  and  reared 
up  his  pillars. 

19  And  he  spread  abroad  the  tent  over  the 
tabernacle,  and  put  the  covering  of  the  tent 
above  upon  it;  as  the  Lord  commanded  Moses. 

20  And  he  took  and  put  r  the  testimony  into 
the  ark,  and  set  the  staves  on  the  ark,  and  put 
the  mercy-seat  above  upon  the  ark : 

21  And  he  brought  the  ark  into  the  taberna¬ 
cle,  and  s  set  up  the  veil  of  the  covering,  and 
covered  the  ark  of  the  testimony  ;  as  the  Lord 
commanded  Moses. 

22  t  And  he  put  the  table  in  the  tent  of  the 
congregation,  upon  the  side  of  the  tabernacle 
northward  without  the  veil. 

23  u  And  he  set  the  bread  in  order  upon  it 

0  Chap,  xxviii.  41. - PNum.  xxv.  13. - 1  Ver.  1  ;  Num.  vii. 

1. - r  Chap.  xxv.  16. - s  Chap.  xxvi.  33 ;  xxxv.  12. - 4  Chap. 

xxvi.  35. - u  Ver.  4. 

priests  ceased  from  that  period  also  :  and  why  1  Be¬ 
cause  the  true  priest  and  the  true  sacrifice  wrere  come, 
and  the  types  of  course  were  no  longer  necessary  after 
the  manifestation  of  the  antitype. 

Verse  19.  He  spread  abroad  the  tent  over  the  taber¬ 
nacle]  By  the  tent,  in  this  and  several  other  places, 
we  are  to  understand  the  coverings  made  of  rams’ 
skins,  goats’  hair,  &c.,  which  were  thrown  over  the 
building ;  for  the  tabernacle  had  no  other  kind  of  roof. 

Verse  20.  And  put  the  testimony  into  the  ark]  That 
is,  the  two  tables  on  which  the  ten  commandments  had 
been  written.  See  chap.  xxv.  16.  The  ark,  the  golden 
table  with  the  shew-bread,  the  golden  candlestick,  and 
the  golden  altar  of  incense,  were  all  in  the  tabernacle, 
within  the  veil  or  curtains,  which  served  as  a  door,  ver. 
22,  24,  26.  And  the  altar  of  burnt-offering  was  by 
the  door,  ver.  29.  And  the  brazen  laver,  between  the 
tent  of  the  congregation  and  the  brazen  altar,  ver.  30  ; 
still  farther  outward,  that  it  might  be  tli &  first  thing 
the  priests  met  with  when  entering  into  the  court  to 
minister,  as  their  hands  and  feet  must  be  washed  be¬ 
fore  they  could  perform  any  part  of  the  holy  service, 
ver.  31,  32.  When  all  these  things  were  thus  placed, 

491 


EXODUS. 


The  Divine  glory 

a.  M.  2514.  before  the  Lord  ;  as  the  Lord 

An.  Exod.  isr.  2.  had  commanded  Moses. 

Abib  or  Nisan.  24  v  And  b e  put  the  candle¬ 
stick  in  the  tent  of  the  congregation,  over 
against  the  table,  on  the  side  of  the  tabernacle 
southward. 

25  And  w  he  lighted  the  lamps  before  the 
Lord  ;  as  the  Lord  commanded  Moses. 

26  x  And  he  put  the  golden  altar  in  the  tent 
of  the  congregation  before  the  veil : 

27  y  And  he  burnt  sweet  incense  thereon  ;  as 
the  Lord  commanded  Moses. 

28  z  And  he  set  up  the  hanging  at  the  door 
of  the  tabernacle. 

29  a  And  he  put  the  altar  of  burnt-offering 
by  the  door  of  the  tabernacle  of  the  tent  of 
the  congregation,  and  b  offered  upon  it  the 
burnt-offering  and  the  meat-offering ;  as  the 
Lord  commanded  Moses. 

30  c  And  he  set  the  laver  between  the  tent 
of  the  congregation  and  the  altar,  and  put 
water  there,  to  wash  withal. 

3 1  And  Moses,  and  Aaron,  and  his  sons, 
washed  their  hands  and  their  feet  thereat : 

32  When  they  went  into  the  tent  of  the  con- 

v  Chap.  xxvi.  35. - w  Ver.  4;  chap.  xxv.  37. - x  Verse  5  ; 

chap.  xxx.  6. - y  Chap.  xxx.  7. - z  Yer.  5  ;  chapter  xxvi.  36. 

a  Yer.  6. - b  Chap.  xxix.  38,  &c. - c  Yer.  7  ;  chapter  xxx.  18. 

A  Chap.  xxx.  19,  20. - e  Yer.  8  ;  chap,  xxvii.  9,  16. - f  Chap. 

xxix.  43  ;  Lev.  xvi.  2  ;  Numbers  ix.  15  ;  1  Kings  viii.  10,  11  ; 

then  the  court  that  surrounded  the  tabernacle,  which 
consisted  of  posts  and  hangings,  was  set  up,  ver.  33. 

Yerse  34.  Then  a  cloud  covered  the  tent ]  Thus 
God  gave  his  approbation  of  the  work  ;  and  as  this  was 
visible,  so  it  was  a  sign  to  all  the  people  that  Jehovah 
was  among  them. 

And  the  glory  of  the  Lord  filled  the  tabernacle. ] 
How  this  was  manifested  we  cannot  tell ;  it  was  pro¬ 
bably  by  some  light  or  brightness  which  was  insuffer¬ 
able  to  the  sight,  for  Moses  himself  could  not  enter  in 
because  of  the  cloud  and  the  glory,  ver.  35.  Precisely 
the  same  happened  when  Solomon  had  dedicated  his 
temple  ;  for  it  is  said  that  the  cloud  filled  the  house  of 
the  Lord ,  so  that  the  priests  could  not  stand  to  minister 
because  of  the  cloud;  for  the  glory  of  the  Lord  had 
filled  the  house  of  the  Lord ;  1  Kings  viii.  10,  11. 
Previously  to  this  the  cloud  of  the  Divine  glory  had 
rested  upon  that  tent  or  tabernacle  which  Moses  had 
pitched  without  the  camp ,  after  the  transgression  in 
the  matter  of  the  molten  calf ;  but  now  the  cloud  re¬ 
moved  from  that  tabernacle  and  rested  upon  this  one, 
which  was  made  by  the  command  and  under  the  direc¬ 
tion  of  God  himself.  And  there  is  reason  to  believe 
that  this  tabernacle  was  pitched  in  the  centre  of  the 
camp,  all  the  twelve  tribes  pitching  their  different  tents 
in  a  certain  order  around  it. 

Terse  36.  When  the  cloud  was  taken  up]  The 
subject  of  these  three  last  verses  has  been  very  largely 

492 


fills  the  tabernacle. 

gregation,  and  when  they  came  A.  M.  2514. 

near  unto  the  altar,  they  wash-  An.  Exod.  isr.  2. 
ed  ;  d  as  the  Lord  commanded  Abib  or  Nisan. 

Moses. 

33  e  And  he  reared  up  the  court  round  about 
the  tabernacle  and  the  altar,  and  set  up  the 
hanging  of  the  court  gate.  So  Moses  finish¬ 
ed  the  work. 

34  fThen  a  cloud  covered  the  tent  of  the 
congregation,  and  the  glory  of  the  Lord  filled 
the  tabernacle. 

35  And  Moses  s  was  not  able  to  enter  into 
the  tent  of  the  congregation,  because  the  cloud 
abode  thereon ;  and  the  glory  of  the  Lord 
filled  the  tabernacle.  . 

36  h  And  when  the  cloud  was  taken  up  from 
over  the  tabernacle,  the  children  of  Israel  1  went 
onward  in  all  their  journeys  : 

37  But  k  if  the  cloud  were  not  taken  up, 
then  they  journeyed  not  till  the  day  that  it 
was  taken  up. 

38  For  1  the  cloud  of  the  Lord  was  upon 
the  tabernacle  by  day,  and  fire  was  on  it  by 
night,  in  the  sight  of  all  the  house  of  Israel, 
throughout  all  their  journeys. 

2  Chron.  v.  13  ;  vii.  2  ;  Isa.  vi.  4;  Hag.  ii.  7,  9;  Rev.  xv.  8. 

S' Lev.  xvi.  2  ;  1  Kings  viii.  11  ;  2  Chron.  v.  14. - 11  Num.  ix. 

17  ;  x.  11  ;  Neh.  ix.  19. - •'  Heb.  journeyed. - k  Num.  ix.  19-22. 

1  Chap.  xiii.  21  ;  Num.  ix.  15. 

explained  in  the  notes  on  chap.  xiii.  21,  to  which,  as 
well  as  to  the  general  remarks  on  that  chapter,  the 
reader  is  requested  immediately  to  refer. 

Terse  38.  For  the  cloud  of  the  Lord  was  upon  the 
tabernacle  by  day]  This  daily  and  nightly  appearance 
was  at  once  both  a  merciful  providence,  and  a  demon¬ 
strative  proof  of  the  Divinity  of  their  religion  :  and 
these  tokens  continued  with  them  throughout  all  their 
journeys ;  for,  notwithstanding  their  frequently  re¬ 
peated  disobedience  and  rebellion,  God  never  withdrew 
these  tokens  of  his  presence  from  them,  till  they  were 
brought  into  the  promised  land.  When,  therefore,  the 
tabernacle  became  fixed ,  because  the  Israelites  had 
obtained  their  inheritance,  this  mark  of  the  Divine  pre¬ 
sence  was  no  logger  visible  in  the  sight  of  all  Israel, 
but  appears  to  have  been  confined  to  the  holy  of  ho¬ 
lies,  where  it  had  its  fixed  residence  upon  the  mercy- 
seat  between  the  cherubim  ;  and  in  this  place  conti¬ 
nued  till  the  first  temple  was  destroyed,  after  which 
it  was  no  more  seen  in  Israel  till  God  was  manifested 
in  the  flesh. 

As  in  the  book  of  GENESIS  we  have  God’s  own 
account  of  the  commencement  of  the  WORLD,  the 
origin  of  nations,  and  the  peopling  of  the  earth ;  so 
in  the  book  of  EXODUS  we  have  an  account,  from 
the  same  source  of  infallible  truth,  of  the  commence¬ 
ment  of  the  Jeivish  Church,  and  the  means  used  by 

a 


CHAP.  XL. 


Masoretic  notes. 


Concluding  observations. 

the  endless  mercy  of  God  to  propagate  and  continue 
his  pure  and  undefiled  religion  in  the  earth,  against 
which  neither  human  nor  diabolic  power  or  policy  have 
ever  been  able  to  prevail !  The  preservation  of  this 
religion,  which  has  ever  been  opposed  by  the  great 
mass  of  mankind,  is  a  standing  proof  of  its  Divinity. 
As  it  has  ever  been  in  hostility  against  the  corrupt 
passions  of  men,  testifying  against  the  world  that  its 
deeds  were  evil,  these  passions  have  ever  been  in  hos¬ 
tility  to  it.  Cunning  and  learned  men  have  argued  to 
render  its  authority  dubious,  and  its  tendency  suspi¬ 
cious  ;  whole  states  and  empires  have  exerted,  them¬ 
selves  to  the  uttermost  to  oppress  and  destroy  it ;  and 
its  professed  friends,  by  their  conduct,  have  often  be¬ 
trayed  it :  yet  librala  ponderibus  suis ,  supported  by 
the  arm  of  God  and  its  own  intrinsic  excellence,  it 
lives  and  flourishes ;  and  the  river  that  makes  glad 
the  city  of  God  has  run  down  with  the  tide  of  time 
5800  years,  and  is  running  on  with  a  more  copious 
and  diffusive  current. 

Labitur,  et  labetur  in  omne  volubilis  cevum. 

“  Still  glides  the  river,  and  will  ever  glide.” 

We  have  seen  how,  by  the  miraculous  cloud,  all  the 
movements  of  the  Israelites  were  directed.  They 
struck  or  pitched  their  tents,  as  it  removed  or  became 
stationary.  Every  thing  that  concerned  them  was 
under  the  direction  and  management  of  God.  But 
these  things  happened  unto  them  for  ensamples ;  and 
it  is  evident,  from  Isa.  iv.  5,  that  all  these  things  typi¬ 
fied  the  presence  and  influence  of  God  in  his  Church, 
and  in  the  souls  of  his  followers.  His  Church  can 
possess  no  sanctifying  knowledge,  no  quickening  power 
but  from  the  presence  and  influence  of  his  Spirit.  By 
this  influence  all  his  followers  are  taught,  enlightened, 
led,  quickened,  purified,  and  built  up  on  their  most 
holy  faith  ;  and  without  the  indwelling  of  his  Spirit, 
light,  life,  and  salvation  are  impossible.  These  Divine 
influences  are  necessary,  not  only  for  a  time,  but 
through  all  oar  journeys ,  ver.  .38  ;  through  every 
changing  scene  of  providence,  and  through  every  step 
in  life.  And  these  the  followers  of  Christ  are  to  pos¬ 
sess,  not  by  inference  or  inductive  reasoning,  but  con¬ 
sciously.  The  influence  is  to  be  felt ,  and  the  fruits 
of  it  to  appear  as  fully  as  the  cloud  of  the  Lord  by 
day ,  and  the  fire  by  night ,  appeared  in  the  sight  of  all 
the  house  of  Israel.  Reader,  hast  thou  this  Spirit1? 
Are  all  thy  goings  and  comings  ordered  by  its  conti¬ 
nual  guidance  1  Does  Christ,  who  was  represented 
by  this  tabernacle,  and  in  whom  dwelt  all  the  fulness 
of  the  Godhead  bodily ,  dwell  in  thy  heart  by  faith  1 
If  not,  call  upon  God  for  that  blessing  which,  for  the 
sake  of  his  Son,  he  is  ever  disposed  to  impart ;  then 
shalt  thou  be  glorious,  and  on  all  thy  glory  there  shall 
be  a  defence.  Amen,  Amen. 

On  the  ancient  division  of  the  law  into  fifty-four 
sections,  see  the  notes  at  the  end  of  Genesis.  Of 
these  fifty-four  sections  Genesis  contains  twelve  ;  and 
the  commencement  and  ending  of  each  has  been  marked 
in  the  note  already  referred  to.  Of  these  sections 
Exodus  contains  eleven ,  all  denominated,  as  in  the 


former  case,  by  the  words  in  the  original  with  which 
they  commence.  I  shall  point  these  out  as  in  the 
former,  carrying  the  enumeration  from  Genesis. 

The  thirteenth  section,  called  niDtf  shemoth ,  be¬ 
gins  Exod.  i.  1,  and  ends  chap.  vi.  1. 

The  fourteenh,  called  JOX1  vaera ,  begins  chap,  vi, 
2,  and  ends  chap.  ix.  35. 

The  fifteenth,  called  JO  bo,  begins  chap.  x.  1,  and 
ends  chap.  xiii.  16. 

The  sixteenth,  called  nStSO  beshallach ,  begins 
chap.  xiii.  17,  and  ends  chap.  xvii.  16. 

The  seventeenth,  called  mv  yithro ,  begins  chap, 
xviii.  1,  and  ends  chap.  xx.  26. 

The  eighteenth,  called  mishpatim ,  begins 

chap.  xxi.  1,  and  ends  chap.  xxiv.  18. 

The  nineteenth,  called  terumah ,  begins 

chap.  xxv.  2,  and  ends  chap,  xxvii.  19. 

The  twentieth,  called  mSfi  tetsavveh,  begins  chap, 
xxvii.  20,  and  ends  chap.  xxx.  10. 

The  twenty-first,  called  tissa,  begins  chap, 
xxx.  11,  and  ends  chap,  xxxiv.  35. 

The  twenty-second,  called  vaiyakhel ,  begins 

chap.  xxxv.  1,  and  ends  chap,  xxxviii.  20. 

The  twenty-third,  called  mp3  pehudey ,  begins 
chap,  xxxviii.  21,  and  ends  chap.  xl.  38. 

It  will  at  once  appear  to  the  reader  that  these  sec¬ 
tions  have  their  technical  names  from  some  remarkable 
word,  either  in  the  first  or  second  verse  of  their  com¬ 
mencement. 

Masoretic  Notes  on  Exodus, 

Number  of  verses  in  Veelleh  shemoth ,  (Exodus,) 
1209. 

The  symbol  of  this  number  is  ;  N'  aleph  de¬ 

noting  1000,  *1  resh  200,  and  D  teth  9. 

The  middle  verse  is  ver.  28  of  chap.  xxii.  :  Thou 
shalt  not  revile  God,  nor  curse  the  rider  of  thy  people. 

Its  parashioth,  or  larger  sections,  are  11.  The  sym¬ 
bol  of  this  is  the  word  ’N  ei,  Isa.  lxvi.  1  :  Where  is 
the  house  that  ye  will  build  unto  me  ?  In  which  is 
aleph  stands  for  1,  and  1  yod  for  10. 

Its  sedarim  are  29.  The  symbol  of  which  is  taken 
from  Psa.  xix.  3,  HUT  yechavveh:  Night  unto  night 
showeth  forth  knowledge.  In  which  word,  '  yod 
stands  for  10,  H  cheth  for  8,  1  vau  for  6,  and  n  he  for 
5  ;  amounting  to  29. 

Its  pirkey,  perakim,  or  present  chapters,  40.  The 
symbol  of  which  is  13t73  belibbo,  taken  from  Psa. 
xxxvii.  31  :  The  law  of  God  is  in  his  heart.  In  this 
word,  3  beth  stands  for  2,  *7  lamed  for  30,  3  beth  for 
2,  and  1  vau  for  6  ;  amounting  to  40. 

The  open  sections  are  69.  The  close  sections  are 
95.  Total  164.  The  symbol  of  which  is  *ppD'  yisa- 
decha,  from  Psa.  xx.  2  :  Strengthen  thee  out  of 
Zion.  In  which  numerical  word  p  ain  stands  for  70, 
D  samech  for  60, "]  caph  for  20,  ’  yod  for  10,  and  1  da - 
leth  for  4  ;  making  together  164. 

Number  of  words,  16513  ;  of  letters,  63467. 

But  on  these  subjects,  important  to  some,  and  tri¬ 
fling  to  others,  see  what  is  said  in  the  concluding  note 
on  Genesis. 


a 


493 


Dr.  Shaw's  remarks  on  the 


EXODUS. 


travels  of  the  Israelites . 


ADDITIONAL  OBSERVATIONS  ON  THE  TRAVELS  OF  THE  ISRAELITES  THROUGH 

THE  WILDERNESS. 


In  the  preceding  notes  I  have  had  frequent  occa¬ 
sion  to  refer  to  Dr.  Shaw’s  account  of  the  different 
stations  of  the  Israelites,  of  which  I  promised  an  ab¬ 
stract  in  this  place.  This  will  doubtless  be  acceptable 
to  every  reader  who  knows  that  Dr.  Shaw  travelled 
over  the  same  ground,  and  carefully,  in  person,  noted 
every  spot  to  which  reference  is  made  in  the  preced¬ 
ing  chapters. 

After  having  endeavoured  to  prove  that  Goshen 
was  that  part  of  the  Heliopolitan  Nomos,  or  of  the 
land  of  Rameses,  which  lay  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
Kairo ,  Matta-reah ,  and  Bishbesh ,  and  that  Cairo  might 
be  Rameses,  the  capital  of  the  district  of  that  name, 
where  the  Israelites  had  their  rendezvous  before  they 
departed  out  of  Egypt,  he  takes  up  the  text  and  pro¬ 
ceeds  thus  : — 

“  Now,  lest  peradventure  (chap.  xiii.  17)  when  the 
Hebrews  saw  roar  they  should  repent  and  return  to 
Egypt,  God  did  not  lead  them  through  the  way  of  the 
land  of  the  Philistines ,  (viz.,  either  by  Heroopolis  in  the 
midland  road,  or  by  Bishbesh ,  Tineh ,  and  so  along  the 
scacoast  towards  Gaza  and  Ascalon,)  although  that 
was  the  nearest,  but  he  led  them  about  through  the 
way  of  the  wilderness  of  the  Red  Sea.  There  are  ac¬ 
cordingly  two  roads  through  which  the  Israelites  might 
have  been  conducted  from  Kairo  to  Pihahhiroth ,  on  the 
banks  of  the  Red  Sea.  One  of  them  lies  through  the 
valleys,  as  they  are  now  called,  of  Jendily,  Rumeleah, 
and  Baideah,  bounded  on  each  side  by  the  mountains 
of  the  lower  Thebais.  The  other  lies  higher,  having 
the  northern  range  of  these  mountains  (the  mountains 
of  Mocaltee)  running  parallel  with  it  on  the  right  hand, 
and  the  desert  of  the  Egyptian  Arabia ,  which  lies  all 
the  way  open  to  the  land  of  the  Philistines ,  on  the 
left.  About  the  middle  of  this  range  we  may  turn 
short  upon  our  right  hand  into  the  valley  of  Baideah 
through  a  remarkable  breach  or  discontinuation,  in 
which  we  afterwards  continued  to  the  very  bank  of 
the  Red  Sea.  Suez,  a  small  city  upon  the  northern 
point  of  it,  at  the  distance  of  thirty  hours  or  ninety 
Roman  miles  from  Kairo,  lies  a  little  to  the  northward 
of  the  promontory  that  is  formed  by  this  same  range 
of  mountains,  called  at  present  Attackah,  as  that  which 
bounds  the  valley  of  Baideah  to  the  southward  is  called 
Gewoubee. 

“  This  road  then  through  the  valley  of  Baideah, 
which  is  some  hours  longer  than  the  other  open  road 
which  leads  us  directly  from  Kairo  to  Suez,  was,  in 
all  probability,  the  very  road  which  the  Israelites  took 
to  Pihahhiroth,  on  the  banks  of  the  Red  Sea.  Jose¬ 
phus  then,  and  other  authors  who  copy  after  him, 
seem  to  be  too  hasty  in  making  the  Israelites  perform 
this  journey  of  ninety  or  one  hundred  Roman  miles  in 
three  days,  by  reckoning  each  of  the  stations  that  are 
recorded  for  one  day.  Whereas  the  Scriptures  are 
altogether  silent  with  regard  to  the  time  or  distance, 
recording  the  stations  only.  The  fatigue,  likewise, 
would  have  been  abundantly  too  great  for  a  nation  on 
foot,  encumbered  with  their  dough,  their  kneading- 
troughs,  their  little  children  and  cattle ,  to  walk  at  the 

494 


rate  of  thirty  Roman  miles  a  day.  Another  instance 
of  the  same  kind  occurs  chap,  xxxiii.  9,  where  Elim 
is  mentioned  as  the  next  station  after  Mar  ah ,  though 
Elim  and  Marah  are  farther  distant  from  each  other 
than  Kairo  is  from  the  Red  Sea.  Several  interme¬ 
diate  stations,  therefore,  as  well  here  as  in  other  places, 
were  omitted,  the  holy  penman  contenting  himself  with 
laying  down  such  only  as  were  the  most  remarkable, 
or  attended  with  some  notable  transaction.  Succoth , 
then,  the  first  station  from  Rameses,  signifying  only  a 
place  of  tents,  may  have  no  fixed  situation,  being  pro¬ 
bably  nothing  more  than  some  considerable  Dou-war 
of  the  Ishmaelites  or  Arabs,  such  as  we  still  meet  with 
at  fifteen  or  twenty  miles’  distance  from  Kairo,  in  the 
road  to  the  Red  Sea.  The  rendezvous  of  the  caravan 
which  conducted  us  to  Suez  was  at  one  of  these  Dou- 
wars;  at  the  same  time  we  sawr  another  at  about  six 
miles’  distance,  under  the  mountains  of  Mocattee,  or  in 
the  very  same  direction  which  the  Israelites  may  be 
supposed  to  have  taken  in  their  marches  from  Goshen 
towards  the  Red  Sea. 

“  That  the  Israelites,  before  they  turned  towards 
Pihahhiroth,  had  travelled  in  an  open  country,  (the 
same  way,  perhaps,  which  their  forefathers  had  taken 
in  coming  into  Egypt,)  appears  to  be  farther  illustrated 
from  the  following  circumstance  :  that  upon  their  being 
ordered  to  remove  from  the  edge  of  the  wilderness, 
and  to  encamp  before  Pihahhiroth,  it  immediately  fol¬ 
lows  that  Pharaoh  should  then  say,  they  are  entangled 
in  the  land,  the  wilderness  (betwixt  the  mountains  we 
may  suppose  of  Gewoubee  and  Attackah)  hath  shut 
them  in,  chap.  xiv.  3,  or,  as  it  is  in  the  original,  ("UD 
sagar ,)  viam  illis  clausit,  as  that  word  is  explained  by 
Pagninus ;  for  in  these  circumstances  the  Egyptians 
might  well  imagine  that  the  Israelites  could  have  no 
possible  way  to  escape,  inasmuch  as  the  mountains  of 
Gewoubee  would  stop  their  flight  or  progress  to  the 
southward,  as  the  mountains  of  Attackah  would  do  the 
same  towards  the  land  of  the  Philistines ;  the  Red 
Sea  likewise  lay  before  them  to  the  east,  whilst  Pha¬ 
raoh  closed  up  the  valley  behind  them  with  his  chariots 
and  horsemen.  This  valley  ends  at  the  sea,  in  a  small 
bay  made  by  the  eastern  extremities  of  the  mountains 
wdiich  I  have  been  describing,  and  is  called  Tiah  Beni 
Israel ,  i.  e.,  the  road  of  the  Israelites,  by  a  tradition 
that  is  still  kept  up  by  the  Arabs,  of  their  having  passed 
through  it ;  so  it  is  also  called  Baideah,  from  the  new 
and  unheard-of  miracle  that  was  wrought  near  it,  by 
dividing  the  Red  Sea,  and  destroying  therein  Pharaoh, 
his  chariots,  and  his  horsemen.  The  third  notable  en¬ 
campment  then  of  the  Israelites  was  at  this  bay.  It 
was  to  be  before  Pihahhiroth,  betwixt  Migdol  and  the 
sea,  over  against  Baal-tsephon,  chap.  xiv.  2  ;  and  in 
Num.  xxxiii.  7  it  was  to  be  before  Migdol,  where  the 
word  ^3*7  liphney,  (before,  as  we  render  it,)  being 
applied  to  Pihahhiroth  and  Migdol,  may  signify  no 
more  than  that  they  pitched  within  sight  of,  or  at  a 
small  distance  from,  the  one  and  the  other  of  those 
places.  Whether  Baal-tsephon  then  may  have  relation 
to  the  northern  situation  of  the  place  itself,  or  to  some 

a 


Dr.  Shaw's  remarks  on  the 


CHAP.  XL. 


watch  tower  or  idol  temple  that  was  erected  upon  it, ! 
we  may  probably  take  it  for  the  eastern  extremity  of 
the  mountains  of  Suez  or  Attackah,  the  most  conspi¬ 
cuous  of  these  deserts,  inasmuch  as  it  overlooks  a 
great  part  of  the  lower  Thebais ,  as  well  as  the  wilder¬ 
ness  that  reaches  towards,  or  which  rather  makes  part 
of,  the  land  of  the  Philistines.  Migdol  then  might  lie 
to  the  south,  as  Baal-tsephon  did  to  the  north,  of  Piliah- 
hiroth ;  for  the  marches  of  the  Israelites  from  the  edge 
of  the  wilderness  being  to  the  seaward,  that  is,  towards 
the  south-east,  their  encampments  betwixt  Migdol  and 
the  sea ,  or  before  Migdol,  as  it  is  otherwise  noted, 
could  not  well  have  another  situation. 

“  Pihahhiroth,  or  Hhiroth  rather,  without  regarding 
the  prefixed  part  of  it,  may  have  a  more  general  sig¬ 
nification,  and  denote  the  valley  or  that  w'hole  space 
of  ground  which  extended  itself  from  the  edge  of  the 
wilderness  of  Etham  to  the  Red  Sea :  for  that  par¬ 
ticular  part  only,  where  the  Israelites  were  ordered  to 
encamp,  appears  to  have  been  called  Pihahhiroth,  i.  e., 
mouth  of  Hhiroth ;  for  wdien  Pharaoh  overtook  them, 
it  was  in  respect  to  his  coming  down  upon  them,  chap, 
xiv.  9,  nrnn  '2  bg  i.  e.,  beside  or  at  the  mouth ,  or  the 
most  advanced  part,  of  Hhiroth  to  the  eastward.  Like¬ 
wise  in  Num.  xxxiii.  7,  where  the  Israelites  are  re¬ 
lated  to  have  encamped  before  Migdol,  it  follows,  ver. 
8,  that  they  departed  HTnn  '23^  from  before  Hhiroth , 
and  not  from  before  Pihahhiroth ,  as  it  is  rendered  in 
our  translation. 

“  There  are  likewise  other  circumstances  to  prove 
that  the  Israelites  took  their  departure  from  this  valley 
in  their  passage  through  the  Red  Sea,  for  it  could  not 
have  been  to  the  northward  of  the  mountains  of  At¬ 
tackah,  or  in  the  higher  road,  which  I  have  taken  no¬ 
tice  of;  because  as  this  lies  for  the  most  part  upon  a 
level,  the  Israelites  could  not  have  been  here,  as  we 
find  they  were,-  shut  in  and  entangled.  Neither  could 
it  have  been  on  the  other  side,  viz.,  to  the  south  of  the 
mountains  of  Gewoubee,  for  then  (besides  the  insuper¬ 
able  difficulties  which  the  Israelites  would  have  met 
with  in  climbing  over  them,  the  same  likewise  that  the 
Egyptians  would  have  had  in  pursuing  them)  the  op¬ 
posite  shore  could  not  have  been  the  desert  of  Shur 
where  the  Israelites  landed,  chap.  xv.  22,  but  it  would 
have  been  the  desert  of  Mar  ah ,  that  lay  a  great  way 
beyond  it.  What  is  now  called  Corondel  might  pro¬ 
bably  be  the  southern  portion  of  the  desert  of  Marah, 
the  shore  of  the  Red  Sea,  from  Suez,  hitherto  having 
continued  to  be  low  and  sandy  ;  but  from  Corondel  to 
the  port  of  Tor,  the  shore  is  for  the  most  part  rocky 
and  mountainous,  in  the  same  manner  with  the  Egyp¬ 
tian  coast  that  lies  opposite  to  it ;  neither  the  one  nor 
the  other  of  them  affording  any  convenient  place,  either 
for  the  departure  of  a  multitude  from  the  one  shore, 
or  the  reception  of  it  upon  the  other.  And  besides, 
from  Corondel  to  Tor,  the  channel  of  the  Red  Sea, 
which  from  Suez  to  Sdur  is  not  above  nine  or  ten  miles 
broad,  begins  here  to  be  so  many  leagues,  too  great  a 
space  certainly  for  the  Israelites,  in  the  manner  they 
were  encumbered,  to  pass  over  in  one  night.  At  Tor 
the  Arabian  shore  begins  to  wind  itself  round  about 
Ptolemy's  promontory  of  Paran,  towards  the  gulf  of 
Eloth,  whilst  the  Egyptian  shore  retires  so  far  to  the 
south-west  that  it  can  scarce  be  perceived.  As  the  i 


travels  of  the  Israelites 

•s 

1  Israelites  then,  for  these  reasons,  could  not,  according 
to  the  opinion  of  some  authors,  have  landed  either  at 
Corondel  or  Tor,  so  neither  could  they  have  landed  at 
Ain  Mousa ,  according  to  the  conjectures  of  others. 
For  if  the  passage  of  the  Israelites  had  been  so  near 
the  extremity  of  the  Red  Sea,  it  may  be  presumed  that 
the  very  encampments  of  six  hundred  thousand  men, 
besides  children  and  a  mixed  multitude,  which  would 
amount  to  as  many  more,  would  have  spread  themselves 
even  to  the  farther  or  the  Arabian  side  of  this  narrow 
isthmus,  whereby  the  interposition  of  Providence  would 
not  have  been  at  all  necessary ;  because,  in  this  case 
and  in  this  situation,  there  could  not  have  been  room 
enough  for  the  waters,  after  they  were  divided,  to  have 
stood  on  a  heap,  or  to  have  been  a  wall  unto  them,  par¬ 
ticularly  on  the  left  hand.  This,  moreover,  would  not 
have  been  a  division,  but  a  recess  only  of  the  water  to 
the  southward.  Pharaoh  likewise,  by  overtaking  them 
as  they  were  encamped  in  this  open  situation  by  the 
sea,  would  have  easily  surrounded  them  on  all  sides. 
Whereas  the  contrary  seems  to  be  implied  by  the  pil¬ 
lar  of  the  cloud,  chap.  xiv.  19,20,  which  (divided  or) 
came  between  the  camp  of  the  Egyptians  and  the  camp 
of  Israel,  and  thereby  left  the  Israelites  (provided  this 
cloud  should  have  been  removed)  in  a  situation  only 
of  being  molested  in  the  rear.  For  the  narrow  valley 
which  I  have  described,  and  which  we  rnay  presume 
wras  already  occupied  and  filled  up  behind  by  the  host 
of  Egypt,  and  before  by  the  encampments  of  the  Is¬ 
raelites,  would  not  permit  or  leave  room  for  the  Egyp¬ 
tians  to  approach  them,  either  on  the  right  hand  or  on 
the  left.  Besides,  if  this  passage  was  at  Ain  Mousa, 
how  can  we  account  for  that  remarkable  circumstance, 
chap.  xv.  22,  where  it  is  said  that,  when  Moses  brought 
Israel  from  the  Red  Sea,  they  went  out  into  (or  landed 
in)  the  wilderness  of  Shur?  For  Shur,  a  particular 
district  of  the  wilderness  of  Etham,  lies  directly  front¬ 
ing  the  valley  from  which  I  suppose  they  departed,  but 
a  great  many  miles  to  the  southward  of  Ain  Mousa. 
If  they  landed  likewise  at  Ain  Mousa,  where  there  are 
several  fountains,  there  would  have  been  no  occasion 
for  the  sacred  historian  to  have  observed,  at  the  same 
time,  that  the  Israelites  after  they  went  out  from  the 
sea  into  the  wilderness  of  Shur,  went  three  days  in  the 
wilderness,  always  directing  their  marches  toward 
Mount  Sinai,  and  found  no  water ;  for  wffiich  reason 
Marah  is  recorded,  ver.  23,  to  be  the  first  place  where 
they  found  water,  as  their  wandering  so  far  before  they 
found  it  seems  to  make  Marah  also  their  first  station, 
after  their  passage  through  the  Red  Sea.  Moreover, 
the  channel  over  against  Ain  Mousa  is  not  above  three 
miles  over,  whereas  that  betwixt  Shur  or  Sedur  and 
Jibbel  Gewmubee  and  Attackah,  is  nine  or  ten,  and 
therefore  capacious  enough,  as  the  other  would  have 
been  too  small,  for  covering  or  drowning  therein,  chap, 
xv.  28,  the  chariots  and  horsemen,  and  all  the  host  of 
Pharaoh.  And  therefore,  by  impartially  weighing  all 
these  arguments  together,  this  important  point  in  the 
sacred  geography  may  with  more  authority  be  fixed  at 
Sedur,  over  against  the  valley  of  Baideah,  than  at 
Tor,  Corondel,  Ain  Mousa,  or  any  other  place. 

“  Over  against  Jibbel  Attackah  and  the  valley  of 
Baideah  is  the  desert,  as  it  is  called,  of  Sdur,  (the 

i  same  with  Shur,  chap.  xv.  22,)  where  the  Israelites 

495 


a 


Dr.  Shaw’s  remarks  on  the 


EXODUS. 


landed  after  they  had  passed  through  the  interjacent 
gulf  of  the  Red  Sea.  The  situation  of  this  gulf, 
which  is  the  *jlD  D1  Jam  suph ,  the  weedy  sea  or  the 
tongue  of  the  Egyptian  sea  in  the  Scripture  language ; 
the  gulf  of  Heroopolis  in  the  Greek  and  Latin  geo¬ 
graphy  ;  and  the  Western  arm ,  as  the  Arabian  geo¬ 
graphers  call  it,  of  the  sea  of  Kolzum;  stretches  itself 
nearly  north  and  south,  and  therefore  lies  very  properly 
situated  to  be  traversed  by  that  strong  east  ivind  which 
was  sent  to  divide  it,  chap.  xiv.  21.  The  division  that 
was  thus  made  in  the  channel,  the  making  the  waters 
of  it  to  stand  on  a  heap ,  (Psa.  lxxviii.  13,)  their  being 
a  wall  to  the  Israelites  on  the  right  hand  and  on  the 
left ,  (chap.  xiv.  22,)  besides  the  twenty  miles’  distance, 
at  least,  of  this  passage  from  the  extremity  of  the  gulf, 
are  circumstances  which  sufficiently  vouch  for  the  mi¬ 
raculousness  of  it,  and  no  less  contradict  all  such  idle 
suppositions  as  pretend  to  account  for  it  from  the  na¬ 
ture  and  quality  of  tides,  or  from  any  such  extraordi¬ 
nary  recess  of  the  sea  as  it  seems  to  have  been  too 
rashly  compared  to  by  Josephus. 

“  In  travelling  from  Sdur  towards  Mount  Sinai  we 
come  into  the  desert,  as  it  is  still  called,  of  Marah , 
where  the  Israelites  met  with  those  bitter  waters  or 
waters  of  Marah,  chap.  xv.  23.  And  as  this  circum¬ 
stance  did  not  happen  till  after  they  had  wandered  three 
days  in  the  wilderness,  we  may  probably  fix  these  wa¬ 
ters  at  Corondel ,  where  there  is  still  a  small  rill  which, 
unless  it  be  diluted  by  the  dews  and  rain,  still  continues 
to  be  brackish.  Near  this  place  the  sea  forms  itself 
into  a  large  bay  called  Berk  el  Corondel ,  i.  e.,  the  lake 
of  Corondel,  which  is  remarkable  from  a  strong  cur¬ 
rent  that  sets  into  it  from  the  northward,  particularly 
at  the  recess  of  the  tide.  The  Arabs ,  agreeably  to 
the  interpretation  of  Kolzum,  (the  name  for  this  sea,) 
preserve  a  tradition,  that  a  numerous  host  was  formerly 
drowned  at  this  place,  occasioned  no  doubt  by  what  is 
related  chap.  xiv.  30,  that  the  Israelites  saw  the  Egyp¬ 
tians  dead  upon  the  seashore,  i.  e.,  all  along,  as  we 
may  presume,  from  Sdur  to  Corondel,  and  at  Corondel 
especially,  from  the  assistance  and  termination  of  the 
current  as  it  has  been  already  mentioned. 

“  There  is  nothing  farther  remarkable  till  we  see  the 
Israelites  encamped  at  Elim,  chap.  xv.  27,  Num.  xxxiii. 
9,  upon  the  northern  skirts  of  the  desert  of  Sin,  two 
leagues  from  Tor,  and  near  thirty  from  Corondel.  I 
saw  no  more  than  nine  of  the  twelve  wells  that  are 
mentioned  by  Moses,  the  other  three  being  filled  up  by 
those  drifts  of  sand  which  are  common  in  Arabia.  Yet 
this  loss  is  amply  made  up  by  the  great  increase  of  the 
palm-trees,  the  seventy  having  propagated  themselves 
into  more  than  two  thousand.  Under  the  shade  of 
these  trees  is  the  Hamman  Mousa  or  baih  of  Moses, 
particularly  so  called,  which  the  inhabitants  of  Tor 
have  in  great  esteem  and  veneration,  acquainting  us 
that  it  was  here  where  the  household  of  Moses  was 
encamped. 

“We  have  a  distinct  view  of  Mount  Sinai  from 
Elim,  the  wilderness,  as  it  is  still  called,  of  pD  Sin 
lying  betwixt  them.  We  traversed  these  plains  in 
nine  hours,  being  all  the  way  diverted  with  the  sight 
of  a  variety  of  lizards  and  vipers  that  are  here  in  great 
numbers.  We  were  afterwards  near  twelve  hours  in 
passing  the  many  windings  and  difficult  ways  which 

496 


travels  of  the  Israelites ; 

I  lie  betwixt  these  deserts  and  those  of  Sinai.  The 
latter  consists  of  a  beautiful  plain,  more  than  a  league 
in  breadth,  and  nearly  three  in  length,  lying  open  to¬ 
wards  the  north-east,  where  we  enter  it,  but  is  closed 
up  to  the  southward  by  some  of  the  lower  eminences 
of  Mount  Sinai.  In  this  direction  likewise  the  higher 
parts  of  this  mountain  make  such  encroachments  upon 
the  plain  that  they  divide  it  into  two,  each  of  them 
capacious  enough  to  receive  the  whole  encampment  of 
the  Israelites.  That  winch  lies  to  the  eastward  may 
be  the  desert  of  Sinai,  properly  so  called,  where  Moses 
saiv  the  angel  of  the  Lord  in  the  burning  bush,  when 
hew  as  guarding  the  flocks  of  Jethro,  chap.  iii.  2.  The 
convent  of  St.  Catharine  is  built  over  the  place  of  this 
Divine  appearance.  It  is  near  three  hundred  feet  square, 
and  more  than  forty  in  height,  being  built  partly  with 
stone,  partly  with  mud  and  mortar  mixed  together. 
The  more  immediate  place  of  the  shechinah  is  honoured 
with  a  little  chapel  which  this  old  fraternity  of  St. 
Basil  has  in  such  esteem  and  veneration  that,  in  imi¬ 
tation  of  Moses,  they  put  off  their  shoes  from  off  their 
feet  whenever  they  enter  it.  This,  with  several  other 
chapels  dedicated  to  particular  saints ,  is  included  within 
the  church,  as  they  call  it,  of  the  transfiguration,  which 
is  a  large  beautiful  structure  covered  with  lead,  and 
supported  by  two  rowTs  of  marble  columns.  The  floor 
is  very  elegantly  laid  out  in  a  variety  of  devices  in 
Mosaic  work.  Of  the  same  tessellated  workmanship 
likewise  are  both  the  floor  and  the  walls  of  the  pres- 
byterium,  upon  the  latter  whereof  are  represented  the 
effigies  of  the  Emperor  Justinian,  together  writh  the  his¬ 
tory  of  the  transfiguration.  Upon  the  partition  which 
separates  the  presbytenum  from  the  body  of  the  church , 
there  is  placed  a  small  marble  shrine,  wherein  are 
preserved  the  skull  and  one  of  the  hands  of  St.  Catha¬ 
rine,  the  rest  of  the  sacred  body  having  been  bestowed 
at  different  times  upon  such  Christian  princes  as  have 
contributed  to  the  support  of  this  convent. 

“  Mount  Sinai,  which  hangs  over  this  convent,  is 
called  by  the  Arabs  Jibbel  Mousa,  i.  e.,  the  mountain 
of  Moses,  and  sometimes  only,  by  way  of  eminence, 
El  Tor,  i.  e.,  the  mountain.  The  summit  of  Mount 
Sinai  is  not  very  spacious,  where  the  Mohammedans , 
the  Latins,  and  the  Greeks,  have  each  of  them  a  small 
chapel. 

“  After  we  had  descended,  with  no  small  difficulty, 
down  the  other  or  western  side  of  this  mount ,  wre  come 
into  the  plain  or  wilderness  of  Rephidim,  chap.  xvii. 
1,  where  we  see  that  extraordinary  antiquity,  the  rock 
of  Meribah,  chap.  xvii.  6,  which  has  continued  down 
to  this  day  without  the  least  injury  from  time  or  acci¬ 
dents.  This  is  rightly  called,  (Deut.  viii.  15,)  from 
its  hardness,  a  rock  of  flint,  *112?;  though,  from 

the  purple  or  reddish  colour  of  it,  it  may  be  rather 
rendered  the  rock  of  D^H  or  nobnfcs*  amethyst ,  or  the 
amethystine  or  granite  rock.  It  is  about  six  yards 
square,  lying  tottering  as  it  were,  and  loose,  near  the 
middle  of  the  valley ;  and  seems  to  have  been  formerly 
a  part  or  cliff  of  Mount  Sinai,  which  hangs  in  a  va¬ 
riety  of  precipices  all  over  this  plain.  The  waters 
which  gushed  out  and  the  stream  which  flowed  withal, 
Psa.  lxxviii.  20,  have  hollowed,  across  one  corner  of 
this  rock,  a  channel  about  two  inches  deep  and  twenty 
wide,  all  over  incrustated  like  the  inside  of  a  tea-kettle 

a 


j Dr.  Shaw's  remarks  on  the 


CHAP.  XL. 


travels  of  the  Israelites. 


that  has  been  long  used.  Besides  several  mossy  pro¬ 
ductions  that  are  still  preserved  by  the  dew,  we  see  all 
over  this  channel  a  great  number  of  holes,  some  of 
them  four  or  five  inches  deep  and  one  or  two  in  dia¬ 
meter,  the  lively  and  demonstrative  tokens  of  their  hav¬ 
ing  been  formerly  so  many  fountains.  Neither  could 
art  or  chance  be  concerned  in  the  contrivance,  inas¬ 
much  as  every  circumstance  points  out  to  us  a  miracle  ; 
and  in  the  same  manner,  with  the  rent  in  the  rock  of 
Mount  Calvary  in  Jerusalem ,  never  fails  to  produce 
the  greatest  seriousness  and  devotion  in  all  who  see  it. 

“  From  Mount  Sinai  the  Israelites  directed  their 
marches  northward,  toward  the  land  of  Canaan.  The 
next  remarkable  encampments  therefore  were  in  the 
desert  of  Paran,  which  seems  to  have  commenced  im¬ 
mediately  upon  their  departing  from  Hazaroth ,  three 
stations’  or  days’  journey,  i.  e.,  thirty  miles,  as  we  will 
only  compute  them  from  Sinai ,  Num.  x.  33,  and  xii. 
1C.  And  as  tradition  has  continued  down  to  us  the 
names  of  Shur,  Marah ,  and  Sin,  so  it  has  also  that  of 
Paran ;  the  ruins  of  the  late  convent  of  Paran,  built 
upon  the  ruins  of  an  ancient  city  of  that  name ,  (which 
might  give  denomination  to  the  whole  of  that  desert.) 
being  about  the  half  way  betwixt  Sinai  and  Corondel , 
which  lie  at  forty  leagues’  distance.  This  situation 
of  Paran ,  so  far  to  the  south  of  Kadesh,  will  illustrate 
Gen.  xiv.  5,  6,  where  Chedorlaomer,  and  the  kings 
that  were  with  him ,  are  said  to  have  smote  the  Horites 
in  their  Mount  Seir  unto  El  Paran ,  (i.  e.,  unto  the 
city,  as  I  take  it,  of  that  name,)  which  is  in  or  by  the 
wilderness.  From  the  more  advanced  part  of  the  wil¬ 
derness  of  Paran,  (the  same  that  lay  in  the  road  be¬ 
twixt  Midian  and  Egypt,  1  Kings  xi.  18,)  Moses  sent 
a  man  out  of  every  tribe  to  spy  out  the  land  of  Qft- 
naan ,  Num.  xxiii.  3,  who  returned  to  him  after  forty 
days,  unto  the  same  wilderness,  to  Kadesh  Barnea , 
Num.  xxxii.  8;  Deut.  i.  10;  ix.  23;  Josh.  xiv.  7. 
This  place  or  city,  which  in  Gen.  xiv.  7  is  called  En- 
mishpat,  (i.  e.,  the  fountain  of  Mishpat ,)  is  in  Num. 
xx.  1  ;  xxvii.  14;  xxxiii.  36,  called  Tzin  Kadesh,  or 
simply  Kadesh,  as  in  Gen.  xvi.  14  ;  xx.  1 ;  and  being 
equally  ascribed  to  the  desert  of  Tzin,  (j'y,)  and  to 
the  desert  of  Paran,  we  may  presume  that  the  desert 
of  Tzin  and  Paran  were  one  and  the  same;  |2f  or  DTi 
may  be  so  called  from  the  plants  of  divers  palm  grounds 
upon  it. 

“  A  late  ingenious  author  has  situated  Kadesh  Bar¬ 
nea,  a  place  of  no  small  consequence  in  Scripture  his¬ 
tory,  which  we  are  now  inquiring  after,  at  eight  hours’ 
or  twenty  miles’  distance  only  from  Mount  Sinai, 
which  I  presume  cannot  be  admitted  for  various  rea¬ 
sons,  because  several  texts  of  Scripture  insinuate  that 
Kadesh  lay  at  a  much  greater  distance.  Thus  in 
Dent.  i.  19,  it  is  said,  they  departed  from  IJoreb 
through  that  great  and  terrible  wilderness,  (which  sup¬ 
poses  by  far  a  much  greater  extent  both  of  time  and 
space,)  and  came  to  Kadesh  Barnea;  and  in  ix.  23, 
when  the  Lord  sent  you  from  Kadesh  Barnea  to  pos¬ 
sess  the  land;  which,  Num.  xx.  16,  is  described  to 
be  a  city  in  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  border  of  Edom; 
the  border  of  the  land  of  Edom  and  that  of  the  land 
of  promise  being  contiguous,  and  in  fact  the  very  same. 
And  farther,  Deut.  i.  2,  it  is  expressly  said,  There  are 
eleven  days'  journey  from  Iloreb,  by  the  way  of  Mount 
Vol.  I.  (  33  ) 


Seir,  to  Kadesh  Barnea ;  which,  from  the  context, 
cannot  be  otherwise  understood  than  of  marching  along 
the  direct  road.  For  Moses  hereby  intimates  how 
soon  the  Israelites  might  have  entered  upon  the  bor¬ 
ders  of  the  land  of  promise,  if  they  had  not  been  a 
stubborn  and  rebellious  people.  Whereas  the  number 
of  their  stations  betwixt  Sinai  and  Kadesh ,  as  they 
are  particularly  enumerated  Num.  xxxiii.  (each  of 
which  must  have  been  at  least  one  day’s  journey,) 
appear  to  be  near  twice  as  many,  or  twenty -one,  in 
which  they  are  said  with  great  truth  and  propriety, 
Psa.  evii.  4,  to  have  wandered  in  the  wilderness  out 
of  the  ivay ;  and  in  Deut.  ii.  1,  to  have  compassed 
Mount  Seir,  rather  than  to  have  travelled  directly 
through  it.  If  then  we  allow  ten  miles  for  each  of 
these  eleven  days’  journey,  (and  fewer  I  presume  can¬ 
not  well  be  insisted  upon,)  the  distance  of  Kadesh 
from  Mount  Sinai  will  be  about  one  hundred  and  ten 
miles.  That  ten  miles  (I  mean  in  a  direct  line,  as 
laid  down  in  the  map,  without  considering  the  devia¬ 
tions  which  are  everywhere,  more  or  less)  were 
equivalent  to  one  day’s  journey,  may  be  farther  proved 
from  the  history  of  the  spies,  who  searched  the  land 
(Num.  xiii.  21 )  from  Kadesh  to  Bchob,  as  men  come 
to  Hamath,  and  returned  in  forty  days.  Rehob,  then, 
the  farthest  point  of  this  expedition  to  the  northward, 
may  well  be  conceived  to  have  been  twenty  days’ 
journey  from  Kadesh  ;  and  therefore  to  know  the  true 
position  of  Rehob  will  be  a  material  point  in  this  dis¬ 
quisition.  Now  it  appears  from  Josh.  xix.  29,  30, 
and  Judg.  i.  31,  that  Rehob  was  one  of  the  maritime 
cities  of  the  tribe  of  Asher,  and  lay  (in  travelling,  as 
we  may  suppose,  by  the  common  or  nearest  way  along 
the  seacoast)  nan  anS,  Num.  xiii.  21,  (not  as  we 
render  it,  as  men  come  to  Hamath,  but,)  as  men  go 
towards  Hamath,  in  going  to  Hamath,  or  in  the  way 
or  road  to  Hamath.  For  to  have  searched  the  land 
as  far  as  Hamath,  and  to  have  returned  to  Kadesh  in 
forty  days,  would  have  been  altogether  impossible. 
Moreover,  as  the  tribe  of  Asher  did  not  reach  beyond 
Sidon,  (for  that  was  its  northern  boundary,  Josh.  xix. 
28,)  Rehob  must  have  been  situated  to  the  southward 
of  Sidon,  upon  or  (being  a  derivative  perhaps  from 
am,  latum  esse)  below  in  the  plain,  under  a  long 
chain  of  mountains  that  runs  east  and  west  through 
the  midst  of  that  tribe.  And  as  these  mountains, 
called  by  some  the  mountains  of  Saran,  are  all  along, 
except  in  the  narrow  road  which  I  have  mentioned, 
near  the  sea,  very  rugged  and  difficult  to  pass  o\ei, 
the  spies ,  who  could  not  well  take  another  way,  might 
imagine  they  would  run  too  great  a  risk  of  being  dis¬ 
covered  in  attempting  to  pass  through  it.  I  or  in 
these  eastern  countries  a  watchful  eye  was  alwa\s,  as 
it  is  still,  kept  upon  strangers,  as  we  may  collect  from 
the  history  of  the  two  angels  at  Sodom,  Gen.  xix.  o, 
and  of  the  spies  at  Jericho,  Josh.  ii.  2,  and  from  other 
instances.  If  then  we  fix  Rehob  upon  the  skirts  of 
the  plains  of  Acre,  a  little  to  the  south  of  this  narrow 
road  (the  Scala  Tyriorum  as  it  was  afterwards  named) 
somewhere  near  Egdippa,  the  distance  betwixt  Kadesh 
and  Rehob  will  be  about  two  hundred  and  ten  miles, 
whereas,  by  placing  Kadesh  twenty  miles  only  from 
Sinai  or  Horeb,  the  distance  will  be  three  hundred 
and  thirty  miles.  And  instead  of  ten  miles  a  day, 


497 


Dr.  Shaw's  remarks  on  the 


EXODUS. 


according  to  the  former  computation,  the  spies  must 
have  travelled  near  seventeen ,  which  for  forty  days 
successively  seems  to  have  been  too  difficult  an  expe¬ 
dition  in  this  hot  and  consequently  fatiguing  climate, 
especially  as  they  were  on  foot  or  footpads,  as  D,l?jnD 
(their  appellation  in  the  original)  may  probably  import. 
These  geographical  circumstances  therefore,  thus  cor¬ 
responding  with  what  is  actually  known  of  those  coun¬ 
tries  at  this  time,  should  induce  us  to  situate  Kadesh, 
as  I  have  already  done,  one  hundred  and  ten  miles  to 
the  northward  of  Mount  Sinai,  and  forty -two  miles  to 
the  westward  of  Elotli,  near  Callah  Nahur ,  i.  e.,  the 
castle  of  the  river  or  fountain,  (probably  the  Ain  Mish- 
pat,)  a  noted  station  of  the  Mohammedans  in  their  pil¬ 
grimage  to  Mecca. 

“  From  Kadesh  the  Israelites  were  ordered  to  turn 
into  the  wilderness  by  the  ivay  of  the  Red  Sea,  (Num. 
xiv.  25  ;  Deut.  i.  40,)  i.  e.,  they  were  at  this  time,  in 
punishment  of  their  murmurings,  infidelity,  and  diso¬ 
bedience,  to  advance  no  farther  northward  towards 
the  land  of  Canaan.  Now,  these  marches  are  called 
the  compassing  of  Mount  Seir,  Deut.  ii.  1,  and  the 
passing  by  from  the  children  of  Esau,  which  dwelt  in 
Seir,  through  the  way  of  the  plain  of  Elotli  and  Ezion- 
gaber,  xe r.  8.  The  wandering,  therefore,  of  the  chil¬ 
dren  of  Israel,  during  the  space  of  thirty-eight  years, 
(Deut.  ii.  14,)  was  confined,  in  all  probability  to  that 
neck  of  land  only  which  lies  bounded  by  the  gulfs  of 
Eloth  and  Ileroopolis.  If  then  we  could  adjust  the 
true  position  of  Eloth,  we  should  gain  one  considera¬ 
ble  point  towards  the  better  laying  down  and  circum¬ 
scribing  this  mountainous  tract,  where  the  Israelites 
wandered  for  so  many  years.  Now,  there  is  a  uni¬ 
versal  consent  among  geographers  that  fiTN  Eloth, 
Ailah,  or  Aelana,  as  it  is  differently  named,  was  situ¬ 
ated  upon  the  northern  extremity  of  the  gulf  of  that 
name.  Ptolemy ,  indeed,  places  it  forty-five  minutes 

to  the  south  of  Ileroopolis,  and  nearly  three  degrees  to 
the  east ;  whereas  Abulfeda,  whose  later  authority, 
and  perhaps  greater  experience,  should  be  more  re¬ 
garded,  makes  the  extremities  of  the  two  gulfs  to  lie 
nearly  in  the  same  parallel,  though  without  recording 
the  distance  between  them.  I  have  been  often  in¬ 
formed  by  the  Mohammedan  pilgrims,  who,  in  their 
way  to  Mecca ,  pass  by  them  both,  that  they  direct  their 
marches  from  Kairo  eastward,  till  they  arrive  at  Cal¬ 
lah  Accaba,  or  the  castle  (situated  below7'  the  moun¬ 
tains)  of  Accaba,  upon  the  Elanitic  point  of  the  Red 
Sea.  Here  they  begin  to  travel  betwixt  the  south  and 
south-east,  with  their  faces  directly  towards  Mecca , 
which  lay  hitherto  upon  their  right  hand  ;  having  made 
in  all,  from  Adjeroute,  ten  miles  to  the  north  north¬ 
west  of  Suez,  to  this  castle,  a  journey  of  seventy  hours. 
But  as  this  whole  tract  is  very  mountainous,  the  road 
must  consequently  be  attended  with  great  variety  of 
windings  and  turnings,  which  would  hinder  them  from 
making  any  greater  progress  than  at  the  rate,  we  will 
suppose,  of  about  half  a  league  an  hour.  Eloth,  then, 
(which  is  the  place  of  a  Turkish  garrison  at  present, 
as  it  was  a  presidium  of  the  Romans  in  former  times,) 
will  lie,  according  to  this  calculation,  about  one  hun¬ 
dred  and  forty  miles  from  Adjeroute,  in  an  east  by 
south  direction  ;  a  position  wrhich  will  likewise  receive 
farther  confirmation  from  the  distance  that  is  assigned 

498 


travels  of  the  Israelites . 

to  it  from  Gaza,  in  the  old  geography.  For,  as  this 
distance  was  one  hundred  and  fifty  Roman  miles  ac¬ 
cording  to  Pliny,  or  one  hundred  and  fifty -seven  ac¬ 
cording  to  other  authors,  Eloth  could  not  have  had  a 
more  southern  situation  than  latitude  twenty-nine  de¬ 
grees,  forty  rninutes  ;  neither  could  it  have  had  a  more 
northern  latitude,  insomuch  as  this  would  have  so  far 
invalidated  a  just  observation  of  Strabo’’ s,  who  makes 
Ileroopolis  and  Pelusium  to  be  much  nearer  each  other 
than  Eloth  and  Gaza.  And,  besides,  as  Gaza  is  well 
known  to  lie  in  latitude  thirty -one  degrees ,  forty  min¬ 
utes,  (as  we  have  placed  Eloth  in  latitude  twenty-nine 
degrees,  forty  minutes ,)  the  difference  of  latitude  be¬ 
twixt  them  will  be  two  degrees  or  one  hundred  and 
twenty  geographical  miles ;  which  converted  into  Ro¬ 
man  miles,  ( seventy-five  and  a  half  of  which  make  one 
degree ,)  we  have  the  very  distance  (especially  as  they 
lie  nearly  under  the  same  meridian)  that  is  ascribed  to 
them  above  by  Strabo  and  Pliny.  Yet,  notwithstand¬ 
ing  this  point  may  be  gained,  it  would  be  too  daring 
an  attempt,  even  to  pretend  to  trace  out  above  two  or 
three  of  the  encampments  mentioned  Num.  xxxiii., 
though  the  greatest  part  of  them  was  in  all  probability 
confined  to  this  tract  of  Arabia  Petrma,  which  I  have 
bounded  to  the  east  by  the  meridian  of  Eloth,  and  to 
the  west  by  that  of  Ileroopolis,  Kadesh  lying  near  or 
upon  the  skirts  of  it  to  the  northward. 

“  However,  one  of  their  more  southern  stations, 
after  they  had  left  Mount  Sinai  and  Paran,  seems  to 
have  been  at  Ezion-gaber ;  which  being  the  place 
from  whence  Solomon’s  navy  went  for  gold  to  Ophir, 
1  Kings  ix.  26,  2  Chron.  viii.  17,  we  may  be  induced 
to  take  it  for  the  present  Meenah  el  Dsahcib,  i.  e.,  the 
port  of  gold.  According  to  the  account  I  had  of  this 
place  from  the  monks  of  St.  Catharine,  it  lies  in  the 
gulf  of  Eloth,  betwixt  two  and  three  days’  journey  from 
them, — enjoying  a  spacious  harbour  ;  from  whence 
they  are  sometimes  supplied,  as  I  have  already  men¬ 
tioned,  with  plenty  of  lobsters  and  shell  fish.  Meenah 
el  Dsahab  therefore,  from  this  circumstance,  may  be 
nearly  at  the  same  distance  from  Sinai  with  Tor ; 
from  whence  they  are  likewise  furnished  with  the 
same  provisions,  which,  unless  they  are  brought  wfith 
the  utmost  expedition,  frequently  corrupt  and  putrefy. 
I  have  already  given  the  distance  between  the  north¬ 
west  part  of  the  desert  of  Sin  and  Mount  Sinai,  to  be 
twenty-one  hours  ;  and  if  we  farther  add  three  hours, 
(the  distance  betwixt  the  desert  of  Sin  and  the  port 
of  Tor,  from  whence  these  fish  are  obtained,)  we  shall 
have  in  all  twenty -four  hours  ;  i.  e.,  in  round  numbers, 
about  sixty  miles.  Ezion-gaber  consequently  may  lie 
a  little  more  or  less  at  that  distance  from  Sinai ;  be¬ 
cause  the  days’  journeys  which  the  monks  speak  of 
are  not,  perhaps,  to  be  considered  as  ordinary  and 
common  ones ;  but  such  as  are  made  in  haste,  that  the 
fish  may  arrive  in  good  condition. 

“In  the  description  of  the  East,  p.  157,  Ezion- 
gaber  is  placed  to  the  south-east  of  Eloth,  and  at  two 
or  three  miles  only  from  it ;  which,  I  presume,  cannot 
be  admitted.  For,  as  Eloth  itself  is  situated  upon  the 
very  point  of  the  gulf,  Ezion-gaber ,  by  lying  to  the 
south-east  of  it  would  belong  to  the  land  of  Midian  ; 
whereas  Ezion-gaber  was  undoubtedly  a  sea-port  in 
the  land  of  Edom,  as  we  learn  from  the  authorities 

(  33*  ) 


a 


Dr.  Shaw's  remarks  on  the 


CHAP.  XL. 


above  related,  viz.,  where  King  Solomon  is  said  to 
have  made  a  navy  of  ships  in  Ezion-gaber,  which  is 
mV  X  HX,  beside  Eloth,  on  the  shore  of  the  Red  Sea,  in 
the  land  of  Edom.  Here  it  may  be  observed  that  the 
word  nx  which  we  render  beside  Eloth ,  should  be  ren¬ 
dered,  together  ivith  Eloth  ;  not  denoting  any  vicinity 
between  them,  but  that  they  were  both  of  them  ports 
of  the  Red  Sea,  in  the  land  of  Edom. 

“  From  Ezion-gaber  the  Israelites  turned  back  again 
to  Kadesh,  with  an  intent  to  direct  their  marches  that 
way  into  the  land  of  Canaan.  But  upon  Edom’s  re¬ 
fusing  to  give  Israel  passage  through  his  border ,  (Num. 
xx.  18,)  they  turned  away  from  him  to  the  right  hand, 
as  I  suppose,  toward  Mount  Hor ,  (Num.  xx.  21,)  which 
might  lie  to  the  eastward  of  Kadesh ,  in  the  road  from 
thence  to  the  Red  Sea  ;  and  as  the  soul  of  the  children 
of  Israel  is  said  to  have  been  here  much  discouraged 
because  of  the  way ,  it  is  very  probable  that  Mount  Hor 
was  the  same  chain  of  mountains  that  are  now  called 
Accaba  by  the  Arabs,  and  were  the  easternmost  range, 
as  we  may  take  them  to  be,  of  Ptolemy’s  yekava  oprj 
above  described.  Here,  from  the  badness  of  the  road, 
and  the  many  rugged  passes  that  are  to  be  surmounted, 
the  Mohammedan  pilgrims  lose  a  number  of  camels, 
and  are  no  less  fatigued  than  the  Israelites  were  for¬ 
merly  in  getting  over  them.  I  have  already  hinted, 
that  this  chain  of  mountains,  the  yekava  oprj  of  Ptole¬ 
my,  reached  from  Paran  to  Judea.  Petra ,  therefore, 
according  to  its  later  name,  the  metropolis  of  this  part 
of  Arabia,  may  well  be  supposed  to  lie  among  them, 
and  to  have  been  left  by  the  Israelites  on  their  left 
hand,  in  journeying  toward  Moab.  Yet  it  will  be  dif- 

a 


travels  of  the  Israelites . 

ficult  to  determine  the  situation  of  this  city,  for  want 
of  a  sufficient  number  of  geographical  data  to  proceed 
upon.  In  the  old  geography,  Petra  is  placed  one 
hundred  and  thirty-five  miles  to  the  eastward  of  Gaza, 
and  four  days’  journey  from  Jericho,  to  the  southward. 
But  neither  of  these  distances  can  be  any  ways  ac¬ 
counted  for ;  the  first  being  too  great,  the  other  too 
deficient.  For,  as  we  may  well  suppose  Petra  to  lie 
near,  or  upon  the  borders  of  Moab,  seven  days''  journey 
would  be  the  least :  the  same  that  the  three  kings  took 
hither,  2  Kings  iii.  9,  (by  fetching  a  compass,  as  we 
may  imagine,)  from  Jerusalem ,  which  was  nearer  to 
that  border  than  Jericho.  However,  at  a  medium ,  Petra 
lay  in  all  probability  about  the  half  way  between  the 
south  extremity  of  the  Asphaltic  lake,  and  the  gulf  of 
Eloth,  and  may  be  therefore  fixed  near  the  confines  of 
the  country  of  the  Midianites  and  Moabites  at  seventy 
miles  distance  from  Kadesh,  towards  the  north-east ; 
and  eighty-five  from  Gaza ,  to  the  south.  According 
to  Josephus,  it  was  formerly  called  Arce,  which  Bo- 
chart  supposes  to  be  a  corruption  of  Rehem,  the  true 
and  ancient  name.  The  Amalehites,  so  frequently 
mentioned  in  Scripture,  were  once  seated  in  the  neigh¬ 
bourhood  of  this  place,  who  were  succeeded  by  the 
Nabathceans,  a  people  no  less  famous  in  profane  his¬ 
tory.  From  Mount  Hor,  the  direction  of  their  marches 
through  Zalmona ,  Punon,  &c.,  seems  to  have  been  be¬ 
tween  the  north  and  north-east.  For  it  does  not  ap¬ 
pear  that  they  wandered  any  more  in  the  wilderness 
out  of  the  direct  way  that  was  to  conduct  them  through 
the  country  of  Moa b,  (Num.xxxiii.  35— 49,)  into  the  land 
of  promise.” — Shaw’s  Travels ,  chap,  v.,  p.  304,  &c. 

499 


A  CHRONOLOGICAL  TABLE 


OF  THE 

PRINCIPAL  EVENTS  RECORDED  IN  THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS, 

SHOWING  IN  WHAT  YEAR  OF  THE  WORLD,  IN  WHAT  YEAR  BEFORE  CHRIST,  IN  WHAT  YEAR  FROM  THE  DELUGE, 
AND  IN  WHAT  YEAR  FROM  THEIR  DEPARTURE  FROM  EGYPT,  EACH  EVENT  HAPPENED  ;  INTERSPERSED  WITH  A 
FEW  CONNECTING  CIRCUMSTANCES  FROM  PROFANE  HISTORY,  ACCORDING  TO  THE  PLAN  OF  ARCHBISHOP  USHER. 


A.  M.  B.  C.  An.  DiL 


2365  1639  Levi,  the  third  son  of  Jacob,  dies  in  the  137th  year  of  his  age,  chap,  vi,  16. — N.  B. 

This  event  is  'placed  twenty  years  later  by  most  chronologists,  but  I  have  followed 
the  computation  of  Mr.  Skinner  and  Dr.  Kennicott.  See  the  note  on  Gen.  xxxi.  41.  709 

2375  1629  About  this  time  Acenchres,  son  of  Orus,  began  to  reign  in  Egypt ,  and  reigned  twelve 

years  and  one  month.  719 

2385  1619  The  Ethiopians,  from  the  other  side  of  the  Indus,  first  settle  in  the  middle  of  Egypt.  729 

2387  1617  Rathotis,  the  brother  of  Acenchres,  began  about  this  time  to  reign  over  the  Egyptians , 

and  reigned  nine  years.  731 

2396  1608  Acencheres,  the  son  of  Rathotis,  succeeds  his  father  and  reigns  twelve  years  and  six 

months.  740 

2400  1604  About  this  time  it  is  supposed  the  Egyptians  began  to  be  jealous  of  the  Hebrews,  on 

account  of  their  prodigious  multiplication.  744 

2409  1595  Ancencheres  succeeds  Acencheres,  and  reigns  twelve  years  and  three  months.  753 

2421  1583  Armais  succeeds  Ancencheres,  and  reig?is  four  years  and  one  month.  765 


-  — -  About  this  time  Kohath,  the  son  of  Levi,  and  grandfather  of  Moses,  died  in  the  133d 

year  of  his  age  ;  chap.  vi.  18. — N.  B.  There  are  several  years  of  uncertainty  in 

the  date  of  this  event.  - 

2425  1579  Rameses  succeeds  Armais  in  the  government,  and  reigns  one  year  and  four  months.  769 


2427  1577  Rameses  Miamun  succeeds  Rameses,  and  reigns  sixty-seven  years.  771 

2430  1574  Aaron,  son  of  Amram,  brother  of  Moses,  born  eighty-three  years  before  the  exodus  of 

the  Israelites  ;  chap.  vi.  20  ;  vii.  7.  774 

2431  1573  About  this  time  Pharaoh  (supposed  to  be  the  same  with  Rameses  Miamun)  published 

an  edict,  ordering  all  the  male  children  of  the  Hebrews  to  be  drowmed  in  the  Nile, 
chap.  i.  22.  775 

2433  1571  Moses,  the  Jewish  lawgiver,  born;  chap.  ii.  2.  777 

2448  1556  The  kingdom  of  the  Athenians  founded  about  this  time  by  Cecrops.  792 

2465  1539  In  this  year ,  ivhich  was  the  eighteenth  of  Cecrops,  the  Chaldeans  waged  war  with  the 

Phoenicians.  809 

2466  1538  About  this  time  the  Arabians  subdued  the  Chaldeans,  and  took  possession  of  their 

country .  810 

2473  1531  Moses,  being  forty  years  of  age,  kills  an  Egyptian,  vdiom  he  found  smiting  a  He¬ 

brew  ;  in  consequence  of  which,  being  obliged  to  fly  for  his  life,  he  escapes  to  the 
land  of  Midian,  where  becoming  acquainted  with  the  family  of  Jethro,  he  marries 
Zipporah;  chap.  ii.  11-22.  817 

2474  1530  The  birth  of  Caleb,  the  son  of  Jephunneh.  818 

2494  1510  Rameses  Miamun,  king  of  Egypt,  dies  about  this  time  in  the  sixty-seventh  year  of 

his  reign ,  and  is  succeeded  by  his  son  Amenophis ,  who  reigns  nineteen  years  and 

six  months.  838 

2495  1509  The  death  of  Amram,  the  father  of  Moses,  is  supposed  to  have  taken  place  about  this 

time.  839 

2513  1491  While  Moses  keeps  the  flock  of  Jethro  at  Mount  Horeb,  the  Angel  of  God  appears  to 

him  in  a  burning  bush,  promises  to  deliver  the  Hebrews  from  their  oppression  in 
Egypt,  and  sends  him  to  Pharaoh  to  command  him  to  let  Israel  go  ;  chap.  iii.  857 


Aaron  and  Moses  assemble  the  elders  of  Israel,  inform  them  of  the  Divine  purpose,  and 
then  go  to  Pharaoh  and  desire  him,  in  the  name  of  the  God  of  the  Hebrews,  to  let 
the  people  go  three  days’  journey  into  the  wilderness  to  hold  a  feast  unto  the  Lord. 
Pharaoh  is  enraged,  and  increases  the  oppression  of  the  Israelites  ;  chap.  v. 

Aaron  thrown  dowm  his  rod,  which  becomes  a  serpent.  The  Egyptian  magicians 
imitate  this  miracle  ;  chap.  vii. 

Pharaoh  refusing  to  let  the  Israelites  go,  God  sends  his  first  plague  upon  the  Egyp¬ 
tians,  and  the  waters  are  turned  into  blood  ;  chap.  vii.  19-25. 

500  a 


CHRONOLOGY  TO  EXODUS. 


t 

A.  M.  B.  C.  An.  DU. 

2513  1491  Pharaoh  remaining  impenitent,  God  sends  immense  numbers  of  frogs,  which  infest  the 

whole  land  of  Egypt.  This  was  the  second  plague  ;  chap.  viii.  1—7.  857 

This  plague  not  producing  the  desired  effect,  God  sends  the  third  plague ,  the  dust  of 
the  ground  becoming  lice  on  man  and  beast ;  chap.  viii.  16—20. 

Pharaoh’s  heart  still  remaining  obdurate,  God  sends  the  fourth  plague  upon  the  na¬ 
tion,  by  causing  great  swarms  of  flies  to  cover  the  whole  land  ;  chap.  viii.  20-32. 

The  Egyptian  king  still  refusing  to  dismiss  the  Hebrews,  God  sends  his  fifth  plague, 
which  is  a  universal  murrain  or  mortality  among  the  cattle  ;  chap.  ix.  1-7. 

This  producing  no  good  effect,  the  sixth  plague  of  boils  and  blains  is  sent ;  chap. 

ix.  8-12. 

Pharaoh  still  hardening  his  heart,  God  sends  the  seventh  plague,  viz.,  a  grievous  hail 
which  destroyed  the  whole  produce  of  the  field;  chap.  ix.  22—26. 

This,  through  Pharaoh’s  obstinacy,  proving  ineffectual,  the  eighth  plague  is  sent, 
immense  swarms  of  locusts,  which  devour  the  land  ;  chap.  x.  1—20. 

Pharaoh  refusing  to  submit  to  the  Divine  authority,  the  ninth  plague ,  a  total  dark¬ 
ness  of  three  days’  continuance,  is  spread  over  the  whole  land  of  Egypt  ;  chap. 

x.  21-24. 

Pharaoh  continuing  to  refuse  to  let  the  people  go,  God  institutes  the  rite  of  the  pass- 
over,  and  sends  the  tenth  plague  upon  the  Egyptians,  and  the  first-born  of  man 
and  beast  died  throughout  the  whole  land.  This  was  in  the  fourteenth  night  of  the 
month  Abib.  The  Israelites  are  driven  out  of  Egypt,  chap.  xii.  1—36  ;  and  carry 
Joseph’s  bones  with  them  ;  chap.  xiii.  19. 


An.  Dil.  An.  Ex. 


2513  1491 


2514  1490 


The  Israelites  march  from  Succoth  to  Etham ;  thence  to  Pi-hahiroth,  the  Lord 
guiding  them  by  a  miraculous  pillar ;  chap.  xiii.  20—22  ;  xiv.  1,2. 

Towards  the  close  of  this  month,  Pharaoh  and  the  Egyptians  pursue  the 
Israelites  ;  God  opens  a  passage  for  these  through  the  Red  Sea,  and  they 
pass  over  as  on  dry  land,  which  the  Egyptians  essaying  to  do,  are  all 
drowned  ;  chap,  xiv  ;  Heb.  ix.  29. 

The  Israelites  come  to  Marah,  and  murmur  because  of  the  bitter  waters ; 
Moses  is  directed  to  throw  a  certain  tree  into  them,  by  which  they  are 
rendered  sweet;  chap.  xv.  23-25. 

About  the  beginning  of  this  month  the  Israelites  come  to  Elim ;  chap, 
xv.  27. 

On  the  fifteenth  day  of  this  month  the  Israelites  come  to  the  desert  of  Sin, 
where,  murmuring  for  want  of  bread,  quails  are  sent,  and  manna  from  hea¬ 
ven  ;  chap.  xvi. 

Coming  to  Rephidim  they  murmur  for  want  of  water,  and  God  supplies  this 
want  by  miraculously  bringing  water  out  of  a  rock  in  Horeb,  chap, 
xvii.  1-7. 

The  Amalekites  attack  the  Israelites  in  Rephidim,  and  are  discomfited ;  chap, 
xvii.  8-16. 

The  Israelites  come  to  the  wilderness  of  Sinai.  God  calls  Moses  up  to  the 
mount,  where  he  receives  the  ten  commandments  and  other  precepts ;  chap, 
xix.— xxiv.  :  is  instructed  how  to  make  the  tabernacle  ;  xxv.— xxviii  Aaron 
and  his  sons  are  dedicated  to  the  priest’s  office  ;  chap,  xxviii. 

Moses  delaying  to  come  down  from  the  mount,  the  people  make  a  molten  calf, 
and  worship  it.  Moses,  coming  down,  sees  their  idolatry,  is  distressed, 
and  breaks  the  tables  ;  three  thousand  of  the  idolaters  are  slain  ;  and,  at 
the  intercession  of  Moses,  the  rest  of  the  people  are  saved  from  destruction ; 
chap,  xxxii. 

Moses  is  again  called  up  into  the  mount,  where  God  renews  the  covenant,  and 
writes  the  two  tables  afresh.  Moses  desires  to  see  the  Divine  glory ;  his 
request  is  partially  granted;  chap,  xxxiii.  18—23  ;  xxxiv.  1—27. 

Moses,  after  having  been  in  the  mount  forty  days  and  forty  nights,  during 
which  time  he  ate  nothing,  comes  down  with  the  two  tables  of  stone  :  his 
face  shines  so  that  he  is  obliged  to  cover  it  with  a  veil ;  chap.  xxiv.  29—35. 

From  this  time  to  the  month  Adar,  including  Marcheshvan,  Cisleu,  Thebet,  and 
Sebat ,  Bezaleel,  Aholiab,  and  their  assistants  are  employed  in  constructing 
the  tabernacle,  &c.,  according  to  the  pattern  delivered  to  Moses  on  the 
mount ;  chap,  xxxvi.— xxxix. 

On  the  first  of  this  month,  being  the  first  month  of  the  second  year  after  their 
a  501 


857 


Isr. 

1. 

Abib. 


liar  or 
Zif. 


Sivan. 


Ab. 


Elul. 


858  Tisri 


A.  M.  B.  C. 


2514  1490 


CHRONOLOGY  OF  ANCIENT  KINGDOMS. 


An.  Dil.  An.  Ex. 


departure  from  Egypt,  the  tabernacle  is  reared  up,  and  Aaron  and  his  sons 
set  apart  for  the  priest’s  office ;  chap.  xl.  17-32. — N.  B.  The  ceremonies 
attending  this  consecration  form  the  chief  part  of  the  following  hook , 
Leviticus.  858 

Jethro  brings  Zipporah  and  her  two  sons  to  Moses  in  the  wilderness,  and 
gives  him  wholesome  directions  concerning  the  best  mode  of  governing  the 
people,  which  Moses  thankfully  accepts,  and  God  approves  ;  chap,  xviii., 
and  see  the  notes  there. 


Isr. 

2. 

Abib  or 
Nisan 


Ijar  or 
Zif 


A  TABLE  of  the  THREE  GREAT  EPOCHS,  A.  M.,  B.  C.,  and  the  JULIAN  PERIOD,  synchronized 
with  the  reigns  of  the  sovereigns  of  the  four  principal  monarchies ;  viz.,  Egypt,  Sicyon,  the  Argivi,  and 
the  Athenians,  from  the  death  of  Jacob,  A.  M.  2315,  to  the  erection  of  the  tabernacle,  A.  M.  2514, 
by  which  any  event  in  the  preceding  Chronological  Table  may  be  referred  to  its  corresponding  year  of 
the  reign  of  any  of  the  above  sovereigns. 

E.  G.  To  find  out  the  year  of  the  birth  of  Moses,  inspect  the  preceding  table,  by  which  it  appears  he  was 
born  A.  M.  2433,  B.  C.  1571,  and  from  the  Deluge  777.  Then  look  in  the  following  table  for  A.  M. 
2433,  where  it  appears  that  this  event  took  place  in  the  year  of  the  Julian  Period  3143 — the  7th  of 
Rameses  Miamun ,  king  of  Egypt — the  46th  of  Orthopolis ,  king  of  Sicyon — the  17th  of  Phorhas ,  king 
of  the  Argivi — and  the  15th  before  the  reign  of  Cecrops ,  king  of  the  Athenians. 


Julian 

Period. 

Kings 

Kings 

Kings 

Kingdom 

Julian 

Feriod. 

Kings 

Kings 

Kings 

Kingdom 

A.  M. 

B.  C. 

of 

of 

of  the 

of  the  A- 

A.  M. 

B.  c. 

of 

of 

of  the 

of  the  A- 

Egypt. 

Sicyon. 

Argivi. 

thenians. 

Egypt 

Sicyon. 

Argivi. 

thenians. 

2315 

2316 

1689 

1688 

3025 

3026 

6i> 

7  B 

1  CD 

22^ 
23  8 

c-t- 

23  > 
24og 

133  W 
132  g* 

2356 

2357 

1648 

1647 

3066 

3067 

170 

18  g 

17^ 

18  | 

64  !> 
65a§ 

92  W 

91  & 

2317 

1687 

3027 

8§ 

24  g 

25  « 

131  g 

2358 

1646 

3068 

19* 

19  1 

66® 

90S 

2318 

1686 

3028 

9^ 

25' 

26 

130  p- 

2359 

1645 

3069 

20 

20  1 

67 

89  g: 

2319 

1685 

3029 

10  «' 

26 

27 

129® 

2360 

1644 

3070 

21 

21  •” 

68 

88® 

2320 

1684 

3030 

11 

27 

28 

128  f 

2361 

1643 

3071 

22 

22 

69 

87 

2321 

1683 

3031 

12 

28 

29 

127 

2362 

1642 

3072 

23 

23 

70 

86  * 

2322 

1682 

3032 

13 

29 

30 

126  & 

2363 

1641 

3073 

24 

24 

85 1 

2323 

1681 

3033 

14 

30 

31 

125  § 

2364 

1640 

3074 

25 

25 

2g' 

84  o 

2324 

1680 

3034 

15 

31 

32 

124  o 

2365 

1639 

3075 

26 

26 

3g 

83  o 

2325 

1679 

3035 

16 

32 

33 

123^ 

2366 

1638 

3076 

27 

27 

4* 

82  ? 

2326 

1678 

3036 

17 

33 

34 

122  g- 

2367 

1637 

3077 

28 

28 

5 

81  B4. 

2327 

1677 

3037 

18 

34 

35 

121 

2368 

1636 

3078 

29 

29 

6 

80* 

2328 

1676 

3038 

19 

35 

36 

120  3’ 

2369 

1635 

3079 

30 

30 

7 

79  5* 

2329 

1675 

3039 

20 

36 

37 

119  pL 

2370 

1634 

3080 

31 

31 

8 

78CfL 

2330 

1674 

3040 

21 

37 

38 

118  j| 

2371 

1633 

3081 

32 

32 

9 

77  § 

2331 

1673 

3041 

22 

38 

39 

117* 

2372 

1632 

3082 

33 

33 

10 

76  * 

2332 

1672 

3042 

23 

39 

40 

116 

2373 

1631 

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502 


a 


CHRONOLOGY  OF  ANCIENT  KINGDOMS. 


r 

A.  M. 

B.  C. 

Julian 

Period. 

Kings 

of 

Kings 

of 

Kings 
of  the 

Kingdom 
of  the  A- 

A.  M. 

B.  C. 

Julian 

Period. 

Kings 

of 

Kings 

of 

Kings 
of  the 

Kingdom 
of  the  A- 

Egypt. 

Sicvon. 

Argivi. 

thenians. 

Egypt. 

Sicyon. 

Argivi. 

thenians. 

2397 

1607 

3107 

1  > 

100 

35  0 

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2456 

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503 


PREFACE  TO  THE  BOOK 


OF  THE 

LEVITICUS. 


rpHE  Greek  version  of  the  Septuagint,  and  the  Vulgate  Latin ,  have  given  the  title  of 
Leviticus  to  the  third  book  of  the  Pentateuch,  and  the  name  has  been  retained  in  almost 
all  the  modern  versions.  The  book  was  thus  called  because  it  treats  principally  of  the  laws 
and  regulations  of  the  Levites  and  priests  in  general.  In  Hebrew  it  is  termed  sop’i  Vaiyikra, 
“  And  he  called,”  which  is  the  first  word  in  the  book,  and  which,  as  in  preceding  cases,  be¬ 
came  the  running  title  to  the  whole.  It  contains  an  account  of  the  ceremonies  to  be  observed 
in  the  offering  of  burnt-sacrifices  ;  meat,  peace,  and  sin-offerings  ;  the  consecration  of  priests, 
together  with  the  institution  of  the  three  grand  national  festivals  of  the  Jews,  the  passover, 
pentecost,  and  tabernacles,  with  a  great  variety  of  other  ecclesiastical  matters.  It  seems 
to  contain  little  more  than  the  history  of  what  passed  during  the  eight  days  of  the  consecra¬ 
tion  of  Aaron  and  his  sons,  though  Archbishop  Usher  supposes  that  it  comprises  the  history 
of  the  transactions  of  a  whole  month,  viz.,  from  April  21  to  May  21,  of  the  year  of  the  world 
2514,  which  answers  to  the  first  month  of  the  second  year  after  the  departure  from  Egypt. 
As  there  are  no  data  by  which  any  chronological  arrangement  of  the  facts  mentioned  in  it  can 
be  made,  it  would  be  useless  to  encumber  the  page  with  conjectures  which,  because  uncer¬ 
tain^  can  answer  no  end  to  the  serious  reader  for  doctrine,  reproof,  or  edification  in  righteous¬ 
ness.  As  the  law  was  our  schoolmaster  unto  Christ ,  the  whole  sacrificial  system  was  intended 
to  point  out  that  Lamb  of  God ,  Christ  Jesus,  who  takes  away  the  sin  of  the  ivorld.  In 
reading  over  this  book,  this  point  should  be  kept  particularly  in  view,  as  without  this  spirit¬ 
ual  reference  no  interest  can  be  excited  by  a  perusal  of  the  work. 

The  principal  events  recorded  in  this  book  may  be  thus  deduced  in  the  order  of  the  chapters  : 

Moses  having  set  up  the  tabernacle,  as  has  been  related  in  the  conclusion  of  the  preceding 
book ;  and  the  cloud  of  the  Divine  glory,  the  symbol  of  the  presence  of  God,  having  rested 
upon  it ;  God  called  to  him  out  of  this  tabernacle,  and  delivered  the  laws  and  precepts  con¬ 
tained  in  the  seven  first  chapters. 

In  chap.  i.  he  prescribes  every  thing  relative  to  the  nature  and  quality  of  burnt  offerings, 
and  the  ceremonies  which  should  be  observed,  as  well  by  the  person  who  brought  the  sacrifice 
as  by  the  priest  who  offered  it. 

In  chap.  ii.  he  treats  of  meat-offerings  of  fine  flour  with  oil  and  frankincense  ;  of  cakes, 
and  the  oblations  of  first-fruits. 

Chap.  iii.  treats  of  peace-offerings ,  prescribes  the  ceremonies  to  be  used  in  such  offerings, 
and  the  parts  which  should  be  consumed  by  fire. 

Chap.  iv.  treats  of  the  offerings  made  for  sins  of  ignorance ;  for  the  sins  of  the  priests , 
rulers ,  and  of  the  common  people. 

Chap.  v.  treats  of  the  sin  of  him  who,  being  adjured  as  a  witness ,  conceals  his  knowledge 
of  a  fact ;  the  case  of  him  who  touches  an  unclean  thing  ;  of  him  who  binds  himself  by  a 
vow  or  an  oath ;  and  of  trespass-offerings  in  cases  of  sacrilege ,  and  in  sins  of  ignorance. 

Chap.  vi.  treats  of  the  trespass-offerings  for  sins  knowingly  committed ;  and  of  the  offer¬ 
ings  for  the  priests,  the  parts  which  should  be  consumed,  and  the  parts  which  should  be  con¬ 
sidered  as  the  priests’  portion.  And  in 

Chap.  vii.  the  same  subject  is  continued. 

504  a 


PREFACE  TO  LEVITICUS. 


Chap.  viii.  treats  of  the  consecration  of  Aaron  and  his  sons ;  their  sin-offering;  burnt-offer¬ 
ing  ;  ram  of  consecration  ;  and  the  time  during  which  these  solemn  rites  should  continue. 

Chap.  ix.  After  Aaron  and  his  sons  were  consecrated,  on  the  eighth  day  they  were  com¬ 
manded  to  offer  sin-offerings  and  burnt-offerings  for  themselves  and  for  the  people ,  which  they 
accordingly  did,  and  Aaron  and  Moses  having  blessed  the  people,  a  fire  came  forth  from  before 
the  Lord,  and  consumed  the  offering  that  was  laid  upon  the  altar. 

Chap.  x.  Nadab  and  Abihu,  the  sons  of  xVaron,  having  offered  strange  fire  before  the  Lord, 
are  consumed  ;  and  the  priests  are  forbidden  the  use  of  wine  and  all  inebriating  liquors. 

Chap.  xi.  treats  of  clean  and  unclean  beasts,  fishes,  birds,  and  reptiles. 

Chap.  xii.  treats  of  the  purification  of  women  after  child-birth,  and  the  offerings  they  should 
present  before  the  Lord. 

Chap.  xiii.  prescribes  the  manner  of  discerning  the  infection  of  the  leprosy  in  persons,  gar¬ 
ments,  and  houses. 

Chap.  xiv.  prescribes  the  sacrifices  and  ceremonies  which  should  be  offered  by  those  who 
were  cleansed  from  the  leprosy. 

Chap.  xv.  treats  of  certain  uncleannesses  in  man  and  woman ;  and  of  their  purifications. 

Chap.  xvi.  treats  of  the  solemn  yearly  expiation  to  be  made  for  the  sins  of  the  priest  and 
of  the  people,  of  the  goat  and  bullock  for  a  sacrifice,  and  of  the  scape-goat ;  all  which  should 
be  offered  annually  on  the  tenth  day  of  the  seventh  month. 

Chap.  xvii.  The  Israelites  are  commanded  to  offer  all  their  sacrifices  at  the  tabernacle  ;  the 
eating  of  blood  is  prohibited,  as  also  the  flesh  of  those  animals  which  die  of  themselves,  and 
of  those  that  are  torn  by  dogs. 

Chap,  xviii.  shows  the  different  degrees  within  which  marriages  were  not  to  be  contracted, 
and  prohibits  various  acts  of  impurity. 

Chap.  xix.  recapitulates  a  variety  of  laws  which  had  been  mentioned  in  the  preceding  book, 
(Exodus,)  and  adds  several  new  ones. 

Chap.  xx.  prohibits  the  consecration  of  their  children  to  Molech ,  forbids  their  consulting 
tvizards  and  those  which  had  familiar  spirits ,  and  also  a  variety  of  incestuous  and  unnatural 

mixtures. 

Chap.  xxi.  gives  different  ordinances  concerning  the  mourning  and  marriages  of  priests , 
and  prohibits  those  from  the  sacerdotal  office  who  have  certain  personal  defects. 

Chap.  xxii.  treats  of  those  infirmities  and  uncleannesses  which  rendered  the  priests  unfit 
to  officiate  in  sacred  things,  and  lays  down  directions  for  the  perfection  of  the  sacrifices  which 
should  be  offered  to  the  Lord. 

Chap,  xxiii.  treats  of  the  Sabbath  and  the  great  annual  festivals — the  passover,  pent.ecost} 
feast  of  trumpets,  day  of  atonement,  and  feast  of  tabernacles. 

Chap.  xxiv.  treats  of  the  oil  for  the  lamps,  and  the  shew-bread  ;  the  law  concerning  which 
had  already  been  given,  see  Exod.  xxv.,  &c.  ;  mentions  the  case  of  the  person  who  blas¬ 
phemed  God,  and  his  punishment;  lays  down  the  law  in  cases  of  blasphemy  and  murder; 
and  recapitulates  the  lex  talionis,  or  law  of  like  for  like,  prescribed  Exod.  xxi. 

Chap.  xxv.  recapitulates  the  law,  given  Exod.  xxiii.,  relative  to  the  Sabbatical  year ;  pre¬ 
scribes  the  year  of  jubilee ;  and  lays  down  a  variety  of  statutes  relative  to  mercy,  kindness , 
benevolence,  charity,  &c. 

Chap.  xxvi.  prohibits  idolatry,  promises  a  great  variety  of  blessings  to  the  obedient,  and 
threatens  the  disobedient  with  many  and  grievous  curses. 

Chap,  xxvii.  treats  of  vows,  of  things  devoted,  and  of  the  tithes  which  should  be  given  for 
the  service  of  the  tabernacle. 

No  Chronological  Table  can  be  affixed  to  this  book,  as  the  transactions  of  it  seem  to  have 
been  included  within  the  space  of  eight  days,  or  of  a  month  at  the  utmost,  as  we  have  already 
seen.  And  even  some  of  the  facts  related  here  seem  to  have  taken  place  previously  to  the 
erection  of  the  tabernacle ;  nor  is  the  order  in  which  the  others  occurred  so  distinguished  as 
to  enable  us  to  lay  down  the  precise  days  in  which  they  took  place. 


THE 


THIRD  BOOK  OF  MOSES, 


CALLED 


LEVITICUS. 


Year  before  the  common  Year  of  Christ,  1490. — Julian  Period,  3224.- — Cycle  of  the  Sun,  27. — Dominical 
Letter,  D. — Cycle  of  the  Moon,  9. — Indiction,  6. — Creation  from  Tisri  or  September,  2514. 


CHAPTER  I. 

The  Lord  calls  to  Moses  out  of  the  tabernacle ,  and  gives  him  directions  concerning  burnt-offerings  of  the  beeve 
kind,  1,  2.  The  burnt-offering  to  be  a  male  without  blemish,  3.  The  person  bringing  it  to  lay  his  hands 
upon  its  head,  that  it  might  be  accepted  for  him,  4.  He  is  to  kill,  flay,  and  cut  it  in  pieces,  and  bring  the 
blood  to  the  priests,  that  they  might  sprinkle  it  round  about  the  altar,  5,  6.  All  the  pieces  to  be  laid  upon 
the  altar  and  burnt,  7—9.  Directions  concerning  offerings  of  the  smaller  cattle,  such  as  sheep  and 
goats,  10-13.  Directions  concerning  offerings  of  fowls,  such  as  doves  and  pigeons,  14—17. 


A. M.  2514.  AN„D  the  Lord  a  called  unto 

An.  Exod.  isr!  2.  Moses,  and  spake  unto  him 
Abib  or  Nisan.  b  out  0f  tpe  tabernacle  of  the 

congregation,  saying, 

aExod.  xix.  3. - b  Exod.  xl.  34,  35  ;  Num.  xir.  4,  5. 

NOTES  ON  CHAP.  I. 

Verse  1.  And  the  Lord  called  unto  Moses ]  From 
the  manner  in  which  this  book  commences,  it  appears 
plainly  to  be  a  continuation  of  the  preceding ;  and  in¬ 
deed  the  whole  is  but  one  law,  though  divided  into  five 
portions,  and  why  thus  divided  is  not  easy  to  be  con¬ 
jectured. 

Previously  to  the  erection  of  the  tabernacle  God  had 
given  no  particular  directions  concerning  the  manner 
of  offering  the  different  kinds  of  sacrifices ;  but  as 
soon  as  this  Divine  structure  was  established  and  con¬ 
secrated,  Jehovah  took  it  as  his  dwelling  place ;  de¬ 
scribed  the  rites  and  ceremonies  which  he  would  have 
observed  in  his  worship,  that  his  people  might  know 
what  was  best  pleasing  in  his  sight ;  and  that,  when 
thus  worshipping  him,  they  might  have  confidence  that 
they  pleased  him,  every  thing  being  done  according  to 
his  own  directions.  A  consciousness  of  acting  accord¬ 
ing  to  the  revealed  will  of  God  gives  strong  confidence 
to  an  upright  mind. 

Verse  2.  Bring  an  offering ]  The  word  pip  korban, 
from  Dip  karab r  to  approach  or  draw  near,  signifies  an 
offering  or  gift  by  which  a  person  had  access  unto 
God  :  and  this  receives  light  from  the  universal  custom 
that  prevails  in  the  east,  no  man  being  permitted  to 
approach  the  presence  of  a  superior  without  a  present 
or  gift ;  and  the  offering  thus  brought  was  called  kor¬ 
ban,  which  properly  means  the  introduction-offering, 

506 


2  Speak  unto  the  children  of  A.  M.  2514. 

T  /  .  .  B-  C-  1490- 
Israel,  and  say  unto  them,  c  It  An.  Exod.  Isr.  2. 

r  i  • _ _ Abib  or  Nisan. 

any  man  ot  you  bring  an  oner-  _ _ 

ing  unto  the  Lord,  ye  shall  bring  your  offer- 

c  Chap.  xxii.  18,  19. 

or  offering  of  access.  This  custom  has  been  often  re¬ 
ferred  to  in  the  preceding  books.  .  See  also  chap.  vii. 

Of  the  cattle\  non  DPI  habbehemah,  animals  of  the 
beeve  kind,  such  as  the  bull,  heifer,  bullock,  and  calf ; 
and  restrained  to  these  alone  by  the  term  herd, 
bakar,  which,  from  its  general  use  in  the  Levitical 
writings,  is  known  to  refer  to  the  ox,  heifer,  &c.  And 
therefore  other  animals  of  the  beeve  kind  were  excluded. 

Of  the  flock]  p¥  tson,  sheep  and  goats  ;  for  we 
have  already  seen  that  this  term  implies  both  kinds  ; 
and  we  know,  from  its  use,  that  no  other  animal  of  the 
smaller  clean  domestic  quadrupeds  is  intended,  as  no 
other  animal  of  this  class,  besides  the  sheep  and  goat, 
was  ever  offered  in  sacrifice  to  God.  The  animals 
mentioned  in  this  chapter  as  proper  for  sacrifice  are  the 
very  same  which  God  commanded  Abraham  to  offer ; 
see  Gen.  xv.  9.  And  thus  it  is  evident  that  God  de¬ 
livered  to  the  patriarchs  an  epitome  of  that  law  which 
was  afterwards  given  in  detail  to  Moses,  the  essence 
of  which  consisted  in  its  sacrifices ;  and  those  sacri¬ 
fices  were  of  clean  animals,  the  most  perfect,  useful, 
and  healthy,  of  all  that  are  brought  under  the  imme¬ 
diate  government  and  influence  of  man.  Gross-feed¬ 
ing  and  ferocious  animals  were  all  excluded,  as  were 
also  all  birds  of  prey.  In  the  pagan  worship  it  was 
widely  different ;  for  although  the  ox  was  esteemed 
among  them,  according  to  Livy,  as  the  major  hostia  ; 
and  according  to  Pliny,  the  victima  optima ,  et  laudatis- 


CHAP.  I. 


The  burnt  offering  of  the  herd , 

A.  M.  2514.  ing  of  the  cattle,  even  of  the 
AnBExod14lsr.  2.  herd,  and  of  the  flock. 

Abibor  Nisan.  g  jf  J^g  0ffering  [ )e  a  bumt- 

sacrifice  of  the  herd,  let  him  offer  a  male 
d  w  ithout  blemish  :  he  shall  offer  it  of  his 
own  voluntary  will  at  the  door  of  the  tabernacle 
of  the  congregation  before  the  Lord. 

4  e  And  he  shall  put  his  hand  upon  the  head 
of  the  burnt-offering  ;  and  it  shall  be  f  accepted 
for  him  &  to  make  atonement  for  him. 

5  And  he  shall  kill  the  h  bullock  before  the 

d  Exod.  xii.  5  ;  chap.  iii.  1  ;  xxii.  20,  21  ;  Deut.  xv.  21  ;  Mai. 

i.  14;  Eph.  v.  27 ;  Heb.  ix.  14  ;  1  Pet.  i.  19. - e  Chap.  iv.  15; 

iii.  2,  8,  13  ;  viii.  14,  22  ;  xvi.  21  ;  Exodus  xxix.  10,  15,  19. 
fChap.  xxii.  21,  27;  Isa.  lvi.  7 ;  Rom.  xii.  1 ;  Phil.  iv.  18. 

sima  deorurn  placatio,  Plin.  Hist.  Nat.,  lib.  viii.,  c.  45, 
“  the  chief  sacrifice  and  the  most  availing  offering 
which  could  be  made  to  the  gods yet  obscene  fowls 
and  ravenous  beasts,  according  to  the  nature  of  their 
deities,  were  frequently  offered  in  sacrifice.  Thus  they 
sacrificed  horses  to  the  sun,  wolves  to  Mars,  asses  to 
Priapus,  swine  to  Ceres,  dogs  to  Hecate,  &c.,  &c. 
But  in  the  worship  of  God  all  these  were  declared 
unclean ,  and  only  the  three  following  kinds  of  quad¬ 
rupeds  were  commanded  to  be  sacrificed  :  1 .  The  bull 
or  ox,  the  cow  or  heifer,  and  the  calf.  2.  The  he-goat, 
she-goat,  and  the  kid.  3.  The  ram,  the  ewe ,  and  the 
lamb.  Among  fowls,  only  pigeons  and  turtle-doves 
were  commanded  to  be  offered,  except  in  the  case  of 
cleansing  the  leper,  mentioned  chap.  xiv.  4,  where  two 
clean  birds,  generally  supposed  to  be  sparrows  or  other 
small  birds,  though  of  what  species  is  not  well  known, 
are  specified.  Fish  were  not  offered,  because  they 
could  not  be  readily  brought  to  the  tabernacle  alive. 

Terse  3.  Burnt-sacrifice ]  The  most  important  of 
all  the  sacrifices  offered  to  God ;  called  by  the  Sep- 
tuagint  okoKavTupa,  because  it  was  wholly  consumed, 
which  was  not  the  case  in  any  other  offering.  See  on 
chap.  vii. 

His  own  voluntary  will]  lirtsono,  to  gain 

himself  acceptance  before  the  Lord  :  in  this  way  all 
the  versions  appear  to  have  understood  the  original 
words,  and  the  connection  in  which  they  stand  obvi¬ 
ously  requires  this  meaning. 

Terse  4.  He  shall  put  his  hand  upon  the  head  of  the 
burnt- offering]  By  the  imposition  of  hands  the  per¬ 
son  bringing  the  victim  acknowledged,  1.  The  sacrifice 
as  his  own.  2.  That  he  offered  it  as  an  atonement 
for  his  sins.  3.  That  he  wras  worthy  of  death  because 
he  had  sinned,  having  forfeited  his  life  by  breaking  the 
law.  4.  That  he  entreated  God  to  accept  the  life  of 
the  innocent  animal  in  place  of  his  own.  5.  And  all 
this,  to  be  done  profitably,  must  have  respect  to  HIM 
whose  life,  in  the  fulness  of  time,  should  be  made  a 
sacrifice  for  sin.  6.  The  blood  was  to  be  sprinkled 
round  about  upon  the  altar,  ver.  5,  as  by  the  sprinkling 
of  blood  the  atonement  was  made  ;  for  the  blood  was 
the  life  of  the  beast,  and  it  was  always  supposed  that 
life  went  to  redeem  life.  See  note  on  Exod.  xxix. 
10.  On  the  required  perfection  of  the  sacrifice  see 
the  note  on  Exod.  xii.  5. 


and  the  manner  of  offering  it 

Lord  :  1  and  the  priests,  Aaron’s  a.  m.  2514. 
sons,  shall  bring  the  blood,  k  and  An.  Exod.  isr.  2 
sprinkle  the  blood  round  about  Ablb  or  Nisan- 
upon  the  altar  that  is  by  the  door  of  the  taber¬ 
nacle  of  the  congregation.  . 

6  And  he  shall  flay  the  burnt-offering,  and 
cut  it  into  his  pieces. 

7  And  the  sons  of  Aaron  the  priest  shall 
put  fire  upon  the  altar,  and  1  lay  the  wood  in 
order  upon  the  fire. 

8  And  the  priests,  Aaron’s  sons,  shall  lay 

s  Chap.  iv.  20,  26,  31,  35;  ix.  7*  xvi.  24;  Num.  xv.  25, 

2  Chron.  xxix.  23,  24;  Rom.  v.  II. - h  Mic.  vi.  6. - *2  Chron 

xxxv.  11  ;  Heb.  x.  11. - k  Chap.  iii.  8  ;  Heb.  xii.  24 ;  1  Pet 

i.  2. - 1  Gen.  xxii.  9. 

It  has  been  sufficiently  remarked  by  learned  men 
that  almost  all  the  people  of  the  earth  had  their  burnt- 
offerings,  on  which  also  they  placed  the  greatest  de¬ 
pendence.  It  was  a  general  maxim  through  the  heathen 
world,  that  there  was  no  other  way  to  appease  the  in¬ 
censed  gods  ;  and  they  sometimes  even  offered  human 
sacrifices,  from  the  supposition,  as  Cossar  expresses  it, 
that  life  was  necessary  to  redeem  life,  and  that  the 
gods  would  be  satisfied  with  nothing  less.  “  Quod  pro 
vita  hominis  nisi  vita  hominis  redditur,  non  posse  aliter 
deorurn  immortalium  numen  placari  arbitrantur.” — • 
Com.  de  Bell.  Gal.,  lib.  vi.  But  this  was  not  the  case 
only  with  the  Gauls,  for  we  see,  by  Ovid,  Fast.,  lib. 
vi.,  that  it  was  a  commonly  received  maxim  among 
more  polished  people  : — 

“ - Pro  parvo  victima  parva  cadit. 

Cor  pro  corde,  precor,  pro  fibris  sumite  fibras. 

Hanc  animam  vobis  pro  meliore  damus.” 

See  the  whole  of  this  passage  in  the  above  work, 
from  ver.  135  to  163. 

Terse  6.  He  shall  flay]  Probably  meaning  the  per¬ 
son  who  brought  the  sacrifice,  who,  according  to  some 
of  the  rabbins,  killed,  flayed,  cut  up,  and  washed  the 
sacrifice,  and  then  presented  the  parts  and  the  blood  to 
the  priest,  that  he  might  burn  the  one,  and  sprinkle  the 
other  upon  the  altar.  But  it  is  certain  that  the  priests 
also,  and  the  Levites,  flayed  the  victims,  and  the  priest 
had  the  skin  to  himself ;  see  chap.  vii.  8,  and  2  Chron. 
xxix.  34.  The  red  heifer  alone  was  not  flayed,  but 
the  whole  body,  with  the  skin,  &c.,  consumed  with  fire. 
See  Num.  xix.  5. 

Terse  7.  Put  fire]  The  fire  that  came  out  of  the 
tabernacle  from  before  the  Lord,  and  which  was  kept 
perpetually  burning  ;  see  chap.  ix.  24.  Nor  was  it 
lawful  to  use  any  other  fire  i-n  the  service  of  God. 
See  the  case  of  Nadab  and  Abihu,  chap.  x. 

Terse  8.  The  priests — shall  lay  the  parts]  The 
sacrifice  was  divided  according  to  its  larger  joints. 
1.  After  its  blood  was  poured  out,  and  the  skin  re¬ 
moved,  the  head  was  cut  off.  2.  They  then  opened 
it  and  took  out  the  omentum,  or  caul,  that  invests  the 
intestines.  3.  They  took  out  the  intestines  with  the 
mesentery,  and  washed  them  well,  as  also  the  fat. 
4.  They  then  placed  the  four  quarters  upon  the  altar, 
covered  them  with  the  fat,  laid  the  remains  of  the  in- 

507 


a 


The  offering  from  the  flock.  LEVITICUS.  The  offering  of  fowls 


a.  M.  2514.  the  parts,  the  head,  and  the  fat, 

An.  Exod  Isr.  2.  m  order  upon  the  wood  that  is 
Abib  or  Nisan.  on  £re  wBich  { s  Up0n  the  altar. 

9  But  his  inwards  and  his  legs  shall  he 
wash  in  water:  and  the  priest  shall  burn  all  on 
the  altar,  to  he  a  burnt-sacrifice,  an  offering 
made  by  fire,  of  a  m  sweet  savour  unto  the 
Lord. 

10  And  if  his  offering  he  of  the  flocks, 
namely ,  of  the  sheep,  or  of  the  goats,  for  a 
burnt-sacrifice  ;  he  shall  bring  it  a  male  n  with¬ 
out  blemish. 

11  0  And  he  shall  kill  it  on  the  side  of  the 
altar  northward  before  the  Lord  :  and  the 
priests,  Aaron’s  sons,  shall  sprinkle  his  blood 
round  about  upon  the  altar  : 

1 2  And  he  shall  cut  it  into  his  pieces,  with 
his  head  and  his  fat :  and  the  priest  shall  lay 
them  in  order  on  the  wood  that  is  on  the  fire 
which  is  upon  the  altar. 

13  But  he  shall  wash  the  inwards  and  the 


legs  with  water  :  and  the  priest  A.  M.  2514. 

,  .  .  „  ./  B.  C.  1490. 

shall  bring  it  all,  and  burn  it  upon  An.  Exod.  lsr.2. 

the  altar :  it  is  a  burnt-sacrifice,  Ablb  or  Nisan. 

an  offering  made  by  fire,  of  a  sweet  savour 

unto  the  Lord. 

14  And  if  the  burnt-sacrifice  for  his  offering 
to  the  Lord  he  of  fowls,  then  he  shall  bring  his 
offering  of  p  turtle-doves,  or  of  young  pigeons. 

15  And  the  priests  shall  bring  it  unto  the 
altar,  and  *  wring  off  his  head,  and  burn  it  on 
the  altar ;  and  the  blood  thereof  shall  be  wrung 
out  at  the  side  of  the  altar. 

1 6  And  he  shall  pluck  away  his  crop  with 
r  his  feathers,  and  cast  it  s  beside  the  altar  on 
the  east  part,  by  the  place  of  the  ashes. 

17  And  he  shall  cleave  it  with  the  wings 
thereof,  hut  t  shall  not  divide  it  asunder  :  and 
the  priests  shall  burn  it  upon  the  altar,  upon 
the  wood  that  is  upon  the  fire  :  u  it  is  a  burnt- 
sacrifice,  an  offering  made  by  fire,  of  a  sweet 
savour  unto  the  Lord. 


m  Gen.  viii.  21  ;  Ezek.  xx.  28,  41  ;  2  Oor.  ii.  15  ;  Eph.  v.  2  ; 
Phil.  iv.  18. - n  Ver.  3. - 0  Ver.  5. - p  Chap.  v.  7  ;  xii.  8  ; 

testines  upon  them,  and  then  laid  the  head  above  all. 
5.  The  sacred  fire  was  then  applied,  and  the  whole 
mass  was  consumed.  This  was  the  holocaust ,  or  com¬ 
plete  burnt-offering. 

Verse  9.  An  offering — of  a  sweet  savour]  n’l  H&'X 
mm  ishsheh  reiach  nichoach,  a  fire-offering ,  an  odour 
of  rest ,  or,  as  the  Septuagint  express  it,  Ovota  ooyr) 
evoStag,  “  a  sacrifice  for  a  sweet-smelling  savour 
which  place  St.  Paul  had  evidently  in  view  when  he 
wrote  Eph.  v.  2  :  “  Christ  hath  loved  us,  and  hath 
given  himself  for  us  an  offering,  /cat  Qvatav — etg  ooyjjv 
evodiag,  and  a  sacrifice,  for  a  sweet- smelling  savour 
where  he  uses  the  same  terms  as  the  Septuagint. 
Hence  we  find  that  the  holocaust,  or  burnt-offering , 
typified  the  sacrifice  and  death  of  Christ  for  the  sins 
of  the  world. 

Verse  10.  His  offering  he  of  the  flocks]  See  on  ver.  2. 

Verse  12.  Cut  it  into  his  pieces]  See  the  notes  on 
Gen.  xv. 

Verse  1 6 .  Pluck  away  his  crop  with  his  feathers] 
In  this  sacrifice  of  fowls  the  head  was  violently  wrung 
off,  then  the  blood  was  poured  out,  then  the  feathers 
were  plucked  off,  the  breast  was  cut  open,  and  the 
crop,  stomach,  and  intestines  taken  out,  and  then  the 
body  was  burnt.  Though  the  bird  was  split  up,  yet  it 
was  not  divided  asunder.  This  circumstance  is  par¬ 
ticularly  remarked  in  Abram’s  sacrifice,  Gen.  xv.  10. 
See  the  notes  there. — See  Ainsworth. 

We  have  already  seen,  on  ver.  2,  that  four  kinds 
of  animals  might  be  made  burnt-offerings  to  the  Lord. 

1.  Neat  cattle,  such  as  bulls,  oxen,  cows,  and  calves. 

2.  He-goats,  she-goats,  and  kids.  3.  Rams,  ewes, 
and  lambs.  4.  Pigeons  and.  turtle-doves  ;  and  in  one 
ease,  viz,,  the  cleansing  of  the  leper,  sparrows  or  some 

508 


Luke  ii.  24. - fl  Or,  pinch  off  the  head  with  the  nail. - r  Or,  the 

filth  thereof. - s  Chap%vi.  10. - 1  Gen.  xv.  10. - uVer.  9,13. 

small  bird.  All  these  must  be  without  spot  or  ble¬ 
mish — the  most  perfect  of  their  respective  kinds,  and 
be  wholly  consumed  by  fire.  The  rich  were  to  bring 
the  most  costly  ;  the  poor,  those  of  least  price.  Even 
in  this  requisition  of  justice  how  much  mercy  was 
mingled  !  If  a  man  could  not  bring  a  bullock  or  a 
heifer ,  a  goat  or  a  sheep,  let  him  bring  a  calf,  a  kid , 
or  a  lamb.  If  he  could  not  bring  any  of  these  because 
of  his  poverty,  let  him  bring  a  turtle-dove,  or  a  young 
pigeon,  (see  chap.  v.  7  ;)  and  it  appears  that  in  cases 
of  extreme  poverty,  even  a  little  meal  or  fine  flour 
was  accepted  by  the  bountiful  Lord  as  a  sufficient  ob¬ 
lation  ;  see  chap.  v.  1 1 .  This  brought  down  the  be¬ 
nefits  of  the  sacrificial  service  within  the  reach  of  the 
poorest  of  the  poor ;  as  we  may  take  for  granted  that 
every  person,  however  low  in  his  circumstances,  might 
be  able  to  provide  the  tenth  part  of  an  ephah,  about 
three  quarts  of  meal,  to  make  an  offering  for  his  soul 
unto  the  Lord.  But  every  man  must  bring  something  ; 
the  law  stooped  to  the  lowest  circumstances  of  the 
poorest  of  the  people,  but  every  man  must  sacrifice, 
because  every  man  had  sinned.  Reader,  what  sort 
of  a  sacrifice  dost  thou  bring  to  God  1  To  Him  thou 
owest  thy  whole  body,  soul,  and  substance  ;  are  all 
these  consecrated  to  his  service  1  Or  has  he  the  re¬ 
fuse  of  thy  time,  and  the  offal  of  thy  estate  1  God 
requires  thee  to  sacrifice  as  his  providence  has  blessed 
thee.  If  thou  have  much,  thou  shouldst  give  liberally 
to  God  and  the  poor ;  if  thou  have  but  little,  do  thy 
diligence  to  give  of  that  little.  Goff’s  justice  requires 
a  measure  of  that  which  his  mercy  has  bestowed.  But 
remember  that  as  thou  hast  sinned,  thou  needest  a 
Saviour.  Jesus  is  that  lamb  without  spot  which  has 
been  offered  to  God  for  the  sin  of  the  world,  and  which 
thou  must  offer  to  him  for  thy  sin ;  and  it  is  only 


CHAP.  II. 


with  oil  and  incense. 


The  meat-offering  of  flour, 

through  Hun  that  thou  canst  be  accepted,  even  when 
thou  dedicatest  thy  whole  body,  soul,  and  substance  to 
thy  Maker.  Even  when  we  present  ourselves  a  living1 
sacrifice  to  God,  we  are  accepted  for  his  sake  who 


carried  our  sins,  and  bore  our  sorrows.  Thanks  be  to 
God,  the  rich  and  the  poor  have  equal  access  unto  him 
through  the  Son  of  his  love,  and  equal  right  to  claim 
the  benefits  of  the  great  sacrifice  ! 


CHAPTER  II. 


The  meat-offering  of  flour  with  oil  and  incense,  1—3.  The  oblation  of  the  meat-offering  baked  in  the  oven 
and  in  the  pan,  4-6.  The  meat-offering  baked  in  the  frying-pan,  7—10.  No  leaven  nor  honey  to  be 
offered  with  the  meat-offering ,  11.  The  oblation  of  the  first-fruits,  12.  Salt  to  be  offered  with  the  meat- 
offering r,  13.  Green  ears  dried  by  the  fire ,  and  corn  to  be  beaten  out  of  full  ears ,  with  oil  and  frankincense, 
to  be  offered  as  a  meat-offering  of  first-fruits,  14—16. 


A.  M.  2514. 

B.  C.  1490. 
An.  Exod.  Isr.  2. 
Abib  or  Nisan. 


a 


AND  when  any  will  offer 
meat-offering  unto  the  Lord, 
his  offering  shall  be  of  fine 


flour  ;  and 
upon  it, 
thereon 


he  shall  pour  oil 


A.  M.  2514. 

-.  r  i  .  B.  C.  1490. 

and  put  iranluncense  An.  Exod  isr.  2. 

Abib  or  Nisan. 


a  Chap.  vi.  14 ;  ix.  17 ; 

NOTES  ON  CHAP.  II. 

Verse  1.  Meat-offering ]  nrU3  minchah.  For  an 
explanation  of  this  word  see  the  note  on  Gen.  iv.  3, 
and  Lev.  vii.  Calmet  has  remarked  that  there  are 
five  kinds  of  the  minchah  mentioned  in  this  chapter. 
1.  JlSo  soleth ,  simple  flour  or  meal,\e r.  1.  2.  Cakes 

and  wafers ,  or  whatever  was  baked  in  the  oven,  ver.  4. 
3.  Cakes  baked  in  the  pan,  ver.  5.  4.  Cakes  baked 

on  the  frying-pan,  or  probably  a  gridiron,  verse  7. 
5.  Green  ears  of  corn  parched,  ver.  14.  All  these 
were  offered  without  honey  or  leaven,  but  accompa¬ 
nied  with  wine,  oil,  and  frankincense.  It  is  very  likely 
that  the  minchah ,  in  some  or  all  of  the  above  forms, 
was  the  earliest  oblation  offered  to  the  Supreme  Being, 
and  probably  was  in  use  before  sin  entered  into  the 
world,  and  consequently  before  bloody  sacrifices,  or 
piacular  victims,  had  been  ordained.  The  minchah 
of  green  ears  of  corn  dried  by  the  fire,  &c.,  was  pro¬ 
perly  the  gratitude-offering  for  a  good  seed  time,  and 
the  prospect  of  a  plentiful  harvest.  This  appears  to 
have  been  the  offering  brought  by  Cain,  Gen.  iv.  3  ; 
see  the  note  there.  The  flour,  whether  of  wheat,  rice, 
barley,  rye,  or  any  other  grain  used  for  aliment,  was 
in  all  likelihood  equally  proper;  for  in  Num.  v.  15, 
we  find  the  flour  of  barley,  or  barley  meal,  is  called 
minchah.  It  is  plain  that  in  the  institution  of  the  min¬ 
chah  no  animal  was  here  included,  though  in  other 
places  it  seems  to  include  both  kinds ;  but  in  general 
the  minchah  was  not  a  bloody  offering,  nor  used  by 
way  of  atonement  or  expiation,  but  merely  in  a  eucha- 
ristic  way,  expressing  gratitude  to  God  for  the  pro¬ 
duce  of  the  soil.  It  is  such  an  offering  as  what  is 
called  natural  religion  might  be  reasonably  expected  to 
suggest  :  but  alas  !  so  far  lost  is  man,  that  even  thank¬ 
fulness  to  God  for  the  fruits  of  the  earth1  must  be  taught 
by  a  Divine  revelation  ;  for  in  the  heart  of  man  even 
the  seeds  of  gratitude  are  not  found,  till  sown  there 
by  the  hand  of  Divine  grace. 

Offerings  of  different  kinds  of  grain,  flour,  bread, 
fruits,  &c.,  are  the  most  ancient  among  the  heathen 
nations ;  and  even  the  people  of  God  have  had  them 
from  the  beginning  of  the  world.  See  this  subject 
largely  discussed  on  Exod.  xxiii.  29,  where  several 


Num.  xv.  4. 

/ 

examples  are  given.  Ovid  intimates  that  these  grati¬ 
tude-offerings  originated  with  agriculture.  “  In  the 
most  ancient  times  men  lived  by  rapine,  hunting,  &c., 
for  the  sword  was  considered  to  be  more  honourable 
than  the  plough  ;  but  when  they  sowed  their  fields, 
they  dedicated  the  first-fruits  of  their  harvest  to  Ceres, 
to  whom  the  ancients  attributed  the  art  of  agriculture, 
and  to  whom  burnt-offerings  of  corn  were  made, 
according  to  immemorial  usages.”  The  passage  to 
which  I  refer,  and  of  which  I  have  given  the  substance, 
is  the  following  : — 

“  Non  habuit  tellus  doctos  antiqua  colonos  : 
Lassabant  agiles  aspera  bella  viros. 

Plus  erat  in  gladio  quam  curvo  laudis  aratro , 
Neglectus  domino  pauca  ferebat  ager. 

Farr  a  tamen  veteres  jaciebant,  farra  metebant : 
Primitias  Cereri  farra  resecta  dabant. 

Usibus  admoniti  fiammis  torrenda  dedere  : 
Multaque  peccato  damna  tulere  suo.” 

Fastor.,  lib.  ii.,  ver.  515. 

Pliny  observes  that  “  Numa  taught  the  Romans  to 
offer  fruits  to  the  gods,  and  to  make  supplications 
before  them,  bringing  salt  cakes  and  parched  corn  ; 
as  grain  in  this  state  was  deemed  most  wholesome.” 
Numa  instituit  deos  fruge  colere,  et  mola  salsa  sup - 
plicare,  atque  (ut  auctor  est  Hemina)/ar  torrere,  quo- 
niam  tostum  cibo  salubrius  esset. — Hist.  Nat.,  lib. 
xviii.,  c.  2.  And  it  is  worthy  of  remark,  that  the 
ancient  Romans  considered  “  no  grain  as  pure  or  pro¬ 
per  for  divine  service  that  had  not  been  previously 
parched.”  Id  uno  modo  consecutum ,  statuendo  non 
esse  purum  ad  rem  divinam  nisi  tostum. — Ibid. 

God,  says  Calmet,  requires  nothing  here  which  was 
not  in  common  use  for  nourishment ;  but  he  commands 
that  these  things  should  be  offered  with  such  articles 
as  might  give  them  the  most  exquisite  relish,  such  as 
salt,  oil,  and  wine,  and  that  the  flour  should  be  of  the 
finest  and  purest  kind.  The  ancients,  according  to 
Suidas,  seem  to  have  made  much  use  of  meal  formed 
into  a  paste  with  milk,  and  sometimes  with  water. 
(See  Suidas  in  Ma<Ta.)  The  priests  kept  in  the  tem¬ 
ples  a  certain  mixture  of  flour  mingled  with  oil  and 

60£ 


LEVITICUS. 


Of  the  meat-offerings 


baked  in  the  oven  and  pan. 


A.  M.  2514.  2  And  he  shall  bring  it  to  Aa- 

B.  C.  1490.  ,  ,  -ii 

An.  Exod.  isr.  2.  ron  s  sons  the  priests  :  and  he 

Abib  or  Nisan.  shaU  take  thereout  his  handful 

of  the  flour  thereof,  and  of  the  oil  thereof,  with 
all  the  frankincense  thereof ;  and  the  priest 
shall  burn  b  the  memorial  of  it  upon  the  altar, 
to  be  an  offering  made  by  fire,  of  a  sweet  savour 
unto  the  Lord  :  • 

3  And  c  the  remnant  of  the  meat-offering  shall 


be  Aaron’s  and  his  sons’ :  d  it  is  a  thing  most 
holy  of  the  offerings  of  the  Lord  made  by  fire. 


4  And  if  thou  bring  an  oblation  A.  M.  2514. 

r  ~  °  .  .  ,  B.  C.  1490. 

ot  a  meat-onermg  baken  in  the  An.  Exod.  isr.  2. 

oven,  it  shall  be  unleavened  cakes  Abib  oi  Nisan. 
of  fine  flour  mingled  with  oil,  or  unleavened 
wafers  e  anointed  with  oil. 

5  And  if  thy  oblation  be  a  meat-offering 
baken  f  in  a  pan,  it  shall  be  of  fine  flour  un¬ 
leavened,  mingled  with  oil. 

6  Thou  shalt  part  it  in  pieces,  and  pour  oil 
thereon  :  it  is  a  meat-offering. 

7  And  if  thy  oblation  be  a  meat-offering 


b  Ver.  9  ;  chap.  v.  12  ;  vi.  15  ;  xxiv.  7  ;  Isa.  lxvi.  3 ;  Ecclus. 
xlv.  16  ;  Acts  x.  4. - c  Chap.  vii.  9;  x.  12, 13;  Ecclus.  vii.  31. 


d  Exod.  xxix.  37  ;  Num.  xviii.  9. - e  Exod.  xxix.  2. - f  Or, 

on  aflat  plate  or  slice. 


wine,  which  they  called  'Y yteta  Hugieia  or  health,  and 
which  they  used  as  a  kind  of  amulet  or  charm  against 
sickness  ;  after  they  had  finished  their  sacrifices,  they 
generally  threw  some  flour  upon  the  fire,  mingled  with 
oil  and  wine,  which  they  called  dvlriyara  thulemata , 
and  which,  according  to  Theophrastus,  wras  the  ordi¬ 
nary  sacrifice  of  the  poor. 

Verse  2.  His  handful  of  the  flour]  This  was  for 
a  memorial ,  to  put  God  in  mind  of  his  covenant  with 
their  fathers,  and  to  recall  to  their  mind  his  gracious 
conduct  towards  them  and  their  ancestors.  Mr.  Ains¬ 
worth  properly  remarks,  “  that  there  was  neither  oil 
nor  incense  offered  with  the  sin  and  jealousy  offerings  ; 
because  they  were  no  offerings  of  memorial,  but  such 
as  brought  iniquities  to  remembrance,  which  were 
neither  gracious  nor  sweet-smelling  before  the  Lord.” 
Num.  v.  15;  Lev.  v.  11. 

In  this  case  a  handful  only  was  burnt,  the  rest  was 
reserved  for  the  priest’s  use  ;  but  all  the  frankincense 
was  burnt,  because  from  it  the  priest  could  derive  no 
advantage. 

Verse  4.  Baken  in  the  oven]  MJn  tannur,  from  “U 
nar,  to  split,  divide,  says  Mr.  Parkhurst ;  and  hence 
the  oven,  because  of  its  burning,  dissolving,  and  melting 
heat. 

Verse  5.  Baken  in  a  pan]  rnnn  machabath,  sup¬ 
posed  to  be  a  flat  iron  plate,  placed  over  the  fire  ;  such 
as  is  called  a  griddle  in  some  countries. 

Verse  7.  The  frying-pan]  IWIYID  marchesheth, 
supposed  to  be  the  same  with  that  called  by  the  Arabs 
a  ia-jen,  a  shallow  earthen  vessel  like  a  frying-pan, 
used  not  only  to  fry  in,  but  for  other  purposes.  On 
the  different  instruments,  as  well  as  the  manner  of 
baking  in  the  east,  Mr.  Harmer,  in  his  observations  on 
select  passages  of  Scripture,  has  collected  the  follow¬ 
ing  curious  information. 

“  Dr.  Shaw  informs  us  that  in  the  cities  and  villages 
of  Barbary,  there  are  public  ovens,  but  that  among  the 
Bedouins,  who  live  in  tents,  and  the  Kabyles ,  who  live 
in  miserable  hovels  in  the  mountains,  their  bread,  made 
into  thin  cakes,  is  baked  either  immediately  upon  the 
coals,  or  else  in  a  ta-jen,  which  he  tells  us  is  a  shallow 
earthen  vessel  like  a  frying-pan :  and  then  cites  the 
Septuagint  to  show  that  the  supposed  pan,  mentioned 
chap.  ii.  5,  was  the  same  thing  as  a  ta-jen.  The  ta- 
jen,  according  to  Dr.  Russel,  is  exactly  the  same  among 
the  Bedouins  as  the  rriyavov,  a  word  of  the  same  sound 

510 


as  well  as  meaning,  was  among  the  Greeks.  So  the 
Septuagint,  chap.  ii.  5  :  If  thy  oblation  be  a  meat-of¬ 
fering,  baken  in  a  pan,  (ano  Tiyyavov ,)  it  shall  be  of 
fine  flour  unleavened,  mingled  with  oil. 

“  This  account  given  by  the  doctor  is  curious ;  but 
as  it  does  not  give  us  all  the  eastern  ways  of  baking, 
so  neither  does  it  furnish  us,  I  am  afraid,  with  a  com¬ 
plete  comment  on  that  variety  of  methods  of  preparing 
the  meat-offerings  which  is  mentioned  by  Moses  in 
chap.  ii.  So  long  ago  as  Queen  Elizabeth’s  time, 
Rauwolff  observed  that  travellers  frequently  baked 
bread  in  the  deserts  of  Arabia  on  the  ground,  heated 
for  that  purpose  by  fire,  covering  their  cakes  of  bread 
with  ashes  and  coals,  and  turning  them  several  times 
until  they  were  baked  enough ;  but  that  some  of  the 
Arabians  had  in  their  tents,  stones,  or  copper  plates , 
made  on  purpose  for  baking.  Dr.  Pococke  very  lately 
made  a  like  observation,  speaking  of  iron  hearths  used 
for  baking  their  bread. 

“  Sir  John  Chardin,  mentioning  the  several  ways  of 
baking  their  bread  in  the  east,  describes  these  iron  plates 
as  small  and  convex.  These  plates  are  most  commonly 
used,  he  tells  us,  in  Persia,  and  among  the  wandering 
people  that  dwell  in  tents,  as  being  the  easiest  way  of 
baking,  and  done  with  the  least  expense ;  the  bread 
being  as  thin  as  a  skin,  and  soon  prepared.  Another 
way  (for  he  mentions  four)  is  by  baking  on  the  hearth. 
That  bread  is  about  an  inch  thick  ;  they  make  no  other 
all  along  the  Black  Sea  from  the  Palus  Mseotis  to  the 
Caspian  Sea,  in  Chaldea,  and  in  Mesopotamia,  except 
in  towns.  This,  he  supposes,  is  owing  to  their  being 
woody  countries.  These  people  make  a  fire  in  the 
middle  of  a  room,  when  the  bread  is  ready  for  baking 
they  sweep  a  corner  of  the  hearth,  lay  the  bread  there, 
and  cover  it  with  hot  ashes  and  embers ;  in  a  quarter 
of  an  hour  they  turn  it  :  this  bread  is  very  good.  The 
third  way  is  that  which  is  common  among  us.  The 
last  way,  and  that  which  is  common  through  all  Asia, 
is  thus  :  they  make  an  oven  in  the  ground,  four  or  five 
feet  deep  and  three  in  diameter,  well  plastered  with 
mortar.  When  it  is  hot,  they  place  the  bread  (which 
is  commonly  long,  and  not  thicker  than  a  finger) 
against  the  sides,  and  it  is  baked  in  a  moment. 

u  IP  Arvieux  mentions  another  way  used  by  the  Arabs 
about  Mount  Carmel,  who  sometimes  bake  in  an  oven, 
and  at  other  time  on  the  hearth  ;  but  have  a  third 
method,  which  is,  to  make  a  fire  in  a  great  stone  pitcher , 

a 


Different  methods  of  halting 


CHAP.  II. 


A.  M.  2514.  baken  in  the  frying-pan,  it  shall 

An.  Exod.  1st.  2.  be  made  of  fine  flour  with  oil. 
A!>ii)or  Nisan.  g  And  t{10ll  s}iaR  bring  the 


and  when  it  is  heated,  they  mix  meal  and  water,  as  we 
do  to  make  paste  to  glue  things  together,  which  they 
apply  with  the  hollow  of  their  hands  to  the  outside  of 
the  pitcher,  and  this  extremely  soft  paste  spreading 
itself  upon  it  is  baked  in  an  instant.  The  heat  of  the 
pitcher  having  dried  up  all  the  moisture,  the  bread 
comes  off' as  thin  as  our  wafers ;  and  the  operation  is 
so  speedily  performed  that  in  a  very  little  time  a  suffi¬ 
cient  quantity  is  made. 

“  Maimonides  and  the  Septuagint  differ  in  their  ex¬ 
planation  of  ver.  5  ;  for  that  Egyptian  rabbi  supposes 
this  verse  speaks  of  a  flat  plate,  and  these  more  ancient 
interpreters,  of  a  ta-jen.  But  they  both  seem  to  agree 
that  these  were  two  of  the  methods  of  preparing  the 
meat-offering ;  for  Maimonides  supposes  the  seventh 
verse  speaks  of  a  frying-pan  or  ta-jen ;  whereas  the 
Septuagint ,  on  the  contrary,  thought  the  word  there 
meant  a  hearth ,  which  term  takes  in  an  iron  or  copper 
plate,  though  it  extends  farther. 

“The  meat-offerings  of  the  fourth  verse  answer  as 
well  to  the  Arab  bread,  baked  by  means  of  their  stone 
pitchers ,  which  are  used  by  them  for  the  baking  of  wa¬ 
fers,  as  to  their  cakes  of  bread  mentioned  by  D' Ar- 
vieux ,  who,  describing  the  way  of  baking  among  the 
modern  Arabs,  after  mentioning  some  of  their  methods, 
says  they  bake  their  best  sort  of  bread,  either  by  heat¬ 
ing  an  oven,  or  a  large  pitcher,  half  full  of  certain 
little  smooth  shining  flints,  upon  which  they  lay  the 
dough,  spread  out  in  form  of  a  thin  broad  cake.  The 
mention  of  wafers  seems  to  fix  the  meaning  of  Moses 
to  these  oven  pitchers ,  though  perhaps  it  may  be  thought 
an  objection  that  this  meat-offering  is  said  to  have  been 
baked  in  an  oven  ;  but  it  will  be  sufficient  to  observe 
that  the  Hebrew  words  only  signify  a  meat-offering  of 
the  oven,  and  consequently  may  be  understood  as  well 
of  wafers  baked  on  the  outside  of  these  oven  pitchers, 
as  of  cakes  of  bread  baked  in  them.  And  if  thou 
bring  an  oblation ,  a  baited  thing ,  of  the  oven ,  it  shall 
be  an  unleavened  cake  of  fine  flour  mingled  with  oil, 
or  unleavened  loafers  anointed  with  oil.  Whoever  then 
attends  to  these  accounts  of  the  stone  pitcher,  the  ta- 
jen,  and  the  copper  plate  or  iron  hearth,  will  enter  into 
this  second  of  Leviticus,  I  believe,  much  more  per¬ 
fectly  than  any  commentator  has  done,  and  will  find  in 
these  accounts  what  answers  perfectly  well  to  the  de¬ 
scription  Moses  gives  us  of  the  different  ways  of  pre¬ 
paring  the  meat-offerings.  A  ta-jen  indeed,  according 
to  Dr.  Shaw,  serves  for  a  frying-pan  as  well  as  for  a 
baking  vessel  ;  for  he  says,  the  bagreah  of  the  people 
of  Barbary  differs  not  much  from  our  pancakes,  only 
that,  instead  of  rubbing  the  ta-jen  or  pan  in  which  they 
fry  them  with  butter,  they  rub  it  with  soap,  to  make 
them  like  a  honeycomb. 

“  Moses  possibly  intended  a  meat-offering  of  that 
kind  might  he  presented  to  the  Lord  ;  and  our  trans¬ 
lators  seem  to  prefer  that  supposition,  since,  though  the 
margin  mentions  the  opinion  of  Maimonides,  the  read¬ 
ing  of  the  text  in  the  sixth  verse  opposes  a  pan  for 
baking  to  a  pan  for  frying  in  the  seventeenth  verse.  ; 


among  the  Asiatics. 
meat-offering  that  is  made  of  a.  m.  2514. 

,  ,  .  0  .  ,  T  B.  C.  1490. 

these  things  unto  the  Lord:  An. Exod. isr. 2. 

and  when  it  is  presented  unto  Abib  or  JSisan. 

The  thought,  however,  of  Maimonides  seems  to  be 
most  just,  as  Moses  appears  to  be  speaking  of  different 
kinds  of  bread  only,  not  of  other  farinaceous  prepara¬ 
tions. 

“  These  oven  pitchers  mentioned  by  D’ Arvieux,  and 
used  by  the  modern  Arabs  for  baking  cakes  of  bread 
in  them,  and  wafers  on  their  outsides,  are  not  the  only 
portable  ovens  of  the  east.  St.  Jerome,  in  his  com¬ 
mentary  on  Lam.  v.  10,  describes  an  eastern  oven  as 
a  round  vessel  of  brass,  blackened  on  the  outside  by 
the  surrounding  fire  which  heats  it  within.  Such  an 
oven  I  have  seen  used  in  England.  Which  of  these 
the  Mishnah  refers  to  when  it  speaks  of  the  women 
lending  their  ovens  to  one  another,  as  well  as  their 
mills  and  their  sieves,  I  do  not  know  ;  but  the  forego¬ 
ing  observations  may  serve  to  remove  a  surprise  that 
this  circumstance  may  otherwise  occasion  in  the  reader 
of  the  Mishnah.  Almost  every  body  knows  that  little 
portable  handmills  are  extremely  common  in  the  Le¬ 
vant  ;  movable  ovens  are  not  so  well  known.  Whether 
ovens  of  the  kind  which  St.  Jerome  mentions  be  as 
ancient  as  the  days  of  Moses,  does  not  appear,  unless 
the  ta-jen  be  used  after  this  manner  ;  but  the  pitcher 
ovens  of  the  Arabs  are,  without  doubt,  of  that  remote 
antiquity. 

“  Travellers  agree  that  the  eastern  bread  is  made 
in  small  thin  moist  cakes,  must  be  eaten  new,  and  is 
good  for  nothing  when  kept  longer  than  a  day.  This, 
however,  admits  of  exceptions.  Dr.  Russel  of  late, 
and  RauwolfF  formerly,  assure  us  that  they  have  seve¬ 
ral  sorts  of  bread  and  cakes  :  some,  RauwolfF  tells  us, 
done  with  yolk  of  eggs  ;  some  mixed  with  several  sorts 
of  seed,  as  of  sesamum,  Romish  coriander ,  and  wild 
garden  saffron ,  which  are  also  strewed  upon  it ;  and 
he  elsewhere  supposes  that  they  prepare  biscuits  for 
travelling.  Russel,  who  mentions  this  strewing  of 
seeds  on  their  cakes  says,  they  have  a  variety  of  rusks 
and  biscuits.  To  these  authors  let  me  add  Pitts,  who 
tells  us  the  biscuits  they  carry  with  them  from  Egypt 
will  last  them  to  Mecca  and  back  again. 

“  The  Scriptures  suppose  their  loaves  of  bread  were 
very  small,  three  of  them  being  requisite  for  the  enter¬ 
tainment  of  a  single  person,  Luke  xi.  5.  That  they 
were  generally  eaten  new,  and  baked  as  they  wanted 
them,  as  appears  from  the  case  of  Abraham.  That 
sometimes,  howTever,  they  were  made  so  as  to  keep 
several  days  ;  so  the  shew-bread  was  fit  food,  after 
lying  before  the  Lord  a  week.  And  that  bread  for 
travellers  was  wont  to  be  made  to  keep  some  time,  as 
appears  from  the  pretences  of  the  Gibeonites,  Josh.  ix. 
12,  and  the  preparations  made  for  Jacob’s  journey  into 
Egypt,  Gen.  xlv.  23.  The  bread  or  rusks  for  tra¬ 
velling  is  often  made  in  the  form  of  large  rings,  and 
is  moistened  or  soaked  in  water  before  it  is  used.  In 
like  manner,  too,  they  seem  to  have  had  there  a  va¬ 
riety  of  eatables  of  this  kind  as  the  Aleppines  now 
have.  In  particular,  some  made  like  those  on  which 
seeds  are  strewed,  as  we  may  collect  from  that  part 
of  the  presents  of  Jeroboam’s  wife  to  the  Prophet  Ahi- 

511 


LEVITICUS. 


The  priest's  portion 


of  the  meat-offering 


a.  M.  2514.  the  priest,  he  shall  brine;  it  unto 
B.  G.  1490.  ,  1 

An.  Exod.  isr.  2.  the  altar. 

Abib  or  Nisan.  g  And  the  priest  shall  take  from 


the  meat-offering  s  a  memorial  thereof,  and 
shall  burn  it  upon  the  altar  :  it  is  an  h  offering 
made  by  fire,  of  a  sweet  savour  unto  the 
Lord. 

10  And  1  that  which  is  left  of  the  meat¬ 
offering  shall  he  Aaron’s  and  his  sons’ :  it  is  a 

s  Verse  2. - h  Exodus  xxix.  18. - 1  Verse  3. - k  Chapter 

vi.  17 ;  see  Matthew  xvi.  12 ;  Mark  viii.  15 ;  Luke  xii.  1 ; 


thing  most  holy  of  the  offerings  a.  m.  2514. 
of  the  Lord  made  by  fire.  An.  Exod.  isr.  2. 

11  No  meat-offering,  which  ye  Ablb  or  Nlsan- 
shall  bring  unto  the  Lord,  shall  be  made 
with  k  leaven  :  for  ye  shall  burn  no  leaven, 
nor  any  honey,  in  any  offering  of  the  Lord 
made  by  fire. 

12  1  As  for  the  oblation  of  the  first-fruits,  ye 
shall  offer  them  unto  the  Lord  :  but  they 


1  Corinthians  v.  8 ;  Gal.  v.  9. 

10,  11. 


OExod.  xxii.  29;  chap,  xxiii. 


jah,  which  our  translators  have  rendered  cracknels, 
1  Kings  xiv.  3.  Buxtorf  indeed  supposes  the  origi¬ 
nal  word  D’JpJ  nikkuddim  signifies  biscuits,  called  by 
this  name,  either  because  they  were  formed  into  little 
buttons  like  some  of  our  gingerbread,  or  because  they 
were  pricked  full  of  holes  after  a  particular  manner. 
The  last  of  these  two  conjectures,  I  imagine,  was  em¬ 
braced  by  our  translators  of  this  passage  ;  for  cracknels , 
if  they  are  all  over  England  of  the  same  form,  are  full 
of  holes,  being  formed  into  a  kind  of  flourish  of  lattice- 
work.  I  have  seen  some  of  the  unleavened  bread  of 
the  English  Jews  made  in  like  manner  in  a  net  form. 
Nevertheless  I  should  think  it  more  natural  to  under¬ 
stand  the  word  of  biscuit  spotted  with  seeds ;  for  it  is 
used  elsewhere  to  signify  works  of  gold  spotted  with 
studs  of  silver  ;  .and,  as  it  should  seem,  bread  spotted 
with  mould,  Josh.  ix.  5-12  ;  how  much  more  natural 
is  it  then  to  understand  the  word  of  cakes  spotted  ivith 
seeds ,  which  are  so  common  in  the  east  !  Is  not 
niaab  lebiboth,  in  particular,  the  word  that  in  general 
means  rich  cakes  ?  a  sort  of  which  Tamar  used  to  pre¬ 
pare  that  was  not  common,  and  furnished  Amnon  with 
a  pretence  for  desiring  her  being  sent  to  his  house, 
that  she  might  make  some  of  that  kind  for  him  in  the 
time  of  his  indisposition,  his  fancy  running  upon  them  ; 
see  2  Sam.  xiii.  2-*8.  Parkhurst  supposes  the  ori¬ 
ginal  word  to  signily  pancakes,  and  translates  the  root 
mb  labab  to  move  or  loss  up  and  down :  1  And  she 
took  the  dough,  vattalosh,)  and  kneaded  (mbm 

vattelabbeb ,  and  tossed)  it  in  his  sight,  btmm  vatte- 
bashshel,  and  dressed  the  cakes.’  In  this  passage,  says 
Mr.  Parkhurst,  it  is  to  be  observed  that  mb  is  distin¬ 
guished  from  tyb  to  knead,  and  from  bm  to  dress, 
which  agrees  with  the  interpretation  here  given. 

“  The  account  which  Mr.  Jackson  gives  of  an  Arab 
baking  apparatus,  and  the  manner  of  kneading  and 
tossing  their  cakes,  will  at  once,  if  I  mistake  not,  fix 
the  meaning  of  this  passage,  and  cast  much  light  on 
chap.  xi.  35.  ‘  I  was  much  amused  by  observing  the 

dexterity  of  the  Arab  women  in  baking  their  bread. 
They  have  a  small  place  built  with  clay,  between  two 
and  three  feet  high,  having  a  hole  in  the  bottom  for 
the  convenience  of  drawing  out  the  ashes,  somewhat 
similar  to  that  of  a  lime-kiln.  The  oven,  which  I 
think  is  the  most  proper  name  for  this  place,  is  usually 
about  fifteen  inches  wide  at  top,  and  gradually  grows 
wider  to  the  bottom.  It  .is  heated  with  wood,  and 
when  sufficiently  hot,  and  perfectly  clear  from  smoke, 
having  nothing  but  clear  embers  at  the  bottom,  which 
continue  to  reflect  great  heat,  they  prepare  the  dough 

512 


in  a  large  bowl,  and  mould  the  cakes  to  the  desired 
size  on  aboard  or  stone  placed  near  the  oven.  After 
they  have  kneaded  the  cake  to  a  proper  consistence, 
they  pat  it  a  little,  then  toss  it  about  with  great  dex¬ 
terity  in  one  hand  till  it  is  as  thin  as  they  choose  to 
make  it.  They  then  wet  one  side  of  it  with  water, 
at  the  same  time  wetting  the  hand  and  arm  with  which 
they  put  it  into  the  oven.  The  side  of  the  cake  ad¬ 
heres  fast  to  the  side  of  the  oven  till  it  is  sufficiently 
baked,  when,  if  not  paid  proper  attention  to,  it  would 
fall  down  among  the  embers.  If  they  were  not  ex¬ 
ceedingly  quick  at  this  work,  the  heat  of  the  oven 
would  burn  their  arms  ;  but  they  perform  it  with  such 
amazing  dexterity  that  one  woman  will  continue  keep¬ 
ing  three  or  four  cakes  in  the  oven  at  once,  till  she 
has  done  baking.  This  mode,  let  me  add,  does  not 
require  half  the  fuel  that,  is  made  use  of  in  Europe.’” 
See  more  in  PIaumer’s  Observat.,  vol.  i.,  p.  414,  &c., 
Edit.  1808. 

Verse  8.  Thou  shall  bring  the  meat  offering ]  It  is 
likely  that  the  person  himself  who  offered  the  sacrifice 
brought  it  to  the  priest,  and  then  the  priest  presented 
it  before  the  Lord. 

Verse  11.  No  meat-offering — -shall  be  made  with 
leaven ]  See  the  reason  of  this  prohibition  in  the  note 
on  Exod.  xii.  8. 

Nor  any  honey ]  Because  it  was  apt  to  produce 
acidity,  as  some  think,  when  wrought  up  with  flour 
paste  ;  or  rather  because  it  was  apt  to  gripe  and  prove 
purgative.  On  this  latter  account  the  College  of  Phy¬ 
sicians  have  totally  left  it  out  of  all  medicinal  prepa¬ 
rations.  This  effect  which  it  has  in  most  constitu¬ 
tions  was  a  sufficient  reason  why  it  should  be  prohibited 
here,  as  a  principal  part  of  all  these  offerings  was 
used  by  the  priests  as  a  part  of  their  ordinary  diet ; 
and  these  offerings,  being  those  of  the  poorer  sort,  were 
in  greater  abundance  than  most  others.  On  this  ac¬ 
count,  the  griping,  and  purgative  quality  of  the  honey 
must  render  it  extremely  improper.  As  leaven  was 
forbidden  because  producing  fermentation,  it  was  con¬ 
sidered  a  species  of  corruption,  and  was  therefore 
used  to  signify  hypocrisy,  malice,  &c.,  which  corrupt 
the  soul ;  it  is  possible  that  honey  might  have  had  a 
moral  reference,  also,  and  have  signified,  as  St.  Je¬ 
rome  thought,  carnal  pleasures  and  sensual  gratifica¬ 
tions.  Some  suppose  that  the  honey  mentioned  here 
was  a  sort  of  saccharine  matter  extracted  from  dates. 
Leaven  and  honey  might  be  offered  with  the  first- 
fruits,  as  we  learn  from  the  next  verse  ;  but  they 
were  forbidden  to  be  burnt  on  the  altar. 


a 


CHAP.  II. 


The  use  of  salt  with 


their  offerings  enjoined . 


A.  M.  25H-  shall  not  m  be  burnt  on  the  altar 

B.  C.  1490.  r 

An.  Exod.  1st.  2.  lor  a  sweet  savour. 

Abib  or  Xisan.  13  ^nc[  eveiy  oblation  of  thy 

meat-offering  n  shalt  thou  season  with  salt : 
neither  shalt  thou  suffer  0  the  salt  of  the  cove¬ 
nant  of  thy  God  to  be  lacking  from  thy  meat¬ 
offering  :  p  with  all  thine  offerings  thou  shalt 
offer  salt. 

14  And  if  thou  offer  a  meat-offering  of  thy 
first-fruits  unto  the  Lord,  q  thou  shalt  offer, 


for  the  meat-offering  of  thy  first-  A.  M.  2514. 

cj  j  B  C  1490 

fruits,  green  ears  of  corn  dried  An.  Exod.  isr.’ 2 

by  the  fire,  even  corn  beaten  out  Ablb  or  Nisaiu 

of  r  full  ears. 

1 5  And  s  thou  shalt  put  oil  upon  it,  and  lay 
frankincense  thereon  :  it  is  a  meat-offering. 

1 6  And  the  priest  shall  burn  4  the  memorial  of 
it,  part  of  the  beaten  corn  thereof,  and  part  of 
the  oil  thereof,  with  all  the  frankincense  there 
of :  it  is  an  offering  made  by  fire  unto  the  Lord 


111  Heb.  ascend. - n  Mark  ix.  49  ;  Col.  iv.  6. - 0  Num.  xviii. 

19. - PEzek.  xliii.  24. 


1  Chapter  xxiii.  10,  14. - r2  Kings  iv.  42. - s  Verse  1. 

1  Ver.  2. 


Verse  13.  With  all  thine  offerings  thou  shalt  offer 
saZA]  Salt  was  the  opposite  to  leaven ,  for  it  pre¬ 
served  from  putrefaction  and  corruption ,  and  signified 
the  purity  and  persevering  fidelity  that  were  necessary 
in  the  worship  of  God.  Every  thing  was  seasoned 
with  it,  to  signify  the  parity  and  perfection  that  should 
be  extended  through  every  part  of  the  Divine  service, 
and  through  the  hearts  and  lives  of  God’s  worshippers. 
It  was  called  the  salt  of  the  covenant  of  God ,  because 
as  salt  is  incorruptible,  so  was  the  covenant  made  with 
Abram,  Isaac,  Jacob,  and  the  patriarchs,  relative  to 
the  redemption  of  the  world  by  the  incarnation  and 
death  of  Jesus  Christ.  Among  the  heathens  salt  was 
a  common  ingredient  in  all  their  'sacrificial  offerings  ; 
and  as  it  was  considered  essential  to  the  comfort  and 
preservation  of  life,  and  an  emblem  of  the  most  perfect 
corporeal  and  mental  endowments,  so  it  was  supposed 
to  be  one  of  the  most  acceptable  presents  they  could 
make  unto  their  gods,  from  whose  sacrifices  it  was 
never  absent.  That  inimitable  and  invaluable  writer, 
Pliny,  has  left  a  long  chapter  on  this  subject,  the 
seventh  of  the  thirty  first  book  of  his  Natural  History , 
a  few  extracts  from  which  will  not  displease  the  intel¬ 
ligent  reader.  Ergo,  hercule,  vita  humanior  sine  Sale 
nequit  degere  :  adeoque  necessarium  elementum  est, 
ut  transierit  intellectus  ad  voluptates  animi  quoque. 
Nam  ita  Sales  appellantur  omnisque  vitae  lepos  et 
summa  hilaritas,  laborumque  requies  non  alio  magis 
vocabulo  constat.  Honoribus  etiam  militiaeque  inter- 
ponitur,  Salariis  inde  dictis — Maxime  tamen  in  sacris 
intelligitur  auctoritas,  quando  nulla  conficiuntur  sine 
mola  salsa.  “  So  essentially  necessary  is  salt  that 
without  it  human  life  cannot  be  preserved  :  and  even 
the  pleasures  and  endowments  of  the  mind  are  ex¬ 
pressed  by  it ;  the  delights  of  life,  repose,  and  the 
highest  mental  serenity,  are  expressed  by  no  other 
term  than  sales  among  the  Latins.  It  has  also  been 
applied  to  designate  the  honourable  rewards  given  to 
soldiers,  which  are  called  salarii  or  salaries.  But  its 
importance  may  be  farther  understood  by  its  use  in 
sacred •  things,  as  no  sacrifice  was  offered  to  the  gods 
without  the  salt  cake.'* 1'1 

So  Virgil,  Eclog.  viii.,  ver.  82  :  Sparge  molam. 

“  Crumble  the  sacred  mole  of  salt  and  corn.'1' 

And  again,  iEneid.,  lib.  iv.,  ver.  517  : — 

Ipsa  mola ,  manibusque  piis ,  altaria  juxta. 

Vol.  I.  (  34  ) 


“Now  with  the  sacred  cake,  and  lifted  hands, 
All  bent  on  death,  before  her  altar  stands.” 

Pitt. 


In  like  manner  Homer  : — 


II aooe  6’  uXog  OecoLO,  Kparevraov  ETraeipag. 

Iliad,  lib.  ix.,  ver.  214- 


“  And  taking  sacred  salt  from  the  hearth  side, 

Where  it  was  treasured,  pour’d  it  o’er  the  feast.” 

COWPER. 

Quotations  of  this  kind  might  be  easily  multiplied, 
but  the  above  may  be  deemed  sufficient. 

Verse  14.  Green  ears  of  corn  dried  by  the  fire] 
Green  or  half-ripe  ears  of  wheat  parched  with  fire  is  a 
species  of  food  in  use  among  the  poor  people  of  Pales¬ 
tine  and  Egypt  to  the  present  day.  As  God  is  repre¬ 
sented  as  keeping  a  table  among  his  people,  (for  the 
tabernacle  was  his  house,  where  he  had  the  golden 
table,  shew-bread,  &c.,)  so  he  represents  himself  as 
partaking  with  them  of  all  the  aliments  that  were  in 
use,  and  even  sitting  down  with  the  poor  to  a  repast 
on  parched  corn !  We  have  already  seen  that  these 
green  ears  were  presented  as  a  sort  of  eucharistical 
offering  for  the  blessings  of  seed  time,  and  the  pros¬ 
pect  of  a  plentiful  harvest.  See  the  note  on  ver.  1  ; 
several  other  examples  might  be  added  here,  but  they 
are  not  necessary. 

The  command  to  offer  salt  with  every  oblation,  and 
which  was  punctually  observed  by  the  J ews,  will  afford 
the  pious  reader  some  profitable  reflections.  It  is  well 
known  that  salt  has  two  grand  properties.  1 .  It  sea¬ 
sons  and  renders  palatable  the  principal  aliments  used 
for  the  support  of  life.  2.  It  prevents  putrefaction 
and  decay.  The  covenant  of  God,  that  is,  his  agree¬ 
ment  with  his  people,  is  called  a  covenant  of  salt,  to 
denote  as  we  have  seen  above,  its  stable  undecaying 
nature,  as  well  as  to  point  out  its  importance  and 
utility  in  the  preservation  of  the  life  of  the  soul.  The 
errace  of  God  by  Christ  Jesus  is  represented  under  the 
emblem  of  salt,  (see  Mark  ix.  49 ;  Eph.  iv.  29  ;  Col.  iv. 
6,)  because  of  its  relishing,  nourishing,  and  preserving 
quality.  Without  it  no  offering,  no  sacrifice,  no  reli¬ 
gious  service,  no  work  even  of  charity  and  mercy,  can 
be  acceptable  in  the  sight  of  God.  In  all  things  we 
must  come  unto  the  Father  through  him.  And  from 
none  of  our  sacrifices  or  services  must  this  salt  of  the 

covenant  of  our  God  be  lacking. 

513 


The  law  concerning 


LEVITICUS. 


the  peace-offering 


CHAPTER  III. 


The  law  of  the  peace-offering  in  general ,  1-5.  That  of  the  peace-offering  taken  from  the  flock,  6—11  ;  and 

the  same  when  the  offering  is  a  goat,  12—17. 


A.  M.  2514.  A  ND  if  his  oblation  he  a  a  sa- 

B.  C.  1490.  jL~\-  .  ~  f*  cc  9  9 t 

An.  Exod.  Isr.  2.  crifice  ot  peace-ottering,  it 

Abib  orNisan.  jie  0ffer  ft  0f  the  herd,  whether 
it  he  a  male  or  female,  he  shall  offer  it  b  with¬ 
out  blemish  before  the  Lord. 

2  And  c  he  shall  lay  his  hand  upon  the  head 
of  his  offering,  and  kill  it  at  the  door  of  the 
tabernacle  of  the  congregation  :  and  Aaron’s 
sons  the  priests  shall  sprinkle  the  blood  upon 
the  altar  round  about. 

3  And  he  shall  offer  of  the  sacrifice  of  the 
peace-offering  an  offering  made  by  fire  unto  the 
Lord  ;  d  the  e  fat  that  covereth  the  inwards, 
and  all  the  fat  that  is  upon  the  inwards, 

4  And  the  two  kidneys,  and  the  fat  that  is  on 
them,  which  is  by  the  flanks,  and  the  f  caul 
above  the  liver,  with  the  kidneys,  it  shall  he 
take  away. 

5  And  Aaron’s  sons  g  shall  burn  it  on  the  altar 
upon  the  burnt-sacrifice,  which  is  upon  the 
wood  that  is  on  the  fire  :  it  is  an  offering  made 
by  fire,  of  a  sweet  savour  unto  the  Lord. 

6  And  if  his  offering  for  a  sacrifice  of  peace¬ 


offering  unto  the  Lord  he  of  the  A.  M.  25H. 

flock,  male  or  female,  hhe  shall  An.  Exod.  isr.  2. 
offer  it  without  blemish.  Abib  or  Nisan. 

7  If  he  offer  a  lamb  for  his  offering,  then 
shall  he  offer  it  before  the  Lord. 

8  And  he  shall  lay  his  hand  upon  the  head 
of  his  offering,  and  kill  it  before  the  taberna¬ 
cle  of  the  congregation  :  and  Aaron’s  sons  shall 
sprinkle  the  blood  thereof  round  about  upon 
the  altar. 

9  And  he  shall  offer  of  the  sacrifice  of  the 
peace-offering,  an  offering  made  by  fire  unto 
the  Lord  ;  the  fat  thereof,  and  the  whole  rump, 
it  shall  he  take  off  hard  by  the  backbone  ;  and 
the  fat  that  covereth  the  inwards,  and  all  the 
fat  that  is  upon  the  inwards, 

1 0  And  the  two  kidneys,  and  the  fat  that  is 
upon  them,  which  is  by  the  flanks,  and  the 
caul  above  the  liver,  with  the  kidneys,  it  shall 
he  take  away. 

1 1  And  the  priest  shall  burn  it  upon  the  altar  ; 
it  is  1  the  food  of  the  offering  made  by  fire 
unto  the  Lord. 


a  Chap.  vii.  11,  29  ;  xxii.  21. - b  Chap.  i.  3. - c  Chap.  i.  4, 

5 ;  Exodus  xxix.  10. - d  Exod.  xxix.  13,  22  ;  chapter  iv.  8,  9. 

®  Or,  suet. 


NOTES  ON  CHAP.  III. 

Verse  1.  Peace-offering ]  shelamim,  an  offer¬ 

ing  to  make  peace  between  God  and  man  ;  see  on  chap, 
vii.,  and  Gen.  xiv.  18. 

Verse  2.  Lay  his  hand  upon  the  head  of  his  offer- 
ing ]  See  this  rite  explained  on  Exod.  xxix.  10,  and 
chap.  i.  4.  “  As  the  burnt- offering,  (chap,  i.,)”  says 

Mr.  Ainsworth,  “  figured  our  reconciliation  to  God  by 
the  death  of  Christ,  and  the  meat-offering,  (chap  ii. ,) 
our  sanctification  in  him  before  God,  so  this  peace¬ 
offering  signified  both  Christ’s  oblation  of  himself 
whereby  he  became  our  peace  and  salvation,  (Eph.  ii. 
14-16  ;  Acts  xiii.  47  ;  Heb.  v.  9;  ix.  28,)  and  our 
oblation  of  praise,  thanksgiving,  and  prayer  unto  God.” 

Verse  3.  The  fat  that  covereth  the  inwards ]  The 
omentum,  caul  or  web,  as  some  term  it.  The  fat  that 
is  upon  the  inwards ;  probably  the  mesentery  or  fatty 
part  of  the  substance  which  connects  the  convolutions 
of  the  alimentary  canal  or  small  intestines. 

Verse  5.  Aaron1  s  sons  shall  burn  it\  As  the  fat  was 
deemed  the  most  valuable  part  of  the  animal,  it  was 
offered  in  preference  to  all  other  parts ;  and  the  heathens 
probably  borrowed  this  custom  from  the  Jews,  for  they 
burnt  the  omentum  or  caul  in  honour  of  their  gods. 

Verse  9  The  whole  rump ,  it  shall  he  take  off  hard 
by  the  backbone ]  To  what  has  already  been  said  on 

514 


f  Or,  midriff  over  the  liver  and  over  the  kidneys. - £  Chap,  vi 

12  ;  Exod.  xxix.  13. - h  Ver.  1,  &c. - 1  See  chapter  xxi.  6,  8, 

17,  21,  22  ;  xxii.  25  ;  Ezek.  xliv.  7  ;  Mai.  i.  7, 12. 

the  tails  of  the  eastern  sheep,  in  the  note  on  Exod. 
xxix.  22,  we  may  add  the  following  observation  from 
Dr.  Russel  concerning  the  sheep  at  Aleppo.  “  Their 
tails, ”  says  he,  “  are  of  a  substance  between  fat  and 
marrow,  and  are  not  eaten  separately,  but  mixed  with 
the  lean  meat  in  many  of  their  dishes,  and  also  often 
used  instead  of  butter.”  He  states  also  that  a  com¬ 
mon  sheep  of  this  kind,  without  the  head,  fat,  skin, 
and  entrails,  weighs  from  sixty  to  seventy  English 
pounds,  of  which  the  tail  usually  weighs  fifteen  pounds 
and  upwards;  but  that  those  of  the  largest  breed,  when 
fattened,  will  weigh  one  hundred  and  fifty  pounds,  and 
their  tails  fifty,  which  corresponds  with  the  account 
given  by  Ludolf  in  the  note  referred  to  above.  The 
sheep  about  Jerusalem  are  the  same  with  those  in 
Abyssinia  mentioned  by  Ludolf,  and  those  of  Syria 
mentioned  by  Dr.  Russel . 

Verse  11.  It  is  the  food  of  the  offering ]  We  have 
already  remarked  that  God  is  frequently  represented  as 
feasting  with  his  people  on  the  sacrifices  they  offered ; 
and  because  these  sacrifices  wrere  consumed  by  that 
fire  which  was  kindled  from  heaven,  therefore  they 
were  considered  as  the  food  of  that  fire,  or  rather  of 
the  Divine  Being  who  was  represented  by  it.  “  In 
the  same  idiom  of  speech,”  says  Dodd,  “  the  gods 
of  the  heathens  are  said,  Deut.  xxxii.  38,  to  eat 

(  34*  ) 


Directions  concerning  CHAP.  IV.  sins  of  ignorance. 


a.  M.  2514.  12  And  if  his  offering  be  a 

An.  ExodTr!  2.  goat,  then  k  he  shall  offer  it  be- 

Abib  or  Nisan.  forc  ^  LORD. 

13  And  he  shall  lay  his  hand  upon  the  head 
of  it,  and  kill  it  before  the  tabernacle  of  the 
congregation  :  and  the  sons  of  Aaron  shall 
sprinkle  the  blood  thereof  upon  the  altar  round 
about. 

14  And  he  shall  offer  thereof  his  offering, 
even  an  offering  made  by  fire  unto  the  Lord  ; 
the  fat  that  covereth  the  inwards,  and  all  the 
fat  that  is  upon  the  inwards, 

k  Verses  1,  7,  &c. - 1  Chapter  vii.  23,  25  ;  1  Sam.  ii.  15  ; 

2  Chron.  vii.  7. - m  Chapter  vi.  18  ;  vii.  36;  xvii.  7  ;  xxiii.  14. 

"Verse  16;  compare  with  Deuteronomy  xxxii.  14 ;  Nehemiah 

the  fat  and  drink  the  wine  which  were  consumed  on 
their  altars.” 

Verse  12.  A  goat ]  Implying  the  whole  species, 
he-goat,  she-goat ,  and  kid ,  as  we  have  already  seen. 

Verse  17.  That  ye  eat  neither  fat  nor  blood.]  It  is 
not  likely  that  the  fat  should  be  forbidden  in  the  same 
manner  and  in  the  same  latitude  as  the  blood.  The 
blood  was  the  life  of  the  beast,  and  that  was  offered 
to  make  an  atonement  for  their  souls ;  consequently, 
this  was  never  eaten  in  all  their  generations  :  but  it 
was  impossible  to  separate  the  fat  from  the  flesh, 
which  in  many  parts  is  so  intimately  intermixed  with 
the  muscular  fibres ;  but  the  blood,  being  contained  in 
separate  vessels,  the  arteries  and  veins ,  might  with 
great  ease  be  entirely  removed  by  cutting  the  throat 
of  the  animal,  which  was  the  Jewish  method.  By  the 
fat  therefore  mentioned  here  and  in  the  preceding 
verse,  we  may  understand  any  fat  that  exists  in  a 
separate  or  unmixed  state,  such  as  the  omentum  or 
caul ,  the  fat  of  the  mesentery ,  the  fat  on  the  kidneys , 
and  whatever  else  of  the  internal  fat  was  easily  sepa¬ 
rable,  together  with  the  whole  of  the  tail  already  de¬ 
scribed.  And  probably  it  was  the  fat  of  such  animals 
only  as  were  offered  to  God  in  sacrifice,  that  was 
unlawful  to  be  eaten. 


1 5  And  the  two  kidneys,  and  A.  M.  2514. 

,  r  .  .  ,  J  ,  B.  C.  1490. 

the  iat  that  is  upon  them,  which  An.  Exod.  isr.  2. 

is  by  the  flanks,  and  the  caul  Ab‘b  or  Nisan. 

above  the  liver,  with  the  kidneys,  it  shall  he 

take  away. 

1 6  And  the  priest  shall  burn  them  upon  the 
altar :  it  is  the  food  of  the  offering  made  by 
fire  for  a  sweet  savour :  1  all  the  fat  is  the 
Lord’s. 

17  It  shall  be  a  m  perpetual  statute  for  your 
generations  throughout  all  your  dwellings,  that 
ye  eat  neither  n  fat  nor  0  blood. 

viii.  10. - 0  Gen.  ix.  4  ;  chap.  vii.  23,  26  ;  xvii.  10,  14  ; 

Deuteronomy  xii.  16;  1  Samuel  xiv.  33;  Ezekiel  xliv. 
7,  15. 

As  all  temporal  as  well  as  spiritual  blessings  come 
from  God,  he  has  a  right  to  require  that  such  of  them 
should  be  dedicated  to  his  service  as  he  may  think 
proper  to  demand.  He  required  the  most  perfect  of 
all  the  animals,  and  the  best  parts  of  these  perfect 
animals.  This  he  did,  not  that  he  needed  any  thing, 
but  to  show  the  perfection  of  his  nature  and  the  purity 
of  his  service.  Had  he  condescended  to  receive  the 
meanest  animals  and  the  meanest  parts  of  animals  as 
his  offerings,  what  opinion  could  his  worshippers  have 
entertained  of  the  perfection  of  his  nature  1  If  such 
imperfect  offerings  were  worthy  of  this  God,  then  his 
nature  must  be  only  worthy  of  such  offerings.  It  is 
necessary  that  every  thing  employed  in  the  worship 
of  God  should  be  the  most  perfect  of  its  kind  that  the 
time  and  circumstances  can  afford.  As  sensible  things 
are  generally  the  medium  through  which  spiritual  im¬ 
pressions  are  made,  and  the  impression  usually  par¬ 
takes  of  the  nature  of  the  medium  through  which 
these  impressions  are  communicated ;  hence  every 
thing  should  not  only  be  decent ,  but  as  far  as  circum¬ 
stances  will  admit  dignified ,  in  the  worship  of  God  : 
the  object  of  religious  worship,  the  place  in  which  he 
is  worshipped,  and  the  worship  itself,  should  have  the 
strongest  and  most  impressive  correspondence  possible. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

The  law  concerning  the  sin-offering  for  transgressions  committed  through  ignorance ,  I,  2.  For  the  priest 
thus  sinning ,  3—12.  For  the  sins  of  ignorance  of  the  whole  congregation,  13—21.  For  the  sins  of 
ignorance  of  a  ruler,  22—26.  For  the  sins  of  ignorance  of  any  of  the  common  people,  27—35. 


A.  M.  2514.  A  ND  the  Lord  spake  unto 

B.  C.  1490.  il  ...  .  r 

An.  Exod.  isr. 2.  Moses,  saying, 

Abib  or  Nisan.  ^  Speak  unto  the  children  of 

a  Chap.  v.  15,  17  ;  Num.  xv.  22,  &c.  ; 

NOTES  ON  CHAP.  IV. 

Verse  2.  If  a  soul  shall  sin  through  ignorance ] 
That  is,  If  any  man  shall  do  what  God  has  forbidden, 
or  leave  uudone  what  God  has  commanded,  through 
ignorance  of  the  law  relative  to  these  points ;  as  soon 

a 


Israel,  saying,  a  If  a  soul  shall  a.  m.  2514. 
sin  through  ignorance  against  any  An.  Exod.  isr.  2. 
of  the  commandments  of  the  Abib  °r  Nisan; 

1  Sam.  xiv.  27,  Psa.  xix.  12. 

as  the  transgression  or  omission  comes  to  his  know¬ 
ledge,  he  shall  offer  the  sacrifice  here  prescribed,  and 
shall  not  suppose  that  his  ignorance  is  an  excuse  for 
his  sin.  He  who,  when  his  iniquity  comes  to  his  know¬ 
ledge,  refuses  to  offer  such  a  sacrifice,  sins  obstinately 

515 


Concerning  sins  of  ignorance 
A.  M.  2514.  Lord,  concerning  things  Yv/iich 

g  q  1490  ^  ^  ^ 

An.  Exod.  isr!  2.  ought  not  to  be  done,  and  shall 
Abib  or  Nisan.  do  aga;nst  ^  q{  jhem  . 

3  b  If  the  priest  that  is  anointed  do  sin  ac¬ 
cording  to  the  sin  of  the  people  ;  then  let  him 
bring  for  his  sin,  which  he  hath  sinned,  c  a 
young  bullock  without  blemish,  unto  the  Lord, 
for  a  sin-offering. 

4  And  he  shall  bring  the  bullock  d  unto  the 
door  of  the  tabernacle  of  the  congregation, 
before  the  Lord  ;  and  shall  lay  his  hand  upon 
the  bullock’s  head,  and  kill  the  bullock  before 
the  Lord. 

5  And  the  priest  that  is  anointed  e  shall  take 
of  the  bullock’s  blood,  and  bring  it  to  the 
tabernacle  of  the  congregation. 

6  And  the  priest  shall  dip  his  finger  in  the 
blood,  and  sprinkle  of  the  blood  seven  times 
before  the  Lord,  before  the  veil  of  the  sanc¬ 
tuary. 

7  And  the  priest  shall  f  put  some  of  the 
blood  upon  the  horns  of  the  altar  of  sweet 
incense  before  the  Lord,  which  is  in  the  taber¬ 
nacle  of  the  congregation  ;  and  shall  pour  s  all 
the  blood  of  the  bullock  at  the  bottom  of  the 
altar  of  the  burnt-offering,  which  is  at  the  door 
of  the  tabernacle  of  the  congregation. 

b  Chap.  viii.  12. - c  Chap.  ix.  2. - d  Chap.  i.  3,  4. - e  Ch. 

xvi.  14  ;  Numbers  xix.  4.' - f  Chapter  viii.  15  ;  ix.  9  ;  xvi.  18. 

e  Ch.  v.  9. - h  Ch.  iii.  3,  4,  5. - {  Exod.  xxix.  14  ;  Num.  xix.  5. 


J.J  JLJ  V  JL  JL  X  « 


8  And  he  shall  take  off  from  it  a.  m.  2514. 
all  the  fat  of  the  bullock  for  the  An.  Exod.  Isr.  2. 
sin-offering;  the  fat  that  cover-  Ablb orNisan‘ 


eth  the  inwards,  and  all  the  fat  that  is  upon 
the  inwards, 

9  And  the  two  kidneys,  and  the  fat  that  is 
upon  them,  which  is  by  the  flanks,  and  the  caul 
above  the  liver,  with  the  kidneys,  it  shall  he 
take  away, 

10  h  As  it  was  taken  off  from  the  bullock  of 
the  sacrifice  of  peace-offerings  :  and  the  priest 
shall  burn  them  upon  the  altar  of  the  burnt- 
offering. 

1 1  1  And  the  skin  of  the  bullock,  and  all  his 
flesh,  with  his  head,  and  with  his  legs,  and  his 
inwards,  and  his  dung, 

12  Even  the  whole  bullock  shall  he  carry 
forth  k  without  the  camp  unto  a  clean  place, 
1  where  the  ashes  are  poured  out,  and  m  burn 
him  on  the  wood  with  fire  :  n  where  the  ashes 
are  poured  out  shall  he  be  burnt. 

1 3  And  0  if  the  whole  congregation  of  Israel 
sin  through  ignorance,  p  and  the  thing  be  hid 
from  the  eyes  of  the  assembly,  and  they  have 
done  somewhat  against  any  of  the  command¬ 
ments  of  the  Lord,  concerning  things  which 
should  not  be  done,  and  are  guilty ; 


k  Heb.  to  without  the  camp.- 

11. - n  Heb.  at  the  pouring  out  of  the  ashes. 

Josh.  vii.  11. - P  Chap.  v.  2,  3,  4,  17. 


-1  Chap.  vi.  11. - m  Heb.  xiii. 


-°  Num.  xv.  24  ; 


and  wilfully ,  and  to  him  there  remains  no  other  sacri¬ 
fice  for  sin — no  other  mode  by  which  he  can  be  re¬ 
conciled  to  God,  but  he  has  a  certain  fearful  looking 
for  of  judgment — rohich  shall  devour  such  adversa¬ 
ries  ;  and  this  seems  the  case  to  which  the  apostle 
alludes,  Heb.  x.  26,  &c.,  in  the  words  above  quoted. 
There  have  been  a  great  number  of  subtle  questions 
started  on  this  subject,  both  by  Jews  and  Christians,  but 
the  above  I  believe  to  be  the  sense  and  spirit  of  the  law. 

Verse  3.  If  the  priest  that  is  anointed ]  Meaning, 
most  probably,  the  high  priest.  According  to  the  sin 
of  the  people  ;  for  although  he  had  greater  advantages 
than  the  people  could  hav?,,  in  being  more  conversant 
with  the  law  of  God,  and  his  lips  should  understand 
and  preserve  knowledge,  yet  it  was  possible  even  for 
him,  in  that  time  in  which  the  word  of  God  had  not 
been  fully  revealed,  to  transgress  through  ignorance ; 
and  his  transgression  might  have  the  very  worst  ten¬ 
dency,  because  the  people  might  be  thereby  led  into 
sin.  Hence  several  critics  understand  this  passage  in 
this  way,  and  translate  it  thus  :  If  the  anointed  priest 
shall  lead  the  people  to  sin ;  or,  literally,  if  the  anointed 
priest  shall  sm  to  the  sin  of  the  people ;  that  is,  so  as 
to  cause  the  people  to  transgress,  the  shepherd  going 
astray,  and  the  sheep  following  after  him. 

Verse  4.  Lay  his  hand  upon  the  bullock's  head] 
See  on  chap.  i.  .4. 


Verse  6.  Seven  times ]  See  the  note  on  Exod. 
xxix.  30.  The  blood  of  this  sacrifice  was  applied  in 
three  different  ways  :  1.  The  priest  put  his  finger  in 

it,  and  sprinkled  it  seven  times  before  the  veil,  ver.  6. 
2.  He  put  some  of  it  on  the  horns  of  the  altar  of  in¬ 
cense.  3.  He  poured  the  remaining  part  at  the  bot¬ 
tom  of  the  altar  of  burnt-offerings,  ver.  7. 

Verse  12.  Without  the  camp ]  This  was  intended 
figuratively  to  express  the  sinfulness  of  this  sin,  and 
the  availableness  of  the  atonement.  The  sacrifice,  as 
having  the  sin  of  the  priest  transferred  from  himself 
to  it  by  his  confession  and  imposition  of  hands,  was 
become  unclean  and  abominable,  and  was  carried,  as  it 
were,  out  of  the  Lord’s  sight ;  from  the  tabernacle  and 
congregation  it  must  be  carried  without  the  camp,  and 
thus  its  own  offensiveness  was  removed,  and  the  sin 
of  the  person  in  whose  behalf  it  was  offered.  The 
apostle  (Heb.  xiii.  11—13)  applies  this  in  the  most 
pointed  manner  to  Christ  :  “  For  the  bodies  of  those 

beasts  whose  blood  is  brought  into  the  sanctuary  by  the 
high  priest  for  sin,  are  burned  without  the  camp. 
Wherefore  Jesus  also,  that  he  might  sanctify  the  people 
with  his  own  blood,  suffered  without  the  gate.  Let  us 
go  forth  therefore  unto  him  without  the  camp ,  bearing 
his  reproach.” 

Verse  13.  If  the  whole  congregation  of  Israel  sin\ 
This  probably  refers  to  some  oversight  in  acts  of  re¬ 


ft 


516 


Concerning  sins  of  ignorance 


CHAP.  IV. 


in  the  whole  congregation \  tyc. 


A.  M.  2514.  14  When  the  sin,  which  they 

An.  Exod.  isr.  2.  have  sinned  against  it,  is  known, 
Ainb  or  Nisan.  tjien  t}ie  congregation  shall  offer 

a  young  bullock  for  the  sin,  and  bring  him 
before  the  tabernacle  of  the  congregation. 

1 5  And  the  elders  of  the  congregation  *  shall 
lay  their  hands  upon  the  head  of  the  bullock 
before  the  Lord  :  and  the  bullock  shall  be 
killed  before  the  Lord. 

1 6  r  And  the  priest  that  is  anointed  shall 
bring  of  the  bullock’s  blood  to  the  tabernacle 
of  the  congregation. 

17  And  the  priest  shall  dip  his  finger  in 
some  of  the  blood,  and  sprinkle  it  seven  times 
before  the  Lord,  even  before  the  veil. 

18  And  he  shall  put  some  of  the  blood  upon 
the  horns  of  the  altar  which  is  before  the 
Lord,  that  is  in  the  tabernacle  of  the  congre¬ 
gation,  and  shall  pour  out  all  the  blood  at  the 
bottom  of  the  altar  of  the  burnt-offering,  which 
is  at  the  door  of  the  tabernacle  of  the  congre¬ 
gation. 

19  And  he  shall  take  all  his  fat  from  him, 
and  burn  it  upon  the  altar. 

20  And  he  shall  do  with  the  bullock  as  lie 
did  s  with  the  bullock  for  a  sin-offering,  so 
shall  he  do  with  this  :  t  and  the  priest  shall 
make  an  atonement  for  them,  and  it  shall  be 
forgiven  them. 

2 1  And  he  shall  carry  forth  the  bullock  with¬ 


out  the  camp,  and  burn  him  as  A.  M.  2514. 
he  burned  the  first  bullock :  it  An.  ExodJkr!  2. 
is  a  sin-offering  for  the  con-  Ablb  or  ^isan. 
gregation. 

22  When  a  ruler  hath  sinned,  and  u  done 
somewhat  through  ignorance  against  any  of 
the  commandments  of  the  Lord  his  God, 
concerning  things  which  should  not  be  done, 
and  is  guilty ; 

23  Or  v  if  his  sin,  wherein  he  hath  sinned, 
come  to  his  knowledge  ;  he  shall  bring  his 
offering,  a  kid  of  the  goats,  a  male  without  ble¬ 
mish  : 

24  And  w  he  shall  lay  his  hand  upon  the 
head  of  the  goat,  and  kill  it  in  the  place  where 
they  kill  the  burnt-offering  before  the  Lord  : 
it  is  a  sin-offering. 

25  x  And  the  priest  shall' take  of  the  blood 
of  the  sin-offering  with  his  finger,  and  put  it 
upon  the  horns  of  the  altar  of  burnt-offering, 
and  shall  pour  out  his  blood  at  the  bottom  of 
the  altar  of  burnt-offering. 

26  And  he  shall  burn  all  his  fat  upon  the 
altar,  as  y  the  fat  of  the  sacrifice  of  peace- 
offerings  :  z  and  the  priest  shall  make  an 
atonement  for  him  as  concerning  his  sin,  and 
it  shall  be  forgiven  him. 

27  And  a  if  b  any  one  of  the  c  common  peo¬ 
ple  sin  through  ignorance,  while  he  doeth  some¬ 
what  against  any  of  the  commandments  of  the 


<lChap.  i.  4. - rVer.  5;  Heb.  ix.  12,  13,  14. - sVer.  3. 

*  Num.  xv.  25 ;  Dan.  ix.  24 ;  Rom.  v.  11  ;  Heb.  ii.  17;  x.  10, 
11,  12;  1  John  i.  7;  ii.  2. - «  Ver.  2,  13. 

ligious  worship,  or  to  some  transgression  of  the  letter 
of  the  law,  which  arose  out  of  the  peculiar  circum¬ 
stances  in  which  they  were  then  found,  such  as  the 
case  mentioned  1  Sam.  xiv.  32,  &c.,  where  the  peo¬ 
ple,  through  their  long  and  excessive  fatigue  in  their 
combat  with  the  Philistines,  being  faint,  flew  on  the 
spoil ,  and  took  sheep ,  oxen ,  and  calves ,  and  slew  them 
on  the  ground ,  and  did  eat  with  the  blood ;  and  this 
was  partly  occasioned  by  the  rash  adjuration  of  Saul, 
mentioned  ver.  24  :  Cursed  be  the  man  that  eateth  any 
food  until  evening. 

The  sacrifices  and  rites  in  this  case  were  the  same 
as  those  prescribed  in  the  preceding,  only  here  the 
elders  of  the  congregation,  i.  e.,  three  of  the  sanhedrim , 
according  to  Maimonides,  laid  their  hands  on  the  head 
of  the  victim  in  the  name  of  all  the  congregation. 

Verse  22.  When  a  ruler  hath  sinned J  Under  the 
term  N’Ktj  nasi ,  it  is  probable  that  any  person  is  meant 
who  held  any  kind  of  political  dignity  among  the  peo¬ 
ple,  though  the  rabbins  generally  understand  it  of  the 
king. 

A  kid  of  the  goats  was  the  sacrifice  in  this  case, 
the  rites  nearly  the  same  as  in  the  preceding  cases, 

a 


v  Ver.  14. - wVer.  4,  &c. - xVer.  30. - -7  Chap.  iii.  5. 

z  Ver.  20;  Num.  xv.  28. - aVer.  2;  Num.  xv.  27. - bHeb 

any  soul. - c  Heb.  people  of  the  land. 

only  th e  fat  was  burnt  as  that  of  the  peace-offering. 
See  ver.  26,  and  chap.  iii.  5. 

Verse  27.  The  common  people\  'pxn  Dy  amhaarets, 
the  people  of  the  land ,  that  is,  any  individual  who  was 
not  a  priest,  king ,  or  ruler  among  the  people  ;  any  of 
the  poor  or  ordinary  sort.  Any  of  these,  having  trans¬ 
gressed  through  ignorance,  was  obliged  to  bring  a  lamb 
or  a  kid,  the  ceremonies  being  nearly  the  same  as  in  the 
preceding  cases.  The  original  may  denote  the  very 
lowest  of  the  people,  the  labouring  or  agricultural  classes. 

The  law  relative  to  the  general  cases  of  sins  com¬ 
mitted  through  ignorance,  and  the  sacrifices  to  be 
offered  on  such  occasions,  so  amply  detailed  in  this 
chapter,  may  be  thus  recapitulated.  For  all  sins  and 
transgressions  of  this  kind  committed  by  the  people , 
the  prince ,  and  the  priest,  they  must  offer  expiatory 
offerings.  The  person  so  sinning  must  bring  the  sa¬ 
crifice  to  the  door  of  the  tabernacle,  and  lay  his  hands 
upon  its  head,  as  in  a  case  already  referred  to,  acknow¬ 
ledging  the  sacrifice  to  be  his,  that  he  needed  it  for 
his  transgression ;  and  thus  he  was  considered  as 
confessing  his  sin,  and  the  sin  was  considered  as 
transferred  to  the  animal,  whose  blood  was  then  spilt 

517 


LEVITICUS. 


Concerning  a  witness  who 

A.  M.  2514.  Lord,  concerning  things  which 

B  C  1490  J  ^  ^ 

An.  Exod.  isr.  2.  ought  not  to  be  done,  and  be  guilty ; 

Abib  or  Nisan.  28  Or  d  if  Lis  sin,  which  he  hath 
sinned,  come  to  his  knowledge  ;  then  he  shall 
bring  his  offering,  a  kid  of  the  goats,  a  female 
without  blemish,  for  his  sin  which  he  hath  sinned. 

29  e  And  he  shall  lay  his  hand  upon  the  head 
of  the  sin-offering,  and  slay  the  sin-offering  in 
the  place  of  the  burnt-offering. 

30  And  the  priest  shall  take  of  the  blood 
thereof  with  his  finger,  and  put  it  upon  the  horns 
of  the  altar  of  burnt-offering,  and  shall  pour  out 
all  the  blood  thereof  at  the  bottom  of  the  altar. 

3 1  And  f  he  shall  take  away  all  the  fat  thereof, 
g  as  the  fat  is  taken  away  from  off  the  sacri¬ 
fice  of  peace-offering ;  and  the  priest  shall 
burn  it  upon  the  altar  for  a  h  sweet  savour 
unto  the  Lord  ;  1  and  the  priest  shall  make  an 
atonement  for  him,  and  it  shall  be  forgiven  him. 

d  Verse  23. - e  Ver.  4,  24. - f  Chap.  iii.  14. - s  Chap.  iii.  3. 

h  Exod.  xxix.  18  ;  chap.  i.  9. 

to  make  an  atonement.  See  on  chap.  i.  4.  Such  in¬ 
stitutions  as  these  could  not  be  considered  as  termi¬ 
nating  in  themselves,  they  necessarily  had  reference 
to  something  of  infinitely  higher  moment ;  in  a  word, 
they  typified  Him  whose  soul  was  made  an  offering 
for  sin,  Isa.  liii.  10.  And  taken  out  of  this  reference 
they  seem  both  absurd  and  irrational.  It  is  obviously 
in  reference  to  these  innocent  creatures  being  brought 
as  sin-offerings  to  God  for  the  guilty  that  St.  Paul 
alludes  2  Cor.  v.  21,  where  he  says,  He  (God)  made 
him  to  be  sin  (dfiapTtav,  a  sin-offering)  for  us  who 
knew  no  sin,  that  ice  might  be  made  the  righteousness 
of  God — holy  and  pure  by  the  power  and  grace  of 
God,  in  or  through  him.  And  it  is  worthy  of  remark, 
that  the  Greek  word  used  by  the  apostle  is  the  same 
by  which  the  Septuagint,  in  more  than  fourscore  places 
in  the  Pentateuch,  translate  the  Hebrew  word 
chattaah,  sin,  which  in  all  those  places  our  translation 
renders  sin-offering.  Even  sins  of  ignorance  cannot 


refuses  to  tell  the  truth. 

32  And  if  be  bring  a  lamb  for  a.  m.  2514. 

a  sin-offering,  k  he  shall  bring  it  An.  Exod.  isr’.  2. 
a  female  without  blemish.  ^Abib  or  Nisan. 

33  And  he  shall  lay  his  hand  upon  the  head  of 
the  sin-offering,  and  slay  it  for  a  sin-offering, 
in  the  place  where  they  kill  the  burnt-offering. 

34  And  the  priest  shall  take  of  the  blood  of 
the  sin-offering  with  his  finger,  and  put  it  upon 
the  horns  of  the  altar  of  burnt-offering,  and 
shall  pour  out  all  the  blood  thereof  at  the  bot¬ 
tom  of  the  altar : 

35  And  he  shall  take  away  all  the  fat  thereof, 
as  the  fat  of  the  lamb  is  taken  away  from  the 
sacrifice  of  the  peace-offerings  ;  and  the  priest 
shall  burn  them  upon  the  altar,  1  according  to 
the  offerings*  make  by  fire  unto  the  Lord  : 
m  and  the  priest  shall  make  an  atonement  for 
his  sin  that  he  hath  committed,  and  it  shall  be 
forgiven  him. 

*  Verse  26. - k  Verse  28. - 1  Chapter  iii.  5. - m  Verse 

26,  31. 

be  unnoticed  by  a  strict  and  holy  law ;  these  also  need 
the  great  atonement  :  on  which  account  we  should 
often  pray  with  David,  Cleanse  thou  me  from  secret 
faults  !  Psa.  xix.  12.  How  little  attention  is  paid  to 
this  solemn  subject !  Sins  of  this  kind — sins  commit¬ 
ted  sometimes  ignorantly,  and  more  frequently  heed¬ 
lessly,  are  permitted  to  accumulate  in  their  number, 
and  consequently  in  their  guilt ;  and  from  this  very 
circumstance  we  may  often  account  for  those  painful 
desertions,  as  they  are  called,  under  which  many  com¬ 
paratively  good  people  labour.  They  have  committed 
sins  of  ignorance  or  heedlessness,  and  have  not  offered 
the  sacrifice  which  can  alone  avail  in  their  behalf. 
How  necessary  in  ten  thousand  cases  is  the  following 
excellent  prayer  !  “  That  it  may  please  thee  to  give 

us  true  repentance  ;  to  forgive  us  all  our  sins,  negli¬ 
gences,  and  ignorances  ;  and  to  endue  us  with  the 
grace  of  thy  Ploly  Spirit,  to  amend  our  lives  according 
to  thy  Holy  Word.” — Litany . 


CHAPTER  V. 


Concerning  witnesses  who,  being  adjured,  refuse  to  tell  the  truth,  1.  Of  those  who  contract  defilement  by 
touching  unclean  things  or  persons,  2,  3.  Of  those  who  bind  themselves  by  vows  or  oaths,  and  do  not 
fulfil  them,  4,  5.  The  trespass-offering  prescribed  in  such  cases,  a  lamb  or  a  kid,  6  ;  a  turtle-dove  or  two 
young  pigeons,  7—10  ;  or  an  ephah  of  fine  flour  with  oil  and  frankincense,  11—13.  Other  laws  relative  to 
trespasses,  through  ignorance  in  holy  things,  14-16.  Of  trespasses  in  things  unknown,  17—19. 


A.  M.  2514. 

B.  C.  1490. 
An.  Exod.  Isr.  2. 
Abib  or  Nisan. 


AND  if  a  soul  sin,  a  and  hear 
the  voice  of  swearing,  and  is 


a  witness,  whether  he  hath  seen 


or  known  of  it ;  if  he  do  not 
utter  it,  then  he  shall  b  bear  his 
iniquity. 


A.  M.  2514. 

B.  C. 1490. 
An.  Exod.  Isr.  2. 

Abib  or  Nisan. 


a  1  Kings  viii.  31 ;  Matt.  xxvi.  63. 


b  Ver.  17  ;  chap.  vii.  18  ;  xvii.  16  ;  xix.  8  ;  xx.  17  ;  Num.  ix.  13, 


NOTES  ON  CHAP.  Y. 

Verse  1 .  If  a  soul  sin\  It  is  generally  supposed 
that  the  case  referred  to  here  is  that  of  a  person  who, 


518 


being  demanded  by  the  civil  magistrate  to  answer 
upon  oath,  refuses  to  tell  what  he  knows  concerning 
the  subject ;  such  a  one  shall  bear  his  iniquity - — shall 

a 


Ordinances  relative  to 


CHAP.  V. 


A.  M.  2514.  2  Or  c  if  a  soul  touch  any 

An.Exod.  isr.  2.  unclean  thing,  whether  it  be  a 
Ahib  or  Nisan.  carcass  0f  an  unclean  beast,  or 

a  carcass  of  unclean  cattle,  or  the  carcass  of 
unclean  creeping  things,  and  if  it  be  hidden 
from  him ;  he  also  shall  be  unclean,  and 
d  guilty. 

3  Or  if  he  touch  e  the  uncleanness  of  man, 
whatsoever  uncleanness  it  be  that  a  man  shall 
be  defiled  withal,  and  it  be  hid  from  him ; 
when  he  knoweth  of  it ,  then  he  shall  be  guilty. 

4  Or  if  a  soul  swear,  pronouncing  with  his 
lips  f  to  do  evil,  or  s  to  do  good,  whatsoever  it 
be  that  a  man  shall  pronounce  with  an  oath, 
and  it  be  hid  from  him  ;  when  he  knoweth  of 
it,  then  he  shall  be  guilty  in  one  of  these. 

5  And  it  shall  be,  when  he  shall  be  guilty  in 
one  of  these  things,  that  he  shall  11  confess 
that  he  hath  sinned  in  that  thing : 

6  And  he  shall  bring' his  trespass-offering 
unto  the  Lord,  for  his  sin  which  he  hath  sin¬ 
ned,  a  female  from  the  flock,  a  lamb  or  a  kid 
of  the  goats,  for  a  sin-offering ;  and  the  priest 
shall  make  an  atonement  for  him  concerning 
his  sin. 

7  And  *  if  k  he  be  not  able  to  bring  a  lamb, 
then  he  shall  bring  for  his  trespass,  which  he 
hath  committed,  two  1  turtle-doves,  or  two 
young  pigeons,  unto  the  Lord  ;  one  for  a  sin- 
offering,  and  the  other  for  a  burnt-offering. 

8  And  he  shall  bring  them  unto  the  priest, 

c  Chap.  xi.  24,  28,  31,  39  ;  Num.  xix.  11,  13,  16. - d  Yer.  17. 

6  Chap,  xii.,  xiii.,  xv. - f  See  1  Sam.  xxv.  22  ;  Acts  xxiii.  12. 

£  See  Mark  vi.  23. - ll  Chap.  xvi.  21 ;  xxvi.  40  ;  Num.  v.  7 ; 

Ezra  x.  11,  12. - 1  Chap.  xii.  8  ;  xiv.  21. 

be  considered  as  guilty  in  the  sight  of  God,  of  the 
transgression  which  he  has  endeavoured  to  conceal, 
and  must  expect  to  be  punished  by  him  for  hiding 
the  iniquity  to  which  he  was  privy,  or  suppressing 
the  truth  which,  being  discovered,  would  have  led  to 
the  exculpation  of  the  innocent,  and  the  punishment 
of  the  guilty. 

Yerse  2.  Any  unclean  thing ]  Either  the  dead  body 
of  a  clean  animal,  or  the  living  or  dead  carcass  of  any 
unclean  creature.  All  such  persons  were  to  wash  their 
clothes  and  themselves  in  clean  water,  and  were  con¬ 
sidered  as  unclean  till  the  evening,  chap.  xi.  24—31. 
But  if  this  had  been  neglected,  they  were  obliged  to 
bring  a  trespass-offering .  What  this  meant,  see  in 
the  notes  on  chap.  vii. 

Yerse  4.  To  do  evil,  or  to  do  good ]  It  i3  very 
likely  that  rash  promises  are  here  intended  ;  for  if  a 
man  vow  to  do  an  act  that  is  evil,  though  it  would  be 
criminal  to  keep  such  an  oath  or  vow,  yet  he  is  guilty 
because  he  made  it,  and  therefore  must  offer  the  tres¬ 
pass-offering .  If  he  neglect  to  do  the  good  he  has 

a 


uncleanness,  vows ,  and  oaths 

who  shall  offer  that  which  is  for  a.  m.  2514. 
the  sin-offering  first,  and  m  wring  An.  ExodMsr.^ 
off  his  head  from  his  neck,  but  Ablb  or  Nl3an* 
shall  not  divide  it  asunder : 

9  And  he  shall  sprinkle  of  the  blood  of  the 
sin-offering  upon  the  side  of  the  altar ;  and 
n  the  rest  of  the  blood  shall  be  wrung  out  at 
the  bottom  of  the  altar :  it  is  a  sin-offering 

10  And  he  shall  offer  the  second  for  a  burnt- 
offering,  according  to  the  0  manner :  p  *  and  the 
priest  shall  make  an  atonement  for  him  for  his 
sin  which  he  hath  sinned,  and  it  shall  be  for¬ 
given  him. 

1 1  But  if  he  be  not  able  to  bring  two  turtle¬ 
doves,  or  two  young  pigeons,  then  he  that 
sinned  shall  bring  for  his  offering  the  tenth 
part  of  an  ephah  of  fine  flour  for  a  sin-offer¬ 
ing;  r  he  shall  put  no  oil  upon  it,  neither  shall 
he  put  any  frankincense  thereon  :  for  it  is  a 
sin-offering. 

12  Then  shall  he  bring  it  to  the  priest,  and 
the  priest  shall  take  his  handful  of  it,  s  even  a 
memorial  thereof,  and  burn  it  on  the  altar,  t  ac¬ 
cording  to  the  offerings  made  by  fire  unto  the 
Lord  :  it  is  a  sin-offering. 

13  u  And  the  priest  shall  make  an  atonement 
for  him  as  touching  his  sin  that  he  hath  sinned 
in  one  of  these,  and  it  shall  be  forgiven  him  : 
and  v  the  remnant  shall  be  the  priest’s,  as  a 
meat-offering. 

14  And  the  Lord  spake  unto  Moses,  saying, 

k  Heb.  his  hand  cannot  reach  to  the  sufficiency  of  a  lamb. - 1  Chap 

i.  14. - mChap.  i.  15. - n  Chap.  iv.  7,  18,  30,  34. - 0  Or,  ordi¬ 
nance. - P  Chap.  i.  14. - Chap.  iv.  26. - rNum.  v.  15. 

s  Chap.  ii.  2. - 1  Chap.  iv.  35. - u  Chap.  iv.  26. - v  Chap.  ii.  3. 

vowed,  he  is  guilty,  and  must  in  both  cases  confess 
his  iniquity,  and  bring  his  trespass-offering. 

Yerse  5.  He  shall  confess  that  he  hath  sinned ]  Even 
restitution  was  not  sufficient  without  this  confession , 
because  a  man  might  make  restitution  without  being 
much  humbled ;  but  the  confession  of  sin  has  a  direct 
tendency  to  humble  the  soul,  and  hence  it  is  so  fre¬ 
quently  required  in  the  Holy  Scriptures,  as  without 
humiliation  there  can  be  no  salvation. 

Yerse  7.  If  he  be  not  able  to  bring  a  lamb ]  See  the 
conclusion  of  chap.  i. 

Yerse  8.  But  shall  not  divide  it]  See  the  note  on 
chap.  i.  16. 

Yerse  10.  He  shall  offer  the  second  for  a  burnt- 
offering ]  The  pigeon  for  the  burnt-offering  was  wholly 
consumed,  it  was  the  Lord’s  property  ;  that  for  the  sin- 
offering  was  the  priest’s  property,  and  was  to  be  eaten 
by  him  after  its  blood  had  been  partly  sprinkled  on 
the  side  of  the  altar,  and  the  rest  poured  out  at  the 
bottom  of  the  altar.  See  also  chap.  vi.  26. 

Yerse  11.  Tenth  part  of  an  ephah ]  About  three 

519 


LEVITICUS. 


Concerning  sins  of  ignorance 


in  the  holy  things  of  the  Lord. 


A.  M.  2514.  15  w  If  a  soul  commit  a  tres- 

B.  C. 1490.  .  i  •  n  i  . 

An.  Exod.  isr.  2.  pass,  and  sm  through  ignorance, 

Abib  or  Nisan.  ^  pQ]y  jLingS  0f  LORD  ; 

then  x  he  shall  bring  for  his  trespass  unto  the 
Lord  a  ram  without  blemish  out  of  the  flocks, 
with  thy  estimation  by  shekels  of  silver,  after 
y  the  shekel  of  the  sanctuary,  for  a  trespass¬ 
offering  : 

1 6  And  he  shall  make  amends  for  the  harm 
that  he  hath  done  in  the  holy  thing,  and  z  shall 
add  the  fifth  part  thereto,  and  give  it  unto  the 
priest  :  a  and  the  priest  shall  make  an  atone¬ 
ment  for  him  with  the  ram  of  the  trespass- 
offering,  and  it  shall  be  forgiven  him. 


17  And  if  a  b  soul  sm,  and  A.  M.  2514. 
commit  any  of  these  things  which  An.  Exod.  Isr.  2. 
are  forbidden  to  be  done  by  Ablb  or  Nlsan‘ 
the  commandments  of  the  Lord  ;  c  though  he 
wist  it  not,  yet  is  he  d  guilty,  and  shall  bear  his 
iniquity. 

18  e  And  he  shall  bring  a  ram  without  ble¬ 
mish  out  of  the  flock,  with  thy  estimation,  for 
a  trespass-offering,  unto  the  priest :  f  and  the 
priest  shall  make  an  atonement  for  him  con¬ 
cerning  his  ignorance  wherein  he  erred  and 
wist  it  not,  and  it  shall  be  forgiven  him. 

19  It  is  a  trespass-offering:  s  he  hath  cer¬ 
tainly  trespassed  against  the  Lord. 


w  Chap.  xxii.  14. - x  Ezra  x.  19. - 7  Exod.  xxx.  13  ;  chap. 

xxvii.  25. - z  Chap.  vi.  5  ;  xxii.  14 ;  xxvii.  13,  15,  27,  31 ;  Num. 

v.  7. - a  Chap.  iv.  26. 

quarts.  The  ephah  contained  a  little  more  than  seven 
gallons  and  a  half. 

Verse  15.  In  the  holy  things  of  the  Lord ]  This  law 
seems  to  relate  particularly  to  sacrilege ,  and  defrauds 
in  spiritual  matters ;  such  as  the  neglect  to  consecrate 
or  redeem  the  first-born,  the  withholding  of  the  first- 
fruits,  tithes,  and  such  like  ;  and,  according  to  the  rab¬ 
bins,  making  any  secular  gain  of  Divine  things,  keep¬ 
ing  back  any  part  of  the  price  of  things  dedicated  to 
God,  or  withholding  what  man  had  vowed  to  pay.  See 
a  long  list  of  these  things  in  Ainsworth. 

With  thy  estimation ]  The  wrrong  done  or  the  de¬ 
fraud  committed  should  be  estimated  at  the  number  of 
shekels  it  was  worth,  or  for  which  it  would  sell.  These 
the  defrauder  was  to  pay  down,  to  which  he  was  to 
add  a  fifth  part  more,  and  bring  a  ram  without  blemish 
for  a  sin-offering  besides.  There  is  an  obscurity  in 
the  text,  but  this  seems  to  be  its  meaning. 

Verse  16.  Shall  make  amends\  Make  restitution  for 
the  wrong  he  had  done  according  to  what  is  laid  down 
in  the  preceding  verse. 

Verse  19.  He  hath  certainly  trespassed ]  And  be¬ 
cause  he  hath  sinned,  therefore  he  must  bring  a  sacri¬ 
fice.  On  no  other  ground  shall  he  be  accepted  by  the 
Lord.  Reader,  how  dost  thou  stand  in  the  sight  of 
thy  Maker } 

On  the  subject  of  this  chapter  it  may  be  proper  to 
make  the  following  reflections. 

When  the  infinite  purity  and  strict  justice  of  God 
are  considered,  the  exceeding  breadth  of  his  command¬ 
ment,  our  slowness  of  heart  to  believe,  and  our  com- 


b  Chap.  iv.  2. - c  Yer.  15  ;  chap.  iv.  2, 13,  22,  27  ;  Psa.  xix. 

12;  Luke  xii.  48. - d  Yer.  1,  2. - eVer.  15. - fVer.  16. 

s  Ezra  x.  2. 

paratively  cold  performance  of  sacred  duties,  no  won¬ 
der  that  there  is  sinfulness  found  in  our  holy  things; 
and  at  what  a  low  ebb  must  the  Christian  life  be  found 
when  this  is  the  case !  ’This  is  a  sore  and  degrading 
evil  in  the  Church  of  God  ;  but  there  is  one  even 
worse  than  this,  that  is,  the  strenuous  endeavour  of 
many  religious  people  to  reconcile  their  minds  to  this 
state  of  inexcusable  imperfection,  and  defend  it  zeal¬ 
ously,  on  the  supposition  that  it  is  at  once  both  un-> 
avoidable  and  useful— unavoidable,  for  they  think  they 
cannot  live  without  it ;  and  useful,  because  they  sup¬ 
pose  it  tends  to  humble  them  !  The  more  inward  sin 
a  man  has,  the  more  pride  he  will  feel ;  the  less,  the 
more  humility.  A  sense  of  God’s  infinite  kindness  to 
us,  and  our  constant  dependence  on  him,  will  ever  keep 
the  soul  in  the  dust.  Sin  can  never  be  necessary  to 
the  maintenance  or  extension  of  the  Christian  life,  it 
is  the  thing  which  Jesus  Christ  came  into  the  world  to 
destroy ;  and  his  name  is  called  Jesus  or  Saviour  be¬ 
cause  he  saves  his  people  from  their  sins.  But  how 
little  of  the  spirit  and  influence  of  his  Gospel  is  known 
in  the  world !  He  saves,  unto  the  uttermost,  them 
who  come  unto  the  Father  through  him.  But  alas! 
how  few  are  thus  saved  !  for  they  will  not  come  unto 
him  that  they  might  have  life.  Should  any  Christian 
refuse  to  offer  up  the  following  prayer  to  God  ?  “  Al¬ 

mighty  God,  unto  whom  all  hearts  be  open,  and  from 
whom  no  secrets  are  hid,  cleanse  the  thoughts  of  our 
hearts  by  the  inspiration  of  thy  Holy  Spirit,  that  we 
may  perfectly  love  thee,  and  worthily  magnify  thy 
holy  name,  through  Christ  our  Lord.  Amen.”— -The 
Liturgy. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

Laws  relative  to  detention  of  property  intrusted  to  the  care  of  another ,  to  robbery ,  and  deceit,  1,2;  finding 
of  goods  lost,  keeping  them  from  their  owner ,  and  swearing  falsely,  3.  Such  a  person  shall  not  only 
restore  what  he  has  thus  unlawfully  gotten,  but  shall  add  a  fifth  part  of  the  value  of  the  property  besides,  4,  5  ; 
and  bring  a  ram  ivithout  blemish,  for  a  trespass-offering  to  the  Lord,  6,  7.  Laws  relative  to  the  burnt- 
offering  and  the  perpetual  fire.  8-13.  Law  of  the  meat-offering,  and  who  may  lawfully  eat  of  it,  14-18. 
Laws  relative  to  the  offerings  of  Aaron  and  his  sons  and  their  successors,  on  the  day  of  their  anointing , 
19-23.  Laws  relative  to  the  sin-offering,  and  those  who  might  eat  of  it,  24-30. 

520  a 


Different  laws  relative  to  CHAP.  VI.  fraudulent  practices 


A.  M.  2514.  AND  the  Lord  spake  unto 

B.  C.  1490.  fix.  ..  r 

An.  Exod.  Isr.  2.  Moses,  saying, 

Abib  or  Nisan.  g  jf  a  soul  sin>  and  a  commit  a 

trespass  against  the  Lord,  and  b  lie  unto  his 
neighbour  in  that  c  which  was  delivered  him 
to  keep,  or  in  d  fellowship,  e  or  in  a  thing 
taken  away  by  violence,  or  hath  f  deceived  his 
neighbour  ; 

3  Or  b  have  found  that  which  was  lost,  and 
lieth  concerning  it,  and  h  sweareth  falsely ;  in 
any  of  all  these  that  a  man  doeth,  sinning 
therein  : 

4  Then  it  shall  be,  because  he  hath  sinned, 
and  is  guilty,  that  he  shall  restore  that  which 
he  took  violently  away,  or  the  thing  which  he 
hath  deceitfully  gotten,  or  that  which  was  de¬ 
livered  him  to  keep,  or  the  lost  thing  which 
he  found, 

aNum.  v.  6. - b  Chap.  xix.  11;  Acts  v.  4;  Col.  iii.  9. 

c  Exod.  xxii.  7,  10. - d  Or,  in  dealing.' - e  Heb.  putting  of  the 

hand. - f  Prov.  xxiv.  28  ;  xxvi.  19. - s  Deut.  xxii.  1,  2,  3. 

h  Exod.  xxii.  11 ;  chap.  xix.  12  ;  Jer.  vii.  9  ;  Zech.  v.  4. 

NOTES  ON  CHAP.  VI. 

Verse  2.  Lie  unto  his  neighbour ,  6fC.\  This  must 
refer  to  a  case  in  which  a  person  delivered  his  pro¬ 
perty  to  his  neighbour  to  be  preserved  for  him,  and 
took  no  witness  to  attest  the  delivery  of  the  goods ; 
such  a  person  therefore  might  deny  that  he  had  ever 
received  such  goods,  for  he  who  had  deposited  them 
with  him  could  bring  no  proof  of  the  delivery.  On 
the  other  hand,  a  man  might  accuse  his  neighbour  of 
detaining  property  which  had  never  been  confided  to 
him,  or,  after  having  been  confided,  had  been  restored 
again  ;  hence  the  law  here  is  very  cautious  on  these 
points  ;  and  because  in  many  cases  it  was  impossible 
to  come  at  the  whole  truth  without  a  direct  revelation 
from  God,  which  should  in  no  common  case  be  expect¬ 
ed,  the  penalties  are  very  moderate  ;  for  in  such  cases, 
even  when  guilt  was  discovered,  the  man  might  not  be 
so  criminal  as  appearances  might  intimate.  See  the 
law  concerning  this  laid  down  and  explained  on  Exod. 
xxii.  7,  &c. 

Verse  3.  Have  found  that  which  was  lost ]  The 
Homan  lawyers  laid  it  down  as  a  sound  maxim  of  ju¬ 
risprudence,  “  that  he  who  found  any  property  and 
applied  it  to  his  own  use,  should  be  considered  as  a 
thief  whether  he  knew  the  owner  or  not ;  for  in  their 
view  the  crime  was  not  lessened,  supposing  the  finder 
was  totally  ignorant  of  the  right  owner.”  Qui  alienum 
quid  jacens  lucri  faciendi  causa  sustulit,furti  obstrin- 
gitur ,  sive  scit ,  cujus  sit ,  sive  ignoravit;  nihil  enim  ad 
furtum  minuendum  facit,  quod,  cujus  sit,  ignoret. — 
Digestor,  lib.  xlvii.,  Tit.  ii. ,  de  furtis.  Leg.  xliii., 
sec.  4.  On  this  subject  every  honest  man  must  say, 
that  the  man  who  finds  any  lost  property,  and  does  not 
make  all  due  inquiry  to  find  out  the  owner,  should,  in 
sound  policy,  be  treated  as  a  thief.  It  is  said  of  the 
Dyrbaeans,  a  people  who  inhabited  the  tract  between 
Baotria  and  India,  that  if  they  met  with  any  lost  pro- 


5  Or  all  that  about  which  he  A.  M.  2514. 
hath  sworn  falsely  ;  he  shall  even  An.  Exod.  Isr.  2. 
1  restore  it  in  the  principal,  and  Ablb  or  Nlsan- 
shall  add  the  fifth  part  more  thereto,  and  give 
it  unto  him  to  whom  it  appertained!,  k  in  1  the 
day  of  his  trespass-offering. 

6  And  he  shall  bring  his  trespass-offering 
unto  the  Lord,  m  a  ram  without  blemish  out 
of  the  flock,  with  thy  estimation,  for  a  tres¬ 
pass-offering  unto  the  priest : 

7  n  And  the  priest  shall  make  an  atonement 
for  him  before  the  Lord  :  and  it  shall  be  for¬ 
given  him  for  any  thing  of  all  that  he  hath 
done  in  trespassing  therein. 

8  And  the  Lord  spake  unto  Moses,  saying, 

9  Command  Aaron  and  his  sons,  saying, 
This  is  the  law  of  the  burnt-offering  :  It  is 
the  burnt-offering,  0  because  of  the  burning 

3  Chap.  v.  16  ;  Num.  v.  7 ;  2  Sam.  xii.  6 ;  Luke  xix.  8. 

k  Or,  in  the  day  of  his  being  found  guilty. - 3  Heb.  in  the  day 

of  his  trespass. - m  Chap.  v.  15. - n  Chap.  iv.  26. - °  Or,  f  or 

the  burning. 

perty,  even  on  the  public  road,  they  never  even  touched 
it.  This  was  actually  the  case  in  this  kingdom  in  the 
time  of  Alfred  the  Great,  about  A.  I).  888  ;  so  that 
golden  bracelets  hung  up  on  the  public  roads  were  un¬ 
touched  by  the  finger  of  rapine.  One  of  Solon’s  law's 
was,  Take  not  up  what  you  laid  not  down.  How  easy 
to  act  by  this  principle  in  case  of  finding  lost  property  : 
“  This  is  not  mine,  and  it  would  be  criminal  to  convert 
it  to  my  use  unless  the  owner  be  dead  and  his  family 
extinct.”  When  all  due  inquiry  is  made,  if  no  owner 
can  be  found,  the  lost  property  may  be  legally  con¬ 
sidered  to  be  the  property  of  the  finder. 

Verse  5.  All  that  about  which  he  hath  sivom  falsely] 
This  supposes  the  case  of  a  man  wrho,  being  convicted  by 
his  own  conscience,  comes  forward  and  confesses  his  sin. 

Restore  it  in  the  principal ]  The  property  itself  if 
still  remaining,  or  the  full  value  of  it,  to  which  a  fifth 
part  more  was  to  be  added. 

Verse  6.  With  thy  estimation ]  See  the  note  on 
chapter  v.  15. 

Verse  8.  And  the  Lord  spake  unto  Moses]  At  this 
verse  the  JewTs  begin  the  25t.h  section  of  the  law ; 
and  here,  undoubtedly,  the  6th  chapter  should  com¬ 
mence,  as  the  waiter  enters  upon  a  new  subject,  and 
the  preceding  verses  belong  to  the  fifth  chapter.  The 
best  edited  Hebrew'  Bibles  begin  the  6th  chapter  at 
this  verse. 

Verse  9.  This  is  the  law  of  the  burnt-offering]  This 
law  properly  refers  to  that  burnt-offering  which  was 
daily  made  in  what  was  termed  the  morning  and  even¬ 
ing  sacrifice  ;  and  as  he  had  explained  the  nature  of 
this  burnt-offering  in  general,  with  its  necessary  cere¬ 
monies,  as  far  as  the  persons  who  brought  them  were 
concerned,  he  now  takes  up  the  same  in  relation  to 
the  priests  who  were  to  receive  them  from  the  hands 
of  the  offerer,  and  present  them  to  the  Lord  on  tho 
altar  of  burnt-offerings. 


a 


521 


Concerning  the  perpetual  fire  LEVITICUS.  and  the  meat-offerings 


A.  M.  2514.  upon  the  altar  all  night  unto  the 

B.  C.  1490.  r  D 

An.  Exod.  isr!  2.  morning  ;  and  the  fire  of  the  altar 
Abib  or  Nisan.  ghaU  be  burning  in  it. 

10  p  And  the  priest  shall  put  on  his  linen  gar¬ 
ment,  and  his  linen  breeches  shall  he  put  upon 
his  flesh,  and  take  up  the  ashes  which  the  fire 
hath  consumed  with  the  burnt-offering  on  the 
altar,  and  he  shall  put  them  q  beside  the  altar. 

1 1  And  r  he  shall  put  off  his  garments,  and 
put  on  other  garments,  and  carry  forth  the 
ashes  without  the  camp  s  unto  a  clean  place. 

12  And  the  fire  upon  the  altar  shall  be 
burning  in  it ;  it  shall  not  be  put  out :  and 
the  priest  shall  burn  wood  on  it  every  morn¬ 
ing,  and  lay  the  burnt-offering  in  order  upon 
it ;  and  he  shall  burn  thereon  t  the  fat  of  the 
peace-offerings. 

13  The  fire  shall  ever  be  burning  upon  the 
altar,  it  shall  never  go  out. 

14  u  And  this  is  the  law  of  the  meat-offer¬ 
ing  :  the  sons  of  Aaron  shall  offer  it  before 
the  Lord,  before  the  altar. 

15  And  he  shall  take  of  it  his  handful  of 
the  flour  of  the  meat-offering,  and  of  the  oil 
thereof,  and  all  the  frankincense  which  is  upon 

P  Chap.  xvi.  4 ;  Exod.  xxviii.  39,  40,  41,  43  ;  Ezek.  xiv.  17,  18. 

•3  Chap.  i.  16. - r  Ezek.  xliv.  19. - s  Chap.  iv.  12. - 1  Chap. 

iii.  3,  9,  14. - u  Chap.  ii.  i  ;  Num.  xv.  4. - v  Chap.  ii.  2,  9. 

w  Chap.  ii.  3;  Ezek.  xliv.  29. - xVer.  26;  chap.  x.  12,  13; 

Because  of  the  burning  upon  the  altar  all  night ]  If 
the  burnt-offering'  were  put  all  upon  the  fire  at  once, 
it  could  not  be  burning  all  night.  We  may  therefore 
reasonably  conclude  that  the  priests  sat  up  by  turns 
the  whole  night,  and  fed  the  fire  with  portions  of  this 
offering  till  the  whole  was  consumed,  whicli  they 
would  take  care  to  lengthen  out  till  the  time  of  the 
morning  sacrifice.  The  same  we  may  suppose  was 
done  with  the  morning  sacrifice  ;  it  was  also  consumed 
by  piecemeal  through  the  whole  day,  till  the  time  of 
offering  the  evening  sacrifice.  Thus  there  was  a  con¬ 
tinual  offering  by  fire  unto  the  Lord ;  and  hence  in 
ver.  13  it  is  said  :  The  fire  shall  ever  he  burning  upon 
the  altar ,  it  shall  never  go  out.  If  at  any  time  any 
extraordinary  offerings  were  to  be  made,  the  daily  sa¬ 
crifice  was  consumed  more  speedily,  in  order  to  make 
room  for  such  extra.offerings.  See  more  on  this  sub¬ 
ject  in  the  note  on  ver.  23. 

The  Hebrew  doctors  teach  that  no  sacrifice  was 
ever  offered  in  the  morning  before  the  morning  ‘sacri¬ 
fice  ;  and  none,  the  passover  excepted,  ever  offered  in 
the  evening  after  the  evening  sacrifice ;  for  all  sacri¬ 
fices  were  made  by  day-light.  The  fat  seems  to  have 
been  chiefly  burned  in  the  night  season,  for  the  greater 
light  and  conveniency  of  keeping  the  fire  alive,  which 
could  not  be  so  easily  done  in  the  night  as  in  the  day  time. 

Yerse  1 1.  And  put  on  other  garments]  The  priests 
approached  the  altar  in  their  holiest  garments  ;  when 
carrying  the  ashes,  &c.,  from  the  altar,  they  put  on 

522 


the  meat-o fiering,  and  shall  burn  A.  M.  2514. 

r  B.  C.  1490. 

it  upon  the  altar  for  a  sweet  An.  Exod.  isr.  2 . 

savour,  even  the  v  memorial  of  Ablb  or  Nisan- 

it,  unto  the  Lord. 

16  And  w  the  remainder  thereof  shall  Aaron 
and  his  sons  eat :  x  with  unleavened  bread 
shall  it  be  eaten  in  the  holy  place  :  in  the 
court  of  the  tabernacle  of  the  congregation 
they  shall  eat  it. 

17  y  It  shall  not  be  baken  with  leaven.  z  I 
have  given  it  unto  them  for  their  portion  of  my 
offerings  made  by  fire  ;  a  it  is  most  holy,  as  is 
the  sin-offering,  and  as  the  trespass-offering. 

18  b  All  the  males  among  the  children  of 
Aaron  shall  eat  of  it.  c  It  shall  he  a  statute 
for  ever  in  your  generations,  concerning  the 
offerings  of  the  Lord  made  by  fire  :  d  every 
one  that  toucheth  them  shall  be  holy. 

19  And  the  Lord  spake  unto  Moses,  saying, 

20  e  This  is  the  offering  of  Aaron  and  of 
his  sons,  which  they  shall  offer  unto  the  Lord 
in  the  dav  when  he  is  anointed :  the  tenth 
part  of  an  fephah  of  fine  flour  for  a  meat¬ 
offering  perpetual,  half  of  it  in  the  morning, 
and  half  thereof  at  night. 

Numbers  xviii.  10. - Y  Chap.  ii.  11. - 7  Numbers  xviii.  9,  10. 

aVer.  25;  chap.  ii.  3;  vii.  1;  Exod.  xxix.  37. - bVer.  29; 

Num.  xviii.  10. - c  Chap.  iii.  17. - d  Chap.  xxii.  3,  4,  5,  6,  7  ; 

Exod.  xxix.  37. - 0  Exod.  xxix.  2. - f  Exod.  xvi.  36. 

other  garments ,  the  holy  garments  being  only  used  in 
the  holy  place. 

Clean  place.]  A  place  where  no  dead  carcasses, 
dung,  or  filth  of  any  kind  was  laid  ;  for  the  ashes  were 
holy ,  as  being  the  remains  of  the  offerings  made  by  fire 
unto  the  Lord. 

Yerse  13.  The  fire  shall  ever  he  burning]  See  on 
ver.  9  and  ver.  20.  In  imitation  of  this  perpetual 
fire,  the  ancient  Persian  Magi,  and  their  descendants 
the  Parsees ,  kept  up  a  perpetual  fire  ;  the  latter  con¬ 
tinue  it  to  the  present  day.  This  is  strictly  enjoined 
in  the  Zend  Avesta,  which  is  a  code  of  laws  as  sacred 
among  them  as  the  Pentateuch  is  among  the  Jews.  A 
Sagnika  Brahmin  preserves  the  fire  that  was  kindled 
at  his  investiture  with  the  poita,  and  never  suffers  it 
to  go  out,  using  the  same  fire  at  his  wedding  and  in 
all  his  burnt-offerings,  till  at  length  his  body  is  burnt 
with  it. — Ward’s  Customs. 

Verse  14.  The  meat-offering]  See  on  chap.  ii.  1,  &c. 

Yerse  15.  His  handful  of  the  four]  An  omer  of 
flour,  which  was  the  tenth  part  of  an  ephah,  and  equal 
to  about  three  quarts  of  our  measure,  was  the  least 
quantity  that  could  be  offered  even  by  the  poorest  sort, 
and  this  was  generally  accompanied  with  a  log  of  oil, 
which  was  a  little  more  than  half  a  pint.  This  quan¬ 
tity  both  of  flour  and  oil  might  be  increased  at  plea¬ 
sure,  but  no  less  could  be  offered. 

Verse  20.  In  the  day  when  he  is  anointed]  Not 
only  in  that  day,  but  from  that  day  forward,  for  tins 

a 


Of  the  sin-offering , 


CHAP.  VI. 


a.  M.  2514.  21  In  a  pan  it  shall  be  made 

An.  Exod.  isr.  2.  with  oil ;  and  when  it  is  baken, 
Abib  or  Ntsan.  t|10U  s}iap  bring  it  in  :  and  the 

baken  pieces  of  the  meat-offering  shaft  thou 
offer  for  a  sweet  savour  unto  the  Lord. 

22  And  the  priest  of  his  sons  «  that  is 
anointed  in  his  stead  shall  offer  it :  it  is  a 
statute  for  ever  unto  the  Lord  ;  h  it  shall  be 
wholly  burnt. 

23  For  every  meat-offering  for  the  priest 
shall  be  wholly  burnt :  it  shall  not  be  eaten. 

24  And  the  Lord  spake  unto  Moses,  saying, 

25  Speak  unto  Aaron  and  to  his  sons,  saying, 
1  This  is  the  law  of  the  sin-offering :  k  In 
the  place  where  the  burnt- offering  is  killed 
shall  the  sin-offering  be  killed  before  the 
Lord  :  1  it  is  most  holy. 

26  m  The  priest  that  offereth  it  for  sin  shall 

s  Chap.  iv.  3. 11  Exod.  xxix.  25.- - *  Chap.  iv.  2. — — k  Chap. 

i.  3,  5,  i  J  ,  iv.  24,  29,  33. - 1  Ver.  17  ;  chap.  xxi.  22. - m  Chap. 

x.  17,  18  ;  Num.  xviii.  9,  10  ;  Ezek.  xliv.  28,  29. 

was  to  them  and  their  successors  a  statute  for  ever. 
See  verse  22. 

Yerse  23.  For  every  meat-offering  for  the  priest 
shall  he  wholly  burnt ]  Whatever  the  priest  offered 
was  wholly  the  Lord’s,  and  therefore  must  be  entirely 
consumed  :  the  sacrifices  of  the  common  people  were 
offered  to  the  Lord,  but  the  priests  partook  of  them  ; 
and  thus  they  who  ministered  at  the  altar  were  fed  by 
the  altar.  Had  the  priests  been  permitted  to  live  on 
their  own  offerings  as  they  did  on  those  of  the  people, 
it  would  have  been  as  if  they  had  offered  nothing,  as 
they  would  have  taken  again  to  themselves  what  they 
appeared  to  give  unto  the  Lord.  Theodoret  says  that 
this  marked  “  the  high  perfection  which  God  required 
in  the  ministers  of  his  sanctuary,”  as  his  not  eating  of 
his  own  sin-offering  supposes  him  to  stand  free  from 
all  sin  ;  but  a  better  reason  is  given  by  Mr.  Ainsworth  : 
“  The  people’s  meat-offering  was  .eaten  by  the  priests 
that  made  atonement  for  them,  ver.  15,  16,  chap.  vii.  7 ; 
but  because  no  priest,  being  a  sinner,  could  make 
atonement  for  himself,  therefore  his  meat-offering 
might  not  be  eaten,  but  all  burnt  on  the  altar,  to  teach 
him  to  expect  salvation,  not  by  his  legal  service  or  works, 
but  by  Christ;  for  the  eating  of  the  sin-offering  figured 
the  bearing  of  the  sinner’s  iniquity;”  chap.  x.  17. 

Yerse  25.  In  the  place  where  the  burnt- offering  is 
hilled ,  cjr.]  The  place  here  referred  to  was  the  north 
side  of  the  altar.  See  chap.  i.  11. 

Yerse  26.  The  priest — shall  eat  it]  From  the 
expostulation  of  Moses  with  Aaron,  chap.  x.  17,  we 
learr.  that  the  priest,  by  eating  the  sin-offering  of  the 
people,  was  considered  as  bearing  their  sin,  and  typi¬ 
cally  removing  it  from  them  :  and  besides,  this  was  a 
part  of  their  maintenance,  or  what  the  Scripture  calls 
their  inheritance  ;  see  Ezek.  xliv.  27—30.  This  was 
afterwards  greatly  abused ;  for  improper  persons  endea¬ 
voured  to  get  into  the  priest’s  office  merely  that  they 
might  get  a  secular  provision,  which  is  a  horrible  pro- 


and  who  may  eat  of  it. 
eat  it :  nin  the  holy  place  shall  it  a.  M.  2514. 

J  r  B  C.  1490. 

be  eateu,  in  the  court  of  the  ta-  An.  *Exod.Jsr.2 

bernacle  of  the  congregation.  Al)lb  or  i\isan. 

27  0  Whatsoever  shall  touch  the  flesh  there¬ 
of  shall  be  holy  :  and  when  there  is  sprinkled  of 
the  blood  thereof  upon  any  garment,  thou  shalt 
wash  that  whereon  it  was  sprinkled  in  the 
holy  place. 

28  But  the  earthen  vessel  wherein  it  is 
sodden  p  shall  be  broken  :  and  if  it  be  sodden 
in  a  brazen  pot,  it  shall  be  both  scoured,  and 
rinsed  in  water. 

29  q  All  the  males  among  the  priests  shall 
eat  thereof :  r  it  is  most  holy. 

30  s  And  no  sin-offering,  whereof  any  of  the 
blood  is  brought  into  the  tabernacle  of  the 
congregation,  to  reconcile  withal  in  the  holy 
place ,  shall  be  eaten :  it  shall  be  burnt  in  the  fire. 

nVer.  16. - 0  Exod.  xxix.  37  ;  xxx.  29. - p  Chap.  xi.  33; 

xv.  12. - q  Ver.  18  ;  Num.  xviii.  10. - r  Ver.  25. - 3  Chap. 

iv.  7,  11,  12,  18,  21  ;  x.  18  ;  xvi.  27 ;  Heb.  xiii.  11. 

fanity  in  the  sight  of  God.  See  1  Sam.  ii.  36  ;  Jer. 
xxiii.  1,2;  Ezek.  xxxiv.  2—4  ;  and  Hos.  iv.  8. 

Yerse  27.  Whatsoever  shall  touch  the  flesh  thereof 
shall  be  holy]  The  following  note  of  Mr.  Ainsworth 
is  not  less  judicious  than  it  is  pious  : — 

“All  this  rite  was  peculiar  to  the  sin-offering, 
(whether  it  were  that  which  was  to  be  eaten,  or  that 
which  was  to  be  burnt,)  above  all  the  other  most  hoty 
things.  As  the  sin-offering  in  special  sort  figured 
Christ,  who  was  made  sin  for  us,  (2  Cor,  v.  21,)  so 
this  ordinance — for  all  that  touched  the  flesh  of  the 
sin-offering  to  be  holy,  the  garments  sprinkled  with 
the  blood  to  be  washed,  the  vessels  wherein  the  flesh 
was  boiled  to  be  broken,  or  scoured  and  rinsed — taught 
a  holy  use  of  this  mystery  of  our  redemption,  whereof 
they  that  are  made  partakers  ought  to  be  w'ashed, 
cleansed,  and  sanctified  by  the  Spirit  of  God  ;  that  we 
possess  our  vessels  in  holiness  and  honour,  and  yield 
not  our  members  as  instruments  of  unrighteousness 
unto  sin,”  1  Thess.  iv.  4  ;  Rom.  vi.  13. 

Yerse  28.  The  earthen  vessel — shall  be  broken] 
Calmet  states  that  this  should  be  considered  as  imply¬ 
ing  the  vessels  brought  by  individuals  to  the  court  of 
the  temple  or  tabernacle,  and  not  of  the  vessels  that 
belonged  to  the  priests  for  the  ordinary  service.  That 
the  people  dressed  their  sacrifices  sometimes  in  the 
court  of  the  tabernacle,  he  gathers  from  1  Sam.  ii.  13, 

1 4,  to  which  the  reader  is  desired  to  refer. 

In  addition  to  what  has  been  already  said  on  the 
different  subjects  in  this  chapter,  it  may  be  necessary 
to  notice  a  few  more  particulars.  The  perpetual  meat- 
offering,  Tnn  nmro  minchah  tamid ,  ver.  20,  the  per¬ 
petual  fire,  Ton  tfX  esh  tamid,  ver.  13,  and  the  perpe¬ 
tual  burnt- offering,  TDH  rhj?  olath  tamid,  Exod.  xxix. 
42,  translated  by  the  Septuagint  Qvoia  dianavToc,  Trvp 
dtaTcavTOC,  and  oTionavTocuc  and  oTi-oicavTuiia  dimravro^, 
all  cast  much  light  on  Heb.  vii.  25,  where  it  is  said, 
Christ  is  able  to  save  them  to  the  uttermost  (ecf  ro 

523 


LEVITICUS. 


Law  of  the  trespass- offering. 

navreTiec,  perpetually,  to  all  intents  and  purposes)  that 
comq  unto  Gocl  by  him ;  seeing  he  ever  liveth  (it avrore 
£ov,  he  is  perpetually  living)  to  make  intercession  for 
them ;  in  which  words  there  is  a  manifest  allusion  to 
the  perpetual  minchah,  the  perpetual  fire ,  and  the  per¬ 
petual  burnt-offering ,  mentioned  here  by  Moses.  As 
the  minchah ,  or  gratitude-offering  should  be  perpetual, 
so  our  gratitude  for  the  innumerable  mercies  of  God 
should  be  perpetual.  As  the  burnt-offering  must  be 
perpetual,  so  should  the  sacrifice  of  our  blessed  Lord 
be  considered  as  a  perpetual  offering,  that  all  men,  in 
all  ages ,  should  come  unto  God  through  him  who  is 
ever  living,  in  his  sacrificial  character,  to  make  inter¬ 
cession  for  men ;  and  who  is  therefore  represented 
even  in  the  heavens  as  the  Lamb  just  slain,  standing 
before  the  throne,  Rev.  v.  6  ;  Heb.  x.  19—22.  And 
as  the  fire  on  the  altar  must  be  perpetual,  so  should 
the  influences  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  every  member  of 
the  Church,  and  the  flame  of  pure  devotion  in  the 
hearts  of  believers,  be  ever  energetic  and  permanent. 
A  continual  sacrifice  for  continual  successive  genera¬ 
tions  of  sinners  was  essentially  necessary.  Continual 


The  priest's  portion  of  it. 

influences  of  the  Holy  Spirit  on  the  souls  of  men  were 
essentially  necessary  to  apply  and  render  effectual  this 
atonement,  to  the  salvation  of  the  soul.  And  inces¬ 
sant  gratitude  for  the  ineffable  love  of  God,  manifested 
by  his  unspeakable  gift,  is  surely  required  of  all  those 
who  have  tasted  that  the  Lord  is  gracious.  Reader, 
dost  thou  feel  thy  obligations  to  thy  Maker  l  Does 
the  perpetual  fire  burn  on  the  altar  of  thy  heart  1  Art 
thou  ever  looking  unto  Jesus,  and  beholding,  by  faith, 
the  Lamb  of  God  which  taketh  away  the  sin  of  the 
world  ?  And  dost  thou  feel  the  influences  of  his  Spirit, 
at  all  times  witnessing  with  thy  spirit  that  thou  art  his 
child,  and  exciting  thee  to  acts  of  gratitude  and  obe¬ 
dience  ?  If  not,  of  what  benefit  has  the  religion  of 
Christ  been  to  thee  to  the  present  day  1  Of  a  contrary 
state  to  that  referred  to  above,  it  may  be  well  said, 
This  is  not  the  way  to  heaven,  for  the  way  of  life  is 
above  to  the  wise,  that  they  may  depart  from  the 
snares  of  death  beneath.  Arise,  therefore,  and  shake 
thyself  from  the  dust ;  and  earnestly  call  upon  the  Lord 
thy  God,  that  he  may  save  thy  soul,  and  that  thou  fall 
not  into  the  bitter  pains  of  an  eternal  death. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

The  law  of  the  trespass-offering,  and  the  priest' s  portion  in  it,  1—7.  As  also  in  the  sin-offerings  and  meat¬ 
offerings,  8—10.  The  law  of  the  sacrifice  of  peace-offering,  11,  whether  it  ivas  a  thanksgiving-o/fmwgv 
12—15  ;  or  a  vow  or  voluntary  offering,  16-18.  Concerning  the  flesh  that  touched  any  unclean  thing,  19. 
20,  and  the  person  who  touched  any  thing  unclean,  21.  Laics  concerning  eating  of  fat,  22— 25,  and  con¬ 
cerning  eating  of  blood,  26,  27.  Farther  ordinances  concerning  the  peace-offerings  and  the  priest's  por¬ 
tion  in  them,  28—36.  Conclusion  of  the  laics  and  ordinances  relative  to  burnt-offerings ,  meat-offerings , 
sin-offerings ,  and  peace-offerings,  delivered  in  this  and  the  preceding  chapters,  37,  38. 


A.  M.  2514.  T  IKEWISE  a  this  is  the  law 

B.  C.  1490.  r  ,  rr  . 

An.  Exod.  Isr.  2.  ot  the  trespass-offering  :  b  it 

Abib  or  Nisan.  ^  hojy_ 

2  c  In  the  place  where  they  kill  the  burnt- 
offering,  shall  they  kill  the  trespass-offering : 
and  the  blood  thereof  shall  he  sprinkle  round 
about  upon  the  altar. 

3  And  he  shall  offer  of  it  d  all  the  fat  thereof ; 
the  rump,  and  the  fat  that  covereth  the  inwards, 

4  And  the  two  kidneys,  and  the  fat  that  is 
on  them,  which  is  by  the  flanks,  and  the  caul 
that  is  above  the  liver,  with  the  kidneys,  it 
shall  he  take  away  : 

aChap.  v.,  vi.  1-7. - bChap.  vi.  17,  25  ;  xxi.  22. - c  Chap. 

i.  3,  5,  11 ;  iv.  24,  29,  33. - (l  Chap.  iii.  4,  9,  10,  14,  15,  16 ; 

NOTES  ON  CHAP.  VII. 

Verse  1.  Trespass-offering ]  See  end  of  the  chapter. 

Verse  2.  In  the  place  where  they  kill  the  burnt-off er- 
ing ]  Viz.,  on  the  north  side  of  the  altar,  chap.  i.  11. 

Verse  3.  The  rump ]  See  the  notes  on  chap.  iii.  9, 
■where  the  principal  subjects  in  this  chapter  are  ex¬ 
plained,  being  nearly  the  same  in  both. 

Verse  4.  The  fat  that  is  on  them ]  Chiefly  the  fat 
that  was  found  in  a  detached  state,  not  mixed  with  the 
inuscles  ;  such  as  the  omentum  or  caul ,  the  fat  of  the 

524 


5  And  the  priest  shall  burn  A.  M.  2514. 
them  upon  the  altar  for  an  offer-  An.  Exod.  Isr!  2 
ing  made  by  fire  unto  the  Lord  :  Ablb  or  Nisan- 
it  is  a  trespass-offering. 

6  e  Every  male  among  the  priests  shall  eat 
thereof :  it  shall  be  eaten  in  the  holy  place  : 
fit  is  most  holy., 

7  As  the  sin-offering  is,  so  is  s  the  trespass¬ 
offering  :  there  is  one  law  for  them  :  the 
priest  that  maketh  atonement  therewith  shall 
have  it. 

8  And  the  priest  that  offereth  any  man’s 
burnt-offering,  even  the  priest  shall  have  to 

iv.  8,  9  ;  Exod.  xxix.  13. - e  Chap.  vi.  16,  17,  18  ;  Num.  xviii. 

9,  10. - f  Chap.  ii.  3. - s  Chap.  vi.  25,  26  ;  xiv.  13. 

mesentery,  the  fat  about  the  kidneys ,  &c.  See  the 
notes  on  chap.  iii.  9,  &c. 

Verse  8.  The  priest  shall  have  to  himself  the  skin ] 
Bishop  Patrick  supposes  that  this  right  of  the  priest  to 
the  skin  commenced  with  the  offering  of  Adam,  “  for 
it  is  probable,”  says  he,  “  that  Adam  himself  offered 
the  first  sacrifice,  and  had  the  skin  given  him  by  God 
to  make  garments  for  him  and  his  wife  ;  in  conformity 
to  which  the  priests  ever  after  had  the  skin  of  the 
whole  burnt-offerings  for  their  portion,  which  was  a 


Of  a  thanksgiving  offering , 


CHAP.  VII. 


and  the  manner  of  offering  it, 


a.  M.  2514.  himself  the  skin  of  the  burnt- 
An.  Exod.  isn2.  offering  which  he  hath  offered. 
At)ib  or  Niaan>  9  And  h  all  the  meat-offering 
that  is  baken  in  the  oven,  and  all  that  is 
dressed  in  the  frying-pan,  and  1  in  the  pan, 
shall  be  the  priest’s  that  offereth  it. 

10  And  every  meat-offering,  mingled  with 
oil,  and  dry,  shall  all  the  sons  of  Aaron  have, 
one  as  much  as  another. 

1 1  And  k  this  is  the  law  of  the  sacrifice  of 
peace-offerings,  which  he  shall  offer  unto  the 
Lord. 

1 2  If  he  offer  it  for  a  thanksgiving,  then  he 

h  Chap.  ii.  3,  10  ;  Num.  xviii.  9  ;  Ezek.  xliv.  29. - 1  Or,  on  the 

flat  plate  or  slice. - k  Chap.  iii.  1  ;  xxii.  18,  21. 

custom  among  the  Gentiles  as  well  as  the  Jews,  who 
gave  the  skins  of  their  sacrifices  to  their  priests,  when 
they  were  not  burnt  with  the  sacrifices,  as  in  some 
sin-offerings  they  were  among  the  Jews,  see  chap.  iv. 
i  1 .  And  they  employed  them  to  a  superstitious  use, 
by  lying  upon  them  in  their  temples,  in  hopes  to  have 
future  things  revealed  to  them  in  their  dreams.  Of  this 
we  have  a  proof  in  Yirgil,  riEn.  lib.  vii.,  ver.  86—95. 

“ - hue  dona  sacerdos 

Cum  tulit,  et  ccesarum  ovium  sub  nocte  silenti 
Pellibus  incubuit  stratis,  somnosque  petivit ; 

Multa  modus  simulacra  videt  volitantia  miris, 

Et  varias  audit  voces,  fruiturque  deorum 
Colloquio,  atque  imis  Acheronta  affatur  Avernis. 
Hie  et  turn  pater  ipse  petens  responsa  Latinus 
Centum  lanigeras  mactabat  rite  bidentes, 

Atque  harum  effultus  tergo  stratisque  jacebat 
Velleribus.  Subita  ex  alto  vox  reddita  luco  est.” 

First,  on  the  fleeces  of  the  slaughter' d  sheep 
By  night  the  sacred  priest  dissolves  in  sleep , 

When  in  a  train,  before  his  slumbering  eye, 

Thin  airy  forms  and  wondrous  visions  fly. 

He  calls  the  powers  who  guard  the  infernal  floods, 
And  talks,  inspired,  familiar  with  the  gods. 

To  this  dread  oracle  the  prince  withdrew, 

And  first  a  hundred  sheep  the  monarch  slew ; 

Then  on  their  fleeces  lay ;  and  from  the  wood 
He  heard,  distinct,  these  accents  of  the  god. — Pitt. 

The  same  superstition,  practised  precisely  in  the 
same  way  and  for  the  same  purposes,  prevails  to  the 
present  day  in  the  Highlands  of  Scotland,  as  the  reader 
may  see  from  the  following  note  of  Sir  Walter  Scott, 
in  his  Lady  of  the  Lake : — 

“  The  Highlanders  of  Scotland,  like  all  rude  people, 
had  various  superstitious  modes  of  inquiring  into  fu¬ 
turity.  One  of  the  most  noted  was  the  togharm.  A 
person  was  wrapped  up  in  the  skin  of  a  newly-slain 
bullock ,  and  deposited  beside  a  water-fall,  or  at  the 
bottom  of  a  precipice,  or  in  some  other  strange,  wild, 
and  unusual  situation,  where  the  scenery  around  him 
suggested  nothing  but  objects  of  horror.  In  this  situ¬ 
ation  he  revolved  in  his  mind  the  question  proposed  ; 
-and  whatever  was  impressed  upon  him  by  his  exalted 
imagination,  passed  for  the  inspiration  of  the  disem- 

a 


shall  offer  with  the  sacrifice  of  a.  m.  2514. 

....  ,  .  B.  C.  1490. 

thanksgiving  unleavened  cakes  An.  Exod.  isr.  2. 

mingled  with  oil,  and  unleavened  Ablb  or  Nlsan- 

wafers  1  anointed  with  oil,  and  cakes  mingled 

writh  oil,  of  fine  flour,  fried. 

13  Besides  the  cakes,  he  shall  offer  for  his 
offering  m  leavened  bread  with  the  sacrifice  of 
thanksgiving  of  his  peace-offerings. 

14  And  of  it  he  shall  offer  one  out  of  the 
wrhole  oblation  for  a  heave-offering  unto  the 
Lord,  n  and,  it  shall  be  the  priest’s  that  sprin- 
kleth  the  blood  of  the  peace-offerings. 

15  0  And  the  flesh  of  the  sacrifice  of  his 

1  Chap.  ii.  4  ;  Num.  vi.  15. - m  Amos  iv.  5. - n  Num.  xviii.  8, 

11,  19. - 0  Chap.  xxii.  30. 

bodied  spirits  who  haunt  these  desolate  recesses.  One 
way  of  consulting  this  oracle  was  by  a  party  of  men, 
who  first  retired  to  solitary  places,  remote  from  any 
house,  and  there  they  singled  out  one  of  their  number, 
and  wrapt  him  in  a  big  cow's  hide ,  which  they  folded 
about  him ;  his  whole  body  was  covered  with  it  except 
his  head,  and  so  left  in  this  posture  all  night,  until  his 
invisible  friends  relieved  him  by  giving  a  proper  answer 
to  the  question  in  hand;  which  he  received,  as  he 
fancied,  from  several  persons  that  he  found  about  him 
all  that  time.  His  consorts  returned  to  him  at  day¬ 
break  ;  and  then  he  communicated  his  news  to  them, 
which  often  proved  fatal  to  those  concerned  in  such 
unwarrantable  inquiries. 

“  Mr.  Alexander  Cooper,  present  minister  of  North 
Virt,  told  me  that  one  John  Erach ,  in  the  Isle  of  Lewis, 
assured  him  it  was  his  fate  to  have  been  led  by  his 
curiosity  with  some  who  consulted  this  oracle,  and 
that  he  was  a  night  within  the  hide  above  mentioned , 
during  which  time  he  felt  and  heard  such  terrible 
things  that  he  could  not  express  them  :  the  impression 
made  on  him  was  such  as  could  never  go  off;  and  he 
said,  for  a  thousand  worlds  he  would  never  again  be 
concerned  in  the  like  performance,  for  it  had  disor¬ 
dered  him  to  a  high  degree.  He  confessed  it  ingenu¬ 
ously,  and  with  an  air  of  great  remorse,  and  seemed 
to  be  very  penitent  under  a  just  sense  of  so  great  a 
crime  :  he  declared  this  about  five  years  since,  and  is 
still  living  in  the  Isle  of  Lewis  for  any  thing  I  know.” 
— Description  of  the  Western  Isles,  p.  110.  See  also 
Pennant’s  Scottish  Tour,  vol.  ii.,  p.  301  ;  and  Sir  W. 
Scott’s  Lady  of  the  Lake. 

Yerse  9.  Baken  in  the  oven\  See  the  notes  on 
chap.  ii.  5,  &c. 

Yerse  12.  If  he  offer  it  for  a  thanksgiving ]  See 
the  notes  at  the  end  of  this  chapter. 

Yerse  15.  He  shall  not  leave  any  of  it  until  the 
morning .]  Because  in  such  a  hot  country  it  was  apt 
to  putrefy,  and  as  it  was  considered  to  be  holy,  it 
would  have  been  very  improper  to  expose  that  to  pu¬ 
trefaction  which  had  been  consecrated  to  the  Divine 
Being.  Mr.  Harmer  supposes  that  the  law  here  refers 
rather  to  the  custom  of  drying  flesh  which  had  been 
devoted  to  religious  purposes,  which  is  practised 
among  the  Mohammedans  to  the  present  time.  This, 

525 


Laws  concerning  defilements ,  LEVITICUS.  and  of  eating  fat  and  blood . 


a.  M.  2514.  peace-offerings  for  thanksgiving 

An.  Exod.  isr.  2.  shall  be  eaten  the  same  day  that 
Abib  or  Nisan.  -j.  -g  0fferec[ .  fog  shall  not  leave 

any  of  it  until  the  morning. 

1 6  But  p  if  the  sacrifice  of  his  offering  be  a 
vow,  or  a  voluntary  offering,  it  shall  be  eaten 
the  same  day  that  he  offereth  his  sacrifice  : 
and  on  the  morrow  also  the  remainder  of  it 
shall  be  eaten : 

17  But  the  remainder  of  the  flesh  of  the 
sacrifice  on  the  third  day  shall  be  burnt  with 
fire. 

IS  And  if  any  of  the  flesh  of  the  sacrifice 
of  his  peace-offerings  be  eaten  at  all  on  the 
third  day,  it  shall  not  be  accepted,  neither 
shall  it  be  4  imputed  unto  him  that  offereth  it : 
it  shall  be  an  r  abomination,  and  the  soul  that 
eateth  of  it  shall  bear  his  iniquity. 

19  And  the  flesh  that  toucheth  any  unclean 
thing  shall  not  be  eaten  ;  it  shall  be  burnt  with 
fire :  and  as  for  the  flesh,  all  that  be  clean  shall 
eat  thereof. 

20  But  the  soul  that  eateth  of  the  flesh  of 
the  sacrifice  of  peace-offerings  that  pertain 
unto  the  Lord,  s  having  his  uncleanness  upon 
him,  even  that  soul  t  shall  be  cut  off  from  his 
people. 

21  Moreover  the  soul  that  shall  touch  any 
unclean  thing ,  as  11  the  uncleanness  of  man,  or 
any  T  unclean  beast,  or  any  w  abominable  un¬ 
clean  thing ,  and  eat  of  the  flesh  of  the  sacrifice 

P  Chap.  xix.  6,  7,  8. - 4  Num.  xviii.  27. - r  Chap.  xi.  10,  11, 

41 ;  xix.  7. - s  Chap.  xv.  3. - *  Gen.  xvii.  14. - u  Chap,  xii., 

xiii.,  xv. - v  Chap.  xi.  24,  28. - w  Ezek.  iv.  14. - *  Ver.  20. 

rChap.  iii.  17. 

he  thinks,  might  have  given  rise  to  the  prohibition,  as 
the  sacred  flesh  thus  preserved  might  have  been 
abused  to  superstitious  purposes.  Therefore  God 
says,  ver.  18,  “If  any  of  the  flesh  of  the  sacrifice — 
be  eaten  at  all  on  the  third  day,  it  shall  not  be  ac¬ 
cepted,  neither  shall  it  be  imputed  unto  him  that 
offereth  it ;  it  is  an  abomination,  and  the  soul  that 
eateth  of  it  shall  bear  his  iniquity.”  That  is,  on  Mr. 
Harmer’s  hypothesis,  This  sacred  flesh  shall  avail 
nothing  to  him  that  eats  it  after  the  first  or  second 
day  on  which  it  is  offered ;  however  consecrated  be¬ 
fore,  it  shall  not  be  considered  sacred  after  that  time. 
See  Harmer’s  Obs.,  vol.  i.,  p.  394,  edit.  1808. 

Terse  20.  Having  his  uncleanness  upon  him]  Having 
touched  any  unclean  thing  by  which  he  became  legally  de¬ 
filed,  and  had  not  washed  his  clothes,  and  bathed  his  flesh. 

Terse  21.  The  uncleanness  of  man ]  Any  ulcer, 
sore,  or  leprosy ;  or  any  sort  of  cutaneous  disorder, 
either  loathsome  or  infectious. 

Terse  23.  Fat,  of  ox,  or  of  sheep,  or  of  goat.']  Any 
other  fat  they  might  eat,  but  the  fat  of  these  was  sa- 

526 


of  peace-offerings,  which  pertain  A.  M.  2514. 
unto  the  Lord,  even  that  soul  An.  Exod.  isr.  2. 
x  shall  be  cut  off  from  his  people.  Ablb  or  Nlsan- 

22  And  the  Lord  spake  unto  Moses,  saying, 

23  Speak  unto  the  children  of  Israel,  saying, 

y  Ye  shall  eat  no  manner  of  fat,  of  ox,  or  of 
sheep,  or  of  goat.  i 

24  And  the  fat  of  the  z  beast  that  dieth  of 
itself,  and  the  fat  of  that  which  is  torn  with 
beasts,  may  be  used  in  any  other  use  :  but  ye. 
shall  in  nowise  eat  of  it. 

25  For  whosoever  eateth  the  fat  of  the  beast, 
of  which  men  offer  an  offering  made  by  fire 
unto  the  Lord,  even  the  soul  that  eateth  it 
shall  be  cut  off  from  his  people. 

26  a  Moreover  ye  shall  eat  no  manner  of 
blood,  whether  it  be  of  fowl  or  of  beast,  in  any 
of  your  dwellings. 

27  Whatsoever  soul  it  be  that  eateth  any 
manner  of  blood,  even  that  soul  shall  be  cut 
off  from  his  people. 

28  And  the  Lord  spake  unto  Moses,  saying, 

29  Speak  unto  the  children  of  Israel,  saying, 
b  He  that  offereth  the  sacrifice  of  his  peace- 
offerings  unto  the  Lord  shall  bring  his  obla¬ 
tion  unto  the  Lord,  of  the  sacrifice  of  his 
peace-offerings. 

30  c  His  own  hands  shall  bring  the  offerings 
of  the  Lord  made  by  fire,  the  fat  with  the 
breast,  it  shall  he  bring,  that  d  the  breast  may 
be  waved  for  a  wave-offering  before  the  Lord. 

zHeb.  carcass ;  chap.  xvii.  15;  Deut.  xiv.  21  ;  Ezek.  iv.  14; 

xliv.  31. — —! >Gen.  ix.  4  ;  chap.  iii.  17  ;  xvii.  10-14. - b  Chap. 

iii-  1. - c  Chap.  iii.  3,  4,  9,  14. — — d  Exod.  xxix.  24,  27 ;  chap 

viii.  27 ;  ix.  21  ;  Num.  vi.  20. 

cred,  because  they  were  the  only  animals  which  were 
offered  in  sacrifice,  though  many  others  ranked  among 
the  clean  animals  as  well  as  these.  But  it  is  likely 
that  this  prohibition  is  to  be*  understood  of  these  ani¬ 
mals  ivhen  offered  in  sacrifice,  and  then  only  in  refer¬ 
ence  to  the  inward  fat,  as  mentioned  on  ver.  4.  Of 
the  fat  in  any  other  circumstances  it  cannot  be  intend¬ 
ed,  as  it  was  one  of  the  especial  blessings  which  God 
gave  to  the  people.  Butter  of  lane,  and  milk  of  sheep , 
with  fat  of  lambs,  and  rams  of  the  breed  of  Bashan, 
and  goats,  were  the  provision  that  he  gave  to  his 
followers.  See  Deut.  xxxii.  12—14. 

Terse  27.  Whatsoever  soul — that  eateth  any  man¬ 
ner  of  blood]  See  the  note  on  Gen.  ix.  4.  Shall  be 
cut  off — excommunicated  from  the  people  of  God,  and 
so  deprived  of  any  part  in  their  inheritance,  and  in 
their  blessings.  See  the  note  on  Gen.  xvii.  14. 

Terse  29.  Shall  bring  his  oblation]  Meaning  those 
things  which  wrere  given  out  of  the  peace-offerings  to 
the  Lord  and  to  the  priest. — Ainsworth. 

Terse  30.  Wave-offering]  See  on  Exod.  xxix.  27, 

a 


CHAP.  VII. 


Conclusion  of  the  law  relative 


to  the  burnt-offerings ,  < j-c 


A.  M.  25H.  3 1  6  And  the  priest  shall  burn  the 

B.  C.  1490.  r  i  i  f  t  i  i 

An. Exod.  isr.2.  iatupon  the  altar:  1  but  the  breast 

A!uh  or  Nisan.  gjiap  Aaron’s  anc|  ]ffis  sons’* 

32  And  &  the  right  shoulder  shall  ye  give 
unto  the  priest/or  a  heave-offering  of  the  sacri¬ 
fices  of  your  peace-offerings. 

33  He  among  the  sons  of  Aaron,  that  offer- 
eth  the  blood  of  the  peace-offerings,  and  the 
fat,  shall  have  the  right  shoulder  for  his  part. 

34  For  h  the  wave  breast  and  the  heave 
shoulder  have  I  taken  of  the  children  of  Israel 
from  off  the  sacrifices  of  their  peace-offerings, 
and  have  given  them  unto  Aaron  the  priest, 
and  unto  his  sons,  by  a  statute  for  ever,  from 
among  the  children  of  Israel. 

35  This  is  the  portion  of  the  anointing  of 
Aaron,  and  of  the  anointing  of  his  sons,  out 

e  Chap.  iii.  5,11,  16. - f  Ver.  34. - s  Ver.  34;  chap.  ix.  21  ; 

Nam.  vi.  20. - h  Exod.  xxix.  28  ;  chap.  x.  14,  15  ;  Nura.  xviii. 

18,  19  ;  Deut.  xviii.  3. 


of  the  offerings  of  the  Lord  a.  m.  2514. 

,  ,  ^  ?  ,  ,  7  B.  C.  1490. 

made  by  nre,  in  the  day  when  An.  Exod.  isr.  2. 

he  presented  them  to  minister  Ablb  or  Nlsan- 

unto  the  Lord  in  the  priest’s  office, 

36  Which  the  Lord  commanded  to  be  given 
them  of  the  children  of  Israel,  1  in  the  day 
that  he  anointed  them,  by  a  statute  for  ever 
throughout  their  generations. 

37  This  is  the  law  k  of  the  burnt- offering, 
1  of  the  meat-offering,  m  and  of  the  sin-offering, 
n  and  of  the  trespass-offering,  0  and  of  the  con¬ 
secrations,  and  p  of  the  sacrifice  of  the  peace- 
offerings, 

38  Which  the  Lord  commanded  Moses  in 
Mount  Sinai,  in  the  day  that  he  commanded 
the  children  of  Israel  4  to  offer  their  oblations 
unto  the  Lord,  in  the  wilderness  of  Sinai. 

1  Chap.  viii.  12,  30;  Exod.  xl.  13,  15. - k  Chap.  vi.  9. 

1  Chap.  vi.  14. - m  Chap.  vi.  25. - n  Ver.  1 . - 0  Chap.  vi.  20; 

Exod.  xxix.  1. - P  Ver.  11. - <1  Chap.  i.  2. 


Verse  32.  The  right  shoulder ]  See  on  Exod. 

xxix.  27. 

Verse  36.  In  the  day  that  he  anointed  them\  See 
the  note  on  Exod.  xl.  15. 

Verse  38.  In  the  wilderness  of  Sinai.]  These  laws 
were  probably  given  to  Moses  while  he  was  on  the 
mount  with  God ;  the  time  was  quite  sufficient,  as  he 
was  there  with  God  not  less  than  fourscore  days  in 
all ;  forty  days  at  the  giving ,  and  forty  days  at  the 
re7iewing ,  of  the  law. 

As  in  the  course  of  this  book  the  different  kinds  of 
sacrifices  commanded  to  be  offered  are  repeatedly 
occurring,  I  think  it  best,  once  for  all,  to  give  a  gene¬ 
ral  account  of  them,  and  a  definition  of  the  original 
terms,  as  well  as  of  all  others  relative  to  this  subject 
which  are  used  in  the  Old  Testament,  and  the  refer¬ 
ence  in  which  they  all  stood  to  the  great  sacrifice 
offered  by  Christ. 

1.  asham,  TRESPASS-q^erwg,  from  DUW  asham , 
to  be  guilty ,  or  liable  to  punishment ;  for  in  this  sa¬ 
crifice  the  guilt  was  considered  as  being  transferred  to 
the  animal  offered  up  to  God,  and  the  offerer  re¬ 
deemed  from  the  penalty  of  his  sin,  ver.  37.  Christ  is 
said  to  have  made  his  soul  an  offering  for  sin,  (DEW,) 
Isa.  liii.  10. 

2.  nty.X  ishsheh,  fire- offering,  probably  from  KUyx 
ashash,  to  be  grieved ,  angered,  inflamed ;  either  point¬ 
ing  out  the  distressing  nature  of  sin,  or  its  property  of 
incensing  Divine  justice  against  the  offender,  who,  in 
consequence,  deserving  burning  for  his  offence,  made 
use  of  this  sacrifice  to  be  freed  from  the  punishment 
due  to  his  transgression.  It  occurs  Exod.  xxix.  18, 
and  in  many  places  of  this  book. 

3.  D'snzn  HABHABIM,  ITERATED  Or  REPEATED  offer¬ 
ings ,  from  37V  yahab,  to  supply.  The  word  occurs 
only  in  IIos.  viii.  13,  and  probably  means  no  more 
than  the  continual  repetition  of  the.  accustomed  offer¬ 
ings,  or  continuation  of  each  part  of  the  sacred  service. 

a 


4.  m?  zebach,  a  sacrifice,  (in  Chaldee,  debach, 
the  7  zain  being  changed  into  1  daleth ,)  a  creature  slain 
in  sacrifice,  from  1137  zabach,  to  slay  ;  hence  the  altar 
on  which  such  sacrifices  were  offered  was  termed  H373 
mizbeach,  the  place  of  sacrifice.  See  the  note  on 
G  en.  viii.  2.  Zebach  is  a  common  name  for  sacrifices 
in  general. 

5.  JJl  chag,  a  festival,  especially  such  as  had  a  pe¬ 
riodical  return,  from  JJ71  chagag ,  to  celebrate  a  festival, 
to  dance  round  and  round  in  circles.  See  Exod.  v. 
1 ;  xii.  24.  The  circular  dance  was  probably  intended 
to  point  out  the  revolution  of  the  heavenly  bodies,  and  the 
exact  return  of  the  different  seasons.  See  Parkhurst. 

6.  rwXDn  chattath  and  71X011  chattaah,  sin -offer¬ 
ing,  from  XOtl  chata,  to  miss  the  mark  ;  it  also  signifies 
sin  in  general,  and  is  a  very  apt  term  to  express  its 
nature  by.  A  sinner  is  continually  aiming  at  and  seek¬ 
ing  happiness ;  but  as  he  does  not  seek  ft  in  God, 
hence  the  Scripture  represents  him  as  missing  his  aim , 
or  missing  the  mark.  This  is  precisely  the  meaning 
of  the  Greek  word  apapria,  translated  sin  and  sin-of¬ 
fering  in  our  version ;  and  this  is  the  term  by  which 
the  Hebrew  word  is  translated  both  by  the  Septuagint 
and  the  inspired  writers  of  the  New  Testament.  The 
sin-offering  was  at  once  an  acknowledgment  of  guilt, 
in  having  forsaken  the  fountain  of  living  waters,  and 
hewed  out  cisterns  that  could  hold  none  ;  and  also  of 
the  firm  purpose  of  the  offerer  to  return  to  God,  the 
true  and  pure  fountain  of  blessedness.  This  word 
often  occurs.  See  the  note  on  Gen.  iv.  7  ;  xiii.  13. 

7.  133  copher,  the  expiation  or  atonement,  from 
333  caphar,  to  cover,  to  smear  over,  or  obliterate ,  or 
annul  a  contract.  Used  often  to  signify  the  atonement 
or  expiation  made  for  the  pardon  or  cancelling  of  ini¬ 
quity.  See  more  in  the  note  on  Exod.  xxv.  17. 

8.  ly  10  moed,  an  appointed  annual  festival,  from  1>" 
yaad,  to  appoint  or  constitute,  signifying  such  feasts  as 
were  instituted  in  commemoration  of  some  great  event 
or  deliverance,  such  as  the  deliverance  from  Egypt. 

527 


LEVITICUS. 


mentioned  in  the  Old  Testament, 


Different  kinds  of  sacrifices 

See  Exod.  xiii.  10,  and  thus  differing  from  the  chag 
mentioned  above.  See  the  note  on  Gen.  i.  14. 

9.  milluim,  consecrations  or  consecration- 
offerings,  from  vhft  mala,  to  fill;  those  offerings  made 
in  consecrations,  of  which  the  priests  partook,  or,  in 
the  Hebrew  phrase,  had  their  hands  filled ,  or  which 
had  filled  the  hands  of  them  that  offered  them.  See 
the  note  on  Exod.  xxix.  19  ;  and  see  2  Chron.  xiii.  9. 

10.  nrUft  minchah,  meat -offering,  from  HJ  nach, 
to  rest ,  settle  after  toil.  It  generally  consisted  of 
things  without  life,  such  as  green  ears  of  corn,  full 
ears  of  corn,  flour,  oil,  and  frankincense  ;  (see  on  chap, 
ii.  1,  &c.  ;)  and  may  be  considered  as  having  its  name 
from  that  rest  from  labour  and  toil  which  a  man  had 
when  the  fruits  of  the  autumn  were  brought  in,  or 
when,  in  consequence  of  obtaining  any  rest,  ease,  &c., 
a  significant  offering  or  sacrifice  was  made  to  God. 
It  often  occurs.  See  the  note  on  Gen.  iv.  3.  The 
jealousy-offering  (Num.  v.  15)  was  a  simple  minchah, 
consisting  of  barley-meal  only. 

11.  *]DD  mesech  and  mimsach,  a  mixture- 

offering,  or  mixed  libation,  called  a  mtimz-offering, 
Isa.  lv.  11,  from  "JD73  masach,  to  mingle ;  it  seems  in 
general  to  mean  old  wine  mixed  with  the  less,  which 
made  it  extremely  intoxicating.  This  offering  does 
not  appear  to  have  had  any  place  in  the  worship  of  the 
true  God;  but  from  Isa.  lxv.  11,  and  Prov.  xxiii.  30, 
it  seems  to  have  been  used  for  idolatrous  purposes, 
such  as  the  Bacchanalia  among  the  Greeks  and  Ro¬ 
mans,  “  when  all  got  drunk  in  honour  of  the  god.” 

12.  Dawn  masseeth,  an  oblation,  things  carried 
to  the  temple  to  be  presented  to  God,  from  NEH  nasa , 
to  bear  or  carry,  to  bear  sin ;  typically,  Exod.  xxviii. 
38;  chap.  x.  17  ;  xvi.  21;  really,  Isa.  liii.  4,  12. 
The  sufferings  and  death  of  Christ  were  the  true  mas¬ 
seeth  or  vicarious  bearing  of  the  sins  of  mankind,  as 
the  passage  in  Isaiah  above  referred  to  sufficiently 
proves.  See  this  alluded  to  by  the  Evangelist  John, 
chap.  i.  29  ;  and  see  the  root  in  Parkhurst. 

13.  nedabah,  free-will  or  voluntary  offer¬ 
ing  ;  from  nadab,  to  b e  free,  liberal,  princely. 
An  offering  not  commanded,  but  given  as  a  particular 
proof  of  extraordinary  gratitude  to  God  for  especial 
mercies,  or  on  account  of  some  vow  or  engagement 
voluntarily  taken,  ver.  16. 

14.  “jDJ  nesech,  libation,  or  nniNK-offering,  from 
“pJ  nasach,  to  diffuse  or  pour  out.  Water  or  wine 
poured  out  at  the  conclusion  or  confirmation  of  a  treaty 
or  covenant.  To  this  kind  of  offering  there  is  frequent 
allusion  and  reference  in  the  New  Testament,  as  it 
typified  the  blood  of  Christ  poured  out  for  the  sin  of 
the  world  ;  and  to  this  our  Lord  himself  alludes  in  the 
institution  of  the  holy  eucharist.  The  whole  Gospel 
economy  is  represented  as  a  covenant  or  treaty  between 
God  and  man,  Jesus  Christ  being  not  only  the  media¬ 
tor,  but  the  covenant  sacrifice,  whose  blood  was  poured 
out  for  the  ratification  and  confirmation  of  this  cove¬ 
nant  or  agreement  between  God  and  man. 

15.  and  nSp  olah,  burnt -offering,  from 
alah,  to  ascend ,  because  this  offering,  as  being  wholly 
consumed,  ascended  as  it  were  to  God  in  smoke  and 
vapour.  It  was  a  very  expressive  type  of  the  sacri¬ 
fice  of  Christ,  as  nothing  less  than  his  complete  and 
full  sacrifice  could  make  atonement  for  the  sin  of  the 

528 


world.  In  most  other  offerings  the  priest,  and  often 
the  offerer,  had  a  share,  but  in  the  whole  burnt-offer¬ 
ing  all  was  given  to  God. 

16.  mop  KETORETH,  INCENSE  OT  PERFUME -offering, 
from  10p  kcitar,  to  burn,  i.  e.  the  frankincense,  and 
other  aromatics  used  as  a  perfume  in  different  parts 
of  the  Divine  service.  To  this  St.  Paul  compares  the 
agreeableness  of  the  sacrifice  of  Christ  to  God,  Eph. 
v.  2  :  Christ  hath  given  himself  for  us,  an  offering — - 
to  God  for  a  sweet-smelling  savour.  From  Rev. 
v.  8  we  learn  that  it  was  intended  also  to  represent 
the  prayers  of  the  saints,  which,  offered  up  on  that 
altar,  Christ  Jesus,  that  sanctifies  every  gift,  are  highly 
pleasing  in  the  sight  of  God. 

17.  p“1p  korban,  the  GiFT-offering,  from  mp  karab , 
to  draw  nigh  or  approach.  See  this  explained  on  chap, 
i.  2.  Korban  was  a  general  name  for  any  kind  of 
offering,  because  through  these  it  was  supposed  a  man 
had  access  to  his  Maker. 

18.  shelamim,  peace -offering,  from 
shalam,  to  complete,  make  whole  ;  for  by  these  offer¬ 
ings  that  which  was  lacking  was  considered  as  being 
now  made  up,  and  that  which  was  broken,  viz.,  the 
covenant  of  God,  by  his  creatures’  transgression,  was 
supposed  to  be  made  whole ;  so  that  after  such  an 
offering,  the  sincere  and  conscientious  mind  had  a  right 
to  consider  that  the  breach  was  made  up  between  God 
and  it,  and  that  it  might  lay  confident  hold  on  this 
covenant  of  peace.  To  this  the  apostle  evidently  al¬ 
ludes,  Eph.  ii.  14—19  :  He  is  our  peace,  (i.  e.  our 
shalam  or  peace-offering,)  who  has  made  both  one,  and 
broken  doivn  the  middle  wall ;  having  abolished  in  his 
flesh  the  enmity,  &c.  See  the  whole  passage,  and 
see  the  note  on  Gen.  xiv.  18. 

19.  min  todah,  TUANK-offering,  from  HT  yadah , 
to  confess ;  offerings  made  to  God  with  public  con¬ 
fession  of  his  power,  goodness,  mercy,  &c. 

20.  nSUn  tenuphah,  avf- offering,  from  naph, 
to  stretch  out ;  an  offering  of  the  first-fruits  stretched  out 
before  Gocl,  in  acknowledgment  of  his  providential 
goodness.  This  offering  was  moved  from  the  right 
hand  to  the  left.  See  the  note  on  Exod.  xxix.  27. 

21.  mim  terumah,  heave -offering,  from  m  ram, 
to  lift  up,  because  the  offering  was  lifted  up  towards 
heaven,  as  the  ware-offering,  in  token  of  the  kindness 
of  God  in  granting  rain  and  fruitful  seasons,  and  fill¬ 
ing  the  heart  with  food  and  gladness.  As  the  wave¬ 
offering  was  moved  from  right  to  left,  so  the  heave¬ 
offering  was  moved  up  and  doivn ;  and  in  both  cases 
this  was  done  several  times.  These  offerings  had  a 
blessed  tendency  to  keep  alive  in  the  breasts  of  the 
people  a  due  sense  of  their  dependence  on  the  Divine 
providence  and  bounty,  and  of  their  obligation  to  God 
for  his  continual  and  liberal  supply  of  all  their  wants. 
See  the  note  on  Exod.  xxix.  27. 

In  the  above  collection  are  comprised,  as  far  as  I 
can  recollect,  an  explanation  of  all  the  terms  used  in 
the  Hebrew  Scriptures  which  signify  sacrifice,  obla¬ 
tion,  atonement,  offering,  &c.,  &c.,  as  well  as  the  re¬ 
ference  they  bear  to  the  great  and  only  sufficient  atone¬ 
ment,  sacrifice,  oblation,  and  satisfaction  made  by 
Christ  Jesus  for  the  sins  of  mankind.  Larger  ac¬ 
counts  must  be  sought  in  authors  who  treat  professedly 
on  these  subjects. 


a 


The  consecration  of  Aaron 


CHAP.  VIII. 


and  his  sons  commanded 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

Moses  is  commanded  to  consecrate  Aaron  and  his  sons ,  1—3.  Moses  convenes  the  congregation  ;  washes , 
clothes ,  and  anoints  Aaron,  4—12.  He  also  clothes  Aaron’s  sons,  13.  Offers  a  bullock  for  them  as  a  sin- 
offcring,  14—17.  And  a  rain  for  a  burnt-offering,  18—21.  And  another  ram  for  a  consecration-offering, 
22—24.  The  fat,  with  cakes  of  unleavened  bread,  and  the  right  shoulder  of  the  ram,  he  offers  as  a  wave¬ 
offering,  and  afterwards  burns,  25—28.  The  breast ,  which  was  the  part  of  Moses ,  he  also  waves ,  29. 
And  sprinkles  oil  and  blood  upon  Aaron  and  his  sons,  30.  The  flesh  of  the  consecration  ram  is  to  be  boiled 
and  eaten  at  the  door  of  the  tabernacle,  31,  32.  Moses  commands  Aaron  and  his  sons  to  abide  seven  days 
at  the  door  of  the  tabernacle  of  the  congregation ,  which  they  do  accordingly,  33—36. 


A.  M.  2514.  /\  ND  the  Lord  spake  unto 

B.  C.  1490.  Jrx.  . 

An.  Exod.  Isr.  2.  Moses,  saying, 

Abib  or  Nisan.  ^  a  Aaron,  anc[  his  SOnS 

with  him,  and  b  the  garments,  and  c  the  anoint¬ 
ing  oil,  and  a  bullock  for  the  sin-offering,  and 
two  rams,  and  a  basket  of  unleavened  bread ; 

3  And  gather  thou  all  the  congregation 
together  unto  the  door  of  the  tabernacle  of 
the  congregation. 

4  And  Moses  did  as  the  Lord  commanded 
him  ;  and  the  assembly  was  gathered  together 
unto  the  door  of  the  tabernacle  of  the  congre¬ 
gation. 

5  And  Moses  said  unto  the  congregation, 
d  This  is  the  thing  which  the  Lord  com¬ 
manded  to  be  done. 

6  And  Moses  brought  Aaron  and  his  sons, 
e  and  washed  them  with  water. 

7  f  And  he  put  upon  him  the  e  coat,  and 
girded  him  with  the  girdle,  and  clothed  him 
with  the  robe,  and  put  the  ephod  upon  him, 
and  he  girded  him  with  the  curious  girdle  of 
the  ephod,  and  bound  it  unto  him  therewith. 

8  And  he  put  the  breastplate  upon  him  : 
also  he  h  put  in  the  breastplate  the  Urim  and 
the  Thummim. 

9  1  And  he  put  the  mitre  upon  his  head ; 
also  upon  the  mitre,  even  upon  his  forefront, 
did  he  put  the  golden  plate,  the  holy  crown  ; 
as  the  Lord  k  commanded  Moses. 

10  1  And  Moses  took  the  anointing  oil,  and 


anointed  the  tabernacle  and  all 
that  was  therein,  and  sanctified 
them. 


A.  M.  2514. 

B.  C.  1490. 
An.  Exod.  Isr.  2. 
Abib  or  Nisan. 


1 1  And  he  sprinkled  thereof  upon  the  altar 
seven  times,  and  anointed  the  altar  and  all  his 
vessels,  both  the  laver  and  his  foot,  to  sanctify 
them. 

1 2  And  he  m  poured  of  the  anointing  oil  upon 
Aaron’s  head,  and  anointed  him,  to  sanctify 
him. 


13  n  And  Moses  brought  Aaron’s  sons,  and 
put  coats  upon  them,  and  girded  them  with 
girdles,  and  0  put  bonnets  upon  them  ;  as  the 
Lord  commanded  Moses. 

1 4  pAnd  he  brought  the  bullock  for  the  sin- 
offering  :  and  Aaron  and  his  sons  *  laid  their 
hands  upon  the  head  of  the  bullock  for  the 
sin-offering. 

15  And  he  slew  it;  r  and  Moses  took  the 
blood,  and  put  it  upon  the  horns  of  the  altar 
round  about  with  his  finger,  and  purified  the 
altar,  and  poured  the  blood  at  the  bottom  of 
the  altar,  and  sanctified  it,  to  make  reconcilia¬ 
tion  upon  it. 

1 6  s  And  he  took  all  the  fat  that  was  upon 
the  inwards,  and  the  caul  above  the  liver,  and 
the  two  kidneys,  and  their  fat,  and  Moses 
burned  it  upon  the  altar. 

17  But  the  bullock,  and  his  hide,  his  flesh, 
and  his  dung,  he  burnt  with  fire  without  the 
camp;  as  the  Lord  4  commanded  Moses 


a  Exod.  xxix.  1,  2,3. - b  Exod.  xxviii.  2,  4. - c  Exod.  xxx. 

24,  25. - d  Exod.  xxix.  4. - e  Exod.  xxix.  4. - f  Exod.  xxix. 

5.  - s  Exod.  xxviii.  4. - hExod.  xxviii.  30. - 1  Exod.  xxix. 

6.  - k  Exod.  xxviii.  37,  &c. - 1  Exod.  xxx.  26,  27,  28,  29. 

U1  Chap.  xxi.  10,  12  ;  Exod.  xxix.  7  ;  xxx.  30 ;  Psa.  cxxxiii.  2  ; 


Ecclus.  xlv.  15. - “Exod.  xxix.  8.  9.  0  Heb.  bound. 

P  Exod.  xxix.  10;  Ezek.  xliii.  19. - ^  Chap.  iv.  4  -r  Exod. 

xxix.  12,  36;  chap.  iv.  7;  Ezek.  xliii.  20,  26;  Heb.  ix.  22. 

8  Exod.  xxix.  13;  chap.  iv.  8. -*  4 5 6  Chap.  iv.  11,  12;  Exod. 

xxix.  14. 


NOTES  ON  CHAP.  VIII. 

Verse  2.  Take  Aaron  and  his  sons ]  The  whole 
subject  of  this  chapter  has  been  anticipated  in  the  notes 
on  Exod.  xxviii.  1,  &c.,  and  xxix.  1,  &c.,  in  which  all 
the  sacrifices,  rites,  and  ceremonies  have  been  explain¬ 
ed  in  considerable  detail ;  and  to  those  notes  the  reader 
is  referred.  It  is  only  necessary  to  observe  that  Aaron 
and  his  sons  were  not  anointed  until  now.  Before, 
the  thing  was  commanded ;  now,  first  performed. 

Vol.  I.  (  35  ) 


Verse  8.  He  put  in  the  breastplate  the  Urim  and  the 
Thummim.]  The  Urim  and  Thummim  are  here  sup¬ 
posed  to  be  something  different  from  the  breastplate 
itself.  See  the  notes  on  Exod.  xxviii.  15,  16,  30. 

Verse  9.  And  he  put  the  mitre]  See  the  note  on 
Exod.  xxviii.  37. 

Verse  14.  The  bullock  for  the  sin-offering]  This 
was  offered  each  day  during  the  seven  days  of  conse¬ 
cration.  See  Exod.  xxix.  36. 

529 


The  offerings  made  at  the  LEVITICUS.  consecration  of  the  priests. 


A.  M.  2514.  18  u  And  he  brought  the  ram 

An.  Exod.  lsr.2.  for  the  burnt-offering  :  and  Aaron 
Abib or  Nisan.  an(j  jjjg  gons  their  hands 

upon  the  head  of  the  ram. 

19  And  he  killed  it ;  and  Moses  sprinkled 
the  blood  upon  the  altar  round  about. 

20  And  he  cut  the  ram  into  pieces  ;  and  Mo¬ 
ses  burnt  the  head,  and  the  pieces,  and  the  fat. 

21  And  he  washed  the  inwards  and  the  legs 
in  water  ;  and  Moses  burnt  the  whole  ram  upon 
the  altar :  it  was  a  burnt-sacrifice  for  a  sweet 
savour,  and  an  offering  made  by  fire  unto  the 
Lord  ;  v  as  the  Lord  commanded  Moses. 

22  And  w  he  brought  the  other  ram,  the  ram 
of  consecration  :  and  Aaron  and  his  sons  laid 
their  hands  upon  the  head  of  the  ram. 

23  And  he  slew  it ;  and  Moses  took  of  the 
blood  of  it,  and  put  it  upon  the  tip  of  Aaron’s 

19  Exod.  xxix.  15. - v  Exod.  xxix.  18. - w  Exod.  xxix.  19,  31. 

Verse  23.  Put  it  upon  the  tip  of  Aaron's  right  ear, 
See  this  significant  ceremony  explained  in  the 
note  on  Exod.  xxix.  20.  Calmet  remarks  that  the 
consecration  of  the  high  priest  among  the  Romans  bore 
a  considerable  resemblance  to  the  consecration  of  the 
Jewish  high  priest.  “  The  Roman  priest,  clothed  with 
a  garment  of  silk,  his  head  covered  with  a  crown  of 
gold  adorned  with  sacred  ribbons,  was  conducted  into 
a  subterranean  place,  over  which  there  was  a  floor  of 
planks  pierced  through  with  many  holes.  On  this 
floor  they  sacrificed  a  bullock,  whose  blood  was  freely 
poured  out  on  the  planks  or  floor,  which  running 
through  the  holes  fell  upon  the  priest,  who  stood  un¬ 
der  to  receive  this  sacred  aspersion,  and  who,  in  order 
to  be  completely  covered  with  the  blood,  took  care  to 
present  the  whole  of  his  body,  his  clothes,  face,  eyes, 
nose,  lips,  and  even  his  tongue,  to  receive  the  drops 
of  blood  falling  through  the  pierced  floor  above.  Be¬ 
ing  completely  covered  with  this  sanguineous  shower, 
he  ascended  from  his  subterranean  place,  and  was  ac¬ 
knowledged  and  adored  by  the  people  as  Pontifex  Max¬ 
imus,  or  supreme  high  priest.”  These  rites,  which 
bear  a  striking  allusion  to  those  used  in  the  consecra¬ 
tion  of  Aaron,  and  from  which  they  were  probably  bor¬ 
rowed,  and  disguised  by  the  introduction  of  their  own 
superstitions,  are  particularly  described  by  Aurelius 
Prudentius ,  in  his  poem  entitled  Romani  Martyris 
Supplicium,  from  which  I  shall  select  those  verses, 
the  subject  of  which  is  given  above,  as  the  passage  is 
curious,  and  the  wTork  not  common. 

“  Summus  sacerdos  nempe  sub  terram  scrobe 
Acta  in  profundum  consecrandus  mergitur, 

Mire  infulatus,  festa  vittis  tempora 
Nectcns,  corona  turn  repexus  aurea, 

Cinctu  Gabino  sericam  fultus  togam. 

Tabulis  superne  strata  texunt  pulpita, 

Rimosa  rari  pegmatis  compagibus, 

Scmdunt  subinde  vel  terebrant  aream, 

Crebroque  lignum  perforant  acumine, 
a  530 


right  ear,  and  upon  the  thumb  a.  m.  2514. 
of  his  right  hand,  and  upon  the  An.  Exod.  is r!  2. 
great  toe  of  his  right  foot.  Abib  or  wisan' 

24  And  he  brought  Aaron’s  sons,  and  Moses 
put  of  the  blood  upon  the  tip  of  their  right 
ear,  and  upon  the  thumbs  of  their  right 
hands,  and  upon  the  great  toes  of  their  right 
feet :  and  Moses  sprinkled  the  blood  upon  the 
altar  round  about. 

25  x  And  he  took  the  fat,  and  the  rump,  and 
all  the  fat  that  was  upon  the  inwards,  and  the 
caul  above  the  liver,  and  the  two  kidneys,  and 
their  fat,  and  the  right  shoulder : 

26  y  And  out  of  the  basket  of  unleavened 
bread,  that  was  before  the  Lord,  he  took  one 
unleavened  cake,  and  a  cake  of  oiled  bread, 
and  one  wafer,  and  put  them  an  the  fat,  and 
upon  the  right  shoulder : 

x  Exod.  xxix.  22. - y  Exod.  xxix.  23. 

Pateat  minutis  ut  frequens  hiatibus. — 

Hie  ut  statuta  est  immolanda  hellua, 

Pectus  sacrata  dividunt  venabulo, 

Eructat  amplum  vulnus  undam  sanguinis — &c. 
Turn  per  frequentes  mille  rimarum  vias 
lllapsus  imber,  tabidum  rorem  pluit, 

Defossus  intus  quem  sacerdos  excipit, 

Guttas  ad  omnes  turpe  subjectans  caput, 

Et  veste  et  omni  putrefactus  corpore  : 

Quin  os  supinat,  obvias  offert  genas 
Supponit  aures,  labra,  nares  objicit, 

Oculos  et  ipsos  perluit  liquoribus, 

Nec  jam  palato  parcit,  et  linguam  rigat, 
Donee  cruorem  totus  atrum  combibat. — 
Procedit  inde  pontifex  visu  horridus — &c. 
Omnes  salutant  atque  adorant  eminus, 

Vilis  quod  ilium  sanguis,  et  bos  mortuus 
Fcedis  latentem  sub  cavernis  laverint.” 

Of  these  lines  the  reader  will  not  be  displeased  to 
find  the  following  poetical  version  : — • 

“  For  when,  with  sacred  pomp  and  solemn  state, 
Their  great  high  priest  the  Romans  consecrate, 

His  silken  vest  in  Gabine  cincture  bound, 

A  festal  fillet  twines  his  temples  round : 

And,  while  aloft  the  gorgeous  mitre  shines, 

His  awful  brow  a  golden  crown  confines. 

In  a  deep  dyke,  for  mystic  ritual  made, 

He  stands,  surrounded  with  terrific  shade. 

High  o’er  his  holy  head  a  stage  they  place, 

Adorn  with  paintings,  and  with  statues  grace  ; 

Then  with  keen  piercers  perforate  the  floor, 

Till  thronging  apertures  admit  no  more. 

Thither  the  victim  ox  is  now  convey’d, 

To  glut  the  vengeance  of  the  thirsty  blade. 

The  sacred  spear  his  sturdy  throat  divides, 

Down,  instant  streaming,  gush  the  gory  tides, 
Through  countless  crevices  the  gaping  wood 
Distils  corrupted  dew  and  smoking  blood  ; 

(  35*  ) 


Aaron  and  his  sons,  being  anointed,  -CHAP.  VIII.  abide  in  the  tabernacle  seven  days. 


A.  M.  2514.  27  And  he  put  all  z  upon 

An.  Exod.isr. 2.  Aarons’  hands,  and  upon  his 
Aiub  or  Nisan.  gon’s  ]iandS}  an(i  waved  them  for 

a  wave-offering  before  the  Lord. 

28  a  And  Moses  took  them  from  off  their 
hands,  and  burnt  them  on  the  altar  upon  the 
burnt-offering  :  they  were  consecrations  for  a 
sweet  savour :  it  is  an  offering  made  by  fire 
unto  the  Lord. 

29  And  Moses  took  the  breast,  and  waved  it 
for  a  wave-offering  before  the  Lord  :  for  of 
the  ram  of  consecration  it  was  Moses’  b  part ; 
as  the  Lord  commanded  Moses. 

30  And  c  Moses  took  of  the  anointing  oil, 
and  of  the  blood  which  was  upon  the  altar, 
and  sprinkled  it  upon  Aaron,  and  upon  his 
garments,  and  upon  his  sons,  and  upon  his 
sons’  garments  with  him ;  and  sanctified  Aaron, 
and  his  garments,  and  his  sons,  and  his  sons’ 
garments  with  him. 

31  And  Moses  said  unto  Aaron  and  to  his 
sons,  d  Boil  the  flesh  at  the  door  of  the  taber- 

*  Exod.  xxix.  24,  &c. - a  Exod.  xxix.  25. - b  Exod.  xxix. 

26. - c  Exod.  xxix.  21  ;  xxx.  30 ;  Num.  iii.  3. - d  Exod. 

xxix.  31,  32. 


nacle  of  the  congregation  :  and  A.  M.  2514. 

,  .  ,  .  .  B.  C.  1490. 

there  eat  it  with  the  bread  that  An.  Exod.isr. 2. 

Abib  or  Nisan. 


is  in  the  basket  of  consecrations, 
as  I  commanded,  saying,  Aaron  and  his  sons 
shall  eat  it.  ... 

32  e  And  that  which  remaineth  of  the  flesh 
and  of  the  bread  shall  ye  burn  with  fire. 

33  And  ye  shall  not  go  out  of  the  door  of 
the  tabernacle  of  the  congregation  in  seven 
days,  until  the  days  of  your  consecration  be  at 
an  end  :  for  f  seven  days  shall  he  consecrate  you 

34  g  As  he  hath  done  this  day,  so  the  Lord 
hath  commanded  to  do,  to  make  an  atonement 
for  you. 

35  Therefore  shall  ye  abide  at  the  door  of 
the  tabernacle  of  the  congregation  day  and 
night  seven  days,  and  h  keep  the  charge  of 
the  Lord,  that  ye  die  not :  for  so  I  am  com¬ 
manded. 

36  So  Aaron  and  his  sons  did  all  things 
which  the  Lord  commanded  by  the  hand  of 
Moses. 


e  Exod.  xxix.  34. — 

26. - s  Heb.  vii.  16.- 

1  Kings  ii.  3. 


Exod.  xxix.  30,  35 ;  Ezek.  xliii.  25 
— h  Num.  iii.  7  ;  ix.  19  ;  Deut.  xi.  1 , 


Drop  after  drop,  in  swift  succession  shed, 

Falls  on  the  holy  pontiff’s  mitred  head  ; 

While,  to  imbibe  the  sanctifying  power, 

His  outspread  garments  drink  the  crimson  shower  ; 
Then  on  his  back  in  reeking  streams  he  lies, 

And  laves  in  livid  blood  his  lips  and  eyes  ; 

Bares  every  limb,  exposes  every  pore, 

To  catch  the  virtue  of  the  streaming  gore  ; 

With  open  mouth  expects  the  falling  flood, 

Moistens  his  palate  and  his  tongue  with  blood  ; 
Extends  his  ears  to  meet  the  sanguine  rain, 

Nor  lets  a  single  drop  descend  in  vain. 

Then  from  the  gloomy  cave  comes  forth  to  light, 
Bathed  in  black  blood,  and  horrible  to  sight! — 

By  the  vile  torrent,  and  the  victim  slain, 

In  the  dark  cavern  cleansed  from  mortal  stain, 
Their  priest,  enveloped  in  atoning  gore, 

With  trembling  awe  surrounding  throngs  adore.” 

Prudentius  was  born  about  the  middle  of  the  fourth 
century,  and  was  no  doubt  intimately  acquainted  with 
the  circumstances  he  describes. 

Verse  27.  And  xoaved  them  for  a  wave-offering ] 
See  the  nature  of  this  and  the  heave-offering  in  the 
note  on  Exod.  xxix.  27. 

Verse  30.  And  Moses  took — the  blood — and  sprink¬ 
led  it  upon  Aaron ,  dfc.]  Thus  we  find  that  the  high 
priest  himself  must  be  sprinkled  with  the  blood  of  the 
sacrifice  ;  and  our  blessed  Lord,  of  whom  Aaron  wras 
a  type,  was  sprinkled  with  his  own  blood.  1.  In  his 
agony  in  the  garden.  2.  In  his  being  crowned  with 
thorns.  3.  In  the  piercing  of  his  hands  and  his  feet. 
And,  4.  In  his  side  being  pierced  with  the  spear.  All 


these  were  so  many  acts  of  atonement  performed  by 
the  high  priest. 

Verse  33.  For  seven  days  shall  he  consecrate  you.] 
This  number  was  the  number  of  perfection  among  the 
Hebrews  ;  and  the  seven  days’  consecration  implied  a 
perfect  and  full  consecration  to  the  sacerdotal  office. 
See  the  note  on  Exod.  xxix.  30. 

Verse  36.  So  Aaron  and  his  sons  did]  This  chap¬ 
ter  shows  the  exact  fulfilment  of  the  commands  deli¬ 
vered  to  Moses,  Exod.  xxix.  ;  and  consequently  the 
complete  preparation  of  Aaron  and  his  sons  to  fill  the 
awfully  important  office  of  priests  and  mediators  be¬ 
tween  God  and  Israel,  to  offer  sacrifices  and  make 
atonement  for  the  sins  of  the  people. 

“  Thus,”  says  Mr.  Ainsworth,  “  the  covenant  of  the 
priesthood  was  confirmed  unto  the  tribe  of  Levi  in 
Aaron  and  his  sons,  which  covenant  was  life  and  peace , 
Mai.  ii.  5.  But  these  are  made  priests  without  an 
oath  ;  also,  there  were  many  priests ,  because  they 
were  not  suffered  to  continue  by  reason  of  death ;  and 
they  served  unto  the  example  and  shadow  of  heavenly 
things,  offering  gifts  and  sacrifices  which  could  not 
make  him  wrho  did  the  service  perfect  as  pertaining  to 
the  conscience  ;  for  they  were  carnal  ordinances  im¬ 
posed  upon  them  till  the  time  of  reformation,  that  is, 
until  the  time  of  Christ,  who  was  made  a  priest  of  God 
with  an  oath ,  and  made  surety  of  a  better  covenant, 
established  on  better  promises.  And  because  he  con- 
tinueth  for  ever,  he  hath  a  priesthood  which  passeth 
not  from  one  to  another,  and  is  a  minister  of  the  true 
tabernacle,  which  God  pitched  and  not  man.  Not  by 
the  blood  of  bulls  and  of  goats,  but  by  his  own  blood, 
he  entered  once  into  the  holy  place,  having  found  ever- 

531 


a 


LEVITICUS; 


Aaron  and  the  people  are 

lasting  redemption  for  us  ;  and  is  therefore  able  to  save 
to  the  uttermost  them  who  come  unto  God  through  him, 
as  he  ever  liveth  to  make  intercession  for  them.”  Ta¬ 
ken  in  reference  to  his  priesthood  and  sacrifice,  all 


to  make  offerings  to  the  Lord . 

these  rites  and  ceremonies  are  significant  and  edifying; 
but  taken  out  of  this  relation,  they  would  be  as  absurd 
and  nugatory  as  the  consecration  of  the  Roman  Ponti- 
fex  Maximus,  mentioned  above  by  Prudentius. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

Aaron  is  commanded  to  offer ,  on  the  eighth  day ,  a  sin-offering  and  a  burnt-offering,  1,2. 
commanded  also  to  offer  a  sin-offering,  a  burnt-offering,  peace-offerings,  and  a  meat-off erin 
do  as  they  were  commanded ;  and  Moses  promises  that  God  shall  appear  amon, 
commanded  to  make  an  atonement  for  the  people,  7. 

8-21.  Aaron  and  Moses  bless  the  congregation,  22,  23. 
sacrifice,  24. 


A.  M.  2514.  a  it  came  to  pass  on  the 

An.  Exod.  isr.  2.  eighth  day,  that  Moses  called 
Abib  or  Nisan.  ^aron  and  his  sons,  and  the  elders 

of  Israel ; 

2  And  he  said  unto  Aaron,  b  Take  thee  a 
young  calf  for  a  sin-offering,  c  and  a  ram  for 
a  burnt- offering,  without  blemish,  and  offer 
them  before  the  Lord. 

3  And  unto  the  children  of  Israel  thou  shalt 
speak,  saying,  d  Take  ye  a  kid  of  the  goats 
for  a  sin-offering ;  and  a  calf  and  a  lamb,  both 
of  the  first  year,  without  blemish,  for  a  burnt- 
offering  ; 

4  Also  a  bullock  and  a  ram  for  peace-offer¬ 
ings,  to  sacrifice  before  the  Lord  ;  and  e  a 
meat-offering  mingled  with  oil :  for  f  to-day 
the  Lord  will  appear  unto  you. 

5  And  they  brought  that  which  Moses  com- 

a  Ezek.  xliii.  27. - b  Chap.  iv.  3  ;  viii.  14  ;  Exod.  xxix.  1. 

c  Chap.  viii.  18. — d  Chap.  iv.  23  ;  Ezra  vi.  17  ;  x.  19. - e  Chap. 

ii.  4. - f  Ver.  6,  23 ;  Exod.  xxix.  43. 

NOTES  ON  CHAP.  IX. 

Verse  1.  On  the  eighth  day]  This  was  the  first 
day  after  their  consecration,  before  which  they  were 
deemed  unfit  to  minister  in  holy  things,  being  consi¬ 
dered  as  in  a  state  of  imperfection.  “  All  creatures,” 
says  Ainsworth,  “  for  the  most  part  were  in  their  un¬ 
cleanness  and  imperfection  seven  days,  and  perfected 
on  the  eighth ;  as  children  by  circumcision,  Lev.  xii. 
2,  3  ;  young  beasts  for  sacrifice,  chap.  xxii.  27  ;  per¬ 
sons  that  were  unclean  by  leprosies,  issues,  and  the 
like,  chap.  xiv.  8-10;  xv.  13,  14;  Num.  vi.  9,  10. 
So  here,  the  priests,  until  the  eighth  day,  were  not 
admitted  to  minister  in  their  office.” 

Verse  2.  Take  thee  a  young  calf,  fyc.]  As  these 
sacrifices  were  for  Aaron  himself,  they  are  furnished 
by  himself  and  not  by  the  people,  for  they  were  de¬ 
signed  to  make  atonement  for  his  own  sin.  See  chap, 
iv.  3.  And  this  is  supposed  by  the  Jews  to  have 
been  intended  to  make  an  atonement  for  his  sin  in 
the  matter  of  the  golden  calf.  This  is  very  probable, 
as  no  formal  atonement  for  that  transgression  had  yet 
been  made. 


The  people  are 
g,  3,  4.  They 
them,  5,  6.  Aaron  is 
He  and  his  sons  prepare  and  offer  the  different  sacrifices, 
And  the  fire  of  the  Lord  consumes  the 

manded  before  the  tabernacle  of  a.  M.  2514. 
the  congregation :  and  all  the  con-  An.  Exod.  isr.  2 
gregation  drew  near  and  stood  Ablb  or  Nlsan- 
before  the  Lord. 

6  And  Moses  said,  This  is  the  thing  which 
the  Lord  commanded  that  ye  should  do  ;  and 
g  the  glory  of  the  Lord  shall  appear  unto  you. 

7  And  Moses  said  unto  Aaron,  Go  unto  the 
altar,  and  h  offer  thy  sin-offering,  and  thy 
burnt-offering,  and  make  an  atonement  for 
thyself,  and  for  the  people  :  and  1  offer  the 
offering  of  the  people,  and  make  an  atonement 
for  them  ;  as  the  Lord  commanded. 

8  Aaron  therefore  went  unto  the  altar,  and 
slew  the  calf  of  the  sin-offering,  which  was  for 
himself. 

9  k  And  the  sons  of  Aaron  brought  the  blood 
unto  him :  and  he  dipped  his  finger  in  the 

s  >  er.  23  ;  Exod.  xxiv.  16. - h  Chap.  iv.  3  ;  1  Sam.  iii.  14  ; 

Heb.  v.  3  ;  vii.  27 ;  ix.  7. - >  Chap.  iv.  16.  20 ;  Heb.  v.  1. 

k  Chap.  viii.  15. 

Verse  3.  Take  ye  a  kid]  In  chap.  iv.  14  a  young 
bullock  is  commanded  to  be  offered  for  the  sin  of  the 
people  ;  but  here  the  offering  is  a  kid,  which  was  the 
sacrifice  appointed  for  the  sin  of  the  ruler,  chap.  iv. 
22,  23,  and  hence  some  think  that  the  reading  of  the 
Samaritan  and  the  Septuagint  is  to  be  preferred. 
Speak  unto  the  elders  of  Israel,  these  being  the  only 
princes  or  rulers  of  Israel  at  that  time  ;  and  for  them 
it  is  possible  this  sacrifice  was  designed.  It  is  however 
supposed  that  the  sacrifice  appointed  chap.  iv.  14  was 
for  a  particular  sin,  but  this  for  sin  in  general ;  and 
that  it  is  on  this  account  that  the  sacrifices  differ. 

Verse  6.  And  the  glory  of  the  Lord  shall  appear] 
God  shall  give  the  most  sensible  signs  of  his  presence 
among  you  ;  this  he  did  in  general  by  the  cloud  on  the 
tabernacle,  but  in  this  case  the  particular  proof  was 
the  fire  that  came  out  from  before  the  Lord,  and  con¬ 
sumed  the  burnt-offering;  see  ver.  23,  24. 

Verse  7.  Make  an  atonement  for  thyself]  This 
showed  the  imperfection  of  the  Levitical  law;  the 
high  priest  was  obliged  to  make  an  expiation  for  his 
own  sins  before  he  could  make  one  for  the  sins  of  the 

a 


532 


CHAP.  IX. 


The  sacrifice  being  ended , 

A.  M.  2514.  blood,  and  1  put  it  upon  the  horns 

B.  C.  1490.  r  i  u  j  1  , 

An.  Exod.  1st.  2.  oi  the  altar,  and  poured  out  the 

Abib  or  Nisan.  p}oocj  the  bottom  of  the  altar : 

10  m  But  the  fat,  and  the  kidneys,  and  the 
caul  above  the  liver,  of  the  sin-offering,  he 
burnt  upon  the  altar ;  n  as  the  Lord  com¬ 
manded  Moses. 

1 1  0  And  the  flesh  and  the  hide  he  burnt 
with  fire  without  the  camp. 

1 2  And  he  slew  the  burnt-offering ;  and 
Aaron’s  sons  presented  unto  him  the  blood, 
p  which  he  sprinkled  round  about  upon  the 
altar. 

13  q  And  they  presented  the  burnt-offering 
unto  him,  with  the  pieces  thereof,  and  the 
head :  and  he  burnt  them  upon  the  altar. 

14  r  And  he  did  wash  the  inwards  and  the 
legs,  and  burnt  them  upon  the  burnt-offering 
on  the  altar. 

1 5  s  And  he  brought  the  people’s  offering, 
and  took  the  goat,  which  was  the  sin-offering 
for  the  people,  and  slew  it,  and  offered  it  for 
sin,  as  the  first. 

16  And  he  brought  the  burnt-offering,  and 
offered  it  t  according  to  the  11  manner. 

1  See  chap.  iv.  7. - m  Chap.  viii.  16. - nChap.  iv.  8. 

e  Chap.  iv.  11 ;  viii.  17. - p  Chap.  i.  5  ;  viii.  19. - 9  Chap.  viii. 

20. - r  Chap.  viii.  21. - sVer.  3;  Isa.  liii.  10;  Heb.  ii.  17; 

v.  3. - 1  Chap.  i.  3,  10. - uOr ,  ordinance. - vVer.  4;  chap. 

people.  See  the  use  made  of  this  by  the  apostle, 
Heb.  v.  3  ;  vii.  27  ;  ix.  7. 

Yerse  22.  And  Aaron  lifted  up  his  hand  toward 
the  people ,  and  blessed  them ]  On  lifting  up  the  hands 
in  prayer,  see  Exod.  ix.  29.  The  form  of  the  bless¬ 
ing  we  have  in  Num.  vi.  23,  &c.  :  “The  Lord  bless 
thee  and  keep  thee !  The  Lord  make  his  face  shine 
upon  thee,  and  be  gracious  unto  thee !  The  Lord  lift 
up  his  countenance  upon  thee,  and  give  thee  peace  !” 
See  the  notes  on  these  passages. 

And  came  down  from  offering  of  the  sin-offering , 
dfci]  A  sin-offering,  a  burnt-offering,  a  meat-offering, 
and  peace-offerings,  were  made  to  God  that  his  glory 
might  appear  to  the  whole  congregation.  This  was 
the  end  of  all  sacrifice  and  religious  service  ;  not  to 
confer  any  obligation  on  God,  but  to  make  an  atone¬ 
ment  for  sin,  and  to  engage  him  to  dwell  among  and 
influence  his  worshippers. 

Yerse  23.  Moses  and  Aaron  went  into  the  taberna¬ 
cle ]  It  is  supposed  that  Moses  accompanied  Aaron 
into  the  tabernacle  to  show  him  how  to  offer  the  in¬ 
cense,  prepare  the  lamps  and  the  perfume,  adjust  the 
shew-bread,  &c.,  &c. 

And  the  glory  of  the  Lord  appeared ]  To  show  that 
every  thing  was  done  according  to  the  Divine  mind, 

1.  The  glory  of  Jehovah  appears  unto  all  the  people  ; 

2.  A  fire  came  out  from  before  the  Lord,  and  con¬ 
sumed  the  burnt-offering.  This  was  the  proof  which 
God  gave  upon  extraordinary  occasions  of  his  accept- 

a 


Aaron  blesses  the  people. 

17  And  he  brought  vthe  meat-  a.  M.  2514. 
offering,  and  w  took  a  handful  An.  Exod.  isr.  2. 
thereof  and  burnt  it  upon  the  Abll)  or  Nlsan- 
altar,  x  beside  the  burnt-sacrifice  of  the  morning. 

18  He  slew  also  the  bullock  and  the  ram  for 
y  a  sacrifice  of  peace-offerings,  which  was  for 
the  people  :  and  Aaron’s  sons  presented  unto 
him  the  blood,  which  he  sprinkled  upon  the 
altar  round  about ; 

19  And  the  fat  of  the  bullock  and  of  the 
ram,  the  rump,  and  that  which  covereth  the 
inwards ,  and  the  kidneys,  and  the  caul  above 
the  liver: 

20  And  they  put  the  fat  upon  the  breasts, 
z  and  he  burnt  the  fat  upon  the  altar : 

21  And  the  breasts  and  the  right  shoulder 
Aaron  waved  a  for  a  wave-offering  before  the 
Lord  ;  as  Moses  commanded. 

22  And  Aaron  lifted  up  his  hand  toward  the 
people,  and  b  blessed  them,  and  came  down 
from  offering  of  the  sin-offering,  and  the 
burnt-offering,  and  peace-offerings. 

23  And  Moses  and  Aaron  went  into  the 
tabernacle  of  the  congregation,  and  came  out, 
and  blessed  the  people  :  c  and  the  glory  of 

ii.  1,  2. - w  Heb.  filled  his  hand  out  of  it. - x  Exod.  xxix.  38. 

y  Chap.  iii.  1,  &c. - z  Chap.  iii.  5,  16. - a  Exod.  xxix.  24,  26  ; 

chap.  vii.  30,  31,  32,  33,  34. - b  Num.  vi.  23  ;  Deut.  xxi.  5  ; 

Luke  xxiv.  50. - c  Ver.  6  ;  Num.  xiv.  10  ;  xvi.  19,  42. 

ance  of  the  sacrifice.  This  was  done  probably,  1.  In 
the  case  of  Abel,  Gen.  iv.  4.  2.  In  the  case  of  Aaron  ; 

see  above,  ver.  24.  3.  In  the  case  of  Gideon,  Judg. 

vi.  21.  4.  In  the  case  of  Manoah  and  his  wife. 

Compare  Judg.  xiii.  19—23.  5.  In  the  case  of  David 

dedicating  the  threshing-floor  of  Oman,  1  Chron.  xxi. 
28.  (j.  In  the  case  of  Solomon  dedicating  the  temple, 

2  Chron.  vii.  1.  7.  In  the  case  of  Elijah,  1  Kings 

xviii.  38.  Hence  to  express  the  accepting  of  an  offer¬ 
ing,  sacrifice,  &c.,  the  verb  jt2H  dishshen  is  used, 
which  signifies  to  reduce  to  ashes ,  i.  e.,  by  fire  from 
heaven.  See  Psa.  xx.  3.  In  such  a  case  as  this,  it 
was  necessary  that  the  fire  should  appear  to  be  di¬ 
vinely  sent,  and  should  come  in  such  a  way  as  to  pre¬ 
clude  the  supposition  that  any  art  or  deceit  had  been 
practised  on  the  occasion.  Hence  it  is  not  intimated 
that  Moses  and  Aaron  brought  it  out  of  the  tabernacle, 
professing  that  God  had  kindled  it  there  for  them,  but 
the  fire  came  out  from  before  the  Lord ,  and  all  the 
people  saw  it .  The  victims  were  consumed  by  a  fire 
evidently  of  no  human  kindling.  Josephus  says  that 
“a  fire  proceeded  from  the  victims  themselves  of  its 
own  accord,- which  had  the  appearance  of  a  flash  ot 
lightning  avriov  irvp  avrjdQr]  avroparov ,  nai  opoiov 

aarpamjc  hapnrjdovL  opopevov  ttj  d'koyr  “  and  con¬ 
sumed  all  that  was  upon  the  altar.’' — Antiq.,  lib.  iii., 
c.  8,  s.  6,  edit.  Haverc.  And  it  is  very  likely  that 
by  the  agency  of  the  ethereal  or  electric  spark,  sent 
immediately  from  the  Divine  presence,  the  victims 

533 


LEVITICUS. 


The  fire  of  the  Lord 
a.  M.  2514.  the  Lord  appeared  unto  all  the 

B.  C.  1490.  .  rr 

An.  Exod.  Isr.  2.  people. 

Abib  or  Nisan.  24  And  d  there  came  a  fire  out 
from  before  the  Lord,  and  consumed  upon 

d  Gen.  iv.  4;  Judg.  vi.  21  ;  1  Kings  xviii.  38  ;  2  Chron.  vii.  1 ; 
Psa.  xx.  3  ;  2  Mac.  ii.  10,  11. 


were  consumed.  The  heathens,  in  order  to  give  cre¬ 
dit  to  their  worship,  imitated  this  miracle,  and  pretend¬ 
ed  that  Jupiter  testified  his  approbation  of  the  sacri¬ 
fices  offered  to  him  by  thunder  and  lightning  :  to  this 
Virgil  seems  to  allude,  though  the  words  have  been 
understood  differently. 

Audiat  licec  genitor,  qui  feeder  a  fulmine  sancit. 

JEn.  xii.,  ver.  200. 

“  Let  Jupiter  hear,  who  sanctions  covenants  by  his 
thunder.” 

On  which  words  Servius  makes  this  remarkable  com¬ 
ment  :  Quia  cum  fiunt  feedera,  si  coruscatio  fuerit, 
confirmantur.  Vel  certe  quia  apud  majores  arse  non 
incendebantur,  sed  ignem  divinum  precibus  eliciebant 
qui  incendebant  altaria.  “To  sanction  the  covenant 
signifies  to  confirm  it ;  for  when  a  covenant  was  made, 
if  there  were  a  flash  of  lightning,  it  was  considered  to 
be  thereby  confirmed  :  or  rather  because  our  ances¬ 
tors  lighted  no  fire  upon  the  altars,  but  obtained  by 
their  supplications  divine  fire,”  &c.  The  expression 
apud  majores ,  “among  our  ancestors ,”  shows  that  they 
could  boast  of  no  such  divine  fire  then ;  nor  could 
they  ever  before ,  as  the  w'hole  account  was  borrowed 
from  the  Jews.  Solmus  Polyhistor  gives  us  an  ac¬ 
count  to  the  same  effect ;  for,  speaking  of  the  hill  of 
Vulcan  in  Sicily,  he  says  :  In  quo,  qui  divinae  rei  ope- 
rantur,  ligna  vitea  super  aras  struunt,  nec  ignis  ap- 
ponitur  in  hanc  congeriem :  cum  prosicias  intulerunt, 
si  adest  deus,  si  sacrum  probatur,  sarmenta  licet 
viridia  sponte  concipiunt,  et  nullo  inflagrante  halitu,  ab 
ipso  numine  fit  accendium,  cap.  v.  in  fine .  “  They 

who  perform  sacred  rites  in  this  place,  put  a  bundle 
of  vine-tree  wood  upon  the  altar,  but  put  no  fire  to  it ; 
for  when  they  lay  the  pieces  of  the  victim  upon  it,  if 
the  deity  be  present,  and  he  approve  the  sacrifice,  the 
bundle,  although  of  green  wood,  takes  fire  of  itself  , 
and  without  any  other  means  the  deity  himself  kindles 
the  flame.”  These  are  remarkable  instances,  and 
show  how  exactly  the  heathen  writers  have  borrowed 
from  the  sacred  records.  And  in  farther  imitation  of 
this  miracle,  they  had  their  perpetual  fire  in  the  tem¬ 
ple  of  Vesta ,  which  they  feigned  to  have  descended  at 
first  from  heaven ,  and  which  they  kept  with  the  most 
religious  veneration. 

Verse  24.  When  all  the  people  saw ,  they  shouted , 
and  fell  on  their  faces]  1.  The  miracle  was  done  in 
such  a  way  as  gave  the  fullest  conviction  to  the 
people  of  its  reality.  2.  They  exulted  in  the  thought 
that  the  God  of  almighty  power  and  energy  had  taken 
up  his  abode  among  them.  3.  They  prostrated  them¬ 
selves  in  his  presence,  thereby  intimating  the  deep 
sense  they  had  of  ms  goodness,  of  their  unworthiness, 
and  of  the  obligation  they  were  under  to  live  in  sub¬ 
jection  to  his  authority,  and  obedience  to  his  will.— 

534 


consumes  the  sacrifice , 

the  altar  the  burnt-offering  and  A.  M.  2514. 

0  B.  C.  1490. 

the  fat ;  which  when  all  the  peo-  An.  Exod.  isr.  2. 
pie  saw,  e  they  shouted,  and  fell  Ablb  or  Nlsaih 
on  their  faces. 

e  Exod.  xxxii.  17 ;  1  Kings  xviii.  39  ;  2  Chron.  vii.  3  ;  Ezra 

iii.  11. 


This  celestial  fire  was  carefully  preserved  among  the 
Israelites  till  the  time  of  Solomon,  when  it  was  renew¬ 
ed ,  and  continued  among  them  till  the  Babylonish  cap¬ 
tivity.  This  Divine  fire  was  the  emblem  of  the  Holy 
Spirit.  And  as  no  sacrifice  could  be  acceptable  to 
God  which  was  not  salted ,  i.  e.,  seasoned  and  rendered 
pleasing,  by  this  fire ,  as  our  Lord  says,  Mark  ix.  49s 
so  no  soul  can  offer  acceptable  sacrifices  to  God,  but 
through  the  influences  of  the  Divine  Spirit.  Hence 
the  promise  of  the  Spirit  under  the  emblem  of  fire, 
Matt.  iii.  11,  and  its  actual  descent  in  this  similitude 
on  the  day  of  pentecost,  Acts  ii.  3,  4. 

The  most  remarkable  circumstance  in  this  chapter 
is  the  manifestation  of  the  presence  of  God,  and  the 
consuming  of  the  victims  by  the  miraculous  fire.  IVe 
have  already  seen  that  the  chief  design  of  these  sacri¬ 
ficial  rites  was  to  obtain  reconciliation  to  God ,  that  the 
Divine  Presence  might  dwell  and  be  manifested  among 
them.  To  encourage  the  people  to  make  the  neces¬ 
sary  preparations,  to  offer  the  sacrifices  in  a  proper 
spirit,  and  to  expect  especial  mercies  from  the  hand 
of  God,  Moses  promises,  ver.  4,  that  the  Lord  would 
appear  unto  them  on  the  morrow ,  and  that  his  gloiy 
should  appear ,  ver.  6.  In  hope  or  expectation  of  this, 
the  priest ,  the  elders ,  and  the  people  purified  them¬ 
selves  by  offering  the  different  sacrifices  which  God 
had  appointed ;  and  when  this  was  done  God  did  ap¬ 
pear,  and  gave  the  fullest  proofs  of  his  approbation,  by 
miraculously  consuming  the  sacrifices  which  were  pre¬ 
pared  on  the  occasion.  Does  not  St.  John  evidently 
refer  to  these  circumstances,  1st  Epist.,  chap.  iii.  2,  3: 
“  Beloved,  now  are  we  the  sons  of  God  ;  and  it  doth 
not  yet  appear  what  we  shall  be ;  but  we  know  that 
when  he  shall  appear ,  we  shall  be  like  him,  for  we 
shall  see  him  as  he  is ;  and  every  man  that  hath  this 
hope  in  him,  purifieth  himself,  even  as  he  is  pure.” 
This  manifestation  of  God  in  the  tabernacle  was  a 
type  of  his  presence,  first,  in  the  Church  militant  on 
earth  ;  and  secondly,  in  the  Church  triumphant  in  hea¬ 
ven.  They  who  expect  to  have  the  presence  of  God 
here,  must  propitiate  his  throne  of  justice  by  the  only 
available  sacrifice  ;  they  who  wish  to  enjoy  everlast¬ 
ing  felicity,  must  be  purified  from  all  unrighteousness, 
for  without  holiness  none  can  see  the  Lord.  If  we 
hope  to  see  him  as  he  is,  we  must  resemble  him.  How 
vain  is  the  expectation  of  glory ,  where  there  is  no 
meetness  for  the  place  !  And  how  can  we  enter  into 
the  holiest  but  by  the  blood  of  Jesus'?  Heb.  x.  19. 
And  of  what  use  can  this  sacrifice  be  to  those  who  do 
not  properly  believe  in  it  ?  And  can  any  faith,  even 
in  that  sacrifice,  be  effectual  to  salvation,  that  does  not 
purify  the  heart  ?  Reader  !  earnestly  pray  to  God  that 
thou  hold  not  the  truth  in  unrighteousness . 

a 


Nadab  and  Abihu  offer  CHAP.  X.  strange  fire ,  and  are  destroyed. 

CHAPTER  X. 

Nadab  and  Abihu  offer  strange  fire  before  the  Lord ,  and  are  destroyed ,  1-5.  Aaron  and  his  family  forbidden 
to  mourn  for  them,  6,  7.  He  and  his  family  are  forbidden  the  use  of  wine ,  8—11.  Directions  to  Aaron 
and  his  sons  concerning  the  eating  of  the  meat-offerings ,  dfc.,  12-15.  Moses  chides  Aaron  for  not  having 
eaten  the  sin-offering ,  16—18.  Aaron  excuses  himself  and  Moses  is  satisfied ,  19,  20. 


A.  M.  2514.  A  ND  a  Nadab  and  Abihu,  the 

B.  C.  1490.  -TL  r  .  . 

An.  Exod.  isr.  2.  sons  oi  Aaron,  b  took  either 
Alnb  or  Nisan.  Qf  Lis  censerj  anc[  pUt  £re 

therein,  and  put  incense  thereon,  and  offered 
45  strange  fire  before  the  Lord,  which  he  com¬ 
manded  them  not. 

a  Chap.  xvi.  1 ;  xxii.  9  ;  Num.  iii.  3,  4  ;  xxvi.  61 ;  1  Chron.  xxiv.  2. 
b  Chap.  xvi.  12  ;  Num.  xvi.  18. 

NOTES  ON  CHAP.  X. 

Verse  1.  And  Nadab  and  Abihu — took  either  of  them 
his  censer\  The  manner  of  burning  incense  in  the  tem¬ 
ple  service  was,  according  to  the  Jews,  as  follows  : — 
“  One  went  and  gathered  the  ashes  from  off  the  altar 
into  a  golden  vessel,  a  second  brought  a  vessel  full  of 
incense,  and  a  third  brought  a  censer  with  fire,  and 
put  coals  on  the  altar,  and  he  whose  office  it  was  to 
bum  the  incense  strewed  it  on  the  fire  at  the  com¬ 
mand  of  the  governor.  At  the  same  time  all  the  peo¬ 
ple  went  out  of  the  temple  from  between  the  porch 
and  the  altar.  Each  day  they  burned  the  weight  of 
a  hundred  denaries  of  incense,  fifty  in  the  morning, 
and  fifty  in  the  evening.  The  hundred  denaries 
weighed  fifty  shekels  of  the  sanctuary,  each  shekel 
weighing  three  hundred  and  twenty  barleycorns ;  and 
when  the  priest  had  burned  the  incense,  he  bowed  him¬ 
self  down  and  went  his  way  out.  See  Maimonides ’ 
Treatise  of  the  Daily  Service,  chap.  iii.  So  when 
Zacharias,  as  his  lot  fell,  burned  incense  in  the  tem¬ 
ple,  the  whole  multitude  of  the  people  were  without  at 
prayer  while  the  incense  was  burning,  Luke  i.  9,  10. 
By  this  service  God  taught  them  that  the  prayers  of 
his  faithful  people  are  pleasing  to  him,  whilst  our  High 
Priest,  Christ  Jesus,  by  his  mediation  puts  incense  to 
their  prayers;  (see  Psa.  cxli.  2  ;  Rom.  viii.  34  ;  Heb. 
viii.  1,  2  ;  ix.  24  ;  Rev.  viii.  3,  4  ;)  for  the  priests  un¬ 
der  the  law  served  unto  the  example  and  shadow  of 
heavenly  things  ;  Heb.  viii.  5.”  See  Ainsworth  in  loco. 

In  the  preceding  chapter  we  have  seen  how  God 
intended  that  every  part  of  his  service  should  be  con¬ 
ducted  ;  and  that  every  sacrifice  might  be  acceptable 
to  him,  he  sent  his  own  fire  as  the  emblem  of  his  pre¬ 
sence,  and  the  means  of  consuming  the  sacrifice. — 
Here  we  find  Aaron’s  sons  neglecting  the  Divine  ordi¬ 
nance,  and  offering  incense  with  strange,  that  is,  com¬ 
mon  fire, — fire  not  of  a  celestial  origin  ;  and  therefore 
the  fire  of  God  consumed  them.  So  that  very  fire 
which,  if  properly  applied,  would  have  sanctified  and 
consumed  their  gift,  become  now  the  very  instrument 
of  their  destruction !  How  true  is  the  saying,  The 
Lord  is  a  consuming  fire  !  He  will  either  halloiv  or 
destroy  us  :  he  will  purify  our  souls  by  the  influence 
of  his  Spirit,  or  consume  them  with  the  breath  of  his 
mouth  !  The  tree  which  is  properly  planted  in  a  good 
soil  is  nourished  by  the  genial  influences  of  the  sun  : 

a 


2  And  there  d  went  out  fire  A.  M.  2514. 
from  the  Lord,  and  devoured  An.  Exod.  Isr.  2. 
them,  and  they  died  before  the  Abll)  or  Nisan~ 
Lord. 

3  Then  Moses  said  unto  Aaron,  This  is  it 
that  the  Lord  spake,  saying,  I  will  be  sancti- 

c  Exod.  xxx.  9. - d  Chap.  ix.  24;  Num.  xvi.  35;  2  Samuel 

vi.  7. 

pluck  it  up  from  its  roots,  and  the  sun  which  was  the 
cause  of  its  vegetative  life  and  perfection  now  dries  up 
its  juices,  decomposes  its  parts,  and  causes  it  to  moul¬ 
der  into  dust.  Thus  must  it  be  done  to  those  who 
grieve  and  do  despite  to  the  Spirit  of  God.  Reader, 
hast  thou  this  heavenly  fire  l  Hear  then  the  voice 
of  God,  Quench  not  the  Spirit. 

Some  critics  are  of  opinion  that  the  fire  used  by  the 
sons  of  Aaron  was  the  sacred  fire,  and  that  it  is  only 
called  strange  from  the  manner  of  placing  the  incense 
on  it.  I  cannot  see  the  force  of  this  opinion. 

Which  he  commanded  them  not.\  Every  part  of  the 
religion  of  God  is  Divine.  He  alone  knew  what  he 
designed  by  its  rites  and  ceremonies,  for  that  which 
they  prefigured — the  whole  economy  of  redemption 
by  Christ — was  conceived  in  his  own  mind,  and  was 
out  of  the  reach  of  human  wisdom  and  conjecture. 
He  therefore  who  altered  any  part  of  this  representa¬ 
tive  system,  who  omitted  or  added  any  thing,  assumed 
a  prerogative  which  belonged  to  God  alone,  and  was 
certainly  guilty  of  a  very  high  offence  against  the  wis¬ 
dom,  justice,  and  righteousness  of  his  Maker.  This 
appears  to  have  been  the  sin  of  Nadab  and  Abihu,  and 
this  at  once  shows  the  reason  why  they  were  so  se¬ 
verely  punished.  The  most  awful  judgments  are 
threatened  against  those  who  either  add  too,  or  take 
away  from,  the  declarations  of  God.  See  Deut.  iv.  2 ; 
Prov.  xxx.  6  ;  and  Rev.  xxii.  18,  19. 

Verse  3.  And  Aaron  held  his  peace. \  pHX  DTI 
vaiyiddom  Aharon,  and  Aaron  was  dumb.  How  ele¬ 
gantly  expressive  is  this  of  his  parental  affection,  his 
deep  sense  of  the  presumption  of  his  sons,  and  his  own 
submission  to  the  justice  of  God !  The  flower  and 
hope  of  his  family  was  nipped  in  the  bud  and  blasted ; 
and  while  he  exquisitely  feels  as  a  father,  he  submits 
without  murmuring  to  this  awful  dispensation  of  Di¬ 
vine  justice.  It  is  an  awful  thing  to  introduce  inno¬ 
vations  either  into  the  rites  and  ceremonies,  or  into  the 
truths,  of  the  religion  of  Christ  :  he  who  acts  thus 
cannot  stand  guiltless  before  his  God. 

It  has  often  been  remarked  that  excessive  grief 
stupifies  the  mind,  so  that  amazement  and  deep  an¬ 
guish  prevent  at  once  both  tears  and  complaints ; 
hence  that  saying  of  Seneca,  Curve  leves  loquantur ; 
vraviores  silent.  “  Slight  sorrows  are  loquacious ; 
deep  anguish  has  no  voice.”  See  on  ver.  19. 

535 


Aaron  and  his  sons  are 


LEVITICUS. 


forbidden  the  use  of  wine. 


A.  M.  2514.  fied  m  them  e  that  come  nigh 

B.  C.  1490.  t  i  r  n  i  i  t 

An.  Exod.  isr.  2.  me,  and  before  all  the  people  I 

Abib  or  Nisan.  w*p  f  glorified.  s  And  Aaron 
held  his  peace. 

4  And-  Moses  called  Mishael  and  Elzaphan, 
the  sons  of  hUzziel  the  uncle  of  Aaron, 
and  said  unto  them,  Come  near,  1  carry  your 
brethren  from  before  the  sanctuary  out  of  the 
camp. 

5  So  they  went  near,  and  carried  them  in 
their  coats  out  of  the  camp  ;  as  Moses  had  said. 

6  And  Moses  said  unto  Aaron,  and  unto 
Eleazar  and  unto  Ithamar,  his  sons,  k  Uncover 
not  your  heads,  neither  rend  your  clothes  ; 
lest  ye  die,  and  lest  1  wrath  come  upon  all  the 
people  :  but  let  your  brethren,  the  whole  house 
of  Israel,  bewail  the  burning  which  the  Lord 
hath  kindled. 

7  m  And  ye  shall  not  go  out  from  the  door  of 
the  tabernacle  of  the  congregation,  lest  ye  die  : 
r,for  the  anointing  oil  of  the  Lord  is  upon  you. 
And  they  did  according  to  the  word  of  Moses. 

8  And  the  Lord  spake  unto  Aaron,  saying, 

9  0  Do  not  drink  wine  nor  strong  drink, 

e  Exod.  xix.  22  ;  xxix.  43;  chap.  xxi.  6,  17,  21  ;  Isa.  lii.  11  ; 

Ezek.  xx.  41  ;  xlii.  13. - fIsa.  xlix.  3  ;  Ezek.  xxviii.  22;  John 

xiii.  31,  32;  xiv.  13;  2  Thess.  i.  10. - s  Psalm  xxxix.  9. 

hExod.  vi.  18,  22;  Nnm.  iii.  19,  30. - ‘  Luke  vii.  12;  Acts  v. 

6,  9,  10  ;  viii.  2. - k  Exod.  xxxiii.  5 ;  chap.  xiii.  45  ;  xxi.  1,10; 

Num.  vi.  6,  7  ;  Deut.  xxxiii.  9  ;  Ezek.  xxiv.  16,  17. - 1  Num. 

xvi.  22,  46;  Josh.  vii.  1 ;  xxii.  18,  20;  2  Sam.  xxiv.  1. 

Yerse  4.  Uzziel  the  uncle  of  Aaron]  Pie  was  brother 
to  Amram  the  father  of  Aaron;  see  Exod.  vi.  18—22. 

Yerse  5.  Carried  them  in  their  coats  out  of  the 
camp]  The  modern  impropriety  of  burying  the  dead 
within  towns,  cities,  or  places  inhabited,  had  not  yet 
been  introduced  ;  much  less  that  abomination ,  at  which 
both  piety  and  common  sense  shudder,  burying  the 
dead  about  and  even  icithin  places  dedicated  to  the 
worship  of  God  ! 

Yerse  6.  Uncover  not  your  heads,  Spc.]  They  were 
to  use  no  sign  of  grief  or  mourning,  1.  Because  those 
who  were  employed  in  the  service  of  the  sanctuary 
should  avoid  every  thing  that  might  incapacitate  them 
for  that  service  ;  and,  2.  Because  the  crime  of  their 
brethren  \vas  so  highly  provoking  to  God,  and  so  fully 
merited  the  punishment  which  he  had  inflicted,  that 
their  mourning  might  be  considered  as  accusing  the 
Divine  justice  of  undue  severity. 

Yerse  7.  The  anointing  oil  of  the  Lord  is  upon 
you.]  They  were  consecrated  to  the  Divine  service, 
and  this  required  their  constant  attendance,  and  most 
willing  and  cheerful  service. 

Verse  9.  Do  not  drink  wine  nor  strong  drink]  The 
cabalistical  commentator,  Baal  Hatturim,  and  others, 
have  supposed,  from  the  introduction  of  this  command 
here,  that  Aaron’s  sons  had  sinned  through  excess  of 
wine,  and  that  they  had  attempted  to  celebrate  the  Di~ 
vine  service  in  a  state  of  inebriation, 

536 


thou,  nor  thy  sons  with  thee,  A.  M.  2514. 

I  ,  B.  C.  1490. 
when  ye  go  into  the  tabernacle  An.  Exod.  isr.  2. 

of  the  congregation,  lest  ye  die  :  Ablb  or  Nlsaih 

it  shall  be  a  statute  for  ever  throughout  your 

generations : 

1 0  And  that  ye  may  p  put  difference  between 
holy  and  unholy,  and  between  unclean  and 
clean  ; 

II  n  And  that  ye  may  teach  the  children  of 
Israel  all  the  statutes  which  the  Lord  hath 
spoken  unto  them,  by  the  hand  of  Moses. 

12  And  Moses  spake  unto  Aaron,  and  unto 
Eleazar  and  unto  Ithamar,  his  sons  that  were 
left,  Take  rthe  meat-offering  that  remaineth 
of  the  offerings  of  the  Lord  made  by  fire,  and 
eat  it  without  leaven  beside  the  altar  :  for  s  it 
is  most  holy  : 

13  And  ye  shall  eat  it  in  the  holy  place, 
because  it  is  thy  due,  and  thy  sons’  due,  of 
the  sacrifices  of  the  Lord  made  by  fire  :  for 
t  so  I  am  commanded. 

14  And  u  the  wave-breast  and  heave-shoulder 
shall  ye  eat  in  a  clean  place  ;  thou,  and  thy 
sons,  and  thy  daughters  with  thee  :  for  they 

“‘Chap.  xxi.  12. - “Exod.  xxviii.  41;  chap.  viii.  30. 

0  Ezek.  xliv.  21  ;  Luke  i.  15  ;  1  Tim.  iii.  3  ;  Tit.  i.  7. - P  Chap, 

xi.  47  ;  xx.  25  ;  Jer.  xv.  19  ;  Ezek.  xxii.  26  ;  xliv.  23. - <1  Deut. 

xxiv.  8;  Neh.  viii.  2,  8,  9,  13;  Jer.  xviii.  18  ;  Mai.  ii.  7. 

r  Exod.  xxix.  2  ;  chap.  vi.  16 ;  Num.  xviii.  9,  10. - 8  Chap.  xxi. 

22. - 4  Chap.  ii.  3  ;  vi.  16. - “Exod.  xxix.  24,  26,  27 ;  chap, 

vii.  31,  34  ;  Num.  xviii.  11. 

Strong  drink. — The  word  "Oty  shechar,  from  sha- 
char,  to  inebriate,  signifies  any  kind  of  fermented  liquors. 
This  is  exactly  the  same  prohibition  that  was  given  in 
the  case  of  John  Baptist,  Luke  i.  15  :  O ivov  nat  anepa 
ov  y?]  my'  Wine  and  sikera  he  shall  not  drink.  Any 
inebriating  liquor,  says  St.  Jerome,  ( Epist .  ad  nepot.,) 
is  called  sicera,  whether  made  of  corn,  apples,  honey , 
dates,  or  other  fruit.  One  of  the  four  prohibited 
drinks  among  the  Mohammedans  in  India  is  called 
sakar,  (see  the  Hedaya,  vol.  iv.,  p.  158,)  which 

signifies  inebriating  drink  in  general,  but  especially 
date  wine  ox  arrack.  From  the  original  word  pro¬ 
bably  we  have  borrowed  our  term  cider  or  sider,  which 
among  us  exclusively  signifies  the  fermented  juice  of 
apples.  See  on  Luke  i.  15. 

Yerse  10.  That  ye  may  put  difference  between  holy 
and  unholy]  This  is  a  strong  reason  why  they  should 
drink  no  inebriating  liquor,  that  their  understanding 
being  clear,  and  their  judgment  correct,  they  might 
be  always  able  to  discern  between  the  clean  and  the 
unclean,  and  ever  pronounce  righteous  judgment.  In¬ 
junctions  similar  to  this  were  found  among  the 
Egyptians,  Carthaginians,  and  Greeks.  Indeed,  com¬ 
mon  s.ense  itself  shows  that  neither  a  drunkard  nor  a 
sot  should  ever  be  suffered  to  minister  in  holy  things. 

Verse  14.  Wave-breast  and  heave-shoulder]  See 

chap,  vii.,  and  on  Exod.  xxix.  27, 

a 


CHAP.  X. 


Aaron  is  reproved  for 

A.  M.  2514  be  thv  due,  and  thy  sons’  due, 

B.  C.  1490.  7  .  /  •  .Jr,  i 

An.  Exod.  isr.  2.  w/nc/i  are  given  oi^t  ot  the  sacri- 

a bib  or  ,\isan.  ^ces  0£  peace-offerings  of  the 
children  of  Israel. 

1 5  v  The  heave-shoulder  and  the  wave-breast 
shall  they  bring  with  the  offerings  made  by 
fire  of  the  fat,  to  wave  it  for  a  wave-offering 
before  the  Lord  ;  and  it  shall  be  thine,  and 
thy  sons’  with  thee,  by  a  statute  for  ever ;  as 
the  Lord  hath  commanded. 

1 6  And  Moses  diligently  sought  w  the  goat 
of  the  sin-offering,  and,  behold,  it  was  burnt  : 
and  he  was  angry  with  Eleazar  and  Ithamar, 
the  sons  of  Aaron  which  were  left  alive,  saying, 

17  x  Wherefore  have  ye  not  eaten  the  sin- 
offering  in  the  holy  place,  seeing  it  is  most 

T  Chap.  vii.  29,  30,  34. - w  Chap.  ix.  3,  15. - x  Chap.  vi. 

26,  29. - y  Chap.  vi.  30. 


Yerse  16.  Moses  diligently  sought  the  goat]  The 
goat  which  was  offered  the  same  day  for  the  sins  of 
the  priests  and  the  people,  (see  chap.  ix.  15,  16,)  and 
wdiich,  through  the  confusion  that  happened  on  account 
of  the  death  of  Nadab  and  Abihu,  was  burnt  instead 
of  being  eaten.  See  ver.  18. 

Yerse  17.  To  bear  the  iniquity  of  the  congregation] 
See  on  chap.  vi.  26,  &c. 

Verse  19.  And  such  things  have  befallen  me ,  fyc.] 
The  excuse  which  Aaron  makes  for  not  feasting  on 
the  sin-offering  according  to  the  law  is  at  once  appro¬ 
priate  and  dignified;  as  if  he  had  said:  “God  certainly 
has  commanded  me  to  eat  of  the  sin-offering ;  but 
when  such  things  as  these  have  happened  unto  me, 
could  it  be  good  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord  l  Does  he 
not  expect  that  I  should  feel  as  a  father  under  such 
afflicting  circumstances  V ’  With  this  spirited  answer 
Moses  wTas  satisfied ;  and  God,  who  knew  his  situa¬ 
tion,  took  no  notice  of  the  irregularity  which  had 
taken  place  in  the  solemn  service.  To  human  nature 
God  has  given  the  privilege  to  weep  in  times  of  afflic¬ 
tion  and  distress.  In  his  infinite  kindness  he  has 
ordained  that  tears ,  which  are  only  external  evidences 
of  our  grief,  shall  be  the  outlets  to  our  sorrows,  and 
tend  to  exhaust  the  cause  from  which  they  flow.  See 
on  ver.  3. 

Yerse  20.  When  Moses  heard  that,  he  was  content.] 
The  argument  used  by  Aaron  had  in  it  both  good  sense 
and  strong  reason,  and  Moses,  as  a  reasonable  man, 
felt  its  force ;  and  as  God  evidenced  no  kind  of  dis¬ 
pleasure  at  this  irregularity,  which  was,  in  a  measure 
at  least,  justified  by  the  present  necessity,  he  thought 
proper  to  urge  the  matter  no  farther. 

Though  the  punishment  of  Nadab  and  Abihu  may 
appear  severe ,  because  the  sacred  text  does  not  specify 
clearly  the  nature  and  extent  of  their  crime,  we  may 
rest  assured  that  it  was  of  such  a  nature  as  not  only 
to  justify  but  to  demand  such  a  punishment.  God  has 

a 


not  eating  the  sin-offering. 
holy,  and  God  hath  given  it  you  a.  m.  2514. 

.  I  ®  J  B.  C.  1490. 

to  bear  the  iniquity  of  the  con-  An.  Exod.isr.2, 

gregation,  to  make  atonement  Ablb  or  Nlsan- 

for  them  before  the  Lord  ? 

18  Behold,  y  the  blood  of  it  was  not  brought 
in  within  the  holy  place :  ye  should  indeed 
have  eaten  it  in  the  holy  place ,  z  as  I  com¬ 
manded. 

19  And  Aaron  said  unto  Moses,  Behold, 
a  this  day  have  they  offered  their  sin-offering 
and  their  burnt-offering  before  the  Lord  ;  and 
such  things  have  befallen  me  :  and  if  I  had 
eaten  the  sin-offering  to-day,  b  should  it  have 
been  accepted  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord  ? 

20  And  when  Moses  heard  that ,  he  was 
content. 


zChap.  vi.  26. - a  Chap.  ix.  8,12. - b  Jer.  vi.  20;  xiv.  13  ; 

Hos.  ix.  4 ;  Mai.  i.  10,  13. 


here  given  us  a  full  proof  that  he  will  not  suffer  human 
institutions  to  take  the  place  of  his  own  prescribed 
worship.  It  is  true  this  is  frequently  done,  for  by 
many  what  is  called  natural  religion  is  put  in  the  place 
of  Divine  revelation ;  and  God  seems  not  to  regard  it: 
but  though  vengeance  is  not  speedily  executed  on  an 
evil  work,  and  therefore  the  hearts  of  the  children  of 
men  are  set  to  do  wickedness,  yet  God  ceases  not  to 
be  just ;  and  those  who  have  tahen  from  or  added  to 
his  words,  or  put  their  own  inventions  in  their  place, 
shall  be  reproved  and  found  liars  in  the  great  day.  His 
long-suffering  leads  to  repentance ;  but  if  men  will 
harden  their  hearts,  and  put  their  own  ceremonies, 
rites,  and  creeds,  in  the  place  of  Divine  ordinances 
and  eternal  truths,  they  must  expect  to  give  an  awful 
account  to  him  who  is  shortly  to  judge  the  quick  and 
the  dead. 

Were  the  religion  of  Christ  stripped  of  all  that  state 
policy,  fleshly  interest,  and  gross  superstition  have  add¬ 
ed  to  it,  how  plain  and  simple,  and  may  we  not  add, 
how  amiable  and  glorious,  would  it  appear !  Well  may 
we  say  of  human  inventions  in  Divine  worship  what 
one  said  of  the  paintings  on  old  cathedral  windows, 
Their  principal  tendency  is  to  prevent  the  light  from 
coming  in.  Nadab  and  Abihu  would  perform  the  wor¬ 
ship  of  God,  not  according  to  his  command ,  but  in  their 
own  way ;  and  God  not  only  would  not  receive  the 
sacrifice  from  their  hands,  but,  while  encompassing 
themselves  with  their  own  sparks,  and  warming  them¬ 
selves  with  their  own  fire,  this  had  they  from  the  hand 
of  the  Lord — they  lay  down  in  sorrow,  for  there  went 
out  a  fire  from  the  Lord ,  and  devoured  them.  What 
is  written  above  is  to  be  understood  of  persons  who 
make  a  religion  for  themselves,  leaving  Divine  reve¬ 
lation  ;  for,  being  wilfully  ignorant  of  God’s  righteous¬ 
ness,  they  go  about  to  establish  their  own.  This  is  a 
high  offence  in  the  sight  of  God.  Reader,  God  is  a 
Spirit,  and  they  who  worship  him  must  worship  him  in 
spirit  and  truth.  Such  worshippers  the  Father  seeketh. 

537 


Laws  concerning  clean 


LEVITICUS. 


and  unclean  animals . 


CHAPTER  XL 

Laws  concerning  clean  and  unclean  animals ,  1,  2.  Of  quadrupeds,  those  are  clean  which  divide  the  hoof 
and  chew  the  cud,  3.  Those  to  be  reputed  unclean  which  do  not  divide  the  hoof,  though  they  chew  the  cud, 
4-6.  Those  to  be  reputed  unclean  also  which,  though  they  divide  the  hoof,  do  not  chew  the  cud ,  7.  Who¬ 
soever  eats  their  flesh,  or  touches  their  carcasses,  shall  be  reputed  unclean,  8.  Of  fish,  those  are  clean,  and 
may  be  eaten  ivhich  have  fins  and  scales,  9.  Those  which  have  not  fins  and  scales  to  be  reputed  unclean, 
10—12.  Of  fowls,  those  which  are  unclean,  13—21.  Of  insects,  the  following  may  be  eaten  :  the  bald 
locust,  beetle,  and  grasshopper,  22.  All  others  are  unclean  and  abominable,  their  flesh  not  to  be  eaten,  nor 
their  bodies  touched,  23-25.  Farther  directions  relative  to  unclean  beasts,  26-28.  Of  reptiles,  and 

some  small  quadrupeds,  those  ivhich  are  unclean ,  29,  30.  All  that  touch  them  shall  be  unclean,  31  ;  and 
the  things  touched  by  their  dead  carcasses  are  unclean  also,  32-35.  Large  fountains,  or  pits  ofivater,  are 
not  defiled  by  their  carcasses,  provided  a  part  of  the  water  be  drawn  out ,  36.  Nor  do  they  defile  seed  by 
accidentally  touching  it,  provided  the  water  which  has  touched  their  flesh  do  not  touch  or  moisten  the  seed, 
37,  38.  A  beast  that  dieth  of  itself  is  unclean ,  and  may  not  be  touched  or  eaten,  39,  40.  All  creeping 
things  are  abominable,  41—44.  The  reason  given  for  these  laivs,  45—47. 


A.  m.  2514.  A  ND  the  Lord  spake  unto 

B.  c.  1490.  AL  1 

An.  Exod.  isr.  2.  Moses  and  to  Aaron,  say- 

Abib  or  Nisan.  ing  unto  them? 

2  Speak  unto  the  children  of  Israel,  saying, 
a  These  are  the  beasts  which  ye  shall  eat 

a  Deut.  xiv.  4 ; 

NOTES  ON  CHAP.  XI. 

Verse  1.  And  the  Lord  spake  unto  Moses ]  In  the 
preceding  chapter  the  priests  are  expressly  forbidden 
to  drink  wine ;  and  the  reason  for  this  law  is  given 
also,  that  they  might  be  able  at  all  times  to  distinguish 
between  clean  and  unclean,  and  be  qualified  to  teach  the 
children  of  Israel  all  the  statutes  which  the  Lord  had 
spoken,  chap.  x.  10,  11;  for  as  inebriation  unfits  a 
person  for  the  regular  performance  of  every  function 
of  life,  it  must  be  especially  sinful  in  those  who  minis¬ 
ter  in  holy  things,  and  to  whom  the  teaching  of  the 
ignorant,  and  the  cure  of  souls  in  general,  are  intrusted, 

Scheuchzer  has  remarked  that  no  Christian  state  has 
made  any  civil  law  against  drunkenness,  (he  must  only 
mean  the  German  states,  for  we  have  several  acts  of 
parliament  against  it  in  England,)  and  that  it  is  only 
punished  by  contempt.  “  Custom,”  says  he,  “that  ty¬ 
rant  of  tlie  human  race,  not  only  permits  it,  but  in  some 
sort  authorizes  the  practice,  insomuch  that  we  see  priests 
and  ministers  of  the  Church  ascend  the  pulpit  in  a  state 
of  intoxication,  judges  seat  themselves  upon  the  benches, 
physicians  attend  their  patients,  and  others  attempt  to 
perform  the  different  avocations  of  life,  in  the  same 
disgraceful  state.” — Physic.  Sacr.,  vol.  iii.,  p.  64. 

This  is  a  horrible  picture  of  German  manners ;  and 
while  we  deplore  the  extensive  ravages  made  by  this 
vice,  and  the  disgrace  with  which  its  votaries  are  over¬ 
whelmed,  we  have  reason  to  thank  God  that  it  very 
rarely  has  ever  appeared  in  the  pulpit,  and  perhaps 
was  never  once  seen  upon  the  bench,  in  our  own  country. 

Having  delivered  the  law  against  drinking  wine, 
Moses  proceeds  to  deliver  a  series  of  ordinances,  all 
well  calculated  to  prevent  the  Israelites  from  mixing 
with  the  surrounding  nations,  and  consequently  from 
being  contaminated  by  their  idolatry.  In  chap.  xi.  he 
treats  of  unclean  meats.  In  chap,  xii.,  xiii.,  xiv., 
and  xv.,  he  treats  of  unclean  persons,  garments,  and 
dwellings.  In  chap.  xvi.  he  treats  of  the  uncleanness 

538 


among:  all  the  beasts  that  are  A.  M.  2oi4. 
on  the  earth.  An.  Exod.  Isr.  2. 

3  Whatsoever  parteth  the  hoof,  Ablb  or  Nisan. 
and  is  cloven-footed,  and  cheweth  the  cud, 
among  the  beasts,  that  shall  ye  eat. 

Acts  x.  12,  14. 

of  the  priests  and  the  people,  and  prescribes  the  pro¬ 
per  expiations  and  sacrifices  for  both.  In  chap.  xvii. 
he  continues  the  subject,  and  gives  particular  directions 
concerning  the  mode  of  offering,  &c.  In  chap,  xviii. 
he  treats  of  unclean  matrimonial  connections.  In  chap, 
xix.  he  repeats  sundry  laws  relative  to  these  subjects, 
and  introduces  some  new  ones.  In  chap.  xx.  he  men¬ 
tions  certain  uncleannesses  practised  among  the  idol¬ 
atrous  nations,  and  prohibits  them  on  pain  of  death. 
In  chap.  xxi.  he  treats  of  the  mourning,  marriages , 
and  personal  defects  of  th o  priests,  which  rendered  them 
unclean.  And  in  chap.  xxii.  he  speaks  of  unclean  sa¬ 
crifices,  or  such  as  should  not  be  offered  to  the  Lord. 
After  this,  to  the  close  of  the  book,  many  important 
and  excellent  political  and  domestic  regulations  are  en¬ 
joined,  the  whole  forming  an  ecclesiastico-political  sys¬ 
tem  superior  to  any  thing  the  world  ever  saw. 

Bishop  Wilson  very  properly  observes  that,  “  by 
these  laws  of  clean  and  unclean  animals,  &c.,  God  did 
keep  this  people  separated  from  the  idolatrous  world  : 
and  this  is  a  standing  proof,  even  to  the  present  day, 
of  the  Divine  authority  of  these  Scriptures ;  for  no 
power  or  art  of  man  could  have  obliged  so  great  and 
turbulent  a  nation  to  submit  to  such  troublesome  pre¬ 
cepts  as  the  Jews  always  have  submitted  to,  had  they 
not  been  fully  convinced,  from  the  very  first,  that  the 
command  was  from  God,  and  that  it  was  to  be  obeyed 
at  the  peril  of  their  souls.” 

Verse  3.  Whatsoever  parteth  the  hoof,  and  is  cloven¬ 
footed]  These  two  words  mean  the  same  thing — a 
divided  hoof ,  such  as  that  of  the  ox,  where  the  hoof  is 
divided  into  two  toes,  and  each  toe  is  cased  with  horn. 

Cheweth  the  cud]  Ruminates ;  casts  up  the  grass, 
&c.,  which  had  been  taken  into  the  stomach  for  the 
purpose  of  mastication.  Animals  which  chew  the  cud, 
or  ruminate,  are  provided  with  iivo,  three,  or  four  sto¬ 
machs.  The  ox  has  four  :  in  the  first  or  largest,  called 
the  ventriculus  or  paunch,  the  food  is  collected  without 

a 


Unclean  quadrupeds  CHAP.  XI.  and  fish  forbidden . 


A.  M.  2514.  4  Nevertheless  these  shall  ye 

An.  Exod.^lsr. 2.  not  eat  of  them  that  'chew  the 
A5ib  or  Nisan.  CU(^  or  0f  t}iem  that  divide  the 

hoof :  as  the  camel,  because  he  cheweth  the 
cud,  but  divideth  not  the  hoof ;  he  is  unclean 
unto  you. 

5  And  the  coney,  because  he  cheweth  the 
cud,  but  divideth  not  the  hoof;  he  is  unclean 
unto  you. 

6  And  the  hare,  because  he  cheweth  the 
cud,  but  divideth  not  the  hoof;  he  is  unclean 
unto  you. 

7  And  b  the  swine,  though  he  divide  the 
hoof,  and  be  cloven-footed,  yet  he  cheweth 
not  the  cud ;  c  he  is  unclean  to  you. 

8  Of  their  flesh  shall  ye  not  eat,  and  their 

b2  Mac.  vi.  18;  vii.  1. - c  Isa.  lxv.  4;  lxvi.  3,  17. - dIsa. 

lii.  11  ;  see  Matt.  xv.  11,  20;  Mark  vii.  2,  15,  18  ;  Acts  x.  14, 
15 ;  xv.  29  ;  Rom.  xiv.  14,  17  ;  1  Cor.  viii.  8 ;  Col.  ii.  16,  21 ; 

being  masticated,  the  grass,  &c.,  being  received  into 
it  as  the  beast  crops  it  from  the  earth.  The  food,  by 
the  force  of  the  muscular  coats  of  this  stomach,  and 
the  liquors  poured  in,  is  sufficiently  macerated ;  after 
which,  formed  into  small  balls,  it  is  thrown  up  by  the 
oesophagus  into  the  mouth,  where  it  is  made  very  small 
by  mastication  or  chewing,  and  then  sent  down  into 
the  second  stomach,  into  which  the  oesophagus  or  gul¬ 
let  opens,  as  well  as  into  the  first,  ending  exactly  where 
the  two  stomachs  meet.  This  is  what  is  termed  chew¬ 
ing  the  cud.  The  second  stomach,  which  is  called  the 
reticulum ,  honey-comb ,  bonnet ,  or  king's  hood,  has  a 
great  number  of  small  shallow  cells  on  its  inward  sur¬ 
face,  of  a  pentagonal  ox  five-sided  form,  exactly  like 
the  cells  in  a  honey-comb ;  in  this  the  food  is  farther 
macerated,  and  then  pushed  onward  into  the  third  sto- 
tnach,  called  the  omasum  or  manyplies,  because  its  in¬ 
ward  surface  is  covered  with  a  great  number  of  thin 
membraneous  partitions.  From  this  the  food  passes 
into  the  fourth  stomach,  called  the  abomasum ,  or  reed. 
In  this  stomach  it  is  digested,  and  from  the  digested 
mass  the  chyle  is  formed,  which,  being  absorbed  by  the 
lacteal  vessels,  is  afterwards  thrown  into  the  mass  of 
blood,  and  becomes  the  principle  of  nutrition  to  all  the 
solids  and  fluids  of  the  body.  The  intention  of  rumi¬ 
nation,  or  chewing  the  cud,  seems  to  be,  that  the  food 
may  be  sufficiently  comminuted,  that,  being  more  fully 
acted  on  by  the  stomachs,  it  may  afford  the  greatest 
possible  portion  of  nutritive  juices. 

The  word  cud  is  probably  not  originally  Saxon, 
though  found  in  that  language  in  the  same  signification 
in  which  it  is  still  used.  Junius ,  with  great  show  of 
probability,  derives  it  from  the  Cambro-British  chwyd, 
a  vomit,  as  it  is  the  ball  of  food  vomited,  or  thrown  up, 
from  the  first  stomach  or  paunch  through  the  oesopha¬ 
gus  into  the  mouth,  which  is  called  by  this  name. 
Those  who  prefer  a  Saxon  derivation  may  have  it  in 
the  verb  ceopan,  whence  our  word  chew ;  and  so  cud 
might  be  considered  a  contraction  of  chewed,  but  this 
is  not  so  likely  as  the  preceding. 

A  erse  5.  The  coney~\  j2&*  shaphan,  not  the  rabbit ,  but 

a 


carcass  shall  ye  not  touch  ;  d  they  a.  M.  2514. 
are  unclean  to  you.  An.  Exod.  isr.  2 

9  •  These  shall  ye  eat  of  all  Abib  or  Nisan- 
that  are  in  the  waters  :  whatsoever  hath  fins 
and  scales  in  the  waters,  in  the  seas,  and  in 
the  rivers,  them  shall  ye  eat. 

1 0  And  all  that  have  not  fins  and  scales  in  the 
seas,  and  in  the  rivers,  of  all  that  move  in  die 
waters,  and  of  any  living  thing  which  is  in  the 
waters,  they  shall  be  an  f  abomination  unto  you  : 

1 1  They  shall  be  even  an  abomination  unto 
you ;  ye  shall  not  eat  of  their  flesh,  but  ye 
shall  have  their  carcasses  in  abomination. 

12  Whatsoever  hath  no  fins  nor  scales  in  the 
waters,  that  shall  be  an  abomination  unto  you. 

13  s  And  these  are  they  which  ye  shall  have 

Heb.  ix.  10. - e  Deut.  xiv.  9. - f  Chap.  vii.  18;  Deut.  xiv.  3. 

s  Deut.  xiv.  12 ;  Job  xxxix.  27-30. 

rather  a  creature  nearly  resembling  it,  which  abounds 
in  Judea,  Palestine,  and  Arabia,  and  is  called  by  Dr. 
Shaw  daman  Israel,  and  by  Mr.  Bruce  ashkoko.  As 
this  creature  nearly  resembles  the  rabbit,  with  which 
Spain  anciently  abounded,  Bochart  supposes  that  the 
Phoenicians  might  have  given  it  the  name  of  tTJDi? 
spaniah,  from  the  multitude  of  D’JD#  shephanim  (or 
spanim,  as  others  pronounce  it)  which  were  found  there. 
Hence  the  emblem  of  Spain  is  a  woman  sitting  with 
a  rabbit  at  her  feet.  See  a  coin  of  Hadrian  in 
Scheuchzer. 

Terse  6.  The  hare ]  fOJ'lX  arnebeth,  as  Bochari 
and  others  suppose,  from  arah,  to  crop,  and  TJ 

nib,  the  produce  of  the  ground,  these  animals  being 
remarkable  for  destroying  the  fruits  of  the  earth.-  That 
they  are  notorious  for  destroying  the  tender  blade  of 
the  young  corn,  is  well  known.  It  is  very  likely  that 
different  species  of  these  animals  are  included  under 
the  general  terms  shaphan,  and  arnebeth , 

for  some  travellers  have  observed  that  there  are  four 
or  five  sorts  of  these  animals,  which  are  used  for  food 
in  the  present  day  in  those  countries.  See  Harmer , 
vol.  iii.,  p.  331,  edit.  1808.  Some  think  the  moun¬ 
tain  rat,  marmot,  squirrel,  and  hedgehog,  may  be  in¬ 
tended  under  the  word  shaphan. 

Terse  7.  And  the  swine ]  Tin  chazir,  one  of  the 
most  gluttonous,  libidinous,  and  filthy  quadrupeds  in 
the  universe ;  and,  because  of  these  qualities,  sacred 
to  the  Venus  of  the  Greeks  and  Romans,  and  the  Friga 
of  our  Saxon  ancestors  ;  and  perhaps  on  these  accounts 
forbidden,  as  well  as  on  account  of  its  flesh  being 
strong  and  difficult  to  digest,  affording  a  very  gross 
kind  of  aliment,  apt  to  produce  cutaneous,  scorbutic, 
and  scrofulous  disorders,  especially  in  hot  climates. 

Terse  9.  Whatsoever  hath  fins  and  scales]  Because 
these,  of  all  the  fish  tribe,  are  the  most  nourishing ; 
the  others  which  are  without  scales,  or  whose  bodies 
are  covered  with  a  thick  glutinous  matter,  being  in 
general  very  difficult  of  digestion. 

Terse  13.  And  these — among  the  fowls — the  eagle ] 
nesher,  from  nashar,  to  lacerate ,  cut ,  or  tear  to 

539 


Different  fowls  which 


LEVITICUS.  are  to  he  reputed  unclean . 


A.  M.  2514.  m  abomination  among  the  fowls  ; 

An.  Exod.  Isr.  2.  they  shall  not  be  eaten,  they  are 
Abib  or  Nisan.  an  abomination  :  the  eagle,  and 

the  ossifrage,  and  the  ospray, 

14  And  the  vulture,  and  the  kite  after 
his  kind  : 


15  Everv  raven  after  his  kind  ;  A.  M.  2514. 
lb  And  the  owl,  and  the  night  An. Exod. Isr. 2. 
hawk,  and  the  cuckoo,  and  the  Ablb  or  Nlsaa* 
hawk  after  his  kind, 

17  And  the  little  h  owl,  and  the  cormorant, 
and  the  great  owl, 


h Isaiah, 

pieces ;  hence  the  eagle,  a  most  rapacious  bird  of  prey, 
from  its  tearing  the  flesh  of  the  animals  it  feeds  on ; 
and  for  this  purpose  birds  of  prey  have,  in  general, 
strong,  crooked  talons  and  a  hooked  beak.  The  eagle 
is  a  cruel  bird,  exceedingly  ravenous,  and  almost  in¬ 
satiable. 

The  ossifrage ]  Or  bone-breaker,  from  os,  a  bone, 
and  frango,  I  break,  because  it  not  only  strips  off  the 
flesh,  but  breaks  the  bone  in  order  to  extract  the  mar¬ 
row.  In  Hebrew  it  is  called  DDD  peres,  from  paras, 
to  break  or  divide  in  two,  and  probably  signifies  that 
species  of  the  eagle  anciently  known  by  the  name  of 
ossifraga,  and  which  we  render  ossifrage. 

Osp?~ay]  JTJiy  ozniyah,  from  Tip  azan,  to  be  strong, 
vigorous  ;  generally  supposed  to  mean  the  black  eagle, 
such  as  that  described  by  Homer,  Iliad,  lib.  xxi., 
ver  252. 

Aistov  otpar ’  ex<vv  pel avog,  rov  OrjpTjrrjpog, 

'Of  6’  apa  napTLGTog  re  sat,  ukigtoq  TceTerjvov. 

“  Having  the  rapidity  of  the  black  eagle,  that  bird 
of  prey,  at  once  the  swiftest  and  the  strongest  of  the 
feathered  race.” 

Among  the  Greeks  and  Romans  the  eagle  was  held 
sacred,  and  is  represented  as  carrying  the  thunder¬ 
bolts  of  Jupiter.  This  occurs  so  frequently,  and  is  so 
well  known,  that  references  are  almost  needless.  See 
Scheuchzer. 

Verse  14.  The  vulture ]  nx*l  daah,  from  the  root 
to  fly,  and  therefore  more  probably  the  kite  or  glede, 
from  its  remarkable  property  of  gliding  or  sailing  with 
expanded  wings  through  the  air.  The  HiO  daah  is  a 
different  bird  from  the  m  daiyah,  which  signifies  the 
vulture.  See  Bochart,  vol.  iii. ,  col.  195. 

The  kite\  »TX  aiyah,  thought  by  some  to  be  the 
vulture,  by  others  the  merlin.  Parkhurst  thinks  it 
has  its  name  from  the  root  n'N  avah,  to  covet,  because 
of  its  rapaciousness ;  some  contend  that  the  kite  is 
meant.  That  it  is  a  species  of  the  hawk,  most  learned 
men  allow.  See  Bochart,  vol.  iii.,  col.  192. 

Verse  15.  Every  raven ]  DDp  oreb ,  a  general  term 
comprehending  the  raven,  crow,  rook,  jackdaw,  and 
magpie. 

Verse  16.  The  owl ]  HJlTn  I“D  bath  haiyaanah,  the 
daughter  of  vociferation ,  the  female  ostrich ,  probably 
so  called  from  the  noise  they  make.  “  In  the  lone¬ 
some  part  of  the  night,”  says  Hr.  Shaw,  “  the  ostriches 
frequently  make  a  very  doleful  and  hideous  noise, 
sometimes  resembling  the  roar  of  the  lion ;  at  other 
times,  the  hoarser  voice  of  the  bull  or  ox.”  He  adds, 
“  I  have  heard  them  groan  as  if  in  the  deepest  ago¬ 
nies.”-— Travels,  4to  edition,  p.  455.  The  ostrich  is 
a  very  unclean  animal,  and  eats  its  own  ordure  as 
soon  as  it  voids  it,  and  of  this  Dr.  Shaw  observes, 
(see  above,)  it  is  remarkably  fond !  This  is  a  suffi- 

540 


chap,  xxxiv.  11. 

cient  reason,  were  others  wanting,  why  such  a  fowl 
should  be  reputed  to  be  unclean,  and  its  use  as  an 
article  of  diet  prohibited. 

The  night  hawk ]  DDfin  taahmas,  from  DDT1  chamas , 
to  force  away,  act  violently  and  unjustly  ;  supposed  by 
Bochart  and  Scheuchzer  to  signify  the  male  ostrich , 
from  its  cruelty  towards  its  young;  (see  Job  xxxix. 
17—19;)  but  others,  with  more  reason,  suppose  it  to 
be  the  bird  described  by  Hasselquist,  which  he  calls 
the  strix  Orientalis ,  or  Oriental  owl.  “  It  is  of  the 
size  of  the  common  owl,  living  in  the  ruins  and  old 
deserted  houses  of  Egypt  and  Syria ;  and  sometimes 
in  inhabited  houses.  The  Arabs  in  Egypt  call  it 
Massasa,  the  Syrians  Bana.  It  is  very  ravenous  in 
Syria,  and  in  the  evenings,  if  the  windows  be  left  open, 
it  flies  into  the  house  and  kills  infants,  unless  they  are 
carefully  watched  ;  wherefore  the  women  are  much 
afraid  of  it.” — Travels,  p.  196. 

If  this  be  the  fowl  intended,  this  is  a  sufficient  rea¬ 
son  why  it  should  be  considered  an  abomination. 

The  cuckoo ]  shachaph,  supposed  rather  to 

mean  the  sea  mew  ;  called  shachaph ,  from  nsnt?  sha- 
chepheth,  a  wasting  distemper,  or  atrophy,  (mentioned 
chap.  xxvi.  1.6  ;  Deut.  xxviii.  22,)  because  its  body  is 
the  leanest,  in  proportion  to  its  bones  and  feathers,  of 
most  other  birds,  always  appearing  as  if  under  the 
influence  of  a  wasting  distemper.  A  foul  which, 
from  its  natural  constitution  or  manner  of  life,  is  inca¬ 
pable  of  becoming  plump  or  fleshy,  must  always  be 
unwholesome  ;  and  this  is  reason  sufficient  why  such 
should  be  prohibited. 

And  the  hawk ]  nets,  from  the  root  natsah, 

to  shoot  forth  or  spring  forward,  because  of  the  rapi¬ 
dity  and  length  of  its  flight,  the  hawk  being  remarkable 
for  both.  As  this  is  a  bird  of  prey,  it  is  forbidden, 
and  all  others  of  its  kind. 

Verse  17.  The  little  oivl]  DID  cos,  the  bittern,  night- 
raven,  or  night-owl,  according  to  most  interpreters. 
Some  think  the  onocrotalus  or  pelican  may  be  intended  ; 
for  as  the  word  DID  cos  signifies  a  cup  in  Hebrew,  and 
the  pelican  is  remarkable  for  a  pouch  or  bag  under  the 
lower  jaw,  it  might  have  had  its  Hebrew  name  from 
this  circumstance ;  but  the  kaath  in  the  following 
verse  is  rather  supposed  to  mean  this  fowl,  and  the 
cos  some  species  of  the  bubo  or  owl.  See  Bochart, 
vol.  iii.,  col.  272. 

The  cormorant ]  “j7ty  shalach,  from  the  root  which 
signifies  to  cast  down;  hence  the  Septuagint  aarap- 
pasTi]g,  the  cataract,  or  bird  which  falls  precipitately 
down  upon  its  prey.  It  probably  signifies  the  plungeon 
or  diver,  a  sea  fowl,  which  I  have  seen  at  sea  dart 
down  as  swift  as  an  arrow  into  the  water,  and  sieze 
the  fish  which  it  had  discovered  while  even  flying,  or 
rather  soaring,  at  a  very  great  height. 


CHAP.  XI. 


Fowls  and  insects  which  may , 

A.  M.  2514.  18  And  the  1  swan,  and  the 

R.  C.  1490.  ...  ,  .  .  -i 

An.  Exod.  isr.  2.  k  pelican,  and  the  gier  eagle, 

Abib  or  Xisan.  jg  And  the  1  stork,  the  heron 
after  her  kind,  and  the  lapwing,  and  the  bat. 

20  All  fowls  that  creep,  going  upon  all  four, 
shall  he  an  abomination  unto  you. 

21  Yet  these  may  ye  eat,  of  every  flying 

1  Deut.  xiv.  16. - k  Psa.  cii.  6  ;  Deut.  xiv.  17. - 1  Deut.  xiv.  18 . 

The  great  owl ]  yanshwph ,  according  to  the 

Septuaginl  and  the  Vulgate ,  signifies  the  ibis,  a  bird 
well  known  and  held  sacred  in  Egypt.  Some  critics, 
with  our  translation,  think  it  means  a  species  of  owl  or 
night  bird,  because  the  word  may  be  derived  from  “y#  J 
nesheph ,  which  signifies  the  tivilight,  the  time  in  which 
owls  chiefly  fly  about.  See  Bochart ,  vol.  iii. ,  col.  281. 

Verse  18.  The  swan]  HDiPJn  tinshemeth.  The  Sep- 
tuagint  translate  the  word  by  v optivpcova,  the  porphy- 
rion,  purple  or  scarlet  bird.  Could  we  depend  on  this 
translation,  we  might  suppose  the  flamingo  or  some 
such  bird  to  be  intended.  Some  suppose  the  goose  to 
be  meant,  but  this  is  by  no  means  likely,  as  it  cannot 
be  classed  either  among  ravenous  or  unclean  fowls. 
Bochart  thinks  the  owl  is  meant.  See  on  ver.  30. 

The  pelican ]  ilNp  kaath.  As  HNp  kaah  signifies  to 
vomit  up,  the  name  is  supposed  to  be  very  descriptive 
of  the  'pelican,  who  receives  its  food  into  the  pouch 
under  its  lower  jaw,  and,  by  pressing  it  on  its  breast 
with  its  bill,  throws  it  up  for  the  nourishment  of  its 
young.  Hence  the  fable  which  represents  the  pelican 
wounding  her  breast  with  her  bill,  that  she  might  feed 
her  young  with  her  own  blood  ;  a  fiction  which  has  no 
foundation  but  in  the  above  circumstance.  Bochart 
thinks  the  bittern  is  meant,  vol  iii.  col.  292. 

The  gier  eagle ]  DH1  racham.  As  the  root  of  this 
word  signifies  tenderness  and  affection ,  it  is  supposed 
to  refer  to  some  bird  remarkable  for  its  attachment  to 
its  young ;  hence  some  have  thought  that  the  pelican 
is  to  be  understood.  Bochart  endeavours  to  prove  that 
it  means  the  vulture,  probably  that  species  called  the 
golden  vulture. — Bochart,  vol.  iii.,  col.  303. 

Verse  19.  The  stork ]  HTDn  chasidah ,  from  1DH 
chasad,  which  signifies  to  be  abundant  in  kindness ,  or 
exuberant  in  acts  of  beneficence  ;  hence  applied  to  the 
stork,  because  of  its  affection  to  its  young,  and  its  kind¬ 
ness  in  tending  ^nd  feeding  its  parents  when  old ;  facts 
attested  by  the  best  informed  and  most  judicious  of  the 
Creek  and  Latin  natural  historians.  See  Bochart, 
Scheuchzer,  and  Parkhurst,  under  the  word  ion  cha¬ 
sad.  It  is  remarkable  for  destroying  and  eating 
serpents,  and  on  this  account  might  be  reckoned  by 
Moses  among  unclean  birds. 

The  heron ]  H3JX  anaphah.  This  word  has  been 
variously  understood  :  some  have  rendered  it  the  kite, 
others  the  woodcock,  others  the  curlew,  some  the  pea¬ 
cock,  others  the  parrot,  and  others  the  crane.  The 
root  yjt  anaph,  signifies  to  breathe  short  through  the 
nostrils,  to  snuff,  as  in  anger ;  hence  to  be  angry  :  and 
it  is  supposed  that  the  word  is  sufficiently  descriptive 
of  the  heron ,  from  its  very  irritable  disposition.  It 
will  attack  even  a  man  in  defence  of  its  nest ;  and  I 
have  known  a  case  where  a  man  was  in  danger  of 


and  which  may  not,  he  eaten . 

creeping  thing  that  goeth  upon  all  A.  M.  2514. 
four,  which  have  legs  above  their  An.  Exod.  isr.  2. 
feet,  to  leap  withal  upon  the  earth ;  At)lb  or  ]NTlsan- 
22  Even  these  of  them  ye  may  eat ;  m  the 
locust  after  his  kind,  and  the  bald  locust  after 
his  kind,  and  the  beetle  after  his  kind,  and 
the  grasshopper  after  his  kind. 

Psa.  civ.  17 ;  Jer.  viii.  7 ;  Zech.  v.  9. - ®  Matt.  iii.  4  ;  Mark  i.  6 

losing  his  life  by  the  stroke  of  a  heron’s  bill,  near  the 
eye,  who  had  climbed  up  into  a  high  tree  to  take  its 
nest.  Bochart  supposes  a  species  of  the  eagle  to  be 
meant,  vol.  iii.,  col.  335. 

The  lapwing ]  JliTUH  duchiphath,  the  upupa ,  hoopoe , 
or  hoop,  a  crested  bird,  with  beautiful  plumage,  but 
very  unclean.  See  Bochart  and  Scheuchzer.  Con¬ 
cerning  the  genuine  meaning  of  the  original,  there  is 
little  agreement  among  interpreters. 

The  bat ]  atalleph,  so  called,  according  to 

Parkhurst,  from  IDp  at,  to  fly ,  and  alaph,  darkness 

or  obscurity,  because  it  flies  about  in  the  dusk  of  the 
evening,  and  in  the  night :  so  the  Septuagint  vvurcpig, 
from  vvE,  the  night ;  and  the  Vulgate  vespertilio,  from 
vesper,  the  evening.  This  being  a  sort  of  monster 
partaking  of  the  nature  of  both  a  bird  and  beast,  it 
might  well  be  classed  among  unclean  animals,  or  ani¬ 
mals  the  use  of  wThich  in  food  should  be  avoided. 

Verse  20.  All  fowls  that  creep ]  Such  as  the  bat , 
already  mentioned,  which  has  claws  attached  to  its 
leathern  wings,  and  which  serve  in  place  of  feet  to 
crawl  by,  the  feet  and  legs  not  being  distinct ;  but 
this  may  also  include  all  the  different  kinds  of  insects , 
with  the  exceptions  in  the  following  verse. 

Going  upon  all  four ]  May  signify  no  more  than 
walking  regularly  or  progressively,  foot  after  foot  as 
quadrupeds  do  ;  for  it  cannot  be  applied  to  insects  lite¬ 
rally,  as  they  have  in  general  six  feet,  many  of  them 
more ,  some  reputed  to  have  a  hundred,  hence  called 
centipedes ;  and  some  a  thousand,  hence  called  milli¬ 
pedes  ;  words  which  often  signify  no  more  than  that 
such  insects  have  a  great  number  of  feet. 

Verse  2 1 .  Which  have  legs  above  their  feet ]  This 
appears  to  refer  to  the  different  kinds  of  locusts  and 
grasshoppers,  which  have  very  remarkable  hind  legs, 
long,  and  with  high  joints,  projecting  above  their  backs, 
by  which  they  are  enabled  to  spring  up  from  the  ground, 
and  leap  high  and  far. 

Verse  22.  The  locust ]  arbeh,  either  from 

31X  arab ,  to  lie  in  wait  or  in  ambush,  because  often 
immense  flights  of  them  suddenly  alight  upon  the 
fields,  vineyards,  &c.,  and  destroy  all  the  produce  of 
the  earth  ;  or  from  run  rabah,  he  multiplied,  because 
of  their  prodigious  swarms.  See  a  particular  account 
of  these  insects  in  the  notes  on  Exod.  x.  4. 

The  bald  locust ]  solam,  compounded,  says 

Mr.  Parkhurst,  from  sala,  to  cut,  break,  and  DJZ 
am,  contiguity ;  a  kind  of  locust,  probably  so  called 
from  its  rugged,  craggy  form.  See  the  first  of 
Scheuchzer' s  plates,  vol.  iii.,  p.  100. 

The  beetle ]  bjin  chargol.  “  The  Hebrew  name 
seems  a  derivative  from  Jin  charag,  to  shake,  and  Sll 
re^el,  the  foot ;  and  so  to  denote  the  nimbleness  of  its 

541 


Farther  directions  relative  LEVITICUS.  to  unclean  beasts  and  reptiles. 


A.  M.  2514.  23  But  all  other  flying  creep- 

JB  C  1490  jo 

4n.  Exod.  isr!  2.  ing  things,  which  have  four  feet, 

Abib  or  Nisan.  sjian  an  abomination  unto  you. 

24  And  for  these  ye  shall  be  unclean  :  who¬ 
soever  toucheth  the  carcass  of  them  shall  be 
unclean  until  the  even. 

25  And  whosoever  beareth  aught  of  the  car¬ 
cass  of  them,  n  shall  wash  his  clothes,  and  be 
unclean  until  the  even. 

26  The  carcasses  of  every  beast  which  di- 
videth  the  hoof,  and  is  not  cloven-footed,  nor 
cheweth  the  cud,  are  unclean  unto  you  :  every 
one  that  toucheth  them  shall  be  unclean. 

27  And  whatsoever  goeth  upon  his  paws, 
among  all  manner  of  beasts  that  go  on  all 
four,  those  are  unclean  unto  you :  whoso 

n  Chap.  xiv.  8;  xv.  5;  Nam.  xix.  10.  22  ;  xxxi.  24. 

motions.  Thus  in  English  we  call  an  animal  of  the 
locust  kind  a  grasshopper ;  the  French  name  of  which 
is  sauterelle,  from  the  verb  sauter ,  to  leap.” — Park- 
hurst.  This  word  occurs  only  in  this  place.  The 
beetle  never  can  be  intended  here,  as  that  insect  never 
was  eaten  by  man,  perhaps,  in  any  country  of  the 
universe. 

The  grasshopper ]  Djfl  chagab.  Bochart  supposes 
that  this  species  of  locust  has  its  name  from  the  Arabic 
verb  ^  hajaba  to  veil ;  because  when  they  fly,  as 

they  often  do,  in  great  swarms,  they  eclipse  even  the 
light  of  the  sun.  See  the  notes  on  Exod.  x.  4,  and 
the  description  of  ten  kinds  of  locusts  in  Bochart ,  vol. 
iii.,  col.  441.  And  see  the  figures  in  Scheuchzer,  in 
whose  plates  20  different  species  are  represented,  vol. 
iii.,  p.  100.  And  see  Dr.  Shaw  on  the  animals  men¬ 
tioned  in  this  chapter,  Travels,  p.  419,  &c.,  4-to.  edi¬ 
tion  ;  and  when  all  these  are  consulted,  the  reader  will 
see  how  little  dependence  can  be  placed  on  the  most 
learned  conjectures  relative  to  these  and  the  other 
animals  mentioned  in  Scripture.  One  thing  however 
is  fully  evident,  viz.,  that  the  locust  was  eaten,  not 
only  in  those  ancient  times,  in  the  time  of  John  Bap¬ 
tist,  Matt.  iii.  4,  but  also  in  the  present  day.  Dr. 
Shaw  ate  of  them  in  Barbary  “  fried  and  salted,”  and 
tells  us  that  “  they  tasted  very  like  crayfish.”  They 
have  been  eaten  in  Africa,  Greece,  Syria,  Persia,  and 
throughout  Asia  ;  and  whole  tribes  seem  to  have  lived 
on  them,  and  were  hence  called  acridophagoi,  or 
locust-eaters,  by  the  Greeks.  See  Strabo,  lib.  xvi., 
and  Pliny,  Hist.  Nat.,  1.  xvii.,  c.  30. 

Verse  27.  Whatsoever  goeth  upon  his  paws']  V33 
cappaiv,  his  palm?  or  hands,  probably  referring  to  those 
animals  whose  feet  resemble  the  hands  and  feet  of  the 
human  being,  such  as  apes,  monkeys ,  and  all  creatures 
of  that  genus  ;  together  with  bears,  frogs,  &c. 

Verse  29.  The  weasel ]  "ibn  choled,  from  clialad, 
Syr.,  to  creep  in.  Bochart  conjectures,  with  great 
propriety,  that  the  mole,  not  the  weasel,  is  intended  by 
the  Hebrew  word  :  its  property  of  digging  into  the 
earth,  and  creeping  or  burrowing  under  the  surface, 
is  well  known. 


toucheth  their  carcass  shall  be  A.  M.  2514. 

,  •it  b. c- 1490- 

unclean  until  the  even.  An.  Exod.  Isr.  2. 

28  And  he  that  beareth  the  car-  Ablb  or  Nlsan- 
cass  of  them  shall  wash  his  clothes,  and  be  un¬ 
clean  until  the  even  :  they  are  unclean  unto  you. 

29  These  also  shall  be  unclean  unto  you 
among  the  creeping  things  that  creep  upon  the ! 
earth ;  the  weasel,  and  0  the  mouse,  and  the 
tortoise  after  his  kind, 

30  And  the  ferret,  and  the  chameleon,  and 
the  lizard,  and  the  p  snail,  and  the  mole. 

3 1  These  are  unclean  to  you  among  all  that 
creep  :  whosoever  doth  touch  them,  when  they 
be  dead,  shall  be  unclean  until  the  even. 

32  And  upon  whatsoever  any  of  them,  when 
they  are  dead,  doth  fall,  it  shall  be  unclean  ; 

0  Isa.  lvi.  17. - P  Psa.  lviii.  8. 

The  mouse]  "DDp  achbar.  Probably  the  large 
field  rat,  or  what  is  called  by  the  Germans  the  ham¬ 
ster,  though  every  species  of  the  mus  genus  may  be 
here  prohibited. 

The  tortoise]  tsab.  Most  critics  allow  that  the 
tortoise  is  not  intended  here,  but  rather  the  crocodile, 
the  frog,  or  the  load.  The  frog  is  most  probably  the 
animal  meant,  and  all  other  creatures  of  its  kind. 

Verse  30.  The  ferret]  HpJN  anakah,  from  pjtf 
anak,  to  groan ,  to  cry  out :  a  species  of  lizard,  which 
derives  its  name  from  its  piercing,  doleful  cry.  See 
Bochart,  vol.  ii.,  col.  1066. 

The  chameleon]  coach.  Bochart  contends  that 
this  is  the  ic aril  or  guaril,  another  species  of 
lizard,  which  derives  its  name  from  its  remarkable 
strength  and  vigour  in  destroying  serpents,  the  He¬ 
brew  HD  each  signifying  to  be  strong,  firm,  vigorous  ; 
it  is  probably  the  same  with  the  mongoose,  a  creature 
still  well  known  in  India,  where  it  is  often  domesti¬ 
cated  in  order  to  keep  the  houses  free  from  snakes, 
rats,  mice,  &c. 

The  lizard]  HXtfb  letaah.  Bochart  contends  that 
this  also  is  a  species  of  lizard,  called  by  the  Arabs 
wahcira,  which  creeps  close  to  the  ground,  and 
is  poisonous. 

The  snail]  D*3n  chomet,  another  species  of  lizard, 
according  to  Bochart,  called  huluka  by  the 

Arabians,  which  lives  chiefly  in  the  sand. — Vol.  ii., 
col.  1075. 

The  mole.]  tinshameth,  from  OtJO  nasham, 

to  breathe.  Bochart  seems  to  have  proved  that  this 
is  the  chameleon,  which  has  its  Hebrew  name  from  its 
wide  gaping  mouth,  very  large  lungs,  and  its  deriving 
its  nourishment  from  small  animals  which  float  in  the 
air,  so  that  it  has  been  conjectured  by  some  to  feed  on 
the  air  itself. — Vol.  iii.,  col.  1078.  A  bird  of  the  same 
name  is  mentioned  ver.  13,  which  Bochart  supposes 
to  be  the  night-owl. — Vol.  iii.,  col.  286. 

Verse  32.  Any  vessel  of  wood]  Such  as  the  wooden 
bowls  still  in  use  among  the  Arabs.  Or  raiment,  or 
skin — any  trunks  or  baskets  covered  with  skins,  another 
part  of  the  furniture  of  an  Arab  tent ;  the  goat-skins, 

a 


542 


/ 


How  persons  and  utensils 


CHAP.  XI. 


are  defiled  by  touching  these 


A.  M.  2514.  whether  it  be  any  vessel  of  wood, 

B.  C.  1490.  .  i  •  , 

An.  Exod.  Isr.  2.  or  rtiinicnt,  oi  skin,  or  sack, 

Abib  or  Xisan.  whatSOever  vessel  it  be ,  wherein 
any  work  is  done,  q  it  must  be  put  into  water, 
and  it  shall  be  unclean  until  the  even  ;  so  it 
shall  be  cleansed. 

33  And  every  earthen  vessel,  whereinto  any 
of  them  falleth,  whatsoever  is  in  it  shall  be 
unclean ;  and  r  ye  shall  break  it. 

34  Of  all  meat  which  may  be  eaten,  that  on 
which  such  water  cometh  shall  be  unclean: 
and  all  drink  that  may  be  drunk  in  every  such 
vessel  shall  be  unclean. 

35  And  every  thing  whereupon  any  part 
of  their  carcass  falleth  shall  be  unclean ; 
whether  it  be  oven,  or  ranges  for  pots,  they 
shall  be  broken  down :  for  they  are  unclean, 
and  shall  be  unclean  unto  you. 

36  Nevertheless  a  fountain  or  pit,  s  wherein 
there  is  plenty  of  water,  shall  be  clean  :  but 
that  which  toucheth  their  carcass  shall  be 
unclean. 

37  And  if  any  part  of  their  carcass  fall 
upon  any  sowing  seed,  which  is  to  be  sown, 
it  shall  be  clean. 

38  But  if  any  water  be  put  upon  the  seed, 
and  any  part  of  their  carcass  fall  thereon,  it 
shall  be  unclean  unto  you. 


39  And  if  any  beast,  of  which  A.  M.  2514. 
ye  may  eat,  die  ;  he  that  toucheth  An.  Exod.  isr.*2, 
the  carcass  thereof  shall  be  un-  Ablb  or  Nlsan- 
clean  until  the  even. 

40  And  t  he  that  eateth  of  the  carcass  of  it 
shall  wash  his  clothes,  and  be  unclean  until  the 
even  :  he  also  that  beareththe  carcass  of  it  shall 
wash  his  clothes  and  be  unclean  until  the  even. 

4  1  And  every  creeping  thing,  that  creepeth 
upon  the  earth,  shall  be  an  abomination  ;  it 
shall  not  be  eaten. 

42  Whatsoever  goeth  upon  the  belly,  and 
whatsoever  goeth  upon  all  four,  or  whatsoever 
u  hath  more  feet  among  all  creeping  things 
that  creep  upon  the  earth,  them  ye  shall  not 
eat ;  for  they  are  an  abomination. 

43  T  Ye  shall  not  make  w  yourselves  abomi¬ 
nable  with  any  creeping  thing  that  creepeth, 
neither  shall  ye  make  yourselves  unclean  with 
them,  that  ye  should  be  defiled  thereby. 

44  For  I  am  the  Lord  your  God  :  ye  shall 
therefore  sanctify  yourselves,  and  x  ye  shall  be 
holy ;  for  I  am  holy :  neither  shall  ye  defile 
yourselves  with  any  manner  of  creeping  thing 
that  creepeth  upon  the  earth. 

45  y  For  I  am  the  Lord  that  bringeth  you 
up  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt,  to  be  your  God  : 
z  ye  shall  therefore  be  holy  ;  for  I  am  holy. 


<1  Chap.  xv.  12. - r  Chap.  vi.  28  ;  xv.  12. - s  Heb.  a  gather¬ 
ing  together  of  waters. - 1  Chap.  xvii.  15  ;  xxii.  8;  Deut.  xiv. 

21 ;  Ezek.  iv.  14  ;  xliv.  31. 

in  which  they  churn  their  milk,  may  be  also  intended. 
Or  sack — any  hair-cloth  used  for  the  purpose  of  trans¬ 
porting  goods  from  place  to  place. 

Verse  33.  And  every  earthen  vessel]  Such  pitchers 
as  are  commonly  used  for  drinking  out  of,  and  for 
holding  liquids.  M.  De  la  Roque  observes  that  hair- 
sacks ,  trunks ,  and  baskets ,  covered  with  skin,  are  used 
among  the  travelling  Arabs  to  carry  their  household 
utensils  in,  which  are  kettles  or  pots ,  great  wooden 
boiols,  hand-mills ,  and  pitchers.  It  is  very  likely  that 
these  are  nearly  the  same  with  those  used  by  the 
Israelites  in  their  journeyings  in  the  wilderness,  for 
the  customs  of  these  people  do  not  change. 

Verse  35.  Ranges  for  pots ]  To  understand  this, 
we  must  observe  that  the  Arabs  dig  a  hole  in  their 
tent,  about  a  foot  and  a  half  deep ;  three-fourths  of 
this,  says  Rauwolff ,  they  lay  about  with  stones,  and  the 
fourth  part  is  left  open  for  the  purpose  of  throwing  in 
their  fuel.  This  little  temporary  building  is  probably 
what  is  here  designed  by  ranges  for  pots ;  and  this 
was  to  be  broken  down  when  any  unclean  thing  had 
fallen  upon  it.  See  Harmer ,  vol.  i. ,  p.  464. 

Verse  36.  A  fountain  or  pit ,  tf-c.]  This  must  either 
refer  to  running  water,  the  stream  of  which  soon  car¬ 
ries  off  all  impurities,  or  to  large  reservoirs  where  the 
water  soon  purifies  itself ;  the  water  in  either  which 


uHeb.  doth  multiply  feet. - v  Chap.  xx.  25. - w  Heb.  souls. 

xExod.  xix.  6  ;  chap.  xix.  2;  xx.  7,  26  ;  1  Thess.  iv.  7 ;  1  Pet. 
i.  15,  16. - y  Exod.  vi.  7. - z  Ver.  44. 

touched  the  unclean  thing,  being  considered  as  impure, 
the  rest  of  the  water  being  clean. 

Verse  37.  Any  sowing  seed]  If  any  part  of  an  im¬ 
pure  carcass  fall  accidentally  on  seed  about  to  be  sown, 
it  shall  not  on  that  account  be  deemed  unclean ;  but 
if  the  water  put  to  the  seed  to  prepare  it  for  being 
sown,  shall  be  touched  by  such  impure  carcass,  the 
seed  shall  be  considered  as  unclean,  ver.  38.  Proba¬ 
bly  this  may  be  the  meaning  of  these  passages. 

Verse  42.  Whatsoever  goeth  upon  the  belly]  In  the 
word  f)rU  gahOn ,  the  vau  holem,  in  most  Hebrew 
Bibles,  is  much  larger  than  the  other  letters ;  and  a 
Masoretic  note  is  added  in  the  margin,  which  states 
that  this  is  the  middle  letter  of  the  law  ;  and  conse¬ 
quently  this  verse  is  the  middle  verse  of  the  Pentateuch. 

Whatsoever  hath  m.ore  feet]  Than  four;  that  is,  all 
many-footed  reptiles,  as  well  as  those  which  go  upon 
the  belly  having  no  feet,  such  as  serpents  ;  besides  the 
four-footed  smaller  animals  mentioned  above. 

Verse  44.  Ye  shall — sanctify  yourselves]  Ye  shall 
keep  yourselves  separate  from  all  the  people  of  the 
earth,  that  ye  may  be  holy  ;  for  I  am  holy.  And  this 
was  the  grand  design  of  God  in  all  these  prohibitions 
and  commands  ;  for  these  external  sanctifications  were 
only  the  emblems  of  that  internal  purity  which  the  ho¬ 
liness  of  God  requires  here,  and  without  which  none 

543 


LEVITICUS. 


The  reason  for  the  laws 


concerning  unclean  animals 


a.  m.  2514,  46  This  is  the  law  of  the 

An.  Exod.  isr.  2.  beasts,  and  of  the  fowl,  and  of 
Abib  or  Nisan.  every  ijvjng  creature  that  moveth 

in  the  waters,  and  of  every  creature  that 
creepeth  upon  the  earth  : 


47  a  To  make  a  difference  a.  m.  25m. 
between  the  unclean  and  the  An.  Exod.  Isr.  2 
clean,  and  between  the  beast  Ablb  or  Nlsan- 
that  may  be  eaten,  and  the  beast  that  may  not 
be  eaten. 


a  Leviticus, 

can  dwell  with  him  in  glory  hereafter.  See  at  the 
conclusion  of  this  chapter. 

The  contents  of  this  chapter  must  furnish  many 
profitable  reflections  to  a  pious  mind. 

1.  From  the  great  difficulty  of  ascertaining  what 
animals  are  meant  in  this  part  of  the  law,  we  may  at 
once  see  that  the  law  itself  must  be  considered  as  ab¬ 
rogated  ;  for  there  is  not  a  Jew  in  the  universe  who 
knows  what  the  animals  are,  a  very  few  excepted, 
which  are  intended  by  these  Hebrew  words  ;  and  there¬ 
fore  he  may  be  repeatedly  breaking  this  law  by  touch¬ 
ing  and  being  touched  either  by  the  animals  themselves 
or  their  produce,  such  as  hair,  wool,  fur,  skin,  intes¬ 
tines,  differently  manufactured,  &c.,  &c.  It  therefore 
appears  that  this  people  have  as  little  law  as  they 
have  gospel. 

2.  While  God  keeps  the  eternal  interests  of  man 
steadily  in  view,  he  does  not  forget  his  earthly  com¬ 
fort ;  he  is  at  once  solicitous  both  for  the  health  of 
his  body  and  his  soul.  He  has  not  forbidden  certain 
aliments  because  he  is  a  Sovereign ,  but  because  he 
knew  they  would  be  injurious  to  the  health  and  morals 
of  his  people.  The  close  connection  that  subsists  be¬ 
tween  the  bod}r  and  the  soul  we  cannot  fully  compre¬ 
hend  ;  and  as  little  can  we  comprehend  the  influence 
they  have  on  each  other.  Many  moral  alterations  take 
place  in  the  mind  in  consequence  of  the  influence  of 
the  bodily  organs ;  and  these  latter  are  greatly  influ¬ 
enced  by  the  kind  of  aliment  wfliich  the  body  receives. 
God  knows  what  is  in  man,  and  he  knows  what  is 
in  all  creatures ;  he  has  therefore  graciously  forbid¬ 
den  what  would  injure  both  body  and  mind,  and  com¬ 
manded  what  is  best  calculated  to  be  useful  to  both. 
Solid-footed  animals,  such  as  the  horse ,  and  many-toed 
animals,  such  as  the  cat ,  &c.,  are  here  prohibited. 
Beasts  which  have  bifid  or  cloven  hoofs,  such  as  the 
ox  and  sheep,  are  considered  as  proper  for  food,  and 
therefore  commanded.  The  former  are  unclean ,  i.  e., 
unwholesome,  affording  a  gross  nutriment,  often  the 
parent  of  scorbutic  and  scrofulous  disorders  ;  the  latter 
clean,  i.  e.,  affording  a  copious  and  wholesome  nutri¬ 
ment,  and  not  laying  the  foundation  of  any  disease. 
Ruminating  animals,  i.  e.,  those  which  chew  the  cud, 
concoct  their  food  better  than  the  others  which  swal¬ 
low  it  with  little  mastication,  and  therefore  their  flesh 
contains  more  of  the  nutritious  juices,  and  is  more  easy 
of  digestion,  and  consequently  of  assimilation  to  the 
solids  and  fluids  of  the  human  body ;  on  this  account 
they  are  termed  clean ,  i.  e.,  peculiarly  wholesome,  and 

544 


chap.  x.  10. 

fit  for  food.  The  animals  which  do  not  ruminate  do 
not  concoct  their  food  so  well,  and  hence  they  abound 
with  gross  animal  juices,  which  yield  a  comparatively 
unwholesome  nutriment  to  the  human  system.  Even 
the  animals  which  have  bifid  hoofs  but  do  not  chew 
the  cud,  such  as  the  swine ,  and  those  which  chew  the 
cud  but  are  not  bifid ,  such  as  the  hare  and  rabbit ,  are 
by  Him  who  knows  all  things  forbidden,  because  he 
knew  them  to  be  comparatively  innutritive.  In  all 
this  God  shows  himself  as  the  tender  Father  of  a  nu¬ 
merous  family,  pointing  out  to  his  inexperienced,  fro- 
ward,  and  ignorant  children,  those  kinds  of  aliments 
which  he  knows  will  be  injurious  to  their  health  and 
domestic  happiness,  and  prohibiting  them  on  pain  of 
|  his  highest  displeasure.  On  the  same  ground  he  for¬ 
bade  all  fish  that  have  not  both  fins  and  scales ,  such 
as  the  conger ,  eel ,  &c.,  which  abound  in  gross  juices 
and  fat  which  very  few  stomachs  are  able  to  digest. 
Who,  for  instance,  that  lives  solely  on  sivine',s  flesh, 
has  pure  blood  and  healthy  juices  ?  And  is  it  not 
evident,  in  many  cases,  that  the  man  partakes  con¬ 
siderably  of  the  nature  of  the  brute  on  which  he  exclu¬ 
sively  feeds'?  I  could  pursue  this  inquiry  much  farther, 
and  bring  many  proofs  founded  on  indisputable  facts, 
but  I  forbear ;  for  he  who  might  stand  most  in  need 
of  caution,  would  be  the  first  to  take  offence. 

3.  As  the  body  exists  only  for  the  sake  of  the  soul, 
and  God  feeds  and  nourishes  it  through  the  day  of 
probation,  that  the  soul  may  here  . be  prepared  for  the 
kingdom  of  heaven  ;  therefore  he  shows  in  the  conclu¬ 
sion  of  these  ordinances,  that  the  grand  scope  and  de¬ 
sign  of  all  wras  that  they  might  be  a  holy  people,  and 
that  they  might  resemble  him  who  is  a  holy  God. — 
God  is  holy  ;  and  this  is  the  eternal  reason  why  all 
his  people  should  be  holy — should  be  purified  from  all 
filthiness  of  the  flesh  and  spirit ,  perfecting  holiness  in 
the  fear  of  God.  No  faith  in  any  particular  creed,  no 
religious  observance,  no  acts  of  benevolence  and  cha¬ 
rity,  no  mortification,  attrition,  or  contrition,  can  be  a 
substitute  for  this.  We  must  be  made  partakers  of 
the  Divine  nature.  We  must  be  saved  from  our  sins 
— from  the  corruption  that  is  in  the  world,  and  be 
made  holy  within  and  righteous  without,  or  never  see 
God.  For  this  very  purpose  Jesus  Christ  lived,  died, 
and  revived,  that  he  might  purify  us  unto  himself;  that 
through  faith  in  his  blood  our  sins  might  be  blotted 
out,  and  our  souls  restored  to  the  image  of  God. — 
Reader,  art  thou  hungering  and  thirsting  after  right¬ 
eousness  ?  Then  blessed  art  thou,  for  thou  shalt 
be  filled. 


a 


Ordinances  concerning  the 


CHAP.  XII. 


•purification  of  women 


CHAPTER  XII 


Ordinances  concerning  the  purification  of  women  after  child-birth ,  1  ;  after  the  birth  of  a  son,  who  is  to  be 
circumcised  the  eighth  day ,  2,  3.  The  mother  to  be  considered  unclean  for  forty  days,  4.  After  the  birth 
of  a  daughter,  fourscore  days,  5.  When  the  days  of  her  purifying  were  ended,  she  ivas  to  bring  a  lamb 
for  a  burnt-offering,  and  a  young  pigeon  or  a  turtle-dove  for  a  sin-offering,  6,  7.  If  poor,  and  not  able 
to  bring  a  lajnb,  she  was  to  bring  either  two  turtle-doves  or  two  young  pigeons,  8. 


A.  M.  2514.  A  ND  the  Lord  spake  unto 

B.  C.  1490.  lx  .  1 

An._Exod.isr.  2.  Moses,  saying, 

Aiub  or  Nlsan-  2  Speak  unto  the  children  of 

Israel,  saying,  If  a  a  woman  have  conceived 

seed,  and  borne  a  man  child  :  then  b  she  shall 

be  unclean  seven  days  ;  c  according  to  the  days 

of  the  separation  for  her  infirmity,  shall  she 

be  unclean. 

3  And  in  the  d  eighth  day,  the  flesh  of  his 
foreskin  shall  be  circumcised. 

4  And  she  shall  then  continue  in  the  blood 
of  her  purifying  three  and  thirty  days  ;  she 
shall  touch  no  hallowed  thing,  nor  come  into 


the  sanctuary,  until  the  days  of  A.  M.  2514. 
her  purifying  be  fulfilled.  AnCExodAs?.^. 

5  But  if  she  bear  a  maid  child,  Ablb  or  Nlsan- 
then  she  shall  be  unclean  two  weeks,  as  in 
her  separation :  and  she  shall  continue  in 
the  blood  of  her  purifying  threescore  and 
six  days. 

6  And  e  when  the  days  of  her  purifying  are 
fulfilled,  for  a  son,  or  for  a  daughter,  she  shall 
bring  a  lamb  f  of  the  first  year  for  a  burnt- 
offering,  and  a  young  pigeon,  or  a  turtle-dove, 
for  a  sin-offering,  unto  the  door  of  the  taber¬ 
nacle  of  the  congregation,  unto  the  priest  : 


a  Chap.  xv.  19. - bLuke  ii.  22. - c  Chap.  xv.  19. - d  Gen. 

xvii.  12 ;  Luke  i.  59;  ii.  21  ;  John  vii.  22,  23. 


e  Luke  ii.  22. - f  Heb.  a  so7i  of  his  year. 


NOTES  ON  CHAP.  XII. 

Verse  2.  If  a  ivoman  have  conceived\  In  the  ex¬ 
tent  mentioned  here  the  ordinances  of  this  chapter 
have  little  relation  to  us  ;  and  to  inquire  into  their 
physical  reasons,  as  far  as  they  related  to  the  Jews, 
could  afford  but  little  edification  ;  and  to  make  such  a 
subject  sufficiently  plain  would  require  such  minute 
examination  and  circumstantial  detail  as  could  scarcely 
be  proper  for  general  readers.  All  that  is  necessary 
to  be  said  the  reader  will  find  on  ver.  4. 

Verse  3.  And  in  the  eighth  day]  Before  this  time 
the  child  could  scarcely  be  considered  as  having  strength 
sufficient  to  bear  the  operation ;  after  this  time  it  was 
not  necessary  to  delay  it,  as  the  child  was  not  consi¬ 
dered  to  be  in  covenant  with  God,  and  consequently 
not  under  the  especial  protection  of  the  Divine  provi¬ 
dence  and  grace,  till  this  rite  had  been  performed.  On 
circumcision  see  the  note  on  Gen.  xvii.  10.  Circum¬ 
cision  was  to  every  man  a  constant,  evident  sign  of 
the  covenant  into  which  he  had  entered  with  God,  and 
of  the  moral  obligations  under  which  he  was  thereby 
laid.  It  was  also  a  means  of  purity,  and  was  espe¬ 
cially  necessary  among  a  people  naturally  incontinent, 
and  in  a  climate  not  peculiarly  favourable  to  chastity. 
This  is  a  light  in  which  this  subject  should  ever  be 
viewed,  and  in  which  we  see  the  reasonableness,  pro¬ 
priety,  expediency,  and  moral  tendency  of  the  ceremony. 

Verse  4.  The  blood  of  her  purifying]  A  few  words 
will  make  this  subject  sufficiently  plain.  1.  God  de¬ 
signs  that  the  human  female  should  bring  forth  chil¬ 
dren.  2.  That  children  should  derive,  under  his  pro¬ 
vidence,  their  being,  all  their  solids  and  all  their  fluids, 
in  a  word,  the  whole  mass  of  their  bodies,  from  the 
substance  of  the  mother.  3.  For  this  purpose  he 
has  given  to  the  body  of  the  female  an  extra  quantity 
of  blood  and  nutritious  juices.  4.  Before  pregnancy 
this  superabundance  is  evacuated  at  periodical  times. 

Vol.  I.  (  36  ) 


5.  In  pregnancy,  that  which  was  formerly  evacuated  is 
retained  for  the  formation  and  growth  of  the  fetus,  or 
the  general  strengthening  of  the  system  during  the  time 
of  pregnancy.  6.  After  the  birth  of  the  child,  for 
seven  or  fourteen  days,  more  or  less  according  to  cer¬ 
tain  circumstances,  that  superabundance,  no  longer  ne¬ 
cessary  for  the  growth  of  the  child  as  before,  continues 
to  be  evacuated  :  this  was  called  the  time  of  the  fe¬ 
male’s  purification  among  the  Jews.  7.  When  the 
lacerated  vessels  are  rejoined,  this  superfluity  of  blood 
is  returned  into  the  general  circulation,  and,  by  a  wise 
law  of  the  Creator,  becomes  principally  useful  to  the 
breasts ,  and  helps  in  the  production  of  milk  for  the 
nourishment  of  the  new-born  infant.  8.  And  thus  it 
continues  till  the  weaning  of  the  child,  or  renewed 
pregnancy  takes  place.  Here  is  a  series  of  mercies 
and  wise  providential  regulations  which  cannot  be  known 
without  being  admired,  and  which  should  be  known  that 
the  great  Creator  and  Preserver  may  have  that  praise 
from  his  creatures  which  his  wonderful  working  demands. 

The  term  purifying  here  does  not  imply  that  there 
is  any  thing  impure  in  the  blood  at  this  or  the  other 
times  referred  to  above ;  on  the  contrary,  the  blood  is 
pure,  perfectly  so,  as  to  its  quality,  but  is  excessive  in 
quantity  for  the  reasons  above  assigned.  The  idle 
tales  found  in  certain  -works  relative  to  the  infectious 
nature  of  this  fluid,  and  of  the  female  in  such  times 
are  as  impious  as  they  are  irrational  and  absurd. 

Verse  6.  When  the  days  of  her  purify  ing]  It  is  not 
easy  to  account  for  the  difference  in  the  times  of  pu¬ 
rification,  after  the  birth  of  a  male  and  female  child. 
After  the  birth  of  a  boy  the  mother  was  considered 
unclean  for  forty  days  ;  after  the  birth  of  a  girl,  four¬ 
score  days.  There  is  probably  no  physical  reason  for 
this  difference,  and  it  is  difficult  to  assign  a  political 
one.  Some  of  the  ancient  physicians  assert  that  a 
woman  is  in  the  order  of  nature  much  longer  in  corn- 

545 


Laws  and  ordinances 


A.  M.  2514. 

B.  C.  1490. 
An.  Exod.  Isr.  2. 
Abib  or  Nisan. 


7  Who  shall  offer  it  before 
the  Lord,  and  make  an  atone- 
ment  for  her  ;  and  she  shall  be 
cleansed  from  the  issue  of  her  blood.  This  is 
the  law  for  her  that  hath  borne  a  male  or  a 
female. 


LEVITICUS.  relative  to  the  leprosy 

8  &  And  if  h  she  be  not  able  to 


A.  M.  2514. 

bring  a  lamb,  then  she  shall  bring  An.  Exod.  isr”.  2. 
two  turtles,  or  two  young  pigeons  ;  Ablb  or  Nlsan- 
the  one  for  the  burnt-offering,  and  the  other  for 
a  sin-offering :  1  and  the  priest  shall  make  an 
atonement  for  her,  and  she  shall  be  clean. 


s  Chap.  v.  7 ;  Luke  ii.  24. 

pletely  recovering  after  the  birth  of  a  female  than  after 
the  birth  of  a  male  child.  This  assertion  is  not  jus¬ 
tified  either  by  observation  or  matter  of  fact.  Others 
think  that  the  difference  in  the  time  of  purification  after 
the  birth  of  a  male  and  female  is  intended  to  mark  the 
inferiority  of  the  female  sex.  This  is  a  miserable 
reason,  and  pitifully  supported. 

She  shall  bring — a  burnt-offering ,  and — a  sin-of¬ 
fering]  It  is  likely  that  all  these  ordinances  were 
intended  to  show  man’s  natural  impurity  and  original 
defilement  by  sin,  and  the  necessity  of  an  atonement 
to  cleanse  the  soul  from  unrighteousness. 

Verse  8.  And  if  she  be  not  able  to  bring  a  lamb ,  then 
she  shall  bring  tioo  turtles ,  or  two  young  pigeons]  As 
the  Virgin  Mary  brought  only  the  latter,  hence  it  is 
evident  that  she  was  not  able ,  i.  e.,  she  was  not  rich 
enough  to  provide  the  former  ;  for  such  a  holy  woman 
would  not  have  brought  the  less  offering  had  she  been 
capable  of  bringing  the  greater.  How  astonishing  is 
this  !  The  only  heir  to  the  throne  of  David  was  not 
able  to  bring  a  lamb  to  offer  in  sacrifice  to  God  1  flow 
abominable  must  sin  be  when  it  required  him  who  was 
in  the  form  of  God  thus  to  empty  and  to  humble  him¬ 
self,  yea,  even  to  the  death  of  the  cross,  in  order  to 
make  an  atonement  for  it,  and  to  purify  the  soul  from 
all  defilement ! 


h  Heb.  her  hand  find  not  svfificiency  of. - 5  Chap.  iv.  26. 

The  priest  shall  make  an  atonement  for  her]  Every 
act  of  man  is  sinful,  but  such  as  proceed  from  the  in¬ 
fluence  of  the  grace  and  mercy  of  God.  Her  sorrow 
in  conception,  and  her  pain  in  bringing  forth  children, 
reminded  the  woman  of  her  original  offence  ;  an  of¬ 
fence  which  deserved  death ,  an  offence  which  she  could 
not  expiate,  and  for  which  a  sacrifice  must  be  offered  : 
and  in  reference  to  better  things  the  life  of  an  animal 
must  be  offered  as  a  ransom  for  her  life.  And  being 
saved  in  childbed,  though  she  deserved  to  die,  she  is 
required,  as  soon  as  the  days  of  her  separation  were 
ended,  to  bring  a  sacrifice  according  to  her  ability  to 
the  priest,  that  he  might  offer  it  to  God  as  an  atone¬ 
ment  for  her.  Thus,  wherever  God  keeps  up  the  re¬ 
membrance  of  sin,  he  keeps  up  also  the  memorial  of 
sacrifice ,  to  show  that  the  state  of  a  sinner,  howsoever 
deplorable,  is  not  hopeless,  for  that  he  himself  has  found 
out  a  ransom.  Every  where,  in  the  law  and  in  the 
Gospel,  in  every  ordinance  and  in  every  ceremony,  we 
may  see  both  the  justice  and  the  mercy  of  God.  Hence, 
while  we  have  the  knowledge  of  our  sin  we  have  also 
the  knowledge  of  our  cure. 

Reader,  whilst  thou  art  confessing  thy  own  misery 
do  not  forget  the  Lord’s  mercy ;  and  remember,  he 
saves  to  the  uttermost  all  that  come  through  Christ 
unto  him. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

Laws  relative  to  the  leprosy.  It  is  to  be  known  by  a  rising  in  the  flesh,  a  scab,  or  a  bright  spot,  1,  2.  When 
the  priest  sees  these  signs  he  shall  pronounce  the  man  unclean,  infected  with  the  leprosy,  and  unfit  for 
society,  3.  Dubious  or  equivocal  signs  of  this  disorder,  and  how  the  person  is  to  be  treated  in  whomthey 
appear,  4-8.  In  what  state  of  this  disorder  the  priest  may  pronounce  a  man  clean  or  unclean,  9—13.  Of 
the  raw7  flesh,  the  sign  of  the  unclean  leprosy,  14,  15.  Of  the  white  flesh,  the  sign  of  the  leprosy  called 
clean,  16,  17.  Of  the  leprosy  which  succeeds  a  boil,  18—20.  Equivocal  marks  relative  to  this  kind  of 
leprosy,  21,  22.  Of  the  burning  boil,  23.  Of  the  leprosy  arising  out  of  the  burning  boil,  24,  25. 
Equivocal  marks  relative  to  this  kind  of  leprosy,  26—28.  Of  the  plague  on  the  head  or  in.  the  beard,  29. 
Of  the  scall,  andhow  it  is  to  be  treated ,  30—37.  Of  the  plague  of  the  bright  white  spots,  38,  39.  Of 
the  bald  head,  40,  41.  Of  the  white  reddish  sore  in  the  bald  head,  42—44.  The  leper  shall  rend  his 
clothes,  put  a  patch  on  his  upper  lip,  and  cry  unclean,  45.  He  shall  be  obliged  to  avoid  society,  and 
live  by  himself  without  the  camp ,  46.  Of  the  garments  infected  by  the  leprosy ,  and  the  signs  of  this 
infection,  47-52.  Equivocal  marks  relative  to  this  infection,  and  how  the  garment  is  to  be  treated,  by 
washing  or  by  burning,  53—58.  Conclusion  relative  to  the  foregoing  particulars,  59. 

the  skin  of  his  flesh  a  a  rising-  a.  M.  2514. 
h  ,  ...  .  .  B.  C.  1490. 

u  a  scab,  or  bright  spot,  and  it  An.  Exod.  isr.  2. 

be  in  the  skin  of  his  flesh  like  Ablb  or  Nisan. 

bDeut.  xxviii.  27;  Isa.  iii.  17. 

from  Iettlc,  a  scale,  because  in  this  disease  the  body 
was  often  covered  with  thin  white  scales,  so  as  to  give 
it  the  appearance  of  snow.  Hence  it  is  said  of  the 
546  (  36*  ) 


A.  M.  2514. 

B.  C.  1490. 
An.  Exod.  Isr.  2. 
Abib  or  Nisan. 


ANU  the  Lord  spake  unto 
Moses  and  Aaron,  saying, 

2  When  a  man  shall  have  in 


a  Or,  svjelling. 


NOTES  ON  CHAP.  XIII. 

Verse  2.  The  plague  of  leprosy]  This  dreadful 
disorder  has  its  name  levrosv,  from  the  Greek  Tienpa, 


The  manner  of  discerning 


CHAP.  XIII. 


different  hinds  of  leprosy . 


A.  M.  2514.  the  plague  of  leprosy  ;  c  then  he 

B  C  1190  r  o  x  j  7 

An.  Exod.  isr.  2.  shall  be  brought  unto  Aaron  the 
Ahib  or  Nisan.  prjestj  or  unto  one  0f  his  gons 

the  priests  : 

3  And  the  priest  shall  look  on  the  plague  in 
the  skin  of  the  flesh  :  and  when  the  hair  in 
the  plague  is  turned  white,  and  the  plague  in 
sight  he  deeper  than  the  skin  of  his  flesh,  it  is 
a  plague  of  leprosy :  and  the  priest  shall  look 
on  him,  and  pronounce  him  unclean. 

4  If  the  bright  spot  he  white  in  the  skin  of 
his  flesh,  and  in  sight  he  not  deeper  than  the 
skin,  and  the  hair  thereof  be  not  turned  white  ; 
then  the  priest  shall  shut  up  him  that  hath  the 
plague  seven  days: 

5  And  the  priest  shall  look  on  him  the 
seventh  day  :  and,  behold,  if  the  plague  in 

c  Deut.  xvii.  8,  9  ;  xxiv.  8  ;  Luke  xvii.  14. 

hand  of  Moses,  Exod.  iv.  6,  that  it  was  leprous  as 
snow  ;  and  of  Miriam,  Num.  xii.  10,  that  she  became 
leprous ,  as  white  as  snow  ;  and  of  Gehazi,  2  Kings  v. 
27,  that,  being  judicially  struck  with  the  disease  of 
Naaman,  he  went  out  from  Elisha’s  presence  a  leper  as 
white  as  snow.  See  the  note  on  Exod.  iv.  6. 

In  Hebrew  this  disease  is  termed  PjHy  tsaraath , 
from  jny  tsara,  to  smite  or  strike ;  but  the  root  in 
Arabic  signifies  to  cast  down  or  prostrate ,  and  in  ^Ethi- 
opic,  to  cause  to  cease ,  because,  says  Stockius ,  it 
prostrates  the  strength  of  man,  and  obliges  him  to  cease 
from  all  work  and  labour .” 

There  were  three  signs  by  which  the  leprosy  was 
known.  1.  A.  bright  spot.  2.  A  rising  (enamelling) 
of  the  surface.  3.  A  scab  ;  the  enamelled  place  pro¬ 
ducing  a  variety  of  layers,  or  stratum  super  stratum, 
of  these  scales.  The  account  given  by  Mr.  Maundrell 
of  the  appearance  of  several  persons  whom  he  saw  in¬ 
fected  with  this  disorder  in  Palestine,  will  serve  to  show, 
in  the  clearest  light,  its  horrible  nature  and  tendency. 

“  When  I  was  in  the  Holy  Land,”  says  he,  in  his 
letter  to  the  Rev.  Mr.  Osborn,  Fellow  of  Exeter  Col¬ 
lege,  “  I  saw  several  that  laboured  under  Gehazi’s  dis¬ 
temper;  particularly  at  Sichem,  (now  Naplosu,)  there 
were  no  less  than  ten  that  came  begging  to  us  at  one 
time.  Their  manner  is  to  come  with  small  buckets  in 
their  hands,  to  receive  the  alms  of  the  charitable ;  their 
touch  being  still  held  infectious,  or  at  least  unclean. 
The  distemper,  as  I  saw  it  on  them ,  was  quite  different 
from  what  I  have  seen  it  in  England ;  for  it  not  only 
defiles  the  whole  surface  of  the  body  with  a  foul  scurf , 
but  also  deforms  the  joints  of  the  body,  particularly 
those  of  the  wrists  and  ankles,  making  them  swell  with 
a  gouty  scrofulous  substance ,  very  loathsome  to  look 
on.  I  thought  their  legs  like  those  of  old  battered 
horses ,  such  as  are  often  seen  in  drays  in  England. 
The  whole  distemper,  indeed,  as  it  there  appeared,  was 
so  noisome,  that  it  might  well  pass  for  the  utmost  cor¬ 
ruption  of  the  human  body  on  this  side  the  grave.  And 
certainly  the  inspired  penman  could  not  have  found  out 
a  fitter  emblem,  whereby  to  express  the  uncleanness 


his  sight  be  at  a  stay,  and  the  A.  M.  2514. 

,  0  ,  .  J  \  .  .  B.  C.  1490. 

plague  spread  not  m  the  skin  ;  An.  Exod.  isr.  2. 

then  the  priest  shall  shut  him  Ablb  or  Nlsan- 

up  seven  days  more  : 

6  And  the  priest  shall  look  on  him  again  the 
seventh  day :  and,  behold,  if  the  plague  he 
somewhat  dark,  and  the  plague  spread  not  in 
the  skin,  the  priest  shall  pronounce  him  clean  : 
it  is  hut  a  scab  :  and  he  d  shall  wash  his 
clothes,  and  be  clean. 

7  But  if  the  scab  spread  much  abroad  in  the 
skin,  after  that  he  hath  been  seen  of  the  priest 
for  his  cleansing,  he  shall  be  seen  of  the  priest 
again  : 

8  And  if  the  priest  see  that,  behold,  the  scab 
spreadeth  in  the  skin,  then  the  priest  shall 
pronounce  him  unclean  :  it  is  a  leprosy. 

d  Chap.  xi.  25  ;  xiv.  8. 

and  odiousness  of  vice.” — MaundrelV s  Travels.  Let¬ 
ters  at  the  end.  The  reader  will  do  well  to  collate 
this  account  with  that  given  from  Dr.  Mead  in  the  note 
on  Exod.  iv.  6. 

Yerse  3.  The  priest  shall — pronounce  him  unclean.'] 
IPX  NDC31  vetimme  otho;  literally,  shall pollu t e  him ,  i.  e., 
in  the  Hebrew  idiom,  shall  declare  or  pronounce  him 
polluted;  and  in  ver.  23  it  is  said,  the  priest  shall 
pronounce  him  clean ,  jron  vetiharo  haccohen, 

the  priest  shall  cleanse  him ,  i.  e.,  declare  him  clean. 
In  this  phrase  we  have  the  proper  meaning  of  Matt, 
xvi.  19  :  Whatsoever  ye  bind  on  earth  shall  be  bound 
in  heaven  ;  and  whatsoever  ye  loose  on  earth  shall  be 
loosed  in  heaven.  By  which  our  Lord  intimates  that 
the  disciples,  from  having  the  keys ,  i.  e.,  the  true  know¬ 
ledge  of  the  doctrine,  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  should, 
from  particular  evidences,  be  at  all  times  able  to  dis¬ 
tinguish  between  the  clean  and  the  unclean,  the  sincere 
and  the  hypocrite  ;  and  pronounce  a  judgment  as  infal¬ 
lible  as  the  priest  did  in  the  case  of  the  leprosy,  from 
the  tokens  already  specified.  And  as  this  binding  and 
loosing ,  or  pronouncing  fit  or  unfit  for  fellowship  with 
the  members  of  Christ,  must  in  the  case  of  the  dis^ 
ciples  be  always  according  to  the  doctrine  of  the  king¬ 
dom  of  heaven,  the  sentence  should  be  considered  as 
proceeding  immediately  from  thence,  and  consequently 
as  Divinely  ratified.  The  priest  polluted  or  cleansed , 
i.  e.,  declared  the  man  clean  or  unclean,  according  to 
signs  well  known  and  infallible.  The  disciples  or 
ministers  of  Christ  bind  or  loose,  declare  to  be  fit  or 
unfit  for  Church  fellowship,  according  to  unequivocal 
evidences  of  innocence  or  guilt.  In  the  former  case, 
the  priest  declared  the  person  fit  or  unfit  for  civil  so¬ 
ciety  ;  in  the  latter,  the  ministers  of  Christ  declare 
the  person  against  whom  the  suspicion  of  guilt  is  laid, 
fit  or  unfit  for  continued  association  with  the  Church 
of  God.  The  office  was  the  same  in  both,  a  declara¬ 
tion  of  the  truth,  not  from  any  power  that  they  pos¬ 
sessed  of  cleansing  or  polluting,  of  binding  ox  of  loosing , 
but  by  the  knowledge  they  gained  from  the  infallible 
sio-ns  and  evidences  produced  on  the  respective  cases. 

547 


LEVITICUS. 


Various  signs  ivhereby  the 


leprosy  may  be  discerned 


a.  M.  2514.  9  When  the  plague  of  leprosy 

B.  C.  1490.  .  .  1  1  11  1 

An. Exod. isr. 2.  is  ilia  man,  then  he  shall  be 

Abib  or  Nlsan-  brought  unto  the  priest ; 

10  e  And  the  priest  shall  see  him  :  and, 
behold,  if  the  rising  be  white  in  the  skin,  and 
it  have  turned  the  hair  white,  and  there  be 
{ quick  raw  flesh  in  the  rising; 

1 1  It  is  an  old  leprosy  in  the  skin  of  his 
flesh,  and  the  priest  shall  pronounce  him  un¬ 
clean,  and  shall  not  shut  him  up  :  for  he  is 
unclean. 

1 2  And  if  a  leprosy  break  out  abroad  in  the 
skin,  and  the  leprosy  cover  all  the  skin  of  him 
that  hath  the  plague,  from  his  head  even  to 
his  foot,  wheresoever  the  priest  looketh  ; 

1 3  Then  the  priest  shall  consider  :  and,  be¬ 
hold,  if  the  leprosy  have  covered  all  his  flesh, 
he  shall  pronounce  him  clean  that  hath  the 
plague  :  it  is  all  turned  white  :  he  is  clean. 

14  But  when  raw  flesh  appeareth  in  him,  he 
shall  be  unclean. 

15  And  the  priest  shall  see  the  raw  flesh, 
and  pronounce  him  to  be  unclean  :  for  the 
raw  flesh  is  unclean  :  it  is  a  leprosy. 

16  Or  if  the  raw  flesh  turn  again,  and  be 
changed  into  white,  he  shall  come  unto  the 
priest ; 

17  And  the  priest  shall  see  him  :  and,  be¬ 
hold,  if  the  plague  be  turned  into  white  ;  then 
the  priest  shall  pronounce  him  clean  that  hath 
the  plague  :  he  is  clean. 

18  The  flesh  also,  in  which,  even  in  the 
skin  thereof,  was  a  s  boil,  and  is  healed ; 

19  And  in  the  place  of  the  boil  there  be  a 


white  rising,  or  a  bright  spot,  a.  m.  2M4. 
white,  and  somewhat  reddish,  An.  Exod.  Isr.  2. 
and  it  be  showed  to  the  priest ;  Ablb  or  Nisam'  . 

20  And  if,  when  the  priest  seeth  it,  behold, 
it  be  in  sight  lower  than  the  skin,  and  the  hair 
thereof  be  turned  white  ;  the  priest  shall  pro¬ 
nounce  him  unclean  ;  it  is  a  plague  of  leprosy 
broken  out  of  the  boil. 

2 1  But  if  the  priest  look  on  it,  and,  behold, 
there  be  no  white  hairs  therein,  and  7/ it  not 
lower  than  the  skin,  but  be  somewhat  dark  ; 
then  the  priest  shall  shut  him  up  seven  days : 

22  And  if  it  spread  much  abroad  in  the  skin, 
then  the  priest  shall  pronounce  him  unclean  : 
it  is  a  plague. 

23  But  if  the  bright  spot  stay  in  his  place, 
and  spread  not,  it  is  a  burning  boil :  and  the 
priest  shall  pronounce  him  clean. 

24  Or  if  there  be  any  flesh,  in  the  skin, 
whereof  there  is  h  a  hot  burning,  and  the  quick 
flesh  that  burneth  have  a  white  bright  spot, 
somewhat  reddish  or  white  ; 

25  Then  the  priest  shall  look  upon  it :  and, 
behold,  if  the  hair  in  the  bright  spot  be  turned 
white,  and  it  be  in  sight  deeper  than  the  skin  ; 
it  is  a  leprosy  broken  out  of  the  burning : 
wherefore  the  priest  shall  pronounce  him  un¬ 
clean  :  it  is  the  plague  of  leprosy. 

26  But  if  the  priest  look  on  it,  and,  behold, 
there  be  no  white  hair  in  the  bright  spot,  and 
it  be  no  lower  than  the  other  skin,  but  be 
somewhat  dark  ;  then  the  priest  shall  shut  him 
up  seven  days  : 

27  And  the  priest  shall  look  upon  lum  the 


e  Numbers  xii,  10,  12 ;  2  Kings  v.  27 ;  2  Chronicles 

xxvi.  20. 

Verse  13.  If  the  leprosy  have  covered  all  his  flesh, 
he  shall  pronounce  him  clean ]  Why  is  it  that  the 
partial  leper  was  pronounced  unclean,  and  the  person 
totally  covered  with  the  disease  clean  ?  This  was 
probably  owing  to  a  different  species  or  stage  of  the 
disease  ;  the  partial  disease  was  contagious,  the  total 
not  contagious.  That  there  are  two  different  species 
or  degrees  of  the  same  disease  described  here,  is  suffi¬ 
ciently  evident.  In  one,  the  body  was  all  covered 
with  a  white  enamelled  scurf ;  in  the  other,  there  was 
a  quick  raw  flesh  in  the  risings.  On  this  account  the 
one  might  be  deemed  unclean,  i.  e.,  contagious,  the 
other  not  ;  for  contact  with  the  quick  raw  flesh  would 
be  more  likely  to  communicate  the  disease  than  the 
touch  of  the  hard  dry  scurf.  The  ichor  proceeding 
from  the  former,  when  brought  into  contact  with  the 
flesh  of  another,  would  soon  be  taken  into  the  consti¬ 
tution  by  means  of  the  absorbent  vessels ;  but  where 
the  whole  surface  was  perfectly  dry,  the  absorbent 

543 


f  Hebrew,  the  quickening  of  living  flesh. - S  Exodus  ix.  9. 

h  Heb.  a  burning  of  fire. 

vessels  of  another  person  coming  in  contact  with  the 
diseased  man  could  imbibe  nothing,  and  therefore  there 
was  comparatively  no  danger  of  infection.  Hence 
that  species  or  stage  of  the  disease  that  exhibited  the 
quick  raw  rising  was  capable  of  conveying  the  infec¬ 
tion  for  the  reasons  already  assigned,  when  the  other 
was  not.  Dr.  Mead  thus  accounts  for  the  circum¬ 
stance  mentioned  in  the  text.  See  on  ver.  18.  As 
the  leprosy  infected  bodies,  clothes,  and  even  the  walls 
of  houses,  is  it  not  rational  to  suppose  that  it  was 
occasioned  by  a  species  of  animalcula  or  vermin  bur¬ 
rowing  under  the  skin  1  Of  this  opinion  there  are 
some  learned  supporters. 

Verse  18.  In  the  skin  thereof,  teas  a  boil ]  Scheuch - 
zer  supposes  this  and  the  following  verse  to  speak  of 
phlegmonic,  erysipelatous,  gangrenous,  and  phagedenic 
ulcers,  all  of  which  were  subjected  to  the  examination 
of  the  priest,  to  see  whether  they  were  infectious,  or 
whether  the  leprosy  might  not  take  its  origin  from 


CHAP.  XIII. 


Of  leprosy  in  the  head , 

a.  M.  2514.  seventh  day  :  and  if  it  be  spread 

An.  Exod.  Isr.  2.  much  abroad  in  the  skin,  then 
Abib  or  Nisan.  pHest  shall  pronounce  him 

unclean :  it  is  the  plague  of  leprosy. 

28  And  if  the  bright  spot  stay  in  his  place, 
and,  spread  not  in  the  skin,  but  it  he  somewhat 
dark  ;  it  is  a  rising  of  the  burning,  and  the 
priest  shall  pronounce  him  clean :  for  it  is  an 
inflammation  of  the  burning. 

29  If  a  man  or  a  woman  have  a  plague  upon 
the  head  or  the  beard ; 

30  Then  the  priest  shall  see  the  plague : 
and,  behold,  if  it  he  in  sight  deeper  than  the 
skin  ;  and  there  he  in  it  a  yellow  thin  hair  ; 
then  the  priest  shall  pronounce  him  unclean  : 
it  is  a  dry  scall,  even  a  leprosy  upon  the  head 
or  beard. 

3  1  And  if  the  priest  look  on  the  plague  of 
the  scall,  and,  behold,  it  he  not  in  sight  deeper 
than  the  skin,  and  that  there  is  no  black  hair 
in  it :  then  the  priest  shall  shut  up  him  that 
hath  the  plague  of  the  scall  seven  days  : 

32  And  in  the  seventh  day  the  priest  shall 
look  on  the  plague  :  and,  behold,  if  the  scall 
spread  not,  and  there  be  in  it  no  yellow  hair, 
and  the  scall  he  not  in  sight  deeper  than  the 
skin : 

33  He  shall  be  shaven,  but  the  scall  shall  he 
not  shave ;  and  the  priest  shall  shut  up  him 
that  hath  the  scall  seven  days  more ; 

34  And  in  the  seventh  day  the  priest  shall 
look  on  the  scall  :  and,  behold,  if  the  scall  be 
not  spread  in  the  skin,  nor  he  in  sight  deeper 
than  the  skin  ;  then  the  priest  shall  pronounce 
him  clean :  and  he  shall  wash  his  clothes, 
and  be  clean. 

35  But  if  the  scall  spread  much  in  the  skin 
after  his  cleansing ; 

*  Heb.  head  is  pilled. - k  Ezek.  xxiv.  17,  22  ;  Mic.  iii.  7. 

them.  A  person  with  any  sore  or  disposition  to  con¬ 
tagion  was  more  likely  to  catch  the  infection  by  con¬ 
tact  with  the  diseased  person,  than  he  was  whose  skin 
was  whole  and  sound,  and  his  habit  good. 

Verse  29.  A  plague  upon  the  head  or  the  beard ] 
This  refers  to  a  disease  in  which,  according  to  the 
Jews,  the  hair  either  on  the  head  or  the  chin  dropped 
out  by  the  roots. 

Verse  33.  The  scall  shall  he  not  shave ]  Lest  the 
place  should  be  irritated  and  inflamed,  and  assume  in 
consequence  other  appearances  besides  those  of  a  le¬ 
prous  infection  ;  in  which  case  the  priest  might  not  be 
able  to  form  an  accurate  judgment. 

\  erse  45.  His  clothes  shall  be  rent,  dfck]  The 

a 


heard ,  and  forehead. 

36  Then  the  priest  shall  look  A.  M.  2514. 
on  him:  and,  behold,  if  the  scall  An.  Exod.  Isr]  2. 
be  spread  in  the  skin,  the  priest  Ablb  or  Nisan. 

shall  not  seek  for  yellow  hair  ;  he  is  unclean. 

37  But  if  the  scall  be  in  his  sight,  at  a  stay, 
and  that  there  is  black  hair  grown  up  therein ; 
the  scall  his  healed,  he  is  clean  :  and  the  priest 
shall  pronounce  him  clean. 

38  If  a  man  also  or  a  woman  have  in  the 
skin  of  their  flesh  bright  spots,  even  white 
bright  spots  ; 

39  Then  the  priest  shall  look  :  and,  behold, 
if  the  bright  spots  in  the  skin  of  their  flesh  he 
darkish  white ;  it  is  a  freckled  spot  that 
groweth  in  the  skin  ;  he  is  clean. 

40  And  the  man  whose  1  hair  is  fallen  off 
his  head,  he  is  bald ;  yet  is  he  clean. 

4  1  And  he  that  hath  his  hair  fallen  off  from 
the  part  of  his  head  toward  his  face,  he  is  fore¬ 
head  bald  ;  yet  is  he  clean. 

42  And  if  there  be  in  the  bald,  head,  or  bald 
forehead,  a  white  reddish  sore  ;  it  is  a  leprosy 
sprung  up  in  his  bald  head,  or  his  bald  fore¬ 
head. 

43  Then  the  priest  shall  look  upon  it :  and, 
behold,  if  the  rising  of  the  sore  he  white  red¬ 
dish  in  his  bald  head,  or  in  his  bald  forehead, 
as  the  leprosy  appeareth  in  the  skin  of  the 
flesh  ; 

44  He  is  a  leprous  man,  he  is  unclean : 
the  priest  shall  pronounce  him  utterly  unclean  ; 
his  plague  is  in  his  head. 

45  And  the  leper  in  whom  the  plague  is, 
his  clothes  shall  be  rent,  and  his  head  bare, 
and  he  shall  k  put  a  covering  upon  his  upper 
lip,  and  shall  cry,  1  Unclean,  unclean. 

4  6  All  the  days  wherein  the  plague  shall  he 
in  him  he  shall  be  defiled ;  he  is  unclean  :  he 

1  Lam.  iv.  15. 

leprous  person  is  required  to  be  as  one  that  mourned 
for  the  dead,  or  for  some  great  and  public  calamity. 
He  was  to  have  his  clothes  rent  in  token  of  extreme 
sorrow  ;  his  head  was  to  be  made  bare,  the  ordinary 
bonnet  or  turban  being  omitted ;  and  he  was  to  have  a 
covering  upon  his  upper  lip,  his  jaws  being  tied  up 
with  a  linen  cloth,  after  the  same  manner  in  which  the 
Jews  bind  up  the  dead,  which  custom  is  still  observed 
among  the  Jews  in  Barbary  on  funeral  occasions  :  a 
custom  which,  from  Ezek.  xxiv.  17,  we  learn  had 
prevailed  very  anciently  among  the  Jews  in  Palestine. 
He  was  also  to  cry,  Unclean ,  unclean,  in  order  to  pre¬ 
vent  any  person  from  coming  near  him,  lest  the  conta¬ 
gion  might  be  thus  communicated  and  diffused  through 

549 


LEVITICUS. 


Of  leprosy  in  the  garments , 

a.  M.  2514.  shall  dwell  alone  ;  m  without  the 

A.n.  Exod.  isr.  2.  camp  shall  his  habitation  he. 

Abib  or  Nisan.  4?  The  garment  als0  that  the 

plague  of  leprosy  is  in,  whether  it  he  a  woollen 
garment,  or  a  linen  garment ; 

48  Whether  it  he  in  the  warp,  or  woof;  of 
linen,  or  of  woollen  ;  whether  in  a  skin,  or  in 
any  n  thing  made  of  skin  ; 

49  And  if  the  plague  be  greenish  or  red¬ 
dish  in  the  garment,  or  in  the  skin,  either  in 
the  warp  or  in  the  woof,  or  in  any  0  thing  of 
skin  ;  it  is  a  plague  of  leprosy,  and  shall  be 
showed  unto  the  priest  : 

50  And  the  priest  shall  look  upon  the  plague, 
and  shut  up  it  that  hath  the  plague  seven  days  : 

51  And  he  shall  look  on  the  plague  on  the 
seventh  day  :  if  the  plague  be  spread  in  the 
garment,  either  in  the  warp  or  in  the  woof,  or 
in  a  skin,  or  in  any  work  that  is  made  of  skin  ; 
the  plague  is  p  a  fretting  leprosy  ;  it  is  unclean. 

52  He  shall  therefore  burn  that  garment, 
whether  warp  or  woof,  in  woollen  or  in  linen, 
or  any  thing  of  skin,  wherein  the  plague  is  : 
for  it  is  a  fretting  leprosy ;  it  shall  be  burnt 
in  the  fire. 

53  And  if  the  priest  shall  look,  and,  behold, 
the  plague  be  not  spread  in  the  garment,  either 
in  the  warp,  or  in  the  woof,  or  in  any  thing  of  skin ; 

m  Num.  v.  2;  xii.  14  ;  2  Kings  vii.  3 ;  xv.  5  ;  2  Chron.  xxvi. 

21 ;  Luke  xvii.  12. - n  Heb.  work  of. - 0  Heb.  vessel,  or, 

instrument. 

society;  and  hence  the  Targumist  render  it,  Be  not 
ye  made  unclean  !  Be  not  ye  made  unclean  !  A  caution 
to  others  not  to  come  near  him. 

Yerse  47.  The  garment  also\  The  whole  account 
here  seems  to  intimate  that  the  garment  was  fretted 
hy  this  contagion  ;  and  hence  it  is  likely  that  it  was 
occasioned  by  a  species  of  small  animals ,  which  we 
know  to  be  the  cause  of  the  itch ;  these,  by  breeding 
in  the  garments,  must  necessarily  multiply  their  kind, 
and  fret  the  garments,  i.  e.,  corrode  a  portion  of  the 
finer  parts,  after  the  manner  of  moths ,  for  their  nourish¬ 
ment.  See  ver.  52. 

Yerse  52.  He  shall  therefore  burn  that  garment ] 
There  being  scarcely  any  means  of  radically  curing 
the  infection.  It  is  well  known  that  the  garments  in¬ 
fected  by  the  psora,  or  itch  animal,  have  been  known 
to  communicate  the  disease  even  six  or  seven  years 
after  the  first  infection.  This  has  been  also  experi¬ 
enced  by  the  sorters  of  rags  at  some  paper  mills. 

Yerse  54.  He  shall  shut  it  up  seven  days  more ]  To 
give  time  for  the  spreading  of  the  contagion,  if  it  did  exist 
there  ;  that  there  might  be  the  most  unequivocal  marks 
and  proofs  that  the  garment  ivas  or  was  not  infected. 

Verse  58.  It  shall  be  ivashed  the  second  time]  Ac¬ 
cording  to  the  Jews  the  first  washing  was  to  put  away 
the  plague,  the  second  to  cleanse  it. 

550 


and  how  they  are  to  he  treated , 

54  Then  the  priest  shall  com-  A.  M.  2514. 
mand  that  they  wash  the  thing  An.  Exod.  Iar.2. 
wherein  the  plague  is,  and  he  Ablb  or  Nlsan~ 
shall  shut  it  up  seven  days  more  : 

55  And  the  priest  shall  look  on  the  plague, 
after  that  it  is  washed ;  and,  behold,  if  the 
plague  have  not  changed  his  colour,  and  the 
plague  be  not  spread  ;  it  is  unclean  ;  thou 
shalt  burn  it  in  the  fire ;  it  is  fret  inward, 
q  whether  it  he  bare  within  or  without. 

56  And  if  the  priest  look,  and,  behold,  the 
plague  he  somewhat  dark  after  the  washing  of 
it ;  then  he  shall  rend  it  out  of  the  garment,  or 
out  of  the  skin,  or  out  of  the  warp,  or  out  of 
the  woof : 

57  And  if  it  appear  still  in  the  garment, 
either  in  the  warp,  or  in  the  woof,  or  in  any 
thing  of  skin  ;  it  is  a  spreading  plague  :  thou 
shalt  burn  that  wherein  the  plague  is  with  fire. 

58  And  the  garment,  either  warp,  or  woof, 
or  whatsoever  thing  of  skin  it  he,  which  thou 
shalt  wash,  if  the  plague  be  departed  from 
them,  rthen  it  shall  be  washed  the  second 
time,  and  shall  be  clean. 

59  This  is  the  law  of  the  plague  of  leprosy 
in  a  garment  of  woollen  or  linen,  either  in  the 
warp,  or  woof,  or  any  thing  of  skins,  to  pro¬ 
nounce  it  clean,  or  to  pronounce  it  unclean. 

P  Chap.  xiv.  44. - ^  Heb.  whether  it  be  bald  in  the  head  there  ■ 

of,  or,  in  the  forehead  thereof. - r2  Kings  v.  10, 14  ;  Psa.  li.  2; 

2  Cor.  vii.  1  ;  Rev.  i.  5  ;  vii.  14. 

Both  among  Jews  and  Gentiles  the  leprosy 
has  been  considered  as  a  most  expressive  emblem 
of  sin,  the  properties  and  circumstances  of  the  one 
pointing  out  those  of  the  other.  The  similitude  or 
parallel  has  been  usually  run  in  the  following  man¬ 
ner  : — 

1.  The  leprosy  began  with  a  spot,  a  simple  hidden 
infection  being  the  cause. 

2.  This  spot  was  very  conspicuous,  and  argued  the 
source  whence  it  proceeded. 

3.  It  was  of  a  diffusive  nature,  soon  spreading  over 
the  whole  body. 

4.  It  communicated  its  infectious  nature,  not  only 
to  the  whole  of  the  person’s  body,  but  also  to  his 
clothes  and  habitation. 

5.  It  rendered  the  infected  person  loathsome,  unfit 
for  and  dangerous  to  society,  because  of  its  infectious 
nature. 

6.  The  person  infected  was  obliged  to  be  separated 
from  society,  both  religious  and  civil  ;  to  dwell  by 
himself  without  the  camp  or  city,  and  hold  commerce 
with  none. 

7.  He  was  obliged  to  proclaim  his  own  uncleanness, 
publicly  acknowledge  his  defilement,  and,  sensible  of 
his  plague,  continue  humbled  and  abased  before  God 
and  man. 

a 


CHAP.  XIV. 


The  method  of 

How  expressive  all  these  are  of  the  nature  of  sin 
and  the  state  of  a  sinner,  a  spiritual  mind  will  at  once 
perceive. 

1.  The  original  infection  or  corruption  of  nature 
is  the  grand  hidden  cause ,  source,  and  spring  of  all 
transgression. 

2.  Iniquity  is  a  seed  that  has  its  growth,  gradual 
increase,  and  perfection.  As  the  various  powers  of 
the  mind  are  developed,  so  it  diffuses  itself,  infecting 
every  passion  and  appetite  through  their  whole  extent 
and  operation. 

3.  As  it  spreads  in  the  mind ,  so  it  diffuses  itself 
through  the  life ;  every  action  partaking  of  its  influ¬ 
ence,  till  the  whole  conduct  becomes  a  tissue  of  trans¬ 
gression,  because  every  imagination  of  the  thoughts 
of  a  sinner’s  heart  is  only  evil  continually,  Gen.  vi. 
This  is  the  natural  state  of  man. 

4.  As  a  sinner  is  infected ,  so  is  he  infectious ;  by 
his  precept  and  example  he  spreads  the  infernal  con¬ 
tagion  wherever  he  goes ;  joining  with  the  multitude 
to  do  evil,  strengthening  and  being  strengthened  in  the 


cleansing  the  leper. 

ways  of  sin  and  death,  and  becoming  especially  a  snare 
and  a  curse  to  his  own  household. 

5.  That  a  sinner  is  abominable  in  the  sight  of  God 
and  of  all  good  men,  that  he  is  unfit  for  the  society  of 
the  righteous,  and  that  he  cannot,  as  such,  be  admitted 
into  the  kingdom  of  God,  needs  no  proof. 

6.  It  is  owing  to  the  universality  of  the  evil  that 
sinners  are  not  expelled  from  society  as  the  most 
dangerous  of  all  monsters,  and  obliged  to  live  without 
having  any  commerce  with  their  fellow  creatures. 
Ten  lepers  could  associate  together,  because  partaking 
of  the  same  infection  :  and  civil  society  is  generally 
maintained,  because  composed  of  a  leprous  community. 

7.  He  that  wishes  to  be  saved  from  his  sins  must 
humble  himself  before  God  and  man,  sensible  of  his 
own  sore  and  the  plague  of  his  heart ;  confess  his 
transgressions ;  look  to  God  for  a  cure,  from  whom 
alone  it  can  be  received  ;  and  bring  that  Sacrifice  by 
which  alone  the  guilt  can  be  taken  away,  and  his  soul 
be  purified  from  all  unrighteousness.  See  the  con¬ 
clusion  of  the  following  chapter. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 


Introduction  to  the  sacrifices  and  ceremonies  to  be  used  in  cleansing  the  leper,  1—3.  Two  living  birds,  cedar- 
wood,  scarlet,  and  hyssop,  to  be  brought  for  him  ivho  ivas  to  be  cleansed ,  4.  One  of  the  birds  to  be  hilled , 
5  ;  and  the  living  bird,  with  the  cedar-wood ,  scarlet ,  and  hyssop,  to  be  dipped  in  the  blood ,  and  to  be  sprinkled 
on  him  who  had  been  infected  with  the  leprosy ,  6,  7  ;  after  ivhich  he  must  wash  his  clothes,  shave  his  head, 
eyebrows ,  beard,  dpc.,  bathe  himself,  tarry  abroad  seven  days,  8,  9  ;  on  the  eighth  day  he  must  bring  two 
he-lambs,  one  ewe-lamb,  a  tenth  deal  of  flour,  and  a  log  of  oil,  1 0  ;  ivhich  the  priest  was  to  present  as  a 
trespass-offering,  wave-offering,  and  sin-offering  before  the  Lord,  11-13.  Afterwards  he  ivas  to  sprinkle 
both  the  blood  and  oil  on  the  person  to  be  cleansed,  14—18.  The  atonement  made  by  these  offerings,  19,- 
20.  If  the  person  were  poor,  one  lamb,  with  the  flour  and  oil,  two  turtle-doves,  or  two  young  pigeons, 
ivere  only  required,  21,  22.  These  to  be  presented,  and  the  blood  and  oil  applied  as  before,  23—32.  Laws 
and  ordinances  relative  to  houses  infected  by  the  leprosy ,  33—48.  An  atonement  to  be  made  in  order  to 
cleanse  the  house,  similar  to  that  made  for  the  healed  leper,  49—53.  A  summary  of  this  and  the  preceding 
chapter,  relative  to  leprous  persons,  garments,  and  houses,  54-56.  The  end  for  which  these  different 
laws  were  given,  57. 


A.  M.  2514. 

B.  C.  1490. 
An.  Exod.  Isr.  2. 

Abib  or  Nisan. 


the  Lord  spake  unto 
Moses,  saying, 

_ _ 2  This  shall  be  the  law  of  the 

leper  in  the  day  of  his  cleansing  :  He  a  shall 
be  brought  unto  the  priest ; 


3  And  the  priest  shall  go  forth  a.  m.  2514. 

-  .  r  ii-  B.  C.  1490. 

out  oi  the  camp  ;  and  the  priest  An.  Exod.  isr.  2. 

shall  look,  and,  behold,  if  the  Abib  or  Nisan- 

plague  of  leprosy  be  healed  in  the  leper  ; 

4  Then  shall  the  priest  command  to  take  for 


aMatt.  viii.  2-4  ;  Mark  i.  40,  44  ; 


Luke  v.  12,  14  ;  xvii.  14. 


NOTES  ON  CHAP.  XIV. 

Verse  3.  The  priest  shall  go  forth  out  of  the  camp ] 
As  the  leper  was  separated  from  the  people,  and 
obliged,  because  of  his  uncleanness,  to  dwell  without 
the  camp,  and  could  not  be  admitted  till  the  priest  had 
declared  that  he  was  clean  ;  hence  it  was  necessary 
that  the  priest  should  go  out  and  inspect  him,  and,  if 
healed,  offer  for  him  the  sacrifices  required,  in  order 
to  his  re-admission  to  the  camp.  As  the  priest  alone 
had  authority  to  declare  a  person  clean  or  unclean,  it 
was  necessary  that  the  healed  person  should  show 
himself  to  the  priest ,  that  he  might  make  a  declara¬ 
tion  that  he  was  clean  and  fit  for  civil  and  religious 
society,  without  which,  in  no  case,  could  he  be  admit¬ 
ted  ;  hence,  when  Christ  cleansed  the  lepers,  Matt. 

a 


viii.  2—4,  he  commanded  them  to  go  and  show  them¬ 
selves  to  the  priest,  &c. 

Verse  4.  Two  birds  alive  and  clean,  <^c.]  Whether 
these  birds  were  sparrows,  or  turtle-doves,  or  pigeons, 
we  know  not  ;  probably  any  kind  of  clean  bird,  or 
bird  proper  to  be  eaten,  might  be  used  on  this  occa¬ 
sion,  though  it  is  more  likely  that  turtle-doves  or 
pigeons  were  employed,  because  these  appear  to  have 
been  the  only  birds  offered  in  sacrifice.  Of  the  cedar- 
wood,  hyssop,  clean  bird,  and  scarlet  wool  or  fillet, 
were  made  an  aspergillum ,  or  instrument  to  sprinkle 
with.  The  cedar-wood  served  for  the  handle ,  the  hys¬ 
sop  and  living  bird  were  attached  to  it  by  means  of  the 
scarlet  ivool  or  crimson  fillet.  The  bird  was  so  bound 
to  this  handle  as  that  its  tail  should  be  downwards,  in 

551 


LEVITICUS. 


The  sacrifices  offered 

A.  M.  2514.  him  that  is  to  be  cleansed  two 

An.  Exod.  isr.  2.  b  birds  alive  and  clean,  and 
Abib  or  Nisan.  c  cedar-wood,  and  d  scarlet,  and 

e  hyssop  : 

5  And  the  priest  shall  command  that  one  of 
the  birds  be  killed  in  an  earthen  vessel  over 
running  water. 

6  As  for  the  living  bird,  he  shall  take  it,  and 
the  cedar-wood,  and  the  scarlet,  and  the  hys¬ 
sop,  and  shall  dip  them  and  the  living  bird  in 
the  blood  of  the  bird  that  was  killed  over  the 
running  water ; 

7  And  he  shall  f  sprinkle  upon  him  that  is 
to  be  cleansed  from  the  leprosy  s  seven  times, 
and  shall  pronounce  him  clean ;  and  shall  let 
the  living  bird  loose  h  into  the  open  field. 

8  And  he  that  is  to  be  cleansed  1  shall  wash 
his  clothes,  and  shave  off  all  his  hair,  k  and 
wash  himself  in  water,  that  he  may  be  clean  : 
and  after  that  he  shall  come  into  the  camp, 
and 1  shall  tarry  abroad  out  of  his  tent  seven  days. 

b  Or,  sparrows. - “Numbers  xix.  6. - d  Hebrews  ix.  19. 

e  Psa.  li.  7. - f  Heb.  ix.  13. - s2  Kings  v.  10,  14. - hHeb. 

upon  the  face  of  the  field. - 1  Chap.  xiii.  6. - k  Chap.  xi.  25. 

Num.  xii.  15. 

order  to  be  dipped  into  the  blood  of  the  bird  that  had 
been  killed.  The  whole  of  this  made  an  instrument 
for  the  sprinkling  of  this  blood,  and  when  this  business 
was  done,  the  living  bird  was  let  loose,  and  permitted 
to  go  whithersoever  it  would.  In  this  ceremony,  ac¬ 
cording  to  some  rabbins,  “  the  living  bird  signified  that 
the  dead  flesh  of  the  leper  was  restored  to  soundness ; 
the  cedar-wood ,  which  is  not  easily  corrupted,  that  he 
was  healed  of  his  putrefaction ;  the  scarlet  thread, 
ivool,  or  fillet ,  that  he  was  restored  to  his  good  com¬ 
plexion  ;  and  the  hyssop ,  which  was  purgative  and 
odoriferous,  that  the  disease  was  completely  removed, 
and  the  bad  scen£  that  accompanied  it  entirely  gone.” 
Ainsworth ,  Dodd,  and  others,  have  given  many  of 
these  rabbinical  conceits.  Of  all  these  purifications, 
and  their  accompanying  circumstances,  we  may  safely 
say,  because  authorized  by  the  New  Testament  so  to 
do,  that  they  pointed  out  the  purification  of  the  soul 
through  the  atonement  and  Spirit  of  Christ ;  but  to  run 
analogies  between  the  type  and  the  thing  typified  is 
difficult  and  precarious.  The  general  meaning  and 
design  we  sufficiently  understand  ;  the  particulars  are 
not  readily  ascertainable,  and  consequently  of  little  im¬ 
portance  ;  had  they  been  otherwise,  they  would  have 
been  pointed  out. 

Yerse  5.  Over  running  water. ]  Literally,  living, 
that  is,  spring  water.  The  meaning  appears  to  be 
this  :  Some  water  (about  a  quarter  of  a  log,  an  egg¬ 
shell  and  a  half  full,  according  to  the  rabbins)  was 
taken  from  a  spring,  and  put  into  a  clean  earthen  ves¬ 
sel,  and  they  killed  the  bird  over  this  water,  that  the 
blood  might  drop  into  it ;  and  in  this  blood  and  water 
mixed  they  dipped  the  instrument  before  described, 
and  sprinkled  it  seven  times  upon  the  person  who  was 

552 


in  cleansing  the  leper 

9  But  it  shall  be  on  the  seventh  A.  M.  2514. 
day,  that  he  shall  shave  all  his  An.  Exod.  Isr!  2. 
hair  off  his  head  and  his  beard  Ablb  of  Nlsan‘ 
and  his  eyebrows,  even  all  his  hair  he  shall 
shave  off :  and  he  shall  wash  his  clothes ; 
also  he  shall  wash  his  flesh  in  water,  and  he 
shall  be  clean. 

1 0  And  on  the  eighth  day  111  he  shall  take  two 
he-lambs  without  blemish,  and  one  ewe-lamb 
n  of  the  first  year  without  blemish,  and  three 
tenth  deals  of  fine  flour  for  0  a  meat-offering, 
mingled  with  oil,  and  one  log  of  oil. 

1 1  And  the  priest  that  maketh  him  clean 
shall  present  the  man  that  is  to  be  made  clean, 
and  those  things,  before  the  Lord,  at  the  door 
of  the  tabernacle  of  the  congregation. 

12  And  the  priest  shall  take  one  he-lamb, 
and  p  offer  him  for  a  trespass-offering,  and 
the  log  of  oil,  and  q  wave  them  for  a  wave¬ 
offering  before  the  Lord. 

13  And  he  shall  slay  the  lamb  rin  the  place 

m  Matt.  viii.  4;  Mark  i.  44;  Luke  v.  14. - nHeb.  the  daugh¬ 
ter  of  her  year. - 0  Chap.  ii.  1  ;  Num.  xv.  4,  15. - P  Chap.  v. 

2,  18;  vi.  6,  7. - lExod.  xxix.  24. - rExod.  xxix.  11 ;  chap. 

i.  5,  11 ;  iv.  4,  24. 

to  be  cleansed.  The  living  or  spring  water  was 
chosen  because  it  was  purer  than  what  was  taken  from 
pits  or  wells,  the  latter  being  often  in  a  putrid  or  cor¬ 
rupt  state ;  for  in  a  ceremony  of  purifying  or  cleansing, 
every  thing  must  be  as  pure  and  perfect  as  possible. 

Yerse  7.  Shall  let  the  living  bird  loose ]  The  Jews 
teach  that  wild  birds  were  employed  on  this  occasion, 
no  tame  or  domestic  animal  was  used.  Mr.  Ainsworth 
piously  conjectures  that  the  living  and  dead  birds 
were  intended  to  represent  the  death  and  resurrection 
of  Christ,  by  which  an  atonement  was  made  to  purify 
the  soul  from  its  spiritual  leprosy.  The  bird  let  loose 
bears  a  near  analogy  to  the  scape-goat.  See  chap.  xvi. 

Yerse  8.  And  shave  off  all  his  hair]  That  the  water 
by  which  he  was  to  be  washed  should  reach  every 
part  of  his  body,  that  he  might  be  cleansed  from  what¬ 
ever  defilement  might  remain  on  any  part  of  the  sur¬ 
face  of  his  body.  The  Egyptian  priests  shaved  the 
whole  body  every  third  day,  to  prevent  all  manner  of 
defilement. 

Yerse  10.  Two  he-lambs]  One  for  a  trespass-offer¬ 
ing,  ver.  12,  the  other  for  a  burnt-offering,  ver.  19,  20. 

One  ewe-lamb]  This  was  for  a  sin-offering,  ver.  19. 

Three  tenth  deals]  Three  parts  of  an  ephah,  or  three 
omers ;  see  all  these  measures  explained,  Exod.  xvi. 
16.  The  three  tenth  deals  of  flour  were  for  a  min- 
chah,  meat  or  gratitude-offering,  ver.  20.  The  sin- 
offering  was  for  his  impurity ;  the  trespass-offering 
for  his  transgression ;  and  the  gratitude-offering  for 
his  gracious  cleansing.  These  constituted  the  offering 
which  each  was  ordered  to  bring  to  the  priest ;  see 
Matt.  viii.  4. 

Yerse  12.  Wave-offering]  See  Exod.  xxix.  27, 
and  chap,  vii.,  where  the  reader  will  find  an  ample 

a 


CHAP.  XIV. 


The  atonement  made  for  the 

A.  M.  2514.  where  he  shall  kill  the  sin-offer- 
An.  Exod.  isr.  2.  ing  and  the  burnt-offering,  in  the 

Abib  or  Nisan.  holy  p]ace  .  for  .  as  the  gin. 

offering  is  the  priest’s,  so  is  the  trespass¬ 
offering  ;  4  it  is  most  holy. 

14  And  the  priest  shall  take  some  of  the 
blood  of  the  trespass-offering,  and  the  priest 
shall  put  it  u  upon  the  tip  of  the  right  ear  of 
him  that  is  to  be  cleansed,  and  upon  the 
thumb  of  his  right  hand,  and  upon  the  great 
toe  of  his  right  foot : 

15  And  the  priest  shall  take  some  of  the  log 
of  oil,  and  pour  it  into  the  palm  of  his  own 
left  hand  : 

16  And  the  priest  shall  dip  his  right  finger 
in  the  oil  that  is  in  his  left  hand,  and  shall 
sprinkle  of  the  oil  with  his  finger  seven  times 
before  the  Lord  : 

17  And  of  the  rest  of  the  oil  that  is  in  his 
hand  shall  the  priest  put  upon  the  tip  of  the 
right  ear  of  him  that  is  to  be  cleansed,  and 
upon  the  thumb  of  his  right  hand,  and  upon 
the  great  toe  of  his  right  foot,  upon  the  blood 
of  the  trespass-offering : 

1 8  And  the  remnant  of  the  oil  that  is  in  the 
priest’s  hand  he  shall  pour  upon  the  head  of 
him  that  is  to  be  cleansed  :  v  and  the  priest 
shall  make  an  atonement  for  him  before  the 
Lord. 

19  And  the  priest  shall  offer  w  the  sin-offer¬ 
ing,  and  make  an  atonement  for  him  that  is  to 
be  cleansed  from  his  uncleanness  ;  and  after¬ 
ward  he  shall  kill  the  burnt-offering  : 

20  And  the  priest  shall  offer  the  burnt-offer¬ 
ing  and  the  meat-offering  upon  the  altar  ;  and 
the  priest  shall  make  an  atonement  for  him, 
and  he  shall  be  clean. 

21  And  x  if  he  he  poor,  and  y  cannot  get  so 
much,  then  he  shall  take  one  lamb  for  a  tres¬ 
pass-offering  z  to  be  waved,  to  make  an  atone¬ 
ment  for  him,  and  one  tenth  deal  of  fine  flour 
mingled  with  oil  for  a  meat-offering,  and  a 
log  of  oil; 

22  a  And  two  turtle-doves,  or  two  young 

•Chap.  vii.  7. - 1  Chap.  ii.  3;  vii.  6;  xxi.  22. - u  Exod. 

xxix.  20;  chap.  viii.  23. - v  Chap.  iv.  2G. - wChap.  v.  1,  6; 

xii.  7. - x  Chap.  v.  7  ;  xii.  8. 

account  of  all  the  various  offerings  and  sacrifices  used 
among  the  Jews. 

Verse  14.  Upon  the  tip  of  the  right  ear ,  <fc.]  See 
the  note  on  Exod.  xxix.  20. 

\  erse  2 1 .  And  if  he  be  pooi - he  shall  take  one 

lamb]  There  could  be  no  cleansing  without  a  sacri- 


leper  by  various  offerings . 

pigeons,  such  as  he  is  able  to  A.  M.  2514. 
Co7  B.  C.  1490. 

get:  and  the  one  shall  be  a  sin-  An.  Exod.  isr.  2. 
offering,  and  the  other  a  burnt-  Ablb  or  Nlsan- 
offering. 

23  b  And  he  shall  bring  them  on  the  eighth 
day  for  his  cleansing  unto  the  priest,  unto  the 
door  of  the  tabernacle  of  the  congregation, 
before  the  Lord. 

24  c  And  the  priest  shall  take  the  lamb  of 
the  trespass-offering,  and  the  log  of  oil,  and 
the  priest  shall  wave  them  for  a  wave-offer¬ 
ing  before  the  Lord  : 

25  And  he  shall  kill  the  lamb  of  the  tres¬ 
pass-offering,  d  and  the  priest  shall  take  some 
of  the  blood  of  the  trespass-offering,  and  put 
it  upon  the  tip  of  the  right  ear  of  him  that  is 
to  be  cleansed,  and  upon  the  thumb  of  his 
right  hand,  and  upon  the  great  toe  of  his  right 
foot : 

26  And  the  priest  shall  pour  of  the  oil  into 
the  palm  of  his  own  left  hand ; 

27  And  the  priest  shall  sprinkle  with  his 
right  finger  some  of  the  oil  that  is  in  his  left 
hand,  seven  times  before  the  Lord  : 

28  And  the  priest  shall  put  of  the  oil  that  is 
in  his  hand  upon  the  tip  of  the  right  ear  of 
him  that  is  to  be  cleansed,  and  upon  the 
thumb  of  his  right  hand,  and  upon  the  great 
toe  of  his  right  foot,  upon  the  place  of  the 
blood  of  the  trespass-offering  : 

29  And  the  rest  of  the  oil  that  is  in  the 
priest’s  hand  he  shall  put  upon  the  head  of 
him  that  is  to  be  cleansed,  to  make  an  atone¬ 
ment  for  him  before  the  Lord. 

* 

30  And  he  shall  offer  the  one  of  e  the  turtle¬ 
doves,  or  of  the  young  pigeons,  such  as  he 
can  get ; 

3 1  Even  such  as  he  is  able  to  get,  the  one 
for  a  sin-offering,  and  the  other  for  a  burnt- 
offering,  with  the  meat-offering  :  and  the  priest 
shall  make  an  atonement  for  him  that  is  to  be 
cleansed,  before  the  Lord. 

32  This  is  the  law  of  him  in  whom  is  the 
plague  of  leprosy,  whose  hand  is  not  able  to 

y  Heb.  his  hand  reach  not. - 7-  Heb.  for  a  waving.  a  Chap. 

xii.  8;  XV.  14,  15. - b  Ver.  11. - s  Ver.  12. - d  Ver.  14. 

°  Ver.  22;  chap.  xv.  15. 

fice.  On  this  ground  the  apostle  has  properly  observed 
that  all  things  under  the  law  are  purged  with  blood ; 
and  that  without  shedding  of  blood  there  is  no  remis¬ 
sion.  Even  if  the  person  be  poor,  he  must  provide 
one  lamb ;  this  could  not  be  dispensed  with  : — so  every 
soul  to  whom  the  word  of  Divine  revelation  comes, 

553 


LEVITICUS 


Of  leprosy  in  a  house. 

A.  M.  2514.  get  f  that  which  pertaineth  to  his 

B.  C.  1490.  B  .  r 

An.  Exod.  Isr.  2.  Cleansing. 

Abib  or  Nisan.  33  And  the  Lord  spake  unto 
Moses  and  unto  Aaron,  saying, 

34  s  When  ye  be  come  into  the  land  of 
Canaan,  which  I  give  to  you  for  a  possession, 
and  I  put  the  plague  of  leprosy  in  a  house 
of  the  land  of  your  possession  ; 

35  And  he  that  owneth  the  house  shall  come 
and  tell  the  priest,  saying,  It  seemeth  to  me 
there  is  as  it  were  h  a  plague  in  the  house  : 

36  Then  the  priest  shall  command  that  they 
1  empty  the  house,  before  the  priest  go  into  it 
to  see  the  plague,  that  all  that  is  in  the  house 
be  not  made  unclean :  and  afterward  the 
priest  shall  go  in  to  see  the  house  : 

37  And  he  shall  look  on  the  plague,  and, 
behold,  if  the  plague  he  in  the  walls  of  the 
house  with  hollow  streaks,  greenish  or  reddish, 
which  in  sight  are  lower  than  the  wall ; 

38  Then  the  priest  shall  go  out  of  the  house 
to  the  door  of  the  house,  and  shut  up  the 
house  seven  days  : 

39  And  the  priest  shall  come  again  the 
seventh  day,  and  shall  look  :  and,  behold,  if 
the  plague  be  spread  in  the  walls  of  the 
house ; 

40  Then  the  priest  shall  command  that  they 
take  away  the  stones  in  which  the  plague  is, 
and  they  shall  cast  them  into  an  unclean  place 
without  the  city : 

4 1  And  he  shall  cause  the  house  to  be 
scraped  within,  round  about,  and  they  shall 
pour  out  the  dust  that  they  scrape  oh’,  with¬ 
out  the  city,  into  an  unclean  place  : 

fVer.  10. - sGen.  xvii.  8;  Num.  xxxii.  22;  Deut.  vii.  1; 

xxxii.  49. - h  Psa.  xci.  10 ;  Prov.  iii.  33  ;  Zech.  v.  4. 

must  bring-  that  Lamb  of  God  which  takes  away  the 
sin  of  the  world.  There  is  no  redemption  but  in  his 
blood. 

Verse  34.  When  ye  be  come  into  the  land — and  I 
put  the  plague  of  leprosy ]  It  was  probably  from  this 
text  that  the  leprosy  has  been  generally  considered  to 
be  a  disease  inflicted  immediately  by  God  himself;  but 
it  is  well  known  that  in  Scripture  God  is  frequently 
represented  as  doing  what,  in  the  course  of  his  provi¬ 
dence,  he  only  permits  or  suffers  to  be  done.  It  is 
supposed  that  the  infection  of  the  house,  as  well  as  of 
the  person  and  the  garments,  proceeded  from  animal- 
cula.  See  the  notes  on  chap.  xiii.  47,  52. 

Verse  45.  He  shall  break  down  the  house\  “  On 
the  suspicion  of  a  house  being  infected,  the  priest  ex¬ 
amined  it,  and  ordered  it  to  be  shut  up  seven  days ; 
if  he  found  the  plague,  or  signs  of  the  plague,  (hollow 
streaks,  greenish  or  reddish,)  were  not  spread,  he  corn- 

554 


The  manner  of  cleansing  it 

42  And  they  shall  take  other  A.  M.  2514. 
stones,  and  put  them  m  the  place  a?  .  Exod.  isr.  2 
of  those  stones  ;  and  he  shall  Aoib  or  Nlsan- 
take  other  mortar  and  shall  plaster  the  house. 

43  And  if  the  plague  come  again,  and  break 
out  in  the  house,  after  that  he  hath  taken  away 
the  stones,  and  after  he  hath  scraped  the  house, 
and  after  it  is  plastered  : 

44  Then  the  priest  shall  come  and  look,  and, 
behold,  if  the  plague  be  spread  in  the  house, 
it  is  k  a  fretting  leprosy  in  the  house  :  it  is 
unclean. 

45  And  he  shall  break  down  the  house,  the 
stones  of  it,  and  the  timber  thereof,  and  all 
the  mortar  of  the  house  ;  and  he  shall  carry 
them  forth  out  of  the  city  into  an  unclean  place. 

46  Moreover  he  that  goeth  into  the  house 
all  the  while  that  it  is  shut  up,  shall  be  un¬ 
clean  until  the  even. 

47  And  he  that  lieth  in  the  house  shall  wash 
his  clothes  ;  and  he  that  eateth  in  the  house 
shall  wash  his  clothes. 

48  And  if  the  priest  1  shall  come  in,  and 
look  upon  it,  and,  behold,  the  plague  hath  not 
spread  in  the  house,  after  the  house  was  plas¬ 
tered  ;  then  the  priest  shall  pronounce  the 
house  clean,  because  the  plague  is  healed. 

49  And  m  he  shall  take  to  cleanse  the  house 
two  birds,  and  cedar-wood,  and  scarlet,  and 
hyssop  : 

50  And  he  shall  kill  the  one  of  the  birds  in 
an  earthen  vessel,  over  running  water  : 

51  And  he  shall  take  the  cedar-wood,  and 
the  hyssop,  and  the  scarlet,  and  the  living 
bird,  and  dip  them  in  the  blood  of  the  slain 

'  Or , prepare. - k  Chap.  xiii.  51  ;  Zech.  v.  4. - 1  Heb.  in  coming 

in  shall  come  in,  &c. - mVer.  4. 

manded  it  to  be  shut  up  seven  days  more.  On  the 
thirteenth  day  he  revisited  it ;  and  if  he  found  the  in¬ 
fected  place  dim ,  or  gone  away,  he  took  out  that  part 
of  the  wall,  carried  it  out  to  an  unclean  place,  mended 
the  wall,  and  caused  the  whole  house  to  be  new  plas¬ 
tered.  It  was  then  shut  up  a  third  seven  days,  and  he 
came  on  the  nineteenth,  and  if  he  found  that  the  plague 
was  broken  out  anew,  he  ordered  the  house  to  be  pulled 
down.”  See  Ainsworth.  From  all  this  may  we  not 
learn  a  lesson  of  instruction  1  If  the  means  made  use 
of  by  God  and  his  ministers  for  the  conversion  of  a 
sinner  be,  through  his  wilful  obstinacy,  rendered  of  no 
avail ;  if  by  his  evil  practices  he  trample  under  foot 
the  blood  of  the  covenant  wherewith  he  might  have 
been  sanctified,  and  do  despite  to  the  Spirit  of  God ; 
then  God  will  pull  down  his  house — dislodge  his  soul 
from  its  earthly  tabernacle,  consign  the  house,  the  body, 
to  corruption,  and  the  spirit  to  the  perdition  of  ungodly 

a 


CHAP.  XV. 


The  manner  of  cleansing 


the  infected  house . 


A  M.  2514.  bird,  and  in  the  running  water, 

An.  Exod.  isr.  2.  and  sprinkle  the  house  seven 
Abib  or  Nisan.  timeg  . 

52  And  he  shall  cleanse  the  house  with 
the  blood  of  the  bird,  and  with  the  running 
water,  and  with  the  living  bird,  and  with  the 
cedar-wood,  and  with  the  hyssop,  and  with 
the  scarlet :  . 

53  But  he  shall  let  go  the  living  bird  out 
of  the  city  into  the  open  fields,  and  n  make  an 


atonement  for  the  house:  and  it  a.  m.  2514. 

,  „  ,  ,  B.  C.  1490. 

shall  be  clean.  An.  Exod.  isr.  2. 

54  This  is  the  law  for  all  man-  Abib  or  Nisan' 
ner  of  plague  of  leprosy,  and  0  scall, 

55  And  for  the  p  leprosy  of  a  garment,  q  and 
of  a  house. 

56  And  rfor  a  rising,  and  for  a  scab,  and 
for  a  bright  spot  : 

57  To  s  teach  1  when  it  is  unclean,  and  when 
it  is  clean  :  this  is  the  law  of  leprosy. 


nVer.  20. - 0  Chap.  xiii.  30. - PChap.  xiii.  47. - <iVer.  34. 

r  Chap.  xiii.  2. 


sDeut.  xxiv.  8;  Ezek.  xliv.  23. - ‘Heb.  in  the  day  of  the 

unclean,  a?id  in  the  day  of  the  clean. 


men.  Reader,  see  well  how  it  stands  writh  thy  soul. 
God  is  not  mocked :  what  a  man  soweth,  that  shall  he  reap. 

Verse  53.  He  shall  let  go  the  living  bird ]  This 
might  as  well  be  called  the  scape-bird ;  as  the  goat ,  in 
chap.  xvi„  is  called  the  scape-goat.  The  rites  are 
similar  in  both  cases,  and  probably  had  nearly  the 
same  meaning. 

W e  have  already  taken  occasion  to  observe  (see  the  end 
of  the  preceding  chapter)  that  the  leprosy  was  strongly 
emblematical  of  sin ;  to  which  w*e  may  add  here, — 

1 .  That  the  leprosy  was  a  disease  generally  acknow¬ 
ledged  to  be  incurable  by  any  human  means  ;  and 
therefore  the  Jews  did  not  attempt  to  cure  it.  What 
is  directed  to  be  done  here  was  not  in  order  to  cure 
the  leper,  but  to  declare  him  cured  and  fit  for  society. 
In  like  manner  the  contagion  of  sin,  its  guilt  and  its 
power,  can  only  be  removed  by  the  hand  of  God ;  all 
means,  without  his  especial  influence,  can  be  of  no  avail. 

2.  The  body  must  be  sprinkled  and  washed,  and  a 
sacrifice  offered  for  the  sin  of  the  soul,  before  the  leper 
could  be  declared  to  be  clean.  To  cleanse  the  spiritual 
leper,  the  Lamb  of  God  must  be  slain,  and  the  sprink¬ 
ling  of  his  blood  be  applied.  Without  the  shedding 
of  this  blood  there  is  no  remission. 

3.  When  the  leper  was  cleansed,  he  was  obliged 
to  show  himself  to  the  priest,  whose  province  it  was 
to  pronounce  him  clean,  and  declare  him  fit  for  inter¬ 
course  with  civil  and  religious  society.  When  a  sin¬ 
ner  is  converted  from  the  error  of  his  ways,  it  is  the 
business,  as  it  is  the  prerogative,  of  the  ministers  of 
Christ,  after  having  duly  acquainted  themselves  with 
every  circumstance,  to  declare  the  person  converted 
from  sin  to  holiness,  to  unite  him  with  the  people  of 
God,  and  admit  him  to  all  the  ordinances  which  belong 
to  the  faithful. 


4.  When  the  leper  was  cleansed,  he  was  obliged  by 
the  law  to  offer  a  gift  unto  the  Lord  for  his  healing,  as 
a  proof  of  his  gratitude ,  and  an  evidence  of  his  obe¬ 
dience.  When  a  sinner  is  restored  to  the  Divine  favour, 
he  should  offer  continually  the  sacrifice  of  a  grateful 
heart,  and,  in  willing  obedience,  show  forth  the  virtues 
of  Him  who  has  called  him  from  darkness  and  wretch¬ 
edness  to  marvellous  light  and  happiness. 

Reader,  such  was  the  leprosy,  its  destructive  nature 
and  consequences,  and  the  means  of  removing  it ; 
such  is  the  spiritual  evil  represented  by  it,  such  its 
consequences,  and  such  the  means  by  which  alone  it 
can  be  removed.  The  disease  of  sin,  inflicted  by  the 
devil,  can  only  be  cured  by  the  power  of  God.  1.  Art 
thou  a  leper  1  Do  the  spots  of  this  spiritual  infection 
begin  to  appear  on  thee  ?  2.  Art  thou  young ,  and 

only  entering  into  the  ways  of  the  world  and  sin  ? 
Stop  !  bad  habits  are  more  easily  conquered  to-day 
than  they  will  be  to-morrow.  3.  Art  thou  stricken 
in  years ,  and  rooted  in  transgression  ]  How  kind  is 
thy  Maker  to  have  preserved  thee  alive  so  long  !  Turn 
from  thy  transgressions,  humble  thy  soul  before  him, 
confess  thine  iniquity  and  implore  forgiveness.  Seek, 
and  thou  shalt  find.  Behold  the  Lamb  of  God,  who 
taketh  away  the  sin  of  the  world  !  4.  Hast  thou  been 

cleansed ,  and  hast  not  returned  to  give  glory  to  God  "? 
hast  not  continued  in  the  truth,  serving  thy  Maker  and 
Saviour  wdth  a  loving  and  obedient  heart  1  How  cut¬ 
ting  is  that  word,  Were  there  not  ten  cleansed  ?  but 
where  are  the  nine  l  Thou  art  probably  one  of  them. 
Be  confounded  at  thy  ingratitude,  and  distressed  for 
thy  backsliding  ;  and  apply  a  second  time  for  the  heal¬ 
ing  efficacy  of  the  great  Atonement.  Turn,  thou  back¬ 
slider  ;  for  he  is  married  unto  thee ,  and  will  heal  thy 
backslidings ,  and  ivill  love  thee  freely .  Amen.  So  be 
1  it,  Lord  Jesus  ! 


CHAPTER  XV. 

Laws  concerning  uncleanness  of  men,  1—12.  Mode  of  cleansing ,  13—15.  Of  uncleanness ,  accidental  and 
casual,  16—18.  Laios  concerning  the  uncleanness  of  women,  19—27.  Mode  of  cleansing,  28—30. 
Recapitulation  of  the  ordinances  relative  to  the  preceding  cases,  31—33. 

a 


555 


Different  uncleannesses ,  LEVITICUS.  and  laws  respecting  them 


a.  M.  2514.  A  ND  the  Lord  spake  unto 

B.  C.  1490.  il  M  +  A 

An.  Exod.  Isr.  2.  Moses  and  to  Aaron,  saying, 

Abib or  Nlsan-  2  Speak  unto  the  children  of 

Israel,  and  say  unto  them,  a  When  any  man  hath 

a  b  running  issue  out  of  his  flesh,  because  of 

his  issue  he  is  unclean. 

3  And  this  shall  be  his  uncleanness  in  his 
issue  :  whether  his  flesh  run  with  his  issue, 
or  his  flesh  be  stopped  from  his  issue,  it  is 
his  uncleanness. 

4  Every  bed,  whereon  he  lieth  that  hath  the 
issue,  is  unclean  :  and  every  c  thing  whereon 
he  sitteth  shall  be  unclean. 

5  And  whosoever  toucheth  his  bed  shall 
wash  his  clothes,  d  and  bathe  himself  in  water, 
and  be  unclean  until  the  even. 

6  And  he  that  sitteth  on  any  thing  whereon 
he  sat  that  hath  the  issue  shall  wash  his 
clothes,  and  bathe  himself  in  water,  and  be 
unclean  until  even. 

®-Chapter  xxii.  4;  N.um.  v.  2  ;  2  Samuel  iii.  29 ;  Matt.  ix.  20; 

Mark  v.  25  ;  Luke  viii.  43. 

NOTES  ON  CHAP.  XV. 

Verse  2.  When  any  man  hath  a  running  issue ] 
The  cases  of  natural  uncleanness,  both  of  men  and 
women,  mentioned  in  this  chapter,  taken  in  a  theolo¬ 
gical  point  of  view,  are  not  of  such  importance  to  us 
as  to  render  a  particular  description  necessary,  the 
letter  of  the  text  being,  in  general,  plain  enough.  The 
disease  mentioned  in  the  former  part  of  this  chapter 
appears  to  some  to  have  been  either  the  consequence 
of  a  very  bad  infection,  or  of  some  criminal  indulgence  ; 
for  they  find  that  it  might  be  communicated  in  a  va¬ 
riety  of  ways,  which  they  imagine  are  here  distinctly 
specified.  On  this  ground  the  person  was  declared 
unclean ,  and  all  commerce  and  connection  with  him 
strictly  forbidden.  The  Septuagint  version  renders 
hazzab,  the  man  with  the  issue ,  by  6  yovoppvjjp, 
the  man  with  a  gonorrhoea ,  no  less  than  nine  times  in 
this  chapter  ;  and  that  it  means  what  in  the  present 
day  is  commonly  understood  by  that  disorder,  taken 
not  only  in  its  mild  but  in  its  worst  sense,  they  think 
there  is  little  room  to  doubt.  Hence  they  infer  that 
a  disease  which  is  supposed  to  be  comparatively  recent 
in  Europe,  has  existed  almost  from  time  immemorial 
in  the  Asiatic  countries  ;  that  it  ever  has  been,  in  cer¬ 
tain  measures,  what  it  is  now ;  and  that  it  ever  must 
be  the  effect  of  sensual  indulgence,  and  illicit  and  ex¬ 
travagant  intercourse  between  the  sexes.  The  dis¬ 
graceful  disorder  referred  to  here  is  a  foul  blot  which 
the  justice  of  God  in  the  course  of  providence  has 
made  in  general  the  inseparable  consequent  of  these 
criminal  indulgences,  and  serves  in  some  measure  to 
correct  and  restrain  the  vice  itself.  In  countries 
where  public  prostitution  was  permitted,  where  it  was 
even  a  religious  ceremony  among  those  who  were  idol¬ 
aters,  this  disease  must  necessarily  have  been  frequent 
and  prevalent.  When  the  pollutions  and  libertinism 

556 


7  And  he  that  toucheth  the  a.  m.  2514. 
flesh  of  him  that  hath  the  issue  An.  Exod.  isr.  2. 
shall  wash  his  clothes,  and  bathe  Atnb 
himself  in  water,  and  be  unclean  until  the 
even. 

8  And  if  he  that  hath  the  issue  spit  upon  him 
that  is  clean ;  then  he  shall  wash  his  clothes, 
and  bathe  himself  in  water,  and  be  unclean 
until  the  even. 

9  And  what  saddle  soever  he  rideth  upon 
that  hath  the  issue  shall  be  unclean. 

10  And  whosoever  toucheth  any  thing  that 
was  under  him  shall  be  unclean  until  the 
even  :  and  he  that  beareth  any  of  those  things 
shall  wash  his  clothes,  and  bathe  himself  in 
water,  and  be  unclean  until  the  even. 

1 1  And  whomsoever  he  toucheth  that  hath 
the  issue,  and  hath  not  rinsed  his  hands  in 
water,  he  shall  wash  his  clothes,  and  bathe 
himself  in  water,  and  be  unclean  until  the  even. 

b  Or,  running  of  the  reins. - c  Heb.  vessel. - d  Chap.  xi.  25 ; 

xvii.  15. 

of  former  times  are  considered,  it  seems  rather  strange 
that  medical  men  should  have  adopted  the  opinion,  and 
consumed  so  much  time  in  endeavouring  to  prove  it, 
viz.,  that  the  disease  is  modern.  It  must  have  existed, 
in  certain,  measures,  ever  since  prostitution  prevailed 
in  the  world  ;  and  this  has  been  in  every  nation  of  the 
earth  from  its  earliest  era.  That  the  Israelites  might 
have  received  it  from  the  Egyptians,  and  that  it  must, 
through  the  Baal-peor  and  Ashterotli  abominations 
which  they  learned  and  practised,  have  prevailed 
among  the  Moabites,  &c.,  there  can  be  little  reason  to 
doubt.  Supposing  this  disease  to  be  at  all  hinted  at 
here ,  the  laws  and  ordinances  enjoined  were  at  once 
wisely  and  graciously  calculated  to  remove  and  pre¬ 
vent  it.  By  contact,  contagion  of  every  kind  is  readily 
communicated  ;  and  to  keep  the  whole  from  the  dis¬ 
eased  must  be  essential  to  the  check  and  eradication 
of  a  contagious  disorder.  This  wTas  the  wise  and 
grand  object  of  this  most  enlightened  Legislator  in  the 
ordinances  which  he  lays  down  in  this  chapter.  I 
grant,  however,  that  it  was  probably  of  a  milder  kind 
in  ancient  times  ;  that  it  has  gained  strength  and  viru¬ 
lence  by  continuance  ;  and  that,  associated  with  some 
foreign  causes,  it  became  greatly  exacerbated  in  Eu¬ 
rope  about  1493,  the  time  in  which  some  have  sup¬ 
posed  it  first  began  to  exist,  though  there  are  strong 
evidences  of  it  in  this  country  ever  since  the  eleventh 
century. 

Verse  11.  And  whomsoever  lie  toucheth\  Here  we 
find  that  the  saliva,  sitting  on  the  same  seat,  lying  on 
the  same  bed,  riding  on  the  same  saddle,  or  simple 
contact,  was  sufficient  to  render  the  person  unclean , 
meaning,  possibly ,  in  certain  cases,  to  communicate 
the  disorder  ;  and  it  is  well  known  that  in  all  these 
ways  the  contagion  of  this  disorder  may  be  communi¬ 
cated.  Is  it  not  even  possible  that  the  effluvia  from 


a 


Various  ordinances  relative 


CHAP.  XV. 


to  those  who  have  issues 


A.  M.  2514.  12  And  the  c  vessel  of  earth, 

An.  Exod.isr.2.  that  he  toucheth  which  hath  the 
Aiub  or  Nisan.  jssuej  shall  be  broken  :  and  every 

vessel  of  wood  shall  be  rinsed  in  water. 

13  And  when  he  that  hath  an  issue  is 
cleansed  of  his  issue  ;  then  f  he  shall  number 
to  himself  seven  days  for  his  cleansing,  and 
wash  his  clothes,  and  bathe  his  flesh  in  run¬ 
ning  water,  and  shall  be  clean. 

14  And  on  the  eighth  day  he  shall  take  to 
him  s  two  turtle-doves,  or  two  young  pigeons, 
and  come  before  the  Lord  unto  the  door  of 
the  tabernacle  of  the  congregation,  and  give 
them  unto  the  priest : 

1 5  And  the  priest  shall  offer  them,  h  the  one 
for  a  sin-offering,  and  the  other  for  a  burnt- 
offering  ;  1  and  the  priest  shall  make  an  atone¬ 
ment  for  him  before  the  Lord,  for  his  issue. 

16  And  k  if  any  man’s  seed  of  copulation  go 
out  from  him,  then  he  shall  wash  all  his  flesh 
in  water,  and  be  unclean  until  the  even. 

17  And  every  garment,  and  every  skin, 
whereon  is  the  seed  of  copulation,  shall  be 
washed  with  water,  and  be  unclean  until  the 
even. 

18  The  woman  also  with  whom  man  shall 
lie  with  seed  of  copulation,  they  shall  both  bathe 
themselves  in  water,  and  1  be  unclean  until  the 
even. 

19  And  m  if  a  woman  have  an  issue,  and  her 
issue  in  her  flesh  be  blood,  she  shall  be  n  put 
apart  seven  days  :  and  whosoever  toucheth 
her  shall  be  unclean  until  the  even. 

20  And  every  thing  that  she  lieth  upon  in 
her  separation  shall  be  unclean  :  every  thing 


also  that  she  sitteth  upon  shall  A.  M.  2514. 
i  i  1  B.  C.  1490. 

be  unclean.  An.  Exod.  isr.  2. 

21  And  whosoever  toucheth  Ablb  or  Nlsan- 
her  bed  shall  wash  his  clothes,  and  bathe 
himself  in  water,  and  be  unclean  until  the 
even. 

22  And  whosoever  toucheth  any  thing  that 
she  sat  upon,  shall  wash  his  clothes,  and 
bathe  himself  in  water,  and  be  unclean  until 
the  even. 

23  And  if  it  be  on  her  bed,  or  on  any  thing 
whereon  she  sitteth,  when  he  toucheth  it,  he 
shall  be  unclean  until  the  even. 

24  And  0  if  any  man  lie  with  her  at  all,  and 
her  flowers  be  upon  him,  he  shall  be  unclean 
seven  days  ;  and  all  the  bed  whereon  he  lieth 
shall  be  unclean. 

25  And  if  p  a  woman  have  an  issue  of  her 
blood  many  days,  out  of  the  time  of  her  sepa¬ 
ration,  or  if  it  run  beyond  the  time  of  her 
separation ;  all  the  days  of  the  issue  of  her 
uncleanness  shall  be  as  the  days  of  her  sepa¬ 
ration  :  she  shall  be  unclean. 

26  Every  bed  whereon  she  lieth,  all  the  days 
of  her  issue,  shall  be  unto  her  as  the  bed  of 
her  separation :  and  whatsoever  she  sitteth 
upon  shall  be  unclean,  as  the  uncleanness  of 
her  separation. 

27  And  whosoever  toucheth  those  things 
shall  be  unclean,  and  shall  wash  his  clothes, 
and  bathe  himself  in  water,  and  be  unclean 
until  the  even. 

28  But  q  if  she  be  cleansed  of  her  issue,  then 
she  shall  number  to  herself  seven  days,  and 
after  that  she  shall  be  clean. 


e  Chap.  vi.  28;  xi.  32,  33. - f  Ver.  28;  chap.  xiv.  8. - s  Chap. 

xiv.  22,  23. - hChap.  xiv.  30,  31. - ’Chap.  xiv.  19,  31. 

k  Chap.  xxii.  4  ;  Deut.  xxiii.  10. 

the  body  of  an  infected  person  may  be  the  means  of 
communicating  the  disease  1  Sydenham  expressly  says 
that  it  may  be  communicated  by  lactation,  handling, 
the  saliva,  sweat,  and  by  the  breath  itself,  as  well  as 
by  those  grosser  means  of  which  there  is  no  question. 
But  the  term  unclean ,  in  this  and  the  following  cases, 
is  generally  understood  in  a  mere  legal  sense,  the 
rendering  a  person  unfit  for  sacred  ordinances.  And 
as  there  was  a  mild  kind  of  gonorrhoea  that  was 
brought  on  by  excessive  fatigue  and  the  like,  it  may 
be  that  kind  only  which  the  law  has  in  view  in  the 
above  ordinances. 

Verse  18.  They  shall  both  bathe  themselves]  What 
a  wonderful  tendency  had  these  ordinances  to  prevent 
all  excesses !  The  pains  which  such  persons  must 
take,  the  separations  which  they  must  observe,  and 
the  privations  which,  in  consequence,  they  must  be 


1  1  Sam.  xxi.  4. - mChap.  xii.  2. - nHeb.  in  her  separation. 

0  See  chap.  xx.  18. - P  Matt.  ix.  20  ;  Mark  v.  25  ;  Luke  viii. 

43. - q  Ver.  13. 

exposed  to  in  the  way  of  commerce,  traffic,  &c.,  would 
prevent  them  from  making  an  unlawful  use  of  lawful 
things. 

Yerse  24.  The  common  sense  of  all  mankind  has 
led  them  to  avoid  the  gross  impropriety  referred  to  in 
this  verse  ;  and  it  has  been  a  general  opinion,  that  off¬ 
spring  obtained  in  this  way  has  been  infected  with 
leprous,  scrofulous,  and  other  deeply  radicated  diseases, 
from  which  they  and  their  posterity  have  been  scarcely 
ever  freed.  In  chap.  xx.  18,  persons  guilty  of  this 
are  condemned  to  death  ;  here  only  to  a  seven  days' 
separation ;  because,  in  the  former  case,  Moses  speaks 
of  the  act  when  both  the  man  and  woman  were  ac¬ 
quainted  with  the  situation  :  in  the  latter,  he  speaks 
of  a  case  where  the  circumstance  was  not  known  till 
afterwards  ;  at  least,  so  it  appears  these  two  places 
should  be  understood,  so  as  to  be  reconciled. 

557 


Method  of  cleansing 


LEVITICUS. 


the  defiled  person , 


A. M.  2514.  29  And  on  the  eighth  day,  she 

An.  Exod.  isr.  2.  shall  take  unto  her  two  turtles, 
Abib  or  Nisan.  or  ^wo  y0ung  pigeons,  and  bring 

them  unto  the  priest,  to  the  door  of  the  taber¬ 
nacle  of  the  congregation. 

30  And  the  priest  shall  offer  the  one  for  a 
sin-offering,  and  the  other  for  a  burnt-offer¬ 
ing  ;  and  the  priest  shall  make  an  atonement 
for  her  before  the  Lord,  for  the  issue  of  her 
uncleanness. 

3  1  Thus  shall  ye  r  separate  the  children  of 


Israel  from  their  uncleanness ; 
that  they  die  not  in  their  un¬ 
cleanness,  when  they  s  defile  my 
tabernacle  that  is  among  them. 


A.  M.  2514. 

B.  C.  1490. 
An.  Exod.  Isr.  2. 

Abib  or  Nisan. 


32  t  This  is  the  la  w  of  him  that  hath  an  issue, 
u  and  of  him  whose  seed  goeth  from  him,  and' 
is  defiled  therewith  ; 

33  v  And  of  her  that  is  sick  of  her  flowers, 
and  of  him  that  hath  an  issue,  of  the  man, 
w  and  of  the  woman ;  x  and  of  him  that  lieth 
with  her  that  is  unclean. 


rChap.  xi.  47  ;  Deut.  xxiv.  8  ;  Ezek.  xliv.  23. - sNum.  v.  3  ; 

xix.  13,  20;  Ezek.  v.  11;  xxiii.  38. 

Yerse  29.  Two  turtles,  or  two  young  pigeons]  In 
all  these  cases  moral  pollution  was  ever  considered  as 
being  less  or  more  present,  as  even  such  infirmities 
sprang  from  the  original  defection  of  man.  On  these 
accounts  sacrifices  must  be  offered ;  and  in  the  case 
of  the  woman,  one  of  the  birds  above  mentioned  must 
be  sacrificed  as  a  sin-offering ,  the  other  as  a  burnt- 
offering,  ver.  30. 

Yerse  31.  Thus  shall  ye  separate  the  children  of 
Israel  from  their  uncleanness ]  By  this  separation  the 
cause  became  less  frequent,  and  the  contagion,  if  it  did 
exist,  was  prevented  from  spreading.  So  pest-houses 
and  fever-wards  are  constructed  for  the  purpose  of  se¬ 
parating  the  infected  from  the  sound  ;  and  thus  conta¬ 
gion  is  lessened,  and  its  diffusion  prevented. 

Thai  they  die  not \  That  life  may  be  prolonged  by 
these  prudential  cares  ;  and  that  he  who  is  morally 
and  legally  unclean,  may  not  presume  to  enter  into  the 
tabernacle  of  God  till  purified,  lest  he  provoke  Divine 
justice  to  consume  him,  while  attempting  to  worship 
with  a  polluted  mind  and  impure  hands. 

1.  How  unpromising  and  how  forbidding,  at  the  first 
view,  is  this  chapter  !  and  yet  how  full  of  wise,  hu¬ 
mane,  and  moral  regulations,  manifesting  at  once  the 
wisdom  and  kindness  of  the  great  Legislator  !  Every 
word  of  God  is  pure  in  itself,  and  of  great  importance  I 


1  Yerse  2. - u  Yerse  16. - T  Verse  19. - w  Verse  25. 

x  Ver.  24. 

to  us.  He  who  cannot  derive  instruction  from  the 
chapter  before  him,  and  be  led  by  a  proper  consider¬ 
ation  of  its  contents  to  adore  the  wisdom  and  good¬ 
ness  of  God,  must  have  either  a  very  stupid  or  a  very 
vitiated  mind. 

2.  In  all  these  ordinances  we  may  plainly  see  that 
God  has  purity  of  heart  continually  in  view — that  the 
soul  may  be  holy,  he  cuts  off  the  occasions  of  sin ;  and 
that  men  may  be  obliged  to  keep  within  due  bounds, 
and  possess  their  vessels  in  sanctification  and  honour, 
he  hedges  up  their  way  with  briars  and  thorns,  and  ren¬ 
ders  transgression  painful,  shameful,  and  expensive. 

3.  Preventing  grace  is  not  less  necessary  than  that 
which  saves  and  which  preserves.  These  three  chap¬ 
ters,  avoided  and  neglected  by  most ,  contain  lessons 
of  instruction  for  all ;  and  though  many  things  con¬ 
tained  in  them  belong  exclusively  to  the  Jewish  people 
as  to  the  letter,  yet  in  their  spirit  and  gracious  design 
they  form  a  part  of  those  revealed  things  which  are 
for  us  and  for  our  children  ;  and  although  they  cannot 
be  made  the  subject  of  public  oral  instruction,  yet  they 
are  highly  necessary  to  be  known,  and  hence  the  ad¬ 
vantage  of  reading  the  Scriptures  in  regular  order  in 
private.  May  we  read  so  as  to  understand,  and  prac¬ 
tise  what  we  know,  that,  being  wise  unto  salvation,  we 
may  walk  as  children  of  the  light  and  of  the  day,  in 
whom  there  shall  be  no  occasion  of  stumbling  ! 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

The  solemn  yearly  expiation  for  the  high  priest,  who  must  not  come  at  all  times  into  the  holy  place,  1,  2.  He 
must  take  a  bullock  for  a  sin-offering,  and  a  ram  for  a  burnt-offering,  bathe  himself,  and  be  dressed  m  his 
sacerdotal  robes ,  3,  4.  He  shall  take  two  goats,  one  of  which  is  to  be  determined  by  lot  to  be  a  sacrifice  ; 
the  other  to  be  a  scape-goat,  5—10.  He  shall  offer  a  bullock  for  himself  and  for  his  family ,  11—14.  And 
shall  kill  the  goat  as  a  sin-offering  for  the  people ,  and  sprinkle  its  blood  upon  the  mercy-seat ,  and  hallow 
the  altar  of  burnt-offerings,  15-19.  The  scape-goat  shall  be  then  brought,  on  the  head  of  which  he  shall 
lay  his  hands,  and  confess  the  iniquities  of  the  children  of  Israel;  after  which  the  goat  shall  be  permitted  to 
escape  to  the  wilderness ,  20—22.  After  this  Aaron  shall  bathe  himself,  and  make  a  burnt  offering  for  him¬ 
self  and  for  the  people,  23-28.  This  is  to  be  an  everlasting  statute ,  and  the  day  on  which  the  atonement 
is  to  be  made  shall  be  a  Sabbath,  or  day  of  rest ,  through  all  their  generations ,  29—34. 

558  a 


CHAP.  XVI. 


The  solemn  yearly  expiation 


for  the  high  priest . 


M.  2514.  A  ND  the  Lord  spake  unto 
’  C’ 1490‘  ^  Moses  after  a  the  death  of 

the  two  sons  of  Aaron,  when  they 


A 
B 

An.  Exod.  Isr.  2 
Abib  or  Nisan. 


offered  before  the  Lord,  and  died  : 

2  And  the  Lord  said  unto  Moses,  Speak 
unto  Aaron  thy  brother,  that  he  b  come  not  at 
all  times  into  the  holy  place  within  the  veil 
before  the  mercy-seat,  which  is  upon  the  ark  ; 
that  he  die  not :  for  c  I  will  appear  in  the 
cloud  upon  the  mercy-seat. 

3  Thus  shall  Aaron  d  come  into  the  holy 

•/ 

place  :  e  with  a  young  bullock  for  a  sin- 
offering,  and  a  ram  for  a  burnt-offering. 

4  He  shall  put  on  f  the  holy  linen  coat,  and 
he  shall  have  the  linen  breeches  upon  his  flesh, 

a  Chap.  x.  1,  2. - bExod.  xxx.  10;  chap,  xxiii.  27;  Heb.  ix. 

7;  x.  19. - c  Exod.  xxv.  22;  xl.  34;  1  Kings  viii.  10,  11,  12. 

d  Heb.  ix.  7,  12,  24,  25. - e  Chap.  iv.  3. - f  Exod.  xxviii.  39, 

42,  43  ;  chap.  vi.  10;  Ezek.  xliv.  17,  18. 


and  shall  be  girded  with  a  linen  a.  m.  2514. 

.  .  B.  C.  1490. 

girdle,  and  with  the  linen  mitre  An.  Exod.  isr.  2. 

shall  he  be  attired  :  these  axe  holy  Ablb  °'r  Nlsan- 

garments  ;  therefore  s  shall  he  wash  his  flesh 

in  water,  and  so  put  them  on. 

5  And  he  shall  take  of  h  the  congregation  of 
the  children  of  Israel .  two  kids  of  the  goats 
for  a  sin-offering,  and  one  ram  for  a  burnt- 
offering. 

6  And  Aaron  shall  offer  his  bullock  of  the 
sin-offering,  which  is  for  himself,  and  1  make 
an  atonement  for  himself,  and  for  his  house. 

7  And  he  shall  take  the  two  goats,  and  pre¬ 
sent  them  before  the  Lord  at  the  door  of  the 
tabernacle  of  the  congregation. 

s  Exodus  xxx.  20  ;  chapter  viii.  6,  7. - h  See  chapter  iv 

14;  Numbersxxix.il;  2  Chronicles  xxix.  21 ;  Ezra  vi.  17; 

Ezek.  xlv.  22,  23. - 1  Chap.  ix.  7 ;  Hebrews  v.  2 ;  vii.  27,  28  ; 

ix.  7. 


NOTES  ON  CHAP.  XVI. 

Verse  1.  After  the  death  of  the  two  sons  of  Aaron \ 
It  appears  from  this  verse  that  the  natural  place  of 
this  chapter  is  immediately  after  the  tenth ,  where 
probably  it  originally  stood  ;  but  the  transposition,  if 
it  did  take  place,  must  be  very  ancient ,  as  all  the 
versions  acknowledge  this  chapter  in  the  place  in 
which  it  now  stands. 

Verse  2.  That  he  come  not  at  all  times  into  the  holy 
place]  By  the  holy  place  we  are  to  understand  here 
what  is  ordinarily  called  the  Holy  of  Holies ,  or  most 
holy  place ;  that  place  within  the  veil  where  the  ark 
of  the  covenant,  &c.,  were  laid  up;  and  where  God 
manifested  his  presence  between  the  cherubim.  In 
ordinary  cases  the  high  priest  could  enter  this  place 
only  once  in  the  year ,  that  is,  on  the  day  of  annual 
atonement  ;  but  in  extraordinary  cases  he  might  enter 
more  frequently,  viz.,  while  in  the  wilderness,  in  de¬ 
camping  and  encamping,  he  must  enter  to  take  down 
or  adjust  the  things ;  and  on  solemn  pressing  public 
occasions,  he  was  obliged  to  enter  in  order  to  consult 
the  Lord :  but  he  never  entered  without  the  deepest 
reverence  and  due  preparation. 

That  it  may  appear  that  the  grand  subject  of  this 
chapter,  the  ordinance  of  the  scape-goat ,  typified  the 
death  and  resurrection  of  Christ,  and  the  atonement 
thereby  made,  I  beg  leave  to  refer  to  Heb.  ix.  7—12, 
and  24—26,  which  I  shall  here  transcribe,  because  it 
is  a  key  to  the  whole  of  this  chapter.  “  Into  the 
second  [tabernacle]  went  the  high  priest  alone  once 
every  year,  not  without  blood,  which  he  offered  for 
himself,  and/or  the  errors  of  the  people.  The  Holy 
Ghost  this  signifying,  that  the  way  into  the  holiest  of 
all  was  not  yet  made  manifest,  while  as  the  first  taber¬ 
nacle  was  yet  standing  :  which  was  a  figure  for  the 
time  then  present,  in  which  were  offered  both  gifts  and 
sacrifices  that  could  not  make  him  that  did  the  service 
perfect,  as  pertaining  to  the  conscience ;  which  stood 
only  in  meats  and  drinks,  and  divers  washings,  and 
carnal  ordinances,  imposed  on  them  until  the  time  of 
reformation.  But  Christ  being  come,  a  high  priest  of 

a 


good  things  to  come,  by  a  greater  and  more  perfect  ta¬ 
bernacle,  not  made  with  hands,  that  is  to  say,  not  of  this 
building ;  neither  by  the  blood  of  goats  and  calves, 
but  by  his  own  blood  ;  he  entered  into  the  holy  place, 
having  obtained  eternal  redemption  for  us.  For  Christ 
is  not  entered  into  the  holy  places  made  with  hands, 
u'hich  are  the  figures  of  the  true  ;  but  into  heaven  it¬ 
self,  now  to  appear  in  the  presence  of  God  for  us  :  nor 
yet  that  he  should  offer  himself  often,  as  the  high 
priest  entereth  into  the  holy  place  every  year  with  the 
blood  of  others  ;  (for  then  must  he  often  have  suffered 
since  the  foundation  of  the  world  ;)  but  now  once  in 
the  end  of  the  world,  hath  he  appeared  to  put  away 
SIN  BY  THE  SACRIFICE  OF  HIMSELF.” 

Verse  3.  With  a  young  bullock  for  a  sin-offering ] 
The  bullock  was  presented  as  a  sin-offering  for  him¬ 
self,  his  family,  the  whole  priesthood,  and  probably  the 
Levites.  The  ram  was  for  a  burnt-offering,  to  signify 
that  he  and  his  associates  were  wholly  consecrated , 
and  to  be  wholly  employed  in  this  work  of  the  ministry. 
The  ceremonies  with  which  these  two  sacrifices  were 
accompanied  are  detailed  in  the  following  verses. 

Verse  4.  He  shall  put  on  the  holy  linen  coat ]  He 
was  not  to  dress  in  his  pontifical  garments,  but  in  the 
simple  sacerdotal  vestments,  or  those  of  the  Levites, 
because  it  was  a  day  of  humiliation ;  and  as  he  was 
to  offer  sacrifices  for  his  oum  sins ,  it  was  necessary 
that  he  should  appear  in  habits  suited  to  the  occasion. 
Hence  he  has  neither  the  robe,  the  ephod,  the  breast¬ 
plate,  the  mitre,  &c.  ;  these  constituted  his  dress  of 
dignity  as  the  high  priest  of  God,  ministering  for 
others  and  the  representative  of  Christ  :  but  now  he 
appears,  before  God  as  a  sinner ,  offering  an  atone¬ 
ment  for  his  transgressions,  and  his  garments  are  those 
of  humiliation. 

Verse  7.  And  he  shall  take  the  two  goats ]  It  is 
allowed  on  all  hands  that  this  ceremony,  taken  in  all 
its  parts,  pointed  out  the  Lord  Jesus  dying  for  our 
sins  and  rising  again  for  our  justification  ;  being  put 
to  death  in  the  flesh,  but  quickened  by  the  Spirit. 
Two  voals  are  brought,  one  to  be  slain  as  a  sacrifice 

559 


The  ordinance  of  LEVITICUS.  the  scape-goat . 


A.  M.  2514.  8  And  Aaron  diall  cast  lots  upon 

B.  C.  1490.  ,  .  .  r 

An.  Exod.  isr.  2.  the  two  goats  ;  one  lot  lor  the 

Abib  or  Nisan.  LoRD^  and  the  other  lot 'for  the 

k  scape-goat. 

9  And  Aaron  shall  bring  the  goat  upon 

k  Heb.  azazel. - 1  Heb.  went  up. 

for  sin,  the  other  to  have  the  transgressions  of  the 
people  confessed  over  his  head,  and  then  to  be  sent 
away  into  the  wilderness.  The  animal  by  this  act 
was  represented  as  bearing  away  or  carrying  off  the 
sins  of  the  people.  The  two  goats  made  only  one 
sacrifice ,  yet  only  one  of  them  was  slain.  One  animal 
could  not  point  out  both  the  Divine  and  human  nature 
of  Christ,  nor  show  both  his  death  and  resurrection, 
for  the  goat  that  was  killed  could  not  be  made  alive. 
The  Divine  and  human  natures  in  Christ  were  essen¬ 
tial  to  the  grand  expiation  :  yet  the  human  nature 
alone  suffered,  for  the  Divine  nature  could  not  suffer ; 
but  its  presence  in  the  human  nature,  while  agonizing 
unto  death,  stamped  those  agonies,  and  the  conse¬ 
quent  death,  with  infinite  merit.  The  goat  therefore 
that  was  slain  prefigured  his  human  nature  and  its 
death ;  the  goat  that  escaped  pointed  out  his  resurrec¬ 
tion.  The  one  shows  the  atonement  for  sin,  as  the 
ground  of  justification;  the  other  Christ’s  victory,  and 
the  total  removal  of  sin  in  the  sanctification  of  the  soul. 
Concerning  these  ceremonies  we  shall  see  farther  par¬ 
ticulars  as  we  proceed. 

According  to  Maimonides  fifteen  beasts  were  offer¬ 
ed  on  this  day.  “  The  daily,  or  morning  and  evening 
•  sacrifice,  was  offered  as  usual  :  besides  a  bullock,  a 
ram ,  and  seven  lambs ,  all  burnt-offerings  ;  and  a  goat 
for  a  sin-offering,  which  was  eaten  in  the  evening. 
Then  a  bullock  for  a  sin-offering,  and  this  they  burnt ; 
and  a  ram  for  a  burnt-offering  :  these  both  for  the 
high  priest.  Then  the  ram  for  the  consecration,  (see 
ver.  5,)  which  is  called  the  people's  ram.  They 
brought  also  for  the  congregation  two  he-goats  ;  the 
one  for  a  sin-offering,  the  other  for  a  scape-goat. 
Thus  all  the  beasts  offered  on  this  great  and  solemn 
day  were  fifteen  :  the  two  daily  sacrifices,  one  bul¬ 
lock,  two  rams,  and  seven  lambs  :  all  of  these  burnt- 
offerings.  Two  goats  for  sin-offerings ;  one  offered 
without  and  eaten  on  the  evening,  the  other  offered 
rvithin  and  burnt ;  and  one  bullock  for  a  sin-offering 
for  the  high  priest.  The  service  of  all  these  fifteen 
beasts  is  performed  on  this  day  by  the  high  priest  only.” 
See  Maimonides  and  Ainsworth  on  the  place. 

Yerse  8.  Aaron  shall  cast  lots  upon  the  two  goats ] 
The  Jews  inform  us  that  there  were  two  lots  made 
either  of  wood,  stone,  or  any  kind  of  metal.  On  one 
was  written  Dt/?  lashshem ,  for  the  name,  i.  e.,  HITT 
Jehovah,  which  the  Jews  will  neither  write  nor  pro¬ 
nounce  ;  on  the  other  was  written  SiNtyS  laazazel, 
for  the  scape-goat  :  then  they  put  the  two  lots  into  a 
vessel  which  was  called  ’sSp  kalpey,  the  goats  stand¬ 
ing  with  their  faces  towards  the  west.  Then  the  priest 
came,  and  the  goats  stood  before  him,  one  on  the  right 
hand  and  the  other  on  the  left ;  the  kalpey  was  then 
skaken,  and  the  priest  put  in  both  his  hands  and 
brought  out  a  lot  in  each  :  that  which  was  in  his  right 
hand  he  laid  on  the  goat  that  was  on  his  right,  and 

560 


which  the  Lord’s  lot  1  fell,  and  a.  m.  2514. 

.  B.  C.  1490. 

offer  him  for  a  sin-offering.  An.  Exod.  isr.2. 

1 0  But  the  goat,  on  which  the  ,Ablbor  N!lan'.. 
lot  fell  to  be  the  scape-goat,  shall  be  presented 
alive  before  the  Lord,  to  make  an  m  atonement 

m  1  John  ii.  2. 

that  in  his  left  hand  he  laid  on  the  goat  that  was  on 
his  left ;  and  according  to  what  was  written  on  the 
lots,  the  scape-goat  and  the  goat  for  sacrifice  were 
ascertained.  See  the  Mishna,  in  Tract.  Yoma. 

The  determining  this  solemn  business  by  lot,  the 
disposal  of  which  is  with  the  Lord,  Prov.  xvi.  33, 
shows  that  God  alone  was  to  select  and  point  out  the 
person  by  whom  this  great  atonement  was  to  be  made ; 
hence  he  says  :  Behold  I  lay  in  Zion  a  stone,  elect  (that 
is,  chosen  by  himself)  and  precious — of  infinite  value. 

Yerse  10.  To  be  the  scape-goat]  blHTJ*  azazel,  from 

az,  a  goal,  and  SlN  azal,  to  dismiss ;  the  dismissed 
or  sent  away  goat,  to  distinguish  it  from  the  goat  that 
was  to  be  offered  in  sacrifice.  Most  ancient  nations 
had  vicarious  sacrifices,  to  which  they  transferred  by 
certain  rites  and  ceremonies  the  guilt  of  the  commu¬ 
nity  at  large,  in  the  same  manner  in  which  the  scape¬ 
goat  was  used  by  the  Jews.  The  white  bull  that  was 
sacrificed  by  the  Egyptians  to  their  god  Apis  was  of 
this  kind ;  they  cut  off  the  head  of  the  victim  which 
they  had  sacrificed,  and  after  having  loaded  it  with 
execrations,  “that  if  there  be  any  evil  hanging  over 
them  or  the  land  of  Egypt,  it  may  be  poured  out  upon 
that  head,”  they  either  sold  it  to  the  Greeks  or  threw  it 
into  the  Nile. — See  Herod.  Euterp.,  p.  104,  edit.  Gale. 

Petronius  Arbiter  says  that  it  was  a  custom  among 
the  ancient  inhabitants  of  Marseilles,  whenever  they 
were  afflicted  bv  any  pestilence,  to  take  one  of  the 
poorer  citizens  who  offered  himself  for  the  purpose, 
and  having  fed  him  a  whole  year  with  the  purest  and 
best  food,  they  adorned  him  with  vervain,  and  clothed 
him  with  sacred  vestments  :  they  then  led  him  round 
their  city,  loading  him  with  execrations  ;  and  having 
prayed  that  all  the  evils  to  which  the  city  was  exposed 
might  fall  upon  him,  they  then  precipitated  him  from 
the  top  of  a  rock. — Satiricon,  in  fine. 

Suidas,  under  the  word  nepifryia,  observes  that 
it  was  a  custom  to  devote  a  man  annually  to  death  for 
the  safety  of  the  people,  writh  these  words,  Uepiipnya 
7] par  ysvov,  Be  thou  our  purifier ;  and,  having  said  so, 
to  throw  him  into  the  sea  as  a  sacrifice  to  Neptune. 
It  was  probably  to  this  custom  that  Virgil  alludes 
when  speaking  of  the  pilot  Palinurus,  who  fell  into 
the  sea  and  was  drowned,  he  says  : — 

TJnum,  pro  multis dabiter  caput. — ASn.,lib.  v.,ver.  815. 

“  One  life  is  given  for  the  preservation  of  many.” 

But  the  nearest  resemblance  to  the  scape-goat  of 
the  Hebrews  is  found  in  the  Ashummeed  Jugg  of  the 
Hindoos,  where  a  horse  is  used  instead  of  a  goat,  the 
description  of  which  I  shall  here  introduce  from  Mr 
Halhed’s  Code  of  Gentoo  Lawrs  ;  Introduction,  p.  xix. 

“  That  the  curious,”  says  he,  “  may  form  some  idea 
of  this  Gentoo  sacrifice  when  reduced  to  a  symbol,  as 
well  as  from  the  subsequent  plain  account  given  of  it 
in  a  chapter  of  the  Code,  sec.  ix.,  p.  127,  an  expla- 

a 


CHAP.  XVI. 


The  blood  of  the  sacrifice  to  be 

A.  M.  25H.  with  him,  and  to  let  him  go  for 

B.  C.  1490.  ’  •  .  .1  °,A 

An.  Exod.  isr.  2.  a  scape-goat  into-  the  wilder- 

Abib  or  Nisan. 

_ _ ness. 

1 1  And  Aaron  shall  bring  the  bullock  of  the 
sin  offering,  which  is  for  himself,  and  shall 
make  an  atonement  for  himself  and  for  his 
house,  and  shall  kill  the  bullock  of  the  sin- 
offering  which  is  for  himself : 

1 2  And  he  shall  take  n  a  censer  full  of  burn¬ 
ing  coals  of  fire,  from  off  the  altar  before  the 
Lord,  and  his  hands  full  of  0  sweet  incense 
beaten  small,  and  bring  it  within  the  veil : 

13  p  And  he  shall  put  the  incense  upon  the 
fire  before  the  Lord,  that  the  cloud  of  the  in¬ 
cense  may  cover  the  *  mercy-seat  that  is  upon 
the  testimony,  that  he  die  not : 

14  And  r  he  shall  take  of  the  blood  of  the 
bullock,  and  s  sprinkle  it  with  his  finger  upon 
the  mercy-seat  eastward  ;  and  before  the 
mercy-seat  shall  he  sprinkle  of  the  blood  with 
his  finger  seven  times. 

15  1  Then  shall  he  kill  the  goat  of  the  sin- 
offering,  that  is  for  the  people,  and  bring  his 


“Chap.  x.  1 ;  Num.  xvi.  18,  46  ;  Rev.  viii.  5. - 0  Exod.  xxx. 

34. - P  Exod.  xxx.  1,7,  8  ;  Num.  xvi.  7,  18,  46  ;  Rev.  viii.  3,  4. 

°.  Exod.  xxv.  21. - r  Chapter  iv.  5  ;  Hebrews  ix.  13,  25  ;  x.  4. 

Chap.  iv.  6. - *  Heb.  ii.  17  ;  v.  2  ;  ix.  7,  28. 

nation  of  it  is  here  inserted  from  Darul  ShckuK’s  fa¬ 
mous  Persian  translation  of  some  commentaries  upon 
the  four  Beids,  or  original  Scriptures  of  Hindustan. 
The  work  itself  is  extremely  scarce,  and  it  was  by 
mere  accident  that  this  little  specimen  was  procured  : — 

“  The  Ashummeed  Jugg  does  not  merely  consist  in 
the  performance  of  that  ceremony  which  is  open  to  the 
inspection  of  the  world,  namely,  in  bringing  a  horse 
and  sacrificing  him ;  but  Ashummeed  is  to  be  taken  in 
a  mystic  signification,  as  implying  that  the  sacrificer 
must  look  upon  himself  to  he  typified  in  that  horse , 
such  as  he  shall  be  described ;  because  the  religious 
duty  of  the  Ashummeed  Jugg  comprehends  all  those 
other  religious  duties  to  the  performance  of  which  the 
wise  and  holy  direct  all  their  actions,  and  by  which  all 
the  sincere  professors  of  every  different  faith  aim  at 
perfection.  The  mystic  signification  thereof  is  as  fol¬ 
lows  :  The  head  of  that  unblemished  horse  is  the  sym¬ 
bol  of  the  morning ;  his  eyes  are  the  sun  ;  his  breath , 
the  wind ;  his  unde-opening  mouth  is  the  bish-wancr , 
or  that  innate  warmth  which  invigorates  all  the  world  ; 
his  body  typifies  one  entire  year  ;  his  back ,  paradise ; 
his  belly,  the  plains ;  his  hoof  this  earth ;  his  sides, 
the  four  quarters  of  the  heavens ;  the  bones  thereof, 
the  intermediate  spaces  between  the  four  quarters  ;  the 
rest  of  his  limbs  represent  all  distinct  matter;  the 
places  where  those  limbs  meet,  or  his  joints,  imply  the 
months,  and  halves  of  the  months,  which  are  called 
peche,  (or  fortnights;)  his  feet  signify  night  and  day; 
and  night  and  day  are  of  four  kinds  :  1.  The  night  and 
day  of  Brihma  ;  2.  The  night  and  day  of  angels ;  3. 

Vol.  I.  (  37  ) 


sprinkled  on  the  mercy -seat 

blood  u  within  the  veil,  and  do  A.  M.  2514. 
with  that  blood  as  he  did  with  the  An.  Exod.isr.  2. 
blood  of  the  bullock,  and  sprin-  Ablb  or  Nlsan’ 
kle  it  upon  the  mercy-seat,  and  before  the 
mercy-seat  : 

16  And  he  shall  v  make  an  atonement  for 
the  holy  place ,  because  of  the  uncleanness  of 
the  children  of  Israel,  and  because  of  their 
transgressions  in  all  their  sins  :  and  so  shall 
he  do  for  the  tabernacle  of  the  congregation, 
that  w  remaineth  among  them  in  the  midst  of 
their  uncleanness. 

17  x  And  there  shall  be  no  man  in  the  taber¬ 
nacle  of  the  congregation  when  he  goeth  in  to 
make  an  atonement  in  the  holy  place,  until  he 
come  out,  and  have  made  an  atonement  for 
himself,  and  for  his  household,  and  for  all  the 
congregation  of  Israel. 

18  And  he  shall  go  out  unto  the  altar  that  is 
before  the  Lord,  and  y  make  an  atonement  for 
it ;  and  shall  take  of  the  blood  of  the  bullock, 
and  of  the  blood  of  the  goat,  and  put  it  upon 
the  horns  of  the  altar  round  about. 

u  Ver.  2  ;  Heb.  vi.  19  ;  ix.  3,  7,  12. - v  See  Exod.  xxix.  $6 ; 

Ezek.  xlv.  18  ;  Heb.  ix.  22,  23. - w  Heb.  dwelleth. - x  See 

Exod.  xxxiv.  3  ;  Luke  i.  10. - y  Exod.  xxx.  10;  chapter  iv.  7, 

18  ;  Heb.  ix.  22,  23. 

The  night  and  day  of  the  world  of  the  spirits  of  de¬ 
ceased  ancestors ;  4.  The  night  and  day  of  mortals. 
These  four  kinds  are  typified  in  his  four  feet.  The 
rest  of  his  bones  are  the  constellations  of  the  fixed 
stars,  which  are  the  twenty-eight  stages  of  the  moon's 
course,  called  the  lunar  year ;  his  flesh  is  the  clouds  ; 
his  food,  the  sand;  his  tendons,  the  rivers;  his  spleen 
and  liver,  the  mountains;  the  hair  of  his  body,  the 
vegetables  ;  and  his  long  hair,  the  trees  ;  the  forepart 
of  his  body  typifies  the  first  half  of  the  day,  and  the 
hinder  part,  the  latter  half;  his  yawning  is  the  flash 
of  the  lightning,  and  his  turning  himself  is  the  thun¬ 
der  of  the  cloud ;  his  urine  represents  the  rain ,  and 
his  mental  reflection  is  his  only  speech.  The  golden 
vessels  which  are  prepared  before  the  horse  is  let  loose 
are  the  light  of  the  day,  and  the  place  where  those 
vessels  are  kept  is  a  type  of  the  ocean  of  the  east ; 
the  silver  vessels  which  are  prepared  after  the  horse  is 
let  loose  are  the  light  of  the  night,  and  the  place  where 
those  vessels  are  kept  is  a  type  of  the  ocean  of  the 
west.  These  two  sorts  of  vessels  are  always  before 
and  after  the  horse.  The  Arabian  horse,  which  on 
account  of  his  swiftness  is  called  Ily,  is  the  performer 
of  the  journeys  of  angels ;  the  Tajee ,  which  is  of  the 
race  of  Persian  horses,  is  the  performer  of  the  jour¬ 
neys  of  the  Kundherps,  (or  good  spirits ;)  the  Wazba, 
which  is  of  the  race  of  the  deformed  Tazee  horses, 
is  the  performer  of  the  journeys  of  the  Jins,  (or  de¬ 
mons  ;)  and  the  Ashov,  which  is  of  the  race  of  Turk¬ 
ish  horses,  is  the  performer  of  the  journeys  of  mankind: 
this  one  horse  which  performs  these  several  services 

561 


LEVITICUS. 


to  the  wilderness . 


The  scape-goat  dismissed 


a.  M.  2514.  19  And  he  shall  sprinkle  of  the 

An.  Exod.  Isr.  2.  blood  upon  it  with  his  linger  seven 
Abib  or  Nisan.  tjmeSj  and  cleanse  it,  and  z  hallow 

it  from  the  uncleanness  of  the  children  of 
Israel. 

20  And  when  he  hath  made  an  end  of  a  re¬ 
conciling  the  holy  place ,  and  the  tabernacle 
of  the  congregation,  and  the  altar,  he  shall 
bring  the  live  goat : 

2 1  And  Aaron  shall  lay  both  his  hards  upon 
the  head  of  the  live  goat,  and  confess  over 
him  all  the  iniquities  of  the  children  of  Israel, 
and  all  their  transgressions  in  all  their  sins, 
b  putting  them  upon  the  head  of  the  goat,  and 

aVer.  16;  Ezek.  xlv.  20. - bIsa.  liii. 

-dIsa.  liii.  11,  12;  John 


z  Ezek.  xliii.  20.- 
6. - c  Heb.  a  man  of  opportunity 


shall  send  him  away  by  the  hand 


A.  M.  2514. 

r  n  ■  n  mj  B.  C.  1490. 

oi  c  a  fit  man  into  the  wilder-  An.  Exod.  isr.  2. 

ness :  .  Abib  er  Nisan- 


22  And  the  goat  shall  d  bear  upon  him  all 
their  iniquities,  unto  a  land  e  not  inhabited : 
and  he  shall  let  go  the  goat  in  the  wilderness. 

23  And  iVaron  shall  come  into  the  tabernacle 
of  the  congregation,  f  and  shall  put  off  the 
linen  garments  which  he  put  on  when  he  went 
into  the  holy  place ,  and  shall  leave  them  there : 

24  And  he  shall  wash  his  flesh  with  water 
in  the  holy  place,  and  put  on  his  garments, 
and  come  forth,  z  and  offer  his  burnt-offering, 
and  the  burnt- offering  of  the  people,  and  make 


i.  29  ;  Hebrews  ix.  28  ;  1  Pet.  ii.  24. - e  Heb.  of  separation, 

f  Ezek.  xlii.  14;  xliv.  19. - sVer.  3,  5. 


on  account  of  his  four  different  sorts  of  riders,  obtains 
the  four  different  appellations.  The  place  where  this 
horse  remains  is  the  great  ocean ,  which  signifies  the 
great  spirit  of  Perm-Atma ,  or  the  universal  soul,  which 
proceeds  also  from  that  Perm-Atma ,  and  is  compre¬ 
hended  in  the  same  Perm-Atma.  The  intent  of  this 
sacrifice  is,  that  a  man  should  consider  himself  to  he 
in  the  place  of  that  horse,  and  look  upon  all  these  ar¬ 
ticles  as  typified  in  himself ;  and  conceiving  the  Atma 
(or«Divine  soul)  to  be  an  ocean,  should  let  all  thought 
of  self  be  absorbed  in  that  Atma.” 

This  sacrifice  is  explained,  in  sec.  ix.,  p.  127,  of 
'  the  Code  of  Hindoo  Laws,  thus : — 

'‘An  Ashummeed  Jugg  is  when  a  person,  having 
commenced  a  Jugg ,  (i.  e.,  religious  ceremony,)  writes 
various  articles  upon  a  scroll  of  paper  on  a  horse’s 
neck,  and  dismisses  the  horse,  sending  along  with  the 
horse  a  stout  and  valiant  person,  equipped  with  the  best 
necessaries  and  accoutrements  to  accompany  the  horse 
day  and  night  whithersoever  he  shall  choose  to  go  ; 
and  if  any  creature,  either  man,  genius,  or  dragon, 
should  seize  the  horse,  that  man  opposes  such  attempt, 
and  having  gained  the  victory  upon  a  battle,  again 
gives  the  horse  his  freedom.  If  any  one  in  this  world, 
or  in  heaven,  or  beneath  the  earth,  would  seize  this 
horse,  and  the  horse  of  himself  comes  to  the  house  of 
the  celebrator  of  the  Jugg ,  upon  killing  that  horse  he 
must  throw  the  flesh  of  him  upon  the  fire  of  the  Juk, 
and  utter  the  prayers  of  his  deity  ;  such  a  Jugg  is 
called  a  Jugg  Ashummeed ,  and  the  merit  of  it  as  a 
religious  work  is  infinite.” 

This  is  a  most  curious  circumstance  ;  and  the  coin¬ 
cidence  between  the  religious  rites  of  two  people  who 
probably  never  had  any  intercourse  with  each  other,  is 
very  remarkable.  I  would  not  however  say  that  the 
Hindoo  ceremony  could  not  have  been  borrowed  from 
the  Jews  ;  (though  it  is  very  unlikely  ;)  no  more  than 
I  should  say,  as  some  have  done,  that  the  Jewish  rite 
was  borrowed  from  the  Egyptian  sacrifice  to  Apis  men¬ 
tioned  above,  which  is  still  more  unlikely.  See  par¬ 
ticularly  the  note  on  chap.  i.  4. 

Verse  21.  Aaron  shall  lay  holh  his  hands  upon  the 
head ,  c %c.]  What  this  imposition  of  hands  meant  see 
in  the  notes  on  Exod.  xxix.  10,  and  on  chap.  i.  4. 
a  562 


And  confess  over  him  all  the  iniquities — transgres¬ 
sions — sins]  The  three  terms  used  here,  iniquities, 
ruip  avonoth ,  from  nip  avah ,  to  pervert ,  distort ,  or  turn 
aside ;  transgressions,  tZD’jJilfa  peshaim ,  from  pa¬ 
sha ,  to  transgress,  to  rebel ;  and  sins,  chattaoth , 

from  NtDH  chata,  to  miss  the  mark,  are  supposed  by  the 
Jews  to  comprise  every  thing  that  implies  a  breach  of 
the  Divine  law,  or  an  offence  against  God.  See  the 
note  on  Gen.  xii.  13.  Maimonides  gives  us  the  con¬ 
fession  in  the  following  words  : — 

“  0  Lord,  thy  people,  the  house  of  Israel,  have  sin¬ 
ned  and  done  iniquity,  and  trespassed  before  thee.  Q 
Lord,  make  atonement  now  for  the  iniquities  and  trans¬ 
gressions  and  sins  that  thy  people,  the  house  of  Israel, 
have  sinned  and  transgressed  against  thee ;  as  it  is 
written  in  the  law  of  Moses  thy  servant,  saying  :  That 
in  this  day  he  shall  make  atonement  for  you,  to  cleanse 
you  from  all  your  sins  before  the  Lord,  and  ye  shall 
be  clean.'1'1 — See  the  Mishna,  vol.  ii.,  p.  239. 

When  this  confession  was  finished,  the  goat  was  sent 
by  a  proper  hand  to  the  wilderness,  and  there  let  loose  ; 
and  nothing  farther  was  ever  heard  of  it.  Did  not  all 
this  signify  that  Christ  has  so  carried  and  borne  away 
our  sins,  that  against  them  who  receive  him  as  the 
only  true  atoning  sacrifice  they  should  never  more  be 
brought  to  remembrance  1 

On  the  head  of  the  scape-goat  a  piece  of  scarlet 
cloth  was  tied,  and  the  tradition  of  the  Jews  states 
that  if  God  accepted  the  sacrifice,  the  scarlet  cloth 
turned  white  while  the  goat  was  led  to  the  desert ; 
but  if  God  had  not  accepted  this  expiation,  the  red¬ 
ness  continued,  and  the  rest  of  the  year  was  spent  in 
mourning. 

From  the  foundation  of  the  Church  of  God  it  was 
ever  believed  by  his  followers,  that  there  were  certain 
infallible  tokens  by  which  he  discovered  to  genuine 
believers  his  acceptance  of  them  and  their  services. 
This  was  sometimes  done  by  a  fire  from  heaven  con¬ 
suming  the  sacrifice  ;  sometimes  by  an  oracular  com¬ 
munication  to  the  priest  or  prophet ;  and  at  other  times, 
according  to  the  Jewish  account,  by  changing  the 
fillet  or  cloth  on  the  head  of  the  scape-goat  from  scar¬ 
let  to  while :  but  most  commonly,  and  especially  un¬ 
der  the  Gospel  dispensation,  he  gives  this  assurance 

(  37*  ) 


CHAP.  XVI. 


The  yearly  atonement  to 


he  an  everlasting  statute. 


A.  M.  2514.  an  atonement  for  himself,  and 

B.  C.  1490.  r  ,  . 

An.  Exod.isr.2.  for  the  people. 

Abib  or  Nisan.  25  And  h  the  fat  of  the  sin- 
offering  shall  he  burn  upon  the  altar. 

26  And  he  that  let  go  the  goat  for  the 
scape-goat  shall  wash  his  clothes,  1  and  bathe 
his  flesh  in  water,  and  afterward  come  into 
the  camp. 

27  k  And  the  bullock  for  the  sin-offering, 
and  the  goat  for  the  sin-offering,  whose  blood 
was  brought  in  to  make  atonement  in  the  holy 
j place ,  shall  one  carry  forth  without  the  camp ; 
and  they  shall  burn  in  the  fire  their  skins,  and 
their  flesh,  and  their  dung. 

28  And  he  that  burneth  them  shall  wash  his 
clothes,  and  bathe  his  flesh  in  water,  and 
afterward  he  shall  come  into  the  camp. 

29  And  this  shall  be  a  statute  for  ever  unto 
you  :  that  1  in  the  seventh  month,  on  the  tenth 
day  of  the  month,  ye  shall  afflict  your  souls, 
and  do  no  work  at  all,  whether  it  he  one  of 
your  own  country,  or  a  stranger  that  sojourn- 
eth  among  you  : 


30  4  or  on  that  day  shall  the  A.  M.  2514. 
priest  make  an  atonement  for  An.  Exod.  fsr.  2. 
you,  to  m  cleanse  you,  that  ye  AL)lb  or  Nisan. 

may  be  clean  from  all  your  sins  before  the 

Lord. 

31  n  It  shall  he  a  Sabbath  of  rest  unto  you, 
and  ye  shall  afflict  your  souls,  by  a  statute 
for  ever. 

32  0  And  the  priest,  whom  he  shall  anoint, 
and  whom  he  shall  p  consecrate  q  to  minister 
in  the  priest’s  office  in  his  father’s  stead,  shall 
make  the  atonement,  and  r  shall  put  on  the 
linen  clothes,  even  the  holy  garments  : 

33  And  s  he  shall  make  an  atonement  for  the 
holy  sanctuary,  and  he  shall  make  an  atone¬ 
ment  for  the  tabernacle  of  the  congregation, 
and  for  the  altar,  and  he  shall  make  an  atone¬ 
ment  for  the  priests,  and  for  all  the  people  of 
the  congregation. 

34  t  And  this  shall  be  an  everlasting  statute 
unto  you,  to  make  an  atonement  for  the  chil¬ 
dren  of  Israel,  for  all  their  sins  11  once  a  year. 
And  he  did  as  the  Lord  commanded  Moses. 


h  Chap.  iv.  10. - Chap.  xv.  5. - k  Chap.  iv.  12,  21  ;  vi.  30 ; 

Heb.  xiii.  11. - 1  Exod.  xxx.  10;  chap,  xxiii.  27  ;  Num.  xxix. 

7 ;  Isa.  lviii.  3-5  ;  Daniel  x.  3-12. - m  Psa.  li.  2 ;  Jer.  xxxiii. 

8;  Eph.  v.  26  ;  Hebrews  ix.  13,  14;  x.  1,  2;  1  John.  i.  7-9. 

to  true  believers  by  the  testimony  of  his  Spirit  in  their 
consciences,  that  he  has  forgiven  their  iniquities,  trans¬ 
gressions,  and  sins,  for  his  sake  who  has  carried  their 
griefs,  and  borne  their  sorrows. 

Verse  26.  He  that  let  go  the  goat — shall  ivash,  cfc.] 
Not  only  the  person  who  led  him  away,  but  the  priest 
who  consecrated  him,  was  reputed  unclean,  because 
the  goat  himself  was  unclean,  being  considered  as 
bearing  the  sins  of  the  whole  congregation.  On  this 
account  both  the  priest  and  the  person  who  led  him  to 
the  wilderness  were  obliged  to  wash  their  clothes  and 
bathe  themselves,  before  they  could  come  into  the  camp. 

Verse  29.  The  seventh  month ,  on  the  tenth  day  of 
the  month]  The  commandment  of  fasting,  and  sancti¬ 
fying  this  tenth  day,  is  again  repeated  chapter  xxiii. 
27-32  ;  but  in  the  last  verse  it  is  called  the  ninth  day 
at  even ,  because  the  Jewish  day  began  with  the  even¬ 
ing.  The  sacrifices  which  the  day  of  atonement  should 
have  more  than  other  days,  are  mentioned  Num.  xxix. 
7—1 1 ;  and  the  jubilee  which  was  celebrated  every 
fiftieth  year  was  solemnly  proclaimed  by  sound  of 
trumpet  on  this  tenth  day ,  chap.  xxv.  8,  9.  A  sha¬ 
dow,  says  Mr.  Ainsworth,  of  that  acceptable  year  of 
the  Lord,  the  year  of  freedom,  which  Christ  has  pro¬ 
claimed  by  the  trumpet  of  his  Gospel,  Luke  iv.  18— 
21;  2  Cor.  vi.  2.  This  seventh  month  was  Tisri, 
and  answers  to  a  part  of  our  September  and  October. 
It  was  the  seventh  of  the  sacred  and  the  first  month 
of  the  civil  year. 

The  great  day  of  atonement,  and  the  sacrifices, 

a 


p  Chap,  xxiii.  32. - 0  Chap.  iv.  3,  5,  16. - PHeb.  fill  his 

hand. - i  Exod.  xxix.  29,30;  Num.  xx.  26-28. - r  Ver.  4. 

s  Ver.  6,  16,  18,  ]  9,  24. - t  Chap,  xxiii.  31 ;  Numbers  xxix.  7. 

uExod.  xxx.  10  ;  Heb.  ix.  7-25. 

rites,  and  ceremonies  prescribed  for  it,  were  command¬ 
ed  to  be  solemnized  by  the  Jews  through  the  whole 
of  their  dispensation,  and  as  long  as  God  should  ac¬ 
knowledge  them  for  his  people  :  yet  in  the  present 
day  scarcely  a  shadow  of  these  things  remains  ;  there 
is  no  longer  a  scape-goat ,  nor  a  goat  for  sacrifice ,  pro¬ 
vided  by  them  in  any  place.  They  are  sinners ,  and 
they  are  without  an  atonement.  How  strange  it  is  that 
they  do  not  see  that  the  essence  of  their  religion  is 
gone,  and  that  consequently  God  has  thrown  them  en¬ 
tirely  out  of  covenant  with  himself!  The  true  expia¬ 
tion,  the  Christ  crucified,  they  refuse  to  receive,  and 
are  consequently  without  temple,  altar,  scape-goat, 
atonement,  or  any  means  of  salvation !  The  state  of 
the  Gentile  world  is  bad,  but  that  of  the  Jews  is  doubly 
deplorable.  Their  total  excision  excepted,  wrath  is 
come  upon  them  to  the  uttermost.  What  a  proof  is 
this  of  the  truth  of  the  predictions  in  their  own  law, 
and  of  those  in  the  Gospel  of  Christ !  V  ho,  with 
the  Jews  and  the  Bible  before  his  eyes,  can  doubt  the 
truth  of  that  Bible  as  a  Divine  revelation  1  Had  this 
people  been  extinct,  we  might  have  doubted  whether 
there  were  ever  a  people  on  the  earth  that  acknow¬ 
ledged  such  a  law,  or  observed  such  ordinances ;  but 
the  people,  their  law,  and  their  prophets  are  still  in 
being,  and  all  proclaim  what  God  has  wrought,  and 
that  he  has  now  ceased  to  work  among  them,  because 
they  have  refused  to  receive  and  profit  by  the  great 
atonement ;  and  yet  he  preserves  them  alive,  and  in  a 
state  of  complete  separation  from  all  the  people  of  the 
earth  in  all  places  of  their  dispersion !  How  power- 

563 


LEVITICUS. 


All  sacrifices  to  be  killed 

fully  does  the  preservation  of  the  Jews  as  a  distinct 
people  bear  testimony  at  once  to  the  truth  of  their  own 
law  which  they  acknowledge ,  and  the  Gospel  of  Christ 
which  they  reject  ! 

2.  But  while  the  Jews  sit  in  thick  darkness,  be¬ 
cause  of  the  veil  that  is  on  their  hearts,  though  the 
light  of  the  glory  of  God  is  shining  all  around  them, 
but  not  into  them  because  of  their  unbelief ;  in  what 
state  are  those  who  profess  to  see  their  unbelief  and 
obstinacy,  acknowledge  the  truth  of  the  New  Testa¬ 
ment,  and  yet  are  living  without  an  atonement  applied 
to  their  souls  for  the  removal  of  their  iniquities,  trans¬ 
gressions,  and  sins  1  These  are  also  in  the  gall  of 
bitterness,  and  bond  of  iniquity.  An  all-sufficient  Sa¬ 
viour  held  out  in  the  New  Testament  can  do  them  no 
more  good  than  a  scape-goat  and  day  of  atonement 
described  in  the  law  can  do  the  Jews .  As  well  may 


at  the  door  of  the  tabernacle. 

a  man  imagine  that  the  word  bread  can  nourish  his 
body,  as  that  the  name  Christ  can  save  his  soul.  Both 
must  be  received  and  applied  in  order  that  the  man 
may  live. 

3.  The  Jews  prepared  themselves  to  get  benefit 
from  this  most  solemn  ordinance  by  the  deepest  humili¬ 
ations.  According  to  their  canons,  they  were  obliged 
to  abstain  from  all  meat  and  drink — from  the  bath— 
from  anointing  themselves — to  go  barefoot — and  to  be 
in  a  state  of  perfect  continency.  He  who  is  likely  to 
get  benefit  for  his  soul  through  the  redemption  that  is 
in  Christ,  must  humble  himself  under  the  mighty  hand 
of  God,  confess  his  iniquity,  abstain  from  every  ap¬ 
pearance  of  evil,  and  believe  on  him  who  died  for  his 
offences,  and  rose  again  for  his  justification.  The 
soul  that  seeks  not  shall  not  find,  even  under  the  Gos¬ 
pel  of  Christ. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 


The  people  are  commanded  to  bring  all  the  cattle  they  intend  to  kill  to  the  door  of  the  tabernacle ,  where  they 
are  to  be  made  an  offering  to  the  Lord ;  and  those  who  disobey  are  to  be  cut  off,  1—5.  The  priest  is  to 
sprinkle  the  blood ,  6.  They  are  forbidden  to  offer  sacrifices  to  devils,  7.  The  injunction  to  bring  their 
offerings  to  the  door  of  the  tabernacle  is  repeated,  8,  9.  The  eating  of  blood  is  solemnly  forbidden,  10. 
It  is  the  lif  3  of  the  beast,  and  is  given  to  make  an  atonement  for  their  souls,  11,12.  If  a  bird  or  beast 
be  taken  in  hunting,  its  blood  must  be  poured  out  and  covered  with  dust, for  the  reasons  before  assigned ,  13, 
14.  None  shall  eat  an  animal  that  dies  of  itself ,  or  is  torn  by  beasts  ;  if  any  act  otherwise  he  must  bathe 
his  clothes  and  his  fie sh,  or  bear  his  iniquity,  15,  16. 


a.  M.  2514.  A  ND  the  Lord  spake  unto 

B.  C.  1490.  TX  .  r 

.An.  Exod.  Isr.2.  Moses,  saying, 

Abib  or  Nisan.  ^  gpeak  unt0  Aaron,  and  unto 

his  sons,  and  unto  all  the  children  of  Israel, 
and  say  unto  them  ;  This  is  the  thing  which 
the  Lord  hath  commanded,  saying, 

3  What  man  soever  there  be  of  the  house  of 
Israel,  a  that  killeth  an  ox,  or  lamb,  or  goat,  in 
the  camp,  or  that  killeth  it  out  of  the  camp, 

4  b  And  bringeth  it  not  unto  the  door  of  the 
tabernacle  of  the  congregation,  to  offer  an 

a  See  Deut.  xii.  5, 15,21. - b  Deut.  xii.  5,  6, 13,  14. - c  Rom. 

t.  13. - dGen.  xvii.  14. - e  Gen.  xxi.  33  ;  xxii.  2  ;  xxxi.  54  ; 


offering  unto  the  Lord  before  the  a.  m.  2514. 
tabernacle  of  the  Lord,  blood  shall  An.  Exod.  isr’  2. 
be  c  imputed  unto  that  man  ;  he  Ablb  or  Ntsan> 
hath  shed  blood  ;  and  that  man  d  shall  be  cut 
off  from  among  his  people  : 

5  To  the  end  that  the  children  of  Israel  may 
bring  their  sacrifices,  e  which  they  offer  in  the 
open  field,  even  that  they  may  bring  them  unto 
the  Lord,  unto  the  door  of  the  tabernacle  of 
the  congregation,  unto  the  priest,  and  offer  them 
for  peace-offerings  unto  the  Lord. 

Deut.  xii.  2;  1  Kings  xiv.  23  ;  2Kings  xvi.  4  ;  xvii.  10 ;  2  Chron. 
xxviii.  4  ;  Ezek.  xx.  28  ;  xxii.  9. 


NOTES  ON  CHAP.  XVII. 

Verse  4.  And  bringeth  it  not  unto  the  door ]  As 
sacrifice  was  ever  deemed  essential  to  true  religion,  it 
was  necessary  that  it  should  be  performed  in  such  a 
way  as  to  secure  the  great  purpose  of  its  institution. 
God  alone  could  show  how  this  should  be  done  so  as  to 
be  pleasing  in  his  sight,  and  therefore  he  has  given  the 
most  plain  and  particular  directions  concerning  it.  The 
Israelites,  from  their  long  residence  in  Egypt,  an  idola¬ 
trous  country,  had  doubtless  adopted  many  of  their 
usages ;  and  many  portions  of  the  Pentateuch  seem  to 
have  been  written  merely  to  correct  and  bring  them 
back  to  the  purity  of  the  Divine  worship. 

That  no  blood  should  be  offered  to  idols,  God  com¬ 
mands  every  animal  used  for  food  or  sacrifice  to  be 
slain  at  the  door  of  the  tabernacle.  While  every  ani¬ 
mal  was  slain  in  this  sacrificial  way,  even  the  daijy 

564 


food  of  the  people  must  put  them  in  mind  of  the  neces¬ 
sity  of  a  sacrifice  for  sin.  Perhaps  St.  Paul  had  this 
circumstance  in  view  when  he  said,  Whether  therefore 
ye  eat  or  drink,  or  whatsoever  ye  do,  do  all  to  the 
glory  of  God,  1  Cor.  x.  31  ;  and,  Whatsoever  ye  do  in 
word  or  deed,  do  all  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus, 
giving  thanks  to  God  and  the  Father  by  him. 

While  the  Israelites  were  encamped  in  the  wilder¬ 
ness,  it  was  comparatively  easy  to  prevent  all  abuses 
of  this  Divine  institution  ;  and  therefore  they  were  all 
commanded  to  bring  the  oxen,  sheep,  and  goats  to  the 
door  of  the  tabernacle  of  the  congregation,  that  they 
might  be  slain  there,  and  their  blood  sprinkled  upon 
the  altar  of  the  Lord.  But  when  they  became  settled 
in  the  promised  land,  and  the  distance,  in  many  cases, 
rendered  it  impossible  for  them  to  bring  the  animals  to 
be  slain  for  domestic  uses  to  the  temple,  they  were 

a 

& 


CHAP.  XVII. 


Sacrificing  to  devils  and 


eating  of  blood  forbidden. 


a.  m.  2514.  6  And  the  priest  f  shall  sprinkle 

An.  Exod.  isr.  2.  the  blood  upon  the  altar  of  the 
Abibor  Nisan.  jj0RD  ai  pie  d00r  of  the  taberha- 

cle  of  the  congregation,  and  e  burn  the  fat  for 
a  sweet  savour  unto  the  Lord. 

7  And  they  shall  no  more  offer  their  sacri¬ 
fices  h  unto  devils,  after  whom  they *  1 2  have 
gone  a  whoring.  This  shall  be  a  statute  for 
ever  unto  them  throughout  their  generations. 

8  And  thou  shalt  say  unto  them,  Whatsoever 
man  there  be  of  the  house  of  Israel,  or  of  the 
strangers  which  sojourn  among  you,  k  that 
offereth  a  burnt-oifering  or  sacrifice, 

9  And  1  bringeth  it  not  unto  the  door  of  the 
tabernacle  of  the  congregation,  to  offer  it  unto 


the  Lord  ;  even  that  man  shall  A.  M.  2514. 

.  ~  r  .  .  B.  C.  1490. 

be  cut  on  from  among  his  An.  Exod.  isr.  2. 

Abib  or  Nisan. 

10  m  And  whatsoever  man  there  be  of  the 
house  of  Israel,  or  of  the  strangers  that  sojourn 
among  you,  that  eateth  any  manner  of  blood  ; 
n  I  will  even  set  my  face  against  that  soul  that 
eateth  blood,  and  will  cut  him  off  from  among 
his  people. 

11  0  For  the  life  of  the  flesh  is  in  the  blood  : 
and  I  have  given  it  to  you  upon  the  altar,  p  to 
make  an  atonement  for  your  souls ;  for  q  it  is  the 
blood  that  maketh  an  atonement  for  the  soul. 

12  Therefore  I  said  unto  the  children  of 
Israel,  No  soul  of  you  shall  eat  blood,  neither 


f  Chap.  iii.  2. - s  Exod.  xxix.  18  ;  chap.  iii.  5, 11,  16  ;  iv.  31 ; 

Num.  xviii.  17. - h  Deut.  xxxii.  17  ;  2  Chron.  xi.  15  ;  Psa.  cvi. 

37 ;  1  Cor.  x.  20 ;  Rev.  ix.  20. - '  Exod.  xxxiv.  15  ;  chap.  xx. 

5  ;  Deut.  xxxi.  16  ;  Ezek.  xxiii.  8. - k  Chap.  i.  2,  3. - 1  Ver. 

4. - m  Gen.  ix.  4  ;  chap.  iii.  17 ;  vii.  26,  27  ;  xviii.  26  ;  Deut. 

permitted  to  pour  out  the  blood  in  a  sacrificial  way 
unto  God  at  their  respective  dwellings,  and  to  cover 
it  with  the  dust ;  see  ver.  13,  and  Deut.  xii.  20,  21. 

Blood  shall  be  imputed  unto  that  mari\  Having 
poured  out  the  blood  improperly,  he  shall  be  considered 
as  guilty  of  murder ,  because  that  blood,  had  it  been 
properly  and  sacrificially  employed,  might  have  made 
atonement  for  the  life  of  a  man. 

Verse  7.  They  shall  no  more  offer  their  sacrifices 
unto  devils ]  They  shall  not  sacrifice  lasseirim , 

to  the  hairy  ones ,  to  goats.  The  famous  heathen  god, 
Pan,  was  represented  as  having  the  posteriors,  horns, 
and  ears  of  a  goat ;  and  the  Mendesians ,  a  people  of 
Egypt,  had  a  deity  which  they  worshipped  under  this 
form.  Herodotus  says  that  all  goats  were  worshipped 
in  Egypt,  but  the  he-goat  particularly.  It  appears  also 
that  the  different  ape  and  monkey  species  were  objects 
of  superstitious  worship  ;  and  from  these  sprang,  not 
only  Mendes  and  Jupiter  Ammon,  who  was  worship¬ 
ped  under  the  figure  of  a  ram,  but  also  Pan  and  the 
Sileni,  with  the  innumerable  herd  of  those  imaginary 
beings,  satyrs,  dryads ,  hamadryads,  &c.,  &c.,  all 
woodland  gods,  and  held  in  veneration  among  the 
Egyptians,  Greeks,  and  Romans. 

After  whom  they  have  gone  a  whoring .]  Though  this 
term  is  frequently  used  to  express  idolatry,  yet  we  are 
not  to  suppose  that  it  is  not  to  be  taken  in  a  literal 
sense  in  many  places  in  Scripture,  even  where  it  is 
used  in  connection  with  idolatrous  acts  of  worship.  It 
is  well  known  that  Bapl  Peor  and  Ashtaroth  were  wor¬ 
shipped  with  unclean  rites  ;  and  that  public  prostitution 
formed  a  grand  part  of  the  worship  of  many  deities 
among  the  Egyptians,  Moabites,  Canaanites,  Greeks, 
and  Romans.  The  great  god  of  the  two  latter  nations, 
Jupiter ,  was  represented  as  the  general  corrupter  of 
women  ;  and  of  Venus,  Flora,  Priapus ,  and  others,  it 
is  needless  to  speak.  That  there  was  public  prostitu¬ 
tion  in  the  patriarchal  times,  see  the  note  on  Gen. 
xxxviii.  21.  And  that  there  was  public  prostitution  of 
women  to  goats  in  Egypt,  see  Herodotus,  lib.  ii . ,  c.  46, 

a 


xii.  16,  23 ;  xv.  23  ;  1  Sam.  xiv.  33  ;  Ezek.  xliv.  7. — — n  Chap, 
xx.  3,  5,  6 ;  xxvi.  17  ;  Jer.  xliv.  11 ;  Ezek.  xiv.  8 ;  xv.  7. 

0  Ver.  14. - P  Matt.  xxvi.  28  ;  Mark  xiv.  24  ;  Rom.  iii.  25  ;  v. 

9  ;  Eph.  i.  7  ;  Col.  i.  14,  20 ;  Heb.  xiii.  12  ;  1  Pet.  i.  2 ;  1  John 
i.  7  ;  Rev.  i.  5. - 3  Heb.  ix.  22. 

p.  108,  edit.  Gale,  who  gives  a  case  of  this  abominable 
kind  that  took  place  in  Egypt  while  he  was  in  that 
country.  See  also  many  examples  in  Bochart,  vol.  ii., 
col.  641  ;  and  see  the  note  on  chap.  xx.  16. 

Verse  11.  For  the  life  of  the  flesh  is  in  the  blood ] 
This  sentence,  which  contains  a  most  important  truth, 
had  existed  in  the  Mosaic  writings  for  3600  years  be¬ 
fore  the  attention  of  any  philosopher  was  drawn  to  the 
subject.  This  is  the  more  surprising,  as  the  nations 
in  which  philosophy  flourished  were  those  which  espe¬ 
cially  enjoyed  the  Divine  oracles  in  their  respective 
languages.  That  the  blood  actually  possesses  a  living 
principle,  and  that  the  life  of  the  whole  body  is  de¬ 
rived  from  it,  is  a  doctrine  of  Divine  revelation,  and  a 
doctrine  which  the  observations  and  experiments  of  the 
most  accurate  anatomists  have  served  strongly  to  con¬ 
firm.  The  proper  circulation  of  this  important  fluid 
through  the  whole  human  system  was  first  taught  by 
Solomon  in  figurative  language,  Eccles.  xii.  6  ;  and 
discovered,  as  it  is  called,  and  demonstrated  by  Dr. 
Harvey  in  1628  ;  though  some  Italian  philosophers 
had  the  same  notion  a  little  before.  This  accurate 
anatomist  was  the  first  who  fully  revived  the  Mosaic 
notion  of  the  vitality  of  the  blood  ;  which  notion  was 
afterward  adopted  by  the  justly  celebrated  Dr.  John 
Hunter,  professor  of  anatomy  in  London,  and  fully  esta¬ 
blished  by  him  by  a  great  variety  of  strong  reasoning 
and  accurate  experiments.  To  support  this  opinion 
Dr.  Hunter  proves, — 

1.  That  the  blood  unites  living  parts  in  some  cir¬ 
cumstances  as  certainly  as  the  yet  recent  juices  of  the 
branch  of  one  tree  unite  with  that  of  another ;  and  he 
thinks  that  if  either  of  these  fluids  were  dead  matter, 
they  would  act  as  stimuli,  and  no  union  would  take 
place  in  the  animal  or  vegetable  kingdom ;  and  he 
shows  that  in  the  nature  of  things  there  is  not  a  more 
intimate  connection  between  life  and  a  solid  than  be¬ 
tween  life  and  a  fluid. 

2.  He  shows  that  the  blood  becomes  vascular,  like 
other  living  parts  of  the  body ;  and  he  demonstrated 

565 


Ordinance  concerning  LEVITICUS.  eating  of  blood. 


A.  M.  2514,  shall  any  stranger  that  soiourneth 

An.  Exod.  isr.  2.  among  you  eat  blood. 

Abibor  Nisan.  jg  And  whatsoever  man  there 

r  Heb.  that  hunteth  any  hunting. 

this  by  a  preparation  in  which  vessels  were  clearly 
seen  to  arise  from  what  had  been  a  coagulum  of 
blood  ;  for  those  vessels  opened  into  the  stream  of  the 
circulating  blood,  which  was  in  contiguity  with  this 
coagulated  mass. 

3.  He  proved  that  if  blood  be  taken  from  the  arm 
in  the  most  intense  cold  that  the  human  body  can  suf¬ 
fer,  it  will  raise  the  thermometer  to  the  same  height 
as  blood  taken  in  the  most  sultry  heat.  This  is  a  very 
powerful  argument  for  the  vitality  of  the  blood,  as  it 
is  well  known  that  living  bodies  alone  have  the  power 
of  resisting  great  degrees  of  heat  and  cold,  and  of 
maintaining  in  almost  every  situation  wdiile  in  health 
that  temperature  which  we  distinguish  by  the  name  of 
animal  heal. 

4.  lie  proves  that  blood  is  capable  of  being  acted 
upon  by  a  stimulus,  as  it  coagulates  on  exposure  to 
the  air,  as  certainly  as  the  cavities  of  the  abdomen  and 
thorax  become  inflamed  from  the  same  cause.  The 
more  the  blood  is  alive,  i.  e.,  the  more  the  animal  is  in 
health,  the  sooner  the  blood  coagulates  on  exposure  ; 
and  the  more  it  has  lost  of  the  living  principle,  as  in 
cases  of  violent  inflammation,  the  less  sensible  it  is  to 
the  stimulus  produced  by  being  exposed,  and  coagu¬ 
lates  more  slowly. 

5.  Pie  proves  that  the  blood  preserves  life  in  dif¬ 
ferent  parts  of  the  body.  When  the  nerves  going  to 
any  part  are  tied  or  cut,  the  part  becomes  paralytic, 
and  loses  all  power  of  motion,  but  it  does  not  mortify. 
But  let  the  artery  be  cut,  and  then  the  part  dies  and 
mortification  ensues.  It  must  therefore  be  the  vital 
principle  of  the  blood  that  keeps  the  •  part  alive ;  nor 
does  it  appear  that  this  fact  can  be  accounted  for  on 
any  other  principle. 

6.  He  thinks  this  vitality  farther  proved  from  the 
case  of  a  person  who  was  brought  to  St.  George’s  hos¬ 
pital  for  a  simple  fracture  of  the  os  humeri,  and  who 
died  about  a  month  after.  As  the  bones  had  not  united, 
he  injected  the  arm,  and  thus  found  that  the  coagulated 
blood  which  filled  the  cavity  between  the  extremities 
of  the  fractured  bones  was  become  vascular ,  and  in 
some  places  very  much  so,  which  vessels,  had  it  been 
dead  matter,  it  never  could  have  produced. 

This  system  has  been  opposed,  and  arguments  have 
been  adduced  to  prove  that  the  principle  of  vitality 
exists  not  in  the  blood  but  in  the  nervous  system.  But 
every  argument  on  this  ground  appears  to  be  done 
away  by  the  simple  consideration  that  the  whole  ner¬ 
vous  system,  as  well  as  every  other  part  of  the  body, 
is  originally  derived  from  the  blood  ;  for  is  it  not  from 
the  blood  of  the  mother  that  the  fetus  has  its  being 
and  nourishment  in  the  womb  1  Do  not  all  the  nerves, 
as  well  as  the  brain,  &c.,  originate  from  that  alone  ? 
And  if  it  be  not  vital  can  it  give  the  principle  of 
vitality  to  something  else,  which  then  exclusively 
(though  the  effect  of  a  cause)  becomes  the  principle 
of  vitality  to  all  the  solids  and  fluids  of  the  body  1 
This  seems  absurd.  That  the  human  being  pro- 

566 


be  of  the  children  of  Israel,  or  of  A.  M.  2514. 

,  _  B.  C.  1490. 

the  strangers  that  sojourn  among  An.  Exod.  Isr.  2. 

you,  r  which  3  hunteth  and  catch-  Abib  or  Nisan. 

8  Chap.  vii.  26. 

ceeded  originally  from  the  blood  admits  of  no  doubt ; 
and  it  is  natural  and  reasonable  to  suppose  that  as  it 
was  the  cause  under  God  which  generated  all  the 
other  parts  of  the  body,  so  it  still  continues  to  be  the 
principle  of  life,  and  by  it  alone  all  the  wastes  of  the 
system  are  repaired.  Two  points  relative  to  this 
subject  are  strongly  asserted  in  Divine  revelation,  one 
by  Moses,  the  other  by  St.  Paul. 

1.  Moses  says,  The  life  of  the  flesh  is  in  the 
blood,  ver.  11.  This  has  been  proved  by  the  most 
indisputable  facts. 

2.  St.  Paul  says,  God  hath  made  of  one  blood  all 
nations  of  men,  Acts  xvii.  26.  And  this  is  demon¬ 
strated,  not  only  from  there  being  only  one  pair  from 
whom  all  the  nations  of  men  have  been  derived,  but 
also  from  the  fact  that  every  human  being,  from  the 
first-born  of  Eve  to  the  present  hour,  has  been  formed 
out  of  and  supported  by  the  mother’s  blood ;  and  that 
from  the  agency  of  this  fluid  the  human  body,  after 
being  born  into  the  world,  has  its  increment  and  sup¬ 
port.  The  reason  given  by  God  for  the  law  against 
eating  blood  is  perfectly  conclusive  :  I  will  set  my 
face  against  that  soul  that  eateth  blood — for  the  life 

nephesh)  of  the  flesh  is  in  the  blood,  and  1  have 
given  it  to  you  upon  the  altar,  to  make  an  atonement 
for  your  souls  {UDyTWtm  naphshotheychem,  your 
lives  :)  for  it  is  the  blood  (because  it  is  the  life,  1^33 
nephesh)  that  maketh  an  atonement  for  the  soul  ( 1^333 
bannephesh,  for  the  life  ;  for  the  word  is  the  same  in 
all  these  cases.)  By  transgression  a  man  forfeits  his 
life  to  Divine  justice,  and  he  must  die  did  not  mercy 
provide  him  a  substitute.  The  life  of  a  beast  is  ap¬ 
pointed  and  accepted  by  God  as  a  substitute  for  the 
sinner’s  life  (in  reference  to  the  life  of  Christ,  which 
was  to  be  given  for  the  life  of  the  world ;)  but  as  this 
life  is  in  the  blood,  and  as  the  blood  is  the  grand  prin¬ 
ciple  of  vitality ,  therefore  the  blood  is  to  be  poured  out 
upon  the  altar  :  and  thus  the  life  of  the  beast  becomes 
a  substitute  for  the  life  of  the  man. 

And  it  is  well  worthy  of  being  remarked,  that  Christ 
not  only  died  for  sinners,  but  our  redemption  is  every 
where  attributed  to  his  blood,  and  the  shedding  of 
that  blood  ;  and  that  on  the  altar  of  the  cross,  this 
might  make  an  atonement  for  the  lives  and  souls  of 
men,  he  not  only  bowed  his  head,  and  gave  up  the 
ghost,  but  his  side  was  opened,  the  pericardium  and 
the  heart  evidently  pierced,  that  the  vital  fluid  might 
be  poured  out  from  the  very  seat  of  life,  and  that  thus 
the  blood,  which  is  the  life,  should  be  poured  out  to 
make  an  atonement  for  the  life  of  the  soul. 

The  doctrine  of  Moses  and  Paul  proves  the  truth 
of  the  doctrine  of  Harvey  and  Hunter  ;  and  the  rea¬ 
sonings  and  experiments  of  Harvey  and  Hunter  illus¬ 
trate  and  confirm  the  doctrine  of  Moses  and  Paul. — - 
Here  then  is  a  farther  proof  of  the  truth  and  authori¬ 
ty  of  Divine  revelation.  See  the  note  on  Gen.  ix.  4  ; 
Dr.  J.  Corrie’s  Essay  on  the  Vitality  of  the  Blood  ; 
and  the  article  Blood,  in  the  Encyclopaedias. 

a 


CHAP.  XVIII. 


and  Canaanites  to  be  avoided. 


The  doings  of  the  Egyptians 


A.  C  1490  any  ^Cast  01  tha-t  may 

A.n.  Exod.  isr!  2.  be  eaten;  he  shall  even  t  pour 
Abib  or  Nisan.  ou(  {he  Uood  tl,ereofi  and  »  cover 


it  with  dust. 

14  v  For  it  is  the  life  of  all  flesh  ;  the 
blood  of  it  is  for  the  life  thereof:  therefore 
I  said  unto  the  children  of  Israel,  Ye  shall 
eat  the  blood  of  no  manner  of  flesh  :  for 
the  life  of  all  flesh  is  the  blood  thereof  : 
whosoever  eateth  it  shall  be  cut  off. 


1  Deut.  xii.  16,  24 ;  xv.  23. - u  Ezek.  xxiv.  7. - v  Yer.  11,  12  ; 

Gen.  ix.  4 ;  Deut.  xii.  23. —  w  Exod.  xxii.  31 ;  ch.  xxii.  8  ;  Deut. 

Verse  14.  Ye  shall  eat  the  blood  of  no  manner  of 
flesh]  Independently  of  the  moral  reasons  given  above, 
we  may  add,  1.  That  blood,  being  highly  alkalescent , 
especially  in  hot  climates,  is  subject  to  speedy  putre¬ 
faction.  2.  That  it  affords  a  gross  nutriment,  being 
very  difficult  of  digestion,  so  much,  so  that  bulVs  blood 
was  used  in  ancient  times  as  poison,  “its  extreme 
viscidity  rendering  it  totally  indigestible  by  the  powers 
of  the  human  stomach.”  3.  It  is  allowed  that  when 
blood  was  used  in  this  country  in  great  quantities,  the 
scurvy  was  more  frequent  than  at  other  times.  4.  It 
appears  from  history  that  those  nations  who  lived  most 
on  it  were  very  fierce,  savage,  and  barbarous,  such  as 
the  Scythians ,  Tartars,  Arabs  of  the  desert,  the  Scan¬ 
dinavians,  &c.,  &c. ,  some  of  whom  drank  the  blood 
of  their  enemies,  making  cups  of  their  sculls ! 


15  w  And  every  soul  that  eateth  A.  M.  2514. 

x  that  which  died  of  itself  or  An.  Exod.  isr.  2. 
that  which  was  torn  with  beasts ,  Atnb  or  Nlsan- 
whether  it  be  one  of  your  own  country,  or  a 
stranger,  r  he  shall  both  wash  his  clothes,  z  and 
bathe  himself  in  W'ater,  and  be  unclean  until 
the  even  :  then  shall  he  be  clean. 

16  But  if  he  wash  them  not,  nor  bathe 
his  flesh ;  then  a  he  shall  bear  his  ini¬ 
quity. 

xiv.  21  ;  Ezek.  iv.  14  ;  xliv.  31. - x  Heb.  a  carcass. - 7  Ch.  xi. 

25. - z  Chap.  xv.  5. - aCh.  v.  1  ;  vii.  18  ;  xix.  8  ;  Num.  xix.  20. 

Verse  15.  That  which  died  of  itself,  or  that  which 
ivas  torn]  Because,  in  both  cases,  the  blood  was  re¬ 
tained  in  the  body ;  hence  the  council  at  Jerusalem 
forbade  things  strangled  as  well  as  blood,  because  in 
such  beasts  the  blood  was  coagulated  in  the  veins  and 
arteries.  See  Acts  xv.  28. 

Everv  thing  considered,  surely  there  is  as  little 
propriety  in  eating  of  blood  as  there  is  necessity  to 
do  it.  They  who  will  do  otherwise  must  bear  their 
iniquity.  If  blood  eating  be  no  offence,  then  they  have 
no  sin  to  answer  for.  The  principal  subjects  of  this 
chapter  have  been  already  so  amply  handled  in  the 
notes,  that  there  is  no  need  to  add  any  thing  by  way 
of  reflection  or  improvement. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 


The  people  are  commanded  to  avoid  the  doings  of  the  Egyptians  and  Canaanites ,  1—3.  They  are  to  do 
God's  judgments,  and  to  keep  his  ordinances,  that  they  may  live,  4,  5.  Marriages  with  those  who  are  near 
of  kin  are  prohibited ,  6.  None  to  marry  with  his  mother  or  step-mother,  7,  8  ;  with  his  sister  or  step¬ 
sister,  9  ;  with  his  grand-daughter,  10  ;  nor  with  the  daughter  of  his  step-mother,  11  ;  nor  with  his  aunt, 
by  father  or  mother,  12,  13  ;  nor  with  his  uncle’s  wife,  14  ;  nor  with  his  daughter-in-law,  15  ;  nor  sister- 
in-law,  16  ;  nor  with  a  woman  and  her  daughter,  son’s  daughter,  or  daughter’s  daughter,  17  ;  nor  with  two 
sisters  at  the  same  time,  18.  Several  abominations  prohibited,  19—23,  of  ivhich  the  Canaanites,  <5fC.,were 
guilty,  and  for  ivhich  they  were  cast  out  of  the  land,  24,  25.  The  people  are  exhorted  to  avoid  these 
abominations,  lest  they  be  treated  as  the  ancient  inhabitants  of  the  land  ivere  treated ,  and  so  cast  out ,  26—28 
Threatenings  against  the  disobedient,  29,  and  promises  to  the  obedient,  30. 


A.  M.  2514. 

B.  C.  1490. 
An.  Exod.  Isr.  2. 
Abib  or  Nisan. 


Israel,  and 
your  God. 

3  b  After 
wherein  ye 
the  doings 


the  Lord  spake  unto 
Moses,  saying, 

2  Speak  unto  the  children  of 
say  unto  them,  a  I  am  the  Lord 

the  doings  of  the  land  of  Egypt, 
dwelt,  shall  ye  not  do  :  and  c  after 
of  the  land  of  Canaan,  whither  I 


1  Verse  4  ;  Exodus  vi.  7  ;  chapter  xi.  44 ;  xix.  4,  10,  34  ; 
xx.  7 ;  Ezekiel  xx.  5,  7,  19,  20. - b  Ezekiel  xx.  7,  8; 

xxiii.  8. 


bring  you,  shall  ye  not  do  :  nei-  A.  M.  2514 

ther  shall  ye  walk  in  their  ordi-  An.  Exod.  isr.  2. 

Abib  or  Nisan. 

nances.  _ _ 

4  d  Ye  shall  do  my  judgments,  and  keep 
mine  ordinances,  to  walk  therein  :  I  am  the 
Lord  your  God. 

5  Ye  shall  therefore  keep  my  statutes,  and 
my  judgments :  e  which  if  a  man  do,  he 

c  Exod.  xxiii.  24  ;  chap.  xx.  23  ;  Deut.  xii.  4,  30,  31. - d  Deut. 

iv.  1,  2;  vi.  1 ;  Ezek.  xx.  19. - eEzek.  xx.  11,  13,21  ;  Luke 

x.  28  ;  Rom.  x.  5  ;  Gal.  iii.  12. 


NOTES  ON  CHAP.  XVIII. 

Verse  3.  The  doings  of  the  land  of  Egypt — the 
land  of  Canaan]  The  worshipping  of  demons,  beasts, 

a 


&c.,  as  mentioned  in  the  preceding  chapter,  verse  7, 
and  the  abominations  mentioned  in  this  chapter  from 
verse  21  to  23. 


567 


Marriages  with  near  LEVITICUS. 


kindred  forbidden 


a.  M.  25H.  shall  live  in  them  :  f  I  am  the 

B.  C.  1490.  , 

An.  Exod.  Isr.  2.  .LORD. 

Abib or  Nlsan-  0  None  of  you  shall  approach 
to  any  that  is  s  near  of  kin  to  him,  to  uncover 
their  nakedness  :  I  am  the  Lord. 

7  h  The  nakedness  of  thy  father,  or  the  na¬ 
kedness  of  thy  mother,  shalt  thou  not  uncover  : 
she  is  thy  mother ;  thou  shalt  not  uncover  her 
nakedness. 

8  1  The  nakedness  of  thy  father’s  wife 
shalt  thou  not  uncover :  it  is  thy  father’s 
nakedness. 

9  k  The  nakedness  of  thy  sister,  the  daughter 
of  thy  father,  or  daughter  of  thy  mother, 
whether  she  be  born  at  home,  or  born  abroad, 
even  their  nakedness  thou  shalt  not  uncover. 

10  The  nakedness  of  thy  son’s  daughter,  or 
of  thy  daughter’s  daughter,  even  their  naked¬ 
ness  thou  shalt  not  uncover :  for  theirs  is 
thine  own  nakedness. 


1 1  The  nakedness  of  thy  father’s  wife’s 
daughter,  begotten  of  thy  father,  she  is  thy 
sister,  thou  shalt  not  uncover  her  nakedness. 

12  1 * *  Thou  shalt  not  uncover  the  nakedness 
of  thy  father’s  sister :  she  is  thy  father’s  near 
kinswoman. 

-  1 3  Thou  shalt  not  uncover  the  nakedness  of 


thy  mother’s  sister :  for  she  is  A.  M.  2514. 

.  J  ,  ,  .  .  B.  C.  1490. 

thy  mother  s  near  kinswoman.  An.  Exod.  Isr.  2. 

14  ra  Thou  shalt  not  uncover  Ablb  or  Nlsan- 

the  nakedness  of  thy  father’s  brother,  thou 

shalt  not  approach  to  his  wife  :  she  is  thine 

aunt. 


1 5  n  Thou  shalt  not  uncover  the  nakedness 
of  thy  daughter-in-law  :  she  is  thy  son’s  wife  ; 
thou  shalt  not  uncover  her  nakedness. 

1 6  0  Thou  shalt  not  uncover  the  nakedness  of 
thy  brother’s  wife  :  it  is  thy  brother’s  nakedness. 

17  p  Thou  shalt  not  uncover  the  nakedness 
of  a  woman  and  her  daughter,  neither  shalt 
thou  take  her  son’s  daughter,  or  her  daughter’s 
daughter,  to  uncover  her  nakedness  ;  for  they 
are  her  near  kinswomen  :  it  is  wickedness. 

18  Neither  shalt  thou  take  qa  wife  to  her 
sister,  r  to  vex  her ,  to  uncover  her  nakedness, 
beside  the  other  in  her  life  time. 

19  s  Also  thou  shalt  not  approach  unto  a 
woman  to  uncover  her  nakedness,  as  long  as 
she  is  put  apart  for  her  uncleanness. 

20  Moreover  1  thou  shalt  not  lie  carnally 
with  thy  neighbour’s  wife,  to  defile  thyself 
with  her. 

21  And  thou  shalt  not  let  any  of  thy  seed 
u  pass  through  the  fire  to  v  Molech,  neither 


f  Exod.  vi.  2,  6,  29;  Mai.  iii.  6. - ?Heb.  remainder  of  his 

flesh. - h  Chap.  xx.  11. - 5  Gen.  xlix.  4  ;  chap.  xx.  11  ;  Deut. 

xxii.  30;  xxvii.  20;  Ezek.  xxii.  10;  Amos  ii.  7 ;  1  Cor.  v.  1. 

k  Chap.  xx.  17  ;  2  Sam.  xiii.  12;  Ezek.  xxii.  11. - 1  Chap.  xx. 

19. - m  Chap.  xx.  20. - n  Gen.  xxxviii.  18,  26  ;  chap.  xx.  12  ; 

Ezek.  xxii.  11. - 0  Chap.  xx.  21 ;  Matt.  xiv.  4  ;  see  Deut.  xxv. 

5  ;  Matt.  xxii.  24 ;  Mark  xii.  19. - 1>  Chap.  xx.  14. 


q  Or,  one  ivife  to  another ;  Exod.  xxvi.  3. - r  1  Sam.  i.  6,  8 

s  Chap.  xx.  18;  Ezek.  xviii.  6;  xxii.  10. - 1  Chap.  xx.  10; 

Exod.  xx.  14;  Deut.  v.  18  ;  xxii.  22  ;  Prov.  vi.  29,  32  ;  Mai.  iii. 
5 ;  Matt.  v.  27  ;  Romans  ii.  22 ;  1  Cor.  vi.  9 ;  Heb.  xiii.  4. 
u  Chap.  xx.  2 ;  2  Kings  xvi.  3 ;  xxi.  6  ;  xxiii.  10 ;  Jer.  xix.  5 ; 

Ezek.  xx.  31  ;  xxiii.  37,  39. - v  1  Kings  xi.  7,  33  ;  called,  Acts 

vii.  43,  Moloch. 


Verse  6.  Any  that  is  near  of  kin]  “iNk?  hj  col 

shear  besaro ,  any  remnant  of  his  flesh,  i.  e.,  to  any 
particularly  allied  to  his  own  family,  the  prohibited 
degrees  in  which  are  specified  from  the  7th  to  the 
17th  verse  inclusive.  Notwithstanding  the  prohibi¬ 
tions  here,  it  must  be  evident  that  in  the  infancy  of 
the  world,  persons  very  near  of  kin  must  have  been 
joined  in  matrimonial  alliances ;  and  that  even  brothers 
must  have  matched  with  their  own  sisters.  This  must 
have  been  the  case  in  the  family  of  Adam.  In  these 
first  instances  necessity  required  this ;  when  this  ne¬ 
cessity  no  longer  existed,  the  thing  became  inexpe¬ 
dient  and  improper  for  two  reasons:  1.  That  the  duties 
owing  by  nature  to  relatives  might  not  be  confounded 
with  those  of  a  social  or  'political  kind ;  for  could  a 
man  be  a  brother  and  a  husband,  a  son  and  a  husband, 
at  the  same  time,  and  fulfil  the  duties  of  both  1  Im¬ 
possible.  2.  That  by  intermarrying  with  other  fami¬ 
lies,  the  bonds  of  social  compact  might  be  strengthened 
and  extended,  so  that  the  love  of  our  neighbour,  &c., 
might  at  once  be  felt  to  be  not  only  a  maxim  of  sound 
policy,  but  also  a  very  practicable  and  easy  duty;  and 
thus  feuds,  divisions,  and  wars  be  prevented. 

Verse  16.  Thy  brother's  wife ]  This  was  an  illegal 

568 


marriage,  unless  the  brother  died  childless.  In  that 
case  it  was  not  only  lawful  for  her  to  many  her  bro¬ 
ther-in-law,  but  he  was  obliged  by  the  law,  Deut.  xxv. 
5,  to  take  her  to  wife. 

Verse  18.  A  ivife  to  her  sister ]  Thou  shalt  not 
marry  two  sisters  at  the  same  time,  as  Jacob  did  Ra¬ 
chel  and  Leah ;  but  there  is  nothing  in  this  law  that 
rendered  it  illegal  to  marry  a  sister-in-law  when  her 
sister  was  dead  ;  therefore  the  text  says,  Thou  shalt 
not  take  her  in  her  life  time,  to  vex  her,  alluding  pro¬ 
bably  to  the  case  of  the  jealousies  and  vexations  which 
subsisted  between  Leah  and  Rachel,  and  by  which  the 
family  peace  was  so  often  disturbed.  Some  think  that 
the  text  maybe  so  understood  as  also  to  forbid  polygamy. 

Verse  19.  As  long  as  she  is  put  apart ]  See  the 
note  on  chap.  xv.  24. 

Verse  20.  Thy  neighbour's  wife]  See  the  note  oil 
Exod.  xx.  14. 

Verse  21.  Pass  through  the  fire  to  Molech]  The 
name  of  this  idol  is  mentioned  for  the  first  time  in  this 
place.  As  the  word  "j^D  molech  or  melech  signifies 
king  or  governor,  it  is  very  likely  that  this  idol  repre¬ 
sented  the  sun;  and  more  particularly  as  the  fire 
appears  to  have  been  so  much  employed  in  his  wor- 

a 


Different  abominations  CHAP. 

a.  m.  2514.  slialt  thou  w  profane  the  name  of 

An.  Exod.  isr.  2.  tliy  God  .  I  am  the  Lord. 

Abib  or  Nisan.  22  x  Thou  shalt  not  lie  with  man¬ 
kind  as  with  womankind  :  it  is  abomination. 

23  y  Neither  shalt  thou  lie  with  any  beast  to 
defile  thyself  therewith :  neither  shall  any 
woman  stand  before  a  beast  to  lie  down 
thereto  :  it  is  z  confusion. 

24  a  Defile  not  ye  yourselves  in  any  of  these 
things  :  b  for  in  all  these  the  nations  are  de¬ 
filed  which  I  cast  out  before  you  : 

25  And  c  the  land  is  defiled  :  therefore  I  do 
d  visit  the  iniquity  thereof  upon  it,  and  the 
land  itself  e  vomiteth  out  her  inhabitants. 

26  f  Ye  shall  therefore  keep  my  statutes  and 
my  judgments,  and  shall  not  commit  any  of 
these  abominations  :  neither  any  of  your  own 

wChap.  xix.  12  ;  xx.  3  ;  xxi.  6;  xxii.  2,  32  ;  Ezek.  xxxvi.  20, 

&c. ;  Mai.  i.  12. - x  Chap.  xx.  13;  Rom.  i.  27  ;  1  Cor.  vi.  9  ; 

1  Tim.  i.  10. - y  Chap.  xx.  15, 16  ;  Exod.  xxii.  19. - z  Chap.  xx. 

12. - a  Ver.  30  ;  Matt.  xv.  18,  19,  20  ;  Mark  vii.  21,  22,  23  ; 

1  Cor.  iii.  17. - b  Chap.  xx.  23;  Deut.  xviii.  12. - c  Num. 

ship.  There  are  several  opinions  concerning'  the 
meaning  of  passing  through  the  fire  to  Molech.  1. 
Some  think  that  the  semen  humanum  was  offered  on 
the  fire  to  this  idol.  2.  Others  think  that  the  children 
were  actually  made  a  burnt- offering  to  him.  3.  But 
others  suppose  the  children  were  not  burnt ,  but  only 
passed  through  the  fire,  or  between  two  fires ,  by  way 
of  consecration  to  him.  That  some  were  actually 
burnt  alive  to  this  idol  several  scriptures,  according  to 
the  opinion  of  commentators,  seem  strongly  to  inti¬ 
mate ;  see  among  others,  Psa.  cvi.  38;  Jer.  vii.  31, 
and  Ezek.  xxiii.  37—39.  That  others  were  only  con¬ 
secrated  to  his  service  by  passing  between  two  fires 
the  rabbins  strongly  assert ;  and  if  Ahaz  had  but  one 
son,  Hezekiah ,  (though  it  is  probable  he  had  others, 
see  2  Chron.  xxviii.  3,)  he  is  said  to  have  passed 
through  the  fire  to  Molech ,  2  Kings  xvi.  3,  yet  he  suc¬ 
ceeded  his  father  in  the  kingdom,  chapter  xviii.  1, 
therefore  this  could  only  be  a  consecration ,  his  idola¬ 
trous  father  intending  thereby  to  initiate  him  early 
into  the  service  of  this  demon.  See  the  note  on 
chapter  xx.  2. 

Verse  22.  With  mankind ]  This  abominable  crime, 
frequent  among  the  Greeks  and  Romans  as  well  as  the 
Canaanites,  may  be  punished  with  death  in  this  country. 

Verse  23.  With  any  beast]  This  abomination  is 
also  punishable  with  death  by  the  laws  of  this  country. 

Any  woman  stand  before  a  beast]  That  this  was 
often  done  in  Egypt  there  can  be  no  doubt ;  and  we 
have  already  seen,  from  the  testimony  of  Herodotus , 
that  a  fact  of  this  kind  actually  took  place  while  he  was 
in  Egypt.  See  the  note  on  chap.  xvii.  7,  and  xx.  16. 

Verse  25.  The  land  itself  vomiteth  out  her  inhabit¬ 
ants.]  This  is  a  very  nervous  prosopopoeia  or  per¬ 
sonification  ;  a  figure  by  which  any  part  of  inanimate 
nature  may  be  represented  as  possessing  the  passions 
and  reason  of  man.  Here  the  land  is  represented  as 
an  intelligent  being,  with  a  deep  and  refined  sense  of 

a 


XVIII.  strictly  prohibited. 

nation,  nor  any  stranger  that  so-  A.  M.  2514 
journeth  among  you  :  An.  Exod.  Isr.  2. 

27  (For  all  these  abominations  Ablb  or  Nlsan‘ 
have  the  men  of  the  land  done,  which  were 
before  you,  and  the  land  is  defiled  :) 

28  That  b  the  land  spue  not  you  out  also, 
when  ye  defile  it,  as  it  spued  out  the  nations 
that  were  before  you. 

29  For  whosoever  shall  commit  any  of 
these  abominations,  even  the  souls  that  com¬ 
mit  them  shall  be  cut  off  from  among  their 
people. 

30  Therefore  shall  ye  keep  mine  ordinance, 
h  that  ye  commit  not  any  one  of  these  abomi¬ 
nable  customs,  which  were  committed  before 
you,  and  that  ye *  i 2  defile  not  yourselves  therein  : 
k  I  am  the  Lord  your  God. 

xxxv.  34  ;  Jer.  ii.  7 ;  xvi.  18  ;  Ezek.  xxxvi.  17. - d  Psa.  lxxxiy 

32  ;  Isa.  xxvi.  21  ;  Jer.  v.  9,  29 ;  ix.  9 ;  xiv.  10 ;  xxiii.  2 ;  Hos 

ii.  13  ;  viii.  13  ;  ix.  9. - e  Ver.  28. - f  Ver.  5,  30  ;  chap-,  xx.  22 

23. - s  Chap.  xx.  22  ;  Jer.  ix.  19  ;  Ezek.  xxxvi.  13,  17. - h  Ver 

3,  26  ;  chap.  xx.  23  ;  Deut.  xviii.  9. - 1  Ver.  24. - k  Yer.  2,  4 

moral  good  and  evil  :  information  concerning  the 
abominations  of  the  people  is  brought  to  this  personi¬ 
fied  land,  with  which  it  is  so  deeply  affected  that  a 
nausea  is  produced,  and  it  vomits  out  its  abominable 
and  accursed  inhabitants.  It  was  natural  for  the  in¬ 
spired  penman  to  make  use  of  such  a  figure,  as  the 
description  he  was  obliged  to  give  of  so  many  and 
enormous  abominations  must  have  affected  him  nearly 
in  the  same  way  in  which  he  represents  the  land  to  be 
affected. 

Verse  30.  Shall  ye  keep  mine  ordinance]  The  only 
way  to  be  preserved  from  all  false  worship  is  seriously 
to  consider  and  devoutly  to  observe  the  ordinances  of 
the  true  religion.  He  who  in  the  things  of  God  goes 
no  farther  than  he  can  say,  Thus  it  is  written,  and 
thus  it  behoves  me  to  do,  is  never  likely  to  receive  a 
false  creed,  nor  perform  a  superstitious  act  of  worship. 

1.  How  true  is  that  word,  The  laio  of  the  Lord  is 
perfect  !  In  a  small  compass,  and  in  a  most  minute 
detail,  it  comprises  every  thing  that  is  calculated  to 
instruct,  direct,  convince ,  correct,  and  fortify  the  mind 
of  man.  Whatever  has  a  tendency  to  corrupt  or  in¬ 
jure  man,  that  it  forbids ;  whatever  is  calculated  to 
comfort  him,  promote  and  secure  his  best  interests, 
that  it  commands.  It  takes  him  in  all  possible  states , 
views  him  in  all  connections,  and  provides  for  his  pre¬ 
sent  and  eternal  happiness. 

2.  As  the  human  soul  is  polluted  and  tends  to  pol¬ 
lution,  the  great  doctrine  of  the  law  is  holiness  to  the 
Lord:  this  it  keeps  invariably  in  view  in  all  its  com¬ 
mands,  precepts,  ordinances,  rites,  and  ceremonies. 
And  how  forcibly  in  all  these  does  it  say,  Thou  shalt 
love  the  Lord  thy  God  with  all  thy  heart ,  and  with 
all  thy  soul,  and  with  all  thy  mind ,  and  with  all  thy 
strength ;  and  thy  neighbour  as  thyself!  This  is  the 
prominent  doctrine  of  the  preceding  chapter ;  and  this 
shall  be  fulfilled  in  all  them  who  believe ,  for  Christ  is 

569 


Various  ordinances  tending 


LEVITICUS.  to  promote  holiness, 


the  end  of  the  law  for  righteousness  to  them  that  be¬ 
lieve.  Reader,  magnify  God  for  his  law,  for  by  it  is 
the  knowledge  of  sin ;  and  magnify  him  for  his  Gospel , 
for  by  this  is  the  cure  of  sin.  Let  the  law  be  thy 


schoolmaster  to  bring  thee  to  Christ,  that  thou  mayest 
be  justified  by  faith ;  and  that  the  righteousness  of 
the  law  may  be  fulfilled  in  thee,  and  that  thou  mayest 
walk,  not  after  the  flesh,  but  after  the  Spirit. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

Exhortations  to  holiness,  and  a  repetition  of  various  laws ,  1,2.  Duty  to  parents,  and  observance  of  the 
■  Sabbath,  3.  Against  idolatry,  4.  Concerning  peace-offerings,  5—8.  The  gleanings  of  the  harvest  and 
vintage  to  be  left  for  the  poor ,  9,  10.  Against  stealing  and  lying,  11  ;  false  swearing,  12  ;  defrauding  the 
hireling,  13.  Laws  in  behalf  of  the  deaf  and  the  blind,  14.  Against  respect  of  persons  in  judgment, 
15  ;  tale-bearing,  16  ;  hatred  and  uncharitableness,  17  ;  revenge,  18  ;  unlawful  mixtures  in  cattle,  seed, 
and  garments,  19.  Laws  relative  to  the  bondmaid  that  is  betrothed ,  20—22.  The  fruit  of  the  trees  of 
the  land  not  to  be  eaten  for  the  first  three  years ,  23  ;  but  this  is  lawful  in  the  fourth  and  fifth  years ,  24, 
25.  Against  eating  of  blood,  and  using  incantations,  26  ;  superstitious  cutting  of  the  hair,  27  ;  and 
cutting  of  the  flesh  in  the  times  of  mourning ,  28  ;  prostitution,  29.  Sabbaths  to  be  reverenced ,  30. 
Against  consulting  those  ivho  are  wizards,  and  have  familiar  spirits,  31.  Respect  must  be  shown  to  the 
aged,  32.  The  stranger  shall  not  be  oppressed ,  33,  34.  They  shall  keep  just  measures,  weights,  and 
balances,  35,  36.  Conclusion ,  37. 


A.  M.  2514.  A  ND  the  Lord  spake  unto 

B.  C.  1490.  A  .  r 

An._Exod.isr.  2.  Moses,  saying, 

Abib  or  Nisan.  ^  Speak  unto  all  the  congrega¬ 
tion  of  the  children  of  Israel,  and  say  unto 
them,  aYe  shall  be  holy:  for  I  the  Lord 
your  God  am  holy. 

3  h  Ye  shall  fear  every  man  his  mother,  and 
his  father,  and  c  keep  my  Sabbaths  :  I  am  the 
Lord  your  God. 

4  d  Turn  ye  not  unto  idols,  e  nor  make  to 
yourselves  molten  gods :  I  am  the  Lord 
your  God. 

5  And  f  if  ye  offer  a  sacrifice  of  peace-offer¬ 
ings  unto  the  Lord,  ye  shall  offer  it  at  your 
own  will. 

6  It  shall  be  eaten  the  same  day  ye  offer  it, 
and  on  the  morrow  :  and  if  aught  remain  until 
the  third  day,  it  shall  be  burnt  in  the  fire. 

7  And  if  it  be  eaten  at  all  on  the  third  day, 
it  is  abominable  ;  it  shall  not  be  accepted. 

a  Chap.  xi.  44  ;  xx.  7,  26  ;  1  Pet.  i.  16. - -b  Exod.  xx.  12. 

c  Exod.  xx.  8  ;  xxxi.  13.—: — d  Exod.  xx.  4 ;  chap.  xxvi.  1 ;  1  Cor. 

x.  14 ;  1  John  v.  21. - e  Exod.  xxxiv.  17;  Deut.  xxvii.  15. 

f  Chap.  vii.  16. - s  Chap,  xxiii.  22  ;  Deut.  xxiv.  19,  20,  21 ; 

NOTES  ON  CHAP.  XIX. 

Verse  3.  Ye  shall  fear  every  man  his  mother ,  fyc.] 
Ye  shall  have  the  profoundest  reverence  and  respect 
for  them.  See  the  notes  on  Gen.  xlviii.  12,  and  on 
Exod.  xx.  8,  12. 

Verse  4.  Turn  ye  not  unto  idols ]  dVSn  elilim, 
literally  nothings  ;  and  to  this  St.  Paul  seems  to  allude 

1  Cor.  viii.  4,  where  he  says,  We  know  that  an  idol 
is  nothing  in  the  world. 

Verse  5.  Peace-offerings']  See  the  notes  at  the 
conclusion  of  chap.  vii. 

Verse  7.  If  it  be  eaten — on  the  third  day]  See 
the  note  on  chap.  vii.  15. 

570 


8  Therefore  every  one  that  A.  M.  2514. 

.  .  .  „  .  f.  .  .  .  B.  C.  1490. 

eateth  it  shall  bear  his  iniquity,  An.  Exod.  isr.  2. 

because  he  hath  profaned  the  Ablb  or  ]Nlsan- 
hallowed  thing  of  the  Lord  :  and  that 
soul  shall  be  cut  off  from  among  his 
people. 

9  And  s  when  ye  reap  the  harvest  of  your 
land,  thou  shalt  not  wholly  reap  the  corners 
of  thy  field,  neither  shalt  thou  gather  the 
gleanings  of  the  harvest. 

10  And  thou  shalt  not  glean  thy  vineyard, 
neither  shalt  thou  gather  every  grape  of  thy 
vineyard ;  thou  shalt  leave  them  for  the  poor 
and  stranger :  I  am  the  Lord  your  God. 

11  h  Ye  shall  not  steal,  neither  deal  falsely, 
1  neither  lie  one  to  another. 

12  And  ye  shall  not  k  swear  by  my  name 
falsely, *  1  neither  shalt  thou  profane  the  name 
of  thy  God  :  I  am  the  Lord. 

13  m  Thou  shalt  not  defraud  thy  neighbour, 

Ruth  ii.  15,  16. - h  Exod.  xx.  15;  xxii.  1,  7,  10  ;  Deut.  v.  19. 

1  Chap.  vi.  2  ;  Eph.  iv.  25  ;  Col.  iii.  9. - k  Exod.  xx.  7  ;  chap. 

vi.  3;  Deut.  v.  11  ;  Matt.  v.  33  ;  James  v.  12. - 1  Chap,  xviii. 

21. - mEcclus.  x.  6  ;  Mark  x.  19  ;  1  Thess.  iv.  6. 

Verse  9.  When  ye  reap  the  harvest]  Liberty  for 
the  poor  to  glean  both  the  corn-fields  and  vineyards 
was  a  Divine  institution  among  the  Jews  ;  for  the 
whole  of  the  Mosaic  dispensation,  like  the  Christian, 
breathed  love  to  God  and  benevolence  to  man.  The 
poor  in  Judea  were  to  live  by  gleanings  from  the 
corn-fields  and  vineyards.  To  the  honour  of  the  pub¬ 
lic  and  charitable  spirit  of  the  English,  this  merciful 
law  is  in  general  as  much  attended  to  as  if  it  had  been 
incorporated  with  the  Gospel. 

Verse  11.  Ye.  shall  not  steal,  §c.]  Seethe  notes 
on  Exod.  xx. 

Verse  13.  The  iv  ages — shall  not  abide  with  thee  all 


Against  respect  of  persons ,  CHAP 

A.  M.  2514.  neither  rob  him  :  n  the  wages  of 
An.  Exod.  isr.  2.  him  that  is  hired  shall  not  abide 

Abil>  or  Nisan.  wjth  thee  all  night  until  the 

morning. 

14  Thou  shalt  not  curse  the  deaf,  0  nor  put  a 
stumbling-block  before  the  blind,  but  shalt 
p  fear  thy  God  :  I  am  the  Lord. 

15  q  Ye  shall  do  no  unrighteousness  in 
judgment :  thou  shalt  not  respect  the  person 
of  the  poor,  nor  honour  the  person  of  the 
mighty;  but  in  righteousness  shalt  thou  judge 
thy  neighbour. 

16  rThou  shalt  not  go  up  and  down  as  a 
tale-bearer  among  thy  people  ;  neither  shalt 

“Deut.  xxiv.  14,  15;  Mai.  iii.  5;  Tob.  iv.  14;  James  v.  4. 

0  Deut.  xxvii.  18  ;  Rom.  xiv.  13. - P  Ver.  32  ;  chap.  xxv.  17  ; 

Gen.  xlii.  18  ;  Eccles.  v.  7  ;  1  Pet.  ii.  17. - 4  Exod.  xxiii.  2,  3  ; 

Deut.  i.  17  ;  xvi.  19  ;  xxvii.  19  ;  Psa.  lxxxii.  2  ;  Prov.  xxiv.  23  ; 

Janies  ii.  9. - r  Exod.  xxiii.  1  ;  Psa.  xv.  3  ;  1.  20  ;  Prov.  xi.  13  ; 

xx.  19;  Ezek.  xxii.  9. - sExod.  xxiii.  1,7  ;  1  Kings  xxi.  13; 

Matt.  xxvi.  60,  61;  xxvii.  4. - -l  1  John  ii.  9,  11;  iii.  15. 

nig-ftt]  For  this  plain  reason,  it  is  the  support  of  the 
man’s  life  and  family,  and  they  need  to  expend  it  as 
fast  as  it  is  earned. 

Yerse  14.  Thou  shalt  not  curse  the  deaf]  Or  speak 
evil  of  him,  because  he  cannot  hear,  and  so  cannot 
vindicate  his  own  character. 

Nor  put  a  stumbling-block  before  the  blind ]  He 
who  is  capable  of  doing-  this,  must  have  a  heart  cased 
with  cruelty.  The  spirit  and  design  of  these  precepts 
are,  that  no  man  shall  in  any  case  take  advantage  of 
the  ignorance,  simplicity,  or  inexperience  of  his  neigh¬ 
bour,  but  in  all  things  do  to  his  neighbour  as  he  would, 
on  a  change  of  circumstances,  that  his  neighbour  should 
do  to  him. 

Verse  16.  Thou  shalt  not  go  up  and  down  as  a  tale¬ 
bearer ]  Tin  rachil  signifies  a  trader ,  a  pedlar ,  and  is 
here  applied  to  the  person  who  travels  about  dealing 
in  scandal  and  calumny,  getting  the  secrets  of  every 
person  and  family,  and  retailing  them  wherever  he 
goes.  A  more  despicable  character  exists  not :  such 
a  person  is  a  pest  to  society,  and  should  be  exiled  from 
the  habitations  of  men. 

Neither  shalt  thou  stand  against  the  blood ,  <fc.] 
Thou  shalt  not  be  a  false  witness,  because  by  such  tes¬ 
timony  the  blood — the  life  of  an  innocent  man  may 
be  endangered. 

Yerse  17.  Thou  shalt  not  hate  thy  brother ]  Thou 
shalt  not  only  not  do  him  any  kind  of  evil,  but  thou 
shalt  harbour  no  hatred  in  thy  heart  towards  him.  On 
the  contrary,  thou  shalt  love  him  as  thyself  ver.  18. 
Many  persons  suppose,  from  misunderstanding  our 
Lord’s  words,  John  xiii.  34,  A  new  commandment  give 
I  unto  you ,  that  ye  love  one  another,  &c.,  that  loving 
our  neighbour  as  ourselves  was  first  instituted  under 
the  Gospel.  This  verse  shows  the  opinion  to  be  un¬ 
founded  :  but  to  love  another  as  Christ  has  loved  us, 
i-  e.,  to  lay  down  our  lives  for  each  other,  is  certainly 
a  new  commandment  ;  we  have  it  simply  on  the  au¬ 
thority  of  Jesus  Christ  alone. 

And  not  suffer  sin  upon  him.]  If  thou  see  him  sin, 

a 


XIX.  tale-bearing ,  hatred ,  c. 

thou  8  stand  against  the  blood  of  A.  m.  2514. 
thy  neighbour:  I  am  the  Lord.  An.  Exod.  Lr.  2. 

17  4  Thou  shalt  not  hate  thy  Abib  or  NlsaiK 
brother  in  thine  heart :  11  thou  shalt  in  any  wise 
rebuke  thy  neighbour,  v  and  not  suffer  sin 
upon  him. 

18  w  Thou  shalt  not  avenge,  nor  bear  any 
grudge  against  the  children  of  thy  people, 
x  but  thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbour  as  thyself : 
I  am  the  Lord. 

19  Ye  shall  keep  my  statutes.  Thou  shalt 
not  let  thy  cattle  gender  with  a  diverse  kind  : 
y  thou  shalt  not  sow  thy  field  with  mingled 
seed :  z  neither  shall  a  garment  mingled  of 

u  Ecclus.  xix.  13  ;  Matt,  xviii.  15  ;  Luke.  xvii.  3  ;  Gal.  vi.  1  ; 
Eph.  v.  11;  1  Tim.  v.  20;  2  Tim.  iv.  2  ;  Tit.  i.  13;  ii.  15. 
v  Or,-  that  thou  hear  not  sin  for  him ;  see  Rom.  i.  32  ;  1  Cor.  v.  2  ; 

1  Tim.  v.  22;  2  John  11. - w2  Sam.  xiii.  22;  Prov.  xx. 

22 ;  Rom.  xii.  17,  19  ;  Gal.  v.  20  ;  Eph.  iv.  31 ;  1  Pet.  ii.  1 ; 

James  v.  9. - x  Matt.  v.  43 ;  xxii.  39  ;  Rom.  xiii.  9  ;  Gal. 

v.  14  ;  James  ii.  8. - 7  Deut.  xxii.  9,  10. - z  Deut.  xxii.  11. 

or  know  him  to  be  addicted  to  any  thing  by  which  the 
safety  of  his  soul  is  endangered,  thou  shalt  mildly  and 
affectionately  reprove  him,  and  by  no  means  permit 
him  to  go  on  without  counsel  and  advice  in  a  way  that 
is  leading  him  to  perdition.  In  a  multitude  of  cases 
timely  reproof  has  been  the  means  of  saving  the  soul. 
Speak  to  him  privately  if  possible  ;  if  not,  write  to 
him  in  such  a  way  that  himself  alone  shall  see  it. 

Yerse  19.  Gender  ivith  a  diverse  kind ]  These  pre¬ 
cepts  taken  literally  seem  to  imply  that  they  should 
not  permit  the  horse  and  the  she-ass,  nor  the  he-ass 
and  the  cow ,  (as  they  do  in  the  East,)  to  couple  to¬ 
gether  ;  nor  sow  different  kinds  of  seeds  in  the  same 
field  or  garden ;  nor  have  garments  of  silk  and  ivool- 
len,  cotton  and  silk,  linen  and  wool,  &c.  And  if  all 
these  were  forbidden,  there  must  have  been  some  moral 
reason  for  the  prohibitions,  because  domestic  economy 
required  several  of  these  mixtures,  especially  those 
which  relate  to  seeds  and  clothing.  With  respect  to 
heterogeneous  mixtures  among  cattle,  there  is  some¬ 
thing  very  unnatural  in  it,  and  it  was  probably  forbid¬ 
den  to  prevent  excitements  to  such  unnatural  lusts  as 
those  condemned  in  the  preceding  chapter,  ver.  22, 
23.  As  to  seeds,  in  many  cases  it  would  be  very  im¬ 
proper  to  sow  different  kinds  in  the  same  plot  of  ground. 
It  would  be  improvident  to  sow  oats  and  wheat  together : 
the  latter  would  be  injured,  the  former  ruined.  The 
turnip  and  carrot  would  not  succeed  conjointly,  where 
either  of  them  separately  would  prosper  and  yield  a 
good  crop ;  so  we  may  say  of  many  other  kinds  of 
seeds ;  and  if  this  be  all  that  is  intended,  the  counsels 
are  prudential  agricultural  maxims.  As  to  different 
kinds  of  garments ,  such  as  the  linsey  woolsey,  the  pro¬ 
hibition  here  might  be  intended  as  much  against  pride 
and  vanity  as  any  thing  else  ;  for  it  is  certain  that  both 
these  articles  may  be  so  manufactured  in  conjunction 
as  to  minister  to  pride,  though  in  general  the  linsey 
woolsey  or  drugget  is  the  clothing  of  the  poor.  But 
we  really  do  not  know  what  the  original  wrord 
shaatnez,  which  we  translate  linen  and  woollen,  means  ; 

571 


The  fruit  of  a  young 


LEVITICUS. 


tree  not  to  be  eaten. 


a.  M.  2514.  linen  and  woollen  come  upon 
B.  C.  1490. *  1 

An.  Exod.  Isr.  2.  thee. 

Abib  or  Nlsan-  20  And  whosoever  lieth  carnally 
with  a  woman  that  is  a  bondmaid,  a  betrothed 
to  a  husband,  b  and  not  at  all  redeemed,  nor 
freedom  given  her ;  c  she  shall  be  d  scourged  : 
they  shall  not  be  put  to  death,  because  she 
was  not  free. 

2 1  And  e  he  shall  bring  his  trespass-offering 
unto  the  Lord,  unto  the  door  of  the  taberna¬ 
cle  of  the  congregation,  even  a  ram  for  a  tres¬ 
pass-offering. 

22  And  the  priest  shall  make  an  atonement 
for  him  with  the  ram  of  the  trespass-offering 
before  the  Lord,  for  his  sin  which  he  hath 


done  ;  and  the  sin  which  he  hath  a.  m.  2514. 
done  shall  be  forgiven  him.  An.  Exod.  Isr!  2. 

23  And  when  ye  shall  come  into  Ablb  or  -TClsan* 
the  land,  and  shall  have  planted  all  manner  of 
trees  for  food,  then  ye  shall  count  the  fruit  there¬ 
of  as  uncircumcised  :  three  years  shall  it  be  as 
uncircumcised  unto  you :  it  shall  not  be  eaten  of: 

24  But  in  the  fourth  year  all  the  fruit  thereof 
shall  be  f  holy,  g  to  praise  the  Lord  withal. 

25  And  in  the  fifth  year  shall  ye  eat  of  the 
fruit  thereof,  that  it  may  yield  unto  you  the 
increase  thereof  :  I  am  the  Lord  your  God. 

26  hYe  shall  not  eat  any  thing  with  the 
blood  ;  1  neither  shall  ye  use  enchantment,  nor 
observe  times. 


a  Or,  abused  by  any. - b  Heb.  reproached  by  or  for  man. 

c  Or,  they. - d  Heb.  there  shall  be  a  scourging. - e  Chap.  v.  15  ; 

vi.  6. - fHeb.  holiness  of  praises  to  the  LORD. 

it  is  true  that  in  Deut.  xxii.  11,  where  it  is  again  used, 
it  seems  to  be  explained  by  the  words  immediately  fol¬ 
lowing,  Thou  shalt  not  wear  a  garment  of  divers  sorts , 
as  of  Linen  and  woollen  together  ;  but  this  may  as  well 
refer  to  a  garment  made  up  of  a  sort  of  patch-work 
differently  coloured  and  arranged  for  pride  and  for 
show.  A  folly  of  this  kind  prevailed  anciently  in  this 
very  land,  and  I  shall  give  a  proof  of  it,  taken  from  a 
sermon  against  luxury  in  dress ,  composed  in  the  four¬ 
teenth  century. 

i:  As  to  the  first  sinne  in  superfluity  of  clothing,  soche 
that  maketh  it  so  dere,  to  the  harme  of  the  peple,  nat 
only  the  cost  of  enbraudering,  the  disguised  endenting, 
or  barring,  ounding  paling,  winding  or  bending  and  sem- 
blable  wast  of  clothe  in  vanite.  But  there  is  also  the 
costlewe  furring  in  their  gounes,  so  moche  pounsing  of 
chesel,  to  make  holes ;  so  moche  dagging  with  sheres 
foorth ;  with  the  superfluity  in  length  of  the  forsaied 
gounes, — to  grete  dammage  of  pore  folke. — And  more 
ouer — they  shewe  throughe  disguising,  in  departing 
of  ther  hosen  in  while  and  red ,  semeth  that  halfe  ther 
members  were  slain. — They  departe  ther  hosen  into 
other  colours,  as  is  white  and  bleive,  or  white  and  blacke, 
or  blacke  and  red ,  and  so  forth  ;  than  semeth  it  as  by 
variaunce  of  colour,  that  the  halfe  part  of  ther  mem¬ 
bers  ben  corrupt  by  the  fire  of  Saint  Anthony,  or  by 
canker,  or  other  suche  mischaunce.”  The  Parson’s 
Tale ,  in  Chaucer,  p.  198.  Urry’s  edit.  The  reader 
will  pardon  the  antiquated  spelling. 

“  What  could  exhibit,”  says  Dr.  Henry,  “  a  more 
fantastical  appearance  than  an  English  beau  of  the 
14th  century  1  He  wore  long  pointed  shoes,  fastened 
to  his  knees  by  gold  or  silver  chains ;  hose  of  one 
colour  on  the  one  leg ,  and  of  another  colour  on  the 
other ;  short  breeches  which  did  reach  to  the  middle 
of  his  thighs  ;  a  coat  the  one  half  white ,  the  other 
half  black  or  blue ;  a  long  beard  ;  a  silk  hood  buttoned 
under  his  chin,  embroidered  with  grotesque  figures  of 
animals,  dancing  men,  &c.,  and  sometimes  ornamented 
with  gold  and  precious  stones.”  This  dress  was  the 
height  of  the  mode  in  the  reign  of  King  Edward  III. 

572 


s  Deut.  xii.  17,  18  ;  Prov.  iii.  9. - h  Chap.  xvii.  10,  &c.  ; 

Deut.  xii.  23. - s  Deut.  xviii.  10,  11,  14;  1  Sam.  xv.  23; 

2  Kings  xvii.  17  ;  xxi.  6  ;  2  Chron.  xxxiii.  6  ;  Mai.  iii.  5. 

Something  of  the  same  kind  seems  to  have  existed 
in  the  patriarchal  times  ;  witness  the  coat  of  many 
colours  made  by  Jacob  for  his  son  Joseph.  See  the 
note  on  Gen.  xxxvii.  3.  Concerning  these  different 
mixtures  much  may  be  seen  in  the  Mishnci,  Tract. 
Kilaim ,  and  in  Ainsworth,  and  Calmet  on  this  place. 

Verse  20.  A  woman  that  iso  bondmaid ]  Had  she 
been  free ,  the  law  required  that  she  should  be  put  to 
death  ;  (see  Deut.  xxii.  24  ;)  but  as  she  was  a  slave ,  she 
is  supposed  to  have  less  self-command,  and  therefore 
less  guilt :  but  as  it  is  taken  for  granted  she  did 
not  make  resistance,  or  did  consent,  she  is  to  be 
scourged ,  and  the  man  is  to  bring  a  ram  for  a  tres¬ 
pass-offering. 

Verse  23.  Three  years  shall  it  be  as  uncircumcised ] 

I  see  no  great  reason  to  seek  for  mystical  meanings 
in  this  prohibition.  The  fruit  of  a  young  tree  cannot 
be  good  ;  for  not  having  arrived  at  a  state  of  maturity, 
the  juices  cannot  be  sufficiently  elaborated  to  produce 
fruit  excellent  in  its  kind.  The  Israelites  are  com¬ 
manded  not  to  eat  of  the  fruit  of  a  tree  till  the  fifth 
year  after  its  planting  :  in  the  three  first  years  the  fruit 
is  unwholesome  ;  in  the  fourth  year  the  fruit  is  holy, 
it  belongs  to  God,  and  should  be  consecrated  to  him, 
ver.  24  ;  and  in  the  fifth  year  and  afterward  the  fruit 
may  be  employed  for  common  use,  ver.  25. 

Verse  26.  Neither  shall  ye  use  enchantment ]  kS 
ityrcn  lo  thenachashu.  Conjecture  itself  can  do  little 
towards  a  proper  explanation  of  the  terms  used  in  this 
verse,  nachash  in  Gen.  iii.  1  we  translate  ser¬ 

pent ,  and  with  very  little  propriety ;  but  though  the 
word  may  not  signify  a  serpent  in  that  place,  it  has 
that  signification  in  others.  Possibly,  therefore,  the 
superstition  here  prohibited  may  be  wThat  the  Greeks 
called  Ophiomanteia ,  or  divination  by  serpents. 

Nor  observe  times.]  UDJTI  velo  teonenu,  ye  shall 
not  divine  by  clouds,  which  was  also  a  superstition 
much  in  practice  among  the  heathens,  as  well  as  divi¬ 
nation  by  the  flight  of  birds.  What  these  prohibitions 
may  particularly  refer  to,  we  know  not.  See  the  notes 
on  Gen.  xii.  8. 


a 


CHAP.  XIX. 


to  be  avoided. 


Superstitious  usages 


A.  M.  2514.  27  k  Ye  shall  not  round  the 

B.  C.  1490.  -  •,  ,  .  . 

An.  F.xod.  isr.  2.  corners  oi  your  heads,  neither 
Abib  or  Nisan.  gjiajt  th0ll  mar  tfie  corners  0f 

thy  beard. 


28  Ye  shall  not  1  make  any 
cuttings  in  your  flesh  for  the 
dead,  nor  print  any  marks  upon 
you :  I  am  the  Lord. 


A.  M.  2514. 

B.  C.  1490. 
An.  Exod.  Isr.  2. 
Abib  or  Nisan. 


k  Chap.  xxi.  5  ;  Jer.  ix.  26  ;  xlviii.  37  ;  Isa.  xv.  2. 


1  Chap.  xxi.  5  ;  Deut.  xiv.  1 ;  Jer.  xvi.  6  ;  xlviii.  37. 


Verse  27.  Ye  shall  not  round  the  corners  of  your 
heads]  This  and  the  following  verse  evidently  refer 
to  customs  which  must  have  existed  among  the  Egyp¬ 
tians  when  the  Israelites  sojourned  in  Egypt ;  and 
what  they  were  it  is  now  difficult,  even  with  any  pro¬ 
bability,  to  conjecture.  Herodotus  observes  that  the 
Arabs  shave  or  cut  their  hair  round ,  in  honour  of  Bac¬ 
chus,  who,  they  say,  had  his  hair  cut  in  this  way,  lib. 
iii. ,  cap.  8.  He  says  also  that  the  Macians ,  a  people 
of  Libya,  cut  their  hair  round ,  so  as  to  leave  a  tuft 
on  the  top  of  the  head,  lib.  iv.,  cap.  175.  In  this  man¬ 
ner  the  Chinese  cut  their  hair  to  the  present  day. 
This  might  have  been  in  honour  of  some  idol,  and 
therefore  forbidden  to  the  Israelites. 

The  hair  was  much  used  in  divination  among  the 
ancients,  and  for  purposes  of  religious  superstition 
among  the  Greeks  ;  and  particularly  about  the  time  of 
the  giving  of  this  law,  as  this  is  supposed  to  have  been 
the  era  of  the  Trojan  war.  We  learn  from  Homer 
that  it  was  customary  for  parents  to  dedicate  the  hair 
of  their  children  to  some  god  ;  which,  when  they  came 
to  manhood,  they  cut  off  and  consecrated  to  the  deity. 
Achilles,  at  the  funeral  of  Patroclus,  cut  off  his  golden 
locks  which  his  father  had  dedicated  to  the  river  god 
Sperchius,  and  threw  them  into  the  flood  : — 

Srcf  arcavevOe  Trvprjc  Zavdqv  aKEKEiparo  xalTrlv , 

Ttjv  j&a  2 7 ~epxEi(p  Tcorapxp  rpcQe  T'p'Xedooaav’ 

O xOrjaag  6’  apa  eittev,  Auv  etu  oivoira  ttovtov’ 

Ztt tpxei\  a?Aug  aot  ye  Txarrip  TjprjaaTo  n^/leuf.  k.  t. 

Iliad,  1.  xxiii.,  ver.  142,  &c. 

But  great  Achilles  stands  apart  in  prayer, 

And  from  his  head  divides  the  yellow  hair , 

Those  curling  locks  which  from  his  youth  he  vowed , 
And  sacred  threw  to  Sperchius ’  honoured  flood. 
Then  sighing,  to  the  deep  his  looks  he  cast, 

And  rolled  his  eyes  around  the  watery  waste. 
Sperchius  !  whose  waves,  in  mazy  errors  lost, 
Delightful  roll  along  my  native  coast ! 

To  whom  we  vainly  vowed,  at  our  return, 

These  lochs  to  fall,  and  hecatombs  to  burn - - 

So  vowed  my  father ,  but  he  vowed  in  vain, 

No  more  Achilles  sees  his  native  plain ; 

In  that  vain  hope  these  hairs  no  longer  grow  ; 
Patroclus  bears  them  to  the  shades  below.  Pope. 

From  Virgil  we  learn  that  the  topmost  lock  of  hair 
was  dedicated  to  the  infernal  gods ;  see  his  account 
of  the  death  of  Dido  : — 

“Nondum  illi  flavum  Proserpina  vertice  crineni 
Abstulerat,  Stygioque  caput  damnaverat  orco — 

- Hunc  ego  Diti 

Sacrum  jussa  fero  ;  teque  isto  corpore  solvo. 

Sic  ait,etdextra  crinem  secald  HSn.,  1.  iv.,  ver.  C98. 

The  sisters  had  not  cut  the  topmost  hair, 

Which  Proserpine  and  they  can  only  know, 

a 


Nor  made  her  sacred  to  the  shades  below — 

This  offering  to  the  infernal  gods  I  bear ; 

Thus  while  she  spoke,  she  cut  the  fatal  hair. 

Dryden. 

If  the  hair  was  rounded,  and  dedicated  for  purposes 
of  this  kind,  it  will  at  once  account  for  the  prohibition 
in  this  verse. 

The  corners  of  thy  beard.]  Probably  meaning  the 
hair  of  the  cheek  that  connects  the  hair  of  the  head 
with  the  beard.  This  was  no  doubt  cut  in  some  pecu¬ 
liar  manner  for  the  superstitious  purposes  mentioned 
above.  Several  of  our  own  countrymen  wear  this 
said  hair  in  a'  curious  form ;  for  what  purposes  they 
know  best :  we  cannot  say  precisely  that  it  is  the  an¬ 
cient  Egyptian  custom  revived.  From  the  images 
and  paintings  which  remain  of  the  ancient  Egyptians, 
we  find  that  they  were  accustomed  to  shave  the  whole 
hair  off  their  face,  except  merely  that  upon  the  chin, 
which  last  they  cut  off  only  in  times  of  mourning. 

Verse  28.  Any  cuttings  in  your  flesh  for  the  dead] 
That  the  ancients  were  very  violent  in  their  grief, 
tearing  the  hair  and  face,  beating  the  breast,  &c.,  is 
well  known.  Virgil  represents  the  sister  of  Dido 
“  tearing  her  face  with  her  nails,  and  beating  her 
breast  with  her  fists.” 

“  Unguibus  ora  soror  foedans,  et  pectora  pugnis.” 

JE n.,  1.  iv.,  ver.  672. 

Nor  print  any  marks  upon  you]  It  was  a  very  an¬ 
cient  and  a  very  general  custom  to  carry  marks  on  the 
body  in  honour  of  the  object  of  their  worship.  All 
the  castes  of  the  Hindoos  bear  on  their  foreheads  or 
elsewhere  what  are  called  the  sectarian  marks,  which 
distinguish  them,  not  only  in  a  civil  but  also  in  a  reli¬ 
gious  point  of  view,  from  each  other. 

Most  of  the  barbarous  nations  lately  discovered 
have  their  faces,  arms,  breasts,  &e.,  curiously  carved 
or  tatooed,  probably  for  superstitious  purposes.  An¬ 
cient  writers  abound  with  accounts  of  marks  made  on 
the  face,  arms,  &c.,  in  honour  of  different  idols  ;  and 
to  this  the  inspired  penman  alludes,  Rev.  xiii.  16,  17 ; 
xiv.  9,  1 1  ;  xv.  2  ;  xvi.  2  ;  xix.  20  ;  xx.  4,  where  false 
worshippers  are  represented  as  receiving  in  their  hands 
and  in  their  forehead  the  marks  of  the  beast.  These 
were  called  cTiyyara  stigmata  among  the  Greeks, 
and  to  these  St.  Paul  refers  when  he  says,  I  bear  about 
in  my  body  the  marks  {stigmata)  of  the  Lord  Jesus ; 
Gal  vi.  17.  I  have  seen  several  cases  where  per¬ 
sons  have  got  the  figure  of  the  cross,  the  Virgin  Mary, 
&c.,  made  on  their  arms,  breasts,  &c.,  the  skin  being 
first  punctured,  and  then  a  blue  colouring  matter  rub¬ 
bed  in,  which  is  never  afterward  effaced.  All  these 
were  done  for  superstitious  purposes,  and  to  such  things 
probably  the  prohibition  in  this  verse  refers.  Calmet, 
on  this  verse,  gives  several  examples.  See  also  Mari¬ 
ner  s  Tonga  Islands,  vol.  i.,  p.  311-313. 

573 


LEVITICUS. 


The  aged l  to  be  respected . 

A.  M.  2514.  29  m  Do  not  n  prostitute  thy 

B.  C.  1490.  ,  i  +  u 

An.  Exod.  isr.  2.  daughter,  to  cause  her  to  be  a 

Ablb  or  Nlsan-  whore ;  lest  the  land  fall  to  whore¬ 
dom,  and  the  land  become  full  of  wickedness. 

30  0  Ye  shall  keep  my  Sabbaths,  and  p  re¬ 
verence  my  sanctuary :  I  am  the  Lord. 

31  q  Regard  not  them  that  have  familiar 
spirits,  neither  seek  after  wizards,  to  be  defiled 
by  them :  I  am  the  Lord  your  God. 

32  r  Thou  shalt  rise  up  before  the  hoary 
head,  and  honour  the  face  of  the  old  man, 
and  s  fear  thy  God  :  I  am  the  Lord. 

33  And  *  if  a  stranger  sojourn  with  thee  in 
your  land,  ye  shall  not  u  vex  him. 

34  v  But  the  stranger  that  dwelleth  with  you 

m  Deut.  xxiii.  17. - n  Heb.  profane. - 0  Ver.  3  ;  chap.  xxvi. 

2. - p  Ecclus.  v.  1. - <1  Exod.  xxii.  18  ;  chap.  xx.  6,  27  ;  Deut. 

xviii.  10  ;  1  Sam.  xxviii.  7 ;  1  Chron.  x.  13 ;  Isa.  viii.  19 ;  Acts 
xvi.  16. - r  Prov.  xx.  29  ;  1  Tim.  v.  1. - s  Yer.  14. 

Verse  29.  Do  not  prostitute  thy  daughter ]  This 
was  a  very  frequent  custom,  and  with  examples  of  it 
writers  of  antiquity  abound.  The  Cyprian  women, 
according  to  Justin,  gained  that  portion  which  their 
husbands  received  with  them  at  marriage  by  previous 
public  prostitution.  And  the  Phoenicians ,  according  to 
Augustine ,  made  a  gift  to  Venus  of  the  gain  acquired 
by  the  public  prostitution  of  their  daughters,  previously 
to  their  marriage.  “  Veneri  donum  dabant,  et  prosti- 
tutiones  filiarum,  antequam  jungerent  eas  viris.” — De 
Civit.  Dei,  lib.  xviii.,  c.  5  ;  and  see  Calmet. 

Verse  31.  Regard  not  them  that  have  familiar  spi¬ 
rits ]  The  Hebrew  word  ni2tt  obolh  probably  signifies 
a  kind  of  engastromuthoi  or  ventriloquists ,  or  such  as 
the  Pythoness  mentioned  Acts  xvi.  16,  18;  persons 
who,  while  under  the  influence  of  their  demon ,  became 
greatly  inflated ,  as  the  Hebrew  word  implies,  and  gave 
answers  in  a  sort  of  phrensy.  See  a  case  of  this  kind 
in  Virgil,  ^Eneid,  1.  vi.,  ver.  46,  &c.  : — 

“ - Deus  ecce,  Deus  !  cui  talia  fanti 

Ante  fores,  subito  non  vultus,  non  color  unus, 

Non  comptae  mansere  comag ;  sed  pectus  anhelum, 
Et  rabie  fera  corda  tument ;  majorque  videri , 

Nec  mortale  sonans,  afldala  est  numine  quando 
Jam  propiore  Dei.” 

- Invoke  the  skies, 

I  feel  the  god,  the  rushing  god,  she  cries. 

While  yet  she  spoke,  enlarged  her  features  grew, 
Her  colour  changed,  her  locks  dishevelled  flew. 
The  heavenly  tumult  reigns  in  every  part, 

Pants  it ^  her  breast ,  and  sivells  her  rising  heart : 
Still  swelling  to  the  sight ,  the  priestess  glowed, 
And  heaved  impatient  of  the  incumbent  god.  Pitt. 

Neither  seek  after  wizards ]  D'hltT’  yiddeonim ,  the 
wise  or  knowing  ones ,  from  yT  ycida,  to  knoiv  or  un¬ 
derstand ;  called  icizard  in  Scotland,  wise  or  cunning 
man  in  England ;  and  hence  also  the  wise  woman ,  the 
white  witch.  Not  only  all  real  dealers  with  familiar 
spirits,  or  necromantic  or  magical  superstitions,  are 
here  forbidden,  but  also  all  pretenders  to  the  knowledge 

574 


Just  weights,  balances,  Spc 

shall  be  unto  you  as  one  born  A.  M.  2514. 

/  .  .  .  ,  B.  C.  1490. 

among  you,  and  w  thou  shalt  love  An.  Exod.  Isr.  2. 

him  as  thyself;  for  ye  were  Ablb or Nlsan- 

strangers  in  the  land  of  Egypt :  I  am  the 

Lord  your  God. 

35  x  Ye  shall  do  no  unrighteousness  in 
judgment,  in  mete-yard,  in  weight,  or  in 
measure. 

36  y  Just  balances,  just  z  weights,  a  just 
ephah,  and  a  just  hin,  shall  ye  have  :  I  am 
the  Lord  your  God,  which  brought  you  out 
of  the  land  of  Egypt. 

37  a  Therefore  shall  ye  observe  all  my  sta¬ 
tutes,  and  all  my  judgments,  and  do  them  :  I 
am  the  Lord. 

4  Exod.  xxii.  21 ;  xxiii.  9. - u  Or,  oppress. - v  Exod.  xii. 

48,  49. - 'v  Deut.  x.  19. - *Ver.  15. - rDeut.  xxv.  13,  15; 

Prov.  xi.  1  ;  xvi.  11  ;  xx.  10. - z  Heb.  stones. - a  Chap,  xviii. 

4,  5  ;  Deut.  iv.  5,  6  ;  v.  1 ;  vi.  25. 

of  futurity,  fortune-tellers,  astrologers,  &c.,  &c.  To 
attempt  to  know  what  God  has  not  thought  proper  to 
reveal,  is  a  sin  against  his  wisdom,  providence,  and 
goodness.  In  mercy,  great  mercy,  God  has  hidden 
the  knowledge  of  futurity  from  man,  and  given  him 
hope — the  expectation  of  future  good ,  in  its  place. 
See  the  note  on  Exod.  xxii.  18. 

Verse  32.  Before  the  hoary  head ]  See  the  note  on 
Gen.  xlviii.  12. 

Verse  33.  If  a  stranger  sojourn ]  This  law  to  pro¬ 
tect  and  comfort  the  stranger  was  at  once  humane  and 
politic.  None  is  so  desolate  as  the  stranger,  and 
none  needs  the  offices  of  benevolence  and  charity  more : 
and  we  may  add  that  he  who  is  not  affected  by  the  de¬ 
solate  state  of  the  stranger  has  neither  benevolence  nor 
charity.  It  was  politic  to  encourage  strangers,  as  in 
consequence  many  came,  not  only  to  sojourn,  but  to 
settle  among  the  Jews,  and  thus  their  political  strength 
became  increased  ;  and  many  of  these  settlers  became 
at  least  proselytes  of  the  gate  if  not  proselytes  of  the 
covenant,  and  thus  got  their  souls  saved.  Hence  hu¬ 
manity,  sound  policy,  and  religion  said,  Vex  not  the 
stranger ;  thou  shalt  love  him  as  thyself.  The  apos¬ 
tle  makes  use  of  a  strong  argument  to  induce  men  to 
hospitality  towards  strangers  :  Be  not  forgetful  to  en¬ 
tertain  strangers,  for  thereby  some  have  entertained 
angels  unawares,  Heb.  xiii.  2.  Moses  also  uses  a 
powerful  motive  :  Yi e  were  strangers  in  the  land  of 
Egypt.  The  spirit  of  the  precept  here  laid  down,  may 
be  well  expressed  in  our  Lord’s  words  :  Do  unto  all 
men  as  ye  would  they  should  do  unto  you. 

Verse  35.  Ye  shall  do  no  unrighteousness\  Ye  shall 
not  act  contrary  to  the  strictest  justice  in  any  case, 
and  especially  in  the  four  following,  which  properly 
understood,  comprise  all  that  can  occur  between  a  man 
and  his  fellow.  1.  Judgment  in  all  cases  that  come 
before  the  civil  magistrate ;  he  is  to  judge  and  decide 
according  to  the  law.  2.  Mete-yard,  m3  2  bammid - 
dah,  in  measures  of  length  and  surface,  such  as  the 
reed,  cubit,  foot,  span,  hand's  breadth,  among  the  Jews; 
or  ell,  yard,  foot,  and  inch,  among  us.  3.  Weight 

a 


CHAP.  XX. 


Of  giving  seed  to  Molcch, 

bptfOS  bammishkal ,  in  any  thing  that  is  weighed ,  the 
weights  being  all  according  to  the  standards  kept  for 
the  purpose  of  trying  the  rest  in  the  sanctuary,  as  ap¬ 
pears  from  Exod.  xxx.  13  ;  1  Chron.  xxiii.  29  ;  these 
weights  were  the  talent ,  shekel,  barleycorn,  &c.  4. 

Measure,  rnVtfDD  bammesurah,  from  which  we  derive 
our  term.  This  refers  to  all  measures  of  capacity.  such 
as  the  homer,  ephah,  seah,  hin,  omer,  kab,  and  log. 
See  all  these  explained  Exod.  xvi.  16. 

Verse  36.  Just  balances ]  Scales,  steel-yard,  &c. 
Weights,  abanim ,  stones,  as  the  weights  appear 

to  have  been  originally  formed  out  of  stones.  Ephah, 
hin,  &c.,  see  before. 

Verse  37.  Shall  ye  observe  all  my  statutes ]  Tipn 
chukkolhi,  from  pn  chak,  to  describe ,  mark ,  or  trace 
out  ;  the  righteousness  which  I  have  described,  and 
the  path  of  duty  which  I  have  traced  out.  Judgments, 
’DSJPD  mishpatai,  from  o £)Vt  shaphat,  to  discern ,  deter¬ 
mine,  direct,  &c. ;  that  which  Divine  Wisdom  has  dis¬ 
cerned  to  be  best  for  man,  has  determined  shall  pro¬ 
mote  his  best  interest,  and  has  directed  him  conscien¬ 
tiously  to  use.  See  the  note  on  chap.  xxvi.  15. 

1  Many  difficulties  occur  in  this  very  important  chap- 


and  the  punishment  of  this  crime. 

ter,  but  they  are  such  only  to  us ;  for  there  can  be  no 
doubt  of  their  having  been  perfectly  well  known  to  the 
Israelites,  to  whom  the  precepts  contained  in  this  chap¬ 
ter  were  given.  Considerable  pains  however  have 
been  taken  to  make  them  plain,  and  no  serious  mind 
can  read  them  without  profit. 

2.  The  precepts  against  injustice,  fraud,  slander, 
enmity,  &c.,  &c.,  are  well  worth  the  notice  of  every 
Christian ;  and  those  against  superstitious  usages  are 
not  less  so ;  and  by  these  last  we  learn,  that  having 
recourse  to  astrologers,  fortune-tellers,  &c.,  to  get 
intelligence  of  lost  or  stolen  goods,  or  to  know  the 
future  events  of  our  own  lives,  or  those  of  others,  is 
highly  criminal  in  the  sight  of  God.  Those  who  have 
recourse  to  such  persons  renounce  their  baptism,  and 
in  effect  renounce  the  providence  as  well  as  the  word 
of  God. 

3.  The  precepts  of  humanity  and  mercy  relative  to 
the  poor,  the  hireling,  and  the  stranger,  are  worthy  of 
our  most  serious  regard.  Nor  are  those  which  concern 
weights  and  measures,  traffic,  and  the  whole  system 
of  commutative  justice,  less  necessary  to  be  observed 
for  the  benefit  and  comfort  of  the  individual,  and  the 
safety  and  prosperity  of  the  state . 


CHAPTER  XX. 

Of  giving  seed  to  Molech,  and  the  punishment  of  this  crime ,  1—5.  Of  consulting  wizards,  <SfC.,  6—8.  Of 
disrespect  to  parents,  9.  Of  adultery,  10.  Of  incestuous  mixtures,  11,  12.  Bestiality,  13—16.  Dif¬ 
ferent  cases  of  incest  and  uncleanness,  17—21.  Exhortations  and  promises,  22-24.  The  difference 
between  clean  and  unclean  animals  to  be  carefully  observed,  25.  The  Israelites  are  separated  from  other 
nations,  that  they  may  be  holy,  26.  A  repetition  of  the  law  against  wizards  and  them  that  have  familiar 
spirits,  27. 


A.  M.  2514.  A  ND  the  Lord  spake  unto 

B.  C.  1490.  ±. L  .  r 

An.  Exod.  isr.  2.  Moses,  saying, 

Abib  or  Nisan.  o  a  Again  thou  shalt  say  to  the 
children  of  Israel,  b  Whosoever  he  he  of  the 
children  of  Israel,  or  of  the  strangers  that  so¬ 
journ  in  Israel,  that  giveth  any  of  his  seed 
unto  Molech  ;  he  shall  surely  be  put  to  death : 
the  people  of  the  land  shall  stone  him  with 
stones. 

a  Chap,  xviii.  21. - b  Chap,  xviii.  21 ;  Deut.  xii.  31 ;  xviii.  10 ; 

2  Kings  xvii.  17;  xxiii.  10;  2  Chron.  xxxiii.  6;  Jer.  vii.  31; 

NOTES  ON  CHAP.  XX. 

Verse  2.  That  giveth  any  of  his  seed  unto  Molech ] 
To  what  has  been  said  in  the  note  on  chap,  xviii.  21, 
we  may  add,  that  the  rabbins  describe  this  idol,  who 
was  probably  a  representative  or  emblematical  personi¬ 
fication  of  the  solar  influence,  as  made  of  brass,  in  the 
form  of  a  man,  with  the  head  of  an  ox  ;  that  a  fire 
was  kindled  in  the  inside,  and  the  child  to  be  sacrificed 
to  him  was  put  in  his  arms,  and  roasted  to  death. 
Others  say  that  the  idol,  which  was  hollow,  was  di¬ 
vided  into  seven  compartments  within  ;  in  one  of  which 
they  put  flour,  in  the  second  turtle-doves,  in  the  third 
a  ewe,  in  the  fourth  a  ram,  in  the  fifth  a  calf,  in  the 
sixth  an  ox,  and  in  the  seventh  a  child,  which,  by  heat¬ 
ing  the  statue  on  the  outside,  were  all  burnt  alive  togc- 


3  And  c  I  will  set  my  face  A.  M.  2514. 
against  that  man,  and  will  cut  him  An.  Exod.  isr.  2. 
off  from  among  his  people  ;  be-  Ablb  or  Nisan. 

cause  he  hath  given  of  his  seed  unto  Molech, 
to  d  defile  my  sanctuary,  and  e  to  profane  my 
holy  name. 

4  And  if  the  people  of  the  land  do  any  ways 
hide  their  eyes  from  the  man,  when  he  giveth 
of  his  seed  unto  Molech,  and  f  kill  him  not ; 

xxxii.  35;  Ezek.  xx.  26,  31. - c  Chap.  xvii.  10. - d  Ezek.  v. 

11  ;  xxiii.  38,  39. - e  Chap,  xviii.  21. - f  Deut.  xvii.  2,  3,  5. 

ther.  I  question  the  whole  truth  of  these  statements, 
whether  from  Jewish  or  Christian  rabbins.  There  is 
no  evidence  of  all  this  in  the  sacred  writings.  And 
there  is  but  presumptive  proof,  and  that  not  very  strong, 
that  human  sacrifices  were  at  all  offered  to  Molech  by 
the  Jews.  The  passing  through  the  fire ,  so  frequently 
spoken  of,  might  mean  no  more  than  a  simple  rite  of 
consecration  to  the  service  of  this  idol.  Probably  a 
kind  of  ordeal  was  meant,  the  persons  passing  suddenly 
through  the  flame  of  a  large  fire,  by  which,  though 
they  might  be  burnt  or  scorched,  yet  they  were  neither 
killed  nor  consumed.  Or  they  might  have  passed  be¬ 
tween  two  large  fires,  as  a  sort  of  purification.  See 
the  notes  on  ver.  14;  and  chap,  xviii.  21. 

C'cesar,  in  his  history  of  the  Gallic  war,  lib.  vi.,  c.  16, 

57  5 


Different  abominations  and  LEVITICUS.  uncleannesses  forbidden 


a.  M.  2oi4,  5  Then  &  I  will  set  my  face 

An.  Exod.  isr.  2.  against  that  man,  and  h  against 
Abib  or  JNisan.  p-g  famfXy,  and  will  cut  him  off, 

and  all  that  1  go  a  whoring  after  him,  to  com- 
mit  whoredom  with  Molech,  from  among  their 
people. 

6  And  k  the  soul  that  turneth  after  such  as 
have  familiar  spirits,  and  after  wizards,  to  go 
a  whoring  after  them,  I  will  even  set  my  face 
against  that  soul,  and  will  cut  him  off  from 
among  his  people. 

7  1  Sanctify  yourselves  therefore,  and  be  ye 
holy :  for  I  am  the  Lord  your  God. 

8  111  And  ye  shall  keep  my  statutes,  and  do 
them  :  n  I  am  the  Lord  which  sanctify  you. 

9  0  For  every  one  that  curseth  his  father  or 
his  mother  shall  be  surely  put  to  death  :  he 
hath  cursed  his  father  or  his  mother ;  p  his 
blood  shall  be  upon  him. 

1 0  And  *  the  man  that  committeth  adultery 
with  another  man’s  wife,  even  he  that  com¬ 
mitteth  adultery  with  his  neighbour’s  wife, 

s  Chap.  xvii.  10. - h  Exod.  xx.  5. - '  Chap.  xvii.  7. 

kChap.xix.31. - 1Chap.xi.44;  xix.  2;  1  Pet.  i.  16. - 1)1  Chap. 

xix.  37. - n  Exod.  xxxi.  13  ;  chap.  xxi.  8  ;  Ezek.  xxxvii.  28. 

“Exod.  xxi.  17;  Deut.  xxvii.  16;  Prov.  xx.  20;  Matt.  xv.  4. 
P  Ver.  11,  12,  13,  16,  27;  2  Sam.  i.  16. 

Mentions  a  custom  of  the  Druids  similar  to  this.  They 
made  an  image  of  wictcer- work,  inclosed  those  in  it 
whom  they  had  adjudged  to  death,  and,  setting  the 
whole  on  fire,  all  were  consumed  together. 

Terse  6.  Familiar  spirits]  See  the  notes  on  chap, 
xix.  31  ;  and  Exod.  xxii.  18. 

Terse  9.  Curseth  his  father  or  his  mother ]  See  the 
notes  on  Gen.  xlviii.  12,  and  Exod.  xx.  12.  He  who 
conscientiously  keeps  the  fifth  commandment  can  be  in 
no  danger  of  this  judgment.  The  term  SSp1  yeltallel 
signifies,  not  only  to  curse ,  but  to  speak  of  a  person 
contemptuously  and  disrespectfully ,  to  make  light  of; 
so  that  all  speeches  which  have  a  tendency  to  lessen 
our  parents  in  the  eyes  of  others,  or  to  render  their 
judgment,  piety,  &c.,  suspected  and  contemptible,  may 
be  here  included ;  though  the  act  of  cursing ,  or  of 
treating  the  parent  with  injurious  and  opprobrious  lan¬ 
guage,  is  that  which  is  particularly  intended. 

Terse  10.  Committeth  adultery]  To  what  has  been 
said  in  the  note  on  Exod.  xx.  14,  we  may  add,  that  the 
word  adultery  comes  from  the  Latin  adulterium,  which 
is  compounded  of  ad,  to  or  with,  and  alter,  another,  or, 
according  to  Minshieu,  of  ad  alterius  torum,  he  that 
approaches  to  another  maids  led. 

Terse  12.  They  have  wrought  confusion]  See 
chap,  xviii.,  and  especially  the  note  on  ver.  6. 

Terse  14.  They  shall  he  burnt  with  fire]  As  there 
are  worse  crimes  mentioned  here,  (see  verses  1 1  and 
17,)  where  the  delinquent  is  ordered  simply  to  be  put 
to  death,  or  to  be  cut  ojf,  it  is  very  likely  that  the 
crime  mentioned  in  this  verse  was  not  punished  by 

576 


the  adulterer  and  the  adulteress  A.  M.  2514. 

in  1  ,  ,  .  B.  C.  1490. 

shall  surely  be  put  to  death.  An.  Exod.  isr. 2. 

1 1  r  And  the  man  that  lieth  with  Ablb  w  Nlsan- 
his  father’s  wife,  hath  uncovered  his  father’s 
nakedness  :  both  of  them  shall  surely  be  put 
to  death  ;  their  blood  shall  be  upon  them. 

1 2  s  And  if  a  man  lie  with  his  daughter-in- 
law,  both  of  them  shall  surely  be  put  to  death  : 

1  they  have  wrought  confusion ;  their  blood 
shall  be  upon  them. 

13  11  If  a  man  also  lie  with  mankind,  as  he 
lieth  with  a  woman,  both  of  them  have  com¬ 
mitted  an  abomination :  they  shall  surely  be 
put  to  death ;  their  blood  shall  be  upon  them. 

14  v  And  if  a  man  take  a  wife  and  her 
mother,  it  is  wickedness :  they  shall  be  burnt 
with  fire,  both  he  and  they ;  that  there  be  no 
wickedness  among  you. 

15  w  And  if  a  man  lie  with  a  beast,  he  shall 
surely  be  put  to  death  :  and  ye  shall  slay  the 
beast. 

1 6  And  if  a  woman  approach  unto  any  beast, 

‘i  Chap,  xviii.  20 ;  Deut.  xxii.  22 ;  John  viii.  4,  5. - r  Chap. 

xviii.  8  ;  Deut.  xxvii.  23. - s  Chap,  xviii.  15. - 1  Chap,  xviii. 

23. - u  Chap,  xviii.  22  ;  Deut.  xxiii.  17 ;  see  Gen.  xix.  5 ; 

Judg.  xix.  22. - v  Chap,  xviii.  17 ;  Deut.  xxvii.  23. - w  chap. 

xviii.  23  ;  Deut.  xxvii.  21. 

burning  alive,  hut  by  some  kind  of  branding,  by  which 
they  were  ever  after  rendered  infamous.  I  need  not 
add  that  the  original,  13N5f  baesh  yishrephu ,  may, 
without  violence  to  its  grammatical  meaning,  be  under¬ 
stood  as  above,  though  in  other  places  it  is  certainly 
used  to  signify  a  consuming  by  fire.  But  the  case  in 
question  requires  some  explanation  ;  it  is  this  :  a  man 
marries  a  wife,  and  afterward  takes  his  mother-in-law 
or  wife’s  mother  to  wife  also  ;  now  for  this  offence 
the  text  says  all  three  shall  be  burnt  with  fire,  and 
this  is  understood  as  signifying  that  they  shall  be  burnt 
alive.  Now  the  first  wife,  we  may  safely  presume, 
was  completely  innocent ,  and  was  legally  married ; 
for  a  man  may  take  to  wife  the  daughter  if  single,  or 
the  mother  if  a  widow,  and  in  neither  of  these  cases 
can  any  blame  attach  to  the  man  or  the  party  he  mar¬ 
ries  ;  the  crime  therefore  lies  in  taking  both.  Either, 
therefore,  they  were  all  branded  as  infamous  persons, 
and  this  certainly  was  severe  enough  in  the  case  of 
the  first  wife  ;  or  the  man  and  the  woman  taken  last 
were  burnt :  but  the  text  says,  both  he  and  they ; 
therefore  we  should  seek  for  another  interpretation  of 
they  shall  be  burnt  with  fire,  than  that  which  is  com¬ 
monly  given.  Branding  with  a  hot  iron  would  cer¬ 
tainly  accomplish  every  desirable  end  both  for  punish¬ 
ment  and  prevention  of  the  crime  ;  and  because  the 
Mosaic  laws  are  so  generally  distinguished  by  human¬ 
ity,  it  seems  to  be  necessary  to  limit  the  meaning  of 
the  words  as  above. 

Terse  lfi.  If  a  ivoman  approach  unto  any  beast] 
We  have  the  authority  of  one  of  the  most  eminent 

a 


Against  incest uncleannesst 


CHAP.  XX. 


wizards ,  and  familiar  spirits. 


'A.  M.  2514.  and  lie  down  thereto,  thou  shalt 

An. Exod. Isr. 2.  kill  the  woman  and  the  beast: 
Ahib  °r  Nisan.  ^cy  sjiaH  SUrely  be  put  to  death  ; 

their  blood  shall  he  upon  them. 

17  1  And  if  a  man  shall  take  his  sister,  his 
father’s  daughter,  or  his  mother’s  daughter,  and 
see  her  nakedness,  and  she  see  his  nakedness, 
it  is  a  wicked  thing ;  and  they  shall  be  cut  off  in 
the  sight  of  their  people  :  he  hath  uncovered  his 
sister’s  nakedness  ;  he  shall  bear  his  iniquity. 

18  y  And  if  a  man  shall  lie  with  a  woman 
having  her  sickness,  and  shall  uncover  her 
nakedness  ;  he  hath  z  discovered  her  fountain, 
and  she  hath  uncovered  the  fountain  of  her 
blood :  and  both  of  them  shall  be  cut  off  from 
among  their  people. 

19  a  And  thou  shalt  not  uncover  the  naked¬ 
ness  of  thy  mother’s  sister,  nor  of  thy  father’s 
sister  :  b  for  he  uncovereth  his  near  kin  :  they 
shall  bear  their  iniquity. 

20  c  And  if  a  man  shall  lie  with  his  uncle’s 
wife,  he  hath  uncovered  his  uncle’s  nakedness  : 
they  shall  bear  their  sin  ;  they  shall  die  childless. 

2 1  d  And  if  a  man  shall  take  his  brother’s  wife, 
it  is  e  an  unclean  thing  :  he  hath  uncovered  his 
brother’s  nakedness  ;  they  shall  be  childless. 

22  Ye  shall  therefore  keep  all  my  f  statutes, 

*  Chap,  xviii.  9  ;  Deut.  xxvii.  22  ;  see  Gen.  xx.  12. - y  Chap. 

xviii.  19  ;  see  chap.  xv.  24. - z  Heb.  made  naked. - a  Chap. 

xviii.  12, 13. - b  Chap,  xviii.  6. - c  Chap,  xviii.  14. - d  Chap. 

xviii.  16. - e  Heb.  a  separation. - f  Chap,  xviii.  26  ;  xix.  37. 

PChap.  xviii.  25,  28. - hChap.  xviii.  3,  24,  30. - 1  Chap. 

xviii.  27  ;  Deut.  ix.  5. 


and  all  my  judgments,  and  do  A.  M.  2514. 
them  .  that  the  land,  whither  I  An.  Exod.  isr.  2. 
bring  you  to  dwell  therein,  &  spue  Ablb  or  Nlsan- 
you  not  out. 

23  h  And  ye  shall  not  walk  in  the  manners  of 
the  nation,  which  I  cast  out  before  you  :  for 
they  committed  all  these  things,  and  1  there¬ 
fore  I  abhorred  them. 

24  But  k  I  have  said  unto  you,  Ye  shall  in¬ 
herit  their  land,  and  I  will  give  it  unto  you  to 
possess  it,  a  land  that  floweth  with  milk  and 
honey :  I  am  the  Lord  your  God,  1  which 
have  separated  you  from  other  people. 

25  m  Ye  shall  therefore  put  difference  between 
clean  beasts  and  unclean,  and  between  unclean 
fowls  and  clean :  n  and  ye  shall  not  make 
your  souls  abominable  by  beast,  or  by  fowl, 
or  by  any  manner  of  living  thing  that 0  creepeth 
on  the  ground,  which  I  have  separated  from 
you  as  unclean. 

26  And  ye  shall  be  holy  unto  me  :  pforI  the 
Lord  am  holy,  and  q  have  severed  you  from 
other  people,  that  ye  should  be  mine. 

27  r  A  man  also  or  woman  that  hath  a  fami¬ 
liar  spirit,  or  that  is  a  wizard,  shall  surely  be 
put  to  death  :  they  shall  stone  them  with 
stones  :  s  their  blood  shall  he  upon  them. 


k  Exod.  iii.  17 ;  vi.  8. - 1  Ver.  26  ;  Exod.  xix.  5 ;  xxxiii.  16 ; 

Deut.  vii.  6  ;  xiv.  2  ;  1  Kings  viii.  53. - m  Chap.  xi.  47  ;  Deut. 

xiv.  4 - "Chap.  xi.  43. - °Or,  moveth. - p  Ver.  7;  chap. 

xix.  2;  1  Pet.  i.  16. - 4  Ver.  24;  Tit.  ii.  14. - rChap.  xix. 

31;  Exod.  xxii.  18;  Deut.  xviii.  10,  11;  1  Sam.  xxviii.  7,  8. 
s  \  er.  9. 


historians  in  the  world,  Herodotus,  to  say  that  this  was 
a  crime  not  unknown  in  Egypt ;  yea,  that  a  case  of 
this  nature  actually  took  place  while  he  was  there. 
E yevETo  6’  ev  t<o  voptp  tovto)  erf  e/uev  tovto  to  rspap, 
VvvaiKL  T payop  epiayero  ava<f>avdov.  Tovto  sp  ETndet^tv 
avdpuTruv  (itclketo . — Herod,  in  Euterp.,  p.  108.  Edit. 
Gale,  Lond.  1G79.  “In  this  district,  within  my  own 
recollection,  this  portentous  business  took  place  :  a  goat 
coupled  so  publicly  with  a  woman  that  every  person 
knew  it,  &c.”  After  this,  need  we  wonder  that  God 
should  have  made  laws  of  this  nature,  when  it  appears 
these  abominations  were  not  only  practised  among  the 
Egyptians,  but  were  parts  of  a  superstitious  religious 
system  ?  This  one  observation  will  account  for  many  of 
those  strange  prohibitions  which  we  find  in  the  Mosaic 
law  ;  others,  the  reasons  of  which  are  not  so  plain,  we 
should  see  the  propriety  of  equally,  had  we  ampler  his¬ 
toric  records  of  the  customs  that  existed  in  that  country. 

Verse  22.  The  land ,  whither  I  bring  you  to  dwell 
therein,  spue  you  not  out.]  See  this  energetic  proso¬ 
popoeia  explained  in  the  note  on  chap,  xviii.  25.  From 
this  we  learn  that  the  cup  of  the  iniquities  of  the  Ca- 
naanitish  nations  was  full ;  and  that,  consistently  with 
Divine  justice,  they  could  be  no  longer  spared. 

Vol.  I.  (  38  ) 


Verse  24  .A  land  that  flow  eth  with  milk  and  honey ] 
See  this  explained  Exod.  iii.  8. 

Verse  25.  Between  clean  beasts  and  unclean ]  See 
the  notes  on  chap.  xi. 

Verse  27  .A  familiar  spirit]  A  spirit  or  demon, 
which,  by  magical  rites,  is  supposed  to  be  bound  to 
appear  at  the  call  of  his  employer.  See  the  notes 
on  Gen.  xli.  8;  Exod.  vii.  11,  22,  25;  and  chap, 
xix.  31. 

From  the  accounts  we  have  of  the  abominations 
both  of  Egypt  and  Canaan,  we  may  blush  for  human 
nature ;  for  wherever  it  is  without  cultivation,  and 
without  the  revelation  of  God,  it  is  every  thing  that 
is  vile  in  principle  and  detestable  in  practice.  Nor 
would  any  part  of  the  habitable  globe  materially  differ 
from  Egypt  and  Canaan,  had  they  not  that  rule  of 
righteousness,  the  revealed  law  of  God,  and  had  not 
life  and  immortality  been  brought  to  light  by  the  Gos¬ 
pel  among  them.  From  these  accounts,  for  which  we 
could  easily  find  parallels  in  ancient  Greece  and  Italy, 
we  mav  see  the  absolute  need  of  a  Divine  revelation, 
without  which  man,  even  in  his  best  estate,  differs 
little  from  the  brute. 


577 


The  priests  forbidden  to  mourn , 


LEVITICUS. 


except  for  near  relatives 


CHAPTER  XXL 

The  priests  shall  not  mourn  for  the  dead ,  except  for  near  relatives ,  such  as  mother,  father,  son,  daughter,  and 
sister  if  a  virgin ,  1—4.  They  shall  not  shave  their  heads  nor  beards ,  nor  make  any  cuttings  in  the  flesh, 
because  they  are  holy  unto  God ,  5,  6.  A  priest  shall  not  marry  a  woman  who  is  a  whore ,  profane,  or 
divorced  from  her  husband ,  7,  8.  Of  the  priest's  daughter  who  profanes  herself,  9.  The  high  priest  shall 
not  uncover  his  head,  or  rend  his  clothes ,  1 0  ;  nor  go  in  unto  a  dead  body ,  1 1  ;  nor  go  out  of  the  sanctu¬ 
ary,  12.  Of  his  marriage  and  ojfspi'ing,  13—15.  No  person  shall  be  made  a  priest  that  has  any  blemish, 
nor  shall  any  person  with  any  of  the  blemishes  mentioned  here  be  permitted  to  officiate  in  the  worship  of 
God ,  16-24. 


A.  M.  2514.  A  ND  the  Lord  said  unto 

B.  C.  1490.  Jlx.  ,T  ~  ,  , 

An.  Exod.  lsr.  2.  Moses,  bpeak  unto  the  priests 

Abib  or  Nisan.  gons  0f  Aaron,  and  say  unto 

them,  a  There  shall  none  be  defiled  for  the 
dead  among  his  people  : 

2  But  for  his  kin,  that  is  near  unto  him, 
that  is,  for  his  mother,  and  for  his  father,  and 
for  his  son,  and  for  his  daughter,  and  for  his 
brother, 

3  And  for  his  sister  a  virgin,  that  is  nigh 
unto  him,  which  hath  had  no  husband  ;  for 
her  may  he  be  defiled. 

4  But  b  he  shall  not  defile  himself,  being  a 
chief  man  among  his  people,  to  profane  him¬ 
self. 

5  c  They  shall  not  make  baldness  upon  their 
head,  neither  shall  they  shave  off  the  corner 
of  their  beard,  nor  make  any  cuttings  in  their 
flesh. 

6  They  shall  be  holy  unto  their  God,  and 

aChap.  x.  6,  7;  Ezek.  xliv.  25;  1  Thess.  iv.  13,  14,  15. 
15  Or,  being  a  husband  among  his  people,  he  shall  not  defile  himself 

for  his  wife,  &c.  ;  see  Ezek.  xxiv.  16,  17. - c  Chap.  xix.  27, 

28  ;  Deut.  xiv.  1 ;  Ezek.  xliv.  20. 

NOTES  ON  CHAP.  XXI. 

Verse  1.  There  shall  none  be  defiled  for  the  dead ] 
No  priest  shall  assist  in  laying  out  a  dead  body,  or  pre¬ 
paring  it  for  interment.  Any  contact  with  the  dead 
was  supposed  to  be  of  a  defiling  nature,  probably  be¬ 
cause  putrefaction  had  then  taken  place  ;  and  animal 
putrefaction  was  ever  held  in  detestation  by  all  men. 

Verse  4.  A  chief  man  among  his  people ]  The  word 
bj}2  baal  signifies  a  master,  chief,  husband,  &c.,  and  is 
as  variously  translated  here.  1.  Pie  being  a  chief 
among  the  people,  it  would  be  improper  to  see  him  in 
such  a  state  of  humiliation  as  mourning  for  the  dead 
necessarily  implies.  2.  Though  a  husband  he  shall 
not  defile  himself  even  for  the  death  of  a  wife,  because 
the  anointing  of  his  God  is  upon  him.  But  the  first 
sense  appears  to  be  the  best. 

Verse  5.  They  shall  not  make  baldness ]  See  the 
note  on  chap.  xix.  27.  It  is  supposed  that  these  things 
were  particularly  prohibited,  because  used  supersti- 
tiously  by  the  Egyptian  priests,  who,  according  to  He¬ 
rodotus,  shaved  the  whole  body  every  third  day,  that 
there  might  be  no  uncleanness  about  them  when  they 
ministered  in  their  temples.  This  appears  to  have 
a  578 


d  not  profane  the  name  of  their  a.  m.  2514. 
God  :  for  the  offerings  of  the  AnCExoA  lsr!  2. 
Lord  made  by  fire,  and  e  the  Ablb  or  NlsaIU 
bread  of  their  God,  they  do  offer ;  therefore 
they  shall  be  holy. 

7  f  They  shall  not  take  a  wife  that  is  a 
whore,  or  profane  ;  neither  shall  they  take  a 
woman  s  put  away  from  her  husband :  for  he 
is  holy  unto  his  God. 

8  Thou  shalt  sanctify  him  therefore  ;  for  he 
offereth  the  bread  of  thy  God  :  he  shall  be 
holy  unto  thee  :  h  for  I  the  Lord,  which  sanc¬ 
tify  you,  am  holy. 

9  1  And  the  daughter  of  any  priest,  if  she 
profane  herself  by  playing  the  whore,  she 
profaneth  her  father  :  she  shall  be  burnt  with 
fire. 

10  k  And  he  that  is  the  high  priest  among 
his  brethren,  upon  whose  head  the  anointing 
oil  was  poured,  and  1  that  is  consecrated  to 

d  Chap,  xviii.  21  ;  xix.  12. - e  See  chap.  iii.  11. - fEzek. 

xliv.  22. - s  See  Deut.  xxiv.  1,2. - h  Chap.  xx.  7,  8. - •>  Gen. 

xxxviii.  24. - k  Exod.  xxix.  29,  30;  chap.  viii.  12;  xvi.  32; 

Num.  xxxv.  25. - 1  Exod.  xxviii.  2  ;  chap.  xvi.  32. 

been  a  general  custom  among  the  heathen.  In  the 
book  of  Baruch,  chap.  vi.  31,  the  priests  of  Babylon 
are  represented  sitting  in  their  temples,  with  their  clothes 
rent,  and  their  heads  and  beards  shaven,  and  havins 
nothing  upon  their  heads.  Every  person  knows  the 
tonsure  of  the  Catholic  priests.  Should  not  this  be 
avoided  as  an  approach  to  a  heathenish  custom  1 

Verse  7.  That  is  a  whore\  A  prostitute,  though 
even  reclaimed. 

Profane ]  A  heathen,  or  one  who  is  not  a  cordial 
believer  in  the  true  God. 

Put  away  from  her  husband]  Because  this  very 
circumstance  might  lead  to  suspicion  that  the  priest 
and  the  divorced  woman  might  have  been  improperly 
connected  before. 

Verse  9.  She  shall  be  burnt  with  fire.]  Probably 
not  burnt  alive,  but  strangled  first,  and  then  burnt  af¬ 
terward.  Though  it  is  barely  possible  that  some  kind 
of  branding  may  be  intended. 

Verse  10.  He  that  is  the  high  priest ]  This  is  the 
first  place  where  this  title  is  introduced  ;  the  title  is 
very  emphatic,  brUH  jron  haccohen  haggadol,  that 
priest,  the  great  one.  For  the  meaning  of  jrp  cohen , 

(  38*  ) 


CHAP  XXL 


Laws  concerning  the 


marriages  of  the  priests. 


A.  M.  2514.  put  on  the  garments,  m  shall  not 

B.  C. 1490.  r  1  •  1  .  ,  ,  . 

An.  Exod.  isr.  2.  uncover  Ins  head,  nor  rend  his 
Abib  or  Nisan.  dothes  . 

1 1  Neither  shall  he  n  go  in  to  any  dead 
body,  nor  defile  himself  for  his  father,  or  for 
his  mother  ; 

12  0  Neither  shall  he  go  out  of  the  sanctuary, 
nor  profane  the  sanctuary  of  his  God ;  for 
p  the  crown  of  the  anointing  oil  of  his  God  is 
upon  him :  I  am  the  Lord. 

13  And  q  he  shall  take  a  wife  in  her  virginity. 

14  A  widow,  or  a  divorced  woman,  or  pro¬ 
fane,  or  a  harlot,  Xhese  shall  he  not  take  : 
but  he  shall  take  a  virgin  of  his  own  people 
to  wife. 

15  Neither  shall  he  profane  his  seed  among 
his  people  :  for  r  I  the  Lord  do  sanctify  him. 


-n  Nura.  xix.  14  ;  see  ver.  1,  2.' 


m  Chap.  x.  6.- 

7. - P  Exod.  xxviii.  36  ;  chap.  viii.  9,  12, 

Ezek.  xliv.  22. - r  Ver.  8. 


30.- 


-°  Chap.  x. 
-9  Ver.  7 ; 


1 6  And  the  Lord  spake  unto  A.  M.  2514. 

Moses,  saying,  An.  Exod.  isr.  2. 

17  Speak  unto  Aaron,  saying,  Ablb  or  ^Isan- 
Whosoever  he  he  of  thy  seed  in  their  genera¬ 
tions  that  hath  any  blemish,  let  him  not  8  ap¬ 
proach  to  offer  the  t  bread  of  his  God. 

18  For  whatsoever  man  he  he  that  hath  a 
blemish,  he  shall  not  approach  :  a  blind  man, 
or  a  lame,  or  he  that  hath  a  flat  nose,  or  any 
thing  u  superfluous  ; 

19  Ora  man  that  is  broken-footed,  or  broken¬ 
handed  ; 

20  Or  crook-backed,  or  v  a  dwarf,  or  that  hath 
a  blemish  in  his  eye,  or  be  scurvy,  or  scabbed, 
or  w  hath  his  stones  broken  : 

21  No  man  that  hath  a  blemish,  of  the  seed 
of  Aaron  the  priest,  shall  come  nigh  to  x  offer 


s  Chap.  x.  3  ;  Num.  xvi.  5  ;  Psa.  lxiv.  4. 

iii.  11. - u  Chap.  xxii.  23.- 

xxiii.  1. - 1  Ver.  6. 


-*■  Or,  food ;  chap. 
-v  Or,  too  slender. - w  Deut. 


see  the  note  on  Gen.  xiv.  18.  As  the  chief  or  high 
priest  was  a  representative  of  our  blessed  Lord,  there¬ 
fore  he  was  required  to  be  especially  holy ;  and  he  is 
represented  as  God’s  king  among  the  people. 

Yerse  12.  The  crown  of  the  anointing  oil — is  upon 
him ]  By  his  office  the  priest  represented  Christ  in  his 
sacrificial  character ;  by  his  anointing ,  the  prophetic 
influence ;  and  by  the  crown,  the  regal  dignity  of  our 
Lord. 

Verse  13.  He  shall  take  a  wife  in  her  virginity .] 
TVbiro  bethuleyha.  This  is  a  full  proof  that  nbim 
bethulah  is  the  proper  Hebrew  term  for  a  virgin;  from 
the  emphatic  root  Sr\D  bathal ,  to  separate ;  because 
such  a  person  was  in  her  separate  state,  and  had  never 
been  in  any  way  united  to  man. 

Yerse  17.  Whosoever — hath  any  blemish ,  let  him 
not  approach  to  offer  the  bread  of  his  God. ]  Never 
was  a  wiser,  a  more  rational,  and  a  more  expedient  law 
enacted  relative  to  sacred  matters.  The  man  who 
ministers  in  holy  things,  who  professes  to  be  the  inter¬ 
preter  of  the  will  of  God,  should  have  nothing  in  his 
person  nor  in  his  manner  which  cannot  contribute  to 
render  him  respectable  in  the  eyes  of  those  to  whom 
he  ministers.  If,  on  the  contrary,  he  has  any  personal 
defect,  any  thing  that  may  render  him  contemptible  or 
despicable,  his  usefulness  will  be  greatly  injured,  if  not 
entirely  prevented.  If  however  a  man  have  received 
any  damage  in  the  work  of  God,  by  persecution  or 
otherwise,  his  scars  are  honourable,  and  will  add  to  his 
respectability.  But  if  he  be  received  into  the  minis¬ 
try  with  any  of  the  blemishes  specified  here,  he  never 
will  and  never  can  have  that  respect  which  is  essen¬ 
tially  necessary  to  secure  his  usefulness.  Let  no  man 
say  this  is  a  part  of  the  Mosaic  law,  and  we  are  not 
bound  by  it.  It  is  an  eternal  law,  founded  on  reason, 
propriety ,  common  sense ,  and  absolute  necessity.  The 
priest,  the  prophet,  the  Christian  minister,  is  the  repre¬ 
sentative  of  Jesus  Christ ;  let  nothing  in  his  person , 
carriage ,  or  doctrine ,  be  unworthy  of  the  personage  he 

a 


represents.  A  deformed  person ,  though  consummate 
in  diplomatic  wisdom,  would  never  be  employed  as  an 
ambassador  by  any  enlightened  court,  if  any  fit  person, 
unblemished,  could  possibly  be  procured. 

Yerse  18.  A  blind  man ]  That  is,  in  one  eye;  for 
he  that  was  utterly  blind  could  not  possibly  be  employed 
in  such  a  service.  A  fiat  nose,  like  that  of  an  ape  ; 
so  the  best  versions.  Any  thing  superfluous ,  such  as 
six  fingers,  six  toes,  &c. 

Yerse  19.  Broken-footed,  or  broken-handed]  Club¬ 
footed,  bandy-legged,  &c.  ;  or  having  the  ankle,  wrist, 
or  fingers  dislocated. 

Verse  20.  Crook-backed]  Hunch-backed  or  gibbous. 
A  dwarf  pi  dak,  a  person  too  short  or  too  thin ,  so  as 
to  be  either  particularly  observable,  or  ridiculous  in  his 
appearance. 

A  blemish  in  his  eye]  A  protuberance  on  the  eye, 
observable  spots  or  suffusions. 

Scurvy ,  or  scabbed]  A  bad  habit  of  body,  evidenced 
by  scorbutic  or  scrofulous  affections. 

Stones  broken]  Is  ruptured  ;  an  infirmity  which 
would  render  him  incapable  of  fulfilling  the  duttes  of 
his  office,  which  might  be  often  very  fatiguing. 

In  the  above  list  of  blemishes  we  meet  with  some 
that  might  render  the  priest  contemptible  in  the  eyes 
of  men,  and  be  the  means  of  leading  them,  not  only 
to  despise  the  man,  but  to  despise  the  ministry  itself ; 
and  we  meet  with  others  that  would  be  a  very  great 
impediment  in  the  discharge  of  his  ministerial  duties, 
and  therefore  any  person  thus  blemished  is  by  this  law 
precluded  from  the  ministry. 

The  blemishes  here  enumerated  have  been  consi¬ 
dered  by  some  in  an  allegorical  point  of  view,  as  if 
only  referring  to  the  necessity  of  moral  purity ;  but 
although  holiness  of  heart  and  righteousness  of  life  be 
essentially  necessary  in  a  minister  of  God,  yet  an  ab¬ 
sence  of  the  defects  mentioned  above  is,  I  fully  believe, 
what  God  intends  here,  and  for  the  reasons  too  which 
have  been  already  advanced.  It  must  however  be 

579 


LEVITICUS. 


None  to  be  made  a  priest 


that  has  any  blemish . 


a.  M.  2514.  the  offerings  of  the  Lord  made 

An. Exod. isr! 2.  by  fire:  he  hath  a  blemish;  he 
Abib  or  Nisan.  not  come  nigh  to  offer  the 

bread  of  his  God. 

22  He  shall  eat  the  bread  of  his  God,  both 
of  the  y  most  holy,  and  of  the  z  holy. 

23  Only  he  shall  not  go  in  unto  the  veil, 

y  Chap.  ii.  3,  10 ;  vi.  17,  29 ;  vii.  1 ;  xxiv.  9 ;  Num.  xviii.  9. 
z  Chap.  xxii.  10,  11,  12;  Num.  xviii.  19. 


nor  come  nigh  unto  the  altar,  A.  M.  2514. 

&  #  B.  C.  1490. 

because  he  hath  a  blemish  ;  that  An.  Exod.  isr.  2. 

a  he  profane  not  my  sanctuaries  :  Ahlb  or  Nlsaa- 

for  I  the  Lord  do  sanctify  them. 

24  b  And  Moses  told  it  unto  Aaron,  and 

to  his  sons,  and  unto  all  the  children  of 

Israel. 


aVer.  12}  chap.  xv.  21;  Ezek.  xliv.  9-14.- 
Col.  iv.  17  ;  2  Tim.  ii.  2. 


-b Mai.  ii.  17; 


granted,  that  there  have  been  some  eminent  divines 
who  have  been  deformed ;  and  some  with  certain  blem¬ 
ishes  have  been  employed  in  the  Christian  ministry, 
and  have  been  useful.  The  Mosaic  rule,  however,  will 
admit  of  but  few  exceptions,  when  even  examined  ac¬ 
cording  to  the  more  extended  interpretation  of  the 
Christian  system. 

“The  Hebrews  say  there  are  in  all  120  blemishes 
which  disable  the  priest — eight  in  the  head ,  two  in  the 
neck ,  nine  in  the  ears ,  five  in  the  brows ,  seven  in  the 
eyelids ,  nineteen  in  the  eyes ,  nine  in  the  nose ,  nine  in 
the  mouth ,  three  in  the  belly,  three  in  the  back,  seven 
in  the  hands,  sixteen  in  the  secrets,  eight  in  any  part 
of  the  body,  eight  in  the  skin,  and  seven  in  the  strength 
and  in  the  breath — Ainsworth.  In  ancient  times, 
even  among  heathens,  persons  of  the  most  respectable 
appearance  were  appointed  to  the  priesthood ;  and  the 
emperor,  both  among  the  ancient  Greeks  and  Romans, 
was  both  king  and  priest.  It  is  reported  of  Metellus, 
that,  having  lost  an  eye  in  endeavouring  to  save  the 
Palladium  from  the  flames,  when  the  temple  of  Testa 
was  on  fire,  he  was  denied  the  priesthood,  though  he 
had  rendered  such  an  excellent  piece  of  service  to  the 
public ;  yet  the  public  opinion  was  that  a  priest  who 
was  defective  in  any  member  was  to  be  avoided  as 
ominous. — See  Dodd.  “  At  Elis,  in  Greece,  the  judges 
chose  the  finest  looking  man  to  carry  the  sacred  ves¬ 
sels  of  the  deity ;  he  that  was  next  to  him  in  beauty 
and  elegance  led  the  ox;  and  the  third  in  personal 
beauty,  &e.,  carried  the  garlands,  ribbons,  wine,  and 
the  other  matters  used  for  the  sacrifice.” — Athen. 
Deipnosoph.,  1.  xiii.,  c.  2. 


Formerly  the  Church  of  England  wras  very  cautious 
in  admitting  to  her  ministry  those  who  had  gross  per¬ 
sonal  defects ;  but  now  we  find  the  hump-backed ,  the 
jolt-headed,  bandy-legged,  club-footed,  one-eyed,  &c-., 
priests  even  of  her  high  places.  Why  do  our  prelates 
ordain  suchl  > 

Terse  23.  He  shall  not  go  in  unto  the  veil ]  The 
priest  with  a  blemish  was  not  permitted  to  enter  into 
the  holy  of  holies,  nor  to  burn  incense,  nor  to  offer  the 
shew-bread,  nor  to  light  the  golden  candlestick,  &c. 
In  short,  he  was  not  permitted  to  perform  any  essen¬ 
tial  function  of  the  priesthood. 

1.  The  great  perfection  required  in  the  Jewish  high 
priest  was  intended  principally  to  point  out  the  perfec¬ 
tion  of  that  priesthood  of  which  the  Jewish  was  only 
the  type.  And  yet,  as  the  apostle  assures  us,  that  law 
made  nothing  perfect,  but  pointed  out  that  most  perfect 
priesthood  and  sacrifice  by  which  we  drarv  near  to 
God. 

2.  As  none  who  had  a  blemish  could  enter  into  the 
holy  of  holies,  and  this  holy  of  holies  was  a  type  of 
the  kingdom  of  God,  so  nothing  that  is  defiled  can  en¬ 
ter  into  heaven ;  for  he  gave  himself  for  hi3  Church 
that  he  might  purify  it  to  himself,  and  present  it  at  last 
before  the  presence  of  the  Divine  glory  having  neither 
spot  nor  wrinkle,  nor  any  such  thing ,  Eph.  v.  27  ;  a 
passage  which  evidently  refers  to  the  directions  in  the 
preceding  verse.  Reader,  art  thou  become  a  king  and 
priest  unto  God  and  the  Lamb  1  and  hast  thou  obtain¬ 
ed,  or  art  thou  earnestly  seeking,  that  holiness  without 
which  thou  canst  not  see  the  kingdom  of  heaven  1 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

Of  the  uncleanness  of  the  priests ,  by  which  they  were  prevented  from  ministering  in  holy  things,  1-5.  How 
they  should  be  cleansed,  6,  7.  The  priest  must  not  eat  of  any  animal  that  had  died  of  itself ,  or  was  tom 
by  wild  beasts ,  but  must  keep  God  s  ordinances,  8,  0.  ISlo  stranger,  sojourner ,  nor  hired  servant  shall  eat 
of  the  holy  things,  10.  A  servant  bought  with  money  may  eat  of  them ,  11.  Who  of  the  priest's  family 
may  not  eat  of  them,  12,  13.  Of  improper  persons  who  partake  of  the  holy  things  unknowingly ,  14-16. 
Freewill-offerings,  and  sacrifices  in  general ,  must  be  without  blemish,  17-25.  The  age  at  which  different 
animals  were  to  be  offered  to  God,  26,  27.  JSo  animal  and  its  young  shall  be  offered  on  the  same  day,  28. 
How  the  sacrifice  of  thanksgiving  was  to  be  offered,  29,30.  All  God's  testimonies  to  be  observed ,  and  the 
reason ,  31—33. 


580 


CHAP.  XXII. 


Laws  relating  to  the 

A.  M.  25H.  A  ND  the  Lord  spake  unto 

B.  C.  1490.  Ljl  .  1 

An.  Exod.  isr.  2.  Moses,  saying, 

Abib  or  Ntsan.  2  gpeak  unto  Aaron  and  to  his 
sons,  that  they  a  separate  themselves  from  the 
holy  things  of  the  children  of  Israel,  and  that 
they  b  profane  not  my  holy  name  in  those  things 
which  they  c  hallow  unto  me  :  I  am  the  Lord. 

3  Say  unto  them,  Whosoever  he  he  of  all  your 
seed,  among  your  generations,  that  goeth  unto 
the  holy  things  which  the  children  of  Israel 
hallow  unto  the  Lord,  d  having  his  unclean¬ 
ness  upon  him,  that  soul  shall  be  cut  off  from 
my  presence  :  I  am  the  Lord. 

4  What  man  soever  of  the  seed  of  Aaron  is 
a  leper,  or  hath  e  a  f  running  issue ;  he  shall 
not  eat  of  the  holy  things  s  until  he  be  clean. 
And  h  whoso  toucheth  any  thing  that  is  unclean 
by  the  dead,  or  1  a  man  whose  seed  goeth 
from  him  ; 

5  Or  k  whosoever  toucheth  any  creeping 
thing,  whereby*  he  may  be  made  unclean,  or 
3  a  man  of  whom  he  may  take  uncleanness, 
whatsoever  uncleanness  he  hath  ; 

6  The  soul  which  hath  touched  any  such 
shall  be  unclean  until  even,  and  shall  not  eat 

aNum.  vi.  3. - bChap.  xviii.  21. - c  Exod.  xxviii.  38; 

Num.  xviii.  32;  Deut.  xv.  19. - dChap.  vii.  20. - e  Chap.  xv. 

2. - f  Heb.  running  of  the  reins. - s  Chap.  xiv.  2  ;  xv.  13. 

Si  Num.  xix.  11,  22. - 1  Chap.  xv.  16. - k  Chap.  xi.  24,  43,  44. 

s,Chap.  xv.  7,  19. - ni  Chap.  xv.  5  ;  Heb.  x.  22. - n  Chap.  xxi. 

•  NOTES  ON  CHAP.  XXII. 

Terse  2.  Speak  unto  Aaron  and  to  his  sons,  that  they 
separate  themselves ]  The  same  subject  is  continued 
in  this  chapter  as  in  the  preceding,  with  this  addition, 
that  besides  the  perfection  of  the  priests,  it  was  indis¬ 
pensably  necessary  that  the-  sacrifices  also  should  be 
■perfect.  In  the  service  of  God,  according  to  the 
law,  neither  an  imperfect  offering  nor  an  imperfect 
offerer  could  be  admitted.  What  need  then  of  a 
mediator  between  a  holy  God  and  sinful  men  ! 
And  can  we  expect  that  any  of  our  services,  how¬ 
ever  sincere  and  well-intentioned ,  can  be  accepted, 
unless  offered  on  that  living  Altar  that  sanctifies  the 
gift? 

Verse  4.  Is  a  leper ,  or  hath  a  running  issue]  See 
the  case  of  the  leper  treated  at  large  in  the  notes  on 
chapters  xiii.  and  xiv.  ;  and  for  other  uncleannesses , 
see  the  notes  on  chap.  xv. 

Verse  10.  There  shall  no  stranger  eat  of  the  holy 
thing]  For  the  meaning  of  the  word  stranger,  see 
the  note  on  Exod.  xii.  43.  The  Jews  suppose  that 
stranger  here  means  one  who  has  had  his  ear  pierced, 
(see  the  note  on  Exod.  xxi.  6,)  and  that  sojourner 
means  a  servant  who  is  to  go  free  on  the  Sabbatical 
year.  Neither  of  these  was  permitted  to  eat  of  the 
holy  things,  because  they  were  not  properly  members 
of  the  priest’s  family,  and  might  go  out  and  defile  them- 

a 


uncleanness  of  the  priests. 

of  the  holy  things,  unless  he  a.  m.  2514. 
m  wash  his  flesh  with  water.  An.  Exod.  isr‘.2. 

7  And  when  the  sun  is  down,  ALub  or  Nisan' 
he  shall  be  clean,  and  shall  afterward  eat  of 
the  holy  things  ;  because  n  it  is  his  food. 

8  0  That  which  dieth  of  itself,  or  is  torn  with 
beasts ,  he  shall  not  eat  to  defile  himself  there¬ 
with  :  I  am  the  Lord. 

9  They  shall  therefore  keep  mine  ordinance, 
p  lest  they  bear  sin  for  it,  and  die  therefore,  if 
they  profane  it :  I  the  Lord  do  sanctify  them. 

10  q  There  shall  no  stranger  eat  of  the  holy 
thing  :  a  sojourner  of  the  priest,  or  a  hired 
servant,  shall  not  eat  of  the  holy  thing. 

1 1  But  if  the  priest  buy  any  soul  r  with  his 
money,  he  shall  eat  of  it,  and  he  that  is  born 
in  his  house  ;  s  they  shall  eat  of  his  meat. 

12  If  the  priest’s  daughter  also  be  married 
unto  4  a  stranger,  she  may  not  eat  of  an  offer¬ 
ing  of  the  holy  things. 

13  But  if  the  priest’s  daughter  be  a  widow, 
or  divorced,  and  have  no  child,  and  is  11  re¬ 
turned  unto  her  father’s  house,  v  as  in  her 
youth,  she  shall  eat  of  her  father’s  meat :  but 
there  shall  no  stranger  eat  thereof. 

22;  Num.  xviii.  11,  13. - °Exod.  xxii.  31;  chap.  xvii.  15; 

Ezek.  xliv.  31. - p  Exod.  xxviii.  43  ;  Num.  xviii.  22,  32. 

q  See  1  Sam.  xxi.  6. - rHeb.  with  the  purchase  of  his  money . 

sNum.  xviii.  11,  13. - 1  Heb.  a  man  a  stranger. - u  Gen. 

xxxviii.  11. - vChap.  x.  14;  Num.  xviii.  11,  19. 

selves  even  with  the  abominations  of  the  heathen  ;  but 
the  servant  or  slave  that  was  bought  with  money,  ver. 
10,  might  eat  of  these  things,  because  he  was  the  pro¬ 
perty  of  the  master  for  ever. 

We  see  that  it  was  lawful,  under  the  Mosaic  eco¬ 
nomy,  to  have  slaves  under  certain  restrictions  ;  but 
these  were  taken  from  among  the  heathen,  and  in¬ 
structed  in  the  true  religion  :  hence  we  find,  as  in  the 
above  case,  that  they  were  reckoned  as  a  part  of  the 
priest's  own  family,  and  treated  as  such.  They  cer¬ 
tainly  had  privileges  which  did  not  extend  either  to 
sojourners  or  to  hired  servants ;  therefore  their  situa¬ 
tion  was  incomparably  better  than  the  situation  of  the 
slaves  under  different  European  governments,  of  whose 
souls  their  pitiless  possessors  in  general  take  no  care, 
while  they  themselves  venture  to  profess  the  Christian 
religion,  and  quote  the  Mosaic  law  in  vindication  of 
their  system  of  slavery.  How  preposterous  is  such 
conduct !  and  how  intolerable  ! 

Verse  13.  But  if  the  priest's  daughter  he  a  widow — 
and  is  returned  unto  her  father  s  house]  A  widow  in 
Bengal  not  unfrequently  returns  to  her  father’s  house 
on  the  death  of  her  husband  :  the  union  betwixt  her  and 
her  own  family  is  never  so  dissolved  as  among  Euro¬ 
pean  nations.  Thousands  of  widows  in  Bengal,  whose 
husbands  die  before  the  consummation  of  marriage, 
never  leave  their  parents. — Ward. 

581 


LEVITICUS. 


must  be  without  blemish. 


All  offerings  and  sacrifices 

A.  M.  2514,  14  w  And  if  a  man  eat  of  the 

An.  Exod.  Isr.  2.  holy  thing  unwittingly,  then  he 
Abib  or  Nisan.  shall  puj  the  fifth  part  there0f 

unto  it,  and  shall  give  it  unto  the  priest  with 
the  holy  thing. 

1 5  And  x  they  shall  not  profane  the  holy 
things  of  the  children  of  Israel,  which  they 
offer  unto  the  Lord  ; 

16  Or  y  suffer  them  z  to  bear  the  iniquity  of 
trespass,  when  they  eat  their  holy  things  :  for 
I  the  Lord  do  sanctify  them. 

17  And  the  Lord  spake  unto  Moses,  saying, 

18  Speak  unto  Aaron,  and  to  his  sons,  and 
unto  all  the  children  of  Israel,  and  say  unto 
them,  a  Whatsoever  he  be  of  the  house  of 
Israel,  or  of  the  strangers  in  Israel,  that  will 
offer  his  oblation  for  all  his  vows,  and  for  all 
his  freewill-offerings,  which  they  will  offer 
unto  the  Lord  for  a  burnt-offering ; 

19  b  Ye  shall  offer ,  at  your  own  will,  a  male 
without  blemish  of  the  beeves,  of  the  sheep, 
or  of  the  goats. 

20  c  But  whatsoever  hath  a  blemish,  that 
shall  ye  not  offer :  for  it  shall  not  be  accepta¬ 
ble  for  you. 

2 1  And  d  whosoever  offereth  a  sacrifice  of 
peace-offerings  unto  the  Lord  e  to  accomplish 

w  Chap.  v.  15, 16. - z  Num.  xviii.  32. - >'  Or,  lade  themselves 

with  the  iniquity  of  trespass  in  their  eating. - z  Ver.  9. - a  Chap. 

i.  2,  3,  10  ;  Num.  xv.  14. - b  Chap.  i.  3. - c  Deut.  xv.  21 ; 

xvii.  1  ;  Mai.  i.  8,  14 ;  Eph.  v.  27 ;  Heb.  ix.  14 ;  1  Pet.  i.  19. 
d  Chap.  iii.  1,  6. 

Yerse  14.  Then  he  shall  put  the  fifth  part  thereof 
unto  it]  The  holy  thing-  of  which  he  has  unknowingly 
eaten  shall  be  fairly  valued,  and  to  this  value  he 
shall  add  one  fifth  more,  and  give  the  whole  to  the 
priest. 

Yerse  20.  Whatsoever  hath  a  blemish \  The  same 
perfection  is  required  in  the  sacrifice  that  was  required 
in  the  priest ;  see  on  ver.  2,  and  the  notes  on  the  pre¬ 
ceding  chapter. 

Yerse  23.  That  hath  any  thing  superfluous  or  lack¬ 
ing]  The  term  ynty  sarua  signifies  any  thing  ex¬ 
tended  beyond  the  usual  size,  and  the  term  Dibp  kalut 
signifies  any  thing  unusually  contracted ;  and  both 
mean  any  monstrosity,  whether  in  redundance  or  de¬ 
fect.  Such  things,  it  seems,  might  be  offered  for  a 
freewill-offering ,  because  that  was  not  prescribed  by 
the  law  ;  God  left  it  to  a  man’s  piety  and  gratitude  to 
offer  such  additional  gifts  as  he  could :  what  the  law 
required  was  indispensably  necessary,  because  it  pointed 
out  the  Gospel  economy  ;  but  he  that  made  a  vow  to 
offer  such  a  sacrifice  as  the  law  had  not  required, 
could  of  course  bring  an  imperfect  offering.  Some 
contend  that  the  last  clause  of  this  verse  should  be 
thus  read:  If  thou  offer  it  either  for  a  freewill-offer¬ 
ing,  or  for  a  vow ,  it  shall  not  he  accepted.  It  was  the 

582 


his  vow,  or  a  freewill-offering  in  a.  m.  2514 
beeves  or  f  sheep,  it  shall  be  An.  Exod.  isr.  2 
perfect  to  be  accepted ;  there  Ablb  or  Nlsan- 
shall  be  no  blemish  therein. 

22  *  Blind,  or  broken,  or  maimed,  or  having 
a  wen,  or  scurvy,  or  scabbed,  ye  shall  not  offer 
these  unto  the  Lord,  nor  make  11  an  offering 
by  fire  of  them  upon  the  altar  unto  the  Lord. 

23  Either  a  bullock  or  a  *  lamb  that  hath 
any  thing  k  superfluous  or  lacking  in  his  parts, 
that  mayest  thou  offer  for  a  freewill-offering ; 
but  for  a  vow  it  shall  not  be  accepted. 

24  Ye  shall  not  offer  unto  the  Lord  that 
which  is  bruised,  or  crushed,  or  broken,  or 
cut ;  neither  shall  ye  make  any  offering  thereof 
in  your  land. 

25  Neither  1  from  a  stranger’s  hand  shall  ye 
offer  m  the  bread  of  your  God  of  any  of  these  ; 
because  their  n  corruption  is  in  them,  and 
blemishes  be  in  them ;  they  shall  not  be  ac¬ 
cepted  for  you. 

26  And  the  Lord  spake  unto  Moses,  saying, 

27  0  When  a  bullock,  or  a  sheep,  or  a  goat, 
is  brought  forth,  then  it  shall  be  seven  days 
under  the  dam ;  and  from  the  eighth  day  and 
thenceforth  it  shall  be  accepted  for  an  offering 
made  by  fire  unto  the  Lord. 


e  Chap.  vii.  16 ;  Num.  xv.  3,  8  ;  Deut.  xxiii.  21,  23 ;  Psa.  IxL 

8  ;  lxv.  1  ;  Eccles.  v.  4,  5. - f  Or,  goats. - s  Yer.  20 ;  Mai.  i. 

8. - h  Chap.  i.  9, 13  ;  iii.  3,  5. - 1  Or,  kid. - k  Chap.  xxi.  18. 

1  Num.  xv.  15,  16. - “Chap.  xxi.  6,  17. - nMal.  i.  14, 

0  Exod.  xxii.  30. 

opinion  of  the  Jews,  and  it  appears  to  be  correct,  that 
none  of  these  imperfect  animals  were  ever  offered  on 
the  altar  ;  but  the  person  who  made  the  freewill-offer¬ 
ing  of  such  things  as  he  Ifad,  sold  the  animal,  and  gave 
its  price  for  the  support  of  the  sanctuary. 

Yerse  24.  Bruised,  or  crushed,  or  broken ,  or  cut ] 
That  is,  no  bullock  or  lamb  that  is  injured  in  any  of 
the  above  ways,  shall  be  offered  unto  the  Lord. 

Yerse  25.  Their  corruption  is  in  them]  Yiz.,  they 
are  bruised,  crushed,  broken ,  &c. 

Yerse  27.  When  a  bullock — is  brought  forth]  This 
is  a  most  unfortunate  as  well  as  absurd  translation. 
The  creature  called  an  ox  is  a  bull  castrated ;  surely 
then  a  bullock  was  never  yet  brought  forth !  The 
original  word  Mty  shor  signifies  a  bull,  a  bullock,  or 
indeed  any  thing  of  the  neat  kind  :  here,  even  common 
sense  required  that  it  should  be  translated  calf;  and 
did  I  not  hold  myself  sacredly  bound  to  print  the  text 
of  the  common  version  with  scrupulous  exactness,  I 
should  translate  the  former  clause  o*f  this  verse  thus, 
and  so  enter  it  into  the  text  :  When  a  calf,  or  a 
lamb,  or  a  kid  is  brought  forth ,  instead  of,  When  a 
bullock,  a  sheep,  or  a  goat  is  brought  forth,  the  ab¬ 
surdity  of  which  is  glaring. 

Seven  days  under  the  dam]  In  vindication  of  the 

a 


CHAP.  XXIII. 


Concerning  the 

A.  M.  2514.  28  And  whether  it  he  cow  or 

B.  C.  1490.  ,  „  ,  .  . 

An.  Exod.  isr.  2.  p  ewe,  ye  shall  not  kill  it  *  and 

Atnb  or  Nisan.  |icr  young  both  in  one  day. 

29  And  when  ye  will  r  offer  a  sacrifice  of 
thanksgiving  unto  the  Lord,  offer  it  at  your 
own  will. 

30  On  the  same  day  it  shall  be  eaten  up; 
ye  shall  leave  s  none  of  it  until  the  morrow  :  I 
am  the  Lord. 

pOr,  she-goat. - ^  Deut.  xxii.  6. - r  Chap.  vii.  12;  Psalm 

cvii.  22  ;  cxvi.  17  ;  Amos  iv.  5. - s  Chap.  vii.  15. - '* l  Chapter 

xix.  37 ;  Num.  xv.  40  ;  Deut.  iv.  40. 


propriety  of  this  precept  it  may  be  justly  asserted, 
that  the  flesh  of  very  young  animals  is  comparatively 
innutritive,  and  that  animal  food  is  not  sufficiently 
nourishing  and  wholesome  till  the  animal  has  arrived 
at  a  certain  growth,  or  acquired  the  perfection  of  its 
nature.  There  is  something  brutish  in  eating  the 
young  of  beast  or  fowl  before  the  hair  and  hoofs  are 
perfect  in  the  one,  and  the  feathers  and  claws  in  the 
other.  Before  this  period  their  flesh  is  not  good  for 
food.  See  the  note  on  chap.  ix.  1. 

Verse  28.  Ye  shall  not  kill  it  and  her  young — in  one 
day.]  This  precept  was  certainly  intended  to  incul¬ 
cate  mercy  and  tenderness  of  heart ;  and  so  the  J  ews 
understood  it.  When  it  is  necessary  to  take  away 
the  lives  of  innocent  animals  for  the  support  of  our 
own,  we  should  do  it  in  such  a  way  as  not  to  blunt  our 
moral  feelings  ;  and  deplore  the  necessity,  while  we  feel 
an  express  gratitude  to  God  for  permission,  to  do  it. 

Verse  30.  Leave  none  of  it  until  the  morrow ]  See 
the  note  on  chap.  vii.  18. 

Verse  32.  Neither  shall  ye  profane  my  holy  name] 
God’s  name  is  profaned  or  rendered  common  when  w7e 


feasts  of  the  Lord. 

31  1 * * * *  Therefore  shall  ye  keep  A.  M.  2514. 

my  commandments,  and  do  them  :  An.  Exod.  isr.  2. 
I  am  the  LORD.  Alub  or  Nisan. 

32  u  Neither  shall  ye  profane  my  holy  name  ; 
but  v  I  will  be  hallowed  among  the  children 
of  Israel  :  I  am  the  Lord  which  w  hal¬ 
low  you, 

33  x  That  brought  you  out  of  the  land  of 
Egypt,  to  be  your  God:  I  am  the  Lord. 

u  Chap,  xviii.  21. - v  Chap.  x.  3;  Matt.  vi.  9;  Luke  xi.  2. 

w  Chap.  xx.  8. - x  Exod.  vi.  7  ;  chap.  xi.  45  ;  xix.  36  ;  xxv.  38  ; 

Num.  xv.  41. 


treat  his  commands  as  we  often  do  those  of  our  fellows, 
when  they  do  not  appear  to  have  self-interest  to  re¬ 
commend  them.  Pie  therefore  profanes  God’s  holy 
name  who  does  not  both  implicitly  believe  and  consci¬ 
entiously  obey  all  his  words  and  all  his  precepts. 

I  will  be  halloived  among  the  children  of  Israel]  The 

words  children  of  Israel ,  bxicc  ’DD  beney  Yishrael, 

which  so  frequently  occur,  should  be  translated  either 

the  descendants  or  posterity  of  Israel ,  or  the  people  of 

Israel.  The  word  children  has  a  tendency  to  beget  a 
false  notion,  especially  in  the  minds  of  young  people, 
and  lead  them  to  think  that  children ,  in  the  proper 
sense  of  the  word,  i.  e.,  little  ones ,  are  meant. 

Verse  33.  Brought  you  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt] 
By  such  a  series  of  miraculous  interferences,  to  be  your 

God — to  save  you  from  all  idolatry ,  false  and  super¬ 
stitious  worship ,  teach  you  the  right  way,  lead  and  sup¬ 
port  you  in  it,  and  preserve  you  to  my  eternal  kingdom 
and  glory.  God,  infinite  in  his  own  perfections,  has 
no  need  of  his  creatures  ;  but  they  need  him  ;  and,  as 
a  source  of  endless  felicity,  he  opens  himself  to  all  his 
intelligent  offspring. 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 


The  feasts  of  the  Lord ,  1,  2.  The  Sabbath,  3.  The  passover  and  unleavened  bread ,  4—8.  The  feast  of 
first-fruits,  9—14.  The  feast  of  pentecost,  15—21.  Gleanings  to  be  left  for  the  poor,  22.  The  feast  of 
trumpets,  23—25.  The  great  day  of  atonement,  26-32.  The  feast  off  tabernacles,  33—44. 


A.  M.  2514.  A  ND  the  Lord  spake  unto 

B.  C.  1490.  II  „  .  r 

An.  Exod.  Isr.  2.  Moses,  saying, 

Abib  or  Nisan.  ^  Speak  unto  the  children  of 
Israel,  and  say  unto  them,  Concerning  a  the 
feasts  of  the  Lord,  which  ye  shall  b  proclaim 

a  Verse  4,  37. - b  Exodus  xxxii.  5;  2  Kings  x.  20; 

Psa.  lxxxi.  3. 


to  he  holy  convocations,  even  A.  M.  2514. 

.  J  r  ’  B.  C.  1490. 

these  are  my  leasts.  An.  Exod.  isr.  2. 

3  c  Six  days  shall  work  be  Ablb  or  Nlsan- 

done  :  but  the  seventh  day  is  the  Sabbath 

of  rest,  a  holy  convocation  ;  ye  shall  do  no 

c  Exod.  xx.  9;  xxiii.  12  ;  xxxi.  15;  xxxiv.  21;  chap.  xix.  3; 
Deut.  v.  13  ;  Luke  xiii.  14. 


NOTES  ON  CHAP.  XXIII. 

Verse  2.  These  are  my  feasts.]  The  original  word 

moad  is  properly  applied  to  any  solemn  anniver¬ 
sary,  by  which  great  and  important  ecclesiastical,  poli¬ 
tical,  or  providential  facts  were  recorded  ;  see  on  Gen. 
i.  14.  Anniversaries  of  this  kind  were  observed  in 
all  nations  ;  and  some  of  them,  in  consequence  of  scru¬ 
pulously  regular  observation,  became  chronological 


epochs  of  the  greatest  importance  in  history  :  the  Olym¬ 
piads ,  for  example. 

Verse  3.  The  seventh  day  is  the  Sabbath]  This, 
because  the  first  and  greatest  solemnity,  is  first  men¬ 
tioned.  He  who  kept  not  this,  in  the  most  religious 
manner,  was  not  capable  of  keeping  any  of  the  others. 
The  religious  observance  of  the  Sabbath  stands  at  the 
very  threshold  of  all  religion.  See  the  note  on  Gen.  ii.  3. 

583 


The  feast  of  the  passover 


LEVITICUS. 


first-fruits ,  and  pentecost 


A.  M.  2514.  work  therein  :  it  is  the  Sabbath 

An.  Exod.  isr.  2.  of  the  Lord  in  all  your  dwell- 
Abib  or  Nisan.  ^ 

■ - - - -  O 

4  d  These  are  the  feasts  of  the  Lord,  even 
holy  convocations,  which  ye  shall  proclaim  in 
their  seasons. 

5  e  In  the  fourteenth  day  of  the  first  month 
at  even  is  the  Lord’s  passover. 

6  And  on  the  fifteenth  day  of  the  same  month 
is  the  feast  of  unleavened  bread  unto  the  Lord  : 
seven  days  ye  must  eat  unleavened  bread. 

7  f  In  the  first  day  ye  shall  have  a  holy  con¬ 
vocation  :  ye  shall  do  no  servile  work  therein. 

8  But  ye  shall  offer  an  offering  made  by  fire 
unto  the  Lord  seven  days  :  in  the  seventh 
day  is  a  holy  convocation:  ye  shall  do  no 
servile  work  therein . 

9  And  the  Lord  spake  unto  Moses,  saying, 

10  Speak  unto  the  children  of  Israel,  and 
say  unto  them,  s  When  ye  be  come  into  the 
land  which  I  give  unto  you,  and  shall  reap 
the  harvest  thereof,  then  ye  shall  bring  a 
h  sheaf  1  of  k  the  first-fruits  of  your  harvest 
unto  the  priest : 

1 1  And  he  shall  1  wave  the  sheaf  before  the 
Lord,  to  be  accepted  for  you  :  on  the  morrow 
after  the  Sabbath  the  priest  shall  wave  it. 

1 2  And  ye  shall  offer  that  day,  when  ye  wave 
the  sheaf,  a  he-lamb  without  blemish,  of  the 
first  year,  for  a  burnt-offering  unto  the  Lord. 

13  m  And  the  meat-offering  thereof  shall  he 
two  tenth  deals  of  fine  flour  mingled  with  oil, 
an  offering  made  by  fire  unto  the  Lord  for  a 
sweet  savour  :  and  the  drink-offering  thereof 
shall  he  of  wine,  the  fourth  part  of  a  hin. 

14  And  ye  shall  eat  neither  bread,  nor  parched 
corn,  nor  green  ears,  until  the  selfsame  day 


d  Ver.  2,  37  ;  Exod.  xxiii.  14. - e  Exod.  xii.  6,  14,  18;  xiii 

3,  10  ;  xxiii.  15 ;  xxxiv.  18;  Num.  ix.  2, 3;  xxviii.  16,  17 ;  Deut 

xvi.  1-8;  Josh.  v.  10. - fExod.  xii.  16;  Num.  xxviii.  18,25, 

sExod.  xxiii.  16, 19  ;  xxxiv.  22,  26  ;  Num.  xv.  2, 18  ;  xxviii.  26  ; 

Deut.  xvi.  9;  Josh.  iii.  15. - h  Or,  handful. - 'Heb.  omer. 

31  Rom.  xi.  16  ;  1  Cor.  xv.  20  ;  James  i.  18 ;  Rev.  xiv.  4. 


Verse  5.  The  Lord's  passover .]  See  this  largely- 
explained  in  the  notes  on  Exod.  xii.  21—27. 

Verse  11.  He  shall  wave  the  sheaf  J  He  shall  move 
it  to  and  fro  before  the  people,  and  thereby  call  their 
attention  to  the  work  of  Divine  Providence,  and  excite 
their  gratitude  to  God  for  preserving  to  them  the 
kindly  fruits  of  the  earth.  See  the  notes  on  Exod. 
xxix.  27,  and  chap.  vii.  at  the  end. 

Verse  14.  Ye  shall  eat  neither  bread ,  nor  parched 
corn ,  nor  green  ears ]  It  is  right  that  God,  the  dis¬ 
penser  of  every  blessing,  should  be  acknowledged  as 
such,  and  the  first-fruits  of  the  field,  &c.,  dedicated 
to  him.  Concerning  the  dedication  of  the  first-fruits , 

584 


that  ye  have  brought  an  offering  a.  M.  2514. 
unto  your  God:  it  shall  he  a  An. Exod. Isr.’ 2. 
statute  for  ever  throughout  your  Ablb  or  Nisan. 
generations,  in  all  your  dwellings. 

1 5  And  n  ye  shall  count  unto  you  from  the 
morrow  after  the  Sabbath,  from  the  day  that  ye 
brought  the  sheaf  of  the  wave-offering  ;  seven 
Sabbaths  shall  be  complete  : 

16  Even  unto  the  morrow  after  the  seventh 
Sabbath  shall  ye  number  0  fifty  days  ;  and  ye 
shall  offer  p  a  newr  meat-offering  unto  the 
Lord. 

17  Ye  shall  bring  out  of  your  habitations 
two  wave  loaves  of  two  tenth  deals  :  they 
shall  be  of  fine  flour ;  they  shall  be  baken  with 
leaven  ;  they  are  9  the  first-fruits  unto  the 
Lord. 

18  And  ye  shall  offer  with  the  bread  seven 
lambs  without  blemish  of  the  first  year,  and 
one  young  bullock,  and  two  rams  :  they  shall 
be  for  a  burnt-offering  unto  the  Lord,  with 
their  meat-offering,  and  their  drink-offerings, 
even  an  offering  made  by  fire,  of  sweet  savour 
unto  the  Lord. 

1 9  Then  ye  shall  sacrifice  r  one  kid  of  the 
goats  for  a  sin-offering,  and  two  lambs  of  the 
first  year  for  a  sacrifice  of  s  peace-offerings. 

20  And  the  priest  shall  wave  them  with  the 
bread  of  the  first-fruits,  for  a  wave-offering  be¬ 
fore  the  Lord,  with  the  two  lambs  :  t  they 
shall  be  holy  to  the  Lord  for  the  priest. 

21  And  ye  shall  proclaim  on  the  selfsame 
day,  that  it  may  be  a  holy  convocation  unto 
you  :  ye  shall  do  no  servile  work  therein  :  it 
shall  he  a  statute  for  ever  in  all  your  dwellings 
throughout  your  generations. 

22  And  11  when  ye  reap  the  harvest  of  your 

1  Exod.  xxix.  24. - m  Chap.  ii.  14,  15,  16. - n  Chap.  xxv.  8  ; 

Exod.  xxxiv.  22 ;  Deut.  xvi.  9. - 0  Acts  ii.  1. - r  Num.  xxviii. 

26. - Exod.  xxiii.  16, 19  ;  xxii.  29  ;  xxxiv.  22,  26  ;  Num.  xv. 

17  ;  xxviii.  26  ;  Deut.  xxvi.  1. - r  Ch.  iv.  23,  28  ;  Num.  xxviii. 

30. - s  Chapter  iii.  1. - 1  Numbers  xviii.  12;  Deut.  xviii.  4. 

u  Chap.  xix.  9. 

see  the  note  on  Exod.  xxii.  29.  Parched  ears  of  corn 
and  green  ears,  fried,  still  constituted  part,  and  not  a 
disagreeable  one,  of  the  food  of  the  Arabs  now  resi¬ 
dent  in  the  Holy  Land.  See  Hasselquist. 

Verse  15.  Ye  shall  count  unto  you — seven  Sabbaths ] 
That  is,  from  the  sixteenth  of  the  first  month  to  the 
sixth  of  the  third  month.  These  seven  weeks ,  called 
here  Sabbaths,  were  to  be  complete,  i.  e.,  the  forty- 
nine  days  must  be  finished,  and  the  next  day,  the  fif¬ 
tieth,  is  what,  from  the  Septuagint,  we  call  pentecost. 
See  the  note  on  Luke  vi.  1. 

Verse  22.  Neither  shall  thou  gather  any  gleaning'] 
See  the  note  on  chap.  xix.  9. 

a 


The  great  day  of  atonement.  CHAP. 

A.  M.  2514.  land,  thou  shalt  not  make  clean 

An.  Exod.  isr.  2.  riddance  of  the  corners  of  thy 
Abib  or  Nisan.  when  thou  reapest,  v  neither 

shalt  thou  gather  any  gleaning  of  thy  harvest : 
thou  shalt  leave  them  unto  the  poor,  and  to 
the  stranger :  I  am  the  Lord  your  God. 

23  And  the  Lord  spake  unto  Moses,  saying, 

24  Speak  unto  the  children  of  Israel,  say¬ 
ing,  In  the  w  seventh  month,  in  the  first  day 
of  the  month,  shall  ye  have  a  Sabbath,  x  a 
memorial  of  blowing  of  trumpets,  a  holy 
convocation. 

25  Ye  shall  do  no  servile  work  therein :  but 
ye  shall  offer  an  offering  made  by  fire  unto  the 

Lord. 

26  And  the  Lord  spake  unto  Moses,  saying, 

27  y  Also  on  the  tenth  day  of  this  seventh 
month  there  shall  be  a  day  of  atonement :  it 
shall  be  a  holy  convocation  unto  you  ;  and  ye 
shall  afflict  your  souls,  and  offer  an  offering 
made  by  fire  unto  the  Lord. 

28  And  ye  shall  do  no  work  in  that  same 
day  :  for  it  is  a  day  of  atonement,  to  make  an 
atonement  for  you  before  the  Lord  your  God. 

29  For  whatsoever  soul  it  be  that  shall  not 
be  afflicted  in  that  same  day, z  he  shall  be  cut 
off  from  among  his  people. 

30  And  whatsoever  soul  it  be  that  doeth  any 
work  in  that  same  day,  a  the  same  soul  will  I 
destroy  from  among  his  people. 

31  Ye  shall  do  no  manner  of  work  :  it  shall 
be  a  statute  for  ever  throughout  your  genera¬ 
tions,  in  all  your  dwellings. 

v  Deut.  xxiv.  19. - w  Num.  xxix.  1. - xChap.  xxv.  9. 

y  Chap.  xvi.  30  ;  Num.  xxix.  7.- - 7  Gen.  xvii.  14. - a  Chap. 

xx.  3,  5,  6. - b  Heb.  rest. - c  Exod.  xxiii.  16  ;  Num.  xxix.  12 ; 

Deut.  xvi.  13  ;  Ezra  iii.  4  ;  Neh.  viii.  14  ;  Zech.  xiv.  16  ;  1  Esd. 

Verse  24.  A  memorial  of  blowing  of  trumpets ]  This 
is  generally  called  the  feast  of  trumpets ;  and  as  it  took 
place  on  the  first  day  of  the  seventh  month ,  Tisri, 
which  answers  to  September,  which  month  was  the 
commencement  of  what  was  called  the  civil  year ,  the 
feast  probably  had  no  other  design  than  to  celebrate 
the  commencement  of  that  year,  if  indeed  such  a  dis¬ 
tinction  obtained  among  the  ancient  Jews.  See  the 
note  on  Exod.  xii.  2.  Some  think  creation  began  at 
this  time. 

Verse  28.  A  day  of  atonement\  See  the  note  on 
chapter  xvi.  3,  &c.,  where  this  subject  is  largely  ex¬ 
plained. 

Verse  34.  The  feast  of  tabernacles]  In  this  solem¬ 
nity  the  people  left  their  houses,  and  dwelt  in  booths 
or  tents  made  of  the  branches  of  goodly  trees  and 
thick  trees,  (of  what  kind  the  text  does  not  specify,) 
together  with  palm-trees  and  willows  of  the  brook,  ver. 
40.  And  in  these  they  dwelt  seven  days,  in  com- 

a 


XXIII.  The  feast  of  tabernacles. 

32  It  shall  be  unto  you  a  Sab-  a.  M.  2514. 
bath  of  rest,  and  ye  shall  afflict  An.  Exod.  isr.2. 
your  souls :  in  the  ninth  day  of  the  Abll)  or  NlSdni 
month  at  even,  from  even  unto  even,  shall  ye 
b  celebrate  your  Sabbath. 

33  And  the  Lord  spake  unto  Moses,  saying, 

34  Speak  unto  the  children  of  Israel,  saying, 
c  The  fifteenth  day  of  this  seventh  month  shall 
be  the  feast  of  tabernacles,  for  seven  days 
unto  the  Lord. 

35  On  the  first  day  shall  be  a  holy  convoca¬ 
tion  :  ye  shall  do  no  servile  work  therein. 

36  Seven  days  ye  shall  offer  an  offering 
made  by  fire  unto  the  Lord  :  d  on  the  eighth 
day  shall  be  a  holy  convocation  unto  you ; 
and  ye  shall  offer  an  offering  made  by  fire  unto 
the  Lord  :  it  is  e  a  solemn  assembly  ;  f  and 
ye  shall  do  no  servile  work  therein. 

37  g  These  are  the  feasts  of  the  Lord,  which 
ye  shall  proclaim  to  be  holy  convocations,  to 
offer  an  offering  made  by  fire  unto  the  Lord, 
a  burnt-offering,  and  a  meat-offering,  a  sacri¬ 
fice,  and  drink-offerings,  every  thing  upon  his 
day  : 

38  h  Beside  the  Sabbaths  of  the  Lord,  and 
beside  your  gifts,  and  beside  all  your  vows, 
and  beside  all  your  freewill-offerings,  which 
ye  give  unto  the  Lord. 

39  Also  in  the  fifteenth  day  of  the  seventh 
month,  when  ye  have  1  gathered  in  the  fruit  oi 
the  land,  ye  shall  keep  a  feast  unto  the  Lord 
seven  days  :  on  the  first  day  shall  be  a  Sab¬ 
bath,  and  on  the  eighth  day  shall  be  a  Sabbath. 

v.  51  ;  John  vii.  2 . - d  Num.  xxix.  35  ;  Neh.  viii.  18  ;  John  vii. 

37. - e  Heb.  day  of  restraint. - 1  Deut.  xvi.  8  ;  2  Chron.  vii. 

9  ;  Neh.  viii.  18  ;  Joel  i.  14;  ii.  15. - sVer.  2,  4. - hNum. 

xxix.  39. - 1  Exod.  xxiii.  16  ;  Deut.  xvi.  13. 

memoration  of  their  forty  years’  sojourning  and  dwelling 
in  tents  in  the  wilderness  while  destitute  of  any  fixed 
habitations.  In  imitation  of  this  feast  among  the  peo¬ 
ple  of  God,  the  Gentiles  had  their  feasts  of  tents. 
Plutarch  speaks  particularly  of  feasts  of  this  kind  in 
honour  of  Bacchus,  and  thinks  from  the  custom  of  the 
Jews  in  celebrating  the  feast  of  tabernacles,  that  they 
worshipped  the  god  Bacchus,  “  because  he  had  a  feast 
exactly  of  the  same  kind  called  the  feast  of  taberna¬ 
cles,  Hktivtj,  which  they  celebrated  in  the  time  of  vin¬ 
tage,  bringing  tables  out  into  the  open  air  furnished 
with  all  kinds  of  fruit,  and  sitting  under  tents  made  of 
vine  branches  and  ivy.” — Plut.  Symp.,  lib.  iv.,  Q.  6. 
According  to  Ovid  the  feast  of  Anna  Perenna  was 
celebrated  much  in  the  same  way.  Some  remained 
in  the  open  air,  others  formed  .to  themselves  tents  and 
booths  made  of  branches  of  trees ,  over  which  they 
spread  garments,  and  kept  the  festival  with  great  re¬ 
joicings. 


585 


LEVITICUS. 


Directions  concerning  the 


lamps  and  the  shew-bread 


a.  m.  2514.  4  o  And  k  ye  shall  take  you  on 

An.  Exod.  isr.  2.  the  first  day  the  Roughs  of 
Abib  or  Nit»an.  g00C[}y  trees,  branches  of  palm- 

trees,  and  the  houghs  of  thick  trees,  and  wil¬ 
lows  of  the  brook ;  m  and  ye  shall  rejoice  before 
the  Lord  your  God  seven  days. 

41  n  And  ye  shall  keep  it  a  feast  unto  the 
Lord  seven  days  in  the  year.  It  shall  be  a 
statute  for  ever  in  your  generations  :  ye  shall 
celebrate  it  in  the  seventh  month. 


42  0  Ye  shall  dwell  in  booths  A.  M.  2514. 

,  ..  T  B.  C.  1490. 

seven  days;  all  that  are  Is-  An. Exod. isr. 2. 

raelites  born  shall  dwell  in  Ablb  or  Nlsan' 

booths  : 

4  3  p  That  your  generations  may  know  that  I 
made  the  children  of  Israel  to  dwell  in  booths, 
when  I  brought  them  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt : 
I  am  the  Lord  your  God. 

44  And  Moses  9  declared  unto  the  children 
of  Israel  the  feasts  of  the  Lord. 


kNeh.  viii.  15. - 1  Heb.  fruit. - m  Dent.  xvi.  14,  15. 

nNum.  xxix.  12;  Neh.  viii.  18. 

“  Sub  Jove  pars  durat ;  pauci  tentoria  ponunt ; 

Sunt,  quibus  e  ramis  frondea  facta  casa  est. 

Pars  sibi  pro  rigidis  calamos  statuere  columnis ; 

Desuper  extentas  imposuere  togas.” 

Ovid,  Fast.,  lib.  iii. 

Concerning  this  feast  of  tabernacles,  see  the  note  on 
John  vii.  37,  38  ;  and  for  the  various  feasts  among  the 
Jews,  see  the  note  on  Exod.  xxiii.  14. 

Verse  40.  Boughs  of  goodly  trees ]  The  Jews  and 
many  critics  imagine  the  citron-tree  to  be  intended,  and 
by  houghs  of  thick  trees  the  myrtle. 

Verse  43.  That  your  generations  may  know ,  <fc.] 
By  the  institution  of  this  feast  God  had  two  great 
objects  in  view:  1.  To  perpetuate  the  wonderful  dis¬ 
play  of  his  providence  and  grace  in  bringing  them  out 


°Neh.  viii.  14,  15,  16. — — p  Deut.  xxxi.  13  ;  Psa.  lxxviii.  5,  6. 

V  er.  2. 

of  Egypt,  and  in  preserving  them  in  the  wilderness. 
2.  To  excite  and  maintain  in  them  a  spirit  of  gratitude 
and  obedience,  by  leading  them  to  Consider  deeply  the 
greatness  of  the  favours  which  they  had  received  from 
his  most  merciful  hands. 

Signal  displays  of  the  mercy,  kindness,  and  provi¬ 
dential  care  of  God  should  be  particularly  remem¬ 
bered.  When  we  recollect  that  we  deserve  nothing 
at  his  hands,  and  that  the  debt  of  gratitude  is  all  the 
debt  we  can  pay,  in  it  we  should  be  cheerful,  fervent, 
and  frequent.  An  ungrateful  heart  is  an  unfeeling, 
unloving,  unbelieving,  and  disobedient  heart.  Reader, 
pray  to  God  that  he  may  deliver  thee  from  its  influ¬ 
ence  and  its  curse. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 


Pure  olive  oil  must  he  provided  for  the  lamps ,  1,  2.  Aaron  is  to  take  care  that  the  lamps  he  lighted  from 
evening  to  morning  continually ,  3,  4.  How  the  shew-hread  is  to  he  made  and  ordered ,  5-8.  Aaron  and 
his  sons  shall  eat  this  bread  in  the  holy  place ,  9.  Of  the  son  of  Shelomith,  an  Israelitish  woman,  who 
blasphemed  the  name,  10,  11.  He  is  imprisoned  till  the  mind  of  the  Lord  should  he  known,  12.  He  is 
commanded  to  he  stoned  to  death,  13,  14.  The  ordinance  concerning  cursing  and  hlaspjhcming  the  Lord, 
15,  16.  The  law  against  murder,  17.  The  lex  talionis,  or  law  of^  like  for  like,  repeated,  18-21.  This 
law  to  he  equally  binding  both  on  themselves  and  on  strangers,  22.  The  blasphemer  is  stoned,  23. 


A.  M.  2514.  A  ND  the  Lord  spake  unto 

B.  C.  1490.  Jr. L  .  1 

An.  Exod.  isr.  2.  Moses,  saying, 

Abib  or  Nisan.  0  a  r*  j  imj  r 

_  2  a  Command  the  children  oi 

Israel,  that  they  bring  unto  thee  pure  oil  olive 

beaten  for  the  light,  b  to  cause  the  lamps  to 

burn  continually. 

3  Without  the  veil  of  the  testimony,  in  the 
tabernacle  of  the  congregation,  shall  Aaron 
order  it  from  the  evening  unto  the  morning, 
before  the  Lord  continually  :  it  shall  be  a 
statute  for  ever  in  your  generations. 

®  Exod.  xxvii.  20,  21. - b  Heb.  to  cause  to  ascend. - c  Exod. 

xxxi.  8  ;  xxxix.  37. 

NOTES  ON  CHAP.  XXIV. 

Verse  2.  Pure  oil  olive\  See  every  thing  relative 
to  this  ordinance  explained  on  Exod.  xxvii.  20,  21. 
Verse  5.  Bake  twelve  cakes']  See  the  whole  account 

586 


4  He  shall  order  the  lamps  upon  A.  M.  2514. 

,  ,,  .  -I  ,  r  r,  B.  C.  1490. 

c  the  pure  candlestick,  beiore  the  An.  Exod.  isr.  2. 

Lord  continually.  Abib  or  Nisan. 

5  And  thou  shalt  take  fine  flour,  and  bake 
twelve  d  cakes  thereof :  two  tenth  deals  shall 
be  in  one  cake. 

6  And  thou  shalt  set  them  in  two  rows,  six 
on  a  row,  e  upon  the  pure  table  before  the 
Lord. 

7  And  thou  shalt  put  pure  frankincense  upon 
each  row,  that  it  may  be  on  the  bread  for  a 


d  Exod.  xxv.  30.- 


-e  1  Kings  vii.  48  ;  2  Chron-  iv.  19  ;  xiii.  11 ; 
Heb.  ix.  2. 


of  the  shew-hread  in  the  notes  on  Exod.  xxv.  30  ;  and 
relative  to  the  table  on  which  they  stood,  the  golden 
candlestick  and  silver  trumpets  carried  in  triumph  to 
Rome,  see  the  note  on  Exod.  xxv.  31. 


a 


Of  Shelomith's  $071,  who  CHAP.  XXIV. 


blasphemed  the  name. 


A.  M.  2514.  memorial,  even  an  offering  made 

An.  Exod.  isr.  2.  by  fire  unto  the  Lord. 

Abib  or  Nisan.  g  f  Every  Sabbath  lie  shall  set 

it  in  order  before  the  Lord  continually,  being 
taken  from  the  children  of  Israel  by  an  ever¬ 
lasting  covenant. 

9  And  it  shall  be  Aaron’s  and  his  sons’ ; 
11  and  they  shall  eat  it  in  the  holy  place  :  for 
it  is  most  holy  unto  him,  of  the  offerings  of 
the  Lord  made  by  fire  by  a  perpetual  statute. 

10  And  the  son  of  an  Israelitish  woman, 
whose  father  was  an  Egyptian,  went  out  among 
the  children  of  Israel :  and  this  son  of  the 
Israelitish  woman  and  a  man  of  Israel  strove 
together  in  the  camp  ; 

f  Num.  iv.  7  ;  1  Chron.  ix.  32;  2  Chron.  ii.  4. - S'  1  Samuel 

xxi.  6  ;  Matt.  xii.  4  ;  Mark  ii.  26  ;  Luke  vi.  4. - h  Exod.  xxix. 

33  ;  chap.  viii.  3  ;  xxi.  22. - 1  Yer.  16. - k  Job  i.  5, 11,  22 ;  ii. 

6,  9,  10  ;  Isa.  viii.  21. 


11  And  the  Israelitish  woman  s  A.  M.  2514. 

..-I  .  ,  ,  -  7  B.  C.  1490. 

son *  1  blasphemed  the  name  of  the  A,n.  Exod.  isr.  2. 

LORD,  and  k  cursed.  And  they  Ablb  or  xNls,an' 

1  brought  him  unto  Moses  :  (and  his  mother’s 

name  was  Shelomith,  the  daughter  of  Dibri, 

of  the  tribe  of  Dan  :) 

1 2  And  they  m  put  him  in  ward,  n  that  0  the 
mind  of  the  Lord  might  be  showed  them. 

13  And  the  Lord  spake  unto  Moses, 
saying, 

14  Bring  forth  him  that  hath  cursed  without 
the  camp ;  and  let  all  that  heard  him  p  lay 
their  hands  upon  his  head,  and  let  all  the  con¬ 
gregation  stone  him. 

O  O 

15  And  thou  shalt  speak  unto  the  children 

1  Exod.  xviii.  22,  26. - m  Num.  xv.  34. - n  Heb.  to  expound 

unto  them  according  to  the  mouth  of  the  LORD. - 0  Exodus 

xviii.  15,  16;  Numbers  xxvii.  5;  xxxvi.  5,6. - PDeut.  xiii.  9  ; 

xvii.  7. 


Verse  10.  The  son  of  an  Israelitish  woman ,  whose 
father  was  an  Egyptian ,  cf-c.]  This  is  a  very  obscure 
account,  and  is  encumbered  with  many  difficulties. 

1.  It  seems  strange  that  a  person  proceeding  from 
such  an  illegal  mixture  should  have  been  incorporated 
with  the  Israelites.  2.  What  the  cause  of  the  strife 
between  this  mongrel  person  and  the  Israelitish  man 
was  is  not  even  hinted  at.  The  rabbins,  it  is  true, 
supply  in  their  way  this  deficiency  ;  they  say  he  was 
the  son  of  the  Egyptian  whom  Moses  slew,  and  that 
attempting  to  pitch  his  tent  among  those  of  the  tribe 
of  Dan ,  to  which  he  belonged  by  his  mother’s  side, 
ver.  11,  he  was  prevented  by  a  person  of  that  tribe  as 
having  no  right  to  a  station  among  them  who  were 
true  Israelites  both  by  father  and  mother.  In  conse¬ 
quence  of  this  they  say  he  blasphemed  the  name  of 
the  Lord.  But,  3  The  sacred  text  does  not  tell  us 
what  name  he  blasphemed  ;  it  is  simply  said  JIN  DpU 
DL7H  vaiyikkob  eth  hashshem ,  he  pierced  through ,  distin¬ 
guished,  explained,  or  expressed  the  name.  (See  below, 
article  10.)  As  the  Jews  hold  it  impious  to  pronounce 
the  name  HUT  Yehovah ,  they  always  put  either  ’JIN 
Adonai,  Lord ,  or  D^n  hashshem ,  the  name,  in  the  place 
of  it ;  but  in  this  sense  hashshem  was  never  used  prior 
to  the  days  of  rabbinical  superstition,  and  therefore  it 
cannot  be  put  here  for  the  word  Jehovah.  4.  Blas¬ 
pheming  the  name  of  the  Lord  is  mentioned  in  ver. 
16,  and  there  the  proper  Hebrew  term  is  used  DiP 
mrr  shem  Yehovah ,  and  not  the  rabbinical  Dl^n  hash¬ 
shem ,  as  in  ver.  11.  5.  Of  all  the  manuscripts  collated 

both  by  Kennicott  and  He  Rossi,  not  one,  either  of  the 
Hebrew  or  Samaritan,  has  the  word  Jehovah  in  this 
place.  6.  Not  one  of  the  ancient  versions,  Targum 
of  Onkelos ,  IleWceo- Samaritan,  Samaritan  version, 
Syriac,  Arabic,  Septuagint,  or  Vulgate  Latin,  has  even 
attempted  to  supply  the  sacred  name.  7.  Houbi- 
gant  supposes  that  the  Egypto-Israelitish  man  did  not 
use  the  name  of  the  true  God  at  all,  but  had  been 
swearing  by  one  of  his  country  gods  ;  and  if  this  was 
the  case  the  mention  of  the  name  of  a  strange  god  in 
the  camp  of  Israel  would  constitute  a  very  high  crime, 

a 


and  certainly  expose  to  the  punishment  mentioned  in 
ver.  14.  8.  Probably  the  word  Dt^n  hashshem  was 

the  proper  name  of  some  Egyptian  deity.  9.  The 
fifteenth  verse  seems  to  countenance  the  supposition 
that  the  god  whose  name  was  produced  on  this  occa¬ 
sion  was  not  the  true  God,  for  it  is  there  said,  whoso¬ 
ever  cursetli  his  god ,  elohaiv,  shall  bear  his  sin — 

shall  have  the  punishment  due  to  him  as  an  idolater  ; 
but  he  that  blasphemeth  the  name  of  the  Lord,  HUT  DH 
shem  Yehovah,  shall  surely  be  put  to  death — when  he 
blasphemeth  the  name  (Dt^  shem )  he  shall  die,  ver.  16. 
10.  The  verb  nakab,  which  we  translate  blaspheme, 
signifies  to  pierce,  bore,  make  hollow  ;  also  to  express 
or  distinguish  by  name  ;  see  Isa.  Ixii.  2  ;  Num.  i. 
17  ;  1  Chron.  xii.  31 ;  xvi.  41  ;  xxviii.  15  ;  or,  as  the 
Persian  translator  has  it,  ^lj 

sherah  kerd,  mir  an  nam ,  he  expounded  or  interpreted 
the  name.  Hence  all  that  we  term  blasphemy  here  may 
only  signify  the  particularizing  some  false  god,  i.  e., 
naming  him  by  his  name,  or  imploring  his  aid  as  a 
helper,  and  when  spoken  of  the  true  God  it  may  sig¬ 
nify  using  that  sacred  name  as  the  idolaters  did  the 
names  of  their  idols.  On  blaspheming  God,  and  the 
nature  of  blasphemy ,  see  the  notes  on  Matt.  ix.  3. 

In  whatever  point  of  view  we  consider  the  relation 
which  has  been  the  subject  of  this  long  note,  one  thing 
is  sufficiently  plain,  that  he  who  speaks  irreverently 
of  God,  of  his  works,  his  perfections ,  his  providence, 
&c.,  is  destitute  of  every  moral  feeling  and  of  every 
religious  principle,  and  consequently  so  dangerous  to 
society  that  it  would  be  criminal  to  suffer  him  to  be  at 
large,  though  the  longsuffering  of  God  may  lead  him 
to  repentance,  and  therefore  it  may  be  consistent  with 
mercy  to  preserve  his  life. 

Verse  14.  Lay  their  hands  upon  his  head]  It  was 
by  this  ceremony  that  the  people  who  heard  him  curse 
bore  their  public  testimony  in  order  to  his  being  fully 
convicted,  for  without  this  his  punishment  would  not 
have  been  lawful.  By  this  ceremony  also  they  in  effect 
said  to  the  man,  Thy  blood  be  upon  thy  own  head. 

Verse  15.  Whosoever  curscth  his  God]  VTlSN  SSp' 

587  1 


The  punishment  of  blasphemy.  LEVITICUS.  The  law  of  like  for  like. 


A.  M.  2514.  of  Israel,  saving,  Whosoever 

6  C  1490  J  ° 

An.  Exod.  isr.  2.  curseth  his  God  q  shall  bear 
Abib  or  Nisan.  hig  ^ 

16  And  he  that  rblasphemeth  the  name  of 
the  Lord,  he  shall  surely  be  put  to  death,  and 
all  the  congregation  shall  certainly  stone  him : 
as  well  the  stranger  as  he  that  is  born  in  the 
land,  when  he  blasphemeth  the  name  of  the 
LORD,  shall  be  put  to  death. 

1 7  s  And  he  that  4  killeth  any  man  shall 
surely  be  put  to  death. 

18  u  And  he  that  killeth  a  beast  shall  make 
it  good  ;  v  beast  for  beast. 

19  And  if  a  man  cause  a  blemish  in  his 
neighbour  :  as  w  he  hath  done,  so  shall  it  be 
done  to  him  ; 

9  Chap.  v.  1 ;  xx.  17  ;  Num.  ix.  13. - r  1  Kings  xxi.  10,  13  ; 

Psa.  lxxiv.  10,  18;  Matt.  xii.  31  ;  Mark  iii.  28;  James  ii.  7. 

s  Exod.  xxi.  12;  Num.  xxxv.  31 ;  Deut.  xix.  11,  12. - f  Heb. 

smiteth  the  life  of  a  man. 

yekallel  Elohaiv,  he  who  makes  light  of  him,  who  does 
not  treat  him  and  sacred  things  with  due  reverence,  shall 
hear  his  sin — shall  have  the  guilt  of  this  transgression 
imputed  to  him,  and  may  expect  the  punishment. 

Verse  16.  Blasphemeth  the  name  of  the  Lord]  DpJl 
miT  venokeb  shem  Yehovah ,  he  who  pierces ,  trans¬ 
fixes,  or,  as  some  translate  it,  expounds,  the  name  of 
Jehovah;  see  the  note  on  the  tenth  verse.  This  being 
the  name  by  which  especially  the  Divine  Essence  was 
pointed  out,  it  should  be  held  peculiarly  sacred.  We 
have  already  seen  that  the  Jews  never  pronounce  this 
name,  and  so  long  has  it  been  disused  among  them  that 
the  true  pronunciation  is  now  totally  lost ;  see  on  the 
word  Jehovah,  Exod.  vi.  3. 

Verse  17.  He  that  killeth  any  man]  Blasphemy 
against  God,  i.  e.,  speaking  injuriously  of  his  name, 
his  attributes,  his  government,  and  his  revelation,  to¬ 
gether  with  murder,  is  to  be  punished  with  death  :  he 
that  blasphemes  God  is  a  curse  in  society,  and  he  who 
takes  away,  wilfully  and  by  malicious  intent,  the  life 
of  any  man,  should  certainly  be  put  to  death.  In  this 
respect  God  has  absolutely  required  that  life  shall  go 
for  life. 

Verse  20.  Breach  for  breach]  This  is  a  repetition  of 
the  lex  talionis,  which  see  explained  Exod.  xxi.  24. 

Verse  22.  Ye  shall  have  one  manner  of  law,  as  well 
for  the  stranger  as  for  one  of  your  own  country] 
Equal  laws,  where  each  individual  receives  the  same 
protection  and  the  same  privileges,  are  the  boast  only 
of  a  sound  political  constitution.  He  who  respects  and 
obeys  the  laws  has  a  right  to  protection  and  support, 
and  his  person  and  property  are  as  sacred  in  the  sight 
of  justice  as  the  person  and  property  of  the  prince. 
He  who  does  not  obey  the  laws  of  his  country  forfeits 
all  right  and  title  to  protection  and  privilege  ;  his  own 
actions  condemn  him,  and  justice  takes  him  up  on  the 
evidence  of  his  own  transgressions.  He  who  does  wrhat 
is  right  need  not  fear  the  power  of  the  civil  magistrate, 
for  he  holds  the  sword  only  to  punish  transgressors . 
Universal  obedien.ce  to  the  laws  is  the  duty  of  every 

588 


20  Breach  for  breach,  eve  for  a.  m.  2514. 
eye,  tooth  for  tooth  :  as  he  hath  An.  Exod.  isr.  2. 
caused  a  blemish  in  a  man,  so  Ablb  Qr  Nlsan* 
shall  it  be  done  to  him  again. 

21  x  And  he  that  killeth  a  beast,  he  shall 
restore  it :  >T  and  he  that  killeth  a  man,  he 
shall  be  put  to  death. 

22  Ye  shall  have  z  one  manner  of  law, 
as  well  for  the  stranger  as  for  one  of  your 
own  country  :  for  I  am  the  Lord  your 
God. 

23  And  Moses  spake  to  the  children  of 
Israel,  a  that  they  should  bring  forth  him  that 
had  cursed  out  of  the  camp,  and  stone  him 
with  stones.  And  the  children  of  Israel  did 
as  the  Lord  commanded  Moses. 

u  Ver.  21. - v  Heb.  life  for  life. - w  Exod.  xxi.  24  ;  Deut. 

xix.  21;  Matt.  v.  38;  vii.  2. - xExod.  xxi.  33;  ver.  18. 

y  Ver.  17. - ®  Exod.  xii.  49  ;  chap.  xix.  34  ;  Num.  xv.  16. 

a  Ver.  14. 

citizen ;  none  can  do  more,  none  should  do  less  : 
therefore  each  individual  in  a  well  regulated  state  must 
have  equal  rights  and  privileges  in  every  thing  that 
relates  to  Ihe  safety  of  his  person,  and  the  security  of 
his  property.  Reader,  such  ivas  the  Mosaic  code ; 
such  IS  the  BRITISH  CONSTITUTION. 

Verse  23.  And  stone  him  ivith  stones.]  We  are  not 
to  suppose  that  the  culprit  was  exposed  to  the  un¬ 
bridled  fury  of  the  thousands  of  Israel ;  this  would  be 
brutality,  not  justice,  for  the  very  worst  of  tempers 
and  passions  might  be  produced  and  fostered  by  such 
a  procedure.  The  Jews  themselves  tell  us  that  their 
manner  of  stoning  was  this  :  they  brought  the  con¬ 
demned  person  without  the  camp,  because  his  crime 
had  rendered  him  unclean,  and  whatever  was  unclean 
must  be  put  without  the  camp.  When  they  came 
within  four  cubits  of  the  place  of  execution,  they 
stripped  the  criminal,  if  a  man,  leaving  him  nothing 
but  a  cloth  about  the  waist.  The  place  on  which  he 
was  to  be  executed  was  elevated,  and  the  witnesses 
went  up  with  him  to  it,  and  laid  their  hands  upon  him, 
for  the  purposes  mentioned  verA  14.  Then  one  of  the 
witnesses  struck  him  with  a  stone  upon  the  loins ;  if 
he  was  not  killed  with  that  blow,  then  the  witnesses 
took  up  a  great  stone,  as  much  as  two  men  could  lift, 
and  threw  it  upon  his  breast.  This  was  the  coup  de 
grace,  and  finished  the  tragedy.  When  a  man  was 
stoned  by  the  mob,  then  brutal  rage  armed  every  man, 
justice  was  set  aside,  and  the  will  and  fury  of  the 
people  were  laVv,  judge,  jury,  and  executioner.  Such 
disgraceful  stonings  as  these  were,  no  doubt,  frequent 
among  the  Jews.  See  CalmeVs  Diet.,  article  Stoning, 
and  Ainsworth  on  this  place. 

What  the  crime  of  Shelomith’s  son  was,  we  cannot 
distinctly  say  ;  doubtless  it  was  some  species  of  blas¬ 
phemy  :  however,  we  find  it  was  a  new  and  unprece¬ 
dented  case  ;  and  as  there  was  no  law  by  which  the 
quantum  of  guilt  could  be  ascertained,  nor  consequently 
the  degree  of  punishment,  it  wras  necessary  to  consult 

a 


CHAP.  XXY. 


The  law  concerning 

the  great  Lawgiver  on  the  occasion  ;  the  man  was 
therefore  secured  till  the  mind  of  the  Lord  should  be 
known.  Moses,  no  doubt,  had  recourse  to  the  taber¬ 
nacle,  and  received  the  directions  afterward  mentioned 
from  Him  who  dwelt  between  the  cherubim.  In  what 
way  the  answer  of  the  Lord  was  communicated  we 
know  not,  (probably  by  Urim  and  Thummim,)  but  it 
came  in  such  a  manner  as  to  preclude  all  doubt  upon 
the  subject :  the  man  was  declared  to  be  guilty,  and 
was  sentenced  to  be  stoned  to  death ;  and  on  this  oc¬ 
casion  a  law  is  made  relative  to  blasphemy  in  general. 
However  sinful  the  Jews  might  have  been  at  this  time, 
we  have  reason  to  believe  they  did  not  take  the  name 
of  the  Lord  in  vain,  and  blasphemy  was  not  known 


the  Sabbatical  year. 

among  them.  But  what  shall  we  say  of  Christians , 
so  called,  whose  mouths  are  full  of  cursing  and  bitter¬ 
ness  1  Were  every  blasphemer  among  us  to  be  stoned 
to  death,  how  many  of  the  people  would  fall  in  every 
corner  of  the  land  !  God  is  longsuffering  ;  may  this 
lead  them  to  repentance  !  We  have  excellent  laws 
against  all  profaneness,  but,  alas  for  our  country  !  they 
are  not  enforced  ;  and  he  who  attempts  to  put  the  laws 
in  force  against  profane  swearers,  Sabbath  breakers, 
&c.,  is  considered  a  litigious  man,  and  a  disturber 
of  the  peace  of  society.  Will  not  God  visit  for 
these  things  1  This  is  not  only  contempt  of  God's 
holy  word  and  commandments ,  but  rebellion  against 
the  laws. 


CHAPTER  XXY. 


The  law  concerning  the  Sabbatical  or  seventh  year  repeated,  1-7.  The  law  relative  to  the  jubilee,  or  fiftieth 
year ,  and  the  hallowing  of  the  fiftieth,  8—12.  In  the  year  of  jubilee  every  one  to  return  unto  his  posses¬ 
sions,  13.  None  to  oppress  another  in  buying  and  selling,  14.  Purchases  to  be  rated  from  jubilee  to 
jubilee,  according  to  the  number  of  years  unexpired,  15-17.  Promises  to  obedience,  18,  19.  Promises 
relative  to  the  Sabbatical  year,  20—22.  No  inheritance  must  be  finally  alienated,  23,  24.  No  advantage 
to  be  taken  of  a  man's  poverty  in  buying  his  land,  25—28.  Ordinances  relative  to  the  selling  of  a  house 
in  a  walled  city,  29,  30  ;  in  a  village,  31.  Houses  of  the  Leviles  may  be  redeemed  at  any  time,  32,  33. 
The  fields  of  the  Levitcs  in  the  suburbs  must  not  be  sold,  34.  No  usury  to  be  taken  from  a  poor  brother , 
35—38.  If  an  Israelite  be  sold  to  an  Israelite,  he  must  not  be  obliged  to  serve  as  a  slave,  39,  but  be  as  a 
hired  servant  or  as  a  sojourner,  till  the  year  of  jubilee,  40,  when  he  and  his  family  shall  have  liberty  to 
depart ,  41  ;  because  God  claims  all  Israelites  as  his  servants,  having  redeemed  them  from  bondage  in  Egypt, 
42,  43.  The  Israelites  are  permitted  to  have  bond-men  and  bond-women  of  the  heathens,  who,  being  bought 
icith  their  money,  shall  be  considered  as  their  property,  44—46.  If  an  Israelite,  grown  poor,  be  sold  to  a 
sojourner  who  has  waxed  rich,  he  maybe  redeemed  by  one  of  his  relatives,  an  uncle  or  uncle’s  son,  47—49. 
In  the  interim  between  the  jubilees,  he  may  be  redeemed ;  but  if  not  redeemed,  he  shall  go  free  in  the 
jubilee ,  50—54.  Obedience  enforced  by  God's  right  over  them  as  his  servants ,  55. 


A.  M.  2514. 

B.  C.  1490. 
An.  Exod.  Isr.  2. 

Abib  or  Nisan. 


\  ND  the  Lord  spake  unto 
Moses  in  Mount  Sinai,  say- 


2  Speak  unto  the  children  of  Israel,  and  say 
unto  them,  When  ye  come  into  the  land 
which  I  give  you,  then  shall  the  land  a  keep 
b  a  Sabbath  unto  the  Lord. 

3  Six  years  thou  shalt  sow  thy  field,  and 
six  years  thou  shalt  prune  thy  vineyard,  and 
gather  in  the  fruit  thereof : 

4  But  in  the  seventh  year  shall  be  a  Sabbath 
of  rest  unto  the  land,  a  Sabbath  for  the  Lord  : 


thou  shalt  neither  sow  thy  field,  A.  M.  2514. 
nor  prune  thy  vineyard.  An.  Exod.  isr. 2, 

5  «  That  which  groweth  of  Abib  or  NisaB- 
its  own  accord  of  thy  harvest,  thou  shalt  not 
reap,  neither  gather  the  grapes  d  of  thy  vine 
undressed:  for  ‘it  is  a  year  of  rest  unto,  the 
land. 

6  And  the  Sabbath  of  the  land  shall  be  meat 
for  you;  for  thee,  and  for  thy  servant,  and  for 
thy  maid,  and  for  thy  hired  servant,  and  for 
thy  stranger  that  sojourneth  with  thee, 

7  And  for  thy  cattle,  and  for  the  beast  that 


1  Iieb.  rest. - b  Exod.  xxiii.  10  ;  see  ch.  xxvi.  34,  35  ;  2  Chron. 


xxxvi.  21. - c  2  Kings  xix.  29. - d  Heb.  of  thy  separation. 


NOTES  ON  CHAP.  NXY. 

Verse  2.  The  land  keep  a  Sabbath]  See  this  ordi¬ 
nance  explained  in  the  note  on  Exod.  xxiii.  11.  It 
may  be  asked  here  :  If  it  required  all  the  annual  pro¬ 
duce  of  the  field  to  support  the  inhabitants,  how  could 
the  people  be  nourished  the  seventh  year,  when  no 
produce  was  received  from  the  fields  1  To  this  it  may 
be  answered,  that  God  sent  his  blessing  in  an  especial 
manner  on  the  sixth  year,  (see  verses  21,  22,)  and  it 
brought  forth  fruit  for  three  years.  How  astonishing 
and  convincing  was  this  miracle  !  Could  there  pos- 

a 


sibly  be  any  deception  here  1  NO  !  The  miracle 
speaks  for  itself,  proves  the  Divine  authenticity  of  the 
law,  and  takes  every  prop  and  stay  from  the  system 
that  wishes  to  convict  the  Mosaic  ordinances  of  im¬ 
posture.  See  Exod.  xxiii.  11.  It  is  evident  from 
this  that  the  Mosaic  law  must  have  had  a  Divine 
origin,  as  no  man  in  his  senses,  without  God’s 
authority,  could  have  made  such  an  ordinance  as 
this ;  for  the  sixth  year,  from  its  promulgation, 
would  have  amply  refuted  his  pretensions  to  a  Divine 
mission. 


589 


Ordinance  of  LEVITICUS.  the  jubilee 


a.  M.  2514.  are  in  thy  land,  shall  all  the 

B.  C. 1490.  .  in 

An.  Exod.  isr.  2.  increase  thereot  be  meat. 

a i > i b  or  Nisan.  g  And  thou  shalt  number  seven 
Sabbaths  of  years  unto  thee,  seven  times  seven 
years  ;  and  the  space  of  the  seven  Sabbaths  of 
years  shall  be  unto  thee  forty  and  nine  years. 

9  Then  shalt  thou  cause  the  trumpet  e  of 
the  jubilee  to  sound,  on  the  tenth  day  of  the 
seventh  month,  f  in  the  day  of  atonement 
shall  ye  m^ke  the  trumpet  sound  throughout 
all  your  land. 

10  And  ye  shall  hallow  the  fiftieth  year,  and 
£  proclaim  liberty  throughout  all  the  land  unto 
all  the  inhabitants  thereof:  it  shall  be  a  jubi¬ 
lee  unto  you  ;  h  and  ye  shall  return  every  man 
unto  his  possession,  and  ye  shall  return  every 
man  unto  his  family. 

e  Heb.  loud  of  sound. - f  Chap,  xxiii.  24,  27. - s  Isa.  Ixi.  2  ; 

Ixiii.  4  ;  Jer.  xxxiv.  8,  15, 17  ;  Luke  iv.  19. - h  Ver.  13  ;  Num. 

xxxvi.  4. - i  Ver.  5. 

Verse  8.  Thou  shall  number  seven  Sabbaths  of  years ] 
This  seems  to  state  that  the  jubilee  was  to  be  cele¬ 
brated  on  the  forty-ninth  year  ;  but  in  ver.  1 0  and  1 1 
it  is  said,  Ye  shall  hallow  the  fiftieth  year,  and,  A 
jubilee  shall  this  fiftieth  year  be.  Probably  in  this 
verse  Moses  either  includes  the  preceding  jubilee,  and 
thus  with  the  forty -ninth  makes  up  the  number  fifty  ; 
or  he  speaks  of  proclaiming  the  jubilee  on  the  forty  - 
ninth,  and  celebrating  it  on  the  fiftieth  year  current. 
tSome  think  it  was  celebrated  on  the  forty-ninth  year, 
as  is  stated  in  ver.  8  ;  and  this  prevented  the  Sabbati¬ 
cal  year,  or  seventh  year  of  rest,  from  being  confound¬ 
ed  with  the  jubilee,  which  it  must  otherwise  have  been, 
had  the  celebration  of  this  great  solemnity  taken  place 
on  the  fiftieth  year  ;  but  it  is  most  likely  that  the 
fiftieth  was  the  real  jubilee. 

Verse  II.  A  jubilee  shall  that  fiftieth  year  be']  The 
literal  meaning  of  the  word  jubilee ,  SuV  yobel  in  He¬ 
brew,  and  Vur  yobil  in  the  Samaritan,  has  not  been 
well  ascertained.  Josephus  and  the  rabbins  have 
caused  many  to  err  ;  the  former  says  the  word  signi¬ 
fies  liberty  ;  E/l evdepcav  6e  Gryiaivei  rovvoya,  Antiq.,  1. 
3,  cap.  12,  edit.  Haverc.,  vol.  i.,  p.  184;  but  the 
word  liberty  signifies  rather  the  intention  of  the  insti¬ 
tution,  than  the  meaning  of  the  Hebrew  term.  The 
rabbins  say  it  signifies  a  ram's  horn,  because  the 
trumpets  which  were  used  in  proclaiming  this  solem¬ 
nity  were  made  out  of  ram’s  horns.  This  meaning  is 
adopted  in  a  few  places  in  our  translation,  but  none  of 
the  ancient  versions  acknowledge  this  sense  of  the 
term,  the  Chaldee  excepted.  Some  derive  it  from 
St  yabal,  to  bring,  carry  away,  because  the  Israelites 
at  this  time  carried  away  the  right  of  repossessing 
their  inheritances  which  had  been  forfeited  or  alien¬ 
ated.  The  most  natural  derivation  is  from  S’TH  ho- 
bil,  to  cause  to  bring  back,  or  recall,  because  estates, 
&c  ,  which  had  been  alienated,  were  then  brought 
back  to  their  primitive  owners.  This  was  a  wise  and 
excellent  institution,  but  appears  to  have  been  little 

590 


1 1  A  jubilee  shall  that  fiftieth  A.  M.  2514. 

.  J  -in  B.  C.  1490. 

year  be  unto  you :  1  ye  shall  not  An,  Exod.  isr.  2. 

sow,  neither  reap  that  which  Ablb  or  Nlsan-. 

groweth  of  itself  in  it,  nor  gather  the  grapes 

in  it  of  thy  vine  undressed. 

12  For  it  is  the  jubilee;  it  shall  be  holy 
unto  you  :  k  ye  shall  eat  the  increase  thereof ‘ 
out  of  the  field. 

13  1  In  the  year  of  this  jubilee  ye  shall  re¬ 
turn  every  man  unto  his  possession. 

14  And  if  thou  sell  aught  unto  thy  neigh¬ 
bour,  or  buyest  aught  of  thy  neighbour’s  hand, 
m  ye  shall  not  oppress  one  another  : 

15  n  According  to  the  number  of  years  after 
the  jubilee,  thou  shalt  buy  of  thy  neighbour  ; 
and  according  unto  the  number  of  years  of  the 
fruits,  he  shall  sell  unto  thee  : 

k  Ver.  6,  7. - 1  Ver.  10  ;  chap,  xxvii.  24  ;  Num.  xxxvi.  4. 

m  Ver.  17  ;  chap.  xix.  13  ;  1  Sam.  xii.  3,  4  ;  Mic.  ii.  2  ;  1  Cor 
vi.  8. - 11  Chap,  xxvii.  18,  23. 

regarded  by  the  Jews  after  the  Babylonish  captivity. 
Indeed,  it  is  not  mentioned  under  the  second  temple, 
and  the  observance  must  have  ceased  among  the  Jews 
when  they  were  brought  under  a  foreign  yoke. 

The  jubilee  seems  to  have  been  typical,  1.  Of  the 
great  time  of  release,  the  Gospel  dispensation,  when 
all  who  believe  in  Christ  Jesus  are  redeemed  from  the 
bondage  of  sin — repossess  the  favour  and  image  of 
God,  the  only  inheritance  of  the  human  soul,  having 
all  debts  cancelled,  and  the  right  of  inheritance  re¬ 
stored.  To  this  the  prophet  Isaiah  seems  to  allude, 
chap,  xxv i.  13,  and  particularly  lxi.  1-3.  2.  Of  the 

general  resurrection.  “  It  is,”  says  Mr.  Parkhurst, 
“  a  lively  prefiguration  of  the  grand  consummation  of 
time,  which  will  be  introduced  in  like  manner  by  the 
trump  of  God,  1  Cor.  xv.  52,  when  the  children  and 
heirs  of  God  shall  be  delivered  from  all  ther  forfeitures, 
and  restored  to  the  eternal  inheritance  allotted  to  them 
by  their  Father  ;  and  thenceforth  rest  from  their  la¬ 
bours,  and  be  supported  in  life  and  happiness  by  what 
the  field  of  God  shall  supply.” 

It  is  worthy  of  remark  that  the  jubilee  was  not  pro¬ 
claimed  till  the  tenth  day  of  the  seventh  month,  on  the 
very  day  when  the  great  annual  atonement  was  made 
for  the  sins  of  the  people  ;  and  does  not  this  prove 
that  the  great  liberty  or  redemption  from  thraldom, 
published  under  the  Gospel,  could  not  take  place  till 
the  great  Atonement,  the  sacrifice  of  the  Lord  Jesus, 
had  been  offered  up  1  See  ver.  9. 

Verse  14.  Ye  shall  not  oppress  one  another]  Ye 
shall  take  no  advantage  of  each  other’s  ignorance 
either  in  buying  or  selling ;  for  he  that  buys  an  article 
at  less  than  it  is  worth,  or  sells  one  for  more  than  it  is 
worth,  taking  advantage  in  both  cases  of  the  ignorance 
of  the  vender  or  buyer,  is  no  better  than  a  thief  as 
he  actually  robs  his  neighbour  of  as  much  property  as 
he  has  bought  the  article  at  below  or  sold  it  above  its 
current  value. 

Verse  15.  According  to  the  number  of  years]  The 

a 


CHAP.  XXV. 


Concerning  the  redemption  of 

1 6  According  to  the  multitude 
of  years,  thou  shalt  increase  the 
price  thereof ;  and  according  to 
the  fewness  of  years,  thou  shalt  diminish  the 
price  of  it :  for  according  to  the  number  of  the 
years  of  the  fruits,  doth  he  sell  unto  thee. 

17  0  Ye  shall  not  therefore  oppress  one 
another ;  p  but  thou  shalt  fear  thy  God  :  for  I 
am  the  Lord  your  God. 

18  q  Wherefore  ye  shall  do  my  statutes,  and 
keep  my  judgments,  and  do  them ;  r  and  ye 
shall  dwell  in  the  land  in  safety. 

1 9  And  the  land  shall  yield  her  fruit,  and  s  ye 
shall  eat  your  fill,  and  dwell  therein  in  safety. 

20  And  if  ye  shall  say,  1  What  shall  we  eat 
the  seventh  year  ?  behold,  11  we  shall  not  sow, 
nor  gather  in  our  increase  : 

2 1  Then  I  will  v  command  my  blessing  upon 
you  in  the  sixth  year,  and  it  shall  bring  forth 
fruit  for  three  years. 

22  w  And  ye  shall  sow  the  eighth  year,  and 
eat  yet  of  x  old  fruit  until  the  ninth  year  ;  until 
her  fruits  come  in  ye  shall  eat  of  the  old  store. 

23  The  land  shall  not  be  sold  y  for  z  ever : 

0  Yer.  14. - p  Yer.  43  ;  chap.  xix.  14,  32. - n  Chap.  xix.  37. 

r  Chap.  xxvi.  5  ;  Deut.  xii.  10  ;  Psa.  iv.  8  ;  Prov.  i.  33 ;  Jer. 

xxiii.  6. - sChap.  xxvi.  5  ;  Ezek.  xxxiv.  25,  27,  28. - 1  Matt. 

vi.  25,  31. - u  Yer.  4,  5. - v  Deut.  xxviii.  8  ;  see  Exod.  xvi. 

29. - 'v2  Kings  xix.  29. - x  Josh.  v.  11,  12. - y  Or,  to  be 

quite  cut  off. 

purchases  that  were  to  be  made  of  lands  were  to  be 
regulated  by  the  number  of  years  unelapsed  of  the 
current  jubilee.  This  was  something  like  buying  the 
unexpired  term  of  a  lease  among  us ;  the  purchase  is 
always  regulated  by  the  number  of  years  between  the 
time  of  purchase  and  the  expiration  of  the  term. 

Verse  20.  What  shall  ive  eat  the  seventh  yearT\  A 
very  natural  question,  which  could  only  be  laid  at  rest 
by  the  sovereign  promise  in  the  next  verse  :  I  will 
command  my  blessing  upon  you  in  the  sixth  year ,  and 
it  shall  bring  forth  fruit  for  three  years.  See  on 
verse  2. 

Verse  23.  The  land  shall  not  be  sold  for  ever — the 
land  is  mine\  As  God  in  a  miraculous  manner  gave 
them  possession  of  this  land,  they  were  therefore  to 
consider  themselves  merely  as  tenants  to  him ;  and  on 
this  ground  he ,  as  the  great  landholder  or  lord  of  the 
soil,  prescribes  to  them  all  the  conditions  on  which 
they  shall  hold  it.  This  one  circumstance  was  pecu¬ 
liarly  favourable  to  their  advancement  in  religion,  in 
righteousness,  and  true  holiness ;  for  feeling  that  they 
had  nothing  which  they  could  call  their  own  upon 
earth,  they  must  frequently,  by  this,  be  put  in  mind  of 
the  necessity  of  having  a  permanent  dwelling  in  the 
heavenly  inheritance,  and  of  that  preparation  without 
which  it  could  not  be  possessed. 

Verse  25.  Any  of  his  kin  come  to  redeem  it]  The 
land  that  was  sold  might  be  redeemed,  in  the  interim 

a 


persons ,  lands ,  houses , 
for  a  the  land  is  mine  ;  for  ve  a.  M.  2514. 

b  .  ,  •  J  B.  C.  1490. 

are  “strangers  and  sojourners  An.  Exod.  isr.2. 

with  me.  Abib  or  Nisan. 

24  And  in  all  the  land  of  your  possession 
ye  shall  grant  a  redemption  for  the  land. 

25  c  If  thy  brother  be  waxen  poor,  and  hath 
sold  away  some  of  his  possession,  and  if  d  any 
of  his  kin  come  to  redeem  it,  then  shall  he 
redeem  that  which  his  brother  sold. 

26  And  if  the  man  have  none  to  redeem  it, 
and  e  himself  be  able  to  redeem  it ; 

27  Then  f  let  him  count  the  years  of  the  sale 
thereof,  and  restore  the  overplus  unto  the  man 
to  whom  he  sold  it ;  that  he  may  return  unto 
his  possession. 

28  But  if  he  be  not  able  to  restore  it  to  him, 
then  that  which  is  sold  shall  remain  in  the 
hand  of  him  that  hath  bought  it,  until  the  year 
of  jubilee  :  &  and  in  the  jubilee  it  shall  go  out, 
and  he  shall  return  unto  his  possession. 

29  And  if  a  man  sell  a  dwelling  house  in  a 
walled  city,  then  he  may  redeem  it  within  a 
whole  year  after  it  is  sold  ;  within  a  full  year 
may  he  redeem  it. 

z  Heb.  for  cutting  off. - aDeut.  xxxii.  43  ;  2  Chron.  vii.  20  ; 

Psa.  lxxxv.  1  ;  Joel  ii.  18  ;  iii.  2. - b  L  Chron.  xxix.  15  ;  Psa. 

xxxix.  12;  cxix.  19  ;  1  Peter  ii.  11. - c  Ruth  ii.  20  ;  iv.  4,  6. 

d  See  Ruth  iii.  2,9,  12;  Jer.  xxxii.  7,  8. — — e  Heb.  his  hand 

hath  attained ,  and  found  sufficiency  ;  chap.  v.  7. - f  Yer.  50,  51, 

52. - e  Ver.  13. 

between  jubilee  and  jubilee,  by  the  former  owner  or 
by  one  of  his  kinsmen  or  relatives.  This  kinsman  is 
called  in  the  text  *7iO  goel  or  redeemer;  and  was  not 
this  a  lively  emblem  of  the  redemption  of  man  by 
Christ  Jesus  1  That  he  might  have  a  right  to  redeem 
man ,  he  took  upon  him  human  nature ,  and  thus  became 
a  kinsman  of  the  great  family  of  the  human  race,  and 
thereby  possessed  the  right  of  redeeming  that  fallen 
nature  of  which  he  took  part,  and  of  buying  back  to 
man  that  inheritance  which  had  been  forfeited  by 
transgression. 

Verse  29.  Sell  a  dwelling  house  in  a  walled  city]  A 
very  proper  difference  is  put  between  houses  in  a  city 
and  houses  in  the  country.  If  a  man  sold  his  house 
in  the  city ,  he  might  redeem  it  any  time  in  the  course 
of  a  year;  but  if  it  were  not  redeemed  within  that 
time,  it  could  no  more  be  redeemed,  nor  did  it  go  out 
even  in  the  jubilee.  It  was  not  so  with  a  house  in 
the  country ;  such  a  house  might  be  redeemed  during 
any  part  of  the  interim  ;  and  if  not  redeemed,  must  go 
out  at  the  jubilee.  The  reason  in  both  cases  is  suffi¬ 
ciently  evident ;  the  house  in  the  city  might  be  built 
for  purposes  of  trade  or  traffic  merely,  the  house  in 
the  country  was  built  on  or  attached  to  the  inheritance 
which  God  had  divided  to  the  respective  families,  and 
it  was  therefore  absolutely  necessary  that  the  same  law 
should  apply  to  the  house  as  to  the  inheritance.  But 
the  same  necessity  did  not  hold  good  with  respect  to 

591 


A.  M.  2514. 

B.  C.  1490. 
An.  Exod.  Isr.  2. 
Abib  or  Nisan. 


LEVITICUS. 


Levites  not  to  be  sold 


The  houses  of  the 


A.  M.  2514,  30  And  if  it  be  not  redeemed 

B.  C.  1490.  .  .  .  ,  r  r  n 

An.  Exod.  isr.  2.  within  the  space  or  a  full  year, 
Abib or  Nlsan-  then  the  house  that  is  in  the 
walled  city  shall  be  established  for  ever  to 
him  that  bought  it,  throughout  his  generations  : 
it  shall  not  go  out  in  the  jubilee. 

3 1  But  the  houses  of  the  villages,  which  have 
no  walls  round  about  them,  shall  be  counted  as 
the  fields  of  the  country :  h  they  may  be  re¬ 
deemed,  and  they  shall  go  out  in  the  jubilee. 

32  Notwithstanding  1  the  cities  of  the  Le¬ 
vites,  and  the  houses  of  the  cities  of  their  pos¬ 
session,  may  the  Levites  redeem  at  any  time. 

33  And  if  ka  man  purchase  of  the  Levites, 
then  the  house  that  was  sold,  and  the  city  of 
his  possession,  1  shall  go  out  in  the  year  of 
jubilee  ;  for  the  houses  of  the  cities  of  the 
Levites  are  their  possession  among  the  chil¬ 
dren  of  Israel. 

34  But  m  the  field  of  the  suburbs  of  their 


cities  may  not  be  sold;  for  it  is  their  per¬ 
petual  possession. 

35  And  if  thy  brother  be  waxen  poor,  and 
n  fallen  in  decay  with  thee ;  then  thou  shalt 
°  relieve  him  :  p  yea ,  though  he  be  a  stranger, 

h  Heb.  redemption  belong eth  unto  it. - 1  See  Num.  xxxv.  2; 

Josh.  xxi.  2,  &c. - k  Or,  one  of  the  Levites  redeem  them. 

&Vei.  28. - m  See  Acts  iv.  36,  37. - n  Heb .  his  hand  faileth. 

°  Heb.  strengthen. - p  Deut.  xv.  7,  8  ;  Psa.  xxxvii.  26  ;  xli.  1  ; 

exii.  5,  9  ;  Prov.  xiv.  31  ;  Luke.  vi.  35;  Acts  xi.  29 ;  Rom.  xii. 

18;  1  John  iii.  17. - 'lExod.  xxii.  25;  Deut.  xxiii.  19;  Neh. 

v.  7 ;  Psa.  xv.  5  ;  Prov.  xxviii.  8  ;  Ezek.  xviii.  8,  13,  17  ;  xxii. 


the  house  in  the  city :  and  as  we  may  presume  the 
house  in  the  city  was  merely  for  the  purpose  of  trade , 
when  a  man  bought  such  a  house,  and  got  his  business 
established  there,  it  would  have  been  very  inconvenient 
for  him  to  have  removed ;  but  as  it  was  possible  that 
the  former  owner  might  have  sold  the  house  rashly, 
or  through  the  pressure  of  some  very  urgent  necessity, 
a  year  was  allowed  him,  that  during  that  time  he 
might  have  leisure  to  reconsider  his  rash  act,  or  so  to 
get  through  his  pressing  necessity  as  to  be  able  to  get 
back  his  dwelling.  This  time  was  sufficiently  long 
in  either  of  the  above  cases  ;  and  as  such  occurrences 
might  have  been  the  cause  of  his  selling  his  house,  it 
was  necessary  that  he  might  have  the  opportunity  of 
redeeming  his  pledge.  Again,  as  the  purchaser,  hav¬ 
ing  bought  the  house  merely  for  the  purpose  of  trade, 
manufacture,  &c.,  must  have  been  at  great  pains  and 
expense  to  fit  the  place  for  his  work,  and  establish  his 
business,  in  which  himself,  his  children,  and  his  chil¬ 
dren’s  children,  were  to  labour  and  get  their  bread  ; 
hence  it  was  necessary  that  he  should  have  some 
certainty  of  permanent  possession,  without  which,  we 
may  naturally  conjecture,  no  such  purchases  ever  would 
be  made.  This  seems  to  be  the  simple  reason  of  the 
law  in  both  cases. 

Verse  32.  The  cities  of  the  Levites ]  The  law  in 
this  and  the  following  verses  was  also  a  very  wise 

592 


or  a  sojourner ;  that  he  may  live  a.  m.  2514. 

.  ,  f  J  B.  C.  1490. 

with  thee.  An.  Exod.  Isr.  2. 

3  6  q  Take  thou  no  usury  of  him,  Ablb  or  Nlsan- 
or  increase :  but  r  fear  thy  God  ;  that  thy  bro¬ 
ther  may  live  with  thee. 

37  Thou  shalt  not  give  him  thy  money 
upon  usury,  nor  lend  him  thy  victuals  for 
increase. 

38  s  I  am  the  Lord  your  God,  which  brought 
you  forth  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt,  to  give  you 
the  land  of  Canaan,  and  to  be  your  God. 

39  And  t  if  thy  brother  that  dwelleth  by  thee 
be  waxen  poor,  and  be  sold  unto  thee  ;  thou 
shalt  not  u  compel  him  to  serve  as  a  bond- 
servant  : 

40  But  as  a  hired  servant,  and  as  a  so¬ 
journer,  he  shall  be  with  thee,  and  shall  serve 
thee  unto  the  year  of  jubilee  : 

4  1  And  then  shall  he  depart  from  thee,  both 
he  and  his  children  v  with  him,  and  shall  re¬ 
turn  unto  his  own  family,  and  w  unto  the  pos¬ 
session  of  his  fathers  shall  he  return. 

42  For  they  are  x  my  servants,  which  I 
brought  forth  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt :  they 
shall  not  be  sold  ?  as  bondmen. 


12. - rVer.  17  ;  Neh.  v.  9. - sChap.  xxii.  32,  33. - *  Exod. 

xxi.  2 ;  Deut.  xv.  12  ;  1  Kings  ix.  22  ;  2  Kings  iv.  1 ;  Neh. 

v.  5;  Jer.  xxxiv.  14. - 11  Heb.  serve  thyself  with  him  with 

the  service,  &c. ;  ver.  46;  Exod.  i.  14;  Jer.  xxv.  14;  xxvii. 

7;  xxx.  8. - v  Exod.  xxi.  3. - wVer.  28. - xVer.  55: 

Rom.  vi.  22 ;  1  Cor.  vii.  23. - J  Heb.  ivith  the  sale  of  a 

bondman. 


one.  A  Levite  could  not  ultimately  sell  his  house  : 
if  sold  he  could  redeem  it  at  any  time  in  the  interim 
between  the  two  jubilees  ;  but  if  not  redeemed,  it  must 
go  out  at  the  following  jubilee.  And  why  %  “  Be¬ 

cause  Moses  framed  his  laws  so  much  in  favour  of  the 
priesthood,  that  they  had  peculiar  privileges  V’  &c. 
Just  the  reverse  :  they  were  so  far  from  being  pecu¬ 
liarly  favoured  that  they  had  no  inheritance  in  Israel, 
only  their  cities,  to  dwell  in  :  and  because  their  houses 
in  these  cities  were  the  whole  that  they  could  call 
their  own,  therefore  these  houses  could  not  be  ulti¬ 
mately  alienated.  All  that  they  had  to  live  on  besides 
was  from  that  most  precarious  source  of  support,  the 
freewill-offerings  of  the  people,  which  depended  on 
the  prevalence  of  pure  religion  in  the  land. 

Verse  36.  Take  thou  no  usury  of  hirri\  Usury,  at 
present,  signifies  unlawful  interest  for  money.  Pro¬ 
perly,  it  means  the  reward  or  compensation  given  for 
the  use  of  a  thing,  but  is  principally  spoken  of  money. 
See  the  definition  of  the  original  term  in  the  note  on 
Exod.  xxii.  25. 

Verse  42.  For  they  are  my  servants ]  As  God  re¬ 
deemed  every  Israelite  out  of  Egyptian  bondage,  they 
were  therefore  to  consider  themselves  as  his  property, 
and  that  consequently  they  should  not  alienate  them¬ 
selves  from  him.  It  wTas  in  being  his  servants,  and 
devoted  to  his  work,  that  both  their  religious  and  po- 

a 


CHAP.  XXV. 


slaves  and  servants. 


Laws  concerning 

A.  M.  2514.  43  z  Thou  shalt  not  rule  over 

An.  Exod.lsr.  2.  him  a  with  rigour  ;  but  b  shalt 

Abib  or  Nisan.  fear  thy  Qod> 

44  Both  thy  bondmen,  and  thy  bondmaids, 
which  thou  shalt  have,  shall  he  of  the  heathen 
that  are  round  about  you ;  of  them  shall  ye 
buy  bondmen  and  bondmaids. 

45  Moreover  of  c  the  children  of  the  strangers 
that  do  sojourn  among  you,  of  them  shall  ye 
buy,  and  of  their  families  that  are  with  you, 
which  they  begat  in  your  land  :  and  they  shall 
be  your  possession. 

46  And  dye  shall  take  them  as  an  inherit¬ 
ance  for  your  children  after  you,  to  inherit 
them  for  a  possession;  e  they  shall  be  your 
bondmen  for  ever  :  but  over  your  brethren 
the  children  of  Israel,  f  ye  shall  not  rule  one 
over  another  with  rigour. 

47  And  if  a  sojourner  or  stranger  s  wax  rich 
by  thee,  and  h  thy  brother  that  dwelleth  by 
him  wax  poor,  and  sell  himself  unto  the 
stranger  or  sojourner  by  thee,  or  to  the  stock 
of  the  stranger’s  family  : 

48  After  that  he  is  sold  he  may  be  redeemed 
again  ;  one  of  his  brethren  may  1  redeem  him  : 

49  Either  his  uncle,  or  his  uncle’s  son,  may 
redeem  him,  or  any  that  is  nigh  of  kin  unto 

*  Eph.  vi.  9  ;  Col.  iv.  1. - a  Ver.  46  ;  Exod.  i.  13. - b  Ver.  17  ; 

Exod.  i.  17,  21 ;  Deut.  xxv.  18  ;  Mai.  iii.  5. - c  Isa.  lvi.  3,  6. 

d  Isa.  xiv.  2. - e  Heb.  ye  shall  serve  yourselves  with  them  ;  ver  39. 

litical  service  consisted.  And  although  their  'political 
liberty  might  be  lost,  they  knew  that  their  spiritual 
liberty  never  could  be  forfeited  except  by  an  utter 
alienation  from  God.  God  therefore  claims  the  same 
right  to  their  persons  which  he  does  to  their  lands  ; 
see  the  note  on  ver.  23. 

Yerse  43.  Thou  shalt  not  rule  over  him  with  rigour ] 
What  is  rigorous  service  1  “  Service  which  is  not 

determined ,  and  service  whereof  there  is  no  need.” 
This  is  the  definition  given  by  the  Jews ;  but  much 
more  is  implied  in  this  command  than  is  expressed 
here.  Labour  beyond  the  person’s  strength,  or  labour 
too  long  continued,  or  in  unhealthy  or  uncomfortable 
places  and  circumstances,  or  without  sufficient  food, 
&c.,  is  labour  exacted  with  rigour ,  and  consequently 
inhuman ;  and  this  law  is  made,  not  for  the  Mosaic 
dispensation  and  the  Jewish  people,  but  for  every  dis¬ 
pensation  and  for  every  people  under  heaven. 

Yerse  50.  The  price  of  his  sale  shall  he,  dfc.\  This 
was  a  very  equitable  law,  both  for  the  sojourner  to 
whom  the  man  was  sold,  and  to  the  Israelite  who  had 
been  thus  sold.  The  Israelite  might  redeem  himself, 
or  one  of  his  kindred  might  redeem  him  ;  but  this 
must  not  be  done  to  the  prejudice  of  his  master,  the 
sojourner.  They  were  therefore  to  reckon  the  years 
he  must  have  served  from  that  time  till  the  jubilee  ; 
and  then,  taking  the  current  wages  of  a  servant  per 

Vol.  I,  (  39  ) 


him,  of  his  family,  may  redeem  A.  M.  2514. 

him ;  or  if  k  he  be  able,  he  may  An.  Exod.  isr.  2. 
redeem  himself.  Abib  or  Nisan. 

50  And  he  shall  reckon  with  him  that 

% 

bought  him,  from  the  year  that  he  was  sold  to 
him  unto  the  year  of  jubilee  :  and  the  price  of 
his  sale  shall  be  according  unto  the  number 
of  years,  1  according  to  the  time  of  a  hired 
servant  shall  it  be  with  him. 

51  If  there  he  yet  many  years  behind ,  ac¬ 
cording  unto  them  he  shall  give  again  the 
price  of  his  redemption,  out  of  the  money  that 
he  was  bought  for. 

52  And  if  there  remain  but  few  years  unto 
the  year  of  jubilee,  then  he  shall  count  with 
him,  and  according  unto  his  years  shall  he 
give  him  again  the  price  of  his  redemption. 

53  And  as  a  yearly  hired  servant  shall  he 
be  with  him  :  and  the  other  shall  not  rule 
with  rigour  over  him  in  thy  sight. 

54  And  if  he  be  not  redeemed  m  in  these 
years ,  then  n  he  shall  go  out  in  the  year  of 
jubilee,  both  he,  and  his  children  with  him. 

55  For  0  unto  me  the  children  of  Israel  are 
servants ;  they  are  my  servants  whom  I  brought 
forth  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt :  I  am  the 
Lord  your  God. 

c  Ver.  43. - ?Heb.  his  hand  obtain,  &c. ;  ver.  26. — h  Ver.  25, 35. 

5  Neh.  v.  5. - k  Ver.  26. - 1  Job  vii.  1 ;  Isa.  xvi.  14  ;  xxi.  16. 

m  Or,  by  these  means. - n  Ver.  41 ;  Exod.  xxi.  2,  3. - °Ver.  42. 

year  at  that  time,  multiply  the  remaining  years  by  that 
sum,  and  the  aggregate  was  the  sum  to  be  given  to  his 
master  for  his  redemption.  The  Jews  hold  that  the 
kindred  of  such  a  person  were  bound,  if  in  their  power, 
to  redeem  him,  lest  he  should  be  swallowed  up  among 
the  heathen ;  and  we  find,  from  Neh.  v.  8,  that  this  was 
done  by  the  Jews  on  their  return  from  the  Babylonish 
captivity  :  We,  after  our  ability,  have  redeemed  our 
brethren  the  Jews ,  xcho  were  sold  unto  the  heathen. 

Yerse  55.  For  unto  me  the  children  of  Israel  are 
servants ]  The  reason  of  this  law  we  have  already 
seen,  (see  on  ver.  42.)  but  we  must  look  farther  to  see 
the  great  end  of  it.  The  Israelites  were  a  typical 
people  ;  they  represented  those  under  the  Gospel  dis¬ 
pensation  who  are  children  of  God  by  faith  in  Christ 
Jesus.  But  these  last  have  a  peculiarity  of  blessing  : 
they  are  not  merely  servants,  but  they  are  sons;  though 
they  also  serve  God,  yet  it  is  in  the  newness  of  the 
spirit,  and  not  in  the  oldness  of  the  letter.  And  to 
this  difference  of  state  the  apostle  seems  evidently  to 
allude.  Gal.  iv.  6,  &c.  :  And  because  ye  are  sons, 
God  hath  sent  forth  the  Spirit  of  his  Son  into  your 
hearts,  crying  Abba,  Father.  Wherefore  thou  art  no 
more  a  servant,  but  a  son  ;  and  if  a  son,  then  an 
heir  of  God  through  Christ  ;  genuine  believers  in 
Christ  not  being  heirs  of  an  earthly  inheritance,  nor 
merely  of  a  heavenly  one,  for  they  are  heirs  of  God. 

593 


LEVITICUS. 


Laws  against  image  worship. 

God  himself  therefore  is  their  portion,  without  whom 
even  heaven  itself  would  not  be  a  state  of  consummate 
blessedness  to  an  immortal  spirit. 

The  jubilee  was  a  wonderful  institution,  and  was 
of  very  great  service  to  the  religion ,  freedom ,  and 
independence  of  the  Jewish  people.  “  The  motive  of 
this  law,”  says  Calmet,  “  was  to  prevent  the  rich  from 
oppressing  the  poor,  and  reducing  them  to  perpetual 
slavery ;  and  that  they  should  not  get  possession  of 
all  the  lands  by  way  of  purchase,  mortgage,  or,  lastly, 
usurpation.  That  debts  should  not  be  multiplied  too 
much,  lest  thereby  the  poor  should  be  entirely  ruined  ; 
and  that  slaves  should  not  continue  always,  they,  their 
wives  and  children,  in  servitude.  Besides,  Moses  in¬ 
tended  to  preserve,  as  much  as  possible,  personal  liber¬ 
ty,  an  equality  of  property,  and  the  regular  order  of 
families,  among  the  Hebrews.  Lastly,  he  designed 
that  the  people  should  be  strongly  attached  to  their 
country,  lands,  and  inheritances  ;  that  they  should  have 
an  affection  for  them,  and  consider  them  as  estates 
which  descended  to  them  from  their  ancestors  which 
they  were  to  leave  to  their  posterity,  without  any  fear 
of  their  going  ultimately  out  of  their  families.” 


The  Sabbath  to  be  sanctified 

But  this  institution  especially  pointed  out  the  re¬ 
demption  of  man  by  Christ  Jesus:  1.  Through  him.  . 
he  who  was  in  debt  to  God’s  justice  had  his  debt  dis 
charged,  and  his  sin  forgiven.  2.  He  who  sold  him¬ 
self  for  naught,  who  was  a  bond-slave  of  sin  and  Satan, 
regains  his  liberty  and  becomes  a  son  of  God  through 
faith  in  his  blood.  3.  He  who  by  transgression  had 
forfeited  all  right  and  title  to  the  kingdom  of  God, 
becomes  an  heir  of  God,  and  a  joint  heir  with  Christ. 
Heaven,  his  forfeited  inheritance,  is  restored,  for  the 
kingdom  of  heaven  is  opened  to  all  believers  ;  and  thus, 
redeemed  from  his  debt,  restored  to  his  liberty,  united 
to  the  heavenly  family,  and  re-entitled  to  his  inherit¬ 
ance,  he  goes  on  his  way  rejoicing,  till  he  enters  the 
paradise  of  his  Maker,  and  is  for  ever  with  the  Lord. 
Reader,  hast  thou  applied  for  this  redemption  1  Does 
not  the  trumpet  of  the  jubilee,  the  glad  tidings  of  sal¬ 
vation  by  Christ  Jesus,  sound  in  the  land  ?  Surely  it 
does.  Why  then  continue  a  bond-slave  of  sin,  a  child 
of  wrath,  and  an  heir  of  hell,  when  such  a  salvation  is 
offered  unto  thee  without  money  and  without  price  ? 

0  suffer  not  this  provision  to  be  made  ultimately  in 
vain  for  thee !  For  what  art  thou  advantaged  if  thou 
gain  the  whole  world  and  lose  thy  soul  ? 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 


Idolatry  forbidden,  1.  The  Sabbath  to  be  sanctified,  2,  3.  Promises  to  obedience,  of  fruitful  fields,  plenti¬ 
ful  harvests ,  and  vintage ,  4,  5.  Of  peace  and  security,  6.  Discomfiture  of  their  enemies,  7—9.  Of 

abundance ,  10.  Of  the  Divine  presence ,  11—13.  Threatenings  against  the  disobedient,  14,  15.  Of 

‘  terror  and  dismay,  16.  Their  enemies  shall  prevail  against  them ,  17,  18.  Of  barrenness,  19,  20.  Of 
desolation  by  ivild  beasts,  21,  22.  And  if  not  humbled  and  reformed,  worse  evils  shall  be  inflicted  upon 
them,  23,  24.  Their  enemies  shall  prevail,  and  they  shall  be  wasted  by  the  pestilence ,  25,  26.  If  they 
should  still  continue  refractory,  they  shall  be  yet  more  sorely  punished,  27,  28.  The  famine  shall  so 
increase  that  they  shall  be  obliged  to  eat  their  own  children,  29.  Their  carcasses  shall  be  cast  upon  the  car¬ 
casses  of  their  idols,  30.  Their  cities  shall  be  wasted ,  and  the  sanctuary  desolated,  31;  the  land  destroyed , 
32,  themselves  scattered  among  their  enemies ,  and  pursued  with  utter  confusion  and  distress,  33—39.  If 
under  these  judgments  they  confess  their  sin  and  return  to  God ,  he  w nil  remember  them  in  mercy,  40—43  ; 
visit  them  even  in  the  land  of  their  enemies,  44  ;  and  remember  his  covenant  with  their  fathers,  45.  The 
conclusion,  stating  these  to  be  the  judgments  and  laws  which  the  Lord  made  between  himself  and  the  chil¬ 
dren  of  Israel  in  Mount  Sinai,  46. 


YE  shall  make  you  a  no  idols, 
An.  Exod.  Isr.  2.  nor  graven  image,  neither 

Abib  or  Nisan. 


rear  you  up  a  b  standing  image, 
neither  shall  ye  set  up  any  c  image  d  of  stone 
in  your  land,  to  bow  down  unto  it :  for  I  am 
the  Lord  your  God. 

2  eYe  shall  keep  my  Sabbaths,  and  reve- 

»  Exod.  xx.  4,  5  ;  Deut.  v.  8  ;  xvi.  22  ;  xxvii.  15  ;  Psa.  xcvii. 

7, - b  Or,  pillar. - c  Or,  figured  stone. - d  Heb.  a  stone  of 

picture. - e  Chap.  xix.  30. 


rence  my  sanctuary  :  I  am  the  A.  M.  2514. 

T  J  J  B.  C.  1490. 

LORD.  An.  Exod.  Isr.  2. 

3  f  If  ye  walk  in  my  statutes,  Ablb  or  Nlsan- 
and  keep  my  commandments,  and  do  them; 

4  *  Then  I  will  give  you  rain  in  due  season, 
h  and  the  land  shall  yield  her  increase,  and 
the  trees  of  the  field  shall  yield  their  fruit. 

f  Deut.  xi.  13,  14, 15  ;  xxviii.  1-14. - s  Isa.  xxx.  23  ;  Ezek. 

xxxiv.  26  ;  Joel  ii.  23,  24. - h  Psa.  bnii.  6  ;  lxxxv.  12  ;  Ezek. 

xxxiv.  27  ;  xxxvi.  30;  Zech.  viii.  12. 


NOTES  ON  CHAP.  NXYI. 

Verse  1.  Ye  shall  make  you  no  idols ]  See  the  note 
on  Exod.  xx.  4,  and  see  the  note  on  Gen.  xxviii.  18, 
19,  concerning  consecrated  stones.  Not  only  idolatry 
in  general  is  forbidden  here,  but  also  the  superstitious 
use  of  innocent  and  lawful  things.  Probably  the 
stones  or  pillars  which  were  first  set  up,  and  anointed 
by  holy  men  in  commemoration  of  signal  interpositions 
a  594 


of  God  in  their  behalf,  were  afterward  abused  to  idol¬ 
atrous  and  superstitious  purposes,  and  therefore  pro¬ 
hibited.  This  we  know  was  the  case  with  the  brazen 
serpent,  2  Kings  xviii.  4. 

Verse  3 .  If  ye  walk  in  my  statutes ]  For  the  mean¬ 
ing  of  this  and  similar  words  used  in  the  law,  see  the 
note  on  ver.  15. 

Verse  4.  Rain  in  due  season ]  What  in  Scripture 

(  39*  ) 


Glorious  promises 


CHAP.  XXVI. 


to  obedience. 


A.  M.  2514.  5  And *  1  your  threshing  shall 

B.  C.  1490.  .  A  &  .  . 

An.  Exod.  isr.  2.  reach  unto  the  vintage,  and  the 

Abib  °r  Nisan.  vfntage  shall  reach  unto  the  sow¬ 
ing  time  :  and  k  ye  shall  eat  your  bread  to  the 
full,  and  1  dwell  in  your  land  safely. 

6  And  m  I  will  give  peace  in  the  land,  and 
D  ye  shall  lie  down,  and  none  shall  make  you 
afraid  :  and  I  will  0  rid  p  evil  beasts  out  of 
the  land,  neither  shall  q  the  sword  go  through 
your  land. 

7  And  ye  shall  chase  your  enemies,  and  they 
shall  fall  before  you  by  the  sword. 

8  And  r  five  of  you  shall  chase  a  hundred, 
and  a  hundred  of  you  shall  put  ten  thousand 
to  flight  :  and  your  enemies  shall  fall  before 
you  by  the  sword. 

9  For  I  will  s  have  respect  unto  you,  and 


-k  Chap.  xxv.  19;  Deut.  xi.  15  ;  Joel  ii.  19, 


i  Amos  ix.  13. 

26. - 1 3  Chap.  xxv.  18  ;  Job  xi.  18  ;  Ezekiel  xxxiv.  25,  27,  28. 

m  1  Chron.  xxii.  9  ;  Psa.  xxix.  1 1  ;  cxlvii.  14  ;  Isa.  xlv.  7  ;  Hag. 

ii.  9. - n  Job  xi.  19  ;  Psa.  iii.  5  ;  iv.  8  ;  Isa.  xxxv.  9  ;  Jer.  xxx. 

10  ;  Ezek.  xxxiv.  25  ;  Hos.  ii.  18  ;  Zeph.  iii.  13. - «  Heb.  cause 

to  cease. - p  2  Kings  xvii.  25  ;  Ezek.  v.  17  ;  xiv.  15. - <1  Ezek. 


xiv.  17.- 


-r  Deut.  xxxii.  30  ;  Josh,  xxiii.  10.- 


-s  Exod.  ii.  25  ; 


is  called  the  early  and  the  latter  rain.  The  first  fell 
in  Palestine  at  the  commencement  of  spring ,  and  the 
latter  in  autumn. — Calmet. 

Verse  5.  Your  threshing  shall  reach  unto  the  vin- 
tage\  According  to  Pliny,  Hist.  Nat.,  1.  xviii.,  c.  18, 
the  Egyptians  reaped  their  barley  six  months,  and 
their  oats  seven  months,  after  seed  time  ;  for  they 
sowed  all  their  grain  about  the  end  of  summer,  when 
the  overflowings  of  the  Nile  had  ceased.  It  was  nearly 
the  same  in  Judea :  they  sowed  their  corn  and  barley 
towards  the  end  of  autumn,  and  about  the  month  of 
October  ;  and  they  began  their  barley-harvest  after  the 
passover,  about  the  middle  of  March  ;  and  in  one  month 
or  six  weeks  after,  about  pentecost ,  they  began  that  of 
their  wheat.  After  their  wheat-harvest  their  vintage 
commenced.  Moses  here  leads  the  Hebrews  to  hope, 
if  they  continued  faithful  to  God,  that  between  their 
harvest  and  vintage,  and  between  their  vintage  and 
seed-time,  there  should  be  no  interval,  so  great  should 
the  abundance  be  ;  and  these  promises  would  appear 
to  them  the  more  impressive,  as  they  had  just  now 
come  out  of  a  country  where  the  inhabitants  were 
obliged  to  remain  for  nearly  three  months  shut  up  with¬ 
in  their  cities,  because  the  Nile  had  then  inundated 
the  whole  country.  See  Calmet. 

“  This  is  a  nervous  and  beautiful  promise  of  such 
entire  plenty  of  corn  and  wine,  that  before  they  could 
have  reaped  and  threshed  out  their  corn  the  vintage 
should  be  ready,  and  before  they  could  have  pressed 
out  their  ivine  it  would  be  time  to  sow  again.  The 
Prophet  Amos,  chap.  ix.  13,  expresses  the  same  bless¬ 
ing  in  the  same  manner :  The  ploughman  shall  over¬ 
take  the  reaper ,  and  the  treader  of  grapes  him  who 
soweth  seed.'1'1 — Dodd. 

Verse  11.7  will  set  my  tabernacle  among  you\  This 
and  the  following  verse  contain  the  grand  promise  of 

a 


t  make  you  fruitful,  and  multiply  A.  M.  2514. 

j  ,  i  •  ,  1  J  B.  C.  1490. 

you,  and  establish  my  covenant  An.  Exod.  isr.  2. 

with  you.  Abib  or  Nisan. 

1 0  And  ye  shall  eat  u  old  store,  and  bring 
forth  the  old  because  of  the  new. 

11  v  And  I  will  set  my  tabernacle  among 
you  :  and  my  soul  shall  not  w  abhor  you. 

12  x  And  I  will  walk  among  you,  and  y  will 
be  your  God,  and  ye  shall  be  my  people. 

13  z  I  amthe  Lord  your  God,  which  brought 
you  forth  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt,  that  ye 
should  not  be  their  bondmen ;  a  and  I  have 
broken  the  bands  of  your  yoke,  and  made  you 
go  upright. 

14  b  But  if  ye  will  not  hearken  unto  me,  and 
will  not  do  all  these  commandments  ; 

1 5  And  if  ye  shall  c  despise  my  statutes,  or 

2  Kings  xiii.  23. - 4 *  Gen.  xvii.  6,  7  ;  Neh.  ix.  23  ;  Psa.  evii. 

38. - u  Chap.  xxv.  22. - v  Exod.  xxv.  8  ;  xxix.  45  ;  Josh.  xxii. 

19  ;  Psa.  lxxvi.  2  ;  Ezek.  xxxvii.  26,  27,  28  ;  Rev.  xxi.  3. - w  Ch. 

xx.  23  ;  Deut.  xxxii.  19. - x  2  Cor.  vi.  16. - y  Exodus  vi.  7  ; 

Jer.  vii.  23  ;  xi.  4  ;  xxx.  22  ;  Ezek.  xi.  20  ;  xxxvi.  28. - z  Chap. 

xxv.  38,  42,  55. - a  Jeremiah  ii.  20 ;  Ezek.  xxxiv.  27. - b  Deut. 

xxviii.  15  ;  Lam.  ii.  17  ;  Mai.  ii.  2. - c  Ver.  43  ;  2  Kings  xvii.  15. 

the  Gospel  dispensation ,  viz.  the  presence,  manifesta¬ 
tion,  and  indwelling  of  God  in  human  nature,  and  his 
constant  indwelling  in  the  souls  of  his  followers.  So 
John  i.  14  :  the  Word  was  made  flesh,  icai  eoKrjvuoev 
ev  rjpiVi  and  made  his  tabernacle  among  us.  And 
to  this  promise  of  the  law  St.  Paul  evidently  refers, 
2  Cor.  vi.  16—18,  and  vii.  1. 

Verse  15.  If  ye  shall  despise  my  statutes — abhor 
my  judgments ]  As  these  words,  and  others  of  a 
similar  import,  which  point  out  different  properties  of 
the  revelation  of  God,  are  frequently  occurring,  I  judge 
it  best  to  take  a  general  view  of  them,  once  for  all, 
in  this  place,  and  show  how  they  differ  among  them¬ 
selves,  and  what  property  of  the  Divine  law  each 
points  out. 

1.  Statutes,  npn  chukkoth ,  from  pn  chak,  to 
mark  out ,  define,  &c.  This  term  seems  to  signify  the 
things  which  God  has  defined,  marked,  and  traced  out, 
that  men  might  have  a  perfect  copy  of  pure  conduct 
always  before  their  eyes,  to  teach  them  how  they 
might  walk  so  as  to  please  him  in  all  things,  which 
they  could  not  do  without  such  instruction  as  God 
gives  in  his  word,  and  the  help  which  he  affords  by 
his  Spirit. 

2.  Judgments.  D’BSiy  shephatim,  from  tDDCt  sha- 
phat,  to  distinguish,  regulate,  and  determine ;  meaning 
those  things  which  God  has  determined  that  men  shall 
pursue,  by  which  their  whole  conduct  shall  he  regulated, 
making  the  proper  distinction  between  virtue  and  vice, 
good  and  evil,  right  and  wrong,  justice  and  injustice  ; 
in  a  word,  between  what  is  proper  to  be  done,  and 
what  is  proper  to  be  left  undone. 

3.  Commandments.  HDfD  mitsvoth ,  from  Hli'  tsa- 
vah,  to  command,  ordain,  and  appoint,  as  a  legislator. 

This  term  is  properly  applied  to  those  parts  of  the  law 

which  contain  the  obligation  the  people  are  under  to 

595 


Awful  threatening s 


LEVITICUS, 


against  the  disobedient 


a.  M.  2514.  if  your  soul  abhor  my  judgments, 

AnBExod* * * 4 5 6 7 8 9isr.2.  so  that  ye  will  not  do  all  my 
Abib  or  Nisan.  cominan(jments,  but  that  ye  break 

my  covenant : 

1 6  I  also  will  do  this  unto  you  ;  I  will  even 
appoint  d  over  you  e  terror,  f  consumption,  and 
the  burning  ague,  that  shall  s  consume  the 

dHeb.  upon  you. - e  Deut.  xxviii.  65,  66,  67;  xxxii.  25; 

Jer.  xv.  8. - f  Deut.  xxviii.  22. - s  1  Sam.  ii.  33. - h  Deut. 

xxviii.  33,  51 ;  Job.  xxxi.  8  ;  Jer.  v.  17 ;  xii.  13  ;  Mic.  vi.  15. 

act  according  to  the  statutes,  judgments,  &c.,  already 

established,  and  which  prohibit  them  by  penal  sanc¬ 

tions  from  acting  contrary  to  the  laws. 

4.  Covenant.  JV33  berith ,  from  “13  bar,  to  clear , 
cleanse ,  or  purify  ;  because  the  covenant,  the  whole 
system  of  revelation  given  to  the  Jews,  was  intended 
to  separate  them  from  all  the  people  of  the  earth,  and 
to  make  them  holy.  Berith  also  signifies  the  cove¬ 
nant-sacrifice,  which  prefigured  the  atonement  made 
by  Christ  for  the  sin  of  the  world,  by  which  he  puri¬ 
fies  believers  unto  himself,  and  makes  them  a  peculiar 
people,  zealous  of  good  works.  Besides  those  four, 
we  may  add  the  following,  from  other  places  of 
Scripture. 

5.  Testimonies.  flHJ’  edoth,  from  3>*  ad,  beyond, 
farther,  besides ;  because  the  whole  ritual  law  refer¬ 
red  to  something  farther  on  or  beyond  the  Jewish  dis¬ 
pensation,  even  to  that  sacrifice  which  in  the  fulness 
of  time  was  to  be  offered  for  the  sins  of  men.  Thus 
all  the  sacrifices,  &c.,  of  the  Mosaic  law  referred  to 
Christ,  and  bore  testimony  to  him  who  was  to  come. 

6.  Ordinances.  nnotsto  mishmaroth,  from  3DI2 
shamar ,  to  guard,  keep  safe ,  watch  over ;  those  parts 
of  Divine  revelation  which  exhorted  men  to  watch 
their  ways,  keep  their  hearts,  and  promised  them,  in 
consequence,  the  continual  protection  and  blessing  of 
God  their  Maker. 

7.  Precepts.  D’31p3  pikkudim,  from  3p3  pakad, 
to  overlook,  take  care  or  notice  of,  to  visit ;  a  very 
expressive  character  of  the  Divine  testimonies,  the 
overseers  of  a  man’s  conduct,  those  who  stand  by  and 
look  on  to  see  whether  he  acts  according  to  the  com¬ 
mands  of  his  Master  ;  also  the  visiters,  because  God’s 
precepts  are  suited  to  all  the  circumstances  of  human 
life ;  some  are  applicable  in  adversity,  others  in  pros¬ 
perity  ;  some  in  times  of  temptation  and  sadness, 
others  in  seasons  of  spiritual  joy  and  exultation,  &c., 
&c.  Thus  they  may  be  said  to  overlook  and  visit  man 
in  all  times,  places,  and  circumstances. 

8.  Truth.  DDX  emeth,  from  DK  am,  to  support, 
sustain,  confirm;  because  God  is  immutable  who  has 
promised,  threatened,  commanded,  and  therefore  all  his 
promises,  threatenings,  commandments,  &c.,  are  unal¬ 
terable  and  eternal.  Error  and  falsity  promise  to 
direct  and  sustain,  but  they  fail.  God’s  word  is  sup¬ 
ported  by  his  own  faithfulness,  and  it  supports  and 
confirms  them  who  conscientiously  believe  it. 

9.  Righteousness.  np3¥  tsedakah ,  from  pl¥, 
which,  though  not  used  as  a  verb  in  the  Hebrew  Bible, 
seems  to  convey,  from  its  use  as  a  noun,  the  idea  of 
giving  just  weight  or  good  measure,  see  chap.  xix.  36. 
This  is  one  of  the  characters  which  is  attributed  to  the 

596 


eyes,  and  cause  sorrow  of  heart ;  a.  m.  2514. 
and  nye  shall  sow  your  seed  m  An.  Exod.  isr.  2. 
vain,  for  your  enemies  shall  eat  it.  Ablb  or  Nisan. 

17  And  *  I  will  set  my  face  against  you,  and 
k  ye  shall  be  slain  before  your  enemies  :  1  they 
that  hate  you  shall  reign,  over  you ;  and  m  ye 
shall  flee  when  none  pursueth  you. 


1  Chap.  xvii.  10. - k  Deut.  xxviii.  25 ;  Judg.  ii.  14 ;  Jer. 

xix.  7. — — 1  Psa.  cvi.  41. - m  Ver.  36  ;  Psa.  iiii.  5  ;  Prov. 

xxviii.  1. 


revelation  God  makes  of  himself ;  (see  Psa.  cxix ;) 
and  by  this  the  impartiality  of  the  Divine  testimonies 
is  pointed  out.  God  gives  to  all  their  due,  and  his 
word  distributes  to  every  man  according  to  his  state, 
circumstances,  talents,  graces,  &c. ;  to  none  too  much, 
to  none  too  little,  to  all  enough. 

10.  Word  of  Jehovah.  miT  331  debar  Yehovah , 
from  333  dabar,  to  drive,  lead,  bring  forward,  hence 
to  bring  forward,  or  utter  one^s  sentiments ;  so  the 
word  of  God  is  what  God  has  brought  forth  to  man 
from  his  own  mind  and  counsel ;  it  is  a  perfect  simi¬ 
litude  of  his  own  righteousness,  holiness,  goodness, 
and  truth.  This  Divine  law  is  sometimes  expressed 

by 

1 1 .  H33N  imrah,  speech  or  word,  variously  modi¬ 
fied  from  33N  amar,  to  branch  out,  because  of  the 
interesting  details  into  which  the  word  of  God  enters 
in  order  to  instruct  man  and  make  him  wise  unto  sal¬ 
vation,  or,  as  the  apostle  expresses  it,  “  God,  who  at 
sundry  times,  and  in  divers  manners,  spake  unto  the 
fathers  by  the  prophets,”  7 -okvycpoq  nac  ■xo?iVTpo7roc,  in 
many  distinct  parcels,  and  by  various  tropes  or  figures  ; 
a  curious  and  elegant  description  of  Divine  revelation ; 
Heb.  i.  1. 

12. '  All  these  collectively  are  termed  the  law, 
n31D  torah,  or  ni!T  D3L3  torath  Yehovah,  the  law  of 
the  Lord,  from  H31  yarah ,  to  direct,  set  straight  and 
true,  as  stones  in  a  building,  to  teach  and  instruct,  be¬ 
cause  this  whole  system  of  Divine  revelation  is  calcu¬ 
lated  to  direct  men  to  the  attainment  of  present  and 
eternal  felicity,  to  set  them  right  in  their  notions  con¬ 
cerning  the  supreme  God,  to  order  and  adjust  them 
in  the  several  departments  of  civil  and  religious  soci¬ 
ety,  and  thus  to  teach  and  instruct  them  in  the  know¬ 
ledge  of  themselves,  and  in  the  true  knowledge  of  God. 
Thus  those  who  receive  the  truth  become  the  city  of 
the  living  God — the  temple  of  the  Most  High,  built 
together  for  a  habitation  of  God  through  the  Spirit. 
To  complete  this  description  of  the  word  law,  see  the 
note  on  Exod.  xii.  49,  where  other  properties  of  the 
law  of  God  are  specified. 

"V  erse  16.  I  will  even  appoint  over  you  terror ,  <fc.] 
How  dreadful  is  this  curse  !  A  whole  train  of  evils 
are  here  personified  and  appointed  to  be  the  governors 
of  a  disobedient  people.  Terror  is  to  be  one  of  their 
keepers.  How  awful  a  state  !  to  be  continually  under 
the  influence  of  dismay,  feeling  indescribable  evils, 
and  fearing  worse  !  Consumption,  DSni?  shachepheth , 
generally  allowed  to  be  some  kind  of  atrophy  or  ma¬ 
rasmus,  by  which  the  flesh  was  consumed,  and  the 
whole  body  dried  up  by  raging  fever  through  lack  of 
sustenance.  See  the  note  on  chap.  xi.  16.  How  cir* 

a 


Awful  threatenings  CHAP 

a.  m.  2514.  18  And  if  ye  will  not  yet  for 

An.  Exod.  isr.’  2.  all  this  hearken  unto  me,  then  I 
Abib  or  Nisan.  punish  you  n  seven  times 

more  for  your  sins. 

1 9  And  I  will  0  break  the  pride  of  your 
power  ;  and  I  p  will  make  your  heaven  as  iron, 
and  your  earth  as  brass  : 

20  And  your  q  strength  shall  be  spent  in 
vain :  for  r  your  land  shall  not  yield  her  in¬ 
crease,  neither  shall  the  trees  of  the  land  yield 
their  fruits. 

2 1  And  if  ye  walk  8  contrary  unto  me,  and 
will  not  hearken  unto  me  ;  I  will  bring  seven 
times  more  plagues  upon  you,  according  to 
your  sins. 

22  * 1  will  also  send  wild  beasts  among  you, 
which  shall  rob  you  of  your  children,  and  de¬ 
stroy  your  cattle,  and  make  you  few  in  num¬ 
ber  ;  and  u  your  high  ways  shall  be  desolate. 

23  And  if  ye  v  will  not  be  reformed  by  me  by 
these  things,  but  will  walk  contrary  unto  me ; 

24  w  Then  will  I  also  walk  contrary  unto 
you,  and  will  punish  you  yet  seven  times  for 
your  sins. 

25  And  XI  will  bring  a  sword  upon  you, 
that  shall  avenge  the  quarrel  of  my  covenant : 
and  when  ye  are  gathered  together  within 
your  cities,  y  I  will  send  the  pestilence  among 

“1  Sam.  ii.  5  ;  Psa.  cxix.  164 ;  Prov.  xxiv.  16. - 0  Isa.  xxv. 

11;  xxvi.  5;  Ezek.  vii.  24;  xxx.  6. - P  Deut.  xxviii. 23. 

<1  Psa.  c.xxvii.  1  ;  Isa.  xlix.  4. - r  Deut.  xi.  17  ;  xxviii.  18  ;  Hag. 

i.  10. - 8  Or,  at  all  adventures  with  me  ;  and  so  ver.  24. 

4  Deut.  xxxii.  24 ;  2  Kings  xvii.  25  ;  Ezek.  v.  17 ;  xiv.  15. 
uJudg.  v.  6;  2  Chron.  xv.  5  ;  Isa.  xxxiii.  8  ;  Lam.  i.  4;  Zech. 

vii.  14. - v  Jer.  ii.  30  ;  v.  3  ;  Amos  iv.  6-12. - w  2  Sam.  xxii. 

27;  Psa.  xviii.  26. - x  Ezek.  v.  17;  vi.  3  ;  xiv.  17  ;  xxix.  8; 

xxxiii.  2. - y  Num.  xiv.  12  ;  Deut.  xxviii.  21 ;  Jer.  xiv.  12  ;  xxiv. 

10;  xxix.  17,18;  Amos  iv.  10. - zPsa.  cv.  16;  Isa.  iii.  1; 

Ezek.  iv.  16 ;  v.  16 ;  xiv.  13. 

eumstantially  were  all  these  threatenings  fulfilled  in 
this  disobedient  and  rebellious  people  !  Let  a  deist 
read  over  this  chapter  and  compare  it  with  the  state 
of  the  Jews  since  the  days  of  Vespasian,  and  then  let 
him  doubt  the  authenticity  of  this  word  if  he  can. 

Verse  22.  I  will  also  send  wild  beasts  among  you ] 
God  fulfilled  these  threatenings  at  different  times.  He 
sent  fiery  serpents  among  them,  Num.  xxi.  6  ;  lions, 
2  Kings  xvii.  25  ;  bears,  2  Kings  ii.  24,  and  threaten¬ 
ed  them  with  total  desolation,  so  that  their  land  should 
be  overrun  with  wild  beasts ,  &c.,  see  Ezek.  v.  17. 
“  Spiritually,”  says  Mr.  Ainsworth ,  “  these  are  wicked 
rulers  and  tyrants  that  kill  and  spoil,  Prov.  xxviii.  15  ; 
Han.  vii.  3—6  ;  Psa.  lxxx.  1 3  ;  and  false  prophets 
that  devour  souls,  Matt.  vii.  15;  Rev.  xiii.  1,  &c. 
So  the  prophet,  speaking  of  their  punishment  by  tyrants , 
says  :  A  lion  out  of  the  forest  shall  slay  them  ;  a  wolf 
of  the  evening  shall  spoil  them  ;  a  leopard  shall  watch 
over  their  cities ;  every  one  that  goeth  out  thence  shall 
be  tom  to  pieces ,  because  their  transgressions  be  many . 

a 


.  XX\l.  against  the  disobedient. 

you  ;  and  yc  shall  be  delivered  A.  M.  2514. 
into  the  hand  of  the  enemy.  An.ExodHwle. 

26  z  And  when  I  have  broken  Ablb or  Nisan-_ 
the  staff  of  your  bread,  ten  women  shall  bake 
your  bread  in  one  oven,  and  they  shall  deliver 
you  your  bread  again  by  weight :  and  a  ye  shall 
eat,  and  not  be  satisfied. 

27  And  b  if  ye  will  not  for  all  this  hearken 
unto  me,  but  walk  contrary  unto  me  ; 

28  Then  I  will  walk  contrary  unto  you  also 
c  in  fury ;  and  I,  even  I,  will  chastise  you 
seven  times  for  your  sins. 

29  d  And  ye  shall  eat  the  flesh  of  your  sons, 
and  the  flesh  of  your  daughters  shall  ye  eat. 

30  And  e  I  will  destroy  your  high  places,  and 
cut  down  your  images,  and  f  cast  your  carcasses 
upon  the  carcasses  of  your  idols,  and  my  soul 
shall  b  abhor  you. 

31  h  And  I  will  make  your  cities  waste, 
and  1  bring  your  sanctuaries  unto  desolation, 
and  I  will  not  smell  the  savour  of  your  sweet 
odours. 

32  k  And  I  will  brin^  the  land  into  desola- 

O 

tion  :  and  your  enemies  which  dwell  therein 
shall  be  1  astonished  at  it. 

33  And  m  I  will  scatter  you  among  the  hea¬ 
then,  and  will  draw  out  a  sword  after  you  :  and 
your  land  shall  be  desolate, and  your  cities  waste. 

aIsa.  ix.  20 ;  Mic.  vi.  14  ;  Hag.  i.  6. - b  Ver.  21,  24. - c  Isa. 

lix.  18;  lxiii.  3  ;  lxvi.  15  ;  Jer.  xxi.  5  ;  Ezek.  v.  13,  15  ;  viii.  18. 
d  Deut.  xxviii.  53  ;  2  Kings  vi.  29  ;  Ezek.  v.  10  ;  Lam.  iv.  10  ; 

Bar.  ii.  3. - e2  Chron.  xxxiv.  3,  4,  7  ;  Isa.  xxvii.9 ;  Ezek.  vi. 

3,  4,  5,  6,  13. - f  2  Kings  xxiii.  20 ;  2  Chron.  xxxiv.  5. s  Lev. 

xx.  23  ;  Psa.  lxxviii.  59  ;  lxxxix.  38  ;  Jer.  xiv.  19. - h  Neh.  ii. 

3  ;  Jer.  iv.  7  ;  Ezek.  vi.  6. - i  Psa.  Ixxiv.  7  ;  Lam.  i.  10  ;  Ezek. 

ix.  6;  xxi.  7. - k  Jer.  ix.  11  ;  xxv.  11, 18. - IDeut.  xxviii.  37 ; 

1  Kings,  ix.  8  ;  Jer.  xviii.  16  ;  xix.  8  ;  Ezek.  v.  15. - m  Deut. 

iv.  27 ;  xxviii.  64  ;  Psa.  xliv.  11 ;  Jer.  ix.  16  ;  Ezek.  xii.  15  ;  xx. 
23;  xxii.  J5;  Zech.  vii.  14. 

And  of  their  prophets  it  is  said  :  O  Israel ,  thy  pro¬ 
phets  are  like  foxes  in  the  deserts,  Ezek.  xiii.  4  ; 
Jer.  viii.  17  ;  xv.  3.” 

Yerse  26.  Ten  women  shall  bake  your  bread  in  one 
oven\  Though  in  general  every  family  in  the  East 
bakes  its  own  bread,  yet  there  are  some  public  bake¬ 
houses  where  the  bread  of  several  families  is  baked 
at  a  certain  price.  Moses  here  foretells  that  the  deso¬ 
lation  should  be  so  great  and  the  want  so  pressing  that 
there  should  be  many  idle  hands  to  be  employed,  many 
mouths  to  be  fed,  and  very  little  for  each  :  Ten  women 
shall  bake  your  bread  in  one  oven ,  &c. 

Yerse  29.  Ye  shall  eat  the  flesh  of  your  sons,  <§-c.\ 
This  was  literally  fulfilled  at  the  siege  of  Jerusalem. 
Josephus,  Wars  of  the  Jews,  book  vii.,  chap,  ii.,  gives 
us  a  particular  instance  in  dreadful  detail  of  a  woman 
named  Mary,  who,  in  the  extremity  of  the  famine 
during  the  siege,  killed  her  sucking  child,  roasted,  and 
had  eaten  part  of  it  when  discovered  by  the  soldiers ! 
See  this  threatened,  Jer.  xix.  9. 

597 


LEVITICUS, 


Awful  threatenings,  ivith 


promises  of  mercy 


a.  M.  2514.  34  n  Then  shall  the  land  enjoy 

An.  Exod.  isr.  2.  her  Sabbaths,  as  long  as  it  lieth 
Abib  or  Nisan.  desolate>  ancl  ye  jn  y0ur 

enemies’  land ;  even  then  shall  the  land  rest, 
and  enjoy  her  Sabbaths. 

35  As  long  as  it  lieth  desolate  it  shall  rest ; 
because  it  did  not  rest  in  your  0  Sabbaths, 
when  ye  dwelt  upon  it. 

36  And  upon  them  that  are  left  alive  of  you, 
p  I  will  send  a  faintness  into  their  hearts  in 
the  lands  of  their  enemies  ;  and  q  the  sound 
of  a  r  shaken  leaf  shall  chafe  them  ;  and  they 
shall  flee,  as  fleeing  from  a  sword  ;  and  they 
shall  fall  when  none  pursueth. 

37  And  s  they  shall  fall  one  upon  another, 
as  it  were  before  a  sword,  when  none  pursueth  : 
and  t  ye  shall  have  no  power  to  stand  before 
your  enemies. 

38  And  ye  shall  perish  among  the  heathen, 
and  the  land  of  your  enemies  shall  eat  you  up. 

39  And  they  that  are  left  of  you  u  shall  pine 
away  in  their  iniquity,  in  your  enemies’  lands  ; 
and  also  in  the  iniquities  of  their  fathers  shall 
they  pine  away  with  them. 

40  v  If  they  shall  confess  their  iniquity,  and 
the  iniquity  of  their  fathers,  with  their  trespass 
which  they  trespassed  against  me,  and  that 
also  they  have  walked  contrary  unto  me  ; 

4 1  And  that  I  also  have  walked  contrary 


unto  them,  and  have  brought  them  a.  m.  25H. 

into  the  land  of  their  enemies ;  An.  Exod.  isr.  2. 

Abib  or  Nisan. 


if  then  their  w  uncircumcised 
hearts  be  x  humbled,  and  they  then  accept  of 
the  punishment  of  their  iniquity  ; 

42  Then  will  I  y  remember  my  covenant 
with  Jacob,  and  also  my  covenant  with  Isaac, 
and  also  my  covenant  with  Abraham  will  I 
remember ;  and  I  will z  remember  the  land. 

43  a  The  land  also  shall  be  left  of  them,  and 
shall  enjoy  her  Sabbaths,  while  she  lieth  deso¬ 
late  without  them  :  and  they  shall  accept  of 
the  punishment  of  their  iniquity  :  because, 
even  because  they  b  despised  my  judgments, 
and  because  their  soul  abhorred  my  statutes. 

44  And  yet  for  all  that,  when  they  be  in  the 
land  of  their  enemies,  c  I  will  not  cast  them 
away,  neither  will  I  abhor  them,  to  destroy 
them  utterly,  and  to  break  my  covenant  with 
them  :  for  I  am  the  Lord  their  God. 

45  But  I  will  d  for  their  sakes  remember  the 
covenant  of  their  ancestors,  e  whom  I  brought 
forth  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt,  in  the  sight 
of  f  the  heathen,  that  I  might  be  their  God  :  I 
am  the  Lord. 

46  g  These  are  the  statutes,  and  judgments, 
and  laws,  which  the  Lord  made  between  him 
and  the  children  of  Israel  h  in  Mount  Sinai, 
by  the  hand  of  Moses. 


n2  Chron.  xxxvi.  21. - 0  Ch.  xxv.  2. - P  Ezek.  xxi.  7,  12, 

15. - 9  Ver.  17 ;  Job  xv.  21  ;  Prov.  xxviii.  1. - rHeb.  driven. 

8  Isa.  x.  4;  see  Judg.  vii.  22;  1  Sam.  xiv.  15, 16. - 4  Josh.  vii. 

12,  13;  Judg.  ii.  14. - uDeut.  iv.  27  ;  xxviii.  64  ;  Neh.  i.  9; 

Jer.  iii.  25  ;  xxix.  12,  13  ;  Ezek.  iv.  17  ;  vi.  9  ;  xx.  43  ;  xxiv.  23  ; 

xxxiii.  10  ;  xxxvi.  31 ;  Hos.  v.  15  ;  Zech.  x.  9. - v  Num.  v.  7  ; 

1  Kings  viii.  33,  35,  47  ;  Neh.  ix.  2;  Dan.  ix.  3,4;  Prov.  xxviii. 
13  ;  Luke  xv.  18 ;  1  John  i.  9. 


w  See  Jer.  vi.  10  ;  ix.  25,  26;  Ezek.  xliv.  7  ;  Acts  vii.  51  ; 

Rom.  ii.  29  ;  Col.  ii.  11.- - x  1  Kings  xxi.  29  ;  2  Chron.  xii.  6, 

7,  12  ;  xxxii.  26  ;  xxxiii.  12,  13. - y  Exod.  ii.  24  ;  vi.  5  ;  Psa. 

cvi.  45;  Ezek.  xvi.  60. - z  Psa.  cxxxvi.  23. - aVer.  34,  35. 

b  Verse  15. - c  Dent.  iv.  3]  ;  2  Kings  xiii.  23  ;  Rom.  xi.  2. 

d  Rom.  xi.  28. - e  Chap.  xxii.  33  ;  xxv.  38. - f  Psa.  xcviii.2 ; 

Ezek.  xx.  9, 14,  22. - s  Chapter  xxvii.  34  ;  Deut.  vi.  1 ;  xii.  1  ; 

xxxiii.  4;  John  i.  17. - hChap.  xxv.  1. 


Yerse  34.  Then  shall  the  land  enjoy  her  Sabbaths ] 
This  Houbigant  observes  to  be  a  historical  truth. — 
“From  Saul  to  the  Babylonish  captivity  are  number¬ 
ed  about  four  hundred  and  ninety  years,  during  which 
period  there  were  seventy  Sabbaths  of  years  ;  for  7, 
multiplied  by  70,  make  490.  Now  the  Babylonish 
captivity  lasted  seventy  years,  and  during  that  time 
the  land  of  Israel  rested.  Therefore  the  land  rested 
just  as  many  years  in  the  Babylonish  captivity,  as  it 
should  have  rested  Sabbaths  if  the  Jews  had  observed 
the  law  relative  to  the  Sabbaths  of  the  land.”  This 
is  a  most  remarkable  fact,  and  deserves  to  be  particu¬ 
larly  noticed,  as  a  most  literal  fulfilment  of  the  pro¬ 
phetic  declaration  in  this  verse  :  Then  shall  the  land 
enjoy  her  Sabbaths  as  long  as  it  lieth  desolate,  and 
ye  be  in  your  enemies 1  land. 

May  it  not  be  argued  from  this  that  the  law  con¬ 
cerning  the  Sabbatical  year  was  observed  till  Saul’s 
time,  as  it  is  only  after  this  period  the  land  enjoyed 
its  rest  in  the  seventy  years’  captivity  1  And  if  that 
breach  of  the  law  was  thus  punished,  may  it  not  be 

598 


presumed  it  had  been  fulfilled  till  then,  or  else  the 
captivity  would  have  lasted  longer,  i.  e.,  till  the  land 
had  enjoyed  all  its  rests,  of  which  it  had  ever  been 
thus  deprived  1 

Yerse  38.  The  land  of  your  enemies  shall  eat  you 
wp.]  Does  this  refer  to  the  total  loss  of  the  ten  tribes  ? 
These  are  so  completely  swallowed  up  in  some  enemies’ 
land,  that  nothing  concerning  their  existence  or  place 
of  residence  remains  but  mere  conjecture. 

Verse  44.  Neither  will  I  abhor  them  to  destroy  them 
utterly ]  Though  God  has  literally  fulfilled  all  his 
threatenings  upon  this  people,  in  dispossessing  them 
of  their  land,  destroying  their  polity,  overturning  their 
city,  demolishing  their  temple,  and  scattering  them¬ 
selves  over  the  face  of  the  whole  earth  ;  yet  he  has, 
in  his  providence,  strangely  preserved  them  as  a  dis¬ 
tinct  people,  and  in  very  considerable  numbers  also. 
He  still  remembers  the  covenant  of  their  ancestors, 
and  in  his  providence  and  grace  he  has  some  very 
important  design  in  their  favour.  All  Israel  shall  yet 
be  saved,  and,  with  the  Gentiles,  they  shall  all  be  re- 

a 


Ordinances  concerning  CHAP. 

stored  to  his  favour  ;  and  under  Christ  Jesus,  the  great 
Shepherd,  become,  with  them,  one  grand  everlasting  fold. 

Verse  46.  These  are  the  statutes ,  and  judgments, 
fc.]  See  on  ver.  15.  This  verse  appears  to  be  the 
proper  concluding  verse  of  the  whole  book ;  and  I 
rather  think  that  the  27th  chapter  originally  followed 
the  25th.  As  the  law  was  anciently  written  upon 
skins  of  parchment,  sheep  or  goat  skins,  pasted  or 
stitched  together,  and  all  rolled  up  in  one  roll,  the 
matter  being  written  in  columns,  one  of  those  columns 
might  have  been  very  easily  displaced,  and  thus  whole 
chapters  might  have  been  readily  interchanged. — 
It  is  likely  that  this  might  have  been  the  case  in 
the  present  instance.  Others  endeavour  to  solve  this 
difficulty,  by  supposing  that  the  27th  chapter  was 
added  after  the  book  had  been  finished ;  and  therefore 
there  is  apparently  a  double  conclusion,  one  at  the 


XXVII.  different  vows . 

end  of  the  26th  and  the  other  at  the  end  of  the  27th 
chapter.  However  the  above  may  have  been,  all 
the  ancient  versions  agree  in  concluding  both  the 
chapters  in  nearly  the  same  way;  yet  the  26  th  chap¬ 
ter  must  be  allowed  to  be  by  far  the  most  natural  con¬ 
clusion  of  the  book. 

The  most  important  points  in  this  chapter  have  al¬ 
ready  been  particularly  noticed  in  the  notes  ;  and  to 
those  on  the  15th,  34th,  and  44th  verses,  the  reader 
is  especially  referred.  IIow  unwilling  is  God  to  cast 
off  his  people  !  and  yet  how  sure  is  their  rejection  if 
they  refuse  to  obey  and  live  to  him  !  No  nation  has 
ever  been  so  signally  elected  as  the  Jews;  and  yet  no 
nation  has  ever  been  so  signally  and  so  awfully  repro¬ 
bated.  O  Britain,  be  not  high-minded,  but  fear  !  Be¬ 
hold  here  the  goodness  and  severity  of  God! 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 


Laws  concerning  vows,  1,2.  Of  males  and  females  from  twenty  to  sixty  years  of  age ,  and  their  valuation , 
3,  4.  Of  the  same  from  five  to  twenty  years ,  5.  Of  the  same  from  a  month  to  five  years  of  age ,  6.  Of 
males  and  females  from  sixty  years  old  and  upwards,  and  their  valuation,  7.  The  priest  shall  value  the 
poor  according  to  his  ability,  8.  Concerning  beasts  that  are  vowed,  and  their  valuation,  9—13.  Concern¬ 
ing  the  sanctification  of  a  house,  14,  15.  Concerning  the  field  that  is  sanctified  or  consecrated  to  the  Lord , 
to  the  year  of  jubilee,  16—24.  Every  estimation  shall  be  made  in  shekels,  according  to  the  shekel  of  the 
sanctuary,  25.  The  firstlings  of  clean  beasts,  being  already  the  Lord's,  cannot  be  vowed,  26.  That  of 
an  unclean  beast  may  be  redeemed ,  27.  Every  thing  devoted  to  God  shall  be  unalienable  and  unredeem¬ 
able,  and  continue  the  Lord's  property  till  death,  28,  29.  All  the  tithe  of  the  land  is  the  Lord's,  30  ;  but 
it  may  be  redeemed  by  adding  a  fifth  part,  31.  The  tithe  of  the  herd  and  the  flock  is  also  his,  32.  The 
tenth  that  passes  under  the  rod  shall  not  be  changed,  33.  The  conclusion  of  the  book,  34. 


A.  M.  2514.  A  ND  the  Lord  spake  unto 

B.  C.  1490.  -TL  r 

An.  Exod.lsr.2.  Moses,  saying, 

Abib  or  Nisan.  o  Speak  unto  the  children  of 


Israel,  and  say  unto  them,  a  When  a  man 
shall  make  a  singular  vow,  the  persons  shall 
he  for  the  Lord,  by  thy  estimation. 

*  Num.  vi.2  ;  see  Judg.  xi.  30,  31,39  ;  1  Sam.  i.  11,28;  Gen.  xxviii. 


3  And  thy  estimation  shall  be  A.  M.  2514. 

r  1  1  r  B.  C.  1490. 

01  the  male,  from  twenty  years  An.  Exod.  isr.  2 

old  even  unto  sixty  years  old,  Ablb  or  Nlsan- 

even  thy  estimation  b  shall  be  fifty  shekels  of 

silver,  c  after  the  shekel  of  the  sanctuary. 

4  And  if  it  he  a  female,  then  thy 

20-22 ;  Deut.  xxiii.  21-23. - b  Num.  xviii.  1 6. - cExod.  xxx.  13. 


NOTES  ON  CHAP.  XXYII. 

Yerse  2.  When  a  man  shall  make  a  singular  voiv ] 
The  verse  is  short  and  obscure,  and  may  be  translated 
thus  :  A  man  who  shall  have  separated  a  vow,  accord¬ 
ing  to  thy  estimation ,  of  souls  unto  the  Lord ;  which 
may  be  paraphrased  thus  :  He  who  shall  have  vowed 
or  consecrated  a  soul,  i.  e.,  a  living  creature,  whether 
man  or  beast,  if  he  wish  to  redeem  what  he  has  thus 
vowed  or  consecrated,  he  shall  ransom  or  redeem  it 
according  to  the  priest’s  estimation;  for  the  priest 
shall  judge  of  the  properties,  qualifications,  and  age 
of  the  person  or  beast,  and  the  circumstances  of  the 
person  who  has  vowed  it,  and  shall  regulate  the  value 
accordingly ;  and  the  money  shall  be  put  into  his 
hands  for  the  service  of  the  sanctuary.  A  vow  (says 
Mr.  Ainsworth)  is  a  religious  promise  made  unto  the 
Lord,  and  for  the  most  part  with  prayer,  and  paid  with 
thanksgiving,  Num.  xxi.  2,  3  ;  Psa.  lxvi.  13,  14. 
Vows  were  either  of  abstinence,  such  as  are  spoken 
of  Num.  xxx.,  and  the  vow  of  the  Nazarite,  Num. 
vi.  ;  or  they  were  to  give  something  to  the  Lord,  as 

a 


sacrifices,  Lev.  vii.  16,  or  the  value  of  persons,  beasts, 
houses,  or  lands,  concerning  which  the  law  is  here 
given.  A  man  might  vow  or  devote  himself,  his  chil¬ 
dren,  (ver.  5,  6,)  his  domestics,  his  cattle,  his  goods, 
&c.  And  in  this  chapter  rules  are  laid  down  for  the 
redemption  of  all  these  things.  But  if,  after  conse¬ 
crating  these  things,  he  refused  to  redeem  them,  then 
they  became  the  Lord’s  property  for  ever.  The  per¬ 
sons  continued  all  their  lives  devoted  to  the  service 
of  the  sanctuary  ;  the  goods  were  sold  for  the  profit 
of  the  temple  or  the  priests  ;  the  animals,  if  clean, 
were  offered  in  sacrifice  ;  if  not  proper  for  sacrifice, 
were  sold,  and  the  price  devoted  to  sacred  uses.  This 
is  a  general  view  of  the  different  laws  relative  to 
vows,  mentioned  in  this  chapter. 

Yerse  3.  From  twenty  years  old  even  unto  sixty — 
fifty  shekels]  A  man  from  twenty  to  sixty  years  of 
age,  if  consecrated  to  the  Lord  by  a  vow,  might  be 
redeemed  for  fifty  shekels,  which,  at  3s.  each,  amount¬ 
ed  to  11.  10s.  sterling. 

Yerse  4.  And  if  it  be  a  female]  The  woman ,  at 

599 


LEVITICUS. 


how  to  he  redeemed . 


Tilings  vowed ,  and 

a.  M.  2514.  estimation  shall  be  thirty  she- 

B.  C.  1490.  ,  .  J 

An.  Exod.  Isr.  2.  kelS. 

Abib  or  Nisan.  5  And  if  it  he  from  five  years 
old  even  unto  twenty  years  old,  then  thy  esti¬ 
mation  shall  be  of  the  male  twenty  shekels, 
and  for  the  female  ten  shekels. 

6  And  if  it  he  from  a  month  old  even  unto 
five  years  old,  then  thy  estimation  shall  be  of 
the  male  five  shekels  of  silver,  and  for  the 
female  thy  estimation  shall  he  three  shekels 
of  silver. 

7  And  if  it  he  from  sixty  years  old,  and  above ; 
if  it  he  a  male,  then  thy  estimation  shall  be 
fifteen  shekels,  and  for  the  female  ten  shekels. 

8  But  if  he  be  poorer  than  thy  estimation, 
then  he  shall  present  himself  before  the  priest, 
and  the  priest  shall  value  him ;  according  to 
his  ability  that  vowed  shall  the  priest  value  him. 

9  And  if  it  he  a  beast,  whereof  men  bring  an 
offering  unto  the  Lord,  all  that  any  man  giveth 
of  such  unto  the  Lord,  shall  be  holy. 

10  He  d  shall  not  alter  it,  nor  change  it,  a 

d  James  i.  8. - e  Heb.  according  to  thy  estimation,  O priest. 

the  same  age,  vowed  unto  the  Lord,  might  be  redeem¬ 
ed  for  thirty  shekels ,  M.  10s.  sterling,  a  little  more 
than  one  half  of  the  value  of  the  man  ;  for  this  obvious 
reason,  that  a  woman ,  if  employed,  could  not  be  of  so 
much  use  in  the  service  of  the  sanctuary  as  the  man, 
and  was  therefore  of  much  less  value. 

Yerse  5.  From  Jive  years  old\  The  hoy  that  was 
vowed  might  be  redeemed  for  twenty  shekels,  31.  ster¬ 
ling  ;  the  girl,  for  ten  shekels,  just  one  half,  1 1.  10«s. 

Yerse  6.  A  month  old\  The  male  child ,  Jive  she¬ 
kels,  15s.,  the  female,  three  shekels,  9s.  Being  both 
in  comparative  infancy,  they  were  nearly  of  an  equal 
value.  None  were  vow'ed  under  a  month  old  :  the  first¬ 
born  being  always  considered  as  the  Lord’s  property, 
could  not  be  vowed,  see  ver.  26. 

Yerse  7.  Sixty  years  old ]  The  old  man  and  the  old 
i woman ,  being  nearly  past  labour,  were  nearly  of  an 
equal  value  ;  hence  the  one  was  estimated  a t  fifteen 
shekels,  21.  5s.,  the  other  at  ten  shekels,  1/.  10s.  This 
was  about  the  same  ratio  as  that  of  the  children,  ver. 
5,  and  for  the  same  reason. 

Y erse  10.  He  shall  not  alter  it,  nor  change  it,  a  good 
for  a  had,  <5pc.\  Whatever  was  consecrated  to  God 
by  a  vow,  or  purpose  of  heart,  was  considered  from 
that  moment  as  the  Lord’s  property  ;  to  change  which 
was  impiety ;  to  withhold  it,  sacrilege.  Reader,  hast 
thou  ever  dedicated  thyself,  or  any  part  of  thy  proper¬ 
ty,  to  the  service  of  thy  Maker  1  If  so,  hast  thou 
paid  thy  vows  1  Or  hast  thou  altered  thy  purpose,  or 
changed  thy  offering  ?  Has  he  received  from  thy 
hands  a  had  for  a  good  ?  Wast  thou  not  vowed  and 
consecrated  to  God  in  thy  baptism  l  Are  his  vows 
still  upon  thee  1  Hast  thou  “  renounced  the  devil  and 
all  his  works,  the  pomps  and  vanities  of  thi3  wicked 
world,  and  all  the  sinful  lusts  of  the  flesh  1”  Dost 

600 


good  for  a  bad,  or  a  bad  for  a  A.  M.  2514. 
good  :  and  if  he  shall  at  all  An.  Exod.  isr.  2. 
change  beast  for  beast,  then  it  Ablb  or  ^lsan'-. 
and  the  exchange  thereof  shall  be  holy. 

1 1  And  if  it  be  any  unclean  beast,  of  which 
they  do  not  offer  a  sacrifice  unto  the  Lord,  then 
he  shall  present  the  beast  before  the  priest : 

12  And  the  priest  shall  value  it,  whether  it 
be  good  or  bad :  e  as  thou  valuest  it,  who  art 
the  priest,  so  shall  it  be. 

13  f  But  if  he  will  at  all  redeem  it,  then  he 
shall  add  a  fifth  part  thereof  unto  thy  estimation. 

14  And  when  a  man  shall  sanctify  his  house 
to  he  holy  unto  the  Lord,  then  the  priest  shall 
estimate  it,  whether  it  be  good  or  bad  :  as  the 
priest  shall  estimate  it,  so  shall  it  stand. 

15  e  And  if  he  that  sanctified  it  will  redeem 
his  house,  then  he  shall  add  the  fifth  part  of 
the  money  of  thy  estimation  unto  it,  and  it 
shall  be  his. 

16  And  if  a  man  shall  sanctify  unto  the 
Lord  some  part  of  a  field  of  his  possession, 

fVer.  15,  19. - s  Ver.  13. 

thou  feel  thyself  bound  “  to  keep  God’s  holy  will  and 
commandments,  and  walk  in  the  same  all  the  days  of 
thy  life  1”  Was  not  this  thy  baptismal  covenant  1 
And  hast  thou  renounced  it  l  Take  heed  !  God  is 
not  mocked  :  that  which  thou  so  west,  thou  shalt  also 
reap.  If  thou  rob  God  of  thy  heart,  he  will  deprive 
thee  of  his  heaven. 

Verse  11.  Any  unclean  heast ]  See  on  ver.  2. 

Verse  13.  Shall  add  a  fifth  part]  This  was  pro¬ 
bably  intended  to  prevent  rash  vows  and  covetous  re¬ 
demptions.  The  priest  alone  was  to  value  the  thing  ; 
and  to  whatever  his  valuation  was,  a  fifth  part  must 
be  added  by  him  who  wished  to  redeem  the  conse¬ 
crated  thing.  Thus,  if  the  priest  valued  it  at  forty 
shekels,  if  the  former  owner  redeemed  it  he  was  obliged 
to  give  forty -eight. 

Yerse  14.  Shall  sanctify  his  house ]  The  yearly 
rent  of  which,  when  thus  consecrated,  went  towards 
the  repairs  of  the  tabernacle,  which  was  the  house  of 
the  Lord. 

Yerse  16.  Some  part  of  a  field ]  Though  the  pre¬ 
ceding  words  are  not  in  the  text,  yet  it  is  generally 
allowed  they  should  be  supplied  here,  as  it  was  not 
lawful  for  a  man  to  vow  his  whole  estate,  and  thus 
make  his  family  beggars,  in  order  to  enrich  the  Lord’s 
sanctuary  :  this  God  would  not  permit.  The  rabbins 
teach  that  the  land  or  field,  whether  good  or  bad,  was 
valued  at  forty-eight  shekels,  for  all  the  years  of  the 
jubilee,  provided  the  field  was  large  enough  to  sow  a 
homer  of  barley.  The  "1DH  chomer  was  different  from 
the  bpp  omer  :  the  latter  held  about  three  quarts ,  the 
former,  seventy-five  gallons  ihree  pints  ;  see  the  note 
on  Exod.  xvi.  16.  Some  suppose  that  the  land  was 
rated,  not  at  fifty  shekels  for  the  whole  of  the  years  of 
the  jubilee,  for  this  would  be  but  about  3s.  per  annum  ; 

a 


Things  vowed,  and 


CHAP.  XXVII. 


how  to  he  redeemed. 


A.  M.  2514.  then  thy  estimation  shall  be  ac- 

An. Exod. Isr.2.  cording  to  the  seed  thereof:  ha 
Abib or  Nisan.  }10mer  0f  barley  seed  shall  he 

valued  at  fifty  shekels  of  silver. 

17  If  he  sanctify  his  field  from  the  year  of 
jubilee,  according  to  thy  estimation  it  shall 
stand. 

18  But  if  he  sanctify  his  field  after  the 
jubilee,  then  the  priest  shall  1  reckon  unto  him 
the  money  according  to  the  years  that  remain, 
even  unto  the  year  of  the  jubilee,  and  it  shall 
be  abated  from  thy  estimation. 

19  k  And  if  he  that  sanctified  the  field  will 
in  any  wise  redeem  it,  then  he  shall  add  the 
fifth  part  of  the  money  of  thy  estimation  unto 
it,  and  it  shall  be  assured  to  him. 

20  And  if  he  will  not  redeem  the  field,  or  if 
he  have  sold  the  field  to  another  man,  it  shall 
not  be  redeemed  any  more. 

2 1  But  the  field,  1  when  it  goeth  out  in  the 
jubilee,  shall  be  holy  unto  the  Lord,  as  a 
field  m  devoted  ;  n  the  possession  thereof  shall 
be  the  priest’s. 

22  And  if  a  man  sanctify  unto  the  Lord  a 
field  which  he  hath  bought,  which  is  not  of 
the  fields  of  0  his  possession  ; 

23  p  Then  the  priest  shall  reckon  unto  him 
the  worth  of  thy  estimation,  even  unto  the 

h  Or,  the  land  of  a  homer,  &c. - 5  Chap.  xxv.  15,  16. 

k  Ver.  13. - 1  Chap.  xxv.  10,  28,  31. - m  Ver.  28. - "  Num. 

xviii.  14  ;  Ezek.  xliv.  29. - 0  Chap.  xxv.  10,  25. - v  Ver.  18. 

9  Chap.  xxv.  28. 

but  that  it  was  rated  according  to  its  produce ,  fifty 
shekels  for  every  homer  of  barley  it  produced. 

Verse  21.  As  a  field  devoted ]  It  is  Din  ckerem ,  a 
thing  so  devoted  to  God  as  never  more  to  be  capable 
of  being  redeemed.  See  on  ver.  29. 

Verse  25.  Shekel  of  the  sanctuary ]  A  standard 
shekel ;  the  standard  being  kept  in  the  sanctuary  to 
try  and  regulate  all  the  weights  in  the  land  by.  See 
Gen.  xx.  16  ;  xxiii.  15. 

Verse  28.  No  devoted  thing — shall  he  sold  or  re¬ 
deemed ]  This  is  the  nZ3“in  cherem ,  which  always 
meant  an  absolute  unredeemable  grant  to  God. 

Verse  29.  Which  shall  he  devoted  of  men ]  Every 
man  who  is  devoted  shall  surely  be  put  to  death  ;  or, 
as  some  understand  it,  be  the  Lord’s  property,  or  be 
employed  in  his  service,  till  death.  The  law  men¬ 
tioned  in  these  two  verses  has  been  appealed  to  by 
the  enemies  of  Divine  revelation  as  a  proof,  that  under 
the  Mosaic  dispensation  human  sacrifices  were  offered 
to  God  ;  but  this  can  never  be  conceded.  Had  there 
been  such  a  law,  it  certainly  would  have  been  more 
explicitly  revealed,  and  not  left  in  the  compass  of  a 
few  words  only,  where  the  meaning  is  very  difficult 
to  be  ascertained ;  and  the  words  themselves  differently 
translated  by  most  interpreters.  That  there  were 


year  of  the  jubilee  :  and  he  shall  A.  M.  2514. 

j  •>  B  C  1490 

give  thine  estimation  in  that  day,  An.  Exod.  isr.  2 

as  a  holy  thing  unto  the  Lord.  Abib  or  Nisan. 

24  q  In  the  year  of  the  jubilee  the  field  shall 
return  unto  him  of  whom  it  was  bought,  even 
to  him  to  whom  the  possession  of  the  land 
did  belong . 

25  And  all  thy  estimation  shall  be  accord¬ 
ing  to  the  shekel  of  the  sanctuary  :  r  twenty 
gerahs  shall  be  the  shekel. 

26  Only  the  s  firstling  1  of  the  beasts,  which 
should  be  the  Lord’s  firstling,  no  man  shall 
sanctify  it ;  whether  it  he  ox,  or  sheep  :  it  is 
the  Lord’s. 

27  And  if  it  he  of  an  unclean  beast,  then  he 
shall  redeem  it  according  to  thine  estimation, 
u  and  shall  add  a  fifth  part  of  it  thereto  :  or  if 
it  be  not  redeemed,  then  it  shall  be  sold  ac¬ 
cording  to  thy  estimation. 

28  T  Notwithstanding  no  devoted  thing,  that 
a  man  shall  devote  unto  the  Lord  of  all  that 
he  hath,  both  of  man  and  beast,  and  of  the 
field  of  his  possession,  shall  be  sold  or  re¬ 
deemed  :  every  devoted  thing  is  most  holy 
unto  the  Lord. 

29  w  None  devoted,  which  shall  be  devoted 
of  men,  shall  be  redeemed  ;  hut  shall  surely 
be  put  to  death. 

r  Exod.  xxx.  13;  Num.  iii.  47;  xviii.  16;  Ezek.  xlv.  12. 

8  VLeh.  first-born,  &c. - 4  Exod.  xiii.  2,  12  ;  xxii.  30  ;  Num.  xviii. 

17  ;  Dent.  xv.  io. - u  Ver.  11,  12,  13. - v  Ver.  21  ;  Josh.  vi. 

17,  18,  19. - w  Num.  xxi.  2,  3. 

persons  devoted  to  destruction  under  the  Mosaic  dis¬ 
pensation,  is  sufficiently  evident,  for  the  whole  Canaan- 
itish  nations  were  thus  devoted  by  the  Supreme  Being 
himself,  because  the  cup  of  their  iniquity  was  full  ;  but 
that  they  were  not  sacrificed  to  God ,  the  whole  history 
sufficiently  declares.  Houbigant  understands  the  pas¬ 
sage  as  speaking  of  these  alone  ;  and  says,  Non  alios 
licebat  anathcmate  voveri ,  quam  Chananaos ,  qitos  jus- 
serat  Deus  ad  internecionem  deleri.  “  It  was  not 
lawful  to  devote  any  persons  to  death  but  the  Canaan- 
ites,  whom  God  had  commanded  to  be  entirely  extir¬ 
pated.”  This  is  perfectly  correct  ;  but  he  might  have 
added  that  it  was  because  they  were  the  most  impure 
idolaters,  and  because  the  cup  of  their  iniquity  was 
full.  These  God  commanded  to  be  put  to  death  ;  and 
who  can  doubt  his  right  to  do  so,  who  is  the  Maker 
of  man,  and  the  Fountain  of  justice  1  But  what  has 
this  to  do  with  human  sacrifices  ?  Just  nothing.  No 
more  than  the  execution  of  an  ordinary  criminal,  or  a 
traitor,  in  the  common  course  of  justice,  has  to  do 
with  a  sacrifice  to  God.  In  the  destruction  of  such 
idolaters,  no  religious  formality  whatever  was  observed; 
nor  any  thing  that  could  give  the  transaction  even  the 
most  distant  semblance  of  a  sacrifice.  In  this  way 
Jericho  was  commanded  to  be  destroyed,  Josh.  vi.  17; 

601 


LEVITICUS. 


Concerning  the  tithe  of  the 


land ,  the  herd,  and  the  flock 


A.  M.  2514.  30  And  x  all  the  tithe  of 

An.  Exod.  isr!  2.  the  land,  whether  of  the  seed 
Abib  or  Nisan'  of  the  land,  or  of  the  fruit  of 
the  tree,  is  the  Lord’s  :  it  is  holy  unto  the 
Lord. 

3 1  y  And  if  a  man  will  at  all  redeem  aught 
of  his  tithes,  he  shall  add  thereto  the  fifth  part 
thereof. 

32  And  concerning  the  tithe  of  the  herd,  or 
of  the  flock,  even  of  whatsoever  z  passeth  under 


the  rod,  the  tenth  shall  be  holy  A.  M.  2514. 

.  T  J  B.  C.  1490. 

UntO  the  JLoRD.  An.  Exod.  Isr.2. 

33  He  shall  not  search  whether  Ablb  or  Nljap- 
it  be  good  or  bad,  a  neither  shall  he  change 
it :  and  if  he  change  it  at  all,  then  both  it  and 
the  change  thereof  shall  be  holy  ;  it  shall  not 
be  redeemed. 

34  b  These  are  the  commandments  which 
the  Lord  commanded  Moses  for  the  children 
of  Israel,  in  Mount  Sinai. 


x  Gen.  xxviii.  22  ;  Num.  xviii.  21,  24  ;  2  Chron.  xxxi.  5,  6,  12  ; 
Neh.  xiii.  12  ;  Mai.  iii.  8, 10. 


y  Ver.  13. - z  See  Jer.  xxxiii.  13  ;  Ezek.  xx.  37  ;  Mic.  vii.  14. 

a  Ver.  10. - b  Chap.  xxvi.  46. 


and  the  Amalekites,  Deut.  xxv.  19  ;  1  Sam.  xv.  3  : 
but  in  all  these  cases  the  people  commanded  to  be  de¬ 
stroyed  were  such  sinners  as  God’s  justice  did  not 
think  proper  to  spare  longer.  And  has  not  every 
system  of  law  the  same  power  !  And  do  we  not  con¬ 
cede  such  power  to  the  civil  magistrate,  for  the  wel¬ 
fare  of  the  state  1  God,  who  is  the  sovereign  arbiter 
of  life  and  death,  acts  here  in  his  juridical  and  legisla¬ 
tive  capacity  ;  but  these  are  victims  to  justice ,  not  re¬ 
ligious  sacrifices. 

It  may  be  necessary  just  farther  to  note  that  two 
kinds  of  vows  are  mentioned  in  this  chapter  : — 1.  The 
VU  neder ,  (see  on  chap,  vii.,)  which  comprehends  all 
those  things  which,  when  once  devoted,  might  be  re¬ 
deemed  at  a  certain  price,  according  to  the  valuation 
of  the  priest.  2.  The  CD^n  cherem ,  those  things 
,  vowed  to  God  of  which  there  remained  no  power  of 
redemption  ;  they  were  most  holy ,  i.  e.,  so  absolutely 
devoted  to  God  that  they  could  neither  be  changed, 
alienated,  nor  redeemed  :  probably  because  no  mental 
reservation  had  been  made,  as  in  the  above  case  may 
be  supposed.  On  this  ground  the  word  was  after¬ 
ward  applied  to  the  most  solemn  and  awful  kind  of 
excommunication ,  meaning  a  person  so  entirely  devoted 
to  the  stroke  of  vindictive  justice,  as  never  to  be  ca¬ 
pable  of  receiving  pardon ;  and  hence  the  word  may 
be  well  applied  in  this  sense  to  the  Canaanit.es ,  the  cup 
of  whose  iniquity  was  full,  and  who  were  consigned, 
without  reprieve,  to  final  extermination. 

Verse  30.  All  the  tithe  of  the  land ]  This  God 
claims  as  his  own  ;  and  it  is  spoken  of  here  as  being 
a  point  perfectly  settled,  and  concerning  which  there 
was  neither  doubt  nor  difficulty.  See  my  view  of  this 
subject  Gen.  xxviii.,  after  ver.  22,  to  which  I  do  not 
see  the  necessity  of  adding  any  thing. 

Verse  32.  Whatsoever  passeth  under  the  rod ]  The 
signification  of  this  verse  is  well  given  by  the  rabbins  : 
“  When  a  man  was  to  give  the  tithe  of  his  sheep  or 
calves  to  God,  he  was  to  shut  up  the  whole  flock  in 
one  fold,  in  which  there  was  one  narrow  door  capable 
of  letting  out  one  at  a  time.  The  owner,  about  to 
give  the  tenth  to  the  Lord,  stood  by  the  door  with  a 
rod  in  his  hand,  the  end  of  which  was  dipped  in  ver¬ 
milion  or  red  ochre.  The  mothers  of  those  lambs  or 
calves  stood  without  :  the  door  being  opened,  the 
young  ones  ran  out  to  join  themselves  to  their  dams ; 
and  as  they  passed  out  the  owner  stood  with  his  rod 
over  them,  and  counted  one,  two,  three,  four,  five,  &c., 

602 


and  when  the  tenth  came,  he  touched  it  with  the 
coloured  rod,  by  which  it  was  distinguished  to  be  the 
tithe  calf,  sheep,  &c.,  and  whether  poor  or  lean,  per¬ 
fect  or  blemished,  that  was  received  as  the  legitimate 
tithe.”  It  seems  to  be  in  reference  to  this  custom  that 
the  Prophet  Ezekiel,  speaking  to  Israel,  says  :  I  will 
cause  you  to  pass  under  the  rod ,  and  will  bring  you 
into  the  bond  of  the  covenant — you  shall  be  once  more 
claimed  as  the  Lord's  property ,  and  be  in  all  things 
devoted  to  his  service,  being  marked  or  ascertained ,  by 
especial  providences  and  manifestations  of  his  kindness, 
to  be  his  peculiar  people. 

Verse  34.  These  are  the  commandments ]  This 
conclusion  is  very  similar  to  that  at  the  end  of  the  pre¬ 
ceding  chapter.  I  have  already  supposed  that  this 
chapter  should  have  followed  the  25th,  and  that  the 
26th  originally  terminated  the  book. 

Mr.  Ainsworth,  the  whole  of  whose  writings  are 
animated  with  the  spirit  of  piety,  concludes  this  book 
with  the  following  excellent  remarks  : — 

“  The  tithes  in  Israel  being  thus  sanctified  by  the 
commandment  of  God  to  his  honour,  the  maintenance 
of  his  ministers,  and  the  relief  of  the  poor,  it  taught 
them  and  teaches  us  to  honour  the  Lord  with  our  sub¬ 
stance,  (Prov.  iii.  9,)  acknowledging  him  to  be  the 
author  of  all  our  increase  and  store;  (Deut.  viii.  13—18 ; 
Hos.  ii.  8  ;)  to  honour  his  ministers,  and  to  communi¬ 
cate  unto  them  in  all  good  things,  (1  Tim.  v.  17,  18  ; 
Gal.  vi.  6,)  that  they  who  sow  unto  us  spiritual  things 
should  reap  our  carnal  things,  (1  Cor.  ix.  11,)  and  to 
give  alms  of  such  things  as  ice  have ,  that  all  things 
may  be  clear  unto  us,  (Luke  xi.  41,)  yea,  even  to  sell 
that  we  have,  and  give  alms ;  to  provide  ourselves 
bags  that  wax  not  old,  a  treasure  in  the  heavens  that 
faileth  not,  Luke  xii.  33.”  They  who  forget  their 
Maker,  his  ministers,  and  the  poor,  are  never  likely 
to  hear  that  blessed  word  in  the  great  day  :  “  Come, 
ye  blessed  of  my  Father,  inherit  the  kingdom  prepared 
for  you ;  for  I  was  hungry,  and  ye  gave  me  meat ; 
thirsty,  and  ye  gave  me  drink ;  naked,  and  ye  clothed 
me ;  sick  and  in  prison,  and  ye  came  unto  me.” 

Reader,  thou  hast  now  gone  through  the  whole  of 
this  most  interesting  book  ;  a  book  whose  subject  is 
too  little  regarded  by  Christians  in  general.  Here 
thou  mayest  discover  the  rigid  requisitions  of  Divine 
justice,  the  sinfulness  of  sin,  the  exceeding  breadth  of 
the  commandment,  and  the  end  of  all  human  perfec- 

a 


Concluding  remarks.  CHAP. 

tion.  And  now  what  thinkest  thou  of  that  word, 
“  Whatsoever  the  law  saith,  it  saith  to  them  who  are 
under  the  law  V’  Rora.  iii.  19.  But  whcr  are  under 
the  law — the  condemning  power  of  the  pure,  rigid, 
moral  law  of  God  1  Not  the  Jews  only,  but  every 
soul  of  man  :  all  to  whom  it  is  sent,  and  who  acknow¬ 
ledge  it  as  a  Divine  revelation,  and  have  not  been 
redeemed  from  the  guilt  of  sin  by  the  grace  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ;  for  “cursed  is  every  one  that 
continueth  not  in  all  things  that  are  written  in  the  book 
of  the  law  to  do  them.”  By  this  law  then  is  the 
knowledge,  but  not  the  cure ,  of  sin.  Hear  then  what 
God  saith  unto  thee  :  “  If  therefore  perfection  were 
by  the  Levitical  priesthood,  (for  under  it  the  people 
received  the  law,)  what  farther  need  was  there  that 
another  priest  should  rise  after  the  order  of  Melchise- 
dec,  and  not  be  called  after  the  order  of  Aaron  1  For 
the  priesthood  being  changed,  there  is  made  of  neces¬ 
sity  a  change  also  of  the  law;  Heb.  vii.  11,  12. 
Now  of  the  things  which  we  have  spoken,  this  is  the 
sum  :  We  have  such  a  high  priest,  who  is  set  on  the 
right  hand  of  the  throne  of  the  Majesty  in  the  hea¬ 
vens  ;  a  minister  of  the  sanctuary,  and  of  the  true 
tabernacle,  which  the  Lord  pitched,  and  not  man  ;  ibid, 
viii.  1,  2.  For  it  is  not  possible  that  the  blood  of 
bulls  and  of  goats  should  take  away  sins  ;  ibid.  x.  4. 
But  Christ  being  come  a  high  priest  of  good  things  to 
come, — neither  by  the  blood  of  goats  and  calves,  but 
by  his  own  blood,  he  entered  in  once  into  the  holy 
place,  having  obtained  eternal  redemption  for  us.  And 
for  this  cause  he  is  the  Mediator  of  the  New  Testa¬ 
ment,  that,  by  means  of  death,  they  which  are  called 
might  receive  the  promise  of  eternal  inheritance.  And 
without  shedding  of  blood  is  no  remission.  So  Christ 
was  once  offered  to  bear  the  sins  of  many,  and  unto 
them  that  look  for  him  shall  he  appear  the  second 
time,  without  sin,  unto  salvation  Heb.  ix.  11,  12,  15, 
22,  28.  We  see  then  that  Christ  was  the  end  of  the 
law  for  righteousness  (for  justification )  to  every  one 
that  believeth.  “  Unto  him,  therefore,  who  hath  loved 
us,  and  washed  us  from  our  sins  in  his  own  blood, 
and  hath  made  us  kings  and  priests  unto  God  and  his 
Father  ;  to  him  be  glory  and  dominion  for  ever  and 
ever.  Amen.”  Rev.  i.  5,  6. 

SECTIONS  in  the  Book  of  Leviticus,  carried 
on  from  Exodus,  which  ends  with  the  twenty- 
third. 


XXVII.  Masoretic  notes. 

The  twenty-fourth,  called  N“ip'1  vaiyikra ,  begins 
chap.  i.  6,  and  ends  chap.  vi.  7. 

The  twenty-fifth,  called  tsav ,  begins  chap.  vi. 

8,  and  ends  chap.  viii.  36. 

The  twenty -sixth,  called  TOty  shemini,  begins 
chap.  ix.  1,  and  ends  chap.  xi.  47. 

The  twenty-seventh,  called  flin  tazria ,  begins 
chap.  xii.  1,  and  ends  chap.  xiii.  59. 

The  twenty-eighth,  called  JTWD  metsora,  begins 
chap.  xiv.  1,  and  ends  chap.  xv.  33. 

The  twenty-ninth,  called  mrs  ’“inN  acharey  moth , 
begins  chap.  xvi.  1,  and  ends  chap,  xviii.  30. 

The  thirtieth,  called  D'tyTp  kedoshim ,  begins  chap, 
xix.  1,  and  ends  chap.  xx.  27. 

The  thirty-first,  called  “ION  emor,  begins  chap, 
xxi.  1,  and  ends  chap.  xxiv.  23. 

The  thirty-second,  called  TD  V13  behar  Sinai, 
begins  chap.  xxv.  1,  and  ends  chap.  xxvi.  2. 

The  thirty-third,  called  Tipn3  bechukkothai,  be¬ 
gins  chap.  xxvi.  3,  and  ends  chap,  xxvii.  34. 

These  sections,  as  was  observed  on  Exodus,  have 
their  technical  names  from  some  remarkable  word, 
either  in  the  first  or  second  verse  of  their  commence¬ 
ment. 

Masoretic  Notes  on  Leviticus. 

The  number  of  verses  in  vaiyikra,  i.  e.,  Leviticus,  is 
859.  The  symbol  of  which  is  'p'DJ.  ^  pe  final  stands 
for  800,  }  nun  for  50,  and  £3  teth  for  9. 

The  middle  verse  is  the  11th  of  chap.  xv.  :  And  he 
that  toucheth  the  jlesh,  <fc. 

Its  pareshioth,  or  larger  sections,  are  1 0,  the  memo¬ 
rial  symbol  of  which  is  taken  from  Gen.  xxx.  11  : 
"U  to  ba  gad,  a  troop  cometh:  in  which  2  beth  stands 
for  2,  N  aleph  for  1,  J  gimel  for  3,  and  t  daleth  for  4, 

Its  sedarim,  or  Masoretic  sections,  are  23.  The 
symbol  of  which  is  taken  from  Psa.  i,  2,  nJRV  yehgeh: 
In  thy  law  shall  he  meditate  day  and  night. 

Its  perakim ,  or  modern  chapters,  are  27.  The  me¬ 
morial  sign  of  which  is  nTINl  veeyeheh,  Gen.  xxvi.  3  : 
And  I  will  be  with  thee,  and  will  bless  thee. 

The  number  of  its  open  divisions  is  52  ;  of  its  close 
divisions,  46  :  total  98.  The  memorial  sign  of  which 
is  nv  tsach,  Cant.  v.  10  ;  My  beloved  is  white  and 
ruddy.  In  this  word  ¥  tsaddi  stands  for  90,  and  H 
cheth  for  8. 

Verses  859.  Words  11,902.  Letters  computed 
to  be  44,989. 

See  the  concluding  note  on  Genesis. 


Finished  the  correction  of  Exodus  and  Leviticus ,  April  2,  1827. — A.  Clarke. 

603 


a 


PREFACE  TO 


THE 


BOOK 


OF 

NUMBERS. 


HpHIS,  which  is  the  fourth  book  in  order  of  the  Pentateuch,  has  been  called  Numbers,  from 
its  containing  an  account  of  the  numbering  and  marshalling  the  Israelites  in  ther  journey 
through  the  wilderness  to  the  promised  land.  Its  English  name  is  derived  from  the  title  it 
bears  in  the  Vulgate  Latin,  Numeric  which  is  a  literal  translation  of  the  Greek  word  A pi&poi, 
its  title  in  the  Septuagint  ;  and  from  both,  our  Saxon  ancestors  called  it  iretei,  numeration , 
“  because  in  this  the  children  of  Israel  were  numbered,”  fob  pam  pe  ipjiaheia  beajm  psejion  on  paejie 
geteaibe.  This  title,  however,  does  not  properly  apply  to  more  than  the  three  first  chapters, 
and  the  26th.  This  book,  like  the  preceding,  takes  its  name  among  the  Hebrews  from  a 
distinguishing  word  in  the  commencement.  It  is  frequently  called  “DTi  Vaidabber,  and  he 
spoke ,  from  its  initial  word ;  but  in  most  Hebrew  Bibles  its  running  title  is  Bemidbar,  in 

the  wilderness ,  which  is  the  fifth  word  in  the  first  verse. 

The  contents  of  the  book  of  Numbers  are  briefly  the  following  :  On  the  first  day  of  the 
first  month  of  the  second  year  after  the  departure  from  Egypt,  the  tabernacle  being  erected, 
audit  and  the  priests  consecrated,  Moses  is  commanded  to  make  a  census  or  enumeration  of 
the  people,  the  Levites  excepted,  who  were  appointed  to  watch  over,  guard,  pitch,  and  carry 
the  tabernacle  and  its  holy  furniture  ;  chap.  i. 

To  form  the  vast  mass  of  the  people  into  a  regular  camp,  each  tribe  by  itself  under  its  own 
captain  or  chief,  known  by  his  proper  standard,  and  occupying  an  assigned  place  in  reference 
to  the  tabernacle  ;  chap.  ii. 

Moses  is  commanded  to  separate  the  Levites  to  the  service  of  the  tabernacle,  whom  God 
chooses  to  take,  instead  of  the  first-born  of  every  family,  which  he  claimed  as  his  own.  When 
these  were  selected  in  their  families,  &c.,  the  sum  amounted  to  22,273  ;  chap.  iii. 

All  this  tribe  is  appointed  to  serve  the  tabernacle  in  a  variety  of  offices,  each  person  from 
the  age  of  thirty  till  fifty,  after  which  he  was  excused  from  farther  service  ;  chap.  iv. 

When  these  points  were  settled,  God  commands  them  to  purify  the  camp  by  the  expulsion 
of  every  unclean  person,  and  establishes  the  trial  of  the  suspected  adulteress  by  the  ivaters  of 
jealousy ;  chap.  v. 

He  next  institutes  the  laws  relative  to  Nazarites  ;  and  lays  down  the  form  according 
to  which  the  people  shall  be  blessed;  chap.  vi. 

Then  follows  a  particular  account  of  the  offerings  made  to  the  tabernacle  by  the  princes, 
or  chiefs  of  the  twelve  tribes,  and  the  amount  of  those  offerings  ;  chap.  vii. 

When  this  work  was  finished,  the  Levites  were  consecrated  to  their  respective  services 
and  the  duration  of  the  service  of  each  ascertained ;  chap.  viii. 

The  passover  is  commanded  to  be  kept,  and  the  first  one  is  celebrated  in  the  wilder¬ 
ness  on  the  14th  of  the  first  month  of  the  second  year  after  their  departure  from  Egypt; 
chap.  ix. 

Moses  is  commanded  to  make  two  silver  trumpets  ;  he  is  informed  of  their  use,  in  what 
order  the  different  tribes  shall  march,  with  the  ceremonies  at  fixing  and  removing  the  taber¬ 
nacle  and  the  departure  of  the  people  from  the  wilderness  of  Sinai  on  the  twentieth  day  of  the 
second  month  of  the  second  year  of  their  exodus  from  Egypt ;  chap.  x. 

604  a 


PREFACE  TO  NUMBERS. 


The  people  murmuring,  the  lire  of  the  Lord  consumes  many  of  them  ;  it  ceases  on  the 
intercession  of  Moses  :  they  murmur  again,  quails  are  sent,  and  they  arc  smitten  with  a  great 
plague  ;  chap.  xi. 

Miriam  and  her  brother  Aaron  rise  up  seditiously  against  Moses,  having  conceived  some 
dislike  against  his  Cushite  wife,  and  supposing  that  he  assumed  too  great  an  authority  over 
the  people  :  at  this  sedition  the  Lord  is  displeased,  and  smites  Miriam  with  the  leprosy  ; 
chap.  xii. 

Twelve  spies  are  sent  to  examine  the  promised  land  ;  they  pass  through  the  whole,  return 
at  the  end  of  forty  days,  and  by  bringing  an  evil  report,  dishearten  the  people  ;  chap.  xiii. 

In  consequence  of  this  the  whole  congregation  meditate  a  return  to  Egypt  :  God  is  dis¬ 
pleased,  and  pronounces  that  all  of  them,  from  twenty  years  old  and  upwards,  shall  die  in  the 
wilderness.  They  repent,  attack  the  Amalekites  contrary  to  the  commandment  of  God,  and 
are  discomfited  ;  chap.  xiv. 

A  number  of  ordinances  and  directions  are  given  relative  to  the  manner  of  conducting  the 
worship  of  God  in  the  promised  land :  different  laws  are  repeated,  and  a  Sabbath-breaker 
stoned  to  death ;  chap.  xv. 

Korah,  Dathan,  Abiram,  and  their  associates,  form  an  insurrection  against  Moses  :  they 
are  swallowed  up  by  an  earthquake;  the  congregation  murmur,  and  14,700  of  them  are  cut 
off;  chap.  xvi. 

As  a  proof  that  God  had  called  Aaron  and  his  family  to  the  priesthood,  his  rod ,  or  staff, 
buds,  and  miraculously  brings  forth  blossoms  and  fruit ,  and  is  commanded  to  be  laid  up  be¬ 
fore  the  testimony  ;  chap.  xvii. 

The  charges  of  the  priests  and  Levites,  and  the  portions  they  wrere  to  have  of  the  Lord's 
offerings,  for  their  support  in  the  work ;  chap,  xviii. 

The  ordinances  of  the  red  heifer ;  the  water  of  purification,  and  its  uses  ;  chap.  xix. 

The  death  of  Miriam ;  the  waters  of  Meribah.  The  Lord  tells  Moses  that,  because  he 
did  not  sanctify  him  in  the  eyes  of  the  congregation,  he  shall  not  bring  the  people  into  the 
promised  land.  The  king  of  Edom  refuses  the  Israelites  a  passage  through  his  territories. 
Aaron  is  stripped  of  his  sacerdotal  vestments  on  Mount  Hor,  and  they  are  put  on  Eleazar,  his 
son,  who  is  to  be  a  high  priest  in  his  stead.  Aaron  dies,  and  the  people  mourn  for  him  thirty 
days ;  chap.  xx. 

Arad,  one  of  the  Canaanitish  kings,  attacks  Israel,  and  he  and  his  people  are  utterly  de¬ 
stroyed.  The  people  murmur  for  lack  of  bread  and  water  ;  fiery  serpents  are  sent  among 
them,  they  repent;  are  healed  by  looking  at  a  brazen  serpent.  They  journey  and  come  to 
Beer,  where  they  find  water ;  Sihon,  king  of  the  Amorites,  attacks  them,  and  is  defeated  ;  so 
is  likewise  Og,  king  of  Bashan,  and  the  people  possess  the  lands  of  both ;  chap.  xxi. 

Balak,  king  of  Moab,  sends  for  Balaam  to  curse  Israel ;  he  departs,  is  opposed  by  an 
angel,  and  reproved  by  his  ass,  whom  God,  for  the  purpose,  miraculously  endued  with  the 
gift  of  speech.  He  comes  to  Balak,  king  of  Moab,  and  shows  him  that  Jehovah  had  limited 
his  power;  chap.  xxii. 

Balak  offers  sacrifices,  and  Balaam,  under  the  influence  of  God,  prophesies  good  concern¬ 
ing  Israel ;  chap,  xxiii. 

Continuing  to  foretell  the  prosperity  of  Israel,  and  the  destruction  of  their  enemies,  the  king 
of  Moab  dismisses  Balaam  in  great  wrath ;  chap.  xxiv. 

The  Israelites,  seduced  by  the  women  of  Moab  and  Midian,  commit  fornication  and  ido¬ 
latry  :  the  chiefs  are  hanged — bold  act  of  Phinehas ;  chap.  xxv. 

A  second  census  or  enumeration  of  the  people  takes  place,  and  the  amount  is  601,730, 
among  whom  not  one  of  those  of  the  first  census  w'as  now  found  except  Joshua  and  Caleb ; 
chap.  xxvi. 

From  the  case  of  the  daughters  of  Zelophehad  a  law  is  made  to  enable  daughters  to  inhe¬ 
rit.  Moses  ascends  Mount  Abarim,  sees  the  promised  land,  and  constitutes  Joshua  his  suc¬ 
cessor  ;  chap,  xxvii. 


a 


605 


PREFACE  TO  NUMBERS. 


A  repetition  of  the  laws  relative  to  burnt-offerings ,  the  Sabbath ,  the  passover,  first-fruits , 
&c. ;  chap,  xxviii. 

The  three  solemnities  of  the  seventh  month  are  commanded  to  be  held  on  the  first,  tenth , 
and  fourteenth  days  of  the  month  ;  chap.  xxix. 

Several  laws  and  ordinances  concerning  vows  of  different  kinds,  made  by  various  persons  ; 
when  they  should  be  confirmed,  and  in  what,  cases  annulled  ;  chap.  xxx. 

Twelve  thousand  Israelites  go  against  the  people  of  Midian  and  slay  them,  their  five  kings, 
and  Balaam  their  prophet ;  and  the  Israelites  take  immense  booty  in  persons ,  cattle ,  gold, 
silver,  and  precious  stones,  of  which  they  make  a  great  offering  to  the  Lord,  because  in  this 
contest  they  lost  not  one  man ;  chap.  xxxi. 

The  children  of  Reuben  and  Gad,,  and  the  half  tribe  of  Manasseh,  request  to  receive  for 
their  inheritance  the  territories  of  Sihon  and  Og  on  the  east  side  of  Jordan;  their  desire  is 
granted  on  the  condition  of  their  going  over  armed  with  their  brethren,  to  assist  them  in 
conquering  the  land  ;  chap,  xxxii. 

A  circumstantial  account  of  the  forty-two  journeys  of  the  Israelites  from  their  departure 
from  Rameses  till  their  arrival  at  Jordan.  They  are  commanded  to  expel  all  the  ancient 
inhabitants  ;  chap,  xxxiii. 

The  borders  of  the  land  are  described,  and  the  persons  appointed  by  God,  who  should  assist 
Joshua  in  dividing  the  land  among  the  nine  tribes  and  half  ;  chap,  xxxiv. 

Forty-eight  cities  are  to  be  assigned  to  the  Levites,  out  of  the  twelve  tribes,  for  their  goods 
and  for  their  cattle  :  and  out  of  these  they  were  to  appoint  six  cities  of  refuge  for  the  person 
who  had  unawares  slain  his  neighbour  ;  to  one  of  which  cities  the  manslayer  was  to  escape, 
and  tarry  there  till  the  death  of  the  high  priest  •  chap.  xxxv. 

A  law  established  that  the  daughters  to  whom  the  paternal  inheritance  descends,  shall  not 
marry  out  of  their  own  tribes,  lest  their  inheritances  should  become  alienated  and  lost  by 
being  blended  with  those  of  other  tribes  ;  chap,  xxxvi.  See  the  case  of  Zelophehad’s  daugh¬ 
ters,  chap,  xxvii. 

In  this  book,  which  comprehends  the  history  of  between  thirty-eight  and  thirty-nine  years, 
we  have  in  one  word  a  distinct  account  of  the  several  stages  of  the  Israelites’  journey  in  the 
wilderness,  the  various  occurrences  on  the  way,  their  trials,  rebellions,  punishments,  deli¬ 
verances,  conquests,  &c.,  with  several  laws  and  ordinances  not  mentioned  in  the  preceding 
books,  together  with  a  repetition  and  explanation  of  some  others  which  had  been  previously 
delivered ;  the  whole  forming  a  most  interesting  history  of  the  justice,  mercy,  and  provi¬ 
dence  of  God. 


806 


a 


THE  FOURTH  BOOK  OF  MOSES, 


CALLED 

NUMBERS. 


Year  before  the  common  Year  of  Christ,  1490. — Julian  Period,  3224. — Cycle  of  the  Sun,  27. — Dominical 
Letter,  D. — Cycle  of  the  Moon,  9. — Indiction,  6. — Creation  from  Tisri  or  September,  2514. 


CHAPTER  I. 


On  the  first  day  of  the  second  month  of  the  second  year  after  Israel  came  out  of  Egypt,  God  commands  Moses 
to  number  all  the  males  of  the  people  from  twenty  years  and  upward ,  who  were  effective  men  and  able  to  go 
to  war ,  1-3.  A  chief  of  each  tribe  is  associated  with  Moses  and  Aaron  in  this  business,  4  ;  the  names  of 
whom  are  given,  5—16.  Moses  assembles  the  people ,  who  declare  their  pedigrees  according  to  their  families , 
17—19.  The  descendants  of  Reuben  are  numbered,  and  amount  to  46,500,  ver.  20,  21.  Those  of  Simeon, 
59,300,  ver.  22,  23.  Those  of  Gad,  45,650 ,ver.  24,25.  Those  of  Judah,  74,600,  ver.  26,  27.  Those 
of  Issachar,  54,400,  ver.  28,  29.  Those  of  Zebulun,  57,400 ,ver.  30,  31,  Those  o/Ephraim,  40,500, 
ver.  32,  33.  Those  of  Manasseh,  32,200,  ver.  34,  35.  Those  of  Benjamin,  35,400,  ver.  36,  37. 
Those  of  Dan,  62,700,  ver.  38,  39.  Those  of  Asher,  41,500,  ver.  40,41.  Those  u/Naphtali,  53,400, 
ver.  42,  43.  The  amount  of  all  the  effective  men  in  Israel ,  from  twenty  years  old  and  upward,  was 
603,550,  ver.  44-46.  The  Levites  are  not  numbered  with  the  tribes ,  because  they  were  dedicated  to  the 
service  of  God.  Their  particular  ivork  is  specified,  47—54. 


A.  M.  2514.  AND  the  Lord  spake  unto 

B.  C.  1490.  A  .  .  1 * 3 * 5  ... 

An.  Exod.  isr.  2.  Moses  ain  the  wilderness 

ijar  or  Zif.  0f  gjnaj?  b  jn  the  tabernacle  of 
the  congregation,  on  the  first  day  of  the 
second  month,  in  the  second  year  after  they 
were  come  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt,  saying, 

2  c  Take  ye  the  sum  of  all  the  congregation 

a  Exod.  xix.  1;  chap.  x.  11,  12. - bExod.  xxv.  22. 

«  Exod.  xxx.  12  ;  xxxviii.  26  ;  chap.  xxvi.  2,  63,  64  ;  2  Sam. 

NOTES  ON  CHAP.  I. 

Verse  1.  The  Lord  spake  unto  Moses — on  the  first 
day  of  the  second  month ]  As  the  tabernacle  was 
erected  upon  the  first  day  of  the  first  month,  in  the 
second  year  after  their  coming  out  of  Egypt,  Exod. 
xl.  17  ;  and  this  muster  of  the  people  was  made  on 
the  first  day  of  the  second  month,  in  the  same  year  ; 
it  is  evident  that  the  transactions  related  in  the  pre¬ 
ceding  book  must  all  have  taken  place  in  the  space  of 
one  month,  and  during  the  time  the  Israelites  were 
encamped  at  Mount  Sinai,  before  they  had  begun  their 
journey  to  the  promised  land. 

Verse  2.  Take  ye  the  sum,  $c.~\  God,  having  esta¬ 
blished  the  commonwealth  of  Israel  by  just  and  equi¬ 
table  laws,  ordained  every  thing  relative  to  the  due 
performance  of  his  own  worship,  erected  his  tabernacle, 
which  was  his  throne,  and  the  place  of  his  residence 
among  the  people,  and  consecrated  his  priests  who 
were  to  minister  before  him  ;  he  now  orders  his  sub- 


of  the  children  of  Israel,  after  a.  m.  2514. 
their  families,  by  the  house  of  An.  Exod.  Isr. 2. 
their  fathers,  with  the  number  ijar  or  .gif. 

of  their  names,  every  male  by  their  polls  ; 

3  From  d  twenty  years  old  and  upward,  all 
that  are  able  to  go  forth  to  war  in  Israel :  thou 
and  Aaron  shall  number  them  by  their  e  armies. 

xxiv.  2  ;  1  Chron.  xxi.  2. - d  Exod.  xxx.  14 ;  Deut.  iii.  18. 

e  Exod.  xii.  17. 

jects  to  be  mustered,  1.  That  they  might  see  he  had 
not  forgotten  his  promise  to  Abraham,  but  was  multi¬ 
plying  his  posterity.  2.  That  they  might  observe 

due  order  in  their  march  toward  the  promised  land. 

3.  That  the  tribes  and  families  might  be  properly  dis¬ 
tinguished  ;  that  all  litigations  concerning  property, 

inheritance,  &c.,  might,  in  all  future  times,  be  pre¬ 
vented.  4.  That  the  promise  concerning  the  Messiah 
might  be  known  to  have  its  due  accomplishment,  when 
in  the  fulness  of  time  God  should  send  him  from  the 
seed  of  Abraham  through  the  house  of  David.  And, 

5.  That  they  might  know  their  strength  for  war  ;  for 
although  they  should  ever  consider  God  as  their  pro¬ 
tector  and  defence,  yet  it  was  necessary  that  they 
should  be  assured  of  their  own  fitness,  naturally  speak¬ 
ing,  to  cope  with  any  ordinary  enemy,  or  to  surmount 
any  common  difficulties. 

Verse  3.  From  twenty  years  old  and  upward ]  In 
this  census  no  women  were  reckoned,  nor  children , 

607 


to  number  the  Israelites 


Names  of  the  persons  appointed  NUMBERS. 


A.  M.  25.4.  4  Arid  with  you  there  shall  be  a 

B.  C.  1490.  r  J 

An. Exod. isr. 2.  man  ol  every  tribe;  every  one 

ijar  or  Zif.  }ieac[  0f  the  house  of  his  fathers. 

5  And  these  are  the  names  of  the  men  that 
shall  stand  with  you  :  of  the  tribe  of  Reuben  ; 
Elizur  the  son  of  Shedeur. 

6  Of  Simeon  ;  Shelumiel  the  son  of  Zuri- 
shaddai. 

7  Of  Judah ;  Nahshon  the  son  of  Amminadab. 

8  Of  Issachar  ;  Nethaneel  the  son  of  Zuar. 

9  Of  Zebulun  ;  Eliab  the  son  of  Helon. 

10  Of  the  children  of  Joseph  :  of  Ephraim; 
Elishama  the  son  of  Ammihud  :  of  Manasseh; 
Gamaliel  the  son  of  Pedahzur. 

1 1  Of  Benjamin;  Abidan  the  son  of  Gideoni. 

12  Of  Dan;  Ahiezer  the  son  of  Ammishaddai. 

13  Of  xUsher  ;  Pagiel  the  son  of  Ocran. 

14  Of  Gad  ;  Eliasaph  the  son  of  f  Deuel. 

15  Of  Naphtali  ;  Ahira  the  son  of  Enan. 

16  £  These  were  the  renowned  of  the  con¬ 
gregation,  princes  of  the  tribes  of  their  fathers, 
h  heads  of  thousands  in  Israel. 

17  And  Moses  and  Aaron  took  these  men 
which  are  expressed  by  their  names  : 

18  And  they  assembled  all  the  congregation 
together  on  the  first  day  of  the  second  month, 
and  they  declared  their  pedigrees  after  their 
families,  by  the  house  of  their  fathers,  accord¬ 
ing  to  the  number  of  the  names,  from  twenty 
years  old  and  upward,  by  their  polls. 

fChap.  vii.  48  ;  chap.  x.  22  ;  chap.  ii.  14,  he  is  called  Reuel. 

s  Chap.  vii.  2  ;  1  Chron.  xxvii.  16. - h  Exod.  xviii.  21,  25. 

nor  strangers ,  nor  the  Leviies,  nor  old  men,  which, 
collectively,  must  have  formed  an  immense  multitude  ; 
the  Levites  alone  amounted  to  22,300.  True-born 
Israelites  only  are  reckoned  ;  such  as  were  able  to 
carry  arms,  and  were  expert  for  war. 

Yerse  14.  Eliasaph,  the  son  of  Deuel. ]  This  per¬ 
son  is  called  Reuel,  chap.  ii.  14.  As  the  “i  daleth  is 
very  like  the  *1  resh,  it  was  easy  to  mistake  the  one 
for  the  other.  The  Septuagint  and  the  Syriac  have 
Reuel  in  this  chapter  ;  and  in  chap.  ii.  14,  the  Vulgate, 
the  Samaritan,  and  the  Arabic  have  Deuel  instead  of 
Reuel ,  with  which  reading-  a  vast  number  of  MSS. 
concur ;  and  this  reading  is  supported  by  chap.  x.  20  ; 
we  may  safely  conclude  therefore  that  btfljn  Deuel, 
not  bxiyi  Reuel,  was  the  original  reading.  See  Ken- 
nicott. 

An  ancient  Jewish  rabbin  pretends  to  solve  every 
difficulty  by  saying  that  “  Eliasaph  was  a  proselyte  ; 
that  before  he  embraced  the  true  faith  he  was  called 
the  son  of  Reuel,  but  that  after  his  conversion  he  was 
called  the  son  of  Deuel.  ”  As  Reuel  may  be  trans¬ 
lated  the  breach  of  God,  and  Deuel  the  knowledge  of 
God,  I  suppose  the  rabbin  grounded  his  supposition  on 
the  different  meanings  of  the  two  words. 

608 


19  As  the  Lord  commanded  a.  m.  2514. 

Moses,  so  he  numbered  them  in  An.Exod.isr.*2. 
the  wilderness  of  Sinai.  ijar  or  Zif. 

20  And  the  children  of  Reuben,  Israel’s 
eldest  son,  by  their  generations,  after  their 
families,  by  the  house  of  their  fathers,  accord¬ 
ing  to  the  number  of  the  names,  by  their  polls, 
every  male  from  twenty  years  old  and  upward, 
all  that  were  able  to  go  forth  to  war ; 

2 1  Those  that  were  numbered  of  them,  even 
of  the  tribe  of  1  Reuben,  vjere  forty  and  six 
thousand  and  five  hundred. 

22  Of  the  children  of  k  Simeon,  by  their 
generations,  after  their  families,  by  the  house 
of  their  fathers,  those  that  were  numbered  of 
them,  according  to  the  number  of  the  names, 
by  their  polls,  every  male  from  twenty  years 
old  and  upward,  all  that  were  able  to  go  forth 
to  war  ; 

23  Those  that  were  numbered  of  them,  even 
of  the  tribe  of  Simeon,  were  fifty  and  nine 
thousand  and  three  hundred. 

24  Of  the  children  of  1  Gad,  by  their  gene¬ 
rations,  after  their  families,  by  the  house  of 
their  fathers,  according  to  the  number  of  the 
names,  from  twenty  years  old  and  upward,  all 
that  were  able  to  go  forth  to  war; 

25  Those  that  were  numbered  of  them,  even 
of  the  tribe  of  Gad,  were  forty  and  five  thou¬ 
sand  six  hundred  and  fifty. 

1  Chap.  ii.  10. 11  ;  chap.  xxvi.  7. - k  Gen.  xxix.  33  ;  chap,  xxxiv. 

25-30. - 1  Gen.  xxx.  10,  11. 


;>Sons  of  Leah. 


Yerse  16.  These  were  the  renowned}  Literally,  t he 
called,  of  the  congregation —  those  who  were  summon¬ 
ed  by  name  to  attend.  The  order  of  the  tribes  in  the 
above  enumeration  may  be  viewed  thus  : — 

1.  Reuben 

2.  Simeon 

3.  Judah 

4.  Issachar 

5.  Zebulun 

6.  Ephraim  ~j 

7.  Manasseh  f  Sons  of  Rachel. 

8.  Benjamin  J 

9.  Dan  .  .  1st  son  of  Bilhah,  Rachel  s  maid. 

10.  Asher.  .  2d  son  of  Zilpah,  Leah’s  maid. 

11.  Gad  .  .  1st  son  of  Zilpah. 

12.  Naphtali  .  2d  son  of  Bilhah. 

Yerse  25.  Forty  and  five  thousand  six  hundred  and 
fifty.]  Mr.  Ainsworth  has  remarked  that  Gad,  the 
handmaid'1 s  son,  is  the  only  one  of  all  the  tribes  whose 
number  ends  with  fifty,  all  the  others  are  by  thou - 
sands,  and  end  with  hundreds  ;  which  shows  God’s 
admirable  providence  and  blessing  in  multiplying  them 
so,  that  no  odd  or  broken  number  was  among  all  the 
tribes.  But  see  on  ver.  46. 


a 


CHAP.  I. 


the  several  tribes 


The  amount  of 


A.  M.  2514.  26  Of  the  children  of  m  Judah, 

B.  C.  1490.  .  ’ 

An.  Exod.  Isr.  2.  by  their  generations,  after  their 

ijaror  Zif.  families,  by  the  house  of  their 
fathers,  according  to  the  number  of  the  names, 
from  twenty  years  old  and  upward,  all  that 
were  able  to  go  forth  to  war; 

27  Those  that  were  numbered  of  them,  even 
of  the  tribe  of  Judah,  were  threescore  and 
fourteen  thousand  and  six  hundred. 

28  Of  the  children  of  n  Issachar,  by  their 
generations,  after  their  families,  by  the  house 
of  their  fathers,  according  to  the  number  of 
the  names,  from  twenty  years  old  and  upward, 


all  that  were  able  to  go  forth  to  war ; 

29  Those  that  were  numbered  of  them,  even 
of  the  tribe  of  Issachar,  ivere  fifty  and  four 
thousand  and  four  hundred. 


30  Of  the  children  of  0  Zebulun,  by  their 
generations,  after  their  families,  by  the  house 
of  their  fathers,  according  to  the  number  of 
the  names,  from  twenty  years  old  and  upward, 
all  that  were  able  to  go  forth  to  war ; 

3  1  Those  that  were  numbered  of  them,  even 
of  the  tribe  of  Zebulun,  were  fifty  and  seven 
thousand  and  four  hundred. 

32  Of  the  children  of  p  Joseph,  namely ,  of 
the  children  of  q  Ephraim,  by  their  genera¬ 
tions,  after  their  families,  by  the  house  of 
their  fathers,  according  to  the  number  of  the 
names,  from  twenty  years  old  and  upward,  all 
that  were  able  to  go  forth  to  war ; 

33  Those  that  were  numbered  of  them,  even 
of  the  tribe  of  Ephraim,  were  forty  thousand 
and  five  hundred. 

34  Of  the  children  of  r  Manasseh,  b}?*  their 
generations,  after  their  families,  by  the  house 
of  their  fathers,  according  to  the  number  of 
the  names,  from  twenty  years  old  and  upward, 
all  that  were  able  to  go  forth  to  war ; 

35  Those  that  were  numbered  of  them,  even 
of  the  tribe  of  Manasseh,  ivere  thirty  and  two 
thousand  and  two  hundred. 

m  Gen.  xxix.  35. - n  Gen.  xxx.  18. - 0  Gen.  xxx.  20. - p  Gen. 

xxx.  24. - q  Gen.  xlviii.  5,  6. 

Verse  33.  The  tribe  of  Ephraim — -forty  thousand 
and  five  hundred .]  Ephraim,  as  he  was  blessed  be¬ 
yond  his  eldest  brother  Manasseh,  Gen.  xlviii.  20,  so 
here  he  is  increased  by  thousands  more  than  Manas¬ 
seh,  and  more  than  the  whole  tribe  of  Benjamin,  and 
his  blessing  continued  above  his  brother,  Deut.  xxxiii. 
17.  And  thus  the  prophecy,  Gen.  xlviii.  19,  was 
fulfilled :  His  younger  brother  (Ephraim)  shall  be 
greater  than  he ,  (Manasseh.)  No  word  of  God  can 
possibly  fall  to  the  ground  :  he  alone  sees  the  end  j 

Vol.  I.  (  40  ) 


36  Of  the  children  of  s  Benia-  A.  M.  2514. 
mm,  by  their  generations,  after  An.  Exod.  isr.  2. 
their  families,  by  the  house  of  ljar  or  Zif. 
their  fathers,  according  to  the  number  of  the 
names,  from  twenty  years  old  and  upward,  all 
that  were  able  to  go  forth  to  war  ; 

37  Those  that  were  numbered  of  them,  even 
of  the  tribe  of  Benjamin,  were  thirty  and  five 
thousand  and  four  hundred. 

38  Of  the  children  of  t  Dan,  by  their  genera¬ 
tions,  after  their  families,  by  the  house  of 
their  fathers,  according  to  the  number  of  the 
names,  from  twenty  years  old  and  upward,  all 
that  were  able  to  go  forth  to  war ; 

39  Those  that  were  numbered  of  them,  even 
of  the  tribe  of  Dan,  were  threescore  and  two 
thousand  and  seven  hundred. 

40  Of  the  children  of  Asher,  by  their  gene 
rations,  after  their  families,  by  the  house  ot 
their  fathers,  according  to  the  number  of  the 
names,  from  twenty  years  old  and  upward,  all 
that  were  able  to  go  forth  to  war ; 

4  1  Those  that  were  numbered  of  them,  even 
of  the  tribe  of  Asher,  were  forty  and  one  thou¬ 
sand  and  five  hundred. 

42  Of  the  children  of  Naphtali,  throughout 
their  generations,  after  their  families,  by  the 
house  of  their  fathers,  according  to  the  num¬ 
ber  of  the  names,  from  twenty  years  old  and 
upward,  all  that  were  able  to  go  forth  to  war ; 

43  Those  that  were  numbered  of  them,  even 
of  the  tribe  of  Naphtali,  were  fifty  and  three 
thousand  and  four  hundred. 

44  u  These  arc  those  that  were  numbered, 
which  Moses  and  Aaron  numbered,  and  the 
princes  of  Israel,  being  twelve  men  :  each  one 
was  for  the*  house  of  his  fathers. 

45  So  were  all  those  that  were  numbered  of 
the  children  of  Israel,  by  the  house  of  their 
fathers,  from  twenty  years  old  and  upward, 
all  that  were  able  to  go  forth  to  war  in  Israel ; 

46  Even  all  they  that  were  numbered  were 

r  Gen.  xlviii.  12-20. - sGen.  xxxv.  16-18. - 1  Gen.  xxx.  5,  6. 

u  Chap.  xxvi.  64. 

from  the  beginning ;  his  infinite  wisdom  embraces  all 
occurrences,  and  it  is  his  province  alone  to  determine 
what  is  right,  and  to  predict  what  himself  has  pur¬ 
posed  to  accomplish. 

Verse  46.  All  they  that  were  numbered  were  six 
hundred  thousand  and  three  thousand  and  five  hundred 
and  fifty .]  What  an  astonishing  increase  from  seventy 
souls  that  went  down  into  Egypt,  Gen.  xlvi.  27,  about 
215  years  before,  where  latterly  they  had  endured  the 
greatest  hardships !  But  God’s  promise  cannot  fail, 

609 


The  Levites  are  not  numbered. 


NUMBERS. 


A.  M.  2514.  v  six  hundred  thousand  and  three 
An.  Exod.  isr.  2.  thousand  and  five  hundred  and 

IjarorZif-  fifty. 

47  But  w  the  Levites  after  the  tribe  of  their 
fathers  were  not  numbered  among  them. 

48  For  the  Lord  had  spoken  unto  Moses, 
saying, 

49  x  Only  thou  shalt  not  number  the  tribe 
of  Levi,  neither  take  the  sum  of  them  among 
the  children  of  Israel : 

50  y  But  thou  shalt  appoint  the  Levites  over 
the  tabernacle  of  testimony,  and  over  all  the 
vessels  thereof,  and  over  all  things  that  belong 
to  it :  they  shall  bear  the  tabernacle,  and  all  the 
vessels  thereof;  and  they  shall  minister  unto  it, 

zand  shall  encamp  round  about  the  tabernacle. 

51  a  And  when  the  tabernacle  setteth  for- 

v  Exod.  xxxviii.  26  ;  see  Exod.  xii.  37  ;  chap.  ii.  32  ;  xxvi.  51. 

*  Chap.  ii.  33  ;  see  chap,  iii.,  iv.,  xxvi.  57  ;  1  Chron.  vi.,  xxi.  6. 

*  Chap.  ii.  33  ;  xxvi.  62. - J  Exod.  xxxviii.  21  ;  chap.  iii.  7,  8  ; 

iv.  15,25,  26,  27,  33. - z  Chap.  iii.  23,29,  35,  38. 

(Gen.  xvi.  5  ;)  and  who  can  resist  his  will,  and  bring 
to  naught  his  counsel  1  That  a  comparative  view 
may  be  easily  taken  of  the  state  of  the  tribes,  I  shall 
produce  them  here  from  the  first  census  mentioned  in 
the  first  chapter  of  this  book,  in  their  decreasing  pro¬ 
portion,  beginning  with  the  greatest  and  proceeding  to 
the  least ;  and  in  the  second  census,  mentioned  chap, 
xxvi.,  where  the  increase  of  some  and  the  decrease 
of  others  may  be  seen  in  one  point  of  view.  It  may 
be  just  remarked,  that  except  in  the  case  of  Gad  in 
this  chapter,  and  Reuben  in  chap,  xxvi.,  all  the  num¬ 
bers  are  what  may  be  called  whole  or  round  numbers, 
beginning  with  thousands ,  and  ending  with  hundreds , 
Gad  and  Reuben  alone  ending  with  tens ;  but  the 
Scripture  generally  uses  round  numbers,  units  and 
fractions  being  almost  constantly  disregarded. 


1st  census,  ch.  i. 

2d  census,  ch.  xxvi 

1.  Judah 

74,600 

76,500 

2.  Dan 

62,700 

64,400 

3.  Simeon 

59,300 

22,200 

4.  Zebulun 

57,400 

60,500 

5.  Issachar 

54,400 

64,300 

6.  Naphtali 

53,400 

45,400 

7.  Reuben 

46,500 

43,730 

8.  Gad 

45,650 

40,500 

9.  Asher 

41,500 

53,400 

10.  Ephraim 

40,500 

32,500 

11.  Benjamin 

35,400 

45,600 

12.  Manasseh 

32,200 

52,700 

Total  603,550 

Total  601,730 

Thus  we  find  Judah  the  most  populous  tribe,  and 
Manasseh  the  least  so ;  the  difference  between  them 
being  so  great  as  42,400,  for  which  no  very  satisfac¬ 
tory  reason  can  be  assigned. 

In  the  second  census,  mentioned  chap.  xxvi.  34, 
Judah  still  has  the  pre-eminency  ;  and  Simeon ,  the 
third  in  number  before,  is  become  the  least.  Now  we 
see  also  that  the  little  tribe  of  Manasseh  occupies  the 

a  010 


Their  particular  work  specified 

ward,  the  Levites  shall  take  it  a.  m.  2514. 
down  :  and  when  the  tabernacle  An.  Exod.  isr.  2. 
is  to  be  pitched,  the  Levites  shall  Ijar  or  Zlf’ 
set  it  up  :  b  and  the  stranger  that  cometh  nigh 
shall  be  put  to  death. 

52  And  the  children  of  Israel  shall  pitch 
their  tents,  c  every  man  by  his  own  camp,  and 
every  man  by  his  own  standard,  throughout 
their  hosts. 

53  d  But  the  Levites  shall  pitch  round  about 
the  tabernacle  of  testimony,  that  there  be  no 
e  wrath  upon  the  congregation  of  the  children 
of  Israel :  f  and  the  Levites  shall  keep  the 
charge  of  the  tabernacle  of  testimony. 

54  And  the  children  of  Israel  did  according 
to  all  that  the  Lord  commanded  Moses,  so 
did  they. 

a  Chap.  x.  17,  21. - b  Chap.  iii.  ]0,  38  ;  xviii.  22. - c  Chap. 

ii.  2,  34. - d  Ver.  50. - e  Lev.  x.  6  ;  chap.  viii.  19  ;  xvi.  46  ; 

xviii.  5  ;  1  Sam.  vi.  19. - f  Chap.  iii.  7,  8  ;  viii.  24,  25,  26  ;  xviii 

3,  4,  5  ;  xxxi.  30,  47  ;  1  Chron.  xxiii.  32  ;  2  Chron.  xiii.  10. 

seventh  place  for  number.  Seven  of  the  tribes  had 
an  increase ;  five  a  decrease.  Manasseh  had  an  in¬ 
crease  of  20,500;  Judah ,  1,900;  Issachar,  9,900; 
Zebulun ,  3,100;  Benjamin ,  10,200;  Dan ,  1,700; 
Asher ,  11,900. 

On  the  contrary  there  was  a  decrease  in  Reuben  of 
2,770;  in  Simeon ,  37,100;  Gad ,  5,150;  Ephraim , 
8,000 ;  Naphtali,  8,000.  Decrease  in  the  whole, 
61,020  effective  men.  See  on  chap.  xxvi.  ;  but  ba¬ 
lanced  with  the  increase ,  the  decrease  was  upon  the 
whole  only  1,820. 

On  the  subject  of  these  enumerations,  and  the  man¬ 
ner  in  which  this  vast  multitude  sprang  in  about  four 
generations  from  seventy-five  persons,  Scheuchzer  has 
some  valuable  calculations,  though  liable  to  some  ob¬ 
jections,  which  I  shall  take  the  liberty  to  insert,  as 
they  tend  to  throw  considerable  light  upon  the  subject. 

“We  find  in  the  writings  of  Moses  three  enumera¬ 
tions  of  the  Jewish  people,  that  follow  each  other 
pretty  closely  : — 

The  first,  which  was  made  at  their  departure 

from  Egypt,  Exod.  xii.  37,  amounted  to  600,000 
One  year  after,  to  .  .  .  603,550 

On  entering  the  land  of  Canaan,  to  .  601,730 

If  we  add  to  the  number  .  .  .  603,550  ^ 

that  of  the  Levites  given  us  in  chap.  iii.  > 

39,  and  which  amounted  to  .  .  22,000  ) 

We  shall  have  for  the  sum  total  .  .  625,550 

“  We  find  the  same  number,  on  adding  that  of  each 
tribe  given  us  in  detail,  which  is  the  best  proof  of  the 
exactness  of  the  calculation. 

“  I  think  I  shall  afford  the  reader  some  degree  of 
pleasure  by  presenting  him,  in  this  place,  the  number 
of  each  tribe  separately ,  beginning  at  their  earliest 
ancestors.  We  shall  see,  by  this  means,  how  faith¬ 
fully  God  fulfilled  the  promise  he  had  made  to  Abra¬ 
ham,  as  well  as  the  great  utility  of  the  mathematics 
for  the  right  understanding  of  the  Holy  Scriptures. 

(  40*  ) 


CHAP.  I. 


of  the  Israelites . 


Remarks  on  the  multiplication 


I  shall  begin  with  a  Genealogical  Table  of  that  family 
which  God  so  wonderfully  blessed  ;  and  to  ‘it  I  shall 
afterward  add  each  separate  tribe,  following  the  cal¬ 
culation  of  Reyher,  (Math.  Mos.,  p.  222.)  And  we 
shall  see  that  the  fourth  generation,  taken  with  the 
third ,  produces  the  very  number  mentioned  in  the  text. 

Children  of  Jacob  by  Leah.  Gen.  xlvi.  15. 
Hanoch 


Reuben  «< 


1  L 

on  J 

i  J 


Simeon 


< 


Levi 


Phallu 
Hezron 
Carmi 
’  Jemuel 
Jamin 
Ohad 
Jachin 
Zohar 
Shaul 

Gershon 


46,500.  Num.  i.  21. 


>  -  -  59,300.  Num.  i.  23. 


Libni 
__  Shimei 
f  Amram 


^  7,500.  Num.  iii.  22. 
KohathJ  ^8,600.  Num.  iii.  26. 


Levi 


Merari 


Judah 


LUzziel  J 

1  |  Mushi  \  6’200'  Num' lii'  34' 
f  Shelah  „ 

J.  Pharez  LeZr°,n  £  74,600.  Num.  i.  27. 
Izerah  J  HamUl  > 


Tola 

Phuvah 


Issachar  d 

|_Shimron  J 
f  Sered 
Zebulun  <  Elon 
[_  Jahleel 

Dinah 

Children  of  Jacob  by  Zilpah. 
Ziphion 
Haggai 
Shuni 
Ezbon 
Eri 
Arodi 
.  Areli 
Jimnah 
Ishuah 
<(  Isui 

Beriah 


54,400.  Num.  i.  29. 


Gad 


1 


57,400.  Num.  i.  31. 


Gen.  xlvi.  18. 


>  -  -  45,650.  Num.  i.  25. 


Asher 


>>41,500.  Num.  i.  41. 


L 


(  Heber 
^  Malchiel 


Children  of  Jacob  by  Rachel.  Gen.  xlvi.  22. 


Joseph 


32,200. 

40,500. 


Benjamin  *< 


(  Manasseh 
^  Ephraim 
Belah 
Becher 
Ashbel 
Gerah 
Naaman 
Ehi 
Rosh 
Muppim 
Huppim 
_  Ard 

Children  of  Jacob  by  Bilhah.  Gen.  xlvi.  25. 
Dan  -  Hushim  -  -  62,700.  Num.  i.  39. 


►  -  -  35,400,  Num.  i.  37. 


Naphtali  < 


Jahzeel 

Guni 

Jezer 

Shillem 


r 


53,400.  Num.  i.  43. 


I. — Reuben  46,500. 

“  Let  us  now  descend  to  the  particular  enumeration 
of  each  tribe.  Reuben  had  four  sons  :  now  if  we 
suppose  that  one  of  these  four  sons  had  seven ,  and 
that  each  of  the  other  three  had  eight ,  we  shall  find 
the  number  31  for  first  Egyptian  generation.  If 
we  afterward  suppose  that  each  of  these  31  sons  had 
five  sons,  the  second  generation  will  amount  to  155, 
which,  multiplied  by  15,  will  produce  2,325  for  the 
third  generation;  and  these,  multiplied  by  19,  will 
make  44,175  for  the  fourth ;  so  that  the  third,  to¬ 
gether  with  the  fourth,  will  make  46,500.  We  shall 
have  the  same  product  if  the  given  sum,  46,500,  be 
divided  by  the  most  probable  number  of  children,  for 
example,  by  the  number  19;  we  shall  then  have  2,447 
for  the  third  generation ;  which  sum  being  deducted 
from  the  sum  total,  there  will  remain  44,053  for  the 
fourth  generation,  which  is  exactly  the  number  that 
is  produced  in  multiplying  2,440  of  the  third  genera¬ 
tion  by  18,  and  the  other  7  by  19.  If  we  wish  to 
make  the  same  calculation  with  respect  to  the  pre¬ 
ceding  generations,  i.  e.,  divide  them  by  the  most  pro¬ 
bable  number  of  children,  we  shall  have  the  following 
sums : — 


Sons  of  Reuben 
I.  Generation 
II.  Ditto 

III.  Ditto 

IV.  Ditto 


4 

31 

215 

2,583 

43,917 


Amount  of  generations  III.  and  IV.  46,500 
II. — Simeon  59,300. 

“  Simeon  had  six  sons.  Let  us  suppose  that  each 
of  the  three  first  had  six  children,  and  each  of  the  three 
others  seven,  we  shall  have  thirty-nine  for  the  first 
generation.  If  we  multiply  31  of  this  number  by  9, 
and  8  by  10,  we  shall  have  for  the  second  generation 
359;  of  which  number,  if  we  multiply  355  by  11, 
and  4  by  12,  the  third  generation  will  give  us  3,953. 
Let  us  then  multiply  3,948  of  these  by  14,  and  5  of 
them  by  15,  and  we  shall  have  for  the  fourth  55,347. 
The  third  and  fourth,  added  together,  will  make  59,300. 

III. — Levi  22,300. 

“  Gershon ,  Levi’s  eldest  son,  had  two  children  :  let 
us  give  to  one  of  these  16  children,  and  to  the  other 
17,  and  we  shall  have  33  for  the  second  generation  ; 
28  of  which,  multiplied  by  15,  and  5  by  16,  will  pro¬ 
duce  500  for  the  third.  Multiply  each  by  14,  and 
these  will  produce  7,000  ;  and  the  third  and  fourth 
together,  7,500. 

“  Kohath,  Levi’s  second  son,  had  four  sons,  which 
form  the  first  line.  Give  to  one  of  them  10  sons,  and 
1 1  to  each  of  the  other  three,  for  the  second  generation 
there  will  be  43.  Multiply  them  by  10,  there  will  be 
430  for  the  third;  these,  multiplied  by  19  for  the 
fourth,  will  produce  the  number  of  8,170.  The  third 
and  fourth  added  together  make  8,600. 

“  Merari,  the  third  son  of  Levi,  had  two  sons.  Give 

611 


a 


Remarks  on  the  multiplication  NUMBERS. 


of  the  Israelites. 


10  children  to  each  of  them,  there  will  then  be  20  for 
the  second  generation.  Now  if  we  say  that  10  of 
these  20  had  each  15  sons,  and  each  of  the  others  16, 
we  shall  have  310,  which,  multiplied  by  19,  will  give 
us  5,890  for  the  fourth;  and  the  two  last  together, 
6,200.  This  may  be  seen  by  the  following  example : — 


Gershonites. 

I.  Generation  2 

II.  Ditto  33 

III.  Ditto  500 

IV.  Ditto  7000 


Kohathites. 

4 

43 

430 

8170 


Merarites. 

2 

20 

310 

5890 


“  Amount  of  generations  III.  and  IV.  :  Gershonites, 
7,500  ;  Kohathites,  8,600  ;  and  Merarites,  6,200 — 
total  number  of  Levites,  22,300. 


IV. — Judah  74,600. 

“  The  sons  of  Judah  were  Shelah,  Pharez,  and  Zerah. 
His  grandsons  by  Pharez  were  Hezron  and  Hamul. 
Hezron  had  two  sons.  Suppose  each  of  them  had  six 
children,  which  will  make  12  for  the  first  generation; 
to  eight  of  whom  allow  eight  children,  and  nine  to 
each  of  the  others,  and  there  will  be  100  for  the  second 
generation.  To  92  of  these  then  give  18  children, 
and  19  to  the  eight  others;  this  will  produce  for  the 
third  generation  1,808.  If  we  then  suppose  that  1,800 
of  these  had  each  18  children,  and  that  each  of  the 
other  eight  had  19,  the  fourth  generation  will  be 
32,552,  which,  added  to  the  product  of  the  third ,  will 
make  the  descendants  of  Hezron  amount  to  34,360. 

“  Hamul  had  two  sons,  who,  multiplied  by  10,  pro¬ 
duce  the  number  of  20  for  the  second  generation  : 
these,  multiplied  by  20,  will  make  400  for  the  third, 
and  these  again  by  25  will  produce  10,000  for  the 
fourth.  And  thus  the  two  last  generations  will 
amount  together  to  the  number  of  10,400. 

“  If  we  allow  five  sons  to  Shelah,  and  six  to  Zerah, 
we  shall  have  11  for  the  first  generation.  To  three 
of  whom  allow  10  children  and  1 1  to  the  other  eight, 
this  will  give  us  1 18  for  the  second.  To  113  of  these 
give  14,  and  15  to  the  other  five,  and  1657  will  be 
produced  for  the  third.  Give  17  to  1643,  and  18  to 
the  14  remaining,  and  for  the  fourth  there  will  be 
28,183.  The  third  and  fourth  added  together  will 
produce  the  number  of  29,840. 

“  According  to  this  calculation,  all  these  generations 
will  amount  to  the  following  numbers  : — 

Hezronites  -  34,360 

Hamulites  -  10,400 

Shelanites  and  Zarhites  -  29,840 

74,600 

V. — Issachar  54,400. 

“  Issachar  had  five  sons.  Suppose  that  three  of 
them  had  each  five  children,  and  the  other  two,  six, 
we  shall  have  27  for  the  first  generation.  If  we  then 
imagine  that  of  these  19  had  each  nine  sons,  and  each 
of  the  other  eight  10,  the  second  generation  will  be 
251.  Now  241  of  these,  multiplied  by  12,  will  pro¬ 
duce  2,892,  and  the  10  others,  multiplied  by  13,  will 
make  130;  consequently  the  third  generation  will 
amount  to  3,022.  If  3,018  of  these  had  each  17 
sons,  and  each  of  the  other  four  had  18,  the  fourth 

612 


generation  will  be  51,378  ;  the  third  and  fourth  gene¬ 
rations,  then,  will  produce  a  number  of  54,400. 

VI.  — Zebulun  57,400. 

6(  Zebulun  had  three  sons.  If  we  suppose  that  two 
of  them  had  in  all  fourteen  children,  and  the  third,  six, 
here  will  be  20  for  th e  first  generation.  The  second 
will  produce  143,  on  multiplying  17  by  7,  and  3  by  8. 
If  we  multiply  135  by  16,  and  8  by  17,  the  third 
will  amount  to  2,296.  By  multiplying  the  third  by 
24,  the  fourth  will  give  us  55,104.  The  two  last 
will  produce,  together,  57,400. 

VII. — Gad  45,650. 

“  Gad  had  seven  sons. 

I.  Generation  :  multiply  3  by  9,  and  4  by  10, 

there  will  be  -  -  -  -  67 

II.  Ditto  multiply  61  by  7,  and  6  by  8  -  475 

III.  Ditto  multiply  471  by  8,  and  4  by  9  -  3,804 

IV.  Ditto  multiply  3,802  by  11,  and  2  by  12  41,846 

Amount  of  generations  III.  and  IV.  45,650 
VIII. — Asher  41,500. 

“  The  sons  of  Asher,  Jimnah,  Ishua,  and  Isui,  mul¬ 


tiplied  by  8,  produce  for  the 
I.  Generation  -----  24 

II.  Ditto  multiply  24  by  8  -  -  -  192 

III.  Ditto  multiply  182  by  11,  and  10  by  12  2,122 

IV.  Ditto  multiply  2,118  by  12,  and  4  by  13  25,468 


Amount  of  generations  III.  and  IV.  27,590 
“  Heber  and  Malchiel  were  sons  of  Beriah.  Now 
these  two  sons  multiplied  by  5,  give  us  for 
I.  Generation  -  -  -  -  ••  10 

II.  Ditto  multiply  10  by  11  -  -  -  110 

III.  Ditto  multiply  by  9  -  -  -  -  990 

IV.  Ditto  multiply  by  1 2  -  -11,880 


Amount  of  generations  III.  and  IV.  12,870 
“  Another  son  of  Beriah  had  in  the 
I.  Generation  -----  l 
II.  Ditto  multiply  by  8  -  -  -  -  8 

III.  Ditto  multiply  by  10  -  -  -  80 

IV.  Ditto  multiply  by  12  -  -  -  960 


Amount  of  generations  III.  and  IV.  1,040 
All  these  generations  added  together,  amount  to  41,500 


IX. — Joseph. 

Manasseh  32,200. 

“I.  Generation  -  -  -  -  -  10 

II.  Ditto  multiply  6  by  13,  and  4  by  14  -  134 

III.  Ditto  multiply  132  by  12,  and  2  by  13  1,610 

IV.  Ditto  multiply  by  19  -  -  30,590 


Amount  of  generations  III.  and  IV.  32,200 
Ephraim  40,500. 

“I.  Generation  -  -  -  -  -  16 

II.  Ditto  multiply  by  10  -  -  -  160 

III.  Ditto  multiply  152  by  12,  and  8  by  13  1,928 

IV.  Ditto  multiply  1,916  by  20,  and  12  by  21  38,572 


Amount  of  generations  III.  and  IV.  40,500 

a 


i 


CHAP.  II. 


The  Israelites  are  taught 

X. — Benjamin  35,400. 

“  He  had  1 0  sons ;  two  of  whom,  multiplied  by  9, 
and  the  other  8  by  10,  will  give  for  the 

I.  Generation 

II.  Ditto  multiply  95  by  9,  and  3  by  10 

III.  Ditto  multiply  by  5  - 

IV.  Ditto  multiply  by  7  - 


Amount  of  generations  III.  and  IV. 

XI. — Dan  62,700. 

“  I.  Generation  -  - 

II.  Ditto  multiply  by  12 

III.  Ditto  multiply  by  19 

IV.  Ditto  multiply  by  24 


Amount  of  generations  III.  and  IV. 

XII. — Naphtali  53,400. 

“  He  had  4  sons,  the  half  of  whom,  multiplied  by 
7,  and  the  other  half  by  6,  give  us  for  the 

I.  Generation  -  -  -  -  -  26 

II.  Ditto  multiply  16  by  11,  and  10  by  12  296 

III.  Ditto  multiply  288  by  12,  and  8  by  13  3,560 

IV.  Ditto  multiply  by  14  -  -  -49,840 


Amount  of  generations  III.  and  IV.  53,400 
Total  number  of  all  the  tribes. 


I.  Reuben 

- 

* 

- 

46,500 

II.  Simeon 

- 

m 

• 

59,300 

III.  Levi 

- 

— 

- 

22,300 

IV.  Judah 

- 

- 

• 

74,600 

V  Issachar 

- 

„  - 

- 

54,400 

VI.  Zebulun 

- 

- 

• 

57,400 

VII.  Gad 

- 

- 

- 

45,650 

VIII.  Asher 

- 

- 

- 

41,500 

IX.  Manasseh 

- 

_ 

• 

32,200 

Ephraim 

- 

- 

- 

40,500 

how  to  pitch  their  tents. 

X.  Benjamin  -  35,400 

XI.  Dan  -  62,700 

XII.  Naphtali  -  -  -  53,400 


Total  625,850 
“  And  indeed,  without  counting  the 
Levites,  the  number  of  the  Israelites 
(chap.  i.  46)  amounts  to  603,550 

The  Levites  (chap.  iii.  39)  amount  to  22,300 


The  whole  number  together,  as  above  -  625,850” 

In  the  above  calculations,  Scheuchzer  and  Reyher 
take  for  granted,  1.  That  from  the  going  down  to 
Egypt  to  the  exodus  there  were  four  generations. 

2.  That  the  first  two  generations  had  died  in  Egypt. 

3.  That  the  promise  of  God  in  multiplying  them  as  the 
stars  of  heaven,  had  taken  place  particularly  in  the  two 
last  generations.  4.  That  these  two  last  generations 
alone  form  the  aggregate  sums  given  in  the  sacred 
text.  5.  That  their  method  of  accounting  for  this 
aggregate  through  the  four  generations,  is  not  only 
perfectly  natural  and  mathematical,  but  strictly  accord¬ 
ant  with  the  promises  made  by  God  to  them,  as  the 
sum  of  each  tribe  sufficiently  proves.  6.  That  the 
whole  account  shows  the  truth  of  the  Divine  promise, 
the  great  accuracy  of  the  Jewish  lawgiver,  and  a  proof 
of  the  inspiration  of  the  sacred  writings.  But  even  to 
these  calculations  and  deductions  there  may  be  objec¬ 
tions,  e.  g.,  “  Scheuchzer  gives  to  2,508  families  of 
Dan,  24  male  children,  each  above  the  age  of  20  :  we 
may  fairly  allow  an  equal  number  of  females,  and  add 
5  more  under  20,  as  in  the  note  under  Exod.  xii.  37, 
and  we  have  53  children  on  the  average  through  all 
the  families  of  a  tribe  ;  whilst  to  4,425  families  of 
Benjamin  are  allotted  7  males  aged  20,  and  adding  7 
females  at  5  children,  we  have  19  children  in  each 
family  ;  a  tolerable  number ;  but  apparently  more  rea¬ 
sonable  than  the  other.” — Anon. 


98 

885 

-  4,425 

-  30,975 


35,400 


11 

132 

-  2,508 

-  60,192 


62,700 


CHAPTER  II. 


Moses  commanded  to  teach  the  Israelites  how  they  are  to  pitch  their  tents ,  and  erect  the  ensigns  of  their 
fathers ’  houses ,  1,  2.  Judah,  Issachar,  and  Zebulun,  on  the  east,  amounting  to  186,400  men ,  3—9.  Reuben, 
Simeon,  and  Gad,  on  the  south,  with  151,450  men.,  10—16.  The  Levites  to  be  in  the  midst  of  the  camp , 
17.  Ephraim,  Manasseh,  and  Benjamin,  on  the  west,  with  108,100  men ,  18-24.  Dan,  Asher,  and 
Naphtali,  on  the  north,  with  157,600  men ,  25-31.  The  sum  total  of  the  whole ,  603,550  men,  32.  But 
the  Levites  are  not  included,  33.  The  people  do  as  the  Lord  commands  them ,  34. 


A.  M.  2514. 

B.  C.  1490. 
An.  Exod.  Isr.  2. 

Ijar  or  Zif. 


the 

Moses  and 
saying, 


Lord  spake  unto 
unto  Aaron, 


2  a  Every  man  of  the  children  of  Israel  shall 


pitch  by  his  own  standard,  with  A.  M.  2514. 
the  ensign  of  their  father’s  house  :  An.  Exod.  isr.2. 
b  far  off  about  c  the  tabernacle  of  IjAr  or  Zlf‘ 
the  congregation  shall  they  pitch. 


a  Chap.  i.  52. - b  Heb.  over  against. 


c  Josh.  iii.  4. 


NOTES  ON  CHAP.  II. 

Verse  2.  Every  man — shall  pitch  by  his  own  stand¬ 
ard ]  Commentators,  critics,  philosophers,  and  profes¬ 
sional  men,  have  taken  a  great  deal  of  pains  to  illus¬ 
trate  this  chapter  by  showing  the  best  method  of 
encampment  for  such  a  vast  number  of  men,  and  the 
manner  in  which  they  conceive  the  Israelites  formed 

a 


their  camp  in  the  wilderness.  As  God  gave  them  the 
plan,  it  wras  doubtless  in  every  respect  perfect ;  and 
fully  answered  the  double  purpose  of  convenience  and 
security.  Scheuchzer  has  entered  into  this  subject 
with  his  usual  ability,  and  in  very  considerable  detail. 
Following  the  plan  of  Reyher ,  as  in  the  preceding 
chapter,  he  endeavours  to  ascertain  the  precise  order 

613 


* 


How  the  different  tribes 


NUMBERS. 


were  disposed  in  camps . 


A.  M.  2514.  3  And  on  the  east  side  toward 

B.  C.  1490.  ,  .  .  r  .  i  n  t 

An.  Exod.  isr.  2.  the  rising  oi  the  sun,  shall  they 

Ijar or  Zlf-  of  the  standard  of  the  camp  of 
Judah  pitch  throughout  their  armies :  and 
d  Nahshon  the  son  of  Amminadab  shall  be 
captain  of  the  children  of  Judah. 

4  And  his  host,  and  those  that  were  num¬ 
bered  of  them,  were  threescore  and  fourteen 
thousand  and  six  hundred. 

5  And  those  that  do  pitch  next  unto  him 
shall  be  the  tribe  of  Issachar  :  and  Nethaneel 
the  son  of  Zuar  shall  be  captain  of  the  chil¬ 
dren  of  Issachar. 

6  And  his  host,  and  those  that  were  num¬ 
bered  thereof,  were  fifty  and  four  thousand 
and  four  hundred. 

7  Then  the  tribe  of  Zebulun  :  and  Eliab  the 
son  of  Helon  shall  be  captain  of  the  children 
of  Zebulun. 

8  And  his  host,  and  those  that  were  num¬ 
bered  thereof,  were  fifty  and  seven  thousand 
and  four  hundred. 

9  All  that  were  numbered  in  the  camp  of 
Judah  were  a  hundred  thousand  and  four¬ 
score  thousand  and  six  thousand  and  four 
hundred,  throughout  their  armies.  e  These 
shall  first  set  forth. 

10  On  the  south  side  shall  be  the  standard 
of  the  camp  of  Reuben  according  to  their 
armies  :  and  the  captain  of  the  children  of 
Reuben  shall  be  Elizur  the  son  of  Shedeur. 

1 1  And  his  host,  and  those  that  were  num¬ 
bered  thereof,  were  forty  and  six  thousand 
and  five  hundred. 

12  And  those  which  pitch  by  him  shall  be 
the  tribe  of  Simeon  :  and  the  captain  of  the 
children  of  Simeon  shall  be  Shelumiel  the  son 
of  Zurishaddai. 


1  o  And  Ins  host,  and  those  that  A.  M.  2oi4. 

,  ,  h  .  B.  C.  1490. 

were  numbered  or  them,  luere  An.  Exod.  isr.  2. 

fifty  and  nine  thousand  and  three  ijarorZif. 
hundred. 

1 4  Then  the  tribe  of  Gad :  and  the  captain 
of  the  sons  of  Gad  shall  be  Eliasaph  the  son 
of  f  Reuel. 

15  And  his  host,  and  those  that  were  num¬ 
bered  of  them,  were  forty  and  five  thousand 
and  six  hundred  and  fifty. 

16  All  that  were  numbered  in  the  camp  of 
Reuben  were  a  hundred  thousand  and  fifty 
and  one  thousand  and  four  hundred  and  fifty, 
throughout  their  armies  s  And  they  shall  set 
forth  in  the  second  rank. 

17  h  Then  the  tabernacle  of  the  congrega¬ 
tion  shall  set  forward  with  the  camp  of  the 
Levites  in  the  midst  of  the  camp  :  as  they 
encamp,  so  shall  they  set  forward,  every  man 
in  his  place  by  their  standards. 

18  On  the  west  side  shall  be  the  standard 
of  the  camp  of  Ephraim,  according  to  their  ar¬ 
mies  :  and  the  captains  of  the  sons  of  Ephraim 
shall  be  Elishama  the  son  of  Ammihud. 

19  And  his  host,  and  those  that  were  num¬ 
bered  of  them,  were  forty  thousand  and  five 
hundred. 

20  And  by  him  shall  be  the  tribe  of  Manas- 
seh :  and  the  captain  of  the  children  of 
Manasseh  shall  be  Gamaliel  the  son  of 
Pedahzur. 

21  And  his  host,  and  those  that  were  num¬ 
bered  of  them,  were  thirty  and  two  thousand 
and  two  hundred. 

22  Then  the  tribe  of  Benjamin  :  and  the 
captain  of  the  sons  of  Benjamin  shall  be  Abi- 
dan  the  son  of  Gideoni. 

23  And  his  host,  and  those  that  were  num- 


d  Chap.  x.  14  ;  Ruth  iv.  20 ;  1  Chron.  ii.  10  ;  Matt.  i.  4  ;  Luke 
iii.  32,  33. - e  Chap.  x.  14. 


f  Deuel ;  chapter  i.  14 ;  vii.  42,  47 ;  x.  20. - s  Chap.  x.  18. 

h  Chap.  x.  17,  21. 


in  which  the  several  tribes  were  disposed  ;  and  as  his 
work  is  both  scarce  and  dear,  the  reader  will  not  be 
displeased  to  meet  here  with  a  translation  of  all  that 
refers  to  the  subject. 

Scheuchzer’s  Description  and  Plan  of  the  Encamp¬ 
ments  of  the  Israelites  in  the  Wilderness. 

“  If  we  form  a  proper  idea  of  God,  of  his  essence 
and  his  attributes,  we  shall  easily  perceive  that  this 
infinite  and  supreme  Being  wills  and  executes  what 
his  Divine  wisdom  appoints ;  in  a  word,  we  shall  see 
that  he  is  the  God  of  order.  This  order  displays 
itself  in  the  perfection,  arrangement,  and  assemblage 
of  all  created  beings ;  in  the  construction  of  the  earth 

614 


which  we  inhabit,  where  every  thing  is  formed  in  order, 
number,  weight,  and  measure  ;  and  in  all  bodies,  great 
and  small.  It  is  certain  that  Noah’s  ark  is  a  perfect 
model  of  naval  architecture.  The  temple  of  Solomon , 
and  that  of  Ezekiel  were  likewise  masterpieces  in  their 
kind.  But  at  present  we  are  to  consider  the  Divine 
arrangement  of  the  Israelitish  camp,  and  the  manner 
in  which  it  was  formed. 

“  The  Israelitish  army  was  divided  into  three  prin¬ 
cipal  divisions.  The  first ,  which  was  the  least  in 
extent,  but  the  strongest  and  the  most  powerful,  occu¬ 
pied  the  centre  of  the  army  :  this  was  the  throne  of 
God ,  i.  e.,  the  tabernacle.  The  second,  which  was 
composed  of  the  priests  and  Levites ,  surrounded  the 

a 


How  the  different  tribes 


CHAP.  II. 


were  disposed  in  camps 


a.  M.  2514.  bered  of  them,  were  thirty  and 
An.  E.xod  isr.  2.  five  thousand  and  four  hundred. 

24  All  that  were  numbered  of 
the  camp  of  Ephraim  were  a  hundred  thou¬ 
sand  and  eight  thousand  and  a  hundred, 
throughout  their  armies.  1  And  they  shall  go 
forward  in  the  third  rank. 

25  The  standard  of  the  camp  of  Dan  shall 
be  on  the  north  side  by  their  armies  :  and  the 
captain  of  the  children  of  Dan  shall  be  Ahi- 
ezer  the  son  of  Ammishaddai. 

26  And  his  host,  and  those  that  were  num¬ 
bered  of  them,  were  threescore  and  two  thou¬ 
sand  and  seven  hundred. 

27  And  those  that  encamp  by  him  shall  be 
the  tribe  of  Asher  :  and  the  captain  of  the  chil¬ 
dren  of  Asher  shall  be  Pagiel  the  son  of  Ocran. 

28  And  his  host,  and  those  that  were  num¬ 
bered  of  them,  were  forty  and  one  thousand 
and  five  hundred. 

29  Then  the  tribe  of  Naphtali  :  and  the 
captain  of  the  children  of  Naphtali  shall  be 
Ahira  the  son  of  Enan. 

1  Chap.  x.  22. - k  Chap.  x.  25. - 1  Exod.  xxxviii.  26  ; 


30  And  his  host,  and  those  that  A.  M.  2514. 

!  ,  -  .  B.  C.  1490. 

were  numbered  01  them,  were  An.  Exod.  isr.  2. 

fifty  and  three  thousand  and  four  dar  or  Zif. 

hundred. 

3 1  All  they  that  were  numbered  in  the 
camp  of  Dan  were  a  hundred  thousand 
and  fifty  and  seven  thousand  and  six  hun¬ 
dred.  k  They  shall  go  hindmost  with  their 
standards. 

32  These  are  those  which  were  numbered 
of  the  children  of  Israel  by  the  house  of  their 
fathers  :  1  all  those  that  were  numbered  of  the 
camps  throughout  their  hosts  were  six  hun¬ 
dred  thousand  and  three  thousand  and  five 
hundred  and  fifty. 

33  But  m  the  Levites  were  not  numbered 
among  the  children  of  Israel ;  as  the  Lord 
commanded  Moses. 

34  And  the  children  of  Israel  did  according 
to  all  that  the  Lord  commanded  Moses  :  n  so 
they  pitched  by  their  standards,  and  so  they 
set  forward,  every  one  after  their  families,  ac¬ 
cording:  to  the  house  of  their  fathers. 

chap.  i.  46  ;  xi.  21. - ni  Chap.  i.  47. - n  Chap.  xxiv.  2,  5,  6. 


first.  The  third ,  and  the  farthest  from  the  centre, 
took  in  all  the  other  tribes  of  Israel,  who  were  at 
least  about  a  mile  from  the  tabernacle.  For  it  ap¬ 
pears  from  Josephus,  iii.  4,  that  the  nearest  approach 
they  dared  make  to  the  ark,  except  during  the  time 
of  worship,  was  a  distance  of  2,000  cubits.  The  re¬ 
verence  due  to  the  Divine  Majesty,  the  numerous 
army  of  the  Israelites,  composed  of  600,000  soldiers, 
with  their  families,  which  made  about  3,000,000  souls, 
naturally  demanded  a  considerable  extent  of  ground. 
We  are  not  to  imagine  that  all  these  families  pitched 
their  tents  pellmell,  without  order,  like  beasts,  or  as 
the  troops  of  Tartary,  and  the  eastern  armies  ;  on  the 
contrary,  their  camp  was  divided  according  to  the  most 
exact  rules.  And  we  cannot  even  doubt  that  their 
camp  was  laid  out,  and  the  place  of  every  division  and 
tribe  exactly  assigned  by  some  engineers,  or  geome¬ 
tricians,  before  the  army  stopped  to  encamp,  in  order 
that  every  person  might  at  once  find  his  own  quarter, 
and  the  road  he  ought  to  take  to  reach  the  other  tents. 

“  Four  divisions,  which  faced  the  four  quarters  of 
the  heavens,  each  with  his  own  ensign,  formed  the 
centre  of  the  army.  Judah  was  placed  on  the  east, 
and  under  him  he  had  Issachar  and  Zebulun ;  on  the 
south  was  Reuben,  and  under  him  Simeon  and  Gad : 
on  the  west  was  Ephraim,  and  under  him  Manas- 
seh  and  Benjamin ;  finally,  Dan  was  on  the  north, 
and  he  had  under  him  Asher  and  Naphtali.  It  has 
been  pretended  by  some  that  these  four  principal  divi¬ 
sions  were  not  alone  distinguished  by  their  ensigns, 
but  that  each  particular  tribe  had  likewise  its  standard 
or  ensign.  On  this  subject  we  might  refer  to  the 
Talmudists,  who  have  gone  so  far  as  to  define  the 

a 


colours ,  and  the  figures  or  arms ,  of  the  very  ensigns. 
They  pretend  that  on  that  of  Judah  a  lion  was  painted, 
with  this  inscription:  ‘ Rise,  Lord,  let  thine  enemies 
he  dispersed,  and  let  those  that  hate  thee  flee  before 
thee  f  and  they  found  this  description  of  Judah’s  en¬ 
sign  in  Gen.  xlix.  9.  They  give  to  Issachar  an  ass, 
Gen.  xlix.  14  ;  to  Zebulun  a  ship,  Gen.  xlix.  13  ;  to 
Reuben  a  river,  Gen.  xlix.  4,  (others  give  Reuben  the 
figure  of  a  man;)  to  Simeon  a  sword,  Gen.  xlix.  5  ; 
to  Gad  a  lion,  Deut.  xxxiii.  20  ;  to  Ephraim  a  uni¬ 
corn,  Deut.  xxxiii.  17  ;  an  ox  to  Manasseh,  Deut. 
xxxiii.  17  ;  a  wolf  to  Benjamin,  Gen.  xlix.  27  ;  and 
a  serpent  to  Dan,  Gen.  xlix.  17,  though  others  give 
him  an  eagle.  In  short,  they  pretend  that  the  ensign 
of  Asher  was  a  handful  of  corn,  Gen.  xlix.  20,  and 
that  of  Naphtali  a  stag,  Gen.  xlix.  21. 

“To  prove  that  the  sums  here  are  correctly  added, 
we  have  but  to  join  together  the  detached  numbers, 
and  see  if  they  agree  with  the  total.  The  text  will 
furnish  us  with  an  example  of  this  :  there  was  in  the 
quarter  of 


Judah 

Reuben 

Ephraim 

Dan 


186,400 

151,450 

108,100 

157,600 


ver.  9. 
ver.  16. 
ver.  24. 
ver.  31. 


“  Among  other  things  we  must  remark  that  rule  of 
military  tactics  which  requires  that  the  advanced  and 
rear  guards  should  be  stronger  than  the  centre. 

“  In  a  well-regulated  camp,  cleanliness  is  considered 
indispensably  necessary ;  this  is  particularly  remarka¬ 
ble  in  the  Israelitish  army,  where  the  most  exact  or¬ 
der  was  maintained.  Hence  every  person  who  had 

615 


Remarks  on  the 


NUMBERS.  castrametation  of  the  Israelites , 


any  kind  of  disease,  and  those  who  were  reputed  un¬ 
clean ,  were  forbidden  to  enter  it ;  Num.  v.  2,  3  ; 
Deut.  xxiii.  10. 

“  Those  who  have  the  health  of  men,  and  of  a  whole 
army  confided  to  them,  are  not  ignorant  that  diseases 
may  be  easily  produced  by  putrid  exhalations  from 
excrementitious  matter  ;  and  that  such  matter  will  pro¬ 
duce  in  camps  pestilential  fevers  and  dysenteries.  For 
this  reason,  care  should  be  always  taken  that  offices, 
at  a  distance  from  the  camp,  be  provided  for  the  sol¬ 
diers,  and  also  that  those  who  are  sick  should  be  sepa¬ 
rated  from  the  others,  and  sent  to  hospitals  to  be  pro¬ 
perly  treated. 

“  In  military  tactics  we  find  two  distinct  wings 
spoken  of;  the  right  and  the  left.  The  Israelitish 
army  not  only  had  them  on  one  side,  as  is  customary, 
but  on  all  their  four  sides.  On  the  eastern  side,  the 
tribe  of  Issachar  formed  the  right ,  that  of  Zebulun  the 
left ,  and  that  of  Judah  the  centre.  On  the  south , 
Simeon  formed  the  right  icing ,  Gad  the  left ,  and 
Reuben  the  centre.  Towards  the  west ,  Manasseh 
composed  the  right ,  Benjamin  the  left ,  and  Ephraim 
the  centre.  And  on  the  north ,  Asher  was  on  the  right 
icing ,  Naphtali  on  the  left  icing ,  and  Dan  in  the  centre. 
Notwithstanding  this,  however,  the  army  was  not  in 
danger  of  being  easily  broken ;  for  every  tribe  being 
numerous,  they  were  supported  by  several  ranks,  in 
such  a  manner  that  the  first  being  broken,  the  second 
was  capable  of  making  resistance  ;  and  if  the  second 
gave  way,  or  shared  the  same  fate  as  the  first,  it  found 
itself  supported  by  the  third,  and  so  on  with  the  rest. 
The  square  form  in  which  the  Jewish  army  was  ordi¬ 
narily  placed,  was  the  very  best  for  security  and  de¬ 
fence.  The  use  and  importance  of  the  hollow  square 
in  military  tactics  is  well  known. 

“  For  so  large  a  multitude  of  people,  and  for  so  nu¬ 
merous  an  army,  it  was  needful  that  all  the  necessary 
articles  of  life  should  be  prepared  beforehand,  or  be 
found  ready  to  purchase.  In  these  respects  nothing 
was  wanting  to  the  Israelites.  Their  bread  came  down 
to  them  from  heaven,  and  they  had  besides  an  abun¬ 
dance  of  every  thing  that  could  contribute  to  magnifi¬ 
cence.  If  we  may  credit  Josephus,  they  had  amongst 
them  public  markets ,  and  a  variety  of  shops.  Ant.,  1. 
iii.  c.  12,  sec.  5.  The  tabernacle  being  erected,  it 
was  placed  in  the  midst  of  the  camp,  each  of  the  three 
tribes  stretching  themselves  on  the  wings,  and  leaving 
between  them  a  sufficient  space  to  pass. 

“  It  was,  says  Josephus,  like  a  well  appointed  mar¬ 
ket  where  every  thing  was  ready  for  sale  in  due  order, 
and  all  sorts  of  artificers  kept  their  shops  ;  so  that  this 
camp  might  be  considered  a  movable  city. 

“In  Exod.  xxxii.  27  we  likewise  find  that  mention 
is  made  of  the  gates  of  the  camp  :  1  Put  every  man 
his  sword  by  his  side,  and  go  in  and  out  from  gate  to 
gate  throughout  the  camp.’  From  whence  we  may 
certainly  conclude  that  if  the  camp  had  gates ,  the 
Israelites  had  also  sentinels  to  guard  them.  If  this  be 
true,  we  may  also  believe  that  they  were  surrounded 
with  entrenchments ,  or  that  at  least  their  gates  were 
defended  by  some  fortifications.  Sagittarius  (de 
Jan.  Yet.,  c.  18.  §  10)  pretends  that  the  tabernacle 
was  not  only  guarded  by  the  Levites,  but  that  there 
were  likewise  sentinels  at  the  gates,  and  at  the  en- 

616 


trance  of  the  Israelitish  camps.  See  the  note  on 
Exod.  xxxii.  27. 

“If  we  examine  and  compare  the  camp  of  Israel 
with  that  of  our  most  numerous  armies,  which  in  these 
days  are  composed  of  100,000  or  of  150,000  men, 
we  cannot  but  consider  it  of  vast  extent.  The  Jews 
say  it  was  twelve  miles  in  circumference ;  this  is  not 
at  all  improbable,  and  consequently  the  front  of  each 
wing  must  be  three  miles  in  extent.  But  taking  in 
the  tents,  the  soldiers  and  their  numerous  families,  the 
beasts  of  burden,  the  cattle,  and  the  goods,  it  certainly 
must  have  formed  a  very  considerable  inclosure,  much 
more  than  twelve  miles.  See  the  notes  on  Exod. 
xii.  37,  and  xiii.  18.  Reyher  (Math.  Mos.,  p.  568) 
assigns  to  the 

Tribe  of  Judah, 

A  space  of  29 8 f  cubits  in  breadth 

and  250  in  length 


Which  makes  74,600  square  cubits. 

“  We  must  observe  that  we  are  here  merely  speak¬ 
ing  of  the  ground  which  the  soldiers  of  this  tribe  oc¬ 
cupied  whilst  remaining  close  to  each  other  in  their 
ranks,  and  that  in  this  computation  there  is  but  one 
cubit  square  allowed  for  each  man ;  wherefore,  if  we 
take  in  the  arrangement  of  the  soldiers,  the  tents,  the 
necessary  spaces,  the  families,  the  beasts  of  burden, 
and  the  movables,  a  much  larger  extent  of  ground  is 
requisite.  All  those  circumstances  do  not  come  into 
Reyher1  s  calculation.  He  continues  thus  — 

For  the  tribe  of  Issachar, 

217-f  cubits  in  breadth 
250  in  length 


Total  54,400 
For  the  tribe  of  Gad, 

140jpi  cubits  in  breadth 
325  in  length 


Total  45,650 


For  the  tribe  of  Zebulun, 

229^  cubits  in  breadth 
250  in  length 


Total  57,400 

For  the  tribe  of  Ephraim, 

2024  cubits  in  breadth 
200  in  length 


Total  40,500 

For  the  tribe  of  Reuben, 

143j  cubits  in  breadth 
325  in  length 


Total  46,500 
For  the  tribe  of  Manasseh, 

161  cubits  in  breadth 
200  in  length 


Total  32,200 


a 


Remarks  on  the 


CHAP.  II. 


castrametation  of  the  Israelites 


For  the  tribe  of  Simeon, 

182t6j  cubits  in  breadth 


325 


in  length 


Total  59,300 
For  the  tribe  of  Benjamin, 

177  cubits  in  breadth 
200  in  length 


Total  35,400 
For  the  tribe  of  Dan, 

cubits  in  breadth 
400  in  length 


15  6J 


Total  62,700 

For  the  tribe  of  Asher, 

cubits  in  breadth 
400  in  length 


103y 


Total  41,500 
For  the  tribe  of  Naphtali, 

133^  cubits  in  breadth 
400  in  length 


Total 


53,400 


M  If  we  make  the  ichnography,  or  even  the  sceno- 
graphy,  of  the  camp  on  this  plan,  in  following  it  we 
must  first,  in  the  centre ,  form  a  ‘parallelogram  of  100 
cubits  long  and  50  broad  for  the  court  of  the  taberna¬ 
cle  with  an  empty  space  all  round  of  50  cubits  broad. 
We  must  then  place  the  camp  of  the  Levites  in  the 
following  order  : — 

To  the  west,  the  Gershonites,  chap.  iii.  22,  23. 
Breadth  30  cubits 

Length  250  cubits 


Total  7500 

To  the  south,  the  Kohathites,  chap.  iii.  28,  29. 
Breadth  86  cubits 

Length  100  cubits 


Total  8600 

To  the  north,  the  Merarites,  chap.  iii.  34,  35. 
Breadth  62  cubits 
Length  100  cubits 


Total  6200 

“  On  the  east  we  must  place  tents  for  Moses,  Aaron, 
and  his  sons,  chap.  iii.  38. 

“  At  the  place  where  the  camp  of  the  Levites  ends, 
a  space  must  be  left  of  2,000  square  cubits,  after 
which  we  must  take  the  dimensions  of  the  camp  of 
the  twelve  tribes. 

“  This  plan  is  in  the  main  well  imagined,  but  it 
does  not  afford  an  ichnography  of  sufficient  extent. 
To  come  more  accurately  to  a  proper  understanding 
of  this  subject,  I  shall  examine  the  rules  that  are  now 
in  use  for  encampments,  and  compare  them  afterward 
with  what  is  laid  down  in  the  Holy  Scriptures,  in  order 
that  we  may  hereby  form  to  ourselves  an  idea  of  the 
camp  of  God.  the  grandeur  and  perfection  of  which 


surpassed  every  thing  of  the  kind  ever  seen.  I  shall 
now  mention  what  I  am  about  to  propose  as  the  foun¬ 
dation  upon  which  I  shall  proceed. 

“  In  Exod.  xviii.  21,Deut.  i.  15,  we  find  the  advice 
given  by  Jethro  to  Moses  respecting  political  govern¬ 
ment  and  military  discipline  :  ‘  Thou  shalt  provide  out 
of  all  the  people  able  men,  such  as  fear  God,  men  of 
truth,  hating  covetousness  ;  and  place  such  over  them, 
to  be  rulers  of  thousands,  and  rulers  of  hundreds,  rulers 
of  fifties,  and  rulers  of  tens.’  [See  the  note  on  Exod. 
xviii.  21.]  We  may  very  well  compare  these  tribunes , 
or  rather  these  chiliarchs,  to  our  colonels ,  the  centu¬ 
rions  or  hecatontarchs  to  commanders  or  captains,  the 
quinquagenaries  or  pentecontarchs  to  lieutenants,  and 
the  decurions  or  decarchs  to  our  sergeants.  These 
chiefs,  whether  they  were  named  magistrates  or  offi¬ 
cers,  were  each  drawn  from  his  own  particular  tribe, 
so  that  it  was  not  permitted  to  place  over  one  tribe  an 
officer  taken  from  another.  Whatever  matter  the 
decarchs  could  not  decide  upon  or  terminate,  went  to 
the  pentecontarchs ,  and  from  thence  by  degrees  to  the 
hecatontarchs,  to  the  chiliarchs,  to  Moses,  and  at 
length  to  God  himself,  the  sovereign  head  of  the 
army.  If  we  divide  the  whole  army  (such  as  it  was 
at  its  departure  from  Egypt)  by  the  numbers  already 
laid  down,  we  shall  find  600  chiliarchs,  6,000  heca¬ 
tontarchs,  12,000  pentecontarchs,  60,000  decarchs, 
which  in  all  make  78,600  officers.  Josephus  regu¬ 
lates  the  number  of  them  still  more  exactly  by  say¬ 
ing  that  there  were  chiefs  set  over  10,000,  1,000, 
500,  50,  30,  20,  and  10.  We  find  this  regulation  in 
Ant.  Jud .,  b.  iii.,  c.  4  :  ‘  Take  a  review  of  the  army, 
and  appoint  chosen  rulers  over  tens  of  thousands,  and 
then  over  thousands,  then  divide  them  into  five  hun¬ 
dreds,  and  again  into  hundreds,  and  into  fifties,  and 
set  rulers  over  each  of  them  who  may  distinguish  them 
into  thirties,  and  keep  them  in  order;  and  at  last  num¬ 
ber  them  by  twenties  and  by  tens,  and  let  there  be  one 
commander  over  each  number,  to  be  denominated  from 
the  number  of  those  over  whom  they  are  rulers.’ 

“  We  ought  not  to  pass  over  in  silence  this  division 
by  tens ,  for  twice  10  make  20,  three  times  10,  30, 
five  times  10,  50,  ten  times  10,  100,  ten  times  50, 
500,  ten  times  1,000,  10,000.  It  was  in  this  manner, 
as  is  pretended,  that  Cangu,  the  first  of  the  great 
Khams,  (as  he  is  called,)  and  after  him  Tamerlane, 
drew  out  an  army,  i.  e.,  by  10,  100,  1,000,  10,000, 
mentioned  in  Alhazen ,  c.  v.  Probably  these  Tartars 
borrowed  from  the  very  Hebrews  themselves  this 
manner  of  laying  out  a  camp.  At  all  events  it  is 
certain  that  nothing  more  ancient  of  the  kind  can  be 
found  than  that  mentioned  in  the  books  of  Moses.  To 
distinguish  it  from  that  of  the  Greeks  and  Romans  we 
may  with  justice  call  it  the  Hebrew  castrametation, 
or,  if  we  judge  it  more  proper,  the  Divine  castrame¬ 
tation,  and  consequently  the  most  perfect  of  all.  For 
although  Moses  places  the  pentecontarchs  in  the  mid¬ 
dle,  between  the  hecatontarchs  and  the  decarchs ,  i.  e., 
50  between  100  and.  10  ;  and  although  Josephus 
afterward  places  1,000  between  500  and  10,000, 
and  30  and  20  between  10  and  50,  this  does  not  at 
all  derange  the  progression  by  tens,  which  is  the  foun¬ 
dation  of  arithmetic.  These  subaltern  officers  were 
equally  useful  aud  necessary,  as  we  now  see  that  their 

617 


Remarks  on  the 


NUMBERS. 


number,  far  from  creating  confusion,  helps  to  main¬ 
tain  order,  and  that  the  more  there  are  of  them  the 
better  is  order  preserved.  According  to  the  modern 
method  of  carrying  on  war,  the  next  in  rank  to  the 
generals  of  the  army  (who  have  the  supreme  com¬ 
mand)  are  field  marshals  and  brigadiers ,  who  command 
5,000  men. 

“  There  are  then  between  the  chiliarchs  or  colonels 
and  the  hecatontarchs  or  captains ,  lieutenant-colonels  ; 
and  between  the  hecatontarchs  and  the  decarchs ,  lieu¬ 
tenant-captains  ;  and  these  have  under  them  lieuten¬ 
ants  and  ensigns. 

“  It  is  certain  that  this  method  of  distributing  an 
army  by  tens ,  and  of  encamping,  which  is  very  con¬ 
cise,  has  far  greater  advantages  even  with  respect  to 
expense  than  the  very  best  plans  of  the  Greeks,  Ro¬ 
mans,  or  any  other  ancient  nation.  On  this  subject  we 
have  the  testimony  of  Simon  Steven,  Castrametat.  c.  1, 
art.  1,  and  c.  4,  art.  3,  Oper.  Math.,  p.  574  and  596, 
&c.  According  to  this  arrangement  each  soldier,  or 
if  more  proper,  each  father  of  a  family,  being  thus 
placed  by  ten  and  ten  in  a  straight  line  one  after  the 
other,  might  very  easily  name  themselves  second, 
&c.  Each  troop  in  like  manner  might  be  distinguished 
by  its  ensigns,  that  of  100  might  have  them  small, 
that  of  1,000  larger,  and  that  of  10,000  still  larger. 
Every  officer,  from  the  lowest  subaltern  to  the  general 
officers  of  the  camp,  and  even  to  the  generalissimos 
themselves,  had  only  an  easy  inspection  of  ten  men 
each ;  the  decarch  had  the  inspection  of  1 0  soldiers, 
the  hecatontarch  of  1 0  decarchs ,  and  the  chiliarch  of  1 0 
hecatontarchs.  After  the  chiliarchs,  which  in  no  troop 
can  amount  to  ten,  there  is  the  chief  or  head  of  each 
tribe.  Each  then  exactly  fulfilling  the  duty  assigned 
him,  we  may  suppose  every  thing  to  be  in  good  order, 
even  were  the  camp  larger  and  more  numerous.  The 
same  may  be  said  respecting  the  contentions  that  might 
arise  among  the  soldiers,  as  well  as  every  thing  rela¬ 
tive  to  the  general  duty  of  the  officers,  as  to  the  labours 
they  were  to  undertake,  whether  for  striking  their 
tents  for  works  of  fortification  or  for  making  entrench¬ 
ments.  This  arrangement  might  be  easily  retained  in 
the  memory,  or  a  general  list  be  kept  of  the  names  of 
both  officers  and  soldiers  to  distribute  to  them  their 
pay,  and  to  keep  exact  accounts. 

“  It  was  possible  in  one  moment  to  know  the  num¬ 
ber  of  those  who  were  either  wanting  or  were  out  of 
their  ranks,  and  to  avoid  this  disorder  in  future  by 
obliging  each  man  to  attend  to  his  duty  and  keep  in 
his  rank.  If  by  chance  it  happened  that  any  one  man 
wished  to  desert  or  had  escaped,  it  was  easy  to  notice 
him  and  inflict  on  him  the  punishment  he  merited. 
The  ensigns  being  distinguished  by  their  marks,  and 
the  company  being  known,  it  was  easy  to  find  any 
soldier  whatever. 

“  The  armies  themselves  might  have  certain  marks 
to  distinguish  them,  and  by  that  means  they  might  at 
once  ascertain  the  person  in  question  ;  for  example  : 
8.  2.  7.  3.  might  signify  the  eighth  soldier  or  father 
of  a  family,  of  the  second  rank,  of  the  seventh  company, 
In  the  third  chiliad;  7.  3.  5.  the  halberdier  of  the 
decurion  or  sergeant  of  the  seventh  line,  in  the  third 
company,  of  the  fifth  chiliad  or  thousand;  5.  8.  the 
hecatontarchs  or  captains  of  the  fifth  company,  in  the 

618 


castrametation  of  the  Israelites. 

eighth  chiliad;  7.  the  chiliarchs  or  colonels  of  the  se¬ 
venth  rank  ;  0.  finally,  the  general  of  the  whole  army. 
Farther,  by  the  same  means  the  loss  or  misplacing 
of  their  arms  might  be  prevented.  Again,  the  sol¬ 
diers  might  in  a  very  short  time  be  instructed  and 
formed  to  the  exercise  of  arms,  each  decad  having  its 
sergeant  for  its  master  ;  and  the  chariots  or  other  car¬ 
riages  might  easily  be  divided  amongst  several,  10 
under  the  decurion,  100  under  the  hecatontarch ;  and 
by  thus  following  the  above  method,  every  thing  might 
be  kept  in  good  order. 

A  PLAN  OF  THE  WHOLE  ISRAELITISH  CAMP. 

“  We  shall  finally,  in  one  plate,  represent  the  whole 
camp  of  the  Israelites,  in  that  order  which  appears  the 
most  proper.  For  this  purpose  we  must  extract  the 
square  roots  of  the  preceding  spaces,  in  order  that  we 
may  be  able  to  assign  to  each  tribe  square  areas,  or 
rectangular  parallelograms.  I  therefore  find  for 

Reuben  3049  square  cubits. 

Simeon  3443 

The  Gershonites  1224 

The  Kohathites  1311 

The  Merarites  1113 

Judah  3862 

Issachar  3298 

Zebulun  3388 

Gad  3019 

Asher  2880 

Manasseh  2537 

Ephraim  2846 

Benjamin  2660 

Dan  3541 

Naphtali  3268 

“  The  tabernacle,  which  was  100  cubits  long  and  50 
broad,  I  place  in  the  centre  of  the  camp,  at  the  dis¬ 
tance  of  840  feet  from  the  camp  of  the  Levites,  which 
is  placed  exactly  in  the  same  manner  as  described  in 
the  sacred  writings.  I  find  therefore  that  the  whole 
space  of  the  camp  is  259,600,000  feet.  Now,  accord¬ 
ing  to  the  manner  we  have  just  divided  the  camp  for 
each  tribe,  the  sum  total  being  125,210,000,  it  follows 
that  the  space  between  the  tents  contained  134,390,000. 
If,  with  Eisenschmid ,  we  estimate  the  Roman  mile 
at  766  French  fathoms  and  two  feet,  (consequently 
21,141,604  square  feet  to  a  Roman  square  mile,)  the 
Israelitish  camp  will  contain  a  little  more  than  12  such 
square  miles.” 

The  reader  will  have  the  goodness  to  observe  that 
the  preceding  observations,  as  well  as  the  following 
plate  or  diagram,  which  was  made  by  Scheuchzer  on 
the  exactest  proportions,  could  not  be  accurately  co¬ 
pied  here  without  an  engraved  plate  ;  and  after  all, 
the  common  reader  could  have  profited  no  more  by 
the  plate  than  he  can  by  the  diagram.  It  is  not  even 
hoped  that  disquisitions  of  this  kind  can  give  any 
thing  more  than  a  general  idea  how  the  thing  pro¬ 
bably  was  ;  for  to  pretend  to  minute  exactness,  in  such 
cases,  would  be  absurd.  The  sacred  text  informs  us 
that  such  and  such  tribes  occupied  the  east,  such  the 
west,  &c.,  &c. ;  but  how  they  were  arranged  indivi¬ 
dually  we  cannot  pretend  absolutely  to  say.  Scheuch- 
zer’s  plan  is  such  as  we  may  suppose  judgment  and 
skill  would  lay  down ;  but  still  it  is  very  probable  that 

a 


Remarks  on  the 


CHAP.  II.  castrametation  of  the  Israelites. 


the  plan  of  the  Israelites’  castrametation  was  more  per¬ 
fect  than  any  thing  we  can  well  imagine  ;  for  as  it  was 
the  plan  which  probably  God  himself  laid  down,  it 
must  be  in  every  respect  what  it  ought  to  be,  for  the 
comfort  and  safety  of  this  numerous  multitude. 

As  there  are  some  differences  between  the  mode  of 
distributing  the  command  of  a  large  army  among  the 
British,  and  that  used  on  the  continent,  which  is  fol¬ 
lowed  by  Scheuchzer,  I  shall  lay  down  the  descending 
scale  of  British  commanders,  which  some  may  think 
applies  better  to  the  preceding  arrangement  of  the 
Israelitish  army  than  the  other. 

The  command  of  a  large  army  in  the  British  service 
is  thus  divided  : — 

1.  The  commander-in-chief. 

2.  Lieutenant-generals,  who  command  divisions  of  the 

army  :  (these  divisions  consist  of  2  or  3  brigades 
each,  which,  on  an  average,  amount  to  5,000  men.) 

3.  Major-generals,  who  command  brigades :  (these  bri¬ 

gades  consist  of  from  2  to  3,000  men  [2,500  is 
perhaps  the  average]  according  to  the  strength 
of  the  respective  regiments  of  which  the  brigade 
is  composed.) 

4.  Colonels  in  the  army,  or  lieutenant-colonels,  who 

command  single  regiments ;  they  are  assisted  in 
the  command  of  these  regiments  by  the  majors 
of  the  regiments.  [I  mention  the  major,  that 
there  may  be  no  break  in  the  descending  scale 
of  gradation  of  ranks,  as  in  the  event  of  the  ab¬ 
sence  of  the  above  two  officers,  he  is  the  next  in 
command.] 


5.  Captains  who  command  companies  :  these  com¬ 

panies  (on  the  war  establishment)  consist  of  100 
men  each,  and  there  are  10  companies  in  every 
regiment,  consequently  a  colonel,  or  lieutenant- 
colonel,  commands  1,000  men. 

6.  Lieutenants,  ofwhich there"]  Subaltern  officers,  ha- 

are  2  to  every  company.  >ving  no  command,  but 

7.  Ensign;  1  to  each  company.  J  assisting  the  captain. 

1.  Commander-in-chief. 

2.  Lieutenant-generals  command-  [These  are  called 

ing  divisions  5,000  each.  [  general  officers. 

3.  Major-generals,  brigades  2,500.  J 

4.  Colonels,  lieutenant-colonels,  and  majors  ;  3  officers 

belonging  to  each  regiment  in  the  service,  and 
are  solely  employed  in  the  disciplining  and  com- 
manding  the  men. ;  these  are  mounted  on  horse¬ 
back,  and  termed  field-officers. 

5.  1  Captain  "] 

6.  2  Lieutenants  >to  each  company. 

7.  1  Ensign  J 

Ascending  scale  of  ranks  which  every  officer 
must  pass  through. 


r  to  every  regiment. 


Ensign, 

Lieutenant, 

Captain, 

Major, 

Lieutenant-colonel, 

Colonel, 

M  ajor-general,  brigade-commander. 
Lieutenant-general,  division-commander. 
General-in-chief,  who  commands  the  whole  arm y. 


619 


Camp  of  the  Israelites 


NUMBERS. 


in  the  wilderness. 


DIAGRAM  OF  THE  ISRAELITISH  CAMP. 


Though  I  particularly  refer  the  reader  to  the 
above  diagram  of  the  Israelitish  camp,  taken  from 
Scheuchzer’s  plate,  which  I  have  thought  necessary  to 
be  subjoined  to  his  description,  yet  I  think  it  also  proper 
to  introduce  that  on  the  following  page,  as  it  gives 
a  general  and  tolerably  correct  idea  of  this  immense 
camp,  in  the  description  of  which  the  inspired  writer 
has  been  so  very  particular  ;  but  still  I  must  say  these 
things  are  to  be  considered  as  probable,  not  as  abso- 

620 


lutely  certain ;  as  comprising  a  general  view  of  what 
may  be  supposed  probable,  likely,  and  practicable. 

The  whole  may  be  said  to  consist  of  three  camps, 
viz.,  1.  The  camp  of  the  Lord;  2.  The  camp  of  the 
Levites ;  and,  3.  The  camp  of  the  people.  These 
in  the  grand  camp  in  the  wilderness,  corresponded 
with  the  holy  of  holies ,  the  holy  place,  and  the 
outward  court  of  the  Temple  at  Jerusalem.  See 
Ainsworth. 

a 


The  generations  of 


CHAP.  III. 


Aar  on  and  Moses. 


x 

02 

O 

& 


£ 

O 

m 


o  ^ 
<op$ 

Ph 

p 

o 

p 


EAST. 


186,400  Men, 

FIRST  GRAND  DIVISION. 


JUDAH, 

74,600. 

Issachar,  and  zebdlon, 
64,400.  57,400. 


MOSES,  AARON, 

AND 

THE  PRIESTS. 


Q  — 


ts 

a 

B.  CO 
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CS 


GO 

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M 

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«  . 

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TABERNACLE. 


O  r 
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cn  r:  —< 
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•-J  H 

X  “ 


'0593 

‘NOHSHHO 
do 

S3XIA3T 

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•NIKYfNaa  pUB  ‘H3SSVNVK 
■005<0I’ 
‘JMIVAHdH 


Oft 
Oi  a 
co  @S 
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53 


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C3  to 

oi  a 
O'* 


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td 
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•NOISIAICI  dNVHO  aHIHU 
00I‘80I 


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02 

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1-3 

X 


CHAPTER  III. 


The  generations  of  Aaron  and  Moses.  1—4.  The  tribe  of  Levi  to  minister  to  the  Lord  under  Aaron  and  his 
sons,  5—10.  They  are  taken  in  the  place  of  the  first-born ,  11  —  13.  Moses  is  commanded  to  number  them, 
14— 1G.  Gershon,  Kohath,  and  Merari,  the  names  of  the  three  heads  of  families  of  the  Levites ,  17.  Of 
Gershon  and  his  family ,  18—21.  Their  number,  7,500,  ver.  22.  Their 'place  behind  the  tabernacle,  west- 
ward,  23.  Their  chief,  Eliasaph,  24.  Their  charge,  25,  26.  Of  Kohath  and  his  family,  27.  Their 
number,  8,600,  ver.  28.  Their  place,  beside  the  tabernacle,  southward,  29.  Their  chief ,  Elizaphan,  30. 

Their  charge,  31.  The  chief  of  the  Levites,  Eleazar,  son  of  Aaron,  32.  Of  Merari  and  his  family,  33, 
Their  number,  6,200,  ver.  34.  Their  chief,  Zuriel,  they  shall  pitch  beside  the  tabernacle,  northward,  35. 
Their  charge,  35—37.  Moses  and  A  aron  to  encamp  before  the  tabernacle,  eastward,  38.  The  amount  of 
all  the  males  among  the  Levites  from  a  month  old  and  upwards,  22,000,  ver.  39.  Moses  is  commanded  to 
number  the  first-born,  40  ;  and  to  take  the  Levites  and  their  cattle,  instead  of  the  first-born  of  man  and 
beast  among  the  Israelites,  41.  Moses  numbers  the  first-born,  who  amount  to  22,273,  ver.  43.  Ay 
the  first-born  were  273  more  than  the  Levites,  Moses  is  commanded  to  take  from  the  people  five  shekels 
apiece  for  them,  44—47,  which  is  to  be  given  to  Aaron  and  his  sons,  48.  Moses  does  accordingly,  and 
finds  the  amount  of  the  money  to  be  1,365  shekels,  49,  50,  which  is  given  to  Aaron  and  his  sons,  51. 


A.  M.  2514. 

B.  C.  1490. 
An.  Exod.  Isr.  2. 

Ijar  or  Zif. 


genera 


rpiIESE  also  are  the 

lions  of  Aaron  and  Mose 
in  the  day  that  the  Lor 


spake  with  Moses  in  Mount 
Sinai. 

2  And  these  are  the  names  of 


A.  M.  2514, 

B.  C.  1490. 
An.  Exod. Isr.  2. 

Ijar  or  Zif. 


NOTES  ON  CHAP.  III. 

Verse  1.  The  generations  of  Aaron  and  Moses ] 
Though  Aaron  and  Moses  are  both  mentioned  here, 
yet  the  family  of  Aaron  alone  appears  in  the  list  ; 

a 


hence  some  have  thought  that  the  word  Moses  was 
not  originally  in  the  text.  Others  think  that  the  words 
fynSn  n/Nl  veelleh  toledoth,  these  are  the  generations , 
should  be  rendered  these  are  the  acts,  or  transactions , 

621 


The  Levites  are  to  minister 


NUMBERS. 


under  Aaron  and  his  sons 


a.  M.  2514.  the  sons  of  Aaron  ;  Nadab  the 
An.  Exod.  isr.  2.  a  first-born,  and  Abihu,  Eleazar, 

ljar  Zl£  and  Ithamar. 

3  These  are  the  names  of  the  sons  of  Aaron, 
b  the  priests  which  were  anointed,  c  whom  he 
consecrated  to  minister  in  the  priest’s  office. 

4  d  And  Nadab  and  Abihu  died  before  the 
Lord,  when  they  offered  strange  fire  before 
the  Lord,  in  the  wilderness  of  Sinai,  and  they 
had  no  children :  and  Eleazar  and  Ithamar 
ministered  in  the  priest’s  office,  in  the  sight 
of  Aaron  their  father. 

5  And  the  Lord  spake  unto  Moses,  saying, 

6  e  Bring  the  tribe  of  Levi  near,  and  present 
them  before  Aaron  the  priest,  that  they  may 
minister  unto  him. 

7  And  they  shall  keep  his  charge,  and  the 
charge  of  the  whole  congregation  before  the 
tabernacle  of  the  congregation,  to  do  f  the 
service  of  the  tabernacle. 

a  Exod.  vi.  23. - b  Exod.  xxviii.  41  ;  Lev.  viii. - c  Hebrew 

whose  hand  he  filled. - d  Lev.  x.  1  ;  chap.  xxvi.  61  ;  1  Chron. 

xxiv.  2. - e  Chap.  viii.  6  ;  xviii.  2. - f  See  chap.  i.  50  ;  viii. 

11,  15,  24,  26. 

or  the  history  of  the  lives,  as  the  same  phrase  may  be 
understood  in  Gen.  ii.  4;  vi.  9.  However  this  may 
be,  it  is  evident  that  in  this  genealogy  the  family  of 
Aaron  are  alone  mentioned,  probably  because  these 
belonged  to  the  priesthood.  Moses  passes  by  his  own 
family,  or  immediate  descendants ;  he  gave  no  rank 
or  privilege  to  them  during  his  life,  and  left  nothing 
to  them  at  his  death.  They  became  incorporated  with 
the  Levites,  from  or  amongst  whom  they  are  never 
distinguished.  What  a  strong  proof  is  this  of  the 
celestial  origin  of  his  religion !  Had  it  been  of  man, 
it  must  have  had  the  gratification  of  some  impure  pas¬ 
sion  for  its  object ;  lust,  ambition,  or  avarice  :  but 
none  of  these  ever  appear  during  the  whole  of  his  ad¬ 
ministration  amongst  the  Israelites,  though  he  had  it 
constantly  in  his  powrnr  to  have  gratified  each.  What 
an  essential  difference  between  the  religion  of  the  Pen¬ 
tateuch  and  that  of  the  Koran  !  The  former  is  God’s 
workmanship ;  the  latter  is  a  motley  mixture  of  all 
bad  crafts,  with  here  and  there  a  portion  of  heavenly 
fire,  stolen  from  the  Divine  altar  in  the  Old  and  New 
Testaments,  to  give  some  vitality  to  the  otherwise 
inert  mass. 

Yerse  4.  Nadab  and  Abihu  died ]  See  the  notes  on 
Lev.  chap.  x. 

Yerse  6.  Bring  the  tribe  of  Levi  near ]  The  origi¬ 
nal  word  hakreb  is  properly  a  sacrificial  word, 

and  signifies  the  presenting  of  a  sacrifice  or  offering  to 
tho  Lord.  As  an  offering,  the  tribe  of  Levi  was  given 
up  entirely  to  the  service  of  the  sanctuary,  to  be  no 
longer  their  own,  but  the  Lord’s  property. 

Yerse  7.  The  charge  of  the  whole  congregation\ 
They  shall  work  for  the  wThole  congregation ;  and  in¬ 
stead  of  the  first-born. 

Yerse  8.  All  the  instruments ]  The  tabernacle 

622 


8  And  they  shall  keep  all  the  A.  M.  2514. 
instruments  of  the  tabernacle  01  An.  Exod.  isr.  2. 
the  congregation,  and  the  charge  ijarorZif. 

of  the  children  of  Israel,  to  do  the  service  of 
the  tabernacle. 

9  And  s  thou  shalt  give  the  Levites  unto 
Aaron  and  to  his  sons  :  they  are  wholly  given 
unto  him  out  of  the  children  of  Israel. 

10  And  thou  shalt  appoint  Aaron  and  his 
sons,  h  and  they  shall  wait  on  their  priest’s 
office  :  1  and  the  stranger  that  cometh  nigh 
shall  be  put  to  death. 

1 1  And  the  Lord  spake  unto  Moses,  saying, 

1 2  And  I,  behold,  k  I  have  taken  the  Levites 
from  among  the  children  of  Israel  instead  of 
all  the  first-born  that  openeth  the  matrix  among 
the  children  of  Israel  :  therefore  the  Levites 
shall  be  mine  : 

13  Because  1  all  the  first-born  are  mine  : 
mfor  on  the  day  that  I  smote  all  the  first-bom 

s  Chap.  viii.  19  ;  xviii.  6. - h  Chap,  xviii.  7. - *  Verse  38 ; 

chap.  i.  51  ;  xvi.  40. - k  Verse  41 ;  chapter  viii.  16  ;  xviii.  6. 

1  Exod.  xiii.  2 ;  Lev.  xxvii.  26  ;  chapter  viii.  16 ;  Luke  ii.  23. 
mExod.  xiii.  12,  15;  chap.  viii.  17. 

itself  and  all  its  contents  :  see  all  described,  ver.  25, 
26,  31,  36,  37.  The  Levites  were  to  perform  the 
most  common  and  laborious  offices.  It  w’as  their 
business  to  take  down,  put  up,  and  carry  the  taber¬ 
nacle  and  its  utensils;  for  it  was  the  object  of  their 
peculiar  care.  In  a  word,  they  were  the  servants  of 
the  priests. 

Yerse  10.  Aaron  and  his  sons — shall  wail  on  their 
priest's  office ]  It  was  the  business  of  the  priests  to  offer 
the  different  sacrifices  to  God  ;  to  consecrate  the  shew-, 
bread,  pour  out  the  libations,  burn  the  incense,  sprinkle 
the  blood  of  the  victims,  and  bless  the  people.  In  a 
word,  they  were  the  servants  of  God  alone. 

Yerse  12.  I  have  taken  the  Levites — instead  of  all 
the  first-born ]  The  Levites  are  taken  for  the  service 
of  the  sanctuary  in  place  of  the  first-born.  The  first¬ 
born  were  dedicated  to  God  in  commemoration  of  his 
slaying  the  first-born  of  the  Egyptians,  and  preserving 
those  of  the  Israelites.  Even  the  cattle  of  the  Levites 
were  taken  in  place  of  the  first-born  of  the  cattle  of  the 
rest  of  the  tribes.  See  ver.  45. 

Several  reasons  have  been  assigned  why  God  should 
give  this  honour  to  the  tribe  of  Levi  in  preference  to 
all  the  others,  but  they  do  not  seem  to  me  to  be  con¬ 
clusive.  Their  zeal  in  destroying  those  who  had  cor¬ 
rupted  the  worship  of  God  in  the  business  of  the  golden 
calf,  Exod.  xxxii.  28,  has  been  thought  a  sufficient 
reason.  A  better  reason  is,  that  this  was  the  smallest 
tribe,  and  they  were  quite  enough  for  the  service.  To 
have  had  a  more  numerous  tribe  at  this  time  would 
have  been  very  inconvenient. 

Aaron,  says  Mr.  Ainsworth,  being  in  his  priesthood 
a  type  of  Christ,  all  these  rites  are  fulfilled  in  him. 
For  unto  Christ  God  gave  children,  Heb.  ii.  13.  And 
they  are  a  congregation  of  first-born ,  whose  names 

a 


Enumeration  of  the  CHAP.  III.  Levitical  families. 


A.  M.  2514.  in  the  land  of  Egypt,  I  hallowed 
An.  Exi-d.  isr.  2.  unto  me  all  the  first-born  in  Israel, 

I  jar  °i  Zif.  ^Qtj1  man  ancj  beast ;  mine  shall 

they  be  :  I  am  the  Lord. 

14  And  the  Lord  spake  unto  Moses  in  the 
wilderness  of  Sinai,  saying, 

15  Number  the  children  of  Levi  after  the 
house  of  their  fathers,  by  their  families  : 
n  every  male,  from  a  month  old  and  upward, 
shalt  thou  number  them. 

1 6  And  Moses  numbered  them  according  to 
the  0  word  of  the  Lord,  as  he  was  com¬ 
manded. 

17  p  And  these  were  the  sons  of  Levi  by 
their  names  ;  Gershon,  and  Kohath,  and  Me- 
rari. 

18  And  these  are  the  names  of  the  sons 
of  Gershon  by  their  families  ;  q  Libni,  and 
Shimei. 

1 9  And  the  sons  of  Kohath  by  their  families ; 
r  Amram,  and  Izehar,  Hebron,  and  Uzziel. 

20  s  And  the  sons  of  Merari  by  their  fami¬ 
lies  ;  Mahli,  and  Mushi.  These  are  the  fami¬ 
lies  of  the  Levites,  according  to  the  house  of 
their  fathers. 

21  Of  Gershon  was  the  family  of  the  Lib- 
nites,  and  the  family  of  the  Shimites  :  these 
are  the  families  of  the  Gershonites. 

22  Those  that  were  numbered  of  them,  ac¬ 
cording  to  the  number  of  all  the  males,  from  a 
month  old  and  upward,  even  those  that  were 
numbered  of  them  ivere  seven  thousand  and 
five  hundred. 

23  t  The  families  of  thee  Gershonites  shall 
pitch  behind  the  tabernacle  westward. 

Q  Ver.  39  ;  chap.  xxvi.  62. - 0  Heb.  mouth. - p  Gen.  xlvi. 

11  ;  Exod.  vi.  16;  chap.  xxvi.  57;  1  Chron.  vi.  1.  16;  xxiii.  6. 

q  Exod.  vi.  17. - rExod.  vi.  18. - s  Exod.  vi.  19. - ‘Chap. 

i.  53. - u  Chap.  iv.  24,  25,  26. - v  Exod.  xxv.  9. - w  Exod. 

xxvi.  1. 

are  written  in  heaven ,  Heb.  xii.  23,  being  of  God’s 
own  will  begotten  by  the  word  of  truths  that  they  should 
be  a  hind  of  first-fruits  of  his  creatures ,  James  i.  18, 
to  whom  he  also  gives  the  first-fruits  of  his  Spirit, 
Rom.  viii.  23.  These  wait  on  and  follow  the  Lamb , 
being  first-fruits  unto  God  and  to  the  Lamb ,  Rev.  xiv. 
4  ;  and  Christ  hath  made  us  kings  and  priests  unto 
God  and  his  Father ,  that  we  may  serve  him  day  and 
night  in  his  temple ,  Rev.  i.  6  ;  vii.  15. 

Verse  15.  A  month  old  and  upward ]  The  males 
of  all  the  other  tribes  were  numbered,  from  twenty 
years  and  upward ;  had  the  Levites  been  numbered 
in  this  way,  they  would  not  have  been  nearly  equal  in 
number  to  the  first-born  of  the  twelve  tribes.  Add  to 
this,  that  as  there  must  have  been  first-born  of  all  ages 
in  the  other  tribes,  it  was  necessary  that  the  Levites , 

a 


24  And  the  chief  of  the  house  a.  m.  2514. 
of  the  father  of  the  Gershonites  An.  Exod.  tsr.  2. 
shall  he  Eliasaph  the  son  of  fkr  or Zlf- 
Lael. 

25  And  11  the  charge  of  the  sons  of  Gershon 
in  the  tabernacle  of  the  congregation  shall  be 
v  the  tabernacle,  and  w  the  tent,  x  the  covering 
thereof,  and  y  the  hanging  for  the  door  of  the 
tabernacle  of  the  congregation, 

26  And  z  the  hangings  of  the  court,  and  a  the 
curtain  for  the  door  of  the  court,  which  is  by 
the  tabernacle,  and  by  the  altar  round  about, 
and  b  the  cords  of  it  for  all  the  service  thereof. 

27  c  And  of  Kohath  was  the  family  of  the 
Amramites,  and  the  family  of  the  Izeharites, 
and  the  family  of  the  Hebronites,  and  the  fa¬ 
mily  of  the  Uzzielites  :  these  are  the  families 
of  the  Kohathites. 

28  In  the  number  of  all  the  males,  from  a 
month  old  and  upward,  were  eight  thousand 
and  six  hundred,  keeping  the  charge  of  the 
sanctuary. 

29  ll  The  families  of  the  sons  of  Kohath 
shall  pitch  on  the  side  of  the  tabernacle 
southward. 

30  And  the  chief  of  the  house  of  the  father 
of  the  families  of  the  Kohathites  shall  be 
Elizaphan  the  son  of  Uzziel. 

3  1  And  e  their  charge  shall  be  f  the  ark,  and 
s'  the  table,  and  h  the  candlestick,  and  1  the 
altars,  and  the  vessels  of  the  sanctuary  where¬ 
with  they  minister,  and  k  the  hanging,  and  all 
the  service  thereof. 

32  And  Eleazar  the  son  of  Aaron  the  priest 
shall  be  chief  over  the  chief  of  the  Levites, 

x  Exod.  xxvi.  7, 14. - y  Exod.  xxvi.  36. - z  Exod.  xxvii.  9, 

a  Exod.  xxvii.  16. - b  Exod.  xxxv.  18. - c  1  Chron.  xxvi.  23. 

d  Chap.  i.  53. - e  Chap.  iv.  15. - f  Exod.  xxv.  10. - s  Exod. 

xxv.  23. - hExod.  xxv.  31. - iExod.  xxvii.  1;  xxx.  1. 

k  Exod.  xxvi.  32. 

who  were  to  be  their  substitutes ,  should  be  also  of  all 
ages  ;  and  it  appears  to  have  been  on  this  ground,  at 
least  partly,  that  the  Levites  were  numbered  from  four 
weeks  old  and  upward. 

Verse  16.  Moses  numbered  them ]  Though  Moses 
and  Aaron  conjointly  numbered  the  twelve  tribes ,  yet 
Moses  alone  numbered  the  Levites  ;  “  for  as  the  money 
with  which  the  first-born  of  Israel,  who  exceeded  the 
number  of  Levites,  were  redeemed,  was  to  be  paid  to 
Aaron  and  his  sons,  ver.  48,  it  was  decent  that  he, 
whose  advantage  it  was  that  the  number  of  the  first-born 
of  Israel  should  exceed ,  should  not  be  authorized  to  take 
that  number  himself.” — Dodd ,  from  Bishop  Kidder. 

Verse  22.  Seven  thousand  and  five  hundred ]  Per¬ 
haps  originally  1  resh ,  200,  instead  of  *]  caph,  500  : 
see  the  following  note. 

C23 


Moses  numbers  the  firsUborn 


NUMBERS, 


of  the  children  of  Israel 


A.  M.  2514.  and  hoxe  the  oversight  of  them 

B.  C.  1490.  ,  .  .  ,  °  r  , 

An.  Exod.  Isr.  2.  that  keep  the  charge  ot  the 

Qar  ”  Zif-  sanctuary. 

33  Of  Merari  was  the  family  of  the  Mah- 
lites,  and  the  family  of  the  Mushites  :  these 
are  the  families  of  Merari. 

34  And  those  that  were  numbered  of  them, 
according  to  the  number  of  all  the  males,  from 
a  month  old  and  upward,  were  six  thousand 
and  two  hundred. 

35  And  the  chief  of  the  house  of  the  father 
of  the  families  of  Merari,  was  Zuriel  the  son 
of  Abihail :  1  these  shall  pitch  on  the  side  of 
the  tabernacle  northward. 

36  And  m  under  nthe  custody  and  charge  of 
the  sons  of  Merari  shall  be  the  boards  of  the 
tabernacle,  and  the  bars  thereof,  and  the  pil¬ 
lars  thereof,  and  the  sockets  thereof,  and  all  the 
vessels  thereof,  and  all  that  serveth  thereto, 

37  And  the  pillars  of  the  court  round  about, 
and  their  sockets,  and  their  pins,  and  their 
cords. 

38  °  But  those  that  encamp  before  the  taber¬ 
nacle  toward  the  east,  even  before  the  taber¬ 
nacle  of  the  congregation  eastward,  shall  be 
Moses,  and  Aaron  and  his  sons,  p  keeping  the 
charge  of  the  sanctuary  q  for  the  charge  of  the 
children  of  Israel ;  and  r  the  stranger  that 
cometh  nigh  shall  be  put  to  death. 

39  s  All  that  were  numbered  of  the  Levites, 
which  Moses  and  Aaron  numbered  at  the  com¬ 
mandment  of  the  Lord,  throughout  their  fami¬ 
lies,  all  the  males  from  a  month  old  and  upward, 
were  twenty  and  two  thousand. 

40  And  the  Lord  said  unto  Moses,  1  Num¬ 
ber  all  the  first-born  of  the  males  of  the  chil- 


1  Chap,  i.  53. 
31,  32. 


r  Ver.  10.- 


-m  Heb.  the  office  of  the  charge. 

0  Chap.  i.  53. - P  Chap,  xviii.  5. — 

— s  See  chap.  xxvi.  62. - 1  Ver.  15. — 


— n  Chap.  iv. 
■4  Ver.  7,  8. 
-u  Ver.  12,  45. 


dren  of  Israel,  from  a  month  old  a.  m.  2514. 

i  ,  B.  C.  1490. 

and  upward,  and  take  the  num-  An.  Exod.  isr.  2. 

ber  of  their  names.  ijar  or  Zif.  . 

4 1  u  And  thou  shall  take  the  Levites  for  me 
(I  am  the  Lord)  instead  of  all  the  first-born 
among  the  children  of  Israel ;  and  the  cattle 
of  the  Levites  instead  of  all  the  firstlings  among 
the  cattle  of  the  children  of  Israel 

42  And  Moses  numbered,  as  the  Lord  com¬ 
manded  him,  all  the  first-born  among  the  chil¬ 
dren  of  Israel. 

43  And  all  the  first-born  males  by  the  num¬ 
ber  of  names,  from  a  month  old  and  upward, 
of  those  that  were  numbered  of  them,  were 
twenty  and  two  thousand  two  hundred  and 
threescore  and  thirteen. 

44  And  the  Lord  spake  unto  Moses,  saying, 

45  v  Take  the  Levites  instead  of  all  the  first¬ 
born  among  the  children  of  Israel,  and  the 
cattle  of  the  Levites  instead  of  their  cattle  ; 
and  the  Levites  shall  be  mine  :  I  am  the 
Lord. 

4  6  And  for  those  that  are  to  be  w  redeemed 
of  the  two  hundred  and  threescore  and  thir¬ 
teen  of  the  first-born  of  the  children  of  Israel, 
x  which  are  more  than  the  Levites  : 

47  Thou  shalt  even  take  *'five  shekels  apiece 
by  the  poll,  after  the  shekel  of  the.  sanctuary 
shalt  thou  take  them  :  (z  the  shekel  is  twenty 
gerahs  :) 

48  And  thou  shalt  give  the  money,  where¬ 
with  the  odd  number  of  them  is  to  be  re¬ 
deemed,  unto  Aaron  and  to  his  sons. 

49  And  Moses  took  the  redemption  money 
of  them  that  were  over  and  above  them  that 
were  redeemed  by  the  Levites  : 


-w  Exod.  xiii.  13 ;  chap,  xviii.  15. 


T  Ver.  12,  41. 

39,  43. - y  Lev.  xxvii.  6  ;  chap,  xviii.  16.- 

Lev.  xxvii.  25;  chap,  xviii.  16;  Ezek.  xlv.  12. 


-*  Ver. 
Exod.  xxx.  13 ; 


Verse  39.  Which  Moses  and  Aaron  numbered]  The 
word  pnm  veaharon,  “  and  Aaron,"  has  a  point  over 
each  of  its  letters,  probably  designed  as  a  mark  of 
spuriousness.  The  word  is  wanting  in  the  Samaritan , 
Syriac ,  and  Coptic ;  it  is  wanting  also  in  eight  of  Dr. 
Kennicott's  MSS.,  and  in  four  of  De  Rossi's.  Moses 
alone,  as  Houbigant  observes,  is  commanded  to  take 
the  number  of  the  Levites;  see  ver.  5,  11,  40,  44, 
and  51. 

All  the  males — were  twenty  and  two  thousand .] 
This  total  does  not  agree  with  the  particulars ;  for  the 
Gershonites  were  7,500,  the  Kohathites  8,600,  the 
Merarites  6,200,  total  22,300.  Several  methods  of 
solving  this  difficulty  have  been  proposed  by  learned 
men;  Dr.  Kennicott's  is  the  most  simple  Formerly 

624 


the  numbers  in  the  Hebrew  Bible  were  expressed  by 
letters ,  and  not  by  words  at  full  length  ;  and  if  two 
nearly  similar  letters  were  mistaken  for  each  other, 
many  errors  in  the  numbers  must  be  the  consequence. 
Now  it  is  probable  that  an  error  has  crept  into  the 
number  of  the  Gershonites ,  ver.  22,  where,  instead  of 
7,500,  we  should  read  7,200,  as  “J  caph,  500,  might 
have  been  easily  mistaken  for  “1  resh,  200,  especially 
if  the  down  stroke  of  the  caph  had  been  a  little  shorter 
than  ordinary,  which  is  often  the  case  in  MSS.  The 
extra  300  being  taken  off,  the  total  is  just  22,000,  as 
mentioned  in  the  3.9th  verse. 

Yerse  43.  All  the  first-born  males — were  twenty 
and  two  thousand  two  hundred  and  threescore  and 
thirteen. ]  Thus  we  find  there  were  273  first-born 


Moses  is  commanded  to 


CHAP.  IV. 


A.  M.  2514.  50  Of  the  first-born  of  the  chil- 

An  Exod.  isr.  2.  dren  of  Israel  took  he  the  money ; 

Ijar or  Zlf-  a  a  thousand  three  hundred  and 
threescore  and  five  shekels ,  after  the  shekel 
of  the  sanctuary : 

a  Ver.  46,  47. 

beyond  the  number  of  the  Levites.  These  are  ordered, 
ver.  46,  to  be  redeemed;  and  the  redemption  price  is 
to  be  five  shekels  each,  ver.  47,  about  15.S.  And  this 
money,  amounting  to  1,365  shekels,  equal  to  £204. 
15s.  English,  he  took  of  the  first-born  of  Israel,  verse 
50.  But  how  was  this  collected  among  22,273  per¬ 
sons  1  Rabbi  Solomon  Jarchi  says,  “  to  prevent  con¬ 
tention,  Moses  took  22,000  slips  of  parchment,  and 
wrote  on  each  a  son  of  Levi ,  and  273  others,  on  which 
he  wrote  five  shekels ;  then  he  mixed  them  in  a  bas¬ 
ket,  and  each  man  took  out  one  ;  those  who  drew  the 
slips  on  which  five  shekels  were  written,  paid  the  mo¬ 
ney  ;  the  others  went  free.”  This  is  a  most  stupid 
and  silly  tale,  for  such  a  mode  of  settlement  never 
could  have  been  resorted  to  by  an  intelligent  people. 
It  would  have  been  much  more  simple  to  have  paid  it 
out  of  a  general  fund ;  and  it  is  very  likely  that  in 
this  way  the  expense  was  defrayed. 


number  the  sons  of  Kohath. 
5 1  And  Moses  b  nave  the  money  A.  M.  2514. 

f  t  J  B.  C.  1490. 

oi  them  that  were  redeemed  unto  An.  Exod.  isr.2 

Aaron  and  to  his  sons,  according  Ijar  or  Zif. 
to  the  word  of  the  Lord,  as  the  Lord  com¬ 
manded  Moses. 

b  Yer.  48. 

This  species  of  redeeming  of  men  is  referred  to 
by  St.  Peter,  1  Epist.  i.  18,  19  :  “Ye  know  that  ye 
were  not  redeemed  with  corruptible  things,  as  silver 
and  gold,  from  your  vain  conversation,  received  by 
tradition  from  your  fathers ;  but  with  the  precious 
(tl/luc)  alfian ,  valuable)  blood  of  Christ,  as  of  a  lamb 
without  blemish  and  without  spot,”  &c.  And  it  is 
not  the  first-born  only  which  are  thus  redeemed,  for 
he,  by  the  grace  of  God,  tasted  death  for  every  man ; 
Heb.  ii.  9.  Reader,  give  glory  to  God  that  such  a 
ransom  has  been  paid  for  thy  soul,  and  see  that,  re¬ 
deemed  from  thy  vain  conversation,  thy  empty,  fruitless, 
and  graceless  observances,  on  which  thou  hast  built 
thy  hopes  of  salvation,  thou  walk  in  newness  of  life, 
giving  thy  whole  soul  with  thankfulness  unto  the  Fa¬ 
ther  who  hath  translated  thee  from  darkness,  and  placed 
thee  in  the  kingdom  of  his  beloved  Son.  To  Him  be 
glory  and  dominion  for  ever  and  ever !  Amen. 


CHAPTER  IV. 


Moses  is  commanded  to  take  the  sum  of  the  sons  of  Kohath  from  thirty  years  old  and  upward ,  1—4.  The 
service  which  they  had  to  perform ,  5—15.  The  office  of  Eleazar,  16.  The  family  of  Kohath  to  be 
continued  among  the  Levites ,  17-19.  They  are  not  to  go  into  the  holy  of  holies,  20.  The  sum  of  the 
sons  <?/ Gershon,  21-23.  The  service  they  had  to  perform,  24-27.  They  are  to  be  under  Ithamar,  28. 
The  sum  of  the  sons  of  Merari,  29,  30.  The  service  they  had  to  perform,  31-33.  The  sum  of  all  the 

families  of  Kohath,  2,750,  ver.  34-37.  The  sum  of  the  families  of  Gershon,  2,630,  ver.  38-41.  The 

sum  of  the  families  of  Merari,  3,200,  ver.  42-45.  The  sum  total  of  the  families  of  Gershon,  Kohath, 
and  Merari,  8,580,  ver.  46—49. 


A.  M.  2514.  A  ND  the  Lord  spake  unto 

B.  c.  1490.  Lx  ,  :  A 

An.  Exod.  Isr.  2.  Mioses  and  unto  Aaron, 

:Jar  or  Zif-  saying, 

2  Take  the  sum  of  the  sons  of  Kohath  from 


among 


the  sons  of  Levi,  after 


A.  M.  2514. 

their  families,  by  the  house  of  An.  Exod.  isr.  2. 
their  fathers,  ijar  or  Zif. 

3  a  From  thirty  years  old  and  upward  even 


a  See  chap.  viii.  24 ; 


NOTES  ON  CHAP.  IY. 

Verse  3.  From  thirty  years  old]  In  chap.  viii. 
24,  the  Levites  are  ordered  to  enter  on  the  service  of 
the  tabernacle  at  the  age  of  twenty-five  years  ;  and  in 
1  Chron.  xxiii.  24,  they  were  ordered  to  commence 
that  work  at  twenty  years  of  age.  How  can  these 
different  times  be  reconciled!  1.  At  the  time  of 
which  Moses  speaks  here,  the  Levitical  service  was 
exceedingly  severe,  and  consequently  required  men 
full  grown,  strong,  and  stout,  to  perform  it ;  the  age 
therefore  of  thirty  years  wras  appointed  as  the  period 
for  commencing  this  service,  the  weightier  part  of 
which  is  probably  here  intended.  2.  In  chap.  viii. 
24,  Moses  seems  to  speak  of  the  service  in  a  general 
way  ;  the  severe,  which  was  to  be  performed  by  the 
full-growm  Levit.es,  and  the  less  laborious  work  which 
Vol.  I.  (  41  ) 


1  Chron.  xxiii.  3,  24,  27. 


younger  men  might  assist  in  ;  hence  the  age  of  twenty- 
five  is  fixed.  3.  In  David’s  time  and  afterwards,  in 
the  fixed  tabernacle  and  temple,  the  laboriousness  of 
the  service  no  longer  existed,  and  hence  twenty  years 
was  the  age  fixed  on  for  all  Levites  to  enter  into  the 
work  of  the  sanctuary.  The  rabbins  say  that  the 
Levites  began  to  learn  to  do  the  service  at  twenty -five, 
and  that  having  been  instructed  five  years,  they  began 
the  public  service  at  thirty,  and  thus  they  reconcile 
the  two  periods  referred  to  above.  We  may  well 
suppose  that  the  sons  of  the  prophets  continued  a  con¬ 
siderable  time  under  instructions  before  they  were 
called,  fully  to  exercise  themselves  in  the  prophetic 
office. 

Until  fifty  years  old]  This  was  allowing  twenty 
years  for  public  severe  service  ;  a  very  considerate 

625 


Service  of  the  sons  of  Kohath. 


NUMBERS. 


The  office  of  Eleazar. 


A.  M.  2514.  until  fifty  years  old,  all  that  enter 

B.  C.  1490.  .  J  J 

4.n.  Exod.  isr.  2.  into  the  host,  to  do  the  work  in 
Jar  or  1 '  the  tabernacle  of  the  congregation. 

4  b  This  shall  he  the  service  of  the  sons  of 
Kohath  in  the  tabernacle  of  the  congregation, 
about  c  the  most  holy  things  : 

5  And  when  the  camp  setteth  forward,  Aaron 
shall  come,  and  his  sons,  and  they  shall  take 
down  d  the  covering  veil,  and  cover  the  e  ark 
of  testimony  with  it : 

6  And  shall  put  thereon  the  covering  of 
badgers’  skins,  and  shall  spread  over  it  a  cloth 
wholly  of  blue,  and  shall  put  in  f  the  staves 
thereof. 

7  And  upon  the  g  table  of  shew-bread  they 
shall  spread  a  cloth  of  blue,  and  put  thereon 
the  dishes,  and  the  spoons,  and  the  bowls, 
and  covers  to  h  cover  withal :  and  the  con¬ 
tinual  bread  shall  be  thereon  : 

8  And  they  shall  spread  upon  them  a  cloth 
of  scarlet,  and  cover  the  same  with  a  covering 

7  O 

of  badgers’  skins,  and  shall  put  in  the  staves 
thereof. 

9  And  they  shall  take  a  cloth  of  blue,  and 
cover  the  1  candlestick  of  the  light,  k  and  his 
lamps,  and  his  tongs,  and  his  snuff  dishes, 
and  all  the  oil  vessels  thereof,  wherewith  they 
minister  unto  it  : 

10  And  they  shall  put  it  and  all  the  vessels 
thereof  within  a  covering  of  badgers’  skins, 
and  shall  put  it  upon  a  bar. 

1 1  And  upon  1  the  golden  altar  they  shall 
spread  a  cloth  of  blue,  and  cover  it  with  a 
covering  of  badgers’  skins,  and  shall  put  to  the 
staves  thereof : 

12  And  they  shall  take  all  the  instruments 
of  ministry,  wherewith  they  minister  in  the 


-c  Yer.  19.- 


- d  Exod.  xxvi.  31. 

13. - s  Exod. 


xxv. 


b  Yer.  15.- 

10,  16. - f  Exod.  xxv. 

Lev.  xxiv.  6,  8. - h  Or,  pour  out  withal. - 

31. - k  Exod.  xxv.  37,38. - JExod.  xxx.  1 

bowls. 


-e  Exod.  xxv. 
23,  29,  30; 
Exod.  xxv. 
,  3. - m  Or, 


and  merciful  ordinance.  A  preacher  who  devotes  his 
whole  time  and  strength  to  the  service  of  the  Church 
of  God  from  twenty  to  fifty  or  sixty  years  of  age, 
should  be  then  excused  from  his  severer  labour ,  and 
maintained  at  the  charge  of  the  sanctuary.  This  would 
not  only  be  a  great  comfort  to  a  worn-out  servant  of 
God,  but  also  of  great  use  to  the  work  of  the  ministry, 
which,  to  be  faithfully  and  effectually  performed,  re¬ 
quires  all  the  powers  of  the  body  and  mind  of  man. 
Old  faithful  ministers  are  to  be  highly  respected  for 
their  work’s  sake,  and  to  be  supplied  with  all  the  ne¬ 
cessaries  and  comforts  of  life  ;  but  how  little  can  they 
do  in  the  public  ministry  of  the  word,  however  willing 
a  6  26 


sanctuary,  and  put  them  in  a  cloth  a.  M.  2514. 
of  blue,  and  cover  them  with  a  An.  Exod.  Isr!  2 
covering  of  badgers’  skins,  and  ljar  or  Zlf’ 
shall  put  them  on  a  bar  : 

1 3  And  they  shall  take  away  the  ashes  from 
the  altar,  and  spread  a  purple  cloth  thereon  : 

14  And  they  shall  put  upon  it  all  the  vessels 
thereof,  wherewith  they  minister  about  it,  even 
the  censers,  the  flesh  hooks,  and  the  shovels, 
and  the  m  basons,  all  the  vessels  of  the  altar  ; 
and  they  shall  spread  upon  it  a  covering  of 
badgers’  skins,  and  put  to  the  staves  of  it. 

1 5  And  when  Aaron  and  his  sons  have  made 
an  end  of  covering  the  sanctuary,  and  all  the 
vessels  of  the  sanctuary,  as  the  camp  is  to  set 
forward  ;  after  that,  n  the  sons  of  Kohath  shall 
come  to  bear  it :  0  but  they  shall  not  touch 
any  holy  thing,  lest  they  die.  p  These  things 
are  the  burden  of  the  sons  of  Kohath  in  the 
tabernacle  of  the  congregation. 

1 6  And  to  the  office  of  Eleazar  the  son  of 

Aaron  the  priest,  ^  the  oil  for  the 

light,  and  the  r  sweet  incense,  and  s  the  daily 
meat-offering,  and  the  t  anointing  oil,  and  the 
oversight  of  all  the  tabernacle,  and  of  all  that 
therein  is,  in  the  sanctuary,  and  in  the  vessels 
thereof. 

17  And  the  Lord  spake  unto  Moses  and 
unto  Aaron,  saying, 

18  Cut  ye  not  off  the  tribe  of  the  families 
of  the  Kohathites  from  among  the  Levites  : 

19  But  thus  do  unto  them,  that  they  may 
live,  and  not  die,  when  they  approach  unto 
u  the  most  holy  things  :  Aaron  and  his  sons 
shall  go  in,  and  appoint  them  every  one  to  his 
service  and  to  his  burden  : 

20  v  But  they  shall  not  go  in  to  see  when 

n  Chap.  vii.  9  ;  x.  21  ;  Deut.  xxxi.  9  ;  2  Sam.  vi.  13  ;  1  Chron. 

xv.  2,  15. - °2  Sam.  vi.  6,  7;  1  Chion.  xiii.  9,  10. - P  Chap. 

iii.  31. - Exod.  xxv.  6;  Lev.  xxiv.  2. - r  Exod.  xxx.  34. 

s  Exod.  xxix.  40. - tExod.  xxx.  23. - uVer.  4. - v  See 

Exod.  xix.  21  ;  1  Sam.  vi.  19. 

to  work,  when  their  eye  waxes  dim  and  their  bodily 
strength  fails  !  See  on  chap.  viii.  25.  Both  for  their 
own  sakes,  and  for  the  good  of  the  Church,  they  should 
be  excused  from  a  labour  to  which  they  must  be  al¬ 
most  every  way  inadequate.  But  notwithstanding  this 
comparative  inactivity,  their  counsels,  advice,  and  ex¬ 
perience  will  always  be  considered  as  a  treasure  to  the 
Church  of  Christ. 

Verse  20.  When  the  holy  things  are  covered ]  Lite¬ 
rally,  keballa,  when  they  are  swallowed  down; 

which  shows  the  promptitude  with  which  every  thing 
belonging  to  the  holy  of  holies  was  put  out  of  sight, 
for  these  mysteries  must  ever  be  treated  with  the  deep- 

C  41*  ) 


The  different  services  to  he 


CHAP.  IV. 


performed  by  the  Levites. 


a.  M.  2514.  the  holv  things  are  covered,  lest 

B.  C.  1490.  ,  t 

An.  Exod.  Isr.  2.  they  die. 

21  And  the  Lord  spake  unto 

Moses,  saying, 

22  Take  also  the  sum  of  the  sons  of  Ger- 
shon,  throughout  the  houses  of  their  fathers, 
by  their  families  ; 

23  w  From  thirty  years  old  and  upward  until 
fifty  years  old  shalt  thou  number  them ;  all 
that  enter  in  x  to  perform  the  service,  to  do  the 
work  in  the  tabernacle  of  the  congregation. 

24  This  is  the  service  of  the  families  of  the 
Gershonites,  to  serve,  and  for  y  burdens  : 

25  And  z  they  shall  bear  the  curtains  of  the 
tabernacle,  and  the  tabernacle  of  the  congre¬ 
gation,  his  covering,  and  the  covering  of  the 
badgers’  skins  that  is  above  upon  it,  and  the 
hanging  for  the  door  of  the  tabernacle  of  the 
congregation, 

26  And  the  hangings  of  the  court,  and  the 
hanging  for  the  door  of  the  gate  of  the  court, 
which  is  by  the  tabernacle  and  by  the  altar 
round  about,  and  their  cords,  and  all  the  instru¬ 
ments  of  their  service,  and  all  that  is  made  for 
them  :  so  shall  they  serve. 

27  At  the  a  appointment  of  Aaron  and  his 
sons  shall  be  all  the  service  of  the  sons  of  the 
Gershonites,  in  all  their  burdens,  and  in  all 
their  service  :  and  ye  shall  appoint  unto  them 
in  charge  all  their  burdens. 

28  This  is  the  service  of  the  families  of  the 
sons  of  Gershon  in  the  tabernacle  of  the  con¬ 
gregation  :  and  their  charge  shall  he  under  the 

w  Ver.  3. - 1  Heb.  to  war  the  warfare. - y  Or,  carriage. - z  Chap. 

iii.  25,  26. - a  Heb.  mouth. 

est  reverence  ;  and  indeed  without  this  they  could  not 
have  been  to  them  the  representatives  of  heavenly  re¬ 
alities.  See  the  concluding-  note. 

Verse  36.  Those  that  were  numbered ]  In  chapter 
iii.  27,  &c.,  we  have  an  account  of  the  whole  number 
of  the  Levites,  and  here  of  those  only  who  were  able  to 
serve  the  Lord  in  the  sanctuary .  By  comparing  the 
two  places  we  find  the  numbers  to  stand  thus  : — 

__  (  Able  men  2750 

Kohathites 


Gershonites 


Mera  rites 


Unable 


Total 
C  Able  men 
(  Unable 

Total 
(  Able  men 
{  Unable 

Total 


5850 

8600 

2630 

4870 

7500 

3200 

3000 

6200 


hand  of  Ithamar  the  son  of  Aaron  A.  M.  2514. 

.  .  ,  B.  C.  1490. 

the  priest.  An.  Exod.  Isr.  2. 

29  As  for  the  sons  of  Merari,  Ijar  or  Zlf- 
thou  shalt  number  them  after  their  families,  by 
the  house  of  their  fathers  ; 

30  b  From  thirty  years  old  and  upward  even 
unto  fifty  years  old  shalt  thou  number  them, 
every  one  that  entereth  into  the  c  service,  to  do 
the  work  of  the  tabernacle  of  the  congregation. 

3  1  And  d  this  is  the  charge  of  their  burden, 
according  to  all  their  service  in  the  tabernacle 
of  the  congregation  ;  e  the  boards  of  the  taber¬ 
nacle,  and  the  bars  thereof,  and  the  pillars 
thereof,  and  sockets  thereof, 

32  And  the  pillars  of  the  court  round  about, 
and  their  sockets,  and  their  pins,  and  their 
cords,  with  all  their  instruments,  and  with  all 
their  service  :  and  by  name  ye  shall  f  reckon 
the  instruments  of  the  charge  of  their  burden. 

33  This  is  the  service  of  the  families  of  the 
sons  of  Merari,  according  to  all  their  service, 
in  the  tabernacle  of  the  congregation,  under 
the  hand  of  Ithamar  the  son  of  Aaron  the 
priest. 

34  g  And  Moses  and  Aaron  and  the  chief  of 
the  congregation  numbered  the  sons  of  the 
Kohathites  after  their  families,  and  after  the 
house  of  their  fathers, 

35  From  thirty  years  old  and  upward  even 
unto  fifty  years  old,  every  one  that  entereth 
into  the  service,  for  the  work  in  the  tabernacle 
of  the  congregation 

36  And  those  that  were  numbered  of  them 

b  Ver.  3. - c  Heb.  warfare. - d  Chap.  iii.  36,  37. - 6  Exod. 

xxvi.  15. - f  Exod.  xxxviii.  21. - ffVer.  2. 


Thus  we  find  that  the  whole  number  of  the  Levites 
amounted  to  22,300,  of  whom  8,580  were  fit  for  ser¬ 
vice,  and  13,720  unfit,  being  either  too  old  or  too 
young.  What  an  astonishing  number  of  men,  all  pro¬ 
perly  ecclesiastics  ;  all  performing  some  service  by 
which  God  was  glorified,  and  the  congregation  at 
large  benefited  !  See  Ainsworth. 

From  this  and  the  preceding  chapter  we  see  the 
very  severe  labour  which  the  Levites  were  obliged  to 
perform  while  the  journeyings  of  the  Israelites  lasted. 
When  we  consider  that  there  was  not  less  than  10 
tons  13  cwt.  24  lb.  14.  oz.,  i.  e.,  almost  ten  tons  and 
fourteen  hundred  pounds’  weight  of  metal  employed  in 
the  tabernacle,  (see  the  notes  on  Exod.  xxxviii.,)  be¬ 
sides  the  immense  weight  of  the  skins,  hangings, 
cords,  boards ,  and  posts ,  we  shall  find  it  was  no  very 
easy  matter  to  transport  this  movable  temple  from 
place  to  place. 

The  Gershonites,  who  were  7,500  men  in  the  ser- 

627 


a 


The  sum  of  the  families  of 


NUMBERS. 


Kohatli ,  Gershon,  and  Merari. 


a.  M.  2514.  by  their  families  were  two  thou- 

An.  Exod.  isr.  2.  sand  seven  hundred  and  fifty. 

ijaror  Zif.  37  These  were  they  that  were 

numbered  of  the  families  of  the  Kohathites, 
all  that  might  do  service  in  the  tabernacle  of 
the  congregation,  which  Moses  and  Aaron  did 
number  according  to  the  commandment  of  the 
Lord  by  the  hand  of  Moses. 

38  And  those  that  were  numbered  of  the 
sons  of  Gershon,  throughout  their  families, 
and  by  the  house  of  their  fathers, 

39  From  thirty  years  old  and  upward  even 
unto  fifty  years  old,  every  one  that  entereth 
into  the  service,  for  the  work  in  the  tabernacle 
of  the  congregation, 

40  Even  those  that  were  numbered  of  them, 
throughout  their  families,  by  the  house  of  their 
fathers,  were  two  thousand  and  six  hundred 
and  thirty. 

41  h  These  are  they  that  were  numbered  of 
the  families  of  the  sons  of  Gershon,  of  all  that 
might  do  service  in  the  tabernacle  of  the  con¬ 
gregation,  whom  Moses  and  Aaron  did  number 
according  to  the  commandment  of  the  Lord. 

42  And  those  that  were  numbered  of  the  fa¬ 
milies  of  the  sons  of  Merari,  throughout  their 
families,  by  the  house  of  their  fathers, 

43  From  thirty  years  old  and  upward  even 

h  Ver.  22. - 5  Ver.  29. - *  Ver.  3,  23,  30. 


unto  fifty  years  old,  every  one  a.  m.  2514. 
that  entereth  into  the  service,  for  An.  Exod.  Isr.’  2. 
the  work  in  the  tabernacle  of  the  ijar  or  Zif, 
congregation, 

44  Even  those  that  were  numbered  of  them 
after  their  families,  were  three  thousand  and 
two  hundred. 

45  These  he  those  that  were  numbered  of 
the  families  of  the  sons  of  Merari,  whom 
Moses  and  Aaron  numbered  1  according  to  the 
word  of  the  Lord  by  the  hand  of  Moses. 

46  All  those  that  were  numbered  of  the  Le- 
vites,  whom  Moses  and  Aaron  and  the  chief 
of  Israel  numbered,  after  their  families,  and 
after  the  house  of  their  fathers, 

47  k  From  thirty  years  old  and  upward,  even 
unto  fifty  years  old,  every  one  that  came  to  do 
the  service  of  the  ministry,  and  the  service  of  the 
burden  in  the  tabernacle  of  the  congregation, 

48  Even  those  that  were  numbered  of  them, 
were  eight  thousand  and  five  hundred  and 
fourscore. 

49  According  to  the  commandment  of  the 
Lord  they  were  numbered  by  the  hand  of 
Moses,  1  every  one  according  to  his  service, 
and  according  to  his  burden  :  thus  were  they 
numbered  of  him,  m  as  the  Lord  commanded 
Moses. 

1  Ver.  15,  24,  31. - “Yer.  1,  21. 


vice,  had  to  carry,  the  tent ,  coverings ,  veils ,  hangings 
of  the  court ,  <5fc.,  Spc.,  chap.  25,  26. 

The  Kohathites ,  who  were  8,600  men,  had  to  carry 
the  ark ,  table ,  candlestick ,  altars ,  and  instruments  of 
the  sanctuary ,  chap.  iii.  31. 

The  Merarites ,  who  were  6,200  men,  had  to  carry 
the  boards ,  bars ,  pillars,  sockets,  and  all  matters  con¬ 
nected  with  these  belonging  to  the  tabernacle,  with 
the  pillars  of  the  court ,  their  sockets,  pins ,  and  cords, 
chap.  iii.  36,  37. 

The  tabernacle  was  an  epitome  of  the  temple  :  the 
temple  and  tabernacle  were  representatives  of  the 
Church  of  the  living  God,  and  of  the  humanity  of  onr 
blessed  Lord.  As  God  dwelt  in  the  tabernacle  and 
temple,  so  his  fulness  dwelt  in  the  man  Christ  Jesus. 
These  again  were  types  of  the  Christian  Church,  which 
is  termed  the  body  of  Christ,  Eph.  i.  23,  where  he 
dwells  in  the  plenitude  of  the  graces  of  his  Spirit. 

Mr.  Ainsworth  has  a  very  useful  note  on  the  20th 
verse  of  this  chapter,  the  most  edifying  part  of  which 
I  shall  here  lay  before  the  reader.  He  considers  the 
tabernacle  and  temple ,  not  only  as  pointing  out  the  old 
dispensation,  the  annulling  of  which  was  typified  by 
their  destruction,  but  he  considers  also  the  former  as 
emblematical  of  the  body  of  man. 

628 


“  The  apostle,”  says  he,  “  treating  of  the  death  of 
the  saints,  uses  this  similitude  :  ‘  If  our  earthly  house 
of  this  tabernacle  were  dissolved,  we  have  a  building 
of  God,  a  house  not  made  with  hands,  eternal  in  the 
heavens.  For  we  that  are  in  this  tabernacle  do 
groan,  being  burdened,  not  for  that  we  would  be  un¬ 
clothed,  but  clothed  upon,  that  mortality  might  be  swal¬ 
lowed  up  of  life  2  Cor.  v.  1—4.  So  Peter  calls  his 
death  the  putting  off  of  his  tabernacle,  2  Pet.  i.  14. 
And  this  similitude  is  very  fit ;  for,  as  here,  in  the 
tabernacle  of  Moses,  the  holy  things  were  first  cover¬ 
ed  and  taken  away,  (see  ver.  20,)  so  the  soul  and  its 
powers  are  first  withdrawn  from  the  body  by  death. 
2.  As  the  curtains  and  coverings  were  taken  off  and 
folded  up,  so  the  skin  and  flesh  of  our  bodies  are  pulled 
off  and  consumed.  3.  As  the  boards  of  the  taberna¬ 
cle  were  disjointed  and  pulled  asunder,  so  shall  our 
bones  and  sinews  :  compare  Job’s  description  of  the 
formation  of  man,  chap.  x.  8—12  ;  and  Solomon’s 
account  of  his  dissolution,  Eccles.  xii.  3,  4.  4.  As 

the  disjointed  and  dissolved  tabernacle  was  after¬ 
wards  set  up  again,  Num.  x.  21,  so  shall  our  bodies 
in  the  day  of  the  resurrection ;  see  1  Cor,  xv. 
51-54.” 


a 


All  unclean  persons  to  be 


CHAP.  V. 


put  out  of  the  camp. 


CHAPTER  V. 

The  Israelites  are  commanded  to  purify  the  camp  by  excluding  all  lepers ,  and  all  diseased  and  unclean  per¬ 
sons,  1—3.  They  do  so,  4.  Law  concerning  him  who  has  defrauded  another — he  shall  confess  his  sin , 
restore  the  principal,  and  add  besides  one  fifth  of  its  value,  5—7.  If  he  have  no  kinsman  to  whom  the 
recompense  can  be  made,  it  shall  be  given  unto  the  Lord,  8.  All  the  holy  things  offered  to  the  Lord  shall 
be  the  priest's  portion,  9,  10.  The  law  concerning  jealousy ,  11-14.  The  suspected  woman's  offering,  15. 
She  is  to  be  brought  before  the  Lord,  16.  The  priest  shall  take  holy  water,  and  put  it  in  dust  from  the  floor 
of  the  tabernacle,  17.  Shall  put  the  offering  in  her  hand,  and  adjure  her,  18—20.  The  form  of  the  oath, 
21,  22  ;  ivhich  is  to  be  written  on  a  book,  blotted  out  in  the  bitter  waters ,  and  these  the  suspected  person 
shall  be  obliged  to  drink,  23,  24.  The  jealousy -offering  shall  be  waved  before  the  Lord,  25,  26.  The 
effect  which  shall  be  produced  if  the  suspected  person  be  guilty,  27.  The  effect  if  not  guilty,  28.  Reca¬ 
pitulation,  ivith  the  purpose  and  design  of  the  law ,  29,  30. 


A.  M.  2514.  A  ND  the  Lord  spake  unto 

B.  C.  1490.  r 

An.Exod.isr.2.  Moses,  saying, 

ijar  or  Zif.  2  Command  the  children  of 

Israel,  that  they  put  out  of  the  camp  every 
a  leper,  and  every  one  that  hath  an  b  issue,  and 
whosoever  is  defiled  by  the  c  dead  : 

3  Both  male  and  female  shall  ye  put  out, 
without  the  camp  shall  ye  put  them  ;  that  they 
defile  not  their  camps,  d  in  the  midst  whereof 
I  dwell. 

aLev.  xiii.  3,  46  ;  chap.  xii.  14. - bLev.  xv.  2. - c  Lev.  xxi. 

1  ;  chap.  ix.  6,  10  ;  xix.  11,  13  ;  xxxi.  19. 

NOTES  ON  CHAP.  V. 

Verse  2.  Put  out  of  the  camp  every  leper ]  Ac¬ 
cording  to  the  preceding  plan,  it  is  sufficiently  evi¬ 
dent  that  each  camp  had  a  space  behind  it,  and  on 
one  side,  whither  the  infected  might  be  removed,  and 
where  probably  convenient  places  were  erected  for  the 
accommodation  of  the  infected  ;  for  we  cannot  sup¬ 
pose  that  they  were  driven  out  into  the  naked  wilder¬ 
ness.  But  the  expulsion  mentioned  here  was  founded, 
1.  On  a  purely  physical  reason,  viz.,  the  diseases  were 
contagious,  and  therefore  there  was  a  necessity  of  put¬ 
ting  those  afflicted  by  them  apart,  that  the  infection 
might  not  be  communicated.  2.  There  was  also  a 
spiritual  reason  ;  the  camp  was  the  habitation  of  God, 
and  nothing  impure  should  be  permitted  to  remain 
where  he  dwelt.  3.  The  camp  was  an  emblem  of 
the  Church,  where  nothing  that  is  defiled  should  en¬ 
ter,  and  in  which  nothing  that  is  unholy  should  be 
tolerated.  All  lepers — all  persevering  impenitent  sin¬ 
ners,  should  be  driven  from  the  sacred  pale,  nor  should 
any  such  ever  be  permitted  to  enter. 

Verse  4.  And  the  children  of  Israel — put  them  out ] 
This  is  the  earliest  account  we  have  of  such  sepa¬ 
rations  ;  and  probably  this  ordinance  gave  the  first 
idea  of  a  hospital,  where  all  those  who  are  afflicted 
with  contagious  disorders  are  put  into  particular  wards, 
under  medical  treatment.  Though  no  mention  be 
made  of  the  situation,  circumstances,  &c.,  of  those 
expelled  persons,  we  may  certainly  infer  that  they 
were  treated  with  that  humanity  which  their  distressed 
state  required.  Though  sinners  must  be  separated 
from  the  Church  of  God,  yet  they  should  be  treated 
with  affectionate  regard,  because  they  may  be  reclaim¬ 
ed.  It  is  too  often  the  case  when  a  man  backslides 


4  And  the  children  of  Israel  A.  M.  2514. 

t  .  .  ,  .  .  B.  C.  1490. 

did  so,  and  put  them  out  without  An.  Exod.  isr.  2. 

the  camp  :  as  the  Lord  spake  bar  or  Zif. 
unto  Moses,  so  did  the  children  of  Israel. 

5  And  the  Lord  spake  unto  Moses,  saying, 

6  Speak  unto  the  children  of  Israel,  0  When 
a  man  or  woman  shall  commit  any  sin  that 
men  commit,  to  do  a  trespass  against  the 
Lord,  and  that  person  be  guilty  ; 

7  f  Then  they  shall  confess  their  sin  which 

d  Lev.  xxvi.  11,  12 ;  2  Cor.  vi.  16. - 6  Lev.  vi.  2,  3. - f  Lev. 

v.  5  ;  xxvi.  40  ;  Josh.,  vii.  19. 

from  the  way  of  truth,  he  is  abandoned  by  all ;  finding 
his  case  desperate,  he  plunges  yet  deeper  into  the 
mire  of  sin,  and  the  man  who,  with  tender  treatment, 
might  have  been  reclaimed,  becomes  incurably  harden¬ 
ed.  One  class  says,  he  cannot  finally  fall,  and  shall 
in  due  time  be  restored  ;  another  class  says,  he  may 
finally  fall  and  utterly  perish.  If  the  unfortunate  per¬ 
son  be  restored,  his  recovery  is  taken  as  a  proof  of 
the  first  doctrine  ;  if  he  be  not,  his  wretched  end  is 
considered  a  proof  of  the  second.  In  the  first  case 
the  person  himself  may  presume  on  his  restoration  as 
a  point  infallibly  determined  in  the  Divine  counsel ;  or 
in  the  second,  he  may  consider  his  case  hopeless,  and 
so  abandon  himself  to  profligacy  and  desperation. 
Thus  both  parties  leave  him,  and  both  opinions  (mis¬ 
understood  certainly)  render  him  secure  or  desperate ; 
and  in  either  case  totally  inactive  in  behalf  of  his  own 
soul.  Who  is  he  that  properly  estimates  the  worth 
of  one  immortal  spirit  1  He  who  does  will  at  once 
feel  that,  in  a  state  of  probation,  any  man  may  fall 
through  sin,  and  any  sinner  may  be  renewed  again 
unto  repentance,  through  the  infinitely  meritorious  sac¬ 
rifice,  and  all  powerfully  efficacious  grace,  ot  Christ. 
This  truth  properly  felt  equally  precludes  both  pre¬ 
sumption  and  despair,  and  will  induce  the  followers  of 
God  to  be  active  in  preserving  those  who  have  escaped 
from  the  corruption  that  is  in  the  world,  and  make 
them  diligent  to  recover  those  who  have  turned  back 
to  earth  and  sin. 

Verse  7.  Shall  confess  their  sin ]  Without  confes¬ 
sion  or  acknowledgment  of  sin,  there  was  no  hope  of 
mercy  held  out. 

lie  shall  recompense ]  For  without  restitution,  in 
every  possible  case,  God  will  not  forgive  the  iniquity 

629 


Origin  of  the  law 


NUMBERS. 


concerning  jealousies. 


A.  M.  2514.  they  have  done  :  and  he  shall 

B.  C.  1490.  J  , 

An.  Exod.  isr.  2.  recompense  his  trespass  g  with 

ijar  or  Zif.  tpe  principal  thereof,  and  add 
unto  it  the  fifth  part  thereof,  and  give  it  unto 
him  against  whom  he  hath  trespassed. 

8  But  if  the  man  have  no  kinsman  to  recom¬ 
pense  the  trespass  unto,  let  the  trespass  be 
recompensed  unto  the  Lord,  even  to  the  priest ; 
beside  11  the  ram  of  the  atonement,  whereby 
an  atonement  shall  be  made  for  him. 

9  And  every  1  offering  k  of  all  the  holy 
things  of  the  children  of  Israel,  which  they 
bring  unto  the  priest,  shall  be  his. 

10  And  every  man’s  hallowed  things  shall 
be  his  :  whatsoever  any  man  giveth  the  priest, 
it  shall  be  1  his. 

1 1  And  the  Lord  spake  unto  Moses,  saying, 

12  Speak  unto  the  children  of  Israel,  and 
say  unto  them,  If  any  man’s  wife  go  aside,  and 
commit  a  trespass  against  him, 

1 3  And  a  man  m  lie  with  her  carnally,  and 
it  be  hid  from  the  eyes  of  her  husband,  and 
be  kept  close,  and  she  be  defiled,  and  there  he 
no  witness  against  her,  neither  she  be  taken 
with  the  manner ; 

14  And  the  spirit  of  jealousy  come  upon  him, 
and  he  be  jealous  of  his  wife,  and  she  be  de¬ 
filed  :  or  if  the  spirit  of  jealousy  come  upon 
him,  and  he  be  jealous  of  his  wife,  and  she  be 
not  defiled : 

15  Then  shall  the  man  bring  his  wife  unto 
the  priest,  and  he  shall  bring  her  offering  for 
her,  the  tenth  part  of  an  ephah  of  barley 

s  Lev.  vi.  5. - h  Lev.  vi.  6,  7  ;  vii.  7. - !  Or,  heave-offering. 

kExod.  xxix.  28  ;  Lev.  vi.  17,  18,  26  ;  vii.  6,  7,  9, 10,  14  ;  chap. 

xviii.  8,  9,  19  ;  Deut.  xviii.  3,  4  ;  Ezek.  xliv.  29,  30. - 1  Lev.  x. 

13. - m  Lev.  xviii.  20. 


meal ;  he  shall  pour  no  oil  upon  a.  m.  2514. 

.  ,  v  .  r  B.  C.  1490. 

it,  nor  put  frankincense  thereon  ;  An.  Exod.  isr.  2, 

for  it  is  an  offering  of  jealousy,  ijar  or  Zif. 

an  offering  of  memorial,  n  bringing  iniquity  to 

remembrance. 

1 6  And  the  priest  shall  bring  her  near,  and 
set  her  before  the  Lord  : 

17  And  the  priest  shall  take  holy  water  in 
an  earthen  vessel ;  and  of  the  dust  that  is  in 
the  floor  of  the  tabernacle  the  priest  shall  take, 
and  put  it  into  the  water : 

18  And  the  priest  shall  set  the  woman  before 
the  Lord,  and  uncover  the  woman’s  head,  and 
put  the  offering  of  memorial  in  her  hands, 
which  is  the  jealousy-offering  :  and  the  priest 
shall  have  in  his  hand  the  bitter  water  that 
causeth  the  curse  : 

19  And  the  priest  shall  charge  her  by  an 
oath,  and  say  unto  the  woman,  If  no  man  have 
lain  with  thee,  and  if  thou  hast  not  gone  aside 
to  uncleanness  0  with  another  p  instead  of  thy 
husband,  be  thou  free  from  this  bitter  water 
that  causeth  the  curse  : 

20  But  if  thou  hast  gone  aside  to  another  instead 
of  thy  husband,  and  if  thou  be  defiled,  and  some 
man  have  lain  with  thee  beside  thine  husband  : 

2 1  Then  the  priest  shall  q  charge  the  woman 
with  an  oath  of  cursing,  and  the  priest  shall 
say  unto  the  woman,  r  The  Lord  make  thee 
a  curse  and  an  oath  among  thy  people,  when 
the  Lord  doth  make  thy  thigh  to  s  rot,  and  thy 
belly  to  swell ; 

22  And  this  water  that  causeth  the  curse 

nl  Kings  xvii.  18;  Ezek.  xxix.  16. - °Or,  being  in  the  power 

of  thy  husband ;  Rom.  vii.  2. - P  Heb.  under  thy  husband. 

<5  Josh.  vi.  26  ;  1  Sam.  xiv.  24  ;  Neh.  x.  29. - rJer.  xxix.  22. 

s  Heb.  fall. 


of  a  man’s  sin.  How  can  any  person  in  a  case  of 
defraud,  with  his  neighbour’s  property  in  his  posses¬ 
sion,  expect  to  receive  mercy  from  the  hand  of  a  just 
and  holy  God  1  See  this  subject  considered  in  the 
notes  on  Gen.  xlii.  at  the  close. 

Verse  8.  If  the  man  have  no  kinsman ]  The  Jews 
think  that  this  law  respects  the  stranger  and  the  so¬ 
journer  only,  because  every  Israelite  is  in  a  state  of 
affinity  to  all  the  rest  ;  but  there  might  be  a  stranger 
in  the  camp  who  has  no  relative  in  any  of  the  tribes 
of  Israel. 

Verse  14.  The  spirit  of  jealousy']  riiOp  nn  ruach 
kinah,  either  a  supernatural  diabolic  influence,  exciting 
him  to  jealousy,  or  the  passion  or  affection  of  jealousy, 
for  so  the  words  may  be  understood. 

Verse  17.  Holy  water]  Water  out  of  the  laver, 
called  holy  because  consecrated  to  sacred  uses.  This 
is  the  most  ancient  case  of  the  trial  by  ordeal.  See 
at  the  end  of  the  chapter. 

630 


In  an  earthen  vessel]  Supposed  by  the  Jews  to  be 
such  as  had  never  been  previously  used. 

Dust  that  is  in  the  floor]  Probably  intended  to 
point  out  the  baseness  of  the  crime  of  which  she  was 
accused. 

Verse  18.  Uncover  the  woman's  head]  To  take  off 
a  woman’s  veil,  and  expose  her  to  the  sight  of  men, 
would  be  considered  a  very  great  degradation  in  the 
East.  To  this  St.  Paul  appears  to  allude,  1  Cor.  xi. 
5,  6,  10. 

V erse  2 1 .  The  Lord  make  thee  a  curse  and  an  oath] 
Let  thy  name  and  punishment  be  remembered  and  men¬ 
tioned  as  an  example  and  terror  to  all  others.  Like 
that  mentioned  Jer.  xxix.  22,  23  :  “The  Lord  make 
thee  like  Zedekiah,  and  like  Ahab,  whom  the  king  of 
Babylon  roasted  in  the  fire,  because  they  have  com¬ 
mitted  villany  in  Israel,  and  have  committed  adultery 
with  their  neighbours’  wives.” — Ainsworth. 

Verse  22.  Thy  lelly  to  swell ,  and  thy  thigh  to  rot ] 

a 


CHAP.  V. 


The  bitter  waters  of  jealousy, 

a.  M.  2514.  t  shall  go  into  thy  bowels,  to 
An.  Exod.  isr.2.  make  thy  belly  to  swell,  and  thy 
ljar  or  Zif.  thigh  to  rot :  u  And  the  woman 

shall  say,  Amen,  amen. 

23  And  the  priest  shall  write  these  curses 
in  a  book,  and  he  shall  blot  them  out  with  the 
bitter  water : 

24  And  he  shall  cause  the  woman  to  drink 
the  bitter  water  that  causeth  the  curse  :  and 
the  water  that  causeth  the  curse  shall  enter 
into  her,  and  become  bitter. 

25  Then  the  priest  shall  take  the  jealousy¬ 
offering  out  of  the  woman’s  hand,  and  shall 
v  wave  the  offering  before  the  Lord,  and  offer 
it  upon  the  altar  : 

26  w  And  the  priest  shall  take  a  handful  of 
the  offering,  even  the  memorial  thereof,  and 
burn  it  upon  the  altar,  and  afterward  shall 
cause  the  woman  to  drink  the  water. 

27  And  when  he  hath  made  her  to  drink  the 

1  Psa.  eix.  18. - u  Deut.  xxvii.  15. - vLev.  viii.  27. 

w  Lev.  ii.  2,  9. - 1  Deut.  xxviii.  37  ;  Psa.  lxxxiii.  9,  11  ;  Jer. 

What  is  meant  by  these  expressions  cannot  be  easily 
ascertained.  "|V  bsib  lanpel  yarech  signifies  literally 
thy  thigh  to  fall.  As  the  thigh,  feet,  &c.,  were  used 
among  the  Hebrews  delicately  to  express  the  parts 
which  nature  conceals,  (see  Gen.  xlvi.  26,)  the  ex¬ 
pression  here  is  probably  to  be  understood  in  this 
sense ;  and  the  falling  down  of  the  thigh  here  must 
mean  something  similar  to  the  prolapsus  uteri,  or  fall¬ 
ing  down  of  the  womb,  which  might  be  a  natural  effect 
of  the  preternatural  distension  of  the  abdomen.  In 
1  Cor.  xi.  29,  St.  Paul  seems  to  allude  to  the  case  of 
the  guilty  woman  drinking  the  bitter  cursed  waters 
that  caused  her  destruction  :  He  who  eateth  and  drink- 
eth  unworthily ,  eateth  and  drinketh  damnation  (icpcya, 
condemnation  or  judgment )  to  himself ;  and  there  is 
probably  a  reference  to  the  same  thing  in  Psalm  cix. 
18,  and  in  Dan.  ix.  11. 

And  the  woman  shall  say,  Amen,  amen.]  This  is 
the  first  place  where  this  word  occurs  in  the  common 
form  of  a  concluding  wish  in  prayer.  The  root  |DN 
aman  signifies  to  be  steady,  true,  permanent.  And  in 
prayer  it  signifies  let  it  be  so — make  it  steady — let  it 
be  ratified.  Some  have  supposed  that  it  is  composed 
of  the  initial  letters  of  f)'!  'DX  a donai  uelech 

neeman,  My  Lord  the  faithful  King,  but  this  deriva¬ 
tion  is  both  far-fetched  and  unnecessary. 

Verse  23.  The  priest  shall  write  these  curses — and 
he  shall  blot  them  out ]  It  appears  that  the  curses 
which  were  written  down  with  a  kind  of  ink  prepared 
for  the  purpose,  as  some  of  the  rabbins  think,  without 
any  calx  of  iron  or  other  material  that  could  make  a 
permanent  dye,  were  washed  off  the  parchment  into  the 
water  which  the  woman  was  obliged  to  drink,  so  that 
she  drank  the  very  words  of  the  execration.  The  ink 
used  in  the  East  is  almost  all  of  this  kind — a  wet 
sponge  will  completely  efface  the  finest  of  their  writ¬ 
ings.  The  rabbins  say  that  the  trial  by  the  waters  of 


and  their  effects 

water,  then  it  shall  come  to  pass,  A.  M.  2514. 
that ,  if  she  be  defiled,  and  have  An.  Exod.  Isr.  2. 
done  trespass  against  her  hus-  Ijar  or  Zlf- 
band,  that  the  water  that  causeth  the  curse 
shall  enter  into  her,  and  become  bitter,  and 
her  belly  shall  swell,  and  her  thigh  shall  rot : 
and  the  woman  x  shall  be  a  curse  among  her 
people. 

28  And  if  the  woman  be  not  defiled,  but  be 
clean  ;  then  she  shall  be  free,  and  shall  con¬ 
ceive  seed. 

29  This  is  the  law  of  jealousies,  when  a  wife 
goeth  aside  to  another  y  instead  of  her  husband, 
and  is  defiled  ; 

30  Or  when  the  spirit  of  jealousy  cometli 
upon  him,  and  he  be  jealous  over  his  wife,  and 
shall  set  the  woman  before  the  Lord,  and  the 
priest  shall  execute  upon  her  all  this  Jaw. 

3  1  Then  shall  the  man  be  guiltless  from  ini¬ 
quity,  and  this  woman  z  shall  bear  her  iniquity^ 

xxiv.  9  ;  xxix.  18,  22  ;  xlii.  18-  Zech.  viii.  13.- - y  Yer.  19 

z  Lev.  xx.  17,  19,  20. 

jealousy  was  omitted  after  the  Babylonish  captivity, 
because  adulteries  were  so  frequent  amongst  them, 
that  they  were  afraid  of  having  the  name  of  the  Lord 
profaned  by  being  so  frequently  appealed  to  !  This 
is  a  most  humiliating  confession.  “  Though,”  says 
pious  Bishop  Wilson,  “  this  judgment  is  not  executed 
now  on  adulteresses,  yet  they  have  reason  from  this 
to  conclude  that  a  more  terrible  vengeance  will  await 
them  hereafter  without  a  bitter  repentance  ;  these  be¬ 
ing  only  a  shadow  of  heavenly  things,  i.  e.,  of  what 
the  Gospel  requires  of  its  professors,  viz. ,  a  strict 
purity,  or  a  severe  repentance.”  The  pious  bishop 
wmuld  not  preclude  the  necessity  of  pardon  through 
the  blood  of  the  cross,  for  without  this  the  severest 
repentance  would  be  of  no  avail. 

Verse  24.  The  bitter  water  that  causeth  the  curse ] 
Though  the  rabbins  think  that  the  priest  put  some  bit¬ 
ter  substance  in  the  water,  yet,  as  nothing  of  the  kind 
is  intimated  by  Moses,  we  may  consider  the  wTord  as 
used  here  metaphorically  for  affliction,  death,  &c. 
These  waters  were  afflicting  and  deadly  to  her  who 
drank  them,  being  guilty.  In  this  sense  afflictions  are 
said  to  be  bitter,  Isa.  xxxviii.  17  ;  so  also  is  death , 
1  Sam.  xv.  32  ;  Eccles.  vii.  26. 

Verse  29.  This  is  the  law  of  jealousies]  And  this 
is  the  most  singular  law  in  the  whole  Pentateuch :  a 
law  that  seems  to  have  been  copied  by  almost  all  the 
nations  of  the  earth,  whether  civilized  or  barbarian,  as 
we  find  that  similar  modes  of  trial  for  suspected 
offences  were  used  when  complete  evidence  was  want¬ 
ing  to  convict ;  and  where  it  was  expected  that  the 
object  of  their  worship  would  interfere  for  the  sake 
of  justice,  in  order  that  the  guilty  should  be  brought 
to  punishment,  and  the  innocent  be  cleared.  For 
general  information  on  this  head  see  at  the  end  of  this 
chapter. 

Verse  31.  This  woman  shall  bear  her  iniquity] 

631 


General  account  of  the  NUMBERS.  trial  by  ordeal 


That  is,  her  belly  shall  swell,  and  her  thigh  shall  rot ; 
see  on  ver.  22.  But  if  not  guilty  after  such  a  trial, 
she  had  great  honour  ,  and,  according  to  the  rabbins, 
became  strong ,  healthy ,  and  fruitful ;  for  if  she  was 
before  barren ,  she  now  began  to  bear  children ;  if  be¬ 
fore  she  had  only  daughters ,  she  now  began  to  have 
sons ;  if  before  she  had  hard  travail ,  she  now  had 
easy  ;  in  a  word,  she  was  blessed  in  her  body,  her 
soul,  and  her  substance  :  so  shall  it  be  done  unto  the 
holy  and  faithful  woman,  for  such  the  Lord  delighteth 
to  honour ;  see  1  Tim.  ii.  15. 

On  the  principal  subject  of  this  chapter,  I  shall  here 
introduce  a  short  account  of  the  trial  by  ordeal ,  as 
practised  in  different  parts  of  the  world,  and  which  is 
supposed  to  have  taken  its  origin  from  the  waters  of 
jealousy. 

The  trial  bv  what  was  afterwards  called  ordeal  is 

j 

certainly  of  very  remote  antiquity,  and  was  evidently 
of  Divine  appointment.  In  this  place  we  have  an  in¬ 
stitution  relative  to  a  mode  of  trial  precisely  of  that 
kind  which  among  our  ancestors  was  called  ordeal ; 
and  from  this  all  similar  trials  in  Asia ,  Africa ,  and 
Europe,  have  very  probably  derived  their  origin. 

Ordeal,  Latin,  ordalium,  is,  according  to  Verstegan , 
from  the  Saxon  ojibaei,  ordal  and  ordel,  and  is  derived 
by  some  from  or,  great,  and  DjEL,  judgment,  signify¬ 
ing  the  greatest,  most  solemn,  and  decisive  mode  of 
judgment. — Hickes.  Others  derive  it  from  the  Fran- 
cic  or  Teutonic  TJrdela,  which  signifies  simply  to  judge. 
But  Lye,  in  his  Anglo-Saxon  Dictionary,  derives  the 
term  from  oji,  which  is  often  in  Anglo-Saxon,  a  pri- 
vative  particle,  and  basi,  distinction  or  difference  ;  and 
hence  applied  to  that  kind  of  judgment  in  which  there 
was  no  respect  of  persons,  but  every  one  had  absolute 
justice  done  him,  as  the  decision  of  the  business  was 
supposed  to  belong  to  God  alone.  It  always  signified 
an  appeal  to  the  immediate  interposition  of  God,  and 
was  therefore  called  Judicium  Dei,  God's  Judgment ; 
and  we  may  naturally  suppose  was  never  resorted  to 
but  in  very  important  cases,  where  persons  accused  of 
great  crimes  protested  their  innocence,  and  there  was 
no  sufficient  evidence  by  which  they  could  be  cleared 
from  the  accusation,  or  proved  to  be  guilty  of  the  crime 
laid  to  their  charge.  Such  were  the  cases  of  jealousy 
referred  to  in  this  chapter. 

The  rabbins  who  have  commented  on  this  text  give 
us  the  following  information  :  When  any  man,  prompt¬ 
ed  by  the  spirit  of  jealousy,  suspected  his  wife  to  have 
committed  adultery,  he  brought  her  first  before  the 
judges,  and  accused  her  of  the  crime  ;  but  as  she 
asserted  her  innocency,  and  refused  to  acknowledge 
herself  guilty,  and  as  he  had  no  witnesses  to  produce, 
he  required  that  she  should  be  sentenced  to  drink  the 
waters  of  bitterness  which  the  law  had  appointed  ;  that 
God,  by  this  means,  might  discover  what  she  wished 
to  conceal.  After  the  judges  had  heard  the  accusa¬ 
tion  and  the  denial,  the  man  and  his  wfife  were  both 
sent  to  Jerusalem,  to  appear  before  the  Sanhedrin, 
who  were  the  sole  judges  in  such  matters.  The  rab¬ 
bins  say  that  the  judges  of  the  Sanhedrin,  at  first  en¬ 
deavoured  with  threatenings  to  confound  the  woman, 
and  cause  her  to  confess  her  crime  ;  when  she  still 
persisted  in  her  innocence,  she  was  led  to  the  eastern 

633 


gate  of  the  court  of  Israel,  where  she  was  stripped  of 
the  clothes  she  wore,  and  dressed  in  black  before  a 
number  of  persons  of  her  own  sex.  The  priest  then 
told  her  that  if  she  knew  herself  to  be  innocent  she 
had  no  evil  to  apprehend ;  but  if  she  were  guilty,  she 
might  expect  to  suffer  all  that  the  law  threatened  ;  to 
which  she  answered,  Amen,  amen. 

The  priest  then  wrote  the  words  of  the  law  upon  a 
piece  of  vellum,  with  ink  that  had  no  vitriol  in  it,  that 
it  might  be  the  more  easily  blotted  out.  The  words 
written  on  the  vellum  were,  according  to  the  rabbins, 
the  following  : — 

“  If  a  strange  man  have  not  come  near  thee,  and  thou 
art  not  polluted  by  forsaking  the  bed  of  thy  husband, 
these  bitter  waters  which  I  have  cursed  will  not  hurt 
thee  :  but  if  thou  have  gone  astray  from  thy  husband, 
and  have  polluted  thyself  by  coming  near  to  another 
man,  may  thou  be  accursed  of  the  Lord,  and  become 
an  example  for  all  his  people  ;  may  thy  thigh  rot,  and 
thy  belly  swell  till  it  burst !  may  these  cursed  waters 
enter  into  thy  belly,  and,  being  swelled  therewith,  may 
thy  thigh  putrefy  !” 

After  this  the  priest  took  a  new  pitcher,  filled  it 
with  water  out  of  the  brazen  bason  that  was  near  the 
altar  of  burnt-offering,  cast  some  dust  into  it  taken 
from  the  pavement  of  the  temple,  mingled  something 
bitter,  as  wormwood,  with  it,  and  having  read  the 
curses  above  mentioned  to  the  woman,  and  received 
her  answer  of  Amen,  he  scraped  off  the  curses  from 
the  vellum  into  the  pitcher  of  water.  During  this  time 
another  priest  tore  her  clothes  as  lowr  as  her  bosom, 
made  her  head  bare,  untied  the  tresses  of  her  hair, 
fastened  her  torn  clothes  with  a  girdle  below  her 
breasts,  and  presented  her  with  the  tenth  part  of  an 
ephah,  or  about  three  pints  of  barley-meal ,  which  was 
in  a  frying  pan,  without  oil  or  incense. 

The  other  priest,  who  had  prepared  the  waters  of 
jealousy,  then  gave  them  to  be  drank  by  the  accused 
person,  and  as  soon  as  she  had  swallowed  them,  he 
put  the  pan  with  the  meal  in  it  into  her  hand.  This 
was  waved  before  the  Lord,  and  a  part  of  it  thrown 
into  the  fire  of  the  altar.  If  the  woman  was  innocent, 
she  returned  with  her  husband  ;  and  the  waters,  instead 
of  incommoding  her,  made  her  more  healthy  and 
fruitful  than  ever :  if  on  the  contrary  she  were  guilty, 
she  was  seen  immediately  to  grow  pale,  her  eyes 
started  out  of  her  head,  and,  lest  the  temple  should  be 
defiled  with  her  death,  she  was  carried  out,  and  died 
instantly  -with  all  the  ignominious  circumstances  related 
in  the  curses,  which  the  rabbins  say  had  the  same 
effect  on  him  with  whom  she  had  been  criminal,  though 
he  were  absent  and  at  a  distance.  They  add,  how¬ 
ever,  that  if  the  husband  himself  had  been  guilty  with 
another  woman,  then  the  wraters  had  no  bad  effect 
even  on  his  criminal  wife  ;  as  in  that  case  the  trans¬ 
gression  on  the  one  part  was,  in  a  certain  sense, 
balanced  by  the  transgression  on  the  other. 

There  is  no  instance  in  the  Scriptures  of  this  kind  of 
ordeal  having  ever  been  resorted  to  ;  and  probably  it 
never  was  during  the  purer  times  of  the  Hebrew  re¬ 
public.  God  had  rendered  himself  so  terrible  by  his 
judgments,  that  no  person  would  dare  to  appeal  to  this 
mode  of  trial  who  w7as  conscious  of  her  guilt  ;  and  in 
case  of  simple  adultery,  where  the  matter  was  either 

a 


General  account  of  the 

detected  or  confessed,  the  parties  were  ordered  by  the 
law  to  be  put  to  death. 

But  other  ancient  nations  have  also  had  their  trials 
by  ordeal. 

We  learn  from  Ferdusi,  a  Persian  poet,  whose  au¬ 
thority  we  have  no  reason  to  suspect,  that  the  fire 
ordeal  was  in  use  at  a  very  early  period  among  the 
ancient  Persians.  In  the  famous  epic  poem  called 
the  Shah  Nameh  of  this  author,  who  is  not  improperly 
styled  the  Homer  of  Persia ,  under  the  title  Dastan 
Seeavesh  ve  Soodaheh ,  The  account  of  Seeavesh  and 
Soodabeh,  he  gives  a  very  remarkable  and  circumstan¬ 
tial  account  of  a  trial  of  this  kind. 

It  is  very  probable  that  the  fire  ordeal  originated 
among  the  ancient  Persians,  for  by  them  fire  was  not 
only  held  sacred,  but  considered  as  a  god ,  or  rather  as 
the  visible  emblem  of  the  supreme  Deity ;  and  indeed 
this  kind  of  trial  continues  in  extensive  use  among  the 
Hindoos  to  the  present  day.  In  the  code  of  Gentoo 
laws  it  is  several  times  referred  to  under  the  title  of 
Purrah  Reh,  but  in  the  Shah  Nameh ,  the  word 

Soogend  is  used,  which  signifies  literally  an  oath,  as 
the  persons  were  obliged  to  declare  their  innocence 
by  an  oath,  and  then  put  their  veracity  to  test  by 

passing  through  the  kohi  atesh,  or  fire 

pile ;  see  the  Shah  Nameh  in  the  title  Dastan  Seea¬ 
vesh  ve  Soodaheh ,  and  Halhed’s  code  of  Gentoo  laws  ; 
Preliminary  Discourse,  p.  Iviii.,  and  chap,  v.,  sec. 
iii.,  pp.  117,  &c. 

A  circumstantial  account  of  the  different  kinds  of 
ordeal  practised  among  the  Hindoos,  communicated  by 
Warren  Hastings,  Esq.,  who  received  it  from  Ali  Ibra¬ 
him  Khan,  chief  magistrate  at  Benares,  may  be  found 
in  the  Asiatic  Researches,  vol.  i.,  p.  389. 

This  trial  was  conducted  among  this  people  nine 
different  ways  :  first,  by  the  balance ;  secondly,  by 
fire  ;  thirdly,  by  water  ;  fourthly,  by  poison  ;  fifthly, 
by  the  cosha ,  or  water  in  which  an  idol  has  been 
washed  ;  sixthly,  by  rice ;  seventhly,  by  boiling  oil ; 
eighthly,  by  red  hot  iron  ;  ninthly,  by  images. 

There  is,  perhaps,  no  mode  of  judiciary  decision 
that  has  been  in  more  common  use  in  ancient  times, 
than  that  of  ordeal,  in  some  form  or  other.  We  find 
that  it  was  also  used  by  the  ancient  Greeks  500  years 
before  the  Christian  era ;  for  in  the  Antigone  of  So¬ 
phocles,  a  person  suspected  by  Creon  of  a  misdemea¬ 
nor,  declares  himself  ready  “to  handle  hot  iron,  and 
to  walk  over  fire,”  in  proof  of  his  innocence,  which 
the  scholiast  tells  us  was  then  a  very  usual  purgation. 

Hpev  6’  tToipoi  Kai  yvdpovr  aipeiv  xeP0LV > 

K at  7 rvp  dieprcuv,  nai  deovg  opKoporeiv.  Yer.  270. 

The  scholiast  on  this  line  informs  us  that  the  cus¬ 
tom  in  binding  themselves  by  the  most  solemn  oath, 
was  this  :  they  took  red  hot  iron  in  their  hands,  and 
throwing  it  into  the  sea,  swore  that  the  oath  should  be 
inviolate  till  that  iron  made  its  appearance  again. 

Yirgil  informs  us  that  the  priests  of  Apollo  at 
Soracte  were  accustomed  to  ivalk  over  burning  coals 
unhurt. 

- - Et  medium,  freli  pietate,  per  ignem 

Cultores  multa  premimus  vestigia  pruna. 

Mn.  xi.  787. 
a 


trial  by  ordeal. 

Grotius  gives  many  instances  of  water  ordeal  in 
Bithynia,  Sardinia,  and  other  places.  Different  spe¬ 
cies  of  fire  and  water  ordeal  are  said  to  have  prevailed 
among  the  Indians  on  the  coast  of  Malabar ;  the 
negroes  of  Loango,  Mosambique,  &c.,  &c.,  and  the 
Calmuc  Tartars. 

The  first  formal  mention  I  find  of  this  trial  in  Eu¬ 
rope  is  in  the  laws  of  King  Ina,  composed  about  A.  D. 
700.  See  L.  77,  entitled,  Dom  be  haten  i]’ene  anb 
paten,  Decision  by  hot  iron  and  water.  I  find  it  also 
mentioned  in  the  council  of  Mentz,  A.  D.  847  ;  but 
Agobard ,  archbishop  of  Lyons,  wrote  against  it  sixty 
years  before  this  time.  It  is  afterwards  mentioned  in 
the  council  of  Trevers,  A.  D.  895.  It  did  not  exist 
in  Normandy  till  after  the  Conquest ,  and  was  probably 
first  introduced  into  England  in  the  time  of  Ina,  in 
whose  laws  and  those  of  Athelstan  and  Ethelred,  it 
was  afterwards  inserted.  The  ordeal  by  fire  was  for 
noblemen'  and  women,  and  such  as  were  free  born  : 
the  water  ordeal  was  for  husbandmen ,  and  the  meaner 
classes  of  the  people,  and  was  of  two  sorts  ;  by  cold 
water  and  by  hot.  See  the  proceedings  in  these  trials 
declared  particularly  in  the  law  of  King  Ina;  Wil¬ 
kins,  Leges  Anglo- Saxonicw,  p.  27. 

Several  popes  published  edicts  against  this  species 
of  trial.  Henry  III.  abolished  trials  by  ordeal  in  the 
third  year  of  his  reign,  1219.  See  the  act  in  Rymer , 
vol.  i.,  p.  228  ;  and  see  Dugdale's  Origines  Juridicales, 
fol.  87  ;  Spelman's  Glossary,  Wilkins,  Ilickes,  Lom¬ 
bard,  Sonnier,  and  Du  Cange ,  art.  Ferrum. 

The  ordeal  or  trial  by  battle  or  combat  is  supposed 
to  have  come  to  us  from  the  Lombards,  who,  leaving 
Scandinavia,  overran  Europe  :  it  is  thought  that  this 
mode  of  trial  was  instituted  by  Frotha  III.,  king  of 
Denmark,  about  the  time  of  the  birth  of  Christ ;  for 
he  ordained  that  every  controversy  should  be  deter¬ 
mined  by  the  sivord.  It  continued  in  Holsatia  till  the 
time  of  Christian  III.,  king  of  Denmark,  who  began 
his  reign  in  1535.  From  these  northern  nations  the 
practice  of  duels  was  introduced  into  Great  Britain. 

I  need  scarcely  add,  that  this  detestable  form  of 
trial  was  the  foundation  of  the  no  less  detestable  crime 
of  duelling,  which  so  much  disgraces  gur  age  and  na¬ 
tion,  a  practice  that  is  defended  only  by  ignorance, 
false  honour,  and  injustice  :  it  is  a  relic  of  barbarous 
superstition,  and  was  absolutely  unknown  to  those 
brave  and  generous  nations,  the  Greeks  and  Romans, 
whom  it  is  so  much  the  fashion  to  admire  ;  and  who, 
in  this  particular,  so  well  merit  our  admiration  ! 

The  general  practice  of  duelling  is  supposed  to  have 
taken  its  rise  in  1527,  at  the  breaking  up  of  a  treaty 
between  the  Emperor  Charles  Y.  and  Francis  I.  The 
former  having  sent  a  herald  with  an  insulting  message 
to  Francis,  the  king  of  France  sent  back  the  herald 
with  a  cartel  of  defiance,  in  which  he  gave  the  empe¬ 
ror  the  lie,  and  challenged  him  to  single  combat : 
Charles  accepted  it ;  but  after  several  messages  con¬ 
cerning  the  arrangement  of  all  the  circumstances  re¬ 
lative  to  the  combat,  the  thoughts  of  it  were  entirely 
laid  aside.  The  example  of  two  personages  so  illus¬ 
trious  drew  such  general  attention,  and  carried  with  it 
so  much  authority,  that  it  had  considerable  influence 
in  introducing  an  important  change  in  manners  all  over 
Europe. 


CHAP.  V. 


633 


Concerning  the  vow 

It  was  so  much  the  custom  in  the  middle  ages  of 
Christianity  to  respect  the  cross,  even  to  superstition, 
that  it  would  have  been  indeed  wonderful  if  the  same 
ignorant  bigotry  had  not  converted  it  into  an  ordeal : 
accordingly  we  find  it  used  for  this  purpose  in  so  many 
different  ways  as  almost  to  preclude  description. 

Another  trial  of  this  kind  was  the  Corsned ,  or  the 
consecrated  bread  and  cheese :  this  was  the  ordeal  to 
which  the  clergy  commonly  appealed  when  they  were 
accused  of  any  crime.  A  few  concluding  observa¬ 
tions  from  Di.  Henry  may  not  be  unacceptable  to  the 
reader : — 

“  If  we  suppose  that  few  or  none  escaped  convic¬ 
tion  who  exposed  themselves  to  these  fiery  trials,  we 
shall  be  very  much  mistaken.  For  the  histories  of 
those  times  contain  innumerable  examples  of  persons 
plunging  their  naked  arms  into  boiling  water,  hand¬ 
ling  red  hot  balls  of  iron,  and  walking  upon  burning 
ploughshares,  without  receiving  the  least  injury.  Many 
learned  men  have  been  much  puzzled  to  account  for 
this,  and  disposed  to  think  that  Providence  graciously 
interposed  in  a  miraculous  manner  for  the  preservation 
of  injured  innocence. 

“  But  if  we  examine  every  circumstance  of  these 
fiery  ordeals  with  due  attention,  we  shall  see  sufficient 
reason  to  suspect  that  the  whole  was  a  gross  imposi¬ 
tion  on  the  credulity  of  mankind.  The  accused  person 
was  committed  wholly  to  the  priest  who  was  to  per¬ 
form  the  ceremony  three  days  before  the  trial,  in 
which  he  had  time  enough  to  bargain  with  him  for 
his  deliverance,  and  give  him  instructions  how  to  act 
his  part.  On  the  day  of  trial  no  person  was  permitted 
to  enter  the  church  but  the  priest  and  the  accused  till 
after  the  iron  was  heated,  when  twelve  friends  of  the 
accuser,  and  twelve  of  the  accused,  and  no  more, 
were  admitted  and  ranged  along  the  wall  on  each  side 


of  the  Nazarite , 

of  the  church,  at  a  respectful  distance.  After  the 
iron  was  taken  out  of  the  fire  several  prayers  were 
said  :  the  accused  drank  a  cup  of  holy  water,  and 
sprinkled  his  hand  with  it,  which  might  take  a  consi¬ 
derable  time  if  the  priest  were  indulgent.  The  space 
of  nine  feet  was  measured  by  the  accused  himself, 
with  his  own  feet,  and  he  would  probably  give  but 
scanty  measure.  He  was  obliged  only  to  touch  one 
of  the  marks  with  the  toe  of  his  right  foot,  and  allowed 
to  stretch  the  other  foot  as  far  towards  the  other  mark 
as  he  could,  so  that  the  conveyance  was  almost  instan¬ 
taneous.  His  hand  was  not  immediately  examined, 
but  wrapped  in  a  cloth  prepared  for  that  purpose  three 
days.  May  we  not  then,  from  all  these  precautions, 
suspect  that  these  priests  were  in  possession  of  some 
secret  that  secured  the  hand  from  the  impression  of 
such  a  momentary  touch  of  hot  iron,  or  removed  all 
appearances  of  these  impressions  in  three  days  ;  and 
that  they  made  use  of  this  secret  when  they  saw  rea¬ 
son  1  Such  readers  as  are  curious  in  matters  of  this 
kind  may  find  two  different  directions  for  making  oint¬ 
ments  that  will  have  this  effect,  in  the  wrork  here 
quoted.  What  greatly  strengthens  these  suspicions  is, 
that  we  meet  with  no  example  of  any  champion  of  the 
Church  who  suffered  the  least  injury  from  the  touch  of 
hot  iron  in  this  ordeal :  but  where  any  one  was  so  fool¬ 
hardy  as  to  appeal  to  it,  or  to  that  of  hot  water ,  with 
a  view  to  deprive  the  Church  of  any  of  her  posses¬ 
sions,  he  never  failed  to  burn  his  fingers,  and  lose  his 
cause.”  I  have  made  the  scanty  extract  above  fiom 
a  very  extensive  history  of  the  trial  by  ordeal,  which  I 
wrote  several  years  ago,  but  never  published. 

All  the  forms  of  adjuration  for  the  various  ordeals 
of  hot  water,  cold  water,  red  hot  iron,  bread  and  cheese, 
&c.,  may  be  seen  in  the  Codex  Legum  Antiquarwma 
Lindenbrogii,  fol.  Franc.  1613,  p.  1299,  &c. 


NUMBERS. 


CHAPTER  VI. 


The  vow  of  the  Nazarite,  1,2.  In  what  it  consisted,  3-8.  When  accidentally  defiled ,  how  he  is  to  he 
purified,  9—12.  The  sacrifices  he  is  to  bring,  and  the  rites  he  is  to  perform,  when  the  vow  of  his  separa¬ 
tion  is  fulfilled,  13—21.  The  manner  in  which  the  priests  are  to  bless  the  people,  22—26.  The  name  of 
the  Lord  is  to  be  put  on  the  children  of  Israel,  whom  He  promises  to  bless,  27. 


j^ND  the  Lord  spake  unto 
Moses,  saying, 

_ _  2  Speak  unto  the  children  of 

Israel,  and  say  unto  them,  When  either  man 


A.  M.  2514. 

B.  C.  1490. 
An.  Exod.  Isr.  2. 

Ijar  or  Zif. 


or  woman  shall  a  separate  b  them¬ 
selves  to  vow  a  vow  of  a  Nazarite, 
to  separate  themselves  unto  the 
Lord  : 


A.  M.  2514. 

B.  C.  1490. 
An.  Exod.  Isr.  2. 

Ijar  or  Zif. 


a  Or,  make  themselves  Nazarites. 

NOTES  ON  CHAP.  VI. 

Verse  2.  When  either  man  or  woman  shall  separate, 
<yc.]  The  word  VO  nazir,  from  VJ  nazar,  to  separate, 
signifies  merely  a  separated  person,  i.  e.,  one  pecu¬ 
liarly  devoted  to  the  service  of  God  by  being  separated 
from  all  servile  employments.  From  the  Nazarites 
sprang  the  Rechabites,  from  the  Rechabites  the  Es- 
senes,  from  the  Essenes  the  Anchorites  or  Hermits, 
and  in  imitation  of  those,  the  different  monastic  orders. 
Some  contend  strongly  that  the  Nazarite  was  a  type 
of  our  Lord;  but  neither  analogy  nor  proof  can  be  pro- 

634 


b  Lev.  xxvii.  2  ;  Judg.  xiii.  5  ;  Acts  xxi.  23  ;  Rom.  i.  1. 

duced.  Our  blessed  Lord  both  drank  wine  and  touched 
the  dead,  which  no  Nazarite  would  do  :  as  to  his  either 
shaving  his  hair  or  letting  it  grow,  we  know  nothing. 
His  being  called  a  Nazarene,  Matt.  ii.  23,  is  nothing 
to  the  purpose,  as  it  can  mean  no  more  than  either 
that  he  was  an  inhabitant  of  Nazareth,  which  was  a 
place  of  no  credit,  and  therefore  used  as  a  term  of 
reproach ;  or  that  he  wras  in  a  general  sense  conse¬ 
crated  to  the  service  of  God — so  were  Samson,  Sa¬ 
muel,  Jeremiah,  and  John  Baptist ;  or  rather,  that  he 
was  the  VG  netser  or  branch,  Isa.  xi.  1,  and  n<0¥ 

a 


CHAP.  VI. 


The  vow  of  the  Nazarite, 


and  how  he  is  to  be  purified 


A.  M.  2514.  3  c  He  shall  separate  himself 

B.  C.  1490.  -  .  ,  r  ,  .  J 

An.  Exod.  isr.2.  from  wine  and  strong  drink  ;  and 

Ijar  or  Zif. 


shall  drink  no  vinegar  of  wine, 
or  vinegar  of  strong  drink,  neither  shall  he 
drink  any  liquor  of  grapes,  nor  eat  moist 
grapes,  or  dried. 

4  All  the  days  of  his  d  separation  shall  he 
eat  nothing  that  is  made  of  the  e  vine-tree, 
from  the  kernels  even  to  the  husk. 

5  All  the  days  of  the  vow  of  his  separation 
there  shall  no  f  razor  come  upon  his  head ; 
until  the  days  be  fulfilled,  in  the  which  he 
separateth  himself  unto  the  Lord,  he  shall  be 
holy,  and  shall  let  the  locks  of  the  hair  of  his 
head  grow. 

6  All  the  days  that  he  separateth  himself  unto 
the  Lord,  &  he  shall  come  at  no  dead  body. 

7  11  He  shall  not  make  himself  unclean  for 
his  father,  or  for  his  mother,  for  his  brother, 
or  for  his  sister,  when  they  die  ;  because  the 
1  consecration  of  his  God  is  upon  his  head. 


8  All  the  days  of  his  separation  A.  M.  2514. 

he  is  holy  unto  the  Lord.  An.  Exod.  Isr.  2. 

9  And  if  any  man  die  very  ljar  orZlf~ 
suddenly  by  him,  and  he  hath  defiled  the  head 
of  his  consecration  ;  then  he  shall  k  shave  his 
head  in  the  day  of  his  cleansing,  on  the 
seventh  day  shall  he  shave  it. 

1 0  And  1  on  the  eighth  day  he  shall  bring 
two  turtles,  or  two  young  pigeons,  to  the  priest, 
to  the  door  of  the  tabernacle  of  the  congre¬ 
gation  : 

1 1  And  the  priest  shall  offer  the  one  for  a  sin- 
offering,  and  the  other  for  a  burnt-offering,  and 
make  an  atonement  for  him,  for  that  he  sinned 
by  the  dead,  and  shall  hallow  his  head  that 
same  day. 

12  And  he  shall  consecrate  unto  the  Lord 
the  days  of  his  separation,  and  shall  bring  a 
lamb  of  the  first  year  m  for  a  trespass-offering  : 
but  the  days  that  were  before  shall  n  be  lost, 
because  his  separation  was  defiled. 


c  Amos  ii.  12  ;  Luke  i.  15.' - d  Or,  Nazariteship. - e  Heb. 

vine  of  the  wine. - f  Judg.  xiii.  5  ;  xvi.  17 ;  1  Sam.  i.  11. - s  Lev. 

xxi.  11  ;  chap.  xix.  11,  16. 

tsemach ,  Zech.  iii.  8  ;  vi.  12,  which  is  quite  a  different 
word  ;  but  this  title  is  expressly  applied  to  our  blessed 
Lord  by  the  above  prophets  ;  but  in -no  place  do  they 
or  any  other  prophets  call  him  a  Nazariie,  in  the  sense 
in  which  TTJ  nazir  is  used.  Indeed  it  could  not  in 
truth  be  applied  to  him,  as  the  distinguishing  marks  of 
a  Nazarite  never  belonged  to  him.  He  was,  it  is  true, 
the  netser  or  branch  out  of  the  root  of  Jesse,  the 
genuine  heir  to  the  throne  of  David,  whose  dominion 
should  extend  over  the  universe,  who  should  be  King 
of  kings,  and  Lord  of  lords ;  but  the  word  N afapatog, 
Matt.  ii.  23,  signifies  merely  a  Nazorcean,  or  inhabit¬ 
ant  of  Nazareth. 

Verse  3.  No  vinegar  of  wine,  c fc.]  y ~>n  chomets 
signifies  fermented  wine,  and  is  probably  used  here  to 
signify  wine  of  a  strong  body,  or  any  highly  intoxi¬ 
cating  liquor.  Dr.  Lightfoot  supposes  that  the  leper 
being  the  most  defiled  and  loathsome  of  creatures, 
was  an  emblem  of  the  wretched,  miserable  state  of 
man  by  the  fall ;  and  that  the  Nazarite  was  the  em¬ 
blem  of  man  in  his  state  of  innocence.  Wine  and  grapes 
are  here  particularly  forbidden  to  the  Nazarite  because, 
as  the  doctor  thinks,  being  an  emblem  of  man  in  his 
paradisaical  state,  he  was  forbidden  that  tree  and  its 
fruits  by  eating  of  which  Adam  fell ;  for  the  doctor,  as 
well  as  the  Jewish  rabbins,  believed  the  tree  of  know¬ 
ledge  to  have  been  none  other  than  the  vine. 

Vinegar  of  strong  drink ]  See  the  note  on  Lev.  x.  9. 

Verse  5 .  There  shall  no  razor  come  upon  his  head ] 
The  vow  of  the  Nazarite  consisted  in  the  following 
particulars: — 1.  He  consecrated  himself  in  a  very 
especial  and  extraordinary  manner  to  God.  2.  This 
was  to  continue  for  a  certain  season,  probably  never 
less  than  a  whole  year,  that  he  might  have  a  full 

a 


h  Lev.  xxi.  1,  2,  11;  ch.  ix.  6. - ;  Heb.  separation. - kActs 

xviii.  18  ;  xxi.  24. - 1  Lev.  v.  7  ;  xiv.  22 ;  xv.  14,  29. - m  Lev. 

v.  6. - n  Heb.  fall. 

growth  of  hair  to  burn  in  the  fire  which  is  under  the 
sacrifice  of  the  peace-offering,  ver.  18.  3.  During  the 

time  of  his  separation,  or  nazarate,  he  drank  no  wine 
nor  strong  drink  ;  nor  used  any  vinegar  formed  from 
any  inebriating  liquor,  nor  ate  flesh  or  dried  grapes, 
nor  tasted  even  the  kernels  or  husks  of  any  thing  that 
had  grown  upon  the  vine.  4.  He  never  shaved  his 
head,  but  let  his  hair  grow,  as  the  proof  of  his  being 
in  this  separated  state,  and  under  vows  of  peculiar 
austerity.  5.  He  never  touched  any  dead  body,  nor 
did  any  of  the  last  offices,  even  to  his  nearest  kin  ;  but 
was  considered  as  the  priests,  who  were  wholly  taken 
up  with  the  service  of  God,  and  regarded  nothing  else. 
6.  All  the  days  of  his  separation  he  was  holy ,  ver.  8. 
During  the  whole  time  he  was  to  be  incessantly  em¬ 
ployed  in  religious  acts. 

Verse  7.  The  consecration  of  his  God  is  upon  his 
head.]  Literally,  The  separation  of  his  God  is  upon 
his  head ;  meaning  his  hair,  which  was  the  proof  and 
emblem  of  his  separation.  Now  as  the  hair  of  the 
Nazarite  was  a  token  of  his  subjection  to  God  through 
all  the  peculiarities  of  his  nazarate,  a  woman,  who  is 
married ,  is  considered  as  a  Nazarite  for  life,  i.  e., 
separated  from  all  others,  and  joined  to  one  husband 
who  is  her  lord;  hence  St.  Paul,  probably  alluding  to 
this  circumstance,  says,  1  Cor.  xi.  10  :  The  woman 
ought  to  have  power  upon  her  head,  i.  e.,  wear  her  hair 
and  veil ;  for  this  hair  is  a  proof  of  her  nazarate,  and 
of  her  being  in  subjection  to  her  husband,  as  the  Na¬ 
zarite  was  under  subjection  to  the  LORD  by  the  rule 
of  his  order. 

Verse  10.  Two  turtles,  or  two  young  pigeons']  The 
same  kind  of  offering  made  by  him  who  had  an  issue, 
Lev.  xv.  14,  &c. 


635 


NUMBERS. 


The  offerings  of  the  Nazar ite 

A.  M.  2514.  1 3  And  this  is  the  law  of  the 

An.  Exod.lsr.2.  Nazarite,  0  when  the  days  of  his 

rjaror  Zif.  separation  are  fulfilled  :  he  shall 

be  brought  unto  the  door  of  the  tabernacle  of 
the  congregation ; 

14  And  he  shall  offer  his  offering  unto  the 
Lord,  one  he-lamb  of  the  first  year  without 
blemish  for  a  burnt-offering,  and  one  ewe-lamb 
of  the  first  year  without  blemish  p  for  a  sin- 
offering,  and  one  ram  without  blemish  q  for 
peace-offerings ; 

1 5  And  a  basket  of  unleavened  bread, r  cakes 
of  fine  flour  mingled  with  oil,  and  wafers  of 
unleavened  bread  s  anointed  with  oil,  and  their 
meat-offering,  and  their  1  drink-offerings. 

16  And  the  priest  shall  bring  them  before 
the  Lord,  and  shall  offer  his  sin-offering,  and 
his  burnt-offering : 

17  And  he  shall  offer  the  ram  for  a  sacrifice 
of  peace-offerings  unto  the  Lord,  with  the 
basket  of  unleavened  bread  :  the  priest  shall 
offer  also  his  meat-offering,  and  his  drink- 
offering. 

18  u  And  the  Nazarite  shall  shave  the  head 
of  his  separation  at  the  door  of  the  tabernacle 

0  Acts  xxi.  26. - P  Lev.  iv.  2,  27,  32. - Lev.  iii.  6. 

r  Lev.  ii.  4. - s  Exod.  xxix.  2. - 1  Chap.  xv.  5, 7, 10. - u  Acts 

Yerse  18.  Shall  take  the  hair — and  put  it  in  the  fire] 
The  hair  was  permitted  to  grow  for  this  purpose  ;  and 
as  the  Nazarite  was  a  kind  of  sacrifice,  offered  to  God 
through  the  wliole  term  of  his  nazarale  or  separation , 
and  no  human  flesh  or  blood  could  be  offered  on  the 
altar  of  the  Lord,  he  offered  his  hair  at  the  conclusion 
of  his  separation,  as  a  sacrifice — that  hair  which  was 
the  token  of  his  complete  subjection  to  the  Lord,  and 
which  was  now  considered  as  the  Lord’s  property. 

The  Hindoos,  after  a  vow,  do  not  cut  their  hair 
during  the  term  of  their  vow ;  but  at  the  expiration 
of  it  they  shave  it  off  at  the  place  where  the  vow  was 
made. 

That  the  hair  ofi  the  head  was  superstitiously  used 
among  different  nations,  we  have  already  had  occa¬ 
sion  to  remark;  (see  the  notes  on  Lev.  xix.  27 ;)  and 
that  the  Gentiles  might  have  learned  this  from  the 
Jews  is  possible,  though  some  learned  men  think  that 
this  consecration  of  the  hair  to  a  deity  was  in  use 
among  the  heathens  before  the  time  of  Moses,  and  in 
nations  who  had  no  intercourse  or  connection  with  the 
Jews. 

Yerse  21.  This  is  the  law  of  the  Nazarite ]  We 
learn  from  Maimonides,  in  his  Treatise  of  the  Naza- 
rite,  that  a  man  might  become  a  Nazarite  in  behalf  of 
another ;  that  is,  might  assist  him  in  bearing  the  ex¬ 
penses  of  the  sacrifices,  &c.  “  A  son  may  fulfil  the 

vow  his  deceased  father  hath  made,  but  did  not  live  to 
accomplish  He  that  saith,  upon  me  be  the  shaving 
of  a  Nazarite,  he  is  bound  to  bring  the  offerings  of 

636 


when  his  vow  was  fulfilled. 

of  the  congregation,  and  shall  a.  m.  2514. 
take  the  hair  of  the  head  of  his  An.  Exod.  Isr.  2. 
separation,  and  put  it  in  the  fire  Ijar  or  Zlf’ 
which  is  under  the  sacrifice  of  the  peace- 
offerings. 

19  And  the  priest  shall  take  the  v  sodden 
shoulder  of  the  ram,  and  one  unleavened  cake 
out  of  the  basket,  and  one  unleavened  wafer, 
and  w  shall  put  them  upon  the  hands  of  the 
Nazarite,  after  the  hair  of  his  separation  is 
shaven  : 

20  And  the  priest  shall  wave  them  for  a 
wave-offering  before  the  Lord  :  x  this  is  holy 
for  the  priest,  with  the  wave-breast  and  heave- 
shoulder  :  and  after  that  the  Nazarite  may 
drink  wine. 

21  This  is  the  law  of  the  Nazarite  who  hath 
vowed,  and  of  his  offering  unto  the  Lord  for 
his  separation,  beside  that  that  his  hand  shall 
get :  according  to  the  vow  which  he  vowed, 
so  he  must  do  after  the  law  of  his  separation. 

22  And  the  Lord  spake  unto  Moses,  saying, 

23  Speak  unto  Aaron  and  unto  his  sons,  say¬ 
ing,  On  this  wise  y  ye  shall  bless  the  children 
of  Israel,  saying  unto  them, 

xxi.  24. - v  1  Sam.  ii.  15. - w  Exod.  xxix.  23,  24. - x  Exod. 

xxix.  27,  28. - y  Lev.  ix.  22  ;  1  Chron.  xxiii.  13. 

shaving  for  cleanness,  and  may  offer  them  by  the  hand 
of  what  Nazarite  he  will.  If  he  say,  Upon  me  be  half 
the  oblations  of  a  Nazarite,  then  he  bringeth  half  the 
offerings  by  what  Nazarite  he  will,  and  that  Nazarite 
payeth  his  offerings  out  of  that  which  is  his.” 

“  By  this,”  says  Mr.  Ainsworth,  we  may  see  the 
reason  of  that  which  James  said  to  Paul,  though  he 
had  no  Nazarite’s  vow  upon  him  :  ‘We  have  four  men 
who  have  a  vow  on  them  ;  them  take  and  sanctify 
thyself  with  them,  and  be  at  charges  with  them, 
that  they  may  shave  their  heads,  &c.  Then  Paul  took 
the  men,  and  the  next  day,  sanctifying  himself  with 
them,  entered  into  the  temple  to  signify  the  accom¬ 
plishment,  of  the  days  of  sanctification,  (or  Nazarite- 
ship,)  until  that  an  offering  should  be  offered  for  every 
one  of  them  see  Acts  xxi.  23—26.  For  though  Paul 
had  not  vowed  or  fulfilled  a  Nazariteship  himself,  yet 
might  he  contribute  with  them,  and  partake  of  their 
charges  about  the  sacrifices.” 

Verse  23.  On  this  wise  ye  shall  bless  the  children  of 
Israel]  The  prayer  which  God  makes  for  his  fol¬ 
lowers,  and  puts  into  their  mouth,  we  are  sure  must 
be  right ;  and  to  it,  when  sincerely,  faithfully,  and  fer¬ 
vently  offered,  we  may  confidently  expect  an  answer. 
If  he  condescended  to  give  us  a  form  of  blessings  or 
a  form  of  prayer,  we  may  rest  assured  that  he  will 
accept  what  he  himself  has  made.  This  consideration 
may  produce  great  confidence  in  them  who  come  with 
either  prayer  or  praise  to  the  throne  of  grace,  both  of 
which  should  be,  as  far  as  circumstances  will  admit, 


The  manner  in  which  the 


CHAP.  VII. 


a.  M.  2514.  24  The  Lord  bless  thee,  and 

B.  C.  1490.  ,  , 

An.  Exod.  isr.  2.  z  keep  thee  t 

25  The  Lord  a  make  his  face 
shine  -upon  thee,  and  b  be  gracious  unto 
thee  : 

z  Psa.  cx-xi.  7  ;  Johnxvii.il. - a  Psa.  xxxi.  16;  lxvii.  1; 

Ixxx.  3,  7, 19  ;  cxix.  135  ;  Dan.  ix.  17. - b  Gen.  xliii.  29. - c  Psa. 

in  the  very  words  of  Scripture ;  for  we  can  readily 
attach  a  consequence  to  the  words  of  God ,  which  we 
shall  find  difficult  to  attach  to  the  best  ordered  words 
of  men.  Take  with  you  words ,  and  turn  unto  the 
Lord.  What  ivords  ?  Why  those  which  God  imme¬ 
diately  puts  into  their  mouths.  Take  away  all  ini¬ 
quity,  and  receive  us  graciously ;  so  will  we  render 
the  calves  of  our  lips ;  we  shall  then  give  the  sacri¬ 
fices  of  which  our  lips  have  spoken,  when  we  made 
our  votes  unto  thee.  See  Hos.  xiv.  2. 

Verse  24.  The  Lord  bless  thee ]  There  are  three 
forms  of  blessing  here,  any  or  all  of  which  the  priests 
might  use  on  any  occasion.  The  following  is  a  verbal 
translation  : — 

1.  May  Jehovah  bless  thee  and  preserve  thee ! 

2.  May  Jehovah  cause  his  faces  to  shine  upon  thee, 
and  be  gracious  unto  thee  ! 

3.  May  Jehovah  lift  up  his  faces  upon  thee,  and 
may  he  put  prosperity  unto  thee  ! 

This  is  a  very  comprehensive  and  excellent  prayer, 
and  may  be  paraphrased  thus  : — 

1.  May  God  speak  good  unto  thee ,  by  giving  thee 
his  excellent  promises  !  (See  the  note  on  Gen.  ii.  3.) 
May  he  preserve  thee  in  the  possession  of  all  the  good 
thou  hast,  and  from  all  the  evil  with  which  thou  art 
threatened  ! 

2.  May  the  Holy  Trinity  illuminate  thy  heart , 
giving  thee  the  true  knowledge  of  thyself  and 
of  thy  Maker ;  and  may  he  show  thee  his  gra¬ 
ciousness  in  pardoning  thy  sins,  and  supporting  thy 
soul  ! 


priests  are  to  bless  the  people . 


lift  up 
thee, 


his 

and 


26  c  The  Lord 
countenance  upon 
d  give  thee  peace. 

27  e  And  they  shall  put  my  name  upon  the 
children  of  Israel  ;  and  f  I  will  bless  them. 


A.  M.  2514. 

B.  C.  1490. 
An.  Exod.  Isr.  2. 

Ijar  or  Zif 


iv.  6. - d  John  xiv.  27  ;  2  Thess.  iii.  16. - e  Deut.  xxviii.  10  ; 

2  Chron.vii.  14  ;  Isa.  xliii.  7  ;  Dan.  ix.  18,  19. - f  Psa.  cxv.  12. 


3.  May  God  give  thee  communion  with  the  Father, 
Son,  and  Spirit,  with  a  constant  sense  of  his  appro¬ 
bation  ;  and  grant  thee  prosperity  in  thy  soul,  and  in 
all  thy  secular  affairs  ! 

This  I  suppose  to  be  the  spirit  and  design  of  this 
form  of  benediction.  Others  will  doubtless  interpret 
it  after  their  manner.  Several  wise  and  learned  men 
believe  that  the  mystery  of  the  Holy  Trinity  is  not 
obscurely  hinted  at  in  it.  God  the  Father  blesses 
and  keeps  his  followers.  God  the  Son  is  gracious 
unto  sinners  in  remitting  their  offences,  which  he  died 
to  blot  out.  God  the  Holy  Spirit  takes  of  the  things 
which  are  Christ’s,  and  shows  them  unto  genuine 
Christians,  and  diffuses  the  peace  of  God  in  their 
hearts.  In  a  word,  Christ,  the  gift  of  the  Father  by 
the  energy  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  came  to  bless  every  one 
of  us  by  turning  us  away  from  our  iniquities. 


1 .  Every  genuine  Christian  is  a  true  Nazarite.  He 
is  separated  from  the  world,  and  dedicated  solely  to 
the  service  of  God.  2.  His  life  is  a  life  of  self-denial ; 
he  mortifies  and  keeps  the  flesh  in  obedience  to  the 
Spirit.  3.  All  this  enters  into  the  spirit  of  his  bap¬ 
tismal  vow ;  for  in  that  he  promises  to  renounce  the 
devil  and  all  his  works,  the  pomps  and  vanities  of  this 
wicked  world,  and  all  the  sinful  lusts  of  the  flesh — 
to  keep  God’s  holy  word  and  commandments,  and  to 
walk  in  the  same  all  the  days  of  his  life.  4.  The  per¬ 
son  who  is  faithful  has  the  blessing  of  God  entailed 
upon  him.  Thus  shall  ye  bless  the  children  of  Israeli 
&c.,  &c.  See  the  notes  on  ver.  5  and  7. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

When  the  tabernacle  was  fully  set  up,  it  appeared  that  the  princes  of  the  twelve  tribes  had  prepared  six  covered 
wagons,  drawn  by  two  oxen  each,  one  wagon  for  two  tribes,  for  the  service  of  the  tabernacle,  1-3.  Moses 
is  commanded  to  receive  this  offering,  and  distribute  the  whole  to  the  Levites  according  to  their  service, 
4,  5.  Moses  does  so,  and  gives  two  wagons  and  four  oxen  to  the  sons  of  Gershon,  6,  7  ;  and  four  wagons 
and  eight  oxen  to  the  sons  of  Merari,  8.  The  sons  of  Kohath  have  none,  because  they  ivere  to  bear  the 
ark,  Spc.,  on  their  shoulders,  9.  Each  prince  is  to  take  a  day  for  presenting  his  offerings,  10,  11.  On 
the  first  day  Nahshon,  of  the  tribe  of  Judah,  offers  a  silver  charger,  a  silver  bowl,  a  golden  spoon,  a  young 
bullock,  a  ram,  a  lamb,  and  a  kid,  for  a  sin-offering  ;  two  oxen,  five  rams,  five  lie-goats,  and  five  lambs, 
for  a  peace-offering,  12—17.  On  the  second  day  Nethaneel,  of  the  tribe  of  Issachar,  offers  the  like, 
18—23.  On  the  third  day  Eliab,  of  the  tribe  of  Zebulun,  offers  the  like ,  24—29.  On  the  fourth  day 
Elizur,  of  the  tribe  of  Reuben,  offers  the  like,  30-35.  On  the  fifth  day  Shelumiel,  of  the  tribe  of  Simeon, 
made  a  similar  offering,  36—41.  On  the  sixth  day  Eliasaph,  of  the  tribe  of  Gad,  made  his  offering , 
42—47.  On  the  seventh  day  Elishama,  of  the  tribe  of  Ephraim,  made  his  offering,  48-53.  On  the  eighth 
day  Gamaliel,  of  the  tribe  of  Manasseh,  made  his  offering,  54-59.  On  the  ninth  day  Abidan,  of  the  tribe 
of  Benjamin,  made  his  offering,  60—65.  On  the  tenth  day  Ahiezer,  of  the  tribe  of  Dan,  made  his  offer¬ 
ing,  66—71.  On  the  eleventh  day  Pagiel,  of  the  tribe  of  Asher,  made  his  offering,  72—77.  On  the 
twelfth  day  Ahira,  of  the  tribe  of  Naphtali,  made  the  same  kind  of  offering,  78—83.  The  sum  total  of  all 
vessels  and  cattle  which  ivere  offered  ivas  twelve  silver  chargers,  and  twelve  silver  bowls ;  twelve  golden 
spoons;  twelve  bullocks,  twelve  rams,  and  twelve  kids;  twenty-four  bullocks,  sixty  rams,  sixty  he-goats, 
and  sixty  lambs,  84-88.  The  offerings  being  ended,  Moses  goes  into  the  tabernacle,  and  hears  the  voice 
of  the  Lord  from  the  mercy -seat,  89. 

a 


637 


NUMBERS. 


The  princes  of  the  twelve  tribes 


make  their  offerings  to  God 


a. M. 2514.  AND  it  came  to  pass  on  the 

B.  0.1490.  Tx  1 

An.  Exod.  1st.  2.  clay  that  Moses  had  rally 

ijai  or  Zif.  a  sej.  Up  ^]ie  tabernacle,  and  had 
anointed  it,  and  sanctified  it,  and  all  the  instru¬ 
ments  thereof,  both  the  altar  and  all  the  ves¬ 
sels  thereof,  and  had  anointed  them,  and  sanc¬ 
tified  them  ; 

2  That  b  the  princes  of  Israel,  heads  of  the 
house  of  their  fathers,  who  were  the  princes 
of  the  tribes,  c  and  were  over  them  that  were 
numbered,  offered  : 

3  And  they  brought  their  offering  before  the 
Lord,  six  covered  wagons,  and  twelve  oxen  ; 
a  wagon  for  two  of  the  princes,  and  for  each 
one  an  ox  :  and  they  brought  them  before  the 
tabernacle. 

4  And  the  Lord  spake  unto  Moses,  saying, 

5  d  Take  it  of  them,  that  they  may  be  to  do 
the  service  of  the  tabernacle  of  the  congrega¬ 
tion  ;  and  thou  shalt  give  them  unto  the  Le- 
vites,  to  every  man  according  to  his  service. 

6  And  Moses  took  the  wagons  and  the  oxen, 
and  gave  them  unto  the  Levites. 

7  Two  wagons  and  four  oxen  e  he  gave  unto 
the  sons  of  Gershon,  according  to  their  service  : 

8  f  And  four  wagons  and  eight  oxen  he.  gave 
unto  the  sons  of  Merari,  according  unto  their 
service,  s  under  the  hand  of  Ithamar  the  son 
of  Aaron  the  priest. 

9  But  unto  the  sons  of  Kohath  he  gave  none ; 

a  Exod.  xl.  18  ;  Lev.  viii.  10, 11. - b  Chap.  i.  4,  &c. - c  Heh. 

who  stood . - d  Exod.  xxv.  2;  xxxv.  5. - -e  Chap.  iv.  25. 

s  Chap.  iv.  31. - s  Chap,  iv  z8,  33. - h  Chap.  iv.  15. - 1  Chap. 

iv.  6,  8,  10,  12,  14 ;  2  San\  vi.  13. 

NOTES  ON  CHAP.  VII. 

Verse  1.  On  the  day  that  Moses  had  fully  set  up  the 
tabernacle]  The  transactions  mentioned  in  this  chap¬ 
ter  took  place  on  the  second  day  of  the  second  month 
of  the  second  year  after  their  departure  from  Egypt ; 
and  the  proper  place  of  this  account  is  immediately 
after  the  tenth  chapter  of  Leviticus. 

Verse  3.  Six  covered  wagons ]  3X  nbjj?  VJ'tf  shesh 
egloth  tsab,  six  tilted  wagons ,  the  Septuagint  translate 
af  ayaijag  Ttayirr/vucag,  with  which  the  Coptic  agrees ; 
but  what  lampenic  chariots  were,  no  person  pretends 
to  know.  Covered  or  tilted  is  probably  the  meaning 
of  the  original.  The  wagons  were  given  for  the  more 
convenient  exporting  of  the  heavier  parts  of  the  taber¬ 
nacle,  which  could  not  be  conveniently  carried  on 
men’s  shoulders. 

Verse  5.  According  to  his  service.]  That  is,  dis¬ 
tribute  them  among  the  Levites  as  they  may  need 
them ,  giving  most  to  those  who  have  the  heaviest  bur¬ 
dens  to  bear. 

Verse  7.  Two  wagons — unto  the  sons  of  Gershon] 
The  Gershonites  carried  only  the  curtains ,  coverings , 

638 


because  h  the  service  of  the  sane-  A.  M.  2514. 

,  1  ,  .  B.  C.  1490. 

tuary  belonging  unto  them  1  was  An. Exod. Isr.2 

that  they  should  bear  upon  their  ijar  or  Zif. 
shoulders. 

10  And  the  princes  offered  for  k  dedicating? 
of  the  altar  in  the  day  that  it  was  anointed,' 
even  the  princes  offered  their  offering  before 
the  altar. 

1 1  And  the  Lord  said  unto  Moses,  They 
shall  offer  their  offering,  each  prince  on  his 
day,  for  the  dedicating  of  the  altar. 

1 2  And  he  that  offered  his  offering  the  first 
day  was  1  Nahshon,  the  son  of  Amminadab,  of 
the  tribe  of  Judah  : 

13  And  his  offering  ivas  one  silver  charger, 
the  weight  thereof  was  a  hundred  and  thirty 
shekels ,  one  silver  bowl  of  seventy  shekels, 
after  m  the  shekel  of  the  sanctuary ;  both  of 
them  were  full  of  fine  flour  mingled  with  oil 
for  a  n  meat-offering  : 

14  One  spoon  of  ten  shekels  of  gold,  full  of 
0  incense  : 

15  p  One  young  bullock,  one  ram,  one  lamb 
of  the  first  year,  for  a  burnt-offering : 

16  One  kid  of  the  goats  for  a  q  sin-offering  : 

17  And  for  ra  sacrifice  of  peace-offerings, 
two  oxen,  five  rams,  five  he-goats,  five  lambs 
of  the  first  year :  this  was  the  offering  of 
Nahshon  the  son  of  Amminadab. 

18  On  the  second  day  Nethaneel,  the  son  of 

k  See  Deut.  xx.  5  ;  1  Kings  viii.  63  ;  2  Chron.  vii.  5,  9  ;  Ezra 

vi.  16  ;  Neh.  xii.  27  ;  Psa.  xxx.  title. - 1  Chap.  ii.  3. - m  Exod. 

xxx.  13. - “Lev.  ii.  1. - 0  Exod.  xxx.  34. - PLev.  i.  2. 


*1  Lev.  iv.  23. 


-r  Lev.  iii.  1. 


and  hangings ,  chap.  iv.  25.  And  although  this  was 
a  cumbersome  carriage,  and  they  needed  the  wagons, 
yet  it  was  not  a  heavy  one. 

Verse  8.  Four  wagons. — unto  the  sons  of  Merari] 
Because  they  had  the  boards ,  bars ,  pillars ,  and  sockets 
of  the  tabernacle  to  carry,  chap.  iv.  31,  32,  therefore 
they  had  as  many  more  wagons  as  the  Gershonites. 

Verse  9.  Unto  the  sons  of  Kohath  he  gave  none] 
Because  they  had  the  charge  of  the  ark,  table,  candle¬ 
stick,  altars,  &c.,  chap.  iv.  5—15,  which  were  to  be 
carried  upon  their  shoulders ;  for  those  sacred  things 
must  not  be  drawn  by  beasts. 

Verse  10.  And  the  princes  offered]  Every  prince 
or  chief  offered  in  the  behalf,  and  doubtless  at  the  ex¬ 
pense,  of  his  whole  tribe. 

Verse  13.  One  silver  charger]  fYTpp  kaarath,  a  dish, 
or  deep  bowl,  in  which  they  kneaded  the  paste.  See 
Exod.  xxv.  29. 

One  silver  bowl]  p^TD  mizrak ,  a  bason,  to  receive 
the  blood  of  the  sacrifice  in.  See  on  Exod.  xxvii.  3. 

Verse  14.  One  spoon]  rp  caph,  a  censer^  on  which 
they  put  the  incense.  See  Exod.  xxv.  29. 


CHAP.  VII. 


The  princes  of  the  twelve  tribes 


make  their  offerings  to  God. 


A.  M.  2514.  Zuar,  prince  of  Issacliar,  did 

B.  C.  1490.  rr 
An.  Exod.  Isr.  2.  OllCr 

ijar  or  Zif.  jg  jje  offered  for  his  offering 
one  silver  charger,  the  weight  whereof  was  a 
hundred  and  thirty  shekels ,  one  silver  bowl  of 
seventy  shekels,  after  the  shekel  of  the  sanc¬ 
tuary  ;  both  of  them  full  of  fine  flour  mingled 
with  oil  for  a  meat-offering  : 

20  One  spoon  of  gold  of  ten  shekels ,  full  of 
incense  : 

21  One  young  bullock,  one  ram,  one  lamb 
of  the  first  year,  for  a  burnt-offering : 

22  One  kid  of  the  goats  for  a  sin-offering  : 

23  And  for  a  sacrifice  of  s  peace-offerings, 
two  oxen,  five  rams,  five  he-goats,  five  lambs 
of  the  first  year  :  this  ivas  the  offering  of  Ne- 
thaneel  the  son  of  Zuar. 

24  On  the  third  day  4  Eliab,  the  son  of  Helon, 
prince  of  the  children  of  Zebulun,  did  offer : 

25  His  offering  was  one  silver  charger,  the 
weight  whereof  was  a  hundred  and  thirty 
shekels ,  one  silver  bowl  of  seventy  shekels, 
after  the  shekel  of  the  sanctuary  ;  both  of 
them  full  of  fine  flour  mingled  with  oil  for  a 
meat-offering; : 

o 

26  One  golden  spoon  of  ten  shekels ,  full  of 
incense  : 

27  One  young  bullock,  one  ram,  one  lamb 
of  the  first  year,  for  a  burnt-offering  : 

28  One  kid  of  the  goats  for  a  sin-offering  : 

29  And  for  a  sacrifice  of  peace-offerings, 
two  oxen,  five  rams,  five  he-goats,  five  lambs 
of  the  first  year  :  this  was  the  offering  of 
Eliab  the  son  of  Helon. 


s  Lev.  vii.  11-18  ;  1  Kings  viii.  63. - 1  Chap.  i.  9  ;  ii.  7. 


It  is  worthy  of  remark  that  the  different  tribes  are 
represented  here  as  bringing  their  offerings  precisely 
in  the  same  order  in  which  they  encamped  about  the 
tabernacle.  See  chap.  ii.  and  chap.  x. 


1. 

2. 

Judah 

Issachar 

the  chief 

•  •  • 

Nahshon,  ver. 
Nethaneel, 

12.  j 

18. 

>.  p 

U) 

3. 

Zebulun 

•  •  • 

Eliab , 

24.  J 

r-f* 

4. 

Reuben 

•  •  • 

Elizur , 

30.  j 

1  W 

5. 

Simeon 

•  •  • 

Shelumiel , 

36.  \ 

o 
►  c 

6. 

Gad 

•  •  • 

Eliasaph, 

42.  ) 

Er 

7. 

Ephraim 

•  •  • 

Elisharna , 

48. 

1  ^ 
*  (6 

8. 

Manasseh 

•  •  • 

Gamaliel, 

54.  | 

9. 

Benjamin 

•  •  • 

Abidan, 

60.  J 

w 

r 

10. 

Dan 

•  •  • 

Ahiezer, 

66.  ' 

11. 

Asher 

•  •  • 

Pagiel, 

72. 

o 

> 

12. 

Naphtali 

•  •  • 

Ahira, 

78.  J 

I 

It 

is  worthy  of  remark 

also,  that  every  tribe  offers 

the  same  kind  of  offering ,  and  in  the  same  quantity ,  to 
show,  that  as  every  tribe  was  equally  indebted  to  God 

a 


30  On  the  fourth  day  11  Elizur,  A.  M.  2514. 

the  son  of  Shedeur,  prince  of  the  An.  Exod.  isr!  2. 
children  of  Reuben,  did  offer  :  ijar  or  Zif. 

3  1  His  offering  was  one  silver  charger  of  the 
weight  of  a  hundred  and  thirty  shekels ,  one 
silver  bowl  of  seventy  shekels,  after  the 
shekel  of  the  sanctuary ;  both  of  them  full 
of .  fine  flour  mingled  with  oil  for  a  meat¬ 
offering  : 

32  One  golden  spoon  of  ten  shekels ,  full  of 
incense  : 

33  One  young  bullock,  one  ram,  one  lamb 
of  the  first  year,  for  a  burnt-offering  : 

34  One  kid  of  the  goats  for  a  sin-offering  : 

35  And  for  a  sacrifice  of  peace-offerings, 
two  oxen,  five  rams,  five  he-goats,  five  lambs 
of  the  first  year  :  this  was  the  offering  of 
Elizur  the  son  of  Shedeur. 

36  On  the  fifth  day  v  Shelumiel,  the  son  of 
Zurishaddai,  prince  of  the  children  of  Simeon, 
did  offer : 

37  His  offering  was  one  silver  charger,  the 
weight  whereof  was  a  hundred  and  thirty 
shekels ,  one  silver  bowl  of  seventy  shekels, 
after  the  shekel  of  the  sanctuary ;  both  of 
them  full  of  fine  flour  mingled  with  oil  for  a 
meat-offering  : 

38  One  golden  spoon  of  ten  shekels ,  full  of 
incense  : 

39  One  young  bullock,  one  ram,  one  lamb 
of  the  first  year,  for  a  burnt-offering  : 

40  One  kid  of  the  goats  for  a  sin-offering  : 

4 1  And  for  a  sacrifice  of  peace-offerings, 
two  oxen,  five  rams,  five  he-goats,  five  lambs 

u  Chap.  i.  5  ;  ii.  10. - v  Chap.  i.  16  ;  ii.  12. 

for  its  support,  so  each  should  testify  an  equal  sense 
of  obligation.  Besides,  the  vessels  were  all  sacrificial 
vessels,  and  the  animals  were  all  clean  animals,  such 
as  were  proper  for  sacrifices ;  and  therefore  every 
thing  was  intended  to  point  out  that  the  people  were 
to  be  a  holy  people,  fully  dedicated  to  God,  and  that 
God  was  to  dwell  among  them ;  hence  there  were 
fine  flour  and  oil,  for  a  meat-offering ,  ver.  13.  A 
bullock ,  a  ram ,  and  a  lamb ,  for  a  burnt-offering ,  ver. 
15,  16.  Five  oxen,  five  rams,  five  he-goats,  and  five 
lambs,  for  a  peace-offering,  ver.  17.  Thus,  as  the 
priests,  altar,  &c.,  were  anointed,  and  the  tabernacle 
dedicated,  so  the  people,  by  this  offering,  became  con¬ 
secrated  to  God.  Therefore  every  act  here  was  a 
religious  act. 

“  Thus,”  says  Mr.  Ainsworth,  “  by  sacrifices  of  all 
sorts,  figuring  the  death  of  Christ,  and  the  benefits 
that  were  to  be  received  thereby,  they  reconciled  and 
made  themselves  and  theirs  acceptable  to  God,  and 
were  made  partakers  of  his  grace,  to  remission  of  sins, 

639 


NUMBERS. 


The  princes  of  the  twelve  tribes 

A.  M.  2514.  of  the  first  year  :  this  was  the 
An.Exod.  isr.  2.  offering  of  Shelumiel  the  son  of 
liarorZif-  Zurishaddai. 

42  On  the  sixth  day  w  Eliasaph,  the  son 
of  Deuel,  prince  of  the  children  of  Gad, 
offered : 

43  His  offering  was  one  silver  charger  of  the 
weight  of  a  hundred  and  thirty  shekels ,  a  silver 
bowl  of  seventy  shekels,  after  the  shekel  of 
the  sanctuary ;  both  of  them  full  of  fine  flour 
mingled  with  oil  for  a  meat-offering : 

44  One  golden  spoon  of  ten  shekels ,  full  of 
incense  : 

45  One  young  bullock,  one  ram,  one  lamb 
of  the  first  year,  for  a  burnt- offering  : 

46  One  kid  of  the  goats  for  a  sin-offering: 

47  And  for  a  sacrifice  of  peace-offerings, 
two  oxen,  five  rams,  five  he-goats,  five  lambs 
of  the  first  year:  this  was  the  offering  of 
Eliasaph  the  son  of  Deuel. 

48  On  the  seventh  day  x  Elishama,  the 
son  of  Ammihud,  prince  of  the  children  of 
Ephraim,  offered : 

49  His  offering  was  one  silver  charger,  the 
weight  whereof  was  a  hundred  and  thirty 
shekels ,  one  silver  bowl  of  seventy  shekels, 
after  the  shekel  of  the  sanctuary ;  both  of 
them  full  of  fine  flour  mingled  with  oil  for  a 
meat-offering : 

50  One  golden  spoon  of  ten  shekels ,  full  of 
incense  : 

5 1  One  young  bullock,  one  ram,  one  lamb 
of  the  first  year,  for  a  burnt-offering  : 

52  One  kid  of  the  goats  for  a  sin-offering : 

53  And  for  a  sacrifice  of  peace-offerings, 
two  oxen,  five  rams,  five  he-goats,  five  lambs 
of  the  first  year :  this  was  the  offering  of 
Elishama  the  son  of  Ammihud. 

54  On  the  eighth  day  offered  y  Gamaliel, 
the  son  of  Pedahzur,  prince  of  the  children 
of  Manasseh  : 

55  His  offering  was  one  silver  charger  of 
the  weight  of  a  hundred  and  thirty  shekels , 
one  silver  bowl  of  seventy  shekels,  after  the 
shekel  of  the  sanctuary  ;  both  of  them  full  of 

w  Chap.  i.  14  ;  ii.  14. - 1  Chap.  i.  10  ;  ii.  18. - r  Chap.  i.  10  ; 

and  sanctification  through  faith,  and  in  the  work  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  in  the  communion  and  feeling  whereof 
they  rojoiced  before  God.” 

Verse  48.  On  the  seventh  day ]  Both  Jewish  and 
Christian  writers  have  been  surprised  that  this  work 
of  offering  went  forward  on  the  seventh  day ,  which 

640 


make  their  offerings  to  God 
fine  flour  minded  with  oil  for  a  A.  M.  2514. 

„  .  0  B.  C.  1490. 

meat-onermg  :  An.  Exod.  isr.  2. 

56  One  golden  spoon  of  ten  Ijar  or  Zlf‘ 
shekels ,  full  of  incense  : 

57  One  young  bullock,  one  ram,  one  lamb 
of  the  first  year,  for  a  burnt-offering : 

58  One  kid  of  the  goats  for  a  sin-offering: 

59  And  for  a  sacrifice  of  peace-offerings,  two 
oxen,  five  rams,  five  he-goats,  five  lambs  of 
the  first  year  :  this  was  the  offering  of  Gama¬ 
liel  the  son  of  Pedahzur. 

60  On  the  ninth  day  z  Abidan,  the  son  of 
Gideoni,  prince  of  the  children  of  Benjamin, 
offered  : 

6  1  His  offering  was  one  silver  charger,  the 
weight  whereof  was  a  hundred  and  thirty 
shekels,  one  silver  bowl  of  seventy  shekels,  after 
the  shekel  of  the  •  sanctuary  ;  both  of  them  full 
of  fine  flour  mingled  with  oil  for  a  meat-offering : 

62  One  golden  spoon  of  ten  shekels ,  full  of 
incense  : 

63  One  young  bullock,  one  ram,  one  lamb 
of  the  first  year,  for  a  burnt-offering  : 

64  One  kid  of  the  goats  for  a  sin-offering  : 

65  And  for  a  sacrifice  of  peace-offerings, 
two  oxen,  five  rams,  five  he-goats,  five  lambs 
of  the  first  year  :  this  ivas  the  offering  of 
Abidan  the  son  of  Gideoni. 

66  On  the  tenth  day  a  Ahiezer  the  son  of 
Ammishaddai,  prince  of  the  children  of  Dan, 
offered : 

67  His  offering  was  one  silver  charger,  the 
weight  whereof  ivas  a  hundred  and  thirty 
shekels,  one  silver  bowl  of  seventy  shekels,  after 
the  shekel  of  the  sanctuary  ;  both  of  them  full 
of  fine  flour  mingled  with  oil  for  a  meat-offering: 

68  One  golden  spoon  of  ten  shekels ,  full  of 
incense  : 

69  One  young  bullock,  one  ram,  one  lamb 
of  the  first  year,  for  a  burnt-offering  : 

70  One  kid  of  the  Croats  for  a  sin-offerino; : 

O  o 

71  And  for  a  sacrifice  of  peace-offerings, 
two  oxen,  five  rams,  five  he-goats,  five  lambs 
of  the  first  year :  this  w as  the  offering  of 
Ahiezer  the  son  of  Ammishaddai. 

ii.  20. - z  Chap.  i.  11  ;  ii.  22. - a  Chap.  i.  12  ;  ii.  25. 

they  suppose  to  have  been  a  Sabbath,  as  well  as  on 
the  other  days.  But  1.  There  is  no  absolute  proof 
that  this  seventh  day  of  offering  was  a  Sabbath.  2. 
Were  it  even  so,  could  the  people  be  better  employed 
than  in  thus  consecrating  themselves  and  their  ser¬ 
vices  to  the  Lord  1  We  have  already  seen  that  every 


CHAP.  VII. 


The  sum  of  the  offerings 


of  the  twelve  tribes 


a.  M.  2514.  72  On  the  eleventh  day  b  Pa- 

in.  Exod.  isr.  2.  giel  the  son  ot  Ucran,  prince  ot 

ijar  or  Zif.  the  children  of  Asher,  offered  : 

73  His  offering  was  one  silver  charger,  the 
weight  whereof  teas  a  hundred  and  thirty 
shekels ,  one  silver  bowl  of  seventy  shekels,  after 
the  shekel  of  the  sanctuary ;  both  of  them  full 
of  fine  flour  mingled  with  oil  for  a  meat-offering : 

74  One  golden  spoon  of  ten  shekels ,  full  of 
incense : 

75  One  young  bullock,  one  ram,  one  lamb 
of  the  first  year,  for  a  burnt-offering  : 

7  6  One  kid  of  the  goats  for  a  sin-offering  : 

77  And  for  a  sacrifice  of  peace-offerings, 
two  oxen,  five  rams,  five  he-goats,  five  lambs 
of  the  first  year:  this  ivas  the  offering  of 
Pagiel  the  son  of  Ocran. 

78  On  the  twelfth  day  cAhirathe  son  of  Enan, 
prince  of  the  children  of  Naphtali,  offered: 

79  His  offering  ivas  one  silver  charger,  the 
weight  whereof  was  a  hundred  and  thirty 
shekels,  one  silverbowl  of  seventy  shekels,  after 
the  shekel  of  the  sanctuary  ;  both  of  them  full 
of  fine  flour  mingled  with  oil  fora  meat-offering: 

80  One  golden  spoon  of  ten  shekels ,  full  of 
incense : 

8  1  One  young  bullock,  one  ram,  one  lamb 
of  the  first  year,  for  a  burnt-offering : 

82  One  kid  of  the  goats  for  a  sin-offering: 

83  And  for  a  sacrifice  of  peace-offerings, 
two  oxen,  five  rams,  five  he-goats,  five  lambs 


of  the  first  year :  this  ivas  the  A.  M.  2514. 

~  .  r  a  t  •  i  -  B.  C.  1490. 

onering  ot  Ahira  the  son  01  An.  Exod.  Isr.  2. 

Enan.  Ijar  or  Zif- 

84  This  was  the  dedication  of  the  altar,  in 
the  day  when  it  was  anointed,  by  the  princes 
of  Israel :  twelve  chargers  of  silver,  twelve 
silver  bowls,  twelve  spoons  of  gold  : 

85  Each  charger  of  silver  weighing  a  hun¬ 
dred  and  thirty  shekels ,  each  bowl  seventy :  all 
the  silver  vessels  weighed  two  thousand  and 
four  hundred  shekels ,  after  the  shekel  of  the 
sanctuary  : 

86  The  golden  spoons  were  twelve,  full  of 
incense,  weighing  ten  shekels  apiece,  after  the 
shekel  of  the  sanctuary  :  all  the  gold  of  the 
spoons  teas  a  hundred  and  twenty  shekels. 

87  All  the  oxen  for  the  burnt-offering  luere 
twelve  bullocks,  the  rams  twelve,  the  lambs  of 
the  first  year  twelve,  with  their  meat-offering: 
and  the  kids  of  the  goats  for  sin-offering  twelve. 

88  And  all  the  oxen  for  the  sacrifice  of  the 
peace-offerings  were  twenty  and  four  bullocks, 
the  rams  sixty,  the  he-goats  sixty,  the  lambs  of 
the  first  year  sixty.  This  was  the  dedication 
of  the  altar,  after  that  it  was  d  anointed. 

89  And  when  Moses  was  gone  into  the 
tabernacle  of  the  congregation  e  to  speak  with 
f  him,  then  he  heard  s  the  voice  of  one  speak¬ 
ing  unto  him  from  off  the  mercy-seat,  that  was 
upon  the  ark  of  testimony,  from  11  between  the 
two  cherubims  :  and  he  spake  unto  him. 


b  Chap.  i.  18  ;  ii.  27. - c  Chap.  i.  15 ;  ii.  29. - d  Yer.  1, 10-84. 

e  Chap.  xii.  8  ;  Exod.  xxxiii.  9,  11. 


fThat  is,  God. - s  Exod.  xxv.  22. - h  Exod.  xxv.  18-21 

1  Sam.  iv.  4. 


act  was  a  religious  act ;  and  we  may  rest  assured  that 
no  day  was  too  holy  for  the  performance  of  such  acts 
as  are  recorded  here. 

Verse  72.  On  the  eleventh  day]  The  Hebrew  form 
of  expression,  here  and  in  the  78th  verse,  has  some¬ 
thing  curious  in  it.  DU  A&y  tntJfJt  DUD  beyom  ashtey 
asar  yom ,  In  the  day ,  the  first  and  tenth  day  ;  DUD 
DU  “Wy  D’JtJf  beyom  sheneym  asar  yom ,  In  the  day , 
two  and  tenth  day.  But  this  is  the  idiom  of  the  lan¬ 
guage,  and  to  an  original  Hebrew  our  almost  anoma¬ 
lous  words  eleventh  and  twelfth ,  by  which  we  translate 
the  original,  would  appear  as  strange  as  his,  literally 
translated,  would  appear  to  us.  In  reckoning  after 
twelve,  it  is  easy  to  find  out  the  composition  of  the 
words  thirteen ,  as  three  and  ten ,  fourteen ,  four  and 
ten,  and  so  on  ;  but  eleven  and  twelve  bear  scarcely  any 
analogy  to  ten  and  one,  and  ten  and  two,  which  never¬ 
theless  they  intend.  But  this  is  a  subject  of  philology 
rather  than  of  Biblical  criticism. 

Verse  84.  This  was  the  dedication  of  the  altar ,  in 
the  day,  c$-c.]  Meaning  here  the  time  in  which  it 
was  dedicated ;  for  as  each  tribe  had  a  whole  day  for 
its  representative  or  prince  to  present  the  offerings  it 
Vol.  I.  (  42  ) 


had  provided,  consequently  the  dedication,  in  which 
each  had  his  day,  must  have  lasted  twelve  days  :  the 
words  therefore,  in  this  text,  refer  to  the  last  day  or 
hvelftk,  in  which  this  dedication  was  completed. 

Verse  88.  After  that  it  was  anointed.]  By  the 
anointing  the  altar  was  consecrated  to  God ;  by  this 
dedication  it  was  solemnly  appointed  to  that  service 
for  which  it  had  been  erected. 

Verse  89.  To  speak  with  him]  To  confer  with 
God,  and  to  receive  farther  discoveries  of  his  will. 

He  heard  the  voice  of  one  speaking  unto  him] 
Though  Moses  saw  no  similitude,  but  only  heard  a  voice , 
yet  he  had  the  fullest  proof  of  the  presence  as  well  as 
of  the  being  of  the  Almighty.  In  this  way  God  chose 
to  manifest  himself  during  that  dispensation,  till  the 
fulness  of  the  time  came,  in  which  the  word  was  made 
flesh,  and  dwelt  among  us.  No  man  hath  seen  God 
at  any  time  ;  the  only-begotten  Son,  who  is  in  the 
bosom  of  the  Father,  he  hath  declared  him. 

The  mercy-seat]  See  the  note  on  Exod.  xxv.  17. 
As  God  gave  oracular  answers  from  this  place,  and 
spoke  to  Moses  as  it  were  face  to  face ,  hence  the  place 
was  called  the  oracle,  TDD  debir ,  or  speaking  place, 

641 


Directions  concerning  the 


NUMBERS. 


lamps  and  candlestick 


from  TH  dabar,  he  spolce,  1  Kings  vi.  23.  And  as 
this  mercy-seat  represented  our  blessed  Redeemer,  so 
the  apostle  says  that  God ,  who  had  at  sundry  times , 
and  in  divers  manners ,  spoken  in  time  past  to  the  fa¬ 
thers  by  the  prophets ,  hath,  m  these  last  days ,  spoken 
unto  us  by  his  Son,  Heb.  i.  1,2.  Hence  the  incar¬ 
nated  Christ  is  the  true  Tin  debir  or  oracle ,  in  and  by 
whom  God  speaks  unto  man. 

On  this  occasion  we  find  there  were  offered 


12  silver  chargers  each  weighing  130  shekels. 
12  silver  bowls ,  each  70  shekels. 

Total  amount  of  silver  vessels  2,400  shekels. 
12  golden  spoons ,  each  weighing  10  shekels. 
Total  amount  of  golden  vessels  120  shekels. 


A  silver  charger  at  130  shekels,  re-  oz.  dwts.  gr. 

duced  to  troy  weight,  makes  -  75  9  16f, 

A  silver  bowl,  at  70  shekels,  amounts  to  40  12  2lf| 

Total  weight  of  the  12  chargers  905  16  3^ 

Total  weight  of  the  12  bowls  487  14  20^ 


Total 

Which,  at  5s.  per  oz.,  is  equal  to 


1393  10  2337 
£348  7s.  9 d. 


oz.  dwts.  gr. 

The  12  golden  spoons,  allowing  each  to  be  5  16  3  37 

amount  to  69  13  13^5T 


Which,  at  £4  per  ounce,  is  equal  to  £278  14s.  2 \d 
And  added  to  the  amount  of  the  silver,  £348  7s.  9 d. 

make  a  total  of  £627  Is.  11c?. 

Besides  the  above  there  were 


Bullocks 

-  12 

Rams 

-  12 

Lambs 

-  12 

Goats 

-  24 

Rams 

-  60 

He-goats 

-  60 

Lambs 

-  60 

Total  240  clean  beasts  for  sacrifice. 

By  which  we  may  at  once  see  that  though  the 
place  in  which  they  now  sojourned  was  a  wilderness , 
as  to  cities ,  villages ,  and  regular  inhabitants ,  yet  there 
was  plenty  of  pasturage,  else  the  Israelites  could  not 
have  furnished  these  cattle,  with  all  the  sacrifices  ne¬ 
cessary  for  different  occasions,  and  especially  for  the 
passover,  which  was  celebrated  during  their  sojourn¬ 
ing  in  the  desert,  and  which  itself  must  have  required 
an  immense  number  of  lambs,  (see  chap,  ix.,)  when 
each  family  of  the  600,000  males  was  obliged  to  pro¬ 
vide  one  for  itself. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 


Directions  how  the  lamps  are  to  be  lighted ,  1—3.  How  the  candlestick  was  formed ,  4.  The  Levites  Co  be 
consecrated  to  their  service  by  being  cleansed ,  sprinkled ,  shaved ,  purified ,  and  their  clothes  washed ,  5—7. 
To  offer  a  meat-offering  and  a  sin-offering ,  8.  The  people  to  put  their  hands  upon  them ,  9,  10.  Aaron 
is  to  offer  them  before  the  Lord ,  11.  The  Levites  to  lay  their  hands  on  the  heads  of  the  bullocks ,  c fc.,  12. 
The  Levites  are  taken  to  assist  Aaron  and  his  sons  in  the  place  of  all  the  first-born  of  Israel ,  13—19. 
Moses  and  Aaron  do  as  they  were  commanded ,  the  Levites  are  presented ,  purified ,  and  commence  their  ser¬ 
vice ,  20-22.  They  are  to  begin  their  service  at  twenty-five  years  of  age,  and  leave  off  at  fifty,  23-25. 
After  this  they  shall  have  the  general  inspection  of  the  service ,  26. 


A.  M.  2514.  A  ND  the  Lord  spake  unto 

An.  Exod.  Isr.  2.  Moses,  saying, 

ijar  or  Zif.  ^  Speak  unto  Aaron,  and  say 

unto  him,  When  thou  a  lightest  the  lamps,  the 
seven  lamps  shall  give  light  over  against  the 
candlestick. 

3  And  Aaron  did  so  ;  he  lighted  the  lamps 
thereof  over  against  the  candlestick,  as  the 
Lord  commanded  Moses. 


4  b  And  this  work  of  the  candle-  A.  M.  2514. 
stick  was  of  beaten  gold,  unto  the  An.  Exod.  isr.  2. 
shaft  thereof,  unto  the  flowers  fjar  or  Zif. 

thereof,  v:as  c  beaten  work  :  d  according  unto 
the  pattern  which  the  Lord  had  showed 
Moses,  so  he  made  the  candlestick. 

5  And  the  Lord  spake  unto  Moses,  saying, 

6  Take  the  Levites  from  among  the  children 
of  Israel,  and  cleanse  them. 


a  Exod.  xxv.  37  ;  xl.  25. - -b  Exod.  xxv.  31. 

NOTES  ON  CHAP.  VIII. 

Verse  2.  The  seven  lamps  shall  give  light]  The 
whole  seven  shall  be  lighted  at  one  time,  that  seven 
may  be  ever  burning. 

Verse  4.  This  work  of  the  candlestick,  <y-c.]  See 
many  curious  particulars  relative  to  this  candlestick  in 
the  notes  on  Exod.  xxv.  31  and  39.  The  candlestick 
itself  was  an  emblem  of  the  Church  of  Christ ;  the  oil , 
of  the  graces  and  gifts  of  the  Spirit  of  God ;  and  the 
light,  of  those  gifts  and  graces  in  action  among  men. 
See  Rev.  i.  12-20.  God  builds  his  Church  and  sends 

642 


c  Exod.  xxv.  18. - d  Exod.  xxv.  40. 

forth  his  Spirit  to  dwell  in  it,  to  sanctify  and  cleanse 
it,  that  it  may  be  shown  unto  the  world  as  his  own 
workmanship.  The  seven  lights  in  the  candlesticks 
point  out  the  seven  Spirits  of  God ,  the  Holy  Ghost 
being  thus  termed,  Rev.  iii.  1,  from  the  variety  and 
abundance  of  his  gifts  and  influences  ;  seven  being  used 
among  the  Hebrews  to  denote  any  thing  full,  complete , 
and  perfect.  A  candlestick  or  lamp  without  oil  is  of 
no  use  ;  oil  not  burning  is  of  no  use.  So  a  Church 
or  society  of  religious  people  without  the  influence  of 
the  Holy  Ghost  are  dead  while  they  have  a  name  to 

(  42*  ) 


a 


The  Levites  to  he  consecrated 


CHAP.  VIII. 


A.  M.  2514.  7  And  thus  shalt  thou  do  unto 

An. Exod. isr. 2.  them,  to  cleanse  them:  Sprinkle 

Ijar  or  Zif.  e  water  0f  purifying  upon  them, 

and  f  let  s  them  shave  all  their  flesh,  and  let  them 
wash  their  clothes,  and  so  make  themselves 

clean. 

8  Then  let  them  take  a  young  bullock  with 
h  liis  meat-offering,  even  fine  flour  mingled  with 
oil,  and  another  young  bullock  shalt  thou  take 
for  a  sin-offering. 

9  *  And  thou  shalt  bring  the  Levites  before 
the  tabernacle  of  the  congregation  :  k  and  thou 
shalt  gather  the  whole  assembly  of  the  children 
of  Israel  together  : 

10  And  thou  shalt  bring  the  Levites  before  the 
Lord  :  and  the  children  of  Israel  1  shall  put 
their  hands  upon  the  Levites  : 

1 1  And  Aaron  shall  m  offer  the  Levites  before 
the  Lord  for  an  n  offering  of  the  children  of 
Israel,  that  0  they  may  execute  the  service  of 
the  Lord. 

1 2  p  And  the-Levites  shall  lay  their  hands  upon 
the  heads  of  the  bullocks  :  and  thou  shalt  offer 
the  on e  for  a  sin-offering,  and  the  other  for  a 

e  Chap.  xix.  9,  17,  18. - f  Heb.  let  them  cause  a  razor  to  pass 

over,  &c. - s  Lev.  xiv.  8,  9. - hLev.  ii.  1. - 1  See  Exod. 

xxix.  4 ;  xl.  12. - k  Lev.  viii.  3. - 1  Lev.  i.  4. - m  Heb. 

wave. 

live  ;  and  if  they  have  a  measure  of  this  light,  and  do 
not  let  it  shine  by  purity  of  living  and  holy  zeal  before 
men,  their  religion  is  neither  useful  to  themselves  nor 
to  others.  Reader,  it  is  possible  to  be  in  the  Church 
of  God  and  not  be  of  that  Church  ;  it  is  possible  to 
have  a  measure  of  the  Spirit  and  neither  profit  nor  be 
profited.  Feel  this  dreadful  possibility,  and  pray  to 
God  that  thou  be  not  a  proof  of  it. 

Verse  7.  Sprinkle  water  of  purifying ]  DN£3n  '13 
mey  chattath,  water  of  sin,  or  water  of  the  sin-offering. 
As  this  purifying  water  was  made  by  the  ashes  of  the 
red  heifer ,  cedar-wood ,  hyssop ,  and  scarlet ;  and  the 
heifer  herself  was  sacrificed,  and  her  blood  sprinkled 
seven  times  before  the  tabernacle,  Num.  xix.  3-6  ;  she 
may  be  considered  as  a  proper  sacrifice  for  sin,  and 
consequently  the  water  thus  prepared  be  termed  the 
water  of  the  sin-offering.  As  the  ashes  wrere  kept 
ready  at  hand  for  purifying  from  all  legal  pollutions, 
the  preparation  might  be  considered  as  a  concentration 
of  the  essential  properties  of  the  sin-offering,  and  might 
be  resorted  to  at  all  times  with  comparatively  little 
expense  or  trouble,  and  no  loss  of  time.  As  there 
were  so  many  things  by  which  legal  pollution  might 
be  contracted,  it  was  necessary  to  have  always  at 
hand,  in  all  their  dwellings,  a  mode  of  purifying  at 
once  convenient  and  unexpensive.  As  the  water  by 
which  the  Levites  were  here  purified  must  have  been 
the  water  prepared  from  the  ashes  of  the  red  heifer, 
this  ordinance  was  undoubtedly  instituted  before  this 
time,  though  not  described  till  chap.  xix.  1—10  of  this 


in  place  of  the  first-horn 

burnt-offering,  unto  the  Lord,  a.  M.  2514. 

°7  7  B  C  1490 

to  make  an  atonement  for  the  An.  Exod.  Isr.  2. 

Levites.  »r  or  Zif- 

13  And  thou  shalt  set  the  Levites  before 
Aaron,  and  before  his  sons,  and  offer  them  for 
an  offering  unto  the  Lord. 

14  Thus  shalt  thou  separate  the  Levites  from 
among  the  children  of  Israel,  and  the  Levites 
shall  be  q  mine. 

1 5  And  after  that  shall  the  Levites  go  in  to 
do  the  service  of  the  tabernacle  of  the  con¬ 
gregation  :  and  thou  shalt  cleanse  them,  and 
r  offer  them  for  an  offering. 

16  For  they  are  wholly  given  unto  me  from 
among  the  children  of  Israel ;  s  instead  of  such 
as  open  every  womb,  even  instead  of  the  first¬ 
born  of  all  the  children  of  Israel,  have  I  taken 
them  unto  me. 

17  4  For  all  the  first-born  of  the  children  of 
Israel  are  mine,  both  man  and  beast :  on  the 
day  that  I  smote  every  first-born  in  the  land 
of  Egypt  I  sanctified  them  for  myself. 

1 8  And  I  have  taken  the  Levites  for  all  the 
first-born  of  the  children  of  Israel. 

n  Heb.  wave-offering. - 0  Heb.  they  may  be  to  execute,  &c. 

P  Exod.  xxix.  10. - q  Chap.  iii.  45;  xvi.  9. - rVer.  11,  13. 

s  Chap.  iii.  12,  45. - 1  Exod.  xiii.  2,  12,  13,  15  ;  chap.  iii.  13  ; 

Luke  ii.  23. 

book  ;  but  that  chapter  might  be  in  connection  with 
any  of  the  preceding  ordinances,  as  well  as  where  it  is 
now  found.  We  see  from  Heb.  ix.  13,  14,  that  these 
ashes  mingled  with  water,  and  sprinkled  on  the  un¬ 
clean,  and  which  sanctified  to  the  purification  of  the 
flesh,  were  intended  to  typify  the  blood  of  Christ , 
which  purges  the  conscience  from  dead  works  to  serve 
the  living  God,  ver.  15  ;  for  as  without  this  sprinkling 
with  the  water  of  the  sin-offering  the  Levites  were 
not  fit  to  serve  God  in  the  wilderness,  so  without  this 
sprinkling  of  the  blood  of  Christ  no  conscience  can  be 
purged  from  dead  ivorks  to  serve  the  living  God.  See 
the  notes  on  chap.  xix.  1—10. 

Verse  10.  Shall  put  their  hands  upon  the  Levites ] 
It  has  been  argued  from  this  that  the  congregation 
had  a  part  in  the  appointment  of  their  own  ministers, 
and  that  this  was  done  by  the  imposition  of  hands. 
However  that  may  be,  it  appears  that  what  was  done 
on  this  occasion  meant  no  more  than  that  the  people 
gave  up  this  whole  tribe  to  God  in  place  of  their  first¬ 
born  ;  and  that  by  this  act  they  bound  themselves  to 
provide  for  them  who,  because  of  their  sacred  service, 
could  follow  no  secular  work.  And  surely  it  was  right, 
that  they  who  served  the  altar  should  live  by  the  altar. 
The  ministers  of  God  perform  offices  for  the  people 
which  the  people  cannot  perform  for  themselves  ;  and 
nothing  can  be  more  reasonable  than  that  the  people 
should  give  them  the  necessaries  and  comforts  of  life 
while  they  are  thus  employed  in  their  behalf. 

Verse  17.  For  all  the  first-born — are  mine ]  See 

643 


The  Levites  are  to  serve  from  NUMBERS.  twenty  five  years  old  till  fifty 


A.  M.  2514. 

B.  C.  1490. 
An.  Exod.  Isr.  2. 

Ijar  or  Zif. 


19  And  u  I  have  given  the  Le¬ 
vites  as  v  a  gift  to  Aaron  and  to 
his  sons  from  among  the  children 


of  Israel,  to  do  the  service  of  the  children  of 
Israel  in  the  tabernacle  of  the  congregation,  and 
to  make  an  atonement  for  the  children  of  Israel : 
w  that  there  be  no  plague  among  the  children 
of  Israel,  when  the  children  of  Israel  come 
nigh  unto  the  sanctuary. 

20  And  Moses,  and  Aaron,  and  all  the  con¬ 
gregation  of  the  children  of  Israel,  did  to  the 
Levites  according  unto  all  that  the  Lord  com¬ 
manded  Moses  concerning  the  Levites,  so  did 
the  children  of  Israel  unto  them. 

21  x  And  the  Levites  were  purified,  and  they 
washed  their  clothes  ;  y  and  Aaron  offered  them 
as  an  offering  before  the  Lord  ;  and  Aaron 
made  an  atonement  for  them  to  cleanse  them. 


22  z  And  after  that  went  the  A.  M.  2514. 

T  ,  .  .  .  B.  C.  1490. 

Levites  m  to  do  their  service  m  An.  Exod.  Isr.  2. 

the  tabernacle  of  the  congrega-  Ijar  or  Zif. 

tion  before  Aaron,  and  before  his  sons  :  a  as 

the  Lord  had  commanded  Moses  concerning 

the  Levites,  so  did  they  unto  them. 

23  And  the  Lord  spake  unto  Moses,  saying, 

24  This  is  it  that  helongeth  unto  the  Levites : 
b  from  twenty  and  five  years  old  and  upward, 
they  shall  go  in  c  to  wait  upon  the  service  of 
the  tabernacle  of  the  congregation  : 

25  And  from  the  age  of  fifty  years  they  shall 
d  cease  waiting  upon  the  service  thereof  j  and 
shall  serve  no  more  : 

26  But  shall  minister  with  their  brethren  in 
the  tabernacle  of  the  congregation,  e  to  keep  the 
charge,  and  shall  do  no  service.  Thus  shalt 
thou  do  unto  the  Levites  touching  their  charge. 


u  Chap.  iii.  9. - v  Heb.  given. - w  Chap.  i.  53  ;  xvi.  46  ; 

xviii.  5. - 2  Chron.  xxvi.  16. - xYer.  7. - y  Yer.  11,  12. 

z  Yer.  15. - a  Yer.  5,  &c. 

the  manner  of  redeeming  the  first-born,  chap, 
xviii.  6. 

V erse  2 1 .  And  Aaron  made  an  atonement  for  them \ 
Though  the  Levites  had  been  most  solemnly  conse¬ 
crated  to  the  Lord’s  service,  and  though  all  legal 
washings  and  purifications  were  duly  performed  on  the 
occasion,  yet  they  could  not  approach  God  till  an 
atonement  had  been  made  for  them.  How  strange  is 
it,  after  all  these  significations,  of  the  will  and  purpose 
of  God  relative  to  man,  that  any  priest  or  any  people 
will  attempt  to  draw  nigh  to  God  without  an  atone¬ 
ment  !  As  sure  as  God  hath  spoken  it,  there  is  no 
entrance  into  the  holiest  but  through  the  blood  of 
Jesus,  Heb.  x.  19,  20. 

Verse  24.  From  twenty  and  five  years  old\  See  the 
note  on  chap.  iv.  47,  where  the  two  terms  of  twenty- 
five  and  thirty  years  are  reconciled. 

Y  erse  26.  To  keep  the  charge ,  and  shall  do  no  service.] 
They  shall  no  longer  be  obliged  to  perform  any  labo¬ 
rious  service,  but  act  as  general  directors  and  coun¬ 
sellors  ;  therefore  they  were  to  be  near  the  camp,  sing 
praises  to  God,  and  see  that  no  stranger  or  unclean 
person  was  permitted  to  enter.  So  the  Jews  and 
many  other  persons  have  understood  this  place. 

1.  If  it  required  so  much  legal  purity  to  fit  the 
Levites  for  their  work  in  the  tabernacle,  can  we  sup- 


b  See.  chap.  iv.  3  ;  1  Chron.  xxiii.  3,  24,  27. - c  Heb.  to  war 

the  warfare  of  &c.  ;  1  Tim  i.  18. - 4  Heb.  return  from  the  war¬ 
fare  of  the  service. - e  Chap.  i.  53. 

pose  that  it  requires  less  spiritual  purity  to  fit  ministers 
of  the  Gospel  to  proclaim  the  righteousness  of  the  Most 
High,  and  administer  the  sacred  ordinances  of  Chris¬ 
tianity  to  the  flock  of  Christ !  If  these  must  be  with¬ 
out  spot ,  as  the  priests  before  without  blemish ,  and 
these  were  only  typical  men,  we  may  rest  assured  that 
a  Christian  minister  requires  no  ordinary  measures  of 
holiness  to  prepare  him  for  an  acceptable  and  profitable 
discharge  of  his  office. 

2.  If  the  Christian  ministry  be  established  to  pre¬ 
pare  men  for  the  kingdom  of  God,  of  the  holiness  of 
which  the  purity  of  the  camp  was  but  a  faint  emblem, 
how  can  any  man  expect  to  enter  that  place  of  blessed¬ 
ness,  who  has  not  his  heart  sprinkled  from  an  evil 
conscience,  and  his  body  washed  with  pure  water ; 
his  life  and  conversation  agreeable  to  the  sacred  pre¬ 
cepts  laid  down  in  the  Gospel  of  Christ  1  If  the  law 
of  Moses  were  more  read  in  reference  to  the  Gospel, 
the  Gospel  itself  and  its  requisitions  would  be  much 
better  understood.  Reader,  however  it  may  be  with 
thee,  Antinomianism  is  more  general  among  religious 
people  than  is  usually  imagined.  What  multitudes  of 
all  denominations  are  expecting  to  enter  into  the  king¬ 
dom  of  God  without  any  proper  preparation  for  the 
place  !  Without  holiness  none  shall  see  the  Lord  ; 
and  from  this  decision  of  the  Divine  justice  there  shall 
never  be  any  appeal. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

The  Israelites  are  reminded  of  the  law  that  required  them  to  keep  the  passover  at  its  proper  time ,  and  with 
all  its  rites ,  1-3.  They  kept  the  passover  on  the  fourteenth  day  of  the  first  month ,  4,  5.  The  case  of 
the  men  who ,  being  unclean  through  touching  a  dead  body ,  could  not  keep  the  passover,  6,  7.  Moses 
inquires  at  the  Lord  concerning  them ,  8  ;  and  the  Lord  appoints  the  fourteenth  day  of  the  second  month 
for  all  those  who  through  any  accidental  uncleanness,  or  by  being  absent  on  a  journey,  could  not  keep  it  at 
the  usual  time,  9-12.  Those  who  neglect  to  keep  this  solemn  feast  to  be  cut  off  from  among  his  people,  13, 

644  ♦  a 


Directions  concerning 


CHAP.  IX. 


the  second  passover. 

The  stranger  who  wishes  to  keep  the  passover  is  at  liberty  to  do  it ,  14.  The  cloud  covers  the  tabernacle 
both  by  day  and  night,  from  the  time  of  its  dedication,  15,  16.  This  cloud  regulates  all  the  encampments 
and  marchings  of  the  Israelites  through  the  wilderness,  17—22.  Their  journey ings  and  restings  ivere  all 
directed  by  the  commandment  of  the  Lord,  23. 


A.  M.  2514.  A™  the  Lord  spake  unto 

An.  Exod.  isr.  2.  Moses  in  the  wilderness  of 

Abib  or  Nisan.  jn  the  ftrst  month  of  the 

second  year  after  they  were  come  out  of  the 
land  of  Egypt,  saying, 

2  Let  the  children  of  Israel  also  keep  a  the 
passover  at  his  appointed  season. 

3  In  the  fourteenth  day  of  this  month,  b  at 
even,  ye  shall  keep  it  in  his  appointed  season : 
according  to  all  the  rites  of  it,  and  according 
to  all  the  ceremonies  thereof,  shall  ye  keep  it. 

4  And  Moses  spake  unto  the  children  of 
Israel,  that  they  should  keep  the  passover. 

5  And  c'they  kept  the  passover  on  the  four¬ 
teenth  day  of  the  first  month  at  even  in  the 
wilderness  of  Sinai ;  according  to  all  that  the 
Lord  commanded  Moses,  so  did  the  children 
of  Israel. 

*  Exod.  xii.  1,  &c. ;  Lev.  xxiii.  5  ;  chap,  xxviii.  16  ;  Deut.  xvi. 
1,  2. - b  Heb.  between  the  two  evenings  ;  Exod.  xii.  6. - c  Josh. 

NOTES  ON  CHAP.  IN. 

Verse  1 .  The  Lord  spake  unto  Moses ]  The  four¬ 
teen  first  verses  of  this  chapter  certainly  refer  to  trans¬ 
actions  that  took  place  at  the  time  of  those  mentioned 
in  the  commencement  of  this  book,  before  the  number¬ 
ing  of  the  people,  and  several  learned  men  are  of  opi¬ 
nion  that  these  fourteen  verses  should  be  referred  back 
to  that  place.  We  have  already  met  with  instances 
where  transpositions  have  very  probably  taken  place, 
and  it  is  not  difficult  to  account  for  them.  As  in  very 
early  times  writing  was  generally  on  leaves  of  the 
Egyptian  flag  papyrus,  or  on  thin  lamina  of  different 
substances,  facts  and  transactions  thus  entered  were 
very  liable  to  be  deranged ;  so  that  when  afterwards 
a  series  was  made  up  into  a  book,  many  transactions 
might  be  inserted  in  wrong  places,  and  thus  the  exact 
chronology  of  the  facts  be  greatly  disturbed.  MSS. 
written  on  leaves  of  trees,  having  a  hole  in  each, 
through  which  a  cord  is  passed  to  keep  them  all  in 
their  places,  are  frequently  to  be  met  with  in  the  cabi¬ 
nets  of  the  curious,  and  many  such  are  now  before  me, 
especially  in  Cingalese,  Pali,  and  Burman.  Should 
the  cord  break,  or  be  accidentally  unloosed,  it  would 
be  exceedingly  difficult  to  string  them  all  in  their  pro¬ 
per  places  ;  accidents  of  this  kind  I  have  often  met 
with  to  my  very  great  perplexity,  and  in  some  cases 
found  it  almost  impossible  to  restore  each  individual 
leaf  to  its  own  place  ;  for  it  should  be  observed  that 
these  separate  pieces  of  oriental  writing  are  not  always 
paged  like  the  leaves  of  our  printed  books ;  nor  are 
there  frequently  any  catch-words  or  signatures  at  the 
bottom  to  connect  the  series.  This  one  consideration 
will  account  for  several  transpositions,  especially  in  the 
Pentateuch,  where  they  oocur  more  frequently  than  in 

a 


6  And  there  were  certain  men  a.  M.  2M4. 
who  were  d  defiled  by  the  dead  An.  Exod.  isr.  2. 
body  of  a  man,  that  they  could  Ablb  or  ^lsan- 
not  keep  the  passover  on  that  day  :  e  and  they 
came  before  Moses  and  before  Aaron  on 
that  day  : 

7  And  those  men  said  unto  him,  We  are 
defiled  by  the  dead  body  of  a  man  :  where¬ 
fore  are  we  kept  back,  that  we  may  not  offer 
an  offering  of  the  Lord  in  his  appointed  sea¬ 
son,  among  the  children  of  Israel  ? 

8  And  Moses  said  unto  them,  Stand  still,  and 
f  I  will  hear  what  the  Lord  will  command  con 
cerning  you. 

9  And  the  Lord  spake  unto  Moses,  saying, 

10  Speak  unto  the  children  of  Israel,  saying, 
If  any  man  of  you  or  of  your  posterity  shall  be 
unclean  by  reason  of  a  dead  body,  or  he  in  a 

v.  10. - d  Ch.  v.  2  ;  xix.  11,  16  ;  see  Johnxviii.  28. - e  Exod. 

xviii.  15,  19,26;  chap,  xxvii.  2. - fChap.  xxvii.  5. 

any  other  part  of  the  sacred  writings.  Houbigant,  who 
grants  the  existence  of  such  transpositions,  thinks  that 
this  is  no  sufficient  reason  why  the  present  order  of 
narration  should  be  changed  :  “  It  is  enough,”  says  he, 
non  ignorare  libros  eos  Mosis  esse  acta  rerum  suo 

o 

tempore  gestarum,  non  historiam  filo  perpetuo  elabo- 
ratam,  “  to  know  that  these  books  contain  an  account 
of  things  transacted  in  the  days  of  Moses,  though  not 
in  their  regular  or  chronological  order.” 

Verse  3.  According  to  all  the  rites  of  it]  See  all 
those  rites  and  ceremonies  largely  explained  in  the 
notes  on  Exod.  xii. 

Verse  7.  We  are  defiled  by  the  dead  body  of  a  man ] 
It  is  probable  that  the  defilement  mentioned  here  was 
occasioned  by  assisting  at  the  burial  of  some  person — 
a  work  both  of  necessity  and  mercy.  This  circum¬ 
stance  however  gave  rise  to  the  ordinance  delivered 
in  verses  10—14,  so  that  on  particular  occasions  the 
passover  might  be  twice  celebrated  :  1.  At  its  regular 
time,  the  14th  of  the  first  month;  2.  An  extra  time, 
the  14th  of  the  second  month.  But  the  man  who  had 
no  legal  hinderance,  and  did  not  celebrate  it  on  one  or 
other  of  these  times,  was  to  be  cut  off  from  the  people 
of  God  ;  and  the  reason  given  for  this  cutting  ofl  is, 
that  he  brought  not  the  offering  of  God  in  his  appointed 
season — therefore  that  man  shall  bear  his  sin,  ver.  13. 
We  have  already  seen,  from  the  authority  of  St.  Paul, 
that  Christ,  our  Passover,  is  sacrificed  for  us  ;  and 
that  it  was  his  sacrifice  that  was  pointed  out  by  the 
paschal  lamb  :  on  this,  therefore,  we  may  observe, 
that  those  who  do  not  sooner  or  later  eat  the  true 
Passover,  and  get  the  salvation  procured  by  the  sprink¬ 
ling  of  his  blood,  shall  be  cut  off  from  among  those  that 
shall  enter  into  the  rest  prepared  for  the  people  of  God; 

645 


A  cloud  regulates  all  the 


NUMBERS. 


A.  M.  2514.  journey  afar  off,  yet  he  shall  keep 
An.  Exod.isr.2.  the  passover  unto  the  Lord. 
AbiborNisan-  11  S  The  fourteenth  day  of  the 
second  month  at  even  they  shall  keep  it,  and 
h  eat  it  with  unleavened  bread  and  bitter  herbs. 

12  1  They  shall  leave  none  of  it  unto  the 
morning,  k  nor  break  any  bone  of  it :  1  ac¬ 
cording  to  all  the  ordinances  of  the  passover 
they  shall  keep  it. 

13  But  the  man  that  is  clean,  and  is  not  in 
a  journey,  and  forbeareth  to  keep  the  pass- 
over,  even  the  same  soul  m  shall  be  cut  off  from 
among  his  people:  because  he  n brought  not 
the  offering  of  the  Lord  in  his  appointed 
season,  that  man  shall  0  bear  his  sin. 

14  And  if  a  stranger  shall  sojourn  among 
you,  and  will  keep  the  passover  unto  the 
Lord  ;  according  to  the  ordinance  of  the  pass- 
over,  and  according  to  the  manner  thereof,  so 
shall  he  do  :  p  ye  shall  have  one  ordinance, 
both  for  the  stranger,  and  for  him  that  was 
born  in  the  land. 

1 5  And  on  the  day  that  the  tabernacle  was 
reared  up  the  cloud  covered  the  tabernacle, 
namely ,  the  tent  of  the  testimony  :  and  r  at 
even  there  was  upon  the  tabernacle  as  it  were 
the  appearance  of  fire,  until  the  morning. 

16  So  it  was  alway  :  the  cloud  covered  it  by 
day,  and  the  appearance  of  fire  by  night. 

1 7  And  when  the  cloud  s  was  taken  up  from 
the  tabernacle,  then  after  that  the  children  of 
Israel  journeyed  :  and  in  the  place  where  the 

s2  Chron.  xxx.  2,  15. - h  Exod.  xii.  8. - 1  Exod.  xii.  10. 

k  Exod.  xii.  46  ;  John  xix.  36. - 1  Exod.  xii.  43. - m  Gen.  xvii. 

14;  Exod.  xii.  15. - nVer.  7. - °Chap.  v.  31. - p  Exod. 

xii.  49. 


movements  of  the  camp. 

cloud  abode,  there  the  children  of  A.  M.  2514. 

T  B.  C.  1490. 

Israel  pitched  their  tents.  An.  Exod.  Isr.  2. 

1 8  At  the  commandment  of  the  A!jlb  or  TS2ban> 
Lord  the  children  of  Israel  journeyed,  and  at 
the  commandment  of  the  Lord  they  pitched : 
as  long  as  the  cloud  abode  upon  the  taber¬ 
nacle  they  rested  in  their  tents. 

1 9  And  when  the  cloud  u  tarried  long  upon 
the  tabernacle  many  days,  then  the  children 
of  Israel  v  kept  the  charge  of  the  Lord,  and 
journeyed  not. 

20  And  so  it  was,  when  the  cloud  was  a  few 
days  upon  the  tabernacle  ;  according  to  the 
commandment  of  the  Lord  they  abode  in 
their  tents,  and  according  to  the  commandment 
of  the  Lord  they  journeyed. 

2 1  And  so  it  was,  when  the  cloud  w  abode 
from  even  unto  the  morning,  and  that  the  cloud 
was  taken  up  in  the  morning,  then  they  jour¬ 
neyed  :  whether  it  ivas  by  day  or  by  night  that 
the  cloud  was  taken  up,  they  journeyed. 

22  Or  whether  it  were  two  days,  or  a  month* 
or  a  year,  that  the  cloud  tarried  upon  the 
tabernacle,  remaining  thereon,  the  children 
of  Israel  x  abode  in  their  tents,  and  jour¬ 
neyed  not :  but  when  it  was  taken  up,  they 
journeyed. 

23  At  the  commandment  of  the  Lord  they 
rested  in  the  tents,  and  at  the  commandment 
of  the  Lord  they  journeyed :  they  >  kept  the 
charge  of  the  Lord,  at  the  commandment  of 
the  Lord  by  the  hand  of  Moses. 

q  Exod.  xl.  34  ;  Neh.  ix.  12,  19  ;  Psa.  Ixxviii.  14. - rExod. 

xiii.  21 ;  xl.  38. - sExod.  xl.  36;  chap.  x.  11,33,34;  Psa. 

lxxx.  1. - 4 1  Cor.  x.  1. - u  Heb.  prolonged. - v  Chap.  i.  53  ; 

iii.  8. - wHeb.  ivas. - xExod.  xl.  36,  37. - r  Ver.  19. 


and  for  the  same  reason  too ;  they  bring  not  the  of¬ 
fering  of  God  in  its  appointed  season ,  and  therefore 
they  shall  bear  their  sin. 

Verse  15.  The  cloud  covered  the  tabernacle ]  See 
the  whole  account  of  this  supernatural  cloud  largely 
explained,  Exod.  xiii.  21  ;  and  xl.  34—38. 

Calmet  observes  that  the  15th  verse,  beginning  a 
new  subject,  should  begin  a  new  chapter,  as  it  has  no 
connection  with  what  goes  before  ;  and  he  thinks  this 
chapter,  begun  with  the  15th  verse,  should  end  with 
the  28th  verse  of  the  following. 

Verse  21.  Whether — by  day  or  by  night ]  As 
the  heat  of  the  day  is  very  severe  in  that  same 
desert,  the  night  season  is  sometimes  chosen  for  the 
performance  of  a  journey  ;  though  it  is  very  likely 
that  in  the  case  of  the  Israelites  this  was  seldom  re¬ 
sorted  to. 

Verse  22.  Two  days — a  month — a  year ]  It  was 
by  the  Divine  counsel  alone  that  they  were  directed 
in  all  their  peregrinations ;  and  from  the  above  words 

646 


we  see  that  their  times  of  tarrying  at  different  stations 
were  very  unequal. 

Verse  23.  Kept  the  charge  of  the  Lord]  When  we 
consider  the  strong  disposition  which  this  people  ever 
testified  to  follow  their  own  will  in  all  things,  we  may 
be  well  surprised  to  find  them,  in  these  journeyings, 
so  implicitly  following  the  direction  of  God.  There 
could  be  no  trick  or  imposture  here.  Moses,  had  he 
been  the  most  cunning  of  men,  never  could  have  imi¬ 
tated  the  appearances  referred  to  in  this  chapter.  The 
cloud,  and  every  thing  in  its  motion,  was  so  evidently 
supernatural ,  that  the  people  had  no  doubt  of  its  being 
the  symbol  of  the  Divine  presence. 

God  chose  to  keep  this  people  so  dependent  upon 
himself,  and  so  submissive  to  the  decisions  of  his  own 
will,  that  he  would  not  even  give  them  regular  times 
of  marching  or  resting ;  they  were  to  do  both  when 
and  where  God  saw  best.  Thus  they  were  ever  kept 
ready  for  their  march,  though  perfectly  ignorant  of  the 

a  ; 


Moses  is  commanded  to 


CHAP.  X. 


make  two  silver  trumpets 


time  when  they  should  commence  it.  But  this  was 
all  well ;  they  had  the  presence  of  God  with  them  ; 
the  cloud  by  day  and  the  fire  by  night  demonstrated 
that  God  was  amongst  them.  Reader,  thou  art  here 
a  tenant  at  will  to  God  Almighty.  How  soon,  in  what 
place,  or  in  what  circumstances,  he  may  call  thee  to 
march  into  the  eternal  world,  thou  knowest  not.  But 


this  uncertainty  cannot  perplex  thee ,  if  thou  be  properly 
subject  to  the  will  of  God,  ever  willing  to  lose  thy  own 
in  it.  But  thou  canst  not  be  thus  subject,  unless  thou 
have  the  testimony  of  the  presence  and  approbation  of 
God.  How  awful  to  be  obliged  to  walk  into  the  valley 
of  the  shadow  of  death  without  this  !  Reader,  prepare 
to  meet  thy  God. 


CHAPTER  X. 


Moses  is  commanded  to  make  tivo  silver  trumpets/or  calling  the  assembly ,  1,2.  On  what  occasions  these  trum¬ 
pets  should  be  sounded.  First,  for  calling  the  assembly  to  the  door  of  the  tabernacle ,  3.  Secondly,  to  sum¬ 
mon  the  princes  and  captains  of  the  thousands  of  Israel,  4.  Thirdly,  to  make  the  eastern  camps  strike  their 
tents,  5.  Fourthly,  to  make  those  on  the  south  do  the  like,  6.  No  alarm  to  be  sounded  when  the  congre¬ 
gation  only  is  to  be  assembled ,  7.  The  sons  of  Aaron  alone  shall  sound  these  trumpets ,  it  shall  be  a  per¬ 
petual  ordinance,  8.  Fifthly,  the  trumpets  are  to  be  sounded  in  the  time  of  tear,  9.  Sixthly,  on  festival 
occasions,  10.  On  the  twentieth  day  of  the  second  month,  in  the  second  year,  the  Israelites  began  their 
journey  from  the  wilderness  of  Sinai,  and  came  to  the  wilderness  of  Paran,  11,  12.  By  the  commandment 
of  God  to  Moses  the  first  division,  at  the  head  of  which  was  the  standard  of  JUDAH,  marched,  first,  13, 
14.  Under  him  followed  the  tribe  of  Issachar,  15  ;  and  after  them  the  tribe  of  Zebulun,  16.  Then 
the  Gershonites  and  Merarit.es  followed  with  the  tabernacle ,  17.  At  the  head  of  the  second  division  ivas 
the  standard  and  camp  of  REUBEN,  18  ;  and  under  him  were  that  of  Simeon,  19  ;  and  that  of  Gad,  20. 
Next  followed  the  Kohathites,  bearing  the  sanctuary ,  21.  Then  followed  the  third  division,  at  the  head, 
of  which  was  the  standard  of  the  camp  of  EPHRAIM,  22  ;  and  under  him  Manasseh,  23  ;  and  Benjamin, 
24.  At  the  head  of  the  fourth  division  was  the  standard  of  the  camp  of  DAN,  25  ;  and  under  him 
Asher,  26  ;  and  Naphtali,  27.  This  was  their  ordinary  method  of  marching  in  the  ivilderness,  28. 
Moses  entreats  Hobab  the  Midianite  to  accompany  them  through  the  ivilderness,  29.  He  refuses,  30. 
Moses  continues  and  strengthens  his  entreaties  with  reasonings  and  promises,  31,  32.  They  depart  from 
Sinai  three  days'1  journey,  33.  The  cloud  accompanies  them  by  day  and  night,  34.  The  words  used  by 
Moses  when  the  ark  set  forward,  35,  and  when  it  rested,  36. 


A.  M.  2514.  A  ND  the  Lord  spake  unto 

B.  C.  1490.  i. L  __  .  r 

An.  Exod.  Isr.  2.  Moses,  saying, 

Abib  or  Nisan.  ^  Make  thee  two  trumpets  of 
silver  ;  of  a  whole  piece  shall  thou  make  them  : 
that  thou  mayest  use  them  for  the  a  calling  of 
the  assembly,  and  for  the  journeying  of  the 
camps. 

3  And  when  b  they  shall  blow  with  them,  all 
the  assembly  shall  assemble  themselves  to  thee 


at  the  door  of  the  tabernacle  of  A.  M.  2514. 

_  .  B.  C.  1490. 

the  congregation.  An.  Exod.  isr.  2. 

4  And  if  they  blow  but  with  Abib  or  Nisan- 
one  trumpet,  then  the  princes,  which  are 
c  heads  of  the  thousands  of  Israel,  shall  gather 
themselves  unto  thee. 

5  When  ye  blow  an  alarm,  then  d  the 
camps  that  lie  on  the  east  parts  shall  go 
forward. 


a  Isa.  i.  13. - b  Jer.  iv.  5  ;  Joel  ii.  15. 


c  Exod.  xviii.  21  ;  chap.  i.  16  ;  vii.  2. - d  Chap.  ii.  3. 


NOTES  ON  CHAP.  X. 

Verse  2.  Make  thee  two  trumpets  of  silver ]  The 
necessity  of  such  instruments  will  at  once  appear,  when 
the  amazing  extent  of  this  numerous  army  is  consider¬ 
ed  ;  and  how  even  the  sound  of  two  trumpets  could 
reach  them  all  is  difficult  to  conceive  ;  but  we  may 
suppose  that,  when  they  were  sounded,  the  motion  of 
those  that  were  within  reach  of  that  sound  taught  the 
others  in  succession  what  they  should  do. 

As  the  trumpets  were  to  be  blown  by  the  priests 
only,  the  sons  of  Aaron,  there  were  only  two,  because 
there  were  only  two  such  persons  to  use  them  at  this 
time,  Eleazar  and  Ithamar.  In  the  time  of  Joshua 
there  wgre  seven  trumpets  used  by  the  priests,  but 
these  were  made,  according  to  our  text,  of  rams'  horns, 
Josh.  vi.  4.  In  the  time  of  Solomon,  when  the  priests 
had  greatly  increased,  there  were  120  priests  sounding 
with  trumpets.  2  Chron.  v.  12. 


Josephus  intimates  that  one  of  these  trumpets  was 
always  used  to  call  the  nobles  together,  the  other  to 
assemble  the  people ;  see  ver.  4.  It  is  possible  that 
these  trumpets  were  made  of  different  lengths  and  wide¬ 
ness,  and  consequently  they  would  emit  different  tones. 
Thus  the  sound  itself  would  at  once  show  which  wras 
the  summons  for  the  congregation,  and  which  for  the 
princes  only.  These  trumpets  were  allowed  to  be 
emblematical  of  the  sound  of  the  Gospel,  and  in  this 
reference  they  appear  to  be  fiequently  used.  Of  the 
fate  of  the  trumpets  of  the  sanctuary,  see  the  note  on 
Exod.  xxv.  31. 

Verse  5.  When  ye  blow  an  alarm ]  nj"nn  teruah , 
probably  meaning  short,  broken ,  sharp  tones,  terminat¬ 
ing  with  long  ones,  blown  with  both  the  trumpets  at 
once.  From  the  similarity  in  the  words  some  suppose 
that  the  Hebrew  teruah  was  similar  to  the  Roman  tara - 
tantara ,  or  sound  of  their  clarion. 

647 


The  use  of  the  silver  trumpets. 

A.  M.  2514.  6  When  ye  blow  an  alarm  the 

B.  C.  1490.  ,  .  J  ,  .  . 

An.  Exod.  isr.  2.  second  time,  then  the  camps  that 

Abib  or  Nisan.  j-e  on  e  go^p  side  shall  take 

their  journey  :  they  shall  blow  an  alarm  for 
their  journeys. 

7  But  when  the  congregation  is  to  be  gather¬ 
ed  together,  fye  shall  blow,  but  ye  shall  not 
z  sound  an  alarm. 

8  h  And  the  sons  of  Aaron,  the  priests,  shall 
blow  with  the  trumpets  ;  and  they  shall  be  to 
you  for  an  ordinance  for  ever  throughout  your 
generations. 

9  And  1  if  ye  go  to  war  in  your  land  against 
the  enemy  that  k  oppresseth  you,  then  ye  shall 
blow  an  alarm  with  the  trumpets  ;  and  ye  shall 
be  1  remembered  before  the  Lord  your  God, 
and  ye  shall  be  saved  from  your  enemies. 

10  Also  m  in  the  day  of  your  gladness,  and  in 
your  solemn  days,  and  in  the  beginnings  of 

e  Chap.  ii.  10. - f  Yer.  3. - £  Joel  ii.  1. - h  Chap.  xxxi.  6  ; 

Josh.  vi.  4 ;  1  Chron.  xv.  24  ;  2  Chron.  xiii.  12;  1  Mac.  xvi.  8. 

1  Chap.  xxxi.  6;  Josh.  vi.  5  ;  2  Chron.  xiii.  14. - k  Judg.  ii.  18  ; 

iv.  3  ;  vi.  9 ;  x.  8, 12  ;  1  Sam.  x.  18  ;  Psa.  cvi.  42. - 1  Gen.  viii. 

1  ;  Psa.  cvi.  4. - 111  Chap.  xxix.  1  ;  Lev.  xxiii.  24 ;  1  Chron.  xv. 

Yerse  6.  When  ye  blow  an  alarm  the  second  time \ 
A  single  alarm,  as  above  stated,  was  a  signal  for  the 
eastward  division  to  march ;  two  such  alarms,  the  sig¬ 
nal  for  the  south  division ;  and  probably  three  for  the 
west  division,  and  four  for  the  north.  It  is  more  likely 
that  this  was  the  case,  than  that  a  single  alarm  served 
for  each,  with  a  small  interval  between  them. 

The  camps,  or  grand  divisions  of  this  great  army, 
always  lay,  as  we  have  already  seen,  to  the  east,  south, 
west,  and  north  :  and  here  the  east  and  south  camps 
alone  are  mentioned  ;  the  first  containing  Judah,  Issa- 
char,  and  Zebulun ;  the  second ,  Reuben,  Simeon ,  and 
Gad.  The  ivest  and  north  divisions  are  not  named, 
and  yet  we  are  sure  they  marched  in  consequence  of 
express  orders*  or  signals,  as  well  as  the  other  two. 
There  appears  therefore  a  deficiency  here  in  the  He¬ 
brew  text,  which  is  thus  supplied  by  the  Septuagint ; 
K at  oahrcLELTe  arjyaaiav  TpiTrjv,  rat  E^apovcuv  at  irapey- 
QoTiai  al  napEyfialTiovaat,  irapa  daTiaocav'  nai  aa'/ 1- 
tclelte  cnjyacuav  TETaprrjv,  nai  e^apovatv  al  Trapey^olai 
al  7 rapEyfiaXhovaai  n poc  /3op{)av.  “And  when  ye  blow 
a  third  alarm  or  signal,  the  camps  on  the  ivest  shall 
march  :  and  when  ye  blow  a  fourth  alarm  or  signal, 
the  camps  on  the  north  shall  march.”  This  addition, 
however,  is  not  acknowledged  by  the  Samaritan,  nor 
by  any  of  the  other  versions  but  the  Coptic.  Nor  are 
there  any  various  readings  in  the  collections  of  Kenni- 
coti  and  De  Rossi,  which  countenance  the  addition  in 
the  above  versions.  Houbigant  thinks  this  addition  so 
evidently  necessary,  that  he  has  inserted  the  Latin  in 
his  text,  and  in  a  note  supplied  the  Hebrew  words, 
and  thinks  that  these  words  were  originally  in  the  He¬ 
brew  text,  but  happened  to  be  omitted  in  consequence 
of  so  many  similar  words  occurring  so  often  in  the 
same  verse,  which  might  dazzle  and  deceive  the  eye 
of  a  transcriber. 


The  Israelites  leave  Sinai. 

your  months,  ye  shall  blow  with  a.  m.  2514. 
the  trumpets  over  your  burnt-  An.  Exod.  isr.  2. 
offerings,  and  over  the  sacri-  Ablb  or  Nlsan‘ 
fices  of  your  peace-offerings  ;  that  they  may 
be  to  you  n  for  a  memorial  before  your  God  : 
I  am  the  Lord  your  God. 

11  And  it  came  to  pass,  on  A.  M.  2514. 

,  -it  r  1  i  B.  C.  1490. 

the  twentieth  aay  of  the  second  An.  Exod.  Isr.  2. 

month,  in  the  second  year,  that  Ijar  or  Zxi‘ 
the  cloud  0  was  taken  up  from  off  the  taber¬ 
nacle  of  the  testimony. 

1 2  And  the  children  of  Israel  took  p  their 
journeys  out  of  the  1  wilderness  of  Sinai ;  and 
the  cloud  rested  in  the  r  wilderness  of  Paran. 

1 3  And  they  first  took  their  journey  s  accord¬ 
ing  to  the  commandment  of  the  Lord  by  the 
hand  of  Moses. 

14  t  In  the  first  place  went  the  standard  of 
the  camp  of  the  children  of  Judah,  according 

24;  2  Chron.  v.  12  ;  vii.  6  ;  xxix.  26  ;  Ezra  iii.  10  ;  Neh.  xii. 

35  ;  Psa.  lxxxi.  3. - n  Ver.  9. - 0  Chap.  ix.  17. - P  Exod.  xl. 

36  ;  chap.  ii.  9,  16,  24,  31. - 9  Exod.  xix.  1  ;  chap.  i.  1  ;  ix.  5. 

r  Gen.  xxi.  21 ;  chap.  xii.  16  ;  xiii.  3,  26  ;  Deut.  i.  1. - s  Ver.  5, 

6  ;  chap.  ii.  34. - 1  Chap.  ii.  3,  9. 

Yerse  9.  If  ye  go  to  tear]  These  trumpets  shall 
be  sounded  for  the  purpose  of  collecting  the  people  to¬ 
gether,  to  deliberate  about  the  war,  and  to  implore  the 
protection  of  God  against  their  enemies. 

Ye  shall  be  remembered  before  the  Lord ]  When 
ye  decamp,  encamp ,  make  war,  and  hold  religious  fes¬ 
tivals,  according  to  his  appointment,  which  appoint¬ 
ment  shall  be  signified  to  you  by  the  priests,  who  at 
the  command  of  God,  for  such  purposes,  shall  blow  the 
trumpets,  then  ye  may  expect  both  the  presence  and 
blessing  of  Jehovah  in  all  that  ye  undertake. 

Yerse  10.  In  the  day  of  your  gladness ]  On  every 
festival  the  people  shall  be  collected  by  the  same 
means. 

Yerse  1 1 .  The  twentieth  day  of  the  second  month\ 
The  Israelites  had  lain  encamped  in  the  wilderness  of 
Sinai  about  eleven  months  and  twenty  days ;  compare 
Exod.  xix.  1  with  this  verse.  They  now  received  the 
order  of  God  to  decamp,  and  proceed  towards  the  pro¬ 
mised  land  ;  and  therefore  the  Samaritan  introduces 
at  this  place  the  words  which  we  find  in  Deut.  i.  6—8 : 
“  The  Lord  our  God  spake  unto  us  in  Horeb,  saying  : 
Ye  have  dwelt  long  enough  in  this  mount,  turn  and 
take  your  journey,”  &c. 

Yerse  12.  The  cloud  rested  in  the  wilderness  of 
Paran. ]  This  was  three  days’  journey  from  the  wil¬ 
derness  of  Sinai,  (see  ver.  33,)  and  the  people  had 
three  stations ;  the  first  at  Kibrotli-hattaavah,  the 
second  at  Hazeroth,  chap.  xi.  35,  and  the  third  in  the 
wilderness  of  Paran,  see  chap.  xii.  16.  But  it  is  ex¬ 
tremely  difficult  to  determine  these  journeyings  with 
any  degree  of  exactness ;  and  we  are  often  at  a  loss 
to  know  whether  the  place  in  question  was  in  a  direct 
or  retrograde  position  from  the  place  previously  men¬ 
tioned. 

Yerse  14.  The  standard— -of  JudaK]  See  this  order 

a 


NUMBERS. 


648 


CHAP.  X. 


tribes  in  tlieir  march 


The  order  observed  by  the 

a.  M.  2514.  to  their  armies  :  and  over  his  host 
An.  Exod.  isr.  2.  was  u  Nahshon  the  son  of  Am* 

I^aor  Zif-  minadab. 

15  And  over  the  host  of  the  tribe  of  the 
children  of  Issachar  was  Nethaneel  the  son  of 
Zuar. 

1 6  And  over  the  host  of  the  tribe  of  the  chil¬ 
dren  of  Zebulun  was  Eliab  the  son  of  Helon. 

17  x4nd  v  the  tabernacle  was  taken  down  ; 
and  the  sons  of  Gershon,  and  the  sons  of  Me- 
rari,  set  forward,  w  bearing  the  tabernacle. 

18  And  x  the  standard  of  the  camp  of  Reuben 
set  forward,  according  to  their  armies  :  and 
over  his  host  ivas  Elizur  the  son  of  Shedeur. 

19  And  over  the  host  of  the  tribe  of  the 
children  of  Simeon  was  Shelumiel  the  son  of 
Zurishaddai. 

20  And  over  the  host  of  the  tribe  of  the  chil¬ 
dren  of  Gad  was  Eliasaph  the  son  of  Deuel. 

2 1  And  the  Kohathites  set  forward,  bearing 
the  y  sanctuary  :  and  z  the  other  did  set  up  the 
tabernacle  against  they  came. 

£2  And  a  the  standard  of  the  camp  of  the 
children  of 
to  their  arn 
shama  the  son  of  Ammihud. 

°  Chap.  i.  7. - v  Chap.  i.  51. - w  Chap.  iv.  24,  31  ;  vii.  6,  7, 

8. - x  Chap.  ii.  10,  16. - y  Chap.  iv.  4,  15  ;  vii.  9. - z  That 

is,  the  Gershonites  and  the  Merarites  ;  see  ver.  17  ;  chap.  i.  51. 

of  marching  explained  at  large  on  chap.  ii.  The  fol¬ 
lowing  is  the  order  in  which  this  vast  company  pro¬ 
ceeded  in  their  march  : — 

Judah 

IsSachar 

Zebulun 

Gershonites,  and 

Merarites  carrying  the  tabernacle. 

Reuben 

Simeon 

Gad 

The  Kohathites  with  the  sanctuary. 

Ephraim 

Manasseh 

Benjamin 

Dan 

Asher 

Naphtali. 

Verse  29.  Moses  said  unto  Hobab]  For  a  circum¬ 
stantial  account  of  this  person  see  the  notes  on  Exod. 
ii.  15,  16,  18  ;  iii.  1  ;  iv.  20,  24  ;  and  for  the  trans¬ 
action  recorded  here,  and  which  is  probably  out  of 
its  place,  see  Exod.  xviii.  5,  where  the  subject  is  dis¬ 
cussed  at  large. 

We  are  journeying ]  God  has  brought  us  out  of 
thraldom,  and  we  are  thus  far  on  our  way  through  the 
wilderness,  travelling  towards  the  place  of  rest  which 

a 


Ephraim  set  forward,  according 
ies  :  and  over  his  host  was  Eli- 


23  And  over  the  host  of  the  A-  M.  2511. 
tribe  of  the  children  of  Manas-  An.  Exod.  Isr.  2. 
seh  was  Gamaliel  the  son  of  Jiar  or  Zlf‘ 
Pedahzur. 

24  And  over  the  host  of  the  tribe  of  the 
children  of  Benjamin  was  Abidan  the  son  of 
Gideoni. 

25  And  b  the  standard  of  the  camp  of  the 
children  of  Dan  set  forward,  which  was  the 
rereward  of  all  the  camps  throughout  their 
hosts  :  and  over  his  host  ivas  Ahiezer  the  son 
of  Ammishaddai. 

26  And  over  the  host  of  the  tribe  of  the  chil¬ 
dren  of  Ashur  ivas  Pagiel  the  son  of  Ocran. 

27  And  over  the  host  of  the  tribe  of  the  chil¬ 
dren  of  Naphtali  was  Ahira  the  son  of  Enan. 

28  c  Thus  d  were  the  journeyings  of  the  chil¬ 
dren  of  Israel,  according  to  their  armies,  when 
they  set  forward. 

29  And  Moses  said  unto  Hobab,  the  son  of 
e  Raguel,  the  Midianite,  Moses’  father-in-law, 
We  are  journeying  unto  the  place  of  which 
the  Lord  said,  f  1  will  give  it  you  :  come  thou 
with  us,  and  g  we  will  do  thee  good  :  for  h  the 
Lord  hath  spoken  good  concerning  Israel. 

30  And  he  said  unto  him,  I  will  not  go; 

a  Chap.  ii.  18,  24. - b  Chap.  ii.  25,  31  ;  Josh.  vi.  9. - c  Heb. 

these. - d  Chap.  ii.  34. - e  Exod.  ii.  18. - f  Gen.  xii.  7. 

s  Judg.  i.  16  ;  iv.  11. - -h  Gen.  xxxii.  12  ;  Exod.  iii.  8  ;  vi.  7,  8. 

he  has  appointed  us,  trusting  in  his  promise,  guided  by 
his  presence,  and  supported  by  his  power.  Come  thou 
with  us,  and  we  ivill  do  thee  good.  Those  who  wish 
to  enjoy  the  heavenly  inheritance  must  walk  in  the 
way  towards  it,  and  associate  with  the  people  who  are 
going  in  that  way.  True  religion  is  ever  benevolent. 
They  who  know  most  of  the  goodness  of  God  are  the 
most  forward  to  invite  others  to  partake  of  that  good¬ 
ness.  That  religion  which  excludes  all  others  from 
salvation,  unless  they  believe  a  particular  creed,  and 
worship  in  a  particular  way,  is  not  of  God.  Even 
Hobab ,  the  Arab,  according  to  the  opinion  of  Moses, 
might  receive  the  same  blessings  which  God  had  pro¬ 
mised  to  Israel,  provided  he  accompanied  them  in  the 
same  way. 

The  Lord  hath  spohen  good  concerning  Israel .]  The 
name  Israel  is  taken  in  a  general  sense  to  signify  the 
followers  of  God,  and  to  them  all  the  promises  in  the 
Bible  are  made.  God  has  spoken  good  of  them,  and 
he  has  spoken  good  to  them  ;  and  not  one  word  that 
he  hath  spoken  shall  fail.  Reader,  hast  thou  left  thy 
unhallowed  connections  in  life  1  Hast  thou  got  into  the 
camp  of  the  Most  High  1  Then  continue  to  follow  God 
with  Israel,  and  thou  shalt  be  incorporated  in  the  hea¬ 
venly  family,  and  share  in  Israel’s  benedictions. 

Verse  30.  I  will  not  go ;  but  I  ivill  depart  to  mine 
own  land,  and  to  my  kindred.]  From  the  strong  ex¬ 
postulations  in  verses  31  and  32,  and  from  Judg.  i.  16, 

649 


Moses  entreats  Hobab 


NUMBERS. 


A.  M.  2514.  but  I  will  depart  to  mine  own 

B.  C.  1490.  .  .  .  t  t 

An.  Exod.  isr.  2.  land,  and  to  my  kindred. 

ijar  or  Zif.  g  ^  And  he  said,  Leave  us  not, 
I  pray  thee  ;  forasmuch  as  thou  knowest  how 
we  are  to  encamp  in  the  wilderness,  and  thou 
mayest  be  to  us  1  instead  of  eyes. 

32  And  it  shall  be,  if  thou  go  with  us, 
yea,  it  shall  be,  that  k  what  goodness  the 
Lord  shall  do  unto  us,  the  same  will  we  do 
unto  thee. 

33  And  they  departed  from  1  the  mount  of 
the  Lord  three  days’  journey  :  and  the  ark  of 


'Job  xxix.  15. - k  Judg.  i.  16. - 'See  Exod.  iii.  1. 

1,1  Deut.  i.  33  ;  Josh.  iii.  3,  4,  6  ;  Psa.  cxxxii.  8  ;  Jer.  xxxi.  2  ; 

iv.  11,  and  1  Sam.  xv.  6,  it  is  likely  that  Hobab 
changed  his  mind  ;  or  that,  if  he  did  go  back  to  Midian, 
he  returned  again  to  Israel,  as  the  above  scriptures 
show  that  his  posterity  dwelt  among  the  Israelites  in 
Canaan.  Reader,  after  having  been  almost  persuaded 
to  become  a  Christian,  to  take  Christ,  his  cross,  his 
reproach,  and  his  crown,  for  thy  portion,  art  thou  again 
purposing  to  go  back  to  thy  own  land,  and  to  thy  kin¬ 
dred  1  Knowest  thou  not  that  this  land  is  the  place 
of  destruction — that  the  children  of  this  world,  who  are 
not  taking  God  for  their  portion,  are  going  to  perdition  1 
Up,  get  thee  hence,  for  the  Lord  will  destroy  this  place 
by  fire  ;  and  all  who  are  not  of  the  kindred  and  family 
of  Christ  shall  perish  at  the  brightness  of  his  appearing! 

Verse  31.  Thou  mayest  be  to  us  instead  of  eyes.\ 
But  what  need  had  they  of  Hobab,  when  they  had 
the  pillar -and  fire  continually  to  point  out  their  way  1 
Answer  :  The  cloud  directed  their  general  journeys, 
but  not  their  particular  excursions.  Parties  took 
several  journeys  while  the  grand  army  lay  still.  (See 
chap,  xiii.,  xx.,  xxxi.,  xxxii.,  &c.)  They  therefore 
needed  such  a  person  as  Hobab,  who  was  well  ac¬ 
quainted  with  the  desert,  to  direct  these  particular 
excursions  ;  .  to  point  them  out  watering  places,  and 
places  where  they  might  meet  with  fuel,  &c.,  &c. 
What  man  cannot,  under  the  direction  of  God’s  pro¬ 
vidence,  do  for  himself,  God  will  do  in  the  way  of 
especial  mercy.  He  could  have  directed  them  to  the 
fountains  and  to  the  places  of  fuel,  but  Hobab  can  do 
this,  therefore  let  Hobab  be  employed ;  and  let  Hobab 
know  for  his  encouragement  that,  while  he  is  serving 
others  in  the  way  of  God’s  providence,  he  is  securing 
his  own  best  interests.  On  these  grounds  IPobab 
should  be  invited,  and  for  this  reason  Hobab  should 
go.  Man  cannot  do  God’s  work  ;  and  God  will  not 
do  the  work  which  he  has  qualified  and  commanded 
man  to  perform.  Thus  then  the  Lord  is  ever  seen, 
even  while  he  is  helping  man  by  man.  See  some 


to  accompany  them, 

the  covenant  of  the  Lord  ra  went  A.  M.  2544. 
before  them  in  the  three  days’  An.  Exod.  isr.  2. 
journey,  to  search  out  a  resting  Jar  or  1 ' 
place  for  them. 

34  And  n  the  cloud  of  the  Lord  was  upon 
them  by  day,  when  they  went  out  of  the  camp., 

35  And  it  came  to  pass,  when  the  ark  set 
forward,  that  Moses  said,  °Rise  up,  Lord,  and 
let  thine  enemies  be  scattered ;  and  let  them 
that  hate  thee  flee  before  thee. 

36  And  when  it  rested,  he  said,  Return,  O 
Lord,  unto  the  p  many  thousands  of  Israel. 

Ezek.  xx.  6. - n  Exod.  xiii.  21;  Neh.  ix.  12,  19. - 0  Psa. 

lxviii.  1,2;  cxxxii.  8. - P  Heb.  ten  thousand  thousands. 

valuable  observations  on  this  subject  in  Harmer,  vol.  ii., 
286.  Instead  of,  And  thou  mayest  be  to  us  instead 
of  eyes ,  the  Septuagint  translate  the  passage  thus  : 
K at  eery  ev  hpiV  7r peoftvTrjs,  And  thou  shalt  be  an  elder 
among  us.  But  Moses  probably  refers  to  Hobab’s 
accurate  knowledge  of  the  wilderness,  and  to  the 
assistance  he  could  give  them  as  a  guide. 

Verse  33.  The  ark — went  before  them ]  We  find 
from  ver.  2 1  that  the  ark  was  carried  by  the  Kohath- 
ites  in  the  centre  of  the  army  ;  but  as  the  army  never 
moved  till  the  cloud  was  taken  up,  it  is  said  to  go  be¬ 
fore  them ,  i.  e.,  to  be  the  first  to  move,  as  without  this 
motion  the  Israelites  continued  in  their  encampments. 

Verse  35.  Rise  up ,  Lord,  and  let  thine  enemies  be 
scattered ]  If  God  did  not  arise  in  this  way  and  scat¬ 
ter  his  enemies,  there  could  be  no  hope  that  Israel 
could  get  safely  through  the  wilderness.  God  must 
go  first,  if  Israel  would  wish  to  follow  in  safety. 

Verse  36.  Return ,  O  Lord,  unto  the  many  thou¬ 
sands  of  Israel. ]  These  were  the  words  spoken  by 
Moses,  at  the  moment  the  divisions  halted  in  order  to 
pitch  their  tents.  In  reference  to  this  subject,  and  the 
history  with  which  it  is  connected,  the  68th  Psalm 
seems  to  have  been  composed,  though  applied  by  David 
to  the  bringing  the  ark  from  Kirjath-jearim  to  Jerusa¬ 
lem.  See  the  notes  on  Psa.  lxviii.  Many  thousands, 
literally  the  ten  thousand  thousands.  Unless  the  ark 
went  with  them,  and  the  cloud  of  the  Divine  glory  with 
it,  they  could  have  neither  direction  nor  safety ;  un¬ 
less  the  ark  rested  with  them,  and  the  cloud  of  glory 
with  it,  they  could  have  neither  rest  nor  comfort. 
How  necessary  are  the  word  of  God  and  the  Spirit 
of  God  for  the  direction,  comfort,  and  defence  of  every 
genuine  follower  of  Christ !  Reader,  pray  to  God  that 
thou  mayest  have  both  with  thee  through  all  the  wil¬ 
derness,  through  all  the  changes  and  chances  of  this 
mortal  life  :  if  thou  be  guided  by  his  counsel,  thou 
shalt  be  at  last  received  into  his  glory. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

The  people  complain,  the  Lord  is  displeased,  and  many  of  them  are  consumed  by  fire ,  1.  Moses  intercedes 
for  them,  and  the  fire  is  quenched,  2.  The  place  is  called  Taberah,  3.  The  mixed  multitude  long  for 
flesh,  and  murmur,  4-6.  The  manna  described,  7-9.  The  people  weep  in  their  tents,  and  the  Lord  is 
displeased,  10.  Moses  deplores  his  lot  in  being  obliged  to  hear  and  bear  with  all  their  murmurings,  1 1—15. 

650  a 


CHAP.  XI, 


The  people  murmur  for 


want  of  flesh  to  eat 


He  is  commanded  to  bring  seventy  of  the  elders  to  God  that  he  may  endue  them  with  the  same  spirit ,  and 
cause  them  to  divide  the  burden  with  him ,  16,  17.  He  is  also  commanded  to  inform  the  people  that  they 
shall  have  flesh  for  a  whole  month ,  18-20.  Moses  expresses  his  doubt  of  the  possibility  of  this ,  21,  22. 
The  Lord  confirms  his  promise,  23.  The  seventy  men  are  brought  to  the  tabernacle ,  24;  and  the  spirit 
of  prophecy  rests  upon  them,  25.  Eldad  and  Medad  stay  in  the  camp  and  prophesy,  26,  27.  Joshua 
beseeches  Moses  to  forbid  them,  28.  Moses  refuses,  29,  30.  A  wind  from  the  Lord  brings  quails  to  the 
camp ,  31,  32.  While  feeding  on  the  flesh,  a  plague  from  the  Lord  falls  upon  them ,  and  many  of  them 
die,  33.  The  place  is  called  Kibroth-hattaavah,  or  the  graves  of  lust,  34.  They  journey  to  Hazeroth,  35 


A.  M.  2514.  A  ND  a  when  the  people  b  com- 

B.  C.  1490.  -TL  i  .  i  .  K  }  ,  , 

An.  Exod.  isr.  plained,  0  it  displeased  the 

2'  Lord  :  and  the  Lord  heard  it ; 
d  and  his  anger  was  kindled  ;  and  the  e  fire  of 
the  Lord  burnt  among  them,  and  consumed 
them  that  were  in  the  uttermost  parts  of  the 
camp. 

2  And  the  people  cried  unto  Moses  ;  and 
when  Moses  f  prayed  unto  the  Lord,  the  fire 
»  was  quenched. 

3  And  he  called  the  name  of  the  place  h  Ta- 
berah:  because  the  fire  of  the  Lord  burnt 
among  them. 

4  And  the  1  mixed  multitude  that  was  among 
them  k  fell  a  lusting :  and  the  children  of  Israel 
also  1  wept  again,  and  said,  m  Who  shall  give 
us  flesh  to  eat  ? 


5  n  We  remember  the  fish,  A.  M.  2514. 
which  we  did  eat  m  Lgypt  ireely ;  An.  Exod.  isr. 
the  cucumbers,  and  the  melons,  2' 


and  the  leeks,  and  the  onions,  and  the  garlic  : 

6  But  now  0  our  soul  is  dried  away  :  there 
is  nothing  at  all,  beside  this  manna,  before  our 
eyes. 

7  And  p  the  manna  was  as  coriander  seed,  and 
the  01  colour  thereof  as  the  colour  of  r  bdellium. 

8  And  the  people  went  about,  and  gathered 
it,  and  ground  it  in  mills,  or  beat  it  in  a  mor¬ 
tar,  and  baked  it  in  pans,  and  made  cakes  of  it : 
and  s  the  taste  of  it  was  as  the  taste  of  fresh  oil. 

9  And  t  when  the  dew  fell  upon  the  camp  in 
the  night,  the  manna  fell  upon  it. 

10  Then  Moses  heard  the  people  weep 
throughout  their  families,  every  man  in  the 


a  Deut.  ix.  22. - b  Or,  were  as  it  were  complainers. - 0  Heb. 

it  was  evil  in  the  ears  of,  &c. - d  Psa.  lxxviii.  21. - e  Lev.  x. 

2  ;  chap.  xvi.  35  ;  2  Kings  i.  12  ;  Psa.  cvi.  18. - f  James  v.  16. 

e  Heb.  su?ik. - hThat  is,  a  burning  ;  Deut.  ix.  22. - 1  As  Exod. 

.  NOTES  ON  CHAP.  XI. 

Yerse  1.  And  when  the  people  complained  ]  What 
the  cause  of  this  complaining  was,  we  know  not.  The 
conjecture  of  St.  Jerome  is  probable  ;  they  complained 
because  of  the  length  of  the  way.  But  surely  no 
people  had  ever  less  cause  for  murmuring  ;  they  had 
God  among  them,  and  miracles  of  goodness  were  con¬ 
tinually  wrought  in  their  behalf. 

It  displeased  the  Lord ]  For  his  extraordinary 
kindness  was  lost  on  such  an  ungrateful  and  rebellious 
people.  And  his  anger  ivas  kindled — Divine  justice 
was  necessarily  incensed  against  such  inexcusable 
conduct. 

And  the  fire  of  the  Lord  burnt  among  them]  Either 
a  supernatural  fire  was  sent  for  this  occasion,  or  the 
lightning  was  commissioned  against  them,  or  God 
smote  them  writh  one  of  those  hot  suffocating  winds 
which  are  very  common  in  those  countries. 

And  consumed — in  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  camp.] 
It  pervaded  the  whole  camp,  from  tke  centre  to  the 
circumference,  carrying  death  with  it  to  all  the  mur- 
murers  ;  for  we  are  not  to  suppose  that  it  was  con¬ 
fined  to  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  camp,  unless  we 
could  imagine  that  there  were  none  culpable  anywhere 
else.  If  this  were  the  same  with  the  case  mentioned 
ver.  4,  then,  as  it  is  possible  that  the  mixed  multitude 
occupied  the  outermost  parts  of  the  camp,  consequently 
the  burning  might  have  been  confined  to  them. 

Yerse  2.  The  fire  was  quenched.]  Was  sunk,  or 
swallowed  up,  as  in  the  margin.  The  plague,  of 

a 


xii.  38. - k  Heb.  lusted  a  lust. - !  Heb.  returned  and  wept . 

m  Psa.  lxxviii.  18  ;  cvi.  14  ;  1  Cor.  x.  6. - n  Exod.  xvi.  3. 

0  Chap.  xxi.  5. - PExod.  xvi.  14,  31. - 9  Heb.  eye  of  it  as  the 

eye  of. - r  Gen.  n.  12. - s  Exod.  xvi.  31. - 1  Exod.  xvi.  13, 14. 

whatever  sort,  ceased  to  act,  and  the  people  had 
respite. 

Yerse  4.  The  mixed  multitude]  ^DSDNrt  hasaphsuph, 
the  collected  or  gathered  people.  Such  as  came  out  of 
Egypt  with  the  Israelites ;  and  are  mentioned  Exod. 
xii.  38.  This  mongrel  people,  who  had  comparatively 
little  of  the  knowledge  of  God,  feeling  the  difficulties 
and  fatigues  of  the  journey,  were  the  first  to  complain  ; 
and  then  we  find  the  children  of  Israel  joined  them  in 
their  complainings,  and  made  a  common  cause  with 
these  demi-infidels. 

Yerse  5.  We  remember,  Spc.]  The  choice  aliments 
which  those  murmurers  complained  of  having  lost  by 
their  leaving  Egypt,  were  the  following  :  fish,  cucum¬ 
bers,  melons,  leeks,  onions,  and  garlic.  A  European 
may  smile  at  such  delicacies ;  but  delicacies  they  were 
in  that  country.  Their  fish  is  excellent ;  their  cucum¬ 
bers  and  water  melons  highly  salubrious  and  refreshing  ; 
and  their  onions,  garlic,  &c.,  exquisitely  flavoured, 
differing  as  much  from  vegetables  of  the  same  species 
in  these  northern  climes  as  a  bad  turnip  does  from 
a  good  apple.  In  short,  this  enumeration  takes  in 
almost  all  the  commonly  attainable  delicacies  in  those 
countries. 

Yerse  7.  The  manna  was  as  coriander  seed]  Pro¬ 
bably  this  short  description  is  added  to  show  the  ini¬ 
quity  of  the  people  in  murmuring,  while  they  had  so 
adequate  a  provision.  But  the  baseness  of  their  minds 
appears  in  every  part  of  their  conduct. 

About  the  bdellium  of  the  ancients  the  learned  are 

651 


NUMBERS. 


Moses  complains  to  the  Lord. 

a.  M.  2514.  door  of  his  tent ;  and  u  the  anger 
An. ' ExodMsr.  of  the  Lord  was  kindled  greatly  ; 

2‘  Mdses  also  was  displeased. 

1 1  v  And  Moses  said  unto  the  Lord,  Where¬ 
fore  hast  thou  afflicted  thy  servant  ?  and  where¬ 
fore  have  I  not  found  favour  in  thy  sight,  that 
thou  layest  the  burden  of  all  this  people  upon 
me  ? 

1 2  Have  I  conceived  all  this  people  ?  have 
I  begotten  them,  that  thou  shouldest  say  unto 
me,  w  Carry  them  in  thy  bosom,  as  a  1  nursing 
father  beareth  the  sucking  child,  unto  the  land 
which  thou  y  swarest  unto  their  fathers  ? 

13  z  Whence  should  I  have  flesh  to  give  unto 
all  this  people  ?  for  they  weep  unto  me,  say¬ 
ing,  Give  us  flesh,  that  we  may  eat. 

14  a  I  am  not  able  to  bear  all  this  people 
alone,  because  it  is  too  heavy  for  me. 

1 5  And  if  thou  deal  thus  with  me,  b  kill  me, 
I  pray  thee,  out  of  hand,  if  I  have  found 
favour  in  thy  sight ;  and  let  me  not  c  see  my 
wretchedness. 

1 6  And  the  Lord  said  unto  Moses,  Gather 
unto  me  d  seventy  men  of  the  elders  of  Israel, 
whom  thou  knowest  to  be  the  elders  of  the 
people,  and  e  officers  over  them ;  and  bring 
them  unto  the  tabernacle  of  the  congregation, 
that  they  may  stand  there  with  thee. 

u  Psa.  lxxviii.  21. - vDeut.  i.  12. - vv  Isa.  xl.  11. - x  Isa. 

xlix.  23  ;  1  Thess.  ii.  7. - y  Gen.  xxvi.  3  ;  1.  24  ;  Exod.  xiii.  5. 

z  Matt.  xv.  33  ;  Mark  viii.  4. - a  Exod.  xviii.  18. - b  See 

I  Kings,  xix.  4  ;  Jonah  iv.  3. - c  Zeph.  iii.  15. - d  See  Exod. 

xxiv.  1,  9. - e  Deut.  xvi.  18. - f  Ver.  25  ;  Gen.  xi.  5  ;  xviii. 

21  ;  Exod.  xix.  20. 

not  agreed ;  and  I  shall  not  trouble  the  reader  with 
conjectures.  See  the  note  on  Gen.  ii.  12.  Concern¬ 
ing  the  manna,  see  the  notes  on  Exod.  xvi. 

Verses  11—15.  The  complaint  and  remonstrance 
of  Moses  in  these  verses  serve  at  once  to  show  the 
deeply  distressed  state  of  his  mind,  and  the  degrada¬ 
tion  of  the  minds  of  the  people.  We  have  already 
seen  that  the  slavery  they  had  so  long  endured  had 
served  to  debase  their  minds,  and  to  render  them  in¬ 
capable  of  every  high  and  dignified  sentiment,  and  of 
every  generous  act. 

Verse  17 .  I  will  lake  of  the  spirit  which  is  upon  thee ] 
From  this  place  Origen  and  Theodoret  take  occasion 
to  compare  Moses  to  a  lamp,  at  which  seventy  others 
were  lighted,  without  losing  any  of  its  brightness.  To 
convince  Moses  that  God  had  sufficiently  qualified 
him  for  the  work  which  he  had  given  him  to  do,  he 
tells  him  that  of  the  gifts  and  graces  which  he  has 
given  him  he  will  qualify  seventy  persons  to  bear  the 
charge  with  him.  This  was  probably  intended  as  a 
gracious  reproof.  Query.  Did  not  Moses  lose  a  mea¬ 
sure  of  his  gifts  in  this  business  1  And  is  it  not  right 
that  he  whom  God  has  called  to  and  qualified  for 

652 


Flesh  is  promised  to  the  people 

1 7  And  I  will  f  come  down  and  A.  M.  2514. 

.  it  *n  O.  1490. 

talk  with  thee  there :  and  g  I  will  An.  Exod.  isr. 

take  of  the  spirit  which  is  upon  _ ' _ _ 

thee,  and  will  put  it  upon  them  ;  and  they 

shall  bear  the  burden  of  the  people  with  thee, 

that  thou  bear  it  not  thyself  alone. 

18  And  say  thou  unto  the  people,  h  Sanctify 
yourselves  against  to-morrow,  and  ye  shall  eat 
flesh :  for  ye  have  wept  1  in  the  ears  of  the 
Lord,  saying,  Who  shall  give  us  flesh  to  eat  ? 
k  for  it  was  well  with  us  in  Egypt :  therefore 
the  Lord  will  give  you  flesh,  and  ye  shall  eat. 

19  Ye  shall  not  eat  one  day,  nor  two  days, 
nor  five  days,  neither  ten  days, nor  twenty  days; 

20  1  But  even  a  m  whole  month,  until  it  come 
out  at  your  nostrils,  and  it  be  loathsome  unto 
you  :  because  that  ye  have  despised  the  Lord 
which  is  among  you,  and  have  wept  before 
him,  saying,  n  Why  came  we  forth  out  of 
Egypt  ? 

2 1  And  Moses  said,  0  The  people,  among 
whom  I  am ,  are  six  hundred  thousand  footmen  ; 
and  thou  hast  said,  I  will  give  them  flesh,  that 
they  may  eat  a  whole  month. 

22  p  Shall  the  flocks  and  the  herds  be  slain, 
for  them,  to  suffice  them  ?  or  shall  all  the  fish 
of  the  sea  be  gathered  together  for  them,  to 
suffice  them  ? 

s  1  Sam.  x.  6  ;  2  Kings  ii.  15  ;  Neh.  ix.  20  ;  Isa.  xliv.  3  ;  Joel 

ii.  28. - hExod.  xix.  10. - 5  Exod.  xvi.  7. - k  Ver.  5  ;  Acts 

vii.  39. - 1  Psa.  lxxviii.  29  ;  cvi.  15. - m  Heb.  month  of  days. 

n  Chap.  xxi.  5. - 0  Gen.  xii.  2;  Exod.  xii.  37;  xxxviii.  26; 

chap.  i.  46. - p  See  2  Kings  vii.  2  ;  Matt.  xv.  33  ;  Mark  viii.  4 ; 

John.  vi.  7,  9. 

some  particular  office,  should  lose  those  gifts  which 
he  either  undervalues  or  refuses  to  employ  for  God  in 
the  way  appointed  1  Is  there  not  much  reason  to 
believe  that  many  cases  have  occurred  where  the 
spiritual  endowments  of  particular  persons  have  been 
taken  away  and  given  to  others  who  made  a  better 
use  of  them  1  Hence  the  propriety  of  that  exhorta¬ 
tion,  Rev.  iii.  1 1  :  Hold  that  fast  which  thou  hast , 
that  no  man  take  iliy  crown. 

The  gracious  God  never  called  a  man  to  perform  a 
work  without  furnishing  him  with  adequate  strength ; 
and  to  refuse  to  do  it  on  the  pretence  of  inability  is 
little  short  of  rebellion  against  God. 

This  institution  of  the  seventy  persons  to  help 
Moses  the  rabbins  consider  as  the  origin  of  their  grand 
council  called  the  Sanhedrin.  But  we  find  that  a 
council  of  seventy  men,  elders  of  Israel,  had  existed 
among  the  people  a  year  before  this  time.  See  Exod. 
xxiv.  9  ;  see  the  advice  given  by  Jethro  to  Moses, 
Exod.  xviii.  17,  &c.,  and  the  notes  there. 

Verse  22.  Shall  the  flocks  and  the  herds  he  slain ] 
There  is  certainly  a  considerable  measure  of  weakness 
and  unbelief  manifested  in  the  complaints  and  questions 

a 


Eldad  and  Medad 


CHAP.  XI. 


a.  M.  2514.  23  And  the  Lord  said  unto 

An.’ Exod.  isr.  Moses,  q  Is  the  Lord’s  hand 

_ _  waxed  short  ?  thou  shalt  see  now 

whether  r  my  word  shall  come  to  pass  unto 
thee  or  not. 

24  And  Moses  went  out,  and  told  the  people 
the  words  of  the  Lord,  and *  8 1  gathered  the 
seventy  men  of  the  elders  of  the  people,  and 
set  them  round  about  the  tabernacle. 

25  And  the  Lord  t  came  down  in  a  cloud, 
and  spake  unto  him,  and  took  of  the  spirit  that 
teas  upon  him,  and  gave  it  unto  the  seventy 
elders  :  and  it  came  to  pass,  that,,  u  when  the 
spirit  rested  upon  them,  v  they  prophesied,  and 
did  not  cease. 

Isa.  1.  2  ;  lix.  1. - r  Chap,  xxiii.  19  ;  Ezek.  xii.  25  ;  xxiv.  14. 

8  Ver.  16. - (  Ver.  17  ;  chap.  xii.  5. - u  See  2  Kings  ii.  15. 

pSee  1  Sam.  x.5,  6, 10;  xix.  20,21, 23 ;  Joel  ii.  29  ;  Acts  ii.  17, 18 ; 


of  Moses  on  this  occasion ;  but  his  conduct  appears  at 
the  same  time  so  very  simple,  honest,  and  affectionate, 
that  we  cannot  but  admire  it,  while  we  wonder  that  he 
had  not  stronger  confidence  in  that  God  whose  mira¬ 
cles  he  had  so  often  witnessed  in  Egypt. 

Verse  23.  Is  the  Lord’s  hand  waxed  short  ?]  Hast 
thou  forgotten  the  miracles  which  I  have  already  per¬ 
formed  ?  or  thinkest  thou  that  my  power  is  decreased  1 
The  power  that  is  unlimited  can  never  be  diminished. 

Verse  25.  When  the  spirit  rested  upon  them,  they 
prophesied ]  By  prophesying  here  we  are  to  understand 
their  performing  those  civil  and  sacred  functions  for 
which  they  were  qualified ;  exhorting  the  people  to 
quiet  and  peaceable  submission,  to  trust  and  confidence 
in  the  goodness  and  providence  of  God,  would  make 
no  small  part  of  the  duties  of  their  new  office.  The 
ideal  meaning  of  the  word  *03  naba  is  to  pray,  entreat , 
&c.  The  prophet  is  called  nabi,  because  he 

prays,  supplicates,  in  reference  to  God ;  exhorts,  en¬ 
treats,  in  reference  to  man.  See  on  Gen.  xx.  7. 

Verse  27.  Eldad  and  Medad  do  prophesy\  These, 
it  seems,  made  two  of  the  seventy  elders  ;  they  were 
written,  though  they  went  not  out  to  the  tabernacle  ; 
they  were  enrolled  as  of  the  elders,  but  went  not  to 
meet  God  at  the  tabernacle,  probably  at  that  time  pre¬ 
vented  by  some  legal  hinderance,  but  they  continued 
in  the  camp  using  their  new  function  in  exhorting  the 
people. 

Verse  28.  My  lord  Moses,  forbid  them.~\  Joshua 
was  afraid  that  the  authority  and  influence  of  his  mas¬ 
ter  Moses  might  be  lessened  by  the  part  Eldad  and 
Medad  were  taking  in  the  government  of  the  people, 
which  might,  ultimately  excite  sedition  or  insurrection 
among  them. 

Verse  29.  Enviest  thou  for  my  sake  ?]  Art  thou 
jealous  of  their  influence  only  on  my  account'!  I  am 
not  alarmed;  on  the  contrary,  I  would  to  God  that  all 
his  people  were  endued  with  the  same  influence,  and 
actuated  by  the  same  motives. 

Persons  may  be  under  the  especial  direction  of 
grace  and  providence  while  apparently  performing  a  j 

a 


prophesy  in  the  camp. 

26  But  there  remained  two  of  a.  m.  2514 

.7  .  *1  ,  J  B.  C.  1490. 

the  men  in  the  camp,  the  name  An.  Exod.  isr. 

of  the  one  ivas  Eldad,  and  the  2‘ 
name  of  the  other  Medad  :  and  the  spirit  rested 
upon  them  :  and  they  were  of  them  that  weie 
.written,  but  w  went  not  out  unto  the  taberna¬ 
cle  :  and  they  prophesied  in  the  camp. 

27  And  there  ran  a  young  man,  and  told 
Moses,  and  said,  Eldad  and  Medad  do  pro¬ 
phesy  in  the  camp. 

28  And  Joshua  the  son  of  Nun,  the  servant 
of  Moses,  one  of  his  young  men,  answered  and 
said,  My  lord  Moses,  x  forbid  them. 

29  And  Moses  said  unto  him,  Enviest  thou 
for  my  sake  ?  y  would  God  that  all  the  Lord’s 

1  Cor.  xiv.  1,  &c. - w  See  1  Sara.  xx.  26;  Jer.  xxxvi.  5. 

x  See  Mark  ix.  38  ;  Luke  ix.  49 ;  John  iii.  26. - 7  1  Cor. 

xiv.  5. 


work  out  of  regular  order.  And  if  the  act  be  good 
and  the  effects  good,  we  have  no  right  to  question  the 
motive  nor  to  forbid  the  work.  What  are  order  and 
regularity  in  the  sight  of  man  may  be  disorder  and 
confusion  in  the  sight  of  God,  and  vice  versa.  John 
washed  to  prevent  a  man  from  casting  out  demons  in 
the  name  of  Jesus,  because  he  did  not  follow  Christ 
in  company  with  the  disciples.  Our  Lord’s  conduct 
in  that  case  should  regulate  ours  in  all  similar  ones  ; 
see  Luke  ix.  49,  50. 

A  late  eminent  divine  and  poet  has  made  a  good 
use  of  this  transaction  to  illustrate  that  species  of  Di¬ 
vine  call  to  the  ministry,  so  instrumental  in  the  salva¬ 
tion  of  myriads,  which  some  have  decried,  because 
it  appeared  to  them  irregular,  and  not  authorized  by 
the  hierarchy  of  the  nation.  I  shall  give  this  piece, 
not  for  the  amusement  but  the  instruction  of  the 
reader ; — 

Verse  27.  Eldad  and  Medad  do  prophesy,  c j-c.] 
Eldad,  they  said,  and  Medad  there, 
Irregularly  bold, 

By  Moses  uncommission’d,  dare 
A  separate  meeting  hold  ! 

And  still  wffiom  none  but  heaven  will  own. 
Men  whom  the  world  decry, 

Men  authorized  by  God  alone, 

Presume  to  prophesy ! 

Verse  28.  My  lord  Moses,  forbid  them.\ 

How  often  have  I  blindly  done 
What  zealous  Joshua  did, 

Impatient  to  the  rulers  run, 

And  cried,  “  My  lords,  forbid ! 

Silence  the  schismatics,  constrain 
Their  thoughts  with  ours  t’  agree, 

And  sacrifice  the  souls  of  men 
To  idol  unity!” 

Verse  29.  Enviest  thou  for  my  sake?  j 
Moses,  the  minister  of  God, 

Rebukes  our  partial  love, 

Who  envy  a  the  gifts  bestow’d 
On  those  e  disapprove. 

653 


NUMBERS. 


A  plague  smites  the  people , 


The  Lord  sends  quails. 

A.  M.  2514.  people  were  prophets,  and  that 

B.  C.  1490.  Y  1  _  A  \  .  0  .  . 

An.  Exod.  Isr.  the  LORD  WOUld  put  I11S  fepirit 

2~  upon  them  ! 

30  And  Moses  gat  him  into  the  camp,  he 
and  the  elders  of  Israel. 

3 1  And  there  went  forth  a  z  wind  from  the 
Lord,  and  brought  quails  from  the  sea,  and  let 
them  fall  by  the  camp,  a  as  it  were  a  day’s 
journey  on  this  side,  and  as  it  were  a  day’s 
journey  on  the  other  side,  round  about  the 
camp ;  and  as  it  were  two  cubits  high  upon 
the  face  of  the  earth. 

32  And  the  people  stood  up  all  that  day,  and 
all  that  night,  and  all  the  next  day,  and  they 

z  Exod.  xvi.  13;  Psa.  lxxviii.  26,  27,  28  ;  cv.  40. - a  Heb.  as  it 

were  the  way  of  a  day. - b  Exod.  xvi.  36  ;  Ezek.  xlv.  11. 

We  do  not  our  own  spirit  know, 

Who  wish  to  see  suppress’d 
The  men  that  Jesu's  spirit  show, 

The  men  whom  God  hath  bless’d. 

Woidcl  God  that  all  the  Lord's  people  were  prophets ] 
Shall  we  the  Spirit’s  course  restrain, 

Or  quench  the  heavenly  fire  1 
Let  God  his  messengers  ordain, 

And  whom  he  will  inspire. 

Blow  as  he  list,  the  Spirit’s  choice 
Of  instruments  we  bless  ; 

We  will,  if  Christ  be  preached,  rejoice, 

And  wish  the  word  success. 

Can  all  be  prophets  then  ?  are  all 
Commission’d  from  above  l 
No  :  but  whome’er  the  Lord  shall  call 
We  joyfully  approve. 

O  that  the  Church  might  all  receive 
The  spirit  of  prophecy, 

And  all  in  Christ  accepted  live, 

And  all  in  Jesus  die ! 

Short  Hymns  on  Select  Passages  of  the  Holy 
Scriptures ,  by  Charles  Wesley ,  M.  A.,  and 
Presbyter  of  the  Church  of  England.  Bristol , 
1762.  2  vols.  \Hrno. 

These  sentiments  are  the  more  particularly  remark¬ 
able  as  they  come  from  one  who  was  sufficiently 
bigoted  to  what  was  called  ecclesiastical  orders  and 
regularity. 

Yerse  31.  A  wind  from  the  Lord ]  An  extraor¬ 
dinary  one,  not  the  effect  of  a  natural  cause.  And 
brought  quails ,  a  bird  which  in  great  companies  visits 
Egypt  about  the  time  of  the  year,  March  or  April,  at 
which  the  circumstance  marked  here  took  place.  Mr. 
Hasselquist,  the  friend  and  pupil  of  the  famous  Lin- 
nseus,  saw  many  of  them  about  this  time  of  the  year, 
when  he  was  in  Egypt.  See  his  Travels,  p.  209. 

Two  cubits  high  upon  the  face  of  the  earth. ]  We 
may  consider  the  quails  as  flying  to i thin  two  cubits  of 
the  ground;  so  that  the  Israelites  could  easily  take 
as  many  of  them  as  they  wished,  while  flying  within 
the  reach  of  their  hands  or  their  clubs.  The  common 
notion  is,  that  the  quails  were  brought  round  about  the 

654 


gathered  the  quails  :  he  that  gath-  A.  M.  2514. 
ered  least  gathered  ten  b  homers  ;  An.Exod.  isr 
and  they  spread  them  all  abroad  2‘ 

for  themselves  round  about  the  camp. 

33  And  while  the  c  flesh  was  yet  between 
their  teeth,  ere  it  was  chewed,  the  wrath  of  the 
Lord  was  kindled  against  the  people,  and  the 
Lord  smote  the  people  with  a  very  great  plague. 

34  And  he  called  the  name  of  that  place 
d  Kibroth-hattaavah :  because  there  they  buried 
the  people  that  lusted. 

35  e  And  the  people  journeyed  from  Kibroth- 
hattaavah  unto  Hazeroth ;  and  f  abode  at 
Hazeroth. 

c  Psa.  lxxviii.  30,  31. - d  That  is,  the  graves  of  lust;  Deut.  ix. 

22. - e  Chap,  xxxiii.  17. - fHeb.  they  were  in,  &c. 

camp,  and  fell  there  in  such  multitudes  as  to  lie  two 
feet  thick  upon  the  ground  ;  but  the  Hebrew  will  not 
bear  this  version.  The  Yulgate  has  expressed  the 
sense,  Volabantque  in  aere  duobus  cubitis  altitudine 
super  terram.  “  And  they  flew  in  the  air,  two  cubits 
high  above  the  ground.” 

Yerse  32.  The  people  stood  up,  cf-c.]  While  these 
immense  flocks  were  flying  at  this  short  distance  from 
the  ground,  fatigued  writh  the  strong  wind  and  the 
distance  they  had  come,  they  were  easily  taken  by  the 
people  ;  and  as  various  flocks  continued  to  succeed 
each  other  for  two  days  and  a  night,  enough  for  a 
month’s  provision  might  be  collected  in  that  time.  If 
the  quails  had  fallen  about  the  tents,  there  was  no 
need  to  have  stood  up  two  days  and  a  night  in  gather¬ 
ing  them ;  but  if  they  were  on  the  wing,  as  the  text 
seems  to  suppose,  it  was  necessary  for  them  to  use 
despatch,  and  avail  themselves  of  the  passing  of  these 
birds  whilst  it  continued.  See  Harmer,  and  see  the 
note  on  Exod.  xvi.  13. 

And  they  spread  them  all  abroad ]  Maillet  observes 
that  birds  of  all  kinds  come  to  Egypt  for  refuge  from 
the  cold  of  a  northern  winter ;  and  that  the  people 
catch  them,  pluck,  and  bury  them  in  the  burning  sand 
for  a  few  minutes,  and  thus  prepare  them  for  use. 
This  is  probably  what  is  meant  by  spreading  them  all 
abroad  round  the  camp. 

Some  authors  think  that  the  word  salvim, 

rendered  quails  in  our  translation,  should  be  rendered 
locusts.  There  is  no  need  of  this  conjecture  ;  all  dif¬ 
ficulties  are  easily  resolved  without  it.  The  reader  is 
particularly  referred  to  the  note  on  Exod.  xvi.  13. 

Yerse  33.  The  wrath  of  the  Lord  teas  kindled\  In 
what  way,  and  with  what  effects,  we  cannot  precisely 
determine.  Some  heavy  judgment  fell  upon  these 
mtirmurers  and  complainers,  but  of  what  kind  the  sa¬ 
cred  writer  says  nothing. 

Yerse  34.  Kibroth-hattaavah j  The  graves  of  lust ; 
and  thus  their  scandalous  crime  was  perpetuated  by 
the  name  of  the  place. 

1.  St.  Jude  speaks  of  persons  who  were  murmurers 
and  complainers,  walking  after  their  own  lusts,  ver. 
16,  and  seems  to  have  this  people  particularly  in  view. 


The  sedition  of  Miriam 

whom  the  sacred  text  calls  peyrpiuoipoi,  complctiners 
of  their  lot.  They  could  never  be  satisfied  ;  even 
God  himself  could  not  please  them,  because  they  were 
ever  preferring'  their  own  wisdom  to  his.  God  will 
save  us  in  his  own  way,  or  not  at  all  ;  because  that 
way,  being  the  plan  of  infinite  wisdom,  it  is  impossible 
that  we  can  be  saved  in  any  other.  Plow  often  have 
we  professed  to  pray,  “Thy  will  be  done!”  And  how 
seldom,  very  seldom,  have  our  hearts  and  lips  corres¬ 
ponded!  How  careful  should  we  be  in  all  our  prayers 
to  ask  nothing  bnt  what  is  perfectly  consistent  with 
the  will  of  God  !  Many  times  our  prayers  and  desires 
are  such  that,  were  they  answered,  our  ruin  would  be 
inevitable.  “  Thy  will  be  done  !”  is  the  greatest  of 
all  prayers;  and  he  who  would  pray  safely  and  suc¬ 
cessfully,  must  at  least  have  the  spirit  of  these  words 
in  all  his  petitions.  The  Israelites  asked  flesh  when 
they  should  not  have  asked  for  it ;  God  yields  to  their 


and  Aaron  against  Moses. 

murmuring,  and  the  death  of  multitudes  of  these  mur- 
murers  was  the  consequence  !  We  hear  of  such  pun¬ 
ishments,  and  yet  walk  in  the  same  way,  presuming 
on  God’s  mercy,  while  we  continue  to  provoke  his 
justice.  Let  us  settle  it  in  our  minds  as  an  indis¬ 
putable  truth,  that  God  is  better  acquainted  with  our 
wants  than  we  are  ourselves ;  that  he  knows  infinitely 
better  what  we  need ;  and  that  he  is  ever  more  ready 
to  hear  than  we  are  to  pray,  and  is  wont  to  give  more 
than  we  can  desire  or  deserve. 

2.  In  no  case  has  God  at  any  time  withheld  from 
his  meanest  followers  any  of  the  spiritual  or  temporal 
mercies  they  needed.  Were  he  to  call  us  to  travel 
through  a  wilderness ,  he  would  send  us  bread  from 
heaven ,  or  cause  the  wilderness  to  smile  and  blossom 
as  the  rose.  How  strange  is  it  that  we  will  neither 
believe  that  God  has  worked,  or  will  work,  unless  we 
see  him  working ! 


CHAP.  XII. 


CHAPTER  XII. 


Miriam  and  Aaron  raise  a  sedition  against  Moses ,  because  of  the  Ethiopian  woman  he  had  married ,  1,  and 
through  jealousy  of  his  increasing  power  and  authority ,  2.  The  character  of  Moses ,  3.  Moses ,  Aaron, 
and  Miriam ,  are  suddenly  called  to  the  tabernacle,  4.  The  Lord  appears  in  the  pillar  of  the  cloud ,  and 
converses  with  them ,  5.  Declares  his  purpose  to  communicate  his  will  to  Moses  only,  6—8.  His  anger  is 
kindled  against  Miriam,  and  she  is  smitten  with  the  leprosy,  9,  10.  Aaron  deplores  his  transgression,  and 
entreats  for  Miriam,  11,  12.  Moses  intercedes  for  her,  13.  The  Lord  requires  that  she  be  shut  out  of 
the  camp  for  seven  days,  14  .  The  people  rest  till  she  is  restored,  15,  and  afterwards  leave  Hazeroth,  and 
pilch  in  the  icilderness  of  Par  an,  16. 


A.  M.  2514.  A  ND  Miriam  and  Aaron  spake 

B.  C.  1490.  _ZJL  .  .  r 

An.  Exod.isr.  against  Moses  because  oi 

2~  the  a  Ethiopian  woman  whom  he 

had  married  :  for  b  he  had  c  married  an  Ethio¬ 
pian  woman. 

2  And  they  said,  Hath  the  Lord  indeed  spoken 
only  by  Moses  ?  d  hath  he  not  spoken  also  by 
us  ?  And  the  Lord  e  heard  it. 

3  (Now  the  man  Moses  was  f  very  meek, 


above  all  the  men  which  were  A.  M.  2514. 

,  r  r  i  i  .  B.  C.  1490. 

upon  the  lace  oi  the  earth.)  An.  Exod.isr. 

4  g  And  the  Lord  spake  sud-  _ 2' 

denly  unto  Moses,  and  unto  Aaron,  and  unto 
Miriam,  Come  out  ye  three  unto  the  taber¬ 
nacle  of  the  congregation.  And  they  three 


came  out. 

5  h  And  the  Lord  came  down  in  the  pillar 
of  the  cloud,  and  stood  in  the  door  of  the 


a  Or,  Cushite. - b  Exod.  ii.  21.- - c  Heb  .taken. - d  Exod.  xix.  4  ;  Isa.  xxxvii.  4  ;  Ezek.  xxxv.  12,  13. - fEcclus.  xlv.  4- 

xv.  20  ;  Mic.  vi.  4. - e  Gen.  xxix.  33  ;  chap.  xi.  1 ;  2  Kings  s  Psa.  lxxvi.  9. - h  Chap.  xi.  25  ;  xvi.  19. 


NOTES  ON  CHAP.  XII. 

Verse  1 .  Miriam  and  Aaron  spake  against  Moses] 
It  appears  that  jealousy  of  the  power  and  influence  of 
Moses  was  the  real  cause  of  their  complaint,  though  his 
having  married  an  Ethiopian  woman — rvtJOn 
haishshah  haccushith — that  woman,  the  Cushite,  pro¬ 
bably  meaning  Zipporah ,  who  was  an  Arab  born  in  the 
land  of  Midian — was  the  ostensible  cause. 

Verse  2.  Hath  the  Lord  indeed  spoken  only  by 
Moses  ?]  It  is  certain  that  both  Aaron  and  Miriam 
had  received  a  portion  of  the  prophetic  spirit,  (see 
Exod.  iv.  15,  and  xv.  20,  and  therefore  they  thought 
they  might  have  a  share  in  the  government ;  for  though 
there  was  no  kind  of  gain  attached  to  this  government, 
and  no  honour  but  such  as  came  from  God,  yet  the 
love  of  power  is  natural  to  the  human  mind  ;  and  in 
many  instances  men  will  sacrifice  even  honour ,  plea¬ 
sure,  and  profit  to  the  lust  of  power. 


Verse  3.  Noiv  the  man  Moses  was  very  meek]  How 
could  Moses,  who  certainly  was  as  humble  and  modest 
as  he  was  meek,  write  this  encomium  upon  himself? 
I  think  the  word  is  not  rightly  understood  ;  1  Jp  anav, 
which  we  translate  meek,  comes  from  anah,  to  act 
upon,  to  humble,  depress,  afflict,  and  is  translated  so 
in  many  places  in  the  Old  Testament ;  and  in  this 
sense  it  should  be  understood  here  :  “  Now  this  man 
Moses  was  depressed  or  afflicted  more  than  any  man 
nD^n  haadamah,  of  that  land.”  And  why  was  he  so? 
Because  of  the  great  burden  he  had  to  bear  in  the 
care  and  government  of  this  people,  and  because  of 
their  ingratitude  and  rebellion  both  against  God  and 
himself :  of  this  depression  and  affliction,  see  the  full¬ 
est  proof  in  the  preceding  chapter.  The  very  power 
they  envied  was  oppressive  to  its  possessor,  and  was 
more  than  either  of  their  shoulders  could  sustain. 

Verse  4.  And  the  Lord  spake  suddenly]  The  sud- 

655 


NUMBERS. 


Miriam  is  smitten  with  leprosy, 

A.  M.  2514.  tabernacle,  and  called  Aaron  and 

B.  C.  1490.  ’  .  _  .  r  . 

An.  Exod.  isr.  Miriam :  and  they  both  came  iorth. 

2‘  6  And  he  said,  Hear  now  my 

words  :  If  there  be  a  prophet  among  you,  I  the 
Lord  will  make  myself  known  unto  him  1  in  a 
vision,  and  will  speak  unto  him  k  in  a  dream. 

7  1  My  servant  Moses  is  not  so,  m  who  is 
faithful  in  all  n  mine  house. 

8  With  him  will  I  speak  0  mouth  to  mouth, 
even  p  apparently,  and  not  in  dark  speeches  ; 
and  the  similitude  of  the  Lord  shall  he  be¬ 
hold  :  wherefore  then  r  were  ye  not  afraid  to 
speak  against  my  servant  Moses  ? 

9  And  the  anger  of  the  Lord  was  kindled 
against  them  ;  and  he  departed. 

10  And  the  cloud  departed  from  off  the  taber¬ 
nacle  ;  and,  s  behold,  Miriam  became  4  leprous, 

1  Gen.  xv.  1 ;  xlvi.  2  ;  Job  xxxiii.  15  ;  Exek.  i.  1  ;  Dan.  viii. 
2  ;  x.  8,  16,  17 ;  Luke  i.  11,  22  ;  Acts  x.  11,  17  ;  xxii.  17,  18. 

k  Gen.  xxxi.  10,  11  ;  1  Kings  iii.  5  ;  Matt.  i.  20. - e  Psa.  cv.  26. 

m  Heb.  iii.  2,  5. - 11 1  Tim.  iii.  15. - °Exod.  xxxiii.  11  ;  Deut. 

xxxiv.  10. 

« - — 

den  interference  of  God  in  this  business  shows  at  once 
the  importance  of  the  case  and  his  displeasure. 

Verse  6.  If  there  he  a  prophet]  We  see  here  the 
different  ways  in  which  God  usually  made  himself 
known  to  the  prophets,  vi'z.,  by  visions — emblematic 
appearances,  and  by  dreams ,  in  which  the  future  was 
announced  by  dark  speeches,  flTFUl  hechidoth ,  by 
enigmas  or  figurative  representations,  ver.  8.  But  to 
Moses  God  had  communicated  himself  in  a  different 
way — he  spoke  to  him  face  to  face,  apparently ,  show¬ 
ing  him  his  glor}r :  not  in  dark  or  enigmatical  speeches; 
this  could  not  be  admitted  in  the  case  in  which  Moses 
was  engaged,  for  he  was  to  receive  laics  by  Divine 
inspiration,  the  precepts  and  expressions  of  which  must 
all  be  ad  captum  vulgi,  within  the  reach  of  the  mean¬ 
est  capacity.  As  Moses,  therefore,  was  chosen  of 
God  to  be  the  lawgiver,  so  was  he  chosen  to  see  these 
laws  duly  enforced  for  the  benefit  of  the  people  among 
whom  he  presided. 

Verse  7.  Moses — is  faithful]  jDNJ  neeman,  a  pre¬ 
fect  or  superintendent.  So  Samuel  is  termed,  1  Sam. 
ii.  35  ;  iii.  20  ;  David  is  so  called,  1  Sam.  xviii.  27, 
Neeman,  and  son-in-law  of  the  king.  Job,  xii.  20, 
speaks  of  the  Neemanim  as  a  name  of  dignity.  It 
seems  also  to  have  been  a  title  of  respect  given  to 
ambassadors,  Prov.  xiii.  17  ;  xxv.  13.  Calmet  well 
observes  that  the  word  fidelity  is  often  used  for  an 
employ,  office,  or  dignity,  and  refers  to  1  Chron.  ix. 
22,  26,  31  ;  2  Chron.  xxxi.  12,  15  ;  xxxiv.  12,  &c. 
Moses  was  a  faithful,  well-tried  servant  in  the  house 
of  God,  and  therefore  he  uses  him  as  a  familiar,  and 
puts  confidence  in  him. 

Verse  10.  Miriam  became  leprous]  It  is  likely 
Miriam  was  chief  in  this  mutiny  ;  and  it  is  probable 
that  it  was  on  this  ground  she  is  mentioned  first,  (see 
ver.  1,)  and  punished  here,  while  Aaron  is  spared. 
Had  he  been  smitten  with  the  leprosy,  his  sacred 
character  must  have  greatly  suffered,  and  perhaps  the 

656 


and  shut  out  of  the  camp 

white  as  snow  :  and  Aaron  looked  a.  m.  2514. 
upon  Miriam,  and,  behold,  she  An.  Exod.  is’r. 
was  leprous.  2' 

1 1  And  Aaron  said  unto  Moses,  Alas,  my 
lord,  I  beseech  thee,  u  lay  not  the  sin  upon  us, 
wherein  we  have  done  foolishly,  and  wherein 
we  have  sinned. 

12  Let  her  not  be  vas  one  dead,  of  whom 
the  flesh  is  half  consumed  when  he  cometh 
out  of  his  mother’s  womb. 

1 3  And  Moses  cried  unto  the  Lord,  saying, 
Heal  her  now,  O  God,  I  beseech  thee. 

1 4  And  the  Lord  said  unto  Moses,  w  If  her 
father  had  but  spit  in  her  face,  should  she  not 
be  ashamed  seven  days  ?  let  her  be  x  shut  out 
from  the  camp  seven  days,  and  after  that  let 
her  be  received  in  again. 

P  1  Cor.  xiii.  12. - 9  Exod.  xxxiii.  19. - r2  Pet.  ii.  10; 

Jude  8. - s  Deut.  xxiv.  9. - 1  2  Kings  v.  27  ;  xv.  5 ;  2  Chron. 

xxvi.  19,  20. - 11 2  Sam.  xix.  19;  xxiv.  10;  Prov.  xxx.  32. 

T  Psa.  Ixxxviii.  4. - -w  See  Heb.  xii.  9. - x  Lev.  xiii.  46 ; 

chap.  v.  2,  3. 

priesthood  itself  have  fallen  into  contempt.  How 
many  priests  and  preachers  who  deserved  to  be  ex¬ 
posed  to  reproach  and  infamy,  have  been  spared  for 
the  sake  of  the  holy  character  they  bore,  that  the  min¬ 
istry  might  not  be  blamed !  But  the  just  God  will 
visit  their  transgressions  in  some  other  way,  if  they  do 
not  deeply  deplore  them  and  find  mercy  through  Christ. 
Nothing  tends  to  discredit  the  work  of  God  so  much 
as  the  transgressions  and  miscarriages  of  those  who 
minister  in  holy  things. 

Verse  14.  If  her  father  had  hut  spit  in  her  face j 
This  appears  to  have  been  done  only  in  cases  of  great 
provocation  on  the  part  of  the  child,  and  strong  irri¬ 
tation  on  the  side  of  the  parent.  Spitting  in  the  face 
was  a  sign  of  the  deepest  contempt.  See  Job  xxx.  10  ; 
Isa.  1.  6  ;  Mark  xiv.  65.  In  a  case  where  a  parent 
was  obliged  by  the  disobedient  conduct  of  his  child  to 
treat  him  in  this  way,  it  appears  he  was  banished  from 
the  father’s  presence  for  seven  days.  If  then  this 
was  an  allowed  and  judged  case  in  matters  of  high 
provocation  on  the  part  of  a  child,  should  not  the 
punishment  be  equally  severe  where  the  creature  has 
rebelled  against  the  Creator  1  Therefore  Miriam  was 
shut  out  of  the  camp  for  seven  days,  and  thus  debar¬ 
red  from  coming  into  the  presence  of  God  her  father, 
who  is  represented  as  dwelling  among  the  people. 
To  a  soul  who  knows  the  value  and  inexpressible 
blessedness  of  communion  with  God,  how  intolerable 
must  seven  days  of  spiritual  darkness  be !  But  how 
indescribably  wretched  must  their  case  be  who  are 
cast  out  into  outer  darkness,  where  the  light  of  God 
no  more  shines,  and  where  his  approbation  can  no 
more  be  felt  for  ever  !  Reader,  God  save  thee  from 
so  great  a  curse  ! 

Several  of  the  fathers  suppose  there  is  a  great 
mystery  hidden  in  the  quarrel  of  Miriam  and  Aaron 
with  Moses  and  Zipporah.  Origen  (and  after  him  se¬ 
veral  others)  speaks  of  it  in  the  following  manner 


Twelve  men  are  sent  to 
a.  M.  2514.  1 5  y  And  Miriam  was  shut  out 

B.  C.  1490.  ~  ,  ,  , 

An.  Exod.  isr.  from  the  camp  seven  days  :  and 

2‘  the  people  journeyed  not  till 
Miriam  was  brought  in  again. 

y  Deut.  x.xiv.  9 ;  2  Chron.  xxvi.  20,  21. 

“  1.  Zipporah,  a  Cushite  espoused  by  Moses,  evi¬ 
dently  points  out  the  choice  which  Jesus  Christ  has 
made  of  the  Gentiles  for  his  spouse  and  Church. 
2.  The  jealousy  of  Aaron  and  Miriam  against  Moses  and 
Zipporah  signifies  the  hatred  and  envy  of  the  Jews 
against  Christ  and  the  apostles,  when  they  saw  that 
the  mysteries  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven  had  been 
opened  to  the  Gentiles,  of  which  they  had  rendered 
themselves  unworthy.  3.  The  leprosy  with  which 
Miriam  was  smitten  shows  the  gross  ignorance  of  the 
Jews,  and  the  ruinous,  disordered  state  of  their  reli¬ 
gion,  in  which  there  is  neither  a  head,  a  temple,  nor 
a  sacrifice.  4.  Of  none  but  Jesus  Christ  can  it  be 
said  that  he  was  the  most  meek  and  patient  of  men ; 
that  he  saw  God  face  to  face;  that  he  had  everything 
clearly  revealed  without  enigmatical  representations ; 
and  that  he  was  faithful  in  all  the  house  of  God.” 
This,  and  much  more,  Origen  states  in  the  sixth  and 
seventh  homilies  on  the  book  of  Numbers,  and  yet  all 
this  he  considers  as  little  in  comparison  of  the  vast 
mysteries  that  lie  hidden  in  these  accounts ;  for  the 
shortness  of  the  time,  and  the  magnitude  of  the  mys¬ 
teries,  only  permit  him  “  to  pluck  a  few  flowers  from 


search  the  land  of  Canaan . 

16  And  afterward  the  people  A.  M.  2514. 

,  j.  TT  ,  1  ,  B.  C.  1490. 

removed  from  31  Hazeroth,  and  An.  Exod.  Isr. 

pitched  in  the  wilderness  of  2‘ 

Paran. 

z  Chap.  xi.  35  ;  xxxiii.  18. 

those  vast  fields — not  as  many  as  the  exuberance  of 
those  fields  afford,  but  only  such  as  by  their  odour  he 
was  led  to  select  from  the  rest.”  Licebat  tamen  ex 
ingentibus  campis  paucos  fosculos  legere ,  et  non 
quantum  ager  exuberet ,  sed  quantum  odoratui  suffi- 
ciat ,  carpere. 

Yerse  16.  The  wilderness  of  Paran.']  This  could 
not  be  the  same  Paran  with  that  mentioned  Deut.  i.  1, 
for  that  was  on  the  borders  of  the  promised  land,  see 
the  note  on  Deut.  i.  1,2;  they  were  long  near  the 
borders  of  Canaan,  and  might  have  speedily  entered 
into  it,  had  it  not  been  for  their  provocations  and  ini¬ 
quities.  They  spent  thirty-eight  years  in  a  journey 
which  might  have  been  accomplished  in  a  few  weeks! 
How  many  through  their  unfaithfulness  have  been 
many  years  in  gaining  that  for  which,  in  the  ordinary 
procedure  of  Divine  grace,  a  feio  days  had  been  suffi¬ 
cient  !  How  much  ground  may  a  man  lose  in  the  Divine 
life  by  one  act  of  unfaithfulness  or  transgression!  Israel 
wandered  in  the  wilderness  because  Israel  despised  the 
pleasant  land,  and  did  not  give  credence  to  the  word 
of  the  Lord.  They  would  have  a  golden  calf,  and  they 
had  nothing  but  tribulation  and  wo  in  return. 


CHAP.  XIII. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

Twelve  men,  one  out  of  every  tribe ,  are  sent  to  examine  the  nature  and  state  of  the  land  of  Canaan ,  1—3. 
Their  names,  4— 16.  Moses  gives  them  particular  directions ,  17-20.  They  proceed  on  their  journey, 
21,  22.  Come  to  Eshcol,  and  cut  down  a  branch  with  a  cluster  of  grapes,  which  they  bear  between  two 
of  them  upon  a  staff,  23,  24.  After  forty  days  they  return  to  Paran,  from  searching  the  land,  and  show 
to  Moses  and  the  people  the  fruit  they  had  brought  with  them ,  25,  26.  Their  report — they  acknowledge 

that  the  land  is  good,  but  that  the  inhabitants  are  such  as  the  Israelites  cannot  hope  to  conquer,  27-29. 
Caleb  endeavours  to  do  away  the  bad  impression  made,  by  the  report  of  his  fellows ,  upon  the  minds  of  the 


people,  30.  But  the  others  persist  in  their  former 
conquest,  32,  33. 

A.  M.  2514.  A  ND  the  Lord  spake  unto 

B.  C.  1490.  JCl 

An.  Exod.  isr.  Moses,  saying, 

2‘  2  a  Send  thou  men,  that  they 

may  search  the  land  of  Canaan,  which  I  give 
unto  the  children  of  Israel  :  of  every  tribe  of 
their  fathers  shall  ye  send  a  man,  every  one  a 
ruler  among  them. 

a  Chap,  xxxii.  '8  ;  Deut.  i.  22. 

NOTES  ON  CHAP.  XIII. 

Verse  2.  Send  thou  men,  that  they  may  search]  It 
appears  from  Deut.  i.  19-24  that  this  was  done- in  con¬ 
sequence  of  the  request  of  the  people,  after  the  follow¬ 
ing  address  of  Moses  :  “  And  when  we  departed  from 
Iloreb,  we  went  through  all  that  great  and  terrible 
wilderness — and  we  came  unto  Kadesh-Barnea ;  and 
I  said  unto  you,  Ye  are  come  unto  the  mountain  of 
Vol.  I.  (  43  ) 


statement ,  31  ;  and  greatly  amplify  the  difficulties  of 

3  And  Moses  by  the  command-  A.  M.  2514, 

r1T  1  b.  C.  1490. 

ment  ot  the  Lord  sent  them  An.  Exod.  isr. 

b  from  the  wilderness  of  Paran  :  2' 

all  those  men  were  heads  of  the  children  of" 

Israel. 

4  And  these  were  their  names  :  of  the  tribe 
of  Reuben,  Shammua  the  son  of  Zaccur. 

b  Chap.  xii.  16;  xxxii.  8  ;  Deut.  i.  19  ;  ix.  23. 

the  Amorites,  which  the  Lord  our  God  doth  give  unto 
us.  Behold  the  Lord  thy  God  hath  set  the  land  be¬ 
fore  thee  :  go  up  and  possess  it,  as  the  Lord  God  of 
th)7-  fathers  hath  said  unto  thee ;  fear  not,  neither  be 
discouraged.  And  ye  came  near  unto  me  every  one 
of  you,  and  said  :  We  will  send  men  before  us,  and 
thev  shall  search  us  out  the  land,  and  bring  us 
word  again,  by  what  way  we  must  go  up,  and  into 

657 


NUMBERS. 


Moses  instructs  them. 


The  names  of  the  spies. 

A.  M.  2514.  5  Of  the  tribe  of  Simeon,  Sha- 

B.  C.  1490.  .  ,  .  tt 

An.  Exod.  isr.  phat  the  son  or  Mon. 

2' _  6  c  Of  the  tribe  of  Judah,  d  Ca¬ 

leb  the  son  of  Jephunneh. 

7  Of  the  tribe  of  Issachar,  Igal  the  son  of 
Joseph. 

8  Of  the  tribe  of  Ephraim,  e  Oshea  the  son 
of  Nun. 

9  Of  the  tribe  of  Benjamin,  Palti  the  son  of 
Raphu. 

10  Of  the  tribe  of  Zebulun,  Gaddiel  the  son 
of  Sodi. 

1 1  Of  the  tribe  of  Joseph,  namely ,  of  the 
tribe  of  Manasseh,  Gaddi  the  son  of  Susi. 

1 2  Of  the  tribe  of  Dan,  Ammiel  the  son  of 
Gemalli. 

1 3  Of  the  tribe  of  Asher,  Sethur  the  son  of 
Michael. 

14  Of  the  tribe  of  Naphtali,  Nahbi  the  son 
of  Vophsi. 

15  Of  the  tribe  of  Gad,  Geuel  the  son  of 
Machi. 

16  These  are  the  names  of  the  men  which 

c  Chap,  xxxiv.  19  ;  1  Chron.  iv.  15. - d  Ver.  30  ;  chap.  xiv. 

6,  30;  Josh.  xiv.  6,7,  13,  14;  Judg.  i.  12. - e  Ver.  16. - fVer. 

8 ;  Exod.  xvii.  9  ;  chap.  xiv.  6, 30. - s  Ver.  21. 


what  cities  we  shall  come.  And  the  saying  pleased 
me  well,  and  I  took  twrelve  men  of  you,  one  of  a  tribe,” 
&c.,  &c.  Nearly  the  whole  of  these  verses  is  added 
here  by  the  Samaritan. 

Every  one  a  ruler ]  Not  any  of  the  princes  of  the 
people,  (see  chap,  i.,)  for  these  names  are  different 
from  those  ;  but  these  now  sent  were  men  of  conside¬ 
ration  and  importance  in  their  respective  tribes. 

Verse  13.  Sethur ,  the  son  of  Michael. \  It  would 
Rave  been  strange  had  the  numerous  searches  after 
the  explanation  of  the  mystical  number  666,  Rev.  xiii. 
18  ;  xvii.  5,  met  with  nothing  to  their  purpose  in  the 
name  of  this  son  of  Michael.  “WIO  Sethur,  from  AID 
salhar ,  to  hide  or  conceal ,  signifies  hidden  or  myste¬ 
rious,  and  includes  in  it  the  numerical  letters  of  the 
No.  666  :  D  60,  +  n  400,  -f  1  6,  +  D  200,  =  666. 
Rut  of  what  utility  can  such  expositions  be  to  any  sub¬ 
ject  of  history  or  theology  1 

Verse  16.  And  Moses  called  Oshea — Jehoshua.\ 
Oshea ,  Heb.  jJtsnn,  should  be  written  Hoshea :  the 
word  signifies  saved ,  or  a  saviour,  or  salvation ;  but 
yttfirr,  he  shall  save,  or  the  salvation  of  God ;  a  letter, 
says  Calmet,  of  the  incommunicable  name  of  God,  be¬ 
ing  added  to  his  former  name.  This  wras  not  the  first 
time  in  which  he  had  the  name  Joshua ;  see  Exod, 
xvii.  9,  and  the  note  there.  Some  suppose  he  had 
this  change  of  name  in  consequence  of  his  victory  over 
Amalek ;  see  Exod.  xvii.  13,  14. 

Verse  18.  See  the  land,  what  it  is]  What  sort  of  a 
country  it  is ;  how  situated ;  its  natural  advantages 
or  disadvantages. 


Moses  sent  to  spy  out  the  land.  A.  M.  2514. 

x  j  B  C  1490 

And  Moses  called  f  Oshea  the  son  An.  Exod.  is’r. 

of  Nun,  Jehoshua.  2' _ 

17  And  Moses  sent  them  to  spy  out  the  land 
of  Canaan,  and  said  unto  them,  Get  you  up 
this  way  s  southward,  and  go  up  into  h  the 
mountain  : 

18  And  see  the  land,  what  it  is;  and  the 
people  that  dwelleth  therein,  whether  they  he 
strong  or  weak,  few  or  many ; 

19  And  what  the  land  is  that  they  dwell  in, 
whether  it  he  good  or  bad ;  and  what  cities 
they  he  that  they  dwell  in,  whether  in  tents,  or 
in  strong  holds  ; 

20  And  what  the  land  is,  whether  it  he  1  fat 
or  lean,  whether  there  be  wood  therein  or  not. 
And  k  be  ye  of  good  courage,  and  bring  of  the 
fruit  of  the  land.  (Now  the  time  was  the  time 
of  the  first-ripe  grapes.) 

21  So  they  went  up,  and  searched  the  land 
1  from  the  wilderness  of  Zin  unto  m  Rehob,  as 
men  come  to  Hamath. 

22  And  they  ascended  by  the  south,  and 

h  Gen.  xiv.  10;  Judg.  i.  9,  19. - 1  Neh.  ix.  25,  35;  Ezek. 

xxxiv.  14. - k  Deut.  xxxi.  6,  7,  23. - 1  Chap,  xxxiv.  3  ;  Josh 

xv.  1. - m  Josh.  xix.  28.  * 

And  the  people — whether  they  be  strong  or  weali\ 
Healthy,  robust,  hardy  men  ;  or  little,  weak,  and  pusil¬ 
lanimous. 

Verse  20.  The  land — whether  it  be  fat  or  lean ] 
Whether  the  soil  be  rich  or  poor ;  which  might  be 
known  by  ifs  being  well  wooded,  and  by  the  fruits  it 
produced  ;  and  therefore  they  were  desired  to  examine 
it  as  to  the  trees,  &c.,  and  to  bring  some  of  the  fruits 
with  them. 

Verse  21.  From  the  wilderness  of  Zin\  The  place 
called  | if  Tsin,  here,  is  different  from  that  called  I’D 
Sin  or  Seen,  Exod.  xvi.  1  ;  the  latter  was  nigh  to 
Egypt,  but  the  former  was  near  Kadesh  Barnea ,  not 
far  from  the  borders  of  the  promised  land. 

“  The  spies  having  left  Kadesh  Barnea,  which  was 
in  the  desert  of  Bar  an,  see  ver.  26,  they  proceeded 
to  the  desert  of  Tsin ,  all  along  the  land  of  Canaan, 
nearly  following  the  course  of  the  river  Jordan,  till 
they  came  to  Rehob,  a  city  situated  near  Mount  Li- 
banus,  at  the  northern  extremity  of  the  Holy  Land, 
towards  the  road  that  leads  to  Hamath.  Thence  they 
returned  through  the  midst  of  the  same  land  by  the 
borders  of  the  Sidonians  and  Philistines,  and  passing 
by  Mount  Hebron,  rendered  famous  by  the  residence 
of  Abraham,  formerly,  and  by  the  gigantic  descendants 
of  Anak  at  that  time,  they  passed  through  the  Valley 
of  the  brook  of  Eshcol,  where  they  cut  down  the  bunch 
of  grapes  mentioned  ver.  23,  and  returned  to  the  Is- 
raelitish  camp  after  an  absence  of  forty  days,”  ver.  25. 
See  Calmet  on  this  place. 

Verse  22.  Hebron  was  built  seven  years  before  Zoan 

(  43*  ) 


658 


CHAP.  XIII. 


The  spies  search  the  land , 

a.  M,  25H.  came  unto  Hebron  ;  where  n  Ahi- 
An.  Exod.  is’r.  man,  Sheshai,  and  Talmai,  0  the 

2‘ _  children  of  Anak,  toere.  (Now 

r  Hebron  was  built  seven  years  before  q  Zoan 
in  Egypt.) 

23  r  And  they  came  unto  the  s  brook  of 
Eshcol,  and  cut  down  from  thence  a  branch 
with  one  cluster  of  grapes,  and  they  bare  it 
between  two  upon  a  staff;  and  they  brought 
of  the  pomegranates,  and  of  the  figs. 

24  The  place  was  called  the  x  brook  u  Esh¬ 
col,  because  of  the  cluster  of  grapes  which  the 
children  of  Israel  cut  down  from  thence. 

25  And  they  returned  from  searching  of  the 
land  after  forty  days. 

26  And  they  went  and  came  to  Moses,  and 
to  Aaron,  and  to  all  the  congregation  of  the 
children  of  Israel,  v  unto  the  wilderness  of 
Paran,  to  w  Kadesh  ;  and  brought  back  word 
unto  them,  and  unto  all  the  congregation,  and 
showed  them  the  fruit  of  the  land. 

“Josh.  xi.  21,  22;  xv.  13,  14;  Judg.  i.  10. - °Ver.  33. 

P  Josh.  xxi.  11. - Psa.  lxxviii.  12;  Isa.  xix.  11;  xxx. 

4. - rDeut.  i.  24,  25. - s  Or,  valley;  chap,  xxxii.  9;  Judg. 

xvi.  4. - 1  Or,  valley. - 11  That  is,  a  cluster  of  grapes. 

v  Ver.  3. 

in  Egypt.']  The  Zoan  of  the  Scriptures  is  allowed  to 
be  the  Tanis  of  the  heathen  historians,  which  was  the 
capital  of  Lower  Egypt.  Some  think  it  was  to  hum¬ 
ble  the  pride  of  the  Egyptians,  who  boasted  the  high¬ 
est  antiquity,  that  this  note  concerning  the  higher  an- 
tiguity  of  Hebron  was  introduced  by  Moses.  Some 
have  supposed  that  it  is  more  likely  to  have  been  ori¬ 
ginally  a  marginal  note ,  which  in  process  of  time  crept 
into  the  text;  but  all  the  versions  and  all  the  MSS. 
that  have  as  yet  been  collated,  acknowledge  it. 

Verse  23.  They  hare  it  between  two  upon  a  staff] 
It  would  be  very  easy  to  produce  a  great  number  of 
witnesses  to  prove  that  grapes  in  the  promised  land, 
and  indeed  in  various  other  hot  countries,  grow  to  a 
prodigious  size.  By  Calmet,  Scheuchzer ,  and  Harmer , 
this  subject  has  been  exhausted,  and  to  these  I  may 
refer  the  reader.  Pliny  mentions  bunches  of  grapes 
in  Africa  each  of  which  was  larger  than  an  infant. — 
Radzvil  saw  at  Rhodes  bunches  of  grapes  three  quarters 
of  an  ell  in  length,  each  grape  as  large  as  a  plum. 
Dandini  saw  grapes  of  this  size  at  Mount  Libanus ; 
and  Paul  Lucas  mentions  some  bunches  which  he  saw 
at  Damascus  that  weighed  above  forty-five  pounds. 
From  the  most  authentic  accounts  the  Egyptian  grape 
is  very  small,  and  this  being  the  only  one  with  which 
the  Israelites  were  acquainted,  the  great  size  of  the 
grapes  of  Ilebron  would  appear  still  more  extraordi¬ 
nary.  I  myself  once  cut  down  a  bunch  of  grapes 
nearly  twenty  pounds  in  weight.  Those  who  live  in 
cold  climates  can  scarcely  have  any  conception  to 
what  perfection  both  grapes  and  other  fruits  grow  in 
climates  that  are  warm,  and  where  the  soil  is  suitable 
to  them. 


and  bring  an  evil  report . 

27  And  they  told  him,  and  said,  A.  M.  2514. 
We  came  unto  the  land  whither  An.  Exod.  Isr. 
thou  sentest  us,  and  surely  it  2' 
floweth  with  x  milk  and  honey ;  y  and  this  is 
the  fruit  of  it. 

28  Nevertheless  z  the  people  be  strong  that 
dwell  in  the  land,  and  the  cities  are  walled, 
and,  very  great  ;  and  moreover  we  saw  a  the 
children  of  Anak  there. 

29  b  The  Amalekites  dwell  in  the  land  of 
the  south  :  and  the  Hittites,  and  the  Jebusites, 
and  the  Amorites,  dwell  in  the  mountains  ; 
and  the  Canaanites  dwell  by  the  sea,  and  by 
the  coast  of  Jordan. 

30  And  c  Caleb  stilled  the  people  before 
Moses,  and  said,  Let  us  go  up  at  once,  and 
possess  it ;  for  we  are  well  able  to  over¬ 
come  it. 

31  d  But  the  men  that  went  up  with  him  said, 
We  be  not  able  to  go  up  against  the  people  ; 
for  they  are  stronger  than  we. 

vv  Chap.  xx.  1,  16 ;  xxxii.  8  ;  xxxiii.  36  ;  Deut.  i.  19  ;  Josh.  xiv. 

6. - x  Exod.  iii.  8  ;  xxxiii.  3. - y  Deut.  i.  25. - z  Deut.  i.  28  ; 

ix.  1,  2. - a  Ver.  33. - b  Exod.  xvii.  8  ;  chap.  xiv.  43  ;  Judg. 

vi.  3  ;  1  Sam.  xiv.  48  ;  xv.  3,  &c. - c  See  chap.  xiv.  6,  24 ;  Josh. 

xiv.  7. - d  Chap,  xxxii.  9  ;  Deut.  i.  28  ;  Josh.  xiv.  8. 

From  what  is  mentioned  ver.  20,  Now  the  time  was 
the  time  of  the  first-ripe  grapes ,  it  is  very  probable 
that  the  spies  received  their  orders  about  the  begin¬ 
ning  of  August,  and  returned  about  the  middle  of  Sep¬ 
tember,  as  in  those  countries  grapes,  pomegranates, 
and  figs,  are  ripe  about  this  time  ;  see  Harmer,  vol.  i., 
p.  108—110.  At  Sheeraz,  in  Persia,  I  find  from  a  MS. 
journal,  that  the  small  white  grape,  as/cerie,  came  into 
season  August  6  ;  and  pomegranates  September  6  ; 
and  the  large  red  grape,  sahibi,  September  10. 

The  spies’  carrying  the  bunch  of  grapes  on  a  staff 
between  two  men  was  probably  not  rendered  neces¬ 
sary  by  the  size  of  the  bunch  or  cluster  ;  but  to  pre¬ 
serve  it  from  being  bruised,  that  the  Israelites  might 
have  a  fair  specimen  of  the  fruit.  As  Joshua  and 
Caleb  were  the  only  persons  who  gave  a  favourable 
account  of  the  land,  it  is  most  likely  that  they  were 
the  persons  who  had  gathered  these  fruits,  and  who 
brought  them  to  the  Israelitish  camp.  And  it  is  likely 
they  were  gathered  as  short  a  time  as  possible  before 
their  return,  that  they  might  not  be  injured  by  the 
length  of  the  time  they  had  been  separated  from  their 
respective  trees. 

Verse  27.  We  came  unto  the  land,  dpc.]  It  is  asto¬ 
nishing  that  men  so  dastardly  as  these  should  have  had 
courage  enough  to  risk  their  persons  in  searching  the 
land.  But  probably  though  destitute  of  valour  they  had 
a  sufficiency  of  cunning,  and  this  carried  them  through. 
The  report  they  brought  was  exceedingly  discourag¬ 
ing,  and  naturally  tended  to  produce  the  effect  men¬ 
tioned  in  the  next  chapter.  The  conduct  of  Joshua 
and  Caleb  was  alone  magnanimous,  and  worthy  of  the 
cause  in  which  they  were  embarked. 

659 


a 


NUMBERS, 


The  spies  persist  in  their 

A.  M.  2514.  3  2  And  they  e  brought  up  an 

An.  Exod.  isr.  evil  report  of  the  land  which 
they  had  searched  unto  the  chil 


dren  of  Israel,  saying,  The  land  through  which 
we  have  gone  to  search  it  is  a  land  that  eateth 
up  the  inhabitants  thereof :  and  f  all  the  people 


evil  report  the  land. 

that  we  saw  in  it  are  s  men  of  a  A.  M.  2514, 

B.  C.  1490. 

great  Stature.  An.Exod.  Isr. 

33  And  there  we  saw  the  giants,  _ 2’ 


h  the  sons  of  Anak,  which  come  of  the  giants: 
and  we  were  in  our  own  sight  as  *  grasshop¬ 
pers,  and  so  we  were  k  in  their  sight. 


e  Chap.  xiv.  36,  37. - f  Amos  ii.  9. - s  Heb.  men  of  statures. 

Verse  32.  Men  of  a  great  stature ]  iTITD  '’U'JX  an- 
shey  middoth ,  men  of  measures — two  men’s  height  ; 
i.  e.,  exceedingly  tall  men. 

Verse  33.  There  we  saw  the  giants]  DwDJ  nephilim. 
It  is  evident  that  they  had  seen  a  robust,  sturdy,  war¬ 
like  race  of  men,  and  of  great  stature  ;  for  the  asserted 
fact  is  not  denied  by  Joshua  or  Caleb. 

Tales  of  gigantic  men  are  frequent  in  all  countries, 
hut  they  are  generally  of  such  as  have  lived  in  times 
very  remote  from  those  in  which  such  tales  are  told. 
That  there  have  been  giants  at  different  times,  in  va¬ 
rious  parts  of  the  earth,  there  can  be  no  doubt ;  but 
that  there  ever  was  a  nation  of  men  twelve  and  four¬ 
teen  feet  high,  we  cannot,  should  not  believe.  Goli¬ 
ath  appears  to  have  been  at  least  nine  feet  high  :  this 
was  very  extraordinary.  I  knew  three  young  men  in 
my  own  neighbourhood,  two  of  them  brothers,  each 
of  whom  was  upwards  of  seven  feet,  the  third  was 
eight  feet  six  inches,  and  these  men  were  very  well 
proportioned.  Others  I  have  seen  of  extraordinary 
stature,  but  they  were  generally  disproportioned,  espe¬ 
cially  in  their  limbs.  These  instances  serve  to  prove 
the  possibility  of  cases  of  this  nature.  The  Anakim 
might  appear  to  the  Israelites  as  a  very  tall,  robust 
nation  ;  and  in  comparison  of  the  latter  it  is  very  pro¬ 
bable  that  they  were  so,  as  it  is  very  likely  that  the 
growth  of  the  Israelites  had  been  greatly  cramped 
with  their  long  and  severe  servitude  in  Egypt.  And 
this  may  in  some  measure  account  for  their  alarm. 
On  this  subject  the  reader  is  desired  to  turn  back  to 
the  note  on  Gen.  vi.  4. 

Canaan  was  a  type  of  the  kingdom  of  God  ;  the 


h  Deut.  i.  28  ;  ii.  10  ;  ix.  2. - >  Isa.  xl.  22. - k  1  Sam.  xvii.  42. 

wilderness  through  which  the  Israelites  passed,  of  the 
difficulties  and  trials  to  be  met  with  in  the  present 
world.  The  promise  of  the  kingdom  of  God  is  given 
to  every  believer ;  but  how  many  are  discouraged  by 
the  difficulties  in  the  way  !  A  slothful  heart  sees  dan¬ 
gers,  lions,  and  giants,  every  where  ;  and  therefore 
refuses  to  proceed  in  the  heavenly  path.  Many  of 
the  spies  contribute  to  this  by  the  bad  reports  they 
bring  of  the  heavenly  country.  Certain  preachers  al¬ 
low  “  that  the  land  is  good,  that  it  flows  with  milk 
and  honey,”  and  go  so  far  as  to  show  some  of  its 
fruits  ;  but  they  discourage  the  people  by  stating  the 
impossibility  of  overcoming  their  enemies.  “  Sin,” 
say  they,  “  cannot  be  destroyed  in  this  life — it  will  al¬ 
ways  dwell  in  you — the  Anakim  cannot  be  conquered 
— we  are  but  as  grasshoppers  against  the  Anakim,” 
&c.,  &c.  Here  and  there  a  Joshua  and  a  Caleb,  trust¬ 
ing  alone  in  the  power  of  God,  armed  with  faith  in  the 
infinite  efficacy  of  that  blood  which  cleanses  from  all 
unrighteousness,  boldly  stand  forth  and  say  :  “  Their 
defence  is  departed  from  them,  and  the  Lord  is  with 
us ;  let  us  go  up  at  once  and  possess  the  land,  for  we 
are  well  able  to  overcome.”  We  can  do  all  things 
through  Christ  strengthening  us  :  he  will  purify  us 
unto  himself,  and  give  us  that  rest  from  sin  here  which 
his  death  has  procured  and  his  word  has  promised. 
Reader,  canst  thou  not  take  God  at  his  word  1  He 
has  never  yet  failed  thee.  Surely  then  thou  hast  no 
reason  to  doubt.  Thou  hast  never  yet  tried  him  to 
the  uttermost.  Thou  knowest  not  how  far  and  how 
fully  he  can  save.  Do  not  be  dispirited  :  the  sons  of 
Anak  shall  fall  before  thee,  if  thou  meet  them  in  the 
name  of  the  Lord  of  hosts. 


CHAPTER  XIY. 

The  whole  congregation  weep  at  the  account  brought  by  the  ' spies,  1.  They  murmur ,  2,  3  ;  and  propose  to 
make  themselves  a  captain,  and  go  back  to  Egypt,  4.  Moses  and  Aaron  are  greatly  affected ,  5.  Joshua 
and  Caleb  endeavour  to  appease  and  encourage  the  people,  6—9.  The  congregation  are  about  to  stone 
them,  10.  The  glory  of  the  Lord  appears,  and  he  is  about  to  smite  the  rebels  with  the  pestilence,  11,  12. 
Moses  makes  a  long  and  pathetic  intercession  in  their  behalf,  13—19.  The  Lord  hears  and  forbears  to 
punish,  20  ;  but  purposes  that  not  one  of  that  generation  shall  enter  into  the  promised  land  save  Joshua 
and  Caleb ,  21—24.  Moses  is  commanded  to  turn  and  get  into  the  wilderness  by  way  of  the  Red  Sea,  25. 
The  Lord  repeats  his  purpose  that  none  of  that  generation  shall  enter  into  the  promised  land — that  their 
carcasses  shall  fall  in  the  wilderness,  and  that  their  children  alone,  with  Joshua  and  Caleb,  shall  possess 
the  land  of  the  Canaanites,  <5fc.,  26—32.  As  many  days  as  they  have  searched  the  land  shall  they  wander 
years  in  the  desert,  until  they  shall  be  utterly  consumed,  33-35.  All  the  spies  save  Joshua  and  Caleb 
die  by  a  plague,  36-38.  Moses  declares  God's  purpose  to  the  people,  at  which  they  are  greatly  affected , 
39.  They  acknowledge  their  sin,  and  purpose  to  go  up  at  once  and  possess  the  land,  40.  Moses  cautions 
them  against  resisting  the  purpose  of  God,  41—43.  They ,  notwithstanding,  presume  to  go,  but  Moses  and 

the  ark  abide  in  the  camp ,  44.  The  Amalekites  and  Canaanites  come  down  from  the  mountains,  and 
defeat  them ,  45. 


660 


a 


CHAP.  XIV. 


The  people  murmur ,  and 

a.  M.  2514.  A  ND  all  the  congregation  lifted 
13.  C.  1490.  -ZJL  .  .  •  &  i  .  , 

An.  Exod.  isr.  up  tlieir  voice,  and  cried;  and 

2'  il  the  people  wept  that  night. 

2  b  And  all  the  children  of  Israel  murmured 
against  Moses  and  against  Aaron  :  and  the 
whole  congregation  said  unto  them,  Would 
God  that  we  had  died  in  the  land  of  Egypt !  or 
c  would  God  we  had  died  in  this  wilderness  ! 

3  And  wherefore  hath  the  Lord  brought  us 
unto  this  land,  to  fall  by  the  sword,  that  our 
wives  and  our  children  should  be  a  prey  ?  were 
it  not  better  for  us  to  return  into  Egypt  ? 

4  And  they  said  one  to  another,  d  Let  us 
make  a  captain,  and  e  let  us  return  into  Egypt. 

5  Then  f  Moses  and  Aaron  fell  on  their  faces 
before  all  the  assembly  of  the  congregation  of 
the  children  of  Israel. 

6  s  And  Joshua  the  son  of  Nun,  and  Caleb 
the  son  of  Jephunneh,  which  were  of  them 
that  searched  the  land,  rent  their  clothes : 

7  And  they  spake  unto  all  the  company  of 
the  children  of  Israel,  saying, h  The  land,  which 

a  Chap.  xi.  4. - b  Exod.  xvi.  2 ;  xvii.  3  ;  chap.  xvi.  41 ;  Psa. 

cvi.  25. - c  See  ver.  28,  29. - (l  Neh.  ix.  17. - e  See  Deut. 

xvii.  16;  Acts  vii.  39. - f  Chap.  xvi.  4,  22. - s  Ver.  24,  30, 

38;  chap.  xiii.  6,  8. - h  Chap.  xiii.  27 ;  Deut.  i.  25. - '  Deut. 

x.  15  ;  2  Sam.  xv.  25,  26  ;  xxii.  20  ;  1  Kings  x.  9  ;  Psa.  xxii.  8  ; 

cxlvii.  10,  11  ;  Isa.  lxii.  4. - k  Chap.  xiii.  27. - 1  Deut.  ix.  7, 

23,  24. - m  Deut.  vii.  18  ;  xx.  3. - n  Chap.  xxiv.  8. - 0  Heb. 

shadow  ;  Psa.  cxxi.  5  ;  Isa.  xxx.  2,  3  ;  Jer.  xlviii.  45. 

NOTES  ON  CHAP.  XIV. 

Verse  1.  Cried;  and — wept  that  night  i\  In  almost 
every  case  this  people  gave  deplorable  evidence  of  the 
degraded  state  of  their  minds.  With  scarcely  any 
mental  firmness,  and  with  almost  no  religion,  they  could 
bear  no  reverses,  and  were  ever  at  their  wit’s  end. 
They  were  headstrong,  presumptuous,  pusillanimous, 
indecisive,  and  fickle.  And  because  they  were  such, 
therefore  the  power  and  wisdom  of  God  appeared  the 
more  conspicuously  in  the  whole  of  their  history. 

Verse  4.  Let  us  make  a  captain ]  Here  was  a  for¬ 
mal  renunciation  of  the  authority  of  Moses,  and  flat 
rebellion  against  God.  And  it  seems  from  Neh.  ix. 
17  that  they  had  actually  appointed  another  leader , 
under  whose  direction  they  were  about  to  return  to 
Egypt.  Ilow  astonishing-  is  this  !  Their  lives  were 
made  bitter,  because  of  the  rigour  with  which  they 
were  made  to  serve  in  the  land  of  Egypt;  and  yet  they 
are  willing,  yea  eager,  to  get  back  into  the  same  cir¬ 
cumstances  again  !  Great  evils,  when  once  some  time 
past ,  affect  the  mind  less  than  present  ills,  though 
much  inferior.  They  had  partly  forgot  their  Egyp¬ 
tian  bondage^  and  now  smart  under  a  little  discourage¬ 
ment,  having  totally  lost  sight  of  their  high  calling, 
and  of  the  power  and  goodness  of  God. 

Verse  6.  And  Joshua ,  <fc.]  See  on  the  preceding 
chapter,  ver.  33. 

\  erse  9.  Their  defence ]  t  sill  am,  their  shadow, 

a  metaphor  highly  expressive  of  protection  and  support 


propose  to  return  to  Egypt, 
we  passed  through  to  search  it,  a.  M.  2514. 

r  v  0  ,  .  ,  \B.  C.  1490. 

is  an  exceeding  good  land.  An.  Exod.  Isr. 

8  If  the  Lord  1  delight  in  us,  2' 
then  he  will  bring  us  into  this  land,  and  give  it 
us  ;  k  a  land  which  floweth  with  milk  and 
honey. 

9  Only  1  rebel  not  ye  against  the  Lord, 
m  neither  fear  ye  the  people  of  the  land  :  for 
n  they  are  bread  for  us  ;  their  0  defence  is  de¬ 
parted  from  them,  p  and  the  Lord  is  with  us : 
fear  them  not. 

1 0  q  But  all  the  congregation  bade  stone  them 
with  stones.  And  r  the  glory  of  the  Lord  ap¬ 
peared  in  the  tabernacle  of  the  congregation, 
before  all  the  children  of  Israel. 

1 1  And  the  Lord  said  unto  Moses,  How 
long  will  this  people  s provoke  me?  and  how 
long  will  it  be  ere  they  *  believe  me,  for  all 
the  signs  which  I  have  showed  among  them  ? 

12  I  will  smite  them  with  the  pestilence,  and 
disinherit  them,  and  u  will  make  of  thee  a 
greater  nation  and  mightier  than  they. 

P  Gen.  xlviii.  21 ;  Exod.  xxxiii.  16  ;  Deut.  xx.  1,  3,  4  ;  xxxi.  6, 
8 ;  Josh.  i.  5  ;  Judg.  i.  22  ;  2  Chron.xiii.  12  ;  xv.  2  ;  xx.  17  ;  xxxii. 
8;  Psa.  xlvi.  7,  11  ;  Isa.  xli.  10;  Amos  v.  14;  Zech.  viii.  23. 

<1  Exod.  xvii.  4. - r  Exod.  xvi.  10  ;  xxiv.  16,17;  xl.  34;  Lev. 

ix.  23  ;  chap.  xvi.  19,  42;  xx.  6. - s  Ver.  23  ;  Deut.  ix.  7,  8,  22. 

Psa.  xc.v.  8  ;  Heb.  iii.  8,  16. - 4  Deut.  i.  32 ;  ix.  23  ;  Psa. 

Ixxviii.  22,  32, 42  ;  cvi.  24  ;  John  xii.  37 ;  Heb.  iii.  18. — u  Exod. 
xxxii.  10. 

in  the  sultry  eastern  countries.  The  protection  of 
God  is  so  called ;  see  Psa.  xci.  1  ;  cxxi.  5  ;  see  also 
Isa.  li.  16  ;  xlix.  2  ;  xxx.  2. 

The  Arabs  and  Persians  have  the  same  word  to  ex¬ 
press  the  same  thing.  Jsaj  Ud 

nemayeed  zulli  doulet  mamdood  had.  “  May  the 
shadow  of  thy  prosperity  be  extended  !”  ^13 

CApznemayeed 

zulli  doulet  her  mujareki  khayr  khwahen  mamdood 
had.  “  May  the  shadow  of  thy  prosperity  be  spread 
over  the  heads  of  thy  well-wishers  !”  They  have  also 
the  following  elegant  distich  : — 

aLwO  j tS  CD  JajLw 

Sayahat  kem  muhad  az  seri  ma 
Bast  Allah  zullikem  aheda. 

“  May  thy  protection  never  be  removed  from  my  head  ! 
May  God  extend  thy  shadoio  eternally  !” 

Plere  the  Arabic  J-k  zull  answers  exactly  to  the 

Hebrew  Si*  tsel,  both  signifying  that  which  overspreads 
or  overshadows.  See  the  note  on  ver.  14. 

Verse  10.  The  glory  of  the  Lord  appeared ]  This 
timely  appearance  of  the  Divine  glory  prevented  these 
faithful  servants  of  God  from  being  stoned  to  death  by 
this  base  and  treacherous  multitude.  “  Every  man  is 
immortal  till  his  work  is  done,”  while  in  simplicity  of 
heart  he  is  following  his  God. 

661 


The  murmur ers  aie  excluded 


NUMBERS. 


A.  M.  2514.  1 3  And  v  Moses  said  unto  the 

An.*  Exod.  1st.  Lord,  Then  the  Egyptians  shall 

2' _  hear  it,  (for  thou  broughtest  up 

this  people  in  thy  might  from  among  them  ;) 

14  And  they  will  tell  it  to  the  inhabitants  of 
this  land  ;  ^ for  they  have  heard  that  thou 
Lord  art  among  this  people,  that  thou  Lord 
art  seen  face  to  face,  and  that  x  thy  cloud 
standeth  over  them,  and  that  thou  goest  before 
them,  by  day-time  in  a  pillar  of  a  cloud,  and 
in  a  pillar  of  fire  by  night. 

15  Now  if  thou  shalt  kill  all  this  people  as 
one  man,  then  the  nations  which  have  heard 
the  fame  of  thee  will  speak,  saying, 

1 6  Because  the  Lord  was  not  y  able  to  bring 
this  people  into  the  land  which  he  sware  unto 
them,  therefore  he  hath  slain  them  in  the  wil¬ 
derness. 

17  And  now,  I  beseech  thee,  let  the  power 
of  my  Lord  be  great,  according  as  thou  hast 
spoken,  saying, 

18  The  Lord  is  z  longsuffering,  and  of  great 
mercy,  forgiving  iniquity  and  transgression,  and 
by  no  means  clearing  the  guilty ,  a  visiting  the 

vExod.  xxxii.  12  ;  Psa.  cvi.  23  ;  Deut.  ix,  26,  27,  28  ;  xxxii. 

27;  Ezek.xx.  9,  14. - w  Exod.  xv.  14;  Josh.  ii.  9,  10;  v.  1. 

x  Exod.  xiii.  21  ;  xl.  38  ;  chap.  x.  34;  Neh.  ix.  12  ;  Psa.  lxxviii. 

14  ;  <  v.  39. - y  Deut.  ix.  28  ;  Josh.  vii.  9. - z  Exod.  xxxiv. 

6,7;  Psa.  ciii.8;  c.xlv.  8  ;  Jonah  iv.  2. - a  Exod.  xx.  5  ;  xxxiv. 

7. - bExod.  xxxiv.  9. 


Verse  14.  That  thy  cloud  standeth  over  tliem\  This 
cloud ,  the  symbol  of  the  Divine  glory,  and  proof  of 
the  Divine  presence,  appears  to  have  assumed  three 
different  forms  for  three  important  purposes. 

1.  It  appeared  by  day  in  the  form  of  a  pillar  of  a 
sufficient  height  to  be  seen  by  all  the  camp,  and  thus 
went  before  them  to  point  out  their  way  in  the  desert. 
Exod.  xl.  38. 

2.  It  appeared  by  night  as  a  pillar  of  fire  to  give 
them  light  while  travelling  by  night,  which  they  pro¬ 
bably  sometimes  did  ;  (see  chap.  ix.  21;)  or  to  illu¬ 
minate  their  tents  in  their  encampments  ;  Exod.  xiii. 
21,  22. 

3.  It  stood  at  certain  times  above  the  whole  con¬ 
gregation,  overshadowing  them  from  the  scorching 
rays  of  the  sun ;  and  probably  at  other  times  condensed 
the  vapours,  and  precipitated  rain  or  dew  for  the  re¬ 
freshment  of  the  people.  He  spread  a  cloud  for  their 
covering ;  and  fire  to  give  light  in  the  night ;  Psa.  cv. 
39.  It  was  probably  from  this  circumstance  that  the 
shadow  of  the  Lord  was  used  to  signify  the  Divine 
protection ,  not  only  by  the  Jews,  but  also  by  other 
Asiatic  nations.  See  the  note  on  ver.  9,  and  see  par¬ 
ticularly  the  note  on  Exod.  xiii.  21. 

Verse  18.  The  Lord  is  longsuffering ]  See  the 
note  on  Exod.  xxxiv.  6. 

Verse  19.  Pardon ,  I  beseech  thee ,  the  iniquity  of 
this  people]  From  ver.  13  to  ver.  19  inclusive  we  have 

662 


from  the  promised  land 

iniquity  of  the  fathers  upon  the  A.  M.  2514. 

1  J  r  B  C.  1490. 

children  unto  the  third  and  fourth  An.  Exod.lsr. 

generation.  2~ _ 

19  b  Pardon,  I  beseech  thee,  the  iniquity  of 
this  people  c  according  unto  the  greatness  of 
thy  mercy,  and  d  as  thou  hast  forgiven  this 
people,  from  Egypt  even  e  until  now. 

20  And  the  Lord  said,  I  have  pardoned  f  ac¬ 
cording  to  thy  word  : 

2 1  But  as  truly  as  I  live,  &  all  the  earth  shall 
be  filled  with  the  glory  of  the  Lord. 

22  h  Because  all  those  men  which  have  seen 
my  glory,  and  my  miracles,  which  I  did  in 
Egypt  and  in  the  wilderness,  have  tempted  me 
now  1  these  ten  times,  and  have  not  hearkened 
to  my  voice  ; 

23  k  Surely  1  they  shall  not  see  the  land 
which  I  sware  unto  their  fathers,  neither  shall 
any  of  them  that  provoke  me  see  it : 

24  But  my  servant  m  Caleb,  because  he  had 
another  spirit  with  him,  and  n  hath  followed 
me  fully,  him  will  I  bring  into  the  land  where- 
into  he  went ;  and  his  seed  shall  possess  it. 

25  (Now  the  Amalekites  and  the  Canaanites 

c  Psa.  cvi.  45. - d  Psa.  lxxviii.  38. - e  Or,  hitherto.— — f  Psa. 

cvi.  23  ;  James  v.  16  ;  1  John  v.  14,  15,  16. - s  Psa.  Ixxii.  19. 

h  Deut.  i.  35;  Psa. xcv.  11  ;  cvi.  26;  Heb.  iii.  17,  18. - ‘Gen. 

xxxi.  7. - k  Chap,  xxxii.  11 ;  Ezek.  xx.  15. - 3  Heb.  if  they 

see  the  land. - m  Deut.  i.  36 ;  Josh.  xiv.  6,  8,  9,  14. - “  Chap. 

xxxii.  12. 


the  words  of  Moses’s  intercession ;  they  need  no  ex¬ 
planation,  they  are  full  of  simplicity  and  energy  ;  his 
arguments  with  God  (for  he  did  reason  and  argue  with 
his  Maker)  are  pointed,  cogent,  and  respectful  ;  and 
while  they  show  a  heart  full  of  humanity,  they  evidence 
the  deepest  concern  for  the  glory  of  God.  The  argu- 
mentum  ad  hominem  is  here  used  in  the  most  unex¬ 
ceptionable  manner,  and  with  the  fullest  effect. 

Verse  20.  1  have  pardoned]  That  is,  They  shall 
not  be  cut  off  as  they  deserve,  because  thou  hast  inter¬ 
ceded  for  their  lives. 

Verse  21.  All  the  earth  shall  be  filled,  dye.]  S3 

/col  haarets ,  all  this  land ,  i.  e.,  the  land  of  Canaan; 
which  was  only  fulfilled  to  the  letter  when  the  preach¬ 
ing  of  Christ  and  his  apostles  was  heard  through  all 
the  cities  and  villages  of  Judea.  It  does  not  appear 
that  the  whole  of  the  terraqueous  globe  is  meant  by  this 
expression  in  any  of  the  places  where  it  occurs  con¬ 
nected  with  this  promise  of  the  diffusion  of  the  Divine 
light.  See  Psa.  Ixxii.  19  ;  Isa.  xl.  5;  Hab.  ii.  14. 

Verse  24.  But  my  servant  Caleb ,  dye.]  Caleb  had 
another  spirit — not  only  a  bold,  generou^  courageous, 
noble,  and  heroic  spirit ;  but  the  Spirit  and  influence  of 
the  God  of  heaven  thus  raised  him  above  human  in¬ 
quietudes  and  earthly  fears,  therefore  he  followed  God 
fully ;  nnN*  xbm  vaimalle  acharai,  literally,  he  filled 
after  me  :  God  showed  him  the  way  he  was  to  take, 
and  the  line  of  conduct  he  was  to  pursue,  and  he  filled 

a 


CHAP.  XIV. 


They  are  condemned  to  wander 

A.  M.  2514.  dwelt  in  the  valley.)  To-mor- 

B.  C.  1490.  i  ' 

An.  Exod.  isr.  row  turn  you,  0  and  get  you  into 

~  the  wilderness  by  the  way  of  the 
Red  Sea. 

26  And  the  Lord  spake  unto  Moses  and 
unto  Aaron,  saying, 

27  p  How  long  shall  I  hear  with  this  evil 
congregation,  which  murmur  against  me  ?  q  I 
have  heard  the  murmurings  of  the  children  of 
Israel,  which  they  murmur  against  me. 

28  Say  unto  them,  r  As  truly  as  I  live,  saith 
the  Lord,  8  as  ye  have  spoken  in  mine  ears, 
so  will  I  do  to  you  : 

29  Your  carcasses  shall  fall  in  this  wilder¬ 
ness  ;  and  t  all  that  were  numbered  of  you, 
according  to  your  whole  number,  from  twenty 
years  old  and  upward,  which  have  murmured 
against  me, 

30  Doubtless  ye  shall  not  come  into  the  land, 
concerning  which  I  u  sware  to  make  you  dwell 
therein,  v  save  Caleb  the  son  of  Jephunneh, 
and  Joshua  the  son  of  Nun. 

31  w  But  your  little  ones,  which  ye  said  should 
be  a  prey,  them  will  I  bring  in,  and  they  shall 
know  the  land  which  x  ye  have  despised. 

°Deut.  i.  40. - p  Ver.  11;  Exod.  xvi.  28;  Matt.  xvii.  7. 

^  Exod.  xvi.  12. - r  Yer.  23  ;  chap.  xxvi.  65  ;  xxxii.  11 ;  Deut. 

i.  35  ;  Heb.  iii.  17. - s  See  ver.  2. - c  Chap.  i.  45  ;  xxvi.  64. 

u  Heb.  lifted  up  my  hand ;  Gen.  xiv.  22. - v  Ver.  38  ;  chap.  xxvi. 

65  ;  xxxii.  12  ;  Deut.  i.  36,  38. - w  Deut.  i.  39. - x  Psa.  cvi. 

24. - y  1  Cor.  x.  5  ;  Heb.  iii.  17. - z  Or  .feed. - a  Chap,  xxxii. 

up  this  line,  and  in  all  things  followed  the  will  of  his 
Maker.  He  therefore  shall  see  the  promised  land, 
and  Ids  seed  shall  possess  it.  A  dastardly  spirit  in 
the  things  of  God  is  a  heavy  curse.  How  many  are 
retarded  in  their  course,  and  fall  short  of  the  blessings 
of  the  Gospel,  through  magnifying  the  number  and 
strength  of  their  adversaries,  their  own  weakness  and 
the  difficulties  of  the  way,  with  which  we  may  connect 
their  distrust  of  the  power,  faithfulness,  and  goodness 
of  God  !  And  how  many  are  prevented  from  receiv¬ 
ing  the  higher  degrees  of  salvation  by  foolishly  attri¬ 
buting  insurmountable  power,  either  to  their  inward 
corruptions  or  outward  enemies !  Only  such  men  as 
Joshua  and  Caleb,  who  take  God  at  his  word,  and 
who  know  that  against  his  wisdom  no  cunning  can 
stand,  and  against  his  might  no  strength  can  prevail, 
are  likely  to  follow  God  fully,  and  receive  the  heights, 
lengths,  breadths,  and  depths  of  the  salvation  of  God. 

Verse  34.  After  the  number  of  the  days ]  The  spies 
were  forty  days  in  searching  the  land,  and  the  people 
who  rebelled  on  their  evil  report  are  condemned  to 
wander  forty  years  in  the  wilderness  !  Now  let  them 
make  them  a  captain  and  go  back  to  Egypt  if  they 
can.  God  had  so  hedged  them  about  with  his  power 
and  providence  that  they  could  neither  go  back  to 
Egypt  nor  get  forward  to  the  promised  land  !  God 
has  provided  innumerable  spiritual  blessings  for  man- 

a 


forty  years  in  the  desert, 

32  But  as  for  you,  J  your  car-  A.  M.  2514. 

J  J  o  B  C.  1490. 

CaSbOS,  they  shall  fall  m  this  An.  Exod.  Isr. 

wilderness.  '  2~ _ 

33  And  your  children  shall  z  wander  ain  the 
wilderness  b  forty  years,  and  c  bear  your  whore¬ 
doms,  until  your  carcasses  be  wasted  in  the 
wilderness. 

34  d  After  the  number  of  the  days  in  which 
ye  searched  the  land,  even  e  forty  days,  each 
day  for  a  year,  shall  ye  bear  your  iniquities, 
even  forty  years,  f  and  ye  shall  know  &  my 
breach  of  promise. 

35  h  I  the  Lord  have  said,  I  will  surely  do 
it  unto  all  1  this  evil  congregation,  that  are 
gathered  together  against  me  :  in  this  wilder¬ 
ness  they  shall  be  consumed,  and  there  they 
shall  die. 

36  k  And  the  men,  which  Moses  sent  to 
search  the  land,  who  returned,  and  made  all 
the  congregation  to  murmur  against  him,  by 
bringing  up  a  slander  upon  the  land, 

37  Even  those  men  that  did  bring  up  the 
evil  report  upon  the  land,  1  died  by  the  plague 
before  the  Lord. 

38  m  But  Joshua  the  son  of  Nun,  and  Caleb 

13;  Psa.  evii.  40. - b  See  Deut.  ii.  14. - c  Ezek.  xxiii.  35 

d  Chap.  xiii.  25. - e  Psa.  xcv.  10 ;  Ezek.  iv.  6. - f  See  1  Kings 

viii.  56  ;  Psa.  lxxvii.  8  ;  cv.  42  ;  Heb.  iv.  L - s  Or,  altering  of 

my  purpose. - h  Chap,  xxiii.  19. - 1  Ver.  27,  29  ;  chap.  xxvi. 

65  ;  1  Cor.  x.  5. - k  Chap.  xiii.  31,  32. - 1  1  Cor.  x.  10  ;  Heb 

iii.  17  ;  Jude  5. - m  Chap.  xxvi.  65  ;  Josh.  xiv.  6,  10. 

kind,  but  in  tbe  pursuit  of  earthly  good  they  lose  them, 
and  often  lose  the  others  also  !  If  ye  be  ivilling  and 
obedient,  ye  shall  eat  the  fruit  of  the  land,  but  not 
otherwise ;  unless  for  your  farther  punishment  God 
give  you  your  portion  in  this  life,  and  ye  get  none  in 
the  life  to  come.  From  so  great  a  curse  may  God 
save  thee,  thou  money-loving,  honour-hunting,  plea¬ 
sure-taking,  thoughtless,  godless  man  ! 

And  ye  shall  know  my  breach  of  promise .]  This  is 
certainly  a  most  harsh  expression ;  and  most  learned 
men  agree  that  the  words  'nNIJn  DN  eth  tenuathi  should 
be  translated  my  vengeance,  which  is  the  rendering  of 
the  Septuagint,  Vulgate,  Coptic,  and  Anglo-Saxon ; 
and  which  is  followed  by  almost  all  our  ancient  Eng¬ 
lish  translations.  The  meaning  however  appears  to 
be  this  :  As  God  had  promised  to  bring  them  into  the 
good  land,  provided  they  kept  his  statutes,  ordinances, 
&c.,  and  they  had  now  broken  their  engagements,  he 
was  no  longer  held  by  his  covenant;  and  therefore,  by- 
excluding  them  from  the  promised  land,  he  showed  them 
at  once  his  annulling  of  the  covenant  which  they  had 
broken,  and  his  vengeance  because  they  had  broken  it. 

Verse  37.  Those  men  that  did  bring  up  the  evil  re¬ 
port — died ]  Thus  ten  of  the  twelve  that  searched  out 
the  land  were  struck  dead,  by  the  justice  of  God,  on, 
the  spot !  Caleb,  of  the  tribe  of  Judah,  and  Joshua,  of 
the  tribe  of  Ephraim,  alone  escaped,  because  they  had 

663 


NUMBERS. 


Directions  concerning  different 


offerings  and  sacrifices 


A.  M.  2514,  the  son  of  Jephunneh,  winch  were 

B.  C.  1490.  .  .  i  i 

An.  Exod.  Isr.  oi  the  men  that  went  to  search 

2'  the  land,  lived  still. 


39  And  Moses  told  these  sayings  unto  all 
the  children  of  Israel :  nand  the  people  mourn¬ 
ed  greatly. 

40  And  they  rose  up  early  in  the  morning, 
and  gat  them  up  into  the  top  of  the  mountain, 
saying,  Lo,  °  we  he  here ,  and  will  go  up  unto 
the  place  which  the  Lord  hath  promised  :  for 
we  have  sinned. 

41  And  Moses  said,  Wherefore  now  do  ye 
transgress  p  the  commandment  of  the  Lord  ? 
but  it  shall  not  prosper. 

42  q  Go  not  up,  for  the  Lord  is  not  among 


you ;  that  ye  be  not  smitten  A.  M.  2514. 

t  J  .  B.  C.  1490. 

betore  your  enemies.  An.  Exod.  isr. 

43  For  the  Amalekites  and  the  2~ 
Canaanites  are  there  before  you,  and  ye  shall 
fall  by  the  sword  :  r  because  ye  are  turned 
away  from  the  Lord,  therefore  the  Lord  will 
not  be  with  you. 

44  s  But  they  presumed  to  go  up  unto  the 
hill  top  :  nevertheless  the  ark  of  the  covenant 
of  the  Lord,  and  Moses,  departed  not  out  of 
the  camp. 

45  trrhen  the  Amalekites  came  down,  and 
the  Canaanites  which  dwelt  in  that  hill,  and 
smote  them,  and  discomfited  them,  even  unto 
u  Hormah. 


11  Exod.  xxxiii.  4. - 0  Deut.  i.  41. - P  Ver.  25  ;  2  Chron.  xxiv. 

20. - Deut.  i.  42. 

followed  God  fully.  Let  preachers  of  God’s  word  lake 
heed  how  they  straiten  the  w*ay  of  salvation,  or  render, 
by  unjust  description,  that  way  perplexed  and  difficult 
which  God  has  made  plain  and  easy. 

Verse  40.  We — will  go  up  unto  the  place,  dfc.]  They 
found  themselves  on  the  very  borders  of  the  land,  and 
they  heard  God  say  they  should  not  enter  it,  but  should 
be  consumed  by  a  forty  years’  wandering  in  the  wilder¬ 
ness  ;  notwithstanding,  they  are  determined  to  render 
vain  this  purpose  of  God,  probably  supposing  that  the 
temporary  sorrow  they  felt  for  their  late  rebellion 
would  be  accepted  as  a  sufficient  atonement  for  their 
crimes !  They  accordingly  went  up,  and  were  cut 
down  by  their  enemies ;  and  why  1  God  went  not 


r  2  Chron.  xxiv.  2. - s  Deut.  i.  43. - 1  Ver.  43  ;  Deut.  i.  44. 

u  Chap.  xxi.  3  ;  Judg.  i.  17. 

with  them.  How  vain  is  the  counsel  of  man  against 
the  wisdom  of  God  !  Nature,  poor,  fallen  human 
nature,  is  ever  running  into  extremes.  This  miserable 
people,  a  short  time  ago,  thought  that  though  they  had 
Omnipotence  with  them  they  could  not  conquer  and 
possess  the  land !  Now  they  imagine  that  though 
God  himself  go  not  with  them,  yet  they  shall  be  suffi¬ 
cient  to  drive  out  the  inhabitants,  and  take  possession 
of  their  country  !  Man  is  ever  supposing  he  can  either 
do  all  things  or  do  nothing ;  he  is  therefore  some¬ 
times  presumptuous ,  and  at  other  times  in  despair . 
Who  but  an  apostle,  or  one  under  the  influence  of  the 
same  Spirit,  can  say,  I  can  do  all  things  through 
Christ  who  strengtheneth  me! 


CHAPTER  XV. 


Directions  concerning  the  different  offerings  they  should  bring  unto  the  Lord  when  they  should  come  to  the 
land  of  Canaan ,  1—3.  Directions  relative  to  the  meat-offering,  4  ;  to  the  drink-offering,  5.  Of  the  burnt- 
offering,  vow-offering,  peace-offering,  drink-offering,  <fc.,  6-12.  All  horn  in  the  country  must  perform 
these  rites ,  13,  and  the  strangers  also ,  14—16.  They  shall  offer  unto  the  Lord  a  heave-offering  of  the 
first-fruits  of  the  land ,  17—21.  Concerning  omissions  through  ignorance,  and  the  sacrifices  to  he  offered 
on  such  occasions ,  22-29.  He  who  sins  presumptuously  shall  he  cut  off ,  30,  31.  History  of  the  person 
who  gathered  sticks  on  the  Sabbath,  32.  He  is  brought  to  Moses  and  Aaron,  33.  They  put  him  in  con¬ 
finement  till  the  mind  of  the  Lord  should  he  l 'mown  on  the  case,  34.  The  Lord  commands  him  to  he 
stoned,  35.  He  is  stoned  to  death ,  36.  The  Israelites  are  commanded  to  make  fringes  to  the  borders  of 
their  garments,  37,  38.  The  end  for  which  these  fringes  were  to  he  made,  that  they  might  remember  the 
commandments  of  the  Lord,  that  they  might  he  holy,  39—41. 


A.  M.  2514.  A  ND  the  Lord  spake  unto 

B.  C  1490.  JJL  r 

An.* Exod.  Isr.  Moses,  saying, 

2~ _ .  2  a  Speak  unto  the  children  of 

Israel,  and  say  unto  them,  When  ye  be  come 


into  the  land  of  your  habitations,  A.  M.  2514. 

i  .  i  T  -  J  B.  C.  1490. 

which  I  give  unto  you,  An.  Exod.  Isr. 

3  And  b  will  make  an  offering  2~ 

by  fire  unto  the  Lord,  a  burnt-offering,  or  a 


a  Ver.  18  ;  Lev.  xxiii.  10  ;  Deut.  viz.  1. 

NOTES  ON  CHAP.  XV. 

Verse  2.  When  ye  he  come  into  the  land ]  Some 
learned  men  are  of  opinion  that  several  offerings  pre¬ 
scribed  by  the  law  were  not  intended  to  be  made  in  the 
ivilderness ,  but  in  the  promised  land  ;  the  former  not 

664 


b  Lev.  i.  2,  3. 

affording  those  conveniences  which  were  necessary  to 
the  complete  observance  of  the  Divine  worship  in  this 
and  several  other  respects. 

Verse  3.  And  will  make  an  offering']  For  the  different 
kinds  of  offerings,  sacrifices,  &c.,  see  Lev.  i.  2,  and  vii. 

a 


Of  the  meat-offering ,  drink-offering , 


CHAP.  XV. 


A.  M.  2514.  sacrifice  c  m  d  performing  a  vow, 

B.  C.  1490.  .  -  .f,  rr  • 

An.  Exod.  Isr.  or  in  a  freewill-ottering,  or  e  in 

2~  your  solemn  feasts,  to  make  a 
f  sweet  savour  unto  the  Lord,  of  the  herd,  or 
of  the  flock : 

4  Then  s  shall  he  that  offereth  his  offering 
unto  the  Lord  bring  h  a  meat-offering  of  a 
tenth  deal  of  flour  mingled  1  with  the  fourth 
part  of  a  hin  of  oil. 

5  k  And  the  fourth  part  of  a  hin  of  wine  for 
a  drink-offering  shalt  thou  prepare  with  the 
burnt-offering  or  sacrifice,  for  one  lamb. 

6  1  Or  for  a  ram,  thou  shalt  prepare  for  a 
meat-offering,  two  tenth  deals  of  flour  mingled 
with  the  third  port  of  a  hin  of  oil. 

7  And  for  a  drink-offering  thou  shalt  offer 
the  third  part  of  a  hin  of  wine,  for  a  sweet 
savour  unto  the  Lord. 

8  And  when  thou  preparest  a  bullock  for  a 
burnt-offering,  or  for  a  sacrifice  in  performing 
a  vow,  or  111  peace-offerings  unto  the  Lord  : 

9  Then  shall  he  bring  n  with  a  bullock  a 
meat-offering  of  three  tenth  deals  of  flour 
mingled  with  half  a  hin  of  oil. 

10  And  thou  shalt  bring  for  a  drink-offering 
half  a  hin  of  wine,  for  an  offering  made  by- 
fire,  0  of  a  sweet  savour  unto  the  Lord. 

1 1  p  Thus  shall  it  be  done  for  one  bullock, 
or  for  one  ram,  or  for  a  lamb,  or  a  kid. 

12  According  to  the  number  that  ye  shall 
prepare,  so  shall  ye  do  to  every  one  according 
to  their  number. 

1 3  All  that  are  born  of  the  country  shall  do 

c  Lev.  vii.  16  ;  xxii.  18,  21. - d  Heb.  separating ;  Ley.  xxvii. 

2. - eLev.  xxiii.  8,  12,  36  ;  chap,  xxviii.  19,  27  ;  xxix.  2,  8,  13; 

Deut.  xvi.  10. - f  Gen.  viii.  21  ;  Exod.  xxix.  18. - s  Lev.  ii. 

1  ;  vi.  14. - h  Exod.  xxix.  40  ;  Lev.  xxiii.  13. - *  Lev.  xiv.  10  ; 

chap,  xxviii.  5. 

Verse  5.  The  fourth  part  of  a  hin ]  The  quantity 
of  meal  and  flour  was  augmented  in  proportion  to  the 
size  of  the  sacrifice  with  which  it  was  offered.  With 
a  lamb  or  a  kid  were  offered  one  tenth  deal  of  flour, 
(the  tenth  part  of  an  ephah,  see  on  Exod.  xxix.  40,) 
the  fourth  part  of  a  hin  of  oil,  and  the  fourth  part  of  a 
hin  of  wine.  With  a  ram,  two  tenth  deals  of  flour,  a 
third  part  of  a  hin  of  oil,  and  a  third  part  of  a  hin  of 
wine.  With  a  bullock,  three  tenth  deals  of  flour,  half 
a  hin  of  oil,  and  half  a  hin  of  wine.  See  ver.  4—11. 

Verse  14.  If  a  stranger  sojourn ]  See  the  notes  on 
Lev.xix.  33  ;  xxii.  9.  When  the  case  of  the  Jewish 
people  is  fairly  considered,  and  their  situation  with 
respect  to  the  surrounding  idolatrous  nations,  we  shall 
see  the  absolute  necessity  of  having  but  one  form  ot 
worship  in  the  land.  That  alone  was  genuine  which 
was  prescribed  by  the  Almighty,  and  no  others  could 
be  tolerated,  because  they  were  idolatrous.  All  stran- 


burnt-offenng,  lieave-offering ,  $-c 

these  things  after  this  manner,  in  A.  M.  2514. 
ottering  an  ottering  made  by  fire,  An.  Exod.lsr. 
of  a  sweet  savour  unto  the  Lord.  2' 

14  And  if  a  stranger  sojourn  with  you,  or 
whosoever  be  among  you  in  your  generations, 
and  will  offer  an  offering  made  by  fire,  of  a 
sweet  savour  unto  the  Lord  ;  as  ye  do,  so  he 
shall  do. 

15  q  One  ordinance  shall  be  both  for  you  of 
the  congregation,  and  also  for  the  stranger  that 
sojourneth  voitli  you ,  an  ordinance  for  ever  in 
your  generations  :  as  ye  are ,  so  shall  the  stran¬ 
ger  be  before  the  Lord. 

16  One  law  and  one  manner  shall  be  for 
you,  and  for  the  stranger  that  sojourneth  with 
you. 

17  And  the  Lord  spake  unto  Moses,  saying, 

18  r  Speak  unto  the  children  of  Israel,  and 
say  unto  them,  When  ye  come  into  the  land 
whither  I  bring  you, 

19  Then  it  shall  be,  that,  when  ye  eat  of 
s  the  bread  of  the  land,  ye  shall  offer  up  a  heave¬ 
offering  unto  the  Lord. 

20  4  Ye  shall  offer  up  a  cake  of  the  first  of 
your  dough  for  a  heave-offering  :  as  ye  do 
u  the  heave-offering  of  the  threshing-floor,  so 
shall  ye  heave  it. 

21  Of  the  first  of  your  dough  ye  shall  give 
unto  the  Lord  a  heave-offering  in  your  gene¬ 
rations. 

22  And  v  if  ye  have  erred,  and  not  observed 
all  these  commandments,  which  the  Lord  hath 
spoken  unto  Moses, 

k  Chap,  xxviii.  7,  14. - 1  Chap,  xxviii.  12,  14. - mLev.  vii. 

11. - n  Chap,  xxviii.  12,  14. - 0  Ecclus.  1.  15. - P  Chapter 

xxviii. - <1  Ver.  29  ;  Exod.  xii.  49  ;  chap.  ix.  14. - r  Verse  2  ; 

Deut.  xxvi.  1. - s  Josh.  v.  11,12. - 1  Deut.  xxvi.  2,  10  ;  Prov. 

iii.  9, 10. - uLev.  ii.  14  ;  xxiii.  10, 16. - vLev.  iv.  2. 

gers — all  that  came  to  sojourn  in  the  land,  were  re¬ 
quired  to  conform  to  it ;  and  it  was  right  that  those 
who  did  conform  to  it  should  have  equal  rights  and 
privileges  with  the  Hebrews  themselves,  which  we 
find  was  the  case.  But  under  the  Christian  dispensa¬ 
tion,  as  no  particular  form  of  worship  is  prescribed, 
the  types  and  ceremonies  of  the  Mosaic  institution 
being  all  fulfilled,  unlimited  toleration  should  be  al¬ 
lowed  ;  and  while  the  sacred  writings  are  made  the 
basis  of  the  worship  offered  to  God,  every  man  should 
be  allowed  to  worship  according  to  his  own  con¬ 
science,  for  in  this  respect  every  one  is 

“  Lord  of  himself,  accountable  to  none 
But  to  his  conscience  and  his  God  alone.” 

Verse  20.  Ye  shall  offer — the  first  oj  your  dough ] 
Concerning  the  offerings  of  first-fruits ,  see  the  notes 
on  Exod.  xxii.  29. 


065 


NUMBERS, 


Of  sins  through  ignorance. 

a.  M.  2514,  23  Even  all  that  the  Lord  hath 

An.  Exod.  isr.  commanded  you  by  the  hand  of 
2~  Moses,  from  the  day  that  the 
Lord  commanded  Moses ,  and  henceforward 
among  your  generations  ; 

24  Then  it  shall  be,  w  if  aught  be  committed 
by  ignorance,  x  without  the  knowledge  of  the 
congregation,  that  all  the  congregation  shall 
offer  one  young  bullock  for  a  burnt-offering, 
for  a  sweet  savour  unto  the  Lord,  y  with  his 
meat-offering,  and  his  drink-offering,  according 
to  the  z  manner,  and  a  one  kid  of  the  goats  for 
a  sin-offering. 

25  b  And  the  priest  shall  make  an  atonement 
for  all  the  congregation  of  the  children  of  Is¬ 
rael,  and  it  shall  be  forgiven  them  ;  for  it  is 
ignorance  :  and  they  shall  bring  their  offering, 
a  sacrifice  made  by  fire  unto  the  Lord,  and 
their  sin-offering  before  the  Lord,  for  their 
ignorance : 

26  And  it  shall  be  forgiven  all  the  congrega¬ 
tion  of  the  children  of  Israel,  and  the  stranger 
that  sojourneth  among  them ;  seeing  all  the 
people  were  in  ignorance. 

27  And  c  if  any  soul  sin  through  ignorance, 
then  he  shall  bring  a  she-goat  of  the  first  year 
for  a  sin-offering. 

28  d  And  the  priest  shall  make  an  atonement 
for  the  soul  that  sinneth  ignorantly,  when  he 
sinneth  by  ignorance  before  the  Lord,  to  make 
an  atonement  for  him  ;  and  it  shall  be  for¬ 
given  him. 

w  Lev.  iv.  13. - xHeb.  from  the  eyes. - y  Ver.  8,  9,  10. 

z  Or,  ordinance. - a  See.  Lev.  iv.  23  ;  chap,  xxviii.  15  ;  Ezra  vi. 

17  ;  viii.  35. - bLev.  iv.  20. - c  Lev.  iv.  27,  28. - d  Lev.  iv. 

35. - e  Ver.  15. - f  Heb.  doth. - s  Deut.  xvii.  12  ;  Psa.  xix. 

13  ;  Heb.  x.  26 ;  1  Pet.  ii.  10. 

Yerse  24.  If  aught  he  committed  by  ignorance ]  See 
the  notes  on  Lev.  iv.  2,  and  v.  17.  The  case  here 
probably  refers  to  the  whole  congregation ;  the  cases 
above,  to  the  sin  of  an  individual. 

Yerse  25.  The  priest  shall  make  an  atonemcnt\ 
Even  sins  committed  through  ignorance  required  an 
atonement ;  and  God  in  his  mercy  has  provided  one 
for  them. 

Verse  30.  But  the  soul  that  doeth  aught  presump¬ 
tuously ]  Bold  daring  acts  of  transgression  against  the 
fullest  evidence,  and  in  despite  of  the  Divine  authority, 
admitted  of  no  atonement ;  the  person  was  to  be  cut 
off — to  be  excluded  from  God’s  people,  and  from  all 
their  privileges  and  blessings. 

Probably  the  presumption  mentioned  here  implied 
an  utter  contempt  of  the  word  and  authority  of  God, 
springing  from  an  idolatrous  or  atheistical  mind.  In 
such  a  case  all  repentance  was  precluded,  because  of 
the  denial  of  the  word-  and  being  of  God.  It  is  pro- 

666 


Case  of  the  Sabbath-breaker 

29  e  Ye  shall  have  one  law  A.  M.  2514. 
for  him  that  f  sinneth  through  ig-  An.’  Exod.  isr 
norance,  both  for  him  that  is  born  2' 
among  the  children  of  Israel,  and  for  the 
stranger  that  sojourneth  among  them. 

30  g  But  the  soul  that  doeth  aught  h  pre¬ 
sumptuously,  whether  he  be  born  in  the 
land,  or  a  stranger,  the  same  reproacheth  the 
Lord  ;  and  that  soul  shall  be  cut  off  from 
among  his  people. 

3 1  Because  he  hath  1  despised  the  word  of 
the  Lord,  and  hath  broken  his  commandment, 
that  soul  shall  utterly  be  cut  off ;  k  his  iniquity 
shall  be  upon  him. 

32  And  while  the  children  of  Israel  were  in 
the  wilderness,  1  they  found  a  man  that  gather¬ 
ed  sticks  upon  the  Sabbath  day. 

33  And  they  that  found  him  gathering  sticks 
brought  him  unto  Moses  and  Aaron,  and  unto 
all  the  congregation. 

34  And  they  put  him  m  in  ward,  because  it 
was  not  declared  what  should  be  done  to  him. 

35  And  the  Lord  said  unto  Moses,  n  The 
man  shall  be  surely  put  to  death :  all  the  con¬ 
gregation  shall  0  stone  him  with  stones  without 
the  camp. 

36  And  all  the  congregation  brought  him 
without  the  camp,  and  stoned  him  with  stones, 
and  he  died  ;  as  the  Lord  commanded  Moses. 

37  And  the  Lord  spake  unto  Moses,  saying, 

38  Speak  unto  the  children  of  Israel,  and  bid 
p  them  that  they  make  them  fringes  in  the  bor- 

h  Heb.  with  a  high  hand. - ^Sam.  xii.  9;  Prov.  xiii.  13. 

kLev.  v.  1;  Ezek.  xviii.  20. - 'Exod.  xxxi.  14,  15;  xxxv. 

2,  3. - m  Lev.  xxiv.  12. - n  Exod.  xxxi.  14,  15. - 0  Lev. 

xxiv.  14 ;  1  Kings  xxi.  13  ;  Acts  vii.  58. - P  Deut.  xxii.  12  ; 

Matt,  xxiii.  5. 

bably  a  case  similar  to  that  mentioned  Heb.  vi.  4-8  ; 
x.  26—31  ;  on  which  passages  see  the  notes. 

Verse  32.  They  found  a  man  that  gathered  sticks 
upon  the  Sabbath ]  This  was  in  all  likelihood  a  case 
of  that  kind  supposed  above  :  the  man  despised  the 
word  of  the  Lord,  and  therefore  broke  his  command¬ 
ment  ;  see  ver.  31.  On  this  ground  he  was  punished 
with  the  utmost  rigour  of  the  law. 

Yerse  36.  Stoned  him ]  See  the  note  on  Lev. 
xxiv.  23. 

Yerse  38.  Bid  them — make  them  fringes]  We  learn 
from  ver.  39  that  these  fringes  were  emblematical  of 
the  various  commands  of  God.  That  there  was  any 
analogy  between  a  fringe  and  a  precept ,  it  wmuld  be 
bold  to  assert ;  but  when  a  thing  is  appointed  to  repre¬ 
sent  another,  no  matter  how  different,  that  first  object 
becomes  the  regular  representative  or  sign  of  the  other. 
There  is  no  analogy  between  the  term  bread  and  the 
farinaceous  nutritive  substance  thereby  signified  ;  but 


The  rebellion  of  Korah 
a.  M.  2514.  ders  of  their  garments  throughout 

B  C  1490  .  ° 

An.  Exod.  Isr.  their  generations,  and  that  they 

2~  put  upon  the  fringe  of  the  bor¬ 

ders  a  ribbon  of  blue  : 

39  And  it  shall  be  unto  you  for  a  fringe, 
that  ye  may  look  upon  it,  and  remember  all 
the  commandments  of  the  Lord,  and  do  them ; 
and  that  ye  q  seek  not  after  your  own  heart  and 

4  See  Deut.  xxix.  19  ;  Job  xxxi.  7;  Jer.  ix.  14;  Ezek.  vi.  9. 
rPsa.  lxxiii.  27  ;  cvi.  39;  James  iv.  4. 

because  this  term  is  used  to  express  and  represent  that 
thing,  every  person  thus  understands  it ;  and  when  the 
word  bread  is  seen  or  heard,  a  perfect  knowledge,  not 
of  the  letters  which  compose  that  word,  but  of  the 
thing  signified  by  it,  is  conveyed  to  the  mind.  So  the 
fringes ,  being  appointed  by  God  to  represent  and 


and  his  companions 
your  own  eyes,  after  which  ye  A.  m.  2514. 

r  4  j  B.  C.  1490. 

use  r  to  go  a  whoring  :  An.  Exod.  Isr. 

40  That  ye  may  remember,  2~ 

and  do  all  my  commandments,  and  be  s  holy 
unto  your  God. 

41  I  am  the  Lord  your  God,  which  brought 
you  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt,  to  be  your  God  : 
I  am  the  Lord  your  God. 

s  Lev.  xi.  44,  45  ;  Rom.  xii.  1  ;  Col.  i.  22  ;  1  Pet. 
i.  15,  16. 

bring  to  mind  the  commandments  of  God,  ver.  39,  the 
mention  or  sight  of  them  conveyed  the  intelligence 
intended.  All  the  Jews  wore  these,  and  so  probably 
did  our  Lord  ;  see  Matt.  ix.  20,  where  the  word  spaa- 
7 redov  is  rather  to  be  understood  of  the  fringe  than  of 
the  hem  of  his  garment. 


CHAP.  XVI. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 


The  rebellion  of  Korah  and  his  company  against  Moses ,  1—3.  He  directs  the7n  how  to  try ,  in  the  course  of 
the  next  day.,  whom  God  had  called  to  the  priesthood,  4—11.  Dathan  and  Abiram  use  the  most  seditious 
speeches ,  12—14.  Moses  is  wroth,  15  ;  and  orders  Korah  and  his  company  to  be  ready  on  the  morrow 
with  their  censers  and  incense,  1G— 18.  Korah  gathers  his  company  together,  19.  The  glory  of  the  Lord 

appears,  and  he  threatens  to  consume  them,  20,21.  Moses  and  Aaron,  intercede  for  them ,  22.  The 
people  are  commanded  to  leave  the  tents  of  the  rebels,  23—26.  They  obey,  and  Korah  and  his  company 
come  out  and  stand  before  the  door  of  their  tents ,  27.  Moses  in  a  solemn  address  puts  the  contention  to 
issue,  28—30.  As  soon  as  he  had  done  speaking,  the  earth  clave  and  swallowed  them ,  and  all  that  apper¬ 
tained  to  them,  31—34;  and  the  250  men  who  offered  incense  are  consumed  by  fire,  35.  The  Lord 
commands  Eleazar  to  preserve  the  censers,  because  they  were  hallowed,  36—38.  Eleazar  makes  of  them  a 
covering  for  the  altar,  39,  40.  The  next  day  the  people  murmur  anew,  the  glory  of  the  Lord  appears , 
and  Moses  and  Aaron  go  to  the  tabernacle,  41-43.  They  are  commanded  to  separate  themselves  from 
the  congregation,  44,  45.  Moses,  perceiving  that  God  had  sent  a  plague  among  them,  directs  Aaron  to 
hasten  and  make  an  atonement,  46.  Aaron  does  so,  and  the  plague  is  stayed,  47,  48.  The  number  of 
those  iv  ho  died  by  the  plague,  14,700  men,  49,  50. 


A.  M.  cir.  2533.  1YT OW  a  Korah,  the  son  of  Izhar, 

B.  C.  cir.  1471.  ,  r  T7-  i  a  a 

An.  Exod.  isr.  the  son  ot  ivohath,  the  son 

cir~  20'  of  Levi,  and  Dathan  and  Abiram, 
the  sons  of  Eliab,  and  On,  the  son  of  Peleth, 
sons  of  Reuben,  took  men  : 

2  And  they  rose  up  before  Moses,  with  cer¬ 


tain  of  the  children  of  Israel,  two  A.  M.  cir.  2533, 
,  ,  1  rr  ■  r  i  B.  C.  cir.  1471. 

hundred  and  laity  princes  ot  the  An.  Exod.  isr. 

assembly,  b  famous  in  the  congre-  cir'  2Q' 

gation,  men  of  renown  : 

3  And  c  they  gathered  themselves  together 

against  Moses  and  against  Aaron,  and  said 


a  Exod.  vi.  21  ;  chap.  xxvi.  9  ;  xxvii.  3  ;  Ecclus.  xlv.  18  ; 


Jude  11. - b  Gen.  vi.  4  ;  chap.  xxvi.  9. - c  Psa.  cvi.  16. 


NOTES  ON  CHAP.  XVI. 

Yerse  1.  Now  Korah — took  men]  Had  not  these 
been  the  most  brutish  of  men,  could  they  have  possi¬ 
bly  so  soon  forgotten  the  signal  displeasure  of  God 
manifested  against  them  so  lately  for  their  rebellion. 
The  word  men  is  not  in  the  original  ;  and  the  verb 
ry,  vaiyikkach,  and  he  took ,  is  not  in  the  plural  but 
the  singular,  hence  it  cannot  be  applied  to  the  act  of 
all  these  chiefs.  In  every  part  of  the  Scripture  where 
this  rebellion  is  referred  to  it  is  attributed  to  Korah, 
(see  chap.  xxvi.  3,  and  Jude,  ver.  11,)  therefore  the 
verb  here  belongs  to  him,  and  the  whole  verse  should 
be  translated  thus  : — Now  Korah ,  son  of  Yilsar,  son 
of  Kohalh ,  son  of  Levi,  he  took  even  Dathan  and 
Abiram,  the  sons  of  Eliab,  and  On,  son  of  Peleth , 


son  of  Reuben  ;  and  they  rose  up,  &c.  This  makes 
a  very  regular  and  consistent  sense,  and  spares  all  the 
learned  labour  of  Father  Houbigant,  who  translates 
np’  yikkach,  by  rebellionem  fecerunt,  they  rebelled, 
which  scarcely  any  rule  of  criticism  can  ever  justify. 
Instead  of  pun  ’J3  beney  Reuben,  sons  of  Reuben, 
some  MSS.  have  p  ben,  son,  in  the  singular  ;  this  read¬ 
ing,  supported  by  the  Septuagint  and  the  Samaritan 
text,  I  have  followed  in  the  above  translation.  But 
as  Eliab  and  Peleth  were  both  Reubenites,  the  com¬ 
mon  reading,  sons,  may  be  safely  followed. 

Yerse  3.  Ye  take  too  much  upon  you ]  The  ori¬ 
ginal  is  simply  D3b  31  rab  lachem,  too  much  for  you. 
The  spirit  of  this  saying  appears  to  me  to  be  the  fol¬ 
lowing  : — “  Holy  offices  are  not  equally  distributed  : 

667 


NUMBERS. 


Korah  and  his  associates  prepare 


incense  to  offer  to  the  Lord . 


A.  M.  cir.  2533.  unto  them,  d  Ye  take  too  much 

B.  C.  cir.  1471.  .  n  , 

An.  Exod.  isr.  upon  you,  seeing  e  all  the  con- 

C11' 20'  gregation  are  holy,  every  one  of 
them,  f  and  the  Lord  is  among  them  :  where¬ 
fore  then  lift  ye  up  yourselves  above  the  con¬ 
secration  of  the  Lord  ? 

o  O 

4  And  when  Moses  heard  it ,  g  he  fell  upon 
his  face  : 

5  And  he  spake  unto  Korah  and  unto  all  his 
company,  saying,  Even  to-morrow  the  Lord 
will  show  who  are  his,  and  who  is  h  holy  ;  and 
will  cause  him  to  come  near  unto  him  :  even 

him  whom  he  hath *  1  chosen  will  he  cause  to 

0 

k  come  near  unto  him. 

6  This  do  :  Take  you  censers,  Korah,  and 
all  his  company ; 

7  And  put  fire  therein,  and  put  incense  in 
them  before  the  Lord  to-morrow  :  and  it  shall 
be  that  the  man  whom  the  Lord  doth  choose, 
he  shall  he  holy  :  ye  take  too  much  upon  you, 
ye  sons  of  Levi. 

8  And  Moses  said  unto  Korah,  Hear,  I  pray 
you,  ye  sons  of  Levi : 

9  Seemeth  it  hut  1  a  small  thing  unto  you, 
that  the  God  of  Israel  hath  m  separated  you 
from  the  congregation  of  Israel,  to  bring  you 
near  to  himself,  to  do  the  service  of  the  taber¬ 
nacle  of  the  Lord,  and  to  stand  before  the 
congregation  to  minister  unto  them  ? 

10  And  he  hath  brought  thee  near  to  him , 
and  all  thy  brethren  the  sons  of  Levi  with 
thee  :  and  seek  ye  the  priesthood  also  ? 

11  For  which  cause  both  thou  and  all  thy 
company  are  gathered  together  against  the 
Lord  :  n  and  what  is  Aaron,  that  ye  murmur 
against  him  ? 


12  And  Moses  sent  to  call 
Dathan  and  Abiram,  the  sons  of 
Eliab  :  which  said,  We  will  not 


A.  M.  cir.  2533 

B. C.  cir.  1471. 
An.  Exod.  Isr 

cir.  20. 


come  up  : 

13  0  Is  it  a  small  thing  that  thou  hast  brought 


us  up  out  of  a  land  that  floweth  with  milk 
and  honey,  to  kill  us  in  the  wilderness,  ex¬ 
cept  thou  p  make  thyself  altogether  a  prince 
over  us  ? 

14  Moreover  thou  hast  not  brought  us  into 
q  a  land  that  floweth  with  milk  and  honey,  or 
given  us  inheritance  of  fields  and  vineyards  : 
wilt  thou  r  put  out  the  eyes  of  these  men  ?  we 
will  not  come  up. 

15  And  Moses  was  very  wroth,  and  said 
unto  the  Lord,  s  Respect  not  thou  their  offer¬ 
ing  :  1 * * * * 1  have  not  taken  one  ass  from  them, 
neither  have  I  hurt  one  of  them. 

1 6  And  Moses  said  unto  Korah,  u  Be  thou 
and  all  thy  company  T  before  the  Lord,  thou, 
and  they,  and  Aaron,  to-morrow : 

17  And  take  every  man  his  censer,  and  put 
incense  in  them,  and  bring  ye  before  the  Lord 
every  man  his  censer,  twro  hundred  and  fifty 
censers  ;  thou  also,  and  Aaron,  each  of  you 
his  censer. 

18  And  they  took  every  man  his  censer,  and  . 
put  fire  in  them,  and  laid  incense  thereon, 
and  stood  in  the  door  of  the  tabernacle  of  the 
congregation  w7ith  Moses  and  Aaron. 

19  And  Korah  gathered  all  the  congregation 
against  them  unto  the  door  of  the  tabernacle 
of  the  congregation  :  and  w  the  glory  of  the 
Lord  appeared  unto  all  the  congregation. 

20  And  the  Lord  spake  unto  Moses  and  unto 
Aaron,  saying, 


d  Heb.  it  is  much  for  you. - e  Exod.  xix.  6. - f  Exod.  xxix. 

45  ;  chap.  xiv.  14  ;  xxxv.  34. - s  Chap.  xiv.  5  ;  xx.  6. - h  Ver. 

3  ;  Lev.  xxi.  6,  7,  8,  12,  15. - 'Exod.  xxviii.  1  ;  chap.  xvii.  5; 

1  Sam.  ii.  28  ;  Psa.  cv.  26. - k  Chap.  iii.  10  ;  Lev.  x.  3  ;  xxi. 

17,  18 ;  Ezek.  xl.  46  ;  xliv.  15,  16. - 1 1  Sam.  xviii.  23  ; 

Isa.  vii.  13. 


m  Chap.  iii.  41,  45  ;  viii.  14;  Deut.  x.  8. - “Exod.  xvi.  8; 

1  Cor.  iii.  5. - °Ver.  9. - P  Exod.  ii.  14;  Acts  vii.  27,  35. 

3  Exod.  iii.  8  ;  Lev.  xx.  24. - r  Heb.  bore  out. - s  Gen.  iv.  4. 

5. - 1  1  Sam.  xiii.  3  ;  Acts  xx.  33  ;  2  Cor.  vii.  2. - “  Ver.  6,  7. 

v  1  Sam.  xii.  3,  7. - w  Ver.  42  ;  Exod.  xvi.  7,  10  ;  Lev.  ix.  6, 

23  ;  chap.  xiv.  10. 


you  arrogate  to  yourselves  the  most  important  ones, 
as  if  you?'  superior  holiness  entitled  you  alone  to  them  ; 
whereas  all  the  congregation  are  holy,  and  have  an 
equal  right  with  you  to  be  employed  in  the  most  holy 
services.”  Moses  retorts  this  saying  ver  7  :  Ye  take 
too  much  upon  you,  31  ?'ab  lachem ;  Ye  have  too 
much  already,  ye  sons  of  Levi ;  i.  e.,  by  your  present 
spirit  and  disposition  you  prove  yourselves  to  be  wholly 
unworthy  of  any  spiritual  employment. 

Verse  5.  The  Lord  will  show  who  are  his ]  It  is 
supposed  that  St.  Paul  refers  to  this  place,  2  Tim.  ii. 
19  :  The  foundation  of  God — the  whole  sacrificial 
system,  referring  to  Christ  Jesus,  the  foundation  of  the 
salvation  of  men ;  standeth  sure ,  notwithstanding  the 

668 


rebellions,  intrusions,  and  false  doctrines  of  men  ;  hav- 
ing  this  seal — this  stamp  of  its  Divine  authenticity, 
The  Lord  knoweth  them  that  are  his ;  eyvu  K vpiog  rovg 
ovrac  avrov,  a  literal  translation  of  lb  155W  DX  HltT  VI1! 
veyoda  Yehovah  eth  asher  lo ;  and  both  signifying, 
The  Lord  approveth  of  his  own ;  or,  will  own  that 
which  is  of  his  own  appointment.  And  let  every  one 
that  narneth  the  name  of  Chi'ist  depart  from  iniquity, 
alluding  to  the  exhortation  of  Moses,  ver.  26  :  Depai't , 

I  pray  you,  from  the  tents  of  these  wicked  men. 

Verse  15.  Respect  not  thou  their  offering ]  There 

was  no  danger  of  this  :  they  wished  to  set  up  a  priest¬ 

hood  and  a  sacrificial  system  of  their  own  ;  and  God 

never  has  blessed,  and  never  can  bless,  any  scheme 

a 


CHAP.  XVI. 


them  and  their  households. 


The  earth  opens  and  sivallows 

s 

A.  M.  cir.  2533.  21  x  Separate  yourselves  from 

An.  Exod.  Isr.  cHUOllg  tills  COllglCgRtlon,  tliat 
Clr-  20-  I  may  7  consume  them  in  a 
moment. 

22  And  they  z  fell  upon  their  faces,  and  said, 
O  God,  a  the  God  of  the  spirits  of  all  flesh, 
shall  one  man  sin,  and  wilt  thou  be  wroth  with 
all  the  congregation  ? 

23  And  the  Lord  spake  unto  Moses,  saying, 

24  Speak  unto  the  congregation,  saying,  Get 
you  up  from  about  the  tabernacle  of  Korah, 
Dathan,  and  Abiram. 

25  And  Moses  rose  up  and  went  unto  Da¬ 
than  and  Abiram ;  and  the  elders  of  Israel 
followed  him. 

26  And  he  spake  unto  the  congregation,  say¬ 
ing,  b  Depart,  I  pray  you,  from  the  tents  of 
these  wicked  men,  and  touch  nothing  of  theirs, 
lest  ye  be  consumed  in  all  their  sins. 

27  So  they  gat  up  from  the  tabernacle  of 
Korah,  Dathan,  and  Abiram,  on  every  side  : 
and  Dathan  and  Abiram  came  out,  and  stood 
in  the  door  of  their  tents,  and  their  wives,  and 
their  sons,  and  their  little  children. 

28  And  Moses  said,  c  Hereby  ye  shall  know 
that  the  Lord  hath  sent  me  to  do  all  these 
works  ;  for  I  have  not  done  them  d  of  mine 
own  mind. 

29  If  these  men  die  e  the  common  death  of 


x  Yer.  45  ;  see  Gen.  xix.  17,  22  ;  Jer.  li.  6  ;  Acts  ii.  40  ;  Rev. 

xviii.  4. - 7  Ycr.  45  ;  Exod.  xxxii.  10  ;  xxxiii.  5. - 7-  Yer.  45  ; 

chap.  xiv.  5. - a  Chap,  xxvii.  16  ;  Job  xii.  10  ;  Ecclus.  xii.  7  ; 

Isa.  lvii.  16;  Zech.  xii.  1 ;  Heb.  xii.  9. - b  Gen.  xix.  12,  14  ; 

Isa  lii.  11;  2  Cor.  vi.  17;  Rev.  xviii.  4. - c  Exod.  iii.  12; 

Deut.  xviii.  22  ;  Zech.  ii.  9,  10  ;  iv.  9  ;  John  v.  36. - d  Chap. 

xxiv.  13;  Jer.  xxiii.  16;  Ezek.  xiii.  17;  John  v.  30;  vi.  38. 

of  salvation  which  is  not  of  his  own  appointment.  Man 
is  ever  supposing  that  he  can  mend  his  Maker’s  work, 
or  that  he  can  make  one  of  his  own  that  will  do  in 
its  place. 

Verse  22.  O  God ,  the  God  of  the  spirits  of  all  flesh\ 
bjb  nnnn  TlbR  bx  El  Elohey  haruchoth  lechol 
hasar.  This  address  sufficiently  proves  that  these  holy 
men  believed  that  man  is  a  being  compounded  of  flesh 
and  spirit,  and  that  these  principles  are  perfectly  dis¬ 
tinct.  Either  the  materiality  of  the  human  soul  is  a 
human  fable,  or,  if  it  be  a  true  doctrine,  these  men  did 
not  pray  under  the  influence  of  the  Divine  Spirit.  In 
chap,  xxvii.  1 6  there  is  a  similar  form  of  expression  : 
Let  the  Lord ,  the  God  of  the  spirits  of  all  flesh.  And 
in  Job  xii.  10  :  In  whose  hand  is  the  soul  (g/DH 
nephesh)  of  all  living  ;  and  the  spirit  (ITH  ruach )  of 
all  flesh  of  man.  Are  not  these  decisive  proofs  that 
the  Old  Testament  teaches  that  there  is  an  immortal 
spirit  in  man  1  “  But  does  not  nn  ruach  signify  wind 
or  breath  ?”  Sometimes  it  does,  but  certainly  not  here; 
for  how  absurd  would  it  be  to  say,  O  God,  the  God 
of  the  breaths  of  all  flesh  ! 

a 


all  men,  or  if  they  be  f  visited  A.  M.  cir.  2533. 

.  .  .  .  “  r  B.  C.  cir.  1471 . 

alter  the  visitation  ot  all  men  ;  An.  Exod.  Isr. 

then  the  Lord  hath  not  sent  me.  Clr'  20 ' 

30  But  if  the  Lord  *  make  h  a  new  thing, 
and  the  earth  open  her  mouth,  and  swallow 
them  up,  with  all  that  appertain  unto  them, 
and  they  {  go  down  quick  into  the  pit ;  then 
ye  shall  understand  that  these  men  have  pro¬ 
voked  the  Lord. 

31  k  And  it  came  to  pass,  as  he  had  made  an 
end  of  speaking  all  these  words,  that  the 
ground  clave  asunder  that  ivas  under  them  : 

32  And  the  earth  opened  her  mouth,  and 
swallowed  them  up,  and  their  houses,  and 
1  all  the  men  that  appertained  unto  Korah, 
and  all  their  goods. 

33  They,  and  all  that  appertained  to  them, 
went  down  alive  into  the  pit,  and  the  earth 
closed  upon  them  :  and  they  perished  from 
among  the  congregation 

34  And  all  Israel  that  ivere  round  about 
them  fled  at  the  cry  of  them  :  for  they  said, 
Lest  the  earth  swallow  us  up  also. 

35  And  there  m  came  out  a  fire  from  the 
Lord,  and  consumed  n  the  two  hundred  and 
fifty  men  that  offered  incense. 

36  And  the  Lord  spake  unto  Moses,  saying, 

37  Speak  unto  Eleazar  the  son  of  x4aron  the 
priest,  that  he  take  up  the  censers  out  of  the 


e  Heb.  as  every  man  dieth. - f  Exod.  xx.  5  ;  xxxii.  34  ;  Job  xxxv. 

15  ;  Isa.  x.  3  ;  Jer.  v.  9. - s  Heb.  create  a  creature  ;  Isa.  xlv.  7. 

hJobxxxi.  3;  Isa.  xxviii.  21. - 1  Yer.  33  ;  Psa.  lv.  15. - kChap. 

xxvi.  10  ;  xxvii.  3  ;  Deut.  xi.  6  ;  Psa.  cvi.  17. - 1  Seever.  17 ; 

chap.  xxvi.  11  ;  1  Chron.  vi.  22,  37. - m  Lev.  x.  2  ;  chap.  xi.  1  ; 

Psa.  cvi.  18. - n  Yer.  17. 


Verse  30  .If  the  Lord  make  a  new  thing ]  DK1 

mm  N'lT  veim  beriah  yibra  Yehovah ,  and  if  Jehovah 
should  create  a  creation ,  i.  e.,  do  such  a  thing  as  was 
never  done  before. 

And  they  go  down  quick  into  the  pit]  sheolah, 

a  proof,  among  many  others,  that  7^  sheol,  signifies 
here  a  chasm  or  pit  of  the  earth,  and  not  the  place 
called  hell ;  for  it  would  be  absurd  to  suppose  that 
their  houses  had  gone  to  hell ;  and  it  would  be  wicked 
to  imagine  that  their  little  innocent  children  had  gone 
thither,  though  God  was  pleased  to  destroy  their  lives 
with  those  of  their  iniquitous  fathers. 

Verse  33.  They ,  and  all  that  appertained  to  them] 
Korah,  Dathan,  and  Abiram,  and  all  that  appertained 
to  their  respective  families,  went  down  into  the  pit 
caused  by  this  supernatural  earthquake ;  while  the  fire 
from  the  Lord  consumed  the  250  men  that  bare  censers. 
Thus  there  were  two  distinct  punishments,  the  pit  and 
the  fire ,  for  the  two  divisions  of  these  rebels. 

Verse  37.  The  censers — are  halloivedi]  ItJHp  ka~ 
deshu ,  are  consecrated ,  i.  e.,  to  the  service  of  God, 
though  in  this  instance  improperly  employed. 

609 


NUMBERS. 


A  plague  is  sent ,  by  which 

a.  M.  cir.  2533.  burning,  and  scatter  thou  the 
B.  C.  cir.  1471.  -  °  ,  -  ,  ,  , 

An.  Exod.  isr.  nre  yonder  ;  ior  0  they  are  hal- 

cin  2Q-  lowed. 

38  The  censers  of  these  p  sinners  against 
their  own  souls,  let  them  make  them  broad 
plates  for  a  covering  of  the  altar:  for  they 
offered  them  before  the  Lord,  therefore  they 
are  hallowed  :  q  and  they  shall  be  a  sign  unto 
the  children  of  Israel. 

39  And  Eleazar  the  priest  took  the  brazen 
censers,  wherewith  they  that  were  burnt  had 
offered  ;  and  they  wrere  made  broad  plates  for 
a  covering  of  the  altar  : 

40  To  be  a  memorial  unto  the  children  of 
Israel,  r  that  no  stranger,  which  is  not  of  the 
seed  of  Aaron,  come  near  to  offer  incense 
before  the  Lord  ;  that  he  be  not  as  Korah, 
and  as  his  company  :  as  the  Lord  said  to  him 
by  the  hand  of  Moses. 

41  But  on  the  morrow  s  all  the  congregation 
of  the  children  of  Israel  murmured  against 
Moses  and  against  Aaron,  saying,  Ye  have 
killed  the  people  of  the  Lord. 

42  And  it  came  to  pass,  when  the  congre¬ 
gation  was  gathered  against  Moses  and  against 
Aaron,  that  they  looked  toward  the  tabernacle 
of  the  congregation  :  and,  behold,  t  the  cloud 

0  See  Lev.  xxvii.  28. - P  Prov.  xx.  2  ;  Hab.  ii.  10. - -i  Chap. 

xvii.  10  ;  xxvi.  10  ;  Ezek.  xiv.  8. - r  Chap.  iii.  10  ;  2  Chron. 

xxvi.  18. - s  Chap.  xiv.  2  ;  Psa.  cvi.  25. 

Verse  41.  On  the  morrow  all  the  congregation — 
murmured ]  It  is  very  likely  that  the  people  persuaded 
themselves  that  Moses  and  Aaron  had  used  some  cun¬ 
ning  in  this  business,  and  that  the  earthquake  and  fire 
were  artificial ;  else,  had  they  discerned  the  hand  of 
God  in  this  punishment,  could  they  have  dared  the 
anger  of  the  Lord  in  the  very  face  of  justice  1 

Verse  46.  The  plague  is  begun  f  God  now  pun¬ 
ished  them  by  a  secret  blast ,  so  as  to  put  the  matter 
beyond  all  dispute  ;  his  hand,  and  his  alone,  was  seen, 
not  only  in  the  plague,  but  in  the  manner  in  which  the 
mortality  was  arrested.  It  was  necessary  that  this 
should  be  done  in  this  ivay ,  that  the  whole  congrega¬ 
tion  might  see  that  those  men  who  had  perished  were 
not  the  people  of  the  Lord ;  and  that  GOD,  not  Moses 
and  Aaron ,  had  destroyed  them. 

Verse  48.  He  stood  between  the  dead  and  the  living; 
and  the  plague ,  <fc. ]  What  the  plague  was  we  know 
not,  but  it  seems  to  have  begun  at  one  part  of  the  camp, 
and  to  have  proceeded  regularly  onward ;  and  Aaron 
went  to  the  quarter  where  it  was  then  prevailing ,  and 
stood  with  his  atonement  where  it  was  now  making 
its  ravages,  and  the  plague  was  stayed ;  but  not  before 
14,700  had  fallen  victims  to  it,  ver.  49. 

If  Aaron  the  high  priest,  with  his  censer  and  in¬ 
cense,  could  disarm  the  wrath  of  an  insulted,  angry 

670 


a  great  many  are  destroyed . 

covered  it,  and  11  the  glory  of  the  A.  M.  cir.  2533, 
T  5  a  J  B.  C.  cir.  1471. 

Lord  appeared.  An.  Exod.  Isr. 

43  And  Moses  and  Aaron  came  cm  20‘ 
before  the  tabernacle  of  the  congregation. 

44  And  the  Lord  spake  unto  Moses,  saying, 

45  v  Get  you  up  from  among  this  congre¬ 
gation,  that  I  may  consume  them  as  in  a  mo¬ 
ment.  And  w  they  fell  upon  their  faces. 

46  And  Moses  said  unto  Aaron,  Take  a 
censer,  and  put  fire  therein  from  off  the  altar, 
and  put  on  incense,  and  go  quickly  unto  the 
congregation,  and  make  an  atonement  for  them: 
x  for  there  is  wrath  gone  out  from  the  Lord  ; 
the  plague  is  begun. 

47  And  Aaron  took  as  Moses  commanded, 
and  ran  into  the  midst  of  the  congregation ; 
and,  behold,  the  plague  was  begun  among 
the  people  :  and  he  put  on  incense,  and  made 
an  atonement  for  the  people. 

48  And  he  stood  between  the  dead  and  the 
living ;  and  the  plague  was  stayed. 

49  Now  they  that  died  in  the  plague  were 
fourteen  thousand  and  seven  hundred,  beside 
them  that  died  about  the  matter  of  Korah. 

50  And  Aaron  returned  unto  Moses  unto 
the  door  of  the  tabernacle  of  the  congregation : 
and  the  plague  was  stayed. 

tExod.  xl.  34. - u  Ver.  19;  chap.  xx.  6. - vVer.  21,  24. 

w  Ver.  22 ;  chap.  xx.  6. - *  Lev.  x.  6  ;  chap.  i.  53 ;  viii.  19  ;  xi. 

33  ;  xviii.  5  ;  1  Chron.  xxvii.  24  ;  Psa.  cvi.  29. 

Deity,  so  that  a  guilty  people,  who  deserved  nothing 
but  destruction,  should  be  spared ;  how  much  more 
effectual  may  we  expect  the  great  atonement  to  be 
which  was  made  by  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  of  whom 
Aaron  was  only  the  type !  The  sacrifices  of  living 
animals  pointed  out  the  death  of  Christ  on  the  cross  ; 
the  incense ,  his  intercession.  Through  his  death  sal¬ 
vation  is  purchased  for  the  world  ;  by  his  intercession 
the  offending  children  of  men  are  spared.  Hence  St. 
Paul,  Rom.  v.  10,  says  ;  If,  while  we  were  enemies, 
we  were  reconciled  to  God  by  the  death  of  his  Son, 
much  more,  being  reconciled,  we  shall  be  saved 
through  his  life,  i.  e.,  by  the  prevalence  of  his 
continual  intercession.  2  Cor.  v.  18,  19  :  “  And  all 
things  are  of  God,  who  hath  reconciled  us  to  himself 
by  Jesus  Christ,  and  hath  given -to  us  the  ministry  of 
reconciliation  ;  to  wit,  that  God  was  in  Christ,  recon¬ 
ciling  the  world  unto  himself,  not  imputing  their  tres¬ 
passes  unto  them  ;  and  hath  committed  unto  us  the 
word  of  reconciliation.” 

By  the  awful  transactions  recorded  in  this  chapter, 
we  may  see  how  jealous  God  is  of  the  sole  right  of 
appointing  the  way  and  means  of  salvation.  Had  any 
priesthood,  and  any  kind  of  service,  no  matter  how 
solemn  and  sincere,  been  equally  available  in  the  sight 
of  Divine  justice  and  mercy,  God  would  not  have  re¬ 
sented  in  so  awful  a  manner  the  attempts  of  Korah  and 


CHAP.  XVII. 


The  princes  of  the  people  lay  up 

his  company  in  their  new  service.  The  way  of  God’s 
own  appointment,  the  agony  and  death  ot  Christ,  is  the 
only  way  in  which  souls  can  be  saved.  His  is  the 
priesthood ,  and  his  is  the  only  available  sacrifice.  All 


their  rods  before  the  testimony . 

other  modes  and  schemes  of  salvation  are  the  inven¬ 
tions  of  men  or  devils,  and  will  in  the  end  prove  ruin¬ 
ous  to  all  those  who  trust  in  them.  Reader,  forget 
not  the  Lord  who  bought  thee. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 


The  twelve  chiefs  of  the  tribes  are  commanded  to  take  their  rods ,  and  to  write  the  name  of  each  tribe  upon  the 
rod  that  belonged  to  its  representative ;  but  the  name  of  Aaron  is  to  be  written  on  the  rod  of  the  tribe  of 
Levi ,  1—3.  The  rods  are  to  be  laid  up  before  the  Lord ,  who  promises  that  the  man's  rod  whom  he  shall  choose 
for  priest  shall  blossom ,  4,  5.  The  rods  are  produced  and  laid  up  before  the  tabernacle ,  6,  7.  Aaron’s 
rod  alone  buds ,  blossoms,  and  bears  fruit ,  8,  9.  It  is  laid  up  before  the  testimony  as  a  token  of  the  man¬ 
ner  in  which  God  had  disposed  of  the  priesthood,  10,  11.  The  people  are  greatly  terrified,  and  are  appre¬ 
hensive  of  being  destroyed ,  12,  13. 


A.  M.  cir.  2533.  A  ND  the  Lord  spake  unto 

B.  C.  cir.  1471.  jUL  ,  r  .  r 

An.Exod.isr.  Moses,  saying, 

cu'  20‘  2  Speak  unto  the  children  of 

Israel,  and  take  of  every  one  of  them  a  rod 
according  to  the  house  of  tlieir  fathers,  of  all 
their  princes  according  to  the  house  of  their 
fathers  twelve  rods  :  write  thou  every  man’s 
name  upon  his  rod. 

3  And  thou  shalt  write  Aaron’s  name  upon 
the  rod  of  Levi  :  for  one  rod  shall  be  for  the 
head  of  the  house  of  their  fathers. 

4  And  thou  shalt  lay  them  up  in  the  taber¬ 
nacle  of  the  congregation  before  the  testimony, 
a  where  T  will  meet  with  you. 

5  And  it  shall  come  to  pass,  that  the  man’s 
rod,  b  whom  I  shall  choose,  shall  blossom  : 
and  I  will  make  to  cease  from  me  the  mur- 
murings  of  the  children  of  Israel,  c  whereby 
they  murmur  against  you. 


6  And  Moses  spake  unto  the  A.  m.  cir.  2533. 

1  •  i  1  r  t  1  i  B.  C.  cir.  1471. 

children  01  Israel,  and  every  one  An.  Exod.  isr. 
of  their  princes  gave  him  d  a  rod  cir‘  20~ 
apiece,  for  each  prince  one,  according  to  their 
fathers’  houses,  even  twelve  rods  :  and  the  rod 
of  Aaron  was  among  their  rods. 


7  And  Moses  laid  up  the  rods  before  the 
Lord  in  e  the  tabernacle  of  witness. 

8  And  it  came  to  pass,  that  on  the  morrow 
Moses  went  into  the  tabernacle  of  witness  ; 
and,  behold,  the  rod  of  Aaron  for  the  house 
of  Levi  was  budded,  and  brought  forth 
buds,  and  bloomed  blossoms,  and  yielded 
almonds. 

9  And  Moses  brought  out  all  the  rods  from 
before  the  Lord  unto  all  the  children  of 
Israel :  and  they  looked,  and  took  every  man 
his  rod. 

1 0  And  the  Lord  said  unto  Moses,  Bring 


a  Exodus  xxv.  22  ;  xxix.  42,43  ;  xxx.  36. - b  Chapter  xvi.  5. 

c  Chap.  xvi.  11. 


d  Hebrew  a  rod  for  one  prince ,  a  rod  for  one  prince. - e  Exod 

xxxviii.  21  ;  Num.  xviii.  2  ;  Acts  vii.  44. 


NOTES  ON  CHAP.  XVII. 

Verse  2.  And  take  of  every  one  of  them  a  rod ]  HL33 
matteh,  the  staff  or  sceptre ,  which  the  prince  or  chief 
of  each  tribe  bore,  and  which  was  the  sign  of  office  or 
royalty  among  almost  all  the  people  of  the  earth. 

Verse  5.  The  man's  rod,  whom  I  shall  choose,  shall 
blossom ]  It  was  necessary  that  something  farther 
should  be  done  to  quiet  the  minds  of  the  people,  and 
for  ever  to  settle  the  dispute,  in  what  tribe  the  priest¬ 
hood  should  be  fixed.  God  therefore  took  the  method 
described  in  the  text,  and  it  had  the  desired  effect ; 
the  Aaronical  priesthood  was  never  after  disputed. 

Verse  8.  The  rod  of  Aaron — was  budded,  dpc.\  That 
is,  on  the  same  rod  or  staff  were  found  buds,  blossoms , 
ind  ripe  fruit.  This  fact  was  so  unquestionably  mira¬ 
culous,  as  to  decide  the  business  for  ever ;  and  pro¬ 
bably  this  was  intended  to  show  that  in  th e  priesthood, 
represented  by  that  of  Aaron,  the  beginning ,  middle, 
and  end  of  every  good  work  must  be  found.  The  buds 
of  good  desires,  the  blossoms  of  holy  resolutions  and 
promising  professions,  and  the  ripe  fruit  of  faith,  love, 


and  obedience,  all  spring  from  the  priesthood  of  the 
Lord  Jesus.  It  has  been  thought  by  some  that  Aaron’s 
staff  (and  perhaps  the  staves  of  all  the  tribes)  was 
made  out  of  the  amygdald  communis,  or  common  almond 
tree.  In  a  favourable  soil  and  climate  it  grows  to 
twenty  feet  in  height,  is  one  of  the  most  noble,  flou¬ 
rishing  trees  in  nature  :  its  flowers  are  of  a  delicate 
red,  and  it  puts  them  forth  early  in  March,  having  be¬ 
gun  to  bud  in  January.  It  has  its  name  “lpL?  shaked 
from  shakad,  to  awake,  because  it  buds  and  flower 
sooner  than  most  other  trees.  And  it  is  very  likely  that 
the  staves  of  office,  borne  by  the  chiefs  of  all  the  tribes, 
were  made  of  this  tree,  merely  to  signify  that  watch¬ 
fulness  and  assiduous  care  which  the  chiefs  should  take 
of  the  persons  committed,  in  the  course  of  the  Divine 
providence,  to  their  keeping. 

Every  thing  in  this  miracle  is  so  far  beyond  the 
power  of  nature,  that  no  doubt  could  remain  on  the 
minds  of  the  people,  or  the  envious  chiefs,  of  the  Di¬ 
vine  appointment  of  Aaron,  and  of  the  especial  inter¬ 
ference  of  God  in  this  case.  To  see  a  piece  of  wood, 

671 


NUMBERS. 


Aaron’s  rod  is  laid  up. 

A.  M.  cir.  2533.  f  Aaron’s  rod  again  before  the  tes- 

B.  C.  cir.  1471.  .  ,  ,  r  . 

An.  Exod.  isr.  timony,  to  be  kept  s  lor  a  token 

Clr'  20'  against  the  h  rebels  ;  1  and  thou 

shalt  quite  take  away  their  murmurings  from 

me,  that  they  die  not. 

1 1  And  Moses  did  so :  as  the  Lord  com¬ 
manded  him,  so  did  he. 


The  people  are  greatly  afraid . 

1 2  And  the  children  of  Israel  A.  M.  cir.  2533. 

B.  C.  cir.  1471. 

,  saying,  lie-  An.  Exod.  Isr. 

hold,  we  die,  we  perish,  we  all  cir'  20~ 
perish. 

13  k  Whosoever  cometh  any  thing  near  unto 
the  tabernacle  of  the  Lord  shall  die  :  shall 
we  be  consumed  with  dying  ? 


spake  unto  Moses 


*  Heb.  ix.  4 - S  Chap.  xvi.  38. — — h  Heb.  children  of  rebellion. 

long  cut  off  from  the  parent  stock,  without  bark  or 
moisture  remaining,  laid  up  in  a  dry  place  for  a  single 
night ,  with  others  in  the  same  circumstances, — to  see 
such  a  piece  of  wood  resume  and  evince  the  perfec¬ 
tion  of  vegetative  life,  budding ,  blossoming ,  and  bring¬ 
ing  forth  ripe  fruit  at  the  same  time,  must  be  such  a 
demonstration  of  the  peculiar  interference  of  God,  as 
to  silence  every  doubt  and  satisfy  every  scruple.  It 
is  worthy  of  remark  that  a  sceptre ,  or  staff  of  office, 
resuming  its  vegetative  life,  wras  considered  an  abso¬ 
lute  impossibility  among  the  ancients ;  and  as  they 
were  accustomed  to  swear  by  their  sceptres ,  this  cir¬ 
cumstance  was  added  to  establish  and  confirm  the  oath. 
A  remarkable  instance  of  this  we  have  in  Homer, 
Iliad,  lib.  i.,  ver.  233,  &c.,  where  Achilles,  in  his 
rage  against  Agamemnon,  thus  speaks  : — 

AAV  ek  tol  epeu,  sac  etc  psyav  bpsov  oyovyar 
N ai  pa  rode  amp rrpov,  to  pev  ovttote  tyvTdka  icai  o&vc; 
Qvoel,  ETCEibrj  TTpura  roprjv  ev  opEooi  TieTionrev, 

Oed’  avaOffiijoec’  rcepc  yap  [ja  e  ^'aA/cof  eA eibe 

4»t>AAa  te  sac  ^Aoiow . 

.  .  .  .  o  de  tol  peyay  EooETac  opicoy. 

But  hearken :  I  shall  swear  a  solemn  oath  : 

By  this  same  sceptre  which  shall  never  bud, 

Nor  boughs  bring  forth,  as  once  ;  which,  having  left 
Its  parent  on  the  mountain  top,  what  time 
The  woodman’s  axe  lopp’d  off  its  foliage  green , 
And  stripp’d  its  bark ,  shall  never  grow  again. 

CoWPER. 

Virgil  represents  King  Latinus  swearing  in  the 
same  way,  to  confirm  his  covenant  with  AEneas  : — 

Ut  Sceptrum  hoc  (dextra  sceptrum  nam  forte  gerebat) 
Nunquam  fronde  levi  fundet  virgulta  neque  umbras , 
Cum  semel  in  silvis  imo  de  stirpe  recisum. 


1  Ver.  5. - k  Chap.  i.  51,  53  ;  xviii.  4,  7. 

Matre  caret,  posuitque  comas  et  brachia  ferro ; 

Olim  arbos ,  nunc  artificis  inanus  sere  decoro 
Inclusit,  patribusque  dedit  gestare  Latinis. 

Talibus  inter  se  firmabant  foedera  dictis. 

iEn.,  lib.  xii.,  ver.  206—12. 

Even  as  this  royal  sceptre  (for  he  bore 
A  sceptre  in  his  hand)  shall  never  more 
Shoot  out  in  branches,  or  renew  the  birth  ; 

An  orphan  now,  cut  from  the  mother  earth 
By  the  keen  axe,  dishonour’d  of  its  hair , 

And  cased  in  brass,  for  Latian  kings  to  bear. 

And  thus  in  public  view  the  peace  was  tied 
With  solemn  vows,  and  sworn  on  either  side. 

Dryden. 

When  the  circumstance  of  the  rod  or  sceptre  being 
used  anciently  in  this  way,  and  the  absolute  impossi¬ 
bility  of  its  revivescence  so  strongly  appealed  to,  is 
considered,  it  appears  to  have  been  a  very  proper  in¬ 
strument  for  the  present  occasion,  for  the  change  that 
passed  on  it  must  be  acknowledged  as  an  immediate 
and  incontestable  miracle. 

Verse  12.  Behold,  ive  die,  we  perish,  we  all  perish .] 
UyiJ  gavaenu  signifies  not  so  much  to  die  simply,  as 
to  feel  an  extreme  difficulty  of  breathing,  which,  pro¬ 
ducing  suffocation,  ends  at  last  in  death.  See  the  folly 
and  extravagance  of  this  sinful  people.  At  first,  every 
person  might  come  near  io  God,  for  all,  they  thought, 
were  sufficiently  holy,  and  every  way  qualified  to  mi¬ 
nister  in  holy  things.  Now,  no  one,  in  their  appre¬ 
hension,  can  come  near  to  the  tabernacle  without  be¬ 
ing  consumed,  ver.  13.  In  both  cases  they  were 
wrong  ;  some  there  were  who  might  approach,  others 
there  were  who  might  not.  God  had  put  the  differ¬ 
ence.  His  decision  should  have  been  final  with  them ; 
but  sinners  are  ever  running  into  extremes. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

The  priests  are  to  bear  the  iniquity  of  the  sanctuary,  1.  The  Levites  to  minister  to  the  priests,  and  have 
charge  of  the  tabernacle,  2—4.  The  priests  alone  to  have  the  charge  of  the  sanctuary,  dye.,  no  stranger  to 
come  nigh  on  pain  of  death,  5-7.  The  portion  allowed  for  their  maintenance,  8.  They  shall  have  every 
meat-offering;  and  they  shall  eat  them  in  the  holy  place,  9,  10.  The  wave- offerings,  11.  The  first- 
fruits  of  the  oil,  wine,  and  wheat,  and  whatever  is  first  ripe,  and  every  devoted  thing,  12-14  ;  also,  all  the 
first-born  of  men  and  beasts,  15—18  ;  and  heave- offerings,  19.  The  priests  shall  have  no  inheritance,  20. 
The  Levites  shall  have  no  inheritance,  but  shall  have  the  tenth  of  the  produce  in  Israel ,  21—24,  of  ivhieh 
they  are  to  give  a  tenth  to  the  priests ,  taken  from  the  best  parts,  25—30. 

672  a 


The  office charge ,  and  emoluments  CHAP. 

A.  M.  cir.  2533.  A  ND  the  Lord  said  unto  Aaron, 

B.  C.  cir.  1471.  J~x  . 

An.  Exod.  Isr.  a  Thou  and  thy  sons,  and  thy 

cir'  20~ _ father’s  house  with  thee,  shall 

b  bear  the  iniquity  of  the  sanctuary  :  and  thou 

and  thy  sons  with  thee  shall  bear  the  iniquity 

of  your  priesthood. 

2  And  thy  brethren  also  of  the  tribe  of  Levi, 
the  tribe  of  thy  father,  bring  thou  with  thee, 
that  they  may  be  c  joined  unto  thee,  and 
d  minister  unto  thee  :  but  e  thou  and  thy  sons 
with  thee  shall  minister  before  the  tabernacle 
of  witness. 

3  And  they  shall  keep  thy  charge,  and  f  the 
charge  of  all  the  tabernacle  :  s  only  they  shall 
not  come  nigh  the  vessels  of  the  sanctuary  and 
the  altar,  11  that  neither  they,  nor  ye  also,  die. 

4  And  they  shall  be  joined  unto  thee,  and 
keep  the  charge  of  the  tabernacle  of  the  con¬ 
gregation,  for  all  the  service  of  the  tabernacle : 
1  and  a  stranger  shall  not  come  nigh  unto  you. 

5  And  ye  shall  keep  k  the  charge  of  the  sanc¬ 
tuary,  and  the  charge  of  the  altar :  1  that  there  be 
no  wrath  any  more  upon  the  children  of  Israel. 

6  And  I,  behold,  I  have  m  taken  your  bre¬ 
thren  the  Le rites  from  among  the  children  of 
Israel  :  n  to  you  they  are  given  as  a  gift  for 
the  Lord,  to  do  the  service  of  the  tabernacle 
of  the  congregation. 

7  Therefore  0  thou  and  thy  sons  with  thee 
shall  keep  your  priest’s  office  for  every  thing 
of  the  altar,  and  p  within  the  veil ;  and  ye 
shall  serve  :  I  have  given  your  priest’s  office 
unto  you  as  a  service  of  gift :  and  the  stranger 
that  cometh  nigh  shall  be  put  to  death. 

8  And  the  Lord  spake  unto  Aaron,  Behold, 
q  I  also  have  given  thee  the  charge  of  mine 

a  Chap.  xvii.  1.3. - b  Exod.  xxviii.  38. - c  See  Gen.  xxix. 

34. - d  Chap.  iii.  6,  7. - e  Chap.  iii.  10. - f  Chap.  iii.  25,31, 

36. - sChap.  xvi.  40. - h  Chap.  iv.  15. - •*  Chap.  iii.  10. 

Exodus  xxvii.  21  ;  xxx.  7  ;  Leviticus  xxiv.  3;  chap.  viii.  2. 

1  Chap.  xvi.  46. - m  Chap.  iii.  12,  45. - n  Chap.  iii.  9  ;  viii. 

19. - 0  Ver.  5  ;  chap.  iii.  10. - P  Heb.  ix.  3,  6. - ^Lev.  vi. 

16, 18, 26  ;  vii.  6,  32  ;  chap.  v.  9. - r  Exod.  xxix.  29  ;  xl.  13,  15. 

*  Lev.  ii.  2,  3  ;  x.  12,  13. - 1  Lev.  iv.  22,  27  ;  vi.  25,  26. 

NOTES  ON  CHAP.  XVIII. 

Verse  1.  Thou  and  thy  sons — shall  bear  the  iniqui¬ 
ty  of  the  sanctuary ,  dpc.]  That  is,  They  must  be  an¬ 
swerable  for  its  legal  pollutions,  and  must  make  the 
necessary  atonements  and  expiations.  By  this  th^y 
must  feel  that  though  they  had  got  a  high  and  impor¬ 
tant  office  confirmed  to  them  by  a  miraculous  inter¬ 
ference,  yet  it  was  a  place  of  the  highest  responsibili¬ 
ty ;  and  that  they  must  not  be  high-minded,  but  fear. 

Verse  2.  Thy  brethren  also  of  the  tribe  of  Levi — 
may  be  joined  unto  thee]  There  is  a  fine  paronomasia, 
or  play  upon  words,  in  the  original,  ub  Levi  comes 
Vol.  I.  (  44  ) 


XVIII.  of  the  priests  and  Levites. 

heave-offerings  of  all  the  hallowed  a.  M.  cir.  2533. 
things  of  the  children  of  Israel ;  An.  Exod.  isr* 

unto  thee  have  I  given  them  r  by  Clr‘  2a _ 

reason  of  the  anointing,  and  to  thy  sons,  by 
an  ordinance  for  ever. 

9  This  shall  be  thine  of  the  most  holy  things, 
reserved  from  the  fire  :  every  oblation  of  theirs, 
every  R  meat-offering  of  theirs,  and  every  1  sin- 
offering  of  theirs,  and  every  n  trespass-offering 
of  theirs,  which  they  shall  render  unto  me, 
shall  he  most  holy  for  thee  and  for  thy  sons. 

10  v  In  the  most  holyy>/ace  shalt  thou  eat  it; 
every  male  shall  eat  it :  it  shall  be  holy  unto 
thee. 

1 1  And  this  is  thine  ;  w  the  heave-offering  of 
their  gift,  with  all  the  wave-offerings  of  the 
children  of  Israel :  I  have  given  them  unto 
x  thee,  and  to  thy  sons  and  to  thy  daughters 
with  thee,  by  a  statute  for  ever  :  y  every  one 
that  is  clean  in  thy  house  shall  eat  of  it. 

12  z  All  the  abest  of  the  oil,  and  all  the  best 
of  the  wine,  and  of  the  wheat,  b  the  first- 
fruits  of  them  which  they  shall  offer  unto  the 
Lord,  them  have  I  given  thee. 

13  And  whatsoever  is  first  ripe  in  the  land, 
c  which  they  shall  bring  unto  the  Lord,  shall 
be  thine  ;  d  every  one  that  is  clean  in  thine 
house  shall  eat  of  it. 

14  e  Every  thing  devoted  in  Israel  shall  be 
thine. 

1 5  Every  thing  that  openeth  f  the  matrix  in 
all  flesh,  which  they  bring  unto  the  Lord, 
whether  it  he  of  men  or  beasts,  shall  be  thine : 
nevertheless  s  the  first-born  of  man  shall  thou 
surely  redeem,  and  the  firstling  of  unclean 
beasts  shalt  thou  redeem. 

uLev.  v.  1  ;  vii.  7  ;  x.  12  ;  xiv.  13. - vLev.  vi.  16,  18,  26,  29  ; 

vii.  6. - w  Exod.  xxix.  27, 28  ;  Lev.  vii.  30, 34.  x  Lev.  x.  14; 

Deut..  xviii.  3. - y  Lev.  xxii.  2,  3,  11,  12,  13-  z  Exod.  xxiii. 

19;  Deut.  xviii.  4;  Neh.  x.  35,  36, - aHeb.  fat;  ver.  29. 

b  Exod.  xxii.  29. - c  Exod.  xxii.  29 ;  xxm.  19  ;  xxxiv.  26  ;  Lev. 

ii.  14  ;  chap.  xv.  19  ;  Deut.  xxvi.  2. - d  Ver.  11. - -e  Lev.  xxvn. 

28. - f  Exod.  xiii.  2;  xxii.  29;  Lev.  xxii.  26;  chap.  iii.  13. 

s  Exod.  xiii.  13  ;  xxxiv.  20. 

from  the  root  mb  Javah,  to  join  to,  couple ,  associate  : 
hence  Moses  says,  the  Levites ,  lib’  yillavu,  shall  be 
joined,  or  associated  with  the  priests ;  they  shall  con¬ 
jointly  perform  the  whole  of  the  sacred  office,  but  the 
priests  shall  be  principal,  the  Levites  only  their  asso¬ 
ciates  or  assistants.  For  an  explanation  of.  many 
parts  of  this  chapter,  see  the  notes  on  several  of  the 
passages  referred  to  in  the  margin. 

Verse  15.  The  first-born  of  man — and  the  firstling 
of  unclean  beasts ]  Thus  vain  man  is  ranked  with  the 
beasts  that  perish ;  and  with  the  worst  kinds  of  them 
too,  those  deemed  unclean. 

673 


The  portion  granted  to  NUMBERS.  the  priests  and  Levites, 


A.  M.  cir.  2533.  16  And  those  that  are  to  be 

An.  Exod.  isr.  redeemed  from  a  month  old  shalt 
cir’  2Q~  thou  redeem,  h  according  to  thine 
estimation,  for  the  money  of  five  shekels,  after 
the  shekel  of  the  sanctuary,  1  which  is  twenty 
gerahs. 

17  k  But  the  firstling  of  a  cow,  or  the  first¬ 
ling  of  a  sheep,  or  the  firstling  of  a  goat, 
thou  shalt  not  redeem  ;  they  axe  holy  :  1  thou 
shalt  sprinkle  their  blood  upon  the  altar,  and 
shalt  burn  their  fat  for  an  offering  made  by 
fire,  for  a  sweet  savour  unto  the  Lord. 

b  Lev.  xxvii.  2,  6  ;  chap.  iii.  47. - 1  Exod.  xxx.  13  ;  Lev.  xxvii. 

25;  chap.  iii.  47  ;  Ezek.  xlv.  12. - k  Deut.  xv.  19. 

Yerse  16.  Shalt  thou  redeem — -for  the  money  of  five 
shekels ]  Redemption  of  the  first-born  is  one  of  the 
rites  which  is  still  practised  among  the  Jews.  Ac¬ 
cording  to  Leo  of  Modena,  it  is  performed  in  the  fol¬ 
lowing  manner  : — When  the  child  is  thirty  days  old, 
the  father  sends  for  one  of  the  descendants  of  Aaron  : 
several  persons  being  assembled  on  the  occasion,  the 
father  brings  a  cup  containing  several  pieces  of  gold 
and  silver  coin.  The  priest  then  takes  the  child  into 
his  arms,  and  addressing  himself  to  the  mother,  says  : 
Is  this  thy  son  ? — Mother.  Yes. — Priest.  Hast 
thou  never  had  another  child ,  male  or  female,  a  mis¬ 
carriage  or  untimely  birth  ? — Mother.  No. — Priest. 
This  being  the  case,  this  child,  as  first-born,  belongs  to 
rne.  Then,  turning  to  the  father,  he  says  :  If  it  be 
thy  desire  to  have  this  child,  thou  must  redeem  it. — 
Father.  I  present  thee  with  this  gold  and  silver  for 
this  purpose. — Priest.  Thou  dost  wish,  therefore,  to 
redeem  the  child  ? — Father.  I  do  wish  so  to  do. — 
The  priest  then,  turning  himself  to  the  assembly,  says  : 
Very  well ;  this  child,  as  first-born,  is  mine,  as  it  is 
written  in  Bemidbar,  (Num.  xviii.  16,)  Thou  shalt  re¬ 
deem  the  first-born  of  a  month  old  for  five  shekels, 
but  I  shall  content  myself  with  this  in  exchange.  He 
then  takes  two  gold  crowns,  or  thereabouts,  and  re¬ 
turns  the  child  to  his  parents. 

Yerse  19.  It  is  a  covenant  of  salt]  That  is,  an  in¬ 
corruptible,  everlasting  covenant.  As  salt  was  added 
to  different  kinds  of  viands,  not  only  to  give  them  a 
relish,  but  to  preserve  them  from  putrefaction  and  de¬ 
cay,  it  became  the  emblem  of  incorruptibility  and  per¬ 
manence.  Hence,  a  covenant  of  salt  signified  an 
everlasting  covenant.  We  have  already  seen  that, 
among  the  Asiatics,  eating  together  was  deemed  a 
bond  of  perpetual  friendship ;  and  as  salt  was  a  com¬ 
mon  article  in  all  their  repasts,  it  may  be  in  reference 
to  this  circumstance  that  a  perpetual  covenant  is 
termed  a  covenant  of  salt ;  because  the  parties  ate  to¬ 
gether  of  the  sacrifice  offered  on  the  occasion,  and  the 
whole  transaction  was  considered  as  a  league  of  end¬ 
less  friendship.  See  the  note  on  Lev.  ii.  13. 

Yerse  20.  I  am  thy  part  and  thine  inheritance]  The 
principal  part  of  what  was  offered  to  God  w7as  the 
portion  of  the  priests,  therefore  they  had  no  inherit¬ 
ance  of  land  in  Israel ;  independently  of  that  they  had 
a  very  ample  provision  for  their  support.  The  rabbins 
a  674 


18  And  the  flesh  of  them  shall  A.  M.  cir.  2533. 

,  •.  .  .  ,  B.  C.  cir.  1471. 

be  thine,  as  the  m  wave-breast,  An.  Exod.  isr. 

and  as  the  right  shoulder  are  Clr~  20~ 

thine. 

19  n  All  the  heave-offerings  of  the  holy 
things,  which  the  children  of  Israel  offer  unto 
the  Lord,  have  I  given  thee,  and  thy  sons 
and  thy  daughters  with  thee,  by  a  statute  for 
ever  :  0  it  is  a  covenant  of  salt  for  ever  before 
the  Lord,  unto  thee  and  to  thy  seed  with  thee. 

20  And  the  Lord  spake  unto  Aaron,  Thou 
shalt  have  no  inheritance  in  their  land,  neither 

e  Lev.  iii.  2,  5. - m  Exod.  xxix.  26,  28;  Lev.  vii.  31,  32,  34. 

n  Yer.  11. - 0  Lev.  ii.  13  ;  2  Chron.  xiii.  5. 

say  twenty-four  gifts  were  given  to  the  priests,  and 
they  are  all  expressed  in  the  law.  Eight  of  those 
gifts  the  priests  ate  nowhere  but  in  the  sanctuary  : 
these  eight  are  the  following : — 

1.  The  flesh  of  the  sin-offering,  whether  of  beasts 
or  fowls,  Lev.  vi.  25,  26. 

2.  The  flesh  of  the  trespass-offering,  Lev.  vii.  1,6. 

3.  The  peace-offerings  of  the  congregation,  Lev. 
xxiii.  19,  20. 

4.  The  remainder  of  the  omer  or  sheaf,  Lev.  xxiii. 
10,  &c. 

5.  The  remnants  of  the  meat-offerings  of  the  Is¬ 
raelites,  Lev.  vi.  16. 

6.  The  two  loaves,  Lev.  xxiii.  17. 

7.  The  shew-bread,  Lev.  xxiv.  9. 

8.  The  log  of  oil  offered  by  the  leper,  Lev.  xiv. 
10,  &c. 

Five  of  those  gifts  they  ate  only  in  Jerusalem  : — 

1 .  The  breast  and  shoulder  of  the  peace-offerings, 
Lev.  vii.  31,  34. 

2.  The  heave-offering  of  the  sacrifice  of  confes¬ 
sion,  Lev.  vii.  12—14. 

3.  The  heave-offering  of  the  Nazarite’s  ram,  Lev. 
vi.  17-20. 

4.  The  firstling  of  the  clean  beast,  Num.  xviii.  15  ; 
Deut.  xv.  19,  20. 

5.  The  first-fruits,  Num.  xviii.  13 

Five  gifts  were  not  due  unto  them  by  the  law,  but 
in  the  land  of  Israel  only  : — 

1.  The  heave-offering  or  first-fruits,  Num.  xviii. 
12. 

2.  The  heave-offering  of  the  tithe,  Num.  xviii.  28. 

3.  The  cake,  Num.  xv.  20.  These  three  were  holy. 

4.  The  first-fruits  of  the  fleece,  Deut.  xviii.  4. 

5.  The  field  of  possession,  Num.  xxxv.  These 
two  were  common. 

Five  gifts  were  due  unto  them  both  within  and 
without  the  land  : — 

1.  The  gifts  o-f  the  beasts  slain,  Deut.  xviii.  3. 

2.  The  redemption  of  the  first-born  son,  Num, 
xviii.  15. 

3.  The  lamb  for  the  firstling  of  an  ass,  Exod.  iv. 
20  ;  Num.  xviii. 

4.  The  restitution  of  that  taken  by  violence  from  a 
stranger,  Num.  v.  8. 

5.  All  devoted  things,  Num.  xviii.  14. 

(  44*  ) 


The  Levites  to  have  no  inheritance ,  CHAP.  XVIII. 


hut  the  tenth  of  the  produce 


A.  M.  cir.  2533. 

B.  C.  cir.  1471. 
An.  Exod.  Isr. 

cir.  20. 


shalt  thou  have  any  part  among 
them  :  p  I  thy  part  and  thine 
inheritance  among  the  children 


of  Israel. 

21  And,  behold,  q  I  have  given  the  children  of 
Levi  all  the  tenth  in  Israel  for  an  inheritance, 
for  their  service  which  they  serve,  even  r  the 
service  of  the  tabernacle  of  the  congregation. 

22  s  Neither  must  the  children  of  Israel 
henceforth  come  nigh  the  tabernacle  of  the 
congregation, *  1 2 3 4  lest  they  bear  sin,  11  and  die. 

23  v  But  the  Levites  shall  do  the  service  of 
the  tabernacle  of  the  congregation,  and  they 
shall  bear  their  iniquity  :  it  shall  he  a  statute 
for  ever  throughout  your  generations,  that 
among  the  children  of  Israel  they  have  no  in¬ 
heritance. 

24  w  But  the  tithes  of  the  children  of  Israel, 
which  they  offer  as  a  heave-offering  unto  the 
Lord,  I  have  given  to  the  Levites  to  inherit : 
therefore  I  have  said  unto  them,  x  Among 
the  children  of  Israel  they  shall  have  no  in¬ 
heritance. 

25  And  the  Lord  spake  unto  Moses,  saying, 

26  Thus  speak  unto  the  Levites,  and  say 
unto  them,  When  ye  take  of  the  children  of 
Israel  the  tithes  which  I  have  given  you  from 
them  for  your  inheritance,  then  ye  shall  offer 


up  a  heave-offering  of  it  for  a.  M.  cir.  2533. 

f  ,  a  .  r  B.  C.  cir.  1471 

the  Lord,  even  y  a  tenth  part  01  An.  Exod.  isr. 

the  tithe.  cir-  20- 

27  z  And  this  your  heave-offering  shall  be 
reckoned  unto  you,  as  though  it  were  the 
corn  of  the  threshing-floor,  and  as  the  fulness 
of  the  wine-press. 

28  Thus  ye  also  shall  offer  a  heave-offering 
unto  the  Lord  of  all  your  tithes,  which  ye  re¬ 
ceive  of  the  children  of  Israel ;  and  ye  shall 
give  thereof  the  Lord’s  heave-offering  to 
Aaron  the  priest. 

29  Out  of  all  your  gifts  ye  shall  offer  every 
heave-offering  of  the  Lord,  of  all  the  a  best 
thereof,  even  the  hallowed  part  thereof  out  of  it. 

30  Therefore  thou  shalt  say  unto  them, 
When  ye  have  heaved  the  best  thereof  from 
it,  b  then  it  shall  be  counted  unto  the  Levites 
as  the  increase  of  the  threshing-floor,  and  as 
the  increase  of  the  wine-press. 

3  1  And  ye  shall  eat  it  in  every  place,  ye  and 
your  households  :  for  it  is  c  your  reward  for 
your  service  in  the  tabernacle  of  the  congre¬ 
gation. 

32  And  ye  shall  d  bear  no  sin  by  reason  of 
it,  when  ye  have  heaved  from  it  the  best  of  it : 
neither  shall  ye  e  pollute  the  holy  things  of  the 
children  of  Israel,  lest  ye  die. 


P  Deut.  x.  9  ;  xii.  12  ;  xiv.  27,  29  ;  xviii.  1,  2;  Josh.  xiii.  14, 

33  ;  xiv.  3  ;  xviii.  7  ;  Psa.  xvi.  5  ;  Ezek.  xliv.  28. - 'i  Ver.  24, 

26  ;  Lev.  xxvii.  30,  32  ;  Neh.  x.  37;  xii.  44  ;  Heb.  vii.  5,  8,  9. 
r  Chap.  iii.  7, 8. - s  Chap.  i.  51. — c  Lev.  xxii.  9. - u  Heb.  to  die. 


v  Chap.  iii.  7. - w  Ver.  21. - x  Ver.  20  ;  Deut.  x.  9  ;  xiv. 

27,  29  ;  xviii.  1. - y  Neh.  x.  38. - z  Ver.  30. - a  Heb.  fat  ; 

ver.  12. - •>  Ver.  27. - c  Matt.  x.  10  ;  Luke  x.  7  ;  1  Cor.  ix.  13  ; 

1  Tim.  v.  18. - '•Lev.  xix.  8;  xxii.  i6. - e  Lev.  xxii.  2,  15. 


One  gift  was  due  unto  them  from  the  sanctuary  : — 

1.  The  skins  of  the  burnt- offering,  and  all  the  skins 
of  the  other  most  holy  things,  Lev.  vii.  8.  In  all  24. 
See  Ainsworth. 

The  gifts  which  the  females  of  the  priests’  families 
had  a  part  in  were  these  : — 

1.  The  heave-offering ,  or  first-fruits.  2.  The 

heave-offering  of  the  tithe.  3.  The  cake.  4.  The 
gifts  of  the  beast ,  Deut.  xviii.  3.  5.  The  first  of  the 

fleece. — See  Mishna,  Tract.  Biccurim ,  and  Ainsworth 
on  the  Pentateuch. 

Besides  all  this  the  priests  had  the  tribute  money 
mentioned  Num.  xxxi.  28,  29. 

Verse  2 1 .  Behold ,  I  have  given  the  children  of  Levi 
all  the  tenth ]  First,  the  Levites  had  the  tenth  of  all 
the  productions  of  the  land. 

2.  They  had  forty-eight  cities,  each  forming  a  square 
of  4,000  cubits. 

3.  They  had  2,000  cubits  of  ground  round  each  city. 

Total  of  the  land  they  possessed,  53,000  acres. 

4.  They  had  the  first-fruits  and  certain  parts  of  all 
the  animals  killed  in  the  land. 

Canaan  contained  about  11,264,000  acres;  there¬ 
fore  the  portion  possessed  by  the  Levites  was  rather 
less  than  as  one  to  two  hundred  and  twelve ;  for 

a 


11,264,000  divided  by  53,000,  quotes  only  212f§. — 
See  Lowman,  Dodd ,  &c.  But  though  this  wras  a  very 
small  proportion  for  a  whole  tribe  that  had  consented 
to  annihilate  its  political  existence ,  that  it  might  wait 
upon  the  service  of  God,  and  labour  for  the  people’s 
souls  ;  yet  let  it  be  considered  that  what  they  possess¬ 
ed  was  the  best  of  the  land :  and  while  it  was  a  slen¬ 
der  remuneration  for  their  services,  yet  their  portion 
was  such  as  rendered  them  independent,  and  kept  them 
comfortable ;  so  that  they  could  wrait  on  the  Lord’s 
work  without  distraction.  This  is  a  proper  pattern 
for  the  maintenance  of  the  ministers  of  God  :  let  them 
have  a  sufficiency  for  themselves  and  families ,  that 
there  may  be  no  distracting  cares ;  and  let  them  not 
be  encumbered  with  riches  or  worldly  possessions ,  that 
they  may  not  be  prevented  from  taking  care  of  souls. 

Verse  28.  Thus  ye  also  shall  offer  a  heave-offering ] 
As  the  Levites  had  the  tithe  of  the  whole  land,  they 
themselves  were  obliged  to  give  the  tithe  of  this  tithe 
to  the  priests,  so  that  this  considerably  lessened  their 
revenue.  And  this  tithe  or  tenth  they  w'ere  obliged  to 
select  from  the  best  part  of  the  substance  they  had  re¬ 
ceived,  ver.  29,  &c.  A  portion  of  all  must  be  given 
to  God,  as  an  evidence  of  his  goodness,  and  their  de¬ 
pendence  on  him.  See  the  end  of  chap.  xx. 

675 


The  ordinance  of 


NUMBERS., 


the  red  heifer 


CHAPTER  XIX, 


The  ordinance  of  the  red  heifer ,  1,2.  She  shall  he  slain  by  Eleazai  without  the  camp,  and  her  blood 
sprinkled  before  the  tabernacle ,  3,  4.  Her  whole  body  and  appurtenance  shall  be  reduced  to  ashes ,  and 
while  burning ,  cedar  wood,  scarlet ,  and  hyssop ,  shall  be  thrown  into  the  fire ,  5,  6.  The  priest ,  and  he  that 
burns  her,  to  bathe  themselves  and  be  reputed  unclean  till  the  evening,  7,  8.  Her  ashes  to  be  laid  up  for  a 
water  of  purification,  9.  How,  and  in  what  cases  it  is  to  be  applied,  10—13.  The  law  concerning  him 
who  dies  in  a  tent,  or  who  is  hilled  in  the  open  field,  14—16.  How  the  persons ,  tent,  and  vessels  are  to  be 
purified  by  the  application  of  these  ashes ,  17—19.  The  unclean  person  who  does  not  apply  them ,  to  be  cut 
off  from  the  congregation,  20.  This  is  to  be  a  perpetual  statute,  21,  22. 


A.  M.  cir.  2533.  A  ND  the  Lord  spake  unto 

B.  C. cir.  1471.  Ix.  __  ,  . 

An.  Exodlsr.  Moses  and  unto  Aaron,  say- 

_ _ cir'  2°‘ _  in g, 

2  This  is  the  ordinance  of  the  law  which  the 
Lord  hath  commanded,  saying,  Speak  unto 
the  children  of  Israel,  that  they  bring  thee  a 
red  heifer  without  spot,  wherein  is  no  blemish, 
a  and  upon  which  never  came  yoke  : 

3  And  ye  shall  give  her  unto  Eleazar  the 
priest,  that  he  may  bring  her  b  forth  without 
the  camp,  and  one  shall  slay  her  before  his 
face  : 

4  And  Eleazar  the  priest  shall  take  of  her 
blood  with  his  finger,  and  c  sprinkle  of  her 

aDeut.  xxi.  3  ;  1  Sam.  vi.  7. - b  Lev.  iv.  12,  21  ;  xvi.  27  •>  Heb. 

xiii.  11. - c  Lev.  iv.  6  ;  xvi.  14, 19  ;  Heb.  ix.  13. 

NOTES  ON  CHAP.  NIX. 

Verse  2.  Speak  unto  the  children  of  Israel  that  they 
bring  thee,  dye.']  The  ordinance  of  the  red  heifer  was 
a  sacrifice  of  general  application.  All  the  people  were 
to  have  an  interest  in  it,  and  therefore  the  people  at 
large  are  to  provide  the  sacrifice.  This  Jewish  rite 
certainly  had  a  reference  to  things  done  under  the 
Gospel,  as  the  author  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews 
has  remarked  :  “  For  if,”  says  he,  “  the  blood  of  bulls 
and  of  goats,”  alluding,  probably,  to  the  sin-offerings 
and  the  scape-goat,  “  and  the  ashes  of  a  heifer,  sprink¬ 
ling  the  unclean,  sanctifieth  to  the  purifying  of  the 
flesh  ;  how  much  more  shall  the  blood  of  Christ,  who 
through  the  eternal  Spirit  offered  himself  without  spot 
to  God,  purge  your  conscience  from  dead  works  to 
serve  the  living  God!”  Heb.  ix.  13,  14.  As  the 
principal  stress  of  the  allusion  here  is  to  the  ordinance 
of  the  red  heifer ,  we  may  certainly  conclude  that  it  was 
designed  to  typify  the  sacrifice  of  our  blessed  Lord. 

We  may  remark  several  curious  particulars  in  this 
ordinance. 

1.  A  heifer  was  appointed  for  a  sacrifice,  probably, 
in  opposition  to  the  Egyptian  superstition  which  held 
these  sacred,  and  actually  worshipped  their  great  god¬ 
dess  Isis  under  this  form  ;  and  this  appears  the  more 
likely  because  males  in  general  were  preferred  for  sa¬ 
crifice,  yet  here  the  female  is  chosen. 

2.  It  was  to  be  a  red  heifer,  because  red  bulls  were 
sacrificed  to  appease  the  evil  demon  Typhon,  worship¬ 
ped  among  the  Egyptians.  See  Spencer. 

3.  The  heifer  was  to  be  iviihout  spot — having  no 
mixture  of  any  other  colour.  Plutarch  remarks,  De 

676 


blood  directly  before  the  taberna-  A.  M.  cir.  2533. 

.  f  1  •  B.  C.  cir.  1471. 

cle  oi  the  congregation  seven  An.  Exod.  Isr. 

times  :  cir‘ * * * 4 5 * * * * * * * * * * * * * *  20‘ 

5  And  one  shall  burn  the  heifer  in  his  sight , 
d  her  skin,  and  her  flesh,  and  her  blood,  with 
her  dung,  shall  he  burn  : 

6  And  the  priest  shall  take  e  cedar  wood, 
and  hyssop,  and  scarlet,  and  cast  it  into  the 
midst  of  the  burning  of  the  heifer. 

7  f  Then  the  priest  shall  wash  his  clothes, 
and  he  shall  bathe  his  flesh  in  water,  and 
afterward  he  shall  come  into  the  camp,  and 
the  priest  shall  be  unclean  until  the  even. 

8  And  he  that  burneth  her  shall  wash  his 

d  Exodus  xxix.  14;  Lev.  iv.  11,  12. - e  Lev.  xiv.  4,  6,  49. 

f  Lev.  xi.  25  ;  xv.  5. 

Iside  el  de  Osiride ,  that  if  there  was  a  single  hair  in 

the  animal  either  white  or  black,  it  marred  the  sacrifice. 

See  Calmet ,  and  see  the  note  on  chap.  viii.  7. 

4.  Without  blemish — having  no  kind  of  imperfec¬ 
tion  in  her  body ;  the  other,  probably,  applying  to  the 
hair  or  colour. 

5.  On  which  never  came  yoke,  because  any  animal 
which  had  been  used  for  any  common  purpose  was 
deemed  improper  to  be  offered  in  sacrifice  to  God. 
The  heathens,  who  appear  to  have  borrowed  much  from 
the  Hebrews,  were  very  scrupulous  in  this  particular. 
Neither  the  Greeks  nor  Romans,  nor  indeed  the  Egyp¬ 
tians,  would  offer  an  animal  in  sacrifice  that  had  been 
employed  for  agricultural  purposes.  Of  this  we  have 
the  most  positive  evidence  from  Homer ,  Porphyry , 

Virgil,  and  Macrobius. 

Just  such  a  sacrifice  as  that  prescribed  here,  does 
Diomede  vow  to  offer  to  Pallas. — Iliad, lib.  x.,ver.  291. 

'&£  vvv  fiot  ede\ovaa  TtapioTacro,  nai  ye  tyvhaooe' 

2 oi  6’  av  eye)  /frefo  /3ovv  T}viv  evpvyeTOKov, 

AdfiTjTjjv,  i/v  ovkg)  vi ro  i^vyov  rjyayev  avrjp' 

T Tjv  toi  eye)  pe^o,  xpvcrov  nepaoLV  Tcepixmay. 

•  * 

“  So  now  be  present,  O  celestial  maid ; 

So  still  continue  to  the  race  thine  aid  ; 

A  yearling  heifer  falls  beneath  the  stroke, 
Untamed,  unconscious  of  the  galling  yoke , 

With  ample  forehead  and  with  spreading  horns, 
Whose  tapering  tops  refulgent  gold  adorns .” 

x\ltered  from  Pope. 

In  the  very  same  words  Nestor,  Odyss.,lib.  iii.,ver. 

382,  promises  a  similar  sacrifice  to  Pallas. 

a 


Ordinances  relative 


CHAP.  XIX. 


A.  M.  cir.  2533.  clothes  in  water,  and  bathe  his 
An.  Exod.  isr.  flesh  in  water,  and  shall  be  un- 
cir‘  20~  clean  until  the  even. 

9  And  a  man  that  is  clean  shall  gather  up 
&  the  ashes  of  the  heifer,  and  lay  them  up  with¬ 
out  the  camp  in  a  clean  place,  and  it  shall  be 
kept  for  the  congregation  of  the  children  of 
Israel  h  for  a  water  of  separation  :  it  is  a  puri¬ 
fication  for  sin. 

10  And  he  that  gathereth  the  ashes  of  the 
heifer  shall  wash  his  clothes,  and  be  unclean 
until  the  even  :  and  it  shall  be  unto  the  chil¬ 
dren  of  Israel,  and  unto  the  stranger  that  so- 
journeth  among  them,  for  a  statute  for  ever. 

1 1  1  He  that  toucheth  the  dead  body  of  any 
k  man  shall  be  unclean  seven  days. 

1 2  1  He  shall  purify  himself  with  it  on  the 
third  day,  and  on  the  seventh  day  he  shall  be 
clean  :  but  if  he  purify  not  himself  the  third 
day,  then  the  seventh  day  he  shall  not  be  clean. 

13  Whosoever  toucheth  the  dead  body  of 
any  man  that  is  dead,  and  purifieth  not  him¬ 
self,  m  defileth  the  tabernacle  of  the  Lord  ; 
and  that  soul  shall  be  cut  off  from  Israel  :  be¬ 
cause  11  the  water  of  separation  was  not  sprinkled 
upon  him,  he  shall  be  unclean  ;  0  his  unclean¬ 
ness  is  yet  upon  him. 

14  This  is  the  law,  when  a  man  dieth  in  a 
tent :  all  that  come  into  the  tent,  and  all  that 
is  in  the  tent,  shall  be  unclean  seven  days. 

15  And  every  p  open  vessel,  which  hath  no 
covering  bound  upon  it,  is  unclean. 

16  And  ^whosoever  toucheth  one  that  is 

s  Heb.  ix.  13. - h  Ver.  13,  20,  21 ;  chap.  xxxi.  23. - *  Ver. 

16  ;  Lev.  xxi.  1 ;  chap.  v.  2  ;  ix.  6,  10  ;  xxxi.  19  ;  Lam.  iv.  14  ; 

Hag.  ii.  13. - k  Heb.  soid  of  man. - 1  Chap.  xxxi.  19. - mLev. 

xv.  31. - “%Ver.  9  ;  chap.  viii.  7. 

The  Romans  had  the  same  religion  with  the  Greeks, 
and  consequently  the  same  kind  of  sacrifices  ;  so  Vir¬ 
gin  Georg,  iv.,  ver.  550. 

Quatuor  eximios  praestanti  corpore  tauros 
Ducit,  et  Intacta  tolidem  cervice  juvencas. 

- “  From  his  herd  he  culls 

For  slaughter  four  the  fairest  of  his  bulls  ; 

Four  heifers  from  his  female  stock  he  took, 

AW.  fair,  and  all  unknowing  of  the  yoke.” — Dryden. 

It  is  very  likely  that  the  Gentiles  learnt  their  first 
sacrificial  rites  from  the  patriarchs  ;  and  on  this  ac¬ 
count  we  need  not  wonder  to  find  so  many  coinci¬ 
dences  in  the  sacrificial  system  of  the  patriarchs  and 
Jews,  and  all  the  neighbouring  nations. 

Verse  9.  For  a  water  of  separation ]  That  is,  the 
ashes  were  to  be  kept,  in  order  to  be  mixed  with  wa¬ 
ter,  ver  17,  and  sprinkled  on  those  who  had  contract¬ 
ed  any  legal  defilement. 


to  unclean  persons 

slain  with  a  sword  in  the  open  a.  m.  cir.  2533 
fields,  or  a  dead  body,  or  a  bone  An.  Exod.  isr! 
of  a  man,  or  a  grave,  shall  be  cir‘  2  ‘  . 
unclean  seven  days. 

17  And  for  an  unclean  person  they  shall 
take  of  the  r  ashes  s  of  the  burnt  heifer  of 
purification  for  sin,  and  1  running  water  shall 
be  put  thereto  in  a  vessel : 

1 8  And  a  clean  person  shall  take  u  hyssop, 
and  dip  it  in  the  water,  and  sprinkle  it  upon 
the  tent,  and  upon  all  the  vessels,  and  upon 
the  persons  that  were  there,  and  upon  him 
that  touched  a  bone,  or  one  slain,  or  one 
dead,  or  a  grave : 

1 9  And  the  clean  person  shall  sprinkle  upon 
the  unclean  on  the  third  day,  and  on  the 
seventh  day :  v  and  on  the  seventh  day  he 
shall  purify  himself,  and  wash  his  clothes,  and 
bathe  himself  in  water,  and  shall  be  clean  at  even. 

20  But  the  man  that  shall  be  unclean,  and 
shall  not  purify  himself,  that  soul  shall  be  cut 
off  from  among  the  congregation,  because  he 
hath  w  defiled  the  sanctuary  of  the  Lord  :  the 
water  of  separation  hath  not  been  sprinkled 
upon  him  ;  he  is  unclean. 

21  And  it  shall  be  a  perpetual  statute  unto 
them,  that  he  that  sprinkleth  the  water  of 
separation  shall  wash  his  clothes  ;  and  he  that 
toucheth  the  water  of  separation  shall  be 
unclean  until  even. 

22  And  x  whatsoever  the  unclean  person 
toucheth  shall  be  unclean  ;  and  y  the  soul  that 
toucheth  it  shall  be  unclean  until  even. 


0  Lev.  vii.  20  ;  xxii.  3. - p  Lev.  xi.  32 ;  chap,  xxxi .  20. 

1  Ver.  11. - r  Heb.  dust. - sVer.  9. - 1  Heb.  living  waters 

shall  be  given ;  Gen.  xxvi.  19. - u  Psa.  li.  7. - vLev.  xiv.  9 

w  Ver.  13. - x  Hag.  ii.  13. - y  Lev.  xv.  5. 

Verse  11.  He  that  toucheth  the  dead  body  of  any 
man  shall  be  unclean  seven  days .]  How  low  does  this 
lay  man  !  He  who  touched  a  dead  beast  was  only  un¬ 
clean  for  one  day ,  Lev.  xi.  24,  27,  39  ;  but  he  who 
touches  a  dead  man  is  unclean  for  seven  days.  This 
was  certainly  designed  to  mark  the  peculiar  impurity 
of  man,  and  to  show  his  sinfulness — seven  times  worse 
than  the  vilest  animal !  O  thou  son  of  the  morning, 
how  art  thou  fallen  ! 

Verse  12.  He  shall  purify  himself  with  f  13  NttniT’ 
yithchatta  bo ,  literally,  he  shall  sin  himself  ivith  it. 
This  Hebrew  form  of  speech  is  common  enough  among 
us  in  other  matters.  Thus  to  fleece ,  to  bark ,  and  to 
skin,  do  not  signify  to  add  a  fleece ,  another  bark,  or  a 
skin,  but  to  take  one  away ;  therefore,  to  sin  himself 
in  the  Hebrew  idiom,  is  not  to  add  sin,  but  to  take  it 
away,  to  purify.  The  verb  Xton  chata  signifies  to 
miss  the  mark ,  to  sin,  to  purify  from  siy,  and  to  make 
a  sin-offering.  See  the  note  on  Gen.  xiii.  13. 

677 


3. 


The  Israelites  come  to  Zin , 


NUMBERS. 


where  Miriam  dies. 


The  Hebrews  generally  sacrificed  males,  no  matter 
of  what  colour ;  but  here  a  heifer,  and  a  heifer  of  a 
red  colour,  is  ordered.  The  reason  of  these  circum¬ 
stances  is  not  very  well  known. 

“  The  rabbins,  with  all  their  boldness,”  says  Cal- 
met,  “  who  stick  at  nothing  when  it  is  necessary 
to  explain  what  they  do  not  understand,  declare 
that  the  cause  of  this  law  is  entirely  unknown  ;  and 
that  Solomon,  with  all  his  wisdom,  could  not  find 
it  out.” 

Several  fathers ,  as  well  modern  as  anient,  profess 
to  understand  the  whole  clearly.  1.  The  red  heifer 
with  them  signifies  the  flesh  of  our  Lord,  formed  out 
of  an  earthly  substance.  2.  Being ivithout  spot,  &c., 
the  infinite  holiness  of  Christ.  3.  The  sex  of  the 
animal,  the  infirmity  of  our  flesh,  with  which  he  clothed 
himself.  4.  The  red  colour,  his  passion.  5.  Being 
unyoked,  his  being  righteous  in  all  his  conduct,  and 
never  under  the  yoke  of  sin.  6.  EleazaTs  sacrificing 
the  heifer  instead  of  Aaron ,  ver.  3,  signifies  the  change 


of  the  priesthood  from  the  family  of  Aaron,  in  order 
that  a  new  and  more  perfect  priesthood  might  take 
place.  7.  The  red  heifer  being  taken  without  the 
camp  (ver.  3)  to  be  slain,  points  out  the  crucifixion  of 
our  Lord  ivithout  the  city.  8.  The  complete  consum¬ 
ing  of  the  heifer  by  fire,  the  complete  offering  of  the 
whole  body  and  soul  of  Christ  as  a  sacrifice  to  God 
for  the  sin  of  man  :  for  as  the  heifer  was  ivithout  ble¬ 
mish,  the  whole  might  be  offered  to  God  ;  and  as  Christ 
was  immaculate,  his  whole  body  and  soul  were  made 
a  sacrifice  for  sin.  9.  As  the  fire  of  this  sacrifice 
ascended  up  to  God,  so  it  points  out  the  resurrection 
and  ascension  of  our  blessed  Lord.  10.  And  as  the 
ashes  of  this  victim  communicated  a  legal  purity  to 
those  who  were  defiled,  so  true  repentance,  signified 
by  those  ashes,  is  necessary  for  the  expiation  of  the 
offences  committed  after  baptism.  A  great  part  of 
this  is  true  in  itself ;  but  how  little  evidence  is  there 
that  all  these  things  were  intended  in  the  ordinance 
of  the  red  heifer  ?  See  on  chap.  viii.  7- 


CHAPTER  XX. 


The  Israelites  come  to  Zin,  and  Miriam  dies,  1.  They  murmur  for  want  of  water ,  2—5.  Moses  and  Aaron 
make  supplication  at  the  tabernacle,  and  the  glory  of  the  Lord  appears ,  6.  He  commands  Moses  to  take 
his  rod,  gather  the  congregation  together,  and  bring  water  out  of  the  rock,  7,  8.  Moses  takes  the  rod , 
gathers  the  Israelites  together,  chides  with  them ,  and  smites  the  rock  twice,  and  the  waters  flow  cut  plen- 
teously,  9—11.  The  Lord  is  offended  with  Moses  and  Aaron  because  they  did  not  sanctify  him  in  the 
sight  of  the  children  of  Israel,  12.  The  place  is  called  Meribah,  13.  Moses  sends  a  friendly  message  to 
the  king  of  Edom ,  begging  liberty  to  pass  through  his  territories,  14-17.  The  Edomites  refuse,  18.  The 
Israelites  expostulate,  19.  The  Edomites  still  refuse,  and  prepare  to  attack  them,  20,  21.  The  Israelites 
go  to  Mount  Hor,  22.  Aaron  is  commanded  to  prepare  for  his  death,  23,  24.  Aaron  is  stripped  on 
Mount  Hor,  and  his  vestments  put  on  Eleazar  his  son  ;  Aaron  dies ,  25—28.  The  people  mourn  for  him 

thirty  days,  29. 


A.  M.  2553. 

B.  C.  1451. 
An.  Exod.  Isr. 

40. 


in  the  first 


^HEN  a  came  the  children  of 
Israel,  even  the  whole  con¬ 
gregation,  into  the  desert  of  Zin, 
month :  and  the  people  abode  in 


Kadesh  ;  and  b  Miriam  died  there,  A.  M.  2553. 

j  1  •  j  B.  C.  1451. 

and  was  buried  there.  An.  Exod.  Isr. 

2  c  And  there  was  no  water  for  40,  _ 

the  congregation  :  d  and  they  gathered  them- 


a  Chap,  xxxiii.  36. - ’b  Exod.  xv.  20  ;  chap.  xxvi.  59. 

NOTES  ON  CHAP.  XX. 

Verse  1.  Then  came  the  children  of  Israel,  tf  c.] 
This  was  the  first  month  of  the  fortieth  year  after 
their  departure  from  Egypt.  See  chap,  xxxiii.  38, 
compared  with  ver.  28  of  this  chapter,  and  Deut.  i.  3. 
The  transactions  of  thirty-seven  years  Moses  passes 
by,  because  he  writes  not  as  a  historian  but  as  a  legis¬ 
lator  ;  and  gives  us  particularly  an  account  of  the  laws, 
ordinances,  and  other  occurrences  of  the  first  and  last 
years  of  their  peregrinations.  The  year  now  spoken 
of  Avas  the  last  of  their  journeyings  ;  for  from  the  going 
out  of  the  spies,  chap.  xiii. ,  unto  this  time,  was  about 
thirty-eight  years,  Heut.  i.  22,  23,  ii.  14. 

Desert  of  Zin ]  Calmet  contends  that  this  is  not 
the  same  desert  mentioned  Exod.  xvi.  1,  where  Israel 
had  their  eighth  encampment ;  that  in  Exodus  being 
called  in  the  original  pD  sin,  this  here  p¥  tsin:  but 
this  is  no  positive  proof,  as  letters  of  the  same  organ 
are  frequently  interchanged  in  all  languages,  and  par¬ 
ticularly  in  Hebrew. 


c  Exod.  xvii.  1. - d  Chap.  xvi.  19,42. 

And  Miriam  died  there ]  Miriam  was  certainly  older 
than  Moses.  When  he  was  an  infant,  exposed  on  the 
river  Nile,  she  was  intrusted  by  her  parents  to  watch 
the  conduct  of  Pharaoh’s  daughter,  and  to  manage  a 
most  delicate  business,  that  required  much  address  and 
prudence.  See  Exod.  ii.  It  is  supposed  that  she 
was  at  the  time  of  her  death  one  hundred  and  thirty 
years  of  age,  having  been  at  least  ten  years  old  at  her 
brother’s  birth.  The  Catholic  writers  represent  her 
as  a  type  of  the  Virgin  Mary  ;  as  having  preserved  a 
perpetual  virginity  ;  as  being  legislatrix  over  the  Is- 
raelitish  women,  as  Moses  was  over  the  men  ;  and  as 
having  a  large  portion  of  the  spirit  of  prophecy.  Eu¬ 
sebius  says  that  her  tomb  was  to  be  seen  at  Kadesh , 
near  the  city  of  Petra,  in  his  time.  She  appears  to 
have  died  about  four  months  before  her  brother  Aaron, 
chap,  xxxiii.  38,  and  eleven  before  her  brother  Moses  ; 
so  that  these  three,  the  most  eminent  of  human  beings, 
died  in  the  space  of  one  year  ! 

Verse  2.  And  there  was  no  water  for  the  con gr  eg  a- 

a 


678 


Moses  smiles  the  rock ,  CHAP.  XX.  and  water  flows  forth 


A.  M.  2553.  selves  together  against  Moses 

B  C.  1451.  .  .  °  A  & 

An  Exod.  isr.  and  against  Aaron. 

3  And  the  people  e  chode  with 
Moses,  and  spake,  saying,  Would  God  that 
we  had  died  fwhen  our  brethren  died  before 
the  Lord  ! 

4  And  g  why  have  ye  brought  up  the  con¬ 
gregation  of  the  Lord  into  this  wilderness, 
that  we  and  our  cattle  should  die  there  ? 

5  And  wherefore  have  ye  made  us  to  come 
up  out  of  Egypt,  to  bring  us  in  unto  this  evil 
place  ?  it  is  no  place  of  seed,  or  of  figs,  or  of 
vines,  or  of  pomegranates  ;  neither  is  there 
any  water  to  drink. 

6  And  Moses  and  Aaron  went  from  the  pre¬ 
sence  of  the  assembly  unto  the  door  of  the 
tabernacle  of  the  congregation,  and  h  they  fell 
upon  their  faces  :  and  1  the  glory  of  the  Lord 
appeared  unto  them. 

7  And  the  Lord  spake  unto  Moses,  saying, 

8  k  Take  the  rod,  and  gather  thou  the  as¬ 
sembly  together,  thou  and  Aaron  thy  brother, 
and  speak  ye  unto  the  rock  before  their  eyes ; 
and  it  shall  give  forth  his  water,  and  1  thou 
shalt  bring  forth  to  them  water  out  of  the  rock  : 
so  thou  shalt  give  the  congregation  and  their 
beasts  drink. 

9  And  Moses  took  the  rod  111  from  before  the 
Lord,  as  he  commanded  him. 

10  And  Moses  and  Aaron  gathered  the  con- 

e  Exod.  xvii.  2  ;  chapter  xiv.  2. - f  Chap.  xi.  1,  33  ;  xiv.  37  ; 

xvi.  32,  35,  49. - s  Exod.  xvii.  3. - h  Ch.  xiv.  5  ;  xvi.  4,  22, 

45. - !  Ch.  xiv.  10. - k  Exod.  xvii.  5. - 1  Neh.  ix.  15;  Psa. 

Ixxviii.  15,  16  ;  cv.  41  ;  cxiv.  8;  Isaiah  xliii.  20  ;  xlviii.  21. 

m  Chap.  xvii.  10. - n  Psa.  cvi.  33. - 0  Exodus  xvii.  6  ;  Deut. 

viii.  15  ;  1  Cor.  x.  4. - PChap.  xxvii.  14;  Deut.  i.  37  ;  iii.  26  ; 

xxxii.  51. - 1  Lev.  x.  3  ;  Ezek.  xx.  41  ;  xxxvi.  23  ;  xxxviii.  16 ; 

tion ]  The  same  occurrence  took  place  to  the  children 
of  Israel  at  Kadesh,  as  did  formerly  to  their  fathers 
at  Rephidim ,  see  Exod.  xvii.  1  ;  and  as  the  fathers 
murmured,  so  also  did  the  children. 

Verse  12.  Because  ye  believed  me  not ]  What  was 
the  offence  for  which  Moses  was  excluded  from  the 
promised  land!  It  appears  to  have  consisted  in  some 
or  all  of  the  following  particulars  :  1.  God  had  com¬ 
manded  him  (ver.  8)  to  lake  the  rod  in  his  hand ,  and 
go  and  speak  to  the  hock,  and  it  should  give  forth 
water.  It  seems  Moses  did  not  think  speaking  would 
be  sufficient,  therefore  he  smote  the  rock  without  any 
command  so  to  do.  2.  He  did  this  twice ,  which  cer¬ 
tainly  in  this  case  indicated  a  great  perturbation  of 
spirit,  and  want  of  attention  to  the  presence  of  God. 
3.  He  permitted  his  spirit  to  be  carried  away  by  a 
sense  of  the  people’s  disobedience,  and  thus,  being  pro¬ 
voked ,  he  was  led  to  speak  unadvisedly  with  his  lips  : 
Hear  now,  ye  rebels,  ver.  10.  4.  He  did  not  acknow¬ 

ledge  GOD  in  the  miracle  which  was  about  to  be 

a 


gregation  together  before  the  rock,  A.  M.  2553. 

n  0  o  B.  C.  1451. 

and  he  said  unto  them,  n  Hear  An.  Exod.  Isr. 

now,  ye  rebels ;  must  we  fetch _ 40; _ 

you  water  out  of  this  rock  ? 

1 1  And  Moses  lifted  up  his  hand,  and  with 
his  rod  he  smote  the  rock  twice  :  and  0  the 
water  came  out  abundantly,  and  the  congrega¬ 
tion  drank,  and  their  beasts  also. 

12  And  the  Lord  spake  unto  Moses  and 
Aaron,  Because  p  ye  believed  me  not,  to  q  sanc¬ 
tify  me  in  the  eyes  of  the  children  of  Israel, 
therefore  ye  shall  not  bring  this  congregation 
into  the  land  which  I  have  given  them. 

13  r  This  is  the  water  of s  Mcribah  ;  because 
the  children  of  Israel  strove  with  the  Lord, 
and  he  was  sanctified  in  them. 

14  *  And  Moses  sent  messengers  from  Ka¬ 
desh  unto  the  king  of  Edom,  u  Thus  saith  thy 
brother  Israel,  Thou  knowest  all  the  travel 
that  hath  v  befallen  us  : 

15  w  How  our  fathers  went  down  into  Egypt, 
x  and  we  have  dwelt  in  Egypt  a  long  time  ; 
y  and  the  Egyptians  vexed  us,  and  our  fathers : 

16  And  z  when  we  cried  unto  the  Lord,  he 
heard  our  voice,  and  a  sent  an  angel,  and  hath 
brought  us  forth  out  of  Egypt :  and,  behold, 
we  are  in  Kadesh,  a  city  in  the  uttermost  of 
thy  border : 

17  b  Let  us  pass,  I  pray  thee,  through  thy 
country  :  wre  will  not  pass  through  the  fields, 

1  Peter  iii.  15. - r  Deut.  xxxiii.  8  ;  Psa.  xcv.  8;  cvi.  32,  &c. 

sThat  is,  strife;  see  Exodus  xvii.  7. - 1  Judg.  xi.  16,  17. 

u  Deut.  ii.  4,  &c. ;  xxiii.  7  ;  Obad.  x.  12. - v  Heb.  found  us  , 

Exod.  xviii.  8. - w  Gen.  xlvi.  6  ;  Acts  vii.  15. - *  Exod.  xii. 

40. - y  Exod.  i.  11,  &c.  ;  Deut.  xxvi.  6  ;  Acts  vii.  19. - z  Exod. 

ii.  23 ;  iii.  7. - aExod.  iii.  2;  xiv.  19  ;  xxiii.  20;  xxxiii.  2. 

b  See  chap.  xxi.  22  ;  Deut.  ii.  27. 

wrought,  but  took  the  honour  to  himself  and  Aaron  ; 
“  Must  we  fetch  you  water  out  of  this  rock  ?”  Thus 
it  plainly  appears  that  they  did  not  properly  believe  in 
God,  and  did  not  honour  him  in  the  sight  of  the  peo¬ 
ple  ;  for  in  their  presence  they  seem  to  express  a 
doubt  whether  the  thing  could  be  possibly  done.  As 
AaTon  appears  to  have  been  consenting  in  the  above 
particulars,  therefore  he  is  also  excluded  from  the  pro¬ 
mised  land. 

Verse  14.  Sent  messengers — unto  the  king  of  Edom ] 
Archbishop  Usher  supposes  that  the  king  now  reigning 
in  Edom  was  Hadar,  mentioned  Gen.  xxxvi.  39. 

Thus  saith  thy  brother  Israel ]  The  Edomites  were 
the  descendants  of  Edom  or  Esau,  the  brother  of 
Jacob  or  Israel,  from  whom  the  Israelites  were  de¬ 
scended. 

Verse  17.  We  will  go  by  the  kin g's  high-way]  This 
is  the  first  time  this  phrase  occurs ;  it  appears  to  have 
been  a  public  road  made  by  the  king’s  authority  at  the 
expense  of  the  state. 


679 


* 


Eleazar  to  succeed  Aaron ,  who  NUMBERS.  goes  up  to  Mount  Trior  and  dies 


a.  M.  2553.  or  through  the  vineyards,  neither 

B  C  1451  ~  J  ’ 

An.  Exod.  isr.  will  we  drink  of  the  water  of  the 

40~  wells  :  we  will  go  by  the  king’s 
high- way,  we  will  not  turn  to  the  right  hand 
nor  to  the  left,  until  we  have  passed  thy 
borders. 

18  And  Edom  said  unto  him,  Thou  shalt  not 
pass  by  me,  lest  I  come  out  against  thee  with 
the  sword. 

1 9  And  the  children  of  Israel  said  unto  him, 
We  will  go  by  the  high-way  :  and  if  I  and  my 
cattle  drink  of  thy  water,  c  then  I  will  pay  for 
it :  I  will  only,  without  doing  any  thing  else , 
go  through  on  my  feet. 

20  And  he  said,  d  Thou  shalt  not  go  through. 
And  Edom  came  out  against  him  with  much 
people,  and  with  a  strong  hand. 

2 1  Thus  Edom  e  refused  to  give  Israel  pas¬ 
sage  through  his  border :  wherefore  Israel 
‘  turned  away  from  him. 

22  And  the  children  of  Israel,  even  the 
whole  congregation,  journeyed  from  £  Ivadesh, 
h  and  came  unto  Mount  Hor. 

23  And  the  Lord  spake  unto  Moses  and 

c  Deut.  ii.  6,  28. - d  Judg.  xi.  17. - e  See  Deut.  ii.  27,  29. 

f  Deut.  ii.  4, 5,  8  ;  Judg.  xi.  18. - s  Chap,  xxxiii.  37. - h  Chap. 

xxi.  4. - *  Gen.  xxv.  8  ;  chap,  xxvii.  13  ;  xxxi.  2  ;  Deut.  xxxii.  50. 

Yerse  2 1 .  Thus  Edom  refused  to  give  Israel  pas¬ 
sage  through  his  border]  Though  every  king  has  a 
right  to  refuse  passage  through  his  territories  to  any 
strangers  ;  yet  in  a  case  like  this,  and  in  a  time  also 
in  which  emigrations  were  frequent  and  universally 
allowed,  it  was  both  cruelty  and  oppression  in  Edom 
to  refuse  a  passage  to  a  comparatively  unarmed  and 
inoffensive  multitude,  who  were  all  their  own  near 
kinsmen.  It  appears  however  that  it  was  only  the 
Edomites  of  Kadesli  that  were  thus  unfriendly  and 
cruel;  for  from  Deut.  ii.  29  we  learn  that  the  Edom¬ 
ites  who  dwelt  in  Mount  Seir  treated  them  in  a  hos¬ 
pitable  manner.  This  cruelty  in  the  Edomites  of 
Kadesh  is  strongly  reprehended,  and  threatened  by  the 
Prophet  Obadiah,  ver.  10,  &c. 

Yerse  26.  Strip  Aaron  of  his  garments]  This  was, 
in  effect,  depriving  him  of  his  office  ;  and  putting  the 
clothes  on  his  son  Eleazar  implied  a  transfer  of  that 
office  to  him.  A  transfer  of  office,  from  this  circum¬ 
stance  of  putting  the  clothes  of  the  late  possessor  on 
the  person  intended  to  succeed  him,  was  called  invest¬ 
ing  or  investment ,  ( clothing ;)  as  removing  a  person 
from  an  office  was  termed  divesting  or  unclothing. 
Among  the  Catholics,  and  in  the  Church  of  England, 
this  same  method  is  used  in  degrading  ecclesiastics. 
Hence  such  a  degradation  is  termed  by  the  common 
people  stripping  a  man  of  his  gown. 

Yerse  28.  And  Aaron  died  there]  Hence,  as  Dr. 
Lightfoot  has  justly  observed,  we  have  an  “  indispu¬ 
table  proof  that  the  earthly  Canaan  was  not  the  utmost 

680 


Aaron  in  Mount  Iior,  by  the  coast  a.  m.  2553. 
of  the  land  of  Edom,  saying,  An." Exod.  Isr. 

24  Aaron  shall  be  1  gathered  40‘ 
unto  his  people  :  for  he  shall  not  enter  into 
the  land  which  I  have  given  unto  the  children 
of  Israel,  because  k  ye  rebelled  against  my 
1  word  at  the  water  of  Meribah. 

25  m  Take  Aaron  and  Eleazar  his  son,  and 
bring  them  up  unto  Mount  Hor  : 

26  And  strip  Aaron  of  his  garments,  and 
put  them  upon  Eleazar  his  son  :  and  Aaron 
shall  be  gathered  unto  his  people,  and  shall 
die  there. 

27  And  Moses  did  as  the  Lord  commanded  : 
and  they  went  up  into  Mount  Hor,  in  the 
sight  of  all  the  congregation. 

28  n  And  Moses  stripped  Aaron  of  his  gar¬ 
ments,  and  put  them  upon  Eleazar  his  son  ; 
and  0  Aaron  died  there  in  the  top  of  the  mount : 
and  Moses  and  Eleazar  came  down  from  the 
mount. 

29  And  when  all  the  congregation  saw  that 
Aaron  was  dead,  they  mourned  for  Aaron 
p  thirty  days,  even  all  the  house  of  Israel. 

k  Yer.  12. - 1  Heb.  mouth. - m  Chap,  xxxiii.  38  ;  Deut. 

xxxii.  50. - n  Exod.  xxix.  29, 30. - 0  Chap,  xxxiii.  38  ;  Deut. 

x.  6;  xxxii.  50. - p  So  Deut.  xxxiy.  8. 

felicity  at  which  God’s  promises  to  the  Israelites  aimed, 
since  the  best  men  among  them  were  excluded  from  it.” 

The  remark  of  some  of  the  fathers  here  is  worthy 
of  attention  :  “  Neither  Moses  the  representative  of  the 
law,  nor  Miriam  the  representative  of  the  prophets, 
nor  Aaron  the  representative  of  the  priesthood  and  its 
sacrificial  rites,  could  bring  the  Israelites  into  pos¬ 
session  of  the  promised  land.  This  was  reserved  for 
Joshua ,  who  was  in  name  and  conduct  the  lively  type 
of  our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ.”  He  alone 
can  bring  those  who  believe  in  his  name  into  that  rest 
which  remains  for  the  people  of  God. 

There  are  some  observations  made  by  Dr.  Lightfoot 
on  this  and  some  of  the  preceding  chapters  which 
should  be  more  generally  known. 

“  The  place  where  the  people  murmured  upon  the 
return  of  the  spies  was  Kadesh-Bamea ,  chap.  xiii.  26  ; 
xxxii.  8;  Deut.  i.  19.  This  place  was  called  Rithmah 
before,  (chap,  xxxiii.  18,  compared  with  chap.  xii.  16, 
and  xiii.  26,)  and  was  so  called  probably  from  the 
juniper  trees  that  grew  there  ;  but  is  now  named  Ka¬ 
desh ,  because  the  Lord  was  there  sanctified  upon  the 
people,  as  chap.  xx.  13  ;  and  Barnea,  or  the  wander¬ 
ing  son ,  because  here  was  the  decree  made  of  their 
long  wandering  in  the  wilderness.  They  continued 
a  good  space  at  Kadesh  before  they  removed  ;  for  so 
said  Moses,  Ye  abode  in  Kadesh  many  days ;  or  as 
the  Hebrew,  According  to  the  days  that  ye  had  made 
abode ,  namely,  at  Sinai,  ver.  6.  And  so  they  spent 

a, 


CHAP.  XXL 


but  is  devoted  to  destruction . 


Arad  fights  against  Israel , 

one  whole  year  there ,  for  so  they  had  done  at  Sinai, 
And  whereas  God  commands  them  at  their  murmuring 
to  turn  back  to  the  Red  Sea,  (Deut.  i.  40,)  his  mean¬ 
ing  was,  that  at  their  next  march,  v/hensoever  it  was, 
they  should  not  go  forward  unto  Canaan,  but  back 
again  towards  the  Red  Sea,  whence  they  came  ;  (but 
see  on' Deut.  i.  1.)  And  they  did  so,  for  they  wan¬ 
dered  by  many  stations  and  marches  from  Kadesh- 
Barnea  till  they  came  to  Kadesh-Barnea  again,  seven 
or  eight  and  thirty  years  after  they  had  first  left  it. 
These  marches,  mentioned  in  chap,  xxxiii.,  were  these  : 
From  Kadesh  or  Rithmah  to  Rimmon  Parez,  to  Lih- 
nah ,  to  Rissah ,  to  Kehflathah,  to  Mount  Shapher,  to 
Haradah,  to  Makheloth,  to  Tahath ,  to  Tarah,  to  Mith- 


cah ,  to  Hashmonah,  to  Moseroth,  to  Benejaakan ,  to 
Horhagidgad ,  to  Jotbathah ,  to  Ebronah ,  to  Ezion- 
Gaber,  to  Kadesh  again,  in  the  fortieth  year.  And 
though  it  was  only  eleven  days'* 1  journey  from  Horeb,  by 
the  way  of  Mount  Seir  to  Kadesh-Barnea,  (Deut.  i.  2,) 
they  made  it  above  thrice  eleven  years ’  journey  !”  Had 
they  trusted  in  God,  and  obeyed  him,  their  enemies 
long  ere  this  would  have  been  discomfited,  and  them¬ 
selves  quietly  established  in  possession  of  the  promised 
inheritance.  But  they  grieved  the  Spirit  of  God,  and 
did  not  believe  his  promise ;  and  it  would  have  been 
inconsistent  with  the  whole  economy  of  grace  to  have 
introduced  unbelievers  into  that  rest  which  was  a  type 
of  the  kingdom  of  God. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 


Arad ,  a  king  of  the  Canaanites,  attacks  Israel ,  and  makes  some  prisoners ,  1.  They  devote  him  and  his 
people  to  destruction ,  2  ;  which  they  afterwards  accomplished ,  3.  They  journey  from  Hor,  and  are 
greatly  discouraged ,  4.  They  murmur  against  God  and  Moses ,  and  loathe  the  manna ,  5.  The  Lord 
sends  fiery  serpents  among  them ,  6.  They  repent ,  and  beg  Moses  to  intercede  for  them ,  7.  The  Lord 
directs  him  to  make  a  brazen  serpent ,  and  set  it  on  a  pole,  that  the  people  might  look  on  it  and  be  healed ,  8. 
Moses  does  so,  and  the  people  who  beheld  the  brazen  serpent  lived,  9.  They  journey  to  Oboth,  Ije-abarim, 
Zared,  and  Arnon,  10—13.  A  quotation  from  the  book  of  the  wars  of  the  Lord,  14,  15.  From  Arnon 
they  come  to  Beer,  16.  Their  song  of  triumph,  17—20.  Moses  sends  messengers  to  the  Amorites  for 
permission  to  pass  through  their  land,  21,  22.  Sihon  their  king  refuses,  attacks  Israel,  is  defeated,  and 
all  his  cities  destroyed ,  23—26.  The  poetic  proverbs  made  on  the  occasion,  27—30.  Israel  possesses  the 
land  of  the  Amorites,  31,  32.  They  are  attacked  by  Og  king  of  Bashan,  33.  They  defeat  him ,  destroy 
his  troops  and  family,  and  possess  his  land,  34,  35. 


A.  M.  2553. 

B.  C.  1451. 
A  n.  Exod.  Isr. 

40. 


ANp  when  a  King  Arad  the 
Canaanite,  which  dwelt  in 
the  south,  heard  tell  that  Israel 
came  b  by  the  way  of  the  spies ;  then  he 
fought  against  Israel,  and  took  some  of  them 
prisoners. 

2  c  And  Israel  vowed  a  vow  unto  the  Lord, 
and  said,  If  thou  wilt  indeed  deliver  this  peo¬ 
ple  into  my  hand,  then  d  I  will  utterly  destroy 
their  cities. 

3  And  the  Lord  hearkened  to  the  voice  of 
Israel,  and  delivered  up  the  Canaanites  :  and 


they  utterly  destroyed  them  and  A.  M.  2553. 

,  r  .  .  “  ,,  .  .  B.  C.  1451. 

their  cities  :  and  he  called  the  An.  Exod.  isr. 

name  of  the  place  e  Hormah.  40~ 

4  And  f  they  journeyed  from  Mount  Hor  by 
the  way  of  the  Red  Sea,  to  b  compass  the  land 
of  Edom  :  and  the  soul  of  the  people  was 
much  h  discouraged  1  because  of  the  way. 

5  And  the  people  k  spake  against  God,  and 
against  Moses,  1  Wherefore  have  ye  brought 
us  up  out  of  Egypt  to  die  in  the  wilderness  ? 
for  there  is  no  bread,  neither  is  there  any  wa¬ 
ter,  and  m  our  soul  loatheth  this  light  bread. 


a  Chap,  xxxiii.  40;  see  Judg.  i.  16. - b  Chap.  xiii.  21. 

c  Gen.  xxviii.  20;  Judg.  xi.  30. - d  Lev.  xxvii.  28. - e  That 

is,  utter  destruction. 


f  Chap.  xx.  22  ;  xxxiii.  41. - ?  Judg.  xi.  18. - h  Or,  grieved 

i  Heb.  shortened  ;  Exod.  vi.  9. - k  Psa.  Ixxyiii.  19. - 1  Exod 

xvi.  3  ;  xvii.  3. - m  Chap.  xi.  6. 


NOTES  ON  CHAP.  XXI. 

Verse  1.  The  way  of  the  spies ]  atharim. 

Some  think  that  this  signifies  the  way  that  the  spies 
took  when  they  went  to  search  the  land.  But  this  is 
impossible,  as  Dr.  Kennicott  justly  remarks,  because 
Israel  had  now  marched  from  Meribah-Kadesh  to 
Mount  Hor,  beyond  Ezion-Gaber,  and  were  turning 
round  Edom  to  the  south-east ;  and  therefore  the 
word  is  to  be  understood  here  as  the  name  of  a 
place. 

Verse  3.  The  Lord  hearkened  to  the  voice  of  Israel ] 
The  whole  of  this  verse  appears  to  me  to  have  been 
added  after  the  days  of  Joshua.  It  is  certain  the 
Canaanites  were  not  utterly  destroyed  at  the  time  here 


spoken  of,  for  this  did  not  take  place  till  after  the 
death  of  Moses.  If,  instead  of  utterly  destroyed  them, 
DH5T1  vaiyacharem ,  we  translate  they  devoted  them  to 
utter  destruction,  it  will  make  a  good  sense,  and  not 
repugnant  to  the  Hebrew ;  though  some  think  it  more 
probable  that  the  verse  was  added  afterwards  by  Jo¬ 
shua  or  Ezra,  in  testimony  of  the  fulfilment  of  God’s 
promise  ;  for  Arad,  who  is  mentioned  as  being  de¬ 
stroyed  here,  is  mentioned  among  those  destroyed  by 
Joshua  long  after,  (see  Josh.  xii.  14  :)  but  this  is 
quite  consistent  with  their  being  devoted  to  destruction , 
as  this  might  be  fulfilled  any  time  after.  See  the 
note  on  Lev.  xxvii. 

Yerse  5.  This  light  bread. ]  bpbpH  hakkelokel ,  a 

681 


NUMBERS. 


Fiery  serpents  bite  the  people . 
a.  m.  2553.  6  And  11  the  Lord  sent  0  fiery 

B.  C.  1451.  ,  .  , 

An.  Exod.  isr.  serpents  among  the  people,  ancl 

40‘  _  they  bit  the  people  ;  and  much 

people  of  Israel  died. 

7  p  Therefore  the  people  came  to  Moses,  and 
said,  We  have  sinned,  for  i  we  have  spoken 
against  the  Lord,  and  against  thee :  r  pray  unto 
the  Lord,  that  he  take  away  the  serpents  from 

“Wisd.  xvi.  1,  5 ;  1  Cor.  x.  9. - 0  Deut.  viii.  15. - i’  Psa. 

lxxviii.  34. - Ver.  5. 

word  of  excessive  scorn  ;  as  if  they  had  said,  This  in¬ 
nutritive,  unsubstantial,  cheat-stomach  stulf. 

Verse  6.  Fiery  serpents]  D’iH&TI  D'BTUH  hannecha- 
shim  hasseraphim.  I  have  observed  before,  on  Gen. 
iii.,  that  it  is  difficult  to  assign  a  name  to  the  creature 
termed  in  Hebrew  nachash ;  it  has  different  significa¬ 
tions,  but  its  meaning  here  and  in  Gen.  iii.  is  most 
difficult  to  be  ascertained.  Seraphim  is  one  of  the 
orders  of  angelic  beings,  Isa.  vi.  2,  6  ;  but  as  it  comes 
from  the  root  saraph ,  which  signifies  to  burn ,  it 
has  been  translated  fiery  in  the  text.  It  is  likely  that 
St.  Paul  alludes  to  the  seraphim,  Pleb.  i.  7  :  Who 
maketh  his  angels  spirits ,  and  his  ministers  a  flame 
of  fire.  The  animals  mentioned  here  by  Moses  may 
have  been  called  fiery  because  of  the  heat,  violent  in¬ 
flammation,  and  thirst,  occasioned  by  their  bite  ;  and 
consequently,  if  serpents ,  they  wTere  of  the  prester  or 
dipsas  species,  whose  bite,  especially  that  of  the  for¬ 
mer,  occasioned  a  violent  inflammation  through  the 
whole  body,  and  a  fiery  appearance  of  the  counte¬ 
nance.  The  poet  Lucan  has  well  expressed  this  ter¬ 
rible  effect  of  the  bite  of  the  prester ,  and  also  of  the 
dipsas ,  in  the  ninth  book  of  his  Pharsalia,  which,  for 
the  sake  of  those  who  may  not  have  the  work  at  hand, 
I  shall  here  insert. 

Of  the  mortal  effects  of  the  bite  of  the  dipsas  in  the 
deserts  of  Libya  he  gives  the  following  description: — 

u  Signiferum  juvenem  Tyrrheni  sanguinis  Aulum 
Torta  caput  retro  dipsas  calcata  momordit. 

Vix  dolor  aut  sensus  dentis  fuit :  ipsaque  leeti 
Frons  caret  invidia  :  nec  quidquam  plaga  minatur. 
Ecce  subit  virus  taciturn,  carpitque  medullas 
Ignis  edax ,  calidaque  incendit  viscera  tabe. 

Ebibit  humorem  circum  vitalia  fusum 
Pestis,  et  in  sicco  linguam  torrere  palato 
Coepit :  defessos  iret  qui  sudor  in  artus 
Non  fuit,  atque  oculos  lacrymarum  vena  refugit.” 

Aulus,  a  noble  youth  of  Tyrrhene  blood, 

Who  bore  the  standard,  on  a  dipsas  trod  ; 
Backward  the  wrathful  serpent  bent  her  head, 

And,  fell  with  rage,  the  unheeded  wrong  repaid. 
Scarce  did  some  little  mark  of  hurt  remain, 

And  scarce  he  found  some  little  sense  of  pain. 

Nor  could  he  yet  the  danger  doubt,  nor  fear 
That  death  with  all  its  terrors  threatened  there. 
When  lo  !  unseen,  the  secret  venom  spreads, 

And  every  nobler  part  at  once  invades ; 

Swift  flames  consume  the  marrow  and  the  brain , 
And  the  scorched  entrails  rage  with  burning  pain 
Upon  his  heart  the  thirsty  poisons  prey, 

And  drain  the  sacred  juice  of  life  away . 

682 


A  brazen  serpent  is  set  up . 

us.  And  Moses  prayed  for  the  A.  M.  2553. 
people.  An.  Exod.  Isr. 

8  And  the  Lord  said  unto  40' 
Moses,  Make  thee  a  fiery  serpent,  and  set  it 
upon  a  pole  :  and  it  shall  come  to  pass,  that 
every  one  that  is  bitten,  when  he  looketh  upon 
it,  shall  live. 

9  And  s  Moses  made  a  serpent  of  brass,  and 

rExod.  viii.  8,  28  ;  1  Sam.  xii.  19  ;  1  Kings  xiii.  6;  Acts  viii 
_ 24. - s  2  Kings  xviii.  4  ;  John  iii.  14,  15. _ 

No  kindly  floods  of  moisture  bathe  his  tongue, 

But  cleaving  to  the  parched  roof  it  hung  ; 

No  trickling  drops  distil,  no  dewy  sweat, 

To  ease  his  weary  limbs,  and  cool  the  raging  heat. 

Rowe. 

The  effects  of  the  bite  of  the  prester  are  not  less 
terrible  : — 

“  Nasidium  Marsi  cultorem  torridus  agri 
Percussit  prester :  illi  rubor  igneus  ora 
Succendit ,  tenditque  cutem,  pereunte  figura, 
Miscens  cuncta  tumor  toto  jam  corpore  major : 
Humanumque  egressa  modum  super  omnia  membra 
Efflatur  sanies,  late  t.ollente  veneno.” 

A  fate  of  different  kind  Nasidius  found, 

A  burning  prester  gave  the  deadly  wound ; 

And  straight,  a  sudden  flame  began  to  spread, 

And  paint  his  visage  with  a  glowing  red. 

With  swift  expansion  swells  the  bloated  skin, 
Naught  but  an  undistinguished  mass  is  seen  ; 

While  the  fair  human  form  lies  lost  within. 

The  puffy  poison  spreads,  and  heaves  around, 

Till  all  the  man  is  in  the  monster  drowmed. 

Rowe. 

Bochart  supposes  that  the  hydrus  or  chersydrus  is 
meant ;  a  serpent  that  lives  in  marshy  places ,  the  bite 
of  which  produces  the  most  terrible  inflammations, 
burning  heat,  fetid  vomitings,  and  a  putrid  solution  of 
the  whole  body.  See  his  works,  vol.  iii.,  col.  421.  It 
is  more  likely  to  have  been  a  serpent  of  the  prester  or 
dipsas  kind,  as  the  wilderness  through  which  the  Is¬ 
raelites  passed  did  neither  afford  rivers  nor  marshes , 
though  Bochart  endeavours  to  prove  that  there  might 
have  been  marshes  in  that  part ;  but  his  arguments 
have  very  little  weight.  Nor  is  there  need  of  a  water 
serpent  as  long  as  the  prester  or  dipsas ,  which  abound 
in  the  deserts  of  Libya ,  might  have  abounded  in  the 
deserts  of  Arabia  also.  But  very  probably  the  ser¬ 
pents  themselves  were  immediately  sent  by  God  for 
the  chastisement  of  this  rebellious  people.  The  cure 
was  certainly  preternatural  ;  this  no  person  doubts ; 
and  why  might  not  the  agent  be  so,  that  inflicted  the 
disease  1 

Verse  8.  Make  thee  a  fiery  serpent]  Literally,  make 
thee  a  seraph. 

And  put  it  upon  a  pole]  DJ  by  al  nes ,  upon  a  stand¬ 
ard  or  ensign. 

Verse  9.  And  Moses  made  a  serpent  of  brass] 
n^n:  nechash  nechosheth.  Hence  we  find  that  the 
word  for  brass  or  copper  comes  from  the  same  root  with 
nachash ,  which  here  signifies  a  serpent,  probably  on  ac- 

a 


CHAP.  XXI. 


and  come  to  Beer 


The  people  pursue  their  journey , 

A.  M.  2553.  put  it  upon  a  pole,  and  it  came  to 
An.  Exod.  Isr.  pass,  that  it  a  serpent  had  bitten 
40,  any  man,  when  he  beheld  the 
serpent  of  brass,  he  lived. 

10  And  the  children  of  Israel  set  forward, 
and  x  pitched  in  Oboth. 

1 1  And  they  journeyed  from  Oboth,  and 
u  pitched  at  v  Ije-abarim,  in  the  wilderness 
which  is  before  Moab,  toward  the  sunrising. 

12  w  From  thence  they  removed,  and  pitched 
in  the  valley  of  Zared. 

13  From  thence  they  removed,  and  pitched 

1  Chap,  xxxiii.  43. - u  Chap,  xxxiii.43. - v  Or,  heaps  of  Abarim. 

Deut.  ii.  13. - x  Chap.  xxii.  3G  ;  Judg.  xi.  18. 

count  of  the  colour ;  as  most  serpents,  especially  those 
of  the  bright  spotted  kind,  have  a  very  glistening  ap¬ 
pearance,  and  those  who  have  brown  or  yellow  spots 
appear  something  like  burnished  brass :  but  the  true 
meaning  of  the  root  cannot  be  easily  ascertained. 

On  the  subject  of  the  cure  of  the  serpent-bitten  Is¬ 
raelites,  by  looking  at  the  brazen  serpent,  there  is  a 
good  comment  in  the  book  of  Wisdom,  chap.  xvi. 
4—12,  in  which  are  these  remarkable  words:  “  They 
were  admonished,  having  a  sign  of  salvation,  (i.  e.,  the 
brazen  serpent,)  to  put  them  in  remembrance  of  the 
commandments  of  thy  law.  For  he  that  turned  him¬ 
self  towards  it  was  not  saved  by  the  thing  that  he 
saw,  but  by  thee,  that  art  the  Saviour  of  all.”  To  the 
circumstance  of  looking  at  the  brazen  serpent  in  order 
to  be  healed,  our  Lord  refers,  John  iii.  14,  15  :  “As 
Moses  lifted  up  the  serpent  in  the  wilderness,  even  so 
must  the  Son  of  man  be  lifted  up,  that  whosoever  be- 
lieveth  in  him  should  not  perish,  but  have  eternal  life.” 
The  brazen  serpent  was  certainly  no  type  of  Jesus 
Christ;  but  from  our  Lord’s  words  we  may  learn,  1. 
That  as  the  serpent  w'as  lifted  up  on  the  pole  or  ensign , 
so  Jesus  Christ  was  lifted  up  on  the  cross.  2.  That  as 
the  Israelites  were  to  look  at  the  brazen  serpent,  so 
sinners  must  look  to  Christ  for  salvation.  3.  That  as 
God  provided  no  other  remedy  than  this  looking  for 
the  wounded  .Israelites,  so  he  has  provided  no  other 
way  of  salvation  than  faith  in  the  blood  of  his  Son. 

4.  That  as  he  who  looked  at  the  brazen  serpent  was 
cured  and  did  live,  so  he  that  believeth  on  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  shall  not  perish,  but  have  eternal  life. 

5.  That  as  neither  the  serpent,  nor  looking  at  it,  but 
the  invisible  power  of  God  healed  the  people,  so  nei¬ 
ther  the  cross  of  Christ,  nor  his  merely  being  crucified, 
but  the  pardon  he  has  bought  by  his  blood,  communi¬ 
cated  by  the  powerful  energy  of  his  Spirit,  saves  the 
souls  of  men.  May  not  all  these  things  be  plainly 
seen  in  the  circumstances  of  this  transaction,  without 
making  the  serpent  a  type  of  Jesus  Christ,  (the  most 
exceptionable  that  could  possibly  be  chosen,)  and  run¬ 
ning  the  parallel,  as  some  have  done,  through  ten  or 
a  dozen  particulars  1 

Verse  12.  They — pitched  in  the  valley  of  Zared. ] 
“PT  7FU  nachal  zared.  This  should  be  translated  the 
brook  Zared,  as  it  is  in  Deut.  ii.  13,  14.  This  stream 
has  its  origin  in  the  mountains  eastward  of  Moab,  and 


on  the  other  side  of  Arnon,  which  a.  M.  2553. 
is  in  the  wilderness  that  cometh  An.  Exod.  Is’r. 
out  of  the  coasts  of  the  Amorites  :  40‘ 

for  -x  Arnon  is  the  border  of  Moab,  between 
Moab  and  the  Amorites. 

14  Wherefore  it  is  said  in  the  book  of  the 
wars  of  the  Lord,  -v  What  he  did  in  the  Red 
Sea,  and  in  the  brooks  of  Arnon, 

15  And  at  the  stream  of  the  brooks  that 
goeth  down  to  the  dwelling  of  Ar,  z  and  a  lieth 
upon  the. border  of  Moab. 

16  And  from  thence  they  went  bto  Beer  :  that 

y  Or,  Valieb  in  Suphah. - z  Deut.  ii.  18,  29. - a  Heb.  leaneth. 

b  Judg.  ix.  21. 

runs  from  east  to  west,  and  discharges  itself  into  the 
Dead  Sea. 

Verse  13.  Arnon]  Another  river  which  takes  its 
rise  in  the  mountains  of  Moab,  and,  after  having  se-* 
parated  the  ancient  territories  of  the  Moabites  and 
Ammonites,  falls  into  the  Dead  Sea,  near  the  mouth 
of  Jordan. 

Verse  14.  The  book  of  the  tears  of  the  Lord]  There 
are  endless  conjectures  about  this  book,  both  among 
ancients  and  moderns.  Dr.  Lightfoot’s  opinion  is  the 
most  simple,  and  to  me  bears  the  greatest  appearance 
of  being  the  true  one.  “  This  book  seems  to  have  been 
some  book  of  remembrances  and  directions,  written  by 
Moses  for  Joshua’s  private  instruction  for  the  manage¬ 
ment  of  the  wars  after  him.  See  Exod.  xvii.  14—16. 
It  may  be  that  this  was  the  same  book  which  is  called 
the  book  of  Jasher,  i.  e.,  the  book  of  the  upright,  or  a 
directory  for  Joshua,  from  Moses,  what  to  do  and  what 
to  expect  in  his  wars  ;  and  in  this  book  it  seems  as 
if  Moses  directed  the  setting  up  of  archery,  see  2  Sam. 
i.  18,  and  warrants  Joshua  to  command  the  sun,  and 
expect  its  obedience,  Josh.  x.  13.” 

What  he  did  in  the  Red  Sea,  and  in  the  brooks 
Arnon]  This  clause  is  impenetrably  obscure.  All 
the  versions,  all  the  translators,  and  all  the  commen¬ 
tators,  have  been  puzzled  with  it.  Scarcely  any  two 
agree.  The  original  is  D!T)  DK  elh  vaheb  besu- 

phah,  which  our  translators  render,  what  he  did  in  the 
Red  Sea.  following  here  the  Chaldee  Targum  ;  but 
not  satisfied  with  this  version,  they  have  put  the  most 
difficult  words  in  English  letters  in  the  margin,  Vaheb 
in  Suphah.  Calmet's  conjecture  here  is  ingenious, 
and  is  adopted  by  Houbigant ;  instead  of  DHl  vaheb, 
he  reads  TIT  zared.  Now  a  T  zain  may  be  easily  mis¬ 
taken  for  a  1  vau,  and  vice  versa ;  and  a  H  he  for  a  1 
resh,  if  the  left  limb  happened  to  be  a  little  obliterated, 
which  frequently  occurs,  not  only  in  MSS.,  but  in 
printed  books  ;  the  2  beth  also  might  be  mistaken  for 
a  2  daleth,  if  the  ruled  line  on  which  it  stood  hap¬ 
pened  in  that  place  to  be  a  little  thicker  or  blacker 
than  usual.  Thus  then  UHl  vaheb  might  be  easily 
formed  out  of  *n?  zared,  mentioned  ver.  12  ;  the  whole 
might  then  be  read,  They  encamped  at  the  brook  Zared, 
and  they  came  to  Suphah,  and  thence  to  the  brook 
Arnon.  Take  the  passage  as  we  may,  it  is  evidently 
defective.  As  I  judge  the  whole  clause  to  have  been 

683 


a 


NUMBERS. 


Israel's  triumphal  song. 

a.  M.  2553.  is  the  well  whereof  the  Lord 

B.  C  1451.  .  ,,  _  .  . 

An.  Exod.  isr.  spake  unto  Moses,  brather  the 

40‘  people  together,  and  I  will  give 
them  water. 

17  c  Then  Israel  sang  this  song,  d  Spring  up, 
O  well ;  e  sing  ye  unto  it : 

18  The  princes  digged  the  well,  the  nobles  of 
the  people  digged  it,  by  the  direction  of  f  the 
lawgiver,  with  their  staves.  And  from  the 
wilderness  they  went  to  Mattanah  : 

19  And  from  Mattanah  to  Nahaliel :  and  from 
Nahaliel  to  Bamoth : 

20  And  from  Bamoth  in  the  valley,  that  is  in 
the  s  country  of  Moab,  to  the  top  of  h  Pisgah, 
which  looketh  1  toward  k  Jeshimon. 

21  And  1  Israel  sent-messengers  unto  Sihon 
king  of  the  Amorites,  saying, 

22  m  Let  me  pass  through  thy  land  :  we  will 
not  turn  into  the  fields,  or  into  the  vineyards; 
we  will  not  drink  of  the  waters  of  the  well : 
hut  we  will  go  along  by  the  king’s  high-way, 
until  we  be  past  thy  borders. 

c  Exod.  xv.  1  ;  Psa.  cv.  2 ;  cvi.  12. - d  Heb.  ascend. - 'e  Or, 

answer. - f  Isa.  xxxiii.  22. - s  Heb.  field. - h  Or,  the  hill. 

‘Chap,  xxiii.  28. - kOr,  the  wilderness. - 1  Deut.  ii.  26,  27  ; 

Judg.  xi.  19. 

a  common  proverb  in  those  days,  and  Vaheb  to  be  a 
proper  name,  I  therefore  propose  the  following  trans¬ 
lation,  which  I  believe  to  be  the  best :  From  Vaheb  unto 
Suph,  and  unto  the  streams  of  Ar non.  If  we  allow  it  to 
have  been  a  proverbial  expression,  used  to  point  out 
extensive  distance,  then  it  was  similar  to  that  well 
known  phrase,  From  Dan  even  unto  Beersheba. 

Verse  17.  Spring  up,  O  well,  dfd]  This  is  one  of 
the  most  ancient  war  songs  in  the  world,  but  is  not 
easily  understood,  which  is  commonly  the  case  with  all 
very  ancient  compositions,  especially  the  poetic.  See 
the  remarks  Exod.  xv.  1,  &c. 

Verse  18.  The  princes  digged  the  well — with  their 
staves .]  This  is  not  easily  understood.  Who  can  sup¬ 
pose  that,  the  princes  dug  this  well  with  their  staves  ? 
And  is  their  any  other  idea  conveyed  by  our  transla¬ 
tion  ?  The  word  11351  chapharu,  which  is  translated 
they  digged,  should  be  rendered  they  searched  out , 
which  is  a  frequent  meaning  of  the  root ;  and 
bemishanotham,  which  we  render  with  their  staves, 
should  be  translated  on  their  borders  or  confines,  from 
the  root  j 'fiVJ  shaan,  to  lie  along.  With  these  correc¬ 
tions  the  whole  song  may  be  read  thus  : — 

Spring  up,  O  well !  Answer  ye  to  it.  \  the otherpart 

The  well,  the  princes  searched  it  out.  Thisistheanswer. 

The  nobles  of  the  people  have  digged  it.  <  Thiswasthe 

By  a  decree,  upon  their  own  borders.  < chorus- 

This  is  the  whole  of  the  quotation  from  what  is 
called  the  book  of  the  wars  of  the  Lord.  But  see  Dr. 
KennicotV s  remarks  at  the  end  of  this  chapter. 

Verse  26  For  Heshbon  was  the  city  of  Sihon,  $c.] 

684 


The  defeat  of  Sihon 

23  11  And  Sihon  would  not  suffer  A.  M.  2553. 

T  1  .  ii-ii  B.  C.  1451. 

Israel  to  pass  through  his  border :  An.  Exod.  Isr. 

but  Sihon  gathered  all  his  people  40‘ 

together,  and  went  out  against  Israel  into  the 

wilderness  :  0  and  he  came  to  Jahaz,  and 

fought  against  Israel. 

24  And  p  Israel  smote  him  with  the  edge  of 
the  sword,  and  possessed  his  land  from  Arnon 
unto  Jabbok,  even  unto  the  children  of  Ammon: 
for  the  border  of  the  children  of  Ammon 
was  strong. 

25  And  Israel  took  all  these  cities  :  and 
Israel  dwelt  in  all  the  cities  of  the  Amorites, 
in  Heshbon,  and  in  all  the  q  villages  thereof. 

26  For  Heshbon  was  the  city  of  Sihon  the 
king  of  the  Amorites,  who  had  fought  against 
the  former  king  of  Moab,  and  taken  all  his 
land  out  of  his  hand,  even  unto  Arnon. 

27  Wherefore  they  that  speak  in  proverbs  say, 
Come  into  Heshbon,  let  the  city  of  Sihon  be 
built  and  prepared  : 

28  For  there  is  r  a  fire  gone  out  of  Heshbon, 

“Chap.  xx.  17. - n  Deut.  xxix.  7. - 0  Deut.  ii.  32  ;  Judg 

xi.  20. - p  Deut.  ii.  33  ;  xxix.  7  ;  Josh.  xii.  1,  2 ;  xxiv.  8  ;  Neh 

ix.  22;  Psa.  cxxxv.  10,  11  ;  cxxxvi.  19  ;  Amos  ii.  9. - <3  Heb 

daughters. - r  Jer.  xlviii.  45,  46. 

It  appears  therefore  that  the  territory  now  taken  from 
Sihon  by  the  Israelites  was  taken  from  a  former  king 
of  Moab,  in  commemoration  of  which  an  epikedion  or 
war  song  was  made,  several  verses  of  which,  in  their 
ancient  poetic  form,  are  here  quoted  by  Moses. 

Verse  27.  They  that  speak  in  proverbs ]  D’btyDn 
hammoshelim,  from  mashal,  to  rule,  to  exercise 
authority  ;  hence  a  weighty  proverbial  saying ,  because 
admitted  as  an  axiom  for  the  government  of  life.  The 
moshelim  of  the  ancient  Asiatics  were  the  same,  in  all 
probability,  as  the  Poetce  among  the  Greeks  and  La¬ 
tins,  the  shaara  among  the  Arabs,  who  were 

esteemed  as  Divine  persons,  and  who  had  their  name 
from  shaara,  he  knew,  understood ;  whose  poems 

celebrated  past  transactions,  and  especially,  those  which 
concerned  the  military  history  of  their  nation.  These 

poets  were  also  termed  sahebi  deewan, 

companions  or  lords  of  the  council  of  state,  because 
their  weighty  sayings  and  universal  knoivledge  were 
held  in  the  highest  repute.  Similar  to  these  were  the 
bards  among  the  ancient  Druids,  and  the  Sennachies 
among  the  ancient  Celtic  inhabitants  of  these  nations. 

The  ode  from  the  27th  to  the  30th  verse  is  com¬ 
posed  of  three  parts.  The  first  takes  in  verses  27  and 
28  ;  the  second  ver.  29  ;  and  the  third  verse  30. 

The  first  records  with  bitter  irony  the  late  insults  of 
Sihon  and  his  subjects  over  the  conquered  Moabites. 

The  second  expresses  the  compassion  of  the  Israel¬ 
ites  over  the  desolations  of  Moab,  with  a  bitter  sarcasm 
against  their  ' god  Chemosh,  who  had  abandoned  his 
votaries  in  their  distress,  or  was  not  able  to  rescue  them 
out  of  the  hands  of  their  enemies. 


a 


CHAP.  XXL 


The  Israelites  fight  with  and 

A.  M.  2553.  a  flame  from  the  city  of  Sihon  : 
An.  Exod.  isr.  it  hath  consumed  8  Ar  of  Moab, 
40,  and  the  lords  of  the  high  places 
of  Arnon. 

29  Wo  to  thee,  Moab  !  thou  art  undone,  O 
people  of  t  Chemosh  :  he  hath  given  his  sons 
that  escaped,  and  his  daughters,  into  captivity 
unto  Sihon  king  of  the  Amorites. 

30  We  have  shot  at  them ;  Heshbon  is  pe¬ 
rished  even  u  unto  Dibon,  and  we  have  laid 
them  waste  even  unto  Nophah,  which  reach- 
eth  unto  v  Medeba. 

3 1  Thus  Israel  dwelt  in  the  land  of  the 
Amorites. 

32  And  Moses  sent  to  spy  out  w  Jaazer,  and 

s  Deut.  ii.  9, 18;  Isa.  xv.  1. - f  Judg.  xi.  24;  1  Kings  xi.  7, 

33  ;  2  Kings  xxiii.  13  ;  Jer.  xlviii.  7,  13. - u  Jer.  xlviii.  18,  22. 

v  Isa.  xv.  2. 

The  third  sets  forth  the  revenge  taken  by  Israel 
upon  the  whole  country  of  Sihon,  from  Heshbon  to 
Dibon ,  and  from  Nophah  even  to  Medeba.  See  Isa. 
xv.  1,  2. 

The  whole  poem,  divided  into  its  proper  hemistichs, 
as  it  stands  in  Kennicott’s  Hebrew  Bible,  is  as  fol¬ 
lows  : — 

Verse  27.  Part  I. 

Come  ye  to  Heshbon,  let  it  be  rebuilt ; 

The  city  of  Sihon,  let  it  be  established. 

Verse  28. 

For  from  Heshbon  the  fire  went  out, 

And  a  flame  from  the  city  of  Sihon : 

It  hath  consumed  the  city  of  Moab, 

With  the  lords  of  the  heights  of  Arnon. 

Verse  29.  Part  II. 

Alas  for  thee,  0  Moab  ! 

Thou  hast  perished,  0  people  of  Chemosh  1 
He  hath  given  up  his  fugitive  sons 
And  his  daughters  into  captivity, 

To  the  king  of  the  Amorites,  Sihon. 

Verse  30.  Part  III. 

But  on  them  have  WE  lifted  destruction, 

From  Heshbon  even  to  Dibon  ; 

We  have  destroyed  even  to  Nophah, 

The  fire  did  reach  to  Medebah. 

See  KennicotV s  Remarks. 

Verse  35.  So  they  smote  him ,  and  his  sows]  There 
is  a  curious  note  of  Dr.  Lightfoot  here,  of  which  I 
should  think  it  wrong  to  deprive  the  reader. 

“Sihon  and  Og  conquered,  A.  M.  2553.  Of  the 
life  of  Moses,  120.  From  the  Exodus,  40.  It  is  now 
six  and  twenty  generations  from  the  creation,  or  from 
Adam  to  Moses ;  and  accordingly  doth  Psa.  cxxxvi. 
rehearse  the  durableness  of  God’s  mercy  six  and  twenty 
times  over,  beginning  the  story  with  the  creation,  and 
ending  it  in  the  conquest  of  Sihon  and  Og.  The 
numerals  of  the  name  HITT  Jehovah  amount  to  the  sum 
of  six  and  twenty .” 


defeat  Og,  king  of  Baslian. 

they  took  the  villages  thereof,  and  A.  M.  2553. 

J  °  7  B  C  145i. 

drove  out  the  Amorites  that  were  An.Exod.  isr. 

there.  40  ’ 

33  x  And  they  turned  and  went  up  by  the 
way  of  Bashan  :  and  Og  the  king  of  Bashan 
went  out  against  them,  he,  and  all  his  people, 
to  the  battle  y  at  Edrei. 

34  And  the  Lord  said  unto  Moses,  z  Fear 
him  not :  for  I  have  delivered  him  into  thy 
hand,  and  all  his  people,  and  his  land  ;  and 
a  thou  shalt  do  to  him  as  thou  didst  unto  Sihon 
king  of  the  Amorites,  which  dwelt  at  Heshbon. 

35  b  So  they  smote  him,  and  his  sons,  and 
all  his  people,  until  there  was  none  left,  him 
alive  :  and  they  possessed  his  land. 

""Chap,  xxxii.  1  ;  Jer.  xlviii.  32.- - x  Deut.  iii.  1  ;  xxix.  7. 

y  Josh.  xiii.  12. - z  Deut.  iii.  2. - a  Ver.  24  ;  Psa.  cxxxv.  10, 

11  ;  cxxxvi.  20. - b  Deut.  iii.  3,  4,  &c. 

On  some  difficulties  in  this  chapter  Dr.  Kennicott 
makes  the  following  observations  : — 

“  This  one  chapter  has  several  very  considerable 
difficulties ;  and  some  verses,  as  now  translated,  are 
remarkably  unintelligible.  A  true  state  of  this  chap¬ 
ter  is  not,  however,  to  be  despaired,  of;  and  it  has  in 
it  some  circumstances  which  merit  more  than  common 
attention.  It  contains  the  history  of  the  last  part  of 
the  travels  of  the  Israelites  in  their  way  to  the  pro¬ 
mised  land  ;  beginning  with  them  at  Mount  Hor,  the 
thirty-fourth  encampment,  and  concluding  with  them, 
as  in  their  forty-second  and  last  encampment,  near 
Jordan,  in  the  country  which  they  had  acquired  by  con¬ 
quest  over  Sihon,  king  of  the  Amorites. 

“  It  begins  with  saying — that  King  Arad ,  the  Ca- 
naanite ,  who  dwelt  in  the  south ,  (in  the  land  of  Canaan, 
chap,  xxxiii.  40,)  attacked  Israel  and  was  defeated, 
and  that  Israel  destroyed  their  cities ;  and  that,  after 
destroying  these  Canaanite  ■ cities ,  and  consequently 
;  after  being  in  a  part  of  Cannaan,  a  part  of  the  very 
country  they  were  going  to,  on  the  ivest  of  the  Dead 
Sea,  they  returned,  towards  the  Red  Sea,  and  near  the 
eastern  tongue  or  gulf  of  the  Red  Sea,  on  the  south  of 
Edom,  marched  round  Edom  to  the  east  of  the  Deere?  Sea, 
in  order  to  enter  Canaan  from  the  east  side  of  Jordan  ! 

“  This  surprising  representation  of  so  vast  and  dan¬ 
gerous  a  march,  quite  unnecessarily  performed,  is  owing 
to  two  circumstances.  The  first  is,  (chapter  xxi.  1,) 
the  Canaanites  heard  that  Israel  was  coming  by  the 
way  of  the  spies,  meaning,  by  the  way  the  spies  went 
from  Kadesh-Barnea  into  Canaan.  But  this  being 
impossible,  because  Israel  had  now  marched  from  Me- 
ribah-Kadesh  to  Mount  Hor,  beyond  Ezion-gaber,  and 
were  turning  round  Edom,  to  the  south-east ;  it  is 
happy  that  the  word  rendered  spies,  in  our  version,  is 
in  the  Greek  a  proper  name,  ( Atharim ,)  which  removes 
that  difficulty  :  and  the  other  difficulty  (verses  2,  3)  is 
removed  by  the  Greek  version  likewise,  according  to 
which,  the  vow  made,  with  the  facts  subsequent,  does 
not  signify  destroying  the  Canaanite  cities,  but  devot¬ 
ing  them  to  destruction' at  some  future  time.  See 
Wall's  Crit.  Notes. 


a 


685 


Critical  remarks  on  several 

It  proceeds  with  saying1,  that  after  defeating  the 
Catiaanites  at  Mount  Hor ,  they  journeyed  from  Mount 
Hor  by  the  way  of  the  Red  Sea,  (in  the  road  from 
Ammon ,  Midian,  &c.,  to  the  eastern  gulf  of  the  Red 
Sea,)  to  compass  the  land  of  Edom ;  that  on  their 
murmuring  for  want  both  of  bread  and  of  water  they 
were  punished  by  fiery  serpents,  after  which  they 
marched  to  Obolh,  and  thence  to  Ije-abarim  in  the  wil¬ 
derness ,  east  of  Moab.  The  encampments  of  the  Israel¬ 
ites,  amounting  to  forty-two,  are  recorded  all  together, 
in  historical  succession,  in  chap,  xxxiii.,  where  Ije- 
abarim  is  the  38  th ;  Dibon-gad,  39  ;  Almon-Dibla- 
thaim,  40  ;  mountains  of  Abarim,  41 ;  and  the  plains 
of  Moab,  by  Jordan,  42.  This  regular  detail  in  chap, 
xxxiii.  has  occasioned  great  perplexity  as  to  chap,  xxi., 
where,  after  the  stations  at  Oboth  and  Ije-abarim,  in 
verses  10  and  11,  we  have,  in  verses  19  and  20,  the 
words  Mattanah,  Nahaliel ,  and  Bamoth ;  which  are 
usually  considered  as  the  proper  names  of  three  places, 
but  widely  different  from  the  three  proper  names  after 
Ije-abarim  in  the  catalogue  at  chap,  xxxiii. 

“  But  there  is,  in  reality,  no  inconsistency  here.  In 
the  plain  and  historical  catalogue  (chap,  xxxiii.)  the 
words  are  strictly  the  proper  names  of  the  three  places ; 
but  here  the  words  Mattanah,  Nahaliel,  and  Bamoth 
follow  some  lines  of  poetry,  and  seem  to  form  a  conti¬ 
nuation  of  the  song.  They  evidently  express  figurative 
and  poetical  ideas.  The  verbs  journeyed  from  and 
pitched  in  are  not  found  here,  though  necessary  to 
prose  narration  :  see  verses  10  and  11  here,  and  chap, 
xxxiii.  Lastly,  verse  20th,  (in  this  21st  chapter,) 
usually  supposed  to  express  the  last  encampment,  does 
not.  Pisgah  signifies  a  hill ;  and  the  Israelites  could 
not  encamp  on  the  top  of  any  single  hill,  such  as  this 
is  described.  Balak  took  Balaam  to  the  top  of  Peor, 
which  looketh  toward  Jeshimon,  (chap,  xxiii.  28,) 
which  Peor  undoubtedly  was  in  Moab.  He  took  him 
to  another  hill  in  Moab,  when  he  took  him  (chap, 
xxiii.  1 4)  to  the  top  of  Pisgah,  in  the  field  of  Zo- 
phim.  And  if  the  Pisgah  or  hill  in  chap.  xxi.  20, 
was  in  the  country  of  Balak,  it  could  not  point  out  the 
last  encampment ,  which  was  not  in  Balak’s  country, 
but  north  of  Arnon. 

“  The  word  Mattanah  probably  alludes  to  a  place 
distinguished  by  some  gift  or  blessing  from  God.  Fa- 
gius  says  :  Nomen  loci ,  ab  eventu  aquarum  quas  Domi¬ 
nies  ibi  dedit,  sic  appellati ;  nJHE  narri  significat  donum 
■ — ‘  The  nanre  of  the  place  was  so  called,  from  the  cir¬ 
cumstance  of  the  waters  which  the  Lord  gave  there  ; 
for  Mattanah  signifies  a  gift.1  b/i'bnj  Nahaliel  is 
tor  rentes  Dei ;  i.  e.,  great  streams,  particularly  season¬ 
able  or  salutary.  And  P103  Bamoth  (ver.  28)  may 
point  out  any  high  places  of  signal  benefit  in  the  coun¬ 
try  of  Moab,  or  it  may  answer  to  the  last  staiion  but 
one ,  which  was  the  mountains  of  Abarim.  If,  there¬ 
fore,  these  words  were  meant  to  express  poetically 
some  eminent  blessing,  what  blessing  was  so  likely  to 
be  then  celebrated  as  copious  streams  of  water  ?  And 
after  they  had  wandered  nearly  forty  years  through 
many  a  barren  desert,  and  after  (compare  Deut.  viii. 
15)  having  passed  through  that  great  and  terrible  wil¬ 
derness,  wherein  were  fiery  serpents  and  drought , 
where  there  was  no  water,  it  is  no  wonder  they  should 
shout  for  joy  at  finding  water  in  plenty,  and  finding  it 

686 


difficulties  in  this  chapter . 

almost  on  the  banks  o (Arnon,  the  last  river  they  were 
to  pass,  in  their  way  to  their  last  station,  east  of  Jordan. 
No  wonder  they  should  sing  in  poetic  rapture,  that 
after  the  wilderness  was  ( Mattanah )  the  gift  of  God  ; 
meaning  the  great  well  in  Moab,  dug  by  public  autho¬ 
rity  ;  and  no  wonder  that,  after  such  a  gift,  there  were 
{Nahaliel)  blessed  streams,  by  which  they  passed,  till 
they  came  to  ( Bamoth )  the  high  places  from  which,  per¬ 
haps,  these  streams  descended.  And  the  thanksgiving 
ends,  where  the  blessing  was  no  longer  wanted,  on 
their  coming  down  into  the  valley,  along  the  banks  of 
Arnon,  which  was  then  the  north  boundary  of  Moab. 

“  The  Israelites  had  spent  no  less  than  thirty-eight 
years  in  coming  from  Kadesh-Barnea  to  their  encamp¬ 
ment  north  of  Zared.  Here,  at  this  fortieth  station, 
they  were  commanded  to  pass  through  Moab  by  *vp  Ar, 
the  chief  city ;  but  were  not  to  stop  till  they  came  to 
the  valley  on  the  south  of  Arnon.  At  this  last  station 
but  one  they  probably  continued  no  longer  than  was 
necessary  for  sending  messengers  to  Sihon,  king  of 
the  Amorites,"  at  Heshbon,  and  receiving  his  answer. 
They  then  crossed  the  Arnon ;  and  having  vanquished 
Sihon  and  Og,  took  possession  of  the  forty -second  and 
last  encampment. 

“  This  one  chapter  has  three  pieces  of  poetry,  either 
fragments  or  complete  ;  and  poetry,  seldom  found  in  a 
historical  narrative,  may  be  here  accounted  for  from 
the  exuberance  of  joy  which  must  have  affected  these 
wearied  travellers,  when  arriving  thus  happily  near 
their  journey’s  end.  What  occurs  first  is  in  ver.  14  ; 
and  has  often  been  called  the  fragment  of  an  old 
Amorite  song.  But  it  may  have  been  Amorite  or 
Moabite,  or  either  or  neither ,  for  the  subject  matter 
of  it,  as  it  is  generally  understood,  if  indeed  it  can  be 
said  to  be  understood  at  all.  The  words  UHl  Jltt, 
jlJIN  D'bnjn  nxi  HDIDD  usually  supposed  to  contain 
this  fragment,  do  not  signify,  as  in  our  English  ver¬ 
sion,  What  he  did  in  the  Red  Sea,  and  in  the  brooks 
of  Arnon.  Without  enumerating  the  many  interpreta¬ 
tions  given  by  others,  I  shall  offer  a  new  one,  which 
seems  to  make  good  sense,  and  a  sense  very  pertinent. 

“  Observe  first,  that  there  must  have  been  a  place 
called  Suph,  near  the  conflux  of  the  Arnon  and  Jordan; 
because  Moses,  whilst  in  that  last  station,  begins  Deu¬ 
teronomy  with  saying,  he  was  on  this  side  (i.  e.,  east) 
of  Jordan,  over  against  Suph.  By  this  word  is  not 
here  meant  the  Red  Sea ;  partly,  because  that  has 
every  where  else  the  word  for  sea  before  it,  and 
partly,  because  of  the  great  distance  of  the  Red  Sea 
now  from  Moses.  The  single  word,  therefore,  signi¬ 
fies  here  some  place  in  itself  obscure,  because  no 
where  mentioned  but  in  these  two  passages.  And  yet 
we  cannot  wonder  that  Moses  should  mention  it  twice, 
as  the  word  Suph,  introduced  in  speaking  of  the  two 
last  encampments,  recalled  to  mind  the  Sea  of  Suph, 
so  glorious  to  Israel,  near  the  beginning  of  their  march 
towards  Canaan. 

“  Moses  had  now  led  Israel  from  the  Red  Sea  to 
the  river  Arnon,  through  many  dreadful  dangers,  partly 
from  hostile  nations,  partly  from  themselves ;  such 
dangers  as.no  other  people  ever  experienced,  and  such 
as  no  people  could  have  surmounted,  without  the  signal 
favour  of  the  Almighty.  And  here,  just  before  the 
battles  with  Sihon  an  Og,  he  reminds  them  of  Pha- 

a 


NUMBERS. 


CHAP.  XXII. 


The  Israelites  encamp 

raoh ,  &c.  ;  and  he  asserts,  that  in  the  history  of  the 
wars  it  shall  be  recorded  that  J ehovah,  who  had  tri¬ 
umphantly  brought  Israel  through  the  Sea  of  Suph, 
near  Egypt,  at  first,  had  now  conducted  him  to  Suph, 
near  Arnon ;  that 

Jehovah  went  with  him  to  Suph, 

And  he  came  to  the  streams  of  Arnon. 

“  This  version  removes  the  difficulties  urged  by 
Hobbes,  page  266,  fol.  1750  ;  by  Spinoza ,  page  103, 
4to.,  1670  ;  and  retailed  in  a  deistical  pamphlet  called 
The  Doubts  of  the  Infidels,  page  4,  8vo.,  1781. 

“  The  general  meaning  of  the  next  piece  of  poetry 
seems  to  be  this  :  that  at  some  distance  from  the  city 
of  Ar,  by  which  the  Israelites  were  to  pass,  (Deut.  ii. 
18,)  they  came  to  a  well  of  uncommon  size  and  mag¬ 
nificence,  which  seems  to  have  been  sought  out,  built 
up,  and  adorned  for  the  public,  by  the  rulers  of  Moab. 
And  it  is  no  wonder  that,  on  their  arrival  at  such 


m  the  plains  of  Mu  ah. 

a  well,  they  should  look  upon  it  as  a  blessing  from 
Heaven,  and  speak  of  it  as  a  new  miracle  in  their 
favour. 

17.  Then  Israel  sang  this  song: — 

Spring  up,  O  well  !  Sing  ye  thereto  ! 

18.  The  well!  princes  searched  it  out; 

The  nobles  of  the  people  have  digged  it ; 

By  their  decree,  by  their  act  of  government. 
So,  after  the  wilderness ,  was  Mattanah  ! 

19.  And  after  Mattanah  were  Nahaliel ! 

And  after  Nahaliel  were  Bamoth  ! 

20.  And  after  Bamoth  was  the  valley  ; 

Where,  in  the  country  of  Moab, 

Appeareth  the  top  of  Pisgah, 

Which  is  over  against  Jeshimon. 

See  Dr.  Kennicott’s  Remarks  upon  Select  Passages 
in  the  Old  Testament. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 


The  Israelites  pitch  in  the  plains  of  Moab,  1.  Balak,  king  of  Moab,  is  greatly  terrified,  2—4  ;  and  sends 
to  Balaam,  a  diviner,  to  come  and  curse  them,  5,  6.  The  elders  of  Moab  take  a  reward  and  carry  it  to 
Balaam,  7.  He  inquires  of  the  Lord ,  and  is  positively  ordered  not  to  go  with  them,  8-12.  He  commu¬ 
nicates  this  to  the  elders  of  Moab,  13.  They  return  to  Balak  with  this  information ,  14.  He  sends  some 
of  his  princes  to  Balaam  with  promises  of  great  honour,  15—17.  He  consults  God,  and  is  permitted  to 
go,  on  certain  conditions,  18—20.  Balaam  sets  off,  is  opposed  by  an  angel  of  the  Lord,  and  the  Lord 
miraculously  opens  the  mouth  of  his  ass  to  reprove  him ,  21—30.  Balaam  sees  the  angel,  and  is  reproved 
by  him,  31—33.  He  humbles  himself,  and  offers  to  go  back,  34  ;  but  is  ordered  to  proceed,  on  the  same 
conditions  as  before ,  35.  The  king  of  Moab  goes  out  to  meet  him,  36.  His  address  to  him,  37.  Balaam’s 
firm  answer,  38.  Balak  sacrifices,  and  takes  Balaam  to  the  high  places  of  Baal,  that  he  may  see  the 
whole  of  the  Israelitish  camp,  39—41. 


A.  M.  2553.  A^ND  a  the  children  of  Israel 
Aru  ExocL  lsr.  set  forward,  and  pitched  in 

4a  the  plains  of  Moab,  on  this  side 
Jordan  by  Jericho. 

2  And  b  Balak  the  son  of  Zippor  saw  all  that 
Israel  had  done  to  the  Arnorit.es. 

3  And  c  Moab  was  sore  afraid  of  the  people, 
because  they  were  many  :  and  Moab  was  dis¬ 
tressed  because  of  the  children  of  Israel. 

4  And  Moab  said  unto  d  the  elders  of  Midian, 
Now  shall  this  company  lick  up  all  that  are 

1  Chap,  xxxiii.  48. - b  Judg.  xi.  25. - c  Exod.  xv.  15. 

<J  Chap.  xxxi.  8;  Josh.  xiii.  21. —  e  Deut.  xxiii.  4  ;  Josh,  xiii.22; 

NOTES  ON  CHAP.  XXII. 

Verse.  I.  And  pitched  in  the  plains  of  Moab}  They 
had  taken  no  part  of  the  country  that  at  present  apper¬ 
tained  to  the  Moabites ;  they  had  taken  only  that  part 
which  had  formerly  belonged  to  this  people,  but  had 
been  taken  from  them  by  Sihon,  king  of  the  Amorites. 

On  this  side  Jordan ]  On  the  east  side.  By  Je¬ 
richo,  that  is,  over  against  it. 

Verse  5.  To  Pethor,  which  is  by  the  river  of  the 
land  of  the  children  of  his  people )  Dr.  Kennicott 
justly  remarks,  that  “  the  description  now  given  of 
Balaam’s  residence,  instead  of  being  particular,  agrees 


round  about  us,  as  the  ox  licketh  A.  M.  2553. 
up  the  grass  of  the  field.  And  An.  Exod.  Isr. 

Balak  the  son  of  Zippor  was  40~  

king  of  the  Moabites  at  that  time. 

5  e  He  sent  messengers  therefore  unto  Ba¬ 
laam  the  son  of  Beor  to  f  Pethor,  which  is  by 
the  river  of  the  land  of  the  children  of  his 
people,  to  call  him,  saying,  Behold,  there  is  a 
people  come  out  from  Egypt :  behold,  they 
cover  the  s  face  of  the  earth,  and  they  abide 
over  against  me  : 

xxiv.  9  ;  Neh.  xiii.  1,  2  ;  Mic.  vi.  5  ;  2  Pet.  ii.  15  ;  Jude  11 ;  Rev. 
ii.  14. - f  See  chap,  xxiii.  7  ;  Deut.  xxiii.  4. - s  Heb.  eye. 

with  any  place  in  any  country  where  there  is  a  river; 
for  he  lived  by  Pethor,  ivhich  is  by  the  river  of  the 
land  of  the  children  of  his  people.  But  was  Pethor 
then  near  the  Nile  iu  Egypt  ?  Or  in  Canaan ,  near 
Jordan  ?  Or  in  Mesopotamia,  near  the  Euphrates, 
and  belonging  to  the  Ammonites  ?  This  last  was  in 
fact  the  case ;  and  therefore  it  is  well  that  twelve 
Hebrew  MSS.  (with  two  of  De  Rossi's)  confirm  the 
Samaritan  text  here  in  reading,  instead  of  IpJ?  ammo, 
his  people,  Ammon,  with  the  Syriac  and  Vulgate 
versions.”  Houbigant  properly  contends  for  this  read¬ 
ing  ;  and  necessity  urges  the  propriety  of  adopting  it. 

687 


a 


Balak  desires  Balaam 


NUMBERS. 


to  curse  the  Israelites 


A.  M.  2553. 

B.  C.  1451. 
An.  Exod.  Isr. 

40. 


6  Come  now,  therefore,  I  pray 
thee,  h  curse  me  this  people  ;  for 
they  are  too  mighty  for  me : 


h  Numbers, 

It  should  therefore  stand  thus  :  by  the  river  of  the 
land  of  the  children  of  Ammon;  and  thus  it  agrees 
with  Deut.  xxiii.  4. 

Verse  6.  Come  note ,  therefore ,  I  pray  thee ,  curse  me 
this  people ]  Balaam,  once  a  prophet  of  the  true  God, 
appears  to  have  been  one  of  the  Moshelim ,  (see  chap, 
xxi.  27,)  who  had  added  to  his  poetic  gift  that  of  sor¬ 
cery  or  divination.  It  was  supposed  that  prophets  and 
sorcerers  had  a  power  to  curse  persons  and  places  so 
as  to  confound  all  their  designs,  frustrate  their  coun¬ 
sels,  enervate  their  strength,  and  fill  them  with  fear, 
terror,  and  dismay.  See  Gen.  ix.  25  ;  Psa.  cix.  6, 
20  ;  Josh.  vi.  26  ;  Jer.  xvii.  5,  6. 

Macrobius  has  a  whole  chapter  De  carmine  quo 
■  evocari  solebant  dii  tutelares,  et  aut  urbes,  aut  exerci- 
tus  devoveri.  “  Of  the  incantations  which  were  used 
to  induce  the  tutelary  gods  to  forsake  the  cities,  &c., 
over  which  they  presided,  and  to  devote  cities  and 
whole  armies  to  destruction.”  See  Saturnal.,  lib.  iii., 
cap.  ix.  He  gives  us  two  of  the  ancient  forms  used  in 
reference  to  the  destruction  of  Carthage  ;  the  first,  to 
call  over  the  protecting  deities,  was  pronounced  by  the 
dictator  or  general,  and  none  other,  when  they  began 
the  siege.  It  is  as  follows,  literatim  et  punctatim  : — 

Si.  Deus.  si.  Dea.  est.  cui.  popolus.  civitas.  que. 
Karthaginiensis.  est.  in.  tutela.  te.  que.  maxime.  ille. 
qui.  urbis.  hujus.  popoli.  que.  tutelam.  recepisti.  pre- 
cor.  veneror.  que.  veniam.  que.  a.  vobis.  peto.  ut.  vos. 
popolum.  civitatem.  que.  Karthaginiensem.  deseratis. 
loca.  templa.  sacra,  urbem.  que.  eorum.  relinquatis. 
absque,  his.  abeatis.  ei.  que.  pojiolo.  civitati.  que. 
metum.  formidinem.  oblivionem.  injiciatis.  proditi. 
que.  Romam.  ad.  me.  meos.  que.  veniatis.  nostra,  que. 
vobis.  loca.  templa.  sacra,  urbs.  acceptior.  probatior. 
que.  sit.  mihi.  que.  popolo.  que.  Romano,  militibus. 
que.  meis.  praepositi.  sitis.  ut.  sciamus.  intelligarnus. 
que.  Si.  ita.  feceritis.  voveo.  vobis.  templa.  ludos. 
que.  facturum. 

“  Whether  it  be  god  or  goddess,  under  whose  pro¬ 
tection  the  people  and  city  of  Carthage  are  placed  ; 
and  thee,  especially,  who  hast  undertaken  to  defend 
this  city  and  people  ;  I  pray,  beseech,  and  earnestly 
entreat  that  you  would  forsake  the  people  and  city  of 
Carthage,  and  leave  their  places,  temples,  sacred  things, 
and  city,  and  depart  from  them  :  and  that  you  would 
inspire  this  people  and  city  with  fear,  terror,  and  for¬ 
getfulness  :  and  that,  coming  out  from  them,  you 
would  pass  over  to  Rome,  to  me,  and  to  mine  :  and 
that  our  places,  temples,  sacred  things,  and  city  may 
be  more  agreeable  and  more  acceptable  to  you  :  and 
.that  you  would  preside  over  me,  the  Roman  people, 
and  my  soldiers  ;  that  we  may  know  and  perceive  it. 
If  ye  will  do  this,  I  promise  to  consecrate  to  your 
honour  both  temples  and  games.” 

The  second,  to  devote  the  city  to  destruction,  which 
it  was  supposed  the  tutelary  gods  had  abandoned,  is 
the  following  : — 

Dis.  Pater.  Vejovis.  Manes,  sive.  vos.  quo.  alio. 

688 


peradventure  I  shall  prevail,  that  A.  M.  2553. 

.  A  i  7  T  B.  C.  1451. 

we  may  smite  them,  and  that  I  An.  Exod.  Isr. 

may  drive  them  out  of  the  land  :  40' _ _ 

chap,  xxiii.  7. 

nomine,  fas.  est.  nominare.  ut.  omnes.  illam.  urbem. 
Karthaginem.  exercitum.  que.  quern,  ego.  me.  sentio. 
dicere.  fuga.  formidine.  terrore.  que.  compleatis.  qui. 
que.  adversum.  legiones.  exercitum.  que.  nostrum, 
arma.  tela.  que.  ferent.  Uti.  vos.  eum.  exercitum.  eos. 
hostes.  eos.  que.  homines,  urbes.  agros.  que.  eorum. 
et.  qui.  in.  his.  locis.  regionibus.  que.  agris.  urbibus. 
ve.  habitant,  abducatis.  lumine.  supero.  privetis.  exer¬ 
citum.  que.  hostium.  urbes.  agros.  que.  eorum.  quos. 
me.  sentio.  dicere.  uti.  vos.  eas.  urbes.  agros.  que. 
capita,  estates,  que.  eorum.  devotas.  consecratas.  que. 
habeatis.  illis.  legibus.  quibus.  quando.  que.  sunt, 
maxime.  hostes.  devoti.  eos.  que.  ego.  vicarios.  pro. 
me.  fide,  magistratu.  que.  meo.  pro.  popolo.  Romano, 
exercitibus.  legionibus.  que.  nostris.  do.  devoveo.  ut. 
me.  meam.  que.  fidem.  imperium.  que.  legiones.  exer¬ 
citum.  que.  nostrum,  qui.  in.  his.  rebus,  gerundis.  sunt, 
bene,  salvos,  siritis.  esse.  Si.  heec.  ita.  faxitis.  ut.  ego. 
sciam.  sentiam.  intelligam.  que.  tunc,  quisquis. 
hoc.  votum.  faxit.  ubi.  ubi.  faxit.  recte.  factum,  esto. 
ovibus.  atris.  tribus.  Tellus.  mater,  te.  que.  Juppiter. 
obtestor. 

“  Dis.  Pater.  Vejovis.  Manes.,  or  by  whatsoever 
name  you  wish  to  be  invoked,  I  pray  you  to  fill  this 
city  of  Carthage  with  fear  and  terror';  and  to  put  that 
army  to  flight  which  I  mention,  and  which  bears  arms 
or  darts  against  our  legions  and  armies  :  and  that  ye 
may  take  away  this  army,  those  enemies,  those  men, 
their  cities  and  their  country",  and  all  who  dwell  in 
those  places,  regions,  countries,  or  cities ;  and  deprive 
them  of  the  light  above  :  and  let  all  their  armies, 
cities,  country,  chiefs,  and  people  be  held  by  you  con¬ 
secrated  and  devoted,  according  to  those  laws  by 
which,  and  at  what  time,  enemies  can  be  most  effec¬ 
tually  devoted.  I  also  give  and  devote  them  as  vica¬ 
rious  sacrifices  for  myself  and  my  magistracy  ;  for  the 
Roman  people,  and  for  all  our  armies  and  legions ;  and 
for  the  whole  -empire,  and  that  all  the  armies  and  le¬ 
gions  which  are  employed  in  these  countries  may  be 
preserved  in  safety.  If  therefore  ye  will  do  these 
things,  as  I  know,  conceive,  and  intend,  then  he  who 
makes  this  vow  wheresoever  and  whensoever  he  shall 
make  it,  I  engage  shall  sacrifice  three  black  sheep  to 
thee,  0  mother  Earth,  and  to  thee,  O  Jupiter.”  “  When 
the  execrator  mentions  the  earth,  he  stoops  down  and 
places  both  his  hands  on  it  ;  and  when  he  names  Ju¬ 
piter,  he  lifts  up  both  his  hands  to  heaven ;  and  when 
he  mentions  his  voio,  he  places  his  hands  upon  his 
breast.”  Among  the  ancient  records,  Macrobius  says 
he  found  many  cities  and  people  devoted  in  this  way. 
The  Romans  held  that  no  city  could  be  taken  till  its 
tutelary  god  had  forsaken  it  ;  or  if  it  could  be  taken, 
it  would  be  unlawful,  as  it  would  be  sacrilegious  to 
have  the  gods  in  captivity.  They  therefore  endea¬ 
voured  to  persuade  the  gods  of  their  enemies  to  come 
over  to  their  party.  Virgil  intimates  that  Troy  was 
destroyed,  only  because  the  tutelary  gods  had  for¬ 
saken  it  : — 

a 


CHAP.  XXII. 


God  commands  Balaam  not  to  go 

a.  M.  2553.  for  I  wot  that  he  whom  thou 
An.  Exod.  isr.  blessest  is  blessed,  and  he  whom 
40‘  thou  cursest  is  cursed. 

7  And  the  elders  of  Moab  and  the  elders  of 
Midian  departed  with *  1  the  rewards  of  divina¬ 
tion  in  their  hand  ;  and  they  came  unto  Balaam, 
and  spake  unto  him  the  words  of  Balak. 

8  And  he  said  unto  them,  k  Lodge  here  this 
night,  and  I  will  bring  you  word  again,  as  the 
Lord  shall  speak  unto  me  :  and  the  princes 
of  Moab  abode  with  Balaam. 

9  1  And  God  came  unto  Balaam,  and  said, 
What  men  are  these  with  thee  ? 

10  And  Balaam  said  unto  God,  Balak  the 
son  of  Zippor,  king  of  Moab,  hath  sent  unto 
me,  saying , 

1 1  Behold,  there  is  a  people  come  out  of 
Egypt,  which  covereth  the  face  of  the  earth  : 
come  now,  curse  me  them ;  peradventure  m  I 
shall  be  able  to  overcome  them,  and  drive 
them  out. 

12  And  God  said  unto  Balaam,  Thou  shalt 

1 1  Sam.  ix.  7,  8. - k  Ver.  19. - 1  Gen.  xx.  3  ;  ver.  20. - m  Heb. 

I  shall  prevail  in  fighting  against  him. 

Excesser e  omnes,  adytis  arisque  relictis, 

Dii,  quibus  imperium  hoc  steterat. 

iEn.,  lib.  ii.,  ver.  351. 

“  All  the  gods,  by  whose  assistance  the  empire  had 
hitherto  been  preserved,  forsook  their  altars  and  their 
temples.”  And  it  was  on  this  account  that  the  Greeks 
employed  all  their  artifice  to  steal  away  the  Palladium , 
on  which  they  believe  the  safety  of  Troy  depended. 

Tacitus  observes  that  when  Suetonius  Paulinus 
prepared  his  army  to  cross  over  into  Mona ,  (Anglesea,) 
where  the  Britons  and  Druids  made  their  last  stand, 
the  priestesses ,  with  dishevelled  hair,  white  vestments, 
and  torches  in  their  hands,  ran  about  like  furies,  de¬ 
voting  their  enemies  to  destruction ;  and  he  farther 
adds  that  the  sight,  the  attitude ,  and  horrible  impre¬ 
cations  of  these  priestesses  had  such  effect  on  the 
Roman  soldiers,  that  for  a  while  they  stood  still  and 
suffered  themselves  to  be  pierced  with  the  darts  of  the 
Britons,  without  making  any  resistance.  Tacit.  Ann., 

I.  xiv.,  c.  29.  Many  accounts  are  related  in  the 
Hindoo  Pooran  of  kings  employing  sages  to  curse 
their  enemies  when  too  powerful  for  them. — Ward’s 
Customs. 

The  Jews  also  had  a  most  horrible  form  of  execra¬ 
tion,  as  may  be  seen  in  Buxtorf’s  Talmudical  Lexicon 
under  the  word  Din.  These  observations  and  autho¬ 
rities,  drawn  out  in  so  much  detail,  are  necessary  to 
cast  light  on  the  strange  and  curious  history  related 
in  this  and  the  two  following  chapters. 

Verse  7.  The  rewards  of  divination ]  Whoever 
went  to  consult  a  prophet  took  with  him  a  present,  as 
it  was  on  such  gratuitous  offerings  the  prophets  lived ; 
but  here  more  than  a  mere  present  is  intended,  per¬ 
haps  every  thing  necessary  to  provide  materials  for 
Vol.  I.  (  45  ) 


with  the  messengers  of  Balak. 

not  go  with  them  ;  thou  shalt  a.  m.  2553. 
not  curse  the  people  :  for  n  they  An.  Exod.isr. 
are  blessed.  40, 

13  And  Balaam  rose  up  in  the  morning,  and 
said  unto  the  princes  of  Balak,  Get  you  into 
your  land  :  for  the  Lord  refuseth  to  give  me 
leave  to  go  with  you. 

14  And  the  princes  of  Moab  rose  up,  and 
they  went  unto  Balak,  and  said,  Balaam  re¬ 
fuseth  to  come  with  us. 

1 5  And  Balak  sent  yet  again  princes,  more, 
and  more  honourable  than  they. 

16  And  they  came  to  Balaam,  and  said  to 
him,  Thus  saith  Balak  the  son  of  Zippor,  0  Let 
nothing,  I  pray  thee,  hinder  thee  from  coming 
unto  me  : 

17  Tori  will  promote  thee  unto  very  great 
honour,  and  I  will  do  whatsoever  thou  sayest 
unto  me  :  p  come  therefore,  I  pray  thee,  curse 
me  this  people. 

18  And  Balaam  answered  and  said  unto  the 
servants  of  Balak,  q  If  Balak  would  give  me 

n  Chap,  xxiii.  20  ;  Rom.  xi.  29. - 0  Heb.  be  not  thou  letted  from, 

&c. - p  Ver.  6. - 'i  Chap.  xxiv.  13. 

the  incantation.  The  drugs,  &c.,  used  on  such  occa¬ 
sions  were  often  very  expensive.  It  appears  that 
Balaam  was  very  covetous,  and  that  he  loved  the 
wages  of  unrighteousness,  and  probably  lived  by  it ; 
see  2  Pet.  ii.  15. 

Verse  8.  I  will  bring  you  word  again,  as  the  Lord 
shall  spealt\  So  it  appears  he  knew  the  true  God,  and 
had  been  in  the  habit  of  consulting  him,  and  receiving 
oracles  from  his  mouth. 

Verse  12.  Thou  shalt  not  go  with  them  ;  thou  shall 
not  curse  the  people ]  That  is,  Thou  shalt  not  go  with 
them  to  curse  the  people.  With  them  he  might  go, 
as  we  find  he  afterwards  did  by  God’s  own  command, 
but  not  to  curse  the  people  ;  this  was  wholly  forbidden. 
Probably  the  command,  Thou  shalt  not  go,  refers 
here  to  that  time,  viz.,  the  first  invitation  :  and  in  this 
sense  it  was  most  punctually  obeyed  by  Balaam  ;  see 
ver.  13. 

Verse  14.  Balaam  refuseth  to  come  ivith  us .]  “  Ob¬ 
serve,”  says  Mr.  Ainsworth,  “  Satan’s  practice  against 
God’s  word,  seeking  to  lessen  the  same,  and  that  from 
hand  to  hand,  till  he  bring  it  to  naught.  Balaam  told 
the  princes  less  than  God  told  him,  and  they  relate  to 
Balak  less  than  Balaam  told  them ;  so  that  when  the 
answer  came  to  the  king  of  Moab,  it  was  not  the  word 
of  God,  but  the  word  of  man  ;  it  was  simply,  Balaam 
refuseth  to  come,  without  ever  intimating  that  God 
had  forbidden  him.”  But  in  this  Balaam  is  not  to 
blame;  he  told  the  messengers  in  the  most  positive 
manner,  Jehovah  refuseth  to  give  me  leave  to  go  with 
you,  ver.  13  ;  and  more  explicit  he  could  not  be. 

Verse  18.  I  cannot  go  beyond  the  word  of  the  Lord 
my  God ]  Balaam  knew  God  too  well  to  suppose  he 
could  reverse  any  of  his  purposes  ;  and  he  respected 

689 


NUMBERS. 


Balaam  is  met  by  an  angel, 


and  is  reproved  by  his  ass 


a.  M.  2553.  his  house  full  of  silver  and  sold, 

B.  C.  1451.  T  .  ,  ,  1  r 

An.  Exod.  isr.  r  1  cannot  go  beyond  the  word  oi 

4Q'  the  Lord  my  God,  to  do  less 
or  more. 

19  Now  therefore,  I  pray 'you,  s  tarry  ye 
also  here  this  night,  that  I  may  know  what 
the  Lord  will  say  unto  me  more. 

20  t  And  God  came  unto  Balaam  at  night, 
and  said  unto  him,  If  the  men  come  to  call  thee, 
rise  up,  and  go  with  them;  but  uyet  the  word 
which  I  shall  say  unto  thee,  that  shalt  thou  do. 

21  And  Balaam  rose  up  in  the  morning,  and 
saddled  his  ass,  and  went  with  the  princes  of 
Moab. 

22  And  God’s  anger  was  kindled  because  he 
went :  v  and  the  angel  of  the  Lord  stood  in 
the  way  for  an  adversary  against  him.  Now 
he  was  riding  upon  his  ass,  and  his  two  ser¬ 
vants  were  with  him. 

23  And  w  the  ass  saw  the  angel  of  the  Lord 
standing  in  the  way,  and  his  sword  drawn  in 
his  hand  :  and  the  ass  turned  aside  out  of  the 
way,  and  went  into  the  field  :  and  Balaam 
smote  the  ass,  to  turn  her  into  the  way. 

24  But  the  angel  of  the  Lord  stood  in  a 


path  of  the  vineyards,  a  wall  a.  m.  2553. 
being  on  this  side,  and  a  wall  on  An.Exod.  isr. 
that  side.  40~ 


25  And  when  the  ass  saw  the  angel  of  the 
Lord,  she  thrust  herself  unto  the  wall,  and 
crushed  Balaam’s  foot  against  the  wall :  and 
he  smote  her  again. 

26  And  the  angel  of  the  Lord  went  further, 
and  stood  in  a  narrow  place,  where  ivas  no 
way  to  turn  either  to  the  right  hand  or  to  the  left. 

27  And  when  the  ass  saw  the  angel  of  the 
Lord,  she  fell  down  under  Balaam  :  and  Ba¬ 
laam’s  anger  was  kindled,  and  he  smote  the 
ass  with  a  staff. 

28  And  the  Lord  1  opened  the  mouth  of  the 
ass,  and  she  said  unto  Balaam,  What  have  J 
done  unto  thee,  that  thou  hast  smitten  me  these 
three  times  ? 

29  And  Balaam  said  unto  the  ass,  Because 
thou  hast  mocked  me  :  I  would  there  were  a 
sword  in  mine  hand,  y  for  now  would  I  kill  thee. 

30  z  And  the  ass  said  unto  Balaam,  Am  not 
I  thine  ass,  a  upon  which  thou  hast  ridden 
b  ever  since  I  was  thine  unto  this  day  ?  was  I  ever 
wont  to  do  so  unto  thee  ?  And  he  said,  Nay. 


r  1  Kings  xxii.  14 ;  2  Chron.  xviii.  13 - s  Ver.  8. - 4  Yer.  9. 

“Verse  35;  chapter  xxiii.  12,26;  xxiv.  13.' - v  Exodus  iv.  24. 

w  See  2  Kings  vi.  17  ;  Dan.  x.  7  ;  Acts  xxii.  9  ;  2  Peter  ii.  16 ; 


Jude  11. - x2  Peter  ii.  16. - y  Prov.  xii.  10. - 2  2  Peter  ii. 

16. - a  Heb.  who  hast  ridden  upon  me. - b  Or,  ever  since  thou 

wast,  &c. 


him  too  much  to  attempt  to  do  any  thing-  without  his 
permission.  Though  he  was  covetous ,  yet  he  dared 
not,  even  when  strongly  tempted  both  by  riches  and 
honours ,  to  go  contrary  to  the  command  of  his  God. 
Many  make  all  the  professions  of  Balaam,  without 
justifying  them  by  their  conduct.  “  They  pretend,” 
says  one,  “  they  would  not  do  any  thing  against  the 
word  of  God  for  a  house  full  of  gold,  and  yet  will  do 
it  for  a  handful  /” 

Verse  19.  What  the  Lord  will  say  unto  me  more.~\ 
He  did  not  know  but  God  might  make  a  farther  dis¬ 
covery  of  his  will  to  him,  and  therefore  he  might  very 
innocently  seek  farther  information. 

Verse  20.  If  the  men  come — go  with  them\  This 
is  a  confirmation  of  what  was  observed  on  the  twelfth 
verse  ;  though  we  find  his  going  was  marked  with  the 
Divine  displeasure,  because  he  wished,  for  the  sake  of 
the  honours  and  rewards ,  to  fulfil  as  far  as  possible  the 
will  of  the  king  of  Moab.  Mr.  Shuckford  observes 
that  the  pronoun  Kin  hu  is  sometimes  used  to  denote 
a  person’s  doing  a  thing  out  of  his  own  head ,  without 
regard  to  the  directions  of  another.  Thus  in  the  case 
of  Balaam,  when  God  had  allowed  him  to  go  with  the 
messengers  of  Balah,  if  they  came  in  the  morning  to 
call  him ;  because  he  was  more  hasty  than  he  ought 
to  have  been,  and  went  to  them  instead  of  staying  till 
they  should  come  to  him ,  it  was  said  of  him,  not  "j8n  O 
hi  halach ,  that  he  went ,  but  £Un  “]bin  ’D  hi  holech  hu , 
i.  e.,  he  went  of  his  own  head — without  being  called  ; 
a  690 


and  in  this,  Mr.  Shuckford  supposes,  his  iniquity  chiefly 
lay. — Connex.,  vol.  iii.,  p.  115.  How  many  are  re¬ 
strained  from  sinning,  merely  through  the  fear  of  God  ! 
They  would  gladly  do  the  evil,  but  it  is  forbidden  on 
awful  penalties ;  they  wish  the  thing  were  not  prohi¬ 
bited,  for  they  have  a  strong  desire  to  do  it. 

Verse  23.  And  the  ass  saw  the  angel ]  When  God 
granted  visions,  those  alone  who  were  particularly  in¬ 
terested  saw  them,  while  others  in  the  same  company 
saw  nothing;  see  Dan.  x.  7  ;  Acts  ix.  7. 

Verse  26.  And  the  angel — stood  in  a  narrow  place\ 
In  this  carriage  of  the  angel,  says  Mr.  Ainsworth,  the 
Lord  shows  us  the  proceedings  of  his  judgments 
against  sinners  ;  First,  he  mildly  shakes  his  rod  at 
them,  but  lets  them  go  untouched.  Secondly,  he 
comes  nearer,  and  touches  them  with  an  easy  correc¬ 
tion,  as  it  were  wringing  their  foot  against  the  wall. 
Thirdly,  when  all  this  is  ineffectual,  he  brings  them 
into  such  straits,  that  they  can  neither  turn  to  the  right 
hand  nor  to  the  left,  but  must  fall  before  his  judgments, 
if  they  do  not  fully  turn  to  him. 

Verse  28.  The  Lord  opened  the  mouth  of  the  cm] 
And  where  is  the  wonder  of  all  this  1  If  the  ass  had 
opened  her  own  mouth,  and  reproved  the  rash  prophet, 
we  might  well  be  astonished  ;  but  when  God  opens  the 
mouth,  an  ass  can  speak  as  well  as  a  man.  It  is  wor¬ 
thy  of  remark  here,  that  Balaam  testifies  no  surprise 
at  this  miracle,  because  he  saw  it  was  the  Lord's  doing. 

1  Of  animate  and  inanimate  things  receiving  for  a  short 

(  45*  ) 


CHAP.  XXIII. 


Balaam  is  permitted  to  proceed. 

a.  M.  2553.  3 1  Then  the  Lord  c  opened 

An.  Exod.  Isr.  the  eyes  of  Balaam,  and  he  saw 
i0'  the  angel  of  the  Lord  standing 
in  the  way,  and  his  sword  drawn  in  his  hand  : 
and  he  d  bowed  down  his  head,  and  e  fell  flat 
on  his  face. 

32  And  the  angel  of  the  Lord  said  unto  him, 
Wherefore  hast  thou  smitten  thine  ass  these 
three  times  ?  behold,  I  went  out  f  to  withstand 
thee,  because  thy  way  is  s  perverse  before  me  : 

33  And  the  ass  saw  me,  and  turned  from 
me  these  three  times  :  unless  she  had  turned 
from  me,  surely  now  also  I  had  slain  thee, 
and  saved  her  alive. 

34  And  Balaam  said  unto  the  angel  of  the 
Lord,  h  I  have  sinned  ;  for  I  knew  not  that  thou 
stoodest  in  the  way  against  me  :  now  therefore, 
if  it  1  displease  thee,  I  will  get  me  back  again. 

35  And  the  angel  of  the  Lord  said  unto  Ba¬ 
laam,  Go  with  the  men :  k  but  only  the  word 
that  I  shall  speak  unto  thee,  that  thou  shalt 
speak.  So  Balaam  went  with  the  princes  of 
Balak. 

c  See  Gen.  xxi.  19;  2  Kings  vi.  17;  Luke  xxiv.  16,  31. 
iExod.  xxxiv.  8. e  Or,  bowed  himself. fHeb.  to  be  an  ad¬ 
versary  unto  thee. s  2  Pet.  ii.  14,  15. h  1  Sam.  xv.  24,  30  ; 

xxvi.  21 ;  2  Sam.  xii.  13;  Job  xxxiv.  31,  32. 

time  the  gift  of  speech,  the  heathen  mythology  fur¬ 
nishes  many  fictitious  examples,  with  which  I  do  not 
deem  it  proper  to  occupy  the  reader’s  time. 

Yerse  33.  Surely  now  also  I  had  slain  thee ]  How 
often  are  the  meanest  animals,  and  the  most  trivial  oc¬ 
currences,  instruments  of  the  preservation  of  our  lives, 
and  of  the  salvation  of  our  souls  !  The  messenger  of 
justice  would  have  killed  Balaam,  had  not  the  mercy 
of  God  prevented  the  ass  from  proceeding. 

Verse  34.  If  it  displease  thee ,  I  will  get  me  hack 
again.]  Here  is  a  proof,  that  though  he  loved  the 
wages  of  unrighteousness ,  yet  he  still  feared  God  ; 
and  he  is  now  willing  to  drop  the  enterprise  if  God 
he  displeased  with  his  proceeding.  The  piety  of  many 
called  Christians  does  not  extend  thus  far ;  they  see 
that  the  thing  displeases  God,  and  yet  they  proceed. 
Reader,  is  this  thy  case  1 


Balak  goes  out  to  meet  him 

36  And  when  Balak  heard  that  A.  M.  2553. 
Balaam  was  come,  1  he  went  out  An.  Exod.  isr. 
to  meet  him  unto  a  city  of  Moab,  40~ 

m  which  is  in  the  border  of  Arnon,  which  is 
in  the  utmost  coast. 

37  And  Balak  said  unto  Balaam,  Did  I 
not  earnestly  send  unto  thee  to  call  thee  ? 
wherefore  earnest  thou  not  unto  me  ?  am 
I  not  able  indeed  n  to  promote  thee  to 
honour  ? 

38  And  Balaam  said  unto  Balak,  Lo,  I  am 
come  unto  thee  :  have  I  now  any  power  at  all 
to  say  any  thing  ?  0  the  word  that  God  putteth 
in  my  mouth,  that  shall  I  speak. 

39  And  Balaam  went  with  Balak,  and  they 
came  unto  p  Kirjath-huzoth. 

40  And  Balak  offered  oxen  and  sheep,  and 
sent  to  Balaam,  and  to  the  princes  that  were 
with  him. 

4 1  And  it  came  to  pass  on  the  morrow,  that 
Balak  took  Balaam,  and  brought  him  up  into 
the  q  high  places  of  Baal,  that  thence  he  might 
see  the  utmost  part  of  the  people. 

1  Heb.  be  evil  in  thine  eyes. - k  Verse  20. - ]  Gen.  xiv.  17. 

m  Chap.  xxi.  13. - n  Ver.  17  ;  chap.  xxiv.  11. - 0  Chap,  xxiii. 

26;  xxiv.  13;  1  Kings  xxii.  14;  2  Chron.  xviii.  13. - POr,  a 

city  of  streets. - fiChap.  xxiii.  2,  14,  30  ;  Deut.  xii.  2. 

Verse  38.  The  icord  that  God  putteth  in  my  mouth , 
that  shall  I  speak.]  Here  was  a  noble  resolution,  and 
he  was  certainly  faithful  to  it :  though  he  wished  to 
please  the  king,  and  get  wealth  and  honour,  yet  he 
would  not  displease  God  to  realize  even  these  bright 
prospects.  Many  who  slander  this  poor  semi-antino- 
mian  prophet,  have  not  half  his  piety. 

Verse  40.  And  Balak  offered  oxen,  tf-c.]  This  was 
to  gain  the  favour  of  his  gods,  and  perhaps  to  propi¬ 
tiate  Jehovah,  that  the  end  for  which  he  had  sent  for 
Balaam  might  be  accomplished. 

Verse  41.  That — he  might  see  the  utmost  part  of 
the  people.]  As  he  thought  Balaam  must  have  them 
all  in  his  eye  when  he  pronounced  his  curse,  lest  it 
might  not  extend  to  those  who  were  not  in  sight. 
On  this  account  he  took  him  up  into  the  high  places 
of  Baal. 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

Being  arrived  at  the  high  places  of  Baal,  (chap.  xxii.  41,)  Balaam  orders  Balak  to  build  seven  altars ,  and 
prepare  oxen  and  rams  for  sacrifice ,  1,2.  Balaam  inquires  of  the  Lord,  receives  an  answer,  with  which 
he  returns  to  Balak,  3-10.  Balak,  finding  that  this  was  a  prediction  of  the  prosperity  of  the  Israelites, 
is  greatly  troubled ,  11.  Balaam  excuses  himself,  12.  lie  brings  him  to  another  place,  where  he  might 
see  only  a  part  of  Israel ,  and  repeats  his  sacrifices,  13,  14.  Balaam  again  consults  the  Lot d,  15—1/. 
Returns  with  his  answer,  and  again  predicts  the  glory  of  Israel,  18—24.  Balak  is  angry,  25  ;  and 
Balaam  again  excuses  himself.  Balak  proposes  another  trial,  takes  him  to  another  place ,  and  repeats  the 
same  sacrifices ,  26-30. 

a 


601 


Balak  and  Balaam  make-  offerings.  NUMBERS. 


Balaam  delivers  his  parable. 


A.  M.  2553.  A  ND  Balaam  said  unto  Balak, 

B.  C.  1451.  Lx.  t,  i  i 

An.  Exod.  isr.  a  Build  me  here  seven  altars, 

40,  and  prepare  me  here  seven  oxen 
and  seven  rams. 

2  And  Balak  did  as  Balaam  had  spoken ; 
and  Balak  and  Balaam  b  offered  on  every  altar 
a  bullock  and  a  ram. 

3  And  Balaam  said  unto  Balak,  c  Stand  by 
thy  burnt-offering,  and  I  will  go  :  peradventure 
the  Lord  will  come  d  to  meet  me  :  and  what¬ 
soever  he  showeth  me  I  will  tell  thee.  And 
e  he  went  to  a  high  place. 

4  f  And  God  met  Balaam  :  and  he  said  unto 
him,  I  have  prepared  seven  altars,  and  I  have 
offered  upon  every  altar  a  bullock  and  a  ram. 

5  And  the  Lord  b  put  a  word  in  Balaam’s 
mouth,  and  said,  Return  unto  Balak,  and  thus 
thou  shalt  speak. 

6  And  he  returned  unto  him,  and,  lo,  he 
stood  by  his  burnt  sacrifice,  he,  and  all  the 
princes  of  Moab. 

aVer.  29. - b  Yer.  14,  30. - c  Yer.  15. - d  Chap.  xxiv.  1. 

e  Or,  he  went  solitary. - f  A^er.  16. - s  Yer.  16  ;  ch.  xxii.  35  ; 

Deut..  xviii.  18  ;  Jer.  i.  9. - h  Ver.  18  ;  chap.  xxiv.  3,  15,  23  ; 

Job  xxvii.  1 ;  xxix.  1  ;  Psa.  lxxviii.  2 ;  Ezek.  xvii.  2  ;  Mic.  ii.  4  ; 
Hab.  ii.  6. 

NOTES  ON  CHAP.  XXIII. 

Yerse  1.  Build  me  here  seven  altars ,  SfC. ]  The 
oxen  and  the  rams  were  such  as  the  Mosaic  law  had 
ordered  to  be  offered  to  God  in  sacrifice ;  the  building 
of  seven  altars  was  not  commanded.  Some  think  that 
these  seven  altars  were  built  to  the  seven  planets :  this 
is  most  gratuitously  said  ;  of  it  there  is  no  proof  what¬ 
ever  ;  it  is  mere  trifling,  even  with  conjecture.  As 
seven  was  a  number  of  perfection,  Balaam  chose  it  on 
this  occasion,  because  he  intended  to  offer  a  grand  sa¬ 
crifice,  and  to  offer  a  bullock  and  a  ram  upon  each  of 
the  altars ;  the  whole  to  be  made  a  burnt-offering  at 
the  same  time.  And  as  he  intended  to  offer  seven 
bullocks  and  seven  rams  at  the  same  time,  it  could  not 
be  conveniently  done  on  one  altar,  therefore  he  ordered 
seven  to  be  built.  We  need  go  no  farther  to  find  out 
his  reasons. 

Yerse  3.  Stand  by  thy  burnt-offering \  We  have 
already  seen  that  blessing  and  cursing  in  this  way  were 
considered  as  religious  rites ,  and  therefore  must  be  al¬ 
ways  preceded  by  sacrifice.  See  this  exemplified  in 
the  case  of  Isaac ,  before  he  blessed  Jacob  and  Esau, 
Gen.  xxvii.,  and  the  notes  there.  The  venison  that 
was  brought  to  Isaac,  of  which  he  did  eat,  was  pro¬ 
perly  the  preparatory  sacrifice. 

Yerse  7.  And  he  took  up  his  parable\  meshalo, 

see  on  chap.  xxi.  27.  All  these  oracular  speeches  of 
Balaam  are  in  hemistich  metre  in  the  original.  They 
are  highly  dignified,  and  may  be  considered  as  imme¬ 
diate  poetic  productions  of  the  Spirit  of  God ;  for  it 
is  expressly  said,  ver.  5,  that  God  put  the  word  in  Ba¬ 
laam’s  mouth,  and  that  the  Spirit  of  God  came  upon 
him ,  chap.  xxiv.  2. 


7  And  he  11  took  up  his  parable,  A  M.  2553. 
and  said,  Balak,  the  king  of  An.  Exod.  isr. 
Moab,  hath  brought  me  from  _ 


40. 


Aram,  out  of  the  mountains  of  the  east,  saying , 
*  Come,  curse  me  Jacob,  and  come, k  defy  Israel. 

8  1  How  shall  1  curse,  Avhom  God  hath  not 
cursed  ?  or  how  shall  I  defy,  whom  the  Lord 
hath  not  defied  ? 

9  For  from  the  top  of  the  rocks  I  see  him, 
and  from  the  hills  I  behold  him  :  lo,  m  the 
people  shall  dwell  alone,  and  n  shall  not  be 
reckoned  among  the  nations. 

10  0  Who  can  count  the  dust  of  Jacob,  and 
the  number  of  the  fourth  part  of  Israel  ?  Let 
p  me  die  ^  the  death  of  the  righteous,  and  let 
my  last  end  be  like  his  ! 

1 1  And  Balak  said  unto  Balaam,  What  hast 
thou  done  unto  me  ?  r  I  took  thee  to  curse 
mine  enemies,  and,  behold,  thou  hast  blessed 
them  altogether. 

1 2  And  he  answered  and  said,  s  Must  I  not 


1  Chap.  xxii.  6,  11, 17. - k  1  Sam.  xvii.  10. - 1  Isa.  xlvii.  12, 

13. - m  Deut.  xxxiii.  28. - «  Exodus  xxxiii.  16  ;  Ezra  ix.  2  ; 

Eph.  ii.  14. - 0  Gen.  xiii.  16;  xxii.  17. - Pfleb.  my  sold ,  or, 

my  life. - ^  Psa.  cxvi.  15. - r  Chapter  xxii.  11,  17;  xxiv.  10. 

s  Chap.  xxii.  38. 

Yerse  8.  How  shall  I  curse ,  whom  God  hath  not 
cursed  ?]  It  was  granted  on  all  hands  that  no  incan¬ 
tations  nor  imprecations  could  avail,  unless  God  con¬ 
curred  and  ratified  them.  From  God’s  communication 
to  Balaam  he  saw  that  God  was  determined  to  bless 
and  defend  Israel,  and  therefore  all  endeavours  to  in¬ 
jure  them  must  be  in  vain. 

Yerse  9.  From  the  top  of  the  rocks  I  see  him]  That 
is,  from  the  high  places  of  Baal  where  he  went,  chap, 
xxii.  41,  that  he  might  the  more  advantageously  see 
the  whole  camp  of  Israel. 

The  people  shall  dwell  alone ]  They  shall  ever  be 
preserved  as  a  distinct  nation.  This  prophecy  has 
been  literally  fulfilled  through  a  period  of  3300  years 
to  the  present  day.  This  is  truly  astonishing. 

Yerse  10.  Let  me  die  the  death  of  the  righteous ] 
Probably  Balaam  had  some  presentiment  that  he  should 
be  taken  off  by  a  premature  death,  and  therefore  he 
lodges  this  petition  against  it.  The  death  of  the 
righteous  in  those  times  implied  being  gathered  to  one's 
fathers  in  a  good  old  age ,  having  seen  his  children, 
and  children’s  children ;  and  to  this,  probably,  the  lat¬ 
ter  part  of  this  petition  applies  :  And  let  my  last  end 
be  like  his ,  (iriuO  TT"inN  'Tim  uthehi  acharithi  chamohu, 
And  let  my  posterity  be  like  his.)  It  has  been  gene¬ 
rally  supposed  that  Balaam  is  here  praying  for  a  happy 
death,  such  as  true  Christians  die  who  die  in  the  Lord  ; 
and  in  this  way  his  words  are  generally  applied ;  but 
I  am  satisfied  this  is  not  their  meaning.  The  prayer, 
however,  understood  in  the  common  way,  is  a  good 
one,  and  may  be  offered  to  God  profitably.  A  righteous 
man  is  one  who  is  saved  from  his  sins,  who  is  justi¬ 
fied  and  sanctified  through  the  blood  of  the  covenant, 

a 


692 


Balaam  predicts  the  CHAP. 

a.  M.  2553.  take  heed  to  speak  that  which  the 
An.'  ExckL  isr.  Lord  hath  put  in  my  mouth  ? 

4Q-  13  And  Balak  said  unto  him, 

Come,  I  pray  thee,  with  me  unto  another 
place,  from  whence  thou  mayest  see  them  : 
thou  shalt  see  but  the  utmost  part  of  them, 
and  shalt  not  see  them  all :  and  curse  me 
them  from  thence. 

14  And  he  brought  him  into  the  field  of 
Zophim,  to  the  top  of  1  Pisgah,  11  and  built 
seven  altars,  and  offered  a  bullock  and  a  ram 
on  every  altar. 

15  And  he  said  unto  Balak,  Stand  here  by 
thy  burnt-offering,  while  I  meet  the  LORD 
yonder. 

16  And  the  Lord  met  Balaam,  and  v  put  a 
word  in  his  mouth,  and  said,  Go  again  unto 
Balak,  and  say  thus. 

17  And  when  he  came  to  him,  behold,  he 

1  Or,  the  hill. - u  Yerse  1,  2. - v  Ver.  5  ;  chapter  xxii.  35. 

w  Judg.  iii.  20. - x  1  Sam.  xv.  29 ;  Mai.  iii.  6  ;  Romans  xi.  29  ; 

James  i.  17 ;  Tit.  i.  2. 

and  who  lives,  not  only  an  innocent,  but  also  a  holy 
and  useful  life.  He  who  would  die  well  should  live 
well ;  for  a  bad  death  must  be  the  issue  of  a  bad  life. 

Verse  13.  Thou  shalt  see  but  the  utmost  part  of 
them ]  Balak  thought  that  the  sight  of  such  an  im¬ 
mense  camp  had  intimidated  Balaam,  and  this  he  might 
gather  from  what  he  said  in  the  tenth  verse :  Who  can 
count  the  dust  of  Jacob ,  &c.  ;  he  thought  therefore 
that  he  might  get  Balaam  to  curse  them  in  detached 
parties ,  till  the  whole  camp  should  be  devoted  to  de¬ 
struction  by  successive  execrations. 

Vetse  17.  What  hath  the  Lord  spoken  ?]  Balak 
himself  now  understood  that  Balaam  was  wholly  under 
the  influence  of  Jehovah,  and  would  say  nothing  but 
what  God  commanded  him  ;  but  not  knowing  Jehovah 
as  Balaam  did,  he  hoped  that  he  might  be  induced  to 
change  his  mind,  and  curse  a  people  whom  he  had 
hitherto  determined  to  bless. 

Verse  19.  God  is  not  a  man,  that  he  should  lie]  This 
seems  to  be  spoken  to  correct  the  foregoing  supposition 
of  Balak  that  God  could  change  his  mind.  Even  the 
heathen  would  not  allow  that  their  supreme  god  could 
be  caught  in  a  falsity.  Hence  HIschylus,  in  Prometh. 
vinct.  1068  : — 

T evdrjyopeiv  yap  ovk  ETuaraTai  cropa 
To  Alov,  aWa  tt av  ercog  rekei. 

“  The  mouth  of  Jove  knows  not  to  frame  a  lie  ; 

But  every  word  finds  full  accomplishment.” 

Verse  21.  He  hath  not  beheld  iniquity  in  Jacob , 
neither  hath  he  seen  perverseness  in  Israel]  This  is  a 
difficult  passage ;  for  if  we  take  the  words  as  spoken 
of  the  people  Israel,  as  their  iniquity  and  their  per¬ 
verseness  were  almost  unparalleled,  such  words  cannot 
be  spoken  of  them  with  strict  truth.  If  we  consider 
them  as  spoken  of  the  patriarch  Jacob  and  Israel ,  or 
of  Jacob  after  he  became  Israel ,  they  are  most  strictly 

a 


XXIII.  prosperity  of  the  Israelites . 

stood  by  his  burnt- offering,  and  A.  M.  2553. 
the  princes  of  Moab  with  him.  An.Exod.  isr. 
And  Balak  said  unto  him,  What  40~ 
hath  the  Lord  spoken  ? 

18  And  he  took  up  his  parable,  and  said, 
w  Rise  up,  Balak,  and  hear  ;  hearken  unto  me, 
thou  son  of  Zippor  : 

19  xGod  is  not  a  man,  that  he  should  lie  ; 
neither  the  son  of  man,  that  he  should  repent : 
hath  he  said,  and  shall  he  not  do  it  ?  or  hath 
he  spoken,  and  shall  he  not  make  it  good  ? 

20  Behold,  I  have  received  commandment 
to  bless  :  and  y  he  hath  blessed  ;  and  I  cannot 
reverse  it. 

21  z  He  hath  not  beheld  iniquity  in  Jacob, 
neither  hath  he  seen  perverseness  in  Israel  : 
a  the  Lord  his  God  is  with  him,  b  and  the 
shout  of  a  king  is  among  them. 

22  c  God  brought  them  out  of  Egypt ;  he 

y  Gen.  xii.  2  ;  xxii.  17  ;  Num.  xxii.  12. - z  Rom.  iv.  7,  8 

a  Exod.  xiii.  21  ;  xxix.  45,  46  ;  xxxiii.  14. - b  Psa.  lxxxix.  15. 

c  Chap.  xxiv.  8. 

true,  as  after  that  time  a  more  unblemished  and  noble 
character  ( Abraham  excepted)  is  not  to  be  found  in  the 
page  of  history,  whether  sacred  or  profane  ;  and  for 
.his  sake,  and  for  the  sake  of  his  father  Isaac,  and  his 
grandfather  Abraham,  God  is  ever  represented  as  fa¬ 
vouring,  blessing,  and  sparing  a  rebellious  and  unde¬ 
serving  people ;  see  the  concluding  note,  Gen.  xlix. 
In  this  way,  I  think,  this  difficult  text  may  be  safely 
understood. 

There  is  another  way  in  which  the  words  may  be 
interpreted,  which  will  give  a  good  sense,  px  aven 
not  only  signifies  iniquity,  but  most  frequently  trouble, 
labour,  distress,  and  affliction ;  and  these  indeed  are 
its  ideal  meanings,  and  iniquity  is  only  an  acommo- 
dated  or  metaphorical  one,  because  of  the  pain,  dis¬ 
tress,  &c. ,  produced  by  sin.  boy  amal ,  translated  here 
perverseness,  occurs  often  in  Scripture,  but  is  never 
translated  perverseness  except  in  this  place.  It  signi¬ 
fies  simply  labour,  especially  that  which  is  of  an  af¬ 
flictive  or  oppressive  kind.  The  words  may  therefore 
be  considered  as  implying  that  God  will  not  suffer  the 
people  either  to  be  exterminated  by  the  sword,  or  to 
be  brought  under  a  yoke  of  slavery.  Either  of  these 
methods  of  interpretation  gives  a  good  sense,  but  our 
common  version  gives  none. 

Dr.  Kennicott  contends  for  the  reading  of  the  Sa¬ 
maritan,  which,  instead  of  xb  lo  hibbit,  he  hath  not 
seen,  has  D3X  xb  lo  abbit,  I  do  not  sec,  I  do  not  discover 
any  thing  among  them  on  which  I  could  ground  my 
curse.  But  the  sense  above  given  is  to  be  preferred. 

Verse  22.  The  strength  of  a  unicorn.]  DX*1  reem 
and  □1X‘l  reim.  It  is  generally  allowed  that  there  is 
no  such  beast  in  nature  as  the  unicorn;  i.  e.,  a  crea¬ 
ture  of  the  horse  kind,  with  one  long  rich  curled  horn 
in  the  forehead.  The  creature  painted  from  fancy  is 
represented  as  one  of  the  supporters  of  the  royal  arms 
of  Great  Britain.  It  is  difficult  to  say  what  kind  of 

693 


Balaam  seeks  no  longer  NUMBERS.  for  enchantments 


A.  M.  2553.  hath  as  it  were  d  the  strength  of 

B  C  1451  .  ° 

An.  Exod.  Isr.  a  Ullicom. 

4Q-  23  Surely  there  is  no  enchant¬ 

ment  e  against  Jacob,  neither  is  there  any 
divination  against  Israel :  according  to  this 
time  it  shall  be  said  of  Jacob  and  of  Israel, 
f  What  hath  God  wrought  ! 

24  Behold,  the  people  shall  rise  up  e  as  a  great 
lion,  and  lift  up  himself  as  a  young  lion  :  h  he 
shall  not  lie  down  until  he  eat  of  the  prey,  and 
drink  the  blood  of  the  slain. 

25  And  Balak  said  unto  Balaam,  Neither 
curse  them  at  all,  nor  bless  them  at  all. 

26  But  Balaam  answered  and  said  unto 

d  Deut.  xxxiii.  17  ;  Job  xxxix.  10,  1 1 . - e  Or,  in. - f  Psa.  xxxi. 

19  ;  xliv.  i. - s  Gen.  xlix.  9. - h  Gen.  xlix.  27. 

beast  is  intended  by  the  original  word.  The  Septua- 
gint  translate  the  word  yovoicspog,  the  unicorn ,  or  one- 
horned  animal ;  the  Vulgate,  sometimes,  unicornus  ; 
and  in  the  text  rhinocerotis ,  by  which  the  rhinoceros , 
a  creature  which  has  its  name  from  the  horn  on  its 
nose,  is  supposed  to  be  meant.  That  no  single-horned 
animal  can  be  intended  by  the  reem  of  Moses,  is  suffi¬ 
ciently  evident  from  this,  that  Moses,  speaking  of  Jo¬ 
seph,  says,  “  he  has  the  horns  of  a  unicorn ,”  or  reem, 
where  the  horns  are  spoken  of  in  the  plural,  the  ani¬ 
mal  in  the  singular.  The  creature  referred  to  is  either 

o  % 

the  rhinoceros,  some  varieties  of  which  have  two  horns 
on  the  nose,  or  the  wild  bull,  urus,  or  buffalo ;  though 
some  think  the  beast  intended  is  a  species  of  goat ; 
but  the  rhinoceros  seems  the  most  likely.  There  is 
literally  a  monoceros,  or  unicorn,  with  one  large  curled 
ivory  horn  growing  horizontally  out  of  his  snout ;  but 
this  is  not  a  land  animal,  it  is  the  modiodan  or  nurwal,  a 
marine  animal  of  the  whale  kind,  a  horn  of  which  is  now 
before  me,  measuring  seven  feet  four  inches  ;  but  I  be¬ 
lieve  the  rhinoceros  is  that  intended  by  the  sacred  writers. 

Verse  23.  There  is  no  enchantment ,  <y?.]  Because 
God  has  determined  to  save  them,  therefore  no  en¬ 
chantment  can  prevail  against  them. 

According  to  this  time ,  <5pc.\  I  think  this  clause 


Balak,  Told  not  I  thee,  saying,  A.  M.  2553. 

1  All  that  the  Lord  speaketh,  that  An.  Exod.  isi. 

I  must  do  ?  4Q- 

27  And  Balak  said  unto  Balaam,  k  Come,  I 
pray  thee,  I  will  bring  thee  unto  another  place ; 
peradventure  it  will  please  God  that  thou  mayest 
curse  me  them  from  thence. 

28  And  Balak  brought  Balaam  unto  the  top 
of  Peor,  that  looketh  1  toward  Jeshimon. 

29  And  Balaam  said  unto  Balak,  m  Build  me 
here  seven  altars,  and  prepare  me  here  seven 
bullocks  and  seven  rams. 

30  And  Balak  did  as  Balaam  had  said,  and 
offered  a  bullock  and  a  ram  on  every  altar. 

1  Verse  12  ;  chapter  xxii.  38  ;  1  Kings  xxii.  14. - k  Verse  13. 

1  Chap.  xxi.  20. - m  Ver.  1. 

should  be  read  thus  :  “  As  at  this  time  it  shall  be  ’told 
to  Jacob  and  to  Israel  what  God  worketh i.  e.,  this 
people  shall  always  have  prophetic  information  of  what 
God  is  about  to  work.  And  indeed,  they  are  the  only 
people  under  heaven  who  ever  had  this  privilege. 
When  God  himself  designed  to  punish  them  because 
of  their  sins,  he  always  foreivarned  them  by  the  pro¬ 
phets  ;  and  also  took  care  to  apprise  them  of  all  the 
plots  of  their  enemies  against  them. 

Verse  24.  Behold,  the  people  shall  rise  up  as  a  great 
lion]  iV  D 8  labi,  the  great,  mighty,  or  old  lion,  the  king 
of  the  forest,  who  is  feared  and  respected  by  all  the 
other  beasts  of  the  field  ;  so  shall  Israel  be  the  subduer 
and  possessor  of  the  whole  land  of  Canaan.  And  as 
a  young  lion,  'HX  ari  from  rpK  arah,  to  tear  off,  the 
predatory  lion,  or  the  lion  in  the  act  of  seizing  and  tear¬ 
ing  his  prey  ; — the  nations  against  whom  the  Israelites 
are  now  going  shall  be  no  more  able  to  defend  them¬ 
selves  against  their  attacks,  than  the  feeblest  beasts  of 
the  forest  are  against  the  attacks  of  the  strong  lion. 

Verse  28.  Unto  the  top  of  Peor ]  Probably  the 
place  where  the  famous  Baal-peor  had  his  chief  tem¬ 
ple.  He  appears  to  have  been  the  Priapus  of  the 
Moabites,  and  to  have  been  worshipped  with  the  same 
obscene  and  abominable  rites. 


CHAPTER  XXIY. 


Balaam,  finding  that  God  was  determined  to  bless  Israel,  seeks  no  longer  for  enchantments,  1.  The  Spirit 
of  God  coming  upon  him,  he  delivers  a  most  important  prophetic  parable ,  2-9.  Balak'1  s  anger  is  kindled 
against  him,  and  he  commands  him  to  depart  to  his  own  country,  10,  11.  Balaam  vindicates  his  conduct, 
12,  13;  and  delivers  a  prophecy  relative  to  the  future  destruction  of  Moab  by  the  Israelites,  14-17; 
also  of  Edom ,  18,  19  ;  of  the  Amalekites ,  20  ;  and  of  the  Kenites,  21,  22.  Predicts  also  the  destruction 
of  As sliur  and  Eber,  by  the  naval  power  of  Chittim,  which  should  afterwards  be  itself  destroyed,  23,  24. 
Balaam  and  Balak  separate,  25. 


A.  M.  2553.  A  ND  when  Balaam  saw  that  it 

B.  C.  1451.  JOl  .  T  t  n 

An. Exod. Isr .40.  pleased  the  Lord  to  bless 


Israel,  he  went  not,  as  at  a  other  A.  M.  2553. 

7  B  C  1451 

times,  b  to  seek  for  enchantments,  An.  Exod,  lsr.40. 


a Chap,  xxiii.  3,  15. 


b  Heb.  to  the  meeting  of  enchantments. 


NOTES  ON  CHAP.  XXIV. 

Verse  1.  He  went  not ,  as  at  other  times,  to  seek  for 
enchantments ]  We  have  already  had  occasion  to  ob- 

694 


serve  that  the  proper  meaning  of  the  word  &TP  na- 
chash  is  not  easily  ascertained  ;  see  chap.  xxi.  9,  and 
see  on  Gen.  iii.  1.  Here  the  plural  nechashim 

a 


Balaam's  prophetic  parable  of  CHAP. 

A.  M.  2553.  but  he  set  his  face  toward  the 

B.  C.  1451.  .. . 

An.Exod.Isr.  WllderUCSS. 

4(X  2  And  Balaam  lifted  up  his 

eyes,  and  he  saw  Israel  c  abiding  in  his  tents 
according  to  their  tribes ;  and  d  the  Spirit  of 
God  came  upon  him. 

3  c  And  he  took  up  his  parable,  and  said,  Ba¬ 
laam  the  son  of  Beor  hath  said,  and  the  man 
f  whose  eyes  are  open  hath  said  : 

4  He  hath  said,  which  heard  the  words  of 

c  Chap.  ii.  2,  &c. - d  Chap.  xi.  25  ;  1  Sam.  x.  10 ;  xix.  20, 

23  ;  2  Chron.  xv.  1. - e  Chap,  xxiii.  7,  18. - f  Heb.  who  had 

his  eyes  shut,  but  now  opened. 

is  rendered  enchantments ;  but  it  probably  means  no 
more  than  the  knowledge  of  future  events.  When 
Balaam  saw  that  it  pleased  God  to  bless  Israel,  he 
therefore  thought  it  unnecessary  to  apply  for  any  far¬ 
ther  prophetic  declarations  of  God’s  will  as  he  had 
done  before,  for  he  could  safely  infer  every  good  to 
this  people,  from  the  evident  disposition  of  God  towards 
them. 

Verse  2.  The  Spirit  of  God  came  upon  him.]  This 
Divine  afflatus  he  had  not  expected  on  the  present  oc¬ 
casion,  but  God  had  not  yet  declared  the  whole  of  his 
will. 

Verse  3.  He  took  up  his  parable]  His  prophetic 
declaration  couched  in  highly  poetic  terms,  and  in  re¬ 
gular  metre,  as  the  preceding  were. 

The  man  whose  eyes  are  open]  I  believe  the  original 
Dniy  shethum ,  should  be  translated  shut ,  not  open  ;  for 
in  the  next  verse,  where  the  opening  of  his  eyes  is 
mentioned,  a  widely  different  word  is  used,  nSl  gal  ah , 
which  signifies  to  open  or  reveal.  At  first  the  eyes  of 
Balaam  were  shut ,  and  so  closely  too  that  he  could 
not  see  the  angel  who  withstood  him,  till  God  opened 
his  eyes ;  nor  could  he  see  the  gracious  intentions  of 
God  towards  Israel,  till  the  eyes  of  his  understanding 
ivere  opened  by  the  power  of  the  Divine  Spirit.  This 
therefore  he  mentions,  we  may  suppose,  with  humility 
and  gratitude,  and  to  the  credit  of  the  prophecy  which 
he  is  now  about  to  deliver,  that  the  Moabites  may  re¬ 
ceive  it  as  the  ivord  of  God ,  which  must  be  fulfilled  in 
due  season.  His  words,  in  their  meaning,  are  similar 
to  those  of  the  blind  man  in  the  Gospel :  “  Once  I  was 
blind ,  but  now  I  see.” 

Verse  4.  Falling  into  a  trance]  There  is  no  indi¬ 
cation  in  the  Hebrew  that  he  fell  into  a  trance  ;  these 
words  are  added  by  our  translators,  but  they  are  not 
in  the  original.  *735  nophel  is  the  only  word  used,  and 
simply  signifies  falling ,  or  falling  doivn,  perhaps  in 
this  instance  by  way  of  religious  prostration. 

Verse  6.  Lign  aloes,  which  the  Lord  hath  planted] 
Or,  as  the  tents  which  the  Lord  hath  pitched ;  for  it 
is  the  same  word,  D’Snx  olialim ,  which  is  used  in  the 
5th  verse.  But  from  other  parts  of  Scripture  we  find 
that  the  word  also  signifies  a  species  of  tree,  called  by 
some  the  sandal  tree,  and  by  others  the  lignum  or  wood 
aloes.  This  tree  is  described  as  being  eight  or  ten 
feet  high,  with  very  large  leaves  growing  at  the  top ; 
and  it  is  supposed  that  a  forest  of  those  at  some  dis¬ 
tance  must  bear  some  resemblance  to  a  numerous  en- 


XXIV.  the  great  prosperity  of  Israel. 

God,  which  saw  the  vision  of  A.  M.  2553. 

,  . ,  .  .  r  ...  .  B.  C.  1451. 

the  Almighty,  s  falling  into  a  An.  Exod.  Isr. 

trance ,  but  having  his  eyes  40~ 

open  : 

5  How  goodly  are  thy  tents,  0  Jacob,  and 
thy  tabernacles,  O  Israel  ! 

6  As  the  valleys  are  they  spread  forth,  as 
gardens  by  the  river’s  side,  has  the  trees  of  lign 
aloes  1  which  the  Lord  hath  planted,  and  as 
cedar  trees  beside  the  waters. 

5  See  1  Sam.  xix.  24  ;  Ezek.  i.  28  ;  Dan.  viii.  18  ;  x.  15,  16  ; 

2  Cor.  xii.  2,  3,  4  ;  Rev.  i.  10,  17. - h  Psalm  i.  3  ;  Jer.  xvii.  8. 

*Psa.  civ.  16. 

campment.  As  the  word  comes  from  the  root 
ahal,  which  signifies  to  spread  or  branch  out ,  and 
therefore  is  applied  to  tents ,  because  of  their  being 
extended  or  spread  out  on  the  ground  ;  so  when  it  is 
applied  to  trees  it  must  necessarily  mean  such  as  were 
remarkable  for  their  widely-extended  branches ;  but 
what  the  particular  species  is,  cannot  be  satisfactorily 
ascertained.  By  the  Lord's  planting  are  probably 
meant  such  trees  as  grow  independently  of  the  culti-r 
ration  of  man. — Nullis  hominum  cogcntibus ;  or,  as 
Virgil  expresses  it, — 

Sponte  sua  quee  se  tollunt  in  luminis  oras. 

Virg.,  Geor.  ii.,  ver.  47. 

“  Such  as  sprung  up  spontaneously  into  the  regions  of 

light.” 

As  cedar  trees]  Gabriel  Sionita,  a  very  learned 
Syrian  Maronite,  who  assisted  in  editing  the  Paris 
Polyglot,  a  man  worthy  of  all  credit,  thus  describes 
the  cedars  of  Mount  Lebanon,  which  he  had  examined 
on  the  spot : — 

“  The  cedar  grows  on  the  most  elevated  part  of  the 
mountain,  is  taller  than  the  pine ,  and  so  thick  that  five 
men  together  could  scarcely  fathom  one.  It  shoots 
out  its  branches  at  ten  or  twelve  feet  from  the  ground ; 
they  are  large,  and  distant  from  each  other,  and  are 
perpetually  green.  The  cedar  distils  a  kind  of  gum, 
to  which  different  effects  are  attributed.  The  wood 
of  it  is  of  a  brown  colour,  very  solid,  and  incorruptible 
if  preserved  from  wet.  It  bears  a  small  apple,  like  to 
that  of  the  pine.” 

JDe  la  Roque  relates  some  curious  particulars  con¬ 
cerning  this  tree,  which  he  learned  from  the  Maron- 
it.es  of°  Mount  Libanus  :  “  The  branches  grow  in  pa¬ 
rallel  rows  round  the  tree,  but  lessen  gradually  from 
the  bottom  to  the  top,  shooting  out  parallel  to  the  ho¬ 
rizon,  so  that  the  tree  is,  in  appearance,  similar  to  a 
cone.  As  the  snows,  which  fall  in  vast  quantities  on 
this  mountain,  must  necessarily,  by  their  weight  on 
such  a  vast  surface,  break  down  these  branches,  na¬ 
ture,  or  rather  the  God  of  nature,  has  so  ordered  it, 
that  at  the  approach  of  winter,  and  during  the  snowy 
season,  the  branches  erect  themselves,  and  cling  close 
to  the  body  of  the  tree,  and  thus  prevent  any  quantity 
of  snow  from  lodging  on  them.” 

Mr.  Maundrell,  who  visited  Mount  Libanus  in  1697, 
gives  the  following  description  of  the  cedars  still  grow¬ 
ing  there  : — 


a 


695 


NUMBERS. 


Balalds  anger  being  kindled , 


he  commands  Balaam  to  depart 


A.  M.  2553.  7  He  shall  pour  the  water  out 

An!  Exod.isr.  of  his  buckets,  and  his  seed  shall 
40~  be  k  in  many  waters,  and  his  king 
shall  be  higher  than  1  Agag,  and  his  m  king¬ 
dom  shall  be  exalted. 

8  n  God  brought  him  forth  out  of  Egypt ;  he 
hath  as  it  were  the  strength  of  a  unicorn  ; 
he  shall  0  eat  up  the  nations  his  enemies,  and 
shall  p  break  their  bones,  and  q  pierce  them 
through  with  his  arrows. 

9  r  He  couched,  he  lajr  down  as  a  lion,  and 
as  a  great  lion :  who  shall  stir  him  up  ? 
s  Blessed  is  he  that  blesseth  thee,  and  cursed 
is  he  that  curseth  thee. 

10  And  Balak’s  anger  was  kindled  against 
Balaam,  and  he  t  smote  his  hands  together : 
and  Balak  said  unto  Balaam,  u  I  called  thee 
to  curse  mine  enemies,  and,  behold,  thou  hast 
altogether  blessed  them  these  three  times. 

1 1  Therefore  now  flee  thou  to  thy  place  : 


v  I  thought  to  promote  thee  unto  A.  M.  2553. 

,  &  K  .  ,  T  B.  C.  1451. 

great  honour;  but,  lo,  the  Lord  An. Exod.isr. 

hath  kept  thee  back  from  honour. 


12  And  Balaam  said  unto  Balak,  Spake  ] 
not  also  to  thy  messengers  which  thou  sentest 
unto  me,  saying, 

13  w  If  Balak  would  give  me  his  house  full 
of  silver  and  gold,  I  cannot  go  beyond  the 
commandment  of  the  Lord,  to  do  either  good 
or  bad  of  mine  own  mind  ;  but  what  the  Lord 
saith,  that  will  I  speak  ? 

14  And  now,  behold,  I  go  unto  my  people  : 
come  therefore ,  and  x  I  will  advertise  thee 
what  this  people  shall  do  to  thy  people  y  in  the 
latter  days. 

15  2  And  he  took  up  his  parable,  and  said, 
Baalam  the  son  of  Be  or  hath  said,  and  the 
man  whose  eyes  are  open  hath  said  : 

1 6  He  hath  said,  which  heard  the  words  of 
God,  and  knew  the  knowledge  of  the  Most 


k  Jer.  li.  13;  Rev.  xvii.  1,  15. - 1  1  Sam.  xv.  9. - m  2  Sam. 

v.  12  ;  1  Chron.  xiv.  2.. - n  Chap,  xxiii.  22. - °Chap.  xiv.  9; 

xxiii.  24. - P  Psa.  ii.  9  ;  Isa.  xxxviii.  13  ;  Jer.  1.  17. - qPsa. 

xiv.  5  ;  Jer.  1.  9. - 1  Gen.  xlix.  9. 


s  Gen.  xii.  3  ;  xxvii.  29. - 1  Ezek.  xxi.  14,  17;  xxii.  13, 

u  Chap,  xxiii.  1 1  ;  Deut.  xxiii.  4,  5  ;  Josh.  xxiv.  9,  10  ;  Neh.  xiii.  2. 

v  Chap.  xxii.  17,  37. - w  Chap.  xxii.  18. - x  Mic.  vi.  5  ;  Rev. 

ii.  14. - y  Gen.  xlix.  1 ;  Dan.  ii.  28  ;  x.  14. - 21  Ver.  3,  4. 


“  These  noble  trees  grow  among  the  snow,  near  the 
highest  part  of  Lebanon,  and  are  remarkable,  as  well 
for  their  own  age  and  largeness  as  for  those  frequent 
allusions  to  them  in  the  word  of  God.  Some  of  them 
are  very  old,  and  of  a  prodigious  bulk  ;  others  younger, 
and  of  a  smaller  size.  Of  the  former  I  could  reckon 
only  sixteen,  but  the  latter  are  very  numerous.  I  mea¬ 
sured  one  of  the  largest,  and  found  it  twelve  yards  and 
six  inches  in  girt,  and  yet  sound ,  and  thirty-seven 
yards  in  the  spread  of  its  branches.  At  about  five  or 
six  3?ards  from  the  ground  it  was  divided  into  five  limbs, 
each  of  which  was  equal  to  a  great  tree.” — Journey 
from  Aleppo  to  Jerusalem,  p.  142. 

Verse  7 .  He  shall  pour  the  water  out  of  his  buckets, 
dfc.]  Here  is  a  very  plain  allusion  to  their  method  of 
raising  water  in  different  parts  of  the  East.  By  the 
well  a  tall  pole  is  erected,  which  serves  as  a  fulcrum 
to  a  very  long  lever,  to  the  smaller  end  of  which  a 
bucket  is  appended.  On  the  opposite  end,  which  is 
much  larger,  are  many  notches  cut  in  the  wood,  which 
serve  as  steps  for  a  man,  whose  business  it  is  to  climb 
up  to  the  fulcrum,  in  order  to  lower  the  bucket  into  the 
well,  which,  when  filled,  he  raises  by  walking  back  on 
the  opposite  arm,  till  his  weight  brings  the  bucket  above 
the  well’s  mouth  :  a  person  standing  by  the  well  emp¬ 
ties  the  bucket  into  a  trench,  which  communicates  with 
the  ground  intended  to  be  watered. 

His  seed  shall  be  in  many  waters ]  Another  simple 
allusion  to  the  sowing  of  rice.  The  ground  must  not 
only  be  well  watered,  hut  flooded,  in  order  to  serve  for 
the  proper  growth  of  this  grain.  The  rice  that  was 
sown  in  many  waters  must  be  the  most  fruitful.  By 
an  elegant  and  chaste  metaphor  all  this  is  applied  to 
the  procreation  of  a  numerous  posterity , 

His  king  shall  be  higher  than  Agag]  This  name 

69fi 


is  supposed  to  have  been  as  common  to  all  the  Ama- 
lekitish  kings  as  Pharaoh  was  to  those  of  Egypt.  But 
several  critics,  with  the  Septuagint,  suppose  that  a 
small  change  has  taken  place  here  in  the  original  word, 
and  that  instead  of  JJKD  meagag,  than  Agag,  we  should 
read  JUQ  miggog,  than  Gog.  As  Gog  in  Scripture 
seems  to  mean  the  enemies  of  God’s  people,  then  the 
promise  here  may  imply  that  the  true  worshippers  of 
the  Most  High  shall  ultimately  have  dominion  over  all 
their  enemies. 

Verse  8.  God  brought  him  forth  out  of  Egypt]  They 
were  neither  expelled  thence,  nor  came  voluntarily 
away.  God  alone,  with  a  high  hand  and  uplifted  arm, 
brought  them  forth.  Concerning  the  unicorn,  see  on 
chap,  xxiii.  22. 

Verse  9.  He  couched,  he  lay  down  as  a  lion,  $c.] 
See  the  original  terms  explained  chap,  xxiii.  24. 

These  oracles,  delivered  by  Balaam,  are  evident  pro¬ 
phecies  of  the  victories  which  the  Israelites  should 
gain  over  their  enemies,  and  of  their  firm  possession  of 
the  promised  land.  They  may  also  refer  to  the  great 
victories  to  be  obtained  by  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  that 
Lion  of  the  tribe  of  Judah,  over  sin,  death,  and  Satan, 
the  grand  enemies  of  the  human  race ;  and  to  that  most 
numerous  posterity  of  spiritual  children  which  should 
be  begotten  by  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel. 

Verse  11.  Lo,  the  Lord  hath  kept  thee  back  from 
honour .]  A  bitter  and  impious  sarcasm.  “  Hadst 
thou  cursed  this  people,  I  would  have  promoted  thee 
to  great  honour  ;  but  thou  hast  chosen  to  follow  the 
directions  of  Jehovah  rather  than  mine,  and  what  will 
he  do  for  thee  1” 

Verse  15.  The  man  whose  eyes  are  open]  See  on 
ver.  3.  It  seems  strange  that  our  version  "should  have 
fallen  into  such  a  mistake  as  to  render  only  shethumi 

a 


CHAP.  XXIV. 


Balaam  predicts  the  destruction 


of  Moab  and  Edom 


A.  M.  2553.  High,  which  saw  the  vision  of 
An.Exod.1sr.  the  Almighty,  falling  into  a 
40,  trance ,  but  having  his  eyes 

open  : 

17  a  I  shall  see  him,  but  not  now  :  I  shall 
behold  him,  but  not  nigh  :  there  shall  come 
ba  Star  out  of  Jacob,  and  c  a  Sceptre  shall 
rise  out  of  Israel,  and  shall  d  smite  the  cor- 


A.  M.  2553. 

B.  C.  1451. 
An.  Exod.  Isr. 

40. 


ners  of  Moab,  and  destroy  all  the 
children  of  Sheth. 

18  And  e  Edom  shall  be  a  pos¬ 
session,  Seir  also  shall  be  a  possession  for  his 
enemies  ;  and  Israel  shall  do  valiantly. 

19  f  Out  of  Jacob  shall  come  he  that  shall 
have  dominion,  and  shall  destroy  him  that 
remaineth  of  the  city. 


a  Rev.  i.  7. - b  Matt.  ii.  2  ;  Rev.  xxii.  16. - c  Gen.  xlix.  10  ; 

Psa.  ex.  2. - dOr,  smite  through  the  princes  of  Moab;  2  Sam. 

open,  which  it  does  not  signify,  when  the  very  sound 
of  the  word  expresses  the  sense.  The  Vulgate  has 
very  properly  preserved  the  true  meaning,  by  render¬ 
ing  the  clause  cujus  obturatus  est  oculus,  he  whose 
eyes  are  shut.  The  Targum  first  paraphrased  the  pas- 
satge  falsely,  and  most  of  the  versions  followed  it. 

Verse  17.  I  shall  see  him,  but  not  now]  Or,  I 
shall  see  him ,  but  he  is  not  now.  I  shall  behold  him, 
but  not  nigh — I  shall  have  a  full  view  of  him,  but  the 
time  is  yet  distant.  That  is,  The  person  of  whom  I 
am  now  prophesying  does  not  at  present  exist  among 
these  Israelites,  nor  shall  he  appear  in  this  generation. 
There  shall  come  a  Star  out  of  Jacob ,  and  a  Sceptre 
shall  rise  out  of  Israel — a  person  eminent  for  wisdom, 
and  formidable  for  strength  and  power,  shall  arise  as 
king  among  this  people.  He  shall  smite  the  corners 
of  Moab — he  shall  bring  the  Moabites  perfectly  under 
subjection  ;  (See  2  Sam.  viii.  2  ;)  and  destroy  all  the 
children  of  Sheth.  The  original  word  Hpip  karkar, 
from  rnp  karah,  to  meet,  associate,  join,  blend,  and  the 
like,  is  variously  translated  :  vastabit,  he  shall  waste, 
Vulgate. — tt povopevaet,  shall  prey  on,  Sept. — 
yishlot,  shall  rule  over, Targum. — Shall  shake,  Arabic. 
—  barbend,  shall  put  a  yoke  on,  Pers. — Shall 

unwall,  Ainsworth,  &c.,  &c. 

The  Targum  of  Onkelos  translates  the  whole  pas¬ 
sage  thus  :  “  I  shall  see  him,  but  not  now  :  I  shall  be- 
hold  him,  but  he  is  not  near.  When  a  king  shall  arise 
from  the  house  of  Jacob,  and  the  Messiah  be  anointed 
from  the  house  of  Israel,  he  shall  slay  the  princes  of 
Moab,  and  rule  over  all  the  children  of  men.” 

The  Jerusalem  Targum  is  a  little  different :  “  A 
king  shall  arise  from  the  house  of  Jacob,  a  redeemer 
and  governor  from  the  house  of  Israel,  who  shall  slay 
the  chiefs  of  the  Moabites,  and  empty  out  and  destroy 
all  the  children  of  the  East.” 

Rabbi  Moses  ben  Maimon  has,  in  my  opinion,  per¬ 
fectly  hit  the  meaning  of  the  prophecy  in  the  follow¬ 
ing  paraphrase  of  the  text :  “  I  shall  see  him,  but  not 
now.  This  is  David. — I  shall  behold  him,  but  not  nigh. 
This  is  the  king  Messiah. — A  Star  shall  come  out  of 
Jacob.  This  is  David. — And  a  Sceptre  shall  rise  out 
of  Israel.  This  is  the  king  Messiah. — And  shall 
smite  the  corners  of  Moab.  This  is  David,  (as  it  is 
written,  2  Sam.  viii.  2  :  And  he  smote  Moab,  casting 
them  down  to  the  ground .) — And  shall  destroy  all  the 
children  of  Sheth.  This  is  the  king  Messiah,  of  whom 
it  is  written,  (Psa.  Ixii.  8,)  He  shall  have  dominion  from 
sea  to  sea.” 

Verse  18.  And  Edom  shall  be  a  possession ]  That 
is,  to  David  ;  as  it  is  said  :  “  And  all  they  of  Edom 
became  David’s  servants  ;”  2  Sam.  viii.  14. 

a 


viii.  2  ;  Jer.  xlviii.  45. - e  2  Sam.  viii.  14  ;  Psa.  lx.  8,  9,  12. 

f  Gen.  xlix.  10. 

Seir  also  shall  be  a  possession ]  That  is,  unto  the 
king  Messiah  ;  as  it  is  said  :  “  And  saviours  shall  come 
upon  Mount  Zion  to  judge  the  Mount  of  Esau  ;  and 
the  kingdom  shall  be  the  Lord’s  Obad.,  ver.  21.  See 
Ainsworth. 

Verse  19.  Out  of  Jacob  shall  come ,  c f-c.]  This  is 
supposed  to  refer  to  Christ,  because  of  what  is  said 
Gen.  xlix.  10. 

It  is  exceedingly  difficult  to  fix  the  true  sense  of 
this  prophecy  in  all  its  particulars.  Probably  the  star, 
ver.  17,  is  only  an  emblem  of  kingly  power.  Among 
the  Egyptians  a  star  is  said  to  have  been  the  symbol 
of  the  Divine  Being.  The  sceptre  refers  to  the  kingly 
power  in  exercise.  The  corners  or  outskirts  may  mean 
the  petty  Moabitish  governments,  as  the  Chaldee  has 
understood  the  term.  If  karkar,  which  we  translate 
utterly  destroy ,  be  not  the  name  of  a  place  here,  as  it 
is  in  Judg.  viii.  10,  (which  is  not  very  likely,)  it  may 
be  taken  in  one  of  those  senses  assigned  to  it,  (see  on 
ver.  17,)  and  signify  the  blending  together  the  children 
of  Sheth,  that  is,  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  earth ;  for 
so  the  children  of  Sheth  must  necessarily  be  under¬ 
stood,  unless  we  consider  it  here  as  meaning  some  king 
of  the  Moabites,  according  to  Grotius,  or  a  city  on  the 
borders  of  Moab,  according  to  Rabbi  Nathan.  As 
neither  Israel  nor  the  Messiah  ever  destroyed  all  the 
children  of  men,  we  must  (in  order  to  leave  the  chil¬ 
dren  of  Sheth  what  they  are  generally  understood  to 
be,  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  world )  understand  the 
whole  as  a  prophecy  of  the  final  universal  sway  of  the 
sceptre  of  Christ,  when  the  middle  wall  of  partition 
shall  be  broken  down,  and  the  Jews  and  Gentiles  be¬ 
come  on q  united,  blended  fold,  under  one  shepherd  and 
bishop  of  their  souls. 

I  cannot  think  that  the  meteoric  star  which  guided 
the  wise  men  of  the  east  to  Bethlehem  can  be  intended 
here  ;  nor  do  I  think  that  Peter  refers  to  this  prophecy 
when  he  calls  Christ  the  day  star,  2  Epist.  i.  19  ;  nor 
that  Rev.  ii.  28,  where  Christ  is  called  the  morning 
star,  nor  Rev.  xxii.  16,  where  he  is  called  the  bright 
and  morning  star,  refers  at  all  to  this  prophecy  of  Ba¬ 
laam.  Nor  do  I  think  that  the  false  Christ  who  rose 
in  the  time  of  Adrian,  and  who  called  himself  Barco- 
chab,  which  literally  signifies  the  son  of  a  star,  did 
refer  to  this  prophecy.  If  he  had,  he  must  have  de¬ 
feated  his  own  intention,  because  the  son  of  the  star 
is  not  the  star  that  should  arise,  but  at  the  utmost  a 
descendant ;  and  then,  to  vindicate  his  right  to  the  Jew¬ 
ish  throne,  he  must  show  that  the  person  who  was 
called  the  star ,  and  of  whom  he  pretended  to  be  the 
son  or  descendant,  had  actually  reigned  before  him. 
As  the  sun,  moon,  stars,  planets,  light,  splendour ,  efful* 

697 


NUMBERS. 


Balaam  ends  his  prediction , 


and  depa )  ts  to  his  own  place. 


A.  M.  2553.  20  And  when  he  looked  on 

B  C  1451 

An.'  Exod.  isr.  Amalek,  he  took  up  his  parable, 
40~  and  said,  Amalek  was  s  the  first 
of  the  nations ;  but  his  latter  end  h  shall  he 
that  he  perish  for  ever. 

2 1  And  he  looked  on  the  Kenites,  and  took 
up  his  parable,  and  said,  Strong  is  thy  dwelling 
place,  and  thou  puttest  thy  nest  in  a  rock. 

22  Nevertheless *  1  the  Kenite  shall  be  wasted, 
k  until  Asshur  shall  carry  thee  away  captive. 

&  Or,  the  first  of  the  nations  that  warrecl  against  Israel  ;  Exod. 

xvii.  8. - h  Or,  shall  be  even  to  destruction  ;  Exod.  xvii.  14  ; 

1  Sam.  xv.  3,  8. 


23  And  he  took  up  his  parable,  a.  m.  2553. 

and  said,  Alas,  who  shall  live  An.  Exod.  isr. 
wThen  God  doeth  this  !  4a 

24  And  ships  shall  come  from  the  coast 
of  1  Chittim,  and  shall  afflict  Asshur,  and 
shall  afflict  m  Eber,  and  he  also  shall  perish 
for  ever. 

25  And  Baalam  rose  up,  and  wen? and  11  re¬ 
turned  to  .his  place  :  and  Balak  also  went  his 
way. 

1  Heb.  Kain ;  Gen.  xv.  19. - k  Or,  how  long  shall  it  be  ere 

Asshur  carry  thee  away  captive? - *Gen,  x.  4;  Dan.  xi.  30. 

m  Gen.  x.  21,  25. - n  See  chap.  xxxi.  8. 


gence,  day ,  &c.,  were  always  considered  among  the 
Asiatics  as  emblems  of  royally,  government,  &c.,  there¬ 
fore  many,  both  men  and  women,  had  these  names  given 
to  them  as  titles,  surnames,  &c.  So  the  queen  of 
Alexander  the  Great,  called  Roxana  by  the  Greeks, 
was  a  Persian  princess,  and  in  her  native  tongue  her 
name  was  Roushen ,  splendour.  Hadassah ,  who 

became  queen  to  Ahasuerus,  in  place  of  the  repudiated 
Vashti,  and  is  called  Esther  by  Europeans  in  general, 
was  called  in  the  language  of  Persia  Sitareh  ; 

from  whence  by  corruption  came  both  Esther,  the  Per¬ 
sian  queen,  and  our  word  star .  And  to  waive  all  far¬ 
ther  examples,  a  Mohammedan  prince,  at  first  named 

Eesouf  or  Joseph,  was  called  Roushen 

Akhter  when  he  was  raised  to  the  throne,  which  sig¬ 
nifies  a  splendid  or  luminous  star.  This  prince,  by  a 
joyful  reverse  of  fortune,  was  brought  from  a  gloomy 
prison  and  exalted  to  the  throne  of  Hindostan ;  on 
which  account  the  following  couplet  was  made,  in  which 
there  is  a  paronomasia  or  play  on  the  name  Roushen 
Akhter;  and  the  last  line  alludes  to  the  history  of  the 
patriarch  Joseph ,  who  was  brought  out  of  prison  and 
exalted  to  the  highest  honours  in  Egypt. 


Roushen  Akhter  hood,  aknoon  mah  shud : 

Yousef  az  zendan  her  amd  shah  shud. 

“  He  was  a  bright  star,  but  is  now  become  a  moon. 
Joseph  is  brought  out  of  prison,  and  is  become  a  glo¬ 
rious  king.” 


Verse  20.  Amalek  was  the  first  of  the  nations]  The 
most  ancient  and  most  powerful  of  all  the  nations  or 
states  then  within  the  view  of  Balaam ;  hut  his  latter 
end  shall  he  that  he  perish  for  ever,  or  his  posterity 
living  acharitho,  shall  he  destroyed,  or  shall  utterly 
fail.  This  oracle  began  to  be  fulfilled  by  Saul,  1  Sam. 
xv.  7,  8,  who  overthrew  the  Amalekites,  and  took 
their  king,  Agag,  prisoner.  Afterwards  they  were 
nearly  destroyed  by  David,  1  Sam.  xxvii.  8,  and  they 
were  finally  exterminated  by  the  sons  of  Simeon  in  the 
days  of  Hezekiah,  1  Chron.  iv.  41—43  ;  since  that 
time  they  have  ceased  to  exist  as  a  people,  and  now 
no  vestige  of  them  remains  on  the  face  of  the  earth  ; 
so  completely  is  their  posterity  cut  olf,  according  to 
this  prophecy.  The  marginal  reading  does  not  appear 
tp  give  the  proper  sense. 

698 


Verse  21.  He  looked  on  the  Kenites]  Commenta¬ 
tors  are  not  well  agreed  who  the  Kenites  were. 
Dr.  Dodd’s  opinion  is,  I  think,  nearest  to  the  truth. 
Jethro,  the  father-in-law  of  Moses,  is  called  a  priest  or 
prince  of  Midian,  Exod.  iii.  1,  and  in  Judg.  i.  16  he 
is  called  a  Kenite ;  we  may  infer,  therefore,  says  he, 
that  the  Kenites  and  the  Midianites  were  the  same, 
or  at  least  that  the  Kenites  and  the  Midianites  were 
confederate  tribes.  Some  of  these  we  learn  from 
Judg.  i.  followed  the  Israelites,  others  abode  still  among 
the  Midianites  and  Amalekites.  When  Saul  destroyed 
the  latter,  we  find  he  had  no  commission  against  the 
Kenites,  1  Sam.  xv.  6,  for  it  appears  that  they  were 
then  a  small  and  inconsiderable  people ;  they  had 
doubtless  been  toasted,  as  the  text  says,  though  by 
wThat  means  does  not  appear  from  history.  On  the 
other  hand,  it  may  be  observed  that  the  Midianites 
mentioned  here  lived  close  to  the  Dead  Sea,  at  a  great 
distance  from  the  Midian  where  Jethro  lived,  which 
was  near  Horeb.  Perhaps  they  were  a  colony  or 
tribe  that  had  migrated  from  the  vicinity  of  Mount  Si¬ 
nai.  It  seems  that  at  this  time  the  Kenites  occupied 
a  very  strong  position  :  Strong  is  thy  dwelling  place , 
and  thou  puttest  thy  nest  in  a  rock ;  where  there  is  a 
play  on  the  original  word  j'p,  wrhich  signifies  both  a 
Kenite  and  a  nest.  High  rocks  in  these  countries 
were  generally  used  as  their  strong  places. 

Verse  22.  Until  Asshur  shall  carry  thee  away  cap¬ 
tive.]  The  Assyrians  and  Babylonians  who  carried 
away  captive  the  ten  tribes,  2  Kings  xvii.  6,  and  the 
Jews  into  Babylon,  2  Kings  xxv.,  probably  carried 
away  the  Kenites  also.  Indeed  this  seems  pretty  evi¬ 
dent,  as  we  find  some  Kenites  mentioned  among  the 
Jews  after  their  return  from  the  Babylonish  captivity, 

1  Chron.  ii.  55. 

Verse  23.  Who  shall  live  when  God  doeth  this!] 
There  are  two  senses  in  which  these  words  may  be 
taken  : — 1.  That  the  event  is  so  distant  that  none  then 
alive  could  possibly  live  to  see  it.  2.  That  the  times 
would  be  so  distressing  and  desolating  that  scarcely 
any  should  be  able  to  escape.  The  words  are  very 
similar  to  those  of  our  Lord,  and  probably  are  to  be 
taken  in  the  same  sense  :  “  Wo  to  them  that  are  with 
child,  and  to  them  that  give  suck  in  those  days.” 

Verse  24.  Ships  shall  come  from  the  coast  of  Chit¬ 
tim]  Some  think  by  Chittim  the  Romans,  others  the 
Macedonians  under  Alexander  the  Great,  are  meant. 
It  is  certain  that  the  Romans  did  conquer  the  Assy- 

a 


Observations  on  the 


CHAP.  XXIV. 


rians,  including'  all  the  people  of  Syria,  Mesopotamia, 
&c. ;  but  Calmet  strongly  contends  that  by  Chittim 
Macedonia  is  meant,  and  that  the  prophecy  refers  to 
the  conquests  of  Alexander.  Chittim  was  one  of  the 
sons  of  Javan,  the  son  of  Japheth,  the  son  of  Noah, 
Gen.  x.  4  ;  and  his  posterity,  according  to  Josephus, 
Antiq.,  1.  iii. ,  c.  22,  settled  in  Cilicia,  Macedonia,  Cy¬ 
prus,  and  Italy  also  ;  and  therefore,  says  Mr.  Ains¬ 
worth,  the  prophecy  may  imply  both  the  troubles  that 
befell  the  Assyrians  and  Jews  by  the  Greeks  and  Se- 
leucidas,  in  the  troublous  days  of  Antiochus. 

And  shall  afflict  Eber ]  Probably  not  the  Hebrews, 
as  some  think,  but  the  people  on  the  other  side  the 
Euphrates,  from  abar,  to  pass  over ,  go  beyond ; 
all  which  people  were  discomfited,  and  their  empire 
destroyed  by  Alexander  the  Great. 

Terse  25.  And  Balaam — returned  to  his  place ] 
Intended  to  have  gone  to  Mesopotamia,  his  native 
country,  (see  Deut.  xxiii.  4,)  but  seems  to  have  settled 
among  the  Midianites,  where  he  was  slain  by  the  Is¬ 
raelites  ;  see  chap.  xxxi.  8. 

Though  the  notes  in  the  preceding  chapters  have 
been  extended  to  a  considerable  length,  yet  a  few 
additional  remarks  may  be  necessary  :  the  reader’s 
attention  is  earnestly  requested  to  the  following  pro¬ 
positions  : — 

1.  It  appears  sufficiently  evident  from  the  preced¬ 
ing  account  that  Balaam  knew  and  worshipped  the 
true  God. 

2.  That  he  had  been  a  true  prophet,  and  appears  to 
have  been  in  the  habit  of  receiving  oracles  from  God. 

3.  That  he  practised  some  illicit  branches  of  know¬ 
ledge,  or  was  reputed  by  the  Moabites  as  a  sorcerer, 
probably  because  of  the  high  reputation  he  had  for 
wisdom ;  and  we  know  that  even  in  our  own  country, 
in  the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth  centuries,  persons  who 
excelled  their  contemporaries  in  wisdom  were  reputed 
as  magicians. 

4.  That  though  he  was  a  believer  in  the  true  God, 
jret  he  was  covetous ;  he  loved  the  wages  of  unright¬ 
eousness. 

5.  That  it  does  not  appear  that  in  the  case  before 
us  he  ivished  to  curse  Israel  when  he  found  they  were 
the  servants  of  the  true  God. 

6.  That  it  is  possible  he  did  not  know  this  at  first. 
Balak  told  him  that  there  was  a  numerous  people  come 
out  of  Egypt ;  and  as  marauders,  wandering  hordes, 
freebooters,  &c.,  were  frequent  in  those  days,  he 
might  take  them  at  first  for  such.  spoilers,  and  the 
more  readily  go  at  Balak’s  request  to  consult  God 
concerning  them. 

7.  That  so  conscientiously  did  he  act  in  the  whole 
business,  that  as  soon  as  he  found  it  displeased  God 
he  cheerfully  offered  to  return  ;  and  did  not  advance 
till  he  had  not  only  the  permission,  but  the  authority 
of  God  to  proceed. 

8.  That  when  he  came  in  view  of  the  Israelitish 
camp  he  did  not  attempt  to  make  use  of  any  means  of 
sorcery,  evocation  of  spirits,  necromantic  spells,  &c., 
to  accomplish  the  wish  of  Balak. 


preceding  chapter. 

9.  That  he  did  seek  to  find  out  the  will  of  the  true 
God,  by  using  those  means  which  God  himself  had 
prescribed,  viz.,  supplication  and  prayer,  and  the  sacri¬ 
fice  of  clean  beasts. 

10.  That  though  he  knew  it  would  greatly  displease 
Balak,  yet  he  most  faithfully  and  firmly  told  him  all 
that  God  said  on  every  occasion. 

11.  That  notwithstanding  his  allowed  covetous  dis¬ 
position,  yet  he  refused  all  promised  honours  and  prof¬ 
fered  rewards,  even  of  the  most  extensive  kind,  to 
induce  him  to  act  in  any  respect  contrary  to  the  de¬ 
clared  will  of  God. 

12.  That  God  on  this  occasion  communicated  to 
him  some  of  the  most  extraordinary  prophetic  influ¬ 
ences  ever  conferred  on  man. 

13.  That  his  prophecies  are,  upon  the  whole,  clear 
and  pointed,  and  have  been  fulfilled  in  the  most  re¬ 
markable  manner,  and  furnish  a  very  strong  argument 
in  proof  of  Divine  revelation. 

14.  That  notwithstanding  the  wicked  counsel  given 
to  the  Midianites,  the  effects  of  which  are  mentioned 
in  the  following  chapter,  on  which  account  he  probably 
lost  his  life,  (chap.  xxxi.  8,)  the  badness  of  this  man’s 
character  has  been  very  far  overrated  ;  and  that  it 
does  not  appear  that  he  was  either  a  hypocrite,  false 
prophet,  or  a  sorcerer  in  the  common  acceptation  of  the 
teim,  and  that  he  risked  even  life  itself  in  following 
and  fulfilling  the  will  of  the  Lord  ! 

15.  That  though  it  is  expressly  asserted,  chap, 
xxxi.  16,  and  Rev.  ii.  14,  that  Israel’s  committing 
whoredom  with  the  daughters  of  Moab  was  brought 
about  by  the  evil  counsel  given  by  Balaam  to  cast  this 
stumbling-block  in  their  way,  yet  it  does  not  appear 
from  the  text  that  he  had  those  most  criminal  inten¬ 
tions  which  are  generally  attributed  to  him ;  for  as 
we  have  already  seen  so  much  good  in  this  man’s  cha¬ 
racter,  and  that  this,  and  his  love  of  money  (and  who 
thinks  this  a  sin  ?)  are  almost  the  only  blots  in  it,  it 
must  certainly  be  consistent  with  candour  and  charity 
to  suggest  a  method  of  removing  at  least  some  part 
of  this  blame. 

16.  I  would  therefore  simply  say  that  the  counsel 
given  by  Balaam  to  Balak  might  have  been  “  to  form 
alliances  with  this  people,  especially  through  the  me¬ 
dium  of  matrimonial  connections ;  and  seeing  they 
could  not  conquer  them,  to  endeavour  to  make  them 
their  friends."1  Now,  though  this  might  not  be  de¬ 
signed  by  Balaam  to  bring  them  into  a  snare,  yet  it 
was  a  bad  doctrine,  as  it  led  to  the  corruption  of  the 
holy  seed,  and  to  an  unequal  yoking  with  unbelievers ; 
which,  though  even  in  a  matrimonial  way,  is  as  con¬ 
trary  to  sound  policy  as  to  the  word  of  God.  See  the 
notes  on  chap.  xxv.  3,  6. 

17.  That  it  was  the  Moabitish  women,  not  Balaam, 
that  called  the  people  to  the  sacrifice  of  their  gods  ; 
and  it  argued  great  degeneracy  and  iniquity  in  the 
hearts  of  the  people  on  so  slight  an  invitation  to  join 
so  suddenly  so  impure  a  worship,  and  so  speedily  to 
cast  off  the  whole  form  of  godliness,  with  every  por¬ 
tion  of  the  fear  of  the  Almighty  ;  therefore  the  high 
blame  rests  ultimately  with  themselves. 

699 


a 


The  people  commit  whoredom , 


NUMBERS. 


and  join  themselves  to  Baal-peor 


CHAPTER  XXV. 


While  Israel  abode  in  Shittim  the  people  commit  ivhoredom  with  the  daughters  of  Moab ,  1.  They  become 
idolaters.  2.  The  anger  of  the  Lord  is  kindled  against  them,  and  he  commands  the  ringleaders  to  be 
hanged ,  3,  4.  Moses  causes  the  judges  to  slay  the  transgressors ,  5.  Zimri,  one  of  the  Israelitish  princes 
of  the  tribe  of  Simeon,  hangs  a  Midianitish  princess ,  named  Cozbi,  into  his  tent ,  tohile  the  people  are 
deploring  their  iniquity  before  the  tabernacle,  6.  Phinehas,  the  son  of  Eleazar,  incensed  by  this  insult  to 
the  laws  and  worship  of  God,  runs  after  them  and  pierces  them  both  ivith  a  javelin,  7,  8.  Twenty-four 
thousand  die  of  the  plague,  sent  as  a  punishment  for  their  iniquity,  9.  The  Lord  grants  to  Phinehas  a 
covenant  of  peace  and  an  everlasting  priesthood,  10—13.  The  name  and  quality  of  the  Israelitish  man 
and  Midianitish  woman,  14,  15.  God  commands  the  Israelites  to  vex  and  smite  the  Midianites,  who  had 
seduced  them  to  the  worship  of  Baal-peor,  16—18. 


A.  M.  2553. 

B.  C.  1451. 
An.  Exod.  Isr. 

40. 


^ND  Israel  abode  in  a  Shittim, 
and  b  the  people  began  to 
commit  whoredom  with  the 


daughters  of  Moab. 


2  And  c  they  called  the  people  unto  d  the 
sacrifices  of  their  gods  :  and  the  people  did 
eat,  and  e  bowed  down  to  their  gods. 

3  And  Israel  joined  himself  unto  Baal-peor: 
and  f  the  anger  of  the  Lord  was  kindled  against 
Israel. 

4  And  the  Lord  said  unto  Moses,  s  Take  all 
the  heads  of  the  people,  and  hang  them  up 
before  the  Lord  against  the  sun,  11  that  the 
fierce  anger  of  the  Lord  may  be  turned  away 
from  Israel. 


5 


And  Moses  said  unto  1  the  a.  m.  2553. 
judges  of  Israel,  k  Slay  ye  every  An.Exod.isV. 
one  his  men  that  were  joined  unto  4Q~ 


Baal-peor. 

6  And,  behold,  one  of  the  children  of  Israel 
came  and  brought  unto  his  brethren  a  Midian¬ 
itish  woman  in  the  sight  of  Moses,  and  in  the 
sight  of  all  the  congregation  of  the  children  of 
Israel, *  1  who  were  weeping  before  the  door  of 
the  tabernacle  of  the  congregation. 

7  And  m  when  Phinehas  n  the  son  of  Eleazar, 
the  son  of  Aaron  the  priest,  saw  it,  he  rose  up 
from  among  the  congregation,  and  took  a  jave¬ 
lin  in  his  hand  ; 

8  And  he  went  after  the  man  of  Israel  into 


a  Chap,  xxxiii.  49  ;  Josh.  ii.  1  ;  Mic.  vi.  5. - b  Chap.  xxxi.  16  ; 

1  Cor.  x.  8. - c  Joshua  xxii.  17  ;  Psa.  cvi.  28  ;  Hos.  ix.  10. 

Exodus  xxxiv.  15,  16 ;  1  Cor.  x.  20. - e  Exodus  xx.  5. 

( Psa.  cvi.  29. 


s  Deut.  iv.  3  ;  Josh.  xxii.  17. - hVer.  11;  Deut.  xiii.  17. 

1  Exod.  xviii.  21,  25. - k  Exod.  xxxii.  27  ;  Deut.  xiii.  6,  9,  13, 

15. - 1  Joel  ii.  17. - m  Psa.  cvi.  30  ;  Ecclus.  xlv.  23 ;  1  Mac. 

ii.  54. - 11  Exod.  vi.  25. 


NOTES  ON  CHAP.  XNY. 

Verse  3.  Israel  joined  himself  unto  Baal-peor ]  The 
same  as  the  Priapus  of  the  Romans,  and  worshipped 
with  the  same  obscene  rites  as  we  have  frequently  had 
occasion  to  remark. 

The  joining  to  Baal-peor,  mentioned  here,  was  pro¬ 
bably  what  St.  Paul  had  in  view  when  he  said,  2  Cor. 
vi.  14  :  Be  ye  not  unequally  yoked  together  with  un¬ 
believers.  And  this  joining-,  though  done  even  in  a 
matrimonial  way,  was  nevertheless  fornication,  (see 
Rev.  ii.  14-,)  as  no  marriage  between  an  Israelite  and 
a  Midianite  could  be  legitimate,  according  to  the  law 
of  God.  See  the  propositions  at  the  close  of  the  pre¬ 
ceding  chapter. 

Verse  4.  Take  all  the  heads  of  the  people,  <fr-] 
Meaning  the  chiefs  of  those  who  had  transgressed  ;  as 
if  he  had  said,  “  Assemble  the  chiefs  and  judges,  insti¬ 
tute  an  inquiry  concerning  the  transgressors,  and  hang 
them  who  shall  be  found  guilty  before  the  Lord,  as  a 
matter  required  by  his  justice.”  Against  the  sun — in 
the  most  public  manner,  and  in  daylight. 

Dr.  Kennicott  has  remarked  that  the  Samaritan  and 
Hebrew  texts  must  be  both  taken  together,  to  make 
the  sense  here  complete  :  And  the  Lord  said  unto 
Moses,  Speak  unto  all  the  heads  of  the  people ;  and 
let  them  slay  the  men  that  were  joined  to  Baal- 
peor  ;  and  hang  them  up  before  the  Lord  against  the 
sun,  &o. 


Verse  5.  Slay  ye  every  one  his  men]  In  the  dif¬ 
ferent  departments  where  you  preside  over  thousands , 
hundreds,  fifties,  and  tens ,  slay  all  the  culprits  that 
shall  be  found. 

Verse  6.  One  of  the  children  of  Israel]  Zimri ,  the 
son  of  Salu,  a  prince  of  a  chief  family  in  the  tribe  of 
Simeon,  ver.  14,  brought  a  Midianitish  woman,  Cozbi , 
daughter  of  Zur,  head  over  a  people  of  one  of  the 
chief  families  in  Midian,  ver.  15.  The  condition  of 
these  two  persons  plainly  proves  it  to  have  been  a 
matrimonial  alliance,  the  one  was  a  prince,  the  other 
a  princess ;  therefore  I  must  conclude  that  fornication 
or  whoredom,  in  the  common  sense  of  the  word,  was 
not  practised  on  this  occasion.  The  matter  was  bad 
enough,  as  the  marriage  was  in  flat  opposition  to  the 
law  of  God  ;  and  we  need  not  make  it  worse  by  repre¬ 
senting  the  woman  as  a  common  prostitute,  as  the  Vul¬ 
gate  and  several  others  have  done.  In  such  a  case 
this  is  absolutely  inadmissible.  Josephus  positively 
says  that  Zimri  had  married  Cozbi ,  Antiq.,  1.  iv.,  cap. 
6  ;  and  if  he  had  not  said  so,  still  the  thing  is  nearly 
self-evident.  See  the  conclusion  of  chap.  xxiv. 

The  children  of  Israel ,  ivho  were  weeping ]  This 
aggravated  the  crime,  because  the  people  were  then  in 
a  state  of  great  humiliation,  because  of  the  late  impure, 
and  illegal  transactions. 

Verse  8.  Thrust  both  of  them  through]  Inspired 
undoubtedly  by  the  Spirit  of  the  God  of  justice  to  do 

a 


700 


CHAP.  XXV. 


The  Midianites  to  he  smitten 


God's  promise  to  Phinehas. 

A.  M.  2553.  the  tent,  and  thrust  both  of  them 

An.  Exot1  isr.  through,  the  man  of  Israel,  and 

40-  _  the  woman  through  her  belly. 

So  0  the  plague  was  stayed  from  the  children 
of  Israel. 

9  And  p  those  that  died  in  the  plague  were 
twenty  and  four  thousand. 

10  And  the  Lord  spake  unto  Moses,  saving, 

11  ‘i  Phinehas  the  son  of  Eleazar,  the  son  of 
Aaron  the  priest,  hath  turned  my  wrath  away 
from  the  children  of  Israel,  while  he  was 
zealous  r  for  my  sake  among  them,  that  I  con- 
sumednot  the  children  of  Israel  in  s  my  jealousy. 

1 2  Wherefore  say, 4  Behold,  I  give  unto  him 
my  covenant  of  peace  : 

13  And  he  shall  have  it,  and  u  his  seed  after 
him,  even  the  covenant  of  v  an  everlasting 
priesthood  ;  because  he  was  w  zealous  for  his 

°Psa.  cvi.  30. - P  Deut.  iv.  3  ;  1  Cor.  x.  8. - ^Psa.  cvi.  30  ; 

Ecclus.  xlv.  23. - r  Heb.  with  my  zeal ;  see  2  Cor.  xi.  2. 

*  Exod.  xx.  5  ;  Deut.  xxxii.  16,  21  ;  1  Kings  xiv.  22  ;  Psa.  Ixxviii. 
58  ;  Ezek.  xvi.  38  ;  Zeph.  i.  18  ;  iii.  8. - 1  Mai.  li.  4,  5  ;  iii.  1  ; 

this  act,  which  can  never  be  a  precedent  on  any  com¬ 
mon  occasion.  An  act  something-  similar  occurs  in 
our  own  history.  In  1381,  in  the  minority  of  Richard 
II.,  a  most  formidable  insurrection  took  place  in  Kent 
and  Essex;  about  100,000  men,  chiefly  under  the 
direction  of  Wat  Tyler ,  seized  on  London,  massacred 
multitudes  of  innocent  people,  and  were  proceeding  to 
the  greatest  enormities,  when  the  king  requiring  a  con¬ 
ference  in  Smithfield  with  the  rebel  leader,  Sir  Wil¬ 
liam  Walworth ,  then  mayor  of  London,  provoked  at 
the  insolence  with  which  Tyler  behaved  to  his  sove¬ 
reign,  knocked  him  off  his  horse  with  his  mace,  after 
which  he  was  instantly  despatched.  While  his  parti¬ 
sans  were  bending  their  bows  to  revenge  the  death  of 
their  leader,  Richard,  then  only  sixteen  years  of  age, 
rode  up  to  them,  and  with  great  courage  and  presence 
of  mind  thus  addressed  them  :  “  What,  my  people,  will 
you  kill  your  king !  be  not  concerned  for  the  death  of 
your  leader ;  follow  me,  and  I  will  be  your  general.” 
They  were  suddenly  appeased,  and  the  rebellion  ter¬ 
minated.  The  action  of  Sir  William  Walworth  was 
that  of  a  zealot ,  of  essential  benefit  at  the  time,  and 
justified  only  by  the  pressing  exigencies  of  the  case. 

Yerse  9.  Those  that  died — were  twenty  and  four 
thousand.]  St.  Paul,  1  Cor.  x.  8,  reckons  only  twenty- 
three  thousand  ;  though  some  MSS.  and  versions,  par¬ 
ticularly  the  latter  Syriac  and  the  Armenian ,  have 
twenty -four  thousand,  with  the  Hebrew  text.  Allow¬ 
ing  the  24,000  to  be  the  genuine  reading,  and  none 
of  the  Hebrew  MSS.  exhibit  any  various  reading  here, 
the  two  places  may  be  reconciled  thus  :  1000  men 
were  slain  in  consequence  of  the  examination  instituted 
ver.  4,  and  23,000  in  consequence  of  the  orders  given 
ver.  5  ;  making  24,000  in  the  whole.  St.  Paul  pro¬ 
bably  refers  only  to  the  latter  number. 

Verses  12,  13.  My  covenant  of  peace — of  an  ever¬ 
lasting  priesthood]  As  the  word  peace  implied  all  kinds 
of  blessings,  both  spiritual  and  temporal,  it  may  mean 

a 


God,  and  *  made  an  atonement  for  a.  M.  2553. 
the  children  of  Israel.  Au.Exod.lsr 

14  Now  the  name  of  the  Israel-  4(1 


itc  that  was  slain,  even  that  was  slain  with  the 
Midianitish  woman,  was  Zimri,  the  son  of  Salu, 
a  prince  of  y  a  chief  house  among  the  Simeonites. 

15  And  the  name  of  the  Midianitish  woman 
that  was  slain  was  Cozbi,  the  daughter  of 
z  Zur ;  he  was  head  over  a  people,  and  of  a 
chief  house  in  Midian. 

1 6  And  the  Lord  spake  unto  Moses,  saying, 

17  a  Vex  the  Midianites,  and  smite  them  : 

18  For  they  vex  you  with  their  b  wiles, 
wherewith  they  have  beguiled  you  in  the 
matter  of  Peor,  and  in  the  matter  of  Cozbi, 
the  daughter  of  a  prince  of  Midian,  their  sister, 
which  was  slain  in  the  day  of  the  plague  for 
Peor’s  sake. 


Ecclus.  xlv.  24 ;  1  Mac.  ii.  54. - u  See  1  Chron.  vi.  4,  &c. 

v  Exod.  xl.  15  ;  Ecclus.  xlv.  24. - -w  Acts  xxii.  3  ;  Rom.  x.  2, 

x  Heb.  ii.  17. - y  Heb.  house  of  a  father. - z  Chap.  xxxi.  8  ; 

Josh.  xiii.  21. - a  Chap.  xxxi.  2. - b  Chap.  xxxi.  16  ;  Rev.  ii.  14. 

no  more  here  than  the  promise  of  God,  to  grant  him 
and  his  family  the  utmost  prosperity  in  reference  to 
both  worlds.  The  everlasting  priesthood  refers  pro¬ 
perly  to  the  priesthood  of  Christ  which  was  shadowed 
out  by  the  priesthood  under  the  law ;  no  matter  in 
what  family  it  was  continued.  Therefore  the  dStjJ  rOHD 
kehunnath  olam ,  or  eternal  priesthood ,  does  not  merely 
refer  to  any  sacerdotal  ministrations  which  should  be 
continued  in  the  family  of  Phinehas,  during  the  Mosaic 
dispensation,  but  to  that  priesthood  of  Christ  typified 
by  that  of  Aaron  and  his  successors.  The  priesthood 
alone  is  everlasting,  and  a  covenant  or  grant  of  that 
was  made  to  Phinehas,  and  his  descendants.  The 
Jews  reckon  twelve  high  priests  of  the  race  of  Phine¬ 
has,  from  this  time  to  the  days  of  Solomon,  nine  more 
from  that  time  to  the  captivity,  (see  1  Chron.  vi.  4,  15,) 
and  fifteen  from  their  return  to  the  time  of  Antiochus 
Eupator ,  the  last  of  whom  was  Onias,  slain  by  Lysias. 
Ezra,  the  great  priest  and  scribe,  was  of  this  line, 
Ezra  vii.  1,5.  The  family  of  Ithamar,  uncle  of  Phi¬ 
nehas,  had  the  priesthood  for  about  150  years ;  but  it 
was  restored  to  the  family  of  Phinehas  in  the  person 
of  Zadoh  the  priest,  1  Chron.  vi.  50,  in  which  it  con¬ 
tinued  in  the  whole  about  950  years.  Probably  the 
Maccabees  were  of  the  same  family ;  but  though  this 
is  not  certain,  there  is  no  evidence  against  it.  See 
Calmet.  God  therefore  sufficiently  fulfilled  his  pro¬ 
mise  ;  he  gave  to  him  and  his  descendants  almost  the 
utmost  temporal  length  that  could  be  given  of  that 
priesthood  which  is,  in  its  own  nature,  eternal.  Here 
then  the  word  olam  means,  not  a  limited  time, 
"but  what  is  eternal  in  its>  duration.  See  the  note  on 
Gen.  xxi.  33. 

Yerse  17.  Vex  the  Midianites,  dfc.]  See  this  order 
fulfilled,  chap.  xxxi.  1-20.  Twelve  thousand  Israelites 
attacked  the  Midianites,  destroyed  all  their  cities,  slew 
their  five  kings,  every  male,  and  every  grown  up  wo¬ 
man,  and  took  all  their  spoils. 

701 


Moses  and  Eleazar  commanded 


NUMBERS. 


to  take  the  sum  of  the  Israelites 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 


Moses  and  Eleazar  are  commanded  to  take  the  sum  of  the  Israelites ,  in  the  plains  of  Moab ,  1-4.  Reuben 
and  his  posterity,  43,730 ,  ver.  5—11.  Simeon  and  his  posterity,  22,200,  ver.  12—14.  Gad  and  his 
posterity,  40,500,  ver.  15-18.  Judah  and  his  posterity,!  6,500,  ver.  19-22.  Issachar  and  his  posterity, 
64,300,  ver.  23-25.  Zebulan  and  his  posterity,  60,500,  ver.  26,  27.  Manasseh  and  his  posterity , 

52,700,  ver.  28—34.  Ephraim  and  his  posterity ,  32,500,  ver.  35-37.  Benjamin  and  his  posterity , 

45,600,  ver.  38—41.  Ban  and  his  posterity,  64,400,  ver.  42,  43.  Asher  and  his  posterity,  53,400,  ver. 
44—47.  Naphtali  and  his  posterity,  45,  400,  ver.  48— 50.  Total  amount  of  the  twelve  tribes,  601,730, 
ver.  51.  The  land  is  to  be  divided  by  lot,  and  how,  52—56.  The  Levites  and  their  families,  57,  58. 
Their  genealogy,  59—61.  Their  number ,  23,000,  ver.  62.  In  this  census  or  enumeration  not  one  man 
ivas  found,  save  Joshua  and  Caleb,  of  all  who  had  been  reckoned  38  years  before ,  the  rest  having  died  in 
the  wilderness,  63—65. 


A.  M.  2553.  A  ND  it  came  to  pass  after  the 

B.  C.  1451.  Jr. L  1 

An.  Exod.  isr.  plague,  that  the  Lord  spake 

40'  unto  Moses,  and  unto  Eleazar 
the  son  of  Aaron  the  priest,  saying, 

2  a  Take  the  sum  of  all  the  congregation  of 
the  children  of  Israel,  b  from  twenty  years  old 
and  upward,  throughout  their  fathers’  house, 
all  that  are  able  to  go  to  war  in  Israel. 


3  And  Moses  and  Eleazar  the  priest  spake 
with  them  c  in  the  plains  of  Moab  by  Jordan 
tiear  Jericho,  saying, 

4  Take  the  sum  of  the  people ,  from  twenty 
years  old  and  upward  ;  as  the  Lord  d  com¬ 
manded  Moses  and  the  children  of  Israel, 
which  went  forth  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt. 

5  e  Reuben,  the  eldest  son  of  Israel :  the 
children  of  Reuben  ;  Hanoch,  of  whom  cometh 
the  family  of  the  Hanochites  :  of  Pallu,  the 
family  of  the  Palluites  : 

6  Of  Hezron,  the  family  of  the  Hezronites  : 
of  Carmi,  the  family  of  the  Carmites. 

7  These  are  the  families  of  the  Reubenites  : 
and  they  that  were  numbered  of  them  were 
forty  and  three  thousand  and  seven  hundred 
and  thirty. 

8  And  the  sons  of  Pallu  ;  Eliab. 

a  Exod.  xxx.  12;  xxxviii.  25,  26 ;  chap.  i.  2. - b  Chap.  i  3. 

c  Ver.  63  ;  chap.  xxii.  1  ;  xxxi.  12  ;  xxxiii.  48  ;  xxxv.  1. - d  Ch. 

i.  1. - e  Gen.  xlvi.  8  ;  Exod.  vi.  14  ;  1  Chron.  v.  1. - f  Chap. 

xvi.  1,  2. - s  Chap.  xvi.  32,  35. 


9  And  the  sons  of  Eliab  ;  Ne-  A.  M.  2553. 
muel,  and  Dathan,  and  Abiram.  An.  Exod.  Isr. 
This  is  that  Dathan  and  Abiram  40~ 
which  were  f  famous  in  the  congregation  who 
strove  against  Moses  and  against  Aaron  in  the 
company  of  Korah,  when  they  strove  against 
the  Lord  : 

10  g  And  the  earth  opened  her  mouth,  and 
swallowed  them  up  together  with  Korah,  when 
that  company  died,  what  time  the  fire  de¬ 
voured  two  hundred  and  fifty  men  :  h  and  they 
became  a  sign. 

11  Notwithstanding  1  the  children  of  Korah 
died  not. 

12  The  sons  of  Simeon  after  their  families  : 
of  k  Nemuel,  the  family  of  the  Nemuelites  : 
of  Jamin,  the  family  of  the  Jaminites  :  of 

I  Jachin,  the  family  of  the  Jachinites  : 

13  Of  m  Zcrah,  the  family  of  the  Zarhites  : 
of  Shaul,  the  family  of  the  Shaulites. 

14  These  are  the  families  of  the  Simeonites, 
twenty  and  two  thousand  and  two  hundred. 

1 5  The  children  of  Gad  after  their  families  : 
of  n  Zephon,  the  family  of  the  Zephonites  :  of 
Haggi,  the  family  of  the  Haggites  :  of  Shuni, 
the  family  of  the  Shunites  : 

h  Chap.  xvi.  38  ;  see  1  Cor.  x.  6  ;  2  Pet.  ii.  6. - 1  Exod.  vi. 

24 ;  1  Chron.  vi.  22. - k  Gen.  xlvi.  10 ;  Exod.  vi.  15,  Jemuel. 

I I  Chron.  iv,  24,  Jarib. - m  Gen.  xlvi.  10,  Zohar. - n  Gen. 

xlvi.  16,  Ziphion. 


NOTES  ON  CHAP  XXVI. 

Yerse  2.  Take  the  sum  of  all  the  congregation] 
After  thirty-eight  years  God  commands  a  second  cen¬ 
sus  of  the  Israelites  to  be  made,  to  preserve  the  dis¬ 
tinction  in  families,  and  to  regulate  the  tribes  previously 
to  their  entry  into  the  promised  land,  and  to  ascertain 
the  proportion  of  land  which  should  be  allowed  to  each 
tribe.  For  though  the  whole  was  divided  by  lot,  yet 
the  portions  were  so  disposed  that  a  numerous  tribe  did 
not  draw  where  the  lots  assigned  small  inheritances. 
See  verses  53-56,  and  also  the  note  on  chap.  i.  1. 

Verse  10.  Together  with  Korah\  The  Samaritan 
text  does  not  intimate  that  Korah  was  swallowed  up, 

70.2 


but  that  he  was  burnt,  as  appears  in  fact  to  have  been 
the  case.  And  the  earth  swallowed  them  up,  what  time 
that  company  died ;  and  the  fire  devoured  Korah 
ivith  the  two  hundred  and  fifty  men,  who  became  a 
sign. 

Verse  11.  The  children  of  Korah  died  notI\  It  is 
difficult  to  reconcile  this  place  with  chap.  xvi.  27, 
31—33,  where  it  seems  to  be  intimated  that  not  only 
the  men,  but  the  reives ,  and  the  sons,  and  the  little  ones 
of  Korah,  Dathan,  and  Abiram,  were  swallowed  up  by 
the  earthquake  ;  see  especially  ver.  27,  collated  with 
ver.  33,  of  chap.  xvi.  But  the  text  here  expressly  says. 
The  children  of  Korah  died  not ;  and  on  a  close  in- 

a 


CHAP.  XXVI. 


The  number  of 

A.  M.  2553.  16  Of  0  Ozni,  the  family  of  the 

An.  Exod.lsr.  Oznites  :  of  Eri,  the  family  of 
40~  the  Erites  : 

1 7  Of  p  Arod,  the  family  of  the  Arodites  : 
of  Areli,  the  family  of  the  Arelites. 

IS  These  are  the  families  of  the  children 
of  God  according  to  those  that  were  numbered 
of  them,  forty  thousand  and  five  hundred. 

19  The  sons  of  Judah  were  Er  and  Onan  : 
and  Er  and  Onan  died  in  the  land  of  Canaan. 

20  And  r  the  sons  of  Judah  after  their  fami¬ 
lies  were  ;  of  Shelah,  the  family  of  the  Shela- 
nites  :  of  Pharez,  the  family  of  the  Pharezites  : 
of  Zerah,  the  family  of  the  Zarhites.  „ 

2 1  And  the  sons  of  Pharez  were  ;  of  Hezron, 
the  family  of  the  Hezronites  :  of  Hamul,  the 
family  of  the  IJamulites. 

22  These  are  the  families  of  Judah  according 
to  those  that  were  numbered  of  them,  three¬ 
score  and  sixteen  thousand  and  five  hundred. 

23  s  Of  the  sons  of  Issachar  after  their  fami¬ 
lies  :  of  Tola,  the  family  of  the  Tolaites  :  of 
1  Pua,  the  family  of  the  Punites  : 

24  Of  u  Jashub,  the  family  of  the  Jashubites  : 
of  Shimron,  the  family  of  the  Shimronites. 

25  These  are  the  families  of  Issachar  accord¬ 
ing  to  those  that  were  numbered  of  them,  three¬ 
score  and  four  thousand  and  three  hundred. 

26  7  Of  the  sons  of  Zebulun  after  their  fami¬ 
lies  :  of  Sored,  the  family  of  the  Sardites  :  of 
Elon,  the  family  of  the  Elonites :  of  Jahleel, 
the  family  of  the  Jahleelites. 

27  These  are  the  families  of  the  Zebulunites 
according;  to  those  that  were  numbered  of  them, 
threescore  thousand  and  five  hundred. 

28  w  The  sons  of  Joseph  after  their  families 
were  Manasseh  and  Ephraim. 

29  Of  the  sons  of  Manasseh  :  of  x  Machir, 
the  family  of  the  Machirites  :  and  Machir  be¬ 
gat  Gilead  :  of  Gilead  come  the  family  of  the 
Gileadites. 

30  These  are  the  sons  of  Gilead :  of y  Jeezer, 
the  family  of  the  Jeezerites  :  of  Helek,  the 
family  of  the  Helekites  : 

0  Or,  Ezbon,  Gen.  xlvi.  16. - P  Gen.  xlvi.  16,  Arodi. - <1  Gen. 

xxxviii.  2,  &c.  ;  xlvi.  12. - r  1  Chron.  ii.  3. - sGen.  xlvi.  13  ; 

1  ChrGn.  vii.  1. - '  Or,  Phuvah. - u  Or,  Job. - v  Gen.  xlvi. 

14. - wGen.  xlvi.  20. - x  Josh.  xvii.  1  ;  1  Chron.  vii.  14,  15. 

y  Called  Abiczcr,  Josh.  xvii.  2  ;  .Tudg.  vi.  11,  24,  34. 

spection  of  ver.  27  of  the  above-mentioned  chapter,  we 
shall  find  that  the  sons  and  the  little  ones  of  Dathan 
and  Abiram  alone  are  mentioned.  So  they  gat  up 
from  the  tabernacle  of  Korah ,  Dathan,  and  Abiram ,  on 
every  side :  and  Dathan  and  Abiram  came  out — and 


the  different  families 

31  And  of  i Asricl,  the  family  A  M.  2553. 

y  7  0  ]3  c  145L 

of  the  Asrielites  :  and  of  She-  An.  Exod.  lsr. 

chem,  the  family  of  the  She-  _ 4(f _ _ 

chemites  : 

32  And  of  Shcmida,  the  family  of  the  She- 
midaites  :  and  of  Hepher,  the  family  of  the 
Hepherites. 

33  And  z  Zelophehad  the  son  of  Hepher  had 
no  sons,  but  daughters  :  and  the  names  of  the 
daughters  of  Zelophehad  were  Mahlah,  and 
Noah,  Hoglah,  Milcah,  and  Tirzah. 

34  These  are  the  families  of  Manasseh,  and 
those  that  were  numbered  of  them,  fifty  and 
two  thousand  and  seven  hundred. 

35  These  are  the  sons  of  Ephraim  after 
their  families  :  of  Shuthelah,  the  family  of  the 
Shuthalhites  :  of  a  Becher,  the  family  of  the 
Bachrites  :  of  Tahan,  the  family  of  the  Ta- 
hanites. 

36  And  these  are  the  sons  of  Shuthelah  :  of 
Eran,  the  family  of  the  Eranites 

37  These  are  the  families  of  the  sons  of 
Ephraim  according  to  those  that  were  num¬ 
bered  of  them,  thirty  and  two  thousand  and 
five  hundred.  These  are  the  sons  of  Joseph 
after  their  families. 

38  b  The  sons  of  Benjamin  after  their  fami¬ 
lies  :  of  Bela,  the  family  of  the  Belaites :  of 
Ashbel,  the  family  of  the  Ashbelites  :  of 
c  Ahiram,  the  family  of  the  Ahiramites  : 

39  Of  d  Shupham,  the  family  of  the  Shu- 
phamites  :  of  Hupham,  the  family  of  the 
Huphamites. 

40  And  the  sons  of  Bela  were  e  Ard  and 
Naaman  :  of  Ard ,  the  family  of  the  Ardites  : 
and  of  Naaman,  the  family  of  the  Naamites. 

4 1  These  are  the  sons  of  Benjamin  after 
their  families  :  and  they  that  were  numbered 
of  them  were  forty  and  five  thousand  and  six 
hundred. 

42  f  These  are  the  sons  of  Dan  after  their 
families  :  of  er  Shuham,  the  family  of  the  Shu- 
hamites.  These  are  the  families  of  Dan  after 
their  families. 

z  Chap,  xxvii.  1;  xxxvi.  11. - a  1  Chron.  vii.  20,  Bered. 

b  Gen.  xlvi.  21  ;  1  Chron.  vii.  6. - c  Gen.  xlvi.  21,  Ehi ;  1  Chron. 

viii.  1 ,  Aharah. - d  Genesis  xlvi.  21,  Muppirn  and  Iluppim. 

e  1  Chron.  viii.  3,  Addar. - f  Genesis  xlvi.  23. - s  Or, 

Hushim. _ _ _ 

their  wives ,  and  their  sons,  and  their  little  ones.  Here 
is  no  mention  of  the  children  of  Korah ,  they  therefore 
escaped,  while  it  appears  those  of  Dathan  and  Abi¬ 
ram  perished  with  their  fathers.  See  the  note  on 
chap.  xvi.  30. 


a 


703 


NUMBERS. 


How  the  land  is  to  he  divided 


Total  amount  of  the  tribes 

a.  M.  2553.  43  All  the  families  of  the 

An.Exod.  isr.  Shuhamites,  according  to  those 
4Q~  that  were  numbered  of  them, 
were  threescore  and  four  thousand  and  four 
hundred. 

44  h  Of  the  children  of  Asher  after  their 
families  :  of  Jimna,  the  family  of  the  Jimnites: 
of  Jesui,  the  family  of  the  Jesuites  :  of  Be- 
riali,  the  family  of  the  Beriites. 

45  Of  the  sons  of  Beriah  :  of  Heber,  the 
family  of  the  Heberites  :  of  Malchiel,  the  fa¬ 
mily  of  the  Malchielites. 

46  And  the  name  of  the  daughter  of  Asher 
was  Sarah. 

47  These  are  the  families  of  the  sons  of 
Asher  according  to  those  that  were  numbered 
of  them  ;  who  were  fifty  and  three  thousand 
and  four  hundred. 

48  1  Of  the  sons  of  Naphtali  after  their  fa¬ 
milies  :  of  Jahzeel,  the  family  of  the  Jahzeel- 
ites  :  of  Guni,  the  family  of  the  G  unites  : 

49  Of  Jezer,  the  family  of  the  Jezerites  :  of 

h  Gen.  xlvi.  17  ;  1  Chron.  vii.  30. - ‘  Gen.  xlvi.  24  ;  1  Chron. 

vii.  13. - k  1  Chron.  vii.  13,  Shallwn. - 1  See  chapter  i.  46. 

01  Josh.  xi.  23  ;  xiv.  1. 


Verse  51.  These  were  the  numbered  of  the  children 
cf  Israel ,  six  hundred  thousand  and  a  thousand  seven 
hundred  and  thirty. ]  The  following  comparative  state¬ 
ment  will  show  how  much  some  of  the  tribes  had  in¬ 
creased. ,  and  others  had  diminished,  since  the  enurae- 


ration  in  chap.  i. 

Now 

Before 

Reuben 

43,730 

46,500 

2,770  decrease 

Simeon 

22,200 

59,300 

37,100  decrease 

Gad 

40,500 

45,650 

5,150  decrease 

Judah 

76,500 

74,600 

1,900  increase 

Issachar 

64,300 

54,400 

9,900  increase 

Zebulun 

60,500 

57,400 

3,100  increase 

Manasseh 

52,700 

32,200 

20,500  increase 

Ephraim 

32,500 

40,500 

8,000  decrease 

Benjamin 

45,600 

35,400 

10,200  increase 

Dan 

64,400 

62,700 

1,700  increase 

Asher 

53,400 

41,500 

11,900  increase 

Naphtali 

45,400 

53,400 

8,000  decrease 

Total 

601,730 

603,550  1,820  decrease  on 

the  whole,  in  38  years. 

Decrease  in  all,  61,020  Increase  in  all,  59,200. 

Let  it  be  observed,  1.  That  among  these  there  was 
not  a  man  of  the  former  census,  save  Joshua  and  Ca¬ 
leb,  see  ver.  64,  65.  2.  That  though  there  was  an 

increase  in  seven  tribes  of  not  less  than  74,800  men, 
yet  so  great  was  the  decrease  in  the  other  five  tribes, 
that  the  balance  against  the  present  census  is  1,820, 
as  appears  above  :  thus  we  find  that  there  was  an  in¬ 
crease  of  601,728  from  603,550  in  the  space  of  thir¬ 
ty-eight  years. 


k  Shillem,  the  family  of  the  Shil-  a.  m.  2553. 

lemites.  An.Exod.Isr. 

50  These  are  the  families  of  40, 
Naphtali  according  to  their  families  :  and  they 
that  were  numbered  of  them  were  forty  and 
five  thousand  and  four  hundred. 

5 1  1  These  were  the  numbered  of  the  chil¬ 
dren  of  Israel,  six  hundred  thousand  and  a 
thousand  seven  hundred  and  thirty. 

52  And  the  Lord  spake  unto  Moses,  saying, 

53  m  Unto  these  the  land  shall  be  divided  for 
an  inheritance  according  to  the  number  of 
names. 


54  n  To  many  thou  shalt  0  give  the  more  in¬ 
heritance,  and  to  few  thou  shalt  p  give  the  less 
inheritance  :  to  every  one  shall  his  inheritance 
be  given  according  to  those  that  were  number¬ 
ed  of  him. 

55  Notwithstanding  the  land  shall  be  q  divided 
by  lot :  according  to  the  names  of  the  tribes  of 
their  fathers  they  shall  inherit. 

56  According  to  the  lot  shall  the  possession 


n  Chap,  xxxiii.  54. - 0  Heb .  multiply  his  inheritance. - P  Heb. 

dimmish  his  inheritance. - Ch.  xxxiii.  54 ;  xxxiv.  13  ;  Josh. 

xi.  23  ;  xiv.  2. 


Notwithstanding  the  amazing  increase  in  some  and 
decrease  in  other  tribes,  the  same  sort  of  proportion 
is  preserved  in  the  east ,  west,  north,  and  south  divi¬ 
sions,  as  before  ;  so  as  to  keep  the  division  of  Judah, 
which  was  always  in  the  front  or  van,  the  largest ;  and 
the  division  of  Dan,  which  was  always  in  the  rear , 
the  next  in  number.  But  it  is  worthy  of  remark  that 
as  they  are  now,  properly  speaking,  to  commence  their 
grand  military  operations,  so  their  front ,  or  advanced 
division,  is  increased  from  186,400  to  201,300;  and 
their  rear  from  157,600  to  163,200.  TheJ?^  divi¬ 
sion  is  strengthened  14,900  men,  and  the  last  division 
5,600  men.  The  reasons  for  this  are  sufficiently  ob¬ 
vious. 

Mr.  Ainsworth  has  a  curious  remark  on  the  number 
of  families  in  the  12  tribes.  “  Here  are  families, 


1.  Of  Manasseh  8 

2.  Of  Benjamin  7 

3.  Of  Gad  7 

4.  Of  Simeon  5 

5.  Of  Judah  5 

6.  Of  Asher  5 


7.  Of  Reuben  4 

8.  Of  Issachar  4 

9.  Of  Ephraim  4 

10.  Of  Naphtali  4 

11.  Of  Zebulun  3 

12.  Of  Dan  1 


“In  all  57  ;  to  whom  if  we  add  the  12  patriarchs , 
and  Jacob  their  father,  the  whole  number  is  70,  the 
exact  number  of  the  souls  in  Jacob’s  house  that  went 
down  to  Egypt,  Gen.  xlvi.  27.”  In  a  variety  of  things 
in  this  ancient  economy  there  is  a  most  surprising  pro¬ 
portion  kept  up,  which  never  could  have  been  a  for¬ 
tuitous  effect  of  general  causes.  But  proportion,  har¬ 
mony,  and  order  distinguish  all  the  works  of  God,  both 
in  the  natural  and  moral  world. 

Verse  55.  The  land  shall  de  divided  by  lot ]  The 

a 


704 


CHAP.  XXVII. 


The  number  of  the  Levites 

A.  M.  2553.  thereof  be  divided  between  many 

B.  C.  1451.  .  r 

An.  Exod.lsr.  and  tew. 

40-  57  r  And  these  are  they  that 

were  numbered  of  the  Levites  after  their  fami¬ 
lies-:  of  Gershon,  the  family  of  the  Gershon- 
ites  :  of  Kohath,  the  family  of  the  Kohathites  : 
of  Merari,  the  family  of  the  Merarites. 

58  These  are  the  families  of  the  Levites  : 
the  family  of  the  Libnites,  the  family  of  the 
Hebronites,  the  family  of  the  Mahlites,  the 
family  of  the  Mushites,  the  family  of  the  Ko- 
rathites.  And  Kohath  begat  Amram. 

59  And  the  name  of  Amram’s  wife  was 
'Jochebed,  the  daughter  of  Levi,  whom  her 
mother  bare  to  Levi  in  Egypt :  and  she  bare 
unto  Amram  Aaron  and  Moses,  and  Miriam 
their  sister. 

60  x  And  unto  Aaron  was  born  Nadab,  and 
Abihu,  Eleazar,  and  Ithamar. 

61  And  11  Nadab  and  Abihu  died,  when  they 

r  Gen.  xlvi.  11 ;  Exod.  vi.  16-19  ;  1  Chron.  vi.  1, 16. - 8  Exod. 

ii.  1,  2  ;  vi.  20. - 1  Chap.  iii.  2. - -u  Lev.  x.  1,  2  ;  chap.  iii.  4 ; 

1  Chron.  xxiv.  2.— — v  See  chap.  iii.  39. 

word  blU  gorcil,  translated  lot ,  is  supposed  by  some  to 
signify  the  stone  or  pebble  formerly  used  for  the  pur¬ 
pose  of  what  we  term  casting  lots.  The  word  Woe 
hlot  is  Anglo-Saxon,  from  Dleotan,.  to  divide ,  or  por¬ 
tion  out,  i.  e.,  fortuitously  :  it  answers  to  the  Greek 
tO.rjpog,  which  some  think  comes  from  ulao,  to  break ; 
because  the  lot,  being  a  sort  of  appeal  to  God,  (“The 
lot  is  cast  into  the  lap,  but  the  whole  disposing  thereof 
is  of  the  Lord,”  Prow  xvi.  33,)  broke  off  all  conten¬ 
tions  and  litigations  relative  to  the  matter  in  dispute. 
From  this  original  division  of  the  promised  land  by  lot 
to  the  children  of  Israel,  all  portions,  appointments, 
offices,  shares,  or  divisions  in  spiritual  and  ecclesiasti¬ 
cal  matters,  were  termed  lots.  So  in  the  New  Tes¬ 
tament,  the  word  Kibrjpog,  lot,  is  used  to  signify  a  por¬ 
tion  of  spiritual  blessedness,  and  n'krjpovopia,  a  division 
by  lot,  an  inheritance ;  and  slr/poi,  the  lotted  or  ap¬ 
pointed  persons  to  different  works,  shares,  &c.  ;  hence 
our  word  clergy ,  KArjpoi,  persons  appointed  by  lot  to  a 
lot,  portion,  or  inheritance  ;  see  the  case  of  Matthias, 
Acts  i.  26.  Persons  thus  appointed  were  by  accom¬ 
modation  termed  inheritors,  because  originally,  when 
there  could  be  no  claims  of  exclusive  right,  all  lands 
where  a  wandering  tribe  chose  to  take  up  its  residence 
were  divided  by  lot,  as  the  promised  land  in  the  case 
before  us.  So  Judah  says  to  Simeon  his  brother,  Judg. 
i.  3  :  “  Come  up  with  me  into  my  lot.'1'1  And  as  God 


after  their  families 

offered  strange  fire  before  the  A.  M.  2553. 

T  5  B.  C.  1451. 

LORD.  An.  Exod.  Isr. 

62  v  And  those  that  were  num-  4Q~ 
bered  of  them  were  twenty  and  three  thousand, 
all  males  from  a  month  old  and  upward  ;  w  for 
they  were  not  numbered  among  the  children 
of  Israel,  because  there  was  x  no  inheritance 
given  them  among  the  children  of  Israel. 

63  These  are  they  that  were  numbered  by 
Moses  and  Eleazar  the  priest,  who  numbered 
the  children  of  Israel  y  in  the  plains  of  Moab, 
by  Jordan  near  Jericho. 

64  z  But  among  these  there  was  not  a  man 
of  them  whom  Moses  and  Aaron  the  priest 
numbered,  when  they  numbered  the  children 
of  Israel  in  the  wilderness  of  Sinai. 

65  For  the  Lord  had  said  of  them,  They 
a  shall  surely  die  in  the  wilderness.  And  there 
was  not  left  a  man  of  them,  b  save  Caleb  the 
son  of  Jephunneh,  and  Joshua  the  son  of  Nun. 

w  Chap.  i.  49. - x  Chap,  xviii.  20,  23,  24  ;  Deut.  x.  9  ;  Josh. 

xiii.  14,  33  ;  xiv.  3. - y  Ver.  3. - z  Chap,  i ;  Deut.  ii.  14,  15. 

a  Chap.  xiv.  28,  29 ;  1  Cor.  x.  5,  6. - b  Chap.  xiv.  30. 

was  ever  supposed  to  be  the  whole  disposer  in  such 
matters,  whatever  fell  out  in  the  course  of  God's  pro¬ 
vidence  was  called  a  lot.  “  This  is  the  lot  of  them 
that  rob  us;”  Isa.  xvii.  14.  “Thou  hast  neither  part 
nor  lot  in  this  matter;”  Acts  viii.  21.  A  lot  in  the 
promised  land  was  evidently  typical  of  a  place  in  eter¬ 
nal  glory.  “  That  they  may  receive  forgiveness  of 
sins,  and  an  inheritance  (vlippov,  a  lot)  among  them 
that  are  sanctified  ;”  Acts  xxvi.  18.  “  Who  hath  made 
us  meet  to  be  partakers  of  the  inheritance  (ulripov,  of 
the  lot)  of  the  saints  in  light;”  Col.  i.  12.  “Which 
is  the  earnest  of  our  inheritance,  ( Klrjpovofuag ,  of  our 
allotted  portion  ;”)  Epli.  i.  14.  “What  is  the  riches 
of  the  glory  of  his  inheritance,”  (n^povoyiac,  allotted 
portion;)  Eph.  i.  18.  As  therefore  the  promised  land 
was  divided  by  lot  to  the  believing  Israelites,  God  de¬ 
termining  the  lot  as  he  saw  good,  none  of  the  people 
having  any  claim  on  or  right  to  it ;  so  the  kingdom  of 
heaven  is  a  lot  given  by  the  mere  good  will  of  God  to 
them  that  believe  and  obey  him  ;  for  as  unbelief  and 
disobedience  threw  600,000  people  out  of  the  inherit¬ 
ance  of  the  promised  land ;  so  none  who  disbelieve 
God’s  word,  and  rebel  against  his  authority,  shall  ever 
enter  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven. — See  Ainsworth. 
These  things  happened  unto  them  for  examples :  see 
then,  reader,  that  thou  fall  not  after  the  same  example 
of  unbelief. 


CHAPTER  XXVII.  ' 

The  daughters  of  Zelophehad  claim  their  inheritance,  1—4.  Moses  brings  their  case  before  the  Lord ,  5. 
He  allows  their  claim ,  6,  7  ;  and  a  law  is  made  to  regulate  the  inheritance  of  daughters,  8—11.  Moses 
is  commanded  to  go  up  to  Mount  Abarim,  and  view  the  promised  land,  12  ;  is  apprised  of  his  death,  13  ; 
and  because  he  did  not  sanctify  God  at  the  waters  of  Meribah,  he  shall  not  enter  into  it,  14.  Moses 

Vul.  I.  (  46  )  705 


NUMBERS. 


The  case  of  the 


daughters  of  Zelophehad , 


requests  the  Lord  to  appoint  a  person  to  supply  his  place  as  leader  of  the  Israelites ,  15—17.  God  appoints 
Joshua ,  commands  Moses  to  lay  his  hands  upon  him ,  to  set  him  before  Eleazar  the  priest ,  and  give  him  a 
charge  in  the  sight  of  the  people ,  18-20.  Eleazar  shall  ask  counsel  for  him  by  Urim,  and  at  his  com¬ 
mand  shall  the  Israelites  go  out  and  come  in ,  21.  Moses  does  as  the  Lord  commanded  him ,  and  conse¬ 
crates  Joshua ,  22,  23. 


A.  M.  2553.  rpHEN  came  the  daughters  of 

An.  Exod.isr.  a  Zelophehad,  the  soil  of 

4Q’  Hepher,  the  son  of  Gilead,  the 
son  of  Machir,  the  son  of  Manasseh,  of  the 
families  of  Manasseh  the  son  of  Joseph  :  and 
these  are  the  names  of  his  daughters  ;  Mahlah, 
Noah,  and  Hoglah,  and  Milcah,  and  Tirzah. 

2  And  they  stood  before  Moses,  and  before 
Eleazar  the  priest,  and  before  the  princes  and 
all  the  congregation,  by  the  door  of  the  taber¬ 
nacle  of  the  congregation,  saying, 

3  Our  father  b  died  in  the  wilderness,  and  he 
was  not  in  the  company  of  them  that  gathered 
themselves  together  against  the  Lord  c  in  the 
company  of  Korah ;  but  died  in  his  own  sin, 
and  had  no  sons. 

4  Why  should  the  name  of  our  father  be 
d  done  away  from  among  his  family,  because 
he  hath  no  son  ?  e  Give  unto  us  therefore  a 
possession  among  the  brethren  of  our  father. 

a  Chap.  xxvi.  33  ;  xxxvi.  1, 11  ;  Josh.  xvii.  3. - b  Chap.  xiv.  35  ; 

xxvi.  64,  65. - c  Chap.  xvi.  1,  2. 


5  And  Moses  f  brought  their  A.  M.  2553. 

-\  c  -iT  &  B.  C.  1451. 

cause  betore  the  Lord.  An. Exod.isr. 

6  And  the  Lord  spake  unto  40~ 
Moses,  saying, 

7  The  daughters  of  Zelophehad  speak  right  : 
s  thou  shalt  surely  give  them  a  possession  of 
an  inheritance  among  their  father’s  brethren  ; 
and  thou  shalt  cause  the  inheritance  of  their 
father  to  pass  unto  them. 

8  And  thou  shalt  speak  unto  the  children  of 
Israel,  saying,  If  a  man  die,  and  have  no  son, 
then  ye  shall  cause  his  inheritance  to  pass  unto 
his  daughter. 

9  And  if  he  have  no  daughter,  then  ye  shall 
give  his  inheritance  unto  his  brethren. 

10  And  if  he  have  no  brethren,  then  ye  shall 
give  his  inheritance  unto  his  father’s  brethren. 

1 1  And  if  his  father  have  no  brethren,  then 
ye  shall  give  his  inheritance  unto  his  kinsman 
that  is  next  to  him  of  his  family,  and  he  shall 

d  Heb.  diminished. - e  Josh.  xvii.  4. - f  Exod.  xviii.  15,  19. 

e  Chap,  xxxvi.  2  ;  Jer.  xlix.  II ;  Gal.  iii.  28. 


NOTES  ON  CHAP.  XXVII. 

Verse  1.  The  daughters  of  Zelophehad]  The  sin¬ 
gular  ease  of  these  women  caused  an  additional  law 
to  be  made  to  the  civil  code  of  Israel,  which  satisfac¬ 
torily  ascertained  and  amply  secured  the  right  of  suc¬ 
cession  in  cases  of  inheritance.  The  law,  which  is  as 
reasonable  as  it  is  just,  stands  thus  :  1 .  On  the  demise 
of  the  father  the  estate  goes  to  the  sons ;  2.  If  there 
be  no  son,  the  daughters  succeed;  3.  If  there  be  no 
daughter ,  the  brothers  of  the  deceased  inherit ;  4.  If 
there  be  no  brethren  or  paternal  uncles,  the  estate  goes 
to  the  brothers  of  his  father;  5.  If  there  be  no  grand 
uncles  or  brothers  of  the  father  of  the  deceased,  then 
the  nearest  akin  succeeds  to  the  inheritance.  Beyond 
this  fifth  degree  the  law  does  not  proceed,  because  as 
the  families  of  the  Israelites  were  kept  distinct  in 
their  respective  tribes,  there  must  always  be  some  who 
could  be  called  kinsmen,  and  were  really  such,  having 
descended  without  interruption  from  the  patriarch  of 
the  tribe. 

Verse  7.  Thou  shalt  surely  give  them — an  inherit¬ 
ance  among  their  father’s  brethren]  There  is  a  curious 
anomaly  here  in  the  Hebrew  text  which  cannot  be 
seen  in  our  translation.  In  Hebrew  they,  them,  and 
their,  you,  ye,  and  your,  are  both  of  the  masculine  and 
feminine  genders,  according  as  the  nouns  are  to  which 
they  are  affixed  ;  but  these  words  are  of  no  gender  in 
English.  In  this  verse,  speaking  of  the  brethren  of 
the  father  of  those  women,  the  masculine  termination 
Qn  hem,  their,  is  used  instead  of  the  feminine,  JH  hen, 
governed  by  DIID  benoth,  daughters.  So  Drib  lahem, 
a  706 


to  them,  and  DIT3K  abihem,  their  fathers,  masculine, 
are  found  in  the  present  text,  instead  of  plb  lahen  and 
JiT3X  abihen,  feminine.  Interpreters  have  sought  for 
a  hidden  meaning  here,  and  they  have  found  several, 
whether  hidden  here  or  not.  One  says,  “  the  mascu¬ 
line  gender  is  used  because  these  daughters  are  treated 
as  if  they  were  heirs  maleT  Another,  “  that  it  is  be¬ 
cause  of  their  faith  and  conscientious  regard  to  the 
ancient  customs,  and  to  keep  the  memory  of  their  fa¬ 
ther  in  being,  which  might  well  befit  men?’  Another, 
“  that  it  signifies  the  free  gift  of  God  in  Christ,  where 
there  is  neither  male  nor  female,  bond  or  free,  for  all 
are  one  in  Christ and  so  on,  for  where  there  is  no 
rule  there  is  no  end  to  conjecture.  Now  the  plain 
truth  is,  that  the  masculine  is  in  the  present  printed 
text  a  mistake  for  the  feminine.  The  Samaritan, 
which  many  think  by  far  the  most  authentic  copy  of 
the  Pentateuch,  has  the  feminine  gender  in  both 
places  ;  so  also  have  upwards  of  fourscore  of  the 
MSS.  collated  by  Kennicott  and  De  Rossi.  There¬ 
fore  all  the  curious  reasons  for  this  anomaly  offered 
by  interpreters  are  only  serious  trifling  on  the  blunder 
of  some  heedless  copyists. 

While  on  the  subject  of  mysterious  reasons  and 
meanings,  some  might  think  it  unpardonable  if  I  pass¬ 
ed  by  the  mystery  of  the  fall,  recovery,  and  full  sal¬ 
vation  of  man,  signified,  as  some  will  have  it,  by  the 
names  of  Zelophehad  and  his  daughters.  “  1.  Zelo- 
phehad’s  daughters,  claiming  a  portion  in  the  promised 
land,  may  represent  believers  in  Christ  claiming  an 
inheritance  among  the  saints  in  light.  2.  These  five 

(  46*  ) 


Joshua  is  appointed  to  be  CHAP. 

A.  M.  2553.  possess  it :  and  it  shall  be  unto 
An.  Exod.  Isr.  the  children  of  Israel  h  a  statute 
4Q-  of  judgment,  as  the  Lord  com¬ 
manded  Moses. 

12  And  the  Lord  said  unto  Moses, '  Get  thee 
up  into  this  Mount  Abarim,  and  see  the  land 
which  I  have  given  unto  the  children  of  Israel. 

13  And  when  thou  hast  seen  it,  thou  also 
k  shalt  be  gathered  unto  thy  people,  as  Aaron 
thy  brother  was  gathered. 

14  For  ye  1  rebelled  against  my  command¬ 
ment  in  the  desert  of  Zin,  in  the  strife  of  the 
congregation,  to  sanctify  me  at  the  water  be¬ 
fore  their  eyes  :  that  is  the  m  water  of  Meri- 
bah  in  Kadesh  in  the  wilderness  of  Zin. 

15  And  Moses  spake  unto  the  Lord,  saying, 

1 6  Let  the  Lord,  n  the  God  of  the  spirits  of 
all  flesh,  set  a  man  over  the  congregation, 

17  0  Which  may  go  out  before  them,  and 
which  may  go  in  before  them,  and  which  may 

h  Chap.  xxxv.  29. - '  Chap,  xxxiii.  47  ;  Deut.  iii.  27  ;  xxxii. 

49;  xxxiv.  1. - kChap.  xx.  24,  28;  xxxi.  2;  Dent.  x.  6. 

1  Chap.  xx.  12, 24  ;  Deut.  i.  37  ;  xxxii.  51 ;  Psa.  cvi.  32. - m  Exod. 

xvii.  7. - n  Chap.  xvi.  22  ;  Heb.  xii.  9. - °Deut.  xxxi.  2;  1 

Sam.  viii.  20  ;  xviii.  13  ;  2  Chron.  i.  10. - P  1  Kings  xxii.  17  ; 

Zech.  x.  2  ;  Matt.  ix.  36  ;  Mark  vi.  34. 

virgins  may  be  considered  as  the  five  wise  virgins , 
(Matt.  xxv.  1—10,)  who  took  oil  in  their  vessels  with 
their  lamps,  and  consequently  are  types  of  those  who 
make  a  wise  provision  for  their  eternal  state.  3.  They 
are  examples  of  encouragement  to  weak  and  destitute 
believers,  who,  though  they  are  orphans  in  this  world, 
shall  not  be  deprived  of  their  heavenly  inheritance. 
4.  Their  names  are  mysterious;  for  Zelophehad ,  “Tnsbtf 
Tselophchad,  signifies  the  shadow  of  fear  or  dread. 
His  first  daughter,  nbno  Machlah,  infirmity ;  the  se¬ 
cond,  Noah,  wandering ;  the  ^hird,  nblH  Chog- 
lah,  turning  about  or  dancing  for  joy ;  the  fourth, 
roblO  Milcah,  a  queen ;  the  fifth,  Tirtsah,  well¬ 
pleasing  or  acceptable.  By  these  names  we  may  ob¬ 
serve  our  reviving  by  giace  in  Christ ;  for  we  are  all 
born  of  the  shadow  of  fear,  ( Tselophchad ,)  being 
brought  forth  in  sin,  and  through  fear  of  death  being 
all  our  life  time  subject  to  bondage,  Heb.  ii.  15.  This 
begets  ( Machlah )  infirmity  or  sickness — grief  of  heart 
for  our  estate.  After  which  (Noah)  wandering  about 
for  help  and  comfort  we  find  it  in  Christ,  by  whom  our 
sorrow  is  turned  into  joy  (Choglah.)  He  communi¬ 
cates  of  his  royalty  ( Milcah )  to  us,  making  us  kings 
and  priests  unto  God  and  his  Father,  Rev.  i.  6.  So 
we  shall  at  last  be  presented  unto  him  glorious  and 
without  blemish,  being  ( Tirtsah )  well-pleasing  and  ac¬ 
ceptable  in  his  sight.”  This  is  a  specimen  of  pious 
ingenuity,  which  has  been  endeavouring  to  do  the 
work  of  an  Evangelist  in  the  Church  of  God  from 
the  time  of  Origen  to  the  present  day. 

Verse  12.  Get  thee  up  into  this  Mount  Abarim ] 
The  mountain  which  Moses  was  commanded  to  ascend 
was  certainly  Mount  Nebo,  see  Deut.  xxxii.  49,  &c., 
which  was  the  same  as  Pisgah,  see  Deut.  xxxiv.  1. 

a 


XXVII.  the  successor  of  Moses. 

lead  them  out,  and  which  mav  A- M-  2553 
bring  them  in  ;  that  the  congrega-  An.  Exod.  isr. 
tion  of  the  Lord  be  not  p  as  sheep  40‘ 
which  have  no  shepherd. 

18  And  the  Lord  said  unto  Moses,  Take 
thee  Joshua  the  son  of  Nun,  a  man  *  in  whom 
is  the  spirit,  and  r  lay  thine  hand  upon  him  ; 

19  And  set  him  before  Eleazar  the  priest, 
and  before  all  the  congregation,  and  s  give 
him  a  charge  in  their  sight. 

20  And  t  thou  shalt  put  some  of  thine  honour 
upon  him,  that  all  the  congregation  of  the 
children  of  Israel  u  may  be  obedient. 

21  v  And  he  shall  stand  before  Eleazar  the 
priest,  who  shall  ask  counsel  for  him  w  after 
the  judgment  of  Urim  before  the  Lord  :  x  at  his 
word  shall  they  go  out,  and  at  his  word  they 
shall  come  in,  both  he,  and  all  the  children  of 
Israel  with  him,  even  all  the  congregation. 

22  And  Moses  did  as  the  Lord  commanded 

9  Gen.  xli.  38  ;  .Tudg.  iii.  10;  xi.  29;  1  Sam.  xvi.  13,  18. 

r  Deut.  xxxiv.  9. - s  Deut.  xxxi.  7. - 1  See  chap.  xi.  17,  28  ; 

1  Sam.  x.  6,  9  ;  2  Kings  ii.  15. - uJosh.  i.  16,  17. - v  See 

Josh.  ix.  14;  Judg.  i.  1  ;  xx.  18,  23,  26;  1  Sam.  xxiii.  9; 

xxx.  7. - Exod.  xxviii.  30. - x  Joshua  ix.  14  ;  1  Samuel 

xxii.  10, 13, 15. 

The  mountains  of  Abarim,  according  to  Dr.  Shaw,  are 
a  long  ridge  of  frightful,  rocky,  precipitous  hills,  which 
are  continued  all  along  the  eastern  coast  of  the  Dead 
Sea,  as  far  as  the  eye  can  reach.  As  in  Hebrew 
abar  signifies  to  pass  over,  Abarim  here  probably  sig¬ 
nifies  passages ;  and  the  ridge  in  this  place  had  its 
name  in  all  likelihood  from  the  passage  of  the  Israel¬ 
ites,  as  it  was  opposite  to  these  that  they  passed  the 
Jordan  into  the  promised  land. 

Verse  14.  Ye  rebelled  against  my  commandment ] 
See  the  notes  on  chap.  xx.  8. 

Verse  16.  The  Lord,  the  God  of  the  spirits  of  all 
flesh ]  See  the  notes  on  chap.  xvi.  22. 

Verse  17.  That  the  congregation  of  the  Lord  be  not 
as  sheep  which  have  no  shepherd .]  This  is  a  beautiful 
expression,  and  shows  us  in  what  light  Moses  viewed 
himself  among  his  people.  He  was  their  shepherd; 
he  sought  no  higher  place  ;  he  fed  and  guided  the 
flock  of  God  under  the  direction  of  the  Divine  Spirit, 
and  was  faithful  in  all  his  Master’s  house.  To  this 
saying  of  Moses  our  Lord  alludes,  Matt.  ix.  36. 

Verse  18.  In  whom  is  the  spirit ]  This  must  cer¬ 
tainly  mean  the  Spirit  of  God ;  and  because  he  was 
endued  with  this  Spirit,  therefore  he  was  capable  of 
leading  the  people.  How  miserably  qualified  is  that 
man  for  the  work  of  God  who  is  not  guided  and  influ¬ 
enced  by  the  Holy  Ghost  !  God  never  chooses  a  man 
to  accomplish  his  designs  but  that  one  whom  he  him¬ 
self  has  qualified  for  the  work. 

Verse20.  And  thou  shalt  put,  djc.]  *pirtD  mehodecha, 
of  thine  honour  or  authority  upon  him.  Thou  shalt 
show  to  the  whole  congregation  that  thou  hast  asso¬ 
ciated  him  with  thyself  in  the  government  of  the  people. 

Verse  21.  Eleazar  the  priest — shall  ask  counsel  for 

707 


NUMBERS. 


All  offerings  to  be  observed 

4. M. 2553.  him:  and  he  took  Joshua,  and 
An.  Exod.  isr.  set  him  before  Eleazar  the 
40‘  priest,  and  before  all  the  con¬ 
gregation  : 

y  Deut.  iii.  28 ; 

him ]  Here  was  a  remarkable  difference  between  him 
and  Moses.  God  talked  with  Moses  face  to  face  ; 
but  to  Joshua  only  through  the  medium  of  the  high 
priest. 

Verse  23.  He  laid  his  hands  upon  him ]  As  a  proof 
of  his  being  appointed  to  and  qualified  for  the  work. 
So  at  the  word  of  Joshua  they  were  to  go  out ,  and  at 
his  word  to  come  in,  ver.  21.  And  thus  he  was  a 
type  of  our  blessed  Lord  as  to  his  mediatorial  office, 
and  Divine  appointment  as  man  to  the  work  of  our 


in-  their  due  season 

23  And  he  laid  his  hands  upon  A.  M.  2553. 
him,  y  and  gave  him  a  charge,  An.  Exod.  Isr. 
as  the  Lord  commanded  by  the  40‘ 
hand  of  Moses. 

xxxi.  7.  •  i 

salvation  ;  and  to  this  circumstance  of  the  appointment 
of  Joshua  to  this  work,  and  his  receiving  of  Moses’s 
honour  and  glory,  St.  Peter  seems  to  refer  in  these 
words,  2  Epist.  i.  16,  17  :  “We  were  eye-witnesses 
of  his  majesty;  for  he  received  from  God  the  Father 
honour  and  glory,  when  there  came  such  a  voice  to  him 
from  the  excellent  glory  :  This  is  my  beloved  Son,  in 
whom  I  am  well  pleased  ;  hear  him.”  See  Matt.  xvii. 
5.  But  one  infinitely  greater  that  either  Moses  or 
Joshua  is  here. 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

All  the  offerings  of  God  to  he  offered  in  their  due  season,  1,  2.  The  continual  burnt-offering  for  the  morn¬ 
ing,  3-6  ;  and  its  drink-offering,  7.  The  continual  burnt-offering  for  the  evening,  8.  The  offerings  for 
the  Sabbath,  9,  10.  The  offerings  for  the  beginning  of  each  month,  11—15.  Repetition  of  the  ordi¬ 
nances  concerning  the  passover,  16—25.  Ordinances  concerning  the  day  of  first-fruits  or  pentecost, 


26-31. 

A.  M.  cir.  2553.  \  ND  the  Lord  spake  unto  Mo- 

B.  C.  cir.  1451.  XJL  .  r 

An.  Exod.  Isr.  ses,  saying, 

cir-  40~  2  Command  the  children  of  Is¬ 

rael,  and  say  unto  them,  My  offering,  and 
a  my  bread  for  my  sacrifices  made  by  fire,  for 
b  a  sweet  savour  unto  me,  shall  ye  observe  to 
offer  unto  me  in  their  due  season. 

3  And  thou  shalt  say  unto  them,  c  This  is 
the  offering  made  by  fire  which  ye  shall  offer 
unto  the  Lord;  two  lambs  of  the  first,  year 
without  spot  d  day  by  day,  for  a  continual 
burnt- offering. 

aLev.  iii.  11  ;  xxi.  6,  8  ;  Mai.  i.  7, 12. - b  Heb.  a  savour  of 

my  rest. - c  Exod.  xxix.  38. - d  Heb.  in  a  day. - e  Heb. 

between  the  two  evenings  ;  Exod.  xii.  6. 


NOTES  ON  CHAP.  XXVIII. 

Verse  2.  Command  the  children  of  Israel,  dfcf  It 
is  not  easy  to  account  for  the  reason  of  the  introduc¬ 
tion  of  these  precepts  here,  which  had  been  so  circum¬ 
stantially  delivered  before  in  different  parts  of  the 
books  of  Exodus  and  Leviticus.  It  is  possible  that  the 
daily,  weekly,  monthly,  and  yearly  services  had  been 
considerably  interrupted  for  several  years,  owing  to 
the  unsettled  state  of  the  people  in  the  wilderness, 
and  that  it  was  necessary  to  repeat  these  laws  for  two 
reasons:  1.  Because  they  were  now  about  to  enter 
into  the  promised  land,  where  these  services  must  be 
established  and  constant.  2.  Because  the  former  ge¬ 
nerations  being  all  dead,  multitudes  of  the  present 
might  be  ignorant  of  these  ordinances. 

In  their  due  season ]  Moses  divides  these  offerings  into 

I.  Daily.  The  morning  and  evening  sacrifices  :  a 
lamb  each  time,  ver.  3,  4. 

708 


4  The  one  lamb  shalt  thou  offer  A.  M.  cir.  2553. 

in  the  morning,  and  the  other  lamb  An.  Exod.  isr.* 
shalt  thou  offer  e  at  even  ;  cir~  4Q~ 

5  And  f  a  tenth  part  of  an  ephah  of  flour  for 
a  &  meat-offering,  mingled  with  the  fourth  part 
of  a  h  hin  of  beaten  oil. 

6  It  is  1  a  continual  burnt- offering,  which  was 
ordained  in  Mount  Sinai  for  a  sweet  savour,  a 
sacrifice  made  by  fire  unto  the  Lord. 

7  And  the  drink-offering  thereof  shall  be  the 
fourth  part  of  a  hin  for  the  one  lamb  :  k  in  the 
holy  place  shalt*thou  cause  the  strong  wine  to 

f  Exodus  xvi.  36;  chap.  xv.  4. - s  Lev.  ii.  1. - h  Exodus 

xxix.  40. - *  Exodus  xxix.  42;  see  Amos  v.  25. - k  Exod. 

xxix.  42. 


2.  Weekly.  The  Sabbath  offerings,  two  lambs  of 
a  year  old,  ver.  9,  &c. 

3.  Monthly.  At  the  beginning  of  each  month  two 
young  bullocks,  one  ram,  and  seven  lambs  of  a  year 
old,  and  a  kid  for  a  sin-offering,  ver.  11,  &c. 

4.  Annual.  1.  The  passover  to  last  seven  days  ; 
the  offerings,  two  young  bullocks ,  one  ram,  seven  lambs 
of  a  year  old,  and  a  he-goat  for  a  sin-offering,  ver.  16, 
&c.  2.  The  day  of  first-fruits.  The  sacrifices, 
the  same  as  on  the  beginning  of  the  month,  ver.  26, 
&c.  With  these  sacrifices  were  offered  libations,  or 
drink-offerings  of  strong  wine,  ver.  7,  14,  and  min- 
chahs,  or  meat-offerings,  composed  of  fine  flour  min¬ 
gled  with  oil,  ver.  8,  12,  &c.  For  an  ample  account 
of  all  these  offerings,  see  the  notes  on  Lev.  vii.,  and 
Exod.  xii. 

Verse  7.  Strong  wme\  Sikera;  see  the  note  on 
chap.  x.  9,  where  this  is  largely  explained. 


Ordinances  relative  to  the  weekly ,  CHAP.  XXVIII.  monthly ,  and  annual  sacrifices 


A.  M.  cir.  2553.  be  poured  unto  the  Lord  for  a 

B.  C.  cir.  1451.  .  .  \  ~  J 

An.  Exod.  Isr.  drink-offering. 

cir~  40,  8  And  the  other  lamb  shalt  thou 

offer  at  even  :  as  the  meat-offering  of  the  morn¬ 
ing,  and  as  the  drink-offering  thereof,  thou 
shalt  offer  it ,  a  sacrifice  made  by  fire,  of  a 
sweet  savour  unto  the  Lord. 

9  And  on  the  Sabbath  day  two  lambs  of  the 
first  year  without  spot,  and  two  tenth  deals  of 
flour  for  a  meat-offering,  mingled  with  oil, 
and  the  drink-offering  thereof : 

10  This  is  1  the  burnt-offering  of  every  Sab¬ 
bath,  beside  the  continual  burnt- offering,  and 
his  drink-offering. 

1 1  And  m  in  the  beginnings  of  your  months 
ye  shall  offer  a  burnt-offering  unto  the  Lord  ; 
two  young  bullocks,  and  one  ram,  seven  lambs 
of  the  first  year  without  spot ; 

1 2  And  n  three  tenth  deals  of  flour  for  a 
meat-offering,  mingled  with  oil,  for  one  bul¬ 
lock  ;  and  two  tenth  deals  of  flour  for  a  meat¬ 
offering,  mingled  with  oil,  for  one  ram ; 

1 3  And  a  several  tenth  deal  of  flour  mingled 
with  oil  for  a  meat-offering  unto  one  lamb  ; 
for  a  burnt-offering  of  a  sweet  savour,  a  sacri¬ 
fice  made  by  fire  unto  the  Lord. 

14  And  their  drink-offering  shall  be  half  a 
hin  of  wine  unto  a  bullock,  and  the  third  part 
of  a  hin  unto  a  ram,  and  a  fourth  part  of  a 
hin  unto  a  lamb  :  this  is  the  burnt-offering  of 
every  month  throughout  the  months  of  the  year. 

1 5  And  0  one  kid  of  the  goats  for  a  sin-offer¬ 
ing  unto  the  Lord  shall  be  offered,  beside  the 
continual  burnt-offering,  and  his  drink-offering. 

16  p  And  in  the  fourteenth  day  of  the  first 
month  is  the  passover  of  the  Lord. 

17  q  And  in  the  fifteenth  day  of  this  month 
is  the  feast :  seven  days  shall  unleavened 
bread  be  eaten. 

18  In  the  r  first  day  shall  he  a  holy  convo¬ 
cation  ;  ye  shall  do  no  manner  of  servile  work 
therein  : 

19  But  ye  shall  offer  a  sacrifice  made  by  fire 


for  a  burnt-offering  unto  the  A.  M.  cir.  2553 
Lord  ;  two  young  bullocks,  and  An.  Exod.  isr.’ 
one  ram,  and  seven  lambs  of  the  cir~  40~ 
first  year:  3  they  shall  be  unto  you  without 
blemish : 

20  And  their  meat-offering  shall  he  of  flour 
mingled  with  oil :  three  tenth  deals  shall  ye 
offer  for  a  bullock,  and  two  tenth  deals  for  a 
ram  ; 


21  A  several  tenth  deal  shalt  thou  offer  for 
every  lamb,  throughout  the  seven  lambs  : 

22  And  4  one  goat  for  a  sin-offering,  to  make 
an  atonement  for  you. 

23  Ye  shall  offer  these  beside  the  burnt- 
offering  in  the  morning,  which  is  for  a  conti¬ 
nual  burnt-offering. 

24  After  this  manner  ye  shall  offer  daily, 
throughout  the  seven  days,  the  meat  of  the 
sacrifice  made  by  fire,  of  a  sweet  savour  unto 
the  Lord  :  it  shall  be  offered  beside  the  con¬ 
tinual  burnt- offering,  and  his  drink-offering. 

25  And  u  on  the  seventh  day  ye  shall  have 
a  holy  convocation  ;  ye  shall  do  no  servile 
work. 

26  Also  v  in  the  day  of  the  first-fruits,  when 
ye  bring  a  new  meat-offering  unto  the  Lord, 
after  your  weeks  he  out ,  ye  shall  have  a  holy 
convocation  ;  ye  shall  do  no  servile  work  : 

27  But  ye  shall  offer  the  burnt-offering  for  a 
sweet  savour  unto  the  Lord  ;  w  two  young 
bullocks,  one  ram,  seven  lambs  of  the  first 
year ; 

28  And  their  meat-offering  of  flour  mingled 
with  oil,  three  tenth  deals  unto  one  bullock, 
two  tenth  deals  unto  one  ram, 

29  A  several  tenth  deal  unto  one  lamb, 
throughout  the  seven  lambs  ; 

30  And  one  kid  of  the  goats,  to  make  an 
atonement  for  you. 

31  Ye  shall  offer  them  beside  the  continual 
burnt-offering,  and  his  meat-offering,  (x  they 
shall  be  unto  you  without  blemish,)  and  their 
drink-offerings. 


1  Ezek.  xlvi.  4. - m  Chap.  x.  10  ;  1  Sara.  xx.  5  ;  1  Chron. 

xxiii.  31  ;  2  Chron.  ii.  4  ;  Ezra  iii.  5  ;  Neh.  x.  33  ;  Isa.  i.  13,  14  ; 

Ezek.  xlv.  17 ;  xlvi.  6  ;  Hos.  ii.  11 ;  Col.  ii.  16. - ~n  Chap.  xv. 

,4-12. - °  Yer.  22  ;  chap.  xv.  24. — — P  Exod.  xii.  6,  18  ;  Lev. 

xxiii.  5  ;  chap.  ix.  3  ;  Deut.  xvi.  1 ;  Ezek.  xlv.  21. 


q  Lev.  xxiii.  6. - r  Exod.  xii.  16 ;  Lev.  xxiii.  7. - 8  Ver.  31 ; 

Lev.  xxii.  20;  chap.  xxix.  8;  Deut.  xv.  21. - lVer.  15. 

u  Exod.  xii.  16;  xiii.  6;  Lev.  xxiii.  8. - vExod.  xxiii.  16; 

xxxiv.  22  ;  Lev.  xxiii.  10,  15  ;  Deut.  xvi.  10 ;  Acts  ii.  1. - w  See 

Lev.  xxiii.  18, 19. - *  Ver.  19. 


Verse  26.  Day  of  the  first-fruits ]  Called 
also  the  feast  of  weeks,  and  the  feast  of  pente- 
cost.  See  it  explained  Excd,  xxiii.  14,  and  Lev. 
xxiii.  15. 


Verse  31.  Without  blemish]  This  is  to  be  under¬ 
stood  as  applying,  not  only  to  the  animals,  but  also  to 
the  flour,  wine,  and  oil ;  every  thing  must  be  perfect 
in  its  hind. 


a 


709 


Of  the  feast  of  trumpets , 


NUMBERS. 


annual  atonement , 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 


The  feast  of  trumpets  on  the  first  day  of  the  seventh  month ,  and  its  sacrifices ,  1—6.  The  feast  of  expiation, 
or  annual  atonement,  on  the  tenth  day  of  the  same  month,  with  its  sacrifices ,  7—11.  The  feast  of  taberna¬ 
cles  held  on  the  fifteenth  day  of  the  same  month ,  with  its  eight  days'  offerings ,  12.  The  offerings 
of  the  first  day,  thirteen  bullocks,  two  rams,  fourteen  lambs,  and  one  kid,  13-16.  The  offerings  of  the 
second  day,  tivelve  bullocks,  two  rams,  fourteen  lambs,  and  one  kid,  17—19.  The  offerings  of  the  third 
day,  eleven  bullocks;  the  rest  as  before,  20—22.  The  offerings  of  the  fourth  day,  ten  bullocks;  the  rest 
as  before,  23-25.  The  offerings  of  the  fifth  day,  nine  bullocks,  <fc.,  26—28.  The  offerings  of  the  sixth 
day,  eight  bullocks,  dfc.,  29—31.  The  offerings  of  the  seventh  day,  seven  bullocks,  c fc.,  32—34.  The 
offerings  of  the  eighth  day,  one  bullock,  one  ram,  seven  lambs,  and  one  goat,  35-38.  These  sacrifices  to 
be  offered,  and  feasts  to  be  kept,  besides  vows,  freewill-offerings,  dfc.,  dfc.,  39.  Moses  announces  all  these 
things  to  the  people ,  40. 


a.  M.  cir.  2535.  A  ND  in  the  seventh  month, 

B.  C.  cir.  1451.  jLJl  .  r  ,  r  , 

An.  Exod.  isr.  on  the  first  day  ol  the 

cir'  4Q'  month,  ye  shall  have  a  holy 

convocation  ;  ye  shall  do  no  servile  work  :  ait 
is  a  day  of  blowing  the  trumpets  unto  you. 

2  And  ye  shall  offer  a  burnt-offering  for  a 
sweet  savour  unto  the  Lord  ;  one  young 
bullock,  one  ram,  and  seven  lambs  of  the  first 
year  without  blemish  : 

3  And  their  meat-offering  shall  he  of  flour 
mingled  with  oil,  three  tenth  deals  for  a  bul¬ 
lock,  and  two  tenth  deals  for  a  ram, 

4  And  one  tenth  deal  for  one  lamb,  through¬ 
out  the  seven  lambs  : 

5  And  one  kid  of  the  goats  for  a  sin-offering, 
to  make  an  atonement  for  you  : 

6  Beside  b  the  burnt-offering  of  the  month, 
and  his  meat-offering,  and  c  the  daily  burnt- 
offering,  and  his  meat-offering,  and  their  drink- 
offerings,  d  according  unto  their  manner,  for  a 
sweet  savour,  a  sacrifice  made  by  fire  unto 
the  Lord. 

7  And  e  ye  shall  have  on  the  tenth  day  of 
this  seventh  month  a  holy  convocation ;  and 
ye  shall  f  afflict  your  souls  :  ye  shall  not  do 
any  work  therein : 


8  But  ye  shall  offer  a  burnt-  A.  M.  cir.  2553. 
~.  .  IT  r  B.  C.  cir.  1451. 

ottering  unto  the  Lord  for  a  sweet  An.  Exod.  Isr. 

savour  ;  one  young  bullock,  one  cir-  40‘ 


ram,  and  seven  lambs  of  the  first  year  ;  g  they 
shall  be  unto  you  without  blemish  : 

9  And  their  meat-offering  shall  he  of  flour 
mingled  with  oil,  three  tenth  deals  to  a  bul¬ 
lock,  and  two  tenth  deals  to  one  ram, 

1 0  A  several  tenth  deal  for  one  lamb,  through¬ 
out  the  seven  lambs  : 

1 1  One  kid  of  the  goats  for  a  sin-offering  ; 
beside  11  the  sin-offering  of  atonement,  and  the 
continual  burnt- offering,  and  the  meat-offering 
of  it,  and  their  drink-offerings. 

1 2  And  1  on  the  fifteenth  day  of  the  seventh 
month  ye  shall  have  a  holy  convocation  ;  ye 
shall  do  no  servile  work,  and  ye  shall  keep  a 
feast  unto  the  Lord  seven  days  : 

1 3  And  k  ye  shall  offer  a  burnt-offering,  a  sa¬ 
crifice  made  by  fire,  of  a  sweet  savour  unto 
the  Lord  ;  thirteen  young  bullocks,  two  rams, 
and  fourteen  lambs  of  the  first  year ;  they  shall 
be  without  blemish : 

14  And  their  meat-offering  shall  he  of  flour 
mingled  with  oil,  three  tenth  deals  unto  every 
bullock  of  the  thirteen  bullocks,  two  tenth 


a  Lev.  xxiii.  24,  25  ;  Ezra  iii.  6  ;  chap.  x.  1-10  ;  1  Chron.  xv. 

28  ;  Psa.  lxxxi.  3  ;  lxxxix.  15. - b  Chap,  xxviii.  11. - c  Chap. 

Xxviii.  3. - d  Chap.  xv.  11, 12. 

NOTES  ON  CHAP.  XXIX. 

Terse  1.  And  in  the  seventh  month ,  Sj-c.]  This  was 
the  beginning  of  their  civil  year,  and  was  a  time  of 
great  festivity,  and  was  ushered  in  by  the  blowing  of 
trumpets.  It  answers  to  a  part  of  our  September. 
In  imitation  of  the  Jews  different  nations  began  their 
new  year  with  sacrifices  and  festivity.  The  ancient 
Egyptians  did  so  ;  and  the  Persians  still  celebrate  their 
nawi  rooz ,  or  new  year’s  day,  which  they  hold 
on  the  vernal  equinox.  The  first  day  of  the  year  is 
generally  a  time  of  festivity  in  all  civilized  nations. 
On  this  day  the  Israelites  offered  one  young  bullock, 
one  ram,  seven  lambs,  and  a  kid,  for  a  sin-offering,  be¬ 
sides  minchahs  or  meat-offerings. 

710 


e  Lev.  xvi.  29  ;  xxiii.  27. - 1  Psa.  xxxv.  13  ;  Isa.  Iviii.  5. 

s  Chap,  xxviii.  19. - h  Lev.  xvi.  3,  5. - 1  Lev.  xxiii.  33  ;  Deut. 

xvi.  13  ;  Ezeh.  xlv.  25. - k  Ezra  iii.  4. 

Terse  7.  On  the  tenth  day]  See  the  notes  on  Lev. 
xvi.  29  ;  xxiii.  24. 

Terse  12.  On  the  fifteenth  day  of  the  seventh  month] 
On  this  day  there  was  to  be  a  solemn  assembly,  and 
for  seven  days  sacrifices  were  to  be  offered  ;  on  the 
first  day  thirteen  young  bullocks,  two  rams,  and  four¬ 
teen  lambs.  On  each  succeeding  day  one  bullock  less, 
till  on  the  seventh  day  there  were  only  seven,  making 
in  all  seventy.  What  an  expensive  service  !  How 
should  we  magnify  God  for  being  delivered  from  it ! 
Yet  these  were  all  the  taxes  they  had  to  pay.  At  the 
public  charge  there  were  annually  offered  to  God,  in¬ 
dependently  of  trespass-offerings  and  voluntary  vows, 
fifteen  goats,  twenty-one  kids,  seventy-two  rams,  one 

a 


The  offerings  for  the  eight  day , 

A.  M.  cir.  2553.  deals  to  each  ram  of  the  two 

B.  C.  cir.  145L 

An.  Exod.  Isr.  rams, 

cir~  40‘  1 5  And  a  several  tenth  deal  to 

each  lamb  of  the  fourteen  lambs  : 

1 6  And  one  kid  of  the  goats  for  a  sin-offer¬ 
ing  ;  beside  the  continual  burnt-offering,  his 
meat-offering,  and  his  drink-offering. 

17  And  on  the  second  day  ye  shall  offer 
twelve  young  bullocks,  two  rams,  fourteen 
lambs  of  the  first  year  without  spot : 

18  And  their  meat-offering  and  their  drink- 
offerings  for  the  bullocks,  for  the  rams,  and 
for  the  lambs,  shall  he  according  to  their  num¬ 
ber,  1  after  the  manner  : 

1 9  And  one  kid  of  the  goats  for  a  sin-offer¬ 
ing  ;  beside  the  continual  burnt-offering,  and  the 
meat-offering  thereof,  and  their  drink-offerings. 

20  And  on  the  third  day,  eleven  bullocks, 
two  rams,  fourteen  lambs  of  the  first  year 
without  blemish  ; 

21  And  their  meat-offering  and  their  drink- 
offerings  for  the  bullocks,  for  the  rams,  and 
for  the  lambs,  shall  he  according  to  their 
number,  m  after  the  manner  : 

22  And  one  goat  for  a  sin-offering;  beside 
the  continual  burnt-offering,  and  his  meat¬ 
offering,  and  his  drink-offering. 

23  And  on  the  fourth  day  ten  bullocks,  two 
rams,  and  fourteen  lambs  of  the  first  year 
without  blemish : 

24  Their  meat-offering  and  their  drink-offer¬ 
ings  for  the  bullocks,  for  the  rams,  and  for  the 
lambs,  shall  he  according  to  their  number, 
after  the  manner : 

25  And  one  kid  of  the  goats/or  a  sin-offering  ; 

•  beside  the  continual  burnt- offering,  his  meat- 

offering,  and  his  drink-offering. 

26  And  on  the  fifth  day  nine  bullocks,  two 
rams,  and  fourteen  lambs  of  the  first  year 
without  spot : 

27  And  their  meat-offering  and  their  drink- 
offerings  for  the  bullocks,  for  the  rams,  and  for 
the  lambs,  shall  he  according  to  their  number, 
after  the  manner : 

1  Ver.  3,  4,  9,  10  ;  chap.  xv.  12;  xxviii.  7,  14. - mVer.  18. 

“  Lev.  xxiii.  36. - 0  Or,  offer. - P  Lev.  xxiii.  2  ;  1  Chron.  xxiii. 

hundred  and  thirty-two  bullocks,  and  eleven  hundred 
and  one  lambs !  But  how  little  is  all  this  when  com¬ 
pared  with  the  lambs  slain  every  year  at  the  passover, 
which  amounted  in  one  year  to  the  immense  number 
of  255,600  slain  in  the  temple  itself,  which  was  the 
answer  that  Cestius ,  the  Roman  general,  received  when 
he  asked  the  priests  how  many  persons  had  come  to 


of  the  feast  of  tabernacles 

28  And  one  goat  for  a  sin-  a.  M.  cir.  2553. 
ottering  ;  beside  the  continual  An.  Exod.  Isr. 
burnt-offering,  and  his  meat-offer-  cir~  40~ 
ing,  and  his  drink-offering. 

29  And  on  the  sixth  day  eight  bullocks,  two 
rams,  and  fourteen  lambs  of  the  first  year 
without  blemish  : 

30  And  their  meat-offering  and  their  drink- 
offerings  for  the  bullocks,  for  the  rams,  and  for 
the  lambs,  shall  he  according  to  their  number, 
after  the  manner : 

3 1  And  one  goat  for  a  sin-offering  ;  beside 
the  continual  burnt-offering,  his  meat-offering, 
and  his  drink-offering. 

32  And  on  the  seventh  day  seven  bullocks, 
two  rams,  and  fourteen  lambs  of  the  first  year 
without  blemish : 

33  And  their  meat-offering  and  their  drink- 
offerings  for  the  bullocks,  for  the  rams,  and  for 
the  lambs,  shall  he  according  to  their  number, 
after  the  manner : 

34  And  one  goat  for  a  sin-offering ;  beside 
the  continual  burnt-offering,  his  meat-offering, 
and  his  drink-offering. 

35  On  the  eighth  day  ye  shall  have  a  n  solemn 
assembly  :  ye  shall  do  no  servile  work  therein  : 

36  But  ye  shall  offer  a  burnt- offering,  a  sac¬ 
rifice  made  by  fire,  of  a  sweet  savour  unto  the 
Lord  :  one  bullock,  one  ram,  seven  lambs  of 
the  first  year  without  blemish  : 

37  Their  meat-offering  and  their  drink-offer¬ 
ings  for  the  bullock,  for  the  ram,  and  for  the 
lambs,  shall  he  according  to  their  number,  after 
the  manner : 

38  And  one  goat  for  a  sin-offering,  beside 
the  continual  burnt- offering,  and  his  meat¬ 
offering,  and  his  drink-offering. 

39  These  things  ye  shall  0  do  unto  the  Lord 
in  your  p  set  feasts,  beside  your  q  vows,  and 
your  freewill-offerings,  for  your  burnt-offer¬ 
ings,  and  for  your  meat-offerings,  and  for  your 
drink-offerings,  and  for  your  peace-offerings. 

40  And  Moses  told  the  children  of  Israel  ac¬ 
cording  to  all  that  the  Lord  commanded  Moses. 

31  ;  2  Chron.  xxxi.  3 ;  Ezra  iii.  5  ;  Neh.  x.  33  ;  Isa.  i.  14. 
q  Lev,  vii.  11, 16  ;  xxii.  21,  23. _ 

Jerusalem  at  their  annual  festivals  ;  the  priests,  num¬ 
bering-  the  people  by  the  lambs  that  had  been  slain, 
said,  “  twenty-five  myriads,  five  thousand  and  six  hun¬ 
dred.” — For  an  account  of  the  feast  of  tabernacles, 
see  on  Lev.  xxiii.  34. 

Verse  35.  On  the  eighth  day  ye  shall  have  a  solemn 
assembly ]  This  among  the  Jews  was  esteemed  the 

711 


CHAP.  XXIX. 


NUMBERS. 


Of  vows,  and  in  what  cases 

chief  or  high  day  of  the  feast,  though  fewer  sacrifices 
were  offered  on  it  than  on  the  others  ;  the  people  seem 
to  have  finished  the  solemnity  with  a  greater  measure 
of  spiritual  devotion,  and  it  was  on  this  day  of  the  feast 
that  our  blessed  Lord  called  the  Jews  from  the 


they  may  he  annulled . 

letter  to  the  spirit  of  the  law,  proposing  himself 
as  the  sole  fountain  whence  they  could  derive  the 
streams  of  salvation,  John  vii.  37.  On  the  subject 
of  this  chapter  see  the  notes  on  Lev.  xii.,  xvi., 
and  xxiii. 


i 


CHAPTER  XXX. 


The  law  concerning  vows  of  men ,  1,2.  Of  women  under  age ,  and  in  what  cases  the  father  may  annul 
them,  3—5.  The  vows  of  a  wife ,  and  in  what  cases  the  husband  may  annul  them ,  6—8.  The  vows  of  a 
widoio,  or  divorced  ivoman,  in  what  cases  they  may  he  considered  either  as  confirmed  or  annulled ,  9-15. 
Recapitulation  of  these  ordinances ,  16. 


A.  M.  cir.  2553,  A  ND  Moses  spake  unto  a  the 

B.  C.  cir.  1451.  JfiL.  ,  ,  r  ,  r  . 

An.  Exod.  isr.  heads  o±  the  tribes  concern- 

cir'  4Q'  ing  the  children  of  Israel,  saying, 
This  is  the  thing  which  the  Lord  hath  com¬ 
manded. 

2  b  If  a  man  vow  a  vow  unto  the  Lord,  or 
c  swear  an  oath  to  bind  his  soul  with  a  bond ; 
he  shall  not  d  break  his  word,  he  shall  e  do  ac¬ 
cording  to  all  that  proceedeth  out  of  his  mouth. 

3  If  a  woman  also  vow  a  vow  unto  the  Lord, 
and  bind  herself  by  a  bond,  being  in  her 
father’s  house  in  her  youth ; 

4  And  her  father  hear  her  vow,  and  her  bond 
wherewith  she  hath  bound  her  soul,  and  her 
father  shall  hold  his  peace  at  her  :  then  all  her 
vows  shall  stand,  and  every  bond  wherewith 
she  hath  bound  her  soul  shall  stand. 

5  But  if  her  father  disallow  her  in  the  day 
that  he  heareth ;  not  any  of  her  vows,  or  of 
her  bonds  wherewith  she  hath  bound  her  soul, 
shall  stand  :  and  the  Lord  shall  forgive  her, 
because  her  father  disallowed  her. 

6  And  if  she  had  at  all  a  husband,  when 

a  Chapter  i.  4,  16  ;  vii.  2. - bLev.  xxvii.  2  ;  Deut.  xxiii.  21 ; 

Judg.  xi.  30,  35;  Eccles.  v.  4. - c  Lev.  v.  4;  Matt.  xiv.  9; 

Acts  xxiii.  14. - d  Heb.  profane ;  Psa.  lv.  20. 

NOTES  ON  CHAP.  XXX. 

Verse  2.  If  a  man  vow  a  vow ]  A  vow  is  a  religious 
promise  made  to  God.  Vows  were  of  several  kinds  : 
1.  Of  abstinence  or  humiliation,  see  ver.  13  ;  2.  Of 
the  Nazarite,  see  chap.  vi.  ;  3.  Of  giving  certain 
things  or  sacrifices  to  the  Lord,  Lev.  vii.  16;  4.  Of 
alms  given  to  the  poor,  see  Deut.  xxiii.  2 1 .  The  law 
in  this  chapter  must  have  been  very  useful,  as  it  both 
prevented  and  annulled  rash  vows ,  and  provided  a  pro¬ 
per  sanction  for  the  support  and  performance  of  those 
that  were  rationally  and  piously  made.  Besides,  this 
law  must  have  acted  as  a  great  preventive  of  lying 
and  hypocrisy.  If  a  vow  was  properly  made,  a  man 
or  woman  was  bound,  under  penalty  of  the  displeasure 
of  God,  to  fulfil  it. 

Verse  3.  In  her  youth ]  That  is,  say  the  rabbins, 
under  twelve  years  of  age  ;  and  under  thirteen  in  case 

712 


f  she  vowed,  or  uttered  aught  out  A.  M.  cir.  2553 

r  1  v  i  -tit  ,  B.  C.  cir.  1451. 

ot  her  lips,  wherewith  she  bound  An.  Exod.  isr. 

her  soul ;  cir‘  40‘ 

7  And  her  husband  heard  it,  and  held  his 
peace  at  her  in  the  day  that  he  heard  it :  then 
her  vows  shall  stand,  and  her  bonds  wherewith 
she  bound  her  soul  shall  stand. 

8  But  if  her  husband  s  disallowed  her  on  the 
day  that  he  heard  it ;  then  he  shall  make  her 
vow  which  she  vowed,  and  that  which  she 
uttered  with  her  lips,  wherewith  she  bound  her 
soul,  of  none  effect :  and  the  Lord  shall  for¬ 
give  her. 

9  But  every  vow  of  a  widow,  and  of  her 
that  is  divorced,  wherewith  they  have  bound 
their  souls,  shall  stand  against  her. 

1 0  And  if  she  vowed  in  her  husband’s  house, 
or  bound  her  soul  by  a  bond  with  an  oath ; 

1 1  And  her  husband  heard  it,  and  held  his 
peace  at  her,  and  disallowed  her  not :  then  all 
her  vows  shall  stand,  and  every  bond  where¬ 
with  she  bound  her  soul  shall  stand. 

1 2  But  if  her  husband  hath  utterly  made  them 

e  Job  xxii.  27  ;  Psa.  xxii.  25  ;  1.  14 ;  lxvi.  13,  14 ;  cxvi.  14. 

18  ;  Nah.  i.  15. - f  Heb.  her  vows  were  upon  her  ;  Psa.  lvi.  12. 

s  Gen.  iii.  16. 

of  a  young  man.  Young  persons  of  this  age  were 
considered  to  be  under  the  authority  of  their  parents, 
and  had  consequently  no  power  to  vow  away  the  pro¬ 
perty  of  another.  A  married  woman  was  in  the  same 
circumstances,  because  she  was  under  the  authority  of 
her  husband.  If  however  the  parents  or  the  husband 
heard  of  the  vow,  and  objected  to  it  in  the  same  day 
in  which  they  heard  of  it,  (ver.  5,)  then  the  vow 
was  annulled  ;  or,  if  having  heard  of  it,  they  held 
their  peace,  this  was  considered  a  ratification  of 
the  vow. 

A  rash  vow  was  never  to  be  kept ;  “  for,”  says 
Philo,  and  common  sense  and  justice  say  the  same, 
“  he  who  commits  an  unjust  action  because  of  his  vow 
adds  one  crime  to  another,  1.  By  making  an  unlawful 
vow;  2.  By  doing  an  unlawful  action .” 

Verse  12,  Concerning  the  bond  of  her  soul ]  Her 

a 


The  Israelites  are  commanded 


CHAP.  XXXI.  to  make  war  on  the  Midianites 


A.  M.  cir.  2553.  void  on  the  day  he  heard  them  : 

B.  C.  cir.  1451.  7  .  J 

An.  Exod.  isr.  then  whatsoever  proceeded  out 

cir~  40~  of  her  lips  concerning  her  vows, 
or  concerning  the  bond  of  her  soul,  shall  not 
stand  :  her  husband  hath  made  them  void ;  and 
the  Lord  shall  forgive  her. 

13  Every  vow,  and  every  binding  oath  to 
afflict  the  soul,  her  husband  may  establish  it, 
or  her  husband  may  make  it  void. 

14  But  if  her  husband  altogether  hold  his 
peace  at  her  from  day  to  day  ;  then  he  esta- 

life  is  at  stake  if  she  fulfil  not  the  obligation  under 
which  she  has  laid  herself. 

Verse  16.  These  are  the  statutes ]  It  is  very  proba¬ 
ble  that  this  law,  like  that  concerning  the  succession 
of  daughters ,  (chap,  xxvii.,)  rose  from  the  exigency  of 
some  particular  case  that  had  just  then  occurred. 

Making  vows,  in  almost  any  case,  is  a  dangerous 
business  ;  they  seldom  do  any  good,  and  often  much 
evil.  He  who  does  not  feel  himself  bound  to  do  what 
is  fit,  right,  and  just,  from  the  standing  testimony  of 
God’s  word,  is  not  likely  to  do  it  from  any  obligation 


bhsheth  all  her  vows,  or  all  her  A.  M.  cir.  2553. 
bonds,  which  are  upon  her  :  he  An.  Exod.  isr. 
confirmeth  them,  because  he  held  Clr~  4a 
his  peace  at  her  in  the  day  that  he  heard  them. 

15  But  if  he  shall  any  ways  make  them  void 
after  that  he  hath  heard  them;  then  he  shall 
bear  her  iniquity. 

1 6  These  are  the  statutes,  which  the  Lord 
commanded  Moses,  between  a  man  and  his 
wife,  between  the  father  and  his  daughter, 
being  yet  in  her  youth  in  her  father’s  house. 

he  may  lay  upon  his  own  conscience.  If  God's  word 
lack  weight  with  him,  his  own  will  prove  lighter  than 
vanity.  Every  man  who  professes  the  Christian  reli¬ 
gion  is  under  the  most  solemn  obligation  to  devote 
body,  soul,  and  spirit  to  God,  not  only  to  the  utmost 
extent  of  his  powers,  but  also  as  long  as  he  exists. 
Being  baptized,  and  receiving  the  sacrament  of  the 
Lord’s  Supper,  are  additional  ratifications  of  the  great, 
general,  Christian  vow ;  but  every  true  follower  of 
Christ  should  always  remember,  and  frequently  renew, 
his  covenant  with  God. 


CHAPTER  XXXI. 

The  command  of  the  Lord  to  make  war  on  the  Midianites,  1,2.  One  thousand  men  are  chosen  out  of  each, 
of  the  twelve  tribes,  and  sent  with  Phinehas  against  the  Midianites,  3—6.  They  slay  all  the  males,  7 
their  five  kings  and  Balaam,  8.  They  take  all  the  women  captives ,  with  the  flocks  and  goods,  9  ;  burn 
their  cities,  and  bring  away  the  spoil,  10,  11.  They  bring  the  captives,  dfc.,  to  Moses,  who  is  wroth  with 
the  officers  for  sparing  the  ivomen,  who  had  formerly  been  the  cause  of  their  transgression  and  punishment «, 
12—16.  He  commands  all  the  male  children  and  all  the  grown  up  females  to  be  slain,  17,  18.  How  the 
soldiers  ivere  to  purify  themselves,  19,  20  ;  and  the  different  articles  taken  in  war,  21—24.  They  are 
commanded  to  take  the  sum  of  the  prey,  to  divide  it  into  two  parts  ;  one  for  the  12,000  warriors ,  and  the 
other  for  the  rest  of  the  congregation,  25—27.  One  of  500,  both  of  persons  and  cattle,  of  the  share  of  the 
ivarriors,  to  be  given  to  the  Lord,  28,  29  ;  and  one  part  of  fifty,  of  the  people's  share,  to  be  given  to 
the  Levites,  30.  The  sum  of  the  prey  remaining  after  the  above  division;  sheep  675,000,  beeves  72,000, 
asses  61,000,  young  women  32,000,  ver .  31—35.  How  the  soldiers'  part  w as  divided,  36—40.  How  the 
part  belonging  to  the  congregation  was  divided,  41-47.  The  officers  report  that  they  had  not  lost  a  man 
in  this  tear ,  48,  49.  They  bring  a  voluntary  oblation  to  God,  of  gold  and  ornaments,  50,  51  ;  the  amount 
of  which  was  16,750  shekels ,  52,  53.  Moses  and  Eleazar  bring  the  gold  into  the  tabernacle  for  a 
memorial ,  54. 


a.  M.  2553.  A  ND  the  Lord  spake  unto 

B.  C.  1451.  XJl  .  r 

An.  Exod.  Isr.  Moses,  saying, 

40~  2  a  Avenge  the  children  of  Israel 

a  Chap.  xxv.  17. 

NOTES  ON  CHAP.  XXXI. 

Verse  2.  Gathered  unto  thy  people .]  When  1  Not 
in  the  grave  surely.  Moses  was  gathered  with  none 
of  them,  his  burial-place  no  man  ever  knew.  “  But 
being  gathered  unto  one’s  people  means  dying.”  It 
does  imply  dying,  but  it  does  not  mean  this  only.  The 
truth  is,  God  considers  all  those  who  are  dead  to  men 
in  a  state  of  conscious  existence  in  another  world. 
Therefore  he  calls  himself  the  God  of  Abraham ,  and 
of  Isaac,  and  of  Jacob ;  now  God  is  not  the  God  of  the 
dead,  but  of  the  living ;  because  all  live  to  him,  whe- 

a 


of  the  Midianites :  afterward  shalt  a.  M.  2553. 

B.  G.  1451. 

thou  bbe  gathered  unto  thy  people.  An.  Exod.  Isr. 
3  And  Moses  spake  unto  the  4°~ _ 

b  Chap,  xxvii.  13. 

ther  dead  to  men  or  not.  Moses  therefore  was  to  be 
gathered  to  his  people — to  enter  into  that  republic  of 
Israel  which,  having  died  in  the  faith,  fear,  and  love 
of  God,  were  now  living  in  a  state  of  conscious  bless¬ 
edness  beyond  the  confines  of  the  grave.  See  the 
note  on  Gen.  xxv.  8,  and  xlix.  33. 

Verse  3.  Avenge  the  Lord  of  Midian. ]  It  was  God’s 
quarrel ,  not  their  own,  that  they  were  now  to  take  up. 
These  people  were  idolaters;  idolatry  is  an  offence 
against  GOD  ;  the  civil  power  has  no  authority  tc 
meddle  with  what  belongs  to  Him,  without  especial 

.713 


NUMBERS. 


The  Israelites  war  against  the 

A.  M.  2553.  people,  saying,  Arm  some  of 

B.  C*  14:51.  i  i 

An.  Exod.isr.  yourselves  unto  the  war,  and  let 

40'  them  go  against  the  Midianit.es, 
and  avenge  the  Lord  of  Midian. 

4  c  Of  every  tribe  a  thousand,  throughout  all 
the  tribes  of  Israel,  shall  ye  send  to  the  war. 

5  So  there  were  delivered  out  of  the  thou¬ 
sands  of  Israel,  a  thousand  of  every  tribe, 
twelve  thousand  armed  for  war. 

6  And  Moses  sent  them  to  the  war,  a  thou¬ 
sand  of  every  tribe,  them  and  Phinehas  the 
son  of  Eleazar  the  priest,  to  the  war,  with  the 
holy  instruments,  and  d  the  trumpets  to  blow  in 
his  hand. 

7  And  they  warred  against  the  Midianites, 
as  the  Lord  commanded  Moses  ;  and  e  they 
slew  all  the  f  males. 

8  And  they  slew  the  kings  of  Midian,  beside 
the  rest  of  them  that  were  slain ;  namely ,  s  Evi, 
and  Rekem,  and  Zur,  and  Hur,  and  Reba,  five 
kings  of  Midian :  h  Balaam  also  the  son  of 
Beor  they  slew  with  the  sword. 

9  And  the  children  of  Israel  took  all  the 
women  of  Midian  captives,  and  their  little  ones, 
and  took  the  spoil  of  all  their  cattle,  and  all 
their  flocks,  and  all  their  goods. 

10  And  they  burnt  all  their  cities  wherein 
they  dwelt,  and  all  their  goodly  castles,  with 
fire. 

1 1  And  1  they  took  all  the  spoil,  and  all  the 
prey,  both  of  men  and  of  beasts. 

c  Heb.  a  thousand  of  a  tribe ,  a  thousand  of  a  tribe. - d  Chap. 

x.  9. - e  Deut.xx.  13  ;  Judg.  xxi.  11  ;  1  Sam.  xxvii.  9  ;  1  Kings 

xi.  15,  16. - f  See  Judg.  vi.  1,  2,  33. - s  Josh.  xiii.  21 . - h  Josh. 

xiii.  22. - 1  Deut.  xx.  14. 

directions,  certified  in  the  most  unequivocal  way.  Pri¬ 
vate  revenge,  extension  of  territory,  love  of  plunder, 
were  to  have  no  place  in  this  business  ;  the  Lord  is  to 
be  avenged ;  and  through  Him  the  children  of  Israel, 
(ver.  2,)  because  their  souls  as  well  as  their  bodies 
had  been  well  nigh  ruined  by  their  idolatry. 

Verse  6.  A  thousand  of  every  tribe ]  Twelve  thou¬ 
sand  men  in  the  whole.  And  Phinehas ,  the  son  of 
Eleazar ;  some  think  he  was  made  general  in  this  ex¬ 
pedition,  but  this  is  not  likely.  The  ark  and  its  con¬ 
tents  must  proceed  to  this  battle,  because  the  battle 
was  the  Lord’s,  and  he  dwelt  between  the  cherubim 
over  the  ark  ;  and  Phinehas ,  who  had  before  got  a 
grant  in  the  eternal  priesthood,  was  chosen  to  accom¬ 
pany  the  ark  in  place  of  his  father  Eleazar,  who  was 
probably  now  too  far  advanced  in  years  to  undergo  the 
fatigue.  Who  then  was  general  ?  Joshua,  without 
doubt,  though  not  here  mentioned,  because  the  battle 
being  the  Lord’s,  he  alone  is  to  have  the  supreme  di¬ 
rection,  and  all  the  glory.  Besides,  it  was  an  extra¬ 
ordinary  war,  and  not  conducted  on  the  common  prin- 

714 


Midianites ,  and  destroy  them. 

1 2  And  they  brought  the  cap-  A.  M.  2553. 
fives,  and  the  prey,  and  the  spoil,  An.  Exod.  is’r. 
unto  Moses,  and  Eleazar  the  40~ 
priest,  and  unto  the  congregation  of  the  chil¬ 
dren  of  Israel,  unto  the  camp  at  the  plains  of 
Moab,  which  are  by  Jordan  near  Jericho. 

13  And  Moses,  and  Eleazar  the  priest,  and 
all  the  princes  of  the  congregation,  went  forth 
to  meet  them  without  the  camp. 

14  And  Moses  was  wroth  with  the  officers 
of  the  host,  with  the  captains  over  thousands, 
and  captains  over  hundreds,  which  came  from 
the  k  battle. 

15  And  Moses  said  unto  them,  Have  ye 
saved  1  all  the  women  alive  ? 

1 6  Behold,  m  these  caused  the  children  of 
Israel,  through  the  n  counsel  of  Balaam,  to 
commit  trespass  against  the  Lord  in  the  mat¬ 
ter  of  Peor,  and  0  there  was  a  plague  among 
the  congregation  of  the  Lord. 

17  Now  therefore  p  kill  every  male  among 
the  little  ones,  and  kill  every  woman  that  hath 
known  man  by  lying  with  him. 

18  But  all  the  women  children,  that  have 
not  known  a  man  by  lying  with  him,  keep 
alive  for  yourselves. 

1 9  And r  do  ye  abide  without  the  camp  seven 
days  :  whosoever  hath  killed  any  person,  and 
s  whosoever  hath  touched  any  slain,  purify 
both  yourselves  and  your  captives  on  the  third 
day,  and  on  the  seventh  day. 

k  Heb.  host  of  war. - 1  See  Deut.  xx.  13  ;  1  Samuel  xv.  3 

m  Chap.  xxv.  2. - n  Chap.  xxiv.  14 ;  2  Pet.  ii.  15  ;  Rev.  ii.  14. 

0  Chap.  xxv.  9. - P  Judg.  xxi.  11. - ^Heb.  a  male. - rChap. 

v.  2. - s  Chap.  xix.  11,  &c. 

ciple,  for  we  do  not  find  that  peace  was  offered  to  the 
Midianites,  and  that  they  refused  it ;  see  Deut.  xx. 
10,  &c.  In  such  a  case  only  hostilities  could  law¬ 
fully  commence  ;  but  they  were  sinners  against  GOD ; 
the  cup  of  their  iniquity  was  full,  and  God  thought 
proper  to  destroy  them.  Though  a  leader  there  cer¬ 
tainly  was,  and  Joshua  was  probably  that  leader,  yet 
because  God,  for  the  above  reason,  was  considered  as 
commander-in-chief,  therefore  no  one  else  is  men¬ 
tioned  ;  for  it  is  evident  that  the  sole  business  of  Phi¬ 
nehas  was  to  take  care  of  the  holy  instruments  and 
to  blow  with  the  trumpet. 

Yerse  8.  Balaam —  they  slew  with  the  sword.]  This 
man  had  probably  committed  what  St.  John  calls  the 
sin  unto  death — a  sin  which  God  punishes  with 
temporal  death,  while  at  the  same  time  he  extends 
mercy  to  the  soul.  See  the  remarks  at  the  end  of 
chap.  xxiv. 

Yerse  17.  Kill  every  male  among  the  little  ones ]  For 
this  action  I  account  simply  on  the  principle  that  God, 
who  is  the  author  and  supporter  of  life,  has  a  right  to 


How  it  should  he  divided. 


Moses  takes  the  sum  of  the  prey.  CHAP.  XXXI. 


b  c  i55i’  ^0  And  Pur^fy  your  raiment> 

An.  Exod.  isr.  and  all  *  that  is  made  of  skins,  and 

40~  all  work  of  goats’  hair ,  and  all 
things  made  of  wood. 

21  And  Eleazar  the  priest  said  unto  the 
men  of  war,  which  went  to  the  battle,  This 
is  the  ordinance  of  the  law  which  the  Lord 
commanded  Moses  ; 

22  Only  the  gold,  and  the  silver,  the  brass, 
the  iron,  the  tin,  and  the  lead, 

23  Every  thing  that  may- abide  the  lire,  ye 
shall  make  it  go  through  the  lire,  and  it  shall 
be  clean :  nevertheless  it  shall  be  purified 
u  with  the  water  of  separation  :  and  all  that 
abideth  not  the  fire  ye  shall  make  go  through 
the  water. 

24  v  And  ye  shall  wash  your  clothes  on  the 
seventh  day,  and  ye  shall  be  clean,  and  after¬ 
ward  ye  shall  come  into  the  camp. 

25  And  the  Lord  spake  unto  Moses,  saying, 

26  Take  the  sum  of  the  prey  w  that  was 
taken,  both  of  man  and  of  beast,  thou,  and 
Eleazar  the  priest,  and  the  chief  fathers  of 
the  congregation : 

27  And  x  divide  the  prey  into  two  parts  ;  be¬ 
tween  them  that  took  the  war  upon  them,  who 
went  out  to  battle,  and  between  all  the  con¬ 
gregation  : 

28  And  levy  a  tribute  unto  the  Lord  of  the 
men  of  war  which  went  out  to  battle  :  ?  one 
soul  of  live  hundred,  both  of  the  persons,  and  of 
the  beeves,  and  of  the  asses,  and  of  the  sheep  : 

29  Take  it  of  their  half,  and  give  it  unto 


Eleazar  the  priest,  for  a  heave-  a.  m.  2553. 

r  J  B.  C.  1451. 

An.  Exod.  Isr. 

30  And  of  the  children  of  Israel’s  ‘1Q~  _ 

half,  thou  shalt  take  z  one  portion  of  fifty,  of 
the  persons,  of  the  beeves,  of  the  asses,  and 
of  the  a  flocks,  of  all  manner  of  beasts,  and  give 
them  unto  the  Levites,  b  which  keep  the  charge 
of  the  tabernacle  of  the  Lord. 

31  And  Moses  and  Eleazar  the  priest  did  as 
the  Lord  commanded  Moses. 

32  And  the  booty,  being  the  rest  of  the  prey 
which  the  men  of  war  had  caught,  was  six 
hundred  thousand  and  seventy  thousand  and 
five  thousand  sheep, 

33  And  threescore  and  twelve  thousand 
beeves, 

34  And  threescore  and  one  thousand  asses, 

35  And  thirty  and  two  thousand  persons  in 
all,  of  women  that  had  not  known  man  by  ly¬ 
ing  with  him. 

36  And  the  half,  which  was  the  portion  of 
them  that  went  out  to  war,  was  in  number 
three  hundred  thousand  and  seven  and  thirty 
thousand  and  five  hundred  sheep  : 

37  And  the  Lord’s  tribute  of  the  sheep  was 
six  hundred  and  threescore  and  fifteen. 

38  And  the  beeves  were  thirty  and  six  thou¬ 
sand  :  of  which  the  Lord’s  tribute  was  three¬ 
score  and  twelve. 

39  And  the  asses  were  thirty  thousand  and 
five  hundred  ;  of  which  the  Lord’s  tribute  was 
threescore  and  one. 

40  And  the  persons  were  sixteen  thousand  : 


offering  of  the  Lord 


1  Heb.  instrument ,  or  vessel  of  skins. - u  Chap.  xix.  9,  17. 

v  Lev.  xi.  25. - w  Heb  of  the  captivity. - x  Josh.  xxii.  8  ; 


1  Sam.  xxx.  4. - y  See  ver.  30, 47 ;  chap,  xviii.  26. - z  See  ver. 

42-47. - a  Or,  goats. - b  Chap.  iii.  7,  8,  25,  31, 36 ;  xviii.  3,  4. 


dispose  of  it  when  and  how  he  thinks  proper ;  and  the 
Judge  of  all  the  earth  can  do  nothing  but  what  is  right. 
Of  the  women  killed  on  this  occasion  it  may  be  safely 
said,  their  lives  were  forfeited  by  their  personal  trans¬ 
gressions  ;  and  yet  even  in  this  case  there  can  be  little 
doubt  that  God  showed  mercy  to  their  souls.  The 
little  ones  were  safely  lodged  ;  they  were  taken  to 
heaven  and  saved  from  the  evil  to  come. 

Verse  23.  The  water  of  separation]  The  water  in 
which  the  ashes  of  the  red  heifer  were  mingled  ;  see 
on  chap.  viii.  7  ;  xix.  2,  &c.  Garments,  whether  of 
cloth  or  skins,  were  to  be  washed.  Gold,  silver,  brass, 
ircn,  tin,  and  lead,  to  pass  through  the  fire ,  probably 
to  be  melted  down. 

Verse  28.  And  levy  a  tribute  unto  the  Lord — one 
soul  of  five  hundred,  6pc.]  The  persons  to  be  employed 
in  the  Lord’s  service,  under  the  Levites — the  cattle 
either  for  sacrifice,  or  for  the  use  of  the  Levites,  ver. 
30.  Some  monsters  have  supposed  that  one  out  of 
every  five  hundred  of  the  captives  was  offered  in  sa- 

a 


crifice  to  the  Lord  !  but  this  is  abominable.  When 
God  chose  to  have  the  life  of  a  man,  he  took  it  in  the 
way  of  justice,  as  in  the  case  of  the  Midianites  above ; 
but  never  in  the  way  of  sacrifice. 

Verse  32.  The  booty]  It  appears  from  the  enume¬ 
ration  here  that  the  Israelites,  in  this  war  against  the 
Midianites,  took  32,000  female  prisoners,  01,000 
asses,  72,000  beeves,  675,000  sheep  and  small  cattle  ; 
besides  the  immense  number  of  males  who  fell  in  bat¬ 
tle,  and  the  women  and  children  who  were  slain  by 
the  Divine  command,  ver.  17.  And  it  does  not  appear 
that  in  this  expedition,  a  single  man  of  Israel  fell  ! 
This  was  naturally  to  be  expected,  because  the  battle 
wTas  the  Lord’s,  ver.  49. 

As  the  booty  was  divided  into  two  equal  parts,  ver. 
22,  one  for  tl^e  soldiers  employed  in  the  expedition, 
and  the  other  for  those  who,  being  equally  willing  to 
be  employed,  were  ordered  to  stay  in  the  camp  ;  so 
each  of  the  parties  in  this  booty  was  to  give  a  certain 
proportion  to  the  Lord.  The  soldiers  to  give  to  the 

715 


NUMBERS. 


taken  from  the  Midiamtes 


An  account  oj  the  spoils 


a.  M.  2553.  of  which  the  Lord  s  tribute  was 

B.  C.  1451.  ,  .  . 

An.  Exod.  Isr.  thirty  and  two  persons. 

40‘  4  1  And  Moses  gave  the  tribute, 

which  was  the  Lord’s  heave-offering,  unto 
Eleazar  the  priest, c  as  the  Lord  commanded 
Moses. 

4  2  And  of  the  children  of  Israel’s  half,  which 
Moses  divided  from  the  men  that  warred, 

43  (Now  the  half  that  pertained  unto  the 
congregation  was  three  hundred  thousand  and 
thirty  thousand  and  seven  thousand  and  five 
hundred  sheep, 

44  And  thirty  and  six  thousand  beeves, 

45  And  thirty  thousand  asses  and  five  hun¬ 
dred, 

46  And  sixteen  thousand  persons  ;) 

47  Even  d  of  the  children  of  Israel’s  half, 
Moses  took  one  portion  of  fifty,  both  of  man 
and  of  beast,  and  gave  them  unto  the  Levites, 
which  kept  the  charge  of  the  tabernacle  of 
the  Lord  ;  as  the  Lord  commanded  Moses. 

48  And  the  officers  which  were  over  thou¬ 
sands  of  the  host,  the  captains  of  thousands,  and 
captains  of  hundreds,  came  near  unto  Moses  : 

c  See  chapter  xviii.  8,  19. - d  Ver.  30. - e  Heb.  hand. 

f  Heb  .found. - s  Exod.  xxx.  12,  16. 

.  -  f 

Lord  one  out  of  every  five  hundred  persons ,  beeves, 
asses ,  and  sheep ,  ver.  28.  The  people,  who  by  staying 
at  home  risked  nothing,  and  had  no  fatigue,  were  to 
give  one  out  of  fifty  of  the  above,  ver.  30.  The  booty, 


49  And  they  said  unto  Moses,  A.  M.  2553. 

I  hy  servants  have  taken  the  sum  An.  Exod.  Isr. 

of  the  men  of  war  which  are  under  40, _ 

our  e  charge,  and  there  lacketh  not  one  man 
of  us. 

50  We  have  therefore  brought  an  oblation 
for  the  Lord,  that  every  man  hath  f  gotten,  of 
jewels  of  gold,  chains,  and  bracelets,  rings, 
earrings,  and  tablets,  s  to  make  an  atonement 
for  our  souls  before  the  Lord. 

51  And  Moses  and  Eleazar  the  priest  took 
the  gold  of  them,  even  all  wrought  jewels. 

52  And  all  the  gold  of  the  h  offering  that  they 
offered  up  to  the  Lord,  of  the  captains  of 
thousands,  and  of  the  captains  of  hundreds, 
was  sixteen  thousand  seven  hundred  and  fifty 
shekels. 

53  ( For *  1  the  men  of  war  had  taken  spoil, 
every  man  for  himself.) 

54  And  Moses  and  Eleazar  the  priest  took 
the  gold  of  the  captains  of  thousands  and  of 
hundreds,  and  brought  it  into  the  tabernacle 
of  the  congregation,  k  for  a  memorial  for  the 
children  of  Israel  before  the  Lord. 

h  Hebrew,  heave-offering. - 1  Deut.  xx.  14. - k  Exodus 

xxx.  16. 

its  divisions  among  the  soldiers  and  people,  the  pro¬ 
portion  given  by  each  to  the  Lord  and  to  the  Levites, 
will  be  seen  in  one  view  by  the  following  table,  which 

I  copy  from  Houbigant. 

-  C75 

-  6,750 
72 

-  720 
61 

-  610 

32 

-  320 


Total  of  sheep  675,000 
of  beeves  72,000 
of  asses  61,000 
*  of  persons  32,000 


(To  the  soldiers 
To  the  people 
(  To  the  soldiers 
\  To  the  people 
^  To  the  soldiers 
(  To  the  people 
)  To  the  soldiers 
V  To  the  people 


337,500 

337,500 

36,000 

36,000 

30,500 

30,500 

16,000 

16,000 


To  the  Lord  from  the  soldiers 
To  the  Levites  from  the  people 
To  the  Lord  from  the  soldiers 
To  the  Levites  from  the  people 
To  the  Lord  from  the  soldiers 
To  the  Levites  from  the  people 
To  the  Lord  from  the  soldiers 
To  the  Levites  from  the  people 


In  this  table  the  booty  is  equally  divided  between 
the  people  and  the  soldiers  ;  a  five-hundredth  part 
being  given  to  the  Lord,  and  a  fiftieth  part  to  the 
Levites. 

Verse  50.  We  have — brought  an  oblation  for  the 
Lord ]  So  it  appears  there  was  a  great  deal  of  booty 
taken  which  did  not  come  into  the  general  account ; 
and  of  this  the  soldiers,  of  their  own  will,  made  a 
very  extensive  offering  to  God,  because  he  had  pre¬ 
served  them  from  falling  in  battle.  That  not  one  man 
should  have  been  slain  is  a  most  extraodinary  circum¬ 
stance,  and  powerfully  marks  the  peculiar  superintend¬ 
ence  of  God’s  especial  providence.  The  Midianites 
must  certainly  have  made  some  resistance  ;  but  that 

716 


was  ineffectual,  because  it  was  against  the  Lord. 
When  any  nation  undertakes  a  crusade  against  those 
whom  they  are  pleased  to  call  the  Lord's  enemies,  let 
them  bring  from  the  contest  this  proof  of  their  Divine 
mission,  viz.,  that  not  one  man  of  them  is  either  lost 
or  missing ;  and  then,  and  not  till  then,  shall  we  be¬ 
lieve  that  God  hath  sent  them. 

To  make  an  atonement  for  our  souls ]  That  is,  to 
make  an  acknowledgment  to  God  for  the  preservation 
of  their  lives.  The  gold  offered  on  this  occasion 
amounted  to  16,750  shekels,  equal  to  £37,869.  16s. 
5 d.  of  our  money.  See  the  note  on  Exod.  xxv.  39, 
where  the  true  value  of  the  shekel  is  given,  and  a  rule 
laid  down  to  reduce  it  to  English  money. 

a 


Reuben  and  Gad  request  to  CHAP.  XXXII.  settle  on  the  east  of  Jordan 

CHAPTER  XXXII. 

The  Reubenites  and  Gadites  request  Moses  to  give  them  their  inheritance  on  this  side  of  Jordan,  1-5. 
Moses  expostulates  with  and  reproves  them ,  6-15.  They  explain  themselves,  and  propose  conditions,  with 
which  Moses  is  satisfied — they  are  to  build  cities  for  their  wives  and  children,  and  folds  for  their  cattle, 
and  go  over  Jordan  armed  with  the  other  tribes ,  and  fight  against  their  enemies  till  the  land  is  subdued ; 
after  which  they  are  to  return ,  16—27.  Moses  proposes  the  business  to  Eleazar,  Joshua,  and  the  elders , 
28—30.  The  Gadites  and  Reubenites  promise  a  faithful  observance  of  the  conditions,  31,  32  ;  on  which 
Moses  assigns  to  them,  and  the  half  tribe  of  Manas s eh ,  the  kingdom  of  Sihon,  king  of  the  Amorites ,  and 
the  kingdom  of  Og,  king  of  Bashan,  33.  The  cities  built  by  the  Gadites,  34-36.  The  cities  built  by  the  ' 
Reubenites,  37,  38.  The  children  of  Machir ,  the  son  of  Manasseh,  expel  the  Amorites  from  Gilead,  39, 
which  Moses  grants  to  them,  40.  Jair,  the  son  of  Manasseh,  takes  the  small  towns  of  Gilead,  41.  And 
Nobah  takes  Kenath  and  its  villages,  42. 


A.  M.  2553.  1VT  0  W  the  children  of  Reuben 

B.  C.  1451.  1\  ,  .  ....  r  ,  .  . 

An.  Exod.  Isr.  and  the  children  of  Gad  had 

40'  a  very  great  multitude  of  cattle  : 

and  when  they  saw  the  land  of  a  J  azer,  and  the 

land  of  Gilead,  that,  behold,  the  place  was  a 

place  for  cattle  ; 

2  The  children  of  Gad  and  the  children  of 
Reuben  came  and  spake  unto  Moses,  and  to 
Eleazar  the  priest,  and  unto  the  princes  of  the 
congregation,  saying, 

3  Ataroth,  and  Dibon,  and  Jazer,  and  bNim- 
rah,  and  Heshbon,  and  Elealeh,  and  c  Shebam, 
and  Nebo,  and  d  Be  on, 

4  Even  the  country  e  which  the  Lord  smote 
before  the  congregation  of  Israel,  is  a  land  for 
cattle,  and  thy  servants  have  cattle  : 

5  Wherefore,  said  they,  if  we  have  found 
grace  in  thy  sight,  let  this  land  be  given  unto 
thy  servants  for  a  possession,  and  bring  us 
not  over  Jordan. 

6  And  Moses  said  unto  the  children  of  Gad 
and  to  the  children  of  Reuben,  Shall  your 
brethren  go  to  war,  and  shall  ye  sit  here  ? 

7  And  wherefore  f  discourage  ye  the  heart  of 
the  children  of  Israel  from  going  over  into  the 
land  which  the  Lord  hath  given  them  ? 

8  Thus  did  your  fathers,  e  when  I  sent  them 
from  Kadesh-barnea  hto  see  the  land. 

9  For  1  when  they  went  up  unto  the  valley 

aChap.  xxi.  32  ;  Josh.  xiii.  25;  2  Sam.  xxiv.  5. - b  Ver.  36, 

Beth-nimrah. - c  Ver.  38,  Shibmah. - d  Ver.  38,  Baal-meon. 

e  Chap.  xxi.  24,  34.- - fHeb.  break. - s  Chap.  xiii.  3,  26. 

h  Deut.  i.  22. - '  Chap.  xiii.  24, 31  ;  Deut.  i.  24,  28. - k  Chap. 

xiv.  11,  21 ;  Deut.  i.  34. 

NOTES  ON  CHAP.  XXXII. 

Verse  3.  Ataroth,  and  Dibon,  4c.]  The  places 
mentioned  here  belonged  to  Sihon,  king  of  the  Amo¬ 
rites,  and  Og,  king  of  Bashan,  which  being  conquered 
by  the  Israelites,  constituted  ever  after  a  part  of  their 
territories,  ver.  33. 

Verse  5.  Let  this  land  be  given  unto  thy  servants ] 
Because  it  was  good  for  pasturage,  and  they  had 
many  flocks,  ver.  1. 


of  Eshcol,  and  saw  the  land,  they  a.  m.  2553. 
discouraged  the  heart  of  the  chil-  An.  Exod.  Isr 
dren  of  Israel,  that  they  should  not  4Q~ 
go  into  the  land  which  the  Lord  had  given  them. 

10  k  And  the  Lord’s  anger  was  kindled  the 
same  time,  and  he  sware,  saying, 

1 1  Surely  none  of  the  men  that  came  up  out 
of  Egypt,  1  from  twenty  years  old  and  upward, 
shall  see  the  land  which  I  sware  unto  Abra¬ 
ham,  unto  Isaac,  and  unto  Jacob ;  because 
m  they  have  not  n  wholly  followed  me  : 

12  Save  Caleb  the  son  of  Jephunneh  the 
Kenezite,  and  Joshua  the  son  of  Nun  :  °for 
they  have  wholly  followed  the  Lord. 

1 3  And  the  Lord’s  anger  was  kindled  against 
Israel,  and  he  made  them  p  wander  in  the  wil¬ 
derness  forty  years,  until  q  all  the  generation 
that  had  done  evil  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord, 
was  consumed. 

14  And,  behold,  ye  are  risen  up  in  your  fa¬ 
thers’  stead,  an  increase  of  sinful  men,  to  aug¬ 
ment  yet  the  r  fierce  anger  of  the  Lord  to¬ 
ward  Israel. 

15  For  if  ye  s  turn  away  from  after  him,  he 
will  yet  again  leave  them  in  the  wilderness  ; 
and  ye  shall  destroy  all  this  people. 

16  And  they  came  near  unto  him,  and  said, 
We  will  build  sheepfolds  here  for  our  cattle, 
and  cities  for  our  little  ones  : 

•Chap.  xiv.  28,  29;  Deut.  i.  35. - mChap.  xiv.  24,  30. 

n  Heb.  fulfilled  after  me. - 0  Chap.  xiv.  24  ;  Deut.  i.  36  ;  Josh. 

xiv.  8,  9. - P  Chap.  xiv.  33,  34,  35. - 9  Chap.  xxvi.  64,  65. 

r  Deut.  i.  34. - s  Deut.  xxx.  17 ;  Josh.  xxii.  16,  18;  2  Chron. 

vii.  19  ;  xv.  2. 

Verse  12.  Caleb  the  son  of  Jephunneh  the  Kenezite ] 
It  was  Jephunneh  that  was  the  Kenezite,  and  not  Ca¬ 
leb.  Kenaz  was  probably  the  father  of  Jephunneh. 

Verse  16.  We  ivill  build — cities  for  our  little  ones ] 
It  was  impossible  for  these,  numerous  as  they  might 
be,  to  build  cities  and  fortify  them  for  the  defence  of 
their  families  in  their  absence.  Calmet  supposes  they 
meant  no  more  than  repairing  the  cities  of  the  Amo¬ 
rites  which  they  had  lately  taken ;  which  work  might 

717 


* 

Conditions  on  which  the  request  NUMBERS.  of  Reuben  and  Gad  is  granted 


A.  M.  2553.  17  But  4  we  ourselves  will  go 

An.  Exod.  is’r.  ready  armed  before  the  children 
40‘  of  Israel,  until  we  have  brought 
them  unto  their  place  :  and  our  little  ones  shall 
dwell  in  the  fenced  cities  because  of  the  in¬ 
habitants  of  the  land. 

18  u  We  will  not  return  unto  our  houses, 
until  the  children  of  Israel  have  inherited 
every  man  his  inheritance. 

19  For  we  will  not  inherit  with  them  on 
yonder  side  Jordan,  or  forward  ;  T  because  our 
inheritance  is  fallen  to  us  on  this  side  Jordan 
eastward. 

20  And  w  Moses  said  unto  them,  If  ye  will 
do  this  thing,  if  ye  will  go  armed  before  the 
Lord  to  war, 

21  And  will  go  all  of  you  armed  over  Jor¬ 
dan  before  the  Lord,  until  he  hath  driven  out 
his  enemies  from  before  him, 

22  And  x  the  land  be  subdued  before  the 
Lord  :  then  afterward  y  ye  shall  return,  and 
be  guiltless  before  the  Lord,  and  before  Israel ; 
and  z  this  land  shall  be  your  possession  before 
the  Lord. 

23  But  if  ye  will  not  do  so,  behold,  ye  have 
sinned  against  the  Lord  :  and  be  sure  a  your 
sin  will  find  you  out. 

24  b  Build  you  cities  for  your  little  ones,  and 
folds  for  your  sheep ;  and  do  that  which  hath 
proceeded  out  of  your  mouth. 

25  And  the  children  of  Gad  and  the  children 
of  Reuben  spake  unto  Moses,  saying,  Thy 
servants  will  do  as  my  lord  commandeth. 

26  c  Our  little  ones,  our  wives,  our  flocks, 
and  all  our  cattle,  shall  be  there  in  the  cities 
of  Gilead : 

4  Josh.  iv.  12,  13. - “Josh.  xxii.  4. - v  Ver.  33  ;  Josh.  xii. 

1 ;  xiii.  8. - w  Deut.  iii.  18  ;  Josh.  i.  14  ;  iv.  12,  13. - x  Deut. 

iii.  20;  Josh.  xi.  23  ;  xviii.  1. - v  Josh.  xxii.  4. - z  Deut.  iii. 

12,  15,  16,  18;  Josh.  i.  15;  xiii.  8,  32;  xxii.  4,  9. - aGen.  iv. 

- * - 

have  been  very  easily  accomplished  in  the  time  which 
they  spent  on  this  side  of  Jordan,  before  they  went 
over  with  their  brethren,  to  put  them  in  possession  of 
the  land. 

Yerse  17.  Because  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  Iand.\ 
These  were  the  Ammonites,  Moabites,  Idumeans,  and 
the  remains  of  the  Midianites  and  Amorites.  But 
could  the  women  and  children  even  keep  the  defenced 
cities,  when  placed  in  them  ?  This  certainly  cannot 
be  supposed  possible.  Many  of  the  men  of  war  must 
of  course  stay  behind.  In  the  last  census,  chap,  xxvi., 
the  tribe  of  Reuben  consisted  of  43,730  men;  the 
tribe  of  Gad,  40,500 ;  the  tribe  of  Manasseh,  52,700  ; 
the  half  of  which  is  26,350.  Add  this  to  the  sum  of 
the-  other  two  tribes,  and  the  amount  is  110,580. 

718 


27  d  But  thy  servants  will  pass  A.  M.  2553. 

J  r  B.  C.  1451. 

over,  every  man  armed  lor  war,  An.  Exod.  Isr. 

before  the  Lord  to  battle,  as  my  _  40‘ 

lord  saith.  j 

28  So  e  concerning  them  Moses  commanded 

Eleazar  the  priest,  and  Joshua  the  son  of  Nun, 
and  the  chief  fathers  of  the  tribes  of  the  chil¬ 
dren  of  Israel :  1 

29  And  Moses  said  unto  them,  If  the  chil¬ 
dren  of  Gad  and  the  children  of  Reuben  will 
pass  with  you  over  Jordan,  every  man  armed 
to  battle,  before  the  Lord,  and  the  land  shall 
be  subdued  before  you  ;  then  ye  shall  give 
them  the  land  of  Gilead  for  a  possession : 

30  But  if  they  will  not  pass  over  with  you 
armed,  they  shall  have  possessions  among  you 
in  the  land  of  Canaan. 

3 1  And  the  children  of  Gad  and  the  children 
of  Reuben  answered,  saying,  As  the  Lord 
hath  said  unto  thy  servants,  so  will  we  do. 

32  We  will  pass  over  armed  before  the 
Lord  into  the  land  of  Canaan,  that  the  pos¬ 
session  of  our  inheritance  on  this  side  Jordan 
may  be  ours. 

33  And  f  Moses  gave  unto  them,  even  to 
the  children  of  Gad,  and  to  the  children  of 
Reuben,  and  unto  half  the  tribe  of  Manasseh 
the  son  of  Joseph,  &  the  kingdom  of  Sihon 
king  of  the  Amorites,  and  the  kingdom  of  Og 
king  of  Bashan,  the  land,  with  the  cities  thereof 
in  the  coasts,  even  the  cities  of  the  country 
round  about. 

34  And  the  children  of  Gad  built  h  Dibon, 
and  Ataroth,  and  1  Aroer, 

35  And  Atroth,  Shophan,  and  k  Jaazer,  and 
Jogbehah, 

7;  xliv.  16;  Isa.  lix.  12. - b  Ver.  16,  34,  &c. - c  Josh,  i, 

14. - d  Josh.  iv.  12. - e  Josh.  i.  13. - f  Deut.  iii.  12-17  ;  xxix. 

8;  Josh.  xii.  6  ;  xiii.  8;  xxii.  4. - sChap.  xxi.  24,  33,  35. 

h  Chap,  xxxiii.  45,  46. - '  Deut.  ii.  36. - k  Ver.  1.  3,  Jazer. 

Now  from  Joshua  iv.  13  we  learn  that  of  the  tribes 
of  Reuben  and  Gad,  and  the  half  of  the  tribe  of  Ma¬ 
nasseh,  only  40,000  armed  men  passed  over  Jordan  to 
assist  their  brethren  in  the  reduction  of  the  land  : 
consequently  the  number  of  70,580  men  were  left  be¬ 
hind  for  the  defence  of  the  women,  the  children,  and 
the  flocks.  This  was  more  than  sufficient  to  defend 
them  against  a  people  already  panic  struck  by  their 
late  discomfitures  and  reverses. 

Yerse  34.  The  children  of  Gad  built — Aroer ]  This 
was  situated  on  the  river  Arnon,  Deut,  ii.  36  ;  2  Kings 
x.  33.  It  was  formerly  inhabited  by  the  JEmim,  a 
warlike  and  perhaps  gigantic  people.  They  were  ex¬ 
pelled  by  the  Moabites  ;  the  Moabites  by  the  Amorites; 
and  the  Amorites  by  the  Israelites.  The  Gadites  then 

a 


i 


Methodist  Bwk’Rvom'yzoo  Mulberry  Street 


-MMfiW 


Account  of  the  journeyings 

A.  M.  2553.  36  And  1  Beth-nimrah,  and 

An.  Exod.  isr.  Beth-haran,  m  fenced  cities  :  and 
40-  folds  for  sheep. 

37  And  the  children  of  Reuben  n  built  Hesh- 
bon,  and  Elealeh,  and  Kirjathaim, 

38  And  0  Nebo,  and  p  Baal-meon,  their 
names  being  changed,)  and  Shibmah :  and 
r  gave  other  names  unto  the  cities  which  they 
budded. 

39  And  the  children  of  s  Machir  the  son  of 
Manasseh  went  to  Gilead,  and  took  it,  and 

1  Ver.  3,  Nimrah. - m  Yer.  24. - n  Chap.  xxi.  27. - °Isa. 

xtvi.  1. - P  Chap.  xxii.  41. - <1  See  ver.  3  ;  Exod.  xxiii.  13  ; 

Josh,  xxiii.  7. r  Heb.  they  called  by  names  the  names  of  the  cities. 

possessed  it  till  the  captivity  of  their  tribe,  with  that 
of  Reuben  and  the  half  of  the  tribe  of  Manasseh,  by 
the  Assyrians,  2  Kings  xv.  29,  after  which  the  Moab¬ 
ites  appear  to  have  repossessed  it,  as  they  seem  to 
have  occupied  it  in  the  days  of  Jeremiah,  chap,  xlviii. 
15-20. 

Verse  38.  And  Nebo — their  names  being  changed ] 
That  is, 'Those  who  conquered  the  cities  called  them 
after  their  own  names.  Thus  the  city  Kenath ,  being 
conquered  by  Nobah,  was  called  after  his  name,  ver.  42. 

Verse  41.  Havoth-jair.]  That  is,  the  villages  or 


of  the  Israelites 

dispossessed  the  Amorite  which  A.  m.  2553. 

.  .  B.  C. 1451. 

Was  111  it.  An.  Exod.  Isr. 

40  And  Moses  x  gave  Gilead  4a 

unto  Machir  the  son  of  Manasseh ;  and  he 
dwelt  therein. 

4 1  And  u  Jair  the  son  of  Manasseh  went  and 
took  the  small  towns  thereof,  and  called  them 
v  Havoth-jair. 

42  And  Nobah  went  and  took  Kenath,  and 
the  villages  thereof,  and  called  it  Nobah,  after 
his  own  name. 

s  Gen.  1.  23. - 1  Deut.  iw.  12,  13,  15  ;  Josh.  xiii.  31 ;  xvii.  1. 

u  Deut.  iii.  14  ;  Josh.  xiii.  30  ;  1  Chron.  ii.  21,  22,  23. - 'v  Judg. 

x.  4  ;  1  Kings  iv.  13. 

habitations  of  Jair ;  and  thus  they  should  have  been 
translated.  As  these  two  tribes  and  a  half  were  the 
first,  says  Ainsworth,  who  had  their  inheritance  as¬ 
signed  to  them  in  the  promised  land,  so  they  were  the 
first  of  all  Israel  that  were  carried  captive  out  of  their 
own  land,  because  of  their  sins.  “  For  they  trans¬ 
gressed  against  the  God  of  their  fathers,  and  went  a 
whoring  after  other  gods.  And  God  delivered  them 
into  the  hands  of  Pul  and  Tiglath-Pilneser,  kings  of 
Assyria,  and  they  brought  them  to  Halah,  Habor ,  Hara , 
and  Gozan,  unto  this  day.”  See  1  Chron.  v.  25,  26. 


CHAP.  XXXIII. 


CHAPTER  XXXIII. 

The  journeyings  of  the  Israelites  written  out  by  Moses,  according  to  the  commandment  of  the  Lord,  1,  2. 
They  depart  from  Rameses  on  the  fifteenth  day  of  the  first  month,  on  the  day  after  the  passover,  the  first¬ 
born  of  the  Egyptians  having  been  slain,  3,  4.  Their  forty-two  stations  enumerated,  5-49.  They  are 
authorized  to  expel  all  the  former  inhabitants,  and  destroy  all  remnants  of  idolatry,  50—53.  The  land  is 
to  be  divided  by  lot,  54.  Should  they  not  drive  out  the  former  inhabitants,  they  shall  be  to  them  as  pricks 
in  their  eyes  and  thorns  in  their  sides ,  55.  And  if  not  obedient ,  God  will  deal  with  them  as  he  has  pur¬ 
posed  to  do  with  the  Canaanites,  56. 


A.  M.  2553.  HHHESE  are  the  a  journeys  of 

B  C.  1451.  JL  .  j  j 

An.  Exod.  isr.  the  children  of  Israel,  which 

40‘  went  forth  out  of  the  land  of 

Egypt  with  their  armies,  under  the  hand  of 

Moses  and  Aaron. 


2  And  Moses  wrote  their  c  go- 
ings  out  according  to  their  jour-  An.  Exod.  Isr. 

neys,  by  the  commandment  of  - 1 - - 

the  Lord  :  and  these  are  their  journeys  ac¬ 
cording  to  their  goings  out. 


aExod.  xii.  38,  51  ;  xiii.  18. - b  Josh.  xxiv.  5. 

.  NOTES  ON  CHAP.  XXXIII. 

Verse  2.  And  Moses  wrote  their  goings  out  accord¬ 
ing  to  their  journeys]  We  may  consider  the  whole 
book  of  Numbers  as  a  diary,  and  indeed  the  first  book 
of  travels  ever  published.  Dr.  Shaw,  Dr.  Pococke, 
and  several  others,  have  endeavoured  to  mark  out  the 
route  of  the  Israelites  through  this  great,  dreary,  and 
trackless  desert,  and  have  ascertained  many  of  the 
stages  here  described.  Indeed  there  are  sufficient 
evidences  of  this  important  journey  still  remaining,  for 
the  descriptions  of  many  are  so  particular  that  the 
places  are  readily  ascertained  by  them  ;  but  this  is  not 
the  case  with  all.  Israel  was  the  Church  of  God  in 
the  wilderness,  and  its  unsettled,  wandering  state  under 


c  Chap.  ix.  17-23;  x.  6,  13  ;  Deut.  i.  2,  10,  11. 

Moses  may  point  out  the  unsettled  state  of  religion 
under  the  law.  Their  being  brought,  after  the  death 
of  Moses,  into  the  promised  rest  by  Joshua,  may  point 
out  the  establishment,  fixedness,  and  certainty  of  that 
salvation  provided  by  Jesus  Christ,  of  whom  Joshua, 
in  name  and  conduct,  was  a  remarkable  type.  Mr. 
Ainsworth  imagines  that  the  forty-two  stations  here 
enumerated,  through  which  the  Israelites  were  brought 
to  the  verge  of  the  promised  land,  and  afterwards  taken 
over  Jordan  into  the  rest  which  God  had  promised, 
point  out  the  forty-two  generations  from  Abraham  unto 
Christ,  through  whom  the  Saviour  of  the  world  came, 
by  whose  blood  we  have  an  entrance  into  the  holiest, 
and  enjoy  the  inheritance  among  the  saints  in  light. 

719 


An  account  of  the  forty -two  NUMBERS.  stations  of  the  Israelites. 


A.  M.  2513.  3  And  they  d  departed  from 

B.  C.  1491.  ^  i  r  i 

An.Exod.isr.  l.  Kameses  in  e  the  first  month,  on 

Abib  or  Nlsan-  the  fifteenth  day  of  the  first 

month  ;  on  the  morrow  after  the  passover  the 

children  of  Israel  went  out  f  with  a  high  hand 

in  the  sight  of  all  the  Egyptians. 

4  For  the  Egyptians  buried  all  their  first¬ 
born,  s  which  the  Lord  had  smitten  among 
them  :  h  upon  their  gods  also  the  Lord  exe¬ 
cuted  judgments-. 

5  1  And  the  children  of  Israel  removed  from 
Rameses,  and  pitched  in  Succoth. 

6  And  they  departed  from  k  Succoth,  and 
pitched  in  Etham,  which  is  in  the  edge  of  the 
wilderness. 

7  And  1  they  removed  from  Etham,  and 
turned  again  unto  Pi-hahiroth,  which  is  be¬ 
fore  Baal-zephon :  and  they  pitched  before 
Migdol. 

8  And  they  departed  from  before  Pi-hahiroth, 
and  m  passed  through  the  midst  of  the  sea  into 
the  wilderness,  and  went  three  days’  journey 


m  the  wilderness  of  Etham,  and  A.  M.  2513. 

.  ,  1  .  n 1  B.  C.  1491. 

pitched  m  Marah.  An.  Exod.isr.  1. 

9  And  they  removed  from  Abib  or  Nisan. 


Marah,  and  n  came  unto  Elim  :  and  in  Elim 
ivere  twelve  fountains  of  water,  and  three¬ 
score  and  ten  palm  trees  ;  and  they  pitched 
there. 

10  And  they  removed  from  Elim,  and  en¬ 
camped  by  the  Red  Sea. 

1 1  And  they  removed  from  the  a.  m.  2513. 

Red  Sea,  and  encamped  in  the  An.  Exod.  isr.  1. 
»  wilderness  of  Sin.  ^  or  Zil' 


12  And  they  took  their  journey  out  of  the 
wilderness  of  Sin,  and  encamped  in  Dophkah, 

13  And  they  departed  from  Dophkah,  and 
encamped  in  Alush. 

14  And  they  removed  from  Alush,  and  en¬ 
camped  at  p  Rephidim,  where  was  no  water 
for  the  people  to  drink. 

1 5  And  they  departed  from  A.  M.  2513. 
Rephidim,  and  pitched  in  the  An.  Exod.  isr.  1 
q  wilderness  of  Sinai. 


Sivan. 


d  Exod.  xii.  37. - e  Exod.  xii.  2  ;  xiii.  4. - f  Exod.  xiv.  8. 

8  Exod.  xii.  29. - hExod.  xii.  12  ;  xviii.  11  ;  Isa.  xix.  1 ;  Iter. 

xii.  8. - 1  Exod.  xii.  37. - k  Exod.  xiii.  20. 

And  Mr.  Bromley,  in  his  Way  to  the  Sabbath  of  Rest, 
considers  each  name  and  place  as  descriptive  of  the 
spiritual  state  through  which  a  soul  passes  in  its  way 
to  the  kingdom  of  God.  But  in  cases  of  this  kind 
fancy  has  much  more  to  do  than  judgment. 

Verse  3.  From  Rameses ]  This  appears  to  have 
been  the  metropolis  of  the  land  of  Goshen,  and  the 
place  of  rendezvous  whence  the  whole  Israelitish  na¬ 
tion  set  out  on  their  journey  to  the  promised  land;  and 
is  supposed  to  be  the  same  as  Cairo.  See  the  notes 
on  Exod.  xii.  37. 

HERE  FOLLOW  THE  FORTY-TWO  STATIONS. 

Station  I.  Verse  5.  And  pitched  in  Succoth.]  This 
name  signifies  booths  or  tents ,  and  probably  refers  to 
no  town  or  village ,  but  simply  designates  the  place 
where  they  pitched  their  tents  for  the  first  time  after 
their  departure  from  Rameses. 

Stat.  II.  Verse  6.  Etham,  which  is  m  the  edge  of 
the  wilderness.']  This  place  is  not  well  known  ;  Dr. 
Shaw  supposes  it  to  have  been  one  mile  from  Cairo. 
Calmet  thinks  it  is  the  city  of  Buthum  mentioned  by 
Herodotus,  which  he  places  in  Arabia,  on  the  frontiers 
of  Egypt. 

Stat.  III.  Verse  7.  Pi-hahiroth]  See  on  Exod. 
xiv.  1.  Baal-zephon  Calmet  supposes  to  be  the  Clysma 
of  the  Greeks,  and  the  Eolzum  of  the  Arabians. 

Stat.  IV.  Verse  8.  And  ivent  three  days'1  journey 
in  the  wilderness  of  Etham]  Called  the  wilderness  of 
Shur,  Exod.  xv.  22. 

And  pitched  in  Marah.]  Dr.  Shaw  supposes  this 
place  to  be  at  Sedur,  over  against  the  valley  of  Bai- 
deah,  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  Red  Sea. 

720 


1  Exod.  xiv.  2, 9. - m  Exod.  xiv.  22 ;  xv.  22,  23. - n  Exod 

xv.  27. - 0  Exod.  xvi.  1. - P  Exod.  xvii.  1  ;  xix.  2. - -4  Exod 

xvi.  1  ;  xix.  1,  2. 

Stat.  V.  Verse  9.  And  came  unto  Elim]  A  place 
on  the  skirts  of  the  deserts  of  Sin,  two  leagues  from 
Tor,  and  nearly  thirty  from  Corondel,  a  large  bay  on 
the  east  side  of  the  Red  Sea.  Dr.  Shaw,  when  he 
visited  this  place,  found  but  nine  of  the  twelve  wells 
mentioned  in  the  text,  and  instead  of  70  palm  trees, 
he  found  upwards  of  2,000.  See  on  Exod.  xv.  27. 

Stat.  VI.  Verse  10.  Encamped  by  the  Red  Sea.]  It 
is  difficult  to  assign  the  place  of  this  encampment,  as 
the  Israelites  were  now  on  their  way  to  Mount  Sinai, 
which  lay  considerably  to  the  east  of  Elim ,  and  con¬ 
sequently  farther  from  the  sea  than  the  former  station. 
It  might  be  called  by  the  Red  Sea,  as  the  Israelites 
had  it,  as  the  principal  object,  still  in  view.  This  sta¬ 
tion  however  is  mentioned  nowhere  else.  By  the  Red 
Sea  we  are  not  to  understand  a  sea,  the  waters  of 
which  are  red,  or  the  sand  red,  or  any  thing  else  about 
or  in  it  red ;  for  nothing  of  this  kind  appears.  It  is 
called  in  Hebrew  *]1D  D1  yam  suph,  which  signifies  the 
weedy  sea.  The  Septuagint  rendered  the  original  by 
dalaaaa  cpvdpa,  and  the  Vulgate  after  it  by  mare  ru- 
brum,  and  the  European  versions  followed  these,  and, 
in  opposition  to  etymology  and  reason,  translated  it  the 
Red  Sea.  See  the  note  on  Exod.  x.  19. 

Stat.  VII.  Verse  11.  The  ivilderness  o/Sin.]  This 
lies  between  Elim  and  Mount  Sinai.  Dr.  Shaw  and 
his  companions  traversed  these  plains  in  nine  hours. 

Stat.  VIII.  Verse  12.  Dophkah.]  This  place  is  not 
mentioned  in  Exodus,  and  its  situation  is  not  known. 

Stat.  IX.  Verse  13.  Alush.]  Neither  is  this 
mentioned  in  Exodus,  and  its  situation  is  equally 
unknown. 

Stat.  X.  Verse  14.  Rephidim]  Remarkable  for  the 

a 


Stations  of  the  children  CHAP  XXXIII. 


of  Israel  continued. 


A.  M.  2514. 

B.  C.  1490. 
An.  Exod.  Isr. 

2. 

Chronology  very 
uncertain  after 
they  leave 
Kibioth-hattaa- 
vah,  till  they 
come  to  the 
desert  of  Zin. 


1 6  And  they  removed  from  the 
desert  of  Sinai,  and  pitched  r  at 
8  Kibroth-hattaavah. 

17  And  they  departed  from 
Kibroth-hattaavah,  and  *  encamp¬ 
ed  at  Hazeroth. 

1 8  And  they  departed  from  Ha¬ 
zeroth,  and  pitched  in  u  Rithmah. 

19  And  they  departed  from  Rithmah,  and 
pitched  at  Rimmon-parez. 

20  And  they  departed  from  Rimmon-parez, 
and  pitched  in  Libnah. 

21  And  they  removed  from  Libnah,  and 
pitched  at  Rissah. 

22  And  they  journeyed  from  Rissah,  and 
pitched  in  Kehelathah. 

23  And  they  went  from  Kehelathah,  and 
pitched  in  mount  Shapher. 

24  And  they  removed  from  Mount  Shapher, 
and  encamped  in  Haradah. 

25  And  they  removed  from  Haradah,  and 
pitched  in  Makheloth. 


26  And  they  removed  from 
Makheloth,  and  encamped  at 
Tahath. 

27  And  they  departed  from 
Tahath,  and  pitched  at  Ta- 
rah. 


Chronology  very 
uncertain  after 
they  leave 
Kibroth-hattaa¬ 
vah,  till  they 
come  to  the 
desert  of  Zin. 


28  And  they  removed  from  Tarah,  and 
pitched  in  Mithcah. 

29  And  they  went  from  Mithcah,  and  pitched 
in  Hashmonah. 

30  And  they  departed  from  Hashmonah, 
and  v  encamped  at  Moseroth. 

3 1  And  they  departed  from  Moseroth,  and 
pitched  in  Bene-jaakan. 

32  And  they  removed  from  w  Bene-jaakan, 
and  x  encamped  at  Hor-hagidgad. 

33  And  they  went  from  Hor-hagidgad,  and 
pitched  in  Jotbathah. 

34  And  they  removed  from  Jotbathah,  and 
encamped  at  Ebronah. 

35  And  they  departed  from  Ebronah,  *  and 
encamped  at  Ezion-gaber. 


r  Chap.  xi.  34. - sThat  is,  the  graves  of  lust. - (Chap.  xi.  35. 

*  Chap.  xii.  16;  1  Mac.  v.  9,  Lathema. - v  Deut.  x.  6. 

rebellion  of  the  Israelites  against  Moses,  because  of 
the  want  of  water,  Exod.  xvii. 

Stat.  XI.  Verse  15.  The  wilderness  of  Sinai.] 
Somewhere  northward  of  Mount  Sinai,  on  the  straight 
road  to  the  promised  land,  to  which  they  now  directed 
their  course. 

Stat.  XII.  Verse  16.  Kibroth-hattaavah.]  No 
city,  village,  &c.,but  &  place  in  the  open  desert,  which 
had  its  name  from  the  plague  that  fell  upon  the  Israel¬ 
ites,  through  their  murmuring  against  God,  and  their 
inordinate  desire  of  flesh.  See  on  chap.  xi.  But  it 
appears  that  the  Israelites  had  travelled  three  days’ 
journey  in  order  to  reach  this  place,  chap.  x.  33,  and 
commentators  suppose  there  must  have  been  other  sta¬ 
tions  which  are  not  laid  down  here,  probably  because 
the  places  were  not  remarkable. 

Stat.  XIII.  Verse  17.  Hazeroth.]  This  place  Dr. 
Shaw  computes  to  have  been  about  thirty  miles  distant 
from  Mount  Sinai.  • 

Stat.  XIV.  Verse  18.  Rithmah.]  This  place  lay 
somewhere  in  the  wilderness  of  Paran,  through  which 
the  Israelites  were  now  passing.  See  chap.  xiii.  1. 
The  name  signifies  the  juniper  tree  ;  and  the  place  pro¬ 
bably  had  its  name  from  the  great  number  of  those 
trees  growing  in  that  district. 

Stat.  XV.  Verse  19.  Rimmon-parez.]  Unknown. 

Stat.  XVI.  Verse  20.  Libnah.]  The  situation  of 
this  place  is  uncertain.  A  city  of  this  name  is  men¬ 
tioned  Josh.  x.  29,  as  situated  between  Ivadesh-barnea 
and  Gaza. 

Stat.  XVII.  Verse  21.  Rissah.]  A  place  mentioned 
nowhere  else  in  the  sacred  writings.  Its  situation 
utterly  uncertain. 

Stat.  XVIII.  Verse  22.  Kehelathah.]  Utterly 

Vol.  I.  (  47  ) 


w  1  Mac.  v.  4,  Bean  ;  see  Gen.  xxxvi.  27  ;  Deut.  x.  6  ;  1  Chron. 
i.  42. - x  Deut.  x.  7. - 7  Deut.  ii.  8  ;  1  Kings  ix.  26  ;  xxii.  48. 

unknown  ;  though  some  conjecture  that  it  might  liave- 
been  the  place  called  Keilah,  1  Sam.  xxiii.  1,  &c.,  but 
this  is  unlikely. 

Stat.  XIX.  Verse  23.  Shapher.]  Where  this 
mountain  lay  cannot  be  determined. 

Stat.  XX.  Verse  24.  Haradah.]  Unknown.  Cal- 
met  supposes  that  it  may  be  the  place  called  Bered , 
Gen.  xvi.  14,  which  was  in  the  vicinity  of  Kadesh. 

Stat.  XXI.  Verse  25.  Makheloth.]  Aname  found 
nowhere  else  in  Scripture. 

Stat.  XXII.  Verse  26.  Tahath.]  Unknown. 

Stat.  XXIII.  Verse  27.  Taraii.]  Also  unknown. 

Stat.  XXIV.  Verse  28.  Mithcah.]  Calmet  con¬ 
jectures  that  this  may  be  Mocha,  a  city  in  Arabia 
Petraea. 

Stat.  XXV.  Verse  29.  Hashmonah.]  Supposed 
by  some  to  be  the  same  as  Azmon,  chap,  xxxiv.  4. 

Stat.  XXVI.  Verse  30.  Moseroth.]  Situation 
unknown.  In  Deut.  x.  6  it  is  said  that  the  Israelites 
took  their  journey  from  Beeroth,  the  wells  of  the  chil¬ 
dren  of  Jaalcan ,  to  Mosera,  and  there  Aaron  died.  If 
so,  Mosera,  Moseroth,  and  Hor,  must  be  different  names 
of  the  same  place  ;  or  Moseroth,  or  Mosera,  must  have 
been  some  town  or  village  near  Mount  Hor,  for  there 
Aaron  died.  See  ver.  38. 

Stat.  XXVII.  Verse  31.  Bene-jaakan.]  Unknown. 
The  sons  of  Jaakan.  See  the  preceding  verse. 

Stat.  XXVIII.  Verse  32.  Hor-hagidgad.]  The 
hole  or  pit  of  Gidgad.  Unknown.  It  was  a  place 
perhaps  remarkable  for  some  vast  pit  or  cavern,  from 
which  it  took  its  name. 

Stat.  XXIX.  Verse  33.  Jotbathah.]  Situation 
unknown.  It  is  said  in  Deut.  x.  7  to  be  a  land  of 
rivers  of  waters. 


721 


Stations  of  the  children  NUMBERS.  of  Israel  continued. 


A.  M.  cir.  2553.  36  And  they  removed  from 

An.  Exod.  isr.  Ezion-gaber,  and  pitched  in  the 
cir‘ 40,  z  wilderness  of  Zin,  which  is 
Kadesh. 

37  And  they  removed  from  a  Kadesh,  and 
pitched  in  Mount  Hor,  in  the  edge  of  the  land 
of  Edom. 

38  And  b  Aaron  the  priest  went  up  into 
Mount  Hor  at  the  commandment  of  the  Lord, 

and  died  there,  in  the  fortieth  year  after  the 

'  •/ 

children  of  Israel  were  come  out  of  the  land 
of  Egypt,  in  the  first  day  of  the  fifth  month. 

39  And  Aaron  was  a  hundred  and  twenty 
and  three  years  old  when  he  died  in  Mount  Hor. 

40  And  c  King  Arad,  the  Canaanite,  which 
dwelt  in  the  south  in  the  land  of  Canaan, 
heard  of  the  coming  of  the  children  of  Israel. 

4 1  And  they  departed  from  Mount  d  Hor, 
and  pitched  in  Zalmonah. 

42  And  they  departed  from  Zalmonah,  and 
pitched  in  Punon. 

43  And  they  departed  from  Punon,  and 
e  pitched  in  Oboth. 

z  Chap.  xx.  1  ;  xxvii.  14. - a  Chap.  xx.  22, 23  ;  xxi.  4. - b  Ch. 

xx.  25,  28  ;  Deut.  x.  6 ;  xxxii.  50. - c  Chap.  xxi.  1,  &c. 

d  Chap.  xxi.  4. - e  Chap.  xxi.  10. - f  Chap.  xxi.  11. - s  Or, 

heaps  of  Abarim. - -h  Chap.  xxi.  11. - 'Chap,  xxxii.  34. 

Stat.  XXX.  Verse  34.  Ebronah.]  Nowhere  else 
mentioned. 

Stat.  XXXI.  Verse  35.  Ezion-gaber.]  Dr.  Shaw 
places  this  port  on  the  western  coast  of  the  Elanitic 
gulf  of  the  Red  Sea.  It  is  now  called  Meenah  el 
Dsahab,  or  the  golden  port. ,  by  the  Arabs ;  because  it 
was  from  this  place  that  Solomon  sent  his  ships  for 
gold  to  Ophir,  1  Kings  ix.  26.  He  supposes  it  to  be 
about  sixty  miles  distant  from  Mount  Sinai. — Travels , 
p.  322,  4to.  edition. 

Stat.  XXXII.  Verse  36.  Zin,  which  is  Kadesh.] 
A  place  remarkable  for  the  death  of  Miriam  the  pro¬ 
phetess,  and  bringing  water  out  of  the  rock.  As  this 
place  was  on  the  borders  of  Edom ,  the  Israelites,  being 
denied  permission  to  pass  through  their  land,  which 
lay  on  the  direct  road  to  the  promised  land,  were 
obliged  to  turn  to  the  right  to  Mount  Hor,  now  called 
Accaba  by  the  Arabs. 

Stat.  XXXIII.  Verse  37.  Hor.]  Famous  for  the 
death  of  Aaron.  See  on  chap.  xx.  Perhaps  Moseroth 
or  Mosera,  ver.  30,  was  a  village  near  this  mountain. 
See  the  note  on  ver.  30. 

Stat.  XXXIV.  Verse  41.  Zalmonah.]  Probably 
in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  land  of  Edom.  As  Dbi' 
tselem  signifies  an  image ,  this  place  probably  had  its 
name  from  the  brazen  serpent  set  up  by  Moses.  See 
chap.  xxi.  5,  &c.  From  the  same  root  the  word  te¬ 
le  sm,  corruptly  called  talisman ,  which  signifies  a  con¬ 
secrated  image ,  is  derived. 

Stat.  XXXV.  Verse  42.  Punon.]  A  place  in 
Idumea.  Nowhere  else  mentioned. 

722 


44  And  fthey  departed  from  A.  M.  2553. 

Oboth,  and  pitched  in  &  Ije-aba-  An.’ Exod.  Isr. 
rim,  h  in  the  border  of  Moab.  40‘ 

45  And  they  departed  from  Iim,  and  pitched 
1  in  Dib on-gad. 

46  And  they  removed  from  Dibon-gad,  and 
encamped  in  Almonk  -diblathaim. 

47  And  they  removed  from  Almon-dibla- 
thaim,  1  and  pitched  in  the  mountains  of  Aba¬ 
rim,  before  Nebo. 

48  And  they  departed  from  the  mountains 
of  Abarim,  and  m  pitched  in  the  plains  of 
Moab  by  Jordan  near  Jericho. 

49  And  they  pitched  by  Jordan,  from  Beth- 
jesimoth  even  unto  n  Abel-shittim  0  in  the 
plains  of  Moab. 

50  And  the  Lord  spake  unto  Moses  in  the 
plains  of  Moab  by  Jordan  wear  Jericho,  saying, 

51  Speak  unto  the  children  of  Israel,  and 
say  unto  them,  p  When  ye  are  passed  over 
Jordan  into  the  land  of  Canaan ; 

52  q  Then  ye  shall  drive  out  all  the  inhabit¬ 
ants  of  the  land  from  before  you,  and  destroy 

k  Jer.  xlviii.  22  ;  Ezek.  vi.  14. — 1  Chap.  xxi.  20 ;  Deut.  xxxii.  49. 

m  Chap.  xxii.  1. - n  Or,  the  plains  of  Shittim. - 0  Chap.  xxv.  1  ; 

Josh.  ii.  1. - p  Deut.  vii.  1,  2;  ix.  1 ;  Josh.  iii.  17. - 1  Exod.xxiii. 

24,33  ;  xxxiv.  13  ;  Deut.  vii.  2,  5  ;  xii.  3  ;  Josh.  xi.  12;  Judg.  ii.  2, 

Stat.  XXXVI.  Verse  43.  Oboth.]  Mentioned 
before,  chap.  xxi.  10. 

Stat.  XXXVII.  Verse  44.  Ije-abarim.]  The 
heaps  of  Abarim.  See  chap.  xxi.  11.  Situation  un¬ 
certain.  It  is  called  Iim  in  the  following  verse.  As 
the  word  signifies  heaps  or  protuberances,  it  probably 
means  tumuli  or  small  hills  near  some  of  the  fords  of 
Jordan. 

Stat.  XXXVIII.  Verse  45.  Dibon-gad.]  Sup¬ 
posed  to  be  the  same  as  Dibon ,  chap,  xxxii.  34,  and 
to  be  situated  on  the  brook  Arnon. 

Stat.  XXXIX.  Verse  46.  Almon-diblathaim.] 
Situation  not  known.  It  belonged  to  the  Moabites  in 
the  time  of  the  prophet  Jeremiah.  Jer.  xlviii.  22. 

Stat.  XL.  Verse  47.  Mountains  of  Abarim,  be¬ 
fore  Nebo.]  The  mountain  on  which  Moses  died. 
They  came  to  this  place  after  the  overthrow  of  the 
Amomtes.  See  chap.  xxi. 

Stat.  XLI.  Verse  48.  The  plains  of  Moab.] 
This  was  the  scene  of  the  transactions  between  Ba¬ 
laam  and  Balali ;  see  chapters  xxiii.,  xxiv.,  xxv. 

Stat.  XLII.  Verse  49.  From  Beth-jesimoth 
even  unto  Abel-shittim]  The  former  of  these  places 
fell  to  the  Reubenites,  Josh.  xiii.  15—20.  The  Israel¬ 
ites  were  now  come  to  the  edge  of  Jordan,  over  against 
Jericho,  where  they  afterwards  passed. 

For  farther  information  on  the  subject  of  these  dif¬ 
ferent  encampments,  the  reader  is  requested  to  refer 
to  the  extract  from  Dr.  Shaw  at  the  end  of  the  book 
of  Exodus. 

Verse  52.  Ye  shall — destroy  all  their  pictures ] 

(  47*  ) 


a 


Directions  relative  to  their 


CHAP.  XXXIII. 


settlement  in  Canaan . 


A.  M.  2553.  all  their  pictures,  and  destroy  all 

B.  C.  1451.  ,  .  A  ,  . 

An.  Exod.  isr.  their  molten  linages,  and  quite 

,  4a  pluck  down  all  their  high  places. 

53  And  ye  shall  dispossess  the  inhabitants  of 
the  land,  and  dwell  therein  :  for  I  have  given 
you  the  land  to  possess  it. 

54  And  r  ye  shall  divide  the  land  by  lot  for 
an  inheritance  among  your  families  :  and  to 
the  more  ye  shall  s  give  the  more  inheritance, 
and  to  the  fewer  ye  shall  1  give  the  less  in¬ 
heritance  :  every  man’s  inheritance  shall  be 

r  Chap.  xxvi.  53,  54,  55. - s  Heb.  multiply  his  inheritance. 

*  Heb.  diminish  his  inheritance. 


DJVD5PJ3  maskiyotham ,  from  HDty  sachah,  to  be  like ,  or 
resemble,  either  pictures,  carved  work,  or  embroidery , 
as  far  as  these  things  were  employed  to  exhibit  the 
abominations  of  idolatry.  Molten  images,  DrODD 
tsalmey  massechotham,  metallic  talismanical  figures, 
made  under  certain  constellations,  and  supposed  in 
consequence  to  be  possessed  of  some  extraordinary 
influences  and  virtues. 

Yerse  55.  Shall  be  pricks  in  your  eyes ]  Under 
these  metaphors,  the  continual  mischief  that  should  be 
done  to  them,  both  in  soul  and  body,  by  these  idola¬ 
ters,  is  set  forth  in  a  very  expressive  manner.  What 
can  be  more  vexatious  than  a  continual  goading  of 
each  side,  so  that  the  attempt  to  avoid  the  one  throws 
the  body  more  forcibly  on  the  other  1  And  what  can 
be  more  distressing  than  a  continual  pricking  in  the 
eye,  harassing  the  mind,  tormenting  the  body,  and 
extinguishing  the  sight? 

•  1.  It  has  been  usual  among  pious  men  to  consider 

these  Canaanites  remaining  in  the  land,  as  emblems  of 
indwelling  sin  ;  and  it  must  be  granted  that  what  those 
remaining  Canaanites  were  to  the  people  of  Israel, 
who  were  disobedient  to  God,  such  is  indwelling  sin 
to  all  those  who  will  not  have  the  blood  of  the  cove¬ 
nant  to  cleanse  them  from  all  unrighteousness.  For 
a  time,  while  conscience  is  tender,  such  persons  feel 
themselves  straitened  in  all  their  goings,  hindered  in 
all  their  religious  services,  and  distressed  beyond  mea¬ 
sure  because  of  the  law — the  authority  and  power  of 
sin,  which  they  find  warring  in  their  members  :  by  and 
by  the  eye  of  their  mind  becomes  obscured  by  the  con¬ 
stant  piercings  of  sin,  till  at  last,  fatally  persuaded  that 
sin  must  dwell  in  them  as  long  as  they  live,  they  ac¬ 
commodate  their  minds  to  their  situation,  their  con¬ 
sciences  cease  to  be  tender,  and  they  content  them¬ 
selves  with  expecting  redemption  where  and  when  it 
has  never  been  promised,  viz.,  beyond  the  grave  !  On 
the  subject  of  the  journeyings  of  the  Israelites,  the 
following  observations  from  old  Mr.  Ainsworth  cannot 
fail  to  interest  the  reader. 

2.  “  The  Travels  of  Israel  through  that  great  and 
terrible  wilderness,  wherein  icere  fiery  serpents,  and 
scorpions,  and  drought,  where  there  was  no  water, 
Deut.  viii.  15,  which  was  a  land  of  deserts,  and  of 
pits,  a  land  of  drought ,  and  of  the  shadoiv  of  death ,  a 
land  that  no  man  passed  through,  and  where  no  man 

a 


in  the  place  where  his  lot  falleth  ;  A  M.  2553. 
according  to  the  tribes  of  your  An!  Exod.  Isr. 
fathers  ye  shall  inherit.  40~ 

55  But  if  ye  will  not  drive  out  the  inhabit¬ 
ants  of  the  land  from  before  you  ;  then  it  shall 
come  to  pass,  that  those  which  ye  let  remain 
of  them  shall  be  u  pricks  in  your  eyes,  and 
thorns  in  your  sides,  and  shall  vex  you  in  the 
land  wherein  ye  dwell. 

56  Moreover  it  shall  come  to  pass,  that  I 
shall  do  unto  you,  as  I  thought  to  do  unto  them. 

u  Josh,  xxiii.  13 ;  Judg.  ii.  3  ;  Psa.  cvi.  34,  36  ;  see  Exod.  xxiii. 

33  ;  Ezek.  xxviii.  24. 

dwelt,  Jer.  ii.  6,  signified  the  many  troubles  and  afflic¬ 
tions  through  which  we  must  enter  into  the  kingdom 
of  God,  Acts  xiv.  22.  The  helps,  comforts,  and  deli¬ 
verances  which  God  gave  unto  his  people  in  their  dis¬ 
tresses,  are  examples  of  his  love  and  mercy  towards 
his  followers ;  for  he  comforts  them  in  all  their  tribu¬ 
lation,  that  as  the  sufferings  of  Christ  abound  in  them, 
so  their  consolation  also  abounds  in  Christ,  2  Cor.  i.  45. 
The  punishments  which  God  inflicted  upon  the  disobe¬ 
dient,  who  perished  in  the  wilderness  for  their  sins, 
happened  unto  them  for  ensamples,  and  they  are  writ¬ 
ten  for  our  admonition,  upon  ivhom  the  ends  of  the 
world  are  come,  1  Cor.  x.  1,  11;  Heb.  iii.  17,  18,  19, 
and  iv.  1, 2.  By  the  names  of  their  encamping  places, 
and  histories  adjoined,  it  appears  how  Israel  came 
sometimes  into  straits  and  troublesome  ways,  as  at  Pi- 
hahiroth ,  Exod.  xiv.  2,  3,  10,  &c.  ;  and  at  Zalmonah , 
Num.  ii.  1,  4,  &c.  ;  sometimes  into  large  and  ample 
room ,  as  at  the  plains  of  Moab :  sometimes  to  places 
of  hunger  and  thirst,  as  at  Rephidim  and  Kadesh ,  Exod. 
xvi.,  xvii.  ;  Num.  xx.  ;  sometimes  to  places  of  refresh¬ 
ing,  as  at  Elim  and  Beer,  Exod.  xv.  27  ;  Num.  xxi. 
1 6  ;  sometimes  where  they  had  wars,  as  at  Rephidim , 
Kadesh,  Edrei,  Exod.  xvii.  8;  Num.  xxi.  1,  33; 
sometimes  where  they  had  rest,  as  at  Mount  Sinai : 
sometimes  they  went  right  forward,  as  from  Sinai  to 
Kadesh-barnea  ;  sometimes  they  turned  backward,  as 
from  Kadesh-barnea  to  the  Red  Sea :  sometimes  they 
came  to  mountains,  as  Sinai,  Shapher,  Hor-Gidgad ; 
sometimes  to  valleys,  as  Tahath,  &c.  :  sometimes  to 
places  of  bitterness ,  as  Marah ;  sometimes,  of  sweet¬ 
ness,  as  Mithcah. 

3.  “  The  sins  which  they  committed  in  the  wilder¬ 
ness  were  many  and  great ;  as  open  idolatry  by  the 
calf,  at  Horeb,  Exod.  xxxii.,  and  with  Baal-peor, 
Num.  xxv.  Unbelief,  at  Kadesh,  Num.  xiv.  ;  and 
afterwards  presumptuous  boldness  in  the  same  place  ; 
murmuring  against  God  sundry  times,  with  tempting 
of  Christ,  (as  the  apostle  speaks,  1  Cor.  x.)  Conten¬ 
tion  and  rebellion  against  their  governors  often  ; 
lusting  for  flesh  to  fill  their  appetite,  and  loathing 
manna,  the  heavenly  food  ;  whoredom  with  the  daugh¬ 
ters  of  Moab,  and  many  other  provocations ;  so  that 
this  complaint  is  after  made  of  them,  How  oft  did.  they 
provoke  him  in  the  ivilderness,  and  grieve  him  in  the 
desert !  Psa.  Ixxviii.  40.  All  sorts  of  persons  sinned 
against  God  ;  the  multitude  of  people  very  often  ;  the 

723 


Description  of  the 

mixed,  multitude  of  strangers  among  them,  Num.  xi. 
The  princes,  as  the  ten  spies,  Dathan,  Abiram ,  &c. 
The  Levites,  as  Korah  and  his  company  ;  Miriam  the 
prophetess,  Num.  xii.  ;  Aaron  the  priest  with  her, 
besides  his  sin  at  Horeb,  Exod.  xxxii. ;  and  at  the 
water  of  Meribah ,  Num.  xx.  Moses  also  himself  at 
the  same  place,  for  which  he  was  excluded  from  the 
land  of  Canaan. 

4.  “  The  punishments  laid  on  them  by  the  Lord 
for  their  disobedience  were  many.  They  died  by  the 
sword  of  the  enemy ,  as  of  the  Arnalekites,  Exod.  xvii., 
and  of  the  Canaanites ,  Num.  xiv.  45  ;  and  some  by 
the  sivord  of  their  brethren ,  Exod.  xxxii.  Some  were 
burned  with  fire ,  Num.  xi.,  xvi.  ;  some  died  with 
surfeit ,  Num.  xi.  ;  some  were  swallowed  up  alive  in 
the  earth ,  Num.  xvi.  ;  some  were  killed  with  serpents, 
Num.  xxi.  ;  many  died  of  the  pestilence,  Num.  xvi. 
46,  and  chap.  v.  25  ;  and  generally  all  that  genera¬ 
tion  which  were  first  mustered,  after  their  coming  out 
of  Egypt,  perished,  Num.  xxvi.  64,  65.  God  con¬ 
sumed  their  days  in  vanity,  and  their  years  in  terror, 
Psa.  lxxviii.  33. 

5.  “  Nevertheless,  for  his  name’s  sake,  he  magnified 
his  mercies  unto  them  and  their  posterity.  He  had 
divided  the  sea,  and  led  them  through  on  dry  land, 
drowning  their  enemies,  Exod.  xiv.  He  led  them 


promised  land. 

with  a  cloud  by  day,  and  a  pillar  of  fire  by  night ,  con¬ 
tinually.  He  gave  them  manna  from  heaven  daily. 
He  clave  the  rock,  and  gave  them  water  for  their  thirst. 
He  fed  them  with  quails,  when  they  longed  for  flesh. 
He  sweetened  the  bitter  ivaters.  He  saved  them  from 
the  sword  of  their  enemies  lie  delivered  them  from 
the  fiery  serpents  and  scorpions.  Their  raiment  waxed 
not  old  upon  them,  neither  did  their  foot  swell  for  forty 
years,  Deut.  viii.  4.  He  delivered  them  from  the 
intended  curse  of  Balaam,  and  turned  it  into  a  blessing, 
because  he  loved  them,  Num.  xxii.  ;  Deut.  xxiii.  5. 
He  came  down  from  Mount  Sinai,  and  spake  with 
them  from  heaven,  and  gave  them  right  judgments  and 
true  laws,  good  statutes  and  commandments,  and  gave 
also  his  good  Spirit  to  instruct  them,  Neh.  ix.  13,  20. 
In  the  times  of  his  wrath  he  remembered  mercy  ;  his 
eye  spared  them  from  destroying  them,  neither  did  he 
make  an  end  of  them  in  the  wilderness,  Ezek.  xx.  17, 
22.  He  gave  them  kingdoms  and  nations,  and  they 
possessed  the  lands  of  their  enemies  ;  and  he  multi¬ 
plied  their  children  as  the  stars  of  heaven,  and  brought 
them  into  the  land  promised  unto  their  forefathers, 
Neh.  ix.  22,  23.  Now  whatsoever  things  were  written 
aforetime  were  written  for  our  learning,  that  we,  through 
patience  and  comfort  of  the  Scriptures,  might  have 
hope,  Rom.  xv.  4.”  Let  him  that  readeth  understand. 


NUMBERS. 


CHAPTER  XXXIY. 

The  land  of  Canaan  is  described,  1,  2.  The  south  quarter ,  3—5.  The  western  border ,  6.  The  north 
border,  7—9.  The  east  border,  10—12.  This  land  to  be  divided  by  lot  among  the  nine  tribes  and  half, 

13  ;  two  tribes  and  half,  Reuben  and  Gad,  and  the  half  of  Manas s eh,  having  already  got  their  inheritance 
on  the  east  side  of  Jordan,  14,  15.  Eleazar  the  priest,  and  Joshua ,  to  assist  in  dividing  the  land,  16,  17  ; 
and  with  them  a  chief  out  of  every  tribe,  18.  The  names  of  the  twelve  chiefs,  19—29. 


A.  M.  2553.  A  ND  the  Lord  spake  unto 

B.  C.  1451.  JrL  ,,  .  r 

An.  Exod.  Isr.  Moses,  saying, 

4Q'  2  Command  the  children  of 

Israel,  and  say  unto  them,  When  ye  come 
into  a  the  land  of  Canaan  ;  (this  is  the  land 
that  shall  fall  unto  you  for  an  inheritance, 
even  the  land  of  Canaan  with  the  coasts 
thereof :) 

3  Then  b  your  south  quarter  shall  be  from 
the  wilderness  of  Zin  along  by  the  coast  of 
Edom,  and  your  south  border  shall  be  the 
outmost  coast  of  c  the  salt  sea  eastward  : 

a  Gen.  xvii.  8  ;  Deut.  i.  7  ;  Psa.  lxxviii.  55  ;  cv.  11  ;  Ezek. 

xlvii.  14. - b  Josh.  xv.  1  ;  see  Ezek.  xlvii.  13,  &c. - c  Gen. 

xiv.  3  ;  Josh.  xv.  2. 


NOTES  ON  CHAP.  XXXIY. 

Yerse  2.  The  land  of  Canaan  with  the  coasts 
thereof  All  description  here  is  useless.  The  situ¬ 
ation  and  boundaries  of  the  land  of  Canaan  can  only 
be  known  by  actual  survey,  or  by  consulting  a  good 
map. 

Yerse  3.  The  salt  sea ]  The  Dead  Sea,  or  lake 
Asphaltites.  See  the  note  on  Gen.  xix.  25. 

724 


4  And  vour  border  shall  turn  A.  M.  2553. 

r  ,  J  .  ,  -  B.  C.  1451. 

irom  the  south  d  to  the  ascent  ot  An.Exod.isr. 

Akrabbim,  and  pass  on  to  Zin  :  4Q~ 

and  the  going  forth  thereof  shall  be  from  the 

south  e  to  Kadesh-barnea,  and  shall  go  on  to 

f  Hazar-addar,  and  pass  on  to  Azmon  : 

5  And  the  border  shall  fetch  a  compass  from 
Azmon  s  unto  the  river  of  Egypt,  and  the 
goings  out  of  it  shall  be  at  the  sea. 

6  And  as  for  the  western  border,  ye  shall 
even  have  the  great  sea  for  a  border :  this 
shall  be  your  west  border. 

d  Joshua  xv.  3. - e  Chap.  xiii.  26 ;  xxxii.  8. - f  See  Joshua 

xv.  3,  4.’ - s  Gen.  xv.  18  ;  Josh.  xv.  4-47  ;  1  Kings  viii.  65  ; 

Isa.  xxvii,  12. 


Yerse  5.  The  river  of  Egypt ]  The  eastern  branch 
of  the  river  Nile  ;  or,  according  to  others,  a  river 
which  is  south  of  the  land  of  the  Philistines,  and  falls 
into  the  gulf  or  bay  near  Calieh. 

Yerse  6.  Ye  shall  even  have  the  great  sea  for  a 
border ]  The  Mediterranean  Sea,  called  here  the 
Great  Sea,  to  distinguish  it  from  the  Dead  Sea,  the 
Sea  of  Tiberias ,  &c.,  which  were  only  a  sort  of  lakes . 

a 


CHAP.  XXXIV. 


The  boundaries  of 

A.  M.  2553.  7  And  this  shall  be  your  north 

B.  C.  1451.  .  .  r  i  ,  „ 

An.  Exod.  isr.  border :  Irom  the  great  sea  ye  shall 

40'  point  out  for  you  11  Mount  Hor  : 

8  From  Mount  Hor  ye  shall  point  out  your 
border  1  unto  the  entrance  of  Hamath  ;  and  the 
goings  forth  of  the  border  shall  be  to  k  Zedad  : 

9  And  the  border  shall  go  on  to  Ziphron, 
and  the  goings  out  of  it  shall  be  at  1  Hazar- 
enan  :  this  shall  be  your  north  border. 

1 0  And  ye  shall  point  out  your  east  border 
from  Hazar-enan  to  Shepham  : 

1 1  And  the  coast  shall  go  down  from  She¬ 
pham  m  to  Riblah,  on  the  east  side  of  Ain  ;  and 
the  border  shall  descend,  and  shall  reach  unto 
the  11  side  of  the  sea  0  of  Chinnereth  eastward  : 

12  And  the  border  shall  go  down  to  Jordan, 
and  the  goings  out  of  it  shall  be  at  p  the  salt 
sea  :  this  shall  be  your  land  with  the  coasts 
thereof  round  about. 

13  And  Moses  commanded  the  children  of 
Israel,  saying,  ‘iThis  is  the  land  which  ye 
shall  inherit  by  lot,  which  the  Lord  com- 

h  Chap,  xxxiii.  37. - 1  Chap.  xiii.  21 ;  2  Kings  xiv."  25. 

k  Ezek.  xlvii.  15. - 1  Ezek.  xlvii.  17. - m  2  Kings  xxiii.  33  ; 

Jer.  xxxix.  5,  6.^ - n  Heb.  shoulder. - 0  Deut.  iii.  17  ;  Josh.  xi.  2  ; 

xix.  35  ;  Matt.  xiv.  34 ;  Luke  v.  1. - p  Yer.  3. - <1  Ver.  1 ;  Josh. 

In  Hebrew  there  is  properly  but  one  term,  O'  yam , 
which  is  applied  to  all  collections  of  water  apparently 
stagnant,  and  which  is  generally  translated  sea .  The 
Greek  of  the  New  Testament  follows  the  Hebrew, 
and  employs,  in  general,  the  word  dalaoca ,  sea,  whe¬ 
ther  it  speaks  of  the  Mediterranean ,  or  of  the  sea  or 
lake  of  Galilee. 

Verse  11.  The  sea  of  Chinnereth\  The  same  as 
the  sea  of  Galilee ,  sea  of  Tiberias,  and  sea  of  Genne- 
sareth. 

Verse  12.  The  border  shall  go  down  to  Jordan ] 
This  river  is  famous  both  in  the  Old  and  New  Testa¬ 
ments.  It  takes  its  rise  at  the  foot  of  Mount  Libanus, 
passes  through  the  sea  of  Chinnereth  or  Tiberias,  and 
empties  itself  into  the  lake  Asphaltites  or  Head  Sea, 
from  which  it  has  no  outlet.  In  and  by  it  God  wrought 
many  miracles.  God  cut  off  the  waters  of  this  river 
as  he  did  those  of  the  Red  Sea,  so  that  they  stood  on 
a  heap  on  each  side,  and  the  people  passed  over  on 
dry  ground.  Both  Elijah  and  Elisha  separated  its 
waters  in  a  miraculous  way,  2  Kings  ii.  8—14.  Naa- 
man,  the  Syrian  general,  by  washing  in  it  at  the  com¬ 
mand  of  the  prophet,  was  miraculously  cured  of  his 
leprosy,  2  Kings  v.  10-14.  In  this  river  John  bap¬ 
tized  great  multitudes  of  Jews ;  and  in  it  was  Christ 
himself  baptized,  and  the  Spirit  of  God  descended 
upon  him,  and  the  voice  from  heaven  proclaimed  him 
the  great  and  only  Teacher  and  Saviour  of  men,  Matt, 
iii.  16,  17  ;  Mark  i.  5—11. 

Verse  1 3 .  This  is  the  land  ivhich  ye  shall  inherit  by 
lot ]  Much  of  what  is  said  concerning  this  land  is  pe¬ 
culiarly  emphatic.  It  is  a  land  that  contains  a  multi- 

& 


the  promised  land 

manded  to  give  unto  the  nine  A-  M.  2553. 
tribes,  and  to  the  half  tribe  :  An.  Exod.is’r. 

14  rFor  the  tribe  of  the  chil-  4Q~ 
dren  of  Reuben  according  to  the  house  of  their 
fathers,  and  the  tribe  of  the  children  of  Gad 
according  to  the  house  of  their  fathers,  have 
received  their  inheritance;  and  half  the  tribe 
of  Manasseh  have  received  their  inheritance : 

15  The  two  tribes  and  the  half  tribe  have 
received  their  inheritance  on  this  side  Jordan 
near  Jericho  eastward,  toward  the  sunrising. 

16  And  the  Lord  spake  unto  Moses,  saying, 

17  These  are  the  names  of  the  men  which 
shall  divide  the  land  unto  you :  s  Eleazar  the 
priest,  and  Joshua  the  son  of  Nun. 

1 8  And  ye  shall  take  one  t  prince  of  every 
tribe,  to  divide  the  land  by  inheritance. 

1 9  And  the  names  of  the  men  are  these  : 
Of  the  tribe  of  Judah,  u  Caleb  the  son  of 
Jephunneh. 

20  And  of  the  tribe  of  the  children  of  Si¬ 
meon,  Shemuel  the  son  of  Ammihud. 

xiv.  1,  2. - r  Chap,  xxxii.  33  ;  Josh.  xiv.  2,  3. - Gosh.  xiv.  1 

xix.  51. - 4  Chap.  i.  4,  16. - uChap.  xiii.  30;  xiv.  6,  24, 

30, 38  ;  xxvi.  65. 


tude  of  advantages  in  its  climate,  its  soil,  situation,  &c„ 
It  is  bounded  on  the  south  by  a  ridge  of  mountains , 
which  separate  it  from  Arabia ,  and  screen  it  from  the 
burning  and  often  pestiferous  winds  which  blow  over 
the  desert  from  that  quarter.  On  the  west  it  is 
bounded  by  the  Mediterranean  Sea ;  on  the  north ,  by 
Mount  Libanus ,  which  defends  it  from  the  cold  north¬ 
ern  blasts ;  and  on  the  east  by  the  river  Jordan ,  and 
its  fertile,  well-watered  plains.  It  is  described  by  God 
himself  as  “  a  good  land,  a  land  of  brooks  of  water, 
of  fountains,  and  depths  that  spring  out  of  valleys  and 
hills ;  a  land  of  wheat,  and  barley,  and  vines,  and  fig 
trees,  and  pomegranates ;  a  land  of  olive  oil  and  ho¬ 
ney  ;  a  land  wherein  there  was  no  scarcity  of  bread, 
and  where  both  iron  and  copper  mines  abounded,” 
Deut.  viii.  7-9  :  a  land  finely  diversified  with  hills 
and  valleys,  and  well  watered  by  the  rain  of  heaven, 
in  this  respect  widely  different  from  Egypt ;  a  land 
which  God  cared  for,  on  which  his  eyes  were  con¬ 
tinually  placed  from  the  beginning  to  the  end  of  the 
year ;  watched  over  by  a  most  merciful  Providence  ; 
in  a  word,  a  land  which  flowed  with  milk  and  honey, 
and  was  the  most  pleasant  of  all  lands ;  Deut.  xi.  11. 
12  ;  Ezek.  xx.  6.  Such  was  the  land ,  and  such  were 
the  advantages  that  this  most  favoured  people  were 
called  to  possess.  They  were  called  to  possess  it  by 
lot  that  each  might  be  satisfied  with  his  possession,  as 
considering  it  to  be  appointed  to  him  by  the  especial 
providence  of  God ;  and  its  boundaries  were  ascer¬ 
tained  on  Divine  authority,  to  prevent  all  covetousness 
after  the  territories  of  others. 

Terse  19,  &c.  And  the  names  of  the  men  are  these ] 

725 


Forty-eight  cities  with  their  NUMBERS.  suburbs  to  be  given  to  the  Levites , 


A.  M.  2553.  21  Of  the  tribe  of  Beniamin, 

T>  p  14^1  J  7 

An.  Exod.  isr.  Elidad  the  son  of  Chislon. 

22  And  the  prince  of  the  tribe 
of  the  children  of  Dan,  Bukki  the  son  of  Jogli. 

23  The  prince  of  die  children  of  Joseph,  for 
the  tribe  of  the  children  of  Manasseh,  Hanniel 
the  son  of  Ephod. 

24  And  the  prince  of  the  tribe  of  the  children 
of  Ephraim,  Kemuel  the  son  of  Shiphtan. 

25  And  the  prince  of  the  tribe  of  the  chil¬ 
dren  of  Zebulun,  Elizaphan  the  son  of  Parnach. 

26  And  the  prince  of  the  tribe  A.  M.  2553, 

Jr  B  C  1451 

of  the  children  of  Issachar,  Paltiel  An.  Exod.  isr. 

the  son  of  Azzan. 

27  And  the  prince  of  the  tribe  of  the  chil¬ 
dren  of  Asher,  Ahihud  the  son  of  Shelomi. 

28  And  the  prince  of  the  tribe  of  the  chil¬ 
dren  of  Naphtali,  Pedahel  the  son  of  Am- 
mihud. 

29  These  are  they  whom  the  Lord  com¬ 
manded  to  v  divide  the  inheritance  unto  the 
children  of  Israel  in  the  land  of  Cannan. 

v  Josh.  xiii.  32  ; 

xiv.  1 ;  xix.  51. 

It  is  worthy  of  remark  that  Moses  does  not  follow  any 
order  hitherto  used  of  placing  the  tribes,  neither  that 
in  chap  i.,  nor  that  in  chap,  vii.,  nor  that  in  chap, 
xxvi.,  nor  any  other;  but  places  them  here  exactly 
in  that  order  in  which  they  possessed  the  land.  1. 
Judah;  2.  Simeon;  3.  Benjamin;  4.  Dan;  5.  Ma¬ 
nasseh  ;  6.  Ephraim  ;  7.  Zebulun  ;  8.  Issachar  ;  9. 
Asher;  10.  Naphtali.  Judah  is  first,  having  the  first 
lot ;  and  he  dwelt  in  the  south  part  of  the  land,  Josh, 
xv.  1,  &c. ;  and  next  to  him  Simeon,  because  his  in¬ 
heritance  was  within  the  inheritance  of  the  children 
of  Judah,  Josh.  xix.  1.  Benjamin  was  third ;  he  had 
his  inheritance  by  Judah,  between  the  children  of  Ju¬ 
dah  and  the  children  of  Joseph,  Josh,  xviii.  11.  Dan 
was  the  fourth ;  his  lot  fell  westward  of  that  of  Ben¬ 
jamin,  in  the  country  of  the  Philistines,  as  may  be 
seen  in  Josh.  xix.  40,  41,  &c.  Fifth,  Manasseh  ;  and 
sixth,  by  him,  his  brother  Ephraim,  whose  inheritances 
were  behind  that  of  Benjamin,  Josh.  xvi.  7.  Next  to 
these  dwelt,  seventh,  Zebulun ;  and  eighth,  Issachar; 

concerning  whose  lots  see  Josh.  xix.  10-17.  Ninth 
Asher;  and  tenth,  Naphtali;  see  Josh.  xix.  24,  32, 
&c.  And  as  in  encamping  about  the  tabernacle  they 
were  arranged  according  to  their  fraternal  relation¬ 
ship,  (see  chap.  ii. ,)  so  they  were  in  the  division  and 
inheriting  of  the  promised  land.  Judah  and  Simeon, 
both  sons  of  Leah,  dwelt  abreast  of  each  other.  Ben¬ 
jamin,  son  of  Rachel,  and  Dan,  son  of  Rachels  maid, 
dwelt  next  abreast.  Manasseh  and  Ephraim,  both  sons 
of  Joseph,  son  of  Rachel,  had  the  next  place  abreast. 
Zebulun  and  Issachar,  who  dwelt  next  together,  were 
both  sons  of  Leah ;  and  the  last  pair  were  Asher,  of 
LeaEs  maid,  and  Naphtali,  of  Rachels  maid.  Thus 
God,  in  nominating  the  princes  that  should  divide  the 
land,  signified  beforehand  the  manner  of  their  posses¬ 
sion,  and  that  they  should  be  so  situated  as  to  dwell 
together  as  brethren  in  unity,  for  the  mutual  help  and 
comfort  of  each  other.  See  Ainsworth.  In  this  ar¬ 
rangement  there  is  much  skill,  judgment,  and  kindness 
every  where  displayed. 

CHAPTER  XXXV. 

The  Israelites  are  commanded  to  give  the  Levites ,  out  of  their  inheritances ,  cities  and  their  suburbs  for 
themselves  and  for  their  cattle ,  goods ,  c fc.,  1—3.  The  suburbs  to  be  3,000  cubits  round  about  from  the 
wall  of  the  city,  4,  5.  The  cities  to  be  forty -two,  to  which  six  cities  of  refuge  should  be  added,  in  all 
forty-eight  cities,  6,  7.  Each  tribe  shall  give  of  these  cities  in  'proportion  to  its  possessions,  8.  These 
cities  to  be  appointed  for  the  person  who  might  slay  his  neighbour  unawares,  9—12.  Of  these  six  cities 
there  shall  be  three  on  each  side  Jordan,  13,  14.  The  cities  to  be  places  of  refuge  for  all  who  kill  a 
person  unawares,  whether  they  be  Israelites,  strangers,  or  sojourners,  15.  Cases  of  murder  to  which  the 
benefit  of  the  cities  of  refuge  shall  not  extend,  16—21.  Cases  of  manslaughter  to  ivhich  the  benefits  of  the 
cities  of  refuge  shall  extend,  22,  23.  How  the  congregation  shall  act  betiveen  the  manslayer  and  the 
avenger  of  blood,  24,  25.  The  manslayer  shall  abide  in  the  city  of  refuge  till  the  death  of  the  high 
priest  ;  he  shall  then  return  to  the  land  of  his  possession,  26—28.  Tivo  ivitnesses  must  attest  a  murder 
before  a  murderer  can  be  put  to  death,  29,  30.  Every  murderer  to  be  put  to  death,  31.  The  manslayer 
is  not  to  be  permitted  to  come  to  the  land  of  his  inheritance  till  the  death  of  the  high  priest,  32.  The 
land  must  not  be  polluted  with  blood,  for  the  Lord  dwells  in  it,  33,  34. 


A.  M.  2553. 

B.  C.  1451. 
An.  Exod.  Isr. 


40. 


^ND  the  Lord  spake  unto  Mo¬ 
ses  in  the  plains  of  Moab  by 


Jordan  near  Jericho,  saying, 


2  a  Command  the  children  of  a.  M.  2553. 
tii  1  .  .  B.  C.  1451. 

Israel,  that  they  give  unto  the  An.  Exod.  isr. 

Levites  of  the  inheritance  of  4Q~ 


a  Josh.  xiv.  3,  4  ;  xxi.  2  ; 

NOTES  ON  CHAP.  XXXY. 

Verse  4.  And  the  suburbs  of  the  cities — shall  reach 
from  the  wall  of  the  city  and  outward  a  thousand  cubits 
round  about . 


see  Ezek.  xlv.  1,  &c. ;  xlviii.  8,  &c. 

Verse  5.  And  ye  shall  measure  from  without  the 
city — two  thousand  cubits,  <4C*1  Commentators  have 
been  much  puzzled  with  the  accounts  in  these  two 
verses.  In  ver.  4  the  measure  is  said  to  be  1,000 

a 


726 


CHAP.  XXXV. 


The  appointment  of 


cities  of  refuge . 


A.  M.  2553.  their  possession,  cities  to  dwell 

An.  Exod.  lsr.  in  ;  and  ye  shall  give  also  unto 
40-  the  Levites  suburbs  for  the  cities 
round  about  them. 

3  And  the  cities  shall  they  have  to  dwell  in  ; 
and  the  suburbs  of  them  shall  be  for  their 
cattle,  and  for  their  goods,  and  for  all  their 
beasts. 

4  And  the  suburbs  of  the  cities,  which  ye 
shall  give  unto  the  Levites,  shall  reach  from 
the  wall  of  the  city  and  outward  a  thousand 
cubits  round  about. 

5  And  ye  shall  measure  from  without  the 
city  on  the  east  side  two  thousand  cubits,  and 
on  the  south  side  two  thousand  cubits,  and  on 
the  west  side  two  thousand  cubits,  and  on  the 
north  side  two  thousand  cubits  ;  and  the  city 
shall  he  in  the  midst :  this  shall  be  to  them 
the  suburbs  of  the  cities. 

6  And  among  the  cities  which  ye  shall  give 
unto  the  Levites  there  shall  he  b  six  cities  for 
refuge,  which  ye  shall  appoint  for  the  man- 
slayer,  that  he  may  flee  thither  :  and  c  to  them 
ye  shall  add  forty  and  two  cities. 

7  So  all  the  cities  which  ye  shall  give  to  the 
Levites  shall  he  d  forty  and  eight  cities  :  them 
shall  ye  give  with  their  suburbs. 

8  And  the  cities  which  ye  shall  give  shall  he 
e  of  the  possession  of  the  children  of  Israel  : 
ffrom  them  that  have  many,  ye  shall  give 


many  ;  but  from  them  that  have 
few,  ye  shall  give  few  :  every 
one  shall  give  of  his  cities  unto 


A.  M.  2553. 

B.  C.  1451. 
An.  Exod.  Isr. 

40. 


the  Levites,  according  to  his  inheritance  which 
&  he  inheriteth. 

9  And  the  Lord  spake  unto  Moses,  saying, 

10  Speak  unto  the  children  of  Israel,  and  say 
unto  them,  h  When  ye  be  come  over  Jordan 
into  the  land  of  Canaan ; 

1 1  Then  1  ye  shall  appoint  you  cities  to  be 
cities  of  refuge  for  you ;  that  the  slayer  may 
flee  thither,  which  killeth  any  person  k  at  una¬ 
wares. 

12  1  And  they  shall  be  unto  you  cities  for 
refuge  from  the  avenger ;  that  the  man  slayer 
die  not,  until  he  stand  before  the  congregation 
in  judgment. 

13  And  of  these  cities  which  ye  shall  give, 
m  six  cities  shall  ye  have  for  refuge. 

14  n  Ye  shall  give  three  cities  on  this  side 
Jordan,  and  three  cities  shall  ye  give  in  the 
land  of  Canaan,  which  shall  be  cities  of  refuge. 

15  These  six  cities  shall  be  a  refuge,  both 
for  the  children  of  Israel,  and  0  for  the  stran¬ 
ger,  and  for  the  sojourner  among  them  ;  that 
every  one  that  killeth  any  person  unawares 
may  flee  thither. 

16  p  And  if  he  smite  him  with  an  instrument 
of  iron,  so  that  he  die,  he  is  a  murderer  :  the 
murderer  shall  surely  be  put  to  death. 


b  Yer.  13  ;  Deut.  iv.  41  ;  Josh.  xx.  2,  7,  8  ;  xxi.  3, 13,  21,  27,  32, 

36,  38. - c  Heb.  above  them  ye  shall  give. - dJosh.  xxi.  41. 

e  Josh.  xxi.  3. - f  Chap.  xxvi.  54. - s  Heb.  they  inherit. 

b  Deut.  xix.  2  ;  Josh.  xx.  2. 


1  Exod.  xxi.  13. - k  Heb.  by  error. - 1  Deut.  xix.  6  ;  Josh. 

xx.  3,  5,  6. - m  Verse  6. - n  Deut.  iv.  41  ;  Joshua  xx.  8. 

0  Chap.  xv.  16. - P  Exod.  xxi.  12,  14;  Lev.  xxiv.  17;  Deut. 

xix.  11,  12. 


cubits  from  the  wall ;  in  ver.  5  the  measure  is  said  to 
be  2,000  from  without  the  city.  It  is  likely  these 
two  measures  mean  the  same  thing ;  at  least  so  it  was 
understood  by  the  Septuagint  and  Coptic,  who  have 
durxt^tov^  Trr)xeLS->  2,000  cubits,  in  the  fourth ,  as  well 
as  in  the  fifth  verse  ;  but  this  reading  of  the  Septua¬ 
gint  and  Coptic  is  not  acknowledged  by  any  other  of 
the  ancient  versions,  nor  by  any  of  the  MSS.  collated 
by  Kennicott  and  De  Rossi.  We  must  seek  therefore 
for  some  other  method  of  reconciling  this  apparently 
contradictory  account.  Sundry  modes  have  been  pro¬ 
posed  by  commentators,  which  appear  to  me,  in  gene¬ 
ral,  to  require  full  as  much  explanation  as  the  text  itself. 
Maimonides  is  the  only  one  intelligible  on  the  subject. 
“  The  suburbs,”  says  he,  “  of  the  cities  are  expressed 
in  the  law  to  be  3,000  cubits  on  every  side  from  the 
wall  of  the  city  and  outwards.  The  first  thousand 
cubits  are  the  suburbs,  and  the  2,000,  which  they 
measured  without  the  suburbs,  were  for  fields  and  vine¬ 
yards.”  The  whole,  therefore,  of  the  city,  suburbs, 
fields,  and  vineyards,  may  be  represented  by  the  fol¬ 
lowing  diagram  ; — 


— 


Fields  and  vineyards. 


2000  cubits. 


VI 

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P 

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o 

o 

o 

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w  4-3 

Suburbs.  2  13 
2  p 

1000 

U 

GO 

cr 

Cubits. 

P 

VI 

CITY. 

cr* 

Ul 

fO 

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1000 

r!=> 

& 

Cubits. 

m 

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31  o  'sqmqng 

U1  w 

H  • 

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P- 


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P 

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Cu 

to 


2000  cubits. 


VI 

4-3 

•  f-H 

P 

P 


o  ‘spiuAoui.v  puu  sp[91j 


o 

o 

o 


a 


Verse  11.  Ye  shall  appoint — cities  of  refuge ]  The 
cities  of  refuge  among  the  Israelites  were  widely  dif- 

727 


NUMBERS. 


Laws  against  murder , 


manslaughter ,  <J-c. 


a.  M.  2553.  1 7  And  if  he  smite  him  q  with 

B.  C.  1451.  .  i 

An.  Exod.  Isr.  throwing  a  stone,  wherewith  he 

may  die,  and  he  die,  he  is  a 


murderer :  the  murderer  shall  surely  be  put 
to  death. 

18  Or  if  he  smite  him  with  a  hand  weapon 
of  wood,  wherewith  he  may  die,  and  he  die, 
he  is  a  murderer :  the  murderer  shall  surely 
be  put  to  death. 

19  r  The  revenger  of  blood  himself  shall  slay 
the  murderer :  when  he  meeteth  him,  he  shall 
slay  him. 

20  But  s  if  he  thrust  him  of  hatred,  or  hurl 
at  him  t  by  laying  of  wait,  that  he  die  ; 

21  Or  in  enmity  smite  him  with  his  hand, 
that  he  die  :  he  that  smote  him  shall  surely  be 
put  to  death ;  for  he  is  a  murderer  :  the  re¬ 
venger  of  blood  shall  slay  the  murderer,  when 
he  meeteth  him. 

22  But  if  he  thrust  him  suddenly  11  without 
enmity,  or  have  cast  upon  him  any  thing 
without  laying  of  wait, 

23  Or  with  any  stone,  wherewith  a  man 
may  die,  seeing  him  not,  and  cast  it  upon  him, 
that  he  die,  and  was  not  his  enemy,  neither 
sought  his  harm: 

24  Then  x  the  congregation  shall  judge  be¬ 
tween  the  slayer  and  the  revenger  of  blood 
according  to  these  judgments  : 

q  Heb.  with,  a  stone  of  the  hand. - r  Ver.  21,  24,  27;  Deut. 

six.  6,  12  ;  Josh.  xx.  3,  5. - s  Gen.  iv.  8  ;  2  Sam.  iii.  27  ; 

xx.  10;  1  Kings  ii.  31,  32. - tExod.  xxi.  14;  Deut.  xix.  11. 

11  Exod.  xxi.  13. 


25  And  the  congregation  shall  a.  m.  2553 

O  e>  B.  C.  1451 

deliver  the  slayer  out  of  the  hand  An’.  Exod.  Isr. 
of  the  revenger  of  blood ;  and  40, 
the  congregation  shall  restore  him  to  the  city 
of  his  refuge,  whither  he  was  fled  :  and  w  he 
shall  abide  in  it  unto  the  death  of  the  high 
priest,  x  which  was  anointed  with  the  holy  oil. 

26  But  if  the  slayer  shall  at  any  time  come 
without  the  border  of  the  city  of  his  refuge, 
whither  he  was  fled ; 

27  And  the  revenger  of  blood  find  him  with¬ 
out  the  borders  of  the  city  of  his  refuge,  and 
the  revenger  of  blood  kill  the  slayer  ;  y  he 
shall  not  be  guilty  of  blood 

28  Because  he  should  have  remained  in  the 
city  of  his  refuge  until  the  death  of  the  high 
priest :  but  after  the  death  of  the  high  priest 
the  slayer  shall  return  into  the  land  of  his 
possession. 

29  So  these  things  shall  be  for  z  a  statute 
of  judgment  unto  you  throughout  your  gene¬ 
rations  in  all  your  dwellings. 

30  Whoso  killeth  any  person,  the  murderer 
shall  be  put  to  death  by  the  a  mouth  of  wit¬ 
nesses  :  but  one  witness  shall  not  testify 
against  any  person  to  cause  him  to  die. 

3 1  Moreover,  ye  shall  take  no  satisfaction 
for  the  life  of  a  murderer,  which  is  b  guilty  of 
death  ;  but  he  shall  be  surely  put  to  death. 

vVer.  12;  Josh.  xx.  6. - wJosh.  xx.  6. - xExod.  xxix.  7; 

Lev.  iv.  3  ;  xxi.  10. - y  Heb.  no  blood  shall  be  to  him ;  Exod. 

xxii.  2. - z  Chap,  xxvii.  11. - aDeut.  xvii.  6;  xix.  15;  Matt. 

xviii.  16;  2  Cor.  xiii.  1  ;  Heb.  x.  28. - h  Heb.  faulty  to  die. 


ferent  from  the  asyla  among  the  Greeks  and  Romans, 
as  also  from  the  privileged  altars  among  the  Roman 
Catholics.  Those  among  the  Hebrews  were  for  the 
protection  of  such  only  as  had  slain  a  person  involun¬ 
tarily.  The  temples  and  altars  among  the  latter  often 
served  for  the  protection  of  the  most  profligate  charac¬ 
ters.  Cities  of  refuge  among  the  Hebrews  were  ne¬ 
cessary,  because  the  old  patriarchal  law  still  remained 
in  force,  viz.,  that  the  nearest  akin  had  a  right  to  avenge 
the  death  of  his  relation  by  slaying  the  murderer ;  for 
the  original  law  enacted  that  whosoever  shed  man's 
hlood,  by  man  should  his  Mood  be  shed ,  Gen.  ix.  6,  and 
none  was  judged  so  proper  to  execute  this  law  as  the 
man  who  wa3  nearest  akin  to  the  deceased.  As  many 
rash  executions  of  this  law  might  take  place,  from  the 
very  nature  of  the  thing,  it  was  deemed  necessary  to 
qualify  its  claims,  and  prevent  injustice ;  and  the  cities 
of  refuge  were  judged  proper  for  this  purpose.  Nor 
do  we  ever  read  that  they  were  ever  found  inefficient, 
or  that  they  were  ever  abused. 

Yerse  12.  Until  he  stand  before  the  congregation  in 
judgment .]  So  one  of  these  cities  was  not  a  perpetual 
asylum  ;  it  was  only  a  pro  tempore  refuge,  till  the  case 
could  be  fairly  examined  by  the  magistrates  in  the  pre- 

728 


sence  of  the  people,  or  the  elders  their  representatives ; 
and  this  was  done  in  the  city  or  place  where  he  had 
done  the  murder,  Josh.  xx.  4,  6.  If  he  was  found 
worthy  of  death,  they  delivered  him  to  the  avenger 
that  he  might  be  slain,  Deut.  xix.  12  ;  if  not,  they 
sent  him  back  to  the  city  of  refuge,  where  he  remained 
till  the  death  of  the  high  priest,  ver.  25.  Before  the 
cities  of  refuge  were  appointed,  the  altar  appears  to 
have  been  a  sanctuary  for  those  who  had  killed  a  per¬ 
son  unwittingly  ;  see  on  Exod.  xxi.  13,  14. 

Yerse  19.  The  revenger  of  blood ]  DTH  goel 
haddatn ,  the  redeemer  of  blood ;  the  next  in  blood  to 
him  who  was  slain.  See  on  the  preceding  verse. 

Yerse  30.  But  one  witness  shall  not  testify  against 
any ]  This  was  a  just  and  necessary  provision.  One 
man  may  be  mistaken ,  or  so  violently  prejudiced  as  to 
impose  even  on  his  own  judgment,  or  so  wicked  as  to 
endeavour  through  malice  to  compass  the  life  of  his 
neighbour  ;  but  it  is  not  likely  that  two  or  more  should 
be  of  this  kind;  and  even  were  they,  their  separate 
examination  would  lead  to  a  discovery  of  the  truth, 
and  to  their  conviction. 

Yerse  31.  Ye  shall  take  no  satisfaction  for  the  life 
of  a  murderer)  No  atonement  could  be  made  for  him > 


CHAP.  XXXVI. 


Laws  concerning  the 

A.  M.  2553.  32  And  ye  shall  take  no  satis- 

An.  Exod.  isr.  faction  for  him  that  is  fled  to  the 

_ _ 40, _ _  city  of  his  refuge,  that  he  should 

come  again  to  dwell  in  the  land,  until  the  death 
of  the  priest. 

33  So  ye  shall  not  pollute  the  land  wherein 
ye  are  r  for  blood  c  it  defilcth  the  land  :  and 

«  Psa.  cvi.  38 ;  Mic.  iv.  1. - d  Heb.  there  can  be  no  expiation 

for  the  land. 

nor  any  commutation ,  so  as  to  save  him  frcrm  death. 
All  the  laws  of  the  civilized  world  have  either  adjudged 
the  murderer  to  death,  or  to  a  punishment  equivalent 
to  it;  such  as  perpetual  imprisonment,  in  a  dungeon, 
under  ground,  on  a  stone  floor,  without  light,  and  to  be 
fed  on  a  small  portion  of  bread  and  water.  In  such 
circumstances  a  man  could  live  but  a  short  time  ;  and 
though  it  is  not  called  the  punishment  of  death ,  yet, 
from  its  inevitable  consequences,  it  only  differed  from 
it  by  being  a  little  longer  respite  than  was  usual  where 
the  punishment  of  death  was  awarded.  See  the  note 
on  Gen.  ix.  6. 

Verse  32.  Until  the  death  of  the  priest .]  Probably 
intended  to  typify,  that  no  sinner  can  be  delivered  from 
his  banishment  from  God,  or  recover  his  forfeited  in¬ 
heritance,  till  Jesus  Christ,  the  great  high  priest, 
had  died  for  his  offences,  and  risen  again  for  his 
justification. 

Verse  33.  For  blood  it  defileth  the  land ]  The  very 
land  was  considered  as  guilty  till  the  blood  of  the  mur¬ 
derer  was  shed  in  it.  No  wonder  God  is  so  particu¬ 
larly  strict  in  his  laws  against  murderers,  1.  Because 
he  is  the  author  of  life,  and  none  have  any  right  to  dis¬ 
pose  of  it  but  himself.  2.  Because  life  is  the  time  to 
prepare  for  the  eternal  world,  and  on  it  the  salvation 
of  the  soul  accordingly  depends  ;  therefore  it  is  of  in¬ 
finite  consequence  to  the  man  that  his  life  be  lengthened 
out  to  the  utmost  limits  assigned  by  Divine  Providence. 


marriage  of  heiresses 
d  the  land  cannot  be  cleansed  a.  m.  2553. 

B  C  1451 

of  the  blood  that  is  shed  therein,  An.  Exod.  isr. 
but  6  by  the  blood  of  him  that  4a 
shed  it. 

34  f  Defile  not  therefore  the  land  which  ye 
shall  inhabit,  wherein  I  dwell  :  for  *  I  the 
Lord  dwell  among  the  children  of  Israel. 

eGen.  ix.  6. - rLev.  xviii.  25;  Deut.  xxi.  23. - sExod. 

xxix.  45,  46. 

As  he  who  takes  a  man’s  life  away  before  his  time 
may  be  the  murderer  of  his  soul  as  well  as  of  his  body, 
the  severest  laws  should  be  enacted  against  this,  both 
to  punish  and  prevent  the  crime. 

The  Mosaic  cities  of  refuge  have  in  general  been 
considered,  not  merely  as  civil  institutions,  but  as  types 
or  representations  of  infinitely  better  things  ;  and  in 
this  light  St.  Paul  seems  to  have  considered  them  and 
the  altar  of  God ,  which  was  a  place  of  general  refuge , 
as  it  is  pretty  evident  that  he  had  them  in  view  when 
writing  the  following  words  :  “  God,  willing  more  abun¬ 
dantly  to  show  unto  the  heirs  of  promise  the  immuta¬ 
bility  of  his  counsel,  confirmed  it  by  an  oath  ;  that  by- 
two  immutable  things,  (his  oath  and  promise ,)  in  which 
it  was  impossible  for  God  to  lie,  we  might  have  a  strong 
consolation  who  have  fled  for  refuge  to  lay  hold 
upon  the  hope  set  before  us,”  Heb.  vi.  17,  18.  Inde¬ 
pendently  of  this,  it  was  a  very  wise  political  institute  ; 
and  while  the  patriarchal  law  on  this  point  continued 
in  force,  this  law  had  a  direct  tendency  to  cool  and 
moderate  the  spirit  of  revenge ,  to  secure  the  proper 
accomplishment  of  the  ends  of  justice ,  and  to  make 
way  for  every  claim  of  mercy  and  equity.  But  this  is 
not  peculiar  to  the  ordinance  of  the  cities  of  refuge  ; 
every  institution  of  God  is  distinguished  in  the  same 
way,  having  his  own  glory,  in  the  present  and  eternal 
welfare  of  man,  immediately  in  view. 


CHAPTER  XXXVI. 


The  inconveniences  which  might  be  produced  by  daughters ,  inheritrixes ,  marrying  out  of  their  own  tribe , 
remedied  on  the  recommendation  of  certain  chiefs  of  the  tribe  of  Joseph ,  who  stated  the  case  of  the  daugh¬ 
ters  of  Zelophehad ,  1—4.  The  daughters  of  Zelophehad  are  commanded  to  marry  in  their  own  tribe ,  5,  6; 
which  is  to  be  an  ordinance  in  all  similar  circumstances ,  7—9.  The  daughters  of  Zelophehad  marry  their 
father's  brother's  sons ,  and  thus  their  inheritance  is  preserved  in  their  oion  tribe ,  10—12.  The  conclusion 
of  the  commandments  given  by  the  Lord  to  the  Israelites  in  the  plains  of  Moab,  13. 


A.  M.  2553. 

B.  C.  1451. 
An.  Exod.  Isr. 

40. 


AND  the  chief  fathers  of  the 
families  of  the  a  children  of 
Gilead,  the  son  of  Machir,  the 
son  of  Manasseh,  of  the  families  of  the  sons 
of  Joseph,  came  near,  and  spake  before  Moses, 


and  before  the  princes,  the  chief  A.  M.  2553. 
fathers  of  the  children  of  Israel:  An. Exod. isr. 

2  And  they  said,  b  The  Lord  4Q' 
commanded  my  lord  to  give  the  land  for  an 
inheritance  by  lot  to  the  children  of  Israel : 


a  Chap.  xxvi.  29. 

NOTES  ON  CHAP.  XXXVI. 

Vrerse  2.  To  give  the  inheritance  of  Zelophehad — 
unto  his  daughters .]  See  this  case  spoken  of  at  large 
on  chap,  xxvii. 


b  Chap.  xxvi.  55  ;  xxxiii.  54 ;  Josh.  xvii.  3. 

Either  the  first  eleven  verses  of  chap,  xxvii.  should 
come  in  before  this  chapter,  or  this  chapter  should 
come  in  immediately  after  those  eleven  verses  ;  they 
certainly  both  make  parts  of  the  same  subject. 

729 


a 


NUMBERS. 


Of  the  daughter , 

a.  M.  2553.  and  c  my  lord  was  commanded 
An.  Exod.  isr.  by  the  Lord  to  give  the  inherit- 
40,  anee  of  Zelophehad  our  brother 
unto  his  daughters. 

3  And  if  they  be  married  to  any  of  the  sons 
of  the  other  tribes  of  the  children  of  Israel, 
then  shall  their  inheritance  be  taken  from  the 
inheritance  of  our  fathers,  and  shall  be  put  to 
the  inheritance  of  the  tribe  d  whereunto  they 
are  received ;  so  shall  it  be  taken  from  the 
lot  of  our  inheritance. 

4  And  when  e  the  jubilee  of  the  children  of 
Israel  shall  be,  then  shall  their  inheritance  be 
put  unto  the  inheritance  of  the  tribe  where¬ 
unto  they  are  received  :  so  shall  their  inherit¬ 
ance  be  taken  away  from  the  inheritance  of 
the  tribe  of  our  fathers. 

5  And  Moses  commanded  the  children  of 
Israel  according  to  the  word  of  the  Lord, 
saying,  The  tribe  of  the  sons  of  Joseph  f  hath 
said  well. 

6  This  is  the  thing  which  the  Lord  doth 
command  concerning  the  daughters  of  Zelo¬ 
phehad,  saying,  Let  them  g  marry  to  whom 
they  think  best ;  11  only  to  the  family  of  the 
tribe  of  their  father  shall  thejr  marry. 

7  So  shall  not  the  inheritance  of  the  children 
of  Israel  remove  from  tribe  to  tribe  :  for  every 

c  Chap,  xxvii.  1,  7 ;  Josh.  xvii.  3,  4. - dHeb.  unto  whom  they 

shall  be. - e  Lev.  xxv.  10. — — fChap.  xxvii.  7. - sHeb.  be 

wives. - h  Ver.  12;  Tob.  i.  9. - 'Heb.  cleave  to  thee,  &c. 

Here  Moses  determines  that  heiresses  should  marry 
in  their  own  tribe,  that  no  part  of  the  ancient  inherit¬ 
ance  might  be  alienated  from  the  original  family. 

Verse  6.  Let  them  marry  to  whom  they  think  hest\ 
Here  was  latitude  sufficient,  and  yet  a  salutary  and 
reasonable  restraint,  which  prevented  a  vexatious  mix¬ 
ture  of  property  and  possession. 

Verse  8.  Every  daughter  that  possesseth  an  inherit¬ 
ance ]  This  law  affected  none  but  heiresses ;  all  others 
were  at  liberty  to  marry  into  any  of  the  other  tribes. 
The  priests  and  Levites,  who  could  have  no  inherit¬ 
ance,  were  exempt  from  the  operation  of  this  law.  Je- 
hoiada  had  the  king  of  Judah’s  daughter  to  wife, 
2  Chron.  xxii.  11.  And  another  priest  had  for  wife 
one  of  the  daughters  of  Barzillai  the  Gileadite,  Ezra 
ii.  61.  “  By  reason  of  such  marriages,”  says  Mr. 

Ainsworth,  “  there  might  be  kindred  between  Elizabeth, 
the  mother  of  John  the  Baptist,  who  was  of  the  daugh¬ 
ters  of  Aaron,  and  Mary  the  virgin,  the  mother  of  our 
Lord,  who  was  of  the  lineage  of  David,  and  tribe  of 
Judah;”  Luke  i.  5,  36;  iii.  23-31. 

Verse  11.  Mahlah,  Tirzah,  tfc.]  For  a  curious  ac¬ 
count  of  these  names,  see  the  notes  on  chap,  xxvii.  7. 

Verse  12.  And  their  inheritance  remained  in — the 
family ]  “  By  this  example,  and  the  law  of  inherit¬ 
ances  in  the  Holy  Land,  the  people  of  God,”  says  Ains- 

730 


of  Zelophehad 
one  of  the  children  of  Israel  A.  M.  2553. 

.  „  .  ,  .  .  .  ,  .  B.  C.  1451. 

snail  1  keep  k  himself  to  the  in-  An.  Exod.  Isr. 

heritance  of  the  tribe  of  his  4Q' 

fathers. 

8  And  1  every  daughter,  that  possesseth  an 
inheritance  in  any  tribe  of  the  children  of 
Israel,  shall  be  wife  unto  one  of  the  family  of 
the  tribe  of  her  father,  that  the  children  of 
Israel  may  enjoy  every  man  the  inheritance 
of  his  fathers. 

9  Neither  shall  the  inheritance  remove  from 
one  tribe  to  another  tribe ;  but  every  one  of 
the  tribes  of  the  children  of  Israel  shall  keep 
himself  to  his  own  inheritance. 

10  Even  as  the  Lord  commanded  Moses, 
so  did  the  daughters  of  Zelophehad  : 

11  m  For  Mahlah,  Tirzah,  and  Hoglah,  and 
Milcah,  and  Noah,  the  daughters  of  Zelophe¬ 
had,  were  married  unto  their  father’s  brother’s 
sons  : 

1 2  And  they  were  married  n  into  the  families 
of  the  sons  of  Manasseh  the  son  of  Joseph, 
and  their  inheritance  remained  in  the  tribe  of 
the  family  of  their  father. 

13  These  are  the  “commandments  and  the 
judgments,  which  the  Lord  commanded  by 
the  hand  of  Moses  unto  the  children  of  Israel 
p  in  the  plains  of  Moab,  by  Jordan  near  Jericho. 

k  1  Kings  xxi.  3. - 1 1  Chron.  xxiii.  22. - mChap.  xxvii.  1. 

n  Heb.  to  some  that  were  of  the  families. - 0  Chap.  xxxv.  29. 

P  Chap.  xxvi.  3  ;  xxxiii.  50. 

worth,  “  are  taught  to  hold  fast  their  inheritance  in  his 
promises,  and  their  right  in  Christ,  which  they  hold 
by  faith  ;  that  as  the  Father  hath  made  them  meet  to 
be  partakers  of  the  inheritance  among  the  saints  in 
light,  Col.  i.  12,  so  they  may  keep  the  faith  and  grace 
which  they  have  received  to  the  end.” 

Verse  13.  These  are  the  commandments,  $c.]  See 
these  different  terms  analyzed  and  explained,  Lev. 
xxv.  5. 

Thus  ends  the  book  of  Numbers,  containing  a  series 
of  astonishing  providences  and  events.  Scarcely  any 
piece  of  history  in  the  sacred  writings  is  better  calcu¬ 
lated  to  impress  the  mind  of  a  serious  reader  with  a 
sense  of  the  goodness  and  severity  of  God.  In  every 
transaction  his  holiness  and  justice  appear  in  closest 
union  with  his  benevolence  and  mercy.  From  such  a 
Being  what  have  the  wicked  not  to  fear  !  From,  such 
a  Father  and  Friend  what  have  the  upright  not  to  hope . 
His  justice  requires  him  to  punish  iniquity,  but  his 
mercy  inclines  him  to  pardon  all  who  truly  repent  and 
believe  in  the  Son  of  his  love. 

The  journeyings  of  this  people,  from  the  time  they 
left  Egypt,  ehxibit  a  series  of  providential  wonders. 
Every  where,  and  in  every  circumstance,  God  appears: 
and  yet  there  is  no  circumstance  or  occasion  that  does 


CHAP.  XXXVI. 


Masoretic  notes 


Concluding  observations. 

not  justify  those  signal  displays  ot  his  grace  and  his 
justice.  The  genuine  history  of  God’s  providence 
must  be  sought  for  in  this  book  alone  ;  and  as  every 
occurrence  happened  as  an  example ,  we  have  authority 
to  conclude  that  in  every  case  where  his  own  glory 
and  the  salvation  of  man  are  interested,  he  will  inter¬ 
fere  and  give  the  fullest  proofs  that  he  is  the  same  to¬ 
day  that  he  was  yesterday,  and  will  continue  unchange¬ 
able  for  ever  and  ever.  Reader,  are  these  matters 
ensamples  to  thee  ?  Art  thou,  like  the  Israelites,  come 
into  the  plains  of  Moab,  on  the  very  verge  of  the  pro¬ 
mised  land  1  Jordan  alone  separates  thee  from  the 
promised  inheritance.  O,  watch  and  pray,  that  thou 
come  not  short  of  the  glory  of  God.  The  last  enemy 
that  shall  be  destroyed  is  death ;  see  then  that  the 
sting  of  death,  which  is  sin,  be  extracted  from  thy 
soul,  that,  being  justified  by  Christ’s  blood,  thou  mayest 
be  made  an  heir  according  to  the  hope  of  an  eternal 
life.  Amen,  amen. 

“  I  will  bring  you  into  the  wilderness  of  the  peo¬ 
ple,  and  there  will  I  plead  with  you  face  to  face,  like 
as  I  pleaded  with  your  fathers  in  the  wilderness  of 
the  land  of  Egypt.  And  I  will  cause  you  to  pass  under 
the  rod,  and  bring  you  into  the  bond  of  the  covenant,” 
Ezek.  xx.  35—37. 

“  He  (Christ)  is  the  Mediator  of  the  New  Testa¬ 
ment,  that  by  means  of  death,  for  the  redemption  of  the 
transgressions  that  were  under  the  first  testament, 
they  which  are  called  might  receive  the  promise  of 
eternal  inheritance,”  Heb.  ix.  15. 

SECTIONS  in  the  Book  of  Numbers,  carried  on 
from  Leviticus,  which  ends  with  the  thirty-third. 

The  thirty-fourth,  called  bemidbar,  begins 

chap.  i.  1,  and  ends  chap.  iv.  20. 

The  thirty-fifth,  called  nasa,  begins  chap, 
iv.  21,  and  ends  chap.  vii.  89. 

The  thirty-sixth,  called,  *|nb>’rD  behaalothecha , 
begins  chap.  viii.  1,  and  ends  chap.  xii.  16. 

The  thirty-seventh,  called  nbi#  shelach,  begins 
chap.  xiii.  1,  and  ends  chap.  xv.  41. 

The  thirty-eighth,  called  rpp  korach,  begins 
chap.  xvi.  1,  and  ends  chap,  xviii.  32. 


The  thirty-ninth,  called  Ilpn  chukkaih,  begins 
chap.  xix.  1,  and  ends  chap.  xxii.  1. 

The  fortieth,  called  p*73  balak,  begins  chap.  xxii. 
2,  and  ends  chap.  xxv.  9. 

The  forty-first,  called  DrU'2  pinechas,  begins 
chap.  xxv.  10,  and  ends  chap.  xxx.  1. 

The  forty-second,  called  mattoth,  begins 

chap.  xxx.  2,  and  ends  chap,  xxxii.  42. 

The  forty-third,  called  masey,  begins  chap, 
xxxiii.  1,  and  ends  chap,  xxxvi.  13. 

Masoretic  Notes  on  Numbers. 

The  number  of  verses  in  this  book  is  1,288,  of 
which  n£HN  is  the  symbol :  for  N  alcpli  stands  for 
1000,  “1  resh  for  200,  2  phe  for  80,  and  fl  cheth  for  8. 

The  middle  verse  is  the  20th  of  chap.  xvii.  And 
the  man’s  rod  whom  I  shall  choose  shall  blossom. 
(N.  B.  In  our  English  Bibles  this  is  ver.  5  of  chap,  xvii.) 

Its  pareshioth,  or  larger  sections,  are  10,  expressed 
by  the  letters  of  the  word  Yin  badad,  alone :  The  Lord 
alone  did  lead  him,  Deut.  xxxii.  12.  1  daleth  stands 

for  4,  repeated  here,  8,  and  2  beth  for  2. 

Its  sedarim,  or  Masoretic  sections,  are  32,  ex¬ 
pressed  by  the  word  2*7  leb,  heart ,  Psa.  li.  12  :  Create 
in  me  a  clean  heart,  O  God ;  in  which  word  2  beth 
stands  for-  2,  and  b  lamed  for  30. 

Its  chapters  are  36,  expressed  by  the  word  lb  lu, 
O!  Deut.  xxxii.  29:  G  that  they  were  wise !  in 
which  word  b  lamed  stands  for  30,  and  1  van  for  6. 

The  number  of  its  open  sections  is  92  ;  its  close  or 
shut  sections,  66;  together  158;  expressed  in  the 
memorial  word  “)pbn  chelkecha :  I  am  thy  portion  ; 
in  which  word  p  koph  stands  for  100,  b  lamed  for  30, 
2  caph  for  20,  and  n  cheth  for  8. 

Though  this  sort  of  notations  may  appear  trifling  to 
some,  yet  to  an  upright  Jew  they  were  of  much  con¬ 
sequence.  The  very  technical  words  used  in  such 
cases  put  him  always  in  mind  of  something  in  which 
the  glory  of  God  and  the  happiness  and  salvation  of 
his  own  soul  were  concerned.  See  the  note  at  the 
end  of  Genesis,  and  see  the  concluding  notes  on  the 
Book  of  Deuteronomy. 


Revised  and  corrected  for  a  new  edition,  Aug.  4 thf  1827. — A.  Clarke. 


a 


731 


PREFACE  TO  THE  BOOK 


OP 

DEUTERONOMY. 


^TE  have  borrowed  the  name  of  this  book,  as  in  former  cases,  from  the  Vulgate  Latin, 
D enter onomiumf  as  the  Vulgate  has  done  from  the  Greek  version  of  the  Septuagint, 
A evrepovo/uov,  which  is  a  compound  term  literally  signifying  the  second  law ,  because  it  seems 
to  contain  a  repetition  of  the  preceding  laws,  from  which  circumstance  it  has  been  termed 
by  the  rabbins  mishneh ,  the  iteration  or  doubling. 

It  appears  that  both  these  names  are  borrowed  from  chap.  xvii.  18,  where  the  king  is  com¬ 
manded  to  write  him  a  copy  of  this  law  ;  the  original  is  mir»n  HJtso  mishneh  hattorah ,  a  repe¬ 
tition  or  doubling  of  the  law ,  which  the  Septuagint  have  translated  to  5evrepovofuov ,  this  second 
law ,  which  we,  properly  enough,  translate  a  copy  of  the  law  :  but  in  Hebrew,  like  the  pre¬ 
ceding  books,  it  takes  its  name  from  its  commencement,  □"‘■Din  elleh  haddebarim, 
these  are  the  words ;  and  in  the  best  rabbinical  Bibles  its  running  title  is  D'"Ol  *tSD  sepher 
debarim,  the  book  of  debarim ,  or  the  book  of  the  words.  Our  Saxon  ancestors  termed  it 
8eo  sepfcej*  jb,  the  after  law. 

The  Book  of  Deuteronomy  contains  an  account  of  what  passed  in  the  wilderness  from  the 
first  day  of  the  eleventh  month  of  the  fortieth  year  after  the  departure  of  the  Israelites  from 
Egypt  to  the  seventh  day  of  the  twelfth  month  of  the  same  ;  making  in  the  whole  a  history 
of  the  transactions  of  exactly  five  weeks,  the  months  of  the  Jews  being  lunar.  The  history 
is  continued  about  seven  days  after  the  death  of  Moses  ;  for  he  began  to  deliver  his  first  dis¬ 
course  to  the  people  in  the  plains  of  Moab  the  first  day  of  the  eleventh  month  of  the  fortieth 
year ,  chap.  i.  3,  and  died  on  the  first  day  of  the  twelfth  month  of  the  same  year,  aged  120  years. 

As  the  Israelites  were  now  about  to  enter  into  the  promised  land,  and  many  of  them  had 
not  witnessed  the  different  transactions  in  the  wilderness,  the  former  generation  having  been 
all  destroyed  except  Joshua  and  Caleb;  to  impress  their  hearts  with  a  deep  sense  of  their 
obligation  to  God,  and  to  prepare  them  for  the  inheritance  which  God  had  prepared  for  them, 
Moses  here  repeats  the  principal  occurrences  of  the  forty  years,  now  almost  elapsed  ;  shows 
them  the  absolute  necessity  of  fearing,  loving,  and  obeying  God ;  repeats  the  ten  command¬ 
ments,  and  particularly  explains  each,  and  the  ordinances  belonging  to  them,  adding  others 
which  he  had  not  delivered  before  ;  confirms  the  whole  law  in  a  most  solemn  manner,  with 
exceeding  great  and  precious  promises  to  them  that  keep  it,  and  a  denunciation  of  the  most 
awful  judgments  against  those  who  should  break  it ;  renews  the  covenant  between  God  and 
the  people  ;  prophesies  of  things  which  should  come  to  pass  in  the  latter  days  ;  blesses  each 
of  the  tribes,  prophetically,  with  the  choicest  spiritual  and  temporal  blessings  ;  and  then,  having 
viewed  the  whole  extent  of  the  land,  from  the  top  of  Mount  Nebo  or  Pisgah,  he  yielded  up 
the  ghost,  and  was  privately  buried  by  God,  leaving  Joshua  the  son  of  Nun  for  his  successor. 

The  Book  of  Deuteronomy  and  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  contain  the  best  comment  on 
the  nature,  design,  and  use  of  the  law ;  the  former  may  be  considered  as  an  evangelical  com¬ 
mentary  on  the  four  preceding  books,  in  which  the  spiritual  reference  and  signification  of  the 
different  parts  of  the  law  are  given,  and  given  in  such  a  manner  as  none  could  give  who  had 
not  a  clear  discovery  of  the  glory  which  was  to  be  revealed.  It  may  be  safely  asserted  that 
very  few  parts  of  the  Old  Testament  Scriptures  can  be  read  with  greater  profit  by  the  genuine 
Christian  than  the  Book  of  Deuteronomy . 

732  a 


PREFACE  TO  DEUTERONOMY. 


The  contents  of  the  different  chapters  may  be  thus  briefly  summed  up  : — • 

On  the  first  day  of  the  eleventh  month  of  the  fortieth  year,  after  the  departure  from  Egypt, 
the  Israelites  being  then  on  the  east  side  of  Jordan,  in  the  land  of  the  Moabites,  Moses  gives 
them  a  brief  recapitulation  of  what  took  place  in  the  wilderness,  from  their  leaving  Mount 
Horeb  till  they  came  to  Kadesh ;  chap.  i. 

Their  travels  from  Kadesh  till  they  come  to  the  country  of  the  Amorites,  with  the  defeat 
of  Sihon  their  king ;  chap.  ii. 

The  war  with  Og,  king  of  Bashan,  with  the  dividing  his  land  and  that  of  Sihon  among  the 
tribes  of  Reuben  and  Gad,  and  the  half  tribe  of  Manasseh ;  chap.  iii. 

Moses  exhorts  them  to  observe  the  Divine  precepts  ;  threatens  those  who  should  violate 
them ;  and  appoints  Bezer,  Ramoth,  and  Golan,  to  be  the  cities  of  refuge  on  the  east  side  of 
Jordan ;  chap.  iv. 

Repeats  the  decalogue ,  and  tells  the  people  what  effect  the  publication  of  it  had  on  their 
lathers,  when  God  spoke  to  them  from  the  mount;  chap.  v. 

Exhorts  them  to  love  God  with  all  their  heart,  and  promises  them  an  abundance  of  good 
things  ;  chap.  vi. 

Repeats  the  command  to  exterminate  the  Canaanites,  and  all  vestiges  of  their  idolatry ; 

chap.  vii. 

Recites  the  many  interpositions  of  God’s  kindness  which  they  had  received  during  their 
forty  years’  travel  in  the  wilderness,  and  strongly  exhorts  them  to  remember  those  mercies, 
and  not  to  forfeit  a  continuance  of  his  favours  by  ingratitude  and  disobedience  ;  chap.  viii. 

Shows  them  that  they  were  to  pass  Jordan  in  a  short  time,  and  that  God  was  about  to  bring 
them  in,  not  on  account  of  their  goodness,  but  of  his  mercy  ;  chap.  ix. 

Gives  an  account  of  the  second  tables  of  the  law',  which  lie  made  at  the  command  of  God ; 
mentions  their  journey  from  Beeroth  to  Jotbath,  the  choosing  of  the  Levites,  and  the  neces¬ 
sity  of  having  the  heart  circumcised  ;  chap.  x. 

Continues  an  account  of  God’s  mighty  acts  in  their  behalf,  and  shows  the  blessings  which 
should  come  on  them  who  kept  his  law,  and  the  curse  on  those  who  were  disobedient.  The 
blessings  to  be  pronounced  on  Mount  Gerizim,  and  the  curses  on  Mount  Ebal ;  chap.  xi. 

Commands  them  to  destroy  all  monuments  of  idolatry  in  the  land,  to  offer  the  different 
offerings  and  sacrifices,  and  to  avoid  eating  of  blood  ;  chap.  xii. 

Ordinances  against  false  prophets,  idolatrous  cities,  &c.  ;  chap.  xiii. 

Forbids  their  cutting  themselves  at  funerals,  recapitulates  the  law  concerning  clean  and  un¬ 
clean  animals,  and  exhorts  them  to  remember  the  Levites  ;  chap.  xiv. 

Every  seventh  year  shall  be  a  year  of  release  for  the  poor  of  usury ;  first-born,  &c. ;  chap.xv. 

Concerning  the  annual  feasts,  passover,  pentecost,  and  tabernacles  ;  the  establishment  ol 
judges  and  officers  ;  no  groves  to  be  planted  near  the  altar  of  God  ;  chap.  xvi. 

Idolaters  are  to  be  put  to  death  ;  difficult  cases  in  equity  to  be  referred  to  the  superior 
judges  ;  of  a  king  and  his  duties  ;  chap.  xvii. 

All  divination  is  prohibited.  The  grand  promise  of  an  extraordinary  Prophet.  How 
false  prophets  are  to  be  distinguished  ;  chap,  xviii. 

The  laws  relative  to  the  cities  of  refuge,  and  how  the  intentional  murderer  is  to  be  treated  ; 
chap.  xix. 

Laws  relative  to  the  carrying  on  of  war ;  who  should  be  sent  back  from  the  army,  how 
they  are  to  treat  the  Canaanites,  and  how  they  are  to  commence  sieges  ,  chap.  xx. 

How  to  make  expiation  for  an  uncertain  murder ;  marriages  with  captives  ;  rights  of  the 
lirst-born,  &c. ;  chap.  xxi. 

Things  lost  or  strayed  are  to  be  restored  to  their  right  owners  ;  men  and  women  must  not 
interchange  apparel ;  improper  mixtures  to  be  avoided  ;  of  the  tokens  of  virginity  ;  adulterers 
and  adulteresses  to  be  put  to  death ;  chap.  xxii. 

Eunuchs,  bastards,  Moabites,  and  Ammonites,  are  not  to  be  permitted  to  enter  into  the  con¬ 
gregation  of  the  Lord.  Harlots  not  to  be  tolerated ;  chap,  xxiii. 

a 


733 


PREFACE  TO  DEUTERONOMY. 

Laws  relative  to  divorce  ;  privileges  of  the  newly-married  man  ;  concerning  pledges,  wages, 
gleanings,  &c.  ;  chap.  xxiv. 

More  than  forty  stripes  shall  not  be  given.  If  a  man  die  childless,  his  brother  shall  take 
his  wife.  Of  weights,  measures,  &c.  ;  chap.  xxv. 

Different  ceremonies  to  be  used  in  offering  the  first-fruits  ;  tithes.  Of  full  self-consecration 
to  God ;  chap.  xxvi. 

The  words  of  the  law  to  be  written  on  stones,  and  to  be  set  up  on  Mount  Ebal.  The  tribes 
which  stand  on  Mount  Gerizim  to  bless  the  obedient,  and  those  which  should  stand  on  Mount 
Ebal  to  curse  the  disobedient.  Who  they  are  that  are  to  be  cursed  ;  chap,  xxvii. 

The  blessings  of  those  who  are  faithful ;  curses  against  the  disobedient ;  chap,  xxviii. 

A  recital  of  the  covenant  of  God,  made  not  only  with  them,  but  for  their  posterity ;  chap.  xxix. 

Promises  of  pardon  to  the  penitent ;  good  and  evil,  life  and  death,  are  set  before  them  ;  ch.xxx. 

Moses,  being  now  120  years  old,  delivers  a  copy  of  the  law  which  he  had  written  into 
the  hands  of  the  priests,  to  belaid  up  in  the  ark,  and  to  be  publicly  read  every  seventh  year; 
a  charge  is  given  to  Joshua;  chap.  xxxi. 

The  prophetical  and  historical  song  of  Moses  :  he  is  commanded  to  go  up  to  Mount  Nebo 
that  he  may  see  the  promised  land  ;  chap,  xxxii. 

The  prophetical  blessing  of  the  twelve  tribes.  The  indescribable  happiness  of  Israel ; 
chap.  xxxi. 

Moses  views  the  promised  land  from  the  top  of  Mount  Nebo,  dies,  and  is  privately  buried 
by  the  Lord.  The  Israelites  mourn  for  him  thirty  days.  Joshua  takes  command  of  the 
people.  The  character  of  Moses  ;  chap,  xxxiv. 

At  the  close  of  this  book  I  have  added  a  number  of  useful  Tables,  such  as  no  edition  of 
the  Bible  ever  could  boast,  viz. : 

Table  I.  A  perpetual  table ,  showing  through  the  course  of  13  lunar  -cycles  (which  embrace 
every  possible  variation)  the  day  of  the  week  with  which  the  Jewish  year  begins,  and 
on  which  the  passover  is  held  ;  as  also  the  lengths  of  the  months  Marchesvan  and  Cislea. 
Table  II.  Containing  the  whole  variations  in  the  reading  of  the  Pareshioth  or  sections  of  the 
law  for  every  year  of  the  Jewish  cycle  of  247  years. 

Table  III.  To  find,  with  the  help  of  Table  IV.,  the  day  of  the  week  upon  which  any  Jewish 
new  ?noon  or  festival  happens. 

Table  IV.  To  determine  upon  what  day  of  the  week  any  Jewish  month  commences  for  any 
given  year ;  as  also  the  day  of  the  week  upon  which  the  Jews  celebrate  their  principal 
fasts  and  festivals. 

Table  V.  Containing  the  order  of  reading  the  Pareshioth  and  Haphtaroth  for  90  Jewish 
years,  i.  e.,  from  A.  M.  5572  to  A.  M.  5661,  both  inclusive,  connected  with  the  corre¬ 
sponding  dates  in  the  Christian  era,  according  to  the  Gregorian  or  new  style. 

Table  VI.  Containing  the  year  of  the  Jewish  lunar  cycle ,  the  golden  number ,  the  first  day 
of  the  Jewish  passover ,  Easter  Sunday ,  and  the  commencement  of  each  Jewish  year 
according  to  the  Gregorian  Calendar ,  A.  D.  1812  to  A.  D.  1900,  both  inclusive.  All 
concluded  with  an  explanation  of  the  preceding  tables.  To  them  succeeds  A  Chrono¬ 
logy  of  the  Pentateuch,  with  the  Book  of  Joshua ;  or  a  Systematic  Arrangement  of 
Events  from  the  creation  of  Adam,  A.  M.  1,  to  the  birth  of  Peleg,  A.  M.  1757,  and 
thence  to  the  death  of  Joshua ,  A.  M.  2561.  This  chronology  includes  two  tables ,  viz. : 
Table  I.  The  birth  and  death  of  all  the  patriarchs,  from  Adam,  A.  M.  1,  to  Rhea,  son 
of  Peleg,  A.  M.  1787.  Table  II.  A  chronology  of  ancient  kingdoms  synchronized  with  the 
sacred  history,  from  A.  M.  1757,  B.  C.  2247,  to  A.  M.  2561,  B.  C.  1443.  The 
whole  so  calculated  as  to  prevent  the  necessity  of  having  recourse  to  systems  of  chrono¬ 
logy  for  historic  facts  in  anywise  connected  with  those  mentioned  in  the  sacred  writings. 

The  great  utility  of  these  tables,  will,  I  think,  be  at  once  evident  to  every  Biblical  critic, 
chronologist ,  and  antiquary ;  and  for  the  immense  labour  employed  in  their  construction  the 
editor,  no  doubt,  will  have  their  hearty  thanks.  Adam  Clarke. 

734 


a 


THE  FIFTH  BOOK  OF  MOSES, 

CALLED 

DEUTERONOMY. 


Year  before  the  common  Year  of  Christ,  1451.- — Julian  Period,  3263. — Cycle  of  the  Sun,  10. — Dominical 
Letter,  B. — Cycle  of  the  Moon,  10.— Indiction,  15. — Creation  from  Tisri  or  September,  2553 


CHAPTER  I. 


Introduction  to  the  hook ,  1,2.  Moses  addresses  the  people  in  the  fortieth  year  after  the  exodus  from  Egypt , 
3-5  ;  and  shows  how  God  had  spoken  to  them  in  Horeb ,  and  the  directions  he  gave  them ,  6-8.  How ,  at 
the  commandment  of  the  Lord ,  he  had  appointed  officers ,  judges ,  <fc.,  to  share  the  government  with  him , 
9—18.  Of  their  travels  in  the  terrible  wilderness ,  19—21.  The  people's  request  to  have  spies  sent  to 
search  out  the  land ,  22—25.  Of  their  murmuring  and  rebellion  when  they  heard  the  report  of  the  spies , 
26—28.  I low  Moses  encouraged  them ,  29—33.  The  displeasure  of  the  Lord  against  them  because  of 
their  murmur  ings,  and  his  purpose  to  exclude  them  from  the  good  land ,  and  give  it  to  their  children  only , 
34—40.  How  they  repented ,  and  yet ,  without  the  authority  of  God ,  went  against  the  Amorites ,  by  whom 
they  ivere  defeated ,  41—44.  Their  return  to  Kadesh,  where  they  abode  many  days ,  45,  46. 


A.  M.  2553.  fJMlESE  be  the  words  which 
An.  Ex.  isr.  40.  Moses  spake  unto  all  Israel 

Sebat’  a  on  this  side  Jordan  in  the  wil¬ 
derness,  in  the  plain  over  against  b  the  Red 
Sea,  between  Paran,  and  Tophel,  and  Laban, 
and  c  Hazeroth,  and  Dizahab. 


2  ( There  are  eleven  days  lour-  a.  m.  2553. 

TT  ,  .  \  J  B.  C.  1451. 

ney  trom  Horeb  by  the  way  An.  Ex.  isr.  40. 

of  Mount  Seir  d  unto  Kadesh-  Sebat' 

barnea.) 

3  And  it  came  to  pass  e  in  the  fortieth  year, 
in  the  eleventh  month,  on  the  first  day  of  the 


a  Josh.  ix.  I,  10  ;  xxn.  4,  7. - b  Or,  Zuph. - -c  Num.  xi.  35. 

NOTES  ON  CHAP.  I. 

Verse  1.  These  be  the  words  which  Moses  spake ] 
The  five  first  verses  of  this  chapter  contain  the  intro¬ 
duction  to  the  rest  of  the  book  :  they  do  not  appear  to 
be  the  work  of  Moses,  but  were  added  probably  either 
bv  Joshua  or  Ezra. 

•t 

On  this  side  Jordan ]  beeber,  at  the  passage 

of  Jordan,  i.  e.,  near  or  opposite  to  the  place  where 
the  Israelites  passed  over  after  the  death  of  Moses. 
Thou  o  h  eber  is  used  to  signify  both  on  this  side 

and  on  the  other  side,  and  the  connection  in  which  it 
stands  can  only  determine  the  meaning ;  yet  here  it 
signifies  neither,  but  simply  the  place  or  ford  where 
the  Israelites  passed  over  Jordan. 

In  the  plain]  That  is,  of  Moab  ;  over  against  the  Red 
Sea — not  the  Red  Sea,  for  they  were  now  farther  from 
it  than  they  had  yet  been  :  the  word  sea  is  not  in  the 
text,  and  the  word  supli,  which  we  render  red,  does 
not  signify  the  Red  Sea,  unless  joined  with  l)1  yam, 
sea  ;  here  it  must  necessarily  signify  a  place  in  or  ad¬ 
joining  to  the  plains  of  Moab.  Ptolemy  mentions  a 
people  named  Sophomles,  that  dwelt  in  Arabia  Petrcea, 
and  it  is  probable  that  they  took  their  name  from  this 

a 


xxxiii.  17,  18. - d  Num.  xiii.  26  ;  ch.  ix.  23. - e  Num.  xxxiii.  38. 

place;  but  see  the  note  from  Lightfoot,  Num.  xx.,  at 
the  end. 

Paran]  This  could  not  have  been  the  Paran  which 
was  contiguous  to  the  Red  Sea,  and  not  far  from  Mount 
Horeb ;  for  the  place  here  mentioned  lay  on  the  very 
borders  of  the  promised  land,  at  a  vast  distance  from 
the  former. 

Dizahab .]  The  word  should  be  separated,  as  it  is 
in  the  Hebrew,  DPI?  H  Di  Zahab.  As  Zahab  signifies 
gold,  the  Septuagint  have  translated  it  ra  xhvaia'>  the 
gold  mines  ;  and  the  Vulgate  ubi  aurum  est  plurimum, 
where  there  is  much  gold.  It  is  more  likely  to  be 
the  name  of  a  place. 

Verse  2.  There  are  eleven  days'  journey]  The 
Israelites  were  eleven  days  in  going  from  Horeb  to 
Kadesh-barnea,  where  they  were  near  the  verge  of 
the  promised  land  ;  after  which  they  were  thirty-eight 
years  wandering  up  and  down  in  the  vicinity  of  this 
place,  not  being  permitted,  because  of  their  rebellions, 
to  enter  into  the  promised  rest,  though  they  were  the 
whole  of  that  time  within  a  few  miles  of  the  land  of 
Canaan  ! 

Verse  3.  The  fortieth  year]  This  was  a  melancholy 

735 


Boundaries  of  the  land  to  he  DEUTERONOMY. 


possessed  by  the  Israelites 


A.  M.  2553. 

B.  C.  1451. 
An.  Ex.  Isr.  40. 

Sebat. 


month,  that  Moses  spake  unto 
the  children  of  Israel,  according 
unto  all  that  the  Lord  had  given 


him  in  commandment  unto  them  ; 

4  f  After  he  had  slain  Sihon  the  king  of  the 


Amorites,  which  dwelt  in  Heshbon,  and  Og 
the  king  of  Bashan,  which  dwelt  at  Astaroth 
B  in  Edrei : 

5  On  this  side  Jordan,  in  the  land  of  Moab, 
began  Moses  to  declare  this  law,  saying, 

6  The  Lord  our  God  spake  unto  us  h  in 
Horeb,  saying,  Ye  have  dwelt  long  r  enough 
in  this  mount : 

7  Turn  you,  and  take  your  journey,  and  go 
to  the  mount  of  the  Amorites,  and  unto  k  all 
the  places  nigh  thereunto,  in  the  plain,  in  the 
hills,  and  in  the  vale,  and  in  the  south,  and 
by  the  sea-side,  to  the  land  of  the  Canaanites, 
and  unto  Lebanon,  unto  the  great  river,  the 
river  Euphrates. 


8  Behold,  I  have  1  set  the  land  A.  M.  2553. 

,  f  ,  B.  C.  1451. 

before  you:  go  m  and  possess  An. Ex. isr. 40. 

the  land  which  the  Lord  sware  Sebat‘ 

unto  your  fathers,  m  Abraham,  Isaac,  and 

Jacob,  to  give  unto  them  and  to  their  seed 

after  them. 

9  And  n  I  spake  unto  you  at  that  time,  say¬ 
ing,  I  am  not  able  to  bear  you  myself  alone : 

1 0  The  Lord  your  God  hath  multiplied  you, 
and,  behold,  0  ye  are  this  day  as  the  stars  of 
heaven  for  multitude. 

1 1  (p  The  Lord  God  of  your  fathers  make 
you  a  thousand  times  so  many  more  as  ye  are , 
and  bless  you,  q  as  he  hath  promised  you  !) 

1 2  r  How  can  I  myself  alone  bear  your  cum- 
brance,  and  your  burden,  and  your  strife  ! 

13  8  Take  4 * * 7  you  wise  men,  and  understand¬ 
ing,  and  known  among  your  tribes,  and  I  will 
make  them  rulers  over  you. 

14  And  ye  answered  me,  and  said,  The  thing 


1  Numbers  xxi.  24,  33. - s  Num.  xxi.  33 ;  Joshua  xiii.  12. 

hExod.  iii.  1. - '  See  Exod.  xix.  1  ;  Num.  x.  11. - k  Heb.  all 

his  neighbours. - 1  Heb.  given. - m  Gen.  xii.  7;  xv.  18;  xvii. 

7,  8;  xxvi.  4;  xxviii.  13. 


n  Exod.  xviii.  18  ;  Num.  xi.  14. - 0  Gen.  xv.  5  ;  chap.  x.  22 ; 

xxviii.  62. - P  2  Sam.  xxiv.  3. - *l  Gen.  xv.  5  ;  xxii.  17  ;  xxvi. 

4;  Exod.  xxxii.  13. - r  1  Kings  iii.  8,  9. - s  See  Exod.  xviii. 

21  ;  Num.  xi.  16,  17. - 1  Heb.  give. 


year  to  the  Hebrews  in  different  respects  ;  in  the  first 
month  of  this  year  Miriam  died,  Num.  xx. ;  on  the  first 
day  of  the  fifth  month  Aaron  died,  Num.  xxxiii.  38  ; 
and  about  the  conclusion  of  it,  Moses  himself  died. 

Verse  5.  Began  Moses  to  declare  this  law ]  Began, 
Vxin  hoil,  willingly  undertook  ;  to  declare,  beer , 

to  make  bare ,  clear ,  cfc.,  fully  to  explain ,  this  law. 
See  the  conclusion  of  the  preface. 

Verse  6.  Ye  have  dwelt  long  enough ,  fc.]  They 
came  to  Sinai  in  the  third  month  after  their  departure 
from  Egypt,  Exod.  xix.  1,2;  and  left  it  the  twentieth 
of  the  second  month  of  the  second  year,  so  it  appears 
they  had  continued  there  nearly  a  whole  year. 

Verse  7.  Go  to  the  mount  o  f  the  Amorites ]  On  the 
south  of  the  land  of  Canaan,  towards  the  Dead  Sea. 

Land  of  the  Canaanites ]  That  is,  Phoenicia,  the  coun¬ 
try  of  Sidon,  and  the  coasts  of  the  Mediterranean  Sea 
from  the  country  of  the  Philistines  to  Mount  Libanus. 
The  Canaanites  and  Phoenicians  are  often  confounded. 

The  river  Euphrates .]  Thus  Moses  fixes  the  bounds 
of  the  land,  to  which  on  all  quarters  the  territories  of 
the  Israelites  might  be  extended,  should  the  land  of 
Canaan,  properly  so  called,  be  found  insufficient  for 
them.  Their  south  border  might  extend  to  the  mount 
of  the  Amorites;  their  west  to  the  borders  of  the 
Mediterranean  Sea  ;  their  north  to  Lebanon  ;  and  their 
east  border  to  the  river  Euphrates  :  and  to  this  extent 
Solomon  reigned;  see  1. Kings  iv.  21.  So  that  in 
his  time,  at  least,  the  promise  to  Abraham  was  literally 
fulfilled  ;  see  below. 

Vese  10.  Ye  are  this  day  as  the  stars  of  heaven  for 
multitude .]  This  was  the  promise  God  made  to  Abra¬ 
ham,  Gen.  xv.  5,  6  ;  and  Moses  considers  it  now  as 
amply  fulfilled.  But  was  it  really  so  %  Many  suppose 
the  expression  to  be  hyperbolical ;  and  others,  no  friends 

736 


to  revelation,  think  it  a  vain  empty  boast,  because  the 
stars,  in  their  apprehension,  amount  to  innumerable 
millions.  Let  us  consider  this  subject.  How  many 
in  number  are  the  stars  which  appear  to  the  naked  eye  1 
for  it  is  by  what  appears  to  the  naked  eye  we  are  to  be 
governed  in  this  business,  for  God  brought  Abraham 
forth  abroad ,  i.  e.,  out  of  doors,  and  bade  him  look  to¬ 
wards  heaven ,  not  with  a  telescope,  but  with  his  naked 
eyes,  Gen.  xv.  5.  Now  I  shall  beg  the  objector  to 
come  forth  abroad,  and  look  up  in  the  brightest  and 
most  favourable  night,  and  count  the  stars — he  need 
not  be  terrified  at  their  abundance  ;  the  more  they  are, 
the  more  he  can  count ;  and  I  shall  pledge  myself  to 
find  a  male  Israelite  in  the  very  last  census  taken  of 
this  people,  Num.  xxvi.,  for  every  star  he  finds  in  the 
whole  upper  hemisphere  of  heaven.  The  truth  is, 
only  about  3,010  stars  can  be  seen  by  the  naked  eye 
in  both  the  northern  and  southern  hemispheres ;  and 
the  Israelites,  independently  of  women  and  children, 
were  at  the  above  time  more  than  600,000.  And  sup¬ 
pose  we  even  allow  that,  from  the  late  discoveries  of 
Dr.  Herschel  and  others  with  telescopes  which  have 
magnified  between  35  and  36,000  times,  there  may  be 
75  millions  of  stars  visible  by  the  help  of  such  instru¬ 
ments,  which  is  the  highest  calculation  ever  made,  yet 
still  the  Divine  word  stands  literally  true  :  St.  Matthew 
says,  chap,  i.,  that  the  generations  from  Abraham  to 
Christ  were  42  ;  now  we  find  at  the  second  census  that 
the  fighting  men  among  the  Hebrews  amounted  to 
603,000  ;  and  the  Israelites,  who  have  never  ceased 
to  be  a  distinct  people,  have  so  multiplied  as  far  to  ex¬ 
ceed  the  number  of  all  the  fixed  stars  taken  together. 

Verse  13.  Take  you  wise  men]  D'DDn  chachamim, 
such  as  had  gained  knowledge  by  great  labour  and 
study.  Understanding  D'JID  nebonim ,  persons  of  dis- 

a 


CHAP.  I. 


Israelites  in  the  wilderness 


The  civil  constitution  of  the 


A.  M.  2553.  which  thou  hast  spoken  is  good 

B.  C.  1451.  ~  j 

An.  Ex.  Isr.  40.  JOr  US  tO  do. 

bebat‘  1 5  So  I  took  the  chief  of  your 
tribes,  wise  men,  and  known,  u  and  v  made 
them  heads  over  you,  captains  over  thousands, 
and  captains  over  hundreds,  and  captains  over 
fifties,  and  captains'  over  tens,  and  officers 
among  your  tribes. 

16  And  I  charged  your  judges  at  that  time, 
saying,  Hear  the  causes  between  your  brethren, 
and  w  judge  righteously  between  every  man  and 
his  x  brother,  and  the  stranger  that  is  with 
him. 

17  y  Ye  shall  not  z  respect  persons  in  judg¬ 
ment  ;  hut  ye  shall  hear  the  small  as  well  as 
the  great  ;  ye  shall  not  be  afraid  of  the  face 
of  man  ;  for  a  the  judgment  is  God’s  :  and  the 
cause  that  is  too  hard  for  you,  b  bring  it  unto 
me,  and  I  will  hear  it. 

18  And  I  commanded  you  at  that  time,  all 
the  things  which  ye  should  do. 

19  And  when  we  departed  from  Horeb, c  we 
went  through  all  that  great  and  terrible  wilder¬ 
ness,  which  ye  saw  by  the  way  of  the  mountain 
of  the  Amorites,  as  the  Lord  our  God  com¬ 
manded  us  ;  and  d  we  came  to  Kadesh-barnea. 

20  And  I  said  unto  you,  Ye  are  come  unto 
the  mountain  of  the  Amorites,  which  the  Lord 
our  God  doth  give  unto  us. 

21  Behold,  the  Lord  thy  God  hath  set  the 
land  before  thee  :  go  up  and  possess  it,  as  the 

u  Exod.  xviii.  25. - v  Heb.  gave. - w  Chap.  xvi.  18;  John 

vii.  24. - 1  Lev.  xxiv.  22. - r  Lev.  xix.  15 ;  chap.  xvi.  19  ; 

1  Sam.  xvi.  7  ;  Prov.  xxiv.  23;  James  ii.  1. - z  Heb.  acknow¬ 
ledge  faces. - a  2  Chron.  xix.  6. - b  Exod.  xviii.  22,  26. 

c  Num.  x.  12  ;  chap.  viii.  15  ;  Jer.  ii.  6. 

cernment,  judicious  men.  Known,  D'^T  yeduim ,  per¬ 
sons  practised  in  the  operations  of  nature,  capable  of 
performing  curious  and  important  works. 

Verse  15.  Captains  over  thousands ,  c fc.]  What  a 
curious  and  well-regulated  economy  was  that  of  the 
Israelites  !  See  its  order  and  arrangement :  1.  GOD, 
the  King  and  Supreme  Judge  ;  2.  Moses,  God’s  prime 
minister  ;  3.  The  priests,  consulting  him  by  TJrim  and 
Thummim ;  4.  The  chiefs  or  princes  of  the  twelve 
tribes ;  5.  Chiliarchs,  or  captains  over  thousands ; 
6.  Centurions ,  or  captains  over  hundreds  ;  7.  Tri¬ 
bunes,  or  captains  over  fifty  men  ;  8.  Decurions,  or 
captains  over  ten  men ;  and,  9.  Officers,  persons  who 
might  be  employed  by  the  different  chiefs  in  executing 
particular  commands.  All  these  held  their  authority 
from  God,  and  yet  were  subject  and  accountable  to 
each  other.  See  the  notes  on  Num.  ii. 

Verse  17.  Ye  shall  not  respect  persons]  Heb.  faces. 
Let  not  the  bold,  daring  countenance  of  the  rich  or 
mighty  induce  you  to  give  an  unrighteous  decision ; 
and  let  not  the  abject  look  of  the  poor  man  induce  you 

Vol.  I.  (  48  ) 


Lord  God  of  thy  fathers  hath  A.  M.  2553. 

.  .  .  /  .  .  B.  C.  1451. 

said  unto  thee  ;  e  fear  not,  neither  An.  Ex.  isr.  40. 

be  discouraged.  Sebat. 


22  And  ye  came  near  unto  me  every  one  of 
you,  and  said,  We  will  send  men  before  us, 
and  they  shall  search  us  out  the  land,  and 
bring  us  word  again  by  what  way  we  must 
go  up,  and  into  what  cities  we  shall  come. 

23  And  the  saying  pleased  me  well :  and 
f  I  took  twelve  men  of  you,  one  of  a  tribe  : 

24  And  s  they  turned  and  went  up  into  the 
mountain,  and  came  unto  the  valley  of  Eshcol, 
and  searched  it  out. 

25  And  they  took  of  the  fruit  of  the  land  in 
their  hands,  and  brought  it  down  unto  us,  and 
brought  us  word  again,  and  said,  h  It  is  a  good 
land  which  the  Lord  our  God  doth  give  us. 

26  1  Notwithstanding  ye  would  not  go  up, 
but  rebelled  against  the  commandment  of  the 
Lord  your  God  : 

27  And  ye  murmured  in  your  tents,  and  said, 
Because  the  Lord  k  hated  us,  he  hath  brought 
us  forth  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt,  to  deliver 
us  into  the  hand  of  the  Amorites,  to  de¬ 
stroy  us. 

28  Whither  shall  we  go  up  ?  our  brethren 
have  1  discouraged  our  heart,  saying,  m  The 
people  is  greater  and  taller  than  we  ;  the  cities 
are  great  and  walled  up  to  heaven  ;  and  more¬ 
over  we  have  seen  the  sons  of  the  n  Anakims 
there. 


d  Num.  xiii.  26. - -e  Josh.  i.  9.— 

xiii.  22,  23,  24. - h  Num.  xiii.  27. 


-fNum.  xiii.  3.- 


Num. 


!  Numbers  xiv.  1,  2,  3,  4  ; 
— 1  Heb.  melted ;  Josh.  ii. 
“Num.  xiii.  28,  31,32,33;  chap.  ix.  1,  2. - “Num. 


Psa.  cvi.  24,  25. 
11.- 

xiii.  28. 


-k  Chapter  ix.  28.- 


either  to  favour  him  in  an  unrighteous  cause,  or  to  give 
judgment  against  him  at  the  demand  of  the  oppressor. 
Be  uncorrupt  and  incorruptible,  for  the  judgment  is 
God's  ;  ye  minister  in  the  place  of  God,  act  like  Him. 

Verse  22.  We  will  send  men  before  us]  See  on 
Num.  xiii. 

Verse  28.  Cities — walled  up  to  heaven]  That  is, 
with  very  high  walls  which  could  not  be  easily  scaled. 
High  walls  around  houses,  &c.,  in  these  parts  of  Ara¬ 
bia  are  still  deemed  a  sufficient  defence  against  the 
Arabs,  who  scarcely  ever  attempt  any  thing  in  the 
way  of  plunder  but  on  horseback.  The  monastery  on 
Mount  Sinai  is  surrounded  with  very  high  walls  with¬ 
out  any  gale  ;  in  the  upper  part  of  the  wall  there  is  a 
sort  of  window,  or  opening,  from  which  a  basket  is 
suspended  by  a  pulley,  by  which  both  persons  and  goods 
arc  received  into  and  sent  from  the  place.  It  is  the 
same  with  the  convent  of  St.  Anthony,  in  Egypt ;  and 
this  sort  of  wall  is  deemed  a  sufficient  defence  against 
the  Arabs,  who,  as  we  have  already  observed,  scarcely 
ever  like  to  alight  from  their  horses. 

737 


The  evil  consequences  of  the  DEUTERONOMY.  had  report  brought  by  the  spies. 


a.  M.  2553.  29  Then  I  said  unto  you, 

B.  C.  1451.  .  -i  i  c  •  i 

An. Ex.  isr.  40.  Dread  not,  neither  be  afraid 

Sebat-  of  them. 

30  0  The  Lord  your  God  which  goeth  be¬ 
fore  you,  he  shall  fight  for  you,  according  to 
all  that  he  did  for  you  in  Egypt  before  your 
eyes; 

31  And  in  the  wilderness,  where  thou  hast 
seen  how  that  the  Lord  thy  God  p  bare  thee, 
as  a  man  doth  bear  his  son,  in  all  the  way 
that  ye  went,  until  ye  came  into  this  place. 

32  Yet  in  this  thing  q  ye  did  not  believe  the 
Lord  your  God, 

33  r  Who  went  in  the  way  before  you,  s  to 
search  you  out  a  place  to  pitch  your  tents  in, 
in  fire  by  night,  to  show  you  by  what  way  ye 
should  go,  and  in  a  cloud  by  day. 

34  And  the  Lord  heard  the  voice  of  your 
words,  and  was  wroth, *  1  and  sware,  saying, 

35  u  Surely  there  shall  not  one  of  these  men 
of  this  evil  generation  see  that  good  land, 
which  I  sware  to  give  unto  your  fathers, 

36  v  Save  Caleb  the  son  of  Jephunneh  ;  he 
shall  see  it,  and  to  him  will  I  give  the  land 
that  he  hath  trodden  upon,  and  to  his  children, 
because  w  he  hath  x  wholly  followed  the  Lord. 

37  yA!so  the  Lord  was  angry  with  me  for 
your  sakes,  saying,  Thou  also  shalt  not  go  in 
thither. 

38  z  But  Joshua  the  son  of  Nun,  a  which 
standeth  before  thee,  he  shall  go  in  thither  ; 
b  encourage  him,  for  he  shall  cause  Israel  to 
inherit  it. 


39  c  Moreover  your  little  ones,  A. M-2553. 
which  d  ye  said  should  be  a  prey,  An.  Ex.  isr.  40. 
and  your  children,  which  in  that  Sebat' 
day  e  had  no  knowledge  between  good  and 
evil,  they  shall  go  in  thither,  and  unto  them 
will  I  give  it,  and  they  shall  possess  it. 

40  f  But  as  for  you,  turn  you,  and  take 
your  journey  into  the  wilderness  by  the  way 
of  the  Red  Sea. 

4 1  Then  ye  answered  and  said  unto  me, 
B  We  have  sinned  against  the  Lord,  we  will 
go  up  and  fight,  according  to  all  that  the 
Lord  our  God  commanded  us.  And  when 
ye  had  girded  on  every  man  his  weapons  of 
war,  ye  were  ready  to  go  up  into  the  hill. 

42  And  the  Lord  said  unto  me,  Say  unto 
them,  h  Go  not  up,  neither  fight  ;  for  I  am 
not  among  you  ;  lest  ye  be  smitten  before 
your  enemies. 

43  So  I  spake  unto  you  ;  and  ye  would  not 
hear,  but  rebelled  against  the  commandment 
of  the  Lord,  and  1  went  k  presumptuously  up 
into  the  hill. 

44  And  the  Amorites,  which  dwelt  in  that 
mountain,  came  out  against  you  and  chased 
you,  1  as  bees  do,  and  destroyed  you  in  Seir, 
even  unto  Hormah. 

45  And  ye  returned  and  m  wept  before  the 
Lord  ;  but  the  Lord  n  would  not  hearken  to 
your  voice,  nor  give  ear  unto  you. 

46  0  So  ye  abode  in  Kadesh  many  days, 
according  unto  the  days  that  ye  abode 
there. 


0  Exod.  xiv.  14, 25 ;  Neh.  i v.  20. - P  Exod.  xix.  4 ;  chap,  xxxii. 

11,  12;  Isa.  xlvi.  3,  4;  lxiii.  9;  Hos.  xi. 3;  see  on  Acts  xiii.  18. 

**  Psa.  cvi.  24 ;  Jude  5. - rExod.  xiii.  21;  Psa.  lxxviii.  14. 

"Num.  x.33;  Ezek.xx.6. - ‘Chap.ii.  14,  15. - uNum.  xiv... 

22,  23;  Psa.  xcv.  11. - vNum.  xiv.  24,  30;  Josh.  xiv.  9. 

w  Num.  xiv.  24. - x  Heb .fulfilled  to  go  after. - J'Num,  xx.  12  ; 

xxvii.  14 ;  chap.  iii.  26 ;  iv.  21 ;  xxxiv.  4 ;  Psa.  cvi.  32. 

Yerse  30.  The  Lord — shall  fight  for  you ]  In  the 
Targum  of  Onkelos,  it  is,  the  Word  of  the  Lord  shall 
fight  for  you.  In  a  great  number  of  places  the  Tar- 
gurns  or  Chaldee  paraphrases  use  the  term  ’’H  tOD’D 
meimera  dayeya  or  Yehovah ,  the  Word  of  the  Lord, 
exactly  in  the  same  way  in  which  St.  John  uses  the 
term  Aoyof  Logos  in  the  first  chapter  of  his  Gospel. 
Many  instances  of  this  have  already  occurred. 

Verse  34.  The  Lord — was  wroth ]  That  is,  his 
justice  was  incensed,  and  he  evidenced  his  displeasure 
against  you  ;  and  he  could  not  have  been  a  just  God 
if  he  had  not  done  so. 

Yerse  36.  Caleb — wholly  followed  the  Lord.]  See 
on  Num.  xiv.  24. 

Yerse  37.  The  Lord  was  angry  with  me]  See  on 
Num.  xx.  10,  &c.,  where  a  particular  account  is  given 
of  the  sin  of  Moses. 


zNum.  xiv.  30. - a  Exod.  xxiv.  13  ;  xxxiii.  11;  see  1  Sam. 

xvi.  22. - 'bNum.  xxvii.  18,  19;  chap.  xxxi.  7,  23. - cNum. 

xiv.  31. - dNum.  xiv.  3. - eIsa.  vii.  15,  16;  Rom.  ix.  11. 

fNum.  xiv.  25. - s  Num.  xiv.  40. - h  Num.  xiv.  42. - ‘Heb. 

ye  were  presumptuous  and  went  up. - k  Num.  xiv.  44,  45. 

1  Psa.  cxviii.  12. - mPsa.  lxxviii.  34. - nHeb.  xii.  17. 

°Num.  xiii.  25  ;  xx.  1,  22  ;  Judg.  xi.  17. 

Yerse  44.  The  Amorites — chased  you]  See  the  note 
on  Num.  xiv.  40  ;  as  bees  do — by  irresistible  numbers. 

Verse  46.  According  unto  the  days  that  ye  abode 
there.]  They  had  been  a  long  time  at  this  place,  see 
Num.  xiii.  27  ;  xx.  1,  14,  21.  And  some  think  that 
the  words  mean,  “Ye  abode  as  long  at  Kadesh,  when 
you  came  to  it  the  second  time,  as  ye  did  at  the  first.” 
Or,  according  to  others,  “  While  ye  were  in  that  part 
of  the  desert,  ye  encamped  at  Kadesh.” 

1.  As  one  grand  object  of  the  law  of  God  was  to 
instruct  the  people  in  those  things  which  were  calcu¬ 
lated  to  promote  their  peace  and  insure  their  prosperity  ; 
and  as  they  were  apt  to  lose  sight  of  their  spiritual 
interests,  without  a  due  attention  to  which  their  secular 
interest  could  not  be  promoted  ;  Moses,  not  only  in  this 
chapter,  but  through  the  whole  book,  calls  upon  them 

(  48*  )  a 


738 


CHAP.  II. 


Moses  relates  how  they 

to  recollect  their  former  miserable  situation,  in  which 
they  held  neither  life  nor  property  but  at  the  will  of  a 
merciless  tyrant,  and  the  great  kindness  and  power  of 
God  manifested  in  their  deliverance  from  a  bondage  that 
was  as  degrading  as  itwras  oppressive.  These  things 
properly  remembered  would  lead  them  to  prize  their 
blessings,  and  duly  appreciate  the  mercy  of  their  Maker. 

2.  But  it  was  not  only  this  general  display  of  God’s 
kindness,  in  the  grand  act  of  their  deliverance  from 
Egypt,  that  he  wished  them  to  keep  constantly  in  view, 
but  also  that  gracious  providence  which  was  manifested 
in  every  step  they  took  ;  which  directed  all  their  move¬ 
ments,  provided  for  all  their  wants,  continually  show¬ 
ing  what  they  should  do,  how  they  should  do  it,  and 
also  the  most  proper  time  and  place  for  every  act, 
whether  religious  or  civil.  By  bringing  before  them 
in  one  point  of  view  the  history  of  almost  forty  years , 
in  which  the  strangest  and  most  stupendous  occurrences 
had  taken  place  that  had  ever  been  exhibited  to  the 
world,  he  took  the  readiest  way  to  impress  their  minds, 
not  only  with  their  deep  obligation  to  God,  but  also  to 
show  them  that  they  were  a  people  on  whom  their  Ma¬ 
ker  had  set  his  heart  to  do  them  good,  and  that  if  they 
feared  him  they  should  lack  nothing  that  was  good. 
He  lays  out  also  before  them  a  history  of  their  mis¬ 
carriages  and  rebellion,  and  the  privations  and  evils 
they  had  suffered  in  consequence,  that  this  might  act 
as  a  continual  warning ,  and  thus  become,  in  the  hands 
of  God,  a  preventive  of  crimes. 


compassed  Mount  Seir. 

3.  If  every  Christian  were  thus  to  call  his  past  life 
into  review,  he  would  see  equal  proofs  of  God’s  gra¬ 
cious  regards  to  his  body  and  soul ;  equal  proofs  of 
eternal  mercy  in  providing  for  his  deliverance  from  the 
galling  yoke  and  oppressive  tyranny  of  sin,  as  the  Is¬ 
raelites  had  in  their  deliverance  from  Egypt ;  and  equal 
displays  of  a  most  gracious  providence,  that  had  also 
been  his  incessant  companion  through  all  the  changes 
and  chances,  of  this  mortal  life,  guiding  him  by  its 
counsel,  that  he  might  be  at  last  received  into  glory. 
0  reader,  remember  what  God  has  done  for  thee  during 
thy  forty,  fifty,  &c.,  years  !  He  has  nourished,  fed, 
clothed,  protected,  and  saved  thee.  How  often  and 
how  powerfully  has  his  Spirit  striven  with  thee  !  How 
often  and  how  impressively  thou  hast  heard  his  voice 
in  his  Gospel  and  in  his  providences  !  Remember  the 
good  resolutions  thou  hast  made,  the  ingratitude  and 
disobedience  that  have  marked  thy  life  ;  how  his  vows 
are  still  upon  thee,  and  how  his  mercy  still  spares 
thee  !  And  wilt  thou  live  so  as  to  perish  for  ever  I 
God  forbid  !  He  still  waits  to  be  gracious,  and  re¬ 
joices  over  thee  to  do  thee  good.  Learn  from  what  is 
before  thee  how  thou  shouldst  fear,  love,  believe  in, 
and  obey  thy  God.  The  Lamb  of  God,  that  taketh 
away  the  sin  of  the  world,  is  still  before  the  throne  ; 
and  whosoever  cometh  unto  God  through  him  shall  in 
nowise  be  cast  out.  He  who  believes  these  things 
with  an  upright  heart  will  soon  be  enabled  to  live  a 
sanctified  life. 


CHAPTER  II. 


Moses  continues  to  relate  how  they  compassed  Mount  Seir,  1.  And  the  commands  they  received  not  to  med¬ 
dle  with  the  descendants  of  Esau,  2—8;  nor  to  distress  the  Moabites,  9.  Of  the  Emims,  10,  11  ;  the 
Horims,  12.  Their  passage  of  the  brook  Zered,  13.  The  time  they  spent  between  Kadesh-barnea  and 
Zered,  14;  during  which  all  the  men  of  war  that  came  out  of  Egypt  were  consumed,  15,  lb‘.  The  com¬ 
mand  not  to  distress  the  Ammonites,  17—19.  Of  the  Zamzummims,  20,  the  Anakims,  21,  the  Horims, 
22,  the  Avims  and  Caphtorims,  all  destroyed  by  the  Ammonites,  23.  They  are  commanded  to  cross  the 
river  Arnon,  and  are  promised  the  land  of  Sihon,  king  of  the  Amorites,  24,  25.  Of  the  message  sent  to 
Sihon,  to  request  a  passage  through  his  territories,  26—29.  His  refusal,  30.  The  consequent  war,  31, 
32.  His  total  overthrow,  33  ;  and  extermination  of  his  people,  34.  The  spoils  that  were  taken ,  35. 
And  his  land  possessed  from  Aroer  to  Arnon  by  the  Israelites,  36  ;  who  took  care,  according  to  the  com¬ 
mand  of  God ,  not  to  invade  any  part  of  the  territories  of  the  Ammonites,  37. 


A.  M.  2553. 

B.  C.  1451. 
An.  Ex.  Isr.  40. 

Sebat. 


'T'HEN  we  turned,  and  took 
our  journey  into  the  wil¬ 
derness  by  the  way  of  the  Red 
Sea,  a  as  the  Lord  spake  unto  me  :  and  we 
compassed  Mount  Seir  many  days. 

2  And  the  Lord  spake  unto  me,  saying, 

3  Ye  have  compassed  this  mountain  b  long 
enough  :  turn  you  northward. 

4  And  command  thou  the  people,  saying, 

Num.  xiv.  25;  chap.  i.  40. - bSee  ver,  7,  14. - c  Num. 

xx.  14. 


c  Ye  are  to  pass  through  the  coast  a.  m.  2553. 

-  .  \  Tin  r  B.  C.  1451. 

or  your  brethren  the  children  ot  An.  Ex.  Hr.  40. 

Esau,  which  dwell  in  Seir ;  and  Sebdt‘ 

they  shall  be  afraid  of  you :  take  ye  good 

heed  unto  yourselves  therefore  : 

5  Meddle  not  with  them  ;  for  I  will  not  give 

you  of  their  land,  d  no,  not  so  much  as  a  foot 

breadth ;  e  because  I  have  given  Mount  Seir 

unto  Esau  for  a  possession. 

<1  Hebrew,  even  to  the  treading  of  the  sole  of  the  foot. - e  Gen. 

xxxvi.  8  ;  Josh.  xxiv.  4. 


NOTES  ON  CHAP.  II. 

Verse  3.  Turn  you  northward .]  From  Mount 
Seir,  in  order  to  get  to  Canaan.  This  was  not 
the  way  they  went  before,  viz.,  by  Kadesh-barnea, 
but  they  were  to  proceed  between  Edom  on  the 

a 


one  hand,  and  Moab  and  Ammon  on  the  other,  so 
as  to  enter  into  Canaan  through  the  land  of  the 
Amorites. 

Verse  5.  Meddle  not  with  them]  That  is,  the 
Edomites.  See  on  Num.  xx.  14-21. 

739 


The  command  not  to  touch 


DEUTERONOMY, 


the  Edomites  nor  Moabites. 


A.  M.  2553.  6  Ye  shall  buy  meat  of  them 

B.  C.  1451.  r  J  , 

An.  Ex.  isr.  40.  lor  money,  that  ye  may  eat ;  and 

Sebat‘  ye  shall  also  buy  water  of  them 
for  money,  that  ye  may  drink. 

7  For  the  Lord  thy  God  hath  blessed  thee 
in  all  the  works  of  thy  hand  :  he  knoweth  thy 
walking  through  this  great  wilderness  :  f  these 
forty  years  the  Lord  thy  God  hath  been  with 
thee  ;  thou  hast  lacked  nothing. 

8  e  And  when  we  passed  by  from  our  breth¬ 
ren  the  children  of  Esau,  which  dwelt  in  Seir, 
through  the  way  of  the  plain  from  h  Elath,  and 
from  Ezion-gaber,  we  turned  and  passed  by 
the  way  of  the  wilderness  of  Moab. 

9  And  the  Lord  said  unto  me,  1  Distress 
not  the  Moabites,  neither  contend  with  them 
in  battle  :  for  I  will  not  give  thee  of  their  land 
for  a  possession ;  because  I  have  given  k  Ar 
unto  1  the  children  of  Lot  for  a  possession. 

1 0  m  The  Emims  dwelt  therein  in  times  past, 
a  people  great,  and  many,  and  tall,  as  n  the 
Anakims  ; 

1 1  Which  also  were  accounted  giants,  as  the 
Anakims;  but  the  Moabites  call  them  Emims. 

12  0  The  Horims  also  dwelt  in  Seir  before¬ 
time  ;  but  the  children  of  Esau  p  succeeded 
them,  when  they  had  destroyed  them  from 
before  them,  and  dwelt  in  their  *  stead  ;  as 
Israel  did  unto  the  land  of  his  possession, 
which  the  Lord  gave  unto  them. 

f  Chap.  viii.  2,'  3,  4. - s  Judg.  xi.  18. - h  1  Kings  ix.  26. 

5  Or,  Use  no  hostility  against  Moab. - k  Nura.  xxi.  28. - 1  Gen. 

xix.  36,  37. - mGen.  xiv.  5. - nNum.  xiii.  22, 33  ;  chap.  ix.  2. 

0  Ver.  22;  Gen.  xiv.  6;  xxxvi.  20. - -P  Heb.  inherited  them. 

*1  Or,  room. 

Verse  7.  The  Lord — hath  blessed  thee,  <yc.]  God 
had  given  them  much  property,  and  therefore  they  had 
no  need  of  plunder ;  they  had  gold  and  silver  to  buy 
the  provender  they  needed,  and  therefore  God  would 
not  permit  them  to  take  any  thing  by  violence. 

Verse  10.  The  Emims  dwelt  therein ]  Calmet  sup¬ 
poses  that  these  people  were  destroyed  in  the  war 
made  against  them  by  Chedorlaomer  and  his  allies, 
Gen.  xiv.  5.  Lot  possessed  their  country  after  the 
destruction  of  Sodom  and  Gomorrha.  They  are  ge¬ 
nerally  esteemed  as  giants;  probably  they  were  a 
hardy,  fierce,  and  terrible  people,  who  lived,  like  the 
wandering  Arabs,  on  the  plunder  of  others.  This  was 
sufficient  to  gain  them  the  appellation  of  giants,  or  men 
of  prodigious  stature.  See  below. 

Verse  11.  Which  also  were  accounted  giants\  This 
is  not  a  fortunate  version.  The  word  is  not  giants, 
but  □,N3‘n  Rephaim ,  the  name  of  a  people.  It  appears 
that  the  Emim ,  the  Anakim,  and  the  Rephaim,  were 
probably  the  same  people,  called  by  different  names  in 
the  different  countries  where  they  dwelt ;  for  they  ap¬ 
pear  originally  to  have  been  a  kind  of  wandering  free- 

740 


1 3  Now  rise  up,  said  /,  and  get  a.  m.  2553. 
you  over  rthe  8  brook  Zered.  An.’ Ex.  Isr.  40. 
And  we  went  over  the  brook  Sebat" 
Zered. 

14  And  the  space  in  which  we  came  *  from 
Kadesh-barnea,  until  we  wTere  come  over  the 
brook  Zered,  was  thirty  and  eight  years  ; 
u  until  all  the  generation  of  the  men  of  war 
were  wasted  out  from  among  the  host,  v  as  the 
Lord  sware  unto  them. 

15  For  indeed  the  w  hand  of  the  Lord  was 
against  them,  to  destroy  them  from,  among  the 
host,  until  they  were  consumed. 

16  So  it  came  to  pass,  when  all  the  men  of 
war  were  consumed  and  dead  from  among  the 
people, 

17  That  the  Lord  spake  unto  me,  saying, 

18  Thou  art  to  pass  over  through  Ar,  the 
coast  of  Moab,  this  day  : 

1 9  And  when  thou  comest  nigh  over  against 
the  children  of  Ammon,  distress  them  not,  nor 
meddle  with  them  :  for  I  will  not  give  thee  of 
the  land  of  the  children  of  Ammon  any  posses¬ 
sion  ;  because  I  have  given  it  unto  x  the  chil¬ 
dren  of  Lot  for  a  possession. 

20  (That  also  was  accounted  a  land  of  giants: 
giants  dwelt  therein  in  old  time  ;  and  the  Am¬ 
monites  call  them  y  Zamzummims  ; 

21  z  A  people  great,  and  many,  and  tall,  as 
the  Anakims  ;  but  the  Lord  destroyed  them 

rNum.  xxi.  12. - s  Or,  valley ;  Num.  xiii.  23. - t  Numbers 

xiii.  26. - u  Numbers  xiv.  33;  xxvi.  64. - v  Numbers  xiv. 

35 ;  chap.  i.  34,  35  ;  Ezek.  xx.  15. - Psa.  lxxviii.  33 ; 

cvi.  26. - x  Gen.  xix.  38. - -y  Gen.  xiv.  5,  Zuzims. - z  Sec 

verse  10. 

booters,  who  lived  by  plunder.  (See  on  the  preceding 
verse.)  It  must  be  granted,  however,  that  there  were 
several  men  of  this  race  of  extraordinary  stature.  And 
hence  all  gigantic  men  have  been  called  Rephaim. 
(See  on  Gen.  vi.  4,  and  xiv.  5.)  But  we  well  know 
that  fear  and  public  report  have  often  added  whole 
cubits  to  men’s  height.  It  was  under  this  influence 
that  the  spies  acted,  when  they  brought  the  disheart¬ 
ening  report  mentioned  Num.  xiii.  33. 

V erse  1 2 .  The  Horims  also  dwelt  in  The  whole 

of  this  verse  was  probably  added  by  Joshua  or  Ezra. 

Verse  20.  That  also  was  accounted  a  land  of  giants ] 
That  was  accounted  the  land  or  territory  of  the  Rephaim. 

Zamzummims ]  Supposed  to  be  the  same  as  the 
Zuzim ,  Gen.  xiv.  5.  Of  these  ancient  people  we 
know  very  little  ;  they  were  probably  inconsiderable 
tribes  or  clans,  “  pursuing  and  pursued,  each  other’s 
prey,”  till  at  length  a  stronger  totally  destroyed  or  sub¬ 
dued  them,  and  their  name  became  either  extinct  or 
absorbed  in  that  of  their  conquerors.  From  the  10th 
to  the  12th,  and  from  the  20th  to  the  23d  verse  inclu¬ 
sive,  we  have  certain  historical  remarks  introduced 


CHAP.  II. 


! The  command  to  possess  the 

a.  M.  2553.  before  them  ;  and  they  succeeded 
An.  Ex.  isr.  40.  them,  and  dwelt  in  their  stead  : 

Scb:lt~  22  As  he  did  to  the  children  of 
Esau,  a  which  dwelt  in  Seir,  when  he  destroyed 
b  the  Horims  from  before  them  ;  and  they  suc¬ 
ceeded  them,  and  dwelt  in  their  stead  even 
unto  this  day  : 

23  And  c  the  Avims  which  dwelt  in  Hazerim, 
even  unto  d  Azzah,  c  the  Caphtorims,  which 
came  forth  out  of  Caphtor,  destroyed  them,  and 
dwelt  in  their  stead.) 

24  Rise  ye  up,  take  your  journey,  and  f  pass 
over  the  river  Arnon :  behold,  I  have  given 
into  thine  hand  Sihon  the  Amorite,  king  of 
Heshbon,  and  his  land :  s  begin  to  possess  it, 
and  contend  with  him  in  battle. 

25  h  This  day  will  I  begin  to  put  the  dread  of 
thee,  and  the  fear  of  thee,  upon  the  nations 
that  are  under  the  whole  heaven,  who  shall 
hear  report  of  thee,  and  shall  tremble,  and  be 
in  anguish  because  of  thee. 

26  And  I  sent  messengers  out  of  the  wilder¬ 
ness  of  Kedemoth,  unto  Sihon  king  of  Hesh¬ 
bon,  1  with  words  of  peace,  saying, 

27  k  Let  me  pass  through  thy  land  :  I  will  go 
along  by  the  high-way,  I  will  neither  turn  unto 
the  right  hand  nor  to  the  left. 

28  Thou  shalt  sell  me  meat  for  money,  that  I 
may  eat ;  and  give  me  water  for  money,  that  I 
may  drink :  1  only  I  will  pass  through  on  my  feet ; 

29  (m  As  the  children  of  Esau  which  dwell  in 
Seir,  and  the  Moabites  which  dwell  in  Ar,  did 
untome  ;)  until  I  shall  pass  over  Jordan,  into 

a  Gex.  xxxvi.  8. - b  Gen.  xiv.  6  ;  xxxvi.  20-30  ;  ver.  12. 

c  Josh.  xiii.  3. - d  Jer.  xxv.  20. - e  Gen.  x.  14  ;  Amos  ix.  7. 

fNum.  xxi.  13,  14;  Judg.  xi.  18,  21. - s  Heb.  begin,  possess. 

h  Exod.  xv.  14, 15  ;  chap.  xi.  25  ;  Josh.  ii.  9, 10. - 1  Chap.  xx.  10. 

k  Num.  xxi.  21,  22;  Judg.  xi.  19. - 'Num.  xxi.  19. - mSee 

Num.  xx.  18  ;  chap,  xxiii.  3,  4 ;  Judg.  xi.  17,  18. 


which  do  not  seem  to  have  been  made  by  Moses,  but 
rather  by  Joshua  or  Ezra.  By  the  introduction  of 
these  verses  the  thread  of  the  narrative  suffers  con¬ 
siderable  interruption.  Dr.  Kennicott  considers  both 
these  passages  to  be  interpolations.  That  they  could 
not  have  made  a  part  of  the  speech  of  Moses  origin¬ 
ally,  needs  little  proof. 

Verse  29.  As  the  children  of  Esau  which  dwell  in 
Seir ]  See  the  note  on  Num.  xx.  21. 

Verse  30.  The  Lord — hardened  his  spirit ]  See  the 
notes  on  Exod.  iv.  21,  and  ix.  15,  &c. 

Verse  36.  From  Aroer — by  the  brink  of  the  river 
of  Arnon]  See  on  Num.  xxi.  13,  &c. 

a 


land  of  Sihon,  king  of  Heshbon 
the  land  which  the  Lord  our  God  A.  M.  2553. 

•  B.  C.  1451. 

giveth  US.  An.  Ex.  Isr.  40 

30  11  But  Sihon  king  of  Ilesh-  Sebat- 
bon  would  not  let  us  pass  by  him  :  for  0  the 
Lord  thy  God  p  hardened  his  spirit,  and  made 
his  heart  obstinate,  that  he  might  deliver  him 
into  thy  hand,  as  appear eth  this  day. 

3  1  And  the  Lord  said  unto  me,  Behold,  I 
have  begun  to  q  give  Sihon  and  his  land  before 
thee  :  begin  to  possess,  that  thou  mayest  inherit 
his  land. 

32  r  Then  Sihon  came  out  against  us,  he  and 
all  his  people,  to  fight  at  Jahaz. 

33  And  s  the  Lord  our  God  delivered  him 
before  us ;  and  4  we  smote  him,  and  his  sons, 
and  all  his  people. 

34  And  we  took  all  his  cities  at  that  time,  and 
11  utterly  destroyed  v  the  men,  and  the  women, 
and  the  little  ones,  of  every  city,  we  left  none 
to  remain  : 

35  Only  the  cattle  we  took  for  a  prey  unto 
ourselves,  and  the  spoil  of  the  cities  which 
we  took. 

36  w  From  Aroer,  which  is  by  the  brink  of 
the  river  of  Arnon,  and  from  the  city  that  is 
by  the  river,  even  unto  Gilead,  there  was  not 
one  city  too  strong  for  us  :  x  the  Lord  our  God 
delivered  all  unto  us  : 

37  Only  unto  the  land  of  the  children  of 
Ammon  thou  earnest  not,  nor  unto  any  place 
of  the  river  y  Jabbok,  nor  unto  the  cities  in  the 
mountains,  nor  unto  z  whatsoever  the  Lord 
our  God  forbade  us. 


nNum.  xxi.  23. - 0  Josh.  xi.  20. - P  Exod.  iv.  21. — 9  Chap. 

i.  8. - r  Num.  xxi.  23. - s  Chap.  vii.  2 ;  xx.  16. - f  Num.  xxi. 

24  ;  chap.  xxix.  7. - u  Lev.xxvii.  28  ;  chap.  vii.  2,26. - v  Heb. 

every  city  of  men,  and  women,  and  little  ones. - w  Chap.  iii.  12  ; 

iv.  48 ;  Josh.  xiii.  9. - 1  Psa.  xliv.  3. - 7  Gen.  xxxii.  22 ;  Num. 

xxi.  24  ;  chap.  iii.  16. - z  Ver.  5, 9,  19. 

Verse  37.  Only  unto  the  land  of  the  children  of 
Ammon  thou  earnest  not]  God  gave  them  their  com¬ 
mission  ;  and  those  only  were  to  be  cut  off,  the  cup 
of  whose  iniquity  was  full.  Though  the  Moabites  and 
Ammonites  were  thus  spared,  they  requited  good  with 
evil,  for  they  fought  against  the  Israelites,  and  cast 
them  out  of  their  possessions,  Judg.  xi.  4,  5  ;  2  Chron. 
xx.  1,  &c.,  and  committed  the  most  shocking  cruel¬ 
ties;  see  Amos  i.  13.  Hence  God  enacted  a  law, 
that  none  of  these  people  should  enter  into  the  congre¬ 
gation  of  the  Lord  even  to  their  tenth  generation  ;  see 
chap,  xxiii.  3-6. 


741 


The  Israelites  fight  with  and 


DEUTERONOMY. 


discomfit  Og ,  king  of  Bashan. 


CHAPTER  III. 

The  war  with  Og,  King  of  Bashan,  1,  2.  He  is  defeated,  3.  Sixty  fortified  cities  with  many  unwalled 
towns  taken ,  4,  5.  The  utter  destruction  of  the  people,  6.  The  spoils,  7  ;  and  extent  of  the  land  taken, 
8—10.  Account  of  Og’s  iron  bedstead,  11.  The  land  given  to  the  Reubenites,  Gadites,  and  half  tribe  of 
Manasseh,  12,  13.  Jair  takes  the  country  of  Argob,  14.  Gilead  is  given  unto  Machir,  15.  And  the 
rest  of  the  land  possessed  by  the  Reubenites  and  Gadites,  16,  17.  The  directions  given  to  those  tribes, 
18—20.  The  counsel  given  to  Joshua,  21,  22.  Moses's  prayer  to  God  for  permission  to  go  into  the 
promised  land,  23-25  ;  and  God's  refusal ,  26.  He  is  commanded  to  go  up  to  Mount  Pisgah  to  see  it,  27  ; 
and  to  encourage  Joshua,  28.  They  continue  in  the  valley  opposite  to  Beth-peor,  29. 


A.  M.  2553. 

B.  C. 1451. 
An.  Ex.  Isr.  40. 

Sebat. 


rpHEN  we  turned,  and  went 
up  the  way  to  Bashan  :  and 
a  Og  the  king  of  Bashan  came 
out  against  us,  he  and  all  his  people,  to  battle 
bat  Edrei. 

2  And  the  Lord  said  unto  me,  Fear  him  not : 
for  I  will  deliver  him,  and  all  his  people,  and 
his  land,  into  thy  hand ;  and  thou  shalt  do  unto 
him  as  thou  didst  unto  c  Sihon  king  of  the 
Amorites,  which  dwelt  at  Heshbon. 

3  So  the  Lord  our  God  delivered  into  our 
hands  Og  also,  the  king  of  Bashan,  and  all 
his  people  :  d  and  we  smote  him  until  none 
was  left  to  him  remaining. 

4  And  we  took  all  his  cities  at  that  time, 
there  was  not  a  city  which  we  took  not  from 
them,  threescore  cities, e  all  the  region  of  Argob, 
the  kingdom  of  Og  in  Bashan. 

5  All  these  cities  were  fenced  with  high 
walls,  gates,  and  bars  ;  beside  unwalled  towns 
a  great  many. 

6  And  we  utterly  destroyed  them,  as  we  did 
unto  Sihon,  king  of  Heshbon,  utterly  destroy¬ 
ing  the  men,  women,  and  children,  of  every  city. 

7  But  all  the  cattle,  and  the  spoil  of  the 
cities,  we  took  for  a  prey  to  ourselves. 


8  And  we  took  at  that  time  out  A.  M.  2553. 
of  the  hand  of  the  two  kings  of  An.  Ex.  Isr.  40. 
the  Amorites  the  land  that  was  Sebat' 

on  this  side  Jordan,  from  the  river  of  Arnon 
unto  Mount  Hermon ; 

9  (  Which  s  Hermon  the  Sidonians  call  Sirion  ; 
and  the  Amorites  call  it  h  Shenir  ;) 

1 0  1  All  the  cities  of  the  plain,  and  all  Gilead, 
and  k  all  Bashan,  unto  Salchah  and  Edrei,  cities 
of  the  kingdom  of  Og  in  Bashan. 

11  1  For  only  Og  king  of  Bashan  remained 
of  the  remnant  of  m  giants :  behold,  his  bedstead 
teas  a  bedstead  of  iron  ;  is  it  not  in  n  Rabbath, 
of  the  children  of  Ammon  ?  nine  cubits  was 
the  length  thereof,  and  four  cubits  the  breadth 
of  it,  after  the  cubit  of  a  man. 

1 2  And  this  land,  which  we  possessed  at  that 
time,  0  from  Aroer,  which  is  by  the  river 
Arnon,  and  half  Mount  Gilead,  and  p  the  cities 
thereof,  gave  I  unto  the  Reubenites  and  to 
the  Gadites. 

13  q  And  the  rest  of  Gilead,  and  all  Bashan,  • 
being  the  kingdom  of  Og,  gave  I  unto  the 
half  tribe  of  Manasseh  ;  all  the  region  of  Ar¬ 
gob,  with  all  Bashan,  which  was  called  the 
land  of  giants. 


a  Num.  xxi.  33,  &c. ;  chap.  xxix.  7. - b  Chap.  i.  4. - c  Num. 

xxi.  24. - d  Num.  xxi.  35. - e  1  Kings  iv.  13. - f  Chap.  ii.  24  ; 

Psa.  cxxxv.  10,  11,  12  ;  cxxxvi.  19,  20,  21. - s  Chap.  iv.  48  ; 

Psa.  xxix.  6. - h  1  Chron.  v.  23. - 1  Chap.  iv.  49. 

NOTES  ON  CHAP.  III. 

Verse  4.  All  the  region  of  Argob\  D.IIK  SDH  Sd  col 
chebel  Argob,  all  the  cable  or  cord  of  Argob ;  this  ex¬ 
pression,  which  is  used  in  various  other  parts  of  Scrip¬ 
ture,)  see,  in  the  original,  Amos  vii.  17  ;  Mic.  ii.  5  ; 
Deut.  xxxii.  9  ;  Psa.  xv.  6,)  shows  that  anciently  land 
was  measured  by  lines  or  cords  of  a  certain  length,  in 
a  similar  way  to  that  by  the  chain  among  us,  and  the 
schcenus  or  cord  among  the  Egyptians.  Some  think 
that  it  was  the  region  of  Argob  that  was  afterwards 
called  the  region  of  Trachonitis . 

Yerse  9.  Hermon  the  Sidonians  call — Shenir]  I 
suppose  this  verse  to  have  been  a  marginal  remark, 
which  afterwards  got  incorporated  with  the  text,  or  an 
addition  by  Joshua  or  Ezra.  „ 

Y erse  1 1 .  Og  king  of  Bashan  remained ]  Og  was 

742 


kJosh.  xii.  5;  xiii.  11. - 1  Amos  ii.  9. - m  Gen.  xiv.  5. 

n2  Sam.  xii.  26;  Jer.  xlix.  2  ;  Ezek.  xxi.  20. - -°  Chap.  ii.  36; 

Josh.  xii.  2. - PNum.  xxxii.  33;  Josh.  xii.  6 ;  xiii.  8,  &e. 

Josh.  xiii.  29. 

the  last  king  of  the  Amorites ;  his  kingdom  appears 
to  have  taken  its  name  from  the  hill  of  Bashan  ;  the 
country  has  been  since  called  Batancea. 

Remnant  of  giants]  Of  the  Rephaim.  See  on  chap, 
ii.  10,  11. 

His  bedstead  was — of  iron]  Iron  was  probably  used 
partly  for  its  strength  and  durability,  and  partly  to  pre¬ 
vent  noxious  vermin  from  harbouring  in  it. 

Is  it  not  in  Rabbath,  of  the  children  of  Ammon  ?] 
The  bedstead  was  probably  taken  in  some  battle  be¬ 
tween  the  Ammonites'  and  Amorites,  in  which  the  for¬ 
mer  had  gained  the  victory.  The  bedstead  was  car¬ 
ried  a  trophy  and  placed  in  Rabbath,  which  appears, 
from  2  Sam.  xii.  26,  to  have  been  the  royal  city  of 
the  children  of  Ammon. 

Nine  cubits  was  the  length— four  cubits  the  breadth ] 

a 


Inheritance  of  Reuben  and  Gad.  CHAP.  III.  Moses  is  excluded  from  Canaan. 


A.  M.  2553.  14  r  Jair  the  son  of  Manasseh 

B.  C.  1451.  1  n  .1  r  k 

4n.  Ex.  isr.  40.  took  all  the  country  of  Argob 
Sebat~  sunto  the  coasts  of  Geshuri  and 
Maachathi ;  and  *  called  them  after  his  own 
name,  Bashan-havoth-jair,  unto  this  day. 

15  u  And  I  gave  Gilead  unto  Machir. 

1 6  And  unto  the  Reubenites  v  and  unto  the 
Gadites  I  gave  from  Gilead  even  unto  the  river 
Arnon  half  the  valley,  and  the  border  even 
unto  the  river  Jabbok,  w  which  is  the  border 
of  the  children  of  Ammon  : 

17  The  plain  also,  and  Jordan,  and  the  coast 
thereof  ’  from  x  Chinnereth  y  even  unto  the  sea 
of  the  plain,  z  even  the  salt  sea,  a  under  Ash- 
doth-pisgah  eastward. 

1 8  And  I  commanded  you  at  that  time,  say¬ 
ing,  The  Lord  your  God  hath  given  you  this 
land  to  possess  it :  b  ye  shall  pass  over  armed 
before  your  brethren  -the  children  of  Israel, 
all  that  are  c  meet  for  the  war. 

19  But  your  wives,  and  your  little  ones,  and 
your  cattle,  ( for  I  know  that  ye  have  much 
cattle,)  shall  abide  in  your  cities  which  I  have 
given  you ; 

rl  Cliron.  ii.  22. - sJosh.  xiii.  13;  2  Sam.  iii.  3;  x.  6. 

‘Num.  xxxii.  41. - uNum.  xxxii.  39. - v2  Sam.  xxiv.  5. 

wNum.  xxi.  24;  Josh.  xii.  2. - xNum.  xxxiv.  11. — — y  Chap. 

iv.  49;  Numbers  xxxiv.  11 ;  Joshua  xii.  3. - z  Genesis  xiv.  3. 

*  Or,  under  the  springs  of  Pisgah,  or,  the  hill. - b  Numbers 

xxxii.  20,  &e. 

Allowing  the  bedstead  to  have  been  one  cubit  longer 
than  Og,  which  is  certainly  sufficient,  and  allowing 
the  cubit  to  be  about  eighteen  inches  long,  for  this  is 
perhaps  the  average  of  the  cubit  of  a  man ,  then  Og 
was  twelve  feet  high.  This  may  be  deemed  extraor¬ 
dinary,  and  perhaps  almost  incredible,  and  therefore 
many  commentators  have,  according  to  their  fancy, 
lengthened  the  bedstead  and  shortened  the  man ,  making 
the  former  one-third  longer  than  the  person  who  lay 
on  it,  that  they  might  reduce  Og  to  six  cubits ;  but 
even  in  this  way  they  make  him  at  least  nine  feet  high. 

On  this  subject  the  rabbins  have  trifled  most  sinfully. 
I  shall  give  one  specimen.  In  the  Targum  of  Jona¬ 
than  ben  Uzziel  on  Num.  xxi.  35,  36,  it  is  said  that 
“  Og  having  observed  that  the  camp  of  the  Israelites 
extended  six  miles,  he  went  and  tore  up  a  mountain 
six  miles  in  its  base,  and  put  it  on  his  head,  and  car¬ 
ried  it  towards  the  camp,  that  he  might  throw  it  on 
the  Israelites  and  destroy  them ;  but  the  word  of  the 
Lord  prepared  a  worm ,  which  bored  a  hole  in  the 
mountain  over  his  head,  so  that  it  fell  down  upon  his 
shoulders :  at  the  same  time  his  teeth,  growing  out  in 
all  directions,  stuck  into  the  mountain,  so  that  he  could 
not  cast  it  off  his  head.  Moses,  (who  was  himself 
ten  cubits  high,)  seeing  Og  thus  entangled,  took  an 
axe  ten  cubits  long,  and  having  leaped  ten  cubits  in 
height,  struck  Og  on  the  ankle  bone,  so  that  he  fell 
and  was  slain.” 


20  Until  the  Loiuriiave  given  rest  A.  M.  2553. 

,  ,  •  ®  B.  C.  1451. 

unto  your  brethren,  as  well  as  unto  An.  Ex.  isr.  40. 

you,  and  until  they  also  possess  the  Scbat' 

land  which  the  Lord  your  God  hath  given  them 

beyond  Jordan :  and  then  shall  ye  d  return  every 

man  unto  his  possession, which  I  have  given  you. 

21  And  e  I  commanded  Joshua  at  that  time, 
saying,  Thine  eyes  have  seen  all  that  the  Lord 
your  God  hath  done  unto  these  two  kings  :  so 
shall  the  Lord  do  unto  all  the  kingdoms  whi¬ 
ther  thou  passest. 

22  Ye  shall  not  fear  them  :  for  f  the  Lord 
your  God  he  shall  fight  for  you. 

23  And  s  I  besought  the  Lord  at  that  time, 
saying, 

24  0  Lord  God,  thou  hast  begun  to  show 
thy  servant  h  thy  greatness,  and  thy  mighty 
hand  :  for *  1  what  God  is  there  in  heaven  or  in 
earth  that  can  do  according  to  thy  works,  and 
according  t6  thy  might  ? 

25  I  pray  thee,  let  me  go  over,  and  see  kthe 
good  land  that  is  beyond  Jordan,  that  goodly 
mountain,  and  Lebanon. 

26  But  the  Lord  1  was  wroth  with  me  for 

cHeb.  sons  of  power. - d  Josh.  xxii.  4. - e  Num.  xxvii.  18. 

f  Exod.  xiv.  14;  chap.  i.  30;  xx.  4. - oSee.  2  Cor.  xii.  8,  9. 

h  Chap.  xi.  2. - >  Exod.  xv.  11  ;  2  Sam.  vii.  22  ;  Psa.  Ixxi.  19  ; 

lxxx.  8  ;  lxxxix.  6,  8. - k  Exod.  iii.  8  ;  chap.  iv.  22. - 1  Num. 

xx.  12  ;  xxvii.  14  ;  chap.  i.  37  ;  xxxi.  2;  xxxii.  51,  52  ;  xxxiv.  4  ; 
Psa.  cvi.  32. 


From  this  account  the  distance  from  the  sole  of  Og’s 
foot  to  his  ankle  was  thirty  cubits  in  length !  I  give 
this  as  a  very  slight  specimen  of  rabbinical  comment. 

I  could  quote  places  in  the  Talmud  in  which  Og  is 
stated  to  be  several  miles  high !  This  relation  about 
Og  I  suppose  to  be  also  an  historical  note  added  by  a 
subsequent  hand. 

Verse  14.  Bashan-havoth-jair ]  Bashan  of  Verities 
of  Jair ;  see  Num.  xxxii.  41. 

Verse  17.  From  Chinnereth]  See  on  Num.  xxxiv.  11. 

Verses  24,  25.  The  prayer  of  Moses  recorded  in 
these  two  verses,  and  his  own  reflections  on  it,  ver. 
26,  are  very  affecting.  He  had  suffered  much  both 
in  body  and  mind  in  bringing  the  people  to  the  borders 
of  the  promised  land  ;  and  it  was  natural  enough  for 
him  to  wish  to  see  them  established  in  it,  and  to  en¬ 
joy  a  portion  of  that  inheritance  himself,  which  he 
knew  was  a  type  of  the  heavenly  country.  But  not¬ 
withstanding  his  very  earnest  prayer,  and  God’s  espe¬ 
cial  favour  towards  him,  he  was  not  permitted  to  go 
over  Jordan  !  He  had  grieved  the  Spirit  of  God,  and 
he  passed  a  sentence  against  him  of  exclusion  from 
the  promised  land.  Yet  he  permitted  him  to  see  it, 
and  gave  him  the  fullest  assurances  that  the  people 
whom  he  had  brought  out  of  Egypt  should  possess  it. 
Thus  God  may  choose  to  deprive  those  of  earthly  pos¬ 
sessions  to  whom  he  is  nevertheless  determined  to  give 
a  heavenly  inheritance. 


a 


743 


DEUTERONOMY. 


Moses  exhorts  the  people 

A.  M.  2553.  your  sakes,  and  would  not  hear 

B.  C.  1451.  J  T  «  . . 

An.  Ex.  isr.  40.  me  :  and  the  Lord  said  unto  me, 

Sebat~ _  Let  it  suffice  thee ;  speak  no 

more  unto  me  of  this  matter. 

27  m  Get  thee  up  into  the  top  of  n  Pisgah,  and 
lift  up  thine  eyes  westward,  and  northward,  and 
southward,  and  eastward, and  behold  it  with  thine 
eyes  :  for  thou  shalt  not  go  over  this  Jordan. 

m  Num.  xxvii.  12. - n  Or,  the  hill. - 0  Num.  xxvii.  18,  23  ; 

Verse  26.  Let  it  suffice  thee']  “jb  3")  rah  lack,  there 
is  an  abundance  to  thee — thou  hast  had  honour  enough 
already,  and  may  well  dispense  with  goingover  Jordan. 
He  surely  has  no  reason  to  complain  who  is  taken  from 
earthly  felicity  to  heavenly  glory.  In  this  act  God 
showed  to  Moses  both  his  goodness  and  severity. 

Verse  28.  But  charge  Joshua,  dpc.]  Give  him  autho¬ 
rity  in  the  sight  of  the  people,  let  them  see  that  he 
has  the  same  commission  which  I  gave  to  thee.  En¬ 
courage  him  ;  for  he  will  meet  with  many  difficulties 
in  the  work  to  which  he  is  called.  And  strengthen 
him — show  him  my  unfailing  promises,  and  exhort  him 
to  put  his  trust  in  me  alone  ;  for  he  shall  go  over  be¬ 
fore  this  people,  and  shall  cause  them  to  inherit  the 
land  ,*  of  this  let  him  rest  perfectly  assured. 

Verse  29.  Beth-peor.]  This  was  a  city  in  the  king¬ 
dom  of  Sihon  king  of  the  Amorites  ;  and  as  JV3  beth 
signifies  a  house,  the  place  probably  had  its  name  from 
a  temple  of  the  god  Peor,  who  was  worshipped  there. 
Peor  was  nearly  the  same  among  the  Moabites  that 
Priapus  was  among  the  Romans — the  obscene  god  of 
an  obscene  people.  This  we  have  already  seen. 


to  keep  the  Lorfs  statutes 

28  But  0  charge  Joshua,  and  A.  M.  2553 
encourage  him,  and  strengthen  An.  Ex’,  isr.  40. 
him  :  for  he  shall  go  over  Sebat' 
before  this  people,  and  he  shall  cause 
them  to  inherit  the  land  which  thou  shalt 
see. 

29  So  we  abode  in  pthe  valley  over  against 
Beth-peor. 

chap.  i.  38  ;  xxxi.  3,  7.- - P  Chap.  iv.  46  ;  xxxiv.  6. 

It  is  very  likely  that  what  God  speaks  here,  both 
concerning  Moses  and  Joshua,  was  designed  to  be 
typical  of  the  procedure  of  his  justice  and  grace  in  the 
salvation  of  man.  1.  The  land  of  Canaan  was  a  type 
of  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  2.  The  law,  which  shows 
the  holiness  of  God  aiid  the  exceeding  sinfulness  of 
sin,  could  not  bring  the  people  to  the  possession  of 
that  kingdom.  3.  Moses  may  probably  be  considered 
here  as  the  emblem  of  that  law  by  which  is  the  know¬ 
ledge  of  sin,  but  not  redemption  from  it.  4.  Joshua, 
the  same  as  Jesus,  the  name  signifying  a  Saviour,  is 
appointed  to  bring  the  people  into  the  rest  which  God 
had  provided  for  them ;  thus  it  is  by  Jesus  Christ 
alone  that  the  soul  is  saved — fitted  for  and  brought 
into  the  possession  of  the  heavenly  inheritance,  (see 
John  i.  17  ;  Gal.  ii.  16;  iii.  12,  13,  24;)  for  he  is 
the  end  of  the  law — the  great  scope  and  design  of  the 
law,  for  righteousness — for  justification,  to  them  that 
believe  ;  Rom.  x.  4.  Such  a  use  as  this  every  pious 
reader  may  make  of  the  circumstances  recorded  here, 
without  the  danger  of  pushing  analogy  or  metaphor 
beyond  their  reasonable  limits. 


CHAPTER  IV. 


Exhortations  to  obedience,  1.  Nothing  to  be  added  to  or  taken  from  the  testimonies  of  God,  2.  The 
people  are  exhorted  to  recollect  hoio  God  had  destroyed  the  ungodly  among  them,  3  ;  and  preserved  those 
who  iv  ere  faithful,  4.  The  excellence  of  the  Divine  law,  5,  6.  No  nation  in  the  world  could  boast  of 
any  such  statutes,  judgments,  c fc.,  7,  8.  They  are  exhorted  to  obedience  by  the  wonderful  manifestations 
of  God  in  their  behalf,  9—13.  Moses  exhorts  them  to  beware  of  idolatry,  and  to  make  no  likeness  of  any 
thing  in  heaven  or  earth  as  an  object  of  adoration,  14—20.  He  informs  them  that  he  must  die  in  that  land , 
as  God  had  refused  to  let  him  go  into  the  promised  land,  being  angry  with  him  on  their  account,  21,  22. 
Repeats  his  exhortations  to  obedience,  23,  24.  Predicts  the  judgments  of  God  against  them,  should  they 
turn  to  idolatry,  25—28.  Promises  of  God's  mercy  to  the  penitent,  29-31.  The  grand  and  unparalleled 
privileges  of  the  Israelites,  32-40.  Moses  severs  three  cities  on  the  east  side  of  Jordan  for  cities  of 
refuge,  41,  42.  Their  names,  43.  When  and  where  Moses  gave  these  statutes  and  judgments  to 
Israel,  44—49. 


A.  M.  2553.  JVTOW  therefore  hearken,  0  Is- 

B.  C.  1451.  ±\  ,  .  . 

An.  Ex.  Isr.  40.  rael,  unto  a  the  statutes  and 

Scbat’  unto  the  judgments  which  I  teach 

you,  for  to  do  them,  that  ye  may  live,  and  go 


in  and  possess  the  land  which  A.  M.  2553. 
the  Lord  God  of  your  fathers  An.  Ex.  isr.  40. 
giveth  you.  Sebat' 


2  bYe  shall  not  add  unto  the  word  which  I 


J  Lev.  xix.  37 ;  xx.  8  ;  xxii.  31 ;  chap.  v.  1 ;  viii.  1  ;  Ezek.  xx.  1 1  ; 

Rom.  x.  5. 


NOTES  ON  CHAP.  IV. 

Verse  1.  Hearken — unto  the  statutes]  Everything 
that  concerned  the  rites  and  ceremonies  of  religion  ; 
judgments — all  that  concerned  matters  of  civil  right 
and  wrong. 


b  Chap.  xii.  32 ;  Josh.  i.  7  ;  Prov.  xxx.  6  ;  Eccles.  xii.  13  ;  Rev. 

xxii.  18,  19. 

Verse  2.  Ye  shall  not  add]  Any  book,  chapter , 
verse,  or  word ,  which  I  have  not  spoken  ;  nor  give  any 
comment  that  has  any  tendency  to  corrupt,  weaken,  or 
destroy  any  part  of  this  revelation. 

Neither  shall  ye  diminish]  Ye  shall  not  only  not 

a 


744 


CHAP.  IV. 


Moses  reminds  the  people  of  the 


Lord's  mercies  and  judgments 


a.  M.  2553.  command  you,  neither  shall  ye 
An.  Ex.  isr.  40.  diminish  aught  from  it,  that  ye 
Schat-  may  keep  the  commandments 
of  the  Lord  your  God  which  I  command  you. 

3  Your  eyes  have  seen  what  the  Lord  did 
because  of  c  Baal-peor  :  for  all  the  men  that 
followed  Baal-peor,  the  Lord  thy  God  hath 
destroyed  them  from  among  you. 

4  But  ye  that  did  cleave  unto  the  Lord 
your  God  are  alive  every  one  of  you  this  day. 

5  Behold,  I  have  taught  you  statutes  and 
judgments,  even  as  the  Lord  my  God  com¬ 
manded  me,  that  ye  should  do  so  in  the  land 
whither  ye  go  to  possess  it. 

6  Keep  therefore  and  do  them ;  for  this  is 
d  your  wisdom  and  your  understanding  in  the 
sight  of  the  nations,  which  shall  hear  all  these 
statutes,  and  say,  Surely  this  great  nation  is 
a  wise  and  understanding  people. 

7  For  e  what  nation  is  there  so  great,  who 
hath  f  God  so  nigh  unto  them,  as  the  Lord 
our  God  is  in  all  things  that  we  call  upon 
him  for  ? 

8  And  what  nation  is  there  so  great,  that 
hath  statutes  and  judgments  so  righteous  as 
all  this  law,  which  I  set  before  you  this  day  ? 


9  Only  take  heed  to  thyself,  a.  M.  2553. 

J  J  7  B  C.  1451 

and  « keep  thy  soul  diligently,  An.’  Ex.  isr.  40. 

h  lest  thou  forget  the  things  which  _ Scbat~ 

thine  eyes  have  seen,  and  lest  they  depart 

from  thy  heart  all  the  days  of  thy  life  :  but 

1  teach  them  thy  sons,  and  thy  sons’  sons  ; 

1 0  Specially  k  the  day  that  thou  stoodest 
before  the  Lord  thy  God  in  Horeb,  when  the 
Lord  said  unto  me,  Gather  me  the  people 
together,  and  I  will  make  them  hear  my 
words,  that  they  may  learn  to  fear  me  all  the 
days  that  they  shall  live  upon  the  earth,  and 
that  they  may  teach  their  children. 

1 1  And  ye  came  near  and  stood  under  the 
mountain  :  and  the *  1  mountain  burned  with 
lire  unto  the  m  midst  of  heaven,  with  darkness, 
clouds,  and  thick  darkness. 

12  n  And  the  Lord  spake  unto  you  out  of 
the  midst  of  the  fire  :  0  ye  heard  the  voice  of 
the  words,  but  saw  no  similitude  ;  p  only  q  ye 
heard  a  voice. 

13  rAnd  he  declared  unto  you  his  cove¬ 
nant,  which  he  commanded  you  to  perform, 
even  s  ten  commandments ;  and  1  he  wrote 
them  upon  two  tables  of  stone. 

14  And  11  the  Lord  commanded  me  at  that 


c  Num.  xxv.  4,  &c.  ;  Josh.  xxii.  17  ;  Psa.  cvi.  28, 29. - d  Job 

xxviii.  28  ;  Psa.  xix.  7  ;  cxi.  10  ;  Prov.  i.  7. - e  2  Sam.  vii.  23. 

f  Psa.  xlvi.  1 ;  cxlv.  18  ;  cxlviii.  14  ;  Isa.  lv.  6. - s  Prov.  iv.  23. 

h  Prov.  iii.  1,  3  ;  iv.  21. - *  Gen.  xviii.  19  ;  chap.  vi.  7  ;  xi.  19  ; 

Psa.  Ixxviii.  5,6;  Eph.  vi.  4. - k  Exod.  xix.  9,16;  xx.  18; 


take  away  any  larger  portion  of  this  word,  but  ye  shall 
not  take  on e  jot  or  tittle  from  the  law;  it  is  that  word 
of  God  that  abideth  for  ever. 

Verse  6.  Keep — and  do  them;  for  this  is  your  ivis- 
dom ]  There  was  no  mode  of  worship  at  this  time  on 
the  face  of  the  earth  that  was  not  wicked,  obscene, 
puerile,  foolish,  or  ridiculous,  except  that  established 
by  God  himself  among  the  Israelites.  And  every  part 
of  this,  taken  in  its  connection  and  reference ,  may  be 
truly  called  a  ivise  and  reasonable  service. 

The  nations — and  say ,  Surely  this  great  nation  is 
a  wise  and  understanding  people.']  Almost  all  the 
nations  in  the  earth  showed  that  they  had  formed  this 
opinion  of  the  Jews,  by  borrowing  from  them  the 
principal  part  of  their  civil  code.  Take  away  what 
Asia  and  Europe ,  whether  ancient  or  modern ,  have 
borrowed  from  the  Mosaic  laws ,  and  you  leave  little 
behind  that  can  be  called  excellent. 

Verse  9.  Only  take  heed  to  thyself]  Be  circum¬ 
spect  and  watchful. 

Keep  thy  soul  diligently]  Be  mindful  of  thy  eternal 
interests.  Whatever  becomes  of  the  body ,  take  care 
of  the  soul. 

Lest  thou  forget]  God  does  his  works  that  they 
may  be  had  in  everlasting  remembrance  ;  and  he  that 
forgets  them,  forgets  his  own  mercies.  Besides,  if  a 

a 


Heb.  xii.  18,  19. - 1  Exod.  xix.  18;  chap.  v.  23. - mHeb, 

heart. - n  Chap  v.  4,  22. - 0  Ver.  33,  36. - p  Exod.  xx.  22  ; 

1  Kings  xix.  12. - 1  Heb.  save  a  voice. - rChap.  ix.  9,  11. 

s  Exod.  xxxiv.  28. - tExod.  xxiv.  12;  xxxi.  18. - “Exodus 

xxi.  1 ;  chap,  xxii.,  xxiii. 


man  forget  the  work  of  God  on  his  soul,  he  loses  that 
work. 

Lest  they  depart  from  thy  heart]  It  is  not  suffi¬ 
cient  to  lay  up  Divine  things  in  the  memory,  they  must 
be  laid  up  in  the  heart.  Thy  word  have  I  hidden  in 
my  heart,  says  David,  that  I  might  not  sin  against 
thee.  The  life  of  God  in  the  soul  of  man  can  alone 
preserve  the  soul  to  life  everlasting ;  and  this  grace 
must  be  retained  all  the  days  of  our  life.  When  Adam 
fell,  his  condition  was  not  meliorated  by  the  reflection 
that  he  had  been  once  in  paradise  ;  nor  does  it  avail 
Satan  now  that  he  was  once  an  angel  of  light.  Those 
who  let  the  grace  of  God  depart  from  their  hearts, 
lose  that  grace ;  and  those  who  lose  the  grace,  fall 
from  the  grace  ;  and  as  some  have  fallen  and  risen  no 
more,  so  may  others;  therefore,  take  heed  to  thyself, 
&c.  Were  it  impossible  for  men  finally  to  fall  from 
the  grace  of  God,  exhortations  of  this  kind  had  never 
been  given,  because  they  would  have  been  unneces¬ 
sary,  and  God  never  does  an  unnecessary  thing. 

But  teach  them  thy  sons]  If  a  man  know  the  worth 
of  his  own  soul,  he  will  feel  the  importance  of  the  sal¬ 
vation  of  the  souls  of  his  family.  Those  who  neglect 
family  religion ,  neglect  personal  religion ;  if  more 
attention  were  paid  to  the  former,  even  among  those 
called  religious  people,  we  should  soon  have  a  better 

745 


Idolatry  prohibited ,  DEUTERONOMY.  and  obedience  enjoined. 


a.  M.  2553.  time  to  teach  you  statutes  and 
An.  Ex!  isr.  40.  judgments,  that  ye  might  do  them 
SebaL  in  the  land  whither  ye  go  over 
to  possess  it. 

15  v  Take  ye  therefore  good  heed  unto 
yourselves  ;  for  ye  saw  no  manner  of  w  simili¬ 
tude  on  the  day  that  the  Lord  spake  unto 
you  in  Horeb  out  of  the  midst  of  the  fire  : 

1 6  Lest  ye  x  corrupt  yourselves ,  and  7  make 
you  a  graven  image,  the  similitude  of  any 
figure,  z  the  likeness  of  male  or  female, 

17  The  likeness  of  any  beast  that  is  on  the 
earth,  the  likeness  of  any  winged  fowl  that 
flieth  in  the  air, 

18  The  likeness  of  any  thing  that  creepeth 
on  the  ground,  the  likeness  of  any  fish  that  is 
in  the  waters  beneath  the  earth  : 

19  And  lest  thou  a  lift  up  thine  eyes  unto 
heaven,  and  when  thou  seest  the  sun,  and  the 
moon,  and  the  stars,  even  b  all  the  host  of 
heaven,  shouldest  be  driven  to  c  worship  them, 
and  serve  them,  which  the  Lord  thy  God 
hath  d  divided  unto  all  nations  under  the  whole 
heaven. 

v  Joshua  xxiii.  11. - ""Isa.  xl.  18. - x  Exodus  xxxii.  7. 

f  Exodus  xx.  4,  5 ;  ver.  23  ;  chap.  v.  8. - z  Rom.  i.  23. 

a  Chap.  xvii.  3  ;  Job  xxxi.  26,  27. - b  Gen.  ii.  1  ;  2  Kings 

xvii.  16 ;  xxi.  3. - c  Rom.  i.  25. - d  Or,  imparted. - e  1  Kings 

via.  51  ;  Jer.  xi.  4. - f  Exod.  xix.  5 ;  chap.  ix.  29 ;  xxxii.  9. 

state  of  civil  society.  On  family  religion  God  lays 
much  stress ;  and  no  head  of  a  family  can  neglect  it 
without  endangering  the  final  salvation  of  his  own  soul. 
See  the  note  at  the  conclusion  of  Gen.  xviii.  ;  and  that 
at  the  end  of  Gen.  xix.,  and  the  note  on  chap.  vi.  7. 

Terse  15.  Ye  saw  no  manner  of  similitude ]  How¬ 
soever  God  chose  to  appear  or  manifest  himself,  he 
took  care  never  to  assume  any  describable  form.  He 
would  have  no  image  worship ,  because  he  is  a  Spirit, 
and  they  who  worship  him  must  worship  him  in  Spirit 
and  in  truth.  These  outward  things  tend  to  draw  the 
mind  out  of  itself,  and  diffuse  it  on  sensible,  if  not  sen¬ 
sual,  objects ;  and  thus  spiritual  worship  is  prevented, 
and  the  Holy  Ghost  grieved.  Persons  acting  in  this 
way  can  never  know  much  of  the  religion  of  the  heart. 

Verse  16.  The  likeness  of  male  or  female]  Such  as 
Baal-peor  and  the  Roman  Priapus ,  Ashtaroth  or  As- 
tarte ,  and  the  Greek  and  Roman  Venus ;  after  whom 
most  nations  of  the  world  literally  went  a  whoring. 

Verse  17.  The  likeness  of  any  beast ,  dfc.]  Such  as 
the  Egyptian  god  Apis ,  who  was  worshipped  under 
the  form  of  a  white  bull ;  the  ibis  and  hawk ,  among 
the  fowls,  had  also  Divine  honours  paid  to  them ; 
serpents  and  the  crocodile  among  reptiles  ;  besides 
monkeys ,  dogs,  cats,  the  scarabwus,  leeks,  and  onions  ! 
See  this  explained  at  large,  Exod.  xx.  4. 

Verse  19.  When  thou  seest  the  sun,  and  the  moon, 
and  the  stars]  The  worship  of  the  heavenly  bodies 
Was  the  oldest  species  of  idolatry.  Those  who  had 

746 


20  But  the  Lord  hath  taken  A.  M.  2553. 

B.  C.  1451. 

you,  ana  e  brought  you  lorth  out  An.  Ex.  isr.  40. 
of  the  iron  furnace,  even  out  of  Sebat' 
Egypt,  f  to  be  unto  him  a  people  of  inheritance, 
as  ye  are  this  day. 

21  Furthermore  *  the  Lord  was  angry  with 
me  for  your  sakes,  and  sware  that  I  should 
not  go  over  Jordan,  and  that  I  should  not  go 
in  unto  that  good  land,  which  the  Lord  thy 
God  giveth  thee  for  an  inheritance  : 

22  But  h  I  must  die  in  this  land,  1  I  must 
not  go  over  Jordan  :  but  ye  shall  go  over,  and 
possess  k  that  good  land. 

23  Take  heed  unto  yourselves,  1  lest  ye  for¬ 
get  the  covenant  of  the  Lord  your  God, 
which  he  made  with  you,  m  and  make  you  a 
graven  image,  or  the  likeness  of  any  thing , 
which  the  Lord  thy  God  hath  forbidden  thee. 

24  For  nthe  Lord  thy  God  is  a  consuming 
fire,  even  0  a  jealous  God. 

25  When  thou  shalt  beget  children,  and 
children’s  children,  and  ye  shall  have  re¬ 
mained  long  in  the  land,  and  p  shall  corrupt 
yourselves ,  and  make  a  graven  image,  or  the 

s  Num.  xx.  12 ;  chap.  i.  37 ;  iii.  26. - h  See  2  Pet.  i.  13,  14, 

15. - iChap.  iii.  27. - kChap.  iii.  25. - 1  Ver.  9. - -“Ver. 

16;  Exod.  xx. 4, 5. - “Exod.  xxiv.  17;  chap.  ix. 3;  Isa.  xxxni. 

14;  Heb.  xii.  29. - 0  Exod.  xx.  5;  chap.  vi.  15;  Isa.  xlii.  8. 

P  Ver.  16. 

not  the  knowledge  of  the  true  God  were  led  to  con¬ 
sider  the  sun,  moon,  planets,  and  stars,  as  not  only  self- 
existing,  but  the  authors  of  all  the  blessings  possessed 
by  mankind.  The  knowledge  of  a  rational  system  of 
astronomy  served  to  destroy  this  superstition  ;  and 
very  little  of  it  remains  now  in  the  world,  except 
among  a  few  Christian  and  Mohammedan  astrologers ; 
those  miserable  sinners  who  endeavour,  as  much  as 
possible,  to  revive  the  old  idolatry,  while  vainly  pro¬ 
fessing  to  believe  in  the  true  God !  Nor  is  it  to  be 
doubted  that  God  will  proceed  with  them  as  he  has 
done  of  old  with  the  worshippers  of  the  host  of  hea¬ 
ven.  Sound  philosophy  is  next  in  importance  to 
sound  divinity ;  and  next  to  the  study  of  the  work  of 
grace  is  that  of  the  operations  of  God  in  nature  ;  for 
these  visible  things  make  known  his  eternal  power  and 
Godhead. 

Verse  20.  Out  of  the  iron  furnace]  From  this  men¬ 
tion  of  the  word  iron  furnace  there  can  be  little  doubt 
that  the  Israelites  were  employed  in  Egypt  in  the 
most  laborious  works  of  metallurgy .  Digging,  smelt¬ 
ing,  and  forging  of  iron,  in  so  hot  a  climate  must  have 
been  oppressive  works  indeed. 

Verse  21.  The  Lord  teas  angry  with  me]  And  if 
with  me,  so  as  to  debar  me  from  entering  into  the  pro¬ 
mised  land,  can  you  think  to  escape  if  guilty  of  greater 
provocations  T 

Verse  24.  Thy  God  is  a  consuming  fire]  They  had 
seen  him  on  the  mount  as  an  unconsuming  fire,  while 

a 


The  disobedient  are  threatened , 


CHAP.  IV. 


A.  M.  2553.  likeness  of  any  thing ,  and  *  shall 
An.  Ex.  isr.  40.  do  evil  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord 
Sebat~  thy  God,  to  provoke  him  to  anger  : 

26  r  I  call  heaven  and  earth  to  witness 
against  you  this  day,  that  ye  shall  soon  ut¬ 
terly  perish  from  off  the  land  whereunto  ye 
go  over  Jordan  to  possess  it ;  ye  shall  not 
prolong  your  days  upon  it,  but  shall  utterly  be 
destroyed. 

27  And  the  Lord  s  shall  scatter  you  among 

the  nations,  and  ve  shall  be  left  few  in  num- 

*/ 

ber  among  the  heathen,  whither  the  Lord 
shall  lead  you. 

28  And  1  there  ye  shall  serve  gods,  the  work 
of  men’s  hands,  wood  and  stone,  11  which 
neither  see,  nor  hear,  nor  eat,  nor  smell. 

29  v  But  if  from  thence  thou  shalt  seek  the 
Lord  thy  God,  thou  shalt  find  him ,  if  thou 

q2  Kings  xvii.  17,  &c. - rCh.  xxx.  18,  19;  Isa.  i.  2;  Mic. 

vi.  2. - s  Lev.  xxvi.  33,  chapter  xxviii.  62,  64;  Neh.  i.  8. 

1  Chap,  xxviii.  64  ;  1  Sam.  xxvi.  19  ;  Jer.  xvi.  13. - u  Psa.  cxv. 

4,  5;  cxxxv.  15,  16;  Isa.  xliv.  9;  xlvi.  7. - vLev.  xxvi.  39, 

40  ;  chap.  xxx.  1,  2,  3  ;  2  Chron.  xv.  4 ;  Neh.  i.  9  ;  Isa.  lv.  6,  7  ; 

appearing  to  Moses,  and  giving  the  law  ;  and  they  had 
seen  him  as  a  consuming  fire  in  the  case  of  Korah, 
Dathan,  Abiram,  and  their  company.  They  had, 
therefore,  every  good  to  expect  from  his  approbation, 
and  every  evil  to  dread  from  his  displeasure. 

Verse  26.  I  call  heaven  and  earth  to  ivitness  against 
you]  A  most  solemn  method  of  adjuration,  in  use 
among  all  nations  in  the  world.  So  Virgil,  AEn.,  lib. 
xii.,  ver.  176,  &c. 

Turn  pius  ./Eneas  stricto  sic  ense  precatur : 

Esto  nunc  Sol  testis  et  hasc  mihi  terra  vocanti — 
Fontesque  fluviosque  voco,  quajque  setheris  alti 
Relligio,  et  quae  caeruleo  sunt  numina  ponto,  &c. 

“  Then  the  great  Trojan  prince  unsheathed  his  sword, 
And  thus,  with  lifted  hands,  the  gods  adored : 

Thou  land  for  which  I  wage  this  war,  and  thou 
Great  source  of  day ,  be  witness  to  my  vow ! — 
Almighty  king  of  heaven  and  queen  of  air , 
Propitious  now  and  reconciled  »by  prayer, — 

Ye  springs ,  ye  foods,  ye  various  powers  who  lie 
Beneath  the  deep ,  or  tread  the  golden  sky , — 

Hear  and  attest  !”  Pitt. 

God  and  man  being  called  upon  to  bear  testimony  to 
the  truth  of  what  was  spoken,  that  if  there  was  any 
flaw  or  insincerity,  it  might  be  detected ;  and  if  any 
crime,  it  might  not  go  unpunished.  Such  appeals  to 
God,  for  such  purposes,  show  at  once  both  the  origin 
and  use  of  oaths.  See  the  note  on  chap.  vi.  13. 

Verse  27.  The  Lord  shall  scatter  you  among  the 
nations ]  This  was  amply  verified  in  their  different 
captivities  and  dispersions. 

lerse  28.  There  ye  shall  serve  gods — wood  and 
stone ]  This  was  also  true  of  the  Israelites,  not  only 
in  their  captivities,  but  also  in  their  own  land.  And 
it  may  now  be  literally  the  case  with  the  ten  tribes 


and  the  penitent  encouraged. 
heart  and  a.  m.  2553. 

B.  C.  1451. 
An.  Ex.  Isr.  40. 

30  When  thou  art  in  tribulation,  Schat' 
and  all  these  things  w  are  come  upon  thee, 
x  even  in  the  latter  days,  if  thou  y  turn  to  the 
Lord  thy  God,  and  shalt  be  obedient  unto  his 
voice  ; 

31  (For  the  Lord  thy  God  is  z  a  merciful 
God ;)  he  will  not  forsake  thee,  neither  de¬ 
stroy  thee,  nor  forget  the  covenant  of  thy 
fathers  which  he  sware  unto  them. 

32  For  a  ask  now  of  the  days  that  are  past, 
which  were  before  thee,  since  the  day  that 
God  created  man  upon  the  earth,  and  ask 
b  from  the  one  side  of  heaven  unto  the  other, 
whether  there  hath  been  any  such  thing  as 
this  great  thing  is,  or  hath  been  heard  like  it  ? 

33  c  Did  ever  people  hear  the  voice  of  God 


seek  him  with  all  thy 
with  all  thy  soul. 


Jer.  xxix.  12, 13, 14. - w  Heb.  have  found  thee  ;  Exod.  xviii.  8  ; 

chap.  xxxi.  17. - *  Gen.  xlix.  1  ;  chap.  xxxi.  29  ;  Jer.  xxiii.  20  ; 

Hos.  iii.  5. - y  Joel  ii.  12. - z2  Chron.  xxx.  9  ;  Neh.  ix.  31  ; 

Psa.  cxvi.  5  ;  Jonah  iv.  2. - a  Job  viii.  8. - b  Matt.  xxiv.  31. 

c  Exod.  xxiv.  11  ;  xxxiii.  20  ;  chap.  v.  24,  26. 

who  were  carried  away  captive  by  the  Assyrians,  and 
of  whose  residence  no  man  at  present  knows  any  thing 
with  certainty.  That  they  still  exist  there  can  be  no 
doubt ;  but  they  are  now,  most  probably,  so  completely 
incorporated  with  the  idolaters  among  whom  they  dwell, 
as  to  be  no  longer  distinguishable  :  yet  God  can  gather 
them. 

Verse  29.  But  if  from  thence  thou  shalt  seek  the 
Lord ]  God  is  longsuffering,  and  of  tender  mercy  ; 
and  waits,  ever  ready,  to  receive  a  backsliding  soul 
when  it  returns  to  him.  Is  not  this  promise  left  on 
record  for  the  encouragement  and  salvation  of  lost 
Israel  ? 

Verse  30.  When  thou  art  in  tribulation — in  the  lat¬ 
ter  days]  Are  not  these  the  times  spoken  ofl  And 
is  there  not  still  hope  for  Israel  1  Could  we  see  them 
become  zealous  for  their  own  law  and  religious  ob¬ 
servances — could  we  see  them  humble  themselves  be¬ 
fore  the  God  of  Jacob — could  we  see  them  conduct 
their  public  worship  with  any  tolerable  decency  and 
decorum — could  we  see  them  zealous  to  avoid  every 
moral  evil,  inquiring  the  road  to  Zion,  with  their  faces 
thitherward ;  then  might  we  hope  that  the  redemption 
of  Israel  was  at  hand  :  but  alas  !  there  is  not  the  most 
distant  evidence  of  any  thing  of  the  kind,  except  in 
a  very  few  solitary  instances.  They  are,  perhaps,  in 
the  present  day,  more  lost  to  every  sacred  principle  of 
their  own  institutions  than  they  have  ever  been  since 
their  return  from  the  Babylonish  captivity.  By  whom 
shall  Jacob  arise  ?  for  in  this  sense  he  is  small — deeply 
fallen,  and  greatly  degraded. 

Verse  33.  Did  ever  people  hear  the  voice  of  God]  It 
seems  to  have  been  a  general  belief  that  if  God  ap¬ 
peared  to  men,  it  was  for  the  purpose  of  destroying 
them ;  and  indeed  most  of  the  extraordinary  mani¬ 
festations  of  God  were  in  the  way  of  judgment ;  but 

747 


a 


DEUTERONOMY. 


The  distinguished  privileges 


of  the  Israelites . 


a.  M.  2553.  speaking  out  of  the  midst  of 
An.  Ex.  isr.40.  the  fire,  as  thou  hast  heard,  and 
Sebat-  live? 

34  Or  hath  God  assayed  to  go  and  take 
him  a  nation  from  the  midst  of  another  nation, 
d  by  temptations,  e  by  signs,  and  by  wonders, 
and  by  war,  and  f  by  a  mighty  hand,  and  s  by 
a  stretched-out  arm,  h  and  by  great  terrors, 
according  to  all  that  the  Lord  your  God  did 
for  you  in  Egypt  before  your  eyes  ? 

35  Unto  thee  it  was  showed,  that  thou 
mightest  know  that  the  Lord  he  is  God : 
1  there  is  none  else  beside  him. 

36  k  Out  of  heaven  he  made  thee  to  hear 
nis  voice,  that  he  might  instruct  thee  :  and 
upon  earth  he  showed  thee  his  great  fire  ;  and 

d  Chap.  vii.  19  ;  xxix.  3. - e  Exod.  vii.  3. - -f  Exod.  xiii.  3. 

£  Exod.  vi.  6. - hChap.  xxvi.  8  ;  xxxiv.  12. - 'Chap,  xxxii. 

39;  1  Sam.  ii.  2  ;  Isa.  xlv.  5,  18,  22  ;  Mark  xii.  29,  32. 


thou  heardest  his  words  out  of  A.  M.  2553. 

!  B.  C.  1451. 

the  midst  01  the  fire.  An.  Ex.  isr.  4a 

37  And  because  1  he  loved  thy  Sebat.: _ 

fathers,  therefore  he  chose  their  seed  after 
them,  and  m  brought  thee  out  in  his  sight, 
with  his  mighty  power,  out  of  Egypt ; 

38  nTo  drive  out  nations  from  before  thee 
greater  and  mightier  than  thou  art,  to  bring 
thee  in,  to  give  thee  their  land  for  an  inherit¬ 
ance,  as  it  is  this  day. 

39  Know  therefore  this  day,  and  consider  it 
in  thine  heart,  that  0  the  Lord  he  is  God  in 
heaven  above,  and  upon  the  earth  beneath  : 
there  is  none  else. 

40  p  Thou  shalt  keep  therefore  his  statutes 
and  his  commandments,  which  I  command  thee 

kExod.  xix.  9,  19;  xx.  18,  22;  xxiv.  16;  Heb.  xii.  18. 

•Chap.  x.  15. - mExod.  xiii.  3,  9,  14. - n  Chap.  vii.  1  ;  ix.l, 

4,  5. - 0  Ver.  35  ;  Josh.  ii.  11. - p  Lev.  xxii.  31. 


here  it  was  different ;  God  did  appear  in  a  sovereign 
and  extraordinary  manner  ;  but  it  was  for  the  deliver¬ 
ance  and  support  of  the  people.  1.  They  heard  his 
voice  speaking  with  them  in  a  distinct,  articulate  man¬ 
ner.  2.  They  saw  the  fire,  the  symbol  of  his  presence, 
the  appearances  of  which  demonstrated  it  to  be  super¬ 
natural.  3.  Notwithstanding  God  appeared  so  terrible, 
yet  no  person  was  destroyed,  for  he  came,  not  to  de¬ 
stroy, ,  but  to  save. 

Yerse  34.  From  the  midst  of  another  nation ]  This 
was  a  most  extraordinary  thing,  that  a  whole  people, 
consisting  of  upwards  of  600,000  effective  men,  be¬ 
sides  women  and  children,  should,  without  striking  a 
blow,  be  brought  out  of  the  midst  of  a  very  powerful 
nation,  to  the  political  welfare  of  which  their  services 
were  so  essential ;  that  they  should  be  brought  out  in 
so  open  and  public  a  manner  ;  that  the  sea  itself  should 
be  supernaturally  divided  to  afford  this  mighty  host  a 
passage ;  and  that,  in  a  desert  utterly  unfriendly  to 
human  life,  they  should  be  sustained  for  forty  years. 
These  were  such  instances  of  the  almighty  power  and 
goodness  of  God  as  never  could  be  forgotten. 

In  this  verse  Moses  enumerates  seven  different  means 
used  by  the  Almighty  in  effecting  Israel’s  deliverance. 

1.  Temptations,  ED'S  massoth ,  from  HDJ  nasah,  to 
try  or  prove  ;  the  miracles  which  God  wrought  to  try 
the  faith  and  prove  the  obedience  of  the  children  of 
Israel. 

2.  Signs,  EEX  othoth ,  from  athah,  to  come  near ; 

such  signs  as  God  gave  them  of  his  continual  presence 
and  especial  providence,  particularly  the  pillar  of  cloud 
and  pillar  of  fire,  keeping  near  to  them  night  and  day, 
and  always  directing  their  journeys,  showing  them 
when  and  where  to  pitch  their  tents,  &c.,  &c. 

3.  Wonders,  D’ESID  mophethim ,  from  nS1 * * 4 5 6 7  yaphath , 
to  persuade  ;  persuasive  facts  and  events,  says  Park- 
hurst,  whether  strictly  miraculous,  and  exceeding  the 
powers  of  nature,  as  Exod.  vii.  9  ;  xi.  9,  10  ;  or  not, 
as  Isa.  xx.  3;  Ezek.  xii.  6,  11.  It  probably  means 
typical  representations  :  in  this  signification  the  word 

748 


is  used,  Zech.  iii.  8.  Joshua,  the  high  priest,  and  his 
companions  were  ED1D  anshey  mopheth ,  typical 

men,  raised  up  by  God  as  types  of  Christ,  and  proofs 
that  God  would  bring  his  servant  The  Branch.  All 
the  dealings  of  God  with  this  people,  and  even  the 

people  themselves,  were  types — present  significators 
of  distant  facts  and  future  occurrences. 

4.  War,  nonbo  milchamah,  hostile  engagements  ; 
such  as  those  with  the  Amalekites,  the  Amorites,  and 
the  Bashanites,  in  which  the  ha?id  of  God  was  seen, 
rather  than  the  hand  of  man. 

5.  A  mighty  hand,  npin  I1  yad  chazakah ;  one 
that  is  strong  to  deal  its  blows,  irresistible  in  its  ope* 
rations,  and  grasps  its  enemies  hard,  so  that  they  can* 
not  escape,  and  protects  its  friends  so  powerfully  that 
they  cannot  be  injured.  Neither  stratagem  nor  policy 
was  used  in  this  business,  but  the  openly  displayed 
power  of  God. 

6.  A  stretched-out  arm,  mtDJ  J7VET  zeroa  netuyah ; 
a  series  of  almighty  operations ,  following  each  other 
in  quick  and  astonishing  succession.  Let  it  be  noted 
that  in  the  Scriptures,  1.  The  finger  of  God  denotes 
any  manifestation  of  the  Divine  power ,  where  effects 
are  produced  beyond  the  power  of  art  or  nature. 
2.  The  hand  of  God  signifies  the  same  power,  but  put 
forth  in  a  more  signal  manner.  3.  The  arm  of  God, 
the  Divine  omnipotence  manifested  in  the  most  stupen¬ 
dous  miracles.  4.  The  arm  of  God  stretched  out,  this 
same  omnipotence  exerted  in  a  continuation  of  stupen¬ 
dous  miracles,  both  in  the  wray  of  judgment  and  mercy. 
In  this  latter  sense  it  appears  to  be  taken  in  the  text  : 
the  judgments  were  poured  out  on  the  Egyptians ;  the 
mercies  wrought  in  favour  of  the  Israelites.. 

7.  Great  terrors,  D’iOlD  moraim,  gedolim ; 

such  terror,  dismay,  and  consternation  as  were  pro¬ 
duced  by  the  ten  plagues,  to  which  probably  the  in¬ 
spired  penman  here  alludes  :  or,  as  the  Septuagint  has 
it,  ev  bpapaoiv  yeya'hoLg,  with  great  or  portentous 
sights ;  such  as  that  when  God  looked  out  of  the 
cloud  upon  the  Egyptians,  and  their  chariot  wheels 


God's  covenant  with 


CHAP.  Y. 


a.  M.  2553.  this  day,  *  that  it  may  go  well 
An.  Ex.  isr.  40.  with  thee,  and  with  thy  children 
Scbati  after  thee,  and  that  thou  mayest 
prolong  thy  days  upon  the  earth,  which  the 
Lord  thy  God  giyeth  thee,  for  ever. 

4 1  Then  Moses  r  severed  three  cities  on 
this  side  Jordan,  toward  the  sunrising ; 

4  2  3  That  the  slayer  might  flee  thither, 
which  should  kill  his  neighbour  unawares, 
and  hated  him  not  in  times  past ;  and  that 
fleeing  unto  one  of  these  cities  he  might 
live  : 

43  Namely , *  1 *  Bezer  in  the  wilderness,  in 
the  plain  country  of  the  Reubenites ;  and 
Ramoth  in  Gilead,  of  the  Gadites ;  and  Golan 
in  Bashan,  of  the  Manassites. 

44  And  this  is  the  law  which  Moses  set 
before  the  children  of  Israel : 

45  These  are  the  testimonies,  and  the  sta- 

iChap.  v.  16;  vi.  3,  18;  xii.  25,  28;  xxii.  7;  Eph.  vi.  3. 

r  Num.  xxxv.  6,  14. - s  Chap.  xix.  4. 4  Josh.  xx.  8. - u  Chap. 

iii.  29. 

were  taken  off,  Exod.  xiv.  24,  25.  More  awful  dis¬ 
plays  of  God’s  judgments,  power,  and  might,  were 
never  witnessed  by  man. 

Verse  41.  Then  Moses  severed  three  cities ]  See 
the  law  relative  to  the  cities  of  refuge  explained 
Num.  xxxv.  9,  &c. 

Verse  43.  Bezer  in  the  wilderness ]  As  the  cities 


the  people  in  Iloreb. 
tutes,  and  the  judgments,  which  a.  m.  2553. 

J  °  B.  C.  1451. 

Moses  spake  unto  the  children  An.  Ex.  isr.  40. 

of  Israel,  after  they  came  forth  _ Sebat‘ 

out  of  Egypt, 

46  On  this  side  Jordan,  u  in  the  valley  over 
against  Beth-peor,  in  the  land  of  Sihon  king 
of  the  Amorites,  who  dwelt  at  Hcshbon,  whom 
Moses  and  the  children  of  Israel v  smote,  after 
they  were  come  forth  out  of  Egypt : 

47  And  they  possessed  his  land,  and  the 
land  w  of  Og  king  of  Bashan,  two  kings  of 
the  Amorites,  which  were  on  this  side  Jordan, 
toward  the  sunrising ; 

48  x  From  Aroer,  which  is  by  the  bank  of 
the  river  Arnon,  even  unto  Mount  Sion, 
which  is  Y  Hermon. 

49  And  all  the  plain  on  this  side  Jordan, 
eastward,  even  unto  the  sea  of  the  plain,  un¬ 
der  the  z  springs  of  Pisgah. 

v  Num.  xxi.  24 ;  chap.  i.  4. - w  Num.  xxi.  35  ;  chap.  iii.  3,  4. 

xChap.  ii.  36;  iii.  12. - >' Chap.  iii.  9;  Psa.  cxxxiii.  3 

z  Chap.  iii.  17. 

of  refuge  are  generally  understood  to  be  types  of  the 
salvation  provided  by  Christ  for  sinners  ;  so  their 
names  have  been  thought  to  express  some  attribute 
of  the  Redeemer  of  mankind.  See  them  explained 
Josh.  xx.  7,  8. 

I  suppose  the  last  nine  verses  of  this  chapter  to 

have  been  added  by  either  Joshua  or  Ezra. 


CHAPTER  Y. 

God's  covenant  with  the  people  in  Horeb,  1—4.  Moses  the  mediator  of  it.,  5.  A  repetition  of  the  ten  com¬ 
mandments,  6—21  ;  which  God  wrote  on  two  tables  of  stone,  22.  The  people  are  filled  ivith  dread  at  the 
terrible  majesty  of  God,  23-26  ;  and  beseech  Moses  to  be  their  mediator,  27.  The  Lord  admits  of  their 
request,  28  ;  and  deplores  their  ungodliness,  29.  They  are  exhorted  to  obedience ,  that  they  may  be  pre¬ 
served  in  the  possession  of  the  promised  land ,  30—33. 


A.  M.  2553.  A  ND  Moses  called  all  Israel, 

B.  C.  1451.  -±L  .  .  .  .  TT 

An.  Ex.  isr.  40.  and  said  unto  them,  Hear, 

Sebat~  0  Israel,  the  statutes  and  judg¬ 
ments  which  I  speak  in  your  ears  this  day,  that 
ye  may  learn  them,  and  a  keep,  and  do  them. 

2  b  The  Lord  our  God  made  a  covenant 
with  us  in  Horeb. 

a  Iieb.  keep  to  do  them. - b  Exod.  xix.  5  ;  chap.  iv.  23. - c  See 

Matt.  xiii.  17 ;  Heb.  viii.  9. 


3  The  Lord  c  made  not  this  A.  m.  2553. 

.  .  -  .  .  B.  C.  1451. 

covenant  with  our  lathers,  but  An.  Ex.  isr.  40. 

with  us,  even  us,  who  are  all  of  Scbat~ 


ns  here  alive  this  day. 

4  d  The  Lord  talked  with  you  face  to  face, 
in  the  mount,  out  of  the  midst  of  the  fire, 

5  (e  I  stood  between  the  Lord  and  you  at 


d  Exod.  xix.  9, 19  ;  xx.  22  ;  chap.  iv.  33, 36 ;  xxxiv.  10. 

xx.  21 ;  Gal.  iii.  J9. 


-e  Exod. 


NOTES  ON  CHAP.  V.  * 

Verse  1.  And  Moses  called  all  Israel,  and  said — 
Hear,  dj-c.]  1.  God  speaks  to  the  people.  2.  The 
people  are  called  to  hear  what  God  speaks.  3.  To 
learn  what  they  heard,  that  they  may  be  thoroughly 
instructed  in  the  will  of  God.  4.  To  keep  God’s  tes¬ 
timonies  ever  in  mind,  and  to  treasure  them  up  in  a 


believing  and  upright  heart.  5.  That  they  might  do 
them — obey  the  whole  will  of  God,  taking  his  word 
for  the  invariable  rule  of  their  conduct.  Should  not 
all  these  points  be  kept  in  view  by  every  Christian 
assembly  1 

Verse  3.  The  Lord  made  not  this  covenant  with  our 
fathers  (only)  but  with  us  (also.) 

749 


DEUTERONOMY. 


Moses  recapitulates 

a.  M.  2553.  that  time,  to  show  you  the  word 
An.  Ex.  isr.  4*o.  of  the  Lord  :  for  f  ye  were  afraid 
Sebat"  by  reason  of  the  fire,  and  went 
not  up  into  the  mount ;)  saying, 

6  »I  am  the  Lord  thy  God,  which  brought 
thee  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt,  from  the  house 
of  h  bondage. 

7  1  Thou  shalt  have  none  other  gods  before 
me. 

8  k  Thou  shalt  not  make  thee  a,ny  graven 
image,  or  any  likeness  of  any  thing  that  is  in 
heaven  above,  or  that  is  in  the  earth  beneath, 
or  that  is  in  the  waters  beneath  the  earth  : 

9  Thou  shalt  not  bow  down  thyself  unto 
them,  nor  serve  them  :  for  I  the  Lord  thy 
God  am  a  jealous  God,  1  visiting  the  iniquity 
of  the  fathers  upon  the  children  unto  the  third 
and  fourth  generation  of  them  that  hate  me, 

10  m  And  showing  mercy  unto  thousands  of 
them  that  love  me,  and  keep  my  command¬ 
ments. 

1 1  n  Thou  shalt  not  take  the  name  of  the 
Lord  thy  God  in  vain  :  for  the  Lord  will  not 
hold  him  guiltless  that  taketh  his  name  in 
vain. 

12  0  Keep  the  Sabbath  day  to  sanctify  it,  as 
the  Lord  thy  God  hath  commanded  thee. 

13  p  Six  days  thou  shalt  labour,  and  do  all 
thy  work  : 

14  But  the  seventh  day  is  the  *  Sabbath  of 
the  Lord  thy  God  :  in  it  thou  shalt  not  do 
any  work,  thou,  nor  thy  son,  nor  thy  daughter, 
nor  thy  man-servant,  nor  thy  maid-servant, 

f  Exod.  xix.  16  ;  xx.  18 ;  xxiv.  2. - %  Exod.  xx.  2,  &c. ;  Lev. 

xxvi.  1  ;  ch.  vi.  4  ;  Psa.  lxxxi.  10. - h  Heb.  servants. - 1  Exod. 

xx.  3. - k  Exod.  xx.  4. - 1  Exod.  xxxiv.  7. - m  Jer.  xxxii.  18  ; 

Dan.  ix.  4. - n  Exodus  xx.  7;  Lev.  xix.  12;  Matthew  v.  33. 

0  Exod.  xx.  8. - PExod.  xxiii.  12;  xxxv.  2 ;  Ezek.  xx.  12. 

t  Gen.  ii.  2 ;  Exod.  xvi.  29,  30  ;  Heb.  iv.  4. - r  Chap.  xv.  15  ; 

xvi.  12  ;  xxiv.  18,  22. 

Verse  6.  I  am  the  Lord  thy  God ]  See  these  com¬ 
mandments  explained  in  the  notes  on  Exod.  xx. 

Verse  15.  And  remember  that  thou  least  a  servant ] 
In  this  and  the  latter  clause  of  the  preceding-  verse 
Moses  adds  another  reason  why  one  day  in  seven 
should  be  sanctified,  viz.,  that  the  servants  might  rest , 
and  this  is  urged  upon  them  on  the  consideration  of 
their  having  been  servants  in  the  land  of  Egypt.  We 
see  therefore  that  God  had  three  grand  ends  in  view 
by  appointing  a  Sabbath.  1.  To  commemorate  the 
creation.  2.  To  give  a  due  proportion  of  rest  to  man 
and  beast.  When  in  Egypt  they  had  no  rest ;  their 
cruel  task-masters  caused  them  to  labour  without  in¬ 
termission  :  now  God  had  given  rest,  and  as  he  had 
showed  them  mercy,  he  teaches  them  to  show  mercy 
to  their  servants  :  Remember  that  thou  least  a  servant. 
3  To  afford  peculiar  spiritual  advantages  to  the  soul, 

750 


the  ten  commandments. 

nor  thine  ox,  nor  thine  ass,  nor  A.  M.  2553. 
any  01  thy  cattle,  nor  thy  stranger  An.  Ex.  isr.  40. 
that  is  within  thy  gates  ;  that  Sebdt' 
thy  man-servant  and  thy  maid-servant  may 
rest  as  well  as  thou. 

1 5  r  And  remember  that  thou  wast  a  servant 
in  the  land  of  Egypt,  and  that  the  Lord  thy 
God  brought  thee  out  thence  s  through  a 
mighty  hand,  and  by  a  stretched-out  arm: 
therefore  the  Lord  thy  God  commanded  thee 
to  keep  the  Sabbath  day. 

16  t  Honour  thy  father  and  thy  mother,  as 
the  Lord  thy  God  hath  commanded  thee ; 
11  that  thy  days  may  be  prolonged,  and  that  it 
may  go  well  with  thee,  in  the  land  which  the 
Lord  thy  God  giveth  thee. 

17  v  Thou  shalt  not  kill. 

18  w  Neither  shalt  thou  commit  adultery. 

19  x  Neither  shalt  thou  steal. 

20  y  Neither  shalt  thou  bear  false  witness 
against  thy  neighbour. 

21  z  Neither  shalt  thou  desire  thy  neigh¬ 
bour’s  wife,  neither  shalt  thou  covet  thy  neigh¬ 
bour’s  house,  his  field,  or  his  man-servant,  or 
his  maid-servant,  his  ox,  or  his  ass,  or  any 
thing  that  is  thy  neighbour’s. 

22  These  words  the  Lord  spake  unto  all 
your  assembly  in  the  mount  out  of  the  midst 
of  the  fire,  of  the  cloud,  and  of  the  thick  dark¬ 
ness,  with  a  great  voice  :  and  he  added  no 
more.  And  a  he  wrote  them  in  two  tables  of 
stone,  and  delivered  them  unto  me. 

23  b  And  it  came  to  pass,  when  ye  heard 

sChap.  iv.  34,  37. - -‘Exod.  xx.  12;  Lev.  xix.  3;  chap. 

xxvii.  16;  Eph.  vi.  2,  3;  Col.  iii.  20. - u  Chap.  iv.  40. 

vExod.  xx.  13;  Matt.  v.  21. - w  Exod.  xx.  14;  Luke  xviii. 

20;  James  ii.  11. - x  Exod.  xx.  15;  Rom.  xiii.  9. - y  Exod. 

xx.  16. - *Exod.  xx.  17  ;  Mic.  ii.  2  ;  Hab.  ii.  9  ;  Luke  xii.  15  ; 

Rom.  vii.  7;  xiii.  9. - aExod.  xxiv.  12;  xxxi.  18;  chap.  iv. 

13. - b  Exod.  xx.  18,  19. 

that  it  might  be  kept  in  remembrance  of  the  rest  which 
remains  at  the  right  hand  of  God. 

Therefore  the  Lord  thy  God  commanded  thee  to 
keep  the  Sabbath  day.]  Here  is  a  variation  in  the 
manner  of  expression,  Sabbath  day  for  seventh ,  owing, 
it  is  supposed,  to  a  change  of  the  day  at  the  exodus 
from  Sunday  to  Saturday ,  effected  upon  the  gathering 
of  the  manna,  Exod.  xvi.  23.  The  Sabbath  now  be¬ 
came  a  twofold  memorial  of  the  deliverance,  as  well  as 
of  the  creation  ;  and  this  accounts  for  the  new  reason 
assigned  for  its  observance  :  “  Therefore  the  Lord 

thy  God  commanded  thee  to  keep  the  Sabbath  day.” 
See  Dr.  A.  Bayley’s  Heb.  and  Eng.  Bible,  and  the 
note  on  Exod.  xvi.  23. 

Verse  21.  His  field]  This  clause  is  not  in  the 
tenth  commandment  as  it  stands  in  Exod.  xx.  17. 

Verse  23,  &c.  And  it  came  to  pass ,  when 

a 


CHAP.  V. 


The  people  greatly  fear ,  and 


beseech  Moses  to  speak  to  them 


A.  M.  2553.  the  voice  out  of  the  midst  of  the 
An.  Ex.  isr.  40.  darkness,  (for  the  mountain  did 

_ _ Scbat‘  burn  with  fire,)  that  ye  came 

near  unto  inc,  even  all  the  heads  of  your  tribes, 
and  your  elders  ; 

24  And  ye  said,  Behold,  the  Lord  our  God 
hath  showed  us  his  glory  and  his  greatness, 
and  c  we  have  heard  his  voice  out  of  the  midst 
of  the  fire  :  we  have  seen  this  day  that  God 
doth  talk  with  man,  and  he  d  liveth. 

25  Now  therefore  why  should  we  die  ?  for 
this  great  fire  will  consume  us :  0  if  we  f  hear 
the  voice  of  the  Lord  our  God  any  more, 
then  we  shall  die. 

26  *  For  who  is  there  of  all  flesh,  that  hath 
heard  the  voice  of  the  living  God  speaking 
out  of  the  midst  of  the  fire,  as  we  have ,  and 
lived  ? 

27  Go  thou  near,  and  hear  all  that  the  Lord 
our  God  shall  say  :  and  h  speak  thou  unto  us 
all  that  the  Lord  our  God  shall  speak  unto 
thee  ;  and  we  will  hear  it,  and  do  it. 

28  And  the  Lord  heard  the  voice  of  your 
words,  when  ye  spake  unto  me ;  and  the  Lord 
said  unto  me,  I  have  heard  the  voice  of  the 


words  of  this  people,  which  they  A.  M.  2553. 
have  spoken  unto  thee:  'they  An.Ex.lsr. 40 
have  well  said  all  that  they  have  SebaL 
spoken. 

29  k  0  that  there  were  such  a  heart  in 
them,  that  they  would  fear  me,  and  1  keep  all 
my  commandments  always,  111  that  it  might  be 
well  with  them,  and  with  their  children  for  ever  ’ 

30  Go  say  to  them,  Get  you  into  your  tents 


again. 

3 1  But  as  for  thee,  stand  thou  here  by  me, 
n  and  I  will  speak  unto  thee  all  the  command¬ 
ments,  and  the  statutes,  and  the  judgments, 
which  thou  shalt  teach  them,  that  they  may 
do  them  in  the  land  which  I  give  them  to  pos 
sess  it. 

32  Ye  shall  observe  to  do  therefore  as  the 
Lord  your  God  hath  commanded  you  :  °  ye 
shall  not  turn  aside  to  the  right  hand  or  to  the 
left. 

33  Ye  shall  walk  in  Pall  the  ways  which 
the  Lord  your  God  hath  commanded  you, 
that  ye  may  live,  ^  and  that  it  may  be  well 
with  you,  and  that  ye  may  prolong  your  days 
in  the  land  which  ye  shall  possess. 


c  Exod.  xix.  19. - d  Chap.  iv.  33  ;  Judg.  xiii.  22. - e  Chap. 

xViii.  16. - fHeb.  add  to  hear. - £  Chap.  iv.  33. - h  Exod. 

xx.  19;  Heb.  xii.  19. - ’Chap,  xviii.  17. - k  Chap,  xxxii.29; 

Psa.  lxxxi.  13  ;  Isa.  xlviii.  18  ;  Matt,  xxiii.  37  ;  Luke  xix.  42. 


ye  heard  the  voice ]  See  the  notes  on  Exod.  xx. 
18,  &c. 

Verse  29.  O  that  there  were  such  a  heart  in  them ] 
Or  rather,  n?  DTP  JJV  'D  mi  yitten  vehayah  le~ 

babam  zeh,  Who  loill  give  such  a  heart  to  them ,  that 
they  may  fear,  &c.  They  refuse  to  receive  such  a 
heart  from  me  ;  who  then  can  supply  it  1  If  they  had 
not  been  such  perfectly  free  agents  as  could  either  use 
or  abuse  their  liberty,  could  God  have  made  the  com¬ 
plaint  or  expressed  the  earnest  desire  we  find  in  this 
verse  1  He  made  the  human  will  free;  and  in  spite  of 
all  the  •influence  of  sin  and  Satan,  he  preserves  its 
liberty.  Had  man  no  free  will,  he  could  neither  be 
punished  nor  rewarded ,  because  a  mere  machine,  and 
consequently  no  more  accountable  for  his  actions  than 
the  fire  for  its  consuming  quality,  or  the  stone  for  its 
gravity ;  the  one  having  burned  the  house  of  the 
righteous,  the  other  having  crushed  the  innocent  to 
death.  See  the  note  on  chap.  xxix.  4. 

Verse  32.  Ye  shall  observe  to  do ]  He  who  marks 
not  the  word  of  God  is  never  likely  to  fulfil  the  will 
of  God. 

Ye  shall  not  turn  aside  to  the  right  hand  or  to  the 
left.]  The  way  of  truth  and  righteousness  is  a  right 
line ;  a  man  must  walk  straight  forward  who  wishes 
to  go  to  glory  ;  no  crooked  or  devious  path  ever  led 
to  God  or  happiness. 

Verse  33.  Ye  shall  walk  in  all  the  ways,  t^c.]  God 


1  Chap.  xi.  1. - m  Chap.  iv.  40. - n  Gal.  iii.  19. - °  Chap. 

xvii.  20  ;  xxviii.  14 ;  Joshua  i.  7  ;  xxiii.  6 ;  Proverbs  iv.  27. 

P  Chap.  x.  12  ;  Psa.  cxix.  6  ;  Jer.  vii.  23  ;  Luke  i.  6. - Q  Chap. 

iv.  40  ;  Exod.  xx.  12. 

never  gave  a  commandment  to  man  which  he  did  not 
design  that  he  should  obey.  He  who  selects  from  the 
Divine  testimonies  such  precepts  as  he  feels  but  little 
inclination  to  transgress,  and  lives  in  the  breach  of 
others,  sins  against  the  grand  legislative  authority  of 
God,  and  shall  be  treated  as  a  rebel. 

That  ye  may  live]  jvnn  ticheyun,  that  ye  may  en¬ 
joy  life ,  (for  the  paragogic  j  nun,  at  the  end  of  the 
word,  deepens  the  sense,)  that  it  may  be  well  with  you , 
DD1?  vetob  lachem ,  and  good  shall  be  to  you — God 
will  prosper  you  in  all  things  essential  to  the  welfare 
of  your  bodies,  and  the  salvation  of  your  souls. 

That  ye  may  prolong  your  days  in  the  land]  That 
ye  may  arrive  at  a  good  old  age,  and  grow  more  and 
more  meet  for  the  inheritance  among  the  saints  in  light. 

On  this  very  important  verse  we  may  remark,  a 
long  life  is  a  great  blessing,  if  a  man  live  to  God,  be¬ 
cause  it  is  in  life,  and  in  life  alone,  that  a  preparation 
for  eternal  glory  may  be  acquired.  Those  who  wish 
to  die  soon,  have  never  yet  learned  to  live,  and  know 
not  the  value  of  life  or  time.  Many  have  a  vain  hope 
that  they  shall  get  either  in  death,  or  in  the  other 
world,  a  preparation  for  glory.  This  is  a  fatal  error. 
Here,  alone,  we  may  acquaint  ourselves  with  God,  and 
receive  that  holiness  without  which  none  can  see  him. 
Reader,  be  thankful  to  him  that  thou  art  still  in  a 
state  of  probation  ;  and  pray  that  thou  mayest  live  for 
eternity. 


a 


751 


The  great  design  of  God 


DEUTERONOMY. 


in  giving  his  laws. 


CHAPTER  VI. 


The  great  design  of  God  in  giving  his  laws  is,  that  the  people  may  fear  and  obey  him,  that  they  may  continue 
in  peace  and  prosperity,  and  be  mightily  increased,  1—3.  The  great  commandment  of  the  law,  4,  5,  which 
shall  be  laid  up  in  their  hearts ,  6  ;  taught  to  their  children ,  7  ;  and  affixed  as  a  sign  to  their  hands ,  heads, 
doors,  and  gates,  8,  9.  How  they  are  to  act  when  they  shall  come  into  the  promised  land,  10—19.  How 
they  shall  instruct  their  children,  and  relate  the  history  to  them  of  God’s  ivonderful  acts,  20—25. 


A.  M.  2553.  1\T  0  W  these  are  a  the  command- 

B.  C.  1451.  , 

An.  Ex.  isr.  40.  merits,  the  statutes,  and  the 

Sebat~  judgments,  which  the  Lord  your 
God  commanded  to  teach  you,  that  ye  might 
do  them  in  the  land  whither  ye  b  go  to  pos¬ 
sess  it : 

2  c  That  thou  mightest  fear  the  Lord  thy 
God,  to  keep  all  his  statutes  and  his  com¬ 
mandments,  which  I  command  thee,  thou,  and 
thy  son,  and  thy  son’s  son,  all  the  days  of  thy 


life  ;  d  and  that  thy  days  may  be  a.  m.  2553. 

’  .  J  J  J  B.  C.  1451. 

prolonged.  An.  Ex.  Isr.  40. 

3  Hear  therefore,  O  Israel,  Sebat~ 
and  observe  to  do  it ;  that  it  may  be  well 
with  thee,  and  that  ye  may  increase  mightily, 
e  as  the  Lord  God  of  thy  fathers  hath  pro¬ 
mised  thee,  in  f  the  land  that  floweth  with  milk 
and  honey. 

4  ^Hear,  0  Israel:  The  Lord  our  God  is 
one  Lord  : 


a  Chap.  iv.  1 ;  v.  31  ;  xii.  1. - b  Heb.  pass  over. - c  Exod. 

xx.  20;  chap.  x.  12,  13;  Psa.  cxi.  10;  cxxviii.  1;  Eccles. 
xii.  13. 

NOTES  ON  CHAP.  VI. 

Verse  1.  Now  these  are  the  commandments ,  c j-c.] 
See  the  difference  between  commandments,  statutes, 
judgments,  &c.,  pointed  out  Lev.  xxvi.  15. 

Do  them]  That  is,  live  in  the  continual  practice  of 
them ;  for  by  this  they  were  to  be  distinguished  from 
all  the  nations  of  the  world,  and  all  these  were  to  be 
in  force  till  the  Son  of  God  should  come.  Whither  ye 
go,  OHgJt  oberim,  whither  ye  pass  over,  referring  to 
the  river  Jordan,  across  which  they  must  pass  to  get 
into  Canaan. 

Verse  2.  That  thou  mightest  fear  the  Lord ]  Re¬ 
spect  his  sovereign  authority  as  a  lawgiver,  and  ever 
feel  thyself  bound  to  obey  him.  No  man  can  walk 
either  conscientiously  or  safely  who  has  not  the  fear 
of  God  continually  before  his  eyes.  When  this  is 
gone,  more  than  a  guardian  angel  is  fled. 

Thou ,  and  thy  son,  and  thy  son’s  son ]  Through  all 
thy  successive  generations.  Whoever  fears  God  will 
endeavour  to  bring  up  his  children  in  the  way  of 
righteousness,  that  they  also  may  fear  God,  and  that 
pure  and  undefiled  religion  may  be  preserved  in  his 
family  through  all  its  generations,  not  only  in  word, 
but  in  practice  also. 

Verse  3.  Hear  therefore,  O  Israel,  and  observe  to 
do  it]  Literally,  Ye  shall  hear,  O  Israel,  and  thou 
shalt  keep  to  do  them.  1.  God  is  to  be  heard ;  no 
obligation  without  law  to  found  it  on,  and  no  law  in 
religion  but  from  God.  2.  The  commandment  must 
be  understood  in  order  to  be  obeyed.  3.  It  must  be 
observed — attentively  considered,  in  order  to  be  under¬ 
stood.  And,  4.  It  must  be  performed ,  that  the  end 
for  which  it  was  given  maybe  accomplished,  viz.,  that 
God  may  be  glorified,  and  that  it  may  be  well  with 
the  people.  What  is  here  spoken  applies  powerfully  to 
every  part  of  the  moral  law ;  God  has  given  it  as  a 
rule  of  life,  therefore  obedience  to  it  is  indispensably 
necessary,  not  to  the  purchase  of  salvation,  for  no 
human  merit  can  ever  extend  to  that,  but  it  is  the  way 
by  which  both  the  justice  and  mercy  of  God  choose  to 

752 


dChap.  iv.  40;  Prov.  iii.  1,  2. - e  Genesis  xv.  5;  xxii.  17. 

f  Exod.  iii.  8. - slsa.  xlii.  8;  Mark  xii.  29,  32;  John  xvii.  3; 

1  Cor.  viii.  4,  6. _  _ ■  _ 

conduct  men  to  heaven.  But  let  it  be  fully  under¬ 
stood  that  no  man  can  walk  in  the  way  of  obedience 
but  by  and  under  the  influence  of  the  grace  of  God. 

Verse  4.  Hear,  O  Israel]  imSx  miT 
^rtK'  mrr  shemA  Yisrael,  Yehovah  Eloheinu,  Yeho- 
vah  achaD.  These  words  may  be  variously  rendered 
into  English ;  but  almost  all  possible  verbal  varieties 
in  the  translation  (and  there  can  be  none  other)  amount 
to  the  same  sense  :  “  Israel,  hear !  Jehovah,  our  God, 
is  one  Jehovah  or,  “  Jehovah  is  our  God,  Jehovah 
is  one  or,  “  Jehovah  is  our  God,  Jehovah  alone  ;” 
or,  “  Jehovah  is  our  God,  Jehovah  who  is  one  ;”  or, 
“  Jehovah,  who  is  our  God,  is  the  one  Being.”  On 
this  verse  the  Jews  lay  great  stress ;  it  is  one  of  the 
four  passages  which  they  write  on  their  phylacteries, 
and  they  write  the  last  letter  in  the  first  and  last  words 
very  large,  for  the  purpose  of  exciting  attention  to  the 
weighty  truth  it  contains.  It  is  perhaps  in  reference 
to  this  custom  of  the  Jews  that  our  blessed  Lord 
alludes,  Matt.  xxii.  38  ;  Mark  xii.  29,  30,  where  he 
says,  This  is  the  first  and  great  commandment ;  and 
this  is  nearly  the  comment  that  Maimonides  gives  on 
this  place  :  “ Hear,  O  Israel;  because  in  these  wprds  the 
property,  the  love,  and  the  doctrine  of  God  are  contained.” 

Many  think  that  Moses  teaches  in  these  words  the 
doctrine  of  the  Trinity  in  Unity.  It  may  be  so;  but 
if  so,  it  is  not  more  clearlv  done  than  in  the  first  verse 
of  Genesis,  to  which  the  reader  is  referred.  When 
this  passage  occurs  in  the  Sabbath  readings  in  the 
synagogue,  the  whole  congregation  repeat  the  last 
word  achad  for  several  minutes  together  with  the 
loudest  vociferations  :  this  I  suppose  they  do  to  vent 
a  little  of  their  spleen  against  the  Christians,  for  they 
suppose  the  latter  hold  three  Gods,  because  of  their 
doctrine  of  the  Trinity;  but  all  their  skill  and  cunning 
can  never  prove  that  there  is  not  a  plurality  expressed 
in  the  word  Eloheinu,  which  is  translated  our 

God;  and  were  the  Christians,  when  reading  this 
verse,  to  vociferate  Eloheinu  for  several  minutes  as 


The  commandments  are 


CHAP.  VI. 


never  to  he  forgotten 


a.  M.  2553.  5  And  h  thou  shalt  love  the 

An.  Ex.  isr  40.  Lord  thy  God  1  with  all  thine 
Scbat-  heart,  and  with  all  thy  soul,  and 

with  all  thy  might. 

6  And  k  these  words,  which  I  command 
thee  this  day,  shall  be  in  thine  heart : 

7  And  1  thou  shalt  m  teach  them  diligently 
unto  thy  children,  and  shalt  talk  of  them  when 
thou  fittest  in  thine  house,  and  when  thou 
walkest  by  the  way,  and  when  thou  best  down, 
and  when  thou  risest  up. 

8  n  And  thou  shalt  bind  them  for  a  sign 
upon  thine  hand,  and  they  shall  be  as  frontlets 
between  thine  eyes. 

h  Chap.  x.  12 ;  Matt.  xxii.  37 ;  Mark  xii.  30 ;  Luke  x.  27. 

5  2  Kings  xxiii.  25. - k  Chap.  xi.  18  ;  xxxii.  46 ;  Psa.  xxxvii.  31  ; 

xl.  8  ;  cxix.  11,  98  ;  Prov.  iii.  3  ;  Isa.  li.  7. - 1  Ch.  iv.  9  ;  xi.  19 ; 

the  Jews  do  achad ,  it  would  apply  more  forcibly  in 
the  way  of  conviction  to  the  Jews  of  the  plurality  of 
persons  in  the  Godhead ,  than  the  word  achad ,  of  one , 
against  any  pretended  false  tenet  of  Christianity,  as 
every  Christian  receives  the  doctrine  of  the  unity  of 
God  in  the  most  conscientious  manner.  It  is  because 
of  their  rejection  of  this  doctrine  that  the  wrath  of 
God  continues  to  rest  on  them  ;  for  the  doctrine  of  the 
atonement  cannot  be  received,  unless  the  doctrine  of 
the  Godhead  of  Christ  is  received  too.  Some  Chris¬ 
tians  hive  joined  the  Jews  against  this  doctrine,  and 
some  have  even  outdone  them,  and  have  put  them¬ 
selves  to  extraordinary  pains  to  prove  that  D'ilbw 
Elohim  is  a  noun  of  the  singular  number !  This  has 
not  yet  been  proved.  It  would  be  as  easy  to  prove 
that  there  is  no  plural  in  language. 

Terse  5.  Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord ,  dfc.]  Here  we 
see  the  truth  of  that  word  of  the  apostle,  1  Tim.  i.  5  : 
Now  the  end  of  the  commandment  is  love  out  of  a 
pure  heart ,  &c.  See  the  whole  of  the  doctrine  con¬ 
tained  in  this  verse  explained  on  Matt.  xxii.  36-40. 

Verse  6.  Shall  be  in  thine  heart]  For  where  else 
can  love  be  1  If  it  be  not  in  the  heart ,  it  exists  not. 
And  if  these  words  be  not  in  the  heart — if  they  are  not 
esteemed,  prized,  and  received  as  a  high  and  most 
glorious  privilege,  what  hope  is  there  that  this  love 
shall  ever  reign  there  ? 

Verse  7.  Thou  shalt  teach  them  diligently]  DnilUJ 
shinnantam ,  from  pi?  shanan,  to  repeat,  iterate,  or  do 
a  thing  again  and  again ;  hence  to  whet  or  sharpen 
any  instrument,  which  is  done  by  reiterated  friction 
or  grinding.  .We  see  here  the  spirit  of  this  Divine 
injunction.  God’s  testimonies  must  be  taught  to  our 
children,  and  the  utmost  diligence  must  be  used  to  make 
them  understand  them.  This  is  a  most  difficult  task; 
and  it  requires  much  patience,  much  prudence,  much 
judgment,  and  much  piety  in  the  parents,  to  enable 
them  to  do  this  good,  this  most  important  work,  in  the 
best  and  most  effectual  manner.  See  at  the  end  of 
this  chapter. 

And  shalt  talk  of  them  when  thou  sittest  in  thine 
house]  Thou  shalt  have  religion  at  home ,  as  well  as 
in  th &  temple  and  tabernacle. 

Vol.  I.  *  c  49  ) 


9  0  And  thou 
upon  the  posts 
on  thyr  gates. 

10  And  it  shall  be,  when  the  Lord  thy 
God  shall  have  brought  thee  into  the  land 
which  he  sware  unto  thy  fathers,  to  Abraham, 
to  Isaac,  and  to  Jacob,  to  give  thee  great  and 
goodly  cities,  p  which  thou  buildedst  not, 

1 1  And  houses  full  of  all  good  things,  which 
thou  filledst  not,  and  wells  digged,  which  thou 
diggedst  not,  vineyards  and  olive-trees,  which 
thou  plantedst  not ;  q  when  thou  shalt  have 
eaten  and  be  full  ; 

12  Then  beware  lest  thou  forget  the  Lord, 

Psa.  lxxviii.  4,  5,  C ;  Eph.  vi.  4. - m  Heb.  xuhet  or  sharpen. 

n  Exod.  xiii.  9, 16  ;ch.  xi.18  ;  Prov.  iii.  3  ;  vi.  21 ;  vii.  3. - 0  Ch.  xi. 

20 ;  Isa.  lvii.  8. - p  Josh.  xxiv.  13  ;  Psa.  cv.  44. - Ch.  viii.  10,  &c. 

And  when  thou  walkest  by  the  ivay]  Thou  shalt  be 
religious  abroad  as  well  as  at  home,  and  not  be  ashamed 
to  own  God  wheresoever  thou  art. 

When  thou  liest  down,  and  when  thou  risest  up.] 
Thou  shalt  begin  and  end  the  day  with  God,  and  thus 
religion  will  be  the  great  business  of  thy  life.  O  how 
good  are  these  sayings,  but  how  little  regarded! 

Verse  8.  Thou  shalt  bind  them  for  a  sign  upon  thine 
hand]  Is  not  this  an  allusion  to  an  ancient  and  gene¬ 
ral  custom  observed  in  almost  every  part  of  the  world  ? 
When  a  person  wishes  to  remember  a  thing  of  impor¬ 
tance,  and  is  afraid  to  trust  to  the  common  operations 
of  memory,  he  ties  a  knot  on  some  part  of  his  clothes, 
or  a  cord  on  his  hand  or  finger,  or  places  something 
out  of  its  usual  order,  and  in  view,  that  his  memory 
may  be  whetted  to  recollection,  and  his  eye  affect  his 
heart.  God,  who  knows  how  slow  of  heart  we  are  to 
understand,  graciously  orders  us  to  make  use  of  every 
help,  and  through  the  means  of  things  sensible,  to  rise 
to  things  spiritual. 

And  they  shall  be  as  frontlets]  totaphoth  seems 

to  have  the  same  meaning  as  phylacteries  has  in  the 
New  Testament ;  and  for  the  meaning  and  description 
of  these  appendages  to  a  Jew’s  dress  and  to  his  reli¬ 
gion,  see  the  notes  on  Exod.  xiii.  9,  and  on  Matt,  xxiii. 
5,  where  a  phylactery  is  particularly  described. 

Verse  9.  Write  them  upon  the  posts  of  thy  house , 
and  on  thy  gates.]  The  Jews,  forgetting  the  spirit  and 
design  of  this  precept,  used  these  things  as  supersti¬ 
tious  people  do  amulets  and  charms,  and  supposed,  if 
they  had  these  passages  of  Scripture  written  upon  slips 
of  pure  parchment,  wrapped  round  their  foreheads,  tied 
to  their  arm.  or  nailed  to  their  door-posts,  that  they 
should  then  be  delivered  from  every  evil !  And  how 
much  better  are  many  Christians,  who  keep  a  Bible 
in  their  house  merely  that  it  may  keep  the  devil  out ; 
and  will  have  it  in  their  rooms,  or  under  their  pillows, 
to  ward  off  spirits  and  ghosts  in  the  night  ?  How  in¬ 
genious  is  the  heart  of  man  to  find  out  every  wrong 
way,  and  to  miss  the  right ! 

Verse  12.  Beware  lest  thou  forget  the  Lord]  In 
earthly  prosperity  men  are  apt  to  forget  heavenly 
I  things.  While  the  animal  senses  have  every  thing 

753 


bait  write  them  A.  M.  2553. 

,  .  ,  .  B.  C.  1451. 

thy  house,  and  An.  Ex.  isr.  40. 

Sebat. 


DEUTERONOMY. 


Directions  for  the  people 


when  they  come  into  Canaan. 


a.  M.  2553.  which  brought  thee  forth  out  of 
An.  Ex.  isr.  40.  the  land  of  Egypt,  from  the 
igebat‘  house  of  r  bondage. 

1 3  Thou  shalt  s  fear  the  Lord  thy  God, 
and  serve  him,  and  t  shalt  swear  by  his  name. 

14  Ye  shall  not  u  go  after  other  gods,  v  of 
the  gods  of  the  pepole  which  are  round  about 
you; 


15  (For  w  the  Lord  thy  God  is  a  jealous 
God  among  you ;)  x  lest  the  anger  of  the  Lord 
thy  God  be  kindled  against  thee,  and  destroy 
thee  from  off  the  face  of  the  earth. 


16  y  Ye  shall  not  tempt  the  A.  M.  2553. 

T  ~  1  r  ,  B.  C.  1451. 

Lord  your  God,  z  as  ye  tempted  An.  Ex.  isr.  40. 

him  in  Massah.  Sebat~ 

17  Ye  shall  a  diligently  keep  the  command¬ 
ments  of  the  Lord  your  God,  and  his  testi¬ 
monies,  and  his  statutes,  which  he  hath  com¬ 
manded  thee. 

1 8  And  thou  b  shalt  do  that  which  is  right 
and  good  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord  :  that  it 
may  be  well  with  thee,  and  that  thou  mayest 
go  in  and  possess  the  good  land  which  the 
Lord  sware  unto  thy  fathers, 


r  Heb.  bondmen  or  servants. - s  Chap.  x.  12,  20 ;  xiii.  4 ;  Matt. 

iv.  10;  Luke  iv.  8. -*  1  Psa.  lxiii.  11  ;  Isa.  xlv.  23;  lxv.  16; 

Jer.  iv.  2  ;  v.  7 ;  xii.  16. - u  Chap.  viii.  19;  xi.  28  ;  Jer.  xxv.  6. 

v  Chap.  xiii.  7. 

they  can  wish,  it  is  difficult  for  the  soul  to  urge  its 
way  to  heaven  ;  the  animal  man  is  happy,  and  the  de¬ 
sires  of  the  soul  are  absorbed  in  those  of  the  flesh. 
God  knows  this  well ;  and  therefore,  in  his  love  to 
man,  makes  comparative  poverty  and  frequent  afflic¬ 
tion  his  general  lot.  Should  not  every  soul  therefore 
magnify  God  for  this  lot  in  life  1  “  Before  I  was  af¬ 

flicted,”  says  David,  “  I  went  astray;”  and  had  it  not 
been  for  poverty  and  affliction,  as  instruments  in  the 
hands  of  God’s  grace,  multitudes  of  souls  now  happy 
in  heaven  would  have  been  wretched  in  hell.  It  is  not 
too  much  to  speak  thus  far ;  because  we  ever  see  that 
the  rich  and  the  affluent  are  generally  negligent  of 
God  and  the  interests  of  their  souls.  It  must  however 
be  granted  that  extreme  poverty  is  as  injurious  to  re¬ 
ligion  as  excessive  affluence.  Hence  the  wisdom  as 
well  as  piety  of  Agur’s  prayer,  Prov.  xxx.  7—9  : 
“Give  me  neither  poverty  nor  riches,  lest  I  be  full  and 
deny  thee,  or  lest  I  be  poor  and  steal,”  &c. 

Yerse  13.  Thou  shalt  fear  the  Lord  thy  God]  Thou 
shalt  respect  and  reverence  him  as  thy  Lawgiver  and 
Judge ;  as  thy  Creator,  Preserver,  and  the  sole  object 
of  thy  religious  adoration. 

And  serve  him ]  Our  blessed  Lord,  in  Matt.  iv.  10  ; 
Luke  iv.  8,  quotes  these  words  thus:  And  him  ONLY 
(avTu  yov<p)  shalt  thou  serve.  It  appears,  therefore, 
that  lebaddo  was  anciently  in  the  Hebrew  text, 

as  it  was  and  is  in  the  Septuagint,  (avrp  yovp,)  from 
which  our  Lord  quoted  it.  The  Coptic  preserves  the 
same  reading;  so  do  also  the  Vulgate,  (illi  soli,)  and 
the  Anglo-Saxon,  (peopa  liim  anum.)  Dr.  Kennicott 
argues,  that  without  the  word  only  the  text  would  not 
have  been  conclusive  for  the  purpose  for  which  our 
Lord  advanced  it ;  for  as  we  learn  from  Scripture 
that  some  men  worshipped  false  gods  in  conjunction 
with  the  true,  the  quotation  here  would  not  have  been 
full  to  the  point  without  this  exclusive  word.  It  may 
be  proper  to  observe  that  the  omitted  word  HD1?  le¬ 
baddo,  retained  in  the  above  versions,  does  not  exist 
in  the  Hebrew  printed  text,  nor  in  any  MS.  hitherto 
discovered. 

Shalt  swear  by  his  name.]  tishshabea,  from 

shaba,  he  was  full,  satisfied,  or  gave  that  which 
was  full  or  satisfactory .  Hence  an  oath  and  swearing, 
because  appealing  to  God,  and  taking  him  for  witness 

a  754 


w  Exodus  xx.  5 ;  chap.  iv.  24. - x  Chap.  vii.  4  ;  xi.  17. 

y  Matt.  iv.  7 ;  Luke  iv.  12. - z  Exod.  xvii.  2,  7 ;  Num.  xx.  3,  4  ; 

xxi.  4,  5 ;  1  Cor.  x.  9. - :a  Chap.  xi.  13,  22;  Psa.  cxix.  4 

b  Exod.  xv.  26;  chap.  xii.  28  ;  xiii.  18. 

in  any  case  of  promise,  &c.,  gave  full  and  sufficient  se¬ 
curity  for  the  performance  ;  and  if  done  in  evidence, 
or  to  the  truth  of  any  particular  fact,  it  gave  full  secu¬ 
rity  for  the  truth  of  that  evidence.  An  oath,  there¬ 
fore,  is  an  appeal  to  God,  who  knows  all  things,  of  the 
truth  of  the  matter  in  question  :  and  when  a  religious 
man  takes  such  an  oath,  he  gives  full  and  reasonable 
satisfaction  that  the  thing  is  so,  as  stated  ;  for  it  is 
ever  to  be  presumed  that  no  man,  unless  in  a  state  of 
the  deepest  degradation,  would  make  such  an  appeal 
falsely,  for  this  would  imply  an  attempt  to  make  God 
a  party  in  the  deception. 

Yerse  14.  Ye  shall  not  go  after  other  gods]  The 
object  of  religious  worship  among  every  people,  whe¬ 
ther  that  object  be  true  or  false,  is  ever  considered  as 
the  pattern  or  exemplar  to  his  ^worshippers.  Chris¬ 
tians  are  termed  the  followers  of  God  ;  they  take  God 
for  their  pattern,  and  walk — act,  as  he  does.  Hence 
we  see  the  meaning  of  the  terms  in  this  verse  :  Ye 
shall  not  go  after — ye  shall  not  take  false  gods  for 
your  patterns.  The  Canaanites,  Greeks,  Romans,  &c., 
were  a  most  impure  people,  because  the  objects  of 
their  worship  were  impure,  and  they  went  after  them, 

i.  e.,  were  like  their  gods.  This  serves  to  show  us 
that  such  as  our  Redeemer  is,  such  should  we  be;  and 
indeed  this  is  the  uniform  language  of  God  to  man  :  Be 
ye  holy,  for  I  am  holy,  Lev.  xxi.  8  ;  Be  ye  perfect,  as 
your  Father  who  is  in  heaven  is  perfect,  Matt.  v.  48. 

Yerse  15.  A  jealous  God]  Jehovah  has  betrothed 
you  to  himself  as  a  bride  is  to  her  husband.  Do  not 
be  unfaithful,  else  that  love  wherewith  he  has  now  dis¬ 
tinguished  you  shall  assume  the  form  of  jealousy,  and 
so  divorce  and  consume  you. 

Yerse  16.  Ye  shall  not  tempt  the  Lovd]  Ye  shall 
not  provoke  him  by  entertaining  doubts  of  his  mercy, 
goodness,  providence,  and  truth. 

As  ye  tempted  him  in  Massah.]  How  did  they  tempt 
him  in  Massah  1  They  said,  Is  the  Lord  among  us 
or  not  ?  Exod.  xvii.  1-7.  After  such  proofs  as  they 
had  of  his  presence  and  his  kindness,  this  was  exceed¬ 
ingly  provoking.  Doubting  God’s  kindness  where  there 
are  so  many  evidences  of  it,  is  highly  insulting  to  God 
Almighty. 

Yerse  17.  Ye  shall  diligently  keep,  c fc.]  On  this 

and  the  following  verse  see  the  note  on  ver.  3.  • 

(  49*  ) 


How  God’s  acts  were  to  be 


CHAP.  VI. 


taught  to  their  children . 


A.  M.  2553.  19  c  To  cast  out  all  thine  ene- 

An.  Ex.  Isr.  40.  mies  from  before  thee,  as  the 
Scl>at-  Lord  hath  spoken. 

20  And  d  when  thy  son  asketh  thee  e  in 
lime  to  come,  saying,  What  mean  the  testi¬ 
monies,  and  the  statutes,  and  the  judgments, 
which  the  Lord  our  God  hath  commanded 
you  ? 

21  Then  thou  shalt  say  unto  thy  son,  We 
were  Pharaoh’s  bondmen  in  Egypt ;  and  the 
Lord  brought  us  out  of  Egypt  f  with  a  mighty 
hand : 

22  *  And  the  Lord  showed  signs  and  won¬ 
ders,  great  and  h  sore,  upon  Egypt,  upon 

d  Exod.  xiii.  14. - -e  Heb.  to-mor- 

-g  Exod.  vii.,  viii.,  ix.,  x.,  xi., 


c  Num.  xxxiii.  52,  53.- 

row. - f  Exod.  iii.  19  ;  xiii.  3. 

xii. ;  Psa.  cxxxv.  9. - h  Heb.  evil. 


Verse  20.  And  when  Ihy  son  asketh  thee,  c fc.\ 
“  Here,”  as  Mr.  Ainsworth  justly  remarks,  “  folio  w- 
eth  a  brief  catechism ,  containing  the  grounds  of 
religion.” 

What  mean  the  testimonies ,  cfc.]  The  Hebrew 
language  has  no  word  to  express  to  mean  or  signify, 
and  therefore  uses  simply  the  substantive  verb  what 
is,  i.  e.,  what  mean  or  signify,  &c.  The  seven  thin 
ears  are,  i.  e.,  signify,  seven  years  of  famine.  This 
form  of  speech  frequently  occurs. 

Verse  25.  It  shall  be  our  righteousness]  The  evidence 
that  we  are  under  the  influence  of  the  fear  and  love  of 
God.  Moses  does  not  say  that  this  righteousness  could 
be  wrought  without  the  influence  of  God’s  mercy,  nor 
does  he  say  that  they  should  purchase  heaven  by  it ; 
but,  God  required  them  to  be  conformed  to  his  will  in 
all  things,  that  they  might  be  holy  in  heart,  and  right¬ 
eous  in  every  part  of  their  moral  conduct. 

1.  On  a  very  important  subject  in  this  chapter,  it 
may  be  necessary  to  make  some  farther  observations. 

A  most  injurious  and  destructive  maxim  has  lately 
been  advanced  by  a  few  individuals,  which  it  is  to  be 
hoped  is  disowned  by  the  class  of  Christians  to  which 
they  belong,  though  the  authors  affect  to  be  thought 
Christians,  and  rational  ones  too  ;  the  sum  of  the 
maxim  is  this  :  “  Children  ought  not  to  be  taught  reli¬ 
gion  for  fear  of  having  their  minds  biassed  to  some 
particular  creed,  but  they  should  be  left  to  themselves 
till  they  are  capable  of  making  a  choice,  and  choose  to 
make  one.”  This  maxim  is  in  flat  opposition  to  the 
command  of  God,  and  those  who  teach  it  show  how 
little  they  are  affected  by  the  religion  they  profess.  If 
they  felt  it  to  be  good  for  any  thing,  they  would  cer¬ 
tainly  wish  their  children  to  possess  it ;  but  they  do 
not  teach  religion  to  their  children,  because  they  feel 
it  to  be  of  no  use  to  themselves.  Now  the  Christian 
religion  properly  applied  saves  the  soul,  and  fills  the 
heart  with  love  to  God  and  man  ;  for  the  love  of  God 
is  shed  abroad  in  the  heart  of  a  genuine  believer,  by 
the  Holy  Ghost  given  to  him.  These  persons  have 
no  such  love,  because  they  have  not  the  religion  that 
inspires  it ;  and  the  spurious  religion  which  admits  of 

a 


Pharaoh,  and  upon  all  his  house-  a.  m.  2553. 
hold,  before  our  eyes  :  An.  Ex.  isr.  40. 

23  And  he  brought  us  out  Sdjat~ 
from  thence,  that  he  might  bring  us  in,  to 
give  us  the  land  which  he  sware  unto  our 
fathers. 

24  And  the  Lord  commanded  us  to  do  all 
these  statutes, *  1  to  fear  the  Lord  our  God, 
k  for  our  good  always,  that  1  he  might  preserve 
us  alive,  as  it  is  at  this  day. 

25  And  m  it  shall  be  our  righteousness,  if 
we  observe  to  do  all  these  commandments 
before  the  Lord  our  God,  as  he  hath  com¬ 
manded  us. 

1  Ver.  2. - k  Chap.  x.  13  ;  Job  xxxv.  7,  8  ;  Jer.  xxxii.  39. 

1  Chap.  iv.  1 ;  viii.  1  ;  Psa.  xli.  2  ;  Luke  x.  28. - m  Lev.  xviii. 

5  ;  chap.  xxiv.  13  ;  Rom.  x.  3,  5. 

the  maxim  above  mentioned,  is  not  the  religion  of  God, 
and  consequently  better  untaught  than  taught.  But 
what  can  be  said  to  those  parents  who,  possessing  a 
better  faith,  equally  neglect  the  instruction  of  their 
children  in  the  things  of  God  1  They  are  highly 
criminal ;  and  if  their  children  perish  through  neglect, 
which  is  very  probable,  what  a  dreadful  account  must 
they  give  in  the  great  day  !  PARENTS  !  hear  what 
the  Lord  saith  unto  you :  Ye  shall  diligently  teach 
your  children  that  there  is  one  Lord,  Jehovah,  Elohim ; 
the  Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Holy  Ghost :  and  that 
they  must  love  him  with  all  their  heart,  with  all  their 
soul,  and  with  all  their  might.  And  as  children  are 
heedless,  apt  to  forget,  liable  to  be  carried  away  by 
sensible  things,  repeat  and  re-repeat  the  instruction, 
and  add  line  upon  line,  precept  upon  precept,  here  a 
little  and  there  a  little,  carefully  studying  time ,  place , 
and  circumstances,  that  your  labour  be  not  in  vain  : 
show  it  in  its  amiableness,  excite  attention  by  exciting 
interest ;  show  how  good,  how  useful,  how  blessed, 
how  ennobling,  how  glorious  it  is.  Whet  these  things 
on  their  hearts  till  the  keenest  edge  is  raised  on  the 
strongest  desire,  till  they  can  sayf  “  Whom  have  I  in 
heaven  but  thee  1  and  there  is  none  upon  earth  I  de¬ 
sire  besides  thee  !” 

See  the  notes  on  chap.  ix.  9,  and  on  Gen.  xviii.  and 
xix.  at  the  end. 

2.  Without  offence  to  any,  I  hope,  a  few  words 
more  may  be  said  on  the  nature  of  an  oath ,  in  addition 
to  the  note  on  ver.  13.  The  matter  is  important,  and 
perhaps  not  well  understood  by  many. 

The  making  an  appeal  to  the  Supreme  Being,  and 
callino-  him  to  witness  and  record,  constitutes  the  spirit 
and  essence  of  an  oath.  It  is  no  matter  in  what  form 
this  appeal  is  made,  whether  by  putting  the  hand  under 
the  thigh,  as  among  the  patriarchs ;  by  the  water  of 
the  Ganges,  as  among  the  Hindoos ;  on  a  surat  or 
chapter  of  the  Koran,  as  among  the  Mohammedans ; 
on  a  Hebrew  Pentateuch,  as  among  the  Jews ;  on  the 
form  of  the  cross,  as  among  the  Roman  Catholics ; 
kissing  the  New  Testament ,  as  among  Protestants  in 
general ;  or  holding  up  the  hand,  and  making  affirma¬ 
tion,  as  among  the  people  called  Quakers;  still  the 

755 


No  covenant  or  alliances  to 


DEUTERONOMY. 


be  made  with  the  Canaanites. 


oath  is  the  same,  for  the  appeal  is  made  to  God.  On 
this  ground  (and  this  is  the  true  ground)  the  holding 
up  of  the  hand  in  a  court  of  justice,  is  as  perfect,  as 
substantial,  and  as  formal  an  oath,  as  kissing  the  Neiv 
Testament.  Why  then  so  many  objections  against 
taking  an  oath  in  a  court  of  justice  by  any  one  parti¬ 
cular  form,  when  the  same  thing  is  done  in  spirit,  es¬ 
sence,  and  substance,  when  God  is  called  to  witness 
and  record,  though  the  form  be  different  1  When  God 
says,  Thou  slialt  fear  the  Lord  thy  God,  and  shalt 
swear  by  his  name ,  he  says,  in  effect,  Thou  shalt  have 
no  god  besides  me ;  thou  shalt  consider  me  the  foun¬ 
tain  of  truth,  the  rewarder  of  righteousness,  and  the 


punisher  of  perfidy  and  wickedness.  Swear  by  my 
name — bind  thyself  to  me ;  take  me  for  witness  to  all 
thy  actions ;  and  act  in  all  things  as  having  me  conti¬ 
nually  before  thine  eyes,  and  knowing  that  for  every 
act  and  xoord  thou  shalt  give  account  to  me  in  the  day 
of  judgment.  Our  Lord’s  command,  Swear  not  at  all , 
can  never  relate  to  an  oath  in  a  civil  cause,  taken  ac¬ 
cording  to  the  definition  above  given  :  profane  and 
common  swearing,  with  all  light,  irreverent  oaths  and 
imprecations,  and  all  such  oaths  as  are  not  required  by 
the  civil  magistrate,  in  cases  where  the  Lord  is  supposed 
to  be  witness,  are  certainly  intended  in  our  blessed 
Lord’s  prohibition.  See  on  chap.  iv.  26. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

With  the  seven  nations  that  God  shall  cast  out ,  1,  they  shall  make  no  covenant ,  2,  nor  form  any  matrimonial 
alliances,  3  ;  lest  they  should  be  enticed  into  idolatry ,  4.  All  monuments  of  idolatry  to  be  destroyed ,  5. 
The  Israelites  are  to  consider  themselves  a  holy  people,  6  ;  and  that  the  Lord  had  made  them  such,  not  for 
their  merits,  but  for  his  own  mercies,  7,  8.  They  shall  therefore  love  him,  and  keep  his  commandments , 
9—11.  The  great  privileges  of  the  obedient,  12-24.  All  idolatry  to  be  avoided,  25,  26. 


a.  m.  2553.  "ITTHEN  the  a  Lord  thy  God 

IS  •  C»  1451»  *  »  -i .«  i  •  i  •  -» 

An.  Ex.  isr.  40.  shall  bring  thee  into  the 

Sebat’  land  whither  thou  goest  to  pos¬ 
sess  it,  and  hath  cast  out  many  nations  before 
thee,  b  the  Hittites,  and  the  Girgashites,  and 
the  Amorites,  and  the  Canaanites,  and  the 
Perizzites,  and  the  Hivites,  and  the  Jebuzites, 
seven  nations  0  greater  and  mightier  than  thou; 

2  And  when  the  Lord  thy  God  shall  d  de¬ 
liver  them  before  thee  ;  thou  shalt  smite  them, 
cmd  e  utterly  destroy  them  ;  f  thou  shalt  make 
no  covenant  with  them,  nor  show  mercy  unto 
them. 

3  g  Neither  shalt  thou  make  marriages  with 
them  ;  thy  daughter  thou  shalt  not  give  unto 
his  son,  nor  his  daughters  shalt  thou  take  unto 
thy  son. 


4  For  they  will  turn  away  thy  A.  M.  2553. 

J  J  J  g  (j  1451 

son  from  following  me,  that  they  An.  Ex.  isr.  40. 

may  serve  other  gods  :  h  so  will  Sebat' 

the  anger  of  the  Lord  be  kindled  against  you, 
and  destroy  thee  suddenly. 

5  But  thus  shall  ye  deal  with  them  :  ye 
shall  1  destroy  their  altars,  and  break  down 
their  k  images,  and  cut  down  their  groves,  and 
burn  their  graven  images  with  fire. 

6  1  For  thou  art  a  holy  people  unto  the  Lord 
thy  God  :  m  the  Lord  thy  God  hath  chosen  thee 
to  be  a  special  people  unto  himself,  above  all 
people  that  are  upon  the  face  of  the  earth. 

7  The  Lord  did  not  set  his  love  upon  you, 
nor  choose  you,  because  ye  were  more  in 
number  than  any  people  ;  for  ye  were  n  the 
fewest  of  all  people  . 


a  Chap.  xxxi.  3  ;  Psa.  xliv.  2,  3. - b  Gen.  xv.  1 9,  &c. ;  Exod. 

xxxm.  2 .—  c  Chap.  iv.  38  ;  ix.  1. - d  Ver.  23  j  chap,  xxiii.  14. 

e  Lev-  XXW-  28>  29  5  ^ura-  52  ;  chap.  xx.  16,  17  ;  Josh. 

vi.  17  ;  ym.  24;  ix  24  ;  x  28,  40  ,  xi.  11,  12. - 1  Exod.  xxiii. 

3«  ;  xxxiv.  12,  15,  16 ;  Judg.  n.  2 ;  see  chap.  xx.  10,  &c.  ;  Josh. 


ii.  14  ;  ix.  18  ;  Judg.  i.  24. - s  Josh,  xxiii.  12  ;  1  Kings  xi.  2  ; 

Ezra  ix.  2. - h  Chap.  vi.  15. - 1  Exod.  xxiii.  24  ;  xxxiv.  13  ; 

chap.  xii.  2,  3. - kHeb.  statues  or  pillars. - 1  Exod.  xix.  6  ; 

chap.  xiv.  2 ;  xxvi.  19  ;  Psa.  1.  5  ;  Jer.  ii.  3. - m  Exod.  xix.  5  ; 

Amos  iii.  2  ;  1  Pet.  ii.  9. - n  Chap.  x.  22. 


NOTES  ON  CHAP.  YU. 

Verse  1 .  Seven  nations  greater  and  mightier  than 
thou]  In  several  places  of  the  Hebrew  text,  each  of 
these  seven  nations  is  not  enumerated,  some  one  or 
other  being  left  out,  which  the  Septuagint  in  general 
supply.  How  these  nations  were  distributed  o?er  the 
land  of  Canaan  previously  to  the  entering  in  of  the 
Israelites,  the  reader  may  see  in  the  note  on  Josh,  iii.to. 

Verse  2.  Thou  shalt  smite  them,  fyc.]  These  idol¬ 
atrous  nations  were  to  be  utterly  destroyed,  and  all  the 
others  also  which  were  contiguous  to  the  boundaries 
of  the  promised  land,  provided  they  did  not  renounce 
their  idolatry  and  receive  the  true  faith  :  for  if  they 
did  not,  then  no  covenant  was  to  be  made  with  them 

756 


on  any  secular  or  political  consideration  whatever ;  no 
mercy  was  to  be  shown  to  them,  because  the  cup  of 
their  iniquity  also  was  now  full ;  and  they  must  either 
embrace,  heartily  embrace,  the  true  religion,  or  be  cut  otF. 

Verse  3.  Neither  shalt  thou  make  marriages ,  <%c.] 
The  heart  being  naturally  inclined  to  evil,  there  is 
more  likelihood  that  the  idolatrous  wife  should  draw- 
aside  the  believing  husband,  than  that  the  believing 
husband  should  be  able  to  bring  over  his  idolatrous 
wife  to  the  true  faith. 

Verse  6.  Thou  art  a  holy  people]  And  therefore 
should  have  no  connection  with  the  workers  of  iniquity. 

A  special  people]  segullah, — Septuagint,  laov 

TTcptovcnov , — a  peculiar  people ,  a  private  property.  The 


CHAP.  VII. 


The  great  privileges 


of  the  obedient . 


A.  M.  2553.  8  But  0  because  the  Lord  loved 

An.  Ex.  is r.  40.  you,  and  because  he  would  keep 

SehaL _  p  the  oath  which  he  had  sworn 

unto  your  fathers,  q  hath  the  Lord  brought 
you  out  with  a  mighty  hand,  and  redeemed 
you  out  of  the  house  of  bondmen,  from  the 
hand  of  Pharaoh  king  of  Egypt. 

9  Know  therefore  that  the  Lord  thy  God, 
he  is  God ,  r  the  faithful  God,  s  which  keepeth 
covenant  and  mercy  with  them  that  love  him 
and  keep  his  commandments,  to  a  thousand 
generations  : 

1 0  And *  1 * * * *  repay eth  them  that  hate  him  to 
their  face,  to  destroy  them  :  u  he  will  not  be 
slack  to  him  that  hateth  him,  he  will  repay 
him  to  his  face. 

1 1  Thou  shalt  therefore  keep  the  command¬ 
ments,  and  the  statutes,  and  the  judgments, 
which  I  command  thee  this  day,  to  do  them. 

12  v  Wherefore  it  shall  come  to  pass,  w  if 
ye  hearken  to  these  judgments,  and  keep  and 
do  them,  that  the  Lord  thy  God  shall  keep 
unto  thee  x  the  covenant  and  the  mere)?-  which 
he  sware  unto  thy  fathers  : 

13  And  he  will  ?  love  theQ,  and  bless  thee, 
and  multiply  thee  :  z  he  will  also  bless  the 
fruit  of  thy  womb,  and  the  fruit  of  thy  land, 
thy  corn,  and  thy  wine,  and  thine  oil,  the  in¬ 
crease  of  thy  kine,  and  the  flocks  of  thy 
sheep,  in  the  land  which  he  sware  unto  thy 
fathers  to  give  thee. 

14  Thou  shalt  be  blessed  above  all  people  : 
a  there  shall  not  be  male  or  female  barren 
among  you,  or  among  your  cattle. 

1 5  And  the  Lord  will  take  away  from  thee 
all  sickness,  and  will  put  none  of  the  b  evil 


diseases  of  Egypt,  which  thou  a.  M.  2553. 
knowest,  upon  thee  ;  but  will  lay  An.  Ex.  isr.  40. 
them  upon  all  them  that  hate  thee.  Sebat' 


1 6  And  c  thou  shalt  consume  all  the  people 
which  the  Lord  thy  God  shall  deliver  thee  ; 
d  thine  eye  shall  have  no  pity  upon  them  :  nei¬ 
ther  shalt  thou  serve  their  gods  ;  for  that  will 
be  e  a  snare  unto  thee. 

17  If  thou  shalt  say  in  thine  heart,  These 
nations  arc  more  than  I :  how  can  I  f  dispos¬ 
sess  them  ? 

18  & * *Thou  shalt  not  be  afraid  of  them  :  but 
shalt  well  h  remember  what  the  Lord  thy  God 
did  unto  Pharaoh,  and  unto  all  Egypt  ; 

1 9  1  The  great  temptations  which  thine  eyes 
saw,  and  the  signs,  and  the  wonders,  and  the 
mighty  hand,  and  the  st.retched-out  arm, 
whereby  the  Lord  thy  God  brought  thee  out : 
so  shall  the  Lord  thy  God  do  unto  all  the 
people  of  whom  thou  art  afraid. 

20  k  Moreover  the  Lord  thy  God  will  send 
the  hornet  among  them,  until  they  that  are  left, 
and  hide  themselves  from  thee,  be  destroyed. 

21  Thou  shalt  not  be  affrighted  at  them  : 
for  the  Lord  thy  God  is  1  among  you,  m  a 
mighty  God  and  terrible. 

22  n  And  the  Lord  thy  God  will  0  put  out 
those  nations  before  thee  by  little  and  little  : 
thou  mayest  not  consume  them  at  once,  lest 
the  beasts  of  the  field  increase  upon  thee. 

23  But  the  Lord  thy  God  shall  deliver  them 
p  unto  thee,  and  shall  destroy  them  with  a 
mighty  destruction,  until  they  be  destroyed. 

24  And  q  he  shall  deliver  their  kings  into 
thine  hand,  and  thofl  shalt  destroy  their 
name  r  from  under  heaven  :  s  there  shall  no 


0  Chap.  x.  15. - PExod.  xxxii.  13  ;  Psa.  cv.  8,  9,  10  ;  Luke 

i.  55,  72,  73. - 3  Exod.  xiii.  3,  14. - r  Isa.  xlix.  7  ;  1  Cor.  i.  9  ; 

x.  13  ;  2  Cor.  i.  18 ;  1  Thess.  v.  24 ;  2  Thess.  iii.  3  ;  2  Tim.  ii. 

13  ;  Heb.  xi.  11  ;  1  John  i.  9. - s  Exod.  xx.  6;  chap.  v.  10; 

Neh.  i.  5  ;  Dan.  iv.  4. - lIsa.  lix.  18;  Nah.  i.  2. - u  Chap. 

xxxii.  35. - v  Lev.  xxvi.  3  ;  chap,  xxviii.  1. - wHeb.  because. 

*  Psa.  cv.  8,  9  ;  Luke.  i.  55,  72,  73. - y  John  xiv.  21. - z  Chap. 

xxviii.  4. - a  Exod.  xxiii.  26,  &c. - b  Exod.  ix.  14 ;  xv.  26  ; 

chap,  xxviii.  27,  60. 


c  Yer.  2. - d  Chap.  xiii.  8  ;  xix.  13,  21  ;  xxv.  12. - e  Exod. 

xxiii.  33  ;  chap.  xii.  30;  Judg.  viii.  27  ;  Psa.  cvi.  36. - f  Num. 

xxxiii.  53. - s  Chap.  xxxi.  6. - hPsa.  cv.  5. - 1  Chap.  iv.  34  ; 

xxix.  3. - k  Exod.  xxiii.  28  ;  Josh.  xxiv.  12. - 1  Num.  xi.  20  ; 

xiv.  9,  14,  42  ;  xvi.  3  ;  Josh.  iii.  10. - m  Chap.  x.  17  ;  Neh.  i.  5 ; 

iv.  14  ;  ix.  32. - 11  Exodus  xxiii.  29,  30. - 0  Heb.  pluck  off. 

P  Heb.  before  thy  face ;  ver.  2. - <1  Josh.  x.  24,  25,  42  ;  xii.  1,  &c. 

r  Exod.  xvii.  14  ;  chap.  ix.  14  ;  xxv.  19  ;  xxix.  20. - s  Chap.  xi. 

25;  Josh.  i.  5  ;  x.  8;  xxiii.  9. 


words  as  they  stand  in  the  Septuagint  are  quoted  by 
the  apostle,  1  Pet.  ii.  9. 

Verse  8.  But  because  the  Lord  loved  you\  It  was 
no  good  in  them  that  induced  God  to  choose  them  at 
this  time  to  be  his  peculiar  people  :  he  had  his  reasons, 
but  these  sprang  from  his  infinite  goodness.  He  in¬ 
tended  to  make  a  full  discovery  of  his  goodness  to  the 
world,  and  this  must  have  a  commencement  in  some 
particular  place,  and  among  some  people.  He  chose 
that  time,  and  he  chose  the  Jewish  people  ;  but  not 
because  of  their  goodness  or  holiness. 

a 


Verse  12.  The  Lord — shall  keep  unto  thee  the  cove¬ 
nant ]  So  we  find  their  continuance  in  the  state  of  fa¬ 
vour  was  to  depend  on  their  faithf  ulness  to  the  grace 
of  God.  If  they  should  rebel,  though  God  had  chosen 
them  through  his  love ,  yet  he  would  cast  them  oft  in  his 
justice.  The  elect ,  we  see,  may  become  unfaithful,  and 
so  become  reprobates.  So  it  happened  to  24,000  of 
them,  whose  carcasses  fell  in  the  wilderness  because  they 
had  sinned  ;  yet  these  were  of  the  elect  that  came  out 
of  Egypt.  Let  him  that  standeth  take  heed  lest  he  fall. 

Verse  22.  Put  out  those  nations — by  little  and  lit - 

757 


DEUTERONOMY, 


Obedience  enforced  by 


God’s  past  mercies . 


a  M.  2553.  man  be  able  to  stand  before 
An.  Ex.  isr.  40.  thee,  until  thou  have  destroyed 
Sebat‘  them. 

25  The  graven  images  of  their  gods  1  shall 
ye  burn  with  fire  :  thou  u  shalt  not  desire  the 
silver  or  gold  that  is  on  them,  nor  take  it 
unto  thee,  lest  thou  be  v  snared  therein  :  for 


it  ts  w  an  abomination  to  the  Lord  a.  m.  2553. 

.  ^  .  B.  C.  1451. 

thy  (jrod.  An.  Ex.  Isr.  40. 

26  Neither  shalt  thou  bring  an  Sebal' _ 

abomination  into  thine  house,  lest  thou  be  a 
cursed  thing  like  it :  but  thou  shalt  utterly 
detest  it,  and  thou  shalt  utterly  abhor  it ;  1  for 
it  is  a  cursed  thing. 


lVer.  5;  Exocl.  xxxii.  20;  chap.  xii.  3;  1  Chron.  xiv.  12. 
u  Josh.  vii.  1,  21 ;  2  Mac.  xii.  40. 

tie]  The  Israelites  were  not  as  yet  sufficiently  nume¬ 
rous  to  fill  the  whole  land  occupied  by  the  seven  na¬ 
tions  mentioned  ver.  1.  And  as  wild  and  ferocious 
animals  might  be  expected  to  multiply  where  either 
there  are  no  inhabitants,  or  the  place  is  but  thinly 
peopled,  therefore  God  tells  them  that,  though  at  pre¬ 
sent,  by  force  of  arms,  they  might  be  able  to  expel 
them,  it  would  be  impolitic  so  to  do,  lest  the  beasts  of 
the  field  should  multiply  upon  them. 


v  Judg.  viii.  27  ;  Zeph.  i.  3. - w  Chap.  xvii.  1. - xLev.  xxvii. 

28  ;  chap.  xiii.  17  ;  Josh.  vi.  17, 18  ;  vii.  1. 

Verse  25.  Thou  shalt  not  desire  the  silver  or  gold 
that  is  on  them]  Some  of  the  ancient  idols  were  plated 
over  with  gold,  and  God  saw  that  the  value  of  the 
metal  and  the  excellence  of  the  workmanship  might 
be  an  inducement  for  the  Israelites  to  preserve  them ; 
and  this  might  lead,  remotely  at  least,  to  idolatry. 
As  the  idols  were  accursed,  all  those  who  had  them, 
or  any  thing  appertaining  to  them,  were  accursed  also, 
ver.  26. 


CHAPTER  YI1I. 


An  exhortation  to  obedience  from  a  consideration  of  God's  past  mercies ,  1,2.  Man  is  not  to  live  by  bread 
only ,  but  by  every  word  of  God ,  3.  How  God  provided  for  them  in  the  wilderness ,  4.  The  Lord  chas¬ 
tened  them  that  they  might  be  obedient ,  5,  6.  A  description  of  the  land  into  which  they  were  going ,  7— 9>, 
Cautions  lest  they  should  forget  God  in  their  prosperity,  10—16,  and  lest  they  should  attribute  that  pros¬ 
perity  to  themselves,  and  not  to  God,  17,  18.  The  terrible  judgments  that  shall  fall  upon  them ,  should 
they  prove  unfaithful,  19,  20. 


A.  M.  2553.  A  LL  the  commandments  which 

B.  C.  1451.  JjL  t  ,  .  .  .  , 

An.  Ex.  isr.  40.  I  command  thee  this  day 

Sebat‘  a  shall  ye  observe  to  do,  that  ye 

may  live,  and  multiply,  and  go  in  and  possess 

the  land  which  the  Lord  sware  unto  your 

fathers. 

2  And  thou  shalt  remember  all  the  wav  which 

•/ 

the  Lord  thy  God  b  led  thee  these  forty  years  in 
the  wilderness,  to  hunfble  thee,  and  c  to  prove 
thee,  d  to  know  what  was  in  thine  heart,  whether 


a  Chap.  iv.  1  ;  v.  32,  33  ;  vi.  1,  2,  3. - b  Chap.  i.  3  ;  ii.  7 ; 

xxix.  5  ;  Psa.  cxxxvi.  16;  Amos  ii.  10. - c  Exod.  xvi.  4;  chap. 

xiii.  3. 


NOTES  ON  CHAP.  VIII. 

Verse  2.  Thou  shalt  remember  all  the  way]  The 
various  dealings  of  God  with  you  ;  the  dangers  and 
difficulties  to  which  ye  were  exposed,  and  from  which 
God  delivered  you  ;  together  with  the  various  miracles 
which  he  wrought  for  you,  and  his  longsuffering  to¬ 
wards  you. 

Verse  3.  He — suffered  thee  to  hunger ,  and  fed 
thee]  God  never  permits  any  tribulation  to  befall  his 
followers,  which  he  does  not  design  to  turn  to  their 
advantage.  When  he  permits  us  to  hunger,  it  is  that 
his  mercy  may  be  the  more  observable  in  providing  us 
with  the  necessaries  of  life.  Privations,  in  the  way  of 
providence,  are  the  forerunners  of  mercy  and  goodness 
abundant. 


thou  wouldest  keep  his  command-  a.  m.  2553. 

r  B.  C.  1451. 

ments,  or  no.  An.  Ex.  Isr.  40, 

3  And  he  humbled  thee,  and  Sebat~ 

e  suffered  thee  to  hunger,  and  f  fed  thee  with 
manna,  which  thou  knewest  not,  neither  did 
thy  fathers  know  ;  that  he  might  make  thee 
know  that  man  doth  s  not  live  by  bread  only, 
but  by  every  word,  that  proceedeth  out  of  the 
mouth  of  the  Lord  doth  man  live. 

4  h  Thy  raiment  waxed  not  old  upon  thee, 

d  2  Chron.  xxxii.  31 ;  John  ii.  25. - e  Exodus  xvi.  2,  3. 

f  Exod.  xvi.  12, 14, 35. - s  Psa.  civ.  29  ;  Matt.  iv.  4  ;  Luke  iv.  4. 

h  Chap.  xxix.  5  ;  Neh.  ix.  21. 

Verse  4.  Thy  raiment  waxed  not  old,  c fc.]  The 
plain  meaning  of  this  much-tortured  text  appears  to 
me  to  be  this  :  “God  so  amply  provided  for  them  all 
the  necessaries  of  life,  that  they  never  were  obliged 
to  wear  tattered  garments,  nor  were  their  feet  injured 
for  lack  of  shoes  or  sandals.”  If  they  had  carvers, 
engravers,  silversmiths,  and  jewellers  among  them,  as 
plainly  appears  from  the  account  we  have  of  the  taber¬ 
nacle  and  its  utensils,  is  it  to  be  wondered  at  if  they 
also  had  habit  and  sandal  makers,  &c.,  &c.,  as  we  are 
certain  they  had  weavers ,  embroiderers,  and  such  like  \ 
And  the  traffic  which  we  may  suppose  they  carried  on 
with  the  Moabites,  or  with  travelling  hordes  of  Ara¬ 
bians,  doubtless  supplied  them  with  the  materials  ; 
though,  as  they  had  abundance  of  sheep  and  neat  cat- 

a 


758 


CHAP.  VIII. 


Privileges  enjoyed  by  the 

A.  M.  2553.  neither  did  thy  foot  swell,  these 

B.  C.  1451.  r 

An.  Ex.isr.40  forty  years. 

Sctiat~  5  1  Thou  shall  also  consider  in 
thine  heart,  that,  as  a  man  chasteneth  his  son, 
so  the  Lord  thy  God  chasteneth  thee. 

6  Therefore  thou  shalt  keep  the  command¬ 
ments  of  the  Lord  thy  God,  k  to  walk  in  his 
ways,  and  to  fear  him. 

»  2  Sam.  vii.  14  ;  Psa.  lxxxix.  32  ;  Prov.  iii.  12  ;  Heb.  xii.  5,  6  ; 

Rev.  iii.  19. 

tie,  they  must  have  had  much  of  the  materials  within 
themselves.  It  is  generally  supposed  that  God,  by  a 
miracle,  preserved  their  clothes  from  wearing  out  : 
but  if  this  sense  be  admitted,  it  will  require,  not  one 
miracle,  but  a  chain  of  the  most  successive  and  asto¬ 
nishing  miracles  ever  wrought,  to  account  for  the 
thing;  for  as  there  were  not  less  than  600,000  males 
born  in  the  wilderness,  it  would  imply,  that  the  clothes 
of  the  infant  grew  up  with  the  increase  of  his  body  to 
manhood,  which  would  require  a  miracle  to  be  continu¬ 
ally  wrought  on  every  thread,  and  on  every  particle  of 
matter  of  which  that  thread  was  composed.  And  this 
is  not  all ;  it  would  imply  that  the  clothes  of  the  pa¬ 
rent  became  miraculously  lessened  to  fit  the  body  of 
the  child,  with  whose  growth  they  were  again  to 
stretch  and  grow,  &c.  No  such  miraculous  interfe¬ 
rence  was  necessary. 

Verse  8.  A  land  of  wheat ,  c fc.\  On  the  subject  of 
this  verse  I  shall  introduce  the  following  remarks, 
which  I  find  in  Mr.  Harmer’s  Observations  on  the 
Fertility  of  the  Land  of  Judea,  vol.  iii.,  p.  243. 

il  Hasselquist  tells  us  that  he  ate  olives  at  Joppa 
(upon  his  first  arrival  in  the  Holy  Land)  which  were 
said  to  grow  on  the  Mount  of  Olives,  near  Jerusalem; 
and  that,  independentl}'  of  their  oiliness,  they  were  of 
the  best  kind  he  had  tasted  in  the  Levant.  As  olives 
are  frequently  eaten  in  their  repasts,  the  delicacy  of 
this  fruit  in  Judea  ought  not  to  be  forgotten ;  and  the 
oil  that  is  gotten  from  these  trees  much  less,  because 
still  more  often  made  use  of.  In  the  progress  of  his 
journey  he  found  several  fine  vales,  abounding  with 
olive  trees.  He  saw  also  olive  trees  in  Galilee  ;  but 
none  farther,  he  says,  than  the  mountain  where  it  is 
supposed  our  Lord  preached  his  sermon. 

“  The  fig  trees  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Joppa,  Has¬ 
selquist  goes  on  to  inform  us,  were  as  beautiful  as  any 
he  had  seen  in  the  Levant. 

“  The  reason  why  pomegranates  are  distinctly  men¬ 
tioned,  in  this  description  of  the  productions  of  the  land 
of  promise,  may  be  their  great  usefulness  in  forming 
cooling  drinks,  for  they  are  used  among  the  Asiatics 
nearly  in  the  same  way  that  we  use  lemons  ;  see 
vol.  ii. ,  145. 

“  Honey  is  used  in  large  quantities  in  these  coun¬ 
tries  ;  and  Egypt  was  celebrated  for  the  assiduous 
care  with  which  the  people  there  managed  their  bees. 
Maillet’s  account  of  it  is  very  amusing.  1  There  are,’ 
says  he,  ‘  abundance  of  bees  in  that  country  ;  and  a 
singular  manner  of  feeding  them,  introduced  by  the 
Egyptians  of  ancient  times,  still  continues  there. 
Towards  the  end  of  October,  when  the  Nile,  upon  its 


Israelites  in  the  desert. 


7  For  the  Lord  thy  God  bring-  a.  M.  2553. 

J  0  B.  C.  1451 

eth  thee  into  a  good  land,  ]a  An.Exlsr.  40. 

land  of  brooks  of  water,  of  foun-  Sebat‘ 


tains  and  depths  that  spring  out  of  valleys 
and  hills  ; 

8  A  land  of  wheat,  and  barley,  and  vines, 
and  fig  trees,  and  pomegranates  ;  a  land  ra  of 
oil  olive,  and  honey  ; 


k  n 


Chap.  v.  33.- 


-'  Chap.  xi.  10,  11,  12.- 
ti  ee  of  oil. 


-m  Heb.  of  olive- 


decrease,  gives  the  peasants  an  opportunity  of  sowing 
the  lands,  sainfoin  is  one  of  the  first  things  sown,  and 
one  of  the  most  profitable.  As  the  Upper  Egypt  is 
hotter  than  the  Lower,  and  the  inundation  there  goes 
sooner  off  the  lands,  the  sainfoin  appears  there  first. 
The  knowledge  they  have  of  this  causes  them  to  send 
their  bee-hives  from  all  parts  of  Egypt,  that  the  bees 
may  enjoy,  as  soon  as  may  be,  the  richness  of  the 
flowers,  which  grow  in  this  part  of  the  country  sooner 
than  in  any  other  district  of  the  kingdom.  The  hives, 
upon  their  arrival  at  the  farther  end  of  Egypt,  are 
placed  one  upon  another  in  the  form  of  pyramids,  in 
boats  prepared  for  their  reception,  after  having  been 
numbered  by  the  people  who  place  them  in  the  boats. 
The  bees  feed  in  the  fields  there  for  some  days  :  after¬ 
wards,  when  it  is  believed  they  have  nearly  collected 
the  honey  and  wax,  which  were  to  be  found  for  two 
or  three  leagues  round,  they  cause  the  boats  to  go 
down  the  stream,  two  or  three  leagues  lower,  and 
leave  them  there,  in  like  manner,  such  a  proportion 
of  time  as  they  think  to  be  necessary  for  the  gather¬ 
ing  up  the  riches  of  that  canton.  At  length,  about  the 
beginning  of  February,  after  having  gone  the  whole 
length  of  Egypt,  they  arrive  at  the  sea,  from  whence 
they  are  conducted,  each  of  them,  to  their  usual  place 
of  abode ;  for  they  take  care  to  set  down  exactly,  in  a 
register,  each  district  from  whence  the  hives  were 
carried  in  the  beginning  of  the  season,  their  number 
and  the  names  of  the  persons  that  sent  them,  as  well 
as  the  number  of  the  boats,  where  they  are  ranged 
according  to  the  places  they  are  brought  from.  What 
is  astonishing  in  this  affair  is,  that  with  the  greatest 
fidelity  of  memory  that  can  be  imagined,  each  bee  finds 
its  own  hive,  and  never  makes  any  mistake.  That 
which  is  still  more  amazing  to  me  is,  that  the  Egyp¬ 
tians  of  old  should  be  so  attentive  to  all  the  advanta¬ 
ges  deducible  from  the  situation  of  their  country ;  that 
after  having  observed  that  all  things  came  to  maturity 
sooner  in  Upper  Egypt,  and  much  later  in  Lower, 
which  made  a  difference  of  above  six  weeks  between 
the  two  extremities  of  their  country,  they  thought  of 
collecting  the  wax  and  the  honey  so  as  to  lose  none 
of  them,  and  hit  upon  this  ingenious  method  of  making 
the  bees  do  it  successively,  according  to  the  blossom¬ 
ing  of  the  flowers,  and  the  arrangement  of  nature.’  ” 
If  this  solicitude  were  as  ancient  as  the  dwelling 
of  Israel  in  Egypt,  they  must  have  been  anxious  to 
know  whether  honey ,  about  which  they  took  such  care 
in  Egypt,  was  plentiful  in  the  land  of  promise  ;  and 
they  must  have  been  pleased  to  have  been  assured  it 
was,  It  continues  to  be  produced  there  in  large 

759 


Cautions  against  forgetting 


DEUTERONOMY. 


a.  M.  2553.  9  A  land  wherein  thou  shall  eat 

B.  C.  1451.  «  i  .  i  , 

An.  Ex.  isr.  40.  bread  without  scarceness,  thou 

Sebat*  shalt  not  lack  any  thing  in  it ; 
a  land  n  whose  stones  are  iron,  and  out  of 
whose  hills  thou  mayest  dig  brass. 

10  0  When  thou  hast  eaten  and  art  full,  then 
thou  shalt  bless  the  Loud  thy  God,  for  the 
good  land  which  he  hath  given  thee. 

1 1  Beware  that  thou  forget  not  the  Lord  thy 
God,  in  not  keeping  his  commandments,  and  his 

n  Ch.  xxxiii.  25. - 0  Ch.  vi.  1 1 ,  12. - -p  Ch.  xxviii.  47 ;  xxxii.  15 ; 

quantities  :  Hasselquist,  in  the  progress  of  his  journey 
from  Acra  to  Nazareth,  tells  us  that  he  found  “great 
numbers  of  bees,  bred  thereabouts,  to  the  great  ad¬ 
vantage  of  the  inhabitants.'”  He  adds,  “  they  make 
their  bee-hives,  with  little  trouble,  of  clay,  four  feet 
long,  and  half  a  foot  in  diameter,  as  in  Egypt.  They 
lay  ten  or  twelve  of  them,  one  on  another,  on  the  bare 
ground,  and  build  over  every  ten  a  little  roof.”  Mr. 
Maundrell,  observing  also  many  bees  in  the  Holy 
Land,  takes  notice  that  by  their  means  the  most  barren 
places  in  other  respects  of  that  country  become  use¬ 
ful,  perceiving  in  many  places  of  the  great  salt  plain 
near  Jericho  a  smell  of  honey  and  wax  as  strong  as 
if  he  had  been  in  an  apiary. 

By  Hasselquist’s  account  it  appears,  that  the  pre¬ 
sent  inhabitants  of  Palestine  are  not  strangers  to  the 
use  of  hives.  They  are  constructed  of  very  different 
materials  from  ours,  but  just  the  same  with  the  Egyp¬ 
tian  hives.  They  seem  to  be  an  ancient  contrivance  ; 
and  indeed  so  simple  an  invention  must  be  supposed  to 
be  as  old  as  the  days  of  Moses,  wdien  arts,  as  appears 
from  his  writings,  of  a  much  more  elevated  nature 
were  known  in  Egypt.  I  cannot  then  well  persuade 
myself  to  adopt  the  opinion  of  some  of  the  learned, 
that  those  words  of  Moses,  in  Deut.  xxxii.  13,  He 
made  him  to  suck  honey  out  of  the  rock ,  and  oil  out 
of  the  flinty  rock ,  are  to  be  understood  of  his  causing 
Israel  to  dwell  in  a  country  where  sometimes  they 
might  find  honey-comb  in  holes  of  the  rock.  It  is 
very  possible  that  in  that  hot  country  these  insects, 
when  not  taken  due  care  of,  may  get  into  hollow  places 
of  the  rocks,  and  form  combs  there,  as  they  sometimes 
construct  them  in  ours  in  hollowT  trees,  though  I  do 
not  remember  to  have  met  with  any  traveller  that  has 
made  such  an  observation.  But  would  this  have  been 
mentioned  with  so  much  triumph  by  Moses  *  in  this 
place  1  The  quantities  of  honey  produced  after  this 
manner  could  be  but  small,  compared  with  what  would 
be  collected  in  hives  properly  managed ;  when  found, 
it  must  often  cost  a  great  deal  of  pains  to  get  the 
honey  out  of  these  little  cavities  in  the  hard  stone,  and 
much  the  greatest  part  must  be  absolutely  lost  to  the 
inhabitants.  The  interpretation  is  the  more  strange, 
because  when  it  is  said  in  the  next  clause,  “and  oil 
out  of  the  flinty  rock,”  it  is  evidently  meant  that  they 
should  have  oil  produced  in  abundance  by  olive  trees 
growing  on  flinty  rocks  ;  and  consequently,  the  suck¬ 
ing  honey  out  of  the  rock  should  only  mean  their 
enjoying  great  quantities  of  honey,  produced  by  bees 
that  collected  it  from  flowers  growing  among  the 

760 


God  in  prosperity 


judgments,  and  his  statutes,  which  a.  m.  2553. 

I  command  thee  this  day  :  An.  Ex.  Isr.  40. 

12  f  Lest  when  thou  hast  eaten  _ SebaL _ . 

and  art  full,  and  hast  built  goodly  houses,  and 
dwelt  therein  ; 

13  And  when  thy  herds  and  thy  flocks  mul¬ 
tiply,  and  thy  silver  and  thy  gold  is  multiplied, 
and  all  that  thou  hast  is  multiplied  ; 

14  q  Then  thine  heart  be  lifted  up,  and  thou 
forget  the  Lord  thy  God,  which  brought 

Prov.  xxx.  9  ;  Hos.  xiii.  6. - a  1  Cor.  vi.  7. - r  Psa.  cvi.  21. 


rocks  :  the  rocky  mountains  of  this  country,  it  is  well 
known,  produce  an  abundance  of  aromatic  plants  pro¬ 
per  for  the  purpose.  Nor  does  Asaph,  in  the  close 
of  the  eighty-first  Psalm,  speak,  I  apprehend,  of  honey 
found  in  cavities  of  rocks  ;  nor  yet  is  he  there  descri¬ 
bing  it  as  collected  from  the  odoriferous  plants  that 
grow  in  the  rocky  hills  of  those  countries,  if  the  read¬ 
ing  of  our  present  Hebrew  copies  be  right :  but  the 
prophet  tells  Israel  that,  had  they  been  obedient,  God 
would  have  fed  them  with  the  fat  of  wheat,  and  with 
the  rock  of  honey  would  he  have  satisfied  them,  that 
is,  with  the  most  delicious  wheat,  and  with  the  richest, 
most  invigorating  honey,  in  large  quantities,  both  for 
eating  and  making  agreeable  drink.  Its  reviving, 
strengthening  quality  appears  in  the  story  of  Jonathan, 
Saul’s  son,  1  Sam.  xix.  27  ;  as  the  using  the  term  rock 
to  signify  strength ,  &c.,  appears  in  a  multitude  of 
places.  The  rock  of  a  sword ,  Psa.  lxxxix.  43,  for 
the  edge  of  the  sword ,  in  which  its  energy  lies,  is, 
perhaps,  as  strange  an  expression  to  western  ears. 

I  shall  have  occasion  to  speak  of  the  excellence  of 
the  grapes  of  Judea  in  a  succeeding  chapter ;  I  may 
therefore  be  excused  from  pursuing  the  farther  exami¬ 
nation  of  the  productions  of  this  country,  upon  giving 
my  reader  a  remark  of  Dr.  Shaw’s  to  this  purpose, 
that  it  is  impossible  for  pulse,  wheat,  or  grain  of  any 
kind,  to  be  richer  or  better  tasted  than  what  is  sold  at 
Jerusalem.  Only  it  may  not  be  amiss  to  add,  with 
respect  to  this  country’s  being  well  watered,  that  the 
depth,  DPin  tehojn,  spoken  of  in  this  passage,  seems  to 
mean  reservoirs  of  water  filled  by  the  rains  of  winter, 
and  of  great  use  to  make  their  lands  fertile ;  as  the 
second  word  nYwVn  tealotheiha  seems  to  mean  wells, 
or  some  such  sort  of  conveniences,  supplied  by  springs, 
and  the  first  word  iTTHru  naharotheiha  rivers  or  run¬ 
ning  streams,  whether  carrying  a  larger  or  smaller 
body  of  water.  What  an  important  part  of  this 
pleasing  description,  especially  in  the  ears  of  those 
that  had  wandered  near  forty  years  in  a  most  dry  and 
parched  wilderness!  I  will  only  add,  without  entering 
into  particulars,  that  the  present  face  of  the  country 
answers  this  description. 

Verse  9.  A  land  whose  stones  are  iron ]  Not  only 
meaning  that  there  were  iron  mines  throughout  the 
land,  but  that  the  loose  stones  were  strongly  impreg¬ 
nated  with  iron,  ores  of  this  metal  (the  most  useful  of 
all  the  products  of  th6  mineral  kingdom)  being  every 
where  in  great  plenty. 

Out  of  iv hose  hills  thou  mayest  dig  brass.}  As  there 
is  no  such  thing  in  nature  as  a  brass  mine,  the  word 

a 


Address  to  Israel  before 


CHAP.  IX. 


passing  over  Jordan. 


A.  M.  2553.  thee  forth  out  of  the  land  of 
An.  Ex.  Isr.  40.  Egypt,  from  the  house  of  bon- 
Sebat-  dage; 

1 5  Who  s  led  thee  through  that  great  and 
terrible  wilderness,  t  wherein  were  fiery  ser¬ 
pents,  and  scorpions,  and  drought,  where 
there  was  no  water  ;  u  who  brought  thee  forth 
water  out  of  the  rock  of  flint ; 

16  Who  fed  thee  in  the  wilderness  with 
T  manna,  which  thy  fathers  knew  not,  that,  he 
might  humble  thee,  and  that  he  might  prove 
thee,  w  to  do  thee  good  at  thy  latter  end ; 

17  1  And  thou  say  in  thine  heart,  My  power 
and  the  might  of  mine  hand  hath  gotten  me 
this  wealth. 


8  Isa.  lxiii.  12,  13,  14  ;  Jer.  ii.  6. 
xiii.  5.- 


Exod.  xvi.  15. 


-l  Numbers  xxi.  6  ;  Hos. 
■u  Num.  xx.  11 ;  Psa.  lxxviii.  15  ;  cxiv.  8. - v  Ver.  3 ; 


1 8  But  thou  shalt  remember  the  A.  M.  2553. 

T  ,  ~  .  ....  B.  C.  1451. 

LiORD  thy  (jrod  :  y  lor  It  IS  he  An.  Ex.  Isr.  40. 

that  giveth  thee  power  to  get  Sebat* _ 

wealth,  that  z  he  may  establish  his  covenant 

which  he  sware  unto  thy  fathers,  as  it  is 

this  day. 

19  And  it  shall  be,  if  thou  do  at  all  forget 
the  Lord  thy  God,  and  walk  after  other  gods, 
and  serve  them,  and  worship  them,  a  I  testify 
against  you  this  day  that  ye  shall  surely 
perish. 

20  As  the  nations  which  the  Lord  destroyeth 
before  your  face,  b  so  shall  ye  perish  ;  because 
ye  would  not  be  obedient  unto  the  voice  of 
the  Lord  your  God. 

w  Jer.  xxiv.  5,  6  ;  Heb.  xii.  11. - x  Chap.  ix.  4;  1  Cor.  iv.  7. 

y  Prov.  x.  22  ;  Hos.  ii.  8. - z  Chap.  vii.  8, 12. - a  Chap.  iv.  26  ; 

xxx.  18. - v  Dan.  ix.  11,  12. 


HI 5TU  nechosheth  should  be  translated  copper  ;  of  which, 
by  the  addition  of  the  lapis  calaminaris -,  brass  is  made. 
See  on  Exod.  xxv.  3. 

Verse  15.  Who  led  thee  through  that — terrible  ivil- 
derness ]  See  the  account  of  their  journeying  in  the 
notes  on  Exod.  xvi.  1,  &c.  ;  Num.  xxi.,  &c. 

Fiery  serpents ]  Serpents  whose  bite  occasioned  a 
most  violent  inflammation,  accompanied  with  an  un¬ 
quenchable  thirst ,  and  which  terminated  in  death.  See 
on  Num.  xxi.  6. 

Verse  16.  Who  fed  thee — with  manna\  See  this 
miracle  described  Exod.  xvi.  13,  &c. 


Verse  18.  God — giveth  thee  power  to  get  icealth ] 
Who  among  the  rich  and  wealthy  believes  this  saying1? 
Who  gives  wisdom,  understanding,  skill,  bodily  strength, 
and  health  ?  Is  it  not  God  1  And  without  these,  how 
can  wealth  be  acquired  ?  Whose  is  providence  ?  who 
gives  fertility  to  the  earth  ?  And  w7ho  brings  every 
proper  purpose  to  a  right  issue  1  Is  it  not  God  ?  And 
without  these  also  can  wealth  be  acquired  ?  No.  Then 
the  proposition  in  the  text  is  self-evident :  it  is  God 
that  giveth  power  to  get  wealth ,  and  to  God  the  wealthy 
man  must  account  for  the  manner  in  which  he  has  eoc- 
pended  the  riches  which  God  hath  given  him. 


CHAPTER  IX. 


The  people  are  informed  that  they  shall  shortly  pass  over  Jordan ,  and  that  God  shall  go  over  before  them , 
to  expel  the  ancient  inhabitants,  1—3.  They  are  cautioned  not  to  suppose  that  it  is  on  account  of  their 
righteousness  that  God  is  to  give  them  that  land,  4—6.  They  are  exhorted  to  remember  their  various  pro¬ 
vocations  of  the  Divine  Majesty ,  especially  at  Horeb,  7—14;  and  how  Moses  interceded  for  them,  and 
destroyed  the  golden  calf,  15—21.  How  they  murmured  at  Taberah,  22  ;  and  rebelled  at  Kadesh-barnea, 
23  ;  and  had  been  perverse  from  the  beginning,  24.  An  account  of  the  intercession  of  Moses  in  their 
behalf,  25—29. 


a.  M.  2553.  TTEAR,  0  Israel  :  Thou  art  to 

B.  C.  1451.  11  T  ,  ... 

An.  Ex.  Isr. 40.  a  pass  over  Jordan  this  day, 

Sebat'  to  go  in  to  possess  nations 

b  greater  and  mightier  than  thyself,  cities  great 

and  c  fenced  up  to  heaven ; 

2  A  people  great  and  tall,  d  the  children  of 

the  Anakims,  whom  thou  knowest,  and  of 

“Chap.  xi.  31  ;  Josh.  iii.  16  ;  iv.  19. - b  Chap.  iv.  38  ;  vii.  1  ; 

xi.  23. - c  Chap.  i.  28. - dNum.  xiii.  22,  28,  32,  33. 

NOTES  ON  CIIAP.  IX. 

Verse  1.  Thou  art  to  pass  over  Jordan  this  day\ 
□m  haiyom,  this  time ;  they  had  come  thirty-eight 
years  before  this  nearly  to  the  verge  of  the  promised 
land,  but  were  not  permitted  at  that  day  or  time  to  pass 

a 


whom  thou  hast  heard  say ,  Who  A.  M.  2553. 
can  stand  before  the  children  of  An.  Ex!  isr.  40. 
Anak  ?  Sebat 

3  Understand  therefore  this  day,  that  the 
Lord  thy  God  is  he  which  e  goeth  over  before 
thee  ;  as  a  f  consuming  fire  g  he  shall  destroy 
them,  and  he  shall  bring  them  down  before  thy 

e  Chap.  xxxi.  3  ;  Josh.  iii.  11. - f  Chap.  iv.  24;  Heb.  xii.  29. 

s  Chap.  vii.  23. 

over,  because  of  their  rebellions ;  but  this  time  they 
shall  certainly  pass  over.  This  was  spoken  about  the 
eleventh  month  of  the  fortieth  year  of  their  journeying, 
and  it  was  on  the  first  month  of  the  following  year  they 
passed  over ;  and  during  thi3  interim  Moses  died. 

761 


The  various  provocations  and  DEUTERONOMY.  rebellions  of  the  Israelites 


A.  M.  2553.  face  :  h  so  shall  thou  drive  them 

B.  C.  1451.  .  .  .  ... 

An.  Ex.  Isr.  40.  out,  and  destroy  them  quickly, 

Sebat~  as  the  Lord  hath  said  unto  thee. 

4  1  Speak  not  thou  in  thine  heart,  after  that 
the  Lord  thy  God  hath  cast  them  out  from 
before  thee,  saying,  For  my  righteousness  the 
Lord  hath  brought  me  in  to  possess  this  land  : 
but  k  for  the  wickedness  of  these  nations  the 
Lord  doth  drive  them  out  from  before  thee. 

5  1  Not  for  thy  righteousness,  or  for  the  up¬ 
rightness  of  thine  heart,  doth  thou  go  to  pos¬ 
sess  their  land  :  but  for  the  wickedness  of 
these  nations  the  Lord  thy  God  doth  drive 
them  out  from  before  thee,  and  that  he  may 
perform  m  the  word  which  the  Lord  sware  unto 
thy  fathers,  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob. 

6  Understand,  therefore,  that  the  Lord  thy 
God  giveth  thee  not  this  good  land  to  possess 
it  for  thy  righteousness  ;  for  thou  art  n  a  stiff¬ 
necked  people.. 

7  Remember,  and  forget  not,  how  thou  pro- 
vokedst  the  Lord  thy  God  to  wrath  in  the  wil¬ 
derness  :  0  from  the  day  that  thou  didst  depart 
out  of  the  land  of  Egypt,  until  ye  came  unto 
this  place,  ye  have  been  rebellious  against  the 
Lord. 

8  Also  p  in  Horeb  ye  provoked  the  Lord  to 
wrath,  so  that  the  Lord  was  angry  with  you 
to  have  destroyed  you. 

9  ^When  I  was  gone  up  into  the  mount  to 
receive  the  tables  of  stone,  even  the  tables  of 
the  covenant  which  the  Lord  made  with  you, 
then  r  I  abode  in  the  mount  forty  days  and 
forty  nights,  I  neither  did  eat  bread  nor  drink 
water : 

1 0  s  And  the  Lord  delivered  unto  me  two 
tables  of  stone  written  with  the  finger  of  God  ; 
and  on  them  ivas  written  according  to  all  the 

11  Exod.  xxiii.  31  ;  chap.  vii.  24. - 1  Chap.  viii.  17  ;  Rom.  xi. 

6,  20  ;  1  Cor.  iv.  4,  7. - k  Gen.  xv.  16 ;  Lev.  xviii.  24,  25  ; 

chap,  xviii.  12. - 1  Tit.  iii.  5. - m  Gen.  xii.  7 ;  xiii.  15  ;  xv.  7  ; 

xvii.  8  ;  xxvi.  4  ;  xxviii.  13. - n  Ver.  13  ;  Exod.  xxxii.  9  ;  xxxiii.  3  ; 

xxxiv.  9. - 0  Exod.  xiv.  11 ;  xvi.  2 ;  xvii.  2  ;  Num.  xi.  4 ;  xx.  2  ; 

xxv.  2  ;  ch.  xxxi.  27. - P  Exod.  xxxii.  4  ;  Psa.  cvi.  19. - q  Exod. 

xxiv.  12,15. - rExod.  xxiv.  18;  xxxiv.  28. - s Exod.  xxxi.  1.8. 

Verse  5.  For  the  wickedness  of  these  nations ]  So 
then  it  was  not  by  any  sovereign  act  of  God  that  these 
people  were  cast  out,  but  for  their  wickedness ;  they 
had  transgressed  the  law  of  their  Creator ;  they  had 
resisted  his  Spirit,  and  could  no  longer  be  tolerated. 
The  Israelites  were  to  possess  their  land,  not  because 
they  deserved  it,  but  first,  because  they  were  less  wicked 
than  the  others  ;  and  secondly,  because  God  thus  chose 
to  begin  the  great  work  of  his  salvation  among  men. 
Thus  then  the  Canaanites  were  cut  off,  and  the  Israel¬ 
is 


words,  which  the  Lord  spake  A.  M.  2553. 

.  ,  .  ,  I  ,  B.  C.  1451. 

with  you  in  the  mount,  out  01  the  An.  Ex.  isr.  40. 

midst  of  the  fire,  1  in  the  day  of  Sebat‘ 

the  assembly. 

1 1  And  it  came  to  pass,  at  the  end  of  forty 
days  and  forty  nights,  that  the  Lord  gave  me 
the  two  tables  of  stone,  even  the  tables  of  the 
covenant. 

12  And  the  Lord  said  unto  me,  u  Arise,  get 
thee  down  quickly  from  hence  ;  for  thy  people 
which  thou  hast  brought  forth  out  of  Egypt 
have  corrupted  themselves  ;  they  are  v  quickly 
turned  aside  out  of  the  way  which  I  com¬ 
manded  them  ;  they  have  made  them  a  molten 
image. 

13  Furthermore  w  the  Lord  spake  unto  me, 
saying;  I  have  seen  this  people,  and,  behold, 
x  it  is  a  stiff-necked  people  : 

14  y  Let  me  alone,  that  I  may  destroy  them, 
and  z  blot  out  their  name  from  under  heaven  : 
a  and  I  will  make  of  thee  a  nation  mightier 
and  greater  than  they. 

15  b  So  I  turned  and  came  down  from  the 
mount,  and  c  the  mount  burned  with  fire  and 
the  two  tables  of  the  covenant  were  in  my  two 
hands. 

16  And  d  I  looked,  and,  behold,  ye  had  sinned 
against  the  Lord  your  God,  and,  had  made  you 
a  molten  calf :  ye  had  turned  aside  quickly 
out  of  the  way  which  the  Lord  had  com¬ 
manded  you. 

1 7  And  I  took  the  two  tables,  and  cast  them 
out  of  my  two  hands,  and  brake  them  before 
your  eyes. 

18  And  I  e  fell  down  before  the  Lord,  as  at 
the  first,  forty  days  and  forty  nights  :  I  did 
neither  eat  bread,  nor  drink  water,  because  of 
all  your  sins  which  ye  sinned,  in  doing  wick- 

1  Exodus  xix.  17;  xx.  1  ;  chap.  iv.  10;  x.  4;  xviii.  16. 

u  Exod.  xxxii.  7. - v  Chap.  xxxi.  29  ;  Judg.  ii.  17. - w  Exod. 

xxxii.  9. - xVer.  6;  chap.  x.  16;  xxxi.  27;  2  Kings  xvii.  14. 

y  Exod.  xxxii.  10. - z  Chap.  xxix.  20 ;  Psa.  ix.  5  ;  cix.  13. 

a  Num.  xiv.  12. - b  Exod.  xxxii.  15. - c  Exod.  xix.  18;  chap. 

iv.  11  ;  v.  23. - d  Exod.  xxxii.  19. - e  Exod.  xxxiv.  28;  Psa 

cvi.  23. 


ites  were  grafted  in ;  and  the  Israelites ,  because  of 
their  wickedness,  were  afterwards  cut  off,  and  the  Gen¬ 
tiles  grafted  in.  Let  the  latter  not  be  high-minded, 
but  fear  ;  if  God  spared  not  the  natural  branches,  take 
heed  lest  he  spare  not  thee.  But  let  it  be  remembered 
that  this  land  was  originally  their  own,  and  that  the 
present  possessors  had  no  legal  right  to  it. 

Verse  10.  Tables  of  stone ]  See  the  notes  on  Exod. 
xxxi.  18,  and  xxxii.  15,  16. 

Verse  12.  Thy  people — have  corrupted  themselves] 

a 


Moses  is  commanded  to  make 


CHAP.  X. 


a.  M.  2553.  edlv  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord,  to 

B.  C.  1451.  1  U-  ; 

An.  Ex.  isr.  40.  provoke  him  to  anger. 

19  fFor  I  was  afraid  of  the 
anger  and  hot  displeasure  wherewith  the  Lord 
was  wroth  against  you  to  destroy  you.  e  But 
the  Lord  hearkened  unto  me  at  that  time  also. 

20  And  the  Lord  was  very  angry  with  Aaron 
to  have  destroyed  him :  and  I  prayed  for 
Aaron  also  the  same  time. 

2 1  And  11 1  took  your  sin,  the  calf  which  ye 
had  made,  and  burnt  it  with  fire,  and  stamped 
it,  and  ground  it  very  small,  even  until  it  was 
as  small  as  dust :  and  I  cast  the  dust  thereof 
into  the  brook  that  descended  out  of  the  mount. 

22  And  at  1  Taberah,  and  at  k  Massah,  and  at 
1  Kibroth-hattaavah,  ye  provoked  the  Lord  to 
wrath. 

23  Likewise  m  when  the  Lord  sent  you  from 
Kadesh-barnea,  saying,  Go  up  and  possess  the 
land  which  I  have  given  you  ;  then  ye  rebelled 
against  the  commandment  of  the  Lord  your 
God,  and  11  ye  believed  him  not,  nor  hearkened 
to  his  voice. 

24  °Ye  have  been  rebellious  against  the 

f  Exod.  xxxii.  10,  11. - s  Exod.  xxxii.  14;  xxxiii.  17  ;  chap. 

x.  10  ;  Psa.  cvi.  23. - h  Exod.  xxxii.  20  ;  Isa.  xxxi.  7. - '  Nam. 

xi.  1,  3,  5. - kExod.  xvii.  7. - 1  Num.  xi.  4,  34. - mNum. 

xiii.  3  ;  xiv.  1. - n  Psa.  cvi.  24,  25. - 0  Chap.  xxxi.  27. 

Debased  themselves  by  making  and  worshipping  an 
Egyptian  idol.  See  on  Exod.  xxxii. 

Verse  21.  I  took  your  sin ,  the  calf  which  ye  had 
made ]  See  this  fully  explained  Exod.  xxxii.  20. 

Verse  22.  At  Kibroth-hattaavah\  See  the  note  on 
Num.  xi.  18. 

Verse  27.  Remember  thy  servants,  Abraham,  Isaac, 
and  Jacob ]  As  if  he  had  said :  “  These  are  their 
descendants,  and  the  covenant  was  made  with  those 


a  second  set  of  tables . 
Lord  from  the  day  that  I  knew  a.  m.  2553. 

J  B.  C.  1451. 

yOU.  An.  Ex.  Isr.  40. 

25  p  Thus  I  fell  down  before  Sebat‘ 
the  Lord,  forty  days  and  forty  nights,  as  I  fell 
down  at  the  first.  ;  because  the  Lord  had  said 
he  would  destroy  you. 

26  q  I  prayed  therefore  unto  the  Lord,  and 
said,  O  Lord  God,  destroy  not  thy  people  and 
thine  inheritance,  which  thou  hast  redeemed 
through  thy  greatness ;  which  thou  hast  brought 
forth  out  of  Egypt  with  a  mighty  hand. 

27  Remember  thy  servants,  Abraham,  Isaac, 
and  Jacob  ;  look  not  unto  the  stubbornness  of 
this  people,  nor  to  their  wickedness,  nor  to 
their  sin  : 

28  Lest  r  the  land  whence  thou  broughtest 
us  out,  say.  s  Because  the  Lord  was  not  able 
to  bring  them  into  the  land  which  he  promised 
them,  and  because  he  hated  them,  he  hath 
brought  them  out  to  slay  them  in  the  wilder¬ 
ness. 

29  t  Yet  they  are  thy  people,  and  thine  in¬ 
heritance,  which  thou  broughtest  out  by  thy 
u  mighty  pownr,  and  by  thy  stretched-out  arm. 

l’ Ver.  18. - ^Exod.  xxxii.  11,  &c. - rGen.xIi.  57  ;  1  Sam. 

xiv.  25. - s  Exod.  xxxii.  12  ;  Num.  xiv.  16. - 1  Chap.  iv.  20* 

1  Kings  viii.  51 ;  Neh.  i.  10;  Psa.  xcv.  7. - u  Ver.  26;  cnap. 

iv.  34 ;  Exod.  vii.  8,  9 ;  xiii.  3. 

patriarchs  in  behalf  of  these.”  God  bestows  many 
blessings  on  comparatively  worthless  persons,  either 
for  the  sake  of  their  pious  ancestors,  or  on  account  of 
the  religious  people  with  whom  they  are  connected ; 
therefore  union  with  the  Church  of  God  is  a  blessing 
of  no  common  magnitude.  The  reader  will  find  the 
grand  subject  of  this  chapter  explained  at  large  in  the 
notes  on  Exod.  xxxi.  and  xxxii.,  to  which  he  is  par¬ 
ticularly  desired  to  refer. 


CHAPTER  X. 


Moses  is  commanded  to  make  a  second  set  of  tables ,  1,2.  He  makes  an  ark,  prepares  the  two  tables,  God 
writes  on  them  the  ten  commandments,  and  Moses  lays  them  up  in  the  ark,  3-5.  The  Israelites  journey 
from  Beeroth  to  Mosera,  where  Aaron  dies,  6  ;  and  from  thence  to  Gudgodah  and  Jotbath,  7.  At  that 
time  God  separated  the  tribe  of  Levi  for  the  service  of  the  sanctuary,  8,  9.  How  long  Moses  stayed  the 
second  time  in  the  mount,  10,  11.  What  God  requires  of  the  Israelites,  12—15.  Their  heart  must  be 
circumcised,  16.  God's  character  and  conduct,  17,  18.  They  are  commanded  to  love  the  stranger,  19  ; 
to  fear,  love ,  and  serve  God,  20,  because  he  had  done  such  great  things  for  them  and  their  fathers, 
21,  22. 

AT  that  time  the  Lord  said 


A.  M.  2553. 

B.  C.  1451. 
An.  Ex.  Isr.  40. 

Sebat. 


unto  me,  a  Hew  thee  two 
tables  of  stone  like  unto  the  first, 


a  Exod.  xxxiv.  1,  2. 


NOTES  ON  CHAP.  X. 

Verse  1.  Hew  thee  two  tables  of  stone ]  See  the 
notes  on  Exod.  xxxiv.  1. 


and  come  up  unto  me  into  the 
mount,  and  b  make  thee  an  ark 
of  wood. 


A.  M.  2553, 

B.  C.  1451. 
An.  Ex.  Isr.  40. 

Sebat. 


b  Exod.  xxv.  10. 


Verse  3.  Shittim  wood ]  See  the  note  on  Exod. 
xxv.  5,  and  succeeding  verses,  and  on  the  parallel 
places  in  the  margin. 


763 


DEUTERONOMY. 


What  God  requires 

A.  M.  2553.  2  And  I  will  write  on  the  tables 

An.  Ex.  isr.  40.  the  words  that  were  in  the  first 
Sebat’  tables,  which  thou  brakest,  and 
c  thou  shalt  put  them  in  the  ark. 

3  And  I  made  an  ark  of  d  shittim  wood,  and 
6  hewed  two  tables  of  stone,  like  unto  the  first,, 
and  went  up  into  the  mount,  having  the  two 
tables  in  mine  hand. 

4  And  f  he  wrote  on  the  tables,  according  to 
the  first  writing,  the  ten  s  commandments 
h  which  the  Lord  spake  unto  you  in  the  mount, 
out  of  the  midst  of  the  fire,  1  in  the  day  of 
the  assembly :  and  the  Lord  gave  them 
unto  me. 

5  And  I  turned  myself,  and  k  came  down  from 
the  mount,  and  1  put  the  tables  in  the  ark 
which  I  had  made  ;  m  and  there  they  be,  as  the 
Lord  commanded  me. 

6  And  the  children  of  Israel  took  their 
journey  from  Beeroth  n  of  the  children  of 
Jaakan  to  °  Mosera  :  p  there  Aaron  died,  and 
there  he  was  buried  ;  and  Eleazar  his  son 
ministered  in  the  priest’s  office,  in  his  stead. 

7  From  thence  they  journeyed  unto  Gud- 
godah ;  and  from  Gudgodah  to  Jotbath,  a 
land  of  rivers  of  waters. 

8  At  that  time  r  the  Lord  separated  the 
tribe  of  Levi,  s  to  bear  the  ark  of  the  covenant 
of  the  Lord,  t  to  stand  before  the  Lord  to 

c  Exodus  xxv.  16,  21. d  Exodus  xxv.  5,  10;  xxxvii.  1. 

e  Exodus  xxxiv.  4. - f  Exodus  xxxiv.  28. - s  Heb.  words. 

h  Exodus  xx.  1. - 1  Exodus  xix.  17;  chap.  ix.  10;  xviii.  16. 

k  Exodus  xxxiv.  29. - 1  Exodus  xl.  20. - m  1  Kings  viii.  9. 

“Num.  xxxiii.  31. - 0  Num.xxxiii.  30. - P  Num.  xx.  28  ;  xxxiii. 

38. - <5  Num.  xxxiii.  32,33. - rNum.  iii.  6;  iv.  4;  viii.  14; 

xvi.  9. - sNum.  iv.  15. - 4  Ch.  xviii.  5. - u  Lev.  ix.  22  ;  Num. 

vi.  23  ;  chap.  xxi.  5. - vNum.  xviii.  20,  24  ;  chap,  xviii.  1,  2  , 

Verse  4.  Ten  commandments ]  See  the  note  on 
Exod.  xx.  1,  &c. 

Verse  6.  And  the  children  of  Israel  took  their  jour¬ 
ney  ,  dfc.\  On  this  and  the  three  following  verses  see 
KcnnicoWs  remarks  at  the  end  of  this  chapter. 

Verse  12.  Now,  Israel ,  what  doth  the  Lord — require 
of  thee ]  An  answer  is  immediately  given.  God  re¬ 
quires, 

1.  That  ye  fear  him  as  Jehovah  your  God  ;  him  who 
made,  preserves,  and  governs  you. 

2.  That  ye  walk  in  cdl  his  ways — that,  having  re¬ 
ceived  his  precepts,  all  of  which  are  good  and  excel¬ 
lent,  ye  obey  the  whole  ;  walking  in  God’s  ways,  not 
your  own,  nor  in  the  ways  of  the  people  of  the  land. 

3.  That  ye  love  him — have  confidence  in  him  as 
your  father  and  friend,  have  recourse  to  him  in  all  your 
necessities,  and  love  him  in  return  for  his  love. 

4.  That  you  serve  him — -give  him  that  worship 
which  he  requires,  performing  it  with  all  your  heart — 
the  whole  of  your  affections,  and  with  all  your  soul — 
your  will,  understanding,  and  judgment.  In  a  word, 

L  764 


of  the  Israelites . 

minister  unto  him,  and  u  to  bless  A.  M.  2553. 

.  .  .  ’  .  .  B.  c.  1451. 

m  Ins  name,  unto  this  day.  An.  Ex.  isr.  40. 

9  v  Wherefore  Levi  hath  no  Sebat' 

•* 

part  nor  inheritance  with  his  brethren  ;  the 
Lord  is  his  inheritance,  according  as  the  Lord 
thy  God  promised  him. 

1 0  And  w  I  stayed  in  the  mount,  according 
to  the  x  first  time,  forty  days  and  forty  nights  ; 
and  y  the  Lord  hearkened  unto  me  at  that  time 
also,  and  the  Lord  would  not  destroy  thee. 

11  z  And  the  Lord  said  unto  me,  Arise, 
a  take  thy  journey  before  the  people,  that  they 
may  go  in  and  possess  the  land,  which  I 
sware  unto  their  fathers  to  give  unto  them. 

12  And  now,  Israel,  b  what  doth  the  Lord 
thy  God  require  of  thee,  but c  to  fear  the  Lord 
thy  God,  d  to  walk  in  all  his  ways,  and  e  to 
love  him,  and  to  serve  the  Lord  thy  God  with 
all  thy  heart  and  with  all  thy  soul, 

1 3  To  keep  the  commandments  of  the  Lord, 
and  his  statutes,  which  I  command  thee  this 
day  f  for  thy  good  ? 

14  Behold,  s  the  heaven  and  the  heaven  of 
heavens  is  the  Lord’s  thy  God,  h  the  earth 
also,  with  all  that  therein  is. 

1 5  1  Only  the  Lord  had  a  delight  in  thy  fathers 
to  love  them,  and  he  chose  their  seed  after  them, 
even  you  above  all  people,  as  it  is  this  day. 

1 6  Circumcise  therefore  k  the  foreskin  of 

Ezek.  xliv.  28. - w  Exod.  xxxiv.  28  ;  chap.  ix.  18,  25. - x  Or, 

former  days. - y  Exod.  xxxii.  14,  33,  34  ;  xxxiii.  17 ;  chap.  ix.  19. 

z  Exod.  xxxii.  34;  xxxiii.  1. - aHeb.  go  in  journey. - b  Mic. 

vi.  8. - c  Chap.  vi.  13.— — d  Chap.  v.  33. - e  Chap.  vi.  5;  xi. 

13  ;  xxx.  16,  20;  Matt.  xxii.  37. - fChap.  vi.  24. - s  1  Kings 

viii.  17;  Psa.  cxv.  16;  cxlviii.  4. - hGen.  xiv.  19;  Exod.  xix. 

5  ;  Psa.  xxiv.  1. - >  Chap.  iv.  37. - k  See  Lev.  xxvi.  41 ;  chap. 

xxx.  6  ;  Jer.  iv.  4  ;  Rom.  ii.  28,  29 ;  Col.  ii.  11. 

putting  forth  your  whole  strength  and  energy  of  body 
and  soul  in  the  sacred  work. 

Verse  14.  Behold,  the  heaven  and  the  heaven  of 
heavens ]  All  these  words  in  the  original  are  in  the 
plural  number  :  'KW)  JH  hen  hashshama- 

yim,  ushemey  hashshamayim ;  behold  the  heavens  and 
the  heavens  of  heavens.  But  what  do  they  mean  1  To 
say  that  the  first  means  the  atmosphere,  the  second 
the  planetary  system,  and  the  third  the  region  of  the 
blessed,  is  saying  but  very  little  in  the  way  of  expla¬ 
nation.  The  words  were  probably  intended  to  point 
out  the  immensity  of  God’s  creation,  in  which  we  may 
readily  conceive  one  system  of  heavenly  bodies,  and 
others  beyond  them,  and  others  still  in  endless  pro¬ 
gression  through  the  whole  vortex  of  space,  every  star 
in  the  vast  abyss  of  nature  being  a  sun ,  with  its  pecu¬ 
liar  and  numerous  attendant  worlds  !  Thus  there  may 
be  systems  of  systems  in  endless  gradation  up  to  the 
throne  of  God  ! 

Verse  16.  Circumcise — the  foreskin  of  your  heart] 
A  plain  proof  from  God  himself  that  this  precept 

a 


CHAP.  X. 


Love  to  the  stranger ,  and 


a.  M.  2553.  your  heart,  and  be  no  more 
B.  C.  1451.  :  -re  i  j 

An.  Ex.  Isr.  40.  Stlff-nCCKCu. 

17  For  the  Lord  your  God  is 
m  God  of  gods,  and  n  Lord  of  lords,  a  great 
God,  0  a  mighty,  and  a  terrible,  which  p  re¬ 
garded!  not  persons,  nor  taketh  reward  : 

18  *  He  doth  execute  the  judgment  of  the 
fatherless  and  widow,  and  loveth  the  stranger, 
in  giving  him  food  and  raiment. 

1 9  r  Love  ye  therefore  the  stranger  :  for  ye 
were  strangers  in  the  land  of  Egypt. 


20  s  Thou  shalt  fear  the  Lord  a.  m.  2553. 
thy  God;  him  shalt  thou  serve,  An.  Ex’ Isr.  40. 

and  to  him  shalt  thou  1  cleave,  Sebat‘ _ _ 

u  and  swear  by  his  name. 

21  v  He  is  thy  praise,  and  he  is  thy  God, 
w  that  hath  done  for  thee  these  great  and  ter¬ 
rible  things,  which  thine  eyes  have  seen. 

22  Thy  fathers  went  down  into  Egypt  x  with 
threescore  and  ten  persons ;  and  now  the 
Lord  thy  God  hath  made  thee  ?  as  the  stars 
of  heaven  for  multitude. 


1  Chap.  ix.  6,  13. - -m  Josh.  xxii.  22  ;  Psa.  cxxxvi.  2  ;  Dan.  ii. 

47;  xi;  36. - “Rev.  xvii.  14;  xix.  16. - °Chap.  vii.  21. 

P  2  Chron.  xix.  7  ;  Job  xxxiv.  19  ;  Acts  x.  34  ;  Rom.  ii.  11 ;  Gal. 

ii.  6  ;  Eph.  vi.  9  ;  Col.  iii.  25  ;  1  Pet.  i.  17. - Psa.  lxviii.  5  ; 

cxlvi.  9. - rLev.  xix.  33,  34. 


*  Chap.  vi.  13;  Matt.  iv.  10  ;  Luke  iv.  8. - ‘Chap.  xi.  22; 

xiii.  4. - “Psa  lxiii.  11. - -v  Exod.  xv.  2;  Psa.  xxii.  3; 

Jer.  xvii.  14. - w  1  Sam.  xii.  24  ;  2  Sam.  vii.  23  ;  Psa.  cvi.  21, 

22. - x  Gen.  xlvi.  27  ;  Exod.  i.  5  ;  Acts  vii.  14. - 7  Gen.  xv.  5  ; 

chap,  i  10  ;  xxviii.  62. 


pointed  out  spiritual  things,  and  that  it  was  not  the 
cutting  away  a  part  of  the  flesh  that  was  the  object  of 
the  Divine  commandment,  but  the  purification  of  the 
soul ,  without  which  all  forms  and  ceremonies  are  of 
no  avail.  Loving  God  with  all  the  heart,  soul,  mind, 
and  strength,  the  heart  being  circumcised  to  enable 
them  to  do  it,  was,  from  the  beginning,  the  end,  design, 
and  fulfilment  of  the  whole  law. 

Yerse  17.  God  of  gods ,  and  Lord  of  lords ]  That 
is,  He  is  the  source  whence  all  being  and  power  pro¬ 
ceed  ;  every  agent  is  finite  but  himself ;  and  he  can 
counteract,  suspend,  or  destroy  all  the  actions  of  all 
creatures  whensoever  he  pleases.  If  he  determine  to 
save,  none  can  destroy  ;  if  he  purpose  to  destroy,  none 
can  save.  How  absolutely  necessary  to  have  such  a 
God  for  our  friend  ! 

A  great  God — mighty]  72;n  Sxn  hael  haggibbor , 
the  mighty  God ;  this  is  the  very  title  that  is  given  to 
our  blessed  Lord  and  Sdviour,  Isa.  ix.  6. 

Yerse  21.  He  is  thy  praise]  It  is  an  eternal  honour 
to  any  soul  to  be  in  the  friendship  of  God.  Why  are 
people  ashamed  of  being  thought  religious  1  Because 
they  know  nothing  of  religion.  Pie  who  knows  his 
Maker  may  glory  in  his  God,  for  without  him  what 
has  any  soul  but  disgrace,  pain,  shame,  and  perdition  l 
How  strange  is  it  that  those  who  fear  God  should  be 
ashamed  to  own  it,  while  sinners  boldly  proclaim  their 
relationship  to  Satan  ! 

Yerse  22.  With  threescore  and  ten  persons]  And 
now,  from  so  small  a  beginning,  they  were  multiplied 
to  more  than  600,000  souls;  and  this  indeed  in  the 
space  of  forty  years,  for  the  603,000  which  came  out 
of  Egypt  were  at  this  time  all  dead  but  Moses,  Jo¬ 
shua,  and  Caleb.  How  easily  can  God  increase  and 
multiply,  and  how  easily  diminish  and  bring  low !  In 
all  things,  because  of  his  unlimited  power,  he  can  do 
whatsoever  he  will ;  and  he  will  do  whatsoever  is  right. 

On  a  verv  important  subject  in  this  chapter  Dr. 
Kennicott  has  the  following  judicious  observations  : — 

“The  book  of  Deuteronomy  contains  the  several 
speeches  made  to  the  Israelites  by  Moses  just  before 
his  death,  recapitulating  the  chief  circumstances  of 
their  history,  from  their  deliverance  out  of  Egypt  to 
their  arrival  on  the  banks  of  Jordan.  What  in  this  ! 


book  he  has  recorded  as  spoken  will  be  best  understood 
by  comparing  it  with  what  he  has  recorded  as  done  in 
the  previous  history  ;  and  this,  which  is  very  useful 
as  to  the  other  parts  of  this  book,  is  absolutely  neces¬ 
sary  as  to  the  part  of  the  tenth  chapter  here  to  be 
considered. 

“  The  previous  circumstances  of  the  history  neces¬ 
sary  to  be  here  attended  to  are  these.  In  Exodus , 
chap,  xx.,  God  speaks  the  ten  commandments  ;  in  chap, 
xxiv.  Moses,  on  Mount  Sinai,  receives  the  two  tables, 
and  is  there  forty  days  and  nights ;  in  chap,  xxv., 
xxvi.,  xxvii.,  God  appoints  the  service  of  the  taber¬ 
nacle  ;  in  chap,  xxviii.  separates  Aaron  and  his  sons 
for  the  priest's  office,  by  a  statute  for  ever,  to  him  and 
his  seed  after  him ;  in  chap,  xxxii.  Moses,  incensed  at 
the  golden  calf,  breaks  the  tables ;  yet  he  prays  for 
the  people,  and  God  orders  him  to  lead  them  towards 
Canaan ;  in  chap,  xxxiv.  Moses  carries  up  two  other 
tables,  and  stays  again  forty  days  and  nights.  In 
Numbers ,  chap,  iii.,  the  tribe  of  Levi  is  selected  ;  chap, 
viii. ,  consecrated ;  chap.  x.  and  xi.  the  Israelites 
march  from  Sinai  on  the  twentieth  day  of  the  second 
month  in  the  second  year ;  in  chap.  xiii.  spies  sent ; 
in  chap.  xiv.  the  men  are  sentenced  to  die  in  the  wil¬ 
derness  during  the  forty  years ;  in  chap,  xviii.  the 
Levites  are  to  have  no  lot  nor  large  district  in  Canaan, 
but  to  be  the  Lord’s  inheritance  ;  in  chap.  xx.  Aaron 
dies  on  Mount  IJor  ;  lastly,  in  the  complete  catalogue 
of  the  whole  march  (chap,  xxxiii.)  we  are  told  that 
they  went  from  Moseroth  to  Bene-jaakan ,  thence  to 
Hor-hagidgad ,  to  Jotbathah ,  to  Ebronah ,  to  Ezion-ga- 
ber ,  to  Zin,  (which  is  Kadesh,)  and  thence  to  Mount 
Hor ,  where  Aaron  died  in  the  fortieth  and  last  year. 
In  Deuteronomy ,  chap,  ix.,  Moses  tells  the  Israelites, 
(ver.  7,)  that  they  had  been  rebels,  from  Egypt  even 
to  Jordan,  particularly  at  Horeb,  (ver.  8—29,)  whilst 
he  was  with  God,  and  received  the  tables  at  the  end 
of  forty  days  and  nights  ;  and  that,  after  breaking  the 
tables,  he  fasted  and  interceded  for  his  brethren  during 
a  second  period  of  forty  days  and  nights ;  and  this 
ninth  chapter  ends  with  the  prayer  which  he  then 
made.  Chapter  x.  begins  thus  :  ‘  At  that  time  the 
Lord  said  unto  me,  Hew  thee  two  tables  of  stone,  like 
unto  the  first,  and  come  up,’  &c.  And  from  ver.  1  to 
the  end  of  ver.  5  he  describes  the  second  copy  of  the 

765 


DEUTERONOMY. 


Dr.  Kennicotfs  remarks 

ten  commandments,  as  written  also  by  God,  and  depo¬ 
sited  by  himself  in  the  ark. 

“After  this  we  have  now  four  verses,  (6,  7,  8,  and 
9,)  which  not  only  have  no  kind  of  connection  with  the 
verses  before  and  after  them,  but  also,  as  they  stand 
in  the  present  Hebrew  text,  directly  contradict  that 
very  text  ;  and  the  two  first  of  these  verses  have  not, 
in  our  Hebrew  text,  the  least  connection  with  the  two 
last  of  them.  Our  Hebrew  text,  (ver.  G,)  says  that  Is¬ 
rael  journeyed  from  Bene-jaakan  to  Moser  a.  Whereas 
that  very  text  in  the  complete  catalogue,  (Num.  xxxiii. 
31,)  says  they  journeyed  from  Moseroth  to  Bene- 
jaakan.  Again  :  Aaron  is  here  said  to  have  died  at 
Mosera,  whereas  he  died  on  Mount  Hor ,  the  seventh 
station  afterwards;  see  Num.  xxxiii.  38.  And  again: 
they  are  here  said  to  go  from  Bene-jaakan  to  Mosera , 
thence  to  Gudgodah ,  and  thence  to  Jotbalh  ;  whereas 
the  complete  catalogue  says,  Moseroth  to  Bene-jaakan , 
thence  to  Hor-hagidgad,  and  thence  to  Jotbathah.  But 
if  the  marches  could  possibly  be  true  as  they  now 
stand  in  these  two  verses,  yet  what  connection  can 
there  be  between  Jotbath  and  the  separation  of 
the  tribe  of  Levi  1  It  is  very  happy  that  these 
several  difficulties  in  the  Hebrew  text  are  removed  by 
the  Samaritan  Pentateuch  :  for  that  text  tells  us  here 
rightly  that  the  march  was  from  Moseroth  to  Bene- 
jaakan  ;  to  Hagidgad,  to  Jotbathah,  to  Ebronah,  to 
Ezion-gaber,  to  Zin,  (which  is  Kadesh ,)  and  thence  to 
Mount  Hor ,  where  Aaron  died.  Again  :  as  the  regu¬ 
lar  deduction  of  these  stations  ends  with  Mount  Hor 
and  Aaron's  death,  we  have  then  what  we  had  not 
before,  a  regular  connection  with  the  two  next  verses, 
and  the  connection  is  this  :  That  when  Aaron,  the  son 
of  Amram,  the  son  of  Koliath ,  the  son  of  Levi,  died, 
neither  the  tribe  of  Levi  nor  the  priesthood  was  de¬ 
serted,  but  God  still  supported  the  latter  by  maintain¬ 
ing  the  former ;  and  this,  not  by  allotting  that  tribe 
any  one  large  part  of  Canaan,  but  separate  cities 
among  the  other  tribes,  and  by  allowing  them  to  live 
upon  those  offerings  which  "were  made  by  the  other 
tribes  to  God  himself.  These  four  verses  therefore, 
(6,  7,  8,  and  9,)  in  the  same  text,  stand  thus  :  (ver.  6,) 
When  the  children  of  Israel  journeyed  from.  Mose¬ 
roth,  and  encamped  in  Bene-jaakan  ;  from  thence  they 
journeyed  and  encamped  at  Hagidgad ;  from  thence 
they  journeyed  and  encamped  in  Jotbathah,  a  land  of 
rivers  of  water  :  (7)  From  thence  they  journeyed  and 
encamped  in  Ebronah  ;  in  Ezion-gaber ;  in  the  wil¬ 
derness  of  Zin,  which  is  Kadesh  ;  and  then  at  Mount 
Hor :  And  Aaron  died  there,  and  there  he  was  bu¬ 
ried  ;  and  Eleazar  his  son  ministered  as  priest  in  his 
stead.  (8)  At  that  time  the  Lord  had  separated  the 
tribe  of  Levi,  to  bear  the  ark  of  the  covenant  of  the 
Lord,  to  stand  before  the  Lord ,  to  minister  unto  him, 
and  to  bless  in  his  name  unto  this  day.  (9)  Where¬ 
fore  Ijevi  hath  no  part  nor  inheritance  with  his  bre¬ 
thren  ;  the  Lord  is  his  inheritance,  according  as  the 
Ijord  thy  God  pro7nised  him. 

“  But  however  consistent  these  four  verses  are  now 
with  themselves,  it  will  be  still  demanded,  What  con¬ 
nection  have  they  with  the  fifth  verse  before  them,  and 
with  the  tenth  verse  after  them  1  I  confess  I  cannot 
discover  their  least  pertinency  here,  because  Aaron’s 
death  and  Levi’s  separation  seem  totally  foreign  to 

766 


on  the  preceding  chapter. 

the  speech  of  Moses  in  this  place.  And  this  speech 
without  these  four  verses  is  a  regularly  connected  ad¬ 
monition  from  Moses  to  this  purpose  :  that  his  bre¬ 
thren  were  for  ever  to  consider  themselves  as  indebted 
to  him,  under  God,  for  the  renewal  of  the  two  tables, 
and  also  to  his  intercession  for  rescuing  them  from  de¬ 
struction.  The  words  are  these  :  (chap.  x.  4,)  ‘  The 
Lord  wrote  again  the  ten  commandments,  and  gave 
them  unto  me.  (5)  And  I  came  down  from  the  mount, 
and  put  the  tables  in  the  ark,  which  I  had  made  ; — 
(10)  Thus  I  stayed  in  the  mount  according  to  the  first 
time,  forty  days  and  forty  nights  :  and  the  Lord 
hearkened  unto  me  at  that  time  also  ;  the  Lord  would 
not  destroy  thee.  (11)  And  the  Lord  said  unto  me, 
Arise,  take  thy  journey  before  the  people,  that  they 
may  go  in  and  possess  the  land,’  &c.  But  then,  if 
these  four  verses  were  not  at  first  a  part  of  this  chap¬ 
ter,  but  are  evidently  interpolated,  there  arises  another 
inquiry,  Whether  they  are  an  insertion  entirely  spu¬ 
rious,  or  a  genuine  part  of  the  sacred  text,  though 
removed  hither  out  of  some  other  chapter  ?  As  they 
contain  nothing  singular  or  peculiar,  are  of  no  particu¬ 
lar  importance,  and  relate  to  no  subject  of  disputation, 
they  are  tnot  likely  to  have  arisen  from  fraud  or  de¬ 
sign  ;  but,  perfectly  coinciding  in  sense  with  other 
passages,  they  may  safely  be  considered  as  another 
instance  of  a  large  transposition  [86  words]  in  the 
present  text,  arising  from  accident  and  want  of  care. 
And  the  only  remaining  question  therefore  is,  Whether 
we  can  discover,  though  not  to  demonstration,  yet  with 
any  considerable  degree  of  probability ,  the  original 
place  of  these  four  verses,  that  so  they  may  be  at  last 
restored  to  that  neighbourhood  and  connection  from 
which  they  have  been,  for  so  many  ages,  separated  1 

“  It  was  natural  for  Moses,  in  the  course  of  these 
several  speeches  to  his  brethren  in  Deuteronomy ,  to 
embrace  the  first  opportunity  of  impressing  on  their 
memories  a  matter  of  such  particular  importance  as 
the  continuation  of  the  priesthood  among  the  Levites 
after  Aaron's  death.  And  the  first  proper  place  seems 
to  be  in  the  second  chapter,  after  the  first  verse.  At 
chap.  i.  19  he  speaks  of  their  march  from  Horeb  to 
Kadesh-barnea,  whence  they  sent  the  spies  into  Ca¬ 
naan.  He  then  sets  forth  their  murmurings,  and  God’s 
sentence  that  they  should  die  in  the  wilderness,  and 
he  ends  the  first  chapter  with  their  being  defeated  by 
the  Amorites,  their  weeping  before  the  Lord,  and  abid¬ 
ing  many  days  in  Kadesh,  which  is  Kadesh-barnea, 
near  Canaan. 

“  Chap.  ii.  begins  thus  :  Then  we  turned,  and  took 
our  journey  into  the  wilderness  by  the  way  of  the  Red 
Sea,  as  the  Lord  spake  unto  me  :  and  we  compassed 
Mount  Seir  many  days.  Now,  the  many  days,  or 
long  time,  which  they  spent  in  compassing  Mount 
Seir,  that  is,  going  round  on  the  south-west  coasts  of 
Edom  in  order  to  proceed  north-east  from  Edom, 
through  Moab  to  Arnon,  must  include  several  of  their 
stations,  besides  that  eminent  one  at  Mount  Hor , 
where  Aaron  died.  And  as  part  of  their  road,  during 
this  long  compass,  lay  through  Ezion-gaber ,  (which 
was  on  the  eastern  tongue  ,of  the  Red  Sea,  and  the 
south  boundary  of  Edom,)  thence  to  Zin,  (which  is 
Kadesh,  that  is,  Meribah  Kadesh,)  and  thence  to 
Mount  Hor ,  as  they  marched  to  the  north-east ;  so  it 

a 


CHAP.  XL 


Obedience  enforced  by  God's 

is  probable  that  the  five  stations  preceding  that  of 
Ezion-gaber  were  on  the  extremity  of  Mount  Seir,  to 
the  south-west.  And  if  their  first  station  at  entering 
the  south-west  borders  of  Edom,  and  beginning  to 
compass  Mount  Seir ,  was  Moseroth ,  this  gives  the 
reason  wanted  why  Moses  begins  this  passage  at  Mo¬ 
seroth,  and  ends  it  with  Aaron’s  death  at  Mount  Hor. 
And  this  will  discover  a  proper  connection  between  the 
four  dislocated  verses  and  the  context  here. — Deut. 
i.  46  :  ‘  So  ye  abode  in  Kadesh  ( Barnea )  many  days.’ 
Chap.  ii.  1  :  ‘  Then  we  turned,  and  took  our  journey 
into  the  wilderness  by  the  way  of  the  Red  Sea,  as  the 
Lord  spake  unto  me  ;  and  we  compassed  Mount  Seir 

MANY  DAYS.’ 

“  ‘  For  the  children  of  Israel  journeyed  from  Mose¬ 
roth,  and  pitched  in  Bene-jaakan  :  from  thence  they 
journeyed  and  pitched  in  Hagidgad  :  from  thence 
they  journeyed  and  pitched  in  Jotbathah,  a  land  of 
rivers  of  water  :  from  thence  they  journeyed  and 
pitched  in  Ebronah  :  from  thence  they  journeyed  and 


mercies  and  judgments. 

pitched  in  Ezion-gaber :  from  thence  they  journeyed 
and  pitched  in  the  wilderness  of  Zin,  which  is  Ka¬ 
desh  :  from  thence  they  journeyed  and  pitched  in 
Mount  Hor,  and  Aaron  died  there,  and  there  he  was 
buried  ;  and  Eleazar  his  son  ministered  as  priest  in 
his  stead.  At  that  time  the  Lord  had  separated  the 
tribe  of  Levi,  to  bear  the  ark  of  the  covenant  of  the 
Lord,  to  stand  before  the  Lord  to  minister  unto  him, 
and  to  bless  in  his  name  unto  this  day.  Wherefore, 
Levi  hath  no  part  nor  inheritance  with  his  brethren  ; 
the  Lord  is  his  inheritance,  according  as  the  Lord  thy 
God  promised  him.’ 

“  And  this  paragraph  being  thus  inserted  at  the  end 
of  the  first  verse,  the  second  verse  begins  a  new  para¬ 
graph,  thus  :  And  the  Lord  spake  unto  me ,  saying , 
Ye  have  compassed  this  mountain  long  enough  ;  turn 
you  northward — through  the  east  side  of  Seir  (or 
Edom)  towards  Moab  on  the  north.  See  ver.  4—8.” 
— KennicotVs  Remarks ,  p.  74. 

These  remarks  should  not  be  hastily  rejected. 


CHAPTER  XI. 


The  people  are  exhorted  to  obedience  from  a  consideration  of  God's  goodness  to  their  fathers  in  Egypt ,  1—4, 
and  what  he  did  in  the  wilderness ,  5,  and  the  judgment  on  Dathan  and  Abiram,  6,  and  from  the  mercies  of 
God  in  general,  7-9.  A  comparative  description  of  Egypt  and  Canaan,  10—12.  Promises  to  obedience , 
13—15.  Dissuasives  from  idolatry,  16,  17.  The  words  of  God  to  be  laid  up  in  their  hearts ,  to  be  for  a 
sign  on  their  hands,  foreheads,  gates,  cfc.,  18,  taught  to  their  children,  made  the  subject  of  f  requent  con¬ 
versation,  to  the  end  that  their  days  may  be  multiplied,  19—21.  If  obedient ,  God  shall  give  them  posses¬ 
sion  of  the  whole  land,  and  not  one  of  their  enemies  shall  be  able  to  withstand  them,  22—25.  Life  and 
death,  a  blessing  and  a  curse ,  are  set  before  them,  26-28.  The  blessings  to  be  put  on  Mount  Gerizim  and 
the  curses  on  Mount  Ebal,  29,  30.  The  promise  that  they  should  pass  over  Jordan,  and  observe  these 
statutes  in  the  promised  land,  31,  32. 


A.  M.  2553.  ^THEREFORE  thou  shalt a  love 

B.  C.  1451.  JL  .  T  i  i  iii 

An.  Ex.  isr.  40.  the  Lord  thy  God,  and  b  keep 

,Sebat‘  his  charge,  and  his  statutes,  and 
his  judgments,  and  his  commandments,  alway. 

2  And  know  ye  this  day  :  for  I  speak  not 
with  your  children  which  have  not  known, 
and  which  have  not  seen  c  the  chastisement  of 
the  Lord  your  God,  d  his  greatness,  e  his 
mighty  hand,  and  his  stretched-out  arm. 

3  f  And  his  miracles,  and  his  acts,  which  he 
did  in  the  midst  of  Egypt  unto  Pharaoh  the 
king  of  Egypt,  and  unto  all  his  land  ; 

4  And  what  he  did  unto  the  army  of  Egypt, 
unto  their  horses,  and  to  their  chariots  ;  show 
he  made  the  water  of  the  Red  Sea  to  over¬ 


flow  them  as  they  pursued  after  A.  M.  2553. 

,  7  i  t  ii  B.  C.  1451. 

you,  and  now  the  Lord  hath  An.  Ex.  Isr.  40. 

destroyed  them  unto  this  day ;  SebaL 

5  And  what  he  did  unto  you  in  the  wilder¬ 
ness,  until  ye  came  into  this  place  ; 

6  And  h  what  he  did  unto  Dathan  and  Abi¬ 
ram,  the  sons  of  Eliab,  the  son  of  Reuben : 
how  the  earth  opened  her  mouth,  and  swal¬ 
lowed  them  up,  and  their  households,  and  their 
tents,  and  all  the  1  substance  that  k  was  in  their 
possession,  in  the  midst  of  all  Israel : 

7  But 1  your  eyes  have  seen  all  the  great  acts 
of  the  Lord  which  he  did. 

8  Therefore  shall  ye  keep  all  the  command¬ 
ments  which  I  command  you  this  day,  that  ye 


1  Chap.  x.  12  ;  xxx.  16,20. - b  Zcch.  iii.  7. - c  Chap.  viii.  5. 

dChap.  v.  24. - e  Chap.vii.  19. - f  Psa.  Ixxviii.  12  ;  cxxxv.  9. 

8  Exod.  xiv.  27,  28  ;  xv.  9,  10 ;  Psa.  cvi.  1 1. 


!lNum.  xvi.  1,  31  ;  xxvii.  3  ;  Psa.  cvi.  17. - "  Or,  living  sub¬ 
stance  which  followed,  them. - k  Heb.  was  at  their  feet. - 1  Chap. 

v.  3  ;  vii.  19. 


NOTES  ON  CHAP.  XI. 

Verse  1.  Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord ]  Because  with¬ 
out  this  there  could  be  no  obedience  to  the  Divine 
testimonies,  and  no  happiness  in  the  soul  ;  for  the 
heart  that  is  destitute  of  the  love  of  God ,  is  empty  of 

a 


all  good,  and  consequently  miserable.  See  the  note 
on  chap.  x.  12. 

Verse  6.  What  he  did  unto  Dathan ,  dfc.]  See  the 
notes  on  Num.  xvi. 

Verse  8.  Therefore  shall  ye  keep  all  the  command- 

767 


DEUTERONOMY. 


The  great  fertility  of 


the  promised  land. 


a.  M.  2553.  may  m  be  strong,  and  go  in  and 

An.  Ex.  isr.  40.  possess  the  land,  whither  ye  go 
Sebat.  . 

_ _  to  possess  it ; 

9  And  n  that  ye  may  prolong  your  days  in 
the  land,  0  which  the  Lord  sware  unto  your 
fathers  to  give  unto  them  and  to  their  seed,  p  a 
land  that  floweth  with  milk  and  hone}^ 

10  For  the  land,  whither  thou  goest  in  to 
possess  it,  is  not  as  the  land  of  Egypt,  from 
whence  ye  came  out,  q  where  thou  sowedst  thy 
seed,  and  wateredst  it  with  thy  foot,  as  a  gar¬ 
den  of  herbs  : 

1 1  r  But  the  land,  whither  ye  go  to  possess 
it,  is  a  land  of  hills  and  valleys,  and  drinketh 
water  of  the  rain  of  heaven  : 

12  A  land  which  the  Lord  thy  God  s  careth 
for  ;  1  the  eyes  of  the  Lord  thy  God  are  always 
upon  it,  from  the  beginning  of  the  year  even 
unto  the  end  of  the  year. 

13  And  it  shall  come  to  pass,  if  ye  shall 


hearken 11  diligently  unto  mv  com-  a.  m.  2553. 

o  J  J  B.  C.  1451. 

mandments  which  I  command  An.  Ex.  isr.  40. 

you  this  day,  v  to  love  the  Lord  'Sebat' 

your  God,  and  to  serve  him  with  all  your 

heart  and  with  all  your  soul, 

14  That  w  I  will  give  you  the  rain  of  your 
land  in  his  due  season,  x  the  first  rain  and  the 
latter  rain,  that  thou  mayest  gather  in  thy  corn, 
and  thy  wine,  and  thine  oil. 

15  y  And  I  will  z  send  grass  in  thy  fields  for 
thy  cattle,  that  thou  mayest  a  eat  and  be  full. 

16  Take  heed  to  yourselves,  h  that  your 
heart  be  not  deceived,  and  ye  turn  aside,  and 
c  serve  other  gods,  and  worship  them ; 

1 7  And  then  d  the  Lord’s  wrath  be  kindled 
against  you,  and  he  e  shut  up  the  heaven,  that 
there  be  no  rain,  and  that  the  land  yield  not 
her  fruit ;  and  lest  f  ye  perish  quickly  from  off 
the  good  land  which  the  Lord  giveth  you. 

18  Therefore  s  shall  ye  lay  up  these  my 


“Josh.  i.  6,  7. - n  Chap.  iv.  40  ;  v.  16  ;  Prov.  x.  27. - 0  Chap. 

ix.  5. - p  Exod.  iii.  8. - q  Zech.  xiv.  18. - r  Chap.  viii.  7. 

sHeb.  seeketh. - 41  Kings  ix.  3. - uVer.  22;  chap.  vi.  17. 

vChap.  x.  12. - ^Lev.  xxvi.  4  ;  chap,  xxviii.  12.' - x  Joel  ii. 

23 ;  James  v.  7. 

ments\  Because  God  can  execute  such  terrible  judg¬ 
ments,  and  because  he  has  given  such  proofs  of  his 
power  and  justice  ;  and  because,  in  similar  provoca¬ 
tions,  he  may  be  expected  to  act  in  a  similar  way ; 
therefore  keep  his  charge,  that  he  may  keep  you  unto 
everlasting  life. 

Yerse  10.  Wateredst  it  with  thy  foot ]  Rain  scarcely 
ever  falls  in  Egypt,  and  God  supplies  the  lack  of  it  by 
the  inundations  of  the  Nile.  In  order  to  water  the 
grounds  where  the  inundations  do  not  extend,  water 
is  collected  in  ponds,  and  directed  in  streamlets  to  dif¬ 
ferent  parts  of  the  field  where  irrigation  is  necessary. 
It  is  no  unusual  thing  in  the  East  to  see  a  man,  with 
a  small  mattock,  making  a  little  trench  for  the  water 
to  run  by,  and  as  he  opens  the  passage,  the  water  fol¬ 
lowing,  he  uses  his  foot  to  raise  up  the  mould  against 
the  side  of  this  little  channel,  to  prevent  the  water 
from  being  shed  unnecessarily  before  it  reaches  the 
place  of  its  destination.  Thus  he  may  be  said  to  wa¬ 
ter  the  ground  with  his  foot.  See  several  useful  ob¬ 
servations  on  this  subject  in  Mr.  Harmer ,  vol.  i.,  pp. 
23—26,  and  vol.  iii.,  p.  411.  “For  watering  land  an 
instrument  called  janta  is  often  used  in  the  north  of 
Bengal :  it  consists  of  a  ivooden  trough ,  about  fifteen 
feet  long,  six  inches  wide,  and  ten  inches  deep,  which 
is  placed  on  a  horizontal  beam  lying  on  bamboos  fixed 
in  the  bank  of  a  pond  or  river  in  the  form  of  a  gallowrs. 
One  end  of  the  trough  rests  upon  the  bank,  where  a 
gutter  is  prepared  to  carry  off  the  water,  and  the  other 
is  dipped  into  the  water  by  a  man  standing  on  a  stage 
near  that  end,  and  plunging  it  in  with  his/ooib  A  long 
bamboo,  with  a  large  weight  of  earth  at  the  farther  end 
of  it,  is  fastened  to  that  end  of  the  janta  near  the  river, 
and  passing  over  the  gallows,  poises  up  the  janta  full 

768 


y  Psa.  civ.  14. - zHeb.  give. - a  Chap.  vi.  11 ;  Joel  ii.  19. 

b  Chap.  xxix.  18;  Job  xxxi.  27. - c  Chap.  viii.  19;  xxx.  17. 

d  Chap.  vi.  15. - e  1  Kings  viii.  35  ;  2  Chron.  vi.  26  ;  vii.  13. 

fChap.  iv.  26;  vii.  19,  20;  xxx.  18;  Joshua  xxiii.  13,  15,  16. 
s  Chap.  vi.  6  ;  xxxii.  46. 

of  water,  and  causes  it  to  empty  itself  into  the  gutter.” 
This,  Mr.  Ward  supposes,  illustrates  this  passage.  See 
Hindoo  Customs ,  <%'C.,\ ol.  iii.,  p.  104.  But  after  all, 
the  expression,  ivateredst  it  with  thy  foot. ,  may  mean 
no  more  than  doing  it  by  labour  ;  for,  as  in  the  land 
of  Egypt  there  is  scarcely  any  rain,  the  watering  of 
gardens,  &c.,  must  have  been  all  artificial.  But  in 
Judea  it  was  different,  as  there  they  had  their  proper 
seasons  of  rain.  The  compound  word  beregel , 

■with,  under,  ox  by  the  foot,  is  used  to  signify  any  thing 
under  the  power,  authority,  &c.,  of  a  person  ;  and  this 
very  meaning  it  has  in  the  sixth  verse,  all  the  sub¬ 
stance  that  was  in  their  possession ,  is,  literally,  all  the 
substance  that  was  under  their  feet ,  DTT^J-D  berag- 
leyhem ,  that  is,  in  their  power ,  possession,  or  what 
they  had  acquired  by  their  labour. 

Yerse  14.  The  rain — in  his  due  season ,  the  first 
rain  and  the  latter  rain ]  By  the  first  or  former  rain 
we  are  to  understand  that  which  fell  in  Judea  about 
November,  when  they  sowed  their  seed,  and  this 
served  to  moisten  and  prepare  the  ground  for  the 
vegetation  of  the  seed.  The  latter  rain  fell  about 
April,  when  the  corn  was  well  grown  up,  and  served 
to  fill  the  ears,  and  render  them  plump  and  perfect. 
Rain  rarely  fell  in  Judea  at  any  other  seasons  than 
these.  If  the  former  rain  were  withheld,  or  not  sent 
in  due  season,  there  could  be  no  vegetation :  if  the 
latter  rain  were  withheld,  or  not  sent  in  its  due  sea¬ 
son,  there  could  be  no  full  corn  in  the  ear,  and  con¬ 
sequently  no  harvest.  Of  what  consequence  then  was 
it  that  they  should  have  their  rain  in  due  season  !  God, 
by  promising  this  provided  they  were  obedient,  and 
threatening  to  withhold  it  should  they  be  disobedient, 
shows  that  it  is  not  a  general  providence  that  directs 

a 


The  necessity  of  obedience.  CHAP.  XI.  Blessings  and  curses 


A.  M.  2553.  words  in  your  heart  and  in  your 
An.  Ex.  isr.  40.  soul,  and  h  bind  them  for  a  sign 
bcbat~  upon  your  hand,  that  they  may 
be  as  frontlets  between  your  eyes. 

19  *  And  ye  shall  teach  them  your  children, 
speaking  of  them  when  thou  sittest  in  thine 
house,  and  when  thou  walkest  by  the  way, 
when  thou  liest  down,  and  when  thou  risest  up. 

20  k  And  thou  shalt  write  them  upon  the 
door-posts  of  thine  house,  and  upon  thy  gates  : 

2 1  That  1  your  days  may  be  multiplied,  and 
the  days  of  your  children,  in  the  land  which 
the  Lord  sware  unto  your  fathers  to  give  them, 
m  as  the  days  of  heaven  upon  the  earth. 

22  For  if  11  ye  shall  diligently  keep  all  these 
commandments  which  I  command  you,  to  do 
them,  to  love  the  Lord  your  God,  to  walk  in 
all  his  ways,  and  °  to  cleave  unto  him ; 

23  Then  will  the  Lord  p  drive  out  all  these 
nations  from  before  you,  and  ye  shall  q  possess 
greater  nations  and  mightier  than  yourselves. 

24  r  Every  place,  whereon  the  soles  of  your 
feet  shall  tread,  shall  be  yours  :  s  from  the  wil¬ 
derness  and  Lebanon,  from  the  river,  the  river 
Euphrates,  even  unto  the  uttermost  sea,  shall 
your  coast  be. 

25  t  There  shall  no  man  be  able  to  stand 
before  you :  for  the  Lord  your  God  shall 
u  lay  the  fear  of  you  and  the  dread  of  you  upon 

h  Chap.  vi.  8. - 'Chap.  iv.  0,  10;  vi.  7. - k  Chap.  vi.  9. 

1  Chap.  iv.  40;  vi.  2;  Prov.  iii.  2;  iv.  10;  ix.  11. - m  Psa. 

lxxii.  5  ;  lxxxix.  29. - “  Ver.  13  ;  chap.  vi.  17. - 0  Chap.  x.  20  ; 

xxx.  20. - p  Chap.  iv.  38  ;  ix.  5. - <i  Chap.  ix.  1. - r  Joshua 

i.  3  ;  xiv.  9. 

these  things,  but  that  the  very  rain  of  heaven  falls  by 
particular  direction,  and  the  showers  are  often  regu¬ 
lated  by  an  especial  providence. 

Yerse  18.  Therefore  shall  ye  lay  up  these  my 
words ]  See  chap.  vi.  4—8,  and  see  on  Exod.  xiii.  9. 

Verse  24.  From  the  river]  Euphrates,  which  was 
on  the  east ,  to  the  uttermost  sea — the  Mediterranean, 
which  lay  westward  of  the  promised  land.  This  pro¬ 
mise,  notwithstanding  the  many  provocations  of  the 
Israelites,  was  fulfilled  in  the  time  of  Solomon,  for 
“  he  reigned  over  all  the  kings  from  the  river  (Eu¬ 
phrates)  even  unto  the  land  of  the  Philistines,  and  to 
the  border  of  Egypt.”  See  2  Chron.  ix.  26,  and  the 
note  on  Num.  xxxiv.  12. 

Verse  26.  Behold ,  I  set  before  you — a  blessing  and 
a  curse ]  If  God  had  not  put  it  in  the  power  of  this 
people  either  to  obey  or  disobey ;  if  they  had  not  had 
a  free  will,  over  which  they  had  complete  authority, 
to  use  it  either  in  the  way  of  willing  or  nilling ;  could 
God,  with  any  propriety,  have  given  such  precepts  as 
these,  sanctioned  with  such  promises  and  threatenings  1 
If  they  were  not  free  agents ,  they  could  not  be  pun¬ 
ished  for  disobedience,  nor  could  they,  in  any  sense  of 

Vol.  I.  (  50  ) 


all  the  land  that  ye  shall  tread  A.  M.  2553. 

,  ,  ,  J  .  ,  13.  C.  1451. 

upon,  v  as  he  hath  said  unto  you.  An.  Ex.  isr.  40. 

26  w  Behold,  I  set  before  you  Sebat' 
this  day  a  blessing  and  a  curse  ; 

27  x  A  blessing,  if  ye  obey  the  command¬ 
ments  of  the  Lord  your  God,  which  I  com¬ 
mand  you  this  day  : 

28  And  a  y  curse,  if  ye  will  not  obey  the 
commandments  of  the  Lord  your  God,  but 
turn  aside  out  of  the  way  which  I  command 
you  this  day,  to  go  after  other  gods,  which  ye 
have  not  known. 

29  And  it  shall  come  to  pass,  when  the  Lord 
thy  God  hath  brought  thee  in  unto  the  land 
whither  thou  goest  to  possess  it,  that  thou  shalt 
put  z  the  blessing  upon  Mount  Gerizim,  and 
the  curse  upon  Mount  Ebal. 

30  Are  they  not  on  the  other  side  Jordan, 
by  the  way  where  the  sun  goeth  down,  in  the 
land  of  the  Canaanites,  which  dwell  in  the 
champaign  over  against  Gilgal,  a  beside  the 
plains  of  Moreh  ? 

31  bFor  ye  shall  pass  over  Jordan  to  go  in 
to  possess  the  land  which  the  Lord  your  God 
giveth  you,  and  ye  shall  possess  it,  and  dwell 
therein. 

32  And  ye  shall  observe  c  to  do  all  the  sta¬ 
tutes  and  judgments  which  I  set  before  you 
this  day. 

s  Gen.  xv.  18  ;  Exod.  xxiii.  31  ;  Num.  xxxiv.  3,  &c. - 1  Chap. 

vii.  24. - "Chap.  ii.  25. - '  Exod.  xxiii.  27. - ,v  Chap.  xxx. 

1,  15,  19. - x  Chap,  xxviii.2. - y  Chap,  xxviii.  15. - z  Chap. 

xxvii.  12,  13;  Josh.  viii.  33. - a  Gen.  xii.  6;  Judg.  vii.  1. 

b  Chap.  ix.  1 ;  Josh.  i.  11. - 0  Chap.  v.  32;  xii.  32. 

the  word,  have  been  reioardablc  for  obedience.  A  stone 
is  not  rewardable  because,  in  obedience  to  the  laws  of 
gravitation,  it  always  tends  to  the  centre ;  nor  is  it 
punishable  because,  in  being  removed  from  that  centre, 
in  its  tending  or  falling  towards  it  again  it  takes  away 
the  life  of  a  man. 

That  God  has  given  man  a  free,  self-determining 
will,  which  cannot  be  forced  by  any  power  but  that 
which  is  omnipotent,  and  which  God  himself  never  will 
force,  is  declared  in  the  most  formal  manner  through 
the  whole  of  the  sacred  writings.  No  argument  can 
affect  this,  while  the  Bible  is  considered  as  a  Divine 
revelation  ;  no  sophistry  can  explain  a'Cvay  its  evidence, 
as  long  as  the  accountablencss  of  man  for  his  conduct 
is  admitted,  and  as  long  as  the  eternal  bounds  of  moral 
good  and  evil  remain,  and  the  essential  distinctions  be¬ 
tween  vice  and  virtue  exist.  If  ye  will  obey,  (for  God 
is  ever  ready  to  assist,)  ye  shall  live ;  if  ye  ivill 
disobey  and  refuse  that  help,  ye  shall  die.  So  hath 
Jehovah  spoken,  and  man  cannot  reverse  it. 

Verse  29.  Thou  shalt  put  the  blessing  upon  Mount 
Gerizim,  and  the  curse  upon  Mount  Ebal.]  The  ety- 
mologv  of  these  names  may  be  supposed  to  cast  some 

769 


DEUTERONOMY. 


lows  and  ordinances 


A  repetition  of  sundry 

light  on  this  institution.  Q'PJ  gerizzim,  from  i"0  garaz , 
to  cut ,  cut  off,  cut  down ;  hence  Q'H  j  gerizzim ,  the 
cutters  down,  fellers,  and  reapers  or  harvest-men ,  this 
mountain  being  supposed  to  have  its  name  from  its 
great  fertility,  or  the  abundance  of  the  crops  it  yielded, 
which  is  a  possible  case.  Of  SdT  ehal  or  eyhal  the 
root  is  not  found  in  Hebrew  ;  but  in  Arabic  abala 

signifies  rough,  rugged,  curled,  dfc. ;  and  jAcf  ahalo, 
from  the  same  root,  signifies  white  stones,  and  a  moun¬ 
tain  in  which  such  stones  are  found ;  alabalo, 

the  mount  of  white  stones.  See  Giggeius  and  Golius. 
And  as  it  is  supposed  that  the  mountain  had  this  name 
because  of  its  barrenness,  on  this  metaphorical  inter¬ 
pretation  the  sense  of  the  passage  would  appear  to  be 
the  following :  God  will  so  superintend  the  land,  and 
have  it  continually  under  the  eye  of  his  watchful  pro¬ 
vidence,  that  no  change  can  happen  in  it  but  according 
to  his  Divine  counsel,  so  that  its  fertility  shall  ever  be 
the  consequence  of  the  faithful  obedience  of  its  inhab¬ 
itants,  and  a  proof  of  the  blessing  of  God  upon  it ;  on 
the  contrary,  its  barrenness  shall  be  a  proof  that  the 
people  have  departed  from  their  God,  and  that  his  curse 
has  in  consequence  fallen  upon  the  land.  See  the  man¬ 
ner  of  placing  these  blessings  and  curses,  chap,  xxvii. 
12,  &c.  That  Gerizim  is  very  fruitful,  and  that  Ebal 
is  very  barren,  is  the  united  testimony  of  all  who  have 


travelled  in  those  parts.  See  Ludolf,  Reland,  Rab. 
Benjamin,  and  Mr.  Maundrell.  Sychem  lies  in  the 
valley  between  these  two  mountains. 

That  the  land  of  Judea  was  naturally  very  fertile, 
can  scarcely  be  supposed  by  any  who  considers  the 
accounts  given  of  it  by  travellers  ;  with  the  exception 
of  a  few  districts,  the  whole  land  is  dry,  stony,  and 
barren,  and  particularly  all  the  southern  parts  of  Judea, 
and  all  the  environs  of  Jerusalem,  most  of  which  are 
represented  as  absolutely  incapable  of  cultivation.  How 
then  could  it  ever  support  its  vast  number  of  inhabit¬ 
ants  1  By  the  especial  providence  of  God.  While 
God  kept  that  people  under  his  continual  protection, 
their  land  was  a  paradise  ;  they  lent  to  all  nations  and 
borrowed  from  none.  What  has  it  been  since  1  A 
demi-solitude,  because  that  especial  blessing  no  longer 
descends  upon  it.  No  land,  says  Calmet,  was  more 
fertile  while  under  the  benediction  of  God  ;  none  more 
barren  when  under  his  curse.  Its  present  state  is  a 
proof  of  the  declaration  of  Moses,  chap,  xxviii.  23  : 
“  The  heaven  over  their  head  is  brass  ;  the  earth  under 
their  feet,  iron.'1'1  The  land  itself,  in  its  present  state, 
is  an  ample  proof  of  the  authenticity  of  the  Penta¬ 
teuch.  Should  facts  of  this  kind  be  lost  sight  of  by 
any  who  read  the  sacred  writings  1 


CHAPTER  XII. 


A  H  monuments  of  idolatry  in  the  promised  land  to  be  destroyed,  1—3  ;  and  God's  service  to  be  duly  per¬ 
formed,  4—7.  The  difference  between  the  performance  of  that  service  in  the  wilderness  and  in  the  pro - 
mised  land,  8—11.  The  people  are  to  be  happy  in  all  their  religious  observances,  12.  The  offerings  must 
be  brought  to  the  place  which  God  appoints,  and  no  blood  is  to  be  eaten ,  13—16.  The  tithe  of  corn,  wine , 
oil,  <fc.,  to  be  eaten  in  the  place  that  God  shall  choose,  17,  18.  The  Levite  must  not  be  forsaken,  19. 
All  clean  beasts  may  be  eaten,  but  the  blood  must  be  poured  out  before  the  Lord,  and  be  eaten  on  no  pre¬ 
tence  whatever,  20—25.  Of  vows,  burnt-offerings,  <fc.,  26,  27.  These  precepts  are  to  be  carefully 
obeyed ,  28.  Cautions  against  the  abominations  of  the  heathen ,  29-31.  Nothing  to  be  added  to  or 
diminished  from  the  word  of  God,  32. 


A.  M.  2553.  rjpHESE  a  are  the  statutes  and 
An.  Ex.  isr.  40.  judgments  which  ye  shall 

Sebat'  observe  to  do  in  the  land  which 
the  Lord  God  of  thy  fathers  giveth  thee  to 
possess  it,  b  all  the  days  that  ye  live  upon  the 
earth. 

2  c  Ye  shall  utterly  destroy  all  the  places 
wherein  the  nations  which  ye  shall  d  possess 
served  their  gods,  e  upon  the  high  mountains, 
and  upon  the  hills,  and  under  every  green  tree  : 

3  And  f  ye  shall  g  overthrow  their  altars,  and 

a  Chap.  vi.  1. - b  Chap.  iv.  10  ;  1  Kings  viii.  40. - c  Exod. 

xxxiv.  13 ;  chap.  vii.  5. - d  Or,  inherit. - e  2  Kings  xvi.  4  ;  xvii. 

10,  11 ;  Jer.  iii.  6. 

NOTES  ON  CHAP.  Nil. 

Verse  3  Ye  shall  overthrow  their  altars ]  Where 
unholy  sacrifices  have  been  offered  ;  and  break  their 
pillars ,  probably  meaning  statues  and  representations 
of  their  gods  cut  out  of  stone  ;  and  burn  their  groves, 
such  as  those  about  the  temple  of  Ashtaroth,  the  Ca- 

770 


break  their  pillars,  and  burn  their  A.  M.  2553. 

.  /  r  ,  .  v,  B.  C.  1451. 

groves  with  nre  ;  and  ye  shall  An.  Ex.  isr.  40. 

hew  down  the  graven  images  of  Sebat' 

their  gods,  and  destroy  the  names  of  them  out 

of  that  place. 

4  h  Ye  shall  not  do  so  unto  the  Lord  your 
God. 

5  But  unto  the  place  which  the  Lord  your 
God  shall  *  choose  out  of  all  your  tribes  to 
put  his  name  there,  even  unto  his  habitation 
shall  ye  seek,  and  thither  thou  shalt  come  : 

f  Num.  xxxiii.  52  ;  Judg.  ii.  2. - s  Heb.  break  down. - h  Ver. 

31. - 'Ver.  11  ;  chap.  xxvi.  2;  Josh.  ix.  27 ;  1  Kings  vm.  29; 

2  Chron.  vii.  12  ;  Psa.  lxxviii.  68. 

naanitish  Venus,  whose  impure  rites  were  practised  in 
different  parts  of  the  inclosures  or  groves  round  her 
temples;  and.  ye  shall  hew  down  the  graven  images, 
probably  implying  all  images  carved  out  of  wood  ;  and 
destroy  the  names  of  them,  which  were  no  doubt  at 
first  graven  on  the  stones,  and  carved  on  the  trees,  and 

(  50*  ) 


Ordinances  to  be  observed 


CHAP.  XII. 


after  coming  into  Canaan 


A.  M.  2553.  6  And  k  thither  ye  shall  bring 

An.  Ex.  Isr.  40.  your  burnt-otlermgs,  and  your 
Sebat‘  sacrifices,  and  your  1  tithes,  and 
heave-offerings  of  your  hand,  and  your  vows, 
and  your  freewill-offerings,  and  the  firstlings 
of  your  herds  and  of  your  flocks  : 

7  And  m  there  ye  shall  eat  before  the  Lord 
your  God,  and  n  ye  shall  rejoice  in  all  that  ye 
put  your  hand  unto,  ye  and  your  households, 
wherein  the  Lord  thy  God  hath  blessed  thee. 

8  Ye  shall  not  do  after  all  the  things  that  we 
do  here  this  day,  0  every  man  whatsoever  is 
right  in  his  own  eyes. 

9  For  ye  are  not  as  yet  come  to  the  rest 
and  to  the  inheritance  which  the  Lord  your 
God  giveth  you. 

10  But  when  p  ye  go  over  Jordan,  and  dwell 
in  the  land  which  the  Lord  your  God  giveth 
you  to  inherit,  and  when  he  giveth  you  rest 
from  all  your  enemies  round  about,  so  that 
ye  dwell  in  safety ; 

1 1  Then  there  shall  be  *  a  place  which  the 
Lord  your  God  shall  choose,  to  cause  his 
name  to  dwell  there  ;  thither  shall  ye  bring 
all  that  I  command  you  ;  your  burnt-offerings, 
and  your  sacrifices,  your  tithes,  and  the  heave¬ 
offering  of  your  hand,  and  all  ryour  choice 
vows  which  ye  vow  unto  the  Lord  : 

12  And  s  ye  shall  rejoice  before  the  Lord 

kLev.  xvii.  3,  4. - 1  Yer.  17  ;  chap.  xiv.  22,  23  ;  xv.  19,  20. 

mChap.  xiv.  26. - nVer.  12,  18;  Lev.  xxiii.  40;  chap.  xvi.  11, 

14, 15  ;  xxvi.  11  ;  xxvii.  7. - 0  Judg.  xvii.  6  ;  xxi.25. - p  Chap. 

xi.  31. - 4  Ver.  5,  14,  18,  21,  26;  chap.  xiv.  23;  xv.20;  xvi.  2, 

&c.  ;  xvii.  8;  xviii.  6;  xxiii.  16;  xxvi.  2;  xxxi.  11  ;  Josh,  xviii. 

then  applied  to  the  surrounding  districts.  In  various 
instances  the  names  of  whole  mountains,  valleys,  and 
districts,  were  borrowed  from  the  gods  worshipped  there. 

Verse  14.  The  place  which  the  Lord  shall  choose ] 
To  prevent  idolatry  and  bring  about  a  perfect  uniformity 
in  the  Divine  worship,  which  at  that  time  was  essen¬ 
tially  necessary  ;  because  every  rite  and  ceremony  had 
a  determinate  meaning,  and  pointed  out  the  good  things 
which  were  to  come,  therefore  one  place  must  be  esta¬ 
blished  where  those  rites  and  ceremonies  should  be 
carefully  and  punctually  observed.  Had  it  not  been 
so,  every  man  would  have  formed  his  worship  accord¬ 
ing  to  his  own  mind,  and  the  whole  beauty  and  import¬ 
ance  of  the  grand  representative  system  would  have 
been  destroyed,  and  the  Messiah  and  the  glories  of  his 
kingdom  could  not  have  been  seen  through  the  medium 
of  the  Jewish  ritual.  For  uniformity  in  every  part 
of  the  Divine  worship  the  same  necessity  does  not 
now  exist ;  because  that  which  was  typified  is  come, 
and  the  shadows  have  all  fled  away  Yet,  wThen  it 
can  be  obtained,  how  desirable  is  it  that  all  sincere 
Christians  should  with  one  mouth,  as  well  as  with  one 
heart ,  glorify  their  common  Lord  and  Saviour ! 


your  God,  ye  and  your  sons,  and  A.  M.  2553. 
your  daughters,  and  your  men-  An.  Ex.  Isr.  40. 
servants,  and  your  maid-servants,  Sebat' 
and  the  Levite  that  is  within  your  gates  :  for¬ 
asmuch  as  t  he  hath  no  part  nor  inheritance 
with  you. 

13  u  Take  heed  to  thyself  that  thou  offer 
not  thy  burnt-offerings  in  every  place  that 
thou  seest : 

14  v  But  in  the  place  which  the  Lord  shall 
choose  in  one  of  thy  tribes,  there  thou  shalt 
offer  thy  burnt-offerings,  and  there  thou  shalt 
do  all  that  I  command  thee. 

15  Notwithstanding  w  thou  mayest  kill  and 
eat  flesh  in  all  thy  gates,  whatsoever  thy  soul 
lusteth  after,  according  to  the  blessing  of  the 
Lord  thy  God  which  he  hath  given  thee  : 
x  the  unclean  and  the  clean  may  eat  thereof, 
y  as  of  the  roebuck,  and  as  of  the  hart. 

16  z  Only  ye  shall  not  eat  the  blood;  ye 
shall  pour  it  upon  the  earth  as  water. 

1 7  Thou  mayest  not  eat  within  thy  gates  the 
tithe  of  thy  corn,  or  of  thy  wine,  or  of  thy  oil, 
or  the  firstlings  of  thy  herds  or  of  thy  flock, 
nor  any  of  thy  vows  which  thou  vowest,  nor 
thy  freewill-offerings,  or  heave-offering  of  thine 
hand  : 

1 8  a  But  thou  must,  eat  them  before  the  Lord 
thy  God  in  the  place  which  the  Lord  thy  God 

1  ;  1  Kings  viii.  29  ;  Psa.  lxxviii.  68. - r  Heb.  the  choice  of  your 

vows. - s  Yer.  7. - 1  Chap,  x-  9;  xiv.  29. - uLev.  xvii.  4. 

v  Ver.  11. - w  Ver.  21. - x  Ver.  22. - y  Chap.  xiv.  5  ;  xv.  22. 

z  Gen.  ix.  4  ;  Lev.  vii.  26  ;  xvii.  10  ;  chap.  xv.  23  ;  ver.  23,  24. 
aVer.  11,  12;  chap.  xiv.  23. 

Verse  15.  Thou  mayest  kill  and  eat  flesh  in  all  thy 
gates ]  With  the  proviso  that  the  blood  be  poured  out 
on  the  ground.  1.  The  blood  should  not  be  eaten. 
2.  It  should  be  poured  out  by  way  of  sacrifice.  I 
think  this  is  the  meaning ;  and  not  that  they  should 
pour  out  the  blood  with  as  little  ceremony  and  respect 
as  they  poured  water  upon  the  ground,  which  is  the 
meaning  according  to  Calmet  and  others. 

The  roebuck ,  and — the  hart ]  It  is  very  likely  that  by 
'Oi*  tsebi  the  antelope  is  meant ;  and  by  Vn  aiyal,  the 
hart  or  deer.  This  is  the  opinion  of  Dr.  Shaw ;  and 
from  the  report  of  travellers  we  learn  that  both  these 
animals  are  found  in  that  desert  to  the  present  day. 
See  Harmer,  vol.  iv.,  p.  25,  &c.  Of  the  propriety  of 
eating  clean  animals  there  could  be  no  question,  but 
the  blood  must  be  poured  out ;  yet  there  were  cases 
in  which  they  might  kill  and  eat  in  all  their  gates , 
cities,  and  dwellings — such  as  the  roebuck  and  the  hart, 
or  all  clean  wild  beasts,  for  these  being  taken  in  hunt¬ 
ing,  and  frequently  shot  by  arrows,  their  blood  could 
not  be  poured  out  at  the  altar.  Therefore  the  com¬ 
mand  appears  to  take  in  only  such  tame  beasts  as  were 
used  for  food. 


a 


771 


Against  eating  blood  and 

a.  M.  2553.  shall  choose,  thou,  and  thy  son, 

B  C  1451  7  J 

An.  Ex.  isr.  40.  and  thy  daughter,  and  thy  raan- 

Sebat‘  servant,  and  thy  maid-servant, 
and  the  Levite  that  is  within  thy  gates  ;  and 
thou  shalt  rejoice  before  the  Lord  thy  God  in 
all  that  thou  puttest  thine  hands  unto. 

19  b  Take  heed  to  thyself  that  thou  forsake 
not  the  Levite  c  as  long  as  thou  livest  upon 
the  earth. 

20  When  the  Lord  thy  God  shall  enlarge 
thy  border,  d  as  he  hath  promised  thee,  and 
thou  shalt  say,  I  will  eat  flesh ;  (because  thy 
soul  longeth  to  eat  flesh  ;)  thou  mayest  eat 
flesh,  whatsoever  thy  soul  lusteth  after. 

21  If  the  place  which  the  Lord  thy  God 
hath  chosen  to  put  his  name  there  be  too  far 
from  thee,  then  thou  shalt  kill  of  thy  herd  and 
of  thy  flock,  which  the  Lord  hath  given  thee, 
as  I  have  commanded  thee,  and  thou  shalt  eat 
in  thy  gates  whatsoever  thy  soul  lusteth  after. 

22  e  Even  as  the  roebuck  and  the  hart  is 
eaten,  so  thou  shalt  eat  them  :  the  unclean 
and  the  clean  shall  eat  of  them  alike. 

23  f  Only  s  be  sure  that  thou  eat  not  the 
blood :  h  for  the  blood  is  the  life ;  and  thou 
mayest  not  eat  the  life  with  the  flesh. 

24  Thou  shalt  not  eat  it ;  thou  shalt  pour  it 
upon  the  earth  as  water. 

25  Thou  shalt  not  eat  it ;  1  that  it  may  go 
well  with  thee,  and  with  thy  children  after 
thee,  k  when  thou  shalt  do  that  which  is  right 
in  the  sight  of  the  Lord. 

b  Chap.  xiv.  27  ;  Ecclus.  vii.  31. - 1  Heb.  all  thy  days. 

d  Gen.  xv.  18;  xxviii.  14;  Exod.  xxxiv.  24 ;  chap.  xi.  24;  xix.  8. 

e  Ver.  15. - f  Ver.  16. - s  Heb.  be  strong. - b  Gen.  ix.  4; 

Lev.  xvii.  11,  14. - 1  Chap.  iv.  40  ;  Isa.  iii.  10. - k  Exod.  xv. 

26 ;  cfyap.  xiii.  18  ;  1  Kings  xi.  38. - 1  Num.  v.  9,  10  ;  xviii.  19. 

*  1  Sam.  i.  21,  22,  24. - »»  Lev.  i.  5,  9,  13  ;  xvii.  11.—°  Ver.  25. 

Yerse  19.  Forsake  not  the  Levite ]  These  had  no 
inheritance,  and  were  to  live  by  the  sanctuary :  if  there¬ 
fore  the  offerings  were  withheld  by  which  the  Levites 
were  supported,  they  of  course  must  perish.  Those  who 
have  devoted  themselves  to  the  service  of  God  in  minis¬ 
tering  to  the  salvation  of  the  souls  of  men,  should  cer¬ 
tainly  be  furnished  at  least,  with  all  the  necessaries  of 
life.  Those  who  withhold  this  from  them  sin  against 
their  own  mercies,  and  that  ordinance  of  God  by  which 
a  ministry  is  established  for  the  salvation  of  souls. 

Yerse  23.  For  the  Hood  is  the  life ]  And  the  life 
being  offered  as  an  atonement ,  consequently  the  blood 
should  not  be  eaten.  See  the  notes  on  Lev.  xvii.  11, 
where  the  subject  of  the  vitality  of  the  blood  is  largely 
considered. 

Yerse  31  Their  sons  and  their  daughters  they  have 

772 


following  heathen  gods 

26  Only  thy  1  holy  things  which  A.  M.  2553. 

thou  hast,  and  m  thy  vows,  thou  An.  Ex.  Isr.  40. 
shalt  take,  and  go  unto  the  place  Sebat'  < 
which  the  Lord  shall  choose  :  I 

27  And  n  thou  shalt  offer  thy  burnt-offerings, 
the  flesh  and  the  blood,  upon  the  altar  of  the 
Lord  thy  God  :  and  the  blood  of  thy  sacrifices 
shall  be  poured  out  upon  the  altar  of  the  Lord 
thy  God,  and  thou  shalt  eat  the  flesh. 

28  Observe  and  hear  all  these  words  which 
I  command  thee,  0  that  it  may  go  well  with 
thee,  and  with  thy  children  after  thee  for  ever, 
when  thou  doest  that  which  is  good  and  right 
in  the  sight  of  the  Lord  thy  God. 

29  When  p  the  Lord  thy  God  shall  cut  off 
the  nations  from  before  thee,  whither  thou 
goest  to  possess  them,  and  thou  q  succeedest 
them,  and  dwellest  in  their  land  : 

30  Take  heed  to  thyself  r  that  thou  be  not 
snared  s  by  following  them,  after  that  they  be 
destroyed  from  before  thee  ;  and  that  thou  in¬ 
quire  not  after  their  gods,  saying,  How  did 
these  nations  serve  their  gods  ?  even  so  will 
I  do  likewise. 

3 1  4  Thou  shalt  not  do  so  unto  the  Lord 
thy  God  :  for  every  11  abomination  to  the  Lord, 
which  he  hateth,  have  they  done  unto  their 
gods  ;  for  v  even  their  sons  and  their  daughters 
they  have  burnt  in  the  fire  to  their  gods. 

32  What  thing  soever  I  command  you,  ob¬ 
serve  to  do  it :  w  thou  shalt  not  add  thereto, 
nor  diminish  from  it. 


rExod.  xxiii.  23  ;  chap.  xix.  1  ;  Josh,  xxiii.  4. - <iHeb.  in - 

hcritest  or possessest  them. - r  Chap.  vii.  16. - 8  Heb.  after  them. 

1  Ver.  4;  Lev.  xviii.  3,  26,  30  ;  2  Kings  xvii.  15. - u  Heb.  abo¬ 
mination  of  the. - v  Lev.  xviii.  21 ;  xx.  2  ;  chap,  xviii.  10  ;  Jer. 

xxxii.  35  ;  Ezek.  xxiii.  37. - w  Chap.  iv.  2  ;  xiii.  18  ;  Josh.  i.  7  ; 

Prov.  xxx.  6  ;  Rev.  xxii.  18. 


burnt  in  the  fire]  Almost  all  the  nations  in  the  world 
agreed  in  offering  human  victims  to  their  gods  on  ex¬ 
traordinary  occasions,  by  which  it  is  evident  that  none 
of  those  nations  had  any  right  notion  of  the  Divine 
nature.  How  necessary,  then,  was  the  volume  of  re¬ 
velation,  to  teach  men  what  that  religion  is  with  which 
God  can  be  well  pleased  !  The  Hindoos  to  this  day 
offer  human  victims  to  their  goddess  Cali,  and  at  the 
temple  of  Juggernaut ;  and  yet,  notwithstanding  this, 
there  are  found  certain  persons  who,  while  they  pro¬ 
fess  Christianity,  are  absolutely  unwilling  to  send  the 
Hindoos  the  Gospel  of  Christ,  because  they  think  it 
would  not  be  politically  wise  !  But  the  wisdom  of  this 
world  has  ever  been  foolishness  with  God  ;  and  in  spite 
of  all  this  infidel  policy,  the  word  of  the  Lord  shall 
have  free  course  and  be  glorified. 

a 


DEUTERONOMY. 


Of  false  prophets ,  tyc., 


CHAP.  XIII 


and  their  punishment 


CHAPTER  XIII. 


Of  false  prophets  and  their  lying  signs,  1—6.  Of  those  who  endeavour  to  entice  and  seduce  people  to  idolatry , 
7,  8.  The  punishment  of  such,  9—11.  Of  cities  perverted  from  the  pure  worship  of  God,  12—14. 
How  that  city  is  to  be  treated,  15.  All  the  spoil  of  it  to  be  destroyed,  16.  Promises  to  them  who  obey 
these  directions,  17,  18. 


A.  M.  2553.  TF  there  arise  among  you  a 

B.  C.  1451.  j-  .  Q  1  r 

An.  Ex.  isr.  40.  prophet,  or  a  a  dreamer  ot 

Sebat‘  dreams,  b  and  giveth  thee  a  sign 
or  a  wonder, 

2  And  c  the  sign  or  the  wonder  come  to  pass, 
whereof  he  spake  unto  thee,  saying,  Let  us 
go  after  other  gods,  which  thou  hast  not 
known,  and  let  us  serve  them  ; 

3  Thou  shalt  not  hearken  unto  the  words 
of  that  prophet,  or  that  dreamer  of  dreams  : 
for  the  Lord  your  God  d  proveth  you,  to 
know  whether  ye  love  the  Lord  your  God 
with  all  your  heart,  and  with  all  your  soul. 

4  Ye  shall  e  walk  after  the  Lord  your  God, 
and  fear  him,  and  keep  his  commandments, 
and  obey  his  voice,  and  ye  shall  serve  him, 
and  f  cleave  unto  him. 

5  And  8  that  prophet,  or  that  dreamer  of 
dreams,  shall  be  put  to  death  ;  because  he  hath 
h  spoken  to  turn  you  away  from  the  Lord 
your  God,  which  brought  you  out  of  the  land 
of  Egypt,  and  redeemed  you  out  of  the  house 
of  bondage,  to  thrust  thee  out  of  the  way 
which  the  Lord  thy  God  commanded  thee  to 
walk  in.  1  So  shalt  thou  put  the  evil  away 
from  the  midst  of  thee. 

6  k  If  thy  brother,  the  son  of  thy  mother, 


or  thy  son,  or  thy  daughter,  or  a.  M.  2553. 

1  the  wife  of  thy  bosom,  or  thy  An.  Ex.  isr.  40. 
friend,  m  which  is  as  thine  own  Sebat~ 


soul,  entice  thee  secretly,  saying,  Let  us  go 
and  serve  other  gods,  which  thou  hast  not 
known,  thou,  nor  thy  fathers  ; 

7  Namely,  of  the  gods  of  the  people  which 
are  round  about  you,  nigh  unto  thee,  or  far 
off  from  thee,  from  the  one  end  of  the  earth 
even  unto  the  other  end  of  the  earth  : 

8  Thou  shalt  n  not  consent  unto  him,  nor 
hearken  unto  him ;  neither  shall  thine  eye 
pity  him,  neither  shalt  thou  spare,  neither 
shalt  thou  conceal  him  : 

9  But  0  thou  shalt  surely  kill  him ;  p  thine 
hand  shall  be  first  upon  him  to  put  him  to 
death,  and  afterwards  the  hand  of  all  the 
people. 

10  And  thou  shalt  stone  him  with  stones, 
that  he  die  ;  because  he  hath  sought  to  thrust 
thee  away  from  the  Lord  thy  God,  which 
brought  thee  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt,  from 
the  house  of  1  bondage. 

1 1  And  r  all  Israel  shall  hear,  and  fear,  and 
shall  do  no  more  any  such  wickedness  as  this 
is  among  you. 

12  s  If  thou  shalt  hear  say  in  one  of  thy 


a  Zech.  x.  2. - b  Matt.  xxiv.  24 ;  2  Thess.  ii.  9. - c  Chap. 

xviii.  22;  Jer.  xxviii.  9;  Matt.  vii.  22. - d  Chap.  viii.  2;  see 

Matt.  xxiv.  24;  1  Cor.  xi.  19;  2  Thess.  ii.  11;  Rev.  xiii.  14. 

e  2  Kings  xxiii.  3  ;  2  Chron.  xxxiv.  31. - f  Chap.  x.  20  ;  xxx.  20. 

s  Chap,  xviii.  20  ;  Jer.  xiv.  15  ;  Zech.  xiii.  3. - h  Heb.  spoken 

revolt  against  the  LORD. 


NOTES  ON  CHAP.  XIII. 

Verse  1.  If  there  arise  among  you  a  prophet ]  Any 
pretending  to  have  a  Divine  influence,  so  as  to  be  able 
perfectly  to  direct  others  in  the  way  of  salvation ;  or 
a  dreamer  of  dreams — one  who  pretends  that  some 
deity  has  spoken  to  him  in  the  night-season  ;  and  giv¬ 
eth  thee  a  sign,  P1H  oth,  what  appears  to  be  a  miracu¬ 
lous  proof  of  his  mission  ;  or  a  wonder,  J13V0  mopheth, 
some  type  or  representation  of  what  he  wishes  to  bring 
you  over  to  ;  as  some  have  pretended  to  have  received 
a  consecrated  image  from  heaven  ;  hence  the  origin  of 
the  Palladium,  Numa's  Shields,  and  many  of  the  dei¬ 
ties  among  the  Hindoos.  But  here  the  word  seems 
to  mean  some  portentous  sign,  such  as  an  eclipse,  which 
he  who  knew  when  it  would  take  place  might  predict 
to  the  people  who  knew  nothing  of  the  matter,  and 
thereby  accredit  his  pretensions. 

a 


5  Chap.  xvii.  7;  xxii.  21,  22,24;  1  Cor.  v.  13.— — k  Chap 

xvii.  2. - 1  See  Gen.  xvi.  5  ;  chap,  xxviii.  54;  Prov.  v.  20 ;  Mie. 

vii.  5. - ml  Sam.  xviii.  1,  3;  xx.  17. - D  Proverbs  i.  10. 

0  Chap.  xvii.  5. - p  Chap.  xvii.  7 ;  Acts  vii.  58. - <1  Heb. 

hondmen. - r  Chap.  xvii.  13;  xix.  20. - sJosh.  xxii.  11,  &c. ; 

Judg.  xx.  1,  2. 

Verse  3.  The  Lord  your  God  proveth  you ]  God 
permits  such  impostors  to  arise  to  try  the  faith  of  his 
followers,  and  to  put  their  religious  experience  to  the 
test ;  for  he  who  experimentally  knows  God  cannot  be 
drawn  away  after  idols.  He  who  has  no  experimental 
knowledge  of  God,  may  believe  any  thing.  Expe¬ 
rience  of  the  truths  contained  in  the  word  of  God  can 
alone  preserve  any  man  from  Deism,  or  a  false  religion. 
They  who  have  not  this  are  a  prey  to  the  pretended 
prophet,  and  to  the  dreamer  of  dreams. 

Verse  6.  If  thy  brother — or  thy  son\  The  teacher 
of  idolatry  was  to  be  put  to  death  ;  and  so  strict  was 
this  order  that  a  man  must  neither  spare  nor  conceal 
his  brother,  son,  daughter,  wife ,  nor  friend,  because 
this  was  the  highest  offence  that  could  be  committed 
against  God,  and  the  most  destructive  to  society  ;  hence 
the  severest  laws  wrere  enacted  against  it. 

773 


Superstitious  customs  in  DEUTERONOMY.  mourning  prohibited 


a.  M.  2553.  cities,  which  the  Lord  thy  God 

B.  C.  1451.  .  ,  .  .  ,  „ J . 

An.  Ex.  isr.  40.  hath  given  thee  to  dweii  there, 

Sebat.  _ _ ■ _ _ 

- -  saying, 

1 3  Certain  men, 1  the  children  of  Belial,  u  are 
gone  out  from  among  you,  and  have  v  with¬ 
drawn  the  inhabitants  of  their  city,  saying, 
w  Let  us  go  and  serve  other  gods,  which  ye 
have  not  known  ; 

14  Then  shalt  thou  inquire,  and  make  search, 
and  ask  diligently ;  and,  behold,  if  it  be  truth, 
and  the  thing  certain,  that  such  abomination 
is  wrought  among  you  ; 

15  Thou  shalt  surely  smite  the  inhabitants 
of  that  city  with  the  edge  of  the  sword,  x  de¬ 
stroying  it  utterly,  and  all  that  is  therein,  and 
the  cattle  thereof,  with  the  edge  of  the  sword. 

1 6  And  thou  shalt  gather  all  the  spoil  of  it 

1  Or,  naughty  men ;  see  Judg.  xix.  22;  1  Sam.  ii.  12  ;  xxv.  17, 

25  ;  1  Kings  xxi.  10,  13  ;  2  Cor.  vi.  15. - u  1  John  ii.  19  ;  Jude 

19. - v  2  Kings  xvii.-21. - wVer.  ii.  6. - xExod.  xxii.  20; 

Lev.  xxvii.  28  ;  Josh.  vi.  17,  21. 

Verse  13.  Children  of  Belial ]  bjrbD,  from  *73  bal, 
not ,  and  Sy  yaal,  profit; — Sept,  avdpep  irapavoyoi , 
lawless  men ; — persons  good  for  nothing  to  themselves 
or  others,  and  capable  of  nothing  but  mischief. 

Verse  15.  Thou  shalt  surely  smite  the  inhabitants ] 
If  one  city  were  permitted  to  practise  idolatry,  the  evil 
would  soon  spread,  therefore  the  contagion  must  be 
destroyed  in  its  birth. 

Verse  17.  And  there  shall  cleave  naught  of  the 


into  the  midst  of  the  street  there-  A.  M.  2553. 
of,  and  shalt  y  burn  with  fire  the  An.  Ex.' isr.  40. 
city,  and  all  the  spoil  thereof  Sebat‘ 
every  whit,  for  the  Lord  thy  God  :  and  it 
shall  be  z  a  heap  for  ever  ;  it  shall  not  be 
built  again. 

1 7  And  a  there  shall  cleave  naught  of  the 
b  cursed  thing  to  thine  hand :  that  the  Lord 
may  c  turn  from  the  fierceness  of  his  anger, 
and  show  thee  mercy,  and  have  compassion 
upon  thee,  and  multiply  thee,  d  as  he  hath 
sworn  unto  thy  fathers  ; 

18  When  thou  shalt  hearken  to  the  voice  of 
the  Lord  thy  God,  e  to  keep  all  his  command¬ 
ments  which  I  command  thee  this  day,  to  do 
that  which  is  right  in  the  eyes  of  the  Lord 
thy  God. 

• 

y  Josh.  vi.  24. - z  Josh.  viii.  28;  Isa.  xvii.  1;  xxv.  2  ;  Jer. 

xlix.  2. - a  Chap.  vii.  26  ;  Joshua  vi.  18. - b  Or,  devoted. 

c  Joshua  vi.  26. - d  Genesis  xxii.  17  ;  xxvi.  4,  24;  xxviii.  14. 

e  Chap.  xii.  25,  28,  32. 


cursed  thing ]  As  God  did  not  permit  them  to  take 
the  spoils  of  these  idolatrous  cities,  they  could  be  un¬ 
der  no  temptation  to  make  war  upon  them.  It  could 
only  be  done  through  a  merely  religious  motive,  in 
obedience  to  the  command  of  God,  as  they  could  have 
no  profit  by  the  subversion  of  such  places.  How  few 
religious  wars  would  there  ever  have  been  in  the  world 
had  they  been  regulated  by  this  principle  :  “  Thou  shall 
neither  extend  thy  territory,  nor  take  any  spoils !” 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

The  Israelites  are  not  to  adopt  superstitious  customs  in  mourning ,  1,  2.  The  different  kinds  of  clean  and 
unclean  animals ,  3—20.  Nothing  to  be  eaten  that  dieth  of  itself ,  21.  Concerning  offerings  which,  from 
distance  cannot  be  carried  to  the  altar  of  God ,  and  which  may  be  turned  into  money ,  22-26.  The  Levite 
is  not  to  be  forsaken ,  27.  The  third  year's  tithe  for  the  Levite ,  stranger ,  widow,  <Spc.,  28,  29. 


A.  M.  2553.  XTE  are  a  the  children  of  the 

B.  C.  1451.  X  T  1  n  t  n 

An.  Ex.  isr.  40.  Lord  your  God  :  b  ye  shall 

Sebat‘  not  cut  yourselves,  nor  make  any 

baldness  between  your  eyes  for  the  dead. 

2  c  For  thou  art  a  holy  people  unto  the  Lord 

thy  God,  and  the  Lord  hath  chosen  thee  to  be 

aRom.  viii.  16  ;  ix.  8,  26 ;  Gal.  iii.  26. - b  Lev.  xix.  28 ;  xxi.  5  ; 

Jer.  xvi.  6 ;  xli.  5  ;  xlvii.  5 ;  1  Thess.  iv.  13. 


a  peculiar  people  unto  himself,  A.  M.  2553. 

above  all  the  nations  that  are  An.  Ex.  isr.  40. 
upon  the  earth.  Sebat. 


3  d  Thou  shalt  not  eat  any  abominable  thing. 

4  e  These  are  the  beasts  which  ye  shall  eat : 
the  ox,  the  sheep,  and  the  goat, 


c  Lev.  xx.  26 ;  chap.  vii.  6  ;  xxvi.  18, 19.- 

x.  13,  14. - e  Lev.  xi.  2,  &e. 


d  Ezek.  iv.  14 ;  Acts 


NOTES  ON  CHAP.  XIV. 

Verse  1.  Ye  are  the  children  of  the  Lord ]  The 
very  highest  character  that  can  be  conferred  on  any 
created  beings  ;  ye  shall  not  cut  yourselves ,  i.  e.,  their 
hair,  for  it  was  a  custom  among  idolatrous  nations  to 
consecrate  their  hair  to  their  deities,  though  they 
sometimes  also  made  incisions  in  their  flesh. 

Verse  4.  These  are  the  beasts  which  ye  shall  eat ] 
On  Lev.  xi.  I  have  entered  into  considerable  detail 

774 


relative  to  the  clean  and  unclean  animals  there  men¬ 
tioned.  For  the  general  subject,  the  reader  is  referred 
to  the  notes  on  that  chapter  ;  but  as  there  are  particu¬ 
lars  mentioned  here  which  Moses  does  not  introduce 
in  Leviticus,  it  will  be  necessary  to  consider  them  in 
this  place. 

The  oF]  iny  shor:  bos,  fifth  order  Pecora,  of  the 
genus  mammalia,  species  41.  This  term  includes  all 
clean  animals  of  the  beeve  kind ;  not  only  the  ox, 

a 


Concerning  clean 


CHAP.  XIV. 


and  unclean  animals 


A.  m.  2553.  5  The  hart,  and  the  roebuck, 

An.  Ex.  isn  40.  and  the  fallow  deer,  and  the  wild 

_ _ Sebat' _ goat,  and  the  f  pygarg,  s  and  the 

wild  ox,  and  the  chamois. 

6  And  every  beast  that  parteth  the  hoof,  and 
cleaveth  the  cleft  into  two  claws,  and  chew- 
eth  the  cud  among  the  beasts,  that  ye  shall 
eat. 

7  Nevertheless  these  ye  shall  not  eat  of 
them  that  chew  the  cud,  or  of  them  that  di¬ 
vide  the  cloven  hoof;  as  the  camel,  and  the 
hare,  and  the  coney  :  for  they  chew  the  cud, 
but  divide  not  the  hoof ;  therefore  they  are 
unclean  unto  you. 

{  Or,  bison. - s  Heb.  dishon. - h  Lev.  xi.  26, 27. 

properly  so  called,  but  also  the  bull,  the  cow,  heifer, 
and  calf. 

The  sheep ]  T\VJ  seh :  ovis,  fifth  order  Pecora,  of 
the  genus  mammalia,  species  40  ;  including  the  ram, 
the  wether,  the  ewe,  and  the  lamb. 

The  goat ]  VJ  az  :  capra,  fifth  order  Pecora,  of  the 
genus  mammalia,  species  39  ;  including  the  he-goat, 
she-goat,  and  hid.  The  words  in  the  text,  Q’DiJO  nt^ 
seh  chesabim,  signify  the  lamb  or  young  of  sheep  ;  and 
□UJ?  HP  seh  izzim,  the  young  or  kid  of  goats  :  but 
this  is  a  Hebrew  idiom  which  signifies  every  creature 
of  the  genus,  as  IP1JK  p  ben  enosh  and  DTK  p  ben 
adam,  son  of  man,  signify  any  human  being.  See 
Psa.  cxliv.  3  ;  Job  xxv.  6. 

The  flesh  of  these  animals  is  universally  allowed  to 
be  the  most  wholesome  and  nutritive.  They  live  on 
the  very  best  vegetables  ;  and  having  several  stomachs, 
their  food  is  well  concocted,  and  the  chyle  formed  from 
it  the  most  pure  because  the  best  elaborated,  as  it  is  well 
refined  before  it  enters  into  the  blood.  On  ruminating 
or  chewing  the  cud,  see  the  note  on  Lev.  xi.  3. 

Verse  5.  The  hart ]  b'K  aiyal,  the  deer,  according 
to  Dr.  Shaw;  see  the  note  on  chap.  xii.  15. 

The  roebuck ]  'DX  tsebi,  generally  supposed  to  be 
the  antelope,  belonging  to  the  fifth  order  Pecora,  genus 
mammalia,  and  species  38.  It  has  round  twisted  spi¬ 
ral  horns,  hairy  tufts  on  the  knees,  browses  on  tender 
shoots,  lives  in  hilly  countries,  is  fond  of  climbing 
rocks,  and  is  remarkable  for  its  beautiful  black  eyes. 
The  flesh  is  good  and  well  flavoured. 

The  fallow  deer ]  T1DTV  yachmur ,  from  TDn  chamar, 
to  be  troubled,  disturbed,  disordered :  this  is  supposed 
to  mean,  not  the  fallow  deer,  but  the  bubalus  or 
buffalo,  which  is  represented  by  Dr.  Shaw,  and  other 
travellers  and  naturalists,  as  a  sullen ,  malevolent,  and 
spiteful  animal,  capricious,  ferocious ,  and  every  way 
brutal  According  to  the  Linneean  classification,  the 
buffalo  belongs  to  the  fifth  order  Pecora,  genus  mam¬ 
malia,  species  bos.  According  to  1  Kings  iv.  23, 
this  was  one  of  the  animals  which  was  daily  served 
up  at  the  table  of  Solomon.  Though  the  flesh  of  the 
buffalo  is  not  considered  very  delicious,  yet  in  the 
countries  where  it  abounds  it  is  eaten  as  frequently  by 
all  classes  of  persons  as  the  ox  is  in  England.  The 
yachmur  is  not  mentioned  in  the  parallel  place,  Lev.  xi. 

a 


8  And  the  swine,  because  it  a.  M.  2553. 
dividetli  the  hoof,  yet  cheweth  An.  Ex.  isr.  40 
not  the  cud,  it  is  unclean  unto  Sobat' 


you  :  ye  shall  not  eat  of  their  flesh,  hnor  touch 
their  dead  carcass. 

9  1  These  ye  shall  eat  of  all  that  are  in  the 
waters  :  all  that  have  fins  and  scales  shall  ye 
eat : 

10  And  whatsoever  hath  not  fins  and  scales 
ye  may  not  eat ;  it  is  unclean  unto  you. 

11  Of  all  clean  birds  ye  shall  eat. 

12  k  But  these  are  they  of  which  ye  shall 
not  eat :  the  eagle,  and  the  ossifrage,  and  the 
ospray, 

iLev.  xi.  9. - kLev.  xi.  13. 


The  wild  goat ]  IpK  akko.  It  is  not  easy  to  tell 
what  creature  is  intended  by  the  akko.  Dr.  Shaw  sup¬ 
posed  it  to  be  a  kind  of  very  timorous  goat,  known  in 
the  East  by  the  name  fishtail  and  senvee,  and  bearing 
a  resemblance  both  to  the  goat  and  the  stag,  whence 
the  propriety  of  the  name  given  it  by  the  Septuagint 
and  Vulgate,  tragelaphus ,  the  goat-stag ;  probably  the 
rupicapra  or  rock-goat.  The  word  is  found  nowhere 
else  in  the  Hebrew  Bible. 

The  pygarg']  dishon.  As  this  word  is  no¬ 

where  else  used,  we  cannot  tell  what  animal  is  meant 
by  it.  The  word  pygarg  rcvyapyoc,  literally  signifies 
white  buttocks,  and  is  applied  to  a  kind  of  eagle  with 
a  ivhite  tail ;  but  here  it  evidently  means  a  quadruped. 
It  was  probably  some  kind  of  goat,  common  and  well 
known  in  Judea. 

The  ivild  ox]  1KH  teo.  This  is  supposed  to  be  the 
oryx  of  the  Greeks,  which  is  a  species  of  large  stag. 
It  may  be  the  same  with  the  bekker  el  wash,  described 
by  Dr.  Shaw  as  “  a  species  of  the  deer  kind,  whose 
horns  are  exactly  in  the  fashion  of  our  stag,  but  whose 
size  is  only  between  the  red  and  fallow  deerP  In 
Isa.  li.  20  a  creature  of  the  name  of  Kin  to  is  men¬ 
tioned,  which  we  translate  wild  bull ;  it  may  be  the 
same  creature  intended  above,  with  the  interchange 
of  the  two  last  letters. 

The  chamois]  “IDf  zemer.  This  was  probably  a 
species  of  goat  or  deer,  but  of  what  kind  we  know  not : 
that  it  cannot  mean  the  chamois  is  evident  from  this 
circumstance,  “  that  the  chamois  inhabits  only  the  re¬ 
gions  of  snow  and  ice,  and  cannot  bear  the  heat.” — 
Buffon.  The  Septuagint  and  Vulgate  translate  it  the 
Camelopard,  but  this  creature  is  only  found  in  the  tor¬ 
rid  zone  and  probably  was  never  seen  in  J udea  ;  con¬ 
sequently  could  never  be  prescribed  as  a  clean  animal, 
to  be  used  as  ordinary  food.  I  must  once  more  be 
permitted  to  say,  that  to  ascertain  the  natural  history 
of  the  Bible  is  a  hopeless  case.  Of  a  few  of  its  ani¬ 
mals  and  vegetables  we  are  comparatively  certain, 
but  of  the  great  majority  we  know  almost  nothing. 
Guessing  and  conjecture  are  endless,  and  they  have 
on  these  subjects  been  already  sufficiently  employed. 
What  learning,  deep,  solid,  extensive  learning,  and 
judgment  could  do,  has  already  been  done  by  the  in¬ 
comparable  Bochart  in  his  Ilierozoicon.  The  learned 

775 


DEUTERONOMY. 


Various  ordinances . 


Of  unclean  birds . 


A.  M.  2553. 

B.  C.  1451. 
An.  Ex.  Isr.  40. 

Sebat. 


kind, 


1 3  And  the  glede,  and  the  kite, 
and  the  vulture  after  his  kind, 

14  And  every  raven  after  his 


15  And  the  owl,  and  the  night-hawk,  and 
the  cuckow,  and  the  hawk  after  his  kind, 

16  The  little  owl,  and  the  great  owl,  and 
the  swan, 

17  And  the  pelican,  and  the  gier  eagle,  and 
the  cormorant, 

18  And  the  stork,  and  the  heron  after  her 
kind,  and  the  lapwing,  and  the  bat, 

1 9  And  1  every  creeping  thing  that  fiieth  is 
unclean  unto  you  :  m  they  shall  not  be  eaten. 

20  But  of  all  clean  fowls  ye  may  eat. 

21  n  Ye  shall  not  eat  of  any  thing  that  dieth 
of  itself :  thou  shalt  give  it  unto  the  stranger 
that  is  in  thy  gates,  that  he  may  eat  it ;  or 
thou  mayest  sell  it  unto  an  alien  :  0  for  thou  art 
a  holy  people  unto  the  Lord  thy  God.  p  Thou 
shalt  not  seethe  a  kid  in  his  mother’s  milk. 

22  q  Thou  shalt  truly  tithe  all  the  increase  of 
thy  seed,  that  the  field  bringeth  forth  year  by  year. 

23  r  And  thou  shalt  eat  before  the  Lord  thy 
God,  in  the  place  which  he  shall  choose  to 
place  his  name  there,  the  tithe  of  thy  corn,  of 
thy  wine,  and  of  thine  oil,  and  the  s  firstlings 
of  thy  herds  and  of  thy  flocks  :  that  thou 
mayest  learn  to  fear  the  Lord  thy  God  always. 


1  Lev.  xi.  20. - m  See  Lev.  xi.  21 . - 11  Lev.  xvii .  15  ;  xxii.  8  ; 

Ezek.  iv.  14. - 0  Verse  2. - P  Exodus  xxiii.  19  ;  xxxiv.  26, 

9  Lev.  xxvii.  30  ;  chap.  xii.  6,  17  ;  Neh.  x.  37. - r  Chap.  xii.  5, 

6,  7,  17,  18. - s  Chap.  xv.  19,  20. - 1  Chap.  xii.  21. 

reader  may  consult  this  work,  and,  while  he  gains 
much  general  information,  will  have  to  regret  that  he 
can  apply  so  little  of  it  to  the  main  and  grand  ques¬ 
tion.  As  I  have  consulted  every  authority  within  my 
reach,  on  the  subject  of  the  clean  and  unclean  animals 
mentioned  in  the  law,  and  have  detailed  all  the 
information  I  could  collect  in  my  notes  on  Lev.  xi., 
I  must  refer  my  readers  to  what  I  have  there  laid 
down. 

Verse  13.  The  vulture  after  his  hind ]  The  word 
Hin  daah  is  improperly  translated  vulture  Lev.  xi.  14, 
and  means  a  kite  or  glede.  The  word  m  daiyah  in 
this  verse  is  not  only  different  from  that  in  Leviticus, 
but  means  also  a  different  animal,  properly  enough 
translated  vulture.  See  the  note  on  Lev.  xi.  14. 

Verse  21.  Thou  shalt  not  seethe  a  hid  in  his  mo¬ 
ther’s  milk.]  Mr.  Calmet  thinks  that  this  precept  re¬ 
fers  to  the  paschal  lamb  only,  which  was  not  to  be 
offered  to  God  till  it  was  weaned  from  its  mother ; 
but  see  the  note  on  Exod.  xxiii.  19. 

Verse  22.  Thou  shalt  truly  tithe']  Meaning  the 
second  tithe  which  themselves  were  to  eat,  ver.  23,  for 
there  was  a  first  tithe  that  was  given  to  the  Levites, 
out  of  which  they  paid  a  tenth  part  to  the  priests, 

776 


24  And  if  the  way  be  too  long  A.  M.  2553. 
for  thee,  so  that  thou  art  not  able  An.  Ex.  isr.  40. 
to  carry  it ;  or  1  if  the  place  be  Sebat~ 
too  far  from  thee,  which  the  Lord  thy  God 
shall  choose  to  set  his  name  there,  when  the 
Lord  thy  God  hath  blessed  thee  : 

25  Then  shalt  thou  turn  it  into  money,  and 
bind  up  the  money  in  thine  hand,  and  shalt 
go  unto  the  place  which  the  Lord  thy  God 
shall  choose  : 

26  And  thou  shalt  bestow  that  money  for 
whatsoever  thy  soul  lusteth  after,  for  oxen,  or 
for  sheep,  or  for  wine,  or  for  strong  drink,  or 
for  whatsoever  thy  soul  u  desireth  :  v  and  thou 
shalt  eat  there  before  the  Lord  thy  God,  and 
thou  shalt  rejoice,  thou,  and  thine  household, 

27  And  w  the  Levite  that  is  within  thy  gates, 
thou  shalt  not  forsake  him ;  for  x  he  hath  no 
part  nor  inheritance  with  thee. 

28  y  At  the  end  of  three  years,  thou  shalt 
bring  forth  all  the  tithe  of  thine  increase  the 
same  year,  and  shalt  lay  it  up  within  thy  gates  ; 

29  z  And  the  Levite,  (because  a  he  hath  no 
part  nor  inheritance  with  thee,)  and  the  stranger, 
and  the  fatherless,  and  the  widow,  which  are 
within  thy  gates,  shall  come,  and  shall  eat  and 
be  satisfied  ;  that  b  the  Lord  thy  God  may 
bless  thee  in  all  the  work  of  thine  hand  which 
thou  doest. 

u  Heb.  asketh  of  thee. - vChap.  xii.  7,  18  ;  xxvi.  11. - w  Ch. 

xii.  12,  18,  19. - x  Num.  xviii.  20  ;  chap,  xviii.  1,  2. - y  Chap. 

xxvi.  12  ;  Amos  iv.  4. - z  Chap.  xxvi.  12. - »  Ver.  27  ;  chap. 

xii.  12. - b  Chap.  xv.  10  ;  Prov.  iii.  9,  10  ;  see  Mai.  iii.  10. 

Num.  xviii.  24—28  ;  Neh.  x.  37,  38.  Then  of  that 
which  remained,  the  owners  separated  a  second  tithe, 
which  they  ate  before  the  Lord  the  first  and  second 
year ;  and  in  the  third  year  it  was  given  to  the  Le¬ 
vites  and  to  the  poor,  Deut.  xiv.  28,  29.  In  the fourth 
and  fifth  years  it  was  eaten  again  by  the  owners,  and 
in  the  sixth  year  was  given  to  the  poor.  The  seventh 
year  was  a  Sabbath  to  the  land,  and  then  all  things 
were  common,  Exod.  xxiii.  10,  11,  where  see  the 
notes  ;  and  see  Ainsworth  on  this  verse. 

Verse  26.  Or  for  strong  drink]  What  the  sikera 
or  strong  drink  of  the  Hebrews  was,  see  in  the  note 
on  Lev.  x.  9.  This  one  verse  sufficiently  shows  that 
the  Mosaic  law  made  ample  provision  for  the  comfort 
and  happiness  of  the  people. 

Verse  29.  And  the  Levite  ( because  he  hath  no  part 
nor  inheritance]  And  hence  much  of  his  support  de¬ 
pended  on  the  mere  freewill-offerings  of  the  people. 
God  chose  to  make  his  ministers  thus  dependent  on 
the  people,  that  they  might  be  induced  (among  other 
motives)  to  labour  for  their  spiritual  profiting,  that  the 
people,  thus  blessed  under  their  ministry,  might  feel 
it  their  duty  and  privilege  to  support  and  render  them 
comfortable, 

,a 


The  Sabbatical  year. 


CHAP.  XV. 


Of  lending  to  the  poor 


CHAPTER  XV. 


The  Sabbatical  year  of  release ,  1.  The  manner  in  which  this  release  shall  take  place ,  2—5.  Of  lending  to 
the  poor ,  and  the  disposition  in  which  it  should  be  done ,  6—1 1.  Of  the  Hebrew  servant  who  has  served  six 
years,  and  who  shall  be  dismissed  well  furnished,  12—15.  The  ceremony  of  boring  the  ear,  when  the 
servant  wishes  to  continue  with  his  master,  16—18.  Of  the  firstlings  of  the  flock  and  herd,  19,  20.  No¬ 
thing  shall  be  offered  that  has  any  blemish,  21.  The  sacrifice  to  be  eaten  both  by  the  clean  and  unclean, 
except  the  blood,  which  is  never  to  be  eaten,  but  poured  out  upon  the  ground,  22,  23. 


A.  M.  2553.  AT  the  end  of  a  every  seven 
An.  Ex.  isr.  40.  years  thou  shalt  make  a  re- 
Sebat-  lease. 

2  And  this  is  the  manner  of  the  release  : 
Every  b  creditor  that  lendeth  aught  unto  his 
neighbour  shall  release  it;  he  shall  not  exact 
it  of  his  neighbour,  or  of  his  brother  ;  because 
it  is  called  the  Lord’s  release. 

3  c  Of  a  foreigner  thou  mayest  exact  it  again: 
but  that  which  is  thine  with  thy  brother,  thine 
hand  shall  release  : 

4  d  Save  when  there  shall  be  no  poor  among 
you  ;  e  for  the  Lord  shall  greatly  bless  thee 
in  the  land  which  the  Lord  thy  God  giveth 
thee,  for  an  inheritance  to  possess  it : 

5  Only  f  if  thou  carefully  hearken  unto  the 
voice  of  the  Lord  thy  God,  to  observe  to  do 
all  these  commandments  which  I  command 
thee  this  day. 

6  For  the  Lord  thy  God  blesseth  thee,  as 
he  promised  thee  :  and  e  thou  shalt  lend  unto 
many  nations,  but  thou  shalt  not  borrow  ;  and 
h  thou  shalt  reign  over  many  nations,  but  they 
shall  not  reign  over  thee. 

7  If  there  be  among  you  a  poor  man  of  one 
of  thy  brethren,  within  any  of  thy  gates  in 
thy  land  which  the  Lord  thy  God  giveth 


thee,  1  thou  shalt  not  harden. thine  A.  m.  2553. 
heart,  nor  shut  thine  hanerfrom  An.  Ex.  Isr.  40. 
thy  poor  brother :  #  Sebat' 

8  k  But  thou  shalt  open  thine  hand  wide  unto 
him,  and  shalt  surely  lend  him  sufficient  for 
his  need,  in  that  which  he  wanteth. 

9  Beware  that  there  be  not  a  1  thought  in 
thy  m  wicked  heart,  saying,  The  seventh  year, 
the  year  of  release,  is  at  hand  ;  and  thine  n  eye 
be  evil  against  thy  poor  brother,  and  thou 
givest  him  naught  ;  and  0  he  cry  unto  the 
Lord  against  thee,  and  p  it  be  sin  unto  thee. 

10  Thou  shalt  surely  give  him,  and  q  thine 
heart  shall  not  be  grieved  when  thou  givest 
unto  him  :  because  that  r  for  this  thing  the 
Lord  thy  God  shall  bless  thee  in  all  thy 
works,  and  in  all  that  thou  puttest  thine  hand 
unto. 


11  For  s  the  poor  shall  never  cease  out  of 
the  land  :  therefore  I  command  thee,  saying, 
Thou  shalt  open  thine  hand  wide  unto  thy 
brother,  to  thy  poor,  and  to  thy  needy,  in  thy 
land. 

1 2  And  t  if  thy  brother,  a  Llebrew  man,  or 
a  Hebrew  woman,  be  sold  unto  thee,  and 
serve  thee  six  years  ;  then  in  the  seventh  year 
thou  shalt  let  him  go  free  from  thee. 


aExod.  xxi.  2  ;  xxiii.  10,  11  ;  Lev.  xxv.  2,  4  ;  chap.  xxxi.  10  ; 

Jer.  xxxiv.  14. - b  Heb.  master’ of  the  lending  of  his  hand. 

c  See  chap,  xxiii.  20. - d  Or,  to  the  end  that  there  be  no  poor 

among  you. - e  Chap,  xxviii.8. - f  Chap,  xxviii.  1. - s  Chap. 

xxviii.  12,  44. - h  Chap,  xxviii.  13  ;  Prov.  xxii.  7. - ‘  1  John 

iii.  17. - k  Lev.  xxv.  35  ;  Matt.  v.  42  ;  Luke  vi.  34,  35. 

NOTES  ON  CHAP.  XY. 

Verse  1.  At  the  end  of  every  seven  years  thou  shalt 
make  a  release ]  For  an  explanation  of  many  things 
in  this  chapter,  see  the  notes  on  Exod.  xxi.  and  xxiii., 
and  Lev.  xxv. 

Verse  4.  There  shall  be  no  poor ]  That  is,  compa¬ 
ratively  ;  see  ver.  1 1. 

Verse  8.  Thou  shalt  open  thine  hand  ivide ]  Thy 
benevolence  shall  be  in  proportion  to  his  distress  and 
poverty,  and  thy  ability.  Thou  shalt  have  no  other 
rule  to  regulate  thy  charity  by. 

Verse  9.  Beware  that  there  be  not  a  thought  in  thy 
wicked  heart]  bjrSn  "pH1?  lebabecha  beliyaal,  thy  belial 
heart ,  that  is,  thy  good-for-nothing  or  unprofitable 
heart;  see  on  chap,  xiv  13. 

a 


•Heb.  word. - 'mHeb.  Belial. - "Chap,  xxviii.  54,  56; 

Prov.  xxiii.  6  ;  xxviii.  22;  Matt.  xx.  15. - 0  Chap.  xxiv.  15. 

P  Matt.  xxv.  41,  42. - <i2  Cor.  ix.  5,  7. - r  Chap.  xiv.  29; 

xxiv.  19  ;  Psa.  xli.  1 ;  Prov.  xxii.  9. - sMatt.  xxvi.  11  ;  Mark 

xiv.  7;  John  xii.  8. - 1  Exodus  xxi.  2;  Lev.  xxv.  39;  Jer. 

xxxiv.  14. 

And  thine  eye  be  evil]  An  evil  eye  signifies  a  covet¬ 
ous  disposition.  See  the  same  form  of  expression  used 
by  our  Lord  in  the  same  sense,  Matt.  vi.  23  :  If  thine 
eye  be  evil — if  thou  be  a  covetous  person.  Evil  eye 
is  by  our  Lord  opposed  to  single  eye,  i.  e.,  a  person  of 
a  liberal,  benevolent  mind.  Covetousness  darkens  the 
soul ;  liberality  and  benevolence  enlighten  it. 

And  he  cry  unto  the  Lord  against  thee]  V  hat  a 
consolation  to  the  poor  and  the  oppressed,  that  they 
have  a  sure  friend  in  God,  who  will  hear  their  cry  and 
redress  their  grievances ! 

Verse  11.  For  the  poor  shall  never  cease  out  of  the 
land]  To  this  passage  our  Lord  appears  to  allude 
Mark  xiv.  7  :  For  ye  have  the  poor  with  you  always. 
God  leaves  these  in  mercy  among  men  to  exercise  the 

777 


Concerning  the  feast  DEUTERONOMY.  of  the  passover. 


a.  M.  2553.  1 3  And  when  thou  sendest  him 

An.  Ex.  isr.  40.  out  free  from  thee,  thou  shalt  not 
bebat‘  let  him  go  away  empty  : 

14  Thou  shalt  furnish  him  liberally  out  of 
thy  flock,  and  out  of  thy  floor,  and  out  of  thy 
winepress  :  of  that  wherewith  the  Lord  thy 
God  hath  u  blessed  thee  thou  shalt  give  unto 
him. 

1 5  And  v  thou  shalt  remember  that  thou 
wast  a  bondman  irr  the  land  of  Egypt,  and  the 
Lord  thy  God  redeemed  thee  :  therefore  I 
command  thee  this  thing  to-day. 

16  And  it  shall  be,  w  if  he  say  unto  thee,  I 
will  not  go  away  from  thee  ;  because  he 
loveth  thee  and  thine  house,  because  he  is 
well  with  thee : 

17  Then  thou  shalt  take  an  awl,  and  thrust 
it  through  his  ear  unto  the  door,  and  he  shall 
be  thy  servant  for  ever.  And  also  unto  thy 
maid-servant  thou  shalt  do  likewise. 

18  It  shall  not  seem  hard  unto  thee,  when 
thou  sendest  him  away  free  from  thee  ;  for 

u  Prov.  x.  22. - v  Chap.  v.  15  ;  xvi.  12. - w  Exod.  xxi.  5,  G. 

x  See  Isa.  xvi.  14 ;  xxi.  16. - y  Exod.  xiii.  2  ;  xxxiv.  19 ;  Lev. 

xxvii.  26  ;  Num.  iii.  13. 

feelings  of  compassion,  tenderness,  mercy,  &c.  And 
without  occasions  afforded  to  exercise  these,  man 
would  soon  become  a  Stoic  or  a  brute. 

Yerse  13.  Thou  shalt  not  let  him,  go  away  empty ] 
Because  during  the  time  he  served  thee,  he  made  no 
property  for  himself,  having  been  always  honest  to¬ 
wards  thee  ;  and  now  when  he  leaves  thee,  he  has 
nothing  to  begin  the  world  with. 

Verse  14.  Thou  shalt  furnish  him — out  of  thy 
flock ]  Thou  shalt  give  him  some  cattle  to  breed  with; 
out  of  thy  floor — some  corn  for  seed  and  for  bread ; 
and  out  of  thy  winepress — an  adequate  provision  of 
wine  for  present  necessity. 


he  hath  been  worth  1  a  double  a.  m.  2553. 

,  .  !  7  .  .  B.  C.  1451. 

hired  servant  to  thee,  in  serving  An.  Ex.  isr.  40. 

thee  six  years  :  and  the  Lord  Sebat" 

thy  God  shall  bless  thee  in  all  that  thou  doest. 

19  y  All  the  firstling  males  that  come  of  thy 
herd  and  of  thy  flock  thou  shalt  sanctify  unto 
the  Lord  thy  God  :  thou  shalt  do  no  work 
with  the  firstling  of  thy  bullock,  nor  shear  the 
firstling  of  thy  sheep. 

20  z  Thou  shalt  eat  it  before  the  Lord  thy 
God,  year  by  year,  in  the  place  which  the 
Lord  shall  choose,  thou  and  thy  household. 

21  a  And  if  there  be  any  blemish  therein,  as 
if  it  he  lame,  or  blind,  or  have  any  ill  blemish, 
thou  shalt  not  sacrifice  it  unto  the  Lord  thy 
God. 

22  Thou  shalt  eat  it  within  thy  gates  :  b  the 
unclean  and  the  clean  person  shall  eat  it  alike, 
as  the  roebuck,  and  as  the  hart. 

23  c  Only  thou  shalt  not  eat  the  blood 
thereof ;  thou  shalt  pour  it  upon  the  ground 
as  water. 

2  Chap.  xii.  5,  6,  7,  17  ;  xiv.  23  ;  xvi.  11, 14. - aLev.  xxii.  20 ; 

chap.  xvii.  1  ;  Ecclus.  xxxv.  12. - b  Chap.  xii.  15,22. - c  Chap. 

xii.  16,  23. 

Verse  17.  Thou  shalt  take  an  aid]  See  the  note 
on  Exod.  xxi.  6. 

Verse  20.  Thou  shalt  eat  it — in  the  place  which 
the  Lord  shall  choose ]  Thus  God  in  his  mercy  made 
their  duty  and  interest  go  hand  in  hand.  And  in 
every  case  God  acts  thus  with  his  creatures ;  well, 
therefore,  might  Satan  ask,  Doth  Job  serve  God  for 
naught  1  No !  nor  does  God  design  that  any  man 
should. 

Verse  21.  If  there  be  any  blemish\  Seethe  notes 
on  Lev.  xxii.  20.  God  will  have  both  a  perfect  priest 
and  a  perfect  offering. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

The  month  of  Abib  to  be  observed ,  1.  The  feast  of  the  passover  and  of  unleavened  bread,  2—8.  The  least 
of  weeks,  9—12.  The  feast  of  tabernacles,  13—15.  All  the  males  to  appear  before  the  Lord  thrice  in  the 
year ,  none  to  come  empty ,  each  to  give  according  to  his  ability ,  16,  17.  Judges  and  officers  to  be  made 
in  all  their  cities ,  18.  Strict  justice  shall  be  executed ,  19,  20.  No  grove  to  be  planted  near  the  altar  of 
God ,  nor  any  image  to  be  set  up,  21,  22. 


A.  m.  2553.  YN  BSE  RYE  the  a  month  of 

B.  C.  1451.  v/  .  .  . 

An.  Ex.  isr.  40.  Abib,  and  keep  the  passover 

_ Sebat'  unto  the  Lord  thy  God  :  for  b  in 

the  month  of  Abib  the  Lord  thy  God  brought 

a  Exod.  xii.  2,  &c. - b  Exod.  xiii.  4  ;  xxxiv.  18. 


thee  forth  out  of  Egypt  c  by  a.  M.  2553. 

J  B.  C.  1451. 
An.  Ex.  Isr.  40. 
Sebat. 


night. 

2  Thou  shalt  therefore  sacrifice 
the  passover  unto  the  Lord  thy  God,  of  the 

c  Exod.  xii.  29,  42. 


NOTES  ON  CHAP.  XVI. 

V erse  1 .  Keep  the  passover ]  A  feast  so  called  be¬ 
cause  the  angel  that  destroyed  the  first-born  of  the 

778 


Egyptians,  seeing  the  blood  of  the  appointed  sacrifice 
sprinkled  on  the  lintels  and  door-posts  of  the  Israel¬ 
ites’  houses,  passed  over  them,  and  did  not  destroy 


Of  the  feast  of  weeks 


CHAP.  XVI. 


and  of  tabernacles. 


A.  M.  2553.  flock  and  d  the  herd,  in  the 
An.  Ex.  isr.40.  e  place  which  the  Lord  shall 
__  Sebat'  •  choose  to  place  his  name  there. 

3  f  Thou  shalt  eat  no  leavened  bread  with  it; 
seven  days  shalt  thou  eat  unleavened  bread 
therewith,  even  the  bread  of  affliction  ;  for 
thou  earnest  forth  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt  in 
haste  :  that  thou  mayest  remember  the  day 
when  thou  earnest  forth  out  of  the  land  of 
Egypt,  all  the  days  of  thy  life. 

4  gAnd  there  shall  be  no  leavened  bread 
seen  with  thee  in  all  thy  coast  seven  days ; 
h  neither  shall  there  any  thing  of  the  flesh 
which  thou  sacrificedst  the  first  day  at  even, 
remain  all  night  unto  the  morning. 

5  Thou  mayest  not  1  sacrifice  the  passover 
within  any  of  thy  gates,  which  the  Lord  thy 
God  giveth  thee  : 

6  But  at  the  place  which  the  Lord  thy  God 
shall  choose  to  place  his  name  in,  there  thou 
shalt  sacrifice  the  passover  at  k  even,  at  the 
going  down  of  the  sun,  at  the  season  that  thou 
earnest  forth  out  of  Egypt. 

7  And  thou  shalt  1  roast  and  eat  it  m  in  the 
place  which  the  Lord  thy  God  shall  choose  : 
and  thou  shalt  turn  in  the  morning,  and  go 
unto  thy  tents. 

8  Six  days  thou  shalt  eat  unleavened  bread  : 
and  n  on  the  seventh  day  shall  be  a  °  solemn 
assembly  to  the  Lord  thy  God :  thou  shalt 
do  no  work  therein. 

9  p  Seven  weeks  shalt  thou  number  unto 
thee  :  begin  to  number  the  seven  weeks  from 
such  time  as  thou  beginnest  to  put  the  sickle 
to  the  corn. 

10  And  thou  shalt  keep  the  feast  of  weeks 
unto  the  Lord  thy  God,  with  q  a  tribute  of  a 

d  Num.  xxviii.  19. - e  Chap.  xii.  5,  26. - fExod.  xii.  15,  19, 

39;  xiii.  3,  6,  7;  xxxiv.  18. - s  Exod.  xiii.  7. - h  Exod.  xii. 

10  ;  xxxiv.  25. - *  Or,  kill. - k  Exod.  xii.  6. - 1  Exod.  xii.  8, 


9  ;  2  Chron.  xxxv.  13. 
xi.  55.- 


2  Kings  xxiii.  23 ;  John  ii.  13,  23  ; 
“  Exod.  xii.  16 ;  xiii.  6  ;  Lev.  xxiii.  8. - 0  Heb.  re¬ 


straint  ;  Lev.  xxiii.  36. - PExod.  xxiii.  16;  xxxiv.  22;  Lev. 

xxiii.  15 ;  Num.  xxviii.  26  ;  Acts  ii.  1. 

any  of  their  first-born.  See  the  notes  on  Exod.  xii. 
2,  &c. 

Verse  3.  Bread  of  affliction]  Because,  being  baked 
without  leaven ,  it  was  unsavoury,  and  put  them  in  mind 
of  their  afflictive  bondage  in  Egypt. 

Verse  11.  Thou  shalt  rejoice ]  The  offerings  of  the 
Israelites  were  to  be  eaten  with  festivity,  communicated 
to  their  friends  with  liberality,  and  bestowed  on  the 
poor  with  great  generosity,  that  they  might  partake 
with  them  in  these  sacred  repasts  with  joy  before  the 
Lord.  To  answer  these  views  it  was  necessary  to  eat 
the  flesh  while  it  was  fresh,  as  in  that  climate  putre- 


freewill-offering  of  thine  hand,  A.  M.  2553. 

,  •  ,  ,  i  ,  .  ’  B.  C.  1451. 

which  thou  shalt  give  unto  the  An.  Ex.  isr.  40 

LORD  thy  God, ,  r  according  as  Scbat‘ 

the  Lord  thy  God  hath  blessed  thee. 

1 1  And  3  thou  shalt  rejoice  before  the  Lord 
thy  God,  thou,  and  thy  son,  and  thy  daughter, 
and  thy  man-servant,  and  thy  maid-servant, 
and  the  Levite  that  is  within  thy  gates,  and 
the  stranger,  and  the  fatherless,  and  the  widow, 
that  are  among  you,  in  the  place  which  the 
Lord  thy  God  hath  chosen  to  place  his  name 
there. 

12  4  And  thou  shalt  remember  that  thou  wast 
a  bondman  in  Egypt :  and  thou  shalt  observe 
and  do  these  statutes. 

13  11  Thou  shalt  observe  the  feast  of  taber¬ 
nacles  seven  days,  after  that  thou  hast  gathered 
in  thy  v  corn  and  thy  wine  : 

14  And  w  thou  shalt  rejoice  in  thy  feast,  thou, 
and  thy  son,  and  thy  daughter,  and  thy  man¬ 
servant,  and  thy  maid-servant,  and  the  Levite, 
the  stranger,  and  the  fatherless,  and  the  widow, 
that  are  within  thy  gates. 

15  x  Seven  days  shalt  thou  keep  a  solemn 
feast  unto  the  Lord  thy  God,  in  the  place 
which  the  Lord  shall  choose :  because  the 
Lord  thy  God  shall  bless  thee  in  all  thine 
increase,  and  in  all  the  works  of  thine  hands, 
therefore  thou  shalt  surely  rejoice. 

16  y  Three  times  in  a  year  shall  all  thy  males 
appear  before  the  Lord  thy  God,  in  the  place 
which  he  shall  choose  :  in  the  feast  of  unleaven¬ 
ed  bread,  and  in  the  feast  of  weeks,  and  in  the 
feast  of  tabernacles  :  and  z  they  shall  not  ap¬ 
pear  before  the  Lord  empty  : 

1 7  Every  man  shall  give  a  as  he  is  able, 
b  according  to  the  blessing  of  the  Lord 

q  Or,  sufficiency. - r  Ver.  17  ;  1  Cor.  xvi.  2. - s  Chap.  xii. 

7,  12,  18;  verse  14. - *  Chap.  xv.  15. - u  Exod.  xxiii.  16; 

Lev.  xxiii.  34;  Num.  xxix.  12. - v  Heb.  floor  and  thy  winepress. 

w  Neh.  viii.  9,  &c. - xLev.  xxiii.  39,  40. - r  Exod.  xxiii.  14, 

17;  xxxiv.  23. - z  Exod.  xxiii.  15;  xxxiv.  20  ;  Ecclus.  xxxv.  4. 

a  Heb.  according  to  the  gift  of  his  hand ;  2  Cor.  viii.  12. 
b  Verse  10. 

faction  soon  took  place  ;  therefore  they  were  com¬ 
manded  to  let  nothing  remain  until  the  morning, 
ver.  4.  This  consideration  is  sufficient  to  account 
for  the  command  here,  without  having  recourse 
to  those  moral  and  evangelical  reasons  that  are 
assigned  hy  the  learned  and  devout  Mr.  Ainsworth 
for  the  command.  How  beneficent  and  cheerful 
is  the  design  of  this  institution! — Harmer,  vol.  i., 
p.  396. 

Verse  16.  Three  times  in  a  year ]  See  Exod.  xxiii. 
14,  where  all  the  Jewish  feasts  are  explained.  See 
also  Lev.  xxiii.  34. 


a 


779 


Concerning  persons 


DEUTERONOMY. 


convicted  of  idolatry 


a.  M.  2553.  thy  God  which  he  hath  given 

B.  C.  1451.  J  ° 

An.  Ex.  Isr.  40.  thee. 

Sebat’  18  c  Judges  and  officers  shalt 


thou  make  thee  in  all  thy  gates,  which  the 
Lord  thy  God  giveth  thee,  throughout  thy 
tribes  :  and  they  shall  judge  the  people  with 
just  judgment. 

19  d  Thou  shalt  not  wrest  judgment ;  e  thou 
shalt  not  respect  persons, f  neither  take  a  gift : 
for  a  gift  doth  blind  the  eyes  of  the  wise,  and 

cChap.  i.  16;  1  Chron.  xxiii.  4;  xxvi.  29;  2  Chron.  xix. 

5,  8. - d  Exod.  xxiii.  2,  6  ;  Lev.  xix.  15. - e  Chap.  i.  17  ; 

Prov.  xxiv.  23. - fExod.  xxiii,  8;  Prov.  xvii.  23;  Eccles. 

vii.  7  ;  Ecclus.  xx.  29. 


pervert  the  *  words  of  the  right¬ 


eous. 


A.  M.  2553. 

B.  C. 1451. 
An.  Ex.  Isr.  40, 

.  Sebat. 


20  h  That  which  is  altogether  just  _ 
shalt  thou  follow,  that  thou  mayest 1  live,  and  in¬ 
herit  the  land  which  theLoRD  thyGod  giveth  thee. 

21  k  Thou  shalt  not  plant  thee  a  grove  of 
any  trees  near  unto  the  altar  of  the  Lord  thy 
God,  which  thou  shalt  make  thee. 

22  1  Neither  shalt  thou  set  thee  up  any 
m  image,  which  the  Lord  thy  God  hateth. 

s  Or,  matters. - h  Heb.  justice ,  justice. - ‘  Ezek.  xviii.  5, 

-k  Exod.  xxxiv.  13  ;  1  Kings  xiv.  15  ;  xvi.  33  ;  2  Kings 


xvii.  16  ;  xxi.  3  ;  2  Chron.  xxxiii.  3.- 
statue,  ox  pillar. 


-1  Lev.  xxvi.  1.- 


to1- 

Or, 


Yerse  18.  Judges  and  officers  shalt  thou  make ] 
Judges,  D'tOSltf  shophetim ,  among  the  Hebrews,  were 
probably  the  same  as  our  magistrates  or  justices  of  the 
peace.  Officers,  shoterim,  seem  to  have  been 

the  same  as  our  inquest  sergeants ,  beadles,  &c.,  whose 
office  it  was  to  go  into  the  houses,  shops,  &c.,  and 
examine  weights ,  measures ,  and  the  civil  conduct  of 
the  people.  When  they  found  any  thing  amiss,  they 
brought  the  person  offending  before  the  magistrate , 
and  he  was  punished  by  the  officer  on  the  spot.  They 
seem  also  to  have  acted  as  heralds  in  the  army,  chap. 
sol  5.  See  also  Rab.  Maimon  in  Sanhedrin.  In  China, 


for  all  minor  offences,  the  person  when  found  guilty  is 
punished  on  the  spot,  in  the  presence  of  the  magistrate 
or  mandarin  of  justice. 

Yerse  21.  Thou  shalt  not  plant  thee  a  grove,  Sfc. J 
We  have  already  seen  that  groves  were  planted  about 
idol  temples  for  the  purposes  of  the  obscene  worship 
performed  in  them.  (See  on  chap.  xii.  1.)  On  this 
account  God  would  have  no  groves  or  thickets  about  his 
altar,  that  there  might  be  no  room  for  suspicion  that  any 
thing  contrary  to  the  strictest  purity  was  transacted 
there.  Every  part  of  the  Divine  worship  was  publicly 
performed,  for  the  purpose  of  general  edification. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 


All  sacrifices  to  be  without  blemish,  1.  Of  persons  convicted  of  idolatry  and  their  punishment,  2—7.  Diffi¬ 
cult  matters  in  judgment  to  be  laid  before  the  priests  and  judges,  and  to  be  determined  by  them  ;  and  all 
to  submit  to  their  decision,  8-13.  The  king  that  may  be  chosen  to  be  one  of  their  brethren;  no  stranger 
to  be  appointed  to  that  office,  14,  15.  He  shall  not  multiply  horses  to  himself,  nor  cause  the  people  to 
return  unto  Egypt,  16.  Nor  multiply  wives,  money,  Spc.,  17.  He  shall  write  a  copy  of  the  law  for  his 
own  use,  and  read  and  study  it  all  his  days ,  that  his  heart  be  not  lifted  up  above  his  brethren,  18—20. 


A.  M.  2553.  HHHOU  a  shalt  not  sacrifice 

B.  C.  1451.  A  ,  T  .  „  . 

An.  Ex.  isr.  40.  unto  the  GoRd  thy  God  any 

Sebat'  bullock  or  b  sheep  wherein  is 
blemish,  or  any  evil-favouredness  :  for  that  is 
an  abomination  unto  the  Lord  thy  God. 

2  c  If  there  be  found  among  you,  within  any 
of  thy  gates  which  the  Lord  thy  God  giveth 
thee,  man  or  woman  that  hath  wrought  wicked¬ 


ness  in  the 
thy  God,  d 
covenant, 

3  And  hath  gone  and  served  other  gods  and 
worshipped  them,  either  e  the  sun,  or  moon,  or 
any  of  the  host  of  heaven,  f  which  I  have  not 
commanded  ; 

4  g  And  it  be  told  thee,  and  thou  hast  heard 


sight  of  the  Lord  a.  m.  2553 

.  &  .  .  B.  C.  1451. 

m  transgressing  his  An.  Ex.  Isr.  40. 

Sebat. 


aChap.  xv.  21  ;  Mai.  i.  8,  13,  14. - b  Or,  goat. - c  Chap. 

xiii.  6. - dJosh.  vii.  11,  15;  xxiii.  16;  Judg.  ii.  20;  2  Kings 

NOTES  ON  CHAP.  XVII. 

Yerse  1.  Wherein  is  blemish]  God  must  not  have 
that  offered  to  him  which  thou  wouldst  not  use  thyself. 
This  not  only  refers  to  the  perfect  sacrifice  offered  by 
Christ  Jesus,  but  to  that  sincerity  and  uprightness  of 
heart  which  God  requires  in  all  those  who  approach 
him  in  the  way  of  worship. 

Yerse  4.  If  it  be  told  thee]  In  a  private  way  by 
any  confidential  person.  And  thou  hast  heard  of  it;  so 
that  it  .appears  to  be  notorious,  very  likely  to  be  true, 

780 


xviii.  12  ;  Hos.  viii.  1. - e  Chap.  iv.  19  ;  Job  xxxi.  26. - f  Jer. 

vii.  22,  23,  31 ;  xix.  5  ;  xxxii.  35. - s  Chap.  xiii.  12,  14. 

and  publicly  scandalous.  And  hast  inquired  diligently 
— sought  to  find  out  the  truth  of  the  report  by  the 
most  careful  examination  of  persons  reporting,  circum¬ 
stances  of  the  case,  &c.  And,  behold,  it  be  true — the 
report  is  not  founded  on  vague  rumour,  hearsay,  or 
malice.  And  the  thing  certain — substantiated  by  the 
fullest  evidence.  Then  shalt  thou  bring  forth  that  man , 
ver.  5.  As  the  charge  of  idolatry  was  the  most  solemn 
and  awful  that  could  be  brought  against  an  Israelite, 
because  it  affected  his  life,  therefore  God  required  that 

a 


Of  difficult  matters  in  judgment.  CHAP. 

A.  M.  2553.  of  it ,  and  inquired  diligently,  and, 

An.  Ex.  isr.  40.  behold,  it  be  true,  and  the  thing 
Sebat‘  certain,  that  such  abomination  is 
wrought  in  Israel : 

5  Then  shall  thou  bring  forth  that  man  or  that 
woman,  which  have  committed  that  wicked 
thing,  unto  thy  gates,  even  that  man  or  that 
woman,  and  h  shalt  stone  them  with  stones, 
till  they  die. 

6  1  At  the  mouth  of  two  witnesses,  or  three 
witnesses,  shall  he  that  is  worthy  of  death  be 
put  to  death ;  but  at  the  mouth  of  one  witness 
he  shall  not  be  put  to  death. 

7  k  The  hands  of  the  witnesses  shall  be  first 
upon  him  to  put  him  to  death,  and  afterward 
the  hands  of  all  the  people.  So  1  thou  shalt 
put  the  evil  away  from  among  you. 

8  m  If  there  arise  a  matter  too  hard  for  thee 
in  judgment,  u  between  blood  and  blood,  be¬ 
tween  plea  and  plea,  and  between  stroke  and 
stroke,  being  matters  of  controversy  within  thy 
gates  :  then  shalt  thou  arise,  0  and  get  thee 
up  into  the  place  which  the  Lord  thy  God 
shall  choose  : 

9  And  p  thou  shalt  come  unto  the  priests,  the 
Levites,  and  q  unto  the  judge  that  shall  be  in 
those  days,  and  inquire  ;  r  and  they  shall  show 
thee  the  sentence  of  judgment : 

10  And  thou  shalt  do  according  to  the  sen¬ 
tence  which  they  of  that  place  which  the  Lord 

h  Lev.  xxiv.  14,  16;  chap.  xiii.  10;  Josh.  vii.  25. - 'Num. 

xxxv.  30  ;  chap.  xix.  15  ;  Matt,  xviii.  16  ;  John  viii.  17 ;  2  Cor. 
mi.  3  ;  1  Tim.  v.  19  ;  Heb.  x.  28. k  Chap.  xiii.  9  ;  Acts  vii.  58. 

I  Ver.  12  ;  chap.  xiii.  5  ;  xix.  19. - m  2  Chron.  xix.  10 ;  Hag.  ii. 

I I  ;  Mai.  ii.  7. - n  See  Exod.  xxi.  13,  20,  22.  28  ;  xxii.  2  ;  Num. 

xxxv.  11,  16,  19  ;  chap.  xix.  4,  10, 11. - 0  Chap.  xii.  5  ;  xix.  17  ; 

the  charge  should  be  substantiated  by  the  most  unequi¬ 
vocal  facts,  and  the  most  competent  witnesses.  Hence 
all  the  precautions  mentioned  in  the  fourth  verse  must 
be  carefully  used,  in  order  to  arrive  at  so  affecting  and 
so  awful  a  truth. 

Verse  6.  Two  t citnesses]  One  might  be  deceived, 
or  be  prejudiced  or  malicious ;  therefore  God  required 
two  substantial  witnesses  for  the  support  of  the  charge. 

Verse  8.  If  there  arise  a  matter  too  hard  for  thee\ 
These  directions  are  given  to  the  common  magistrates, 
who  might  not  be  able  to  judge  of  or  apply  the  law  in 
all  cases  that  might  be  brought  before  them.  The 
priests  and  Levites,  who  were  lawyers  by  birth  and 
continual  practice,  were  reasonably  considered  as  the 
best  qualified  to  decide  on  difficult  points. 

Verse  12.  The  man  that  will  do  presumptuously] 
The  man  who  refused  to  abide  by  this  final  determina¬ 
tion  forfeited  his  life,  as  being  then  in  a  state  of  rebel¬ 
lion  against  the  highest  authority,  and  consequently  the 
public  could  have  no  pledge  for  his  conduct. 

Verse  15.  One  from  among  thy  brethren  shalt  thou 

a 


XVII.  Of  the  king  they  should  choose 

shall  choose  shall  show  thee  ;  and  a.  m.  2553. 
thou  shalt  observe  to  do  accord-  An.  Ex.  isr.  40. 
ing  to  all  that  they  inform  thee  :  SclKlt~ 

1  1  According  to  the  sentence  of  the  law 
which  they  shall  teach  thee,  and  according  to 
the  judgment  which  they  shall  tell  thee,  thou 
shalt  do  :  thou  shalt  not  decline  from  the  sen¬ 
tence  which  they  shall  show  thee,  to  the  right 
hand  nor  to  the  left. 

1 2  And  s  the  man  that  will  do  presump¬ 
tuously,  *  and  will  not  hearken  unto  the  priest, 
u  that  standeth  to  minister  there,  before  the 
Lord  thy  God,  or  unto  the  judge,  even  that 
man  shall  die  ;  and  v  thou  shalt  put  away  the 
evil  from  Israel. 

1 3  w  And  all  the  people  shall  hear,  and  fear, 
and  do  no  more  presumptuously. 

14  When  thou  art  come  unto  the  land  which 
the  Lord  thy  God  giveth  thee,  and  shalt  pos¬ 
sess  it,  and  shalt  dwell  therein,  and  shalt  say, 
x  I  will  set  a  king  over  me,  like  as  all  the  na¬ 
tions  that  are  about  me  ; 

15  Thou  shalt  in  any  wise  set  him  king  over 
thee  y  whom  the  Lord  thy  God  shall  choose  : 
one  z  from  among  thy  brethren  shalt  thou  set 
king  over  thee  :  thou  mayest  not  set  a  stranger 
over  thee,  which  is  not  thy  brother. 

16  But  he  shall  not  multiply  a  horses  to  him¬ 
self,  nor  cause  the  people  b  to  return  to  Egypt, 
to  the  end  that  he  should  multiply  horses  :  for- 

Psa.  exxii.  5. - p  See  Jer.  xviii.  18. - i  Ch.  xix.  17. - 2  Ezek. 

xliv.  24. - s  Num.  xv.  30  ;  Ezra  x.  8  ;  Hos.  iv.  4. - 1  Heb.  not 

to  hearken. - u  Chap,  xviii.  5,  7. - v  Chap.  xiii.  5. - w  Chap. 

xiii.  11  ;  xix.  20. - x  1  Sam.  viii.  5,  19,  20. - y  See  1  Sam.  ix. 

15;  x.  24;  xvi.  12  ;  1  Chron.  xxii.  10. - 2  Jer.  xxx.  21. - a  1 

Kings  iv.  26  ;  x.  26, 28 ;  Psa.  xx.7. - b  Isa.  xxxi.  1;  Ezek.xvii.  15. 

set  king  over  thee]  It  was  on  the  ground  of  this  com¬ 
mand  that  the  Jews  proposed  that  insidious  question 
to  our  Lord,  Is  it  lawful  to  give  tribute  to  Ccesar,  OR 
NO?  Matt.  xxii.  17  ;  for  they  were  then  under  the 
authority  of  a  foreign  powTer.  Had  Christ  said  Yes, 
then  they  would  have  condemned  him  by  this  law ; 
had  he  said  No,  then  they  would  have  accused  him  to 
Caesar.  See  this  subject  discussed  in  great  detail  in 
the  notes  on  Matt.  xxii.  16,  &c. 

Verse  16.  He  shall  not  multiply  horses]  As  horses 
appear  to  have  been  generally  furnished  by  Egypt, 
God  prohibits  these,  1.  Lest  there  should  be  such  com¬ 
merce  with  Egypt  as  might  lead  to  idolatry.  2.  Lest 
the  people  might  depend  on  a  well-appointed  cavalry 
as  a  means  of  security,  and  so  cease  from  trusting  in 
the  strength  and  protection  of  God.  And,  3.  That 
they  might  not  be  tempted  to  extend  their  dominion  b}*- 
means  of  cavalry,  and  so  get  scattered  among  the  sur¬ 
rounding  idolatrous  nations,  and  thus  cease,  in  process 
of  time,  to  be  that  distinct  and  separate  people  which 
God  intended  they  should  be,  and  without  which  the 

781 


DEUTERONOMY. 


to  have  no  inheritance 


The  priests  and  Levites 


a.  M.  2553.  asmuch  as  c  the  Lord  hath  said 
An.  Ex.  isr.  40.  unto  you,  d  Ye  shall  henceforth 
Sebat‘  return  no  more  that  way. 

17  Neither  shall  he  multiply  wives  to  him¬ 
self,  that  e  his  heart  turn  not  away  :  neither 
shall  he  greatly  multiply  to  himself  silver  and 
gold. 

18  f  And  it  shall  be,  when  he  sitteth  upon 
the  throne  of  his  kingdom,  that  he  shall  write 
him  a  copy  of  this  law  in  a  book,  out  of  s  that 
which  is  before  the  priests  the  Levites  : 

c  Exod.  xiii.  17  ;  Num.  xiv.  3,  4. - d  Chap,  xxviii.  68  ;  Hos. 

xi.  5;  see  Jer.  xlii.  15. - e  See  1  Kings  xi.  3,  4. - f2  Kings 

prophecies  relative  to  the  Messiah  could  not  be  known 
to  have  their  due  and  full  accomplishment. 

Verse  17.  Neither  shall  he  multiply  wives ]  For 
this  would  necessarily  lead  to  foreign  alliances ,  and  be 
the  means  of  introducing  the  manners  and  customs  of 
other  nations,  and  their  idolatry  also.  Solomon  sin¬ 
ned  against  this  precept,  and  brought  ruin  on  himself 
and  on  the  land  by  it ;  see  1  Kings  xi.  4. 

Verse  18.  He  shall  write  him  a  copy  of  this  law ] 
r\X'n  mwn  T\W'!2  mishneh  hattorah  hazzoth ,  an  itera¬ 
tion  or  duplicate  of  this  law ;  translated  by  the  Sep- 
tuagint,  to  Sevrepovofuov  tovto,  this  deuteronomy.  From 
this  version  both  the  Vulgate  Latin  and  all  the  modern 
versions  have  taken  the  name  of  this  book ;  and  from 
the  original  word  the  Jews  call  it  Mishneh.  See  the 
preface  to  this  book. 

Out  of  that  which  is  before  the  priests  the  Levites] 
It  is  likely  this  means,  that  the  copy  which  the  king 
was  to  write  out  was  to  be  taken  from  the  autograph 
kept  in  the  tabernacle  before  the  Lord,  from  which,  as 


1 9  And  h  it  shall  be  with  him,  A.  M.  2553. 

B.  C.  1451. 

and  he  shall  read  therein  all  the  An.  Ex.  Isr.  40. 
days  of  his  life  :  that  he  may  learn  Sebat‘ 
to  fear  the  Lord  his  God,  to  keep  all  the  words 
of  this  law  and  these  statutes,  to  do  them : 

20  That  his  heart  be  not  lifted  up  above  his 
brethren,  and  that  he * i. *  1  turn  not  aside  from  the 
commandment,  to  the  right  hand,  or  to  the 
left :  to  the  end  that  he  may  prolong  his  days 
in  his  kingdom,  he,  and  his  children,  in  the 
midst  of  Israel. 

xi.  12. - g  Chap.  xxxi.  9,26;  see  2  Kingsxxii.8. - h  Josh.i 

8  ;  Psa.  cxix.  97,  98. - '  Chap.  v.  32 ;  1  Kings  xv.  5. 

a  standard,  every  copy  was  taken,  and  with  which 
doubtless  every  copy  was  compared  ;  and  it  is  proba¬ 
ble  that  the  priests  and  Levites  had  the  revising  of 
every  copy  that  was  taken  off,  in  order  to  prevent 
errors  from  creeping  into  the  sacred  text. 

Verse  19.  And  it  shall  he  with  him ,  $c.]  It  was  the 
surest  way  to  bring  the  king  to  an  acquaintance  with 
the  Divine  law  to  oblige  him  to  write  out  a  fair  copy 
of  it  with  his  own  hand,  in  which  he  was  to  read  daily. 
This  was  essentially  necessary,  as  these  laws  of  God 
were  all  permanent,  and  no  Israelitish  king  could  make 
any  new  law ,  the  kings  of  this  people  being  ever  con¬ 
sidered  as  only  the  vicegerents  of  Jehovah. 

Verse  20.  He ,  and  his  children ,  in  the  midst  of  Is¬ 
rael.]  From  this  verse  it  has  been  inferred  that  the 
crown  of  Israel  was  designed  to  be  hereditary ,  and 
this  is  very  probable  ;  for  long  experience  has  proved 
to  almost  all  the  nations  of  the  world  that  hereditary 
succession  in  the  regal  government  is,  on  the  whole,  the 
safest,  and  best  calculated  to  secure  the  public  tranquillity. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 


The  priests  and  Levites  to  have  no  inheritance ,  1,  2.  What  is  the  priest's  due,  3—5.  Of  the  Levites  that 
come  from  any  of  the  other  cities ,  6—8.  The  Israelites  must  not  copy  the  abominations  of  the  former 
inhabitants ,  9.  None  to  cause  his  son  or  daughter  to  pass  through  the  fire ,  or  use  any  kind  of  divination 
or  enchantment,  as  the  former  inhabitants  did,  10—14.  The  great  prophet  which  God  promised  to  raise 
up,  15-19.  Of  false  prophets,  20  ;  and  how  to  discern  them,  21,  22. 


A.  M.  2553.  HP  HE  priests  the  Levites,  and 

B.  C.  1451.  X  1  .  , 

An.  Ex.  Isr.  40.  all  the  tribe  ot  Levi,  a  shall 

SebaL  have  no  part  nor  inheritance  with 

Israel ;  they  b  shall  eat  the  offerings  of  the 

Lord  made  by  fire,  and  his  inheritance. 

aNum.  xviii.  20;  xxvi.  62  ;  chap.  x.  9. 


2  Therefore  shall  they  have  no 
inheritance  among  their  brethren  : 
the  Lord  is  their  inheritance,  as 
he  hath  said  unto  them. 


A.  M.  2553. 

B.  C.  1451. 
An.  Ex.  Isr.  40. 

Sebat. 


3  And  this  shall  be  the  priest’s  due  from 


b Num.  xviii.  8,  9;  1  Cor.  ix.  13. 


NOTES  ON  CHAP.  XVIII. 

Verse  1 .  The  priests  the  Levites — shall  have  no  part] 
That  is,  says  Rab.  Maimon,  they  shall  have  no  part  in 
the  spoils  taken  from  an  enemy. 

Verse  2.  The  Lord  is  their  inheritance]  He  is  the 
portion  of  their  souls ;  and  as  to  their  bodies,  they 
shall  live  by  the  offerings  of  the  Lord  made  by  fire, 

i.  e.,  the  meat-offering,  the  sin-offering,  and  the 
trespass-offering;  and  whatever  was  the  Lord’s 

782 


right,  in  these  or  other  offerings,  he  gave  to  the 
priests. 

Verse  3.  Offer  a  sacrifice]  HUTH  TOT  zobecliey  haz- 
zebach.  The  word  mi  zebach  is  used  to  signify,  not 
only  an  animal  sacrificed  to  the  Lord,  but  also  one 
killed  for  common  use.  See  Gen.  xliii.  15  ;  Prov.  xvii. 

1  ;  Ezek.  xxv.  6.  And  in  this  latter  sense  it  proba¬ 
bly  should  be  understood  here  ;  and,  consequently,  the 
command  in  this  verse  relates  to  what  the  people 

a 


Of  the  Levite  of  other  cities.  CHAP. 

a.  M.  2553.  the  people,  from  them  that  offer  a 
An.  Ex.  isr.  40.  sacrifice,  whether  it  he  ox  or 
Sebah  sheep  ;  and  0  they  shall  give  unto 
the  priest  the  shoulder,  and  the  two  cheeks, 
and  the  maw. 

4  d  The  first-fruit  also  of  thy  corn,  of  thy 
wine,  and  of  thine  oil,  and  the  first  of  the 
fleece  of  thy  sheep,  shalt  thou  give  him. 

5  For  e  the  Lord  thy  God  hath  chosen  him 
out  of  all  thy  tribes,  f  to  stand  to  minister  in 
the  name  of  the  Lord,  him  and  his  sons  for 
ever. 

6  And  if  a  Levite  come  from  any  of  thy 
gates  out  of  all  Israel,  where  he  s  sojourned, 
and  come  with  all  the  desire  of  his  mind  h  unto 
the  place  which  the  Lord  shall  choose  ; 

7  Then  he  shall  minister  in  the  name  of  the 
Lord  his  God,  1  as  all  his  brethren  the  Levites 
do ,  which  stand  there  before  the  Lord. 

8  They  shall  have  like  k  portions  to  eat,  be¬ 
side  1  that  which  cometh  of  the  sale  of  his 
patrimony. 

c  Lev.  vii.  30-34. - dExod.  xxii.  29;  Num.  xviii.  12,  24. 

cExod.  xxviii.  1;  Num.  iii.  JO. - f  Chap.  x.  8;  xvii.  12. 

sNum.  xxxv.  2,  3. - hChap.  xii.  5. - '2  Chron.  xxxi.  2. 

k2  Chron.  xxxi.  4;  Neh.  xii.  44,  47. - 1 3  Heb.  his  sales  by  the 

fathers. 

were  to  allow  the  priests  and  Levites  from  the  ani¬ 
mals  slain  for  common  use.  The  parts  to  be  given  to 
the  priests  were,  1.  The  shoulder,  probably  cut  off 
from  the  beast  with  the  skin  on  ;  so  Maimonides. 

2.  The  two  cheeks ,  which  may  include  the  whole  head. 

3.  The  maw — the  whole  of  those  intestines  which  are 
commonly  used  for  food. 

Verse  4.  The  first-fruit  also  of  thy  corn ,  of  thy 
wine ,  and  of  thine  oil ,  <fc. ]  All  these  first-fruits  and 
firstlings  were  the  Lord’s  portion,  and  these  he  gave 
to  the  priests. 

Verse  8.  The  sale  of  his  patrimony .]  So  we  find 
that,  though  the  Levites  might  have  no  part  of  the 
land  by  lot,  yet  they  were  permitted  to  make  purchases 
of  houses,  goods,  and  cattle,  yea,  of  fields  also.  See 
the  case  of  Abiathar,  1  Kings  ii.  26,  and  of  Jeremiah, 
Jer.  xxxii.  7,  8. 

Verse  10.  To  pass  through  the  fire]  Probably  in 
the  way  of  consecration  to  Molech,  or  some  other 
deity.  It  is  not  likely  that  their  being  burnt  to  death 
is  here  intended.  See  on  Lev.  xviii.  21. 

Divination]  D’DDp  DDp  kosem  kesamim ,  one  who 
endeavours  to  find  out  futurity  by  auguries ,  using 
lots,  &c. 

Observer  of  times]  piyo  meonen,  one  who  pretends 
to  foretell  future  events  by  present  occurrences,  and 
who  predicts  great  political  or  physical  changes  from 
the  aspects  of  the  planets,  eclipses,  motion  of  the 
clouds ,  &c.,  &c.  See  on  Gen.  xii.  8. 

Enchanter]  menachesh,  from  tfnj  nichesh ,  to 

view  attentively  ;  one  who  inspected  the  entrails  of 
beasts,  observed  the  flight  of  birds,  &c.,  &c.,  and  drew 

a 


XVIII.  Heathen  abominations  forbidden. 

9  When  thou  art  come  into  the  A.  M.  2553. 

land  which  the  Lord  thy  God  AmEx. Isr. 4*0. 
giveth  thee,  ra  thou  shalt  not  learn  _ Sebat‘ 

to  do  after  the  abominations  of  those  nations. 

1 0  There  shall  not  be  found  among  you  any 
one  that  maketh  his  son  or  his  daughter  n  to 
pass  through  the  fire,  0  or  that  useth  divina¬ 
tion,  or  an  observer  of  times,  or  an  enchanter, 
or  a  witch ; 

11  p  Or  a  charmer,  or  a  consulter  with  fa¬ 
miliar  spirits,  or  a  wizard,  or  a  q  necromancer. 

12  For  all  that  do  these  things  are  an  abo¬ 
mination  unto  the  Lord  :  and  r  because  of 
these  abominations  the  Lord  thy  God  doth 
drive  them  out  from  before  thee. 

1 3  Thou  shalt  be  s  perfect  with  the  Lord 
thy  God. 

14  For  these  nations,  which  thou  shalt 
*  possess,  hearkened  unto  observers  of  times, 
and  unto  diviners  :  but  as  for  thee,  the  Lord 
thy  God  hath  not  suffered  thee  so  to  do. 

15  11 * * *  The  Lord  thy  God  will  raise  up  unto 

“Lev.  xviii.  26,  27,  30;  chap.  xii.  29,  30,  31. - "Lev.xviii. 

21;  chap.  xii.  31. - 0  Lev.  xix.  26,  31;  xx.  27;  Isa.  viii.  19. 

PLev.  xx.  27. - ^  1  Sam.  xxviii.  7. - r  Lev.  xviii.  24,  25  ;  ch. 

ix.  4. - 8  Or,  upright,  or  sincere  ;  Gen.  xvii.  1. - *  Or,  inherit. 

u  Ver.  18  ;  John  i.  45  ;  Acts  iii.  22  ;  vii.  37. 

auguries  thence.  Some  think  divination  by  serpents  is 
meant,  which  was  common  among  the  heathen. 

A  witch.]  mechashsheph,  probably  those  who 

by  means  of  drugs,  herbs,  perfumes,  &c.,  pretended  to 
bring  certain  celestial  influences  to  their  aid.  See  the 
note  on  Lev.  xix.  26. 

Verse  11.  A  charmer]  T2H  "On  chober  chaber ,  one 
who  uses  spells  ;  a  peculiar  conjunction,  as  the  term 
implies,  of  ivords,  or  things,  tying  knots,  &c.,  for  the 
purposes  of  divination.  This  was  a  custom  among 
the  heathen,  as  we  learn  from  the  following  verses  : — 

Necte  tribus  nodis  ternos,  Amarylli,  colores  : 
Necte,  Amarylli ,  modo  ;  et  Veneris,  die,  vincula  necto. 

Virg.  Eel.  viii.,  ver.  77. 

“  Knit  with  three  knots  the  fillets,  knit  them  straight ; 

Then  say,  these  knots  to  love  I  consecrate.” 

Dryden. 

A  consulter  ivith  familiar  spirits]  shoel  obi 

a  Pythoness,  one  who  inquires  by  the  means  of  one 
spirit  to  get  oracular  answers  from  another  of  a  supe¬ 
rior  order.  See  on  Lev.  xix.  31. 

A  wizard]  yiddeoni,  a  ivise  one,  a  knowing 

one.  Wizard  was  formerly  considered  as  the  mas¬ 
culine  of  witch,  both  practising  divination  by  similar 
means.  See  on  Exod.  xxii.  18,  and  Lev.  xix.  31. 

Or  a  necromancer .]  DT/DD  bx  i£H"J  doresh  el  ha?n- 
methim,  one  who  seeks  from  or  inquires  of  the  dead. 
Such  as  the  witch  at  Endor,  who  professed  to  evoke 
the  dead,  in  order  to  get  them  to  disclose  the  secrets 
of  the  spiritual  world. 

Verse  15.  The  Lord  thy  God  will  raise  up  unto  thee 

783 


DEUTERONOMY. 


like  unto  Moses 


The  promise  of  a  prophet 

A.  M.  2553.  thee  a  Prophet  from  the  midst 

B.  C.  1451.  .  .  r  f  .  ,  ... 

An.  Ex.  isr.  40.  oi  thee,  oi  thy  brethren,  like  unto 

Sebat~  me  ;  unto  him  ye  shall  hearken  ; 

1 6  According  to  all  that  thou  desiredst  of 
the  Lord  thy  God  in  Horeb  v  in  the  day  of  the 
assembly,  saying,  w  Let  me  not  hear  again  the 
voice  of  the  Lord  my  God,  neither  let  me  see 
this  great  fire  any  more,  that  I  die  not. 

17  And  the  Lord  said  unto  me,  x  They  have 
well  spoken  that  which  they  have  spoken. 

18  7 1  will  raise  them  up  a  Prophet  from 
among  their  brethren,  like  unto  thee,  and  z  will 
put  my  words  in  his  mouth ;  a  and  he  shall 
speak  unto  them  all  that  I  shall  command  him. 

19  b  And  it  shall  come  to  pass,  that  whoso¬ 
ever  will  not  hearken  unto  my  words  which  he 

v  Chap.  ix.  10. - w  Exod.  xx.  19 ;  Heb.  xii.  19. - x  Chap.  v. 

28. - y  Ver.  15  ;  John  i.  45  ;  Acts  iii.  22  ;  vii.  37. - zIsa.  li. 

16;  John  xvii.  8. - 1  John  iv.  25;  viii.  28  ;  xii.  49,  50. 

a  Prophet ]  Instead  of  diviners ,  observers  of  times, 
&c.,  God  here  promises  to  give  them  an  infallible 
guide,  who  should  tell  them  all  things  that  make  for 
their  peace,  so  that  his  declarations  should  completely 
answer  the  end  of  all  the  knowledge  that  was  pretended 
to  be  gained  by  the  persons  already  specified. 

Like  unto  me\  Viz.,  a  prophet,  a  legislator,  a  king, 
a  mediator,  and  the  head  or  chief  of  the  people  of 
God.  This  was  the  very  person  of  whom  Moses  was 
tne  type,  and  who  should  accomplish  all  the  great  pur¬ 
poses  of  the  Divine  Being.  Such  a  prophet  as  had 
never  before  appeared,  and  who  should  have  no  equal 
till  the  consummation  of  the  world. 

This  prophet  is  the  Lord  Jesus,  who  was  in  the 
bosom  of  the  Father,  and  who  came  to  declare  him  to 
mankind.  Every  word  spoken  by  him  is  a  living  in¬ 
fallible  oracle  from  God  himself ;  and  must  be  received 
and  obeyed  as  such,  on  pain  of  the  eternal  displeasure 
of  the  Almighty.  See  ver.  19,  and  Acts  iii.  22,  23  ; 
and  see  the  conclusion  of  this  chapter. 

Verse  22.  If  the  thing  follow  not ]  It  is  worthy  of 
remark  that  the  prophets  in  general  predicted  those 
things  which  were  shortly  to  come  to  pass,  that  the 
people  might  have  the  fullest  proof  of  their  Divine 
mission,  and  of  the  existence  of  God’s  providence  in 
the  administration  of  the  affairs  of  men. 

The  promise  contained  in  the  15th  and  18th  verses 
of  this  chapter  has  long  been  considered  of  the  first 
importance  in  the  controversies  between  the  Christians 
and  Jews.  “  Christ,”  says  Ainsworth,  “was  to  be  a 
man,  and  of  the  stock  of  the  Jews,  by  promise,  because 
tie  people  could  not  endure  to  hear  the  voice  of  God, 
ver.  16.  And  as  in  respect  of  his  prophecy,  so  of  the 
priesthood  :  for  every  high  priest  is  taken  from  among 
men,  Heb.  v.  1  ;  and  also  of  his  kingdom,  as  in  Deut. 
xvii.  15  ;  From  among  thy  brethren  shalt  thou  set  a 
king  over  thee  like  unto  me. 

“  1 .  Christ  alone  was  like  unto  Moses  as  a  prophet  ; 
for  it  is  written,  There  arose  not  a  prophet  in  Israel 
like  unto  Moses,  whom  the  Lord  knew  face  to  face,  in 

784 


shall  speak  in  my  name,  I  will  A.  M.  2553. 
require  it  oi  him.  An.  Ex.  isr.  40. 

20  But  c  the  prophet  which  &ebat' 
shall  presume  to  speak  a  word  in  my  name 
which  I  have  not  commanded  him  to  speak,  or 
d  that  shall  speak  in  the  name  of  other  gods, 
even  that  prophet  shall  die. 

2 1  And  if  thou  say  in  thine  heart,  How  shall 
we  know  the  word  which  the  Lord  hath  not 
spoken  ? 

22  e  When  a  prophet  speaketh  in  the  name 
of  the  Lord,  fif  the  thing  follow  not,  nor 
come  to  pass,  that  is  the  thing  which  the  Lord 
hath  not  spoken,  hut  the  prophet  hath  spoken 
it  g  presumptuously  :  thou  shalt  not  be  afraid 
of  him. 


b  Acts  iii.  23. - c  Chap.  xiii.  5  ;  Jer.  xiv.  14,  15 ;  Zech.  xiii.  3. 

d  Chap.  xiii.  1,  2  ;  Jer.  ii.  8. - e  Jer.  xxviii.  9. - f  See  chap. 

xiii.  2. - s  Ver.  20. 

all  the  signs  and  wonders  which  the  Lord  sent  him  to 
do,  Deut.  xxxiv.  10,  11,  12.  This  therefore  cannot 
be  understood  of  the  ordinary  prophets  which  were 
raised  up  in  Israel,  but  of  Christ  only,  as  the  apostles 
expound  it  Acts  ii.  22-26.  2.  Christ  was  like  unto 

Moses  in  respect  to  his  office  of  mediation  between 
God  and  his  people,  Deut.  v.  5  ;  1  Tim.  ii.  5  ;  but 
greater  than  Moses  as  being  the  mediator  of  a  better 
covenant,  (or  testament,)  which  teas  established  upon 
better  promises,  Heb.  viii.  6.  3.  Christ  was  like  unto 

Moses  in  excellency  ;  for  as  Moses  excelled  all  the  pro¬ 
phets  in  speaking  to  God  mouth  to  mouth,  Num.  xii. 
6,  7,  8,  so  Christ  excelled  him  and  all  men  in  that, 
being  in  the  bosom  of  the  Father,  he  hath  come  down 
from  heaven  and  declared  God  unto  us,  John  i.  18, 
iii.  13.  4.  Christ  was  like  to  Moses  in  faithfulness, 

but  therein  also  excelling  ;  for  Moses  was  faithful  in 
God’s  house  as  a  servant,  but  Christ  as  the  son  over  his 
own  house,  Heb.  iii.  2,  5,  6.  5.  Christ  was  like  to 

Moses  in  signs  and  wonders,  wherein  he  also  excelled 
Moses,  as  the  history  of  the  Gospel  shows  ;  for  he 
was  a  prophet  mighty  in  deed  and  word  before  God 
and  all  the  people,  Luke  xxiv.  19.  A  man  approved 
of  God  among  them,  by  miracles ,  signs,  and  wonders , 
which  God  did  by  him  in  the  midst  of  them,  Acts  ii. 
22.  For  he  did  among  them  the  ivorks  ivhichno  other 
man  did,  John  xv.  24.  Unto  him,  that  is,  not  unto 
the  diviners,  wizards,  or  any  such  like,  but  unto  him, 
and  him  only  ;  as  Him  thou  shalt  serve,  Deut.  vi.  13, 
is  expounded,  Him  only,  Matt.  iv.  10.  And  though 
this  is  principally  meant  of  Christ  in  person,  of  whom 
God  said,  Hear  him ,  Matt.  xvii.  5  ;  yet  it  implies  also 
his  ministers,  as  himself  said,  He  that  heareth  you 
heareth  me,  Luke  x.  16.”  To  these  may  be  added, 
6.  As  Moses  was  king  among  his  people,  in  this  re¬ 
spect  Christ  is  like  to  him,  but  infinitely  greater  ;  for 
he  is  King  of  kings  and  Lord  of  lords,  Rev.  xix.  16  ; 
1  Tim.  vi.  15.  And,  7.  He  was  like  to  Moses  as  a 
legislator.  Moses  gave  laws  to  Israel  by  the  authority 
and  commandment  of  God,  which  the  Jews  have  ever 
acknowledged  as  coming  from  the  immediate  inspira- 

a 


Ordinances  relative  to 


CHAP.  XIX. 


tion  of  the  Almighty  :  these  are  contained  in  the  Pen¬ 
tateuch.  Christ  gave  a  new  law,  the  Gospel  contained 
in  the  four  Evangelists  and  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  on 
which  the  Christian  Church  is  founded,  and  by  which 
all  genuine  Christians  are  governed  both  in  heart  and 
life.  To  all  which  may  be  added,  8.  That  God  never 
commissioned  any  human  beings  to  give  laws  to  man¬ 
kind  but  Moses  and  Christ ;  and  therefore,  as  a  law¬ 
giver,  Christ  alone  resembles  Moses  ;  for  to  the  pre¬ 
sent  hour  none  but  themselves  have  given  laws  in  the 
name  of  God,  which  he  has  ratified  and  confirmed  by  the 
most  indubitable  and  infallible  signs,  proofs,  and  miracles. 


the  six  cities  of  refuge. 

Dr.  Jortin,  in  his  Remarks  on  Ecclesiastical  History , 
has  drawn  a  parallel  between  Moses  and  Christ  in  a 
great  number  of  particulars,  which  he  concludes  thus  : 
“  Let  us  search  all  the  records  of  universal  history, 
and  see  if  we  can  find  a  man  who  was  so  like  to  Moses 
as  Christ  was,  and  so  like  to  Christ  as  Moses  was.  If 
we  cannot  find  such  a  one,  then  have  we  found  HIM 
of  whom  Moses  in  the  law  and  the  prophets  did  write 
to  be  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  the  Son  of  God.”  On  this 
subject  see  Ainsworth ,  Calmet,  and  Dodd ,  who  have 
all  marked  this  striking  correspondence  between  Moses 
and  Christ. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 


Three  cities  of  refuge  to  be  appointed  in  the  midst  of  the  promised  land ;  the  land  being  divided  into  three 
parts ,  a  city  is  to  be  placed  in  each ,  a  proper  way  to  which  is  to  be  prepared ,  1-3.  In  what  cases  of 
manslaughter  the  benefit  of  those  cities  may  be  claimed ,  4—6.  Three  cities  more  to  be  added  should  the 
Lord  enlarge  their  coasts,  and  the  reasons  why,  7—10.  The  intentional  murderer  shall  have  no  benefit  from 
these  cities,  11-13.  The  landmark  is  not  to  be  shifted,  14.  One  witness  shall  not  be  deemed  sufficient 
to  convict  a  man,  15.  How  a  false  ivitness  shall  be  dealt  with — he  shall  bear  the  punishment  which 
he  designed  should  have  been  inflicted  on  his  neighbour,  16—20.  Another  command  to  establish  the  lex 
talionis,  21. 


a  m.  2553.  TXTHEN  the  Lord  thy  God 

B.  0.  1451.  t  T  -»  i  /y  i 

An.  Ex.  isr.  40.  a  hath  cut  on  the  nations 

Sebat'  whose  land  the  Lord  thy  God 
giveth  thee,  and  thou  b  succeedest  them,  and 
dwellest  in  their  cities,  and  in  their  houses ; 

2  c  Thou  shalt  separate  three  cities  for  thee 
in  the  midst  of  thy  land,  which  the  Lord  thy 
God  giveth  thee  to  possess  it. 

3  Thou  shalt  prepare  thee  a  way,  and  divide 
the  coasts  of  thy  land,  which  the  Lord  thy 


God  giveth  thee  to  inherit,  into  three  parts, 
that  every  slayer  may  flee  thither. 

4  And  d  this  is  the  case  of  the  slayer,  which 
shall  flee  thither,  that  he  may  live  :  Whoso 
killeth  his  neighbour  ignorantly,  whom  he 
hated  not  e  in  time  past ; 

5  As  when  a  man  goeth  into  the  wood  with 
his  neighbour  to  hew  wood,  and  his  hand 
fetcheth  a  stroke  with  the  axe  to  cut  down  the 
tree,  and  the  f  head  slippeth  from  the  s  helve, 
and  h  lighteth  upon  his  neighbour,  that  he  die  ; 
he  shall  flee  unto  one  of  those  cities,  and  live  : 

6  1  Lest  the  avenger  of  the  blood  pursue  the 


slayer,  while  his  heart  is  hot,  and  A.  M.  2553. 
overtake  him,  because  the  way  is  An.  Ex.  isr.  40. 
long,  and  k  slay  him  ;  whereas  he  Sebat‘ 
was  not  worthy  of  death,  inasmuch  as  he  hated 
him  not  1  in  time  past. 

7  Wherefore  I  command  thee,  saying,  Thou 
shalt  separate  three  cities  for  thee. 

8  And  if  the  Lord  thy  God  m  enlarge  thy 
coast,  as  he  hath  sworn  unto  thy  fathers,  and 
give  thee  all  the  land  which  he  promised  to 
give  unto  thy  fathers  ; 

9  If  thou  shalt  keep  all  these  commandments 
to  do  them,  which  I  command  thee  this  day, 
to  love  the  Lord  thy  God,  and  to  walk  ever 
in  his  ways  ;  n  then  shalt  thou  add  three  cities 
more  for  thee,  beside  these  three  : 

10  That  innocent  blood  be  not  shed  in  thy 
land,  which  the  Lord  thy  God  giveth  thee 
for  an  inheritance,  and  so  blood  be  upon  thee. 

1 1  But  0  if  any  man  hate  his  neighbour, 
and  lie  in  wait  for  him,  and  rise  up  against 
him,  and  smite  him  v  mortally  that  he  die,  and 
fleeth  into  one  of  these  cities  : 


*•  Chap.  xii.  29. - d  Heb.  inherit est  or  possessest. - c  Exod. 

xxi.  13  ;  Num.  xxxv.  10,  14  ;  Josh.  xx.  2. - d  Num.  xxxv.  15  ; 

chap.  iv.  42. - e  Heb.  from  yesterday  the  third  day. - fHeb. 

iron. - s  Heb.  wood. - h  Heb.  findcth. 

NOTES  ON  CHAP.  XIX. 

Verse  2.  Thou  shalt  separate  three  cities ]  See 
on  Num.  xxxv.  10,  &c. 

Verse  3.  Thou  shalt  prepare  thee  a  way ]  The  Jews 
inform  us  that  the  roads  to  the  cities  of  refuge  were 
made  very  broad,  thirty-two  cubits  ;  and  even,  so  that 

Vol.  I.  (  51  ) 


>  Num.  xxxv.  12. - kHeb.  smite  him  in  life. - 1  Heb.  from 

yesterday  the  third  day. - m  Gen.  xv.  18  ;  chap.  xii.  20. - n  Josh. 

xx.  7,8. - 0  Exod.  xxi.  12,  &c.  ;  Num.  xxxv.  1G,  24;  chap. 

xxvii.  24  ;  Prov.  xxviii.  17. - P  Heb.  in  life. 

there  should  be  no  impediments  in  the  way ;  and  were 
constantly  kept  in  good  repair. 

Verse  9.  Shalt  thou  add  three  cities  more\  This 
was  afterwards  found  necessary,  and  accordingly  six 
cities  were  appointed,  three  on  either  side  Jordan.  See 
Josh.  xxi.  1,  &c.  In  imitation  of  these  cities  of 

785 


Of  false  witnesses 


DEUTERONOMY. 


and  their  punishment. 


a.  M.  2553.  12  Then  the  elders  of  his  city 

An.  Ex.  isr.  40.  shall  send  and  fetch  him  thence, 
Sebat  and  deliver  him  into  the  hand  of 
the  avenger  of  blood,  that  he  may  die. 

13  q  Thine  eye  shall  not  pity  him,  r  but 
thou  shalt  put  away  the  guilt  of  innocent 
blood  from  Israel,  that  it  may  go  well  with 
thee 

14  s  Thou  shalt  not  remove  thy  neighbour’s 
landmark,  which  they  of  old  time  have  set  in 
thine  inheritance,  which  thou  shalt  inherit  in 
the  land  that  the  Lord  thy  God  giveth  thee 
to  possess  it. 

1 5  1  One  witness  shall  not  rise  up  against  a 
man  for  any  iniquity,  or  for  any  sin,  in  any 
sin  that  he  sinneth  :  at  the  mouth  of  two  wit¬ 
nesses,  or  at  the  mouth  of  three  witnesses, 
shall  the  matter  be  established. 

16  If  a  false  witness  u  rise  up  against  any 

q  Chap.  xiii.  8  ;  xxv.  12. - rNum.  xxxv.  33,  34;  chap.  xxi.  9; 

1  Kings  ii.  31. - s  Chap,  xxvii.  17  ;  Job  xxiv.  2  ;  Prov.  xxii.  28  ; 

Hos.  v.  10. - ‘Nura.  xxxv.  30  ;  chap.  xvii.  6  ;  Matt,  xviii.  16; 

John  viii.  17  ;  2  Cor.  xiii.  1  ;  1  Tim.  v.  19 ;  Heb.  x.  28. - u  Psa. 

refuge  the  heathens  had  their  asyla ,  and  the  Catholics 
their  privileged  altars.  See  Exod.  xxi.  13,  14,  and 
on  Num.  xxxv.  6,  &c. 

Verse  11.  If  any  man  hate  his  neighbour ]  See 
on  Exod.  xxi.  13. 

Verse  14.  Thou  shalt  not  remove  thy  neighbour' s 
landmark ]  Before  the  extensive  use  of  fences,  landed 
property  was  marked  out  by  stones  or  posts ,  set  up  so 
as  to  ascertain  the  divisions  of  family  estates.  It  was 
easy  to  remove  one  of  these  landmarks,  and  set  it  in 
a  different  place ;  and  thus  the  dishonest  man  enlarged 
his  own  estate  by  contracting  that  of  his  neighbour. 
The  termini  or  landmarks  among  the  Romans  were 
held  very  sacred,  and  were  at  last  deified. 

To  these  termini  Numa  Pompilius  commanded  offer¬ 
ings  of  broth,  cakes,  and  first-fruits,  to  be  made.  And 
Ovid  informs  us  that  it  was  customary  to  sacrifice  a 
lamb  to  them,  and  sprinkle  them  with  its  blood  : — 
Spargitur  et  ccbso  communis  terminus  agno. 

Fast.  lib.  ii.,  ver.  655. 

And  from  Tibullus  it  appears  that  they  sometimes 
adorned  them  with  flowers  and  garlands  : — 

Nam  veneror,  seu  stipes  habet  desertus  in  agris, 
Seu  vetus  in  trivio  florida  serta  lapis. 

Eleg.  lib.  i.,  e.  i.,ver.  11. 

“  Revere  each  antique  stone  bedeck'd  with  flowers, 
That  bounds  the  field,  or  points  the  doubtful  way.” 

Grainger. 

It  appears  from  Juvenal  that  annual  oblations  were 
made  to  them  : — 

- Convallem  ruris  aviti 

Improbus ,  aut  campum  mihi  si  vicinus  ademit, 

Aut  sacrum  effodit  medio  de  limite  saxum, 

Quod  mea  cum  vetulo  coluit  puls  annua  libo. 

Sat.  xvi.,  ver.  36. 


man  to  testify  against  lnm  v  that  a.  m  2553. 

7  .  ,  .  J  &  B.  C.  1451. 

which  IS  wrong:  An.  Ex.  Isr.  40 

17  Then  both  the  men,  be-  Sebat' 


tween  whom  the  controversy  is,  shall  stand 
before  the  Lord,  w  before  the  priests  and  the 
judges,  which  shall  be  in  those  days  ; 

1 8  x4nd  the  judges  shall  make  diligent  inquisi¬ 
tion  :  and,  behold,  if  the  witness  he  a  false 
witness,  and  hath  testified  falsely  against  his 
brother ; 

19  x  Then  shall  ye  do  unto  him  as  he  had 
thought  to  have  done  unto  his  brother  :  so  y  shalt 
thou  put  the  evil  away  from  among  you. 

20  z  And  those  which  remain  shall  hear,  and 
fear,  and  shall  henceforth  commit  no  more  any 
such  evil  among  you. 

21  a  And  thine  eye  shall  not  pity ;  hut  b  life 
shall  go  for  life,  eye  for  eye,  tooth  for  tooth, 
hand  for  hand,  foot  for  foot. 

xxvii.  12  ;  xxxv.  11. - v  Or ,  falling  away. - w  Chap.  xvii.  9; 

xxi.  5. - x  Prov.  xix.  5,  9  ;  Dan.  vi.  24  ;  Hist.  Sus.  62. - 7  Ch. 

xiii.  5;  xvii. 7  ;  xxi.  21  ;  xxii.  21,  24  ;  xxiv.7. - z  Ch.  xvii.  13;  xxi. 

21. - a  Ver.  13. - b  Exod.  xxi.  23  ;  Lev.  xxiv.  20  ;  Matt.  v.  38. 

“  If  any  rogue  vexatious  suits  advance 
Against  me  for  my  known  inheritance , 

Enter  by  violence  my  fruitful  grounds, 

Or  take  the  sacred  landmark  from  my  bounds, 
Those  bounds  which,  with  procession  and  with  prayer 
And  offer'd  cakes ,  have  been  my  annual  care." 

Dryden. 

In  the  digests  there  is  a  vague  law,  de  termino  moto, 
Digestor.  lib.  xlvii.,  Tit.  21,  on  which  Calmet  remarks 
that  though  the  Romans  had  no  determined  punishment 
for  those  who  removed  the  ancient  landmarks ;  yet  if 
slaves  were  found  to  have  done  it  with  an  evil  design, 
they  were  put  to  death ;  that  persons  of  quality  were 
sometimes  exiled  when  found  guilty  ;  and  that  others 
were  sentenced  to  pecuniary  fines,  or  corporal  punish¬ 
ment. 

Verse  15.  One  ivitness  shall  not  rise  up,  dyci]  See 
Num.  xxxv.  30. 

Verse  19.  Then  shall  ye  do  unto  him  as  he  had 
thought  to  have  done  unto  his  brother ]  Nothing  can 
be  more  equitable  or  proper  than  this,  that  if  a  man 
endeavour  to  do  any  injury  to  or  take  away  the  life 
of  another,  on  detection  he  shall  be  caused  to  under- 
go  the  same  evil  which  he  intended  for  his  innocent 
neighbour. 

Some  of  our  excellent  English  lawTs  have  been  made 
on  this  very  ground.  In  the  37th  of  Edvv.  III., 
chap.  18,  it  is  ordained  that  all  those  who  make  sug¬ 
gestion  shall  incur  the  same  pain  which  the  other 
should  have  had,  if  he  were  attainted,  in  case  his  sug¬ 
gestions  be  found  evil.  A  similar  law  was  made  in 
the  38th  of  the  same  reign,  chap.  9.  By  a  law  of 
the  twelve  Tables,  a  false  witness  wras  thrown  dowm 
the  Tarpeian  rock.  In  short,  false  witnesses  have 
been  execrated  by  all  nations. 

Verse  21.  Life — -for  life,  eye  for  eye ,  flc.]  The 
(  51*  ) 


a 


786 


Regulations  relative  to 


CHAP. 


XX. 


campaigns ,  sieges , 


operation  of  such  a  law  as  this  must  have  been  very 
salutary  :  if  a  man  prized  his  own  members,  he  would 
naturally  avoid  injuring  those  of  others.  It  is  a  pity 
that  this  law  were  not  still  in  force :  it  would  certainly 
prevent  many  of  those  savage  acts  which  now  both 
disgrace  and  injure  society.  I  speak  this  in  reference 
to  law  generally,  and  the  provision  that  should  be  made 


to  prevent  and  punish  ferocious  and  malevolent  offences. 
A  Christian  may  alway  s  act  on  the  plan  of  forgiving 
injuries ;  and  where  the  public  peace  and  safety  may 
not  be  affected,  he  should  do  so  ;  but  if  law  did  not 
make  a  provision  for  the  safety  of  the  community  by 
enactment  against  the  profligate,  civil  society  would 
soon  be  destroyed. 


CHAPTER  XX. 


Directions  concerning  campaigns,  1.  The  priest  shall  encourage  the  people  with  the  assurance  that  God  will 
accompany  and  fight  for  them ,  2—4.  The  officers  shall  dismiss  from  the  army  all  who  had  just  built  a 
new  house,  but  had  not  dedicated  it,  5.  All  who  had  planted  a  vineyard ,  but  had  not  yet  eaten  of  its 
fruits,  6.  All  who  had  betrothed  a  wife,  but  had  not  brought  her  home,  7.  And  all  who  were  timid  and 
faint-hearted,  8.  The  commanders  to  be  chosen  after  the  timid,  <fc.,  had  retired,  9.  No  city  to  be 
attacked  till  they  had  proclaimed  conditions  of  peace  to  it,  provided  it  be  a  city  beyond  the  bounds  of  the 
seven  Canaanitish  nations  ;  if  it  submitted,  it  ivas  to  become  tributary  ;  if  not ,  it  was  to  be  besieged,  sacked , 
and  all  the  males  put  to  the  sword;  the  women ,  children,  and  cattle  to  be  taken  as  booty ,  10—15.  No 
such  offers  to  be  made  to  the  cities  of  the  Canaanites  ;  of  them  nothing  shall  be  preserved,  and  the  reason , 
16—18.  In  besieging  a  city  no  trees  to  be  cut  down  but  those  which  do  not  bear  fruit,  19,  20. 


a.  M.  2553.  TXTHEN  thou  goest  out  to  battle 

B.  C.  14ol.  »  V  .  ,  .  .  -j 

An.  Ex,  isr.  40.  against  thine  enemies,  and 

Sebat~  seest  a  horses,  and  chariots,  ana l 


a  people  more  than  thou,  be  not  afraid  of  them  : 
for  the  Lord  thy  God  is  b  with  thee,  which 
brought  thee  up  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt. 

2  And  it  shall  be,  when  ye  are  come  nigh 
unto  the  battle,  that  the  priest  shall  approach 
and  speak  unto  the  people, 

3  And  shall  say  unto  them,  Hear,  O  Israel, 
ye  approach  this  day  unto  battle  against  your 
enemies  :  let  not  your  hearts  c  faint,  fear  not, 
and  do  not  d  tremble,  neither  be  ye  terrified 
because  of  them ; 


4  For  the  Lord  your  God  is  he  a.  M.  2553. 
that  goeth  with  you,  e  to  fight  for  An.  Ex.’  isr.  40. 
you  against  your  enemies,  to  Sebat* 
save  you. 

5  And  the  officers  shall  speak  unto  the  peo¬ 
ple,  saying,  What  man  is  there  that  hath 
built  a  new  house,  and  hath  not  f  dedicated  it  ? 
let  him  go  and  return  to  his  house,  lest  he  die 
in  the  battle,  and  another  man  dedicate  it. 

6  And  what  man  is  he  that  hath  planted  a 
vineyard,  and  hath  not  yet  e  eaten  of  it  ?  let 
him  also  go  and  return  unto  his  house,  lest 
he  die  in  the  battle,  and  another  man  eat 
of  it. 


a  See  Psa.  xx.  7;  Isa.  xxxi.  1. - b  Num.  xxiii.  21  ;  chap. 

xxx i.  6,  8  ;  2  Chron.  xiii.  12 ;  xxxii.  7,  8. - cHeb.  be  tender. 

d  Heb.  make  haste. 

NOTES  ON  CHAP.  XX. 

Verse  1.  When  thou  goest  out  to  battle']  This 
refers  chiefly  to  the  battles  they  were  to  have  with 
the  Canaanites,  in  order  to  get  possession  of  the  pro¬ 
mised  land  ;  for  it  cannot  be  considered  to  apply  to 
any  wars  which  they  might  have  with  the  surrounding 
nations  for  political  reasons,  as  the  Divine  assistance 
could  not  be  expected  in  wars  which  were  not  under¬ 
taken  by  the  Divine  command. 

Verse  2.  The  priest  shall  approach,  and  speak  unto 
the  people]  The  priest  on  these  occasions  was  the 
representative  of  that  God  whose  servant  he  was,  and 
whose  worship  he  conducted.  It  is  remarkable  that 
almost  all  ancient  nations  took  their  priests  with  them 
to  battle,  as  they  did  not  expect  success  without  hav¬ 
ing  the  object  of  their  adoration  with  them,  and  they 
supposed  they  secured  his  presence  by  having  that  of 
his  representative. 

Verse  5.  That  hath  built  a  new  house,  and  hath  not 
dedicated  it  1]  From  the  title  of  Psa.  xxx., — A  Psalm  or 

a 


e  Chap.  i.  30  ;  iii.  22  ;  Josh,  xxiii.  10. - f  See  Neh.  xii.  27  ; 

Psa.  xxx.  title. - s  Heb.  made  it  common ;  see  Lev.xix.  23,  24  \ 

chap,  xxviii.  30. 

Song  at  the  Dedication  of  the  House  of  David — it  is  evi¬ 
dent  that  it  was  a  custom  in  Israel  to  dedicate  a  new 
house  to  God  with  prayer,  praise,  and  thanksgiving ; 
and  this  was  done  in  order  to  secure  the  Divine  pre¬ 
sence  and  blessing,  for  no  pious  or  sensible  man  could 
imagine  he  could  dwell  safely  in  a  house  that  was  not 
under  the  immediate  protection  of  God.  Hence  it  has 
been  a  custom  in  the  most  barbarous  nations  to  conse¬ 
crate  a  part  of  a  new  house  to  the  deity  they  worship¬ 
ped.  The  houses  of  the  inhabitants  of  Bonny,  in 
Africa,  are  generally  divided  into  three  apartments  .- 
one  is  a  kind  of  state  room  or  parlour  ;  another  serves 
for  a  common  room,  or  kitchen  ;  and  the  third  is  dedi¬ 
cated  to  the  Juju,  the  serpent  god,  which  they  wor¬ 
ship  ;  for  even  those  savages  believe  that  in  every  house 
their  god  should  have  his  temple  !  At  the  times  of 
dedication  among  the  Jews,  besides  prayer  and  praise, 
a  feast  was  made,  to  which  the  relatives  and  neighbours 
were  invited.  Something  of  this  custom  is  observed 
in  some  parts  of  our  own  country  in  what  is  called 

787 


Regulations  relative  to  DEUTERONOMY.  campaigns ,  sieges, 


A.M.  2553.  7  h  And  what  man  zs  there  that 

B  C  1451 

An.  Ex.  isr.  40.  hath  betrothed  a  wife,  and  hath 
Sebat'  .  not  taken  her  ?  let  him  go  and 
return  unto  his  house,  lest  he  die  in  the  battle, 
and  another  man  take  her. 

8  And  the  officers  shall  speak  farther  unto 
the  people,  and  they  shall  say,  1  What  man  is 
there  that  is  fearful  and  faint-hearted  ?  let  him 
go  and  return  to  his  house,  lest  his  brethren’s 
heart  k  faint  as  well  as  his  heart. 

9  And  it  shall  be,  when  the  officers  have 
made  an  end  of  speaking  unto  the  people, 
that  they  shall  make  captains  of  the  armies 
1  to  lead  the  people. 

10  When  thou  comest  nigh  unto  a  city  to 
fight  against  it,  m  then  proclaim  peace  unto  it. 

11  And  it  shall  be,  if  it  make  thee  answer 
of  peace,  and  open  unto  thee,  then  it  shall  be, 
that  all  the  people  that  is  found  therein  shall  be 
tributaries  unto  thee,  and  they  shall  serve  thee. 

k  Chap.  xxvi.  5. - »  Judg.  vii.  3. - k  Heb.  melt. - 1  Heb.  to 

be  in  the  head  of  the  people. - m  2  Sam.  xx.  18,  20. - nNum. 

warming  the  house ;  but  in  these  cases  the  feasting 
only  is  kept  up — the  prayer  and  praise  forgotten !  so 
that  the  dedication  appears  to  be  rather  more  to  Bac¬ 
chus  than  to  Jehovah,  the  author  of  every  good  and 
perfect  gift. 

Verse  7.  Betrothed  a  wife ,  and  hath  not  taken  her  ?] 
It  was  customary  among  the  Jews  to  contract  matri¬ 
mony,  espouse  or  betroth,  and  for  some  considerable 
time  to  leave  the  parties  in  the  houses  of  their  respec¬ 
tive  parents  :  when  the  bridegroom  had  made  proper 
preparations,  then  the  bride  was  brought  home  to  his 
house,  and  thus  the  marriage  was  consummated.  The 
provisions  in  this  verse  refer  to  a  case  of  this  kind  ; 
for  it  was  deemed  an  excessive  hardship  for  a  person 
to  be  obliged  to  go  to  battle,  where  there  was  a  pro¬ 
bability  of  his  being  slain,  who  had  left  a  new  house 
unfinished  ;  a  newly  purchased  heritage  half  tilled ;  or 
a  wife  with  whom  he  had  just  contracted  marriage. 
Homer  represents  the  case  of  Protesilaus  as  very 
afflicting,  who  was  obliged  to  go  to  the  Trojan  war, 
leaving  his  wife  in  the  deepest  distress,  and  his  house 
unfinished. 

Tov  6e  Kat  aycfudpvtbqg  ahoxog  Qvhaicy  eheXenrro, 

Kai  dofiot;  jyuTEhTjc’  rov  6’  enrave  Aapdavog  avrjp , 
aTcodpucncovra  tvoAv  tv por  lotov  A  xatuv. 

Iliad,  1.  ii.,  ver.  700. 

“  A  wife  he  left, 

To  rend  in  Phylace  her  bleeding  cheeks, 

And  an  unfinished  mansion :  first  he  died 
Of  all  the  Greeks  ;  for  as  he  leap’d  to  land, 

Long  ere  the  rest,  a  Dardan  struck  him  dead.” 

Cowper. 

Verse  8.  What  man  is  there  that  is  fearful  and 
faint-hearted  ?]  The  original  “p  rach,  signifies  tender 
or  soft-hearted.  And  a  soft  heart  the  man  must  have 

788 


1 2  And  if  it  will  make  no  peace  A.  M.  2553. 

...  .  ...  .  r  B.  C.  1451. 

with  thee,  but  will  make  war  An.  Ex.  isr.  40. 

against  thee,  then  thou  shalt  be-  Scbat‘ 
siege  it : 

13  And  when  the  Lord  thy  God  hath  de¬ 
livered  it  into  thine  hands,  n  thou  shalt  smite 
every  male  thereof  with  the  edge  of  the  sword  : 

14  But  the  women,  and  the  little  ones,  and 
0  the  cattle,  and  all  that  is  in  the  city,  even  all 
the  spoil  thereof,  shalt  thou  ptake  unto  thyself; 
and  q  thou  shalt  eat  the  spoil  of  thine  enemies, 
which  the  Lord  thy  God  hath  given  thee. 

15  Thus  shalt  thou  do  unto  all  fhe  cities 
which  are  very  far  off  from  thee,  which  are 
not  of  the  cities  of  these  nations. 

16  But  r  of  the  cities  of  these  people,  which 
the  Lord  thy  God  doth  give  thee  for  an  in¬ 
heritance,  thou  shalt  save  alive  nothing  that 
breatheth  : 

17  But  thou  shalt  utterly  destroy  them; 

xxxi.  7. - 0  Josh.  viii.  2. - P  Heb.  spoil. - <5  Josh.  xxii.  8. 

rNum.  xxi.  2,  3,  35;  xxxiii.  52  ;  chap.  vii.  1,2;  Josh.  xi.  14. 

who,  in  such  a  contest,  after  such  a  permission,  could 
turn  his  back  upon  his  enemies  and  his  brethren. 
However,  such  were  the  troops  commanded  by  Gideon 
in  his  war  against  the  Midianites ;  for  after  he  gave 
this  permission,  out  of  32,000  men  only  10,000  re¬ 
mained  to  fight!  Judges  vii.  3.  There  could  be  no 
deception  in  a  business  of  this  kind  ;  for  the  departure 
of  the  22,000  was  the  fullest  proof  of  their  dastard¬ 
liness  which  they  could  possibly  give. 

Verse  10.  Proclaim  peace  unto  it.]  Interpreters  are 
greatly  divided  concerning  the  objects  of  this  law.  The 
text,  taken  in  connection  with  the  context,)  see  verses 
15—18,)  appears  to  state  that  this  proclamation  or  offer 
of  peace  to  a  city  is  only  to  be  understood  of  those 
cities  which  were  situated  beyond  the  limits  of  the  seven 
anathematized  nations,  because  these  latter  are  com¬ 
manded  to  be  totally  destroyed.  Nothing  can  be 
clearer  than  this  from  the  bare  letter  of  the  text,  unless 
some  of  the  words,  taken  separately,  can  be  shown  to 
have  a  different  meaning.  For  the  common  interpre¬ 
tation,  the  following  reasons  are  given. 

God,  who  knows  all  things,  saw  that  they  were  in¬ 
curable  in  their  idolatry  ;  that  the  cup  of  their  iniquity 
was  full;  and  as  their  Creator,  Sovereign,  and  Judge, 
he  determined  to  destroy  them  from  off  the  face  of  the 
earth,  “  lest  they  should  teach  the  Israelites  to  do  after 
all  their  abominations,”  ver.  18.  After  all,  many 
plausible  arguments  have  been  brought  to  prove  that 
even  these  seven  Canaanitish  nations  might  be  received 
into  mercy,  provided  they,  1.  Renounced  their  idola¬ 
try;  2.  Became  subject  to  the  Jews;  and,  3.  Paid 
annual  tribute  :  and  that  it  was  only  in  case  these 
terms  were  rejected,  that  they  were  not  to  leave  alive 
in  such  a  city  any  thing  that  breathed,  ver.  16. 

Verse  17.  But  thou  shalt  utterly  destroy  them ] 
The  above  reasoning  will  gain  considerable  strength, 

a 


CHAP.  XX. 


In  taking  a  city  all 

A.M.  2553.  namely,  the  Hittites,  and  the 

B  C  1451  f 

An.  Ex.  isr.  40.  Amorites,  the  Canaanites,  and  the 
bebat‘  Perizzites,  the  Hivites,  and  the 
Jebusites  :  as  the  Lord  thy  God  hath  com¬ 
manded  thee  : 

1 8  That  s  they  teach  you  not  to  do  after  all 
their  abominations,  which  they  have  done  unto 
their  gods ;  so  should  ye  4  sin  against  the 
Lord  your  God. 

.  19  When  thou  shalt  besiege  a  city  a  long 
time,  in  making  war  against  it  to  take  it,  thou 

s  Chap.  vii.  4  ;  xii.  30,  31 ;  xviii.  9. - 1  Exodus 

xxiii.  33. 

provided  we  could  translate  □D'HHn  Dinn  'D  ki  ha- 
charem  tacharimem,  thou  shalt  utterly  subdue  them — 
slaying  them  if  they  resist,  and  thus  leaving  nothing 
alive  that  breathed ;  or  totally  expel  them  from  the 
land,  or  reduce  them  to  a  state  of  slavery  in  it,  that 
they  might  no  longer  exist  as  a  people .  This  certainly 
made  them  an  anathema  as  a  nation,  wholly  destroying 
their  political  existence.  Probably  this  was  so  under¬ 
stood  by  the  Gibeonites,  viz.,  that  they  either  must  be 
slain  or  utterly  leave  the  land,  which  last  was  certainly 
in  their  power,  and  therefore,  by  a  stratagem,  they 
got  the  princes  of  Israel  to  make  a  league  with  them. 
When  the  deceit  was  discovered,  the  Israelites,  though 
not  bound  by  their  oath,  because  they  were  deceived 
by  the  Gibeonites,  and  therefore  were  under  no  obliga¬ 
tion  to  fulfil  their  part  of  the  covenant ;  yet,  though 
they  had  this  command  before  their  eyes,  did  not  be¬ 
lieve  that  they  were  bound  to  put  even  those  deceivers 
to  death ;  but  they  destro3"ed  their  political  existence , 
by  making  them  hewers  of  wood  and  drawers  of  water 
to  the  congregation ;  i.  e.,  slaves  to  the  Israelites. 
(See  Josh,  ix.)  Rahab  and  her  household  also  were 
spared.  So  that  it  does  not  appear  that  the  Israelites 
believed  that  they  were  bound  to  put  every  Canaanite 
to  death.  Their  political  existence  was  under  the  ana¬ 
thema,  and  this  the  Hebrews  annihilated. 

That  many  of  the  Canaanites  continued  in  the  land 
even  to  the  days  of  Solomon,  we  have  the  fullest 
proof ;  for  we  read,  2  Chron.  viii.  7  :  “  All  the  people 
of  the  land  that  were  left  of  the  Hittites,  Amorites, 
Perizzites,  Hivites,  and  Jebusites,  who  were  left  in 
the  land,  whom  the  children  of  Israel  consumed  not, 
them  did  Solomon  make  to  pay  tribute  to  this  day.” 
Thus  Solomon  destroyed  their  political  existence,  but 
did  not  consider  himself  bound  by  the  law  of  God  to 
put  them  to  death. 

Verse  19.  {For  the  tree  of  the  field  is  man's  life) 
to  employ  them  in  the  siege ]  The  original  is  exceed¬ 

ingly  obscure,  and  has  been  variously  translated, 
-pas  Hlb  miyn  p?  cnxn  ’3  hi  haadam  ets 
hassadeh  labo  mippaneycha  bammatsor.  The  follow¬ 
ing  are  the  chief  versions  :  For,  O  man,  the  trees  of 
the  field  are  for  thee  to  employ  them  in  the  siege — 
or,  For  it  is  man,  and  the  tree  of  the  field,  that  must 
go  before  thee  for  a  bulwark - — or,  For  it  is  a  tree,  and 
not  men ,  to  increase  the  number  of  those  ivho  come 

a 


fruit  trees  to  be  preserved 

shalt  not  destroy  the  trees  thereof  A.  M.  2553. 

,  -  '  .  B.  C.  1451. 

by  iorcing  an  axe  against  them  :  An.  Ex.  Isr.  40. 

for  thou  mayest  eat  of  them,  and  Sebat~ 

thou  shalt  not  cut  them  down  (u  for  the  tree 

of  the  field  is  man’s  life)  ^  to  employ  them  in 

the  siege  : 

20  Only  the  trees  which  thou  knowest  that 
they  be  not  trees  for  meat,  thou  shalt  destroy 
and  cut  them  down ;  and  thou  shalt  build 
bulwarks  against  the  city  that  maketh  war 
with  thee,  until  w  it  be  subdued. 

u  Or,  for,  0  man,  the  tree  of  the  field  is  to  be  employed  in  the  siege. 
v  Heb.  to  go  from  before  thee. - w  Heb.  it  come  down. 

against  thee  to  the  siege — or,  lastly,  The  tree  of  the 
field  (is  as)  a  man,  to  go  before  thy  face  for  a  bulwark. 
The  sense  is  sufficiently  clear,  though  the  strict  gram¬ 
matical  meaning  of  the  words  cannot  be  easily  ascer¬ 
tained  :  it  was  a  merciful  provision  to  spare  all  fruit¬ 
bearing  trees,  because  they  yielded  the  fruit  which 
supported  man’s  life ;  and  it  was  sound  policy  also,  for 
even  the  conquerors  must  perish  if  the  means  of  life 
were  cut  off. 

It  is  diabolic  cruelty  to  add  to  the  miseries  of  war 
the  horrors  of  famine  ;  and  this  is  done  where  the 
trees  of  the  field  are  cut  down,  the  dykes  broken  to 
drown  the  land,  the  villages  burnt,  and  the  crops  wil¬ 
fully  spoiled.  O  execrable  war !  subversive  of  all  the 
charities  of  life  ! 

There  are  several  curious  particulars  in  these 
verses:  1.  The  people  had  the  most  positive  assu¬ 
rances  from  God  that  their  enemies  should  not  be  able 
to  prevail  against  them  by  strength,  numbers,  nor  stra¬ 
tagem,  because  God  should  go  with  them  to  lead  and 
direct  them,  and  should  fight  for  them ;  and  against  his 
might  none  could  prevail.  2.  All  such  interferences 
were  standing  proofs  of  the  being  of  God,  of  his  espe¬ 
cial  providence,  and  of  the  truth  of  their  religion. 
3.  Though  God  promised  them  such  protection,  yet 
they  were  to  expect  it  in  the  diligent  use  of  their  own 
prudence  and  industry.  The  priests,  the  officers,  and 
the  people,  had  their  respective  parts  to  act  in  this 
business ;  if  they  did  their  duty  respectively,  God 
would  take  care  that  they  should  be  successful.  Those 
who  will  not  help  themselves  with  the  strength  which 
God  has  already  given  them,  shall  not  have  any  far¬ 
ther  assistance  from  him.  In  all  such  cases,  the  pa¬ 
rable  of  the  talents  affords  an  accurate  rule.  4.  Their 
going  to  war  against  their  enemies  must  not  deprive 
them  of  mercy  and  tenderness  towards  their  brethren. 
He  who  had  built  a  house  and  had  not  yet  dwelt  in  it, 
who  had  planted  a  vineyard  and  had  not  eaten  of  its 
fruits,  wffio  had  betrothed  a  wife  and  had  not  yet  taken 
her  to  his  house,  was  not  obliged  to  go  to  battle,  lest 
he  should  fall  in  the  war,  and  the  fruits  of  his  industry 
and  affection  be  enjoyed  by  others.  He  who  was 
faint-hearted  was  also  permitted  to  return,  lest  he 
should  give  way  in  the  heat  of  battle,  and  his  example 
have  a  fatal  influence  on  others. 

789 


Laws  relative  to 


DEUTERONOMY. 


concealed  murders. 


CHAPTER  XXL 


If  a  man  be  found  slain  in  a  field ,  and  the  cause  of  his  death  he  unknown ,  the  murder  shall  he  expiated  hy 
the  sacrifice  of  a  heifer  in  an  uncultivated  valley ,  1—4.  The  rites  to  he  used  on  the  occasion ,  5-9.  The 

ordinance  concerning  marriage  with  a  captive ,  10—14.  The  law  relative  to  the  children  of  the  hated  and 

beloved  ivives :  if  the  son  of  the  hated  wife  should  he  the  first-horn  he  shall  not  he  disinherited  hy  the  son 
of  the  beloved  wife ,  hut  shall  have  a  double  portion  of  all  his  father's  goods ,  15—18.  The  law  concerning 
the  stubborn  and  rebellious  son ,  who ,  when  convicted ,  is  to  he  stoned  to  death ,  19—21.  Of  the  person  who 
is  to  he  hanged,  22.  His  body  shall  not  he  left  on  the  tree  all  night ;  every  one  that  is  hanged  on  a  tree 
is  accursed  of  God,  23. 


A.  M.  2553.  IF  one  be  found  slain  in  the  land 
An.  Ex.  isr.  40.  which  the  Lord  thy  God  giv- 
Sebat’  eth  thee  to  possess  it,  lying  in 
the  field,  and  it  be  not  known  who  hath  slain 
him  : 

2  Then  thy  elders  and  thy  judges  shall 
come  forth,  and  they  shall  measure  unto  the 
cities  which  are  round  about  him  that  is  slain  : 

3  And  it  shall  be,  that  the  city  which  is 
next  unto  the  slain  man,  even  the  elders  of 
that  city  shall  take  a  heifer,  which  hath  not 
been  wrought  with,  and  which  hath  not  drawn 
in  the  yoke  ; 

4  And  the  elders  of  that  city  shall  bring 
down  the  heifer  unto  a  rough  valley,  which  is 
neither  eared  nor  sown,  and  shall  strike  off 
the  heifer’s  neck  there  in  the  valley  : 

5  And  the  priests,  the  sons  of  Levi,  shall 
come  near ;  for  athem  the  Lord  thy  God  hath 
chosen  to  minister  unto  him,  and  to  bless  in 
the  name  of  the  Lord  ;  and  b  by  their  c  word 
shall  every  controversy  and  every  stroke  be 
tried : 

6  And  all  the  elders  of  that  city,  that  are 


aChap.  x.  8;  1  Chron.  xxiii.  13;  Ecclus.  xlv.  15. - b  Chap. 

xvii.  8,  9. - c  Heb.  mouth. 

NOTES  ON  CHAP.  NXI. 

Terse  4.  Shall  bring  down  the  heifer  unto  a  rough 
valley ]  j/VK  SnJ  nachal  eythan  might  be  translated  a 
rapid  stream,  probably  passing  through  a  piece  of  un¬ 
cultivated  ground  where  the  elders  of  the  city  were  to 
strike  off  the  head  of  the  heifer,  and  to  wash  their 
hands  over  her  in  token  of  their  innocence.  The  spot 
of  ground  on  which  this  sacrifice  was  made  must  be 
uncultivated,  because  it  was  considered  to  be  a  sacri¬ 
fice  to  make  atonement  for  the  murder,  and  consequently 
would  pollute  the  land.  This  regulation  was  calculated 
to  keep  murder  in  abhorrence,  and  to  make  the  magis¬ 
trates  alert  in  their  office,  that  delinquents  might  be 
discovered  and  punished,  and  thus  public  expense  saved. 

Terse  6.  Shall  wash  their  hands  over  the  heifer\ 
Washing  the  hands,  in  reference  to  such  a  subject  as 
this,  was  a  rite  anciently  used  to  signify  that  the  per¬ 
sons  thus  washing  were  innocent  of  the  crime  in  ques¬ 
tion.  It  was  probably  from  the  Jews  that  Pilate  learned 
this  symbolical  method  of  expressing  his  innocence. 

790 


next  unto  the  slain  man ,  d  shall  a.  M.  2553.  * 
wash  their  hands  over  the  An.’  Ex.  Isr.  40. 
heifer  that  is  beheaded  in  the  Sebat~ 
valley  : 

7  And  they  shall  answer  and  say,  Our 
hands  have  not  shed  this  blood,  neither  have 
our  eyes  seen  it. 

8  Be  merciful,  0  Lord,  unto  thy  people  Is¬ 
rael,  whom  thou  hast  redeemed,  e  and  lay  not 
innocent  blood  f  unto  thy  people  of  Israel’s 
charge.  And  the  blood  shall  be  forgiven 
them. 

9  So  s'  shalt  thou  put  away  the  guilt  of  in¬ 
nocent  blood  from  among  you,  when  thou 
shalt  do  that  which  is  right  in  the  sight  of  the 
Lord. 

10  When  thou  goest  forth  to  war  against 

thine  enemies,  and  the  Lord  thy  God  hath 
delivered  them  into  thine  hands,  and  thou 
hast  taken  them  captive,  • 

1 1  And  seest  among  the  captives  a  beautiful 
woman,  and  hast  a  desire  unto  her,  that  thou 
wouldest  have  her  to  thy  wife  ; 

1 2  Then  thou  shalt  bring  her  home  to  thine 

d  See  Psa.  xix.  12  ;  xxvi.  6  ;  Matt,  xxvii.  24. - e  Jonah  i.  14. 

f  Heb.  in  the  midst.- - s  Chap.  xix.  13. 

Terse  11.  And  seest — a  beautiful  woman\  No 
forcible  possession  was  allowed  even  in  this  case,  when 
the  woman  was  taken  in  war,  and  was,  by  the  general 
consent  of  ancient  nations,  adjudged  as  a  part  of  the 
spoils.  The  person  to  whose  lot  or  share  such  a  wo¬ 
man  as  is  here  described  fell  might,  if  he  chose,  have 
her  for  a  ivife  on  certain  conditions  ;  but  he  was  not 
permitted  to  use  her  under  any  inferior  character. 

Terse  12.  She  shall  shave  her  head~\  This  was  in 
token  of  her  renouncing  her  religion,  and  becoming  a 
proselyte  to  that  of  the  Jews.  This  is  still  a  custom 
in  the  East ;  when  a  Christian  turns  Mohammedan  his 
head  is  shaven,  and  he  is  carried  through  the  city  crying, 

^  NJ  cd ]  A  la  alahila 

allah  ive  Mohammed  resooli  Allah ;  “  There  is  no  God 
but  God,  and  Mohammed  is  the  prophet  of  God.’* 

Pare  her  nails ]  H'JlDj'  nPLypl  veasethah  eth  tsip- 
porneyha,  “  she  shall  make  her  nails.”  Now  whether 
this  signifies  paring  or  letting  them  grow ,  is  greatly 
doubted  among  learned  men.  Possibly  it  means  neither, 

a 


CHAP.  XXL 


The  stubborn  and  rebellious  son. 


Of  marriage  with  captives. 


A.  M.  2553.  house  ;  and  she  shall  shave  her 

An.  Ex.  isr.  40.  head,  and  h  pare  1  her  nails. 

Sebat  13  And  she  shall  put  the  rai¬ 
ment  of  her  captivity  from  off  her,  and  shall 
remain  in  thine  house,  and  k  bewail  her  father 
and  her  mother  a  full  month  :  and  after  that 
thou  shalt  go  in  unto  her,  and  be  her  husband, 
and  she  shall  be  thy  wife. 

14  And  it  shall  be,  if  thou  have  no  delight 
in  her,  then  thou  shalt  let  her  go  whither  she 
will  ;  but  thou  shalt  not  sell  her  at  all  for 
money,  thou  shalt  not  make  merchandise  of 
her,  because  thou  hast  1  humbled  her. 

15  If  a  man  have  two  wives,  one  beloved, 
m  and  another  hated,  and  they  have  borne  him 
children,  both  the  beloved  and  the  hated ;  and 
if  the  first-born  son  be  hers  that  was  hated  : 

1 6  Then  it  shall  be,  n  when  he  maketh  his 
sons  to  inherit  that  which  he  hath,  that  he 
may  not  make  the  son  of  the  beloved  .first¬ 
born  before  the  son  of  the  hated,  which  is 
indeed  the  first-born  : 

17  But  he  shall  acknowledge  the  son  of  the 
hated  for  the  first-born,  0  by  giving  him  a 
double  portion  of  all  p  that  he  hath  :  for  he  is 
4  the  beginning  of  his  strength  ;  r  the  right  of 
the  first-born  is  his. 

b  Or,  suffer  to  grow. - 1  Heb.  make  or  dress. - k  See  Psa.  xlv. 

10. - 1  Gen.  xxxiv.  2  ;  chap.  xxii.  29  ;  Judg.  xix.  24. - m  Gen. 

xxix.  33. - nl  Chron.  v.  2  ;  xxvi.  10;  2  Chron.  xi.  19,  22. 

0  See  1  Chron.  v.  1. - p  Heb.  that  is  found  with  him. - 1  Gen. 

xlix.  3. - r  Gen.  xxv.  31,  33. 

but  colouring  the  nails,  staining  them  red  with  the  hen- 
nah ,  which  is  much  practised  in  India  to  the  present 
day,  and  which  was  undoubtedly  practised  among  the 
ancient  Egyptians,  as  is  evident  from  the  nails  of  mum¬ 
mies  which  are  found  thus  stained.  The  hennah ,  ac¬ 
cording  to  Hasselquist,  grows  in  India,  and  in  Upper 
and  Lower  Egypt ;  it  flowers  from  May  to  August. 
The  manner  of  using  it  is  this  :  the  leaves  are  pow¬ 
dered,  and  made  into  a  paste  with  water  :  they  bind 
this  paste  on  the  nails  of  their  fingers  and  toes,  and 
let  it  stand  on  all  night ;  in  the  morning  they  are  found 
to  be  of  a  beautiful  reddish  yellow,  and  this  lasts  three 
weeks  or  a  month,  after  which  they  renew  the  appli¬ 
cation.  They  often  stain  the  palms  of  their  hands  and 
the  soles  of  their  feet  in  the  same  way,  as  appears 
from  many  paintings  of  eastern  ladies  done  in  India 
and  Persia,  which  now  lie  before  me.  This  staining 
the  soles  of  the.  feet  with  the  hennah  is  probably  meant 
in  2  Sam.  xix.  24  :•  Mephibosheth  had  not  dressed 
(literally  made)  his  feet — they  had  not  been  thus  co¬ 
loured. 

Verse  15.  One  beloved ,  and  another  hated ]  That 
is,  one  loved  less  than  the  other.  This  is  the  true  no¬ 
tion  of  the  word  hate  in  Scripture.  So  Jacob  hated 
Leah ,  that  is,  he  loved  her  less  than  he  did  Rachel ; 


18  If  a  man  have  a  stubborn  A.  M.  2553. 
and  rebellious  son,  which  will  An.  Ex.  Isr.  40. 
not  obey  the  voice  of  his  father,  Sebat’ 

or  the  voice  of  his  mother,  and  that,  when 
they  have  chastened  him,  will  not  hearken 
unto  them  : 

19  Then  shall  his  father  and  his  mother 
lay  hold  on  him,  and  bring  him  out  unto  the 
elders  of  his  city,  and  unto  the  gate  of  his 
place  ; 

20  And  they  shall  say  unto  the  elders  of  his 
city,  This  our  son  is  stubborn  and  rebellious, 
he  will  not  obey  our  voice  ;  he  is  a  glutton, 
and  a  drunkard. 

2 1  And  all  the  men  of  his  city  shall  stone  him 
with  stones,  that  he  die  :  s  so  shalt  thou  put 
evil  away  from  among  you  ;  t  and  all  Israel 
shall  hear,  and  fear. 

22  And  if  a  man  have  committed  a  sin 
11  worthy  of  death,  and  he  be  to  be  put  to  death, 
and  thou  hang  him  on  a  tree  : 

23  v  His  body  shall  not  remain  all  night  upon 
the  tree,  but  thou  shalt  in  any  wise  bury  him 
that  day  ;  (for  w  he  that  is  hanged  is  x  accursed 
of  God  ;)  that  y  thy  land  be  not  defiled,  which 
the  Lord  thy  God  giveth  thee  for  an  inherit¬ 
ance. 

s  Chap.  xiii.  5  ;  xix.  19,  20  ;  xxii.  21,  24. - 1  Chap.  xiii.  11. 

u  Chap.  xix.  6;  xxii.  26;  Acts  xxiii.  29  ;  xxv.  11,  25;  xxvi.  31. 

vJosh.  viii.  29;  x.  26,  27  ;  John  xix.  31. - w  Gal.  iii.  13. 

x  Heb.  the  curse  of  God;  see  Num.  xxv.  4  ;  2  Sam.  xxi.  6. 
y  Lev.  xviii.  25  ;  Num.  xxxv.  34. 

and  Jacob  have  I  loved ,  but  Esau  have  I  hated,  that 
is,  I  have  shown  a  more  particular  affection  to  the  pos¬ 
terity  of  Jacob  than  I  have  to  the  posterity  of  Esau. 
See  the  note  on  Gen.  xxix.  31.  From  this  verse  we 
see  that  polygamy  did  exist  under  the  Mosaic  laws,  and 
that  it  was  put  under  certain  regulations ;  but  it  was 
not  enjoined ,  Moses  merely  suffered  it,  because  of  the 
hardness  of  their  hearts,  as  our  Lord  justly  remarks 
Matt.  xix.  8. 

Verses  1 8—2 1 .  The  stubborn,  rebellious,  gluttonous, 
and  drunken  son  is  to  be  stoned  to  death. — This  law, 
severe  as  it  may  seem,  must  have  acted  as  a  powerful 
preventive  of  crime.  If  such  a  law  were  in  force 
now,  and  duly  executed,  how  many  deaths  of  disobe¬ 
dient  and  profligate  children  would  there  be  in  all  cor¬ 
ners  of  the  land ! 

Verse  23.  His  body  shall  not  remain  all  night  upon 
the  tree ]  Its  exposure  for  the  space  of  one  day  was 
judged  sufficient.  The  law  which  required  this  an¬ 
swered  all  the  ends  of  public  justice,  exposed  the  shame 
and  infamy  of  the  conduct,  but  did  not  put  to  torture 
the  feelings  of  humanity  by  requiring  a  perpetual  ex¬ 
hibition  of  a  human  being,  a  slow  prey  to  the  most 
loathsome  process  of  putrefaction.  Did  ever  the  spiking 
of  the  heads  of  state  criminals  prevent  high  treason? 

791 


a 


DEUTERONOMY. 


Different  civil  and 

or  the  gibbeting  of  a  thief  or  a  murderer,  prevent  either 
murder  or  robbery '?  These  questions  may  be  safely 
answered  in  the  negative  ;  and  the  remains  of  the  an¬ 
cient  barbarism  which  requires  these  disgusting  and 
abominable  exhibitions,  and  which  are  deplored  by  every 
feeling  heart,  should  be  banished  with  all  possible  speed. 
In  the  case  given  in  the  text,  God  considers  the  land 
as  defiled  while  the  body  of  the  executed  criminal  lay 
exposed,  hence  it  was  enjoined,  Thou  shalt  in  any  wise 
bury  him  that  day. 

For  he  that  is  hanged  is  accursed  of  God  ]  That  is, 


religious  ordinances. 

he  has  forfeited  his  life  to  the  law ;  for  it  is  written, 
Cursed  is  every  one  who  continueih  not  in  all  things 
that  are  ivritten  in  the  booh  of  the  law  to  do  them  ;  and 
on  his  body,  in  the  execution  of  the  sentence  of  the 
law,  the  curse  was  considered  as  alighting ;  hence  the 
necessity  of  removing  the  accursed  thing  out  of  sight 
How  excellent  are  all  these  laws  !  How  wondrously 
well  calculated  to  repress  crimes  by  showing  the  enor¬ 
mity  of  sin  !  It  is  worthy  of  remark  that  in  the  in¬ 
fliction  of  punishment  prescribed  by  the  Mosaic  law,  we 
ever  find  that  Mercy  walks  hand  in  hand  with  Judgment. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

Ordinances  relative  to  strayed  cattle  and  lost  goods ,  1—3.  Humanity  to  oppressed  cattle ,  4.  Men  and 
women  shall  not  wear  each  other's  apparel ,  5.  No  bird  shall  be  taken  with  her  nest  of  eggs  or  young 
ones,  6,  7.  Battlements  must  be  made  on  the  roofs  of  houses,  8.  Improper  mixtures  to  be  avoided,  9—11. 
Fringes  on  the  garments ,  12.  Case  of  the  hated  wife,  and  the  tokens  of  virginity,  and  the  proceedings 
thereon,  13—21.  The  adulterer  and  adulteress  to  be  put  to  death,  22.  Case  of  the  betrothed  damsel 
corrupted  in  the  city,  23,  24.  Cases  of  rape  and  the  punishment ,  25—27  ;  of  fornication,  28,  29.  No 
man  shall  take  his  father’’ s  wife,  30. 


A.  M.  2553.  nPHOU  a  shalt  not  see  thy  bro- 
An.  Ex.  isr.  40.  ther  s  ox  or  his  sheep  go 

Sebat~  astray,  and  b  hide  thyself  from 
them  :  thou  shalt  in  any  case  bring  them  again 
unto  thy  brother. 

2  And  if  thy  brother  be  not  nigh  unto  thee, 
or  if  thou  know  him  not,  then  thou  shalt  bring 
it  unto  thine  own  house,  and  it  shall  be  with 
thee  until  thy7-  brother  seek  after  it,  and  thou 
shalt  restore  it  to  him  again. 

3  In  like  manner  shalt  thou  do  with  his  ass  ; 
and  so  shalt  thou  do  with  his  raiment ;  and 
with  all  lost  things  of  thy  brother’s,  which  he 
hath  lost,  and  thou  hast  found,  shalt  thou  do 


likewise  :  thou  mayest  not  hide  A.  M.  2553. 

.  J  B.  C.  1451. 

thyself.  An.  Ex.  Isr.  40. 

4  c  Thou  shalt  not  see  thy  bro-  Sebat' 
ther’s  ass  or  his  ox  fall  down  by  the  way,  and 
hide  thyself  from  them  :  thou  shalt  surely  help 
him  to  lift  them  up  again. 

5  The  woman  shall  not  wear  that  which 
pertaineth  unto  a  man,  neither  shall  a  man 
put  on  a  woman’s  garment :  for  all  that  do  so 
are  abomination  unto  the  Lord  thy  God. 

6  If  a  bird’s  nest  chance  to  be  before  thee 
in  the  way  in  any  tree,  or  on  the  ground, 
whether  they  be  young  ones,  or  eggs,  and  the 
dam  sitting  upon  the  young,  or  upon  the  eggs. 


a  Exod.  xxiii.  4  ;  Luke  xv.  '1-6  ;  James  v.  19,  20. 

NOTES  ON  CHAP.  XNII. 

Verse  1.  Thou  shalt  not  see  thy  brother’s  ox  or  his 
sheep  go  astray\  The  same  humane,  merciful,  and 
wise  regulations  which  we  met  with  before,  Exod. 
xxiii.  4,  5,  well  calculated  to  keep  in  remembrance  the 
second  grand  branch  of  the  law  of  God,  Thou  shalt 
love  thy  neighbour  as  thyself.  A  humane  man  cannot 
bear  to  see  even  an  ass  fall  under  his  burden,  and  not 
endeavour  to  relieve  him  ;  and  a  man  who  loves  his 
neighbour  as  himself  cannot  see  his  property  in  danger 
without  endeavouring  to  preserve  it.  These  compa¬ 
ratively  small  matters  were  tests  and  proofs  of  matters 
great  in  themselves,  and  in  their  consequences.  See 
the  note  on  Exod.  xxiii.  4. 

Verse  3.  Thou  mayest  not  hide  thyself.']  Thou  shalt 
not  keep  out  of  the  way  of  affording  help,  nor  pretend 
thou  didst  not  see  occasion  to  render  thy  neighbour  any 
service.  The  priest  and  the  Levite,  when  they  saw 
the  wounded  man,  passed  by  on  the  other  side  of  the 
way,  Luke  x.  31,  32.  This  was  a  notorious  breach 
of  the  merciful  lawr  mentioned  above. 

792 


b  Lev.  xx.  4;  Prov.  xxiv.  11.  12  ;  xxviii.  27. - c  Exod.  xxiii.  5. 

Verse  5.  The  woman  shall  not  wear  that  which  per¬ 
taineth  unto  a  man]  “13  J  ,L?3  keligeber,  the  instruments 
or  arms  of  a  man.  As  the  word  geber  is  here 
used,  which  properly  signifies  a  strong  man  or  man  of 
war,  it  is  very  probable  that  armour  is  here  intended  ; 
especially  as  we  know  that  in  the  worship  of  Venus , 
to  which  that  of  Astarte  or  Ashtaroth  among  the  Ca- 
naanites  bore  a  striking  resemblance,  the  women  were 
accustomed  to  appear  in  armour  before  her.  It  cer¬ 
tainly  cannot  mean  a  simple  change  of  dress,  whereby 
the  men  might  pass  for  women,  and  vice  versa.  Th  is 
would  have  been  impossible  in  those  countries  where 
the  dress  of  the  sexes  had  but  little  to  distinguish  it, 
and  where  ever}7  man  ivore  a  long  beard.  It  is,  how¬ 
ever,  a  very  good  general  precept  understood  literally, 
and  applies  particularly  to  those  countries  where  the 
dress  alone  distinguishes  between  the  male  and  the  fe- 
male.  The  close-shaved  gentleman  may  at  any  time 
appear  like  a  woman  in  the  female  dress,  and  the  wo¬ 
man  appear  as  a  man  in  the  male’s  attire.  Were  this 
to  be  tolerated  in  society,  it  would  produce  the  greatest 

a 


CHAP.  XXII. 


Different  civil  and 

A.  M.  2553.  d  thou  shalt  not  take  the  dam  with 

B.  C.  1451.  . 

An.  Ex.  isr.  40.  the  young  : 

Sebat~  7  But  thou  shalt  in  any  wise 
let  the  dam  go,  and  take  the  young  to  thee  ; 
e  that  it  may  be  well  with  thee,  and  that  thou 
mayest  prolong  thy  days. 

8  When  thou  buildest  a  new  house,  then 
thou  shalt  make  a  battlement  for  thy  roof,  that 
thou  bring  not  blood  upon  thine  house,  if  any 
man  fall  from  thence. 

9  f  Thou  shalt  not  sow  thy  vineyard  with 
divers  seeds  :  lest  the  g  fruit  of  thy  seed  which 
thou  hast  sown,  and  the  fruit  of  thy  vineyard, 
be  defiled. 

10  h  Thou  shalt  not  plough  with  an  ox  and  an 
ass  together. 

1 1  1  Thou  shalt  not  wear  a  garment  of  divers 
sorts,  as  of  woollen  and  linen  together. 

dLev.  xxii.  28. - e  Chap.  iv.  40. - f  Lev.  xix.  19. - s  Heb. 

fulness  of  thy  seed. - h  See  2  Cor.  vi.  14,  15,  16. 

confusion.  Clodius,  who  dressed  himself  like  a  wo¬ 
man  that  he  might  mingle  with  the  Roman  ladies  in 
the  feast  of  the  Bona  Dca,  was  universally  execrated. 

Verse  7.  Thou  shalt — let  the  dam  go ,  and  take  the 
young  to  thee;  that  it  may  be  well  with  thee]  This  pas¬ 
sage  may  be  understood  literally.  If  they  destroyed 
both  young  and  old,  must  not  the  breed  soon  fail,  and 
would  it  not  in  the  end  be  ill  with  them ;  and  by  thus 
cutting  off  the  means  of  their  continual  support,  must 
not  their  days  be  shortened  on  the  land  1  But  we  may 
look  for  a  humane  precept  -in  this  law.  The  young 
never  knew  the  sweets  of  liberty ;  the  dam  did  :  they 
might  be  taken  and  used  for  any  lawful  purpose,  but 
the  dam  must  not  be  brought  into  a  state  of  captivity. 
They  who  can  act  otherwise  must  be  either  very  in¬ 
considerate  or  devoid  of  feeling ;  and  such  persons  can 
never  be  objects  of  God’s  peculiar  care  and  attention, 
and  therefore  need  not  expect  that  it  shall  be  well  with 
them,  or  that  they  shall  prolong  their  days  on  the  earth. 
Every  thing  contrary  to  the  spirit  of  mercy  and  kind¬ 
ness  the%yer  blessed  God  has  in  utter  abhorrence.  And 
we  should  remember  a  fact,  that  he  who  can  exercise 
cruelty  towards  a  sparrow  or  a  wren,  will,  when  cir¬ 
cumstances  are  favourable,  be  cruel  to  his  fellow  crea¬ 
tures.  The  poet  Phocylides  has  a  maxim  in  his  ad¬ 
monitory  poem  very  similar  to  that  in  the  sacred  text : — 

Tig  opvidag  Kahyg  uya  TTavrag  thecrda)’ 

M TjTtpa  S’  eKTrpoXnnjg,  lv’  e%rig  naXi  rijode  veorrovg. 

Phocyl.  Uoiyya  N ovder.,  ver.  80. 

“Nor  from  a  nest  take  all  the  birds  away  ; 

The  mother  spare,  she’ll  breed  a  future  day.” 

Verse  8.  A  battlement  for  thy  roof\  Houses  in  the 
East  are  in  general  built  with  flat  roofs,  and  on  them 
men  walk  to  enjoy  the  fresh  air,  converse  together, 
sleep,  &c.  ;  it  was  therefore  necessary  to  have  a  sort 
of  battlement  or  balustrade  to  prevent  persons  from 
falling  off.  If  a  man  neglected  to  make  a  sufficient 
defence  against  such  accidents,  and  the  death  of  an- 

a 


religious  ordinances. 

1 2  Thou  shalt  make  thee  a.  M.  2553. 

k  r  •  1  n  1  B.  C.  1451. 

K  fringes  upon  the  four  1  quarters  An.  Ex.  isr.  40. 

of  thy  vesture,  wherewith  thou  Sebat‘ 

coverest  thyself. 

13  If  any  man  take  a  Avife,  and  m  go  in  unto 
her,  and  hate  her, 

14  And  give  occasion  of  speech  against  her, 
and  bring  up  an  evil  name  upon  her,  and  say, 
I  took  this  woman,  and  when  I  came  to  her, 

1  found  her  not  a  maid : 

1 5  Then  shall  the  father  of  the  damsel,  and 
her  mother,  take  and  bring  forth  the  tokens 
of  the  damsel’s  virginity  unto  the  elders  of 
the  city  in  the  gate  : 

16  And  the  damsel’s  father  shall  say  unto 
the  elders,  I  gave  my  daughter  unto  this  man 
to  wife,  and  he  hateth  her ; 

1 7  And,  lo,  he  hath  given  occasions  of  speech 

'Lev.  xix.  19. - kNum.  xv.  38;  Matt,  xxiii.  5. - 'Heb. 

wings. - m  Gen.  xxix.  21  ;  Judg.  xv.  1. 

other  was  occasioned  by  it,  the  owner  of  the  house 
must  be  considered  in  the  light  of  a  murderer. 

Verse  9.  Divers  seeds ]  See  the  note  on  Lev.  xix.  1 9. 

Verse  10.  Thou  shalt  not  plough  with  an  ox  and  an 
ass]  It  is  generally  supposed  that  mixtures  of  different 
sorts  in  seed,  breed,  &c.,  were  employed  for  supersti¬ 
tious  purposes,  and  therefore  prohibited  in  this  law. 
It  is  more  likely,  however,  that  there  was  a  physical 
reason  for  this ;  two  beasts  of  a  different  species  can¬ 
not  associate  comfortably  together,  and  on  this  ground 
never  pull  pleasantly  either  in  cart  or  plough ;  and 
every  farmer  knows  that  it  is  of  considerable  conse¬ 
quence  to  the  comfort  of  the  cattle  to  put  those  to¬ 
gether  that  have  an  affection  for  each  other.  This 
may  be  very  frequently  remarked  in  certain  cattle, 
which,  on  this  account,  are  termed  true  yoke-fellows. 
After  all,  it  is  very  probable  that  the  general  design 
was  to  prevent  improper  alliances  in  civil  and  religious 
life.  And  to  this  St.  Paul  seems  evidently  to  refer, 

2  Cor.  vi.  14:  Be  ye  not  unequally  yoked  with  unbe¬ 
lievers  ;  which  is  simply  to  be  understood  as  prohibit¬ 
ing  all  intercourse  between  Christians  and  idolaters  in 
social,  matrimonial,  and  religious  life.  And  to  teach 
the  Jews  the  propriety  of  this,  a  variety  of  precepts 
relative  to  improper  and  heterogeneous  mixtures  were 
interspersed  through  their  law,  so  that  in  civil  and  do¬ 
mestic  life  they  might  have  them  ever  before  their  eyes, 

Verse  12.  Fringes ]  See  on  Num.  xv.  38. 

Verse  15.  Tokens  of  the  damsel's  virginity']  This 
was  a  perfectly  possible  case  in  all  places  where  girls 
were  married  at  ten,  twelve,  and  fourteen  years  of 
age,  which  is  frequent  in  the  East.  I  have  known 
several  instances  of  persons  having  had  two  or  three 
children  at  separate  births  before  they  were  fourteen 
years  of  age.  Such  tokens,  therefore,  as  the  text 
speaks  of,  must  be  infallibly  exhibited  by  females  so 
very  young  on  the  consummation  of  their  marriage. 

Verse  17.  They  shall  spread  the  cloth,  dfci\  A 
usage  of  this  kind  argues  a  roughness  of  manners  which 

793 


DEUTERONOMY. 


Different  civil  and 

A.  M.  2553.  against  her ,  saving.  1  found  not 
Aq. Ex. isr. 40.  tli3r  daughter  a  maid;  and  yet 
Sebat'  these  are  the  tokens  of  my 

daughter’s  virginity.  And  they  shall  spread 
the  cloth  before  the  elders  of  the  city. 

IS  And  the  elders  of  that  city  shall  take  that 
man  and  chastise  him  ; 

1 9  And  they  shall  amerce  him  in  a  hundred 
shekels  of  silver,  and  give  them  unto  the  father 
of  the  damsel,  because  he  hath  brought  up  an 
evil  name  upon  a  virgin  of  Israel :  and  she 
shall  be  his  wife  ;  he  may  not  put  her  away 
all  his  days. 

20  But  if  this  thing  be  true,  and  the  tokens 
of  virginity  be  not  found  for  the  damsel  : 

21  Then  they  shall  bring  out  the  damsel  to 
the  door  of  her  father’s  house,  and  the  men  of 
her  city  shall  stone  her  with  stones  that  she 
die  :  because  she  hath  nWTought  folly  in  Israel, 
to  play  the  whore  in  her  father’s  house  :  0  so 
shalt  thou  put  evil  away  from  among  you. 

22  p  If  a  man  be  found  lying  with  a  woman 
married  to  a  husband,  then  they  shall  both  of 
them  die,  both  the  man  that  lay  with  the 
woman,  and  the  woman :  so  shalt  thou  put 
away  evil  from  Israel. 

23  If  a  damsel  that  is  a  virgin  be  ^betrothed 
unto  a  husband,  and  a  man  find  her  in  the 
city,  and  lie  with  her ; 

n  Gen.  xxxiv.  7 ;  Judg.  xx.  6,  10  ;  2  Sam.  xiii.  12, 13. - 0  Ch. 

xiii.  5. - PLev.  xx.  10;  John  viii.  5. - i  Matt.  i.  18,  19. 

r  Chap.  xxi.  14. - s  Ver.  21,  22. 

would  ill  comport  with  the  refinement  of  European 
ideas  on  so  delicate  a  subject.  Attempts  have  been 
made  to  show  that  the  law  here  is  to  be  understood 
metaphorically ;  but  they  so  perfectly  fail  to  establish 
any  thing  like  probability,  that  it  would  be  wasting  my 
own  and  my  reader’s  time  to  detail  them.  A  custom 
similar  to  that  above  is  observed  among  the  Moham¬ 
medans  to  the  present  day. 

Verse  22.  Shall  both  of  them  die ]  Thus  we  find 
that  in  the  most  ancient  of  all  laws  adultery  was  pun¬ 
ished  with  death  in  both  the  parties. 

Verse  25.  And  the  man  force  her]  A  rape  also,  by 
these  ancient  institutions,  was  punished  with  death, 
because  a  woman’s  honour  was  considered  equally  as 


religious  ordinances 

24  Then  shall  ye  bring  them  A.  M.  2553. 

j  o  B  C.  1451. 

both  out  unto  the  gate  of  that  An.  Ex’,  isr.  40. 

city,  and  ye  shall  stone  them  Sebat~ 
with  stones  that  they  die  ;  the  damsel,  because 
she  cried  not,  being  in  the  city ;  and  the 
man,  because  he  hath  r  humbled  his  neigh¬ 
bour’s  wife  :  s  so  thou  shalt  put  away  evil  from 
among  you. 

25  But  if  a  man  find  a  betrothed  damsel  in 
the  field,  and  the  man  t  force  her,  and  lie  with 
her  :  then  the  man  only  that  lay  with  her 
shall  die  : 

26  But  unto  the  damsel  thou  shalt  do  nothing; 
there  is  in  the  damsel  no  sin  worthy  of  death  : 
for  as  when  a  man  riseth  against  his  neigh¬ 
bour,  and  slayeth  him,  even  so  is  this  matter: 

27  For  he  found  her  in  the  field,  and  the 
betrothed  damsel  cried,  and  there  was  none 
to  save  her. 

28  u  If  a  man  find  a  damsel  that  is  a  virgin, 
which  is  not  betrothed,  and  lay  hold  on  her, 
and  lie  with  her,  and  they  be  found  ; 

29  Then  the  man  that  lay  with  her  shall  give 
unto  the  damsel’s  father  fifty  shekels  of  silver, 
and  she  shall  be  his  wife  ;  v  because  he  hath 
humbled  her,  he  may  not  put  her  away  all 
his  days. 

30  w  A  man  shall  not  take  his  father’s  wife, 
nor  x  discover  his  father’s  skirt. 


1  Or,  take  strong  hold  of  her  ;  2  Sam.  xiii.  14. - u  Exod.  xxii. 

16,  17. - v  Ver.  24. - w  Lev.  xviii.  8  ;  xx.  11  ;  chap,  xxvii.20 ; 

1  Cor.  v.  1. - x  See  Ruth  iii.  9  ;  Ezek.  xvi.  8. 

precious  as  her  life  ;  therefore  the  same  punishment 
was  inflicted  on  the  ravisher  as  upon  the  murderer. 
This  offence  is  considered  in  the  same  point  of  view 
in  the  British  laws,  and  by  them  also  it  is  punished 
with  death. 

Verse  30.  A  man  shall  not  take  his  fath§r'’s  wife] 
This  is  to  be  understood  as  referring  to  the  case  of  a 
stepmother.  A  man  in  his  old  age  may  have  married 
a  young  wife,  and  on  his  dying,  his  son  by  a  former 
wife  may  desire  to  espouse  her :  this  the  law  prohi¬ 
bits.  It  was  probably  on  pretence  of  having  broken 
this  law,  that  Solomon  put  his  brother  Adonijah  to 
death,  because  he  had  desired  to  have  his  father’s  con¬ 
cubine  to  wife,  1  Kings  ii.  13—25. 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

Neither  eunuchs,  bastards,  Ammonites,  nor  Moabites,  shall  be  incorporated  with  the  genuine  Israelites ,  1—3. 
The  reason  why  the  Ammonites  and  Moabites  were  excluded ,  4—6.  Edomites  and  Egyptians  to  be 
respected ,  7.  Their  descendants  in  the  third  generation  may  be  incorporated  with  the  Israelites ,  8.  Cau¬ 
tions  against  wickedness  when  they  go  forth  against  their  enemies ,  9.  To  keep  the  camp  free  from  every 
defilement ,  and  the  reason  ivhy,  10—14.  The  slave  who  had  taken  refuge  among  them  is  not  to  be  deli- 

794  a 


CHAP.  XXIII. 


Who  are  excluded  from  the 


congregation  of  the  Lord. 


vered  up  to  his  former  master ,  15,  16.  There  shall  be  no  prostitutes  nor  sodomites  in  the  land ,  17. 
The  hire  of  a  prostitute  or  the  price  of  a  dog  is  not  to  be  brought  into  the  house  of  God ,  18.  The  Israel¬ 
ites  shall  not  lend  on  usury  to  each  other ,  19  ;  but  they  may  take  usury  from  strangers ,  20.  Vows  must 
be  diligently  paid ,  21—23.  In  passing  through  a  vineyard  or  field  a  man  may  eat  of  the  grapes  or  corn , 
but  must  carry  away  none  with  him ,  24,  25. 


A.  M.  2553.  XJE  that  is  a  wounded  m  the 

B.  C.  1451.  JLX  .  .  .  . 

An.  Ex.  isr.  40.  stones,  or  hath  his  privy 

^cl);it'  member  cut  off,  shall  not  enter 
into  the  congregation  of  the  Lord. 

2  A  bastard  shall  not  enter  into  the  congre¬ 
gation  of  the  Lord  ;  even  to  his  tenth  gene¬ 
ration  shall  he  not  enter  into  the  congregation 
of  the  Lord. 

3  b  An  Ammonite  or  Moabite  shall  not  enter 
into  the  congregation  of  the  Lord  ;  even  to 
their  tenth  generation,  shall  they  not  enter 
into  the  congregation  of  the  Lord  for  ever : 

4  c  Because  they  met  you  not  with  bread 
and  with  water  in  the  way,  when  ye  came 
forth  out  of  Egypt ;  and  d  because  they  hired 
against  thee  Balaam  the  son  of  Beor,  of  Pethor 
of  Mesopotamia,  to  curse  thee. 

5  Nevertheless  the  Lord  thy  God  would 
not  hearken  unto  Balaam  ;  but  the  Lord  thy 
God  turned  the  curse  into  a  blessing  unto 
thee,  because  the  Lord  thy  God  loved  thee. 

6  e  Thou  shalt  not  seek  their  peace  nor  their 
f  prosperity  all  thy  days  for  ever. 

7  Thou  shalt  not  abhor  an  Edomite  ;  «  for 
he  is  thy  brother :  thou  shalt  not  abhor  an 
Egyptian ;  because  h  thou  wast  a  stranger  in 
his  land. 

8  The  children  that  are  begotten  of  them 
shall  enter  into  the  congregation  of  the  Lord 
in  their  third  generation. 

aLev.  xxi.  17-21 ;  xxii.  22-24. - bNeh.  xiii.  1,  2. - c  See 

chap.  ii.  29. - d  Num.  xxii.  5,  6. - e  Ezra  ix.  12. - f  Heb. 

good. - s  Gen.  xxv.  24, 25, 26  ;  Obad.  x.  12. - h  Exod.  xxii.  21  ; 

NOTES  ON  CHAP.  XXIII. 

Verse  1.  Shall  not  enter  into  the  congregation ,  c ^c.] 
If  by  entering  into  the  congregation  be  meant  the 
bearing  a  civil  office  among  the  people,  such  as  ma¬ 
gistrate,  judge,  &c.,then  the  reason  of  the  law  is  very 
plain ;  no  man  with  any  such  personal  defect  as  might 
render  him  contemptible  in  the  sight  of  others  should 
bear  rule  among  the  people,  lest  the  contempt  felt  for 
his  personal  defects  might  be  transferred  to  his  impor¬ 
tant  office,  and  thus  his  authority  be  disregarded.  The 
general  meaning  of  these  words  is,  simply,  that  the 
persons  here  designated  should  not  be  so  incorporated 
with  the  Jews  as  to  partake  of  their  civil  privileges. 

Verse  2.  A  bastard  shall  not  enter\  “1TDD  mamzer , 
which  is  here  rendered  bastard ,  should  be  understood 
as  implying  the  offspring  of  an  illegitimate  or  inces¬ 
tuous  mixture. 


9  When  the  host  rmeth  forth  A.  M.  2553. 

against  thine  enemies,  then  keep  An.  Ex.  Isr.  40 
thee  from  every  wicked  thing.  Sebat~ 

10  1  If  there  be  among  you  any  man,  that  is 
not  clean,  by  reason  of  uncleanness  that 
chanceth  him  by  night,  then  shall  he  go  abroad 
out  of  the  camp,  he  shall  not  come  within 
the  camp  : 

1 1  But  it  shall  be,  when  evening  k  cometh 
on,  1  he  shall  wash  himself  with  water :  and 
when  the  sun  is  down,  he  shall  come  into 
the  camp  again. 

12  Thou  shalt  have  a  place  also  without 
the  camp,  whither  thou  shalt  go  forth 
abroad  : 

13  And  thou  shalt  have  a  paddle  upon  thy 
weapon ;  and  it  shall  be,  when  thou  m  wilt 
ease  thyself  abroad,  thou  shalt  dig  therewith, 
and  shalt  turn  back  and  cover  that  which 
cometh  from  thee  : 

14  For  the  Lord  thy  God  n  walketh  in  the 
midst  of  thy  camp,  to  deliver  thee,  and  to  give 
up  thine  enemies  before  thee  ;  therefore  shall 
thy  camp  be  holy :  that  he  see  no  °  unclean 
thing  in  thee,  and  turn  away  from  thee  : 

15  p  Thou  shalt  not  deliver  unto  his  master 
the  servant  which  is  escaped  from  his  master 
unto  thee  : 

16  He  shall  dwell  with  thee,  even  among 
you,  in  that  place  which  he  shall  choose  in 

xxiii.  9;  Lev.  xix.  34;  chap.  x.  19. - ’Lev.  xv.  16. - ^Heb, 

turneth  toward. - 1  Lev.  xv.  5. - D’  Heb.  sittestdown. - n  Lev. 

xxvi.  12. - 0  Heb.  nakedness  of  any  thing. - Pi  Sam.  xxx.  15. 

Verse  3.  An  Ammonite  or  Moabite\  These  nations 
were  subjected  for  their  impiety  and  wickedness,  (see 
ver.  4  and  5,)  to  peculiar  disgrace,  and  on  this  account 
were  not  permitted  to  hold  any  office  among  the  Is¬ 
raelites.  But  this  did  not  disqualify  them  from  being 
proselytes :  Ruth,  who  was  a  Moabitess,  was  married 
to  Boaz,  and  she  became  one  of  the  progenitors  of  our 
Lord. 

Even  to  their  tenth  generalion\  That  is,  for  ever , 
as  the  next  clause  explains;  see  Neh.  xiii.  1. 

Verse  12,  4-c.J  These  directions  may  appear  trifling 
to  some,  but  they  were  essentially  necessary  to  this 
people  in  their  present  circumstances.  Decency  and 
cleanliness  promote  health,  and  prevent  many  diseases. 

Verse  15.  Thou  shalt  not  deliver — the  servant  which 
is  escaped — unto  thee~\  That  is,  a  servant  who  left  an 
idolatrous  master  that  he  might  join  himself  to  God 

795 


a 


Concerning  the  DEUTERONOMY.  divorced  wife . 


a.  M.  2553.  one  of  thy  gates,  where  it  q  liketh 
An.  Ex.  is.  40.  him  best:  r  thou  shalt  not  op- 
Sebat~  press  him. 

1 7  There  shall  be  no  s  whore  t  of  the  daugh¬ 
ters  of  Israel,  nor  a  u  sodomite  of  the  sons  of 
Israel. 

1 8  Thou  shalt  not  bring  the  hire  of  a  whore, 
or  the  price  of  a  dog,  into  the  house  of  the 
Lord  thy  God  for  any  vow  :  for  even  both 
these  are  abomination  unto  the  Lord  thy  God. 

19  vThou  shalt  not  lend  upon  usury  to  thy 
brother :  usury  of  money,  usury  of  victuals, 
usury  of  any  thing  that  is  lent  upon  usury  : 

20  w  Unto  a  stranger  thou  mayest  lend  upon 
usury  ;  but  unto  thy  brother  thou  shalt  not 
lend  upon  usury  :  x  that  the  Lord  thy  God 
may  bless  thee  in  all  that  thou  settest  thine 
hand  to  in  the  land  whither  thou  goest  to  pos¬ 
sess  it. 

2 1  y  When  thou  shalt  vow  a  vow  unto  the 

<1  Heb.  is  good  for  him. - r  Exod.  xxii.  21. - 5  Or,  sodomitess. 

1  Lev.  xix.  29  ;  see  Prov.  ii.  16. - u  Gen.  xix.  5  ;  2  Kings  xxiii.  7. 

v  Exod.  xxii.  25  ;  Lev.  xxv.  36,  37 ;  Neh.  v.  2,  7 ;  Psa.  xv.  5 ; 
Luke  vi.  34,  35. 

and  to  his  people.  In  any  other  case,  it  would  have 
been  injustice  to  have  harboured  the  runaway. 

Verse  17.  There  shall  he  no  ivhore]  See  on  Gen. 
xxxv  iii.  15—21. 

Verse  18.  The  hire  of  a  whore,  or  the  price  of  a  dog] 
Many  public  prostitutes  dedicated  to  their  gods  a  part 
of  their  impure  earnings ;  and  some  of  these  prosti¬ 
tutes  were  publicly  kept  in  the  temple  of  Venus  Me- 
lytta,  whose  gains  were  applied  to  the  support  of  her 
abominable  worship. 

Verse  19.  Usurp]  See  on  Lev.  xxv.  36. 


Lord  thy  God,  thou  shalt  not  a.  M.  2553. 
slack  to  pay  it :  for  the  Lord  thy  An.  Ex.  isr.  40. 
G  od  will  surely  require  it  of  thee ;  Sebat‘ 
and  it  would  be  sin  in  thee. 

22  But  if  thou  shalt  forbear  to  vow,  it  shall 
be  no  sin  in  thee. 

23  z  That  which  is  gone  out  of  thy  lips  thou 
shalt  keep  and  perform  ;  even  a  freewill-offer¬ 
ing,  according  as  thou  hast  vowed  unto  the 
Lord  thy  God,  which  thou  hast  promised 
with  thy  mouth. 

24  When  thou  comest  into  thy  neighbour’s 
vineyard,  a  then  thou  mayest  eat  grapes  thy 
fill  at  thine  own  pleasure ;  but  thou  shalt 
not  put  any  in  thy  vessel. 

25  When  thou  comest  into  the  standing 
corn  of  thy  neighbour,  b  then  thou  mayest 
pluck  the  ears  with  thine  hand  ;  but  thou 
shalt  not  move  a  sickle  unto  thy  neighbour’s 
standing  corn. 

w  See  Lev.  xix.  34 ;  chap.  xv.  3. - x  Chap.  xv.  10. - 7  Num. 

xxx.  2;  Eccles.  v.  4,  5. - zNum.  xxx.  2;  Psa.  lxvi.  13,  14. 

al  Cor.  x.  26;  Heb.  xiii.  5. - bMatt.  xii.  1;  Mark  ii.  23; 

Luke  vi.  1. 


Verse  21.  When  thou  shalt  vow,  SfC.]  See  on  Num. 
xxx.  1,  &c. 

Verse  24.  Thou  shalt  not  put  any  in  thy  vessel .] 
Thou  shalt  carry  none  away  with  thee.  The  old 
English  proverb,  Eat  thy  fill,  hut  pocket  none ,  seems 
to  have  been  founded  on  this  lawr. 

Verse  25.  Thou  mayest  pluck  the  ears  ivith  thine 
hand]  It  was  on  the  permission  granted  by  this  law 
that  the  disciples  plucked  the  ears  of  corn,  as  related 
Matt.  xii.  1.  This  wras  both  a  considerate  and  hu¬ 
mane  law,  and  is  no  dishonour  to  the  Jewish  code. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 


The  case  of  a  divorced  wife ,  1—4.  No  man  shall  he  obliged  to  undertake  any  public  service  for  the  first 
year  of  his  marriage,  5.  The  mill-stones  shall  not  he  taken  as  a  pledge,  6;.  The  man-stealer  shall  he 
put  to  death ,  7.  Concerning  cases  of  leprosy,  8,  9.  Of  receiving  pledges,  and  returning  those  of  the 
poor  before  bed-time,  10—13.  Of  servants  and  their  hire,  14,  15.  Parents  and  children  shall  not  he  put 
to  death  for  each  other,  16.  Of  humanity  to  the  stranger,  fatherless,  widow,  and  bondman,  17,  18. 
Gleanings  of  the  harvest ,  Spc.,  to  he  left  for  the  poor,  stranger ,  widow,  fatherless,  dfc.,  19—22. 


A.  M.  2553. 

B.  C.  1451. 
An.  Ex.  Isr.  40. 

Sebat. 


'^THEN  a  a  man  hath  taken  a 
wife,  and  married  her,  and 
it  come  to  pass  that  she  find  no 


favour  in  his  eyes,  because  he 
hath  found  b  some  uncleanness  in 
her  :  then  let  him  write  her  a  bill 


A.  M.  2553. 

B.  C.  1451. 
An.  Ex,  Isr.  40. 

Sebat. 


aMatt.  v.  31 ;  xix.  7  ;  Mark  x.  4. 

NOTES  ON  CHAP.  XXIV. 

Verse  1.  Some  uncleanness]  Any  cause  of  dislike, 
for  this  great  latitude  of  meaning  the  fact  itself  autho¬ 
rizes  us  to  adopt,  for  it  is  certain  that  a  Jew  might 
put  away  his  wife  for  any  cause  that  seemed  good  to 
himself ;  and  so  hard  were  their  hearts,  that  Moses 

796 


b  Heb.  matter  of  nakedness. 

suffered  this ;  and  we  find  they  continued  this  prac¬ 
tice  even  to  the  time  of  our  Lord,  wdio  strongly  repre¬ 
hended  them  on  the  account,  and  showed  that  such 
license  was  wholly  inconsistent  with  the  original  de¬ 
sign  of  marriage ;  see  Matt.  v.  31,  &c.  ;  xix.  3,  &0.  ; 
and  the  notes  there. 


a 


The  man-stealer  shall  die. 


CHAP.  XXIV. 


Concerning  the  leprosy 


A.  M.  2553.  of  c  divorcement,  and  give  it  in 
An.  Ex.  isr.io.  her  hand,  and  send  her  out  of  his 
Sebat-  house. 

2  And  when  she  is  departed  out  of  his 
house,  d  she  may  go  and  be  another  man’s  wife. 

3  And  if  the  latter  husband  hate  her,  and 
write  her  a  bill  of  divorcement,  and  giveth  it 
in  her  hand,  and  sendeth  her  out  of  his  house  ; 
or  if  the  latter  husband  die,  which  took  her  to 
he  his  wife  ; 

4  e  Her  former  husband,  which  sent  her  away, 
may  not  take  her  again  to  be  his  wife,  after 
that  she  is  defiled  ;  for  that  is  abomination 
before  the  Lord  :  and  thou  shalt  not  cause 
the  land  to  sin,  which  the  Lord  thy  God 
giveth  thee  for  an  inheritance. 

5  f  When  a  man  hath  taken  a  new  wife,  he 
shall  not  go  out  to  war,  s  neither  shall  he  be 
charged  with  any  business  :  hut  he  shall  be 
free  at  home  one  year,  and  shall  11  cheer  up 
his  wife  which  he  hath  taken. 

c  Heb.  cutting  off. - -d  Lev.  xxi.  7, 14  ;  xxii.  13  ;  Num.  xxx.  9. 

e  Jer.  iii.  1. - f  Chap.  xx.  7. - s  Heb.  not  any  thing  shall  pass 

upon  him. - h  Prov.  v.  1 8. 

Verse  3.  And  write  her  a  bill  of  divorcement]  These 
bills,  though  varying  in  expression,  are  the  same  in 
substance  among  the  Jews  in  all  places.  The  follow¬ 
ing,  collected  from  Maimonides  and  others,  is  a  gene¬ 
ral  form,  and  contains  all  the  particulars  of  such  in¬ 
struments.  The  reader  who  is  curious  may  find  a  full 
account  of  divorces  in  the  Biblioth.  Rab.  of  Bartolocci, 
and  the  following  form  in  that  work,  vol.  iv.,  p.  550. 

“  In  -  day  of  the  week,  or  -  day  of  the 

month  A.,  in - year  from  the  creation  of  the  world, 

or  from  the  supputation  (of  Alexander)  after  the  ac¬ 
count  that  we  are  accustomed  to  count  by,  here,  in  the 
place  B.,  I,  C.,  the  son  of  D.,  of  the  place  B.,  (or  if 
there  be  any  other  name  which  I  have,  or  my  father 
hath  had,  or  which  my  place  or  my  father’s  place  hath 
had,)  have  voluntarily,  and  with  the  willingness  of  my 
soul,  without  constraint,  dismissed,  and  left,  and  put 
away  thee,  even  thee,  E.,  the  daughter  of  F.,  of  the 
city  G.,  (or  if  thou  have  any  other  name  or  surname , 
thou  or  thy  father,  or  thy  place  or  thy  father’s  place,) 
who  hast  been  my  wife  heretofore ;  but  now  I  dismiss 
thee,  and  leave  thee,  and  put  thee  away,  that  thou 
mayest  be  free,  and  have  power  over  thy  own  life,  to 
go  away  to  be  married  to  any  man  whom  thou  wilt; 
and  that  r.o  man  be  refused  of  thine  hand,  for  my 
name,  from  this  day  and  for  ever.  And  thus  thou  art 
lawful  for  any  man  ;  and  this  is  unto  thee,  from  me,  a 
writing  of  divorcement,  and  book  ( instrument )  of  dis¬ 
mission,  and  an  epistle  of  putting  away ;  according  to 
the  Law  of  Moses  and  Israel. 

A.,  son  of  B.,  witness. 

C.,  son  of  D.,  witness.” 

Verse  4.  She  is  defiled]  Does  not  this  refer  to  her 
having  been  divorced,  and  married  in  consequence  to 

a 


6  No  man  shall  take  the  nether  a.  M.  2o53. 

,  ...  .  .  B.  C  1451. 

or  the  upper  mill-stone  to  pledge  :  An.  Ex.  isr.  40. 

for  he  taketh  a  man's  life  to  Sob<it‘  _ _ 

pledge. 

7  1  If  a  man  be  found  stealing  any  of  his 
brethren  of  the  children  of  Israel,  and  maketh 
merchandise  of  him,  or  selleth  him  ;  then  that 
thief  shall  die  ;  k  and  thou  shalt  put  evil  away 
from  among  you. 

8  Take  heed  in  1  the  plague  of  leprosy,  that 
thou  observe  diligently,  and  do  according  to 
all  that  the  priests  the  Levites  shall  teach 
you  :  as  I  commanded  them,  so  ye  shall  ob¬ 
serve  to  do. 

9  m  Remember  what  the  Lord  thy  God  did 
n  unto  Miriam  by  the  way,  after  that  ye  were 
come  forth  out  of  Egypt. 

1 0  When  thou  dost  0  lend  thy  brother  any 
thing,  thou  shalt  not  go  into  his  house  to  fetch 
his  pledge. 

1 1  Thou  shalt  stand  abroad,  and  the  man  to 

‘  Exod.  xxi.  16. — — k  Chap.  xix.  19. - 1  Lev.  xiii.  2  ;  xiv.  2. 

ra  See  Luke  xvii.  32  ;  1  Cor.  x.  6. - n  Nutn.  xii.  10. - °Heb. 

lend  the  loan  of  any  thing  to,  &c. 

another1?  Though  God,  for  the  hardness  of  their  hearts, 
suffered  them  to  put  away  their  wives,  yet  he  consi¬ 
dered  all  after-marriages  in  that  case  to  be  pollution 
and  defilement ;  and  it  is  on  this  ground  that  our  Lord 
argues  in  the  places  referred  to  above,  that  whoever 
marries  the  woman  that  is  put  away  is  an  adulterer  : 
now  this  could  not  have  been  the  case  if  God  had 
allowed  the  divorce  to  be  a  legal  and  proper  separation 
of  the  man  from  his  wife ;  but  in  the  sight  of  God 
nothing  can  be  a  legal  cause  of  separation  but  adul¬ 
tery  on  either  side.  In  such  a  case,  according  to  the 
law  of  God,  a  man  may  put  away  his  wife,  and  a  wife 
may  put  away  her  husband  ;  (see  Matt.  xix.  9  ;)  for  it 
appears  that  the  wife  had  as  much  right  to  put  away 
her  husband  as  the  husband  had  to  put  away  his  wife, 
see  Mark  x.  12. 

Verse  5.  When  a  man  hath  taken  a  new  ivife]  Other 
people  made  a  similar  provision  for  such  circum¬ 
stances.  Alexander  ordered  those  of  his  soldiers  who 
had  married  that  year  to  spend  the  winter  wfith  their 
wives,  while  the  army  was  in  winter  quarters.  See 
Arrian,  lib.  i. 

Verse  6.  The  nether  or  the  upper  mill- stone]  Small 
hand-mills  which  can  be  worked  by  a  single  person 
were  formerly  in  use  among  the  Jews,  and  are  still 
used  in  many  parts  of  the  East.  As  therefore  the  dav’s 
meal  was  generally  ground  for  each  day,  they  keeping 
no  stock  beforehand,  hence  they  were  forbiaden  to 
take  either  of  the  stones  to  pledge,  because  in 
such  a  case  the  family  must  be  without  bread.  On 
this  account  the  text  terms  the  mill-stone  the 
mans  life. 

Verses  8,9.  The  plague  of  leprosy]  See  on  Lev. 
xiii.  and  xiv. 


797 


Laws  against  oppression , 

a.  M.  2553.  whom  thou  dost  lend  shall  bring 

B.  C.  1451.  a 

An.  Ex.  isr.  40.  out  the  pledge  abroad  unto  thee. 

Sebat"  12  And  if  the  man  be  poor, 

thou  shalt  not  sleep  with  his  pledge  : 

13  p  In  any  case  thou  shalt  deliver  him  the 
pledge  again  w7hen  the  sun  goeth  down,  that 
he  may  sleep  in  his  own  raiment,  and  q  bless 
thee  :  and  r  it  shall  be  righteousness  unto  thee 
before  the  Lord  thy  God. 

14  Thou  shalt  not  s  oppress  a  hired  servant 
that  is  poor  and  needy,  whether  he  be  of  thy 
brethren,  or  of  thy  strangers  that  ore  in  thy 
land  within  thy  gates  : 

.15  At  his  day  t  thou  shalt  give  him,  his  hire, 
neither  shall  the  sun  go  down  upon  it ;  for  he 
is  poor,  and  u  setteth  his  heart  upon  it :  v  lest 
he  cry  against  thee  unto  the  Lord,  and  it  be 
sin  unto  thee. 

1 6  w  The  fathers  shall  not  be  put  to  death 
for  the  children,  neither  shall  the  children  be 
put  to  death  for  the  fathers:  every  man  shall 
be  put  to  death  for  his  own  sin. 

17  x  Thou  shalt  not  pervert  the  judg¬ 
ment  of  the  stranger,  nor  of  the  fatherless  ; 


unkindness,  cruelty,  tyc 

y  nor  take  the  widow’s  raiment  to  A.  M.  2553. 

.  .  B.  C.  1451. 

pledge:  An.  Ex.  Isr.  40. 

1 8  But  z  thou  shalt  remember  Sebat' 
that  thou  wast  a  bondman  in  Egypt,  and  the 
Lord  thy  God  redeemed  thee  thence  :  there* 
fore  I  command  thee  to  do  this  thing. 

19  a  When  thou  cuttest  down  thine  harvest 
in  thy  held,  and  hast  forgot  a  sheaf  in  the 
held,  thou  shalt  not  go  again  to  fetch  it :  it 
shall  be  for  the  stranger,  for  the  fatherless, 
and  for  the  widow  :  that  the  Lord  thy  God 
may  b  bless  thee  in  all  the  work  of  thine 
hands. 

20  When  thou  beatest  thine  olive  tree,  c  thou 
shalt  not  go  over  the  boughs  again :  it  shall 
be  for  the  stranger,  for  the  fatherless,  and  for 
the  widow. 

2 1  When  thou  gatherest  the  grapes  of  thy 
vineyard,  thou  shalt  not  glean  it  d  afterward  : 
it  shall  be  for  the  stranger,  for  the  fatherless, 
and  for  the  widow. 

22  And  e  thou  shalt  remember  that  thou  wast 
a  bondman  in  the  land  of  Egypt :  therefore  I 
command  thee  to  do  this  thing. 


DEUTERONOMY. 


PExod.  xxii.  26. - 4  Job  xxix.  11,  13  ;  xxxi.  20;  2  Cor.  ix. 

13;  2  Tim.  i.  18. - rChap.  vi.  25 ;  Psa.cvi.  31;  cxii.  9;  Dan. 

iv.  27. - s  Mai.  iii.  5. - t  Ley.  xix.  13  ;  Jer.  xxii.  13  ;  Tob.  iv. 

14;  James  v.  4. - u  Heb.  lifteth  his  soul  unto  it;  Psa.  xxv.  1  ; 

ixxxvi.  4. - v  James  v.  4. - w2  Kings  xiv.  6;  2  Chron.  xxv.  4  ; 

Jer.  xxxi.  29,  30  ;  Ezek.  xviii.  20. 

Yerse  12.  And  if  the  man  be  poor,  6fc. ]  Did  not 
this  law  preclude  pledging1  entirely ,  especially  in  case 
of  the  abjectly  poor  1  For  who  would  take  a  pledge 
in  the  morning  which  he  knew",  if  not  redeemed,  he 
must  restore  at  night  1  However,  he  might  resume  his 
claim  in  the  morning,  and  have  the  pledge  daily  re¬ 
turned,  and  thus  keep  up  his  property  in  it  till  the  debt 
was  discharged;  see  the  note  on  Exod.  xxii.  26.  The 
Jews  in  several  cases  did  act  contrary  to  this  rule, 
and  we  find  them  cuttingly  reproved  for  it  by  the  Pro¬ 
phet  Amos,  chap.  ii.  8. 

Yerse  15.  He  is  poor ,  and  setteth  his  heart  upon  it] 
How  exceedingly  natural  is  this !  The  poor  servant 
who  seldom  sees  money,  yet  finds  from  his  master’s 
affluence  that  it  procures  all  the  conveniences  and 
comforts  of  life,  longs  for  the  time  when  he  shall  re¬ 
ceive  his  wages ;  should  his  pay  be  delayed  after  the 
time  is  expired,  he  may  naturally  be  expected  to  cry 
unto  God  against  him  who  withholds  it.  See  most 
of  these  subjects  treated  at  large  on  Exod.  xxii. 
21-27. 

Yerse  16.  The  fathers  shall  not  be  put  to  death  for 

798 


x  Exodus  xxii.  21,  22  ;  Prov.  xxii.  22  ;  Isa.  i.  23  ;  Jer.  v.  28  ; 

xxii.  3  ;  Ezek.  xxii.  29  ;  Zech.  vii.  10  ;  Mai.  iii.  5. - r  Exod. 

xxii.  26. - z  Verse  22;  chap.  xvi.  12. - aLev.  xix.  9,  10; 

xxiii.  22. - b  Chapter  xv.  10;  Psa.  xli.  1  ;  Proverbs  xix.  17. 

c  Heb.  thou  shalt  not  bough  it  after  thee. - d  Hebrew,  after  thee. 

e  Verse  18. 

the  children ,  tfc.]  This  law  is  explained  and  illustrated 
in  sufficient  detail,  Ezek.  xviii. 

Yerse  18.  Thou  shalt  remember  that  thou  roast  a 
bondman ]  Most  people  who  have  affluence  rose  from 
comparative  penury,  for  those  wTho  are  born  to  estates 
frequently  squander  them  away;  such  therefore  should 
remember  what  their  feelings,  their  fears,  and  anxieties 
were,  wffien  they  were  poor  and  abject.  A  want  of 
attention  to  this  most  wholesome  precept  is  the  reason 
why  pride  and  arrogance  are  the  general  characteris¬ 
tics  of  those  who  have  risen  in  the  world  from  poverty 
to  affluence  ;  and  it  is  the  conduct  of  those  men  which 
gave  rise  to  the  rugged  proverb,  “  Set  a  beggar  on 
horseback,  and  he  will  ride  to  the  devil.” 

Yerse  19.  When  thou  cuttest  doron  thine  harvest] 
This  is  an  addition  to  the  law,  Lev.  xix.  9  ;  xxiii.  22. 
The  corners  of  the  field,  the  gleanings ,  and  the  for¬ 
gotten  sheaf ,  were  all  the  property  of  the  poor.  This 
the  Hebrews  extended  to  any  part  of  the  fruit  or  pro¬ 
duce  of  a  field,  which  had  been  forgotten  in  the  time 
of  general  ingathering,  as  appears  from  the  concluding 
verses  of  this  chapter. 


a 


Of  punishment 


CHAP.  XXV. 


by  whipping. 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

Punishment  by  whipping  not  to  exceed  forty  stripes ,  1—3.  The  ox  that  treads  out  the  com  is  not  to  be  muz¬ 
zled ,  4.  7 he  ordinance  concerning  marrying  theivife  of  that  brother  who  has  died  childless ,  5—10.  Of 

the  woman  loho  acts  indecently  in  succouring  her  husband ,  11,  12.  Of  false  weights  and  measures,  13—16. 


Amalek  is  to  be  destroyed ,  17—19. 

A.  M.  2553.  TF  there  be  a  a  controversy  be- 
An.  Ex.  isr.  40.  tween  men,  and  they  come 
k  c  ,a  '  unto  judgment,  that  the  judges 
may  judge  them  ;  then  they  b  shall  justify  the 
righteous,  and  condemn  the  wicked. 

2  And  it  shall  be,  if  the  wicked  man  be 
0  worthy  to  be  beaten,  that  the  judge  shall  cause 

aChap.  xix.  17  ;  Ezek.  xliv.  24. - b  See  Prov.  xvii.  15. 

NOTES  ON  CHAP.  XXV. 

Verse  1.  They  shall  justify  the  righteous ]  This  is 
a  very  important  passage,  and  is  a  key  to  several 
others.  The  word  p"li*  tsadak  is  used  here  precisely 
in  the  same  sense  in  which  St.  Paul  sometimes  uses 
the  corresponding  word  c )inaio(o,  not  to  justify  or  make 
just ,  but  to  acquit ,  declare  innocent ,  to  remit  punish¬ 
ment,  or  give  reasons  why  such  a  one  should  not  be 
punished;  so  here  the  magistrates  Ip’TVn  hitsdiku, 
shall  acquit ,  the  righteous — declare  him  innocent,  be¬ 
cause  he  is  found  to  be  righteous  and  not  ivicked :  so 
the  Septuagint :  nai  ducaioxjovcuv  top  dmaiov ,  they  shall 
make  righteous  the  righteous — declare  him  free  from 
blame,  not  liable  to  punishment,  acquitted  ;  using  the 
same  word  with  St.  Paul  when  he  speaks  of  a  sinner’s 
justification,  i.  e.,  his  acquittance  from  blame  and 
punishment,  because  of  the  death  of  Christ  in  his  stead. 

Verse  2.  The  judge  shall  cause  him  to  lie  down , 
and  to  be  beaten  before  his  face]  This  precept  is  lite¬ 
rally  followed  in  China  ;  the  culprit  receives  in  the  pre¬ 
sence  of  the  magistrate  the  punishment  which  the  law 
directs  to  be  inflicted.  Thus  then  justice  is  done,  for 
the  magistrate  sees  that  the  letter  of  the  law  is  duly 
fulfilled,  and  that  the  officers  do  not  transgress  it,  either 
by  indulgence  on  the  one  hand,  or  severity  on  the  other. 
The  culprit  receives  nothing  more  nor  less  than  what 
justice  requires. 

Verse  3.  Forty  stripes  he  may  give  him ,  and  not 
exceed]  According  to  God’s  institution  a  criminal  may 
receive  forty  stripes  ;  not  one  more  !  But  is  the  insti¬ 
tution  from  above  or  not ,  that  for  any  offence  sentences 
a  man  to  receive  three  hundred ,  yea,  a  thousand 
stripes  1  What  horrible  brutality  is  this  !  and  what  a 
reproach  to  human  nature,  and  to  the  nation  in  which 
such  shocking  barbarities  are  exercised  and  tolerated  ! 
Most  of  the  inhabitants  of  Great  Britain  have  heard 
of  Lord  Macartney's  embassy  to  the  emperor  of  China , 
and  they  have  also  heard  of  its  complete  failure  ;  but 
they  have  not  heard  the  cause.  It  appears  to  have 
been  partly  occasioned  by  the  following  circumstance : 
A  soldier  had  been  convicted  of  some  petty  traffic  with 
one  of  the  natives,  and  he  was  sentenced  by  a  court- 
martial  to  receive  sixty  lashes  !  Hear  my  author  : 

“  The  soldiers  were  drawn  up  in  form  in  the  outer 
court  of  the  palace  where  we  resided ;  and  the  poor 

a 


him  to  lie  down,d  and  to  be  beaten  A.  M.  2553. 

,  r  .  •  r  ,  .  B.  C.  1451. 

betore  Ins  lace,  according  to  ms  An.  Ex.  isr.  40. 

fault,  by  a  certain  number.  Sebat~ 

3  e  Forty  stripes  he  may  give  him,  and  not 

exceed  :  lest,  if  he  should  exceed,  and  beat 

him  above  these,  with  many  stripes,  then  thy 

brother  should  f  seem  vile  unto  thee. 

c  Luke  xii.  48. - d  Matt.  x.  17. - e  2  Cor.  xi.  24. - f  Job  xviii.  3. 


culprit,  being  fastened  to  one  of  the  pillars  of  the  great 
portico,  received  his  punishment  without  mitigation. 
The  abhorrence  excited  in  the  breasts  of  the  Chinese 
at  this  cruel  conduct,  as  it  appeared  to  them,  was  de¬ 
monstrably  proved  by  their  words  and  looks.  They 
expressed  their  astonishment  that  a  people  professing 
the  mildest,  the  most  benevolent  religion  on  earth,  as 
they  wished  to  have  it  believed,  could  be  guilty  of 
such  flagrant  inattention  to  its  merciful  dictates.  One 
of  the  principal  Mandarins,  who  knew  a  little  English, 
expressed  the  general  sentiment,  Englishmen  too  much 
cruel ,  too  much  bad." — ^Accurate  account  of  Lord 
Macartney’s  Embassy  to  China,  by  an  attendant  on  the 
embassy,  12mo.,  1797,  p.  88. 

The  following  is  Mr.  Ainsworth’s  note  on  this  verse  : 
“  This  number  forty  the  Scripture  uses  sundry  times 
in  cases  of  humiliation,  affliction,  and  punishment.  As 
Moses  twice  humbled  himself  in  fasting  and  prayer 
forty  days  and  forty  nights,  Deut.  ix.  9,  18.  Elijah 
fasted  forty  days,  1  Kings  xix.  8  ;  and  our  Saviour, 
Matt.  iv.  2.  Forty  years  Israel  was  afflicted  in  the 
wilderness  for  their  sins,  Num.  xiv.  33,  34.  And  forty 
years  Egypt  was  desolate  for  treacherous  dealing  with 
Israel ,  Ezek.  xxix.  11—13.  Forty  days  every  wo¬ 
man  was  in  purification  from  her  uncleanness  for  a 
man-child  that  she  bare,  and  twice  forty  days  for  a 
woman-child,  Lev.  xii.  4,  5.  Forty  days  and  forty 
nights  it  rained  at  Noah’s  flood,  Gen.  vii.  12.  Forty 
days  did  Ezekiel  bear  the  iniquity  of  the  house  of  Ju¬ 
dah ,  Ezek.  iv.  6.  Jonah  preached,  Yet  forty  days 
and  Nineveh  shall  be  overthrown ,  Jonah  iii.  4.  Forty 
years’  space  the  Canaanites  had  to  repent  after  Israel 
came  out  of  Egypt ,  and  wandered  so  many  years  in 
the  wilderness,  Num.  xiv.  33.  And  thrice  forty  years 
the  old  world  had  Noah  preaching  unto  them  repent¬ 
ance,  Gen.  vi.  3.  It  was  forty  days  ere  Christ  as¬ 
cended  into  heaven  after  his  resurrection,  Acts  i.  3,9, 
And  forty  years’  space  he  gave  unto  the  Jews,  from 
the  time  that  they  killed  him,  before  he  destroyed  their 
city  and  temple  by  the  Romans. 

“  By  the  Hebrews  this  law  is  expounded  thus  :  Hoio 
many  stripes  do  they  beat  (an  offender)  with  1  With 
forty,  lacking  one  :  as  it  is  written,  (Deut.  xxv.  2,  3,) 
by  number  forty,  that  is,  the  number  which  is  next  to 
forty,  Talmud  Bab ,  in  Maccoth ,  chap.  iii.  This  their 

799 


Of  marriage  with  the  wife 


DEUTERONOMY. 


of  a  deceased  brother . 


a.  M.  2553.  4  e  Thou  shall  not  muzzle  the 

An.  Ex.  isr.  40.  ox  when  lie  11  treadeth  out  the 
Sebat.  _ _ _ 

_________  corn . 


5  1  If  brethren  dwell  together,  and  one  of 
them  die,  and  have  no  child,  the  wife  of  the 
dead  shall  not  marry  without,  unto  a  stranger  : 
her  k  husband’s  brother  shall  go  in  unto  her, 
and  take  her  to  him  to  wife,  and  perform  the 
duty  of  a  husband’s  brother  unto  her. 

6  Andjt  shall  be,  that  the  first-born  which 
she  beareth  1  shall  succeed  in  the  name  of  his 
brother  which  is  dead,  that  m  his  name  be  not 
put  out  of  Israel. 

7  And  if  the  man  like  not  to  take  his  11  bro¬ 
ther’s  wife,  then  let  his  brother’s  wife  go  up  to 
the  0  gate  unto  the  elders,  and  say,  My  hus- 

£  Prov.  xii.  10  ;  1  Cor.  ix.  9  ;  1  Tim.  v.  18. - h  Heb.  thresheth ; 

Hos.  x.  11. - *  Matt.  xxii.  24;  Mark  xii.  19;  Luke  xx.  28. 

k  Or,  next  kinsman;  Gen.  xxxviii.  8  ;  Ruth  i.  12, 13  ;  iii.  9. 


band  s  brother  refuseth  to  raise  A.  M.  2553. 

,  .  .  .  B.  C.  1451. 

up  unto  his  brother  a  name  in  An.  Ex.  isr.  40. 

Israel,  he  will  not  perform  the  Sebat' 


duty  of  my  husband’s  brother. 

8  Then  the  elders  of  his  city  shall  call  him, 
and  speak  unto  him  :  and  if  he  stand  to  it , 
and  say,  P  I  like  not  to  take  her ; 

9  Then  shall  his  brother’s  wife  come  unto 
him  in  the  presence  of  the  elders,  and  q  loose 
his  shoe  from  off  his  foot,  and  spit  in  his  face, 
and  shall  answer  and  say,  So  shall  it  be  done 
unto  that  man  that  will  not  r  build  up  his  bro¬ 
ther’s  house. 

10  And  his  name  shall  be  called  in  Israel, 
The  house  of  him  that  hath  his  shoe  loosed. 

1 1  When  men  strive  together  one  with  an- 


1  Gen.  xxxviii.  9. 

wife. - 0  Ruth  iv.  1, 

r  Ruth  iv.  11. 


-mRuth  iv.  10. 


-n  Or,  next  kinsman's 
•P  Ruth.  iv.  6. - 3  Ruth  iv.  7. 


understanding  is  very  ancient,  for  so  they  practised  in 
the  apostles’  days  ;  as  Paul  testified  :  Of  the  Jews  five 
times  received  I  forty  (stripes)  save  one ;  2  Cor.  xi. 
24.  But  the  reason  which  they  give  is  not  solid; 
as  when  they  say,  If  it  had  been  written  forty  in 
number,  I  would  say  it  were  full  forty  ;  but  being 
written ,  in  number  forty,  it  means  the  number  which 
reckons  forty  next  after  it,  that  is,  thirty-nine.  By 
this  exposition  they  confound  the  verses  and  take  away 
the  distinction.  I  rather  think  this  custom  was  taken 
up  by  reason  of  the  manner  of  their  beating  forespoken 
of,  which  was  with  a  scourge  that  had  three  cords,  so 
that  every  stroke  was  counted  for  three  stripes,  and 
then  they  could  not  give  even  forty,  but  either  thirty- 
nine  or  forty-two,  which  was  above  the  number  set  of 
God.  And  hereof  they  write  thus  :  When  they  judge 
(or  condemn)  a  sinner  to  so  many  ( stripes )  as  he  can 
bear ,  they  judge  not  but  by  strokes  that  are  fit  to  be 
trebled  [that  is,  to  give  three  stripes  to  one  stroke,  by 
reason  of  the  three  cords.]  If  they  judge  that  he  can 
bear  twenty ,  they  do  not  say  he  shall  be  beaten  with 
one  and  twenty ,  to  the  end  that  they  may  treble  the 
stripes ,  but  they  give  him  eighteen. — Maimon  in  San¬ 
hedrin,  chap,  xvii.,  sec.  2.  Thus  he  that  was  able  to 
bear  twenty  stripes,  had  but  eighteen  :  the  executioner 
smote  him  but  six  times,  for  if  he  had  smitten  him  the 
seventh  they  were  counted  one  and  twenty  stripes, 
which  was  above  the  number  adjudged  :  so  he  that 
was  adjudged  to  forty  was  smitten  thirteen  times, 
which  being  counted  one  for  three,  make  thirty-nine. 
And  so  R.  Bechaios,  writing  hereof,  says,  The  strokes 
are  trebled ;  that  is,  every  one  is  three,  and  three 
times  thirteen  are  nine  and  thirty.” 

Thy  brother  be  vile,  or  be  contemptible . — By  this 
God  teaches  us  to  hate  and  despise  the  sin,  not  the 
sinner,  who  is  by  this  chastisement  to  be  amended  ;  as 
the  power  which  the  Lord  hath  given  is  to  edification, 
not  to  destruction ,  2  Cor.  xiii.  10. 

Yerse  4.  Thou  shalt  not  muzzle  the  ox,  df-c.]  In 
Judea,  as  well  as  in  Egypt,  Greece,  and  Italy,  they 

800 


make  use  of  beeves  to  tread  out  the  corn  ;  and  Dr. 
Shaw  tells  us  that  the  people  of  Barbary  continue  to 
tread  out  their  corn  after  the  custom  of  the  East.  In¬ 
stead  of  beeves  they  frequently  made  use  of  mules  and 
horses,  by  tying  by  the  neck  three  or  four  in  like  man¬ 
ner  together,  and  whipping  them  afterwards  round 
about  the  nedders ,  as  they  call  the  treading  floors,  (the 
Libycae  areas  Hor,)  where  the  sheaves  lie  open  and 
expanded,  in  the  same  manner  as  they  are  placed  and 
prepared  with  us  for  threshing.  This  indeed  is  a 
much  quicker  way  than  ours,  though  less  cleanly,  for 
as  it  is  performed  in  the  open  air,  (Hos.  xiii.  3,)  upon 
any  round  level  plot  of  ground,  daubed  over  with  cow’s 
dung  to  prevent  as  much  as  possible  the  earth,  sand, 
or  gravel  from  rising ;  a  great  quantity  of  them  all, 
notwithstanding  this  precaution,  must  unavoidably  be 
taken  up  with  the  grain,  at  the  same  time  that  the 
straw,  which  is  their  chief  and  only  fodder,  is  hereby 
shattered  to  pieces ;  a  circumstance  very  pertinently 
alluded  to  in  2  Kings  xiii.  7,  where  the  king  of  Syria 
is  said  to  have  made  the  Israelites  like  the  dust  by 
threshing. — Travels,  p.  138.  While  the  oxen  were 
at  work  some  muzzled  their  mouths  to  hinder  them 
from  eating  the  corn,  which  Moses  here  forbids,  in¬ 
structing  the  people  by  this  symbolical  precept  to  be 
kind  to  their  servants  and  labourers,  but  especially  to 
those  who  ministered  to  them  in  holy  things ;  so  St. 
Paul  applies  it  1  Cor.  ix.  9,  &c.  ;  1  Tim.  v.  18.  Le 
Clerc  considers  the  injunction  as  wholly  symbolical ; 
and  perhaps  in  this  view  it  was  intended  to  confirm 
the  lawys  enjoined  in  the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth  verses 
of  the  former  chapter.  See  Dodd  and  Shaw. 

In  Bengal,  where  the  same  mode  of  treading  out  the 
corn  is  used,  some  muzzle  the  ox,  and  others  do  not, 
according  to  the  disposition  of  the  farmer. — Ward. 

Yerse  9.  And  loose  his  shoe ]  It  is  difficult  to  find 
the  reason  of  these  ceremonies  of  degradation.  Perhaps 
the  shoe  was  the  emblem  of  power ;  and  by  stripping  it 
off,  deprivation  of  that  power  and  authority  was  repre¬ 
sented.  Spitting  in  the  face  was  a  mark  of  the  utmost 

a 


CHAP.  XXVI. 


First-fruits  must  be 


offered  to  God. 


A.  M.  2553.  other,  and  the  wife  of  the  one 
An.  Ex.  isr.  40.  draweth  near  for  to  deliver  her 
Sel>at‘  husband  out  of  the  hand  of  him 
that  smiteth  him,  and  putteth  forth  her  hand, 
and  taketh  him  by  the  secrets  : 

1 2  Then  thou  shalt  cut  off  her  hand,  s  thine 
eye  shall  not  pity  her. 

1 3  1  Thou  shalt  not  have  in  thy  bag  u  divers 
weights,  a  great  and  a  small. 

14  Thou  shalt  not  have  in  thine  house 
v  divers  measures,  a  great  and  a  small. 

15  But  thou  shalt  have  a  perfect  and  just 
weight,  a  perfect  and  just  measure  shalt  thou 
have  :  w  that  thy  days  maybe  lengthened  in  the 
land  which  the  Lord  thy  God  giveth  thee. 

16  For  1  all  that  do  such  things,  and  all  that 


do  unrighteously,  are  an  abomi¬ 
nation  unto  the  Lord  thy  God. 
17  y  Remember  what  Amalek 


A.  M.  2553 

B.  C.  1451 
An.  Ex.  Isr.  40 

Sebat. 


did  unto  thee  by  the  way,  when  ye  were  come 
forth  out  of  Egypt ; 

1 8  How  he  met  thee  by  the  way,  and  smote 
the  hindmost  of  thee,  even  all  that  were  feeble 
behind  thee,  when  thou  wast  faint  and  weary  ; 
and  he  z  feared  not  God. 

1 9  Therefore  it  shall  be,  a  when-  the  Lord 
thy  God  hath  given  thee  rest  from  all  thine 
enemies  round  about,  in  the  land  which  the 
Lord  thy  God  giveth  the  for  an  inheritance, 
to  possess  it,  that  thou  shalt  b  blot  out  the  re¬ 
membrance  of  Amalek  from  under  heaven  : 
thou  shalt  not  forget  it. 


8  Chap.  xix.  13. - 1  Lev.  xix.  35,  36  ;  Prov.  xi.  1 ;  Ezek.  xlv. 

10;  Mic.  vi.  11. - uHeb.  a  stone  and  a  stone. - vHeb.  an 

ephah  and  an  ephah. 


w  Exod.  xx.  12. - x  Prov.  xi.  1 ;  1  Thess.  iv.  6. - r  Exod. 

xvii.  8. - z  Psa.  xxxvi.  1  ;  Prov.  xvi.  6  ;  Rom.  iii.  18. - a  1  Sam. 

xv.  3. - b  Exod.  xvii.  14. 


ignominy  ;  but  the  Jews,  who  are  legitimate  judges  in 
this  case,  say  that  the  spitting  was  not  in  his  face,  but 
before  his  face  on  the  ground.  And  this  is  the  way 
in  which  the  Asiatics  express  their  detestation  of  a 
pertmn  to  the  present  day,  as  Niebuhr  and  other  intel¬ 
ligent  travellers  assure  us.  It  has  been  remarked  that 
the  prefix  2  belli  is  seldom  applied  to  'J*)  peney ;  but 
when  it  is  it  signifies  as  well  before  as  in  the  face. 
See.  Josh.  xxi.  44  ;  xxiii.  9  ;  Esther  ix.  2  ;  and  Ezek. 
xlii.  12  ;  which  texts  are  supposed  to  be  proofs  in 
point.  The  act  of  spitting,  whether  in  or  before  the 
face,  marked  the  strong  contempt  the  woman  felt  for 
the  man  who  had  slighted  her.  And  it  appears  that 
the  man  was  ever  after  disgraced  in  Israel ;  for  so 
much  is  certainly  implied  in  the  saying,  ver.  10  :  And 
his  name  shall  be  called  in  Israel ,  The  house  of  him 
that  hath  his  shoe  loosed. 

Verse  13.  Divers  weights]  pNI  pK  eben  vaaben,  a 
stone  and  a  stone ,  because  the  weights  were  anciently 
made  of  stone,  and  some  had  two  sets  of  stones,  a 
light  and  a  heavy.  With  the  latter  they  bought  their 
wares,  by  the  former  they  sold  them.  In  our  own 


country  this  was  once  a  common  case  ;  smooth,  round, 
or  oval  stones  were  generally  chosen  by  the  simple 
country  people  for  selling  their  wares,  especially  such 
as  were  sold  in  pounds  and  half  pounds.  And  hence 
the  term  a  stone  weight ,  which  is  still  in  use,  though 
lead  or  iron  be  the  matter  that  is  used  as  a  counter¬ 
poise  :  but  the  name  itself  shows  us  that  a  stone  of  a 
certain  weight  was  the  material  formerly  used  as  a 
weight.  See  the  notes  on  Lev.  xix.  35,  36. 

Verse  14.  Divers  measures ]  Literally,  an  ephah 
and  an  ephah ;  one  large ,  to  buy  thy  neighbour’s 
wares,  another  small ,  to  sell  thy  own  by.  So 
there  were  knaves  in  all  ages,  and  among  all  na¬ 
tions.  See  the  notes  on  Exod.  xvi.  16,  and  Lev. 
xix.  35. 

Verse  18.  Smote  the  hindmost  of  thee\  See  the  note 
on  Exod.  xvii.  8.  It  is  supposed  that  this  command 
had  its  final  accomplishment  in  the  death  of  Haman 
and  his  ten  sons,  Esth.  iii.,  vii.,  ix.,  as  from  this  time 
the  memory  and  name  of  Amalek  was  blotted  out  from 
under  heaven,  for  through  every  period  of  their  history 
it  might  be  truly  said,  They  feared  not  God. 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 


First-fruits  must  be  offered  to  God ,  1,  2.  The  form  of  confession  to  be  used  on  the  occasion,  3-11.  The 
chird  year's  tithe  to  be  given  to  the  Levites  and  the  poor ,  12,  and  the  form  of  confession  to  be  used  on  this 
occasion ,  13—15.  The  Israelites  are  to  take  Jehovah  for  their  God ,  and  to  keep  his  testimonies ,  16,  17. 
And  Jehovah  is  to  take  them  for  his  people ,  and  make  them  high  above  all  the  nations  of  the  earth ,  18,  19. 


A.  M.  2553.  A  ND  it  shall  be,  when  thou  art 

B.  C.  1451.  JL\.  .  ,  ,  ,  1  . 

An.  Ex.  isr.  40.  come  in  unto  the  land  which 

Sebat~  the  Lord  thy  God  giveth  thee 


for  an  inheritance,  and  pos-  A.  M.  2553. 

-  .  .  B.  U.  1451. 

sessest  it,  and  dwellest  therein  ;  An.  Ex.  isr.  40. 
2  a  That  thou  shalt  take  of  the  Sebat’ 


aExod.  xxiii.  19  ;  xxxiv.  26  ;  Num.  xviii.  13  ; 


chap.  xvi.  10  ;  Prov.  iii.  9. 


NOTES  ON  CHAP.  XXVI. 

Verse  2.  Thou  shalt  take  of  the  first  of  all  the  fruit , 
This  was  intended  to  keep  them  in  continual 

Vol  I.  (  52  ) 


remembrance  of  the  kindness  of  God,  in  preserving 
them  through  so  many  difficulties  and  literally  ful¬ 
filling  the  promises  he  had  made  to  them.  God  being 

801 


DEUTERONOMY. 


The  confession  to  he  made 

A.  M.  2553.  first  of  all  the  fruit  of  the  earth, 
An.  Ex.  isr.  40.  which  thou  shalt  bring  of  thy 
Sebat‘  land  that  the  Lord  thy  Godgiveth 
thee,  and  shalt  put  it  in  a  basket,  and  shalt 
b  go  unto  the  place  which  the  Lord  thy  God 
shall  choose,  to  place  his  name  there. 

3  And  thou  shalt  go  unto  the  priest  that 
shall  be  in  those  days,  and  say  unto  him,  I 
profess  this  day  unto  the  Lord  thy  God, 
that  I  am  come  unto  the  country  which  the 
Lord  sware  unto  our  fathers  for  to  give  us. 

4  And  the  priest  shall  take  the  basket  out 
of  thine  hand,  and  set  it  down  before  the  altar 
of  the  Lord  thy  God. 

5  And  thou  shalt  speak,  and  say  before  the 
Lord  thy  God,  c  A  Syrian  d  ready  to  perish 
was  my  father,  and  e  he  went  down  into 
Egypt,  and  sojourned  there  with  a  f  few,  and 
became  there  a  nation,  great,  mighty,  and 
populous  : 

6  And  b  the  Egyptians  evil  entreated  us,  and 
afflicted  us,  and  laid  upon  us  hard  bondage  : 

7  And  h  when  we  cried  unto  the  Lord  God 
of  our  fathers,  the  Lord  heard  our  voice,  and 
looked  on  our  affliction,  and  our  labour,  and 
our  oppression. 

b  Chap.  xii.  5. - c  Hos.  xii.  12. - d  Gen.  xliii.  1, 2 ;  xlv.  7, 1 1. 

e  Gen.  xlvi.  1,  6;  Acts  vii.  15. - f  Gen.  xlvi.  27  ;  chap.  x.  22. 

s  Exod.  i.  11, 14. - h  Exod.  ii.  23,  24,  25  ;  iii.  9 ;  iv.  31. 

the  author  of  all  their  blessings,  the  first-fruits  of  the 
land  were  consecrated  to  him,  as  the  author  of  every 
good  and  perfect  gift. 

Verse  5.  A  Syrian  ready  to  perish  was  my  father] 
This  passage  has  been  variously  understood,  both  by 
the  ancient  versions  and  by  modern  commentators. 
The  Vulgate  renders  it  thus  :  Syrus  persequebatur 
patrern  meum,  “  A  Syrian  persecuted  my  father.” 
The  Septuagint  thus  :  'Lvpcav  aTreflahEv  b  Tcarrjp  pov, 
“  My  father  abandoned  Syria.”  The  Targum  thus  : 
arm  n1  imiKb  Kjn  TIKDIK  pb  Laban  arammaah  bea 
leobada  yath  abba ,  “  Laban  the  Syrian  endeavoured  to 
destroy  my  father.”  The  Syriac  :  “  My  father  was  led 
out  of  Syria  into  Egypt.”  The  Arabic  :  “  Surely,  La¬ 
ban  the  Syrian  had  almost  destroyed  my  father.”  The 
Targum  of  Jonathan  ben  TJzziel :  “  Our  father  Jacob 
went  at  first  into  Syria  of  Mesopotamia,  and  Laban 
sought  to  destroy  him.” 

Father  Houbigant  dissents  from  all,  and  renders  the 
original  thus  :  Fames  urgebat  patrern  meum ,  qui  in 
JEgyplum  descendit ,  “  Famine  oppressed  my  father, 
who  went  down  into  Egypt.”  This  interpretation 
Houbigant  gives  the  text.,  by  taking  the  '  yod  from  the 
word  ’DIN  arammi,  which  signifies  an  Aramile  or  Sy¬ 
rian,  and  joining  it  to  ‘ntt’  yeabud,  the  future  for  the 
perfect,  which  is  common  enough  in  Hebrew,  and 
which  may  signify  constrained ;  and  seeking  for  the 
meaning  of  DIK  aram  in  the  Arabic  arama ,  which 

802 


on  offering  the  first  fruits. 

8  And  1  the  Lord  brought  us  a.  m.  2553. 
forth  out  of  Egypt  with  a  mighty  An.’  Ex  isr.  40. 
hand,  and  with  an  outstretched  foebAt‘ 
arm,  and  k  with  great  terribleness,  and  with 
signs,  and  with  wonders  : 

9  And  he  hath  brought  us  into  this  place, 
and  hath  given  us  this  land,  even  1  a  land  that 
floweth  with  milk  and  honey. 

10  And  now,  behold,  I  have  brought  the 
first-fruits  of  the  land,  which  thou,  O  Lord, 
hast  given  me.  And  thou  shalt  set  it  before 
the  Lord  thy  God,  and  worship  before  the 
Lord  thy  God  : 

1 1  And  m  thou  shalt  rejoice  in  every  good 
thing  which  the  Lord  thy  God  hath  given 
unto  thee,  and  unto  thine  house,  thou,  and  the 
Levite,  and  the  stranger  that  is  among  you. 

12  When  thou  hast  made  an  end  of  tithing 
all  the  n  tithes  of  thine  increase  the  third  year, 
which  is  0  the  year  of  tithing,  and  hast  given 
it  unto  the  Levite,  the  stranger,  the  fatherless, 
and  the  widow,  that  they  may  eat  within  thy 
gates,  and  be  filled  ; 

1 3  Then  thou  shalt  say  before  the  Lord  thy 
God,  I  have  brought  away  the  hallowed  things 
out  of  mine  house,  and  also  have  given  them 

i  Exod.  xii.  37,  51  ;  xiii.  3,  14,  16  ;  chap.  v.  15. - k  Chap.  iv. 

34. - 1  Exod.  iii.  8. - m  Chap.  xii.  7, 12,  18  ;  xvi.  11. - nLev. 

xxvii.  30  ;  Num.  xviii.  24. - 0  Chap.  xiv.  28,  29. 

signifies  famine ,  dearth ,  &c.,  he  thus  makes  out  his 
version,  and  this  version  .he  defends  at  large  in  his 
notes.  It  is  pretty  evident,  from  the  text,  that  by  a 
Syrian  we  are  to  understand  Jacob ,  so  called  from  his 
long  residence  in  Syria  with  his  father-in-law  Laban. 
And  his  being  ready  to  perish  may  signify  the  hard 
usage  and  severe  labour  he  had  in  Laban’s  service,  by 
which,  as  his  health  was  much  impaired,  so  his  life 
might  have  often  been  in  imminent  danger. 

Verse  8.  With  a  mighty  hand ,  cfc. ]  See  on  Dent, 
iv.  34. 

Verse  11.  Thou  shalt  rejoice ]  God  intends  that  his 
followers  shall  be  happy ;  that  they  shall  eat  their 
bread  with  gladness  and  singleness  of  heart,  praising 
him.  Those  who  eat  their  meat  grudgingly,  under  the 
pretence  of  their  unworthiness ,  &c.,  profane  God’s 
bounties,  and  shall  have  no  thanks  for  their  voluntary 
humility. 

Thou ,  and  the  Levite ,  and  the  stranger ]  They  were 
to  take  care  to  share  God’s  bounties  among  all  those 
who  were  dependent  on  them.  The  Levite  has  no 
inheritance,  let  him  rejoice  with  thee.  The  stranger 
has  no  home,  let  him  feel  thee  to  be  his  friend  and  his 
father. 

Verse  12.  The  third  year ,  which  is  the  year  of 
tithing ]  This  is  supposed  to  mean  the  third  year  of 
the  seventh  or  Sabbatical  year,  in  which  the  tenths 
were  to  be  given  to  the  poor.  See  the  law,  chap. 

(  52*  ) 


a 


The  covenant  between 


CHAP.  XXVII. 


God  and  Israel 


a.  M.  2553.  unto  the  Levite,  and  unto  the 

An.  Ex.  isr.  40.  stranger,  to  the  fatherless,  and  to 
Sel)at~  the  widow,  according  to  all  thy 
commandments  which  thou  hast  commanded 
me  :•  I  have  not  transgressed  thy  command¬ 
ments,  p  neither  have  I  forgotten  them  : 

14  q  I  have  not  eaten  thereof  in  my  mourn¬ 
ing,  neither  have  I  taken  away  aught  thereof 
for  any  unclean  use ,  nor  given  aught  thereof 
for  the  dead  :  but  I  have  hearkened  to  the  voice 
of  the  Lord  my  God,  and  have  done  accord¬ 
ing  to  all  that  thou  hast  commanded  me. 

15  r  Look  down  from  thy  holy  habitation, 
from  heaven,  and  bless  thy  people  Israel,  and 
the  land  -which  thou  hast  given  us,  as  thou 
swarest  unto  our  fathers,  a  land  that  floweth 
with  milk  and  honey. 

16  This  day  the  Lord  thy  God  hath  com- 

PPsa.cxix.  141,  153,176. - TLev.vii.20  ;  xxi.l,  11  ;  Hos.  ix.4. 

rIsa.  lxiii.  15  ;  Zech.  ii.  13. - s  Exod.  xx.  19. - lExod.  vi.7;  xix. 

xiv.  28.  Bat  from  the  letter  in  both  these  places  it 
would  appear  that  the  tithe  was  for  the  Levites,  and 
that  this  tithe  was  drawn  only  once  in  three  years. 

Verse  14.  I  have  not — given  aught  thereof  for  the 
dead  ]  That  is,  I  have  not  consecrated  any  of  it  to  an 
idol ,  which  was  generally  a  dead  man  whom  supersti¬ 
tion  and  ignorance  had  deified.  From  1  Cor.  x.  27, 
28,  we  learn  that  it  was  customary  to  offer  that  flesh 
to  idols  which  was  afterwards  sold  publicly  in  the 
shambles  ;  probably  the  blood  was  poured  out  before 
the  idol  in  imitation  of  the  sacrifices  offered  to  the  true 
God.  Perhaps  the  text  here  alludes  to  a  similar  custom. 

Verse  17.  Thou  hast  avouched  the  Lord ]  The 
people  avouch — publicly  declare,  that  they  have  taken 
Jehovah  to  be  their  God. 

Verse  18.  And  the  Lord  hath  avouched ]  Publicly 
declared,  by  the  blessings  he  pours  down  upon  them, 
that  he  has  taken  them  to  be  his  peculiar  people. 
Thus  the  covenant  is  made  and  ratified  between  God 
and  his  followers. 

Verse  19.  Make  thee  high  above  all  nations]  It  is 
written,  Righteousness  exalteth  a  nation ,  but  sin  is  a 
reproach  to  any  people ,  Prov.  xiv.  34.  While  Israel 
regarded  God’s  word  and  kept  his  testimonies,  they 
were  the  greatest  and  most  respectable  of  all  nations ; 
but  when  they  forsook  God  and  his  law,  they  became 
the  most  contemptible.  O  Britain,  even  more  highly 
favoured  than  ancient  Israel !  learn  wisdom  by  what 
they  have  suffered.  It  is  not  thy  fleets  nor  thine  ar- 


manded  thee  to  do  these  statutes .  A.  M.  2553. 
and  judgments  :  thou  shalt  there-  An.  Ex.  isr.  40 
fore  keep  and  do  them  with  all  Sehat‘ 
thine  heart,  and  with  all  thy  soul. 

17  Thou  hast  s  avouched  the  Lord  this  day 
to  be  thy  God,  and  to  walk  in  his  ways,  and 
to  keep  his  statutes,  and  his  commandments, 
and  his  judgments,  and  to  hearken  unto  his 
voice  : 

18  And  Hhe  Lord  hath  avouched  thee  this 
day  to  be  his  peculiar  people,  as  he  hath  pro¬ 
mised  thee,  and  that  thou  shouldest  keep  all 
his  commandments  ; 

1 9  And  to  make  thee  u  high  above  all  nations 
which  he  hath  made,  in  praise,  and  in  name, 
and  in  honour  ;  and  that  thou  mayest  be  v  a 
holy  people  unto  the  Lord  thy  God,  as  he 
hath  spoken. 

5 ;  chap.  vii.  6 ;  xiv.  2 ;  xxviii.  9. - u  Ch.  iv.  7,  8  ;  xxviii.  1 ;  Psa 

cxlviii.  14. - v  Exod.  xix.  6;  chap.  vii.  6;  xxviii.  9;  1  Pet.  ii.  9 

mies,  howsoever  excellent  and  well  appointed,  that  can 
ultimately  exalt  and  secure  thy  permanence  among  the 
nations.  It  is  righteousness  alone.  Become  irreligious, 
neglect  God’s  ordinances,  profane  his  Sabbath,  despise 
his  word,  persecute  his  followers,  and  thou  art  lost. 
But  fear,  love,  and  serve  him,  and  thy  enemies  shall 
be  found  liars,  thou  shalt  defeat  their  projects,  and 
trample  on  their  high  places. 

The  form  of  confession  when  bringing.the  first- 
fruits,  related  ver.  4—10,  is  both  affecting  and  edifying. 
Even  when  brought  into  a  state  of  affluence  and  rest, 
they  were  commanded  to  remember  and  publicly  ac¬ 
knowledge  their  former  degradation  and  wretchedness, 
that  they  might  be  ever  kept  humble  and  dependent ; 
and  they  must  bring  their  offering  as  a  public  acknow¬ 
ledgment  to  God  that  it  was  by  his  mercy  their  state 
was  changed,  and  by  his  bounty  their  comforts  were 
continued.  If  a  man  rise  from  poverty  to  affluence, 
and  forget  his  former  state,  he  becomes  proud,  inso¬ 
lent,  and  oppressive.  If  a  Christian  convert  forget  his 
former  state,  the  rock  whence  he  was  hewn,  and  the 
hole  of  the  pit  whence  he  was  digged,  he  soon  becomes 
careless,  unthankful,  and  unholy.  The  case  of  the  ten 
lepers  that  were  cleansed,  of  whom  only  one  returned 
to  give  God  thanks,  is  an  awful  lesson.  How  many 
are  continually  living  on  the  bounty  of  God,  who  feel  no 
gratitude  for  his  mercies  !  Reader,  is  this  thy  state  \ 
If  so,  then  expect  the  just  God  to  curse  thy  blessings. 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 

Moses  commands  the  people  to  write  the  law  upon  stones ,  when  they  shall  come  to  the  promised  land ,  1—3. 
And  to  set  up  these  stones  on  Mount  Ebal,  4  ;  and  to  build  an  altar  of  unhewn  stones ,  and  to  offer  on  it 
burnt-offerings  and  peace-offerings,  5—7.  The  ivords  to  be  ivrilten  plainly,  and  the  people  to  be  exhorted 
to  obedience ,  8—10.  The  six  tribes  ivhich  should  stand  on  Mount  Gerizim  to  bless  the  people,  11,  12. 
Those  who  are  to  stand  upon  Mount  Ebal  to  curse  the  transgressors ,  13.  The  different  transgressors 
against  whom  the  curses  are  to  be  denounced,  14—26. 


DEUTERONOMY, 


How  the  tribes  were  placed l 


upon  Gerizim  and  Ebal 


a.  M.  2553.  A  ND  Moses  with  the  elders  of 
An.  Ex.  isr.  40.  Israel  commanded  the  people, 

Sebat‘  saying,  Keep  all  the  command¬ 
ments  which  I  command  you  this  day. 

2  And  it  shall  be,  on  the  day  a  when  ye  shall 
pass  over  Jordan  unto  the  land  which  the  Lord 
thy  God  giveth  thee,  that  b  thou  shalt  set  thee 
up  great  stones,  and  plaster  them  with  plaster : 

3  And  thou  shalt  write  upon  them  all  the 
words  of  this  law,  when  thou  art  passed  over, 
that  thou  mayest  go  in  unto  the  land  which 
the  Lord  thy  God  giveth  thee,  a  land  that 
floweth  with  milk  and  honey ;  as  the  Lord 
God  of  thy  fathers  hath  promised  thee. 

4  Therefore  it  shall  be  when  ye  be  gone 
over  Jordan,  that  ye  shall  set  up  these  stones, 
which  I  command  you  this  day,  c  in  Mount 
Ebal,  and  thou  shalt  plaster  them  with  plaster. 

5  And  there  shalt  thou  build  an  altar  unto 
the  Lord  thy  God,  an  altar  of  stones  :  d  thou 
shalt  not  lift  up  any  iron  tool  upon  them. 

6  Thou  shalt  build  the  altar  of  the  Lord  thy 
God  of  whole  stones  :  and  thou  shalt  offer 
burnt-offerings  thereon  unto  the  Lord  thy  God : 


a  Josh.  iv.  1. 


-b  Josh.  viii.  32. 


d  Exod.xx.  25 ;  Josh.  viii.  31. 


- c  Ch.  xi.  29 ;  Josh.  viii.  30. 

e  Chap.  xxvi.  18. - f  Chap.  xi. 


7  And  thou  shalt  offer  peace-  a.  m.  2553. 
offerings,  and  shalt  eat  there,  and  An.  Ex.  isr.  40. 
rejoice  before  the  Lord  thy  God.  Sebat’ 

8  And  thou  shalt  write  upon  the  stones  all 
the  words  of  this  law  very  plainly. 

9  And  Moses,  and  the  priests  the  Levites, 
spake  unto  all  Israel,  saying,  Take  heed,  and 
hearken,  O  Israel ;  e  this  day  thou  art  become 
the  people  of  the  Lord  thy  God. 

10  Thou  shalt  therefore  obey  the  voice  of 
the  Lord  thy  God,  and  do  his  commandments 
and  his  statutes,  which  I  command  thee  this 
day. 

1 1  And  Moses  charged  the  people  the  same 
day,  saying, 

12  These  shall  stand  fupon  Mount  Gerizim 
to  bless  the  people,  when  ye  are  come  over 
Jordan  ;  Simeon,  and  Levi,  and  Judah,  and 
Issachar,  and  Joseph,  and  Benjamin  : 

13  And  *  these  shall  stand  upon  Mount  Ebal 
h  to  curse  ;  Reuben,  Gad,  and  Asher,  and  Ze- 
bulun,  Dan,  and  Naphtali. 

14  And  1  the  Levites  shall  speak,  and  say 
unto  all  the  men  of  Israel  with  a  loud  voice, 

29  ;  Josh.  viii.  33  ;  Judg.  ix.  7. - sChap.  xi.  29  ;  Josh.  viii.  33 

hIieb.  for  a  cursing. - 1  Ch.  xxxiii.  10 ;  Josh.  viii.  33 ;  Dan.ix.ll 


NOTES  ON  CHAP.  XXYII. 

Yerse  2.  Thou  shalt  set  thee  up  great  stones ]  How- 
many  is  not  specified,  possibly  twelve ,  and  possibly  only 
a  sufficient  number  to  make  a  surface  large  enough  to 
write  the  blessings  and  the  curses  on. 

Plaster  them  with  plaster ]  Perhaps  the  original 
TSSO  rn tsn  vesadta  otham  hassid  should  be  trans¬ 

lated,  Thou  shalt  cement  them  with  cement ,  because 
this  was  intended  to  be  a  durable  monument.  In  si¬ 
milar  cases  it  was  customary  to  set  up  a  single  stone, 
or  a  heap,  rudely  put  together,  where  no  cement  or 
mortar  appears  to  have  been  used  ;  and  because  this 
was  common ,  it  was  necessary  to  give  particular  direc¬ 
tions  when  the  usual  method  was  not  to  be  followed. 
Some  suppose  that  the  writing  was  to  be  in  relievo, 
and  that  the  spaces  between  the  letters  were  filled  up 
by  the  mortar  or  cement.  This  is  quite  a  possible 
case,  as  the  Eastern  inscriptions  are  frequently  done 
in  this  way.  There  is  now  before  me  a  large  slab  of 
basaltes,  two  feet  long  by  sixteen  inches  wide,  on 
which  there  is  an  inscription  in  Persian,  Arabic,  and 
Tamul ;  in  the  two  former  the  letters  are  all  raised, 
the  surface  of  the  stone  being  dug  out ,  but  the  Tamul 
is  indented.  A  kind  of  reddish  paint  had  been  smeared 
over  the  letters  to  make  them  more  apparent.  Two 
Arabic  marbles  in  the  University  of  Oxford  have  the 
inscriptions  in  relievo,  like  those  on  the  slab  of  basalt 
in  my  possession.  In  the  opinion  of  some  even  this 
case  may  cast  light  upon  the  subject  in  question. 

Verse  3.  All  the  words  of  this  law\  After  all  that 
has  been  said  by  ingenious  critics  concerning  the  law 


ordered  to  be  written  on  these  stones,  some  supposing 
the  whole  Mosaic  law  to  be  intended,  others,  only  the 
decalogue ,  I  am  fully  of  opinion  that  the  (min  torah ) 
law  or  ordinance  in  question  simply  means  the  blessings 
and  curses  mentioned  in  this  and  in  the  following  chap¬ 
ter  ;  and  indeed  these  contained  a  very  good  epitome 
of  the  whole  law  in  all  its  promises  and  threatenings, 
in  reference  to  the  whole  of  its  grand  moral  design. 
See  at  the  end  of  this  chapter. 

Yerse  4.  Set  up  these  stones — in  Mount  Ebal ]  So 
the  present  Hebrew  text,  but  the  Samaritan  has  Mount 
Gerizim.  Dr.  Kennicott  has  largely  defended  the 
reading  of  the  Samaritan  in  his  second  dissertation  on 
the  present  state  of  the  Hebrew  text,  and  Dr.  Parry 
has  defended  the  Hebrew  against  the  Samaritan  in  his 
Case  between  Gerizim  and  Ebal  fairly  stated.  So 
has  J.  H.  Verschuir,  in  his  Dissert.  Critica.  Many 
still  think  Dr.  Kennicott’s  arguments  unanswerable, 
and  have  no  doubt  that  the  Jews  have  here  corrupted 
the  text  through  their  enmity  to  the  Samaritans.  On 
all  hands  it  is  allowed  that  Gerizim  abounds  with 
springs,  gardens,  and  orchards,  and  that  it  is  covered 
with  a  beautiful  verdure,  while  Ebal  is  as  naked  and 
as  barren  as  a  rock.  On  this  very  account  the  forme^ 
was  highly  proper  for  the  ceremony  of  blessing,  and 
the  latter  for  the  ceremony  of  cursing. 

Yerse  12.  These  shall  stand  upon  Mount  Gerizim 
to  bless  the  people ]  Instead  of  upon  Mount,  &c.,  we 
may  translate  by,  as  the  particle  al  is  sometimes 
used  ;  for  we  do  not  find  that  the  tribes  did  stand  on 
either  mount,  for  in  Josh.  viii.  33,  when  this  direction 


804 


a 


CHAP.  XXVII. 


The  curses  to  he  pronounced 


against  the  ungodly. 


A.  M.  2553.  15  k  Cursed  he  the  man  that 

B.  C.  1451.  .  ,  . 

An.  Ex.  isr.  40.  maketii  any  graven  or  molten 

Sebat‘  image,  an  abomination  unto  the 
Lord,  the  work  of  the  hands  of  the  craftsman, 
and  putteth  it  in  a  secret  place.  1  And  all  the 
people  shall  answer  and  say,  Amen. 

1 6  m  Cursed  he  he  that  setteth  light  by  his 
father  or  his  mother.  And  all  the  people  shall 
say,  Amen. 

1 7  n  Cursed  he  he  that  removeth  his  neigh¬ 
bour’s  landmark.  And  all  the  people  shall  say, 
Amen. 

18  0  Cursed  he  he  that  maketh  the  blind  to 
wander  out  of  the  way.  And  all  the  people 
shall  say,  Amen. 

19  p  Cursed  he  he  that  perverteth  the  judg¬ 
ment  of  the  stranger,  fatherless,  and  widow. 
And  all  the  people  shall  say,  Amen. 

20  q  Cursed  he  he  that  lieth  with  his  father’s 


wife ;  because  he  uncovereth  his  A.  M.  2553. 
father’s  skirt.  And  all  the  people  An.  Ex.  isr.  40. 
shall  say,  Amen.  Sebat' 

21  r  Cursed  he  he  that  lieth  with  any  manner 
of  beast.  And  all  the  people  shall  say,  Amen. 

22  s  Cursed  he  he  that  lieth  with  his  sister, 
the  daughter  of  his  father,  or  the  daughter  of 
his  mother.  And  all  the  people  shall  say, 
Amen. 

23  t  Cursed  he  he  that  lieth  with  his  mother- 
in-law.  And  all  the  people  shall  say,  Amen. 

24  u  Cursed  he  he  that  smiteth  his  neighbour 
secretly.  And  all  the  people  shall  say,  Amen. 

25  v  Cursed  he  he  that  taketh  reward  to  slay 
an  innocent  person.  And  all  the  people  shall 
say,  Amen. 

26  w  Cursed  he  he  that  confirmeth  not  all  the 
words  of  this  law  to  do  them.  And  all  the 
people  shall  say,  Amen. 


k  Exod.  xx.  4, 23  ;  xxxiv.  17  ;  Lev.  xix.  4 ;  xxvi.  1  ;  chap.  iv. 

16,  23  ;  v.  8  ;  Isa.  lxiv.  9  ;  Hos.  xiii.  2. - 1 3  See  Num.  v.  22  ; 

Jer.  xi.  5;  1  Cor.  xiv.  16. - m  Exod.  xx.  12;  xxi.  17  ;  Lev.  xix. 

3  ;  chap.  xxi.  18. - “Chap.  xix.  14  ;  Prov.  xxii.  28. - 0  Lev. 

xix.  14. - f  Exod.  xxii.  21,22;  chap.  x.  18;  xxiv.  17 ;  Mai. 

iii.  5. 


was  reduced  to  practice,  we  find  the  people  did  not 
stand  on  the  mountains,  but  over  against  them  on  the 
plain.  See  the  observations  at  the  end  of  this  chapter. 

Verse  15.  Cursed  be  the  man ,  <fc.]  Other  laws, 
previously  made,  had  prohibited  all  these  things,  and 
penal  sanctions  were  necessarily  understood  ;  but  here 
God  more  openly  declares  that  he  who  breaks  them  is 
cursed — falls  under  the  wrath  and  indignation  of  his 
Maker  and  Judge.  See  the  note  on  Exod.  xx.  4. 

Verse  16.  Setteth  light  by  his  father  or  his  mother. ] 
See  the  note  on  Exod.  xx.  12. 

Verse  17.  Removeth  his  neighbour’s  landmark.']  See 
before  on  Deut.  xix.  14,  and  on  Exod.  xx.  17.  And 
for  all  the  rest  of  these  curses,  see  the  notes  on  Exod. 
xx.,  and  the  observations  at  the  end  of  it. 

Verse  18.  The  blind  to  wander  out  of  the  way.]  A 
sin  against  the  sixth  commandment.  See  on  Exod. 
xx.  13. 

Verse  26.  That  confirmeth  not  all  the  words  of  this 
law]  The  word  col ,  all,  is  not  found  in  any  printed 
copy  of  the  Hebrew  text ;  but  the  Samaritan  preserves 
it,  and  so  do  six  MSS.  in  the  collections  of  Kennicott 
and  De  Rossi,  besides  several  copies  of  the  Chaldee 
Targum.  The  Septuagint  also,  and  St.  Paul  in  his 
quotation  of  this  place,  Gal.  iii.  10.  St.  Jerome  says 
that  the  Jews  suppressed  the  word,  that  it  might  not 
appear  that  they  were  bound  to  fulfil  all  the  precepts 
in  the  law  of  Mo&es. 

1.  Dr.  Kennicott,  who  contends  that  it  was  the 
Decalogue  that  was  written  on  the  stones  mentioned 
in  this  chapter,  says,  “  If  we  examine  these  twelve 
curses,  they  will  appear  to  contain  a  strong  enforce¬ 
ment  of  the  ten  commands ;  and  it  is  highly  probable 

a 


4  Lev.  xviii.  8  ;  xx.  11 ;  chap.  xxii.  30. - rLev.  xviii.  23  ; 

xx.  15. - s  Lev.  xviii.  9;  xx.  17. - 4  Lev.  xviii.  17  ;  xx.  14. 

u  Exod.  xx.  13  ;  xxi.  12,  14  ;  Lev.  xxiv.  17  ;  Num.  xxxv.  31  ; 

chap.  xix.  11. - vExod.  xxiii.  7,  8;  chap.  x.  17;  xvi.  19; 

Ezek.  xxii.  12. - w  Chap,  xxviii.  15  ;  Psa.  cxix.  21  ;  Jer.  xi.  3  ; 

Gal.  iii.  10. 


that  the  curses  were  here  proclaimed  principally  to 
secure  obedience  to  the  commandments,  as  will  be 
made  more  clear  by  the  following  table  : — 

The  first,  second,  third,  and  fourth  Commandments. 

Verse  15.  Cursed  be  the  man  that  maketh  any  gra¬ 
ven  or  molten  image,  an  abomination  to  the  Lord,  &c. 

The  fifth  Commandment. 

Verse  16.  Cursed  be  he  that  setteth  light  by  his 
father  or  his  mother. 

The  sixth  Commandment. 

Verse  25.  Cursed  be  he  that  taketh  reward  to  slay 
an  innocent  person. 

Verse  24.  Cursed  be  he  that  smiteth  his  neighbour 
secretly. 

Verse  18.  Cursed  be  he  that  maketh  the  blind  to 
wander  out  of  the  way. 

The  seventh  Commandment. 

Verse  20.  Cursed  be  he  that  lieth  with  his  father’s 
wife. 

Verse  21.  Cursed  be  he  that  lieth  with  any  beast. 

Verse  22.  Cursed  be  he  that  lieth  with  his  sister. 

Verse  23.  Cursed  be  he  that  lieth  with  his  mother- 
in-law. 

The  eighth  Commandment. 

Verse  17.  Cursed  be  he  that  removeth  his  neigh¬ 
bour’s  landmark. 

The  ninth  Commandment. 

Verse  19.  Cursed  be  he  that  perverteth  the  judg¬ 
ment  of  the  stranger,  fatherless,  and  widow 

The  tenth  Commandment. 

Verse  26.  Cursed  be  he  that  eonfirmeth*  not  all  the 
words  of  this  law  to  do  them.” 

805 


Remarks  on  the 


DEUTERONOMY,  blessings  and  curses. 


•  Many  will  think  this  arrangement  fanciful ;  and  the 
analogy  far  from  being  natural. 

2.  In  pronouncing  these  blessings  and  curses,  the 
Talmud  says,  six  tribes  went  up  towards  the  top  of 
Mount  Gerizim,  and  six  towards  the  top  of  Mount 
Ebal  ;  and  the  priests  and  the  Levites,  and  the  ark 
stood  beneath  in  the  midst.  The  priests  encompassed 
the  ark,  and  the  Levites  stood  round  about  the  priests  ; 
and  all  Israel  on  this  side  and  on  that;  see  Josh.  viii. 
33.  Then  they  turned  their  faces  towards  Mount  Ge¬ 
rizim  and  pronounced  the  blessing,  Blessed  be  the  man , 
&c.,  and  those  on  each  side  answered  Amen  !  then 
they  turned  their  faces  towards  Mount  Ebal,  and  pro¬ 
nounced  the  curse,  Cursed  be  the  man,  &c.,  and  those 
on  each  side  answered  Amen  !  till  they  had  finished 
the  blessings  and  the  curses ;  and  afterwards  they 
brought  stones  and  built  an  altar.  Some  suppose  that 
the  Levites  were  divided  into  two  grand  bodies,  part 
standing  at  or  on  Mount  Gerizim,  and  part  on  Mount 
Ebal,  and  that  with  each  division  were  some  of  the 
priests.  The  whole  Dr.  Parry  supposes  to  have  been 
arranged  in  the  following  manner  : — 


PRIESTS 

Levites 

K  s 

UOOUITg 

TAOrf 

jz!  2 

O  w 

qcpnp 

m  ° 

XBqORSSJ 

qdosop 

uiurefuog 

sudSuv.igy 

WEST 

ARK 

ALTAR 


*5 


bs 

Ob 
Os 
Co 
<?*  . 


jLsva 


PRIESTS 

Levites 

uoqno^j 

P^D 

M  O 

mqsy 

“  2 

rnqnqo^ 

tr*  H 

hH 

UR(I 

i-4 

TI'Riqdu\f 

sudSuvj'gg 

3.  It  is  worthy  of  remark  that  Moses  assigns  to  the 
children  of  Rachel  and  Leah,  the  two  mothers  of  the 
family,  the  office  of  blessing  the  people,  as  being  the 
most  honourable ;  and  these  he  places  on  Mount  Geri¬ 
zim.  On  the  contrary,  he  assigns  the  office  of  cursing 
the  people  to  the  sons  of  Zilpah  and  Bilhah,  as  being 
the  least  honourable  office  ;  but  with  these  he  joins 
Zebulun,  the  youngest  of  Leah’s  sons,  and  Reuben,  the 
eldest.  As  there  must  be  six  tribes  on  each  moun¬ 
tain,  it  was  necessary  that  while  six  of  the  sons  of 
Rachel  and  Leah,  the  legitimate  wives,  should  be  em¬ 
ployed  in  blessing,  tivo  tribes  descending  from  the 
same  mothers  should  be  joined  to  the  other  four  who 
proceeded  from  the  handmaids  in  order  to  make  up 
the  number  six.  The  question  is,  which  two  of  the 
more  honourable  tribes  should  be  joined  to  the  four 
least  honourable,  in  order  to  complete  the  number 
six  1  Zebulun  is  chosen,  because  being  the  sixth  and 
youngest  of  all  Leah’s  sons,  he  was  the  least  honour¬ 
able  of  those  who  proceeded  from  the  free  woman  ; 
and  Reuben  is  chosen,  who,  though  the  eldest  of  Ja¬ 
cob’s  sons,  and  entitled  to  the  birthright,  had  lost  it 
by  his  transgression.  And  hence  he,  in  his  posterity, 

806 


was  degraded,  and  was  obliged  to  pronounce  the  curse, 
Cursed  is  he  that  lieth  with  his  father’s  wife.  See 
Gen.  xlix.  3,  4,  and  xxxv.  22,  and  the  notes  on  both 
places. 

4.  It  is  strange  how  long  the  disgrace  consequent 
on  some  flagrant  transaction  of  a  parent  may  cleave 
to  his  posterity  !  See  this  exemplified  in  the  posterity 
of  Reuben.  Hence,  with  great  propriety  we  may  pray, 
“  Remember  not,  Lord,  our  offences,  nor  the  offences 
of  our  forefathers  ;  neither  take  thou  vengeance  of  our 
sins.” — Litany.  For  the  offences  of  our  forefathers 
may  be  so  remembered  against  their  posterity,  that 
God,  in  the  course  of  his  providence,  may  still  keep 
up  a  controversy  in  secular  matters  with  the  descend¬ 
ants  (though  even  pious)  of  unholy  ancestors  ;  for  as 
all  men  are  seminally  included  in  their  parents,  they 
come  into  the  world  depraved  with  their  depravity, 
and  in  some  sort  liable  to  their  curses,  though  not  so 
far  as  to  affect  their  eternal  interests  without  the  addi¬ 
tion  of  their  own  personal  offences.  Thus  God  may 
be  said  to  visit  the  sins  of  the  fathers  upon  the  chil¬ 
dren,  even  unto  the  third  and  fourth  generation  ;  as  he 
may  have  a  controversy  with  the  land  for  the  evil 
which  has  been  done  in  it,  and  for  which  no  proper 
atonement  has  been  made.  Why  is  it  that  at  this 
moment  Spain  is  suffering  the  most  afflictive  and  cruel 
desolations  1  What  has  she  done  to  merit  all  this  1 
Is  she  more  wicked  than  all  the  European  nations  be¬ 
cause  she  suffers  such  things'?  Here  is  the  mystery  : 
Nations,  as  such,  can  only  be  punished  in  this  world. 
Look  at  the  torrents  of  innocent  blood  shed  by  their 
ancestors  in  South  America  300  years  ago;  and  see 
now  and  adore  the  awful  hand  of  retributive  justice  l 
(December,  1811.)  We  often  see  persons  tried  and 
afflicted,  for  whose  distresses  we  can  give  no  legiti¬ 
mate  reason.  We  find  others  who,  though  they  rise 
early,  sit  up  late,  work  hard,  eat  the  bread  of  careful¬ 
ness,  and  have  a  full  knowledge  of  their  business,  yet 
never  get  on  in  life.  Who  can  account  for  this  I 
Shall  we  say  that  some  injustice  in  their  ancestors  has 
brought  down  the  displeasure  of  God  upon  the  earthly 
possessions  that  descended  in  that  line,  so  that  the  goods 
ill  gotten  shall  never  be  permitted  to  multiply  ?  I 
knew  an  honest  man,  dead  many  years  since,  who  by 
great  diligence,  punctuality,  and  integrity  in  his  busi¬ 
ness,  had  acquired  considerable  property.  Some  time 
before  his  death,  having  by  will  divided  his  substance 
among  his  sons  and  his  daughters,  he  expressed  him¬ 
self  thus  :  “  Children,  you  need  not  fear  the  curse  of 
God  on  this  property ;  every  penny  of  it  was  honestly 
earned.”  Many  years  have  since  elapsed,  and  the 
blessing  of  God  has  been  in  the  basket  and  in  the 
store  of  all  his  children.  Parents !  leave  nothing  be¬ 
hind  you  that  you  cannot  say  before  your  God,  with  a 
clear  conscience,  “  This  has  been  honestly  earned.” 
If  all  bequests  of  a  contrary  description  were  to  be 
deducted  from  last  wills  and  testaments,  the  quantum 
of  descending  property  would  be,  in  many  cases,  small 
indeed. 


a 


CHAP.  XXVIII. 


on  them  that  fear  God . 


The  blessings  that  shall  come 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 


The  blessings  which  God  pronounces  on  the  obedient ,  1-6.  Particular  privileges  which  the  faithful  shall 
receive,  7—13.  The  curses  pronounced  against  the  ungodly  and  idolatrous,  14—19.  A  detailed  account  of 
the  miseries  which  should  be  inflicted  on  them,  should  they  neglect  the  commandments  of  the  Lord,  20. 
They  shall  be  smitten  with  the  pestilence,  21  ;  with  consumption,  fever,  dfc.,  22  ;  drought  and  barrenness , 
23,  24;  they  shall  be  defeated  by  their  enemies ,  25,  26  ;  they  shall  be  afflicted  with  the  botch  of  Egypt, 
27  ;  with  madness  and  blindness,  28,  29  ;  they  shall  be  disappointed  in  all  their  projects,  30  ;  deprived 
of  all  their  possessions,  and  afflicted  in  all  their  members,  31—35  ;  they  and  their  king  shall  go  into  cap¬ 
tivity,  36,  and  become  a  by-word  among  the  nations,  37.  Their  land  shall  be  unfruitful ,  and  they  shall 
be  the  lowest  of  all  people,  38—44.  All  these  curses  shall  come  on  them  should  they  be  disobedient,  45—48. 
Character  of  the  people  by  whom  they  should  be  subdued,  49,  50.  Particulars  of  their  dreadfid  suffer¬ 
ings,  51—57.  A  recapitulation  of  their  wretchedness,  58-63.  The  prediction  that  they  shall  be  scattered 
among  all  the  nations  of  the  earth,  64-68. 


A.  M.  2o53.  A  ND  it  shall  come  to  pass,  a  if 

B.  C.  1451.  VI-  1 

An.  Ex.  isr.  40.  thou  shait  hearken  diligently 

Sebat‘  unto  the  voice  of  the  Lord  thy 
God,  to  observe  and  to  do  all  his  command¬ 
ments  which  I  command  thee  this  day,  that  the 
Lord  thy  God  b  will  set  thee  on  high  above 
all  nations  of  the  earth  : 

2  And  all  these  blessings  shall  come  on  thee, 
and  c  overtake  thee,  if  thou  shait  hearken 

aExod.  xv.  26;  Lev.  xxvi.  3;  Isa.  lv.  2. - b  Chap.  xxvi. 

19. - c  Ver.  15;  Zech.  i.  6. - d  Psa.  cxxviii.  1,'4. - e  Gen. 

xxxix.  5. 


unto  the  voice  of  the  Lord  thy  A.  M.  2553. 

~  J  B.  C.  1451. 

fxOd.  An.  Ex.  Isr.  40 

3  d  Blessed  shait  thou  be  in  the  Sebat‘ 
city,  and  blessed  shait  thou  be  e  in  the  field. 

4  Blessed  shall  be  fthe  fruit  of  thy  body, 
and  the  fruit  of  thy  ground,  and  the  fruit  of 
thy  cattle,  the  increase  of  thy  kine,  and  the 
flocks  of  thy  sheep. 

5  Blessed  shall  be  thy  basket  and  thy  &  store., 

f  Ver.  11;  Gen.  xxii.  17  ;  xlix.  25;  chap.  vii.  13;  Psa.  evii.  38; 

cxxvii.  3  ;  cxxviii.  3  ;  Prov.  x.  22;  1  Tim.  iv.  8. - s  Or,  dough. , 

or  kneading  trough. 


NOTES  ON  CHAP.  XXVIII. 

Verse  2.  All  these  blessings  shall  come  on  thee ] 
God  shall  pour  out  his  blessing  from  heaven  upon  thee. 
And  overtake  thee.  Upright  men  are  represented  as 
going  to  the  kingdom  of  God,  and  God’s  blessings  as 
following  and  overtaking  them  in  their  heavenly  jour¬ 
ney.  There  are  several  things  in  this  verse  worthy 
of  the  most  careful  observation : — 

1 .  If  thou  shait  hearken  unto  the  voice  of  the  Lord 
thy  God.  The  voice  of  God  must  be  heard  ;  without  a 
Divine  revelation  how  can  the  Divine  will  be  known  1 
And  if  not  known,  it  cannot  be  fulfilled. 

2.  When  God  speaks,  men  must  hearken  to  the 
words  of  his  mouth.  He  who  does  not  hearken  will 
not  obey. 

3.  He  who  hearkens  to  the  words  of  God  must  set 
out  for  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  The  curse  must  fall 
on  him  who  stands  in  the  way  of  sinners,  and  will  over¬ 
take  them  who  loiter  in  the  way  of  righteousness. 

4.  Those  who  run  in  the  way  of  God’s  testimonies 
shall  have  an  abundance  of  blessing.  Blessings  shall 
come  upon  them,  and  blessings  shall  overtake  them — 
in  every  part  of  their  march  through  life  they  shall 
continue  to  receive  the  fulfilment  of  the  various  pro¬ 
mises  of  God  which  relate  to  all  circumstances,  vicis¬ 
situdes,  trials,  stages  of  life,  &c.,  &c.,  each  overtaking 
them  in  the  time  and  place  where  most  needed. 

Verse  3.  In  the  city\  In  all  civil  employments. 
In  the  field — in  all  agricultural  pursuits. 

Verse  4.  Fruit  of  thy  body]  All  thy  children.  In¬ 
crease  of  thy  kine,  &c. ;  every  animal  employed  in  do¬ 
mestic  and  agricultural  purposes  shall  be  under  the 
especial  protection  of  Divine  Providence. 

Verse  5.  Thy  basket ]  Thy  olive  gathering  and 


vintage,  as  the  basket  was  employed  to  collect  those 
fruits. 

Store.]  mXD'D  mishereth ,  kneading-trough,  or  re¬ 
mainder  ;  all  that  is  laid  up  for  future  use,  as  well  as 
what  is  prepared  for  present  consumption.  Some  think 
that  by  basket  all  their  property  abroad  may  be  meant, 
and  by  store  all  that  they  have  at  home ,  i.  e.,  all  that 
is  in  the  fields,  and  all  that  is  in  the  houses.  The  fol¬ 
lowing  note  of  Mr.  Harmer  is  important : — 

“  Commentators  seem  to  be  at  a  great  loss  how  to 
explain  the  basket  and  the  store  mentioned  Deut. 
xxviii.  5,  17.  Why  Moses,  who  in  the  other  verses 
mentions  things  in  general,  should  in  this  case  be  so 
minute  as  to  mention  baskets,  seems  strange  ;  and  they 
that  interpret  either  the  first  or  the  second  of  these 
words  of  the  repositories  of  their  corn,  &c.,  forget  that 
their  barns  or  storehouses  are  spoken  of  presently  after 
this  in  ver.  8.  Might  I  be  permitted  to  give  my  opi¬ 
nion  here,  I  should  say  that  the  basket,  tene,  in 
this  place  means  their  travelling  baskets,  and  the  other 
word  mishereth,  (their  store,)  signifies  their 

leathern  bags,  in  both  which  they  were  wont  to  carry 
things  in  travelling.  The  first  of  these  words  occurs 
nowhere  else  in  the  Scriptures  but  in  the  account  that 
is  given  us  of  the  conveyance  in  which  they  were  to 
carry  their  first-fruits  to  Jerusalem  ;  the  other  no¬ 
where  but  in  the  description  of  the  hurrying  journey 
of  Israel  out  of  Egypt,  where  it  means  the  utensils  in 
which  they  then  carried  their  dough,  which  I  have 
shown  elsewhere  in  these  papers  means  a  piece  of 
leather  drawn  together  by  rings,  and  forming  a  kind 
of  bag.  Agreeably  to  this,  Hasselquist  informs  us 
that  the  Eastern  people  use  baskets  in  travelling  ;  for, 
speaking  of  that  species  of  the  palm  tree  which  pro- 

807 


Blessings  promised 


DEUTERONOMY. 


to  the  faithful 


a.  M.  2553.  6  h  Blessed  shalt  thou  he  when 

An.  Ex.  isr.  40.  thou  comest  in,  and  blessed  shalt 
SebaL  thou  he  when  thou  goest  out. 

7  The  Lord  1  shall  cause  thine  enemies  that 
rise  up  against  thee  to  be  smitten  before  thy 
face  :  they  shall  come  out  against  thee  one 
way,  and  flee  before  thee  seven  ways. 

8  The  Lord  shall  k  command  the  blessing 
upon  thee  in  thy  1  storehouses,  and  in  all  that 
thou  m  settest  thine  hand  unto  ;  and  he  shall 
bless  thee  in  the  land  which  the  Lord  thy 
God  giveth  thee. 

9  n  The  Lord  shall  establish  thee  a  holy 
people  unto  himself,  as  he  hath  sworn  unto 
thee,  if  thou  shalt  keep  the  commandments  of 
the  Lord  thy  God,  and  walk  in  his  ways. 

10  And  all  the  people  of  the  earth  shall  see 
that  thou  art  0  called  by  the  name  of  the  Lord  ; 
and  they  shall  be  p  afraid  of  thee. 

1 1  And  qthe  Lord  shall  make  thee  plenteous 
T  in  goods,  in  the  fruit  of  thy  s  body,  and  in 
the  fruit  of  thy  cattle,  and  in  the  fruit  of  thy 


h  Psa.  cxxi.  8. - 1  Lev.  xxvi.  7,  8  ;  2  Sam.  xxii.  38,  39,  41  ; 

Psa.  lxxxix.  23  ;  see  ver.  25. - k  Lev.  xxv.  21. - 1  Or,  barns  ; 

Prov.  iii.  10. - m  Chap.  xv.  10. - n  Exod.  xix.  5,  6  ;  chap.  vii. 

6  ;  xxvi.  18,  19  ;  xxix.  13. - -°  Num.  vi.  27 ;  2  Chron.  vii.  14  ; 

Isa.  lxiii.  19;  Dan.  ix.  18,  19. 

duces  dates,  and  its  great  usefulness  to  the  people  of 
those  countries,  he  tells  us  that  of  the  leaves  of  this 
tree  they  make  baskets,  or  rather  a  kind  of  short  bags, 
which  are  used  in  Turkey  on  journeys  and  in  their 
houses;  pages  261,  262.  Hampers  and  panniers  are 
English  terms  denoting  travelling  baskets,  as  tene 
seems  to  be  a  Hebrew  word  of  the  same  general  im¬ 
port,  though  their  forms  might  very  much  differ,  as  it 
is  certain  that  of  the  travelling  baskets  mentioned  by 
Hasselquist  now  does. 

“  In  like  manner  as  they  now  carry  meal,  figs,  and 
raisins,  in  a  goat’s  skin  in  Barbary  for  a  viaticum, 
they  might  do  the  same  anciently,  and  consequently 
might  carry  merchandise  after  the  same  manner,  par¬ 
ticularly  their  honey,  oil,  and  balm,  mentioned  Ezek. 
xvii.  17.  They  were  the  proper  vessels  for  such 
things.  So  Sir  J.  Chardin,  who  was  so  long  in  the 
East,  and  observed  their  customs  with  so  much  care, 
supposed,  in  a  manuscript  note  on  Gen.  xliii.  11,  that 
the  balm  and  the  honey  sent  by  Jacob  into  Egypt  for 
a  present  were  carried  in  a  goat  or  kid’s  skin,  in  which 
all  sorts  of  things,  both  dry  and  liquid,  are  wont  to  be 
carried  in  the  East. 

“Understood  after  this  manner,  the  passage  pro¬ 
mises  Israel  success  in  their  commerce,  as  the  next 
verse  (the  6th)  promises  them  personal  safety  in  their 
going  out  and  in  their  return.  In  this  view  the  pas¬ 
sage  appears  with  due  distinctness,  and  a  noble  ex¬ 
tent.” — Observations,  vol.  ii.,  p.  181. 

Verse  6.  When  thou  comest  iri]  From  thy  employ¬ 
ment,  thou  shalt  find  that  no  evil  has  happened  to  the 
family  or  dwelling  in  thy  absence. 

808 


ground,  m  the  land  which  the  a.  M.  2553. 

7  1  r  .  B.  C.  1451. 

.Lord  sware  unto  thy  lathers  to  An.  Ex.  Isr.  40 

give  thee.  Sebat‘ 

12  The  Lord  shall  open  unto  thee  his  good 
treasure,  the  heaven  t  to  give  thee  rain  unto  thy 
land  in  his  season,  and  u  to  bless  all  the  work 
of  thine  hand  :  and  v  thou  shalt  lend  unto 
many  nations,  and  thou  shalt  not  borrow. 

1 3  And  the  Lord  shall  make  thee  w  the  head, 
and  not  the  tail ;  and  thou  shalt  be  above  only, 
and  thou  shalt  not  be  beneath ;  if  that  thou 
hearken  unto  the  commandments  of  the  Lord 
thy  God,  which  I  command  thee  this  day,  to 
observe  and  to  do  them : 

14  x  And  thou  shalt  not  go  aside  from  any  of 
the  words  which  I  command  thee  this  day,  to 
the  right  hand  or  to  the  left,  to  go  after  other 
gods  to  serve  them. 

15  But  it  shall  come  to  pass,  y  if  thou  wilt 
not  hearken  unto  the  voice  of  the  Lord  thy 
God,  to  observe  to  do  all  his  commandments 
and  his  statutes  which  I  command  thee  this 

P  Chap.  xi.  £5. - ‘i  Ver.  4 ;  chap.  xxx.  9 ;  Prov.  x.  22. - r  Or, 

for  good. - s  Heb.  belly. - 1  Lev.  xxvi.  4;  chap.  xi.  14. 

“Chap. xiv. 29. - vChap. xv.  6. - wIsa.  ix.  14,  15. - x  Chap. 

v.  32 ;  xi.  16. - y  Lev.  xxvi.  14  ;  Lam.  ii.  17  ;  Dan.  ix.  11,  13  ; 

Mai.  ii.  2  ;  Bar.  i.  20. 

When  thou  goest  out.~]  Thy  way  shall  be  made 
prosperous  before  thee,  and  thou  shalt  have  the  Divine 
blessing  in  all  thy  labours. 

Verse  7.  The  Lord  shall  cause  thine  enemies,  tj-c.] 
This  is  a  promise  of  security  from  foreign  invasion,  or 
total  discomfiture  of  the  invaders,  should  they  enter 
the  land.  They  shall  come  against  thee  one  way — in 
the  firmest  and  most  united  manner.  And  flee  seven 
ways — shall  be  utterly  broken,  confounded,  and  finally 
routed. 

Verse  8.  The  Lord  shall  command  the  blessing 
upon  thee ]  Every  thing  that  thou  hast  shall  come  by 
Divine  appointment ;  thou  shalt  have  nothing  casually, 
but  every  thing,  both  spiritual  and  temporal,  shall  come 
by  the  immediate  command  of  God. 

Verse  9.  The  Lord  shall  establish  thee  a  holy  people 
unto  himself  ]  This  is  the  sum  of  all  blessings,  to  be 
made  holy ,  and  be  preserved  in  holiness. 

If  thou  shalt  keep ,  df-c.]  Here  is  the  solemn  condi¬ 
tion  ;  if  they  did  not  keep  God’s  testimonies,  taking 
them  for  the  regulators  of  their  lives,  and  according 
to  their  direction  walking  in  his  ways,  under  the  in¬ 
fluence  and  aids  of  his  grace,  then  the  curses,  and  not 
the  blessings,  must  be  their  portion.  -8eever.  15,  &c. 

Verse  12.  The  Lord  shall  open  unto  thee  his  good 
treasure ]  The  clouds,  so  that  a  sufficiency  of  fructify¬ 
ing  showers  should  descend  at  all  requisite  times,  and 
the  vegetative  principle  in  the  earth  should  unfold  and 
exert  itself,  so  that  their  crops  should  be  abundant. 

Verse  14.  Thou  shalt  not  go  aside — to  the  right 
hand  or  to  the  left ]  The  way  of  obedience  is  a  straight 
way ;  it  goes  right  forward ;  he  who  declines  either 


CHAP.  XXVIII. 


on  the  disobedient . 


Curses  that  shall  fall 


A.  M.  2553.  day  ;  that  all  these  curses  shall 
An.  Ex.  lsr.  40.  come  upon  thee,  and  z  overtake 
Sebat-  thee : 

16  Cursed  shalt  thou  be  a  in  the  city,  and 
cursed  shall  thou  be  in  the  field. 

17  Cursed  shall  be  thy  basket  and  thy  store. 

18  Cursed  shall  be  the  fruit  of  thy  body,  and 
the  fruit  of  thy  land,  the  increase  of  thy  kine, 
and  the  flocks  of  thy  sheep. 

1 9  Cursed  shalt  thou  be  when  thou  comest  in, 
and  cursed  shalt  thou  be  when  thou  goest  out. 

20  The  Lord  shall  send  upon  thee  h  cursing, 
c  vexation,  and  d  rebuke,  in  all  that,  thou  set- 
test  thine  hand  unto  e  for  to  do,  until  thou  be 
destroyed,  and  until  thou  perish  quickly ;  be¬ 
cause  of  the  wickedness  of  thy  doings,  whereby 
thou  hast  forsaken  me. 

2 1  The  Lord  shall  make  f  the  pestilence 
cleave  unto  thee,  until  he  have  consumed 
thee  from  off  the  land,  whither  thou  goest  to 
possess  it. 


z  Ver.  2. - a  Ver.  3,  See. - b  Mai.  ii.  2. - e  1  Sam.  xiv.  20 ; 

Zech.  xiv.  13. - dPsa.  lxxx.  16  ;  Isa.  xxx.  17 ;  li.  20  ;  Ixvi.  15. 

e  Heb.  which  thou  wouldest  do. - { Lev.  xxvi.  25  ;  Jer.  xxiv.  10. 

e  Lev.  xxvi.  16. - h  Or,  drought. - ‘Amos  iv.  9. 

to  right  or  left  from  this  path  goes  astray  and  misses 
heaven. 

Verse  20.  Cursing ]  This  shall  be  thy  state ;  vexa¬ 
tion — grief,  trouble,  and  anguish  of  heart ;  rebuhe — 
continual  judgments,  and  marks  of  God’s  displeasure. 

Verse  21.  The  pestilence  cleave  unto  thee ]  p3T 
DN  *p  rnrr  yadbek  Yehovah  becha  eth  haddaber , 
the  Lord  shall  cement  the  pestilence  or  plague  to  thee. 
Sept.,  T\poaK.oXkT]GU  Kvptog  eig  ere  tov  davarov,  The 
Lord  will  glue — inseparably  attach,  the  death  unto 
thee  How  dreadful  a  plague  it  must  be  that  ravages 
without  intermission,  any  person  may  conceive  who 
has  ever  heard  of  the  name. 

Verse  22.  Consumption ]  DSHty  shachepheth,  atro¬ 
phy  through  lack  of  food  ;  from  shacaph ,  to  be 
in  want. 

Fever]  nmp  kaddachath ,  from  rnp  kadach,  to  be 
kindled,  burn,  sparkle  ;  a  burning  inflammatory  fever. 

Inflammation]  Pph*!  dalleketh,  from  pbl  dalak,  to 
pursue  eagerly,  to  burn  after  ;  probably  a  rapidly  con¬ 
suming  cancer. 

Extreme  burning]  *^rnn  charchur,  burning  upon 
burning,  scald  upon  scald  ;  from  in  char,  to  be  heated, 
enraged,  &c.  This  probably  refers,  not  only  to  excru¬ 
ciating  inflammations  on  the  body,  but  also  to  the  irri¬ 
tation  and  agony  of  a  mind  utterly  abandoned  by  God, 
and  lost  to  hope.  What  an  accumulation  of  misery  ! 
how  formidable  !  and  especially  in  a  land  where  great 
heat  was  prevalent  and  dreadful. 

Sword]  War  in  general,  enemies  without,  and  civil 
broils  within.  This  was  remarkably  the  case  in  the 
last  siege  of  Jerusalem. 

Blasting]  pDT^  shiddaphon,  probably  either  the 
blighting  east  wind  that  ruined  vegetation,  or  those 

a 


22  &  T  he  Lord  shall  smite  thee  a.  m.  2553. 

•  ,  .  ,  .  .  B.  C.  1451. 

with  a  consumption,  and  with  a  An.  Ex.  lsr.  40. 

fever;  and  with  an  inflammation,  Sebat' 

and  with  an  extreme  burning,  and  with  the 

h  sword,  and  with  1  blasting,  and  with  mildew ; 

and  they  shall  pursue  thee  until  thou  perish. 

23  And  k  thy  heaven  that  is  over  thy  head 
shall  be  brass,  and  the  earth  that  is  under  thee 
shall  be  iron. 

24  The  Lord  shall  make  the  rain  of  thy 
land  powder  and  dust :  from  heaven  shall  it 
come  down  upon  thee,  until  thou  be  de¬ 
stroyed. 

25  1  The  Lord  shall  cause  thee  to  be  smit¬ 
ten  before  thine  enemies  :  thou  shalt  go  out 
one  way  against  them,  and  flee  seven  ways 
before  them  :  and  m  shalt  be  n  removed  into  all 
the  kingdoms  of  the  earth. 

26  And  0  thy  carcass  shall  be  meat  unto  all 
fowls  of  the  air,  and  unto  the  beasts  of  the 
earth,  and  no  man  shall  fray  them  away. 

k  Lev.  xxvi.  19. - 1  Ver.  7  ;  Lev.  xxvi.  17,  37  ;  chap.  xxxiL 

30;  Isa.  xxx.  17. - “Jer.  xv.  4;  xxiv.  9;  Ezek.  xxiii.  46. 

u  Heb.  for  a  removing. - 0  1  Sam.  xvii.  44,  46  ;  Psa.  Lxxix.  2  ; 

Jer.  vii.  33  ;  xvi.  4  ;  xxxiv.  20. 

awful  pestilential  winds  which  suffocate  both  man  and 
beast  wherever  they  come.  These  often  prevail  in 
different  parts  of  the  East,  and  several  examples  have 
already  been  given.  See  Gen.  xli.  6. 

Mildew]  ppT  yerakon,  an  exudation  of  the  vege¬ 
tative  juice  from  different  parts  of  the  stalk,  by  which 
the  maturity  and  perfection  of  the  plant  are  utterly 
prevented.  It  comes  from  pT  yarak,  to  throw  out 
moisture. 

Of  these  seven  plagues,  th e  jive  former  were  to  fall 
on  their  bodies,  the  two  latter  upon  their  substance. 
What  a  fearful  thing  it  is  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  the 
living  God ! 

Verse  23.  Thy  heaven — shall  be  brass,  and  the 
earth — iron.]  The  atmosphere  should  not  be  reple¬ 
nished  with  aqueous  vapours,  in  consequence  of  which 
they  should  have  neither  the  early  nor  the  latter  rain ; 
hence  the  earth — the  ground,  must  be  wholly  intract¬ 
able,  and,  through  its  hardness,  incapable  of  cultiva¬ 
tion.  God  shows  them  by  this  that  he  is  Lord  of 
nature  ;  and  that  drought  and  sterility  are  not  casual¬ 
ties,  but  proceed  from  the  immediate  appointment  of 
the  Lord. 

Verse  24.  The  rain  of  thy  land  powder  and  dust] 
As  their  heavens — atmosphere,  clouds,  &c.,  were  to  be 
as  brass — yielding  no  rain  ;  so  the  surface  of  the  earth 
must  be  reduced  to  powder ;  and  this,  being  frequently 
taken  up  by  the  strong  winds,  would  fall  down  in 
showers  instead  of  rain.  Whole  caravans  have  been 
buried  under  showers  of  sand  ;  and  Thevenot,  a  French 
traveller,  who  had  observed  these  showers  of  dust,  &c., 
says,  “  They  grievously  annoy  all  they  fall  on,  filling 
their  eyes,  ears,  nostrils,  &c.” — Travels  in  the  East, 
part  1,  book  ii.,  chap.  80.  The  ophthalmia  in  Egypt 

809 


DEUTERONOMY. 


on  the  disobedient 


Curses  that  shall  fall 

b  c  1451  27  The  -^ord  will  smite  thee 

An.  Ex.  isr.  40.  with  p  the  botch  of  Egypt,  and 
Sebat'  with  q  the  emerods,  and  with  the 
scab,  and  with  the  itch,  whereof  thou  canst  not 
be  healed. 

28  The  Lord  shall  smite  thee  with  madness, 
and  blindness,  and  r  astonishment  of  heart  : 

29  And  thou  shalt  s  grope  at  noonday,  as 
the  blind  gropeth  in  darkness,  and  thou  shalt 
not  prosper  in  thy  ways  :  and  thou  shalt  be 
only  oppressed  and  spoiled  evermore,  and  no 
man  shall  save  thee. 

30  1  Thou  shalt  betroth  a  wife,  and  another 

P  Ver.  35  ;  Exod.  ix.  9  ;  xv.  26. - 4  1  Sara.  v.  6 ;  Psa.  lxxviii. 

66. - r  Jer.  iv.  9. - s  Job  v.  14 ;  Isa.  lix.  10. - 1  Job  xxxi.  10  ; 

Jer.  viii.  10. 

appears  to  be  chiefly  owing  to  a  very  fine  sand,  the 
particles  of  which  are  like  broken  glass,  which  are  car¬ 
ried  about  by  the  wind,  and,  entering  into  the  ciliary 
glands,  produce  grievous  and  continual  inflammations. 

Yerse  27.  The  Lord  will  smite  thee  with  the  botch ] 
pnty  shechin,  a  violent  inflammatory  swelling.  In  Job 
ii.,  one  of  the  Hexapla  versions  renders  it  the 

elephantiasis ,  a  disease  the  most  horrid  that  can  pos¬ 
sibly  afflict  human  nature.  In  this  disorder,  the  whole 
body  is  covered  with  a  most  loathsome  scurf ;  the 
joints  are  all  preternaturally  enlarged,  and  the  skin 
swells  up  and  grows  into  folds  like  that  of  an  elephant , 
whence  the  disease  has  its  name.  The  skin,  through 
its  rigidity,  breaks  across  at  all  the  joints,  and  a  most 
abominable  ichor  flows  from  all  the  chinks,  &c.  See 
an  account  of  it  in  Aretceus ,  whose  language  is  suffi¬ 
cient  to  chill  the  blood  of  a  maniac,  could  he  attend  to 
the  description  given  by  this  great  master,  of  this  most 
loathsome  and  abominable  of  all  the  natural  produc¬ 
tions  of  death  and  sin.  This  was  called  the  botch 
of  Egypt,  as  being  peculiar  to  that  country,  and  par¬ 
ticularly  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Nile.  Hence  those 
words  of  Lucretius  : — 

Est  Elephas  morbus,  qui  circum  flumina  Nili 

Nascitur,  JEgypto  in  media  ;  nec  prceterea  usquam. 

Lib.  vi.,  ver.  1112. 

Emerods ]  D’bx#  ophalim,  from  Sd>>  aphal,  to  be 
elevated,  raised  up ;  swellings,  protuberances ;  proba¬ 
bly  the  bleeding  piles. 

Scab]  DU  garab  does  not  occur  as  a  verb  in  the 
Hebrew  Bible,  but  gharb,  in  Arabic,  signifies  a 

distemper  in  the  corner  of  the  eye,  ( Castel .,)  and  may 
amount  to  the  Egyptian  ophthalmia,  which  is  so  epi¬ 
demic  and  distressing  in  that  country  :  some  suppose 
the  scurvy  to  be  intended. 

Itch]  D“in  cheres,  a  burning  itch,  probably  some¬ 
thing  of  the  erysipelatous  kind,  or  what  is  commonly 
called  St.  Anthony's  fire. 

Whereof  thou  canst  not  be  healed.  ]  For  as  they 
were  inflicted  by  God’s  justice,  they  could  not  of  course 
be  cured  by  human  art. 

Yerse  28.  The  Lord  shall  smite  thee  with  madness] 
\\yy&  shiggaon,  distraction,  so  that  thou  shalt  not  know 
what  to  do. 


man  shall  lie  with  her  :  u  thou  A.  M.  2553. 
shalt  build  a  house,  and  thou  An.  Ex.  Isr.  40. 
shalt  not  dwell  therein  :  v  thou  Sebat- 
shalt  plant  a  vineyard,  and  shalt  not  w  gather 
the  grapes  thereof. 

3  1  Thine  ox  shall  be  slain  before  thine  eyes, 
and  thou  shalt  not  eat  thereof :  thine  ass  shall 
be  violently  taken  away  from  before  thy  face, 
and  x  shall  not  be  restored  to  thee  :  thy  sheep 
shall  be  given  unto  thine  enemies,  and  thou 
shalt  have  none  to  rescue  them. 

32  Thy  sons  and  thy  daughters  shall  be 
given  unto  another  people,  and  thine  eyes 

u  Job  xxxi.  8  ;  Jer.  xii.  13  ;  Amos  v.  II  ;  Mic.  vi.  15 ;  Zeph.  i.  13. 

v  Chap.  xx.  6. - w  Heb.  profane,  or  use  it  as  common  meat  ;  as 

chap.  xx.  6. - xHeb.  shall  not  return  to  thee. 

And  blindness]  fIDIJJ  ivvaron,  blindness,  both  phy¬ 
sical  and  mental ;  the  DU  garab,  (ver.  27,)  destroying 
their  eyes,  and  the  judgments  of  God  confounding  their 
understandings. 

Astonishment]  JinDD  timmahon,  stupidity  and 
amazement.  By  the  just  judgments  of  God  they  were 
so  completely  confounded,  as  not  to  discern  the  means 
by  which  they  might  prevent  or  remove  their  calami¬ 
ties,  and  to  adopt  those  which  led  directly  to  their  ruin. 
How  true  is  the  ancient  saying,  Quos  Deus  vult  per - 
dere,  prius  dementat !  “  Those  whom  God  is  deter¬ 

mined  to  destroy,  he  first  infatuates.”  But  this  applies 
not  exclusively  to  the  poor  Jews  :  how  miserably  infa¬ 
tuated  have  the  powers  of  the  continent  of  Europe 
been,  in  all  tbeir  councils  and  measures,  for  several 
years  past !  And  what  is  the  result  1  They  have  fall¬ 
en — most  deplorably  fallen  ! 

Yerse  29.  Thou  shalt  be  only  oppressed,  dfc.]  Per¬ 
haps  no  people  under  the  sun  have  been  more  oppress¬ 
ed  and  spoiled  than  the  rebellious  Jews.  Indeed,  this 
has  been  their  portion,  with  but  little  intermission,  for 
nearly  1,800  years.  And  still  they  grope  at  noon  day , 
as  the  blind  gropeth  in  darkness — they  do  not  yet  dis¬ 
cover,  notwithstanding  the  effulgence  of  the  light  by 
which  they  are  encompassed,  that  the  rejection  of  their 
own  Messiah  is  the  cause  of  all  their  calamities. 

Yerse  30.  Thou  shalt  betroth  a  ivife,  dpc.]  Can 
any  heart  imagine  any  thing  more  grievous  than  the 
evils  threatened  in  this  and  the  following  verses  ?  To 
be  on  the  brink  of  all  social  and  domestic  happiness, 
and  then  to  be  suddenly  deprived  of  all,  and  see  an 
enemy  possess  and  enjoy  every  thing  that  was  dear  to 
them,  must  excite  them  to  the  utmost  pitch  of  distrac¬ 
tion  and  madness.  They  have,  it  is  true,  grievously 
sinned  ;  but,  O  ye  Christians,  have  they  not  grievously 
suffered  for  it  1  Is  not  the  stroke  of  God  heavy  enough 
upon  them  1  Do  not  then,  by  unkind  treatment  or 
cruel  oppression,  increase  their  miseries.  They  are, 
above  all  others,  the  men  who  have  seen  affliction  by 
the  stroke  of  his  rod  ;  Lam.  iii.  1. 

Yerse  32.  Thy  sons  and  thy  daughters  shall  be 
given  unto  another  people]  In  several  countries,  par¬ 
ticularly  in  Spain  and  Portugal ,  the  children  of  the 
Jews  have  been  taken  from  them  by  order  of  govern- 

~a 


810 


CHAP.  XXVIII. 


on  the  disobedient , 


Cm  ses  that  shall  fall 

A.  M.  2553.  shall  look,  and  y  fail  with  long¬ 
's.  C.  1451.  .  r  i  iii  i  i  ^ 

An.  Ex. isr.40.  mg  lor  them  all  the  day  long: 

_ _  ebat' _ _  and  there  shall  be  no  might  in 

thine  hand. 

33  z  The  fruit  of  thy  land,  and  all  thy  la¬ 
bours,  shall  a  nation  which  thou  knowest  not 
eat  up  :  and  thou  shalt  be  only  oppressed  and 
crushed  ahvay : 

34  So  that  thou  shalt  be  mad  a  for  the  sight 
of  thine  eyes  which  thou  shalt  see. 

35  The  Lord  shall  b  smite  thee  in  the  knees, 
and  in  the  legs,  with  a  sore  botch  that  cannot 
be  healed,  from  the  sole  of  thy  foot  unto  the 
top  of  thy  head. 

36  The  Lord  shall  c  bring  thee,  and  thy 
king  which  thou  shalt  set  over  thee,  unto  a 
nation  which  neither  thou  nor  thy  fathers  have 
known ;  and  d  there  shalt  thou  serve  other 
gods,  wood  and  stone. 

37  And  thou  shalt  become  e  an  astonishment, 
a  proverb,  f  and  a  by  word,  among  all  nations 
whither  the  Lord  shall  lead  thee. 

38  &  Thou  shalt  carry  much  seed  out  into 
the  field,  and  shalt  gather  but  little  in ;  for 
h  the  locust  shall  consume  it. 

39  Thou  shalt  plant  vineyards,  and  dress 
them,  but  shalt  neither  drink  of  the  wine,  nor 
gather  the  grapes ;  for  the  worms  shall  eat 
them. 

40  Thou  shalt  have  olive  trees  throughout 
all  thy  coasts,  but  thou  shalt  not  anoint  thy¬ 
self  with  the  oil ;  for  thine  olive  shall  cast 
his  fruit . 

4 1  Thou  shalt  beget  sons  and  daughters,  but 
*  thou  shalt  not  enjoy  them  ;  for  k  they  shall 
go  into  captivity. 

42  All  thy  trees  and  fruit  of  thy  land  shall 
the  locust  1  consume. 

y  Psa.  cxix.  82. - z  Yer.  51  ;  Lev.  xxvi.  16  ;  Jer.  v.  17. 

1  Ver.  67. - b  Yer.  27. - c  2  Kings  xvii.  4,  6  ;  xiv.  12,  14 ;  xxv. 

7,  11  ;  2  Chron.  xxxiii.  11 ;  xxxvi.  6,  20. - d  Chap.  iv.  28  ;  ver. 

64  ;  Jer.  xvi.  13. - e  1  Kings  ix.  7,  8 ;  Jer.  xxiv.  9  ;  xxv.  9  ; 

Zeeb.  viii.  13. - f  Psa.  xliv.  14. - ?  Mic.  vi.  15;  Hag.  i.  6. 

hJoel  i.  4. - ‘  Heb.  they  shall  not  be  thine. - k  Lam.  i.  5. 

1  Or,  possess. - m  Yer.  12. - n  Yer.  13 ;  Lam.  i.  5. 

ment,  and  educated  in  the  Popish  faith.  There  have 
been  some  instances  of  Jewish  children  being  taken 
from  their  parents  even  in  Protestant  countries. 

Verse  35.  With  a  sore  botch ]  pni?  shechin,  an 
inflammatory  swelling,  a  burning  boil.  See  ver.  27, 

Verse  36-45.  Can  any  thing  be  conceived  more 
dreadful  than  the  calamities  threatened  in  these  verses  ? 

Verse  48.  Therefore  shalt  thou  serve  thine  enemies ] 
Because  they  would  not  serve  GOD,  therefore  they 
became  slaves  to  men. 


43  The  stranger  that  is  within  A.  M.  2553. 

,  ,  „  0  .  ,  B.  C.  1451. 

thee  shall  get  up  above  thee  very  An.  Ex.  isr.40. 

high  ;  and  thou  shalt  come  down  Sebat~ 

very  low. 

44  m  He  shall  lend  to  thee,  and  thou  shalt 
not  lend  to  him  :  n  he  shall  be  the  head,  and 
thou  shalt  be  the  tail. 

45  Moreover  0  all  these  curses  shall  come 
upon  thee,  and  shall  pursue  thee,  and  overtake 
thee,  till  thou  be  destroyed ;  because  thou 
hearkenedst  not  unto  the  voice  of  the  Lord 
thy  God,  to  keep  his  commandments  and  his 
statutes  which  he  commanded  thee  : 

46  And  they  shall  be  upon  thee  p  for  a  sign 
and  for  a  wonder,  and  upon  thy  seed  for  ever. 

47  q  Because  thou  servedst  not  the  Lord 
thy  God  with  joyfulness,  and  with  gladness  of 
heart,  r  for  the  abundance  of  all  things ; 

48  Therefore  shalt  thou  serve  thine  enemies 
which  the  Lord  shall  send  against  thee,  in 
hunger,  and  in  thirst,  and  in  nakedness,  and  in 
want  of  all  things  ;  and  he  s  shall  put  a  yoke 
of  iron  upon  thy  neck,  until  he  have  destroyed 
thee. 

49  1  The  Lord  shall  bring  a  nation  against 
thee  from  far,  from  the  end  of  the  earth,  u  as 
swift  as  the  eagle  flieth ;  a  nation  whose 
tongue  thou  shalt  not  T  understand ; 

50  A  nation  w  of  fierce  countenance,  x  which 
shall  not  regard-  the  person  of  the  old,  nor 
show  favour  to  the  young : 

5 1  And  he  shall  ?  eat  the  fruit  of  thy  cattle, 
and  the  fruit  of  thy  land,  until  thou  be  de¬ 
stroyed  :  which  also  shall  not  leave  thee  either 
corn,  wine,  or  oil,  or  the  increase  of  thy  kine, 
or  flocks  of  thy  sheep,  until  he  have  destroyed 
thee. 

52  And  he  shall  z  besiege  thee  in  all  thy 

0  Ver.  15. - P  Isa.  viii.  18;  Ezek.  xiv.  8. - 4  Neh.  ix.  35, 

36,  37. - r  Chap,  xxxii.  15. - s  Jer.  xxviii.  14. - 1  Jer.  v.  15  ; 

vi.  22,  23  ;  Luke  xix.  43. - u  Jer.  xlviii.  43  ;  xlix.  22  ;  Lam.  iv. 

19  ;  Ezek.  xvii.  3,  12  ;  IIos.  viii.  1. - vHeb.  hear. - w  Heb. 

strong  of  face ;  Prov.  vii.  13;  Eccles.  viii.  1;  Dan.  viii.  23. 

x2  Chron.  xxxvi.  17 ;  Isa.  xlvii.  6. - -y  Yer.  33  ;  Isa.  i.  7 ;  lxii.  8. 

z  2  Kings  xxv.  1,2,  4. 

Verse  49.  A  nation — -from  far]  Probably  the 
Romans. 

As  the  eagle  flieth]  The  very  animal  on  all  the 
Roman  standards.  The  Roman  eagle  is  proverbial. 

Whose  tongue  thou  shalt  not  understand]  The 
Latin  language,  than  which  none  was  more  foreign  to 
the  structure  and  idiom  of  the  Hebrew. 

Verse  52.  He — Nebuchadnezzar  first,  (2  Kings 
xxv.  1,  2,  &c.,)  and  Titus  next;  shall  besiege  thee — 
beset  thee  round  on  every  side,  and  cast  a  trench 

811 


a 


DEUTERONOMY. 


on  the  disobedient. 


Curses  that  shall  fall 

b  c  ?45?  gates?  until  thy  high  and  fenced 
An.  Ex.  isr.  40.  walls  come  down,  wherein  thou 
^ *bat'  trustedst,  throughout  all  thy  land : 
and  he  shall  besiege  thee  in  all  thy  gates 
throughout  all  thy  land,  which  the  Lord  thy 
God  hath  given  thee. 

53  And  a  thou  shalt  eat  the  fruit  of  thine  own 
b  body,  the  flesh  of  thy  sons  and  of  thy  daugh¬ 
ters,  which  the  Lord  thy  God  hath  given 
thee,  in  the  siege,  and  in  the  straitness,  where¬ 
with  thine  enemies  shall  distress  thee  : 

54  So  that  the  man  that  is  tender  among 
you,  and  very  delicate,  c  his  eye  shall  be  evil 
toward  his  brother,  and  toward  d  the  wife  of  his 
bosom,  and  toward  the  remnant  of  his  children 
which  he  shall  leave  : 

55  So  that  he  will  not  give  to  any  of  them 
of  the  flesh  of  his  children  whom  he  shall  eat : 
because  he  hath  nothing  left  him  in  the  siege, 
and  in  the  straitness,  wherewith  thine  enemies 
shall  distress  thee  in  all  thy  gates. 

56  The  tender  and  delicate  woman  among 
you,  which  would  not  adventure  to  set  the  sole 
of  her  foot  upon  the  ground  for  delicateness 
and  tenderness,  e  her  eye  shall  be  evil  toward 
the  husband  of  her  bosom,  and  toward  her  son, 
and  toward  her  daughter, 

57  And  toward  her5 young  one  that  cometh 
out  %  from  between  her  feet,  and  toward  her 

a  Lev.  xxvi.  29 ;  2  Kings  vi.  28,  29  ;  Jer.  xix.  9  ;  Lam.  ii.  20  ; 

iv.  10  ;  Bar.  ii.  3. - b  Heb.  belly. - c  Chap.  xv.  9. - d  Chap. 

xiii.  6. - e  Ver.  54. -*  1  Heb.  after-birth. - ?  Gen.  xlix.  10. 


children  which  she  shall  bear  :  a.  m.  2553. 

r  ,  i  n  i  r  B.  C.  1451. 

tor  she  shall  eat  them  lor  want  An.  Ex.  isr.  40. 

of  all  things  secretly  in  the  siege  Sebat' 

and  straitness,  wherewith  thine  enemy  shall 

distress  thee  in  thy  gates. 

58  If  thou  wilt  not  observe  to  do  all  the 
words  of  this  law  that  are  written  in  this  book, 
that  thou  mayest  fear  h  this  glorious  and  fear¬ 
ful  name,  THE  LORD  THY  GOD : 

59  Then  the  Lord  will  make  thy  plagues 
1  wonderful,  and  the  plagues  of  thy  seed,  even 
great  plagues,  and  of  long  continuance,  and 
sore  sicknesses,  and  of  long  continuance. 

60  Moreover  he  will  bring  upon  thee  all  k  the 
diseases  of  Egypt,  which  thou  wast  afraid  of; 
and  they  shall  cleave  unto  thee. 

6 1  Also  every  sickness,  and  every  plague, 
which  is  not  written  in  the  book  of  this  law, 
them  will  the  Lord  1  bring  upon  thee,  until 
thou  be  destroyed. 

62  And  ye  m  shall  be  left  few  in  number, 
whereas  ye  were  n  as  the  stars  of  heaven  for 
multitude  ;  because  thou  wouldest  not  obey  the 
voice  of  the  Lord  thv  God. 

63  And  it  shall  come  to  pass,  that  as  the 
Lord  0  rejoiced  over  you  to  do  you  good,  and 
to  multiply  you  ;  so  the  Lord  p  will  rejoice 
over  you  to  destroy  you,  and  to  bring  you  to 
naught ;  and  ye  shall  be  plucked  from  off  the 

h  Exod.  vi.  3. - ;  Dan.  ix.  12. - k  Chap.  vii.  15. — — }  Heb. 

cause  to  ascend. - m  Chap.  iv.  27. - "Chap,  x.22;  Neh.  ix.23. 

0  Chap.  xxx.  9  ;  Jer  xxxii.  41.- - P  Prov.  i.  26  ;  Isa.  i.  24. 


around  thee,  viz.,  lines  of  circumvallation,  as  our  Lord 
predicted  ;  (see  Matt.  xxiv.  I,  &c.,  and  Luke  xxi.  5, 
&c.  ;)  in  all  thy  gates  throughout  all  thy  land — all 
thy  fenced  cities,  which  points  out  that  their  subjuga¬ 
tion  should  be  complete,  as  both  Jerusalem  and  all  their 
fortified  places  should  be  taken.  This  was  done  lite¬ 
rally  by  Nebuchadnezzar  and  the  Romans. 

Verse  56.  The  tender  and  delicate  woman ]  This 
was  literally  fulfilled  when  Jerusalem  was  besieged  by 
the  Romans  ;  a  woman  named  Mary,  of  a  noble  family, 
driven  to  distraction  by  famine,  boiled  and  ate  her  own 
child  !  See  a  similar  case  2  Kings  vi.  29  ;  and  see 
on  Lev.  xxvi.  29. 

Verse  57.  Toward  her  young  one — and  toward  her 
children  which  she  shall  hear ]  There  seems  to  be  a 
species  of  tautology  in  the  two  clauses  of  this  verse, 
which  may  be  prevented  by  translating  the  last  word, 
nrub#  shilyathah,  literally,  her  secondines,  which  is  the 
meaning  of  the  Arabic  JNJL*#  sala,  not  badly  understood 
by  the  Septuagint,  x°PL0V  ovryc,  the  chorion  or  exterior 
membrane,  which  invests  the  foetus  in  the  womb  ;  and 
still  better  translated  by  Luther ,  trie  after  jjcburtf), 
the  after-birth  ;  which  saying  of  Moses  strongly  marks 
the  deepest  distress,  when  the  mother  is  represented 

812 


as  feeling  the  most  poignant  regret  that  her  child  was 
brought  forth  into  such  a  state  of  suffering  and  death  ; 
and  2dly,  that  it  was  likely,  from  the  favourable  cir¬ 
cumstances  after  the  birth ,  that  she  herself  should  sur¬ 
vive  her  inlaying.  No  words  can  more  forcibly  depict 
the  miseries  of  those  dreadful  times.  On  this  ground 

I  see  no  absolute  need  for  Kennicott’s  criticism,  who, 
instead  of  n/vTiiOl  ube shilyathah,  against  her  secon¬ 
dines,  reads  nStyzi  ubashelah,  and  she  shall  boil ,  and 
translates  the  56th  and  57th  verses  as  follows  :  “  The 
tender  and  delicate  woman  among  you,  who  would  not 
adventure  to  set  the  sole  of  her  foot  upon  the  ground 
for  delicateness  and  tenderness,  her  eye  shall  be  evil 
toward  the  husband  of  her  bosom,  and  toward  her 
son,  and  toward  her  daughter.  57.  And  she  shall 
boil  that  which  cometh  out  from  between  her  feet,  even 
her  children  which  she  shall  bear,  for  she  shall  eat 
them,  for  want  of  all  things,  secretly.”  These  words, 
says  he,  being  prophetical,  are  fulfilled  in  2  Kings 
vi.  29,  for  we  read  there  that  two  women  of  Samaria 
having  agreed  to  eat  their  own  children,  one  was  ac¬ 
tually  boiled,  where  the  very  same  word,  bashal, 
is  used.  See  Kennicott's  Dissertations  on  1  Chron. 
xi.,  &c.,  p.  421. 

a 


CHAP.  XXIX. 


A  recapitulation  of  God's 


gracious  dealings  with  Israel. 


A.  M.  2553.  land  whither  thou  gocst  to  pos- 

B.  C. 1451.  .  °  r 

An.  Ex.  Isr.  40.  SeSS  it. 

Sebat' _  64  And  the  Lord  q  shall  scatter 

thee  among  all  people,  from  the  one  end  of  the 
earth  even  unto  the  other ;  and  r  there  thou 
shalt  serve  other  gods,  which  neither  thou 
nor  thy  fathers  have  known,  even  wood  and 
stone. 

65  And  s  among  these  nations  shalt  thou  find 
no  ease,  neither  shall  the  sole  of  thy  foot  have 
rest :  t  bat  the  Lord  shall  give  thee  there  a 
trembling  heart,  and  failing  of  eyes,  and  11  sor¬ 
row  of  mind : 

66  And  thy  life  shall  hang  in  doubt  before 


thee  ;  and  thou  shalt  fear  day  and  a.  M.  2553. 

J  B.  C.  1451. 

night,  and  shalt  have  none  assu-  An.  Ex.  Isr. 40. 
ranee  of  thy  life  :  Sebat- 

67  v  In  the  morning  thou  shalt  say,  Would 
God  it  were  even  !  and  at  even  thou  shalt  say, 
Would  God  it  were  morning !  for  the  fear  of 
thine  heart  wherewith  thou  shalt  fear,  and  w  for 
the  sight  of  thine  eyes  which  thou  shalt  see. 

68  And  the  Lord  x  shall  bring  thee  into 
Egypt  again  with  ships,  by  the  way  whereof 
I  spake  unto  thee,  y  Thou  shalt  see  it  no  more 
again  :  and  there  ye  shall  be  sold  unto  your 
enemies  for  bondmen  and  bondwomen,  and  no 
man  shall  buy  you. 


Lev.  xxvi.  33 ;  chap.  iv.  27,  28 ;  Neh.  i.  8 ;  Jer.  xvi.  13. 
r  Ver.  36. - *  Amos  ix.  4. - 1  Lev.  xxvi.  36. 

Yerse  64.  The  Lord  shall  scatter  thee  among  all 
people]  How  literally  has  this  been  fulfilled  !  The 
people  of  the  Jews  are  scattered  over  every  nation 
under  heaven. 

Yerse  65.  No  ease — a  trembling  heart,  and  failing 
of  eyes]  The  trembling  of  heart  may  refer  to  their 
state  of  continual  insecurity,  being,  under  every  kind 
of  government,  proscribed,  and,  even  under  the  most 
mild,  uncertain  of  toleration  and  protection  ;  and  the 
failing  of  eyes,  to  their  vain  and  ever-disappointed 
expectation  of  the  Messiah. 

Yerse  68.  And  the  Lord  shall  bring  thee  into  Egypt 
again]  That  is,  into  another  state  of  slavery  and 
bondage  similar  to  that  of  Egypt,  out  of  which  they 
had  been  lately  brought.  And  there  ye  shall  be  sold, 
that  is,  be  exposed  to  sale,  or  expose  yourselves  to  sale, 
as  the  word  DiTODDfl  hithmaccartem  may  be  rendered  ; 
they  were  vagrants,  and  wished  to  become  slaves  that 
they  might  be  provided  with  the  necessaries  of  life. 
And  no  man  shall  buy  you;  even  the  Romans  thought 


u  Lev.  xxvi.  16. - v  Job  vii.  4. - ,v  Ver.  34. - x  Jer.  xliv.  7  ; 

Hos.  viii.  13;  ix.  3. - r  Chap.  xvii.  16. 

it  a  reproach  to  have  a  Jew  for  a  slave,  they  had  be¬ 
come  so  despicable  to  all  mankind.  When  Jerusalem 
was  taken  by  Titus,  many  of  the  captives,  which  were 
above  seventeen  years  of  age,  were  sent  into  the  works 
in  Egypt.  See  Josephus,  Antiq.,  b.  xii.,c.  1,  2,  War, 
b.  vi.,  c.  9,  s.  2  ;  and  above  all,  see  Bp.  Newton's 
Dissertations  on  the  Prophecies. 

The  first  verse  of  the  next  chapter,  in  some  ot  the 
most  correct  Hebrew  Bibles,  makes  the  69th  of  this 
and  very  properly,  as  the  second  verse  of  the  follow 
ing  chapter  begins  a  new  subject. 

This  is  an  astonishing  chapter :  in  it  are  prophecies 
delivered  more  than  3,000  years  ago,  and  now  fulfilling. 

O  God,  how  immense  is  thy  wisdom,  and  how  pro¬ 
found  thy  counsels  !  To  thee  alone  are  known  all  thy 
works  from  the  beginning  to  the  end.  What  an  irre¬ 
fragable  proof  does  this  chapter,  compared  with  the 
past  and  present  state  of  the  Jewish  people,  afford  of 
the  truth  and  Divine  origin  of  the  Pentateuch ! 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 


A  recapitulation  of  God's  gracious  dealings  with  Israel,  1-8.  An  exhortation  to  obedience,  and  to  enter  into 
covenant  with  their  God,  that  they  and  their  posterity  may  be  established  in  the  good  land,  9—15.  They 
are  to  remember  the  abdminations  of  Egypt,  and  to  avoid  them,  16,  17.  He  who  hardens  his  heart ,  ivhen 
he  hears  these  curses,  shall  be  utterly  consumed,  1 8—2 1 .  Their  posterity  shall  be  astonished  at  the  deso¬ 
lations  that  shall  fall  upon  them,  22,  23  ;  shall  inquire  the  reason,  and  shall  be  informed  that  the  Lord 
has  done  thus  to  them  because  of  their  disobedience  and  idolatry ,  24—28.  A  caution  against  prying  too 
curiously  into  the  secrets  of  the  Divine  providence,  and  to  be  contented  with  what  God  has  revealed,  29. 


A.  M.  2553.  ^PHESE  are  the  words  of  the 

B.  C.  1451.  x  1  •  1  ,  T 

An.  Ex.  Isr.  40.  covenant,  which  the  Lord 

Sebat'  commanded  Moses  to  make  with 
the  children  of  Israel,  in  the  land  of  Moab, 


beside  a  the  covenant  which  he  x  M.  2553. 
made  with  them  in  Horeb.  An.  Ex.  Isr.  40. 

2  And  Moses  called  unto  all  Sebdt' 
Israel,  and  said  unto  them,  b  Ye  have  seen  all 


a  Chap.  v.  2,  3. 

NOTES  ON  CHAP.  XXIX. 

Verse  1.  These  are  the  words  of  the  covenant]  This 
verse  seems  properly  to  belong  to  the  preceding  chap¬ 
ter,  as  a  widely  different  subject  is  taken  up  at  ver.  2 


b  Exod.  xix.  4. 

of  this ;  and  it  is  distinguished  as  the  69th  verse  in 
some  of  the  most  correct  copies  of  the  Hebrew  Bible. 

Commanded  Moses  to  make]  mD1?  lichroth,  to  cut, 
alluding  to  the  covenant  sacrifice  which  was  offered 

813 


DEUTERONOMY. 


exhorted  to  obedience. 


The  people  are 

A*  Jf*  2553-  that  the  Lord  did  before  your 

B.  C.  1451.  .  J 

An.  Ex.  isr.  40.  eyes  in  the  land  of  Egypt  unto 

_ Sebat'  Pharaoh,  and  unto  all  his  ser¬ 
vants,  and  unto  all  his  land ; 

3  c  The  great  temptations  which  thine  eyes 
have  seen,  the  signs,  and  those  great  miracles  : 

4  Yet  G  the  Lord  hath  not  given  you  a  heart 
to  perceive,  and  eyes  to  see,  and  ears  to  hear, 
unto  this  day. 

5  e  And  I  have  led  you  Lor ty  years  in  the 
wilderness  :  f  your  clothes  are  not  waxen  old 
upon  you,  and  thy  shoe  is  not  waxen  old  upon 
thy  foot. 

6  g  Ye  have  not  eaten  bread,  neither  have  ye 
drunk  wine  or  strong  drink  :  that  ye  might 
know  that  I  am  the  Lord  your  God. 

7  And  when  ye  came  unto  this  place,  h  Sihon 
the  king  of  Heshbon,  and  Og  the  king  of 
Bashan,  came  out  against  us  unto  battle,  and 
we  smote  them : 

8  And  we  took  their  land,  and  *  gave  it  for 
an  inheritance  unto  the  Reubenites,  and  to  the 
Gadites,  and  to  the  half  tribe  of  Manasseh. 

c  Chap.  iv.  34 ;  vii.  19. - d  See  Isa.  vi.  9,  10  ;  lxiii.  17  ;  John 

viii.  43  ;  Acts  xxviii.  26,  27 ;  Eph.  iv.  18;  2  Thess.  ii.  11,  12. 

e  Chap.  i.  3  ;  viii.  2. - f  Chap.  viii.  4. - s  See  Exod.  xvi.  12  ; 

chap.  viii.  3 ;  Psa.  .xxviii.  24,25. - hNum.  xxi.  23,  24,  33; 

chap.  ii.  32;  in,  1. 

on  the  occasion  and  divided ,  as  is  explained,  Gen. 
xv.  18. 

Beside  the  covenant  ivhich  he  made — in  Horeb.\ 
What  is  mentioned  here  is  an  additional  institution  to 
the  ten  words  given  on  Horeb;  and  the  curses  denounced 
here  are  different  from  those  denounced  against  the 
transgressors  of  the  decalogue. 

Verse  4.  The  Lord  hath  not  given  you  a  heart ,  fic.] 
Some  critics  read  this  verse  interrogatively :  And  hath 
not  God  given  you  a  heart,  &e.  1  because  they  sup¬ 
pose  that  God  could  not  reprehend  them  for  the  non¬ 
performance  of  a  duty,  when  he  had  neither  given  them 
a  mind  to  perceive  the  obligation  of  it,  nor  strength  to 
perform  it.  had  that  obligation  been  known.  Though 
this  is  strictly  just,  yet  there  is  no  need  for  the  inter¬ 
rogation,  as  the  words  only  imply  that  they  had  not 
such  a  heart ,  &c.,  not  because  God  had  not  given  them 
all  the  means  of  knowledge,  and  helps  of  his  grace 
and  Spirit,  which  were  necessary  ;  but  they  had  not 
made  a  faithful  use  of  their  advantages,  and  therefore 
they  had  not  that  wise,  loving,  and  obedient  heart  which 
they  otherwise  might  have  had.  If  they  had  had  such 
a  heart,  it  would  have  been  God’s  gift,  for  he  is  the 
author  of  all  good  ;  and  that  they  had  not  such  a  heart 
was  a  proof  that  they  had  grieved  his  Spirit,  and  abused 
the  grace  which  he  had  afforded  them  to  produce  that 
gracious  change,  the  want  of  which  is  here  deplored. 
Hence  God  himself  is  represented  as  grieved  because 
they  were  unchanged  and  disobedient :  “  O  that  there 
were  such  a  heart  in  them,  that  they  would  fear  me, 

814 


9  k  Keep  therefore  the  words  a.  m.  2553. 
of  this  covenant,  and  do  them,  An.  Ex.  isr.  40. 
that  ye  may *  1  prosper  in  all  that  Sebat~ 
ye  do. 

10  Ye  stand  this  day  all  of  you  before  the 
Lord  your  God  ;  your  captains  of  your  tribes, 
your  elders,  and  your  officers,  with  all  the 


men  of  Israel, 

1 1  Your  little  ones,  your  wives,  and  thy 
stranger  that  is  in  thy  camp,  from  m  the 
hewer  of  thy  wood  unto  the  drawer  of  thy 
water  : 

12  That  thou  shouldest  n  enter  into  cove¬ 
nant  with  the  Lord  thy  God,  and  0  into  his 
oath,  which  the  Lord  thy  God  maketh  with 
thee  this  day  : 

1 3  That  he  may  p  establish  thee  to-day  for 
a  people  unto  himself,  and  that  he  may  be  unto 
thee  a  God,  qas  he  hath  said  unto  thee,  and 
r  as  he  hath  sworn  unto  thy  fathers,  to  Abra¬ 
ham,  to  Isaac,  and  to  Jacob. 

14  Neither  with  you  only  s  do  I  make  this 
covenant  and  this  oath ; 


1  Num.  xxxii.  33  ;  chap.  iii.  12, 13. - k  Chap.  iv.  6  ;  Josh.  i.  7 ; 

1  Kings  ii.  3. - 1  Josh.  i.  7. - m  See  Joshua  ix.  21,  23,  27. 

nIJeb.  pass. - °Neh.  x.  29. - P  Chap,  xxviii.  9. - ^  Exod. 

vi.  7. - r  Genesis  xvii.  7. - sJer.  xxxi.  31,  32,  33;  Heb. 

viii.  7,  8. 


and  keep  all  my  commandments  always,  that  it  might 
be  well  with  them  and  with  their  children  for  ever !” 
See  chap.  v.  29,  and  the  note  there. 

Verse  5.  Your  clothes  are  not  waxen  old ]  See  on 

chap.  viii.  4. 

Verse  6.  Ye  have  not  eatenbread ,  g-c.]  That  is,  ye 
have  not  been  supported  in  an  ordinary  providential 
way  ;  I  have  been  continually  working  miracles  for 
you,  that  ye  might  knoiv  that  I  am  the  Lord.  Thus 
we  find  that  God  had  furnished  them  with  all  the  means 
of  this  knowledge,  and  that  the  means  were  ineffectual, 
not  because  they  were  not  properly  calculated  to  an¬ 
swer  God’s  gracious  purpose,  but  because  the  people 
were  not  workers  with  God  ;  consequently  they  re¬ 
ceived  the  grace  of  God  in  vain.  See  2  Cor.  vi.  1. 

Verse  10.  Ye  stand — all  of  you  before  the  Lord ] 
They  were  about  to  enter  into  a  covenant  with  God  ; 
and  as  a  covenant  implies  two  parties  contracting ,  God 
is  represented  as  being  present,  and  they  and  all  their 
families,  old  and  young,  come  before  him. 

Verse  12.  That  thou  shouldest  enter]  “ITpS  leaber, 
to  pass  through,  that  is,  between  the  separated  parts 
of  the  covenant  sacrifice.  See  Gen.  xv.  18. 

And  into  his  oath ]  Thus  we  find  that  in  a  covenant 
were  these  seven  particulars:  1.  The  parties  about  to 
contract  were  considered  as  being  hitherto  separated. 
2.  They  now  agree  to  enter  into  a  state  of  close  and 
permanent  amity.  3.  They  meet  together  in  a  solemn 
manner  for  this  purpose.  4.  A  sacrifice  is  offered  to 
God  on  the  occasion,  for  the  whole  is  a  religious  act. 

a 


Moses  reasons  with 


CHAP.  XXIX. 


a.  M.  2553.  15  But  with  him  that  standeth 

An.  Ex.  isr.  40.  here  with  us  this  day  before  the 
Scbdt'  Lord  our  God,  *  and  also  with 
him  that  is  not  here  with  us  this  day  : 

16  (For  ye  know  how  we  have  dwelt  in  the 
land  of  Egypt ;  and  how  we  came  through 
the  nations  which  ye  passed  by; 

17  And  ye  have  seen  their  abominations,  and 
their  u  idols,  wood  and  stone,  silver  and  gold, 
which  were  among  them  :) 

18  Lest  there  should  be  among  you  man, 
or  woman,  or  family,  or  tribe,  v  whose  heart 
turneth  away  this  day  from  the  Lord  our  God, 
to  go  and  serve  the  gods  of  these  nations  ; 
w  lest  there  should  be  among  you  a  root  that 
beareth  x  gall  y  and  wormwood  ; 

19  And  it  come  to  pass,  when  he  beareth 
the  words  of  this  curse,  that  he  bless  himself 
in  his  heart,  saying,  I  shall  have  peace,  though 
I  walk  z  in  the  a  imagination  of  mine  heart, 
b  to  add  c  drunkenness  to  thirst : 

20  d  The  Lord  will  not  spare  him,  but  then 
e  the  anger  of  the  Lord  and  f  his  jealousy 
shall  smoke  against  that  man,  and  all  the 
curses  that  are  written  in  this  book  shall  lie 
upon  him,  and  the  Lord  s  shall  blot  out  his 
name  from  under  heaven. 

21  And  the  Lord  h  shall  separate  him  unto 
evil  out  of  all  the  tribes  of  Israel,  according 
to  all  the  curses  of  the  covenant  that  1  are 
written  in  this  book  of  the  law  : 

22  So  that  the  generation  to  come  of  your 
children  that  shall  rise  up  after  you,  and  the 

*  See  Acta  ii.  39 ;  1  Cor.  vii.  14. - u  Heb.  dungy  gods. - v  Ch. 

xi.  U>. - w  Acts  viii.  23 ;  Heb.  xii.  15. - x  Or,  a  poisonful 

herb. - y  Heb.  rosli. - z  Num.  xv.  39  ;  Eccles.  xi.  9. - a  Or, 

stubbornness  ;  Jer.  iii.  17  ;  vii.  24. - b  Isa.  xxx.  1. - c  Heb.  the 

drunken  to  the  thirsty. - d  Ezek.  xiv.  7,  8. - e  Psa.  lxxiv.  1. 

1  Psa.  lxxix.  5;  Ezek.  xxiii.  25. - ?  Chap.  ix.  14. 

5.  The  victim  is  separated  exactly  into  two  equal  parts, 
the  separation  being  in  the  direction  of  the  spine ;  and 
these  parts  are  laid  opposite  to  each  other,  sufficient 
room  being  allowed  for  the  contracting  parties  to  pass 
between  them.  6.  The  contracting  parties  meet  in 
the  victim,  and  the  conditions  of  the  covenant  by  which 
they  are  to  be  mutually  bound  are  recited.  7.  An  oath 
is  taken  by  these  parties  that  they  shall  punctually  and 
faithfully  perform  their  respective  conditions,  and  thus 
the  covenant  is  made  and  ratified.  See  Jer.  xxxiv. 
18,  19,  and  the  notes  on  Gen.  vi.  18  ;  xv.  18  ;  Exod. 
xxix.  45  ;  Lev.  xxvi. 

Verse  15.  Him  that  standeth  here ]  The  present 
generation.  Him  that  is  not  here — all  future  genera¬ 
tions  of  this  people. 

Verse  18.  A  root  that  beareth  gall  and  wormwood ] 
That  is,  as  the  apostle  expresses  it,  Heb.  iii.  12,  An 


and  exhorts  the  people . 


stranger  that  shall  come  from  a  A.  M.  2553. 
far  land,  shall  say,  when  they  see  An.  Ex.  Isr. 40. 
the  plagues  of  that  land,  and  the  _ Seh&t‘ 


sicknesses  k  which  the  Lord  hath  laid  upon  it ; 

23  And  that  the  whole  land  thereof  is  brim¬ 
stone,  1  and  salt,  and  burning,  that  it  is  not 
sown,  nor  beareth,  nor  any  grass  groweth 
therein,  m  like  the  overthrow  of  Sodom,  and 
Gomorrah,  Admah,  and  Zeboim,  which  the 


his 


anger, 


and 


in 


his 


Lord  overthrew  in 
wrath  : 

24  Even  all  nations  shall  say,  n  Wherefore 
hath  the  Lord  done  thus  unto  this  land  ?  what 
meaneth  the  heat  of  this  great  anger  ? 

25  Then  mien  shall  say,  Because  they  have 
forsaken  the  covenant  of  the  Lord  God  of 
their  fathers,  which  he  made  with  them  when 
he  brought  them  forth  out  of  the  land  of 
Egypt : 

26  For  they  went  and  served  other  gods,  and 
worshipped  them,  gods  whom  they  knew  not, 
and  0  whom  he  had  not  1  given  unto  them  : 

27  And  the  anger  of  the  Lord  was  kindled 


against  this  land,  q  to  bring 


it  all  the 


♦a— . -  - ,  - —a  up°n 

curses  that  are  written  in  this  book : 

28  And  the  Lord  T  rooted  them  out  of  their 
land  in  anger,  and  in  wrath,  and  in  great  in¬ 
dignation,  and  cast  them  into  another  land,  as 
it  is  this  day 

29 

our  God  :  but  those  things  which  are  revealed 
belong  unto  us  and  to  our  children  for  ever, 
that  toe  may  do  all  the  words  of  this  law. 


The  secret  things  belong  unto  the  Lord 


h  Matt.  xxiv.  51. - ‘  Heb.  is  written. - k  Heb.  wherewith  the 

LORD  hath  made  it  sick. - 1  Psa.  evii.  34  ;  Jer.  xvii.  6;  Zeph. 

ii.  9. - m  Gen.  xix.  24,  25  ;  Jer.  xx.  16. - u  1  Kings  ix.  8,  9  ; 

Jer.  xxii.  8,  9. - 0  Or,  who  had  not  given  to  them  any  portion. 

PHeb.  divided. - 1  Dan.  ix.  11,  13,  14. - rl  Kings  xiv.  15; 

2  Chron.  vii.  20  ;  Psa.  Iii.  5  ;  Prov.  ii.  22. 


evil  heart  of  unbelief  departing  from  the  living  God;  for 
to  this  place  he  evidently  refers.  It  may  also  signify 
false  doctrines,  or  idolatrous  persons  among  themselves. 

Verse  19.  To  add  drunkenness  to  thirst\  A  pro¬ 
verbial  expression  denoting  the  utmost  indulgence  in 
all  sensual  gratifications. 

Verse  26.  Gods — whom  he  had  not  given  unto  theni\ 
This  is  an  unhappy  translation.  Houbigant  renders 
the  original  words  onb  pbn  ibl  velo  chalak  lahem,  et 
quibuscum  nulla  eis  societas,  “  And  with  whom  they 
had  no  society  and  falls  unmercifully  on  Le  Clerc 
because  he  had  translated  it,  From  whom  they  had  re¬ 
ceived  no  benefits.  I  must  differ  from  both  these  great 
men,  because  I  think  they  differ  from  the  text,  pbn 
chalak  signifies  a  portion,  lot,  inheritance,  and  God  is 
frequently  represented  in  Scripture  as  the  portion  or 
inheritance  of  his  people.  Here,  therefore,  I  think 

815 


a 


DEUTERONOMY. 


Gracious  promises  to  the 

the  original  should  be  rendered,  And  there  was  no  por~ 
tion  to  them ,  that  is,  the  gods  they  served  could  neither 
supply  their  wants  nor  save  their  souls-— -they  were  no 
portion. 

Yerse  29.  The  secret  things  belong  unto  the  Lord , 
This  verse  has  been  variously  translated.  Hou- 
bigant  renders  it  thus  :  Qua  apud  Dominum  nostrum 
abscondita  sunt ,  nobis  ea  filiisque  nostris  palam  facta 
sunt  ad  multas  estates,  “  The  things  which  were  hid¬ 
den  with  the  Lord  our  God,  are  made  manifest  to  us 
and  our  children  for  many  generations.”  I  am  not 
satisfied  with  this  interpretation,  and  find  that  the  pas¬ 
sage  was  not  so  understood  by  any  of  the  ancient  ver¬ 
sions.  The  simple  general  meaning  seems  to  be  this : 
“  What  God  has  thought  proper  to  reveal,  he  has  re¬ 
vealed  ;  what  he  has  revealed  is  essential  to  the  well¬ 
being.  of  man,  and  this  revelation  is  intended  not  for 
the  present  time  merely,  nor  for  one  people ,  but  for  all 
succeeding  generations.  The  things  which  he  has  not 


faithful  and,  obedient . 

revealed  concern  not  man  but  God  alone,  and  are  there¬ 
fore  not  to  be  inquired  after.”  Thus ,  then,  the  things 
that  are  hidden  belong  unto  the  Lord ,  those  that  are 
revealed  belong  unto  us  and  our  children.  But  possi¬ 
bly  the  words  here  refer  to  the  subjects  of  these  chap¬ 
ters,  as  if  he  had  said,  “  Apostasy  from  God  and  his 
truth  is  possible.  When  a  national  apostasy  among  us 
may  take  place,  is  known  only  to  God  ;  but  he  has  re¬ 
vealed  himself  to  us  and  our  children  that  we  may  do 
all  the  words  of  this  law,  and  so  prevent  the  dreadful 
evils  that  shall  fall  on  the  disobedient.” 

The  Jews  have  always  considered  these  verses  as 
containing  subjects  of  the  highest  importance  to  them, 

and  have  affixed  marks  to  the  original,  U’jnSl  uS  lanu 
ulebaneynu ,  “  to  us  and  to  our  children,”  in  order  to 
fix  the  attention  of  the  reader  on  truths  which  affect 
them  individually,  and  not  them  only,  but  the  whole 
of  their  posterity. 


CHAPTER  XXX. 

Gracious  promises  are  given  to  the  penitent ,  1—0.  The  Lord  will  circumcise  their  heart ,  and  put  all  these 
curses  on  their  enemies ,  if  they  hearken  to  his  voice  and  keep  his  testimonies ,  7—10.  The  word  is  near  to 
them ,  and  easy  to  be  understood ,  11—14.  Life  and  death ,  a  blessing  and  a  curse ,  are  set  before  them: 
and  they  are  exhorted  to  love  the  Lord ,  obey  his  voice ,  and  cleave  unto  him ,  that  they  may  inherit  the  land 
promised  to  Abraham ,  15—20. 


A.  M.  2553.  A  ND  a  it  shall  come  to  pass, 

b.  c.  1451.  AL  .  ,  „  .  ,  .  r  ’ 

An.  Ex.  isr.  40.  when  tJ  all  these  things  are 

Sebat'  come  upon  thee,  the  blessing  and 
the  curse,  which  I  have  set  before  thee,  and 
c  thou  shalt  call  them  to  mind  among  all  the 
nations,  whither  the  Lord  thy  God  hath  driven 
thee, 

2  And  shalt  d  return  unto  the  Lord  thy  God, 
and  shalt  obey  his  voice,  according  to  all  that 
I  command  thee  this  day,  thou  and  thy  chil¬ 
dren,  with  all  thine  heart,  and  with  all  thy  soul ; 

3  e  That  then  the  Lord  thy  God  will  turn 
thy  captivity,  and  have  compassion  upon  thee, 

a  Lev.  xxvi.  40. - b  Chap,  xxviii. - c  Chap.  iv.  29,  30  ; 

1  Kings  viii.  47, 48. - d  Neh.  i.  9  ;  Isa.  lv.  7  ;  Lam.  iii.  40  ;  Joel 

ii.  12, 13. - e  Psa.  cvi.  45  ;  exxvi.  1,  4  ;  Jer.  xxix.  14 ;  Lam. 

NOTES  ON  CHAP.  XXX. 

Yerse  1.  When  all  these  things  are  come  upon  thee , 
the  blessing  and  the  curse ]  So  fully  did  God  foresee 
the  bad  use  these  people  would  make  of  their  free 
agency  in  resisting  the  Holy  Ghost,  that  he  speaks  of 
their  sin  and  punishment  as  certain ;  yet,  at  the  same 
time,  shows  how  they  might  turn  to  himself  and  live, 
even  while  he  was  pouring  out  his  indignation  upon 
them  because  of  their  transgressions. 

Yerse  3.  Gather  thee  from  all  the  nations ]  This 
must  refer  to  a  more  extensive  captivity  than  that 
which  they  suffered  in  Babylon. 

Yerse  5.  Will  bring  thee  into  the  land]  As  this 
promise  refers  to  a  return  from  a  captivity  in  which 
they  had  been  scattered  among  all  nations,  conse- 

816 


and  will  return  and  f  gather  thee  A.  M.  2553. 

r  ..  ,  .  ,  .  ,  '  B.  C.  1451. 

from  all  the  nations,  whither  the  An.  Ex.lsr.  40. 

Lord  thy  God  hath  scattered  thee.  Sebat' 

4  s'  If  any  of  thine  be  driven  out  unto  the  • 
outmost  parts  of  heaven,  from  thence  will  the 
Lord  thy  God  gather  thee,  and  from  thence 
will  he  fetch  thee  : 

5  And  the  Lord  thy  God  will  bring  thee 
into  the  land  which  thy  fathers  possessed,  and 
thou  shalt  possess  it ;  and  he  will  do  thee  good, 
and  multiply  thee  above  thy  fathers. 

6  And  h  the  Lord  thy  God  will  circumcise 
thine  heart,  and  the  heart  of  thy  seed,  to  love 

iii.  22,  32. - f  Psa.  cxlvii.  2  ;  Jer.  xxxii.  37  ;  Ezek.  xxxiv.  13  ; 

xxxvi.  24. - s  Chap,  xxviii.  64  ;  Neh.  i.  9. - hChap.  x.  16; 

Jer.  xxxii.  39  ;  Ezek.  xi.  19  ;  xxxvi.  26. 

quently  it  is  not  the  Babylonish  captivity  which  is  in¬ 
tended  ;  and  the  repossession  of  their  land  must  be 
different  from  that  which  was  consequent  on  their  re¬ 
turn  from  Chaldea. 

Yerse  6.  God  will  circumcise  thine  heart ]  This 
promise  remains  yet  to  be  fulfilled.  Their  heart,  as  a 
people,  has  never  yet  been  circumcised ;  nor  have  the 
various  promises  in  this  chapter  been  ever  yet  fulfilled. 
There  remaineth,  therefore,  a  rest  for  this  people  of 
God.  Now,  as  the  law,  properly  speaking,  made  no 
provision  for  the  circumcision  of  the  heart,  which  im¬ 
plies  the  remission  of  sins ,  and  purification  of  ,.ip  soui 
from  all  unrighteousness ;  and  as  circumcision  itself 
was  only  a  sign  of  spiritual  good,  consequently  the 
promise  here  refers  to  the  days  of  the  Messiah,  and  to 


CHAP.  XXX. 


Life  and  death  are 

A.  M.  2553.  the  Lord  thy  God  with  all  thine 
An.  Ex.  isr.  40.  heart,  and  with  all  thy  soul,  that 
Scbat‘  thou  mayest  live. 

7  And  the  Lord  thy  God  will  put  all  these 
curses  upon  thine  enemies,  and  on  them  that 
hate  thee,  which  persecuted  thee. 

8  And  thou  slialt  return  and  obey  the  voice 
of  the  Lord,  and  do  all  his  commandments 
which  I  command  thee  this  day. 

9  *  And  the  Lord  thy  God  will  make  thee 
plenteous  in  every  work  of  thine  hand,  in  the 
fruit  of  thy  body,  and  in  the  fruit  of  thy^  cattle, 
and  in  the  fruit  of  thy  land,  for  good  :  for  the 
Lord  will  again  k  rejoice  over  thee  for  good, 
as  he  rejoiced  over  thy  fathers  : 

10  If  thou  shalt  hearken  unto  the  voice  of 
the  Lord  thy^  God,  to  keep  his  command¬ 
ments  and  his  statutes  which  are  written  in 
this  book  of  the  law,  and  if  thou  turn  unto 
the  Lord  thy  God  with  all  thine  heart,  and 
with  all  thy  soul. 

11  For  this  commandment  which  I  command 
thee  this  day,  1  it  is  not  hidden  from  thee,  neither 
is  it  far  off. 

12  m  It  is  not  in  heaven,  that  thou  shouldest 

‘  Chap,  xxviii.  11. - k  Chap,  xxxviii.  63  ;  Jer.  xxii.  41. 

!Isa.  xlv.  19. 

this  ail  the  prophets  and  all  the  apostles  give  witness  : 
“  for  circumcision  is  that  of  the  heart,  in  the  spirit, 
and  not  in  the  letter,”  Rom.  ii.  29  ;  and  the  genuine 
followers  of  God  “are  circumcised  with  the  circumci¬ 
sion  made  without  hands — by  the  circumcision  of 
Christ,”  Col.  ii.  11,  12.  Hence  we  see  these  pro¬ 
mises  cannot  be  fulfilled  to  the  Jews  but  in  their  em¬ 
bracing  the  Gospel  of  Christ.  To  look,  therefore,  for 
their  restoration  is  idle  and  nugatory,  while  their  ob- 
stinacy  and  unbelief  remain. 

Verse  1 1.  This  commandment — is  not  hidden ]  Not 
too  wonderful  or  difficult  for  thee  to  comprehend  or 
perform,  as  the  word  jIrSd!  niphleth  implies.  Neither 
is  it  far  off — the  word  or  doctrine  of  salvation  shall 
be  proclaimed  in  your  own  land ;  for  He  is  to  be  born 
in  Bethlehem  of  Judah ,  who  is  to  feed  and  save  Israel; 
and  the  Prophet  who  is  to  teach  them  is  to  be  raised 
up  from  among  their  brethren. 

Verse  12.  It  is  not  in  heaven\  Shall  not  be  com¬ 
municated  in  that  way  in  which  the  prophets  received 
the  living  oracles ;  but  the  word  shall  he  made  flesh , 
and  dwell  among  you. 

Verse  13.  Neither  is  it  beyond  the  sea ]  Ye  shall 
not  be  obliged  to  travel  for  it  to  distant  nations,  be¬ 
cause  salvation  is  of  the  Jews. 

Verse  14.  But  the  ivord  is  very  nigh  unto  thee ] 
The  doctrine  of  salvation  preached  by  the  apostles; 
in  thy  mouth ,  the  promises  of  redemption  made  by  the 
prophets  forming  a  part  of  every  Jew’s  creed ;  in  thy 
heart — the  power  to  believe  with  the  heart  unto  right- 

Vol.  I.  (  53  ) 


set  before  the  people. 

say,  Who  shall  go  up  for  us  to  A.*M.  2553. 
heaven,  and  bring  it  unto  us,  that  An.  Ex.  isr.  40. 
we  may  hear  it,  and  do  it  ?  Sebat~ 

13  Neither  is  it  beyond  the  sea,  that  thou 
shouldest  say,  Who  shall  go  over  the  sea  for 
us,  and  bring  it  unto  us,  that  we  may  hear  it, 
and  do  it  ? 

14  But  the  word  is  very  nigh  unto  thee,  in 
thy  mouth,  and  in  thy  heart,  that  thou  mayest 
do  it. 

See,  n  I  have  set  before  thee  this  day  life 
and  good,  and  death  and  evil ; 

16  In  that  I  command  thee  this  day  to  love 
the  Lord  thy  God,  to  walk  in  his  ways,  and 
to  keep  his  commandments  and  his  statutes 
and  his  judgments,  that  thou  mayest  live  and 
multiply  :  and  the  Lord  thy  God  shall  bless 
thee  in  the  land  whither  thou  goest  to  possess  it. 

17  But  if  thine  heart  turn  away,  so  that 
thou  wilt  not  hear,  but  shall  be  drawn  away, 
and  worship  other  gods,  and  serve  them ; 

18  0  I  denounce  unto  you  this  day,  that  ye 
shall  surely  perish,  and  that  ye  shall  not  pro¬ 
long  your  days  upon  the  land,  whither  thou 
passest  over  Jordan  to  go  to  possess  it. 

1:1  Rom.  x.  6,  &c. - 11  Ver.  1,  19  ;  chap.  xi.  26. - 0  Chap. 

iv.  26 ;  viii.  19. 

eousness,  that  the  tongue  ma)r  make  confession  unto 
salvation.  In  this  way,  it  is  evident,  St.  Paul  under¬ 
stood  these  passages ;  see  Rom.  x.  6,  &c. 

Verse  15.  Life  and  good ]  Present  and  future 
blessings. 

Death  and  evil\  Present  and  future  miseries  :  term¬ 
ed,  ver.  19,  Life  and  death,  blessing  and  cursing.  And 
why  were  these  set  before  them  l  1.  That  they  might 
comprehend  their  import.  2.  That  they  might  feel 
their  importance.  3.  That  they  might  choose  life ,  and 
the  path  of  believing,  loving  obedience,  that  led  to  it. 
4.  That  they  and  their  posterity,  thus  choosing  life 
and  refusing  evil,  might  be  the  favourites  of  God  in 
time  and  eternity. 

Were  there  no  such  thing  as  free  ivill  in  man,  who 
could  reconcile  these  sayings  either  with  sincerity  or 
common  sense  1  God  has  made  the  human  will  free, 
and  there  is  no  power  or  influence  either  in  heaven, 
earth,  or  hell,  except  the  power  of  God,  that  can  de¬ 
prive  it  of  its  free  volitions ;  of  its  power  to  will  and 
nill,  to  choose  and  refuse ,  to  act  or  not  act ;  or  forco  it. 
to  sin  against  God.  Hence  man  is  accountable  for  his 
actions,  because  they  are  his ;  were  he  necessitated 
by  fate,  or  sovereign  constraint,  they  could  not  be  his. 
Hence  he  is  rewardable,  hence  he  is  punishable.  God, 
in  his  creation,  willed  that  the  human  creature  should 
be  free,  and  he  formed  his  soul  accordingly;  and  the 
Law  and  Gospel,  the  promise  and  precept,  the  denun¬ 
ciation  of  wo  and  the  doctrine  of  eternal  life,  are  all 
constructed  on  this  ground ;  that  is,  they  all  necessarily 

817 


Moses  delivers  the  Divine 


DEUTERONOMY. 


message  to  the  people , 


A.  M.  2553.  19  p  I  call  heaven  and  earth 

B.  C.  1451.  ,  ,  .  , 

An.  Ex.  isr.  40.  to  record  this  day  against  you, 

Sebat~  that  I  have  set  before  you 

life  and  death,  blessing  and  cursing  :  therefore 
choose  life,  that  both  thou  and  thy  seed  may 
live. 

20  That  thou  mayest  love  the  Lord  thy 

PChap.  iv.  26  ;  xxxi.  28. - 3  Yer.  15. - v  Psa.  xxvii.  1 ; 

suppose  the  freedom  of  the  human  will:  nor  could  it 
be  will  if  it  were  not  free ,  because  the  principle  of 
freedom  or  liberty  is  necessarily  implied  in  the*idea 
of  volition.  See  on  the  fifth  chapter  and  29th 
verse. 

Verse  19.  See  the  note  on  the  preceding  verse. 
Verse  20.  That  thou  mayest  love  the  Lord]  With¬ 
out  love  there  can  be  no  obedience. 

Obey  his  voice \  Without  obedience  love  is  fruitless 

and  dead. 

And — cleave  unto  him]  Without  close  attachment 
and  perseverance ,  temporary  love,  however  sincere  and 
fervent — temporary  obedience,  however  disinterested, 


God,  and  that  thou  mayest  obey  a.  m.  2553. 

.  .  .  ,  .  .  J  J  B.  C.  1451. 

ms  voice,  and  that  thou  mayest  An.  Ex.  Jsr.  40, 

cleave  unto  him  :  for  he  is  thy  Scbat‘ 

r  life,  and  the  length  of  8  thy  days  :  that  thou 

mayest  dwell  in  the  land  which  the  Lord 

sware  unto  thy  fathers,  to  Abraham,  to  Isaac, 

and  to  Jacob,  to  give  them. 

lxvi.  9  ;  John  xi.  25. - s  Chap.  iv.  40  ;  xi.  9  ;  xii.  10. 

energetic,  and  pure  while  it  lasts — will  be  ultimately 
ineffectual.  He  alone  who  endures  to  the  end ,  shall 
be  saved.  Reader,  how  do  matters  stand  between  God 
and  thy  soul  1  He  cannot  persevere  in  the  grace  of 
God  whose  soul  is  not  yet  made  a  partaker  of  that 
grace.  Many  talk  strenuously  on  the  impossibility  of 
falling  from  grace,  who  have  not  yet  tasted  that  the 
Lord  is  gracious.  How  absurd  to  talk  and  dispute 
about  the  infallibility  of  arriving  safely  at  the  end  of  a 
way  in  which  a  man  has  never  yet  taken  one  hearty 
step  !  It  is  never  among  those  that  have  the  grace  of 
God,  but  among  those  that  have  it  not,  that  we  find 
an  overweening  confidence. 


CHAPTER  XXXI. 


Moses,  being  one  hundred  and  twenty  years  old  and  about  to  die ,  calls  the  people  together,  and  exhorts  them 
to  courage  and  obedience,  1-6.  Delivers  a  charge  to  Joshua ,  7,  8.  Delivers  the  law  ivhich  he  had  wriU 
ten  to  the  priests ,  with  a  solemn  charge  that  they  should  read  it  every  seventh  year,  publich /  to  all  the 
people,  9-13.  The  Lord  calls  Moses  and  Joshua  to  the  tabernacle,  14.  lie  appears  to  them,  informs 
Moses  of  his  approaching  death,  and  delivers  to  him  a  prophetical  and  historical  song,  or  poem,  ivhich  he 
is  to  leave  with  Israel,  for  their  instruction  and  reproof,  15—21.  Moses  writes  the  song  the  same  day , 
and  teaches  it  to  the  Israelites,  22  ;  gives  Joshua  a  charge,  23  ;  finishes  writing  the  book  of  the  law,  24. 
Commands  the  Levites  to  lay  it  up  in  the  side  of  the  ark,  25,  26.  Predicts  their  rebellions,  27.  Orders 
the  elders  to  be  gathered  together,  and  shoivs  them  what  evils  would  befall  the  people  in  the  latter  days,  28, 
29,  and  repeats  the  song  to  them,  30. 


A.  M.  2553.  j^ND  Moses  went  and  spake 
An.  Ex.  Isr.  40.  these  words  unto  all  Israel. 

Sebat‘  2  And  he  said  unto  them,  I  a  am 
a  hundred  and  twenty  years  old  this  day  ;  I 
can  no  more  b  go  out  and  come  in  :  also  the 
Lord  hath  said  unto  me,  c  Thou  shalt  not  go 
over  this  Jordan. 

3  The  Lord  thy  God,  d  he  will  go  over 
before  thee,  and  he  will  destroy  these  na¬ 
tions  from  before  thee,  and  thou  shalt  pos¬ 
sess  them :  and  Joshua,  he  shall  go  over 

a  Exodus  vii.  7;  chap,  xxxiv.  7. - b  Numbers  xxvii.  17; 

1  Kings  iii.  7. - 0  Numbers  xx.  12;  xxvii.  13;  chap.  iii.  27. 

4  Chap.  ix.  3. 


before  thee,  e  as  the  Lord  hath  a.  m.  2553. 

.  ,  B.  C.  1451. 

Smd.  An.  Ex.  Isr.  40. 

4  f  And  the  Lord  shall  do  unto  Sebat~ 
them  °  as  he  did  to  Sihon  and  to  Og,  kings 
of  the  Amorites  ;  and  unto  the  land  of  them 
whom  he  destroyed. 

5  And  h  the  Lord  shall  give  them  up  before 
your  face,  that  ye  may  do  unto  them  accord¬ 
ing  unto  all  the  commandments  which  I  have 
commanded  you. 

6  1  Be  strong  and  of  a  good  courage,  k  fear 

e  Num.  xxvii.  21  ;  chap.  iii.  28. - f  Chap.  iii.  21. - sNum. 

xxi.'24,  33. - h  Chap.  vii.  2. - 1  Josh.  x.  25;  1  Chron.xxii.  13. 

k  Chap.  i.  29  ;  vii.  18. 


NOTES  ON  CHAP.  XXXI. 

Verse  2.  I  am  a  hundred  and  twenty  years  old] 
The  life  of  Moses,  the  great  propljet  of  God  and  law¬ 
giver  of  the  Jews,  was  exactly  the  same  in  length  as 
the  time  Noah  employed  in  preaching  righteousness 
to  the  antediluvian  world.  These  one  hundred  and 
twenty  years  were  divided  into  three  remarkable  pe¬ 
riods  :  forty  years  he  lived  in  Egypt,  in  Pharaoh’s 
court,  acquiring  all  the  learning  and  wisdom  of  the 
a  818 


Egyptians  ;  (see  Acts  vii.  20,  23  ;)  forty  years  he  so¬ 
journed  in  the  land  of  Midian  in  a  state  of  preparation 
for  his  great  and  important  mission  ;  (Acts  vii.  29,  30  ;) 
and  forty  years  he  guided,  led,  and  governed  the  Israel¬ 
ites  under  the  express  direction  and  authority  of  God ; 
in  all,  one  hundred  and  twenty  years. 

Verse  3.  Joshua,  he  shall  go  over  before  thee]  See 
on  Num.  xxvii.  17,  &c. 

Verse  6.  Be  strong]  ‘pin  chizku,  the  same  word 

(  53*  ) 


CHAP.  XXXI. 


The  law  to  be  read  'publicly 

A.  M.  2553.  not,  nor  be  afraid  of  them:  for 
An.  Ex.  isr.  40.  the  Lord  thy  God,  1  he  it  is  that 
l>srb;lt'  doth  go  with  thee  ;  m  he  will  not 
fail  thee,  nor  forsake  thee. 

7  And  Moses  called  unto  Joshua,  and  said 
unto  him  in  the  sight  of  all  Israel,  n  Be  strong 
and  of  a  good  courage  :  for  thou  must  go  with 
this  people  unto  the  land  which  the  Lord 
hath  sworn  unto  their  fathers  to  give  them ; 
and  thou  shalt  cause  them  to  inherit  it. 

8  And  the  Lord,  0  he  it  is  that  doth  go  be¬ 
fore  thee  ;  p  he  will  be  with  thee,  he  will  not 
fail  thee,  neither  forsake  thee  :  fear  not,  neither 
be  dismayed. 

9  And  Moses  wrote  this  law,  and  delivered 
it  unto  the  priests  the  sons  of  Levi,  r  which 
bare  the  ark  of  the  covenant  of  the  Lord,  and 
unto  all  the  elders  of  Israel. 

10  And  Moses  commanded  them,  saying, 
At  the  end  of  every  seven  years,  in  the  solem¬ 
nity  of  the  s  year  of  release,  1  in  the  feast  of 
tabernacles. 


every  seventh  year 


1  Chap.  xx.  4. - m  Josh.  i,5  ;  Heb.  xiii.  5. - n  Ver.  23 ;  chap. 

0  Exod.  xiii.  21, 22 ;  xxxiii.  24  ;  chap. 

a  Ver.  25  ;  chap. 


j.  38  ;  iii.  28  ;  Josh.  i.  6. 

jx.  3. - p  Josh.  i.  5,  9  ;  1  Chron.  xxviii.  20. 

xvii.  18. - rNum.  iv.  15;  Josh.  iii.  3;  1  Chron.  xv.  12,  15. 


1 1  When  all  Israel  is  come  to  A.  M.  2553. 
u  appear  before  the  Lord  thy  God  An.  Ex.  isr.  40 
in  the  place  which  he  shall  choose,  Sebat‘ 


vthou  shalt  read  this  law  before  all  Israel  in 
their  hearing. 

12  w  Gather  the  people  together,  men,  and 
women,  and  children,  and  thy  stranger  that  is 
within  thy  gates,  that  they  may  hear,  and  that 
they  may  learn,  and  fear  the  Lord  your  God, 
and  observe  to  do  all  the  words  of  this  law  : 

13  And  that  their  children,  x  which  have  not 
known  any  thing ,  ?  may  hear,  and  learn  to  fear 
the  Lord  your  God,  as  long  as  ye  live  in  the 
land  whither  ye  go  over  Jordan  to  possess  it. 

14  And  the  Lord  said  unto  Moses,  z  Be¬ 
hold,  thy  days  approach  that  thou  must  die  : 
call  Joshua,  and  present  yourselves  in  the  ta¬ 
bernacle  of  the  congregation,  that  a  I  may  give 
him  a  charge.  And  Moses  and  Joshua  went 
and  presented  themselves  in  the  tabernacle  of 
the  congregation. 

1 5  And  b  the  Lord  appeared  in  the  taber- 

s  Chap.  xv.  1. - lLev.  xxiii.  34. - u  Chap.  xvi.  lfi. - vJosh. 

viii.  34,  35  ;  2  Kings  xxiii.  2  ;  Neh.  viii.  1,2,  3,  &c. - w  Chap. 

iv.  10. - xChap.  xi.  2. - y  Psa.  lxxviii.  6,  7. - z  Num.  xxvii. 

13;  xxxiv.  5. - a  Ver.  23;  Nurn.  xxvii.  19. - b  Exod.  xxxiii.  9. 


that  is  used  Exod.  iv.  21,  ix.  15,  for  hardening  Pha¬ 
raoh’s  heart.  See  the  notes  there.  The  Septuagint, 
in  this  and  the  following  verse,  have,  A vdpgov  nai 
icrxve,  Plccy  the  man ,  and  he  strong ;  and  from  this 
St.  Paul  seems  to  have  borrowed  his  ideas,  1  Cor. 
xvi.  13  :  ZTr/Kere  ev  ttj  merer  avhpgeede,  Kpanovade  : 
Stand  firm  in  the  fiaith  ;  play  the  man — act  like  he¬ 
roes  ;  be  vigorous. 

Verse  8.  The  Lord — doth  go  hefiore  thee ]  To  pre¬ 
pare  thy  way,  and  to  direct  thee. 

He  will  he  with  thee ]  Accompany  thee  in  all  thy 
journeys,  and  assist  thee  in  all  thy  enterprises. 

He  will  not  fail  thee ]  Thy  expectation,  however 
strong  and  extensive,  shall  never  be  disappointed : 
thou  canst  not  expect  too  much  from  him. 

Neither  forsake  thee ]  He  knows  that  without  him 
thou  canst  do  nothing,  and  therefore  he  will  continue 
with  thee,  and  in  such  a  manner  too  that  the  ex¬ 
cellence  of  the  power  shall  appear  to  be  of  him ,  and 
not  of  man. 

Verse  9.  Moses  wrote  this  law]  Not  the  whole 
Pentateuch,  but  either  the  discourses  and  precepts 
mentioned  in  the  preceding  chapters,  or  the  book  of 
Deuteronomy ,  which  is  most  likely. 

Some  of  the  rabbins  have  pretended  that  Moses 
wrote  thirteen  copies  of  the  whole  Pentateuch  ;  that 
he  gave  one  to  each  of  the  twelve  tribes,  and  the  thir¬ 
teenth  was  laid  up  by  the  ark.  This  opinion  deserves 
little  credit.  Some  think  that  he  wrote  two  copies, 
one  of  which  he  gave  to  the  priests  and  Levites  for 
general  use,  according  to  what  is  said  in  this  verse, 
the  other  to  be  laid  up  beside  the  ark  as  a  standard 

a 


copy  for  reference,  and  to  be  a  witness  against  the 
people  should  they  break  it  or  become  idolatrous. 
This  second  copy  is  supposed  to  be  intended  ver.  26. 
As  the  law  was  properly  a  covenant  or  contract  be¬ 
tween  God  and  the  people,  it  is  natural  to  suppose 
there  were  two  copies  of  it,  that  each  of  the  contract¬ 
ing  parties  might  have  one  :  therefore  one  was  laid 
up  beside  the  ark,  this  was  the  Lord’s  copy ;  another 
was  given  to  the  priests  and  Levites,  this  was  the 
people’s  copy. 

Verse  10,  11.  At  the  end  of  every  seven  years — - 
thou  shalt  read  this  laid]  Every  seventh  year  was  a 
year  of  release ,  chap.  xv.  1,  at  which  time  the  people’s 
minds,  being  under  a  peculiar  degree  of  solemnity, 
were  better  disposed  to  hear  and  profit  by  the  words 
of  God.  I  suppose  on  this  ground  also  that  the  whole 
book  of  Deuteronomy  is  meant,  as  it  alone  contains 
an  epitome  of  the  whole  Pentateuch.  And  in  this 
way  some  of  the  chief  Jewish  rabbins  understand  this 
place. 

It  is  strange  that  this  commandment,  relative  to  a 
public  reading  of  the  law  every  seven  years,  should 
have  been  rarely  attended  to.  It  does  not  appear  that 
from  the  time  mentioned  Josh.  viii.  30,  at  which  time 
this  public  reading  first  took  place,  till  the  reign  of 
Jehoshaphat ,  2  Chron.  xvii.  7,  there  was  any  public 
seventh  year  reading — a  period  of  530  years.  The 
next  seventh  year  reading  was  not  till  the  eighteenth 
year  of  the  reign  of  Josiah ,  2  Chron.  xxxiv.  30,  a 
space  of  two  hundred  and  eighty -two  years.  IN  or  do 
we  find  any  other  publicly  mentioned  from  this  time 
till  the  return  from  the  Babylonish  captivity,  Neh. 

819 


The  Lord  appears  and 


DEUTERONOMY. 


converses  with  Moses, 


a.  M.  2553.  nacle  in  a  pillar  of  a  cloud  :  and 
An.  Ex’,  isr.  40.  the  pillar  of  the  cloud  stood  over 
beb;it’ _  the  door  of  the  tabernacle. 

16  And  the  Lord  said  unto  Moses,  Behold, 
thou  shalt  c  sleep  with  thy  fathers ;  and  this 
people  will  d  rise  up,  and  e  go  a  whoring  after 
the  gods  of  the  strangers  of  the  land,  whither 
they  go  to  he  among  them  ;  and  will  f  forsake 
me,  and  s  break  my  covenant  which  I  have 
made  with  them. 

17  Then  my  anger  shall  be  kindled  against 
them  in  that  day,  and  h  I  will  forsake  them, 
and  I  will  1  hide  my  face  from  them,  and  they 
shall  be  devoured,  and  many  evils  and  troubles 
shall  k  befall  them  ;  so  that  they  will  say  in 
that  day,  1  Are  not  these  evils  come  upon  us 
because  our  God  is  m  not  among  us  ? 

1 8  And  n  I  will  surely  hide  my  face  in  that 
day  for  all  the  evils  which  they  shall  have 
wrought,  in  that  they  are  turned  unto  other 
gods. 

19  Now  therefore  write  ye  this  song  for  you, 
and  teach  it  the  children  of  .  Israel :  put  it  in 
their  mouths,  that  this  song  may  be  °  a  wit¬ 
ness  for  me  against  the  children  of  Israel. 

20  For  when  I  shall  have  brought  them  into 
the  land  which  I  sware  unto  their  fathers, 
that  floweth  with  milk  and  honey  ;  and  they 
shall  have  eaten  and  filled  themselves,  p  and 


waxen  fat ;  *  then  will  they  turn  A.  M.  2553. 
unto  other  gods,  and  serve  them,  An.  Ex.  isr.  40. 
and  provoke  me,  and  break  my  bebat~ 


covenant. 

2 1  And  it  shall  come  to  pass,  r  when  many 
evils  and  troubles  are  befallen  them,  that  thi3 
song  shall  testify  s  against  them  as  a  witness ; 
for  it  shall  not  be  forgotten  out  of  the  mouths 


of  their  seed  :  for  1 1  know  their  imagination 
u  which * * *  v *  they  go  about,  even  now,  before  I 
have  brought  them  into  the  land  which  I 


sware. 

22  Moses  therefore  wrote  this  song  the  same 
day,  and  taught  it  the  children  of  Israel. 

23  w  And  he  gave  Joshua  the  son  of  Nun  a 
charge,  and  said,  x  Be  strong,  and  of  a  good 
courage  ;  for  thou  shalt  bring  the  children  of 
Israel  into  the  land  which  I  sware  unto  them ; 
and  I  will  be  with  thee. 

24  And  it  came  to  pass,  when  Moses  had 
made  an  end  of  y  writing  the  words  of  this 
law  in  a  book,  until  they  were  finished, 

25  That  Moses  commanded  the  Levites, 
which  bare  the  ark  of  the  covenant  of  the 
Lord,  saying, 

26  Take  this  book  of  the  law,  z  and  put  it 
in  the  side  of  the  ark  of  the  covenant  of  the 
Lord  your  God,  that  it  may  be  there  a  for  a 
witness  against  thee. 


c  Heb.  lie  down ;  2  Sam.  vii.  12. - d  Exod.  xxxii.  6. - e  Exod. 

xxxiv.  15  ;  Judg.  ii.  17. - f  Chap,  xxxii.  15  ;  Judg.  ii.  12  ;  x.  6, 

13. - s  Judg.  ii.  20. - h  2  Chron.  xv.  2. - 5  Chap,  xxxii.  20  ; 

Psa.  civ.  29  ;  Isa.  viii.  17  ;  lxiv.  7  ;  Ezek.  xxxix.  23. - k  Heb. 

find  them  ;  Neh.  ix.  32. - 1  Judg.  vi.  13. 


ni  Num.  xiv.  42. - n  Ver.  17. - 0  Ver.  26. - p  Chap,  xxxii. 

15  ;  Neh.  ix.  25,  26  ;  Hos.  xiii.  6. - <1  Verse  16. - r  Verse  17. 

s  Heb  before. - 1  Hos.  v.  3  ;  xiii.  5,  6. - u  Amos  v.  25,  26. 

v  Heb.  do. - w  Ver.  14. - K  Ver.  7  ;  Josh.  i.  6. - J  Verse  9. 

z  See  2  Kings  xxii.  8. - a  Ver.  19. 


viii.  2.  Nor  is  there  any  other  on  record  from  that 
time  to  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem.  See  Dodd. 

Yerse  16.  Behold ,  thou  shalt  sleep  with  thy  fathers] 
shocheh ,  thou  shalt  lie  down ;  it  signifies  to  rest, 
take  rest  in  sleep,  and,  metaphorically,  to  die.  Much 
stress  cannot  be  safely  laid  on  this  expression  to  prove 
the  immortality  of  the  soul,  or  that  the  people  in  the 
time  of  Moses  had  a  distinct  notion  of  its  separate 
existence.  It  was,  however,  understood  in  this  sense 
by  Jonathan  ben  Uzziel,  who  in  his  Targum  para¬ 
phrases  the  word  thus  :  “  Thou  shalt  lie  down  in  the 
dust  with  thy  fathers ;  and  thy  soul  (-jfOiyj  nishme- 
thach )  shall  be  laid  up  in  the  treasury  of  the  life  to 
come  with  thy  fathers.” 

Yerse  18.  I  will  surely  hide  my  face]  Withdraw 
my  approbation  and  my  protection.  This  is  a  general 
meaning  of  the  word  in  Scripture. 

Verse  1(J.  Write  ye  this  song]  The  song  which 
follows  in  the  next  chapter.  Things  which  were  of 
great  importance  and  of  common  concern  wrere,  among 
the  ancients,  put  into  verse,  as  this  was  found  the  best 
method  of  keeping  them  in  remembrance,  especially  in 
those  times  when  writing  was  little  practised.  Even 

820 


prose  was  sometimes  sung.  The  history  of  Hero¬ 
dotus  was  divided  into  nine  boohs,  and  each  inscribed 
with  the  name  of  one  of  the  nine  Muses,  because  these 
books  were  anciently  sung.  Homer  is  reported  to 
have  sung  his  poems  through  different  Greek  cities. 
Aristotle  observes  that  anciently  the  people  sung  their 
laws.  And  Cicero  observes  that  it  wras  a  custom 
among  the  ancient  Romans  to  sing  the  praises  of  their 
heroes  at  the  public  festivals.  This  was  the  case 
among  the  northern  inhabitants  of  Europe,  particularly 
in  Ireland  and  Scotland  ;  hence  the  Gaelic  poetry  of 
Ossian  and  others.  See  Dodd ;  and  see  the  note  on 
Exod.  xv.  1,  where  the  subject  is  largely  treated. 

Yerse  21.  This  song  shall  testify  against  them] 
Because  in  it  their  general  defection  is  predicted,  but 
in  such  a  way  as  to  show  them  how  to  avoid  the  evil ; 
and  if  the}’'  did  not  avoid  the  evil,  and  the  threatened 
punishment  should  come  upon  them,  then  the  song 
should  testify  against  them,  by  showing  that  they  had 
been  sufficiently  warned,  and  might  have  lived  to  God, 
and  so  escaped  those  disasters. 

Yerse  26.  Tahe  this  booh  of  the  law]  The  standard 
copy  to  which  all  transcripts  must  ultimately  refer : 

a 


Muses  predicts  the  CHAP. 

a.  M.  2553.  27  b  For  I  know  thy  rebellion, 

An. Ex. lsr. 40.  and  thy  c  stiff  neck:  behold, 
>eliat'  while  I  am  yet  alive  with  you 
this  day,  ye  have  been  rebellious  against  the 
Lord  ;  and  how  much  more  after  my  death  ? 

28  Gather  unto  me  all  the  elders  of  your 
tribes,  and  your  officers,  that  I  may  speak  these 
words  in  their  ears,  d  and  call  heaven  and  earth 
to  record  against  them. 

29  For  I  know  that  after  my  death  ye  will 

b  Chap.  ix.  24  ;  xxxii.  20. - c  Exod.  xxxii.  9  ;  chap.  ix.  6. 

d  Chap.  xxx.  19  ;  xxxii.  1. 


another  copy  was  put  into  the  hands  of  the  priests. 
See  the  note  on  ver.  9. 

Verse  27.  While  I  am.  yet  alive — ye  have  been  re¬ 
bellious ]  Such  was  the  disposition  of  this  people  to 
act  contrary  to  moral  goodness  that  Moses  felt  himself 
justified  in  inferring  what  would  take  place  from  what 
had  already  happened. 

1.  Never  was  a  people  more  fully  and  faithfully 
warned,  and  from  this  very  circumstance  we  may  see 
that  they  were  under  no  fatal  constraining  necessity 
to  commit  sin  against  God  ;  they  might  have  avoided 
it,  but  they  would  not.  God  was  present  to  help 
them,  till  by  their  repeated  provocations  they  forced 
him  to  depart:  wrath  therefore  came  upon  them  to 
the  uttermost  because  they  sinned  when  they  might 
have  lived  to  the  glory  of  God.  Those  who  abuse 
God's  grace  shall  not  only  have  that  grace  taken  away 
from  them,  but  shall  be  punished  for  the  abuse  of  it, 
as  well  as  for  the  transgression.  Every  sin  is  double , 
and  must  have  a  twofold  punishment ;  for  1 .  Grace 
is  resisted;  2.  Transgression  is  committed  ;  and  God 
will  visit  for  both. 

2.  How  astonishing  it  is  that,  with  such  examples 

of  God’s  justice  before  their  eyes,  the  Jews  should  be 

so  little  affected ;  and  that  the  Gentiles ,  who  have  re¬ 

ceived  the  Gospel  of  God,  should  act  as  if  God  would 

no  more  punish  transgression,  or  that  he  must  be  so 

partial  to  them  as  to  pass  by  iniquities  for  which  the 
hand  of  his  justice  still  continues  heavy  upon  the  de- 


XXXII.  defection  of  the  people 

utterly  e  corrupt  yourselves ,  and  A.  M.  2553. 

J  1  ^ * 1 2 * * * *  7  B  C  1451 

turn  aside  from  the  way  which  I  An.  Ex.  lsr.  40. 

have  commanded  you  ;  and  f  evil  Sebat  • 

will  befall  you  £  in  the  latter  days  ;  because 

ye  will  do  evil  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord,  to 

provoke  him  to  anger  through  the  work  of 

your  hands. 

30  And  Moses  spake  in  the  ears  of  all  the 
congregation  of  Israel  the  words  of  this  song, 
until  they  were  ended. 

e  Chap,  xxxii.  5;  Judg.  ii.  19  ;  Hos.  ix.  9. - f  Chap,  xxiii.  15 

s  Gen.  xlix.  1 ;  chap.  iv.  30. 


scendants  of  Jacob  !  Let  them  take  heed,  for  if  God 
spared  not  the  natural  branches,  he  will  not  spare 
them.  If  they  sin  after  the  manner  of  the  Jews ,  they 
may  expect  to  be  partakers  with  them  in  their  punish¬ 
ments.  What  God  does  to  nations  he  will  do  to  indi¬ 
viduals  who  reject  his  mercy,  or  trample  under  foot 
his  grace  ;  the  soul  that  sinneth,  and  returns  not  to 
God  by  repentance  and  faith,  shall  die.  This  is  a  de¬ 
cree  of  God  that  shall  never  be  reversed,  and  every  day 
bears  witness  how  strictly  he  keeps  it  in  view. 

3.  The  ode  composed  by  Moses  for  this  occasion 
was  probably  set  to  some  lively  and  affecting  air,  and 
sung  by  the  people.  It  would  be  much  easier  to  keep 
such  a  song  in  remembrance,  than  an  equal  quantity 
of  prose.  The  whole  would  have  the  additional  cir¬ 
cumstances  of  cadence  and  tune  to  cause  it  to  be  often 
repeated ;  and  thus  insure  its  being  kept  in  memory. 
Poetry,  though  often,  nay,  generally  abused,  is  never¬ 
theless  a  gift  from  God,  and  may  be  employed  with 
the  best  effect  in  his  service.  A  very  considerable 
part  of  the  Old  Testament  is  written  in  poetry ;  parti¬ 
cularly  the  whole  book  of  Psalms,  great  part  of  the 
prophet  Isaiah,  the  Lamentations,  and  much  of  the 
minor  prophets.  Those  who  speak  against  poetic 
compositions  in  the  service  of  God,  speak  against  what 
they  do  not  understand.  All  that  a  man  hath  should 
be  consecrated  to  his  Maker,  and  employed  in  his  ser¬ 
vice  ;  not  only  the  energy  of  his  heart  and  mind,  the 
physical  force  5f  his  body ,  but  also  the  musical  tones 
and  modulations  of  his  voice . 


CHAPTER  XXXII. 

The  prophetical  and  historical  song  of  Moses ,  shoiving  forth  the  nature  of  God's  doctrine ,  1-3.  The  cha¬ 
racter  of  God,  4.  The  corruption  of  the  people,  5,  6.  They  are  called  to  remember  God's  kindness,  7, 
and  his  dealings  with  them  during  their  travels  in  the  wilderness,  8-14.  Their  ingratitude  and  iniquity , 
15—18.  They  are  threatened  ivith  his  judgments,  19—28.  A  pathetic  lamentation  over  them  because  oj 
their  sins,  29—35.  Gracious  purposes  in  their  behalf,  mixed  ivith  reproaches  for  their  manifold  idolatries, 
and  threatenings  against  his  enemies,  36-42.  A  promise  of  salvation  to  the  Gentiles,  43.  Moses,  hav¬ 
ing  finished  the  song,  warmly  exhorts  the  people  to  obedience,  44—47.  God  calls  him  up  to  the  mount , 
that  he  may  see  the  good  land  and  then  die,  48-52. 

a 


821 


The  song  taught  by  Moses 


DEUTERONOMY. 


to  the  children  of  Israel 


a.  M.  2553.  Q.IVE  a  ear,  O  ye  heavens,  and 
An.  Ex.  isr.  40.  I  will  speak  ;  and  hear,  0 

Sebat~  earth,  the  words  of  my  mouth. 

2  b  My  doctrine  shall  drop  as  the  rain,  my 
speech  shall  distil  as  the  dew,  c  as  the  small 
rain  upon  the  tender  herb,  and  as  the  showers 
upon  the  grass  : 

a  Chap.  iv.  26  ;  xxx.  19  ;  xxxi.  28  ;  Psa.  i.  4  ,  Isa.  i.  2  ;  Jer.  li. 

12  ;  vi.  1 9. - b  Isa.  lv.  10, 1 1 ;  1  Cor.  iii.  6,  7,  8. - c  Psa.  lxxii. 

6  ;  Mic.  v.  7. - d  1  Chron.  xxlx.  11. 


3  Because  I  will  publish  the 


A.  M.  2553. 

r  !  T  ,  .,  B.  C.  1451. 

name  ot  the  Lord  :  d  ascribe  ye  An.  Ex.  isr.  40. 

greatness  unto  our  God.  Sebat' 

4  He  is  e  the  Rock,  f  his  work  is  perfect : 

for  g  all  his  ways  are  judgment :  b  a  God  of 

truth  and  1  without  iniquity,  just  and  right 

is  he. 

e  2  Sam.  xxii.  3  ;  xxiii.  3  ;  Psa.  xviii.  2,  31,  46  ;  Hab.  i.  12. 

f  2  Sam.  xxii.  31. - £  Dan.  iv.  37  ;  Rev.  xv.  3. - h  Jer.  x.  10. 

1  Job.  xxxiv.  10  ;  Psa.  xcii.  15. 


NOTES  ON  CHAP.  XXXII. 

Verse  1. —  On  the  inimitable  excellence  of  this  ode 
much  has  been  written  by  commentators,  critics,  and 
poets ;  and  it  is  allowed  by  the  best  judges  to  contain 
a  specimen  of  almost  every  species  of  excellence  in 
composition.  It  is  so  thoroughly  poetic  that  even  the 
dull  Jews  themselves  found  they  could  not  write  it  in 
the  prose  form  ;  and  hence  it  is  distinguished  as  poetry 
in  every  Hebrew  Bible  by  being  written  in  its  own 
hemistichs  or  short  half  lines,  which  is  the  general 
form  of  the  Hebrew  poetry ;  and  were  it  translated  in 
the  same  way  it  would  be  more  easily  understood. 
The  song  itself  has  suffered  both  by  transcribers  and 
translators,  the  former  having  mistaken  some  letters 
in  different  places,  and  made  wrong  combinations  of 
them  in  others.  As  to  the  translators,  most  of  them 
have  followed  their  own  fancy,  from  good  Mr.  Ains¬ 
worth,  who  ruined  it  by  the  most  inanimate  rhyming 
version,  to  certain  later  poets,  who  have  cast  it  unhal- 
lowedly  into  a  European  mould.  See  the  observations 
at  the  end  of  the  chapter. 

Give  ear ,  O  ye  heavens]  Let  angels  and  men  hear, 
and  let  this  testimony  of  Cod  be  registered  both  in 
heaven  and  earth.  Heaven  and  earth  are  appealed  to 
as  permanent  witnesses. 

Verse  2.  My  doctrine ]  TlpS  lilcchi,  from  npb  la- 
hack ,  to  take ,  carry  away  ;  to  attract  or  gain  over  the 
heart  by  eloquence  or  persuasive  speech.  Hence  the 
Septuagint  translate  the  word  anotydeyya,  an  apoph¬ 
thegm ,  a  sententious  and  weighty  saying,  for  the  regu¬ 
lation  of  the  moral  conduct.  Such,  properly,  are  the 
sayings  in  this  inimitable  ode. 

Shall  drop  as  the  rain]  It  shall  come  drop  by  drop 
as  the  shower,  beginning  slowly  and  distinctly,  but  in¬ 
creasing  more  and  more  till  the  plenitude  of  righteous¬ 
ness  is  poured  down,  and  the  whole  canon  of  Divine 
revelation  completed. 

My  speech  shall  distil  as  the  dew]  THEN  imrathi ; 
my  familiar,  friendly,  and  affectionate  speeches  shall 
descend  gently  and  softly,  on  the  ear  and  the  heart,  as 
the  dew,  moistening  and  refreshing  all  around.  In  hot 
regions  dew  is  often  a  substitute  for  rain,  without  it 
there  could  be  no  fertility,  especially  in  those  places 
where  rain  seldom  falls.  And  ir.  such  places  only  can 
the  metaphor  here  used  be  felt  in  its  perfection.  Ho¬ 
mer  uses  a  similar  figure  when  speaking  of  the  elo¬ 
quence  of  Ulysses  ;  he  says,  II.  iii.,  ver.  221  : — 

A/U’  ore  6rj  />07ra  re  peya\yv  ek  arrjdetig  lei , 

Kai  enea  vitiadecrcnv  eomora  xEipepiqcnv— 

“  But  when  he  speaks  what  elocution  flows  ! 

Soft  as  the  fleeces  of  descending  snowsT 

822 


On  the  manner  in  which  deiu  is  produced,  philoso¬ 
phers  are  not  yet  agreed.  It  was  long  supposed  to 
descend ,  and  to  differ  only  from  rain  as  less  from  more  ; 
but  the  experiments  of  a  French  chemist  seemed  to 
prove  that  d ew  ascended  in  light  thin  vapours,  and  that, 
meeting  with  a  colder  region  of  the  air,  it  became  con¬ 
densed  and  fell  down  upon  the  earth.  Other  recent 
experiments,  though  they  have  not  entirely  invalidated 
the  former,  have  rendered  the  doctrine  of  the  ascent 
of  dew  doubtful.  Though  we  know  nothing  certain 
as  to  the  manner  of  its  production,  yet  we  know  that 
the  thing  exists,  and  that  it  is  essentially  useful.  So 
much  we  know  of  the  sayings  of  our  God,  and  the 
blessed  effects  produced  by  them  :  God  hath  spoken, 
and  the  entering  in  of  his  words  gives  light  and  life. 
See  the  note  on  Gen.  ii.  6. 

As  the  small  rain]  DTJ? t?  seirim,  from  ‘lyt?  saar, 
to  be  rough  or  tempestuous  ;  sweeping  showers,  ac¬ 
companied  with  a  strong  gale  of  wind. 

And  as  the  showers]  Ervin  rehibim,  from  713*1  rabah » 
to  multiply ,  to  increase  greatly ;  shower  after  shower, 
or  rather  a  continual  rain,  whose  drops  are  multiplied 
beyond  calculation,  upon  the  earth  ;  alluding  perhaps 
to  the  *rainy  seasons  in  the  East ,  or  to  those  early  and 
latter  rains  so  essentially  necessary  for  the  vegetation 
and  perfection  of  the  grain. 

No  doubt  these  various  expressions  point  out  that 
great  variety  in  the  word  or  revelation  of  God  where¬ 
by  it  is  suited  to  every  place ,  occasion,  person ,  and 
state ;  being  “  profitable  for  doctrine,  reproof,  and  edi¬ 
fication  in  righteousness.”  Hence  the  apostle  says  that 
God,  at  sundry  times  and  in  divers  manners,  spake  in 
time  past  unto  the  fathers  by  the  prophets  ;  and  in  these 
last  times  has  spoken  unto  us  by  his  Son;  Heb.  i.  1, 
2.  By  every  prophet,  evangelist,  and  apostle,  God 
speaks  a  particular  language  ;  all  is  his  doctrine,  his 
great  system  of  instruction,  for  the  information  and 
salvation  of  the  souls  of  men.  But  some  portions  are 
like  the  sweeping  showers,  in  which  the  tempest  of 
Godis  wrath  appears  against  sinners.  Others  are  like 
the  incessant  sho  wers  of  gentle  rain,  preparing  the  soil 
for  the  germination  of  the  grain,  and  causing  it  to  take 
root.  And  others  still  are  like  the  dew,  mildly  and. 
gently  insinuating  convictions,  persuasions,  reproofs, 
and  consolations.  The  preacher  of  righteousness  who 
wishes  to  handle  this  word  profitably,  must  attend 
closely  to  those  distinctions,  that  he  may  rightly  divide 
the  word  of  truth,  and  give  each  of  his  hearers  his 
portion  of  the  bread  of  life  in  due  season. 

\rerse  4.  He  is  the  Roclc]  The  word  tsur  is  ren¬ 
dered  Creator  by  some  eminent  critics  ;  and 
khalyk  is  the  reading  in  the  Arabic  Version.  Rab. 

a 


CHAP.  XXXII. 


The  song  taught  by  Moses 


to  the  children  of  Israel. 


A  M.  2553. 

B.  C.  1451. 
An.  Ex.  Isr.  40. 
Sebat. 


5  k  They  have  1  corrupted  them¬ 
selves,  m  their  spot  is  not  the  spot 
of  his  children  ;  they  are  a  n  per¬ 


verse  and  crooked  generation. 


6  Do  ye  thus  0  requite  the  Loud,  O  foolish 
people  and  unwise  ?  is  not  he  p  thy  father  that 
hath  q  bought  thee  ?  hath  he  not  r  made  thee, 
and  established  thee  ? 


years  of s  many  generations  :  1  ask  A.  M.  2553. 
thy  father,  and  he  will  show  thee ;  An.  Ex.  Isr.  40. 
thy  elders,  and  they  will  tell  thee.  Sehat~ 

8  When  the  Most  High  u  divided  to  the 
nations  their  inheritance,  when  he  v  separated 
the  sons  of  Adam,  he  set  the  bounds  of  the 
people  according  to  the  number  of  the  children 
of  Israel. 


7  Remember  the  days  of  old,  consider  the 


b  Heb.  he  hath  corrupted  to  himself. - 1  Chap.  xxxi.  29. - m  Or, 

that  they  are  not  his  children,  that  is,  their  blot. - n  Matt.  xvii. 

17  ;  Luke  ix.  41  ;  Phil.  ii.  15. - 0  Psa.  cxvi.  12. - Pisa,  lxiii. 

16. - <i  Psa.  lxxiv.  2. 


9  For  w  the  Lord’s  portion  is  his  people  ; 


rVer.  15;  Isa.  xxvii.  11  ;  xliv.  2. - s  Heb.  generation  and 

generation. - 1  Exodus  xiii.  14  ;  Psa.  xliv.  1  ;  lxviii.  3,  4. 

u  Zech.  ix.  2  ;  Acts  xvii.  26. - v  Gen.  xi.  8. - w  Exod.  xv. 16 ; 

xix.  5;  1  Sam.  x.  1 ;  Psa.  lxviii.  71. 


Moses  ben  Maimon,  in  his  valuable  work,  Moreh  Ne- 
bochim ,  observes  that  the  word  “YIX  tsur,  which  is  or¬ 
dinarily  translated  rock ,  signifies  origin,  fountain,  first 
cause,  &c.,  and  in  this  way  it  should  be  translated 
here  :  “  Pie  is  the  first  principle,  his  work  is  perfect.” 
As  he  is  the  cause  of  all  things,  he  must  be  infinitely 
perfect ;  and  consequently  all  his  works  must  be  per¬ 
fect  in  their  respective  kinds.  As  is  the  cause,  so 
must  the  effect  be.  Some  think  the  word  rock  gives 
a  very  good  sense ;  for,  as  in  those  lands,  rocks  were 
the  ordinary  places  of  defence  and  security,  God  may 
be  metaphorically  represented  thus,  to  signify  his  pro¬ 
tection  of  his  followers.  I  prefer  the  opinion  of  Maimon. 

Verse  5.  Their  spot  is  not  the  spot  of  his  children ] 
This  verse  is  variously  translated  and  variously  under¬ 
stood.  They  are  corrupted,  not  his,  children  of  pollu¬ 
tion. — Kennicott.  They  are  corrupt,  they  are  not  his 
children,  they  are  blotted. — Houbigant.  This  is  ac¬ 
cording  to  the  Samaritan.  The  interpretation  commonly 
given  to  these  words  is  as  unfounded  as  it  is  excep¬ 
tionable  ;  “  God’s  children  have  their  spots,  i.  e.,  their 
sins,  but  sin  in  them  is  not  like  sin  in  others  ;  in  others 
sin  is  exceedingly  sinful,  but  God  does  not  see  the  sins 
of  his  children  as  he  sees  the  sins  of  his  enemies,” 
&c.  Unfortunately  for  this  bad  doctrine,  there  is  no 
foundation  for  it  in  the  sacred  text,  which,  though  very 
obscure,  may  be  thus  translated  ;  He  (Israel)  hath  cor¬ 
rupted  himself.  They  (the  Israelites)  are  not  his  chil¬ 
dren  :  they  are  spotted.  Coverdale  renders  the  whole 
passage  thus  :  “  The  froward  and  overthwart  genera¬ 
tion  have  marred  themselves  to  himward,  and  are  not 
his  children  because  of  their  deformity.”  This  is  the 
sense  of  the  verse.  Let  it  be  observed  that  the  word 
spot,  which  is  repeated  in  our  translation,  occurs  but 
once  in  the  original,  and  the  marginal  reading  is  greatly 
to  be  preferred  :  He  hath  corrupted  to  himself,  that 
they  are  not  his  children ;  that  is  their  blot.  And  be¬ 
cause  they  had  the  blot  of  sin  on  them,  because  they 
were  spotted  with  iniquity  and  marked  idolaters,  there¬ 
fore  God  renounces  them.  There  may  be  here  an  al¬ 
lusion  to  the  marks  which  the  worshippers  of  particu¬ 
lar  idols  had  on  different  parts  of  their  bodies,  espe¬ 
cially  on  their  foreheads ;  and  as  idolatry  is  the  crime 
with  which  they  are  here  charged,  the  spot  or  mark 
mentioned  may  refer  to  the  mark  or  stigma  of  their 
idol.  The  different  sects  of  idolaters  in  the  East  are 
distinguished  by  their  sectarian  marks,  the  stigma  of 
their  respective  idols.  These  sectarian  marks,  parti¬ 
s' 


culary  on  the  forehead,  amount  to  nearly  one  hundred 
among  the  Hindoos,  and  especially  among  the  two  sects, 
the  worshippers  of  Seeva,  and  the  worshippers  of  Vish- 
noo.  In  many  cases  these  marks  are  renewed  daily , 
for  they  account  it  irreligious  to  perform  any  sacred 
rite  to  their  god  without  his  mark  on  the  forehead  ;  the 
marks  are  generally  horizontal  and  perpendicular  lines, 
crescents,  circles,  leaves,  eyes,  <5yc.,  in  red,  black,  white, 
and  yellow.  This  very  custom  is  referred  to  in  Rev. 
xx.  4,  where  the  beast  gives  his  mark  to  his  followers, 
and  it  is  very  likely  that  Moses  refers  to  such  a  cus¬ 
tom  among  the  idolatrous  of  his  own  day.  This  re¬ 
moves  all  the  difficulty  of  the  text.  God’s  children 
have  no  sinful  spots,  because  Christ  saves  them  from 
their  sins ;  and  their  motto  or  mark  is,  Holiness  to  the 
Lord. 

Verse  8.  When  the  Most  High  divided  to  the  nations , 
<fc.]  Verses  8  and  9,  says  Dr.  Kennicott,  give  us 
express  authority  for  believing  that  the  earth  was  very 
early  divided  in  consequence  of  a  Divine  command, 
and  probably  by  lot,  (see  Acts  xvii.  26  ;)  and  as  Africa 
is  called  the  land  of  Ham,  (Psa.  lxxviii.  51 ;  cv.  23,  27  ; 
cvi.  22,)  probably  that  country  fell  to  him  and  to  his 
descendants,  at  the  same  time  that  Europe  fell  to 
Japheth,  and  Asia  to  Shem,  with  a  particular  reserve 
of  Palestine  to  be  the  Lord's  portion,  for  some  one 
peculiar  people.  And  this  separation  of  mankind  into 
three  bodies,  called  the  general  migration ,  was  com¬ 
manded  to  Noah,  and  by  him  to  his  sons,  so  as  to  take 
place  in  the  days  of  Peleg,  about  two  hundred  years 
afterwards.  This  general  migration  was  prior  to  the 
partial  dispersion  from  Babel  by  about  five  hundred 
years. 

He  set  the  bounds  of  the  people  according  to  the 
number  of  the  children  of  Israel .]  The  Septuagint 
is  very  curious,  Ea-rjaev  opi.a  eOvov  Kara  apiQpov  ayy e- 
luv  tov  Qeov.  “  He  established  the  bounds  of  the 
nations  according  to  the  number  of  the  angels  of  God.” 
The  meaning  of  the  passage  seems  to  be,  that  when 
God  divided  the  earth  among  mankind,  he  reserved' 
twelve  lots,  according  to  the  number  of  the  sons  of 
Jacob,  which  he  was  now  about  to  give  to  their  de¬ 
scendants,  according  to  his  promise. 

Verse  9.  The  Lord's  portion  is  his  people]  What 
an  astonishing  saying !  As  holy  souls  tako  GOD  for 
their  portion,  so  GOD  takes  them  for  his  portion.  He 
represents  himself  as  happy  in  his  followers  ;  and  they 
are  infinitely  happy  in,  and  satisfied  with,  God  as  their. 

823 


How  God  led  Israel 


DEUTERONOMY. 


in  the  wilderness 


A.  M.  2563. 

B.  C.  1451. 
An.  Ex.  Isr.  40. 

Sebat. 


Jacob  is  the  x  lot  of  his  inherit¬ 
ance. 

10  He  found  him  y  in  a  desert 


*Heb.  cord. - y  Chap.  viii.  15  ;  Jer.  ii.  6  ;  Hos.  xiii.  5. 

portion.  This  is  what  is  implied  in  being  a  saint. 
He  who  is  seeking  for  an  earthly  portion,  has  little 
commerce  with  the  Most  High. 

Verse  10.  He — the  Lord,  found  him — Jacob,  in  his 
descendants,  in  a  desert  land — the  wdlderness.  He 
led  him  about  forty  years  in  this  wilderness,  Deut.  viii. 
2,  or  inJ33D’'  yesobebenhu ,  he  compassed  him  about , 
i.  e.,  God  defended  them  on  all  hands,  and  in  all  places. 
He  instructed  him — taught  them  that  astonishing  law 
through  which  we  have  now  almost  passed,  giving  them 
statutes  and  judgments  which,  for  depth  of  wisdom, 
and  correct  political  adaptation  to  times,  places,  and 
circumstances,  are  so  wondrously  constructed,  as  es¬ 
sentially  to  secure  the  comfort,  peace,  and  happiness 
of  the  individual,  and  the  prosperity  and  permanency 
of  the  moral  system.  Laws  so  excellent  that  they 
have  met  with  the  approbation  of  the  wise  and  good  in 
all  countries,  and  formed  the  basis  of  the  political  in¬ 
stitutions  of  all  the  civilized  nations  in  the  universe. 

Notwithstanding  the  above  gives  the  passage  a  good 
sense,  yet  probably  the  wdiole  verse  should  be  con¬ 
sidered  more  literal^.  It  is  certain  that  in  the  same 
country  travellers  are  often  obliged  to  go  about  in  order  to 
find  proper  passes  between  the  mountains,  and  the  follow¬ 
ing  extracts  from  Mr.  Harmer  well  illustrate  this  point. 

“  Irwin  farther  describes  the  mountains  of  the  de¬ 
sert  of  Thebais  (Upper  Egypt)  as  sometimes  so  steep 
and  dangerous  as  to  induce  even  very  bold  and  hardy 
travellers  to  avoid  them  by  taking  a  large  circuit ;  and 
that  for  want  of  proper  knowdedge  of  the  way,  such  a 
wrong  path  may  be  taken  as  may  on  a  sudden  bring 
them  into  the  greatest  dangers,  while  at  other  times  a 
dreary  waste  may  extend  itself  so  prodigiously  as  to 
make  it  difficult,  without  assistance,  to  find  the  wray  to 
a  proper  outlet.  All  which  show  us  the  meaning  of 
those  words  of  the  song  of  Moses,  Deut.  xxxii.  10  : 
He  led  him  about ,  he  instructed  him ,  he  kept  him  as 
the  apple  of  his  eye. 

u  Jehovah  certainly  instructed  Israel  in  religion  by 
delivering  to  him  his  law  in  this  wilderness  ;  but  it  is 
not,  I  presume,  of  this  kind  of  teaching  Moses  speaks, 
as  Bishop  Patrick  supposes,  but  God’s  instructing  Is¬ 
rael  how  to  avoid  the  dangers  of  the  journey,  by  lead¬ 
ing  the  people  about  this  and  that  dangerous,  precipi¬ 
tous  hill,  directing  them  to  proper  passes  through  the 
mountains,  and  guiding  them  through  the  intricacies  of 
that  difficult  journey  which  might,  and  probably  would, 
have  confounded  the  most  consummate  Arab  guides. 
They  that  could  have  safely  enough  conducted  a  small 
caravan  of  travellers  through  this  desert,  might  have 
been  very  unequal  to  the  task  of  directing  such  an 
enormous  multitude,  encumbered  with  cattle,  women, 
children,  and  Otensils.  The  passages  of  Irwin,  that 
establish  the  observation  I  have  been  making,  follow 
here  :  ‘  At  half  past  eleven  we  resumed  our  march,  and 
soon  came  to  the  foot  of  a  prodigious  hill,  which  we 
unexpectedly  found  we  were  to  ascend.  It  was  per¬ 
pendicular,  like  the  one  we  had  passed  some  hours 

824 


land,  and  in  the  waste  howl-  a.  m.  2553. 
ing  wilderness;  lie  2  led  him  An. Ex. isr. 40. 
about,  he  a  instructed  him,  he  Sebat‘ 

1  Or,  compassed  him  about. - a  Deut.  iv.  36. 

before  ;  but  what  rendered  the  access  more  difficult, 
the  path  which  we  were  to  tread  was  nearly  right  up 
and  down.  The  captain  of  the  robbers  seeing  the 
obstacles  we  had  to  overcome,  wisely  sent  all  his  ca¬ 
mels  round  the  mountain  wdiere  he  knew  there  was  a 
defile,  and  only  accompanied  us  with  the  beast  he  rode. 
We  luckily  met  with  no  accident  in  climbing  this 
height.’  p.  325.  They  afterwards  descended,  he  tells 
us,  into  a  valley,  by  a  passage  easy  enough,  and  stop¬ 
ping  to  dine  at  half  past  five  o’clock,  they  were  joined 
by  the  Arabs,  who  had  made  an  astonishing  march  to 
overtake  them,  p.  326.  ‘We  soon  quitted  the  dale, 
and  ascended  the  high  ground  by,  the  side  of  a  moun¬ 
tain  that  overlooks  it  in  this  part.  The  path  was  nar¬ 
row  and  perpendicular,  and  much  resembled  a  ladder. 
To  make  it  worse,  we  preceded  the  robbers,  and  an 
ignorant  guide  among  our  people  led  us  astray.  Here 
we  found  ourselves  in  a  pretty  situation  :  we  had  kept 
the  lower  road  on  the  side  of  the  hill,  instead  of  that 
towards  the  summit,  until  we  could  proceed  no  farther ; 
we  were  now  obliged  to  gain  the  heights,  in  order  to 
recover  the  road,  in  performing  which  we  drove  our 
poor  camels  up  such  steeps  that  we  had  the  greatest 
difficulty  to  climb  after  them.  We  were  under  the 
necessity  of  leaving  them  to  themselves,  as  the  danger 
of  leading  them  through  places  where  the  least  false 
step  would  have  precipitated  both  man  and  beast  to 
the  unfathomable  abyss  below,  was  too  critical  to  ha¬ 
zard.  We  hit  at  length  upon  the  proper  path,  and 
were  glad  to  find  ourselves  in  the  road  of  our  unerring 
guides  the  robbers,  after  having  won  every  foot  of  the 
ground  with  real  peril  and  fatigue.’  p.  324.  Again: 

‘  Our  road  after  leaving  the  valley  lay  over  level 
ground.  As  it  would  be  next  to  an  impossibility  to  find 
the  way  over  these  stony  flats,  where  the  heavy  foot 
of  a  camel  leaves  no.  impression,  the  different  bands  of 
robbers  have  heaped  up  stones  at  unequal  distances  for 
their  direction  through  this  desert.  We  have  derived 
great  assistance  from  the  robbers  in  this  respect,  who 
are  our  guides  when  the  marks  either  fail,  or  are  un¬ 
intelligible  to  us.’  The  predatory  Arabs  were  more 
successful  guides  to  Mr.  Irwin  and  his  companions, 
than  those  he  brought  with  him  from  Ghinnah  ;  but 
the  march  of  Israel  through  deserts  of  the  like  nature, 
was  through  such  an  extent  and  variety  of  country, 
and  in  such  circumstances  as  to  multitudes  and  incum¬ 
brances,  as  to  make  Divine  interposition  necessary. 
The  openings  through  the  rocks  seem  to  have  been 
prepared  by  Him  to  whom  all  things  from  the  begin¬ 
ning  of  the  world  were  foreknown,  with  great  wisdom 
and  goodness,  to  enable  them  to  accomplish  this  stu¬ 
pendous  march.”  See  Harmer1  s  Observat.,  vol.  iv.  p.  125. 

He  kept  him  as  the  apple  of  his  eye.]  Nothing  can 
exceed  the  force  and  delicacy  of  this  expression.  As 
deeply  concerned  and  as  carefully  attentive  as  man  can 
be  for  the  safety  of  his  eyesight ,  so  was  God  for  the 
protection  and  welfare  of  this  people.  How  amazing 
this  condescension ! 


CHAP.  XXXII. 


with  Israel  in  the  wilderness 


God's  gracious  dealings 


a.  M.  2553.  kept  him  as  the  apple  of  his 

B.  C.  1451.  1  1  1 

An.  Ex.  Isr.  40.  eye. 

Sebat~  1 1  cAs  an  eagle  stirreth  up  her 

nest,  fluttereth  over  her  young,  spreadeth 
abroad  her  wings,  takcth  them,  beateth  them 
on  her  wings  : 

12  So  the  Lord  alone  did  lead  him,  and 
there  was  no  strange  god  with  him. 

13  d  He  made  him  ride  on  the  high  places 
of  the  earth,  that  he  might  eat  the  increase  of 
the  fields  ;  and  he  made  him  to  suck  e  honey 
out  of  the  rock,  and  oil  out  of  the  flinty  rock ; 

14  Butter  of  kine,  and  milk  of  sheep,  with 

b  Psa.  xvii.  8  ;  Prov.  vii.  2  ;  Zech.  ii.  8. - c  Exod.  xix.  4  ; 

chap.  i.  31  ;  Isa.  xxxi.  5  ;  xlvi.  4  ;  lxiii.  9  ;  Hos.  xi.  3. - (l  Chap. 

xxxiii.  29;  Isa.  lviii.  14;  Ezek.  xxxvi.  2. - eJob  xxix.  G; 

Psa.  lxxxi.  16. - fPsa.  lxxxi.  16;  cxlvii.  14. - s  Genesis 

xlix.  11. 

Verse  11.  As  an  eagle  stirreth  up  her  nest ]  Flat¬ 
ters  over  her  brood  to  excite  them  to  fly  ;  or,  as  some 
think,  disturbs  her  nest  to  oblige  the  young  ones  to 
leave  it ;  so  God  by  his  plagues  in  Egypt  obliged  the 
Israelites,  otherwise  very  reluctant,  to  leave  a  place 
which  he  appeared  by  his  judgments  to  have  devoted 
to  destruction. 

Fluttereth  over  her  young ]  *|nv  yeracheph,  brood- 
eth  over  them,  communicating  to  them  a  portion  of  her 
own  vital  warmth  :  so  did  God,  by  the  influences  of 
his  Spirit,  enlighten,  encourage,  and  strengthen  their 
minds.  It  is  the  same  word  which  is  used  in  Gen.  i.  2. 

Spreadeth  abroad  her  wings,  cf-c.]  In  order,  not 
only  to  teach  them  how  to  fly,  but  to  bear  them  when 
weary.  For  to  this  fact  there  seems  an  allusion,  it 
having  been  generally  believed  that  the  eagle,  through 
extraordinarj'-  affection  for  her  young,  takes  them  upon 
her  back  when  they  are  weary  of  flying,  so  that  the 
archers  cannot  injure  them  but  by  piercing  the  body 
of  the  mother.  The  same  figure  is  used  Exod.  xix.  4  ; 
where  see  the  note.  The  nesher,  which  we  trans¬ 
late  eagle,  is  supposed  by  Mr.  Bruce  to  mean  the  ra- 
chama ,  a  bird  remarkable  for  its  affection  to  its  young, 
which  it  is  known  actually  to  bear  on  its  back  when 
they  are  weary. 

Verse  12.  So  the  Lord  alone  did  lead  him]  By  his 
power,  and  by  his  only,  were  they  brought  out  of  Egypt, 
and  supported  in  the  wilderness. 

And  there  vras  no  strange  god ]  They  had  help 
from  no  other  quarter.  The  Egyptian  idols  were  not 
able  to  save  their  own  votaries ;  but  God  not  only 
saved  his  people,  but  destroyed  the  Egyptians. 

Verse  13.  He  made  him  ride ]  yarkibehu, 

he  will  cause  him  to  ride.  All  the  verbs  here  are  in 
the  future  tense,  because  tins  is  a  prophecy  of  the 
prosperity  they  should  possess  in  the  promised  land. 
The  Israelites  were  to  ride — exult,  on  the  high  places, 
the  mountains  and  hills  of  their  land,  in  which  they 
are  promised  the  highest  degrees  of  prosperity ;  as 
even  the  rocky  part  of  the  country  should  be  rendered 
fertile  by  the  peculiar  benediction  of  God. 

Suck  honey  out  of  the  rock,  and  oil  out  of  the  flinty 
rock ]  This  promise  states  that  even  the  most  barren 

a 


fat  of  lambs,  and  rams  of  the  A.  M.  2553 
breed  of  Bashan ;  and  goats,  An.  Ex.lsi  40 
f  with  the  fat  of  kidneys  of  Sebat' 
wheat ;  and  thou  didst  drink  the  pure  s  blood 
of  the  grape. 

15  But  h  Jeshurun  waxed  fat,  and  1  kicked  : 
k  thou  art  waxen  fat,  thou  art  grown  thick,  thou 
art  covered  with  fatness ;  then  he  1  forsook 
God  which  m  made  him,  and  lightly  esteemed 
the  n  Rock  of  his  salvation. 

16  0  They  provoked  him  to  jealousy  with 
strange  gods,  with  abominations  provoked  they 
him  to  anger. 

hChap.  xxxiii.  5,  26;  Isa.  xliv.  2. - *  1  Sam.  ii.  29. - kCh. 

xxxi.  20  ;  Neh.  ix.  25  ;  Psa.  xvii.  10  ;  Jer.  ii.  7 ;  v.  7,  28  ;  Hos. 

xiii.  6. - 1  Chap.  xxxi.  16;  Isa.  i.  4. - m  Ver.  6;  Isa.  Ii.  13. 

n  2  Sam.  xxii.  47  ;  Psa.  lxxxix.  26 ;  xcv.  1. - 0 1  Kings  xiv.  22  ; 

1  Cor.  x.  22. 

places  in  the  country  should  yield  an  abundance  of 
aromatic  flowers,  from  which  the  bees  should  collect 
honey  in  abundance  ;  and  even  the  tops  of  the  rocks 
afford  sufficient  support  for  olive  trees,  from  the  fruit 
of  which  they  should  extract  oil  in  abundance  :  and  all 
this  should  be  occasioned  by  the  peculiar  blessing  of 
God  upon  the  land. 

Verse  14.  Fat  of  kidneys  of  wheat]  Almost  every 
person  knows  that  the  kidney  is  enveloped  in  a  coat 
of  the  purest  fat  in  the  body  of  the  animal,  for  which 
several  anatomical  reasons  might  be  given  As  the 
kidney  itself  is  to  the  abundantly  surrounding  fat,  so  is 
the  germ  of  the  grain  to  the  lobes  or  farinaceous  parts. 
The  expression  here  may  be  considered  as  a  very 
strong  and  peculiarly  happy  figure  to  point  out  the 
finest  wheat,  containing  the  healthiest  and  most  vigo¬ 
rous  germ,  growing  in  a  very  large  and  nutritive  grain  ; 
and  consequently  the  whole  figure  points  out  to  us  a 
species  of  wheat,  equally  excellent  both  for  seed  and 
bread.  This  beautiful  metaphor  seems  to  have  escaped 
the  notice  of  every  commentator. 

Pure  blood  of  the  grape.]  Red  wine,  or  the  pure 
juice  of  whatever  colour,  expressed  from  the  grapes, 
without  any  adulteration  or  mixture  with  water:  Mood 
here  is  synonymous  with  juice.  This  intimates  that 
their  vines  should  be  of  the  best  kind,  and  their  wine 
in  abundance,  and  of  the  most  delicious  flavour. 

Verse  15.  Jeshurun]  jntr,  the  upright.  This  ap¬ 
pellative  is  here  put  for  Israel,  and,  as  it  comes  from 
yashar ,  he  was  right,  straight,  may  be  intended  to 
show  that  the  people  who  once  not  only  promised  fair, 
but  were  really  upright ,  walking  in  the  paths  of  right¬ 
eousness,  should,  in  the  time  signified  by  the  prophet, 
not  only  revolt  from  God,  but  actually  fight  against 
him  ;  like  a  full  fed  horse,  who  not  only  will  not  bear 
the  harness,  but  breaks  aways  from  his  master,  and  en¬ 
deavours  to  kick  him  as  he  struggles  to  get  loose. 
All  this  is  spoken  prophetically,  and  is  intended  as  a 
warning ,  that  the  evil  might  not  take  place.  For 
were  the  transgression  unavoidable ,  it  must  be  the 
effect  of  some  necessitating  cause,  which  would  destroy 
the  turpitude  of  the  action,  as  it  referred  to  Israel ; 
for  if  the  evil  were  absolutely  unavoidable ,  no  blame 

825 


Israel's  ingratitude  and  DEUTERONOMY.  rebellion  against  God 


A.  M.  2553.  17  p  They  sacrificed  unto  devils, 

B.  C.  1451.  ~  i  ,  . 

An.  Ex.isr.  40.  q  not  to  God  ;  to  gods  whom  they 

Sebat'  knew  not,  to  new  gods  that  came 

newly  up,  whom  your  fathers  feared  not. 

18  r  Of  the  Rock  that  begat  thee  thou  art 
unmindful,  and  hast  s  forgotten  God  that  form¬ 
ed  thee. 

19  t  And  when  the  Lord  saw  it,  he  u  abhor- 

P  Lev.  xvii.  7 ;  Psa.  cvi.  37 ;  1  Cor.  x.  20 ;  Rev.  ix.  20. 

3  Or,  which  were  not  God  ;  ver.  21. - rIsa.  xvii.  10. - s  Jer. 

ii.  32. 


red  them t  v  because  of  the  pro-  A.  M.  2553. 
yoking  of  his  sons,  and  of  his  An. Ex.isr. 40. 
daughters.  Sebat' 


20  And  he  said,  w  I  will  hide  my  face  from 
them,  I  will  see  what  their  end  shall  be :  for 
they  are  a  very  froward  generation,  x  children 
in  whom  is  no  faith. 

21  y  They  have  moved  me  to  jealousy  with 

1  Judg.  ii.  14. - u  Or,  despised ;  Lara.  ii.  6. - v  Isa.  i.  2. 

w  Chap.  xxxi.  17. - xIsa.  xxx.  9  ;  Matt.  xvii.  17. - y  Ver.  16  ; 

Psa.  Ixxviii.  58. 


could  attach  to  the  unfortunate  agent,  who  could  only 
consider  himself  the  miserable  instrument  of  a  dire  ne¬ 
cessity .  See  a  case  in  point,  1  Sam.  xxiii.  11,  12, 
where  the  prediction  appears  in  the  most  absolute  form, 
and  yet  the  evil  was  prevented  by  the  person  receiving 
the  prediction  as  a  learning.  The  case  is  the  following : 

The  Philistines  attacked  Keilah  and  robbed  the  thresh¬ 
ing-floors  ;  David,  being  informed  of  it,  asked  counsel 
of  God  whether  he  should  go  and  relieve  it ;  he  is  or¬ 
dered  to  go,  and  is  assured  of  success  ;  he  goes,  routs 
the  Philistines,  and  delivers  Keilah.  Saul,  hearing 
that  David  was  in  Keilah,  determines  to  besiege  the 
place.  David,  finding  that  Saul  meditated  his  destruc¬ 
tion,  asked  counsel  of  the  Lord,  thus  :  “  O  Lord  God 
of  Israel,  thy  servant  hath  certainly  heard  that  Saul 
seeketh  to  come  to  Keilah,  to  destroy  the  city  for  my 
sake.  Will  the  men  of  Keilah  deliver  me  up  into  his 
hand?  Will  Saul  comedown,  as  thy  servant  hath 
heard  ?  And  the  Lord  said,  He  wall  come  down. 
Then  said  David,  Will  the  men  of  Keilah  deliver  me 
and  my  men  into  the  hand  of  Saul  1  And  the  Lord 
said,  They  will  deliver  thee  up.  Then  David  and  his 
men  (about  six  hundred)  arose  and  departed  out  of 
Keilah,  and  went  whithersoever  they  could  go  :  and  it 
was  told  Saul  that  David  was  escaped  from  Keilah, 
and  he  forbore  to  go  forth.”  Here  was  the  most  po¬ 
sitive  prediction  that  Saul  would  come  to  Keilah,  and 
that  the  men  of  Keilah  would  deliver  David  into  his 
hands  ;  yet  neither  of  these  events  took  place,  be¬ 
cause  David  departed  from  Keilah.  But  had  he  con¬ 
tinued  there,  Saul  would  have  come  down,  and  the  men 
of  Keilah  would  have  betrayed  their  deliverer.  Thus 
the  prediction  was  totally  conditional ;  and  so  were  all 
these  prophecies  relative  to  the  apostasy  of  Israel. 
They  were  only  fulfilled  in  those  who  did  not  receive 
them  as  warnings.  See  Jer.  xviii.  8—10. 

The  Rock  of  his  salvation.]  He  ceased  to  depend 
on  the  fountain  whence  his  salvation  issued ;  and  think¬ 
ing  highly  of  himself,  he  lightly  esteemed  his  God; 
and  having  ceased  to  depend  on  him,  his  fall  became 
inevitable.  The  figure  is  admirably  well  supported 
through  the  whole  verse.  We  see,  first,  a  miserable, 
lean  steed,  taken  under  the  care  and  into  the  keeping 
of  a  master  who  provides  him  with  an  abundance  of 
provender.  We  see,  secondly,  this  horse  waxing  fat 
under  this  keeping.  We  see  him,  thirdly ,  breaking 
away  from  his  master,  leaving  his  rich  pasturage,  and 
running  to  the  wilderness,  unwilling  to  bear  the  yoke 
or  harness,  or  to  make  any  returns  for  his  master’s 
care  and  attention.  We  see,  fourthly,  whence  this 

826 


conduct  proceeds — from  a  want  of  consciousness  that 
his  strength  depends  upon  his  master’s  care  and  keep¬ 
ing  ;  and  a  lack  of  consideration  that  leanness  and 
wretchedness  must  be  the  consequence  of  his  leaving 
his  master’s  service,  and  running  off  from  his  master’s 
pasturage.  How  easy  to  apply  all  these  points  to  the 
case  of  the  Israelites !  and  how  illustrative  of  their 
former  and  latter  state  !  And  how  powerfully  do  they 
apply  to  the  case  of  many  called  Christians,  who,  hav¬ 
ing  increased  in  riches,  forget  that  God  from  whose 
hand  alone  those  mercies  flowed  ! 

Terse  17.  They  sacrificed  unto  devils]  The  origi¬ 
nal  word  D'l'd?  shedim  has  been  variously  understood. 
The  Syriac,  Chaldee,  Targums  of  Jerusalem  and  Jo¬ 
nathan,  and  the  Samaritan,  retain  the  original  word  : 
the  Vulgate,  Septuagint,  Arabic ,  Persic,  Coptic ,  and 
Anglo-Saxon,  have  devils  or  demons.  The  Septuagint 
has  edvoav  baiyovioig,  they  sacrificed  to  demons :  the  Vul¬ 
gate  copies  the  Septuagint :  the  Arabic  has 
shecateen,  the  plural  of  Sheetan,  Satan,  by 

which  the  rebellious  angels  appear  to  be  intended,  as 

the  word  comes  from  the  root  shatana,  he  was 

obstinate,  proud ,  refractory,  went  far  away.  And  it 
is  likely  that  these  fallen  spirits,  having  utterly  lost 
the  empire  at  which  they  aimed,  got  themselves  wor¬ 
shipped  under  various  forms  and  names  in  different 
places.  The  Anglo-Saxon  has  beopium,  devils. 

New  gods  that  came  newly  up]  ISO  3")pD  mikkarob 
bau,  “which  came  up  from  their  neighbours;”  viz., 
the  Moabites  and  Ammonites ,  whose  gods  they  re¬ 
ceived  and  worshipped  on  their  way  through  the  wil¬ 
derness,  and  often  afterwards. 

Terse  18.  Of  the  Rock  that  begat  thee]  TV  tsur, 
the  first  cause,  the  fountain  of  thy  being.  See  the 
note  on  ver  4. 

Terse  19.  When  the  Lord  saw  it,  <fyc.]  More  lite¬ 
rally,  And  the  Lord  saw  it,  and  through  indignation 
he  reprobated  his  sons  and  his  daughters.  That  is, 
When  the  Lord  shall  see  such  conduct,  he  shall  be 
justly  incensed,  and  so  reject  and  deliver  up  to  capti¬ 
vity  his  sons  and  daughters. 

Terse  20.  Children  in  whom  is  no  faith]  DU  JiDN  tfS 
lo  emon  bam,  “  There  is  no  steadfastness  in  them,” 
they  can  never  be  depended  on.  They  me  fickle,  be¬ 
cause  they  me  faithless. 

Terse  21.  They  have  moved  me  to  jealousy]  This 
verse  contains  a  very  pointed  promise  of  the  calling  of 
the  Gentiles,  in  consequence  of  the  rejection  of  the 
Jews,  threatened  ver.  19  ;  and  to  this  great  event  it  is 
applied  by  St.  Paul,  Rom.  x.  19. 


They  are  threatened  CHAP.  XXXII.  with  his  judgments 


A.  M.  2553.  that  which  is  not  God  :  they 

B.  C.  1451.  ,  ,  ,  •  , 

An.  Ex.  isr.  40.  have  provoked  me  to  anger  2  with 

bcbat~  their  vanities  :  and  a  I  will  move 
them  to  jealousy  with  those  which  are  not  a 
people  ;  I  will  provoke  them  to  anger  with  a 
foolish  nation. 

22  For  b  a  fire  is  kindled  in  mine  anger,  and 
c  shall  burn  unto  the  lowest  hell,  and  d  shall 
consume  the  earth  with  her  increase,  and  set 
on  fire  the  foundations  of  the  mountains. 

23  I  will  e  heap  mischiefs  upon  them;  fI 
will  spend  mine  arrows  upon  them. 

24  They  shall  he  burnt  with  hunger,  and 
devoured  with  s  burning  heat,  and  with  bitter 

z  1  Sam.  xii.  21  ;  1  Kings  xvi.  13,  26  ;  Psa.  xxxi.  6  ;  Jer.  viii. 

19;  x.  8  ;  xiv.  22  ;  Jonah  ii.  8  ;  Acts  xiv.  15. - aHos.  i.  10  ; 

Rom.  x.  19. - b  Jer.  xv.  14  ;  xvii.  4  ;  Lam.  iv.  11. - c  Or,  hath 

burned. - d  Or,  hath  consumed. - e  Isa.  xxvi.  15. 

Verse  22.  The  lowest  hell ]  tvnnn  sheol 

tachtith,  the  very  deepest  destruction  ;  a  total  exter¬ 
mination,  so  that  the  earth — their  land,  and  its  in¬ 
crease ,  and  all  their  property,  should  be  seized  ;  and 
the  foundations  of  their  mountains — their  strongest 
fortresses,  should  be  razed  to  the  ground.  All  this 
was  fulfilled  in  a  most  remarkable  manner  in  the  last 
destruction  of  Jerusalem  by  the  Romans,  so  that  of  the 
fortifications  of  that  city  not  one  stone  was  left  on  ano¬ 
ther.  See  the  notes  on  Matt.  xxiv. 

Verse  23.  I  will  spend  mine  arrows  upon  them .] 
The  judgments  of  God  in  general  are  termed  the  arrows 
of  God,  Job  vi.  4  ;  Psa.  xxxviii.  2,3;  xci.  5  ;  see 
also  Ezek.  v.  16  ;  Jer.  1.  14  ;  2  Sam.  xxii.  14,  15. 
In  this  and  the  following  verses,  to  the  28th  inclusive, 
God  threatens  this  people  with  every  species  of  cala¬ 
mity  that  could  possibly  fall  upon  man.  How  strange 
it  is  that,  having  this  law  continually  in  their  hands, 
they  should  not  discern  those  threatened  judgments, 
and  cleave  to  the  Lord  that  they  might  be  averted  ! 

It  was  customary  among  the  heathens  to  represent 
any  judgment  from  their  gods  under  the  notion  of  ar¬ 
rows,  especially  a  pestilence;  and  one  of  their  greatest 
deities,  Apollo,  is  ever  represented  as  bearing  a  how 
and  quiver  full  of  deadly  arrows;  so  Homer,  II.  i., 
ver.  43,  where  he  represents  him,  in  answer  to  the 
prayer  of  his  priest  Chryses,  coming  to  smite  the 
Greeks  with  the  pestilence  : — 

e <f>ad  evxopevog’  rov  6’  ekXve  fyotftog  At roVlcjV 
Btj  6e  Kar ’  OuXvgTroLO  napijvuv  x^opevog  nrjp, 

T of7  opoLotv  sxcov  ay<pr]pE(j)£a  re  <p aperprjv . — 

'E£er’  etteit’  aizavevdE  veuv'  pvra  d’  lov  I/jke' 

A Etvri  Se  Kkayyrj  yevef’  apyvpEoto  (3ioio.  k.  r.  X. 

“  Thus  Chryses  pray'd  ;  the  favouring  power  attends, 
And  from  Olympus’  lofty  tops  descends. 

Bent  was  his  how  the  Grecian  hearts  to  wound ; 
Fierce  as  he  moved,  his  silver  shafts  resound  ; — 
The  fleet  in  view,  he  twang'd  his  deadly  how, 

And  hissing  fly  the  feather'd  fates  below. 

On  mules  and  dogs  the  infection  first  began  ; 

And  last  the  vengeful  arrows  fix'd  in  man." 


destruction  :  I  will  also  send  A.  M.  2553. 
h  the  teeth  of  beasts  upon  them,  An.  Exiisr.  40 
with  the  poison  of  serpents  of  Sebat' 
the  dust. 

25  1  The  sword  without,  and  terror  k  within, 
shall  1  destroy  both  the  young  man  and  the 
virgin,  the  suckling  also ,  with  the  man  of  gray 
hairs. 

26  m  I  said,  I  would  scatter  them  into  cor¬ 
ners,  I  would  make  the  remembrance  of  them 
to  cease  from  among  men  : 

27  Were  it  not  that  I  feared  the  wrath  of 
the  enemy,  lest  their  adversaries  n  should  be¬ 
have  themselves  strangely,  and  lest  they 

{  Psa.  vii.  12,  13  ;  Ezek.  v.  16. - ?  Heb.  burning  coals  ;  Hab. 

iii.  5. - h  Lev.  xxvi.  22. - 1  Lam.  i.  20  ;  Ezek.  vii.  15  ;  2  Cor. 

vii.  5. - k  Heb  .from  the  chambers. - 1  Heb.  bereave. - 111  Ezek. 

xx.  13,  14,  23. - “Jer.  xix.  4. 

How  frequently  the  same  figure  is  employed  in  the 
sacred  writings,  every  careful  reader  knows ;  and 
quotations  need  not  be  multiplied. 

Verse  24.  They  shall  be  burnt  ivith  hunger ] 
Their  land  shall  be  cursed,  and  famine  shall  prevail. 
This  is  one  of  the  arrows. 

Burning  heat\  No  showers  to  cool  the  atmos¬ 
phere  ;  or  rather  boils,  blains,  and  pestilential  fevers ; 
this  was  a  second. 

Bitter  destruction ]  The  plague  ;  this  was  a  third. 

Teeth  of  leasts — with  the  poison  of  serpents ]  The 
beasts  of  the  field  should  multiply  upon  and  destroy 
them;  this  was  a  fourth:  and  poisonous  serpents,  in¬ 
festing  all  their  steps,  and  whose  mortal  bite  should 
produce  the  utmost  anguish,  were  to  be  a  fifth  arrow. 
Added  to  all  these,  the  sword  of  their  enemies — terror 
among  themselves,  ver.  25,  and  captivity  were  to  com¬ 
plete  their  ruin,  and  thus  the  arrows  of  God  were  to  he 
spent  upon  them.  There  is  a  beautiful  saying  in  the 
Toozuki  Teemour,  which  wall  serve  to  illustrate  this 
point,  while  it  exhibits  one  of  the  finest  metaphors  that 
occurs  in  any  writer,  the  sacred  writers  excepted. 

“  It  was  once  demanded  of  t.he  fourth  Khaleefeh, 
(Aaly,)  on  whom  be  the  mercy  of  the  Creator,  ‘  If  the 
canopy  of  heaven  were  a  bow  ;  and  if  the  earth  were 
the  cord  thereof ;  and  if  calamities  were  arrows  ;  if 
mankind  wrere  the  mark  for  those  arrows ;  and  if  Al¬ 
mighty  God,  the  tremendous  and  the  glorious,  were 
the  unerring  archer  ;  to  whom  Could  the  sons  of  Adam 
flee  for  protection  V  The  Khaleefeh  answered,  say¬ 
ing,  ‘  The  sons  of  Adam  must  flee  unto  the  Lord.’  ” 

Verse  27.  Were  it  not  that  I  feared  the  wrath  of 
the  enemy]  Houbigant  and  others  contend  that  wrath 
here  refers  not  to  the  enemy,  but  to  God  ;  and  that 
the  passage  should  be  thus  translated  :  “  Indignation 
for  the  adversary  deters  me,  lest  their  enemies  should 
be  alienated,  and  say,  The  strength  of  our  hands,  and 
not  of  the  Lord’s,  hath  done  this.”  Had  not  God 
punished  them  in  such  a  way  as  proved  that  his  hand 
and  not  the  hand  of  man  had  done  it,  the  heathens 
would  have  boasted  of  their  prowess,  and  Jehovah 
would  have  been  blasphemed,  as  not  being  able  to 

827 


A  pathetic  lamentation 


DEUTERONOMY. 


over  trie  people 


A.  M.  2553.  should  0  say,  p  Our  hand  is  high 
An.’  Ex.  is.  40.  and  the  Lord  hath  not  done  all 
Sebat-  this. 

28  For  they  are  a  nation  void  of  counsel, 
q  neither  is  there  any  understanding  in  them. 

29  T  O  that  they  were  wise,  that  they  under¬ 
stood  this,  s  that  they  would  consider  their 
latter  end  ! 

30  How  should  4  one  chase  a  thousand,  and 
two  put  ten  thousand  to  flight,  except  their 
Rock  u  had  sold  them,  and  the  Lord  had  shut 
them  up  ? 

31  For  v  their  rock  is  not  as  our  Rock, 
w  even  our  enemies  themselves  being  judges. 

32  For  x  their  vine  y  is  of  the  vine  of  Sodom, 
and  of  the  fields  of  Gomorrah  :  their  grapes 

0  Psa.  cxl.  8. - P  Or,  Our  high  hand ,  and  not  the  LORD,  hath 

done  all  this. - 1 1sa.  xxvii.  11  ;  Jer.  iv.  22. - r  Chap.  v.  29  ; 

Psa.  lxxxi.  13  ;  cvii.  43  ;  Luke  xix.  42.— — s  Isa.  xlvii.  7  ;  Lam. 

i.  9. - 1  Lev.  xxvi.  8  ;  Josh,  xxiii.  10  ;  2  Chron  xxiv.  24;  Isa. 

xxx.  17. - u  Psa.  xliv.  12  ;  Isa.  1.  1  ;  lii.  3. - v  1  Sam.  ii.  2. 

w  1  Sam.  iv.  8  ;  Jer.  xl.  3. - x  Isa.  i.  10. - y  Or,  is  worse  than 

protect  his  worshippers,  or  to  punish  their  infidelities. 
Titus ,  when  he  took  Jerusalem,  was  so  struck  with 
the  strength  of  the  place,  that  he  acknowledged  that 
if  God  had  not  delivered  it  into  his  hands,  the  Roman 
armies  never  could  have  taken  it. 

Verse  29.  That  they  would  consider  their  latter 
end  /]  DjVHnx  acharitham,  properly,  their  latter  times 
— the  glorious  days  of  the  Messiah,  who,  according  to 
the  flesh,  should  spring  up  among  them.  Should  they 
carefully  consider  this  subject,  and  receive  the  pro¬ 
mised  Saviour,  they  would  consequently  act  as  persons 
under  infinite  obligations  to  God  ;  his  strength  would 
be  their  shield,  and  then — 

Verse  30.  How  should  one  chase  a  thousand ]  If 
therefore  they  had  not  forgotten  their  Rock,  God  their 
author  and  defence ,  it  could  not  possibly  have  come 
to  pass  that  a  thousand  of  them  should  flee  before  one 
of  their  enemies. 

Terse  31.  For  their  rock]  The  gods  and  pre¬ 
tended  protectors  of  the  Romans. 

Is  not  as  our  Rock]  Have  neither  power  nor  in¬ 
fluence  like  our  God. 

Our  enemies  themselves  being  judges.]  For  they 
often  acknowledged  the  irresistible  power  of  that  God 
who  fought  for  Israel.  See  Exod.  xiv.  25  ;  Num. 
xxiii.  8-12,  19-21  ;  1  Sam.  iv.  8. 

There  is  a  passage  in  Virgil,  Eclog.  iv.,  ver.  58, 
very  similar  to  this  saying  of  Moses  : — 

Pan  JDeus  Arcadia  mecum  si  judice  certet , 

Pan  etiam  Arcadia  dicat  se  judice  victum. 

“  Should  the  god'  Pan  contend  with  me,”  (in  singing 
the  praises  of  the  future  hero,  the  deliverer,  pro¬ 
phesied  of  in  the  Sibylline  books,)  11  were  even 
Arcadia  judge,  Pan  would  acknowledge  himself 
to  be  vanquished,  Arcadia  herself  being  judge.” 

Verso  32.  For  their  vine  is  of  the  vine  of  Sodom] 
The  Jews  are  as  wicked  and  rebellious  as  the  Sodom- 

828 


are  grapes  of  gall,  their  clusters  a.  M.  2553. 

f.  r  b  ’  B.  C.  1451. 

are  bitter  :  An.  Ex.  isr.  40. 

33  Their  wine  is  2  the  poi-  Sebat' 
son  of  dragons,  and  the  cruel  a  venom  of 
asps. 

34  Is  not  this  b  laid  up  in  store  with  me,  and 
sealed  up  among  my  treasures  ? 

35  c  To  me  belongeth  vengeance  and  re¬ 
compense  ;  their  foot  shall  slide  in  due  time  : 
for  d  the  day  of  their  calamity  is  at  hand,  and 
the  things  that  shall  come  upon  them  make 
haste. 

36  e  For  the  Lord  shall  judge  his  people, 
f  and  repent  himself  for  his  servants,  when  he 
seeth  that  their  s  power  is  gone,  and  h  there  is 
none  shut  up  or  left. 

the  vine  of  Sodom,  &e. - z  Psa.  lviii.  4. - a  Psa.  cxl.  3  ;  Rom. 

iii.  13. - b  Job  xiv.  17 ;  Jer.  ii.  22  ;  Hos.  xiii.  12  ;  Rom.  ii.  5. 

c  Psa.  xciv.  1  ;  Ecclus.  xxviii.  1 ;  Rom.  xii.  19  ;  Heb.  x.  30. 

d  2  Pet.  ii.  3. - e  Psa.  cxxxv.  14. - f  Judg.  ii.  18  ;  Psa.  cvi.  45  ; 

Jer.  xxxi.  20;  Joel  ii.  14;  2  Mac.  vii.  6. - £  Heb.  hand. 

h  1  Kings  xiv.  10  ;  xxi.  21  ;  2  Kings  ix.  8 ;  xiv.  26. 

ites ;  for  by  the  vine  the  inhabitants  of  the  land  are 
signified;  see  Isa.  v  2,  7. 

Their  grapes]  Their  actions,  are  gall  and  worm¬ 
wood — producing  nothing  but  mischief  and  misery  to 
themselves  and  others. 

Their  clusters  are  hitler]  Their  united  exertions , 
as  well  as  their  individual  acts ,  are  sin,  and  only  sin, 
continually.  That  by  vine  is  meant  the  people,  and 
by  grapes  their  moral  conduct,  is  evident  from  Isa.  v. 
1—7.  It  is  very  likely  that  the  grapes  produced  about 
the  lake  Asphaltites,  where  Sodom  and  Gomorrah  for¬ 
merly  stood,  were  not  only  of  an  acrid,  disagreeable 
taste,  but  of  a  deleterious  quality ;  and  to  this,  it  is 
probable,  Moses  here  alludes. 

Verse  33.  Their  wine]  Their  system  of  doctrines 
and  teaching,  is  the  poison  of  dragons,  &c.,  fatal  and 
destructive  to  all  them  who  follow  it. 

Verse  34.  Sealed  up  among  my  treasures  1]  Deeds 
or  engagements  by  which  persons  were  bound  at  a 
specified  time  to  fulfil  certain  conditions,  were  sealed 
and  laid  up  in  places  of  safety  ;  so  here  God’s  justice 
is  pledged  to  avenge  the  quarrel  of  his  broken  cove¬ 
nant  on  the  disobedient  Jews,  but  the  time  and  manner 
were  sealed  in  his  treasures,  and  known  only  to  him¬ 
self.  Hence  it  is  said, 

Verse  35.  Their  foot  shall  slide  in  due  time , 
§c.]  But  Calmet  thinks  that  this  verse  is  spoken 
against  the  Canaanites,  the  enemies  of  the  Jewish 
people. 

Verse  36.  The  Lord  shall  judge  his  people]  He  has 
an  absolute  right  over  them  as  their  Creator,  and  au¬ 
thority  to  punish  them  for  their  rebellions  as  their 
Sovereign  ;  yet  he  will  repent  himself — he  will  change 
his  manner  of  conduct  towards  them,  when  he  seeth 
that  their  poiver  is  gone — when  they  are  entirely  sub¬ 
jugated  by  their  adversaries,  so  that  their  political  poiver 
is  entirely  destroyed  ;  and  there  is  none  shut  up  or  left 
— not  one  strong  place  untaken,  and  not  one  family  left, 

a 


CHAP.  XXXII. 


Threatenings  and  promises 

A.  M.  2553.  37  And  he  shall  say,  1  Where 

B.  C.  1451.  ,  .  1  ,  ”  .  . 

An.  Ex.  lsr.  40.  are  their  gods,  their  rock  in 

iSehat'  whom  they  trusted, 

38  Which  did  eat  the  fat  of  their  sacrifices, 
and  drank  the  wine  of  their  drink-offerings  ?  let 
them  rise  up  and  help  you,  and,  be  k  your  pro¬ 
tection. 

39  See  now  that  1  I,  even  I,  am  he,  and 
111  there  is  no  god  with  me  :  n  I  kill,  and  I  make 
alive  ;  I  wound,  and  I  heal  :  neither  is  there 
any  that  can  deliver  out  of  my  hand. 

40  0  For  I  lift  up  my  hand  to  heaven,  and 
sav,  1  live  for  ever. 

41  p  If  I  wet  my  glittering  sword,  and  mine 
hand  take  hold  on  judgment ;  q  I  will  render 
vengeance  to  mine  enemies,  and  will  reward 
them  that  hate  me. 

42  I  will  make  mine  arrows  r  drunk  with 
blood,  and  my  sword  shall  devour  flesh ;  and 
that  with  the  blood  of  the  slain  and  of  the 

*  Judg.  x.  14  ;  Jer.  ii.  28. - k  Ileb.  a  hiding  for  you. - 1  Psa. 

cii.  27  ;  Isa.  xli.  4  ;  xlviii.  12. - m  Chap.  iv.  35;  isa.  xlv\  5, 18, 

22. - “  1  Sara.  ii.  6  ;  2  Kings  v.  7  ;  Job  v  18 ;  Psa.  lxviii.  20  ; 

Hos.  vi.  1  ;  Tob.  xiii.  2  ;  Wisd.  xvi.  13. - 0  Gen.  xiv.  22  ;  Exod. 

vi.  8;  Nura.  xiv.  30. - Pisa,  xxvii.  1;  xxxiv.  5;  lxvi.  16; 

Ezek.  xxi.  9,  10,  14,  20. _ 

all  being  carried  into  captivity,  or  scattered  into  strange 
lands.  Or,  he  will  do  justice  to  his  people,  and  avenge 
them  of  their  adversaries;  see  ver.  35. 

Yerse  37.  He  shall  say ]  He  shall  begin  to  expos¬ 
tulate  with  them,  to  awaken  them  to  a  due  sense  of 
their  ingratitude  and  rebellion.  This  may  refer  to  the 
preaching  of  the  Gospel  to  them  in  the  latter  days. 

Yerse  39.  See  now  that  I — am  he]  Be  convinced 
that  God  alone  can  save,  and  God  alone  can  destroy, 
and  that  your  idols  can  neither  hurt,  nor  help  you. 

[  hill ,  and  I  make  alive ,  fyc.]  My  mercy  is  as  great 
as  my  justice,  for  I  am  as  ready  to  save  the  penitent 
as  I  wras  to  punish  the  rebellious. 

Yerse  40.  For  I  lift  up  my  hand  to  heaven]  See 
concerning  oaths  and  appeals  to  God  in  the  note  on 
chap.  vi.  13. 

Yerse  42.  From,  the  beginning  of  revenges]  The 
word  rnjH3  paroth ,  rendered  revenges,  a  sense  in  which 
it  never  appears  to  be  taken,  has  rendered  this  place 
very  perplexed  and  obscure.  Mr.  Parkhurst  has  ren¬ 
dered  the  whole  passage  thus  : — 

I  will  make  my  arrows  drunk  with  blood  ; 

And  my  sword  shall  devour  flesh, 

With  the  blood  of  the  slain  and  captive 
From  the  hairy  head  of  the  enemy. 

Probably  £*507)  jnerosh  paroth  may  be  more 

properly  translated,  from  the  naked  head — the  enemy 
shall  have  nothing  to  shield  him  from  my  vengeance ; 
the  crown  of  dignity  shall  fall  off,  and  even  the  helmet 
be  no  protection  against  the  sword  and  arrows  of  the 
Lord. 

Yerse  43.  Rejoice,  O  ye  nations]  Ye  Gentiles,  for 
the  casting  off  of  the  Jews  shall  be  the  means  of  your 

a 


Moses  exhorts  the  people 

captives,  from  the  beginning  of  A.  M.  2553. 

1  bo  b.  0. 1451. 

8  revenges  upon  the  enemy.  *  An.  Ex. iar.  40. 

43  1  Rejoice,  uO  ye  nations,  A(iar~ 
with  his  people  :  for  he  will  v  avenge  the  blood 
of  his  servants,  and  w  will  render  vengeance  to 
his  adversaries,  and  x  will  be  merciful  unto  his 
land,  and  to  his  people. 

44  And  Moses  came  and  spake  all  the  words 
of  this  song  in  the  ears  of  the  people,  he,  and 
y  Hoshea  the  son  of  Nun. 

45  And  Moses  made  an  end  of  speaking  all 
these  words  to  all  Israel  : 

46  And  he  said  unto  them,  z  Set  your  hearts 
unto  all  the  words  which  I  testify  among  you 
this  day,  which  ye  shall  command  your  chil¬ 
dren  to  observe  to  do,  all  the  words  of  this  law. 

47  For  it  is  not  a  vain  thing  for  you  ;  a  be¬ 
cause  it  is  your  life  :  and  through  this  thing 
ye  shall  prolong  your  days  in  the  land,  whither 
ye  go  over  Jordan  to  possess  it. 

1 1sa.  i.  24  ;  Nah.  i.  2. - r  Jer.  xlvi.  10. - 5  Job  xiii.  24 ;  Jer. 

xxx.  14;  Lam.  ii.  5. - 1  Or,  Praise  his  people,  ye  nations ;  or. 

Sing  ye. - u  Rom.  xv.  10. - v  Rev.  vi.  10  ;  xix.  2. - — 1V  Ver. 

41. - x  Psa.  lxxxv.  1. - y  Or ,  Joshua. - z  Chap,  vi.6  ;  xi.  18  ; 

Ezek.  xl.  4. - a  Chap.  xxx.  19  ;  Lev.xviii.  5  ;  Prov.iii.  2, 22  ; 

iv.  22  ;  Rom.  x.  5. 

ingathering  with  his  people,  for  they  shall  not  be  utterly 
cast  off.  (See  Rom.  xv.  9,  for  in  this  way  the  apostle 
applies  it.)  But  how  shall  the  Gentiles  be  called,  and 
the  Jews  have  their  iniquity  purged  l  He  will  be  mer¬ 
ciful  unto  his  land  and  to  his  people,  *1331  vechipper, 
he  shall  cause  an  atonement  to  be  made  for  his  land 
and  people;  i.  e.,  Jesus  Christ,  the  long  promised  Mes¬ 
siah,  shall  be  crucified  for  Jews  and  Gentiles,  and  fne 
way  to  the  holiest  be  made  plain  by  his  blood. 

The  people  have  long  been  making  atonements  for 
themselves,  but  to  none  effect,  for  their  atonements 
were  but  signs,  and  not  the  thing  signified,  for  the  body 
is  Christ;  now  the  Lord  himself  makes  an  atonement, 
for  the  Lamb  of  God  alone  taketh  away  the  sin  of  the 
world.  This  is  a  very  proper  and  encouraging  con¬ 
clusion  to  the  awfully  important  matter  of  this  poem. 

Israel  shall  be  long  scattered,  peeled,  and  punished, 
but  they  shall  have  mercy  in  the  latter  times ;  they 
also  shall  rejoice  with  the  Gentiles,  in  the  common  sal¬ 
vation  purchased  by  the  blood  of  the  Saviour  of  all 
mankind. 

Yerse  44.  And  Moses  came]  Probably  from  the 
tabernacle,  where  God  had  given  him  this  prophetic 
ode,  and  he  rehearsed  it  in  the  ears  of  the  people. 

Yerse  46  Set  your  hearts  unto  all  the  words]  An¬ 
other  proof  that  all  these  awful  denunciations  of  Divine 
wrath,  though  delivered  in  an  absolute  form,  were  only 
declaratory  of  what  God  would  do  if  they  rebelled 
against  him. 

Yerse  47.  Through  this  thing  ye  shall  prolong  your 
days]  Instead  of  being  cut  off,  as  God  here  threatens, 
ye  shall  be  preserved  and  rendered  prosperous  in  the 
land  which,  when  they  passed  over  Jordan,  they  should 
possess. 


829 


Moses  called  into  the  mount 


DEUTERONOMY. 


that  he  may  see  the  land. 


A.  M.  2553.  48  b  And  the  Lord  spake  unto 

An.  Ex.  isr.  40.  Moses  that  selfsame  day,  saying, 
Adar'  49  Get  thee  up  into  this ‘^moun¬ 

tain  Abarim,  unto  Mount  Nebo,  which  is  in 
the  land  of  Moab,  thatfs  over  against  Jericho; 
and  behold  the  land  of  Canaan,  which  I  give 
unto  the  children  of  Israel  for  a  possession  : 

50  And  die  in  the  mount  whither  thougoest 
up,  and  be  gathered  unto  thy  people ;  as 
d  Aaron  thy  brother  died  in  Mount  Hor, 

b  Num.  xxvii.  12,  13. - c  Num.  xxxiii.  47,  48;  chap,  xxxiv.  1. 

d  Num.  xx.  25,  28  ;  xxxiii.  38. 

Verse  49.  Get  thee  up  into  this  mountain  Abarim] 
The  mount  of  the  passages,  i.  e.,  of  the  Israelites  when 
they  entered  into  the  promised  land.  See  the  notes 
on  Num.  xxvii.  12. 

Verse  50.  And  die  in  the  mount — as  Aaron]  Some 
have  supposed  that  Moses  was  translated ;  but  if  so, 
then  Aaron  was  translated,  for  what  is  said  of  the  death 
of  the  one  is  said  of  the  death  of  the  other. 

Verse  51.  Ye  trespassed  against  me — at  the  waters 
of  Meribah]  See  the  note  on  Num.  xx.  8. 

Verse  52.  Thou  shalt  see  the  land  before  thee]  See 
Num.  xxvii.  12,  &c.  How  glorious  to  depart  out  of 
this  life  with  God  in  his  heart  and  heaven  in  his  eye  ! 
his  work,  his  great,  unparalleled  usefulness,  ending 
only  with  his  life.  The  serious  reader  will  surely 
join  in  the  following  pious  ejaculation  of  the  late  Rev. 
Charles  Wesley ,  one  of  the  best  Christian  poets  of  the 
last  century  : — 

“  O  that  without  a  lingering  groan 

I  may  the  welcome  word  receive ; 

My  body  with  my  charge  lay  down, 

And  cease  at  once  to  work  and  live  /”• 

It  would  require  a  dissertation  expressly  formed 
for  the  purpose  to  point  out  the  general  merit  and  ex¬ 
traordinary  beauties  of  this  very  sublime  ode.  To 
enter  into  such  particulars  can  scarcely  comport  with 
the  nature  of  the  present  work.  Hrs.  Loivlh,  Kenni- 
cott,  and  Durell,  have  done  much  in  this  way  ;  and 
to  their  respective  works  the  critical  reader  is  re¬ 
ferred.  A  very  considerable  extract  from  what 
they  have  written  on  this  chapter  may  be  found  in 
Dr.  Dodd's  notes.  In  writing  this  ode  the  design  of 
Moses  was, 

1.  To  set  forth  the  Majesty  of  God ;  to  give  that 
generation  and  all  successive  ones  a  proper  view  of 
the  glorious  perfections  of  the  object  of  their  worship. 
He  therefore  shows  that  from  his  holiness  and  purity 
he  must  be  displeased  with  sin ;  from  his  justice  and 
righteousness  he  must  punish  it ;  and  from  the  good¬ 
ness  and  infinite  benevolence  of  his  nature  he  is  ever 
disposed  to  help  the  weak ,  instruct  the  ignorant ,  and 
show  mercy  to  the  zuretched,  sinful  sons  and  daughters 
of  men. 

2.  To  show  the  duty  and  interest  of  his  people.  To 
have  such  a  Being  for  their  friend  is  to  have  all  possi¬ 
ble  happiness,  both  spiritual  and  temporal,  secured ;  to 
have  him  for  their  enemy  is  to  be  exposed  to  inevi¬ 
table  destruction  and  ruin. 

$30 


and  was  gathered  unto  his  peo-  a.  m.  2553. 

pie  l  An.  Ex.  Isr.  40. 

5 1  Because  e  ye  trespassed  Adar' 
against  me  among  the  children  of  Israel  at 
the  waters  of  f  Meribah-kadesh,  in  the  wilder¬ 
ness  of  Zin  ;  because  ye  *  sanctified  me  not 
in  the  midst  of  the  children  of  Israel. 

52  h  Yet  thou  shalt  see  the  land  before  thee ; 
but  thou  shalt  not  go  thither  unto  the  land 
which  I  give  the  children  of  Israel. 

e  Num.  xx.  11,  12,  13;  xxvii.  14. - f  Or,  strife  at  Kadesh. 

s  See  Lev.  x.  3. - hNum.  xxvii.  12  ;  chap,  xxxiv.  4. 

3.  To  warn  them  against  irreligion  and  apostasy ; 
to  show  the  possibility  of  departing  from  God.  and  the 
miseries  that  would  overwhelm  them  and  their  poste¬ 
rity  should  they  be  found  walking  in  opposition  to  the 
laws  of  their  Creator. 

4.  To  give  a  proper  and  impressive  view  of  the 
providence  of  God,  by  referring  to  the  history  of  his 
gracious  dealings  with  them  and  their  ancestors ;  the 
minute  attention  he  paid  to  all  their  wants,  the  wonder¬ 
ful  manner  in  which  he  led,  fed,  clothed,  protected,  and 
saved  them,  in  all  their  travels  and  in  all  perils. 

5.  To  leave  on  record  an  everlasting  testimony 
against  them,  should  they  ever  cast  off  his  fear  and 
pollute  his  worship,  which  should  serve  at  once  as  a 
warning  to  the  world,  and  a  vindication  of  his  justice, 
when  the  judgments  he  had  threatened  were  found  to 
be  poured  out  upon  them  ;  for  he  who  loved  them  so 
long  and  so  intensely  could  not  become  their  enemy 
but  in  consequence  of  the  greatest  and  most  unprin¬ 
cipled  provocations. 

G.  To  show  the  shocking  and  unprecedented  ingra¬ 
titude  which  induced  a  people  so  highly  favoured,  and 
so  wondrously  protected  and  loved,  to  sin  against  their 
God  ;  and  how  reasonable  and  just  it  was,  for  the  vin¬ 
dication  of  his  holiness,  that  God  should  pour  out  upon 
them  such  judgments  as  he  had  never  inflicted  on 
any  other  people,  and  so  mark  their  disobedience  and 
ingratitude  with  fresh  marks  of  his  displeasure,  that 
the  punishment  should  bear  some  proportion  to  the 
guilt,  and  that  their  preservation  as  a  distinct  people 
might  afford  a  feeling  proof  both  of  the  providence 
and  justice  of  God. 

7.  To  show  the  glory  of  the  latter  days  in  the  re- 
election  of  the  long  reprobated  Jewish  nation,  and  the 
final  diffusion  of  his  grace  and  goodness  over  the  earth 
by  means  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ. 

And  all  this  is  done  with  such  strength  and  ele¬ 
gance  of  diction,  with  such  appropriate,  energetic,  and 
impressive  figures  and  metaphors,  and  in  such  a  power¬ 
ful  torrent  of  that  soul-penetrating,  pure  poetic  spirit 
that  comes  glowing  from  the  bosom  of  God,  that  the 
reader  is  alternately  elated  or  depressed,  filled  with 
compunction  or  confidence,  with  despair  or  hope,  ac¬ 
cording  to  the  quick  transitions  of  the  inimitable  writer 
to  the  different  topics  wrhich  form  the  subject  of  this 
incomparable  and  wondrously  varied  ode.  May  that 
Spirit  by  which  it  was  dictated  give  it  its  fullest,  most 
durable,  and  most  effectual  impression  upon  the  mind 
of  every  reader  ! 

a 


Moses  blesses 


CHAP.  XXXIII. 


the  twelve  tribes 


CHAPTER  XXXIII. 

Moses  delivers  a  prophetical  blessing  to  the  children  of  Israel,  1.  The  introduction ,  2—5.  Prophetic  decla¬ 
rations  concerning  Reuben,  6  ;  concerning  Judah,  7  ;  concerning  Levi,  8—11  ;  concerning  Benjamin,  12  ; 
concerning  Joseph,  13-17  ;  concerning  Zebulun,  18,  19  ;  concerning  Gad,  20,  21  ;  concerning  Dan,  22  ; 
concerning  Naphtali,  23  ;  concerning  Asher,  24,  25.  The  glory  of  the  God  of  Jeshurun,  and  the  glorious 
privileges  of  his  true  followers,  26—29. 


A.  M.  2553.  A  ND  this  is  a  the  blessing 

B.  C.  1451.  JPL  .  .  ,,  ,  .  G 

An.  Ex.  isr.  40.  wherewith  Moses,  b  the  man 

_ A(lar~  of  God,  blessed  the  children  of 

Israel  before  his  death. 

2  And  he  said,  c  The  Lord  came  from  Sinai, 

and  rose  up  from  Seir  unto  them  ;  he  shined 

forth  from  Mount  Paran,  and  he  came  with 

d  ten  thousands  of  saints  :  from  his  right  hand 

went  e  a  fiery  law  for  them. 

a  Gen.  xlix.  28. - b  Psa.  xc.  title. - cExod.  xix.  18,20; 

Judg.  v.  4,  5;  Hab.  iii.  3. - d  See  Psa.  lxviii.  17  ;  Dan.  vii.  10  ; 

Acts  vii.  53  ;  Gal.  iii.  19  ;  Heb.  ii.  2  ;  Rev.  v.  11  ;  ix.  16. 
*  Heb.  afire  of  law. f  Exod.  xix.  5  ;  chap.  vii.  7,  8  ;  Psa.  xlvii. 

NOTES  ON  CHAP.  XXXIII. 

Verse  1.  And  this  is  the  blessing  wherewith  Moses 
— blessed ,  rfc.]  The  general  nature  of  this  solemn 
introduction,  says  Dr.  Kennicott,  is  to  show  the  foun¬ 
dation  which  Moses  had  for  blessing  his  hrethren,  viz., 
because  God  had  frequently  manifested  his  glory  in 
their  behalf ;  and  the  several  parts  of  this  introduction 
are  disposed  in  the  following  order : — 

1.  The  manifestation  of  the  Divine  glory  on  Sinai, 
as  it  was  prior  in  time  and  more  magnificent  in  splen¬ 
dour,  is  mentioned  first. 

2.  That  God  manifested  his  glory  at  Seir  is  evident 
from  Judg.  v.  4:  Lord,  when  thou  wentest  out  of  Seir, 
when  thou  marchedst  out  of  the  fields  of  Edom ,  the 
earth  trembled  and  the  heavens  dropped,  &c. 

3.  The  next  place  is  Paran,  where  the  glory  of  the 
Lord  appeared  before  all  the  children  of  Israel,  Num. 
xiv.  10. 

Instead  of  he  came  with  ten  thousand  saints,  by 
which  our  translators  have  rendered  imp  romp  meri- 
beboth  kodesh,  Dr.  Kennicott  reads  Meribah-Kadesh, 
the  name  of  a  place :  for  we  find  that,  towards  the  end 
of  forty  years,  the  Israelites  came  to  Kadesh,  Num. 
xx.  1,  which  was  also  called  Meribah,  on  account  of 
their  contentious  opposition  to  the  determinations  of 
God  in  their  favour,  ver.  13  ;  and  there  the  glory  of 
the  Lord  again  appeared,  as  we  are  informed  ver.  6. 
These  four  places,  Sinai ,  Seir,  Paran,  and  Meribah- 
Kadesh ,  mentioned  by  Moses  in  the  text,  are  the  iden¬ 
tical  places  where  God  manifested  his  glory  in  a  fiery 
appearance,  the  more  illustriously  to  proclaim  his  spe¬ 
cial  providence  over  and  care  of  Israel. 

Verse  3.  Yea,  he  loved  the  people ]  This  is  the  in¬ 
ference  which  Moses  makes  from  those  glorious  ap¬ 
pearances,  that  God  truly  loved  the  people  ;  and  that 
all  his  saints,  Vtsnp  kedoshaiv,  the  people  whom  he 
had  consecrated  to  himself,  were  under  his  especial 
benediction ;  and  that  in  order  to  make  them  a  holy 
nation ,  God  had  displayed  his  glory  on  Mount  Sinai, 
where  they  had  fallen  prostrate  at  his  feet  with  the 


3  Yea,  f  he  loved  the  people;  a.  m.  2553. 

.  1  1  B  C  1451 

e  all  his  saints  are  in  thy  hand  :  An.  Ex.  Isr.  40. 

and  they  h  sat  down  at  thy  feet ;  Adar’ 

every  one  shall *  1 2 3  receive  of  thy  words. 

4  k  Moses  commanded  us  a  law,  1  even  the 
inheritance  of  the  congregation  of  Jacob. 

5  And  he  was  m  king  in  n  Jeshurun,  when  the 
heads  of  the  people  and  the  tribes  of  Israel 
were  gathered  together. 

4 ;  Hos.  xi.  1 ;  Mai.  i.  2. - s  Chap.  vii.  6 ;  1  Sam.  ii.  9  ;  Psa. 

1.  5. - hLuke  x.  39;  Acts  xxii.  3. - ;Prov.  ii.  1. - kJohni. 

17;  vii.  19. - 1Psa.cxix.  111. - m  See  Gen.  xxxvi.  31;  Judg. 

ix.  2  ;  xvii.  6. - n  Chap,  xxxii.  15. 

humblest  adoration,  sincerely  promising  the  most  af¬ 
fectionate  obedience  ;  and  that  God  had  there  com¬ 
manded  them  a  law  which  was  to  be  the  possession 
and  inheritance  of  the  children  of  Jacob,  ver.  4.  And 
to  crown  the  whole,  he  had  not  only  blessed  them  as 
their  lawgiver,  but  had  also  vouchsafed  to  be  their 
king ,  ver.  5. 

Dr.  Kennicott  proposes  to  translate  the  whole  five 
verses  thus  : — 

Verse  1.  And  this  is  the  blessing  wherewith  Moses, 
the  man  of  God,  blessed  the  children  of  Israel  before 
his  death.  And  he  said, 

2.  Jehovah  came  from  Sinai, 

And  he  arose  upon  them  from  Seir; 

He  shone  forth  from  Mount  Paran, 

And  he  came  from  Meribah-Kadesh  : 

From  his  right  hand  a  fire  shone  forth  upon  them. 

3.  Truly,  he  loved  the  people, 

And  he  blessed  all  his  saints : 

For  they  fell  down  at  his  feet, 

And  they  received  of  his  words. 

4.  He  commanded  us  a  law, 

The  inheritance  of  the  congregation  of  Jacob. 

5.  And  he  became  king  in  Jeshurun  ; 

When  the  heads  of  the  people  were  assembled, 
Together  with  the  tribes  of  Israel. 

We  have  already  seen  that  Dr.  Kennicott  reads 
Bnp  POOP  Meribah-Kadesh,  the  name  of  a  place,  in¬ 
stead  of  BHp  romp  meribeboth  kodesh ,  which,  by  a 
most  unnatural  and  forced  construction,  our  version 
renders  ten  thousands  of  saints ,  a  translation  which  no 
circumstance  of  the  history  justifies. 

Instead  of  a  fiery  law,  m  esh  dath ,  he  reads, 
following  the  Samaritan  version,  MX  esh  ur ,  a  fire 
shining  out  upon  them.  In  vindication  of  this  change 
in  the  original,  it  may  be  observed,  1.  That,  though 
rH  dath  signifies  a  law,  yet  it  is  a  Chaldee  term,  and 
appears  nowhere  in  any  part  of  the  sacred  writings 
previously  to  the  Babylonish  captivity;  rpnn  torah 

831 


DEUTERONOMY. 


Reuben  and  Judah. 


The  blessings  of 


6  Let  Reuben  live,  and  not  die; 
and  let  not  his  men  be  few. 

7  And  this  is  the  blessing  of 
Judah  :  and  he  said.  Hear,  Lord,  the  voice 


A.  M.  2553. 

B.  C.  1451. 
An.  Ex.  Isr.  40. 

Adar. 


0  Gen.  xlix.  8. 

being  the  term  constantly  used  to  express  the  Law,  at 
all  times  prior  to  the  corruption  of  the  Hebrew,  by  the 
Chaldee.  2.  That  the  word  itself  is  obscure  in  its 
present  situation,  as  the  Hebrew  Bibles  write  it  and 
esh  in  one  word,  eshdath ,  which  has  no  mean¬ 

ing  ;  and  which,  in  order  to  give  it  one,  the  Massorah 
directs  should  be  read  separate ,  though  written  con¬ 
nected.  3.  That  the  word  is  not  acknowledged  by  the 
two  most  ancient  versions,  the  Septuagint  and  Syriac. 
4.  That  in  the  parallel  place,  Hab.  iii.  3,  4,  a  word  is 
used  which  expresses  the  rays  of  light ,  D'J3p  kar- 
nayim,  horns ,  that  is,  splendours ,  rays,  or  effulgence 
of  light.  5.  That  on  all  these  accounts,  together  with 
the  almost  impossibility  of  giving  a  rational  meaning 
to  the  text  as  it  now  satnds,  the  translation  contended 
for  should  be  adopted. 

Instead  of  All  his  saints  are  in  his  hand,  Hr.  Ken- 
nicott  reads,  He  blessed  all  his  saints — changing  V'* 
beyadecha ,  into  1*13  barach,  he  blessed ,  which  word, 
all  who  understand  the  Hebrew  letters  will  see,  might 
be  easily  mistaken  for  the  other :  the  l  daleth  and  the 
*7  resh  being,  not  only  in  MSS.,  but  also  in  printed 
books,  often  so  much  alike,  that  analogy  alone  can 
determine  which  is  the  true  letter  ;  and  except  in  the 
insertion  of  the  ,  yod ,  which  might  have  been  easily 
mistaken  for  the  apex  at  the  top  of  the  3  beth  very 
frequent  in  MSS.,  both  words  have  the  nearest  resem¬ 
blance.  To  this  may  be  added,  that  the  Syriac  autho¬ 
rizes  this  rendering. 

Instead  of  l^mS  leraglecha ,  and  ym31D  middabbe- 
rotheycha,  thy  feet,  and  thy  words ,  Dr.  Kennieott 
reads  the  pronouns  in  the  third  person  singular, 
leraglaiv  and  VT9331D  middabbcrothaiv,  his  feet ,  his 
words ,  in  which  he  is  supported  both  by  the  Septua¬ 
gint  and  Vulgate.  He  also  changes  NtJD  yissa,  he 
shall  receive ,  into  lNSy  yisseu ,  they  shall  receive. 

He  contends  also  that  7TtfD  Mosheh ,  Moses ,  in  the 
fourth  verse,  was  written  by  mistake  for  the  following 
word  nt£H1D  morashah ,  inheritance  ;  and  when  the 
scribe  found  he  had  inserted  a  wrong  word,  he  added 
the  proper  one,  and  did  not  erase  the  first.  The  word 
Moses,  he  thinks,  should  therefore  be  left  out  of  the 
text,  as  it  is  improbable  that  he  should  here  introduce 
his  own  name ;  and  that  if  the  word  be  allowed  to  be 
legitimate,  then  the  word  king  must  apply  to  him,  and 
not  to  God,  which  would  be  most  absurd.  See  Ken- 
nicott’s  first  Dissertation,  p.  422,  &c. 

Verse  6.  Let  Reuben  live ,  and  not  die ]  Though 
his  life  and  his  blessings  have  been  forfeited  by  his 
Iransgression  with  his  father’s  concubine,  Gen.  xlix.  3, 
4  ;  and  in  his  rebellion  with  Korah,  Num.  xvi.  1,  &c., 
let  him  not  become  extinct  as  a  tribe  in  Israel.  “  It 
is  very  usual,”  says  Mr.  Ainsworth,  “  in  the  Scripture, 
to  set  down  things  of  importance  and  earnestness,  by 
affirmation  of  the  one  part,  and  denial  of  the  other ; 
Isa.  xxxviii.  1  :  Thou  shall  die ,  and  not  live  ;  Num. 
iv.  19  :  That  they  may  live,  and  not  die;  Psa.  cxviii. 

832 


of  Judah,  and  brin^  him  unto  his  A.  M.  2553. 
people  :  0  let  his  hands  be  suffi-  An.  Ex!  isr.  40. 
cient  for  him  ;  and  be  thou  p  a  ar’ 

help  to  him  from  his  enemies. 

P  Psa.  cxlvi.  5. 

17  :  I  shall  not  die,  but  live  ;  Gen.  xliii.  8  :  That  iv& 
may  live,  and  not  die;  Jer.  xx.  14:  Cursed  be  the 
day — let  not  that  day  be  blessed  ;  1  John  ii.  4  :  He 
is  a  liar,  and  the  truth  is  not  in  him;  ib.  ver.  27  :  Is 
truth,  and  no  lie;  John  i.  20  :  He  confessed,  and  de¬ 
nied  not ;  1  Sam.  i.  1 1  :  Remember  me,  and  not  for¬ 
get  thy  handmaid ;  Deut.  ix.  7  :  Remember ,  forget 
not ;  Deut.  xxxii.  6  :  O  foolish  people ,  and  unwise. 
In  all  these  places  it  is  evident  that  there  is  a  peculiar 
emphasis  in  this  form  of  expression,  as  if  he  had  said, 
Let  him  not  only  not  die,  but  let  him  live  in  great  and 
increasing  peace  and  prosperity.  Do  not  only  not  for¬ 
get  me,  but  keep  me  continually  in  remembrance.  He 
denied  not,  but  confessed  fully  and  particularly. 
0  foolish  people — silly  and  stupid,  and  unwise — desti¬ 
tute  of  all  true  wisdom.” 

And  let  not  his  men  be  few.]  It  is  possible  that 
this  clause  belongs  to  Simeon.  In  the  Alexandrian 
copy  of  the  Septuagint  the  clause  stands  thus  :  K at 
'Zv/isov  cart)  7 roXvg  ev  api.dj.uo,  and  let  Simeon  be  very 
numerous,  but  none  of  the  other  versions  insert  the 
word.  As  the  negative  particle  is  not  in  the  Hebrew, 
but  is  supplied  in  our  translation,  and  the  word  Simc  m 
is  found  in  one  of  the  most  ancient  and  most  authentic 
copies  of  the  Septuagint  version ;  and  as  Simeon  is 
nowhere  else  mentioned  here,  if  not  implied  in  this 
place,  probably  the  clause  anciently  stood  :  Let  Reu¬ 
ben  live,  and  not  die  ;  but  let  the  men  of  Simeon  be 
few.  That  this  tribe  was  small  when  compared  with 
the  rest,  and  with  what  it  once  was,  is  evident  enough 
from  the  first  census,  taken  after  they  came  out  of 
Egypt,  and  that  in  the  plains  of  Moab  nearly  forty 
years  after.  In  the  first,  Simoon  was  59,300  ;  in  the 
last,  22,200,  a  decrease  of  37,100  men! 

Verse  7.  And  this  is  the  blessing  of  Judah]  Though 
the  word  blessing  is  not  in  the  text,  yet  it  may  be  im¬ 
plied  from  ver.  1  ;  but  probably  the  words,  he  spake , 
are  those  which  should  be  supplied  :  And  this  he  spake 
of  Judah,  Lord,  hear  the  voice  of  Judah  ;  that  is,  says 
the  Targum,  receive  his  prayer  when  he  goes  out  to 
battle,  and  let  him  be  brought  back  in  safety  to  his  own 
people.  Let  his  hands  be  sufficient  for  him — let  him 
have  a  sufficiency  of  warriors  always  to  support  the 
tribe,  and  vindicate  its  rights  ;  and  let  his  enemies  never 
be  able  to  prevail  against  him  !  Three  things  are  ex¬ 
pressed  here  :  1.  That  the  tribe  of  Judah,  conscious 
of  its  weakness,  shall  depend  on  the  Most  High,  and 
make  prayer  and  supplication  to  him  ;  2.  That  God 
will  hear  such  prayer  ;  and,  3.  That  his  hands  shall  be 
increased,  and  that  he  shall  prevail  over  his  enemies. 
This  blessing  has  a  striking  affinity  with  that  which 
this  tribe  received  from  Jacob,  Gen.  xlix.  9  ;  and  both 
may  refer  to  our  blessed  Lord,  'who  sprang  from 
this  tribe,  as  is  noticed  on  the  above  passage,  who 
has  conquered  our  deadly  foes  by  his  death,  and 
whose  praying  posterity  ever  prevail  through  his 
might. 

a 


CHAP.  XXXIII. 


The  blessings  of 

A.  M.  2553.  g  And  0f  Jj6vi  }]e  sa^  q  £C£ 

15.  C.  1451.  .  7 

An.  Ex.  isr.  40.  thy  Thummim  and  thy  Urim  be 

- 1 -  with  thy  holy  one,  rwhom  thou 

didst  prove  at  Massah,  and  with  whom  thou 
didst  strive  at  the  waters  of  Meribah ; 

9  Who  said  unto  his  father  and  to  his 
mother,  I  have  not  8  seen  him  ;  *  neither  did 
he  acknowledge  his  brethren,  nor  knew  his 
own  children  :  for  u  they  have  observed  thy 
word,  and  kept  thy  covenant. 

q  Exod.  xxviii.  30. - rExod.  xvii.  7 ;  Num.  xx.  13  ;  chap.  viii. 

2,  3,  16;  Psa.  lxxxi.  7. - 9  Gen.  xxix.  32;  1  Chron.  xvii.  17; 

Job  xxxvii.  24. - ‘Exod.  xxxii.  26,  27,  28. - «  See  Jer.  xviii. 

18  ;  Mai.  ii.  5,  6. - v  Or,  Let  them  teach ,  &c. - w  Lev.  x.  11  ; 

chap.  xvii.  9,  10,  11;  xxiv.  8;  Ezek.  xliv.  23,  24;  Mai.  ii.  7. 

Verse  8.  Of  Levi  he  said ]  Concerning  the  Urim 
and  Thummim  see  Exod.  xxviii.  30. 

Thy  holy  one ]  Aaron  primarily,  who  was  anointed 
the  high  priest  of  God,  and  whose  office  was  the  most 
holy  that  man  could  be  invested  with.  Therefore 
Aaron  was  called  God’s  holy  one.  and  the  more  espe¬ 
cially  so  as  he  was  the  type  of  the  most  holy  and 
blessed  Jesus,  from  whom  the  Urim — all  light  and  wis¬ 
dom,  and  Thummim — all  excellence,  completion,  and 
perfection,  are  derived. 

Whom  thou  didst  prove,  dpc.]  God  contended  with 
Aaron  as  well  as  .with  Moses  at  the  waters  of  Meri¬ 
bah,  and  excluded  him  from  the  promised  land  because 
he  did  not  sanctify  the  Lord  before  the  people. 

From  the  words  of  St.  Paul,  1  Cor.  x.  8-12,  it  is 
evident  that  these  words,  at  least  in  a  secondary  sense, 
belong  to  Christ.  He  is  the  Holy  One  who  was  tempted 
by  them  at  Massah,  who  suffered  their  manners  in  the 
wilderness,  who  slew  23,000  of  the  most  incorrigible 
transgressors,  and  who  brought  them  into  the  promised 
land  by  his  deputy,  Joshua,  whose  name  and  that  of 
Jesus  have  the  same  signification. 

Verse  9.  Who  said  unto  his  father,  dfc.]  There  are 
several  difficulties  in  this  and  the  following  verses. 
Some  think  they  arc  spoken  of  the  tribe  of  Levi ;  others, 
of  all  the  tribes  ;  others,  of  the  Messiah,  &c.  ;  but 
several  of  the  interpretations  founded  on  these  suppo¬ 
sitions  are  too  recondite,  and  should  not  be  resorted  to 
till  a  plain  literal  sense  is  made  out.  I  suppose  the 
whole  to  be  primarily  spoken  of  Aaron  and  the  tribe 
of  Levi.  Let  us  examine  the  words  in  this  way,  Who 
said  unto  his  father,  &e.  The  law  had  strictly  enjoined 
that  if  the  father,  mother,  brother,  or  child  of  the  high 
priest  should  die,  he  must  not  mourn  for  them,  but  act 
as  if  they  were  not  his  kindred  ;  see  Lev.  xxi.  11,  12. 
Neither  must  Aaron  mou^i  for  his  sons  Nadab  and 
Abihu,  Ac.,  though  not  only  their  death,  but  the  cir¬ 
cumstances  of  it,  were  the  most  afflicting  that  could 
possibly  affect  a  parent’s  heart.  Besides,  the  high 
priest  was  forbidden,  on  pain  of  death,  to  go  out  from 
the  door  of  the  tabernacle,  Lev.  x.  2-7,  for  God  would 
have  them  more  to  regard  their  function  (as  good  Mr. 
Ainsworth  observes)  and  duty  in  his  service,  than  any 
natural  affection  whatever.  And  herein  Christ  was 
figured,  who,  when  he  was  told  that  his  mother  and  i 
brethren  stood  without,  and  wished  to  speak  with  him,  i 

Vol.  I.  (  54  ) 


Levi  and  Benjamin 

10  v  They  "'shall  teach  Jacob  /J’ ?55* 

J  15.  O.  1451. 

thy  judgments,  and  Israel  thy  An.  Ex.  isr.  40. 

law  :  x  they  y  shall  put  incense  _ — _ 

z  before  thee,  a  and  whole  burnt-sacrifice  upon 
thine  altar. 

11  Bless,  Lord,  his  substance,  and  b  accept 
the  work  of  his  hands  :  smite  through  the 
loins  of  them  that  rise  against  him,  and  of 
them  that  hate  him,  that  they  rise  not  again. 

12  And  of  Benjamin  he  said,  The  beloved 


*  Or,  let  them  put  incense. - y  Exod.  xxx.  7,  8 ;  Num.  xvi.  44) ; 

1  Sam.  ii.  28. - ^Ileb.  at  thy  nose. - “Lev.  i.  9,  13,  l"7;  Psa. 

Ii.  19 ;  Ezek.  xliii.  27. - *>2  Sam.  xxiv.  23 ;  Psa.  xx.  3  ;  Ezek 

xx.  40,  41 ;  xliii.  27. 


said  :  “  Who  is  my  mother,  and  who  are  my  brethren  t 
whosoever  shall  do  the  will  of  my  father  who  is  in 
heaven,  the  same  is  my  brother,  and  sister,  and  mother;” 
Matt.  xii.  46-50.  It  is  likely  also  that  Moses  may 
refer  here  to  the  fact  of  the  Levites,  according  to  the 
command  of  Moses,  killing  every  man  his  brother, 
friend,  neighbour,  and  even  son,  who  had  sinned  in  wor¬ 
shipping  the  golden  calf,  Exod.  xxxii.  26  ;  and  in  this 
way  the  Chaldee  paraphrast  understands  the  words. 

Verse  10.  They  shall  teach  Jacob,  djc.]  This  was 
the  office  of  the  Levites,  to  teach,  by  their  significant 
service  and  typical  ceremonies,  the  way  of  righteous¬ 
ness  and  truth  to  the  children  of  Israel.  And  of  their 
faithfulness  in  this  respect  God  bears  testimony  by  the 
prophet,  “  My  covenant  was  with  him  of  life  and  peace,” 
Mai.  ii.  5  ;  and,  “  The  law  of  truth  was  in  his  mouth, 
and  iniquity  was  not  found  in  his  lips  :  he  walked  with 
me  in  peace  and  equity,  and  did  turn  many  away  from 
iniquity  ver.  6.  These  words  are  a  sufficient  com¬ 
ment  on  the  words  of  the  text. 

Verse  11.  Bless,  Lord,  his  substance ]  The  bless¬ 
ing  of  God  to  the  tribe  of  Levi  was  peculiarly  neces¬ 
sary,  because  they  had  no  inheritance  among  the  chil¬ 
dren  of  Israel,  and  lived  more  immediately  than  others 
upon  the  providence  of  God.  Yet,  as  they  lived  by 
the  offerings  of  the  people  and  the  tithes,  the  increase 
of  their  substance  necessarily  implied  the  increase  of 
the  people  at  large  :  the  more  fruitful  the  land  was, 
the  more  abundant  would  the  tithes  of  the  Levites  be  ; 
and  thus  in  the  increased  fertility  of  the  land  the  sub¬ 
stance  of  Levi  would  be  blessed. 

Verse  12.  Of  Benjamin — the  beloved  of  the  Lord] 
Alluding  to  his  being  particularly  beloved  of  his  father 
Jacob,  Gen.  xlix.  27,  &c. 

Shall  dwell  in  safety  by  him]  That  is,  by  the  Lord, 
whose  temple,  which  is  considered  as  his  dwelling- 
place,  was  in  the  tribe  of  Benjamin,  for  a  part  of  Je¬ 
rusalem  belonged  to  this  tribe. 

Shall  cover  him  all  the  day]  Be  his  continual  pro¬ 
tector  ;  and  he  shall  dwell  between  his  shoulders — • 
within  his  coasts,  or  in  his  chief  city,  viz.,  Jerusalem, 
where  the  temple  of  God  was  built,  on  his  mountains 
Zion  and  Moriah,  here  poetically  termed  his  shoulders. 

Some  object  to  our  translation  of  the  Hebrew  TV 
yedid  by  the  term  beloved,  and  think  the  original  should 
be  divided  as  it  is  in  the  Samaritan,  "5'  V  yad  yad ,  the 

833 


The  blessing 


DEUTERONOMY. 


<SV 


of  Joseph. 


b  c  i45i*  °f  ^ie  Lord  shall  dwell  in  safety 
An.  Ex.  isr.  40.  by  him  ;  and  the  L  ORD  shall 

- - 1 -  cover  him  all  the  day  long,  and 

he  shall  dwell  between  his  shoulders. 

13  And  of  Joseph  he  said,  c  Blessed  of  the 
Lord  be  his  land,  for  the  precious  things  of 
heaven,  for  d  the  dew,  and  for  the  deep  that 
coucheth  beneath ; 

1 4  And  for  the  precious  fruits  brought  forth 
by  the  sun,  and  for  the  precious  things  e  put 
forth  by  the  f  moon, 

1 5  And  for  the  chief  things  of  &  the  ancient 

c  Gen.  xlix.  25. - d  Gen.  xxvii.  28. - e  Heb.  thrust  forth. 

fHeb.  moons. - gGen.  xlix.  26. - hHab.  iii.  6. - ‘  Exod.  iii. 

2,  4 ;  Acts  vii.  30,  35. 

hand ,  even  the  hand  of  the  Lord  shall  dwell  for  safety 
or  protection ,  alaiv ,  upon  him.  This  makes  a  good 
sense,  and  the  reader  may  choose. 

Verse  13.  Blessed — be  his  land ]  The  whole  of 
this  passage  certainly  relates  to  the  peculiar  fertility 
of  the  soil  in  the  portion  that  fell  to  this  tribe  which, 
the  Jews  say,  yielded  a  greater  abundance  of  all  good 
things  than  any  other  part  of  the  promised  land. 

The  precious  things  of  heaven ]  The  peculiar  mild¬ 
ness  and  salubrity  of  its  atmosphere. 

For  the  dew ]  A  plentiful  supply  of  which  was  a 
great  blessing  in  the  dry  soil  of  a  hot  climate. 

The  deep  that  coucheth  beneath ]  Probably  referring 
to  the  plentiful  supply  of  water  which  should  be  found 
in  digging  wells  :  hence  the  Septuagint  have  a/3u do'wv 
‘T'^ywv,  fountains  of  the  deeps.  Some  suppose  there 
has  been  a  slight  change  made  in  the  word  mit- 
tal,  for  the  dew ,  which  was  probably  at  first  SpQ  meal , 
from  above,  and  then  the  passage  would  read  thus  : 
For  the  precious  things  of  heaven  from  above,  and 
for  the  deep  that  coucheth  beneath.  This  reading  is 
confirmed  by  several  of  Kennicott’s  and  De  Rossi’s 
MSS.  The  Syriac  and  Chaldee  have  both  readings  : 
The  dew  of  heaven  from  above. 

Verse  14.  The  precious  fruits  brought  forth  by  the 
sun ]  All  excellent  and  important  productions  of  the 
earth,  which  come  to  perfection  once  in  the  year.  So 
the  precious  things  put  forth  by  the  moon  may  imply 
those  vegetables  which  require  but  about  a  month  to 
bring  them  to  perfection,  or  vegetables  of  which  several 
crops  may  be  had  in  the  course  of  a  year. 

Verse  15.  The  chief  things  of  the  ancient  moun¬ 
tains]  Dip  nin  umerosh  harerey  kedem ,  and 

from  the  head  or  top  of  the  ancient  or  eastern  moun¬ 
tains,  the  precious  things  or  productions  being  still 
understood.  And  this  probably  refers  to  the  large  trees , 
&c.,  growing  on  the  mountain  tops,  and  the  springs  of 
water  issuing  from  them.  The  mountains  of  Gilead 
may  be  here  intended,  as  they  fell  to  the  half  tribe  of 
Manasseh.  And  the  precious  things  of  the  lasting 
hills  may  signify  the  metals  and  minerals  which  might 
be  digged  out  of  them. 

Verse  16.  The  good  ivill  of  him  that  dwelt  in  the 
bush]  The  favour  of  him  who  appeared  in  the  burning 
bush  on  Mount  Sinai,  who  there,  in  his  good  ivill — 
mere  love  and  compassion,  took  Israel  to  be  his  people ; 

834 


mountains,  and  for  the  precious  ^  Jf-  ^53. 
things  h  of  the  lasting  hills,  An.  ExTsr.  40. 

16  And  for  the  precious  things  - 1 - 

of  the  earth  and  fulness  thereof ;  and  for  the 
good  will  of  j  him  that  dwelt  in  the  bush  :  let 
the  blessing  k  come  upon  the  head  of  Joseph, 
and  upon  the  top  of  the  head  of  him  that  was 
separated  from  his  brethren. 

17  His  glory  is  like  the  1  firstling  of  his  bul¬ 
lock,  and  his  horns  are  like  m  the  horns  of 
n  unicorns  :  with  them  0  he  shall  push  the 
people  together  to  the  ends  of  the  earth  :  and 

k  Genesis  xlix.  26. - 1  1  Chron.  v.  1. - «  Num.  xxiii. 

22;  Psa.  xcii  10. - n  Heb.  a  unicorn. - 0  1  Kings  xxii.  11  ; 

Psa.  xliv.  5. 

and  who  has  preserved  and  will  preserve,  in  tribulation 
and  distress,  all  those  who  trust  in  him,  so  that  they 
shall  as  surely  escape  unhurt,  as  the  bush,  though  en¬ 
veloped  with  fire,  was  unburnt. 

The  top  of  the  head,  <fc.]  The  same  words  are  used 
by  Jacob  in  blessing  this  tribe,  Gen.  xlix.  26.  The 
meaning  appears  to  be  that  God  should  distinguish  this 
tribe  in  a  particular  way,  as  Joseph  himself  was  sepa¬ 
rated,  TT2  nazir,  a  Nazarite,  a  consecrated  prince  to 
God,  from  among  and  in  preference  to  all  his  brethren. 
See  the  notes  on  Gen.  xlix.  25,  &c. 

Verse  17.  His  glory  is  like  the  firstling  of  his  bul¬ 
lock]  This  similitude  is  very  obscure.  A  bullock  was 
the  most  excellent  of  animals  among  the  Jews,  not  only 
because  of  its  acceptableness  in  sacrifice  to  God,  but 
because  of  its  great  usefulness  in  agriculture.  There 
is  something  peculiarly  noble  and  dignified  in  the  ap¬ 
pearance  of  the  ox,  and  his  greatest  ornament  are  his 
fine  horns ;  these  the  inspired  penman  has  particularly 
in  view,  as  the  following  clause  proves  ;  and  it  is  well 
known  that  in  Scriptural  language  horns  are  the  em¬ 
blem  of  strength,  glory ,  and  sovereignty ;  Psa.  lxxv.  5, 
10;  Ixxxix.  17,  24  ;  cxii.  9  ;  Dan.  viii.  3,  &c.  ;  Luke 
i.  69  ;  Rev.  xvii.  3,  &c. 

His  horns  are  like  the  horns  of  unicorns]  reem, 
which  we  translate  unicorn,  from  the  j xovoxcgug  mono¬ 
keros  of  the  Septuagint,  signifies,  according  to  Bochart, 
the  mountain  goat ;  and  according  to  others,  the  rhi¬ 
noceros,  a  very  large  quadruped  with  one  great  horn 
on  his  nose,  from  which  circumstance  his  name  is  de¬ 
rived.  See  the  notes  on  Num.  xxiii.  22  ;  xxiv.  8. 
Reem  is  in  the  singular  number,  and  because  the 
horns  of  a  unicorn,  a  one-horned  animal,  would  have 
appeared  absurd,  our  translators,  with  an  unfaithful¬ 
ness  not  common  to  them,  put  the  word  in  the  plural 
number. 

To  the  ends  of  the  earthf  Of  the  land  of  Canaan,  for 
Joshua  with  his  armies  conquered  all  this  land,  and 
drove  the  ancient  inhabitants  out  before  him. 

They  are  the  ten  thousands  of  Ephraim,  dfC.]  That 
is,  The  horns  signify  the  ten  thousands  of  Ephraim, 
and  the  thousands  of  Manasseh.  Jacob  prophesied, 
Gen.  xlviii.  19,  that  the  younger  should  be  greater 
than  the  elder;  so  here  tens  of  thousands  are  given 
to  Ephraim,  and  only  thousands  to  Manasseh.  See 
the  census.  Num.  i.  33—35. 

(  54*  ) 


The  blessings  of  Zebulun,  CHAP.  XXXIII.  Gael,  Dan,  and  Naphtali. 


B  o’  H5i*  p  they  we  the  ten  thousands  of 
An.  Ex.  Isr.  40.  Ephraim,  and  they  are  the  thou- 
- -  sands  of  Manasseh. 

18  And  of  Zebulun  he  said,  *  Rejoice,  Ze¬ 
bulun,  in  thy  going  out ;  and,  Issachar,  in  thy 
tents. 

1 9  They  shall  r  call  the  people  unto  the 
mountain ;  there  s  they  shall  offer  sacrifices 
of  righteousness  :  for  they  shall  suck  of  the 
abundance  of  the  seas,  and  of  treasures  hid  in 
the  sand. 

20  And  of  Gad  he  said,  Blessed  be  he  that 


*  enlargeth  Gad  :  he  dwellcth  as  Jf.  2553. 
a  lion,  and  teareth  the  arm  with  An.  Ex.  Isr.  40. 
the  crown  of  the  head.  _ _ 

21  And  u  he  provided  the  first  part  for  him¬ 
self,  because  there,  in  a  portion  of  the  law¬ 
giver,  wo.s  he  v  seated  ;  and  w  he  came  with 
the  heads  of  the  people,  he  executed  the 
justice  of  the  Lord,  and  his  judgments  with 
Israel. 

22  And  of  Dan  he  said,  Dan  is  a  lion’s 
whelp  :  x  he  shall  leap  from  Bashan. 

23  And  of  Naphtali  he  said,  0  Naphtali, 


pGen.  xlviii.  19. - nGen.  xlix.  13, 14, 15. - rIsa.  ii.  3. — -sPsa, 

iv.  5. - 1  See  Josh.  xiii.  10,  &c. ;  1  Chron.  xii.  8,  &c. 

Verse  18.  Rejoice,  Zebulun ,  in  thy  going  out ]  That 
is,  Thou  shalt  be  very  prosperous  in  thy  coasting  voy¬ 
ages  ;  for  this  tribe’s  situation  was  favourable  for  traf¬ 
fic,  having  many  sea-ports.  See  Gen.  xlix.  13. 

And ,  Issachar ,  in  thy  tents.]  That  is,  as  Zebulun 
should  be  prosperous  in  his  shipping  and  traffic,  so 
should  Issachar  be  in  his  tents — his  agriculture  and 
pasturage. 

Verse  19.  They  shall  call  the  people  unto  the  moun¬ 
tain ]  By  their  traffic  with  the  Gentiles  (for  so  I  think 
D'Dp  ammim  should  be  understood  here)  they  shall  be 
the  instruments  in  God’s  hands  of  converting  many  to 
the  true  faith ;  so  that  instead  of  sacrificing  to  idols, 
they  should  offer  sacrifices  of  righteousness. 

They  shall  suck  of  the  abundance  of  the  seas ]  That 
is,  grow  wealthy  by  merchandise. 

And  of  treasures  hid  in  the  sand.]  Jonathan  ben 
Uzziel  has  probably  hit  upon  the  true  meaning  of  this 
difficult  passage  :  “  From  the  sand,”  says  he,  “  are 
produced  looking-glasses  and  glass  in  general ;  the 
treasures — the  method  of  finding  and  working  this, 
was  revealed  to  these  tribes.”  Several  ancient  writers 
inform  us  that  there  were  havens  in  the  coasts  of  the 
Zebulunites  in  which  the  vitreous  sand,  or  sand  proper 
for  making  glass,  was  found.  See  Strabo,  lib.  xvi.  ; 
see  also  Pliny,  Hist.  Nat.  1.  xxxvi.,  c.  26  ;  Tacitus, 
Hist.  1.  v.,  c.  7.  The  words  of  Tacitus  are  remark¬ 
able:  Et  Belus  amnis  Judaico  mari  illabitur  ;  circa 
ejus  os  lectae  arenae  admixto  nitro  in  vitrum  exco- 
quuntur.  “The  river  Belus  falls  into  the  Jewish  sea, 
about  whose  mouth  those  sands,  mixed  with  nitre,  are 
collected,  out  of  which  glass  is  formed,”  or  which  is 
melted  into  glass.  Some  think  that  the  celebrated 
shell-fish  called  murex,  out  of  which  the  precious  pur¬ 
ple  dye  was  extracted,  is  here  intended  by  the  treasure 
hid  in  the  sand:  this  also  Jonathan  introduces  in  this 
verse.  And  others  think  that  it  is  a  general  term  for 
the  advantages  derived  from  navigation  and  commerce. 

Verse  20.  Blessed  be  he  that  enlargeth  Gad]  As 
deliverance  out  of  distress  is  termed  enlarging,  (see 
Psa.  iv.  1,)  this  may  refer  to  God’s  deliverance  of  the 
tribe  of  Gad  out  of  that  distress  mentioned  Gen.  xlix. 
19,  and  to  the  enlargement  obtained  through  means  of 
Jephthah,  Judg.  xi.  33,  and  probably  also  to  the  vic¬ 
tories  obtained  by  Gad  and  Reuben  over  the  Hagar- 
ites,  1  Chron.  v.  18-20. 


u  Numbers  xxxii.  16,  17. - v  Heb.  ceiled. - w  Josh.  iv.  12, 

x  Josh.  xix.  47 ;  Judg.  xviii.  27. 

He  dwelleth  as  a  lion]  Probably  the  epithet  of  lion 
or  lion-like  was  applied  to  this  tribe  from  their  fierce 
and  warlike  disposition.  And  on  this  supposition,  1 
Chron.  xii.  8  will  appear  to  be  a  sufficient  comment : 
And  of  the  Gadites  there  icere — men  of  might,  men 
of  war  for  the  battle,  that  could  handle  shield  and 
buckler,  whose  faces  were  like  the  faces  of  lions, 
and  were  as  sivift  as  the  roes  upon  the  mountains. 
Tearing  the  arm  or  shoulder  with  the  crown  of  the 
head  seems  simply  to  mean  that  no  force  should  be 
able  to  prevail  over  them,  or  stand  against  them  ;  as 
the  arm  or  shoulder  signifies  dominion,  and  the  crown 
of  the  head ,  sovereign  princes. 

Verse  21.  He  provided  the  first  part]  That  is,  he 
chose  for  himself  a  very  excellent  portion,  viz.,  the 
land  of  Sihon  and  Og,  in  which  this  tribe  had  requested 
to  be  settled  by  the  lawgiver,  viz.,  Moses,  from  whom 
they  requested  this  portion,  Num.  xxxii.  1—5. 

He  came  with  the  heads  of  the  people]  Notwith¬ 
standing  this  portion  fell  unto  them  on  the  east  side  of 
Jordan,  yet  they  proceeded  with  the  heads  of  the  peo¬ 
ple,  the  chiefs  of  the  other  tribes. 

To  execute  the  justice  of  the  Lord]  To  extirpate 
the  old  inhabitants  of  the  country,  according  to  the 
decree  and  purpose  of  the  Lord.  See  on  Num.  xxxii. 

Verse  22.  Ban  is  a  lion's  whelp:  he  shall  leap 
from  Bashan.]  The  Jewish  interpreters  observe  that 
Bashan  was  a  place  much  frequented  by  lions,  who 
issued  thence  into  all  parts  to  look  for  prey.  By  this 
probably  Moses  intended  to  point  out  the  strength  and 
prowess  of  this  tribe,  that  it  should  extend  its  territo¬ 
ries,  and  live  a  sort  of  predatory  life.  It  appears  from 
Josh.  xix.  47,  that  the  portion  originally  assigned  to 
this  tribe  was  not  sufficient  for  them ;  hence  we  find 
them  going  out  to  war  against  Leshem  and  taking  it, 
adding  it  to  their  territories,  and  calling  it  by  the  name 
of  the  tribe.  Jacob,  in  his  prophetic  blessing  ol  this 
tribe,  represents  it  under  the  notion  of  a  serpent  in  the 
path,  Gen.  xlix.  17.  The  character  there,  and  that 
given  here,  constitute  the  complete  warrior — strata¬ 
gem  and  courage.  See  the  note  on  Gen.  xlix.  17. 

Verse  23.  O  Naphtali,  satisfied  with  favour] 
Though  this  may  refer  to  the  very  great  fertility  of 
the  country  that  fell  to  this  tribe,  yet  certainly  some¬ 
thing  more  is  intended.  Scarcely  any  of  the  tribes 
was  more  particularly  favoured  by  the  wondrous  mercy 

835 


The  blessing 


DEUTERONOMY. 


b  c  1451  7  satisfie(^  with  favour,  and  full 

An.  Ex.  isr.  40.  with  the  blessing  of  the  Lord  ! 

— - - 1 -  z  possess  thou  the  west  and 

the  south. 

24  And  of  Asher  he  said,  a  Let  Asher  be 
blessed  with  children ;  let  him  be  acceptable 

r  Gen.  xlix.  21. - a  See  Josh.  xix.  32,  &c. - a  Gen.  xlix.  20. 

b  See  Job  xxix.  6. 

and  kindness  of  God,  than  this  and  the  tribe  of  Zebu- 
lun.  The  light  of  the  glorious  Gospel  of  Christ  shone 
brightly  here,  Matt.  iv.  13,  15,  16.  Christ’s  chief 
residence  was  at  Capernaum  in  this  tribe,  Matt.  ix.  1 ; 
Mark  ii.  1  ;  and  this  city,  through  Christ’s  constant 
residence,  and  the  mighty  miracles  he  wrought  in  it, 
is  represented  as  being  exalted  unto  heaven ,  Matt.  xi. 
23.  And  it  is  generally  allowed  that  the  apostles  were 
principally  of  the  tribe  of  Naphtali,  who  were  to  pos¬ 
sess  the  west  and  the  south — to  dispense  the  Gospel 
through  all  the  other  tribes.  The  word  D’  yam ,  which 
wre  here  translate  ivest ,  literally  signifies  the  sea ,  and 
probably  refers  to  the  sea  of  Gennesareth,  wrhich  was 
in  this  tribe. 

Yerse  24.  Let  Asher  be  blessed  with  children ]  Let 
him  have  a  numerous  posterity,  continually  increasing. 

Let  him  be  acceptable  to  his  brethren ]  May  he  be 

in  perfect  union  and  harmony  with  the  other  tribes. 

Let  him  dip  his  foot  in  oil.]  Let  him  have  a  fertile 
soil,  and  an  abundance  of  all  the  conveniences  and 
comforts  of  life. 

Yerse  25.  Thy  shoes  shall  be  iron  and  brass]  Some 
suppose  this  may  refer  to  the  iron  and  copper  mines 
in  their  territory ;  but  it  is  more  likely  that  it  relates 
to  their  warlike  disposition,  as  we  know  that  greaves , 
boots ,  shoes ,  &c.,  of  iron ,  brass ,  and  tin ,  were  used  by 
ancient  warriors.  Goliath  had  greaves  of  brass  on  his 
legs,  1  Sam.  xvii.  6  ;  and  the  brazen-booted  Greeks , 
XuXxoxvrjiAiSsg  Ayam,  is  one  of  the  epithets  given  by 
Homer  to  his  heroes ;  see  Iliad,  lib.  viii.,  ver.  41. 

And  as  thy  days ,  so  shall  thy  strength  be.]  If  wre 
take  this  clause  as  it  appears  here,  we  have  at  once 
an  easy  sense ;  and  the  saying,  I  have  no  doubt,  has 
comforted  the  souls  of  multitudes.  The  meaning  is 
obvious  :  “  Whatever  thy  trials  or  difficulties  may  be, 
I  shall  always  give  thee  grace  to  support  thee  under 
and  bring  thee  through  them.”  The  original  is  only 
two  words ,  the  latter  of  which  has  been  translated  in 
a  great  variety  of  ways,  -jKin  ucheyamsycha 

dobecha.  Of  the  first  term  there  can  be  do  doubt,  it 
literally  means,  and  as  thy  days ;  the  second  word, 
SOT  dobe,  occurs  nowhere  else  in  the  Hebrew  Bible  : 
the  Sepiuagint  have  rendered  it  by  Kf/vg,  strength , 
and  most  of  the  versions  have  followed  them ;  but 
others  have  rendered  it  affliction ,  old  age ,  fame ,  weak¬ 
ness ,  &c.,  &c.  It  would  be  almost  endless  to  follow 
interpreters  through  their  conjectures  concerning  its 
meaning.  It  is  allowed  among  learned  men,  that 
where  a  word  occurs  not  as  a  verb  in  the  Hebrew 
Bible,  its  root  may  be  legitimately  sought  in  the  Ara¬ 
bic.  He  who  controverts  this  position  knows  little 
of  the  ground  on  which  he  stands.  In  this  language 
the  root  is  found ;  daba  signifies  he  rested ,  -was 

quiet.  This  gives  a  very  good  sense,  and  a  very  ap- 

836 


of  Asher. 

to  Ins  brethren,  and  let  him  h  dip  2553. 

his  foot  in  oil.  An.  Ex.  Isr.  40 

25  c  Thy  shoes  shall  be  d  iron  - ^ 

and  brass ;  and  as  thy  days,  so  shall  thy 
strength  be. 

26  There  is  e  none  like  unto  the  God  of 

c  Or,  under  thy  shoes  shall  be  iron. - d  Chap.  viii.  9. - e  Exod 

xv.  11 ;  Psa.  lxxxvi.  8;  Jer.  x.  6. 

propriate  one ;  for  as  the  borders  of  this  tribe  lay  on 
the  vicinity  of  the  Phoenicians,  it  was  naturally  to  be 
expected  that  they  should  be  constantly  exposed  to 
irruptions ,  pillage,  &c.  ;  but  God,  to  give  them  confi¬ 
dence  in  his  protection,  says,  According  to  thy  days — • 
all  circumstances  and  vicissitudes,  so  shall  thy  rest 
be — while  faithful  to  thy  God  no  evil  shall  touch  thee  ; 
thy  days  shall  increase,  and  thy  quiet  be  lengthened 
out.  This  is  an  unfailing  promise  of  God  :  “  I  will 
keep  him  in  perfect  peace  whose  mind  is  stayed  upon 
me,  because  he  trusteth  in  me  therefore  “  trust  ye 
in  the  Lord  for  ever,  for  in  the  Lord  Jehovah  is  ever¬ 
lasting  strength Isa.  xxvi.  4.  Some  derive  it  from 
dabi,  he  abounded  in  riches ;  the  interpretation 
then  would  be,  As  thy  days  increase,  so  shall  thy 
riches.  This  makes  a  very  good  sense  also.  See 
Rosenmuller. 

Moses,  having  now  finished  what  God  gave  him  to 
predict  concerning  the  twelve  tribes,  and  wrhat  he  was 
led  in  the  fulness  of  his  heart  to  pray  for  in  their  be¬ 
half,  addresses  all  the  tribes  collectively  under  the 
names  Jeshurun  and  Israel ;  and  in  an  ode  of  asto¬ 
nishing  energy  and  elegance  describes  this  wondrous 
people,  and  their  still  more  wonderful  privileges.  The. 
reader  will  observe  that,  though  the  latter  part  of  this 
chapter  appears  in  the  form  of  prose  in  our  Bibles,  yet 
it  is  written  in  hemistichs  or  short  metrical  lines  in  the 
original,  which  is  the  form  in  which  all  the  Hebrew 
poetry  is  written ;  and  as  in  other  cases,  so  in  this,  it 
would  contribute  much  to  the  easy  understanding  of  the 
author’s  meaning,  were  the  translation  produced  in 
lines  corresponding  to  those  of  the  original. 

Yerse  26.  There  is  none  like  unto  the  God  of  Je¬ 
shurun]  We  have  already  seen  the  literal  meaning 
of  Jeshurun,  chap,  xxxii.  15;  but  besides  its  literal 
meaning,  it  seems  to  be  used  as  an  expression  of  par¬ 
ticular  affection :  hence  Calmet  understands  it  as  a 
diminutive  of  the  word  Israel.  We  know  that  rexvoi, 
sons,  in  the  mouth  of  St.  John,  signifies  much  less  than 
rsxvux,  which,  properly  translated,  would  be  beloved 
children,  a  term  which  at  once  shows  the  helplessness 
of  the  offspring,  and  the  tender  affection  of  the  parent. 
So  Jeshurun  may  be  understood  here  :  and  hence  the 
Septuagint  seem  to  have  apprehended  the  full  force  of 
the  word  by  translating  it  tou  pyarfvjixevov,  the  beloved 
one,  the  object  of  God’s  especial  delight. 

Israel’s  God,  and  God’s  Israel,  have  no  fellows. 
What  were  all  the  gods  of  the  nations,  even  supposing 
they  were  real  beings,  in  comparison  of  the  Almighty  1 
And  what  nation  under  heaven  could  be  compared  to 
the  Israel  of  God  1  It  was,  however,  from  God’s  ex¬ 
cellence  that  they  derived  theirs. 

Rideth  upon  the  heaven,  fyc.]  Unites  heaven  and 
earth  in  thy  defence  and  support,  and  comes  with  irre- 


CHAP.  XXXIV. 


The  security  and 


happiness  of  Israel. 


f  Jeshurun,  &  who  rideth  upon  the 


A.  M.  2553. 

•  B.  C.  1451. 

An.  Ex.  isr.  40.  heaven  in  thy  help,  and  in  his  ex- 
_ _ _1 _  cellency  on  the  sky. 

27  The  eternal  God  is  thy  h  refuge,  and  un¬ 
derneath  are  the  everlasting  arms  :  and  1  he 
shall  thrust  out  the  enemy  from  before  thee  ; 
and  shall  say,  Destroy  them ! 

28  k  Israel  then  shall  dwell  in  safety 
alone:  1  the  fountain  of  Jacob  shall  he  upon 


a  land  of  corn  and  wine  ;  also  J?-  ^3. 

ij.  U.  1451. 

his  m  heavens  shall  drop  down  An.  Ex.  isr.  40. 

,  Adar. 

dew.  _ _ 

29  n  Happy  art  thou,  O  Israel !  0  who  is  like 
unto  thee,  0  people  saved  by  the  Lord,  pthe 
shield  of  thy  help,  and  who  is  the  sword  of 
thy  excellency  !  and  thine  enemies  *  shall  rbe 
found  liars  unto  thee  ;  and  s  thou  shalt  tread 
upon  their  high  places. 


f  Chap,  xxxii.  15. - g  Psa.  lxviii.  4,  33,  34 ;  civ.  3  ;  Hab.  iii.  8. 

hPsa.  xc.  1. - ‘Chap.  ix.  3,  4,  5. - kNum. xxiii.  9;  Jer.  xxiii. 

6 ;  xxxiii.  16. - 1  Chap.  viii.  7,  8. 

sistible  velocity  to  succour  and  defend  thee,  and  to 
discomfit  thine  adversaries. 

Verse  27.  The  eternal  God\  DHp  ’nSt*  elohey  kedem, 
the  former  God  ;  He  who  was  of  old.  Not  like  the 
gods  which  were  lately  come  up.  He  who  ever  was 
and  ever  will  be ;  and  He  who  was ,  is,  and  will  be 
unchangeably  holy,  wise,  just,  and  merciful.  See  the 
note  on  Gen.  xxi.  33. 

Everlasting  arms ]  As  the  arm  is  the  emblem  of 
power ,  and  of  power  in  a  state  of  exertion,  the  words 
here  state  that  an  unlimited  and  unconquerable  power 
shall  be  eternally  exerted  in  the  defence  of  God’s 
Church,  and  in  the  behalf  of  all  those  who  trust  in 
Him. 

Thrust  out  the  enemy ]  He  will  expel  all  the  ancient 
inhabitants,  and  put  thee  in  possession  of  their  land. 

Verse  28.  Israel  then  shall  dwell — alone ]  This 
people  shall  not  be  incorporated  with  any  other  people 
under  heaven.  A  prophecy  which  continues  to  be 
fulfilled  to  the  very  letter.  Every  attempt  to  unite 
them  with  any  other  people  has  proved  absolutely 
ineffectual. 

The  fountain  of  Jacob ]  His  offspring,  shall  possess 
a  most  fertile  land ;  such  was  Palestine. 

Verse  29.  Happy  art  thou,  <f-c.]  'HBW  ashrey.  0 
the  happiness  of  Israel !  it  is  ineffable,  inconceivable, 
because  they  are  a  people  saved  by  the  Lord — have 
such  a  salvation  as  it  becomes  the  infinite  perfections 
of  God  to  bestow ;  he  is  their  help — their  never-fail¬ 
ing  strength,  and  the  shield  of  that  help — he  defends 
their  defence,  saves  them  and  preserves  them  in  the 
state  of  salvation. 

Sword  of  thy  excellency ]  Or  whose  sword — his  all- 
conquering  word,  is  thine  excellency,  in  its  promises, 
threatenings,  precepts,  &c.,  &c.  St.  Paul,  in  his  ex¬ 
hortation  to  the  Christians  at  Ephesus,  uses  the  same 


mGen.  xxviii.  28 ;  chap.  xi.  11. - n  Psa.  cxliv.  15. - °2  Sam. 

.vii.  23. - P  Psa.  cxv.  9,  10. - q2  Sam.  xxii.  45  ;  Psa.  xviii.  45  ; 

lxvi.  3  ;  lxxxi.  15. - rOr,  shall  he  subdued. - 3  Chap,  xxxii.  13. 

metaphor,  Take  unto  you  the  sword  of  the  Spirit, 
which  is  the  word  of  God. 

Thine  enemies  shall  be  found  liars ]  Who  said  thou 
shouldst  never  be  able  to  gain  the  possession  of  this 
good  land  ;  for  thou  shalt  tread  on — subdue,  their  high 
places — even  their  best  fortified  cities. 

The  blessings  contained  in  this  chapter  belong  also 
to  the  spiritual  Israel  of  God,  who,  according  to  the 
Divine  promise,  shall  have  a  complete  victory  over  all 
their  spiritual  foes,  shall  have  all  their  inward  enemies, 
the  whole  of  the  carnal  mind,  destroyed,  (for  the  blood 
of  Jesus  Christ,  applied  by  the  energy  of  the  eternal 
Spirit,  shall  not  only  blot  out  all  their  sin,  but  purify 
their  hearts  from  all  unrighteousness  ;)  and  thus,  being 
delivered  from  their  enemies,  they  shall  love  God  with 
all  their  heart,  and  serve  him  in  righteousness  and  true 
holiness,  without  fear  before  him  all  the  days  of  their 
life.  There  are  many  circumstances  and  expressions 
in  this  ode  similar  to  several  in  the  prophetical  bless¬ 
ing  pronounced  by  Jacob  on  his  twelve  sons,  Gen. 
xlix.,  for  the  subject  is  the  same  in  both  chapters; 
the  reader  is  therefore  requested  to  compare  the  two 
places,  and  to  consider  the  notes  on  each,  as  they  have 
some  tendency  to  cast  light  on  each  other.  Both 
these  chapters  constitute  a  part  of  those  Scriptures 
which,  according  to  St.  Paul,  Rom.  xv.  4,  were  writ¬ 
ten  for  our  learning ;  and,  as  to  instruct  the  reader 
and  make  him  wise  unto  salvation  was  the  gracious 
design  of  God,  we  should  particularly  beg  of  him 
“  that  we  may  in  such  wise  hear  them,  read,  mark, 
learn,  and  imvardly  digest  them,  that,  by  patience  and 
comfort  of  his  holy  word,  we  may  embrace  and  ever 
hold  fast  the  blessed  hope  of  everlasting  life  which  he 
has  given  us  in  our  Saviour  Jesus  Christ  ” — Collect 
for  the  second  Sunday  in  Advent. 


I  _ : - 

I 

CHAPTER  XXXIV. 

Moses  goes  up  Mount  Nebo  to  the  top  of  Pisgah,  and  God  shoivs  him  the  whole  extent  of  the  land  which  he 
promised  to  give  to  the  descendants  of  Abraham,  1—4.  There  Moses  died,  and  was  so  privately  buried 
by  the  Lord  that  his  sepulchre  was  never  discovered,  5,  6.  His  age  and  strength  of  constitution ,  7. 
The  people  weep  for  him  thirty  days,  8.  Joshua  being  filled  with  the  spirit  of  wisdom,  the  Israelites 
hearken  to  him,  as  the  Lord  commanded  them,  9.  The  character  of  Moses  as  a  prophet,  and  as  a  worker 
of  the  most  extraordinary  miracles,  both  in  the  sight  of  the  Egyptians,  and  the  people  of  Israel :  conclu¬ 
sion  of  the  Pentateuch ,  10—12. 


837 


Moses  ascends  the  mount ,  DEUTERONOMY.  dies ,  and  is  hurled. 


b'  c  iff?*  Moses  went  up  from  the 

An.  Ex.  isr.  40.  plains  of  Moab  a  unto  the 

.Adcir  • 

- - ' - -  mountain  of  Nebo,  to  the  top  of 

b  Pisgah,  that  is  over  against  Jericho.  And 
the  Lord  c  showed  him  all  the  land  of  Gilead, 
d  unto  Dan, 

2  And  all  Naphtali,  and  the  land  of  Ephraim, 
and  Manasseh,  and  all  the  land  of  Judah, 
e  unto  the  utmost  sea, 

3  And  the  south,  and  the  plain  of  the  valley 
of  Jericho,  f  the  city  of  palm-trees,  unto  Zoar. 

4  And  the  Lord  said  unto  him,  &  This  is  the 
land  which  I  sware  unto  Abraham,  unto  Isaac, 
and  unto  Jacob,  saying,  I  will  give  it  unto  thy 
seed :  h  I  have  caused  thee  to  see  it  with  thine 
eyes,  but  thou  shalt  not  go  over  thither. 

5  1  So  Moses  the  servant  of  the  Lord  died 


aNum.  xxvii.  12;  xxxiii.  47;  chap,  xxxii.  49. - bOr,  the  hill. 

c  Chap.  iii.  27 ;  2  Mac.  ii.  4. - d  Gen.  xiv.  14. - e  Chap.  xi.  24. 

fjudg.  i.  16;  iii.  13;  2  Chron.  xxviii.  15. - s  Gen.  xii.  7; 

xiii.  15  ;  xv.  18 ;  xxvi.  3  ;  xxviii.  13. - h  Chap.  iii.  27 ; 

xxxii.  52. 

NOTES  ON  CHAP.  XXXIY. 

Verse  1.  And  Moses  went  up]  This  chapter  could 
not  have  been  written  by  Moses.  A  man  certainly 
cannot  give  an  account  of  his  own  death  and  burial. 
We  may  therefore  consider  Moses’s  words  as  ending 
with  the  conclusion  of  the  preceding  ^chapter,  as  what 
follows  could  not  possibly  have  been  written  by  him¬ 
self.  To  suppose  that  he  anticipated  these  circum¬ 
stances,  or  that  they  were  shown  to  him  by  an  espe¬ 
cial  revelation,  is  departing  far  from  propriety  and 
necessity,  and  involving  the  subject  in  absurdity ;  for 
God  gives  no  prophetic  intimations  but  such  as  are 
absolutely  necessary  to  be  made ;  but  there  is  no  ne¬ 
cessity  here,  for  the  Spirit  which  inspired  the  writer 
of  the  following  book,  would  naturally  communicate 
the  matter  that  concludes  this.  I  believe,  therefore, 
that  Deut.  xxxiv.  should  constitute  the  first  chapter 
of  the  book  of  Joshua. 

On  this  subject  the  following  note  from  an  intelli¬ 
gent  Jew  cannot  be  unacceptable  to  the  reader : — 

“  Most  commentators  are  of  opinion  that  Ezra  was 
the  author  of  the  last  chapter  of  Deuteronomy  ;  some 
think  it  was  Joshua ,  and  others  the  seventy  elders, 
immediately  after  the  death  of  Moses ;  adding,  that 
the  book  of  Deuteronomy  originally  ended  with  the 
prophetic  blessing  upon  the  twelve  tribes  :  ‘  Happy 
art  thou,  0  Israel !  who  is  like  unto  thee,  0  people 
saved  by  the  Lord,’  &c.  ;  and  that  what  now  makes 
the  last  chapter  of  Deuteronomy  was  formerly  the  first 
of  Joshua ,  but  was  removed  from  thence  and  joined  to 
the  former  by  way  of  supplement.  This  opinion  will 
not  appear  unnatural  if  it  be  considered  that  sections 
and  other  divisions ,  as  well  as  points  and  pauses ,  were 
invented  long  since  these  books  were  written ;  for  in 
those  early  ages  several  books  were  connected  to¬ 
gether,  and  followed  each  other  on  the  same  roll. 
The  beginning  of  one  book  might  therefore  be  easily 

838 


there  in  the  land  of  Moab,  JJ.  2553. 

7  B.  U.  1451.  * 

according  to  the  word  of  the  An.  Ex.  isr.  40 

T  Adar. 

Lord.  - - 

6  And  he  buried  him  in  a  valley  in  the 
land  of  Moab,  over  against  Beth-peor :  but  k  no 
man  knoweth  of  his  sepulchre  unto  this  day. 

7  }And  Moses  was  a  hundred  and  twenty 
years  old  when  he  died  :  m  his  eye  was  not 
dim,  nor  his  11  natural  force  0  abated. 

8  And  the  children  of  Israel  wept  for  Moses 
in  the  plains  of  Moab  p  thirty  days :  so  the  days 
of  weeping  and  mourning  for  Moses  were  ended. 

9  And  Joshua  the  son  of  Nun  was  full  of 
the  q  spirit  of  wisdom  ;  for  r  Moses  had  laid 
his  hands  upon  him:  and  the  children  of  Is¬ 
rael  hearkened  unto  him,  and  did  as  the  Lord 
commanded  Moses. 


>  Chap,  xxxii.  50;  Josh.  i.  1,  2. - k  See  Jude  9. - 1  Chap. 

xxxi.  2. - m  See  Gen.  xxvii.  1;  xli.  10;  Joshua  xiv.  10,  11. 

11  Heb.  moisture. - °  Heb.  fled. - P  See  Gen.  1.  3,  10;  Nura 

xx.  29 ;  Ecclus.  xxxviii.  16,  17. - a  Isa.  xi.  2 ;  Dan.  vi.  3. 

r  Num.  xxvii.  18,  23. 


transferred  to  the  end  of  another,  and  in  process  of 
time  be  considered  as  its  real  conclusion,  as  in  the 
case  of  Deuteronomy,  especially  as  this  supplemental 
chapter  contains  an  account  of  the  last  transactions 
and  death  of  the  great  author  of  the  Pentateuch.” — > 
Alexander’s  Heb.  and  Eng.  Pentateuch. 

This  seems  to  be  a  perfectly  correct  view  of  the 
subject.  This  chapter  forms  a  very  proper  commence¬ 
ment  to  the  book  of  Joshua,  for  of  this  last  chapter  of 
Deuteronomy  the  first  chapter  of  Joshua  is  an  evident 
continuation.  If  the  subject  be  viewed  in  this  light  it 
will  remove  every  appearance  of  absurdity  and  con¬ 
tradiction  with  which,  on  the  common  mode  of  inter¬ 
pretation,  it  stands  sadly  encumbered. 

Verse  5.  So  Moses — died — according  to  the  word 
of  the  Lord.]  niTT  ’2  Sj?  al  pi  Yehovah,  at  the  mouth 
of  Jehovah;  i.  e.,  by  the  especial  command  and  au¬ 
thority  of  the  Lord ;  but  it  is  possible  that  what  is 
here  said  refers  only  to  the  sentence  of  his  exclusion 
from  the  promised  land,  when  he  offended  at  the  waters 
of  Meribah. 

Verse  6.  He  buried  him]  It  is  probable  that  the 
reason  why  Moses  was  buried  thus  privately  was,  lest 
the  Israelites,  prone  to  idolatry,  should  pay  him  Divine 
honours  ;  and  God  would  not  have  the  body  of  his 
faithful  servant  abused  in  this  way.  Almost  all  the 
gods  of  antiquity  were  deified  men ,  great  lawgivers , 
eminent  statesmen,  or  victorious  generals.  See  the 
account  of  the  life  of  Moses  at  the  end  of  this  chapter. 

Verse  7.  His  eye  was  not  dim]  Even  at  the  ad¬ 
vanced  age  of  a  hundred  and  twenty ;  nor  his  natural 
force  abated — he  was  a  young  man  even  in  old  age, 
notwithstanding  the  unparalleled  hardships  he  had 
gone  through.  See  the  account  of  his  life  at  the  end 
of  this  chapter. 

Verse  9.  Laid  his  hands  upon  him ]  See  on  Num 
xxvii.  18-23. 


The  character  and 


CIIAP.  XXXIY. 


miracles  of  Moses. 


B  c  i45i'  1 0  And  there  s  arose  not  a  pro- 

An.  Ex.  isr.  40.  phet  since  in  Israel  like  unto 

^(j[ar  -I 

- 1 -  Moses,  4  whom  the  Lord  knew 

face  to  face, 

11  In  all  uthe  signs  and  the  wonders 
which  the  Lord  sent  him  to  do  in  the 

8  See  chap,  xviii.  15-18. - 1  Exod.  xxxiii.  11 ;  Num.  xii.  G,  8 ; 

chap.  v.  4. 


land  of  Egypt  to  Pharaoh,  and  ^r- 
to  all  his  servants,  and  to  all  An.  Ex.  isr.  40. 

i  •  i  j  Adar. 

Ins  land,  _ 

12  And  in  all  that  v  mighty  hand,  and  in  all 
the  great  terror  which  Moses  showed  in  the 
sight  of  all  Israel. 

u  Chap.  iv.  34;  vii.  19;  Psa.  lxxviii.  43-53. - v  Exod.  iii.  19, 

xxxii.  11;  Deut.  iv.  34;  v.  15;  vi.  21;  vii.  8,  19. 


Verse  10.  There  arose  not  a  prophet,  $c.]  Among 
all  the  succeeding  prophets  none  was  found  so  emi¬ 
nent  in  all  respects  nor  so  highly  privileged  as  Moses  ; 
with  him  God  spoke  face  to  face — admitted  him  to  the 
closest  familiarity  and  greatest  friendship  with  himself. 
Now  all  this  continued  true  till  the  advent  of  Jesus 
Christ,  of  whom  Moses  said,  “  A  Prophet  shall  the 
Lord  your  God  raise  up  unto  you  from  among  your 
brethren,  like  unto  me but  how  great  was  this  per¬ 
son  when  compared  with  Moses !  Moses  desired  to 
see  God’s  glory;  this  sight  he  could  not  bear;  he  saw 
his  hack  parts ,  probably  meaning  God’s  design  relative 
to  the  latter  days :  but  Jesus,  the  Almighty  Saviour, 
in  whom  dwells  all  the  fulness  of  the  Godhead  bodily, 
who  lay  in  the  bosom  of  the  Father,  he  hath  declared 
God  to  man.  Wondrous  system  of  legal  ordinances 
that  pointed  out  and  typified  all  these  things  !  And 
more  wonderful  system  of  Gospel  salvation,  which  is 
the  body ,  soul,  life,  energy,  and  full  accomplishment 
of  all  that  was  written  in  the  Law,  in  the  Prophets, 
and  in  the  Psalms,  concerning  the  sufferings  and 
death  of  Jesus,  and  the  redemption  of  a  ruined  world 
“  by  his  agony  and  bloody  sweat,  by  his  cross  and 
passion,  by  his  death  and  burial,  by  his  glorious  re¬ 
surrection  and  ascension,  and  by  the  coming  of  the 
Holy  Ghost !”  Thus  ends  the  Pentateuch,  commonly 
called  the  Law  of  Moses,  a  work  every  way  worthy 
of  God  its  author,  and  only  less  than  the  New  Cove¬ 
nant,  the  law  and  Gospel  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour 
Jesus  Christ. 

Now  to  the  ever  blessed  and  glorious  Trinity, 
Father,  Word,  and  Spirit,  the  infinite  and  eternal 
One,  from  whom  alone  wisdom ,  truth,  and  goodness 
can  proceed,  be  glory  and  dominion  for  ever  and  ever. 
Amen. 

Masoretic  Notes  on  Deuteronomy. 

The  number  of  verses  in  Elleh  Haddebarim,  Deu¬ 
teronomy,  is  955  ;  the  symbol  of  which  is  Pin,  in 
which  word  tsade  stands  for  900,  }  nun  for  50,  and 
n  cheth  for  5. 

The  middle  verse  is  the  10th  of  chap.  xvii.  ;  And 
thou  shalt  observe  to  do  all  that  they  command  thee. 

Its  Pareshioth  or  larger  sections  are  11,  the  nume¬ 
rical  symbol  of  which  is  jn  chag ;  Psa.  cxviii.  27  : 
Bind  the  sacrifice  with  cords  to  the  horns  of  the  altar. 
In  which  word  n  cheth  stands  for  8,  and  }  gimel  for  3. 

Its  Sedarim  or  smaller  sections  are  27,  the  sym¬ 
bolical  sign  of  which  is  TT  yaggid;  Prov.  xii.  17  :  He 
that  speakeih  truth,  showeth  forth  righteousness •. 
In  which  word  the  two  "  ,  yods  stand  for  20,  1  daleth 
for  4,  and  J  gimel  for  3. 

Its  Perakim  or  modern  chapters  are  34,  the  symbol 
of  which  is  DDb  lebab ;  Psa.  cxi.  1  :  1  will  praise  the 


Lord  with  my  whole  heart.  In  which  word  the  two 
D  D  beths  stand  for  4,  and  the  b  lamed  for  30. 

The  number  of  open  sections  is  34,  of  its  close  sec¬ 
tions  124,  total  158  ;  the  symbol  of  which  is  Db'nr, 
yanchilem,  148,  and  TT3D  cab-od,  10.  1  Sam.  ii.  8  : 

To  make  them  to  inherit  the  throne  of  his  glory. 
The  numerical  letters  of  the  word  obTU'  yanchilem , 
148,  with  Ti  od,  10,  taken  from  TDD  cabod,  make  158, 
the  total  of  its  open  and  close  sections. 

The  number  of  verses  in  the  whole  Pentateuch  is 

5845,  the  memorial  symbol  of  which  is  DDnn  hacham- 
mah,  Isa.  xxx.  26  :  Moreover  the  light  of  the  moon 
shall  be  as  the  light  of  the  sun.  In  which  word,  the  let- 

5  8  4  5 

ters  taken  in  their  proper  order  make  the  sum,  nnnn. 

The  middle  verse  of  the  Law  is  Lev.  viii.  8  :  And 
he  put  the  breastplate  upon  him,  and  he  put  in  the 
breastplate  the  urim  and  the  tiiummim. 

The  number  of  open  sections  in  the  whole  Law  is 
290,  the  symbol  of  which  is  D2  peri;  Cant.  iv.  16  : 
Let  my  beloved  come  into  his  garden,  and  eat  his  pre¬ 
cious  FRUITS. 

The  number  of  its  close  sections  is  379,  the  symbol 
of  which  occurs  in  the  word  71JDKO  bishbuah ;  Num. 
xxx.  10:  Or  bound  her  sold  with  a  bond  by  an  oath. 

Total  number  of  all  the  open  and  close  sections, 
669,  the  memorial  symbol  of  which  is  IDriD  Kb  lo 
techsar ;  Deut.  viii.  9  :  Thou  shalt  not  lack  any 
thing  in  it. 

SECTIONS  of  the  Book  of  Deuteronomy,  carried 
on  from  Numbers,  which  ends  with  the  forty-third. 

The  forty-fourth,  called  DDDl  debarim,  begins 
Deut.  i.  1,  and  ends  chap.  iii.  22. 

The  forty-fifth,  called  pniDKl  vaethchannen,  be¬ 
gins  chap.  iii.  23,  and  ends  chap.  vii.  11. 

The  forty-sixth,  called  Dpi?  ekeb,  begins  chap.  vii. 
12,  and  ends  chap.  xi.  25. 

The  forty-seventh,  called  HKD  reeh,  begins  chap, 
xi.  26,  and  ends  chap.  xvi.  17. 

The  forty-eighth,  called  D'DStJ?  shophetim,  begins 
chap.  xvi.  18,  and  ends  chap.  xxi.  9. 

The  forty-ninth,  called  K¥P  tetse,  begins  chap, 
xxi.  10,  and  ends  chap.  xxv.  19. 

The  fiftieth,  called  KDD  tabo,  begins  chap.  xxvi. 
1,  and  ends  chap.  xxix.  8. 

The  fifty-first,  called  DDUD  nitstsabim,  begins 
chap.  xxix.  9,  a^d  ends  chap.  xxx.  20. 

The  fifty-second,  called  “jb'!  vaiyelech,  begins 
chap.  xxxi.  1,  and  ends  chap.  xxxi.  30. 

The  fifty-third,  called  iriKH  haazinu ,  begins 
chap,  xxxii.  1,  and  ends  chap,  xxxii.  51. 

The  fifty-fourth,  called  rDDr!  J3NT1  vezoth  habbe- 
rachah,  begins  chap,  xxxiii.  l,and  ends  chap,  xxxiv.  12. 

839 


General  observations 


DEUTERONOMY. 


on  the  Pentateuch 


GENERAL  OBSERVATIONS  ON 

We  have  now  passed  through  the  Pentateuch,  and 
have  endeavoured  carefully  to  mark  its  important 
contents.  Its  antiquity  sets  it  at  the  head  of  all  the 
writings  in  the  world;  and  the  various  subjects  it 
embraces  make  it  of  the  utmost  consequence  to  every 
civilized  part  of  the  earth.  Its  philosophy,  jurispru¬ 
dence,  history,  geography,  and  chronology ,  entitle  it  to 
the  respect  of  the  whole  human  race  ;  while  its  sys¬ 
tem  of  theology  and  religion  demonstrably  prove  it  to 
be  a  revelation  from  GOD.  But  on  these  topics,  as 
many  observations  have  already  been  made  as  the  na¬ 
ture  of  a  commentary  professing  to  study  brevity  can 
possibly  admit. 

Of  Moses,  the  writer  of  the  Pentateuch,  considered 
as  a  historian  and  philosopher,  a  great  deal  has  been 
said  in  the  course  of  the  notes  on  the  book  of  Gene¬ 
sis  ;  and  especially  at  the  conclusion  of  the  fiftieth 
chapter ;  to  which  the  reader  is  particularly  referred. 

Of  Moses  as  a  legislator,  volumes  might  be  written, 
and  the  subject  not  be  exhausted.  What  is  called  the 
Law  of  Moses,  is  more  properly  the  Law  of  God; 
and  rnrr  min  Torath  Yehovah,  the  Law  of  Jehovah, 
is  the  grand  title  of  the  Pentateuch.  Such  a  defini¬ 
tion  of  this  term  as  comports  with  the  nature,  struc¬ 
ture,  and  design  of  the  Pentateuch,  has  already  been 
given  in  the  note  on  Exod.  xii.  40,  to  which  the  reader 
is  requested  to  refer.  Could  we  conceive  Moses  to 
have  been  the  author  of  this  system,  we  must  consider 
him  more  than  mortal :  no  wisdom  of  man  has  ever 
yet  been  able  to  invent  such  a  code  of  laws. 

This  merit  however  has  been  disputed,  and  his  laws 
severely  criticised  by  certain  persons  whose  interest  it 
was  to  prove  religion  to  be  a  cheat,  because  they  had 
none  themselves ;  and  whose  case  must  be  hopeless 
could  it  be  proved  to  be  true.  To  some  whose  men¬ 
tal  taste  and  feeling  are  strangely  perverted,  every 
thing  in  heathenism  wears  not  only  the  most  fascina¬ 
ting  aspect,  but  appears  to  lay  claim  to  and  possess 
every  excellence.  These  have  called  up  Confucius, 
Menu,  Zoroaster,  and  Mohammed  himself,  to  dispute 
the  palm  of  excellence  with  Moses  !  To  examine  the 
claims  of  such  competitors,  and  to  decide  on  their  re¬ 
spective  merits  would  require  a  large  treatise,  and  my 
limits  confine  me  to  a  sketch.  To  any  godly,  impar¬ 
tial  mind,  properly  acquainted  with  the  subject,  little 
needs  to  be  said  ;  to  those  who  are  prejudiced,  all 
reasoning  is  thrown  away.  A  few  words  on  the 
merit  of  each  of  these  competitors  must  suffice. 

1.  To  Con  fu  tsee,  the  great  Chinese  lawgiver,  uor- 
ruptly  called  Confucius,  are  attributed,  in  the  records 
of  his  country,  a  number  of  ordinances  and  institutions 
which  do  honour  to  his  times  and  to  his  people ;  but 
alas !  how  much  of  the  darkness,  erroneousness,  and 
infirmity  of  the  human  mind  do  they  exhibit !  And 
however  profitable  they  may  be,  as  prudential  maxims 
and  social  regulations  to  a  certain  exflfent,  how  little  are 
they  calculated  to  elevate  or  ennoble  the  human  mind, 
or  inspire  men  with  a  just  notion  of  vice  and  virtue ! 
Their  author  had  no  correct  notion  of  the  Divine  na¬ 
ture  ;  his  laws  had  no  sanction  but  that  of  convenience 
or  necessity ,  and,  notwithstanding  their  boasted  excel- 

840 


THE  FIVE  BOOKS  OF  MOSES. 

lence,  have  left,  from  the  time  of  their  promulgation 
to  the  present  day,  the  sum  total  of  that  immense  na¬ 
tion  which  profess  to  be  governed  by  them,  in  the 
thickest  darkness  of  the  most  degrading  idolatry,  closely 
verging  upon  atheism  itself !  Not  so  the  Mosaic  code  ; 
it  was  the  light  that  lightened  the  universe,  and  the 
glory  of  the  people  who  were  governed  by  its  dictates. 
We  have  the  firmest  ground  and  the  most  ample  au¬ 
thority  to  assert,  that  the  greatest  kings,  the  tvisest 
statesmen,  the  most  accomplished  poets  and  rhetoricians , 
the  most  magnanimous  heroes,  and  the  most  holy  and 
useful  people  that  ever  existed,  were  formed  on  the 
model,  and  brought  up  in  the  bosom  and  under  the  in¬ 
fluence,  of  the  Mosaic  institutions.  While  the  Pro¬ 
verbs  and  Ecclesiastes  of  Solomon,  the  history  and 
poetic  compositions  of  David,  the  inimitable  discourses 
of  Isaiah,  Jeremiah,  Joel,  Habakkuk,  and  others  of 
the  Jewish  prophets  remain,  every  intelligent  reader 
will  have  the  fullest  proofs  of  the  truth  of  the  above 
assertion,  which  shrinks  not  under  the  pretence  of  be¬ 
ing  hazarded ;  but  which  must  spring  up  in  every  in¬ 
genuous  mind,  from  the  fullest  conviction  of  its  own 
truth,  after  a  serious  perusal  of  the  sacred  code  in 
question.  All  those  eminent  personages  were  brought 
up  in  the  Mosaic  school,  and  were  prepared  by  the 
Pentateuch  for  the  prophetic  influence. 

2.  The  Institutes  of  Menu,  lately  clothed  in  an 
English  dress  by  the  elegant  hand  of  Sir  William 
Jones,  have  been  thought  to  stand  in  fair  competition 
with  the  laws  of  Moses.  I  have  read  them  carefully, 
with  strong  prejudice  in  their  favour ;  and  have  en¬ 
deavoured,  to  the  best  of  my  judgment,  duly  to  appre¬ 
ciate  their  worth.  I  have  sought  for  resemblances  to 
the  Mosaic  institutions,  because  I  thought  it  possible 
that  the  same  God  who  was  so  fully  known  in  Jewry , 
might  have  made  at  least  a  partial  revelation  of  him¬ 
self  in  Hindostan ;  but  while  I  alternately  admired 
and  regretted,  I  was  ultimately  disappointed,  as  I  plainly 
saw  that  the  system  in  its  essential  parts  lacked  the 
seal  of  the  living  God.  My  readers  may  justly  ques¬ 
tion  my  competency  to  form  a  correct  opinion  of  the 
work  under  consideration — I  shall  not  therefore  ob¬ 
trude  it,  but  substitute  that  of  the  translator,  who  was 
better  qualified  than  perhaps  any  other  man  in  Europe 
or  Asia,  to  form  a  correct  judgment  of  its  merits. 
“  The  work,”  says  he,  “  now  presented  to  the  Euro¬ 
pean  world,  contains  abundance  of  curious  matter,  ex¬ 
tremely  interesting  both  to  speculative  lawyers  and 
antiquaries  ;  with  many  beauties  which  need  not  be 
pointed  out,  and  with  many  blemishes  which  cannot  be 
justified  or  palliated.  It  is  a  system  of  despotism  and 
priestcraft,  both  indeed  limited  by  law,  but  artfully 
conspiring  to  give  mutual  support  though  with  mutual 
checks.  It  is  filled  with  strange  conceits  in  metaphy¬ 
sics  and  natural  philosophy ;  with  idle  superstitions, 
and  with  a  scheme  of  theology  most  obscurely  figura¬ 
tive,  and  consequently  liable  to  dangerous  misconcep¬ 
tion.  It  abounds  with  minute  and  childish  formalities , 
with  ceremonies  generally  absurd  and  often  ridiculous  ; 
the  punishments  are  partial  and  fanciful ;  for  some 
crimes  dreadfully  cruel ,  and  for  others  reprchensibly 


I 


General  observations 


CHAP.  XXXIV. 


on  the  Pentateuch . 


slight ;  and  the  very  morals,  though  rigid  enough  on 
the  whole,  are  in  one  or  two  instances,  as  in  the  case 
of  light  oaths  and  pious  perjury,  unaccountably  relax¬ 
ed.” — Preface  to  the  Institutes  of  Menu. 

We  may  defy  its  enemies  to  prove  any  of  these 
things  against  the  Pentateuch.  Priestcraft  and  des¬ 
potism  cannot  appear  under  its  sanction  :  God  is  King 
alone,  and  the  priest  his  servant ;  and  he  who  was  pre¬ 
vented,  by  the  very  law  under  which  he  ministered, 
from  having  any  earthly  property,  could  consequently 
have  no  secular  power.  The  king,  who  was  afterwards 
chosen,  was  ever  considered  as  God’s  deputy  or  vice¬ 
gerent  ;  he  was  obliged  to  rule  according  to  the  laws 
that  were  given  by  God  through  Moses,  and  was  never 
permitted  either  to  change  them,  or  add  a  single  pre¬ 
cept  or  rite  to  the  civil  or  sacred  code  of  his  country. 
Thus  despotism  and  priestcraft  were  equally  precluded. 
As  to  its  rites  and  ceremonies,  they  are  at  once  digni¬ 
fied  and  expressive  ;  they  point  out  the  holiness  of 
their  author,  the  sinfulness  of  man,  the  necessity  of 
an  atonement,  and  the  state  of  moral  excellence  to 
which  the  grace  and  mercy  of  the  Creator  have  promised 
to  raise  the  human  soul.  As  to  its  punishments ,  they 
are  ever  such  as  the  nature  and  circumstances  of  the 
crime  render  just  and  necessary — and  its  rewards  are 
not  such  as  flow  merely  from  a  principle  of  retribution 
or  remunerative  justice,  but  from  an  enlightened  and 
fatherly  tenderness,  which  makes  obedience  to  the  laws 
the  highest  interest  of  the  subject. 

At  the  same  time  that  love  to  God  and  obedience 
to  his  commandments  are  strongly  inculcated,  love  and 
benevolence  to  man  are  equally  enforced,  together  with 
piety ,  which  is  the  soul  of  obedience ,  patriotism,  the 
life  of  society ;  hospitality  to  strangers,  and  humanity 
to  the  whole  brute  creation.  To  all  this  might  be 
added  that  it  includes  in  it,  as  well  as  points  out,  the 
Gospel  of  the  Son  of  God,  from  which  it  receives  its 
consummation  and  perfection.  Such,  reader,  is  the 
law  of  God  given  through  Moses  to  the  people  of  Israel. 

3.  Of  the  laws  of  Zerdust  or  Zeratusht ,  commonly 
called  Zoroaster,  it  is  unnecessary  to  speak  at  large ; 
they  are  incapable  of  comparison  with  the  Mosaic  code. 
As  delivered  in  the  Zend  Avesta,  they  cannot  so  pro¬ 
perly  be  called  a  system  as  a  congeries  of  puerility, 
superstition,  and  absurdity  ;  with  scarcely  a  precept 
or  a  rite  that  has  any  tendency  to  elevate  the  mind,  or 
raise  man  from  his  state  of  moral  degradation  to  a 
proper  rank  in  civilized  society,  or  to  any  worthy  ap¬ 
prehension  of  the  Maker  and  Governor  of  the  universe. 
Harmlessness  is  the  sum  of  the  morality  they  seem  to 
inculcate,  with  a  certain  superstitious  reverence  for 
fire,  probably  as  the  emblem  of  purity  ;  and  for  ani¬ 
mal  life,  principally  in  reference  to  the  doctrine  of  the 
Metempsychosis  or  transmigration  of  souls,  on  which 
it  seems  to  have  been  originally  built. 

4.  The  Koran  of  Mohammed  is  the  only  remaining 
competitor  that  can  be  supposed  to  be  at  all  qualified 
to  dispute  the  palm  with  the  Pentateuch  of  Moses  ; 
but  the  pretensions  of  this  production  will  be  soon  set¬ 
tled,  when  it  is  known  that  it  possesses  not  one  excel¬ 
lence,  the  purity  and  elegance  of  its  language  except¬ 
ed,  which  it  has  not  borrowed  from  the  writings  of 
Moses  and  the  prophets,  or  the  sayings  of  Christ  and 
his  apostles.  This  is  a  fact  which  none  can  success¬ 


fully  dispute,  and  of  which  the  Koran  itself  bears  the 
mostunequivocal  evidences.  What  can  be  fairly  claimed 
as  the  peculium  of  the  Arab  lawgiver  makes  a  motley 
mixture  with  what  he  has  stolen  from  the  book  of  God, 
and  is  in  general  as  absurd  and  weak  as  it  is  on  the 
whole  false  and  wicked.  As  to  the  boasted  morality 
of  the  Koran,  it  will  have  as  little  to  exult  in  of  this 
kind  when  the  law  and  the  Gospel  have  taken  from  it 
that  of  which  they  have  been  plundered,  as  the  daw 
in  the  fable  had  when  the  different  fowls  had  plucked 
away  their  own  feathers,  with  which  the  vain  bird  had 
decorated  herself.  Mohammed,  it  is  true,  destroyed 
idolatry  wherever  he  came;, and  he  did  the  same  by 
true  religion ;  for  Judaism  and  Christianity  met  with 
no  more  quarter  from  him  than  the  grossest  errors  of 
pagan  idolatry.  To  compare  him  with  the  pure,  holy, 
disinterested,  humane,  and  heavenly-minded  Jewish 
legislator,  would  be  as  gross  political  as  it  would  be 
palpable  religious  blasphemy.  When  we  allow  that 
he  was  a  man  of  a  deep  and  penetrating  mind,  well 
acquainted  with  the  superstitious  turn  of  his  country¬ 
men  ;  austere,  cunning,  and  hypocritical ;  a  great  gene¬ 
ral  and  a  brutal  conqueror,  who  seemed  to  sacrifice  at 
no  other  shrine  than  that  of  his  lust  and  ambition,  we 
do  him.no  injustice  :  the  whole  of  his  system  bears 
the  most  evident  proofs  of  imposition  and  forgery  ;  nor 
is  there  a  character  to  which  imposture  can  lay  claim 
that  does  not  appear  prominently  in  the  Koran,  and  in 
every  part  of  the  Mohammedan  system.  The  chief 
of  these  distinctive  marks  have  already  been  examined 
in  reference  to  the  Pentateuch,  in  the  concluding  note 
on  Exod.  xviii.  These  are  all  found  in  the  Koran, 
but  not  one  of  them  in  the  Pentateuch.  The  Penta¬ 
teuch  therefore  is  of  God  ;  the  Koran  came  from  an¬ 
other  quarter. 

5.  The  different  systems  of  the  Grecian  ethic  phi¬ 
losophers  cannot  come  into  this  inquiry.  They  were 
in  general  incongruous  and  contradictory,  and  none  of 
them  was  ever  capable  of  forming  a  sect  that  could  be 
said  to  have  any  moral  perpetuity . 

6.  The  laws  of  Lycurgus  and  Solon  could  not  pre¬ 
serve  those  states,  at  the  basis  of  which  they  were 
laid  ;  while  the  laws  of  Moses  have  been  the  means 
of  preserving  the  people  who  held  them,  amidst  the 
most  terrible  reverses  of  what  are  called  fortune  and 
fate,  for  nearly  the  space  of  4,000  years  !  This  is  one 
of  the  most  extraordinary  and  astonishing  facts  in  the 
whole  history  of  mankind. 

7.  The  republic  of  Plato,  of  which  it  is  fashionable 
to  boast,  is,  when  stripped  of  what  it  has  borrowed 
from  Moses,  like  the  Utopia  of  Sir  T.  More,  the  serial 
figment  of  a  philosophic  mind,  en  dclire ;  both  systems 
are  inapplicable  and  impracticable  in  the  present  state 
of  man.  To  persons  under  the  influence  of  various 
and  discordant  passions,  strongly  actuated  by  self-in¬ 
terest,  they  can  never  apply.  They  have  no  tendency 
to  change  the  moral  state-  of  society  from  vice  to  vir¬ 
tue  :  a  nation  of  saints  might  agree  to  regulate  their 
lives  and  conduct  by  them,  but  where  is  such  to  be 
found  1  Though  Plato  has  borrowed  much  from  Moses, 
yet  he  has  destroyed  the  effect  of  the  whole  by  not 
referring  the  precepts  and  maxims  to  God,  by  whom 
alone  strength  to  fulfil  them  could  be  furnished.  It  is 
the  province  of  the  revelation  of  God  to  make  the 

841 


General  observations 


DEUTERONOMY. 


on  the  Pentateuch 


knave  an  honest  man ;  the  unholy  and  profane ,  pure 
and  pious  ;  and  to  cause  all  who  act  by  its  dictates  to 
love  one  another  with  pure  hearts  fervently,  and  to  feel 
the  finest  and  fullest  impressions  of 

“  The  generous  mind  that’s  not  confined  at  home, 

But  spreads  itself  abroad  through  all  the  public, 

And  feels  for  every  member  of  the  land.” 

The  Pentateuch  is  an  original  work ;  nothing  like 
it  was  ever  found  among  the  nations  of  the  earth. 
Those  who  have  asserted  that  its  principal  institutions 
have  been  borrowed  from  the  Egyptians,  neither  know 
the  Mosaic  code,  nor  are  acquainted  with  the  Egyptian 
mythology.  Dr.  Priestley  has  written  well  on  this 
point,  and  from  his  dissertation  I  shall  borrow  the  fol¬ 
lowing  extracts  : — 

“  They  who  suppose  that  Moses  himself  was  the 
author  of  the  institutions,  civil  or  religious,  that  bear 
his  name,  and  that  in  framing  them  he  borrowed  much 
from  the  Egyptians  or  other  ancient  nations,  must  never 
have  compared  them  together ;  otherwise  they  could 
not  but  have  perceived  many  circumstances  in  which 
they  differ  most  essentially  from  them  all.  I  shall  en¬ 
deavour  to  point  out  the  more  considerable  of  them. 

“  1.  No  heathen  ever  conceived  an  idea  of  so  great 
an  object  as  that  of  the  institutions  of  Moses,  which 
appears  to  be  nothing  less  than  the  instruction  of  all 
mankind  in  the  great  doctrine  of  the  unity  and  univer¬ 
sal  moral  government  of  God,  as  the  Maker  of  the 
world,  and  the  common  parent  of  all  the  human  race, 
in  opposition  to  the  polytheism  and  idolatry  which  then 
prevailed,  which,  besides  being  grossly  absurd  in  its 
principles,  and  leading  to  endless  superstitions,  threat¬ 
ened  the  world  with  a  deluge  of  vice  and  misery.  For 
this  purpose  the  Hebrew  nation  was  placed  in  the  most 
conspicuous  situation  among  all  the  civilized  nations 
of  the  world,  which  were  universally  addicted  to  idol¬ 
atry  of  the  grossest  kind,  to  divinations,  necromancy, 
and  other  superstitions  of  a  similar  nature,  and  prac¬ 
tised  as  acts  of  religion ;  some  of  their  rites  abomina¬ 
bly  licentious,  and  others  the  most  shockingly  cruel, 
as  the  necessary  means  of  recommending  themselves 
to  the  various  objects  of  their  worship.  As  all  man¬ 
kind  imagined  that  their  outward  prosperity  depended 
upon  the  observance  of  their  respective  religions,  that 
of  the  Hebrew  nation  was  made  to  do  so  in  the  most 
conspicuous  manner,  as  a  visible  lesson  to  all  the  world. 
They  were  to  prosper  beyond  all  other  nations  while 
they  adhered  to  their  religion  ;  and  to  suffer  in  a  man¬ 
ner  equally  exemplary  and  conspicuous  in  consequence 
of  their  departure  from  it.  Of  this  all  mankind  might 
easily  judge.  These  great  ideas  occur  in  the  sacred 
books  of  the  Hebrews,  and  nowhere  else.  They  are 
all  distinctly  advanced  by  Moses,  and  more  fully  un¬ 
folded  in  the  writings  of  the  later  prophets.  But  cer¬ 
tainly  nothing  so  great  and  sublime  could  have  been 
suggested  to  Moses  from  any  thing  that  he  saw  in 
Egypt,  or  could  have  heard  of  in  other  countries. 

“2.  In  no  system  of  religion  besides  that  of  Moses 
was  purity  of  morals  any  part  of  it.  All  the  heathen 
religions  were  systems  of  mere  ceremonies ,  on  the  ob¬ 
servance  of  which  it  was  imagined  that  the  prosperity 
of  the  several  states  depended ;  and  the  sole  business 
of  the  priests  was  to  attend  to  the  due  observance  of 

842 


these  rites,  many  of  which  were  so  far  from  being  fa¬ 
vourable  to  morals,  that  they  were  of  the  most  impure 
and  abominable  nature,  as  is  wTell  known  to  all  who 
have  any  knowledge  of  them.  On  the  contrary,  it 
appears,  not  only  from  the  ten  commandments ,  but  from 
all  the  writings  of  Moses,  and  those  of  the  prophets 
who  succeeded  him,  that  the  purest  morality,  the  most 
favourable  to  private  and  public  happiness,  was  the 
principal  and  ultimate  object  of  the  system.  The  books 
of  Moses  abound  with  precepts  of  morality ,  inculcated 
in  the  most  forcible  manner,  and  they  are  distinguished 
from  laws  by  having  no  penalty  annexed  to  them.  Such 
precepts  as  these,  Be  ye  holy ,  for  I  am  holy  ;  and, 
What  does  the  Lord  require  of  thee ,  hut  to  do  justice , 
to  love  mercy ,  and  to  walk  humbly  with  thy  God  ?  could 
never  have  been  borrowed  from  any  heathen  system 
of  religion.  In  this  most  important  respect  the  institu¬ 
tions  of  Moses  are  a  great  original,  and  were  never 
copied  by  any  other  lawgiver. 

“  3  Nowhere  in  all  the  heathen  world  could  Moses 
have  heard  of  such  a  proper  national  worship  as  that 
which  he  introduced.  The  Hebrew  nation  had  not 
only  one  single  object  of  their  worship ,  in  which  they 
differed  essentially  from  all  other  nations,  but  one  na¬ 
tional  altar ,  one  precise  ritual,  and  only  one  place  for 
the  meeting  of  the  whole  nation  at  the  public  festivals. 
A  whole  tribe,  a  twelfth  part  of  the  nation,  was  set 
apart  for  services  of  a  religious  nature,  and  their  pro¬ 
vision  made  to  depend  in  a  great  measure  upon  their 
performance  of  them,  being  not  in  lands  cultivated  by 
themselves,  but  in  the  produce  of  lands  cultivated  by 
others.  At  this  one  great  national  altar  sacrifices 
were  performed  every  morning  and  evening,  in  the 
name  and  at  the  expense  of  the  whole  nation  ;  and  the 
manner  in  which  this  was  done  was  invariable,  and 
not  left  to  the  discretion  of  the  performers.  In  all 
other  countries  the  places  of  worship  were  numerous  ; 
and  the  diversity  in  the  modes  of  worship  varied  with 
the  objects  of  them.  In  Egypt  in  particular  the  dif¬ 
ferent  nomes  were  exceedingly  hostile  to  each  other 
on  this  account.  Hence  arose  endless  and  discordant 
superstitions. 

“4.  In  no  country  besides  that  of  the  Hebrews 
were  the  public  festivals  expressly  instituted  in  com¬ 
memoration  of  such  great  events  respecting  their  his¬ 
tory  and  religion.  It  is  peculiar  to  this  nation  also 
that  the  directions  for  the  celebration  of  them  were 
reduced  to  writing  at  the  time  of  their  institution,  so 
that  there  could  never  be  any  uncertainty  about  the 
origin  or  the  reasons  of  them.  They  were  only  three  : 
the  passover,  on  their  deliverance  from,  their  state  of 
servitude  in  Egypt,  when  the  first-born  of  all  the 
Egyptians  were  destroyed,  and  all  theirs  preserved  ; 
the  pentecost,  on  the  giving  of  the  law  from  Mount  Si¬ 
nai  ;  and  the  feast  of  tabernacles,  in  commemoration 
of  their  living  in  tents  and  booths  during  their  travels 
through  the  wilderness.  At  the  first  of  these  festivals 
the  first-fruits  of  the  year  were  solemnly  presented  ; 
at  the  second,  the  harvest  was  got  in  ;  and  at  the  last, 
the  vintage  and  all  the  greater  labours  of  the  year 
were  closed.  Among  the  heathen  nations  the  festi¬ 
vals  were  numerous  and  perplexing.  More  than  sixty 
were  celebrated  by  the  Athenians  ;  the  origin  and  rea¬ 
son  of  their  institution  were  uncertain  ;  and  none  of 


General  observations 


CHAP.  XXXIV. 


on  the  Pentateuch. 


them  were  calculated  to  answer  any  important  moral 
purposes,  but  were  too  often  the  occasion,  not  of  inno¬ 
cent  festivity,  but  of  intemperance  and  debauch.  Se¬ 
veral  of  the  heathen  festivals  were  celebrated  in  a 
manner  the  most  disgusting  and  shocking  to  common 
modesty  and  common  sense. 

“  Sacrificing  was  a  mode  more  ancient  than  ido¬ 
latry,  or  the  institutions  of  Moses  ;  but  among  the 
heathens  various  superstitious  customs  were  introduced 
respecting  it,  which  were  all  excluded  from  the  reli¬ 
gion  of  the  Hebrews. 

“  In  the  laws  of  Moses,  in  which  we  find  even  the 
most  minute  circumstances  of  the  act  of  sacrificing 
prescribed,  there  is  no  mention  of  any  thing  preceding 
the  slaying  of  the  animal,  besides  its  being  sound  and 
of  a  proper  age.  It  was  not  brought  with  any  gar¬ 
lands.  No  ouXoci,  or  cakes  of  barley  and  salt,  were 
put  upon  its  back.  No  wine  was  poured  upon  its  horns. 
No  hair  was  taken  from  its  forehead  to  be  thrown  into 
the  fire  on  the  altar.  And  nothing  is  said  about  in¬ 
specting  the  entrails ,  with  a  view  to  divination,  wdiich 
was  a  principal  object  in  all  the  heathen  sacrifices. 
The  use  that  was  made  of  the  blood  of  the  victims 
was  peculiar  to  the  Hebrew  ritual ;  and  certainly  not 
borrowed  from  any  heathen  customs  that  could  have 
been  known  to  Moses. 

“No  heathens  knew  any  thing  of  the  sprinkling  of 
the  blood  in  the  peculiarly  solemn  manner  in  which  it 
was  to  be  done  by  the  Hebrew  priests ;  and  so  far 
wrere  they  from  rigorously  abstaining  from  the  eating 
of  blood ,  that  in  their  sacrifices  to  the  infernal  deities 
they  partook  of  it  as  a  method  of  feasting  with  them ; 
and  in  the  Tauribolium  the  offerer  was  covered  with 
it  from  head  to  foot,  and  kept  himself  in  that  condi¬ 
tion  as  long  as  he  could.  (As  a  proof  of  this  see  the 
note  on  Lev.  viii.  23.)  As  Moses  did  not  adopt  any 
of  the  heathen  customs,  it  is  equally  evident  that  they 
borrowed  nothing  from  him  with  respect  to  sacrifices. 
With  them  we  find  no  such  distinction  of  sacrifices  as 
is  made  in  the  books  of  Moses,  such  as  burnt-offerings , 
sin-offerings ,  trespass-offerings ,  and  peace-offerings , 
or  of  the  heaving  or  waving  of  the  sacrifices.  Those 
particulars,  therefore,  he  could  not  have  had  from  them, 
whether  we  can  discover  any  reason  for  them  or  not. 
They  either  had  their  origin  in  the  time  of  Moses,  or, 
wdiich  is  most  probable,  were  prior  to  his  time  and  to 
the  existence  of  idolatry. 

“  Had  Moses  copied  any  thing  from  the  heathens,  he 
would  probably  have  introduced  something  of  their 
mysteries ,  which  w'ere  rites  performed  in  secret,  and 
generally  in  the  night,  to  wdiich  peculiar  privileges 
w'ere  annexed,  and  which  it  was  deemed  the  greatest 
crime  to  reveal ;  all  of  them  circumstances  of  a  suspi¬ 
cious  nature,  and  evidently  liable  to  great  abuse. 

“  The  most  remarkable  of  these  mysteries  were  the 
Eleusinian ,  wdiich  wrere  celebrated  at  Athens  every 
four  years,  and  continued  nine  days.  Whatever  these 
rites  wrnre,  it  wras  made  death  to  reveal  them ;  and  if 
any  person  not  regularly  initiated  was  present  at  this 
exhibition,  he  wras  put  to  death  without  mercy. 

“  Nothing  surely  like  this  can  be  found  in  the  insti¬ 
tutions  of  Moses.  There  was  nothing  in  the  Hebrew 
ritual  of  worship  that  was  any  secret.  Every  thing  is 
expressly  described  in  the  written  law ;  and  though 


none  but  priests  could  enter  the  holy  place,  or  the  holy 
of  holies  besides  the  high  priest,  every  thing  that  wras 
done  by  him  there  is  as  particularly  described  as  what 
w'as  done  by  the  people  w  ithout ;  and  no  service  what¬ 
ever  was  performed  in  the  night  except  the  attendance 
at  the  great  altar  to  keep  the  fire  in  a  proper  state  for 
consuming  all  the  remains  of  victims ;  and  of  this  no 
mention  is  made  in  the  ritual.  It  is  only  presumed 
by  the  Jewish. waiters  on  the  subject  that  it  must  have 
been  done  of  course. 

“  Had  Moses  borrowed  any  thing  from  the  heathens, 
he  could  not  have  overlooked  the  various  modes  of 
divination,  sorcery,  and  witchcraft ;  their  omens  of  a 
thousand  kinds,  their  rites  for  consulting  the  dead  in 
the  art  of  necromancy,  their  distinction  of  days  into 
lucky  and  unlucky,  which  constituted  a  great  part  of 
the  religious  observances  of  all  the  heathen  nations, 
civilized  or  uncivilized.  The  Romans  had  even  an 
order  of  priests  called  augurs ,  whose  sole  business  it 
was  to  observe  the  flight  of  birds,  and  to  make  prog¬ 
nostications  from  them.  But  so  far  are  wre  from  find¬ 
ing  in  the  books  of  Moses  any  thing  of  this  kind,  of 
wdiich  those  of  the  Hindoos  are  full,  that  they  are 
spoken  of  with  the  greatest  contempt  and  abhorrence, 
and  the  pretenders  to  them  are  directed  to  be  put  to 
death. 

“  The  cities  of  refuge  have  been  mentioned  as  com¬ 
pared  wdth  the  unlimited  right  of  asylum  attached  to 
the  temples  of  the  heathens  ;  and  this  may  be  con¬ 
sidered  as  a  religious  as  w'ell  as  a  civil  institution. 
But  the  privileges  of  the  Sabbatical  year  and  of  the 
jubilee  are  wholly  of  a  civil  nature,  and  they  must  have 
been  an  admirable  security  for  personal  liberty  and  the 
property  of  families.  No  Hebrew  could  bind  himself 
for  servitude  more  than  seven  years,  nor  could  he 
alienate  his  landed  property  for  more  than  fifty.  No 
gift  or  sale  could  have  any  effect  beyond  this  term, 
which  wras  fixed  for  the  whole  nation,  and  did  not 
commence  at  the  time  of  every  particular  bargain.  In 
consequence  of  this,  though  a  family  might  suffer  by 
the  imprudence  or  extravagance  of  the  head  of  it,  the 
evil  had  a  limit ;  for  at  the  jubilee  all  estates  reverted 
to  the  original  proprietors. 

“  In  short,  no  person  can  peruse  the  laws  of  Moses 
without  acknowledging  them  to  be  truly  original ;  and 
their  superiority  to  those  of  other  ancient  nations,  the 
most  famed  for  their  wisdom,  is  an  evidence  of  theii 
Divine  origin.” — Dissertat.  on  the  Mosaic  Institutions. 

8.  On  this  subject  in  general  it  may  be  just  neces¬ 
sary  to  add,  that  the  utmost  that  can  be  said  of  all 
laws  merely  human  is,  that  they  restrain  vices  through 
the  terror  of  punishment.  God’s  lawr  not  only  re¬ 
strains  vice,  but  it  infuses  virtue.  It  alone  brings  man 
to  the  footstool  of  his  Maker,  and  keeps  him  depend¬ 
ent  on  the  strong  for  strength,  on  the  wdse  for  wis¬ 
dom,  and  on  the  merciful  for  grace.  It  abounds  with 
promises  of  support  and  salvation  for  the  present  life, 
wdiich  no  false  system  dared  ever  to  propose  ;  every 
where  Moses  in  the  most  confident  manner  pledges 
his  God  for  the  fulfilment  of  all  the  exceeding  great 
and  precious  promises  with  wdiich  his  law's  are  so 
plentifully  interspersed ;  and  while  they  were  obe¬ 
dient  they  could  say,  “  Not  one  wmrd  hath  failed  us 
of  all  the  good  things  which  the  Lord  our  God  spake 

843 


DEUTERONOMY. 


Sketch  of  the  history 

concerning  us.”  •  Who  that  dispassionately  reads  the 
Pentateuch ,  that  considers  it  in  itself,  and  in  its  refe¬ 
rence  to  that  glorious  Gospel  which  it  was  intended 
to  introduce,  can  for  a  moment  deny  it  the  palm  of 
infinite  superiority  over  all  the  systems  ever  framed 
or  imagined  by  man  1  Well  might  the  Israelitish 
people  triumphantly  exclaim,  “  There  is  none  like  the 
God  of  Jeshurun !”  and  with  what  striking  propriety 
does  the  glorious  legislator  add,  “  Happy  art  thou,  0 
Israel !  who  is  like  unto  thee  ?  0  people  saved  of 

the  LORD !” 

See  the  Zend  Avesta,  by  Anquetil  du  Perron ,  3 
vols.,  4to.,  Paris,  1771.  Confucius  Sinarum  Philo- 
sophus,  by  Herdtrich ,  Couplet ,  &c.,  folio,  Paris,  1687. 
Zoroaster,  Confucius,  et  Mahomet,  compares,  par 
M.  Pastor  et,  8vo,  Paris,  1788.  The  Institutes  of 
Menu,  by  Sir  William  Jones ;  and  the  Koran,  with 
Notes,  &c.,  by  Mr.  Sale. 

a  sketch  of  the  history  and  character  of  moses. 

Having  said  so  much  concerning  the  Pentateuch, 
there  remains  little  room  to  say  much  concerning  Mo¬ 
ses  himself,  as  his  character  is  so  much  involved  in 
that  of  his  work.  The  genuine  history  of  Moses  is 
written  by  himself,  and  that  is  found  succinctly  de¬ 
tailed  in  the  book  of  Exodus  ;  Josephus,  the  rabbins, 
and  the  oriental  historians,  have  written  lives  of  this 
great  man  which  are  perfect  romances ;  for  by  at¬ 
tempting  to  embellish,  they  have  turned  the  whole  his¬ 
tory  into  ridicule.  Trogus  Pompeius  has  copied  some 
of  them,  unless  we  allow  that  his  abridger,  Justin,  is 
the  author  of  the  ill-told  falsity  which  is  found  in  his 
work.  But  with  these  relations  we  have  no  concern ; 
and  from  the  account  written  by  himself,  collated  with 
the  speech  of  St.  Stephen,  Acts  vii. ,  we  learn  the  fol¬ 
lowing  facts  : — 

Moses,  the  son  of  Amram  and  Jochebed,  both  of  the 
tribe  of  Levi,  was  born  A.  M.  2433,  B.  C.  1571,  while 
the  Israelites  were  in  a  state  of  bondage  in  Egypt, 
and  at  that  time  under  the  most  distressful  persecution, 
the  king  of  Egypt  having  issued  an  edict  to  destroy 
all  the  male  children  of  the  Hebrews.  Added  to  their 
parental  affection,  his  personal  beauty,  (Acts  vii.  20,) 
seems  to  have  induced  the  parents  to  hazard  every 
thing  to  preserve  their  child’s  life ;  they  therefore  hid 
him  for  three  months  ;  but  finding  from  circumstances 
that  they  could  keep  him  secret  no  longer,  they  were 
determined  to  abandon  him  wholly  to  the  care  of  Pro¬ 
vidence.  Having  provided  a  little  vessel  of  bulrushes, 
or  flags  pitched,  and  thus  rendered  impervious  to  the 
water,  they  set  him  afloat  on  the  river  Nile,  and  sent 
his  sister  Miriam  to  watch  the  event.  The  daughter 
of  Pharaoh  coming  to  that  part  of  the  river,  either  to 
make  her  ablutions  or  to  wash  her  clothes,  seeing  the 
vessel  afloat,  commanded  it  to  be  brought  to  her ;  and 
being  struck  with  the  helpless  state  and  beauty  of  the 
child,  judging  that  it  belonged  to  one  of  the  Hebrews, 
determined  to  preserve  its  life,  and  adopt  it  for  her 
own.  Miriam,  his  sister,  who  immediately  appeared, 
but  was  unknown  to  the  princess,  offered  her  services 
to  procure  a  nurse  for  the  child  from  among  the  He¬ 
brew  women ;  she  was  accordingly  employed,  and 
Jochebed,  the  mother,  wras  soon  brought  to  the  spot, 
and  the  child  was  immediately  committed  to  her  care, 

844 


and  character  of  Moses. 

the  princess  being  entirely  ignorant  of  the  relation  that 
subsisted  between  the  child  and  its  nurse.  At  a  pro¬ 
per  age  he  was  taken  to  the  Egyptian  court,  and  edu¬ 
cated  there  as  the  son  of  Pharaoh’s  daughter,  and  was 
brought  up  in  all  the  learning  and  wisdom  of  the 
Egyptians,  and  became  very  eminent  both  in  words 
and  deeds  ;  Acts  vii.  22.  Here  he  appears  to  have 
stayed  nearly  forty  years.  Afterwards,  in  consequence 
of  having  killed  one  of  the  oppressors  of  his  Hebrew 
brethren,  he  w7as  obliged  to  take  refuge  in  Midian, 
where,  entering  into  the  service  of  Jethro,  a  priest  or 
prince  of  that  country,  he  married  his  daughter  Zip- 
porah,  by  whom  he  had  two  sons,  Eleazar  and  Ger- 
shom,  and  continued  as  the  guardian  of  the  flocks  of 
his  father-in-law  for  forty  years.  At  the  conclusion 
of  this  time  God  manifested  himself  to  him  while  tend¬ 
ing  the  flocks  of  his  father-in-law  at  Mount  Horeb, 
and  gave  him  a  commission  to  bring  Israel  out  of 
Egypt.  He  went  on  the  Divine  errand,  became  asso¬ 
ciated  with  his  elder  brother  Aaron,  opened  his  com¬ 
mission  to  the  Egyptian  king,  and  wrought  several 
striking  miracles  to  prove  the  truth  of  his  Divine  mis¬ 
sion.  The  king  refusing  to  let  the  people  go,  God 
afflicted  him  and  the  land  with  ten  grievous  plagues ; 
after  which  the  people  were  led  out,  and  by  a  most 
stupendous  miracle  passed  through  the  divided  waters 
of  the  Red  Sea,  which  Pharaoh  and  his  army  essaying 
to  do,  were  drowned.  Having  led  the  Israelites  into 
the  deserts  of  Arabia,  commonly  called  the  wilder¬ 
ness,  God  gave  them  the  most  signal  manifestations 
of  his  power  and  goodness  in  a  series  of  successive 
miracles,  and  delivered  to  Moses  their  leader  that  in¬ 
formation  and  those  laws  which  are  contained  in  the 
Pentateuch.  Having  governed  the  people  forty  years 
in  the  desert,  and  brought  them  to  the  very  verge  of 
the  promised  land,  he  was  not  permitted  to  pass  over 
Jordan  with  them,  but  died  in  the  plains  of  Moab, 
while  in  familiar  converse  with  his  God,  in  the  120th 
year  of  his  age.  Care,  labour,  and  years,  had  made 
no  inroads  upon  his  constitution,  for  it  is  particularly 
marked  that  his  eye  was  not  dim,  nor  his  natural  force 
abated,  Deut.  xxxiv.  8  ;  that  he  preserved  all  the  vi¬ 
vacity  of  youth  and  the  vigour  of  manhood  to  a  period 
in  which,  even  at  that  time,  old  age  made  its  greatest 
depredations  upon  those  who  had  no  other  support  than 
what  the  common  course  of  nature  afforded. 

After  this  hasty  sketch  of  so  eventful  a  life  as  that 
of  Moses,  it  may  be  necessary  to  enter  more  particu¬ 
larly  into  an  examination  of  his  character  and  con¬ 
duct.  This  is  a  difficult  task  ;  but,  in  magnis  voluisse 
sat  est. 

The  eulogium  or  character  given  of  him  by  the 
Spirit  of  God,  though  very  concise,  is  yet  full  and  sa¬ 
tisfactory  :  And  there  arose  not  a  prophet  since  in  Is¬ 
rael  like  unto  Moses,  whom  Jehovah  knew  face  to  face ; 
in  all  the  signs  and  the  'wonders  which  the  Lord  sent 
him  to  do  in  the  land  of  Egypt,  to  Pharaoh ,  and  to  all 
his  servants,  and  to  all  his  land ;  and  in  all  that  mighty 
hand  (all -conquering  power  and  influence)  and  in  all 
the  great  terror  which  Moses  showed  in  the  sight  of 
all  Israel.  Moses  is  called  the  servant  of  God ;  and 
he  has  farther  this  high  character,  that  as  a  servant  he 
was  faithful  to  God  in  all  his  house,  Hcb.  iii.  5.  He 
faithfully  discharged  the  trust  reposed  in  him  ;  and  to- 


CHAP.  XXXIV. 


Sketch  of  the  history 

tally  forgetting  himself  and  his  own  secular  interest, 
with  that  also  of  his  family ,  he  laboured  incessantly  to 
promote  God’s  honour  and  the  people’s  welfare,  which 
on  many  occasions  he  showed  were  dearer  to  him  than 
his  own  life .  Moses  was  in  every  respect  a  great 
man;  for  every  virtue  that  constitutes  genuine  nobility 
was  concentred  in  his  mind,  and  fully  displayed  in  his 
conduct.  He  ever  conducted  himself  as  a  man  con¬ 
scious  of  his  own  integrity ,  and  of  the  guidance  and 
p'otection  of  God ,  under  whose  orders  he  constantly 
acted.  He  therefore  betrays  no  confusion  in  his  views, 
nor  indecision  in  his  measures ;  he  was  ever  without 
anxiety ,  because  he  wras  conscious  of  the  rectitude  of 
his  motives,  and  that  the  cause  which  he  espoused  was 
the  cause  of  God,  and  that  his  power  and  faithfulness 
were  pledged  for  his  support.  His  courage  and  forti¬ 
tude  were  unshaken  and  unconquerable,  because  his 
reliance  was  unremittingly  fixed  on  the  unchangeable¬ 
ness  of  Jehovah.  He  left  Egypt  having  an  eye  to  the 
recompense  of  reward  in  another  world,  and  never  lost 
sight  of  this  grand  object ;  he  was  therefore  neither 
discouraged  by  difficulties ,  nor  elated  by  prosperity. 
He  who  in  Egypt  refused  to  be  called  the  son  of  Pha¬ 
raoh’s  daughter,  thereby  renouncing  the  claim  he  might 
have  had  on  the  Egyptian  throne,  was  never  likely  to 
be  influenced  by  secular  views  in  the  government  of 
the  miserable  multitudes  which  he  led  out  of  that 
country.  His  renunciation  of  the  court  of  Pharaoh 
and  its  advantages  was  the  amplest  proof  that  he 
neither  sought  nor  expected  honour  or  emolument  in 
the  wilderness ,  among  a  people  who  had  scarcely  any 
thing  but  what  they  received  by  immediate  miracle 
from  the  hand  of  God. 

I  have  more  than  once  had  occasion  to  note  the  dis¬ 
interestedness  of  Moses  in  reference  to  his  family,  as 
well  as  to  himself.  This  is  a  singular  case;  his  own 
tribe,  that  of  Levi,  he  left  without  any  earthly  posses¬ 
sion:  and  though  to  minister  to  God  was  the  most 
honourable  employment,  yet  the  Levites  could  never 
arise  to  any  political  consequence  in  Israel.  Even  his 
own  sons  became  blended  in  the  common  mass  of  the 
Levites,  and  possessed  no  kind  of  distinction  among 
their  brethren.  Though  his  confidence  in  God  was 
ever  unshaken,  yet  he  had  a  life  of  toil  and  perpetual 
distress,  occasioned  by  the  ignorance,  obstinacy,  and 
baseness,  of  the  people  over  whom  he  presided ;  and 
he  died  in  their  service,  leaving  no  other  property  but 
his  tent  behind  him.  Of  the  spoils  taken  in  war  we 
never  read  of  the  portion  of  Moses.  He  had  none ,  he 
wanted  none;  his  treasure  was  in  heaven,  and  where 
his  treasure  was,  there  also  was  his  heart.  By  this 
disinterestedness  of  Moses  two  points  are  fully  proved  : 

1 .  That  he  was  satisfied,  fully  so,  that  his  mission  was 
Divine,  and  that  in  it  he  served  the  living  God ;  and 

2.  That  he  believed  in  the  immortality  of  the  soul,  and 
the  doctrine  of  future  rewards  and  punishments,  and 
therefore  he  laboured  so  to  pass  through  things  tem¬ 
poral,  that  he  might  not  lose  the  things  that  are  eternal. 
It  is  strange  that  the  faith  of  Moses  in  these  points 
should  be  questioned  by  any  who  had  ever  seriously 
read  the  Pentateuch. 

The  manner  in  which  he  bore  the  sentence  of  his 
exclusion  from  the  promised  inheritance,  is  an  addi¬ 
tional  proof  of  his  persuasion  of  the  reality  of  the  in- 


and  character  of  Moses. 

visible  world.  No  testincss,  no  murmuring,  no  expa¬ 
tiating  on  former  services  ;  no  passionate  entreaties  to 
have  the  sentence  reversed,  appear  in  the  spirit  or 
conduct  of  this  truly  great  man.  He  bowed  to  the 
decision  of  that  justice  which  he  knew  could  not  act 
wrong ;  and  having  buried  the  world,  as  to  himself,  he 
had  no  earthly  attachments ;  he  was  obeying  the  will 
of  God  in  leading  the  people,  and  therefore,  when  his 
Master  chose  to  dismiss  him  from  this  service,  he  was 
content ;  and  saw,  without  regret  or  envy,  another  ap¬ 
pointed  to  his  office. 

The  moral  character  of  Moses  is  almost  immaculate. 
That  he  offended  Jehovah  at  the  waters  of  Meribah 
there  can  be  no  doubt ;  but  in  what  the  offence  con¬ 
sisted,  commentators  and  critics  are  greatly  at  a  loss 
to  ascertain.  In  the  note  on  Num.  xx.  12,  I  have 
said  all  that  I  believe  should  be  said  upon  the  point ; 
and  after  all,  conjecture  is  obliged  to  come  in,  to  sup¬ 
ply  the  place  of  substantial  evidence;  and  the  fault  is 
so  slight,  humanly  speaking,  as  even  to  glide  away 
from  the  eye  of  conjecture  itself.  Had  the  offence, 
whatever  it  was,  been  committed  by  any  ordinary  per¬ 
son,  it  would  probably  have  passed  between  God  and 
the  conscience  without  any  public  reprehension.  But 
Moses  was  great,  and  supereminently  favoured ;  and  a 
fault  in  him  derived  much  of  its  moral  delinquency 
from  these  very  circumstances.  He  did  not  sanctify 
the  Lord  in  the  sight  of  the  people — he  did  not  fully 
show  that  God  himself  was  the  sole  worker;  he  ap¬ 
peared  by  his  conduct  to  exhibit  himself  as  an  agent 
indispensably  necessary  in  the  promised  miraculous 
supply  ;  and  this  might  have  had  the  most  dangerous 
consequences  on  the  minds  of  this  gross  people,  had 
not  God  thus  marked  it  with  his  displeasure.  This 
awful  lesson  to  the  legislator  taught  the  people  that 
their  help  came  from  GOD,  and  not  from  man ;  and 
that  consequently  they  must  repose  their  confidence 
in  him  alone.  But  this  subject  deserves  to  be  more 
distinctly  considered,  as  in  the  account  given  of  his 
death  this  offence  is  again  brought  forth  to  view. 
God  himself  thus  details  the  circumstances  :  “  Get 
thee  up  into  this  mountain,  and  behold  the  land  of 
Canaan — and  die  in  the  mount  whither  thou  goest  up, 
and  be  gathered  unto  thy  people  as  Aaron  thy  brother, 
because  ye  trespassed  against  me  among  the  children 
of  Israel  ;  because  ye  sanctified  me  not  in  the  midst 
of  the  children  of  Israel;”  chap,  xxxii.  49-51. 
“  And  Moses  went  up  unto  the  mountain  of  Nebo,  and 
the  Lord  showed  him  all  the  land ;  and  the  Lord  said 
unto  him,  This  is  the  land  which  I  sware  unto  Abra¬ 
ham,  unto  Isaac,  and  unto  Jacob,  saying,  I  will  give 
it  unto  thy  seed  :  I  have  caused  thee  to  see  it  with 
thine  eyes,  but  thou  shalt  not  go  over  thither :  so  Moses, 
the  servant  of  the  Lord,  died  there,  according  to  the 
word  of  the  Lord  ;  and  he  buried  him  chap,  xxxiv. 
1-6.  In  the  above  extracts,  all  the  circumstances  rela¬ 
tive  to  this  event  are  brought  into  one  point  of  view ; 
and  we  see  plainly  the  stress  that  is  laid  on  the  offence 
against  God.  Ye  trespassed  against  me  among  the 

CHILDREN  OF  ISRAEL - Ye  SANCTIFIED  ME  NOT  IN  THE 

MIDST  OF  THE  CHILDREN  OF  ISRAEL.  These  WOl'ds 

may  be  understood  thus  :  The  people  of  themselves . 
were  too  much  prone  to  take  off  their  eye  from  God, 
consult  their  senses,  and  depend  upon  man ;  and  tho 

845 


•  Sketch  of  the  history  DEUTERONOMY.  and  character  of  Moses. 


manner  in  which  Moses  and  Aaron  performed  the 
miracle  which  God  commanded  them  to  do  in  his 
name,  was  such  as  to  confirm  them  in  the  carnality  of 
their  views,  and  cause  them  to  depend  on  an  arm  of 
flesh.  Ye  therefore  shall  not  go  into  the  promised 
land ,  said  the  Lord :  and  the  death  of  them  both  was 
the  fullest  proof  to  this  people  that  it  was  not  by  might 
nor  by  power,  but  by  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  of  hosts, 
that  their  enemies  were  expelled,  and  that  themselves 
were  introduced  and  established  in  the  promised  in¬ 
heritance.  This  seems  to  be  the  spirit  of  the  whole 
business  :  and  as  Moses  had  no  other  end  in  view  but 
the  glory  of  God,  it  must  have  been  a  supreme  satis¬ 
faction  to  his  pious  soul,  that  this  end  was  so  effectu¬ 
ally  promoted,  though  even  at  the  expense  of  his  life. 

1.  At  a  distant  view  there  appears  to  be  very  little 
observable  in  the  death  of  Moses ;  but  on  a  nearer  ap¬ 
proach  we  shall  find  it  to  have  been  the  most  honour¬ 
able ,  I  might  add  the  most  glorious ,  with  which  any 
human  being  was  ever  favoured.  A  s  to  his  death  it¬ 
self,  it  is  simply  said,  lie  died  in  the  land  of  Moab — 
according  to  the  word  of  the  Lord.  He  was,  as  has 
already  been  observed,  in  familiar  conversation  with 
his  Maker ;  and  while  in  the  act  of  viewing  the  land, 
and  receiving  the  last  information  relative  to  it ,  the 
ancient  covenant  with  the  patriarchs,  and  the  perform¬ 
ance  of  the  covenant  in  putting  their  posterity  into 
possession  of  this  goodly  inheritance,  he  yielded  up 
the  ghost,  and  suddenly  passed  from  the  verge  of  the 
earthly  into  the  heavenly  Canaan.  Thus,  without  the 
labour  and  the  delay  of  passing  through  the  type ,  he 
entered  at  once  into  the  possession  of  the  antitype ; 
having  simply  lost  the  honour  of  leading  the  people  a 
little  farther ,  whom,  writh  so  much  care  and  solicitude, 
he  had  brought  thus  far. 

2.  There  is  another  circumstance  in  his'death  which 

requires  particular  notice.  It  is  said,  He  died — ac¬ 
cording  to  the  word  of  the  Lord:  the  original  words 
mrp  ’2  by  al  pi  Yehovah ,  signify  literally  at  (or  upon) 
the  mouth  of  Jehovah ;  which  Jonathan  ben  Uzziel  in¬ 
terprets  thus  :  ’H  iOD’D  by  al  neshikath  mey- 

mera  dayeya ,  “  by  a  kiss  of  the  word  of  Jehovah 
and  this  has  given  rise  to  an  ancient  tradition  among 
the  Jews,  “that  God  embraoed  Moses,  and  drew  his 
soul  out  of  his  body  by  a  kiss.”  The  Targumist  adds, 
that  this  was  “  on  the  seventh  day  of  the  month  Adar, 
the  same  day  of  the  same  month  on  which  he  was  born.” 

3.  The  last  circumstance  worthy  of  note  is,  that 
God  buried  him,  which  is  an  honour  no  human  being 
ever  received  besides  himself.  From  the  tradition  re¬ 
ferred  to  by  Saint  Jude,  ver.  9,  it  appears  that  Michael , 
the  archangel,  was  employed  on  this  occasion  ;  that 
Satan  disputed  the  matter  with  him,  probably  wishing 
the  burial-place  of  Moses  to  be  known ,  that  it  might 
become  an  excitement  to  superstition  and  idolatry ; 
but  being  rebuked  by  the  Lord,  he  was  obliged  to  give 
over  the  contention ;  and  though  the  place  of  burial 
was  probably  the  valley  of  the  mountain  on  which 
Moses  had  been  conversing  with  God,  and  where  he 
died,  yet  Satan  himself  could  not  ascertain  the  spot, 
and  no  man  knoweth  of  his  sepulchre  unto  this  day. 

4.  It  may  be  asked  how  Moses,  who  was  bred  up 
at  an  idolatrous  court,  which  he  did  not  quit  till  the 
fortieth  year  of  his  age,  got  that  acquaintance  with  the 

846 


true  God  which  the  apostle  states  him  to  have  had ; 
and  that  faith  by  which  he  realized  spiritual  and  invi¬ 
sible  things,  and  through  which  he  despised  all  worldly 
grandeur  and  secular  emolument.  “  By  faith, ”  says 
the  apostle,  “Moses,  when  he  was  come  to  years,  re¬ 
fused  to  be  called  the  so'n  of  Pharaoh’s  daughter ; 
choosing  rather  to  suffer  affliction  writh  the  people  of 
God,  than  to  enjoy  the  pleasures  of  sin  for  a  season  ; 
esteeming  the  reproach  of  Christ  greater  riches  than 
the  treasures  in  Egypt;  for  he  had  respect  unto  the 
recompense  of  the  reward,”  Heb.  xi.  24,  &c.  This 
certainly  implies  a  degree  of  religious  knowledge,  as¬ 
sociated  with  an  experimental  acquaintance  with  Divine 
things,  which  we  can  scarcely  ever  suppose  to  have 
been  at  all  the  result  of  an  Egyptian  education.  But 
we  shall  cease  to  be  pressed  with  any  difficulty  here, 
when  we  consider  the  circumstance  of  his  being  pro¬ 
videntially  nursed  by  his  own  mother ,  under  the  au¬ 
thority  and  direction  of  the  Egyptian  princess.  This 
gave  him  the  privilege  of  frequent  intercourse  with  his 
parents,  and  others  of  the  Hebrews,  who  worshipped 
the  true  God ;  and  from  them  he  undoubtedly  learned 
all  the  great  truths  of  that  religion  which  were  taught 
and  practised  among  the  patriarchs.  The  circum¬ 
stance  of  his  Hebrew  origin,  his  exposure  on  the  Nile, 
his  being  found  and  adopted  by  the  daughter  of  Pha¬ 
raoh,  were  facts  which  could  not  be  concealed,  and 
must  have  been  notorious  at  the  Egyptian  court ;  and 
when  these  points  are  considered,  we  need  not  be  sur¬ 
prised  that  he  never  could  be  so  identified  among  the 
Egyptians  as  that  his  Hebrew  extraction  should  be 
forgotten. 

That  the  person  whom  God  designed  to  be  the  de¬ 
liverer  of  his  people  should  have  been  a  Hebrew  by 
birth,  and  have  retained  all  his  natural  attachment  to 
his  own  people,  and  yet  have  been  brought  up  by  Pha¬ 
raoh’s  daughter,  and  had  all  the  advantages  of  a  highly- 
finished  education,  which  the  circumstances  of  his  own 
family  could  not  have  afforded,  is  all  a  master-piece 
of  wisdom  in  the  designs  of  the  Divine  providence. 
Besides,  Moses  by  this  education  must  have  been  well 
known,  and  even  popular  among  the  Egyptians ;  and 
therefore  the  subsequent  public  part  he  took  in  behalf 
of  the  Hebrews  must  have  excited  the  greater  attention 
and  procured  him  the  greater  respect  both  among  the 
Egyptians  and  his  own  people.  All  these  circum¬ 
stances  taken  together  show  the  manifold  wisdom  and 
gracious  providence  of  God. 

5.  Thus  end  the  life  and  the  work  of  the  writer  of 
the  Pentateuch,  who,  by  the  treasures  of  wisdom  and 
knowledge  which  he  has  amassed  in  those  five  books, 
has  enriched  the  whole  civilized  earth,  and  indeed 
greatly  promoted  that  very  civilization.  His  works, 
we  may  justly  say,  have  been  a  kind  of  text-book  to 
almost  every  writer  on  geology,  geography ,  chronology , 
astronomy ,  natural  history,  ethics,  jurisprudence ,  poli¬ 
tical  economy,  theology,  poetry,  and  criticism,  from  his 
time  to  the  present  day.  Books,  to  which  the  choicest 
writers  and  philosophers  in  pagan  antiquity  have  been 
deeply  indebted,  and  which  were  the  text-books  to  all 
the  prophets ;  books  from  which  the  flimsy  writers 
against  Divine  Revelation  have  derived  their  natural 
religion,  and  all  their  moral  excellence  ;  books  written 
in  all  the  energy  and  purity  of  the  incomparable  lan- 


Sketch  of  the  History  and  Character  of  Moses. 


guage  in  which  they  are  composed  ;  and  finally,  books 
which,  for  importance  of  matter,  variety  of  information, 
dignity  of  sentiment,  accuracy  of  facts,  impartiality,  sim¬ 
plicity,  and  sublimity  of  narration,  tending  to  improve 
and  ennoble  the  intellect,  and  meliorate  the  physical 
and  moral  condition  of  man,  have  never  been  equalled, 
and  can  only  be  paralleled  by  the  Gospel  of  the  Son 
of  God !  Fountain  of  endless  mercy,  justice,  truth, 
and  beneficence !  how  much  are  thy  gifts  and  bounties 
neglected  by  those  who  do  not  read  this  law ;  and  by 
those  who,  having  read  it,  are  not  morally  improved  by 
it,  and  made  wise  unto  salvation ! 


On  the  whole  we  may  remark,  that  when  God  calls 
any  person  to  an  extraordinary  work,  he  so  orders  it, 
in  the  course  of  his  providence,  that  he  shall  have  every 
qualification  necessary  for  that  work.  This  was  the 
case  with  Moses  :  his  Hebrew  extraction,  the  comeliness 
of  his  person,  his  Egyptian  education,  his  natural  firm¬ 
ness  and  constancy  of  character,  all  concurred  with  the 
influences  of  the  Divine  Spirit,  to  make  him  in  every 
respect  such  a  person,  one  among  millions,  who  was  every 
ivay  qualified  for  the  great  work  which  God  had  given 
him  to  do  ;  and  wrho  performed  it  according  to  the  mind 
of  his  Maker.  Servant  of  God,  well  done! 

847 


a 


A  GENERAL  VIEW  OF  ALL  THE  SECTIONS  OF  THE  LAW,  AND  OF  THE  PROPHETS 

As  read  in  the  different  Jewish  Synagogues,  for  every  Sabbath  of  the  Year. 


PARESHIOTH,  or  sections  of  the  Law. 


xn 
•— < 

£  ^ 

£3 

0 


(  Sec  i.  FilZJlS  Bereshith,  .  . 

ii.  J“I3  m^iri  Toledoth  noach. 

iii.  -A  “r^  Lechlecha, 

iv.  Vaiyera,  .  .  . 

v.  HTE  Chaiyey  Sarah, 

vi.  rn^1!n  Toledoth,  .  . 

vii.  Vaiyetse,  .  . 

viii.  Yaiyishlach,  . 

ix.  Yaiyesheb,  .  . 

x.  ypfa  Mikkets,  .  .  . 

xi.  Vaiyiggash,  .  . 

xii.  'nj-j'il  Vayechi,  .  .  . 


i.  1  to  vi.  8.  .  .  . 

,vi.  9  to  xi.  32.  .  . 

xii.  1  to  xvii.  27. .  . 

xviii.  1  to  xxii.  24.  . 
xxiii.  1  to  xxv.  18.  . 
xxv.  19  to  xxviii.  9.  . 
xxviii.  10  to  xxxii.  3. 
xxxii.  4  to  xxxvi.  43. 
xxxvii.  1  to  xl.  23.  . 
xii.  1  to  xliv.  17. 
xliv.  18  to  xlvii.  27.  . 
xlvii.  28  to  1.  26. 


m 

Q 

O 

X 

w 


xiii.  F1T21D  Shemoth,  . 

xiv.  ^*1}^  Vaera,  .  . 

xv.  WlB  Bo  el  paroh 

xvi.  Fl^lZG  Beshallach, 

xvii.  ‘n'iFi‘1  Yithro,  .  . 


xvin. 

xix. 

XX. 

xxi. 


‘D'n’EtjBJto  Mishpatim, . 
fifc'nn  Terumah, .  . 


niStl  Tetsavveh, 
j^B3n  ‘"G  Ki  thissa, 
xxii.  Yaiyakhel  . 

xxiii.  Pekudey,  . 


i.  1  to  vi.  1.  .  .  . 

vi.  2  to  ix.  35.  .  . 

,  x.  1  to  xiii.  16.  .  . 

xiii.  17  to  xvii.  16.  . 
xviii.  1  to  xx.  26. 

xxi.  1  to  xxiv.  18.  . 

xxv.  1  to  xxvii.  19.  . 
xx  vii.  20  to  xxx.  10. 
xxx.  1 1  to  xxxiv.  35. 
xxxv.  1  to  xxxviii.  20. 
xxxviii.  21  to  xl.  38. 


00 

p 

o 

►"H  y 

E-i  S 

PH 

P 

W 

P 


xxiv.  j^'^pT’  Yaiyikra,  .  .  i.  1  to  vi.  7.  .  . 

xxv.  Yaiyikra  Tsav,vi.  8  to  viii.  36.  . 

xxvi.  byj'^B3  Shemini,  .  .  ix.  1  to  xi.  4-7. 

xxvii.  Tazria, .  .  .  xii.  1  to  xiii.  59.  . 

xxviii.  Metsora,  .  .  xiv.  1  to  xv.  33.  . 

xxix.  ffifa  Acharey  Moth, xvi.  1  to  xviii.  30. 

xxx.  '□'GJIp  Kedoshim,  .  xix.  1  to  xx.  27.  . 

xxxi.  Emor,  .  .  .  xxi.  1  to  xxiv.  23. 

xxxii.  Mint)  Behar  Sinai,  xxv.  1  to  xxvi.  2. 

xxxiii.  s.npni  Bechukkothai,  xxvi.  3  to  xxvii.  34-. 


r 


m 
P$ 

W  , 

PQ  < 

P 

£ 


xxxiv. 

xxxv. 

xxxvi. 

xxxvii. 

xxxviii. 


O 

& 

S  ^ 

H 
Eh 
P 
W 
Q 


lintoi  Bemidbar,. 

Naso,  .  .  . 

‘pnbS’ni  Behaalothech. 
1pB3  Shelach,  . 
nlpKorach,  . 
xxxix.  Fipn  Chukkath, 
xl.  p^  Balak,  .  . 

xii.  Pinechas, 

xhi.  FiTD?2  Mattoth, . 
xliii.  Masey,  . 

Debarim,  . 
‘pnn&'l  Yaethchann? 
^pj)  Ekeb,  .  .  . 

Be  eh,  . 

tCDi’i  Shophetim, 
Tetse,  .  . 

»*G  m  Tabo>  •  • 

Nitstsabim, 
Vaiyelech,  . 
Haazinu,  .  . 

Cilin  mn  YezothHab- 

hp.rHC.hah. 


xliv. 

xiv. 

xlvi. 

xlvii. 

xlviii. 

xlix. 

1. 

li. 

Iii. 

liii. 

liv. 


lan 


HAPHTAROTH, 
Portuguese  and  Italian  Jews. 
Isa.  xiii.  5-21.  .  .  . 

Isa.  liv.  1-10.  .  .  . 

Isa.  xl.  27-31  ;  xii.  1-16. 

2  Kings  iv.  1-23.  .  . 

1  Kings  i.  1-31.  .  . 

Mai.  i.  1-14 ;  ii.  1-7.  . 

Hos.  xi.  7-12;  xii.  1—11. 

Obad.  i.  1-21.  ... 

Anios  ii.  1-16  ;  iii.  1-8. 

1  Kings  iii.  15-28  ;  iv.  1. 

Ezek.  xxxvii.  15-28. 

]  Kings  ii.  1-12.  .  . 

Jer.  i.  1—19 ;  ii.  1-3. 

Ezek.  xxviii.  25  to  xxix.  21. 
Jer.  xlvi.  13-28.  . 

Judg.  v.  1-31. 

Isa.  vi.  1-13 . 


i.  1  to  iv.  20.  .  .  . 

iv.  21  to  vii.  89.  . 
viii.  1  to  xii.  16.  .  . 

xiii.  1  to  xv.  41.  .  . 

xvi.  1  to  xviii.  32.  . 

xix.  1  to  xxii.  1.  . 
xxii.  2  to  xxv.  9. 

xxv.  10  to  xxx.  1. 

xxx.  2  to  xxxii.  42.  . 
xxxiii.  1  to  xxxvi.  13. 

i.  1  to  iii.  22.  .  . 

iii.  23  to  vii.  11.  .  . 

vii.  12  to  xi.  25.  .  . 

xi.  26  to  xvi.  17. 
xvi.  18  to  xxi.  9. 
xxi.  10  to  xxv.  19.  . 

xxvi.  1  to  xxix.  8. 
xxix.  9  to  xxx.  20.  . 

xxxi.  1  to  xxxi.  30.  . 
xxxii.  1  to  xxxii.  52. 


Jer.  xxxiv.  8-22  &  xxxiii.  25,  26. 
1  Kings  v.  12-18  ;  vi.  1-13. 

Ezek.  xliii.  10-27.  .  . 

1  Kings  xviii.  20-39. 

1  Kings  vii.  13-26.  . 

1  Kings  vii.  40-50.  .  .  . 


.  Isa.  xliii.  21-28  ;  xliv.  1-25 
.  Jer.  vii.  21-34 ;  viii.  1-3;  ix. 
.  2  Sam.  vi.  1-19.  .  .  . 

.  2  Kings  iv.  42—44 ;  v.  1-19 
.  2  Kings  vii.  3-20. 

.  Amos  ix.  7-15.  .  .  . 

.  Ezek.  xx.  2-20.  .  .  . 

.  Ezek.  xliv.  15-31.  .  . 

.  Jer.  xxxii.  6-27.  . 

.  Jer.  xvi.  19-21  ;  xvii.  1-14 


iv 


Hos.  i.  10,  11 ;  ii.  1—20. 

Judg.  xiii.  2-25.  .  .  . 

Zech.  ii.  10-13 ;  iii.  1-13  ; 

Josh  ii.  1-24 . 

1  Sam.  xi.  14,  15;  xii.  1-22. 

Judg.  xi.  1-33. 

Micah  v.  7-15  ;  vi.  1-8. 

1  Kings  xx.  46  ;  xix.  1-21 

Jer.  i.  1-19  ;  ii.  1-3. 

Jer.  ii.  4—28 ;  iv.  1,  2.  . 

Isa.  i.  1-27 . 

xl.  1-26 . 

xlix.  14-26 ;  1.  1-3. 
liv.  11—17 ;  Iv.  1-5. 
li.  12-23 ;  Iii.  1-12. 

liv.  1-10 . 

lx.  1-22 . 


or  sections  of  the  Prophets. 

German  and  Dutch  Jews 
.  Isa.  xiii  5-25;  xliii.  10. 
.  Isa.  liv.  1-17;  lv.  1-5. 

.  Ditto. 

.  2  Kings  iv.  1-37 

.  Ditto. 

.  Ditto. 

.  Ditto. 

.  Hos.  xii.  12-14;  xiii.  1-16 
.  Ditto. 

.  Ditto. 

.  Ditto. 

.  Ditto. 


Isa.  xxvii.  6  to  xxix.  23. 
Ditto. 

Ditto. 

Judg.  iv.  4  to  v.  1-31. 
Isa.  vi.  1-13  ;  vii.  1-6  ; 

ix.  6  7. 

Ditto. 

Ditto. 

Ditto. 

1  Kings  xviii.  1-39. 

1  Kings  vii.  40-50. 

1  Kings  viii.  51 ;  vii.  1-21. 


Ditto. 

,24.  Ditto. 

.  2  Sam.  vi.  1-23;  vii.  1-17. 

.  Ditto. 

.  Ditto. 

.  Ezek.  xxii.  1-19. 

.  Amos  ix.  7-15. 

.  Ditto. 

.  Ditto. 

.  Ditto. 

.  Ditto. 

.  Ditto. 

1-7.  Ditto. 

.  Ditto. 

.  Ditto. 

.  Ditto. 

.  Ditto. 

.  Ditto. 

Ditto. 

Jer.  ii.  4-28  ;  iii.  4, 


Ditto. 

Ditto. 

Ditto. 

Ditto. 

Ditto. 

Ditto. 

Ditto. 


lxi.  10,  11 ;  lxii.  1-12  ;  lxiii.  1-9.  Ditto. 

Hos.  xiv.  1-9;  Micah  vii.  18-20.  Isa.  Iv.  6-13  ;  Ivi.  1-8 
2  Sam.  xxii.  1-51.  Some  say  Hos.  xiv.  1-9  ;  Joel  ii. 
Ezek.  xvii.  22-24;  xviii.  1-32.  1-27. 


xxxiii.  1  to  xxxiv.  12.  Josh.  i.  1-18  ;  Eccles.  i.-xii.  inclusive.  Ditto. 


In  the  above  chapters  and  verses  I  have,  in  general,  followed  the 
divisions  in  the  best  Masoretic  Bibles,  from  which  our  common  Eng¬ 
lish  Bibles  will  in  some  cases  be  found  to  differ  a  little. 

In  the  synagogues  the  law  is  read  entirely  through  in  the  fifty  Sab¬ 
baths  of  their  lunar  year  ;  for  theyjoin  certain  sections  together,  which 
are  noticed  at  the  end  of  the  tables.  But  in  their  intercalated  years, 
in  which  they  add  a  month ,  they  have  then  fifty-four  Sabbaths,  and 
this  is  one  reason  why  we  find  fifty-four  Pareshahs,  and  fifty-four 
Haphtaras,  instead  of  fifty-two.  See  the  concluding  tables. 

It  has  already  been  'observed  that  when  Antiochus  Epiphanes  con¬ 
quered  the  Jews,  about  the  year  168  before  the  Christian  era,  he  for¬ 
bade  the  law  to  be  publicly  read  in  the  S}magogues,  on  pain  of  death. 
Tiie  Jews,  that  they  might  not  be  wholly  deprived  of  the  word  of  God, 
selected  from  other  parts  of  the  sacred  writings  fifty-four  portions, 

which  were  termed  haphtaras,  InUtSth"!  haphtaroth,  from  1t3& 
pat.ar ,  he  dismissed ,  let  loose ,  opened— for  though  the  Law  was  dis¬ 
missed  from  their  synagogues,  and  was  closed  to  them  by  the  edict  of 
this  persecuting  king,  yet  the  prophetic  writings,  not  being  under  the 
interdict,  were  left  open,  and  therefore  thevused  them  in  place  of  the 

848 


others.  It  was  from  this  custom  of  the  Jews,  that  the  primitive  Chris¬ 
tians  adopted  theirs  of  reading  a  lesson  every  Sabbath  out  of  the  old 
and  New  Testaments  ;  and  on  this  custom  the  practice  of  the  Church 
in  our  own  country,  in  reading  certain  portions  of  the  epistles  and 
Gospels  every  Sunday  in  the  year  was  founded. 

As  a  proper  knowledge  of  these  Haphtaras  or  prophetical  sections 
may  sometimes  help  to  fix  the  chronology  of  some  events  in  the  New 
Testament,  it  hath  been  deemed  proper  to  give  a  table  of  them  in  con¬ 
nection  with  the  Pareshiotk  or  sections  of  the  law,  in  the  place  of  which 
they  were  originally  read ;  and  with  which,  ever  since  the  days  of  the 
Asmoneans  or  Maccabees,  they  continue  to  be  read  in  the  various 
synagogues  belonging  to  the  English,  Portuguese,  Italian,  Dutch,  and 
German  Jews. 

From  the  above  tables  the  reader  will  perceive  that  though  the  Jews 
are  agreed  in  the  sections  of  the  law  that  are  read  every  Sabbath,  yet 
they  are  not  agreed  in  the  Haphtaras  or  sections  from  the  prophets  ; 
as  it  appears  above,  that  the  Dutch  and  German  Jews  differ  in  several 
cases  from  the  Italian  and  Portuguese  ;  and  there  are  some  slighter 
variations  besides  those  above,  wrhich  I  have  not  noticed. 

a 


TABLE  I 


A  PERPETUAL  TABLE, 

SHOWING, 

Through  the  course  of  thirteen  Lunar  Cycles ,  ( which  embrace  every  possible  variation ,)  the 
day  of  the  week  with  which  the  Jewish  year  begins ,  and  on  which  the  Passover  is 
held ;  as  also  the  length  of  the  months  Marchesvan  and  Cisleu. 

CYCLE  CCXCIV. 

CYT CLE  CCXCV. 

CYCLE  CCXCVI. 

Usheri  - 
an  yeai 
of  the 
world. 

Rabbin¬ 
ical  yeai 
of  the 
world. 

Year  oi 
Christ 

Y^ear 
of  the 
lunar 
cycle. 

Index. 

Usheri- 
an  yeai 
of  the 
world. 

j  Rabbin¬ 
ical  year 
of  the 
world. 

Year  o 
Christ 

Year 
f  of  the 
lunar 
cycle. 

Index. 

Usheri 
an  yeai 
of  the 
world. 

Rabbin¬ 
ical  year 
of  the 
world. 

Year  o: 
Christ. 

Year 
of  the 
lunar 
cycle. 

Index. 

5812 

5568 

1808 

1 

7 

P 

3 

5831 

5587 

1827 

1 

2  P  5 

5850 

5606 

1846 

1 

5  d  7 

5813 

5569 

1809 

2 

5 

d 

rr 

/ 

5832 

5588 

1828 

2 

7  P  3 

5851 

5607 

1847 

2 

2  P  5 

5814 

5570 

1810 

E  3 

2 

D 

5 

5833 

5589 

1829 

E  3 

5  D  1 

5852 

5608 

1848 

E  3 

7  D  3 

5815 

5571 

1811 

4 

7 

P 

3 

5834 

5590 

1830 

4 

3  d  5 

5853 

5609 

1849 

4 

5  P  1 

5816 

5572 

1812 

5 

5 

d 

r* 

l 

5835 

5591 

1831 

5 

7  P  3 

5854 

5610 

1850 

5 

3  d  5 

5817 

5573 

1813 

E  6 

2 

D 

5 

5836 

5592 

1832 

E  6 

5  D  1 

5855 

5611 

1851 

E  6 

7  P  5 

5818 

5574 

1814 

7 

7 

P 

3 

5837 

5593 

1833 

if 

7 

3  d  5 

5856 

5612 

1852 

7 

7  D  1 

5819 

5575 

1815 

E  8 

5 

P 

3 

5838 

5594 

1834 

E  8 

7  P  5 

5857 

5613 

1853 

E  8 

3  d  7 

5820 

5576 

1816 

9 

5 

d 

7 

5839 

5595 

1835 

9 

7  P  3 

5858 

5614 

1854 

9 

2  P  5 

5821 

5577 

1817 

10 

2 

D 

3 

5840 

5596 

1836 

10 

5  d  7 

5859 

5615 

1855 

10 

7  P  3 

5822 

5578 

1818 

E  11 

5 

F 

3 

5841 

5597 

1837 

E  11 

2  D  5 

5860 

5616 

1856 

E  11 

5  D  1 

5823 

5579 

1819 

12 

5 

d 

7 

5842 

5598 

1838 

12 

7  P  3 

5861 

5617 

1857 

12 

3  d  5 

5824 

5580 

1820 

13 

2 

P 

5 

5843 

5599 

1839 

13 

5  d  7 

5862 

5618 

185S 

13 

7  P  3 

5825 

5581 

1821 

E  14 

7 

D 

3 

5844 

5600 

1840 

E  14 

2  P  7 

5863 

5619 

1859 

E  14 

5  P  3 

5826 

5582 

1S22 

15 

5 

d 

7 

5845 

5601 

1841 

15 

2  D  3 

5864 

5620 

1860 

15 

5  d  7 

5827 

5583 

1823 

16 

2 

P 

5 

5846 

5602 

1842 

16 

5  d  7 

5865 

5621  ' 

1861 

16 

2  U  3 

5828 

5584 

1824 

E  17 

7 

D 

3 

5847 

5603 

1843 

E  17 

2  P  7 

6866 

5622 

1862 

E  17 

5  P  3 

5829 

5585 

1825 

18 

5 

P 

1 

5848 

5604 

1844 

18 

2  P  5 

5867 

5623 

1863 

18 

5  d  7 

5830 

5586 

1826 

E  19 

3 

d 

7 

5849 

5605 

1845 

E  19 

7  D  3 

5868 

5624 

1864 

E  19 

2  D  5 

CYCLE  CCXCVII. 

CY" CLE  CCXCVIII. 

CYCLE  CCXCIX. 

Usheri- 

Rabbin- 

Year 

Usheri- 

Rabbin- 

Year 

Usheri- 

Rabbin- 

l^ear 

an  year 

ical  year 

Year  of 

of  the 

T..  .1  - 

an  year 

ical  year 

Year  of 

of  the 

an  year 

ical  year 

Year  oi 

of  the 

T  , 

of  the 

of  the 

Christ. 

lunar 

of  the 

of  the 

Christ. 

lunar 

of  the 

of  the 

Christ 

lunar 

I  world. 

world. 

cycle. 

world. 

world. 

cycle. 

world. 

world. 

cycle. 

5869 

5625 

1865 

1 

7 

P 

3 

5888 

5644 

1884 

1 

3  d  5 

5907 

5663 

1903 

1 

7  D  1 

5870 

5626 

1866 

2 

5 

d 

If 

t 

5889 

5645 

1885 

2 

7  P  3 

5908 

5664 

1904 

2 

3  d  5 

<  5871 

5627 

1867 

E  3 

2 

P 

If 

i 

5890 

5646 

1886 

E  3 

5  P  3 

5909 

5665 

1905 

E  3 

7  P  5 

58*2 

5628 

1S68 

4 

2 

D 

3 

5891 

5647 

1887 

4 

5  d  7 

5910 

5666 

1906 

4 

7  P  3 

5873 

5629 

1869 

5 

5 

P 

1 

5892 

5648 

1888 

5 

2  D  3 

5911 

5667 

1907 

5 

5  d  7 

5874 

5630 

1870 

E  6 

3 

d 

7 

5893 

5649 

18S9 

E  6 

5  P  3 

5912 

5668 

1908 

E  6 

2D5 

|  5875 

5631 

1871 

l 

2 

P 

5 

5894 

5650 

1890 

if 

/ 

5  d  7 

5913 

5669 

1909 

7 

7  P  3 

|  5876 

5632 

1872 

E  8 

if 

7 

1) 

3 

5895 

5651 

1891 

E  8 

2  D  5 

5914 

5670 

1910 

E  8 

5  D  1 

|  5877 

5633 

1873 

9 

5 

d 

if 

l 

5896 

5652 

1892 

9 

7  P  3 

5915 

5671 

1911 

9 

3  d  5 

5878 

5634 

1874 

10 

2 

P 

5 

5897 

5653 

1893 

10 

5  d  7 

5916 

5672 

1912 

10 

7  P  3 

5879 

5635 

1875 

E  11 

if 

/ 

D 

3 

5898 

5654 

1894 

E  11 

2  P  7 

5917 

5673 

1913 

E  11 

5  P  3 

5880 

5636 

1870 

12 

5 

P 

1 

5899 

5655 

1895 

12 

2  D  3 

5918 

5674 

1914 

12 

5  d  7 

5881 

5637 

1877 

13 

3 

d 

5 

5900 

5656 

1896 

13 

5  P  1 

5919 

5675 

1915 

13 

2  D  3 

5882 

5638 

1878 

E  14 

If 

l 

P 

5 

5901 

5657 

1897 

E  14 

3  d  7 

5920 

5676 

1916 

E  14 

5  P  3 

5S83 

5639 

1S79 

15 

7 

P 

3 

5902 

5658 

1898 

15 

2  P  5 

5921 

5677 

1917 

15 

5  d  7 

5884 

5640 

1880 

16 

5 

d 

If 

/ 

5903 

5659 

1899 

16 

7  D  1 

5922 

5678 

1918 

16 

2  P  5 

5885 

5641 

1881 

E  17 

2 

D 

5 

5904 

5660 

1900 

E  17 

3  d  7 

5923 

5679 

1919 

E  17 

7  D  3 

5886 

5642 

1882 

18 

7 

P 

3 

5905 

5661 

1901 

18 

2  P  5 

5924 

5680 

1920 

18 

5  d  7 

5887 

5643 

1S83 

E  19 

5 

D 

1 

5906 

5662 

1902 

E  19 

7  P  5 

5925 

5681 

1921 

E  19 

2  P  7 

CYCLE  CCC. 

CYCLE  CCCI. 

CYCLE  CECIL 

Usheri- 

Rabbin- 

Year 

Usheri- 

Rabbin- 

Year 

Usheri- 

Rabbin- 

Year 

an  year 

ical  year 

Year  of 

of  the 

T._  . 

an  year 

ical  year 

Year  of 

of  the 

,  .!  -  .. 

an  year 

ical  year 

Year  of 

of  the 

Index. 

of  the 

of  the 

Clirist. 

lunar 

of  the 

of  the 

Christ. 

lunar 

1HQGX. 

of  the 

of  the 

Christ. 

lunar 

world. 

world. 

cycle. 

world. 

world. 

cycle. 

world. 

world. 

cycle. 

5926 

5682 

1922 

1 

2 

P 

5 

5945 

5701 

1941 

1 

5  d  7 

5964 

5720 

1960 

1 

7  P  3 

5927 

5683 

1923 

2 

7 

D 

1 

5946 

5702 

1942 

2 

2  P  5 

5965 

5721 

1961 

2 

5  d  7 

5928 

5684 

1924 

E  3 

3 

d 

7 

5947 

5703 

1943 

E  3 

7  D  3 

596 6 

5722 

1962 

E  3 

2  D  5 

5929 

5685 

1925 

4 

2 

P 

5 

5948 

5704 

1944 

4 

5  d  7 

5967 

5723 

1963 

4 

7  P  3 

5930 

5686 

1926 

5 

7 

P 

3 

5949 

5705 

1945 

5 

2  P  5 

5968 

5724 

1964 

5 

5  d  7 

5931 

5687 

1927 

E  6 

5 

D 

1 

5950 

5706 

1946 

E  6 

7  D  3 

5969 

5725 

1965 

E  6 

2  P  7 

5932 

5688 

1928 

if 

l 

3 

d 

5 

5951 

5707 

1947 

7 

5  P  1 

5970 

5726 

1966 

7 

2  D  3 

5933 

5689 

1929 

E  8 

7 

P 

5 

5952 

5708 

1948 

E  8 

3  d  7 

5971 

5727 

1967 

E  8 

5  P  3 

5934 

5690 

1930 

9 

7 

D 

1 

5953 

5709 

1949 

9 

2  P  5 

5972 

5728 

1968 

9 

5  d  7 

5935 

5691 

1931 

10 

3 

d 

5 

5954 

5710 

1950 

10 

7  D  1 

5973 

5729 

1969 

10 

2  P  5 

5936 

5692 

1932 

E  11 

if 

7 

P 

5 

5955 

5711 

1951 

E  11 

3  d  7 

5974 

5730 

1970 

E  11 

7  D  3 

5937 

5693 

1933 

12 

7 

P 

3 

5956 

5712 

1952 

12 

2  P  5 

5975 

5731 

1971 

12 

5  d  7 

5938 

5694 

1934 

13 

5 

d 

if 

7 

5957 

5713 

1953 

13 

7  P  3 

5976 

5732 

1972 

13 

2  P  5 

5939 

5695 

1935 

E  14 

2 

D 

5 

5958 

5714 

1954 

E  14 

5  D  1 

5977 

5733 

1973 

E  14 

7  D  3 

5940 

5696 

1936 

15 

/ 

P 

3 

5959 

5715 

1955 

15 

3  d  5 

5978 

5734 

1974 

15 

5  P  1 

5941 

5697 

1937 

16 

5 

d 

if 

/ 

5960 

5716 

1956 

16 

7  P  3 

5979 

5735 

1975 

16 

3  d  5 

5942 

5698 

1938 

E  17 

2 

P 

7 

5961 

5717 

1957 

E  17 

5  P  3 

5980 

5736 

1976 

E  17 

7  P  5 

5943 

5699 

1939 

18 

2 

D 

3 

5962 

57  IS 

1958 

18 

5  d  7 

5981 

5737 

1977 

18 

7  D  1 

5944 

5700 

1940 

E  19 

5 

P 

3 

5963 

5719 

1959 

E  19 

2  D  5  | 

5982 

5738 

1978 

E  19 

3  d  7 

Vol.  I.  (  55  )  849 


TABLE  II 


CYCLE  CCCIII. 

CYCLE  CCCIV. 

CYCLE  CCCV. 

Usheri- 

Rabbin- 

Year 

Usheri- 

Rabbin- 

Year 

Usheri- 

Rabbin- 

Year 

an  year 

ical  year 

Year  of 

of  the 

an  year 

ical  year 

Year  of 

of  the 

an  year 

ical  year 

Year  of 

of  the 

of  the 

of  the 

Christ. 

lunar 

of  the 

of  the 

Christ. 

lunar 

# 

of  the 

of  the 

Christ. 

lunar 

world. 

world. 

cycle. 

world. 

world. 

cycle. 

world. 

world. 

cycle. 

5983 

5739 

1979 

1 

2 

P 

5 

6002 

5758 

1998 

1 

5 

d 

7 

6021 

5777 

2017 

1 

2  D  3 

5984 

5740 

1980 

2 

7 

P 

3 

6003 

5759 

1999 

2 

2 

P 

5 

6022 

5778 

2018 

2 

5  d  7 

5985 

5741 

1981 

E 

3 

5 

D 

1 

6004 

5760 

2000 

E 

3 

7 

P 

5 

6023 

5779 

2019 

E 

3 

2  P  7 

5986 

5742 

1982 

4 

3 

d 

5 

6005 

5761 

2001 

4 

7 

D 

1 

6024 

5780 

2020 

4 

2  P  5 

5987 

5743 

1983 

5 

7 

P 

3 

6006 

5762 

2002 

5 

3 

d 

5 

6025 

5781 

2021 

5 

7  D  1 

5988 

5744 

1984 

E 

6 

5 

P 

3 

6007 

5763 

2003 

E 

6 

7 

P 

5 

6026 

5782 

2022 

E 

6 

3  d  7 

5989 

5745 

1985 

7 

5 

d 

7 

6008 

5764 

2004 

7 

7 

P 

3 

6027 

5783 

2023 

l 

2  P  5 

5990 

5746 

19S6 

E 

8 

2 

D 

5 

6009 

5765 

2005 

E 

8 

5 

D 

1 

6028 

5784 

2024 

E 

8 

7  D  3 

5991 

5747 

1987 

9 

7 

P 

o 

6 

6010 

5766 

2006 

9 

3 

d 

5 

6029 

5785 

2025 

9 

5  P  1 

5992 

5748 

1988 

10 

5 

d 

7 

6011 

5767 

2007 

10 

7 

P 

3 

6030 

5786 

2026 

10 

3  d  5 

5993 

5749 

1989 

E 

11 

2 

D 

5 

6012 

5768 

2008 

E 

11 

5 

P 

3 

6031 

5787 

2027 

E 

11 

7  P  5 

5994 

5750 

1990 

12 

7 

P 

3 

6013 

5769 

2009 

12 

5 

d 

7 

6032 

5788 

2028 

12 

7  P  3 

5995 

5751 

1991 

13 

5 

d 

7 

6014 

5770 

2010 

13 

2 

D 

3 

6033 

5789 

2029 

13 

5  d  7 

5996 

5752 

1992 

E 

14 

2 

P 

7 

6015 

5771 

2011 

E 

14 

5 

P 

3 

6034 

5790 

2030 

E 

14 

2  D  5 

5997 

5753 

1993 

15 

2 

D 

3 

6016 

5772 

2012 

15 

5 

d 

7 

6035 

5791 

2031 

15 

7  P  3 

5998 

5754 

1994 

16 

5 

P 

1 

6017 

5773 

2013 

16 

2 

P 

5 

6036 

5792 

2032 

16 

5  d  7 

5999 

5755 

1995 

E 

17 

3 

d 

7 

6018 

5774 

2014 

E 

17 

7 

D 

3 

6037 

5793 

2033 

E 

17 

2  D  5 

6000 

5756 

1996 

18 

2 

P 

5 

6019 

5775 

2015 

18 

5 

d 

7 

6038 

5794 

2034 

18 

7  P  3 

6001 

5757 

1997 

E 

19 

7 

D 

3 

6020 

5776 

2016 

E 

19 

2 

P 

7 

6039 

5795 

2035 

E 

19 

5  P  3 

CYCLE  CCCVI. 

CYCLE  CCCYI. 

Usheri- 

Rabbin- 

Year 

Usheri- 

Rabbin- 

Year 

an  year 

ical  year 

Year  of 

of  the 

an  year 

ical  year 

Year  of 

of  the 

of  the 

of  the 

Christ. 

lunar 

of  the 

of  the 

Christ. 

lunar 

world. 

world. 

cycle. 

world. 

world. 

cycle. 

6040 

5796 

2036 

1 

5  d  7 

6050 

5806 

2046 

E  11 

3  d  7 

6041 

5797 

2037 

2 

2  D  3 

6051 

5807 

2047 

12 

2  P  5 

6042 

5798 

2038 

E  3 

5  P  3 

6052 

5808 

2048 

13 

7  D  1 

6043 

5799 

2039 

4 

5  d  7 

6053 

5809 

2049 

E  14 

3  d  7 

6044 

5800 

2040 

5 

2  P  5 

6054 

5810 

2050 

15 

2  P  5 

6045 

5801 

2041 

E  6 

7  D  3 

6055 

5811 

2051 

16 

7  P  3 

6046 

5802 

2042 

7 

5  d  7 

6056 

5812 

2052 

E  17 

5  D  1 

6047 

5803 

2043 

E  8 

2  P  7 

6057 

5813 

2053 

18 

3  d  5 

6048 

5804 

2044 

9 

2  D  3 

6058 

5814 

2054 

E  19 

7  P  5 

6049 

5805 

2045 

10 

5  P  1 

TABLE  II. 

Containing  the  whole  variations  in  the  reading  of  the  Pareshioth,  or  sections  of  the  Laiv , 
for  every  year  of  the  Jewish  Cycle  of  247  years. 


FIRST  JEWISH  EMBOLISMIC  YEAR  OF  383  DAYS,  CONTAINING  55  SABBATHS. 

INDEX,  5  D  1. 


Tisri,  September. 

Marchesvan,  Oct. 

Cisleu,  November. 

Tebet,  December. 

Sebat, 

January. 

Adar,  February. 

Sabbaths 
of  the 
Month. 

Pare¬ 

shioth. 

Sabbaths 
of  the 
Month. 

Pare¬ 

shioth. 

Sabbaths 
of  the 
Month. 

Pare¬ 

shioth. 

Sabbaths 
of  the 
Month. 

Pare¬ 

shioth. 

Sabbaths 
of  the 
Month. 

Pare¬ 

shioth. 

Sabbaths 
of  the 
Month. 

Pare¬ 

shioth. 

9  5 

3 

53 

9  6,7 

1 

2 

©  1 

7 

7 

©  2 

6 

11 

e  3 

5 

15 

©  4,5 

3 

19 

10 

Chippur 

8 

3 

14 

8 

13 

12 

12 

16 

10 

20 

17 

Succoth 

15 

4 

21 

9 

20 

13 

19 

17 

17 

21 

6,23 

54,  B.L. 

22  • 

5 

28 

10 

27 

14 

26 

18 

24 

22 

24 

1 

29 

6 

Veadar,  February.  Nisan,  March. 


Sabbaths 
of  the 
Month. 


Pare¬ 

shioth. 


Sabbaths 
of  the 
Month. 


Pare¬ 

shioth. 


Ijar,  April. 

Sivan,  May. 

Tammuz 

,  June. 

Ab,  July. 

Elul,  August. 

Sabbaths 
of  the 
Month. 

Pare¬ 

shioth. 

Sabbaths 
of  the 
Month. 

Pare¬ 

shioth. 

Sabbaths 
of  the 
Month. 

Pare¬ 

shioth. 

Sabbaths 
of  the 
Month. 

Pare¬ 

shioth. 

Sabbaths 
of  the 
Month. 

Pare¬ 

shioth. 

©  2,3 

©  4 

9  5,6 

9  7 

1,2 

5 

31 

4 

35 

2 

39 

1 

43 

6 

48 

12 

32 

11 

36 

9 

40 

8 

44 

13 

49 

19 

33 

18 

37 

16 

41 

15 

45 

20 

50 

26 

34 

25 

38 

23 

42 

22 

46 

27 

51 

29 

47 

850 


(  55*  ) 


TABLE  II. — Continued 


SECOND  JEWISH  EMBOLISMIC  YEAR  OF  384  DAYS,  CONTAINING  55  SABBATHS. 

INDEX,  3  d  7. 

Tisri,  September. 

Marchesvan,  October 

Cisleu,  November. 

Tebet,  December. 

Sebat,  January. 

Adar,  February. 

Sabbaths 
of  the 
Month. 

Pareshioth 

Sabbaths 
of  the 
Month. 

Pareshioth 

Sabbaths 
of  the 
Month. 

Pareshioth. 

Sabbaths 
of  the 
'  Month. 

Pareshioth. 

Sabbaths 
of  the 
Month. 

Pareshioth. 

Sabbaths 
of  the 
Month. 

Pareshioth. 

9  3 

5 

12 

19 

4,23 

26 

52 

53 

Succoth 
54,  B.L. 

1 

®  4,5 

3 

10 

17 

24 

2 

3 

4 

5 

®  6 

2 

9 

16 

23 

30 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

©  7,1 

7 

.  14 
21 
28 

11 

12 

13 

14 

®  2 

6 

13 

20 

27 

15 

16 

17 

18 

9  3,4 

4 

11 

18 

25 

19 

20 

21 

22,  S 

• 

Veadar,  February. 

Nisan,  March. 

Ijar,  April. 

Sivan,  May 

Tammuz,  June. 

Ab,  July. 

Elul,  August. 

Sabbaths 
of  the 
Month. 

Pare¬ 

shioth. 

Sabbaths 
of  the 
Month. 

Pare¬ 

shioth. 

Sabbaths 
of  the 
Month. 

Pare¬ 

shioth. 

Sabbaths 
of  the 
Month. 

Pare¬ 

shioth. 

Sabbaths 
of  the 
Month. 

Pare¬ 

shioth. 

Sabbaths 
of  the 
Month. 

Pare¬ 

shioth. 

Sabbaths 
of  the 
Month. 

Pare¬ 

shioth. 

9  5,6 

2 

9 

16 

23 

23 

24,  Z 
25 

26,  P 

9  7 

1 

8 

15 

22 

29 

27,  H 

28 

1  Pas. 

2  Pas. 
29 

9  1,2 

6 

13 

20 

27 

30 

31 

32 

33 

0  3 

5 

12 

19 

26 

34 

35 

36 

37 

®  4,5 

3 

10 

17 

24 

38 

39 

40 

41 

9  6 

2 

9 

16 

23 

30 

42,43 

44 

45 

46 

47 

9  7,1 

7 

14 

21 

28 

48 

49 

50 

51 

THIRD  JEWISH  EMBOLISMIC  YEAR  OF  3S5  DAYS,  CONTAINING  55  SABBATHS. 

INDEX,  2  P  7. 

Tisri,  September. 

Marchesvan,  October. 

Cisleu,  November. 

Tebet,  December. 

Sebat,  January. 

Adar,  February. 

Sabbaths 
of  the 
Month. 

Pareshioth. 

Sabbaths 
of  the 
Month. 

Pareshioth. 

Sabbaths 
of  the 
Month. 

Pareshioth. 

Sabbaths 
of  the 
Month. 

Pareshioth. 

Sabbaths 
of  the 
Month. 

Pareshioth. 

Sabbaths 
of  the 
Month. 

Pareshioth. 

©  2 

6 

13 

20 

3,23 

27 

52 

53 

Succotn 
54,  B.L. 

1 

0  3,4 

4 

11 

18 

25 

2 

3 

4 

5 

9  5,6 

2 

9 

16 

23 

30 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

9  7,1 

7 

14 

21 

28 

11 

12 

13 

14 

9  2 

6 

13 

20 

27 

15 

16 

17 

18 

@  3,4 

4 

11 

18 

25 

19 

20 

21 

22,  S 

Veadar,  February. 

Nisan,  March. 

Ijar,  April. 

Sivan,  May. 

Tammuz,  June. 

Ab,  July. 

Elul,  August. 

Sabbaths 
of  the 
Month. 

Pare¬ 

shioth. 

Sabbaths 
of  the 
Month. 

Pare¬ 

shioth. 

Sabbaths 
of  the 
Month. 

Pare¬ 

shioth. 

Sabbaths 
of  the 
Month. 

Pare¬ 

shioth. 

Sabbaths 
of  the 
Month. 

Pare¬ 

shioth. 

Sabbaths 
of  the 
Month. 

Pare¬ 

shioth. 

Sabbaths 
of  the 
Month. 

Pare-  I 
shioth. 

•  5,6 

2 

9 

16 

23 

23 

24,  Z 
25 

26,  P 

0  7 

1 

8 

15 

22 

29 

27,  H 

28 

1  Pas. 

2  Pas. 
29 

@  1,2 

6 

13 

20 

27 

30 

31 

32 

33 

9  3 

5 

12 

19 

26 

34 

35 

36 

37 

®  4,5 

3 

10 

17 

24 

38 

39 

40 

41 

9  6 

2 

9 

16 

23 

30 

42,43 

44 

45 

46 

47 

9  7,1 

7 

14 

21 

28 

48 

49 

50 

51 

• 

FOURTH  JEWISH  EMBOLISMIC  YEAR  OF  385  DAYS,  CONTAINING  55  SABBATHS. 

INDEX,  5  P  3. 

Tisri,  September. 

Marchesvan,  October. 

Cisleu,  November. 

Tebet,  December. 

Sebat,  January. 

Adar,  February. 

Sabbaths 
of  the 
Month. 

Pareshioth. 

Sabbaths 
of  the 
Month. 

Pareshioth. 

Sabbaths 
of  the 
Month. 

Pareshioth. 

Sabbaths 
of  the 
Month. 

Pareshioth. 

Sabbaths 
of  the 
Month. 

Pareshioth. 

Sabbaths 
of  the 
Month. 

Pareshioth. 

a  5 

3 

10 

17 

24 

53 

Chippur 

Succoth 

1 

9  6,7 

1 

8 

15 

22 

29 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

9  1,2 

6 

13 

20 

27 

7 

8 

9 

10 

®  3,4 

4 

11 

18 

25 

11 

12 

13 

14 

9  5 

3 

10 

17 

24 

15 

16 

17 

18 

0  6,7 

1 

8 

15 

22 

29 

19 

20 

21 

22 

23,  S 

Veadar,  February. 

Nisan,  March. 

Ijar,  April. 

Sivan,  May. 

Tammuz,  June. 

Ab,  July. 

Elul,  August. 

Sabbaths 
of  the 
Month. 

Pare¬ 

shioth. 

Sabbaths 
of  the 
Month. 

Pare¬ 

shioth. 

Sabbaths 
of  the 
Month. 

Pare¬ 

shioth. 

Sabbaths 
of  the 
Month. 

Pare¬ 

shioth. 

Sabbaths 
of  the 
Month. 

Pare¬ 

shioth. 

Sabbaths 
of  the 
Month. 

Pare¬ 

shioth. 

Sabbaths 
of  the 
Month. 

Pare¬ 

shioth. 

9  1,2 

6 

!  13 

20 

27 

24 

25,  Z 

26,  P 

27,  H 

•  3 

5 

12 

19 

26 

28 

29 

1  Pas. 

30 

9  4,5 

3 

10 

17 

24 

31 

32 

33 

34 

9  6 

2 

9 

16 

23 

30 

35 

36 

37 

38 

39 

»  7,1 

7 

14 

21 

28 

40 

41 

42 

43 

9  2 

6 

13 

20 

27 

44 

45 

46 

47 

®  3,4 

4 

11 

18 

25 

48 

49 

50 

51,52 

851 


TABLE  IL—'-Continued 


FIFTH  JEWISH  EMBOLISMIC  YEAR  OF  383  DAYS,  CONTAINING  55  SABBATHS. 

INDEX,  7  D  3. 

Tisri,  September. 

Marchesvan,  October. 

Cisleu,  November. 

Tebet,  December. 

Sebat,  January. 

Adar,  February. 

Sabbaths 
of  the 
Month. 

Pareshioth. 

Sabbaths 
of  the 
Month. 

Pareshioth. 

Sabbaths 
of  the 
Month. 

Pareshioth. 

Sabbaths 
of  the 
Month. 

Pareshioth. 

Sabbaths 
of  the 
Month. 

Pareshioth. 

Sabbaths 
of  the 
Month. 

Pareshioth. 

®  7 

8 

15 

22 

1,23 

29 

53 

Succoth 
Sab.  p.  Sue. 
54,  B.L. 

1 

®  1,2 

6 

13 

20 

27 

2 

3 

4 

5 

©  3 

5 

12 

19 

26 

6 

7 

8 

9 

©  4 

4 

11 

18 

25 

10 

11 

12 

13 

©  5 

3 

10 

17 

24 

14 

15 

16 

17 

®  6,7 

1 

8 

15 

22 

29 

18 

19 

20 

21 

22,  S 

Veadar,  February. 

Nisan,  March. 

Ijar,  April. 

Sivan,  May. 

Tammuz,  June. 

Ab,  July. 

Eiul,  August. 

Sabbaths 
of  the 
Month. 

Pare¬ 

shioth. 

Sabbaths 
of  the 
Month. 

Pare¬ 

shioth. 

Sabbaths 
of  the 
Month. 

Pare¬ 

shioth. 

Sabbaths 
of  the 
Month. 

Pare¬ 

shioth. 

Sabbaths 
of  the 
Month. 

Pare¬ 

shioth. 

Sabbaths 
of  the 
Month. 

Pare¬ 

shioth. 

Sabbaths 
of  the 
Month. 

Pare¬ 

shioth. 

©  1,2 

6 

13 

20 

27 

23 

24,  Z 

25,  P 

26,  H 

©  3 

5 

12 

19 

26 

27 

28 

1  Pas. 
29 

©  4,5 

3 

10 

17 

24 

30 

31 

32 

33 

©  6 

2 

9 

16 

23 

30 

34 

35 

36 

37 

38 

©  7,1 

7 

14 

21 

28 

39 

40 

41 

42,43 

©  2 

6 

13 

20 

27 

44 

45 

46 

47 

O  3,4 

4 

11  • 
18 

25 

48 

49 

50 

51,52 

SIXTH  JEWISH  EMBOLISMIC  YEAR  OF  385  DAYS,  CONTAINING  55  SABBATHS. 

INDEX,  7  P  5. 

Tisri,  September. 

Marchesvan,  October. 

Cisleu,  November. 

Tebet,  December. 

Sebat,  January. 

Adar,  February. 

Sabbaths 
of  the 
Month. 

Pareshioth. 

Sabbaths 
of  the 
Month. 

Pareshioth. 

Sabbaths 
of  the 
Month. 

Pareshioth. 

Sabbaths 
of  the 
Month. 

Pareshioth. 

Sabbaths 
of  the 
Month. 

Pareshioth. 

Sabbaths 
of  the 
Month. 

Pareshioth. 

!®  7 
:  8 

15 

22 

1,23 

29 

53 

Succoth 
Sab.  p.  Sue. 
54,  B.L. 

1 

©  1,2 

6 

13 

20 

27 

2 

3 

4 

5 

©  3,4 

4 

11 

18 

25 

6 

7 

8 

9 

©  5,6 

2 

9 

16 

23 

10 

11 

12 

13 

©  7 

1 

8 

15 

22 

29 

14 

15 

16 

17 

18 

©  1,2 

6 

13 

20 

27 

19 

20 

21 

22,  S 

Veadar,  February. 

Nisan,  March. 

Ijar,  April. 

Sivan,  May. 

Tammuz,  June. 

.  Ab,  July. 

Elul,  August. 

Sabbaths 
of  the 
Month. 

Pare¬ 

shioth. 

Sabbaths 
of  the 
Month. 

Pare¬ 

shioth. 

Sabbaths 
of  the 
Month. 

Pare¬ 

shioth. 

Sabbaths 
of  the 
Month. 

Pare¬ 

shioth. 

Sabbaths 
of  the 
Month. 

Pare¬ 

shioth. 

Sabbaths 
of  the 
Month. 

Pare¬ 

shioth. 

Sabbaths 
of  the 
Month. 

Pare¬ 

shioth. 

©  3,4 

4 

11 

18 

25 

23 

24,  Z 

25,  P 

26,  H 

®  5 

3 

10 

17 

24 

27 

28 

1  Pas. 
29 

9  0,7 

1 

8 

15 

22 

29 

30 

31 

32 

33 

34 

©  1 

7 

14 

21 

28 

Pent. 

35 

36 

37 

®  2,3 

5 

12 

19 

26 

38 

39,40 

41 

42,43 

©  4 

4 

11 

18 

25 

44 

45 

46 

47 

©  5,6 

2 

9 

16 

23 

48 

49 

50 

51,52 

SEVENTH  JEWISH  EMBOLISMIC  YEAR  OF  383  DAYS,  CONTAINING  54  SABBATHS. 

INDEX,  2  D  5. 

Tisri,  September. 

Marchesvan,  October. 

Cisleu,  November. 

Tebet,  December. 

Sebat,  January. 

Adar,  February. 

Sabbaths 
of  the 
Month. 

Pareshioth. 

Sabbaths 
of  the 
Month. 

Pareshioth. 

Sabbaths 
of  the 
Month. 

Pareshioth. 

Sabbaths 
of  the 
Month. 

Pareshioth. 

Sabbaths 
of  the 
Month. 

Pareshioth. 

Sabbaths 
of  the 
Month. 

Pareshioth. 

©  2 

6 

13 

20 

27 

52 

53 

Succoth 

1 

©  3,4 

4 

11 

18 

25 

2 

3 

4 

5 

©  5 

3 

10 

17 

24 

6 

7 

8 

9 

©  6 

2 

9 

16 

23 

10 

11 

12 

13 

©  7 

1 

8 

15 

22 

29 

14 

15 

16 

17 

18 

O  1,2 

6 

13 

20 

27 

19 

20 

21 

22,  S 

Veadar,  February 

Nisan,  March. 

Ijar,  April. 

Sivan,  May. 

Tammuz,  June. 

Ab,  July. 

Elul,  August. 

1  Sabbaths 
of  the 
Month. 

Pare¬ 

shioth. 

Sabbaths 
of  the 
Month. 

Pare¬ 

shioth. 

Sabbaths 
of  the 
Month. 

Pare¬ 

shioth. 

Sabbaths 
of  the 
Month. 

Pare¬ 

shioth. 

Sabbaths 
of  the 
Month. 

Pare¬ 

shioth. 

Sabbaths 
of  the 
Month. 

Pare¬ 

shioth. 

Sabbaths 
of  the 
Month. 

Pare¬ 

shioth. 

©  3,4 

4 

11 

18 

25 

23 

24,  Z 

25,  P 

26,  H 

©  5 

3 

10 

17 

24 

27 

28 

1  Pas. 
29 

®  6,7 

1 

8 

15 

22 

29 

30 

31 

32 

33 

34 

•  1 

7 

14 

21 

28 

Pent. 

35 

36 

37 

®  2,3 

5 

12 

19 

26 

38 

39,40 

41 

42,43 

©  4 

4 

11 

18 

25 

44 

45 

46 

47 

•  5,6 

2 

9 

16 

23 

48 

49 

50  | 
51,52  I 

852 


TABLE  II. — Continued 


FIRST  JEWISH  COMMON  YEAR  OF  355  DAYS, 

INDEX,  5  P  1. 

CONTAINING  51  SABBATHS. 

Tisri,  September. 

Marchesvan,  October. 

Cisleu,  November. 

Tebet,  December. 

Sebat,  January. 

Adar,  February. 

Sabbaths 

Sabbaths 

Sabbaths 

Sabbaths 

Sabbaths 

Sabbaths 

of  the 

Pareshioth. 

of  the 

Pareshioth. 

of  the 

Pareshioth. 

of  the 

Pareshioth. 

of  the 

Pareshioth. 

of  the 

Pareshioth. 

Month. 

Month. 

Month. 

Month. 

Month. 

Month. 

©  5 

9  6,7 

9  1,2 

•  3,4 

•  5 

9  6,7 

3 

53 

1 

2 

6 

7 

4 

11 

3 

15 

1 

19,  S 

10 

Chippur 

8 

3 

13 

8 

11 

12 

10 

16 

8 

20,  Z 

17 

Succoth 

15 

4 

20 

9 

18 

13 

17 

17 

15 

21 

6,23 

54,  B.L. 

22 

5 

27 

10 

25 

14 

24 

18 

22 

22,  P 

24 

1 

29 

6 

29 

23,  H 

Nisan 

March. 

Ijar,  April. 

Sivan,  May. 

Tammuz,  June. 

Ab,  July. 

Elul, 

August. 

Sabbaths 

Sabbaths 

•Sabbaths 

Sabbaths 

Sabbaths 

Sabbaths 

of  the 

Pareshioth. 

of  the 

Pareshioth. 

of  the 

(Pareshioth. 

of  the 

Pareshioth. 

of  the 

Pareshioth. 

of  the 

Pareshioth. 

Month. 

Month. 

Month. 

Month. 

Month. 

Month. 

•  1 

•  2,3 

9  4 

•  5,6 

9  7 

9  1,2 

7 

24 

5 

27,28 

4 

34 

2 

38 

1 

42,43 

6 

48 

14 

25 

12 

29,30 

11 

35 

9 

39 

8 

44 

13 

49 

21 

1  Pas. 

19 

31 

18 

36 

16 

40 

15 

45 

20 

50 

28 

26 

26 

32,33 

25 

37 

23 

41 

22 

46 

27 

51 

29 

47 

SECOND  JEWISH  COMMON  YEAR  OF  354  DAYS,  CONTAINING  51  SABBATHS 

INDEX,  5  d  7. 


Tisri,  September. 

Marchesvan,  October. 

Cisleu,  November. 

Tebet,  December. 

Sebat,  January. 

Adar,  February. 

Sabbaths 

Sabbaths 

Sabbaths 

Sabbaths 

Sabbaths 

Sabbaths 

of  the 

Pareshioth. 

of  the 

Pareshioth. 

of  the 

Pareshioth. 

of  the 

Pareshioth. 

of  the 

Pareshioth. 

of  the 

Pareshioth. 

Month. 

Month. 

Month. 

Month. 

Month. 

Month. 

•  5 

9  6,7 

9  1 

9  2,3 

9  4 

9  5,6 

3 

53 

1 

2 

7 

7 

5 

11 

4 

15 

2 

19 

10 

Chippur 

8 

3 

14 

8 

12 

12 

11 

16 

9 

20,  Z 

17 

Succoth 

15 

4 

21 

9 

19 

13 

18 

17 

16 

21 

24 

1 

22 

5 

28 

10 

26 

14 

25 

18,  S 

23 

22,  23,  P 

- - - 

29 

6 

Nisan 

March. 

Ijar,  April. 

Sivan,  May. 

Tammuz,  June. 

Ab,  July. 

Elul, 

August. 

Sabbaths 

Sabbaths 

Sabbaths 

Sabbaths 

Sabbaths 

Sabbaths 

of  the 

Pareshioth. 

of  the 

Pareshioth. 

of  the 

Pareshioth. 

of  the 

Pareshioth. 

of  the 

Pareshioth. 

of  the 

Pareshioth 

Month. 

Month. 

Month. 

Month. 

Month. 

Month. 

•  7 

•  1,2 

•  3 

9  4,5 

•  6 

9  7,1 

1 

24,  II 

6 

27,28 

5 

34 

3 

38 

2 

42,43 

7 

48 

8 

25 

13 

29,30 

12 

35 

10 

39 

9 

44 

14 

49 

15 

1  Pas. 

20 

31 

19 

36 

17 

40 

16 

45 

21 

50 

22 

2  Pas. 

27 

32,33 

26 

37 

24 

41 

23 

46 

28 

51 

29 

26 

30 

47 

• 

THIRD  JEWISH  COMMON  YEAR  OF  353  DAYS, 

CONTAINING  50  SABBATHS. 

INDEX, 

7  D  L 

Tisri,  September. 

Marchesvan,  October. 

Cisleu,  November. 

Tebet,  December. 

Sebat, 

January. 

Adar,  February. 

Sabbaths 

Sabbaths 

Sabbaths 

Sabbaths 

Sabbaths 

Sabbaths 

of  the 

Pareshioth. 

of  the 

Pareshioth. 

of  the 

Pareshioth. 

of  the 

Pareshioth. 

of  the 

Pareshioth. 

of  the 

Pareshioth. 

Month. 

Month. 

Month. 

Month. 

Month. 

Month. 

9  7 

®  1,2 

9  3 

®  4 

9  5 

@  6,7 

8 

53 

6 

2 

5 

6 

4 

10 

3 

14 

1 

18,  S 

15 

Succoth 

13 

3 

12 

7 

11 

11 

10 

15 

8 

19,  Z 

22 

Sab.  p.  Sue. 

20 

4 

19 

8 

18 

12 

17 

16 

15 

20 

1,23 

54,  B.L. 

27 

5 

26 

9 

25 

13 

24 

17 

22 

21,  P 

'29 

1 

29 

22,  23,  H 

Nisan, 

March. 

Ijar, 

April. 

Sivan,  May. 

Tammuz,  June. 

Ab,  July. 

Elul,  1 

fugust. 

Sabbaths 

Sabbaths 

Sabbaths 

Sabbaths 

Sabbaths 

Sabbaths 

of  the 

Pareshioth. 

of  the 

Pareshioth. 

of  the 

Pareshioth. 

of  the 

Pareshioth. 

of  the 

Pareshioth. 

of  the 

Pareshioth. 

Month. 

Month. 

Month. 

Month. 

Month. 

Month. 

•  1 

9  2,3 

&  4 

•  5,6 

9  7 

•  1,2 

7 

24 

5 

27,28 

4 

34 

2 

38 

1 

42,43 

6 

48 

14 

25 

12 

29,30 

11 

35 

9 

39 

8 

44 

13 

49 

21 

1  Pas. 

19 

31 

18 

•  36 

16 

40 

15 

45 

20 

50 

28 

26 

26 

32,33 

25 

37 

23 

41 

22 

46 

27 

51 

29 

47 

TABLE  II. — Continued 


FOURTH  JEWISH 

COMMON  YEAR  OF  355  DAYS,  CONTAINING  51  SABBATHS. 
INDEX,  7  P  3. 

Tisri,  September. 

Marchesvan,  October. 

Cisleu,  November. 

Tebet,  December. 

Sebat,  January, 

Adar,  February. 

Sabbaths 

Sabbaths 

Sabbaths 

Sabbaths 

Sabbaths 

Sabbaths 

of  the 

Pareshioth 

of  the 

Pareshioth. 

of  the 

Pareshioth. 

of  the 

Pareshioth. 

of  the 

Pareshioth. 

of  the 

Pareshioth. 

Month 

Month. 

Month. 

Month. 

Month. 

Month. 

@  7 

®  1,2 

©  3,4 

9  5,6 

©  7 

©  1,2 

8 

53 

6 

2 

4 

6 

2 

10 

1 

14 

6 

19 

15 

Succoth 

13 

3 

11 

7 

9 

11 

8 

15 

13 

20,  Z 

22 

Oct.  Sue. 

20 

4 

18 

8 

16 

12 

15 

16 

20 

21,  P 

1,23 

54,  B.L. 

27 

5 

25 

9,  En. 

23 

13 

22 

17 

27 

22,  23,  H 

29 

1 

29 

18,  S 

Nisan 

,  March. 

Ijar, 

April. 

Sivan,  May. 

Tammuz,  June. 

Ab,  July. 

Elul, 

Aujyust . 

Sabbaths 

Sabbaths 

Sabbaths 

Sabbaths 

Sabbaths 

Sabbaths 

of  the 

Pareshioth. 

of  the 

Pareshioth. 

of  the 

Pareshioth. 

of  the 

Pareshioth. 

of  the 

Pareshioth. 

of  the 

Pareshioth. 

Month. 

Month. 

Month. 

Month. 

Month. 

Month. 

©  3 

©  4,5 

©  6 

©  7,1 

®  2 

©  3,4 

5 

24 

3 

27,28 

2 

34 

7 

39 

6 

44 

4 

48 

12 

25 

10 

29,30 

9 

35 

14 

40 

13 

45 

11 

49 

19 

1  Pas. 

*  17 

31 

16 

36 

21 

41 

20 

46 

18 

50 

26 

26 

24 

32,33 

23 

37 

28 

42,43 

27 

47 

25 

51 

30 

38 

FIFTH  JEWISH  COMMON  YEAR  OF  353  DAYS, 

CONTAINING  50  SABBATHS. 

INDEX, 

2  D  3. 

Tisri,  September. 

Marchesvan,  October. 

Cisleu,  November. 

Tebet,  December. 

Sebat,  January. 

Adar,  February. 

Sabbaths 

Sabbaths 

Sabbaths 

Sabbaths 

Sabbaths 

Sabbaths 

of  the 

Pareshioth. 

of  the 

Pareshioth. 

of  the 

Pareshioth. 

of  the 

Pareshioth. 

of  the 

Pareshioth. 

of  the 

Pareshioth. 

Month. 

Month. 

Month. 

Month. 

Month. 

Month. 

©  2 

©  3,4 

9  5 

©  6 

©  7 

9  1,2 

6 

52 

4 

2 

3 

6 

2 

10 

1 

14 

6 

19 

13 

53 

11 

3 

10 

7 

9 

11 

8 

15 

13 

20,  Z 

20 

Succoth 

18 

4 

17 

8 

16 

12 

15 

16 

20 

21,  P 

3,23 

54,  B.L. 

25 

5 

24 

9 

23 

13 

22 

17 

27 

22, 23,  H 

27 

1 

29 

18,  S 

• 

Nisan, 

March. 

Ijar, 

April. 

Sivan,  May. 

Tammuz,  June. 

Ab,  July. 

Elul, 

August. 

Sabbaths 

Sabbaths 

Sabbaths 

Sabbaths 

Sabbaths 

Sabbaths 

of  the 

Pareshioth. 

of  the 

Pareshioth. 

of  the 

Pareshioth. 

of  the 

Pareshioth 

of  the 

Pareshioth. 

of  the 

Pareshioth. 

Month. 

Month. 

Month. 

Month. 

Month. 

Month. 

9  3 

9  4,5 

©  6 

©  7,1 

9  2 

©  3,4 

5 

24 

3 

27,28 

2 

34 

7 

39 

6 

44 

4 

48 

12 

25 

10 

29,30 

9 

35 

14 

40 

13 

45 

11 

49 

19 

1  Pas. 

17 

31 

16 

36 

21 

41 

20 

46 

18 

50 

26 

26 

24 

32,33 

23 

37 

28 

42,43 

27 

47 

25 

51,52 

30 

38 

SIXTH  JEWISH  COMMON  YEAR  OF  355  DAYS, 

CONTAINING  50  SABBATHS. 

INDEX, 

2  P  5. 

Tisri,  September. 

Marchesvan,  October. 

Cisleu,  November. 

Tebet,  December. 

Sebat,  January. 

Adar,  February. 

Sabbaths 

Sabbaths 

Sabbaths 

Sabbaths 

Sabbaths 

Sabbaths 

of  the 

Pareshioth. 

of  the 

Pareshioth. 

of  the 

Pareshioth. 

of  the 

Pareshioth. 

of  the 

Pareshioth 

of  the 

Pareshioth. 

Month. 

Month. 

Month. 

Month. 

Month. 

Month. 

9  2,3 

©  3,4 

®  5,6 

%  7,1 

@  2 

©  3,4 

6 

52 

4 

2 

2 

6 

7 

11 

6 

15 

4 

19 

13 

53 

11 

3 

9 

7 

14 

12 

13 

16 

11 

20,  Z 

20 

Succoth 

18 

4 

16 

8 

21 

13 

20 

17 

18 

21,  P 

3,23 

54,  B.L. 

25 

5 

23 

9 

28 

14 

27 

18,  S 

25 

22,  23,  H 

27 

1 

30 

10 

Nisan, 

March. 

Ijar,  April. 

Sivan,  May. 

Tammuz,  June. 

Ab,  July. 

Elul,  August. 

Sabbaths 

Sabbaths 

Sabbaths 

Sabbaths 

Sabbaths 

Sabbaths 

of  the 

Pareshioth 

of  the 

Pareshioth. 

of  the 

Pareshioth 

of  the 

Pareshioth. 

of  the 

Pareshioth. 

of  the 

Pareshioth. 

Month. 

Month. 

Month. 

Month. 

Month. 

Month. 

1 

©  5 

©  6,7 

9  1 

9  2,3 

©  4 

9  5,6 

i 

3 

24 

1 

27,28 

7 

Pent. 

5 

38 

4 

44 

2 

48 

10 

25 

8 

29,30 

14 

35 

12 

39,40 

11 

45 

9 

49 

17 

1  Pas. 

15 

31 

21 

36 

19  * 

41 

18 

46 

16 

50 

24 

26 

22 

32,33 

28 

37 

26 

42,43 

25 

47 

23 

51,52 

29 

34 

— 

854 


TABLE  III 


SEVENTH  JEWISH  COMMON  YEAR  OF  354  DAYS,  CONTAINING  50  SABBATHS. 

— 

INDEX 

,  3  d  5. 

Tisri,  September. 

Marchesvan,  October. 

Cisleu,  November. 

Tebet,  December. 

Sebat, 

January. 

Adar,  February 

Sabbaths 

1 

Sabbaths 

V 

Sabbaths 

Sabbaths 

Sabbaths 

Sabbaths 

of  the 

Pareshioth. 

of  the 

Pareshioth. 

of  the 

Pareshioth. 

of  the 

Pareshioth. 

of  the 

Pareshioth. 

of  the 

Pareshioth. 

Month. 

Month. 

Month. 

Month. 

Month. 

Month. 

3  3 

3 

4,5 

© 

6 

© 

n  i 

2 

©  3,4 

5 

52 

3 

2 

2 

6 

t 

11 

6 

15 

4 

19 

12 

53 

10 

3 

9 

7 

14 

12 

13 

16 

11 

20,  Z  | 

19 

Succoth 

17 

4 

16 

8 

21 

13 

20 

17 

18 

21,  P  fi 

4,23 

54,  B.L. 

24 

5 

23 

9 

28 

14 

18,  S 

25 

22,  23,  11  | 

26 

1 

30 

10 

1 

Nisan, 

March. 

Ijar,  April. 

Sivan,  May. 

Tammuz,  June. 

Ab, 

July. 

Elul, 

August. 

Sabbaths 

Sabbaths 

Sabbaths 

Sabbaths 

Sabbaths 

Sabbaths 

of  the 

Pareshioth. 

of  the 

Pareshioth. 

of  the 

Pareshioth. 

of  the 

Pareshioth. 

of  the 

Pareshioth. 

of  the 

Paresliioth. 

Month. 

Month. 

Month. 

Month. 

Month. 

Month. 

®  5 

9 

6,7 

1 

2,3 

9 

4 

©  5,6 

48 

3 

24 

1 

27,28 

7 

Pent 

5 

38 

4 

44 

2 

10 

25 

8 

29,30 

14 

35 

12 

39,40 

11 

45 

9 

49 

17 

I 

Pas. 

15 

31 

21 

«3 

6 

19 

41 

18 

46 

16 

50 

24 

28 

22 

32,33 

28 

a  7 

26 

42,43 

25 

47 

23 

51,  52 

29 

34 

N.  B.  The  indexes 

in  Table 

I.  are  set  down, 

in  the  order  they  are  there  found, 

from  the  authority  of  Gabriel  of  Soranum  ;  but  as  a 

there  exist  some  small  differences  in  the  disposition  of  the  indexes  by  different  persons  who  have  written  upon  this  subject,  a  list  of  the  0 

variations  (which  are 

adopted  by  the  rabbins  in  the  construction  of  their  calendar)  is 

thought  essentially  necessary  to  be  given  hero,  as  a 

the  following  Tables  are  made  to  agree  with  it  exactly. 

The  variations  are  as  below : — • 

A. 

D. 

Index  in 
Table  L 

Index  pre¬ 
ferred  by 
the  Rabbins. 

A.  D. 

Index  in 
Table  I. 

Index  pre¬ 
ferred  by 
the  Rabbins. 

A. 

D. 

Index  in 
Table  I. 

Index  pre¬ 
ferred  by 
the  Rabbins. 

1828 

7  F 

3 

7  D 

1 

1850 

3  d 

5 

2  P  5 

2009 

5  d 

7 

3  d 

5 

1829 

2  D  1 

3  d 

7 

1869 

5  P 

1 

5 

i  7 

2010 

2  D  3 

7  P 

3 

1830 

3  d 

5 

2  P 

5 

1870 

3  d 

i * 

/ 

2  P  7 

2013 

2  P  5 

2  D 

3 

1849 

5  F 

1 

5  d 

7 

2008 

5  P 

3 

5  D  1 

2014 

7  D  3 

5  P 

3 

TABLE  III. 

To  find,  with  the  help  of  Table  IV.,  the  day  of  the  week  upon  which  any  Jewish  new  month  or  festival  happens. 


1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

14 

15 

16 

17 

18 

19 

Com 

Com. 

Emb. 

Com. 

Com. 

Emb. 

Com. 

Emb. 

Com. 

Com. 

Emb. 

Com. 

Com. 

Emb. 

Com. 

Com. 

Emb. 

Com. 

Emb 

Yrs. 

Yrs. 

Yrs. 

Yrs. 

Yrs. 

Yrs. 

Yrs. 

Yrs. 

Yrs. 

Yrs. 

Yrs. 

Yrs. 

Yrs. 

Yrs. 

Yrs. 

Yrs. 

Yrs. 

Yrs. 

Yrs 

1808 

1809 

1810 

1811 

1812 

1813 

1814 

1815 

1816 

1817 

1818 

1819 

1820 

1821 

1822 

1S23 

1824 

1825 

1826 

L 

M 

C 

L 

M 

C 

L 

A 

M 

O 

A 

M 

K 

B 

M 

K 

B 

N 

E 

1827 

1828 

1829 

1830 

1831 

1832 

1833 

1834 

1835 

1836 

1837 

1838 

1839 

1840 

1841 

1842 

1843 

1844 

1845 

K 

II 

E 

K 

L 

D 

I 

F 

L 

M 

C 

L 

M 

G 

O 

M 

G 

K 

B 

1846 

1847 

1S48 

1849 

1850 

1851 

1852 

1853 

1854 

1855 

1856 

1857 

1858 

1859 

1860 

1861 

1862 

1863 

1864 

M 

K 

B 

M 

K 

F 

H 

E 

K 

L 

D 

I 

L 

A 

M 

O 

A 

M 

C 

1865 

1S66 

1867 

1868 

1869 

1870 

1871 

1872 

1873 

1874 

1875 

1876 

1877 

1878 

1879 

1880 

1881 

1882 

1883 

L 

M 

G 

O 

M 

G 

K 

B 

M 

K 

B 

N 

I 

F 

L 

M 

C 

L 

D 

1884 

1S85 

1886 

1887 

1888 

1889 

1890 

1891 

1S92 

1893 

1894 

1895 

1896 

1897 

1898 

1899 

1900 

1901 

1902 

I 

L 

A 

M 

O 

A 

M 

C 

L 

M 

G 

O 

N 

E 

K 

II 

E 

K 

F 

1903 

1904 

1905 

1906 

1907 

1908 

1909 

1910 

1911 

1912 

1913 

1914 

1915 

1916 

1917 

1918 

1919 

1920 

1921 

H 

I 

F 

L 

M 

C 

L 

D 

I 

L 

A 

M 

O 

A 

M 

K 

B 

M 

G 

1922 

1923 

1924 

1925 

1926 

1927 

1928 

1929 

1930 

1931 

1932 

1933 

1934 

1935 

1936 

1937 

1938 

1939 

1940 

K 

II 

E 

K 

L 

D 

I 

F 

II 

I 

F 

L' 

M 

C 

L 

M 

G 

O 

A 

1941 

1942 

1943 

1944 

1945 

1946 

1947 

1948 

1949 

1950 

1951 

1952 

1953 

1954 

1955 

1956 

1957 

1958 

1959 

M 

K 

B 

M 

K 

B 

N 

E 

K 

H 

E 

K 

L 

D 

I 

L 

A 

M 

C 

1960 

1961 

1962 

1963 

1964 

1965 

1966 

1967 

1968 

1969 

1970 

1971 

1972 

1973 

1974 

1975 

1976 

1977 

1978 

L 

M 

C 

L 

M 

G 

O 

A 

M 

K 

B 

M 

K 

B 

N 

I 

F 

H 

E 

1979 

1980 

1981 

1982 

1983 

1984 

1985 

1986 

1987 

1988 

1989 

1990 

1991 

1992 

1993 

1994 

1995 

1996 

1997 

K 

L 

D 

I 

L 

A 

M 

C 

L 

M 

C 

L 

M 

G 

O 

N 

E 

K 

B 

1998 

1999 

2000 

2001 

2002 

2003 

2004 

2005 

2006 

2007 

2008 

2009 

2010 

2011 

2012 

2013 

2014 

2015 

2016 

M 

K 

F 

H 

I 

F 

L 

D 

I 

L 

D 

I 

L 

A 

M 

O 

A 

M 

G 

2017 

2018 

2019 

2020 

2021 

2022 

2023 

2024 

2025 

2026 

2027 

2028 

2029 

2030 

2031 

2032 

2033 

2034 

2035 

O 

M 

G 

K 

II 

E 

K 

B 

N 

I 

F 

L 

M 

C 

L 

M 

C 

L 

A 

2036 

2037 

2038 

2039 

2040 

2041 

2042 

2043 

2044 

2045 

2046 

2047 

2048 

2049 

2050 

2051 

2052 

2053 

2054 

M 

O 

A 

M 

K 

B 

M 

G 

O 

N 

E 

K 

H 

E 

K 

L 

D 

I 

F 

Embolismic 

Common 


The  Indexes  of  Tables 
A 

5  P  3 
H 

7  D  1 


Years.  <j 
Years,  j 


I.  and  II.  corresponding  to  the  letters  of 
BCD 
7  D  3  2D5  5  D  1 

I  K  L 

3  d  5  2  P  5  7  P  3 


the  above  Table  are 
E  F 

3  d  7  7  P 

M  N 

5  d  7  5  P 


as  below : — 

G 

5  2  P  7 

O 

1  2  D  3 


TABLE  IY, 


-a 


TABLE 

IY. 

To  determine  upon  what  day  of  the  week  any  Jewish  month  commences  for  any  given  year , 

■  the  day  of  the  week  upon  which  the  Jews  celebrate  their  principal  fasts  and  festivals. 

05  afoo 

Index  of  the  Year  found  in 

Table  III. 

A 

B 

C 

D 

E 

F 

G 

H 

I 

K 

L 

M 

N 

0 

Commencement  of  Tisii,  or  of 
the  Jewish  New- Year 

5,6 

7,1 

2,3 

5,6 

3,4 

7,1 

2,3 

7,1 

3,4 

2,3 

7,1 

5,6 

5,6 

2,3 

I  Fast  of  Gedaliah,  3  Tisri 

1 

2 

4 

1 

5 

2 

4 

2 

5 

4 

2 

7 

1 

4 

Fast  of  Atonement,  10  Tisri 

7 

2 

4 

7 

5 

2 

4 

2 

5 

4 

2 

7 

7 

4 

Feast  of  Tabernacles,  15  Tisri 

5 

7 

2 

5 

3 

7 

2 

7 

3 

2 

7 

5 

5 

2 

Hosanna  Rabba,  21  Tisri 

4 

6 

1 

4 

2 

6 

1 

6 

2 

1 

6 

4 

4 

1 

Blessings  in  Deut.  xxxiii.  read, 
23  Tisri 

6 

1 

3 

6 

4 

1 

3 

1 

4 

3 

1 

6 

6 

3 

j  Commencement  of  Marchesvan 

6,7 

1,2 

3,4 

6,7 

4,5 

1,2 

3,4 

1,2 

4,5 

3,4 

1,2 

6,7 

6,7 

3,4 

Commencement  of  Cisleu 

1,2 

3 

5 

1 

6 

3,4 

5,6 

3 

6 

5,6 

3,4 

1 

1,2 

5 

Encaenia,  25  Cisleu 

5 

6 

1 

4 

2 

7 

2 

6 

2 

2 

7 

4 

5 

1 

Commencement  of  Tebet 

3,4 

4 

6 

2 

7,1 

5,6 

7,1 

4 

7,1 

7,1 

5,6 

2,3 

3,4 

6 

A  fast,  10  Tebet 

6 

6 

1 

4 

3 

1 

3 

6 

3 

3 

1 

5 

6 

1 

|  Commencement  of  Sebat 

5 

5 

7 

3 

2 

7 

2 

5 

2 

2 

7 

4 

5 

7 

Commencement  of  Adar 

6,7 

6,7 

1,2 

4,5 

3,4 

1,2 

3,4 

6,7 

3,4 

3,4 

1,2 

5,6 

6,7 

1,2 

Commencement  of  Veadar 

1,2 

1,2 

3,4 

6,7 

5,6 

3,4 

5,6 

3  Fast  of  Esther,  13  Adar 

5 

5 

2 

5 

4 

2 

4 

5 

2 

2 

5 

4 

5 

5 

I  Feast  of  Purim,  14  Adar 

1 

1 

3 

6 

5 

3 

5 

6 

3 

3 

1 

5 

6 

1 

Commencement  of  Nisan 

3 

3 

5 

1 

7 

5 

7 

1 

5 

5 

3 

7 

1 

3 

Feast  of  the  Passover,  15  Nisan 

3 

3 

5 

1 

7 

5 

7 

1 

5 

5 

3 

7 

1 

3  \ 

Commencement  of  Ijar 

4,5 

4,5 

6,7 

2,3 

1,2 

6,7 

1,2 

2,3 

6,7 

6,7 

4,5 

1,2 

2,3 

4,5 

33  Omer 

1 

1 

o 

3 

6 

5 

3 

5 

6 

3 

3 

1 

5 

6 

1 

Commencement  of  Sivan 

6 

6 

1 

4 

' 

3 

1 

3 

4 

1 

1 

6 

3 

4 

6 

|  Pentecost,  6  Sivan 

4 

4 

6 

2 

i 

6 

1 

2 

6 

6 

4 

1 

2 

4 

i  Commencement  of  Tammuz 

7,1 

7,1 

2,3 

5,6 

4,5 

2,3 

4,5 

5,6 

2,3 

2,3 

7,1 

4,5 

5,6 

7,1 

A  fast,  17  Tammuz 

3 

3 

5 

1 

1 

5 

1 

1 

5 

5 

3 

1 

1 

3 

I  Commencement  of  Ab 

2 

2 

4 

7 

a 

4 

6 

7 

4 

4 

2 

6 

7 

2 

A  fast,  9  Ab 

3 

3 

5 

1 

i 

5 

1 

1 

5 

5 

3 

1 

1 

3 

|  Commencement  of  Elul 

3,4 

3,4 

5,6 

1,2 

7,1 

5,0 

7,1 

1,2 

5,6 

5,6 

3,4 

7,1 

1,2 

3,4 

856 


TABLE.  V. — Containing  the  order  of  reading  the  Pareshioth  and  Haphtaroth  for  ninety  Jewish  years,  i-  e.,frorn  A.  M.  5572  to  A.  M.  5661,  (both  inclusive,)  connected  with 

the  corresponding  dates  in  the  Christian  era  according  to  the  Gregorian  or  New  Style. 


TABLE  V, 


857 


TABLE  V.— -Continued 


i^atiy-V£^j'»g7aESP>. 


Jewish  year  of  the  World  5583,  cor¬ 
responding  to  A.  D.  1822-1823. 

Pareshioth 
and  Haph- 
taroth. 

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Saturdays 
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Jewish  year  of  the  World  5582,  cor¬ 
responding  to  A.  D.  1821-1822. 

Pareshioth 
and  llaph- 
taroth. 

s-.  ,£  Ph  .  . 

P.®  „  m  com  fflo  n  en 

g,  ®  CONcMcRp^CMMCO  R 

M^.^Hwn^ioot-ccao-i  otTai  cT.— .  cm'r'io  .— i  cm  <o  t-7  oT  ,-h  of  m  >n  co  t-  go  o  o  — <  of  R  >o  co  r-  ao  o  ©  — i 

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Saturdays 
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Sabbaths 
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COOt-Tfl— IfflOIMOn-  TfirHOOO  MO©^4.a3fl(Na©nH®OfflO)OC50Niflfl01®«Ot'iJ<<MO)fflMOl-i1,-iffl 

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’Jewish  year  of  the  World  5581,  cor-| 
responding  to  A.  D.  1820-1821.  | 

Pareshioth 
and  llapli- 
taroth. 

£l'rJ  g  • 

^  8  dw  m  npw  ”  « 

3  co  P'rt4ji'rt(?jjl34jimc0t-Q00>0— 1C3C15  TfiOOb-C0050i-HcTci54ii'u-rcD'r^GOi— lOOl— ^ i«n\)lrt©N®0)0- iCp^lOCOr-ODOOi-T 

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Saturdays 
of  the  Gre¬ 
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§11  II  as  |  I  t  |  f 

coco  *•  2  R  qo  1-3  <j  S  1-3  >-5  <j  w 

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14  W  CO  rtCTOI  MrtCi  rH«M  — IC^SIJ  1— 1  1—  Oi  iHrt«m  hMM  mmCI  ihWCO  1-ICN<>J  H1-1OI  1-1IN 

Sabbaths 
of  the 

Jewish  year. 

w  -  S 

0  _!  H  2 

1— <  rO  -H3  -J  -1  c5  f-4  Cj 

ai  §  1  1  4  1  1  I  s  1  |  41  3 

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Jewish  year  of  the  World  5580,  cor 
responding  to  A.  D.  1819-1820. 

Pareshioth 
.and  IJaph- 

taroth. 

rC  J  i-H 

^  CO  £  ODO  CO  oco  c* 

0  pq  c/3  NPw  (7?  CO  CO  'g  •  Tti  O 

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Sabbaths 
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Jewish  year  of  the  World  5579,  cor¬ 

responding  to  A.  D.  1818-1819. 

Pareshioth 
and  Haph- 
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Saturdays 
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Sabbaths 
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taroth. 

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O^C/2  r-l  r-(  r-(  HMrHHHrHCJOJCJCJCJCJCJCJlMCJ  COCOCOCOWMCOCOWCO^^^^^^^^Tfr?^^ 

Saturdays 
of  the  Gre¬ 
gorian  yr. 

•  •  ^  •  * 

J-H.  "p^  CJ  CT)  c5  O  *£  ^  P« 

q  cj  o  a>225  v  ^3  pi,  ^  S  "5  ^  ° 

2^0^;  pao,i?  w 

COONTfHOOiOHQOiOCJOiCOCOON^COONrHHNrtirHCO^^^GO^HGOtOCJOOCOOCWCN^HODinHCOOffjOjiOCJSS 

*— <  O'*  OJ  r-H  (7i  r-R  (7J  (7^  t-h  h  (71  CO  rR  (7}  <7*  *-t  <7^  (7^  r-irHCJ  i— i  (7J  CO  I-I  <7i  <7*  rHRH(7J  *-»  (71  C7^  *-h 

I  Sabbaths 
|  of  the 

|  Jewish  year. 

S  H  5h  3 

r-*  J  .i  -i  CO  ^  G 

H»1  3  4  5  |  1  1  a  |  1  ^  3 

»5  |  OH  53  >g  =  K  H  HI  H 

858 


TABLE  Y. — Continued 


859 


TABLE  V.— Continued 


880 


TABLE  V.-— Continued 


861 


TABLE  V. — Continued 


Jewish  year  of  the  World  5607,  cor-  I 

responding  to  A.  D.  1846-1847.  § 

Pareshioth  1 

and  Haph-  1 

tarotli.  1 

^  J  w 

■hH  *  in 

“h  to  N  TjHTfi  © 

20  h^-1  hhhhhhhhC'KNWWW  G'JGJG2COCOCO>-HCOCOCOCOCOTjHTtiTPTr<Tt|Ti4TfriTt<*OUO  |r 

Saturdays 
of  the  Gre¬ 
gorian  yr. 

O  pL*i  ^  d  ^  ©  -©  H  'E  fiJi1  bop, 

°  ®  ^  §  ®  ^  Ph  ph  3  ©  P  ® 

oocoO  #  £  P  P^i  2  <!  S  •— »  <Jtt! 

PMOMS-^’Hl^^ltHOOlOWaO  <M©©CO©©CO©tp©CO©JpCO©t'--'^<piaO©©J©©<M!©©CO©tpx$<pHpTttpHCO'HjH 

C'J  »“H  G^l  G'J  ri  ri  (?}  r-i  (M  CO  r-H  G^l  G^  »— 1  W  W  r— Irt  W  H  W  r— 1  i- 1  ^  r— 1  r-H  G'l  CO  r-H  G1  G3 

Sabbaths 
of  the 

Jewish  year. 

°1  11  1  ills  !  1  a  s 

©  H  g  o  .  Eh  £  W  to  g  H 

OCOOM('^<H®in«aPPOt'  •<J(rHOOfflCOOh-M(i-(CO>OC>30l'rt<'-lCOiOC!»l-^r- i  GO  ©  ®J  ®  ©  T}H  — (  00  ©  d  ©  ©  CO 

P  CH  ©)  d  — 1  pH  <N  P 1  <d  CO  i— 1  d  d  PI  d  d  p<  PH  d  . — 1  . — 1  (PJ  — I  «  (M  rt  f|  N  pH  pH  d  p id 

Jewish  year  of  the  World  5606,  cor¬ 
responding  to  A.  D.  1845-1846 

Pareshioth 
and  Haph- 
taroth. 

p  ,0  Ph 

p,®  co'HH  iS  S3  oo  ©  co  n 

©,®  GONdBp^dcoco 

COr?,3pHdCOH3H©®lpGO©©  00®  cTpi  d'\t<'©  M(M(0  I-ToTt-i  cfttH  ©  ©  Jp  00  ©  ©  h-p  dVl  ©  ©  *p  CD  ®  ©  hP 

m  CJ  c/2  r-1  HHHHHHHr-MNWC<«8)  dddCOCOCOCOCOCOCOCQTjHH^H-ctHTeHrlHTiH-ctH'HtlTiHlo© 

[Saturdays 

of  the  Gre¬ 
gorian  yr. 

u-5  A  >  d  ©  £  ©  p  J§*  0  p*  Q. 

p  o  o  p-^rp  ©  0  p,  jg  g  p  P  p 

•Hjipao©pao©d®©co©»'-  co©t^^fi-Ht^T*i^HQoiP'^T-HGOTti^-iQoiopj®©©©©co©i^'^>— iao©pco©d©©d® 

rtHIM  . — i  (P*  mMW  ppWP  HClia  PUM  p  1—1  d  , — i  ©*  CO  Pf)M  rtp«  P  d  d  Hrl 

Sabbaths 
of  the 

Jewish  year. 

w  0 

O-C  1  |  ®  -S  H  g  g  g  - 

°.ss  a  .3  ©  ■§  ©  J3  s  |  ^  3 

©r  H  g  O  Eh  w  <1  £  p?  M  ^  <j  W 

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Jewish  year  of  the  World  5605,  cor¬ 
responding  to  A.  D.  1844-1845 

Pareshioth 
and  Haph- 
taroth. 

d  Sc  d 

P  Jo  p  P  • 

C/2  ^  !0  „ 

£  H  6*«  «  np,W  £  ”  >© 

^  i-H  .  n  #s  rx  r.  r.  r>  •» 

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Saturdays 
of  the  Gre¬ 
gorian  yr. 

,0  _ 

P4p,«  >  d  ir,  ©  _p  p  'p  >>  £  >>  bib  P, 

Xj{/2  P  OOPJ  Png  CO 

^HGOOOWGONOOMON^HCC  ^HQOiOHCDO(NH(X)iOWOO(N05COeOOb*Tf<Ht>.Tl<HQO»r5«OiCOWCJ«OCOO«OCOOb- 

1  G^  C'J  HHW  Ht^CO  1— (  r— 1  O'*  r— 1  G^  rH  CJ  G^  r— (  r-H  H  H  CJ  CO  — (  G^  CJ  r-H  r— <  G^  r-l  CO  rHC^G* 

Sabbaths 
of  the 

Jewish  year. 

s  -  ^  1 

rH  P  4-P  p  r<p 

§  3  •§  !  -S  Sis!  1  ©  3 

©Eh  ^^OEh  co<1  ^|<<W 

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Jewish  year  of  the  World  5604,  oor-i 
responding  to  A.  D.  1843-1844.  j 

Pareshioth 
a,nd  Haph- 
taroth. 

H 

P>  HH  ^  ry! 

o  •  „.,„foiSoo©e^.  on  P» 

®  Pp  co  NPhM  wco  m  ^  ^  ^  © 

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1  Saturdays 

'of  the  Gre¬ 

gorian  yr. 

r©  ^  <B  . 

co  "©,«  ^d  ^p©^  'p^C©  ©i 

®mO  Q  cops  PS  -^gpj  wj 

optfppcoTjipcowwaocoo  o©©*pcc©jp-piaj©©co©©M©iprt<p<oo©'PCO©w©©co©t^co©tPTt(pHi--. 
n  PP(NJI  HrtC)  p  cm  HMO  Pi  p  <M  -h  CO  PH  <M  <M  PP«  PH  C<(  C*  p  C-l  (M  pp«m 

Sabbaths  j 

of  the 

Jewish  year.] 

“1  1  1  1  1  1  !  s  1  i  3  3 

o  H  c/2  <i  ^  ^  c/2  ^  <4  w 

OCOOCON^HGOiOClOCOCOCt^  ■^^OTOC0ON^r-iG0i0C0Oi-"1irHG0t0(?J05^^^00‘00?®{0^HG0i0C'?05C0C0 

r— iGQG^G^  »-H  r— 1  G^  T-H  G^  CO  rH  (M  t-HC^G^  r— It-hG^  r-H  i — 1  G^  r-HG^C^  H  *“H*"HG$  r-H  r— 1  G^  r-H  G^ 

Jewish  year  of  the  World  5603,  cor¬ 

responding  to  A.  D.  1842-1843. 

Pareshioth 

and  Haph- 
taroth. 

©J  k 

o  .  *  mm  -- 

CO  N  Pp  W  ££  ” 

cH)©,?HdH'p<rr©H4H©©tpoo©©p<>»cO'5tH  ift(Oi-oo®op(M''t<)p''iotoV'copMaopMMT)uotoNooaopefT(<io®Noo®©p 

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Saturdays 
of  the  Gre¬ 
gorian  yr. 

^"ShH»  ^  ©  j^P©  p'G  rt1©  hp*  "Sh 

®  CO  #0  Q  ®h  Ph^-sJ  SpjPj  <1c/3 

oi"#ppcoio5»a©«®fflDcoNT)Hp  i>-pipiQO'^Hpiao©TfHpHao©pHCO©®j®©co©ipco©ippHpHCso©c<!®©®j®©c<!©©c<; 
P|-P(N®<  PH®»®<  Prt«  PP«n  PtNOJ  PPCI  HHM  i — i  W  CJ  ph^h<N  >p®J(M  PPH®I  p®? 

Sabbaths 
of  the 

Jewish  year. 

m  ^  n 

Q  -f  ^H  P 

fH  P  4-3  4©  P  (H  p 

w|  S  g  ©  1  |  1  |  S3  |  |  ©  % 

”  Eh  Eh  w  oj  <J  W 

OMOCON^HCOiOClGOCOOi'.^HCO  OCCON^HOD>C(MO)OMrHGOiO(MOiCOCOON»nWQ^OCOO^'rti(MOiCO«ON^HQO 

rH  WC1(M  MHOI  r-H  CO  H  (N  W  r-H  G?  G^  H  H  ^  r-H  G^  r-H  G^  G?  H  (M  G1  r-H  r-H  G*  H  r-H  G^  rH  (M  CO  H  Cl  Cl 

Jewish  year  of  the  World  5602,  cor¬ 
responding  to  A. D.  1841-1842. 

Pareshioth 

and  Haph- 
taroth. 

®©3  Pp 

□  P  *  * 

'Z  r\  rv  HI  M 

6*0  .^IvH^PHCjCjCO©?®  CO 

.©H^  CO  N  ®j  K  ®i  co  co  TJH 

c°O,3pH|MC0"Htl©©lP00©©'p®(  C®  -hJH  ©  ©  tp  co"©  O^H  cJ'thh''o  pH  ®3  ©  t- ©"pi  ®Trf<  ©CO  h-  GO  ©  ©  -P  fffn*  ©  ©  1-  OO  ©  ©  ^ 

©  ®  '/C  ppp  ppppppIpH®!®)®)®)®!  (^©(©COCOMC^COCvSCQM-ctHHtlxCHTCHTjHTCHTlHTlHH^l©© 

Saturdays 
of  the  Gre¬ 
gorian  yr. 

p'S<H-5  j*  d  CH  g  ©  P  'p  b*  C  Ji?  ^"©H 

Tt*©©  hS®^3  vg0P  5  ® 

*  co  O  ^  Q  SpsPj  h’h  CO 

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PH®»  p-i®»C®  p<M®J  pp«  p®tc»  pH^tN  ipp®}  IPCNCO  ph®»<N  pp(M  pCJM  ph®(®J 

Sabbaths 
of  the 

Jewish  year. 

=S  |  11  111  all-  ^ 

^Eng  UEh  CO  <  'Za  G*  in  •<JH  H 

COO^T^r-HOCiOG?0>t^Tf4r-HGOur5C<?  GcDTf(rtCr)‘0(M030fOHCOiO(MGCOMONO(M05CDMONT)jG1050MO^Tt<H® 

Hrtd  rH  G1  G1  -HG1C1  r-H  rH  G1  r-H  r-H  Gl  H  d  M  (M  (M  -hG?C^  H  r-i  d  Hf-lGl  r-H  Gi  CO  <H  Gl  G1 

TABLE  V. — Continued 


Jewish  year  of  the  World  5613,  cor-  ] 

responding  to  A.  D.  1852-1853. 

[Pareshioth  9 

and  Ilaph-  1 

taroth.  I 

.  . 

C5  .  If)  „ 

W  N  ftS  ,2(2  ” 

co  nrftcto^Gr)OOrH^r«  TjTio  oVTod  <o  oo  o 

Saturdays 
of  the  Gre¬ 

gorian  yr. 

•  -3 

<?D  Pi  *5  o  ©  CO  e  4S  ri  S  C  i?  bi)  'S, 

oajo  .9  ,2  <3  ®  J5  P  £  3  p  p  57  o 

»M  £  ft  00^  ft  S  -fi  £  >->  ^  in  .  O 

aouocDoooeooocoor-Tiinooo  riwo«OJOfiO)!DflS'lcnoiNCnonof-'#rict)Tj(«®iniMa®MoonoNmo("#rt 

i  CD  "WO  «  ia  (M  1— i  n  CD  H  CD  CD  H  H  CD  H  M  CD  n  d  M  1*1  CD  CD  r— i  n  CD  mWM  i-i  CD  CD  MHd 

Sabbaths 
of  the 

Jewish  year. 

uj  .53 

2  3  -  t3  a  a  § 

S  •§  I  H  «  js  &  £  |  ^  % 

«8  «.  k  °  H  w  &  ft*  cn  ^  -<  ft 

f— It— ICS?  t— 1  ^  M  rH  (N  W  f— 1  f* 1  (N  *— 1  O'?  n  (N  ^  M  (J4  (M  rH  1— 1  W  t— r-i  r-i  CM  (M  Q 

Jewish  year  of  the  World  5612,  cor¬ 
responding  to  A.  D.  1851-1852. 

Pareshioth 
and  Haph- 
taroth. 

2  S’  _  ©  .  a 

S/tf  43  3  J  w  R 

C/2  ^  rs  w 

.  O  •  i.  _  CO  ct3  GO  CO 

£  o  P,ft  W  N  ft  cd  £  CD  CO  co  -si 

d?  eo  rHdM'i'in®t-odao-rd'^in<-i®rtorr-iid''rj(in(ONao350-HcfTi<io®t'CDO)o-H 

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Saturdays 
of  tire  Gre¬ 
gorian  yr. 

•  .  rC3  ^ 

OOO  O  ^  2s  r°  &  %  £  §3  2  0 

» C/2  O  ^  P  £-•  <3  r3  >-o  >-o  C/2 

^^HCOPiOHtriOWPcOCOON  CQON^-HN^HCCOCOOl-CQON^HCOiOCMOJOtMOCCCOONTf^N^-HCO^H 

C'l  r-H  r— It— 1  CJ  '“■iC'JG'i  14  (M  r—i  7—1  CO  M  (?i  rH  (M  W  HH(M  r*H  Q'l  O'}  t— <  t— 1  W  r*H  r*H  CO  »“H  C'J  C1*  t"H 

Sabbaths 
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Jewish  year. 

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0-|  S  3  ©  £  *  8  £  §  3  - 

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Jewish  year  of  the  World  5611,  cor¬ 
responding  to  A.  D.  1850-1851. 

Pareshioth 
and  Ilapli- 
taroth. 

•  1 

O  ^  .  Jg  .  o  CO  I 

£  X  C/JNPK£  'g  o  I 

Hr  CO7:  jjrt<H(MM^»OO^COOlOH(MfO  ^OO^OOCJOHlMM^iOONCOHOOHlMCO^^inONCOO-HCM^OOhCOOOM  Q 
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Saturdays 
of  the  Gre¬ 
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00  ^,5  ©  « S  ®  «2  3^3  ® 

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Sabbaths 
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Jewish  year. 

!  !  1  !  1  !  !  a  f  !  „  1 

P=H  ^  g  O  £h  1  in  f>  I?  W 

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Jewish  year  of  the  World  5610,  cor-| 

responding  to  A.  D.  1849-1850. 

Pareshioth 
and  Haph- 
taroth. 

0  •  „ ,  _  n  S  oo  0  co  0  co  ®t 

ppq  m  Npind  wm  eo  -g  Tf  Tfi  m 

<7»co  ^ifHdMTjnftOi-xiciOHd  coTfmot^otrojeT— rcr-^ioi-HotboTi— i54'-^ic>niot'00crT-icrTSioot^aoo50i-r 

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Saturdays 
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gorian  yr. 

»  %,  *5  £  0  0  d  -P  1  ^  c  ^  to 

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Sabbaths 
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Jewish  year. 

in  g 

2  3  +,  c  e  e 

r-i'G  0  0  &  3  §e  a 

S  t9  -2  ©  «  3  ^  S  b  1  5  3 

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Jewish  year  of  the  World  5609,  cor¬ 
responding  to  A.  D.  1848-1849. 

Pareshioth 
and  Ilaph- 
taroth. 

^  a  t  8h 

3  ->f 1-1  ~  t «*  m 

P,°„’  coL_frfrfGO®co  eo 

SpW  M  N  ^  CIM  n  r»< 

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Saturdays 
of  the  Gre¬ 
gorian  yr. 

A 

a,*i  >o  csdP3H  ’GbS 

®oo  o  a>  ®  3  3  ^  5  ® 

nmO  ^  Z  Q  oo  ^  kj  |-d  <j  m 

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Sabbaths 
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Jewish  year. 

»  H 

^  ^  +3  j_s  Cj 

1  13  .2  ®  -2  |  S  i  5  I 

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j|  1  Jewish  year  of  the  World  5608,  cor- 

R  responding  to  A.  D.  1847-1848. 

oa; 
"2  ri  — a 

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p  C 

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—  0  .  •  t_4  2  co  e* 

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^'^>ci'oi>-aoCT>0'~|cN'COTi:'1p'cp'i^cc,-l050’-'<:<,CV55IS3£bSS2!2G!£f2t2Slq222S’E 

O  c/3  r/s  VO  t— .  t— 1  r-H  Hr-.tHHHHHlM'MWlMtMlMWWlM  CO  CO  CO  CO  CO  CO  CO  CO  CO  CO  Tji  Tt<  ^  ^  Tt<  Tt<  rr  TT  10  -Ci  1 

Saturdays 
of  the  Gre¬ 

gorian  yr. 

ts  -g  §  t  &  g  t  f  1* 

^  cn  O  +  ft  ft  §  <H  S  *-5  *->  ^  W 

’H.-icoinMMPe!DO®cDOi''D<iHcoio’Hi-i!niftci©ine!»®it'-<®iftH®‘OdPPMOi'PPt',t!'-1®,nS®inw®iSlNro'5!5 

1-1  r- 1  GS*  i-iC!CD  iidN  ■— 1  C<(  i-lC^<M  i-li-iPl  i-»Hd  i-idd  1-1  W  C<  i-li-iPJ  i— CJC<  i— li— iQJ  — 

Sabbaths 
of  the 

1  Jewish  year. 

»  M  s 

234j^,  nc  pS 

Cfl-a  "022  §  >3 

w»  is  3  ©  -8  5  ®  5  a  B  I  5  £ 

« H  ^  0  H  cn<!  >-4iGrcn 

-1®iONCDffl®CDCt'iOC»0®'«i--iCO  lOCDCNTC-HOOiO«P®CDONOdO>®COOt'2(Ma®mOl-'Jir-gO«CDOt'it-00«  n 
•—  cllNPI  — Kdd  1-1  1-1  W  1-11-1  CD  —  CD  n  CD  CD  1-1  C-D  CD  1-111  PI  11W  nCDCO  —  CD  CD  nPICD  nCDJ 

8G3 


TABLE  V^Coktinued 


864 


TABLE  V. — Continued 


TABLE  V. — Continued 


jigMP«wp»gnK3gP!aBHB3»FgBg!wiffanaBBi3B7Hg^T.?^^ 

'Jewish  year  of  the  World  5631,  cor* 
j  responding  to  A.  D.  1870-1871. 

Pareshioth 

and  Haph- 
taroth. 

^  j  W 

+->  i-l  *  w 

o  •  ....  CO  rt  00  O  CO  O  CO  ©* 

ocq  CONpAlrvAlCOCO*;  h*  h*<  *o 

O  ^  ^  r*  ^  ^  ^  ^  C-t  ^  ^  ^ 

a»  co  oirtTfurs®t^oooi6'r-in-iunH(oj-oi^W'i<®in!ON<i)oriHcrTtuooN!»o>o-i 

OOMm  mh  HrtrirtrlrH-HlMCIHWW  A!A!AlCOCOCOPHCOCOCOCOCOO,'Hj,<HC-'t|Ht|ofHt,',C1,0,P 

Saturdays 
of  the  Gre¬ 
gorian  yr. 

rC 

^  O  — ,  P  -O  £  M  5*  A  .p  bo  A. 

go  O  0  f*  g  ®  p  a,  P  3  ^  P  0 

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Sabbaths 
of  the 

Jewish  year. 

M  3 

^  ^  4_»  r*  r4  G 

*rj  H  O  O  ctf  H  c3  §  5 

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-h  A!  A!  A!  -h  -h  A!  — i  A!  CO  HlMM  r-l  PI  pi  -H  —  A!  t-Ii-MM  -KN«  m  «  Pt  —  -H  Al  —  A! 

Jewish  year  of  the  World  5630,  cor¬ 
responding  to  A. D.  1869-1870. 

Pareshioth 
and  Haph- 
taroth. 

■tf  l~^  w  w  „ 

§P  w  N  pP  ” 

A!  co  -«<>offlt*aooio--i(crco-^'ino'id'c3o>-iiM050*H(NcoTt<u-5cob'COCoO'— id^mroNooraorH 

iO  tO  CO  in  -h  rtrHrtrtrtrtCTCTMWWMMnC!  CTCOCOCOcncOCOCOCOCOCOHCoH'4<He<0<'Ht<Hi<Hj<TtitOin 

Saturdays' 
of  the  Gre¬ 
gorian  yr. 

p  £  0  Oj*  )6  I  !2  &  i  £*  %  £. 

Jooo  0  01-b  ®  A  p,  3  3  P  2  A 

«M  40  £  P  2^  P  S  ^  <!  CO 

H(B>nOOWffl(OnO©nOi"^HOOin  HOOAWAAMAOOCSAOINaAMOf-’ilrtOO'pHOOAWOfflMOAAONWOt'^ 

— (  —  <M  (M  r -H  A!  CO  -i  A!  A!  . — c  i — t  CA«  r-,  W  (M  -- 1  r-t  A!  . — !  — •  —  A!  CO  nff!«  -i  -h  A!  »-<  A!  CO  •— i  A!  A!  hm(N 

Sabbaths 
of  the 

Jewish  year. 

^  ^  4-p  +0  o3  rj  ^ 

"i  1  1  1  1  I  1  |  Sll5  | 

cop  ^  g  O  P  to  <!  f>  £  p?co£_|-<  W 

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HMWd  MH«  .— <  A!  CO  A!  —  A!  A!  — l  -H  A!  1— <  A!  --t  A!  A!  —  A!  A«  r- <  -h  <N  HH5I  -h  A!  CO  -KMC! 

Jewish  year  of  the  World  5629,  cor¬ 
responding  to  A  D.  1868-1869. 

Pareshioth 
and  Haph- 
taroth. 

A  5  P  Pi  .  . 

p-  ®  ..  Co\_<  Mrf  TOO  CO  CO 

a-CJM  C/3  N  mH  p_j  pi  co  co  •'t* 

CO  g  3*^',-,mCO-<C<vnOt^OOOiO--tC?  CO*CkA«Ot-od'o>cT— loTTlH'iA--iA!tOjPcr-HArrl<iOOi-aOCSO  —  CpT}<uAC0)-'0r)OO--» 

HjOWo  — i  — <  -h  rtrt-,HHH-iM(MMC!IM  A»A?AJCOCOCOCOC<JCOCOCO-^T?'-C-^''?lTf'-C<tr''ti>OiO 

Saturdays 
of  the  Gre¬ 
gorian  yr. 

pC 

4-3  L*  •  .  .  O  173  -D  .  •  4-*  J 

GD  O  1  -+->  ^  0  QS  P)  c-4  J-«  c-j  Jv  00  Qj 

0  0  0  ^5^°^  cd  ^  ^  3  3  ® 

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rH  CN  rHrM^CO  rH  (N  CO  M  (N  Cl  G't  H  H  (M  H  C]  ^  rH  -1  ^  rH  M  CO  »"H  (M  CM 

Sabbaths 
of  the 

Jewish  year. 

«  N 

O  p-i  P  id 

P  ^  +3  r4  c*  O  « 

•r^  CD  <D  rrt  J-«  ^3  G  H 

°.a  §  a  ■  g  1  3  |  all-  3 

^  H  ^  g  OH  co  <1  ^  <1  H 

COONCO^HGO'n«CU^^HQO>0^  O  O  ^  h  GO  O  Ol  OJ  O  CO  H  ®  10  O')  O  O  CO  O  N  O  (N  O  O  CO  O  N  ^  c-i  Cl  O  CO  O  t'  rf  ^  CO 

rH  -H  (M  T— <  Oi  <7^  -H  -H  r-p  r— i  CM  - 1  (71  (M  r-<  r-1  r-4  G~^  »— I  rH  Ci  1-P  CO  ri  O!  ^ 

IJewish  year  of  the  World  5628,  cor¬ 

responding  to  A.  D.  1867-1868. 

Pareshioth 

and  Haph- 
taroth. 

3P  J  W 

pN  *  ^5  coo  co  m  C9 

^  M  W  NPh!M  ^  OJCO  CO  10 

^  ^  ^  (*y5  ^  ^  ^  0  h(mco^>oo)>  orT  0  cT  — T  of >n  h  c  crT  r— i  c^r  10  o  co  o>  o  rn  (tT  *r  10  o  n  go  o  o  -p' 

lOOC/JO  r-i  HHrHHHHr-iHHG^OKNOllM  G^GQC^CQCGCOCOCGO'^C'OeGTjlTjlTji-^^Trr^T^^O'O 

Saturdays 
of  the  Gre¬ 
gorian  yr. 

jr  ococj-o  %  ?h  ^  o« 

coo  1$  ®  os  r®  ^  ^  3  3  « 

10  W  0  W  (O  W  G  O  CO  O  N  ^  >H  co  TjifHGOiOrHCOOMOlN’^'HCO'cH^GOiOiNClOCOOCDCOON'^'HCOtOr-iODiONOlOCJ 
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Sabbaths 
of  the 

Jewish  year. 

OT  S 

CD  P 

i— <  O  4—3  .1  -»  ^4  _4 

p  b3  g  p  -- 

°  .52  Sg.22©  ”§ 

^P  #  g  O  P  cn  <j  P*  '  t«  ^  <J  H 

OCOOCONTfrHGOOCOONrfCl  O'OCOHCOiOOOl'DCOONiOClOOCOON^lMOOCOO^rfHCOCOeOONTlHHCOtn 

r-(  d  C?  Cl  r- !.—<<?*  1—1  G-i  - -  G3  G?  iHGIGl  HMG1  HH(M  r— <  G1  CG  rH  G1  Cl  rH  GJ  G^  r4  rl  G1 

Jewish  year  of  the  World  5627,  cor-l 

responding  to  A.  D.  1866-1867.  | 

Pareshioth; 
•and  Haph- 
taroth. 

r<  •  ff 

O'"]  »  B 

m  N  pW  ££  § 

*3  m  w  N  M  ^  0  ffl  N  (E  A  O  -1  W  (O  4AfflNaOAO-KM'n'1<''OA''NOOr-l(MaOt-KNe04AONmAO-(Cr4<inAt'!»AO-< 

^  r-H  »-m  r*H  Mr-iMr-ir-!r-i(MG}ClGlGl(MO(M(M  GlCGCQCOCOCOCGCOCGiCy3COT^T^Tt^T^'^',^-^'rj<Tf<»nO  g 

Sabbaths  1  Saturdays 
of  the  oftheGre- 

Jewishyear.|  gorianyr. 

-joAttj  >  6  t-~  d  ^  "S  P-  2  a?  tub  a, 

tpAO  5  3  ®  si  a,  J2  P  ^p  S* 

15P  i-3<j  CO  J 

iPS?S<^{OCV5C5J^f00t^'+,'_,30inCTe>  AMa©c)affiniMA®nAonoN’t-HOCA-imin(MACAONnoN4-t-T)(-KB  1 
—  A<CM  A5  A}  r-Hi— IA!  —  AIAJ  — iAJ  ■— <A!  —  A!  CO  —A!  A}  —  —  A!  —A<A1  — i  PI  PI  —  Cl  CO  — AlAIg 

c n  N 

S  P  «  «  c3c  -  P  C 

a=  t  |  |  5  |  .%  I  ^|1  g  r 

”iH  ,  1  3  H  &  <  >  2  &  m  g  5,  H  2 

°£2?3?3ro,'^IIiQO)£^C>0£2^i^T^!rJ  ®OMON'^HCOiO(^GOCOrHCOiO!MGCOCOONiO(MOOMO^rKC?010C:Ol''^HQO 

•  G1  G-i  GJ  M  ->  Cl  1— <  G*  OG  i— '  G?  Gi  rHGKM  t-hi— ig*  -hGI  •— 1  G?  Gif  ' — 1  (M  (71  i — 1  GJ  mh^  i — <  G?  CO  ^  G1  G^ 

|  Jewish  year  of  the  World  5626,  cor- 

|  responding  to  A.  D.  1865-1866. 

Pareshioth 
and  Haph- 
taroth. 

^  | 

0  O  ~  mm 

oO  v*,  ^p-f  c3  CXJO  co  co 

.&  O  ^  ^  (I^Ph  W  ^ 

W^iOONCOGOHfM-^iOHGlONG-HOl^iOONCOGOr-i  Gr  'fiOOhCDOOH 
w  ^  <-H  rHMr-i.-ir-('HH(71(M(MGlG}  GlG?G3COC''5COCOCOCO<?OCO^'tt<^'^-^t'Tr,Tr'^^vOiO 

I  Saturdays 

of  the  Gre¬ 
gorian  yr. 

Oft  *>  ft  d  to  ri  JA  y  ^  ^  A  ^  bOQ, 

«p®°  g  «  O  3  OJ  P  aL  P  5  P3  p  a 

r3gl^21^,5S'^PE2)5i::'<C5''025S  ©CbONC<:ON4COOb-4-i|-4-iOnAC!aoMfflOAON't’HOO'Ci-<0!)A^® 

AICO  —A!A»  -h  —  A!  —(NCO  -CUN  — -HAJ  — -HA!  CO  —A!  A!  —  -H  A!  —A!  CO  Pa!A!  -h-hA! 

I  Sabbaths 

of  the 

|  Jewish  year. 

(A  N 

-j|  |  S  |  2  |  I  -II  = 

«H|op5^gw*3^^w 

O'O^FHOOiOWOOMHGOiOClG'OWONOOlOCOCOOP-'^GlOOMON'^rHaD 

HHG1  i-HGiGI  -h  G3  G)  r— t  r- <  CM  hh(N  »—»GI  f-h  GM  Gi  1— 1  Gi  Gl  hhCI  mhGI  hGIM  1— <0*0$ 

866  (  56  ) 


( 


TABLE  V. — Continued 


867 


TABLE  V.— -  Continued 


868 


TABLE  Y. — Continued. 


TABLE  V.— Continued 


870 


TABLE  V. — Continued. 


TABLE  VI 


|  TABLE  VI. — Containing  the  year  of  the  Jeivish  Lunar  Cycle ,  the  Golden  Number ,  the  first  day 
of  the  Jewish  Passover ,  Easter  Sunday ,  and  the  commencement  of  each  Jewish  Year ,  ac¬ 
cording  to  the  Gregorian  calendar,  from  A.  D.  1812  to  A.  D.  1900  ( both  inclusive.) 

Rabbinical 
year  of  the 
world. 

Year  from  the 
Incarnation. 

Year  of  the 
Jewish  lunar 
cycle. 

Golden 

Number. 

First  day  of  the  Jewish 
Passover  (15  Nisan.) 

Easter 

Sunday. 

Commencement  of  the 
Jewish  year,  according 
to  the  Gregorian 
calendar. 

5572 

B  1812 

5 

8 

Saturday, 

March  28 

March  29 

September 

19,  1811 

5573 

1813 

6 

9 

Thursday, 

April  15 

April  18 

7,  1812 

5574 

1814 

7 

10 

Tuesday, 

April  5 

10 

25,  1813 

5575 

1815 

8 

11 

Tuesday, 

April  25 

March  26 

15,  1814 

5576 

B  1816 

9 

12 

Saturday, 

April  13 

April  14 

October 

5,  1815 

5577 

1817 

10 

13 

Tuesday, 

April  1 

6 

September 

23,  1816 

5578 

1818 

11 

14 

Tuesday, 

April  21 

March  22 

11,  1817 

5579 

1819 

12 

15 

Saturday, 

April  10 

April  11 

October 

1,  1818 

5580 

B  1820 

13 

16 

Thursday, 

March  30 

2 

September 

20,  1819 

5581 

1821 

14 

17 

Tuesday, 

April  17 

22 

9,  1820 

5582 

1822 

15 

18 

Saturday,  * 

April  6 

7 

27,  1821 

5583 

1823 

16 

19 

Thursday, 

March  27 

March  30 

16,  1822 

5584 

B  1824 

17 

1 

Tuesday, 

April  13 

April  18 

6,  1823 

5585 

1825 

18 

2 

Sunday, 

April  3 

3 

23,  1824 

5586 

1826 

19 

3 

Saturday, 

April  22 

March  26 

13,  1825 

5587 

1827 

1 

4 

Thursday, 

April  12 

April  15 

October 

2,  1826 

5588 

B  1828 

2 

5 

Sunday, 

March  30 

6 

September 

22,  1827 

5589 

1829 

3 

6 

Saturday, 

April  18 

19 

9,  1828 

5590 

1830 

4 

7 

Thursday, 

April  8 

11 

28,  1829 

5591 

1831 

5 

8 

Tuesday, 

March  29 

3 

18,  1830 

5592 

B  1832 

6 

9 

Sunday, 

April  15 

22 

8,  1831 

5593 

1833 

7 

10 

Thursday, 

April  4 

7 

25,  1832 

5594 

1834 

8 

11 

Thursday, 

April  24 

March  30 

14,  1833 

5595 

1835 

9 

12 

Tuesday, 

April  14 

April  19 

October 

4,  1834 

5596 

B  1836 

10 

13 

Saturday, 

April  2 

3 

September 

24,  1835 

5597 

1837 

11 

14 

Thursday, 

April  20 

March  26 

12,  1836 

5598 

1838 

12 

15 

Tuesday, 

April  10 

April  15 

30,  1837 

5599 

1839 

13 

16 

Saturday, 

March  30 

March  31 

20,  1838 

5600 

B  1840 

14 

17 

Saturday, 

April  18 

April  19 

9,  1839 

5601 

1841 

15 

18 

Tuesday, 

April  6 

11 

28,  1840 

5602 

1842 

16 

19 

Saturday, 

March  26 

March  27 

16,  1841 

5603 

1843 

17 

1 

Saturday, 

April  15 

April  16 

5,  1842 

5604 

B  1844 

18 

2 

Thursday, 

April  4 

7 

25,  1843 

5605 

1845 

19 

3 

Tuesday, 

April  22 

March  23 

14,  1844 

5606 

1846 

1 

4 

Saturday, 

April  1 1 

April  12 

October 

2,  1845 

5607 

1847 

2 

5 

Thursday, 

April  1 

4 

September 

21,  1846 

5608 

B  1848 

3 

6 

Tuesday, 

April  18 

23 

11,  1847 

5609 

1849 

4 

7 

Saturday, 

April  7 

8 

28,  1848 

5610 

1850 

5 

8 

Thursday, 

March  28 

March  31 

17,  1849 

5611 

1851 

6 

9 

Thursday, 

April  17 

April  20 

7,  1850 

5612 

B  1852 

7 

10 

Sunday, 

April  4 

11 

27,  1851 

5613 

1853 

8 

11 

Saturday, 

April  23 

March  27 

14,  1852 

5614 

1854 

9 

12 

Thursday, 

April  13 

April  16 

October 

3,  1853 

5615 

1855 

10 

13 

Tuesday, 

April  3 

8 

September 

23,  1854 

5616 

B  1856 

11 

14 

Sunday, 

April  20 

March  23 

13,  1855 

5617 

1857 

12 

15 

Thursday, 

April  9 

April  12 

30,  1856 

5618 

185S 

13 

16 

Tuesday, 

March  30 

4 

19,  1S57 

5619 

1859 

14 

17 

Tuesday, 

April  19 

24 

9,  1858 

5620 

B  1860 

15 

18 

Saturday, 

April  7 

8 

29,  1859 

5621 

1861 

16 

19 

Tuesday, 

March  26 

March  31 

17,  1860 

5622 

1862 

17 

1 

Tuesday, 

April  15 

April  20 

5,  1861 

5623 

1863 

18 

2 

Saturday, 

April  4 

5 

25,  1862 

5624 

B  1864 

19 

3 

Thursday, 

April  21 

March  27 

14,  1863 

5625 

1865 

1 

4 

Tuesday, 

April  11 

April  16 

October 

1,  1864 

;■  5626 

1866 

2 

5 

Saturday, 

March  31 

1 

September 

21,  1865 

5627 

1867 

3 

6 

Saturday, 

April  20 

21 

10,  1866 

5628 

B  1868 

4 

7 

Tuesday, 

April  7 

12 

30,  1867 

5629 

1869 

5 

8 

Saturday, 

March  27 

March  28 

17,  1868 

5630 

1870 

6 

9 

Saturday, 

April  16 

April  17 

6,  1869 

5631 

1871 

7 

10 

Thursday, 

April  6 

9 

26,  1870 

5632 

B  1872 

8 

11 

Tuesday, 

April  23 

March  31 

16,  1871 

5633 

1873 

9 

12 

Saturday, 

April  12 

April  13 

October 

3,  1872 

5634 

1874 

10 

13 

Thursday, 

April  2 

5 

September 

22,  1873 

5635 

1875 

11 

14 

Tuesday, 

April  20 

March  28 

12,  1874 

5636 

B  1876 

12 

15 

Sunday, 

April  9 

April  16 

30,  1875 

5637 

1877 

13 

16 

Thursday, 

March  29 

1 

19,  1876 

5638 

1878 

14 

17 

Thursday, 

April  18 

21 

8,  1877 

5639 

1879 

15 

18 

Tuesday, 

April  8 

13 

28,  1878 

5640 

B  1880 

16 

19  * 

Saturday, 

March  27 

March  28 

18,  1879 

5641 

1881 

17 

1 

Thursday, 

April  14 

April  17 

6,  1880 

5642 

1882 

18 

2 

Tuesday, 

April  4 

9 

24,  1881 

5643 

1883 

19 

3 

Sunday, 

April  22 

March  25 

14,  1882 

5644 

B  1884 

1 

4 

Thursday, 

April  10 

April  13 

October 

2,  1883 

5645 

1885 

2 

5 

Tuesday, 

March  31 

5 

September 

20,  1884 

5646 

1886 

3 

6 

Tuesday, 

April  20 

25 

10,  1885 

5647 

1887 

4 

7 

Saturday, 

April  9 

10 

30,  1886 

5648 

B  1888 

5 

8  ■ 

Tuesday, 

March  27 

1 

19,  1887 

5649 

1889 

6 

9 

Tuesday, 

April  16 

21 

6,  1888 

5650 

1890 

7 

10 

Saturday, 

April  5 

6 

26,  1889 

5651 

1891 

8 

11 

Thursday, 

April  23 

March  29 

15,  1890 

5652 

B  1892 

9 

12 

Tuesday, 

April  12 

April  17 

October 

3,  1891 

5653 

1893 

10 

13 

Saturday, 

April  1 

2 

September 

22,  1892 

5654 

1894 

11 

14 

Saturday, 

April  21 

March  25 

11,  1893 

5655 

1895 

12 

15 

Tuesday, 

April  9 

April  14 

October 

I,  1894 

5656 

B  1896 

13 

16 

Sunday, 

March  29 

5 

September 

19,  1895 

5657 

1897 

14 

17 

Saturday, 

April  17 

18 

8,  1896 

5658 

1898 

15 

18 

Thursday, 

April  7 

10 

27,  1897 

5659 

1899 

16 

19 

Sunday, 

March  26 

2 

17,  1898 

5660 

1900 

17 

1 

Saturday, 

April  14 

15 

5,  1S99 

5661 

1901 

18 

2 

Thursday, 

April  4 

7 

24,  1900 

EXPLANATION  OF  THE  PRECEDING  TABLES. 


Before  the  reader  enters  upon  the  particular  uses  of  each  of  the  pre¬ 
ceding  tables,  it  will  be  necessary  to  give  a  detailed  account  of  the 
rabbinical  computation  of  time  upon  which  they  have  been  constructed. 
The  year  used  by  the  Jews  contains  twelve  or  thirteen  lunations, 
which  are  so  artificially  disposed  that  its  commencement  constantly 
happens  about  the  time  of  the  autumnal  equinox.  In  order  to  effect 
this,  they  have  been  obliged  to  have  recourse  to  the  sun’s  revolution 
through  the  twelve  signs  of  the  zodiac,  or,  to  speak  more  properly,  to 
the  quantum  of  time  which  the  earth  takes  up  in  making  one  com¬ 
plete  periodic  revolution  round  the  sun.  This  period  of  time,  accord¬ 
ing  to  the  rabbins,  (which  is  the  same  that  is  used  in  the  construction 
of  their  calendar,)  is  365  days,  5  hours,  997  chelakim,  (points,)  and  48 
moments  ;  which,  reduced  to  our  time,  is  equal  to  365  days,  5  hours,  55 
minutes,  and  25  seconds — 1080  chelakim  being  contained  in  one  hour, 
and  76  moments  in  a  chelek.  See  Bibl.  Rabb.,  Part  II.,  p.  407. 

The  quantity  of  the  synodical  revolution  of  the  moon,  according  to 
the  rabbins,  is  29  days,  12  hours,  and  793  chelakim,  which  also  reduced 
to  our  time,  is  equal  to  29  days,  12  hours,  44  minutes,  and  3£  seconds  ; 
and  .twelve  times  this  quantity,  or  354  days,  8  hours,  48  minutes,  and 
40  seconds,  is  equal  to  the  Jewish  common  year,  which  is  nearly  11 
days  short  of  the  solar  revolution  ;  consequently,  to  keep  the  seasons 
of  "the  year  in  their  respective  months,  the  rabbins  employ  an  embo- 
lismic  or  leap  year  of  13  lunar  months  every  second  or  third  year,  by 
means  of  which,  with  other  corrections  which  will  be  hereafter  noticed, 
their  years  are  found  to  correspond  so  exactly  with  the  Gregorian 
calendar  as  not  to  deviate  from  it  materially  through  the  course  of 
some  centuries. 

In  the  lunar  cycle  of  19  years,  which  embraces  the  principal  vari¬ 
ations  in  the  motion  of  the  moon,  they  have  12  common  years  of  ^lu¬ 
nar  months,  and  embolismic  years  of  13  lunar  months  ;  and.  in  order  that 
all  their  months  may  begin  as  nearly  as  possible  with  the  day  of  the 
conjunction  of  the  sun  and  moon,  they  have  alternately,  for  the  most 
part,  29  and  30  days.  Thus  Tisri,  their  first  month,  contains  30  days  ; 
Marchesvan,  their  second  month,  29  or  30  ;  Cisleu,  29  or  30  ;  Tebet,  29  ; 
Sebat,  30  ;  Adar,  29  ;  Nisan,  30  ;  l jar,  29  ;  Sivan,  30  ;  Tammuz,  29  ; 
Ab,  30  ;  and  Elul,  29.  In  the  embolismic  year,  Adar  always  consists 
of  30,  and  the  thirteenth  month,  which  is  named  Veadar,  always  of  29 
days. 

The  reason  why  an  embolismic  year  for  the  most  part  succeeds  two 
common  years,  is  evident  from  the  circumstance  of  the  lunar  year 
being  nearly  11  days  shorter  than  the  solar,  so  that  in  three  years  the 
latter  gains  from  the  former  not  fewer  than  about  32  days,  and  as  only 
a  month  of  30  days  is  intercalated  in  that  time,  at  the  commencement 
of  the  lunar  cycle,  it  is  manifest  that  two  intercalary  years  must  some¬ 
times  happen  with  only  one  common  year  between.  Accordingly,  the 
3d,  6th,  8th,  11th,  14th,  17th,  and  19th  years  of  every  lunar  cycle 
are  denominated  embolismic  ;  see  Table  I.  If  the  lunar  synodic  revo¬ 
lution  consisted  precisely  of  29  days,  12  hours,  the  assigning  to  the 
Jewisu  months  29  and  30  days  alternately,  would  be  sufficient  to  fix 
the  commencement  of  the  different  months  about  the  day  of  the  con¬ 
junction,  ad  infinitum ;  but  as  the  synodic  revolution,  according  to 
Rabbi  Adda,  contains  44  minutes  3£  seconds  more  than  291-  days,  it 
is  demonstrable  that  the  assignment  of  29  and  30  days  alternately  to 
the  months  must  be  insufficient,  and  in  the  course  of  a  few  years 
must  produce  a  very  sensible  error. 

Thus,  in  order  to  make  this  circumstance  obvious  to  the  lowest 
capacity,  let  the  first  paschal  full  moon  in  the  lunar  cycle  be  supposed 
to  commence  precisely  at  mid-day,  then  it  is  evident,  from  the  quan¬ 
tity  of  a  synodic  revolution,  as  ascertained  by  the  rabbins,  that  the 
nineteen  paschal  full  moons  which  are  contained  in  every  cycle  will, 
in  this  case,  happen  as  in  the  following  table  ;  where  the  first  column 
points  out  the  year  of  the  cycle  ;  the  second,  the  precise  point  of 
time  in  the  lunar  cycle  of  the  respective  paschal  full  moons;  the 
third,  the  nearest  corresponding  day,  omitting  the  fractional  parts  ; 
and  the  fourth,  the  differences  of  the  numbers  in  the  third  column, 
or  in  other  words,  the  interval  of  time,  expressed  in  whole  numbers, 
which  elapses  between  each  successive  paschal  full  moon. 


1 

0  days 

0  hours 

0  min. 

0  sec. 

2 

354 

8 

48 

40 

354 

354 

3  E 

738 

6 

21 

23 

738 

384 

4 

1092 

15 

10 

3 

1093 

355 

5 

'  1446 

23 

58 

43 

1447 

354 

6  E 

1830 

21 

31 

26 

1831 

384 

7 

2185 

6 

20 

6 

2185 

354 

8  E 

2569 

3 

52 

49 

2569 

384 

9 

2923 

12 

41 

29 

2924 

355 

10 

3277 

21 

30 

9 

3278 

354 

11  E 

3661 

19 

2 

52 

3662 

384 

12 

4016 

3 

51 

32 

4016 

354 

13 

4370 

12 

40 

12 

4371 

355 

14  E 

4754 

10 

12 

55 

4754 

383 

15 

5108 

19 

1 

35 

5109 

355 

16 

5463 

3 

50 

15 

5463 

354 

17  E 

5847 

1 

22 

58 

5847 

384 

18 

6201 

10 

11 

38 

6201 

354 

19  E 

6585 

7 

44 

21 

6585 

384 

1 

6939 

16 

33 

1 

6940 

355 

From  the  last  column  of  the  preceding  table,  it  is  evident  that  the 
paschal  full  moons  happen  constantly  after  an  interval  of  354, 355, 383, 
or  384  days,  omitting  the  fractional  parts  ;  but  the  length  of  the  Jew¬ 
ish  year  may  be  either  353,  354, 355,  383,  384,  or  385  days.  The  reason 
of  this  discordance  between  the  length  of  the  Jewish  year,  and  the 
interval  between  two  consecutive  paschal  full  moons,  arises  chiefly 

a 


from  the  circumstance  of  never  beginning  the  year  on  the  first,  fourth, 
or  sixth  day  of  the  week.  Hence,  if  the  new  moon,  which  regulates 
the  commencement  of  the  year,  should  happen  on  the  1st  day  of  the 
week,  the  year  does  not  begin  till  the  following  day  ;  and  if  on  the 
4th  or  6th,  the  commencement  of  the  year  is  dated  from  the  5th  or 
Sabbath.  The  reason  why  the  Jews  never  begin  their  year  on  the 
first  day  of  the  week,  is  to  prevent  the  occurrence  of  the  celebration 
of  the  festival  of  Hosanna  Rabba  on  the  Sabbath  day,  as  some  parts  of 
this  festival  are  deemed  by  them  incompatible  with  the  strict  obser¬ 
vance  of  the  Sabbath  enjoined  on  them  by  the  fourth  commandment. 

The  reason  why  the  year  is  never  begun  on  the  4th  or  6th  days  of 
the  week,  is  to  prevent  the  occurrence  of  the  great,  day  of  Atonement 
on  the  6th  or  Lord’s  day  ;  for  as  the  Jews  are  bound  to  keep  this  fast 
on  the  10th  of  Tisri,  and  also  to  observe  it  as  strictly  as  they  would 
the  Sabbath,  in  this  case  two  Sabbaths  as  it  were  would  come  together 
and  produce  great  inconvenience,  as  in  their  estimation  it  is  not  law¬ 
ful  to  bury  their  dead  or  boil  their  food  on  either  of  these  days. 

Hence  arises  the  necessity  of  adding  or  subtracting,  from  time  to 
time,  an  entire  day  to  or  from  the  mean  length  of  the  common  or  em¬ 
bolismic  year,  which  correction  is  always  made  in  the  month  Marches¬ 
van  or  Cisleu,  just  in  the  same  manner  as  the  intercalated  day  in  the 
Gregorian  calendar  is  always  attached  to  the  end  of  February. 

From  the  different  varieties  in  the  length  of  the  months  Marchesvan 
and  Cisleu,  connected  with  the  day  of  the  week  upon  which  the  year 
begins,  are  produced  fourteen  different  kinds  of  years  among  the  Jews, 
seven  of  which  are  common  years,  and  the  other  seven  embolismic ;  for 
sometimes  these  two  months  have  each  only  29  days,  sometimes  they 
have  each  30  days,  and  at  other  times  Marchesvan  has  29,  and  Cisleu 
30  days  ;  and  the  new  year  may  commence  with  the  Sabbath,  or  the 
2d,  3d,  or  5th  day  of  the  week. 

The  indexes  by  which  these  different  years  are  distinguished  in  the 
preceding  tables  are  for  the  common  years,  5  P  1,  5  d  7,  7  D  1,  7  P  3, 
2  D  3,  2  P  5,  and  3  d  5  ;  and  for  the  embolismic,  5D1,  3d  7,  2P7, 
5  P  3,  7  D  3,  7  P  5,  and  2  D  5.  The  first  figure  of  the  index  denotes 
the  day  of  the  week  upon  which  the  year  commences,  thus  5  denotes 
the  year  to  begin  on  the  fifth  day  of  the  week  or  Thursday,  3  the  third 
day  of  the  week  or  Tuesday,  &c.,  &c. ;  the  letter  of  the  index  deter¬ 
mines  the  length  of  the  months  Marchesvan  and  Cisleu;  thus  P stands 
for  perfect,  i.  e.,  these  two  months  are  both  perfect,  each  containing 
30  days  ;  I)  stands  for  defective,  i.  e.,  each  of  these  months  contains 
only  29  days  ;  and  a  small  d  denotes  that  one  of  these  months  is  de¬ 
fective,  which  in  this  case  is  always  Marchesvan.  The  last  figure  of 
the  index  shows  the  day  of  the  week  upon  which  the  passover  happens, 
just  in  the  same  manner  as  the  first  figure  denotes  the  day  of  the 
week  upon  which  the  year  begins. 

For  a  farther  explanation  of  the  index,  let  it  be  required  to  find  upon 
what  day  of  the  week  the  rabbinical  year  of  the  world  5570  begins  ; 
upon  what  day  of  the  week  the  passover  is  held  in  that  year  ;  and 
also  the  length  of  the  months  Marchesvan  and  Cisleu.  To  solve  this 
question,  we  have  only  to  refer  to  Table  I.,  where  we  find  the  index 
of  the  year  to  be*^  D  5,  i.  e.,  the  year  commences  on  Tuesday,  the 
'passover  is  held  upon  Thursday ,  and  the  months  Marchesvan  and  Cis¬ 
leu  are  both  defective,  i.  e.,  have  only  29  days  each. 

Having  premised  thus  rrtuch  respecting  the  mode  of  constructing 
the  Jewish  calendar,  we  now  come  to  explain  the  chief  object  of  the 
preceding  tables,  which  is  to  determine  the  order  of  reading  the 
Pareshioth  and  Haphtaroth ,  or  Sections  of  the  La.w  and  the  Prophets 
for  any  given  year.  For  this  purpose  Tables  I.,  II.,  and  V.  are  chiefly 
constructed.  In  Table  I.  the  index  for  every  Jewish  year  of  the  world 
from  5568  to  5814  (both  inclusive)  is  given  ;  and  as  these  years  cor¬ 
respond  to  all  the  years  of  our  Lord  from  1807  to  2054,  both  inclusive, 
it  will  be  242  years  before  this  table,  in  its  present  form,  will  be  en 
tirely  antiquated  ;  and  it  may  be  rendered  perpetual  by  affixing  the 
same  routine  of  indexes  to  the  247  years,  beginningwith  A.  D.2055  and 
ending  with  A.  D.  2301  ;  and  to  the  247  years  subsequent  to  A.  D 
2301,  &c.,  &c.,  ad  infinitum.  Table  II.  contains  a  calendar  of  Sabbaths 
for  the  14  different  kind s  of  years  made  use  of  by  the  Jews,  together 
with  the  Pareshah  or  Pareshioth  read  on  the  different  Sabbaths  of  each. 
In  the  first  column  of  the  months  the  black  circle  or  astronomical 
sign  of  the  conjunction  of  the  sun  and  moon  points  out  the  figure  an¬ 
nexed  to  it  to  be  the  day  of  the  week' upon  which  the  month  begins, 
and  when  two  numbers  are  affixed,  it  is  to  show  that  the  con  junction 
of  the  luminaries  corresponds  to  both  days  ;  the  latter  of  which  is  al¬ 
ways  taken  for  the  commencement  of  the  month.  All  the  other  num¬ 
bers  in  this  column  are  the  days  of  the  month  upon  which  the  Sabbaths 
happen,  except  sometimes  in  the  month  Tisri,  where  two  numbers 
occur  together,  the  first  of  which  is  the  day  of  the  week  and  the  latter 
the  corresponding  day  of  the  month.  In  order  therefore  to  find  what 
Pareshah  or  Pareshioth  are  read  on  any  given  Sabbath,  nothing  more 
is  necessary  than  to  look  into  Table  I.  for  the  index  of  the  given  year, 
and  with  it  to  enter  Table  II.,  where  against  the  given  Sabbath,  in 
the  column  of  Pareshioth,  will  be  found  the  given  Pareshah  or  Par¬ 
eshioth  required. 

Example  I.  Required  the  Pareshah  or  Pareshioth  appointed  to  be 
read  in  the  synagogue  on  the  second  Sabbath  of  the  month  Sivan,  A. 
M.  5572.  In  Table  I.  the  index  for  the  years  5  d  7,  from  which  it  ap¬ 
pears  by  Table  II.  that  it  is  the  second  Jewish  common  year,  and  the 
second  Sabbath  of  Sivan  in  this  year  is  upon  the  12th  day  of  the  month, 
over  against  which,  in  the  column  of  Pareshioth,  is  35,  the  number  of 
the  Pareshah  required.  By  a  reference  to  the  list  of  Pareshioth  given 
at  the  end  of  the  commentary  on  the  last  chapter  of  Deuteronomy,  we 
find  that  this  section  of  the  law  commences  with  Num.  iv.  21,  and 
ends  at  vii.  89  of  the  same  book.  The  Haphtara  read  on  the  Sabbath 
appears  by  the  same  list  to  be  the  xiiith  chapter  of  Judges  from  the 
2d  to  the  25th  verse  ;  in  Table  V.  the  12th  of  Sivan,  A.  M.  5572,  is  the 
I  same  with  the  23d  of  May,  1812. 

873 


Explanation  of  the  preceding  Tables . 


Example  2.  Required  tlio  Pareshah  or  Pareshioth  appointed  to  be 
read  on  the  fourth  Sabbath  01  Tammuz,  A.  M.  5584.  In  Table  I.  the 
index  for  the  year  is  7  D  3,  which  index  corresponds  to  the  fifth  em- 
bolismic  year  in  Table  II.,  consequently  the  fourth  Sabbath  of  Tam¬ 
muz  falls  on  the  28th  of  the  month,  and  the  Pareshioth  for  the  given 
day  are  the  42d  and  43d.  The  former  commences  at  the  second 
verse  of  the  xxxth  chapter  of  Numbers,  and  the  latter  is  continued 
from  it  to  the  end  of  the  book.  By  a  reference  to  Table  V.,  the  28th 
of  Tammuz,  A.  M.  5584,  answers  to  the  24th  of  July,  1824. 

N.  B.  The  figure  and  capital  letter  found  in  the  first  column  of 
Table  V.  at  the  beginning  of  each  Jewish  year,  show  to  which  of  the 
fourteen  kinds  of  years,  according  to  their  disposition  in  Table  II.,  the 
said  year  belongs,  thus  1  C  stands  for  the  first  common  year  ;  5  E, 
the  fifth  embolismic  year,  &c.,  &c.,  &c. 

When,  in  the  column  of  Pareshioth  and  Haphtaroth  in  Tables  II.  and 
V. ,  the  word  Chippur  is  affixed  to  any  particular  Sabbath,  it  points 
it  out  to  be  the  great  day  of  Atonement,  for  which  a  particular  ser¬ 
vice  is  appointed.  The  portion  of  the  law  read  on  that  day  begins 
with  the  27th  verse  of  the  xxiiid  chapter  of  Leviticus,  and  ends  with 
the  chapter.  The  Haphtorah  for  this  day  is  the  book  of  the  prophet 
Jonah. 

When  the  word  Succoth  is  affixed  to  any  particular  Sabbath,  if  it  be 
the  15th  of  Tisri,  it  is  the  day  upon  which  the  Feast  of  Tabernacles 
commences  ;  the  portion  of  the  law  for  which  occasion  begins  at  the 
34th  verse  of  the  xxiiid  chapter  of  Leviticus.  The  Haphtorah  is  the 
xivth  chapter  of  the  prophet  Zechariah ;  but  on  the  Sabbath  which  fol¬ 
lows  the  15th  of  Tisri,  if  it  be  within  the  octave  of  the  Feast  of  Tab¬ 
ernacles,  the  portion  of  the  prophets  which  is  read  is  the  xxxviiith 
chapter  of  Ezekiel,  according  to  the  German  Jews,  but  tire  other  Jews 
read  from  Ezek.  xxxviii.  18,  to  xxxix.  16. 

The  capital  letters  B.  L.,  which  are  affixed  to  the  fifty-fourth  section 
of  the  law  in  the  third  column  of  Table  V.,  stand  for  Book  of  the  Law. 
This  section  is  read  on  the  23d  of  Tisri,  which  is  contrived  so  as 
never  to  happen  on  the  Sabbath,  as  the  day  upon  which  it  is  read  is  a 
time  of  great  festivity  among  the  Jews  for  their  having  completed 
the  reading  of  the  fifty-four  Pareshioth,  which  comprise  the  whole 
book  of  the  law.  The  asterisk  affixed  to  the  23d  day  of  Tisri,  in  Ta¬ 
ble  V.,  and  its  corresponding  time  in  the  Gregorian  computation,  is 
designed  to  show  that  this  day  happens  on  a  week  day  and  not  on  the 
Sabbath,  as  all  the  other  days  in  the  same  columns  do. 

When  1  Pas.  or  2  Pas.  is  affixed  to  any  particular  Sabbath,  it  is  the 
first  or  second  Sabbath  of  the  passover,  upon  which,  if  the  15th  of  Ni- 
san  be  the  Sabbath  day,  the  portion  of  the  prophets  read  on  the  occa¬ 
sion  is  the  vth  chapter  of  Joshua,  all  but  the  first  verse.  If  there  be 
only  one  Sabbath  in  the  feast  of  the  passover,  the  Haphtorah  is  the 
14  first  verses  of  the  xxxviith  chapter  of  Ezekiel,  to  which  some  add 
the  three  following.  If  there  be  two  Sabbaths  in  the  feast  of  the  pass- 
over,  the  latter  is  termed  the  octave,  upon  which  they  read  the  whole 
of  the  Canticles,  and  also  the  prophet  Isaiah,  from  the  32d  verse  of 
the  xth  chapter  to  the  end  of  the  xiith. 

When  Pint,  is  affixed  to  any  particular  Sabbath,  it  is  the  second  day 
of  the  Feast  of  Pentecost,  upon  which  occasion  the  iiid,  ivth,  vth,  and 
vith  chapters  of  the  prophet  Habakkuk,  together  with  the  book  of  Ruth, 
are  read. 

Besides  the  54  sections  of  the  law  which  are  regularly  read  through 
in  the  course  of  a  Jewish  year,  whether  it  be  common  or  embolismic, 
there  ar e  four  minor  Pareshioth  which  are  generally  read  in  the 
month  Adar  of  a  common,  and  in  Veadar  of  an  embolismic,  year.  These 

are  Shekalim, Zachor,  Para,  and  EDTHn  Hachodesh; 

and  are  marked  down  in  Tables  II.  and  V.  by  their  initial  letters  S,  Z, 
P,  and  H.  The  minor  Pareshah,  Shekalim,  commences  with  the  11th 
verse  of  the  xxxth  chapter  of  Exodus,  and  ends  at  the  16th  verse  of 
the  same  ;  Zachor  begins  with  the  17th  verse  of  the  xxvth  chapter 
of  Deuteronomy,  and  contains  the  Divine  malediction  upon  the  Ama- 
lekites  ;  Para  begins  with  the  xixth  chapter  of  Numbers,  and  ends 
with  the  chapter ;  and  Hachodesh  begins  with  the  10th  verse  of  the 
xiith  chapter  of  Exodus,  and  ends  at  the  20th  verse  of  the  same 
chapter. 

When  the  Jewish  year  commences  on  the  Sabbath,  (which  circum- 

874 


stance  is  noticed  in  the  third  column  of  Table  V.  whenever  it  occurs,) 
Lev.  xxiii.  24  and  Nam.  xxix.  1-7  are  read. 

When  the  25th  of  Cisleu  falls  on  the  Sabbath,  the  contraction  En., 
for  Encaenia,  Dedication,  is  affixed  to  the  number  of  the  Pareshah  in 
Tables  II.  and  V.,  to  show  that  it  is  the  day  to  be  held  in  commemora¬ 
tion  of  the  altar’s  being  dedicated  afresh  to  the  service  of  God,  after 
its  purification  from  its  pollutions  by  Antiochus. 

Tables  HI.  and  IV.  are  constructed  to  determine  the  day  of  the 
week  upon  which  the  principal  Jewish  Fasts  and  Feasts  are  held  for 
any  given  year.  One  example  will  be  sufficient  to  illustrate  these 
tables.  Example.  Required  the  day  of  the  week  upon  which  the 
principal  Jewish  fasts  and  feasts  happen  in  the  Jewish  year  of  the 
world  5573.  By  a  reference  to  Table  I.  this  year  corresponds  to  A.  D. 
1813  ;  and  in  Table  III.  in  the  same  square  with  1813  is  the  capital 
letter  C,  which  show's  that  the  numbers  in  column  C  of  Table  IV., 
over  against  the  different  fasts  and  festivals,  are  the  days  of  the  week 
required.  Thus  the  commencement  of  Tisri  is  on  the  second  and 
third  days  of  the  week  ;  the  Fast  of  Gedaliah  on  the  4th  ;  the  Fast 
of  Atonement  on  the  4th;  the  Feast  of  Tabernacles  on  the  2d; 
Hosanna  Rabba  on  the  1st ;  the  Lcetitia  Legis,  or  Joy  for  the  Law,  on 
the  3d  ;  the  commencement  of  Marchesvan  on  the  3d  and  4th  ;  the 
commencement  of  Cisleu  on  the  5th  ;  the  Encccnia  on  the  1st ; 
the  commencement  of  Tebct  on  the  6th  ;  the  Fast  of  the  10th  of 
Tebet  on  the  1st ;  the  commencement  of  Sebat  on  the  Sabbath  ;  the 
commencement  of  Adar  on  the  1st  and  2d  ;  the  commencement  of 
Veadar  on  the  3d  and  4th  ;  the  Fast  of  Esther  on  the  2d  ;  the  Feast 
of  Purim  on  the  3d ;  the  commencement  of  Nisan  on  the  5th ;  the 
Feast  of  the  Passover  on  the  5th  ;  the  commencement  of  I  jar  on  the 
6th  and  7th  ;  the  33  Omer  on  the  3d  ;  the  commencement  of  Sivan 
on  the  1st ;  the  Feast  of  Pentecost  on  the  6th  ;  the  commencement 
of  Tammuz  on  the  2d  and  3d  ;  the  Fast  of  the  17th  of  Tammuz  on 
the  5th  ;  the  commencement  of  A  b  on  the  4th  ;  the  Fast  of  the  9th 
of  Ab  on  the  5th  ;  and  the  commencement  of  Elul  on  the  5th  and  6th 
days  of  the  week. 

Table  VI.  needs  little  explanation  ;  the  titles  of  its  different  columns 
being  sufficient  for  this  purpose.  The  first  column  shows  the  year  o  1 
the  world  according  to  the  Jewish  reckoning.  The  second  column, 
the  year  of  our  Lord  ;  the  letter  B  in  the  same  column  shows  each 
Bissextile  or  Leap-year.  The  3d  and  4th  columns  contain  the  lunar 
cycle  and  golden  numbers.  The  j fifth  column  shows  the  month  and  day 
of  the  month  on  which  the  Jewish  passover  falls,  from  the  year  1812 
to  the  year  1900.  The  sixth  column  marks  the  day  on  which  Easter 
falls  during  the  same  period.  The  seventh  column  shows  the  year  of 
our  Lord  corresponding  with  the  beginning  of  the  Jewish  year  in  the 
first  column  ;  and  also  on  what  day  of  what  month  the  Jewish  year, 
according  to  the  Gregorian  calendar,  commences.  By  the  slightest  in¬ 
spection  of  these  tables  any  person  may  at  once  see  the  day  on  which 
the  Jewish  passover  and  the  Christian  Easter  falls  for  any  year  of  the 
above  period  from  1812  to  1900. 

On  the  subject  of  the  preceding  tables  there  will  be  doubtless  va¬ 
rious  opinions  among  the  readers  of  this  work.  Some  may  even  think 
them  useless,  while  others  will  judge  them  of  considerable  importance. 
The  writer  has  only  to  say  that  no  other  part  of  the  work  has  occa¬ 
sioned  so  much  labour  and  so  much  expense.  Nothing  of  this  nature, 
on  the  same  plan,  has  ever  before  met  the  eye  of  the  English  reader; 
nor  does  any  other  language  afford  a  similar  subject  at  once  so  exten¬ 
sive  in  the  plan,  and  so  concise  in  the  execution.  Those  who  best  un¬ 
derstand  the  work  will  perceive  that  it  required  no  common  industry , 
to  say  nothing  of  other  requisite  qualifications,  to  construct  such  tables, 
even  with  the  extensive  work  of  Bartolocci’s  Bibliotheca  Rabbinica  be¬ 
fore  him,  to  which  the  present  collection  of  tables  acknowledges  high 
obligations.  The  writer  could  not  consider  his  comment  on  the  Pen¬ 
tateuch  as  even  tolerably  complete  without  such  an  apparatus  as  is 
here  produced,  which  it  is  hoped  every  minister  of  the  word  of  God 
will  find  of  the  utmost  use  to  him  in  various  matters  connected  with 
Jewish  affairs  ;  but  on  this  subject  nothing  need  be  added,  as  the  ta¬ 
bles  and  their  uses  have  been  already  so  largely  explained.  In  his 
prospectus  the  author  promised  “  every  requisite  table  ;”  and  had  he 
not  added  these,  he  must  have  considered  the  pledge  given  to  the  pub¬ 
lic  not  redeemed. 


a 


A  CHRONOLOGY  OF  THE  PENTATEUCH, 

WITH  THE  ; 

BOOK  OF  JOSHUA; 


OK 

A  SYSTEMATIC  ARRANGEMENT  OF  EVENTS, 

FROM  THE  CREATION  OF  ADAM,  A.  M.  1,  TO  THE  BIRTH  OF  PELEG,  A.  M.  1757,  AND  OF  EACH  SUCCESSIVE  YEAR  FROM  THE 
DISPERSION  OF  MANKIND  AT  THE  BIRTH  OF  PELEG,  TO  THE  SETTLEMENT  OF  THE  ISRAELITES  IN  THE  LAND  OF  CANAAN. 
AT  THE  DEATH  OF  JOSHUA,  A.  M.  2561,  INCLUSIVE  ;  SYNCHRONIZED  WITH  THE  PRINCIPAL  EPOCHS  IN  USE  AMONG  THE 
DIFFERENT  NATIONS  OF  THE  WORLD,  VIZ.,  THE  YEAR  OF  THE  WORLD,  THE  YEAR  BEFORE  CHRIST,  THE  YEAR  BEFORE 
AND  AFTER  THE  DELUGE,  THE  YEAR  OF  THE  JULIAN  PERIOD,  AND  THE  YEAR  BEFORE  THE  FIRST  OLYMPIAD. 

TO  WHICH  ARE  ADDED, 

The  Reigns  of  the  Contemporary  Sovereigns  of  the  most  remarkable  Monarchies,  together  with  the  Year  of  the  Life  of 
all  the  antediluvian  and  postdiluvian  Patriarchs  on  record,  corresponding  with  the  Years  of  the  principal  Epochs  mentioned 
above.  Designed  to  save  the  curious  reader  the  trouble  of  reducing  the  Years  of  any  particular  Epoch  to  those  of  another,  in 
which  he  may  wish  to  fix  any  Event  that  took  place  within  the  limits  of  these  Tables  ;  and  to  prevent  the  necessity  of  recur- 
reace  to  systematic  Ctnonologies  for  historic  Facts  in  any  wise  connected  with  those  mentioned  in  the  Sacred  Writings. 


TABLE  I. 


A  CHRONOLOGY  OF  THE  BIRTH  AND  DEATH  OF  ALL  THE  PATRIARCHS,  FROM  ADAM,  A.  M.  1,  TO  REU, 

THE  SON  OF  PELEG,  A.  M.  1787. 


A.M. 

B.  C. 

Julian 

Anno 

ante 

Year 

before 

Year 

before  the 
year  of 
Christ, 
1812. 

In  the  YEAR  of  the  LIFE  of 

Period. 

Diluvi¬ 

um. 

the  first 
Olymp. 

Adam. 

Seth. 

Enos. 

Cai- 

nan. 

Maha- 

laleel. 

Jared. 

Enoch 

Methu¬ 

selah. 

Lamech. 

Noah. 

Shem. 

1 

4004 

711 

1656 

3228 

5816 

1 

130 

3874 

840 

1526 

3098 

5686 

130 

B 

235 

3769 

945 

1421 

2993 

5581 

235 

105 

B 

325 

3679 

1035 

1331 

2903 

5491 

325 

195 

90 

B 

395 

3609 

1105 

1261 

2833 

5421 

395 

265 

160 

70 

B 

400 

3544 

1170 

1196 

2768 

5356 

460 

330 

225 

135 

65 

B 

622 

33S2 

1332 

1034 

2606 

5194 

622 

492 

387 

297 

227 

102 

B 

687 

3317 

1397 

969 

2541 

5129 

687 

557 

452 

362 

292 

227 

65 

B 

874 

3130 

1584 

782 

2354 

4942 

874 

744 

639 

549 

479 

414 

252 

187 

B 

930 

3074 

1640 

726 

2298 

4886 

930  D 

800 

695 

605 

535 

470 

308 

243 

56 

9S7 

3017 

1697 

669 

2241 

4829 

857 

752 

662 

592 

527 

365 

300 

113 

1042 

2962 

1752 

614 

2186 

4774 

912  D 

807 

717 

647 

582 

355 

168 

1056 

2948 

1766 

600 

2178 

4760 

821 

731 

661 

596 

369 

182 

B 

1140 

2864 

1850 

516 

2088 

4676 

905  D 

815 

745 

680 

453 

266 

84 

1235 

2769 

1945 

421 

1993 

4581 

910  D 

840 

775 

548 

361 

179 

1290 

2714 

2000 

376 

1938 

4526 

895  D 

830 

603 

416 

234 

•  1422 

2582 

2132 

234 

1806 

4394 

962  D 

735 

548 

366 

1558 

2446 

2268 

98 

1670 

4258 

871 

684 

502 

B 

1651 

2353 

2361 

5 

1577 

4165 

964 

777  D 

595 

93 

1656 

2348 

2366 

0 

1572 

4160 

969  D 

600 

98 

Anno  e 
Diluvio. 

Noah. 

Shem. 

Arph- 

axad. 

Salah. 

Heber. 

Peleg. 

Reu. 

1658 

2346 

2368 

2 

1570 

4158 

602 

100 

B 

1693 

2311 

2403 

37 

1535 

4123 

637 

135 

35 

B 

1723 

2281 

2433 

67 

1505 

4093 

667 

165 

65 

30 

B 

1757 

2247 

2467 

101 

1471 

4059 

701 

199 

99 

64 

34 

B 

1787 

2217 

2497 

131 

1437 

4029 

731 

229 

129 

94 

64 

30 

B 

The  B  signifies  the  year  of  the  birth,  and  the  D  of  the  death, 

a 


of  each  Patriarch. 

875 


TABLE  11 — Chronology  or  Ancient  Kingdoms 


876 


TABLE  II _ Chronology  of  Ancient  Kingdoms — Continued. 


A.  M. 

B  C. 

Julian 

Period. 

Anno  e 
Diluvio 

Year 
before 
the  first 
Olymp. 

King¬ 
dom  of 
.the 
Egypt¬ 
ians. 

Kings 

of 

Sicyon 

In  the  YEAR  of  the  LIFE  of 

1855 

2149 

2565 

198 

1373 

40^ 

799  3 

297  % 

197  H 

162  w 

132  a 

98  2 

68  fa 

36  w 

63 

1856 

2148 

2566 

199 

1372 

41  3 

800© 

298  5 

198  % 

163  £ 

133  a 

99  S 

69  W 

37  « 

1857 

2147 

2567 

200 

1371 

42^ 

801  t 

299  g 

199  3 

164 

134  § 

100  H 

70  ^ 

.  38g 

8§ 

1858 

2146 

2568 

201 

1370 

43  5 

802  W 

300 

200  P 

165  H 

135  ja 

101  o 

71 

39  0 

9§ 

1859 

2145 

2569 

202 

1369 

44  o 

803 

301 

201 r*! 

166 

136 

102 

72 

40 

10 

1860 

2144 

2570 

203 

1368 

45 

804 

302 

202  £ 

167 

137 

103 

73 

41 

11 

1861 

2143 

2571 

204 

1367 

46  g 

805 

303 

203  ~ 

168 

138 

104 

74 

42 

12 

1862 

2142 

2572 

205 

1366 

47  p. 

806 

304 

204 

169 

139 

105 

75 

43 

13 

1863 

2141 

2573 

206 

1365 

48  £ 

807 

305 

205 

170 

140 

106 

76 

44 

14 

1864 

2140 

2574 

207 

1364 

49° 

808 

306 

206 

171 

141 

107 

77 

45 

15 

1865 

2139 

2575 

208 

1363 

50  o 

809 

307 

207 

172 

142 

108 

78 

46 

16 

1866 

2138 

2576 

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1362 

51  ^ 

810 

308 

208 

173 

143 

109 

79 

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1867 

2137 

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1361 

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811 

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1360 

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812 

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54  E 

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311 

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50 

20 

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2133 

2580 

213 

1358 

55(jq 

814 

312 

212 

177 

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113 

83 

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1871 

2134 

2581 

214 

1357 

56  g* 

815 

313 

213 

178 

148 

114 

84 

52 

22 

1872 

2132 

2582 

215 

1356 

57  3 

816 

314 

214 

179 

149 

115 

85 

53 

23 

1873 

2131 

2583 

216 

1355 

58  o- 

817 

315 

215 

180 

150 

116 

86 

54 

24 

1874 

2130 

2584 

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1354 

59^ 

818 

316 

216 

181 

151 

117 

87 

55 

25 

1875 

2129 

2585 

218 

1353 

60  £ 

819 

317 

217 

182 

152 

118 

88 

56 

26 

1876 

2128 

2586 

219 

1352 

61  “ 

820 

318 

218 

183 

153 

119 

89 

57 

27 

1877 

2127 

2587 

220 

1551 

62  g. 

821 

319 

219 

184 

154 

120 

90 

58 

28 

1878 

2126 

2588 

221 

1350 

63^ 

822 

320 

220 

185 

155 

121 

91 

59 

29 

1879 

2125 

2589 

222 

1349 

64  g, 

823 

321 

221 

186 

156 

122 

92 

60 

30 

1H 

1880 

2124 

2590 

223 

1348 

65® 

824 

322 

222 

187 

157 

123 

93 

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2g 

1881 

2123 

2591 

224 

1347 

66  g 

625 

323 

223 

188 

158 

124 

94 

62 

32 

3£ 

1882 

2122 

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192 

162 

128 

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r* 

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2596 

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713 

830 

328 

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166 

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2600 

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332 

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2601 

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199 

169 

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105 

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1335 

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335 

235 

200 

170 

136 

106 

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2604 

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336 

236 

201 

171 

137 

107 

75 

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2109 

2605 

238 

1333 

80 

839 

337 

237 

202 

172 

138 

108 

76 

48 

17 

1896 

2108 

2606 

239 

1332 

81 

840 

338 

238 

203 

173 

139 

109 

77 

47 

18 

1897 

2107 

2607 

240 

1331 

82 

841 

339 

239 

204 

174 

140 

110 

78 

48 

19 

1898 

2106 

2608 

241 

1330 

83 

842 

340 

240 

205 

175 

141 

111 

79 

49 

20 

1899 

2105 

2609 

242 

1329 

84 

843 

341 

241 

206 

176 

142 

112 

80 

50 

21 

1900 

2104 

2610 

243 

1328 

85 

844 

342 

242 

207 

177 

143 

113 

81 

51 

22 

1901 

2103 

2611 

244 

1327 

86 

845 

343 

243 

208 

178 

144 

114 

82 

52 

23 

1902 

2102 

2612 

245 

1326 

87 

846 

344 

244 

209 

179 

145 

115 

83 

53 

24 

1903 

2101 

2613 

246 

1325 

88 

847 

345 

245 

210 

180 

145 

J 16 

84 

54 

25 

1904 

2100 

2614 

247 

1324 

89 

848 

346 

246 

211 

181 

147 

*17 

85 

55 

26 

1905 

2099 

2615 

248 

1323 

90 

849 

347 

247 

212 

182 

148 

118 

86 

56 

27 

1806 

209S 

2616 

249 

1322 

91 

850 

348 

248 

213 

183 

149 

119 

87 

57 

28 

1907 

2097 

2617 

250 

1321 

92 

851 

349 

249 

214 

184 

150 

120 

88 

58 

29 

1908 

2096 

2618 

251 

1320 

93 

852 

350 

250 

215 

185 

151 

121 

89 

59 

30 

1909 

2095 

2619 

252 

1319 

94 

853 

351 

251 

216 

186 

152 

122 

90 

60 

31 

1910 

2094 

2620 

253 

1318 

95 

854 

352 

252 

217 

187 

153 

123 

91 

61 

32 

1911 

2093 

2621 

254 

1317 

96 

855 

353 

253 

218 

188 

154 

124 

92 

62 

33 

1912 

2092 

2622 

255 

1316 

97 

856 

354 

254 

219 

189 

155 

125 

93 

63 

34 

1913 

2091 

2623 

256 

1315 

98 

857 

355 

255 

220 

190 

156 

126 

94 

64 

35 

1914 

2090 

3624 

257 

1314 

99  » 

858 

356 

256 

221 

191 

157 

127 

95 

65 

36 

1915 

2089 

2125 

258 

1313 

100 

Ik 

859 

357 

257 

222 

192 

158 

128 

96 

66 

37 

1916 

2088 

2626 

259 

1312 

loig 

2°3. 

860 

358 

258 

223 

193 

159 

129 

97 

67 

38 

1917 

2087 

2627 

260 

1311 

102- 

3a 

861 

359 

259 

224 

194 

160 

130 

98 

68 

39 

1918 

2086 

2628 

261 

1310 

103  £ 

4p 

862 

360 

260 

225 

195 

161 

131 

99 

69 

40 

1919 

2085 

2629 

262 

1309 

104® 

5" 

863 

361 

261 

226 

196 

162 

132 

100 

70 

41 

1920 

2084 

2630 

263 

1308 

1? 

eg- 

864 

362 

262 

227 

197 

163 

133 

101 

71 

42 

1921 

2083 

2631 

264 

1307 

2“ 

7® 

865 

363 

263 

228 

198 

164 

134 

102 

72 

43 

1922 

2082 

2632 

265 

1306 

33 

s  if 

866 

364 

264 

229 

199 

165 

135 

103 

73 

44 

1923 

2081 

2633 

266 

1305 

4§ 

9  " 

807 

365 

265 

230 

200 

166 

136 

104 

74 

45 

1024 

2080 

2634 

267 

1304 

5§ 

10g 

868 

366 

266 

231 

201 

167 

137 

105 

75 

46 

1925 

2079 

2635 

268 

1303 

6  2. 

11  § 

869 

367 

267 

232 

202 

168 

138 

106 

76 

47 

1926 

2078 

2636 

269 

1302 

7S 

12  3 

870 

308 

268 

233 

203 

169 

139 

107 

77 

48 

1927 

2077 

2637 

270 

1301 

8*-s 

13  S- 

871 

369 

269 

234 

204 

170 

140 

108 

78 

49 

1928 

2076 

2638 

271 

1300 

95 

14 ' 

872 

370 

270 

235 

205 

171 

141 

109 

79 

50 

1929 

2075 

2639 

272 

1299 

10® 

15 

873 

371 

271 

236 

206 

172 

142 

110 

80 

51 

1930 

2074 

2640 

273 

1298 

liS- 

16 

874 

372 

272 

237 

207 

173 

143 

111 

81 

52 

1931 

2073 

2641 

274 

1297 

12-S 

17 

875 

373 

273 

238 

208 

174 

144 

112 

82 

53 

1932 

2072 

2642 

275 

1296 

13  s 

18 

876 

374 

274 

239 

209 

175 

145 

113 

83 

54 

1933 

2071 

2643 

276 

1295 

i4a 

19 

877 

375 

275 

240 

210 

176 

146 

114 

84 

55 

1934 

2070 

2644 

277 

1294 

15  o. 

20 

878 

376 

276 

241 

211 

177 

147 

115 

85 

56 

1935 

2069 

2645 

278 

1293 

16*3 

21 

879 

377 

277 

242 

212 

178 

148 

116 

86 

57 

1936 

2068 

2646 

279 

1292 

17  g 

22 

880 

378 

278 

243 

213 

179 

149 

117 

87 

58 

1937 

2067 

2647 

280 

1291 

is| 

23 

881 

379 

279 

244 

214 

180 

150 

118 

88 

59 

1938 

2066 

2648 

281 

1290 

19* 

24 

882 

380 

280 

245 

215 

181 

151 

119 

89 

60 

1939 

2065 

2649 

282 

1289 

1« 

25 

883 

381 

281 

246 

216 

182 

152 

120 

90 

61 

1940 

2064 

2650 

283 

1288 

2g 

26 

884 

382 

282 

247 

217 

183 

153 

121 

91 

62 

1941 

2063 

2651 

284 

1287 

3  p 

27 

885 

383 

283 

248 

218 

184 

154 

122 

92 

63 

1942 

2062 

2652 

285 

12S6 

4 

28 

886 

384 

284 

249 

219 

185 

155 

123 

93 

64 

1943 

2061 

2653 

286 

1285 

5 

29 

887 

385 

285 

250 

220 

186 

156 

124 

94 

65 

1944 

2060 

2654 

287 

1284 

6 

30 

888 

386 

286 

251 

221 

187 

157 

125 

95 

66 

1945 

2059 

2655 

288 

1283 

7 

31 

889 

387 

287 

252 

222 

188 

158 

126 

96 

67 

1946 

2058 

2656 

289 

1282 

8 

32 

890 

388 

288 

253 

223 

189 

159 

127 

97 

68 

1947 

2057 

2657 

290 

1281 

9 

33 

891 

389 

289 

254 

224 

190 

160 

123 

98 

69 

1918 

2956 

2658 

291 

1280 

10 

34 

892 

390 

290 

255 

225 

191 

161 

129 

99 

70 

1949 

2055 

2659 

292 

1279 

11 

35 

893 

391 

291 

256 

226 

192 

162 

130 

100 

71 

1950 

2054 

2660 

293 

1278 

12 

36 

894 

392 

292 

257 

227 

193 

163 

131 

101 

72 

1951 

2053 

2661 

294 

1277 

13 

37 

895 

393 

293 

258 

228 

194 

164 

132 

102 

73 

1952 

2052 

2662 

295 

1276 

14 

38 

896 

394 

294 

259 

229 

195 

105 

133 

103 

uxacs-Ms.*-'- 

74 

TABLE  II. — Chronology  of  Ancient  Kincdoms. —  Continued. 


'•Msocerawfc 

A.  M. 

B.  C. 

Julian 

Period. 

Anno  e 
Diluvio 

Year 
before 
the  first 
Olymp. 

Kings 
of  the 
Egypt¬ 
ians. 

Kings 

of 

Sicyon. 

In  the  YEAR  of  the  LIFE  of 

1953 

2051 

2663 

296 

1275 

15  td 

39  & 

897  2 

395  £2 

295  !> 

260  P 

230  K 

196  2 

166  5a 

134  g 

10412! 

75  H 

1954 

2050 

2664 

297 

1274 

16§ 

40<jo 

898  P 

396 

296  2 

361  £ 

231  M 

197_S 

167  £ 

135  g 

105  £ 

76  g 

1  1955 

2049 

2665 

298 

1273 

17  ? 

41  £L 

899  & 

397  g 

297  g 

262  i> 

232  5 

198  h 

168  * 

136^ 

106  5 

7/  ►> 

|  1956 

2048 

2666 

299 

1272 

18 

42  g 

900  M 

398 

298 1> 

263  K 

233-d 

199  0 

169 

137  Q 

107  £ 

78  k 

■■ 

I  1957 

2047 

2667 

300 

1271 

19 

43  “ 

901 

399 

299  >4 

264 

234 

200 

170 

138 

108 

79 

S  1958 

2046 

2668 

301 

1270 

20 

44 

902 

400 

300  b 

265 

235 

201 

171 

139 

109 

80 

|  1959 

2045 

2669 

302 

1269 

21 

45 

903 

401 

301° 

266 

236 

202 

172 

140 

110 

81 

1  I960 

2044 

2670 

303 

1268 

22 

46 

904 

402 

302 

267 

237 

203 

173 

141 

111 

82 

1  1961 

2043 

2671 

304 

1267 

23 

47 

905 

403 

303 

268 

238 

204 

174 

142 

112 

83 

1  1962 

2042 

2672 

305 

1266 

24 

48 

906 

404 

304 

269 

239 

205 

175 

143 

113 

84 

|  1963 

2041 

2673 

306 

1265 

25 

49 

907 

405 

305 

270 

240 

206 

176 

144 

114 

85 

|  1964 

2040 

2674 

307 

1264 

26 

50 

908 

406 

306 

271 

241 

207 

177 

145 

115 

86 

1965 

2039 

2675 

308 

1263 

27 

51 

909 

407 

307 

272 

242 

208 

178 

146 

116 

87 

1966 

2038 

2676 

309 

1262 

28 

52 

910 

408 

308 

273 

243 

209 

179 

147 

117 

88 

1967 

2037 

2677 

310 

1261 

29 

1$ 

911 

409 

309 

274 

244 

210 

180 

148 

118 

89 

1968 

2036 

2678 

311 

1260 

30 

2  3 

912 

410 

310 

275 

245 

211 

181 

149 

119 

90 

1969 

2035 

2679 

312 

1259 

31 

3-S 

913 

411 

311 

276 

246 

212 

182 

150 

120 

91 

1970 

2034 

2680 

313 

1258 

32 

4  “ 

914 

412 

312 

277 

247 

213 

183 

151 

121 

92 

1971 

2033 

2681 

314 

1257 

33 

5 

915 

413 

313 

278 

248 

214 

184 

152 

122 

93 

1972 

2032 

2682 

315 

1256 

34 

6 

916 

414 

314 

279 

249 

215 

185 

153 

123 

94 

1973 

2031 

2683 

316 

1255 

35 

rv 

/ 

917 

415 

315 

280 

250 

216 

186 

154 

124 

95 

1974 

2030 

2684 

317 

1254 

36 

8 

918 

416 

316 

281 

251 

217 

187 

155 

125 

96 

1975 

2029 

2685 

318 

1253 

37 

9 

919 

417 

317 

282 

252 

218 

188 

156 

126 

97 

1976 

2028 

2686 

319 

1252 

38 

10 

920 

418 

318 

283 

253 

219 

189 

157 

127 

98 

1977 

2027 

2687 

320 

1251 

39 

11 

921 

419 

319 

284 

254 

220 

190 

158 

128 

99 

|  1978 

2026 

2688 

321 

1250 

40 

12 

922 

420 

320 

285 

255 

221 

191 

159 

129 

100 

1979 

2025 

2689 

322 

1249 

41 

13 

923 

421 

321 

280 

256 

222 

192 

160 

130 

101 

1980 

2024 

2690 

323 

1248 

42 

14 

924 

422 

322 

287 

257 

223 

193 

161 

131 

102 

1981 

2023 

2691 

324 

1247 

43 

15 

925 

423 

323 

288 

268 

224 

194 

162 

132 

103 

1982 

2022 

2692 

325 

1246 

44 

16 

926 

424 

324 

289 

259 

225 

195 

163 

133 

104 

1983 

2021 

2693 

326 

1245 

1> 

17 

927 

425 

325 

290 

260 

226 

196 

164 

134 

105 

1984 

2020 

2694 

327 

1244 

2*S 

18 

928 

426 

326 

291 

261 

227 

197 

165 

135 

106 

1  1985 

2019 

2695 

328 

1243 

3& 

19 

929 

427 

327 

292 

262 

228 

198 

166 

136 

107 

1  1986 

2018 

2696 

329 

1242 

4g 

20 

930 

428 

328 

293 

263 

229 

199 

167 

137 

108 

1  1987 

2017 

2697 

330 

1241 

5  p 

21 

931 

429 

329 

294 

264 

230 

200 

168 

138 

109 

1  1988 

2016 

2698 

331 

1240 

6 

22 

932 

430 

330 

295 

265 

231 

201 

169 

139 

110 

|  1989 

2015 

2699 

332 

1239 

7 

23 

933 

431 

331 

296 

266 

232 

202 

170 

140 

111 

1  1990 

2014 

2700 

333 

1238 

S 

24 

934 

432 

332 

297 

267 

233 

203 

171 

141 

112 

1  1991 

2013 

2701 

334 

1237 

9 

25 

935 

433 

333 

298 

268 

234 

204 

172 

142 

113 

1  1992 

2012 

2702 

335 

1236 

10 

26 

936 

434 

334 

299 

269 

235 

205 

173 

143 

114 

1  1993 

2011 

2703 

336 

1235 

11 

27 

937 

435 

335 

300 

270 

236 

206 

174 

144 

115 

1  1994 

2010 

2704 

337 

1234 

12 

28 

93S 

436 

336 

301 

271 

237 

207 

175 

145 

116 

1  1995 

2009 

2705 

338 

1233 

13 

29 

939 

437 

337 

302 

272 

238 

208 

176 

146 

117 

1  1996 

2008 

2706 

339 

1232 

14 

30 

940 

438 

338 

303 

273 

239 

209 

177 

147 

118 

1  l"7 

2007 

2707 

340 

1231 

15 

31 

941 

439 

339 

30-1 

274 

210 

178 

148 

119 

1998 

2006 

2708 

341 

1230 

16 

32 

942 

440 

340 

305 

275 

211 

179 

120 

1999 

2005 

2709 

342 

1229 

17 

28 

943 

441 

341 

306 

276 

Ti 

212 

180 

121 

2000 

2004 

2710 

343 

1228 

18 

34 

944 

442 

342 

307 

277 

213 

181 

2! 

122 

2301 

2003 

2711 

344 

1227 

19 

35 

945 

443 

343 

308 

278 

oq 

214 

182 

p 

123 

2Q0i' 

2002 

2712 

345 

1226 

20 

36 

946 

444 

344 

309 

279 

& 

215 

183 

o 

124 

2003 

2001 

2713 

346 

1225 

21 

37 

947 

445 

345 

310 

280 

co 

Pi 

216 

184 

£• 

125 

,  2004 

2000 

2714 

347 

1224 

22 

38 

948 

446 

346 

311 

281 

217 

185 

CD 

126 

2005 

1999 

2715 

348 

1223 

23 

39 

949 

447 

347 

312 

282 

• 

218 

186 

Pi 

127 

2006 

1998 

2716 

349 

1222 

24 

40 

950 

448 

348 

313 

283 

i—n 

219 

187 

> 

128 

j  2007 

1997 

2717 

350 

1221 

25 

41 

449 

349 

314 

284 

k— ‘ 

220 

188 

g 

129 

2608 

1996 

2718 

351 

1220 

26 

42 

450 

350 

315 

285 

O 

"O 

221 

189 

130 

2009 

1995 

2719 

352 

1219 

27 

43 

o 

451 

351 

316 

286 

C5 

222 

190 

g 

131 

1 1> 

2010 

1994 

2720 

353 

1218 

28 

44 

p 

p- 

452 

352 

317 

287 

223 

191 

<5 

132 

1  2011 

1993 

2721 

354 

1217 

29 

45 

p. 

453 

353 

318 

288 

224 

192 

133 

I  2012 

1992 

2722 

355 

1216 

30 

H 

CD 

454 

354 

319 

2S9 

225 

193 

J34 

1  2013 

1991 

2723 

356 

1215 

31 

2£ 

Pi 

455 

355 

320 

290 

226 

194 

135 

5 

I  2014 

1990 

2724 

357 

1214 

32 

3! 

> 

456 

356 

321 

291 

227 

195 

136 

6 

1  2015 

1989 

2725 

358 

1213 

33 

45' 

2  S 

457 

357 

322 

292 

228 

196 

137 

7 

2016 

1988 

2726 

359 

1212 

34 

5 

458 

358 

323 

293 

229 

197 

138 

8 

2017 

1987 

2727 

360 

1211 

35 

6 

5*  o 

459 

359 

324 

294 

230 

198 

139 

9 

,  2018 

1986 

2728 

361 

1210 

36 

rv 

i 

T  ! 

n> 

460 

360 

325 

295 

231 

199 

140 

10 

2019 

1985 

2729 

362 

1209 

37 

8 

461 

361 

326 

296 

232 

200 

141 

11 

2020 

1984 

2730 

363 

1208 

lt> 

9 

UH 

P 

462 

362 

327 

297 

233 

201 

142 

12 

2b 

2021 

1983 

2731 

364 

1207 

2*o 

10 

p-® 

463 

363 

328 

298 

234 

202 

143 

13 

3 

2022 

1982 

2732 

365 

1206 

3*g. 

11 

i n 

464 

364 

329 

299 

235 

203 

144 

14 

4  r 

2023 

1981 

2733 

366 

1205 

4  51" 

12 

2  5 

465 

365 

230 

300 

236 

204 

145 

15 

5y 

2024 

1980 

2734 

367 

1204 

5' 

13 

P  CD 

CD 

466 

366 

331 

301 

237 

205 

146 

16 

6  S? 

2025 

1979 

2735 

368 

1203 

6 

14 

O  P 

467 

367 

332 

302 

238 

206 

147 

17 

7  a 

2026 

1978 

2736 

369 

1202 

7 

15 

468 

368 

333 

303 

239 

207 

148 

18 

8  i* 

2027 

1977 

2737 

370 

1201 

8 

16 

t«"  3 

469 

369 

334 

304 

208 

149 

19 

2028 

1976 

2738 

371 

1200 

9 

17 

Oh 

470 

370 

335 

305 

209 

150 

20 

10  k 

2029 

1975 

2739 

372 

1199 

'  10 

18 

h-'  CD 
p:  O 

471 

371 

336 

306 

W 

210 

151 

21 

lii5  i 

2030 

19-74 

2740 

373 

1198 

11 

19 

472 

372 

337 

307 

CD 

211 

152 

22 

12  I 

2031 

1973 

2741 

374 

1197 

12 

20 

CD  P-1 

P  r-f 

473 

373 

338 

308 

Pi 

212 

153 

23 

13  g 

2032 

1972 

2742 

375 

1196 

13 

l> 

°  sf 

474 

374 

339 

309 

CD 

213 

154 

24 

14 

2033 

1971 

2743 

376 

1195 

14 

O-d 

475 

375 

340 

310 

p. 

214 

155 

25 

15 

2934 

1970 

2744 

377 

1194 

15 

3“ 

pr  pr! 

476 

376 

341 

311 

> 

215 

156 

26 

16 

2035 

1969 

2745 

378 

1193 

16 

4 

(D  2 

477 

377 

342 

312 

a 

216 

157 

27 

17 

2036 

1968 

2746 

379 

1192 

17 

5 

p.  P- 

oq  - 

478 

378 

343 

313 

217 

158 

28 

18 

2037 

1967 

2747 

380 

1191 

18 

6 

479 

379 

344 

314 

218 

159 

29 

19 

2038 

1966 

2748 

381 

1190 

19 

7 

-  ^ 

480 

380 

355 

315 

05 

219 

160 

BO 

20 

1  2033 

1965 

2749 

382 

1189 

20 

8 

oq  PJ 
®  5 

481 

381 

346 

316 

220  w 

161 

31 

21 

I  2040 

1954 

2750 

383 

118S 

21 

9 

Pi  ^ 

482 

382 

347 

317 

221  SB 

162 

32 

22  • 

2041 

1963 

2751 

384 

1187 

22 

10 

p-—. 

483 

383 

348 

318 

2220^ 

163 

33 

23 

2042 

1962 

2752 

385 

1186 

23 

11 

?-o 

484 

384 

349 

319 

223p. 

164 

34 

24 

2043 

1961 

2753 

336 

1185 

24 

12 

P  ^ 

485 

385 

350 

320 

224  S' 

165 

35 

25 

2044 

1960 

2754 

387 

1184 

25 

|  13 

•  ® 

486 

386 

351 

321 

225  p 

166 

36 

26 

2045 

1959 

2755 

388 

1183 

26 

14 

2 

487 

387 

352 

322 

226  r 

167 

37 

27 

1  2046 

1958 

2756 

389 

1182 

27 

15 

^ . 

488 

388 

353 

323 

227  g 

168 

38 

28 

|  2047 

1957 

2757 

390 

1181 

28 

16 

489 

389 

354 

324 

228  ^ 

169 

39 

29 

I  2048 

1956 

2758 

391 

1180 

29 

17 

CD 

490 

390 

355 

325 

229o 

170 

40 

30 

1  2049 

1955 

2759 

392 

1179 

30 

18 

< 

491 

391 

356 

326 

230  o 

171 

41 

31 

|  2050 

1954 

2760 

393 

1178 

31 

19 

CD 

P 

492 

392 

357 

327 

172 

42 

32 

878  a 


TABLE  II. — Chronology  of  Ancient  Kingdoms. — Continued 


A  M. 

B.  C. 

Julian 

Period. 

Anno  e 
Diluvio 

Year 
before 
the  first 
Olymp. 

Kings 
of  the 
Egypt¬ 
ians. 

Kings 

of 

Sicyon. 

King¬ 
dom  of 
the 

Argivi. 

King¬ 
dom  of 
the 
Athe¬ 
nians. 

In  the  YEAR  of  the  LIFE  of 

2051 

1953 

2761 

394 

1177 

32  y 

20  y 

493  g 

393 1> 

358  «> 

328  K 

173  H 

43  y 

33  w 

2052 

1952 

2762 

395 

1176 

33o 

21“ 

494  3 

394  2 

359  C 

329  W 

174  S 

44  g 

34  £ 

2053 

1951 

2763 

396 

1175 

34^ 

22‘ 

495  $ 

395  ft 

360  > 

330  g 

1  /o 

45  S 

35 

2054 

1950 

2764 

397 

1174 

35  w 

23 

496S 

396 

361  K 

331  ;=3 

176  ft 

40  g 

36  ~ 

2055 

1949 

2765 

398 

1173 

36 

24 

497 

397  >4 

362 

332 

177 

47 

37 

2056 

1948 

2766 

399 

1172 

37 

25 

92  W 

498 

398  > 

363 

333 

178 

48 

38 

2057 

1947 

2767 

400 

1171 

38 

26 

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424 

— 

139 

53 

39 

879 


TABLE  II.— Chronology  of  Ancient  Kingdoms.- —  Continued. 


A.M. 

B.  C. 

Julian 

Period. 

Anno  e 
Diluvio 

Year 
before 
the  first 
Olymp. 

Kings 
of  the 
Egypt¬ 
ians. 

Kings 

of 

Sicyon. 

Kings 
of  tiie 
Argivi. 

king¬ 
dom  of 
the 
Athe¬ 
nians. 

Year 
before 
the  year 
of  Christ, 
1812. 

In  the  YEAR  of  the  LIFE  of 

2148 

1856 

2858 

491 

1080 

18  !► 

3H 

1  P 

300  td 

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425  K 

140  W- 

545; 

40  £ 

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5  3. 

2  p5 

3  sf 

4cn 

299 

298  g 

591  5 
592 1 

426  M 

427  g 

141  S 

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55a 

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42  £ 

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570 

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133 

119 

59 

59 

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2228 

1776 

2938 

571 

1000 

11 

37 

31 

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3587 

134 

120 

60 

60 

1  in 

2229 

1775 

2939 

572 

999 

12 

38 

32 

219 

3586 

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135 

121 

61 

61 

25 

2230 

1774 

2940 

573 

998 

13 

39 

33 

218 

3585 

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62 

62 

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2231 

1773 

2941 

574 

997 

14 

40 

34 

217 

3584 

137 

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63 

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1772 

2942 

575 

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15 

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216 

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2943 

576 

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16 

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215 

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65 

65 

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2234 

1770 

2944 

577 

994 

17 

43 

37 

214 

3581 

126 

66 

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2235 

1769 

2945 

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18 

44 

38 

213 

3580 

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127 

67 

67 

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2236 

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2946 

579 

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19 

45 

39 

212 

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128 

68 

68 

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2237 

1767 

2947 

580 

991 

20 

46 

40 

211 

3578 

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129 

69 

69 

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2238 

1766 

2948 

581 

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21 

47 

41 

210 

3577 

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130 

70 

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1765 

2949 

582 

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2240 

1764 

2950 

583 

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23 

49 

43 

208 

3575 

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132 

72 

72 

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2241 

1763 

2951 

584 

587 

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50 

44 

207 

3574 

in 

S 

133 

73 

73 

14 

2242 

1762 

2952 

585 

986 

4  C/3 

51 

45 

206 

3573 

3 

to 

134 

74 

74 

15  g 

2243 

1761 

2953 

586 

985 

57* 

52 

46 

205 

3572 

CD 

CO 

135 

75 

75 

16  • 

2244 

1760 

2954 

587 

984 

6 

53 

47 

204 

3571 

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136 

76 

76 

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2245 

1759 

2955 

588 

983 

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3570 

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77 

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TABLE  II. — Chronology  of  Ancient  Kingdoms. — Continued. 


A.  M. 

B.  C. 

Julian 

Period. 

Anno  e 
Diluvio 

Year 
before 
the  first 
Olymp. 

Kings 
of  the 
Egypt¬ 
ians. 

Kings  ‘ 
of 

Sicyon. 

Kings 
of  the 
Argivr. 

King¬ 
dom  of 
the 
Athe¬ 
nians. 

Year 
before 
the  year 
of  Christ, 
1812. 

In  the  YEAR  of  the  LIFE  of 

2246 

1758 

2956 

589 

9S2 

8  y 

IS 

49  2 

202  W 

3569 

138  E 

78  H 

78  £ 

19“ 

2247 

1757 

2957 

590 

981 

93 

O  CD 
c/a 

50  o 

201  2, 

3568 

139  !> 

79  “ 

79  q 

20  5 

2248 

1756 

2958 

591 

9S0 

10™ 

3  & 

51  3 

200  § 

3567 

140  £ 

80^ 

80  0 

21  3 

2249 

1755 

2959 

592 

979 

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4  c 

52  g 

199 

3566 

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81 

81“ 

22 

2250 

1754 

2960 

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12” 

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53  g 

198  gf 

3565 

142 

82 

82 

23 

2251 

1753 

2961 

594 

977 

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197  s* 

3564 

143 

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1752 

2962 

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976 

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3563 

144 

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2253 

1751 

2963 

596 

975 

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195  £ 

3562 

145 

85 

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26 

2254 

1750 

2964 

597 

974 

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194  £ 

3561 

146 

86 

86 

27 

2255 

1749 

2965 

598 

973 

17 

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193  o 

3560 

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2250 

1748 

2966 

599 

972 

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192  a 

3559 

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1747 

2967 

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971 

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149 

89 

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2258 

1746 

2968 

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190  £1 

3557 

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966 

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181 

3548 

159 

99 

99 

40 

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1736 

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960 

8 

23 

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180 

3547 

160 

100 

100  g 

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1735 

2979 

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959 

9 

24 

12 

179 

3546 

161 

101 

101  ^ 

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1734 

2980 

613 

958 

10 

25 

13 

178 

3545 

162 

102 

102 

43 

11 

2271 

1733 

2981 

614 

957 

11 

26 

14 

177 

3544 

163 

103 

103 

44 

12 

2272 

1732 

2982 

615 

956 

12 

27 

15 

176 

3543 

164 

104 

104 

45 

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2273 

1731 

2983 

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955 

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16 

175 

3542 

165 

105 

105 

46 

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1730 

2984 

617 

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29 

17 

174 

3541 

166 

106 

106 

47 

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1729 

2985 

618 

953 

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30 

18 

173 

3540 

167 

107 

107 

48 

16 

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619 

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31 

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172 

3539 

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108 

108 

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2277 

1727 

2987 

620 

951 

53 

32 

20 

171 

3538 

169 

109 

109 

50 

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1726 

2983 

621 

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6  g, 

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170 

3537 

170 

110 

110 

51 

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169 

3536 

171 

111 

111 

52 

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3535 

172 

112 

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167 

3534 

173 

113 

113 

54 

22 

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2992 

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166 

3533 

174 

114 

114 

55 

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1721 

2993 

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165 

3532 

175 

115 

115 

56 

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1720 

2994 

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164 

3531 

176 

116 

1.16 

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1719 

2995 

628 

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163 

3530 

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117 

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3529 

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118 

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630 

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3528 

179 

119 

119 

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160 

3527 

180 

120 

120 

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632 

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155 

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66 

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9 

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1679 

3035 

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16 

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to 

98 

66 

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99 

67 

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100 

68 

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69 

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1675 

3039 

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899 

20 

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102 

70 

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1674 

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21 

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71 

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22 

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104 

72 

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39 

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116 

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105 

73 

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895 

24 

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3482 

106 

74 

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1670 

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25 

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3481 

107 

75 

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26 

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76 

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3479 

109 

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28 

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110 

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3048 

681 

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29 

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889 

30 

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47 

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23 

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|  2342 

1662 

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83 

2343 

1661 

3053 

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885 

4 

4  p 

51 

105 

3472 

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84 

Vol.  £.  (  57  )  881 


TABLE  IT. — Chronology  or  Ancient  Kingdoms. — Continued. 


A.  M 

B.  C. 

Julian 

Period. 

Anno  e 
Diluvio 

Year 
before 
the  first 
Olymp. 

Kings 
of  the 
Egypt¬ 
ians. 

Kings 

of 

Sicyon. 

Kings 
of  tlie 
Argivi. 

King¬ 
dom  oi 
the 
Athe¬ 
nians. 

Year 

before 
the  year 
of  Christ, 
1812. 

In  the  YEAR  of  the  LIFE  of 

2344 

1660 

3054 

687 

884 

50 

5  to 

52 1> 

104  to 

3471 

117C 

35^ 

2345 

1659 

3055 

688 

883 

63 

6  2 

53og 

103 1 

3470 

H8« 

86  g 

2346 

1658 

3056 

689 

882 

rj  Y1 

7g 

54  8 

102  § 

3469 

119~ 

87  to 

2347 

1657 

3057 

690 

881 

8 

8b 

55' 

101  c* 

3468 

120 

88  2 

234S 

1656 

3058 

691 

880 

9 

9g 

56 

100  s 

3467 

121 

89  W 

2349 

1655 

3059 

692 

879 

10 

io- 

57 

99  ^ 

3466 

122 

90 

2350 

1654 

3060 

693 

878 

11 

11 

58 

98  § 

3465 

123 

91 

2351 

1653 

3061 

694 

877 

12 

12 

59 

97  p. 

3464 

124 

92 

2352 

1652 

3062 

695 

876 

13 

13 

60 

96  g. 

3463 

125 

93 

2353 

1651 

3063 

696 

875 

14 

14 

61 

95o 

3462 

126 

94 

2354 

1650 

3064 

697 

874 

15 

15 

62 

94“ 

3461 

127  • 

95 

2355 

1649 

3065 

698 

873 

16 

16 

63 

93° 

3460 

128 

96 

2356 

1648 

3066 

699 

872 

17 

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92  £ 

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129 

97 

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700 

871 

18 

18 

65 

91  5T 

3458 

130 

98 

2358 

1646 

3068 

701 

870 

19 

19 

66 

90  to 

3457 

131 

99 

2359 

1645 

3069 

702 

869 

20 

20 

67 

89  = 

3456 

132 

100 

2360 

1644 

3070 

703 

868 

21 

21 

68 

88  s. 

3455 

133 

101 

2361 

1643 

3071 

704 

867 

22 

22 

69 

87  § 

3454 

134 

102 

2362 

1642 

3072 

705 

866 

23 

23 

70  ^ 

86  ? 

3453 

135 

103 

2363 

1641 

3073 

706 

865 

24 

24 

1 2 

85 

3452 

136 

104 

2364 

1640 

3074 

707 

864 

25 

25 

2s 

84 

3451 

137 

105 

2365 

1639 

3075 

708 

863 

26 

26 

3S 

83 

3450 

106 

2366 

1638 

3076 

709 

862 

27 

27 

4  ” 

82 

3449 

to 

107 

2367 

1637 

3077 

710 

861 

28 

28 

5 

81 

3448 

c& 

108 

2368 

1636 

3078 

711 

860 

29 

29 

6 

80 

3447 

109 

2369 

1635 

3079 

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800 

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54 

25 

7 

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11 

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882  a 


TABLE  II. — Chronology  of  Ancient  Kingdoms. — Continued. 


A.M. 

B.  C. 

Julian 

Period. 

Anno  e 
Diluvio 

Year 
before 
the  first 
Olymp. 

Kings 
of  the 
Egypt¬ 
ians. 

Kings 

of 

Sicyon. 

Kings 
of  the 
Argivi. 

Kings 
of  the 
Athe¬ 
nians. 

Year 
before 
the  year 
of  Christ, 
1812. 

In  the  YEAR  of  the  LIFE  of 

2442 

1562 

3152 

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786 

16  td 

55  0 

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93 

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781 

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61 

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2449 

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lg 

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3365 

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TABLE  II. — Chronology  of  Ancient  Kingdoms. — Concluded 


A.M. 

B.  C. 

Julian 

Period. 

Anno  e 
Diluvio 

Year 
before 
the  first 
Olymp. 

Kings 

of 

Sicyon. 

Kings 
of  the 
Argivi. 

Kings 
of  the 
Athe¬ 
nians. 

Year 
before 
the  year 
of  Christ, 
1812. 

In  the  YEAR  of  the  LIFE  of  | 

2540 

1464 

3252 

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41  H 

llO 

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In  the  foregoing  chronological  Tables,  the  numbers  in  the  different  columns  are  svnchronical,  taken  collaterally,  so  that  any  event  that 
ha.s  happened  within  the  limits  of  the  Tables  may  be  found  in  from  10  to  17  different  epochs.  Thus,  if  the  reader  wishes  to  know  in  what 
year  of  the  various  epochs  the  death  of  Nahor  the  father  of  Abraham  happened,  he  will  at  once  see,  by  a  reference  to  Table  II.,  that  this 
event  took  place  in  the  year  from  the  creation,  according  to  Abp.  Usher,  1997  ;  the  year  before  the  incarnation  2007  ;  in  the  year  of  the  Ju¬ 
lian  period  2707  ;  in  the  year  from  the  deluge  340;  and  in  the  year  before  the  first  Olympiad  1231 ;  all  of  which  correspond  with  the  15th 
year  of  the  reign  of  Apachnas,  king  of  the  Egyptians ,  and  the  31st  of  the  reign  of  Europs,  king  of  the  Sicyonians  ;  which  also  correspond 
with  the  941st  year  of  the  life  of  Noah,  the  439th  of  that  of  Shem,  the  339th  of  Arphaxad,  the  304th  of  Salah,  the  274th  of  Heber,  the  210th  of 
Reu,  the  178th  of  Serug,  and  the  119th  year  of  the  life  of  Terah. 

N.  B.  The  numbers  in  Table  II.,  pointing  out  the  years  of  the  life  of  the  different  Patriarchs,  are  all  adapted  to  the  commencement  of  the 
corresponding  tabular  years  of  the  world  ;  so  that  the  year  of  the  birth  of  any  Patriarch  is  not  to  be  referred  to  the  A.  M.  corresponding  to 
the  tabular  year  of  his  life  1,  but  to  the  year  immediately  preceding.  Thus  Aaron  was  born  some  time  in  A.  M.  2430;  but  at  the  beginning 
of  A.  M.2431,  Table  II.  shows  him  to  have  been  in  theirs*  year  of  his  life  ;  yet  before  the  conclusion  of  that  year  he  entered  upon  his  second 
year,  therefore  A.  M.  2432  corresponds  to  the  tabular  year  of  his  life  2. 

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